Free Republic

On four separate occasions in October 2017, the informant entered Echo Park United Methodist Church with a hidden recorder and captured audio of meetings held by the Los Angeles chapter of Refuse Fascism, a group which has organized a number of large-scale demonstrations against the Trump administration in major U.S. cities, according to court records reviewed by The Times. ... part of an ongoing case against several members of Refuse Fascism who were charged with criminal trespass for blocking a downtown section of the 101 Freeway during two separate anti-Trump demonstrations in September and November of 2017.

European Islamist scion Tariq Ramadan was banned from the U.S. by the Bush administration in February 2004 for his financial support of a charity that funded terrorist groups. In January 2010, then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton overturned that ban. Clinton personally approved a visa for the controversial grandson of the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood. Now, Tariq Ramadan is facing multiple accusations of rape and sexual assault of minors. Hillary Clinton's visa for Tariq Ramadan was seen as part of the new Obama administration policy of embracing more hardcore Islamists. The New York Times reported in 2010: Six years after...

WEST PALM BEACH — What promised to be a salacious trial probing billionaire Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual relationships with underage girls won’t get underway next week as planned. Citing the many unanswered legal questions that still swirl around the 8-year-old civil lawsuit pitting attorney Bradley Edwards against the 64-year-old Palm Beach convicted sex offender, Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Donald Hafele agreed to delay the trial until March. “Under the circumstances of this unusual and relatively complex case, the court finds that there are simply too many significant, lengthy motions that are pending and need to be heard prior to December...

A lawyer for the Maltese professor who told former Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos that the Russians had “dirt” on Hillary Clinton says his client will testify in front of the Senate. BuzzFeed reports that Stephan Roh, attorney for Professor Joseph Mifsud, wrote in an email that Mifsud “is to testify in front of the US Senate — we are working towards his appearance.” Lawyers for the Democratic National Committee wrote in a September court filing for their Russia lawsuit that they believed Mifsud was “missing and may be deceased.” According to the Daily Caller, an attorney for Republicans on...

One of the key turning points in the investigation happened in Italy. It is no coincidence that US Senator Lindsay Graham, one of Trump's closest allies and one of the leading critics of Mueller's investigation, has been visiting Rome over the last few days. There are many unanswered questions, one of the most important being: where is Joseph Mifsud? Il Foglio does not know, but it can reveal where he hid for seven months after disappearing: in Rome, in a rented flat paid by Link Campus University. Mifsud taught there, and Il Foglio understands that he owns 35 per cent...

After it claimed no such document existed, the Justice Department just unearthed a letter Matt Whitaker delivered to the Utah U.S. attorney directing a review of how the department handled the Clinton Foundation and the Uranium One issues. Then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions wrote the letter on Nov. 22, 2017 for Utah U.S. Attorney John Huber. Matt Whitaker, who was Sessions’ chief of staff at the time, emailed the letter to Huber that day, writing, “As we discussed.” He also sent Huber a copy of a letter the Justice Department’s Congressional affairs chief sent to the chairman of the House Judiciary...

U.S. 5th Fleet Commander Found Dead in Bahrain This post has been updated with additional details on the investigation. Vice Adm. Scott A. Stearney, commander of U.S. 5th Fleet, was found dead in his quarters in Bahrain on Saturday, according to a statement from Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson. While an investigation is ongoing, the death of Stearney will almost certainly be ruled a suicide, a U.S. defense official told USNI News. An official determination on the cause of death is expected by mid-week, USNI News has learned. A Navy spokesperson didn’t have additional information on the investigation...

A pastry chef employed at President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property in Florida is a believer in the QAnon conspiracy theory that alleges Trump is secretly purging the government of “deep state” liberals and Hollywood elites who run child sex trafficking rings and the CIA, among other paranoid delusions. Reporter Zach Everson, who runs the 1100 Pennsylvania newsletter investigating Trump’s businesses, uncovered the beliefs of pastry chef Elizabeth Alfieri on her Instagram, where she posts frequently from Mar-a-Lago and uses hashtags like #Q, #QAnon, and #QArmy to refer to the conspiracy theory. Alfieri began working for Trump in November 2017 and...

...Mnangagwa struck a conciliatory tone in the months leading up to the election. Declaring that Zimbabwe was “open for business,” he amended a law requiring local ownership of diamond and platinum mines. He signaled his intent to end farm seizures and vowed to sell off failing state enterprises. He even wrote a New York Times op-ed calling for democracy and equal rights for all citizens. But Mnangagwa is tied to numerous human rights abuses, including overseeing a series of government-ordered massacres between 1982 and 1986 known as the “Gukurahundi.” An estimated 20,000 civilians from Zimbabwe’s Ndebele ethnic group were killed....

House Republicans still want Glenn Simpson, the co-founder of the firm behind the anti-Trump dossier, to comply with their subpoena to appear on Capitol Hill despite his plans to invoke Fifth Amendment protections, a GOP House Judiciary Committee aide told Fox News on Friday. The tension with the Fusion GPS co-founder comes as new details emerge about just how widely distributed the unverified and politically funded dossier was back in 2016. A Fox News review of congressional testimony, British court records, emails and other documents indicate that at least five sources worked through other government agencies or fed the dossier...

Special counsel Robert S. Mueller III has added a veteran cyber prosecutor to his team, filling what has long been a gap in expertise and potentially signaling a recent focus on computer crimes. Ryan K. Dickey was assigned to Mueller’s team in early November from the Justice Department’s computer crime and intellectual-property section, said a spokesman for the special counsel’s office. He joined 16 other lawyers who are highly respected by their peers but who have come under fire from Republicans wary of some of their political contributions to Democrats. Dickey’s addition is particularly notable because he is the first...

Moscow is preparing to recover a nuclear-powered missile lost at sea, according to sources with direct knowledge of a U.S. intelligence report. Russian President Vladimir Putin bragged earlier this year that the new missile had unlimited range. The missile was tested four times between November and February, each resulting in a crash, according to sources who spoke to CNBC on the condition of anonymity. Crews will attempt to recover a missile that was test launched in November and landed in the Barents Sea, which is located north of Norway and Russia. The operation will include three vessels, one of which...

Special counsel Robert Mueller's team is investigating a meeting between President Trump's former national security adviser Michael Flynn and Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.)...

A trove of emails and handwritten notes from Department of Justice official Bruce Ohr exposes the continuous contact and communication between the DOJ attorney and anti-Trump dossier author Christopher Steele, according to notes and documents obtained by SaraACarter.com. The emails and notes were written between 2016 and 2017. SNIP... In June 2017, Steele tells Ohr, “We are frustrated with how long this reengagement with the Bureau and Mueller is taking. Anything you can do to accelerate the process would be much appreciated. There are some new, perishable, operational opportunities which we do not want to miss out on.” In October...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Special counsel Robert Mueller’s grand jury is investigating a prominent Democratic lobbyist and a former GOP congressman for their involvement in an influence campaign on behalf of Ukrainian interests tied to Paul Manafort, according to a person with direct knowledge of the investigation. At the center of the widening probe are Tony Podesta, a longtime Democratic operative, and Vin Weber, a former GOP congressman and leader of his own high-powered lobbying firm, Mercury LLC. The two men were hired as part of a multimillion-dollar lobbying effort directed by Manafort and longtime associate Rick Gates.

Kathy Griffin was booed by the crowd at her Dublin performance on Wednesday, November 8 after she mistakenly included Ireland as part of the United Kingdom. She stated it was nice “being in the United Kingdom,” and seemed genuinely shocked when the friendly crowd suddenly turned to her booing and catcalling. Griffin became so startled she had difficulty continuing with her routine, The New York Times reported. Most of the Irish people at the show in Vicar Street clearly believed Griffin, an Irish American, should have known better. She has been a frequent visitor there and visited her grandmother’s hometown...

The first anniversary of the election of President Donald Trump is to be marked this Wednesday, November 8, in Dublin, in what is being dubbed by organizers as a “night of resistance.” To be held in association with the Irish Refugee Council and their projects working with young people in Ireland’s Direct Provision system, Irish Stand is the second event of its kind to be held by the grassroots movement which supports civil rights protections for all immigrants. Last St. Patrick’s Day 2017 in New York, over 1,500 people gathered in the Riverside Church in Manhattan to take an “Irish...

The Justice Department reportedly has garnered enough evidence to charge at least six Russian government operatives with hacking the Democratic National Committee's computers during the 2016 presidential election. The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that federal prosecutors could bring charges earaly next year. The Journal reported that dozens of others may have also played a role in the cyberattack. Multiple congressional probes and federal intelligence investigations are focusing on Russian interference and meddling in the 2016 presidential election. Those probes are ongoing and began even before the appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller to investigate similar charges.

George Papadopoulos appears to have been targeted by three individuals with ties to British and/or U.S. Intelligence. Joseph Mifsud Alexander Downer Stefan Halper George Papadopoulos and Joseph Mifsud reportedly both worked at the London Centre of International Law Practice. Joseph Mifsud appears to have joined LCILP around November 2015. Papadopoulos appears to have joined LCILP sometime in late February or early March 2016 after leaving Ben Carson’s campaign. Per reports, Papadopoulos and Mifsud first met on March 14, 2016. The London Centre of International Law and Practice Limited (LCILP) is an odd institution. From their website: LCILP training emphasises the...

BuzzFeed News sued the Democratic National Committee (DNC) Tuesday to force the release of information that the news outlet hopes will help it defend against a lawsuit related to the Steele dossier. BuzzFeed is seeking digital information that could shed light on the cyber attacks against the DNC during the presidential campaign. The news outlet faces three separate lawsuits related to its publication of the dossier, which was written by former British spy Christopher Steele and financed by the Clinton campaign and DNC. The suit against the DNC seeks information that could help defend against a defamation lawsuit filed by...