Free Republic

Nellie Ohr exercised spousal privilege and largely declined to discuss conversations she had with her husband, Justice Department official Bruce Ohr, over the so-called “Steele dossier” during a meeting with two GOP-led House committees on Friday. The move prevented the GOP lawmakers from asking questions about the Ohrs’ role with the dossier, which made a series of allegations about President Trump’s ties to Russia. “There were some questions she would not get into — and those were the questions we wanted to ask,” said Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio). Democrats attending the joint interview with congressional investigators on the House Judiciary...

A bill under consideration by New Hampshire legislators would require Catholic priests and other religious figures to divulge any information they hear regarding child abuse, even if told to them by parishioners in the private act of "confession." According to the Concord Monitor newspaper, the Granite State currently has a statute requiring anyone in the state who suspects child abuse to report it to authorities. The Child Protection Act, enacted in 1979, also places a mandatory reporting requirement on clergy. However, the paper said, a separate statute exempts clergymen and women from having to provide court testimony regarding anything told...

NEW YORK (AP) -- A gay man charged with helping his lover loot a wealthy school district has asked a judge to rule that state law protecting spouses from having to testify against each other also applies to same-sex partners. Stephen Signorelli, fighting charges that he stole at least $219,000 from the Roslyn, New York, school district, is seeking to bar testimony by his longtime companion, Frank Tassone, the district's former superintendent. Auditors say that in all, $11.2 million was taken from the Long Island district, and state Comptroller Alan Hevesi has called the case "the largest, most remarkable, most...