Free Republic

To my dear friends at the Young Republican National Federation: Regretfully, I am resigning from my position as Communications Chair with the YRNF. With the practically fulfilled nomination of Donald Trump as our presidential candidate, I can no longer continue to carry out the duties of this position. My principles will not allow it. For now, I will continue to serve as International Outreach and in my South Carolina Chair position. I want to continue to work in the Republican cause, supporting conservative ideals and helping to elect down ballot candidates.

Federal prosecutors will seek the death penalty for a white man accused of killing nine black parishioners at a historic church in Charleston, South Carolina, last June, the U.S. Justice Department said on Tuesday. “The nature of the alleged crime and the resulting harm compelled this decision,” Attorney General Loretta Lynch said in a statement. Dylann Roof, 22, is accused of opening fire on June 17, 2015, during a Bible study session at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston. …

Sen. Lindsey Graham, one of Donald Trump's fiercest critics, is now calling on Republicans to support their presumptive nominee. Graham urged GOP donors at a private fundraiser Saturday in Florida to unite behind Trump's campaign and stressed the importance of keeping likely Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton from the White House. The fundraiser was hosted by former U.S. Ambassador to Portugal Al Hoffman, a former Republican National Committee finance chairman who also co-chaired Sen. John McCain's 2008 presidential bid. "He did say that we need to get behind him," Teresa Dailey, a prominent Florida Republican fundraiser who attended the private event,...

They’re coming for your home. Right now. I suggest you save it. I can guide you, but you must do exactly as I say. Except, this isn’t The Matrix. You’re no actor, like Keanu Reeves, playing a distraught programmer-hacker named “Neo.” Nor am I an actor, like Laurence Fishburne, playing your guide “Morpheus.” This is real life, baby. Your home or apartment—and the neighborhood in which you live—is under siege. “Agents”—sans black glasses and black business suits—who work for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) have written a new regulation called “Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing” (AFFH) that...

The Clinton Foundation, which has done a number of good works over the past 15 years, would appear to present an inherent conflict of interest should Mrs. Clinton become president, and possibly does even now with her as a candidate. Mrs. Clinton has suggested that if she is elected, the foundation — which collects contributions from wealthy interests, including foreign governments — would continue basically as is. “If Bill seeks to raise large sums of money from donors who also have an interest in U.S. policy, the public will rightly question whether the grants affected United States foreign policy,” said...

As Donald Trump, the eventual GOP presidential nominee, sifts through a handful of potential vice presidential picks, one is rising to the top in Washington and conservative circles: Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. "He does all the things that Trump needs," said a Trump advisor. While in the past it was key for candidates to consider a geographical teaming, with Trump the issue is energizing the Republican voting blocks with a running mate that could also provide savvy counsel once elected. Insiders said that Gingrich's assets are his close ties to conservatives and the pro-life movement and his years as...

TEL AVIV – A group that advocates a nuclear-free world and was identified earlier this month by the White House as central in helping to market the Iran nuclear deal to the news media has funded National Public Radio since 2005, an Associated Press investigation has revealed. Think tanks funded by the Ploughshares Fund include the Arms Control Association, Brookings Institution, and the Atlantic Council, the AP reported. Unmentioned by the AP is that the Ploughshares Fund is financed by billionaire GEORGE SOROS' OPEN SOCIETY INSTITUTE. The involvement of Ploughshares in selling the Iran agreement to the public was revealed...

It’s been nearly four years since a September 11, 2012, raid on the American diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, left four U.S. citizens dead, including an ambassador, and more than two years since the House of Representatives formed a special committee to investigate the attack. The House’s report on the events is coming soon – very soon. It just might not be the whole report. In an interview with Chuck Todd on “MTP Daily” Friday, committee chair Rep. Trey Gowdy, a Republican from South Carolina, said he plans to release the much sought-after draft in June. “We’re going to get...

The South Carolina legislature has banned abortion after 19 weeks. The Associated Press reports that the State House voted 72-29 in favor of the ban, while the Senate agreed to a compromise back in March. Pro-abortion lawmakers still disagree with the law, but conceded that the current bill that’s expected to be signed into law by Gov. Nikki Haley is the best they could get: The South Carolina Legislature passed a bill Tuesday prohibiting abortion after 19 weeks, becoming the 17th state to pass the restrictive ban. The legislation will now head to Gov. Nikki Haley's desk. The Republican said in...

The reports of the Bush dynasty’s collapse are greatly exaggerated; but now that Jeb’s disastrous campaign has finally reached its finale, it admittedly does feel like a distinct era of Republican Party politics is leaving the stage with him. (SNIP) The stump speech was for Rush Limbaugh; the budget was for the Chamber of Commerce. It worked for Poppy in ’88, and Dubya pulled it off twice. (SNIP) A sizable chunk of rank-and-file Republicans are wise to the bait and switch now; pandering to the Birchite wing of the Republican Party with dog-whistles won’t cut it. If you want to...

Sen. Lindsey Graham paused for five full seconds and stumbled over his words pondering the question: When is the last time he split with fellow Republican Sen. John McCain on a major issue? “I don’t know, let me think about it,” Graham (S.C.) finally said of his closest Senate friend. “There have been several. I just can’t recall right now, right off the top of my head.” Yet that’s what has happened in the wake of Donald Trump’s ascendancy to presumptive Republican nominee for president. In the Republican civil war over Trump, this is perhaps the most glaring example of...

COLUMBIA — A bill that would have made the Muslim world’s Sharia law an illegal defense in South Carolina courts was narrowly defeated in the state Senate on Wednesday, killing it for the year. The measure, sponsored by Charleston Republican Rep. Chip Limehouse, would have prevented an attorney from arguing that the laws of a client’s home country allow for certain actions in South Carolina. “I’m not surprised,” Limehouse said of the bill’s failure to advance. “The Senate can be the graveyard of many good ideas.” Limehouse said the measure was needed to curb the advancement of terrorist organizations in...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pkqn6wsrUfs

Charlie Rose and three of Barack Obama’s former speechwriters had a good laugh Monday night while joking about the president’s infamous, oft-repeated false promise that under Obamacare, “if you like your health care plan, you can keep your health care plan.” Obama said dozens of times in the run-up to the Affordable Care Act’s signing and enactment that no Americans who liked the insurance plan they had would lose it under the Affordable Care Act. In reality, millions of policies were canceled because of the law’s regulations, and Obama was forced to apologize to the American people. The infamous remark...

Trump had courted the hawkish Graham, a leading voice in the GOP on defense issues, for his input on national security policy, the senator said. But Trump turned on the charm for Graham, who called the conversation “very cordial [and] funny.” “He’s got a great sense of humor. He’s from New York, he obviously can take a punch,” Graham told reporters. “I wished him well and that’s where we are.”

South Carolina senator and former Republican presidential candidate Lindsey Graham has been a sharp and frequent critic of his party’s presumptive presidential nominee, Donald Trump, but on Wednesday he changed his tune slightly. While saying that he still cannot support Trump for president, Graham however said that he sees some good ideas in Trump’s proposals and believes the former reality television star could win the White House in November. But it won’t happen unless he changes the way he presents himself to the public, Graham added, because “crazy loses to crooked.”

Asked if he can support Trump, former Marco Rubio backer Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina answered: “Oh yeah.” “The country is better off having a Republican in the White House than having a Democrat in the White House,” Scott said. “I’m certain that the center-right construct is better for our country than the far liberal left that we have to contend with. So if you compare the right to left in this campaign it’s very clear that we are in a far better position” supporting Republicans and Trump. Still, Scott shot speculation from the Capitol Hill press that he...

COLUMBIA — Gov. Nikki Haley, one of the most popular figures in the Republican Party, hasn’t decided if she will attend the Republican National Convention in July. Haley said Monday she’s waiting until South Carolina’s 2016 legislative session ends four weeks from now before she decides whether she’ll take part July 18 to 21 in Cleveland. “We’ve got time,” Haley said. “That’s not until July.” If she skips the convention, Haley would be joining a growing list of Republican leaders who are opting out of attending — accentuating the deepening divide within the GOP as New York billionaire Donald Trump...

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCIV) — A Muslim student admitted to the Class of 2020 Corps of Cadets at The Citadel will not be allowed to wear a religious headscarf with the military college's standard uniform. In a statement released by Citadel President Lt. Gen. John Rosa, the decision to reject the request came from an "essential" need to standardize the appearance of the cadets regardless of their religious requirements. "This process reflects an initial relinquishing of self during which cadets learn the value of teamwork to function as a single unit. Upon graduation, The Citadel's graduates are prepared to enter a...

GREENSBORO — North Carolina’s two U.S. senators on Saturday called on Republicans to unite behind Donald Trump – but they had little to say about the presumptive GOP presidential nominee. Sen. Thom Tillis and Sen. Richard Burr spoke to the state Republican convention Saturday morning, offering pep talks for the coming campaigns. Tillis’ speech didn’t mention Trump by name, but he made his views clear on the Republican leaders who say they won’t support the nominee’s campaign. “Anybody who doesn’t support the Republican nominee ... is a RINO,” Tillis said, referring to the acronym “Republican In Name Only.”