A couple is facing child cruelty charges after a 9-month-old baby overdosed on fentanyl in Georgia on Saturday.
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For some time now, Athens-Clarke County has refused to honor requests that it hold criminal aliens for pick-up by ICE. So, despite Mayor Girtzβs claims to the contrary, it is aΒ de factoΒ sanctuary jurisdiction whether it has passed an ordinance to that effect or not.
The post ExclusiveβOβBrien: Emails Reveal Athens Mayor Saw Laken Rileyβs Murder as a PR Problem appeared first on Breitbart.
Watchdog group Judicial Watch is suing to make public the 911 call and arrest reports associated with 22-year-old Laken Riley's murder.
The post Judicial Watch Sues to Get 911 Call, Arrest Report of Laken Rileyβs Murder appeared first on Breitbart.
Fulton County, Georgia, SuperiorΒ CourtΒ JudgeΒ Scott McAfeeβsΒ decision is one fine muddle.Β
McAfee ruled on Friday in the Fani Willis-Nathan WadeΒ sexual-kickback case: It takes two to tango, but only one is too corrupt to stay on the dance floor.Β
How does that work?
McAfeeΒ gave Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis the option to continue her election-interference persecution against former President Donald Trump, but only if she booted Wade, her lead prosecutor and former boyfriend/high-flying travel companion.
McAfeeβsΒ ruling only makes sense if Willis and Wade conducted their torrid love affair with Wade awake and Willis comatose. Not even Helen Keller would have been so oblivious of events in which she was, literally, intimately involved.
βItβs like finding two people in a bank vault andΒ taking one off to jail,β George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley told Fox News. βThey were the two parts of this relationship, and only one of them was disqualified.βΒ
Turley added: βWhy should Willis escape that same penalty? The opinion leaves us feeling like the court went and shot the wounded.β
The decisionΒ should have been either: Wade and Willis are clean. So, proceed. Or Wade and Willis are crooked. So, youβre fired!
Instead, McAfee ruled: Willis is clean, and Wade is crooked. So, she should stay or leave with Wade, as she wishes. Whatever.
Huh?
McAfeeβs pretzel logic might involve his reelection in two months. Perhaps by leaving Willis some wiggle room, McAfee reckons he can tiptoe around the land mine that would have exploded had he disqualifiedΒ Willis andΒ blown this case and himself sky-high.
This underscores the urgent need to eliminate all judicial elections and make local, county, and state judges like federal jurists; namely, appointed by executives, confirmed by legislators, and unbeholden to voters. Justice cannot be blind while shaking hands and kissing babies.Β
McAfee might have ruled 100% on the law and evidence and 0% on his own political prospects.Β And yet he is onΒ Fulton CountyβsΒ MayΒ 21Β ballot, according to his election website.
Thus, speculation stirs that McAfeeβs decision wasΒ a self-serving campaign stunt. Such thoughts, justified or not, corrode confidence in a justice system alreadyΒ sinking into a quicksand ofΒ public doubts.
Meanwhile, Trumpβs attorneys responded to McAfee.
βWhile respecting the Courtβs decision, we believe that the Court did not afford appropriate significance to theΒ prosecutorial misconductΒ of Willis and Wade, including the financial benefits, testifying untruthfully about when their personal relationship began, as well as Willisβ extrajudicial [Martin Luther King Day] βchurch speech,β where she played the race card and falsely accused the defendants and their counsel of racism,βΒ declaredΒ Steve Sadow,Β TrumpβsΒ lead counselΒ in the alleged election-interference prosecution. βWe will use all legal options available as we continue to fight to end this case, which should never have been brought in the first place.β
These βlegal optionsβ most assuredly involve appeal motions. Wiser jurists might return a more rational result, perhaps based on McAfeeβs finding that there was at leastΒ the appearance of corruptionΒ in this case. In legal matters, appearance alone tends to be sufficient to jettison parties too tainted to remain in place. Appearance should be enough to dismiss Willis, now that Wade has resigned in disgrace.
No less a Trump hater than Andrew Weissmann, a former Justice Department Deep Stater, considers Willis too crippled to continue. As he commented via X:Β βFor the good of the case, given thatΒ ethics issuesΒ will abound now as to Willis, she should voluntarily recuse herself from the case and allow another prosecutor to oversee the GA trump [sic] case.β
Willis cannot stand in court and challenge the propriety of Trump and 18 other co-defendants without the entire countryβand the juryβthinking: βGo look in the mirror!β
And now, this circus moves on to appellate court.Β Whatever other judges decide, these appeals will take time. And right now, time is Trumpβs best friend.
The Daily Signal publishes a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of The Heritage Foundation.
Have an opinion about this article? To sound off, please emailΒ letters@DailySignal.comΒ and weβll consider publishing your edited remarks in our regular βWe Hear Youβ feature. Remember to include the URL or headline of the article plus your name and town and/or state.
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For nearly a decade, the House Freedom Caucus has disrupted the way business is done in Congress. Now, that same model is spreading to state capitals across America.
State Freedom Caucus Network President Andy Roth is no stranger to Washingtonβs policy fights after spending years with the Club for Growth. A few years ago, he decided it was time to turn his attention to the states. Today, the State Freedom Caucus Network is growing and currently active in 11 states that span the country.
On this episode of βThe Daily Signal Podcast,β we talk about the how these conservative lawmakers are challenging the status quo and shaking up the establishment. The transcript was edited for length.
Rob Bluey: You spent nearly two decades in Washington at the Club for Growth. You and I got to know each other fighting earmarks and all sorts of other bad things that Congress was doing. What inspired you to refocus your attention on state legislatures?
Andy Roth: The network was based on the House Freedom Caucus business model. The House Freedom Caucus launched in 2015 and almost immediatelyβbecause of my position at the Club for GrowthβI had a lot of state lawmakers come to me and say gosh, βI wish we had that at the state level.β So weβve been talking about this for years.
In 2019, we were like, weβve got to make this happen because there are 50 swamps in the 50 states that people donβt know about. And theyβre arguably, I would say they are worse than the swamp in D.C.
Because of the COVID stuff, school choice, there are so many issues that impact people and their families at the state level, and no attention was paid on them. So in 2019, we launched the network.
The Georgia Freedom Caucus was the first one. Then we went to South Carolina, South Dakota, Illinois, on and on. And now we have 11 of them.
Bluey: Whatβs your strategy in terms of how you identify a state?
Roth: These state Freedom Caucuses have to originate organically, meaning that the lawmakers themselves have to come to us and say, βWeβve got the members. Weβve got the desire. We have the principles. Letβs do it.β
We then talk to them and we help put it together and then we launch. We found the members in Georgia, South Carolina, and elsewhere because they were ready to go. Thatβs the process now going forward.
A lot of state lawmakers all across the country know about us, but there are some that still donβt. But once they do, they come to us and then we go through the process and hopefully weβre able to launch.
Bluey: Could you speak to some of those characteristics of people who are involved?
Roth: They are full-spectrum conservatives, but more importantly than that, they are conservatives before theyβre Republicans.
If there are Republican leadersβwhether itβs the governor, whether itβs the speaker of the State House or the Senate majority leaderβif theyβre pushing policies that are not conservative, we only want lawmakers who are willing to fight back against them.
Not only do they have to be great on policy, but they have to be willing to fight Republicans and Democrats at every turn.
Bluey: Some of those politicians havenβt exactly welcomed the State Freedom Caucus Network. What are some of the conflicts that are playing out right now in the states?
Roth: The best example is Wyoming. It is the reddest state in the union based on Trump-Biden numbers. [Donald] Trump won that state more than any other state.
The Wyoming House has 57 Republicans to only five Democrats. So you would think that they could pass school choice, ban transgender surgeries on minors, and get pornography out of the classroom.
But when you look at the actual voting records, instead of 57 to 5, itβs 26 conservatives to 36 liberals.
Liberals are in charge of the Wyoming House and the Senate, frankly. And thatβs because big-government liberals know that they cannot win in Wyoming with a D after their name. So they simply put an R after their name, run, get elected, and then vote like liberals.
Wyoming is not an outlier. Every red state is like that. And thatβs why youβre seeing headlines in South Carolina, Missouri, Idaho, all the states that weβre in where we are provoking the establishment and exposing their conceit.
Bluey: What are some of the tactics that you use to achieve your goals?
Roth: In Missouri, our most recent state, we launched on Jan. 5, and in two weeks, our lawmakers got kicked off their committees, had their parking spots taken, and even some of their staff got pay deducted because they committed the horrible sin of pushing leadership to pass the conservative priorities that the entire state GOP has advocated for.
Our lawmakers in Missouri merely said, βWeβre going to filibuster all gubernatorial appointments until you guys commit to actually putting good legislation on the floor.β Well, they didnβt like that, so they kicked them off committees and took their parking spots away, and so on.
In South Carolina, it was even worse than that. At the very beginning of last yearβs session, leadership required every member of the Republican House to sign a loyalty pledge. And this loyalty pledge had a lot of stipulations in it, but one of them said, you cannot criticize any of your Republican colleagues.
One of our South Carolina Freedom Caucus members raised their hand and said, βSo if I take a picture of the vote board after a big vote, vote and tweet that out, am I criticizing my colleagues?β And they said, βYes.β So our South Carolina Freedom Caucus members refused to sign the loyalty pledge.
Within a couple of days, they got kicked out of the House Republican Caucus. Theyβre now off on an island. And Iβll tell you candidly, our Freedom Caucus members were kind of wringing their hands when leadership was threatening them. But ever since theyβve been kicked out, itβs been liberating for them because they donβt have to attend the stupid meetings where leadership finger wags at you and says, βWe have to pass this huge corporate welfare bill.β They donβt have to listen to any of that anymore.
Bluey: Youβve mentioned some of the issues that theyβve confronted in the states. What are some of the other policy debates that are coming up?
Roth: In red states, budgets pass almost unanimously. If youβve got Republicans and Democrats voting for budgets, you should be worried and the data bears that out. States are increasing their budgets year after year after year.
We fight on the budget first and foremost. And we use every opportunity to offer amendments to cut this or that. And, unfortunately, weβre still losing because the state Freedom Caucus only has a small number of members compared to the overall legislature. But in South Carolina, last yearβs budget had more no votes than any time in the last 50 years.
All of the big hot topic issues that you see in the headlines our guys are fighting onβlike school choice, banning transgender surgeries for minors. We really like are hitting every issue possible.
Bluey: What motivates these conservative leaders to keep the fight going and recruit others to the cause?
Roth: Honestly, each other. I knew that the establishment would retaliate. What I didnβt fully appreciate at the time is that these members really love and respect each other and they stick together.
And they do that not just on the floor of the chamber when they vote, but they meet a lot of time, they pray a lot of time with each other. And when you know youβre in a trench, fighting against somebody, knowing that the person to your left and to your right have your back, that motivates everything.
In a lot of these red states, the grassroots are kind of demoralized. They see whatβs going on in D.C. They see that nothingβs going on in their state capital. But now, for the first time, they have a Freedom Caucus at their state capital not only voting with them, but being very loud and vocal.
Bluey: Can you share any thoughts on where you might go next?
Roth: Texas just had their big primaries last week. It was beautiful. The governor, the attorney general, the lieutenant governor, even President Trump endorsed candidates against liberal Republican incumbents, and in a lot of cases they won.
We have had our eye on Texas for a long time, but things were so corrupt there and so bad in Austin, I joke that itβs like a Spanish soap opera because itβs not only policy disputes, itβs personalities disputes.
Then thereβs other states like Oklahoma and Ohio that I think we could be in fairly quickly.
I am worried about Florida. Gov. Ron DeSantis has done such a great job there that thereβs almost an attitude of we donβt need a Florida Freedom Caucus.
My argument to them is DeSantis isnβt going to be there forever and the great thing about state Freedom Caucuses is that they live in perpetuity. Lawmakers will come and go but you can always count on a state Freedom Caucus to advance conservative policies.
Bluey: How can people support your organization?
Roth: I love that question. We are a 501(c)(3) and a 501(c)(4), so what that means is that we have an educational arm and an advocacy arm. The State Freedom Caucus Network is our mothership. And then State Freedom Caucus Foundation is our educational arm. Just go to our website and you can give to either one.
Have an opinion about this article? To sound off, please emailΒ letters@DailySignal.comΒ and weβll consider publishing your edited remarks in our regular βWe Hear Youβ feature. Remember to include the URL or headline of the article plus your name and town and/or state.
The post Freedom Caucuses Shaking Up How Business Is Done in 11 States appeared first on The Daily Signal.
The fun never sets in the Atlanta courtroom of Superior CourtΒ JudgeΒ Scott McAfee. That is the red-hot scene of the adults-only realityΒ TV hitΒ calledΒ βThe Real Prosecutors of Fulton County.β
As The Associated Press observed on Wednesday, a perilous political matter has βtaken on a soap opera atmosphere, bogged down by testimony about sex, dating, cash stashes, and text messages β¦ .β
This weekβs guestΒ star isΒ Terrence Bradley, Esq., theΒ former law partner of Nathan Wade. Wade, for his part, swimsΒ in controversy. He conducted an adulterous relationship with Fulton County DistrictΒ Attorney Fani Willis, even while he was married (en route to divorce) and worksΒ for Willis as leadΒ prosecutor in her criminal trial related to former President Donald Trumpβs alleged efforts to βoverturnβ the 2020 election.
Bradley testified about when Willis and Wade startedΒ their swinginβ affair.Β He previously had exchanged hundreds of emails withΒ Ashleigh Merchant, an attorneyΒ forΒ TrumpβsΒ co-defendant Michael Roman, regarding the timing of Willis and Wadeβs romance. In one message, Bradley said that it βabsolutelyβ began before Willis employed Wade in November 2021.
Special prosecutor Nathan Wade listens to Fulton County Executive District Attorney Daysha Young during final arguments in District Attorney Fani Willisβ disqualification hearing at the Fulton County Courthouse on Friday in Atlanta. (Photo: Alex Slitz/AFP/Getty Images)
But then Bradley contractedΒ courtroom-induced amnesia.Β Frustrated, Merchant told McAfee: βJudge, he doesnβt remember much of anything right now.β
Memories fade. But, alas for Willis and Wade, phone billsΒ are forever.
Wadeβs cellphone records are highly incriminating. They show some 2,000 calls and 10,000 text messages between Willis and Wade. They communicated nonstop, with the frenzied back and forth of teenagers in heat.
EvenΒ more revealing are the location data from Wadeβs cellphone. They confirm thatΒ Wade repeatedlyΒ showedΒ up at WillisβΒ home βround midnight and then went home by the dawnβs early light.
DidΒ they burn the midnight oil reviewing documents and plotting trialΒ procedures or were otherΒ things afoot by candlelight?
Wade and Willis testified that they βdid not sleep togetherβ before Willis hiredΒ Wade.
As the late, great Henry Kissinger wouldΒ have put it, this most likely βhas the added advantage of being true.β These visits in the wee small hours involved little, if any,Β actual sleep.
The opposing counsel should have asked the obvious question as directly as this: βDid you two have sex before Willis employed Wade?β
Of course, Willis paidΒ Wade an enormousΒ sum to argueΒ a complex Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) case against a former president of the United States. This is the legal equivalent of starring in the flying trapeze. Wade seems better equipped to drive a clown car. Nonetheless, he got paid like P.T. Barnum.
Wade has earned some $654,000 from Willisβ case against Trump since January 2022. Fishier still, Willis paid Wade $250 per hour in November and December 2021 while disbursing βonlyβ $150 per hour to John Floyd, reputedly Georgiaβs go-to RICO expert, according to a contractΒ secured by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Wade then spentΒ part of this bonanza to take Willis on cruises; a fabulous weekend in Napa Valley,Β California; and other hot times in posh spots.
Willis seems to have recruitedΒ Wade in exchange for sexual favors and financial benefits, namely earthshaking assignations and splashy vacations.
This was a giant sexualΒ kickback schemeβcall it play to payβall financed withΒ Fulton County, Georgia, taxpayersβ dollars.
If Willis hired her boyfriend, then this is corruption.
If Willis hired Wade and then started copulatingΒ with him, then this sounds like sexual harassment: A boss knocking boots with anΒ employee over whom she wieldsΒ professional and economic power.
This is either a kickback scamΒ or #MeToo in reverse.
Which is it, Fani?
Willis and Wade should be booted fromΒ this case. Indeed, thisΒ entire stinking wreck shouldΒ be dismissed andΒ Rudy Giuliani, Mark Meadows, Sidney Powell, Harrison Floyd, Michael Roman, and the other defendantsΒ who are being persecutedβor who already have pleaded guiltyβshould have their charges dropped, their legal fees reimbursed, andΒ profound apologies rendered by the people of Fulton County.
The Daily Signal publishes a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of The Heritage Foundation.
Have an opinion about this article? To sound off, please emailΒ letters@DailySignal.com,Β and weβll consider publishing your edited remarks in our regular βWe Hear Youβ feature. Remember to include the URL or headline of the article plus your name and town and/or state.
The post The Fani Willis Escapades Grind On appeared first on The Daily Signal.