Free Republic

Hamas-friendly gulf state paid American operative $250,000 'for [a] PBS documentary,' DOJ filings reveal.. Qatar, the oil-rich gulf monarchy that harbors Hamas and other terrorist groups, has used a number of conduits to influence unwitting American audiences: tens of millions of dollars in funding for universities, think tanks, military museums, and alleged bribes to prominent members of Congress. Add PBS documentaries to the list. A Qatari-backed front group, Yemen Crisis Watch, paid $250,000 to travel journalist Burt Wolf from September 2017 to January 2018 for a documentary about the war in Yemen that aired on PBS affiliates, according to previously...

PELLA, Iowa - Amid tanking poll numbers and a campaign shake-up, supporters swarmed three Ben Carson events on an icy Wednesday in Iowa, suggesting that the retired-pediatric-neurosurgeon-turned-Republican-presidential-candidate may still have what it takes to do well in the state's kingmaker caucuses. More than 150 supporters showed up in Panora, a small town of just 1,100, and so many supporters gathered at a small Winterset cafe that Carson gave a second, shorter town hall for those who couldn't fit in the room for the scheduled event. More than 350 attended an event in Pella on Wednesday evening, filling dozens of seats...

Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson continues to raise money at an imposing clip, even as support for his campaign has been falling. Doug Watts, a spokesman for Carson, confirmed Wednesday night to NBC News that the campaign raised about $23 million over the last three months -- up from the eye-catching $20.8 million he raised in the third quarter. Watts didn't say how much money the campaign has directly on hand, but he stressed: "We have more than enough money to fulfill all our first-stage primary plans." Carson's fourth-quarter fund-raising total, first reported by Politico, was similar to the nearly...

U.S. Republican Ben Carson's 2016 presidential bid was thrown into chaos on Thursday when his campaign manager and some 20 other staff members quit amid infighting, dropping poll numbers and negative media coverage. Barry Bennett, who oversaw Carson's rapid rise to the top tier of Republican contenders and his later fall, said he quit over differences with another top adviser to Carson, Armstrong Williams. Specifically, Bennett blamed Williams for an interview Carson gave last week to The Washington Post suggesting that the campaign was in disarray. "It's one of the stupidest things I've ever seen a candidate do," Bennett said....