Free Republic

The Atlanta courthouse locked down ahead of Fani Willis’ decision to charge Trump over his efforts to challenge the 2020 election in Georgia. “Law-enforcement officers surrounded the Fulton County courthouse on Monday in downtown Atlanta, Georgia, amid closed roads and traffic barriers put up to boost security ahead of a possible indictment of former U.S. President Donald Trump,” Reuters reported. A judge last Monday denied Trump’s second bid to quash Fulton County DA Fani Willis’investigation into Trump’s efforts to challenge the 2020 election in Georgia. Meanwhile, Fani Willis is reportedly ‘ready to go’ Fulton County prosecutors are preparing sprawling racketeering...

Even those who don’t pay much attention to politics have known some things about the Biden family for years: That Joe makes up half the stories he tells; that Hunter is a longtime abuser of women and drugs; and that many in the Biden family have profited financially off their “relative in the Senate” for decades. Conservative voters always suspected that all of the above was worse than that; and liberal voters always gave them the benefit of the doubt and told themselves it was harmless. “All politicians lie, don’t they?” “Lots of politicians have troubled kids; who doesn’t?” “If...

Atlanta’s top prosecutor is preparing to charge former President Donald Trump with racketeering for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis will formally accuse Trump, 77, of influencing witnesses and computer trespassing, The Guardian reported Friday, in what could be the former president’s fourth indictment this year. Trump made several phone calls to Georgia election officials after his electoral loss to now-President Biden, asking Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in one infamous conversation to “find” 11,780 votes to overturn his defeat in the Peach State. Willis also probed the involvement of...

Several top Republican lawmakers and energy industry groups blasted the Biden administration Wednesday after it announced aggressive regulations cracking down on gas-powered car emissions. Critics of the sweeping emissions standards, unveiled Wednesday morning by the White House and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), argued the announcement revealed President Biden is seeking to effectively ban traditional gas cars in favor of electric vehicles (EV). The White House said the rules would "accelerate the clean vehicle transition" and reduce pollution by nearly 10 billion tons by 2055.

Documents reveal that the federal government and insurers incentivized healthcare providers in Kentucky and California to vaccinate Medicaid patients against COVID-19 by offering bonuses based on the percentage of patients successfully vaccinated. ... The federal government and insurers incentivized healthcare providers in Kentucky and California to vaccinate Medicaid patients against COVID-19 by offering bonuses based on the percentage of patients successfully vaccinated. “[This is] truly sickening and I am embarrassed for my profession by this,” Dr. Meryl Nass, an internist and biological warfare epidemiologist, wrote on her Substack, where she posted several documents relating to the COVID-19 vaccine provider incentive...

A former Boston Public Schools academic dean who led a double life as a member of the Latin Kings gang and shot a student pleaded guilty to racketeering charges Tuesday, the U.S. District Attorney for Massachusetts announced. Shaun “Rev” Harrison, 63, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to conduct enterprise affairs through a pattern of racketeering activity, more commonly referred to as RICO conspiracy, in federal court... In 2015, the DA said, Harrison was hired by BPS as an academic dean at English High School. In that role, Harrison was to act as a mediator between teachers and students, contact families when...

NEW YORK (AP) — Disgraced R&B superstar R. Kelly was sentenced Wednesday to 30 years in prison for using his fame to sexually abuse young fans, including some who were just children, in a systematic scheme that went on for decades. Through tears and anger, several of Kelly’s accusers told a court, and the singer himself, that he had preyed on them and misled his fans. “You made me do things that broke my spirit. I literally wished I would die because of how low you made me feel,” said one unnamed survivor, directly addressing a Kelly who kept his...

SEATTLE — Washington state has launched a new program to save 10,000 acres of forest land as a carbon reserve. The Seattle Times reports the state intends to lease the trees as carbon credits to emitters of greenhouse gases that cause global warming. The DNR is partnering with Finite Carbon, a developer and supplier of carbon offsets, which will verify the effectiveness of the offsets. Purchasers are expected to be larger corporations seeking to achieve reductions in their carbon emissions, said Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz, adding that in the first 10 years of the program, the DNR hopes...

On Thursday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “All In,” Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm stated that many hoped “we would be focusing solely on clean energy solutions, renewable, making that transition,” but the war in Ukraine has thrown a wrench into that and said that “we have got to use this reason to become energy independent with clean energy.” Host Chris Hayes said that while he would probably take a similar approach to President Joe Biden because people need gas to get around and gas price increases harm people, but “At the same time, it just seems so depressingly insane that we are...

MINNEAPOLIS — Last year, with the federal government making available huge new sums of money for programs to feed needy children during the pandemic, a nonprofit organization called Advance Youth Athletic Development set up what it described as an enormous child care operation in northeast Minneapolis that could prepare 5,000 dinners each weeknight. Based on the group’s claims, the State of Minnesota channeled $3.2 million of the federal food aid to the program. But on a subzero morning in January, the F.B.I. carried out a series of predawn raids around the region. It revealed a sprawling investigation into Advance Youth...

MOSCOW (Mineweb.com) -- It is almost forty years since those fine falsettos, the Bee Gees, put their pop classic, “Massachusetts”, on the top of the charts. They had no idea that their lyrics might become the alleged plot of a scheme by a trio of Ukrainian metal men to steal hundreds of millions of dollars in proceeds from the processing of manganese ore, and the sale of ferromanganese, ferrosilicon, and silicomanganese to steelmakers around the world. “And the lights all went out in Massachusetts,” sang Robin and Barry Gibb. “They brought me back to see my way with you.” On...

Nine U.S. House Democrats have asked the Justice Department to release American environmental lawyer Steven Donziger, who spent decades battling Chevron Corp over pollution in the Ecuadorian rainforest. The disbarred lawyer was handed a six-month imprisonment sentence in October for criminal contempt arising from a lawsuit brought by the oil company. The Democrats including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rashida Tlaib on Monday said in a letter addressed to Attorney General Merrick Garland that the lawyer was jailed for "petty contempt of court". "As the United States is a party to the District Court case against Mr. Donziger, we request that you...

Josh Hawley @HawleyMO Tonight while I was in Missouri, Antifa scumbags came to our place in DC and threatened my wife and newborn daughter, who can’t travel. They screamed threats, vandalized, and tried to pound open our door. Let me be clear: My family & I will not be intimidated by leftwing violence 11:13 PM · Jan 4, 2021 ShutDownDC @ShutDown_DC Tonight we dropped in at the home of @HawleyMO to encourage him to end his attack on democracy. Let's be clear, Hawley and his pals are doing real and serious damage to our democracy. And they're emboldening thugs like...

Portland Fire and Rescue officials are looking to question a person seen in surveillance footage apparently setting fire to a local restaurant. The suspected arsonist acted after the restaurant owner criticized vandalism in the area committed by Antifa. On November 23, a suspected arsonist set fire to Reo’s Ribs located in Portland’s Hollywood District, Breitbart News reported. When firefighters arrived on the scene, they observed smoke pouring out of the rear of the building and flames both on the interior and exterior.

Keith Raniere, the founder and leader of Nxivm, was sentenced today to 120 years in prison by United States District Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis in federal court in Brooklyn. Raniere was convicted by a federal jury in June 2019 of racketeering, racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking, attempted sex trafficking, sex trafficking conspiracy, forced labor conspiracy and wire fraud conspiracy. The Court also imposed a fine of $1,750,000. At the sentencing hearing, the Court heard victim impact statements from 15 individuals, including “Camila,” the victim who was sexually exploited by Raniere when she was 15 years old. A hearing on victim restitution...

(ATLANTA) – Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger issued a warning to groups that are helping individuals move to Georgia solely for the purpose of voting in the January Senate runoffs elections. Groups that finance or organize such efforts are involved in conspiracy to commit voter fraud and could be charged under Georgia’s Racketeering Conspiracy laws. “Make no mistake about it, I will seek to prosecute those who try to undermine our elections to the fullest extent of the law,” said Raffensperger. “The integrity of our elections is paramount. Outside groups who seek to interfere with democracy in Georgia should be...

Union President James Cahill is accused of heading an organization which used its members’ influential union roles to engage in criminal activity. Cahill, who is President of the Albany-based New York State Building and Construction Trades Council (NYS Trades Council), is among 11 officials facing racketeering, fraud and bribery charges.

The Louisville cadre of Black Lives Matter activists sent a letter to many downtown businesses demanding they “diversify” their employees. But at least one Cuban-American business owner objected to the threatening tone of the letter and posted his displeasure on Facebook. Fernando Martinez owns a restaurant group with several Hispanic eateries. He accused BLM of using “mafia tactics” and explained his position. “There comes a time in life that you have to make a stand and you have to really prove your convictions and what you believe in,” Martinez wrote in a public Facebook post. “… All good people need...

Following Conviction for Racketeering Conspiracy HAMMOND- Luis Colunga, 27, of Hobart, Indiana, was sentenced, on July 17, 2020, by U.S. District Court Judge Philip P. Simon to 204 months in prison following his guilty plea to conspiracy to participate in racketeering activity as a member of the Latin Dragons Nation street gang, announced U.S. Attorney Kirsch.“A 17 year sentence should send a strong message that gang activity and associated criminal acts will not be tolerated,” said U.S. Attorney Thomas L. Kirsch II.  “Gang members should know that my office will continue to investigate and prosecute criminal gang activity as a...

Eleven defendants charged in Hawaii federal court with racketeering and other offenses Superseding indictment includes charges against Michael J. Miske, Jr. for the July 2016 kidnapping and murder of 21-year-old Johnathan Fraser HONOLULU, Hawaii – Kenji M. Price, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Hawaii, Eli S. Miranda, Special Agent in Charge of the Honolulu Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), Tom Murdock, Special Agent in Charge of the Seattle Field Office of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (“IRS-CI”), Josh Allen, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Office of the Environmental Protection Agency, Criminal...