Free Republic

An IRS supervisor has told lawmakers he has information that suggests the Biden administration is improperly handling the criminal investigation into President Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, and is seeking whistleblower protections, according to people familiar with the matter. A letter sent to Congress on Tuesday says a career Internal Revenue Service criminal supervisory special agent has information that would contradict sworn testimony by a “senior political appointee.” The supervisor also has information about a “failure to mitigate clear conflicts of interest in the ultimate disposition of the case,” according to the letter. The supervisor has details that show “preferential treatment...

It’s time for a greater American opt-out. Victor Davis Hanson has recently pondered in back-to-back essays whether there is any way out of America’s previously “fast-tracked” and now accelerating decline. Meanwhile, Julie Kelly appears to see no way out of the “near-certainty” that a “D.C. grand jury . . . will indict Trump on multiple counts” in ways that will cause him to be treated “[n]ot as a former president but as a traitor.” Columnist Josh Hammer, addressing both Trump’s judicial travails and the broader “decadent civilizational morass,” insists in his own consecutive submissions that “sometimes, the only way out...

"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God" (Matt. 5:8). You have a part to play in becoming pure in heart. Purifying a heart is the gracious and miraculous work of the Holy Spirit, but there are some things we must do in response to His prompting. First, we must admit we can't purify our own hearts. Proverbs 20:9 says, "Who can say, 'I have cleansed my heart, I am pure from my sin?'" The implied answer: no one! Next, we must put our faith in Jesus Christ, whose sacrifice on the cross is the basis for...

Midnight in the Laptop of Good and Evil.................. It wasn’t just Joe’s shale gas assistance Hunter and Burisma got their hooks into. Obama’s USAID ponied up American taxpayer dollars for an energy conservation scam, the Municipal Energy Reform Program (MERP,) and Burisma got a big chunk of that too — meaning Joe and Hunter got their kickback share. And Obama was right in the thick of it. How do I know that? Because Jake Sullivan said so — only he didn’t think he’d be identified as the speaker outing the scam. But now he is. By me — because I...

The Chicago Police Department launched an investigation into how officers responded to violence that broke out late Saturday during a large gathering of young people in the city’s downtown tourism district. The investigation comes after a viral video showed a mob attacking a couple as they exited a Loop store and it follows allegations of police inaction. As the attack unfolded, police failed to respond to calls for help and even drove past, said Lenora Dennis, who witnessed the beating and helped the couple get to safety. “It makes me feel scared. It terrifies me that people are either asleep...

The new majority of radical Democrats allows the old fogies to bask in the limelight until they drop because these codgers mask their revolutionary intentions. Joe Biden is now 80 years-old. He will be 82 when he campaigns for the 2024 presidency—and a clearly debilitated 86 should he be elected and fill out his second term. He has been in government for over a half-century. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and current representative from California is 83. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), the second-ranking Democratic House member behind Pelosi, was House majority leader until early this year. He is 83, and has...

ESPN will begin layoffs early next week as part of parent company Disney ’s cost cutting efforts, according to people familiar with the matter. Cuts will include some on-air talent and management, said the people, who asked not to be named because the discussions are private. The number of layoffs at ESPN is unclear and the decision process is still fluid. An ESPN spokesperson declined to comment. Disney is eliminating 7,000 jobs in three rounds, with the second round happening next week, said the people. The company will also lay off about 15% of the staff in its entertainment division...

... AUKUS faces several hurdles. First, clear objectives are needed for the project's successful completion but these have not been established. The U.S. sees AUKUS as part of its plan to counter China's economic and geopolitical rise. For the U.K., the project is part of its "special relationship" with the U.S. and relevance as a global power. Both countries stand to earn substantial export income. Australia's strategic objectives oscillate between deterrence and protecting vital shipping routes. Ironically, AUKUS expensively duplicates, in part, the existing 1951 ANZUS treaty whereby the U.S. must theoretically act to meet any common danger if Australia's...

BALTIMORE, Sunday, April 19. The Richmond Dispatch of Friday last publishes the report that Gen. LONGSTREET has surrounded our forces at Suffolk, cutting off their communication with Norfolk. The Dispatch, however, discredits the story, and also a rumor that the whole of our forces have been captured from the Peninsula. The Dispatch reports that Gen. WISE has captured Fort Magruder with one thousand prisoners -- the Dispatch credits this, but it is of course untrue. The following has probably a foundation. "As a result of the fight at Kelly's Ford on Tuesday last, twenty Yankee prisoners were brought to this...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Joe Biden will announce plans to increase U.S. funding to help developing countries fight climate change and curb deforestation in Brazil's Amazon rainforest during a meeting on Thursday with leaders from the world's largest economies. The president will announce a U.S. contribution of $1 billion to the Green Climate Fund, which finances projects on clean energy and climate change resilience in developing countries, doubling the overall U.S. contribution, the White House said. He will also announce plans to request $500 million over five years to contribute to the Amazon Fund, which works to combat deforestation in...

The commander of Russia's Pacific Fleet has resigned, Russian President Vladimir Putin's representative in the country's Far East announced on Thursday. Putin's envoy, Yury Trutnev, said that Admiral Sergei Avakyants, 65, has been appointed the head of a group that is in charge of military sports training and patriotic education, Russia news outlet Kommersant reported. Avakyants had held the position as commander of the Pacific Fleet since 2012. News of his resignation comes a week after Russia decided to conduct missile launches and torpedo tests as part of a "surprise inspection" of its Pacific Fleet. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu...

Here in New York State, we have an electricity system that, as of this moment, is functioning just fine. Granted, we pay more for the electricity than we should — probably in the range of 50% or more extra — mainly because we have banned the exploitation of our own abundant natural gas resources from the Marcellus and Utica shale formations in the upstate areas. And granted also that we just in 2020 and 2021 closed the two big nuclear reactors at Indian Point, about 40 miles north of New York City, which had supplied more than 25% of the...

U.S.A. – Kentucky HB 153, the bill which prohibits state employees from cooperating with any federal infringements on Second Amendment rights passed after January 1, 2021, became law on March 28, 2023, without a signature from Governor (D) Andy Beshear. The bill was passed on March 15, 2023. Governor Beshear had until March 27, 2023, to veto the bill or to sign it. Governor Beshear did neither, and the bill became law on March 28th, 2023.The law has a similar effect to the Oklahoma Second Amendment Protection Act, without the verbiage about the federal government violating the Second Amendment. The...

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg visited Ukraine on Thursday for the first time since Russia invaded more than a year ago, a highly symbolic trip that underscores the alliance’s commitment to helping Kyiv defend itself. The Kremlin quickly warned that Ukraine must not be allowed to join NATO. Russia has given various and shifting justifications for going to war, but it has repeatedly pointed to the expansion of the military alliance toward its borders in recent years, including citing fears that Kyiv would be admitted. Images published in local media showed Stoltenberg apparently paying tribute to fallen Ukrainian soldiers in Kyiv’s...

HAMBURG, Germany -- The German government's increasingly strong line on China is coming under fire from smaller parties on both the extreme right and left, whose growing popularity could pressure Berlin to soften its line on Beijing. The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) has in recent months become an outright opponent of the government's efforts to distance Europe's largest economy from China. The party also endorsed French President Emmanuel Macron's controversial statement in Beijing, where he stated -- in reference to Taiwan -- that Europe should not get "caught up in crises that are not ours." By contrast, German Foreign...

What if President Trump’s advisors worked with oil executives and tech platforms to censor green activists? What if there was concrete evidence that the Bush Administration and Halliburton board members encouraged media companies to silence journalists for challenging the official narrative of the Iraq War? What if the efforts had been successful? Surely, the media would cover the federal-corporate censorship operation with taglines of fascism. Democracy dies in darkness would echo from the halls of the Washington Post. Woodward and Bernstein would make the rounds on the Sunday morning shows, and the New York Times would dedicate its Sunday edition...

At 17 years old, most people are still struggling to parallel park. Yes, it takes a bit of practice. And once the car is parked, the day is packed with school activities and homework and just hanging out with friends. But at 17, Maggie Taraska had an outrageous goal in mind: Fly solo across the United States. Both of Maggie’s parents are Air Force veterans, so the urge to be airborne is in Maggie’s genes. So she went to flight school, put in the hours with an instructor and started on her solo hours. But on her first solo takeoff,...

Click on link

Putin sacked Admiral Sergei Avakyants, 66, the commander of his Pacific Fleet His sacking is a sign that Putin had detected a failure in military exercises Vladimir Putin today dramatically fired an admiral in charge of his Pacific Fleet in a sign that the Russian despot is furious that military drills that were meant to send a message of strength to the West were a flop. Putin sacked Admiral Sergei Avakyants, 66, the commander of his Pacific Fleet, as the vast military drills he had apparently overseen were still underway. The move to axe Avakyants was confirmed by Deputy Prime...

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Wednesday unveiled a plan to raise the nation's debt ceiling by $1.5 trillion and cut federal spending by three times that amount, laying out an opening position in what is likely to be a tense partisan debate over government borrowing. McCarthy's proposal, which he unveiled on the floor of the House of Representatives, would cut the total amount of domestic and military spending to 2022 levels and cap growth at 1% annually in years to come. It would not touch retirement and health programs that are projected to expand dramatically as the population ages. President...