Free Republic

For the first time in California's history, the state has appointed an undocumented resident to a statewide post, announcing the decision just a day after President Donald Trump attacked its immigration approach during a visit to San Diego. The decision made by the Senate Rules Committee on Wednesday saw Lizbeth Mateo, a 33-year-old attorney and immigrant rights activist, appointed to serve on a committee that helps increase college access for students from low-income or underserved communities. In announcing the decision, Senate President pro tempore Kevin de León appeared to recognize the move as an act of defiance in the face...

Serious shenanigans may have gone down in Pennsylvania's special election on Tuesday. From the Washington Free Beacon:Lamb currently leads Republican Rick Saccone by just 627 votes and there are still absentee and provisional ballots that have not been tabulated, but Republicans are already preparing for the likely recount and even a possible lawsuit regarding issues at polling sites, according to a Republican source familiar with the deliberations. "We're actively investigating three instances and likely to file court action on them," the source said. Among the listed concerns are "miscalibrated" voting machines in Allegheny County, the only county of four in...

President Barack Obama’s 2012 campaign hired controversial research group Fusion GPS to dig up dirt on then-Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, a new book claims -- raising questions about Democrats’ possible long-standing ties to the group. Fusion GPS is the opposition research firm behind the “Trump dossier,” which contained what former FBI Director James Comey described as "salacious" and "unverified" allegations about then-candidate Donald Trump. The dossier cited Russian sources who said Russia had information that compromised Trump. The firm was retained by Marc Elias, an attorney representing both the Hillary Clinton 2016 campaign and the Democratic National Committee. It...

President Donald Trump has been formulating a plan to fire Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Vanity Fair reported on Wednesday. Sessions has been a target of Trump's ire since he recused himself from the FBI's Russia investigation last March, following reports that he was not forthcoming during his Senate confirmation hearing about his contacts with Russian officials during the 2016 campaign season. Sessions' recusal is a key point of frustration for Trump, who once reportedly asked why he couldn't order "my guys" at the "Trump Justice Department" to do what"weak" and McCabe, whom Trump described as "a Comey friend who McCabe...

The U.S. House of Representatives passed the STOP School Violence Act with overwhelming bipartisan support Wednesday afternoon. Florida Reps. John Rutherford (R) and Ted Deutch (D) introduced the bill prior to the shooting in Parkland, Florida, and Rutherford addressed the media following Wednesday’s vote. “The action that the House just took, I think, is an important first help forward in protecting our children, our teachers and other administrators within our schools,” Rutherford stated. “Because it’s going to not only harden the target through technology, but most importantly, I believe, it’s going to provide the tools and education needed...” “Violence at...

Attorney General Jeff Sessions is considering firing top FBI official Andrew McCabe before he officially retires from the bureau in a few days, a move that could deprive the outgoing deputy director of pension benefits, Fox News has confirmed. Sources said if McCabe is terminated by close of business this Friday, that would mean McCabe would not receive a government pension. A source told Fox News that McCabe's pension is in "jeopardy."

FBI officials have recommended that the former number two at the FBI Andrew McCabe be fired, CBS News' Paula Reid reports. Attorney General Jeff Sessions is reviewing the recommendation. It's likely he'll take the recommendation because it would be difficult for Sessions, who has promised to go after leakers, to be perceived as looking the other way on leaks. Another factor -- it would likely upset the president if it appears that Sessions is going too easy on McCabe over his handling of the Hillary Clinton email probe. The bureau, asked for a response, said that it had no personnel...

President Donald Trump plans to name Larry Kudlow as his top economic advisor, sources told CNBC. Trump could announce his decision to choose Kudlow as his National Economic Council director as soon as Thursday. The president offered the economist and senior CNBC contributor the job on Tuesday night, and Kudlow accepted, a person familiar with the matter told CNBC. Kudlow, 70, would replace Gary Cohn, who resigned last week after losing his fight against tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. Kudlow advocates for free trade and generally opposes tariffs. When Cohn left, Kudlow expressed his disappointment with the move. On...

A thread to discuss the results. I feel like Lamb has a lot of momentum, has run as a moderate, and has run a better campaign. I'll predict he'll win tonight (although I'd like to see Saccone win). NYT does a good job with election results.

President Donald Trump on Tuesday named Gina Haspel as the first woman head of Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Trump also replaced US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson with CIA director Mike Pompeo.

President Trump has ousted Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and replaced him with CIA Director Mike Pompeo, orchestrating a major change to his national security team amid delicate negotiations with North Korea, White House officials said Tuesday. Trump last Friday asked Tillerson to step aside, and the embattled top diplomat cut short his trip to Africa on Monday to return to Washington.

Donald Trump, in only the 4th time in 70 years, disallowed the merger of Broadcom and QUALCOMM. Broadcom is the 5G leader out of Singapore with ties to Huawei, the giant Chinese electronics conglomerate that's also heavily tied to the PLA. The merger would have resulted in the dismantling of Qualcomm, with Broadcom and Huawei taking any advanced 5G technology and leaving the rest for scraps.

updated 2 hours ago Conor Lamb will win Western Pennsylvania's special election race for Congress on Tuesday if there is a surge in Democratic turnout similar to what has been seen in other special elections over the past year, according to a Monmouth University poll out Monday. The Monmouth poll's “Democratic surge” model shows Lamb collecting 51 percent of the vote compared with Saccone's 45 percent, while 1 percent of likely voters would opt for a third-party candidate and 3 percent remain undecided. The poll's margin of error is 5.1 percent. Monmouth said Lamb holds a slim advantage within the...

The Talk Shows March 11th, 2018 Guests to be interviewed today on major television talk shows: FOX NEWS SUNDAY (Fox Network): CIA Director Mike Pompeo; Senator Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.MEET THE PRESS (NBC): Sens. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., and Warren.FACE THE NATION (CBS): Pompeo; Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colo. THIS WEEK (ABC): White House deputy press secretary Raj Shah.STATE OF THE UNION (CNN): Sens. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., and Warren.

Heads Up! Trump Rally at 7:00 EST. Carried on FNC. Its in Moon Township outside Pittsburgh. For GOP candidate Saccone. Trump carried the district in 2016.

In the post-Parkland hysteria, President Trump directed the Department of Justice to perform some regulatory legerdemain where bump fire stocks are concerned. The ATF had long ago passed on the stocks, deeming them perfectly legal accessories for semi-automatic rifles. Now, in a Saturday morning move apparently meant to fly under the radar . . . The U.S. Department of Justice formally submitted a regulation on Saturday to ban “bump stocks,” a modification to high-capacity rifles that lets them fire like an automatic weapon. President Donald Trump signed a memorandum in February directing the department to make the regulatory change, which...

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — UPDATE (6:15 p.m.): The National Rifle Association has filed a federal lawsuit over gun control legislation Florida Gov. Rick Scott has signed, saying it violates the Second Amendment by raising the age to buy guns from 18 to 21. The lawsuit came just hours after Gov. Scott, a Republican, signed the compromise bill Friday afternoon. Lawyers for the NRA want a federal judge to block the new age restriction from taking effect. The new legislation raises the minimum age to buy rifles from 18 to 21, extends a three-day waiting period for handgun purchases to include...

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An armed man took three hostages during an "active shooter situation" at a California veterans home Friday afternoon, a fire official said. Earlier, it emerged the veterans home was on lockdown after reports of shots fired. The Napa County Sheriff’s Office said officers responded to the Veterans Home of California in Yountville around 10:45 a.m. local time and a shelter-in-place order was issued.

The Florida Legislature made national headlines this week when it passed SB 7026, also known as the "Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act." The law is headed to Gov. Rick Scott, who is likely to sign it today. Much has been made of the political implications of the Republican-dominated legislature defying — even in small ways — the wishes of the National Rifle Association.