Free Republic

Then head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division, he invented a new form of what 19th-early 20th centuries Tammany boss George Washington Plunkett famously called “Honest Graft.” It was simple. Until 1977, Congress had to approve any settlement of a civil suit against the Federal government over $100,000. This preserved the Constitutional requirement that Congress control the government’s purse. But in that year, seeking relief from the burgeoning volume of suits to review, Congress removed the cap, handing the Justice Department a permanent blank check to pay settlements unilaterally, in any amount, out of an account known as the Judgment...

Former President Donald Trump again drew outrage from pro-life organizations this week after he said he would not ban the distribution of abortion pills by mail if elected, drawing outrage from pro-life organizations. In an interview with CBS News on Monday, Trump answered whether he would enforce the Comstock Act if he won the 2024 presidential election. As explained by reporter Caitlin Huey-Burns, the 1873 law could "prohibit the … distribution of medication abortion by mail." "No," Trump responded. "We will be discussing specifics of it but generally speaking, no." When asked again if he would enforce the Comstock Act,...

Donald Trump told the Daily Mail on Wednesday that he doesn’t want briefings from U.S. intelligence agencies because it could lead to him being accused of leaking classified information.‘I don’t want them, because, number one, I know what’s happening. It’s very easy to see what’s happening … because as soon as I get that, they’ll say that I leaked it,” he said.“So, the best way to handle that situation is, I don’t need that briefing. They come in, they give you a briefing, and then two days later, they leak it, and then they say, ‘You leaked it’ … So...

The Democrat Party platform calls for the Department of Justice to intervene in elections across the country, supposedly in the interest of “voting rights.”The party released its platform Sunday, ahead of the already-contentious Democratic National Convention in Chicago. It boasts the Department of Justice has “more than doubled” staff to enforce so-called “voting rights laws.” The document also calls for passage of the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act, which, as Jonatahan Tobin previously explained in The Federalist, would “allow the federal government to intervene anywhere in the country to overrule local or state authorities” when the left claims election...

The Justice Department is attempting to substitute itself in place of former President Trump as the defendant in a lawsuit brought after law enforcement pushed protesters out from Lafayette Square near the White House following the murder of George Floyd in 2020. If successful, the move would enable Trump to avoid liability in the suit or having to pay any eventual damages. In court filings Monday, the Biden-era Justice Department certified Trump was acting in the scope of his employment as president and filed a notice substituting itself as the defendant. “On the basis of the information now available with...

The Biden-Harris Department of Justice (DOJ) on Friday requested the U.S. Supreme Court “deny” Republicans’ bid to enforce an Arizona law requiring individuals to prove they’re U.S. citizens when registering and voting in elections.Arguing on behalf of the administration, U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar requested that the nation’s highest court instead allow a lower court decision — one prohibiting the implementation of provisions of the statute in question — to remain in effect for the November election.As The Federalist previously reported, the 2022 law mandated residents to show documentary proof of citizenship (DPOC) when registering via state voter registration forms....

I’ve been filming on borders around the world since early 2019, and I always encounter government agents who want to tell me what’s really going on behind the scenes. My latest tour on the border in Jacumba, California, has been no different. An agent who spoke to me under the condition he remains anonymous told me that immediately after Joe Biden took office in 2021, official email communications from his administration instructed all Border Patrol agents to turn in family members, friends, and co-workers if they believed that the election was stolen or tampered with. The communications also directed agents...

Aug. 13 (UPI) -- A U.S. Army soldier and intelligence analyst with top secret security clearance pleaded guilty Tuesday to selling American military secrets to China... Korbein Schultz of Fort Campbell, Tenn., faces decades in federal jail after pleading guilty Tuesday to a six-count indictment...He was also accused of trying to recruit other members of the U.S. military to join the conspiracy.... Information...included deployment information in support of NATO in Eastern Europe, manuals for the HH-60 helicopter, the F-22A fighter jet and operation of Intercontinental Ballistic Missile systems... U.S. military exercises with allies South Korea and the Philippines...[and] information on...

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — A judge ruled Tuesday over prosecutors’ objections that a Defense Department civilian employee who is a U.S.-Turkish dual citizen can remain free on home detention while he awaits trial on accusations he mishandled classified documents. Gokhan Gun, 50, of Falls Church, was arrested Friday... Assistant U.S. Attorney Anthony Rodregous said the fact that Gun was arrested carrying classified documents, as well as his intelligence-community credentials, on the way to the airport for a purported Mexican fishing trip was circumstantial evidence of his intent to distribute the documents.

Google was found last week to have violated antitrust law by illegally maintaining a monopoly in internet search. Now discussions over how to fix those violations have begun. Justice Department officials are considering what remedies to ask a federal judge to order against the search giant, said three people with knowledge of the deliberations involving the agency and state attorneys general who helped to bring the case. They are discussing various proposals, including breaking off parts of Google, such as its Chrome browser or Android smartphone operating system, two of the people said. Other scenarios under consideration include forcing Google...

On Monday, in yet another affront to America’s justice system, the Department of Justice sentenced a 72-year-old woman to a half year house arrest, with restrictions on her internet use, 12 month probation, and a $103,000 fine. Rebecca Lavrenz, who is known as the “J6 praying grandma,” never committed a violent crime, let alone a felony. Before January 6th, 2021, she had a squeaky-clean record without so much as a speeding ticket. Now, she is, in the blistering words of the government, “a threat to future acts of political violence like that which engulfed the nation on January 6.”

Former Democrat Illinois Governor Blagojevich reveals Obama-led machine behind coup to install Kamala as nominee:"This is KGB Police-State style politics...if we don't fix this: say goodbye to freedom in America because… The Obamas from the backroom control everything." (14 minute interview in the link below)https://x.com/bennyjohnson/status/1821554031178768767

Romanian businessman Gabriel Popoviciu expected to testify against Hunter Biden Department of Justice (DOJ) prosecutors allege Hunter Biden was paid by a Romanian oligarch to "influence U.S. policy and public opinion," while his father, Joe Biden, was vice president, according to new documents. The documents were filed by Special Counsel David Weiss in the Central District of California on Wednesday. The filings pertain to Hunter Biden's tax trial in California. The allegations are the closest prosecutors have come to tying President Biden to his son's overseas business dealings. Romanian businessman Gabriel Popoviciu is expected to testify against Hunter Biden in...

Organizers are predicting “tens of thousands” of marchers. They say it will be family friendly and safe. ome critics of Israeli actions in Gaza are worried about a pro-Palestinian march planned for the first day of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago this month, saying a large protest could play into former President Donald Trump’s hands. The critics say the protest could lead to clashes with police or counter protesters that would allow Republicans to blame the chaos on Democratic nominee Kamala Harris and paint the GOP as the party of law and order.

FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate testified before Congress on Tuesday about the possible motivation of the Trump rally shooter, but the CEO of Gab immediately contradicted his claim. Abbate testified that Thomas Matthew Crooks had posted hundreds of messages to social media, including some that expressed anti-Semitic and anti-immigration sentiments. “Some of these comments, if ultimately attributable to the shooter, appear to reflect antisemitic and anti-immigration themes, to espouse political violence, and are described as extreme in nature,” said Abbate. The posts were reportedly published between 2019 and 2020. “While the investigative team is still working to verify this account...

This story is popping on Twitter, and -- if true -- it makes the entire mess surrounding the investigation into the Trump assassination attempt even worse. In the immediate aftermath of the assassination attempt, the Left argued Crooks was a registered Republican even though he'd made donations to ActBlue and Biden himself on inauguration day. Not exactly Republican, pro-Trump behavior. At this time, it's not confirmed that the account in question belonged to Thomas Crooks, but if it does -- and the FBI requested info on this particular account -- the way it was portrayed in Congressional testimony is different...

The FBI has linked Thomas Matthew Crooks, the would-be assassin of former President Donald Trump, to a social media account purportedly filled with anti-immigrant and anti-Semitic rhetoric. This revelation was made during a Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing on Tuesday, where U.S. Secret Service Acting Director Ronald Rowe and FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate provided updates on the ongoing investigation. Despite initial reports that investigators had found no threatening posts on Crooks’ social media accounts, Deputy Director Abbate claimed new evidence had surfaced. “Something just very recently uncovered that I want to share is a social media account which is...

The Justice Department has agreed to pay a total of $2 million to settle legal claims brought by former FBI counterintelligence agent Peter Strzok and former FBI attorney Lisa Page over the DOJ’s release of text messages the pair exchanged. The agreement ends a lawsuit Page brought, but does not fully resolve Strzok’s separate suit, allowing him to continue to press his claims that he was fired in order to please then-President Donald Trump. On Friday, Strzok’s lawyers announced his $1.2 million agreement as attorneys for both sides notified a federal judge in Washington that the privacy-focused portion of that...

The Justice Department has agreed to settle claims by former senior FBI special agent Peter P. Strzok and FBI lawyer Lisa Page, who had filed lawsuits accusing the government of violating their privacy rights by leaking their politically charged text messages criticizing Donald Trump. Strzok’s attorneys say he will receive a $1.2 million settlement. Terms for Page were not disclosed. Strzok and Page said they were illegally targeted for retribution by the Trump administration after the FBI investigated Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election. Strzok, a former top counter-intelligence expert, was fired by the FBI in 2018 after news...

President Trump's former physician released a letter via his X.com account to update his prior assessment of the health of the President.10:56 AM · Jul 26, 2024·514.6KViews