Free Republic

WASHINGTON — Lawyers for former President Donald Trump said in a filing Tuesday night that they plan to file multiple motions to dismiss the criminal charges against him in the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case. “Defendants currently plan to file on February 22, at minimum, a series of motions to dismiss the Superseding Indictment and certain of the charges therein,” Todd Blanche and Christopher Kise wrote in the newly filed motion, which seeks to extend certain deadlines in the case. The superseding indictment alleges Trump was involved in a scheme to delete security video at Mar-a-Lago, his estate in Palm Beach,...

The special election to replace George Santos in New York’s 3rd congressional district could narrow the Republican majority in the U.S. House. The tight race is a toss-up between Republican Mazi Pilip and Democrat Tom Suozzi, and will likely hinge on voter turnout. The candidates faced off in a heated debate Thursday night hosted by News12 Long Island, where the migrant crisis at the southern border played a prominent role. Pilip, a two-term Nassau County legislator, blamed Democrats like Suozzi for the recent influx of immigrants despite the successful effort by the GOP this week to block a bipartisan border...

Just when we thought the extent of the federal government's censorship had been fully revealed, an entirely new industry has been exposed as a partner in burying dissent and subverting the First Amendment. This time, we're learning the National Science Foundation (NSF) worked with academic institutions — including the University of Michigan, the University of Wisconsin, and others — to censor "misinformation" online through Big Tech platforms and search engines. Alarmingly, they're using new artificial intelligence technology to do it. This means studies and data coming out of universities can no longer be trusted. Grants depend on promoting a government...

Special counsel Jack Smith is asking Judge Aileen Cannon to reconsider a ruling that would allow former President Trump’s legal team to publicly disclose witness identities and their testimony to the court docket. Trump’s lawyers have sought to attach evidence given to them during the discovery process in other court filings set to be publicly posted in connection with the Mar-a-Lago documents case. The Justice Department argued late Thursday that Cannon erred in her legal rationale for allowing them to do so, a decision they say risks exposing some two dozen witnesses to harassment, as she requires no redactions. “That...

Yesterday, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken declared, "Israelis were dehumanized in the most horrific way on October 7." (JPost) Blinken's statement demonstrates a fundamental misunderstanding of what happened on October 7 and calls into question whether he can effectively mediate a solution since he doesn't understand the problem. Palestinians did not dehumanize Israelis on October 7. The Palestinian Authority has been dehumanizing Jews and Israelis since the launching of the Oslo process. What happened on October 7 was the Palestinian population led by Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and Fatah, implementing what they believe Jews and Israelis deserve after 28 years of...

Thursday’s news crescendo ending in a calamitous presidential press conference carried hidden lessons for both parties: Be careful what you wish on your political enemies. It could monumentally backfire. The Democrats’ continuous calls during his four years in office to use the 25th Amendment to remove President Trump from office on the presumed grounds of mental instability took a disastrous turn this week, as the effort self-combusted in a Hindenburg-sized blowback. In October 2020, before Joe Biden was elected president and three months before Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol, then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi held a press conference. She was...

There's some things about healing that people need to understand to put them on a firm foundation to receive their healing. Sometimes people think they are waiting on God to heal them, but that's not how God sees it. In Isaiah 53:4-5 it reads, Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. This is not just some feel...

An enormous sunspot, which can be seen from the surface of Mars, is turning towards Earth as scientists warn of a possible ‘grid destroying’ solar flare. Sunspot group AR3576, which measures 124,274 miles across the sun’s surface, contains four dark cores larger than planet Earth, according to Spaceweather. The group was so big it could be seen from Mars by NASA’s Perseverance Rover, However, scientists are now warning the sunspot is turning towards Earth. While the sunspot is only forecast to cause a G1-class geomagnetic storm, it is still close to Earth. However, the forecast is based on a “coin...

A whopping 89 percent of Americans have concerns, to varying degrees, that President Joe Biden lacks the physical and mental health for a second term, according to an NBC News poll. The poll published Tuesday — ahead of Biden’s press conference Thursday where he was grilled about his age and mental acuity — found that 62 percent of registered voters nationally have “major concerns” that he does not have “the necessary mental and physical health to be president for a second term.” Another 14 percent have “moderate” worries, while 13 percent expressed “minor concerns.” Conversely just over one in ten...

The Wisconsin Elections Commission has complied with court orders and will now tell the over 1,800 local election clerks they can accept absentee ballots that are missing parts of a witness address. The commission made the move after members voted 5-1 Thursday. The lone no vote against the new guidance was cast by Republican Commissioner Bob Spindell, according to the Wisconsin State Journal. Previously, clerks were required to try to contact voters to correct absentee ballot envelopes that had “incomplete or insufficient” witness address information before accepting such ballots. Wisconsin law requires absentee ballots to be submitted with a witness’s...

A decade ago, the #SanFrancisco #PublicSchools stopped teaching #algebra to 8th graders. I support teaching algebra to 8th graders. What do you think?

The National Archives have only turned over 60 of the 82,000 secretive -- and possibly illegal -- emails preserved in its records, which frustrated Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, who vowed to use the “power of the gavel” to obtain the records. A former FBI intelligence officer said "Not only does it violate federal records laws [...] Gmail is not a secure government communications system. And especially not for White House business.” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As early as 2010, Joe Biden routinely used a private email account with a fake name to conduct official government business as vice president, and at times...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvNukzNQawo

Bitcoin marched higher to end the week, with its price breaching the $48,000 level for the first time since spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds began trading. [$47,800 as I post]

This was a hot topic on FR a few weeks ago but had died down, it appears the Biden Administration could be facing another bad situation in South America, if a war breaks out in South America the flood of illegals at the Southern border could escalate to even higher levels

On Thursday, Atlanta authorities arrested a male suspect on arson charges in connection to an attack that occurred in protest of the future site of the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center, dubbed "Cop City" by left wing agitators. John Robert Mazurek, 30, has been charged with first-degree arson. He is accused of being involved in the arson of a police special operations center that occurred in July 2023, according to Atlanta News First. Police said that officers had been occupying the center when the arson occurred. According to authorities, eight police motorcycles were set on fire in the parking deck...

A Bahamas resort where two Kentucky mothers claim they were drugged and raped by two employees said that the women’s account of what happened does not match its security footage. Amber Shearer and Dongayla Dobson said they were assaulted in broad daylight by staffers at Pirate’s Cove while relaxing on the beach while their Carnival Cruise ship was docked on the Grand Island in the Bahamas. The longtime friends said they were offered a drink special by an employee, but after just 15 minutes, began to feel incredibly intoxicated. They were ushered by a staff member into a secluded area...

As the May deadline approaches for finalizing negotiations between the World Health Organization (WHO) and its 194 member nations over how much authority they will cede to the WHO once it declares a global health emergency, many health and policy experts are urging the Biden administration not to sign the United States up to the agreement. ... This WHO CA+, which functions as a treaty, has gone through an opaque process of negotiation and amendments ever since, from which the public has been essentially excluded, with the goal of signing it this year. ... When a Treaty Isn’t a Treaty...

It finally happened, Zelensky has let Zaluzhny go, replacing him with Syrsky: Defense Minister Umerov issued his own statement: There’s a lot to unpack. Let’s start with the mentions in the video above of needing a general who is on the frontline, and who understands the Avdeevka situation, as well as others, deeply. This appears to be a riff on the stereotype that Zelensky/Yermak and their team were trying to seed the ground with, characterizing Zaluzhny as someone who ‘never leaves his office’. These are just small, subtle threads in the narrative fabric they attempted to weave together to undermine...