Former Justice Department prosecutor Carmen Mercedes Lineberger has been indicted for allegedly removing confidential Justice Department material and then concealing her efforts. Lineberger is accused of secretly transferring Jack Smith’s final report and hiding the material under files labeled “chocolate cake recipe” and “bundt cake recipe.” There has not been a greater recipe for disaster since aides tried to fit all of Biden’s candles on a cake. Continue reading “A Comey Cake? Former Prosecutor Accused of Stealing Smith Report Files and Hiding Them as Cake Recipes”
Category: Criminal law
I recently spoke on Rage and the Republic at Cornell University and posted about the beauty of the school with the return of flowers and birds in the Spring. What I fortunately missed was the seasonal return of harassing protesters. That experience was reserved this week for Cornell President Michael Kotlikoff, who is now embroiled in controversy over a parking-lot confrontation. Continue reading “Cornell President Accused of Hitting An Anti-Israel Protester After Being Surrounded in Parking Lot”
Below is my column on Fox.com on the second indictment of former FBI director James Comey. Despite being one of Comey’s longest critics, the indictment raises troubling free speech issues. In the end, it must be the Constitution, not Comey, that drives the analysis and this indictment is unlikely to withstand constitutional scrutiny. If it did, it would allow the government to criminalize a huge swath of political speech in the United States.
Here is the column:
Continue reading “Shell Speech: Why the Second Comey Indictment is Likely to Fail”
We are seeing increasing support for violent action across social media, including those lamenting that the recent presidential assassination was not successful. Conservative sites have been featuring teachers and others who were upset that the recent effort failed, including one who has now lost her job. The current violence and violent rhetoric have been building for years as our leaders fuel the rage in the nation.
Continue reading “A Nation Divided: The Chilling Embrace of Political Violence in the United States”
Below is my column in The Hill on the recent New York Times podcast exploring the justifications for crimes ranging from theft to murder. The podcast with radical Hasan Piker, the New York Times Opinion Culture Editor Nadja Spiegelman, and New Yorker writer Jia Tolentino captured the moral relativism that has taken hold of the left in American society. Reading the manifesto of the accused White House Correspondents Association Dinner shooter Cole Tomas Allen shows the ultimate expression of a society where rage has replaced morality and decency.
Here is the column: Continue reading “The Moral Malaise: The New York Times Makes the Case for “Microlooting” to Murder”
The indictment of the Southern Poverty Law Center on federal fraud charges this week is the start of what could become not just a major criminal prosecution but a major constitutional challenge. At issue is whether the Center’s secret operations to enlist and pay informers constituted fraud of its donors. Continue reading “The SPLC Indictment: Can Public Interest Groups Run Alleged Black-Bag Jobs and Confidential Informants?”
The legendary baseball player and manager Ted Williams once wrote a letter to the Angels outfielder Jay Johnstone on improving his hitting. Among his pieces of advice was that “with two strikes, you simply have to protect the plate.”
Williams’s advice on not striking out came to mind this week when another leak of confidential information rocked the Supreme Court. (The prior leak of the Dobbs decision went unsolved). For Chief Justice John Roberts, the message is clear: it is a time like this when you have to protect the plate. Continue reading “Protecting the Plate: Chief Justice Roberts Faces Two Strikes After New Leak Rocks the Court”
“Mr. Biden lives abroad.” Those four words in a filing from Barry Coburn confirmed what had long been rumored about his client: Hunter Biden has left the country as his former lawyers and creditors seek millions in unpaid debts. He added, “He cannot pay his current lawyers.”
Continue reading ““Mr. Biden Lives Abroad”: Hunter Leaves Country as Former Lawyers Seek Millions”
Below is my column on Fox.com on the Swalwell scandal. His resignation from Congress was expected in light of the likely expulsion and criminal investigations awaiting him. The worst, however, may be yet to come.
Here is the column: Continue reading “Eric Swalwell and the Fall of a Made Man”
Below is my column in The Hill on the news that former FBI Director James Comey has been subpoenaed in Florida as part of the Russian collusion investigation. Yes, there was a Russian collusion conspiracy, but not the one that the media relentlessly pushed during the first Trump term.
Here is the column: Continue reading “Truth Will Out: A Grand Jury Investigates the Real Russian Collusion Conspiracy”
Rep. Seth Moulton appears to have pulled a Hannah Dugan at the State of the Union. Where the Milwaukee judge helped an undocumented immigrant to escape her courtroom, Moulton reportedly hid Marcelo Gomes DaSilva in his office after he fled the SOTU following a text from DHS calling him out by name as being in the country illegally. In the meantime, new reports raise questions about his possible criminal record. Continue reading “Sanctuary Offices? Moulton Under Fire for “Great American” Hidden in Office”
Below is my column in the Hill on the deposition of former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Democrats are now pledging retaliation once they take power by calling President Donald Trump. The rush to use the scandal for political advantage has already resulted in some embarrassing misfires.
Here is the column: Continue reading “The Clintons and the Politics of Scandal”
Below is my column on Fox.com on the new disclosures of secret orders targeting now FBI Director Kash Patel and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles. It is only the latest example of the abuse of the investigatory powers by Special Counsel Jack Smith.
Here is the column: Continue reading “Jack Smith’s Secret Orders Targeting Patel and Wiles Should Alarm Us All”
The Clintons are again suggesting that they might not agree to a deposition after previously yielding to the threat of a contempt vote. Hillary Clinton taunted House Oversight Chair James Comer “if you want this fight…let’s have it—in public.” For his part, Bill Clinton seemed more conclusive on X in opposing a deposition: “I will not sit idly as they use me as a prop in a closed-door kangaroo court.” The question is whether the Clintons are again gaming the system after avoiding a bipartisan vote to hold them in contempt.
There is a chilling story out this morning that another assassination attempt may have been averted. This time, the target was not President Donald Trump or a conservative justice but my former student Russell Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget. Notably, Colin Demarco, 26, referenced the “fascist” mantra being repeated by Democratic politicians, press, and pundits as the reason for his planning to kill Vought.