"Evil Personified": Nurse Who Killed 17 Patients Jailed For Over 700 Years

05/04/24 10:39 AM

A US nurse who administered lethal doses of insulin to several patients over three years in an attempt to kill them was on Saturday sentenced to 380-760 years in prison. She was responsible for the deaths of at least 17 patients.i

'Integrated conspiracy': Experts reveal Jack Smith's Supreme Court contingency plan

04/29/24 8:39 PM

Special counsel Jack Smith may have a contingency plan if the Supreme Court gives Trump a win, according to a new analysis.The Supreme Court heard former President Donald Trump's claim to presidential immunity from the federal election conspiracy case last week — and while it's unlikely they will totally throw out the charges, some legal experts think they might find certain official presidential acts could be immune from prosecution. They might punt back to the lower courts to decide which parts of the indictment can and can't move forward, a complication that could further delay the case.But according to the New York Times, there's a possible way Smith could move ahead in this event.ALSO READ: Revealed: What government officials privately shared about Trump not disclosing financesAccording to reporter Charlie Savage, Smith's attorney Michael Drebeen as good as told the justices what they would do at oral argument: he "said that even if the court ruled out basing charges on Mr. Trump’s official actions, prosecutors believed that they could still lawfully present evidence about the official conduct as relevant context that would help jurors understand Mr. Trump’s private acts. 'There’s really an integrated conspiracy here that had different components,' Mr. Dreeben said. Mr. Trump, he added, used his official powers to try to ensure his private efforts to overturn the election were more likely to succeed, and the jury will need to see the entire picture to understand the sequence, why each step occurred and the gravity of the conduct."Trump's attorney John Sauer, on the other hand, urged the court to pre-emptively rule out even using official acts as evidence, not simply as the basis for charges. However, the report noted, "Samuel Buell, a Duke University professor of criminal law, said it was 'quite ordinary' that information is admitted as relevant evidence even though it is not about an action that would itself be subject to a criminal charge" — especially in cases where the alleged crime took place over a long time span and had multiple alleged co-conspirators.Even if this happens, the Supreme Court ruling immunity exists for some of Trump's actions could add months more to a trial that is already facing long odds to be heard before the election.All of this comes as Trump stands trial in a separate case in Manhattan.

'No way': Foreign policy experts question Noem’s 'dubious' account of meeting Kim Jong Un

05/03/24 12:50 PM

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem's hopes of becoming presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump's running mate may have been destroyed by the puppy shooting controversy. Noem has been drawing widespread criticism — even among fellow Republicans — for an anecdote in her new book "No Going Back: The Truth on What’s Wrong With Politics and How We Move America Forward" in which she describes taking a dog to a gravel pit on a farm, shooting it and killing it.Although that anecdote is receiving a great deal of attention, it is only one of the many things Noem talks about in her book. Noem, who served in the U.S. House of Representatives for eight years before becoming South Dakota governor, also talks about her foreign policy experience.But according to the Dakota Scout, an "alleged meeting" with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un described in Noem's book is "in dispute."READ MORE: 'I hated that dog': Kristi Noem recalls taking family pup to gravel pit and killing itScout reporters Austin Goss and Jonathan Ellis, in an article published on May 2, explain, "In 'No Going Back,' Noem says she met North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un while serving in Congress on the House Armed Services Committee. Last year, as governor, she says she canceled a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron. But neither account has been verified by congressional travel documents or outside sources reviewed by The Dakota Scout. And The Scout confirmed with the French president's office that Macron never had a meeting scheduled with Noem."A Capitol staffer interviewed by The Scout, presumably on condition of anonymity, said of Noem's alleged meeting with Jong Un, "It's b*****t."According to Goss and Ellis, "That staffer was among a dozen staffers interviewed by The Scout who said they had no knowledge of the meeting, or who said Noem had never mentioned it before…. Noem served on the House Armed Services Committee from 2013-2015. During that period, committee members, including Noem, visited China in 2014. But there is no record of Kim being in China then."George A. Lopez, a professor at Notre Dame University in Indiana known for his focus on foreign policy, pointed out that even former President Barack Obama didn't meet with Jong Un during that period.READ MORE: It's a 'tragedy' not to force rape victims to give birth: Kristi NoemLopez (not to be confused with the comedian/actor), told the Scout, "I don't see any conceivable way that a single junior member of Congress without explicit escort from the U.S. State Department and military would be meeting with a leader from North Korea. What would have been so critical in his bag of tricks that he would have met with an American lawmaker, this one distinctively?"Another scholar known for foreign policy expertise, Virginia Commonwealth University's Benjamin Young, described Noem's account of meeting Jong Un as "dubious."Young told the Scout, "There's no way. There's no way…. I cover North Korea very closely, and I have never heard of Kim Jong Un meeting congressmen or congresswomen."READ MORE: Kristi Noem's damage control response to puppy shooting story: She also killed 3 horsesRead the Dakota Scout's full report at this link.