Free Republic

A notice calls the people the U.S. military recently killed on suspicion of drug smuggling in the Caribbean Sea “unlawful combatants.”President Trump has decided that the United States is engaged in a formal “armed conflict” with drug cartels his team has labeled terrorist organizations and that suspected smugglers for such groups are “unlawful combatants,” the administration said in a confidential notice to Congress this week. The notice was sent to several congressional committees and obtained by The New York Times. It adds new detail to the administration’s thinly articulated legal rationale for why three U.S. military strikes the president ordered...

New York Attorney General Letitia James has tapped criminal defense attorney Abbe Lowell — who previously defended Hunter Biden against federal tax and gun charges — as she fights mortgage fraud allegations. Lowell, a partner at the Winston & Strawn LLP law firm, was hired by the Office of the New York State Attorney General and not retained personally by James, according to the Times Union. The decision to hire Lowell, a prominent white-collar defense lawyer, was based in part on the AG’s office belief that the bombshell criminal referral filed by Federal Housing Finance Agency Director William Pulte earlier...

Lawyers for Hunter Biden plan to sue Fox News “imminently,” according to a letter sent to the network and obtained by NBC News. The letter, dated April 23, puts the Fox News Channel and Fox News Digital on notice for litigation claims arising from the network’s alleged “conspiracy and subsequent actions to defame Mr. Biden and paint him in a false light, the unlicensed commercial exploitation of his image, name, and likeness, and the unlawful publication of hacked intimate images of him.” Biden has hired attorney Mark Geragos and his firm to represent him in the Fox litigation efforts. The...

n this day in history, Nov. 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy — the 35th president of the United States — was assassinated while riding in an open-car motorcade in downtown Dallas, Texas. The shocking event of 59 years ago happened near the end of JFK's third year as president. Riding in the same car as Kennedy and first lady Jacqueline Kennedy was Texas Gov. John B. Connally, as well as Connally's wife, Nellie Connally. That same day, the suspect in the shooting, Lee Harvey Oswald, was arrested. Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in as president that day...

Federal law enforcement officials are investigating threats made against Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in the aftermath of his sharp-edged attacks against Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, sources said Monday. Reid has not minced words about Bundy’s battle with the Bureau of Land Management, referring to Bundy’s supporters as “domestic terrorists” and the rancher himself as a “hateful racist.” As he’s stepped up his criticism, Reid has been the subject of threats himself, prompting an increase in his own security detail in recent days, people familiar with the matter said Monday. Shennell Antrobus, a spokesman for the U.S. Capitol Police, declined...

Senator Joseph Biden (D-DE) failed today to address rumors that Nevada Senator Harry Reid will step down next month as Senate Minority Leader. Reid has been stung by revelations that his political action committee (PAC) accepted more than $60,000 in contributions from Indian tribes linked to convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Appearing on CNN's Late Edition, Biden avoided discussing either the Reid situation or any upcoming changes in Senate Democratic leadership. Reid is no stranger to scandal, having been the subject of a 1979 Justice Department probe into allegations that Reid — then Nevada Gaming Commission chairman — had received bribes...

"...Now that the technology is available, consumers should be allowed to see instantaneously what their credit rating is and how it is determined. This bill will give consumers access to the same information lenders and credit reporting agencies use and will help families make wiser decisions that will improve their credit score," said Schumer. Schumer pointed out that already one internet company, E-LOAN, is offering a free, web-based service that allows real estate agents, bankers, and consumers to instantly determine their credit rating. In addition to an instant credit score, consumers receive a credit score analysis that helps them identify...