Free Republic

Tommy DiMassimo, the Wright State University student with Atlanta ties who in March rushed the stage at an Donald Trump rally in Ohio, has raised $340 from 10 people through a Go Fund Me page for his legal defense as of Wednesday afternoon. His funding goal is $25,000, according to the page. DiMassimo was arrested March 12 after he vaulted a stage barrier and rushed to the back of the stage in a hangar near Dayton International Airport in Vandalia, Ohio, a suburb of Dayton. His Go Fund Me page gets political, saying that he rushed the stage “not to...

Former state Senate leader Don Perata and his attorney have mounted a furious campaign against a decision by Sacramento federal prosecutors to review corruption allegations that San Francisco federal prosecutors declined to pursue. The Sacramento review violates a deal, called a tolling agreement, between defense attorneys and the U. S. attorney's office in San Francisco that stopped the clock on the statute of limitations while the parties discussed the matter, the defense attorneys insist. That agreement does not extend to the Sacramento U. S. attorney's office and the statute of limitations now precludes prosecution, the attorneys claim.

Already almost five years in the works, it doesn't appear the federal corruption probe of state Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata will end anytime soon. For the second time this year, the U.S. attorney's office has asked defense attorneys representing Perata and some other potential defendants for an extension of the legal deadline for filing charges. Additional time would allow prosecutors to wrap up their work, sources close to the case tell us. As for why a target of a federal investigation would go along with a request for more time? "Because then (the feds) say we have no...

SACRAMENTO - The federal corruption probe of state Sen. Don Perata bubbles with the tension of a television drama. The central character is a savvy 59-year-old East Bay Democrat with a penchant for double-breasted suits who relishes comparisons to a Mafia boss. A former high school civics teacher and the son of an Italian-American dairyman, Perata rose through the Byzantine world of Oakland politics to become leader of the state Senate. But now a federal investigation into his dealings with relatives and close associates threatens to undermine everything Perata has worked for. The case has the makings of a "Law...