Free Republic

Bernie Madoff, the notorious Ponzi schemer, says that he is dying from terminal kidney disease, and on Wednesday asked a judge to grant him an early release from prison on compassionate grounds so that he can live out his remaining days with a friend. A lawyer for Madoff, in a legal filing, says the fraudster has “less than 18 months to live,” and is suffering from “numerous other serious medical conditions” including cardiovascular disease and hypertension. On Thursday, a lawyer for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, which prosecuted Madoff, filed a court document asking...

Michael Avenatti, a lawyer who gained fame by representing a porn star in lawsuits against President Donald Trump, was convicted Friday of trying to extort sportswear giant Nike. The verdict was returned Friday by a Manhattan federal jury after it deliberated charges of attempted extortion and honest services fraud in what prosecutors say was an attempt by Avenatti to extort up to $25 million from Nike with threats to otherwise harm it. The charges carry a combined potential penalty of 42 years in prison.

SANTA FE – New Mexico lawmakers pushed weeks of tearful debate to a close late Thursday with passage of a red flag gun law – the final approval necessary to send the bill to Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham. The state House passed the proposal 39-31 after about three hours of debate, putting New Mexico on track to become the 18th state in the nation with such a law. The legislation, Senate Bill 5, would allow for the court-ordered seizure of guns from individuals deemed an imminent danger to themselves or others. It would establish an Extreme Risk Firearm Protection Order...

This is the instant an unexpected meteorite smashed into a city in India, vaporising on impact and leaving a 20ft crater. Luckily, the space rock did not hit any residential areas and instead impacted in a factory compound in an industrial part of the city, "I was urinating... I saw a bright light I was scared I ran away midway," confessed one witness. “My city is in now plot for sci-fi movie,” joked another viewer on social media.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy said on Friday there were no investigations into Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman, the former National Security Council aide who testified in President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial and was fired by the White House along with his twin brother. On Tuesday, Trump said the military may consider disciplining Vindman, who provided some of the most damaging testimony during an investigation by the U.S. House of Representatives of Trump’s dealings with Ukraine. “There’s no investigations of him,” McCarthy said during an event at the National Press Club. Vindman is back at the Army and...

With apologies to Elizabeth Barrett Browning: How does former FBI official Andrew McCabe lie to thee? Let me count the ways. First through third, the Department of Justice (DOJ) Office of Inspector General (OIG) reported in February 2018, that McCabe three times “lacked candor” about an October 2016 leak. Moreover, the OIG found that McCabe approved that leak “to advance his personal interests at the expense of Department leadership.”

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WLS) -- Two Illinois Department of Corrections facilities are locked down because inmates are sick. The facilities are Southwestern Illinois Correctional Center in East St. Louis and Robinson Correctional Center in Robinson, Ill., near the Indiana border, about 240 miles south of Chicago. A Department of Corrections spokeswoman told the I-Team about 60 inmates at Southwestern have flu-like symptoms. In an effort to contain the virus, visits, phone calls and commissary operations are temporarily suspended, but staffing has not been affected. "We are committed to ensuring the health of the men and women in our custody, and daily...

A South Side Locos street gang member arrested on drug and weapons charges told members of an FBI task force that – in addition to drugs and cash – he had a machine gun and other firearms in his house because Albuquerque is “a crazy place” and “very violent.” The agents were investigating a gang that was robbing street-level drug dealers when they raided the home of Manuel Humberto Bolivar, 21, earlier this month. Bolivar, who is known as “Manny,” “Gino,” “G” and “Little Sapo,” was charged in federal court with possession of a machine gun, possession of methamphetamine and...

A 104-year-old United States Marine veteran who has never celebrated Valentine’s Day before has been left dumbfounded by a sudden deluge of love letters pouring into his mailbox. William White—‘Major Bill’ as he is now known to the internet—was awarded a Purple Heart after he fought at Iwo Jima during World War II, and he served a total of 35 years active duty. He now lives at an assisted living facility in Stockton, California where he is a beloved member of the retirement community. One of his admirers, a fellow resident, launched a social media campaign called “Operation Valentine” recruiting...

MUNICH (AP) — A senior U.S. official said Friday the United States and the Taliban have reached a truce agreement that will take effect “very soon” and could lead to withdrawals of American troops from Afghanistan. The official said the agreement for a seven-day “reduction in violence” to be followed by the start of all-Afghan peace talks within 10 days is “very specific” and covers the entire country, including Afghan government forces. There were indications a formal announcement could come as early as the weekend. The official, who was not authorized to publicly discuss the matter and spoke on the...

Michael Avenatti, the lawyer who represented a porn star in a lawsuit against President Trump, was found guilty of trying to extort Nike. A New York jury on Friday found Avenatti guilty on three counts, including extortion, wire fraud and transmission of interstate communications with intent to extort. He faces up to 42 years in prison.

Former Acting Director of the FBI Andrew McCabe will not face criminal charges for allegedly lying to agents about a leak to reporters, according to a Department of Justice (DOJ) letter released Friday afternoon. https://twitter.com/jaketapper/status/1228367318536871936?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1228367318536871936&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fconservativeus.com%2Fvideo-cbs-news-exposed-andrew-mccabe-and-revealed-fbis-plan-to-remove-president-trump%2F J.P. Cooney and Molly Gaston, two officials in the DOJ’s Fraud & Public Corruption Section, wrote to McCabe’s lawyers, saying, “after careful consideration, the Government has decided not to pursue criminal charges against your client, Andrew G. McCabe.” But what about this older interview of Andrew where he admits that they were in consideration to remove the sitting President from its position. Shouldn’t we consider...

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department recently opened an inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the FBI's interview of Michael Flynn while he was serving as President Donald Trump's national security adviser, according to two people familiar with the inquiry. Flynn pleaded guilty to giving false statements to the FBI during that interview, but recently asked to withdraw that plea, further delaying his sentencing. Attorney General William Barr asked the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri, Jeffrey Jensen, to look into Flynn's FBI interview, the people familiar with the inquiry said. The inquiry began within the past month, they said....

The Justice Department said Friday it will not pursue criminal charges against former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe, after a nearly two-year-long investigation into accusations brought by the agency's independent watchdog who found that he lacked "candor" when questioned about leaking to the media. In a letter to McCabe attorney Michael Bromwich obtained by Fox News, Justice Department attorney J.P. Cooney said the investigation is now “closed.”

SAN FRANCISCO -- Facebook has decided to let political campaigns pay online influencers to spread their messages, a practice that had sidestepped many of the social network’s rules governing political ads. Friday’s policy reversal highlights difficulties tech companies and regulators have in keeping up with the changing nature of paid political messages. The change comes days after Democratic presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg exploited a loophole to run humorous messages promoting his campaign on the accounts of popular Instagram personalities followed by millions of younger people. The Bloomberg posts weren’t much more than self-deprecating humor used to sell the candidate’s old...

By the time Christopher Miller showed up at his estranged wife’s backdoor in September 2019 with a pistol in his waistband, state authorities already had declared him too dangerous to own firearms. He had lost his gun license 20 months earlier after being charged with aggravated battery for brutally beating a man in a Naperville parking lot. He disregarded orders to relinquish any weapons, and no one made sure he complied. Miller startled his wife that autumn afternoon as she moved around the kitchen making a snack for her daughter. With cocaine and alcohol in his system, he stared at...

Colorado legislators have rejected a bill that would grant legal protections for babies born alive after abortions, yet another state-level flare-up over the hot-button issue. House Bill 1068 threatened $100,000 fines for physicians who fail to "exercise the same degree of professional skill, care, and diligence to preserve the life and health of the child as a reasonably diligent and conscientious physician would render to any other child born alive at the same gestational age." It also required that any born-alive child be immediately transferred to a hospital. “Colorado’s legislative hearings on late-term abortion show just how extreme and entrenched...

There was once a time, not that long ago, when the mainstream left was highly critical of the CIA, and scrutiny of dubious claims by U.S. intelligence was a common occurrence. Of course all of that changed when those same intelligence agencies were weaponized to target a political enemy that was also the enemy of the left, namely Donald Trump. Now, in the era of modern political narratives, no intelligence claim against the Trump administration is too outlandish. Regardless of dubious sourcing, it’s all pushed as fact so long as the target of the claim is President Donald Trump. As...

Andrew McCabe's legal team denied a claim that the former FBI deputy director was offered a pre-indictment plea deal from U.S. Attorney John Durham, who is conducting a criminal inquiry into the origins of the Russia investigation. Conservative commentator Mark Levin said on his radio show a "very good source" told him that McCabe had rejected the offer, after which Durham impaneled a grand jury in Washington, D.C. "This is what I was told by a very, very, good source. No, not the attorney general. No, not the U.S. attorney. Remember, I worked at Justice years ago, so I know...

Violence against Trump supporters is surging of late, so Breitbart News is updating its list of credibly reported hate crimes against Trump supporters since September 2015. These reported crimes include physical assaults, vandalism, an actual murder, and encouraging violence against individuals and groups based only on their personal beliefs. Sadly, these crimes have been approved and encouraged by the establishment media, either through the media’s open calls for violence against us or the media’s revealing and deafening indifference. When the corporate media want to stop Americans from engaging in certain behavior — say, a rodeo clown wearing an Obama mask...