Free Republic

Who is to blame for the impeachment of President Trump? It has to be either Trump or the House that impeached him. Or maybe a combination of the two.But the Washington Post’s Dana Milbank claims that, somehow, the “mess” is Chief Justice Roberts’s fault. Milbank is the Post’s clown prince. He’ll say anything, usually with as much snark as he can muster, to try to score a point against one of his boogeymen — a class that includes anyone who stands against his leftism.In this case, Milbank has outdone himself.Why is the U.S. Chief Justice responsible for the impeachment mess?...

The latest impeachment related story — a non-story in my view — is about a tape recording in which President Trump (according to reports) instructed associates to fire Marie Yovanovitch, the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine. The recording apparently was made at a dinner party in April 2018 by Igor Fruman, one of Rudy Giuliani’s main Ukraine operatives (along with Lev Parnas). Yovanovitch wasn’t fired until May 2019. Thus, there is less to this story than meets the eye. Nor did much meet the eye to begin with. According to reports, Trump demanded that Yovanovitch be fired after he heard she...

Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.), the House Democrats’ lead impeachment manager, argued against the Senate Republicans’ proposed trial rules Tuesday by analogizing the impeachment process to a criminal trial. As a former federal prosecutor, he knows exactly how disingenuous that analogy is. Federal criminal trials are governed by the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. One might argue that the entire analogy falls at the outset, as the House Democrats’ articles of impeachment do not claim that President Trump committed a crime. But overlooking that minor point, the House’s procedure failed every test those rules establish. The latest Trump impeachment trial...

When is the 24 hour clock finished on the opening statements?

One of the passengers on the Ukrainian jet downed by Iranian missiles earlier this month was a businesswoman who was the boss of two companies cited in a UN report for links to the shadowy arms trade supplying the protracted civil war in Libya. Olena Malakhova, 38, had been allocated a place in the second row of Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 from Tehran to Kiev, according to a seating plan of the aircraft seen by CNN. She was one of only two Ukrainian passengers on the plane, which crashed shortly after takeoff from the Iranian capital on January 8,...

John is trying to resolve it now.

A federal judge on Thursday sentenced a Libyan militant to more than 19 years in prison for his role in the 2012 Benghazi attacks that killed four Americans, including the U.S. ambassador. A jury convicted Mustafa al-Imam last year of conspiring to support the extremist militia that launched the fiery assaults on the U.S. compounds but deadlocked on 15 other counts. The attacks, aimed at killing American personnel, prompted a political fracas in which Republicans accused the Obama administration of a bungled response. Al-Imam was sentenced to a total of 236 months behind bars. He is the second militant convicted...

Joe Biden has consistently denied that there was anything shady about his son Hunter's job at Burisma. It has become increasingly clear that there was a corrupt arrangement going on, and it's also obvious that Joe Biden knows this, which is why he's repeatedly denied any knowledge of Hunter's business dealings. Biden is still repeating the claim that everything was above board with Hunter's Burisma position. “No one has suggested my son did anything wrong,” The Washington Post noted that earlier this week that Biden was aggressively defending Hunter, referring to him as “my only surviving son” in reference his...

A new study has found the worms excrete plastic and its toxic additives with no residue in their bodies. The humble mealworm might be able to help with our plastic problem. These tiny insects are commonly raised for animal feed and are slowly entering the human diet as a more ethical, low-carbon form of protein. They are known to eat almost anything, including plastic, but researchers from Stanford University wanted to see what would happen when mealworms were given polystyrene foam containing toxic fire retardant chemicals. Building on earlier research, they were curious about whether the chemicals would remain in...

WASHINGTON -- The Trump administration on Friday threatened California with a potential loss of federal health care funds over the state’s requirement that insurance plans cover abortions. The announcement, timed to coincide with the anti-abortion March for Life in the nation’s capital, came hours before President Donald Trump was scheduled to address the marchers in person, becoming the first president to do so. Religious conservatives are a core element of Trump’s political coalition, and his administration has gone out of its way to deliver on their demands. The federal Health and Human Services Department said it is issuing a “notice...

SNIP “We both have a dream in life and that is to get Gayle to smoke weed,” Winfrey said of her best friend, while talking with Schumer on a recent episode of her podcast “Oprah’s Super Soul Conversations.” Winfrey explained that as long as she’s known the “CBS This Morning” co-host, King has stayed away from the hard stuff. “In all the years that I’ve been besties with Gayle and that’s since 1976, and I’ve been with Stedman [Graham] since 1685, in all those years neither he nor Gayle has ever had a sip of anything,” she said, adding that...

Just got my ticket for the President's rally scheduled for next month in New Hampshire. This will be my third rally...first one 8/6/16,second one 8/15/19. Hope it's not too cold...I had to wait in line for 7 hours before being allowed into the building last year!

After declining in the first two weeks of the year, flu activity jumped in the week ending Jan. 18, according to the CDC's most recent FluView report. Six things to know: 1. The CDC estimates flu has caused 15 million illnesses, 140,000 hospitalizations and 8,200 deaths this season. 2. More than half of positive flu tests confirmed in public health laboratories have occurred in Americans under age 25. Only 12 percent involved adults age 65 and older. This trend has led to high levels of outpatient cases and lower levels of flu-related hospitalizations. 3. Thirty-five states experienced high flu-like illness...

Perhaps Serena Williams, now 38, will win a 24th Grand Slam title someday. And maybe Coco Gauff, still just 15, never will earn her first major championship. Sure felt, though, as if a generational shift was being signaled Friday at the Australian Open, with a pair of monumentally significant third-round results hours apart in the same stadium: a surprising first-week loss by Williams, then a historic victory by Gauff. First, Williams faltered down the stretch for her earliest exit at Melbourne Park in 14 years, a 6-4, 6-7 (2), 7-5 loss to 27th-seeded Wang Qiang of China. It pushed Williams'...

Interesting comment passed along that the Democrat House managers 24 hours of babble in their impeachment scam makes the Senate like a bartender. A guy comes in the bar, orders a beer and proceeds to tell the bartender about his troubles. After a couple of beers the bartender hears it all over again. Another beer or two and, again, the same story. Others in the bar move away as they’re tired of the same old story. The bartender is asking himself, “When is this guy (Schiff) going to leave?” Yet, another beer, same story.

Svetlana Lukhova has been saying it. Rudi Giuliani has been saying it. Follow the money. One person who has been following the money is Peter Schweizer. He has written about the "Biden 5" who have scored major financial scores while Joe Biden was Vice President. Schweizer said, “In the case of Joe Biden, for example, we show you how five of his family members cashed in while he was vice president, who was paying them, what they were being paid for, the lack of any skill or background they had in that field, the fact that they were scoring these...

Tim Graham @TimJGraham Shortly after 3 pm Eastern this afternoon, @AoSHQ noted Stephanopoulos was shown on camera making the slit-the-throat "kill" gesture to cut away from Trump lawyer Jay Sekulow taking press questions. These guys are NOT going to like hearing the Trump side of this trial. 12.4K 8:39 PM - Jan 23, 2020 Twitter Ads info and privacy 8,373 people are talking about this __________________________________________________________________ George Stephanopoulos Makes Throat-Slitting Gesture to Cut Away from Jay Sekulow “We’ve got lawyers that will be put forward when our side of the case goes that represents multiple schools of thought on what...

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) says he will vote against a motion to subpoena Hunter Biden if a majority of colleagues agree next week that additional witnesses and documents need to be summoned for President Trump’s impeachment trial. If Republican colleagues introduce a motion to subpoena former Vice President Joe Biden’s son, Graham said “I vote against it.” Graham’s opposition essentially kills the threat that Republicans have wielded in recent weeks that if Democrats win a motion to hear from additional witnesses such as former national security adviser John Bolton and acting White House chief of staff Mick...

Disturbing images of Wuhan residents dropping unresponsive to the floor have emerged on Instagram following the diseased Chinese city's coronavirus lockdown. Wuhan has been branded a “zombieland” by frantic locals after Chinese authorities told residents they are not allowed to leave yesterday morning. Pictures from inside the city paint an apocalyptic picture as medics patrol in hazmat suits and gas masks. In an upload direct from Wuhan, a man can be seen lying unresponsive on the floor as concerned individuals look on

3 corpses left on the floor for almost 12 hours in Wuhan Red Cross hospital Disturbing new video shows dead bodies piling up in the hallways of a hospital in China, as the coronavirus outbreak continues to spiral out of control. The images from inside Red Cross Hospital in Wuhan, the city at the epicenter of the deadly viral outbreak, show covered bodies lining corridors as staffers and patients walk about with masks on their faces. The video, which has been widely shared on social media, was verified by Storyful on Friday. Officials in Wuhan are scrambling to build a...