Free Republic

New York’s highest court threw out former President Donald Trump’s request to lift his gag order in his business records case. The New York Court of Appeals dismissed Trump’s appeal to lift the gag order that limits him from making public remarks against his prosecutors or their families. Trump’s attorneys requested Judge Juan Merchan lift the order after his conviction, arguing the gag order limits his First Amendment rights and that lifting the order would be in the public’s interest before the presidential election. Yet, the court’s ruling said that “no constitutional question is directly involved” in dismissing Trump’s appeal.

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley wrist-flicked the idea of former Gov. Christ Christie’s (R-NJ) endorsement on the eve of the New Hampshire primary. “At the end of the day, you don’t want all of those politicians’ endorsements,” Haley told the far-left NewsNation of Christie Friday. “That’s part of the problem. You want people who actually move the ball.” Haley added she has “plenty” of campaign cash to remain in the race. She added, “I don’t need” Christie’s endorsement.

The panel affirmed the district court’s dismissal for lack of standing of an action, brought before the 2022 general election by former Republican nominees for Governor and Secretary of State of Arizona, alleging that Arizona’s use of electronic tabulation systems violated the federal Constitution. The gravamen of Plaintiffs’ operative complaint is that notwithstanding safeguards, electronic tabulation systems are particularly susceptible to hacking by non-governmental actors who intend to influence election results. On appeal, Plaintiffs conceded that their arguments were limited to potential future hacking, and not based on any past harm. The panel held that because Plaintiffs are no longer...

US District Judge Maryellen Noreika on Wednesday agreed to formally drop a gun charge against Hunter Biden after a new indictment replaced his collapsed plea deal. Recall that Hunter Biden’s sweetheart plea deal collapsed in July after Judge Maryellen Noreika realized Hunter’s lawyers were trying to pull a fast one on her. Hunter was only charged with two misdemeanors related to tax fraud and would have avoided prison time on a felony gun charge. Prosecutors went easy on Hunter and handled the gun charge as a “diversion case.” The lawyers slipped Hunter’s blanket immunity in the pre-trial diversion agreement so...

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has rejected the prospect of peace talks with Vladimir Putin while dismissing his Russian counterpart Thursday as a “nobody.” Zelensky used an interview with Britain’s Sky News to declare Putin “doesn’t want negotiations because he doesn’t want peace.” The Ukrainian leader said he was “convinced” Ukraine was “just the first step” for Putin, who has his eye on “other countries” as he seeks Eastern European domination.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Wednesday said she “certainly” planned to stay on in her job for the duration of President Joe Biden’s term, dismissing speculation she was considering leaving after this month’s midterm elections. Yellen told an event hosted by the New York Times Dealbook she had no plans to leave Treasury. “I’m committed to staying,” Yellen said. “I’m excited about the agenda. I’m excited about what President Biden has accomplished so far, and I think there’s more to come.” Speculation about whether Yellen, 76, will remain in the job has increased in recent months, and the Republican takeover...

Let Them Eat Lithium. Left-wing CBS late-night host Stephen Colbert, who boasts a reported personal net worth of approximately $75 million, professes to being entirely untroubled by soaring U.S. gas prices, admitting he takes comfort in the fact he drives a Tesla. On Monday night the electric car evangelist laid out just why he travels with a “clean conscience” as he commutes into Manhattan while others outside his elite struggle to fill their tanks just to go to work or carry their family around.

“The notion that the $100 billion which Iran will obtain ‘is going to make all the difference in the world is just – it’s not true,'” Kerry said. No, but it is going to make some difference. It is going to cost people’s lives. As will this entire disastrous agreement with Iran. “Kerry Dismisses Iran’s Financial Support for Hezbollah, Other Terror Groups,” by Patrick Goodenough, CNS News, July 15, 2015 (thanks to The Religion of Peace): (CNSNews.com) – Secretary of State John Kerry on Tuesday played down concerns that Iran will use the windfall from sanctions relief under the nuclear...

Secretary of Labor Tom Perez dismissed today’s reported drop in the labor participation rate this morning on CNBC. According to the Department of Labor the economy created 288,000 jobs in the month of April, but the labor participation rate dropped 0.4 percentage points back to a historical low of 62.8 percent. Host David Faber put it to Perez directly, noting the labor participation rate drop is not due to people retiring given the participation rate for individuals 55 and older actually increased. “The civilian labor force dropped by 806,000 in April. The participation rate down by 0.4 percentage points, lowest...

With the labor movement reeling from the result of Tuesday's recall election in Wisconsin, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka sought to downplay the significance of Gov. Scott Walker's victory over a union-driven effort to unseat him. Trumka, the leader of one of the nation's largest labor groups, dismissed the notion that unions might look back upon their unsuccessful campaign against Walker with regret."We didn't decide on this recall. It was the workers in Wisconsin and the voters in Wisconsin who did," he said on a conference call with reporters. "Hell, I don't know if we'd do anything differently."

DEARBORN HEIGHTS (WWJ) – A judge has dismissed assault and battery charges against four high school football players who were accused of starting an on-field shoving match last October. WWJ’s Florence Walton was in the courtroom when 20th District Judge Mark Plawecki dismissed the misdemeanor charges against the 17-year-old Star International Academy football players – Mohamed Elfatih Ahmed, Fanar Al-Furat Al-Asady, Hadee Mohamaud Attia and Ali Maniff Bajjey. The judge said although the students’ behavior on the field was deplorable, football is a brutally violent sport. “If we criminalize these players’ actions, we criminalize nearly every football game ever played....

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif) on Thursday described America’s Roman Catholic bishops as “lobbyists in Washington, D.C.” in their efforts to persuade the Department of Health and Human Service to rescind a proposed regulation under the new health-care law that would force Catholics to act against the teachings of their church by compelling them to purchase health-care plans that cover sterilizations and all-FDA approved contraceptives, including abortifacients. The proposed regulation, scheduled to take effect on Aug. 1, 2012, would require every health-insurance plan in the United States to cover sterilizations and all FDA-approved contraceptives

BERLIN – Rising criticism from prominent German- Iranians, NGOs and the federal commissioner for culture and media prompted an elite cultural foundation on Tuesday to eject Iran’s acting Deputy Foreign Minister Mostafa Dolatyar from its board of trustees because he called for the destruction of Israel. According to a report in Iran’s Mahan News in 2010, Dolatyar said, “We hope that the prophecy of the Imam [Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini] regarding the downfall of this regime [Israel] will occur very soon and that we will witness it.” A spokesman for Bernd Neumann, Germany’s federal culture commissioner, told The Jerusalem Post that...

Politics August 17, 2011 Obama Dismisses Farmer's Concerns About Regulations: 'Don't Always Believe What You Hear' Fire it up 94 Share During a town hall meeting at Wyffels Hybrids in Atkinson, Illinois, a farmer expressed concern to President Obama about forthcoming regulations. The man stated that people would rather be farming than "filling out forms and permits to do what we like to do." President Obama told the farmer "don't always believe what you hear" and blamed Washington for ginning up speculation. Obama added that, "Nobody is more interested in seeing our agricultural sector successful than I am, partly because...

A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit Tuesday by a Tucson police officer who challenged Arizona's new immigration law. U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton says the lawsuit by Officer Martin Escobar alleged an injury that was based on speculation. Escobar alleged he would be subject to civil liability for violating the rights of others in enforcing the law. Gov. Jan Brewer's lawyers asked for the dismissal.

Health and Human Services Secretary (HHS) Kathleen Sebelius on Monday downplayed a federal judge's decision allowing Virginia's challenge to healthcare reform to continue, arguing it was merely a procedural move that has no bearing on the underlying issues. "We remain confident that the case is solid," Sebelius told reporters during a phone call on the reform law's effects on Medicare spending. Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA, a liberal consumer group, echoed that message Monday, saying the ruling "has no effect on the validity of the health reform law."

The liberal website DailyKos.com has chosen to terminate its relationship with MD-based pollster Research 2000, according to DailyKos founder Markos Moulitsas. "I have decided to part ways with our current pollster, and will be looking for a new polling partner to finish out this election cycle," Moulitsas wrote in a statement posted on his site. Research 2000 Pres. Del Ali confirmed the split in an interview with Hotline OnCall. Moulitsas' decision comes in the wake of last night's AR SEN Dem primary runoff, in which Sen. Blanche Lincoln held off LG Bill Halter, Daily Kos' preferred candidate. The website promoted...

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Monday that Israel must prove it is committed to the Middle East peace process, but brushed aside suggestions that U.S.-Israeli relations are in crisis. U.S. and Israeli officials are in intense talks over "steps that we think would demonstrate the requisite commitment to the process," said Clinton. She added that the Obama administration was awaiting a response from Israel to suggestions on how to repair damage caused by last week's announcement of new housing in East Jerusalem.

Downing Street has dismissed an American offer of help in resolving Britain's dispute with Argentina over the Falkland Islands. "We don't think that's necessary," the Prime Minister's spokesman said after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton indicated Washington's readiness to step in if required "We welcome the support of the Secretary of State in terms of ensuring that we continue to keep diplomatic channels open but there is no need for that (direct involvement).".

SAN DIEGO (AP)—District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis has dismissed reality TV star Tila Tequila’s accusations that San Diego Chargers linebacker Shawne Merriman(notes) choked her and threw her to the ground early Sunday.