Free Republic

Fulton County, Georgia, District Attorney Fani Willis secretly colluded with the one-sided, Democrat-run January 6 Committee to obtain tips that would help her prosecute Donald Trump — and tried to keep it out of court, and public view, using a procedural trick. The revelation could upend the prosecution of Trump and 18 co-defendants because the evidence was concealed to keep it away from discovery requirements that would allow defense lawyers to see what was shared, and the extent of the collaboration. Politico reported Wednesday: Committee staff quietly met with lawyers and agents working for Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis...

Airline says plane was still at boarding gate when incident happenedA passenger on an Air Canada plane was injured this week after opening the door of their aircraft, which was still at a boarding gate at Toronto Pearson Airport, and then falling, the airline said. In a statement on Wednesday, Air Canada said the incident happened on Monday during the boarding of a flight from Toronto to Dubai."While the aircraft was at the gate, a passenger who had boarded the aircraft normally, instead of proceeding to their seat, opened a cabin door on the opposite side of the aircraft," the...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has arrived in Latvia, the final stop on his Baltic mini-tour as he attempts to drum up further support and particularly more missiles for his nation’s taxed air defence system. Ukraine has proven stopping Russia is possible, but it “badly” needs modern air defence systems, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said as he tours European nations again, seeking more arms for his defensive war against Russia. His visits to the first two tour stops Lithuania and Estonia were fruitful, with new support packages announced, and he arrived in Latvia, the final stop, on Thursday afternoon. As...

CNBC personality Rick Santelli said on Thursday’s “Squawk Box” that it takes a $1.19 to buy what a dollar bought before the coronavirus pandemic. Santelli said, “Our Consumer Price Index read for the month of December by Bureau of Labor Statistics expected to be up 0.2% up 0.3%. And if you strip out food and energy, it is exactly as expected, which is up 0.3%.” He continued, “Let’s go along here. Year over year, CPI is expected to be up 3.2. It’s up 3.4. The best it’s been was 3.0 in June of last year. That is the best since...

More details may emerge on the circumstances of Mashkoor’s ill-fated attempt to join ISIS, but the facts as laid out in the complaint are hallmarks of terrorism prosecutions based on FBI stings: a young man with developmental disabilities, already on the police’s radar due to mental health episodes and conflicts with family, groomed as a minor over a long period by a group of undercover FBI agents. Mashkoor’s case also follows a pattern of FBI sting operations in which a teenager is arrested shortly after their 18th birthday. As in similar cases, the court documents suggest that Mashkoor was limited...

Police chief says while case is 'unusual,' clerk's arrest was 'about the law'A store clerk who allegedly used a baseball bat to hit a man who attempted to rob his convenience store is now facing a charge of aggravated assault, Peterborough police say. In a news release issued Tuesday, the Peterborough Police Service said officers were called to a convenience store in the King Street and Bethune Street area around 2:30 a.m. on Jan. 5. Upon arrival, officers learned that a male clerk was helping a customer when a second man entered the store demanding money and brandishing a baseball...

When Amalija Knavs passed away on January 9th, President Trump and his attorneys requested that Arthur Engoron, the judge presiding over Trump’s New York civil fraud trial, grant a postponement for closing arguments, so that the president could be with Melania as they mourned their family’s loss. Engoron offered phony condolences, saying he was “sorry to hear the sad news,” but promptly denied the request, writing in an email to Trump’s counsel, “I WILL NOT GRANT ANY FURTHER EXTENSIONS.”Trump-haters were quick to condemn the president for requesting a delay in court proceedings, claiming he was being “disingenuous” as he still...

First lady Jill Biden said Thursday that congressional Republicans have been “cruel” to her stepson Hunter, one day after two House panels voted to advance contempt charges against the presidential scion. “How have you been coping personally with the onslaught of accusations against your husband and your family, including and especially Hunter?” MSNBC’s Mika Brzezinski asked the first lady in an interview on “Morning Joe.” Brzezinski added that GOP lawmakers were “obsessing over” the first son after Hunter dodged a Dec. 13 subpoena to appear for a closed-door deposition with the House Oversight Committee about his overseas business dealings. The...

Amidst growing concerns, the United States is witnessing an alarming surge in credit card debt, with 56 million Americans grappling with credit card balances for over a year. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s quarterly report reveals an unprecedented milestone, as total card balances reach a staggering $1.08 trillion, reflecting a 40% surge in the last two years.

Hunter Biden will be arraigned Thursday afternoon in California on nine federal tax charges, after prosecutors alleged President Biden's son engaged in a "four-year scheme" to avoid paying at least $1.4 million in federal taxes. In December, federal prosecutors charged Hunter Biden with nine counts of tax crimes, including three felony and six misdemeanor charges related to his alleged failure to file and pay taxes, evasion of assessment and filing a false or fraudulent tax return. If convicted, Hunter Biden faces up to 17 years in prison. In the 56-page indictment, prosecutors alleged Hunter Biden earned more than $7 million...

Alumni of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are preparing to sue the school for allegedly rejecting male applicants in favor of “artificially” increasing the percentage of female students. The group FairAdmissions@MIT, a nonprofit organization formed by the alumni, is seeking male plaintiffs who, despite having top-tier applications, nonetheless were rejected from the prestigious school. “The first phase of our program is identifying male college students or recent graduates who had top SAT/ACT scores, great GPAs, strong recommendations, and substantial extra-curricular activities yet got rejected by MIT,” Mark J. Perry, the group’s president, said in a press release on Wednesday. “Our...

The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) cited "safety and security" concerns as the grounds for its decision to exclude the Israeli team from all competitions, a move that has stirred controversy and accusations of antisemitism.

A team of scientists led by Oregon State University researchers has devised a new climate change scenario that offers different thinking on how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions: more education for girls and women, equalizing the gross domestic product around the world and a radical change in diets and farming practices, among other goals. [snip] Better education for girls and women would lead to lower fertility rates, slowing down the Earth’s population growth, the researchers show in their analysis.

“The UN, dominated by dictatorships, riddled with antisemitism, appoints ICJ judges, who therefore, by definition, lack the moral authority to stand in judgment over any democracy, especially Israel.”

Former Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) said Thursday that he wants former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) to consider a third-party presidential bid with No Labels after Christie ended his GOP campaign. Lieberman, chair of No Labels, brushed off previous comments from Christie denouncing the group’s push for a bipartisan third-party ticket. “Look, earlier in the year when he was asked about No Labels, he basically said it was not an effort that had any chance of succeeding, but maybe the world will look different to him now,” Lieberman said in a SiriusXM interview with Michael Smerconish. “And I’d like...

Biden administration is 'sowing the seeds for the next energy crisis' by blocking oil and gas leases despite wars in Mideast and Europe threatening energy flows, top US trade group warns White House under pressure to halt oil and gas leases over global warming fears The Biden administration is 'sowing the seeds for the next energy crisis' by restricting America's oil and gas sector even as wars in the Middle East and Europe threaten supply shocks, the head of a top trade group has warned. Mike Sommers, president of the American Petroleum Institute (API), issued a stark warning that the...

"With the product cycles at Chrysler, I should have guessed," said Tom Gale jokingly, when asked whether he ever imagined that the Chrysler 300 would finally end production this month, almost 20 years after its February 2004 launch. He paused a moment, then continued. "You don't normally think something would go that long," he said quietly, "but it was really gratifying. And maybe it's just me being partial, but the car still looks good."

Demand for electric vehicles is booming, or at least that’s what the International Energy Agency says. Globally, the IEA reports, EVs accounted for 14% of new vehicle sales in 2022 (compared to 9% in 2021). In the U.S. — the third-largest EV market after China and Europe — they made up 11% of new vehicle sales in September 2023 and, in the same month, passed the 1 million mark for EVs sold in 2023. And then compared that with Tesla, which ranks 14th on the list. Although a number of the brands higher on the list include hybrid cars, Tesla,...

Almost 10,000 Chinese coronavirus-related deaths were reported in December as the number of hospitalizations rose, the World Health Organization (W.H.O.) noted Wednesday. The agency said hospitalizations jumped 42 percent across 50 countries, and medical facilities saw a 62 percent rise in patients placed in intensive care units (ICU), Deutsche Welle (DW) reported Thursday. W.H.O. chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, “Although 10,000 deaths a month is far less than the peak of the pandemic, this level of preventable deaths is not acceptable.”

Happy New Year! I hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas filled with a family and friends, much love and a bare minimum of political combat… for my part, right before Christmas, I got sucked into a really dumb social media political vortex… Yeah yeah, I know… But this kerfuffle was exceptionally stupid… In this case, some terminally online Leftist went to Twitter to announce that they (it almost had to be a they/them right?) couldn’t imagine why any Conservative would enjoy watching STAR TREK, since there’s nothing about a science fiction future which values diversity and civil rights...