Free Republic

In June Senator Thad Cochran won the GOP primary runoff election over conservative challenger Chris McDaniel after 25,000-35,000 Democrats helped push him to victory. Cochran and the Republican establishment also were behind the racist anti-Tea Party ads that ran in Mississippi prior to the runoff election. Thad Cochran won the election over Chris McDaniel by 6,880 votes in the June 24 runoff.

NEW ORLEANS — C. Ray Nagin, the former mayor of New Orleans who was convicted in February on corruption charges, was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Wednesday in federal court in New Orleans. Mr. Nagin was found guilty in February on 20 counts, most relating to kickbacks from contractors looking for city work. The sentence was imposed by Judge Ginger Berrigan of United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. Mr. Nagin, a Democrat, was arrested in January 2013, nearly three years after he left office. He was charged with taking kickbacks in the form of...

Edward "Ed" Mezvinsky, born January 17, 1937. Then you'll probably say, "Who is Ed Mezvinsky?" Well, he is a former Democrat congressman who represented Iowa's 1st congressional district in the United States House of Representatives for two terms, from 1973 to 1977. He sat on the House Judiciary Committee that decided the fate of Richard Nixon. He was outspoken saying that Nixon was a crook and a disgrace to politics and the nation and should be impeached. He and the Clintons were friends and very politically intertwined for many years. Ed Mezvinsky had an affair with NBC News reporter Marjorie...

Two years ago, on the morning of the 2012 election in the United States, I got an email with an urgent subject line: "You should write the story of how Facebook blew an opportunity to turn out 300k voters." The sender, a veteran progressive online activist who would prefer to remain anonymous, was upset for good reason. The election was bound to be close, and as of 10am that morning he hadn't yet seen an "I'm Voting" button on his Facebook page, nor had another colleague of his. Nor was one on my own Facebook page. Given that when Facebook...

According to the work of Charles C. Johnson and Joel S. Gilbert, what we thought was just a racist campaign to get people out to vote in the Cochran vs McDaniel Mississippi Senate race was the tip of the iceberg. It now appears to be a vote buying scandal right out of the office of Thad Cochran himself: Reverend Stevie Fielder, associate pastor at historic First Union Missionary Baptist Church and former official at Meridian’s redevelopment agency, says he delivered “hundreds or even thousands,” of blacks to the polls after being offered money and being assured by a Cochran campaign...

After supposed RINO Thad Cochran relied in part on African-American voters to defeat Tea Party favorite Chris McDaniel and win the Mississippi GOP’s nomination to the Senate, FreedomWorks president Matt Kibbe was very upset. Kibbe was so angry, in fact, that he was moved to petulantly declare, “If the only way the K Street wing of the GOP establishment can win is by courting Democrats to vote in GOP primaries then we’ve already won.” This Black Knight-like declaration of victory following conspicuous defeat was widely mocked as yet another example of the Tea Party’s preference to curate reality.

The thing with Obama is that he can’t be bothered, and there is no hand on the tiller half the time,” Mrs. Clinton reportedly said. “That’s the story of the Obama presidency. No hand on the [expletive] tiller. Obama has turned into a joke.” Mrs. Clinton reportedly ranted about the IRS targeting of the tea party and the Justice Department’s tapping of phone records ... “All these scandals .. Obama’s allowed his hatred for his enemies to screw him the way Nixon did. … [He’s] incompetent and feckless.”

Breaking– The Chris McDaniel campaign identified multiple Mississippi counties in which enough improper ballots were cast that a legal challenge to the outcome of the election is warranted. This comes after 25,000-35,000 Democrat votes helped push Thad Cochran to victory over Chris McDaniel (by 6,880 votes) in the June 24 runoff. The McDaniel campaign has already found 1,000 examples in one county of Democrats who voted in the June 3rd primary as Democrats and then crossed over into the Republican primary this week. This is illegal and their votes should not be counted. Update—– Lindsay Krout, an independent contractor working...

The prospect of electing an intemperate Tea Party candidate who was openly nostalgic for Confederate days was so repellent to many black voters in Mississippi that they did a remarkable thing on Tuesday, crossing party lines to help give the Republican Senate nomination to Thad Cochran, in office for 36 years. Now it’s time for Mr. Cochran to return the favor by supporting a stronger Voting Rights Act and actively working to reduce his party’s extreme antigovernment policies.

When Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl was released in a swap for five Taliban prisoners three weeks ago and celebrated by the White House as a hero, his fellow Army platoon leaders came forward with details about how he was "captured" as a prisoner. Bergdahl was accused of being a deserter who violated his oath and left on his own accord by the men who served with him. At the time of their statements, State Department Deputy Press Secretary Marie Harf was asked during a press conference about the knowledge the platoon members had surrounding Bergdahl's alleged desertion. She dismissed their statements...

Facing the toughest reelection fight of his career against primary challenger state Sen. Adriano Espaillat, Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) has turned to unconventional measures to get out the vote ahead of Tuesday’s primary. He’s seen as vulnerable in part because of his age and long tenure in office, but the congressman has taken steps — quite literally, at times, dance steps — to dispel any notion that he’s unhip or out of touch. This weekend, he danced to the “Wobble” after being endorsed by a founding member of the Fugees at an event that also featured a customized rap about...

In an interview with KABC radio last week, Rep. Janice Hahn (D-CA) offered the liberal world view of globalism before nationalism last week during an interview about the on-going crisis in Iraq. Hahn said she was "kind of uncomfortable" with the concept that the United States could claim any moral authority in using military action. "I'm kind of uncomfortable with, you know, with the United States feeling that we do have some moral authority to go into these other countries and use military power to solve problems," the California lawmaker said. Hahn also invoked the United Nations as a basis...

A petition drive to divide California into six separate states was active on Saturday and Sunday in Los Angeles, aimed at getting the plan on the ballot in 2016. According to the Los Angeles Times, Timothy Draper, a venture capitalist from Menlo Park, is spearheading the current effort and has injected $2 million dollars into the project so far. The optimistic Draper argues that a truncated California will dissolve bureaucratic gridlock in Sacramento and will be more conducive for business. Draper told the Times back in April that "California has become the worst managed state in the country… It just...

Current IRS Commissioner John Koskinen will testify this morning at the Ways and Means Committee, as well as on Monday at Oversight, on why he testified in March that the records would be retrievable, only to change course last Friday. Koskinen offered up his opening statement in writing, in part to suggest that e-mail should not be considered an “official record” anyway: In discussing document retention at the IRS, it is important to point out that our email system is not being used as an electronic record keeping system. Furthermore, it should be remembered that not all emails on IRS...

JACKSON, Mississippi — Sen. Thad Cochran (R-MS) is appealing to Democratic voters to cross party lines and vote in an upcoming runoff election against his conservative challenger, state senator Chris McDaniel. But a noted election law expert says that may be illegal. J. Christian Adams, a former Civil Rights Division attorney at the Department of Justice with experience litigating election law cases in Mississippi, said a law there prevents people from voting in the primary for candidates they don't plan to support in the general election. Adams is now a high-profile author and news commentator for conservative outlet PJ Media....

Jamie Estrada, 41, of Los Lunas, N.M., pleaded guilty Monday to the unlawful interception of electronic communications and false statement charges arising out of the unlawful interception of wire communications intended for others, including New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez and members of her staff. Estrada briefly served as campaign manager in 2009, as Martinez was beginning her bid for governor. The Republican won election in 2010 and took office in January 2011. “Each and every one of us has a right and an expectation of privacy in our electronic communications, including our emails, and those who violate the law by...

Former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin is asking for leniency ahead of his July 2 sentencing. New court filings say Nagin is looking at a minimum of 20 years in prison, based on federal sentencing guidelines. That's a "virtual life sentence" for the 58-year-old former two-term mayor, defense attorney Robert Jenkins wrote in a Friday filing to U.S. District Judge Ginger Berrigan asking her to hand down a lighter term.

Campbell Police Chief Tim Kelemen is on paid leave while authorities investigate whether he broke the law when he used a tea party activist's information online. Board members during a special meeting Thursday voted unanimously to take action against the embattled chief after public outcry that he lost credibility and trust from many in the small community. It's a routine move when an employee is under investigation and not an indication Kelemen is guilty of a crime, said his attorney Jim Birnbaum. "It's neither surprising nor something we don't understand," he said.

As if the political drama were not powerful enough, chaos erupted at the election night headquarters shortly after House Majority Leader Eric Cantor conceded his stunning defeat to tea party backed conservative David Brat. Cantor addressed his supporters for about four minutes at a suburban Richmond hotel ballroom, then boarded SUV without taking questions from supporters scurrying after him. Then it got really rambunctious. In the room of downcast Cantor supporters, a new energy suddenly erupted — but not the kind they wanted election night. A group of immigration activists stormed the ballroom, screaming and waving a flag. “What do...

A Texas court ruled Thursday to overturn the conviction of former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas), who was found guilty of money laundering in 2010. According to KHOU 11 and the Associated Press, the Third Court of Appeals in Austin said the case's evidence was "legally insufficient to sustain DeLay's convictions," formally acquitting the former congressman on charges of money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering.