Mangione Tells Reporters He Was Framed as Pelosi Theories Abound Online

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Mangione Tells Reporters He Was Framed as Pelosi Theories Abound Online

(Headline USA) In a dramatic new wrinkle in a case that has rivited the media cycle with shocking twists and turns, the suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO appeared to suggest outside a Pennsylvania courthouse that he had been framed for the brazen public murder, which took place in midtown Manhattan last week.

Luigi Nicholas Mangione struggled with deputies and shouted Tuesday while arriving for his court appearance, a day after he was arrested at an Altoona McDonald’s.

The 26-year-old Ivy League graduate emerged from a patrol car, spun toward reporters and shouted something partly unintelligible referring to an “insult to the intelligence of the American people” while deputies pushed him inside.

During the arraignment hearing, Mangione made several additional statements, according to CNN reports.

While many of the statements confirmed existing reporting, he also said the $10,000 in cash he had when apprehended was not his and must have been planted on him.

The claim emerged as conspiracies had begun to pick ups team online linking the accused killer to former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

Some unverified social-media reports claimed that UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson may have been prepared to testify against Pelosi for insider trading.

It was noted that after the leading U.S. insurer suffered a cyberattack earlier this year, Pelosi promptly invested in the cybersecurity firm Palo Alto Networks, which shortly thereafter was contracted to investigate the attack on the network.

Mangione hails from a prominent Maryland real estate family, which is where Pelosi originated. Her father, Thomas D’Alesandro, was a mayor of the city and was suspected of having Mafia ties.

At the brief hearing, defense lawyer Thomas Dickey informed the court that Mangione will not waive extradition to New York but instead wants a hearing on the issue. Mangione was denied bail after prosecutors raised concerns about public safety and a potential flight risk.

Mangione, wearing an orange prison jumpsuit, mostly stared straight ahead at the hearing, occasionally consulting papers, rocking in his chair or looking back at the gallery. At one point, he began to speak to respond to the court discussion but was quieted by his lawyer.

Although innocent until proven guilty, speculation has flown over the motives that the well-to-do 20something with a bright future might have had for jeopardizing his livelihood.

His social-media posts, and the accounts of friends suggested that Mangione may have suffered a debilitating back injury that limited his physical activity—including sexual intercourse—and caused him excruciating pain at times.

A law-enforcement bulletin obtained by the Associated Press said the suspect likely was motivated by his anger with what he called “parasitic” health insurance companies and a disdain for corporate greed.

He wrote that the U.S. has the most expensive health care system in the world and that profits of major corporations continue to rise while “our life expectancy” does not, according to the bulletin, based on a review of his hand-written notes and social media posts.

Mangione called “Unabomber” Ted Kaczynski a “political revolutionary” and may have found inspiration from the man who carried out a series of bombings while railing against modern society and technology, according to the police bulletin.

Mangione remained jailed in Pennsylvania, where he was initially charged with possession of an unlicensed firearm, forgery and providing false identification to police. Manhattan prosecutors have obtained an arrest warrant, a step that could help expedite his extradition from Pennsylvania.

Mangione was arrested in Altoona, Pennsylvania—about 230 miles west of New York City—after a McDonald’s customer recognized him and notified an employee, authorities said.

Officers found him sitting at a back table, wearing a blue medical mask and looking at a laptop, according to a Pennsylvania police criminal complaint.

He initially gave them a fake ID, but when an officer asked Mangione whether he’d been to New York recently, he “became quiet and started to shake,” the complaint says.

When he pulled his mask down at officers’ request, “we knew that was our guy,” rookie Officer Tyler Frye said.

Images of Mangione released Tuesday by Pennsylvania State Police showed him pulling down his mask in the corner of the McDonald’s while holding what appeared to be hash browns and wearing a winter jacket and beanie.

In another photo from a holding cell, he stood unsmiling with rumpled hair.

New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said Mangione was carrying a gun like the one used to kill Thompson and the same fake ID the shooter had used to check into a New York hostel, along with a passport and other fraudulent IDs.

NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said Mangione also had a three-page, handwritten document that shows “some ill will toward corporate America.”

A law enforcement official who wasn’t authorized to discuss the investigation publicly and spoke with the Associated Press on condition of anonymity said the document included a line in which Mangione claimed to have acted alone.

“To the Feds, I’ll keep this short, because I do respect what you do for our country. To save you a lengthy investigation, I state plainly that I wasn’t working with anyone,” the document said, according to the official.

It also had a line that said, “I do apologize for any strife or traumas but it had to be done. Frankly, these parasites simply had it coming.”

Some social media accounts on Tuesday claimed to have obtained a manifesto.

Pennsylvania prosecutor Peter Weeks said in court that Mangione was found with a passport and $10,000 in cash, $2,000 of it in foreign currency. Mangione disputed the amount.

Thompson, 50, was killed Wednesday as he walked alone to a Manhattan hotel for an investor conference. Police quickly came to see the shooting as a targeted attack by a gunman who appeared to wait for Thompson, came up behind him and fired a 9 mm pistol.

Investigators have said “delay,” “deny” and “depose” were written on ammunition found near Thompson’s body. The words mimic “delay, deny, defend,” a phrase used to criticize the insurance industry.

From surveillance video, New York investigators determined the shooter quickly fled the city, likely by bus.

A grandson of a wealthy, self-made real estate developer and philanthropist, Mangione is a cousin of a current Maryland state legislator.

Valedictorian at his elite Baltimore prep school, he went on to earn undergraduate and graduate degrees in computer science in 2020 from the University of Pennsylvania, a spokesperson said.

“Our family is shocked and devastated by Luigi’s arrest,” Mangione’s family said in a statement posted on social media late Monday by his cousin, Maryland Del. Nino Mangione. “We offer our prayers to the family of Brian Thompson and we ask people to pray for all involved.”

From January to June 2022, Luigi Mangione lived at Surfbreak, a “co-living” space at the edge of touristy Waikiki in Honolulu.

Like other residents of the shared penthouse catering to remote workers, Mangione underwent a background check, said Josiah Ryan, a spokesperson for owner and founder R.J. Martin.

“Luigi was just widely considered to be a great guy. There were no complaints,” Ryan said. “There was no sign that might point to these alleged crimes they’re saying he committed.”

At Surfbreak, Martin learned Mangione had severe back pain from childhood that interfered with many aspects of his life, from surfing to romance, Ryan said.

Mangione left Surfbreak to get surgery on the mainland, Ryan said, then later returned to Honolulu and rented an apartment.

Martin stopped hearing from Mangione six months to a year ago.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

Man Who Flipped Mississippi Red, Handed Jimmy Carter the Presidency Dies at 96

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Man Who Flipped Mississippi Red, Handed Jimmy Carter the Presidency Dies at 96

(Headline USA) Clarke Reed, a Mississippi businessman who developed the Republican Party in his home state and across the South starting in the 1960s, died Sunday at his home in Greenville, Mississippi. He was 96.

Reed was chairman of the Mississippi Republican Party from 1966 to 1976, beginning at a time when Democrats still dominated in the region.

During the 1976 Republican National Convention, delegates were closely divided between President Gerald Ford and former California Gov. Ronald Reagan.

Reed united the Mississippi delegation behind Ford—a move that created a decadeslong feud with William D. “Billy” Mounger, another wealthy businessman who was prominent in the Mississippi Republican Party.

Reed recalled in a 2016 interview with The Associated Press that delegates faced considerable pressure. Movie stars visited Mississippi’s 30 delegates to push for Reagan, and Betty Ford called on behalf of her husband.

Reagan met twice with the Mississippi delegation—once with his proposed running mate, Pennsylvania Sen. Richard Schweiker—and once without, according Haley Barbour, who was executive director of the Mississippi Republican Party in 1976 and served as the state’s governor from 2004 to 2012.

“Everybody was coming to see us,” Reed said. “These poor people had never seen this before, the average delegate.”

Mississippi delegates were showing the stress at a meeting away from the convention floor in Kansas City, Reed said.

“I looked out, and about half of them were crying,” he said.

Reed initially supported Reagan, but said he moved into the Ford camp because he thought Reagan made “a hell of a mistake” by choosing a more liberal northeastern running mate in a gambit to win support of the unpledged Pennsylvania delegation.

“In my opinion, Reagan was the best president of my lifetime. I didn’t know that then,” Reed said in 2016. “And had he been elected with Schweiker, he might’ve gotten a bullet one inch over and Schweiker would’ve been president.”

Ford won the party nomination during the convention, then lost the general election to Jimmy Carter, the Democratic former governor of Georgia.

Reed was born in Alliance, Ohio, in 1928, and his family moved to Caruthersville, Missouri, when he was about six months old. He earned a business degree from the University of Missouri in 1950.

He and Barthell Joseph, a friend he had met at a high school boarding school, founded an agriculture equipment business called Reed-Joseph International, which used technology to scare birds away from farms and airports.

Republican U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi said Monday that Reed was “a mentor, supporter and advisor to me for over 56 years.” Wicker said he was 21 when Reed put him on the Republican Platform Committee in 1972.

“There is no more significant figure in the development of the modern day Mississippi Republican Party than Clarke Reed,” Wicker wrote on social media. “Our state has lost a giant.”

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

DHS Agent Busted for Selling Bath Salts w/ His Confidential Informant

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DHS Agent Busted for Selling Bath Salts w/ His Confidential Informant

(Ken Silva, Headline USA) A Department of Homeland Security special agent in Utah was arrested last week for selling bath salts that may have been stolen from DHS facilities.

A criminal complaint unsealed Monday alleges that the agent, David Cole, worked with one other DHS agent as well as a confidential informant as part of an apparent conspiracy to distribute bath salts, also known as alpha-pyrrolidinohexiophenone, or Alpha-PHP—a potent drug said to mimick the effects of cocaine, methamphetamine, and MDMA. The other DHS agent has yet to be arrested but has had his credentials suspended, while the confidential informant is cooperating with the FBI.

Both Cole and the other agent worked for DHS’s lead investigative unit, Homeland Security Investigations.

According to the complaint, the HSI arrested confidential informant in April 2022. While he was in prison, Cole and the other agent recruited him as their informant.

Cold and the other agent had their informant conduct “controlled buys” from suspected drug dealers as part of legitimate HSI investigations. But they also permitted their informant to sell drugs on the street, so long as they paid them $5,000 for roughly 25 grams of bath salts.

“COLE and PERSON A instructed CS1 to sell the bath salts to contacts CS1 had in the community, with an understanding that the bath salt product could be resold for approximately $10,000. COLE and PERSON A permitted CS1 to keep the $10,000 when he had completed the sale,” the FBI’s complaint states.

“According to [the informant], from in or about April 2024 to present [the informant], COLE, and [the other DHS agent] have been conducting these unlawful drug deals once or twice a week within the District of Utah, usually arranging the time and place of the meet via an encrypted messaging application called Signal,” the complaint states.

“Based on an average of one or two drug buys per week, involving 25 grams of bath salts and the amount of $5,000 each buy, it is estimated that COLE and PERSON A have profited approximately $150,000 to $300,000 in illegal proceeds.”

The complaint further reveals the possibility that the drugs sold by Cole and his informant may have been taken from DHS evidence lockers—at least that’s what the informant told the FBI.

“The FBI is still in the process of corroborating this allegation, but according to DHS information, PERSON A appears to have evidence custodian duties at HSI,” the complaint states.

In October, the informant’s defense attorney contacted the FBI about the illegal drug dealing. From there, FBI agents had the informant conduct eight “controlled buys”—five with Cole and three with the other agent— as part of their sting operation against the DHS agents.

Last week, FBI agents executed search warrants on Cole and the other agent, seizing apparent bath salts, more than $67,000 in cash, and other evidence, according to the complaint.

Cole remains in detention and has a preliminary hearing Friday. He faces up to 20 years imprisonment and a $1 million fine.

Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.

REPORT: Police in Mass. City Let Officers Engage in Sex w/ Suspected Prostitutes

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REPORT: Police in Mass. City Let Officers Engage in Sex w/ Suspected Prostitutes

(Headline USA) The police department in Worcester, Massachusetts, allowed officers to engage in sexual contact with women suspected of being involved in the commercial sex trade, according to a report the U.S. Justice Department released Monday following a two year investigation.

The 41-page report also found that the police department used excessive force, including the unjustified uses of tasers and police dogs and strikes to the head.

The findings raised concerns that the department engages in racially discriminatory policing, according to Justice Department officials.

Worcester, the state’s second-largest city with a population of about 207,000, is located 50 miles west of Boston.

“Excessive force and sexual misconduct at the hands of officers who took an oath to serve and protect deeply diminishes the public’s trust in its sworn officers,” acting U.S. Attorney Joshua Levy for the District of Massachusetts said in a written statement.

“The actions by certain officers who engaged in this conduct are not a reflection of the many hard working and ethical officers at the WPD who did not engage in such misconduct,” he said.

Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said the department looks “forward to working with city officials to institute reforms that build on their own preliminary efforts but that will fully bring an end to these unlawful and unconstitutional practices.”

Brian T. Kelly, a lawyer representing the police department, said police and city officials have cooperated with the federal investigation. He called the report “unfair, inaccurate and biased.”

“Instead of identifying individual officers who could—and should—be prosecuted if these serious allegations were true, DOJ has prepared a report by civil lawyers with no prosecutorial experience which makes incredibly broad allegations but fails to identify a single corrupt officer,” Kelley said in a written statement.

“The report is riddled with factual inaccuracies and ignores information provided by the city which debunks many of the anonymous claims,” he added.

A representative of Worcester City Manager Eric Batista said he expects to release a statement in coming days.

The report found that Worcester police officers “rapidly escalated minor incidents by using more force than necessary” including during encounters with people who have behavioral health disabilities or are in crisis—a violation of the Fourth Amendment.

The report also includes what investigations describe as “concerns about some credible reports that officers have sexually assaulted women under threat of arrest and engaged in other sexual misconduct; and concerns that WPD lacks adequate policies and practices to respond to and investigate sexual assaults by officers and others.”

Engaging in sexual contact while undercover as part of official investigations violates the 14th Amendment’s due process clause, according to the report.

The report makes a series of recommendations from improving training on the use of force, requiring officers to report misconduct, mandate the use of body-worn cameras and require supervisors to review footage to monitor officer performance.

The report also calls on the police department to provide training about permissible investigative techniques to enforce laws about buying and selling sex, including a complete prohibition on engaging in sexual contact for law enforcement purposes.

The Justice Department opened the investigation on Nov. 15, 2022.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

Wisc. Republicans Sue to Force Gov. to Follow Federal Law on Trump Electors

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Wisc. Republicans Sue to Force Gov. to Follow Federal Law on Trump Electors

(Headline USA) Wisconsin Republicans have filed a lawsuit seeking a court order to resolve a discrepancy between state and federal law about what date the state’s presidential electors must meet to cast Wisconsin’s 10 Electoral College votes for President-elect Donald Trump.

State law calls for the electors to meet on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December, which this year is Dec. 16. But federal law requires the meeting to be the first Tuesday following the second Wednesday, which is Dec. 17 this year.

The Wisconsin Republican Party asked in the lawsuit filed Friday in U.S. District Court seeking an order that the electors follow federal law and cast their votes on Dec. 17.

The lawsuit argues that the state law requirement is unconstitutional, unenforceable and therefore should be declared void.

“If the presidential electors do not follow federal law for when they must cast their votes, then those votes could be contested,” the lawsuit contends.

The Republican-controlled Wisconsin Legislature, recognizing the conflict, attempted to bring the state into compliance with federal law with a bill last session. The Senate passed it 31-1, but it never got a vote in the Assembly.

The lawsuit was filed against Gov. Tony Evers, Attorney General Josh Kail and Wisconsin Elections Commission Administrator Meagan Wolfe. Spokespeople for all of them declined to comment.

The new day for electors to meet was included in a federal law passed with bipartisan support in 2022 that overhauled the rules for certifying the results of a presidential election in response to the Jan. 6 uprising and Trump’s failed challenge to the highly disputed 2020 election outcome.

Fifteen states had updated their laws to come into compliance with the new federal law by mid-October, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

The Electoral Count Act updated an 1800s-era law that governs, along with the U.S. Constitution, how states and Congress certify electors and declare presidential election winners. The law clarifies that the vice president’s role presiding over the count is only ceremonial and that he or she cannot change the results.

It also sets out that each state can only send one certified set of electors after Trump’s allies had unsuccessfully tried to put together alternate slateselectors in Wisconsin and other swing states where President Joe Biden was certified the winner even while challenges were ongoing.

Although there was precedent for doing so—dating back to at least the 1960 election, when Hawaii’s alternate electors helped swing the outcome for Democrat John F. Kennedy in a razor-thin election—corrupt Democrat prosecutors have tried to prosecute Trump allies in several states. Reports indicate that Democrats had also planned to send alternate electors in the event of a disputed election in which Trump won.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

Red States Roll Out Plans to Aid Trump’s Mass Deportation Effort

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Red States Roll Out Plans to Aid Trump’s Mass Deportation Effort

(Headline USA) As President-elect Donald Trump assembles his administration, Republican governors and lawmakers in some states are already rolling out proposals that could help him carry out his pledge to deport millions of people living in the U.S. illegally.

Lawmakers in a growing number of states are proposing to give local law officers the power to arrest people who entered the country illegally.

Other legislation filed ahead of next year’s legislative sessions would require local law enforcement agencies to notify federal immigration officials when they take someone into custody who is in the country illegally, even if the charges have nothing to do with their immigration status.

Though not specifically requested by Trump, many of the state proposals would complement his immigration policies.

“We would be finding people who are in violation of this law, and we would be sort of hand-delivering them to the nearest port of deportation so that they could be removed in a safe and orderly fashion,” said Missouri state Sen. Curtis Trent, who is sponsoring one of the proposals.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security estimates that 11 million unauthorized immigrants were living in the U.S. as of 2022, the latest statistics available. While campaigning, Trump talked about creating “the largest mass deportation program in history” and called for using the National Guard and domestic police forces in the effort.

Some Democratic-led states already are raising resistance. The California Legislature has convened a special session to try to shield people from potential Trump policies, including by boosting legal aid for immigrants facing deportation.

Lawmakers in numerous states are likely to try to thwart or cooperate with Trump’s immigration agenda, Tim Storey, CEO of the National Conference of State Legislatures, said Monday.

In Missouri, Trent’s bill would empower local law officers to arrest people for a new state crime of “improper entry by an alien,” punishable by a fine of up to $100,000 and a court-ordered ride to the U.S. border.

A separate bill by Missouri state Sen.-elect David Gregory would offer a $1,000 reward to informants who tip off police about people in the country illegally and allow private bounty hunters to find and detain them.

Missouri’s Republican Gov.-elect Mike Kehoe hasn’t endorsed a specific legislative plan after campaigning against illegal immigration and the scourge of fentanyl smuggled across the U.S. border. But he told The Associated Press: “If they’re here illegally, it definitely should trigger something more than it does now.”

Immigrant advocacy groups already are raising alarm about some state proposals. Missouri’s proposed bounty system would “create absolute chaos and division,” said Ashley DeAzevedo, president of American Families United, which advocates for U.S. citizens married to foreign nationals.

More than 4 in 10 voters said most immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally should be deported to the country they came from, according to AP VoteCast, a survey of more than 120,000 voters in this year’s election.

That’s up from about 3 in 10 in 2020. More than half of voters said most immigrants in the U.S. illegally should be offered a chance to apply for legal status, down from about 7 in 10 who said this in 2020, according to AP VoteCast.

Many Republicans point to Texas as a model for immigration enforcement. Its $11 billion Operation Lone Star program has erected razor wire and other barriers along the Mexican border, stationed state troopers and Texas National Guard members in border towns and bused thousands of migrants to Democratic-led “sanctuary cities” such as New York, Chicago, Denver, Philadelphia and Washington.

Texas law officers also have made tens of thousands of arrests, including many for trespassing on private property.

Tom Homan, Trump’s “border czar,” visited Texas last month and said its border security tactics can be a model for the Trump administration. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s office confirmed that it’s been in regular contact with Trump’s team about strategies.

Following Texas’ lead, Republican-led legislatures in Iowa, Louisiana and Oklahoma passed measures allowing law officers to arrest people who are in the U.S. illegally.

Shortly after Trump’s election, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt announced he was working on a plan to deport some of the more than 500 immigrants currently in Oklahoma prisons who are not legal citizens.

Arizona voters last month also approved a ballot measure letting local police arrest migrants suspected of illegally entering from Mexico, though it won’t kick in until a similar law in Texas or another state has been in effect for 60 consecutive days.

Other Republican state measures seek to boost cooperation between local law officers and federal immigration officials.

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox recently announced an initiative to improve coordination with federal officials to identify undocumented immigrants in the state’s criminal justice system and turn them over for deportation.

Cox said there will be “zero tolerance” for “those who demonstrate a threat to public safety while in the country illegally.”

A Georgia law enacted earlier this year requires jailers to check the immigration status of inmates and apply to help enforce federal immigration laws.

The measure gained traction after the murder of nursing student Laken Riley. A Venezuelan man who had entered the U.S. illegally was convicted of killing her and sentenced to life in prison.

North Carolina’s Republican-controlled legislature last month overrode a veto by Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper to enact a law directing sheriffs to comply with federal immigration agents’ requests to hold inmates.

That came after several Democratic sheriffs from urban counties refused to cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Other Democratic governors dealing with Republican-led legislatures are pushing back against the potential for sweeping deportation plans. Democratic Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly said she supports deporting people who commit crimes while living in the U.S. illegally, but she won’t send out the National Guard to help enforce federal immigration laws.

Democratic Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, who also faces a Republican-led Legislature, said undocumented immigrants “are a really important part of our economy” in sectors such as agriculture and manufacturing.

“Trying to move them out of the country is irrational,” Evers said. “So, we’ll do whatever we can to avoid that.”

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

REPORT: Average American Household Has More than $10,000 in Credit-Card Debt

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REPORT: Average American Household Has More than $10,000 in Credit-Card Debt

(Carleen Johnson, The Center Square) The average American household credit card balance as of the third quarter of 2024 was about $10,757 after adjusting for inflation, according to a new study.

The personal-finance website WalletHub onFriday released its new Credit Card Debt Study, which found that consumers added $21 billion in debt during the third quarter of 2024.

Early results for the fourth quarter of the year showed preliminary data for October at a new record high for credit-card debt in the month, in absolute terms.

“Even though that third-quarter increase was 31% smaller than last year’s and total debt is just 3% above where it was last year after adjusting for inflation, we are still in fairly dangerous territory,” WalletHub editor John Kiernan wrote.

WalletHub writer & analyst Chip Lupo responded via email to follow-up questions from the Center Square.

Those early Q4 results showing record high credit card debt for October are alarming-do we know what’s driving that at all? 

“The record-high credit card debt in October 2024 reflects a 3% year-over-year increase after inflation adjustments, driven by rising interest rates, holiday spending and lingering economic pressures. While Q3 debt growth slowed compared to 2023, total debt remains high at $1.29 trillion, signaling potential challenges ahead for consumers,” said Lupo.

Has WalletHub done any analysis of how much credit card debt the average American puts on during the holidays? 

“While we didn’t analyze this specifically, WalletHub found that holiday budgets this year range from just over $200 to more than $4,000, depending on factors such as income, existing debt, and cost of living,” said Lupo.

Any advice on balance transferring to avoid interest? 

“Transferring your credit card balance to a low or 0% APR card can be a smart way to save money and pay down debt faster. When considering a balance transfer, focus on cards offering 0% introductory APRs with promotional periods up to 21 months. Such offers significantly reduce interest payments, provided you can pay off the transferred balance before the regular APR kicks in. Remember, most cards charge a balance transfer fee of about 3%, though some will waive this fee entirely. Calculating these costs upfront is crucial to ensure the move saves money,” said Lupo.

With holiday spending in full swing, many Americans are expected to add to credit card debt before the end of the year…

“Nearly half of Americans still have debt from the holidays from last year,” said Lupo. “The fact that people are still paying off debt from last holiday season makes you wonder if they are going to fall into that trap again or are they cutting back because of last year’s debt?”

Sixty-eight percent of WalletHub respondents said Santa will be less generous this year because of inflation. And about a third said they’ll spend less on holiday shopping this year compared with 2023.

Ga. Woman Dies in Wreck w/ Bomb Squad Responding to Marjorie Taylor Greene Swatting

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Ga. Woman Dies in Wreck w/ Bomb Squad Responding to Marjorie Taylor Greene Swatting

(Kim Jarrett, The Center Square) A Georgia woman died in a wreck with a member of the Rome Police Department’s bomb squad that was responding to a bomb threat at U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s residence on Monday, the congresswoman said.

Greene said she was “sick to her stomach” and angry about Monday’s incident, which cost the life of 66-year-old Tammie Pickelsimer.

“These violent political threats have fatal consequences. It’s an undue strain on our law enforcement who must treat them seriously,” Greene said in a social media post. “The officer was responding to protect my life. And now, a woman has lost her life because of this despicable act.”

Police have been called to Greene’s Rome home several times for false alarms that have required a police response, a practice known as swatting. Greene said earlier this year that she had been swatted eight times.

A man pleaded guilty in July to making threats against Greene. Sean Patrick Cirillo is awaiting sentencing on a charge of transmitting interstate threats, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Cirillo is accused of making threatening calls to Greene’s Washington office.

Greene said the incident on Monday should have never happened.

“The perpetrator of this crime has committed murder in our small community of Rome, Georgia,” Greene said. “The police shouldn’t have to respond to these threats and there should not be deaths caused at their hands.”

A new law that took effect in Georgia on July 1 upped the penalty for a first swatting conviction from a misdemeanor to a felony, punishable with a penalty of five to 10 years in prison and up to $100,000 in fines. A second clause would require anyone convicted to pay restitution for any damage caused during the incident.

Greene said the threatening email was traced to a Russian IP address.

“Due to the international nature and severity of this threat, my office is collaborating closely with local and federal law enforcement, including the FBI, to ensure the perpetrator is brought to justice,” she said.

Two eastern European men were arrested late last month in connection with several high-profile swattings that occurred last December and January. However, more were reported after the fact, including those targeting several of President-elect Donald Trump’s recent Cabinet and staff selections.

It was unclear if the crimes were connected.

BREAKING: 82-Year-Old Mitch McConnell Suffers Nasty Fall at Capitol Hill

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BREAKING: 82-Year-Old Mitch McConnell Suffers Nasty Fall at Capitol Hill

(Ken Silva, Headline USA) Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., reportedly received medical attention Tuesday after he fell following a Republican lunch meeting.

“He was spotted walking back to his Capitol office followed by a medical team and escorted by Senate Republican Conference Chair John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), who hosted the lunch meeting,” The Hill reported.

“Barrasso told a senator that McConnell had fallen after the lunch, shortly before his weekly press conference. The Hill saw multiple McConnell staffers rush over from their office towards the luncheon area after his fall. A medical team transporting a wheelchair was spotted following McConnell into his office.”

Sen. John Thune later told reporters that the 82-year-old McConnell was “fine,” according to Reuters.

McConnell has suffered several medical episodes in recent years.

In August 2023, he stopped his remarks mid-sentence and stared off into space for several seconds.

McConnell’s apparent medical episode occurred at a Covington, Kentucky presser, after a reporter asked him if he plans to run for reelection in 2026.

“What are my thoughts about what?” he asked once, prompting the report to reiterate his question. McConnell then stared off into space for about 30 seconds. He did field two more questions before exiting stage right.

That troubling August 2023 episode came about a month after a July 26, 2023, press conference in Washington DC, where he appeared to freeze up and stared vacantly for around 20 seconds. His colleagues in Republican leadership, who were standing behind him and could not see his face, grabbed his elbows and asked if he wanted to go back to his office.

McConnell was also hospitalized in March 2023, after he tripped at a DC hotel.

His seemingly declining health has constituents calling for his resignation before he’s up for reelection in 2026.

Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.

‘Bad Faith’: Rupert Murdoch Loses Bid to Keep Fox News Right-Wing

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‘Bad Faith’: Rupert Murdoch Loses Bid to Keep Fox News Right-Wing

(Julianna Frieman, Headline USA) Media mogul Rupert Murdoch reportedly lost his bid Saturday to change his family’s trust in order to safeguard Fox News’s production of right-wing content from his leftist children.

Nevada Commissioner Edmund J. Gorman Jr. ruled against Murdoch’s attempt to give son Lachlan Murdoch, who is already in charge of Fox News and News Corp., full control of the company, according to sealed court documents obtained by The New York Times.

The 93-year-old’s company will be divided equally among his four eldest children—Lachlan, James, Elisabeth and Prudence—when he dies, the outlet reported.

The commissioner claimed Murdoch acted in “bad faith” when he tried to untangle his family trust plans, according to the outlet.

In his ruling, Gorman called Murdoch’s attempt to change his family trust a “carefully crafted charade” intended to “permanently cement Lachlan Murdoch’s executive roles” in the company “regardless of the impacts such control would have over the companies or the beneficiaries” of the family trust, the outlet reported.

Murdoch and his son, Lachlan, were not pleased with the ruling and plan to appeal, one lawyer for the pair reportedly said.

Murdoch’s other three eldest children issued a statement following Gorman’s ruling, according to the outlet.

“We welcome Commissioner Gorman’s decision and hope that we can move beyond this litigation to focus on strengthening and rebuilding relationships among all family members,” they wrote.

While Murdoch initially considered Lachlan, James and Elisabeth as potential successors, he landed on Lachlan in 2019. However, the family trust complicated his choice, the outlet noted.

James and Elisabeth reportedly have more left-leaning politics than their brother, Lachlan, whose leadership is more likely to support the right-wing editorial slant of Fox News.

Julianna Frieman is a freelance writer published by the Daily Caller, Headline USA, The Federalist, and the American Spectator. Follow her on Twitter at @JuliannaFrieman.

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