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Kentucky Senate Democrat Switches Parties To GOP

By
Madeleine Jackson
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Another Democrat is calling it quits…

A Kentucky state Senator Robin Webb, who represents Kentucky’s rural 18th Senate district, revealed she is switching her party affiliation to Republican.

“First and foremost, I’m a mother, a rancher and a lawyer with deep personal and professional roots in Kentucky’s coal country,” Webb said while explaining the switch. “As the Democratic Party continues its lurch to the left and its hyperfocus on policies that hurt workforce and economic development in my region, I no longer feel it represents my values.”

“It has become untenable and counterproductive to the best interests of my constituents for me to remain a Democrat.”

“While it’s cliché, it’s true: I didn’t leave the party — the party left me,” Webb said.

This comes as a major blow to Kentucky Democrats, who have historically held a stronghold in rural regions of the state largely due to union workers and the coal industry. 

“Like countless other Kentuckians, [Webb] has recognized that the policies and objectives of today’s Democratic Party are simply not what they once were, and do not align with the vast majority of Kentuckians,” Republican Party of Kentucky Chairman Robert Benvenuti added.

“I always respected that [Webb] approached issues in a very thoughtful and commonsense manner, and that she never failed to keenly focus on what was best for her constituents,” Benvenuti added. “It is my pleasure to welcome Sen. Robin Webb to the Republican Party.”

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear told a local Louisville news outlet that he “would consider” a run as the Democrat nominee for president in 2028.

Beshear is among a handful of Democratic governors who have been floated as 2028 White House potentials, which also include Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, Gavin Newsom of California, JB Pritzker of Illinois, and Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania.

Elon Musk’s Drug Use Sparked Campaign Trail Concerns

By
Madeleine Jackson
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An explosive new report from The New York Times revealed the disturbing frequency billionaire Elon Musk consumed illicit drugs while on the presidential campaign trail with Donald Trump.

The article comes as Musk is exiting the Trump administration after a whirlwind several months in which he led efforts to cut down on the government’s size.

Musk told people he was using ketamine so often that it was impacting his bladder, along with utilizing psychedelic mushrooms and taking ecstasy, the Times reported. The Times reporting included interviews with dozens of individuals Musk worked with or knew, along with obtaining private messages. 

The tech executive, who was advising the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) panel on federal government cost-cutting measures, would travel every day with a box containing 20 pills, the Times said, citing individuals who have seen the box and the photo of it. Some of the pills were marked as Adderall. 

Musk has publicly spoken about his mental health before, describing “great highs, terrible lows and unrelenting stress.” The tech billionaire has also refused the use of traditional antidepressants and said he was prescribed ketamine for depression, taking it “about every two weeks.”

According to the Times, some of Musk’s friends have severed ties with the tech billionaire over his public behavior.

“Elon has pushed the boundaries of his bad behavior more and more,” Philip Low, a neuroscientist, told The Times. 

The Times also reports Musk received advance warning of employee drug tests at SpaceX, despite the company’s obligations as a federal contractor to maintain a drug-free workplace.

The Wall Street Journal reported in January 2024 that Musk has used cocaine, LSD, psychedelic mushrooms and ecstasy at private parties, prompting concerns from board members and executives at SpaceX and Tesla.

“After that one puff with Rogan, I agreed, at NASA’s request, to do 3 years of random drug testing,” Musk wrote in a social media post shortly after that article was published. “Not even trace quantities were found of any drugs or alcohol. @WSJ is not fit to line a parrot cage for bird.” 

The report comes after Musk announced Wednesday that he would be departing the White House as his 130-day period as a special government employee expires.

Trump Rejects Paramount’s $15 Million Offer To Settle CBS News Lawsuit

By
Madeleine Jackson
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Image via Pixabay free images

President Donald Trump has rejected a settlement offer of $15 million from Paramount after he sued the company over a 60 Minutes interview last year with then-Vice President Kamala Harris.

Fox News Digital confirmed that Trump rejected a $15 million offer to settle his lawsuit, according to a source familiar with the matter. The president’s legal team is also demanding at least $25 million and an apology from CBS News. Trump’s attorneys even floated another lawsuit against the company.

Last October, Trump sued CBS News and Paramount for $10 billion over allegations of election interference involving the “60 Minutes” interview of then-Vice President Kamala Harris that aired weeks before the presidential election (the amount has since jumped to $20 billion).

The lawsuit alleges CBS News deceitfully edited an exchange Harris had with “60 Minutes” correspondent Bill Whitaker, who asked her why Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wasn’t “listening” to the Biden administration. Harris was widely mocked for the “word salad” answer that aired in a preview clip of the interview on “Face the Nation.” 

However, when the same question aired during a primetime special on the network, Harris had a different, more concise response. Critics at the time accused CBS News of deceitfully editing Harris’ “word salad” answer to shield the Democratic nominee from further backlash leading up to Election Day.

The raw transcript and footage released earlier this year by the FCC showed that both sets of Harris’ comments came from the same response, but CBS News had aired only the first half of her response in the “Face the Nation” preview clip and aired the second half during the primetime special. 

CBS News has denied any wrongdoing and stands by the broadcast and its reporting. 

The lawsuit is just the latest a string of litigation Trump has brought against media companies. In December, ABC settled a defamation lawsuit by giving $15 million to Trump’s presidential foundation and issuing an apology.

Supreme Court Rules Trump May Rescind Biden-era Immigration Policy

By
Madeleine Jackson
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Duncan Lock, Dflock, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

The Supreme Court handed the Trump administration a significant immigration win on Friday…

The Supreme Court on Friday stayed a lower court order that blocked the Trump administration from deporting roughly 500,000 migrants from Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. 

Fox News reports:

The Supreme Court decision stays, for now, a lower court ruling that halted Trump’s plans to terminate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) protections for some migrants living in the U.S., which allows individuals to live and work in the U.S. legally if they cannot work safely in their home country due to a disaster, armed conflict or other “extraordinary and temporary conditions.” 

Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented.

U.S. Solicitor General John Sauer asked justices earlier this month to allow the administration to proceed with its decision to revoke the status for the migrants, accusing U.S. District Judge Edward Chen of improperly intruding on the executive branch’s authority over immigration policy.

“The district court’s reasoning is untenable,” Sauer told the high court, adding that the program “implicates particularly discretionary, sensitive, and foreign-policy-laden judgments of the Executive Branch regarding immigration policy.”

This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.

Government Employee Arrested After Disclosing Classified Info With FBI Agent

By
Madeleine Jackson
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Authorities arrested a government employee in Virginia on Thursday over accusations he shared classified information with an officer or agent of a foreign government.

Nathan Vilas Laatsch, a 28-year-old IT specialist employed by the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) since 2019, has been arrested and charged with attempting to transmit classified national defense information to a foreign government, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Laatsch, who held a Top Secret security clearance and worked in the DIA’s Insider Threat Division, was apprehended in northern Virginia after an undercover FBI operation. The investigation after the FBI received a tip that someone was offering to provide classified information to a friendly foreign government. Subsequent communications revealed that Laatsch expressed ideological disagreements with the current U.S. administration and a willingness to share sensitive materials.

Over several weeks, Laatsch engaged with an FBI agent posing as a foreign government representative. He allegedly transcribed classified information onto a notepad and, on May 1, deposited a thumb drive containing documents marked as Secret and Top Secret at a prearranged location in a northern Virginia park. The drive also included a message indicating his intent to provide a sample of the information he could access.

Following the initial drop, Laatsch communicated his desire for citizenship in the foreign country, citing concerns about the long-term trajectory of the United States. He also indicated openness to other forms of compensation. Between May 15 and May 27, he continued to transcribe and remove classified information, concealing notes in his clothing. On May 29, at another prearranged drop-off, Laatsch was arrested by the FBI upon delivering additional classified materials.

FBI Director Kash Patel emphasized the persistent risk of insider threats, stating, “The FBI remains steadfast in protecting our national security and thanks our law enforcement partners for their critical support.”

Laatsch is scheduled to appear in court in Alexandria, Virginia on Friday.

Melania Trump Shuts Down Rumors About ‘Real’ Reason Behind President’s Feud With Harvard

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    PaWikiCom, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

    A spokesperson for first lady Melania Trump shut down a “completely false” theory that her husband, the president, is warring with Harvard University because her son, Barron, was supposedly not accepted to the school.

    The Palm Beach Post first reported that first lady spokesperson Nicholas Clemens said, “Barron did not apply to Harvard, and any assertion that he, or that anyone on his behalf, applied is completely false.”

    This comes amid online rumors that President Donald Trump is targeting Harvard with federal funding cuts because Barron, who just finished his freshman year at New York University, was supposedly rejected by the school.

    The Trump administration is asking all federal agencies to find ways to terminate all federal contracts with Harvard amid an ongoing standoff over foreign students’ records at the Ivy League school. Harvard has already sued in federal court seeking the restoration of about $3.2 billion in federal grant funding frozen by the administration since last month. 

    In a Truth Social post on Monday, Trump accused Harvard of being “very antisemitic” and said he was considering giving the school’s federal funding to trade schools “all across our land.”

    “What a great investment that would be for the USA, and so badly needed!!!” he wrote.

    In a letter Thursday, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem informed Harvard’s leadership that the university had lost its “privilege” of enrolling foreign students as a result of the institution’s “refusal to comply with multiple requests to provide the Department of Homeland Security with pertinent information while perpetuating an unsafe campus environment that is hostile to Jewish students, promotes pro-Hamas sympathies, and employs racist ‘diversity, equity and inclusion’ policies.” 

    Trump said this week that Harvard is being “very slow” to turn over information on foreign students. 

    “We are still waiting for the Foreign Student Lists from Harvard so that we can determine, after a ridiculous expenditure of BILLIONS OF DOLLARS, how many radicalized lunatics, troublemakers all, should not be let back into our Country,” Trump wrote.

    “Harvard is very slow in the presentation of these documents, and probably for good reason!” he wrote. “The best thing Harvard has going for it is that they have shopped around and found the absolute best Judge (for them!) – But have no fear, the Government will, in the end, WIN!” 

    Report: Appeals Court Lifts First Block On Trump Tariffs

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    Gage Skidmore Flickr

    A federal appeals court lifted the first of two rulings blocking President Trump’s tariffs on Thursday, handing him a temporary win.

    Many of Trump’s tariffs remain blocked under a separate ruling issued by a federal judge in Washington, D.C.

    The new ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit lifts the initial block imposed Wednesday evening by a New York-based court that handles trade cases. 

    “The judgments and the permanent injunctions entered by the Court of International Trade in these cases are temporarily stayed until further notice while this court considers the motions papers,” the new order reads. 

    This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.

    Broadway Legend Patti LuPone Declares Trump’s Kennedy Center ‘Should Get Blown Up’

      By
      Madeleine Jackson
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      3
      Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

      Broadway star Patti LuPone declared multiple times that the Kennedy Center under President Donald Trump should be blown to smithereens.

      In a wide-ranging interview with the New Yorker, published on Monday, it was noted that LuPone mentioned “more than once” that she wanted to see the “Trumpified” Kennedy Center “blown up.”

      From the New Yorker:

      She’s even angrier at the rest of the country. She told me, more than once, that the Trumpified Kennedy Center “should get blown up.” In the S.U.V., apropos the current Administration, she pronounced, “Leave. New York. Alone. Make it its own country. I mean, is there any other city in America that’s as diverse, as in-your-face? It’s a live-or-die city, it really is. Stick it out or leave.”

      Trump named himself the chair of the Kennedy Center in February. Trump had previously shaken things up and replaced all members of the board. Numerous artists departed their roles with the Kennedy Center in the wake of Trump’s changes.

      In a Truth Social post announcing the board changes, Trump took issue with “drag shows” allegedly targeted toward young people.

      “Just last year, the Kennedy Center featured Drag Shows specifically targeting our youth — THIS WILL STOP,” he wrote at the time. “The Kennedy Center is an American Jewel, and must reflect the brightest STARS on its stage from all across our Nation. For the Kennedy Center, THE BEST IS YET TO COME!”

      In her New Yorker interview, LuPone did offer praise to a close collaborator who has become a rather outspoken conservative in recent years: David Mamet. The playwright and filmmaker announced in 2008 that he was no longer a “brain-dead liberal.” The New Yorker described Mamet as going “full MAGA.”

      “The writing, once I understood the rhythm, became the easiest thing to speak,” LuPone said. “I learned more about acting from David Mamet than I learned in four years at Juilliard.”

      FBI Deputy Director Says Agency ‘Closing In’ On Capitol Riot Pipe Bomb Suspect

      By
      Madeleine Jackson
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      Dan Bongino via Gage Skidmore Flickr

      FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino confirmed that the agency has ramped up its investigation into pipe bombs planted in Washington, D.C. on the eve of the Jan. 6 Capitol riots in 2021. 

      “I want answers on this, and I’m pretty confident that we’re closing in on some suspects,” FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino told “Fox & Friends” Thursday, noting the case is a top priority.

      The FBI renewed its focus on the unsolved case earlier this year. In January, investigators released new video footage showing the person who planted the bombs outside the headquarters of both the Democratic National Committee and the Republican National Committee in Washington, D.C.

      “We were told by partisan actors out there, this was the insurrection, the world was [going to] fall apart, and no one seemed to show any interest in this case,” he argued, adding that he and FBI Director Kash Patel have made the pipe bomb investigation a priority for their department. 

      Besides the video footage, in January the FBI also released more details about the suspect’s physical characteristics. They believe the individual to be about 5-foot, 7-inches and to have worn a grey hoodie, face mask, black gloves and Nike Air Max Speed Turf shoes. 

      Investigators claim they’ve followed hundreds of leads, reviewed thousands of video files, and conducted over 1,000 interviews in the case. Bongino emphasized the importance of public involvement and said social media is a vital tool for generating new case leads. 

      “Every time I put a tweet out, we get tips. We got a fascinating tip on one of these cases. One of the three,” Bongino said, referring to three high-profile cases: the 2021 pipe bombs, the 2022 leak of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision on abortion and the cocaine discovered in the White House in 2023.

      “I don’t [want to] say which one, but I’m pretty confident that we’re going to close out one of them, hopefully, soon.”

      Although no one was injured in the 2021 pipe bomb incident, authorities say it was on the verge of catastrophe.

      Then Vice President-elect Kamala Harris was inside the DNC’s offices when the pipe bomb was discovered. Then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also passed by the bomb before it was discovered and safely removed by authorities. 

      The FBI is offering a $500,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in the case.

      Report: Judge To Block Trump Admin’s Harvard Foreign Students Ban

      By
      Madeleine Jackson
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      1
      PaWikiCom, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

      A federal judge in Boston issued a preliminary injunction Thursday to block the Trump administration’s directive to strip Harvard University of its ability to admit international students.

      Judge Allison D. Burroughs – who was appointed by former President Barack Obama – already granted Harvard University a temporary restraining order last week, preventing the government from revoking the Ivy League school’s certification in the Student and Exchange Visitor Program. The program permits the university to host international students with F-1 or J-1 visas to study in the U.S.

      At Thursday’s hearing, Burroughs said the block on the Trump administration would stand for now.

      Fox News reports:

      In its lawsuit, Harvard said the revocation would impact more than 7,000 visa holders – more than a quarter of its student body.

      Homeland Security Investigations doubled down in a filing on Wednesday on its intent to withdraw Harvard’s certification of its Student Exchange Visitors Program. DHS cited several “compliance issues,” citing the university’s failure to follow reporting requirements, failure to “maintain a campus environment free of violence and antisemitism” and “practices with foreign entities raising national security concerns.”  

      Lawyers representing Harvard said in Thursday’s hearing that international students are “terrified” and are “facing real harm in real time.” 

      This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.

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