Free Republic

The situation with Russian payments to China continues to deteriorate: Chinese banks have begun to return about 80% of transfers in yuan to Russia, informed sources told Kommersant. According to them, the Chinese side has been tightening requirements "increasingly" since December 2023. Then US President Joe Biden signed a decree allowing the US Treasury to impose secondary sanctions against credit institutions of third countries for cooperation with Russian sanctioned companies and assistance to the military-industrial complex (MIC). After another tightening of sanctions in June, when the United States included all sanctioned persons, including Russian banks, in the definition of the...

US intelligence discovered earlier this year that the Russian government planned to assassinate the chief executive of a powerful German arms manufacturer that has been producing artillery shells and military vehicles for Ukraine, according to five US and western officials familiar with the episode. The plot was one of a series of Russian plans to assassinate defense industry executives across Europe who were supporting Ukraine’s war effort, these sources said. The plan to kill Armin Papperger, a white-haired goliath who has led the German manufacturing charge in support of Kyiv, was the most mature. When the Americans learned of the...

Home Depot co-founder and billionaire Ken Langone plans to meet with former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley next week in New York, as he considers backing her in the Republican presidential primary. “The only person I see who can give [Donald] Trump a run for his money is Nikki Haley,” Langone told CNBC in an interview Monday, referring to the former president and current Republican frontrunner. Langone declined to give the date of the meeting, but the former South Carolina governor is scheduled to be in New York on Dec. 4, for a fundraising event co-hosted by...

BREAKING NEWS: Kenneth Chesebro, alleged architect of the “fake electors” plot, has struck a plea deal with prosecutors in Fulton County, Georgia, per source familiar with the arrangement. Chesebro is set to plead guilty to at least one felony charge as a part of the deal, the source told @lawfare. Watch live here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FoNO945_vk0

Donald Trump took to his social media platform Truth Social on Monday night to complain about the $200,000 bond that’s been negotiated for his release after he surrenders in Georgia later this week over his alleged plot to overturn the 2020 election. And while it was completely expected that the former president would complain about needing to post bond, he also ventured into truly bizarre territory, explaining a hypothetical scenario where he would apparently flee to Russia. “I assume, therefore, that she thought I was a ‘flight’ risk - I’d fly far away, maybe to Russia, Russia, Russia, share a...

SAVANNAH, Ga. — Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp testified Monday against Former President Donald Trump. Kemp’s testimony comes as a Fulton County Grand Jury continues to investigate whether Trump or others illegally tried to interfere in the 2020 election. Legal Analyst Rory Riley-Topping explains the rarity of a sitting governor testifying against a former president in his own political party. “We don’t often necessarily see sitting governors getting involved in these investigations unless there’s something pretty big going on,” Riley-Topping said.

Steve Bannon faced two misdemeanor charges that could mean 30 days to a year in prison each Former Trump White House official Steve Bannon was found guilty of contempt of Congress after he ignored a subpoena from the House Jan. 6 committee.

(CNN) - Members of the conservative Republican Study Committee thanked former Vice President Mike Pence for his actions on January 6 and encouraged him to run for President during a private meeting on Wednesday near the US Capitol in Washington, according to multiple attendees. Rep. Don Bacon, a Nebraska Republican, said lawmakers offered Pence encouraging words about a potential presidential bid, saying they hope he plays a big role in 2024 and that they need more voices like his in the party. Pence responded with a smile, according to Bacon, but did not tip his hand about his plans for...

President Donald Trump is sweating over his campaign lawyers’ dismal and often outlandish efforts to reverse President-elect Joe Biden’s projected electoral victory. Trump is worried that his campaign’s legal team, which is being led by his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, is comprised of “fools that are making him look bad,” NBC News reported Monday. That crew, which has unironically called itself an “elite strike force team,” to date has failed to win any legal victories that would invalidate votes for Biden, the former Democratic vice president, even as the legal eagles tout wildly broad claims of fraud for which they...