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No evidence of Freedom Convoy leaders conspiring to stir up protesters, attorneys argue

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Diane Magas is the attorney for Chris Barber in the Freedom Convoy leaders’ trial

From LifeSiteNews

By  Anthony Murdoch

Chris Barber’s lawyer, Diane Magas, said messages between her client and a member of the Ottawa Police Services show that Barber had been negotiating for trucks to be relocated and to have them stop honking

The trial of Freedom Convoy leaders Tamara Lich and Chris Barber resumed Monday with the defense arguing that the protest organizers’ actions were within the law and they should not be considered co-conspirators as the Crown claims.

Day 27 of the trial saw the Crown finish its case against Lich and Barber, who appeared in court via teleconference.

The Crown has been trying to prove that Lich and Barber had somehow influenced the protesters’ actions through their words as part of a co-conspiracy.

Nicole Bach of the Ottawa Police Services’ (OPS) Police Liaison Team (PLT) testified in court about a chat group created between officers. She had previously testified her police-provided phone was “wiped” of all information when asked by Judge Heather Perkins-McVey if she had copies of vital information of conversations between her and protesters.

On Monday in court, Bach said, as noted by the Democracy Fund, which is crowdfunding Lich’s legal costs, that she was told January 27, 2022, that the mission objective of Ottawa police was “prioritizing public safety, preserving order and maintaining peace, develop contingency plans, while respecting democratic freedom of thought, belief and peaceful assembly.”

Bach said that she could not recall who told her the mission objective.

Barber’s lawyer, Diane Magas, asked Bach during cross-examination about text exchanges between Bach and Barber on January 30, 2022. The messages show that Barber and Bach had been negotiating for trucks to be relocated as well as to have the trucks stop honking.

After some additional back and forth concerning text messages, the Crown told the court that it was prepared to conclude its case.

The court will resume November 27, with Lich and Barber’s defense calling its witnesses.

Crown prosecutors did not want the information to be unredacted and tried to argue its case to the court.

The documents in question include a police email chain along with essential information from OPS officers who had their cell phone data wiped after a so-called software update. The information on the cell phones was regarding important communications between the officers and protest organizers.

Lich and Barber are facing multiple charges from the 2022 protests, including mischief, counseling mischief, counseling intimidation and obstructing police for taking part in and organizing the anti-mandate Freedom Convoy. As reported by LifeSiteNews at the time, despite the non-violent nature of the protest and the charges, Lich was jailed for weeks before she was granted bail.

In early 2022, the Freedom Convoy saw thousands of Canadians from coast to coast come to Ottawa to demand an end to COVID mandates in all forms. Despite the peaceful nature of the protest, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government enacted the Emergencies Act on February 14, the same day as “moving day.”

During the clear-out of protesters after the EA was put in place, one protester, an elderly lady, was trampled by a police horse and one conservative female reporter was beaten by police and shot with a tear gas canister.

Trudeau revoked the EA on February 23.

Lich and Barber’s trial has thus far taken more time than originally planned due to the slow pace of the Crown calling its witnesses. LifeSiteNews has been covering the trial extensively.

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COVID-19

NIH director who led agency during COVID abruptly resigns

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MXM logo MxM News

Quick Hit:

Dr. Lawrence A. Tabak, the No. 2 at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) who served as acting director during the COVID-19 pandemic, has abruptly resigned. His departure follows a broader shakeup at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under President Donald Trump’s administration.

Key Details:

  • Tabak, 73, spent 25 years at the NIH, serving as the agency’s principal deputy director since 2010 and acting director during the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • He was heavily scrutinized by Republicans for his role in pandemic-related decision-making and congressional probes into the origins of COVID-19.
  • His resignation comes amid Trump’s restructuring of HHS, with potential firings and budget cuts within the agency.

Diving Deeper:

Dr. Lawrence A. Tabak, the longtime No. 2 at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has abruptly resigned from government service, effective February 11, 2025. Tabak, who served as acting director of the NIH during key periods—including the COVID-19 pandemic—announced his departure in an internal email to staff earlier this week. His resignation letter did not provide an explanation for his decision to step down.

The timing of Tabak’s exit coincides with a significant shakeup at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the NIH’s parent agency, under President Donald Trump’s leadership. Reports suggest that the administration is implementing budget cuts and potential mass firings within the agency, aligning with Trump’s broader efforts to overhaul Washington’s bureaucratic institutions.

Tabak was a key figure during the pandemic, frequently appearing alongside Dr. Anthony Fauci and former NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins in congressional hearings. Republican lawmakers repeatedly grilled him over the agency’s handling of COVID-19 policies, including controversial guidance on lockdowns, vaccine mandates, and research funding linked to the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

He also played a role in shaping the early COVID-19 origin narrative. GOP-led investigations revealed that Tabak was part of a confidential call with Fauci, Collins, and other prominent scientists in early 2020—an event that critics argue helped suppress the lab-leak theory. House Republicans have accused Tabak and his colleagues of slow-walking the release of documents related to gain-of-function research.

Under normal circumstances, Tabak would have likely resumed his role as acting director until a new NIH leader was confirmed. However, the Biden-era holdover was bypassed in favor of Dr. Matthew Memoli, a former researcher at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and a known critic of COVID-19 vaccine mandates.

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COVID-19

Canadian medical regulator drops misconduct allegations against COVID jab critic Dr. Charles Hoffe

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Dr. Charles Hoffe

From LifeSiteNews

By Anthony Murdoch

The Canadian doctor was stunned by the news, saying ‘I was expecting an enormous fine.’

The College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia (CPSBC) dropped its proceedings against Dr. Charles Hoffe, a frequent critic of COVID jabs and mandates, after accusing him of alleged misconduct.

The CPSBC wrote to Lee Turner, Hoffe’s lawyer, on February 5 notifying them that all proceedings against the Canadian doctor were withdrawn.

Hoffe, in comments to The Epoch Times, noted he could “hardly believe it.”

“I had been praying for this and yet when it happened, I was surprised,” he said, adding, “I didn’t think they would take my medical license, but I was expecting an enormous fine.”

Former Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Brian Peckford, who was critical of COVID mandates, praised the news.

“What a wonderful day!” he wrote on his blog Peckford42.

“What a glorious day!”

In February 2022, the CPSBC issued a citation against Hoffe that claimed that since April 2021 he had published “statements on social media and other digital platforms that were misleading, incorrect or inflammatory about vaccinations, treatments, and public measures relating to COVID-19.”

The CPSBC’s citation also noted that Hoffe had made public comments regarding ivermectin that it was an “advisable treatment for COVID-19.”

In April 2021, Hoffe was punished by his local health authority because he raised concerns about the side effects that he observed in some of those who had received the Moderna COVID-19 jab within his community.

Later in the same year, he warned that the worst is “yet to come” due to potential “permanent” damage caused by the injections.

Hoffe and another Canadian physician, Dr. Stephen Malthouse, had been fighting back against the mandates and bringing to light concerns over the safety of the COVID shots for years.

The provincial socialist New Democratic Party government of British Columbia claims to this day that the COVID jabs are safe and continues to recommend them.

LifeSiteNews has published an extensive amount of research on the dangers of the experimental COVID mRNA jabs that include heart damage and blood clots.

The mRNA shots have also been linked to a multitude of negative and often severe side effects in children and all have connections to cell lines derived from aborted babies.

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