Free Republic

Donald Trump’s dramatic staff shake-up on Wednesday revealed the growing influence wielded on his campaign by a Republican mega-donor duo. The fingerprints of Robert Mercer, a New York hedge fund billionaire, and his middle daughter, Rebekah, can be seen all over the new Trump staffing appointments and other decisions being made by the GOP presidential nominee. The Mercers, who previously put $13.5 million into a super-PAC supporting Ted Cruz's bid against Trump, have recently converted the group into the Defeat Crooked Hillary PAC, targeting Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. Robert Mercer has reportedly made a “substantial” additional investment of at least...

Ajamu Baraka, professorial with kind eyes, was an accomplished human-rights activist before joining the Green Party ticket as Jill Stein’s running mate. But the two leftist candidates—due for a mainstream close-up in a CNN town hall on Wednesday—also have engaged with some fringe thinkers and conspiracy theories. Baraka, especially, has an accomplished résumé in this field. Earlier this year, the former executive director of the U.S. Human Rights Network had his work featured in a book edited by accused Holocaust denier (“the Holocaust controversy was a legitimate topic of historical debate”) and self-described 9/11 truther Kevin Barrett. The book, Another...

Politico reports that nervous Democrats are warning the next batch of leaked documents could contain information planted by Russia: House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi is among those sounding that alarm, echoing security experts who say Russian security services have been known to doctor documents and images or bury fictitious, damaging details amid genuine information. For hackers to resort to such tactics would be highly unusual, but security specialists say it’s a realistic extension of Moscow’s robust information warfare efforts. This story is entirely self-serving for Democrats. It lays the groundwork for them to suggest anything embarrassing that turns up in...

Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa), a conservative stalwart and adamant Ted Cruz supporter, told MSNBC's Morning Joe Hillary Clinton, if elected president, would be "someone I can work with." King praised Clinton for the way she conducted herself as Secretary of State when she met with the immigration subcommittee where he was a senior member. "I found those conversations to be reasonable policy based because there was no one in the room listening," King said about the meetings. "You can talk business with her," King said. "Whether she reacts to that outside that room or not is unproven as far as...

Story to follow! ABC News Twitter feed........ ABC News Politics ‏@ABCPolitics 8m8 minutes ago NEW: Gov. @ScottWalker activates Wisconsin National Guard to assist Milwaukee police upon request:

Uh-Oh! Ted should have never made a spectacle of himself at the RNC, and maybe kept his promise to support the nominee because now, it seems, it has come back to bite him. The once extremely popular senator is no more than the lesser of the evils in his home state, in his senate race. At least that’s what the results of the latest in state poll show. CBS/DFW reports that Texans are smarting a bit over the recent Cruz behavior and they’re letting him know it. Sen. Ted Cruz won the Republican presidential primary in Texas with nearly 44...

MILWAUKEE — Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke has requested the mobilization of the National Guard in the wake of violence that erupted in the City of Milwaukee late Saturday, August 13th and early Sunday, August 14th. Clarke made the request after consulting with Gov. Scott Walker and Major Gen. Donald Dunbar of the Wisconsin National Guard. Clarke said the following in a statement as part of a news release: “We cannot allow for a repeat of what happened (Saturday) night. I am going to utilize all available resources to accomplish that.”

At least eight staffers have left the Republican National Committee at least in part due to discomfort over the party's nomination of Donald Trump for president. Politico reported Wednesday that deputy press secretary James Hewitt, spokesman Fred Brown, director of Hispanic media Ruth Guerra and research analysts Lars Trautman and Colin Spence have left in recent months, citing Trump as a reason for their departure. "Personally I wasn't comfortable working to elect him," Spence told Politico. At least three other staffers have also left, Politico reported, citing Trump as contributing to their resignations. A total of 11 staffers have...

Less than 100 days before the general election, Donald Trump has still not spent a dime on television advertising, even as Hillary Clinton floods the airwaves with tens of millions of dollars in ad spending. According to an analysis by NBC News, the Democratic presidential nominee's campaign has spent $52 million on television ads, many of which have been concentrated in the battleground states that will be critical in determining the outcome of the election. The Trump campaign, by comparison, has spent zero dollars. Even the two third-party presidential candidates, Green Party nominee Jill Stein and Libertarian Party nominee Gary...

KISSIMMEE, Fla. - Hillary Clinton spoke to a crowd in Kissimmee, just south of Orlando. She was supposed to be talking jobs, but started the speech off paying tribute to those affected by the Pulse Nightclub shooting. "I know how many people, families, loved ones, and friends are still grieving, and we will be with you as you rebuild your lives."

Parents of two Benghazi victims have sued Hillary Clinton, arguing that she caused the death of their sons and later defamed them in statements made to the media, according to court documents. “During her campaign for President, Defendant Clinton has negligently, recklessly, and/or maliciously defamed Plaintiffs by either directly calling them liars, or by strongly implying that they are liars, in order to protect and enhance her public image and intimidate and emotionally harm and silence them not to speak up about the Benghazi attack on at least four separate occasions,” Larry Klayman, an attorney for the families, wrote in...

It’s a 100% photoshopped image (link) assembling multiple rally crowd pictures to give the impression of Hillary Clinton in St. Petersburg. Hillary is holding a rally at the St. Pete Colliseum in down town St. Petersburg. Located at 353 4th Ave North, the Coliseum venue holds approximately 4,000 people. Hillary Clinton didn’t come close to filling it:

Nationally syndicated radio and HLN television host Dr. Drew Pinsky said he’s concerned about the “sophistication” of the healthcare that Democrat frontrunner Hillary Clinton is receiving. “Why is somebody who’s running for the President of the United States getting such shoddy care?” Drew stressed on KABC’s Midday Live. “My problem is the quality of the overall care she is getting,” he added.

The RNC, the Republican Party elite, is currently dealing with the consequences of its own stupidity (which I would have used as the title, if I hadn’t used it before.) Their hatred for Donald Trump is not based on ideology, personality or even a genuine concern that Trump is the reincarnation of Adolf Hitler. It is the far more understandable sense that Trump’s success has rendered them irrelevant, that Trump has literally stolen the Republican Party from under their noses. And that is precisely what Trump has done. They are caught between a number of options, all bad for them...

Johnson and one of his rivals, presumptive Green Party nominee Jill Stein, sued the commission last September, alleging violations of antitrust law and the First Amendment. Johnson and Stein are seeking spots on the all-important presidential debate stage this fall. But federal judge Rosemary M. Collyer threw out the lawsuit on Friday. In mid-September, the commission will add up five national polls and invite the candidates who are averaging at least 15% support. The first debate is scheduled to take place on Monday, September 26.

Donald Trump and his team have upped their game to win the race for the White House by hiring the company that got the Brexit message to millions, resulting in the split of Great Britain from the European Union. Cambridge Analytica is a marketing film that targets voters (and potential donors) based on their unconscious psychological biases.

A FEW OBSERVATIONS: Trump endorsed Paul Ryan, John McCain and Senator Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire. I guess even a Non-Political Politician has to play the Game somewhat, if he or she hopes to win. And if this is part of the Game Trump has to play to get these two Political creatures (Ryan and McCain) off his back – SO BE IT. But personally, I wouldn’t have endorsed either of them. But I’m not about to join the crowd of Trump Second Guessers. As you all know, who read this BLOG regularly, I have ZERO regard for John McCain,...

"A message from Devan Cierra Ebert, who other attendees confirmed to be the mother at the Ashburn rally, was shared on Facebook. In her statement, she said, “Mr. Trump NEVER kicked me or my child out of the Briar Woods High School, Trump rally.” “The media has severely blown this out of proportion and made it out to be something that it wasn’t and is clearly using this as political gain for the Democratic Party. I hope this message sheds light to what really happened,” she said. No one from the press spoke with the mother before running their stories,...

DON’T BELIEVE THE POLLS . . . EVEN FOX NEWS POLLS: Think about this for a second – While Roger Ailes was running FOX News, Trump was either tied or winning in just about every category against Hillary Clinton. But, since he was politely let go by Rupert Murdoch, for supposedly making lascivious and salacious advances to some of the women on Fox News, as a result, Papa Murdoch’s LEFT LEANING SONS, replaced Ailes in the BIG PICTURE decision making of the News Channel, and all of a sudden, Trump isn’t doing any better in the FOX News Polls, than...

Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton will finally speak in front of members of the press Friday, but only to black and latino journalists. Clinton is set to speak Friday in front of the a conference between the National Association of Black Journalists and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists at the Washington Marriott in Washington, DC.