Free Republic

"The people of Venezuela are standing for freedom and democracy and the United States of America is standing right by their side" President Donald J. Trump Speaks In Miami 2/18/2019 Speaking in Miami Monday afternoon President Donald Trump urged the Venezuelan military to stop its support for Nicolas Maduro and come out in support of Interim President Juan Guaido. Trump noted that Guaido has offered amnesty and also warned that the US knows where the military has any ill gotten gains given to them by Maduro stashed in financial institutions. The President laid out a vision of democracy for Venezuela...

Univision anchor Jorge Ramos and members of his team have been detained in Caracas, Venezuela after dispute President Nicolas Maduro "didn't like the questions" they were asking during an interview, the network tweeted Monday night.

Merida, April 3, 2019 – Venezuela’s National Constituent Assembly (ANC) has lifted the parliamentary immunity of the self-declared “Interim President” Juan Guaido, opening the door for criminal charges to be brought against him. Tuesday’s unanimous decision came following a request from the Supreme Court, and included the “authorisation” of the continuation of investigations into the also deputy and president of the National Assembly. “The investigation [against Guaido] is formally authorised to continue in accordance with our Constitution and laws” said ANC President Diosdado Cabello during the session. Cabello added that justice was “necessary” and what would safeguard peace in Venezuela....

The Trump administration simulated the ability of the United States to handle a flulike pandemic months before the coronavirus turned the scenario into a reality. The Health and Human Services Department led the exercise, known as the "Crimson Contagion," last year in conjunction with dozens of states and federal agencies, according to the New York Times. HHS also invited charitable groups, insurance companies, and major hospitals to take part in the effort. Former Air Force physician Robert Kadlec, who has studied biodefense issues for decades, led the exercise, which imagined a contagious disease that originated in China and spread globally...

6 illegal immigrants linked to Mexican cartel arrested in NC for drug trafficking operation, officials saySix illegal immigrants with ties to a Mexican drug cartel — a rival of the powerful Sinaloa cartel, whose notorious leader Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman was convicted last week — were arrested in an elaborate drug trafficking operation in North Carolina, according to reports. The massive drug operation included transporting large amounts of cocaine and methamphetamine across state lines — for instance, from Texas to Georgia and North Carolina, WSOC reported. The feds identified the suspects as Oscar Rangel-Gutierrez, Regulo Rangel-Gutierrez, Francisco Garcia-Martinez, Rodolfo Martinez,...

When CNBC announced that the successful Jewish hedge fund manager would be supporting fellow Jewish billionaire Mike Bloomberg in his run for President as a Democrat, Democrat Congresswoman Ilhan Omar (MN), who has a history of making anti-Semitic remarks on Twitter, responded to their tweet, saying, “I wonder why?” Women’s tennis icon and gay rights activist Martina Navratilova immediately admonished Omar for making yet another anti-Semitic statement on Twitter. Navratilova tweeted, “This is a wrong thing to say Congresswoman…” Omar’s liberal friends attacked Navratilova, who is a liberal to the core. Navratilova’s profile picture on Twitter is an image of...

Nursultan Nazarbayev announces shock resignation in televised address, hands over power to speaker of upper house. Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev has abruptly announced his resignation, 29 years after taking office. In a televised address on Tuesday, the 78-year-old said he has taken the "difficult" decision to terminate his authority as president, but did not give a specific reason for the shock decision. "I have decided to end my duties as president," Nazarbayev said, before signing a decree terminating his powers from March 30. "This year I will have held the highest post for 30 years," he said. "As the founder...

WARSAW, Poland – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office on Thursday released a video of a closed meeting in which senior Gulf Arab officials play down the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, defend Israel's right to defend itself, and describe Iran as the greatest threat to regional peace. The video, bearing the insignia of Netanyahu's office, gave a rare glimpse into the behind-the-scenes contacts the Israeli leader frequently boasts of, but which are rarely seen in public. The video was recorded on a mobile device and it was not clear who took it. Netanyahu's office briefly made the YouTube video available to a...

American authorities have arrested a former US Marine who is allegedly part of a group that raided North Korea's embassy in Madrid, reports say. Christopher Ahn will reportedly appear in a Los Angeles court. It would be the first arrest over the incident, which happened in February days before US President Donald Trump met North Korea's Kim Jong Un in Vietnam. Free Joseon, a self-styled human rights group, says it was involved. US federal agents have also raided the apartment of Adrian Hong, one of the group's leaders, says the Washington Post. ... On 22 February, a group of at...

During his grudge-airing, redemption-seeking spectacle on Wednesday, Michael Cohen admitted he was in cahoots with Democratic lawmakers prior to giving his congressional testimony. “We spoke with Chairman [Elijah] Cummings and the [Democratic] Party,” Trump’s former lawyer confessed to Representative Jody Hice (R-Ga.). “We spoke with Chairman [Adam] Schiff and his people as well.” Under further questioning by Rep. James Jordan (R-Ohio), Cohen acknowledged he “spoke to Mr. Schiff about topics that were going to be raised at the upcoming hearing.” Jordan clarified that rather than simply discuss the logistics of the hearing, Schiff coached the witness on “what [he was]...

Michael Cohen, the former personal attorney for President Trump, told House investigators this week that staff for Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., traveled to New York at least four times to meet with him for over 10 hours immediately before last month’s high-profile public testimony, according to two sources familiar with the matter who spoke to Fox News — as Republicans question whether the meetings amounted to coaching a witness. The sources told Fox News that the sessions covered a slew of topics addressed during the public hearing before the oversight committee — including the National Enquirer’s “Catch and...

University of California-Berkeley officials say that campus police have reopened an investigation into the assault on a conservative activist who was manning a recruitment table on campus. Earlier this week, officials said the investigation had ended and police were seeking a felony arrest warrant from the Alameda County District Attorney Office. The new announcement, which offered no details, was the latest in a series of delays and cryptic messages from authorities relating to the Feb. 19 attack, which was captured on video and clearly shows the face of the apparent attacker. The new delay in the case drew the ire...

Another scandal for the "scandal-free" Obama administration. Not all ICE targets work construction or smuggle drugs. Some are key figures in the Dem machine. But the era of Obama corruption is over. There's a new sheriff in town. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) this week arrested two millionaire fugitives from Ecuador whose family donated heavily to American political campaigns. Roberto and William Isaías, 74 and 75, were detained Wednesday in Miami and taken to a detention facility for undocumented immigrants awaiting deportation, The New York Times reported Friday. ICE told the Times that the brothers were “unlawfully present” in...

A senior Justice Department official working in the Office of Justice Programs pressured one subordinate "into a sexual relationship with him in exchange for a promotion," "sexually harassed two other subordinates," "sexually assaulted" yet another subordinate, and then “lacked candor” with the Office of the Inspector General when the IG investigated these matters, according to an investigative summary published by the IG. The unnamed prosecutor or prosecutors to whom the IG referred this case, however, declined to prosecute the senior Justice Department official. Instead, the man was allowed to retire. When asked by CNSNews.com, the Justice Department would not say...

Nigeria: Death toll of Fulani jihad massacre doubles to over 130 The death toll from an attack last week by gunmen in northwestern Nigeria has doubled to more than 130. The “‘Fulani ethnic group’ appeared to have been a deliberate plan to wipe out certain communities.” Those “certain communities” are the Christian victims of the so-called “Fulani ethnic group,” often referred to as “Fulani herdsmen.” Governor Nasir El-Rufai “told reporters that police were still investigating the gunmen’s motive for the attack,” as he tries to minimize the reality of the jihad. Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has been more upfront about...

A Coast Guard lieutenant assigned to the service's headquarters in Washington, D.C., has been arrested on drug and gun possession charges, and is accused of plans to "murder innocent civilians on a scale rarely seen in this country," according to documents filed in Maryland District Court. Lt. Christopher Paul Hasson, an acquisitions officer for the National Security Cutter Acquisition Program, was arrested Feb. 15 and charged with possession of a firearm and ammunition by an unlawful user or addict of controlled substances, and possession of Tramadol, a Schedule IV pain medication. A motion for detention pending trial, filed by U.S....

WASHINGTON — Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe said in an interview that aired Sunday that a "crime may have been committed" when President Donald Trump fired the head of the FBI and tried to publicly undermine an investigation into his campaign's ties to Russia. McCabe also said in the interview with "60 Minutes" that the FBI had good reason to open a counterintelligence investigation into whether Trump was in league with Russia, and therefore a possible national security threat, following the May 2017 firing of then-FBI Director James Comey.

Washington (CNN)Former FBI Director James Comey called Thursday for the removal of Confederate statues in Virginia's capital in the wake of blackface scandals involving top statewide elected officials, in an op-ed for The Washington Post. "Expressing bipartisan horror at blackface photos is essential, but removing the statues would show all of America that Virginia really has changed," Comey writes. "There is no doubt that Virginia's leaders need to be held accountable for their personal history, but every Virginia leader is responsible for the racist symbols that still loom over our lives," Comey writes.

US military planes have been delivering humanitarian aid for Venezuela in the Colombian border town of Cucuta. The aid is being stockpiled at the request of the Venezuelan opposition leader, Juan Guaidó, who declared himself interim president last month. President Nicolás Maduro has alleged that the aid is part of a US plot to disguise an invasion into Venezuela. Mr Guaidó said some 600,000 Venezuelan volunteers would carry the aid across the border on 23 February.

It took just a fortnight for the Democratic Party to reveal to the American people just who they are and what they stand for. It began with Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, a politician whom his party likes to describe as “moderate,” described in a cold and clinical way the abortion policies he and his party are pushing at the state level under the guise of “women’s reproductive health.” “The infant would be delivered,” Mr. Northam described sounding like the country pediatrician he was before entering the world of Democratic Party politics. “The infant would be kept comfortable. The infant would...