Free Republic

One of two jurors who have been dismissed from former President Donald Trump’s criminal trial in New York said the former president looked “bored” and “less orange.” Seven jurors were selected and sworn in this week in the criminal trial at the hands of Democrat District Attorney Alvin Bragg, but as of Thursday afternoon, only five remained. New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan — a Democrat donor — “abruptly” dismissed a juror who was concerned about her identity becoming public. Another juror was dismissed over suspicions that he may not have been totally honest on the questionnaire, according to...

Half of the second round of potential jurors in the Trump hush money case — 48 people — on Thursday were immediately excused after they said they could not be fair and impartial. Of those 48 who were excused because they could not be fair and impartial, 23 were men and 25 were women. Roughly 15 appeared to be non-white, according to reports from the courtroom. That meant that half of the potential 96 jurors brought in said they could not be fair and impartial jurors in the case, which is almost the same number who said they could not...

Soldiers from the IDF's Golani Brigade were ordered not to visit the families of their two friends who fell in battle in their free time. The soldiers were told that whoever visited would be dismissed from the unit. According to a report by Asaf Pozailov on Kan News, the platoon commander, who decided to visit the families with several soldiers anyway when they left Gaza on leave, was dismissed by the Company Commander. One of the parents reported that the soldiers had already notified the bereaved families that they were coming, and the order was given after the fact. "It...

..... Channel 12 News reports that the attack was originally planned for last Passover Eve, but the IDF detected signs of the attack and raised its alert level to the point that Hamas cancelled the attack. Hamas was concerned that the IDF had succeeded in infiltrating the command structure and ranks of their organization and worried about the plan leaking out. Two days ago, it was reported that a senior officer of the IDF's SIGINT unit 8200 had warned that Hamas was planning a large-scale invasion of Israel. The officer discovered Hamas's operational plan, which was eventually the one used,...

The U.S. Army sent a letter to former service members dismissed for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine, informing them they can request corrections of their discharge records, as the military branch reportedly struggles with recruitment three years after the onset of the pandemic. The letter, which gained traction on social media, was addressed to former service members and notified of "new Army guidance regarding the correction of military records for former members of the Army following the rescission of the COVID-19 vaccination requirement." It states, "as a result of the rescission of all current COVID-19 vaccination requirements, former Soldiers who were...

First son Hunter Biden is asking for federal gun charges he pleaded not guilty to earlier this week to be dismissed, claiming he has immunity against the indictment stemming from an earlier plea agreement with prosecutors. Defense attorneys Abbe Lowell and Richard Jones said a July diversion agreement “that both parties signed remains in force, and he will seek to dismiss the Indictment against him pursuant to the immunity provisions of that Agreement,” according to a Friday court filing. The attorneys argued the “only charge” special counsel David Weiss “was permitted to bring” as part of the diversion agreement were...

Mark Meadows, who served as former President Trump’s White House chief of staff, is urging a judge to dismiss criminal charges brought against him last week alongside his former boss. Meadows insisted he is immune from Fulton County (Ga.) District Attorney Fani Willis’s prosecution because the allegations are connected to his role as a federal official. COURT BATTLES Meadows asks for Georgia charges to be dismissed BY ZACH SCHONFELD - 08/21/23 11:13 AM ET SHARE TWEET Mark Meadows, who served as former President Trump’s White House chief of staff, is urging a judge to dismiss criminal charges brought against him...

A federal judge Monday dismissed former President Trump’s claim that E. Jean Carroll defamed him in May after a jury found Trump liable for sexually abusing the writer. The day after the verdict, Carroll appeared on CNN and indicated Trump had raped her. The jury had not found Trump liable for rape under New York’s definition, but instead found him liable for sexual abuse. Trump then claimed Carroll’s insistence on CNN amounted to defamation, filing a counterclaim in Carroll’s other lawsuit that has not yet gone to trial. U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan on Monday dismissed Trump’s argument, ruling Carroll’s...

The Supreme Court declined on Monday to take up a case brought against Dominion Voting Systems and Facebook after the 2020 election by a group of voters who claimed the companies illegally “influenced or interfered with” the contest. Lower courts had previously rejected the case, ruling that the eight voters lacked the procedural threshold – known as standing – needed to bring the suit against parties including the Center for Tech and Civic Life, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan. “The court’s refusal to take up this case is no surprise; the lower courts threw it out...

Lansing — The Michigan Court of Appeals rejected Thursday a lawsuit led by Republican attorney general hopeful Matt DePerno that attempted to challenge the 2020 election results in Antrim County. In a 3-0 ruling, the court's panel of judges said the suit made no allegations to support the idea that "purported irregularities in Antrim County 'might have affected the outcome' of the presidential election." Likewise, the panel denied the argument that Antrim County resident William Bailey, DePerno's client, was entitled to an audit of the election there. "The statutory language does not allow private citizens to conduct independent audits, and...

CNN political analyst David Axelrod said Friday on “Anderson Cooper 360” that the lawsuit attempting to disqualify Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) from reelection ballot access over her comments and tweets surrounding the January 6, 2021 riot at the Capitol will fail and increase her fundraising. Cooper said, “Do you think the case brought against Greene would be successful?”

MSNBC’s host Joy Reid said Monday on her show “The ReidOut” that the media dismissed Adolf Hitler as a joke and “we’re seeing a similar pattern emerge when it comes to the threat” of former President Donald Trump. Reid said, “Let not forget the many who laughed at Donald Trump back in 2016 and even after he was elected. Thanks to four years of Trump, this is a backsliding democracy, according to an international think tank. And that’s no joke. The truth is this country doesn’t have a great track record of recognizing authoritarians for what they are, at least...

"I didn't want to run this time," he said. "I ran this time because of the racist son of a gun who was president of the United States of America. That's why I ran. ... "I'm the guy that took on every single time somebody was threatened in this country. The only white boy you know who did it, period." Shaun King @shaunking I just listened to the audio from the meeting some civil rights leaders had w/ @JoeBiden this past week. VERY DISAPPOINTING. First off, he sometimes projected rudeness and irritation. Worse than that, he basically told them that...

The $250 million defamation lawsuit filed by Covington Catholic High School student Nicholas Sandmann against the Washington Post was dismissed Friday. Attorneys for the Kentucky teen — who was filmed earlier this year in January wearing a MAGA hat in a viral standoff with Native American activist Nathan Phillips in Washington, DC — claimed the newspaper’s coverage of the incident led to a “mob of bullies which attacked, vilified & threatened” Sandmann. But US District Judge William Bertelsman tossed the suit, saying the paper was within its rights to publish Phillips’ views that the teen was deliberately blocking his path...

Just breaking on Brett Bair’s show

A federal judge dismissed all charges against Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, his two sons and another man on Monday after accusing prosecutors of willfully withholding evidence from Bundy’s lawyers. U.S. District Judge Gloria Navarro cited "flagrant prosecutorial misconduct" in her decision to dismiss all charges against the Nevada rancher and three others. "The court finds that the universal sense of justice has been violated," Navarro said. “Either the government lied or [it’s actions were] so grossly negligent as to be tantamount to lying." - Judge Andrew Napolitano Bundy's supporters cheered as he walked out of court a free man, hugging...

Billions of dollars in student loans may be wiped out for tens of thousands of borrowers in the US because a lender didn't keep track of the paperwork verifying ownership of the loans, according to The New York Times. The National Collegiate Student Loan Trusts, which holds 800,000 private loans and is one of the country's largest owners of private student loans, is at the center of the legal dispute, the Times reported. Borrowers are failing to repay more than $5 billion of the $12 billion in private student loans held by National Collegiate, sending the loans into default. The...

A New York judge accepted Donald Trump's motion to dismiss a libel lawsuit brought against him by Cheryl Jacobus, a political strategist Trump said on Twitter had "begged" him for a job and was only criticizing him because she was rebuffed. In siding with Trump, New York Supreme Court Judge Barbara Jaffe characterized his tweet as an opinion, and noted his habit of using Twitter as such.

On the second day of her dream vacation on exclusive Bald Head Island, Julie Mall went with her family to the beach to catch the sunset. Her 11-year-old son asked to drive the golf cart back to their $1,000-a-day rented cottage. It was dusk, no traffic on the path and his father would sit next to him. A two-block, 30-second ride. She said sure. What could go wrong? In the next four hours, Mall says she was pinned to the ground by police, repeatedly accused of being drunk, frogmarched barefoot aboard a ferry in handcuffs, jailed in leg irons and...