NORFOLK – Mike O’Toole grew up in hard scrabble Ocean View, long before redevelopment in East Beach turned much of Norfolk’s Chesapeake Bay community into a playground for the well-heeled.

It was a working-class area with a ton of crime, poverty, homelessness and often, a fair share of despair, when he was a kid in the 1960s and 1970s.

Many of his friends went into the wrong direction. They dropped out of high school, got involved in drugs or with gangs.

But not Mike. His parents kept him busy. His spare time was filled playing football, baseball and basketball for Holy Trinity Catholic School or Naval Air Station Little League, and then later, Norfolk Catholic High.

From the age of 15, he worked, mostly at Pollard’s Chicken in Bayview.

His father retired while Mike was in high school, and after putting two older siblings through school, told Mike had to earn his money for tuition, fees and books when he enrolled at Old Dominion University. So, he worked six days a week, from four until closing, frying chicken. He got up the next morning Monday through Friday and commuted to ODU.

He would come home from work caked in grease. “My dad would get so mad when we did the laundry because my clothes would back up the drains,” he said.

“The thing is, my dad telling me that I had to pay my own way through school, that was the best thing that ever happened to me. I wasn’t applying myself. I needed a push.

“Because I was always working, I didn’t have much of a social life and that was a good thing. I was a street kid. It was the time when cocaine became popular and a lot of my friends stubbed their toes. A lot of my friends ended up in big trouble. That could have been me.

“But I was too busy to get into trouble.”

But not too busy to see what was going on around him and dedicate his life to try to help those who fall through the cracks of the legal justice system.

After graduating from ODU, he aspired to be an FBI agent. “I wanted to be Don Johnson in Miami Vice driving a $100,000 car,” he said.

His career turned out to be a lot less glamorous. He spent a short time working in Norfolk’s probation and parole department before he joined the Norfolk Sheriff’s office. And in the 40 years since, he used his experience as a kid in Ocean View as motivation to help people.

He has created numerous programs, including some copied by cities and counties all over the country. “He created programs that hold (inmates) accountable while still allowing them to be treated with care and keep them employed,” said his boss, Norfolk Sheriff Joe Baron.

“Michael O’Toole has done so much to help inmates get rehabilitated and back into society.”

Early on, he created Norfolk’s work release program. Later, he created one of the nation’s first electronic monitoring programs, which allows non-violent offenders to work and be with their families. It was the first in the state and by some accounts, the second in the USA.

He created the inmate work force program, in which armed deputies take inmates to work largely at community events or events on city property. That allows them to develop a work ethic and make some money prior to being released, and also to escape the claustrophobic confines of Norfolk’s jail. He helped found Norfolk’s drug and mental health courts, and at the behest of Baron and his wife, Jennifer, to establish a program called Camp Hope to help victims of domestic violence.

He runs youth football and basketball camps sponsored by Joe Baron and he helped begin a program with Dennis Ellmer, founder of Priority Automotive, that trained nearly 100 Norfolk inmates at Tidewater Community College’s Virginia Beach campus to become auto mechanics.

He’s served on numerous boards, including the Norfolk drug, community services and criminal justice boards, as well as president of the Cosmopolitan Club. And for 16 years, he served as a part-time professor at ODU, teaching criminal justice courses six hours a week.

Promoted to the title of Colonel a few years ago, he’s No. 2 in the sheriff’s office, answering only to Baron. Yet he’s always kept a low profile.

“Mike has always been focused on helping others, to making Norfolk a better place,” Ellmer said.

“He never wants to be in the limelight. He never asked for any appreciation. He likes to be quiet and remain in the background. If you tell him what a good guy he is, he demurs, he changes the subject.

“Mike has been an unassuming leader in Norfolk for decades. To me, he is the Norfolk Sheriff’s department.”

Like it or not, the quiet guy who likes to stay in the background will stand at a podium next week in front of hundreds of people and accept one of ODU’s most prestigious awards.

He will receive the Jack Frost Alumni Service Award, given to an alumnus for leadership and service in their communities, on Thursday, Oct. 29, at the annual ODU Alumni Association awards dinner at Chartway Arena.

Click here for information on the ODU alumni banquet The award has been won by many dear to O’Toole, including former women’s basketball star Nancy Lieberman and ESPN sportscaster Jay Harris. But as he was looking over the list of past honorees, he stopped at 2009, when Peter G. Decker Jr., the deceased attorney and philanthropist, received the award. Uncle Pete, as he was known, was close to Mike’s parents. Pete III, Decker’s oldest son, was a childhood friend of Mike’s. “It blows me away to be considered in the same vein with Uncle Pete,” Mike said.

“When I first started out in the sheriff’s office, he rolled into my office, sat down and told me I’ve got to care about people.” “’I like what you’re doing so far,’ he said. I know you’re out arresting people and by doing so, you’re making Norfolk safer. But you’ve got to care about them, take care of them, if you can.’

“That’s what I’ve done my entire career.”

And that includes his family.

The call from the North Carolina State Police came on a cold winter afternoon in 1997. Hank O’Toole, Mike’s older brother, had been involved in a terrible wreck. He was with three friends headed to play golf in Myrtle Beach when a speeding tractor trailer barreled into the rear end of their car.

The car was hit with such force that it rolled over several times into the median and burst into flames.

Hank, who was my wrestling teammate at ODU, was in the back seat and survived. So did Von Karl Freudenburg, a Norfolk resident.

Chuck Patterson, also a passenger, and a football teammate of mine at Norview High School, and Luther Thomas Vellines Jr., the driver, were killed.

Freudenburg managed to recover in a few months. It would take Hank O’Toole years to recover. His body was badly burned and he was put into an induced coma for two weeks. The recovery treatments were often painful.

“He blew up so much while in the coma that when my dad and I passed his room at the hospital, we didn’t recognize him,” Mike O’Toole said.

After six months in a burn unit in North Carolina, Hank was about to be discharged into a rehabilitation center.

“I knew if he went into a rehab center, he was going to die,” Mike said. “Emotionally, he was in a bad place. He wasn’t ready for that.”

So, he and his wife, Beth O’Toole, took him to their Ocean View home and brought him back to life.

They showered him and applied medicine to his skin daily and changed his bandages twice per day for nearly a year. They fed him, encouraging him and took him to physical therapy appointments, all while working full-time – Beth worked in corporate offices at Chartway Credit Union.

“What Mike and Beth did for me, it was so far beyond what most people would do, even for family,” Hank O’Toole said.

“We never looked on it as a burden,” Beth said. “It’s what you do for family.

“There are times when I look back on it and wonder how we did that while both working full-time.

“Mike was such a caregiver. It’s one of the many things I love about him.”

It was Mike’s unselfish commitment to help others that brought him together with Beth more than three decades ago.

She was divorced and a single mom and not anxious to get involved with anyone. But then she saw Mike coaching a team of young boys at St. Pius Catholic School, it made an impression on her.

Mike took over coaching a team of elementary school kids after the coach quit.

“I show up to the first practice and none of the boys are taller than 4-foot-11,” Mike said. “I looked over at the girl’s team, and they had players taller than our tallest.

“We got blown out in most of our games.”

He went to a four-corners in the team’s last game, draining the last three minutes off the clock, much to the chagrin of parents of the other team, including one mother who walked onto the court to protest. But the Pirates had their first win. “They celebrated like they had won the championship,” Beth said. “I watched Mike and could see how encouraging he was, how good he was to those boys. It was so funny watching him jump up and down with them.”

Some of her friends tried setting them up for a date for more than a year. Finally, one of Mike’s players said to him: “Coach, do you want to go out with Melissa’s Mom?”

That finally happened in 1990, but it took a lot of urging from friends to get them together. Friends separately invited them to dinner at Franco’s Italian Restaurant and seated Mike and Beth together.

“We’re not together,” Beth replied when a friend walked into the restaurant and saw them.

But sparks flew. They stood in Bromley Shopping Center parking lot talking until 5 a.m. When her daughter, Melissa, was involved in a car accident a few days later, Mike called asking about her.

“The last thing I wanted at that point was to be involved with somebody,” Beth said. “But when he called me, that told me what kind of person he was.

“I wanted to be so careful with anyone who I brought into Melissa’s life. But Mike, he had all of the qualities to be a lifelong partner and a father.”

They finally went on a date, by themselves, and a year later they were married and have been married now for 35 years. Marriage is difficult even in the best of situations. But ten years ago, as they were preparing for a vacation to Disney World, Mike and Beth were tested in a way most couples aren’t. As the couple were preparing to take Melissa to Disneyworld, he felt tired and was in pain. When he returned from Orlando, he went to the doctor and learned that he had several broken bones, including two broken ribs. His kidneys had begun to shut down.

It took weeks of tests before he learned the truly bad news, that he had Multiple Myeloma, a particularly deadly form of cancer that attacks white blood cells in the bone marrow.

The average survival rate was three to five years.

As always, they attacked this crisis as a family. And through it all, Mike would learn just how much he was beloved in the ODU athletic community.

Mike grew up watching ODU basketball. He dreamed of playing for the Monarchs, but the guy who played center for Holy Trinity stood just 5-foot-8. He knew by his junior year he would never play for ODU, or anyone else.

So, when he had worked up the ladder enough to make some money and have some influence, he gave back to ODU in a big way. He joined the Decker family in purchasing a suite at Foreman Field when the Monarchs began playing football in 2009. He’s been an ODU basketball season ticket holder since he was a student in the 1980s.

He gives generously to ODU not only with his money, but his time. His deputies set up tents and tables for ODU fundraisers and then clean up afterwards.

“Beth didn’t go to ODU,” he said, “but she’s even a bigger fan than me.”

Former long-time ODU men’s basketball coach Blaine Taylor, now a major gifts officer for the University’s athletic fundraising organization, said “I’ve never heard Mike say now when he’s been asked to do something by ODU.

“He always had a can-do attitude. And he’s got really good values.

“You can’t hardly walk out of a function or a golf tournament anywhere in Hampton Roads that he’s not scurrying around making sure everyone fed or taken care.”

The sheriff’s office made a major commitment to the Charity Bowl, which began as a tackle football game five decades ago as a fundraiser for local kids’ charities, and now is a fundraiser held in conjunction with the ODU spring football game. It has raised more than $7 million for kids’ charities under Ellmer’s tutelage.

“Mike gets everything done for Old Dominion and always has,” Ellmer said. “And not just ODU. When I helped redo the athletics facility at Norfolk State, I supplied the materials and the inmates provided the labor. I paid the inmates to do the work. “He’s been with us for every Charity Bowl and our golf tournaments. He brings the sheriffs to do crowd control for our Charity Bowl. He always arrives early and leaves late. “Whenever we need something, Mike anticipates it, and is there like a leprechaun.”

When ODU officials learned of O’Toole’s illness, they poured their hearts out to him. Then football coach Bobby Wilder texted him regularly during six months of treatments. President John Broderick also reached out to him frequently.

Men’s basketball coach Jeff Jones had his team reach out to Mike through social media. So did dozens of coaches, administrators, athletes and alumni.

“I called and texted him to make sure he knew someone was thinking about him, and praying for him, that someone was in his corner,” Jone said.

“Mike has always been the guy behind the scenes. So many people do it to have their egos stroked. Mike does it just to help people.”

The outpouring of support helped O’Toole survive.

He was treated with stem cells, and had to be in total isolation for 90 days. Treatments essentially destroyed his immune system and then slowly, replaced his stem cells through transfusions.

Beth chose to keep him at home for his treatments.

“I wouldn’t allow anyone to visit him other than Melissa, not even the grand kids. He has always been thin and weighed just 160 pounds when his ordeal began.

He lost 35 pounds during stem cell treatment, which required frequent blood transfusions. He got weak and sick.

“There were days when all I could hold down was 12 ounces of water,” he said.

“I got through it. Everyone in the sheriff’s office was so supportive. I can’t thank Joe Baron enough for his support during that time.”

He’s back up to 150 pounds and still working hard.

The cancer is still there – it’s an incurable disease. He takes a chemo pill daily. Doctors say he’s doing well and could live a long time.

Friends say he works too hard.

“He not only runs the fourth largest jail in Virginia, he is involved in more charities and civic organizations than I can list,” said Pete Decker III. “He is one of the most influential and effective fundraisers and organizers of events that benefit so many people.

“He loves kids. You can always count on him to raise money for children in need.”

“He’s a fixer,” Beth added. “If you have a problem, he tries to fix it for you. He’s gone to work early in the morning and doesn’t get home until late at night.”

Beth retired a few years ago, but Mike says he has no plans to retire anytime soon.

“When Uncle Pete sat down with me early in my career, he told me that I would make my father proud,” Mike said. “And that meant the world to me.

“I’ve tried all of my life to do things the right way, the way both my parents would have wanted me to do.

“I think there’s still a lot left for me to do, a lot of people I can help.”

And that’s good news for everyone in Hampton Roads.

Minium is a retired journalist living in Berlin, Germany. Reach him at harryminiumjr@gmail.com

Tired of the year-round campaign ads and the spending that goes with it? Blame never-ending early voting policies.

In many states, early voting has stretched so much that Election Day has become Election Season. That means candidates and political action committees (PACs) spend more money and time chasing voters' attention, and we all pay the price.

If you want to avoid campaign ads, move to Alabama, Mississippi, or New Hampshire. Those are the only states that don't permit no-excuse early voting. The worst states to live in during this election season are Virginia, Minnesota, and South Dakota, which require 45 days of early voting. Vermont started one day later on September 19, and Illinois began early voting on September 24. The five states all began more than five weeks before the general election.

Add primary voting to the calendar, and people in many states must suffer through campaign ads and political signs littering the landscape nearly all year long. After the election, by the time candidates remove their signs, if they do at all, it's time for another election to begin. It's a never-ending cycle.

I don't blame the candidates, except the ones who get elected and then vote for more early voting. Having campaigned and been elected twice, I know first-hand how hard it is to get your name in front of voters, especially at the local level. The avenues for advertising have exploded—texting, digital ads, television commercials, radio spots, mailers, signs, and even mobile billboards. There's likely a point at which the public just tunes them all out or finds ways to avoid them—like paying for ad-free streaming services.

When I first ran for office in 2016, the unwritten rule was not to put up campaign signage before September. Now with 45 days of early voting, signs in my city are up as early as July.

Is it possible that the electorate just gets tired of all the advertising, especially the attack ads, and is dissuaded from voting at all?

Save the Planet and Cut Costs

It's surprising the climate alarmists haven't spoken up about how early voting is harming the planet. Guess what all those corrugated plastic campaign signs are made of—you guessed it—petroleum! After the election, they get dumped straight into the landfill. Where is Greenpeace when you need them?

It's not just the garbage dumps that overflow; so do advertisers' wallets. Early voting is expensive because campaign promotions must be spread out over a longer timeframe.

Federal campaign spending nearly tripled in eight years. Candidates and PACs spent $28 billion on presidential and congressional elections from January 1, 2023, through December 31, 2024—and that's even with laws that limit contribution amounts. Contrast those numbers with the 2015–2016 federal election cycles for which $10.3 billion was spent. Those numbers don't include the myriad of state and local races on the ballot.

The amount of money spent on one campaign cycle can fund an entire state for nearly a year. The entire annual budget for the state of Arizona is just over $18 billion.

In 2015, 33 states allowed in-person early voting; by 2026, Ballotpedia reports the number of no-excuse early voting states has swelled to 47, plus the District of Columbia.

It's not only the money spent on campaigns, but also the increased costs for localities to administer the elections. Due to the presence of satellite voting sites and increased ballot mailing, more staffing is required.

Demand Change but Still Vote

Advocates of early voting claim it will increase voter turnout, but that assertion doesn't hold up. In 2016 in Virginia, before no-excuse early voting was enacted, voter turnout was 72 percent. In 2024, with 45 days of early voting in place, the turnout was 70 percent.

The Left pushes early voting because Democrats tend to vote early more than Republicans, but those numbers may be shifting. Republican leaders across the nation, including President Donald Trump, have been encouraging voters to cast their ballots early. While it's not the preferred method for conservatives, the sentiment is to play the game until the rules can be changed. Republicans fear there is more room for mischief and cheating the longer the election drags on.

Cast your ballot, whether on Election Day or during early voting, and then tell your legislators to end the voting "season." Let’s return to a single voting day or at least compromise on a week of early voting. Months-long early voting has costs and consequences that are wearing on every American. The endless campaign ads alone are enough to drive anyone mad.

Victoria Manning is a Senior Investigative Researcher for Restoration News specializing in education freedom, immigration, and military issues. She is the author of Behind the Wall of Government Schools. Victoria served 8 years as an elected member of the Virginia Beach School Board and has a master’s degree in law. She also brings the perspective of a military spouse to her reporting.

Republished with permission from Restoration News.

Wild, I know.

While it’s perfectly legal for a member of Congress to live outside the district he or she represents (the Constitution only requires candidates to live in the state), it’s unusual for a candidate to swoop in from somewhere else and try to poach a seat. Voters tend to like the idea of their representatives actually being their neighbor.

Imagine that.

I am one of about 788,048 people who actually live in Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District. The district encompasses all of Virginia Beach, Suffolk, Franklin, Accomack, Northampton, Isle of Wight, part of Chesapeake and part of Southampton County.

Know what isn’t in the 2nd District?

Norfolk.

And yet, it appears the Democrat who wants to represent the 2nd District doesn’t even live here.

Elaine Luria lives in Norfolk. Or at least she did and there's no sign she's moved. When the boundaries of the district were reconfigured, Norfolk was out.

According to the Washington Examiner:

In 2022, Luria assured voters that she would be “working out the logistics” to move into a house she claimed to own in Virginia Beach because her Norfolk home was drawn out of the then-newly configured 2nd Congressional District…

According to Norfolk real estate records reviewed by the Washington Examiner, it appears Luria never moved…as she vowed to do… and later purchased another residential property down the street in the same Norfolk neighborhood…

In response to a Washington Examiner inquiry into Luria choosing to remain in Virginia’s solidly blue 3rd Congressional District, the Luria campaign said she was forced out of her home district due to the state’s 2021 redistricting process.

“After her four years in Congress,” a spokesperson for the Luria campaign said, “Elaine was deliberately drawn out of Virginia’s Second Congressional District after representing the majority of this district and delivering for her community.

The campaign spokesperson added that “Elaine is proud to call Hampton Roads home like so many other veterans and military families,” referring to a region comprising the greater Norfolk-Virginia Beach metropolitan area.

“This is yet another pathetic attempt by the Kiggans campaign to distract Virginians…

Oh, really? Looks to me like this is simply a statement of fact. By contrast, Rep. Jen Kiggans, who is running for a third term, actually lives in the district.

So let’s get this straight: Luria wants to represent nearly 788,000 people, but living among them is too much trouble?

Is there something wrong with us? Was it something we said?

Luria’s residence is in the Third District, which is represented by Rep. Bobby Scott. Wonder why she didn’t primary HIM to run for Congress. Or does the Third get TWO members of Congress?

Luria isn’t the first candidate to discover that a congressional seat looks appealing from the other side of a district line.

In 2016, Republican Randy Forbes, who had ably represented Virginia’s 4th District for 16 years, tried to run in the 2nd District’s GOP primary after redistricting left his old seat solidly Democratic.

Despite Forbes’ popularity and lengthy congressional record, 2nd District Republicans rejected him and nominated Scott Taylor instead.

The message was pretty clear: Voters weren’t necessarily interested in handing their seat to an established politician just because he needed a new place to run.

I wouldn’t vote for Elaine Luria if she lived next door to me. But anyone considering voting for her should ask a basic question before heading to the polls:

If she wants to represent the people of Virginia’s 2nd District, why doesn’t she live there?

Louise Lucas allegedly treated a marijuana bill like it was her retirement plan.

"I've got too old to not be greedy." That’s what Sen. Louise Lucas (D) allegedly said while discussing how a pending marijuana law could deliver her "generational wealth." Now a federal indictment alleges she used her seat in the Virginia Senate to build a criminal enterprise around it.

None of this comes as a surprise to Virginians who refer to Lucas as the Kingpin of Portsmouth. In a press conference, Attorney General Todd Blanche said it best: Lucas "put her own financial interests ahead of the people she was elected to serve."

FBI Director Kash Patel said, "Lucas for five years created $5 million of ill-gotten gains." He, moreover, noted that Lucas had bragged on social media in 2022 that she was a "78-year-old grandma who legalized pot and now has her own cannabis store. And I’m the last thing standing between the GOP and total control of Virginia. That’s worth an RT!" On that same post, she also wrote, "Did I mention my store is on High Street?"

This didn't age well. https://t.co/WwRQQD8fHt

— Victoria Manning (@HoneyBadger_USA) October 22, 2026

Restoration News reported in May about concerns that Lucas could be using her elected position for personal gain. The indictment confirms those suspicions and more. The investigation likely started during the Biden administration, so claiming this is a Trump conspiracy won't hold up.

The federal indictment filed on October 14 details the charges facing Lucas and seven others, including her two daughters and grandson. Lucas’ daughter Lisa Lucas-Burke is the former vice-mayor of Portsmouth and former chair of the Portsmouth Economic Development Authority. She is currently running for a seat on the Portsmouth City Council.

Lucas owns multiple businesses in Portsmouth, Virginia, including Lucas Lodge, LLC and Lucas Hospitality, LLC, which is affiliated with The Cannabis Outlet.

The eye-popping allegations include that the defendants used the "political influence of Louise Lucas to enact legislation and regulations to financially benefit the Lucas Enterprise" and to "insulate the Lucas Enterprise from state law enforcement actions."

Read the full indictment here.

What Are the Charges against Lucas?

Count 1 Racketeering Conspiracy 

These charges are governed by the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. Individuals convicted on RICO charges can be sentenced to 20 years to life in prison.

• It’s alleged that Lucas and the other defendants were a part of a criminal organization, known as Lucas Enterprises, engaged in the distribution of marijuana, possession of firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking, money laundering, bribery, and more.

• On November 15, 2025, Lucas sent a text message to unindicted co-conspirator (UCC) #2 claiming she would be carrying the legislation saying, "Yes, we can make a lot of money..."

On January 30, 2026, UCC #2 met with Lucas per her request at her legislative office in Richmond and provided Lucas with a partial repayment ($100,000). The money was Lucas’s payment for interest in a shell company called Mama’s Chicken, LLC.

• On January 31, 2026, Lucas told UCC #2 that marijuana and marijuana licensing was a way for her to "get generational wealth." She added, "this is my last chance."

• On February 9, 2026, Lucas called UCC #2 and discussed the pending recreational marijuana legislation and the possibility of UCC #2 receiving a license and sharing the proceeds with her because "this is our last chance at generational wealth ... I’ve got too old to not be greedy."

• On March 9, 2026, Lucas called another Virginia legislator saying, "I got to get the license, and I got to get the money rolling in because... I want to make generation [sic] create some generational wealth... I need to be covered under his hemp license."

• On March 11, 2026, Lucas had a telephone conference with a Virginia legislator and Lucas-Burke. Lucas stated, "The whole police department protected us." The legislator responded that the cannabis legislation would make sure everything was on the up and up. Lucas responded, "and make it legal because I did, when I did it, it was obviously illegal."

• On a March 11, 2026 call with two Virginia legislators regarding marijuana licenses, Lucas said, "we trying to disqualify somebody [UCC #2] until he pays me back my money."

Count 2 Conspiracy to Distribute and Possess with Intent to Distribute Marijuana

Between 2020 and 2026, the defendants unlawfully, knowingly, and intentionally combined, conspired, and agreed together to commit the following offenses:

• Possession with intent to distribute and distribution of 100 kilograms or more of marijuana.

Count 3 Conspiracy to Launder Money

• The defendants knowingly conducted and attempted to conduct financial transactions affecting interstate and foreign commerce involving proceeds of an unlawful activity.

Count 4 Conspiracy to Commit Honest Services Fraud

This charge involves Lucas using her official position as a Virginia state senator to enrich herself by soliciting and accepting payments or other things of value from others.

• The conspiracy scheme was for Lucas to perform official actions on an as-needed basis to benefit others.

• To benefit herself and the Lucas Enterprise, Lucas "sought opportunities to invest in and benefit from anticipated recreational marijuana licensing."

• Lucas did not report the interest obtained in The Lucas Enterprise on her required public economic disclosure.

Count 5 Maintaining a Drug Involved Premises

• Between 2020 and 2026, Lucas and three other defendants managed and controlled property and made it available for unlawfully manufacturing, storing, distributing, and using a controlled substance.

In our May 2026 report, Restoration News highlighted that Lucas’s business partner, Carlton Upton, accepted pandemic-related relief funds. The indictment charges Upton with wire fraud related to false statements he made to receive the funding. Lucas has not been charged on this count.

Lucas’ marijuana legislation was more like her retirement plan. Lucas will have her day in court, but the octogenarian "grandma who legalized pot" may soon learn that the feds don’t accept "I've got too old to not be greedy" as a defense.

Victoria Manning is a Senior Investigative Researcher for Restoration News specializing in education freedom, immigration, and military issues. She is the author of Behind the Wall of Government Schools. Victoria served 8 years as an elected school board member and has a master’s degree in law. She also brings the perspective of a military spouse to her reporting.

Republished with permission from Restoration News

The October tragedy at Silver Rail Elementary School is a dark day for all Americans. But without the heroic actions of Kaylub Giamanco, the situation could have been dramatically worse.

The first 911 call came at 12:59 p.m.

Just moments before, the shooter, identified as 16-year-old Griffin John II, shot through locked doors, forcing entry onto the Silver Rail Elementary School campus with a Maverick 88 pump-action 12-gauge shotgun.

His mother, Shauntai May Nickerson, who was charged with fourth-degree assault in 2023 and a DUI, or driving under the influence, in 2018, bought the firearm.

John, once a special needs student himself, continued into the school where he opened fire into a special needs classroom. He killed three students, ages 5, 8, and 11, and 25-year-old teacher Megan Lambert. Her family would later say she was working her "dream job."

The Call to Action

While John breached the exterior of Silver Rail Elementary School, 36-year-old Kaylub Giamanco headed back to work from his lunch break.

As he passed the school, he heard gunshots. Giamanco pulled over, grabbed his legally owned 40-caliber pistol, and raced inside. He had two daughters who attended the school.

A teacher threw a cellphone at John and tackled him—attempting to wrestle the gun from his hands. Moments later, Giamanco fired several close-range shots and killed the shooter.

Together, they stopped the crazed lunatic from wreaking any more havoc.

Prepared and Vigilant

Giamanco never looked for violence, but it unfortunately found him.

In a 2018 Facebook post, Giamanco said he had gone through "military shooting drills" with veterans who fought in Iraq. Part of responsible gun ownership is being prepared to accurately and effectively use a firearm if needed.

This principle continues to stay true.

In August, 35-year-old Jordan Salinas pinned down 24-year-old gunman Chad William during a shooting at an In-N-Out restaurant in Idaho. Salinas spent years training with firearms to be prepared for any situation.

"There's a task that needs to be done, and we're the ones who need to do it," Salinas said.

What Americans Need to Know

The mainstream media and gun control advocacy groups have spent years assigning blame to the firearm and not the individual responsible for pulling the trigger.

When mass shootings hit the airwaves, the question of whether firearms are truly needed circles public discourse. What many Americans forget is the fact that bad actors will always find a way. A car, a gun, a bomb, a fork, or a knife can all be used for malicious actions.

Firearm ownership stands resolute as a line of defense for law-abiding Americans to fend off evil—no matter what form it takes. The good guy with a gun fighting the bad guy with a gun is more than a quip; it’s based on real data.

This is the data the anti-gun lobby ignores:

• FBI statistics show that lawful gun owners stop over 36 percent of all active shooter incidents. If "gun-free" zones are removed from the dataset, the number rises to over 52 percent.

• A 2019 FBI study showed that only seven percent of crimes committed with a firearm involved legally purchased guns. Half of all offenders had stolen the firearm, while 43 percent had purchased it from underground or black-market vendors.

• The FBI reports that most active threat events—including mass shootings—are over within five minutes. Yet, it takes law enforcement between five and 10 minutes (at best) to respond to a shooting. The situation is even more dire for rural schools that could be left stranded for over 20 minutes waiting for police response.

"Of course, law-abiding citizens stopping these attacks are not rare. What is rare is not citizens stopping these attacks—it's the national news covering it," said Crime Prevention Research Center President John Lott.

Why it Matters

The right to life is fundamental to American freedom—and so is the right to defend your life. Bad actors will always exist, but for this reason the American right to self-defense must continue to hold strong.

It's up to us to defend the Second Amendment, so the next generation can inherit a safe and prosperous republic.

Bronson Winslow is an Investigative Researcher for Restoration News specializing in gun rights and criminal justice policy. He graduated from Virginia Military Institute and previously wrote for the Daily Caller. He publishes regularly at American Greatness. 

Republished with permission from Restoration News.

No sooner was Democrat party boss Louise Lucas arrested and charged with 7 federal crimes yesterday including drug trafficking, money laundering and racketeering then she started with the same old tired tropes:

Lucas played the racism card.

The 82-year-old great-grandmother card.

The I-started-in-the-shipyards card.

The it’s-my-political-opponents-bullying-me card.

Yawn.

‼️🤯 In light of the arrest of Sen. Louise Lucas, I’ll brush up on the research I did on her fraudulent businesses. -Lucas Lodge LLC (Medicaid) -Lucas Transportation (Medicaid) -Southside Direct Care Provider LLC (Medicaid) She owned multiple properties she claimed were for Medicaid housing. Countless Medicaid transport vans outside her office. All of her businesses have been funneling money into her and her daughter’s own political campaigns over the years! Not to mention all the other charges including racketeering and money laundering related to her marijuana business. She’s cooked. 👀

— Erikaaa (@ErikaCA47) October 22, 2026

Sorry, madam. You have no one to blame but yourself. For 42 years you’ve represented the people of Portsmouth. During that time the city has become a nest of crime and poverty, empty storefronts, shrinking population and failing schools. Meanwhile, you and your family live like Portsmouth royalty, allegedly running shady businesses and illegally funneling loot to your pockets and political campaigns while you allegedly used your powerful public office to protect yourself so you can flounce around in town in gaudy fur coats.

BREAKING: On phone call that was the subject of an FBI Wiretap, now-indicted Virginia State Senator Louise Lucas stated "this is our last chance at generational wealth...I've got too old not to be greedy." https://t.co/6JKVNvNSU1

— Will Chamberlain (@willchamberlain) October 22, 2026

You ARE old, Louise. And you ARE greedy. And the arrogant “10 to fucking 1” chant that you led last winter when you attempted to gerrymander Republicans out of their congressional districts is leading to a different chant:

Ten to fucking life.

And some of us are here for it.

(That’s a real possibility, by the way. Racketeering carries a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, so does money laundering. Marijuana distribution can get you 5 to 40. For an octogenarian, 20 years means life.)

Lucas and her dwindling number of supporters can cry about the timing of her arrest but the fact is, the investigation into this odious politician began under Biden.

The timeline in the indictment shows law enforcement was gathering evidence from The Cannabis Outlet before the 2024 election https://t.co/vsIgYhuykd

— Graham Moomaw (@gmoomaw) October 22, 2026

Last May the Feds descended on Lucas’ businesses and carted out piles evidence. They also had phone recordings where Lucas and her family allegedly incriminated themselves. It took the FBI five more months to build a persuasive RICO case against the Democrat party boss. A federal grand jury indicted her and the feds allowed the old lady to turn herself in. No perp walk for the cameras, sadly, although she was smirking when she hustled out of the courthouse Thursday afternoon, surrounded by a phalanx of goons.

As the president pro tempore of the Virginia State Senate once again embarrasses the commonwealth with her contemptuous attitude and behavior, there is no need to show this gray-haired ghoul respect.

Very telling was the reaction of Virginia Dems to Lucas’ arrest. Instead of defending their pal - or insisting she’s innocent of gobbling up $5 million from her alleged crime syndicate - they all pivoted to a question of timing.

“Anytime you've got criminal charges like this, they're serious," said Mark Warner. "You're presumed innocent until the facts or the case proves otherwise."

"Why are they releasing this, what, 11 days before the election? Why didn't they do it earlier, or do it right after the election?"

Nice try, Mark. Fact is, every single Democrat in Virginia knew what Louise Lucas was and they were fine with it. They were afraid of her. Now all they’ve got is an objection to the timing of her arrest.

She isn’t on the ballot this fall. The timing is perfect.

Remember, this is how a potty mouthed great-grandmother talks about the president of the United States.

Donald Trump has shit for brains and it oozes out of his mouth. After last night everyone knows.

— L. Louise Lucas (@SenLouiseLucas) September 11, 2024

Here’s hoping the government has the goods and Wheezy gets what’s coming to her.

Life comes at you fast.👇 https://t.co/lgfEpXnd9E

— C3 (@C_3C_3) October 22, 2026

Karma comes to Portsmouth.

Just last month we published a post throwing cold water on political polls. Here’s the money shot:

We should be skeptical about polls and acknowledge that they are not news. They’re soothsaying wrapped in pseudo-science. Sometimes they get it right, often they don’t.

As it turns out, sometimes they don’t even try to get it right.

Case in point: Wedgewood Polling. This “polling organization” has been publishing polls throughout the mid-term campaigns, showing Democrats with large margins of support.

Wedgewood poll results were picked up by The New York Times, Nate Silver and MSNOW, among others.

Yesterday Wedgewood came clean. The polls they published were completely bogus. No one was polled, they cooked up the results. They want us to believe this was some sort of experiment designed to show how flawed polling really is.

The polling industry needs major reform. Our statement below: https://t.co/Sj8JLYgply

— Wedgewood Polls (@WedgewoodPolls) October 20, 2026

I’m calling B.S. on that.

Wedgewood clearly was attempting to suppress Republican votes and create a bandwagon effect for Democrats. Wedgewood polls even messed with the primaries in favor of extreme far-left candidates. For instance, polls showing massive support for Abdul El-Sayed caused at least one of his Democrat primary opponents to drop out after her discouraged donors evaporated. Mallory McMorrow withdrew from the race in July 2026 after a fake Wedgewood poll showed her with 9% of the vote, while El-Sayed led the three-way field with 46%.

Polls also influence where campaigns spend money and how enthusiastic volunteers are. Wedgewood coyly admitted to their fraud only after one news organization became curious and asked about their methodology.

A polling firm called Wedgewood Polls admitted it faked its polling data as a "wake-up call" experiment to see if the media would report the numbers as fact. And wouldn't you know it the leftist media took it as gospel. https://t.co/LCbNjlwgza

— MRC Video (@mrcvideo) October 21, 2026

This is meddling in American elections and Wedgewood is not the first to do this. In August, Median Strategies admitted that it published fake data in the Wisconsin Democrat gubernatorial primary and in the Los Angeles mayoral race. Those fraudsters also claimed they were conducting a “social experiment.”

Hopefully, the Department of Justice is investigating these and other polling outfits.

Oh, there’s another serious wrinkle to these scandals: Fake polls influence the betting markets.

It’s not inconceivable that polls could be rigged by people wagering on races.

I smell a RICO case.

I watched the White House announcement today about a newly formed Fraud Whistleblower Incentive Program aimed at deputizing all Americans, including journalists, to help the government ferret out fraud - yet I couldn’t find a word about it in The New York Times.

Oh, the front page was full of anti-Trump, anti-GOP stories, there was also a piece on Houdini, several on France and one on Kimberly Guilfoyle. But the new program to help put an end to the looting of American taxpayers?

Nada.

Maybe tomorrow. What’s the hurry?

🚨 BREAKING: The White House just told middle-class Americans exactly where their paychecks have been going, and it's infuriating. From the podium: "If you're a middle class taxpayer in this country, before President Trump came along, you spent half your working life paying for fraudsters and scammers." Think about that. You paid every parking ticket and did everything the right way. Meanwhile, fake day cares billed for kids who didn't exist, and the crooks bought Mercedes, BMWs and mansions on your dime. The administration says it's already recovered a quarter of a trillion dollars and is aiming for a trillion. The looting is over. Time to take it all back.

— Gunther Eagleman™ (@GuntherEagleman) October 20, 2026

The magnitude of theft and abuse of our social welfare programs is staggering. It was announced yesterday that the feds are seeking full asset seizure of a half city block in Minneapolis that was purchased using SNAP money.

That was money intended to feed the poor, by the way.

Offering cash commissions for those who find and report fraud may help bring a crashing end to much of the thievery and infuse independent journalism with the funds needed to launch investigations.

At the same time as the whistleblower program goes into effect, the president is pushing Congress to pass mandatory minimum prison sentences for those who rip off taxpayers, putting an end to the slaps on the wrist many of these fraudsters receive from district judges. Trump also wants laws that would make government officials who know about fraud or who enable it to be held liable for their action or inaction.

.@AFergusonFTC: "A lot of journalists in the room today — everyone knew about the Quality Learing Center... No one reported it... It took one brave kid and a camera to make everyone aware of this, and it launched a revolution." https://t.co/UwErBlh8TH

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) October 20, 2026

Looking at you, Tim Walz.

If a citizen reports a case of someone or an agency stealing tax dollars and reports it, they can collect a reward equal to 10% of the money recouped.

I like it.

It could make rich men out of muckraking independent journalists like Nick Shirley, who uncovered the massive Minneapolis fraud that included the infamous “Learing Center.”

The 24-year old enterprising reporter was part of the group in the Oval Office and he was given a $10,000 check.

He deserves much, much more.

Shirley pointed out that when he reported on Somali fraud in Minneapolis the legacy media didn’t join in. Instead they began investigating HIM.

“Did that surprise you?” Trump asked.

Yes, it did.

As Nick Shirley proves, all it takes is an enterprising independent journalist with a hoodie and a camera phone to bring down a governor - who was almost vice president - and uncover a snake pit of theft.

Independent journalists, don you hoodies and start your engines.

Hear that?

It’s candidate endorsement season and all we’re hearing from the liberal Washington Post regarding Virginia’s Mark Warner is, well, crickets.

By contrast, the last time Warner ran The Post gave Warner a warm tongue bath, declaring him to be “a former Virginia governor, who avoids partisan posturing in favor of consistent focus on critical problems.”

IN 12 YEARS on Capitol Hill, Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-Va.) has staked a legitimate claim as one of the more effective, constructive and genuinely bipartisan lawmakers in Congress. In a place where grandstanding, pandering and interparty venom are nearly normal, Mr. Warner is frequently the grown-up in the room, a measured and substantive Democrat who has forged partnerships with key Republican colleagues. Virginians would do well to reelect him this year to a third term in the Senate, and we endorse him.

They published this on October 8, 2020. Just 19 days into early voting. 

It’s 32 days into early voting this year and so far The Post is mum on Warner. 

Perhaps the editors follow the aging senator on X where Warner seems to spend most of his time.

When he isn’t making creepy selfie videos ranting about Trump - as his chauffeur squires him around Washington - he’s spewing written anti-Trump diatribes. He could hardly be described as a “measured and substantive” Democrat today.

Then again, perhaps the Post editors were reminded that when he first ran for the U.S. Senate in 1996 Warner pledge to serve just two terms.

And here he is, begging voters for a fourth.

Possibly, the editors looked at Republican Bert Mizusawa’s impressive resume: first in his class at West Point, Harvard Law grad, war hero, retired Army Major General and advisor to the CIA and could find no fault.

While the Post won’t endorse Republicans, refusing to endorse Democrats amounts to as much. 

For instance, in 2024, to the horror of the Kamala Harris campaign that expected to be blessed by The Post, the editorial page editor William Lewis announced that the newspaper would no longer endorse in presidential races.

That non-endorsement spoke volumes. The day-drunk vice president was too wacky even for the Post.

That same year, however, The Post gave a hearty endorsement to U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, calling him a “model senator” and a “political workhorse.” 

The editors highlighted Kaine’s ability to work across the aisle on crucial legislation noting that he is a "credit to Virginia.”

Kaine’s GOP opponent, retired Navy captain and Vietnamese refugee Hung Cao, now the Secretary of the Navy, was dismissed as lacking “temperament and pragmatism to be effective in the Senate."

There’s still time for The Post to hold its nose and endorse Mark Warner.

I’m betting they won’t.

What supposedly began as widespread “student protests” three weeks ago have devolved into full-blown riots.

Some would call this the start of a civil war, where the Palestinian flag is flown and the French flag Is nowhere to be seen. We shall see.

Ni una sola bandera de Francia en las "protestas" "estudiantiles". Solo banderas de entidades islámicas. https://t.co/ejwj7J7Rdw

— Kalina Ann🍆 (@KalinaAnnGG) October 17, 2026

At least 2,400 protesters - an unholy alliance of communists, socialists, anarchists and Islamists- were arrested over the weekend in Paris, Marseilles and Lyon and an estimated 1,000 police officers were injured.

Churches have been incinerated. Schools have been burned. On Saturday, the historic City Hall in Limoges, a city famous for its porcelain, was destroyed. Reduced to ashes.

As of this writing, violent Islamo-Marxists are reportedly massing near the Louvre, home to priceless works of art, most famously the Mona Lisa.

As ordinary, decent French citizens called on President Emmanuel Macron to do SOMETHING, the milquetoast man made a speech, urging an end to the unrest which he blamed on Donald Trump.

You cannot fathom how stupid the leaders of Western Europe are. Cannot fathom it. Literally impossible to be dumber than this.

— Ian Miller (@ianmSC) October 18, 2026

In his next breath, Macron essentially gave the rioters permission to continue destroying the country by saying the youth of France are "expressing great anguish and concern about the future... we need to pay heed to what they are saying and we must not minimize the hardships that they are facing."

He’s the chief surrender monkey in a country famous for them.

Marine LePen will be the next leader of France. If there is a France left to lead.

Look at the rioting and looting footage for yourself. These are not students. They’re Muslim men, many from North Africa, ushered into the country by the very people they’re now attacking.

This video of a French shopkeeper begging looters to leave her store alone- after all, she supported unfettered immigration and asylum - has gone viral.

A French woman who supported France’s left wing government and the protests asks why left wing protesters are looting her store. It’s a perfect distillation of left wing decisions, this is where it all leads. https://t.co/qSwKyXK7DV

— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) October 18, 2026

There’s a word for what’s happened in France and is happening to here in America, too.

Suicidal empathy.

The term was coined by Gad Saad, a Canadian author who points out that when excessive , misdirected or unchecked compassion trumps self-preservation, it harms the person practicing this empathy.

The French felt sorry for the African muslims and invited them into their country. Now the entire French way of life is under attack by violent fanatics who refuse to assimilate, feel no loyalty to France and are not French, no matter what it says on their passports.

It won’t be that long before the once-great republic is an Islamic state.

Oh, and France has more than 200 nuclear warheads.

Chew on THAT for a moment.

The only hope for France, the UK, Sweden and other European countries that have been overrun by foreigners because they foolishly allowed unfettered immigration from the third world is “remigration.”

Sending the migrants packing.

Good luck with that.

There is a silver lining to the burning of France in October: It serves as a timely reminder of where we are headed if far-left Democrats return to power, reopen our borders, abolish ICE and stop the deportations that are underway

Western liberals imported the third world into France and other countries in the name of diversity and compassion. They ignored fundamental questions of assimilation and compatibility. They were told it would lead to this and they didn't listen. I pray that France, a beautiful country of amazing people, will stop this madness before more of its landmarks burn. And I hope Americans are paying attention. This is the future congressional Democrats seek for your country.

— JD Vance (@JDVance) October 18, 2026

You don’t have to like everything the right stands for in the U.S. You can even loathe Donald Trump.

But given the left’s inexplicable love of illegal immigration and its absolute affection for criminals, voting for Democrats in November is nothing more than suicidal empathy.

You’ve been warned.

Restoration News found yet another nonprofit helping illegal aliens circumvent federal work authorization requirements.

Under the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) illegality doctrine, groups that facilitate unlawful conduct are not entitled to tax-exempt status. Yet, a George Soros funded leftist nonprofit is doing exactly that: helping illegal aliens obtain employment and resources in open defiance of federal immigration rules.

Restoration News previously reported on two organizations helping illegal aliens violate the law: Undocuprofessionals and Immigrants Rising. Now our research uncovers another tax-exempt non-governmental organization (NGO) helping illegal aliens gain employment and granting them college scholarships: TheDream.US.

The IRS grants tax-exempt status to organizations that provide a public benefit. Under the illegality doctrine, however, an organization whose activities are illegal or contrary to established public policy may not qualify. As the IRS explains, the doctrine "acts as a check to assure that the federal government does not support through tax exemption an organization engaged in behavior the government is charged with preventing." Organizations that engage in such conduct should therefore have their tax-exempt status revoked.

Don Graham, a former chairman of the Washington Post, co-founded TheDream.US to help "undocumented immigrant youth get access to a college education." The nonprofit is funded by the New Venture Fund (NVF), a 501(c)(3) public charity which is supported in part by leftist billionaire Soros.

The NGO claims to help undocumented students without a work authorization gain employment. TheDream.us instructs students how to get their Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) to pursue "career opportunities through independent contracting, freelancing, or starting a business." In a slide presentation, the group tells illegal aliens, "Although DHS [Department of Homeland Security] and IRS signed an agreement last year to share taxpayer data, multiple federal court orders have blocked IRS from sharing information with DHS."

TheDream.US also gives scholarships to illegal aliens to use at "Opportunity Partner Colleges" that are "committed to serving undocumented students." The scholarships "are for undocumented students who live in states where they effectively have no access to college—either because they face paying out-of-state tuition or because their state will simply not admit them into its universities. We call these 'locked-out states.'" The partner colleges are: Delaware State University in Dover, Delaware; Dominican University in River Forest, Illinois; Eastern Connecticut State University in Windham, Connecticut; Christian Brothers University in Memphis, Tennessee; and Trinity Washington University in Washington, D.C.

In 2025, TheDream.US held a two-day virtual conference on career pathways for undocumented students and alumni. The event solicited "paid internship[s] or fellowships programs open to undocumented students without work authorization." The group also held the same event in 2026, and Restoration News obtained the conference videos and documents. TheDream.US provided a directory of organizations that hire illegal aliens without work authorization. Those employers include:

• Teach for America hires part-time virtual tutors. The directory instructs to "disregard their work authorization eligibility criteria mentioned on their website and application. TheDream.US has a special partnership with TFA’s Ignite Fellowship in which work authorization is not required for TheDream.US Scholars."

• University of Michigan—Rackham Graduate School lists paid summer research. The positions are open to non-U.S. citizens with or without DACA.

• University of San Francisco's paid summer research training program, which does not require citizenship.

• Break Through Tech (an initiative of Cornell Tech) lists openings for their AI program. International students without work authorization are eligible.

• Parker Dewey offers paid micro-internships. The company's FAQ page indicates "Undocumented students in the United States can participate in Micro-Internships."

TheDream.US webinar featured testimonials from illegal aliens who are working without authorization and explaining how others can do the same. One example is a recent college graduate, Luisa Cano, who admitted her immigration status prevented her from becoming a teacher.

Her website, Cano Tutoring, indicates she holds a Nevada teaching license—a claim Restoration News verified. In 2019, the state passed a bill permitting illegal aliens to obtain professional licenses, but using their licenses still requires valid work authorizations. On the webinar, Cano even admitted that one of her Nevada State University professors hired her to be a homeschool teacher for the professor’s child—likely in violation of federal immigration laws.

Illegal aliens like Cano, who obviously aren't eligible for a Social Security number, obtain ITINs, and then use those numbers to create their own businesses and operate as independent contractors. TheDream.US instructs aliens to obtain the ITINs through an IRS Certified Acceptance Agent (CAA) so they don’t have to send personal documents to the IRS. All of this is still illegal; it’s just harder to get caught.

The evidence is clear. TheDream.US is not merely advocating for policy change—the NGO actively helps illegal aliens circumvent federal work restrictions while enjoying the full benefits of tax exemption. The illegality doctrine exists for cases exactly like this. It is time the agency enforced it.

Victoria Manning is a Senior Investigative Researcher for Restoration News specializing in education freedom, immigration, and military issues. She is the author of Behind the Wall of Government Schools. Victoria served 8 years as an elected school board member and has a master’s degree in law. She also brings the perspective of a military spouse to her reporting.

Republished with permission from Restoration News.

Virginia’s Democrat Attorney General alleges a "heightened public concern" to justify his allegations. The sources he cites don’t back it up.

Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones wants local election officials on high alert for federal overreach. His evidence wouldn't survive a first-year law school seminar.

The state's top law enforcement officer just issued a 10-page warning about federal law enforcement observing elections, then added a disclaimer that it "should not be considered legal advice."

Jones' October 15 bulletin alleges "heightened public concern" that the federal government could interfere in the 2026 general midterm election. His allegations are unsubstantiated, and his directives to local election officials are alarming.

It's clear this is just a political stunt led by a man who once texted that he wanted "two bullets to the head" of a political opponent. Now he wants Virginia's election officials to treat federal law enforcement with suspicion.

What Jones Is Telling Election Officials

Tim Anderson, a former Virginia Delegate and prominent attorney, summarizes several points in the Jones 10-page bulletin, among them:

• "Local registrars can deny ordinary DOJ election monitors access to polling locations."

• "Election officials should ask federal agents to leave polling locations and contact local police."

• "Consult attorneys about challenging federal subpoenas seeking election materials."

Jones' Unsubstantiated Claims

Jones’ sources for the so-called public concerns of election interference were uncorroborated news reports that do not back-up his allegations. Here are his allegations against the federal government:

Deploying armed federal agents around polling locations.

• Jones sources a local San Antonio, Texas outlet that details a traffic stop by the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS). When DPS pulled over the suspect, he pulled into a library that happened to be a polling station. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents also responded and reportedly scanned the man’s face with a phone. The man was arrested over a felony burglary warrant and detained by Texas DPS. Witnesses claim ICE agents did not approach any voters and quickly left after speaking to the suspect.

Seizing sensitive election material.

• Jones sources a legal FBI raid of Georgia's Fulton County elections warehouse authorized by a judicial court order.

Sending disruptive monitors to polling locations who operate outside of standard established procedure.

• Jones sources an August New York Times report, which said federal agents arrived unannounced and acted aggressively at a Cheyenne, WY polling station. A Wyoming Tribune follow-up showed state officials had advance notice, and the DOJ denied the aggressive-behavior claim. Secretary of State Chuck Gray said the media “has not been able to point to a single law that was broken.” He continued, “I am deeply disturbed by the continued false reporting on this issue by the media.”

Why It Matters

Jones is just stirring the pot. He continues to vilify ICE officers who put their lives on the line every day to enforce federal immigration laws.

Anderson expressed deep concern over the Jones bulletin writing, "The Attorney General is preparing election officials to scrutinize federal law enforcement while Virginia has eliminated a longstanding Election Day safeguard for questioning voter eligibility." His post, which has "Showdown" in the heading, adds: "The bulletin identifies no specific planned unlawful federal operation in Virginia. Federal law enforcement has legitimate authority to enforce federal election laws. State officials cannot override that authority simply because they dislike federal involvement."

VIRGINIA'S ATTORNEY GENERAL IS PREPARING FOR A SHOWDOWN WITH FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT ON ELECTION DAY. The Virginia's Attorney General and Department of Elections issued a remarkable 10-page directive to election officials. Here's what they're being told: Pages 4–5: Local registrars can deny ordinary DOJ election monitors access to polling locations. Page 7: Election officials should ask federal agents to leave polling locations and contact local police. Page 7: Document federal agents' badge numbers, weapons, vehicles, and movements. Collect complaints from voters who say federal agents frighten them. Pages 8–9: Consult attorneys about challenging federal subpoenas seeking election materials. Page 3: And while all this is happening, Virginia has eliminated the ability to challenge a voter's qualifications at the polling place. Think about what we're witnessing. The Attorney General is preparing election officials to scrutinize federal law enforcement while Virginia has eliminated a longstanding Election Day safeguard for questioning voter eligibility. The bulletin identifies no specific planned unlawful federal operation in Virginia. Federal law enforcement has legitimate authority to enforce federal election laws. State officials cannot override that authority simply because they dislike federal involvement. So what exactly is the Attorney General afraid federal investigators might discover? And why is the Commonwealth treating federal election oversight as a threat rather than an opportunity to demonstrate election integrity? Read the document yourself: https://t.co/TvhiOEOtUe

— Tim Anderson (@AssocAnderson) October 16, 2026

Jones’ political posturing doesn’t create a safe environment; it only fuels the fire. Leftist activists threaten federal law enforcement officers daily. Now Jones is helping them.

Virginia voters deserve an attorney general who can point to evidence, not a disclaimer. Virginians should be able to vote without their own state government inflaming tensions first.

Victoria Manning is a Senior Investigative Researcher for Restoration News specializing in education freedom, immigration, and military issues. She is the author of Behind the Wall of Government Schools. Victoria served 8 years as an elected school board member and has a master’s degree in law. She also brings the perspective of a military spouse to her reporting.

Republished with permission from Restoration News.

As if it weren’t bad enough that a sizeable chunk of the population has no idea how apostrophes work (pro tip: contractions and possession. Not plurality) and that some marketing genius decided “gift” is a verb, we now have another offense against the mother tongue.

They’re mangling “trip.”

A trip is a noun, as in I’m taking a trip to London. To trip is a verb, as in I tripped over the dog. Both are perfectly respectable uses of the word.

But last week, I spotted an ad for a blouse designed for travel. The caption?

“I’ll never TRIP without it!”

No. No. No.

The blouse itself is adorable: oversized but not sloppy, made of linen and capable of taking you straight from the airplane to dinner. Just add pearls and you’re ready for a night on the town. 

Best of all, you can rinse it out in a hotel sink, hang it up and wear it the next day without so much as a flirtation with an iron.

I’m a sucker for this sort of thing. I bought one this summer and I’ll admit it performs exactly as advertised. People have even complimented me on it. And really, is there anything more seductive than a stranger telling a woman of a certain age she looks cute?

Last week, I decided I might order a second blouse in another color. 

Back to the website I went, ready to hand over my credit card.

That’s when I saw it.

A new ad. This one featured a chic-looking woman, posing in front of some European landmark I didn’t recognize. Beneath her, those five unforgivable words:

“I’ll never trip without it!”

I sighed and clicked out of the website.

I’ve lived long enough to know that some lines simply must not be crossed. I will not applaud the transformation of gift into a verb. I will scream if your Christmas card return address tells me it’s from The Adam’s. And I refuse to pretend that a person can trip to Paris.

I may be willing to spend money on a wrinkle-free linen blouse. But I am not willing to finance the continued destruction of the English language.

Join me in fighting the good fight. Refuse to say you tripped anywhere. (Unless you’re using psychedelics.)

OK, you may say you tripped somewhere if you actually stumbled on your way. Other than that, leave this lovely, utilitarian word alone.

We hear your shouts of “It’s not fair! This is all political. Trump’s going after his political enemies.”

I’m talking about Ilhan Omar and her fans as they contemplate the raid on Omar’s Washington DC house earlier this week.

“This is an abuse of power..blah, blah, blah.”

Cry harder. Seems like yesterday that those of us on the right were saying the same things.

Where were these lovers of the law when Biden directed the feds to raid Rudy Giuliani’s house? Roger Stone’s?

What did they have to say when federal prosecutors dug up novel legal theories to come after Trump, to try to throw him in prison so he couldn’t run for president again? What did they do when states like Colorado tried to keep him off the ballot?

What were their thoughts when the feds were rifling through Melania’s underwear drawer at Mar-a-Lago?

Most were popping champagne, watching Steven Colbert declare that the raid on Trump’s Florida home was “just like Christmas.”

Well, Christmas came early for the right this year. Late actually. It’s long past time this corrupt, America-hating congresswoman from Minnesota was given a legal proctological exam. From her shadowy immigration story, to her cuteness with campaign funds to suspicions that she may be mixed up in the massive Somali fraud in Minnesota that’s bilked millions from American taxpayers, she’s a walking legal target.

Remember what Ilhan Omar was spewing when Jack Smith and Letitia James - two of the most partisan prosecutors in the country - were trying to toss Trump in prison?

Ilhan Omar was busy on social media back then, reminding us that “NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW.”

Karma, baby.

Let’s back up.

Ilhan Omar is the daughter of a Somali Army colonel. Essentially a warlord. After the Somali civil war in 1991, she and her father fled for their lives. First to a Kenyan refugee camp. Then to America in 1995 where Daddy was granted asylum as he reinvented himself as an “educator”.

In 2000, Daddy became a citizen and his daughter did too. He was able to claim citizenship for her because Ilhan was a minor.

Or was she?

It appears she was born in 1981 and would have been 18 at the time. Ineligible. (Omar allegedly had her staff change her birth year on official papers to 1982 after she was elected to Congress.) She claims to have no birth certificate, so how did she get citizenship at all?

In 2002 she married Ahmed Hirsi in a religious ceremony. They have three children.

They separated in 2008 and in 2009 she married Ahmed Said Elmi who is widely believed to be her brother. This allegedly faux marriage took place to help get him into the country.

She and her brother/husband divorced and she remarried Hirsi in 2018.

They divorced in 2019. In 2020 she married an aide, Tim Mynett.

That’s four marriages and two possible cases of felony immigration fraud. Trouble is, the statute of limitations may have run on those crimes.

Yet a Democrat judge in a Democrat district signed a search warrant for her home this week. Clearly he saw evidence of other crimes.

What’s galling about Omar is that she’s living the American dream. From the wasteland that is Somali, she arrives in America as a kid and is elected to Congress. You’d think she’d be super patriotic. You would be wrong. She’s spent her time in the national eye criticizing the country and siding with our enemies.

If it’s shown that Omar committed immigration fraud she could be stripped of her citizenship without a trial and deported.

Then she could go back to Mogadishu.

Hey, dare to dream. It’s Christmas in October, after all.

by Paul Goldman

TD columnist Michael Paul Williams should get his facts straight. I know it’s popular to call guys like me racist for the views that follow. But I believe the proposed constitutional amendment to automatically give violent felons their rights back is wrong. Williams and his supporters say Virginia’s constitutional ban against automatically restoring the rights of felons after their terms are completed is racist. Williams and others say this ban was first enacted last century specifically to disenfranchise Black citizens.

Williams is wrong. Why do I know this? Because I was the only white person in Virginia willing to manage Doug Wilder’s historic campaign breaking the color line in Virginia state politics.  You can read all about it in the book When Hell Froze Over.

In order to help Doug, I decided to read up on Virginia history. I didn’t attend school in the Commonwealth. The history is clear. When Virginia started making it all but impossible for felons to get back the right to vote, few Black Virginians were allowed to register to vote. The white segregationists running the state controlled the local voter registration process. They could block anyone from voting. In that regard, Mr. Williams and his backers are absolutely correct.

Meaning: Since few Black citizens were allowed to vote whether ex-felons or not, the white politicians running Virginia self-evidently passed the ban on restoration of rights to penalize a certain segment of the White population.

Political history is clear. The elite white establishment running the state feared poor white citizens might be enticed to join a populist anti-establishment political revolt. This had happened before.

The infamous “white supremacy constitution” of 1902 cited by Williams and others had various provisions aimed at disfranchising half the white population! Mr. Williams needs to do the math. Black voters made up perhaps 7% of the 1902 voter rolls. This didn’t pose a threat to segregationist rule.  If I remember correctly, this is why the 1902 constitution is the last one enacted by the General Assembly without a vote of the people. You didn’t want to give voters a chance to reject the constitution aimed at stripping half of them of any future vote.

The current Virginia Constitution did away with many segregation era provisions but still includes this disenfranchisement of felons. It only allows the Governor to individually restore rights to felons. Mr. Williams and crew want to make restoration automatic for every felon who’s completed their term. They want the Governor role’s role eliminated. Thus the proposed amendment on the November ballot.

Society should give people a second chance if this is a reasonable possibility. This is a good societal value.  But should we feel compassion for an unrepentant rapist or violent predator who essentially gives a victim a life sentence?

I ask Mr. Williams and others: why all the concern for violent felons?

I’ve been fighting for years to get poor black and white kids equal educational rights. How come Mr. Williams and others aren’t equally concerned by the fact a provision of the Virginia Constitution inserted by segregationists years ago specifically denies equal educational rights for all?  Why all the concern for violent felons and not innocent children?  Bottom line: It’s not racist to believe violent felons need to show remorse before getting back their rights. It’s not racist to believe if you spread OxyContin and Fentanyl you should not automatically get back your rights either.

Hear what I’m saying: I don’t want Williams and others to twist my words. I’m saying it shouldn’t be automatic.

For example, there are about 4500 inmates convicted of felonies involving sex crimes in our state prisons.  Why should they automatically get back their rights when they’ve inflicted a lifetime of mental torture on their victims?  More to the point: why does my believing this make me some kind of racist? There is absolutely nothing wrong or racist in requiring a violent felon to show some level of contrition getting back his rights.

With all due respect Mr. Williams, I think your showing mushy headed thinking for a Pulitzer Prize winner.  I’ll put my record against Mr. Williams or anyone else in the state when it comes to who’s fought more to get a quality for all the citizens.  Like I said, maybe I take a different view if you were fighting it’s hard to get innocent kids their constitutional rights.

PAUL GOLDMANis former Chairman of the Virginia Democratic Party, a former candidate for mayor of the City of Richmond, and author of “Remaking Virginia Politics.”

Republished with permission from the Virginia Free Press.

Some took to social media to wish everyone a happy Columbus Day. Others sent wishes for a happy Indigenous Peoples’ Day. 

On Indigenous Peoples’ Day, we recognize and honor the perseverance and courage of Indigenous peoples and celebrate their enduring impact on their communities and the Commonwealth.
 https://t.co/erwUaQjFNH https://t.co/8LlydlmBfa

— Governor Abigail Spanberger (@GovernorVA) October 12, 2026

Today we commemorate Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Minnesota is home to eleven Tribal Nations that are a major part of our history and our future.

— Senator Amy Klobuchar (@SenAmyKlobuchar) October 12, 2026

On #IndigenousPeoplesDay, we celebrate the rich cultures and enduring contributions of Indigenous peoples. Today and every day, we reaffirm our respect for Tribal sovereignty and our commitment to health care, education and economic opportunity for all Tribal communities.

— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) October 12, 2026

On the other side of the aisle we had this:

Sail On. Columbus Day is back. 🇺🇸 https://t.co/D1dD8acB2m https://t.co/GKP329FXon

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) October 12, 2026

Christopher Columbus is one of the great men of world history. Guided by faith in Christ, our European ancestors came to the New World, settled wild lands, and built western civilization. Our history and our culture are exceptional-- and we're no longer apologizing for it. https://t.co/Fi3iBoVAZy

— Brandon Gill (@realBrandonGill) October 12, 2026

Happy Columbus Day. Without reservation or apology. https://t.co/NTuSrAq6dj

— Chip Roy (@chiproytx) October 12, 2026

But the best of all? This, from J.D. Vance:

Happy Columbus Day! https://t.co/UyDaHe1Q8V

— JD Vance (@JDVance) October 12, 2026

And just like that, a federal holiday became another opportunity to sort Americans into opposing camps.

But wait. Only one of these two days IS a federal holiday. That would be Columbus Day. Established by Congress in 1934. 

Columbus has fallen out of favor in recent years, with revisionist historians portraying the brave Italian explorer as an exploiter. He wasn’t perfect, but this valiant navigator ventured across uncharted seas eventually bringing Christianity and Western Civilization to Stone Age tribesmen.

There’s not a leader in the past immune to criticism except Jesus. But I tell you this – the virtue of Christopher Columbus is towering. Happy Columbus Day, everybody! @thegnewsroom https://t.co/vRyTD4in5x

— Cardinal Dolan (@CardinalDolan) October 12, 2026

While North America was populated by scores of warring tribes still using stone, bone and wood tools, in Europe Botticelli had painted The Birth Of Venus, Irish monks had illustrated The Book of Kells and Donatello had created the still-stunning bronze statue of “David.”

Columbus brought the New World the gift of Jesus and civilization.

Yet, in the past few years statues of Columbus had been torn down and the one day a year we honor the man has become a battle in the culture wars.

I have a modest suggestion for those on the left who would rather celebrate Indigenous peoples than Christopher Columbus: Why not pick another day?

The calendar has 365 of them. Well, 364 if you count Columbus Day. Surely they can find an available Monday in February or August.

The indigenous peoples could have their own holiday, Columbus could keep his and we could find something else to fight about.

I know. I’m being hopelessly optimistic. But imagine a country where we can celebrate one group of people without feeling compelled to take something away from another.

Nah, won’t happen.

Apparently that’s a difficult concept for the hordes of frothing X members who have been calling me the “b” word, the “c” word and worse (“liberal,” for instance) simply for suggesting over the weekend that President Trump nix the public part of Nidal Hasan’s execution on Dec. 3.

Don’t watch, they sneered. We want to see him die.

As far as I’m concerned, we can kill the man with bullets dipped in pig’s blood and throw his riddled corpse in a landfill to be eaten by dogs. But we shouldn’t turn the death of this human dirtball into a public spectacle.

Let me be clear, what Nidal Hasan did 17 years ago, when this raging jihadist Army major betrayed his country and his fellow soldiers by training a rifle on unarmed men and women (including a pregnant woman) killing 13 and injuring 32 of his brethren, was a heinous crime. He actually killed 14. The pregnant soldier begged for the life of her baby before this Islamic maniac shot her in the head.

His motive was never in doubt: Hasan opened fire while shouting “Alluha Akbar!”

A military jury convicted him of mass murder and sentenced him to die. Unfortunately, it’s taken almost two decades to get Hasan a date with his executioners.

Last week, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said that Hasan’s death by firing squad would be live streamed from Ft. Hood.

Big mistake.

This is not a sporting event or a political rally. It’s an execution.

Hasan deserves to die for what he did. A firing squad comprised of American soldiers will be justice. Justice delayed, but justice served nonetheless.

Let’s not turn the execution of a man in a wheelchair (Hasan was paralyzed from the gun fight that ensued taking him into custody) into a carnival.

We don’t conduct public executions in the U.S. for good reason: We are not members of a blood-lusting death cult. We recognize that capital punishment is something reserved for the worst of the worst but we don’t turn executions into cheap entertainment. Or worse, turn the scum of the earth into martyrs.

Public executions are wildly popular entertainment in countries with medieval sensibilities.

They love watching gay men hung from cranes in Iran. North Koreans are reportedly compelled to enjoy the spectacle of death-by-state. The Taliban are enthusiastic practitioners of public executions. So are Saudi Arabians who also gather to enjoy watching thieves lose limbs to swords swung by state officials.

We are better than the people in these inferior cultures. We are not savages. We maintain our humanity in the face of depravity, such as mass murders carried out by Army officers.

We conduct executions rarely and in as painless a manner as possible. We have witnesses present but we don’t execute murderers, no matter how depraved their acts, before cheering audiences.

President Trump said over the weekend he hadn’t decided if Hasan’s execution should be live-streamed. J.D. Vance said if it is live-streamed he will not watch.

I hope Trump listens to his better angels and not the folks who want to take us down a road where executions become entertainment.

The Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC) should not exist.

When a movement gains ground in corrupting voting systems, it doesn't give it up without a fight, and right now, the front line in election integrity is clean voter rolls. That is, the accuracy of the list of eligible, registered voters in each state. When someone moves, dies, or is improperly registered to vote, they remain listed as a registered voter until election officials remove them. A dirty voter roll is ripe for fraudulent votes cast in the name of someone who no longer belongs on the list.

In the battle over how to manage voter rolls, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has exposed a glaring hypocrisy; some states, citing privacy rules, refuse to share voter registration data with the federal government. At the same time, many of the same states send that same data to the leftist nonprofit Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC). Apparently, the states see no privacy problem there, but the feds do. These data transfers to ERIC and its subsequent use of the data may be illegal.

The DOJ sent letters, on September 30, to ERIC and its related nonprofit, the Center for Election Innovation and Research (CIER), warning that they may be breaking a federal privacy law, the Driver's Privacy Protection Act (DPPA), which makes it "unlawful for any person knowingly to obtain or disclose personal information from a motor vehicle record for any not permitted use." The penalty is a criminal fine. The DOJ has demanded loads of documents to investigate.

"We hope you will agree to voluntarily comply with these requests rather than forcing the United States to take further action," said the letter, signed by Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward, Jr.

To grasp the depth of deception some states engage in, it helps to understand two things: what ERIC does, and how strenuously some states object to sharing the same data with the Trump Administration.

States Share Private Data (What ERIC Does)

The National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) of 1993 requires states to make a reasonable effort to remove ineligible people from voter rolls. Traditionally, this is the work of county and state officials—your tax dollars still pay them to do it—but since 2012, some states have outsourced voter roll maintenance to ERIC. Currently, the District of Columbia and 27 states—overwhelmingly Democrat-led—are ERIC members. Restoration News Founder and Executive Editor Hayden Ludwig’s reporting on ERIC has become source material for the feds.

Using lists of data including an individual’s name, address, driver’s license number, last four digits of Social Security number, date of birth, phone number, and email address, ERIC identifies voters who have moved, died, are not registered, or who may have voted illegally.

Member states give ERIC voter registration records, plus all the records of individuals who went to the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), including those who didn’t register to vote when applying for a driver's license. ERIC member states also provide ERIC with data on people who do business with the state anywhere they can register to vote, such as applications for public assistance or to get a concealed carry gun license.

Wait a minute, why does ERIC need the private information of people who never registered to vote to clean the voter rolls? It’s because ERIC also makes lists of eligible-but-unregistered voters, and it requires member states to attempt to get them registered.

One can imagine how useful that data would be to someone harvesting votes: Want to register more Democrats? Comb through the data for women under 30 seeking Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. Want to avoid Republicans? Skip anyone over 50 who applied for a gun license.

ERIC shares data—your private data—with CEIR, which creates lists of potential voters to target for voter registration. ERIC gives these lists back to the states. Both ERIC and CEIR were founded by David Becker, who uses all the Democratic talking points, like warning that  "election deniers" are a "threat to our democracy." Becker has been openly adversarial against President Donald Trump and his followers for years.

Letters sent from DOJ to ERIC and CEIR were nearly identical. They ask for a list of all people and organizations with whom ERIC and CEIR shared information obtained from state DMVs and all records related to such sharing. DOJ wants a written, detailed explanation of the services members receive, and a list of all research projects undertaken so far, with information about any third parties that were involved in the research projects.

States Refuse to Share Private Data

In response to Trump’s order to identify anyone who may be voting illegally, the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division asked states to share their unredacted voter rolls, including the voter’s full name, date of birth, residential address, driver’s license number, or the last four digits of the registrant’s Social Security number. Notably, the government asks for less information than ERIC requires.

Citing privacy concerns, some 30 states refused to share their voter registration lists. The DOJ brought federal lawsuits against them. Many cases were ultimately dismissed, and some are ongoing; the status of the cases is constantly changing. You can see a map at Voter Reference Foundation’s Voter List Accuracy tab. At this writing, lawsuits are pending in Washington, Idaho, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Kentucky, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine.

Restoration News Investigative Researcher Jacob Grandstaff recently offered some context about these cases.

Hypocrisy on Steroids

Brad Raffensperger, Georgia’s secretary of state since 2019, leaned into the privacy concern in his battle to keep the feds from seeing the state’s complete, unredacted voter rolls. In court filings, there is a five-page letter drawn up by General Counsel Charlene McGowan. In it, she defends Raffensperger’s decision to refuse sharing all the data with the feds.

Georgia law prohibits the disclosure of voters’ full date of birth, Social Security number, and driver’s license number. Accordingly, in compliance with state law, and in consultation with the Georgia Attorney General’s office, the voter list provided excludes "sensitive information that implicates special privacy concerns." … Nevertheless, the records that we are submitting are more than sufficient to demonstrate Georgia’s compliance with the [National Voter Registration Act].

It’s worth noting that the federal government created everyone’s Social Security number and connects them to birthdates. It likely has many addresses too. The federal government is at low risk of abusing the same data it already has in another format.

While Raffensperger cries about privacy, Georgia is an ERIC member, and, as such, it must provide ERIC with the name, address, driver’s license number, last four digits of Social Security Number, date of birth, phone number, and email address of registered voters and those who do business with the state. Again, that is more than the federal government asks for. Anti-Trump ERIC hands the data over to anti-Trump CEIR, and who knows where it travels from there.

Pennsylvania is another ERIC member state that has spent lots of money in court trying to prevent the feds from getting a look at its unredacted voter rolls. Al Schmidt, Pennsylvania's secretary of state for the last three years, oversaw the 2020 ballot counting in Philadelphia. In 2023, former President Joe Biden awarded Schmidt the Presidential Citizens Medal because Trump named Schmidt in a 2020 mean tweet. So, it’s on brand for Schmidt to run interference for everything Trump-related. His letter to the DOJ, found in court filings and provided by a trusted source, reads:

Your letter dated August 14 specifically asked for detailed personal and confidential information, including driver's license numbers and Social Security numbers for all Pennsylvania voters. This request, and reported efforts to collect broad data on millions of Americans, represent a concerning attempt to expand the federal government's role in our country's election process. Please know that the Department of State takes seriously its obligation to safeguard the integrity and accuracy of Pennsylvania’s voter rolls as well as the security of Pennsylvanians’ personal information.

Predictably, Schmidt decided there was no legal justification for Pennsylvania to share the data with the DOJ.

Same thing in Nevada, where state Attorney General Aaron Ford crowed in a press release:

The Trump administration's attempt to force our state to share these unredacted voter rolls was nothing more than an intimidation tactic designed to continue the president's campaign to sow doubt in our elections. Nevada’s elections are free, fair and safe, and our state will protect the sensitive data of all Nevadans.

Yes, while seeking credit from the public for protecting their information, Ford knows Nevada gives ERIC all their data.

ERIC Likely 'Unlawful'

Those recent letters from DOJ to ERIC and CEIR point to the Driver’s Privacy Protection Act, as a safeguard against "any not permitted use" of DMV records. This means states should not share that information with ERIC, and ERIC certainly should not pass it on to CEIR.

Notably, the government has been managing our data for decades.

Federal, state, and local government agencies have, since 1986, used the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) Program to verify the citizenship and immigration status of noncitizens applying for public benefits. Trump expanded the SAVE Program last year, directing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to add more data so it can be used to verify citizenship status at voter registration. Trump directed the Social Security Administration to make its records available to DHS for that purpose.

States may voluntarily share their voter rolls in the SAVE database. Some states have done so. If all states shared with the SAVE program, it would have more voter information than ERIC, which only has member-state data. It would eliminate any reason for ERIC to exist and make voter verification more efficient.

Beth Brelje is a Senior Political Investigator for Restoration News, focusing on state and federal elections, laws, legislation and the effects policies have on us all. She has nearly 40 years of media experience. 

Republished with permission from Restoration News.

The Virginia senator has financial and political ties to the group behind the wild, murky claims that half of the state’s children are starving.

"Hungry kids are not a bargaining chip," Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) declared. Then he turned them into one—selling a 51 percent hunger crisis that even his own preferred charity puts at 9 percent.

Warner promised Virginians he'd serve just two terms. Now he's running for a fourth, and his campaign ads put hungry children front and center to win votes. It's a pattern that would make Pinocchio blush.

Warner claims half of Virginia families with kids are "food insecure." The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) puts Virginia's 2022–2024 average at about 13 percent, and a 2023 Hunger Free America study has this at 11.7 percent.

His ads use data from a "No Kid Hungry Virginia" survey commissioned by the nonprofit No Kid Hungry, also known as Share Our Strength, the Virginia Department of Social Services (VDSS), and the Federation of Virginia Food Banks. Yet, the Share Our Strength website says the state has close to 9 percent of children living in "food-insecure homes," while elsewhere promoting the "over half" figure Warner uses.

VDSS Commissioner Duke Storen is a former vice president of Share Our Strength, and just two days after Warner pushed his Virginia kids are starving talking points, Storen published a VDSS press release echoing the same narrative. Coincidence?

Warner, meanwhile, is a large donor to Share Our Strength, which lobbied for his Healthy Food Access for All Americans Act, legislation that could send taxpayer-funded grants to groups like the survey's sponsors. Legacy media outlets across the state, such as the Richmond Times-Dispatch, publicized Warner’s claims despite the glaring contradictions.

Warner and fellow socialists want to diminish Republican efforts to reform the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) welfare program. Socialists want Americans dependent on the government—starting with control of their food supply.

Highly Paid Executives Consume Donor Dollars

Share Our Strength's tax-deductible donations and grants were $87 million in 2024, but distributions to organizations that actually feed children were just $14 million. The group spent over $33 million on salaries and other compensation and $31 million toward "other expenses."

The group's 2024 federal return lists 23 salaried employees, each with six-figure annual earnings. The executive chair, William Shore, received over $700,000, and CEO Anne Filipic pulled in over $450,000. The nonprofit has over a half-dozen highly compensated senior vice presidents (SVPs), with pay ranging from $223,206 to $275,615, including an SVP of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI). Plus, the organization paid 53 independent contractors more than $100,000 each.

The company leases space in one of the most expensive buildings in Washington, D.C. Its location on Thomas Circle labels it a "trophy office building." Tax records indicate the nonprofit spends nearly $10 million annually on lease expenses.

Lobbying is also an activity of Share Our Strength, spending nearly $1 million in 2025 to beg Congress for more taxpayer welfare subsidies.

In its press release about the hunger survey, Share Our Strength says they are "working to end childhood hunger by helping launch and improve programs that give all kids the healthy food they need to thrive."

With nearly 75 percent of its donations going toward compensation and "other expenses," Share Our Strength’s leadership appears more focused on padding their own wallets than ending childhood hunger.

Democrats Want Food Dependence

Democrats decry Republican efforts to equip Americans to be self-sufficient rather than dependent on the government dole.

The Federation of Virginia Food Banks admits they commissioned the food study because of Republican efforts to reduce dependence on taxpayer-funded welfare programs. In a press release, the group complains that "SNAP [Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program] participation has declined by more than 110,000 people in Virginia since the enactment of H.R. 1 in July 2025."

The socialist Democrats are upset about President Trump’s 2025 announcement that only American citizens and qualified legal aliens would be eligible for SNAP. This wasn’t a new rule, just the enforcement of existing laws. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins said, "We are stewards of taxpayer dollars, and it is our duty to ensure states confirm the identity and verify the immigration status of SNAP applicants. USDA’s nutrition programs are intended to support the most vulnerable Americans. To allow those who broke our laws by entering the United States illegally to receive these benefits is outrageous."

In addition to immigration verification, 2025 witnessed new Republican legislation, which socialist Democrats vilify, that instituted a part-time work requirement for able-bodied individuals receiving welfare.

In 1996, when former President Bill Clinton signed welfare reform legislation, he emphasized the need for people to work and for welfare to not be permanent. Clinton said, “We are taking an historic chance to make welfare what it was meant to be: a second chance, not a way of life.”

Today’s socialist Democrats like Mark Warner align more with Zohran Mamdani than Clinton.

Flawed Survey Methodology

Restoration News reached out to all the organizations involved in the 2026 Virginia Hunger Study. The National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago conducted the study. In response to questions seeking the methodology behind the survey, NORC’s external affairs manager Anya Shelton told us, "If the VA Federation [of Food Banks] didn’t publicly share the methods when releasing the survey, it’s their call on sharing the full methods statement."

Hollie Lutz, a director with the Federation of Virginia Food Banks, indicated, "A forthcoming technical report will provide additional findings and a more detailed description of the study's methodology. That report is expected to be published in early 2027."

When pressed further, Lutz provided some of the methodology to Restoration News. The surveys were sent to addresses covered by food banks in the state. Participants were offered monetary incentives for completing the surveys, and areas with a low propensity to respond were sampled at twice the rate.

Wouldn’t individuals struggling to make ends meet be more likely to complete the survey due to the monetary incentive? What are the low-propensity areas that had higher samplings—were they poorer areas? Why does Share Our Strength still report a child food insecurity rate of 9 percent, in conflict with the study’s reported 51 percent?

These are answers the public deserves to know.

The VDSS responded after Lutz saying, “I understand our survey partners have responded to your request, and VDSS is aligned with the information they provided.”

Share Our Strength—A Propaganda Arm of the Left

Filipic, the highly paid CEO of Share Our Strength, is a former Biden administration official. She previously worked for the Democratic National Committee and the 2008 Obama presidential campaign.

Share Our Strength SVP of DEI Nefertiri Sickout oversees efforts to “feed kids in communities of color.”

Sickout’s planning DEI checklist includes:

• When planning events, "be intentional about" the community demographic. Teams should ask, "Are various identities represented (e.g., gender identities, diverse racial backgrounds)?"

• In event sessions, "Plan for diversity, equity, and inclusion. Ensure gender and race/ethnicity is balanced within each session (especially keynotes and plenary speakers), not just the overall program."

• Regarding paid speakers: "Actively solicit proposals and submissions from underrepresented groups."

• During events, ask "participants to communicate their preferred pronouns."

Share Our Strength also operates the Medicaid Food Security Network (MFSN), whose goal is to "expand the number of Medicaid-enrolled children."

The group's leadership, spending priorities, and programming suggest an organization focused on political and ideological goals, not on its stated mission of ending childhood hunger.

Virginians deserve honest numbers, not campaign talking points dressed up as research. Multiple reports put the child food insecurity rate in Virginia between 9 and13 percent, nowhere close to the 51 percent Warner spews in his ads. When the study behind that claim was commissioned by groups with financial and political ties to the senator, and when its full methodology remains unreleased until 2027, voters should treat Warner’s claim for what it appears to be: fake news and not a credible measure of childhood hunger in the commonwealth.

Victoria Manning is a Senior Investigative Researcher for Restoration News specializing in education freedom, immigration, and military issues. She is the author of Behind the Wall of Government Schools. Victoria served 8 years as an elected school board member and has a master’s degree in law. She also brings the perspective of a military spouse to her reporting.

Republished with permission from Restoration News.

Adrenaline surged. Tornado? Tsunami? Serial killer on the loose?

I grabbed my phone, heart pounding, and saw this:

I don’t want to sound callous. I understand that a wandering dementia patient needs to be found and taken to safety. But what, exactly, did the city expect me to do with this information?

Leap out of bed and lead a pajama-clad posse to scour the neighborhood for a missing man? Station myself at the front window with binoculars? Set up a command post in the driveway?

The man was about 10 miles away. I’d been asleep for nearly two hours. And I had a 4 a.m. date with my alarm clock.

I muttered a few choice words, prayed for the man’s safe return, rolled over and tried to calm my racing heart. I value public safety. I really do. But I also value my sleep and I wasn’t about to sacrifice what remained of it for a search party I hadn’t volunteered to join.

This wasn’t the first time City Hall apparently confused a public announcement with a full-blown emergency. Remember April 17, 2014? At about 2:30 a.m., some 100,000 Virginia Beach residents - including me - were jolted awake by robocalls informing us that the 500 block of Sandbridge Road had reopened.

Yes, you read that correctly. A rural road had reopened.

The city blamed a malfunctioning “reverse 911” system that mistakenly called tens of thousands of people, including nursing home residents and hospital patients instead of residents in the immediate area. 

Nothing says urgent public safety information like waking a nursing home at 2:30 in the morning to announce that traffic can once again flow freely 25 miles away on Sandbridge Road.

Look, Amber Alerts serve a vital purpose. Those first minutes after a child’s abduction can be crucial and alerting people who are out and about can help bring a child home safely.

But a phone screaming at me in the middle of the night about a missing adult more than 10 miles away? What am I supposed to do, put on my slippers and patrol the streets? I’m not a deputy. I’m not a bloodhound. And at that hour, I’m barely a functioning mammal.

The good news: According to reports, the gentleman was found safe and sound. Excellent news. Truly.

We don’t know if he was located by a determined neighborhood watch posse or he simply wandered back on his own. 

I’m glad this tale has a happy ending. No thanks to me.

On Tuesday, I did what I should have done in 2014: Turned off all emergency notifications on my phone. 

If the city ever needs me to help find a missing person at 11 p.m., it will have to do it the old-fashioned way: gently knock on my door and hand me a latte.