Free Republic

The Internal Revenue Service may have been caught violating federal tax law: In October 2010, the agency sent a database on 501(c)(4) social-welfare groups containing confidential taxpayer information to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, according to documents obtained by a House panel. The information was transmitted in advance of former IRS official Lois Lerner’s meeting the same month with Justice Department officials about the possibility of using campaign-finance laws to prosecute certain non-profit groups. E-mails between Lerner and Richard Pilger, the director of the Justice Department’s election crimes branch, obtained through a subpoena to Attorney General Eric Holder, show Lerner asking about the format in which...

When Bowe Bergdahl was first released, the administration’s line seemed to be that he had suffered enough as a Taliban prisoner, and thus that the U.S. would not likely punish him as a deserter even if that’s what he turned out to be. But as the deal came in for strong criticism and evidence mounted as to Bergdahl’s betrayal, the line changed. We were assured by the military that Bergdahl’s conduct would be investigated and, if misconduct were found, he would be subject to the military justice system. In the meantime, we should withhold judgment. But Bill Otis predicts that,...

A field report made public through Wikileaks’ Afghan War Diaries disclosures provides a raw account of the first hours of the search for then-private Bowe Bergdahl, and includes initial Taliban and U.S. accounts of his behavior the night he was captured. “Geronimo reported a B Co missing soldier after he did not show up for the 0900 morning roll call at Mest OP, grid 42SVB 59236 47877 Yahya Khail District, Paktika. A full search was ordered,” the report begins, noting that “all remaining units had reported 100% accountability.” Forty minutes later, “Pathfinder and tracking dog team arrived at Mest OP...

One might think that when a President is reeling from a scandal (VA) that has all sides of the political spectrum screaming for heads to roll and for criminal charges against government employees, that his Administration would take a break and wait for the air to clear. But no, not when you are a true believer, and that is what Barack Obama has finally shown himself to all to be. In one very short period, the President has tossed the Israeli government over the side, pushed for radical environmental rules that will by the EPA’s own estimates lower the earth’s...

Judge Jeanine Pirro again calls for Obama’s impeachment — this time for the astonishing exchange of one (alleged) US deserter for five top Taliban leaders held at Guantanamo Bay. Nostrils flaring, she drives home one point after another, like nails in a coffin, as she builds her compelling case.

The leader of the Free World– Obama chews gum at 70th Anniversary of D-Day Ceremonies. Seventy years after thousands of brave men gave their lives for freedom and now we get this. Via Weasel Zippers:he French were not impressed with this disrespectful stunt. “No class at all” #Obama ac son chewing gum… Pas classe du tout #DDay70 — Laurent Caselli (@LaurentCaselli) June 6, 2014

Afghan presidential frontrunner escapes bomb attack KABUL, Afghanistan -- Two blasts struck the convoy of Afghan presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah as it left a campaign event at a wedding hall in the capital Kabul on Friday, killing at least six people but leaving the candidate himself unharmed, the Interior Ministry said. Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi told CBS News' Mukhtar Ahmad that 22 more people were wounded in the attack, which saw a suicide bomber detonate his explosives followed by a roadside bomb blast. In a televised statement shortly after the attack, Abdullah, the presidential front runner and former Foreign...

Woah! Former Army Sgt. Evan Buetow, the team leader the night Bowe Bergdahl initially disappeared, and five former Bergdahl platoon mates went on The Kelly File on Thursday to discuss the latest Obama scandal. Former Sgt. Buetow: He walked away in the middle of Afghanistan on the farthest front lines you could be on to go seek out the Taliban. Megyn Kelly: Do you feel that was an affront to you, that to say his service was with honor and… Beutow: Saying that’s honorable. Saying that walking away, whatever his agenda was with trying to connect with the Taliban, explain...

President Obama, facing rising bipartisan criticism over his handling of the Taliban-for-Bergdahl prisoner swap, dug in his heels Thursday and declared he would make "absolutely no apologies" for bringing an American soldier home -- as his administration stepped up its defense of the controversial deal. The president fielded a question on the Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl controversy during a press conference on Thursday in Brussels, Belgium, alongside British Prime Minister David Cameron. Amid signals that the administration plans to aggressively challenge critics of the deal, the president brushed off the pushback as business as usual in Washington. "I'm never surprised by...

“I’m not young enough to know everything,” Oscar Wilde observed, as if reflecting on the Great Commencement Speaker Flap of 2014. However, Jimi Hendrix was young when he offered advice that today’s college students should heed — “knowledge speaks, but wisdom listens.” Unmindful that earned wisdom is derived from asking the right questions — not identifying the wrong answers — too many students graduate into a complex and conflict-riddled world without the insights that come from the clash of opposing viewpoints. Is it surprising then, that so many intractable problems plague our society, like military veterans dying from government-provided health...

A PUTATIVE FIRST PERSON ACCOUNT OF EVENTS SURROUNDING BERGDAHL’S DISAPPEARANCE IN AFGHANISTAN JUNE 4, 2014 COACH COLLINS By Kevin “Coach” Collins The information contained in this report comes from an obscure website and the narrator is not revealed. Readers are, of course, free to disregard this unsworn testimony, yet those who have served in our military will recognize the unmistakable tone of truth in its message. Here is the unedited text of the original article. “On June 30, 2009, Bowe Bergdahl went missing in Afghanistan. My unit within the US Special Operations Command along with a select few SOF units,were...

Deputy national security advisor Tony Blinken struggled to cover for his boss Susan Rice on Tuesday, backtracking from her contention that Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl “served with honor and distinction” in the face of tough questions from NBC reporter Andrea Mitchell. Mitchell confronted Blinken over Rice’s Sunday claim that Bergdahl “served with honor and distinction” — an assertion almost immediately disproven by scores of Bergdahl’s comrades and official Pentagon reports, which show the soldier abandoned his post and may have been seeking to join the Taliban. “Why did Susan Rice say he served with honor and distinction?” she asked. “It...

Five years ago, I publicly raised questions about Bowe Bergdahl’s desertion from Blackfoot Company, 1-501 Infantry (Airborne), 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division.A few weeks after his so-called “capture” in late June 2009, three conflicting accounts had surfaced: U.S. officials told the Associated Press Bergdahl had “walked off” the base with three Afghans; the Taliban claimed on its website that “a drunken American soldier had come out of his garrison” and into their arms; and Bergdahl claimed in his Taliban “hostage video” that he had “lagged behind a patrol” before being captured.I asked on my blog: Were the...

Thank me. Thank me so very much. Even though this is ostensibly a graduation speech it is really about me. My ratings have been slipping of late and my media advisors said a photo-op in Bagram and a speech at West Point will boost the polls by about 3 points. Among you is the first all-female command team, which I mention as an accomplishment, since there’s nothing else I can boast of. You are the first class to graduate since 9/11 who may not be sent into combat in Iraq or Afghanistan though you will probably see action elsewhere, as...

As one of the characters in “Anchorman” observed of its bloody brawl between news teams: Boy, that escalated quickly. I mean, that really got out of hand fast. Two days after President Obama broke the law to arrange an insanely reckless swap of five incredibly dangerous Taliban terrorists for captive American Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, virtually every aspect of the deal has blown up in Obama’s face, and the whole thing has soured into another five-star scandal for an Administration riddled with them. Maybe it’s the accumulated weight of Obama fatigue, or the sheer stupidity and arrogance the President displayed in...

I assume this has been reported before but if, like me, you’re coming to the story only recently, it’s big news. Apparently, the military had — and, maybe, has — hard evidence from the man himself that he went AWOL deliberately. Which would be worse: If Obama didn’t know about the note before making the swap, or if he did know and went ahead with it anyway? Sometime after midnight on June 30, 2009, Pfc. Bowe Bergdahl left behind a note in his tent saying he had become disillusioned with the Army, did not support the American mission in Afghanistan...

" John Ekdahl @JohnEkdahl Follow If confirmed, this would be a bit of a game-changer. 9:52 AM - 3 Jun 2014" That’s putting it mildly. If this report from Fox News national security correspondent Jennifer Griffin is true, the Bergdahl affair just got a whole lot stickier: "Jenna Lee ✔ @Jennafnc Follow Great reporting from @JenGriffinFNC - new report: Berghdal left behind a note renouncing American citizenship...developing... 9:43 AM - 3 Jun 2014" "David Shor @IshYimini Follow OMG. https://twitter.com/jennafnc/status/473852493286633472 … he left us behind. This is a game changer. He should be happy we didn't drone him. 9:53 AM -...

Qatar has moved five Afghan Taliban prisoners freed in exchange for a U.S. soldier to a residential compound and will let them move freely in the country, a senior Gulf official said on Tuesday, a step likely to be scrutinized by Washington. U.S. officials have referred to the release of the Islamist militants as a transfer and said they would be subject to certain restrictions in Qatar. One of the officials said that would include a minimum one-year ban on them traveling outside of Qatar as well as monitoring of their activities. "All five men received medical checks and they...

Breitbart News had the opportunity to speak with Bill Roggio, managing editor of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies' The Long War Journal, about the ongoing debacle over the exchange of five senior Taliban commanders for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl. Roggio has been praised for being “the best-in-class on situation awareness, especially of the Af-Pak theater.” He was embedded within the U.S. Marine Corps and the U.S. Army as a reporter in both Afghanistan and Iraq, and he also served in the Army from 1991 to 1997. He provided Breitbart News with valuable feedback: Breitbart News: What is your interpretation of...

I mean, we shouldn't have a "rush to judgment" and pre-praise him...right? Hailey, Idaho Mayor, Fritz Haemmerle released a written statement Monday urging people not to judge Bowe Bergdahl until all the facts are in, given that there are opposing sides to this issue. Does that also mean that since there are opposing sides that Bergdahl shouldn't be pre-praised either until all the facts are in? But how can all of the facts come in if Obama is going to hamper an investigation from occuring?