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Watching Porn on California’s Death Row

Under Governor Gavin Newsom, California has sought to transform its massive prison system into a Nordic-style rehabilitation program. Newsom has placed a moratorium on all executions, transferred condemned prisoners to facilities across the state, dismantled San Quentin State Prison’s death row, and turned the notorious prison into a therapeutic center, with art, classrooms, a café, and podcast studios.

As part of this transformation, the Newsom administration approved a $189 million contract to provide new digital tablets—generic, flat-screen devices in a plastic shell—to every inmate in the state prison system, at “no cost” to offenders. The administration heralded the effort to replace inmates’ old tablets—which were piloted in 2018 and given to nearly all prisoners by 2023—as a step toward “digital equity” for “justice impacted” individuals, who could, in theory, use the devices to contact their families, consume “educational” content, and “learn new technology.”

In reality, taxpayer-funded tablets have also been used for more lurid endeavors. In this exclusive City Journal investigation, we contacted dozens of death-row inmates, who told us that prisoners in the state system use such devices to watch pornography and have explicit sexual conversations. Some prisoners, according to a former high-ranking California corrections official, use their tablets to groom minors. Though the state has claimed to regulate explicit content, the inmates told us that users can easily evade detection.

When reached for comment, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said the tablets were “tightly controlled education tools” that provided inmates with “access to the Bible, education, and reentry resources that actually reduce crime.”

But inmates told us a different story. For some, the devices have become personal sex machines. In the words of one inmate, California’s death row is populated with desperately “horny” criminals who see the tablets as a way to satisfy their basest fantasies and desires—all thanks to the California taxpayer.

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ABC News Employee Joy Behar: Trump Only Cares About White Children 

Joy Behar of The View recently slandered Trump and his administration as racists by saying that they only care about white children.

Since The View falls under the umbrella of ABC News, perhaps we should start identifying Joy Behar and her co-hosts as ABC News employees. Maybe then, ABC News will finally take this poisonous, hateful, bitter hag off the air.

Calling Republicans racists is so original, Joy. 2008 called, and wants its Democrat smears back.

Transcript via NewsBusters:

BEHAR: You know what gets me?

GOLDBERG: What gets you? We get you but what gets you.

BEHAR: What gets me is this sort of this lie that they care about children. They seem to care about white children, but like when they say more Trump babies, what does that mean? Okay, I’m just asking the question.

And I would like to just remind people that this administration dismantled USAID, which helped children around the world. They cut $13 billion in foreign aid resulting in an estimated 500,000 children dying and 4.5 million children under five could die by 2030 due to largely preventable diseases like pneumonia, diarrhea, HIV, malaria, and tuberculosis.

So don’t tell us you care about children. You only care about these children that you call Trump children.

FARAH GRIFFIN: But it is accessible to any American.

BEHAR: But that – Let’s look at the over —

FARAH GRIFFIN: My child is not a trump child, it’s accessible to anyone who wants to apply for it.

BEHAR: No. I’m looking at the overall picture of this administration, and stop BSing me, okay? That’s all.

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Appeals court spares Trump from paying $83 million defamation award to E Jean Carroll — for now

President Donald Trump won’t have to pay an $83 million defamation award to a longtime advice columnist until the U.S. Supreme Court gets a chance to review the case or reject an appeal, according to a court entry Tuesday.

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed to a request by one of Trump’s lawyers that it let the president delay the payment to E. Jean Carroll, though it required that Trump post a $7.4 million bond to cover any additional interest costs, a request Carroll’s attorney had made.

The appeals court late last month refused Trump’s request for a rare meeting of the full 2nd Circuit to hear an appeal of a three-judge panel’s affirmance of the January 2024 verdict.

Afterward, Trump attorney Justin D. Smith asked the 2nd Circuit to stay the effect of its decision upholding the award so that Trump would not be forced to pay the judgment before the high court has a chance to consider an appeal.

Smith said last week there was a “fair prospect” that the Supreme Court will find in favor of Trump, who has called Carroll’s claims first made publicly in 2019 that she was sexually attacked by Trump in a Manhattan luxury department store dressing room in spring 1996 a “made up scam.”

The $83 million award to Carroll, 82, came from a jury that briefly heard Trump testify and observed his animated behavior for several days.

In upholding the verdict, a 2nd Circuit panel wrote last September that Trump continued his attacks against Carroll for at least five years, making them “more extreme and frequent as the trial approached.”

“He also continued these same attacks during the trial itself,” the appeals court said. “In one such statement, issued two days into the trial, Trump proclaimed that he would continue to defame Carroll ‘a thousand times.’ ”

The jury had been instructed to accept the findings of a jury that in May 2023 awarded Carroll $5 million after concluding Trump sexually abused her in the department store and then defamed her after she published her account of it in a 2019 memoir.

Trump is challenging the $83 million award on several grounds, asserting “absolute immunity” for comments he made while president as he disavowed knowing Carroll and attacked her motivations, saying they were politically driven or arose from a desire to promote her memoir.

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Awkward moment an aging Mitch McConnell needs help from staff during hearing with Pete Hegseth

Mitch McConnell appeared confused when a staffer interrupted him because he tried to end a Senate hearing with Pete Hegseth before it was set to conclude.

The former Majority Leader, 84, was part of a hearing of the Senate Committee on Appropriations on Defense that had been questioning the defense secretary regarding the War in Iran. 

As McConnell was given the floor again after questioning by Alaska Republican Lisa Murkowski, he tried to end the hearing with Hegseth, much to his colleagues’ confusion.

‘Here’s where we are, the vote is about over, the secretary has to get with the President on the China trip, I’m gonna’ ask Senator Murkowski to wrap up and thank you all for being here.’

Before finishing, he was interrupted by a younger, male staffer who could be heard whispering into his ear. 

‘Baldwin, Shaheen, and Kennedy still have questions,’ the staffer said.

He was referring to Wisconsin Democrat Senator Tammy Baldwin, New Hampshire Democrat Jeanne Shaheen and Republican John Kennedy. 

The staffer can then be heard clarifying that the hearing should ‘wrap up after’ those questions. 

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Alabama AG Announces Civil Investigation into Southern Poverty Law Center Alleging Deceptive Fundraising Practices Under State’s Consumer Protection Statutes

In April, the Justice Department indicted the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) on 11 counts, including wire fraud, bank fraud, and money laundering.

The SPLC was indicted for secretly funneling more than $3 million in funds to members of white supremacist and extremist groups, the DOJ said.

A grand jury in the Middle District of Alabama returned an 11-count indictment against the SPLC.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said the grand jury indicted the SPLC on 6 counts of wire fraud, four counts of bank fraud, and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Now, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall has announced a civil investigation into the organization, alleging deceptive fundraising practices under the State’s consumer protection statutes.

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It’s Time For Reparations For Taxpayers Forced To Pay Reparations

Reparations have become quite popular among the “white guilt” liberal set who insist the rest of us pay for crimes 21st century Americans did not commit. The redistribution of wealth schemes driven by identity politics are popping up in leftist-led cities across the country. They seem to be making critical race theory charlatans and professional race-baiters a lot of money while sowing more division and discrimination.

How about reparations for taxpayers forced to pay unjust reparations?    

Take Evanston, Illinois, for example. The Chicago suburb teeming with self-loathing, wealthy white liberals and misplaced Big 10 football and basketball teams in 2019 became the first U.S. city to launch a reparations program. The city of some 75,000 souls has committed $20 million to the cause of assuaging its guilt for past transgressions of segregating and redlining black residents. 

The money is supposed to compensate today’s black residents for past racial injustice. The recipients were not enslaved nor are they necessarily victims of discrimination. But they get a hefty check, regardless. 

‘Incredible’

In its latest round of redistribution with one-sided representation, Evanston announced in February that it will be issuing $25,000 individual payments to 44 people, according to the city’s Reparations Committee. The money, Fox News reported, comes from $276,588 in Evanston’s real estate transfer tax, a collection from the sale of property in the college town. The city also levies a tax on cannabis sales, although that revenue stream reportedly hasn’t been sufficient to meet the reparations wish list.

City leaders would also like to strap a tax on Delta-8 THC products —  weed lite, if you will — to keep the reparations train rolling. 

Last June, the Reparations Committee announced it had doled out a total of $6.36 million “to ancestors and direct descendants of the Black Evanston community,” the Evanston Roundtable reported. 

At the time, Tashiek Kerr, assistant to the city manager, (not to be confused with the assistant to the regional manager), said Evanston officials had met with “116 out of 126 residents in the direct descendants group,” the newspaper reported. “These residents are related to Black Evanston residents who lived in Evanston from 1919 through 1969.” 

A total of nearly $3 million was disbursed to those residents, with another 135 recipients sharing $3.5 million, all black applicants who claim to have faced discriminatory housing practices. The payments are supposed to be used for housing assistance — mortgage payments, down payments, home repairs and the like. 

The committee’s chairwoman, Robin Rue Simmons, described the funding totals as “incredible.” The audience burst into applause, the Roundtable reported. 

Here’s the phrase that pays: 

“However, recipients in the next round are wondering when it will be their turn. Rue Simmons said it is undetermined due to funding,” according to the newspaper. 

And so it goes with the history of reparation proposals and plans. Like all leftist money grabs, it’s never enough. (*See the expansion of welfare, affirmative action, the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977”, etc.) 

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Stacey Abrams Dragged Into Georgia Subpoena Showdown Over Massive Campaign Finance Scandal

Stacey Abrams is once again under a harsh spotlight as Georgia lawmakers dig deep into what they call blatant campaign finance violations tied to her voter outreach network.

The state Senate’s Special Committee on Investigations announced that Abrams and two key allies have been subpoenaed, promising that they “will follow the facts wherever they lead.”

The panel’s vice chairman, Senator Greg Dolezal, made it clear that the days of political favoritism are over in Georgia.

“Georgia law requires transparency and accountability in our elections,” he said.

For a state that has endured years of Democrat-fueled election drama, many see this latest subpoena as long overdue.

The subpoenas were issued to Abrams, along with New Georgia Project figures Lauren Groh-Wargo and Nsé Ufot.

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Michigan Democrats Introduce Bills to Legalize Assisted Suicide

A group of Michigan House Democrats has introduced a package of four bills aimed at legalizing physician-assisted suicide, rebranded as “medical aid in dying,” for terminally ill adults in the state.

The legislation would create a new “Death with Dignity Act” and establish a regulated process allowing certain patients to request and receive life-ending medication from a doctor.

The bills were referred to the House Committee on Government Operations, where they currently sit with no hearing scheduled yet.

Given the Republican majority in the Michigan House, the measures face long odds of advancing, but their introduction alone has reignited the long-running debate over assisted suicide in a state with a notorious history on the issue.

House Bill 5825 would allow “mentally competent” Michigan residents who are 18 years or older, diagnosed with a terminal illness expected to result in death within six months, and acting voluntarily to request a prescription for lethal medication from a licensed physician.

The bill requires two oral requests at least 15 days apart, one written request witnessed by two people, one of whom cannot be a relative or someone who stands to benefit financially, and confirmation of the diagnosis and mental capacity by two physicians.

The act states that death under the law “does not constitute suicide” for purposes of insurance or other legal matters.

The three companion bills provide additional legal protections and framework:

  • HB 5826 prohibits state licensing boards from imposing sanctions on health care professionals who participate in good faith under the Death with Dignity Act.
  • HB 5827 establishes sentencing guidelines for any crimes related to violations of the new act.
  • HB 5828 prevents health insurers from invoking suicide-exclusion clauses in life insurance policies when a death occurs under the provisions of the act.

All four bills were introduced by Democratic representatives and are tie-barred, meaning none can take effect unless the full package passes.

Lead sponsor Rep. Kimberly Edwards described the legislation as compassionate.

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O.J. Simpson top defense expert trained thousands of Chinese state security agents in U.S.

A forensic expert who testified in numerous high-profile American murder trials spent decades training China’s police alongside U.S. law enforcement officials at his federally-funded institutions in Connecticut, a Daily Caller News Foundation investigation discovered.

Dr. Henry C. Lee, who was born in China and became famous testifying as an expert defense witness in O.J. Simpson’s 1995 murder trial, served as Connecticut State Police commissioner and investigated dozens of notorious cases including the kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart and the murders of JonBenét Ramsey, Chandra Levy and Laci Peterson.

At least a decade before joining O.J.’s “dream team,” Lee also began sharing his expertise with “China’s FBI,” the Ministry of Public Security (MPS), and its local subordinate, the Public Security Bureau (PSB), with which he held numerous positions until his death at the age of 87 in March 2026, according to DCNF translations of Chinese government and state media reports.

Lee likewise held multiple positions in arms of a Chinese influence and intelligence agency called the United Front Work Department (UFWD), which arranged for Lee to be interviewed in 2019 about his work training Chinese state security personnel in both China and the U.S. at the University of New Haven (UNH), where he had served as a professor for over 50 years, according to DCNF translations of Chinese government and state media reports.

“Over the past 50 years, at least 1,000 teams and more than 10,000 [Chinese police] have received specialized professional training here in Connecticut at UNH,” Lee said, according to a DCNF translation of that 2019 interview. “I feel their academic drive, spirit of tireless research, and love for the cause, party and nation.”

“The allegations of UNH training students from the MPS must be thoroughly investigated and all American universities must do more to protect taxpayer-funded research from our adversaries,” Republican Rep. John Moolenaar, chairman of the House Select Committee on the CCP, told the DCNF.

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This Has Gotta Stop: The View Puts Targets on VA Supreme Court’s Back With Fact-Free Meltdowns

Even if it wasn’t obvious before, it’s certainly been abundantly clear since the start of President Trump’s second term in office that Democrats have no qualms whatsoever about fanning the flames using outright lies and purposeful deception to the point it spurs their outrage mobs to take violent action in the name of  “democracy” and “social justice.”

We saw it, for instance, in the early to mid part of 2025, when Tesla dealerships and vehicle owners were being targeted by unhinged leftists who took it upon themselves to either try to run folks off the road for the crime of owning a Tesla or to shoot up and light showrooms on fire with incendiary devices because Elon Musk was a powerful ally of President Trump’s.

Notably, when prominent Democrats in Congress were asked to unequivocally condemn such actions, they refused. Sen. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), for example, was asked at the time about the incidents and whether he condemned them. His response?  “I can’t talk about Tesla, but Elon Musk is a disaster for America, and America knows it,” Schumer stated, contributing to the anti-Musk hate.

Elected Democrats, of course, are not the only ones who deliberately stoke divisions along familiar lines that have the net effect of putting targets on the backs of conservatives, something that we unfortunately saw with the assassination of TPUSA co-founder Charlie Kirk. 

Their allies in the mainstream press and among the political/social commentariat also eagerly do the dirty work, a disgraceful tactic that was on full display during the Monday broadcast of The View, where, unsurprisingly, the co-hosts were livid over the Virginia Supreme Court’s (SCOVA) ruling on Friday that effectively nullified the proposed 10-1 D/R congressional map Democrats wanted to put in place before the 2026 midterms.

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