In St Ives, Cambridgeshire, the children at the Christmas grotto with Santa were justifiably traumatized when the normally jolly elf came out, ripped off his beard and screamed at them to “get the f**k out.”
Continue reading “Bad Santa: Children Left Traumatized When Santa Screams At Them To “Get The F**K Out””
In a surprising move, U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan ordered Mueller late Wednesday to turn over all of the government’s documents and “memoranda” related to Flynn’s questioning. This follows a Flynn filing that described an effective trap set by agents who encouraged him not to bring a lawyer and left inconsistencies unaddressed in what has been described by critics as a “perjury trap.” I have practiced in front of Judge Sullivan for years and he is a respected judge who has a keen eye for prosecutorial and investigative abuse. That does not mean that he will find such abuse here and could ultimately make a finding that nothing improper occurred. Yet, despite a recommendation of no jail time, Sullivan wants to review the entire record before deciding on the issue.
Continue reading “Federal Judge Orders Mueller To Turn Over Flynn Material”
The Egyptian government has reason to be nervous. After cracking down on civil liberties, free speech, free exercise, and the free press, the government has watched with growing alarm over the protests engulfing France by thousands of yellow vested citizens. So Egypt is rethinking its denial of basic liberties, right? No, the government is preventing the sale of yellow vests and prosecutors are seeking jail time for a lawyer who was merely pictured in yellow vest.
Continue reading “French Protesters Take To The Streets Wearing Yellow Vests . . . So Egypt Cracks Down On Yellow Vest Sales”
The California Public Utilities Commission wants to make mobile pones more accessible to the poor. That is a noble mission but the means is likely to leave many irate. The Commission will vote on a proposal to tax text messaging — a proposal that raises both political and legal concerns.
Continue reading “Text Tax . . . OMG: California Considering Text Message Tax”
Below is my column in The Hill Newspaper on the unrestrained hype on both sides after the recent filings by the Special Counsel and U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.
Here is the column:
Continue reading “Reality Check: Why Trump Is Neither Vindicated Or Vanquished By The Recent Filings”
There are moments on television where the irony is so great that it leaves you dumbfounded. On Tuesday night, CNN brought on its contributor, James Clapper, to address the plea deal struck by accused Russian Agent Maria Butina. Clapper was asked by Wolf Blitzer if it is possible that Butina could have simply been used unwittingly by the Russian government. It is a fair question, but Clapper immediately dismissed claims of “unwitting” actions and insisted ” I suspect she was witting.” If that sounded familiar, it should and, while Clapper is clearly an expert on intelligence matters, he is an even greater expert on what constitutes “witting” crimes.
Continue reading “James Clapper’s Unwitting Irony: Former National Intelligence Director Dismisses Claim Of Innocence Of Maria Butina”
We previously discussed the sometimes thin line between free speech and a nuisance. The latest such controversy has arisen in Westford, Vermont where Ted Pelkey decided to make a statement after city officials refused his permit to build an 8,000 square foot garage on his property. His response was a single finger salute to the Westford Selectboard and Development Review Board. This is not the first such salute piece to prompt legal questions over its display. Notably, the Vermont Supreme Court recently ruled that ugly is not a nuisance.
Continue reading “Vermont Man Causes Controversy Over One-Finger Salute To City Officials”
Below is my column in The Hill Newspaper on the dangers posed by Michael Cohen and Paul Manafort after the filings last week in federal court.
Here is the column:
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This morning, I will have the privilege of giving a keynote address before the National Press Club at a symposium organized by The International Biometrics + Identity Association (IBIA) on privacy and security issues surrounding the rising use of facial identification technology.
Continue reading “Turley To Give Keynote On Privacy and Security At IBIA Conference”
Below is my column at Foxnews.com on the inevitable collapse of Michael Cohen’s strategy to avoid jail for his extensive criminal conduct as a businessman and a lawyer. I recently discussed how the filing detailed the windfall payments of over $4 million that Cohen received from companies like AT&T to buy access and influence with Trump. It was one of Cohen’s last scams. He ended up keeping the money despite being embroiled in the scandals that led to his demise. He then scammed thousands of anti-Trump donors on a GoFundMe site for hundreds of thousands of dollars on the promise of turning against Trump. He never mentioned the millions that he shook down companies for in his cash for access scheme. In other words, Cohen continue to hustle but, on this occasion, he came up one hustle too short.
Continue reading “Michael Cohen’s Last Hustle: How Trump’s Former Fixer Blew His Final Play”
There is an interesting free speech case emerging in Cleburne Texas where Aaron Urbanski was arrested after protesting in front of the St. Mark United Methodist Church against its Christmas event. Urbanski, 31, was screaming that Santa is not real and was arrested for criminal trespass. It was a remarkably obnoxious and disrespectful act by Urbanski and other protesters, but much will depend on where the protest was held in front of the church. If the arrests were due to the content of the protests rather than its location, a serious free speech issue could emerge. For this part, Cleburne Mayor Scott Cain simply declared “Don’t mess with Santa” — a statement that could be cited by the defendant in a first amendment challenge to his arrest.
Continue reading ““Don’t Mess With Santa”: Texas Town Could Face Free Speech Challenge Over Santa Protest”I guess some people in Summerville, South Carolina just do not like winter or at least Christmas. Cameron Lewis Baun, 29, has been arrested for going on an alleged spree of arson in burning Christmas decorations. He reportedly started by burning an outdoor Snowman. He may have misunderstood the lyrics from Frozen. It is “Do you want to build a snowman?”
Continue reading “Do You Want To Burn A Snowman? South Carolina Man Arrested For Setting Christmas Decorations On Fire”
Jupiter’s clouds have always fascinated many of us like nature’s massive lava lamp. This image from NASA is one of the most captivating yet of the incredible sight on the largest planet. The photos seems to confirm that indeed paisleys are back and part of a galactic trend.
Continue reading “Behold The Beauty of Jupiter’s Clouds”
An earlier column discussed the unnerving statement by Trump that he answered the questions of Special Counsel Robert Mueller “very easily.” The column suggested that the claim may have been bravado since nothing is easy in this investigation. That would seem to be the case since Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani just contradicted the President and said that Trump did not answer the questions either easily or quickly. He described the process as taking two weeks and that the process was an utter “nightmare.” He also spoke openly about the President not being as controlled as other clients — a statement occurring after Trump former Secretary of State called Trump “undisciplined.”
Continue reading “Giuliani Says Trump Answering Mueller’s Questions Was A Nightmare”
One of the overlooked portions of the Justice Department filings on Michael Cohen was the calculation of how much Cohen made selling access to Trump after the election. I previously wrote about how Cohen found willing corporations like Novartis and AT&T to give him windfall payments to curry favoritism with Trump. It turns out that Cohen made over $4 million and appears to have done little since he was quickly ensnared in scandal. These companies however were outed in what is usually the hidden, seedy underbelly of this town.
Continue reading “DOJ: Cohen Sold Access To Trump For $4 Million”