Free Republic

FBI Director Kash Patel has sued The Atlantic magazine over a 'malicious and defamatory hit piece' alleging he has a serious drinking problem. Patel, 46, brought his lawsuit on Monday against the magazine and staff writer Sarah Fitzpatrick, accusing them of publishing an article that was 'replete with false and obviously fabricated allegations' meant to 'drive him from office.' The article shared on April 17 ran with the headline, 'The FBI Director is MIA', and alleged that Patel 'has alarmed colleagues with episodes of excessive drinking and unexplained absences.' Fitzpatrick cited anonymous sources within the FBI that said Patel's drinking...

Disgraced former US Rep. Eric Swalwell burned through more than $75,000 from his congressional campaign during the first quarter of 2026 — despite ditching the race five months ago. He splurged on hotels, meals, booze and even babysitters, newly released FEC filings show. The sex pest had announced on Nov. 21, 2025, he was abandoning his re-election bid for California’s 14th Congressional District representing the San Francisco suburbs, embarking instead on a run for the Democratic Party’s nomination for governor. Under campaign finance laws, the money raised prior to an abandoned bid can only be spent on limited uses —...

The decision challenges a Reconstruction-era law originally intended to prevent Americans from evading federal liquor taxes.A federal appeals court struck down a longstanding ban on home distilling, ruling that it does not effectively support tax collection and is therefore unconstitutional. While home production of beer and wine has long been legal, distilling spirits at home has been prohibited since 1868, with penalties including prison time and fines. The ruling does not immediately legalize home distilling nationwide, as state laws still apply and the federal government may appeal to the Supreme Court. A federal appeals court just handed a major win...

The annual festival of Songkran usually signifies a dazzling week-long celebration — but this year’s death toll paints a picture that’s anything but. While the Thai holiday is globally famous for being the “world’s largest water fight,” the reality on the ground is a horrific cycle of road accidents, drunk driving and reckless behavior. In the first three days of Songkran this year, more than 191 deaths have been recorded with 951 accidents and 911 injuries. According to the Road Accident Victims Protection Company, an average of 38 road deaths per day occur throughout the calendar year, indicating a large...

A walk down the aisles of almost any neighborhood liquor store showcases a wealth of variety that hardly seemed possible when I made my first legal purchase [mumble-mumble] years ago. You'll see 50 bourbons where there used to be five, vodkas from as far and wide as Russia's Stoli to Tito's from Texas. If you'd have told 21-year-old me that someday I'd enjoy scotch from Japan, I'd have looked at you like you were a crazy person. You'll find, as General Motors used to say about its array of cars, a spirit "for every purse and purpose." Things are already...

A U.S. appeals court on Friday declared unconstitutional a nearly 158-year-old federal ban on home distilling, calling it an unnecessary and improper means for ​Congress to exercise its power to tax. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of ‌Appeals in New Orleans ruled in favor of the nonprofit Hobby Distillers Association and four of its 1,300 members. They argued that people should be free to distill spirits at home, whether as ​a hobby or for personal consumption including, in one instance, to create ​an apple-pie-vodka recipe. The ban was part of a law passed during ⁠Reconstruction in July 1868, in part...

Not all types of alcohol are created equal — and a new study suggests that wine may carry lower health risks than beer or hard liquor. *** Using UK Biobank data, researchers analyzed participant questionnaires. The adults were placed into one of four groups based on their alcohol consumption levels. The study was observational — meaning the findings show an association but cannot prove cause and effect. *** Analyzing cardiovascular disease deaths, researchers discovered that moderate wine drinkers had a 21% lower risk of dying from the disease than people who never drank or occasionally drank — though, once again,...

You know the old saying, "Not all sinkholes are created equally?" Of course not, because it's not a saying at all. But it does ring true, and a sinkhole that was recently discovered at a golf club in England proves the point. Davyhulme Park Golf Club, located just west of Manchester, is more than 110-years-old. And seeing what the sinkhole revealed, it's a course that was built on top of a rather impressive wine and port cellar. After a lengthy stretch of severe rain, greenskeepers discovered the appearance of a sinkhole on the 13th hole. The staff got to work...

n a career spanning 45 years and 90 feature films, Bill Murray has managed to age like a fine wine, though he prefers vodka. He loves it so much, in fact, that in 2010, the Oscar nominee (for Lost in Translation) and part-time bartender (at his son Homer‘s Brooklyn restaurant, 21 Greenpoint) invested an undisclosed sum in his own brand. Called Slovenia, the buckwheat-derived vodka carried at Mondrian Hotel Sky Bar and Chez Jay in Santa Monica (and recently added to the offerings at Upstairs at the Ace Hotel), has “this viscosity that stays on your tongue — it makes...

Winemakers are pulling the cork on California. Another giant in the world-famous wine growing region is shutting down and slashing staff, making it the fourth since the start of 2026. Jackson Family Wines has stopped production at its Carneros Hill facility in Sonoma’s Carneros region, laying off more than a dozen employees, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notice filed with California authorities on Feb. 12. *** Jackson Family Wines is known as one of the top US wine producers, the sixth-largest wine company in the country. *** It owns the Kendall-Jackson label and about 40 other brands, producing...

The team carefully examined the liquid’s appearance and color before opening it up. Finding that the cork had a slight vinegary smell, they began extracting the liquid to determine the type of alcohol. “We weren’t sure if it was clear spirit, if it was aged spirit, if it was beer, if it was wine, if it was champagne,” Winter said. To minimize disturbance, the group used a Coravin device, which allows liquid to be extracted without fully removing the cork. When the bottle was opened, the team took careful note of its smell. Tara Lindley, director of sensory and product...

In four years of operation, Gov. Gavin Newsom's (D-Calif) $236 million mental health CARE Court program has helped 22 individuals. Initial estimates projected that 12,000 to 50,000 would be helped. The Governor denied the program was a flop. "Look, it's not as if there was no benefit," he said. "Almost two-dozen individuals got the care that they needed. It was a better deal than the Somali daycare fraud that siphoned off billions from the public coffers of federal and state governments. Besides, if we hadn't made this investment no one would've been helped. So, I ask my critics, 'what would...

One of Kentucky’s largest bourbon producers apparently is pausing whiskey production at the end of the year. Jim Beam, which is one of the largest makers of American whiskey in the world, is planning to shut down production in Happy Hollow in Clermont on Jan. 1 through 2026. The visitors center on site will remain open for Kentucky Bourbon Trail visitors. “We are always assessing production levels to best meet consumer demand and recently met with our team to discuss our volumes for 2026,” according to a statement from the company. “We’ve shared with our teams that while we will...

Top Republicans banned GOP Rep Dan Crenshaw (TX) from international travel for three months after an alcohol-related episode during a congressional trip to Mexico in August, according to Punchbowl News. The House Intel Chair wanted Speaker Mike Johnson to kick Crenshaw from the Committee, however, Johnson declined. However, Congressman Crenshaw’s ‘cartel task force’ was disbanded according to Punchbowl News. Per Punchbowl News: During an August trip to Mexico, Crenshaw was having drinks with a group of Mexican officials. One Mexican official cracked a crude joke that made a woman present uncomfortable. Crenshaw toasted the remarks. Johnson, Crawford and Crenshaw huddled...

Alcohol raises the risk of dementia regardless of whether people are genetically predisposed to the neurodegenerative condition, a large new study suggests. It is the latest research to confirm that even moderate alcohol consumption can pose health risks. Despite the occasional headline about the benefits of low-level drinking, research has repeatedly shown that no amount of alcohol is safe for our health. “For anyone who chooses to drink, our study suggests that greater alcohol consumption leads to higher risk of dementia,” Stephen Burgess, a statistician at the University of Cambridge, said in a statement. The study, which was published in...

Keep your tip-sy to yourself! Gov. Kathy Hochul is in hot water for telling parishioners at a largely black church not to buy booze with their incoming state “inflation refund” checks — with fellow pols slamming her comments as tone-deaf and “demeaning.” “It reduces whole communities to harmful stereotypes and strips away the dignity of parents and children alike,” said her estranged Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado, who, along with Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), blasted Hochul as racially insensitive. Hochul was speaking about rebate checks — which will be sent to eligible residents starting later this month through November — at...

Long before bourbon dominated the liquor market, rye whiskey reigned supreme. Now, a Midwestern distiller is teaming up with scientists to bring back a long-gone type of grain and turn it into spicy, bold whiskey. The source is a wooden schooner named the James R. Bentley that's been sitting in Lake Huron for nearly 150 years. The ship sank in Nov. 1878 after striking a shoal.

The United States' 15% tariff on EU goods could reduce the value of alcohol sales by almost $2 billion and put 25,000 U.S. jobs at risk, a group of 57 alcohol industry groups wrote in a letter sent to President Trump on Tuesday. The letter was signed by organisations representing major European producers, including Diageo and Pernod Ricard, U.S. whiskey and wine producers, as well as glass suppliers, retailers and restaurants. Washington and Brussels agreed last month to a 15% import tariff on most European Union goods after talks that halved the threatened rate and averted a bigger trade war....

A teacher who allegedly chugged booze and hurled curse words at students during a lesson that she interrupted to have them dance the Macarena has been fired. Alice Ashton from the UK was swigging from a water bottle full of orange liquid which smelled of alcohol and blaring music from her laptop during the health class, one of her 16-year-old students told a hearing on Tuesday, reported the Telegraph. She also called students “little s—ts” and “put her middle finger two to three inches” from another teen’s face during the “out of control” class at Ysgol Bro Caereinion school in...

Credit: Polk County Sheriff’s Office ******************************************************************** Someone find the world’s smallest violin. An illegal alien and an alleged Tren de Aragua gangster broke down like a baby being arrested in connection with a violent liquor store robbery spree across central Florida, authorities said. Ramon Jesus Carpintero-Luna, 26, was caught alongside four other suspects tied to a series of armed heists that targeted more than 30 liquor stores, netting an estimated $30,000 in stolen goods. Many of the thefts involved threats of violence and a specific focus on high-end liquor, including bottles of premium scotch, according to the Polk County Sheriff’s...