Free Republic

A vegan cafe owner in Milwaukee who recently spoke beside former President Trump at a Waukesha rally told Fox News that her remarks were a plea to the person she voted for in 2020 — President Biden — to understand the plight of struggling business owners like herself. Shana Gray said that since her appearance, it has been an "eventful" time, which host Laura Ingraham reported included messages of hate and at least one case of a person with differing political beliefs "storm[ing]" her cafe. "I just pretty much put a plea out there to the administration of which I...

A disbarred, serial perjurer walks into a courtroom and asks to take an oath . . . No, seriously, this is not a joke. Michael Cohen will soon appear in a Manhattan courtroom in what is sure to be one of the most bizarre moments in legal history. Cohen nearly comprises the prosecution’s entire case against former President Donald Trump under a criminal theory that still has many of us baffled. It is not clear what crime Trump was supposedly trying to conceal by making “hush-money” payments to former porn actress Stormy Daniels. What is clear is that none of...

Special counsel Jack Smith’s team acknowledged Friday that some evidence in the prosecution of former President Donald Trump for hoarding classified documents at his Florida home may not be in the same sequence FBI agents found it when they swept into the Mar-a-Lago compound with a search warrant in August 2022. The concession from prosecutors in a court filing Friday afternoon came after attorneys for one of Trump’s co-defendants asked for a delay in the case because the defense lawyers were having trouble determining precisely where particular documents had come from in the 33 boxes the FBI seized almost two...

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey (R) reportedly signed a bill into law Thursday that would ensure President Biden will appear on the state’s November ballot. The Associated Press reported that a spokeswoman said the bill had been signed. The Hill has reached out to Ivey’s office for comment. The bill’s singing follows the unanimous approval last week from the Alabama State Senate, after a state elections official warned that Biden may miss the deadline to qualify. Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen (R) sent a letter to the state Democratic Party chair in April noting that the deadline for certifying candidates...

The leader of the Justice Department’s civil rights division, Kristen Clarke, said in an extraordinary personal statement shared with CNN that she was a victim of years-long domestic abuse and chose not to disclose an expunged arrest record from that period during the Senate confirmation process. Clarke’s now-expunged arrest, which reportedly occurred during a domestic dispute, quickly became a cause célèbre among right-wing media and lawmakers who claim she lied during her 2021 Senate confirmation hearing, with some calling for her resignation. “Nearly 2 decades ago, I was subjected to years-long abuse and domestic violence at the hands of my...

Following the nearly three-hour oral argument about presidential immunity in the Supreme Court on April 25, 2024, many commentators were aghast. The general theme, among legal and political experts alike, was a hand-over-the-mouth, how-dare-they assessment of the mostly conservative justices’ questioning of the attorneys who appeared before them in the case known as Trump v. United States. Rather than a laser-focused, deep dive into the details of Trump’s attempt to subvert the 2020 election, virtually all of the nine justices instead raised larger questions, peppered with hypotheticals – hello again, Seal Team Six! – about the reach of executive power,...

On his way into the Manhattan courtroom where he is being tried on 34 felony charges, former president Donald Trump on Tuesday spoke to reporters about another of his indictments, the one obtained by special counsel Jack Smith in Florida related to Trump’s possession of documents with classification markings. “You probably saw last night that Jack Smith got caught with his hand in the cookie jar,” Trump said as part of a lengthy excoriation of prosecutors and President Biden. “It was released late last night, and it’s a big story. The documents case is a hoax created by them for...

A tattooed content creator sparked a debate about hiring biases after being rejected by T.J. Maxx. Experts said tattoos could influence hiring decisions, especially in customer-facing roles. But overall, personality and cultural fit are more important, they said. A TikToker, Ash Putnam, was frustrated after T.J. Maxx denied her application — and she said she thought her tattoos were to blame. Some of her designs that are visible when she's dressed are a skull with horns on her neck, solid black patches on her arms, and a pattern on her forehead. Putnam, 23, also has multiple facial piercings, including a...

The U.S. Supreme Court is hearing arguments Thursday on whether former President Donald Trump can be criminally prosecuted over his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss. The justices have taken up the monumental question of if, and if so to what extent, former presidents enjoy immunity for conduct alleged to involve official acts during their time in office. The high court's decision will determine if Trump stands trial before the November election on four charges brought by special counsel Jack Smith, including conspiracy to defraud the United States. Throughout arguments, multiple of the justices made clear they were looking...

Starting in July, the real estate industry is bracing for a sweeping shake-up thanks to a $418 million settlement offered by the National Association of Realtors to overhaul its long-entrenched commission structure for agents and pay compensation to the sellers and real estate brokerages who sued. The NAR got a further blow on April 5, when a federal court cleared the way for the Justice Department to reopen an antitrust probe into the group and its rules regarding home-sale commissions. While the settlement awaits final approval later in the year, a preliminary sign-off by a federal judge on Tuesday means...

A strong work ethic may be a virtue, but it’s not always a good sign for the economy. TikToker Isabella Azar (@withbellsmedia) expressed her anger at the two-job phenomenon that's affecting younger Americans these days. The L.A.-based marketing consultant heard about one woman who took on a weekend waitressing job to supplement her corporate job income — which didn’t manage to cover her bills. “The weekends: when we’re supposed to be relaxing, unwinding from our corporate job,” Azar said in her viral video. “But nope, nope, time to go to your second job.” Azar believes that her generation has been...

Caitlin Clark continues to shatter records. But apparently, she has racism to thank for her achievements. Clark and Nike are in an agreement on a historic 8-year, $28 million endorsement contract that will include her own signature shoe, according to ESPN. The Athletic first reported that Clark was on the verge of signing the record breaking deal on April 17, although the length and dollar amount were not yet known. Instead of celebrating this historic deal and giving props to Clark for all she's done for women's basketball so far, one USA Today columnist cried foul because Clark's deal apparently...

When Mount Ruang in Indonesia underwent multiple explosive eruptions last week, volcanic gases were flung so high they reached the atmosphere’s second layer, tens of thousands of feet above ground. The force of Mount Ruang’s eruptions this week ejected an ash plume tens of thousands of feet in the air and sent some volcanic gases more than 65,000 feet into the air, according to satellite estimates – about 25,000 feet higher than a commercial airplane will typically fly. The eruption’s potential impacts to weather and climate are starting to come into focus, even as the danger posed by the volcano...

Homicides are falling across the U.S. And that shift could impact the role crime — often a top voter concern — plays as an issue in November’s election. But it is a phenomenon for which experts don’t have a clear explanation. Some say homicide peaks come and go in cycles, some say policing improved after the COVID-19 pandemic, and some attribute it to the evolving national conversation about how to handle crime. A data analysis released last week shows that the number of homicides in cities like Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and Chicago, are dropping. While many major cities, especially...

Competition in the Tex-Mex and Mexican segments of the restaurant space has been fierce in recent years, led by fast-food chains Yum Brands' Taco Bell (YUM) and Chipotle (CMG) . Taco Bell is king with about 7,936 locations in the U.S., according to data company ScrapeHero. Chipotle has a good size of the market with 3,398 units. Other major players include Qdoba with over 750 locations and Del Taco (TACO) with over 600. Certain Mexican casual restaurant chains have had financial difficulties trying to compete and needed to file for bankruptcy. Chevy's Fresh Mex, which had as many as 37...

TYBEE ISLAND, Ga. (AP) — Thousands of Black college students expected this weekend for an annual spring bash at Georgia’s largest public beach will be greeted by dozens of extra police officers and barricades closing off neighborhood streets. While the beach will remain open, officials are blocking access to nearby parking. Tybee Island east of Savannah has grappled with the April beach party known as Orange Crush since students at Savannah State University, a historically Black school, started it more than 30 years ago. Residents regularly groused about loud music, trash littering the sand and revelers urinating in yards. Those...

The ridiculous “equal pay” debate about the WNBA coming from some Democrats raises an awkward question when it comes to their view of transgenderism: If men and women are indistinguishable and the WNBA doesn’t pay enough, why don’t women’s basketball players join the NBA instead? ..... The issue here, of course, is that neither Biden, members of his Cabinet, nor his judicial nominees can answer what they think a woman is. In the view of Biden and Democratic politicians, there are no differences between men and women, and men can be women or women can be men just by saying...

Sen. Tom Cotton on Tuesday doubled down on comments urging people delayed by traffic stemming from pro-Palestinian demonstrations to "forcibly remove" some protesters who are blocking streets. "Absolutely, I support people, if they’re blocked by traffic, by pro-Hamas vigilantes in the street, they should get out of their cars, they should move them to the side of the road, and they should let traffic continue," Cotton, R-Ark., told NBC News on Tuesday. Asked whether he was calling for violence against protesters, Cotton said he wasn't. "I’m saying that if people are trying to get to work or pick up their...

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas faced criticism on Tuesday over comments he made during a case focused on the January 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol. "In oral argument today, Justice Thomas is minimizing the severity of the 1/6 insurrection at the Capitol. Perhaps that's because his wife was part of the conspiracy. What a disgrace that he's sitting on this case," lawyer and former CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin wrote on X, formerly Twitter. Thomas made comments on Tuesday as the Supreme Court heard arguments in a case relating to the Capitol riot following the 2020 presidential election with...

A staff member at Vardag's accidentally opened the file of a couple referred to in court papers as Mr and Mrs Williams, when trying to apply for a final divorce order for a different client. Vardag's applied three days later to rescind the order but judge Sir Andrew McFarlane dismissed the application. The firm's head Ayesha Vardag said the judge's decision effectively meant "the computer says no, you're divorced". Court papers say that Mrs Williams applied for divorce in January 2023 following 21 years of marriage. The mistake was made by solicitors acting for Mrs Williams on 3 October last...