Free Republic

The lengths to which the FBI relied on the Hillary Clinton opposition research dossier to investigate her political rival came into sharper focus with the testimony of the lead investigator, FBI agent Peter Strzok. Mr. Strzok told a joint House committee last week that the FBI received from Associate Attorney General Bruce Ohr a raft of documents — including sections of the anti-Trump dossier — during the investigation into Russia election interference. The first-time disclosure is significant because it confirms an unusual and continuing channel for collusion accusations that started outside the government with anti-Trump people and reached Mr. Ohr...

Coming off a contentious NATO summit and a trip to the U.K. in which he seemed to undercut the government of America's closest ally, President Trump took aim at another Western institution just days before his high-stakes meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. In an interview with "CBS Evening News" anchor Jeff Glor in Scotland on Saturday, President Trump named the European Union -- comprising some of America's oldest allies -- when asked to identify his "biggest foe globally right now." "Well, I think we have a lot of foes. I think the European Union is a foe, what they...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l278LLK4FwU

LONDON – Thousands of Trump supporters and right-wing activists took to the nation’s capital on Saturday — a day after anti-Trump protesters had dominated the city. While the displays of right-wing support were nowhere near as large as the enormous anti-Trump march that demanded the international media’s attention the day before, it was still a significant show of support for Trump from those eager to counter the claim that Trump had been unanimously rejected by Britons. The day started with a small pro-Trump rally outside the U.S. Embassy, featuring numerous red “MAGA” hats and U.S. and U.K. flags -- as...

In biggest attack since 2014 war, Israeli army says it struck 40 targets, including Hamas' Beit Lahia battalion HQ, More than 140 rocket alarm sirens sound in southern Israel, 90 rockets fired at Israel, 16 intercepted by Iron Dome. Israel's cabinet will meet on Sunday to discuss the escalation in the south. A Palestinian official who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity said Egypt and other international players were holding contacts iwht Israel and Gaza to restore calm.....

WASHINGTON (AP) — As the American presidential election entered the final stretch in 2016, a dozen Russian military intelligence officers were scattered throughout Moscow, unleashing a massive cyber operation to disrupt the vote. That’s according to an indictment issued Friday that says the officers developed malicious computer code known as malware, hacked into Democratic Party computers and silently watched as unknowing staffers typed. The Russians stole the Democrats’ secret files. They took snapshots of their screens. They used fake emails to dupe Hillary Clinton’s staffers into exposing their passwords. And then, the indictment says, the Russians released their stolen information...

The FBI previously declassified Huma’s 302 summary from her 2016 interview with Peter Strzok and David Laufman. Hillary’s ride-or-die aides, Huma Abedin and Cheryl Mills both lied to Strzok and Laufman. Abedin lied to Strzok in her 2016 interview when said she had no knowledge of Hillary Clinton’s private server until after leaving the State Department in early 2013. “Abedin did not know that Clinton had a private server until about a year and a half ago when it became public knowledge,” according to Strzok’s 302 summary interview with Huma. Email exchanges between Huma Abedin and other Clinton aides in...

Yesterday we posted about uber-ambitious New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who is furiously trying to out-promise a fellow pro-abortion Democrat running for governor in his commitment to extending , amplifying, and expanding abortion. Cuomo holds a press conference Monday warning state Senate Republicans to immediately reconvene to pass the “Reproductive Health Act” which is even more radical than Roe. If not, he threatened, voters will send Senate Republicans packing. (The state Assembly is safely in the hands of pro-abortion Democrats.) Tuesday gubernatorial rival Cynthia Nixon does Cuomo one better at her rally. Waving a coat hanger (these people are nothing...

British detectives investigating the poisoning of two people by the nerve agent Novichok in southern England say scientists have found the source of the deadly substance. The Metropolitan Police said Friday that a small bottle found during searches of Rowley’s house Wednesday was tested and scientists confirmed the substance in the bottle was Novichok. Police are still looking into where the bottle came from and how it came to be in Rowley’s house. Further tests will be carried out to establish whether it is from the same batch that contaminated Russian ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in March.

Russians indicted over US election hack 4 minutes ago 12 Russian intelligence officers indicted for hacking Democrat emails during 2016 election, US authorities announce This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly. Please refresh the page for the fullest version.

President Donald Trump is beating China in a trade war that could soon escalate, CNBC’s Jim Cramer said on Friday. “I think we're winning," the "Mad Money" host argued. "The market is saying we're winning.” On Tuesday, the White House released a list of 10 percent tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese goods, following through on Trump’s threat of additional punitive measures. Tariffs of that magnitude, which now undergo a two-month review, would basically equal all the goods the U.S. imports from China, which promised retaliatory action and pledged to lodge a complaint with the World Trade Organization. Cramer said...

Republicans are gearing up to force a vote on plans from the left wing of the Democratic Party to abolish the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. In a vote, Republicans would be forcing vulnerable Democrats to show their hand on a polarizing position that is important to the Democratic base. Republicans are planning to hold a vote on a bill that would abolish the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency in an apparent political attempt to force Democrats to take a side on a hot-button issue that is increasingly popular among the liberal base. The Hill reported on...

SHENZHEN, China (Reuters) - A hotel in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen on Friday denied a report that it would charge U.S. guests an extra 25 percent amid an escalating trade war between Washington and Beijing. However, three staff members who declined to be identified told Reuters that a discriminatory rate policy had indeed been posted at the hotel as of Thursday but had since been removed. The Global Times, a hawkish tabloid published by the ruling Communist Party's People's Daily, said in a report dated Thursday that the Modern Classic Hotel Group had put up a notice at...

On Friday Trump and first lady Melania will have tea with the Queen in one of her drawing rooms before leaving for Scotland. US President Trump described Queen Elizabeth II as a "tremendous woman" in an interview with The Sun newspaper, hours before he and first lady Melania Trump are due to meet the monarch for tea on Friday. "She is a tremendous woman," Trump told the newspaper during his UK working visit. "I really look forward to meeting her. I think she represents her country so well." The US President also praised the Queen's ability to avoid controversy during...

U.S. military officials were left in the lurch last Thursday when North Korean representatives simply failed to show up for a meeting on recovering and repatriating the remains of the U.S. troops killed during the Korean War, the Washington Post reports. According to the Post, officials from the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency and representatives from United Nations Command were left waiting in the Joint Security Area of the Korean Peninsula’s demilitarized zone on July 12, although it is unclear why the North Korean counterparts failed to attend. “We were ready,” according to one anonymous official who spoke to the Post....

Donald Trump has said the UK will 'probably not' get a trade deal with the US, if the prime minister's Brexit plan goes ahead. He told The Sun the PM's plan would "probably kill the deal" as it would mean the US "dealing with the European Union" instead of with the UK.... Mr. Trump told The Sun newspaper that the UK's blueprint for its post-Brexit relations with the EU was 'a much different deal than the people voted on".... He said he had told Mrs. May how to do a Brexit deal but: "She didn't agree, she didn't listen to...

President Donald Trump on Thursday said NATO allies agreed to “substantially up their commitment” to the alliance after he told leaders he was “extremely unhappy.” “Tremendous progress has been made. Everyone’s agreed to substantially up their commitment. They’re going to up it at levels that they’ve never thought of before,” Trump said at his press conference in Brussels. “Commitments were made,” he said. “The commitment was at 2 percent, ultimately that’ll be going up quite a bit higher than that.” French President Emmanuel Macron denied that any NATO members had agreed to boost contributions beyond 2 percent GDP. “There is...

President Donald Trump released a letter he recently received from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and praised the "great progress" being made in talks with Pyongyang. The letter is dated July 6, and was given to Secretary of State Pompeo delegation to deliver to Trump while the group was in Pyongyang last week to continue talks on denuclearizing the Korean peninsula, senior administration officials tell CNN. "A very nice note from Chairman Kim of North Korea. Great progress being made," Trump said in a tweet that also included a copy of the correspondence from Kim....

Former UK Ambassador to the US Sir Christopher Meyer, 74, was beaten bloody by two attackers at Victoria Station in London on Wednesday, hours after he published an essay supporting President Donald Trump’s visit to the UK Thursday.

Over $20 million in taxpayer funds could be saved at the end of President Donald Trump’s first term in office due to his leaner White House operation. A new report on the White House Office Personnel revealed that Trump has a significantly smaller staff than his predecessor did at this time, according to an analysis by Open the Books, a government watchdog organization that focuses on spending. “Although the White House personnel budget is an infinitesimal part of the $3.9 trillion federal budget, it is an important forecasting indicator showing Trump’s deep commitment to cut the size, scope and power...