Free Republic

The $130 billion sent to Ukraine so far for its war against Russia is apparently not actually going to Ukraine, but is really “benefiting American interests,” a spokesperson for Ukraine told Breitbart News. The shock claim was in response to a request for information by Breitbart News on whether or not any American tax dollars had gone specifically to Uman, a city in the war-torn Eastern European nation that is currently seeing a condo built on a Jewish mass grave, as previously reported, in violation of a bilateral agreement with the U.S., and in violation of international law. Breitbart reported...

Employees from a Ukrainian arms firm conspired with defense ministry officials to embezzle almost $40 million earmarked to buy 100,000 mortar shells for the war with Russia, Ukraine’s security service reported. The SBU said late Saturday that five people have been charged, with one person detained while trying to cross the Ukrainian border. If found guilty, they face up to 12 years in prison. The investigation comes as Kyiv attempts to clamp down on corruption in a bid to speed up its membership in the European Union and NATO. Officials from both blocs have demanded widespread anti-graft reforms before Kyiv...

A U.S. Senate committee approved legislation on Wednesday that would help set the stage for the United States to confiscate Russian assets and hand them over to Ukraine for rebuilding after the destruction of the nearly two-year-long war. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted 20 to 1 in favor of the unprecedented "Rebuilding Economic Prosperity and Opportunity (REPO) for Ukrainians Act." If it were to pass the full Senate and House of Representatives and be signed into law by President Joe Biden, as expected, the act would pave the way for Washington's first-ever seizure of central bank assets from a...

The Supreme Court let stand former Hunter Biden business associate Devon Archer’s criminal conviction Monday, rejecting for a second time Archer’s bid to avoid prison. In 2018, a federal jury convicted Archer and several others on charges of defrauding a Native American tribe by fraudulently issuing and selling more than $60 million of tribal bonds. In a brief order without explanation, as is typical, the Supreme Court declined to take up Archer’s appeal. The president’s son is not implicated in the case, but Archer has become a key figure in House Republicans’ investigation into Biden’s business dealings. Archer last summer...

More than $1 billion worth of U.S. missiles, drones and other weapons and equipment sent to Ukraine have not been properly tracked by officials, according to a Pentagon report released Thursday. Of a total of $1.69 billion worth of items that require additional layers of tracking and monitoring thanks to their sensitive military technology, a little more than $1 billion — or nearly 60 percent — are not fully accounted for, the report found. The Defense Department’s inspector general did not say if any such weapons had been misused or diverted after being shipped to Ukraine because “it was beyond...

Ukrainian soldiers and marines told The New York Times that the Dnipro river front is brutal. They contradicted official reports that they have gained a foothold on the eastern bank. They said that Ukrainian soldiers are dying in huge numbers and that it is a "suicide mission." In recent months, the banks of the Dnipro river have taken center stage in the war in Ukraine, with Ukrainian officials claiming that their forces have gained a foothold on the eastern bank. However, marines and soldiers on the ground told The New York Times that these claims are overstated and that Ukrainians...

President Joe Biden will host Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House Tuesday as discussions on a Ukraine aid deal remain stalled in Congress. The visit, which the White House announced Sunday, is Zelensky’s second visit to Washington since the war in Ukraine began. He last visited in September.

Hunter Biden was indicted Thursday on nine charges — including three felonies — in part for allegedly evading over $1 million in taxes while living a hard-partying “extravagant” life. The three felonies leveled against President Biden’s 53-year-old son — who faces a maximum penalty of 17 years in prison if convicted on all counts — include one count tax evasion for his 2018 personal taxes and two counts of filing a false return for his 2018 personal taxes and on a corporate income tax return for his company Owasco, PC. He has also been hit with six misdemeanor counts of...

The Biden administration gave $86 million to a company accused of peddling counterfeit COVID test kits manufactured in China, according to records obtained by the Washington Free Beacon. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced the funding to CorDx, a COVID test kit manufacturer, in September. The deal will finance free testing products to American households and is intended to "bolster U.S. manufacturing."But records obtained by the Free Beacon raise questions about CorDx's testing kits and its domestic manufacturing capabilities. One of the company's competitors claimed CorDx sold knockoff kits stamped with a false brand name, in violation...

Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO) said Thursday on MSNBC’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports” that President Joe Biden should not be held responsible for “transnational gangs that are smuggling people to the border of the United States.” Co-host Andrea Mitchell said, “It’s one thing to spend more money on the border, the president was agreeing with that in his supplemental proposal but to try to resolve decades and decades of disagreements over fundamental border policy at the risk of not funding Israel and/or Ukraine, that doesn’t make sense, does it?” Bennet said, “I think that doesn’t make much sense. We shouldn’t be doing...

Democrat President Joe Biden’s administration has extended a sanctions waiver in order to release another $10 billion in frozen funds for Iran. According to the Associated Press, the four-month extension will allow the Iranian regime access to previously frozen $10 billion in electricity revenues. The Biden admin insists that the terror-linked Islamic dictatorship will use the funds for “humanitarian aid.” However, experts have repeatedly warned that giving Iran to access frozen funds will free up money in Tehran’s money reserves. By freeing up Iran’s reserves, the regime will be able to continue sponsoring terrorism and developing nuclear weapons. The sanctions...

Many weapon systems sent to Ukraine or deployed by Russia have been characterised by at least some commentators as potential "game changers." From Javelin to Lancet and the Leopard 2, many new systems have been introduced and/or scaled up in use over the course of the war, and some have entered in dramatic fashion (as with the recent ATACMS strikes). In this episode I review a sample of "game changer" systems, discuss how we might evaluate whether or not a system deserves the title, and figure out what each did, or didn't, do to change the war in Ukraine.

WASHINGTON — President Biden’s staff confirmed Friday that he is asking Congress for much greater aid to Ukraine by hitching it to a smaller and more popular spending request for Israel after Hamas terrorists slaughtered 1,400 people in a surprise attack this month. Biden on Thursday night used his second primetime Oval Office address since taking office to urge passage of the combined package, which the White House confirmed Friday morning would be $14.3 billion for Israel — just a quarter of the $61.4 billion he’s seeking for Ukraine. Another $30.1 billion would go to various other projects, bringing the...

@disclosetv JUST IN - Biden announces $100 million in aid for Gaza, West Bank.

Like much of Washington, the Biden White House was caught off guard Saturday morning when House Speaker Kevin McCarthy abruptly reversed course and announced that he would bring a clean bill to fund the government for the next 45 days. But aides weren’t terribly surprised. After all, they had assumed the government shutdown showdown would end this way at some point — with the main question being whether McCarthy would take his lumps before or after the funding deadline.

Long-awaited approval for DPICM rockets with ranges to just over 100 miles, Rice told Newsweek on Monday, appears imminent, as the White House edges closer to finally lifting its block on supplying the long-range MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile System—known as the ATACMS—to Kyiv... "Getting approval this week for HIMARS DPICM will be a game changer," Rice said. "And with no training and change needed, it will likely be on the battlefield next week, making a huge difference. When those rockets launch, they break the sound barrier. To me, that's the sound of freedom."... Rice has been working with U.S. lawmakers...

A staggering 371 Americans have been charged with stealing roughly $836 million in COVID relief funds — including gang members who used the money to hire hitmen, the Justice Department announced Wednesday. The charges were the result of a three-month-long joint investigation conducted by law enforcement agencies across the nation from May through July, according to the DOJ. The department has focused on “bringing to justice those who stole from American businesses and families at a time of national emergency,” Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said. Sixty-three of those facing charges include gang members and defendants with connections to violent...

Former Disney CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg named national co-chair of Biden's 2024 campaign ... A former Disney CEO and his wife recently donated more than $1.7 million to a joint fundraising committee authorized by Biden's campaign, despite their deep ties to China. Biden’s campaign announced on April 25 that former Disney and DreamWorks Animation chief Jeffrey Katzenberg would serve as one of its national co-chairs. Two days later, on April 27, the Biden Victory Fund, the campaign’s joint fundraising vehicle, received a donation totaling $889,600 from Katzenberg’s wife, Marilyn. ... Katzenberg has deep and longstanding ties to China's communist government.. potentially...

The United States has given roughly twice as much military aid to Ukraine during the first year of Russia's invasion as European Union countries, a disparity that has renewed debate among U.S. lawmakers. The U.S. gave $47 billion in the first year, according Kiel Institute for the World Economy data reviewed by The New York Times. U.S. military assistance for Ukraine has been a domestic concern since Russia invaded the country in February 2022 and continues to be – as the war passes its 500-day mark and Congress attempts to pass the National Defense Authorization Act. On Thursday night, GOP...

President Joe Biden will head to Europe at week’s end for a three-country trip intended to bolster the international coalition against Russian aggression as the war in Ukraine extends well into its second year. The main focus of Biden’s five-day visit will be the annual NATO summit, held this year in Vilnius, Lithuania. Also planned are stops in Helsinki, Finland, to commemorate the Nordic country’s entrance into the 31-nation military alliance in April, and Britain, the White House announced Sunday. The NATO meeting comes at the latest critical point in the war. Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, says counteroffensive and defensive...