U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) speaks during a United States Senate Committee on Finance hearing to consider Chris Magnus’s nomination to be Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection on October 19, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Rod Lamkey-Pool/Getty Images)

OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 10:53 AM PT – Friday, December 9, 2022

Senator Kyrsten Sinema has registered as an Independent, shocking Democrats. The 46-year-old claimed that switching parties is a natural progression in a political career.

Although the senator from Arizona won’t declare whether or not she’s running for re-election in 2024, Sinema (I-Ariz.) did indicate in an interview that she doesn’t anticipate any changes to the Senate’s workings. She didn’t confirm if she would join the group of Independent senators who caucus with Democrats, including Senator Angus King (I-Maine). However, Sinema did mention that she will not caucus with Republicans.

“I intend to show up to work, do the same work that I always do. I just intend to show up to work as an Independent,” Sinema said.

On Friday morning, Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn) said on CNN that Sinema’s decision doesn’t negate the Democrats controlling the Senate.

Prior to changing her party status to Independent, Sinema faced a potential primary challenge from Representative Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) who said on MSNBC last month that Sinema “did nothing” to support Democratic candidates in the midterm elections.

A statement was released by the Primary Sinema Political Action Committee about her decision to leave the Democratic Party.

“Today, Kyrsten Sinema told us what we’ve already known for years: She’s not a Democrat, and she’s simply out for herself. For the last year, we’ve been laying the groundwork to defeat KyrstenSinema because Arizonans deserve a Senator who cares about them, and not special interests. In one way, Sinema just made our jobs easier by bowing out of a Democratic primary she knew she couldn’t win. Now, we’ll beat her in the general election with a real Democrat.”

A woman sits with her sign during a Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) board meeting in Ashburn, Virginia on October 12, 2021. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)

OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 7:11 PM PT – Thursday, December 8, 2022

Loudoun County School Board has fired Superintendent Scott Zeigler after the special grand jury investigated the handling of two sexual assaults.

A report was released on Monday by a special grand jury which was based on the Loudoun County Public School District’s handling of two sexual assaults that were committed by the same student on school grounds.

The report also revealed that the district was more interested in their own best interests instead of its students and that the school system had “failed at every juncture.”

Last year at a school board meeting, the father of one of the victims had accused the district of covering up his daughter’s sexual assault. After the incident, the suspect was transferred to a different school, where again he assaulted a girl and ended up facing charges in both cases.

The father was arrested and convicted in a District Court of two misdemeanors because of his outburst. He was sentenced to 10 days in jail and subsequently appealed his convictions in Circuit Court, where his case was thrown out.

At the board meeting, Zeigler had denied the assault, and said that “the predator transgender student or person simply does not exist.”

The report resulted in Zeigler’s dismissal. It also included eight recommendations for the district to increase school safety, transparency, and communication.