Free Republic

A former Air National Guardsman facing child pornography charges defected and joined the Russian army in its war against Ukraine, the Rhode Island attorney general's office alleges. Wilmer Puello-Mota, 28, a former security forces technical sergeant with the Massachusetts Air National Guard, allegedly fled the country following charges of possession of child pornography. "We are aware Mr. Puello-Mota left the country in response to civil criminal charges filed against him," Don Veitch, a spokesperson for the 104th Fighter Wing in Massachusetts, told Military.com, emphasizing that the charges are "very serious." The charges prompted Puello-Mota's removal from the National Guard in...

The Electoral College on Monday voted for Donald J. Trump to win the presidency. Seven electors, the most ever, voted for someone other than their party’s nominee. In Washington, a state where Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont had strong support in the Democratic primary against Hillary Clinton, three of the state’s 12 electoral votes went to Colin L. Powell, the Republican former secretary of state. One more elector voted for Faith Spotted Eagle, a Native American leader. Another Democratic elector in Hawaii voted for Mr. Sanders. Two Texas electors voted for different Republican politicians: Gov. John Kasich of Ohio and...

State-sponsored hackers penetrate the systems of other nations. It happens regularly. The United States does it. China does it. Russia does it. Iran does it. Sometimes, hacking reveals that someone in the hacking nation is working with the enemy. When that happens, someone dies. Sometimes, a secretary of state receives e-mails — on her unsecured, private e-mail server — about an Iranian scientist who is providing information to the United States and then that scientist is later executed for espionage.Throughout the scandal surrounding her use of an unsecured, private e-mail server, Hillary Clinton claimed that she “never sent or received...

Over the last 12 months some 3,000 Cubans, mostly doctors, have arrived in the United States after deserting one of the Venezuelan government´s social programs they staff. This accounts for a 60% increase as compared with 2012. In 2012 there were about 5,000 refugee Cuban doctors and nurses in the United States coming from all over the world. Through December 1, 2013 this figure had surged to 8,000, 98% of them came from Venezuela. These are estimates by Dr. Julio Cesar Alfonso, head of the South Florida group Solidarity Without Borders Inc. (SWB), which helps Cuban medical professionals who try

Missing Iranian spy chief 'defected to West' By Tim Butcher in Jerusalem Last Updated: 1:53am GMT 07/03/2007 A former Iranian spy chief was suspected last night of defecting to the West, raising the prospect of a timely intelligence bonanza amid tensions with Teheran. While the speculation was impossible to verify, it is hard to imagine a more tantalising prospect for Western intelligence agencies than the defection of General Ali Reza Azkari, who is known to have served in Lebanon in the 1990s liaising with Hizbollah. Skilful debriefing could shed important light on Iranian arms smuggling to the Shia militia, although...