Free Republic

A Florida Democrat has resigned from Congress after allegedly stealing millions in COVID relief funds, some of which she is accused of spending on a glitzy ring. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, 46, was awaiting punishment after being accused of using millions that her family's health care company received during the pandemic to fuel her political campaign. Last month, the bipartisan House Ethics Committee found that she had committed numerous violations of House rules and ethics standards, including the alleged theft of more than $5 million in taxpayer funds - part of which she is accused of spending on a flashy diamond ring....

A former TV news anchor was convicted of fraudulently obtaining COVID-19 relief funds for small businesses through the Paycheck Protection Program. Stephanie Hockridge, 42, a co-founder of the Scottsdale-based lender service provider Blueacorn and a former anchor at the Phoenix ABC affiliate KNXV-TV, was found guilty on Friday by a federal jury in connection with a scheme to fraudulently obtain tens of millions of dollars in PPP loans, according to the Department of Justice. She was convicted of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and acquitted of four counts of wire fraud, and faces a prison sentence of up to 20...

A new report is highlighting how federal COVID funds were used in Washington state to give $1,000 checks to illegal immigrants who were ineligible to receive federal economic impact payments during the pandemic due to their immigration status. The report, by the Economic Policy Innovation Center (EPIC), points to money administered by the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund (SLFRF), which was created by the American Rescue Plan Act and was intended to help state and local governments with their response and recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Washington state received $4.4 billion in funding overall from that program. The...

A new report is highlighting how federal COVID funds were used in Washington state to give $1,000 checks to illegal immigrants who were ineligible to receive federal economic impact payments during the pandemic due to their immigration status. The report, by the Economic Policy Innovation Center (EPIC), points to money administered by the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund (SLFRF), which was created by the American Rescue Plan Act and was intended to help state and local governments with their response and recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Washington state received $4.4 billion in funding overall from that program. The...

The massive federal coronavirus bailout will help fuel an unprecedented 40.8 billion dollars of spending by Pennsylvania's state government in the new budget year... The Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York writing the British Ambassador to the US this week regarding the case of Alta Fixler (Fixsler)... Four portions of Australia's largest city where some 450-thousand people live going into COVID lockdown... At Noon today local time (5 AM Eastern US Time) the indoor mask order in effect for Israel again... In Germany today a knife attack in the southern city of Wurzburg. Three dead, five seriously wounded......

Sidwell Friends School, a Quaker-affiliated independent school known for enrolling top lawmakers' children—including the daughters of former presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama—accepted a $5.2 million loan under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), Congress's bailout fund for small businesses affected by the coronavirus crisis. The school, which brings in over $40 million in tuition annually, declined to give back the loan after Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin called on "private schools with significant endowments" to "return" PPP funds. In a letter to the community, the board of trustees cited its "fiduciary responsibilities" as well as "our Quaker values" in...