Free Republic

Is the former campaign adviser accused of misrepresenting his subjective state of mind, not objective reality? Congress should be taking a very hard look at the prosecution of George Papadopoulos. To these eyes, the harder one looks, the more the Papadopoulos case appears to be much ado about nothing. That is no small thing: The “much ado” here is a purported Trump–Russia conspiracy to subvert a presidential election. There has always been something fishy about the charge filed by Special Counsel Robert Mueller against Papadopoulos, who was a green-as-grass 28-year-old when he made the big primary-season move from Ben Carson–campaign...

Judicial Watch Sues to Expose DOJ FISA Warrant Abuses Judicial Watch Wants Full Accounting of Hillary Clinton Emails on Anthony Weiner’s Laptop Border Region Exposed by Judicial Watch Years Ago for ISIS Cells Finally Gets Fence Judicial Watch Sues to Expose DOJ FISA Warrant Abuses Just how much did the Department of Justice abuse the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) when it decided to go after Donald Trump? And what is the DOJ hiding from Congress (and the American people) about this scandal that is worse than Watergate? We are determined to find out. Judicial Watch just filed a...

Former Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Andrew C. McCarthy has been one of the most important voices analyzing the Spygate story from the very beginning. His byline at National Review has been essential reading and his arguments regarding how the FBI and DOJ have operated in this escapade versus what the law, the Constitution and Justice Department protocols dictate have been factual and unassailable. He appeared on my radio program on WMAL in Washington DC Thursday to refute Trey Gowdy and James Clapper’s argument that the Trump campaign was not actually investigated and there was...

We are now officially in Hillary-in-Wonderland world . . . A senior aide to Hillary Clinton has suggested that the FBI would be happy to discover that Hillary's infamous email server was wiped--and not with a cloth. Interviewed by John Heilemann on today's With All Due Respect, Jennifer Palmieri--Communications Director for Hillary's campaign--insisted that finding that the server was thoroughly scrubbed is "the outcome they [the FBI] would want." View the video here.

Clinton aide called Comey 'a bad choice' for FBI director, leaked emails reveal WASHINGTON ? A senior aide to Hillary Clinton privately dismissed FBI Director James Comey as "a bad choice" in October 2015, according to hacked emails published Thursday. The blunt assessment foreshadowed the dramatic tension that has escalated between Comey and the Democratic presidential candidate in the final days before the election. Clinton communications director Jennifer Palmieri forwarded to colleagues a news article in which the FBI director suggested that crime could be rising because police officers were becoming less aggressive as a result of the "Ferguson effect,"...

The 17-month Inspector General review of the DOJ/FBI investigation of the Hillary Clinton email is soon to be made public, perhaps as early as tomorrow. This IG inquiry is specifically looking into whether the FBI investigation was corrupted by political influence in their determination of the Clinton outcome. The preliminary investigative outcomes speak for themselves. This series of video reports provides background on the potential crimes, the subsequent coverup, and the corruption that infested the 2016 Department of Justice and the FBI.

Prosecutors in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia recently interviewed former FBI Director James Comey as part of a criminal investigation into his former deputy, Andrew McCabe. McCabe was accused by the Justice Department's inspector general in April of having lied to federal investigators and Comey on four occasions about improperly authorizing the disclosure of sensitive information to the media. The inspector general, Michael Horowitz, referred the matter to the D.C. U.S. Attorney's Office to determine whether McCabe should face criminal charges. Lying to federal investigators can carry a prison sentence of up to five years. In...

There is no indication of collusion, but there is evidence Rod Rosenstein’s appointment of a special counsel violated the Constitution, federal regulations, and his authority. After more than one year investigating claims of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, Robert Mueller’s special counsel team has exposed exactly zero evidence of misconduct involving the president in the run-up to the 2016 election. This absence of proof has prompted calls for an end to the special counsel investigation. What should be garnering our attention, though, is not that there is no indication of collusion, but that there is evidence Deputy Attorney...

Gowdy claimed that the FBI's use of spies against the Trump campaign was perfectly proper, but multiple reports indicate he never even saw the full records Congress subpoenaed on the matter. Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) recently suggested the FBI did nothing wrong when it used at least one government informant to secretly collect information on Donald Trump’s presidential campaign. Public reports indicate, however, that Gowdy never even reviewed the relevant documents on the matter subpoenaed by Congress. In fact, a spokeswoman for Gowdy told The Federalist that the congressman doesn’t even know what documents and records were subpoenaed by the...

Top-level people in the world of intelligence and independent journalism report that House Oversight chairman Trey Gowdy effectively blocked investigations into the FBI spying on the President Donald Trump campaign. This is not the first time Gowdy, who endorsed Marco Rubio in the presidential primaries, has shut down an investigation on behalf of the establishment. But the fact that many traditional conservative outlets carry water and run interference for Gowdy, painting him as a hero, makes it harder to call Gowdy out. Thomas Paine, who represents the team of connected pro-America journalists and operatives at True Pundit, revealed Gowdy’s nefariousness.

WASHINGTON — James B. Comey, the former F.B.I. director, confirms in his new book that the bureau had already begun a criminal investigation focused on Hillary Clinton’s handling of her email in 2015 when her campaign and its allies excoriated journalists for reporting that such an inquiry was being contemplated. The New York Times reported in July 2015 that two inspectors general had made a criminal referral to the Justice Department recommending an investigation into whether Mrs. Clinton had mishandled sensitive information by using a private email server as secretary of state. Mrs. Clinton’s campaign, relying on a statement from...

FBI spy Stefan Halper interacted with the media multiple times, according to a Cambridge researcher Former senior FBI officials said the interactions could be a cause for concern for the FBI, one calling them “highly irregular” Halper was reportedly an anonymous source on reports surrounding allegations about Michael Flynn’s relations with a Russian national While working as a spy for the FBI, Stefan Halper interacted on multiple occasions with the media, both on the record and, according to a University of Cambridge researcher, as an anonymous background source.

Donald Trump got bad reviews in the press — no surprise — when he announced that Rudy Giuliani, the former New York City mayor and federal prosecutor, would join his legal team in the Trump-Russia special counsel investigation. The 74-year-old Giuliani is not as sharp as he was, some said, and isn’t really a practising lawyer any more. How can you effectively defend the President by slipping out of fatcat dinners at New York steakhouses for quick hits on Fox News? That was then. Now, it appears hiring Giuliani was a key part of a new and effective Trump strategy....

The attorney behind a political action committee backing President Donald Trump is accusing the Maine Democratic Party and its counterparts in 32 other states of engaging in an elaborate money laundering scheme to benefit Hillary Clinton during the 2016 election. Dan Backer, attorney for the Committee to Defend the President, in December filed a complaint with the Federal Elections Commission alleging $84 million in illegal donations. But he has since sued the FEC in federal court in Washington, D.C., in an attempt to compel the notoriously plodding election law enforcement agency to investigate a fundraising agreement that involved most Democratic...

Former AG Eric Holder calls Trump a “very shallow man” because he thought Hillary Clinton was going to win. The pot shouldn’t call the kettle Black! The shallow man is the one making the statement who committed a crime and wasn’t prosecuted for it under the Obama/Clinton administration, because the birds of the same feather have been flocking together. The danger Holder saw in Trump being president is coming out in the news right now! Deep State Media Trying to Set Up Trump and the Fast & Furious Eric Holder – Eric Holder: President Trump ‘Unwise’ To Attack Sessions Over...

President Trump's fixation on “no collusion” has long belied this reality of the Russia investigation: The obstruction of justice half of the probe appears significantly more troublesome for him personally. It's also likely to be much bigger than we realized. That's the big, reinforcing takeaway from the New York Times's scoop Tuesday night that Trump asked Attorney General Jeff Sessions to un-recuse himself in the Russia probe. It's merely the latest clear example of Trump trying to control or otherwise sway the people who could be in charge of his own fate. And it underlines the fact that he had...

Former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort's friends have started a legal defense fund to help pay for the longtime lobbyist's legal bills as he faces multiple criminal charges. The fund, created by unnamed friends of Manafort, aims to "support the Manafort family as they battle false allegations, government leaks and smear campaigns related to the proceedings brought against him by the Office of Special Counsel," according to an announcement obtained by BuzzFeed News. The announcement reportedly says Manafort is "struggling" to pay legal bills incurred during his court battles against the charges filed against him by special counsel Robert Mueller,...

Fox News's Andrew Napolitano said late Tuesday there is “no evidence” to support President Trump’s “Spygate” theory that the FBI planted spies during his 2016 presidential campaign. Napolitano, the news network's senior judicial analyst, said on "The Story With Martha MacCallum" that Trump’s lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, is making a “baseless” claim. “The allegations by Mayor Giuliani over the weekend, which would lead to us believe that the Trump people think that the FBI had an undercover agent who inveigled his way into the campaign and was there as a spy on the campaign, seem to be baseless,” Napolitano said. There...

Robert Mueller’s fishing expedition has been going on for more than a year. Now, Americans are telling MSNBC — much to the network’s consternation — that it may be time for Mueller to put up the “Gone Fishin'” sign on the special counsel’s door.A new poll released by MSNBC shows a majority of Americans think Mueller’s investigation is a “witchhunt,” much to the surprise of the people at the network.“The Robert Mueller investigation has yielded many indictments and convictions, but a recent poll shows most Americans believe Donald Trump’s pronouncement that the Russia probe is a baseless ‘witchhunt,'” the network...

Hillary Clinton is either the gift that keeps on giving or else like houseguests who overstayed their welcome, depending on your perspective. For Republicans, her continued presence in the public eye, whining and complaining about the election, providing a new excuse each week, is an electoral gift, as she is one of the faces of the modern Democratic Party. Along with Maxine Waters and Nancy Pelosi, these three are the witches of Macbeth, circled around a CNN microphone chanting, "Double, double, toil and trouble, Trump's a pig, stole the election, and should be impeached." Sorry for the non-rhyme; maybe Jesse...