Free Republic

Former Governor Chuck Robb’s Virginia mansion went up in flames late Tuesday night. Firefighters arrived at the two-alarm fire on the 600 block of Chain Bridge Road in McLean, Va. at 11:30 p.m. The fire had spread throughout the home’s first floor. Two people escaped the home and were transported to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, according to Fairfax County Fire and Rescue.

Newly released State Department emails help reveal how a major Clinton Foundation donor was placed on a sensitive government intelligence advisory board even though he had no obvious experience in the field, a decision that appeared to baffle the department’s professional staff. The emails further reveal how, after inquiries from ABC News, the Clinton staff sought to “protect the name” of the Secretary, “stall” the ABC News reporter and ultimately accept the resignation of the donor just two days later. Copies of dozens of internal emails were provided to ABC News by the conservative political group Citizens United, which obtained...

In his inaugural address Wednesday, incoming New York Mayor Bill de Blasio tried to establish an intellectual pedigree for his focus on economic inequality. He invoked Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Franklin Roosevelt, Eleanor Roosevelt, Al Smith, Frances Perkins, Fiorello La Guardia, Jacob Riis, David Dinkins, Mario Cuomo, and Harry Belafonte. It reminded me of when Democrats, eager to prove their national-security bona fides, tell audiences they hail from the party of Roosevelt, Truman, and Kennedy. As if there wasn’t some other Democrat after Kennedy who dabbled at war and peace, some guy from Texas. De Blasio’s speech was a bit...

Vice President Joe Biden did not need Air Force Two Thursday night to travel across the Potomac River to McLean, Va., to the home of former Democratic Virginia Gov. and Sen. Chuck Robb. It was, of course, a fundraiser, designed to help finance three freshman Democratic House candidates -- Glenn Nye, Gerry Connolly and Tom Perriello -- in their challenging reelection races 13 months from now in what once was a predictably GOP state. Robb himself did not speak at the event. His wife, Lynda, daughter of President Lyndon B. Johnson, introduced the trio of representatives. But it looks like...

Mon December 31, 2007 Will a new candidate emerge at OU? By John Greiner Capitol Bureau NORMAN — University of Oklahoma President David L. Boren and former U.S. Sen. Sam Nunn of Georgia are convening a bipartisan group of nationally prominent political figures next Sunday and Monday to challenge presidential candidates to focus on serious issues. Those planning to attend include: •New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, a possible independent candidate for president. •Former Democrat U.S. Sen. Charles S. Robb of Virginia. •Bill Brock, former Republican Party chairman and former Tennessee U.S. Senator. •Jim Leach, a former Republican congressman...

On Monday, August 27, news services broke the story that Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, pleaded guilty in early August to lewd conduct in an airport restroom... Craig is hardly the only member of the Senate with a propensity for dropping his pants at inopportune moments... Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, has allegedly sexually harrased or abused at least 10 women. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., reportedly engaged in a sexual affair with an engagd lobbyist, Ron Dotzauer,then gave him a personal loan to help him with his subsequent divorce and threw cash his way... Gerry Studds (re-elected six times after having sex...

Political friendships, and political animus, apparently are not made to last. Six years ago, former Reagan Navy secretary James Webb was a Republican, and he opined that President Bill Clinton's administration was "the most corrupt administration in modern memory." He made the comments at a news conference endorsing Republican George F. Allen for the Senate, and renouncing his past support of Virginia Democratic Sen. Charles S. Robb. Today, Webb is a Democrat, running against the incumbent Allen. And Webb's campaign said last night that Clinton has agreed to headline a fundraiser for Webb this fall at -- just to complete...

WASHINGTON - A presidential commission investigating weapons of mass destruction is highly critical of U.S. intelligence agencies' performance on Iran, North Korea and Libya and attempts to lay out what went wrong on Iraq, according to individuals familiar with the findings. None of the 15 agencies is expected to be singled out as doing an exemplary job of collecting or assessing intelligence on weapons of mass destruction. The report from the nine-member panel led by Republican Laurence Silberman and Democrat Charles Robb is expected next week. "I don't get the impression that one (agency) is better than the other," said...

...Duncan Hunter, ...the House Armed Services Chairman, is refusing to join the Beltway stampede to pass, in a few short weeks, the most extensive changes in U.S. intelligence in 50 years. ...The Senate and House each passed bills in the heat (and panic) of the election campaign.... Mr. Hunter specifically objects to a provision that would take budget authority away from the Secretary of Defense over the intelligence agencies under his control. This is a narrow but important issue. It would potentially undercut the military's ability to obtain and act on intelligence in real time.... There are other problems with...

<p>An independent commission created by President Bush to examine U.S. intelligence capabilities with particular focus on weapons of mass destruction convenes its first series of closed-door meetings this week.</p> <p>The commission is headed by former Sen. Charles S. Robb, Virginia Democrat, and appeals court Judge Laurence Silberman, a Republican. Members will be briefed Wednesday and Thursday by intelligence specialists at the commission's offices in Crystal City.</p>

<p>Please be seated. Thank you.</p> <p>Thank you very much, Mr. Vice President, for your remarks and your leadership. Thank you, Secretary Cohen, for the superb job you have done here at the Pentagon and on this most recent very difficult problem. Thank you, General Shelton, for being the right person at the right time.</p>

WASHINGTON (AP) - Democrats say President Bush's appointment of a bipartisan commission to examine intelligence on Iraq's weapons falls short of their demands for an independent probe of why prewar claims about Saddam Hussein's weapons programs now appear to have been wrong. Although a former Democratic senator and governor, Charles Robb of Virginia, will serve as the panel's co-chairman, Democrats say the panel cannot be truly independent if all nine members were selected by Republican Bush. "We had an opportunity to have a truly independent commission that could have brought fresh eyes to the subject. Instead, we have a commission...

<p>WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush on Friday announced seven members of a bipartisan commission to conduct a year-long review of U.S. intelligence gathering, particularly about Iraq.</p> <p>The panel will be co-chaired by former Sen. Charles Robb and retired federal judge Laurence Silberman. Bush named five other members, including Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain.</p>

President Bush today announced seven members of an independent commission that will look into U.S. intelligence capabilities. Bush made the announcement at the White House with the two co-chairs of the commission – former Virginia Sen. Chuck Robb and Judge Lawrence Silberman – flanking him. The commission will especially study prewar U.S. intelligence about Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, and compare that to what the Iraq Survey Group has found. "We're also determined to make sure that American intelligence is as accurate as possible for every challenge in the future," he said. Bush said that former Iraq Survey Group chief...

Charles Robb has an ACU Conservative rating of 8 out of 100. Larry Silberman is a Reagan Appt. to the D.C. Circuit court.McCain we know, ACU rating 77Lloyd Cutler is a founder of Wilmer Cutler Pickering LLP. Assisted both Clinton and Carter and the SALT II Treaty.Adm. Bill Studeman- Deputy Director of CIA under Bush IPat Wald- Carter appointee, first woman Judge to be appointed to D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.Mentioned in David Brock's Blinded by the Right: "We did not know that D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Larry Silberman was the source of the false information about his colleague,...

President Bush named seven people Friday to sit on an independent study commission to look into intelligence failures on Iraqi weapons, choosing former Democratic Sen. Charles S. Robb and retired judge Laurence Silberman, a Republican, to head the panel. "We must stay ahead of constantly changing intelligence challenges," Bush said. "The stakes for our country cannot be higher." Robb was a former U.S. senator and governor of Virginia and son-in-law of the late President Johnson. He is married to Lynda Baines Johnson and has been practicing law since leaving the Senate. Silberman is a conservative who served as deputy attorney...

President to announce the WMD commission from the White House briefking room......at 1:30 eastern.