Free Republic

A federal appeals court has hampered the latest attempt by special counsel Jack Smith to save his classified documents case against former President Donald Trump that was dismissed earlier this month by U.S. Florida District Judge Aileen Cannon. Politico reported that Smith’s bid to revive the case is on life support after the 11th Circuit Appeals Court announced it would give both sides until mid-October to submit briefs for a case that is now certain to remain unresolved before the November election. The announcement comes less than a month after Judge Cannon ruled that federal law is ambiguous about whether...

In 1974, the Supreme Court seemingly approved a special prosecutor’s authority in then-President Richard Nixon’s case over the Watergate tapes subpoena. But in dismissing the classified documents case against Donald Trump on Monday, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon rejected language from that Supreme Court ruling to find that Jack Smith was unlawfully appointed as special counsel against the former president. How could she have done so? Putting aside for a moment that she may be reversed on appeal, the answer lies in something called dicta, meaning language in an opinion that isn’t necessary to the ruling. Cannon deemed the language...

Former President Trump on Monday received one of his biggest wins yet in fighting his criminal charges when a judge tossed his classified documents indictment. By ruling that special counsel Jack Smith was unlawfully appointed, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon’s decision sets aside Trump’s 40 criminal charges that accuse him of mishandling classified documents and obstructing the government’s efforts to retrieve them from Mar-a-Lago. Here are five takeaways from Trump’s major win: First of Trump’s indictments dismissed Decision latches onto Thomas’s concurrence Jack Smith plans to appeal Ruling comes at start of GOP convention Ruling divides Democrats, GOP

The federal judge overseeing former President Trump’s classified documents case granted his request to delay a few deadlines further so prosecutors can evaluate the Supreme Court’s immunity ruling. Trump’s lawyers on Friday asked Judge Aileen Cannon for permission to file more documents to argue that the former president should be immune from prosecution in the case. In their motion this week, Trump’s team proposed a schedule that extends through early September, meaning a ruling wouldn’t come until at least the fall. On Saturday, Cannon, a Trump appointee, said prosecutors and special counsel Jack Smith had until July 18 to respond...

FULTON COUNTY, GEORGIA—On July 2, Judge Ural Glanville published the full transcripts of a secret meeting he had with rapper, Young Thug, who has been jailed on racketeering charges. On July 3, Judge Glanville put the trial on hold, recused himself over allegations of misconduct, and published the transcripts. The meeting reportedly took place on June 10. The jury was on break until Monday, July 8th. This and the case of the state of Georgia v. Donald J. Trump have been postponed. Judge Glanville made the following statement regarding the meeting. “The court, is of the opinion, based on the...

CHICAGO — A 16-year-old boy was supposed to be on house arrest for a pending gun case when he helped murder retired Chicago Police Officer Larry Neuman last Thursday morning, prosecutors said. Lazarious Watt is also suspected of carjacking a family in March. He may soon be charged with that crime in juvenile court. Watt is the 15th person accused of shooting, killing, or trying to shoot or kill someone in Chicago this year while on pretrial release. The cases involve 27 victims, five of whom died.

"Companies were seized, assets were frozen and lives were upended" as a result of misconduct by prosecutors for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, a federal judge said while dismissing a civil fraud case against Utah cryptocurrency brokers and awarding the brokers $1.8 million in attorney fees. U.S. Chief District Judge Robert Shelby upbraided the commission, saying it recklessly used "layers of false statements" in a "gross abuse of power," saying their misrepresentations were "deeply troubling" and undermined the integrity of the judicial process, before dismissing its case May 28 and ordering payment of fees that will ultimately be financed...

On Friday’s broadcast of HBO’s “Real Time,” host Bill Maher argued that even with prices being higher than they were, people are economically better off than they were four years ago, but President Joe Biden is “too feeble to be the explainer-in-chief, to get out there” and make a case for himself. Maher said, “The Washington Post says, ‘Nearly Everything Americans Believe About the Economy Is Wrong‘. So interesting, 55% think the economy is shrinking or is in a recession, could not be more the reverse, half think unemployment is at a 50-year high, it’s 4%. Roughly half think the...

On Thursday’s broadcast of Newsmax TV’s “The Record,” Harvard Law Professor Emeritus and Newsmax Legal Analyst Alan Dershowitz stated that if she shared his critiques of the conviction of 2024 Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump at Harvard Law, “I’d be booed, I’d be denied the right to come into my class, because they would love this verdict,” because “young lawyers today don’t care about justice. They just want their side to win.”

Defense attorney Randy Zelin said Tuesday on CNN’s “News Central” that the prosecution in former President Donald Trump’s business record trial “fell way short” of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Host Kate Bolduan said, “The burden of proof is an important one to remind everyone: It’s on the prosecution, right? They need to prove beyond reasonable doubt that he commit, that Donald Trump broke the law. And you think after listening to all of this, you think they fell short. How?” Zelin said, “They fell way short, because let’s start with reasonable doubt. What is reasonable doubt? And it’s...

While Donald Trump mounts an interlocutory appeal that he hopes will end with Fulton County DA Fani Willis’ (D) disqualification from prosecuting him, Willis is challenging the dismissal of several charges against the former president and his allies. In a Thursday filing in Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee’s court, Willis filed her notice of “cross appeal” to overturn the judge’s March 13 ruling favorable to the defense — this, as the defense guns for the DA’s ouster. “The state’s cross appeal corresponds to the Defendants’ interlocutory appeal of this Court’s ‘ORDER ON DEFENDANTS’ MOTION TO DISMISS AND DISQUALIFY...

John Dean, former President Nixon’s White House counsel, said in an interview Saturday that the New York hush money criminal trial against former President Trump is “very powerful” ahead of highly anticipated testimony this week from Trump’s ex-fixer Michael Cohen. Dean said in a CNN interview that he has read the transcripts from the trial and thinks the prosecution has laid out a compelling case that can stand alone, independent from Cohen’s testimony. “It’s a very powerful case the government has put on in New York,” he said. “They have really filled in so many of the blanks, and they...

The Supreme Court will hear a case on Wednesday surrounding the Biden administration’s attempt to require emergency room doctors to perform abortions under its interpretation of the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act of 1986 (EMTALA). After the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, which had invented a constitutional “right” to abortion, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued guidance claiming that EMTALA requires doctors to perform abortions on patients in emergency rooms when it is “the stabilizing treatment necessary” to help in a medical emergency. Under the guidance, hospitals not in compliance could lose funding and the...

President Joe Biden, 81, made the case on Wednesday for his reelection, arguing he is ready for four more years because “I’m in the 20th century.” While speaking with reporters next to the president of Japan at the White House, Biden said, “Elect me. I’m in the 20th Century,” before correcting himself, saying, “the 21st century.” BIDEN: "Elect me. I'm in the 20th Century." 😳 pic.twitter.com/I0vr7KiYUB — RNC Research (@RNCResearch) April 10, 2024 It is not the first gaffe or inaccurate statement delivered by Biden, whom special counsel Robert Hur described as “an elderly man with a poor memory.” Numerous...

Former President Donald Trump filed a notice of appeal Monday in the matter of the New York civil judgment finding him liable for fraudulently inflating his net worth on years of financial statements. The judgement curtailed his ability – and that of the Trump Organization – to do business in New York or apply for loans from financial institutions registered with the state. Trump asked an intermediate-level state appellate court to overturn Justice Arthur Engoron’s Feb. 16 ruling in a civil fraud lawsuit brought in 2022 by New York Attorney General Letitia James, Reuters reports. Trump’s post-judgment interest will continue...

Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) may have publicly berated Norfolk Southern Railroad after the East Palestine Disaster, but privately he lavishly directed federal funds their way only days after accepting a campaign donation from their high-powered lobbyist. The donation and grant announcement occurred after the February 23, 2023, rail disaster in East Palestine, Ohio, which sits on the Ohio-Pennsylvania border. A Norfolk Southern train more than a mile long derailed, scattering dozens of train cars and toxic chemicals which spewed columns of black smoke for days.

New York Attorney General Letitia James welcomed Judge Arthur Engoron’s staggering $354 million fine against Donald Trump on Friday by declaring at a news conference: “Everyone must play by the same rules.” But a review of 70 years of legal history by the Associated Press showed no precedent whatsoever for suing an entrepreneur or business for allegedly inflating real estate values when there was no victim that suffered any damage.

A New York judge says former President Donald Trump’s hush-money trial will go ahead as scheduled with jury selection starting on March 25. Judge Juan Manuel Merchan said Thursday that he made the decision after speaking with the judge in Trump’s now-delayed federal election interference case in the nation’s capital. Donald Trump arrived at NYC court Thursday, where a judge will finalize a trial date in the criminal case charging the real estate mogul with concealing payoffs to alleged lovers to hide potential sex scandals from voters in the 2016 presidential election. Trump, 77, took a seat at the defense...

Rochester, N.Y. (WHAM) — Testimony will begin Thursday in the cold case murder trial of Timothy Williams, who was arrested in 2020 for the 1984 rape and murder of 14-year-old Wendy Jerome. Both sides presented opening statements Wednesday, with new details of Jerome's death coming to light for the first time since she was killed nearly four decades ago.

Michael Cohen, former President Trump’s onetime fixer and former personal attorney, lashed out at the former president’s attempt to discredit him as a witness Monday during the opening day of his New York civil fraud trial. Cohen argued that “disparaging somebody” is not a viable strategy for winning a legal case. “This is a guy who doesn’t understand disparaging somebody is not the way to win a case,” Cohen said in an interview Monday night with CNN’s Abby Phillip, referring to Trump. “What you need to do is to bring the evidence, bring the documents in order to clear your...