Author: Tom Pappert

Virginia U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine Says Character Attacks on Pete Hegseth Are Best Way to Reach GOP Senators

Tom Pappert
Tim Kaine and Pete Hegseth

U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) said on Sunday that he considered his questions regarding the personal character of Pete Hegseth, who President Donald Trump nominated to serve as Secretary of Defense, to be his best shot at persuading Republican senators against confirming the veteran and former Fox News host.

In an appearance on “Face the Nation,” Kaine said that Republicans in the Senate tend to shy away from presidential nominations who may seem unqualified, or who have serious moral failings, and pointing to the example of former Representative Matt Gaetz’s decision to withdraw his acceptance of Trump’s nomination for him to serve as Attorney General, said he decided to use such concerns against Hegseth.

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Biden Issues Pardon for Drug Crimes Committed by Virginia House Speaker Targeted by Trump’s Campaign Manager, VAGOP

Tom Pappert

President Joe Biden on Sunday issued another round of pardons, including to Virginia House of Delegates Speaker Don Scott (D-Portsmouth), for his 1994 drug conviction, after the Democrat’s criminal past became the target of criticism by both Chris LaCivita, the campaign manager for President-elect Donald Trump in 2024, and the Republican Party of Virginia.

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Poll Shows Majority of Virginians Still Positive on Youngkin’s Job as Governor, but Voters May Elect Democrat in 2025

Tom Pappert
Glenn Youngkin

Polling released on Thursday shows the majority of Virginians continue to hold a positive view of the performance by Glenn Youngkin as Governor of Virginia, though suggested voters may nonetheless vote for a Democrat to succeed him when casting ballots in November.

The survey, released by Christopher Newport University’s Wason Center for Civic Leadership and conducted between January 6-13, found 53 percent of Virginia voters continue to approve of Youngkin’s performance as governor, including 87 percent of Republicans, 54 percent of independents, and 19 percent of the commonwealth’s Democratic voters.

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Virginia Democrats Shelve Bill to Protect Girls’ Sports Despite Support from Youngkin, Earle-Sears, Athlete Riley Gaines

Tom Pappert

A Virginia State Senate subcommittee on Thursday shelved legislation that would have prohibited biological men who identify as transgender women from competing on sports teams with biological women, despite the bill receiving support from Governor Glenn Youngkin, Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears, Attorney General Jason Miyares, and former college athlete Riley Gaines.

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Winsome Earle-Sears Raises over $3 Million for Governor Campaign, Including $50,000 from Kevin McCarthy

Tom Pappert
Winsome Earle Sears

Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears on Wednesday reportedly announced raising more than $3 million for her gubernatorial campaign, including one donation of $50,000 from the campaign committee belonging to former Representative Kevin McCarthy.

In the four months since Earle-Sears announced her campaign last September, the lieutenant governor has reportedly raised more than $3 million, with Virginia Scope reporting a spokesman for the candidate said the campaign is “in full-swing” with a “rush of grassroots and financial support” leaving Earle-Sears “in a position of great strength” as Virginia begins its gubernatorial campaign season.

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Virginia U.S. Rep. Morgan Griffith Predicts House Plan for ‘One Big, Beautiful Bill’ Will Eventually Lead to Two Packages of Legislation

Tom Pappert
Morgan Griffith

U.S. Representative Morgan Griffith (R-VA-09) on Wednesday was skeptical the House of Representatives would successfully pass “one big, beautiful bill” containing several policies championed by President-elect Donald Trump, as Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA-04) has suggested lawmakers will pass before April.

Griffith made the remarks during an appearance on “The John Fredericks Show,” telling host John Fredericks, who publishes The Virginia Star, that Congress would run out of time to build consensus, and that House Republicans would settle for passing two bills to accomplish Trump’s agenda.

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Youngkin Urges Virginia Department of Education to Adopt Policy to Notify Parents of School Drug Overdoses Within 24 Hours

Tom Pappert

Governor Glenn Youngkin on Tuesday urged the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) to adopt a policy requiring schools to notify parents of on-campus drug overdoses within 24 hours, which would formalize a requirement the governor previously created through an executive order in late 2023.

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Virginia Lt. Gov. Candidate John Curran Promises to Use MAGA Pulpit Against State Lawmakers If Elected

Tom Pappert
John Curran

John Curran, the James City business consultant who launched his campaign to become Virginia’s next lieutenant governor last year, said on Monday that he is the Republican candidate most closely aligned with President-elect Donald Trump, and vowed to use the platform associated with the elected position to challenge Democrats who obstruct bipartisan progress in the General Assembly.

Curran made the remarks during an appearance on “The John Fredericks Show,” telling host John Fredericks, who is publisher of The Virginia Star, that he hopes to use the lieutenant governor’s “soapbox” to challenge career politicians.

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Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears Release Statements Backing Federal Cuts Under DOGE

Tom Pappert
DOGE Virginia GOP

While Democrats in Virginia have suggested the incoming Trump administration’s proposed cuts to the federal government will be a political liability among voters in the Old Dominion, both Governor Glenn Youngkin and Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears made statements last week declaring their support for the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) commission to be led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy.

Youngkin was first to confirm his support for DOGE on Friday, when the governor signed a letter by the Republican Governors Association (RGA) to Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA-04).

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AFP Virginia Director Gives Winsome Earle-Sears ‘Fighting Chance’ to Beat Abigail Spanberger amid Tight Polls

Tom Pappert

Tim Parrish, the state director of Americans for Prosperity (AFP) – Virginia, predicted that Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears has a “fighting chance” to beat either former Representative Abigail Spanberger (D-VA-07) or Representative Bobby Scott (D-VA-03) in the 2025 race for governor as polls show the Republican statistically tied with both candidates.

Parrish made the remarks during a Friday appearance on “The John Fredericks Show,” offering his analysis after The Virginia Star publisher John Fredericks suggested Earle-Sears has slim odds of repeating the 2021 victory that saw Governor Glenn Youngkin become the first Republican elected governor of Virginia since 2010.

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Poll Finds Virginia Governor’s Race Between Spanberger, Earle-Sears Tied as Republicans Seek to Retain Control Post-Youngkin

Tom Pappert
Spanberger and Sears

Former U.S. Representative Abigail Spanberger (D-VA-07) and Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears are statistically tied in the race to become the next Governor of Virginia, according to polling released Thursday.

The Emerson College poll of Virginia voters found Spanberger narrowly leading with the support of 42 percent of the commonwealth, but Earle-Sears statistically tied at 41 percent of support, with the pollsters reporting a margin of error of 3 percent.

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Virginia U.S. Rep. Rob Wittman Says Trump’s Plans for Greenland, Panama Canal Serve National Security

Tom Pappert
Rob Whitman

U.S. Representative Rob Wittman (R-VA-01) said Wednesday that the suggestions by President-elect Donald Trump that the United States should reassert ownership over the Panama Canal and purchase Greenland from the Kingdom of Denmark both serve U.S. national security interests.

Wittman made the remarks during an appearance on “The John Fredericks Show,” telling host John Fredericks, who is the publisher of The Virginia Star, that increased access to Greenland would help monitor Russian submarine activity while renegotiating the country’s interest in the Panama Canal would better position the United States against China.

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Arlington D.A. Accused of Leniency for Stabbing Suspect Received $652,000 from Soros-Tied PAC, Argued ‘No Basis’ to Stop Anti-Israel Protest

Tom Pappert
Parisa Dehghani-Tafti

Arlington County Republican Committee accused Arlington Commonwealth’s Attorney Parisa Dehghani-Tafti of leniency when it was revealed the suspect in a Pentagon City double stabbing that occurred last month, 23-year-old Leonardo Reyes, previously reached a plea deal with her office in 2021 for armed robbery.

Dehghani-Tafti is one of the prosecutors who received significant political backing from an organization tied to the controversial Hungarian-American financier George Soros, and more recently, the prosecutor argued there was “no basis” to disrupt an anti-Israel encampment that formed near the Virginia home of Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

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Virginia Legislation Could Mean Tougher Sentences for ‘Swatting’ Attacks as Congressmen Targeted

Tom Pappert
swat team

Virginia House Delegate Jason Ballard (R-Pearisburg) introduced legislation last Wednesday that could allow state law enforcement to apply an existing law against those who engage in “swatting,” a slang term for making a false police report to compel an intense police response, typically involving a SWAT team, to a specific address.

House Bill 1583 would amend and reenact the portion of Virginia code specifying bomb threats are a Class 5 felony to include threats, whether real or false, to “discharge a firearm within or at” any location where it is already illegal to call a bomb threat. It also would change the law to make such threats a Class 1 misdemeanor for offenders under 18.

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Virginia Legislation Would Require Parents Provide Consent for Children to Use Social Media

Tom Pappert
Little Girl online

Legislation filed last month in Virginia would require social media companies to obtain verifiable parental consent before allowing minors to create accounts on social media platforms, effectively raising the age for Virginia’s existing parental consent requirement from 13 to 18, while also prohibiting the sale of data collected about children.

Senate Bill 783 was submitted on December 27, 2024, by State Senator David Suetterlein (R-Roanoke), and the bill’s description explains it requires social media companies to obtain “verifiable parental consent” before any minor Virginian can create an account or at least “before collecting, using, or disclosing such child’s personal data,” specifically in a commercial transaction.

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Anti-Trump Republican Denver Riggleman Considers Campaign for Virginia Governor

Tom Pappert

Former U.S. Representative Denver Riggleman, the former Republican congressman who considered voting for President Joe Biden in 2020, and served under the House January 6 committee after he left Congress in 2021.

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Virginia U.S. Rep. Spanberger Says Tulsi Gabbard ‘Dangerous’ as Trump’s Pick for Director of National Intelligence

Tom Pappert
Spanberger and Gabbard

Outgoing U.S. Representative Abigail Spanberger (D-VA-07), who is leaving Congress to pursue the Democratic Party’s nomination for Governor of Virginia, said it was “dangerous” for President-elect Donald Trump to nominate Tulsi Gabbard to serve as Director of National Intelligence (DNI) in an interview with ABC 7 News published Tuesday.

Spanberger, who formerly worked as a federal agent for the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and a case officer for the CIA, made the remarks about Gabbard when asked about those nominated by Trump to serve in key intelligence positions during his second term in the White House.

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Virginia AG Jason Miyares Asks Supreme Court to Uphold TikTok Ban as January Deadline Looms

Tom Pappert
Jason Miyares

Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to maintain the law requiring for ByteDance, the Chinese parent company of the social media platform TikTok, to sell its American operations or face a ban in the country.

After Congress raised concerns about TikTok’s connections to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), President Joe Biden signed legislation in April that gave ByteDance until January 19, 2025 to sell its American operations. ByteDance sued to block the legislation, but the federal government obtained rulings allowing the law in place from lower courts, leading to the Supreme Court deciding to take the case on January 10, 2025.

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Virginia Democrat Claims Trump’s Plan to Relocate 100,000 Federal Jobs from D.C. Will Boost Democratic Turnout in Special Elections

Tom Pappert
Don Scott

Virginia House of Delegates Speaker Don Scott (D-Portsmouth) said on Thursday that the “Agenda 47” plan by President-elect Donald Trump to relocate up to 100,000 federal employees from Washington, D.C. to other parts of the country will help unite Democrats ahead of the January 7 special elections.

Scott made the remarks during an appearance on MSNBC’s “The Katie Phang Show,” telling the eponymous host he is optimistic his party will fare well in the upcoming special elections sparked by the electoral victories of U.S. Representatives-elect Suhas Subramanyam (D-VA-10) and John McGuire (R-VA-05).

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DOJ Attorney Who Prosecuted Former Arizona Sheriff Runs for Lieutenant Governor of Virginia

Tom Pappert
Victor Salgado

Victor Salgado, the former Department of Justice attorney who successfully prosecuted Joe Arpaio, the former sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona, announced on Thursday he is joining the race for the Democratic nomination for Lieutenant Governor of Virginia.

Salgado’s entry to the race was first divulged by The Richmond Times-Dispatch, which reported the candidate cited the immigration policies planned by President-elect Donald Trump as his decision to leave the Department of Justice (DOJ) and enter politics.

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Former Virginia Governor Claims Lack of Democrat ‘Solidarity’ Could Lead to Republican Governor in 2025

Tom Pappert

Former Virginia Governor Douglas Wilder cautioned Democrats in the commonwealth against a tumultuous primary, arguing it was a lack of Democratic solidarity preceded the 2021 election of Governor Glenn Youngkin.

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Intelligence Officials Claim Virginia Casino Could Help Spies ‘Blackmail’ Government Employees

Tom Pappert

A letter signed by more than 100 current and former intelligence or national security officials urged a northern Virginia county against allowing a the construction of a casino, was published Thursday, with the officials arguing the casino would pose threats to recruitment and national security.

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Virginia State Police Confirm 150 Reported Drone Sightings in December, Urge Public to Send Tips

Tom Pappert

The Virginia State Police (VSP) on Thursday confirmed citizens have reported 150 drone sightings throughout the commonwealth during the month of December in a statement that urged the public to notify authorities if they see drones flying over sensitive areas.

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Chair of Virginia Democrats Tells Journalist to ‘Delete’ Himself in Deleted Tweet

Tom Pappert
Klippenstein and Swecker

The chair of the Democratic Party of Virginia told an independent journalist to “delete himself” in a post to the social media platform X, which has now been deleted in turn.

“Delete yourself,” Chairwoman Susan Swecker told Substack writer Ken Klippenstein after he questioned the decision by Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives to vote for Representative Gerry Connolly (D-VA-11) to represent the party on the House Oversight Committee.

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Virginia Democrat Leader Says Youngkin’s No Tax on Tips Proposal May Not be ‘Responsible’

Tom Pappert
Glenn Youngkin and Don Scott

Virginia House Speaker Don Scott (D-Portsmouth) reportedly said in a Monday press conference that Democrats are only likely to support Governor Glenn Youngkin’s proposal to stop taxing tips if it is “responsible,” suggesting the governor’s proposal to mirror the federal campaign promise by President-elect Donald Trump within the commonwealth could face opposition over financial concerns.

Scott said during his Monday press conference, “Any idea that’s going to put money back into the pockets of hard work of Virginians, we’re going to strongly consider and take a look at it,” reported VPM. 

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Virginia U.S. Rep-Elect John McGuire Urges Party Unity After Luther Cifers Wins GOP Nomination for State Senate

Tom Pappert
John McGuire

U.S. Representative-elect John McGuire (R-VA-05) urged Republicans in Virginia’s 10th State Senate district to unite behind Luther Cifers, the outsider businessman who secured the Republican Party’s nomination to run for McGuire’s former seat.

Cifers won the nomination during the Friday mass meeting in Goochland that The Daily Progress reported drew 1,000 Republicans, ultimately securing more votes than Louisa County Board of Supervisers Chairman Duane Adams in the third round of voting, which was concluded at about 1 a.m. on Saturday.

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Virginia Immigrant Group Opposing Youngkin’s Sanctuary City Proposal Lost $1.5 Million over Lip Balm, Fidget Toy Purchases

Tom Pappert
Glenn Youngkin

The immigrant group that opposes the proposal by Governor Glenn Youngkin to strip funding from so-called sanctuary cities that refuse to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), was denied federal funding by the Prince William County commission in February after it reportedly filed nearly $200,000 in expenses that are unfit for federal dollars distributed by the county.

Youngkin on Thursday unveiled a budget plan that includes a “No Sanctuary Cities” proposal that would require local law enforcement agencies to coordinate with ICE or lose funding.

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Virginia Man Faces Prison for Allegedly Sending Bitcoin to ISIS Members in Syria Through Turkish Intermediary

Tom Pappert
Mohammed Chhipa

The trial began this week for Virginia man Mohammed Chhipa, who prosecutors say immigrated to the United States from India but is now a naturalized citizen who has lived in Virginia since 2008 and faces charges related to the alleged transfer of Bitcoin to a Syrian member of the Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist group through an intermediary in Turkey.

Prosecutors said on Tuesday that Chhipa converted over $74,000 into Bitcoin that was then transferred to ISIS members in Syria, according to Fox 5 DC, with the outlet reporting an undercover FBI agent testifying conversations about Chhipa sending the money happened alongside others about suicide bombings.

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George Mason Students Trespassed over Anti-Israel Vandalism Reportedly Owns ‘Several Firearms,’ Hamas and Hezbollah Flags

Tom Pappert

Police reportedly removed multiple firearms from the home of Jena and Noor Chanaa, where a police document states authorities found anti-American slogans and flags associated with terrorist groups.

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Virginia Bill to Require Physicians Affirm Biological Gender of Athletes, Ban Male-to-Female Transgender Students from Girls’ Teams

Tom Pappert
Softball

Legislation proposed in the Virginia General Assembly on December 1 by Senator Tammy Brankley Mulchi (R-Clarksville) would require student athletes to provide a written statement by a physician that affirms they seek to participate in a sports team that corresponds to their biological gender, prevents biological males from playing on teams designated for girls, under the threat of civil litigation.

Blankley Mulchi’s SB 749 would require schools to clearly state whether sports teams are male, female, or coed, and mandates any team participating in the Virginia High School Sports League which “is expressly designated for ‘females,’ ‘women,’ or ‘girls,'” must “not be open to any student of the male sex.”

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Virginia Sheriff Calls for Strict Borders After Two Illegal Immigrants Arrested for Shooting in Alleged Road Rage Incident

Tom Pappert
Mike Chapman

The Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office on Friday confirmed the arrest of two illegal immigrants who were charged with firing at a moving vehicle during a road rage incident, causing damage to the vehicle but no injuries to its passengers, prompting Sheriff Mike Chapman to urge the federal government to improve border security.

In a press release, the sheriff’s office announced the arrests of Aldo Betancourth Rivera and Jimmy Paredes Madrid, who authorities described as, “both of Sterling and undocumented.”

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Virginia Election Official Resigns After Report Found He Spent $500,000 on Alcohol, Hotels, Private Security, and Office Remodel

Tom Pappert
Keith Balmer

The top two election officials in Richmond, Virginia, resigned on Wednesday after a report claimed their office misappropriated $500,000 on expenses, including alcohol, unnecessary hotel stays, private security, and a luxury remodeling of office space leased by a government agency. Their resignations will reportedly take effect on December 31.

Richmond General Registrar Keith Balmer resigned on Wednesday, with the Richmond Electoral Board reportedly accepting both his resignation and the resignation of his deputy, Jerry Richardson. This comes just one week after Richmond Inspector General James Osuna released a report claiming their office wasted almost $500,000 in taxpayer money.

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Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin Backs Trump’s Tariff Threat Against Mexico, Predicts ‘Extraordinary Economic Expansion in America’

Tom Pappert
Glenn Youngkin

Governor Glenn Youngkin on Tuesday confirmed he supports President-elect Donald Trump’s plans to impose new tariffs against Mexico to compel the neighboring nation to cut the flow of fentanyl over the southern border. Youngkin argues that Trump’s plans will ignite an expansion in manufacturing for Virginia.

Youngkin reportedly confirmed his support for Trump’s tariffs during a Tuesday press conference, as he provided an update on the commonwealth’s efforts to curtail fentanyl overdoses with Attorney General Jason Miyares.

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Virginia Election Official Wasted $500,000 on Alcohol, Private Security, and Remodel of Leased Office Space: Report

Tom Pappert
Keith Balmer

The top election worker in Richmond, Virginia allegedly wasted nearly $500,000 on a combination of alcohol, private security and efforts to create his own security staff, and the remodel and purchase of new furniture for leased office space, a report from the city’s watchdog agency claims.

The Richmond Office of the Inspector General (OIG) released a report Monday revealing Richmond General Registrar Keith Balmer is accused of wasting nearly $500,000 in taxpayer resources through a pattern of behavior that apparently began in 2023.

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Virginia Bill Would Require Students to Pass Citizenship Test Questions for Graduation

Tom Pappert

The Virginia House of Delegates in January will consider HB 1548, submitted by longtime Virginia Delegate Lee Ware (R-Powhatan), which would require Virginia students pass an exam featuring questions from the civics portion of the U.S. naturalization test.

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Virginia A.G. Jason Miyares Seeks Reelection, Leaving Governor Race to Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears and Rep. Abigail Spanberger

Tom Pappert
Jason Miyares

Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares on Monday announced he will seek reelection, officially ending speculation he would launch a gubernatorial bid in an effort to maintain Republican control over the Executive Mansion, as Governor Glenn Youngkin is prevented from seeking a second consecutive term by the Virginia Constitution.

Miyares announced his reelection bid in a post to the social media platform X, where he wrote, “We are not going back to the failed policies of the past; our families’ safety and Virginia’s future depends on it.”

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Bucks County, Pennsylvania Votes to Count Illegal Ballots Because ‘People Violate Laws Any Time They Want’

Tom Pappert

The two Democratic members of the Bucks County Commission voted to count ballots the Pennsylvania Supreme Court determined are illegal in a previous ruling, with the county specifically giving election workers orders to count mail-in votes returned with an incomplete, incorrect, or missing date.

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Biden Taps Coordinator of Obama’s Iran Nuclear Deal to Lead Trump Transition at State Department

Tom Pappert
Stephen Mull

The Biden U.S. State Department announced on Thursday the agency’s transition to the Trump administration will be coordinated by Stephen Mull, a former longtime State Department official who most recently served as the lead coordinator for the Iran nuclear deal reached under former President Barack Obama, and who is now the provost for the University of Virginia (UVA).

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller confirmed Mull was appointed by Secretary of State Antony Blinken to lead the agency’s transition in a press conference. He told reporters the agency views a “peaceful transition of power” as an “essential part of our democracy that is vital to our nation’s security.”

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Donald Trump Projected Winner of 2024 Presidential Election

Tom Pappert

Former President Donald Trump will be the 47th President of the United States after being projected to win 270 votes in the Electoral College by Fox News, Newsmax, DecisionDesk HQ, and NewsNation just after midnight on November 6, making him the President-elect of the United States. He will serve alongside Senator JD Vance, who was elected to serve as vice president.

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Trump Says He Can Expand Swing State Victories to Virginia, New Mexico, and New Jersey

Tom Pappert
Donald Trump

Former President Donald Trump claimed on Sunday that he can win more than the seven expected swing states, offering Virginia, New Mexico, and New Jersey as states that may offer possible victories on Election Day despite his campaign’s relative lack of resources spent there.

Trump on Sunday predicted the possible victories after to NBC News reporter Dasha Burns raised an outlier poll of Iowa voters that found Vice President Kamala Harris winning the state.

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Virginia A.G. Jason Miyares Still ‘Deeply Concerned’ by Biden-Harris Push for Noncitizen Voters After Supreme Court Victory

Tom Pappert
Jason Miyares

While the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday affirmed the right of Virginia to remove noncitizens from its voter rolls, Attorney General Jason Miyares said on Wednesday he remains “deeply concerned and alarmed” by the legal action taken against Virginia by the Biden-Harris Department of Justice (DOJ) prior to the high court’s intervention.

The Biden-Harris administration sued Virginia earlier in October, claiming they violated the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) by removing about 1,600 noncitzens from the commonwealth’s voter rolls within 90 days of an election.

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Supreme Court Takes Rapid Action in Appeal to Remove Noncitizens from Virginia Voter Rolls

Tom Pappert
Supreme Court

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday docketed the appeal filed Sunday by Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares after a federal appeals court declined to overrule a lower court’s decision to force Virginia to add approximately 1,600 noncitizens back to its voter rolls.

According to the Supreme Court’s online portal, the case was docketed on Monday after Virginia submitted its appeal for the high court to reverse a lower court’s decision on Sunday.

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Youngkin, Miyares Vow to Appeal for Virginia’s Right to Remove Illegal Voters ‘All the Way to the Supreme Court’

Tom Pappert
Jason Miyares and Glenn Youngkin

Governor Glenn Youngkin and Attorney General Jason Miyares on Friday vowed to appeal after a federal judge ordered Virginia to restore about 1,500 noncitizens to the commonwealth’s voter rolls.

U.S. District Judge Patricia Trolliver Giles, an appointee of President Joe Biden, announced her decision after the Biden-Harris Department of Justice (DOJ) sued to force Virginia to restore the noncitizen voters, alleging the commonwealth violated the National Voter Registration Act by removing them so close to an election.

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Gov. Youngkin, A.G. Miyares Vow to Fight ‘Politically Motivated’ Biden-Harris DOJ Lawsuit over Removal of Non-Citizens from Voter Rolls

Tom Pappert

Governor Glenn Youngkin and Attorney General Jason Miyares have vowed Virginia will fight the lawsuit launched by the Biden-Harris Department of Justice (DOJ) over the commonwealth’s recent effort to remove non-citizens from its voter rolls, with both noting it was filed less than one month before Election Day.

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Former Virginia Teacher Receives $575,000 Settlement After Being Fired over Refusing to Use Transgender Pronouns

Tom Pappert
Peter Vlaming

A former teacher in Virginia received $575,000 in a settlement to end his lawsuit after he was fired by West Point High School in 2018 for refusing to use the preferred gender of a student who identified as transgender, the conservative legal organization behind the lawsuit announced on Tuesday.

The Alliance for Defending Freedom (ADF) announced on Tuesday it reached a settlement with the West Point School Board after the firing of Peter Vlaming, who taught French at West Point High School prior to his firing in 2018.

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Rep. Elise Stefanik Predicts ‘Trump is Going to Win Virginia’ at Rally as Poll Shows Race Tied

Tom Pappert
Rep Elise Stefanik

Representative Elise Stefanik (R-NY-21) on Saturday predicted former President Donald Trump will win Virginia during a Women for Trump rally in Charlottesville.

Stefanik made her remarks at the Women for Trump rally held at the Trump Winery in Charlottesville by Rally Virginia amid the release of polling that shows a statistical tie between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, who has sought to reverse the loss of Democratic support in Virginia that reportedly helped prompt President Joe Biden to drop his bid for reelection.

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Virginia A.G. Jason Miyares Urges EPA to Block California Electric Truck Mandate, ‘Extreme Environmental Agenda’

Tom Pappert
Jason Miyares

Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares urged the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to maintain its block on the California electric truck mandate created by Governor Gavin Newsom, declaring the state is “playing games with America’s livelihood.”

Miyares on Monday announced he joined a comment letter urging the EPA to maintain its federal block on California’s Advanced Clean Fleets (ACF) regulation, which mandates every major commercial trucking company either maintain an “zero-emission-vehicle” (ZEV) fleet or have a plan to retire traditional internal combustion engines in accordance with the regulation.

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Eugene Vindman’s Sister-in-Law, Who Apologized over Trump Assassination Tweets, Donated to Group Accused of Illegally Helping Democrat’s Campaign

Tom Pappert
Rachel Vindman

Rachel Vindman, the sister-in-law of Democratic U.S. House candidate Eugene Vindman, twice donated to the VoteVets political organization that is advised by her husband, Alexander Vindman.

News of her donations to VoteVets, which supports the campaign of Eugene Vindman, surfaces after Rachel Vindman apologized for social media posts minimizing the second attempt to assassinate former President Donald Trump.

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