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Year: 2025

North Carolina Republicans demand firing of judge who freed Ukrainian refugee’s murder suspect

North Carolina Republicans demand firing of judge who freed Ukrainian refugee’s murder suspect

FIRST ON FOX: Republican members of North Carolina’s congressional delegation are calling for the removal of a state judge who released a man now accused of stabbing a Ukrainian refugee to death on a Charlotte train. All 10 House GOP members from the Tar Heel State signed a letter urging formal proceedings to remove Magistrate Judge Teresa Stokes. They cited her decision earlier this year to release Decarlos Brown “based solely on his ‘written promise’ to appear for a future court date.” Brown is now charged in the Aug. 22 stabbing of 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska, who fled Ukraine in 2022 after Russia’s invasion. Republicans argued Stokes ignored Brown’s lengthy record when she freed him without bail. GOFUNDME PULLS FUNDRAISERS FOR FELON ACCUSED OF KILLING COMMUTER IN RANDOM CHARLOTTE TRAIN ATTACK They argued that the release “was made despite Brown’s extensive criminal history, which included at least 14 prior arrests for serious offenses such as possession of a firearm by a felon, robbery with a dangerous weapon, and physical assault of his sister.” Brown, who was reportedly diagnosed with schizophrenia, had been charged with a misdemeanor in January after calling 911 and demanding responding officers investigate “man-made” materials inside his body controlling him, according to KATV.  He called 911 again after being angered by the police’s refusal, and was subsequently arrested and charged with a misdemeanor, according to the outlet. But the homeless man’s case is now the latest example being held up by Republicans of big cities having too lax a justice system in dealing with crime, including on mass transit.  It comes amid broader partisan divisions over the merits of President Donald Trump deploying the national guard to major cities in order to deal with violent crime. “Ms. Zarutska’s murder was not only a profound personal tragedy but also a direct result of a failure of judicial responsibility. By releasing a repeat violent offender on nothing more than his written promise to appear, Magistrate Stokes displayed a willful failure to perform the duties of her office and engaged in conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice,” the lawmakers, led by Rep. Tim Moore, R-N.C., wrote. DEM GOVERNOR BREAKS SILENCE ON MURDER OF UKRAINIAN REFUGEE AFTER SOCIAL MEDIA BACKLASH “Her decision has undermined public confidence in the judicial system and exposed the community to wholly preventable harm.” Zarutska had fled Ukraine in August 2022 after Russia launched its invasion of the sovereign country. The attack appears to have been unprovoked, as Zarutska had been sitting in front of Brown on a train while on her way home from work, according to local reports. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “[W]e urge you to commence formal removal proceedings against Magistrate Teresa Stokes. We further request that the Court conduct a thorough review of her prior bond determinations to assess the full extent of misconduct,” the letter said.  “North Carolinians deserve to know that those entrusted with judicial authority exercise it with diligence, responsibility, and regard for the safety of the community.” Fox News Digital reached out to the North Carolina Judicial Branch for comment but did not hear back by press time.

Ted Cruz accuses Biden of breaking pardon rules with autopen use after bombshell report

Ted Cruz accuses Biden of breaking pardon rules with autopen use after bombshell report

FIRST ON FOX: A Senate Republican charged that former President Joe Biden and top administration officials “demolished” the constitutional guardrails for pardons by using an autopen. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, wrote in a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi, which was first obtained by Fox News Digital, that there are a list of “core constitutional requirements” that must be met for pardons and granting clemency, and that the administration’s usage of an autopen likely ran afoul of those guardrails. In the waning months of his presidency, the Biden administration commuted the sentences of roughly 1,500 inmates and pardoned 39 others in December. A little over a month later, the administration issued roughly 2,500 more commutations — the most ever by a president in a single day. COMER VOWS ‘ACCOUNTABILITY,’ TRUMP RIPS ‘SCANDAL’ AFTER BOMBSHELL REPORT ON BIDEN AUTOPEN PARDONS Cruz, who is a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and chair of the Subcommittee on Federal Courts, Oversight, Agency Action, and Federal Rights, offered to provide Bondi assistance in ongoing investigations into the administration’s alleged abuse of the autopen. He said that the clemencies were issued “based on broad criteria rather than case-by-case evaluations, and at least some were signed using an autopen of then-President Biden’s signature.” “These core Constitutional requirements, considerations, and expectations were demolished in the final months of the Biden administration for partisan and personal motives by President Biden, his family, and his top officials,” Cruz said. Cruz noted that the presidential pardon authority granted under Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution requires a chain of custody of sorts: there has to be an unbroken line from the president to a pardon being granted, he said. TOP BIDEN OFFICIALS QUESTIONED AND CRITICIZED HOW HIS TEAM ISSUED PARDONS, USED AUTOPEN: REPORT “Everyone involved in the process — government officials purporting to issue a pardon, the person to whom it is being granted, judicial and law enforcement officials, and most of all the American people — should have absolute confidence a pardon was granted at the president’s explicit direction,” Cruz said. But recent reports, and ongoing congressional investigations, have raised doubts over whether Biden explicitly directed the avalanche of pardons toward the end of his presidency.   Cruz’s letter comes on the heels of a report from Axios that unearthed emails that showed Biden officials raised concerns with how the president’s team decided to make certain pardons and the frequent usage of the autopen. ‘PRESIDENTIAL INCAPACITY’: SENATE REPUBLICAN SEEKS PAPER TRAIL OF BIDEN’S AUTOPEN USE Cruz said that the emails showed that the Biden White House “implemented a process that separated the President from officials responsible for signing pardons on his behalf.” “They could not know if they were doing so at the President’s direction, either on a case-by-case basis or as a matter of criteria,” he said. He argued that the doubts raised by recent reports, and the ongoing investigations by the Justice Department, risked a “constitutional crisis in which the other branches and the American people cannot have faith that the President’s Article 2 pardon power was legitimately deployed.” “If the integrity of the clemency process was broken by Biden officials, such that the relevant actions were not taken at the President’s direction, the status of the pardons and commutations would at a minimum be cast into doubt, and the officials involved in approving and using the autopens should be held accountable,” Cruz said. 

Inside Epstein’s infamous “birthday book”: Clinton’s note, poolside candids and bizarre animal pics

Inside Epstein’s infamous “birthday book”: Clinton’s note, poolside candids and bizarre animal pics

Among the files made public by the House Oversight Committee is a document that stands out for its tone: a glossy 238-page scrapbook that offers a rare and unusually intimate glimpse of Jeffrey Epstein’s self-curated network.  The infamous “birthday book,” compiled by Ghislaine Maxwell in 2003, for Epstein’s 50th includes what appears to be notes from former President Bill Clinton, Alan Dershowitz, as well as photographs that juxtapose girlfriends, animals, children’s drawings with financiers and politicians — a tableau that feels all the more unsettling today. BILL CLINTON LETTER IN EPSTEIN ‘BIRTHDAY BOOK’ AMONG NEW FILES RELEASED BY HOUSE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE Maxwell wrote to Epstein at the beginning of the book that she wanted to “gather stories and old photographs to jog your memory about places, people and different events.” She hoped he would “derive as much pleasure from looking through it” as she did assembling it for him. Later in the book, a photo of the two canoodling appears with a caption that reads “the first date,” marked with the year 1991. Maxwell was found guilty in 2021 of sex trafficking and other offenses, and is serving a 20-year prison term. Prosecutors said she played a central role in Epstein’s scheme, luring underage girls into what began as massages and escalated into sexual abuse. Now 63 and incarcerated since her 2020 arrest, Maxwell told Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche in late August that she had no role in the sexual exploitation of minors. When asked about the “birthday book,” she told Blanche that she could only remember some parts of it, adding that it had been years since she compiled it.  HOUSE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE RELEASES THOUSANDS OF EPSTEIN DOCUMENTS Among the book’s entries is an apparent note from Bill Clinton, where the former Democratic president praises Epstein’s “childlike curiosity” and his “drive to make a difference” as well as the “[illegible] of friends.” Dershowitz, a former Harvard University law professor who once represented Epstein during criminal investigations, used his birthday note to make a joke about influencing media coverage. “Dear Jeffrey, as a birthday gift to you, I managed to obtain an early version of the Vanity Unfair article. I talked them into changing the focus from you to Bill Clinton, as you will see from the enclosed excerpt. Happy birthday and best regards,” the entry said. Dershowitz has repeatedly denied wrongdoing as it relates to Epstein. The birthday book also contained sentimental messages from family and friends. In one note, Epstein’s mother, Pauline Stolofsky Epstein, wrote that she’s been “very busy reminiscing since Ghislaine asked me to write about you.”  “Jeff[,] you have been a good son since day one and we have been proud of you ever since,” Epstein’s mother said. “I recall you refused to sleep [as a child] unless I read a story from Grandma’s Golden Book that she bought for 25c,” she added. “At PTA meetings I begged your teachers to improve your handwriting.” EPSTEIN ESTATE TO HAND OVER ‘BIRTHDAY BOOK’ TO LAWMAKERS, HOUSE DEM SAYS She also referenced Epstein’s life as a bachelor, as well as his prominent media shout-outs. “At age 21 Cosmopolitan magazine featured you as ‘Bachelor of the Month,” Pauline Epstein wrote. “Today you still hold that title.” “Jeff, I’m so sorry that Dad can’t share the nachus [pride] we have regarding your achievements,” she added. “He would have been overjoyed reading the article about you in the New York magazine.”  The book features hundreds of photos from throughout Epstein’s life until age 50, including pictures of him as a child and a teenager. Some of the earlier images included family pictures, formal school photos and pictures of him hanging out with friends as a teenager. HOUSE MOVES TO EXPOSE EPSTEIN FILES, AUTHORIZES OVERSIGHT PROBE The book also had revealing images of Epstein shirtless, Epstein embracing women and what appears to be a censored photo of him and Maxwell laughing and embracing in a pool. Pictures of mating lions and zebras were also included in the book. A picture of a woman in a bikini was also included with the caption, “Visiting you down in Palm Beach. Can’t get a second of privacy with you and a camera around ha ha!” Upon the files’ release, Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., chair of the House Oversight Committee, accused Democrats of previously “cherry-picking” the documents. “Oversight Committee Republicans are focused on running a thorough investigation to bring transparency and accountability for survivors of Epstein’s heinous crimes and the American people,” Comer said.