This week, Daniel Penny&#8217;s defense attorneys flagged Judge Maxwell Wiley to what they say are improper and misleading actions by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg&#8217;s office working with the media. 
Penny, a 26-year-old Marine veteran, is on trial for the death of Jordan Neely, whom Penny restrained on the NYC subway last year after Neely allegedly threatened passengers.
The defense says Bragg&#8217;s office has been aggressively pushing the media to add in their coverage that there’s no mandatory minimum sentence if Penny is convicted on the second-degree manslaughter charge. 
&#8220;The District Attorney’s efforts to have the jury speculate as to a potential sentence are both improper and misleading,&#8221; Penny attorneys Steven Raiser and Thomas Kenniff told Fox News. &#8220;While it is technically true that these charges do not carry a mandatory minimum, that is the case with most felonies in New York. It is equally true that the maximum sentence is 15 years in state prison.&#8221;
&#8220;Moreover, the tenacity with which the District Attorney has sought to obtain a conviction against Mr. Penny strongly suggests that they will advocate for a substantial sentence in the event of a guilty verdict,&#8221; the attorneys added.
A defense attorney named Danielle Iredale told Fox that this appears to be a signal to the jury that it&#8217;s okay for them to convict Penny since he potentially won&#8217;t serve any time behind bars.
&#8220;Defense lawyers are barred from mentioning potential sentences at trial — the reasoning being that it would be an attempt to seek sympathy from jurors who then may reach a verdict based on something other than the facts, In other words, ‘He may be guilty, but 10 years is too much time,’&#8221; Iredale explained. &#8220;Here, there is a hypocrisy to the DA’s messaging. In attempting to publish the fact that there is no statutory mandatory minimum sentence, they are essentially saying, ‘It’s OK to convict, he may not go to the jail!’&#8221;
In closing arguments and throughout the trial, the state has argued that Penny went “too far” and was “reckless” when restraining Neely, ultimately killing him. 
Controversially, the prosecution has leaned heavily into race, implying that Penny, who is white, was motivated by Neely&#8217;s race when restraining him. Notably, Assistant District Attorney Dafna Yoran has referred to Penny as <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/daniel-penny-repeatedly-referred-to-as-the-white-man-by-prosecution">“the white man</a>” during the trial, while referring to Neely by his name, The Daily Wire reported. She also told the jury during closing arguments that Penny “didn’t recognize that Jordan Neely was a person” and viewed Neely as “a person [who] needed to be eliminated.”
The defense, alternatively, has repeatedly asked the jury to consider who they&#8217;d want on the subway with them if they were under a serious threat. Raiser argued that Penny could have done nothing when Neely allegedly threatened terrified subway riders, but instead, he chose to act, putting his “own life on the line” to protect “perfect strangers.”
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Penny&#8217;s defense has also raised serious doubt about the manner in which Neely died. The New York medical examiner said he died of asphyxiation, but, controversially, she admitted during the trial that she made that determination based on viral video evidence before she ever received a toxicology report. 
Moreover, a forensic pathologist brought by the defense <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/chokehold-did-not-kill-jordan-neely-forensic-expert-testifies-in-daniel-pennys-defense" target="_blank" rel="noopener">testified</a> that Neely’s death was caused by the “combined effects” of sickle cell, K2, which is a synthetic drug tied to psychosis, schizophrenia, and other factors. He also said that the chokehold did not directly kill Neely. 
Notably, Neely still had a pulse when police arrived on the scene. Mouth-to-mouth was not given to Neely because, according to police testimony, he looked filthy and like an apparent drug user. 
Penny has been charged with second-degree manslaughter, which carries a 15-year sentence, and criminally negligent homicide, which carries a four-year sentence. Closing arguments in the case wrapped on Tuesday, and the jury will continue deliberations on Friday.

Daniel Penny

Defense In Daniel Penny Case Says Prosecution Improperly Signaling To The Jury

Courts

Jordan Neely

New York

New York City

U.S.

The United Kingdom’s Supreme Court has heard arguments in a case in which the justices must define “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/videos/what-is-a-woman" target="_blank" rel="noopener">what is a woman</a>” as it pertains to the “Equality Act” by the Scottish government.
Five Supreme Court justices &#8212; three men and two women &#8212; agreed to hear the case brought by the women’s rights group For Women Scotland (FWS) against the Scottish legislature after it <a href="https://www.newstatesman.com/comment/2024/11/scottish-government-is-ignoring-womens-rights">passed a law stating that every Scottish public board</a> should include an equal amount of men and woman. However, the Scottish government&#8217;s definition of &#8220;woman&#8221; includes trans-identifying men with a “gender recognition certificate” (GRC), the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/uk-supreme-court-trans-gender-case-cf2bbc911c59b147a5261f431ee93eb7">Associated Press</a> reported. 
It also claimed that the certificate entitled transgender individuals to the same protection under the Equality Act as those born female, the <a href="https://www.newstatesman.com/comment/2024/11/scottish-government-is-ignoring-womens-rights">NewStatesmen</a> reported.
Lawyer for FWS, Aidan O’Neill, told the justices that “sex” should refer to biological sex as understood “in ordinary, everyday language&#8221; when it comes to the Equality Act. A 2022 decision by Scotland’s Court of Session ruled that for the purpose of equality, sex was “<a href="https://www.scotcourts.gov.uk/media/lgufy1zd/court-of-session-petition-of-for-women-scotland-limited-for-judicial-review-13-december-2022.pdf">not limited to biological or birth sex</a>” and that it included those with a GRC.
“Our position is your sex, whether you are a man or a woman or a girl or a boy is determined from conception in utero, even before one’s birth, by one’s body,” O’Neill said. “It is an expression of one’s bodily reality. It is an immutable biological state.”
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For Women Scotland&#8217;s director, Trina Budge, pointed out, “Not tying the definition of sex to its ordinary meaning means that public boards could conceivably comprise of 50% men, and 50% men with certificates, yet still lawfully meet the targets for female representation.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
&#8216;Gender identity, Aidan O’Neill told the court, “is not a trump card against the rights of women”. And the rights of women, and lesbian women in particular, are ignored by the Scottish government’s position. Women’s rights are human rights, too.&#8217;<a href="https://t.co/eJCUqKl0fB">https://t.co/eJCUqKl0fB</a>
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) <a href="https://twitter.com/jk_rowling/status/1862651136500494557?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 30, 2024</a></blockquote>
FWS includes such high profile members as famed “Harry Potter” author <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/j-k-rowling">J.K. Rowling</a>, who reportedly donated what would be equivalent to more than $10,000 to the group’s fight.
Rowling has been a very vocal advocate for women and recently took to <a href="https://x.com/jk_rowling/status/1862651136500494557">social media</a> and shared a quote from O’Neill during the hearing.
“Gender identity, Aidan O’Neill told the court, ‘is not a trump card against the rights of women.’ And the rights of women, and lesbian women in particular, are ignored by the Scottish government’s position. Women’s rights are human rights, too,” Rowling’s post read.
A judgement on the case is not expected until well into the new year.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/j-k-rowling-fighting-for-safety-of-women-and-children-is-definitely-hill-im-willing-to-die-on" target="_blank" rel="noopener">J.K. Rowling Says Fighting For ‘Safety Of Women And Children’ Is Hill She’s Willing To Die On</a>

Supreme Court Considers Tennessee’s Ban On Treatments For Transgender Minors

U.K. Supreme Court Hearing Arguments Over Definition Of The Word ‘Woman’

U.K. Supreme Court Hearing Arguments Over Definition Of The Word 'Woman'

JK Rowling

Scotland

Transgenders

U.K.

What Is A Woman

Women

World

The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/supreme-court" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Supreme Court</a> seems poised to reject a challenge from the Biden administration and the ACLU to Tennessee’s law shielding minors from irreversible transgender procedures, according to comments made by justices <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/proponents-of-transgender-procedures-make-shocking-admissions-before-scotus" target="_blank" rel="noopener">during oral arguments</a> on Wednesday.
Throughout oral arguments on Wednesday morning, the conservative justices were skeptical of arguments from U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar and the ACLU, who argued that Tennessee’s law violated the 14th Amendment. The law prevents doctors from giving children puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones, which come with a variety of long-term health risks.
Conservative Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito strongly pushed back against Prelogar and the ACLU, with Alito pointing to data contradicting claims that transgender procedures were necessary to keep kids from committing suicide. Alito also pointed to recent decisions in the United Kingdom to restrict transgender procedures for minors.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh and Chief Justice John Roberts also seemed hesitant to weigh in against Tennessee.
&#8220;It strikes me as a pretty heavy yellow light, if not red light, for this court to come in, the nine of us, and to constitutionalize the whole area, when the rest of the world, or at least the people who the countries that have been at the forefront of this, are pumping the brakes on this kind of treatment,&#8221; Kavanaugh said.
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Both Kavanaugh and Roberts said that it seemed like it might be best to leave the issue to the states.
&#8220;If the Constitution doesn&#8217;t take sides, if there&#8217;s strong, forceful, scientific policy arguments on both sides in a situation like this, why isn&#8217;t it best to leave it to the democratic process?&#8221; Kavanaugh asked.
&#8220;We&#8217;re not the best situated to address issues like that,&#8221; Roberts said. &#8220;Doesn&#8217;t that make a stronger case for us to leave those determinations to the legislative bodies rather than try to determine them for ourselves?&#8221;
The liberal justices on the court, including Ketanji Brown Jackson and Sonia Sotomayor, both seemed like they would move to strike down Tennessee&#8217;s law. Jackson tried to compare the law to old laws that prevented interracial marriage.
Headlines from the legacy media predicted that the law would be upheld. NBC News <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/supreme-court-tackles-state-bans-treatments-transgender-youth-rcna182517">wrote</a>, “Supreme Court skeptical of challenge to Tennessee ban on transgender youth treatments,” while CNN <a href="https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/scotus-transgender-care-ban-12-04-24/index.html">wrote</a>, “During arguments, SCOTUS conservative majority appears ready to endorse Tennessee law.”

Transgender Rights Face Test At Supreme Court Over State Bans Of Youth Care

Supreme Court Appears Poised To Uphold Tennessee Law Protecting Kids From Trans Procedures

ACLU

Biden Administration

Fourteenth Amendment

Supreme Court

Tennessee

Transgender

Supreme Court Justice <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/ketanji-brown-jackson" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ketanji Brown Jackson</a> compared Tennessee’s law against irreversible medical interventions that seek to change children’s sex to laws against interracial marriage.
The comparison came as the Supreme Court heard oral arguments over the Constitutionality of a Tennessee law protecting children from hormone therapies and surgical procedures that attempt to modify their sex.
“They sound in the same kinds of arguments that were made back in the day, 50’s and 60’s, with respect to racial classifications and inconsistencies. I’m thinking in particular about Loving,” Brown said, referencing the 1967 Supreme Court case Loving v. Virginia, which resulted in the overturning of the law prohibiting interracial marriage. The Justice added that she sees &#8220;parallels&#8221; as to “how this statute operates and how the anti-miscegnation statutes in Virginia operated.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
🚨INSANE
Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson strains to compare U.S. v. Skrmetti to Loving v. Virginia, suggesting that a law protecting kids from experimental medical &#8220;treatments&#8221; to make them appear like the opposite sex is similar to a law preventing interracial… <a href="https://t.co/7nAQQkZzQD">pic.twitter.com/7nAQQkZzQD</a>
— Tyler O&#8217;Neil (@Tyler2ONeil) <a href="https://twitter.com/Tyler2ONeil/status/1864342782350909713?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 4, 2024</a></blockquote>
Brown continued on with her comparison between the two laws. “In that case, everyone seemed to concede up front that a racial classification was being drawn by the statute, the question was whether it was discriminatory because it applied to both races,” Brown said, referencing Loving v. Virginia.
“When you look at the structure of that law it looks, in terms of … you know you can’t do something that is inconsistent with your own characteristics, it&#8217;s sort of the same thing.”
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“It’s interesting to me that we now have this different argument, and I wonder whether Virginia could have gotten away what they did here by just making a classification argument the way that Tennessee is here in this case,” Brown went on to add.
Despite Brown’s comments, however, some analysis of the case indicates that the Supreme Court may be leaning towards siding with Tennessee and upholding the state’s law, potentially opening the door to a federal law modeled on it.
Chief Justice John Roberts, Justice Amy Coney Barrett, and Justice Brett Kavanaugh “all seemed to come down on Tennessee’s side,” an <a href="https://www.axios.com/2024/12/04/supreme-court-trans-health-care">analysis</a> in Axios reads, adding that Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito are unlikely to oppose the ban.
Justice Kavanaugh, who was nominated to his position by Trump, also pointed to Europe’s strict regulations on the use of irreversible medical interventions that seek to change the sex of children.

Justice Kentanji Brown Jackson

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson Compares Ban On Child Sex Changes To Law Against Interracial Marriage

Ketanji Brown Jackson

Tennessee Attorney General Johnathan Skrmetti held a press conference on the steps of the Supreme Court on Wednesday after arguing in favor of the state’s law defending children from irreversible sex change interventions, explaining that it is about protecting kids from medical interventions that could lead to long-standing harm.
Skrmetti’s comments came after he appeared in front of the nation’s highest court to defend the Tennessee law, which was passed after The Daily Wire investigated Vanderbilt University’s child sex change clinic.
“This case is about protecting kids from the consequences of decisions that they cannot fully understand,” Skrmetti said before explaining the risks associated with medical sex change interventions.
“Kids on puberty blockers and hormone treatments for gender dysphoria face serious risks of losing their fertility forever, of losing their sexual function forever, of dealing with medical conditions for the rest of their lives including blood clots, tumors, bone density disorders, cognitive development impairment, and others,” he went on to say.
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“The medicalization of youth gender dysphoria has moved very far, very fast over recent years. The number of cases has exploded. One researcher identified a 4,000% increase in the number of adolescent girls seeking hormone treatment.”
“This explosion in cases has been driven by ideological pressure, not by medical evidence,” Skrmetti added.
Current reports speculate that the Supreme Court is likely to side with Skrmetti and uphold the Volunteer State’s law protecting children from irreversible sex change interventions, given their lines of questioning during Wednesday’s oral arguments.
Chief Justice John Roberts, Justice Amy Coney Barrett, and Justice Brett Kavanaugh “all seemed to come down on Tennessee&#8217;s side,” an <a href="https://www.axios.com/2024/12/04/supreme-court-trans-health-care">analysis</a> in Axios reads, adding that Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito are unlikely to oppose the ban.
Kavanaugh gave perhaps the clearest indication of his position, pointing to the strict regulation of these interventions in various European countries and saying that the Supreme Court should not &#8220;constitutionalize&#8221; the ongoing medical debate.

AG Skrmetti

Tennessee AG Explains Trans Procedure Harms After Defending Ban To SCOTUS

Politics

SCOTUS

trans

transgender surgery

Jurors began deliberating on Tuesday in the case of Daniel Penny, who is accused of manslaughter and negligent homicide related to the killing of Jordan Neely on a New York City subway car last May.
Penny, 26, held Neely in a chokehold until authorities arrived, and Neely ended up dying, though his exact cause of death was disputed at trial. Jurors went into deliberations Tuesday afternoon and quickly sent back a question for the judge, asking for a second read of what is considered justifiable in the case, the Daily Mail <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14155297/daniel-penny-jury-telling-question-hint-verdict-jordan-neely-trial.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>.
The question came just over an hour after deliberations began. The jury wanted to know the specifics of justification defenses from the judge’s instructions. To convict Penny, jurors need to agree that Penny’s chokehold on Neely was unjustifiable and that he acted recklessly.
The jurors deliberated for another hour and a half before heading home. Deliberations will continue on Wednesday.
Assistant District Attorney Dafna Yoran maintained that Penny’s chokehold caused Neely’s death, which the medical examiner <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/medical-examiner-determined-jordan-neely-died-from-chokehold-after-viewing-video" target="_blank" rel="noopener">determined</a> after watching video of Penny holding Neely. A forensic pathologist called by the defense, however, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/chokehold-did-not-kill-jordan-neely-forensic-expert-testifies-in-daniel-pennys-defense" target="_blank" rel="noopener">testified</a> that Neely died due to a combination of drugs, his sickle cell trait, and the struggle with Penny and other passengers who held him down.
The defense called its final witness on November 22, a man who works for the court clerk’s office, Brian Kemef. Kemef testified that Neely had an active warrant for his arrest relating to an alleged assault in 2021. Neely also had a history of violence, including other assaults on the subway, Fox News <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/daniel-penny-trial-defense-witness-who-claimed-chokehold-didnt-kill-jordan-neely-returns-stand" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>.
This information has led many to wonder why Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg brought the case against Penny in the first place. ADA Yoran has implied that race was a factor in Penny’s decision to place Neely in a chokehold. Penny has not been charged with a hate crime.
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In a recently uncovered video, ADA Yoran discusses how she secured a lighter sentence for a black man who killed an elderly college professor at an ATM, Fox News <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/lead-daniel-penny-prosecutor-secured-light-sentence-thug-who-killed-87-year-old-atm-robbery" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. Yoran discusses “restorative justice” in the video, referring to the killer Matthew Lee. Yoran used a policy introduced by former Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance Jr. – it was the first time the policy was used in a homicide case, Fox reported.
Lee ended up being charged with manslaughter instead of felony murder, which reduced his sentence to 10 years from a potential 25.
While Lee received 10 years in prison for robbing and killing the professor, Penny faces up to 15 years if convicted of manslaughter or up to 4 years if he’s convicted on the lesser charge of criminally negligent homicide.
Even New York City Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat, defended Penny and blasted the media for its treatment of the Marine veteran, The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/democrat-nyc-mayor-eric-adams-strongly-defends-daniel-penny-blasts-media" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>.
“We’re now on the subway where we’re hearing someone talking about hurting people, killing people,” Adams said, referring to reports that Neely was threatening passengers. “You have someone [Penny] on that subway who was responding, doing what we should have done as a city.”

Jury Deliberations Begin In Trial Of Daniel Penny As Old Video Of Prosecutor Emerges

Embattled Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has been ordered to hand over all records related to her communications with special counsel Jack Smith and the House January 6 Committee after a court granted a motion for default adjustment against her on Tuesday.
Willis is leading a controversial RICO case against now-President-elect Donald Trump and several of his top associates for alleged election interference, which is now on pause.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney is giving Willis five business days to produce the material, Fox News <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/fani-willis-ordered-give-watchdog-all-communications-special-counsel-jack-smith" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> Tuesday night. McBurney also said in his ruling that Willis violated Georgia&#8217;s open records act when she failed to respond to nonprofit Judicial Watch&#8217;s lawsuit about the communication.
Willis&#8217; office claimed in March that it did not have any documents on file or communications with Smith or the J6 Committee, Fox noted. However, the claim was untrue, and the office did have such communication.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/bombshell-house-report-reveals-trump-prosecutor-nathan-wade-met-with-white-house" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Daily Wire reporter Luke Rosiak</a> in October revealed Nathan Wade &#8211; Willis&#8217; romantic partner, whom she hired as special prosecutor in the Trump case &#8211; had extensive communications with the Biden White House, according to records.
Wade billed the Fulton County office for hours of meetings with the White House, the congressional January 6 committee, and other D.C. officials, according to records obtained by the House Judiciary Committee.
On November 18, 2022, he billed eight hours for “Interview with DC/White House,” but under oath, he claimed he didn’t remember the meeting and couldn’t even say whether it was online or in person. Between September 7 and September 9, 2022, Wade billed $6,000 to taxpayers for “Witness Interviews; conf call DC; team meeting,” but couldn’t remember what the D.C. meeting entailed.
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A released <a href="https://judiciary.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/republicans-judiciary.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/2024-10-15%20Nathan%20Wade%20Deposition_Redacted_Errata.pdf">transcript</a> of an interview with Wade, which was compelled by subpoena, shows that Willis was preparing to prosecute Trump even before she took office. She put Wade on a “search committee” to find a prosecutor, which ultimately chose him for the job.
In addition to the accusation that her office was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/bombshell-house-report-reveals-trump-prosecutor-nathan-wade-met-with-white-house" target="_blank" rel="noopener">allegedly working with the White House and top Democrats</a>, Willis has been marred by the hiring of Wade, her boyfriend, since the pair allegedly benefited financially from the arrangement.
Currently, it&#8217;s being worked through the courts to determine if Willis and her office can continue to prosecute the case. Wade has already been forced to resign from his position.
Luke Rosiak contributed to this report.

Fani Willis

Fani Willis Ordered To Hand Over All Jack Smith/J6 Comms In 5 Business Days

Donald Trump

fulton county

Jack Smith

January 6

January 6 Committee

The California federal judge overseeing <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/hunter-biden" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hunter Biden’s</a> tax charges issued a scathing five-page ruling in response to President Joe Biden’s pardon of his son, saying that the president justified his pardon with reasons that are false and offensive.
Judge Mark C. Scarsi <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cacd.907806/gov.uscourts.cacd.907806.239.0.pdf">wrote Tuesday</a> that the reasons listed in &#8220;the President&#8217;s statement&#8221; for pardoning his son &#8220;stand in tension with the case record,&#8221; and while the president has the power to pardon, &#8220;nowhere does the Constitution give the President the authority to rewrite history.&#8221;
“The President asserts that Mr. Biden ‘was treated differently’ from others ‘who were late paying their taxes because of serious addictions,’ implying that Mr. Biden was among those individuals who untimely paid taxes due to addiction. But he is not… Mr. Biden admitted that he engaged in tax evasion after this period of addiction,” the judge wrote.
“According to the President, &#8216;[n]o reasonable person who looks at the facts of [Mr. Biden’s] cases can reach any other conclusion than [Mr. Biden] was singled out only because he is [the President’s] son.’ But two federal judges expressly rejected Mr. Biden’s arguments that the Government prosecuted Mr. Biden because of his familial relation to the President,” he wrote. “And the President’s own Attorney General and Department of Justice personnel oversaw the investigation leading to the charges. In the President’s estimation, this legion of federal civil servants, the undersigned included, are unreasonable people.”
He excoriated Hunter for filing a motion demanding that the indictment be dismissed because he was pardoned, when no government agency had even notified the court of it, and Hunter did not include a copy, instead attaching only a link to the White House press release describing the reasons why Joe Biden reneged on his promise not to pardon his son. “A press release is not a pardon,” he wrote.
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The judge also was surprised at the unusually broad nature of the pardon, which covered all acts from 2014 through December 1, the day it was signed—seemingly giving Hunter a free pass to commit crimes later in that day. The judge said the president cannot pardon people for future acts, but to avoid a constitutional issue, he would assume he did not mean it that way.
Special prosecutor David Weiss also filed an <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/special-counsel-opposes-request-to-dismiss-hunter-indictment-after-pardon">opposition</a> to Hunter&#8217;s demands that the indictment be dismissed as a result of the pardon, and made similar points, including that 10 judges appointed by six presidents all rejected Hunter&#8217;s claims that he was unfairly targeted. He said he was following the precedent of the Biden DOJ, which after President Donald Trump pardoned Steve Bannon on his last day in office, resisted granting such relief.
Weiss argued that a pardon was an act of mercy for a guilty person, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/special-counsel-opposes-request-to-dismiss-hunter-indictment-after-pardon" target="_blank" rel="noopener">not</a> an erasure of fact, underscoring that a long record of evidence showed that Hunter was, in fact, properly indicted by a grand jury, and was not unfairly targeted.
President Biden had repeatedly claimed he would not pardon his son, who was convicted of gun charges in Delaware and pleaded guilty to tax charges on the eve of trial in California.

US-POLITICS-BIDEN

Hunter Judge Blasts President For Making False Statements In Pardon

Crime

Hunter Biden

Joe Biden

New York City Democratic Mayor Eric Adams strongly defended 26-year-old former U.S. Marine <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/daniel-penny">Daniel Penny</a>, who’s been charged in the death of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trial-begins-for-daniel-penny-in-controversial-subway-chokehold-case">Jordan Neely</a>.
Penny restrained Neely, <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/05/04/jordan-neely-had-history-of-mental-health-issues-before-subway-death/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a troubled man</a> with a lengthy criminal record and a history of mental health issues, after <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/new-details-emerge-about-altercation-between-unstable-nyc-homeless-man-and-decorated-marine-criminal-charges-weighed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Neely allegedly threatened passengers</a> on a subway last year.
&#8220;We&#8217;re now on the subway where we&#8217;re hearing someone talking about hurting people, killing people,&#8221; Adams <a href="https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1248-the-rob-astorino-show-156203457/episode/guest-new-york-city-mayor-eric-243689831/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>, referring to Neely&#8217;s alleged threatening behavior. &#8220;You have someone [Penny] on that subway who was responding, doing what we should have done as a city.&#8221; 
&#8220;Those passengers were afraid,&#8221; Adams emphasized, speaking to former New York gubernatorial candidate and radio host <a href="https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1248-the-rob-astorino-show-156203457/episode/guest-new-york-city-mayor-eric-243689831/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Rob Astorino</a>. 
The mayor also referenced the mental health crisis in NYC. &#8220;Then you look at the complete failure of our mental health system, a complete failure from the days of closing psychiatric wards and having those who needed help just turned over into the street without giving any safety net to accept them.&#8221; 
In 2022, Adams faced criticism from the far-Left when he <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/new-york-city-mayor-eric-adams-calls-fatal-subway-chokehold-a-tragedy-that-never-should-have-happened" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> a plan to hospitalize some severely mentally ill people involuntarily, noting the city’s “moral obligation to act.”
Adams also accused the media of downplaying Neely&#8217;s alleged threatening behavior by promoting photos of a youthful Neely working as a Michael Jackson impersonator.
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&#8220;Look at the photo that they used to show the victim,&#8221; Adams said, &#8220;It seemed like it was a young innocent child who was brutally murdered, and it gave that impression when you look at the photo that was being used. It wanted to set up in the minds of people that we were dealing with a young innocent child that was, you know, just a Michael Jackson [impersonator].&#8221;
Neely, however, <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/05/04/jordan-neely-had-history-of-mental-health-issues-before-subway-death/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">has</a> a criminal record and a history of mental health issues. According to several witnesses, he threatened the subway train and made it clear he was willing to die or go to prison for life, if necessary.
It was also found that Neely had K2 and other drugs in his system when he died. K2 is a synthetic drug, sometimes called “spice,” which has been linked to psychosis. 
Penny has been <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/how-the-daniel-penny-trial-proves-self-defense-is-under-attack-in-our-country" target="_blank" rel="noopener">charged</a> with second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide in Neely’s death and could face up to 15 years behind bars. Jury deliberations in the case are expected to start Tuesday.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/closing-arguments-in-daniel-penny-trial-prosecution-claims-racial-bias-defense-defends-heroism" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Closing Arguments In Daniel Penny Trial: Prosecution Claims Racial Bias, Defense Defends Heroism</a>

New York City Mayor Eric Adams

Democrat NYC Mayor Eric Adams Strongly Defends Daniel Penny, Blasts Media

Eric Adams

The prosecution and defense teams delivered their closing arguments on Monday in the case of Daniel Penny, who is on trial for his alleged role in the death of Jordan Neely.
The defense portrayed Penny as a man who protected the other passengers on the subway train who testified they were afraid of Neely, The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/witness-after-witness-in-daniel-penny-trial-say-they-feared-jordan-neelys-threats-on-subway" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>.
Defense attorney Steve Raiser asked for jurors to put themselves on the train the day Neely died, using sound effects of closing doors and trains leaving a station. He also played police body camera footage of passengers talking about how they were afraid of Neely.
“Who would you want on the next train with you?” Raiser asked jurors.
“Danny acted when others didn’t,” Raiser added, <a href="https://nypost.com/2024/12/02/us-news/daniel-penny-acted-when-others-didnt-defense-lawyers-say-as-they-make-final-plea-to-jurors/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to the New York Post</a>. “He put his life on the line. He did that for perfect strangers.”
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“Who would you want on the next train ride with you?” Raiser asked again near the end of his hours-long closing statements.
“The guy on the train with the earbuds minding his own business, who you know will be there for you if something happens?” Raiser continued. “Or, you just hope someone like Neely never enters, especially when you’re all alone.”
During her closing arguments, Manhattan prosecutor Dafna Yoran claimed that Penny, who is white, placed Neely, who is black, in a chokehold due to racial prejudices. Penny and witnesses have said that Neely was threatening passengers when Penny put him in the chokehold. Penny has not been charged with a hate crime.
&#8220;He didn&#8217;t recognize that Jordan Neely was a person,&#8221; Yoran told the jury, <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/daniel-penny-prosecutor-dangles-race-card-again-over-defense-objection-despite-no-hate-crime-charges" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to Fox News</a>. &#8220;He saw him as a person that needed to be eliminated.&#8221;
Yoran also replayed footage from Penny’s first police interrogation, where he was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/video-nypd-didnt-tell-daniel-penny-that-jordan-neely-had-died-when-they-initially-interrogated-him" target="_blank" rel="noopener">not told Neely had died</a>. Penny refers to Neely as a “crackhead” in the interrogation and told detectives, &#8220;You know these guys, they’re pushing people in front of trains and stuff.&#8221; This was a reference to the numerous people in New York City who have been pushed in front of subway trains by mentally ill individuals.
&#8220;We’ve all spoken dismissively about people like Jordan Neely,&#8221; Yoran said, according to Fox. &#8220;Maybe we, too, have lumped them all together like this, but the context is very telling here. When the defendant is talking like this about Mr. Neely, he knows he very likely had killed him. Can you imagine a reasonable person speaking like this about a human being that he or she had just killed?&#8221;
Penny didn’t know he had likely killed Neely. Neely <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/jordan-neely-was-alive-when-police-arrived-didnt-give-mouth-to-mouth-because-he-was-filthy-nypd" target="_blank" rel="noopener">had a pulse</a> when police arrived and took over the situation.
Yoran previously brought up race during her <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trial-begins-for-daniel-penny-in-controversial-subway-chokehold-case" target="_blank" rel="noopener">opening statement</a> and allowed a witness to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/daniel-penny-repeatedly-referred-to-as-the-white-man-by-prosecution" target="_blank" rel="noopener">repeatedly refer</a> to Penny as “the white guy” while she referred to him as “the white man.”
The jury will likely begin deliberations on Tuesday. Penny faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted of manslaughter or up to 4 years if he’s convicted on the lesser charge of criminally negligent homicide.

Closing Arguments In Daniel Penny Trial: Prosecution Claims Racial Bias, Defense Defends Heroism

The legal team for Dr. Ethan Haim, the doctor who exposed Texas Children’s Hospital in May 2023 — revealing that the facility had lied about ending its transgender medical program and was still performing attempted transition procedures on children as young as 11 — ripped the Biden Department of Justice for seeking a gag order targeting Haim in his legal case with the government.
Haim’s claims were originally published in an <a href="https://www.city-journal.org/article/sex-change-procedures-at-texas-childrens-hospital">explosive story</a> by journalist Christopher Rufo. In June 2023, Haim said he knew he was being targeted by the DOJ when federal agents visited his home; the DOJ  attempted to charge him with four felony counts of violating HIPAA. “The DOJ has based their case, in large part, on the claim that Haim had no reason to access Texas Children’s Hospital records after he finished a surgical rotation at the hospital in January 2021,” The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-new-info-destroys-doj-case-against-trans-surgery-whistleblower-lawyers-say">reported.</a>
“Today, @TheJusticeDept filed a reply supporting its motion for a gag order against our legal team and @EithanHaim,” The Burke Law Group, representing Haim, posted in a <a href="https://x.com/BurkeLawTweets/status/1863803194310054127">thread</a> on X. “They dispute our charges of government misconduct, saying that we mischaracterize the facts. Yet much like previous censorship efforts by this administration, it is the federal government that is purveying misinformation, and it is all on the judicial record.”
“The government’s assertion that the prosecution is trying to ‘uphold the law’ rings hollow because it has not attempted to defend most of HIPAA, completely abandoning the Privacy Rule,” the thread continues. “The idea that the prosecutors are nobly doing so ‘in the face of constant public rhetoric’ demonstrates yet again that they believe they are entitled to prosecute @EithanHaim without public scrutiny of the immense power they wield.”
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“While the prosecution tries to make it sound like its gag order is reasonable, it would completely prevent Dr. Haim or his counsel from criticizing the prosecution, no matter how correct the criticism,” they state. ”The prosecution tries to make its case by painting Dr. Haim’s and the defense’s critical tweets as inaccurate. But as the defense already explained in its own filing, all of the public criticism has been richly deserved.”
“The government attempts to use safety concerns to shut down debate,” the law group declares. “It suggests that the ‘extreme rhetoric’ could harm the career public prosecutors and federal agents who put felons away for a living, even though they have received no threats. Yet the hypocrisy is worse than that. One X post the government complains about is a post by Dr. Haim calling the prosecutors modern day woke aristocrats. But the government omits the context—he was skewering them for the motion for the gag order because the government tried to justify the gag order due to ‘online bullying’ when the prosecution can send armed agents and strip someone of their rights by just an accusation.”
On November 24, Haim had written on X :
<blockquote>
The DOJ&#8217;s justification for a gag order is that they are concerned with &#8220;online bullying.&#8221;  This perfectly encapsulates the defining feature of the modern day woke aristocrat.   They zealously deploy the threat or the outright use of state-sanctioned violence against those who challenge their political ideology yet cast themselves as the victim when regular citizens stand up, take notice, and utilize their first amendment right to criticize their tyrannical behavior. 
These prosecutors have no qualms about sending me to prison for a decade. They have no problem inventing new crimes to do so.   They had no problem sending heavily armed US Marshals to my home at 7AM even though I am a law-abiding citizen with no criminal history.   They had no problem taking away my right to possess firearms knowing the legitimate death threats I would face from radical transgender activists.   And I don&#8217;t bring this up to garner sympathy for myself but rather to demonstrate the magnitude of their hypocrisy.   They have no problem with any of the above, but they have a major problem with anyone noticing it happening.   Their corrupt gambit relies on the silence of their target to legitimize their corruption. In my case, they knocked on the wrong door. I simply refuse to voluntarily comply with my own destruction.
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
The DOJ&#39;s justification for a gag order is that they are concerned with &quot;online bullying.&quot;
This perfectly encapsulates the defining feature of the modern day woke aristocrat. 
They zealously deploy the threat or the outright use of state-sanctioned violence against those who… <a href="https://t.co/vqQZVm7wAo">pic.twitter.com/vqQZVm7wAo</a>
&mdash; Eithan Haim MD (@EithanHaim) <a href="https://twitter.com/EithanHaim/status/1860736560460677615?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 24, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&nbsp;
Mary Margaret Olohan contributed to this article.
RELATED: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-new-info-destroys-doj-case-against-trans-surgery-whistleblower-lawyers-say">EXCLUSIVE: New Info Destroys DOJ Case Against Trans Surgery Whistleblower, Lawyers Say</a>

Dr. Eithan Haim

Legal Team For Trans Surgery Whistleblower Rips Biden DOJ For Seeking Gag Order

Biden-Harris administration

Ethan Haim

minors

Texas Children's Hospital

Erik and Lyle Menendez made their first court appearance in years on Monday as they hope to be resentenced for the 1989 murders of their parents due to possible new evidence, but the judge pushed back the hearing until January. 
The brothers, who were convicted of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/crime">first-degree murder</a> in 1995 in their second trial, were in the courtroom virtually for a status hearing on a habeas corpus petition their attorneys filed last year, per <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/news/menendez-brothers-to-face-court-hearing-in-bid-for-freedom/">CBS News</a>. The document states that key evidence was not presented during their trials, which could help prove sexual abuse claims the Menendezes made against their father, which was used as a motive for the killings.
No cameras were allowed in court, and the brothers couldn’t be seen on screen due to technical difficulties, per <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/25/us/erik-lyle-menendez-brothers-status-hearing/index.html">CNN</a>.
Their attorney, Mark Geragos, said two of the brothers’ aunts spoke in court. 
&#8220;It was quite a moving experience, at least where we sit, to listen to Aunt Terry [Baralt] and Aunt Joan [VanderMolen], who are respectively, Jose and Kitty&#8217;s older sisters,&#8221; Geragos said. &#8220;Both made impassioned pleas with the judge to send the brothers home.&#8221;
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&#8220;I want them home,&#8221; VanderMolen, 92, said in the courtroom on Monday. &#8220;They should have never been in such situations. What can a kid do when his father&#8217;s — I can&#8217;t stand it.&#8221;
“No child should have to endure what Erik and Lyle did,” she continued. “No children should have to live in fear day by day that their dad would come and rape them.”
&#8220;Thirty-five years is a long time,&#8221; Baralt, 85, agreed, saying she would like to “hug them and see them.”
Geragos said the Menendez brothers’ hearing, initially scheduled for December 11, has been pushed back to the end of January.
&#8220;We&#8217;re hoping that by the end of that, or sometime sooner, that we will, in fact, get the brothers released,&#8221; the attorney added.
Current <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/california" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Los Angeles</a> County District Attorney George Gascón, who was just voted out of office, recommended the resentencing, which could lead to the brothers&#8217; release from prison. District Attorney-elect Nathan Hochman takes office on December 2. Hochman said the resentencing hearing delay would give him time to review the case and &#8220;consult with prosecutors, law enforcement, defense counsel, and victim family members.&#8221;
The brothers are currently incarcerated in San Diego. Their first trial ended with two deadlocked juries. In the second, both were sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole.
Not all family members believe that the Menendez brothers should be released, however. Milton Anderson, Kitty Menendez’s brother, said they should remain incarcerated.

Menendez brothers

Menendez Bros Resentencing Hearing Delayed, Aunt Tells Court: ‘I Want Them Home’

Menendez Bros Resentencing Hearing Delayed, Aunt Tells Court: 'I Want Them Home'

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