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Latest Articles: United States News
Operative Offered Trump Campaign ‘Kremlin Connection’ Using N.R.A. Ties
Post Date: 2017-12-03 10:02:38 by buckeroo
16 Comments
WASHINGTON — A conservative operative trumpeting his close ties to the National Rifle Association and Russia told a Trump campaign adviser last year that he could arrange a back-channel meeting between Donald J. Trump and Vladimir V. Putin, the Russian president, according to an email sent to the Trump campaign. A May 2016 email to the campaign adviser, Rick Dearborn, bore the subject line “Kremlin Connection.” In it, the N.R.A. member said he wanted the advice of Mr. Dearborn and Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama, then a foreign policy adviser to Mr. Trump and Mr. Dearborn’s longtime boss, about how to proceed in connecting the two leaders. Russia, he wrote, was ...
Justice? Flynn pleads guilty while Zarate walks
Post Date: 2017-12-03 06:40:17 by Gatlin
2 Comments
It is a sad day when Michael Flynn, who served our country honorably in the U.S. Army from 1981, with combat tours in Grenada, Haiti, Afghanistan, and Iraq, with multiple decorations, is hounded by Special Prosecutor Javert Mueller to plead guilty to a questionable process crime while Jose García Zarate, an illegal alien with multiple felony convictions, gets a walk from a San Francisco jury for killing Kate Steinle. Zarate, an illegal immigrant, who was deported multiple times, is represented by a public defender at taxpayer expense for killing an American citizen. Flynn, a decorated veteran, is driven to near bankruptcy to defend himself and forced to plead guilty. Flynn's ...
ABC’s Brian Ross suspended over erroneous Flynn report
Post Date: 2017-12-02 21:26:58 by Gatlin
2 Comments
ABC News investigative reporter Brian Ross was suspended for four weeks without pay tonight over his incorrect report that Michael Flynn was prepared to testify that Donald Trump told him to contact the Russians during his presidential campaign. Why it matters: It was a huge error that moved markets and damaged the network's credibility. The report was also passed along by Axios and other news outlets. In a statement, ABC News apologized and said the report "had not been fully vetted through our editorial standards process." The network later corrected the report to say that Trump gave him that instruction as president-elect — which is a big difference, since ...
Hawaii, Which Registers Guns and Medical Marijuana Users, Starts Disarming Patients
Post Date: 2017-12-02 16:26:48 by Hondo68
2 Comments
Citing state law, Honolulu's police chief tells them to turn in their guns. HPD Hawaii is one of 29 states that allow medical use of marijuana, but it is the only state that requires registration of all firearms. If you are familiar with the criteria that bar people from owning guns under federal law, you can probably surmise what the conjunction of these two facts means for patients who use cannabis as a medicine, which Hawaii allows them to do only if they register with the state. Some of them recently received a letter from Honolulu Police Chief Susan Ballard, instructing them to turn in their guns. "Your medical marijuana use disqualifies you from ownership of firearms and ...
Is The Fraudster Accusing Roy Moore of Sexual Assault Out for Revenge?
Post Date: 2017-12-02 07:34:51 by IbJensen
0 Comments
Breitbart has not exactly been an independent, nonpartisan source of news for the Roy Moore fiasco; Steve Bannon quite publicly put his chip on the Alabama Republican and no one is surprised to see his site playing the role of “head cheerleader” for the embattled candidate. While this means you have to take some of what’s being said on the site about Moore with a grain of salt, it doesn’t automatically invalidate all of their reporting. In fact, because they have such a vested interest in Moore’s victory, this scandal has actually inspired Breitbart to do some of their most remarkable investigative work to date. Such was the case this week when the site unveiled ...
Sheriff Says He Won't Deploy Body Cameras Because He Doesn't Want His Deputies Criticized
Post Date: 2017-12-01 18:20:31 by Deckard
19 Comments
from the christ,-what-a-coward dept Something's very wrong with Albuquerque-area law enforcement. The Albuquerque Police Department has been described as a "criminal enterprise." These words didn't come from an activist group or an enraged op-ed in the local paper, but rather from a departing District Attorney in a letter to the DOJ. The DOJ is at least partially aware of the Albuquerque PD's criminal activities. Its 2014 investigation concluded APD officers routinely engaged in indiscriminate force deployment. Worse, those above the officers did almost nothing to curb misconduct and brutality. Beyond shooting citizens at an alarming rate, APD officers were found to ...
Court Says Cop's Theft Of Evidence Shouldn't Have Any Effect On Man's 15-Year Drug Sentence
Post Date: 2017-12-01 18:17:04 by Deckard
15 Comments
from the nothing-but-flagmen-on-the-legal-railroad dept Texas criminal justice blog Grits for Breakfast is highlighting a recent court decision in which several judges somehow found a way to uphold a conviction directly predicated on law enforcement deception. Here's a crazy case out of Harris County: The Government-Always-Wins faction on the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals wrangled a four-member plurality on a habeas corpus writ to overturn the trial court's recommendation and uphold a conviction in which law enforcement misrepresented the weight of drugs found on a defendant, calling it 26 kilos when the real amount of actual cocaine was likely less than a gram. The reason ...
“We Are Witnessing A Deep State Coup” Flynn Prepared To Testify Against Trump After Being Bankrupted By Mueller Probe
Post Date: 2017-12-01 18:06:35 by Deckard
1 Comments
According to ABC’s Brian Ross, Michael Flynn has promised “full cooperation to the Mueller team” and is prepared to testify that candidate Trump “directed him to make contact with the Russians, initially as a way to work together to fight ISIS in Syria.” Ross said a “confidante” told him Flynn is also prepared to testify “against President Trump, against members of the Trump family and others in the White House.” He said Flynn made the decision in the last 24 hours because he was facing “huge legal bills” of over a million dollars and he’s been forced to put his house up on the market. Were witnessing a deep state coup right ...
Cops Mistake Innocent Man’s Colostomy Bag for a Gun—Beat, Taser, Mace Him
Post Date: 2017-12-01 16:51:12 by Deckard
1 Comments
Euclid, OH — Tensions among police and citizens in Euclid, Ohio have come to a head recently after police killed an unarmed 23-year-old man over a marijuana roach and officers were seen on video pulverizing another man over a suspended license. Now, the Euclid police department is sure to become infamous after body camera footage was released as part of a lawsuit against cops who mistook a colostomy bag for a gun and severely beat an innocent man. Lamar Wright had recently undergone a surgery last year when he was driving home and stopped to use the phone. According to a federal lawsuit filed against the Euclid Police Department on Thursday, Wright had simply pulled over to safely ...
Ex-Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn pleads guilty to lying to FBI
Post Date: 2017-12-01 11:05:52 by Deckard
18 Comments
CHICAGO -- Former national security adviser Michael Flynn is to plead guilty Friday to making false statements to the FBI, the fourth former Trump adviser charged so far in a wide-ranging investigation led by special counsel Robert Mueller.Court documents show Flynn, an early and vocal supporter on the campaign trail of President Donald Trump whose business dealings and foreign interactions made him a central focus of Mueller's investigation, will admit to lying about his conversations with Russia's ambassador to the United States during the transition period before Trump's inauguration.The expected guilty plea makes the retired Army lieutenant general the first person to have ...
“It’s been complete hell”: how police used a traffic stop to take $91,800 from an innocent man [Full Thread]
Post Date: 2017-12-01 10:50:37 by Deckard
45 Comments
The money was supposed to go toward buying a legendary music studio. Now his dreams are on hold.Phil Parhamovich had been waiting for this moment for a long time. The 50-year-old had spent years restoring houses, cars, and musical instruments, often clocking 12-hour workdays, to save up more than $91,000. And now it was all going to pay off: He would buy a music studio in Madison, Wisconsin, where Nirvana and the Smashing Pumpkins recorded songs — not just fulfilling a dream of owning a monument to grunge rock, but also giving him a space to work on his own career as a musician. Then came the police stop this past March. By the time it was over, police in Wyoming would take all of ...
Suffolk County DA Used $3.3 Million In Asset Forfeitures To Fund Massive Public Employee "Bonuses"
Post Date: 2017-12-01 10:20:43 by Deckard
2 Comments
Just over a month ago we wrote about the curious case of Frank Ranelli of Alabama and the growing problem of asset forfeitures all across the United States. Ranelli, who owned a local computer repair shop in Ensley, Alabama, showed up to work one day in 2010 only to later be raided by local police who proceeded to confiscate thousands of dollars worth of assets. Nothing ever came of the case and despite no official charges and no jury trial, Ranelli, after 7 years of effort, has been completely unsuccessful in recovering the assets that officers took from his business. The morning of June 29, 2010, began much like any other day for Frank Ranelli, the owner of FAR Computers in ...
Tax Vote Delayed To Friday; May Include $350BN In New Tax Hikes
Post Date: 2017-12-01 10:11:41 by Deckard
2 Comments
Update: The Senate tax plan roll vall vote which was widely expected to take place on Thursday evening, has been pushed back to 11am on Friday following the collapse of the "Trigger" compromise (discussed below) to win a majority for a Senate tax overhaul left Republicans scrambling to salvage the legislation, Bloomberg reports. While debate over the bill may continue into the evening, McConnell said. It’s unclear when the unlimited amendment vote series known as “vote-a-rama” would begin. "For the information of all senators, the Senate will continue to debate the bill tonight. The next roll call votes will be at 11 a.m tomorrow morning," Mitch McConnell ...
Baltimore Police Now Blocking FBI from Investigating Murder of Cop Who Was Set to Testify Against Fellow Cops
Post Date: 2017-12-01 10:06:11 by Deckard
0 Comments
Baltimore, MD — In recent weeks, The Free Thought Project has been keeping a close eye on the developing case of a whistleblower with the Baltimore Police Department named Sean Suiter who was shot with his own gun the day before he was set to testify against corrupt cops within his own department. Unlike most other shootings where police are the victims, no one has been arrested and there is no suspect to speak of. In fact, this is the only time in the history of Baltimore that a suspect in the shooting of a police officer has gone this long uncaptured. With each day that passes, more suspicious details are uncovered which cast doubt on the official narrative that ...
Sessions hints at crack down on recreational pot, affecting California, other states [Full Thread]
Post Date: 2017-12-01 09:03:09 by Gatlin
50 Comments
Attorney General Jeff Sessions hinted Wednesday that the Justice Department may take a tougher stance on recreational marijuana in the near future, a change in policy that would have a significant impact on the five states that already allow the drug to be sold for more than medicinal purposes. California is scheduled to join that group on Jan. 1. Sessions and other DOJ officials previously indicated they would continue the policy laid out by the department under former President Barack Obama, which in essence allows state officials leeway in how they deal with the drug as long as they meet certain standards, like keeping cannabis out of the hands of minors, keeping it from crossing into ...
Chancing It
Post Date: 2017-12-01 05:53:20 by Deckard
9 Comments
It is increasingly tempting to just go for it.Scratch that. It is increasingly reasonable to just go for it.Traffic stops are not what they once were. The fines have become disproportionate, abusive – hundreds of dollars for crimes-agains-no-one such as “speeding” and not having various government stickers, all of them up to date.Many people cannot afford to pay these fines – not to mention the additional fines they face in the form of higher car insurance premiums, which they’re forced to pay as much as any court-ordered fine. These premiums are already so high – even before they go higher, based on the pretext of convictions for crimes-against-no-one ...
No one is pettier than government. [Full Thread]
Post Date: 2017-12-01 05:42:15 by Deckard
49 Comments
A Michigan man claims that when he tried to pay a parking ticket in Royal Oak with pennies, a court officer responded by choking him. The attack led him to defecate, he says. The alleged assault was caught on surveillance tape. An attorney for Anthony Sevo says he intends to sue. Sevo was charged with disturbing the peace and assaulting an officer. He plead no contest on the first charge and the latter was dropped. "I don't think anyone paying in penny rolls, whether it's a preferred thing to do for a court clerk, warrants this type of this assaultive behavior and violation of constitutional rights," the lawyer told Fox's Detroit affiliate. The ticket was for just $10 ...
Detective disciplined over 'Because you're white' remark to teen
Post Date: 2017-11-29 10:57:58 by Deckard
3 Comments
A police detective in Illinois was facing disciplinary action this week after being caught on camera telling a teenager he was being detained because he was white. The video shows Detective Esteban Gomez making the comment while questioning five teenagers outside a pawn shop in Lake Villa, Ill., regarding a theft investigation, police said. Gomez has since been disciplined for acting "inappropriately and unprofessionally,” Lake Villa police Chief Craig Somerville said Tuesday, the Lake County News-Sun reported. "Detective Gomez admitted his words were poorly chosen and insensitive, and he immediately regretted what he had said," ...
5-year-old boy suspended for telling teacher he had a bomb in his backpack
Post Date: 2017-11-29 05:47:14 by Deckard
5 Comments
MODESTO, Calif. — A California family is pushing back against elementary school administrators after their 5-year-old son was suspended for making “terroristic threats.” Advertisement During just his third week of school, kindergartner Jackson Riley told his teacher at Great Valley Academy that he couldn't take off his backpack because there was a bomb inside and it would explode if he took the bag off.The teacher then asked the boy if she could look inside his backpack. After Jackson said yes, the teacher opened the bag and found nothing inside.Jackson then received a one-day suspension and had to be picked up by his dad.The administration sent a letter home, saying ...
Congress poised to jam through reauthorization of mass surveillance
Post Date: 2017-11-28 06:49:34 by Deckard
0 Comments
© Getty ImagesCongress doesn’t have much time left on the legislative calendar for the year, but there’s still a lot on the agenda to get across the finish line. In the few remaining days, Republicans hope to pass a tax reform bill and either another short-term continuing resolution or an omnibus to fund the government.Another item on the agenda is the reauthorization of Title VII of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), including the controversial Section 702.The current authorization for Section 702 expires on December 31, and it’s the first time Congress has faced this reauthorization since Edward Snowden’s earth-shattering disclosures about the ...
Couple Nearly Gives Birth in Car As Cop Holds Them on Roadside, Tickets Them for Rushing to Hospital
Post Date: 2017-11-28 06:18:17 by Deckard
29 Comments
When a couple was pulled over for speeding in Lakewood, New Jersey, they explained to the officer that the wife was in labor, and they were on their way to the hospital—a logical emergency that would justify exceeding the speed limit. However, the officer responded by delaying the couple’s arrival and issuing the husband a citation for speeding. The couple, who has remained anonymous, told The Lakewood Scoop that when they were pulled over, the husband explained to the officer that he started out driving at the regular speed limit, but only increased his speed when his wife’s symptoms became urgent. “My pregnant wife had been to the doctor that day, and was told that as ...
‘Need My 20 For the Month’: Cops Admit to Arrest Quota, ‘Falsely Arrest’ Man to Make It
Post Date: 2017-11-28 06:11:34 by Deckard
5 Comments
Lehighton, PA — Most people reading this article know what it is like to have the blue and red lights pop up in your rearview mirror. The last thing going through your mind at this point is the feeling of ‘being protected.’ This feeling comes from the fact that the overwhelming majority of the time a driver sees police lights in their mirror is because they have been targeted for revenue collection—often the result of a quota system—and they are about to be given a ticket. Police, we are told, are here to keep us safe and protect us from the bad guys. However, public safety all too often takes a back seat to revenue collection. Time and time again, the Free ...
Nervous About Traffic Stops? I Am. You Should Be, Too
Post Date: 2017-11-28 04:59:42 by Deckard
3 Comments
“Quit resisting.”—Cops yell at compliant young man who was thrown to the ground, beaten, arrested and hospitalized for severe injuries to his face and arm, allegedly in retaliation for “resisting arrest” by driving to a safe, well-lit area before submitting to a traffic stop for a broken tail light We’ve all been there before. You’re driving along and you see a pair of flashing blue lights in your rearview mirror. Whether or not you’ve done anything wrong, you get a sinking feeling in your stomach. You’ve read enough news stories, seen enough headlines, and lived in the American police state long enough to be anxious about any encounter with a ...
This Awful SCOTUS Decision Helped Create Today's Civil Asset Forfeiture Racket
Post Date: 2017-11-28 04:55:46 by Deckard
2 Comments
Civil asset forfeiture is one of the most destructive and flagrantly unconstitutional government practices occurring in the United States today. Under its auspices, law enforcement agencies are permitted to seize cash, cars, homes, businesses, and other property from innocent people who have been neither charged nor convicted of any underlying crime. The seized property is then either sold, with the government pocketing all or most of the proceeds, or put to use by the agency that took it. In either instance, law enforcement gets to profit from its policing. All of this occurs despite the fact that the Constitution clearly forbids both the federal government and the states from depriving ...
State Courts Say Early-Morning Pot Raids Were Gratuitous and Illegal
Post Date: 2017-11-28 04:19:34 by Deckard
0 Comments
Sheriff's deputies in Collier County, Florida, were so eager to arrest Juan Falcon for growing marijuana in his backyard shed that they arrived at his home before 7 a.m. and broke open the door with a battering ram less than 20 seconds after announcing themselves. Drug cops in Kent County, Michigan, were so eager to arrest Michael Frederick and Todd Van Doorne for possession of marijuana-infused butter that they awakened the two men early in the morning and bullied them into allowing searches of their homes. In both cases, state courts recently ruled, the police officers' unjustified haste made their subsequent searches illegal. These cases show how blithely drug warriors resort to ...
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