Free Republic

Allegations that members of a southern Utah polygamous sect are guilty of widespread welfare fraud were raised repeatedly this summer during a U.S. Senate judiciary committee hearing. They surfaced frequently, too, in messages sent to Texas Gov. Rick Perry after an April raid on the Eldorado ranch occupied by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. "Please pull the plug on the freebies for the cult. Why are the taxpayers of your state paying for this illegal group?" wrote a Michigan couple on April 17. But welfare data from Utah, Arizona and Texas do not support the...

LAKE WORTH – The case against a teenager accused of delivering drug-tainted cookies to police crumbled Thursday after scientific tests revealed no traces of narcotics. Christian Phillips, 18, became a cookie monster and the butt of jokes around the globe following his arrest Tuesday after he left a basket of treats at Lake Worth police headquarters. Authorities said then that "field tests" they conducted on the cookies showed traces of marijuana and LSD. But lab tests performed by the Tarrant County medical examiner's office were negative for drugs, and Mr. Phillips – who had been charged with tampering with a...

Boulder District Attorney Mary T. Lacy issues the following announcement with regard to the investigation of the murder of JonBenet Ramsey. On December 25-26, 1996, JonBenet Ramsey was murdered in the home where she lived with her mother, father and brother. Despite a long and intensive investigation, the death of JonBenet remains unsolved. The murder has received unprecedented publicity and has been shrouded in controversy. That publicity has led to many theories over the years in which suspicion has focused on one family member or another. However, there has been at least one persistent stumbling block to the possibility of...

McCain Gambles with Awkward Joke June 27, 2008 7:38 AM In an interview with the Las Vegas Sun, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., was asked by columnist Jon Ralston why he didn't choose Gov. Jim Gibbons to chair his Nevada campaign. "I appreciate his support," McCain said. "As you know, the lieutenant governor is our chairman." Why snub the governor? Ralston asked. "I didn’t mean to snub him,. I've known the lieutenant governor for 15 years and we've been good friends," McCain said. "I didn't intend to snub him. There are other states where the governor is not the chairman." Maybe...

The Justice Department on Friday agreed to pay more than $5.8 million to Steven Hatfill, the former government scientist once branded by the Justice Department a person of interest in the deadly anthrax attacks of 2001. The legal settlement to Hatfill, in cash and an annual payments, signals the end of a civil lawsuit Hatfill brought against the Justice Department and FBI, accusing them of violating his privacy rights by improperly leaking sensitive information about the anthrax investigation to reporters. "I think it's a gratifying end to a very sad chapter in [Hatfill's] life and that of the FBI and...

On Friday, the government filed this statement of the facts in its memorandum in support of its motion for summary judgment in a civil rights and Privacy Act lawsuit brought by Dr. Steve Hatfill. “The anthrax attacks occurred in October 2001. Public officials, prominent members of the media, and ordinary citizens were targeted by this first bio-terrorist attack on American soil. Twenty-two persons were infected with anthrax; five died. At least 17 public buildings were contaminated. The attacks wreaked havoc on the U.S. postal system and disrupted government and commerce, resulting in economic losses estimated to exceed one billion dollars....

A month after voters last year had given Democrats control that would elevate Nancy Pelosi to House speaker, she received a letter from a trial lawyer in Santa Ana, Calif., named Daniel J. Callahan. "We look forward," he wrote, "to the New Direction of America, and to your dedication to putting an end to the fleecing of the American taxpayers and death to its citizens in the name of war profiteers such as Blackwater." That plea was answered last week by House hearings. Callahan did not disguise his political orientation, requesting a full-scale investigation of an "extremely Republican" company: Blackwater...

DURHAM, N.C. (AP) - Former Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong, who pushed a faulty case against three Duke lacrosse players falsely accused of rape, took the stand Friday in his criminal contempt hearing. ***

Do not be fooled by Jenna Bush. She has wrapped herself in the golden glow of celebrity. But she is something else entirely. For almost seven years, the blond Bush twin has reveled in the trappings associated with Hollywood starlets -- from wearing made-to-order designer clothes to smiling brightly from the glossy pages of a Vogue photo spread. She has walked red carpets and swanned past velvet ropes. Like so many celebrities, she has taken on a cause -- education -- and is using her fame to stir interest and attract media attention to an upcoming book tour. She has...

Judge dismisses sexual harassment charges against 2 Ore. teens 08/20/2007 By WILLIAM McCALL / Associated Press Two 13-year-old boys accused of slapping girls' bottoms and poking or cupping girls' breasts at school apologized on Monday as a judge dismissed charges against the two, ending a six-month case that drew national attention. The charges triggered a debate over whether such behavior in school should be considered criminal. Four girls listed as victims by the prosecutors had asked the judge to drop the charges against Cory Mashburn and Ryan Cornelison. Yamhill County Judge John Collins did so on Monday, saying it was...

Marine Adviser Recuses Himself From Case By Associated Press 10:32 PM EDT, August 14, 2007 : CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. - A top legal adviser at Camp Pendleton who was accused of making "inappropriate and imprudent" comments recused himself from the case against a Marine charged with murdering Iraqi civilians in Haditha. Lt. Col. Bill Riggs is a senior legal adviser to the general overseeing the prosecution of five Marines charged in the slayings. Riggs recused himself from the case against Lance Cpl. Stephen Tatum, a military spokesman said Tuesday. His action came after he contacted Lt. Col. Paul Ware, the...

WASHINGTON - Five journalists must identify the government officials who leaked them details about a scientist under scrutiny in the 2001 anthrax attacks, a federal judge said Monday. U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton ordered the reporters to cooperate with Steven J. Hatfill, who accused the Justice Department and FBI of violating the federal Privacy Act by giving the media information about the FBI's investigation of him. The reporters named in the opinion are Michael Isikoff and Daniel Klaidman of Newsweek, Allan Lengel of The Washington Post, Toni Locy, formerly of USA Today, and James Stewart, formerly of CBS News....

MINNEAPOLIS — The six Muslim leaders who were removed from a US Airways flight last fall after passengers thought they were acting suspiciously will not include those passengers in their lawsuit against the airline and police, an attorney for the imams said Wednesday. A motion to amend the complaint to include the names of airline employees and police officers was entered Tuesday in U.S. District Court, attorney Frederick Goetz said. "We've identified the people we think are responsible," he said. No passengers were named. The imams, who were handcuffed and questioned, say the airline discriminated against them and violated their...

From AJR, June/July 2007 issue Justice Delayed August/September Preview » Many in the media jettisoned caution--and the presumption of innocence--in their coverage of an alleged rape by Duke lacrosse players, and were too slow to correct the record as the case unraveled. But some journalists distinguished themselves with skeptical and incisive reporting. Related reading: Naming Names By Rachel Smolkin Rachel Smolkin (rsmolkin@ajr.umd.edu) is AJR's managing editor. As Reade Seligmann choked back tears on the witness stand, the 21-year-old Duke University lacrosse player dubbed "Flustered" by teammates was poised, compelling and clearly hurting. He told of a world turned "upside down"...

`Suspicion' about Libby's commutation By JOHN HEILPRIN, Associated Press Writer 25 minutes ago The Democrat probing President Bush's decision to erase the prison sentence of a former White House aide said Sunday there is "the suspicion" the aide might have fingered others in the Bush administration if he served time. The House Judiciary Committee chairman spoke of "the general impression" that Bush last week commuted I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby's 2 1/2 year sentence in the CIA leak case to keep Libby quiet. Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., has scheduled a committee hearing Wednesday on the matter. Bush contended Libby's sentence was...

WASHINGTON, (AP) -- For years he was known as chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney and assistant to President Bush. On Wednesday, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby became federal inmate No. 28301-016. Libby, who was convicted in March of lying and obstructing an investigation into the leak of a CIA operative's identity, faces 2 1/2 years in prison.

DURHAM, N.C. — Disgraced prosecutor Mike Nifong didn't show up Thursday at a hearing to consider his immediate removal as Durham County district attorney, a position from which is has been suspended and already pledged to resign. But Nifong, who was disbarred for his handling of the discredited Duke lacrosse rape case, told the attorney hired to prosecute his removal that he planned to resubmit his resignation Monday, making it effective immediately. During a brief hearing, at which no one sat at the defendant's table, Superior Court Judge Orlando Hudson said he would reconvene Monday to either accept Nifong's new...

The rape of a name can be as vicious a crime and as destructive an act as the rape of a body. Sometimes the rape of a body is worse, sometimes the rape of a name is worse. But they are both rapes. And morally likening the two is in no way meant to lessen the horror of rape; it is meant only to heighten awareness of the horror of intentionally destroying the name of an innocent person. These words are written in the aftermath of the destruction of three young men's names by a lying woman whose name is...

“Obama Just Got Less ‘Brown’ Friendly,� reads the Indian American blog Sepia Mutiny. The US-India Political Action Community, having elicited one tepid pseudo-apology from the Barack Obama campaign, then demanded an acceptably contrite expression of contrition. Barack Obama’s macaca moment is hardly the campaign killer that George Allen’s proved to be, but the spectacle of a Kenyan Kansan would-be president deflecting criticism from pro-trade Indian Americans is at least more interesting. Last week, Obama’s campaign sent out a not-for-attribution memo to media professionals, slamming Hillary Clinton for courting Indians and the Indian American Community. The dossier, delicately titled “Hillary Clinton...

Apparently, gay rights activists aren’t serious about their demand that government “stay out of the bedroom.” Instead of advocating privacy for homosexuals, at least one gay man is making a career out of destroying it. Yahoo! News began an article about Mike Rogers, owner of BlogActive.com, with the words “Members of the 110th Congress, consider yourselves warned: Mike Rogers is making his list.” Called “the most dangerous man in Washington,” Rogers uses his blog to “out” gay conservatives who don’t want to be outed. His victims include Dan Gurley, the former field director for the Republican National Committee, Senators Larry...

ARLINGTON, Virginia — The Transportation Security Administration is denying allegations that an airport screener seized a toddler's cup and mistreated his mother, taking the unusual step of posting security camera footage on its Web site. At issue is whether Monica Emmerson, a former Secret Service officer, was improperly detained June 11 after she spilled water out of her child's cup at Washington's Reagan National Airport. TSA has banned most fluids at airport security checkpoints because of concern about possible liquid explosives. A TSA report said Emmerson told an officer she was a Secret Service agent, flashed her credentials and said...

<p>Nifong Accepts Disbarment David Freedman, Mike Nifong's attorney, has just announced that Nifong has accepted that disbarment is an "appropriate" penalty, and has accepted both disbarment and waived the right to appeal.</p>

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) issued a subpoena Wednesday for all e-mails from White House adviser Karl Rove that relate to the firings of eight U.S. attorneys. “Attached please find a subpoena compelling the Department by May 15 to produce any and all emails and attachments to emails to, from, or copied to Karl Rove related to the Committee’s investigation into the preservation of prosecutorial independence and the Department of Justice’s politicization of the hiring and firing and decision-making of United States Attorneys, from any (1) White House account, (2) Republican National Committee account, or (3) other account,...

The murder trial of famed record producer Phil Spector is set to open this Wednesday in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom. The legendary rock and roll music producer is charged with killing actress Lana Clarkston at his Alhambra mansion February 3rd 2003. The presiding Judge, Larry Paul Fidler, has agreed that cameras will be allowed in the courtroom and the trial will be televised. Judge Fidler said that he believed it was time to be able move on from the OJ Simpson murder trial. "We have to get by that case," he said. "There's going to come a timethat it...

Members of the men's Duke lacrosse team: I am sorry. Surely by now you know I am sorry. I am writing these words now, and in this form, as a bookend to 13 months of Duke lacrosse coverage, my role in which started with a March 27 column that began: "Members of the men's Duke lacrosse team: You know. We know you know." That was when Durham police and District Attorney Mike Nifong were describing a "wall of silence" among the men who attended the now-vaunted lacrosse party at 610 Buchanan Blvd. Nifong, now described by the state attorney general...

WASHINGTON (AP) - A House panel on Wednesday approved subpoenas for President Bush's political adviser, Karl Rove and other top White House aides, setting up a constitutional showdown over the firings of eight federal prosecutors. By voice vote and without dissent, the House Judiciary subcommittee on commercial and administrative law decided to compel the president's top aides to testify publicly and under oath about their roles in the firings. The White House has refused to budge in the controversy, standing by embattled Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and insisting that the firings were appropriate. White House spokesman Tony Snow said that...

Audio recordings of former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby's secret grand jury testimony will be released publicly after they are presented at his trial, the judge at Libby's trial ruled Monday. In a victory for the news media, U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton said he had little choice but to make them public under the law as applied in the federal court system in Washington, D.C, even though he has concerns about releasing the recordings while the case is under way. Libby is charged with perjury, obstruction and lying to the FBI in an indictment that focuses in...

Information compiled from the Washington Post, “Congressional Sex Scandals in History,” and other sources. 10. Sen. Daniel Inouye. The 82-year-old Hawaii Democrat was accused in the 1990s by numerous women of sexual harassment. Democrats cast doubt on the allegations and the Senate Ethics Committee dropped its investigation. 9. Former Rep. Gus Savage. The Illinois Democrat was accused of fondling a Peace Corps volunteer in 1989 while on a trip to Africa. The House Ethics Committee decided against disciplinary action in 1990. 8. Rep. Barney Frank. The outspoken Massachusetts Democrat hired a male prostitute who ran a prostitution service from Frank’s...

Update: More on Mike Rogers. He edits this site, which used to be affiliated with Raw Story. Interestingly enough, one month before that small site that broke the news showed up, Rogers closed down his old blogger site “Blogactive” and started a new one under a new URL. More on this later if I find something of interest. Update: Well, folks should have known I would turn an eye on the blog site that was used to “expose’ Folely’s problems. One thing to note is it would not be impossible for the Dems to know of Folely’s issues. So let’s...

(AP) ATLANTA Richard Jewell's fortunes changed in a split second. The security guard was initially hailed as a hero for spotting a suspicious backpack in a park and moving people out of harm's way just before a bomb exploded during a concert at the 1996 Summer Olympics. Then the media called him a suspect and he became a public spectacle. As the 10th anniversary nears of the July 27 blast that killed one and injured 111 others, the episode is still fresh in Jewell's mind. "The heroes are soon forgotten. The villains last a lifetime," Jewell told The Associated...

BOSTON -- The judge suing the Boston Herald for libel said Tuesday that he got piles of hate mail, including death threats that prompted him to buy a gun, after the paper ran articles depicting him as lenient with criminals. Judge Ernest Murphy sued the Herald and four of its reporters after the newspaper published a series of critical stories, including one in which Murphy is quoted as saying, "Tell her to get over it," in reference to a 14-year-old rape victim. Murphy, 61, insists he never made the comment. The newspaper has stood by its reporting. Testifying for a...

Parents of Slain Child Beauty Queen JonBenet Ramsey Sue Fox News Network The Associated Press Published: Dec 24, 2003 DENVER (AP) - The parents of slain 6-year-old JonBenet Ramsey filed a $12 million federal defamation lawsuit against Fox News Network over a story they say cast suspicion on them. In the lawsuit filed Tuesday in Atlanta, John and Patsy Ramsey took issue with a report that aired last year for the six-year anniversary of JonBenet's death. In it, a Denver-based employee stated there has "never been any evidence to link an intruder to her brutal murder." John and Patsy Ramsey...

One does not have to listen too carefully to surmise where Geraldo Rivera, the Fox News Channel correspondent and anchor, stands on Scott Peterson's alleged role in the killing of his wife, Laci. "Fertilizer salesman Scott Peterson's alibi stunk as badly as the stuff he sells," Mr. Rivera told his viewers one recent night, also referring to Mr. Peterson as "the rat now caught in the trap." Nancy Grace, a Court TV anchor and a regular guest on CNN, does not seem to have much doubt about Mr. Peterson's culpability, either. Asked on "Larry King Live" this week whether Mr....