Free Republic

When the film Truth premiered in 2015, only a little over ten years after the events depicted, film critics seemed to take the movie as a historical account. Based on Mary Mapes’s memoir Truth and Duty, the film was something else again. It prompted John and me to revisit the story in the Weekly Standard article “Rather shameful.” On Power Line I itemized “problems” with the film in “Lies of Truth.” Today is the twentieth anniversary of the CBS News broadcast that we helped expose as a fraud in the run-up to the 2004 presidential election. I find that even...

Documents written by former President Ronald Reagan revealing a closer look at the president’s life and beliefs have gone up for sale. The Raab Collection based in Ardmore, Pennsylvania lists eight Reagan letters, one signed document and a signed photograph for a total estimated value of $80,000. The documents touch on Reagan’s faith, friendships and crisis-handling during various phases of his life as an actor, governor and president. The letters were written between the years 1952 and 1993, the organization said. Nathan Raab, historical documents expert and president of The Raab Collection, as well as the author of "The Hunt...

How involved were Secret Service staff with a Democratic congressman’s office to strip former President Donald Trump of his Secret Service detail, if at all? How involved were Secret Service staff with a Democratic congressman’s office to strip former President Donald Trump of his Secret Service detail, if at all? A U.S. Army veteran judge advocate and director of a nonprofit organization wants to know. James Fitzpatrick, director of the Center to Advance Security in America, filed Freedom of Information requests with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security inquiring about Department of Homeland Security Legislative Affairs’ and Secret Service’s staff...

A federal complaint unsealed on Tuesday in Brooklyn has charged Asif Merchant, also known as “Asif Raza Merchant,” a 46-year-old Pakistani national, with murder-for-hire in connection with a foiled assassination plot targeting a politician or U.S. government officials on American soil. The plot was thwarted by law enforcement before any attack could be executed. Merchant is currently in federal custody in New York, according to the press release. FBI investigators believe that the intended targets of the plot included Trump and other current and former U.S. government officials, according to a U.S. official briefed on the matter, per CNN. According...

The Defendant Allegedly Traveled to New York City to Hire Hitmen to Murder a Politician or U.S. Government Official on U.S. SoilEarlier today, a complaint was unsealed in Brooklyn charging Asif Merchant, also known as Asif Raza Merchant, 46, with murder-for-hire as part of an alleged scheme to assassinate a politician or U.S. government official on U.S. soil. Law enforcement foiled the charged plot before any attack could be carried out. Merchant is in federal custody.“For years, the Justice Department has been working aggressively to counter Iran’s brazen and unrelenting efforts to retaliate against American public officials for the killing...

The federal government’s classified documents indictment was once considered a “slam dunk.” But this month, Trump-appointed Judge Aileen Cannon of the Southern District of Florida dismissed the case, ruling that the attorney general improperly appointed Jack Smith, and therefore Smith could not legally prosecute Trump. Smith promptly notified Cannon that he intends to appeal her decision, but it’s not clear what his strategy will be. There is now a near-zero chance that Donald Trump will be tried over this case in front of a jury before November—but special counsel Jack Smith is forging ahead with an appeal that could go...

Hunter Biden is using a pair of judicial opinions that were favorable to his father's political rival to argue his conviction on gun charges should be tossed out. In federal court papers filed in Delaware, Hunter Biden’s attorneys asked the judge who oversaw his gun trial to dismiss the case against him because of a federal court ruling in Florida dismissing the classified documents case against former President Donald Trump. In the ruling Monday, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed Jack Smith’s criminal case against Trump on the grounds that the appointment of and funding for the special counsel were...

Special counsel Jack Smith has formally appealed a federal judge’s dismissal of criminal charges against former President Trump over his alleged mishandling of classified information after finding the prosecutor was unlawfully appointed. Smith’s office filed a notice saying it would appeal Florida-based U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon’s ruling tossing out the 40 charges Trump faced to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. The Trump-appointed judge on Monday ruled that Attorney General Merrick Garland did not have the authority to appoint a federal officer with the “kind of prosecutorial power wielded by Special Counsel Smith.” “The bottom line is this: The...

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...

Jack Smith should be writing a thank you note to U.S. District Court Judge Aileen M. Cannon right about now. By dismissing the so-called classified documents case against Donald Trump and his two co-defendants, Cannon just spared the special counsel and his team months of continued humiliation in her Florida courtroom and, eventually, in front of the nation. In a 93-page order issued on Monday, Cannon, in her typically cautious and detailed manner, explained why Smith’s appointment violated the Constitution; Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Smith in November 2022 to take over the Department of Justice’s existing investigations into Trump’s...

U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon has dismissed the classified documents case against former President Donald Trump in an order Monday morning over the manner in which special counsel Jack Smith was appointed. “The Superseding Indictment is DISMISSED because Special Counsel Smith’s appointment violates the Appointments Clause of the United States Constitution,” wrote Judge Cannon, who was appointed to the bench by the former president.

on Soundstage in 1975

Per Fox news. Jack Smith was not lawfully appointed

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...

Judge Aileen Cannon has granted Donald Trump's motion to pause his classified documents case in Florida after the Supreme Court decision in his immunity case. The case stems from the Department of Justice's allegation that Trump should not have held onto some classified documents after leaving office. In his defense, Trump has cite the Presidential Records Act. Journalist Julie Kelly, who has been thorough in her investigations, reported that Cannon has granted the motion. The motion, filed by Trump's legal team, reads: "President Donald J. Trump respectfully submits this motion for (I) leave to file supplemental briefing regarding the implications...

The 7th Brigade combat team, including soldiers of the 7th Brigade, the Givati Brigade, and the Paratroopers Brigade, have been leading the 98th Division’s operation in the ​​Shejaiya area over the past few days. This past weekend, the soldiers eliminated dozens of terrorists in close-quarters combat and with aerial fire support. As part of operational searches of civilian structures converted into terrorist infrastructure, the soldiers raided a UN school that the terrorists of the Shejaiya Battalion were using as a hideout and a warehouse. The troops discovered dozens of weapons, grenades, and valuable intelligence documents. Video Additionally, the soldiers located...

We knew Judge Aileen Cannon likely wouldn't rule right away on the multiple motions heard before her over the past week in the classified documents case against former President Donald Trump. The issues are complicated, and there are a lot of moving parts in the case. So when I first saw the headline: "Cannon rejects Trump claims FBI botched Mar-a-Lago search," I was a bit surprised at the swiftness of the ruling. And I figured Trump and his legal team were likely disappointed with the ruling. Then I took a closer look (always recommended). Here's how The Hill frames it:...

On Friday, Judge Aileen Cannon, overseeing the Florida-based records prosecution of former president Donald Trump, heard a lawsuit regarding the legitimacy of the appointment of special prosecutor Jack Smith. On Sunday, his office provided the response to those complaints. On Monday, the court entertained the oral arguments regarding this issue. Based upon his arguments, even a non-lawyer such as myself can see that the two cases (Florida and Washington, D.C.) are illegitimate. Now we must await Judge Cannon’s opinion.On Sunday evening, Mark Levin announced on Fox News that his Landmark Legal Foundation had filed a brief concerning the validity of...

HOLY ****: Special Counsel Jack Smith just admitted the FBI added cover sheets to alleged classified documents found at MAL and took photos for evidence. This confirms my report from last month that the FBI doctored evidence to produce stunt photos of classified docs at MAL:

@Mike_Pence Julian Assange endangered the lives of our troops in a time of war and should have been prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. The Biden administration’s plea deal with Assange is a miscarriage of justice and dishonors the service and sacrifice of the men and women of our Armed Forces and their families. There should be no plea deals to avoid prison for anyone that endangers the security of our military or the national security of the United States. Ever