Free Republic

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a New York Democrat, voiced support for a congressional investigation into the health of President Donald Trump. Newsweek reached out to the White House for comment via email. Why It Matters Trump, who is 79, was the oldest person to become president when he returned to office last January, and while he maintains that he's in perfect health, questions have emerged about his age. A new report from The Wall Street Journal highlighted several of his alleged signs of age, including delicate skin and difficulty hearing. What To Know Jeffries, a staunch Trump critic who...

The Virginia man arrested and charged with placing pipe bombs outside of the Republican and Democratic National Committees the night before the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol told investigators in a lengthy confession that he wasn't targeting the joint session of Congress that was convening to certify former President Joe Biden's election win, according to a new court filing. In a multiple-hour interview with authorities following his Dec. 4 arrest, Brian Cole allegedly admitted his actions in placing the pipe bombs after initially denying any involvement, prosecutors said.

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Kash Patel confirmed that the agency will be shutting down the J. Edgar Hoover Building in Washington, DC, “permanently.” In a post on X, Patel explained that initially, there had been a plan to build a “new headquarters that wouldn’t open until 2035” for almost $5 billion. Patel added that the plan was “scrapped” and the agency “selected the already-existing Reagan Building, saving billions.” “After more than 20 years of failed attempts, we finalized a plan to permanently close the FBI’s Hoover headquarters and move the workforce into a safe, modern facility,” Patel said....

A man who transported patients to medical appointments is suing his former employer, alleging he was unlawfully fired after failing a criminal background check despite — he says — years on the job without incident. The backstory: James Blakney says he was abruptly fired last year after working for nearly three years transporting patients to and from medical appointments. According to a lawsuit filed in D.C. federal court, Blakney had passed three criminal background checks during his employment. Blakney does have a criminal record, including what appears to be a 2007 felony conviction for heroin distribution — based on FOX...

President Trump received some rare good polling news Monday as a new survey shows him with his highest approval rating since early fall. The poll of likely voters by InsiderAdvantage shows 50% approve of the job Trump is doing while 41% disapprove, with the remaining 9% undecided. Monday’s results mark the highest raw approval rating for the president in an InsiderAdvantage survey since late September, when 52% of respondents approved of his performance.

Upon her departure from the Democratic Party, the Justice Department and FBI considered opening a criminal investigation into the then-Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., over alleged campaign finance violations, according to reports. The New York Post reported that emails obtained by the newspaper revealed communications between DOJ’s Criminal Division; a prosecutor in then-Washington, D.C., U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves’ office; and FBI agents in the bureau’s Washington Field Office that discussed investigating Sinema in February 2024. Sinema left the Democratic Party in 2022 and chose not to seek re-election in 2024. The email exchanges came in response to the Post’s Feb. 1,...

Washington, D.C. Chief of Police Pam Smith resigned in disgrace on Friday after a scathing report released earlier this week. The House Oversight Committee report revealed that Smith coerced department officials into manipulating crime data across the District. The report claimed that she urged district commanders to “reduce crime statistics by any means necessary." The investigation into Smith uncovered systemic abuse of criminal reporting practices within the department. The Oversight Committee stated that: “Testimony revealed that Chief Smith prioritized lowering publicly reported crime numbers over reducing actual crime, placing intense pressure on district commanders to produce low crime statistics by...

I never fail to be amazed at what we get used to. Trundling along in the New York subway the other day, I saw all the usual sights. Turnstile hoppers, of course, who never fail to aggravate me. “Why am I the only mug who’s paying?” is my general feeling. “Why did I just effectively pay for that guy’s journey as well?,” I think. Members of the National Guard and an officer from the Washington Metropolitan Police Department on foot patrols in the U Street neighborhood of Washington, Sunday, Nov., 30, 2025. Members of the National Guard and an officer...

Dan Bongino has said he will leave his role as the FBI's deputy director in January. "I want to thank President Trump, AG (Pam) Bondi, and Director (Kash) Patel for the opportunity to serve with purpose," Bongino wrote on X. It comes after US President Donald Trump said earlier on Wednesday the former podcast host "did a great job" in office, and "wants to go back to his show". Bongino, who was appointed to the role by Donald Trump in February, was previously a New York City police officer and a US Secret Service agent. In recent years, he built...

For four years, a tranche of cellphone data provided to the FBI by T-Mobile US sat on a digital shelf because investigators couldn’t figure out how to read it, people familiar with the matter said. The data turned out to be essential to cracking the case, the people said, a breakthrough that happened only recently when a tech-savvy law-enforcement officer wrote a new computer program that finally deciphered the information. That move led to the arrest of 30-year-old Brian Cole Jr. at his home in Northern Virginia, where he had been quietly living with his mother and other relatives.

The top police official in Washington, D.C., pressured commanders to lower classifications of crime and retaliated against those who reported spikes, creating a widespread culture of fear and distorted public data, according to a new congressional report. An interim report from the House Oversight Committee released on Sunday claims that outgoing Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) Chief Pamela Smith, who announced her resignation on Dec. 8, oversaw an unprecedented system of intervention in crime reporting. The Republican-led committee alleges that Smith, who is expected to remain in the position through the end of the year, pressured commanders on numerous occasions, and...

Video Sen. John Fetterman broke with Democrats on Sunday, siding with Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham as he accused members of his party of embracing antisemitic rhetoric after a deadly terror attack during a Hanukkah celebration in Australia over the weekend. Appearing on "Sunday Morning Futures," Fetterman, D-Pa., said he agreed "with virtually everything" Graham, R-S.C., warned about earlier in the program. Graham had raised concerns about empowering Hamas by moving toward Palestinian statehood. "It’s an absolute betrayal for Israel and for the worldwide Jewish community," ...

The House voted 231-195 on Thursday to pass legislation that would nullify President Trump’s efforts to strip more than 1 million federal workers of their collective bargaining rights, sending the measure over to the Senate, where its prospects are less rosy. Twenty Republican lawmakers broke ranks to support the Protect America’s Workforce Act (H.R. 2550) on the floor. Introduced by Reps. Jared Golden, D-Maine, and Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., the measure effectively nullifies Trump’s March executive order barring unions at more than 40 federal agencies under the guise of national security and bars federal agencies from terminating any union contracts that...

Video. In an interview on "The Katie Miller Pod," Elon Musk said DOGE, the Department of Governmental Efficiency, was a "somewhat successful" venture, but he wouldn't do it again. KATIE MILLER: You are in the Roosevelt Room, if you remember this, getting sworn in, and they hand you a computer and a phone. I want to go back to what happened next. I think the story of DOGE, from your perspective, has never been told. What was your first thought on how DOGE was going to proceed? ELON MUSK: Well, I guess I couldn't believe I was there, for the...

Jonathan Franklin, a current University adjunct professor & former NPR correspondent who built his career on issues of race, culture, & justice, was recorded making openly racist remarks during an undercover date with James O’Keefe. Franklin, scheduled to teach a Georgetown course on interviewing & sourcing, labeled Black conservatives such as Candace Owens, Lawrence Jones, & Clarence Thomas as “coons,” & mocked his colleagues, saying he “works with stupid white people.” During the confrontation, Franklin attempted to assault an OMG cameraman before fleeing. Georgetown University records confirm Franklin is currently teaching students how to “interview sources effectively,” even as he...

During a meeting in Washington between Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana and U.S. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, a first-of-its-kind global parliamentary initiative was launched: an international effort to recommend former and current U.S. President Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise also participated in the meeting. At its conclusion, Ohana and Johnson signed an official letter to the Nobel Peace Prize Committee calling for Trump to be selected as the 2026 laureate. The initiative follows a plan announced by Ohana during Trump’s recent visit to Israel and a speech Johnson delivered in Congress the...

When news broke that the FBI had finally arrested a suspect who placed pipe bombs at RNC and DNC headquarters in January 2021, I offered this prediction: "this will turn out to be unrelated to the J6 riot or law enforcement and intelligence agencies, but will be a rando nutcase anarchist." I could have also predicted that the Protection Racket Media would attempt to make the perp into a right-wing MAGA nutcase who voted for Donald Trump. I didn't have "pretend he's a white guy" on my Bingo card, but you can't win 'em all. Otherwise, my predictions have held...

A picture is beginning to emerge about the suspect accused of planting two pipe bombs next to Democratic and Republican headquarters on the eve of the 2021 Capitol riot, following his arrest on Thursday. Neighbours and family members described Brian Cole Jr, 30, as "naive" and a "quiet guy" who often walked a chihuahua in their Washington DC suburb. He also told investigators he thought the 2020 election was "rigged", US media reports say. Authorities arrested Mr Cole and charged him with attempted malicious destruction with explosive materials. The bombs did not detonate. He was arrested without incident, US Attorney...

An Appeals court has ruled that President Donald Trump can continue deploying the National Guard in Washington, D.C. The Washington D.C. Court of Appeals order is an administrative stay, not a ruling on the merits, according to the Dec. 4 order. “Ordered that the district court’s November 20, 2025 order be administratively stayed pending further order of this court. The purpose of this administrative stay is to give the court sufficient opportunity to consider the motion for stay pending appeal and should not be construed in any way as a ruling on the merits of that motion.”

FOX News has identified the man reports say was arrested by the FBI in connection with pipe bombs planted in Washington, D.C., the night before the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot as Brian Cole. FOX says Cole was living in Virginia at the time of his arrest on Thursday morning. FOX 5 has confirmed that he was a resident of Woodbridge. No other details were immediately available, including possible charges.