Free Republic

How involved were Secret Service staff with a Democratic congressman’s office to strip former President Donald Trump of his Secret Service detail, if at all? How involved were Secret Service staff with a Democratic congressman’s office to strip former President Donald Trump of his Secret Service detail, if at all? A U.S. Army veteran judge advocate and director of a nonprofit organization wants to know. James Fitzpatrick, director of the Center to Advance Security in America, filed Freedom of Information requests with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security inquiring about Department of Homeland Security Legislative Affairs’ and Secret Service’s staff...

“Of all the horrid, hideous notes of woe,” wrote my favorite English poet, Lord Byron, “Sadder than owl-songs or the midnight blast; Is that portentous phrase, ‘I told you so.'” Or, to put those words in modern-day American vernacular: Nobody likes a smart-ass Monday morning quarterback. But sometimes, the words “I told you so” need to be said to expose those who saw all the same horrid, hideous signs of woe — and failed to speak up. The US mainstream media are currently gorging on President Biden’s cognitive decline like ravenous hyenas on the freshly slain carcass of a decrepit...

The wheels of justice turn slowly enough that calling them rusted may be an understatement. In the case of Congressional investigations, they may rotate even less, with the realization of things culminating in anything approaching punishment a long shot, at best. That said, there is at least a glimmer of hope of accountability being realized in a long-simmering issue with the last general election. As our Managing Editor Jennifer Van Laar reported, a bombshell report was released Tuesday by the House Judiciary Committee related to the "51 former intelligence officials" letter alleging that allegations surrounding the Hunter Biden Laptop From...

The saga of Hunter Biden's laptop returns to the news, nearly four years after 51 intelligence officials signed onto a letter dismissing the very legitimate concerns as Russian disinformation. On Tuesday, the House Intelligence Committee, the House Judiciary Committee, and the House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government released a report detailing how CIA contractors colluded with the Biden campaign over the laptop to "MISLEAD AMERICAN VOTERS."The House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday afternoon posted a thread of takeaways of evidence, which can also be found in the report and the report's executive summary, as well as statements...

What kind of a political leader sends members of his own party on a wild goose chase to find out whether their party leader was a Russian spy while sitting on a phony dossier full of lies and not telling them? Well, we now know the answer: Former House Speaker Paul Ryan. I've defended him for a long time and have never been a Ryan-hater, but this is not a pretty picture. According to Roll Call: GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger and a longtime aide to Speaker Paul D. Ryan each were given an early look at the final report added...

A House Judiciary Committee released a report Tuesday that alleges a ‘climate cartel’ comprised of left-wing environmental activists and major financial institutions colluded to force American companies to adopt anti-fossil fuel policies, which have in turn, harmed U.S. consumers. The interim report was the product of a two-year investigation by House Judiciary Republicans into whether “woke” companies were engaging in behaviors that violate antitrust laws. “Today’s report demonstrates a clear violation of antitrust laws among the companies cited. It indicates both an agreement and a reduction of output – the two standards necessary to establish antitrust,” Rep. Harriet Hageman, R-Wyo.,...

A former Atlanta city attorney who was sentenced to seven years in prison over a massive $15 million pandemic loan fraud donated to Trump prosecutor Fani Willis’s campaign after applying for the government handouts, records show. Shelitha Robertson, 62, used some of her ill-gotten windfall for lavish purchases — including a massive 10-carat diamond ring and a Rolls Royce, according to federal prosecutors. But, she also donated $1,000 to Willis’s Democratic primary election campaign around the time she got the massive payouts from the Paycheck Protection Program, Georgia campaign filings show. **SNIP** A judge ruled that the relationship did not...

Demanding the immediate release of documents pertaining to “credible allegations” of “improper collusion by the Biden White House and Department of Justice (DOJ) in the sham political show trial of President Trump conducted by Alvin Bragg, the New York County District Attorney’s Office, and Judge Juan Merchan,” America First Legal is suing the Department of Justice. The principal target of the allegations of cooperation between the Biden Administration and Bragg’s office is Matthew Colangelo, a senior Biden DOJ official who joined Bragg’s team as a prosecutor after leaving the department. Before accepting a low-level position as a prosecutor in Bragg’s...

President Biden announced Friday he planned to appoint two key union leaders to an advisory committee on international trade, including United Auto Workers (UAW) President Shawn Fain. The White House announced Fain and Brian Bryant, who serves as the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) president, would be appointed to the advisory group. The President’s Export Council serves as the main national committee advising the White House on matters of international trade. The group discusses and works to resolve trade-related issues around business, agriculture and labor.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s paralegal testified on Friday that his office deleted from their evidence three pages of phone records between convicted liar Michael Cohen and Stormy Daniels’ lawyer Keith Davidson without notifying former President Donald Trump’s legal team, according to reports. Trump attorney Emil Bove questioned paralegal Jaden Jarmel-Schneider on Friday about three pages of 2018 phone records between Davidson and Cohen that Bragg’s office had deleted, according to CNN. Additional phone records between Daniels manager Gina Rodriguez and then-National Enquirer editor Dylan Howard regarding Daniels’ claim about her alleged affair were also deleted, according to The Epoch...

The White House visitor logs show other Nat'l Archives officials visited Biden Administration officials throughout the earliest stages of the probe into President Trump. White House officials met with Nat'l Archives on at least 19 other occasions. On June 8, 2023, Gary Stern, the General Counsel of the National Archives arrived at the White House for a meeting with Special Counsel to President Biden Richard Sauber. The meeting reportedly took place in the Navy Mess, a “nautical” themed dining room run by the seafaring military branch, according to White House records. It is not known what Stern and Sauber discussed,...

As overheard at a secret DC location, in attendance: Derick Garlic (DG) Flake Wray (FW) Andrew Weaselman (AW) Jack Squat (JS) Fanny Gillis (FG) Letitia Games (LG) “Chip Punk” Braggadocio (CPB) -- DG: All right, good to have everyone in the same room; how are our cases going? Jack $hit, go… JS: Can you not call me that? DG: It’s all you got, man; we’ll have some fun, no? Have a laugh! JS: I take this seriously, your DOJ say we must… DG: I know, I know, go on. JS: Well, we have a troublesome judge in the Florida case,...

A new article out from Politico reveals that a select group of lawyers and legal pundits have been working behind the scenes to quash a Trump second term using the media. They've been sharing narratives, honing points, and working together to "intellectually stress-test the arguments facing Trump on his journey through the American legal system." The names of those who have been at these meetings are all too familiar and their tactics mirror those undertaken in 2020 to manipulate media to sway the presidential election in Biden's favor. A group began meeting weekly in 2022, every Friday, on Zoom calls...

[Catholic Caucus] The St. Gallen Mafia and Orwellian FrancisIn George Orwell’s 1984, no one is supposed to know about anything predating the Revolution that put the now-dominant Party in power. In Orwell’s dystopian prophecy, the records must all be redacted, the memories must all be censored, and the statues must all be renamed to align with the Party’s official account of history. In an eerily similar way, under the current regime of Pope Francis, a dubious history of the 2005 conclave is now being recirculated. With his new interview on the 2005 papal election, Francis is retelling an edited version...

[Catholic Caucus] Cardinals worried about liberation theology in 2013 conclave, pope saysA group of cardinals asked Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio in-depth questions about liberation theology and its political consequences before deciding to elect him pope in 2013, Pope Francis said.In the book-length interview, "El Sucesor" ("The Succesor"), published in Spain April 3, the pope said he "did not realize" that he was a serious candidate for the papacy in 2013, but that he began to put together the pieces of a campaign to elect him after a group of cardinals asked him about liberation theology — a theological approach developed...

[Catholic Caucus] Was Pope Francis ‘used’ by liberal cardinals in attempt to thwart Benedict XVI’s election?While Pope Francis' comments about the 2005 conclave have made waves, several aspects require further investigation.VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews) — Pope Francis has confirmed prior information that he was a close contender to Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger during the 2005 papal conclave, while also claiming he was “used” by other cardinals and that he himself voted for the future Pope Benedict XVI. “In that conclave – the data is known – they used me,” said Pope Francis, in a preview chapter released Easter Sunday, ahead of the...

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released previously hidden reports of facial paralysis and other adverse events following COVID-19 vaccination. The 780,000 reports were received shortly after the COVID-19 vaccines were rolled out, and show people experienced a wide range of post-vaccination problems, including heart inflammation, miscarriages, and seizures. “Loss of consciousness and seizure immediately following injection. Went to ER by ambulance,” one person reported. “Diagnosed with Bells Palsy today due to left-sided facial numbness and paralysis,” another said. People lodged the reports with V-safe, a text-message system created by the CDC to monitor for possible...

[Catholic Caucus] Pope says he was 'used' in 2005 conclave: Ratzinger 'was my candidate'Pope Francis discusses details from the 2005 conclave he participated in as archbishop of Buenos Aires in an upcoming book.Pope Francis voted for Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the future Pope Benedict XVI, in the 2005 conclave that followed the death of St. John Paul II."He was the only one who could be pope at that time," Pope Francis said about his immediate predecessor in an excerpt from the upcoming book "El Sucesor" ("The Successor"). The excerpt was published March 31 by the Spanish daily newspaper ABC.Pope Francis told...

The Washington Post Editorial Board went to bat for the federal government colluding with Big Tech to police so-called disinformation online. Gatestone Institute Senior Fellow Gordon Chang was having none of it. “Don’t defund the fight against Russia and China’s disinformation,” decried the Board in the editorial. In the editorial, the Board defended the State Department-tied Global Engagement Center’s financing of the now-infamous Global Disinformation Index (initially based in the U.K.), which has since been panned for blacklisting right-leaning American media. The Post propagandized how the GEC “deploys a $61 million budget and a staff of 125 to counter disinformation...

How Did American Capitalism Mutate Into American Corporatism?In the 1990s and for years into our century, it was common to ridicule the government for being technologically backwards. We were all gaining access to fabulous things, including webs, apps, search tools, and social media. But governments at all levels were stuck in the past using IBM mainframes and large floppy disks. We had a great time poking fun at them. I recall the days of thinking government would never catch up to the glories and might of the market itself. I wrote several books on it, full of techno-optimism. The new...