Free Republic

Republicans in Washington are coming to grips with the increasing likelihood that Donald Trumpwill be their presidential nominee. It's a scenario few would have taken seriously last summer, when Trump jumped into the race against what Republicans believed was their strongest presidential field in decades. But the real estate mogul has nearly vanquished them all, winning three out of the first four contests by double-digit margins while leaving his closest remaining rivals -- Sens. Marco Rubio (Fla.) and Ted Cruz (Texas) -- in the dust. With surveys putting him ahead in most of the states set to vote in next...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: ** TOP 10 LIST (First Draft/work in progress) ** RE: (Top 10 reasons NOT to vote for Duncan Hunter in 2008) 31 October 2007 The following is the start of an idea I just came up with and I am asking for your help to build it into a final product for mass production. If you have spent any amount of time talking to folks about the Republican Presidential Primary in 2008 you will likely have heard at least ONE or more of the following “excuses” for NOT voting for Duncan Hunter. My goal is to rank...

Donald Trump finally has official supporters in Congress. Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) told POLITICO on Wednesday that he will support Trump for the Republican nomination, making him one of the first members of Congress to express public support for the Manhattan businessman who is the prohibitive front-runner after his victory in Tuesday's Nevada caucuses. Also on Wednesday, Rep. Chris Collins (R-N.Y.) told The Buffalo News that he is backing Trump, saying he has the "guts and fortitude" to get jobs back from China and to take on foreign threats such as the Islamic State and North Korea. In an interview...

Army Secretary John McHugh on Tuesday agreed to postpone discharging an Army Green Beret for his role in beating an Afghan police official who was sexually abusing an Afghan boy. The decision was announced after Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Texas), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, asked McHugh to give Sgt. 1st Class Charles Martland time to prepare an appeal. "Out of respect for Chairman Thornberry's continued strong support for our military, and his personal appeal, Secretary McHugh has agreed to postpone Sgt. First Class Martland's discharge from the Army for 60 days to allow him to file an appeal...

Washington - Even though the Democratic majority vowed to return Congress to a path of fiscal responsibility, the 2008 appropriations bills were stuffed with wasteful pork projects. While Representatives John Campbell, Jeff Flake, Jeb Hensarling, Scott Garrett, and David Obey (1 amendment) offered 50 amendments to strip outrageous pork projects from the appropriations bills, only one amendment, offered by Rep. Jeff Flake, passed. The Club for Growth has compiled a RePORK Card of all members' votes on all 50 anti-pork amendments (see below). "Taxpayers have a right to know which congressmen stand up for them and which stand up for...

It’s been another spectacular week for the Pentagon. From US Navy sailors crying in front of their Iranian captors to Pentagon climate change mandates and the Draft our Daughters bill proposed by Congressman Duncan Hunter, the US military is being tossed to and fro inside a White House snow globe. Our new best friend forever, Iran, released several pictures yesterday of an unidentified US Navy sailor bawling his head off like a overweight woman confessing her cookie eating disorder to Marie Osmond and Oprah. Seated next to the crying sailor was his commander, the Once and Future Chief of Naval...

<p>Former Marines in Congress, including a liberal Democrat, are on the offensive against Navy Secretary's Ray Mabus' sweeping edicts to the Corps on women in combat.</p> <p>Rep. Duncan Hunter, a former Marine officer in Afghanistan and Iraq, accused Mr. Mabus on Tuesday of "destroying the martial fabric of the Marine Corps."</p>

Rep. Duncan Hunter has had enough of Navy Secretary Ray Mabus' strong support for opening all Marine combat posts to women, declaring him "a greater threat to the Marine Corps than ISIS.” The Republican congressman and Marine veteran from California, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, is furious with Mabus for pushing through an end to the ban on women serving in all combat positions over the Marine Corps' objections. Particularly, he's taking exception to memo Mabus sent to the Marines Corps this week, instructing it integrate Marine boot camp, which has been separate for men and women, and change...

“Claims that trade deals increase exports and create jobs are based on flawed trade models, and on distorted and one-sided interpretations of the findings of those models,” Scott explained. “If you’re president, you’re going to have to live with it,” Pelley said to the billionaire businessman during the interview, referencing NAFTA. Trump fired back: “Excuse me, we will either renegotiate it or we will break it. Because, you know, every agreement has an end.” Pelley said Trump can’t just break the law. “Excuse me, every agreement has an end. Every agreement has to be fair,” Trump reiterated. “Every agreement has...

EXCLUSIVE: Even as the U.S. military denies reports that American troops were told to ignore Afghan child abusers, an 11-year Green Beret who was ordered discharged after he confronted an alleged rapist was informed Tuesday that the Army has denied his appeal. Sgt. 1st Class Charles Martland earlier this year was ordered discharged by Nov. 1. He has been fighting to stay in, but in an initial decision, the U.S. Army Human Resources Command told Martland that his appeal “does not meet the criteria” for an appeal. “Consequently, your request for an appeal and continued service is disapproved,” the office...

A battle is brewing in Washington over the military's push to open all combat units to women. The Marine Corps is reportedly poised to ask that some positions remain available only to men, following a nine-month study that found units with all genders did not perform as well in combat. The issue is stirring a passionate debate in the military community, pitting the Marine Corps against its own service secretary and creating a bitter divide on the House Armed Services Committee. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus, who is the service secretary for the Marine Corps, blasted the study of the Marine...

FOXNEWS was the first to publicly report the Army’s decision to kick out 11-year Green Beret Sgt First Class (SFC) Charles Martland. On September 11, Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif a member of the House Armed Services Committee, blasted Army leadership for issuing an alleged “gag order” forbidding them talking about the discharge of SFC Martland. The congressman said “more troubling” is that he’s learned “Army leadership has pushed a ‘gag order’ … prohibiting both the Chain of Command and soldiers from speaking to anyone regarding the case.” If true such a gag order would be a gross violation of 10...

Florida might have its share of Republican presidential candidates but one former presidential candidate who ran twice in the Sunshine State is behind U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas. Former U.S. Sen. Bob Smith, R-N.H., who ran twice for the U.S. Senate in Florida, was named as a co-chair of Cruz’s veterans outreach team on Wednesday. Smith joins U.S. Rep. Jim Bridenstine, R-Okla., and Texas state Sen. Brian Birdwell as co-chairs of “Vets for Ted” while Bill Connor will be national director. Cruz has also named Smith, a Navy veteran, as part of his team in New Hampshire, home of the...

The Marine Corps congressional fellow arrested Tuesday on Capitol grounds was carrying two loaded guns, 114 rounds of live ammunition, a military ballistic vest and two knives in his car, court documents state. Gunnery Sgt. Peter James Boby pleaded not guilty Wednesday to three misdemeanor charges in D.C. Superior Court. His wrists and ankles were shackled during the brief arraignment. Boby, who wore a plaid shirt and jeans, was released from custody on his personal recognizance. He told CQ Roll Call he had no comment on the case. Court documents state that Boby approached a Capitol Police barricade on C...

The House will vote this week on legislation that would deny funding to “sanctuary cities” that have policies designed to shelter illegal immigrants from deportation. Sanctuary cities largely refuse to cooperate with federal immigration policies. Such laws have come under heavier scrutiny in the wake of Kathryn Steinle's death last month in San Francisco. Steinle, 32, was fatally shot while walking with her father along San Francisco's waterfront. The police have charged Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez, an illegal immigrant with a history of felony convictions who had been deported five times, with the crime. Legislation authored by Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.)...

Green Beret saved soldiers under fireA group of House lawmakers is moving to strip the armed services’ civilian leaders of the power to revoke combat valor awards in response to Army Secretary John McHugh unilaterally canceling the Silver Star, one of the military’s highest honors, for a former Green Beret officer. Mr. McHugh took the action against Maj. Mathew Golsteyn, who braved repeated enemy fire in Afghanistan, even though he has not been charged with any offenses. The Army now is seeking to release him with a less-than-honorable discharge. The officer plans to fight the move, his attorney says. The...

The Obama administration earlier this year turned down a request from Jordan for Predator spy drones that would help it locate targets in the war against the Islamic State. The refusal, disclosed by a House Armed Services Committee, member, is gaining importance today since Jordan has emerged as a critical player in a U.S.-led coalition to destroy the terror group. On Tuesday, the Islamic State released a video of its execution by fire of a capture Jordanian pilot. Jordan retaliated on Thursdaywith F-16 air strikes on the Syrian town of Raqqa and is vowing a relentless war against the Islamic...

Oversight: A House Armed Services Committee member asks for a probe into reports that money was paid in a failed attempt to ransom alleged deserter Bowe Bergdahl. And where's that Bergdahl investigation report, anyway? Back on Oct. 16 we noted that the Pentagon had completed its investigation into Sgt. Bergdahl's abandonment of his Afghan post. But the report by Brig. Gen. Kenneth Dahl would not be released, according to an Army spokesman, until the end of a review process that was likely to be conveniently lengthy, lasting at least until after the midterm elections. It has now been over six...

The Pentagon is under fire for making a ransom payment to an Afghan earlier this year as part of a failed bid to win the release of Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, according to U.S. officials. Sgt. Bergdahl was released in May after nearly five years in captivity as part of a controversial exchange for five terrorists held at the U.S. military detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The ransom payment was first disclosed by Rep. Duncan Hunter in a Nov. 5 letter to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel. Mr. Hunter stated in the letter that Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) made...

Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) said Wednesday that sources have told him that the U.S. military unsuccessfully tried to pay a ransom for Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, despite repeated denials. In a Nov. 5 letter to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, Hunter wrote "it has been brought to my attention that a payment was made to an Afghan intermediary who 'disappeared' with the money and failed to facilitate Bergdahl's release in return." Hunter said "according to sources" the payment was made between January and February 2014 through Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), a special operations command whose activities are mostly classified. Hunter...