Georgia Democratic Official Arrested, Charged With Felony Theft

Georgia Power has accused a former Democratic candidate for Georgia’s Public Service Commission (PSC) of stealing trade secrets.

Patty Durand was arrested on Tuesday by Georgia Capitol Police and charged with felony theft, according to a report from Georgia Public Broadcasting (GPB).

A hearing was held regarding “Georgia Power’s request to add two Plant Vogtles’ worth of new power, mostly for data centers,” the outlet said. The report also noted that Durand opposes the centers as well as potential rate hikes, and that she runs a watchdog group known as Georgia Utility Watch.

Video footage from the day of the hearing reportedly shows Durand, wearing a brown jacket, approaching a desk and picking up a booklet before setting it back down and walking to the other side of the room.

Moments later, the footage appears to show Durand taking another booklet from a different desk, placing it in her bag, and leaving the room.

In an August interview with GPB, Durand criticized what she described as a lack of transparency in Georgia Power’s agreements with data centers.

“The Public Service Commission allows very heavy redactions and trade secrets,” she said. “So the contracts between Georgia Power and the data centers are also redacted and trade secreted. So no one will know what they actually charge data centers.”

It remains unclear what officials believe Durand intended to do with the materials she allegedly took. Georgia Power is cooperating with authorities in the ongoing investigation, according to Fox 5.

The Georgia Recorder reported: “This week’s PSC proceedings were held to consider a request from Georgia Power to add nearly 10,000 megawatts to the state’s power grid. About 60% of the energy requested would come from expanding or building new gas plants, while 40% would come from renewable energy.”

Durand, who earlier this year founded Georgians for Affordable Energy, a watchdog group, alleged during a public hearing Tuesday that Georgia Power is prioritizing profits for its five affiliated gas companies by building new natural gas power plants rather than investing in solar energy and battery storage, the outlet added.

She said the company should be held accountable for what she described as its “immoral” actions.

“There is no court in the land that would allow that kind of corruption to go on, and I have no idea why the state of Georgia does,” Durand said at the time, per the Recorder.

In a statement per the Daily Mail following her arrest, Georgia Republican Party Chairman Josh McKoon said: “Patty Durand built her brand attacking the Public Service Commission and now she’s been arrested for stealing from it.”

He added: “This is the same failed Democrat PSC candidate who parades around as a so-called ‘watchdog’ while caught on video taking confidential Georgia Power materials. While Republican leaders are working to keep energy reliable and affordable for Georgia families, Democrats like Durand are sneaking around government offices and walking off with stolen documents.”

Durand’s campaign website includes a photo of her alongside Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA), who has been described by critics as a “pro-abortion radical.” According to a report from Breitbart News, Ossoff previously hired an aide with open-borders views as his senior counsel before the current government shutdown, in connection with efforts to expand health care access for illegal aliens.

“Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) and other Democrats have admitted the Democrats shut down the government in part to make it easier for illegal aliens to secure taxpayer-funded healthcare benefits,” Breitbart noted.

Minnesota state Sen. Nicole Mitchell, another Democrat, was convicted of felony burglary in July, more than a year after she was caught breaking into her stepmother’s home.

Mitchell was arrested in April 2024. She claimed she entered the residence to retrieve belongings that had belonged to her late father, and said her stepmother, Carol Mitchell, was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.

Breaking: Barack Obama Just Confirmed in Washington, D.C. — Details Emerging

In a development that is quickly drawing attention across the country, Barack Obama has just been confirmed in an announcement made in Washington, D.C., according to early reports. The confirmation, which occurred only moments ago, has sparked widespread interest as officials and observers wait for more details about the situation.

Initial information suggests that the announcement was made during a briefing in the nation’s capital, where officials confirmed the update involving the former president. While the full context of the confirmation is still unfolding, the news has already begun circulating rapidly through political circles and media outlets.

Barack Obama, who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017, remains one of the most influential po

litical figures in modern American politics. Any official confirmation involving him tends to generate immediate public and media attention, both domestically and internationally.

Sources close to the situation say additional statements may be released soon, which could clarify the nature of the confirmation and what it could mean moving forward. Analysts are already speculating about possible implications, though officials have urged the public to wait for verified information.

For now, the announcement from Washington, D.C. marks a developing story. More updates are expected as authorities and representatives provide further details in the coming hours.

Stay tuned as this story continues to unfold.

President Donald Trump Signs Major New Executive Order

In a dramatic new court filing, Ghislaine Maxwell has claimed that at least 25 alleged accomplices connected to Jeffrey Epstein quietly reached “secret settlements” related to abuse allegations — yet were never criminally charged.

The filing, submitted to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, argues that newly discovered evidence reveals previously undisclosed agreements between plaintiff attorneys and multiple men who, according to Maxwell, could be considered co-conspirators in Epstein’s sex-trafficking operation.

“New evidence reveals that there were 25 men with whom the plaintiff lawyers reached secret settlements — that could equally be considered as co-conspirators,” Maxwell wrote in documents filed without the assistance of her legal team.

Maxwell, 63, is currently serving a 20-year federal sentence following her 2021 conviction on sex trafficking charges. In her latest submission, she maintains that prosecutors failed to disclose crucial information that could have altered the outcome of her trial.

“None of these men have been prosecuted and none has been revealed to me,” Maxwell wrote. “Had I known, I would have called them as witnesses.”

She further contends that the alleged concealment of these settlements — along with what she describes as jury bias — deprived her of a fair trial. According to Maxwell, if jurors had been informed of what she characterizes as “collusion” between government officials and civil attorneys, they may have reached a different verdict.

The filing also claims that four former employees of Epstein were referenced in both a prior non-prosecution agreement and the federal indictment he faced before his death in 2019, yet none of those individuals were ultimately charged.

The possibility that additional accomplices remain unidentified has reignited public scrutiny surrounding the Epstein case. Questions persist about whether the names of those who allegedly reached private settlements will ever be fully disclosed — particularly as federal authorities continue reviewing millions of pages of case-related documents.

To date, only Epstein and Maxwell have faced federal criminal charges directly tied to the sex-trafficking network. Others associated with Epstein have confronted civil lawsuits but have denied wrongdoing.

Among the most high-profile figures accused in civil proceedings was Prince Andrew, who was sued by Virginia Giuffre over allegations of sexual abuse when she was a minor. Prince Andrew has consistently denied the claims and later reached a financial settlement without admitting liability.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Justice has confirmed that hundreds of attorneys are reviewing an estimated 5.2 million pages of documents connected to the Epstein investigation. Officials say the review process is complex and requires extensive redactions to protect victims’ identities.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche stated in December that the review is an “all-hands-on-deck” effort, emphasizing that victim protection remains a top priority even as pressure mounts for greater transparency.

It remains unclear whether the 25 men referenced in Maxwell’s filing negotiated any agreements with federal prosecutors or whether their settlements were strictly civil in nature. Legal experts note that civil settlements do not automatically shield individuals from criminal liability — though non-prosecution agreements can.

Maxwell’s filing is widely viewed as part of her broader legal strategy to challenge her conviction. Whether the court will grant further hearings or consider the alleged new evidence remains to be seen.

The renewed claims have once again thrust the Epstein scandal into the national spotlight, raising persistent questions about accountability, transparency, and whether all those involved in the long-running abuse network have truly been brought to justice.

As document reviews continue and appeals move forward, the case remains one of the most controversial and closely watched criminal sagas in recent American history.