Free Republic

A defamation case against the New York Times and one of its former journalists is moving to discovery after a judge rejected the paper’s bid to have the litigation dismissed. Though most of the complaint was thrown out, businesswoman Ariadna Jacob provided sufficient evidence to survive the motion to dismiss regarding a statement that claimed she had leaked nude photographs, U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos ruled. Taylor Lorenz penned an article in 2020 that, citing an internet influencer, alleged Jacob leaked naked photographs of the influencer. “Right before we parted ways she leaked my nudes and sent them to business...

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is saying it has performed vaccine safety data mining and analyses since early 2021, a reversal from a recent letter. The CDC said in an operating procedures document dated Jan. 29, 2021, that it “will perform” a type of data mining analysis of vaccine safety data called Proportional Reporting Ratio (PRR). The public health agency also said it would conduct routine surveillance of the data, which is being logged into the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System. The data mining and surveillance were aimed at detecting adverse events occurring at higher-than-expected rates....

The U.S. Secret Service (USSS) says it cannot locate years of records on communications regarding agents guarding Hunter Biden, the son of President Joe Biden. Hunter Biden was a Secret Service protectee from Jan. 29, 2009, to July 8, 2014, and traveled extensively during that time, including to Russia, China, and India, a congressional investigation found. As part of the probe, which is ongoing, Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) have sought records from the Secret Service in their roles as the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The Secret Service provided some 261 heavily redacted pages...

21st House Democrat planning to step down at end of term Rep. Stephanie Murphy (D-Fla.) will not run for another term. Murphy, who co-chairs the Blue Dog Coalition, said Monday she will not seek to continue representing Florida’s 7th Congressional District because she wants to spend more time with her family. “These last few years have been some of the most rewarding moments of my life, but also some of the most challenging. Public service is not without personal sacrifice, and as a mom of two young children, my time away from them has been hard for them, for me,...

The House of Representatives committee investigating the Jan. 6 breach of the U.S. Capitol acknowledged on Wednesday that it doctored a text message between former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), excluding content about how they wanted former Vice President Mike Pence to handle electoral votes during the Joint Session of Congress earlier this year. On Monday, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), the head of the House Intelligence Committee, showed a graphic during a hearing on newly obtained communications between Meadows and others, including Jordan. The graphic was displayed as the Jan. 6 panel was...

CNN on Saturday terminated one of its top anchors, Chris Cuomo, after having indefinitely suspended him earlier this week. The suspension was announced on Tuesday to review Chris Cuomo’s conduct over materials that suggested he was more involved than he had admitted in trying to help his brother, then-New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, amid sexual harassment allegations against the former governor earlier this year. The materials were released on Nov. 29 by New York’s attorney general, Letitia James, whose office found that Andrew Cuomo sexually harassed at least 11 women while he was governor. CNN was reviewing the new materials...

Loudoun County’s sheriff rejected a request by the school district’s superintendent to dramatically ramp up the law enforcement presence at a pair of school board meetings in August, newly released emails show. Scott Ziegler, the superintendent for the Virginia county, asked the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO) for three deputies to be inside the administration building for the Aug. 10 and Aug. 11 meetings, the emails show. He also requested a “K-9 explosive sweep,” a five-person “Quick Reaction Force,” undercover deputies, and another team “stood up and on standby at nearby location.” Loudoun County Sheriff Mike Chapman rejected the request,...

Arguments in a case challenging the validity of the 1973 Supreme Court ruling that access to abortion is a constitutional right are scheduled to take place in the nation’s highest court near the end of 2021. The Supreme Court will hear arguments in the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization on Dec. 1, the court announced on Sept. 20. Justices had agreed in May to hear the case, but it hadn’t been known before when the case would be heard. Mississippi enacted a law in 2018 barring abortions after 15 weeks outside of medical emergencies or the discovery...

Michigan's Senate on Thursday approved a petition that repeals Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s emergency powers, with another approval expected by the state’s lower chamber. Whitmer, a Democrat, cannot veto the petition. The Michigan Senate’s 20-15 vote came two days after the Board of State Canvassers certified the petition, which was started by a group called Unlock Michigan that gathered over 340,000 signatures. The board deadlocked 2-2 in April but voted 3-0 this time around. The petition took aim at the 1945 Emergency Powers Act that enabled Whitmer to impose harsh restrictions on state residents during the COVID-19 pandemic. Republicans on the...