Free Republic

BRUSSELS — There’s still more than a year to go before U.S. voters head to the polls, but at the heart of the European Union, officials are already racing to get as much as possible done before any potential change of leadership in the White House. “There is unprecedented close cooperation and coordination between the EU and the current U.S. administration. It goes from official levels to the highest levels,” an EU official, who preferred to remain anonymous due to the sensitive nature of the situation, told CNBC.

The White House on Thursday released its review of President Biden's fumbled withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, dropping the long-awaited report days before the Easter holiday while former President Donald Trump's indictment dominates headlines. In a 12-page outline, Biden officials defend the president's decision to withdraw, calling his decision to end the two decades-long war "the right thing for the country." The report does not appear to acknowledge any mistakes made by Biden. However, the document repeatedly criticizes the Trump administration for constraining the conditions of American evacuation, during which 13 American soldiers died in a suicide bombing while protecting...

The Biden administration is reportedly worried a 2008 spy law permitting warrantless wiretaps will not be renewed by Congress, as lawmakers on both the left and right have expressed privacy concerns. With the law set to expire at the end of 2023, the administration “is so worried” about renewing the legislation that “it has begun the push to lobby for reauthorization 10 months before the law sunsets,” the Washington Post reported. “Its value cannot be overstated,” Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen said Tuesday at the Brookings Institution. “Without 702, we will lose indispensable intelligence for our decision-makers and warfighters, as...

If you thought that the story of Sam Brinton, the Biden official who allegedly likes to swipe luggage, was weird, it gets weirder.Deputy Assistant Secretary of Spent Fuel and Waste Disposition in the Office of Nuclear Energy, Sam Brinton was fired after the “non-binary” Biden official faced two felonies for luggage swiping in at least two separate incidents. Just the kind of person you want to deal with our nuclear energy.Brinton appeared in court last week on one of the charges.Non-binary former Biden admin official Sam Brinton arrives to appear in court today in Minneapolis for stealing a woman's luggage...

Missouri Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey and 19 other attorneys general joined Catholic Bishops protesting religious profiling in a leaked Federal Bureau of Investigation memo. Last week, an FBI internal memorandum dated Jan. 23, was published by Undercover DC, an investigative journalism organization. It mentioned Virginia Catholics, specifically traditional Catholics, some of whom are not in full communion with the Roman Catholic Church, according to information from the Catholic Diocese of Richmond. The attorneys general seven-page letter of complaint was addressed to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray. The letter states the FBI memo “identifies ‘radical-traditionalist...

Facebook requested talking points from the Biden administration to “get ahead” of the possibility that people might be less likely to get a COVID-19 vaccine after evidence emerged that the Johnson and Johnson (J&J) single-dose vaccine might cause life-threatening blood clots in some rare cases, according to emails obtained by the New Civil Liberties Alliance (NCLA). A Facebook staffer — whose name is redacted in compliance with a court order — discussed ways to potentially modify Facebook’s algorithms or provide “context” to posts from White House-approved sources with White House Director of Digital Strategy Rob Flaherty, according to the emails....

Ben-Gvir could become the first Israeli minister to be boycotted by the US government. The Biden Administration is likely to refuse to work with Otzma Yehudit chairman Itamar Ben-Gvir if he becomes a minister in Israel's next government, Axios reported. Two US officials said that no final decision has been made yet, but the administration is likely to boycott Ben-Gvir, who would become the first Israeli minister the US government would refuse to work with. Ben-Gvir has expressed a desire to serve as Public Security Minister, a position which would make him responsible for the Israel Police and the policy...

The United States has a history of putting rivals on the world stage in a corner economically, obligating them to make the first moves to war.One of the most famous examples of this strategy came on July 26, 1941.On that date, President Franklin Roosevelt introduced sweeping economic sanctions and asset seizures against Japan.Advertisement - story continues belowAs a result of those sanctions, “Japan lost access to three-fourths of its overseas trade and 88 percent of its imported oil,” according to History.Needing oil to maintain its military might, Japan had little choice but to declare war on the West and mobilize...

Charlie Kirk talks with John Solomon about the bombshell story of government-directed censorship during Election 2020 e Charlie Kirk: While I was getting ready to speak at the great Calvary Chapel Chino Hills, Producer Andrew was emailing me and texting me about the story that came out on the terrific website, justthenews.com. And I couldn’t quite process it in time. And then I had a chance to read it and the weekend happened and I saw Sean Hannity did a segment on this with John Solomon. And essentially, it turns out new documents show that there is a censorship machine...

Vice President Kamala Harris will visit the Korean Demilitarized Zone that divides North and South Korea on Thursday as part of her visit to South Korea, a White House official said. Harris’ trip will include site visits at the DMZ, meetings with service members, and an operational briefing from US commanders, the official said, reiterating the US’ commitment “to stand beside” South Korea in the face of “any threats” posed by North Korea. Harris, the official added, “will reflect on the shared sacrifice of tens of thousands of American and Korean soldiers who fought and died together, and will reaffirm...

FBI whistleblowers–in this case, the term is probably warranted–have come forward to say that the Bureau is pressuring them to come up with “white supremacists” to investigate, in order to advance the Biden administration’s agenda:Current and former FBI agents have come forward saying the Biden administration is deliberately exaggerating the danger posed by white supremacists. They claimed that high-ranking FBI officials were pressuring field agents to fabricate domestic terrorism cases and label people as white supremacists in order to “meet internal metrics.”To the best of my knowledge, I have never met a white supremacist, so this doesn’t surprise me. What...

There’s an important update on the lawsuit that Missouri and Louisiana filed back in May against members of the Biden Administration, including Joe Biden, to expose the collusion between them and social media companies to censor speech on a variety of subjects–including things like the Hunter Biden laptop and COVID.“Big Tech has become an extension of Biden’s Big Government, and neither are protecting the freedoms of Americans; rather, they are suppressing truth and demonizing those who think differently,” said Attorney General Landry. “Ripped from the playbook of Stalin and his ilk, Biden has been colluding with Big Tech to censor...

Boise, Idaho – Governor Brad Little and 14 other governors recently sent a letter to President Joe Biden expressing their disagreement with proposals from the U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Education that may require institutions receiving federal funding to allow biological males to access women and girls’ locker rooms, bathrooms, and dorms. In their letter, the governors outline their problem with how the proposed update and rule reimagines the intended purpose of Title IX by impacting its interpretations with the federal government’s National School Lunch Program and by amending it to include sexual orientation and gender identity as protected classes....

Earlier, we told you about deputy White House press secretary Andrew Bates’ very sad attempt to make a badass “Dark Brandon” meme happen. Here it is again: Dark Brandon is crushing it pic.twitter.com/w0L8xCzIW8 — Andrew Bates (@AndrewJBates46) August 7, 2022 Pathetic? Without a doubt. But it’s relatively harmless. Relative to this, at least: pic.twitter.com/eb1AxcMFyK — Andrew Bates (@AndrewJBates46) August 8, 2022 Screenshotted, just because: “What’s the big deal?” you might be asking yourselves. Well, look closer. Do you notice anything? Anything a little off … ensive, perhaps? pic.twitter.com/CDWnWgIuov — Cox (@HOLYSMKES) August 8, 2022 Uh-oh! A Biden staffer tried to...

Friedman’s ultimate takeaway: Biden has been exceptionally good at managing our march to the brink of World War III.The New York Times’ Thomas Friedman — yes, the Thomas Friedman — ended his most recent and very bland column this week with the declaration that he had “left my lunch with the president with a full stomach but a heavy heart.” Friedman no doubt left his meeting full and heavy. The article he churned out after his very important meal with President Biden is beyond bloated. Although Friedman said their conversation was off-record, he was gracious enough to tell his readers...

The ongoing shortage of infant formula shows that Joe Biden and his administration will not prioritize the American people. Biden’s cronies are too busy pressuring the Justices of the Supreme Court to uphold the unjust Roe v. Wade decision to notice that American families are scrambling to find adequate food for their babies. According to the Left, ensuring the “right” to end the lives of babies in the womb is a more important issue than feeding babies already born. This crisis did not happen overnight. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee) noted, “The White House knew about this issue back in October....

This is exactly the kind of routine hostility we can expect for students all over the country if Biden successfully writes ‘sexual orientation’ and ‘gender identity’ into the meaning of ‘sex’ in education. Braden Rabidoux had no idea how his life was about to change when his mother got a call from his school principal. Braden, an eighth-grader in Wisconsin’s Kiel Area School District, was the subject of a sexual harassment complaint and investigation, the principal told her. “I was like, ‘What? Sexual harassment? What are you talking about?'” Braden’s mom, Rose Rabidoux, recalled to The Federalist. “Because when I...

Some cryptocurrency haters are spiking the football now that there has been a downturn in crypto markets arguing that the dip portends of the death of crypto. This dip is a correction and something that will weed out flawed crypto models making the market stronger. The bottom line is that cryptocurrencies are here to stay. That which did not kill crypto will make it stronger. The invention of cryptocurrencies starting with Bitcoin were a groundbreaking development in means of storing and transferring value. The creation diversified the way people can transact business. The idea was to create digital currencies that...

I really despise these people. That Democrats are desperate for anything to distract from their failures that they’re willing to lie, cheat and steal is nothing new, but the extent to which they’re taking it is simply vile. They are now blaming anyone who isn’t them for the murder of 10 people in Buffalo, essentially declaring half the country to be violent criminals. That’s evil, but still easier than defending Joe Biden’s record as President. I don’t want to see those faces on TV and hate them. Chuck Schumer is ugly, sure, but he’s just a d-bag politician. Nancy Pelosi...

As a current college student, I can attest that attending college today is expensive and, for many students, impossible without taking out a loan. Borrowing money means taking on the responsibility of repaying it. Multiple student loan forgiveness plans have been proposed by Democrats, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Sen. Bernie Sanders, and President Joe Biden, which would allow students to forgo their financial responsibilities. President Biden plans to forgive at least $10,000 worth of loan debt for every student making less than $125,000 per year after college–more than $1 trillion total. But there are no other details yet. How does...