Though the special counsel investigating Joe Biden’s possession of classified documents ultimately did not recommend charges after finding he “willfully” kept and shared some of the memos, the prosecutor gave a scathing assessment of the President’s mental acuity months before the presidential election.
Read MoreCategory: Justice
Special Counsel Robert Hur Says Biden ‘Willfully’ Kept, Shared Classified Memos but Won’t Be Charged Because of His Poor Memory
Special counsel Robert Hur concluded in a stinging report released Thursday that President Joe Biden willfully kept classified documents from his time as vice president, shared them with an author and knew he had them as far back as 2017, but he recommended against prosecution.
Read MoreLawsuit: Minnesota Education Department ‘Engaged in Deceptive Practices’
A lawsuit in the Ramsey County Second Judicial Court claims Minnesota Department of Education employees “deleted large amounts of data and intentionally engaged in deceptive practices.”
The education agency sued nonprofit Feeding Our Future over a scheme from May 2020 through January 2022 in which three entities – ThinkTechAct Foundation, Empire Cuisine & Market and Empire Enterprises – collaborated to steal $250 million of Federal Child Nutrition Program money meant to feed hungry children and instead spent it on luxury cars, homes, and more.
Read MoreTrump Does Not Have Presidential Immunity in 2020 Election Case, Appeals Court Rules
Former President Donald Trump can be prosecuted on alleged crimes related to the 2020 election, a federal appeals court said Tuesday in a major blow to the former president’s defense against charges brought against him by special counsel Jack Smith.
Read MoreTrump PACs Spent More than $50 Million on Legal Bills Last Year
Former President Donald Trump’s political actions committees paid more than $50 million in legal bills last year, according to his latest campaign finance disclosures.
Trump faces two federal criminal trials, two state criminal trials and multiple civil trials ahead of the 2024 election, which may force his legal costs to be even higher this year. Trump has said he is not liable nor responsible for any wrongdoing. Although most of Trump’s trials lay ahead, he did go to court several times in 2023 to enter pleadings, among other things.
Read MoreStates File Brief in Lawsuit to Force VA to Cover Gender Affirming Surgery
A group of states filed a friend of the court brief supporting a transgender veterans group that filed a federal lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs seeking gender-confirmation surgery for 163,000 transgender veterans.
The Transgender American Veterans Association lawsuit, filed last month, seeks an order that the Department of Veterans Affairs act on the group’s 2016 rule-making petition for gender-confirmation surgery.
Read MoreMinnesota Democrat Andy Smith Jokes About Possible Arson of Conservative Offices
Democratic legislator Andy Smith was widely criticized for his reaction to the news that three conservative organizations may have been the victims of arson — so much so that he almost immediately deleted his Twitter account.
A Golden Valley building that houses the Center of the American Experiment, TakeCharge, and the Upper Midwest Law Center caught fire early Sunday morning. The ATF confirmed with Alpha News that federal and local agencies are conducting an “arson investigation” into the fire.
Read MoreNo Charges for Democrat Staffer Who Filmed Gay Porn Video in Senate Hearing Room
The U.S. Capitol Police announced on Thursday that they have declined to press charges against the former Democrat Senate staffer who filmed a gay sex video in a Capitol Hill hearing room last month.
In a news release, the USCP said there was no evidence that Aidan Maese-Czeropski, a former aide for Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin (D-Md.), broke the law by filming himself copulating with another male inside the Hart Senate Office Building on the morning of Wednesday, December 13.
Read MoreFormer President Biden Fundraiser Says Loaned Brother James Biden $800K, only Repaid Half: Report
The most recent person to testify before the House Oversight Committee’s President Biden impeachment inquiry reportedly says he loan one of Biden’s brothers about $800,000 in 2016 and 2017, but got back only about half of the money.
The witness, Joey Langston, a friend of President Biden and former campaign fundraiser for him, says he loaned the money to James Biden in at least four installments, three in 2016 and one in 2017, according to a source familiar with Langston’s transcribed interview Thursday.
Read MoreCommentary: Was It Legal to Appoint Jack Smith in the First Place?
Was Special Counsel Jack Smith illegally appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland and is his prosecution of former Pres. Donald Trump unlawful? That is the intriguing issue raised in an amicus brief filed in the Supreme Court by Schaerr Jaffe, LLP, on behalf of former Attorney General Ed Meese and two law professors, Steven Calabresi and Gary Lawson, in the case of U.S. v. Trump.
We won’t get an immediate answer to this question because on the Friday before Christmas, the Supreme Court issued a one-line order refusing to take up Smith’s request that the court review Trump’s claim of presidential immunity, which was denied by the trial court, in the federal prosecution being pursued by Smith in the District of Columbia. The special counsel had petitioned the court to take the case on an expedited basis, urging the justices to bypass review by the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
Read MoreJudge Officially Postpones Trump’s March 4 D.C. Election Interference Trial
U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan on Friday officially suspended former President Donald Trump’s March 4 trial in special counsel Jack Smith’s election case, The Hill reported.
Read MoreFulton DA Willis Acknowledges in New Court Docs ‘Personal Relationship’ with Trump Case Prosecutor
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis acknowledged Friday having developed a “personal relationship” with the top prosecutor in her election interference case against former President Donald Trump.
Read MoreOregon GOP State Senators Who Staged Walkout over Abortion Can’t Run for Reelection, High Court Says
The Oregon Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that 10 Republican state senators are ineligible to run for reelection after they participated in a quorum-denying walkout for six weeks last year to stall legislation on abortion, transgender treatments and firearms.
The high court decided in favor of Oregon Secretary of State LaVonne Griffin-Valade, who had disqualified the senators from running for office again after voters approved a measure in 2022 to amend the state constitution to ban lawmakers with more than 10 unexcused absences from running again.
Read MoreSupreme Court to Hear Arguments in Federal Bump Stock Gun Case
The U.S. Supreme Court is considering a federal ban on bump stocks later in February, the latest opportunity for the high court to rule on gun violence and 2nd Amendment rights.
The case in question, Garland v. Cargill, came after the Trump administration banned bump stocks, attachments added to semiautomatic weapons to make them fire more quickly, classifying them as “machine guns,” which are banned by federal law.
Read MoreJudge Dismisses Disney Suit Against Ron DeSantis, Oversight Board
A judge on Wednesday dismissed a Disney lawsuit against Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis claiming he used his authority to punish the firm over its exercise of free speech.
Read MorePro-Life Activists Face 11 Years in Prison After Jury Hands Down Guilty Verdict
Six pro-life activists were found guilty of blocking access to an abortion clinic on Tuesday and could face a sentence of up to 11 years in prison, according to a press release from the Thomas More Society.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) charged 11 pro-life activists in October 2022 with violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, which “prohibits threats of force, obstruction and property damage intended to interfere with reproductive health care services,” for blocking the entrance of an abortion clinic in March 2021. A jury ruled that the six defendants were guilty after a six-day trial at the Fred D. Thompson U.S. Courthouse in Nashville, Tennessee, according to the press release.
Read MoreDerek Chauvin Still Fighting Convictions Despite Stabbing, Solitary Confinement
Even though he is still recovering from a near-fatal stabbing, former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin is seeking legal help while confined to solitary medical confinement in a federal prison facility.
“There was no question he was trying to kill him. It was more serious than anyone knew,” Carolyn Pawlenty said of the violent attack on her son in the prison law library at the facility in Tucson, Ariz., on Nov. 24, 2023.
Read MoreCommentary: The Beltway Judge Hearing Trump Cases and Her Anti-Trump, Anti-Kavanaugh Husband
Washington glitterati assembled at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in October to celebrate federal employees making a difference in government. Hosted by CNN anchor Kate Bolduan, the black-tie affair featured in-person appearances by top Biden White House officials including Chief of Staff Jeffrey Zients, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, and Secretary of Agriculture Thomas Vilsack.
Midway through the evening’s festivities, Max Stier, president of the group sponsoring the event – the Partnership for Public Service, a $24 million nonprofit based in Washington that recruits individuals to work in the civil service – took the stage to thank his high-profile guests. “Great leaders are the heart and soul of effective organizations,” Stier said, “which is why I am so thankful to see so many of our government’s amazing leaders here tonight.”
Read MoreGeorgia Prosecutor Settles Divorce amid Scrutiny over Alleged Relationship with DA Willis
Nathan Wade, the special prosecutor in former President Donald Trump’s Georgia election case, settled his divorce ahead of scheduled testimony in which he was expected to address his finances and travel with Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.
Read MoreMayorkas Mails Letter to GOP House Saying Impeachment Allegations ‘False,’ Won’t Testify in Process
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Tuesday issued a fiery defense against the impeachment articles he faces, calling the allegations “false” and urging Congress to fix the U.S. immigration system through legislation.
Read MoreTexas Sheriffs to Trucker Convoy Heading to Border: ‘Don’t Come to Texas’
Texas sheriffs and some residents have a message for a trucker convoy scheduled to come to the Texas border on Feb. 3: “Don’t come.” Organizer of the “Take Our Border Back Southern Border Convoy & 3-state Rally” are calling on “all active and retired law enforcement and military, veterans, mama bears, elected officials, business owners, ranchers, truckers, bikers, media and law abiding, freedom-loving Americans” to travel to rural, hard-to -reach areas near Eagle Pass, Texas, Yuma, Arizona, and San Ysirdo, California.
Read MoreFormer IRS Contractor Charles Littlejohn Sentenced to 5 Years for Releasing Trump Tax Records
Former IRS contractor Charles Littlejohn was sentenced to five years in prison on Monday after leaking former President Donald Trump’s tax records, according to NBC News.
Read MoreImpeachment Articles Target Mayorkas’ ‘Parole Programs’ that Released Tens of Thousands of Illegal Aliens into the United States
As part of making their case to impeach U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, House Committee on Homeland Security Republicans identified more than a dozen parole programs they argue Mayorkas illegally created to circumvent laws established by Congress.
Read MoreHouse GOP Reveals Articles of Impeachment Against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas
House Republicans on Sunday released their articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. The first article alleges Mayorkas participated in a “willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law,” while the second article says he breached the public’s trust for his handling of the southern border amid record illegal immigration numbers.
Read MoreCommentary: ‘Disturbing’ Collusion Between Biden White House and Trump Prosecutors
Before the appointment of Special Counsel Jack Smith in November 2022, Joe Biden’s Department of Justice was in the process of conducting two separate criminal investigations into Donald Trump: his attempts to “overturn” the 2020 election and his alleged mishandling of sensitive government files.
Smith took over both matters to demonstrate the DOJ’s “independence” from politics, the public was told, although he took with him prosecutors and investigators already assigned to the existing inquiries. His team continues to insist their work is devoid of any influence from or cooperation with the Biden regime. Joe Biden and Attorney General Merrick Garland say the same.
Read More‘Absolutely Ridiculous’: Trump Vows to Appeal Defamation Trial Verdict
Former President Donald Trump on Friday posted on Truth Social that he would appeal the verdict against him in a defamation case brought by writer E. Jean Carroll.
A Manhattan jury awarded Carroll $83.3 million in compensatory and punitive damages Friday after he criticized her during a May 2023 town hall on CNN after he was found liable for defamation and sexual battery in a separate trial. In response to the verdict, Trump vowed to appeal the jury’s decision.
Read MoreJury Awards E. Jean Carroll $83.3 Million over Trump’s 2019 Statements
A New York jury on Friday awarded Trump accuser E. Jean Carroll $83.3 million in damages over defamatory statements the former president made in 2019 after she came forward with allegations against him, CNN reported.
Read MoreMaine’s Highest Court Dismisses Trump Ballot Case Appeal
Maine’s highest court has declined to take up an appeal of a ruling over a move to take former President Donald Trump’s name off the state’s GOP primary ballot.
In a decision issued Wednesday, the Supreme Judicial Court dismissed an appeal by Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, asking justices to overturn a lower court ruling delaying a decision on the ballot challenge. The court said it would be improper to rule on a case that has yet to be decided.
Read MoreTrump Backs Abbott, Urges States to Provide Texas ‘Full Support’ to Secure Southern Border
Former President Donald Trump on Thursday expressed support for Texas GOP Gov. Greg Abbott’s efforts to secure the southern border amid perceived federal apathy toward the unprecedented surge in illegal border crossings.
Read MoreJust the News Files Complaint with Georgia AG on Request for Fani Willis Contacts with Biden White House
Just the News has filed a compliant with the Georgia Attorney General after the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office failed to meet the deadline to respond to an Open Records Act request seeking information on the office’s contact with the Biden administration regarding the Trump election interference case.
Read MoreEx-Trump Adviser Peter Navarro Sentenced to Four Months in Prison After Defying January 6 Subpoena
Former Trump White House trade adviser Peter Navarro on Thursday was to four months in prison following his conviction in September on two counts of congressional contempt after he defied a subpoena from the former House select committee that probed the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot.
Read MoreAbbott Asserts Texas’ Right to Self-Defense amid Border Surge
Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday reiterated the right of the state of Texas to defend itself amid an unprecedented surge in illegal border crossings, insisting that the Biden administration had failed in its duties and forced Austin’s hand.
Read MoreFani Willis Hired Firm to Monitor Her Media ‘Coverage Value’ Just Days Before Announcing Trump Probe
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ office agreed to pay $10,000 on a service to monitor her media coverage just days before announcing the probe into former President Donald Trump, according to invoices and emails obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Read MoreMinnesota Supreme Court to Hear Challenge of New Felon Voting Law
The Minnesota Supreme Court will hear a challenge to a new law that automatically restores voting rights to people convicted of a felony who are still on parole, probation, or supervised release in the state.
On March 3, 2023, Gov. Tim Walz (D) signed House File 28 into law. Previously in Minnesota, the state restored voting rights to people convicted of a felony after they completed all aspects of their sentence, including parole or probation. The new law restored voting rights to these individuals upon completion of incarceration, regardless of other conditions of their sentence.
Read MoreSupreme Court Rejects Appeal from Former Hunter Biden Business Partner Devon Archer
The Supreme Court rejected former Hunter Biden business partner Devon Archer’s appeal of his criminal conviction in connection to a scheme to defraud a Native American tribe.
Archer was convicted in 2018 and sentenced to just over a year in prison in 2022 for defrauding a Native American tribe of $60 million in bonds. The Supreme Court refused to hear Archer’s appeal challenging his sentence on Monday.
Read MoreSCOTUS Sides with Open Borders Biden Admin, Clears the Way for Feds to Remove Razor Wire Barrier in Eagle Pass, Texas
A divided U.S. Supreme Court sided with President Joe Biden’s administration on Monday, clearing the way for federal authorities to remove razor wire installed in Eagle Pass along the U.S.-Mexico border by Texas law enforcement.
Read MoreFamily to Sue Biden Admin for $100 Million over Death of Woman Killed by Illegal Immigrant
The family of Kayla Hamilton, a 20-year-old woman killed by an illegal immigrant, plans to sue the Biden administration for $100 million, partially blaming the administration’s immigration enforcement policies for her wrongful death.
The illegal immigrant raped Hamilton and subsequently strangled her with a phone cord. Prior to the murder, he entered the U.S. unlawfully in March 2022, but secured release into the interior under the Biden administration’s directives.
Read MoreBiden DOJ Wants Former Trump Advisor Peter Navarro to Spend Six Months in Jail
The Department of Justice (DOJ) argued Thursday that Peter Navarro, previously a trade advisor to former President Donald Trump, should face six months in jail and pay $200,000 for failing to comply with a Jan. 6 select committee subpoena.
Prosecutors wrote in their sentencing memo Thursday that Navarro “exacerbated” the “assault” on the rule of law that occurred on Jan. 6 by flouting the subpoena, stating that his “bad-faith strategy of defiance and contempt deserves severe punishment.” Navarro was indicted on contempt of Congress charges in June 2022 after he declined to testify during his deposition and did not produce the documents requested by the select committee.
Read MoreMaine Secretary of State Appeals Superior Court Decision
Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows has appealed to the state’s Superior Court decision to pause on a ruling to remove former President Donald Trump from the primary ballot.
Bellows is appealing the Superior Court’s ruling to not decide on the ballot case to the Maine Supreme Court. The court is awaiting the U.S. Supreme Court decision on Colorado.
Earlier this week, Kennebec County Superior Court Justice Michaela Murphy issued the stay on the Maine secretary of state’s decision to disqualify former President Donald Trump from the primary ballot, citing the 14th Amendment.
Read MoreUvalde School Shooting Response Had ‘No Urgency,’ Plagued with ‘Cascading Failures’: DOJ Report
The mass shooting that killed 19 students and two teachers at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas, could have been stopped sooner if it were not for significant law enforcement failures, according to a scathing Justice Department report released Thursday.
Police had “cascading failures” in their response to the shooting on May 24, 2022, according to a nearly 600-page federal report, which slams first responders for a lack of leadership and demonstrating “no urgency” in creating a command post, among other things, per The Associated Press.
Read MoreSupreme Court Declines to Hear Case Regarding Transgender Bathroom Policies in Schools
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court refused to intervene in a case that could have potentially set a nationwide precedent on the question of transgender bathroom policies in school districts.
As ABC News reports, the case in question stems from an Indiana public school district, the Metropolitan School District of Martinsville, which is located about 30 miles southwest of Indianapolis. Most recently, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a previous order determining that biological females can use the male restroom, and vice-versa. A similar ruling was made by the federal appeals court in Richmond, Virginia, while the appeals court in Atlanta ruled against such policies.
Read MoreCommentary: DC Appellate Judges Use ‘Unprecedented Approach’ to Get Trump’s Twitter Files
In January 2023, two months after his appointment as special counsel, Jack Smith applied for a search warrant to obtain all of the data associated with Donald Trump’s long-dormant Twitter account. Smith sought not just public posts but direct messages, drafted and deleted posts, and the identity of any individual with access to the account. Smith also asked for “all users [Trump’s account] has followed, unfollowed, muted, unmuted, blocked, or unblocked, and all users who have followed, unfollowed, muted, unmuted, blocked, or unblocked” Trump’s account.
The application was stunning in scope with no justification as to why the government needed such a limitless trove of information—particularly one that clearly ran afoul of Trump’s right to assert executive privilege. So, Smith neatly settled that matter by additionally asking for a nondisclosure order that prevented Twitter from notifying Trump about the search warrant for 180 days.
Read MoreCommentary: Combating the Federal Government’s Determination to Allow a Border Invasion
The invasion of illegal aliens on our southern border is getting worse by the day. Texas is at the forefront of this problem, comprising almost half of the nation’s border with Mexico. After years of failure by the Obama and Biden administrations, our state has finally decided to act to protect our citizens.
A new law was signed by the governor, making illegal immigration a state crime and empowering local and state law enforcement to carry out this new law. This should have happened years ago. The border crisis is not new. Inaction by the governor has continued to allow illegal aliens, including documented terrorists, into our state.
Read MoreDOJ Supreme Court Filing Reveals Details Inconsistent with DHS Narrative Blaming Texas for Migrant Drownings
A new Supreme Court filing by the Department of Justice (DOJ) raises new questions that could help exonerate the Texas Military Department after the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) English) accuse the state agency of allowing the deaths of three migrants who drowned in Shelby Park last week.
Both the White House and Biden’s Department of Homeland Security blamed state officials after three migrants, including two children, drowned in the Shelby Park area.
Read MoreDFL Will Soon Have Monopoly of Appointees on Minnesota Supreme Court
Justice G. Barry Anderson, the lone remaining Republican appointee on the Minnesota Supreme Court, announced his retirement last week after serving nearly 20 years as one of the state’s top judges.
Anderson notified Gov. Tim Walz on Thursday of his decision to step down from the court on May 10. Anderson turns 70 in October, the age of mandatory retirement that’s required by Minnesota statute.
Read MoreDOJ Attorney Playing Key Role in Jack Smith’s Prosecution of Trump Worked on Case That Put Pro-Life Activist in Jail
One of the prosecutors helping special counsel Jack Smith prosecute former President Donald Trump for alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election also worked on a high-profile case against a pro-life activist.
Molly Gaston, a prosecutor who spent years in the District of Columbia U.S. Attorney’s Office and is now playing a key role on Smith’s team, worked on the early stages of the prosecution of pro-life activist Lauren Handy. Handy had been in jail since August when she, along with four co-defendants, were found guilty of violating the Freedom of Access To Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act for blocking access to a Washington, D.C., abortion clinic in 2020.
Read MoreSupreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Ethics Complaint Being Reviewed
An ethics complaint filed against the Supreme Court’s newest justice, Ketanji Brown Jackson, is being reviewed by a committee with the Judicial Conference, which is the policy making body for federal courts.
The Center for Renewing America, a conservative non-profit, filed the complaint last month against Jackson, alleging that she “willfully failed to disclose required information regarding her husband’s medical malpractice consulting income for over a decade.”
Read MoreImmigration Case Backlogs Reach Record Levels Despite Big Increase in Spending
The cost of processing applications of immigrants by the Department of Homeland Security has increased from $345 million in 2022 to $765 million in 2023 while the number of pending cases continues to increase.
The number of backlog immigration cases reached 3 million for the first time in November 2023, a 50% increase from the previous year. That increase comes despite the Department of Homeland Security doubling the number of full-time positions to address the issue since the first time in November 2023.
Read MoreFulton County DA Fani Willis Under Fire for Paying Alleged Married Lover to Prosecute Trump, Bar Complaint Filed
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who is prosecuting former President Donald Trump and others connected to him, is facing accusations she violated ethics rules by appointing her married lover as chief prosecutor on the case.
Read MoreCommentary: The Hackery of Judge Florence Pan
If a court proceeding held in the nation’s capital on Tuesday is an indication of how 2024 will go—things will be a lot worse than even the biggest skeptic predicted.
A three-judge panel of the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia—Biden appointees Florence Pan and Michelle Childs and George H. W. Bush appointee Karen Henderson—heard oral arguments for Donald Trump’s appeal of a lower court decision that concluded presidents are not immune from criminal prosecution for their conduct in office. The appeal originated out of Special Counsel Jack Smith’s four-count indictment against the former president related to the events of January 6.
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