Free Republic

A federal appeals court on Tuesday rejected efforts by four Democratic-leaning U.S. states to overturn former Republican President Donald Trump's decision to limit federal deductions on state and local taxes. In a 3-0 decision, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan said the federal government had authority to impose a $10,000 cap on the state and local taxes that households' itemizing deductions could write off their federal returns. The decision is a defeat for New York, Connecticut, Maryland and New Jersey, which challenged the so-called SALT cap implemented as part of a $1.5 trillion tax overhaul in 2017....

Capitol rioter's hearing was delayed hours before he was scheduled to be sentenced after videos surfaced on social media in which he is alleged to be attacking a police officer. The man, Robert Maurice Reeder, 55, of Maryland, had been set to appear Wednesday afternoon before U.S. District Judge Thomas Hogan after he accepted a plea agreement in connection with his involvement in the Jan. 6 riot. Prosecutors had asked the judge to sentence Reeder to a fine and time in prison. The group also posted the videos on its Twitter page. In a 21-second clip, a man the group...

The revelations come at a sensitive time for the FBI and Director Christopher Wray, who has insisted widespread problems revealed about the bureau's conduct in the now-discredited Russia collusion case have been fixed even as new revelations of misconduct come to light. __________________________________________________________________________________ The FBI, already under fire for its handling of FISA warrants and confidential informants, is enduring more scrutiny as the Justice Department admits agents failed to disclose to a court that they had paid — to the tune of six figures — a white supremacist publisher for years to be an investigative source. The admission came in...

U.S.A. –-(AmmoLand.com)- On 12 November 2018, at about 8:34 pm, Basel Soukaneh was driving in Waterbury, Connecticut. He was not familiar with the area and was attempting to find a house he was considering purchasing. The GPS on his cellphone had frozen. The cell phone was on a holder on the dash, so he pulled over to adjust it. Shortly after he pulled over, with the engine running, an officer knocked on his window and demanded his license. The interior lights on the vehicle were turned on.According to the complaint, Soukaneh rolled down his window and said “Hi” to the...

Appeals court panel says interstate haulers are not exempt from AB 5 law. Interstate truckers could soon come under California’s highly restrictive independent contractor law because of a recent federal appeals court decision. A three-judge panel for the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals voted 2-1 that a federal law called the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act (FAAAA) does not preclude application of the state’s AB 5 contractor law to trucking companies operating in interstate commerce. In early 2020, before the new law went into effect, a federal district court judge granted an injunction barring the state from enforcing it...