Free Republic

WASHINGTON — Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) has demanded the Justice Department and Office of the Director of National Intelligence release a trove of documents that were apparently “misclassified” to “downgrade” alleged wrongdoing by former President Joe Biden’s family. In a Monday letter, Grassley and Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) revealed that records obtained by Grassley’s office indicated the FBI “misclassified information” to obstruct congressional inquiries into Operation Round River, a bureau task force that compiled derogatory information on Joe and Hunter Biden in the lead-up to the 2020 election. “To-date, the available records cause serious concerns about how...

As the USS George Washington aircraft carrier heads to the Middle East, expected to relieve sailors and Marines on the USS Abraham Lincoln, fresh scrutiny has fallen on living conditions aboard U.S. Navy ships—especially as the move will leave the U.S. without a single carrier deployed in Asia to stare down China.U.S. lawmakers have demanded answers about conditions on the Lincoln, after family members and text messages purportedly sent by those on board detailed plumbing problems, dipped morale, unreliable water supplies and food shortages.The carrier has spent more than 200 days at sea without a port call and was scheduled...

A federal court Tuesday blocked a rule issued by the Biden administration targeting so-called “ghost guns” on constitutional grounds.Chief United States District Judge Reed O’Connor of the Northern District of Texas, a George W. Bush appointee, issued the ruling Tuesday in favor of Defense Distributed, accepting arguments that the “frame or receiver rule” enacted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) was unconstitutional on both Fifth Amendment and Second Amendment grounds. In the opinion, O’Connor said the rule deprived people seeking to manufacture their own firearms of due process and also unconstitutionally prohibited people from acquiring the...

The 7-year-old German shepherd walked out of veterinary care under his own power to thunderous applause. Less than a week after being shot and losing a leg while protecting three deputies, heroic Florida K-9 Ace was back on his feet Tuesday for an emotional return to the sheriff's office. Ace, a 7-year-old German shepherd who has served with the Polk County Sheriff's Office since March 2020, was wounded as deputies attempted to arrest 27-year-old Angel Bowers. Authorities said Bowers allegedly fired at least four rounds at three deputies who were attempting to arrest him after he failed to appear in...

Nancy Skinner is the same lawmaker who tried to ban bullets when she couldn’t ban your guns A bill to regulate car tires was passed by the California Legislature 20 years ago but never implemented. “The California Energy Commission dusted off a 20+ year old bill to pass new rules restricting tire sales in the state,” KCRA’s Ashley Zavala reported Monday. “The CEC has not regulated tires before. I asked Commissioner (former State Sen) Nancy Skinner if she pushed it & why this sat dormant until now.” The California Energy Commission dusted off a 20+ year old bill to pass...

[Catholic Caucus] Priest denies bodily Assumption of Mary at Mass while allowing ‘liturgical dance’‘We should not take this literally,’ a priest in Spain said of the Virgin Mary’s Assumption, arguing that ‘No human being ascends to heaven, body and soul. Heaven is not a physical place.’ During a televised Mass celebrating the 125th anniversary of his parish’s founding on the Feast of the Assumption, a priest delivered a heretical sermon questioning the Assumption of the Virgin Mary while also allowing men and women dressed in brightly colored hoop skirts to perform a liturgical dance. The troubling liturgy took place at...

Image from Broward County Sheriff A Nicaraguan illegal unleashed into the U.S. by the Biden regime has been charged with murdering a housemate in South Florida this month. The horrifying attack unfolded in broad daylight on Aug. 2 in Hallandale Beach. Emergency responders arrived at a mobile home park where they found a male suffering from a stab wound to the armpit area, Local 10 reports. He was rushed to a local hospital where he was pronounced deceased. Witnesses told authorities they managed to wrestle a machete away from his assailant moments after the stabbing “That guy just killed me,”...

The Russian foreign minister said he feels sorry for the UK if it stays with Ukraine until the very endMOSCOW, August 18. /TASS/. Moscow is entitled to consider British missile forces' involvement in strikes on Russia as direct participation in the conflict in Ukraine, with all ensuing consequences, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said. "You know, I feel sorry for the UK if it stays with Ukraine until the very end," Lavrov told Vesti journalist Pavel Zarubin. "President [Vladimir Putin] warned of our right to act in any part of the world's oceans if anyone encroaches on our interests or...

"Mother Earth" Pagan Worship by Vatican Representative: Doctrine of the Faith Official makes Offering of Coca Leaves at Pachamama Ceremony during Official Church Meeting Rorate Note: Official Vatican News covering of the event here (in Spanish); Spanish page Infovaticana adds the grotesque context.A Pontifical Commissioner and a Bishop Deposit Coca Leaves in an "Earth Offering": Jordi Bertomeu as Offerer at a Pachamama Ceremony InfovaticanaAugust 18, 2026The Southern Macroregional Encounter "Interweaving Voices for Dignity" — presented by Vatican News as part of the preparation for Pope Leo XIV's upcoming visit to Peru — opened without any Catholic prayer whatsoever. In its...

Explanation: This was a good year for the Perseids meteor shower. A key reason was the Moon was absent from lighting up Earth's night sky so that more meteors were visible than usual. Where was the Moon? It was busy visiting the Sun. Near the Perseids peak, the Moon moved directly in front of the Sun and created a total solar eclipse visible from Greenland and Spain. The Perseids occur when the Earth collides with a stream of Sun-orbiting debris cast off by Comet Swift-Tuttle. Perseid meteors, although typically only the size of a sand grain, tend to be fast...

Andrey Klepach, one of Russia’s top economists, has been replaced as chief economist of the country’s national development bank shortly after a speech was made public in which he reportedly said Russia’s economy was being damaged by the war in Ukraine. Russia’s state news agency TASS confirmed Sunday that Klepach “no longer holds the position of chief economist at VEB,” one of Russia’s largest banks, but did not give a reason for his departure. A new candidate has been selected and will be appointed soon, TASS added. VEB repeated the same statement to CNN. That announcement came two days after...

After approx. 24 days at sea, the SpaceX Recovery team successfully guided Starship to a location just off the coast of Christmas Island. A team of SpaceX engineers is on their way to conduct additional analysis on the vehicle in calmer waters before attempting to return it to Starbase.

A prominent television news journalist is living under a death threat from human traffickers following a confrontation with small-boat gangsters in northern France. Patrick Christys, who presents the Tonight current affairs show on GB News, has told The Mail on Sunday the threat is so serious that the Metropolitan Police ordered him to abandon his home in the small hours of the morning. Christys and his heavily pregnant wife – fellow GB News presenter Emily Carver – were warned the intelligence services believed their lives were at risk because of his work exposing people smugglers in Calais. They were told...

The San Diego Padres' minor league catching coordinator has been detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Oswaldo Pirela, 34, who is from Venezuela, was taken into custody early Sunday at El Paso (Texas) International Airport, the Department of Homeland Security confirmed on Tuesday. He was not carrying his work permit card at the time, his brother, Jorge Pirela, told The Athletic. According to a statement from DHS, Pirela entered the country legally in 2014, but that expired in 2018 and he "was not in possession of legal documentation granting him status in the country." It said Pirela would remain...

Appearing as a guest on Friday's The 11th Hour show on MS NOW, unfunny liberal comedian John Fugelsang accused Congressman Byron Donalds (R-FL) of being a "bigot" and compared the black Republican to a drug dealer who puts other drug dealers in jail. The comments came as fill-in host Catherine Rampell brought up the race for governor in Florida: So, speaking of potentially flipping certain offices, as I mentioned in the last segment, the Republican primary to replace Florida governor Ron DeSantis has been like, totally nuts. You have the Trump-endorsed candidate, Byron Donalds. You have this bigoted guy, James...

A man who was once honored as an "outstanding refugee" by the Minnesota Department of Human Services and has a startup with funding from a Shark Tank star is now facing Medicaid fraud charges in a case that has links to a sex trafficking case. Fraud charges filed What we know: Salman Ahmed Elmi was charged last week with three counts of aiding and abetting by swindle and five counts of aiding and abetting by false representation. He made his first court appearance on Monday. Authorities say some of Elmi's co-conspirators at Reva Health in Golden Valley have connections to...

President Donald Trump proclaimed on Tuesday that talks with Iran were not happening, a direct contradiction to his own son-in-law and top negotiator Jared Kushner, who said a day earlier that the negotiations were ongoing. “There are no talks or conversations going on, or scheduled, with the Islamic Republic of Iran,” the president posted to Truth Social on Tuesday. “The Naval Blockade remains in full force and effect. The Hormuz Strait is open and operating. All water mines have been removed or detonated. Thank you for your attention to this matter!” But Trump’s post may have been news to Kushner,...

This is an incredible delivery by Voight. The subject is solemn and poignant. I’ve scrubbed forward 1 minute to get right to the meat. Go back if you want his setup. The link goes to YouTube

If you were paying attention, you would notice a glaring case of two logically incoherent media narratives at play. Specifically, skyrocketing inflation under Biden during a midterm election year was considered a “transitory” blip, but a more tempered inflation rate under Trump during another midterm election year, despite a major war, was cast as setting the economy on the precipice of a complete disaster. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the five-month average annual rate of consumer price increases spanning the Iran War (March-July) averaged 3.6 percent. During the same period in 2022 under Joe Biden, with no...

Britain’s new farming minister fainted at the sight of meat as he toured a food processing plant, a report claims, as the country’s new left-wing Prime Minister tries to win over farmers the previous government relentlessly attacked. Stephen Morgan, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs — otherwise known as the ‘farming minister’ — a junior minister in the new Andy Burnham government is reported to have taken a queer turn when touring agricultural sites to help him familiarise himself with his new job. Britain’s best-selling newspaper The Sun cites a farmer familiar with...