Free Republic

The Obama administration doesn’t have watchdogs. It has whitewash puppies. The president’s Chicago bullies have defanged true advocates for integrity in government in D.C. from day one. So the latest report by the Senate Homeland Security and Government Operations Committee on corruptocrat Charles K. Edwards, the former Department of Homeland Security inspector general, isn’t a revelation. It’s confirmation. Investigators found that Edwards compromised the independence of his office by socializing and sucking up to senior DHS officials. “There are many blessings to be thankful for this year,” the sycophantic Edwards wrote to the DHS acting counsel on Thanksgiving 2011, “but...

There haven't been so many reporters chasing a story in Trenton, N.J., since Washington crossed the Delaware. But compared with the methods the Democratic Party is using now to take down its opponents, Chris Christie looks like Little Bo Peep. Gov. Christie's hyper-political aides ordered traffic jams in neighborhoods near the perpetually backed-up George Washington Bridge to annoy the mayor of Fort Lee. And they may have canceled meetings with the mayor of Jersey City because he wouldn't endorse Mr. Christie. Oh my. The Christie bonfire has burned for a week. In that same week, The Wall Street Journal reported...

Private messages between Governor’s Christie’s deputy chief of staff and two of his top executives at the Port Authority reveal a vindictive effort to create “traffic problems in Fort Lee” by shutting lanes to the George Washington Bridge and apparent pleasure at the resulting gridlock. The messages are replete with references and insults to Fort Lee’s mayor, who had failed to endorse Christie for re-election and they chronicle how they tried to reach Port Authority officials in a vain effort to eliminate the paralyzing gridlock that overwhelmed his town of 35,000 which sits in the shadow of the bridge, the...

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: The Drive-By Media think they have done it, they have destroyed Christie. Now, you may be seeing polling data that shows in New Jersey Christie's more people popular right now than he was before Bridgegate. Not so fast, folks. F. Chuck Todd. Here, grab the sound bite. Grab number four. F. Chuck Todd on the Today show today. The cohost Savannah Guthrie said, "Hey, Chuck, I want to look at the matchup. This is where you see the most profound impact when you look at how Hillary Clinton and Chris Christie match up a month ago versus...

A former assistant county prosecutor from New Jersey is linking his 2010 firing with the traffic-jam scandal that’s engulfed Gov. Chris Christie, saying he was dismissed in a “mafia-esque” episode after securing an indictment against a sheriff loyal to the Republican governor, according to a report in MailOnline. Bennett Barlyn, who served in central Jersey’s Hunterdon County, spoke to the publication amid revelations that members of Mr. Christie’s staff closed toll lanes from Fort Lee, N.J., to the George Washington Bridge for several days in September, perhaps as political payback to a Democratic mayor. Mr. Barlyn obtained indictments against a...

The media quickly came up with a term for the apparently politically orchestrated George Washington Bridge traffic jam: "Bridgegate." Now what catchy term do the media attach to the explosive new book castigating the incumbent wartime commander in chief? "Gatesgate"? Hardly. Republican New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is suspected of orchestrating, for political payback, a traffic jam on the GW Bridge. "Meet the Press" spent more than half of its most recent show -- 28 minutes not counting commercials -- on "Bridgegate," less than 11 minutes on the Gates' allegations, another 12 minutes reporting on women living in poverty and...

Another politico is claiming that he got “Christied.” This time it’s Jersey City mayor, Steven Fulop, who said that after he declined to endorse the Republican governor of New Jersey, Chris Christie, meetings with the governor were cancelled and money for hurricane relief dried up. I guess in this Alice-in-TV-Land world we live in, this counts as news. This comes on the heels of a federal investigation into Christie’s use of federal hurricane relief funds, which Obama is sure were used for nefarious purposes; presumably that means purposes that didn’t include electing Democrats. While Barack Obama didn’t invent the “Christie”...

During the 2012 presidential campaign, somehow each and every Republican presidential contender had a sink thrown at him (or her) via what reporters call "investigative journalism." Every time a Republican rose in the polls, the media tried to knock him or her down, like a game of Whac-A-Mole. The very last man standing was Mitt Romney, who didn't receive the official "Gotcha!" from The Washington Post until May, with a 5,000-word opus on "Teenage Haircutgate." That's why it's so strange the national media would decide so early it was time for journalistic carpet bombing of the Great Squishy Northeastern Hope...

Welfare: Not content with having more Americans on food stamps than people in Spain, the Obama administration is ringing the dinner bell for illegal aliens. We'll feed you and not check your status. As we wrote last July, just as food stamp use has skyrocketed here under President Obama, so have marketing efforts to Hispanics under a partnership with Mexico. We dubbed the program "Fat and Furious" after the administration's gun-running program that also seemingly had worthy goals but had unclear motives and pernicious effects. "USDA and the government of Mexico have entered into a partnership to help educate eligible...

Welfare: As if being "food stamp president" weren't enough, Barack Obama's administration is partnering with the Mexican government to make sure Mexican nationals living in the U.S. don't miss out. Ay caramba! On Wednesday, Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., who's been pushing for reform of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), commonly known as food stamps, sent a letter to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack asking for details of our partnership agreement with Mexico to promote food stamp use, including whether we are looking the other way in cases of illegal aliens. The partnership agreement goes back to 2004, so Obama administration...

Under intense questioning Wednesday by Congressmen Darrell Issa and Trey Gowdy during a hearing before the House Judiciary Committee, Homeland Security Secretary seemed to weave, dodge, protest and perhaps demonstrate some ignorance about Operation Fast and Furious. Later, when interviewed by Lou Dobbs on Fox News’ business channel, both Issa and Gowdy expressed their frustration and disappointment at Napolitano’s performance. Issa chairs the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which has been holding hearings on Fast and Furious. He seemed appalled at Napolitano’s responses to his questions, and there was no small amount of verbal combat between the Secretary and...