Below is my column in the New York Post on the expected indictment against former President Donald Trump. It is an effort to reanimate a long dead legal claim against Trump, but could reanimate his presidential campaign.
Here is the column:
Yesterday, I ran a column in USA Today on the unpalatable prospect of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg putting disbarred attorney Michael Cohen on the stand as his star witness in the case against former president Donald Trump. Given Cohen’s past lies and conduct, it will be a target rich environment for cross examination. As if on cue, Cohen just added another potential item for a withering cross: he denied any memory of a waiver of attorney-client privilege in a public tiff with Robert Costello. Continue reading “Cohen v. Costello: Coming Soon to a Cable Show–and Courtroom–Near You”
Below is my column in The Hill on the expected indictment this week of former President Donald Trump and the danger of prosecution by plebiscite. I have been critical of the indictment, which is reportedly based on a highly dubious use of a New York misdemeanor charge to revise a long dormant federal election law charge. We will have to wait to confirm the details on the indictment but this remains, in my view, a blatantly political prosecution.
Continue reading ““America’s Got Trump”: Get Ready for a Truly Made-for-TV Prosecution”
President Joe Biden this weekend proved the truth to the old adage that there are “lies, damned lies, and statistics.” Biden is again arguing that the wealthy do not pay their fair share of taxes. However, on Saturday, he made this whopper of a claim: “You know the average tax billionaires pay? Three percent. No billionaire should be paying a lower tax than somebody working as a schoolteacher or a firefighter.” There is no indication where that figure came from, but prior low figures have been based on a highly dubious method of counting unrealized gains as income — a highly controversial proposal for a new massive tax increase.
President Joe Biden has repeatedly denied that his family received money from China. He has also denied any knowledge of his son’s foreign dealings despite direct evidence to the contrary, including a recorded message from the President to Hunter referencing the deals. The White House has simply refused to address the recording or photographs contradicting the President. Now, there is confirmation that millions were sent from China and then money from a third-party account was distributed to at least three, and possibly four, Biden family members. However, when confronted with the evidence on the way to Marine One, the President again declared “that’s not true.” Given that these are suspicious activity reports (SARs) from Biden’s own Treasury Department, it is unclear now what the President is suggesting beyond the possibility of an evil twin Biden family that is besmirching his good name. Continue reading ““That’s Not True”: President Biden Moves Toward the Evil Twin Family Defense”
While lost in the explosive news about Donald Trump’s expected arrest, journalist Matt Taibbi released new details on previously undisclosed censorship efforts on social media. The latest Twitter Files revealed a breathtaking effort from Stanford’s Virality Project to censor even true stories. After all, the project insisted “true stories … could fuel hesitancy” over taking the vaccine or other measures. The effort included suppressing stories that we now know are legitimate such as natural immunity defenses, the exaggerated value of masks, and questions over vaccine efficacy in preventing second illnesses. The work of the Virality Project to censor even true stories should result in the severance of any connection with Stanford University.
There is an interesting development in the controversy at Stanford Law School where U.S. Circuit Court Judge Kyle Duncan was shouted down by law students and condemned by a law school dean for discussing his conservative judicial views. Student protesters reportedly published the names of students in the Federalist Society online as part of their cancel campaign. However, Aaron Sibarium, a journalist for the Washington Free Beacon has said that a board member of the Stanford National Lawyers Guild, sent an email demanding the Free Beacon remove her name and those of other students from their reporting because it is threatening and dangerous. Continue reading “Stanford Students Demand Journalist Remove Their Names from Stories … After Targeting Other Students By Name”
Happy St. Patrick’s Day to all of the leprechauns of the blog from the Turley Clan. The leprechauns came to bring treats and tricks to the Turley house this morning. While our kids are older, they still enjoy our traditions (or humor their aging father). Continue reading “HAPPY ST. PATRICK’S DAY!!!”
We have been discussing the scorched earth campaign by Hunter Biden’s new legal team as well as a type of legion of Doom of Democratic activists. That included seeking criminal investigations of critics while threatening a wide array of journalists and potential witnesses with civil lawsuits. Today, Biden moved against John Paul Mac Isaac, the repairman who revealed the laptop and its contents. The lawsuit, in my view, has serious flaws, but reflects the new “dark Biden” stage of this saga. The effort to go on offense against key figures and witnesses could well backfire for the Hunter Biden team and his family. Continue reading “Hunter Biden Countersues Over Laptop Files . . . That May or Might Not Be His”
I recently wrote how public educators and unions were methodically killing public education. The best example this week comes from New York where a school board committee has solved the dismal math and reading scores for children in the system . . . they lowered the standards. This is not the first system to gut its standards rather than improve its quality of education. As teachers and unions object to school choice, they continue to make the case for private education. Parents are increasingly voting with their feet. The board is simply calling the lack of proficiency “the new normal” and changing the standards. Done.
There was a time when cleanliness was viewed as “next to godliness.” That clearly has changed. It is now apparently next to white supremacy. While it would be impossible to discuss all of the wacky scholarship being published today, Loyola (Chicago) Professor Jenna Drenten is a standout with a new theory that “cleanliness” is a “cultural gatekeeping mechanism” with “racist,” “sexist” and “classist” roots. It turns out that the sweet spice rack that your kid brought back from shop is actually a stratified, structural vehicle for white supremacy and male dominance . . . unless you keep it messy. Otherwise, you are pushing racist, sexist “pantry porn.”Continue reading “Kitchen Bull Connors: Professor Denounces Cleanliness as Sexist and Racist”
Below is my column in Fox.com on the recent controversies at Stanford University and University of California at Davis where students sought to prevent others from hearing conservative speakers. These are only the latest manifestations of a growing anti-free speech movement across our campuses.
Here is the column: Continue reading “Our Rising Generation of Censors: Stanford and Davis Expose America’s Anti-Free Speech Movement”
Today is the birthday of our greatest Framer and the genius behind our Constitution: James Madison. He would have been 272 years old. We will be celebrating tonight with a traditional Virginia dinner (with the required Virginia ham), a three-layer cake, and Madison’s favorite dessert of ice cream (I recommend the tripartite Neapolitan).
The chancellor of the University of California (Davis), Gary May, is under fire for comments that he made before the recent riot at the school by Antifa and other protesters. May uses a video to attack conservative Charlie Kirk and to emphasize that “counsel” told him that the school’s hands are tied in trying to stop the event. Conservative sites like The College Fix have accused May of spreading the very “misinformation” and hate that he accuses Kirk of spreading through his speeches. There are serious questions raised by May’s inflammatory and inaccurate rhetoric before the violence at the University Credit Union Center. Continue reading “Davis Chancellor Under Fire for Attack on Charlie Kirk Before Riot”
Below is my column in the New York Post on the suggested censorship of bank critics by Sen. Mark Kelly (D., Ariz.). It was only the latest example of how censorship has become a reflexive response of many Democrats to opposing views. It is now increasingly common for certain views to be declared as simply too dangerous to be tolerated or allowed on social media, including (it seems) questioning the solvency of banks.
Here is the column: Continue reading “Banking on Censorship: Sen. Kelly Becomes Latest Democrat to Suggest Censoring Views on Social Media”