Free Republic

Ninth Circuit panel unanimously orders FBI to destroy records it created during searches of US Private Vaults boxes.. PASADENA, Calif.—This morning, a 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel unanimously ruled against the government in a long-running class action lawsuit from the Institute for Justice (IJ) on behalf of people who rented security deposit boxes at US Private Vaults. The decision slammed the FBI for overstepping its authority when it opened up hundreds of renters’ boxes, conducted criminal searches of them all, and attempted to permanently keep everything in the boxes worth more than $5,000, all without charging any box...

Civil rights attorneys argue FBI defied warrant by searching people's safe deposit boxes... FBI agents cataloged Cartier bracelets, Rolex watches and stacks of cash as they combed through safe deposit boxes seized from a Beverly Hills business accused of money laundering. But the owners of many of those boxes were not accused of any crimes. After hearing arguments from both sides Thursday, a panel of judges from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals will decide whether the sweeping raid violated customers' Fourth Amendment rights. ... Agents took about $86 million in cash from the boxes, as well as a trove...

‘The government’s theory is that having cash makes you a presumptive criminal, and I think every American should be worried about that.’ There is no denying anymore that our federal agencies have weaponized their power against the political adversaries of the left. But if you think the feds’ abandonment of all standards only affects outspoken critics of the regime, think again. More allegations of FBI corruption and hubris are coming to light after a lawsuit last week revealed FBI agents misled a judge so they could illegally seize and withhold property from innocent American citizens. Agents took more than $86...

The FBI and US Attorney’s Office misled a judge who issued a warrant for a controversial raid on a Beverly Hills safety deposit company that uncovered $86 million in cash and millions more other assets, according to a new report.A senior FBI agent recently testified that central to the plan, and not disclosed to the judge, was the permanent confiscation of the contents of every box that contained at least $5,000 in cash or goods, the Los Angeles Times reported.The alleged disclosure failure came out in FBI documents and agent depositions in a class-action lawsuit by box holders at U.S....

Who, again, is conducting the insurrection? The Biden FBI’s needless and over-the-top raid on former President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home is the latest act in history’s longest coup. It is part of a real insurrection, an insurrection that both swept an established, duly elected (and successful) government out of power and then attempted to intimidate, “cancel,” and terrorize that government’s supporters. It was -- and is -- an insurrection against the American people and American values. If it ultimately proves successful, it is the end of the republic. The same FBI and DoJ that have been trying to get Trump since...

Federal prosecutors want to keep key details about the planning and execution of the March 2021 raid at U.S. Private Vaults out of the public's sight.First, the FBI raided a private business to seize safe deposit boxes and assets belonging to hundreds of people who were not suspected of having committed any crimes.Now, prosecutors are trying to keep the public in the dark about why the brazen forfeiture effort was undertaken in the first place—and are offering little justification for why such secrecy is necessary.Four depositions that could be crucial to understanding the motivations and intentions behind the FBI's March...

Victims of the FBI's constitutionally dubious raid say they've been told to come forward and identify themselves if they want their stuff back. Dagny discovered that the FBI had seized the contents of her safe deposit box—about $100,000 in gold and silver coins, some family heirlooms like a diamond necklace inherited from her late grandmother, and an engagement ring she'd promised to pass down to her daughter—almost by accident. She'd been asked by a friend to recommend a convenient and secure location for keeping some valuables. Dagny searched Yelp to find the phone number for U.S. Private Vaults, a Beverly...

I received a letter this past week from Chase because I was a safe-deposit-box customer. It was heavy handed and startling. Some of the terms included that lessee agrees not to have more than $25K worth in there (what's that? half of a good diamond?), that you can't have cash or coins in there (right away I thought Krugerrands, etc), and that the bank can restrict access to the box for any reason, or for no reason (unexpected circumstances, natural or manmade -- the sky is the limit). The contents are not protected against loss or damage. Oh, and they...