Free Republic

Real estate titan Tom Barrack was arrested on Tuesday morning on federal charges tied to illegally lobbying Donald Trump for the United Arab Emirates, according to the Department of Justice. A seven-count indictment was unsealed today in federal court in Brooklyn charging Barrack, Matthew Grimes and Rashid Sultan Rashid Al Malik Alshahhi, also known as “Rashid Al Malik” and “Rashid Al‑Malik,” a citizen of the United Arab Emirates, with acting and conspiring to act as agents of that nation between April 2016 and April 2018, according to the Department of Justice. The indictment said the charges are related to advancing...

The Delta Variant comprises 83 percent of sequenced coronavirus cases in the United States, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Rochelle Walensky said on Tuesday. Walensky announced the figure during a Tuesday appearance before the Senate Health Committee, effectively blaming low vaccination rates for the spread of the variant, contending it has allowed “for the emergence and rapid spread of the highly transmissible Delta Variant.”

WASHINGTON, D.C.—During an explosive Senate hearing this week, Senator and trusted medical doctor Rand Paul argued with Anthony Fauci—a dangerous conspiracy theorist who thinks vaccines don't work and that the government is not funding the creation of medical abominations in secret labs. "You are a LIAR!" said Rand Paul, pointing gravely at Dr. Fauci. "You are a LYING LIAR who LIES!" Fauci, who was initially taken aback by the accusation, immediately recovered and said: "NO! It is YOU who is the LIAR, you LIAR!" Fauci then bobbed his head back and forth in a very sassy way and snapped his...

Amazon founder and Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos announced that he would award $100 million to CNN commentator Van Jones as part of a project to promote civility in politics. “I am announcing today a new philanthropic initiative … It is called the Courage And Civility award. It recognizes leaders who aim high to improve solutions with courage and always do so with civility,” Bezos said at a Tuesday press conference, shortly after his successful Blue Origin space launch. Jones will direct the money to charities of his choosing.

A 20-something Republican is launching her campaign for Congress Tuesday, seeking to unseat a New Hampshire Democrat — by specifically running against 78-year-old President Biden’s policies and what she calls the “tyrannical … corruption” of New York’s Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Karoline Leavitt, 23, a 2019 college graduate, would be 25 when she takes office if she defeats two-term Rep. Chris Pappas next year in the swing district. She entered the race with significant national support after working at the White House for former President Donald Trump and then for upstate New York Congresswoman Elise Stefanik. “People here, more than any...

Lost my Cable and internet for two whole days -due to a regional outage. Finally a technician shows up and fixes everything in 15 minutes. I had no idea how miserable it could be to have no news and weather updates - but worse - I could not log on to FReeRepublic or get emails. Not a crisis, like floods, tornadoes, earthquakes, fires or hurricanes - but it made me realize how fortunate I am to live on this Earth in this country. right now. God Bless sod

Dr. Anthony Fauci argues for gain-of-function research in 2013. He presents a slide from a New York Times editorial "An Engineered Doomsday" which pointed out if a virus escaped a lab it could kill millions. He claims safeguards have been put in place to prevent that.

CHICAGO (CBS) — Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Tuesday warned that the city might be forced to reinstate some COVID-19 restrictions if more people don’t get vaccinated against COVID-19, as the highly contagious delta variant continues to spread nationwide. “Part of why we’re here today is to emphasize to folks that we’re starting to see this uptick, and we want to get ahead of this before we see a second surge,” Lightfoot said at a City Hall press conference. Lightfoot and Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady said COVID cases have been increasing all across the United States...

D.C. parents are suing city officials over a new law that allows children 11 and older to acquire vaccines without permission from parents. Four parents of students at several public schools — both traditional and charter — said giving children the autonomy to get immunized on their own violates parents’ rights and religious freedom, according to a July 12 lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court in Washington. “All parents have a right to be directly involved in medical decision-making about their children,” said James Mason, an attorney representing the parents. It is the second lawsuit brought in recent weeks...

Disturbing video shows a 12-year-old boy with the word “gay” shaved into his hair being verbally and physically abused by three adults. The footage, posted to Instagram last month, shows a young boy, identified in reports only as Tyler, cowering on the porch of an Atlanta home as he’s berated by a man who makes reference to sexual orientation. “You still doing gay s–t,” he tells Tyler in the clip, which was posted by Gaye Magazine on June 17. “You think this on the side of your head for no reason?” The man then smacks Tyler while holding him by...

Indiana University students must comply with the school's COVID-19 vaccine mandate for the fall semester after a federal judge refused to block the school's inoculation requirement, one of the first rulings of its kind during the pandemic. U.S. District Court Judge Damon Leichty in South Bend, Indiana, rejected the argument by eight students that the school violated their bodily autonomy and constitutional right to due process. "This university policy isn’t forced vaccination," wrote the judge. "The students have options — taking the vaccine, applying for a religious exemption, applying for a medical exemption, applying for a medical deferral, taking a...

democrats have a lot balls to complain about disinformation and it isn't simply about COVID. It's about control. COVID is just part of the plot. While Joe Biden is seeking to smother the First Amendment rights of Americans democrats are actively spreading lies. Overt lies. There's a pattern and there's a reason. Here's your axiom: democrats will blame everyone else for their actions and crimesYou can bet your life on that. Over the last few years democrats have been screaming for the defunding of police. Now as crime spirals out of control in the cities democrat liars are attempting to...

CHICAGO — The Chicago Department of Public Health added Florida, Louisiana, Nevada, and the U.S. Virgin Islands to its travel advisory Tuesday, as the country continues to see a steady increase in new COVID-19 cases. Missouri and Arkansas were added back to the Travel Advisory last week after several weeks of no states surpassing the threshold of 15 cases per day, per 100,000 residents.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., railed Monday against efforts to ban the teaching of critical race theory (CRT) in schools, questioning why Republicans didn't want students to be taught "anti-racism."

So much for the idea that the Trump administration hurt the U.S. economy through its response to the pandemic. The National Bureau of Economic Research, a private nonprofit research organization that tracks the beginnings and endings of U.S. recessions, said the coronavirus-induced contraction began in February 2020 and ended in April 2020. That makes it the shortest recession ever recorded in U.S. history. A recession occurs when there’s a decline in gross domestic product over consecutive months. The NBER said that although U.S. GDP declined by a dramatic 31% in the second quarter of 2020, government stimulus policies helped stabilize...

LONDON (AP) — U.S. climate envoy John Kerry called on China to join America in urgently cutting greenhouse gas emissions and described the international alliances that rebuilt Europe after World War II as a model for fighting against climate change. Kerry challenged global leaders to accelerate the actions needed to curb rising temperatures and pull the world back from the edge of the abyss. “Allies, partners, competitors and even adversaries” must work together, he said during a speech at London’s Kew Gardens, a UNESCO World Heritage site where scientists are working to protect plants from global warming. “The climate crisis...

Democrats in California are concerned. By “concerned,” I mean they’re mildly irritated that they have to go through the motions of putting forth a recall election against Governor Gavin Newsom. They don’t really believe he will lose, but they’re trying to spin the fact that his superiority was questioned at all. It’s the right-wing racists, they say. It’s Russia. It’s QAnon. It’s… it’s… anything other than the fact that Newsom has been an utter disaster as Governor. They’re concerned, but they’re not worried. They have all the shenanigans in their election-rigging playbook at their disposal, so it’s not a question...

Cruise Hive The Public Health Emergency in the U.S. has been extended which impacts the Conditional Sailing Order and cruise ships. The Public Health Emergency Status in the United States has been extended again for the sixth time. A declaration that the Public Health Emergency is over would have meant that the conditions in which cruise ships are operating under the Conditional Sail Order would effectively be over. It is not to be as Secretary of Health, and Human Services Xavier Becerra extended the health emergency on July 19. A declaration of a public health emergency ensures government organizations have...

Oregon’s Bootleg Fire, amplified by a historic draught and weeks of extreme heat, is expected to grow in the coming days as first responders are hampered by storms and strong winds. The season’s largest wildfire is so powerful, that it’s generating “fire clouds” (or pyrocumulonimbus clouds) that can spur their own hurricanes, lighting, and thunder (watch above). The possibility of “fire tornadoes” also exists. “The fire is so large and generating so much energy and extreme heat that it’s changing the weather,” said Marcus Kauffman, a spokesman for the state forestry department. “Normally the weather predicts what the fire will...

On Thursday, the Secretary of State’s Office will hold a hearing at the Roundhouse on proposed election rule changes to 1.10.15 NMAC regarding voting administration and mail-in ballot verification processes and 1.10.19 NMAC, a “new Secured Containers Rule.” These changes would directly impact the security of elections in New Mexico, especially with the proposed rule, written to take effect on August 24, 2021, which would flatly strip out section 1.10.15.8, which gives requirements for ballot verification with the last four digits of a social security number, signature matching, and notifications sent to voters of their ballots being rejected, giving the...