Free Republic

**SNIP** In a hearing in a Washington, D.C. courtroom on Monday, Eric Dubelier of the American law firm Reed Smith argued that the case against the Russian consulting company known as Concord, which allegedly operated a “troll factory” in which the Russians created or stole the identities of hundreds of Americans online in order to sow discord and spread propaganda, should be dismissed. If people lying about who they are on the Internet and engaging in political speech is a crime, he argued, then every politician in America would be in prison. “This argument is beyond belief,” Dubelier said. “They...

Carolyn Short, one of the chief litigators in Reed Smith's Philadelphia office for more than a decade, has left the firm to become general counsel for the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, which is now chaired by Arlen Specter, R-Pa. Short resigned last Tuesday from Reed Smith, her professional home for the past 16 years, and was sworn in Thursday. Short said she only views it as a temporary position, being that she and her husband, former U.S. Constitutional Center executive director and Democratic congressional candidate Joseph Torsella, live with their four children in Flourtown. She said her chief motivation for...