GOP Presidential Candidate Vivek Ramaswamy to Join Elon Musk and Investor David Sacks on X.com

Heading into Iowa for a big weekend after rising in the polls, Ohio businessman and GOP presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy will join Elon Musk and investor David Sacks live Friday afternoon on x.com.

The conversation on the social network platform formerly known as Twitter is set for 4:30 p.m. Central Time, hours before Ramaswamy joins much of the rest of the packed field of Republican presidential candidates at the Republican Party of Iowa’s Lincoln Dinner fundraiser in Des Moines.

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Virginia School Safety Forum Brings Educators, Law Enforcement Together

More than 1,100 people registered to attend the 2023 Virginia School Safety Training Forum, which will address roughly 20 topics pertaining to school safety and student well-being.

The Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services and its Center for School and Campus Safety partner with several other organizations, including the attorney general’s office and the Virginia Department of Education, to put on the forum, now in its 22nd year.

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Music Spotlight: Radney Foster

Not being raised in the world of country music, I missed out on knowing about a lot of key players who are part of the foundation of what Nashville has become. Radney Foster is one such person.

While writing my column for the past six years, Foster’s kept coming up, but I was unfamiliar with his work. Then I saw an interview where Darius Rucker credits Foster for the reason he is in country music.

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Trump Says His Team Met Prosecutors, Who Gave No Indication of Indictment in 2020 Election Probe

Former President Donald Trump said his legal team had a “productive meeting” Thursday with the Justice Department for Special Counsel Jack Smith’s probe, but prosecutors did not give any indication that he would receive a notice of indictment in the probe involving efforts to challenge the 2020 election results.

“My attorneys had a productive meeting with the DOJ this morning, explaining in detail that I did nothing wrong, was advised by many lawyers, and that an Indictment of me would only further destroy our Country. No indication of notice was given during the meeting — Do not trust the Fake News on anything!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

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Commentary: White House Backtracks on Hunter’s Business Deals

The language is undeniably different, and yet White House officials said four different times Wednesday that “nothing has changed” concerning President Biden’s longstanding denial that he was ever involved in the foreign business dealings of his son Hunter.

House Republicans, meanwhile, contend that the deviation in wording now employed at the White House reflects a strategy to distance the president from Hunter Biden ahead of potentially damaging new testimony.

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Catholic Education Soaring in Popularity

The annual conference this month of the Institute for Catholic Liberal Education offered an atmosphere of overall joy and confidence as Catholic schools committed to the teachings of the faith reported they “could not keep up with the demand” for their services, Mark Bauerlein, contributing editor at First Things, wrote this week.

Bauerlein appeared to revel in the stark contrast between the upbeat environment at the Catholic education conference which, he noted, featured tables run by “organizations dedicated to Western civilization, the liberal arts tradition, and Catholic study” that “offered materials blessedly free of the negative politics and rhetoric that fills the discourse of the National Education Association, the ed schools that train teachers, and all too many school boards.”

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U.S. Economy Grows Moderately as GDP Ticks Up

The U.S. economy grew at a rate of 2.4% in the second quarter of 2023, according to gross domestic product (GDP) statistics released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) on Thursday morning.

Real GDP increased by 2.0% in the first quarter of 2022 after being revised up from an initial estimate of 1.1%, according to the BEA. Economists expected the GDP would be around 2% in the second quarter of 2023, following high inflation and an interest rate increase from the Federal Reserve on Wednesday.

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Garland DOJ Using BSCA Federal Funds to ‘Strong-Arm’ States Into Enacting Red Flag Laws

Fox News Republicans and gun rights activists say the Biden administration unlawfully handed out federal funds to states that did not qualify under a program intended to promote so-called “red flag” laws. In 2022, Congress passed, and President Biden signed, the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act in response to mass shootings in Buffalo, New York,…

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Colleges Plot New Ways to Discriminate After Supreme Court Strikes Down Race-Based Admissions

Colleges throughout the country are plotting new ways to weigh race in the admissions process after a Supreme Court ruling that blocked the use of affirmative action policies, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The Supreme Court ruled in June that Harvard University and the University of North Carolina’s use of affirmative action admissions policies was unconstitutional, halting the practice across higher education institutions. Colleges and universities are considering the use of essays and different potential student recruiting methods following the Supreme Court ruling, according to the WSJ.

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FBI Hands over Documents Relating to Targeting of Catholics

On Tuesday, the FBI handed over requested documents on its efforts to target Catholic Americans after another threat from Congress to hold Director Christopher Wray in contempt.

As reported by the New York Post, Congressman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, had subpoenaed the files in question and threatened to hold Wray in contempt of Congress if the documents were not delivered by the deadline of July 25th.

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Republican Election Clerks Hit with Lawsuits, Recall Votes for Actions in 2020 Presidential Race

Republican county election clerks across the country are facing lawsuits and other consequences for their actions during the 2020 presidential elections – including what some clerks contend was their attempt only to preserve election data to prevent or expose fraud.

Stan Grot, a clerk in Michigans’s Shelby Township Clerk was notified Thursday by the state Bureau of Elections that he won’t be allowed to administer elections while facing charges by the state attorney general.

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Anti-Catholic Activists in Maine Target Federalist Society’s Leonard Leo After Latest Supreme Court Decisions

Federalist Society Co-Chairman Leonard Leo, who served as an advisor in the selection process of former President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court appointees, has been targeted in his home town in Maine by what a prominent Catholic leader calls “anti-Catholic bigots” in the wake of recent rulings by the High Court.

Activists have been protesting at Leo’s home in Northeast Harbor, tying him to Supreme Court rulings with which they disagree.

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Legal Group Sues Biden Admin for Allegedly Concealing FBI Background Investigation into Mayorkas

America First Legal Foundation sued the Biden administration Wednesday for allegedly concealing information regarding an FBI investigation into Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, according to a copy of the complaint first obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

The lawsuit against both the FBI and the Department of Justice (DOJ) asks that the agencies release the documents related to the Mayorkas probe, according to the complaint. The conservative group was previously denied a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for the records regarding the FBI’s investigation into Mayorkas’ background.

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Commentary: Conservatives Fight Secretive Biden Voting Order

GOP lawmakers and other conservative critics are working to expose and fight a secretive executive order by President Biden to expand voter participation in elections, which they suspect has become a powerful government-wide complement to private left-wing election financing that could tip the 2024 campaign illegally and unfairly in Democrats’ favor.

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Virginia Senator Reintroduces Legislation to Increase Funding for Teacher Recruitment and Training

Democratic Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine joined Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine in reintroducing legislation that would increase funding opportunities for teacher and school administrator recruitment and training, as well as minority-serving colleges and universities.

The Preparing and Retaining Education Professionals Act, or PREP Act, was initially introduced in the Senate a couple of years ago as the PREP Act of 2021. Though touted as bipartisan, Collins is the only Republican cosponsor alongside seven Democrats.

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Biden Taps Next General to Lead the Air Force

President Joe Biden has chosen the Air Force’s possible next top officer after tapping the current Air Force Chief of Staff to serve in the Joint Chiefs chairman’s role, the Congressional record shows.

The White House notified Congress of its intent to nominate Air Force Vice Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin on Tuesday, the record shows, although Biden has yet to formally announce the nomination. If confirmed, Allvin would replace Gen. Charles Brown as the service’s highest-ranking military officer, but he faces hurdles amid the backlog of senior officers awaiting Senate confirmation due to a hold over a Department of Defense (DOD) abortion policy.

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Report: Pro-trans Activist Threatens to ‘Dismember’ School Board President in Chino Valley, California

Breitbart News Pro-transgender activists reportedly threatened to “dismember” a California school board president and to kill her children and pets in retaliation for a policy requiring schools to notify parents if children want to change genders. Sonja Shaw, who leads the Chino Valley school board in Riverside County in Southern…

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National Pro-Life Group Sues Vermont for ‘Unconstitutional Attack’ Against Pregnancy Care Centers

The National Institute for Family and Life Advocates (NIFLA), in conjunction with two Vermont pregnancy centers and their attorneys at Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), have filed a complaint against the state of Vermont “for the unconstitutional attack launched against pregnancy centers in the state” resulting from a law that “suppresses the free-speech rights of faith-based pregnancy centers,” ADF said in a press release.

ADF attorneys filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday that describes the case as “a challenge by pro-life pregnancy services centers and their membership organization to a state law that unconstitutionally restricts the centers’ speech and provision of services.”

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Report: Botched Plea Deal Would Have Given Hunter Biden Immunity ‘In Perpetuity’

Breitbart The botched plea deal struck between federal prosecutors and Hunter Biden’s defense team that fell apart in court Wednesday would have given the first son “broad immunity from prosecution in perpetuity,” according to a report from the courtroom. The New York Times‘s Glenn Thrush reported Wednesday that the unusual plea deal had “offered Hunter…

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GOP Bill Lets Americans Sue ‘Malicious’ Federal Workers Who Conspire to Censor Social Media Posts

Fox News House Republicans are pushing to let U.S. citizens sue individual federal employees who help orchestrate the censorship of free speech on social media. The Censorship Accountability Act, being introduced Tuesday by Rep. Dan Bishop, R-N.C., would authorize lawsuits against executive branch employees when they direct a social media company to…

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Judge Rejects Deal in Hunter Biden Case as First Son Pleads Not Guilty

Hunter Biden’s plea deal with the Justice Department on two tax misdemeanor tax charges fell apart Wednesday after the federal judge overseeing the case said she had “concerns” about the constitutionality of a pre-trial diversion agreement that would allow him to avoid prison on felony firearms possession charge.

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Judge Blocks Biden Rule Allowing Some Migrants to Be Turned Away

A federal judge Tuesday blocked a Biden administration rule that allowed migration officials to turn away asylum seekers at the U.S.-Mexico border if the migrants did not apply online first or seek protection in a country that they traveled through. 

U.S. District Judge Jon Tigar in California’s northern district gave the Biden administration 14 days to appeal his order, which takes away a key migration enforcement tool, according to The Associated Press. 

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Democratic Law Firm Argues Mail Boxes ‘Unsecure’ for Voting, in Wisconsin Suit Pushing for Ballot Drop Boxes

In a lawsuit to overturn a Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling that concluded ballot drop boxes are illegal, a Democratic election law firm is now arguing that U.S. Postal Service mailboxes are in fact “unsecured.”

The state’s high court ruled last year, in a 4-3 decision, the Wisconsin Elections Commission was not authorized to allow the use of the such boxes, as alternative balloting, during the 2020 presidential election.

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GOP Senators’ New Bill Would Crack Down on ‘Marxist’ Race-Based Lessons in K-12 Schools

Republican Florida Sen. Marco Rubio led the introduction of a bill Tuesday that would prohibit taxpayer funds from being spent on K-12  American History and civics classes that promote Critical Race Theory (CRT), according to a copy of the bill obtained exclusively by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Under the Protect Equality and Civics Education (PEACE) Act, federal dollars cannot be used to fund curriculum, teaching or counseling in K-12 American History and civics courses that promote tenets of CRT, including that the U.S. is fundamentally racist. Rubio introduced the bill alongside two co-sponsors, Republican Indiana Sen. Mike Braun and Republican North Dakota Sen. Kevin Cramer.

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Club for Growth to Spend $20 Million on McCarthy’s Republican Incumbent Rivals

According to an internal memo first obtained by German-owned Politico, the conservative Club for Growth is planning to spend seven figures on Republican U.S. House incumbents who oppose House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA-23) during their 2024 re-election bids.

“Club for Growth Action is prepared to spend $20 million in defense of the Patriot 20, the group of members who fought to advance conservative priorities and establish a more transparent and accountable legislative process in the House during the Speaker negotiations in January,” according to the memo. “As the largest conservative political action committee, we helped elect 17 of these 20 members to Congress and are determined to make sure they have the support necessary to win their primaries and beat Democrat challengers.”

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Biden Admin Opens Federal Investigation into Harvard University over Legacy Admissions

Biden’s Department of Education (DOE) officially opened an investigation Monday into Harvard to determine whether or not the university’s use of legacy admissions violate the Civil Rights Act, according to a letter from the DOE.

The DOE’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR) opened the investigation to determine whether or not Harvard discriminates on the basis of race by having donor and legacy admissions preferences after a complaint was filed on behalf of several activist organizations including The Chica Project, the African Community Economic Development of New England and the Greater Boston Latino Network, according to a letter from the DOE to Lawyers for Civil Rights. The complaint follows on the heels of the Supreme Court’s recent decision to strike down race-based affirmative action admissions policies at Harvard and the University of North Carolina.

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Healthcare Watchdog Group Praises Doctors Who Warn ‘No Medical Evidence’ Childhood Gender Transition Prevents Suicide

An organization of physicians and others concerned about the politicization of healthcare is praising the “doctors around the world” who are “speaking up” about the “significant” risks associated with childhood medical gender transition and the lack of evidence supporting the claim that transgender hormone drugs reduce suicide risk.

Dr. Stanley Goldfarb, chairman of Do No Harm wrote Monday in an email to subscribers of the recent “game-changing” letter to the editors, published in the Wall Street Journal by 21 clinicians and researchers from South Africa, the UK, Sweden, Norway, Belgium, France, Switzerland, and the United States, that challenges the Endocrine Society’s latest statements on what radical transgender activists call “gender-affirming care.”

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Virginia Community Colleges Approve Tuition Hikes

Tuition is increasing at Virginia community colleges for the first time in five years due to a unanimous decision from the State Board of Community Colleges.

Virginia’s 23 community colleges are increasing their tuition by $4.61 per credit hour, about 3% of the previous in-state tuition rate. For most of them, tuition will be $158.61 per credit hour for the 2023-24 school year or $2,379.15 for a 15-credit-hour semester. Other mandatory fees will vary, depending on the college.

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Commentary: Republicans Need a New Approach to Foreign Policy

A recent Fareed Zakaria Washington Post op-ed nicely summarized our new reality:

There is a debate within the Republican Party. Some senior figures, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) and former vice president Mike Pence, are vigorously making the case for an active and engaged America. But the party’s base seems to be with the isolationists, as can be seen in the tilting stances of the weather-vane speaker of the House, Kevin McCarthy (Calif.). From Donald Trump to his copycat, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, and the party’s most powerful media ideologist, Tucker Carlson, conservatives are increasingly contemptuous of America’s support for Ukraine and its strong alliance with Europe. Sen. Josh Hawley (Mo.) told the New York Times that although some Republicans remain staunchly interventionist, “That’s not where the voters are.”

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Swimming Officials to Trial an ‘Open Category’ for Transgender Athletes

World Aquatics, the world swimming governing body, announced Tuesday that it will set up an “open category” that will include transgender athletes, according to The Associated Press.

The governing body banned most male athletes from competing in the female division in 2022 following uproar over Lia Thomas, a transgender swimmer who won a national title in women’s swimming after competing in the men’s collegiate division for three years. The president of World Aquatics, Husain Al-Musallam, said an “open category” swimming event will take place alongside other races, according to the AP.

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Lawmakers: IRS Dodging Oversight After Destroying 30 Million Records

Lawmakers investigating reports that the IRS destroyed tens of millions of taxpayer records say the federal tax agency is not cooperating with the investigation.

Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., and Oversight Subcommittee Chairman David Schweikert, R-Ariz., sent a letter to IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel demanding he comply with the documentation request.

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