Free Republic

U.S. officials have warned Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) that Russia is attempting to boost his prospects of winning the White House in 2020, sources familiar with the matter told the Washington Post. President Donald Trump and Congressional lawmakers have also received briefings regarding the Kremlin’s efforts to help Sanders, reports the Post. In a statement to the newspaper, Sanders called Russian President Vladimir Putin a “thug” and said he stands “firmly against” any efforts to interfere in U.S. elections “I don’t care, frankly, who Putin wants to be president,” Sanders said. “My message to Putin is clear: stay out of...

Relying heavily on a report by the Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI), NBC News published this article Thursday that defines ‘boogaloo’ as a fringe term used by an “anti-government movement that advocates for a violent uprising targeting liberal political opponents and law enforcement.” It breathlessly warns that the “new and discreet” term has moved from the “fringes of the internet into the mainstream” — they're scared, and you should be too. Forget if you can that the article (quite revealingly) equates “anti-government” to “pro-Second Amendment,” and let's just focus on what has to be the underlying message: words equal violence....

Why the good old days are often overrated.

Contact: (916) 210-6000, agpressoffice@doj.ca.gov LOS ANGELES – Pursuant to the authority granted under Assembly Bill 90 of 2017 (AB 90), California Attorney General Xavier Becerra today announced that the California Department of Justice (DOJ) will conduct an independent review of the Los Angeles Police Department’s (LAPD) records and policies regarding the use of CalGang, a criminal intelligence database used by law enforcement agencies to share gang-related intelligence. This review comes as a result of reports that LAPD officers falsified field records used to identify possible gang members. LAPD has commenced its own internal investigation in response to the reports.“Transparency and accountability are...

[Catholic Caucus] US bishop: Not calling LGBT people ‘from sin’ condemns them to ‘destruction’ Bishop Strickland took to twitter to defends himself against accusations that he condemns LGBT people. February 21, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) – When a Twitter user accused Bishop Joseph Strickland of “condemning” persons who identify as “LGBT” on account of his outspoken defense of Catholic sexual teaching, the Tyler, Texas prelate issued a gentle refutation: “I’m not condemning anyone.”  “Not calling a person away from sin is in fact condemning them to the destruction that sin brings,” he stated.  Strickland was responding to a Tweet that claimed...

Should Utah Sen. Mitt Romney attempt another shot at the White House — but this time on the independent ticket, with former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg as his running mate?

The former employee who accused Michael Bloomberg of telling her to “kill it” when he found out she was pregnant is one of the women he’s agreed to release from a non-disclosure agreement, according to a report. A Bloomberg adviser told CNN that the woman was Sekiko Garrison who accused Bloomberg of making the crass remark in the 1990s. see also Bloomberg has denied making the comments. Earlier Friday the billionaire businessman announced that he would release women from three non-disclosure agreements if they wanted to speak publicly about sexual harassment while working at his media company. The announcement came...

Artist Jon McNaughton presents his latest artwork centered around the current state of U.S. politics and President Donald J Trump. [Visit Website Here] Chopper pressers are the best pressers

Former Vice President Joe Biden has a pretty good tale to share — but it may be a little tall. Biden, who is running for president, has been spicing up his recent campaign stump speeches with a story of how he was arrested while in South Africa trying to see Nelson Mandela, The New York Times reports. But that recollection of events has only recently come to light, and it was reportedly omitted from Biden's 2007 memoir that detailed his escapades in the country around that time. During recent campaign speeches, Biden says he "had the great honor" of meeting...

The Knoxville office of 2020 democratic presidential candidate and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg was vandalized overnight Thursday. WVLT News Friday morning witnessed the front doors of the office painted with expletives and posters that featured the words "authoritarian," "classist" and "oligarch." The posters featured what appeared to be snippets from news articles on Bloomberg in which he allegedly made derogatory statements about women and people of color in the past alongside words like "fascist," "sexist" and "racist." Knoxville Police Department said they received a complaint saying the vandalism occurred at the Western Avenue office between 6 p.m....

In the wake of a sharp rise in assaults, Metropolitan Transportation Authority bus drivers say they’re under attack. On Thursday, they gathered to send a message to riders and law enforcement, CBS2’s Aundrea Cline-Thomas reported. “I’m just lucky to be alive, because I could be in a coma today or be in a morgue today,” bus driver Matthew Ashby said. Underneath the Band-Aid above Ashby’s left eye are 10 stitches. He was attacked last week by an unknown man who boarded his B15 bus in East New York, Brooklyn and hit him with a medal padlock. Ashby said no words were ever exchanged. “I thought...

Contact: (916) 210-6000, agpressoffice@doj.ca.gov Hundreds of thousands of visa applicants could be unlawfully blocked from entering the United StatesSACRAMENTO – California Attorney General Xavier Becerra today announced that he is co-leading two separate amicus briefs in support of lawsuits challenging the Trump Administration’s revised public charge guidelines and unlawful proclamation imposing new healthcare requirements for most visa applicants. Together, these federal actions would require consular officers to deny entry to prospective immigrants who might, at any point in the future, make minor and temporary use of public programs, and to assess whether prospective immigrants have qualifying health coverage or the ability to...

Contact: (916) 210-6000, agpressoffice@doj.ca.gov SACRAMENTO – California Attorney General Xavier Becerra today announced leading a coalition of 21 attorneys general in filing an amicus brief blasting the Trump Administration for moving the goalposts on asylum eligibility. The amicus brief is in support of asylum-seekers who have already been trapped at the border for months, waiting to apply for protection due to the Administration’s unlawful policies. Now, they are being forced to challenge the Trump Administration’s decision to arbitrarily further change the rules and bar tens of thousands of people from asylum if they did not apply in a third country while en route to...

Contact: (916) 210-6000, agpressoffice@doj.ca.gov SACRAMENTO – Attorney General Becerra today led a coalition of 20 states and D.C. in filing a reply brief in the U.S. Supreme Court in California v. Texas. In the brief, the attorneys general reiterate the harms this ACA Repeal Case is causing our healthcare system and Americans’ healthcare. The brief also opposes arguments by the Trump Administration and the Texas coalition that the case should be sent back to the district court, and urges the Supreme Court to take up the case to resolve uncertainty in the healthcare market.“Today, our coalition made clear that we...

Amateur archaeologists have found the mummified ancient remains of 72 pre-Hispanic 'Guanche' natives in the holiday island of Gran Canaria. The remains, of 62 adults and 10 newborns, were found in the Valley of Guayadequeon on the island of Gran Canaria, part of the Spanish Canary Islands. Archaeologist Veronica Alberto and culture councillor Javier Velasco confirmed the discovery and said that the cave dates back to between the eighth and 10th centuries.

Contact: (916) 210-6000, agpressoffice@doj.ca.govSACRAMENTO – California Attorney General Xavier Becerra today filed two multistate comment letters in opposition to federal proposals that roll back critical anti-discrimination protections for patients and students. Both of these proposals stem from President Trump’s Executive Order that allows faith-based organizations to deny services. In the first proposal, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) would eliminate transparency requirements for faith-based providers that help patients to understand their rights and access referrals to care from alternative providers. In the second, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) is vastly expanding the definition used to claim a religious...

  Contact: (916) 210-6000, agpressoffice@doj.ca.gov SACRAMENTO – California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, leading a coalition of 21 attorneys general, filed an amicus brief in support of a woman’s right to safe, legal abortion care in Preterm-Cleveland, et al. v. Himes. The case involves an Ohio law that criminalizes abortion before viability based on a woman’s reason for seeking abortion, running in direct conflict with the Supreme Court precedent set in Roe v. Wade. The amicus brief reaffirms the coalition’s previous support for Preterm-Cleveland and argues that the preliminary injunction issued by the Sixth Circuit Court should again be upheld by the en banc panel.“This year marks the 100th anniversary...

He says Governor Cuomo has waited too long to address concerns with New York bail reform and the assemblyman says he's getting blowback for speaking out, telling CBS 6’s Anne McCloy the governor's office has even asked him to stop tweeting against some of the governor's initiatives. -snip “He needs to take responsibility for this, he needs to acknowledge there’s a problem,” said Asm. Angelo Santabarbara (D-Rotterdam). When it comes to New York's criminal justice reform, Asm. Santabarbara is pointing his finger straight at Governor Andrew Cuomo (D- New York). “At the end of the day he’s the one who...

Contact: (916) 210-6000, agpressoffice@doj.ca.gov California’s response letter makes clear state did not violate lawCalifornia submits FOIA request for OCR records to dispute claims and protect state interestsSACRAMENTO – California Attorney General Xavier Becerra and California Governor Gavin Newsom today sent a letter on behalf of the State of California responding to the January 24 Notice of Violation (Notice) issued by the Trump Administration’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR). The Notice alleged that California law, which requires health plans in the state to offer abortion coverage, violates the Weldon Amendment, a federal appropriations rider that is intended to restrict abortion. In their response, the state leaders defend California law...

Contact: (916) 210-6000, agpressoffice@doj.ca.gov SACRAMENTO – California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, the California Natural Resources Agency, and the California Environmental Protection Agency today filed a lawsuit against the Trump Administration for failing to protect endangered fish species from federal water export operations.The lawsuit asserts that biological opinions prepared by federal agencies under the Endangered Species Act to direct water project operations lack safeguards for protected species and their habitat in the Sacramento and San Joaquin River watersheds, including the Bay-Delta. Filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, the lawsuit requests that the court declare the Trump...