Free Republic

If there was one thing that blew up in Mike Bloomberg’s face at the recent Democratic debate in Nevada, it was the nondisclosure issue. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) came out swinging. And it didn’t stop. She pummeled Bloomberg over the allegations. It wasn’t made any better by Bloomberg saying nothing was really in there, except for maybe a joke he told that some might find offensive. What was the joke, Mike? He came off as unlikeable, cold and just plain entitled. Like, why do I even have to debate these people; just give the nomination to me and stop asking...

Iran has officially the second largest number of Coronavirus (COVID-19) death toll after China with four confirmed deaths. Earlier reports said two patients died in Qom on Thursday, but officials did not say where did the new two deaths occured. Meanwhile, Tehran has confirmed 13 more patients including 7 in Qom, 4 in Tehran and 2 in Rasht are positively diagnosed with Coronavirus, Kianush Jahanpur, head of public relations and information center of Iran's Ministry of Health said in a tweet Friday afternoon February 21. Most of the new cases include people living in Qom and those who have visited...

At his Las Vegas Rally today, President Trump mocked Democrats for starting up the whole “Russia Hoax” again. “Here we go again,” Trump said. “These people are sick. That’s pencil-neck again. Little pencil-neck.” “It’s disinformation. . . . Wouldn’t Putin rather have Bernie, who honeymooned in Moscow?" . . . .

Pregnancy hypertension, or Pre-eclampsia, is a complex disorder of pregnancy. Treatment of elevated blood pressure can manage the condition in the mother, but in severe cases delivery is needed, which can present a major problem to the baby if it is born prematurely. Now, research have shown in a rat model that a natural diet?derived antioxidant L-ergothioneine can relieve some of the clinical symptoms of Pre-eclampsia. The hope is that the same will be in evidence in humans. "Our research shows that treating rats with pre-eclampsia with the natural antioxidant L-ergothioneine reduced blood pressure, prevented fetal growth restriction and dampened...

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...