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Hundreds Of Same-Sex Marriage Supporters Shut Down County Commission Meeting Over Anti-Gay Proposal

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Commissioners Postpone Critical Business After Pointless Anti-Gay Resolution Leads to Overflow Crowd

Commissioners in Washington County, Tennessee had plenty of substantive issues to address during their regular meeting on Monday night, from road funding to redistricting and redevelopment. In fact, their agenda was 600 pages long, and some of the items were described as urgent. 

However, thanks to a proposed resolution against same-sex marriage on the agenda that would have no legal impact, commissioners were forced to postpone the meeting for at least 10 days. That’s because an estimated 350 people showed up, with many wearing red in opposition to the anti-gay marriage resolution. The 200-seat meeting room was filled to capacity, with 150 to 200 people still in the lobby, prompting commissioners to cancel the meeting to comply with the state’s Open Meetings Act. 

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“Never before have I seen the interest in an item, in a topic that we see here,” Commissioner David Tomita told WCYB-TV. “I think we had some items on the agenda that required immediate attention. I’m sorry that we’re not attending to the business of the county but I think it’s more important that we make accommodations to anyone who wants to participate in the process to have access.”

Washington County, situated in the northeast corner of the state with a population of 123,000, would have been the ninth in Tennessee to pass a resolution calling on Tennessee to defy the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges. However, the legislation the resolutions are designed to support — state Rep. Mark Pody‘s “Natural Marriage Defense Act” — was rejected by a legislative committee last week. 

LOOK: Students Wear ‘Straight Pride’ Signs In Tennessee High School After Gay-Straight Alliance Formed

Even Washington County residents who support the anti-gay resolution were frustrated that it led to Monday’s meeting being canceled. 

“We’re allowing a minor issue that has nothing to do with the county or state to interfere with important business,” Jeff Dupre told The Johnson City Press. 

Highway superintendent Johnny Deakins said cancellation of the meeting could hurt the county’s chances of obtaining $1.2 million in road funding from the state. Deakins had hoped to get the commission to sign a letter in support of state legislation needed to allocate the money. 

“Anytime you’ve got the County Commission backing the effort, it’s better than doing it alone,” Deakins told the newspaper. 

Washington County Mayor Dan Eldridge lamented that developers from as far away as Knoxville were at the meeting to discuss projects in Johnson City.

Opponents of the marriage resolution, especially those who were stuck in the lobby, said they were pleased with the decision to cancel the meeting. 

“Obviously our community has strong feelings on this and we need to have a public forum where people can come and voice their opinions,” Jon Tully told WCYB. 

Commissioner Forrest Boreing, sponsor of the anti-gay resolution, told the station he was proud to stand up for what he believes as a Christian. 

Elsewhere, commissioners in Tennessee’s Hawkins and Hickman counties approved resolutions opposing same-sex marriage on Monday. In Hawkins County, the vote was 13-3, with commissioners who opposed the resolution calling it divisive and saying it violates their oath to uphold the Constitution, according to The Times News. But Commissioner B.D. Cradic, sponsor of the resolution, told his colleagues they’re governed by a higher power and would be held accountable by God for their votes. 

“God, he loves everybody. I love everybody as well. But there’s certain things in the Bible that goes against nature itself,” Cradic said. “They have turned the law of the land into all kinds of different things contrary to the word of God. Based on that my oath first of all is to serve God.”

Hawkins County resident Jody Erwin, who spoke against the resolution, told commissioners that the group behind it — the Family Action Council of Tennessee — doesn’t represent all Christians. 

“I’m here today to express my horror at a group using religious indignation to suppress this small minority,” Erwin said. “If they had come before you first with a resolution condemning divorce, a subject that’s well covered in the Bible, and a real threat to over half of all marriages, I might believe that they are trying to uphold the sanctity of marriage. Since this is not the case, I must conclude it’s homophobic hysteria, which makes them the problem.”

Watch a report on the Washington County meeting from WJHL-TV above. 

 

EARLIER:

Tennessee Parents Wage War On Gay-Straight Alliance, Compare Club To ISIS

Breaking: Tennessee Lawmakers Kill Bill That Would Void Same-Sex Marriage, Cost $8.5 Billion

Supporters of Anti-Gay Marriage Bill Rally in Tennessee, Say ‘Cost of Tolerance is AIDS’

 

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News

Blanche Suggests Trump Played Role in FBI Investigation of Georgia Elections Office

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January 30, 2026

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Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche suggested on Friday that President Donald Trump had a role in the FBI’s investigation that led to the execution of a search warrant on a Georgia elections office, where ballots from the 2020 election reportedly were seized.

For years, President Trump has claimed that the 2020 presidential election he lost had been stolen, despite dozens of court cases that failed to prove so.

At a press conference at the U.S. Department of Justice headquarters, Blanche suggested the president played a role in the investigation that led to the FBI raid, according to Politico.

“Blanche suggested that the probe was related to ‘election integrity’ and that President Donald Trump had a role in it,” Politico reported. Blanche also appeared to confirm the raid was in connection with a criminal investigation.

READ MORE: CNN’s Tapper Flags ‘Killed’ Trump-Related Link in Epstein Dump — Access Restored Fast

“It should be no surprise to many in this room, or anybody watching, that election integrity is extraordinarily important to this administration, always has been and always will be,” Blanche told reporters.

“And so the fact that President Trump and this administration are investigating to make sure that … we are investigating issues around elections to make sure that we do have completely fair and appropriate elections should not be surprising, but I can’t comment on any criminal investigations.”

The New York Times’ Glenn Thrush, during the press conference, posted to social media, “When asked about FBI’s seizure of voter records in Atlanta — Todd Blanche just said that Trump himself ‘is investigating’ voter fraud.”

In modern presidential administrations it would be unusual for a president to play a role in a specific Department of Justice criminal investigation, so as to avoid the appearance of political interference.

READ MORE: ‘We Did Not Protect President Trump’ DOJ Says Upon Releasing Millions More Epstein Files

 

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CNN’s Tapper Flags ‘Killed’ Trump-Related Link in Epstein Dump — Access Restored Fast

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January 30, 2026

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Access to a document originally released as part of Friday’s Epstein files document dump that included language related to accusations against President Donald Trump and others allegedly had been removed, according to Jake Tapper. In just under an hour access was restored after the CNN anchor’s social media post.

The page Tapper linked to had read: “We are sorry, the page you’re looking for can’t be found on the Department of Justice website.”

“DOJ has since killed this link,” Tapper wrote. “This is what was there.”

Access was restored about 48 minutes later, according to Tapper’s posts.

According to the screenshot the CNN journalist posted on social media, the document included complaint summaries alleging minors engaging in sexual acts with Trump and others. The complaints are allegations and not proof or evidence of wrongdoing. Donald Trump has denied any wrongdoing.

Part of one accusation alleged, “Caller named other individuals involved in ‘big orgy parties’ with her, other young girls, and older Victoria’s Secret models, including Bill Clinton and Donald Trump.”

“Online complainant reported she was a victim and witness to a sex trafficking ring at the Trump Golf Course in Rancho Palos Verdes. CA between 1995- 1996,” that same allegation continued. “Complainant reported Ghislaine Maxwell as the madam and broker for sex parties, clients of whom included Epstein, Robin Leach, and Donald Trump.”

The screenshot stated that the “Response” to those complaints was that “Complainant was spoken to and deemed not credible.”

Other complaints in the screenshotted document read: “One of complainant’s ex-girlfriend’s daughters told complainant Trump raped her, as did Epstein.”

The screenshot of the document included multiple allegations that are graphic and include references to rape and murder.

Image via Reuters 

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‘We Did Not Protect President Trump’ DOJ Says Upon Releasing Millions More Epstein Files

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January 30, 2026

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More than forty days after federal law required the release of the Epstein files, the U.S. Department of Justice announced it will post about three million additional documents from its trove on Friday.

In addition to the documents, 2,000 videos and about 180,000 images will also be released, according to Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, who “said the files included images taken by Epstein and others that were on his devices but he didn’t take,” NBC News reported.

“Blanche said that the public should not find within the files the names of any men who abused women in connection with Epstein,” NBC added. “His comments affirm an unsigned statement from the DOJ and the FBI last year that sparked an avalanche of criticism and calls for more transparency.”

When asked by reporters if he had updated the White House on the release of the files, Blanche said, “My team has certain communications with the White House — let me just be clear, they had nothing to do with this review. They had no oversight with this review, they did not tell this department how to do our review, what to look for, what to redact, what not to redact. They absolutely knew that I was doing this press conference today and I was releasing the materials today.”

Blanche insisted there was no “oversight by the White House” in the process.

Asked if the DOJ is releasing all documents related to President Donald Trump from the files, Blanche told reporters, “I can assure that we complied with the statute.”

“We complied with the act,” he said, “We did not protect President Trump.”

“We didn’t protect or not protect anybody,” he added, while declaring that “that there’s a hunger, a thirst for information that I do not think will be satisfied by the review of these documents.”

Blanche insisted that President Trump has had the “same consistent message about Jeffrey Epstein.” He also insisted that “there’s not been a change, of course, or anything, and certainly his direction to … the Department of Justice was to release the files, be as transparent as we can.”

 

Image via Reuters

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