Free Republic

Talk about your all-time backfires. Instead of landing a major hit on the president’s son, a German-backed publication has drawn massive federal attention onto its foreign ownership structure and lobbying activities before the federal government. This broader “German Influence Operation” has grabbed the attention of the White House and senior administration officials and even entangles a key Washington lobbyist who has reportedly had an on-again-off-again lukewarm relationship with the president. It all comes, too, as worldwide pressure builds on German government officials over their censorship regime against political opponents and the efforts of a central European nation with a dark...

Republican strategist Karl Rove said President Trump’s claims that the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has discovered “hundreds of billions” in government “fraud” will backfire when Democrats spotlight a lack of prosecutions of those involved. During an appearance on Fox News’s “Sunday Night in America with Trey Gowdy,” Rove echoed Democratic strategist James Carville’s sentiment that Democrats should “allow the Republicans to crumble beneath their own weight.” In his joint address to Congress last week, Trump criticized the “appalling waste” in government spending, while praising DOGE head and tech billionaire Elon Musk for discovering “hundreds of billions of dollars of...

resident Joe Biden's extraordinarily broad pardon of his son may have saved Hunter from a prison sentence, but it might actually mark the beginning of worse legal troubles for the Biden clan. By pre-emptively shielding Hunter from the consequences of any alleged criminal conduct dating back eleven years, the President leaves his son open to virtually unlimited questioning in future Congressional, civil or even criminal investigations. That's because Hunter Biden can no longer claim the privilege of the Fifth Amendment – a Constitutional right that protects people from offering testimony that may incriminate them. Since Hunter is now effectively immune...

Michigan’s top election official, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat, is the subject of a bar complaint over her department’s actions to keep independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s name on the ballot. State Sen. Ruth Johnson, a Republican who immediately preceded Benson as secretary of state, filed the bar complaint alleging that Benson manipulated procedures to undermine the Nov. 5 election. Michigan is one of the most fiercely contested battleground states. Vice President Kamala Harris, a Democrat, and former President Donald Trump, a Republican, are separated by a single percentage point, according to the Real Clear Politics...

The violent unrest that has broken out in multiple towns across England and Northern Ireland this week feels simultaneously shocking and familiar. Rioters have rampaged across more than 15 towns and cities, looting businesses, injuring police officers, attacking mosques and targeting hotels that house asylum seekers. Britain has had sporadic outbreaks of semi-organized mob violence for decades, including brawls by infamous “firms” of soccer hooligans in the 1980s and ’90s, an outbreak of race rioting in northern England in 2001 and a spate of rioting and looting centered on London in 2011. But some circumstances are markedly different. While the...

Careful what you wish for, Democrats. Democrats salivated for the opportunity to campaign on former President Trump's criminal convictions. He's a convicted felon. Guess what is happening? Trump is receiving more support than ever. This was pretty easy to predict for anyone paying attention. In this presidential election year, the more Donald Trump is indicted, the more support he receives in the polls. It turns out that Americans don't like lawfare being used against a former president and leading presidential candidate in a presidential election year. Voters don't like what they are seeing from Democrats. Democrat lawyers and prosecutors are...

Thursday on CNN, following the announcement of a guilty verdict of former President Donald Trump on 34 counts by a Manhattan jury, CNN senior political contributor Scott Jennings predicted it would favor Republicans in the election cycle. According to the former Bush administration official, the verdict would “massively backfire” on Democrats by galvanizing Republican support and encouraging fundraising. “Well, if my phone and the text messages I’m receiving are any indication, every Republican in the country is matter in a wet hen,” he said. “I mean, people who are decidedly non-MAGA, not Trump fans are blowing up tonight saying this...

The Grace Hopper Celebration, which bills itself as a the world’s largest conference for women in computing, was recently swamped by men. The influential career fair for women opened itself to disaster by welcoming “non-binary” attendees to be inclusive of the LGBT community — an invitation men accepted in large numbers. Event organizers became frustrated by the sea of men, accusing male attendees of “lying” about their gender identities, with the event’s chief impact officer complaining, “Unfortunately — some of you are taking interview slots right now, from women who need them. Some of you are standing in line, talking...

Republican presidential candidate former Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R-AR) said Tuesday on CNN’s “The Situation Room” that House Republicans who wanted to move forward with the impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden were acting prematurely. Hutchinson said, “I think it’s premature. I know that Speaker mccarthy is in a difficult position, and i support him as speaker. i want him to navigate through this. I know he’s trying to do his best there. There has to be an investigation. Whenever you have the questions about the president’s own financing, whether he had a benefit from his son’s dealings, that is something...

Alvin Bragg can’t say he’s the best, but he can say he’s first. That was obviously the motivation behind his highly questionable indictment of Donald Trump on state-level charges for miscategorizing a hush money payment to Stormy Daniels.In early April, Bragg moved forward under a novel legal theory that supposes he can elevate a misdemeanor that has already passed the statute of limitations to a felony under the idea that Trump committed the misdemeanor in service of another crime. What is the other alleged crime? A federal campaign finance law that Bragg has no jurisdiction over and which the Department...

A staffer for presidential hopeful Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) is being accused of retweeting a video showing the Florida governor surrounded by a Nazi symbol. The video, which was originally shared and later deleted by a DeSantis fan account, shows troops marching towards the conservative politician as Florida’s flag and a sunwheel are visible in the background. “The @desantiscams account just deleted this video after at least one campaign staffer RT’d it,” podcast host Luke Thompson wrote after sharing a copy of the video. “I wonder if this was also made in-house.” Thompson’s remark also points to an incident several...

Joe Biden is getting all kinds of backlash from the despicable speech he delivered last night at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, attacking millions of Americans who want to “Make America Great Again” and supporting President Donald Trump.We covered some of the hot takes, with many people comparing his unprecedented attacks to Communist or Nazi-like tactics, Biden acting like the fascist he was accusing others of being. They also hit on the visuals with the improper use of the Marines and the evil blood-red backdrop.Among the hot take was Trump who chastised Biden for essentially threatening Americans and saying if Biden...

President Biden has announced that the federal government will forgive $10,000 in student loan debt for Americans making less than $125,000 annually as well as extend the student loan repayment moratorium. This plan is estimated to cost taxpayers $330 billion and should be seen as the most unfair, outrageous, and disgraceful decision in many years. The president is telling Americans that they do not have to bear any responsibility for their voluntary obligations in borrowing money or going into debt. His proposal is also regressive and inflationary, and possibly unconstitutional.

Former Clinton Treasury Secretary Larry Summers slammed moves by Democratic lawmakers to introduce legislation that would counter alleged price gouging, calling it “dangerous nonsense.“ “There is no material prospect that, in any enduring way, gouging legislation can have any substantial effect on inflationary pressure,” Summers told Bloomberg Television‘s David Weinstein. “But it can cause and contrive all kinds of shortages” – as well as undermine moves by companies to boost supply as prices climb, he added. Congress will vote next week on legislation barring “excessive” or “exploitative” fuel prices. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Thursday backed the bill, saying, “This is...

[Catholic Caucus] Cardinals Respond to Traditiones Custodes by Consecrating Priests in Immemorial Mass of All Ages Cardinal Müller ordained a monk from Le Barroux as a priest in the traditional rite.[katholisches] Two well-known cardinals have offered the priestly ordination in the Immemorial Mass of All Ages during these months. Cardinal George Pell consecrated two Benedictines from Nursia and Cardinal Gerhard Müller one Benedictine from Le Barroux. Both consecrations are a signal to want to defend the Rite and the communities associated with it against the motu proprio Traditionis Custodes. A new website also provides up-to-date information on the effects...

“We are deeply concerned that the fossil fuel industry has reaped massive profits for decades while contributing to climate change that is devastating American communities, costing taxpayers billions of dollars, and ravaging the natural world,” the committee wrote. “We are also concerned that to protect those profits, the industry has reportedly led a coordinated effort to spread disinformation to mislead the public and prevent crucial action to address climate change.” ...In fact, the plan will penalize electricity suppliers that use natural gas to generate power while rewarding those who generate it from renewable sources. Last week, a group of progressive...

Attempts from woke activists to “cancel” a game developer have backfired; the game’s popularity has increased and its positive reviews have skyrocketed. On June 18, one of the developers of Factorio, Michal Kovarik, aka Kovarex, posted a blog as part of the “Friday Facts” series, where he recommended Robert Cecil Martin, aka Uncle Bob, lectures on project management and programming.

For 66 years, Seattle’s downtown was separated from its waterfront by a hulking, double-decker viaduct. When it was blown up in 2019 over earthquake-safety concerns, the possibilities seemed endless. Now, construction is well underway on a 26-block, $700 million waterfront park. It promises to be an open space with stunning views of the Puget Sound and an agenda aimed at dismantling racism.

Democrats claim that impeaching Donald Trump after he’s left office is a question of “accountability” and that Trump must be humiliated and prevented from running for office ever again. But Trump’s impeachment trial will only strengthen the Republican base. Trump has more clout within the party since he left office. And despite not being on social media, he has become even more of a presence. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy made a pilgrimage to Mar-a-Largo to huddle with Trump about his and the GOP’s future — a remarkable occurrence considering the ill favor Trump is in with many national Republicans....