Free Republic

American soldiers could be next in line to combat the Russian military if the House does not approve a supplemental package that includes aid to Ukraine, Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) said Friday. “In the next front against Russia, it will be Americans on the front lines,” Coons told CNBC’s Silvia Amaro on Friday in an interview from the Munich Security Conference. “We are best off investing in the Ukrainians who are fighting bravely for their own freedom than allowing Putin the opportunity to spread further chaos and violence across Europe,” Coons said. The Senate approved a $95 billion foreign aid...

EL PASO, Texas (KFOX14/CBS4) — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is pushing back and adding more razor wire to the border fence after Monday's Supreme Court ruling that the border patrol can remove the wire along the southern border. So far, the border patrol in the borderland has not cut down any of the razor wire. In the meantime, Abbott says he won’t back down despite the Supreme Court’s ruling, and for now, plans to continue to secure the border however he wants to. “What Governor Abbott is doing is not just unconstitutional, and it’s not just harmful to very vulnerable...

Nearly a year before federal student loan payments restarted, the U.S. Department of Education warned that many borrowers could struggle to pay their bills again. “Unless the [Education] Department is allowed to provide debt relief, we anticipate there could be an historically large increase in the amount of federal student loan delinquency and defaults as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Education Department Undersecretary James Kvaal said in a court filing. The Supreme Court in June blocked President Joe Biden’s plan to cancel up to $20,000 in student debt per borrower — and those warnings are now becoming real. To...

Hunter Biden announced that he will defy the House Oversight Committee subpoena to testify privately and lashed out at the “unrelenting Trump attack machine.” The son of President Joe Biden re-upped his offer to participate in a public congressional hearing instead of a private deposition, which Rep. James Comer, who is leading the investigations into the Biden Family, denied. Hunter Biden opened his comments with the Capitol in the background to assembled media, acknowledging his past mistakes before lashing out at the MAGA Republicans. “I’m here today to acknowledge that I’ve made mistakes in my life and wasted opportunities and...

Nearly 500 tons of humanitarian aid being concealed from the Ukrainian public has been uncovered in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, the Regional Governor said at a news conference on Nov. 24. "Tons of food products sent to the Zaporizhzhia Oblast in 2022 have deteriorated due to criminal negligence," said Yurii Malashko, governor of Zaporizhzhia. Authorities discovered a large amount of humanitarian aid, including food products, essential items, and other materials, stored without proper documentation at three different local enterprises in Zaporizhzhia Oblast. Malashko notes that investigations into the illegal storage of aid are ongoing. "We will do everything in our power to...

The future of the US economy could be powered by cities in the Sunbelt. Economic and societal power in the US may be shifting away from colossal coastal cities such as New York and San Francisco to metropolitan areas tucked below the Mason-Dixon line, as Barron's recently reported. That's because economic power is flowing to the middle of the country — and places such as Houston, Dallas, Nashville, and Miami are becoming hot spots. Just as New York City has Wall Street and San Francisco has Silicon Valley, Houston has its energy economy and Miami has its proximity to Latin...

Ukraine is “not winning” its war against Russia, according to a close advisor of President Volodymyr Zelensky. Despite the difficult situation on the ground, Zelensky’s belief in an outright Ukrainian victory is said to be unmovable, according to a new report by Time. The close aide said: “He deludes himself. We’re out of options. We’re not winning. But try telling him that.” Zelensky is said to feel abandoned by the West which he believes has provided Ukraine with enough support to stop Russia but not to outright win the war. he President is dead set against a truce or peace...

STANDING over a shallow grave in a remote desert location an FBI agent takes a photo of a man's body. The victim is covered in blood from the apparent bullet wound in the side of his head and has been stripped down to his boxer shorts with his hands tied in what appears to be a brutal execution. But as the law enforcement agents finish their crime scene photos at the isolated site outside of Houston, Texas something extraordinary occurs. The ‘corpse’ of Ramon Sosa slowly gets up and walks towards the officers having faked his own death to prevent...

Beverage giant Anheuser-Busch InBev announced it will lay off hundreds of corporate employees as sales of its flagship lager Bud Light falter. In a statement to CNBC on Thursday, a company spokesperson said the job cuts affect less than 2% of U.S. employees. Anheuser-Busch has about 18,000 employees nationwide. The layoffs will include about 350 of those people. The company said it will cut positions across every corporate function. Anheuser-Busch added the changes will “simplify and reduce layers within its organization.” The layoffs will not affect employees such as brewery and warehouse staff, drivers and field salespeople, among others, the...

The US Supreme Court shot down the Biden administration’s controversial plan to forgive billions of dollars in federally-backed student loan debt, a decision that means millions will have to start making repayments later this year. In a 6-3 decision down ideological lines, the justices held that the administration wasn't authorized to offer the debt relief under a 2003 law known as the HEROES Act. The Biden administration invoked that act during the initial stages of the COVID-19 pandemic as authorization for the student loan relief. "The text of the HEROES Act does not authorize the [Education] Secretary’s loan forgiveness program,"Chief...

CNN’s prime-time broadcast of a raucous town hall with Donald Trump propelled a tsunami of criticism from inside and outside the network Thursday — and renewed questions about how the news media will handle the challenge of covering the serial falsehoods of the Republican Party’s leading candidate going into the 2024 election. The former president repeatedly dodged or sneered at questions from CNN’s moderator, Kaitlan Collins, during the live, 70-minute forum at St. Anselm College in New Hampshire on Wednesday night. He doubled down on false claims that “a rigged election” led to his 2020 ouster and referred to writer...

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., urged a top U.S. judge in Texas to reform his district’s case-assignment rules that he says have allowed plaintiffs to effectively “hand-pick” their preferred judges. Schumer’s demand to Chief Judge David Godbey of northern Texas federal court came after a heated legal battle over the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of an abortion pill sparked accusations of “judge shopping” by conservative litigants. Multiple court divisions in Godbey’s district have just one or two district judges. The rules currently allow for plaintiffs to target those divisions for civil cases — letting them “effectively choose the...

House Financial Services Committee Chair Maxine Waters told the panel’s Democrats she doesn’t plan to subpoena former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried to testify at a Dec. 13 hearing about the crypto exchange’s rapid demise, according to people with direct knowledge of the conversation. Waters informed committee members of her decision at a private meeting Tuesday with Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler on Capitol Hill, these people said, declining to be named in order to speak freely about the private discussion. Waters said she wants committee staff to try to persuade Bankman-Fried to voluntarily testify, those with knowledge of...

President Joe Biden reportedly lost his temper after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky asked for more U.S. assistance just days after $1 billion in aid was approved. NBC News, citing four sources familiar with the situation, reported on Monday that during the June 15 phone call, “Biden had barely finished telling Zelenskyy he’d just greenlighted another $1 billion in U.S. military assistance for Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s invasion, which started on Feb. 24, when Zelenskyy started listing all the additional help he needed and wasn’t getting. Biden lost his temper.” Biden remarked that Zelensky should be more appreciative of...

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul Pelosi, was “violently assaulted” in their San Francisco home early Friday morning, her office said. “Early this morning, an assailant broke into the Pelosi residence in San Francisco and violently assaulted Mr. Pelosi,” Drew Hammill, spokesman for Nancy Pelosi, said in a statement. “The assailant is in custody and the motivation for the attack is under investigation.” Paul Pelosi, 82, was taken to the hospital for undisclosed injuries, Hammill said, and “is expected to make a full recovery.” Nancy Pelosi was not in San Francisco at the time of the incident. The Speaker and...

Federal agents investigating President Biden’s son Hunter have gathered what they believe is sufficient evidence to charge him with tax crimes and a false statement related to a gun purchase, according to people familiar with the case. The next step is for the U.S. Attorney in Delaware, a Trump administration holdover, to decide on whether to file such charges, these people said. The investigation into Hunter Biden began in 2018, and became a central focus for then-president Donald Trump during his unsuccessful 2020 reelection effort. Initially, the investigation centered around Hunter Biden’s finances related to overseas business ties and consulting...

WASHINGTON – The Biden administration announced $1.1 billion in additional security assistance for Ukraine on Wednesday, bringing the U.S. commitment to more than $16.2 billion since Russia’s invasion in late February. The announcement of the upcoming aid package, the 22nd such installment, follows referendums held in four Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine that are backed by Russian President Vladimir Putin. The votes, widely viewed as rigged and illegitimate, are to determine if Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson should become part of Russia. They’ve been criticized as a scheme by Putin to pave the way for Moscow to announce it has annexed...

he Federal Reserve hiked interest rates by 0.75% on Wednesday, making an aggressive move to tame inflation that could have other side effects — including a possible recession. The rate increase could also explode federal deficits even further in the years ahead. A new analysis from the budget hawks at The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB) predicts this week’s rate hike alone will add $2.1 trillion to government deficits over the next decade. That’s on top of a series of hikes we’ve already seen this year that are already set to add trillions more to the deficit in...

New York Attorney General Letitia James on Wednesday sued former President Donald Trump, the Trump Organization, three of his adult children, and others for allegedly widespread fraud involving false financial statements related to the company. The lawsuit seeks at least $250 million in damages.

America will retaliate with 'a devastating strike' against Russia's military if Vladimir Putin uses nuclear weapons in Ukraine, the United States Army's former European commander has warned. Retired Lieutenant General Ben Hodges today said any response by America 'may not be nuclear' but warned that if Putin were to use nukes in Ukraine that the US could look to 'destroy the Black Sea Fleet or destroy Russian bases in Crimea'. His comments come after the Russian premier sent shockwaves around the world, as he announced the 'partial mobilization' of his reserve military forces to continue his murderous invasion of Ukraine....