Free Republic

Porn star Stormy Daniels is on the stand at former President Donald Trump’s “hush money” trial in New York today — a pivotal moment in the case. Daniels is describing their alleged sexual encounter, at times in so much detail that Judge Juan Merchan scolded the prosecution, saying the nitty gritty was “unnecessary.” *** “In fairness to the people, I think the witness was a little bit difficult to control the witness," Justice Merchan said*** Trump attorney Todd Blanche moved Tuesday for a mistrial, citing what he called Stormy Daniels' "prejudicial" and salacious testimony about an alleged sexual encounter with...

Fani Willis, the Fulton County, Georgia, district attorney prosecuting former President Donald Trump and 18 of his allies over 2020 election interference, admitted to having a relationship with the man she appointed to special prosecutor in the case. In a new court filing on Friday, attorneys for Willis hit back at demands to disqualify her over allegations that she had an "improper" romantic relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade. The highly-anticipated court filing was in response to a January 8 motion that was filed by a lawyer for one of the co-defendants in the racketeering case, former Trump campaign staffer...

As Russia's war against Ukraine is set to soon enter its third year, Ukraine is getting desperate for more troops, so much so that military recruiters have confiscated people's passports and even tried to enlist a mentally disabled man, per a new report on recruiting efforts citing lawyers, activists, and other concerned civilians. "There's lawlessness here," a 58-year-old Ukrainian taxi driver told The New York Times in a report published on Friday that details the forceful tactics Ukraine military recruiters have been reportedly taking to boost the Eastern European country's manpower in the bloody fight against Russia. The taxi driver...

Russian President Vladimir Putin's unprovoked war with Ukraine could come to a conclusion this year, according to a former US Army general who warned that the Kremlin would likely turn to the dire option of nuclear weapons if Moscow faces defeat in the conflict.Retired US Army Brig. Gen. Kevin Ryan told Insider on Tuesday that he believes that Russia "would use a nuclear weapon before it allowed its military to be defeated in the field."Putin has repeatedly threatened the use of nuclear weapons since he ordered the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, but Ryan said that the Kremlin may...

Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski said on Tuesday that her "confidence" in the Supreme Court has been rocked after a leaked draft opinion suggests that the constitutional right to abortion would be overturned by conservative justices on the court — two of whom she voted to approve. Murkowski, who is among the few Senate Republicans who support abortion rights, made the comments to reporters on Capitol Hill in the wake of the bombshell news of the draft opinion that shows the court is ready to overturn the landmark 1973 Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade. The decision — if finalized...

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Monday that Russia's unprovoked war with Ukraine is "meant to put an end" to US-led global domination and the expansion of NATO, according to a report. "Our special military operation is meant to put an end to the unabashed expansion [of NATO] and the unabashed drive towards full domination by the US and its Western subjects on the world stage," Lavrov told the state-owned television news channel Rossiya 24, according to a translation from Russian state-run media outlet RT.

Inmates of New York City's Rikers Island jail complex are reportedly running amok.Detainees at the understaffed jail have taken control of entire units, The New York Times reported.Inmates of New York City's long-beleaguered Rikers Island jail complex are running amok at the notorious lockup - and some have taken control over entire facility units, The New York Times reported on Monday."Rikers has long been dysfunctional, decrepit and dangerous," Zachary Katznelson told the news outlet. He's the executive director of a research and advocacy organization called Independent Commission on New York City Criminal Justice and Incarceration Reform.But Katznelson added, "What we...

Mayor Bill de Blasio said Thursday that he’s “concerned” about the revelations that the city’s health commissioner ignored an NYPD request for 500,000 surgical masks amid the coronavirus crisis, telling a police official that she didn’t give “two rats’ asses about your cops” – and added it would be “inappropriate” to say. “I need to understand what happened here. I am concerned about it,” de Blasio said during his daily press briefing when he was asked about the callous comments made by Dr. Oxiris Barbot.

The best thing Bill de Blasio has ever done in his life was when he dropped out of the 2020 presidential race.* He stayed in just long enough to inspire the best political heckle of our time -- "Come clean my roof, you monster" -- and then he went crawling back to New York. But America's gain was NYC's loss. Now they have to put up with him full-time. They hate his guts, and they never miss an opportunity to let him know. Rich Calder, Elizabeth Rosner and Natalie Musumeci, NY Post: Mayor Bill de Blasio was booed and jeered...

A man whose mother is a 9/11 victim ripped Rep. Ilhan Omar for describing the terror attacks as “some people did something” during the annual anniversary ceremony at Ground Zero on Wednesday. Nicholas Haros Jr., wearing a black T-shirt with the words “Some people did something?,” singled out the congresswoman and the other members of “the Squad” after reading the names of the dead, including his mother’s, Frances Haros, at the ceremony. “’Some people did something,’ said a freshman congresswoman from Minnesota,” said Haros in reference to Omar. Amid some applause, Haros continued, “Today I am here to respond to...

A group of anti-cop dissenters burned an American flag outside a Staten Island police station house in protest of the NYPD’s investigation into the death of a black teenage boy who police said suffered a fatal asthma attack after a gang-related street fight last month, video shows. In a video posted to YouTube, demonstrators can be seen gathered outside of the 121st Precinct station house for the staged flag burning on Saturday. “We light fire for the ancestors who have gone before us who were lynched,” a woman can be hearing saying in the video as another person attempts to...