Free Republic

House lawmakers on Tuesday voted to pass a measure which would help the federal government recover billions of dollars lost to fraudsters during the pandemic. The Pandemic Unemployment Fraud Enforcement Act would extend the statute of limitations on pandemic-era fraud cases to 10 years. The extension would provide critical time to investigate and prosecute fraudsters, ensuring those who defrauded the government of federal relief funds can still be prosecuted. Rep. Pat Harrigan, R-N.C., who supported the bill, said the measure brings accountability to those the federal government. “The American people deserve accountability,” he wrote. “In the rush to respond to...

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...

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...

Canada has fallen. It’s become the North Korea of the West, and it’s getting worse every single day. This new bill they’ve introduced is the cherry on their tyrannical sundae. It’s called the Online Harms Bill C-63, and it would make even Stalin blush. As a matter of fact, tyrannical dictator Kim Jong-Un would look at this bill and feel an instant rush of communist inadequacy. With this new bill, Justin Trudeau is fueling those online rumors that his real father is actually communist dirtbag Fidel Castro. This new bill is supposedly aimed at safeguarding the masses from online “hate...

The Democrats’ last good chance of keeping the White House, aside from trying to steal the election outright, is to quickly take Donald Trump to trial after the Supreme Court hands down its decision in the presidential immunity case, insofar as a guilty verdict is virtually a given. (The jury will be selected from a jury pool in a place that’s about 95% Democrat.) The hope of Democrats is that a guilty verdict in a criminal case involving Jan. 6 will turn off enough voters to keep Trump from winning the election. They aren’t guaranteed satisfaction, but many agree that...

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 Supreme Court seemed concerned Monday that blowing up Purdue Pharma’s bankruptcy settlement — a plan the Biden administration challenged based on the immunity it granted the company’s owners from facing future lawsuits — could mean victims of the opioid crisis never see a cent in compensation. The settlement requires the Sackler family to provide up to $6 billion to address the opioid crisis in exchange for immunity from future lawsuits. While skeptical of the arrangement, multiple justices voiced concerns during oral arguments Monday in Harrington v. Purdue Pharma that changing it would put victims, who overwhelmingly support the settlement...

Special Counsel Jack Smith hunted information on X users who liked or retweeted posts published by former President Donald Trump, according to redacted search warrants and other documents released Monday.According to the heavily redacted document issued to then-Twitter in January, the court ordered the social media giant to forfeit a bevy of information regarding Trump’s account, including “advertising information, including advertising IDs, ad activity, and ad topic preferences,” as well as IP addresses “used to create, login, and use the account” and privacy and account settings. The warrant also demanded information such as Trump’s search history, direct messages, and “content...

A federal judge in Texas declared the Biden administration's attempt at banning pistol braces is likely unlawful last week. The lawsuit, brought by the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL) on behalf of members of the National Association for Gun Rights Inc. and Texas Gun Rights, Inc., argued the rule put forth by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), that would require 40 million U.S. gun owners to place their name on a gun registry and pay a tax, is unconstitutional. If gun owners didn't register and pay the tax, they could face up to 10...

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...

The Trump Organization cheated tax authorities for 15 years by bankrolling big perks for top executives — including apartments and luxury cars, Manhattan prosecutors said as the real estate company’s criminal trial got underway Monday. Former President Donald Trump’s firm used the perks to pay its executives — without reporting those benefits — as part of an alleged scheme to avoid paying taxes between at least 2005 and 2021, Assistant District Attorney Susan Hoffinger said in her opening statements in Manhattan Supreme Court. “This case is about greed and cheating, cheating on taxes,” Hoffinger told jurors. “The scheme was conducted,...

A well-known writer and advice columnist from New York who claims that former President Donald Trump raped her in the 1990s plans to file a sexual battery lawsuit under the state’s new Adult Survivors Act, CBS News reports.In a court filing as part of her ongoing defamation lawsuit against Trump, E. Jean Carroll, now age 78 and living in Orange County, says she intends to sue the former president on Thursday, Nov. 24, when the new law takes effect.The Adult Survivors Act provides a one-year window for adult victims of sexual abuse to file a claim, even if it occurred...

OTTAWA -- Tamara Lich, one of the leading organizers behind protests against COVID-19 restrictions and the Liberal government on Parliament Hill, has been denied bail. An Ontario court judge issued the decision in Ottawa this morning, saying she believed there was a substantial likelihood Lich would reoffend if released. A separate bail hearing is scheduled this morning for fellow protest organizer Patrick King. Related Stories MP’s approve use of Emergencies Act in House of Commons vote Lich was arrested last Thursday and charged with counselling to commit mischief and promised during a bail hearing on Saturday to give up her...

A Canadian MP says the bank account of a single mom with a minimum wage job has been frozen after she donated $50 to Freedom Convoy. Conservative lawmaker Mark Strahl says the mom, named only as Briane, has had her life ruined for donating the small sum to the anti-vaccine mandates protest. Strahl shared Brianne's story as concerns grow that scores of ordinary people will no longer be able to pay for food and basics after their accounts were frozen for donating to a group of protesters. 'Briane is a single mom from Chilliwack working a minimum wage job. She...

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau insisted at a news conference on Monday that his government still needs the unprecedented emergency powers he demanded this month even though police violently removed the Freedom Convoy protesters from Ottawa and no active Freedom Convoy protests are currently occurring.

A recent study by Iowa State University showed that the administration’s American Families Plan if passed into law, would have a significant negative effect on Iowa’s family farms. In order to pay for new spending in the American Families Plan, the Biden administration has proposed, amongst other tax hikes, taxing accrued capital gains at death. AMAC Action and a number of small business organizations have been pushing back strongly on the proposal. This new Iowa State University study confirms that this issue should be front and center for small businesses and family farms. Kristine Tidgren, director of Iowa State’s Center...

Senate Democrats are set to unveil legislation that would tax energy companies responsible for major greenhouse gas emissions to pay for the costs of climate disasters. The Polluters Pay Climate Fund Act, sponsored by Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), would require between 25 to 30 of the U.S. corporations responsible for the most greenhouse gas pollution to pay $300 billion into a fund over 10 years. The legislation would require companies to pay into the fund if they were responsible for at least .05 percent of global carbon dioxide and methane emissions between 2000 and 2019 based on data from...