Free Republic

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky will appeal directly to U.S. senators on Tuesday as he seeks assurances on approval for delivery of the next tranche of aid and lethal military equipment to his embattled country. The personal entreaty will take place via secure video as part of a closed, classified briefing on the war in Europe, UPI reports. Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer announced he extended the Biden administration’s invitation to Zelensky on Monday.

One-time White House strategist Steve Bannon moved to plead not guilty Wednesday to criminal contempt of Congress charges after he failed to comply with a subpoena from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. Bannon was indicted by a federal grand jury Friday, facing two counts: one for failing to appear for an Oct. 14 deposition before the panel and another for refusal to provide documents. The filing anticipates a slated Thursday arraignment for Bannon in which he was expected to plead not guilty. His lawyers filed a motion on Wednesday to enter the not guilty...

Hillary tapes reveal she voluntarily defended a child rapist that she knew was guilty. In this 1980's taped interview, Hillary Clinton laughed about getting the convicted rapist of a 12 year old child off on a technicality. Hillary got him off with time served in county jail, about 2 months. She says she used a legal technicality to plead her client, who faced 30 years to life in prison, down to a lesser charge."

Satan is the accuser of the bretheren (Revelations 12:10). And Jesus is our advocate with the father(1John 2:1). He defends us against satan's accusations. But we have to give Jesus a good case to plead. Jesus said by your words you will be justified or condemned (Matthew 12:37). So by your words either satan will win his case or Jesus will win his case. The Bible says give no place to the devil (Ephesians 4:27). And you can give the devil place by the words of your mouth. That's why Jesus said whatever you bind on earth will be bound...

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), Chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, goes on Fox News to discuss next week's hearing on Operation Fast and Furious. Patrick Cunningham, Chief of the Criminal Division in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Arizona, will plead the fifth amendment during next week's committee hearing.

WASHINGTON (KGO) -- Two top executives at bankrupt Solyndra have invoked their Fifth Amendment rights and refused to answer questions at a House hearing Friday. The Solyndra executives have sent letters to the House Energy and Commerce committee, saying they will invoke their Fifth Amendment right to remain silent.

The chief executive and chief financial officer of Solyndra will invoke their Fifth Amendment rights and decline to answer any questions at a congressional hearing on Friday. According to letters obtained by Reuters, Solyndra attorneys have advised CEO Brian Harrison and CFO W. G. Stover to not testify at a hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. (RELATED: Rahm Emanuel on Solyndra: I don’t remember) “I have advised Mr. Harrison that he should decline to answer questions put to him by this subcommittee based on his rights under the Fifth Amendment,” Harrison’s attorney, Walter F. Brown Jr., wrote to...

With unemployment still hovering close to double digits, frustration and dissatisfaction have been running high in the lead-up to the election. That's not been lost on Democratic candidates and surrogates, who, of late, have spent time on the campaign trail putting the electorate on the proverbial couch. "People are angry," former President Bill Clinton said yesterday at a campaign event for Washington state incumbent Sen. Patty Murray. "But when you make a decision when you're mad about anything, not just politics -- there's an 80 percent chance you make a mistake."

DETROIT - Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and his former top aide have pleaded not guilty to charges they lied under oath about having an affair. The mayor and former Chief of Staff Christine Beatty were arraigned Tuesday. Not guilty pleas were entered for them on charges of perjury, conspiracy, obstruction of justice and misconduct in office. Both are accused of lying under oath about an affair and their roles in the firing of a top police official. Steamy text messages first reported by the Detroit Free Press revealed a flirty, sometimes explicit, dialogue between the two. Attorneys for both say...

ALBANY, N.Y. - Five former managers from a major crate and pallet manufacturer that employed illegal immigrants pleaded guilty Tuesday, 10 months after federal agents staged sweeping raids at company sites in 26 states. James Rice, 37, of Houston, an executive regional general manager of IFCO Systems, pleaded guilty to conspiring to employ illegal workers. Robert Belvin, 43, of Stuart, Fla., a former general manager of the Albany IFCO plant, pleaded guilty to two felony conspiracy charges. The two executives could face up to two years in prison and a $250,000 fine, Assistant U.S. Attorney Tina Sciocchetti said. Netherlands-based IFCO...

WASHINGTON - Chief executives of 10 major corporations urged Congress on Monday to require limits on greenhouse gases this year, contending voluntary efforts to combat climate change are inadequate. The call for immediate action came on the eve of President Bush's State of the Union address in which he is expected to reiterate that the industry on its own is making progress in curtailing the growth of heat-trapping emissions without the need of government intervention. But the executives and leaders of four major environmental organizations said in a letter to Bush that mandatory emissions caps are needed to reduce the...

LONDON - London's Metropolitan Police pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges stemming from the death of a Brazilian man who was shot last year after officers mistook him for a suicide bomber. Jean Charles de Menezes, 27, was shot seven times in the head by Scotland Yard anti-terror officers as he sat aboard a train at a subway station in south London on July 22, 2005. Two weeks earlier, four suicide bombers had attacked London's transit system, killing 52 people. The day before de Menezes was shot, four other men attempted similar attacks that were thwarted. No individual officer was...

Two former Border Patrol agents pleaded guilty Friday to accepting nearly $200,000 in bribes for releasing immigrant smugglers and illegal immigrants from federal custody. Mario Alvarez and Samuel McClaren each face up to 18 years in prison when they are sentenced Sept. 29, said U.S. District Judge John Houston. Each pleaded guilty to one count of bribery and one count of filing a false tax return. Alvarez, 45, admitted taking $100,300 from a smuggling organization from June 2003 to March 2006 and underreporting his taxable income as $75,044 in 2004. McClaren, 44, admitted taking $85,940 from the same smuggling organization...

Four Mexicans accused of sneaking across the border pleaded guilty Tuesday under a new state law targeting immigrant smugglers. They were among the first 48 alleged customers of smugglers to be charged as conspirators to the crime. The four, who pleaded guilty to solicitation to commit immigrant smuggling, were sentenced to two years supervised probation and expected to face deportation proceedings. Critics say the law was intended to be used against smugglers, not their customers. Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas has said the customers of smugglers need to be held accountable. In all, 19 of the 48 have pleaded guilty...

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - Three teenagers accused in a series of attacks that killed one homeless man and seriously injured two others pleaded not guilty Wednesday. Brian Hooks and William Ammons, both 18, and 17-year-old Thomas Daugherty were indicted earlier this month on murder charges in the killing of 45-year-old Norris Gaynor and attempted murder in the beatings of Raymond Perez and Jacques Pierre on Jan. 12. Daugherty is being tried as an adult in the case, which gained international attention after one of the attacks was captured on a security video. The video led police to the three teens....

SAN DIEGO – Three former pension trustees, an ex-pension administrator and the system's attorney pleaded innocent Wednesday to federal charges that they concealed details on the pension fund from other trustees. Indictments were returned Jan. 6 against Ronald Saathoff, president of the San Diego City Firefighters union; Cathy Lexin, the city's former director of human resources; Terri Webster, the city's former acting auditor; former pension administrator Lawrence Grissom; and current pension general counsel Loraine Chapin. Each faces one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, four counts of wire fraud and 15 counts of mail fraud. Some of...

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Two men pleaded not guilty Monday to federal charges of conspiring to smuggle shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles into the United States for use abroad. Chao Tung Wu, 51, and Yi Qing Chen, 41, are both naturalized citizens born in China, according to authorities. The men are accused of agreeing to arrange shipment of the missiles from a country not named in the indictment. Authorities have said the alleged conspiracy did not involve domestic terrorism, and the men were told by an undercover agent the missiles would be sent abroad. Chen's lawyer Terrence Roden said outside court the...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - Three people pleaded guilty Friday in firebombing incidents linked to a shadowy group the FBI calls an eco-terrorist organization. Ryan Daniel Lewis, 22, pleaded guilty to attempted arson and arson. Sisters Eva Rose Holland, 26, and Lili Marie Holland, 21, each pleaded guilty to attempted arson. All are from Newcastle, a Sierra foothills community east of Sacramento. The three were charged with attempting to burn down two unoccupied homes last December in an upscale development in suburban Sacramento. Lewis also admitted to two attacks on buildings under construction in the Sierra foothills. He set fire to...

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) - Two former officials of a pro-Israel lobbying group pleaded innocent Tuesday to charges they conspired to obtain and disclose classified U.S. defense information related to the Middle East. Steven J. Rosen, 63, and Keith Weissman, 53, were foreign policy experts at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a prominent lobbying organization on Capitol Hill. Federal prosecutors allege that the two men obtained classified government reports for five years, beginning in 1999, on various issues relevant to American policy, including al-Qaida, terrorist activities in Central Asia, the bombing of the Khobar Towers dormitory in Saudi Arabia and...

SAN DIEGO (AP) - Six current and former trustees of the board that oversees San Diego's beleaguered pension fund pleaded not guilty Monday to felony conflict of interest charges. The case against Ron Saathoff, John Torres, Sharon Wilkinson, Mary Vattimo, Terri Webster and Cathy Lexin contain the first criminal charges in the pension-fund scandal that prompted the resignation of Mayor Dick Murphy. The San Diego County District Attorney's office filed the charges last month. "Our clients have been singled out inappropriately in a very highly charged political climate in this city," Frank Vecchione, Webster's attorney, told reporters outside the courthouse....