Free Republic

President Joe Biden joked at the Gridiron Dinner this past weekend about former President Donald Trump’s struggle to pay nearly half a billion dollars in fines resulting from a controversial civil fraud judgement against him in New York. New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) — who ran for office specifically promising to use the law to pursue Trump for unspecified sins — declared that “everyone must play by the same rules,” though the Trump case was unprecedented. Trump was sued for allegedly inflating his net worth under a New York law that does not require the state to show...

NEW YORK, NY — After being viciously booed at an FDNY promotion ceremony last week, New York AG Letitia James has announced she will be issuing $355 million-dollar fines to the perpetrators. "Last week, I was cruelly assaulted and insurrected by racist Trump supporters," said the Attorney General in a statement. "Our democracy is no place for firefighters to express their displeasure with the weaponization of the justice system against their preferred candidate. I will not rest until every guilty party has been tracked down and brought to justice. With a $355 million-dollar fine. And maybe also prison. Thank you."...

The NFL has fined Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper $300,000 for tossing a drink at fans in Jacksonville toward the end of a game on SundayThe NFL has fined Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper $300,000 for tossing a drink at fans in Jacksonville toward the end of a game on Sunday. The league called Tepper's conduct “unacceptable” in a statement released Tuesday. “All NFL personnel are expected to conduct themselves at all times in ways that respect our fans and favorably reflect on their team and the NFL,” the statement said. Tepper’s reaction came after rookie quarterback Bryce Young threw...

ORLANDO, Fla. – An Orlando performing arts venue has paid a $5,000 fine in a settlement agreement after allowing children into a “sexually explicit” Christmas drag show last year, according to state records. On Thursday, a newly released consent order revealed the Plaza Live Foundation agreed in August to pay the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulations a $5,000 fine as part of a settlement with the state. he venue also agreed not to allow anyone under 18 years of age into any performance “which contains, depicts, or simulates any activities” that violate the state’s obscenity laws, the order...

There was more drama today at Donald Trump’s New York fraud case. As you may recall, Trump attended part of the trial earlier this month and something he (or someone in his name) posted on Truth Social about Judge Engoron’s court clerk got him in trouble.It led to Judge Engoron putting a gag order in place forbidding any mention of court personnel. “Personal attacks on members on my court staff are unacceptable, inappropriate, and I won’t tolerate it,” he said. That seemed to be the end of it at the time as the Truth Social post was pulled down. But...

A New York judge has fined former President Donald Trump $5,000 on Friday over a disparaging post about a court staffer on his campaign website. This development comes after a gag order was imposed on Trump, prohibiting him from making supposedly incendiary statements about individuals involved in the civil fraud trial. Along with the fine, Judge Arthur Engoron also threatened to hold Trump in contempt of court for future offenses, meaning the former president could face jail time.Former President Donald Trump was fined $5,000 on Friday after his disparaging social media post about a key court staffer in his New...

In a court case that has wide implications for anyone here who cares about the First Amendment, clinical psychologist and author Jordan Peterson has been ordered by a Canadian court to undergo re-education.In a decision released Wednesday, three Ontario Divisional Court judges unanimously sided with the College of Psychologists of Ontario in a case stemming from some of Peterson's contentious language and online statements.Justice Paul Schabas wrote that the college's order that Peterson undergo a program on professionalism in public statements balanced its mandate to regulate the profession, "is not disciplinary and does not prevent Dr. Peterson from expressing himself...

A small amount of justice at last in this case.Earlier this month Andy Ngo’s civil trial against members of Rose City Antifa went to trial. As I explained here, the trial only involved two defendants, John Hacker and Elizabeth Richter, because three other defendants had been found “in default,” meaning they were found liable (the judge would determine the amount of that liability after the trial). One additional defendant had settled the case with Ngo prior to the trial. The trial of the remaining two defendants resulted in the jury siding with the defense.After nearly a week of hearing testimony...

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters he is "fine" shortly after he stopped speaking mid-sentence during a press conference on Wednesday. McConnell, 81, was standing at the podium for his daily press conference before reporters when he suddenly stopped speaking while still looking forward. Nearly 30 seconds later his colleagues surrounded him, asking if he still wanted to speak to the press or go back to his office. At that point, McConnell turned away from the podium and stood nearby while his colleagues took the microphone. Eventually, McConnell returned to the microphone, where he answered questions about what had...

On Tuesday, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau took Bank of America to task for a list of illegal actions that undermine customer trust. [Snip] Bank of America agreed to pay a total of $150 million in fines and reimburse customers $100 million. [Snip] “Bank of America is a repeat offender. [Snip] Double-dipping: The bank had a previous policy of charging a $35 fee once — and then repeatedly for the same transaction — when a customer didn't have enough money in the account to cover the bill. If the company or person who was owed the money tried to resubmit...

In these dark days, I keep looking for stories promising that America is emerging from the madness that has enveloped her. One of those stories just emerged from New Jersey, of all places, where a jury awarded a white woman $25 million after concluding that Starbucks fired her on racial grounds. Given how leftists have wielded the charge of “racism” as both a shield and sword in their efforts to remake a constitutional, color-blind America, this is a heartening outcome. Four years ago, Starbucks was in the news when two men claimed to have been the victims of discrimination after...

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) should pay millions for pursuing the now-discredited theory that former President Donald Trump colluded with Russia ahead of the 2016 presidential election, according to a House Republican. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) filed a privileged resolution on Tuesday afternoon to "censure, condemn, and fine" Schiff $16 million, which is half the cost of the special counsel investigation of Russian election inference led by Robert Mueller. Schiff led a similar investigation during his time as chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. "I just filed a privileged resolution, H. Res. 437, to censure, condemn, and fine Rep. Adam...

A Chinese stand-up comedian who goes by the name “House” has been fined $2 million for a joke he made which was deemed to take a mocking stance toward the ironically named People’s Liberation Army. Here’s the joke that got him fined:During the show, he began a skit about how he had adopted two stray dogs since moving to Shanghai.He went on to say that their chase after a squirrel one day reminded him of eight words, before he unleashed the controversial punchline, according to audio posted to Chinese social media site Weibo.“Fine style of work, capable of winning battles,”...

A California state judge on Thursday ordered Calvary Chapel Church, San Jose, in Santa Clara County to pay $1.2 million in fines for violating COVID-19 restrictions on masking, social distancing, and gatherings. And one reason the county knew the church ran afoul of those rules was that its employees tracked the congregation by their phones.

Brooklyn Nets guard Cam Thomas has been fined $40,000 for using "derogatory and disparaging language" after Thursday's win over the Chicago Bulls, the NBA announced Friday. Thomas was interviewed by TNT on the court alongside new teammate Spencer Dinwiddie following the Nets' 116-105 victory. Two days earlier, Dinwiddie had joked with the media in the wake of the Kyrie Irving trade with the Dallas Mavericks that while the Nets might not have acquired the most talented players in the deal -- which included Dorian Finney-Smith going to Brooklyn -- they did get the "best-looking." "And the Nets needed some help...

Canadian broadcaster Sid Seixeiro mercilessly attacked Christians and insisted that the NHL punish the Philadelphia Flyers for allowing player Ivan Provorov to refuse to participate in the team’s gay pride night on Tuesday. Seixeiro was infuriated when Provorov refused to don a gay pride jersey and sat out the team’s warm-ups ahead of Tuesday’s game, citing his Russian Orthodox beliefs as his reason. After the game, the 26-year-old Provorov told reporters that he “respects” everyone, but his religion prevents his participation in gay pride demonstrations.

Federal regulators on Tuesday ordered Wells Fargo Bank to pay a $1.7 billion civil penalty and more than $2 billion in compensation to customers for what they say was "illegal activity affecting over 16 million consumer accounts." The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said Wells Fargo "repeatedly misapplied loan payments, wrongfully foreclosed on homes and illegally repossessed vehicles, incorrectly assessed fees and interest, charged surprise overdraft fees," among other things. Thousands of customers lost their vehicles and homes due to the bank's activity over the course of several years, the federal regulators said. The $1.7 billion fine will go to the...

BEIJING (AP) — Former NBA star Jeremy Lin, who plays for a Chinese team, was fined 10,000 yuan ($1,400) for criticizing quarantine facilities, China’s professional league and a news report said Friday, as the government tries to stop protests against anti-virus controls that are among the world's most stringent. Also Friday, more cities eased restrictions, allowing shopping malls, supermarkets and other businesses to reopen following protests last weekend in Shanghai and other areas in which some crowds called for President Xi Jinping to resign. Urumqi in the northwest, site of a deadly fire that triggered the protests, announced supermarkets and...

SEATTLE (AP) — A Washington state judge on Wednesday fined Facebook parent company Meta nearly $25 million for repeatedly and intentionally violating campaign finance disclosure law, in what is believed to be the largest campaign finance penalty in U.S. history. The penalty issued by King County Superior Court Judge Douglass North was the maximum allowed for more than 800 violations of Washington’s Fair Campaign Practices Act, passed by voters in 1972 and later strengthened by the Legislature. Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson argued that the maximum was appropriate considering his office previously sued Facebook in 2018 for violating the same...

It's no big secret that Big Tech's tentacles have a vast reach, with platforms like Facebook and Twitter admitting in so many words after the fact to deliberately suppressing news content prior to the 2020 presidential election that portrayed then-Democratic nominee for president Joe Biden and his international wheelin' and dealin' son Hunter in a less than flattering light being one of the more notable examples.But as has already been made clear by online payment systems like PayPal and Venmo, even more silencing of alternative points of view is needed in the form of financial strangulation if necessary, which can...