Category: The South

 

The South

Virginia (13), North Carolina (15), and Florida (29) add 57 electoral college votes to the total.

Georgia State Senators Propose New Legislation to Address Illegal Immigration

Debra McClure
Georgia Illegal Immigration Bill

State Senator Jason Anavitarte (R–Dallas), chairman of the Senate Majority Caucus, and State Senator Brian Strickland (R–McDonough), chairman of the Senate Committee on Judiciary, proposed two new legislative initiatives that seek to change criminal procedures for individuals who illegally immigrate to Georgia. The new legislation aims to set strict bail hearing conditions and modify parole rules for illegal immigrants.

The first proposal would amend the Georgia Constitution to allow the Georgia General Assembly to ban parole or set specific parole limitations for illegal immigrants. The second piece of legislation is a bill that would define bail hearing conditions for illegal immigrants and for those considered to be removable or dismissible aliens charged with a felony punishable by up to a year or more in prison.

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Green Bay School Superintendent Resigns After Calling Colleague ‘Witch,’ Wisconsin ‘Lily’ White on Hot Mic in Atlanta Radio Interview

Tom Pappert
Radio Interview

A Green Bay, Wisconsin school superintendent resigned on Tuesday after he was captured on a hot mic describing the district as “lily” white and expressing his displeasure at working in a “white district” during an appearance on WAOK-AM as he visited Atlanta to recruit educators.

Former Green Bay Area Public School District (GBAPS) Superintendent Claude Tiller Jr.’s hot mic comments were broadcast on YouTube while the radio station broadcast was on a commercial break.

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Texts Reveal Ex-Law Partner of Nathan Wade Sent Tips About Fani Willis Affair to Defense Attorney: ‘You Are My Friend and I Trust You’

Tom Pappert
Nathan Wade Fani Willis

Text messages were published Wednesday by talk show host Megyn Kelly and reporter Phil Holloway, revealing the former law partner of special prosecutor Nathan Wade sent tips to a defense attorney about when he began an intimate relationship with District Attorney Fani Willis.

Though Bradley would later dismiss the information he provided in the text messages while testifying this week as speculation, the claims he made in writing support those made by attorneys representing Michael Roman, the former White House opposition researcher who was charged in the election case directed at former President Donald Trump.

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Athens Mayor Faces Calls for Resignation After He Invokes Trump in Response to Murder of Laken Riley Despite Arrest of Illegal Immigrant

Tom Pappert
Kelly Girtz

Athens-Clarke County Mayor Kelly Girtz on Wednesday held a press conference to discuss the murder of nursing student Laken Riley on the University of Georgia (UGA) campus, which police said was committed by Venezuelan illegal immigrant Jose Ibarra.

Girtz denied that Athens is a sanctuary city, which does not comply with detainers filed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that request local law enforcement detain illegal immigrants to be transferred to federal authorities for prosecution or deportation.

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Georgia GOP Cites Sanctuary Cities, Biden Border Policy After Death of Laken Riley: ‘We Don’t Have to Continue to Live Like This’

Tom Pappert
Laken Riley

Georgia Republican Party Chair Josh McKoon expressed the party’s sympathies to the family and friends of Laken Riley, the 22-year-old nursing student who was slain on the University of Georgia (UGA) campus.

He described the death of Riley as a “preventable tragedy” and pointed to sanctuary city policies and the Biden administration’s border crisis after police identified her alleged murderer as Venezuelan illegal immigrant Jose Ibarra.

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Music Spotlight: Bettin’ On The Mule

Bethany Bowman
Bettin on the Mule

Anyone who follows my blog knows I like a good hometown rockin’ country band. When I first heard Bettin’ On the Mule (BOTM) from Rockmart, Georgia, I instantly loved their energy.

The “Hometown Rock” pioneers consist of Jacob Wilson on lead vocals, bass, and rhythm guitar, who also serves as the band’s lead songwriter, new member Phil Beavers on lead guitar and backing vocals, Rick Norris on drums and backing vocals, and Shannon “Beef” Wilson on bass and backing vocals for the band.

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LockBit Hackers Who Attacked Fulton County Resurface After FBI Action, Claim to Hold Data from Georgia Trump Trial

Tom Pappert
LockBit Hackers

The LockBit hacker group that seized control and temporarily stopped many Fulton County government services resurfaced just four days after an international intelligence operation seized many of the group’s servers in a bid to disrupt its activities.

A rambling message by the group’s pseudonymous leader upon the launch of LockBit’s new website claims that Operation Cronos, the international police action against the hackers, was launched due to documents the organized crime outfit obtained about the Fulton County trial of former President Donald Trump.

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Bannon Rallies CPAC for ‘Crusade of Righteousness’ to Elect ‘Dissident’ Trump in ‘Greatest Political Comeback in American History’

Tom Pappert

War Room host Steve Bannon rallied Republicans at the 2024 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Saturday to vote for former President Donald Trump in November to accomplish what called the “greatest political comeback in American history.”

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Georgia Board of Education Affirms Firing of Teacher Who Read Gender Book to Fifth-Graders

Georgia Star News Staff
Katie Rinderle

The Georgia Board of Education upheld a previous decision Thursday to fire Katie Rinderle, a former fifth-grade teacher, for reading a book about gender identity to her students, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Rinderle, who had taught for 10 years, was fired in August 2023 by Cobb County School Board for reading the book “My Shadow is Purple” which encourages kids to go “beyond the gender binary,” according to the AJC. Rinderle had appealed the school’s decision in September, but the board determined that her firing was not “unconstitutionally vague” or as a result of a “predetermined outcome.”

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Wife of Illegal Immigrant Who Allegedly Killed Student on UGA Campus Admits They Married to ‘Join Our Asylum Cases’

Tom Pappert

The wife of Jose Antonio Ibarra, the 26-year-old illegal immigrant from Venezuela who police arrested Friday for the murder of nursing student Laken Riley, 22, at the University of Georgia (UGA) campus, revealed in a Saturday interview that the couple originally married with the goal of furthering their cases for asylum in the United States.

Layling Franco told the New York Post on Saturday that she and Jose Ibarra entered the United States illegally through El Paso with her five-year-old son on September 8, 2022. Franco said the alleged killer made money by delivering food for Uber Eats, DoorDash and a local restaurant.

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Phone Data Reportedly Contradicts Testimony in Fani Willis Hearing, Suggests She Dated Nathan Wade Months Earlier than Claimed

Tom Pappert
Fani Willis and Nathan Wade

An affidavit by former President Donald Trump, entered into the Georgia election case against him, claims that cell phone data proves Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and special prosecutor Nathan Wade spent nights together as early as September 2021, suggesting their relationship began months earlier than Willis and Wade claimed in court.

The data would also directly contradict testimony by Wade during the hearing to determine if Willis should be disqualified from the Georgia election case against Trump due to their relationship. Wade has earned more than $650,000 since Willis appointed him, and the couple shared luxurious vacations he purchased using his company credit card.

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VoterGA’s Garland Favorito Slams Georgia Secretary of State’s Request for Funds to Audit Ballots

Kaitlin Housler
Georgia Voting Machines

VoterGA, a nonprofit election integrity organization, spoke out against Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s request for more taxpayer funds from the Georgia Legislature to implement an audit of Georgia’s QR-coded Dominion Democracy Suite 5.5 voting system.

On Monday, Raffensperger called on the Georgia State Senate to “agree to funding for new technology approved by the House that would give election officials the ability to audit the text of every choice on every ballot, in every contest – without the use of QR codes.”

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Poll Finds Nearly Half of Americans Want Fani Willis Removed from Trump Election Case in Georgia

Tom Pappert
Fani Willis

A poll of U.S. voters released on Thursday found just under half of American voters want Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to be disqualified from prosecuting her election case against former President Donald Trump in Georgia.

The Rasmussen poll, conducted after Willis testified on in the hearing to determine whether she should be removed from the case against Trump, determined that 48 percent of likely U.S. voters say there is significant evidence indicating Willis should be disqualified. The pollsters found that just 39 percent said Willis should remain on the case, while 13 percent were unsure.

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Trump Maintains Lead over Biden in Georgia Poll Conducted as DA Fani Willis Testified

Tom Pappert
Donald Trump Joe Biden Georgia Poll

Former President Donald Trump maintains an 8-point lead over President Joe Biden in a new poll of Georgia voters that was conducted as Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis testified in a hearing to determine whether she should be disqualified from her prosecution of the former president.

The Emerson College pollsters found 48 percent of Georgia voters support Trump, and 42 percent support Biden, giving the former president an 8-point lead of the incumbent. Biden was declared the winner in Georgia during the 2020 elections with a margin of less than 12,000 votes.

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DOJ Announces ‘Disruption’ of Hacking Group That Targeted Fulton County, Georgia

Tom Pappert
Merrick Garland

The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Tuesday announced the “disruption” of a Russia-based hacking and ransomware group that targeted Fulton County last month as the result of a joint operation that involved both the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and “international law enforcement partners in London” to seize the group’s infrastructure.

In its press release, the DOJ announced “the disruption of the LockBit ransomware group, one of the most active ransomware groups in the world,” which came as the result of “seizing numerous public-facing websites used by LockBit to connect to the organization’s infrastructure and seizing control of servers used by LockBit administrators.”

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Fani Willis Took Over $8,500 from First Campaign as ‘Repayment’ for Loans Missing Paperwork, Submitted Without Date and Signature

Tom Pappert
Fulton County D.A. Fani Willis

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis claimed during her Thursday testimony at the hearing to disqualify her from the Georgia election case against former President Donald Trump that she took a significant amount of cash from her first election and used it to replenish her physical cash reserves. Willis claimed to use the physical cash to repay her former lover, special prosecutor Nathan Wade, for luxurious vacations.

Willis made the claim about keeping “some of the cash” from her first campaign when asked about the origin of her cash savings. The district attorney claimed she has been saving physical cash “all my life,” and gave as an example, “When I took out a large amount of money on my first campaign, I kept some of the cash of that.”

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Rare Earth Mineral Mines Shutter as Demand for Electric Vehicles Plummet

Georgia Star News Staff
Ablemarle Corporation mining site

A slowdown in the growth of electric vehicle (EV) demand has led to entire mines being shut down as the supply of rare earth minerals essential for EV components exceeds demand, according to The Wall Street Journal.

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Charting the ‘Cash Stash’ District Attorney Fani Willis Claims She Used to Repay Nathan Wade for Luxurious Vacations

Tom Pappert
Fulton County D.A. Fani Willis

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis testified on Thursday that she keeps cash reserves in her residence, and that she used those reserves to repay her former lover, special prosecutor Nathan Wade, for the luxurious vacations he paid for using his business credit card.

An estimate of Willis’ cash savings since 2018, when she admitted to being “broke” as the result of a fierce primary campaign, suggests that Willis could have paid Wade in cash while increasing her reserves through cash back during shopping trips, as she implied.

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Fulton County Policy Suggests Both DA Willis, Wade Were Required to Disclose Relationship

Just the News

A Fulton County policy regarding the disclosure of a romantic relationship with an employee may have applied to both District Attorney Fani Willis and special prosecutor Nathan Wade, yet they testified that they did not inform any county employees of their relationship, according to lawyers observing the case.

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Father of Fani Willis Testifies He ‘Trained’ Daughter to ‘Always Have Some Money’ After She Claimed to Repay Nathan Wade in Cash

Tom Pappert

Friday marked the second day of the disqualification hearing, seeking the dismissal of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis over her relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade, whom she had appointed to oversee the case against former President Donald Trump.

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Willis Won’t Testify Again in Hearing on Whether She Stays as D.A. in Trump Election Interference Case

Just the News

The second day of the hearing regarding Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade began on Friday with the remaining witnesses expected to testify, as Willis was not brought back to the witness stand.

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Fani Willis Claims She Repaid Nathan Wade for Luxurious Vacations in Undocumented Cash Transactions

Tom Pappert

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and special prosecutor Nathan Wade both testified Thursday in the first day of proceedings to determine if she should be removed from the prosecution due to their previously undisclosed romantic relationship.

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GOP Rep Demands Inquiry into House Intel Committee Chair After Warning of Security Threat

Admin

A Republican congressman has demanded an inquiry into the GOP chairman of the House Intelligence Committee for allegedly compromising national security after he made a public statement about highly classified information.

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VoterGA’s Garland Favorito Recaps Case Claiming Georgia Election Equipment ‘Constitutionally Deficient’ After Trial Concludes

Tom Pappert
Garland Favorito

Garland Favorito of Georgia election integrity group, Voter GA, held a press conference last week to urge Ninth District Court Judge Amy Totenberg to side with the plaintiffs in Curling v. Raffensperger and declare the ballot imaging devices (BMDs) used in Georgia “constitutionally deficient.”

“The last month or so has been very intense; it’s been 24/7 days for most of the attorneys and staff,” Favorito began before turning to a discussion over the closing arguments made by plaintiff Ricardo Davis in the six-year-old lawsuit.

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Gov. Brian Kemp Pledges Additional Georgia National Guard to Texas After State Senate Condemns Biden Border Failures

Tom Pappert
Gov. Brian Kemp

Governor Brian Kem said up to 20 additional Georgia National Guard members will support Texas Governor Gregg Abbott in his efforts to secure the state’s southern border in his standoff with the Biden administration.

In a press conference on Tuesday afternoon, Kemp pledged 15 to 20 additional Georgia National Guard troops to assist with constructing a command post at the border.

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Judge Warns Fani Willis Could Face ‘Disqualification’ in Trump Case Due to Nathan Wade Relationship

Tom Pappert
Fulton County DA Fani Willis

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee warned on Monday that District Attorney Fani Willis could face “disqualification” from prosecuting her case against former President Donald Trump as a result of her admitted relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade, who she appointed to oversee the case.

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CJ Pearson Will Seek Impeachment of Fani Willis Due to ‘Clear Impropriety’ with Nathan Wade if Elected to Georgia State House

Tom Pappert
CJ Pearson

C.J. Pearson, who is on the ballot Tuesday for the special election in 125th District to fill a recently-vacated seat in Georgia’s State House, told The Georgia Star News about his “incredible journey” that began as a preteen political commentator nearly a decade ago and may have landed him within days of officially entering politics as an elected official.

Pearson, who has faced intense criticism from parties connected to Governor Brian Kemp that he previously characterized as “rogue,” answered his critics, told Star News what his priorities will be if elected, and promised to leverage his potential status as the youngest black politician to help Georgia Republicans achieve new heights if elected.

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Georgia State Sen. Bill Cowsert Promises Nonpartisan Investigation of DA Fani Willis to Determine Possible Misuse of Taxpayer Funds with Nathan Wade

Tom Pappert
Bill Cowsert

The Georgia Senate Special Committee on Investigations met for the first time on Friday since it was created following the adoption of SR 465, which allowed for the formation of the Senate committee to investigate the allegations surrounding embattled Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.

The committee is chaired by Senator Bill Cowsert (R-Athena), who promised that the Senate’s work will not seek to undermine any of Willis’ ongoing criminal cases, including her election case against former President Donald Trump. However, Cowsert suggested future funding for district attorneys could depend on the investigation’s findings.

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Bill Ackman on Washington Post Hit Piece: ‘The Public Has Been Again Misled’

Michael Patrick Leahy
Bill Ackman

Bill Ackman, the highly successful investor and Harvard graduate whose criticism of Claudine Gay’s history of plagiarism led to her resignation as President of Harvard University, published a lengthy tweet on his X account Saturday evening responding to an article about him published by The Washington Post earlier in the day, “How a liberal billionaire became America’s leading anti-DEI crusader.”

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Group Plans to Sue If Georgia Governor Signs Bill to Expand Cash Bail

The Center Square
Inmate

The ACLU of Georgia said it would sue the state if Gov. Brian Kemp signs into law a measure that expands the number of offenses for which suspects must “post bail or surety.”

State Sen. Randy Robertson, R-Cataula, introduced Senate Bill 63 in January 2023, but lawmakers did not advance the measure before last year’s session ended. However, both the state House and Senate signed off on the measure this year.

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Georgia House Unanimously Passes Bill to Accelerate State Income Tax Cuts

Tom Pappert
Brian Kemp

The Georgia State House on Thursday voted unanimously to pass a bill that will accelerate the tax cuts previously passed by the Georgia General Assembly in 2022 alongside bills aimed at lowering property taxes and increasing child tax credits.

HB 1015 will reduce the Georgia state income tax rate to 5.39 percent, effective retroactively to January 1, amending previous legislation that established a flat income tax in Georgia that would be set at 5.49 percent in 2024. Active legislation mandates the income tax rate be decreased by 10 basis points annually until it reaches 4.99 percent, which could be achieved in 2028 if the bill becomes law.

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Georgia Senate Passes Bill to Allow State Commission to Investigate Prosecutors, Including Fani Willis

Tom Pappert
Fani Willis

The Georgia State Senate passed a bill on Tuesday that will strike the need for the Prosecuting Attorneys Qualifications Commission (PAQC) to have its rules reviewed and approved by the Georgia Supreme Court, which would allow it to immediately begin investigating prosecutors, including embattled Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.

Introduced by Senator Randy Robertson (R-Cataula) in early January, SB 332 would amend the 2022 law establishing the PAQC to strike the requirement for the commission to have its standards and rules reviewed and adopted by the Georgia Supreme Court. It now goes to the Georgia House, and if passed, would become law as soon as it is signed by Governor Brian Kemp.

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Georgia Senate Advances Bill to Create New Mulberry City

The Center Square
Chuck Efstration

The Georgia Senate passed a bill that could create a Mulberry city in northeastern Gwinnett County should voters give the proposal a thumbs up.

Lawmakers passed Senate Bill 333 last week, sending it to the state House for consideration. If passed and signed into law, it would put the issue on the spring primary ballot.

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‘There’ll Probably Be Some Changes’: Trump Hints at RNC Shake-Up When Asked About McDaniel

Admin

Former President Donald Trump suggested in an interview Sunday that “some changes” could be coming to the Republican National Committee when asked about Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel’s performance.

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Fani Willis Still Hasn’t Responded to Commissioner’s Request for Information Relating to Alleged Misuse of Funds

Georgia Star News Staff
Bob Ellis Fani Willis

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis did not respond to a request for information from a Fulton County commissioner relating to allegations she misused county funds as of late Friday night.

Fulton County Commissioner Bob Ellis said Willis had not responded to his Jan. 19 request for information about whether or not county funds were “misused” by Willis. Ellis set a Friday deadline for Willis to respond, according to a letter provided to the Daily Caller News Foundation.

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Trump Co-Defendant Pokes Holes in Fani Willis’ Defense to Corruption Allegations

Admin

Trump co-defendant Michael Roman’s attorney poked holes Friday in Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ defense to corruption allegations leveled against her.

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Fani Willis Allegedly ‘Stonewalling’ Defense Team, Refused Open Records Requests for Invoices, Contracts, Account of Vacation Time

Tom Pappert
Fani Willis

The Merchant Law Firm, which represents defendant Michael Roman, launched a lawsuit on Monday claiming Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, through her office, is “stonewalling” their defense team by refusing to comply with public records requests for invoices from special prosecutor Nathan Wade, contracts for other contracted prosecutors in her office, and an account of her vacation time.

Roman is a defendant in Willis’ case against former President Donald Trump, and the law firm behind the lawsuit claims Willis’ office continues to slow-walk the release of information that was originally requested by his attorney, Ashleigh Merchant, on September 1.

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Fani Willis Fired Whistleblower Who Warned of Misuse of Federal Funds Shortly Before Paying Alleged Boyfriend Nathan Wade

Tom Pappert
Fani Willis

Audio emerged on Wednesday of a conversation between embattled Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and Amanda Timpson, a former subordinate who claims she blew the whistle to Willis about an alleged plan to misuse federal funding by a former member of her campaign who Willis retained as part of her team after taking office.

Timpson recorded the audio on November 21, 2021, according to The Washington Free Beacon, which originally unearthed the clip. This means Willis and Timpson spoke about alleged wrongdoing in at the Fulton County District Attorney’s office just under three weeks after Willis hired her alleged romantic partner, private defense attorney Nathan Wade, to oversee the criminal case against former President Donald Trump.

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Georgia Bill Seeks to Ban AI Deepfakes in Elections, Make Releasing Them a Felony Crime

Tom Pappert
John Albers

A bill was filed last week that could see “deepfake” audio and images, including those created using artificial intelligence (AI) technology, made a felony in Georgia if they are used in the context of an election.

Georgia State Senator John Albers (R-Alpharetta) filed SB 392, which, according to its summary, would make it a criminal offense to use deepfake technology to interfere with an election.

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House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green: DHS Secretary Mayorkas’ Refusal to Enforce Laws Produced ‘Catastrophic’ Results

Kaitlin Housler

House Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Mark Green (R-TN-07) delivered opening remarks on Tuesday during a full committee markup for articles of impeachment against Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

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Mayorkas Mails Letter to GOP House Saying Impeachment Allegations ‘False,’ Won’t Testify in Process

Just the News

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Tuesday issued a fiery defense against the impeachment articles he faces, calling the allegations “false” and urging Congress to fix the U.S. immigration system through legislation.

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Georgia State House Candidate C.J. Pearson Blasts ‘Rogue Operation’ to Smear Him by ‘Atlanta Political Establishment’

Tom Pappert

C.J. Pearson, who is running in the February 13 special election to fill the seat in the Georgia State House vacated when former Representative Barry Fleming accepted an appointment to a judgeship by Governor Brian Kemp, told The Georgia Star News the political attacks about him are due to his strident conservatism.

Political operatives and organizations connected to Kemp are reportedly “taking aim” at Pearson with political advertisements claiming his previous work for Prager University and prior support for Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) in 2016, when Pearson was himself just 13-years-old, are proof he does not share Georgia’s values.

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