In a viral social media video, teacher Darius Williams described breaking down in class after discovering that some of his high school seniors could not complete an exercise requiring them to fill in just four missing words.

“These kids are leaving high school and going to college, hopefully, and they couldn’t fill in four words. Four words. I literally broke down in the middle of class. This is only day two, and I have seniors who simply cannot read and seniors who cannot write,” the teacher, Darius Williams, said in a reel on Instagram.

“They can reason. They have the ability to defend their reasoning if it’s talking to their homeboy, but applying that to a written text, two paragraphs, and they couldn’t do it,” he added.

BlazeTV host Jason Whitlock is disturbed, but not surprised.

“High school seniors could not fill in four words,” Whitlock says. “Not calculus, not philosophy, four words. A grown man wept on camera because the next generation cannot read. That is not a school story. That is a funeral for the mind.”

Whitlock points out that "enslaved black men and women once risked the whip, the auction block, and death for the ability to read.”

“Literacy was contraband. Freedom. A free mind started with a page you were not supposed to touch,” he says.

What slaves understood back then is something “this generation pretends not to know.”

“The man who controls your access to words controls your access to God, to law, to contracts, to your own name on a document,” Whitlock says.

“Now, too many black Americans treat reading like optional equipment. Something you outsource to a phone, a caption, a clip, or a machine that summarizes so you never sweat through a hard paragraph,” he says. “That is not progress. That is a people walking backward into dependence and calling it culture.”

“We used to bleed for the page. Now we scroll past it and get offended when a teacher cries about the wreckage,” he adds.

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Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass (D) triumphantly shared the results of a poll released last week showing that she enjoyed a 50%-39% lead over Councilwoman Nithya Raman (D) ahead of the Nov. 3 mayoral runoff.

Bass tweeted an image of herself beside a graphic of the poll results and wrote, "Doing the work, showing up, and gaining momentum. Let's do this, LA!"

'The mayor’s campaign promoted a fake poll without properly vetting the source.'

Unfortunately for the Democrat, the poll — said to have been based on a survey of 560 L.A. voters between July 30 and Aug. 5 — was entirely fake, reported the Los Angeles Times.

The outfit behind the poll, which calls itself Median Strategies, announced on its website that it has "concluded its polling project and will not publish additional polls. All previously published polling releases have been withdrawn and should not be cited or treated as genuine polling data."

"Median Strategies was created as a short-term social experiment examining how purported polling information could enter and spread through the political information ecosystem without independent verification," added the bogus pollster.

The fake pollster went the distance with its so-called "social experiment" in the Bass race, providing some additional fake details and even analysis.

It claimed, for instance, that of the 16% of respondents who previously voted for Spencer Pratt, over 85% were planning to vote for Bass in the general election, reported the Times.

RELATED: Socialist who hates America loses in Wisconsin after voter data mishap

Eric Thayer/Los Angeles Times/Getty Image

Median Strategies noted, "Faced with a choice between the incumbent and a Democratic Socialists of America-aligned challenger, most Pratt voters appear to be treating Bass as the more familiar, more moderate option rather than sitting out the race."

An archived version of the outfit's now-scrubbed website provides further evidence of the fakers' commitment to the ruse.

Under the heading "How We Poll," Median Strategies said its releases are "built on a documented sampling frame, a mixed-mode interview process, and a transparent weighting scheme. We publish our methodology alongside every release so you can evaluate our numbers the same way we do."

Unlike Bass, Pratt wasn't fooled, writing on Friday in response to the California Post's reporting on the fake results, "LOL you think my voters are going to vote for the crying carpetbagger in charge of homelessness who 'found' 40K votes on Skid Row 7 days after the election?"

Blaze News has reached out to the California Post for comment.

The Bass campaign has demanded that consequence be visited upon those who so badly bruised their egos.

"This poll was reported on by a news outlet," a spokesperson for the Bass campaign told the Times. "Any bad faith attempts to influence elections should be investigated and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."

A spokesman for Raman's campaign criticized Bass for pushing the fake poll, telling KTLA-TV, "The mayor’s campaign promoted a fake poll without properly vetting the source."

"It is the latest example of an administration that too often struggles to get the basics right — from posting about a pothole repair before the pothole was fixed to repeatedly giving Boyle Heights residents a Lineage cleanup deadline that the company now disputes," continued Raman's campaign. "Angelenos deserve a mayor who gets the facts right, communicates clearly, and does the work before announcing the result."

According to the Politics & Poll Tracker, one of the many accounts on X that shared but has since deleted fake polling from the outfit, Median Strategies had also released fake survey results regarding other races.

For example, Median Strategies allegedly released a poll in the Nevada governor's race showing that Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo was leading Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford (D) 51%-46%. Recent polling from apparently legitimate outfits have Lombardo leading Ford by at least seven percentage points.

Median Strategies also released a poll on the Wisconsin governor's primary race showing the white-hating democratic socialist Francesca Hong with a 23-point lead over Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley. Crowley won the Democratic nomination in a tight election last week.

Median Strategies alleged that no one involved with its faking polling operation "received compensation or financial benefit from the project, and the project was not funded, commissioned, or directed by any candidate, campaign, political party, PAC, media organization, or other outside entity."

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For years, Washington has asked the same question about Mexico: Can we count on our southern neighbor as a serious security partner? Increasingly, the answer appears to be yes.

Much of the change runs through Omar García Harfuch, Mexico’s secretary of security and citizen protection. Under President Claudia Sheinbaum, Harfuch has emerged as one of the most important officials in Mexico — and perhaps the Mexican official who matters most to American security.

The United States does not need a subordinate in Mexico. It needs a capable neighbor that shares our interest in destroying the criminal organizations threatening both our countries.

Americans have good reason to pay attention.

The United States and Mexico share a 2,000-mile border and one of the world's largest trading relationships. Yet security cooperation has too often failed to reflect how intertwined the two countries have become. Cartels built multinational criminal enterprises. Fentanyl poured north. American weapons and illicit money moved south. Mutual suspicion kept Washington and Mexico City from confronting those problems as effectively as they should have.

That appears to be changing.

Harfuch has built something Washington desperately needs: trust.

American law enforcement officials increasingly speak of Mexico as a partner. DEA Director Terry Cole has publicly discussed his communication with Harfuch. FBI Director Kash Patel has met with him as cooperation between the two countries has expanded. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has praised Mexico's efforts against organized crime.

More important than the rhetoric are the results.

Mexico has transferred major cartel figures to American custody. Mexican security forces have expanded operations against organized crime. The Sheinbaum government has deployed forces to the border and worked more closely with American agencies on narcotics trafficking, intelligence, and cartel networks.

For Washington, Harfuch's appeal is straightforward: He understands American concerns, and he acts on them.

That does not make him an American proxy. It makes him an effective Mexican official who recognizes a basic geopolitical reality: The United States and Mexico face many of the same enemies.

The cartel selling fentanyl in Dallas or Phoenix may also be extorting businesses and murdering civilians in Mexico. Neither country can defeat these organizations while treating the border as the end of its responsibility. Washington should keep pressing for measurable results against fentanyl production, cartel finances, and cross-border criminal networks.

Harfuch seems to understand that better than many of his predecessors.

Consider the recent dispute over American avocado inspections in Michoacán. Security concerns disrupted U.S. inspection operations in one of Mexico's most important agricultural regions. Mexico responded by deploying more than 1,500 federal personnel while officials worked with Washington to restore operations.

Avocados may seem far removed from national security. They aren’t.

RELATED: Mamdani’s one-word border answer said it all

Michael Nagle/Bloomberg/Getty Images

Organized crime has penetrated legitimate industries across parts of Mexico, using extortion and violence to profit from ordinary commerce. When American inspectors cannot safely do their jobs, cartel violence becomes an American economic problem too.

The response illustrated the Harfuch approach: Identify the problem, work with the Americans, and deploy the resources necessary to address it.

Washington should encourage more of this, particularly on fentanyl.

The drug has devastated American communities and made Mexican cartel activity a domestic American security issue. Washington is right to demand aggressive Mexican action against the organizations producing and transporting it.

Mexico has legitimate concerns of its own. American firearms move south. Drug money crosses the border and flows through financial institutions. Cartels exploit weaknesses in both countries.

The answer is not another round of diplomatic finger-pointing. It is sustained cooperation among American and Mexican law enforcement, intelligence, and financial authorities.

That requires trusted people on both sides. Harfuch has increasingly become that person for Washington.

His rise is particularly significant because close security cooperation with the United States remains politically sensitive in Mexico. Elements of the Mexican left have long viewed such ties with suspicion. Harfuch has nevertheless shown that working with Washington does not require surrendering Mexican sovereignty.

In fact, the opposite is true.

RELATED: Rapists and child molesters arrested by ICE as deportations continue

Blake Fagan/AFP/Getty Images

A Mexican government capable of dismantling criminal organizations, protecting businesses, and imposing the rule of law across its territory is more sovereign, not less. Cartels that control territory and intimidate public officials pose a far greater threat to Mexican independence than intelligence cooperation with Washington ever could.

Sheinbaum deserves credit for recognizing that and empowering Harfuch. The Trump administration should recognize the opportunity as well.

Washington should remain demanding. Mexico still faces enormous problems with organized crime, corruption, and violence. Cooperation should not be confused with complacency. The United States should continue pressing for measurable results against fentanyl production, cartel finances, and cross-border criminal networks.

But American foreign policy also needs to recognize progress when it occurs.

For years, the U.S.-Mexico security relationship was defined by mistrust. Today there are signs of something different: two governments recognizing that they have more to gain by confronting shared threats together than by blaming each other for them.

The United States does not need a subordinate in Mexico. It needs a capable neighbor that shares our interest in destroying the criminal organizations threatening both countries.

In Omar García Harfuch, America may finally have found that partner.

Seven days after the Benghazi attack, Barack Obama went on David Letterman’s “Late Show.”

The date was September 18, 2012. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans were dead. The Obama administration was under mounting pressure to explain what had happened. The election was less than two months away, and the administration’s account — that the attack had grown out of a spontaneous reaction to an anti-Islam video — was already under scrutiny.

We live in an age when everything is supposedly recorded forever. Yet political memory remains remarkably fragile.

So Obama went on Letterman. Naturally.

That was one of the more striking moments in A.J. Rice’s recent “Dangerous Laughter” conversation with Drew Thomas Allen, author of “Clinton Hoax, Obama Coup: The Declassified Story of the Trump-Russia Delusion.”

Allen’s larger argument is that the political and intelligence controversies that exploded around Donald Trump in 2016 did not begin with Trump. To understand Russiagate, he says, you have to work backward through the Obama years, Benghazi, Hillary Clinton, and the intelligence community.

But the Letterman story is where the story gets genuinely strange.

Allen says that while researching his book, he found references to Obama’s Letterman appearance in material connected to the Benghazi investigation. Finding the actual interview proved harder. According to the discussion, only a small portion of the September 18 appearance remains readily available online, while the section dealing with Obama’s explanation of Benghazi is the part that is difficult to locate.

Rice notes that plenty of Letterman interviews from the same period remain online. That makes the absence conspicuous.

The missing footage does not tell us who removed it, why it vanished, or whether anyone deliberately removed it at all. Television archives are messy. Rights change hands. Old clips disappear for mundane reasons. Rice and Allen themselves discussed trying to obtain a complete copy or transcript rather than treating the missing footage as evidence of a conspiracy theory.

That is exactly the right standard. But it leaves a remarkable question: Why is a presidential interview, important enough to surface in the Benghazi record, so difficult to watch today?

Rice’s hypothesis is compelling: The interview has been “memory holed.”

RELATED: Task forces won’t cut it. Trump needs a truth commission.

EtiAmmos/Getty Images

The phrase comes from George Orwell’s “1984.” Winston Smith works at the Ministry of Truth, rewriting old records until yesterday’s reality conforms to today’s political narrative. The original disappears down the memory hole.

The metaphor works because political narratives harden into history with astonishing speed. A politician says something. Television repeats it, newspapers amplify it, commentators argue about it. Eventually, millions of people remember the story without remembering where the story came from.

Years later, the interpretation survives while the primary source becomes harder to find.

That’s the key to Allen’s argument, which treats Benghazi as an earlier chapter in a much longer political story. Obama was running for re-election on a record that included the killing of Osama bin Laden and the broader claim that his administration had confronted the terrorist threat. Then an American ambassador was killed in a terrorist attack weeks before Election Day.

That was plainly a political problem for the White House. What followed — the administration’s public explanation, the congressional investigations, and years of argument over what officials knew and when they knew it — became part of the larger history Allen wants readers to reconstruct.

His book moves from Benghazi through Clinton, the FBI, CIA, the Steele dossier, and ultimately Russiagate. A reader need not accept every conclusion to accept his basic challenge: Go back to the documents. Examine the original evidence. Do not mistake the version that became conventional wisdom for the record itself.

And that is where Letterman becomes more than a footnote.

Rice makes a larger point about comedy. Historically, the comedian played court jester: the figure permitted to mock the king, puncture pretension, and say what ordinary people could not. Aristophanes mocked politicians. Molière mocked the establishment. Comedy was supposed to make powerful people sweat.

Rice contends that Letterman had moved away from that role. In his telling, Obama was not entering a hostile room where a comic might spring an uncomfortable question. He was entering a friendly television environment where he could address a political crisis on favorable terrain.

That criticism can be overstated. Political comedy has always had sympathies and enemies. But the underlying standard is sound: If the comedian’s social function is to challenge power, the test should not change with the party holding it.

RELATED: Obama calls Benghazi attack a ‘wild conspiracy theory.’ Benghazi hero decimates him.

Scott Olson/Getty Images

And the timing is important. This was not a president chatting about his golf game. Obama appeared on a comedy program one week after an American ambassador and three other Americans had been killed, while his administration was under pressure to explain the attack and he was campaigning for another term.

Now the most politically relevant portion of that appearance is apparently the hardest part to find.

That should make historians, journalists, and ordinary citizens curious — not conspiratorial, curious.

We live in an age when everything is supposedly recorded forever. Yet political memory remains remarkably fragile. Archives move. Clips disappear. Context separates from quotation. Eventually, the easiest version of the story becomes the version everyone remembers.

That is the real reason the Letterman episode is worth pursuing. It does not prove Allen’s larger case. It does not prove deliberate suppression. It demonstrates why citizens should insist on access to the original evidence whenever possible.

If the full interview exists, produce it. If there is a transcript, publish it. If it truly has disappeared, somebody should find out why.

The memory hole is dangerous precisely because, once the source is gone, all that remains is somebody else’s version of what was on the other side.

A simple traffic stop led police to a massive trove of evidence that could implicate a 44-year-old man in the alleged murders of at least four women.

Eugene Horsch was pulled over in June by officers and found to be in possession of a fraudulent Drug Enforcement Agency identification, thousands of dollars' worth of drugs, and two illegal guns.

One troubling piece of evidence found was a handwritten note about the notorious serial killer Ted Bundy.

His passenger also had a fake identification bearing the name of Blair Tonzelli, a missing woman.

Police searched Horsch's home on West Chew Avenue in the Olney section of Philadelphia and found evidence that two women reported missing had been at the home. They also found files showing the two women dead, according to police.

The bodies of the two missing women, Maribel Fresses and Gabrielle Amarando, have not been found.

Fresses had been missing since 2018, and Amarando had been missing since 2012.

Officers are sifting through the massive amount of evidence that includes 600,000 images, 70,000 videos, and more than 10,000 pages of writings, manuscripts, and drawings.

Investigators also found a fake identification for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, an illegal gun, gun parts, five urns with possible human remains, "120 pieces of ballistic evidence," and a marijuana growing operation.

Police are testing 20 containers of unknown substances seized from what they described as a basement laboratory.

"They're going through that house with a fine-tooth comb, if you will. I mean, they're going to be looking for the tiniest fragment of forensic evidence that can tie him to victims and missing persons," said former FBI agent JJ Klaver to WGAL-TV.

The home was also the last known location of another missing woman named Amy McHale. She disappeared in 2016, and her family believes something happened to her at the house.

RELATED: Police find suitcases with human remains surrounded by vultures — teen suspect left unbelievable evidence

Another troubling piece of evidence found was a handwritten note about the notorious serial killer Ted Bundy.

The man remains in custody as the search continues at the mysterious home in Olney.

Horsch's father, Raymond Charles Horsch, had also lived at the home before he died in 2025.

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When former Texas Children’s Hospital nurse Vanessa Sivadge witnessed her employer illegally use state funding to provide minors with transition procedures, she blew the whistle — and was fired for it.

“I was a nurse working in that multi-speciality clinic where ... gender patients were being seen on a weekly basis. So I had a firsthand view of what was going on, knew that the hospital was lying to the public,” Sivadge tells BlazeTV host Allie Beth Stuckey.

Despite first coming forward anonymously, she explains that “it was not anonymous to the Biden DOJ” because they sent two FBI agents to her home in July 2023.

“That encounter radically altered the trajectory of my life. It was something I’ll never forget. Very intimidating. A lot of threats made against me because of my views on transgender medicine and how children were being harmed,” she explains, adding that “Texas taxpayers were being billed fraudulently for gender hormones.”

“And people might not remember that at this time it was also illegal, not just the Medicaid fraud, but it was illegal for hospitals to be operating in this way. Not actual operations as in surgery but giving these, as you said, sex-rejecting hormones to children,” Stuckey chimes in.

“Texas had prohibited that. So they were not only committing Medicaid fraud,” she adds.

“Yeah, so the pattern very briefly was the hospital used fake names on the medical record. They used the patient’s preferred name, not their actual given name at birth. The hospital falsified medical records. They put the patient's preferred gender identity on the medical record instead of their biological sex,” Sivadge explains.

“Then, they misdiagnosed patients intentionally who were going through the gender clinic, misdiagnosed them for the purpose of obtaining reimbursement for the hormones they were prescribing,” she continues.

While Sivadge initially remained anonymous, she publicly came forward with her story in June 2024.

“You can imagine, my life changed overnight. I blew the whistle. One day I was a nurse, the next day the hospital had put me on leave. The story made national news when the video of the FBI was posted, and it was viewed millions of times in just a couple days,” she explains.

When firing her, the hospital claimed that she had “accessed records inappropriately.”

“Of course, the very same records that proved that they were committing fraud,” she adds.

Now, after two years of litigation that began over the fraud under the Biden DOJ, the hospital’s settlement with her and the Justice Department was finalized last week — and her name has been cleared.

“A couple of months ago, in May, it was initially announced that a $10 million settlement had been reached, including the establishment of America’s first detransition clinic, the firing of five physicians that had ... been a party to these procedures,” Sivadge tells Stuckey.

“So for the first time I was able to reveal that I was ... the whistleblower that forced Texas Children’s Hospital, that compelled them to pay $10 million back to the government because the government was defrauded,” she adds.

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President Trump signed an executive order last week reducing the number of recommended childhood vaccines from 18 to 11 and urging states with school-entry requirements to update their laws accordingly.

That should be a starting point, not an end point.

More coercion will deepen skepticism, not cure it.

Alabama is already closer to that model than most states. Its school-entry requirements rely on a narrower set of core vaccines and do not force hepatitis B vaccination for every student. Other states should treat the president’s order as the floor for vaccine freedom, not the ceiling.

The most immediate step is obvious: States can reduce school-entry requirements to match the new federal recommendations. Better still, they should eliminate those mandates altogether or, at minimum, make it much easier for families to opt out.

Coercion has no place in parental medical decisions. Public schools exist to teach reading, writing, and arithmetic. They should not condition access to a publicly funded classroom on a government-approved medical regimen.

Aligning state rules with the new federal baseline would be progress. But true parental authority requires going farther.

Forty-six states already allow religious exemptions from school vaccine requirements. Their broad existence also shows that states can preserve opt-outs without schools simply ceasing to function.

Religious exemptions should remain. But the principle should not end there.

Parents can have sincere nonreligious reasons for declining particular vaccines, whether because of personal medical history, concerns about a specific product, or objections to the schedule itself. Treating religious objections as legitimate while dismissing every other conscientious objection draws an arbitrary line.

States should therefore expand personal and philosophical exemptions as well. Families should not have to choose between access to public education and surrendering authority over their children’s medical decisions.

Idaho has already gone farther. Its Medical Freedom Act prohibits schools from imposing medical intervention mandates, including vaccine requirements, as a condition of attendance. Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo is pushing in the same direction, seeking to eliminate school vaccine mandates entirely in the Sunshine State.

Other lawmakers should study those models. The core principle is straightforward: Attending a government school should not require surrendering parental authority over a child’s body.

The burden of vaccine mandates also falls unevenly.

Affluent parents who object can more easily homeschool or move a child to a private school with different policies. Working families often have fewer options. They may be forced to comply, navigate exemption processes that demand time and paperwork they do not have, or keep a child out of the classroom.

RELATED: Fauci is yesterday’s fight. Medical freedom is today’s.

Adam Glanzman/Bloomberg/Getty Images

That creates a two-tier system in which families with the fewest resources have the least room to exercise meaningful choice.

Reducing mandates or broadening opt-outs would expand educational freedom precisely for the families who are most constrained by the current system.

None of this prevents families from vaccinating their children. Parents who want the full schedule remain free to choose it. The question is whether the state should force that choice on everyone else as the price of attending school.

Public trust in health institutions fell sharply after COVID. Rebuilding that trust will require transparent information, honest risk communication, and genuine freedom to say no. More coercion will deepen skepticism, not cure it.

President Trump’s executive order gives states a practical starting point.

Legislatures should use it: Reduce school-entry vaccine mandates to the new federal baseline, expand opt-outs beyond religious grounds, or eliminate the mandates entirely.

Parents, not bureaucrats, should decide what goes into their children’s bodies. States that move first can expand educational freedom while beginning the harder work of rebuilding public confidence through voluntary cooperation rather than compulsion.

The president's online rapid response team absolutely lambasted a CNN reporter who insinuated that President Donald Trump was having a romantic relationship with a younger staffer.

Senior White House correspondent Kristen Holmes asked the president about the suggestion made by Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) on Monday.

'These scumbags are the lowest of the low.'

"Jon Ossoff said you'd rather travel with your aide Natalie Harp than build the ballroom and do your job as president; what is your response?" Holmes asked.

"You mean Pee-wee Herman? Pee-wee Herman look-alike?" he responded about Ossoff.

"No, I would much rather do other things," Trump added. "We're building a great facility here. We're fixing a White House that hasn't been taken care of."

The Trump team responded more fully on social media to Holmes.

"[Kristen Holmes] is a disgraceful, humiliating embarrassment to her alleged profession. @POTUS hosts a hero lifeguard in the Oval Office and she uses it as an opportunity to take a cheap shot about one of President Trump's staffers. These scumbags are the lowest of the low," read the message."

40 minutes later, the team added a second insult.

"Someday, your children will come across your disgusting and inhumane question," the statement read. "They will be sickened and embarrassed to have a parent be so callous and vindictive. It’s quite troubling."

Alayna Treene, a fellow White House correspondent for CNN, defended her colleague.

"What a horrible to thing to say. Kristen is an incredible reporter, person and, above all, mother. I don't understand such a reaction to a journalist asking the president for his response to something a Democratic senator has leveled against him," she wrote.

Harp is the president's personal assistant.

RELATED: VIDEO: Trump says he will declare new US territory 'pretty soon' in the Middle East

Steven Cheung, the White House director of communications, also jumped into the fray.

"Jon Jackoff has to be the biggest cuck loser in politics," he posted on social media. "Instead of denigrating hard working people serving their country, Jon should look deep into his soul and ask himself why he's a miserable person who hates this country. It's because he's a radical, extremist Dumocrat."

CNN released a statement defending Holmes.

"Kristen Holmes is one of the most respected and accomplished journalists covering the White House. This afternoon, she did her job and asked the president of the United States a tough, relevant, and newsworthy question on behalf of the American people," read the CNN statement.

"Public officials are free to challenge reporting they disagree with, but personal attacks on journalists for asking questions are beneath the office and inconsistent with the principles of a free press," the channel added. "We stand firmly behind Kristen and reject these attacks in the strongest possible terms."

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The coaches for the Los Angeles Chargers football team showed their support for women's sports — at an event with a media company that promotes nonbinary athletes.

Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh joined in with offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel and their defensive coordinator to wear shirts reading, "EVERYONE WATCHES WOMEN'S SPORTS," photos posted to the team's social media account showed.

'Performative and absolutely irrelevant to Chargers football, isn’t it?'

The images came from the team's Women in Sports Day event on Sunday at training camp. The shirts are a promotion for Nike and Togethxr, an organization founded by four female sports stars.

Togethxr chief content officer Jessica Robertson said in 2021 that the group promotes and supports nonbinary athletes.

"We ... recognize that we are in a world without binary," Robertson said. "We wanted to make sure that this felt inclusive, so X is a nod to being in a postbinary world and celebrating that."

The group has a page at its website dedicated to LGBTQIA+ athletes.

Many sports fans mocked the team and called them out for the "performative" gesture.

"If it was true you wouldnt have to put it on a f**king T-shirt," read one response.

"Performative and absolutely irrelevant to Chargers football, isn’t it?" said one detractor.

"Literally no one I know watches women's sports. The numbers themselves objectively tell you that viewership is *incredibly* low compared to men's sports. What motivated these otherwise intelligent guys to wake up in the morning and be like 'I want my shirt to lie today'?" replied another.

"This is obnoxiously performative and unnecessary lol," said another critic.

"Pandering. Let me know exactly what women's sports you watched and when. We don't need this. Just be normal," read another response.

It was unclear whether the coaches knew they were promoting women's sports through a company that supports a "post-binary" world, though the team held a similar event with Togethxr in 2025.

RELATED: LA Times is getting vicious online backlash for bizarre headline on trans-identifying athlete

The Los Angeles Chargers did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Blaze News.

The kickoff for the newest NFL season is just weeks away.

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The House Ethics Committee announced an investigation into allegations that a congressman from California had "inappropriate sexual conduct" with a House staffer.

Democrat Rep. Jimmy Gomez of California had previously admitted that he had an extramarital affair but had also denied violating the rules of the U.S. House.

'I take full responsibility and have committed myself to working through the pain privately with my wife and family.'

Gomez made the admission after a CNN report unearthed the investigation into allegations that he had an inappropriate relationship.

"Years ago, I made personal mistakes outside my marriage that have caused real pain to my wife and family. Although my actions were consensual in nature and haven’t violated the law or House ethics rules, that doesn’t diminish the impact that these mistakes have made on those I care about the most," Gomez said at the time.

"I take full responsibility and have committed myself to working through the pain privately with my wife and family," he added. "I sought professional assistance to help re-center and heal the relationships that mean everything to me and move forward with the honesty, transparency, and respect that everyone deserves from the people they love. I continue to do this work."

The ethics panel said Monday that members of Congress are restricted from having sexual relations with House staffers.

Ironically, Gomez was one of the Democrats who called for the resignation of Eric Swalwell after he was also accused of inappropriate sexual behavior.

"My involvement in any campaign begins and ends with trust," he said at the time. "I cannot in good conscience remain in any role with this campaign, and I am stepping down from it effective immediately."

RELATED: Democratic lesbian Latina running for Congress accused by 4 women of unwanted sexual advances

Juliana Yamada/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images

The Democrat has represented California's 34th Congressional District since 2017.

Gomez is still accepting applications for internships at the website for his office.

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The 2028 presidential race may still be years away, but a Washington Post article reveals that Democrats are already gaming out their next candidate — and BlazeTV host Pat Gray isn’t impressed by much of the field.

Though he does think one of them could pose a problem for Republicans.

“Democrats recommended that South Carolina vote first in the Democrat process. That boosts black voters' representation in picking the nominee and Kamala Harris’ fortunes, given that the former vice president and 2024 nominee is probably the candidate on this list with the most support among black women,” Gray reads.

“She’s been rallying voters for the midterm elections by touting her controversial plan to abolish the Electoral College and add justices to the Supreme Court,” he continues. “Oh, that is — that can’t happen."

Gavin Newsom is also on the list, alongside Josh Shapiro, who Gray notes is “not going to make it because Democrats hate Jews.”

“They’re too anti-Semitic now,” he says.

Unsurprisingly, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez made the short list as well.

“Democrat socialists are having their own moment after helping New York City mayor become mayor. They and the broader progressive movement ousted longtime members of Congress in deep-blue cities and won a hard-fought primary in Michigan,” Gray reads from the Post article.

However, he notes that “she won’t say that Israel should be destroyed, so she’s not good enough for the DSA.”

Another potential candidate that Gray says is a “frightening possibility” is Mark Kelly.

“He’s a veteran, former astronaut,” he explains.

“We were told that this was Obama’s guy, that Obama wanted instead of Kamala in the beginning after Joe Biden dropped out,” Jeff Fisher chimes in, adding that he also has a bad case of “Trump derangement syndrome.”

“Then they have to mention, of course, Pete Buttigieg, because, well, you’d be homophobic if you don’t mention him,” Gray says.

“We don’t want to be homophobic, and neither does the Washington Post,” he says.

Also on the list is Gretchen Whitmer, who Gray says “nobody cares about” any more.

“She’s a nightmare,” Fisher says.

“I think she’s out,” Gray adds.

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A Florida man is facing felony charges after police say he hurled dog feces at his neighbor before the dispute escalated into a physical fight and an alleged threat involving a child’s metal scooter.

According to Law and Crime, citing a probable cause affidavit, a couple reported to police that they have had an "ongoing dispute" with their neighbor regarding dog feces being left on their respective driveways.

'There's two sides to this story.'

The husband told police that the dispute "escalated" when the neighbor, 35-year-old Trey Decloedt, entered the couple's home without their permission, the affidavit said, according to Law and Crime.

The affidavit said the neighbor informed detectives that Decloedt was "visibly irate" and had dog feces in his hand, the outlet continued.

Decloedt began yelling at the couple before he "intentionally threw dog feces" at the husband and struck him, the affidavit added, according to Law and Crime.

The outlet reported, "The husband reportedly shoved Decloedt back out of the home, under the carport, and a physical fight between the two men ensued."

The affidavit stated that Decloedt punched the husband in the face, then picked up a "child's scooter" and "raised the metal frame above his head in a menacing posture" while verbally threatening his neighbor, the outlet added.

Deputies with the Lake County Sheriff's Office said they responded to the residence in Leesburg, where they observed a red mark on the husband's forehead and "animal feces" on the outside of the neighbor's house.

RELATED: Florida man wearing bra, fake breasts, G-string gets busted — but what cops found moments later raised more alarms: Police

Police said Decloedt accused his neighbor of not cleaning up after his dogs.

According to WKMG-TV, Decloedt told officers, "I've complained about the dogs sh**ting in my yard. I said something to his old lady about it. She said she would pick it up. Four hours later, it was still there. I set it on the edge of the driveway right there."

Police said Decloedt claimed that he and his neighbors had a mutual understanding that they could enter each other's homes without knocking.

However, the neighbors reportedly disputed the open-door policy.

WKMG reported, "The victim produced a recording he sent to Decloedt in which the victim reportedly told Decloedt that he was no longer welcome in his home."

Decloedt said he went to his neighbor's home to address the dog poop allegations, Law and Crime reported. Decloedt told police that the neighbor shoved him first, which led to a physical fight.

"I mean, he scratched my neck all up when he grabbed me. There’s two sides to this story," Decloedt told officers, as seen on the police bodycam video.

Bodycam video shows an officer asking Decloedt to step outside of his home so police could photograph his alleged injuries but is seen on video refusing to come outside.

Police bodycam footage then shows officers arresting Decloedt.

Decloedt was hit with charges of burglary with battery, a first-degree felony; aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, a third-degree felony; and simple battery, a misdemeanor.

Decloedt was released from jail after posting $16,000 bond at around 3 p.m. on Aug. 9, according to jail records.

Decloedt is scheduled to appear in court at 8 a.m. on Aug. 31.

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The hits just keep on coming in a recent court case that relied on expert testimony.

Lawsuits stemming from a 2020 industrial disaster have had plaintiffs, family members, and defendants pointing fingers at each other, with varying results. However, a discovery in one of the lawsuits turned everything on its head in a matter of just a couple of hours.

'I have no idea how it works.'

Chat spat

The story comes from the Watson Grinding explosion that happened roughly six years ago in Houston, Texas.

A massive explosion killed three people and injured dozens, ABC 13 reported, due to faulty equipment. Federal authorities determined the explosion was caused by a "degraded and poorly crimped rubber welding hose" that leaked the flammable gas propylene throughout the building overnight.

Massive industrial company 3M was hired to inspect and maintain the gas detection systems that allegedly failed at Watson Grinding, leading to a huge lawsuit from victims against the company.

According to 404 Media, 3M hired one Josh Autenrieth from KnightHawk Engineering to prepare an expert witness report about the explosion. During questioning, one of the plaintiffs' lawyers noticed a document from the defense that appeared to have been AI generated, and according to the court transcript, he simply searched its content to find that Autenrieth's ChatGPT prompts were all available online.

"Well, do you realize, sir, that your chat right now is still publicly available?" the lawyer says in the transcript.

"I have no idea how it works," Autenrieth said in response.

The deposition was paused for three hours to gather all the prompts. This revealed a treasure trove of ChatGPT content that is still publicly available online, where Autenrieth had the AI develop his report nearly entirely.

"I am being retained as a professional expert witness by 3M in defense of them in their lawsuits," the first prompt read. "I need to create an expert witness report to defend 3M's standard of care for their work in calibrating and commissioning (return to operations / RTO) the iTrans gas detectors. I need to show that 3M met the standard of care and why."

RELATED: Wi-Fi. Microwaves. Electromagnetism. It's all connected — and so is the damage.

Prompt discovery

Shockingly, after uploading hundreds of documents for the chatbot to review, the user asked the AI to "show how 3M is 0% at fault for the explosion at watson grinding."

Unsurprisingly, the report draft concluded that "3M met the applicable standard of care" and was "0% responsible for the January 24, 2020, explosion."

Attorney Will Moye told 404 Media that the expert "relied on AI not as an assistive device, but exclusively relied on ChatGPT to form his opinions and write his report."

"He acknowledged [at trial] the prompts he put in were biased toward 3M to help 3M win the case […] it's really egregious,” Moye added.

It was also revealed through court documents that Autenrieth billed his company for at least 174 hours in the case. He said that he is salaried but that his work has a $475 per hour rate. This totals at least $82,650 of work.

RELATED: Harvard researchers just found out the dark truth about how to simulate the entire world

Ben Brewer/Bloomberg/Getty Images

AI OK

Nathan Knight, vice president of KnightHawk Engineering, told Blaze News in response that Autenrieth utilized AI as only a tool and stands behind his work. Knight further described isolated questions and excerpts from the trial as "fake news" that does not provide the complete story.

His comment, in full, is below:

AI is a tool that is used extensively in today's work environment, and its use will continue to increase as technology advances. Mr. Autenrieth utilized this technology as a tool to assist in reviewing questions, arguments, and counterarguments related to the case. AI did not replace his engineering judgment. Mr. Autenrieth developed and presented his own professional opinions and stands behind those opinions.

What has been presented is a selective and negative snapshot that, without the complete context, can fairly be characterized as "Fake News." Looking at isolated questions or excerpts does not tell the complete story of the analysis, the expert report, or what was ultimately presented in court.

The opposing side challenged Mr. Autenrieth's qualifications and attempted to prevent him from offering his opinions. Those challenges were unsuccessful, and Mr. Autenrieth was permitted to testify and present his professional opinions to the jury.

Technology continues to advance, whether we like it or not, and AI is here. Engineers and other professionals will increasingly use modern tools to assist them in their work. What matters is that the professional evaluates the information, exercises independent judgment, and takes responsibility for the opinions ultimately presented. Mr. Autenrieth did exactly that.

KnightHawk stands behind the professionalism and integrity of its engineers. We strongly disagree with any characterization suggesting that the selective use of AI excerpts somehow replaces or invalidates Mr. Autenrieth's independent engineering judgment or professional opinions.

Last week, a Harris County jury awarded $61.5 million to 24 plaintiffs in the case, one of several verdicts that have come against 3M.

In June 2025, $38 million in damages was awarded to five victims of the explosion, while another $118 million was awarded to seven victims in November 2025.

3M did not respond to Blaze News' request for comment.

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"Beloved" actress Hayden Panettiere died suddenly over the weekend at the age of just 36.

The shocking news comes after the performer, known for her starring roles across generations, was reportedly found dead by a friend on Sunday.

'She was an incredible light.'

'Unimaginable loss'

Panettiere, born in New York in 1989, passed away in South Carolina, her representatives have confirmed.

TMZ reported that the death came after emergency services responded to a call that came in for a person described as an "unresponsive female" who was in "cardiac arrest."

The Greenville Police Department confirmed to Variety on Monday there were no signs of "foul play or suspicious circumstances" and that "an acquaintance of Ms. Panettiere placed the 911 call."

The young actress' father, Alan "Skip" Panettiere, asked for privacy while mourning the death of his daughter.

The family is taking "time to process this unimaginable loss," he told ABC News.

"It is with profound sadness that we share the tragic passing of our beloved Hayden," Skip continued in a statement. "She was an incredible light and a force of nature who brought immeasurable love and joy to all who knew her — and to the millions who watched her onscreen."

RELATED: Family says 28-year-old Jansen Panettiere died suddenly of enlarged heart, Hayden Panettiere honors 'brilliant' brother

2015. Ray Tamarra/GC Images

Under investigation

The death is still under investigation, but if heart related, the young mother's passing will undoubtedly draw links to her brother's death that occurred in 2023.

That year, Panettiere's family revealed that her younger brother Jansen suddenly died from an enlarged heart; he was just 28.

Panettiere leaves behind one daughter, Kaya, whom she had in 2014 with her former fiancé Wladimir Klitschko.

Klitschko, 50, is a legendary former heavyweight boxing champion who was born in Kazakhstan. He is now involved with the Ukrainian military in relation to the Russia-Ukraine war.

RELATED: 'House' star Hugh Laurie responds to claims he supports men in women's sports: 'Firstly, f**k off'

2008. K Winter/TCA 2008/Getty Images for Fox

'Heroes' star was 36

Panettiere was a big hit as a child actor in 2000's "Remember the Titans" starring Denzel Washington. She went on to star in 73 episodes of "Heroes" between 2006 and 2010 and 124 episodes of "Nashville" as Juliette Barnes from 2012 to 2018.

The actress was also a voice artist for the video game series Kingdom Hearts spanning from 2002 to 2012.

Panettiere was just days away from her birthday; she would have turned 37 years old on Friday.

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While many fans are enjoying the return of NFL preseason, others are watching strictly in hopes of seeing some athletes injured over their political preferences.

One unfortunate scene unfolded at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on Saturday when the first-string quarterback for the New York Giants got blasted by a Minnesota Vikings defensive player.

'The Trump-loving piece of s**t better get used to this kind of treatment.'

Jaxson Dart was preparing to launch the football when safety Jay Ward crashed into the quarterback and laid him out on the field.

Dart was ordered to be assessed for a possible concussion after the big hit but later returned to his position. He responded by scoring a touchdown soon afterward.

Many online, however, took glee in Dart taking the massive hit after the Utah native introduced President Donald Trump at a rally in May.

"Every defense in the NFL knows Jaxson Dart is MAGA. The Trump-loving piece of s**t better get used to this kind of treatment — because he can expect it ALL SEASON LONG," responded social justice musician Bill Madden.

"Damn MAGA QB Jaxson Dart just got popped," replied liberal activist Harry Sisson.

"Donald Trump's favorite quarterback was knocked out the 1st preseason game since he attended a rally. Add Jaxon [sic] Dart to the [Everything Trump Touches Dies] list," laughed another user.

"Jaxson Dart just had the MAGA knocked out of him," joked another account.

"He may have actually gotten more MAGA knocked into him seeing as every mashed potato brained CTE ridden retired athlete becomes outspokenly MAGA," read one reply.

RELATED: Christian NFL star apologizes for reference to kids' game that likely left LGBTQ crowd seething

Giants head coach John Harbaugh blamed the breakdown in offensive protection for the hit on his star quarterback and also questioned the rationale for putting Dart in concussion protocol.

Some players seemed upset that Dart had shown support for the president, but others on the team quickly came to his defense and rejected suspicion that he had divided the locker room.

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BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales has been on a tear in Texas, exposing alleged H-1B visa program fraud and collecting scalps along the way.

After flagging numerous potential fraudulent operations, prompting Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) to take legal action, Gonzales teamed up with U.S. Department of Labor Inspector General Anthony D’Esposito.

'This was a total scam.'

Together, they paid a visit to Mohammad Abbas, a Dallas resident suspected of scamming foreigners with the promise of H-1B visa sponsorship and/or green cards.

"This right here is everything that's wrong with H-1Bs," Labor Department Inspector General D’Esposito told Gonzales outside the office door of Abbas' Molabs Media.

"This is why fraud is taking away American jobs from American workers."

D'Esposito implored individuals involved or victimized by the alleged scheme to get in touch with the Labor Department, noting that "whistleblowers are protected."

Abbas clearly did not appreciate all the attention.

When Gonzales showed up at Abbas' office with D'Esposito and a folder brimming with damning evidence earlier this month, the alleged fraudster's door was covered and went unanswered.

"Mohammad, you can run but you can't hide," said Gonzales, "because all of the information that we have was quite literally handed over to the inspector general of the Department of Labor. I'm sure the investigators over there are going to have a field day with this."

"The walls are closing in, Mohammad. Tick-tock," added the BlazeTV host.

RELATED: A new threat on American streets: Inside the rise of Indian gangs

The DOL’s Office of Inspector General is undertaking a massive crackdown on H-1B visa program abuse.

A spokesperson for the Department of Labor told Blaze News, “The Department of Labor OIG’s H-1B fraud investigation is active, expanding, and aggressive. We have issued subpoenas, executed search warrants, and are following the evidence wherever it leads.”

“We are ramping up resources and coordinating closely with acting Secretary [Keith] Sonderling and the White House Fraud Task Force to identify, expose, and dismantle fraudulent employers, brokers, and networks that exploit the H-1B system and steal American jobs,” continued the spokesperson. “Deportation authority belongs to DHS, not DOL. Our job is to build the cases. When we uncover fraud, we work with our federal partners to pursue every appropriate criminal, civil, and immigration consequence.”

Thanks to Gonzales’ investigation, the DOL has the scent of a potential fraud scheme in Dallas.

Gonzales and her team received multiple complaints about Abbas from separate purported victims claiming to have shelled out small fortunes in hopes of securing legal status to live and work in the United States.

"These people were charged thousands of dollars for this," said Gonzales. "One of the victims even said he paid $60,000, but the sponsorship never came through."

While stiffing desperate people is bad enough, Gonzales emphasized that it is "illegal to take payment from people to sponsor them for visas."

Not only is it unlawful for a would-be employee to pay outright for a sponsorship, as D’Esposito told Gonzales, it is illegal for the employer to offset H-1B costs by lowering the prospective employee's salary or demanding reimbursement.

Gonzales noted that Abbas owns multiple companies — including Molabs Media, which has lost the right to transact business in the Lone Star State, and HiTech Network Solutions — which appear to cite the same Dallas corporate suite as their headquarters.

According to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services' H-1B Employer Data Hub, these organizations sponsored H-1B visas in recent years. The organizations, which appear to have recently scrubbed their team webpages, also received hundreds of thousands of dollars in PPP loans that were later forgiven, according to ProPublica’s “Tracking PPP” database.

After trying unsuccessfully multiple times early in her investigation to reach Abbas at his home or office, Gonzales finally got ahold of him by phone and asked him about the alleged scheme.

Abbas — who allegedly runs some funds through a bank account in Pakistan and who, according to his LinkedIn, was educated in Bangladesh — denied that he was selling green cards and visas, claiming instead that he sells "Indian concerts."

This claim doesn't appear to hold water.

Gonzales identified a woman named Rachel Samuel — who purports on LinkedIn to be the business development manager for Abbas' Molabs Media LLC and has in recent years sought potential H-1B candidates for various roles — as the apparent recruiter and point of contact for individuals allegedly trying to buy green cards or visas from Abbas.

In one alleged text exchange between one of Abbas' alleged victims and Samuel, who launched her own visa-sponsoring tech company whose right to do business in Texas has been terminated, Samuel appears to state, "Basically we can do 5 payments Once a month without getting flagged," adding, "Anything over 30K will be flagged by IRS."

One of the purported victims alleged to Gonzales that he touched base with Abbas' crew, discussed different payment options, and finally agreed to pay an initial sum of $2,500 for his sponsorship, which he claims to have deposited into Abbas' local bank account.

After hearing nothing back from Abbas' outfit, the victim alleged that they notified him that they had put his name in the H-1B lottery — even though he allegedly paid on the understanding that they would endorse him under a different visa program — and were now expecting him to pay another $4,000 to close the deal.

"I mean, this was a total scam," said the victim.

Blaze News reached out to Mohammad Abbas and Rachel Samuel's attorney for comment but did not receive a response.

Gonzales told Blaze News, “Let this serve as a warning to all the people committing H-1B fraud. I'm not stopping until you've all gone back home or are locked up.”

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After quietly calling off her engagement 18 months ago, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) is pushing back against the idea that women should have children young, arguing that pressure to settle down early can lead women into relationships with men who don't respect or support them.

“A lot of these people who pressure women into having kids at a young age or trying to create hysteria around being too old, etc. What they’re trying to do is rush you into having a relationship with a loser,” AOC said in a rant on Instagram.

“By a loser, I mean someone who doesn’t respect women, someone who doesn’t respect you, someone who doesn’t treat you well, someone that doesn’t support your growth,” she added.

But BlazeTV host Allie Beth Stuckey notes there’s a crucial distinction between telling women to settle and acknowledging the biological realities of fertility.

“I don’t know if she’s trying to passive aggressively talk about her ex-fiance. Certainly, no one would accuse them of rushing into anything,” Stuckey comments, noting that the pair were together for “like 15 years.”

However, Stuckey doesn’t totally disagree with AOC.

“I certainly have not given that advice that you should just settle down and marry whoever comes along. I am so glad that I waited until I knew without a doubt that this is the person that I wanted to be with for the rest of my life, and I didn’t have any doubt in my mind,” she says.

“I recommend that if you are a Christian woman, that you find a Christian man who loves the Lord with all of his heart, mind, soul, and strength, and who loves you, has the same values as you, who will cherish you,” she continues.

However, what AOC does seem to be saying that Allie disagrees with is that “you can’t possibly find that person young and settle down young without settling for some kind of misogynist.”

“I mean, that’s just crazy,” Stuckey says.

“We’re just pointing out that biology is real. It is real. It’s not paranoia. It’s just wisdom,” she adds.

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The race to win one of two U.S. Senate seats from Alaska is getting much tougher for Democrats after the campaign for their candidate was tossed into turmoil.

Just days before the primary election, candidate Mary Peltola has lost an influential political adviser and campaign manager.

'Her campaign is already imploding as Alaskans are reminded of her out-of-touch liberal agenda.'

The campaign confirmed Sunday that Anton McParland was no longer on the team, according to the Alaska Story, and other staffers are rumored to have left as well.

The campaign has not indicated if McParland left or was terminated, but the loss of a campaign manager days before the important primary election is never a good indicator.

Peltola has been previously rumored to be belligerent and abusive to her staff, but it's unclear if those allegations had anything to do with the staff shake-up. Peltola also made headlines and received some ridicule after the campaign appeared to reject an endorsement from failed Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris.

Recent polling shows Peltola with a slight lead of 1.6 percentage points over incumbent Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan, but that is well within the margin of error. The unique jungle primary system in Alaska means the top four candidates will go on to the general election, meaning multiple Republicans or multiple Democrats could advance.

Chris Gustafson, the communications director for the Senate Leadership Fund, mocked the "Saturday Night Massacre" at the Peltola campaign.

RELATED: Jasmine Crockett DUMPS on Talarico's US Senate campaign in Texas — and brings receipts

"We're only a week into Senate Leadership Fund's efforts to expose Mary Peltola, and her campaign is already imploding as Alaskans are reminded of her out-of-touch liberal agenda," said Gustafson in a press release statement.

"[New York Senate Minority Leader] Chuck Schumer and Washington Democrats have taken the wheel of Peltola's floundering campaign, proving once again that Peltola answers to her party bosses — not the people of Alaska," he added.

The Alaska primary is Tuesday. If Peltola is unable to secure the seat in November, it would significantly imperil the Democrats' hopes of retaking the Senate.

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The foundation created and led by Prem Reddy is in a bit of hot water.

Reddy's Prime Healthcare Foundation owns and operates a hospital in Mission, Texas, called Mission Regional Medical Center. On July 7, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott directed the Texas Health and Human Services Commission to launch an investigation into Mission Regional over allegations that it engaged in a birth tourism scheme.

'Federal prosecutors have been directed to "bring illegal birth tourism to an end" by prosecuting both those who engage in such conduct and those who solicit it.'

Abbott accused Mission Regional of advertising "BIRTH PACKAGES IN SOUTH TEXAS" in foreign countries in "an apparent effort to profit from securing United States citizenship for their children."

"American citizenship is not for sale, and Texas will not permit our health care system to be used as a magnet for birth tourism," stated the governor.

In its subsequent letter to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, the Texas Health and Human Services Commission highlighted reports that billboards promoting the alleged scheme were spotted in Mexico. The billboards reportedly referred would-be birth tourists to "havemybabyinTexas.com."

While the website appears to have been taken down, an archived version lists two hospitals as participants in the alleged scheme: Mission Regional and Knapp Medical Center in Weslaco — another Texas-based hospital owned by Reddy's foundation.

RELATED: Justice Department STRIPS citizenship from female migrant who helped run DISTURBING business

Antranik Tavitian/Bloomberg/Getty Images

Karen Ray, chief counsel for the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, said in the letter to Paxton, "Such birth tourism schemes not only exploit the extraordinary privilege of American citizenship, but also frequently involve 'lies about the purpose or duration of one’s travel to the United States.'"

"Accordingly, federal prosecutors have been directed to 'bring illegal birth tourism to an end' by prosecuting both those who engage in such conduct and those who solicit it for visa fraud, wire fraud, money laundering, misuse of identification, identity theft, and health care fraud," continued Ray. "While the allegations concerning Mission Regional Medical Center and Knapp Medical Center may not be identical to the schemes described above, they are equally troubling."

The HHSC referred the matter to Paxton, who confirmed on July 29 that he was investigating the two hospitals.

"My office will investigate any suspected illegal birth tourism schemes in Texas, including the operations of two South Texas hospitals that appeared to advertise birth tourism on a billboard near the border," said Paxton. "My office will continue to hold accountable any entity that knowingly facilitates fraud in our state."

Mission Regional chalked up the controversy to a misunderstanding.

A spokesman for the hospital said in a statement to Blaze News, "We recognize that a very limited marketing campaign may have caused unintended misunderstanding and was immediately discontinued. The campaign was meant to highlight services available to the communities we serve and was never intended to encourage any unlawful activity."

The spokesman noted that the hospital's supposedly "very limited campaign consisted of only two billboards located near the hospital and a website that generated very little patient volume, produced no financial benefit to the hospital, and was only intended as a service for the community, which is one of the most medically underserved regions of Texas."

"The hospital does not support or facilitate unlawful activity and has never operated its obstetric program with the intent of attracting individuals who are unlawfully present in the United States, promoting birth tourism, or encouraging travel to the United States for the purpose of obtaining U.S. citizenship for a child," said the spokesman.

According to Mission Regional's spokesman, Knapp Medical Center "did not actively participate in this marketing campaign with no involvement since 2024 and only had two elective deliveries of 684 deliveries this year."

Blaze News did not immediately receive a response from Knapp Medical Center or Paxton's office.

On July 21, Abbott issued an executive order tasking relevant state agencies with investigating claims of birth tourism schemes within the Lone Star State's health care industry. His office noted that "enforcement actions include revoking or suspending licenses, prohibiting participation in state contracts, denying state benefits, or pursuing other enforcement action under state law."

The EO references the two Prime Healthcare Foundation hospitals.

The scandal is a bad look for the foundation, as well as for its leadership — particularly for Reddy, its CEO, and Reddy's daughter, Kavitha Bhatia, who serves as president and chair of the Prime Healthcare Foundation.

In addition to receiving the Healthcare Lifetime Achievement Award from the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce, Reddy was presented with the Joseph R. Biden Lifetime Achievement Award in 2024.

Reddy's organization noted at the time that the award, which was part of the President's Volunteer Service Award program and given to certain individuals with a minimum of 4,000 hours of documented volunteer service, "recognizes Dr. Reddy's exceptional commitment and significant and sustained contributions to ensuring that communities have access to quality health care."

Reddy received the award even though he and his organization had in previous years reportedly paid over $100 million to the government as part of three separate federal civil settlements regarding alleged false claims to Medicare.

President and Jill Biden also posed for a photo with Reddy and Bhatia in 2022.

The founder of the scandal-plagued foundation isn't the only one in his family with a tight relationship with Democratic power.

According to Bhatia's bio on the Prime Healthcare website, she is a member of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee leadership circle for House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.) and California Rep. Ro Khanna (D).

Reddy and Bhatia were both born in India. Bhatia did not respond to Blaze News' request for comment.

A Prime Healthcare spokesperson said in a statement to Blaze News, "Attempts to assign a political narrative to Prime Healthcare Foundation or its leadership are misleading. Dr. Prem Reddy has been a lifelong Republican and has supported and engaged with leaders from both parties over many decades, including President Ronald Reagan, as reflected in the attached photograph. Recognition from a sitting or former President does not constitute a political endorsement or affiliation."

Image courtesy of Prime Healthcare.

Editor's note: This article has been edited after publication to incorporate additional comment and an image provided by the Prime Healthcare Foundation.

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Another WNBA game is in the spotlight for the wrong reasons over an issue that just won't go away.

The Atlanta Dream hosted the Indiana Fever on Sunday, with the cloud of inclusiveness and trans-identifying athletes in the league still following the WNBA around. The Fever beat the Dream 95-91 in overtime.

'I didn't make signs. I wanted to make signs, but I didn't.'

Fever star Sophie Cunningham has been instrumental in bringing to light the conversation of women needing their own sports, but now the focus has shifted to the league as a whole.

WNBA personnel met to discuss league eligibility rules last week, but still made no definitive rule changes about restricting men from their league.

For the second time in a few weeks, women showing their support for Cunningham caused a stir at a WNBA game. This time it was at the Gateway Center Arena in Atlanta, where a mother and daughter say they were told to cover up their pro-women shirts or leave.

Georgia mother Casey and her daughter Annie said arena security approached them at their floor seats over the shirts, which read "XX XY athletics." The daughter's shirt also read "for the girls" on the back.

The ladies claimed that during overtime, a security member told them their shirts were "offensive" before asking them to put on a "Wellness Night" Atlanta Dream shirt instead. If not, they would be removed from the arena.

RELATED: WNBA team co-owner FINED and SUSPENDED for cursing out teen fans of Sophie Cunningham at Seattle game

The women obliged and wore the alternate shirts, as they wanted to see the end of the game.

"We did nothing. We were just sitting there. I didn't make signs. I wanted to make signs, but I didn't. I did nothing," the mother told reporter Adam Francisco after the game. The women said they were in the third row of their section, in seats they estimated cost roughly $1,000 each.

Francisco, who also attended the game, told the women, "I did notice during the game on the Jumbotron, they put up a woman wearing a shirt that said 'protect trans rights' or something."

A fan wearing a shirt that said, "Trans kids belong in sports," was seen on the broadcast for the same game, though it is unclear if it is the same person Francisco referred to.

"She was the one that told on us," the mother and daughter claimed. "She was made to zip up her jacket."

The women said the person with opposing views should not have been silenced either.

RELATED: 'She didn't wait until it was easy': Victim of brutal injury from male athlete praises Sophie Cunningham

Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire/Getty Images

When asked why they wore their shirts, the mother and daughter stated, "To support Sophie Cunningham and to support women and women's sports because it's just common sense."

This wasn't the first time the XX-XY apparel caused problems at a WNBA game. In late July, Seattle Storm co-owner Celeste Keaton confronted a pair of teen girls over their clothing, as well.

Due to allegedly cussing at the young women, Keaton was suspended for five games and assessed a fine.

Majority owner Ginny Gilder apologized for the incident and said the team remained committed to "creating an inclusive environment."

The WNBA did not respond to Blaze News' request for comment.

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