Free Republic

Minnesota congressman Dean Phillips called on N.Y. Governor Kathy Hochul to pardon Donald Trump for his ludicrous conviction on 34 counts of falsifying business records in Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg’s nakedly politicized persecution of the former president. Even though he’s right—Trump should have never been charged with this garbage in the first place and should be quickly pardoned—his reasoning is way off the charts. He wants to let Trump off the hook now, not because the clown show trial was a stain upon this nation— which it most certainly was—but because it might help the GOP presumptive nominee win at...

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) joined an anti-Israel commentator this week in blaming the Abraham Accords peace deal and the opening of the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem for Hamas’s massive terror attack on Israel on October 7. “AOC” also agreed that Trump’s recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights — which are not claimed by Palestinians, but were taken from Syria in a defensive war — was also “directly” responsible for October 7.

Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh has named a pastor with no clinical experience to run the FDNY’s counseling services for firefighters and medics struggling with mental-health problems — an appointment that will require the department to hire another licensed supervisor at taxpayer expense to plug the gap. Kavanagh tapped Ann Kansfield, the FDNY’s first female and openly gay chaplain, as chief of the department’s Counseling Services Unit, which runs a staff of psychologists and therapists who conduct screening, assessment and treatment of job candidates and ailing first-responders. Kansfield, 48, whom Kavanagh has called her “spiritual muse” — served as one of...

NEW YORK (AP) — New York City police said Saturday that they had 34 people in custody following a pro-Palestinian protest at the Brooklyn Museum, which reported damage to some artwork and harassment to security staff by demonstrators. Hundreds of protesters marched to the museum on Friday afternoon, set up tents in the lobby and unfurled a “Free Palestine” banner from the building’s roof before police moved in to make arrests. New York City police officers tackled and punched some protesters during scuffles that broke out in the crowd outside the museum while some demonstrators hurled plastic bottles at officers...

@Geiger_Capital The first felony conviction of a former US President wasn’t for the Iraq or Afghanistan wars, illegal CIA coups, drone striking weddings, or spying on Americans… It was because Trump misclassified a $130,000 payment for a porn star’s NDA. Tells you everything you need to know.

Prominent business executives have warned that more New York enterprises and their leaders may fall victim to "no rule of law" in the wake of Donald Trump’s guilty verdict. "If they can do this to a business person like Donald Trump, they could do it to anybody in New York and a lot of businesses. A lot of people are concerned that there is no rule of law," billionaire CEO John Catsimatidis said Friday on "Mornings with Maria." ... Cardone recently pulled his business out of the Empire State and cautioned that Trump’s legal troubles — including a previous $355...

Real estate investor Grant Cardone appeared on the fox Business Network this week following the Trump verdict and said that it is going to have far reaching effects on the city’s economy. He suggested that nobody (including him) wants to do business in New York City anymore because they no longer trust the political and legal system there. Cardone says that the people who are invested in his company wouldn’t even allow him to do business there.

Noted attorney Alan Dershowitz said on Thursday that he doubts a New York appellate court will overturn former President Donald Trump’s conviction in his Manhattan trial. …he believes appellate judges will be reluctant to overturn the jury’s decision because they might be biased against the former president. I don’t think it would be reversed by the appellate division,” Dershowitz continued. “These are judges who are terrified of being perceived of as helping Trump in any way. Don’t know whether or not the New York Court of Appeals in Albany will have the ability to not consider the impact it will...

U.S. — Following the reading of the guilty verdict in the first criminal trial of a former president, Democrats across the country celebrated Donald Trump being convicted of whatever it was he did. Though none of the Democrats who commented publicly on the verdict were able to identify what crime Trump allegedly committed, they were unanimously overjoyed that there was a volition of some type for some thing that was done at some point. "It's time for Trump to answer for that one thing from that one time," said former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. "No one should ever do that...

U.S. — In the hours after being convicted on 34 counts of something or other, Trump issued a reminder to the media that the proper term to describe him is "justice-impacted individual." The term, commonly used by Democrats and journalists to describe convicted felons, now describes a 2024 presidential candidate, giving Americans an exciting opportunity to vote for someone unfairly targeted by the U.S. justice system. "I am a justice-impacted individual, possibly the most justice-impacted of any person in history," said Trump in a statement outside the New York courthouse. "This totally fake and phony Democrat witch-hunt conviction by 12...

Randi Weingarten's American Federation of Teachers defends pro-Hamas campus occupations as 'peacefully demonstrating' The American Federation of Teachers led by Randi Weingarten claimed that anti-Israel protesters on college campuses were simply "peacefully demonstrating." The American Federation of Teachers led by Randi Weingarten claimed that anti-Israel protesters on college campuses were simply “peacefully demonstrating.” The Tuesday statement from the AFT came in response to a hearing last week from the House Education and the Workforce Committee where leaders of Northwestern University, Rutgers University, and the University of California, Los Angeles, were grilled regarding their response to campus anti-Israel encampments. ”AFT members...

President Biden is leading former President Trump in New York — but only by single digits in the largely blue state, according to a poll released Thursday. An Emerson College Polling/The Hill/PIX11 survey found Biden leading Trump 48 percent to 41 percent, with 12 percent undecided. When undecided voters are factored in, the incumbent’s lead stretches to 10 points, 55 percent to 45 percent. Biden also holds a single-digit lead over Trump when independent Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and several other long-shot candidates — Jill Stein and Cornel West — are factored in the survey: Biden is at 44 percent,...

Paul Sperry @paulsperry_ BREAKING: FEC vendor records reveal Judge Merchan's daughter raked in $9.7 mil from Biden+Kamala during their 2020 campaigns for prez, raising fresh conflict issues.

Verdict in.

In a landmark decision, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously sided with the National Rifle Association (NRA) on Thursday, ruling that the New York State Department of Financial Services violated the NRA’s First Amendment rights by effectively blacklisting the group. The decision, surprisingly authored by far-left Justice Sonia Sotomayor, affirmed that the NRA “plausibly alleged” that its free speech rights were stifled by the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) under directives perceived to be politically motivated.

On Wednesday’s broadcast of “CNN NewsNight,” Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) said that Hamas can’t be eliminated and the idea they’re built on can’t be killed off and “We need a free Palestine so Hamas then ceases to need to exist.” Bowman began by saying, “We condemn the attacks of October 7, but we also condemn everything that has happened since October 7.” Later, he added, “I know Benjamin Netanyahu, Ben-Gvir, and others, they want to wipe out the Palestinians. They want them to either leave or they will kill them. I know that’s what they want. And it’s horrible and...

A Kentucky high school allegedly withheld a graduate’s diploma when the student went off script during his graduation speech to preach his belief in Jesus. Micah Price received the green light to praise Jesus Christ in his commencement speech at Campbell County High School in Alexandria, Ky., on May 24, but followed his address with “urging other Christians to stand up.” “Class, before another word leaves my mouth, I must give the honor, the praise and the glory to my lord and savior Jesus Christ,” Price said to a packed Truist Arena at Northern Kentucky University. His oration received resounding...

Anti-Israel criminals caused at least $3 million in damage and the need for costly extra security at taxpayer-funded City College’s campus in Upper Manhattan during their violent protests there, officials say. A protester who threw a flare that torched the roof of the City University of New York school’s administration building caused $350,000 worth of damage alone, said CUNY Chief Operating Officer Hector Batista during recent testimony before the City Council. Batista said the flare damage was particularly unfortunate because the City Council and state previously provided capital funds to install a new roof. “It’s costing over $3 million —...

As the jury begins its deliberations, claims are spreading across social media that Judge Merchan told the panel they don’t need a unanimous verdict to convict Trump. That’s false. To convict Trump, Merchan told the jury they will have to find unanimously — that is, all 12 jurors must agree — that the former president created a fraudulent entry in his company’s records or caused someone else to do so, and that he did so with the intent of committing or concealing another crime. What’s being distorted by some online is the judge’s instruction about how to reach a verdict...

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg attempted to justify the progress on electric vehicle (EV) charging stations, prompting a laugh from CBS’s “Face the Nation” host Margaret Brenna. After $7.5 billion of taxpayers’ money being plowed into the initiative, just a “handful” of charging stations have been built. The interview took a comedic turn when Brennan pointed out the discrepancy between the investment made back in 2021 and the reality of the results. Just seven or eight charging stations have been built despite billions being spent, according to the Federal Highway Administration, “Why isn’t that happening more quickly?” asked Brennan. Buttigieg responded...