Free Republic

....After eight-and-a-half years on an upward trajectory in Washington, D.C., Chaffetz of Utah has suddenly and quite unexpectedly pulled himself out of the game. Attkisson: "Some people might think this is a great time to be a Republican chairman of an important committee because Republicans control the House, they're the majority in the Senate, and they hold the president's office. That means, you would think, that federal agencies can't stonewall investigations of spending, waste, fraud and abuse." Chaffetz: "The reality is, sadly, I don't see much difference between the Trump administration and the Obama administration. I thought there would be...

This week, we learned that former FBI Director James Comey will probably be a witness in any proceeding brought by his close friend Special Counsel Robert Mueller. Rod Rosenstein, a former Mueller staffer, appointed Mueller because Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who handed the oversight of this matter to his Deputy Rosenstein, had recused himself and that recusal was based on a misreading of the law by career Department of Justice attorneys. Sessions’s recusal, moreover, was engendered by illegal leaks. And the investigation by Mueller is being fanned by more of them. James Comey At the center of the narrative is...

The popular Powerball lottery and Mega Millions games will drop Illinois at the end of June without a budget agreement, Illinois Lottery officials said Thursday. Concern over the state’s fiscal condition prompted the Multi-State Lottery Association to drop Powerball in Illinois, according to internal Illinois Lottery communications obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times. Mega Millions also plans to drop the state unless a budget agreement comes together, state officials confirmed. Without a budget in place, the state isn’t authorized to make payments to Mega Millions or the association. Those decisions were reached at national lottery meetings held this week, Illinois Lottery...

About 3 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 22, 1951, John Douglas “Doug” Kinser was working in his clubhouse at the Butler Pitch and Putt just east of South Lamar Boulevard when he was confronted with the nose of a gun. “Five bullets from a small caliber gun pierced his body,” reported the Austin Statesman the next day. “Police said three bullets recovered were .25 caliber.” A handsome World War II veteran, Kinser, 33, was a popular golfer who also acted at the Austin Civic Theatre, which later evolved into Zach Theatre. Possible reasons for the brazen murder — some of them...

"EXCLUSIVE: FBI Used Agents As Pawns To Insulate Hillary, Aides & Clinton Foundation From Prosecutions" In mid-summer a wave of panic and despair began to wash over key rank-and-file FBI agents who were doggedly working the Hillary Clinton investigations. Agents reluctantly pondered a potential, brutal reality that was creeping into the fabric of the high-profile case. What if their collective work wasn’t meant to bring this case to a grand jury for indictments and justice? What if they themselves, FBI agents sworn to uphold the law, were being used as intelligence pawns by superiors and higher powers to actually shield...

Eric Schmidt, billionaire chair of Alphabet, Inc. the parent company of Google, led a massive fundraising drive in December for leftist analytics firm Civis Analytics, represented by a law firm that partnered with Justice Department special prosecutor Robert Mueller—raising questions about Mueller’s impartiality in his so-called “Russia probe” into President Donald J. Trump’s campaign. In March 2014, WilmerHale announced Mueller would join its firm as a partner. Mueller left his position in May after the DOJ appointed him as a special prosecutor to look into alleged “ties” between President Trump’s campaign and Russia. WilmerHale represented Civis Analytics during a $22...

The Export-Import Bank charter will expire in a few days, on June 30, unless Congress acts to reauthorize it. The Export-Import Bank was created more than 80 years ago by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to help foreign customers buy goods from the United States. Some companies benefit from the Export-Import Bank and they are the first ones to defend its reauthorization. But let’s be clear: Companies benefit from Export-Import Bank loans at the expense of taxpayers and other businesses. Taxpayers—not the companies themselves—assume the risk of a foreign loan, made through a private bank (like Goldman Sachs), to purchase a...

My liberal friends have worked themselves into a fever anticipating the impeachment of President Trump. They think they've got a second Watergate going. Have your fun while you can. But the next trial likely to affect the political lineup won't be happening before the U.S. Senate in Washington. It will be happening before the U.S. District Court in Newark. In the dock will be U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez, faced with 22 counts of ethics charges alleging he took illegal gifts from a Florida Miami eye doctor who was recently convicted on 67 counts of Medicare fraud.

Multiple ongoing investigations are producing more evidence of wrongdoing. Last week, former FBI director James Comey brought the Hillary Clinton email scandal back to the front burner when he testified that then-Attorney General Loretta Lynch forced him to downplay the FBI’s criminal investigation and call it a “matter.” The charge is so serious even Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein is calling for a probe. That’s hardly the only movement in the case. Evidence continues to pile up of Clinton’s wrong-doing using an unsecured private email server as secretary of state. But first, a refresher: {..snip..}

Reputed Trump confidant and Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy told PBS News’s Judy Woodruff Monday that President Donald Trump is considering dismissing Special Counsel Robert Mueller, according to a tweet by Woodruff. ".@ChrisRuddyNMX tells me Pres Trump is "considering perhaps terminating" Robert Mueller as special counsel @NewsHour " — Judy Woodruff (@JudyWoodruff) June 12, 2017 The news comes on the eve of Attorney General Jeff Sessions testifying before the Senate Intelligence Committe on the Russia investigation. This follows a hearing featuring the testimony of fired FBI director James Comey before the same body. Mueller — who, on his appointment by Deputy...

Law James Comey Has A Long History Of Questionable Obstruction Cases From Martha Stewart to Frank Quattrone to Steven Hatfill, former FBI director James Comey has left a long trail of highly questionable obstruction of justice cases that he used to make a name for himself. Mollie Hemingway By Mollie Hemingway June 12, 2017 Following countdown clocks on cable outlets and dramatic claims in the media about what devastating testimony to expect, James Comey sat down before the Senate Intelligence Committee last week. The hearing ended up being a bit of a let-down for critics of President Trump who hoped...

It now seems clear that Barack Obama was a corrupt machine politician in the worst Chicago mold. He used the IRS to silence his enemies, and the Justice Department to protect his friends. His two major "achievements" — a health care law that doesn't work and a deal that increased the power and prestige of the terrorist state of Iran — were built on lies to the public and manipulation of the press. And that's according to his own allies! Only the leftist bias and racial pathology of the media kept his administration from being destroyed by scandal, as it...

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Twelve employees of a Democrat-linked group focused on mobilizing black voters in Indiana are accused of submitting fake or fraudulent voter registration applications ahead of last year’s general election in order to meet quotas, according to charging documents filed Friday. Prosecutors allege that 11 temporary workers employed by the Indiana Voter Registration Project created and submitted an unknown number of falsified applications. According to a probable cause affidavit, a supervisor for those canvassers, Holiday Burke, was also charged, as was the group. Marion County Prosecutor Terry Curry said State Police found no evidence of voter fraud or...

Guess what everyone? The MBTA transit system in Boston is going to close down most of its commuter lines this summer thanks to stupid government projects and leftist regulations stemming from Obama's last days that will close down vital transit lines to most of Massachusetts and its all happening during tourist season! The purple line is Boston's metro commuter rail that connects the Boston metro to surrounding areas of Eastern Massachusetts. Its our equivilent to Southern California's Metrolink in Los Angeles, the Sounder in Everett, Seattle and Tacoma, New York's Metrorail and Miami Tri-rail. Now I'm not here to argue...

"""Judicial Watch Releases New Hillary Clinton Email Admitting Blackberry Use ‘Against the Advice of the Security Hawks’"""" Judicial Watch today submitted new evidence to U.S. District Court Judge Emmet G. Sullivan showing that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton knowingly used an unsecure BlackBerry device despite being warned by “security hawks” against doing so. The email record was obtained in response to a court order from a May 5, 2015, lawsuit filed against the State Department (Judicial Watch, Inc. v. U.S. Department of State (No. 1:15-cv-00684)) after it failed to respond to a March 18, 2015, Freedom of Information Act...

The testimony of James Comey proved long on atmospherics and sort on ethics. While many were riveted by Comey’s discussion of his discomfort in meetings with President Trump, most seemed to miss the fact that Comey was describing his own conduct in strikingly unethical terms. The greatest irony is that Trump succeeded in baiting Comey to a degree that even Trump could not have imagined. After calling Comey a “showboat” and poor director, Comey proceeded to commit an unethical and unprofessional act in leaking damaging memos against Trump. Comey described a series of ethical challenges during his term as FBI...

The wild-child niece of former Veep Joe Biden stole more than $100,000 in a credit card scam — and quietly cut a plea deal in Manhattan court that spares her any jail time, The Post has learned. Modal TriggerCaroline Biden, Joe Biden’s niece, leaving court after pleading guilty to larceny charges.Steven Hirsch Using a borrowed credit card, the blonde Caroline Biden set up an unauthorized customer account at Bigelow Pharmacy on Sixth Avenue in Greenwich Village, and racked up the six-figure bill over the course of a year, according to a criminal complaint that does not name the victim card...

June 1, Sen. Chuck Grassley wrote a letter to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson initiating a Senate investigation into recent news claims from Bangladesh government officials that Hillary Clinton, while serving as secretary of state, pressured the Bangladesh prime minister to end an investigation into Clinton Foundation donor Dr. Muhammad Yunus. In May 2016, the Daily Caller reported that the son of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheik Hasina, who has lived in the United States for 17 years, alleged that Hillary Clinton threatened an IRS audit if he failed to influence his mother to halt the investigation......

On 14 January 2015, police agent Newton Ishii was waiting in Rio de Janeiro’s Galeão airport to meet the midnight flight from London. His mission was simple. A former executive of Brazil’s national oil company, Petrobras, was on the plane. Ishii was to arrest him as soon as he set foot in Brazil and take him for questioning by detectives. No big deal, the veteran cop thought as he ticked off the hours in the shabby Terminal One lounge. This was just one of many anti-bribery operations he had worked on. Usually they made a few headlines, then faded away,...

Department of Education Inspector General Kathleen Tighe revealed to Congress last week that the Federal Student Aid office (FSA) had made over $6 billion in improper payments last year in federal student aid programs. These improper payments included sending money in the wrong amount, making unnecessary disbursements, and sending payments to the wrong recipients entirely, reported the government watchdog group Judicial Watch. There were $2.21 billion in improper Pell Grant payments and $3.86 billion in the Direct Loan program, according to Inspector General Tighe in her May 25 testimony before the House Subcommittee on Government Operations. {..snip..}