A watchdog group whose chief was arrested at a corporate shareholder meeting after bringing up Jeffrey Epstein’s name asserted in court papers it was an “unprecedented” crackdown on speech for shareholders of publicly-traded companies.  Peter Flaherty, chairman of National Legal and Policy Center, was arrested at the 2023 Berkshire Hathaway shareholder meeting, as first reported by The Daily Signal. The center filed an appeal this week in the 8th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, asking it to reverse a lower court ruling that it was a trespassing case.  Flaherty said he and other shareholders with proposals at the meeting were invited guests, not trespassers. He asserted this hasn’t occurred before with someone on the agenda to speak.  “I was on the agenda to speak about a shareholder proposal,” Flaherty told The Daily Signal. “The main reason for this lawsuit is to assert the right of shareholders in publicly-traded companies.”  However, Berkshire Hathaway previously argued when seeking dismissal of the case, “Flaherty became a trespasser when he remained at the meeting after he was told to leave and second, the defendants had the right to eject him from the meeting.” The National Legal and Policy Center, a government and corporate watchdog, is a shareholder in Berkshire Hathaway. Flaherty was on the agenda to speak. When he did, he objected to the company’s chairman and CEO Warren Buffett sending billions in donations to the Gates Foundation.  He objected in the context of an NLPC shareholder proposal to have the positions of chairman and CEO be held by separate individuals as a matter of good corporate governance.  He argued donations to the Gates Foundation reflected poorly on the company. Flaherty raised objections to the Gates Foundation supporting teaching in schools of left-leaning causes on race and gender. But he also brought up media reports about Gates’ interaction with Epstein, a convicted sex offender, which the Wall Street Journal reported on two days before the meeting. After the mention of Epstein, Buffett waved for Flaherty’s mic to be cut off. After that, Flaherty was arrested for tresspassing, and taken that day to a police station. But the trespassing charge was dropped later. The NLPC sued Berkshire Hathaway for the false arrest and assault. The lower court in Omaha, Nebraska, ruled the matter could constitute trespassing. So the center appealed to the 8th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. “Mr. Flaherty, acting on behalf of NLPC, was no trespasser, and the notion that Mr. Flaherty admitted to the contrary in Plaintiffs’-Appellants’ Amended Complaint is specious. Plaintiffs-Appellants were special invitees who had inalienable rights under state and federal law to be there and to whom the Defendants had granted permission to attend Berkshire Hathaway’s annual shareholder meeting and present a proposal duly reflected in the Company’s proxy statement,” the NLPC’s appellate brief says.   Berkshire Hathaway did not respond to phone and email messages from The Daily Signal for this story.  Buffett has donated more than $43 billion to the Gates Foundation, the Associated Press reported. However, last summer, he said after his death, his children would be in charge of philanthropy, and no more money would go to the Gates Foundation.  Neither the Gates Foundation nor Microsoft responded to phone or email inquiries from The Daily Signal for this story.  Bill Gates has previously said it was a “huge mistake” to ever meet with Epstein. He has also said, “I didn’t have any business relationship or friendship with him.” Gates also said in 2021: “I had several dinners with him [Epstein], you know, hoping that what he said about getting billions of philanthropy for global health through contacts that he had might emerge. When it looked like that wasn’t a real thing, that relationship ended.” The post Investor Arrested After Bringing up Epstein, Ratchets Up Lawsuit Against Berkshire Hathaway appeared first on The Daily Signal.

DAILY CALLER NEWS FOUNDATION—There is no issue with how the indictment of former FBI Director James Comey was obtained, the Department of Justice argued in new court filings. Prosecutors sought to correct the record in filings following a Wednesday hearing where they admitted under questioning from the judge that the final version of the indictment was not shown to the full grand jury. Comey’s defense attorneys declared the potential misstep was grounds for dismissing the case. “The official transcript of the September 25, 2025, proceedings before Magistrate Judge Vaala conclusively refutes that claim and establishes that the grand jury voted on—and true-billed—the two-count indictment,” prosecutors wrote in a Thursday filing. A section of the grand jury transcript publicly filed Thursday reveals initial confusion arose when the magistrate judge was presented on Sept. 25 with two indictments: one two-count indictment and a three-count indictment that suggested the jurors did not concur. “So the three counts should be just one count,” the jury foreperson explained, according to the transcript. “It was the very first count that we did not agree on, and the Count Two and Three were then put in a different package, which we agreed on.” The foreperson affirmed that jurors voted on the “one that has the two counts.” The judge noted this has “never happened before” and asked Halligan to offer an explanation. “I only reviewed the one with the two counts that our office redrafted when we found out about the two— wo counts that were true billed, and I signed that one,” Halligan told the judge. “I did not see the other one. I don’t know where that came from.” ‘Neither Unusual Nor Improper’ In a Wednesday night filing, prosecutors also objected to a magistrate judge’s Monday ruling granting Comey’s request to review typically secret grand jury material, where the judge suggested “profound investigative missteps” could lead to the case’s dismissal. The revised indictment “simply reflected the grand jury’s vote; it was neither unusual nor improper,” the DOJ argued. “This was not, as the magistrate judge opines, an ‘unusual series of events’ and is fully explained by the U.S. Attorney’s declaration, the court reporter’s recollection, the grand jury coordinator’s discussion with the grand jury foreperson, and the grand jury foreperson’s explanation in court,” prosecutors wrote. Former federal prosecutor Andrew McCarthy, who has previously called the Comey case weak, wrote that the suggestion grand jury situation amounts to a significant error “seems wrong.” “There is no reason to believe the no true bill was improperly executed by the grand jury; it indicates that two counts were approved,” McCarthy wrote for National Review on Wednesday. “All the second document does is, word for word, repeat the two approved counts, while omitting the count the grand jury rejected.” Originally published by The Daily Caller News Foundation. The post There’s Nothing Wrong With How Comey Indictment Was Obtained, DOJ Says appeared first on The Daily Signal.

30 years ago today, leaders from the detritus of the former Yugoslavia gathered at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio to end a brutal conflict that pitted new democracies Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, and Slovenia against the Serb-dominated communist regime.  The war killed tens of thousands, displaced millions, caused billions in damage, and added ethnic cleansing, rape camps, and genocide to our contemporary lexicon. But while Croatia and Slovenia eventually joined NATO and the European Union, Bosnia-Herzegovina to this day remains locked in a never-ending nation-building vortex that has sucked its sovereign lifeblood dry, destroyed its economic future, threatened regional security, and deepened inter-ethnic distrust.  The leaders at Dayton envisioned a decentralized state composed of a Serbian Republic and a Muslim-Croat Federation with constitutional guarantees of self-governance and equality for all. But following the peace accord’s signing, foreign diplomats met in Bonn, Germany to neuter these guarantees and assign themselves “final authority” over Bosnia-Herzegovina through an all-powerful “Office of the High Representative.” As the 9/11 terrorist attacks refocused America’s global attentions, Europe was handed the lead to transition the country to normalcy.  These “Bonn Powers” have allowed successive high representatives to remove scores of elected officials (including presidents) and veto hundreds of pieces of legislation passed by elected officials. All this power was exercised in tandem with three foreign judges (German, Swiss and Albanian, respectively), who sit on the country’s Supreme Court to impose a fictional Bosnian civic one-man-one-vote identity.   This governance approach is anathema to both Croat and Serb communities as it would create a centralized Muslim-majority state. Those communities need only look to the Middle East to see the sad fate of Christians living under Muslim rule.  But the arrival of the current high representative, Christian Schmidt, a former German minister of agriculture, pushed the country to the tipping point. Last year, capping a series of interventions, Schmidt dismissed the elected president of the Serbian half of the country for “defying” his orders. It set off theworst political crisis since the war ended.  Meanwhile, pro-West Croats, suffering from three decades of discrimination within a Muslim-dominated federation that has reduced their population by 60%, see little future in a state that systematically denies them constitutional equality unless they obtain a separate confederate entity of their own.  Bosnia-Herzegovina’s dysfunction has given Russia,China, and Iran opportunities to undermine NATO’s vulnerable southern flank. Constant inter-ethnic tensions have radicalized a segment of the Muslim community, resulting in government-sponsored acts of anti-Semitism.  Enter the Trump administration, which urgently and deftly intervened to walk back Schmidt’s overreach. The Serbs retracted their threat to secede, but the fundamental obstacle to the country’s stability remains: hyper-interventionist European diplomats who resist giving up their nation-building powers.  Last May, President Donald Trump made clear his disdain for nation-building as “wrecking far more nations than [it] built.” At a NATO parliamentary event, Deputy Secretary of State Chris Landau warned that the United States was “not interested in imposing a vision of society that reflects the preferences of distant bureaucrats.”  The State Department last month reiterated that “the United States is no longer pursuing nation-building or heavy-handed international intervention… Now is the time for local solutions.”   Could Bosnia-Herzegovina finally govern itself after 30 years lost to the hubris of power-hungry European bureaucrats?  Not yet. In an unprecedent rebuke of the United States, Schmidt rushed to Berlin to shield himself against U.S. efforts to defang him. Within days, Germany’s ambassador in Sarajevo, himself a former senior OHR official, defended Schmidt’s role, doubling down on the Bonn powers as “essential for ensuring stability and progress in Bosnia and Herzegovina” despite clear evidence to the contrary. That was followed by a visit from Germany’s Foreign Minister affirming support for Schmidt as “indispensable for peace and stability.”  German muscle flexing against Washington, DC, however, does not change the reality on the ground. The high representative is the immediate source of political instability in the Balkans. Refusal to restore to Bosnia-Herzegovina’s three peoples the sovereign right to govern themselves merely abets radicalism from within and dangerous interference from without.  It is high time this nation-building experiment be put to rest.  The post Ending 30 Years of Failed Nation-Building in the Balkans appeared first on The Daily Signal.

President Donald Trump said socialist New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani “actually surprised” him by how much the two agree on. “I feel very confident that he can do very good job,” the president said. “I think he is going to surprise some conservative people.” Trump met with Mamdani in the Oval Office on Friday. Through Trump previously threatened to pull federal funding from New York if Mamdani won, he said “I expect to be helping him not hurting him.” “The better he does, the happier I am,” he said. “I will say there is no difference in party. There’s no difference in anything, and we’re going to be helping him to make everybody’s dream come true of a strong and safe New York.” Mamdani and the president discussed their shared passion for affordability, including lowering prices of groceries, rent, childcare, home ownership, and utilities. “We focused on that same cost-of-living,” Mamdani said, “and that’s where I am really looking forward to delivering for New Yorkers in partnership with the president on the affordability agenda.” The two agreed on the need to lower the cost of housing. “He wants to see housing being built, he wants to see rents coming down, all things that I agree with, and we may disagree how we get there the rent coming down, he said. The two agree that more housing needs to be built for prices to drop, Trump said. Trump admitted Mamdani’s view are “a little out there” but said he expects the mayor to change if his policies don’t succeed. Trump and Mamdani have previously clashed on ICE raids, which Mamdani opposes. But Trump brushed this conflict off, saying “more than anything else, he wants to have a safe New York.” Trump said he and Mamdani discussed crime more than immigration enforcement. “Ultimately, a safe New York is going to be a great New York,” Trump said. “If it’s not safe, no matter how well we do with pricing and with anything else, we can talk about, anything you want, but if you don’t have safe streets, it’s not going to be a success. So we’re going to work together. We’re going to make sure that if there are horrible people that we want to get out, I think he wants to get them out, maybe more than I do. So we’ll work together.” New York, Trump said, is at a “critical point.” “He does need the help of the federal government to really succeed,” Trump said, “and we’re going to be helping him. But he’s different than your average candidate. He came out of nowhere.” The post Trump ‘Very Confident’ Mamdani Can ‘Do a Very Good Job’ appeared first on The Daily Signal.

After months of speculation as to what former Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, would do ahead of the 2026 elections, we now have our answer: Ryan will not be running for governor of the Buckeye State. “After careful consideration, much prayer and reflection, and after long conversations with my family, my closest friends and advisors, I’ve made the decision not to run for governor in 2026,” Ryan said in a statement. Rumors have been swirling for months about Ryan’s political plans, especially since a fellow Ohio Democrat, former Sen. Sherrod Brown, announced he was running for U.S. Senate. Brown lost last November to now Republican Sen. Bernie Moreno and is running to challenge Sen. Jon Husted, R-Ohio, who was appointed by Gov. Mike DeWine to fill Vice President JD Vance’s seat. Vance had that Senate seat because he defeated Ryan in Ohio’s U.S. Senate race in 2022. Ryan previously served as a congressman for Ohio’s 13th Congressional District. Ryan’s announcement is surely a boon to Dr. Amy Acton’s campaign. She is still the sole Democrat facing Republican businessman Vivek Ramaswamy in the upcoming gubernatorial election, and with Ryan opting out, likely avoids an expensive and difficult primary challenge. A statement from Acton shared with The Daily Signal focused not on Ryan, but on putting her energy into going up against Ramaswamy. “No matter what corner of the state I’m in, it’s clear Ohioans are struggling with rising costs. Whether it’s healthcare, childcare, gas or groceries, there’s too much money going out and not enough coming in. And while the special interests that run our state are doing just fine, they’ve made a mess for the rest of us, and I will not allow a billionaire Washington insider like Vivek Ramaswamy take us down an even worse path,” Acton said. “I’m running for Governor because it’s time for a change. Together, we can lower costs, give Ohioans a little breathing room, and build the Ohio we all deserve.” Acton also released a video over social media on Friday morning, the same day news spread of Ryan’s decision. The nearly two-minute video also focused on costs. Everywhere I go, Ohioans are stretched too thin — from energy bills, to healthcare costs, to property taxes and groceries. Costs keep rising while special interests call the shots. Enough is enough. I’m running for Governor so we can lower costs, give families some breathing… pic.twitter.com/dxFKmyIeHt— Dr. Amy Acton (@amyactonoh) November 21, 2025 A statement from Connie Luck, a spokesperson for the Ramaswamy campaign, focused on support from fellow Republicans for the campaign, and how Ramaswamy has used that to his advantage. “While the Democrats have spent months fighting to secure their shrinking base, Vivek has been talking to voters of all political persuasions to build an unprecedented coalition of support that includes conservative leaders and farmers to truckers and labor unions—and we’re just getting started,” Luck told The Daily Signal. Other Ohio Republicans have been quite vocal over X, including Ohio Republican Party Chairman Alex Triantafilou. In a statement that pointed out Ryan’s decision not to run should “come as no surprise to Ohioans,” Triantafilou focused on support for Ramaswamy as he goes up against Acton, calling the choice “obvious” to support Ramaswamy for next year. pic.twitter.com/pp1MM3qPLR— Alex Triantafilou (@ChairmanAlex) November 21, 2025 Secretary of State Frank LaRose and state Sen. Rob McColley, president of the Ohio Senate, also weighed in on Ryan’s decision to opt out. Like Triantafilou, LaRose and McColley stressed the unity and momentum around Ramaswamy, which has long been a focus from the Ramaswamy campaign as well as from the Ohio Republican Party. Tim Ryan’s decision not to run for governor reinforces what we already know — that @VivekGRamaswamy is a unifying, visionary leader who’s building not just a political campaign but an unstoppable movement to lead Ohio into the future. We’ve never seen a candidate for governor put…— Frank LaRose (@FrankLaRose) November 21, 2025 McColley also focused on the support from various groups that Ramaswamy has received. Speaking of how a Democrat’s “path to victory is a difficult one” in this gubernatorial race, McColley called the news about Ryan “a reflection of that.” .@VivekGRamaswamy’s remarkable unification of the Republican Party, record fundraising, and his broad coalition of support (including from labor groups) make any opponent’s path to victory a difficult one. Today’s news regarding Tim Ryan is a reflection of that.— Senator Rob McColley (@Rob_McColley) November 21, 2025 The race is regarded as “Likely Republican,” with Ramaswamy leading in most polls against Acton, including an Emerson College poll from August with a +10 lead. Acton has highlighted polls showing her with a narrow lead, however. The post Tim Ryan Makes Major Announcement in Ohio Governor’s Race appeared first on The Daily Signal.