Free Republic

White House hopeful Bernie Sanders on Friday demanded Russia "stay out" of American elections after reports emerged that Moscow was interfering in the presidential race to help the Democratic frontrunner's campaign. Sanders told reporters that US officials briefed him "about a month ago" on Russian efforts to interfere in the 2020 race. The Washington Post reported Friday the officials told Sanders that Moscow is seeking to help his presidential campaign, although it was unclear what form the assistance to Sanders has taken. Officials also briefed Trump about the interference, according to the Post. "Unlike Donald Trump, I do not consider...

The FBI arrested suspected hacker Arthur Dam in connection with cyberattacks he allegedly carried out during the 2018 Democratic congressional primary that ultimately nominated former Rep. Katie Hill, D-Calif., who he was found to have ties to, according to a criminal complaint filed on Wednesday. Special Agent Elliot Weideman, who works with the Computer Intrusion Squad in the Bureau's Los Angeles field office, accused Dam of "intentionally damaging and attempting to damage a protected computer." He also claimed Dam was involved in four cyberattacks that disrupted the website of Hill's primary opponents. One of the victims saw their website go...

California health officials said Friday that 7,600 people who returned to the state after visiting China during the outbreak of the new virus have been asked to quarantine themselves at home this month as health officials try to stop the spread of the virus. The people returned to the U.S. on or after Feb. 2 and are being asked to monitor their health, stay home and limit interactions with others, the California Department of Public Health said in a statement. The department said that number excludes those who visited China’s Hubei province, where the disease known as COVID-19 originated. Americans...

Flanked by members of the famed "Miracle on Ice" U.S. Olympic hockey team, President Trump celebrated the team's captivating 1980 performance at a campaign rally on Friday. Forty years removed from defeating the Russian hockey team in the semi-finals of the 1980 Olympic Games, Trump honored the U.S. team's historic victory by bringing captain Mike Eruzione and coach Herb Brooks's daughter onstage during a campaign stop in Las Vegas. The team stood behind Trump as the president ran through his stump speech and lashed out at the fake news media. The players wore red Make America Great Again hats and...

EU leaders were facing budget chaos today at a bruising first summit since Brexit as four wealthy nations refused to fill the gap left by Britain's departure. The 27 leaders reached a stalemate after arguing into the early hours in Brussels, with talks on the trillion-euro budget resuming for a second day today and this afternoon there was still deadlock. The UK's departure has left the bloc with a €75billion (£63billion) hole in its finances over seven years and the budget battle has exposed bitter divisions between EU members. Germany wants to spend more on climate change while France is...

Oakland Police Department Chief Anne Kirkpatrick has been fired after three years on the job, the Oakland Police Commission confirmed late Thursday. The decision to remove Kirkpatrick as the city's top cop was unanimous and was made during a closed-session meeting. Measure LL, which voters approved in 2016, allows the volunteer members of the commission with the mayor’s permission to dismiss the police chief without cause. The head of Oakland's Police Commission Regina Jackson said she made the motion to dismiss the chief. There are a lot of improvements, but the disparities continue to exist and there are a series...

Dems invited waves of foreigners to become a political movement in America. Imagine Pelosi’s surprise when they refuse to stick to the Democrats’ script. We have on record — through a leaked Valeri Palmieri email — the Democrats admitting to each other that they believe their political future is explicitly tied to an ongoing stream of illegal immigrants. They claim to be ‘serving’ the greater good and representing the needs of this downtrodden group. It is closer to the truth to say the are using that demographic for personal and political gain. Has it ever occurred to them that these are human...

San Francisco, CA ~ Wednesday, February 19, 2020 Remarks as Prepared for DeliveryA Matter of Trust: Enduring Leniency Lessons for the Future of Cartel Enforcement Good morning, and thank you for the kind introduction. It is a great privilege to welcome not only my fellow enforcers from around the world, but other distinguished faculty, and participants from the cartel bar. As I think we all recognize, this workshop has become a premier event in the world of international cartel enforcement, and today I am especially pleased to see it return to the United States for the first time in...

A former procurement officer of Venezuela’s state-owned and state-controlled energy company, Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA), was sentenced to 70 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release today for laundering the proceeds of a corrupt scheme to secure contracts from PDVSA through bribery, underreporting income on his tax return and obstructing the government’s investigation into bribes paid by the owner of U.S.-based companies to Venezuelan government officials in exchange for securing additional business with Citgo Petroleum Corporation, a Houston-based PDVSA subsidiary. Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Patrick of...

Will a pandemic hit the USA? Hopefully not, but the odds are the highest in our lifetime. Prepare now in case it happens. If it happens, there will likely be empty grocery store shelves, long lines at gas stations and hospitals. 1). Food Stockpiling food is essential. Suggestions: Rice, oat meal, canned/dry beans, ramen noodles, canned tuna, sardines, summer sausage, potatoes. Fill up the pantry. Much of this food is CHEAP. $200 will buy so much rice, oat meal and beans. In the freezer, pack it solid with meats. Also, stock up on disinfectants (alcohol, bleach, Lysol), TP, hand soap....

Remarks as prepared for delivery. Thank you for the introduction and your leadership. The year is 1870. Ulysses S. Grant is president. Emerging from our Civil War, the Department of Justice is established with a founding charge to protect the civil rights of black Americans. 2020 is the Department’s sesquicentennial. “The theme of this year’s [Black History Month] observance, ‘African Americans and the Vote’”—the President’s Proclamation reminds us—coincides with [another] 150-year anniversary: the ratification of the 15th Amendment.” The Fifteenth Amendment provides that “The right of citizens to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or...

Efforts will Focus on Main U.S. Methamphetamine Trafficking Transportation Hubs Attorney General William P. Barr and Drug Enforcement Administration Acting Administrator Uttam Dhillon today announced that the DEA will direct enforcement resources to methamphetamine “transportation hubs” — areas where methamphetamine is often trafficked in bulk and then distributed across the country. While continuing to focus on stopping drugs being smuggled across the border, DEA’s Operation Crystal Shield will ramp up enforcement to block their further distribution into America’s neighborhoods.DEA has identified eight major methamphetamine transportation hubs where these efforts will be concentrated: Atlanta, Dallas, El Paso, Houston, Los Angeles,...

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) fired back at former Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein after he said he may vote for President Trump if Sanders is the Democrats’ presidential nominee. “I welcome the hatred of the crooks who destroyed our economy,” Sanders tweeted Friday. The retort came in response to Blankfein saying he would have trouble supporting Sanders in November. “I think I might find it harder to vote for Bernie than for Trump,” Blankfein told the Financial Times in an interview published Friday. “The Democrats would be working very hard to find someone who is as divisive as Trump. But...

An employee of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) pleaded guilty today to charges related to his disclosure of classified national defense information (NDI) to two journalists in 2018 and 2019.“Frese violated the trust placed in him by the American people when he disclosed sensitive national security information for personal gain,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers. “He alerted our country’s adversaries to sensitive national defense information, putting the nation’s security at risk.  The government takes these breaches seriously and will use all the resources at our disposal to apprehend and prosecute those who jeopardize the...

A husband and wife from Big Spring, Texas, were sentenced today to a combined 140 years in prison for crimes against multiple children. Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S Attorney Erin Nealy Cox of the Northern District of Texas and Special Agent in Charge Ryan L. Spradlin of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) made the announcement.Christopher James Regan, 38, a former shipping logistics manager, was sentenced to 90 years in prison after pleading guilty in October 2019 to conspiracy to produce child pornography and two counts of producing child...

A Virginia political consultant who served as the treasurer of multiple Political Action Committees (PACs) was sentenced today to one year and a day in prison followed by two years of supervised release for lying to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) about approximately $32,500 in payments of Political Action Committee (PAC) money that he directed to himself and a close friend.Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney G. Zachary Terwilliger of the Eastern District of Virginia, and Assistant Director in Charge Timothy R. Slater of the FBI’s Washington Field Office made the...

$3 Billion Payment Result of Deferred Prosecution Agreement in Criminal Matter, Settlement of Civil Claims under FIRREA and Resolution of SEC Proceedings Wells Fargo & Company and its subsidiary, Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., have agreed to pay $3 billion to resolve their potential criminal and civil liability stemming from a practice between 2002 and 2016 of pressuring employees to meet unrealistic sales goals that led thousands of employees to provide millions of accounts or products to customers under false pretenses or without consent, often by creating false records or misusing customers’ identities, the Department of Justice announced today. As part...

Conservative Hispanic author Jon Del Arroz had his new crowdfunding campaign listed on Kickstarter ... only to be shadow banned. This follows the Science Fiction Writers of America openly discriminating against conservative authors and the comic book industry being revealed to have a clique of decision makers shutting out conservative creators.

HOBART — Felony charges have been filed against a Hobart couple accused of driving twin boys off the road because they had pro-Trump flags attached to their bicycles, authorities said. Snapchat videos helped officers secure charges against Kyren Gregory Perry-Jones, 23, and Cailyn Marie Smith, 18, in connection with a July 22 incident, police said. "Y'all scared, just like your president ... America is not great, (expletive)," Smith could allegedly be heard saying on a Snapchat video obtained by police during the incident. At one point, Perry-Jones asked one of the boys if he was a Trump fan, and he...

The Iowa Democratic Party (IDP) announced Friday it will recount the caucus results of 23 precincts after the presidential campaigns of Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg raised concerns over the tallies. The move came after Sen. Sanders (I-Vt.) and Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Ind., requested recounts of 10 precincts and 54 precincts, respectively. The IDP said it will review the results from all 10 of Sanders’ precincts and 14 of Buttigieg’s precincts, for a total of 23 precincts after an overlap. The IDP said the recount, which will be conducted by appointed recount administrators under the supervision...