Free Republic

The first trial to emerge from Special Counsel John Durham's probe finally got underway Tuesday – as prosecutors accused former Hillary Clinton lawyer Michael Sussmann of trying to engineer an 'October surprise' when he sought out a top FBI official to discuss an allegation about Trump and Russia. The allegation didn't pan out, but the meeting itself constituted an effort to 'use and manipulate' federal law enforcement for political ends, prosecutors argued. Sussmann's defense team argued he was forthright when he acted on his own to bring information to authorities, and said the intervention did not benefit the Clinton camp...

On a windy military island off Helsinki, people from all walks of life are spending their weekend doing military training, as volunteer numbers soar and Finland readies to join Nato to protect itself from Russia. Finland's defence forces only have around 13,000 employed personnel but the country of 5.5 million boasts an impressive 900,000 reservists with a wartime strength of 280,000 troops. Finland shares a 1,300km border with Russia. For many of the participants attending this weekend's training course on Santahamina Island, Moscow's Feb 24 invasion of another neighbour, Ukraine, was the deciding factor that got them to sign up....

President Joe Biden connected the racist mass shooting in Buffalo on Saturday to the protests of Trump supporters on January 6. The president cited January 6th riots after calling all Americans to “reject white supremacy” because they were making the country look bad.

A UK mother feared for her life after accidentally swallowing a COVID-19 test throat swab — which ended up traveling all the way down toward her intestines. “It was really scary . . . It could have ended up fatal,” Bobby Lee, 31, told South West News Service of the stomach-churning case. The mother of one had opted to take an at-home COVID-19 rapid test after feeling sick following a night shift, but when she tried to swab her throat, the implement wouldn’t come out.

Babies in this country face a perilous journey from the moment of conception and conception itself is no easy task. Sperm have to make the trip all the way to the uterus where one lucky sperm might get to fertilize the single egg released that particular month. Then the fertilized egg has to implant itself into the wall of the uterus. The developing embryo then continues onto becoming a fetus under the shadow of a possible miscarriage. That's the easy part. Then the fetus must face the stark reality that every single left-wing person in the country longs to abort...

As part of the new charges, investigators accused Navalny of stealing for personal use several million dollars' worth of donations that were given to his political organisations. In 2018, he campaigned as a presidential candidate but was eventually barred from running in the election that saw Putin secure a fourth term in power. In 2020, Navalny narrowly survived a poisoning attack with Novichok, a Soviet-designed military-grade nerve agent. Despite accusations from Navalny, the Kremlin denied any involvement. He was arrested on his return from rehabilitation in Germany last year, sparking widespread condemnation abroad, as well as sanctions from Western capitals....

A federal judge is standing by a previous ruling that an Indiana transgender student must be allowed to use the boys restroom. Judge Tanya Walton Pratt, an Obama appointee, has denied a motion from the Metropolitan School District of Martinsville to put on hold a previous injunction forcing John R. Wooden Middle School to allow the transgender student to use the boys bathroom, WTHR-TV reported. Pratt ruled the district failed to show evidence that proved it would suffer "irreparable harm" if the student was allowed to use the boys restroom. "In addition, the School District has not presented any new...

“Hundreds of people are dying every day. They won’t get up again after the clapping at the end,” he told the audience, which had reacted with surprise when the pre-recorded message was introduced.“Will cinema keep quiet, or will it speak up? If there is a dictator, if there is a war for freedom, once again, everything depends on our unity. Can cinema stay outside of this unity?” Zelenskyy added.

Secretary of State Frank LaRose, a Republican, said he still thinks U.S. Senate Republican nominee J.D. Vance is the "right person for the job" when asked to respond to comments, made by Vance, supporting the "Great Replacement" conspiracy theory. Vance, who won the Republican nomination less than two weeks after receiving the endorsement of former President Donald Trump, is running for U.S. Senate against Democratic nominee Tim Ryan. The "Great Replacement" conspiracy theory is the unfounded belief that non-white people are being brought into the country to "replace" white voters. The conspiracy theory is gaining renewed attention after the man...

nnounced via his Facebook page, Clapton’s team revealed he is “suffering from COVID” since testing positive “shortly after” playing at Royal Albert Hall. “He has been told by his medical advisors that if we were to resume traveling and performing too soon, it could substantially delay his full recovery,” the statement read. The shows in Zürich, Switzerland, and Milan, Italy, on May 17 and 18 have been postponed, they announced, “after intensive internal discussion.”

Elon Musk, admitting he had voted “overwhelmingly” for Democrats in the past, has changed his mind. Musk is registered as an independent voter; he announced the switch over video link at a tech summit in Miami, Florida, hosted by the All-In podcast. “I have voted overwhelmingly for Democrats, historically,” Musk acknowledged. “Like I’m not sure, I might never have voted for a Republican, just to be clear. Now this election I will,” Newsweek reported. Musk’s metamorphosis from voting Democrat to voting Republican could have been documented by actions over the last two years. In July 2020, Musk issued two tweets...

The Palestinian Authority allocates hundreds of millions of dollars to terrorists and their families even as the Biden administration pumps U.S. taxpayer funds into the Palestinian government, according to a non-public State Department report issued to Congress and obtained by the Washington Free Beacon. The report, published on May 10, details how the Palestinian government runs afoul of a U.S. law that bars it from receiving American aid dollars until these terror payments, known as the "pay-to-slay program," are stopped. The PA in 2019, the most recent reporting period available, allocated over $150 million to convicted terrorists. Another $191 million...

The Covid Stories ProjectFinally, lawmakers in DC are right about something. Congress has realized that we need to preserve our memories of the Covid era. The virus and our response to it have altered American society in both mundane and supremely consequential ways. It is imperative to our understanding of our own history that we record and archive our experiences for future generations. However, Congress’s plan won’t tell the whole story. Each of us—all 330 million Americans—have our own experiences from this time. But rather than helping collect these memories in an objective and honest way, Congress is instead establishing...

When we cover Democrat Congressman Eric Swalwell, it’s usually his Tweets or statements alone that give us ammunition against him. But every now and then, his posts are so over-the-top ludicrous that the reactions to them are the real news. Case-in-Point: His attempt to virtue signal by invoking an alleged FaceTime he had with his 4-year-old son: My 4-year-old just FaceTimed to ask what I’m doing to “help the people in Buffalo” and “why did the bad man do this?” Absolutely gutting. This cannot be his normal. It’s time to BAN ASSAULT WEAPONS. #EndGunViolence My 4-year-old just FaceTimed to ask...

President Joe Biden spoke in Buffalo Tuesday and pushed for an “assault weapons” ban in the wake of Saturday’s shooting, which killed ten people. Biden said, “We can keep assault weapons off our streets. We’ve done it before. I did it when we passed the crime bill last time. And violence went down. Shooting went down.”

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Updating the press on the baby formula shortage that's affecting millions of American families, Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre (black, gay, immigrant) stated that all blame for the shortage rested squarely on the curly locks of the giant baby from Honey, I Blew Up The Kid. Jean-Pierre (black, gay, immigrant) said the crisis had nothing to do with Biden's list of perfect policies, but occurred because a baby grew to the size of a skyscraper after Pete Buttigieg's experimental Chest-Milk-O-Matic™ machine malfunctioned, firing a stray embiggening gamma beam into the child's bedroom. "The oversized baby has been toddling around the...

President Joe Biden spoke in Buffalo, New York, after meeting with the families of the victims of the mass shooting in a grocery store Saturday. “White supremacy is a poison. It’s a poison. It really is. running through our body politic. And it’s been allowed to fester right in front of our eyes,” Biden said. “No more. I mean no more.”

The largest trial in IgA nephropathy has found treatment with methylprednisolone—a cheap, widely used corticosteroid drug—halves the risk of losing kidney function and kidney failure, and that this can be effectively achieved with fewer side effects if a reduced dose is used. IgA nephropathy, also known as Berger's disease, is an auto-immune condition in which a type of antibody produced by the body to fight infection forms deposits in the kidney leading to inflammation and scarring, and progressing to cause kidney failure in many people. Professor Vlado Perkovic said that around 10-30 percent of people with the condition go on...

A Chinese university’s move to shift a swimming test online sparks a wave of mockery on social media. South China Morning Post Shanghai University has become the subject of mockery after it moved a practical swimming examination "online". The dean's office at Shanghai University announced on May 15 that undergraduates finishing their bachelor's degrees due to take a 50-metre swimming test could participate online from home. In China, students at some of the most prestigious universities must learn to swim before they graduate because swimming is considered a survival skill and improves physical fitness. According to the university website, the...

Vladimir “Vovan” Kuznetsov and Alexei “Lexus” Stolyarov have spent more than a decade trolling politicians, celebrities, and other public figures around the world. Since 2015, they have called dozens of senior US and European officials, revealing their human side (if applicable), but also potentially significant information on policy matters. Pranksters Vovan and Lexus have struck again, this time targeting former US President George W. Bush. A tweet posted Tuesday on Vovan’s Twitter account features a preview mash-up of a conversation expected to be released in full later this week. “I wanted Ukraine into NATO”, Bush says in one excerpt. “I...