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...

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said she's worth less than $500,000, prompting a mixture of disbelief, criticism, and begrudging respect from commenters on X. The New York congresswoman, often called AOC, discussed her personal wealth after an X user claimed she was worth tens of millions as a result of taking kickbacks. The Democratic lawmaker said that the user was "completely making things up" and that she didn't trade individual stocks or earn any income apart from her congressional salary. "I don't even own a house!" she said in a second response. Ocasio-Cortez worked as a bartender and server before winning a...

Near the close of the vice-presidential debate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio was on the verge of capping off a fantastic night for a Republican ticket that has been lost in a news cycle of its own making over false claims about Haitian migrants eating people's pets in Springfield, Ohio. And then January 6, 2021, and the 2020 election came up.

America has pledged over $100 billion in military aid since the War in Ukraine began. Most of that stays in the US to fund military operations and weapons contracts. But the US has also sent Ukraine its own shells, tanks, rockets, cannons, anti-tank weapons, drones, and missile defense systems worth $1 billion each. So which weapons have proven most critical on the battlefield? And will the latest round of aid really help Ukraine against Russian forces in a war many are calling a stalemate?

Four years after the pandemic-era housing boom, the real-estate market continues to face instability. With ongoing affordability challenges exacerbated by high interest rates and inflated home values, housing is a major concern for Americans across the political spectrum. In a Tuesday interview with Fox News, Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance shared his perspective on the root causes of the nation's high home prices and rents. "When I talk to Americans, one of the biggest concerns I hear is, 'Why are housing costs so high?' I'll give you two reasons: First, there are 20 million illegal aliens who shouldn't be...

If Donald Trump wins a second term in the White House in November, NATO may fall apart, a recent wargame found. As a presidential candidate, Trump has threatened to quit NATO unless European allies contribute more, and should he carry it out Europe may decide to go it alone on defense, the game suggests. "A US policy of frustrating NATO has the potential to cause the alliance to collapse, with the EU as a candidate for eventually replacing NATO's ultimate function — defending Europe from Russia," wrote Finley Grimble, the British defense expert who designed and ran the game. The...

Trump raised the idea of providing US aid to Ukraine via loan so that it might get paid back. But Republicans on Capitol Hill are skeptical that will happen. "I just think a loan ends up being a grant," said one House Republican. There's a relatively new idea floating around the political world, and it's being pushed by former President Donald Trump: What if Ukraine aid came in the form of a loan?

Russian forces suffered an average of 983 casualties per day in Ukraine in February, the highest since the war began, the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) said in an intelligence update on Sunday. The UK department said the increase in casualties, which included both killed and wounded soldiers, was likely due to "Russia's commitment to mass and attritional warfare." In February, Russia finally captured the embattled Ukrainian town of Avdiivka, which sits just north of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine. War analysts have noted that Russia's tactics to take Avdiivka often involved "human wave" assaults, attempting to overwhelm Ukrainian positions with...

Alexey Navalny, the dissident and political nemesis of Russian President Vladimir Putin, spent the last few years of his life behind bars but still managed to stay connected to the outside world. Letters from the final months of his life, obtained by The New York Times, showed Navalny, who had been imprisoned since January 2021, managed to stay on top of current events — including in the US. In a letter sent to a friend, photographer Evgeny Feldman, Navalny called former President Donald Trump's agenda for a second term "really scary," according to the Times. If President Joe Biden has...

As the second anniversary of Russia's unprovoked invasion approaches, the situation is beginning to look bleak for Ukraine.Last year's counteroffensive brought hopes that Ukraine could capitalize on its successes in 2022 and drive back Russian forces from occupied territories in southern and eastern Ukraine.But the offensive failed to achieve a breakthrough, and Ukraine is now seeing crucial support from its allies bleed away. Meanwhile, its troops are experiencing shortages of personnel and ammunition.There are problems at the top, too. Its senior command has been engulfed in chaos, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy replacing Valery Zaluzhny, a senior commander, amid reported...

The two Navy SEALs who went missing off the coast of Somalia last week were helping seize Iranian weapons bound for the Houthis, the US said in a statement on Tuesday. The Navy SEALs carried out a "complex boarding" of a dhow, operating out of the USS Lewis B. Puller and assisted by helicopters and unmanned aerial drones, CENTCOM said. (excerpt) Among what was seized were propulsion, guidance, and warheads for medium-range ballistic missiles and anti-ship cruise missiles, as well as air-defense-associated components, it said. (excerpt) The Associated Press earlier reported, citing unnamed US officials, that the pair were climbing...

There seems to be no end in sight for the media gaslighting on President Joe Biden’s abysmal economy. One economist has had it. Business Insider had the audacity to publish an asinine piece of economic propaganda Dec. 3 that reeked of a public relations stunt by Biden’s press team: “After 3 years of pain, America has finally achieved economic nirvana.” The author, Renaissance Macro Research Head of Economics Neil Dutta, celebrated how supposedly “[t]he signs of a well-balanced economy are everywhere.” He continued: “Current economic data is consistent with a soft landing for the economy — a situation in which...

Is this crazy thinking or America's political reality? As Democrats run four parallel prosecutions at Donald Trump, the former president has grown only stronger. He now leads in several polls and is up big in battleground states. These facts have provoked panic in the Democratic Party, and the Left is responding with words that shake the seismic needle. Shortly before Thanksgiving, Joe Scarborough, formerly a conservative congressman, and now a paid shill for the Left (at $8 million per), begins his anti-Trump rant in the clip to the left with an insane rant -- “He will do; he will get...

Russian President Vladimir Putin is urging women to have as many as eight children as the number of dead Russian soldiers continues to rise in his war with Ukraine, worsening the country's population crisis. Addressing the World Russian People's Council in Moscow on Tuesday, Putin said the country must return to a time when large families were the norm. "Many of our grandmothers and great-grandmothers had seven, eight, or even more children," Putin said. "Let us preserve and revive these excellent traditions. Large families must become the norm, a way of life for all of Russia's people. The family is...

A McDonald's meal from a viral TikTok has become the poster child for a key issue leading up to the 2024 presidential election. "I get there is a labor shortage," user @topheroliver, who is based in Idaho, said in the video originally posted in December 2022. "I get there's wage increases and a number of other things. But $16? Sixteen dollars for a burger, large fries, and a drink. It's just crazy." The video gained traction recently after McDonald's released its earnings report revealing that revenues were up 8.1% in the past year. McDonald's attributed part of the revenue increase...

Barstool Sports president Dave Portnoy can't stand politics. People are surprised to hear that, what with the regular appearances on Fox News and his mutual admiration society with Tucker Carlson. But he hates politics almost as much as he does Business Insider. This is why it was surprising to many for him to use his massive platform to heap praise on GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley.

Several days after Business Insider admitted they had published inaccurate numbers of state residents that moved to Florida during the COVID-19 pandemic, Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin cited them and used them in an attack piece about Gov. Ron DeSantis’, R-Fla., leadership of the state. Rubin published the column Friday in which she claimed, "DeSantis likes to brag that more people are moving to Florida than ever. Not so fast. ‘An estimated 674,740 people reported that their permanent address changed from Florida to another state in 2021.’" Those numbers are wrong and the Post, in a correction on Saturday, admitting...

From advancing same-sex marriage to blocking “bathroom bills” to opposing attempts to legalize discrimination, corporate America has been among the most consistent and vocal supporters of LGBTQ equality over the last several years. But now, as an unprecedented wave of legislation targeting transgender people blankets much of the country, many of the same companies that engaged vigorously in earlier battles are taking a quieter and more restrained approach.

Rep. Lauren Boebert's son called 911 in December to report that his father, Jayson Boebert, had gotten physical with him and was "throwing" him around the house and that he didn't know why. Minutes after the call ended — while Garfield County Sheriff's Office deputies were on their way to their home — the teen called again to take the accusations back, with Lauren Boebert jumping on the phone to say her son "doesn't need help." Jayson Boebert denied to the deputies — and to Insider — that he had gotten physical with the teen. … the congresswoman is suing...

Insider will lay off 10 percent of its team, according to a memo sent out by the company’s president on Thursday. “The economic headwinds that have hurt many of our clients and partners are also affecting us,” wrote Barbara Peng, the president of Insider, Inc. “Unfortunately, to keep our company healthy and competitive, we need to reduce the size of our team. ” Peng said those affected by the layoffs would receive an email on Thursday morning. Each person laid off will receive 13 weeks of base pay plus two weeks for every year they’ve been employed by Insider over...