Writing Tuesday for the Daily Mail, Shawn Cohen dropped a bombshell that the orthopedic surgeon husband of walking Notable Quotable and ABC’s The View co-host Sunny Hostin — Dr. Manny Hostin — “is among nearly 200 defendants named in one of the largest RICO cases ever filed in New York...accused or getting kickbacks by performing surgery and fraudulently billing a company that insures taxi companies and Uber and Lyft drivers.” The claim, filed back on December 17 “seeking more than $450 million in damages,” alleged Dr. Hostin “knowingly provided fraudulent medical and other healthcare services,” which his attorney vehemently denies and blasted as “meritless” crusade “by a near-bankrupt insurance carrier.” Citing the claim, Cohen added “[t]he insurance firm American Transit was...billed ‘in exchange for kickbacks and/or other compensation which were disguised as dividends or other cash distributions’” for the health professionals. He later continued: American Transit claims ‘rampant’ insurance fraud is endemic in New York State thanks to its ‘No-Fault Law’ under which insurers must pay up to $50,000 for medical expense for people injured in road accidents. ‘These substantial possible no-fault recoveries can incentivize providers with ill intent to over-diagnose, over-treat, and over-bill to recover the most money for themselves,’ American Transit said in a statement. The law was introduced in 1974 ‘in the wake of rapidly rising automobile insurance costs and when accident victims were experiencing long delays in compensation,’ American Transit says in the suit. But taxis and ride-share vehicles are now required to pay up to $200,000 – four times the coverage for private drivers. (....) The insurance company claims Hostin was given an ‘investment’ interest in Empire State Ambulatory Surgery Center in exchange for referring a ‘steady stream’ of patients. ‘Empire State ASC issued regular payments to or for the benefit of Hostin, which, in fact, were illegal kickbacks for referrals,’ the court papers claim. As examples the insurance company claims Hostin...saw two patients in January 2023 who were involved in ‘low-impact’ collisions that should have caused ‘no more than soft-tissue injuries’. Our Nick Fondacaro has made sure to repeatedly mention Hostin’s husband and that his profession, combined with her lucrative TV career, make for a lavish lifestyle. Despite that, she’s insisted she’s entitled to reparations as an African-American...even though her ancestors were slave owners. Last month, Hostin defended those celebrating the murder of the UnitedHealthCare CEO allegedly by far-left hearthrob Luigi Mangione and also her husband’s work because he “operates on someone even though they don't have insurance and then has to sue health insurance companies to get paid for the work that he's been trained his whole life to do.” In February 2023, she insisted she, as a multi-millionaire with an orthopedic surgeon, was “oppressed.” A month earlier, she blasted the notion of judging someone based on their character instead of their skin color. And, on Christmas Eve, Fondacaro had a year-in-review look at nine moments when Hostin fanned the flames of racial division. It turns out, according to this lawsuit, her husband was fanning the flames of class division.

A 17-year-old opened fire while he attempted a carjacking Sunday night in Raleigh, North Carolina, police told WNCN-TV.But a few crucial things didn't go the young suspect's way.'Well, would y'all look at it — a free notice to all wannabe carjackers! ... Don't try carjacking in North Carolina. We are an armed society and will defend ourselves.'First off, the kid apparently isn't a very good shot; the station said the victim — a man — wasn't hurt.Second, the victim had a gun of his own. Police told WNCN he fired back at the teen and wounded him.Police told the station the shooting was reported just after 8:50 p.m. along Arrow Road at the Red Roof Inn.Police told WNCN the victim's car was in the Red Roof Inn parking lot, and the 17-year-old male tried to carjack the man’s sedan and fired at least one shot during the incident.But police added to the station that the armed victim fired back, hitting the teen suspect.Police told WNCN the teen was taken to a hospital for treatment injuries that weren't believed to be life-threatening.You can view a video report here about the incident, which noted that charges were pending against the teen.How are people reacting?Commenters on the station's Facebook post about the botched carjacking seemed squarely behind the actions of the gun-toting victim:"Well, would y'all look at it — a free notice to all wannabe carjackers!" one commenter declared. "Do you wanna be on your way to WakeMed with gunshot wounds, too? Don't try carjacking in North Carolina. We are an armed society and will defend ourselves.""Glad [the] victim was able to defend himself," another user said."Glad to see someone fighting back with these punk[s]," another commenter wrote."Liberal-run towns are cesspools for crime," another user stated. "Good job liberals."Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

The Minnesota Vikings spent nearly $2 million on tickets to send their own fans to Detroit for the pivotal final game of the season.Leading up to a Sunday night game against the Detroit Lions at Ford Field, the teams were deadlocked in the NFC North standings with 14-2 records, meaning the winner would claim the division title and the best record in the entire NFC.With the possibility of obtaining a first-round bye in the playoffs, Minnesota took an unorthodox route to make sure they had adequate support for their players while on the road.The Vikings' front office bought approximately 1,900 tickets on the secondary market, according to Sports Illustrated, which cost around $1,000 each. This totaled around $2 million in expenses for Minnesota, who then turned around and offered their season-ticket holders a chance to attend the game at a reduced cost.'We wanted to offer our stakeholders an opportunity to attend.'Some tickets were reported as being offered for as little as $200, or around 20% what the Vikings paid.The Vikings' email to their ticket holders allegedly read as follows:As a valued season ticket member, we want to offer you the opportunity to purchase lower-level seats for Sunday night's game ... [the tickets are] intended to be used by Vikings fans and not positioned for resale.The Lions apparently contacted NFL offices about the purchases after noticing irregular activity with their ticket sales but were reportedly told the Vikings didn't break any league rules.Although the Vikings, along with every NFL team, are allotted around 600 tickets for away games, these seats are typically in corners or high up in the stands.The seats the Vikings bought, however, were centralized behind their own bench to help with crowd noise in terms of team communication."Given the uniqueness of this game, we wanted to offer our stakeholders—staff, family, season ticket members and team partners—an opportunity to attend," team spokesman Jeff Anderson said in a statement.Many Vikings fans expressed gratitude about the ticket purchases online, including one fan calling it "sheer class."Another fan called Vikings brass a "tremendous ownership group" while one die-hard follower said he was willing to make a 10-hour drive to the game if offered a ticket.@Vikings I will make the 10 hour drive. I'm just throwing that out there.— Jarrett Ballard Sr. (@BigJbilla) January 4, 2025 Not all fans were as appreciative though, one ticketholder took the Vikings' offer and resold the ticket online for $690.When all was said and done, the Vikings still lost to the Lions 31-9, falling short of a division title. They will play the Los Angeles Rams on Monday while the Lions will enjoy a week off before the second round.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

A Florida man is accused of several child sex crimes, including producing child pornography and coercing approximately 10 children across the country to "cut, choke, and hang themselves," according to federal prosecutors. One of the alleged child sex abuse victims — a 13-year-old girl — was found dead after allegedly communicating with the suspect. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida said in a statement that 59-year-old Stephen Andrew Leedy of St. Petersburg was indicted on December 20 and charged with three counts of production of child sexual abuse material and two counts of coercing or enticing a minor to engage in sexual activity. If found guilty on all counts, Leedy faces a maximum sentence of life in federal prison.'Leedy very clearly engaged in this predatory behavior with approximately ten minor victims across the country.'Court documents said Leedy is a palliative care doctor in the Tampa Bay area. He allegedly used the online username “maximumuncle#9112” to "sexually exploit and victimize approximately ten minors online."Federal prosecutors said Leedy contacted the minors online and instructed the children to "produce sexually explicit images of themselves and directed them to cut, choke, and hang themselves."In November 2021, one alleged victim — the 13-year-old girl — was found dead after reportedly hanging herself in front of her phone "in a manner consistent with instructions Leedy had previously provided her," according to court documents. A search of the girl’s cellphone revealed messages between her and the online account with the username "maximumuncle#9112." Federal prosecutors said Leedy never revealed his true identity and "maintained a black screen to further conceal his identity" during video chats. “Through social media conversations and investigative means, law enforcement confirmed Leedy’s ownership over the account used to encourage minors to engage in sadistic and sexual behavior,” prosecutors wrote. “Minor victims have been interviewed, identified themselves within conversations, and confirmed the horrific acts Leedy instructed them to do. Leedy very clearly engaged in this predatory behavior with approximately ten minor victims across the country.”“The nature and circumstances of the offenses charged are extremely serious,” prosecutors said in their motion for detention, according to Law & Crime. “Leedy directed the three minor victims named in the indictment, along with approximately seven additional minor victims, to produce child pornography while on video calls with him to satisfy his own sexual deviant interest in children. The conversations continually revolved around his control over the minor victim, commenting on how ‘obedient’ they are, and asking at least one minor victim to refer to him as 'my Lord.'""Everything that Leedy instructed these minor victims to do was either physically or mentally detrimental to the minor victims," prosecutors said. Leedy's defense attorneys, Bjorn Brunvand and Lucas Fleming, told the Tampa Bay Times that their client "adamantly denies the charges that have been filed against him in federal court.""It is particularly important in moments like this when someone is being accused of very troubling allegations, that we afford him the presumption of innocence,” the attorneys said in a statement. "We will be entering a not guilty plea at the earliest opportunity and look forward to vigorously defending Dr. Leedy in court."Leedy's wife, Lynda Leedy, reportedly has been a chief administrative officer on the Juvenile Welfare Board of Pinellas County for 10 years."The arrest and allegations came as a complete shock to all, including his wife,” the board said in a statement.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg announced big changes for the influential social media platform to encourage free and open speech. Critics have accused social media companies of selective application of censorship policies to privilege partisan politics. Zuckerberg has denied accusations of intentional political bias but in his announcement acknowledged that the election results pushed him toward changing censorship policies. 'We're gonna get back to our roots and focus on reducing mistakes, simplifying our policies and restoring free expression on our platforms.' "We're going to get back to our roots and focus on reducing mistakes, simplifying our policies, and restoring free expression on our platforms," Zuckerberg said in a video released on social media. He said that his company would implement a community notes program similar to that used by the X platform rather than the third-party fact-checking policies that have been greatly criticized. Some topics that were previously suppressed, like immigration and gender issues, will face less censorship."The recent elections also feel like a cultural tipping point towards, once again, prioritizing speech," Zuckerberg admitted. "So we're gonna get back to our roots and focus on reducing mistakes, simplifying our policies and restoring free expression on our platforms."The new policies will apply to Facebook as well as Instagram, which was acquired by Meta, the parent company of Facebook. The platforms serve billions of users across the globe. Zuckerberg explained that the complex moderation systems that were in place would punish millions of innocent users when mistakes were made. "Even if they accidentally censor just 1% of posts, that's millions of people, and we've reached a point where it's just too many mistakes and too much censorship," he said. "The reality is that this is a trade-off," Zuckerberg added. "It means we're going to catch less bad stuff, but we'll also reduce the number of innocent people's posts and accounts that we accidentally take down."In November, after the election, Trump's team confirmed that Zuckerberg had dinner with the president-elect at his Mar-a-Lago residence. "Mark, obviously, he has his own interest, and he has his own company, and he has his own agenda,” said Trump's appointed deputy chief of staff, Stephen Miller. "But he's made clear that he wants to support the national renewal of America under Trump’s leadership." Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Call a WAAAAAAmbulance! Politifact's Executive Director Is BIG MAD at Facebook's New Moderation Policies

While Colorado Democrats Fight for Illegal Immigrants, Homelessness UP 30 PERCENT in the Centennial State

Trump Promises 'Major Pardons' for J6 Defendants

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has directed the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) to increase the state's Anti-Terrorism Task Force resources in light of the deadly terrorist attack in New Orleans last week, the governor's office announced.

The chief executive of U.S. Steel on Tuesday told CNBC that President-elect Donald Trump could reverse President Joe Biden's decision to block the sale of the company to a Japanese company.