Free Republic

The Supreme Court of the United States announced Friday that it would take up its first abortion case since Justice Brett Kavanaugh was added to the bench. According to a court order, the Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case of June Medical Services v. Gee, which comes out of Louisiana and deals with a state requirement that abortion providers have admitting privileges to a hospital within 30 miles. Proponents of the admitting privileges requirement say that the measure is a safety precaution for women undergoing the procedures. “Abortion activists are more than willing to lower the bar on...

Republican congressional leaders accused Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Democrats of rigging the impeachment scheme after news broke that Schiff was in contact with the whistleblower before the complaint against President Donald Trump was filed. The report from the New York Times claimed that Schiff received an “early account by the future whistleblower” days before the person filed the complaint accusing Trump of presidential misconduct. The report seemed to be confirmed by a Schiff spokesman, who said: “Like other whistle-blowers have done before and since under Republican and Democratic-controlled committees, the whistle-blower contacted the committee for guidance on how to...

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards’ decision to hire a chief deputy previously accused of sexual harassment is the target of a new Republican-financed attack ad that aims to dent the Democratic incumbent’s support from women. The 30-second spot released Thursday by the Republican Governors Association’s PAC comes as national GOP leaders step up efforts to keep the Deep South’s only Democratic governor from outright victory in the Oct. 12 election. Vice President Mike Pence plans to travel to Louisiana on Saturday to rally support for defeating Edwards. Read more here: https://www.bnd.com/news/business/article235745342.html#storylink=cpy

OAKDALE, La. (KPLC) - Some Oakdale Middle School parents are outraged after their kids were asked to take a survey at the school-based health center. Some questions, parents say, cross the line. “Have you ever had any type of sex — vaginal, anal or oral sex? Have you ever been attracted to the same sex? Girl to girl or guy to guy? Or do you feel that you are gay, lesbian or bisexual?" Christin Willis, a concerned Oakdale Middle School parent, read from the survey. These are the questions some parents are saying are too mature for middle school students...

GOP senators attack whistleblower's credibility GOP senators attack whistleblower's credibility BY ALEXANDER BOLTON - 09/30/19 06:00 AM EDT 13,753 Republican senators scrambling to protect President Trump from a formal impeachment inquiry are attacking the credibility of the whistleblower who filed a complaint. GOP lawmakers are asserting the whistleblower did not have firsthand knowledge of the actions detailed in the complaint and question whether the person had a political agenda. “It doesn’t come from a person with personal knowledge. It’s like I heard these people say this, and now I’m reporting it. I think that is pretty bizarre,” said Sen. John...

Video at link. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) hammered Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) after she announced House Democrats would launch an official impeachment inquiry into President Trump, suggesting she is seeking to reverse the results of the 2016 election. “Speaker Pelosi happens to be the Speaker of this House, but she does not speak for America when it comes to this issue. She cannot decide unilaterally what happens here,” he told reporters. “The election is over. I realize 2016 did not turn out the way Speaker Pelosi wanted it to happen, but she cannot change the laws of this...

Congress is moving toward passing a short-term spending bill to avoid a government shutdown, but some lawmakers are warning it could be the first in a series of stopgap funding measures over the next year to avoid a fight over President Trump’s border wall. Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), the top appropriator in the Senate, said it’s possible Congress will spend the next fiscal year passing several stopgap bills, known as continuing resolutions (CRs). "I don't know if we'll end up in a shutdown, but we could end up with continuous CRs," he said. "That could be the endgame." Lawmakers are...

Well, it’s really not just some of our Senators. It’s more than half of them. Some fine investigative work by Sludge in partnership with the Guardian has produced a deep dive into the investment portfolios of United States Senators and their spouses, finding troubling alignments between the companies they are profiting from and the ones they are charged with overseeing. Does that sound like it should be illegal to you? Would you be terribly shocked if I told you it wasn’t? (insider.com) Fifty-one US senators and their spouses have up to $96 million invested in corporate stocks, raising conflict...

A 30-year-old Baton Rouge man was accused by a grand jury Wednesday of raping a 4-year-old girl and molesting a 6-year-old girl. An East Baton Rouge Parish grand jury indicted Joel Rodriguez, of 3579 Victoria Drive, on first-degree rape and molestation of a juvenile under the age of 13. The rape occurred on May 26, and the molestation took place between Aug. 1, 2018, and May 30, the indictment states. A first-degree rape conviction would carry a mandatory sentence of life in prison. The case has been assigned to state District Judge Bonnie Jackson.

State attorneys general will launch one of the largest bipartisan, multi-state antitrust investigations into Facebook and Google on Monday. State attorneys general spanning across dozens of states will announce an antitrust investigation into Google and Facebook, and other technology companies at the Supreme Court at 2:00 p.m. ET Monday. The investigation will investigate whether America’s largest technology companies have stifled competition, restricted access, and harmed consumers. A Wall Street Journal report suggested that New York Attorney General Letitia James will lead the investigation into Facebook, while Texas Attorney General Attorneys Ken Paxton will lead the investigation into Google. James said...

State Sen. Wesley Bishop, a Democrat from New Orleans who recently announced he would not seek re-election after eight years in the Legislature, is under federal investigation for possible payroll abuse, records show. Bishop serves as associate vice chancellor for academic affairs at Southern University at New Orleans. In a series of stories last year, WVUE-TV Fox 8 reported that Bishop had been paid for 122 days of sick leave at SUNO while attending hearings in Baton Rouge in his capacity as a lawmaker. The station raised questions about whether the roughly $50,000 in sick leave payments were legal or...

At least 10 Republican members of Congress are supporting Israel's decision to block Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) and Ilhan Omar (D-MN) from entering the country after Trump specifically requested it. On Thursday, Trump tweeted that it would be a sign of "great weakness" if Israel allowed the two congresswomen, who have been outspoken critics of Trump, to enter the country. Later that day, Israel officially blocked their entrance. "Israel’s denial of entry to Congresswomen Tlaib and Omar is a sign of weakness, and beneath the dignity of the great State of Israel," Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement. Most...

Police Responding to Reports of Shooting at Walmart in Baton Rouge, Louisiana - TV US 20:50 06.08.2019(updated 20:55 06.08.2019) Get short URL 0 13 Reports have emerged saying that there is an active shooter situation at a Walmart store in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Possibly the shooting suspect at Baton Rouge Walmart. Driving past Walmart on Burbank where police had a man on ground. Have no clue if person is suspect, but guns were drawn. Will update if possible

Republicans have reasons for optimism heading into this fall’s elections for governor. All three of this year's races -- in Kentucky, Louisiana and Mississippi -- are being held in the South, a region where the party is already dominant. There’s at least one other factor playing in the GOP’s favor: party registration. Democrats may still have the lead in total voter registration in Kentucky and Louisiana, but Republicans are clearly gaining strength. (Mississippi doesn’t register voters by party.) Republicans are also gaining relative strength in some of the states expected to be competitive in the 2020 presidential election. Republicans have...

You’re not in Louisiana anymore. A new deputy police commissioner in Baltimore got a firsthand lesson in the city’s crime problems — getting robbed at gunpoint while out with his wife, according to reports. Deputy Commissioner Daniel Murphy had only started with the force in April after being brought in from New Orleans to help lead sweeping reforms, according to the Baltimore Sun. He was robbed at 9 p.m. Friday by four men in a white SUV near Patterson Park, according to the Sun. Two of the men, said to be about 18, jumped out and approached Murphy and his...

Two members of a police department in a New Orleans suburb were fired Monday — one for a Facebook post calling U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez a “vile idiot” and suggesting that she be shot, the other for “liking” the post. Gretna Police Chief Arthur Lawson announced the terminations Monday. Officer Charlie Rispoli was fired for a post saying Ocasio-Cortez “needs a round” and not “the kind she used to serve” — an apparent reference to her having once been a bartender. Officer Angelo Varisco was fired for “liking” the post. “It’s very disappointing,” Lawson said, adding that the Gretna department...

Republican Sens. Bill Cassidy and Ted Cruz filed a resolution on Thursday to categorize antifa, a militant left-wing group known to assault political opponents and journalists, as a domestic terrorist organization. "Antifa is a terrorist organization composed of hateful, intolerant radicals who pursue their extreme agenda through aggressive violence. Time and time again their actions have demonstrated that their central purpose is to inflict harm on those who oppose their views," Cruz tweeted. "Like any terrorist organization they choose to pursue their political ends through violence, fear & intimidation. They must be stopped. I’m proud to introduce this resolution w...

Abysmal failure': Republican takes down ObamaCare during House hearingRep. Clay Higgins speaks out on 'Fox & Friends' after delivering a personal story about how the Affordable Care Act was completely unaffordable for his family. On July 9, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit hinted that it might strike down ObamaCare. If it does, then the U.S. Supreme Court will likely have the last word on the law's fate. And it's unclear whether ObamaCare could survive another date with the high court. If the courts axe ObamaCare, President Trump has promised to replace it with something "far...

On Tuesday, the Louisiana Republican appeared on Fox News’ Tucker Carlson Tonight to talk about the war between President Trump and what is now being called “The Squad” — Democratic Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts. “I’m not sure the president should exchange playground insults with them. When you try to argue with a fool, that proves there are two. But the president decided to do so,” Kennedy said. “The simple fact of the matter is that the four congresswomen think that America was wicked in its...