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Economy Links from other news sources. Reprints from others.

Lordstown Motors files bankruptcy, sues Foxconn

Lordstown Motors files bankruptcy, sues Foxconn

NEW YORK, June 27 (Reuters) – Lordstown Motors (RIDE.O) filed for bankruptcy protection on Tuesday and put itself up for sale after the U.S. electric truck manufacturer failed to resolve a dispute over a promised investment from Taiwan’s Foxconn.

Shares of Lordstown tumbled 35.6% in trading before the bell.

The automaker, named after the Ohio town where it is based, filed for Chapter 11 protection in Delaware and simultaneously took legal action against Foxconn.

In a complaint filed in bankruptcy court, Lordstown accused the electronics company of fraudulent conduct and a series of broken promises in failing to abide by an agreement to invest up to $170 million in the electric-vehicle manufacturer.

Foxconn previously invested about $52.7 million in Lordstown as part of the agreement, and currently holds an almost 8.4% stake in the EV maker. Lordstown contends Foxconn is balking at purchasing additional shares of its stock as promised and misled the EV maker about collaborating on vehicle development plans.

Foxconn, formally called Hon Hai Precision Industry (2317.TW)(2317.TW) and best known for assembling Apple’s (AAPL.O) iPhones, has said Lordstown breached the investment agreement when the automaker’s stock fell below $1 per share. Foxconn did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The twin filings set up an international business clash that could intensify scrutiny of Foxconn’s EV ambitions and partnerships, not only with Lordstown but also other automakers.

The lawsuit portrays Foxconn as consistently shifting goal posts in its collaboration with Lordstown on the automaker’s future vehicles, which included failing to meet funding commitments and refusing to engage with the company on initiatives Foxconn allegedly directed and purported to support.

Lordstown, a startup launched in 2018, said in a regulatory filing earlier this month that it had planned to sue Foxconn after receiving a letter from the company that led Lordstown to believe Foxconn was unlikely to make its additional expected investment.

Lordstown accused Foxconn in that regulatory filing of engaging in a “pattern of bad faith” that caused “material and irreparable harm” to the company. Even in May, Lordstown warned it might be forced to file for bankruptcy amid uncertainty over the Foxconn investment.

The automaker’s main product is the Endurance electric pickup truck, which is built at a former General Motors small-car factory in Lordstown, Ohio, for commercial customers such as local governments. Lordstown sold the plant to Foxconn in 2022.

Lordstown paused production of the Endurance earlier this year and since April has resumed building the trucks at a low rate after resolving quality issues with suppliers. The automaker’s shares have plunged since February and currently trade under $3.

Should Lordstown fail to find a rescuer willing to re-start full production of the Endurance, the Ohio factory now owned by Foxconn could be a draw for overseas automakers looking for a quick way to build vehicles in the United States.

Lordstown filed for bankruptcy with plans to seek a buyer. It does not have an initial offer in hand, known in bankruptcy parlance as a stalking-horse bidder, which sets a minimum price other suitors can top in an auction.

Lordstown Chief Executive Edward Hightower told Reuters the Endurance business could prove attractive to another automaker looking for a fast entry into the EV market at a time the Biden administration’s policies are attempting to move away from gasoline-powered cars.

Lordstown’s bankruptcy is not the first among the crop of EV startups that went public during the pandemic-era SPAC boom. But Lordstown was a high-profile member of that class because it was challenging the core of the legacy Detroit automakers’ business of high-margin pickup trucks, and because of its location.

The Lordstown factory in Northeast Ohio was formerly a GM (GM.N) small-car factory that GM decided to close in November 2018. Then-U.S. President Donald Trump and other Ohio political leaders put pressure on GM CEO Mary Barra to reverse the decision, or find a buyer. GM agreed to sell the plant to a newly-formed entity called Lordstown Motors founded by the former top executive at an electric truck maker called Workhorse Group.

Lordstown went public in October 2020 through a reverse merger with special purpose acquisition company DiamondPeak Holdings, joining a flock of EV startups that went public through such deals in that period.

Like several others, including truck maker Nikola (NKLA.O), Lordstown has struggled to live up to the high expectations of early investors. In 2021, its chief executive and founder, Stephen Burns, resigned after the automaker acknowledged it had overstated pre-orders for its electric trucks.

Lordstown’s finance chief at the time also resigned. Burns has since sold his entire stake in Lordstown, according to a June regulatory filing.

As Lordstown wrestled during 2021 and 2022 with investigations by regulators and the U.S. Justice Department, Ford Motor (F.N) was launching its electric F-150 Lightning pickup truck, aiming at commercial customers.

EV startup Rivian (RIVN.O) launched its luxury electric pickup in 2022. GM and Stellantis have announced plans for electric pickups. Elon Musk’s Tesla (TSLA.O) has promised it will begin producing its Cybertruck late this year.

Lordstown struggled to ramp up production of its Endurance trucks over the past several months amid the dispute with Foxconn, challenging market conditions and the cost-intensive nature of its business, the company has said.

The few trucks that the company assembled had material costs that were “substantially higher than our selling price,” Lordstown said in a May regulatory filing.

Reporting by Mike Spector in New York, Joseph White in Detroit and Dietrich Knauth in New York Editing by Nick Zieminski and Dhanya Ann Thoppil

 

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Biden Cartel Corruption Links from other news sources. The Courts

Winning. Judge Rules Witness List in Trump Case Can’t Be Secret.

Winning. Judge Rules Witness List in Trump Case Can’t Be Secret. Special prosecutor Smith tried to hide his witness list. Claims 84 witnesses but wanted to keep those secret. Well the judge said NO.

Judge Cannon rejected the request made by special counsel Jack Smith to keep a list of 84 potential witnesses confidential. “The Government’s Motion does not explain why filing the list with the Court is necessary; it does not offer a particularized basis to justify sealing the list from public view; it does not explain why partial sealing, redaction, or means other than sealing are unavailable or unsatisfactory; and it does not specify the duration of any proposed seal,” Judge Aileen Cannon wrote

 

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Child Abuse Emotional abuse Links from other news sources. Medicine Science

If a so called scientist says Transgender is the norm, they’re practicing junk science.

If a so called scientist says Transgender is the norm, they’re practicing junk science. Sadly the folks making the loudest noise are white progressives who’s education barely goes past the eight grade.

There is a male and a female. Not male who thinks they’re female and vice versa. Also the numbers are small. How small?  A staggering 99%-plus of the population does not have the physical traits that cause someone to become transgender. People with gender dysphoria — a condition that causes extreme distress — deserve empathy and respect. But only a miniscule 0.6% of the adult population has it, says the UCLA School of Law’s Williams Institute, an LGBTQ think tank.

So why would you teach this to normal children? More children claim to be transgender, but isn’t that because you have adults who have their attention ( Teachers ) 6-8 hours a day? And adults who tell the children to keep this hid from their parents.

Normal, no. It is a rare condition. Most gender dysphoria manifests in early childhood, according to a 2020 study at Cedars Sinai in Los Angeles, so guidance counselors and teachers should be trained to offer families help. But there’s no reason to incorporate it into the curriculum, inviting children to choose their pronouns and confusing the 99% who don’t have the condition.

Can normalcy win this? The US Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit ruled last year that an Ohio public university could not force a professor to address transgender students using their chosen pronouns contrary to the professor’s Christian beliefs. This month, Shawnee State University agreed to pay the professor $400,000 to settle his suit.

 

 

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Biden Cartel Corruption Links from other news sources. Politics Reprints from others.

Looking. There Is No ‘Moving On’ From Corruption.

Looking. There Is No ‘Moving On’ From Corruption.

By Laura Hollis from creaters.com

A common sentiment expressed by some voters on social media these days is the need to “move on.” This viewpoint seems to be particularly popular with those deeply desirous of a Republican candidate for president of the United States who is not Donald Trump.

They readily admit that Trump’s policies were far better for the economy and view Biden’s administration as disastrous. Some even acknowledge that social media censorship and changes to election procedures — many unlawful — cost Trump the 2020 presidential election.

Even so, they say, “It’s time to move on.”

It’s easy to chalk this up to “Trump fatigue” — weariness of Trump’s ego and combative personality. But an argument can also be made that this is the latest example of the public’s reluctance to confront corruption and the erosion of standards in American governance. What we’re watching transpire in U.S. politics right now should be galvanizing the country. But it doesn’t seem to be, and we need to ask ourselves why.

Joe Biden, the president of the United States, has just had Donald Trump — his primary political opponent in the 2024 presidential election — indicted and arrested. That may be a common occurrence in third-world countries, but it is unprecedented in the history of this nation.

Worse than the political targeting is the legal double standard. Trump is accused of mishandling classified documents. But we now know that Biden has had classified documents in unsecured locations (including his garage) for years. And he acquired these documents when he was not the president with the constitutional power to declassify them.

Where is the indictment of President Biden?

While Biden was vice president, his son Hunter received millions of dollars from a Ukrainian natural gas company, Burisma, whose leadership was under investigation. Biden threatened to withhold $1 billion in U.S. aid unless Viktor Shokin, the Ukrainian prosecutor conducting the investigations, was fired. “Well, son of a bitch,” Biden bragged on camera, “he got fired.”

After Trump was elected president, he asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to look into the decision to fire Shokin. Democrats accused Trump of using the presidency to target a political opponent and impeached him for “abuse of power.”

Where are the articles of impeachment against Biden?

More information has come to light this week, suggesting not only that Joe and Hunter Biden received millions of dollars in bribes from Ukraine, but that the FBI has been covering up evidence of the bribery.

Why aren’t more of us demanding accountability? Perhaps it is because we have been dismissing government corruption for far too long.

Under former President Barack Obama, the IRS improperly held up the applications of conservative nonprofits for tax-exempt status — often for years — crippling their fundraising efforts and support for their candidates and policies. Lois Lerner, then-director of Exempt Organizations, pleaded the Fifth Amendment in response to a congressional subpoena. Lerner was held in contempt of Congress. What penalty? She retired from the IRS with a full pension.

Move on.

Obama’s attorney general, Eric Holder, was also held in contempt of Congress, after refusing to turn over information subpoenaed as part of a congressional investigation into failed “gunwalking” program Operation Fast and Furious. Guns ended up in the hands of criminals who killed dozens of Mexican citizens, as well as U.S. Border Patrol agent Brian Terry. Contempt proceedings against Holder languished in the federal court system for years until Democrats regained control of the U.S. House of Representatives and dropped the matter.

Move on.

Hillary Clinton has had her share of corruption scandals. In 2012, when she was secretary of state, our consulate in Benghazi, Libya, was attacked and four Americans killed, including our ambassador, Christopher Stevens. Clinton knew it was a planned terrorist attack, but lied to the American public that it was a spontaneous uprising in response to a video made by an obscure filmmaker named Nakoula Basseley Nakoula (who was arrested and served a year in prison). When questioned about her lies during a congressional investigation, Clinton’s infamous response was, “What difference at this point does it make?”

Clinton also lied about having classified information on private, unsecured email servers and she destroyed evidence. But then-FBI Director James Comey declared that “no reasonable prosecutor” would bring charges.

Move on.

Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign illegally funneled money through law firm Perkins Coie to Fusion GPS and then former British spy Christopher Steele, looking for dirt on opponent Donald Trump. The FBI knew the information they received thereafter was false, but lied to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to get warrants to spy on Trump.

Clinton’s campaign paid a modest fine. No consequences for the FBI. Move on.

The unrest at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, is supposedly another day that will live in infamy. But we don’t know why FBI brass refuse to answer straightforward questions about whether federal agents in the crowd incited or contributed to violence.

But let’s do “move on.”

This week, major news outlets are finally admitting what was obvious three years ago — that SARS-Cov-2 emerged from a laboratory in Wuhan, China, where dangerous “gain-of-function” research was being conducted. The government lied to us about the origins of COVID-19 and locked down the country, crippling the economy and doing immeasurable damage to the education of millions of children. It demanded that social media censor physicians, scientists and researchers trying to expose the truth about the virus, available drug treatments, and the vaccines Americans were being forced to take.

But let’s not get into the blame game. We need to “move on.”

There is no “moving on” from corruption. To wave it away is to embolden the corrupt. If we as a people do not care enough about the integrity of our laws and the proper limits of our government to enforce both, those who flagrantly disregard those laws and those limits will not stop until they destroy everything we hold dear.

To find out more about Laura Hollis and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

Photo credit: Robert Linder at Unsplash

Categories
Corruption COVID Politics Reprints from others. Science

Looking. Top Canadian politician apologizes to unvaccinated, “we were wrong…” she makes unprecedented promise.

Looking. Top Canadian politician apologizes to unvaccinated, “we were wrong…” she makes unprecedented promise.

Danielle Smith, the current premier of Alberta in Canada, has done something remarkable. She took the bold and unprecedented step of apologizing to unvaccinated Canadians who’ve faced unfair treatment from the government throughout the “pandemic.”

But Ms. Smith actually went beyond just issuing an apology, Danielle actually made a promise: anyone who was terminated from their job due to their refusal of the COVID-19 vaccine will be reinstated.

Wow. That’s not the type of humility you hear from politicians everyday, is it? Comedian and conservative podcaster Jimmy Dore was actually blown away by this apology and covered it at length.

 

This apology and promise form Ms. Smith sends a powerful message to globalist elites: you were all wrong, and everybody knows it. Thanks to her humility, Danielle Smith has set a new standard in political leadership. Her acknowledgement of the horrors faced by the unvaccinated and her willingness to take responsibility for the government’s disgusting actions during the pandemic show she has the potential to be a good leader.

However, the proof is in the pudding. The next time something like this happens — and you know it will — Danielle better be on the side of the people, not the government.

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Biden Cartel Links from other news sources. Reprints from others.

More on that bad boy Hunter.

More on that bad boy Hunter.

Breitbart, Gateway Pundit, NewsMax, and other conservative media have been doing an excellent job on the Biden Scandal. This from Breitbart.

The House Ways and Means Committee revealed at least 13 serious IRS whistleblowers allegations against the Biden family on Thursday.

While the establishment media ignored or downplayed the allegations, the whistleblowers revealed the following points in the now-public allegations leveled against Hunter Biden, the Justice Department, and President Joe Biden:

  1. The Justice Department twice prevented United States Attorney David Weiss from bringing stronger charges against Hunter Biden.
  2. Attorney General Merrick Garland refused to name a special counsel in the tax investigation, which could have provided a degree of separation between Joe Biden and his Justice Department.
  3. The IRS recommended charges against Hunter Biden that were not approved by Garland.
  4. The investigation forewarned Hunter Biden of any future searches for materials that could be used as evidence.
  5. Assistant U.S. Attorney Lesley Wolf refused to allow investigators to ask about Joe Biden being “the big guy.”
  6. Wolf stopped questioning about “the big guy” to limit where the investigation could go despite evidence of Joe Biden’s involvement.
  7. Wolf cautioned the investigation team from searching Joe Biden’s guest house in Delaware for evidence against Hunter Biden because of “optics.”
  8. Rob Walker, a Biden Family business associate, said Joe Biden showed up at a meeting with CEFC, a Chinese energy company closely affiliated with the CCP. Based on the testimony, it appears Hunter Biden used Joe Biden to bolster his business dealings with CEFC, which funneled the family money.
  9. Rob Walker showed the family’s business directly involved Joe Biden, including while still in office as vice president.
  10. Hunter Biden demanded in 2017 to be paid by CCP-linked Chinese businessman Henry Zhao while Joe Biden was “sitting” next to him in a room.
  11. Investigators wanted to obtain the location data to confirm Joe Biden was in the room. But there is no confidence the FBI obtained that data.
  12. Hunter Biden deducted payments to prostitutes and sex clubs from his taxes.
  13. The investigation into Hunter Biden began as an “offshoot” of inquiry into a foreign adult platform.
We also found out that the whistleblowers have collaboration on what they are reporting. Video below.

 

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Leftist Virtue(!) Politics Uncategorized

Looking. So why did Governor Newsom go on Hannity’s program?

Looking. So why did Governor Newsom go on Hannity’s program? A week or so ago Governor Newsom appeared for an interview with Hannity. Why? I’m sure you’ve heard the rumors about Newsom is looking to run for President. I guess like others he feels Biden may not run.

So why the interview? Like Biden before him, he’s trying to wipe away that look of a Progressive and show he can even lean right. Hell he even praised Trump for his good works when it came to COVID.

Newsom has a record that he can’t run away from. How can you explain 100 billion in the black, and the very next year you’re 30 billion in the red. And the folks fleeing the state?

One loon from Northern California claimed that only the white trash ( this person would know? ) was leaving and every single one was a Republican. Yeah poor white folk took over 20 billion with them. SMH.

 

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Biden Cartel Corruption Government Overreach Links from other news sources. Politics Reprints from others.

News. DOJ Tipped Off Hunter Biden Before a Search of His Storage Unit, IRS Whistleblowers Say.

News. DOJ Tipped Off Hunter Biden Before a Search of His Storage Unit, IRS Whistleblowers Say. In a article printed the other day, we touched on this. Here’s Gateway Pundit’s article.

A recent executive meeting of the Ways and Means Committee resulted in a decision to release to the public testimony from two whistleblowers. The whistleblowers, both IRS employees, made shocking revelations about misconduct and abuse of power by Biden’s Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and Department of Justice (DOJ) during the investigation of Hunter Biden’s tax evasion case.

The whistleblowers claim that the Department of Justice (DOJ) tipped off Hunter Biden prior to a federal search of his storage unit.

The information revealed during the Ways and Means Committee’s executive meeting shows that Hunter Biden appears to have received preferential treatment in the investigation of his tax crimes.

 

Despite IRS officials recommending that Hunter Biden be charged with criminal activity for attempts to evade or defeat taxes, fraud and false statements, and willful failures to file returns, supply information, or pay taxes for over $8.3 million in income, the testimony alleges that Hunter Biden received preferential treatment during the investigation.

Further allegations point to the DOJ interfering in the investigation, deploying a strategy of “Delay, Divulge, and Deny” to shield Hunter Biden, according to the news committee’s press release.

Delays in the investigation were allegedly unjustified and pervasive, the DOJ was accused of divulging information about the investigation to Hunter Biden’s lawyers in advance, and there were several denials of attempts to bring charges or achieve special counsel status from the DOJ.

The Department of Justice interfered in the investigation into Hunter Biden’s clear tax issues with a “Delay, Divulge, and Deny” campaign – that ultimately shielded him by allowing the statute of limitations to pass on his tax crimes.

  • DELAY: Recurring unjustified delays pervaded the investigation, including in authenticating the message between Hunter Biden and Chinese officials. Investigators were told by U.S. Attorney Lesley Wolf that “there is no way” a search warrant for evidence would get approved because the evidence of interest would be found in the guest house of former Vice President Biden.
  • DIVULGE: Investigators found out that attorneys for Hunter Biden were tipped off about actions relating to the investigation in advance. For example, even as investigators had probable cause to search a Northern Virginia storage unit in which Hunter Biden had stored files, attorneys for Biden were tipped off.
  • DENY: U.S. Attorney of Delaware David Weiss tried to bring charges in District of Columbia around March 2022 and was denied. Weiss sought special counsel status from DOJ in the Spring of 2022 and was denied. Weiss sought to bring charges in the Central District of California in the Fall of 2022 and had that request denied in January 2023.

The testimony also details the retaliation against IRS employees who blew the whistle on this misconduct. These employees reportedly faced hostility after raising concerns up their chain of command. Actions were taken to cut the IRS investigative team out of the process, and in some cases, unrelated investigations were hampered with limits and pauses. The whistleblowers and their entire team were eventually removed from the investigation on May 15, 2023, after blowing the whistle to Congress.

The testimony of two whistleblowers puts the DOJ and IRS under intense scrutiny and highlights the urgent need for investigation and accountability within these agencies.

Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (MO-08) released the following statement:

“Today, the Ways and Means Committee voted to make public the testimony of IRS employees blowing the whistle on misconduct at the IRS and the Biden Department of Justice regarding unequal enforcement of tax law, interference and government abuse in the handling of investigations into criminal activity by President Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, and retaliation against IRS employees blowing the whistle on this abuse.

“The American people deserve to know that when it comes to criminal enforcement, they are not on the same playing field as thewealthy and politically connected class. The preferential treatment Hunter Biden received would never have been granted to ordinary Americans.

“Whistleblowers describe how the Biden Justice Department intervened and overstepped in a campaign to protect the son of Joe Biden by delaying, divulging, and denying an ongoing investigation into Hunter Biden’s alleged tax crimes. The testimony shows tactics used by the Justice Department to delay the investigation long enough to reach the statute of limitations, evidence they divulged sensitive actions by the investigative team to Biden’s attorneys, and denied requests by the U.S. Attorney to bring charges against Biden.

IRS employees who blew the whistle on this abuse were retaliated against, despite a commitment IRS Commissioner Werfel made before the Ways and Means Committee to uphold their legal protections. They were removed from this investigation after they responsibly worked through the chain of command to raise these concerns.

“The Committee has acted in good faith with participation from both Democrats and Republicans, as the issues raised today ought to be a bipartisan concern. Hopefully we can find a path forward to continue to go where the facts lead us. If the federal government is not treating all taxpayers equally, or if it is changing the rules to engineer a preferred outcome, Congress has a duty to ask why and to hold agencies accountable and consider appropriate legislative action. The scales of justice must not be skewed in favor of the wealthy and the politically connected.”

The transcripts for the whistleblower testimony are posted below via Ways and Means Committee:

 

 

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Links from other news sources. Public Service Announcement Reprints from others. Uncategorized

Looking. Friday Funnies: Rough Justice

Looking. Friday Funnies: Rough Justice. Just to break up the day but still being political. You got some cartoons or Giffs, feel free to post them.

 













If the shoe fits…




Why Weren’t We Allowed To Question The Covid Vaccines? (on Rumble)

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Links from other news sources. Opinion Politics Progressive Racism Public Service Announcement Reprints from others. Uncategorized

Looking. Dershowitz to Newsmax: 65 Project Un-American for Targeting Trump Lawyers.

Looking. Dershowitz to Newsmax: 65 Project Un-American for Targeting Trump Lawyers.

Harvard professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz told Newsmax on Thursday that the 65 Project, a primarily left-leaning group of lawyers that is trying to intimidate lawyers representing former President Donald Trump in post-2020 election litigation or challenging those election results, “the most un-American group of people I have encountered in all my years of practicing law.”

David Brock, founder of Media Matters for America and a senior adviser to the group, told Axios in March 2022 the group’s method of intimidation is to “not only bring the grievances in the bar complaints, but shame them and make them toxic in their communities and in their firms.”

Such a move could violate the Sixth Amendment, which guarantees a right to “assistance of counsel for his defense.” There is a presumption the amendment provides defendants the right to retain counsel of their choice, although it is not absolute. Such intimidation by the 65 Project could thwart that right, according to Dershowitz.

“These are lawyers who ought to be themselves subject to bar association discipline,” Dershowitz, who was part of Trump’s legal team for his first impeachment, told “Carl Higbie FRONTLINE.

Dershowitz said after he pledged to defend any lawyer pro bono who was targeted by the 65 Project for defending Trump or anyone in his circle, the group filed a complaint with the bar association in Massachusetts, where he lives. He said so far, nothing has come of it.

“I’ve now spoken to three lawyers who were asked to defend either Donald Trump or his co-defendants, and they all are reluctant to do it largely because of Project 65,” Dershowitz said. “This is McCarthyism, the worst form of McCarthyism. It violates the code of professional responsibility. And in numerous ways, it puts the profession in a bad light.”

Dershowitz said every American is at risk when there is a group of “distinguished lawyers, members of the bar, elite members of the bar, members of law firms, people who have held high office in bar associations, essentially threatening lawyers, threatening their careers, threatening their friendships if they continue to represent people this group doesn’t like.”

“It is the worst abuse of the legal profession I’ve seen in 60 years of practicing law, and this is one lawyer who’s fighting back,” he said.

Said Eddie Vale, communications director for the 65 Project, in an email to Newsmax: “Talk is cheap and if Mr. Dershowitz actually believes it he is more than welcome to file a complaint that we would be glad to litigate in addition to ours against him.”