Free Republic

Prosecutors in Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office offered new transparency not only to the public, but seemingly also Trump’s defense attorneys on Tuesday when, one year after indicting the former president, they finally pulled back the curtain to reveal the motivating crime in their case: a violation of state election law. Former federal prosecutors told the Daily Caller News Foundation Bragg’s lack of clarity is unfair to the defense, who can’t prepare to argue against a charge they don’t know, and unlike what they’ve seen before. ... “First, that Alvin Bragg’s office did not provide advanced notice of the...

grand jury in Arizona has handed up an indictment against former President Donald Trump’s allies over their efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss, including the fake electors from that state and several individuals connected to his campaign. Boris Epshteyn, a former White House aide who remains one of Trump’s closest advisers, former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and Rudy Giuliani are among those who have been indicted, according to a source familiar with the investigation.

A federal judge in New York has rejected former President Donald Trump's request to move his hush-money criminal case into federal court. "Trump has failed to show that the conduct charged by the Indictment is for or relating to any act performed by or for the President under color of the official acts of a President," Judge Alvin Hellerstein wrote in his ruling Wednesday. Trump has pleaded not guilty to a 34-count indictment charging him with falsifying business records in connection with a hush money payment made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels days before the 2016 presidential election. He...

Prosecutors in New York do not plan to criminally charge Rudy Giuliani in connection with a probe into his interactions with Ukrainian figures, they revealed in a letter to a judge Monday in what a lawyer for Giuliani declared a “total victory.” They said they made the decision after a review of evidence resulting from raids on his residence and law office in April 2021. Federal prosecutors were investigating whether Giuliani’s dealings with figures in Ukraine in the run-up to the 2020 election required him to register as a foreign agent. Prosecutors said a grand jury probe that led to...

An unredacted, internal Department of Justice memo shows the rationale of its leadership in deciding not to prosecute then-President Donald Trump on obstruction of justice charges following the Mueller report's publication. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) secured the memo's release following a ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit that the DOJ improperly withheld the memo from the watchdog group, which had sued to obtain it. “Because the department did not tie the memorandum to deliberations about the relevant decision, the department failed to justify its reliance on the deliberative-process privilege,”...

Former president Donald Trump and close aides have spent the eight days since the FBI searched his Florida home rushing to assemble a team of respected defense lawyers. But the answer they keep hearing is “no.” “Everyone is saying no,” said a prominent Republican lawyer, who like some others spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss confidential conversations.

Just five weeks after last month’s massacre at a San Jose light-rail yard that left nine people dead, the city has taken unprecedented gun-control action. In a unanimous vote Tuesday night, San Jose’s city council approved a national first that will see gun owners being forced to compensate taxpayers for the spiraling costs of gun violence. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, gun owners in California’s third-largest city will be required to take out liability insurance for their firearms, and pay an annual tax that will help fund emergency responses to gun-related calls. In a news release ahead of Tuesday...

Investigating if company "engages in any pattern or practice of discrimination" against non-citizens The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating Elon Musk’s SpaceX for allegedly preferring to hire American citizens over non-citizens. According to the DOJ, in March 2020, a non-U.S. citizen inquiring about the position of technology strategy associate at SpaceX was asked about his citizenship status. DOJ attorney Lisa Sandoval stated that SpaceX “ultimately failed to hire him for the position because he is not a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident.” Last Thursday, the DOJ filed a request with a judge “to order SpaceX to comply with...

Two Christian bakers who refused to bake a cake for a lesbian wedding have been ordered to pay $135,000 in damages by July 13 or else the state of Oregon could place a lien on their home. Aaron and Melissa Klein, the owners of Sweet Cakes by Melissa, were punished by the state's Bureau of Labor and Industry (BOLI) for unlawfully discriminating against a same-sex couple. The Kleins, who are devout evangelical Christians, argued that baking the cake would be a violation of their religious beliefs. The BOLI ruling ordered the mom-and-pop bakers to pay $135,000 to the lesbian couple....

MISUSING DOMESTIC VIOLENCE LAWS TO JAIL ACTIVISTS: "On April 18, David Milum was sitting in the kitchen of his house on Jot Em Down Road when two deputies walked in, without knocking, he says, and arrested him on a "good behavior" warrant. Milum's offense? He had frightened County Commissioner Marcie Kreager during a conversation outside the county administration building the previous day. He didn't threaten her. He didn't touch her. He just scared her." This constitutes a government employee misusing a domestic violence system to penalize political activists who approach them. That she was "frightened" is a subjective judgment designed...