Free Republic

DNI Report Released on this day in PDF format.

One hundred years from now, a fair-minded assessment of Trump’s presidency will recognize his abundant domestic and international accomplishments. Liberals unborn may be appalled. Conservatives unconceived may applaud. But both should agree that Trump was a consequential president whose sleeplessness achieved significant things, often while astonishing foes and friends alike.

One of the more unsettling comments from influential lawmakers came on Wednesday with little fanfare despite being downright Orwellian in its perspective around "media literacy" and a congressional "truth and reconciliation" committee. "There’s absolutely a commission that’s being discussed, but it seems to be more investigating in style rather than truth and reconciliation,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) said in an Instagram video post Wednesday. In a related story, Orwell's "1984" had a government propaganda department called "The Ministry of Truth."

All of Capitol Hill will flip blue in the next week, so it’s important to consider whether President-elect Joe Biden will attempt a second term in the commander-in-chief spot—potentially igniting a familiar political battle between Trump and Biden.

Parler’s CEO has gone into hiding with his family after receiving death threats, according to a new court filing. CEO John Matze “has had to leave his home and go into hiding with his family after receiving death threats and invasive personal security breaches,” the filing in Parler v. Amazon states.

Health and Human Services secretary Alex Azar submitted his resignation in a letter to President Trump on January 12, citing the pro-Trump riot at the Capitol last week, NBC reported. Azar’s resignation will take effect on January 20, the same day that Joe Biden will be sworn in as president. Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic early in 2020, Azar has been involved in the Trump administration’s response as a member of the White House coronavirus task force. Azar has also overseen Operation Warp Speed, the Trump administration’s vaccine development program.

President Trump is considering a pardon for former adviser Steve Bannon during his final days in office, two people with knowledge of the matter told Politico on Friday. Bannon, formerly the CEO of Breitbart News, was the architect of Trump’s 2016 campaign and chief White House strategist until August 2017.

“The madness of Trump, as bad as it was, it really needed to happen. We really needed a reflection of our world’s greatest problem, which is not climate change, but sociopathy and narcissism. Especially in America. It’s going to kill the world. It’s not capitalism, it’s narcissism.” So said songstress Lana Del Rey, reflecting on the Trump administration this week. She’s right to dig deeper than climate change and capitalism, but wrong to finger an incurable element of the human condition for America’s ills. The broader point, however, is important. Del Rey is arguing that Trump’s political ascent exposed or,...

Liz Cheney and Kevin McCarthy are making two very different bets on Donald Trump — and the one who guesses right may find themselves with a future leading the GOP. The decision by Cheney, the No. 3 House Republican, to split with the minority leader and embrace Trump’s impeachment marks the most dramatic rift in the upper rungs of GOP leadership since Trump took office. It caps a years-long tussle between the party leaders over how closely the GOP should align itself with Trump and where the party should go after he leaves office.

A lawyer for Jacob Chansley, the “QAnon shaman” who took part in the rioting at the U.S. Capitol last week, is calling on President Trump to pardon his client and to “stand up and own these people” who participated in the unrest. In an appearance on CNN on Thursday, attorney Albert Watkins said his client “felt like he was answering the call of our president” when he stormed the U.S. Capitol with a pro-Trump mob last week. He likened the president’s supporters who participated in the siege to the Jonestown cult members who committed mass suicide in 1978.

In his inaugural address, President-elect Joe Biden could announce that he is pardoning Donald Trump. It would raise a furor on the Left. But it would also allow Biden to declare that he is following through on his pledge to unite America.

In another cancel culture move, it seems Middlebury College wants to revoke Rudy Giuliani’s honorary degree. This seems in line with what Harvard University students want to do and revoke degrees of prominent Trump-affiliated conservatives like Ted Cruz and others. This was posted as an editorial in the Middlebury College’s student newspaper, the Middlebury Campus: “…Winning is wonderful. Winning in sports. Winning elections. It beats losing them. But the reality is that winning is only fulfilling if you do it through the rules, and you do it by being able to contribute to other people.” These were the words that...

resident Donald Trump was impeached for the second time in less than a year this week, as the nation reels from the lethal Jan. 6 attack on Capitol Hill. Impeachment is a political-legal process and he was charged with a single count: inciting insurrection. After the storming of the legislature, which resulted in the deaths of five, Trump says he’ll go quietly from office, though he still questions the validity of the election results.

It’s not uncommon for Cheney to break ranks with Trump, as she’s collided with the president on a number of foreign policy issues and ways to mitigate the coronavirus. Cheney condemned Trump’s military removal from several theaters. She rejected the Republican push to overturn the 2020 election results that was based on false instances of voter fraud. The Wyoming Representative is also an avid supporter of mask-wearing and social distancing measures and championed Dr. Anthony Fauci for his work during the pandemic.

See below. I am quite terrified to see where this is all headed. The full text of the letter being circulated at Harvard is below: Revoke their Degrees The campaign to subvert the outcome of the 2020 presidential election left five dead and nearly killed many more as armed, organized insurrectionists with Confederate flags and Nazi paraphernalia stormed the Capitol in search of members of Congress to kill or capture. Nationwide violence is expected in the weeks to come. Is Harvard University prepared to take a stand for representative democracy and against violent white supremacy?

Pollster Frank Luntz has always been a highly accurate expert over the years that I have always respected and is someone I would recommend following on Twitter. Luntz was on Fox News last night with some pretty important stats with his latest polls. One of his data points really was shocking to me: that so many Trump supporters would vote for him again, even considering events at the Capitol Building last week.

Conservative attorney John Eastman will retire from his role at Chapman University immediately, the school announced Wednesday, after the professor’s support for President Trump’s efforts to overturn the election results sparked backlash among his colleagues. Faculty at the Orange County, Calif. school demanded that Eastman, who challenged the election results on Trump’s behalf, be ousted from his position after he made claims that the election was fraudulent at a rally at the White House on January 6, hours before supporters of President Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol while Congress met to tally the electoral votes.

Biden’s proposal, which is expected to cost up to $2 trillion, could extend more help to households and businesses in addition to easing the burden on state and local governments. Soon-to-be Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York, was seeking a $1.3 trillion COVID-19 relief package.

In the wake of the protests and tragic violence at the United States Capitol last Wednesday, Parler, the popular alternative to Twitter, is facing an unprecedented crackdown from its competitors. In the span of 48 hours, both Apple and Google announced they would be removing the app from their smartphone app stores. Shortly thereafter, Amazon Web Services announced it would stop hosting Parler, thus also wiping out its web component.

With seven days left in President Donald Trump’s term, the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives voted for a second time to impeach him—this time gaining some Republican support. The vote was 232-197, with 10 House Republicans joining all House Democrats. The House impeached Trump on a charge of “incitement to insurrection” based on his speech to a large crowd in Washington that assembled to protest Congress’ certifying the Electoral College vote for President-elect Joe Biden. Shortly after the president’s speech, a riot broke out about a mile away at the Capitol and hundreds broke into the building, resulting in the deaths...