Every year it seems like a teacher takes it upon himself or herself to shatter childhood fantasies about Santa. This year, the misguided educator was a substitute teacher in Brooklyn who decided that the best way to lead a discussion on “convincing” was to explain that neither Santa nor the Tooth Fairy are real. The kids in the class are six years old and it was three weeks before Christmas.
Continue reading “Brooklyn Teacher Tells Six Year Olds There Is No Santa”
We have previously discussed Rep. Al Green’s remarkably low and fluid standard for impeachable offenses. It now appears to be not only low and fluid but repetitive. On Thursday, the Texas Democrat said on C-Span that a “president can be impeached more than once” and that there is “no limit” to how times the House might want to impeach Trump. In my testimony before the House Judiciary Committee, I warned that this incomplete record would lend itself to a type of impulse-buy impeachment. Green’s remarks raises the specter of not just impulsive but compulsive impeachments.
Continue reading “Impeaching By The Gross? Green Says House Could Impeach Trump Repeatedly”
The defamation trial against Elon Musk is unfolding in Los Angeles, but one story caught my eye from a litigation perspective. Yesterday, the federal judge in Unsworth v. Musk, 18-cv-08048, overruled an objection and ordered Musk to tell the jury how much he is worth. It was a surprising and troubling bench decision in my view. Most judges bar such questions to avoid prejudicing a jury. When a jury hears that someone is worth $20 billion, it can make a verdict and award seem like chump change in the jury room. While I greatly respect his brilliance and accomplishments, I have little sympathy for Musk in the case. He is being sued for a tweet calling a diver a “pedo guy” after he criticized Musk’s effort to rescue trapped kids in a Thai cave. Musk seems to be relying on a Trump-like defense that he just let’s it rip on Twitter and it was a flippant moment.
Continue reading “Musk Defamation Trial Continues With Discussion Of His Wealth Before The Jury”
Today I posted a column addressing a false story circulating on MSNBC and other outlets that my testimony in the Clinton and Trump impeachments are in contradiction. In fact, the testimony is so close that I could be charged more with self-plagiarism than self-contradiction. However in the hearing there was another clearly false statement put into the record by the Democratic members: that I am “demonstrably wrong” in saying that this could be the fastest or shortest impeachment in history. While the effort is clearly designed to encourage people not to seriously consider my criticism of the record and process in this case, a little history — and my actual testimony — might be helpful.
Continue reading ““Demonstrably False”: It Is Not True That The Johnson and Clinton Impeachments Had Shorter Impeachment Investigations”
In the wake of yesterday’s hearing, my office and home have been inundated with threats from people irate over the fact that I would question the sufficiency of this record for impeachment. There has also been a couple of facially false narratives that have been aired and are being widely disseminated without any apparent fact checking or analysis. I have addressed one historical point separately. In recognition of Sen. Pat Moynihan’s view that “everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts,” I have published a column on these attacks: Hill Column
Continue reading ““Agitated Passions”: A Response To Chairman Nadler Et Al.”
Former Pentagon aide Guy Snodgrass has finally denied that he is “Anonymous” — the author of the book “A Warning.” That was however before he milked the speculation to awkwardly hawk his own less-than-sizzling book. In a Fox interview with Trace Gallagher, Snodgrass went out of his way to tease the speculation while shamelessly pitching his book to try to generate buzz. The curious effort seemed to do little to increase book sales but it certainly generated an abundance of criticism of the previously unknown former speechwriter to former Defense Secretary James Mattis.
Continue reading “Wrong Guy: Former Pentagon Aide Fuels Speculation Before Admitting He Is Not “Anonymous””
Timothy Bell, 29, has been charged with felony theft for a curious crime: stealing a burrito with threatening words. The charge however leaves a serious question as to the cost of burrito in Arizona.
Continue reading “Robo Grande? Arizona Man Charged With Felony Theft For Stealing Burrito With Threatening Words”
By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
There are some cases that are so unbelievably asinine, I must remind the reader this is not April Fool’s Day.
A woman in Utah presently faces the possibility of a ten year sex offender registration mandate if a Utah judge convicts her of Misdemeanor Lewdness Involving A Child for walking inside her own home topless.
Yes, apparently one can be arrested for being nude in their own home if a child witnesses the horrorshow of a woman’s exposed breast. God help us if nursing women feed their babies.
Continue reading “Utah Woman Charged With Lewdness For Being Nude In Her Own Home”
“From the Land of Sky Blue Waters” in Wisconsin, police in Chippewa Falls stop Nicholas Layton after he was spotted allegedly weaving through the town. Layton was charged with drunk driving but that was not the biggest surprise in store for the police. Chippewa Falls Police officer Scott Schoenwetter could not find a registration for the plates and then realized that they were actually just painted on the back of a Hamm’s beer box.
Continue reading “Minnesota Man Arrested For DUI In Car With Fake License Plates Made From Hamm’s Beer Box”
We often discuss the criminal defense question of whether it is better to smile or not smile for a mugshot. Shanda Johnson-Williams, 48, went with the smile option, but it somehow does not quite fit the moment given that she is accused of . . .
Continue reading “Can You Guess The Crime Alleged Here?”
In the course of the impeachment hearings, many Democratic members repeatedly accused President Donald Trump of intimidating witnesses with tweets. Indeed, many of us have criticized Trump for his attacks on Ambassador Marie L. Yovanovitch. Yet, not a single Democratic member objected to the call of Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Oregon) for a boycott of the hotels owned by Gordon Sondland to pressure him in testifying before Congress. The tweet by Blumenauer was wildly inappropriate, particularly in a process with pressure on witnesses is a central theme. Yet, when asked, members like Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA) simply dismissed the criticism by saying that Trump does worse things. It was a signature moment in our age of rage. There is no self-evaluation or self-awareness in engaging in the very acts that you are objecting to by the other side. The reason is that you are right so any means is viewed as righteous.
Continue reading “Rep. Blumenauer Under Fire For Calling For Boycott Of Sondland’s Hotels To Pressure Him”
Former George Washington student Lunden Alexis Roberts has faced a long and drawn out fight to prove that Hunter Biden is the father of her child. According to The New Yorker, Biden denied ever having sex with Roberts. It was not until November 9th that Hunter allowed himself to be tested. That would make the birth immaculate because DNA testing just proved that he is the father and, despite receiving his controversial payments of $50,000 a month from Burisma as well as other deals, Hunter Biden has been effectively a deadbeat dad.
Continue reading “DNA Test Proves Hunter Biden To Be Father Of Child With Former GW Student Despite His Denials”
The student government unanimously passed a curious resolution this month to denounce the requirement of some professors for students to bring a doctor’s note for short-term illnesses. The resolution objects that such notes could impose costs and even added illnesses for students.
Continue reading “University of Washington Student Government Declares Doctor Notes Can Make You Sick”
Well, at least it does for one fat cat. Mikhail Galin, 34, was barred from taking his cat Viktor on board an Aeroflot flight from Moscow to Vladivostok because his cat was too heavy. Faced with a cat over the 17 pound limit and unwilling to put Viktor in with baggage, Galin came up with a clever idea. He got a thinner cat and checked in with it. After the substitute cat was weighed and approved, he swapped the cat with Viktor and tried to board. The problem is Galin boasted on social media and that consequently left him with an engorged feline and no flight pass.
Continue reading “Airline Cracks Down On Fat Cats”
Sometimes it takes a princess to truly make a royal fool out of yourself. Last week, Princess Lamia bint Majid spoke to the World Tolerance Summit in Dubai. That appearance alone raised issues of hypocrisy and absurdity. However, what the princess said was breathtaking: that in a country where women have been arrested for driving or moving about without permissions of male relatives, Saudi women enjoy more rights than their apparently oppressed counterparts in the West.
Continue reading “Saudi Princess: Women Have More Rights In The Kingdom Than The West”