Hillary Clinton is now speaking in Berlin. It has been a love fest for the Clintons. Clinton started by trashing “the government I the United States” as now supporting “autocrats”… …Clinton immediately turned to the need to control information which “controls what we think.” She insisted that there must be a protection for “facts” : a chilling message from one of the most outspoken champions for censorship and speech regulations.

I am in Berlin to speak at the World Forum. I am currently listening to the opening session at a conference pointedly named recently as “A New World Order: European Values”… Bill and Hillary Clinton were just celebrated as leadership “truly made America great again.” When it comes to free speech, the Clintons certainly represent “European Values” on free speech…

Many are suggesting that the Biden pardons may now be challenged in light of the disclosures of Biden's use of an autopen.The chances of such challenges succeeding are vanishingly low. Presidents are allowed to use the autopen and courts will not presume a dead-hand conspiracy... ...Many of these were high-profile pardons, including for his own son, that Biden acknowledged publicly. There is also a problem with standing unless the issue comes up in a government effort to indict a recipient. That does not mean that the disclosures are not deeply troubling.

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer declared that Mahmoud Khalil should be released "if the administration cannot prove he has violated any criminal law." He is mistaken on the standard...facebook.com/senschumer/pos… ...We still do not know what the evidence against Khalil will show on any nexus to Hamas or the Columbia occupation. However, 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(4)(C) does not require a criminal act. The standard only requires the Sec. Rubio find "reasonable ground to believe" that he could present a "potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States is deportable"...

Rep. Ro Khanna (D., Cal.) gave Shannon Bream one of the most convoluted and conflicted explanations for voting against the Green censure because "he did not engage in violence . . . and I ultimately a supporter of free speech. . . and he had a free speech right."... ...Is that now the standard? You can disrupt joint sessions so long as you do not physically assault the president or others. That would be a crime that is already covered by the criminal code. Censure is about ethical conduct...

Green was censured, but only 9 Democrats joined in the motion. The Democrats then refused to clear the well and disrupted Speaker Johnson's efforts to complete the censure process. The sound you heard was the Democratic party hitting rock bottom in this disgraceful display... Faced with the first member to be expelled during a joint session address, the Democrats followed a censure over his disruption by disrupting the business of the House. Johnson showed admirable restraint and put the house into recess...

The 1st Circuit just held that parents have no right to know about their 11-year-old changing gender in school. This "unwritten policy" was viewed as overriding parental rights. The decision is defended as a reflection of our "pluralistic society"...ca1.uscourts.gov/sites/ca1/file… ...The court wrote: "our pluralistic society assigns those curricular and administrative decisions to the expertise of school officials, charged with the responsibility of educating children." There is no more cherished right that citizens possess than raising their children...

I am a bit confused. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy just bragged that he has an undocumented person living above his garage, adding "good luck to the feds coming in to try to get her.” How exactly is that good for this person to be staked out like political game to make a point?... ...If Murphy wanted to help this person, why would have parade her location and position in an interview to thrill his base? There is something in Matthew 6:3 that might be usual for Murphy...

Kash Patel is giving his opening statement. This is clearly going to be a rough hearing. Nevertheless, his life's story as the child of Indian immigrants speaks to the American dream and values. Notably, he served as a public defender, a rare credential to head the FBI. ...This has the feeling of the second confirmation hearing for Patel. The Democrats converted the Bondi hearing into a litany of attacks on Patel. This is likely to devolve quickly into name-calling and "are you or have you ever been a member of QAnon" confrontations...

President Biden has pardoned Dr. Fauci, General Milley and members of the House Jan. 6 committee and their staff. With his declaration that the Equal Rights Amendment is suddenly part of the Constitution, it is the latest use of presidential powers as a type of performative art. ...I previously wrote how these "white knight" pardons would be used to sustain the "death of democracy"
narrative by claiming that, but for Biden, enemies would have been rounded up and frog marched to the federal pen... jonathanturley.org/2024/12/17/the…

President Biden seems intent on moving his administration from the odious to the absurd. He just declared that the Equal Right Amendment is ratified: "In keeping with my oath and duty to Constitution and country, I affirm what I believe and what three-fourths of the states have ratified: The 28th Amendment is the law of the land, guaranteeing all Americans equal rights and protections under the law regardless of their sex." ...It is a position based on a long-rejected and frankly ridiculous foundation. It is another curious moment for self-describing champions of democracy...jonathanturley.org/2022/03/11/ame…

The Smith report (part one) is out. At points, the report seems more like a defense than a prosecutorial argument in support of Smith's own decisions. If so, it is a closing argument made long after the jury has left the courthouse... jonathanturley.org/2025/01/13/how… ...Smith insists that political motivations ascribed to him are "laughable" and that he focused on crimes that were "the most flagrant, the public harm the greatest, and the proof the most certain." ...

The report of David Weiss is out. Unlike his highly deferential investigation, the report is hard-hitting and is directed in part against the President. A couple of line are hardly subtle: “Other presidents have pardoned family members, but in doing so, none have taken the occasion as an opportunity to malign the public servants at the Department of Justice based solely on false accusations."... ...That is precisely the objection that Biden has leveled against Trump. Neither the Weiss nor Smith reports will detail the most pressing questions of how these special counsels undermined their own investigations... jonathanturley.org/2025/01/13/how…

Merchan appears to be making the case in his own defense and insisted that this case is no different from any other case in New York. It is a case being made long after the jury has left the courthouse... ...This is like Dr. Frankenstein telling his creature that he is just like any other man. Stitching together this case from a dead misdemeanor and declined federal charges is anything but ordinary....

The denial of the Supreme Court on the Trump stay played out as expected. Nothing in the effort would have appealed to Chief Justice Roberts. He is the ultimate institutionalist who not only prefers regular order but a minimal role of the Court in political matters... ......There is an overriding preference among appellate judges for the finalizing of cases with sentencing so that the entire case can be reviewed. Justice Amy Coney Barrett also joined the liberal justices in the 5-4 decision...

Judge Merchan just set Trump for a sentencing shortly before his inauguration. As some of us predicted, he is indicating that he will impose an unconditional discharge without jail or probation... ...The sentence will finalize the case and allow for an appeal. However, it would also label the President-elect a convicted felon just before he is sworn into office. It is the final cathartic act for lawfare warriors...

President Biden is offering lessons on what presidents could learn from the late President Carter. He is certainly right about setting the standard for civility and decency, but here is one that Biden missed: Carter did not pardon his brother Billy in a corruption scandal... ...While criminal charges were not brought, there were lingering questions about the $200,000 "loan" from Libya and allegations that he paid back only $1000. There were also allegations of other payments in influence-peddling allegations. Sound familiar?...

The media is still struggling to ignore the corruption of the Biden scandal by insisting that there is no evidence Joe Biden directly received money: ABBY PHILLIP: “I’m still waiting to see the proof of Joe Biden enriching himself. I take his brother and his son, perhaps.”... ...It is not only factually wrong but legally irrelevant. As I stated in my testimony in the Biden impeachment hearing, enriching your family is treated the same under corruption statutes...jonathanturley.org/2023/12/15/the…

Fani Willis was just disqualified by the Georgia Court of Appeals. Trump appears to be running the table in these lawfare cases. It will now be up to another prosecutor as to whether to continue the case... ...The Georgia case did have some viable criminal charges against other defendants for offenses like unlawful access to restricted areas. However, in attempting to bag Trump, she created an absurdly attenuated RICO theory that should not be embraced by the new prosecutor.

As predicted, Judge Merchan has rejected the challenge to the Bragg charges under the recent immunity decision of the Supreme Court. He tossed the challenge entirely but also found that any possible violations would be harmless error. Here is the opinion: nycourts.gov/LegacyPDFs/pre… ...Merchan created layers of findings to ironplate the case for appeal. He ruled that (1) this was entirely unofficial conduct, (2) if it was official conduct, and (3) if it was official and within the protections of the Constitution, it was harmless error ...

The new IG report on January 6th may raise more questions than answers. It confirms that confidential sources did indeed enter the Capitol and restricted areas. The question is whether the presence of these sources were revealed to the defense in the hundreds of prosecutions... ...Moreover, there is a question of why the three sources who entered the Capitol were not charged as part of an operation that the Justice Department described as an effort to "shock and awe" targeting everyone involved on that day...