Free Republic

A bill that critics say will stop journalists from reporting on government fraud passed the California Assembly today with votes in favor from Marc Berman, D-Menlo Park, and Diane Papan, D-San Mateo. Assembly Bill 2624, dubbed the Stop Nick Shirley Act for the Youtuber who exposed fraudulent government-funded charities in Minnesota, now goes to the Senate. State Sen. Josh Becker, D-Menlo Park, said via text on Tuesday night that he hasn’t read the bill yet because, at that time, it was still over the in Assembly. The bill’s author, Assemblywoman Mia Bonta, who is married to California Attorney General Rob...

Exposing California's corrupt "Stop Nick Shirley Act", instead of going after the fraudsters California is now going after the people exposing the fraud. This bill AB 2624 will: Criminalize journalists with misdemeanors, $10,000 fines, imprisonment, and content takedown Let immigrant based NGOs' funding be confidential Take away freedom of the press from journalists Protect any "immigration support services" information from being public (healthcare, legal services, etc) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=leN6LYJlFUM Run time 25 m 39 sec

They don’t call it censorship anymore. They call it protection. Protection for communities. Protection for organizations. Protection from “threats.” The language is softer now, more strategic, designed to pass scrutiny without triggering it. But behind California’s AB 2624, the intent is harder to ignore: if you document the wrong thing, in the wrong place, involving the wrong people, the state may decide you shouldn’t be allowed to show it at all. And this time, they’re not going after institutions. They’re going after the individuals who don’t need one. In Sacramento, that effort now has a bill number. AB 2624. According...

President-elect Donald Trump urged the US Supreme Court Wednesday to take the extraordinary step of halting his sentencing later this week in his Manhattan “hush money” case. Trump’s lawyers urged the nation’s highest court to step in after a New York appeals court refused to postpone the Friday hearing, at which he is set to face a no-punishment sentence.The attorneys argued that going ahead with the sentencing would unconstitutionally interfere with Trump preparing for his second term. This Court should enter an immediate stay of further proceedings in the New York trial court to prevent grave injustice and harm to...

Every Legal Scholar and Pundit, including the highly respected, and sadly recently passed, David Rivkin, as well as Jonathan Turley, Elie Honig, Andy McCarthy, Alan Dershowitz, Gregg Jarrett, Elizabeth Price Foley, Katie and Andy Cherkasky, Paul Ingrassia, and many others, have unequivocally stated that the Manhattan D.A.’s Witch Hunt is a nonexistent case, which is not only barred by the Statute of Limitations but, on the merits, should never have been brought. This illegitimate political attack is nothing but a Rigged Charade. “Acting” Justice Merchan, who is a radical partisan, just issued another order that is knowingly unlawful, goes against...

Keir Starmer must strengthen the rules around political donations to protect the electoral system from foreign interference, the Electoral Commission has said, amid rising concerns about Elon Musk’s plans to donate millions of pounds to Reform UK. Vijay Rangarajan, chief executive of the elections watchdog, said that linking donations to political parties to the UK profits of companies owned by foreigners was one of the urgent changes needed to retain the trust of voters. The move, which the Guardian understands is being considered by the government, could cap the amount that Musk, the world’s richest man, could donate through the...

Apple has been ordered to pay Ireland €13bn (£11bn; $14bn) in unpaid taxes by Europe’s top court, putting an end to an eight-year row. The European Commission accused Ireland of giving Apple illegal tax advantages in 2016, but Ireland has consistently argued against the need for the tax to be paid. The Irish government said it would respect the ruling. […] A separate European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruling on Tuesday also brought a long-running case with Google to a close, with the company ordered to pay a €2.4bn (£2bn) fine for market dominance abuse. […] Apple said in a...

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump’s lawyers told a New York appellate court Wednesday that he’s prepared to post a $100 million bond to halt collection of his staggering civil fraud penalty, arguing that provisions of the verdict make it impossible for the former president to secure a bond for the full amount. Trump’s lawyers floated the offer in court papers asking the state’s mid-level appeals court for an order preventing New York Attorney General Letitia James’ office from enforcing the $454 million judgment while his appeal plays out. Trump would have to post the full amount to pause collection...

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), who voted twice to convict former President Trump on impeachment charges, is ruling out voting for Trump in 2024, citing a court’s finding that the former president sexually abused E. Jean Carroll in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in the 1990s. Romney’s announcement that he won’t vote for Trump isn’t surprising. But it does show him sharpening his rhetoric against the front-runner for the GOP presidential nomination by saying the reason for his opposition is a Manhattan jury’s finding last year that Trump sexually abused and defamed Carroll, awarding her $5 million in damages. A New...

The Manhattan District Attorney’s case against Donald Trump centers around allegations the former president orchestrated illegal “catch and kill” payments in a scheme to suppress negative stories about him during the 2016 election that continued while he was in office, according to the indictment against him unsealed Thursday. Trump, 76, is facing a total of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in the first degree, which each carry a maximum sentence of four years behind bars. Taken together, the ex-president faces a whopping 136 years behind bars, but if convicted at trial and actually sentenced to jail, the time...

Manhattan prosecutors investigating Donald Trump’s role in paying hush money to a porn star also have been examining a $150,000 payment to a former Playboy model who alleged that she had an affair with the former president, according to people familiar with the matter, raising the prospect that Mr. Trump could face charges connected to the silencing of both women. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office has been presenting a grand jury with evidence of Mr. Trump’s involvement in a $130,000 payment to porn star Stormy Daniels since January. In those proceedings, the people said, Mr. Bragg’s prosecutors also have...

Conservatives sounded the alarm following news that former President Donald Trump expects to be arrested on Tuesday based on “illegal leaks” from the Manhattan district attorney’s office. Republican lawmakers and conservative figures and commentators said the predicted arrest of Trump, who is running for president in 2024, shows how the justice system is “weaponized against all Americans” and warned that the United States is turning into a “banana republic.” Even so, many conservatives wager an arrest would only further reveal the extent of Democrat corruption, ultimately skyrocketing support for Trump’s presidential run.

Michael Cohen has warned that Donald Trump may be looking to stir up controversy and a "violent clash" after revealing that he expects an arrest ahead of a potential indictment. "Donald’s post is eerily similar to his battle cry prior to the January 6th insurrection; including calling for protest," Cohen told The New York Post Saturday. "By doing so, Donald is hoping to rile his base, witness another violent clash on his behalf and profit from it by soliciting contributions." Trump posted on Truth Social that he expects an arrest in Manhattan on Tuesday as the District Attorney’s Office seeks...

According to the NY Times, Manhattan’s DA has warned Trump’s legal team that charges could be coming over his hush money payment to Stormy Daniels.The Manhattan district attorney’s office recently signaled to Donald J. Trump’s lawyers that he could face criminal charges for his role in the payment of hush money to a porn star, the strongest indication yet that prosecutors are nearing an indictment of the former president, according to four people with knowledge of the matter…The Manhattan inquiry, which has spanned nearly five years, centers on a $130,000 payment to the porn star, Stormy Daniels, who said she...

A New York state appeals court on Tuesday upheld an order finding Donald Trump in civil contempt for having failed to comply with a subpoena from New York Attorney General Letitia James in her probe of his business practices. In a 5-0 decision, the Appellate Division in Manhattan said James had established by "clear and convincing evidence" that Trump's response to the Dec. 1, 2021, subpoena was inadequate. The court said Trump's claim that a diligent search had failed to uncover relevant documents in his possession, without explaining what steps were taken to ensure nothing would be lost or discarded,...

A federal judge on Friday rejected Trump’s motion to dismiss the civil sexual assault suit filed by E. Jean Carroll. In 2019, E. Jean Carroll alleged Donald Trump raped her in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in the 1990’s. E. Jean Carroll is a mentally unwell woman who previously told CNN she fantasizes about rape. Trump has denied the allegations and called E. Jean Carroll a “whack job” who’s “not my type.” Carroll filed the lawsuit in November after New York passed the Adult Survivors Act which allows adults to sue over sexual assaults that occurred decades ago. US District...

Donald Trump's tax returns will be made public at midday after a nearly four-year-long fight that saw the former president fight tooth-and-nail to shield his financial statements from public view. The Democrat-controlled House Ways and Means Committee voted last Tuesday evening to release the returns, in a debate that lasted more than three hours behind closed doors. The final vote was 24 to 16. All Democrats voted in favor of the action while all Republicans on the panel voted against.... ...Six years' worth of Trump's most recent tax returns will be covered, as well as documents from eight of his...

The Arizona Secretary of State’s office and Maricopa County on Monday petitioned a judge to sanction GOP candidate Kari Lake after her election-related lawsuit was rejected over the weekend. On Monday, the two parties filed a motion in the Maricopa County Superior Court against Lake and her legal team.“Courts are established by Arizona’s Constitution and statutes to resolve actual disputes between parties,” Maricopa County Deputy Attorney Thomas P. Liddy wrote Monday in a 15-page memo (pdf), asking Judge Peter Thompson for the sanctions and attorneys fees. “They do not exist so that candidates for political office can attempt to make...

On Dec. 17, 2022, it was reported that Rep. David Cicilline, a Democrat from Rhode Island, has introduced legislation to permanently bar former Pres. Trump from running for president again, and 40 Democrats have signed on. Cicilline is accusing Trump of orchestrating an insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021. At the time of this writing, it is debatable as to whether Cicilline’s legislation will get voted on before the new Congress takes office in 2023, but some conservatives have said from the beginning that the main purpose of the Jan. 6 fake show-trial was to stop Trump from being elected again....

A New York City jury found the Trump organization guilty on all counts. Trump was not on trial and has no criminal liability from the verdict. But it may embolden other New York prosecutors to go after him. .....