[GatewayPundit] Soviet Style Trial in Michigan for Criticizing a Politician – A Horrifying True Story
There is an ongoing case in Michigan that should terrify everyone. Marc Aisen was arrested near his home in December of 2023, extradited to Michigan, and has been held pretrial for over two and a half years.
Most Americans don’t believe the system can be weaponized against ordinary citizens. Judges and prosecutors are given the presumption of innocence and good faith, while criminal defendants are given the presumption of guilt because, “if the government went after them, they must have done something wrong.”
The case of The People of Michigan v. Marc Aisen demonstrates just how far the system can crush a person with the process.
Marc Aisen was gainfully employed and lived independently in Massachusetts. In his spare time, he did what countless Americans have done for generations: he wrote messages to politicians, nonprofit boards, and charity officials, on behalf of himself and others, calling them out for what he sincerely believed was complicity in crimes, immorality, and threats to public safety. He volunteered with various organizations within his religious community and the parents’ rights movement to advocate for policies.
On July 26, 2023, from his apartment in Massachusetts, Aisen sent an email to Bloomfield Township, Michigan, Treasurer Michael Schostak. The subject line was: “Michael Schostak Covered Up Child Sexual Exploitation in Jewish Nonprofit.” The email was not posted on social media. It was sent directly to 56 email addresses, including 23 official local government emails, 14 officials from community boards and homeowners associations, and 19 private individuals. Here is the full text of that July 26 email:
Michael Schostak’s pedophile buddies are recommending child sex “change” experiments to kids and their parents, bespoking their tiny bodies with genital mutilation to make them more sexually appealing to the gay predators they are introducing them to. Michael Schostak is personally complicit in this evil scheme through his role at the “Secure Communities Network”. He doesn’t deny it. They advertise it on the JewishBoston.com website. “Jewish?” No. Faggotry is against the Jewish religion and this is precisely why.
Schostak received the email and forwarded it to Bloomfield Township Police Chief James Gallagher with the message: “Another email this morning. What are my options here?”
The “option” Schostak chose should alarm every American. On official township letterhead, using his government email address and cc’ing the police chief and a sergeant, Schostak sent Aisen this letter:
Mr. Aisen,
This letter serves as formal notice to cease and desist from any communication to me, my family, my colleagues, constituents or other associates. Your email messages are vile, contain hateful language, and are completely detached from any basis in fact. To be clear, I unequivocally deny your allegations as untrue and defamatory. You are hereby on notice to cease all communications to and about me. I am also demanding that you immediately provide a retraction of your defamatory comments to those individuals to whom your defamatory falsehoods were sent. Be advised – I am prepared to take legal action, both criminal and civil, should you fail to heed this warning.
MICHAEL E. SCHOSTAK
Treasurer
Bloomfield Township, MI
Notice what is not in that letter: any mention of actual threats of violence. Schostak’s objection was to the content of the criticism itself—language he called “vile” and “hateful,” and allegations he called “defamatory.”
Aisen responded the way any American exercising his constitutional rights would: he forwarded Schostak’s threatening email to even more public officials, Jewish organizations, rabbis, and media personalities. He reiterated his detailed allegations against Schostak, challenged him to refute them, and pointed out the obvious abuse of office:
By copying the police chief and a sergeant of the Bloomfield township police department on his official Bloomfield Township board of trustees letterhead, there was an obvious implication that the department works for him personally as private henchmen. It’s an abuse of process and a violation of his oath of office… Michael Schostak is threatening me with arrest. Criticizing politicians in public discourse is a civil right, not a crime…
There were no threats—just strong criticism of a public official using the powers of his office to silence dissent.
What happened next is straight out of a Soviet playbook. In December 2023—three months after Aisen’s last email—Aisen was arrested in Massachusetts, extradited to Michigan, and locked up in Oakland County Jail.
Local news reported the arrest with headlines like “Massachusetts man arrested for allegedly harassing Bloomfield Township Treasurer,” falsely claiming an “onslaught of emails filled with threats and accusations.” They repeated Schostak’s patently false claims that Aisen had threatened his family – something he was never charged with.
Aisen has now been held in the Oakland County Jail pre-trial for over two and a half years. He lost his job, was evicted from his apartment, and lost every worldly possession he owned. New counsel (myself, working with the Jewish Community Advocacy Council and David Peters of the Pacific Justice Institute) only entered the case recently, yet the judge is pushing forward with trial anyway—scheduled to begin Monday—despite the defense not having adequate time to prepare.
The charges themselves are terrifying:
MCL 750.411s, Unlawful Posting of a Message. For this felony charge, you can be imprisoned for up to 2 years for posting a message online that “could cause” just two “unconsented contacts” with a “victim” that makes the “victim” feel “terrorized, frightened, intimidated, threatened, harassed, or molested.” In other words, a public official simply claiming he felt “frightened” by criticism was enough to have a man arrested hundreds of miles away, extradited, and imprisoned indefinitely pretrial.
Marc Aisen’s case shows the horrifying breadth of this patently unconstitutional law. Under this law, a random X user in Oklahoma who tags Governor Gretchen Whitmer in a text that makes her feel frightened can be arrested at their home and dragged to Michigan to face felony charges. Think that can’t happen? That is exactly what happened to Marc Aisen for sending a critical email to a local city council member.
The second charge may be even more offensive to the constitution. MCL 752.796/752.797, Using a Computer to Commit a Crime. This law adds an additional 4-year felony enhancer. Here’s the kicker: it can be applied even if the defendant beats the underlying criminal charge. Meaning, even if the jury finds Marc Aisen not guilty of unlawfully posting a message, the jury can still convict him for “using a computer” even though he didn’t “commit a crime.” The judge can then sentence him to up to four years in prison. It sounds absurd. He can be sentenced to four years for using a computer – even without committing a crime. That is the actual law in Michigan.
Aside from the unconstitutional nature of the crimes, the process was used to punish Aisen. Even if Aisen ultimately beats the charges, he has already served a lengthy sentence.
Aisen’s public defenders, the prosecutors, and the judge all appear to have overlooked or ignored Michigan’s own 180-day rule on pretrial detention. The law was passed to prevent what happened to Marc Aisen. But a law meant to protect people from the system is meaningless because it requires the very same system to enforce it.
Immediately upon entering the case yesterday, we filed an emergency motion on his behalf demanding his immediate release and dismissal of charges with prejudice.
This case is so egregious that it is hard to believe it is actually happening in the United States of America and not the former Soviet Union. But it is. What I have set forth is just the tip of the iceberg of the constitutional violations in this case. The full story could fill a book, and one day it will.
This case is bigger than Marc Aisen. It is a warning to every American. Tyrannical governments always start with the vulnerable—those they think no one will defend. Vague statutes are being weaponized to criminalize political speech and criticism of public officials. If they can do this to a man who simply emailed a politician strong criticism from hundreds of miles away, they can do it to anyone.
Posted by: Mercutio ||
05/09/2026 10:52 ||
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Police carried out an identity check and issued him with two fines - one for 'offending public decency' and another for 'ridiculing a legitimate official action' by laughing.
The total penalty came to €300.
The man refused to pay and challenged the fines in court.
He ultimately won the case after the regional administrative court ruled the act of breaking wind had been 'involuntary' and that no fault could be attributed to him.
Judges also found that his laughter remained within the bounds of freedom of expression.
The ruling means breaking wind in public remains legal in Austria.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited
[Regnum] The campaign accusing Russia of meddling in the 2016 US elections has been definitively exposed, RDIF CEO Kirill Dmitriev announced on May 7. On his X social media page (formerly Twitter), he called it a political myth.
This is how he commented on the data from the report of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which stated that the Barack Obama administration was behind the promotion of this disinformation.
"The masks have been removed. The US Director of National Intelligence has officially confirmed that President Obama orchestrated a Russian hoax against both President Trump and Russia," Dmitriev emphasized, calling for the perpetrators of this smear campaign to be held accountable to prevent similar provocations in the future.
Dmitriev added that Obama's library should have a large section on the hoax of Russian interference in the 2016 elections, since the 44th president has few other achievements.
Earlier, President Donald Trump accused Obama of treason and claimed that his predecessor, Biden, and Hillary Clinton were involved in fabricating false accusations against Russia. At the same time, the American leader admitted that Obama would likely escape prosecution for fabricating the charges due to the US Supreme Court's position on presidential immunity.
In early February 2026, the American leader also noted that he had been trying for five years to prove, despite all the available evidence, that he, and not former US President Joe Biden, won the 2020 election.
#3
You're delusional if you think anything will ever happen to them!
Posted by: chris ||
05/09/2026 7:22 Comments ||
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#4
@2. I would very much like to see Shrillery and the others prosecuted.
1. What are the chances of actually get a conviction from a jury? Prosecuting w/o a conviction makes them heroes to the left.
2. Perhaps everyone is cautious about setting a legal precedent that can be used against a Republican in the future.
3. Given that the media is mostly left leaning, how many average voters are going to believe this is politically based charges with no basis in fact?
4. Is the potential back lash against the trials worth maybe giving the Democrats control of the House, Senate in 2026 and possibly the WH in 2028?
An own goal at precisely the wrong time, while revealing to the world exactly what he is.
Thomas Massie reminds everyone that when X initially started revealing account locations, the Official DHS Twitter account of the United States showed it was set up in Israel...
"There should at the very least be an investigation into this."
Snopes looked into it last year, and published an exhaustive report. They are overall biased to the Progressive side, but they’ve been researching urban legends and internet hoaxes since the 1990s, so have mastered the process. Go to the link to see all the referenced tweets
Shortly after a new feature on X in late November 2025 revealed from where accounts on Elon Musk's social media platform were posting, a rumor began to spread that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security was running its official account from Tel Aviv, Israel.
For example, a post shared a supposed screen capture of the DHS X account's details (archived):
The screen capture read:
Homeland Security @DHSgov
Date joined July 2008 in Israel
Account based in Tel Aviv, Israel
16 username changes Last on July 2008
Connected via Israel App Store
As of this writing, the post had more than 39 million views and 330,000 likes. The same rumor appeared many times on X. Some posts claimed that X turned off the feature 20 minutes after the DHS account's location was exposed.
The viral screenshot did not include a gray checkmark — which is used for verified accounts of governmental organizations and officials — putting its authenticity in question. Further, on Nov. 25, the account that first posted the screenshot appeared to share information on how it had been created (archived). In other words, it seemed to be an admission that the claim the DHS X account was run from Israel was based on a fabricated screen capture:
We have contacted this account asking for confirmation the claim was a hoax and will update this report should we receive a response.
It is true that in late November 2025, X began rolling out (archived) a feature that had the result of revealing many accounts that claimed to be based in U.S. were in fact run from other countries.
The previous month, on Oct. 14, Nikita Bier — the company's head of product — said the social media platform was working on developing this feature (archived) to increase transparency:
It was also true that shortly after launching it, X shut off the part of the new feature that showed where an account was created. Bier confirmed as much on Nov. 22 (archived), saying the "account creation country was incorrect on a very small subset of old accounts."
He later added the company was working to fix this. On Nov. 23, he said an update (archived) was due in 12 hours and that accuracy would be "99.9%." Nearly 15 hours later, Snopes had yet to see the feature reactivated on X's website or iOS app.
After he became aware of the DHS rumor, Bier said it was "fake news" and that @DHSgov, the agency's official X account (verified with a gray check that indicates a government official or agency) never displayed its localization for security reasons (archived, archived):
However, on the morning of Nov. 24 — after X switched off the part of the new feature that showed the creation country — Snopes verified that the DHS X account's About page did display a localization, saying it was based in the U.S.:
Bier said in an email that X added the localization for the DHS account "with their permission" after the "hoax." Snopes examined the X About pages of the Department of Defense, Department of State, Department of Justice and Treasury Department. As Bier said, none of them contained geographical information.
For further reading, we also investigated whether Musk shut down X's location feature after it revealed two-thirds of X's "MAGA and far-right accounts" were based in Bangladesh, Nigeria and Russia.
Rep. Thomas Massie's campaign has raked in more than $1 million so far since launching a "Moneybomb" fundraiser on Monday morning, according to a running tally displayed on the fundraising website.
The embattled Republican, who represents Kentucky's 4th Congressional District, is competing in a GOP primary showdown against former Navy SEAL Ed Gallrein, the candidate backed by vociferous Massie critic President Donald Trump ...The man who was so stupid he beat fourteen professional politicians, a former tech CEO, and a brain surgeon for the Republican nomination in 2016, then beat The Smartest Woman in the World in the general election. Then he beat Kamala while dodging bullets... Gallrein's campaign fired back, providing Fox News Digital with the following statement from senior advisor Tim Murtaugh: "These are the last gasps of a member of Congress who promised to term limit himself to three terms, but is now seeking his 8th. He’s turned his back on Kentucky, he’s pointlessly antagonized President Trump, and has tried to obstruct the entire America First agenda. Thomas Massie serves only one person — Thomas Massie — and the voters of Kentucky’s 4th District are about to show him the door. Ed Gallrein is a heavily decorated, retired Navy SEAL a solid conservative who will support President Trump and the America First agenda. Massie’s ego and his act are worn out."
The upcoming May 19 primary in Kentucky is less than two weeks away.
[JTN] The governor signed an agreement last week, ahead of Friday’s Executive Ethics Board meeting, admitting to violating two provisions of the Ethics in Public Service Act.
Gov. Bob Ferguson is the first Washington governor in more than 30 years to be found in violation of the state's executive ethics law, according to the board's enforcement website.
The governor signed an agreement last week, ahead of Friday’s Executive Ethics Board meeting, admitting to violating two provisions of the Ethics in Public Service Act. The agreement was accepted by the board during the meeting.
It's the first time a governor has faced enforcement action from the state board since its inception in 1995, the board's website shows.
The first violation stemmed from using state resources for private or another person’s benefit, and the second by using his position to secure privileges for a former aide.
The stipulations approved on Friday resolve a complaint from last July, after Ferguson allowed former Chief Strategy Officer Mike Webb to fly with him on a state plane to Tri-Cities.
As a result of the agreement, the first-term governor must pay a $4,000 fine, with half suspended if he avoids further ethics violations for the next two years.
"Ferguson knew there was an extra seat on the aircraft, so they offered it to Mike Webb," according to Friday’s signed agreement. "Ferguson admits that they made a mistake, and it will not happen again."
Neither Webb nor Ferguson immediately responded to a request for comment before publishing Friday.
As previously reported by The Center Square, Webb had resigned in March 2025 amid allegations that he created a hostile work environment.
However, that didn’t stop the governor from taking Webb on a state patrol plane to Tri-Cities, where Webb had a meeting on the same day Ferguson was there for business.
According to an ethics investigation, the taxpayer-funded trip was billed at $2,094.68 per flight hour.
"The individual’s presence did not displace any state employee," Ferguson previously wrote, requesting the board to dismiss the complaint. "It did not create additional cost in terms of fuel, staffing or timе."
Ethics board enforcement
State lawmakers created the Executive Ethics Board at the request of former Gov. Mike Lowry and Attorney General Christine Gregoire in 1994.
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/09/2026 11:52 ||
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[1766 views]
Top|| File under: Tin Hat Dictators, Presidents for Life, & Kleptocrats
[CaGovPolls] Every day or so there is another poll. Link goes to a site that logs all of them.
Latest poll (poll ending 2 May - before the debate 6 May) had Hilton (R) and Becerra (D) tied at 18%
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
05/09/2026 00:00 ||
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#1
I looked through the list of polls to see if there was one that I recognize as accurate. I saw a lot of ones that I don’t recognize and the several that I recognized are CNN level clowns. California has so much cheating and corruption that honest pollsters probably steer clear.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
05/09/2026 6:30 Comments ||
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#2
The way you know that Becerra has taken the lead is by watching Tom Steyer's ads on TV attacking Becerra. Steyer thought he had it all wrapped up but now it appears he doesn't. Thank goodness for some small favors.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
05/09/2026 12:53 Comments ||
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#3
Not that I think Becerra would be a good governor but I don't see how anyone but Katie Porter could be any worse than Steyer.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
05/09/2026 12:57 Comments ||
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#4
^"Pass the potatoes?"
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/09/2026 13:15 Comments ||
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#5
Becerra - Hispanic money,from US and foreign sources and the lure of the "Reconquista" emotional click-bait will over-ride common sense. Tragic that the Golden State has devolved into a dystopian mess.
Sauve qui peut mes amis!
[DanielGreenfield] During the California gubernatorial debate, Tom Steyer, who is a billionaire, claimed that the billionaires are out to get him....
Rep. Ro Khanna, one of the contenders to replace Bernie in the ’populist’ billionaires and millionaires against billionaires movement, also endorsed Steyer. And cut an ad for him.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, the 21st wealthiest man in the Senate, who was estimated to have made $1.7 million in the stock market, also endorsed Steyer, and then went back to complaining about the "billionaire-backed scheme to capture and control the Supreme Court."
Now the billionaires against billionaires, who are also funded by billionaires, are going to put forward a billionaire to stop the billionaires, because the only ones who can save us from the billionaires are the billionaires.
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
05/09/2026 00:00 ||
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[1837 views]
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#1
What with inflation and all, billionaire ain't what it used to be.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
05/09/2026 10:02 Comments ||
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#2
I think this must be Steyer's third run for elective office and my fondest hope is that voters resoundingly reject him this time just like his prior two attempts at the White House. I want his arrogant, egotistic ass to be very badly kicked so that he finally grabs a clue and never runs for any kind of office again so that we never, ever again have to look at that ridiculous plaid tie of his.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
05/09/2026 13:17 Comments ||
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#3
Wouldn’t it be better if he wastes his time, money, and ties up the attention of the best consultants on a campaign that goes nowhere, keeping his money and the consultants away from candidates who might otherwise win?
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
...The man who was so stupid he beat fourteen professional politicians, a former tech CEO, and a brain surgeon for the Republican nomination in 2016, then beat 
