Free Republic

According to voter registration records, Ariel Castro, the Cleveland kidnapper, is a registered Democrat. He was also the alleged leader among the three Castro brothers, who were arrested this week, and the owner of the house at 2207 Seymour Ave., where the three abducted local women had been kept in captivity for over a decade. Why is this important? Whenever a crime or a scandal captures national attention, the pattern in the mainstream media is to either identify the culprit as a Republican or hold silence -- in which case we can rest assured that the culprit is a Democrat....

<p>She admitted voting twice in the presidential election last November, and now, Obama supporter Melowese Richardson has been indicted for allegedly voting at least six times. She also is charged with illegal voting in 2008 and 2011.</p> <p>The 58-year-old veteran Cincinnati poll worker, indicted Monday, faces eight counts of voter fraud. Two others, one of whom is a nun, have been charged separately.</p>

She admitted voting twice in the presidential election last November, and now, Obama supporter Melowese Richardson has been indicted for allegedly voting at least six times. She also is charged with illegal voting in 2008 and 2011. The 58-year-old veteran Cincinnati poll worker, indicted Monday, faces eight counts of voter fraud. Two others, one of whom is a nun, have been charged separately. Richardson had admitted on camera to a local TV station, "Yes, I voted twice," claiming she was concerned that her vote would not count. She also said there "was no intent on my part to commit any...

Court records show the new head of the North Carolina Democratic Party owes nearly $286,000 in back taxes and penalties. Pittsboro Mayor Randy Voller was elected party chair earlier this month, pledging to rebuild an organization still reeling from defeats at the ballot box in November.

When minority Democrats are caught in a corruption net they can’t slip out of they will usually play the race card. “Oh woe is me, here I am a poor brown skinned boy (or girl) from the bad side of town trying to pull myself up by the bootstraps and the evil racist right wing is lying about me trying to keep me down,” or something close, can be heard as a panicky, knee jerk response to having been caught after the commission of a crime. It can often signal that the final act of the drama is not far...

Former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. was charged in federal court Friday with conspiring to use campaign funds for personal use -- in an alleged $750,000 spending spree that included purchases of a gold-plated Rolex and pricey children's furniture. It had been expected that a plea agreement would be entered into court Friday, but that agreement is apparently still pending. Instead, federal prosecutors charged Jackson Friday with conspiracy. Prosecutors separately charged his wife Sandi with filing false federal tax returns, but according to her attorney she has reached a plea agreement. In a statement, the former Illinois Democratic congressman said he...

A team of FBI agents has been conducting interviews in recent weeks in the Dominican Republic and the United States, looking into allegations that Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) patronized prostitutes in the Caribbean nation, but has found no evidence to support the claim, according to two people familiar with the investigation. One person said agents have asked about whether a Florida eye doctor — a close friend and major campaign donor to Menendez — provided the senator with prostitutes on vacations there. Another person said investigators are looking into allegations involving underage prostitutes and sex parties. The two, who spoke...

An attorney for former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.'s wife says she signed a plea deal with federal prosecutors related to accusations her husband misused campaign funds. Tom Kirsch tells The Associated Press former Chicago alderman Sandi Jackson agreed to plead guilty to one count of tax fraud.

Federal officials filed charges Friday against Jesse Jackson Jr. after the former congressman reportedly signed a plea deal for allegedly improperly spending hundreds of thousands in campaign funds. The paperwork was filed at the U.S District Courthouse in Washington. Jackson, who left the public eye last summer for treatment of bi-polar disorder and resigned from office in November, is not expected to make an appearance, but he offered a response in his first statement to the public in months.

The New York Times has called on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to remove New Jersey Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez from his chairmanship of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Under the editorial headline “Mr. Menendez’s Ethics Problem,” the newspaper said Menendez “was never a distinguished choice for chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the position he ascended to this month by virtue of seniority.” “Concerns about that quality gap have sharply escalated amid new disclosures about Mr. Menendez’s use of his position to advance the financial interests of a friend and big donor,” the Times wrote. “Instead of trying...

Sneed has learned a plea deal is now on the table between former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. and federal authorities probing allegations of campaign fund misuse. Sneed is told the plea deal includes Jackson serving time in federal prison. “Significant jail time is now definitely a part of the deal,” said a top Sneed source close to the probe. “But I think [Jackson’s wife] Sandi, feels like she was thrown under the bus by her husband, ” now that a separate probe has begun on her, a second source added. Sandi Jackson claims she was stunned by campaign finance abuse...

If Menendez quits or is removed by the US Senate, I honestly do not think he can hold out and it is very likely Christie will win a second term, whom will Christie appoint to replace him? What are the laws in NJ regarding replacement for the US Senate?

The FBI has raided the offices of Dr. Salomon Melgen, an opthalmologist and Democratic Party donor reportedly connected to New Jersey Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez’s alleged solicitation of prostitutes in the Dominican Republic. The Miami Herald reports: FBI agents raided the West Palm Beach business of an eye doctor accused in the conservative press of providing free trips and even Dominican Republic prostitutes to New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez — who has denied what he calls the "fallacious allegations." Agents gathered at the medical-office complex of Dr. Salomon Melgen, a contributor to Menendez and other prominent politicians, late Tuesday night...

The new year began not with a cannonball off the “fiscal cliff” but with an outbreak of conspiratorial cynicism. This time it’s Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, whose fall and concussion, followed by a blood clot between her brain and skull, has prompted an embarrassment of theories. The gist: That woman will do anything to avoid testifying about Benghazi. Several commentators on the right opined via Twitter and TV, those most deadly hosts for the parasites of rumor and innuendo, that Clinton was faking her concussion to duck out on her appearance before congressional committees investigating the attack on the...

"A new Foreign Military Intelligence (GRU) report circulating in the Kremlin today is saying that United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was injured, and a top US Navy Seal Commander killed when their C-12

Some might wonder if it was the cervesa or the stomach flu, but it looks like Hillary took a dive and is down for the count. From The Department of State: While suffering from a stomach virus, Secretary Clinton became dehydrated and fainted, sustaining a concussion. She has been recovering at home and will continue to be monitored regularly by her doctors. At their recommendation, she will continue to work from home next week, staying in regular contact with Department and other officials. She is looking forward to being back in the office soon. How convenient, she is looking forward...

"Overwhelming evidence shows vote fraud, abuse played major role in outcome Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2012/12/did-obama-steal-the-2012-election/#IucGe1EBe2cW55XF.99 "WASHINGTON — Following Barack Obama’s re-election, accusations from some quarters have held that his campaign stole the election through vote fraud. Others claim no vote fraud occurred, and that the election victory resulted from the Obama campaign’s vastly superior get-out-the-vote effort. One RedState diarist has even gone so far as to announce that commenters complaining that the election was stolen will be banned from the site. With all of the swirling allegations, where does the truth lie? While there have been many proven cases of...

NASHUA — Following a storm of controversy in light of her criminal background, the first openly transgendered person elected to the New Hampshire House will resign her post. “I didn't want to have to do this,” Rep.-elect Stacie Marie Laughton, D-Nashua, said. “There's been a lot of people that have said, 'Stay strong, keep your head up, stay in it.'” “I'm super disappointed because I was looking forward to this more than anything. It's my lifelong dream to serve my community, and what better place to do it than the city that I was born and raised in.”

WASHINGTON—Kwame R. Brown, the former chairman of the council of the District of Columbia, was sentenced today to a day in confinement and six months of home detention on a federal charge of bank fraud. He also was ordered to perform 480 hours of community service. In a second proceeding later in the day, he was sentenced to probation on a separate criminal charge involving a violation of the District of Columbia’s campaign finance laws. The sentences were announced by U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen, Jr.; James W. McJunkin, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office; and...

"Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., who is battling legal troubles and mental illness, is likely to resign from Congress and face jail time under the terms of a plea deal his lawyer is negotiating with the federal government."

It's one thing for a Democratic presidential candidate to dominate a Democratic city like Philadelphia, but check out this head-spinning figure: In 59 voting divisions in the city, Mitt Romney received not one vote. Zero. Zilch. These are the kind of numbers that send Republicans into paroxysms of voter-fraud angst, but such results may not be so startling after all. "We have always had these dense urban corridors that are extremely Democratic," said Jonathan Rodden, a political science professor at Stanford University. "It's kind of an urban fact, and you are looking at the extreme end of it in Philadelphia."

A business coordinator at a power company in western Georgia told The Daily Caller Friday afternoon that workers from his electric-utility employer were not permitted to help restore power to New York consumers because they would not join the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW). The revelation comes on the heels of similar stories TheDC has reported about power crews from Alabama and Florida who volunteered to fix downed power lines after Hurricane Sandy left millions in the Northeastern United States in the dark this week. “We’re not a large utility, so we were only able to send up two...

Two volunteer poll workers at an Ohio voting station told Human Events that they observed van loads of Ohio residents born in Somalia — the state is home to the second-largest Somali population in the United States — being driven to the voting station and guided by Democratic interpreters on the voting process. No Republican interpreters were present, according to these volunteers...

October 24, 2012 VA: Rep. Moran’s son resigns, but corruption rolls on By Kenric Ward | Watchdog.org Virginia BureauARLINGTON – Despite a colorful past – and a new video that triggered his son’s resignation from the campaign on Wednesday – U.S. Rep. Jim Moran appears to be cruising to a 12th term in Congress.GOING FOR 12 IN ’12: Jim Moran is seeking a 12th term in Congress. The Northern Virginia Democrat, ensconced in a heavily Democratic district, is squaring off for a second round against Republican challenger Patrick Murray. Moran beat Murray by 24 percentage points in 2010, when turnout...

A new undercover video from James O’Keefe and Project Veritas shows Pat Moran, son of longtime incumbent congressman Jim Moran (D-VA) and field director for his father’s re-election campaign, instructing a supporter in how to use fraudulent documents to cast a hundred illegal votes: Note that Project Veritas prominently includes the unedited raw footage of this encounter, to counter the usual whines about false editing. There’s not much question about what happens here. An undercover operative posing as a very enthusiastic supporter says he’s got a hundred names of people who probably aren’t going to vote, and he wants to...

The Hatch Act’s prohibition against campaigning on the taxpayers’ dime didn’t stop Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius from making a pitch for President Obama’s reelection at a Human Rights Campaign Event in Charlotte, N.C. “Strictly speaking, what she did was against the law,” White House spokesman Eric Schultz acknowledged. “But we also need to take into consideration her intent and prior record. Secretary Sebelius is a highly respected member of this Administration with no previous criminal record. Further, it is clear that her intent was admirable. An effort to help reelect the President serves a higher purpose. The...

A Maryland Democratic candidate quit her congressional race Monday after her own party told state officials that she had committed fraud by voting in both Maryland and Florida in recent elections. Wendy Rosen, a small-business owner running against freshman Rep. Andy Harris (R) in the Eastern Shore-based 1st Congressional District, released a statement saying that “with great regret, and much sorrow” she was resigning from the contest. “Personal issues have made this the hardest decision that I have had to make,” Rosen said Rosen’s announcement came the same day the state Democratic party released a letter to state Attorney General...

First, some background: Minnesota Democrat state lawmaker Kerry Gauthier is involved in a sex scandal involving oral sex with a 17-year-old boy at a rest stop, and solicitation for the same on Craig's List. Go HERE for more. Of course, the MSM has not picked up much on this story - if it was a Republican, we'd be "Foley'd". While part of the problem is MSM bias, the other part is the relative silence of GOP lawmakers on the subject. In fact, only Democrats have really called for his resignation. This can, and must, be remedied with a few simple...

Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich told The Daily Caller on Friday that if he were still atop the House of Representatives, he would defund the Department of Justice until Attorney General Eric Holder resigned or was fired.TheDC asked Gingrich if he would send Capitol Hill police to arrest Holder, as the Washington Times had suggested the House could, now that he is in both criminal and civil contempt of Congress.“No,” Gingrich said in response, during a wide-ranging interview with TheDC staff in the news outlet’s Washington, D.C., offices. “If I were speaker, I’d cut off funding because that’s real. If I...

Eric Fehrnstrom, a senior adviser to the Romney campaign, told reporters on a conference call this morning that Obama campaign manager Jim Messina "appears" to have broken the law, based off a series of emails Messina sent from his personal account as White House deputy chief of staff Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/eric-fehrnstrom-jim-messina-obama-romney-emails-obamacare-2012-8#ixzz22PKKy5zs

Freeman’s quick climb up the ranks of the powerful Service Employees International Union burnished his reputation as an effective advocate for the disadvantaged, a man who helped improve the lot of about 190,000 workers paid about $9 an hour to provide in-home care for the infirm. On Tuesday, however, Freeman was indicted on federal charges of stealing from those workers to enrich himself, including by billing the union for costs from his Hawaii wedding.

A spokeswoman for House oversight committee Chairman Rep. Darrell Issa told The Daily Caller that Attorney General Eric Holder could still avoid the contempt of Congress proceedings on the horizon — if he cooperates with the congressional subpoena he's thus far failed to comply with. "The Justice Department can still avoid contempt," Issa spokeswoman Becca Watkins told TheDC. "They need to pledge their cooperation and stop stonewalling on critical documents outlined by the committee in the draft contempt report."Watkins said those "critical documents" include "what high ranking officials knew about Fast and Furious and when they knew it, information about...

New York State Senator Carl Kruger and his doctor boyfriend Michael Turano were sentenced to 7 and 2 years, respectively, for their roles in a bribery scheme which shook down the politician's constituents and laundered the funds through dummy corporations to finance their lavish lifestyle as reported by the New York Post: In the "pay-to-play" scheme, the then-senator directed illicit payments from representatives of the real-estate, hospital, supermarket and beverage industries to shell companies set up by Turano. In return, Kruger, 63, sponsored legislation beneficial to to the bribe-payers, tried to steer millions of dollars in pork-barrel funds to, and...

I am pleased to report that Republican candidate Doug Cloud has finally brought down Democrat Congressman Norm Dicks, ranking Democrat on the powerful House Appropriations Committee. Scandals surrounding Norm Dicks are long, and deep. However, it was a Freedom on Information request by Doug Cloud, involving FBI files from the lobbyist PMA Group that finally caused Dicks to step aside. Here is a bit of background on the now defunct PMA Group: In return for campaign contributions, PMA group clients received over $200 million in contracts.In November, 2008 FBI agents raided PMA's offices and removed records of the firm's political...

... Times are hard in the state’s poorest city. The mayor is under federal and state investigation for campaign-finance improprieties and other questionable behavior, while a state-appointed overseer is managing the city’s municipal budget. Lawrence’s public school system is in receivership — the former superintendent, Wilfredo Laboy, is under criminal indictment for fraud and embezzlement, and the high school dropout rate is more than 50 percent. Public-safety cuts have been drastic, and felony crimes have skyrocketed from 1,777 in 2009 to 2,597 during the first 11 months of 2011. Unemployment is as high as 18 percent, compared with the state...

EL PASO, Texas -- Federal agents raided the home of El Paso County Commissioner Willie Gandara Jr. in Socorro Wednesday night. Gandara was taken into custody and charged with federal drug trafficking charges of possession of marijuana with intent to distribute and conspiracy. El Paso County Jail records show that he is being held without bond. The Drug Enforcement Administration, along with ICE, IRS, FBI, and state and local law enforcement personnel conducted the operation. Gandara, 37, is a candidate for State Representative District 75. He was elected to Commissioners Court in November 2008. Gandara's father, Willie Gandara Sr., was...

The U.S. Senate’s leading proponent of tax increases on the American people — Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) was delinquent on his property taxes on until a reporter called him to ask him about it. Brown who supports higher income, energy and investment taxes did not pay his property tax on a luxury condo in Washington, DC. He was late on his payment since last September. Curiously, Brown paid his “fair share” after a reporter called his office to inquire about why he was late.

She always called him “Mr. President” — not Jack. He refused to kiss her on the lips when they made love. But Mimi Alford, a White House intern from New Jersey, was smitten nonetheless. She was in the midst of an 18-month affair with the most powerful man in the world, sharing not only John F. Kennedy’s bed but also some of his darkest and most intimate moments. In her explosive new tell-all, “Once Upon a Secret: My Affair with President John F. Kennedy and Its Aftermath,” Alford, now a 69-year-old grandmother and retired New York City church administrator, sets...

Dear Friends -- There's something happening in Richmond that I think you should know about. Right now, Republican legislators are going out of their way to make it harder for Virginians across this Commonwealth to vote. Republicans are pushing legislation to prevent thousands of Virginians who do not have government-sponsored identification from casting a regular ballot on election day. They want to make people who register to vote wait five days before casting an absentee ballot. They are also trying to make it illegal to help more than two people with an absentee ballot application in the same election year....

Well they finally did it to themselves. At least now, and at least in one state, Democrat politicians are starting to feel the effects of the type of accounting fraud they committed on the country for the last three years.  As the Obama “It’s-not-my-fault” Reelection Tour rumbles westward spewing diesel-powered and politically enhanced particulate matter, charges of fraud are overhanging the Democrats’ fall campaign in California. But the charges aren’t the familiar “I see dead people voting” scams that usually accompany left-leaning races. Instead they are fraud charges of the Madoff kind.California Democrat uber-finance guru, Kinde Durkee, apparently has been...

Last August, Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus revoked a Silver Star medal formerly held by retired Navy Captain Wade R. Sanders. In a short, vague memorandum to the Chief of Naval Personnel, Mabus cited "subsequently determined facts and evidence surrounding both the incident for which the award was made and the processing of the award itself" as the reason. Such an action by the Navy is virtually without precedent. There was no press release and no announcement. Eleven months later, a bare-bones report was finally published by the Navy Times. American Thinker picked up the story from WinterSoldier.com, and...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Leslie E. Johnson resigned Tuesday from the Prince George's County Council, five days after she pleaded guilty to destroying evidence in a federal corruption probe.

New documents disclosed in a complaint from the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) appear to show California Democrat Rep. Laura Richardson and her staff clearly violating congressional ethics rules and potentially federal law. The documents show Richardson using official taxpayer resources for political events, including fundraisers. “Rep. Richardson didn’t just violate House rules, she likely committed crimes,” said Melanie Sloan, CREW’s executive director. In one instance, Richardson’s chief of staff, Shirley Cooks, told all of Richardson’s aides in an email from her official House account, “All staff are required to attend” a fundraiser held Sept....

John Edwards' mug shot released By: CNN Political Unit (CNN)–Former U.S. Senator John Edwards, pleaded not guilty to conspiracy and campaign law violations in early June. His mug shot was obtained by CNN following a Freedom of Information Act request. The plea came after a federal grand jury indicted him on six counts, including conspiracy, issuing false statements and violating campaign contribution laws. A grand jury has been investigating whether money given to support Edwards' mistress, Rielle Hunter, by benefactors of Edwards should have been considered campaign donations, a contention Edwards' team has disputed. A plea deal between the two-time...

This has been a bad couple of weeks for Democrats. The economy is sagging, support for President Barack Obama is declining, and Anthony Weiner and John Edwards are doing their best to draw attention to one of the Democratic Party’s main weaknesses — its corruption problem.According to a 2009 study published in the esteemed American Political Science Review, Democrats are several times* more likely than Republicans to find themselves in federal court on public corruption charges. The study’s author, New York University professor Sanford C. Gordon, doesn’t really explore why this is, but I have some theories.1.) Big-city corruption: America’s...

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) said Tuesday that Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) should resign in the wake of his admission that he was involved in online relationships with multiple women and initially lied about having mistakenly sent a lewd photo out on his Twitter feed. Asked if Weiner should step down after a local Chamber of Commerce luncheon in Louisa, Virginia, Cantor said that "Congressman Weiner and his constituents will make that decision. I certainly don't condone his activity and I think he should resign." "We've got a lot of serious challenges going on in this country and a...

D.C. Council member Harry Thomas Jr. arranged to have more than $300,000 in public funds diverted to groups he controlled, and used the money as a lavish personal account, purchasing an Audi SUV and taking trips to Las Vegas and Pebble Beach, the city’s attorney general said Monday. In releasing a highly anticipated report, Attorney General Irvin B. Nathan alleges that Thomas’s inappropriate “conversion” of the money for personal use was “willful, intentional and knowing.” Nathan has filed a civil lawsuit aimed at forcing Thomas (D-Ward 5) to repay the money and intends to refer his findings to the U.S....

NEW YORK – New York Democratic Rep. Anthony Weiner (WEE'-nuhr) says racy, shirtless pictures that appeared on a website are him and he's apologizing for what he calls making terrible mistakes. During a teary-eyed press conference, he says he won't resign.

<p>Breaking: Federal Grand Jury Indicts Former Presidential Candidate John Edwards.</p>

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- Federal prosecutors have completed a wide-ranging investigation into John Edwards' political dealings and could indict the two-time presidential candidate within days, a person familiar with the matter said Wednesday. Edwards could still strike a plea deal to avoid an indictment, said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the case's sensitivity.