Arkansas prevails in lawsuit against Texas robocaller
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin announced late Thursday that the state had prevailed in a lawsuit against a Texas robocaller.
According to the statement from Griffin's office, the federal district judge in Texas ruled that defendant John Spiller was in contempt of a 2023 order and now may no longer operate in the telecommunications industry.
Attorney General Tim Griffin taking legal action against Texas robocaller for violating permanent bans
Griffin was joined by attorneys general from seven other states in the lawsuit, which began in June 2020.
'This ruling is a win for Arkansans and for many Americans who have been subjected to fraudulent and annoying robocalls by John Spiller's companies, which included Rising Eagle Capital Group LLC,' Griffin said, adding, 'The 2023 judgment limited Spiller's activities in the telecommunications industry; however, Spiller violated the court's order by starting new companies under an alias and continuing his unlawful robocalls.'
The order also assessed more than $600,000 in court costs that Spiller must pay, with $46,930 of that going to Arkansas for attorneys' fees.
Florida robocall operator gets warning from Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin
Arkansas joined with Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio and Texas in the suit.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


New York Post
38 minutes ago
- New York Post
Common sense but true: Don't let people who hate America move here
I pledge allegiance, to the flag . . . I heard those strange words for the first time at Riverside Elementary School in 1976, as a First Grader who had just moved to the United States with my family. I learned quickly how to say the words, but it took me much longer to learn what they mean. Like Jefferson, Franklin, and Washington, I was born English but chose to become an American. I took US history in middle and high school, got a degree in history, and later taught American history to 8th and 11th graders. But though I knew the names and dates, nothing taught me to love my country like spending half my life outside of it, including 23 years as a US diplomat in Africa, Asia, and Europe. The singularity of American freedom and opportunity is best proven through comparison. Like many other Americans who came here legally and became citizens, nothing rankles me more than seeing disrespect, ingratitude, and even homicidal violence from some who have been granted the opportunity to come here — or allowed to remain despite coming illegally. You'd figure the least they could do would be to obey our rules and respect our culture and values. Watching Columbia University and other supposed elite institutions become hot-beds of radical protest and support for antisemitism and terrorist violence has been painful. It's bad enough when the ill-informed youth are home-grown, but when foreign students here on visas are leading the charge, it's too much to take. So, we shouldn't – and we don't have to. Secretary of State Marco Rubio's recent announcement that he will interpret our visa laws to keep out those who would steal our secrets, undermine our democracy, or obstruct our foreign policy abroad, is cheering news. Law enforcement officials at the scene of the terror attack in Boulder. AP Photo/David Zalubowski He's suggesting nothing new – our immigration law already contains many ineligibilities both statutory and discretionary, which he can wield. All across the developed West, the same crisis is playing out: who gets to decide who comes in, and who stays? Does our citizenship have any value? Do we ask nothing in exchange? The global Left does not believe in borders. They think anyone, anywhere should be allowed to live where they want. When they get there, the Left believes they should get all the rights of citizens – health care, education, welfare, and even the vote. For them, under no circumstances should a foreigner – invited or not, criminal or not – ever be evicted. This is a recipe for national suicide, and it's a choice we should reject. On Sunday, an Egyptian illegal immigrant attempted to kill several American Jews in Boulder, Colorado by burning them alive. It appears the man entered the US with a tourist visa in 2022, which would have allowed him to come for six months tops. He overstayed, like maybe half a million other foreigners do every year and then claimed asylum so he wouldn't be kicked out. He was given a work permit while he waited years for his immigration case to work through the system. This kind of 'defensive' asylum claim is the easiest ploy for someone, even with no credible case, to remain here. Millions of aliens are waiting in processing backlogs, most of them with cases that don't qualify. Millions more entered illegally over land and were released by DHS when Joe Biden was president, with the administration encouraging them to all claim asylum. Soliman is in the country illegally. AP As Lora Ries and I argued in a recent Heritage report, it's time we reformed our asylum and refugee process so that it prioritizes American interests, brings in a finite number of people that we can accommodate and assimilate, and ends the farce of mass economic migration based on fraud. At the same time, the State Department is right to use the wide discretion they already have under immigration law to more carefully screen those coming in on visas, for whatever purpose. Anyone likely to be coming to foment political unrest should be denied — particularly students, who will stay for years. If visitors or students become undesirable after they get here, they should be sent home. Actively working against American basic values or foreign policy should be a negative factor in applications for legal permanent residence. The process should be real, not a rubber stamp. The bar for citizenship should be the highest of all — requiring not just a basic knowledge of civics, English, and history, but a proven love of this country, or at the very least no evinced hatred for it. We have enough domestic strife without importing the squabbles of the Middle East and the rest of the world. And though terrorism is the worst case of allowing in, or letting remain, people who harbor ill will towards our country or its people, every week brings examples of Americans robbed, raped, killed by drunk drivers, and even murdered by people who would not have been here if we had properly guarded our borders and enforced our laws. Just over a year ago, our Heritage Foundation Center for Border Security and Immigration started this visual map showing just a few examples of these preventable crimes. What started as a few spots has turned into a solid mass in some areas – like Massachusetts, whose governor seems to care more about the rights of illegal aliens than her own voters. No foreign national has a right to a US visa. Once they arrive, each visitor must do what he said he was coming here to do, and obey our laws. Some will learn to value this country enough to want to become Americans. Many of these will find a way, and they are welcome. But to preserve this unique society so many still want to join, we need to start according our country the singular value it deserves. Simon Hankinson is a senior research fellow in The Heritage Foundation's Border Security and Immigration Center.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Podcasting titan to end hit show this fall
One of the most prominent and prolific interviewers in podcasting is planning on hanging up the microphone this fall. Marc Maron's 'WTF' podcast will come to an end after more than 1,600 episodes, he announced Monday. 'Sixteen years we've been doing this, and we've decided that we had a great run,' Maron said on the intro to Monday's episode, which features comedian John Mulaney. 'Now, basically, it's time, folks. It's time. 'WTF' is coming to an end. It's our decision. We'll have our final episode sometime in the fall.' Citing burnout, Maron will leave behind a legacy of making news with some of the biggest figures in entertainment, politics and culture, largely from the garage of his Los Angeles home. While then-President Barack Obama's appearance in 2015 drew perhaps the most attention — Obama used the N-word when discussing race relations in America — 'WTF' also frequently featured significant revelations about celebrities' personal lives. Leaning on his own past with addiction and an up-and-down career in comedy, Maron has sat down with 'Saturday Night Live' creator Lorne Michaels and comedians like Robin Williams and Pete Davidson, drawing out revelations like Todd Glass' publicly announcing for the first time that he is gay. Maron also has hosted A-list stars like Nicole Kidman, Brad Pitt and the elusive Leonardo DiCaprio. Maron added on Monday that he and producer Brendan McDonald do not plan to coast into the show's end, as they'll 'try to have as many people on as possible.' Looking at what's already been accomplished, however, Maron noted how 'WTF' altered his career. 'Because of the podcast, my life changed dramatically … I did the podcast as sort of a hail Mary pass to be a standup with an audience, to try my hand at acting, to have experiences with other people that were one-of-a-kind and completely exciting and unique and engaging and revealing, to talk to a president in my garage,' Maron said. 'So many things happened because of just setting up a mic in my garage with Brendan on the knobs, producing it, discussing with him how we do it all, it was a real creative partnership. And you, the audience have been here through all of it. I shared everything I could with you because that's the way I do it, and with my guests, and there've been so many amazing guests … And now, this is part of it, ending it the way we want it to end.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Trump's mega-bill faces rocky ride in Senate
US senators have begun weeks of what is certain to be fierce debate over the mammoth policy package President Donald Trump hopes will seal his legacy, headlined by tax cuts slated to add up to $3 trillion to the nation's debt. The Republican leader celebrated when the House passed his "big, beautiful bill," which partially covers an extension of his 2017 tax relief through budget cuts projected to strip health care from millions of low-income Americans. The Senate now gets to make its own changes, and the upper chamber's version could make or break Republicans' 2026 midterm election prospects -- and define Trump's second term. But the 1,116-page blueprint faces an uphill climb, with moderate Republicans balking at $1.5 trillion in spending cuts while fiscal hawks are blasting the bill as a ticking debt bomb. "We have enough (holdouts) to stop the process until the president gets serious about spending reduction and reducing the deficit," Senator Ron Johnson, one of half a dozen Republican opponents to the bill, told CNN. Democrats -- whose support is not required if Republicans can maintain a united front -- have focused on the tax cuts mostly benefiting the rich on the backs of a working class already struggling with high prices. The White House says the legislation will spur robust economic growth to neutralize its potential to blow up America's already burgeoning debt pile, which has ballooned to $36.9 trillion. But several independent analyses have found that -- even taking growth into account -- it will add between $2.5 trillion and $3.1 trillion to deficits over the next decade. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, meanwhile, found that the combined effects of tax cuts and cost savings would be a giant transfer of wealth from the poorest 10 percent to the richest 10 percent. Republicans muscled the measure through the House by a single vote on May 22 by a combination of bargaining vote holdouts on policies and deploying Trump himself to twist arms. House Speaker Mike Johnson is now pleading with the Senate not to alter the bill too much, as any tweaks will need to go back to the lower chamber. - Faultlines - The Senate wants to get the bill to Trump's desk by US Independence Day on July 4 -- an ambitious timeline given Republicans' narrow three-vote majority and wide faultlines that have opened over the proposed specifics. Independent analysts expect around seven million beneficiaries of the Medicaid health insurance program will be deprived of coverage due to new proposed eligibility restrictions and work requirements. Polling shows that the vast majority of Americans oppose cutting Medicaid -- including Trump himself, as well as some Republicans in poorer states that rely heavily on federal welfare. Senate moderates are also worried about proposed changes to funding food aid that could deprive up to 3.2 million of vital nutrition support. One thing is almost certain -- Trump himself will get involved at some point, though his negotiation tactics may be more subtle than they were when he threatened "grandstanders" holding up the tax bill in the House. Trump took to his Truth Social website on Monday to decry "so many false statements (that) are being made about 'THE ONE, BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL'" -- and to falsely claim that it would not cut Medicaid. "The only 'cutting' we will do is for Waste, Fraud, and Abuse, something that should have been done by the Incompetent, Radical Left Democrats for the last four years, but wasn't," he said. One more wrinkle for Trump: tech billionaire Elon Musk -- no longer one of his closest aides but still an influential commentator -- has already broken with the president to criticize the mega-bill. "A bill can be big or it can be beautiful. But I don't know if it can be both," Musk said in a CBS interview criticizing its effect on debt. ft/jgc