Free Republic

Democratic Party officials are quietly battling over which state will be the first to vote in the 2028 presidential primary — a fight that's set to break into the open next week, when the officials meet in Minneapolis. * Nevada, New Hampshire, and Michigan are currently the frontrunners to be "the new Iowa," and lead off the 2028 Democratic primary season, according to several people familiar with the Rules and Bylaws committee that will determine the order. Why it matters: The candidate who wins the first state primary gets a boost that can help propel them to the nomination —...

Democrats are tortured by what they should stand for now and heading into the 2028 elections. But a number of current trends suggest a likely answer: their own version of a populist, anti-establishment, MAGA-like makeover.Why it matters: The debate is usually framed as liberal vs. centrist, Rahm versus AOC. But big, fast changes in AI, media habits and general public angst point to a more sweeping shift in ideas and attitude.Four megatrends that are already shaping Democrats' efforts to remake their image and rewrite their agenda:Media: MSM is fading in its mesmerizing hold over liberals. At the same time, the...

VIDEORemember when the liberals were rejoicing in early Spring when they were oh so sure that President Trump's tariffs would cause high inflation, tank the economy, and bring a downfall of the Trumpocalypse? Well, much to their great disappointment, that Hopium scenario did not play out especially as inflation continued to fall. However, they haven't given up. Jim VandeHei, the CEO of Axios, has inhaled another strong dose of Hopium and is now predicting a big rise in inflation resulting in the downfall of MAGA. And when this latest round of Hopium does not pan out, I am sure VandeHei...

Driving the news: Trump, in a Monday Truth Social post, also said he'd also target "Highly 'Inaccurate,' Very Expensive, and Seriously Controversial VOTING MACHINES." Trump has argued mail-in voting was a source of cheating in the 2020 election, despite there being no evidence of widespread fraud. Trump also incorrectly claimed that the U.S. is the only country in the world that uses mail-in voting. Many countries offer some form of postal voting. The latest: Asked about his post Trump said "we're going to stop mail-in ballots because it's corrupt." He said he'd start with an executive order "that's being written...

White House envoy Steve Witkoff told hostage families on Saturday that President Trump wants to "shift" the Gaza policy from trying to get a partial and phased Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal to reaching a comprehensive deal that ends the war and returns all remaining hostages at once, according to a statement by the families and recordings from the meeting. Behind the scenes: Two members of the hostage families who were in the room said Witkoff listened for a long time to every family member who wanted to speak. "We never have these meetings with senior Israeli government officials," one...

The White House is alarmed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decisions in Syria, multiple officials in US President Donald Trump’s administration were quoted Sunday as saying, branding the premier a “madman” and “a child who just won’t behave.” “Bibi acted like a madman. He bombs everything all the time,” a White House official was cited as saying by the Axios news outlet, using the premier’s nickname. “This could undermine what Trump is trying to do.” Israel began carrying out strikes on Syrian troops rolling into Sweida on Tuesday after local government forces were accused of killing scores of people in...

Nearly three-quarters of U.S. teens (72%) say they use AI for companionship, with more than half of those doing so every day, a new survey released Wednesday finds. Why it matters: AI companions can be dangerous to young users, posing an "unacceptable risk," according to Common Sense Media, who published the findings. What they did: For the purposes of this research, conducted in April and May 2025, "AI companions" were defined as "digital friends or characters you can text or talk with whenever you want." Some teens said that they've applied social skills that they practiced with their AI companions...

Why so many people are captured by unlikely hearsay and anonymously sourced tales of high-level criminal conspiracies rather than meaningful political issues. Cynical Publius, a poster on X, accurately describes for me the fantastical conspiratorial posts this week about Attorney General Pam Bondi and the Jeffrey Epstein records and death as “ragebait engagement farming.” I hate mobs and mob thinking, and I think Bondi has achieved a remarkable courtroom record against a tsunami of judicial insurrection. This week the Department of Justice she heads, for example, just won its 13th Supreme Court victory in six months. White House Press Secretary...

Herman Cain’s appointment as a Federal Reserve governor looks to be moving forward. The former Republican presidential candidate and Godfather’s Pizza founder was rumored to be under consideration for a central bank appointment in January. Axios first reported Thursday that President Donald Trump is just about ready to submit Cain’s name to the Senate but is awaiting the completion of a background check. Bloomberg News later confirmed Trump was selecting Cain. A source familiar with the matter did not deny the reports to CNBC. “He won’t formally announce until the vet is completed ... But he likes Cain and wants...

The White House appeared to respond to rumors that either President Donald Trump's Attorney General Pam Bondi or FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino was out following the Department of Justice's announcement about no Epstein "client list.""President Trump has assembled a highly qualified and experienced law and order team dedicated to protecting Americans, holding criminals accountable, and delivering justice to victims," a statement on Friday from White House principal deputy press secretary Harrison Fields read, per Semifor White House Correspondent Shelby Talcott.White House statement on today’s FBI/DOJ Epstein news cycle:“President Trump has assembled a highly qualified and experienced law and order...

Kash Patel is NOT resigning from his post at the FBI — unless the President himself removes him, according to new reports. Earlier Friday, rumors exploded across social media, suggesting that FBI Director Kash Patel might join FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino in stepping down after growing friction with Attorney General Pam Bondi. Dan Bongino reportedly took a day off following a heated confrontation with Bondi over her suppression of critical evidence tied to the Jeffrey Epstein scandal. According to CNN and The Daily Wire, Bongino has told confidants he is strongly considering resigning if Bondi remains at the DOJ....

Convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein died by suicide in August 2019 at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York.Attorney General Pam Bondi is pushing back against criticism over her handling of the Justice Department's review into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.In February, Bondi was asked on Fox News whether the Department of Justice would release a list of Epstein's clients.She responded, “It’s sitting on my desk to review. That’s been a directive by President Trump.”RELATED STORY | Epstein investigation turned up no 'incriminating client list,' FBI saysOn Monday, the Department of Justice and the FBI released a joint memo stating...

We're trapped in a structure. We named the Structure 'Jeffrey Epstein'." — Eric Weinstein No one in America — not even the most deranged, spike-faced, pink-haired transtifas — believes the latest Epstein story as played out by Mr. Trump and AG Bondi in this week’s cabinet parlay: nuthin to see, just a bunch of pointless child porn, fuggeddabowdit. . . But stay! Much is moving, flowing unseen. The world is yugely in flux, large events in human affairs are in motion, many things are breaking, rotating, dissolving and re-forming, while others wind into giant hairballs. . . so many players...

Breitbart News @BreitbartNews Megyn Kelly suggests Jeanine Pirro or Harmeet Dhillon to replace Pam Bondi From Acyn 7:44 PM · Jul 11, 2025

The White House released a statement on the Bondi, Bongino clash on Friday afternoon. Earlier Friday it was reported that FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino took a day off from work after a clash with Attorney General Pam Bondi over the handling of the Epstein files. The blowup between Bondi and Bongino happened after the FBI, DOJ released a 2-page memo on Sunday concluding Jeffrey Epstein did not have a “client list” and that he committed suicide. “Bongino did not report to work Friday amid speculation about his whereabouts, said a source familiar with the perspectives of DOJ leaders who...

FBI Director Kash Patel is reportedly also frustrated with Pam Bondi and considering resigning if Dan Bongino leaves.Earlier Friday it was reported that FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino took a day off from work after a clash with Attorney General Pam Bondi over the handling of the Epstein files.On Sunday night a new FBI, DOJ memo obtained by Axios concluded Jeffrey Epstein did not have a client list that he used for blackmail.The FBI earlier determined that Epstein did commit suicide in August 2019.According to Axios, Bongino was blamed for the oversight of the missing minute. CNN reported that Bongino...

For years, the MAGA base has been demanding real accountability, not just for January 6th protestors or anti-Hillary meme posters, but for the actual predators and monsters who walk free among us under our broken, two-tier justice system. One of the biggest demands from Trump’s America First supporters has been the truth around Jeffrey Epstein’s supposed client list. MAGA was promised sunlight on this issue. They were promised justice. And instead, many feel as if they’ve been gaslit, stalled, and handed recycled documents while the real power players skate free, without a care in the world. From the very beginning,...

FBI deputy director Dan Bongino took a day off from work Friday after clashing at the White House with Attorney General Pam Bondi over their handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files, four sources familiar with the conflict told Axios. Why it matters: The dispute erupted Wednesday amid the fallout of the administration walking back its claims about Epstein by determining the convicted sex offender didn't have a celebrity "client list," and that he wasn't murdered in his New York City prison cell in 2019. Bongino didn't come to work Friday, leading some insiders to believe he had quit. But administration...

On Sunday night AXIOS reported on a new FBI, DOJ memo obtained by Axios concludes Jeffrey Epstein did not have a client list that he used for blackmail. The FBI earlier determined that Epstein did commit suicide in August 2019. And the DOJ-FBI also released a 10-hour video on Sunday from outside Jeffrey Epstein’s jail cell. But now we can confirm that an entire minute was cut from the DOJ video that was released last night. Why? What are they hiding? If you follow the full video you can see for yourself that the video is cut off at 11:59:00....

President Trump's Justice Department and FBI have concluded they have no evidence that convicted sex offender and disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein blackmailed powerful figures, kept a "client list" or was murdered, according to a memo detailing the findings obtained by Axios. The administration is releasing a video — in both raw and "enhanced" versions — that it says indicates no one entered the area of the Manhattan prison where Epstein was held the night he died in 2019. The video supports a medical examiner's finding that Epstein died by suicide, the two-page memo claims. Why it matters: The findings represent...