Last week, I predicted the mushrooming Rockstar Cheer scandal was going to wind up being an even bigger story than the ‘Murdaugh Murders’ crime and corruption saga.

Turns out I had no idea how much bigger …

Rockstar Cheer went national this week on the strength of a huge federal lawsuit filed by attorneys with the Columbia, S.C.-based Strom Law firm. This lawsuit – filed in U.S. district court in Greenville, S.C. – laid bare the extent to which the alleged abuse at a Greenville, South Carolina cheer studio is part of a national epidemic of sexual exploitation targeting underage cheerleaders of both sexes.

An epidemic the industry not only ignored but facilitated …

After breaking this story wide open last week, our news team covered every step of its escalation this week – including the Greenville press conference which paved the way for the filing of the federal suit (as well as a state-level lawsuit which also targets Rockstar Cheer and several of its alleged industry enablers).

While Rockstar dominated the headlines, it was another huge week for Murdaugh-related news. Most significantly, S.C. circuit court judge Clifton Newman presided over a hearing in Walterboro on Monday morning related to alleged leaks in the murder case against accused killer Alex Murdaugh - as well as the alleged failure of the state to turn over evidence to defense attorneys.

FITSNews livestreamed that hearing, which you can view in its entirety here.

The day after the hearing, things escalated further on the Murdaugh front when agents of the S.C. State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) initiated an expansive search of the Coosawhatchie River and its surrounding areas just south of Varnville, S.C. The search was conducted a mere stone’s throw from the home of the late Randolph Murdaugh III – one of three Murdaughs to hold the post of S.C. fourteenth circuit solicitor between 1920-2006. 

According to our sources, the search did not turn up anything of evidentiary value ... but as I noted in our coverage, the specific location of the search could point to the involvement of an “accomplice after the fact” in this high-profile double homicide investigation.