Free Republic

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — A federal judge Wednesday threatened to throw out the guilty plea of a veteran U.S. narcotics agent who conspired with a Colombian cartel money launderer — an unexpected twist that could derail one of the most egregious misconduct cases in the history of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. U.S. District Judge Charlene Edwards Honeywell was expected to sentence the disgraced agent, Jose I. Irizarry, but refused to do so over what she called a “totally unacceptable” legal dispute. “I have never seen anything like this,” Honeywell said, postponing the sentencing indefinitely. “I’m not even sure at...

On October 19, 2011, Farhana Khera of Muslim Advocates delivered a letter to John Brennan, who was then the assistant to the president on National Security for Homeland Security and Counter Terrorism. The letter was signed by the leaders of virtually all significant Islamic groups in the United States: 57 Muslim, Arab, and South Asian organizations, many with ties to Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood, including the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), the Muslim American Society (MAS), the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA), Islamic Relief USA, and the Muslim Public Affairs Council...

President Donald Trump is helping congressional Republicans investigate his White House predecessor, Joe Biden, and the Biden administration’s extensive use of the autopen. Nine senior Biden aides have been called to testify before the House Oversight Committee, and the Trump White House decided Tuesday to waive executive privilege for the staffers, allowing committee members to grill them on the autopen use without any legal obstacles. “Evidence that aides to former President Biden concealed information regarding his fitness to exercise the powers of the President—and may have unconstitutionally exercised those powers themselves to aid in their concealment—implicates both Congress’ constitutional and...

Muammar Gaddafi (Al-Gadhafi, Qaddafi)Highlights of the brutal genocidal dictator: Muammar Gadhafi: Planting the seeds in the 1970s for the recent genocide in the Sudan. Involved in the bloody violence there, early on.* His (pan-Arabism) 'racist,' 'facsist' influence on Al-Bashir, who brought the genocide upon non-Muslims first (pan-Islamism), than on non-pure-Arabs in Sudan.* * * Allied with the butcher of Uganda, strong fanatic 'Islamic' ties. (indeed, at the opening of 'Idi Amin's Dream Mosque, named after Qaddafi, the crowds chanted "long live Gaddafi")*. Influencing anti-Jewish bigotry on the African leader.* The terror massacres, the 1986 bombing of the La Belle Cafe...

An elderly man from the United Kingdom has been held in Iran’s notorious Evin Prison for the last four years on charges of spying, according to his family, who is pushing for his release based on concern about his age and health. Kamal Foroughi, an engineer by training, was working as a consultant in the capital city of Tehran for the Malaysian national oil and gas company Petronas when Iranian authorities took him into custody in May 2011, taking him from his apartment without any warrant for his arrest, according to his family. "My dad is 76-years-old and gets no...

ATLANTA - Former United States President Jimmy Carter released a statement Thursday after the recent comments made back and forth between United States officials and North Korea. Here is the statement: ======================================================= "The harsh rhetoric from Washington and Pyongyang during recent months has exacerbated an already confrontational relationship between our countries, and has probably eliminated any chance of good faith peace talks between the United States and North Korea. In addition to restraining the warlike rhetoric, our leaders need to encourage talks between North Korea and other countries, especially China and Russia. The recent UN Security Council unanimous vote for...

This is a 78 minute documentary from 2011 about people who are trying to build a road in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

EL PASO, Texas -- Comments made about border security by former drug czar, retired general Barry McCaffrey, at a U.S. House subcommittee Friday caught the attention of U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-El Paso. "I really believe that it had a political purpose," said Reyes. McCaffrey testified that he participated in a seminar-style meeting in El Paso within the last 18 months alongside "100 people" from El Paso and Mexico. The topic was the threat of drug cartel-connected criminals operating in Texas. "People from both sides of the border said they feel intimidated and a senior police official in the city...

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) -- President Barack Obama stood, eyes closed, in a personal moment of silence before the tomb of slain Roman Catholic Archbishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero, whose fight for the poor during El Salvador's bloody civil war made him a national hero - and an international figure in human rights. The visit Tuesday in the final hours of Obama's five-day swing through Latin America was a symbolic gesture that some called U.S. recognition of Romero's cause. Obama toured the national cathedral with Monsignor Jose Luis Escobar Alas, the current archbishop, and paid respects to a man ordered...

Rep. Mike Collins mocked Sen. Chris Van Hollen over his visit to El Salvador ... Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga., claimed in a post on X that he altered the name plaque outside the office of Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md. The Republican lawmaker’s post included a photo in which the plaque outside Van Hollen’s office says that he represents El Salvador. ... Sen. Chris Van Hollen meets with Kilmar Abrego Garcia in El Salvador ... "margarita-gate." ... Collins has repeatedly criticized Van Hollen for traveling to El Salvador to meet with MS-13 member and illegal immigrant Kilmar Abrego-Garcia .... when...

"First he came for the whistleblowers and I didn't speak up because I was a liberal...." A conference called "Sources and Secrets" was held a few days ago at the Times Center in New York. The conference is described as "A conference on the press, government and national security." It's supported largely by left wing organizations and news outlets. At the meeting James Risen of the NY Times expressed an interesting opinion: New York Times reporter James Risen, who is fighting an order that he testify in the trial of Jeffrey Sterling, a former CIA officer accused of leaking information...

Shortened title. Full title: Racist South African Political Leader Julius Malema: “Go After the White Man… We Are Cutting the Throat of Whiteness” In 2011 South Africa youth leader Julius Malema told his supporters that the white farmer’s land must be shared by all black Africans. He was arrested for playing “Kill the Boer (white man)” song at his rallies.

I nominate Recep Tayyip Erdogan, president of Turkey, as the most inconsistent, mysterious, and therefore most unpredictable major politician on the world stage. His victory in a referendum last Sunday formally bestows him with near-dictatorial powers that leave Turkey, the Middle East, and beyond in a greater state of uncertainty than ever.Here are some of the puzzles:Mystery #1: Holding the referendum. The Turkish electorate voted on April 16 in a remarkable national plebiscite that dealt not with the usual topic – floating a bond or recalling a politician – but with fundamental constitutional changes affecting the very nature of their...

A new and unconfirmed report says that the Trump administration is trying to make a deal with Libya to take in a large number of Gazans as the administration continues to search for a way to clear the Gaza Strip of terrorists and jihad-loving “civilians” alike. But there is another reason for the Trump administration focusing on Libya. In 2011, the US froze $34 billion in Libyan assets, afraid that Qaddafi, then facing a popular uprising, might use that money to help himself stay in power.

<p>Ousted strongman Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier returned to Haiti on Sunday after some 25 years in exile as the country wrestled with a post-election crisis.</p>

In 1915, the US Marines invaded Haiti, occupying the country until 1934. US officials rewrote the Haitian constitution, and when the Haitian national assembly refused to ratify it, they dissolved the assembly. They then held a "referendum" in which about 5% of the electorate voted and approved the new constitution – which conveniently changed Haitian law to allow foreigners to own land – with 99.9% voting for approval. The situation today is remarkably similar. The country is occupied, and although the occupying troops wear blue helmets, everyone knows that Washington calls the shots. On 28 November an election was held...

A private intelligence report from Hillary Clinton's confidant, Sid Blumenthal, claimed that Hezbollah, the Iran-backed terrorist organization, had set up shop in Cuba, according to an email released by the State Department over the weekend. The group was actively "casing" facilities related to U.S. interests, the intelligence report also says. The dispatch read: During the week of September 5, 2011 extremely sensitive sources reported in confidence that the Israeli Intelligence and Security Service (Mossad) has informed the leadership of the Israeli Government that Hezbollah is establishing an operational base in Cuba, designed to support terrorist attacks throughout Latin America.The confidential...

E. histolytica, shown in green, attacking human white blood cells (Credit: Katherine Ralston). ========================================================================== New analysis by scientists from the University of California, Davis has determined that an invasive ‘Skinwalker’ parasite that kills thousands of people every year uses pieces of its prey’s “skin” as a disguise to evade detection. Dubbed Entamoeba histolytica, previous studies have unlocked several clues on how this deadly parasite, which is typically found in developing countries that lack clean water, can evade the human immune system. However, this is the first to directly observe the single-celled organism donning the remains of a destroyed cell to...

The Miami Herald is reporting Hugo Chávez early demise was recognized long before the rest of the world was privvy to the details of a late diagnosed and lethal cancer. With the help of Cuban brothers Fidel and Raúl, and Chávez' hand-picked successor Nicolás Maduro, the Venezuelan presidential election was moved from December 2012 to October 2012, two months that the report says were crucial. In October Chávez could still stand before his supporters to applaud his re-election, but there was no certainty that he could do so in December. He returned to Cuba for a fourth round of cancer treatments in early...

She joined the FBI after watching the World Trade Center collapse before her eyes, leaving a lucrative job at a hedge fund.As a Special Agent in Miami, she worked on many high-profile cases and won awards and accolades for her hard work and diligence.Last year she resigned in disgust. The FBI had turned its sights from fighting crime to fighting Americans’ freedoms.Former FBI Special Agent Nicole Parker broke down in tears Thursday while testifying during a congressional hearing.Parker said during the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government’s inaugural hearing that she left her job at a hedge...