Trump Administration Asks Appeals Court to Pause Ruling to Fund SNAP

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Trump Administration Asks Appeals Court to Pause Ruling to Fund SNAP

(Brett Rowland, The Center Square) The federal government asked an appeals court Friday to pause a lower court ruling that required the Trump administration to fully fund benefits for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

SNAP, formerly known as food stamps, provides federally-funded food benefits to about 42 million low-income families each month, but benefits started to run dry when Congress failed to pass bills funding the government.

“This is a crisis, to be sure, but it is a crisis occasioned by congressional failure, and that can only be solved by congressional action,” attorneys for Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins wrote on Friday. “Instead, a single district judge has devised his own solution: ordering USDA to cover the SNAP shortfall by transferring billions of dollars that were appropriated for different, equally critical food-security programs— and to do so within just one business day (i.e., by today). This unprecedented injunction makes a mockery of the separation of powers.”

Attorneys for the federal government added: “Courts hold neither the power to appropriate nor the power to spend.” They further argued the lower court had exceeded its authority with the order to fully fund the SNAP program.

“There is no lawful basis for an order that directs USDA to somehow find $4 billion in the metaphorical couch cushions,” the attorneys argued.

The administration asked the appeals court to pause the lower court’s ruling for full funding while the appeal continues.

The appeal raises questions for those who depend on the food benefits program, which is administered by the states. It drew criticism from Democrats and others.

House Agriculture Committee Ranking Member Angie Craig, D-Minn., said the Trump administration has the money to fund the program. 

“As we’ve said from the beginning, the Trump administration has the money and the power to fully fund SNAP in November. They chose to ignore the harm caused by their actions and cut benefits instead,” Craig said. “It is truly shocking and demoralizing just how far President Trump and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins have gone to take food out of the mouths of American children, seniors, working parents, veterans and people with disabilities.”

Trump has used Department of War research funds to continue to pay members of the military, but warned that money will run out.

Crystal FitzSimons, president of Food Research & Action Center, called the appeal “abhorrent.”

“Instead of using the funding that has been readily available to feed people, this administration continues to fight to deny tens of millions from accessing the nutrition they need,” FitzSimons said in a statement. “This appeal also creates yet another layer of confusion and chaos for states and families and will continue to drive negative ripple effects throughout local economies.”

Virginia Gov.-Elect Spanberger Refuses to Discuss Time as CIA Operative

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Virginia Gov.-Elect Spanberger Refuses to Discuss Time as CIA Operative

(Ben Sellers, Headline USA) Virginians resoundingly elected former U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger on Tuesday in a blue relapse of the one-time battleground state—despite knowing very little about her past.

Spanberger—who defeated Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle–Sears, a retired Marine and Jamaican immigrant—notably spent at least eight years as a CIA operative, from 2006 to 2014, before taking a job with former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe and ultimately entering into politics.

During her Langley years, she is known to have traversed the globe, including assignments in Belgium and Los Angeles. That involved some undercover work, according to a recent profile by the Washington Post.

But the precise details remain a mystery.

“Spanberger is not allowed to say anything more specific than that her first overseas assignment was in ‘Western Europe,’ the Post wrote.

During her sleuthing days, Spanberger said she held five different passports.

“I would travel in ‘true name,’ but then I would meet people not in ‘true name,’” she told the Post. “Like, I would go to Frankfurt, stay over in a hotel in Frankfurt, and then continue on with no digital footprint.”

Even Max Blumenthal—the alt-left blogger and influencer whose father, Sidney Blumenthal, is a close confidante of Hillary Clinton—seemed shocked about the lack of vetting.

“The CIA Democrats are immune to vetting,” he mused on X.

Despite having framed herself as a “moderate,” Spanberger’s congressional voting record showed she sided with former President Joe Biden nearly 100% of the time.

She will come into power in Virginia with a legislature in which Democrats hold a near super-majority, as well as an attorney general who fantasizes about murdering his political adversaries’ children.

Some have raised questions about whether Democrats’ election sweep of the major Virginia races and others may have been stolen, citing a familiar curve that showed a large jump in the number of mail-in ballots overnight.

Others, however, have criticized Earle–Sears for running a weak campaign that allowed Spanberger and her far-left ticket to sweep the election, despite her refusal to discuss her past—or to repudiate political violence and transgender accommodations in schools.

Ben Sellers is a freelance writer and former editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/realbensellers.

Govt. Shutdown Leads to Over 800 Flights Cancelled, Number Growing

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Govt. Shutdown Leads to Over 800 Flights Cancelled, Number Growing

(Thérèse Boudreaux, The Center Square) As the government shutdown drags into its 38th day and forced flight reductions begin taking effect, the number of daily flight cancellations Americans are experiencing has skyrocketed.

By noon Friday, airlines had slashed 850 flights within, into, or out of the United States – quadruple the number of cancellations made the previous day.

The numbers will only increase over the coming days as 40 major U.S. airports implement the Federal Aviation Administration’s order to reduce flight volume by 10%, a necessary safety measure as staffing shortages become more severe.

Air traffic controllers and other federal employees deemed “essential” have been forced to work without pay for over a month, and many are taking off work to find odd jobs. With a deadlocked Congress providing no end in sight to the record-long shutdown, millions of flyers will likely be impacted.

At Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, just outside of Washington, D.C., frustration with U.S. lawmakers’ inability to reach a government funding agreement is high.

The Center Square ran into multiple flyers who have already experienced flight delays or cancellations.

Donna Baniewicz from Newtown, Pennsylvania, was supposed to meet her son at the airport so they could travel to Maryland for a family celebration, but his flight was delayed by three hours.

“It’s frustrating because this shouldn’t be happening at this day and age, the whole government shut down. It’s just ridiculous,” Baniewicz told The Center Square. “I am embarrassed as an American citizen that we’re going through this.”

Baniewicz, who owns a physical therapy clinic with her husband in Newtown, Pennsylvania, said the shutdown is also impacting their business.

“We’re physical therapists, and because of the government shutdown, Medicare is not paying,” she said. “There’s no reason why this should be happening, and there’s no reason why it should be happening for this long.”

The current shutdown is the longest in U.S. history, breaking the previous record of 35 days. This shutdown is also the first one in modern history to impact air travel so severely.

“I mean, we have smart people out there. We need to come up with a solution, and we can’t come up with a solution to fix this? It’s kind of sad,” Baniewicz said. “I’m usually a very calm person, but this is insane.”

Republicans need at least seven Democratic votes for their House-passed funding bill to advance in the Senate, but Democrats are still refusing to cooperate unless they receive certain Obamacare policy wins in return.

The Senate will vote on the funding bill, a Continuing Resolution to reopen and temporarily fund the government, for the 15th time Friday. It is expected to fail.

Republican US Rep. Elise Stefanik is Running for Governor of New York

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Republican US Rep. Elise Stefanik is Running for Governor of New York

(Headline USA) ​​ U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, a close Republican ally of President Donald Trump, announced Friday that she’s running for governor of New York, a place she depicted in a campaign launch video as being “in ashes” because of lawlessness and a high cost of living.

In her video, a narrator declares “The Empire State has fallen” as it paints a grim picture of urban, liberal leadership and life in New York City, though the message appeared to be aimed at audiences in other, more conservative parts of the state.

Her candidacy sets up a potential battle with Gov. Kathy Hochul, a centrist Democrat, though both candidates would have to first clear the field of any intraparty rivals before next November’s election.

Stefanik, 41, has teased a run for months, often castigating Hochul, 67, as the “worst governor in America.” She’s also assailed Hochul for endorsing the ascendent, democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani, now the mayor-elect of New York City.

In a written statement, Stefanik said she is running to make “New York affordable and safe for families all across our great state.”

“Our campaign will unify Republicans, Democrats, and Independents to Fire Kathy Hochul once and for all to Save New York,” she said.

Hochul’s campaign released its own attack ad Friday against the Republican, dubbing her “Sellout Stefanik,” and blamed her for enabling Trump’s tariffs and federal funding cuts to education and health care.

“Apparently, screwing over New Yorkers in Congress wasn’t enough — now she’s trying to bring Trump’s chaos and skyrocketing costs to our state,” said Hochul campaign spokesperson Sarafina Chitika.

Last year, Stefanik was tapped to become the president’s ambassador to the United Nations, though her nomination was later pulled over concerns about her party’s tight margins in the House. She then began to angle toward a run for governor, and very quickly got a public nod of support from Trump.

Her announcement video, which was titled “From the Ashes,” casts New York as a dangerous place plagued by “migrant crime” and economic crisis, placing the blame on “Kathy Hochul’s failed policies,” as urgent, ominous music plays in the background.

New York City police officials have long touted drops in crime and this week said the city is in its eighth consecutive quarter of major crime decline.

The Republican primary field remains unclear ahead of the 2026 race. 

On Long Island, Republican Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman has said he’s weighing a run for governor. In a statement Friday, he said he has “tremendous respect” for Stefanik but that the GOP needs to nominate a candidate who has “broad based appeal with independents and common sense Democrats.”

“The party must nominate the candidate with the best chance to defeat Kathy Hochul and I have been urged by business, community and political leaders across the state to make the run and I am seriously considering it,” said Blakeman, who handily won reelection to another four-year term on Tuesday.

U.S. Rep. Mike Lawler had been contemplating a run but instead decided to seek reelection in his battleground House district in the Hudson Valley.

Hochul faces a contested primary, with her own lieutenant governor, Antonio Delgado, running against her.

Democrats have a major voter registration edge in New York. The state’s last Republican governor was former Gov. George Pataki, who left office about two decades ago.

Still, Republican Lee Zeldin, a former Long Island congressman and current head of the Environmental Protection Agency, made a serious run for the office in 2022, coming within striking distance of upsetting Hochul.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press.

Book Reveals Trump’s Reaction at Hospital to Being Shot in Assassination Attempt

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Book Reveals Trump’s Reaction at Hospital to Being Shot in Assassination Attempt

(Ken Silva, Headline USA) The July 13, 2024, assassination attempt against Donald Trump sent shockwaves through the country. But according to a new book that covers the incident, Trump himself was as cool as a cucumber after a bullet came within millimeters of ending his life.

The book, Retribution: Donald Trump and the Campaign That Changed America, covers the July 13 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania from the morning of that event through when Trump was taken to the local hospital.

At the Butler Memorial Hospital, Trump was reportedly more concerned about the optics than his health.

“How is it playing on TV? We’re going to make some big news, aren’t we?” he said at one point, according to the book.

And when he saw his own photo, Trump’s mood became downright upbeat. “That’s the most American photo I have ever seen,” he said.

The then-presidential candidate even joked that his campaign should release the results of a CT scan he received to test for a concussion, so that the public could see how much better his brain was than then-President Joe Biden’s, according to the book.

Retribution, written by ABC News reporter Jon Karl, also reveals new information about the event itself, including the absence of bomb-sniffing dogs at the entrances.

However, the book also contained misinformation. Most egregiously, Karl wrote that a Secret Service counter-sniper stopped Thomas Crooks’s shooting spree. As Headline USA has reported on numerous occasions, it was a local cop, Sgt. Aaron Zaliponi, who stopped Crooks with his shot from the ground. The Secret Service counter-sniper, David King, shot Crooks 10 seconds after the would-be assassin stopped firing.

Karl also reported that the Secret Service visited Butler Memorial Hospital in advance of the event, when in fact agents did not visit it at all—yet another security failure, this one revealed by Headline USA after this publication exclusively obtained the Butler EMS’s after-action report.

“With that, 4 (ish) years ago when there was a rally at the airport, the Secret Service did a site inspection here at BMH. That did not occur this time. Thankfully, I had the plan from that time and did meet with key staff members on my way to the event that day—apprising them of plan should anything occur,” an unnamed BMH official said in the after-action report, which can be found here.

Ken Silva is the editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.

Heritage Foundation Faces Revolt over Nick Fuentes/Tucker Carlson Controversy

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Heritage Foundation Faces Revolt over Nick Fuentes/Tucker Carlson Controversy

(José Niño, Headline USA) The Heritage Foundation, one of Washington’s most influential conservative think tanks, is in turmoil after its own task force on antisemitism issued a series of demands to President Kevin Roberts in response to his defense of Tucker Carlson’s interview with nationalist commentator Nick Fuentes.

The controversy began last month when Carlson hosted Fuentes, a 27-year-old figure known for questioning Israel-United States relations and advocating for immigration restrictions, in a conversation that touched on topics ranging from Joseph Stalin to what Fuentes described as “organized Jewry in America.” Carlson himself called Christian Zionism a “brain virus” and a “Christian heresy.”

Roberts released a video days later defending Carlson, describing him as “a close friend of the Heritage Foundation” and denouncing what he called the “venomous coalition” attacking him, according to a report by The Guardian. 

He initially said that while he “abhors” Fuentes’s views, “canceling him is not the answer.” That defense drew swift criticism, particularly from Heritage’s own National Task Force to Combat Antisemitism, which accused Roberts of undermining the institution’s credibility.

On November 3, the task force’s co-chairs—Mario Bramnick, Victoria Coates, Ellie Cohanim, and Luke Moon—sent Roberts a letter outlining five demands and a “bonus” proposal. 

The group called on Roberts to remove the video defending Carlson, issue a formal apology to Christians and Jews who support Israel, and explicitly condemn antisemitism and Carlson’s “antisemitic content.” It also urged Heritage to host a conference on the “Groyper” movement to define the boundaries of acceptable conservative discourse and to hire a “Gen Z Whisperer” to engage young conservatives on Israel and Jewish issues.

As a gesture of goodwill, the task force proposed hosting Shabbat dinners with Heritage interns and junior staff “to promote conversation on the Judeo-Christian tradition with junior staff members and interns,” per a report by The Washington Times. 

In its letter, the task force warned that “if an agreement is not reached soon, the relationship between Heritage and the task force ‘will be irrevocably harmed,’” according to a report by Jewish Insider. 

Fuentes read the letter aloud on his livestream, mocking what he called “Jewish influence” on conservative institutions. “They want Heritage to delete the video, apologize, condemn Tucker, host a conference on why Groypers suck, hire a Generation Z ambassador to make Zoomers love Israel, and host a Shabbat dinner to vet all the young staff members,” Fuentes said. “If they don’t agree, Heritage will lose all its donors, its board members will resign, and Kevin Roberts will be fired.”

The fallout has been severe. The Times of Israel reported that at least eight individuals and organizations have resigned or suspended their participation in the task force, including the Coalition for Jewish Values, the Zionist Organization of America, and the Combat Antisemitism Movement.

The Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported that during a tense staff meeting on November 5, Roberts apologized, saying, “I made a mistake and I let you down and I let down this institution. Period. Full stop.” Several senior staff members reportedly questioned his leadership and called for his resignation.

José Niño is the deputy editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/JoseAlNino 

 

Nancy Mace Accused of Staging Rape Hoax, Hacking Phone to Extort Millions from Ex-Fiancé

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Nancy Mace Accused of Staging Rape Hoax, Hacking Phone to Extort Millions from Ex-Fiancé

(Ben Sellers, Headline USA) A new lawsuit accuses Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., of pushing a gang-rape hoax and spying on her ex-fiancé in order to extort him out of millions of dollars.

Mace’s former lover, Patrick Bryant, filed suit on Thursday in Charleston County, saying that she and another woman conspired to use the allegations to gain control of two homes worth about $6 million, the Daily Mail reported.

Mace also attempted to hack Bryant’s phone with a secret spying app and place a tracker on his car as part of the blackmail scheme, he alleged.

The suit accused Mace of defamation, invasion of privacy and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

“The only victim is Bryant,” the court filing said. “An innocent and respected businessman who has been falsely branded a rapist and voyeur.”

Mace notably shared her harrowing account of the alleged gang rape during a February speech on the House floor, while under protection of the “speech or debate clause.”

She claimed that Bryant and his friends drugged, molested and filmed several female victims, including herself.

“It’s almost as if Patrick Bryant is asking to write me another check,” Mace said in response to the lawsuit, according to WCSC.

“I just got him sanctioned in court,” she added. “And rape victim Jane Doe and I are still waiting on him to pay our legal fees after he weaponized the court against us.”

The Jane Doe she was referencing was a separate accuser who filed suit in May alleging she was sexually assaulted while incapacitated after she fell into a pool during a 2018 party.

Bryant’s lawyer was fined $33,456 for issuing subpoenas and deposing people without court permission.

According to Bryant’s new lawsuit, though, Mace and the party’s hostess, Melissa Britton, sought to persuade the “vulnerable” young woman of the assault.

“Unfortunately for Doe, she is a pawn in Mace’s and Britton’s elaborate scheme for their personal gain,” said the suit. “There is no video of an assault in that no assault took place.”

Britton claimed to have witnessed the assault on a home security system, although she did nothing at the time to report it.

Bryant also said that on the date of their breakup, Nov. 13, 2023, he found Mace searching his phone and later discovered that she had installed an application called Mr. Fone to extract and download his private information, including photos.

“Mace had previously admitted to searching Bryant’s laptop in violation of his privacy after he found the names of his ex-girlfriends in his search history and placing an air tag on his car tracking his locations while she was traveling internationally,” the suit alleged.

Mace then allegedly sent word through a political consultant, Wesley Donehue, that she would go public with the photographs if he did not relinquish any claim to two jointly owned properties in Washington, D.C., and Isle of Palms, S.C.

Bryant said that following the breakup Mace “flip-flopped between wanting to get back together and blackmailing him.”

The two were engaged for 18 months, starting in May 2022, but the relationship unraveled after Mace became “paranoid,” claiming she had found Bryant’s profile on the dating and hook-up site Tinder.

Mace, 47, has been divorced twice and is the mother of two children with her second husband, whom she divorced in 2019.

In August, she formally entered the crowded GOP field for the South Carolina gubernatorial race next year.

Ben Sellers is a freelance writer and former editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/realbensellers.

Gag Order in Charlie Kirk Assassination Case Violates Free Speech, Prosecution Argues

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Gag Order in Charlie Kirk Assassination Case Violates Free Speech, Prosecution Argues

(Ken Silva, Headline USA) At the first hearing for alleged Charlie Kirk assassin Tyler Robinson in September, 4th District Court Judge Tony Graf has issued a gag order on both the prosecution and defense—preventing them and any witnesses they want to use from speaking to the public.

Judge Graf’s order was broad, applying to “all witnesses, investigators, consultants, staff members, or other members of the prosecution or defense teams.” In fact, the order was so broad that prosecutors in the case are now arguing that it’s unconstitutional.

In a motion filed Thursday, Utah County Attorney Christopher Ballard argued that the order should only apply to witnesses being used by the prosecution and defense teams. Otherwise, the order risks jeopardizing the free-speech rights of the thousands of witnesses aren’t directly involved in the case, Ballard argued. The lawyer also said it’s practically impossible for the prosecution to comply with the order.

“To the extent the order is meant to extend to those who may have witnessed events associated with the case but are not subpoenaed as witnesses at trial, the preliminary hearing, or an evidentiary hearing—i.e., ‘trial participants’—it is also unconstitutionally overbroad,” Ballard argued in the motion, which was published by attorney Andrea Burkhart on her Substack account.

“There are more than 3,000 witnesses to the shooting. The order does not specify who it applies to—all who witnessed the shooting, may-call witnesses, or only will-call witnesses,” he added.

Ballard asked Judge Graf to limit the order to witnesses being used by the parties.

“The Court should issue a prior-restraint order that applies to lay witnesses only after making the requisite findings. If the Court issues a prior-restraint order applicable to lay witnesses, the State asks that the order only apply to those lay witnesses who are subpoenaed to trial, preliminary hearing, or other evidentiary hearing, and the order include when it applies, how the parties can satisfy the order, and which statements are restricted,” he added.

Judge Graf’s gag order is just one of the secrecy measures being imposed in the Kirk killing case.

As Headline USA has reported, both the prosecution and the defense want to prohibit cameras from the courtroom. The Utah County Sheriff’s Office has also requested cameras to be banned.

Additionally, the prosecution was allowed to file a secret motion in its dispute over whether Robinson will be allowed to wear street clothes during court proceedings (Judge Tony Graf ruled in favor of Robinson days later). The parties had a secret hearing over that dispute on Oct. 24, and now they further want to keep the transcripts and minutes from that hearing secret, the Salt Lake Tribune reported Thursday.

According to the Tribune, the coalition of 14 news organizations is pushing for transparency.

Additionally, Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, spoke in favor of televising the proceedings in her recent interview with Fox News host Jesse Watters.

Robinson’s next hearing is set for Jan. 16. He has yet to enter a plea.

Ken Silva is the editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.

Last Monkey On the Loose after Mississippi Highway Crash is Captured After Being Spotted By Resident

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Last Monkey On the Loose after Mississippi Highway Crash is Captured After Being Spotted By Resident

(Headline USA) ​​ The last monkey on the loose among several that escaped after a Mississippi highway crash has been found and captured, authorities said Thursday.

A resident who lives near the crash site called authorities to report the animal’s location and it was then “successfully recovered,” the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks said in a statement to The Associated Press.

It was the last monkey on the loose from the Oct. 28 crash when the truck overturned on Interstate 59. Five monkeys were killed as law officers hunted for them in the immediate aftermath of the crash. Video from officers’ body-worn cameras showed a chaotic scene as monkeys that escaped from their wooden crates dashed around the grassy interstate median, with some running toward cars and semis on the interstate.

Two other monkeys that eluded officers at the crash site were later shot and killed by civilians, who said they were protecting their families and neighborhoods. Officials had warned residents not to approach the Rhesus monkeys, saying they are known to be aggressive.

The last monkey on the loose was found Wednesday afternoon near a home in the Vossburg area, just east of where the truck had wrecked. Brandy Smith saw the monkey when her dog started barking, she told WDAM-TV. Her neighbors called 911. Workers from one of the companies that had been transporting the truckload of monkeys across the country arrived to tranquilize the monkey, Smith said.

The monkeys had been housed at the Tulane University National Biomedical Research Center in Louisiana, which routinely provides primates to scientific research organizations, according to the university. Tulane has said it wasn’t transporting the monkeys and they do not belong to the university.

PreLabs, which describes itself on its website as a biomedical research support organization, said in a statement that the animals were being lawfully transported to a licensed research facility. It said the monkeys weren’t carrying any known diseases. Thirteen of the monkeys that were not killed arrived at their original destination last week, according to Tulane.

The escape is the latest glimpse into the secretive industry of animal research and how contracts demanding confidentiality prevent the public from knowing key facts about studies involving animals.

 

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press. 

Powerful Iowa Judge Charged with OWI After Witnesses Say She Drove Wrong Way on Highway

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Powerful Iowa Judge Charged with OWI After Witnesses Say She Drove Wrong Way on Highway

(Headline USA) ​​ A powerful Iowa judge has been charged with operating a vehicle while intoxicated after witnesses say she drove the wrong way on a highway Tuesday night while passed out behind the wheel.

Adria Kester, chief judge of the state’s Second Judicial District, was released from the Boone County Jail on Wednesday morning, court records show.

A criminal complaint said motorists called 911 after 8 p.m. on Tuesday night to report a truck slowly driving eastbound in the westbound lanes on U.S. Highway 30 near Boone. One of the witnesses reported the driver looked unconscious and slumped over the steering wheel, and drove into the highway median.

The complaint said a witness got out of their vehicle to check on the driver but could not open the door, and the vehicle was still slowly moving in the median. The witness told police she had to climb in the back window to put the 2026 GMC Canyon Denali truck in park and shut it off.

A deputy with the Boone County sheriff’s office said he found Kester in the driver’s seat appearing to be heavily intoxicated and unsteady. He wrote that Kester, 55, of nearby Ogden, could not walk on her own and was assisted to an ambulance for treatment.

After she was cleared by medical services, Kester still could not walk and refused to answer whether she would be willing to undergo field sobriety testing, according to the complaint. The deputy wrote in the complaint that he also determined it would not be safe to conduct those tests given her condition.

A warrant was issued to obtain a sample of Kester’s blood at the Boone County Hospital. She was arrested for first offense operating while intoxicated and booked into jail around 4 a.m.

County Sheriff Andy Godzicki said the blood specimen would be shipped to a state crime laboratory for testing. He said he was glad that no one was injured in the incident.

“This is a tough situation for both the Kester family and the sheriff’s office,” he said, adding that he had instructed his staff to treat the judge the same as any other suspect.

Kester pleaded not guilty in a court filing submitted Wednesday afternoon by her attorney, Matt Lindholm, who is considered one of the state’s top lawyers for defending against drunk driving charges.

“Judge Kester recognizes the seriousness of the situation and is fully cooperating with law enforcement and the judicial process,” Lindholm said in a statement. “She is committed to addressing this matter responsibly and in accordance with the law.”

Steve Davis, a spokesperson for the Iowa Judicial Branch, said the court system was aware of Kester’s arrest but could not comment since it was “a pending case and a personnel matter.” He said the seven-member Judicial Qualifications Commission investigates allegations of misconduct by Iowa judges, and can recommend the retirement, discipline or removal of a judicial officer to the Iowa Supreme Court.

A judge ordered Kester released without bond after an initial court appearance Wednesday morning. The judge also ordered her to submit to a substance abuse evaluation and follow any recommendations for treatment in the next 30 days.

Iowa Chief Justice Susan Christensen appointed Kester chief judge in the district, which includes 22 counties in northern and central Iowa and is the largest geographically in the state, in December 2022. In that role, Kester supervises hundreds of judges and court employees in the district and presides over cases.

Kester had been appointed as a district judge by Gov. Kim Reynolds in 2017 after serving as a prosecutor and criminal defense lawyer.

Kester’s judicial position quickly complicated the criminal proceedings against her.

One district associate judge recused herself from the case Wednesday due to her “professional relationship” with Kester. Christensen later signed an order requiring that a judge from another district be appointed to handle the case. Judge Gregory Brandt was later designated.

The Boone County Attorney’s Office also cited a conflict in asking the court to appoint the Polk County Attorney’s Office as a special prosecutor.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press. 

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