Free Republic

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's chief of staff Saikat Chakrabarti is leaving the freshman's office after a series of controversies, according to a report in the Intercept. “Saikat has decided to leave the office of Rep. Ocasio-Cortez to work with New Consensus to further develop plans for a Green New Deal,” Ocasio-Cortez communications director Corbin Trent told The Intercept in a statement. “We are extraordinarily grateful for his service to advance a bold agenda and improve the lives of the people in NY-14. From his co-founding of Justice Democrats to his work on the Ocasio-Cortez campaign and in the official office, Saikat’s...

FULL TITLE: Shocking moment ICE agents smash a car window and drag an undocumented immigrant onto the street in front of his wife and two children after he refused to get out unless they showed him a warrant Shocking video shows the moment U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers were filmed breaking a father's car window and dragging him out of the vehicle while his family sat horrified inside. Florencio Millan-Vazquez, 32, was driving with his two children and their mother when ICE officers boxed in his vehicle in Kansas City on Monday. Facebook Live video filmed by Cheyenne Hoyt...

A Kansas man was charged in the April shooting that left New York Giants draft pick Corey Ballentine wounded and one of the player’s college teammates dead, police said Friday. Francisco Alejanero Mendez, 18, was charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder and five counts of aggravated battery in the April 18 shooting, the Shawnee County District Attorney’s Office said in a news release. Ballentine and Dwane Simmons, who were both football players at Washburn University, were outside an off-campus house party hours after the Giants selected Ballentine when a gunman opened fire from a vehicle, killing Simmons and wounding...

Have House Democrats now accused AOC aide of racism? They demand to ow why her chief-of-staff is ‘singling out a Native American woman of color’ just days after Peolosi racism storm The row between Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Nancy Pelosi started last week Firebrand AOC accused the House Speaker of targeting women of color Reps But AOC's chief of staff has now been accused of singling out woman of color Saikat Chakrabarti tweeted criticism of Rep. Sharice Davids, a Native American A Twitter account representing House Democrats has slammed Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's chief of staff for targeting 'a Native American woman of...

FULL TITLE: House Democratic Caucus rips AOC's chief of staff for criticizing lawmaker: 'Keep her name out of your mouth' The official House Democratic Caucus Twitter account ripped into Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's, D-N.Y. chief of staff Friday for his criticism of another Democratic lawmaker -- an astonishing tirade that laid bare the simmering tensions between the freshman congresswoman and her party's leadership. The caucus’ Twitter account flagged a June 27 tweet by Ocasio-Cortez’s chief of staff, Saikat Chakrabarti, in which he criticized Rep. Sharice Davids, D-Kansas, for her votes on issues to do with the migrant crisis at the border....

Kansas Republican Kris Kobach kicked off his campaign for the U.S. Senate Monday, sparking an immediate backlash from national Republicans who fear he could cost the party a seat it has held for eight decades. The former Kansas secretary of state gathered supporters in Leavenworth Monday afternoon to officially announce his candidacy for the open Senate seat with a fiery speech that took aim at illegal immigration, the dangers of socialism and the unwillingness of Republican Party leaders to stand up for President Donald Trump’s agenda. “President Trump needs a senator who will lead the charge for him,” Kobach said....

Senators blocked an effort on Friday to restrict President Trump’s ability to go to war with Iran, handing a victory to Republicans and the White House. More than 40 have voted against the proposal from Democratic Sens. Tim Kaine (Va.) and Tom Udall (N.M.), which would block the president from using funding to carry out military action without congressional authorization. Though the vote remains open, the opposition blocks the proposal from getting the 60 yes votes it needed to be added as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). In a round of unusual procedural maneuvering, senators passed...

Kansas Citians had their eyes to the sky Thursday evening, trying to get a glimpse of two mysterious white, spherical objects floating over the city. The National Weather Service of Kansas City brought attention to the matter just before 8 p.m. and posted a photo to Twitter, adding it had “no explanation” for the small orbs.

The Senate voted to block President Trump’s Saudi arms deal on Thursday, paving the way for a veto clash with the White House. The Senate voted 53-45 on resolutions to block two of the sales, with GOP Sen. Susan Collins (Maine), Lindsey Graham (S.C.), Mike Lee (Utah), Jerry Moran (Kansas), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Rand Paul (Ky.) and Todd Young (Ind.) joining Democrats. They voted 51-45 to block the additional 20 arms sales. Murkwoski flipped to vote for the sale, while Lee did not vote. The 22 arms sales, estimated to be worth more than $8 billion, would provide weapons to...

Imagine being told to do an assignment by your boss and instead of following orders or having a conversation about why you cannot complete the job, you simply stood up and turned your back on him. You would probably be fired, right? Well, not if you work for the federal government. Yesterday, a group of federal employees literally stood up and turned their backs on Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue after being told they would be relocated to Kansas. The Hill reports that Sec. Perdue "announced Thursday that two of the Department of Agriculture’s research agencies, the Economic Research Service...

The U.S. Office of the Special Counsel has recommended the removal of White House Counselor Kellyanne Conway over violations of the Hatch Act. The OSC wrote that her “violations, if left unpunished, would send a message to all federal employees that they need not abide by the Hatch Act’s restrictions. Her actions thus erode the principal foundation of our democratic system — the rule of law.” This isn't the first time a White House or cabinet official violated the Hatch Act. It happened several times in the Obama administration but the OSC didn't recommend the removal of the official. In...

Aubrey Garcia, a 7-year-old girl from Plainville, Kansas, had a crowd of people in tears of joy as she pushed her way through her first-ever track race, a 50-meter dash, on May 14. Her mom, Chelsea Garcia, watched as Aubrey stumbled at one point, but kept going, her determined grit shining through as she pushed forward in her leg braces one step at a time. “I don’t even know how to describe how we felt to watch her accomplish something like this,” she told Runner’s World. “It was just breathtaking to see something happen that you never thought you would...

National Republicans are prepared to intervene in the Kansas Senate primary to ensure that conservative firebrand Kris Kobach does not win the party’s nomination should he run, multiple sources told the Kansas City Star. Kobach said this month that he is still “actively considering” a bid for the U.S. Senate next year in Kansas. The seat will come open with the retirement of Republican Sen. Pat Roberts, 83, who announced in January that he would not run for reelection. Any anti-Kobach efforts by groups such as the National Republican Senatorial Committee or the Senate Leadership Fund likely would take the...

Frustrated Senate Republicans say the Trump administration has largely kept them in the dark about a possible military confrontation with Iran. What GOP lawmakers already know, however, has them on edge. Trump has deployed an aircraft carrier strike group, a Patriot missile defense battery and an Air Force bomber task force to the Middle East, while the State Department has ordered a partial evacuation of the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. A few legislators have received briefings, but many can only guess at the extent of the threat and where a ramp up in combat forces may lead. “I don’t think...

Today, in a 6-1 decision, the Kansas Supreme Court held in Hodes & Nauser v. Schmidt, that the state constitution guarantees a right to abortion. The named plaintiffs, Herbert Hodes and his daughter Traci Nauser, are two late-term abortionists who challenged Kansas’ ban on live dismemberment abortions—abortions which cause death by ripping the limbs and torso off of a fetus. Over the last several years, federal courts have declared similar bans on dismemberment abortions unconstitutional, but today’s decision is significant because, unlike other cases, it is based on a state constitutional right to abortion.

by Brian Hayes A man convicted in the rape of a child under the age 14 and deported in February is back in a Kansas jail -- caught in the same county just NINE DAYS after his removal to Mexico. According to the Kansas Department of Corrections, Simon Rochel-Cervantes, 46, a citizen of Mexico, spent 7-years in the Ellsworth Correctional Facility for the rape and aggravated intimidation of a witness, as reported by IACR's Dave Gibson. He was released and deported on February 19. On March 5, he was found in Sedgwick County, according to a media release from the United...

•The University of Kansas is offering a course on angry white men this upcoming fall semester. •The course will examine “manifestations of male anger” and the role of “dominant and subordinate masculinities.” The University of Kansas is offering a course on angry white men and the role of “dominant and subordinate masculinities” as they connect to “rights-based movements of women, people of color, homosexuals and trans individuals.” “Angry White Male Studies” (HUM 365), which is being offered during the fall 2019 semester, will explore “the deeper sources of this emotional state while evaluating recent manifestations of male anger” in Europe...

For several years The Gateway Pundit has reported on the plight of Sgt. Derrick Miller who sits in prison for life in Leavenworth, Kansas. Today we are pleased to announce that Sgt. Miller will soon be released from prison! U.S. Army National Guardsman Sgt. Derrick Miller... from Hagerstown, Maryland, was convicted in July of 2011 for the pre-meditated murder of an Afghan man in 2010. Sgt. Miller shot and killed an Afghan civilian following the civilian attempting to grab Sgt. Miller’s weapon during a period of intense questioning. The Afghan civilian was a suspected insurgent that was walking through Sgt....

Laird Wilcox, arguably the nation’s foremost hate crime hoax detector, has had a lot to keep himself busy lately. The Jussie Smollett hoax has finally forced the mainstream media to acknowledge what Wilcox and others paying attention have known for decades: The left has been shamelessly spinning politically useful hoaxes since the October Revolution a century ago. Wilcox’s 1994 book, ”Crying Wolf: Hate Crime Hoaxes in America,” is still the standard in the field. Wilcox is no crank. His research collection is housed at the Spencer Library at the University of Kansas. According to Wilcox, “80 percent of the events...

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Thursday ruled out a US Senate bid in 2020, saying he'll "be the secretary of state as long as President Trump gives (him) the chance to serve as a senior diplomat." "I love doing what I'm doing. I have great warriors around the world, trying to deliver for the American people," Pompeo said on NBC's "Today." "It's ruled out. I'm here. I'm loving it," he said.