Free Republic

Complete Title: The Soros Summit - Free Beacon exclusive: Inside the secret Miami meeting of George Soros’s liberal conspiracy ### A secretive network of left-wing billionaires and their political operatives descended on the luxurious Biltmore Hotel in Miami over the weekend to discuss strategy for the coming elections. The location of the conference had been kept a closely guarded secret by the members and guests of Democracy Alliance (DA), a collection of ultra-wealthy liberal donors formed in 2005, and is reported here in a Washington Free Beacon exclusive. Attendees roamed the grounds at the 150-acre tropical resort on their way...

Shealah Craighead works in pictures, not words, but she's got a lot of good Sarah Palin stories. Here's one from this winter: It's Valentine's Day, and Palin is spending it at the Daytona 500. As Palin is greeted by the usual crush of fans, Craighead and other members of Palin's retinue are eyeing another celebrity in attendance, a certain dreamy jazz musician-slash-actor. Afterward, Craighead can't resist the opportunity for some girl talk. "You just sat next to Harry Connick Jr. for 10 minutes! Isn't he so dreamy?" "Isn't he!?" replies Palin, laughing. The stuff of scandal, it's not -- but...

Political principals very rarely do that kind of thing for staffers, and it's not a gesture some might expect from Palin, who has a reputation of chewing through even loyal aides and advisers. But the less-than-a-handful of people in her current inner circle seem to genuinely like Palin as a person and enjoy being around her. This goes for Craighead, too, who talks about Palin much the same way that others who remain in her good graces do. "She's just the same in person as you see on TV. What you see is what you get," she says. "Off and...

HILLARY CLINTON Hollywood event a flop in '00. One of Hillary Clinton's top aides threw a hissy fit over the high costs of an extravagant Hollywood fund-raiser .......... Ray Reggie, the brother-in-law of Sen. Ted Kennedy, testified..... that Clinton aide Kelly Craighead was upset days before the August 2000 soiree. Craighead and Rosen argued "pretty hard" about the lavish fund-raiser, said Reggie, who got involved in raising cash for the campaign at the behest of then-President Bill Clinton. "Kelly was concerned about how much money was going to be made at the event," Reggie testified....... Rosen, who is charged...

May 11, 2005 -- WASHINGTON — As the trial of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's former chief fund-raiser opened yesterday, it was revealed that one of her closest aides — always by her side when she ran for Senate — could be a key player in the case. She's Kelly Craighead, who was Clinton's ever-present travel director and close pal — so close that the former first lady performed the 2001 civil ceremony when Craighead wed Erick Mullen, a former aide to Sen. Chuck Schumer. Craighead's name surfaced as jury selection began in the federal trial in Los Angeles of Clinton's...