Free Republic

The number of living elected officials whom I do not despise shrunk by one when Rep. Corrine Brown, who lost the Democratic primary in Florida's fifth congressional district in August 2016, left Congress in January of this year. Brown will almost certainly never hold public office again. She was sentenced by a judge in her home state of Florida to five years in prison on Monday, on charges of using a phony charity to squeeze money from donors and into her own pockets. Of course, she could win the appeal she has vowed to pursue, and I for one am...

GOP lawmakers say they have heard new stories about political bias or interference within the FBI on the eve of new testimony Thursday by FBI Director Christopher Wray. Rep. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) said Wednesday he interviewed a recently retired FBI supervisor who told him he was instructed by Deputy Director Andrew McCabe not to call the 2012 Benghazi attack an act of terrorism when distributing a report on the FBI findings to the larger intelligence community. The agent found the instruction concerning because his unit had gathered incontrovertible evidence showing a major al Qaeda figure had directed the attack and...

The Justice Department is sifting through 10,000 text messages involving the FBI agent who was kicked off of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation for making anti-Trump comments.Fox News reports that the bureau is reviewing “several months” worth of messages that the agent, Peter Strzok, exchanged with Lisa Page, an FBI attorney with whom he was having an affair.The Justice Department is searching the texts before turning them over to the House Intelligence Committee, a process which could take “weeks.”The Justice Department’s inspector general discovered over the summer that Strzok and Page exchanged anti-Trump and pro-Clinton text messages last year....

GOP senators are pushing forward with legislation that would extend an Obama-era program allowing young immigrants to live and work in the United States, while pairing it with new measures to bolster border security. The legislation, introduced by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), allows the Trump administration to build “tactical and technological infrastructure” along the U.S.-Mexico border. It would target funding for so-called sanctuary cities that don’t comply with federal immigration law, bolster the e-verify employment verification program and crack down on "chain migration" by limiting which family members U.S. citizens and permanent residents can try to sponsor for a green...

SJWs do something similar with regards to various forms of bigotry. Their goal isn’t necessarily to defeat bigotry, as some of the more honest among their number admit that it isn’t really possible to eliminate all biases in human beings in the first place. And even the most idiotic of SJWs has to know deep down that in America, we have it pretty good with regards to demographic group tolerance – or we did, anyway, before SJWs started screwing around with it again. Rather, the goal of the SJW is to signal that he is not racist/sexist/whatever. Like the guy...

In one audio recording, Erdogan was heard ordering his son to get rid of all the cash he kept at home; and his son, after trying for several hours, tells him there are still millions left. Erdogan denied the authenticity of the evidence and claimed this was a coup d'état against his elected administration. He then purged all prosecutors and police officers investigating the charges. Zarrab's testimony as a witness, as well as documents displayed at trial "would show that this conspiracy to launder money for Iran was not a rogue operation. It would show the Turkish government at...

Conservatives are calling for an investigation of what they say was the FBI’s “special treatment” of Hillary Clinton ahead of the Dec. 7 testimony of FBI Director Christopher Wray before the House Judiciary Committee.“I am proud to be joined by my fellow conservatives in the House to call for an investigation into the FBI’s procedures that allowed Hillary Clinton to receive special treatment,” Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., said at a press conference Wednesday. “We’ll also investigate the unprecedented bias against President [Donald] Trump that exists when we allow people who hate the president to participate in the investigations against him.”...

Hang in there, Al baby! That’s Chris Matthews’ message to embattled Senator Al Franken. Despite many of his fellow Dem senators and the head of the DNC calling for Al’s head over allegations of sexual misconduct, Matthews, on this evening’s Hardball, encouraged Franken not to cave—at least not right away. Excerpts: “Now here’s the question. What does he got to gain in quitting? Why isn’t in his interest to say, you know what? I’m going home this holiday season and I’ll think about it . . . The reason I say this is, won’t he regret any impulsive decision? ....

GOP lawmakers say they have heard new stories about political bias or interference within the FBI on the eve of new testimony Thursday by FBI Director Christopher Wray. Rep. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) said Wednesday he interviewed a recently retired FBI supervisor who told him he was instructed by Deputy Director Andrew McCabe not to call the 2012 Benghazi attack an act of terrorism when distributing a report on the FBI findings to the larger intelligence community. The agent found the instruction concerning because his unit had gathered incontrovertible evidence showing a major al Qaeda figure had directed the attack and...

Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh said Wednesday that recent crime figures are “trending in the right direction,” hopeful of achieving a turnaround in a city where the number of homicides this year is nearing the all-time high set in 2015. The city of roughly 620,000 people has recorded more than 320 killings so far this year, nearing the record 344 slayings in all of 2015. In comparison, New York City, a city of some 8.5 million, is projected to have fewer than 300 homicides this year. At her weekly press briefing, Pugh said a new city initiative is chipping away at...

Republicans rammed a bill through the House on Wednesday that would make it easier for gun owners to legally carry concealed weapons across state lines, the first significant action on guns in Congress since mass shootings in Nevada and Texas killed more than 80 people. The House approved the bill, 231-198, largely along party lines. Six Democrats voted yes, while 14 Republicans voted no. The measure would allow gun owners with a state-issued concealed-carry permit to carry a handgun in any state that allows concealed weapons. It now goes to the Senate. Republicans said the reciprocity measure, a top priority...

John Conyers' son -- the one he wants to replace him in Congress -- was arrested this year for felony domestic violence ... TMZ has learned. John Conyers III got in a fight with his girlfriend on February 15, 2017. Law enforcement sources tell us he accused her of cheating after going through her computer at around 2 AM. The argument allegedly escalated into physical violence ... she told cops John body slammed her on her bed and on the floor, pinned her down and spit on her. She says she tried calling the cops, but he took her phone....

John Conyers III Was Arrested in February, Accused of Stabbing His Girlfriend By YAMICHE ALCINDORDEC. 6, 2017 WASHINGTON — John Conyers III, who was endorsed by his father on Tuesday to succeed him in the House, was arrested in February after his girlfriend suffered knife cuts during an argument. Mr. Conyers, in an interview Wednesday, tried to head off a possibly disqualifying scandal just a day after his father resigned from Congress amid multiplying allegations of sexual harassment. As issues of sexual harassment and abuse roil Washington, any violent altercation against a woman could doom his effort to take the...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WZTV) - A teenager is dead after a home invasion turned shooting on Capitol Point overnight Tuesday. The victim has been identified as Ja'Donte Thompson, 17. According to witnesses, a family of four, including a grandfather, step-dad, mom and 17-year-old,were inside the home and asleep when two men in their 30s broke in yelling "where is it at." Police believe the suspects mistook the home for a drug house. Detectives found no evidence of drugs, money or weapons inside. The suspects kicked in the back door and went upstairs. One suspect had his face covered and the other...

More than two dozen people were arrested in DC, Maryland and Virginia Wednesday as the ATF, the FBI and local agencies teamed up for a gang-related sting operation, according to authorities. Officials say the arrests stemmed from an investigation into Blood gang-related crimes throughout the area, particularly in Northern Virginia.The ATF announced earlier Wednesday they were engaged in "ongoing law enforcement activity" from Woodbridge to Alexandria. According to authorities, "Operation Tin Panda" started this past Spring, as they investigated Blood-related crimes over the course of the year.Officials say utilizing search warrants today, officers found guns, heroin and other drugs. Before...

Embattled Sen. Al Franken’s office on Wednesday disputed a Minnestota Public Radio report that he had decided to resign on Thursday. “No final decision has been made and the Senator is still talking with his family,” said a tweet on his official Senate Twitter account.

California cops just found an audio recording of the 1993 interview in which Corey Feldman has said he identified alleged sexual predators — after police previously claimed the former child actor never named names, according to a report. SNIP Feldman claimed in October that he had provided names of sexual predators in Hollywood to Santa Barbara County police in 1993 during their probe into Michael Jackson’s molestation charges. The Sheriff’s Office at the time denied having any records of Feldman revealing such information — but now says it has unearthed recordings of the interview.

Joseph Obregon, who turned 31 on Tuesday, was revving the engine and spinning the tires of his 2012 Dodge Ram pickup about 10:40 a.m. while driving west on Sligh, police said. Another pickup, positioned alongside Obregon, was doing the same thing, witnesses told police. At the intersection of Florida Avenue and Sligh, Obregon and the other pickup rapidly accelerated from a stop, according to investigators. They each hit about 70 mph, witnesses told investigators, before Obregon’s truck struck a 2008 Toyota RAV4 that was crossing Sligh from north to south along Highland Avenue, police said. The Toyota hit a power...

LOS ANGELES — John Conyers III, a Detroit hedge fund manager named as a possible successor to his scandal-rocked father, Rep. John Conyers, was arrested in Los Angeles this year on suspicion of domestic violence, but prosecutors declined to charge him, according to documents obtained by NBC News. The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office cited a "lack of independent witnesses" and their conclusion that it "could not be proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the victim’s injury was not accidentally sustained" while he was disarming her, according to case paperwork. The 17th Annual Ford Freedom Awards John Conyers at...

Tucker Carlson delivers commentary on FBI agent Peter Strzok and an "out of control" FBI on Monday's broadcast of his FOX News show. Strzok was heavily involved in two politicized cases -- the Clinton email investigation and the Russian collusion probe and oversaw interviews with Mike Flynn. "There are many examples of this, but the point is clear, the FBI is out of control and not just in the Trump investigation but much more broadly. An agency charged with enforcing the law clearly considers itself above the law, and that is a threat to you and every American, no matter...