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Texas Lt. Gov. Unveils Wide-Reaching Anti-Transgender Legislation

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Patrick Is a National Anti-LGBT Activist

In an affront the the legacy of the great American civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., Texas Republican Lt. Governor Dan Patrick Thursday afternoon, mentioning and loosely quoting Dr. King, unveiled a North Carolina styled bill that would ban transgender people from using public restrooms that correspond with their gender identity. The offensive irony did not go unnoticed.

Patrick’s wide-reaching bill applies to all public accommodation areas in all Texas government buildings, including public education campuses, from elementary schools to colleges and universities. It also would affect transgender people traveling in and out of publicly owned airports, like Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, town and city halls across the state, judicial buildings, and other Texas government buildings.

Like North Carolina’s HB2, The Texas “Privacy Protection Act,” also known as SB6, strips the right of local towns, cities, and other municipalities from enacting or retaining their own LGBT nondiscrimination ordinances.

“We know we’re on the right side of the issue,” Lt. Governor Patrick told reporters at a press event held in the Texas Capitol. We’re on the right side of history. You can mark today as the day Texas is drawing a line in the sand and saying no.” 

Lt. Gov. Patrick noted he has been working with one of Texas’ most anti-LGBT organizations, Texas Values, and mentioned them by name. The group posted tweets during the event:

The bill’s sponsor, Texas Republican State Senator Lois Kolkhorst provided details of the bill, as protestors’ booing grew louder, causing her to momentarily pause before ignoring them. 

Asked if the state would be hiring “bathroom police,” Sen. Kolkhorst said “no,” but added that the legislation “allows an individual who feels uncomfortable to report that.” In a disturbing statement, Kolkhorst also said, “the responsibility falls on all of us to protect citizens and ensure that their personal and private rights are secured,” suggesting, if not advocating for, “concerned” citizens to take matters into their own hands.

“After our success in stopping President Obama’s bathroom rules in court, states are now free to enact legislation of their choosing to protect privacy,” Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a statement adding his support for the discriminatory legislation. “Texans should feel safe and secure when they enter any intimate facility, so I applaud the work of Lieutenant Governor Patrick and Senator Kolkhorst for fighting to protect women and children from those who might use access to such facilities for nefarious purposes.”

The ACLU opposes the bill and posted a response:

 

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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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