Free Republic

the judge handling Hunter Biden’s plea agreement threw a wrench in the process on Wednesday morning after it became apparent that there were issues with the sweetheart deal. That revelation came after a night of controversy when someone representing Hunter Biden’s legal team called the court to get an amicus brief removed from the docket. The clerk’s notes indicated some subterfuge was afoot, but after the judge demanded an explanation, Hunter Biden’s lawyers submitted a letter asserting it was a misunderstanding. As the actual hearing began, the judge was immediately skeptical of what the DOJ and Hunter Biden’s team had...

From Judge Clifton Corker's opinion today in Ultima Servs. Corp. v. U.S. Dep't of Agric. (E.D. Tenn.): This case concerns whether, under the Fifth Amendment's guarantee of equal protection, Defendants the United States' Department of Agriculture ("USDA") and the Small Business Administration ("SBA") may use a "rebuttable presumption" of social disadvantage for certain minority groups to qualify them for inclusion in a federal program that awards government contracts on a preferred basis to businesses owned by individuals in those minority groups. The court generally answers this "no"; here's an excerpt, though if you're interested in the details you should read...

A federal judge has made a historic ruling by partially granting an injunction that blocks various Biden administration officials and government agencies like the Justice Department and the FBI from working with big tech firms to censor posts on social media. The injunction came in response to a censorship-by-proxy lawsuit brought by attorneys general in Louisiana and Missouri, who have accused Biden administration officials and various government agencies of pressuring social media companies to suspend accounts or take down posts. The judge, Terry A. Doughty, wrote in the July 4 judgment (pdf) that various government agencies, including the Cybersecurity and...

Joe Biden on Wednesday stopped to chat with reporters on the South Lawn before he departed en route to Chicago, Illinois. A reporter asked Biden about Hunter’s threatening message to a Chinese business associate. .... Snip.... The July 2017 WhatsApp message Hunter Biden sent to Henry Zhao is as follows according to the IRS whistleblower: “I am sitting here with my father and we would like to understand why the commitment made has not been fulfilled. Tell the director that I would like to resolve this now before it gets out of hand, and now means tonight. And, Z, if...

On Tuesday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “Hannity,” Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz argued that the judge who has to approve of Hunter Biden’s plea deal needs to call Attorney General Merrick Garland, U.S. Attorney David Weiss, and the six witnesses who whistleblower Gary Shapley’s legal team say can corroborate his statements before accepting the deal. Dershowitz said, “[T]he judge who is sentencing Hunter Biden and who has to approve of the plea deal, must call Garland, must call Weiss, must call these six witnesses, and must say, look, Hunter Biden’s lawyers, we know you want the deal to...

There are a number of definitions of "sweetheart deal." They include: 1. An industrial agreement made between an employer and local labor union officials containing terms beneficial to the employer without the knowledge of the employees, typically in exchange for money to the union or its leaders.2. Any kind of agreement or contract that is mutually beneficial two the two parties directly involved, typically at the expense of a third party that is not privy to the agreement.But it seems to me that the most applicable one is this one a deal made between friends so that both may profit...

The Delaware federal judge likely to sign off on Hunter Biden’s guilty plea next month was nominated to the bench by former President Donald Trump — but was backed by the First State’s two Democratic senators and has donated to both parties. US District Judge Maryellen Noreika was randomly assigned to preside over a hearing on the first son’s plea deal, which is set for July 26 in Wilmington federal court. SNIP Those donations include $5,200 to Sen. Tom Cotton’s (R-Ark.) 2014 Senate campaign, $5,000 to Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential campaign, $2,300 to John McCain’s presidential run in 2008, and...

A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by a group of transgender plaintiffs asking the state of Tennessee to allow them to change the sex on their birth certificates. The plaintiffs were looking to overturn a 1977 law that generally does not allow people to alter the sex designation on their birth certificates. They argue that the law unconstitutionally discriminates against transgender people and that the sex designation on their birth certificates is wrong because it does not accurately correspond with their gender identities. The lawsuit also claims that the law is harmful because transgender people showing their birth certificates...

The World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) is stonewalling a judge’s subpoena of internal documents related to how the medical organization came up with its guidelines for gender confused minors. WPATH, a leading advocate for child sex changes, was subpoenaed in March by a federal judge in Alabama after the organization’s guidelines were repeatedly referenced to argue against the state’s restrictions on sex changes for minors during a lawsuit. WPATH has attempted to quash the subpoena, which a judge denied in March. The court case challenges Alabama’s law banning sex changes for individuals under 19. While WPATH argued it...

WASHINGTON — At least four members of the far-right Proud Boys organization were found guilty Thursday of seditious conspiracy in connection with the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Enrique Tarrio, Joseph Biggs, Ethan Nordean and Zachary Rehl each faced nine counts, and were found guilty on the rare charge of seditious conspiracy under a Civil War-era statute. They were also found guilty of conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding. The jury has only reached a partial verdict, U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Kelly said Thursday, and the verdicts on other charges are still being read.

U.S.A. — In the United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois, in the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, Federal Judge Stephen P. McGlynn has issued a well-reasoned and argued opinion covering several challenges to the “Protect Illinois Communities Act” (PICA). The opinion puts in place a temporary injunction against the enforcement of PICA.PICA bans the ownership of over 190 models of firearms and criminalizes the possession of magazines that hold over 10 rounds, among other things. Judge McGlynn filed the opinion on April 28, 2023. The opinion is straightforward. In the fifth paragraph, after describing the events...

The Supreme Court on Monday announced it will hear a case that could significantly scale back federal agencies’ authority, with major implications for the future of environmental and other regulations. The justices next term will consider whether to overturn a decades-old precedent that grants agencies deference when Congress left ambiguity in a statute. Named for the court’s decision in Chevron U.S.A. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, the Chevron deference has become one of the most frequently cited precedents in administrative law since the decision was first handed down in 1984. It involves a two-step test: First, judges decide if Congress...

Winning!Injunction against Illinois' Un-Constitutional "Assault Weapons Ban" has been granted by the US District Court! They cite the clear violation of the Second Amendment which includles the indivual right to bear arms (in common use) and US Supreme Court Precedent. Clearly the court recognized that Illinois' "Assault Weapons Ban" was written in defiance of the US Constitution and legal precedent. At this point, JB PRICKSTER and KWAME RAOUL are all but guaranteed to lose if they appeal to the IL Supreme Court, who'll simply uphold the Appellate Court's finding. Fatboy PRICKSTER and RAOUL wouldn't stand an ice cubes chance in...

A federal judge in Illinois has granted a temporary injunction blocking the enforcement of a gun law which bans some semiautomatic rifles as well as high-capacity magazines. United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois judge Stephen Patrick McGlynn issued the ruling Friday afternoon, stating that the court "must be mindful of the rights guaranteed by the Constitution." The ban, signed by Democratic Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker in January, includes penalties for individuals who, "Carries or possesses… Manufactures, sells, delivers, imports, or purchases any assault weapon or .50 caliber rifle."

On Thursday, a panel of the 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals handed Florida Governor a huge victory over Marc Elias, judicial overreach, and industrial strength stupidity. By a 2-1 decision, an Obama judge dissenting, the panel upheld nearly all of Florida’s overhaul of voting rules in May 2021. I would call it controversial, but it was only controversial to people whose lives depend upon supporting vote fraud. In May 2021, the Florida legislature passed a major overhaul of state election law. The law’s goals were to make elections more transparent and trustworthy while outlawing known abuses of the system,...

A federal judge rejected an effort by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg to block a Congressional subpoena of a former prosecutor for that office who had worked on an investigation into former President Donald Trump. Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil ruled that she has no standing to block the subpoena, writing that the House Judiciary Committee has claimed to have legitimate legislative purposes for its inquiry. The committee and its Republican chairman, Rep. Jim Jordan, have aggressively confronted Bragg in the weeks since Trump was indicted in Manhattan. The Judiciary Committee says it is conducting its investigation in support of possible...

A federal judge on Wednesday shot down Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s attempt to block a former prosecutor in his office from testifying before the House Judiciary Committee about the criminal case against Donald Trump. The committee and its chairman, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), had subpoenaed ex-assistant district attorney Mark Pomerantz to give testimony about the DA’s investigation into Trump, 76, that culminated in the former president’s indictment in March. Bragg filed suit against Jordan and the Judiciary Committee, claiming the subpoena was an overreach by the GOP-led House and an attempt to influence a state criminal proceeding.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit tossed a Berkeley, California, ban on gas stoves on Monday, saying that the federal Energy Policy and Conservation Act preempted state and local authorities in regulating natural gas. The Courthouse News Service reported: The three-judge panel’s ruling reverses a federal judge’s dismissal of a lawsuit by the California Restaurant Association claiming the Energy Policy and Conservation Act preempts the San Francisco Bay Area city’s ban. The group said the ordinance would affect chefs’ ability to prepare food the way they are typically trained — using natural gas stoves.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s urgent request to enter a restraining order against Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) was rejected on April 11, the same day it was filed. U.S. District Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil, a Trump appointee, turned down Bragg’s emergency request for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction against Jordan. “The Court declines to enter the proposed Temporary Restraining Order and Order to Show Cause,” Vyskocil said, noting that she had not yet received several documents that were referenced in Bragg’s filings. She ordered Jordan and other defendants in the case to respond to the lawsuit and scheduled...

A federal judge in Texas recently agreed with a federal judge in Oklahoma that the national ban on gun possession by cannabis consumers violates the Second Amendment. Kathleen Cardone, a judge on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, also concluded that the federal ban on transferring firearms to an "unlawful user" of a "controlled substance," first imposed by the Gun Control Act of 1968, is unconstitutional. The case involves Paola Connelly, who was charged with illegal possession of firearms under 18 USC 922(g)(3) after El Paso police found marijuana and guns in her home while responding...