Free Republic

America’s adversaries know there is “no worse enemy” than the United States under President Donald Trump’s leadership, assessed Sebastian Gorka, host of the America First radio show and former deputy assistant to the president, offering his remarks in an interview on SiriusXM’s Breitbart News Saturday with host Matt Boyle. Gorka reflected on his work with Trump’s presidential transition team. “One of the first things we did on the official presidential transition team working for General Flynn, that great American patriot, and after the election, we were authorized — as transition teams are — to reach out to heads of state...

A high-ranking pro-Iranian militia commander was fatally shot in Iraq Saturday night, according to a Daily Mail report citing local media. Taleb Abbas Ali al-Saedi, a top leader of the Popular Mobilization Forces, was killed in Karbala, a city in central Iraq, by “unidentified gunmen,” the outlet reported. Popular Mobilization Forces is an umbrella organization of about 40 paramilitary groups mostly associated with Iran-backed Shiite militias. The organization is one of the major forces fighting ISIS in Iraq and alongside troops in Syria loyal to President Bashar al-Assad. ...

JACKSON, Miss. (WDAM) - The Mississippi Supreme Court affirmed the 12-year sentence of a man convicted for having a cellphone in jail on Thursday. Willie Nash was originally booked in the Newton County Jail for a misdemeanor charge when he asked a jailer to charge his smartphone. The jailer confiscated the phone and brought it to the sheriff’s deputy in charge. According to court documents, Nash originally denied the phone was his. The deputy sheriff unlocked the phone using a code Nash provided and found pictures of Nash and text messages sent that day confirming his location as “in jail.”

Devin Nunes tells @dailycaller it is "shocking and inexplicable" that the FISA Court picked David Kris to oversee FBI's FISA reforms. Kris has been entirely dismissive of allegations that FBI misled the court to surveil Carter Page.

President Trump issued a statement of support in Persian to protesting Iranians on Saturday after anti-regime protests broke out in Tehran and other locations in Iran in response to the government finally admitted to shooting down a passenger jet with 176 mostly Iranian passengers just after the plane took off from Tehran’s airport the night Iran launched missiles at U.S. forces in Iraq. The protesters called for the end of the Islamist regime. “To the brave and suffering Iranian people: I have stood with you since the beginning of my presidency and my government will continue to stand with you....

Virginia Democrats have full control of the state government, and they are making the most of it. Less than two days after Virginia opened the 2020 legislative session, newly empowered lawmakers voted to pass a total ban on guns at the state capitol and legislative office buildings. Previously, those with a valid concealed handgun permit were allowed to bring a gun into the Capitol. Weapons were banned only in the Senate gallery and the governor's office. "Our focus is to keep everybody safe," said Democratic House speaker Eileen Filler-Corn. "These are policies and rules that should have passed a long,...

More than a dozen Saudi servicemen training at US military installations will be expelled from the United States after a review that followed the deadly shooting last month at a Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Florida, multiple sources told CNN. The Saudis are not accused of aiding the 21-year-old Saudi Air Force second lieutenant who killed three American sailors in the December shooting, two sources said, but some are said to have connections to extremist movements, according to a person familiar with the situation. A number are also accused of possessing child pornography, according to a defense official and the...

A 21-year-old Aurora man has been identified as one of the U.S. soldiers killed Saturday by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan. Miguel Villalon was in a vehicle that was struck by an IED in the Kandahar providence. The City of Aurora said Villalon was an East Aurora High School graduate and proudly served in the U.S. Army. Villalon is the second Chicago area service member to die overseas in the last week. On Sunday, 23-year-old Army Specialist Henry Mayfield Jr. of Hazel Crest was killed during an attack in Kenya. Aurora released the following statement as they mourn the loss...

CNN will pay $76 million in back pay to a group of former video contractors whose contract was terminated in 2003, according to a settlement signed Friday. The money, which will go to more than 300 former contractors, is the largest monetary remedy in the history of the NLRB and is more money than the board typically collects in an entire year, according to its news release. The workers were represented by two union locals of the National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians-Communications Workers of America when CNN terminated the contract. The news channel then hired nonunion employees to...

SACRAMENTO — California has been slowly erasing legal immigration status as a requirement for medical coverage under the state’s healthcare program for low-income residents, allowing children and, this month, young adults living in the U.S. illegally to enroll. Now, Democratic lawmakers expect Gov. Gavin Newsom to embrace an effort to include seniors without legal status in the state’s Medi-Cal program — either in his new state budget or with his signature on legislation. Newsom will send the Legislature a full state spending plan this week and is expected to unveil it Friday. State Sen. Maria Elena Durazo (D-Los Angeles) said...

The officer was on-board a flight to the U.S. from Germany. Officials say, on Tuesday morning, a passenger on an American Airlines flight tried to breach the plane’s cockpit.

FLOYD CO., Va. (WSET) -- Floyd County is responding to potential new state gun laws with a militia muster call. The Unorganized Militia of Floyd County will muster at the Floyd County Recreational Park at noon on Saturday, January 18. The group says the purpose of the call is to "preserve tranquility, peace and civil order" with a group of volunteers that will come together in case a full militia is needed to "defend the rights and liberties" of the residents of Floyd County.

      A FEW GOOD WORDS The accuracy of lie detector tests has never been completely decided upon. Although it is inadmissible as evidence in court, even the proponents of lie detector testing agree that it is not always accurate. Among the first lie detectors, considered by some to be the most accurate, was the donkey's tail! That's right, in ancient India, a suspect would be escorted to a darkened room. Only three would be present: the accused, the interrogator, and a donkey. The person being questioned was told that the donkey would bray if his responses were...

SAN MARCOS, Texas — Michael R. Bloomberg on Saturday did not rule out spending a billion dollars of his own money on the 2020 presidential race, even if he does not win the Democratic nomination, and said he would mobilize his well-financed political operation to help Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren win in November if either is the party nominee, despite their sharp policy differences. Mr. Bloomberg’s plans would effectively create a shadow campaign operation for the general election, complete with hundreds of organizers in key battleground states and a robust digital operation, ready to be inherited by the party...

High-level Popular Mobilization Forces leader Taleb Abbas Ali al-Saedi was shot dead late on Saturday in Karbala, a city about 62 miles southwest of Baghdad. Local media reported that al-Saedi was 'assassinated' by unknown gunmen, but no further details about the shooters were immediately available. Al-Saedi was the commander of the Karbala Brigades, a unit within the Iran-backed Shiite PMF umbrella group.

Sky News journalist Haynes reported from Kiev, Ukraine, that according to her sources Mr Macaire “was arrested, briefly, and then released”. The British embassy in Tehran has reduced staff levels but the ambassador and his team are still in the country. Ambassador Macaire has been in post since March 2018. The Mirror reports that Iranian media Tasnim News Agency claimed that the 53-year-old diplomat had been accused of inciting protesters and was arrested outside of Amir Kabir University. Iranian media claimed he was detained for several hours before being released. Sky News reports that the ambassador had been attending a...

Rep. Doug Collins apologized Friday for saying that Democrats are “in love with terrorists” and mourn Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani more than they “mourn for our Gold Star families.” In a five-part tweet posted Friday morning, the Georgia Republican, one of President Trump’s staunchest defenders during the House impeachment inquiry, walked back the remarks he made Wednesday during an interview with Fox Business host Lou Dobbs. “Let me be clear: I do not believe Democrats are in love with terrorists, and I apologize for what I said earlier this week. The comment I made on Wednesday evening was in response...

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR), a staunch ally of President Donald Trump, told Breitbart News on Saturday that he thinks “Trump Derangement Syndrome” is fueling the fervor among Democrats and the establishment media who are criticizing President Trump’s decision to eliminate Iranian Quds Force terrorist leader Qasem Soleimani. “First and regrettably, the Democrats and the media really do suffer from something like Trump Derangement Syndrome,” Cotton said when asked why the media and left are so upset about this. “They can look at something that is unequivocally good, like removing a terrorist mastermind from the battlefield, and if Donald Trump did...

A former Marine allegedly impersonated a security team member for Marine One, the helicopter that transports President Trump on short trips, and breached two checkpoints last week at Palm Beach International Airport, according to authorities. Brandon Magnan, 37, is charged with false personation of an officer or employee of the United States, according to federal court documents. The helicopter unit, known as HMX-1, takes Trump to and from his residence in Florida. Trump was spending his winter vacation at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach at the time of the incident. Magnan approached a security checkpoint near where the helicopter was housed...

Iran confessed to shooting down a Ukrainian passenger jet because it couldn't keep lying about it, a foreign diplomat said. In an abrupt reversal for a regime at first intent on evading responsibility for the tragedy, Tehran admitted early Saturday that its Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps accidentally shot down the jet. “They understood that they can’t cover up anymore,” a Central European diplomat told the Washington Examiner. Iranian officials initially blamed the crash on a mechanical error, while Western intelligence officials said that a surface-to-air missile shot down the plane. When local authorities bulldozed the crash site this week, the...