Free Republic

Former President Trump is setting off alarms among critics as he pushes the claim that Vice President Harris’s ascent to become the Democratic nominee is somehow unconstitutional, with some warning he could be laying the groundwork to contest an electoral defeat as he did in 2020. Trump has repeatedly sought to cast Harris replacing President Biden as the Democratic nominee as nefarious, likening it to a “coup” and in recent days claiming it may be unconstitutional because she was not atop the ballot in the primary process. Biden and other Democrats, as well as some Republican Trump critics, have suggested...

On Tuesday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “The Last Word,” House Speaker Emerita Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said that abortion rights are “about the ever-widening circle of freedom in this country,” and “The Founders had a beautiful vision for our country,” “but they couldn’t put it in the Constitution. But thank God they made it amendable.” So freedom expanded on subjects like the abolition of slavery and ending voting discrimination on the basis of race and gender, which were done by constitutional amendments, until Roe v. Wade was overturned. Pelosi stated, “Trump, the worst job record of any president since Herbert Hoover....

Last week, the Biden administration announced that it would unveil a second attempt at issuing blanket student loan forgiveness within the next few months. The announcement comes more than a year after its first attempt was blocked by the Supreme Court. "The Biden-Harris Administration made a commitment to deliver student debt relief to as many borrowers as possible as quickly as possible," said Education Secretary Miguel Cardona in a statement last Wednesday. *** The proposed rules target specific groups of borrowers, including borrowers who now owe more than they originally took out in loans due to accumulating interest, borrowers who...

The federal government’s classified documents indictment was once considered a “slam dunk.” But this month, Trump-appointed Judge Aileen Cannon of the Southern District of Florida dismissed the case, ruling that the attorney general improperly appointed Jack Smith, and therefore Smith could not legally prosecute Trump. Smith promptly notified Cannon that he intends to appeal her decision, but it’s not clear what his strategy will be. There is now a near-zero chance that Donald Trump will be tried over this case in front of a jury before November—but special counsel Jack Smith is forging ahead with an appeal that could go...

District Judge Christopher C. Conner of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania has issued a ruling granting summary judgment to the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) and its partners, declaring the state’s law banning the carry of firearms in a vehicle without a license unconstitutional. He also ruled that a ban on firearms possession without a license during a state of emergency is facially unconstitutional and has enjoined Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner Col. Christopher Paris from enforcing these provisions.

Former President Trump on Monday received one of his biggest wins yet in fighting his criminal charges when a judge tossed his classified documents indictment. By ruling that special counsel Jack Smith was unlawfully appointed, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon’s decision sets aside Trump’s 40 criminal charges that accuse him of mishandling classified documents and obstructing the government’s efforts to retrieve them from Mar-a-Lago. Here are five takeaways from Trump’s major win: First of Trump’s indictments dismissed Decision latches onto Thomas’s concurrence Jack Smith plans to appeal Ruling comes at start of GOP convention Ruling divides Democrats, GOP

Judge Aileen Cannon's dismissal of Donald Trump's classified documents case may backfire on the former president, according to a slew of legal experts, potentially landing the presumptive Republican nominee in another court where he'd be less likely to win on the merits. In her decision Monday, Cannon opined that the appointment of special counsel Jack Smith by the Department of Justice violated the Constitution. But she had long frustrated prosecutors and legal observers before this week for repeatedly delaying the trial and appearing partial towards Trump's team, culminating now in a ruling that one expert called "jurisprudential garbage." The decision,...

President Joe Biden will propose on Tuesday a nationwide cap on rent hikes of 5% per year, according to The Washington Post, which cites “three people familiar with the matter.” The proposal will rescind unspecified tax breaks to landlords who raise rents by more than 5%, although it would only apply to landlords who own more than 50 rental units. This would cover roughly half of all rental units in the country, according to Post sources. It would not apply to units that haven’t been built yet so as to not discourage construction of new housing, which the Biden administration...

Jack Smith should be writing a thank you note to U.S. District Court Judge Aileen M. Cannon right about now. By dismissing the so-called classified documents case against Donald Trump and his two co-defendants, Cannon just spared the special counsel and his team months of continued humiliation in her Florida courtroom and, eventually, in front of the nation. In a 93-page order issued on Monday, Cannon, in her typically cautious and detailed manner, explained why Smith’s appointment violated the Constitution; Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Smith in November 2022 to take over the Department of Justice’s existing investigations into Trump’s...

A federal judge in Florida threw out the prosecution of former President Donald Trump on Monday in the “documents” case because she ruled that Special Counsel Jack Smith had not been appointed in a constitutional or lawful manner. Judge Aileen Cannon granted a defense motion after ruling that Smith, who was not confirmed by the U.S. Senate as other U.S. Attorneys have been in the past, could not lawfully bring the indictment against Trump in federal court. “In the end, it seems the Executive’s growing comfort in appointing ‘regulatory’ special counsels in the more recent era has followed an ad...

Latest reports indicates that legal scholars suggest that Democratic strategists may be exploring a controversial loophole that could potentially bring former President Barack Obama back to the White House. The proposed strategy involves nominating Obama as President Joe Biden's running mate in the 2024 election, positioning him to succeed Biden should he step down after the election as reported by NEWSMAX on July 4, 2024. According to constitutional experts, this move hinges on the interpretation of the 22nd Amendment, which prohibits a person from being elected to the presidency more than twice. However, the amendment does not explicitly forbid a...

A family fishing company, Loper Bright Enterprises, was being driven out of business, because they couldn't afford the $700 per day they were being charged by the National Marine Fisheries Service to monitor their company. The thing is, federal law doesn't authorize NMFS to charge businesses for this. They just decided to start doing it in 2013. Why did they think they could away with just charging people without any legal authorization? Because in 1984, in the Chevron decision, the Supreme Court decided that regulatory agencies were the "experts" in their field, and the courts should just defer to their...

We are now a little over two weeks away from President Trump’s sentencing, scheduled for July 11th at 10:30 AM Eastern Time in New York City. By this point, millions of Americans are keenly aware of the legal onslaught initiated by Biden and the Democratic Party against Donald Trump, which has deeply impacted the integrity of our judicial system. No longer can a criminal defendant, especially one with dissenting or pro-Trump views, be confident that his constitutional rights will be upheld in every court across the nation. This stark reality, which runs counter to longstanding American principles, underscores the critical...

The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) delivered two precedent-setting rulings that could significantly impact former President Donald Trump’s criminal convictions. In a decisive 6-3 decision in the Erlinger vs United States case, the Supreme Court ruled that juries must be unanimous on each criminal count, a standard not met in Trump’s New York case, where the jury returned a 4-4-4 verdict on the underlying crime. This ruling underlines that Trump’s conviction was unconstitutional and must be overturned. During Trump’s New York trial, the judge had instructed the jury that unanimity on the specific crimes was unnecessary, as long...

A judge ruled Wednesday that Michigan’s Democrat Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson’s guidance telling election officials to presume the validity of absentee ballot signatures is unconstitutional. During the 2020 election, Benson sent out guidance to election officials “that included a presumption of validity for voters’ signatures on absentee-ballot applications and absentee ballots processed at the local level,” the ruling from Court of Claims Judge Christopher Yates explains. The Michigan Republican Party and the Allegan County clerk initially challenged the presumption of validity provision, and the Court of Claims “determined that the guidance was impermissible.” In response to the ruling, the...

California Advancing Bill AB 2642 That Would Take Away Your Ability To Question Elected Officials State Rep Bill Essayli “This State law would — allow bureaucrats at the State and County level to sue you, members of the public, when you voice your concerns to them.” “Federal law doesn't allow election officials to sue under the Voting Rights Act. Only the Department of Justice is authorized to initiate legal action against private individuals. This state law would change that, and it's going to allow bureaucrats at the state and county level to sue you, members of the public, when you...

Following former President Donald Trump's complaints that President Joe Biden authorized deadly force during the search of Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in 2022, former GOP Representative Liz Cheney of Wyoming urged Republicans in Congress to overcome "cowardice" for "what you know is right." A court filling was unsealed on Tuesday showing briefing notes for the August 2022 Mar-a-Lago raid, which said: "Law enforcement officers of the Department of Justice [DOJ] may use deadly force when necessary." Trump faces 40 felony charges stemming from the search of his Florida residence in which he's accused of keeping classified documents after leaving the White...

In a landmark decision earlier this month, the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit delivered a scathing rebuke to the University of Colorado Anschutz School of Medicine, declaring its COVID-19 vaccine mandate unconstitutional.The 55-page ruling highlighted that the mandate, which excluded religious exemptions, was tainted by “religious animus” and thus violated the First Amendment’s protection of religious liberties.The court’s decision reversed a prior ruling by a lower court, bringing to an end a contentious legal battle initiated by the Thomas More Society on behalf of 17 faculty members and students. These individuals had faced severe repercussions, including...

Dozens of Democratic lawmakers signed a letter to President Biden, pleading with him to act on high grocery prices that have been slow to fall as inflation has come down. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., led the letter Monday morning, calling on Biden to "exercise your executive authority to take additional action to address rising food prices without congressional action." The letter amassed 40 Democratic signatories between the House and Senate, including senators Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and representatives Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., among others. The lawmakers acknowledged "Americans are facing sky-high...

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has asked former President Donald Trump’s lawyers about whether they challenged special counsel Jack Smith’s authority to bring charges against the president.On April 25, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case about President Trump being immune from prosecution for official acts carried out during his presidency. During the hearing, Justice Thomas asked John Sauer, the attorney who represented Trump in court, “Did you, in this litigation, challenge the appointment of special counsel?” Mr. Smith was appointed to the case by Attorney General Merrick Garland.Mr. Sauer said that Trump attorneys have not...