Free Republic

A Michigan state lawmaker who has faced months of legal woes is now facing two additional charges after authorities say he snuck a handcuff key into a county jail. Rep. Jewell Jones, 26, a Democrat from Inkster, was caught literally with his pants down during an alleged drunk driving spree on April 6th. That fiasco was said by authorities to have involved an unknown woman and a vehicle which ended up off the road. During that incident, a belligerent Jones was caught on video arguing with state troopers and at times hurling racial slurs toward them when the authorities showed...

President Joe Biden arrived in Michigan Tuesday to hawk his $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill and the larger budget bill at a union hall. The president landed in Lansing and was greeted by Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin, who is facing a tough re-election fight next year. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist linked up with Biden on-site. Biden visited a branch of the International Union of Operating Engineers in Howell, Michigan, the county seat of Livingston County, which chose former President Donald Trump over Biden by more than 20 points. President Joe Biden arrived in Michigan Tuesday...

Richard “Bigo” Barnett, whose conduct in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office made him among the most visible faces of the Capitol Hill insurrection, was ordered Thursday to remain jailed pending trial. Mr. Barnett, 60, of Gravette, Arkansas, was remanded to federal custody by Chief U.S. District Court Judge Beryl A. Howell, who days earlier blocked a magistrate’s decision that he waits for trial at home. Federal prosecutors have charged over 150 people so far with crimes related to storming the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, and the FBI is still trying to identify a number of suspects nearly a month...

Judge Beryl Howell could be the one person who ultimately decides the fate of President Trump. Have you ever heard of her? She’s the judge who reportedly approved of Special Investigator Robert Mueller’s request for a grand jury to question Trump officials. Howell was made a federal judge in 2010 by President Obama. She has extensive knowledge when it comes to cyber-security, so she understands some of the intricacies involved in tech-heavy cases. Her experience comes from working in the office of Senator Patrick Leahy and in the Senate Judiciary Committee. **SNIP** One former federal prosecutor is recommending that the...

The hero UNC Charlotte student who died after jumping on a gunman when he opened fire in his classroom will be buried with full military honors. Riley Howell, 21, was one of two students who died in the shooting at the university's campus on Tuesday. Ellis Parlier, 19, also lost his life. When gunman Trystan Terrell burst into their anthropology class and opened fire, Howell ran towards him and tackled him to the ground. Officials in North Carolina say it bought police time to get to him and stop the shooting which saved countless lives. Wells Funeral Homes in Waynesville...

Fridays at the DC federal courthouse are typically days of high alert for the press corps trying to discern what special counsel Robert Mueller's next legal action will be. But this Friday, court officials went to extreme measures to ensure it was as difficult as possible to figure out what Mueller's team was doing as the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit held a secret and mysterious argument about a grand jury subpoena challenge. An entire floor of the courthouse was closed to the public and press for more than an hour. During that time, attorneys...

Julius Howell enlisted at 16 to fight for the Confederacy in 1862. In this 1947 recording in DC, Howell at age 101, recalls his Civil War exploits as a cavalryman at Petersburg and Richmond and his memory of the assassination of President Lincoln from a Union POW camp. The title of general is in ironic quotes because his was an honorary moniker bestowed on him years later by a Confederacy society.

BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) — Democratic U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont says he believes that if Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is seated, it would diminish the confidence Americans should have in the court. Leahy, a member of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, made the comments Monday in his Burlington office before flying back to Washington. He said questions that arose during the confirmation process about an alleged sexual assault in high school and bad behavior in college demonstrate what happens when "you try to rush through a judicial nominee." Leahy said he believes the allegations against Kavanaugh are "completely...

Okay, the media failed supremely in not realizing Americans could elect an empty-headed, knee-jerk liar as President. But, still, I say the greatest media shortcoming of the past half century was not recognizing that Fidel Castro was the most dedicated and powerful proponent of racial justice the world has ever known. Castro's commitment to black Americans was shown early on, notably in 1960, when he came to New York City fresh from his leftist revolution in Cuba, and sat with Malcolm X in Harlem, cameras clicking for all the world to see.

Zack Ford of the ThinkProgress blog really ought to invest in a dictionary. As the editor of the left-wing blog's LGBT section, he took the lead in blaming Christians, conservatives, and traditionalists for the deaths of 49 people in Orlando last week while simultaneously braying about conservatives "scapegoating" radical Islam. Note to Zack Ford: it's not scapegoating to blame radical Islam when a radical Islamist shoots up a nightclub. It is scapegoating to blame Christians when a radical Islamist shoots up a night club. Scapegoating, by definition, is blaming the innocent. His revolting article represents everything that's wrong with the...

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Police found a loaded assault rifle with magazines rigged to allow 60 shots to be fired in quick succession, along with 15 pounds of chemicals mixed and ready to explode in the car of an Indiana man who said he was headed to a gay pride event, authorities revealed Tuesday. James Wesley Howell, 20, of Charlestown, also had two other loaded rifles, ammunition, a stun gun, a buck knife and a security badge when he was arrested early Sunday in Santa Monica, they said. [snip] ... there was an assault rifle in his car's passenger seat...

On Sunday, James Wesley Howell was arrested in Santa Monica with a car full of weapons, ammunition, and chemicals that can be used to create improvised explosives. One day later, we know much more about the suspect but far less than we thought about his intentions. [snip] “He did indicate that he was planning on going to the Pride festival but beyond anything as far as motives or his intentions that statement was never made nor did any officer receive that statement,” Lt. Saul Rodriguez said. Comments one of Howell’s friends made to the Los Angeles Times cast further doubts...

Los Angeles, CA (June 5, 2004) – Screen Actors Guild (SAG) President Melissa Gilbert issued the following statement on the death of former President Ronald Reagan, who served as president of SAG from 1947 to 1952 and again from 1959 to 1960: "Ronald Reagan presided over Screen Actors Guild at one of the most challenging moments in our union's history, as the rise of television significantly impacted the compensation and working conditions for the nation's screen actors. Under his tenure, SAG grew significantly in size and influence as the Guild tackled issues ranging from runaway production, to fair compensation, to...

LANSING, MI — Actress Melissa Gilbert, best known for her childhood role as Laura Ingalls Wilder on "Little House in the Prairie," is running for the U.S. House out of Michigan. Gilbert, a Democrat who has lived in Livingston County since 2013, announced Monday that she is running for the 8th Congressional District seat currently held by Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Bishop of Rochester. "Here in Michigan, I know people are doing their best to make a good life for themselves and their families. When it comes down to it, I think that's what we all really want," Gilbert said...

From the “Little House” to the Congress? It could happen for Livingston County resident Melissa Gilbert. Gilbert, star of the hit 1970s television series, “Little House on the Prairie” on Monday announced she would run as a Democrat for the 8th District Congressional seat in next year’s election. The news thrilled area Democrats. “I think it’s very, very exciting news,” said county party chairwoman Judy Daubenmier, “We worked with her on the Schauer campaign (for governor) and, I can tell you, she’s a real trooper. She’ll be a very effective campaigner.”

Call it “Little House of Representatives.” Actress Melissa Gilbert, who rose to fame as a child playing Laura Ingalls Wilder on “Little House on the Prairie,” has announced she will challenge Michigan freshman Republican Rep. Mike Bishop. Gilbert moved to Michigan in 2014 with actor husband Timothy Busfield (“Revenge of the Nerds”). In June of 2015, it was revealed that IRS had filed a tax lien against Gilbert for $360,000 in unpaid taxes.

Call it “Little House of Representatives.” Actress Melissa Gilbert, who rose to fame as a child playing Laura Ingalls Wilder on “Little House on the Prairie,” has announced she will challenge Michigan freshman Republican Rep. Mike Bishop. Gilbert moved to Michigan in 2014 with actor husband Timothy Busfield (“Revenge of the Nerds”). In June of 2015, it was revealed that IRS had filed a tax lien against Gilbert for $360,000 in unpaid taxes. Asked about the tax lien, Gilbert, former president of the Screen Actors Guild, told the Detroit Free Press, “The truth is I got caught in a perfect...

A candidate for the Libertarian Party’s chairman position stripped off his clothes and strutted his stuff on stage at the party’s national convention Sunday, instead of simply making a speech. He did not win the position. The lumberjack-looking candidate tried a laissez-faire approach to campaigning at the Orlando event: He cued a dance song, clapped, and then slowly removed his tie, shirt and suspenders, all for the live C-Span cameras.

The Howell man whose impromptu strip tease last month at the Libertarian Party's national convention made headlines across the U.S. has been suspended from the party. James Weeks II announced Sunday evening that Libertarian Executive Committee officials approved his suspension earlier in the day because of his actions. Weeks, chairman of the party's Livingston County branch and an announced party candidate for county sheriff, said "the reasoning behind this suspension is their disapproval of my use of free expression in lieu of a speech during my run for Libertarian Party chair at the national convention." Weeks has maintained his dance...

James Wesley Howell, a 20-year-old Indiana man, was arrested in California on Sunday while headed toward the LA Pride festival, allegedly with an arsenal of weapons. Officers arrested Howell about 5 a.m. PT after getting a call about a prowler, Los Angeles Interim Undersheriff Neal Tyler said. Howell told police he was looking for a friend to attend the LA Pride festival in West Hollywood, Tyler said. Police found him sitting in a car registered in Indiana and a search turned up three assault rifles, high-capacity magazines, ammunition and a 5-gallon bucket with chemicals that could be used to create...