Free Republic

A British court decision unmasks new evidence of FBI abuses in the Russia collusion probe. It was in London that the whole Russia collusion caper began four years ago, so it seems only fitting that as the discredited probe enters its final phase that damning new evidence of the FBI’s failures would emerge back in England. This week when a British judge ruled against the former FBI human source Christopher Steele, the decision delivered more than an order for the former spy’s company to pay damages to two Russian businessmen maligned by his dossier. It also introduced new incontrovertible evidence...

Activity within the Justice Department indicates U.S. Attorney John Durham is working to bring the first indictments as part of a criminal investigation into the Russia inquiry, according to investigative journalist John Solomon. Solomon, a controversial reporter who similarly reported criminal investigative activity related to Durham's efforts months ago, told Fox Business host Lou Dobbs on Tuesday that people are frustrated by the wait, asserting there already is "overwhelming evidence in the public record" that crimes were committed during the Russia investigation. Solomon, who is now the editor in chief of Just the News, faced criticism last year when his...

The Trump administration on Wednesday issued sanctions against Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif, formally labeling him a terrorist enabler and blacklisting all of his property, assets, and investments, according to senior administration officials. Zarif has emerged as the face of the Islamic Republic's nuclear intransigence and its threats to U.S. assets and allies in the region. He played a key role in negotiating the landmark nuclear deal with the Obama administration and has been a centerpiece in Iran's bombastic anti-American rhetoric. The designation had been rumored for some time following the Trump administration's decision to designate Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps,...

The Trump administration is barring Iran’s top diplomat from entering the United States this week to address the United Nations Security Council about the U.S. assassination of Iran’s top military official in Baghdad, violating the terms of a 1947 headquarters agreement requiring Washington to permit foreign officials into the country to conduct U.N. business, according to three diplomatic sources. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif requested a visa a “few weeks ago” to enter the United States to attend a Jan. 9 Security Council meeting on the importance of upholding the U.N. Charter, according to a diplomatic source familiar with...

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif over the phone on Friday to discuss the killing of Iran's military chief Qassem Soleimani, the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement. "Lavrov expressed his condolences over the killing," the statement said. "The ministers stressed that such actions by the United States grossly violate the norms of international law."

The Connecticut GOP called upon the “Democratic Party” to change its name Monday, issuing a resolution that asserts Democrats must address “the hundreds of years of racial oppression, violence, and multiple violations of human rights” associated with their party. The resolution states Connecticut Republicans “deem it necessary that the Democratic Party change its name due to the Party’s long tragic legacy denying Americans basic human rights,” including: Democrats blocked the first attempt to ratify the 13th Amendment in 1863 Democrats unanimously voted against the 14th Amendment giving former slaves citizenship Democrats unanimously voted against the 15th Amendment giving former slaves...

A Latino “protester” broke a loudspeaker over the head of a senior citizen during a scuffle over the removal of a Christopher Columbus statue in Wooster Square Park in New Haven, Connecticut. Police intervened to deescalate the situation after “protesters” clashed with members of the Italian-American Heritage Foundation, who were protesting the removal of the statue. . . . Ironically, a police officer eventually intervened to protect the Latino assailant from the angry crowd after he assaulted the senior citizen. One man in the crowd yells at the attacker as he cowers behind the police officer: “Now you want the...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The governors of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut announced on Wednesday that visitors from states with high coronavirus infection rates must self-quarantine for 14 days on arrival. Those states are Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, Utah and Washington, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo told reporters.

Elihu Yale sits in the center of this group of British gentlemen while a younger slave with a metal collar around his neck, at right, looks on. Yale University owns this portrait. An online petition is seeking to change the name of the nation’s third oldest college from Yale to “Hale.” The idea is to replace a controversial figure who oversaw slave trading with the name of an American hero who died during the Revolutionary War. The petition, at Change.org, presents a study in contrasts. Elihu Yale (1649-1721) was president of an outpost in Madras, India of the British...

ALBANY — Gov. Andrew Cuomo is actively talking to New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont about mapping out mandatory quarantine “guidelines” for individuals traveling into the tristate area from Florida and other states seeing spikes in COVID-19 cases. Cuomo said the trio is “seriously considering” implementing a 14-day isolation for Floridians and that could be extended to travelers coming from Texas, Arizona and at least 20 other states. “The virus is up and more people are getting sick and now our fear in New York is those people are going to travel to New York and...

People traveling on I-95 right now 8pm EDT be aware that police have genuflected to BLM by allowing protesters to block both northbound and southbound lanes between exit 15 (Route 7) and exit 17 (Westport).Hopefully, the police, who clearly support this action, will allow emergency vehicles through, but who knows.

Democratic lawmakers in both chambers are sounding alarms about President Trump's continued threats to invoke the Insurrection Act to deal with the protests over the death of George Floyd, who died at the hands of police while in custody in Minneapolis. The centuries-old law allows the president to deploy U.S. military domestically to suppress civil disorder. Senator Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., introduced legislation to rein in the president's authority when implementing the Insurrection Act after a heavy militarized presence was seen in Washington, D.C., to control protestors around Lafayette Park near the White House. Blumenthal sees the action at the park...

New York's top terrorism official says there's evidence that members of anarchist groups from outside the city intentionally planned to incite violence at protests calling for justice in the death of George Floyd. Deputy Commissioner for Intelligence and Counterterrorism John Miller said there is a high level of confidence within the NYPD that these unnamed groups had organized scouts, medics, and supply routes of rocks, bottles and accelerants for breakaway groups to commit vandalism and violence. There are strong indicators they planned for violence in advance using at times encrypted communications, he said. One out of every seven arrests, of...

Peter Manfredonia, a student at the University of Connecticut, is on the run and is suspected of killing two men, injuring another and kidnapping a woman, then fleeing in a stolen car, over the long weekend.... Manfredonia is suspected to have started his killing spree Friday morning in an attack on a dirt road in Willington (CT) that left Ted DeMers (62) dead and another man seriously injured, state police said... In the past, Manfredonia has used his Instagram account to speak against gun violence.... In a February 2018 publication, Manfredonia wrote that the school shootings “are an epidemic that...

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story is below: A lawyer for the family of a fugitive college student said Wednesday the 23-year-old suspect in two Connecticut slayings has no outdoor survival training and his parents are begging him to bring a peaceful end to the search that has stretched to Maryland. Since the first homicide on Friday, investigators have followed the trail of Peter Manfredonia through New Jersey and Pennsylvania, where police on Wednesday said someone matching his description took a ride-hailing service to the Hagerstown, Maryland, area. An attorney for Manfredonia’s family, Michael Dolan, told The...

A manhunt was underway Sunday for a 23-year-old Connecticut man who police say attacked three people in the past two days, killing two of them. Manfredonia was a senior at the University of Connecticut, the college told Fox 61. Police said Friday that Manfredonia was seen leaving the scene of a homicide and “serious assault” in Willington that had unfolded that morning. Family identified Ted Demers, an artist and Marine veteran, as the person who was killed and said he and Manfredonia were strangers, WFSB-TV reported. The station quoted Demers’ wife as saying her husband went to his barn to...

Connecticut will on Wednesday allow residents to eat in outdoor restaurants and shop inside stores, becoming the last of all 50 states to ease social-distancing orders to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Still, Connecticut officials, as are those in other states, are taking a measured, step-by-step approach to reopening and getting their economies restarted. Gyms, nail salons, spas, theaters and tattoo parlors and bars that do not serve food will remain closed until at least June 20, unless earlier modified.

The town of Cromwell had decided It will allow businesses that want to reopen to do so immediately, in opposition to Gov. Ned Lamont's executive orders and reopening plans. In a meeting Wednesday, the town council voted 8-0 in favor of the decision, which will allow the town attorney to create a declaration allowing businesses in Cromwell that are willing and able to re-open immediately and to make a declaration to allow outdoor graduation. The declaration will be sent to the governor. Reopening has been a contentious issue across the country. Some expressed harsh criticism of Lamont's plans Monday when...

Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) countered a Democrat-led push for more regulations on “ghost guns” by making clear his belief that there is enough gun control already. On May 15, 2020, Breitbart News reported that Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and other Democrats are demanding background checks for “ghost guns” and kits containing parts that can be used to build guns. The Mike Bloomberg-founded gun control group, Everytown for Gun Safety, supports the Democrat push. Politico quoted Sen. Cornyn in a way that gave readers the impression that he also supported the advocacy. They reported that Cornyn “might...

HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH)– Governor Ned Lamont has announced on Monday that he is delaying the reopening of hair salons and barbershops. Salons and barbershops were originally due to reopen on Wednesday, May 20, during phase one of the state’s reopen plan amid the coronavirus pandemic. Both Governor Lamont and Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo now intend to reopen hair salons and barbershops in their respective states in early June. Read entire article at the link above.