Free Republic

Who can you put next to President Joe Biden that will make him look good? We know it’s not the G7, as Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni had to wrangle the US commander-in-chief when he threatened to drift away from the group of world leaders during a parachuting demonstration. And Saturday confirmed that former president Barack Obama isn’t the answer either, after grabbing his former VP by the wrist and guiding him by his shoulders off the stage at a Los Angeles event as Biden appeared to freeze for about five seconds. Biden’s handlers have already equipped him with special...

After a dismal week for the Biden administration on several fronts, the New York Times published a “puff piece” profile on White House press secretary Jen Psaki, which repeatedly praised her as “straightforward” and “professional." The Times piece, titled “Bully Pulpit No More: Jen Psaki’s Turn at the Lectern,” details her rise to “political fame” and her journey to becoming an “unlikely cultural force.” Journalist Michael Grynbaum wrote: A cult of Psaki has proliferated online, where clips of her restrained, if occasionally withering exchanges with reporters have established this once obscure political strategist as an unlikely cultural force. Her retorts...

In a key finding of the Mueller report, Ukrainian businessman Konstantin Kilimnik, who worked for Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, is tied to Russian intelligence. But hundreds of pages of government documents — which Mueller possessed since 2018 — describe Kilimnik as a “sensitive” intelligence source for the U.S. State Department who informed on Ukrainian and Russian matters. Why special counsel Robert Mueller’s team omitted that part of the Kilimnik narrative from their report and related court filings is not known. But the revelation of it comes as the accuracy of Mueller’s Russia conclusions face increased scrutiny. The incomplete portrayal...

Former President Obama's talk about how politics need “new blood” is being seen as a blow to Joe Biden, the former vice president that Obama did not back to succeed him in 2016. Sources close to both men describe Obama and Biden as friends who share an admiration and respect for one another. But they also acknowledge recent remarks like the one Obama made this week in Hawaii represent a sort of threat to Biden, who has told allies in recent days that he’s likely to enter the 2020 presidential race. Obama was speaking broadly about the need for new...

Sharyl Attkisson, the Emmy-award winning CBS News investigative reporter, says that her personal and work computers have been compromised and are under investigation. "I can confirm that an intrusion of my computers has been under some investigation on my end for some months but I'm not prepared to make an allegation against a specific entity today as I've been patient and methodical about this matter," Attkisson told POLITICO on Tuesday. "I need to check with my attorney and CBS to get their recommendations on info we make public."

President Barack Obama stands by his comment that Britain would move to the back of the queue when it comes to trade deals with the United States if it left the European Union, the White House said on Friday. "Obviously, the president stands by what he said and I don't have an update of our position," White House spokesman Eric Schultz told reporters at a briefing. Obama urged Britain to remain in the EU when he visited London in April and warned that a trade agreement between the two countries would not happen anytime soon if Britain left the bloc.

The White House on Tuesday conceded that President Obama “may have been a little too flip” in referring to some opponents as “crazies,” but denied he was specifically targeting critics of the Iran nuclear deal. “He may have been a little glib in his language,” spokesman Eric Schultz told reporters on Air Force One. But asked if the president regrets his choice of words, Schultz replied “no.” Schultz said the president was taking aim at Republicans in Congress, who are locked in a budget stalemate with Democrats that could result in a government shutdown. “If you take a step back...

The White House on Friday defended President Obama's remarks at the National Prayer Breakfast after he was widely lambasted by conservatives for bringing up acts done in Christianity's name amid a discussion of modern-day terrorist threats. Americans should hold themselves "up to our own values and our own standards," deputy press secretary Eric Schultz said aboard the president's flight to Indianapolis, where Obama is speaking at a community college, according to the pool report. Obama believes that "when we fall short of that, we need to be honest with ourselves," Schultz said, noting Obama's "belief in American exceptionalism." “The president...

During Wednesday afternoon’s White House press conference, ABC News reporter Jonathan Karl cornered Deputy Press Secretary Eric Schultz over why the administration does not consider the Taliban to be a “terrorist” organization. In light of a possible Jordanian prisoner swap with ISIS forces, Karl asked Schultz how that government’s actions differ from the United States’ 2014 release of Gitmo prisoners to the Taliban in exchange for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl. When the spokesman suggested the Taliban is just an “armed insurgency,” and not a “terrorist organization” like ISIS, Karl pounced: “You don’t think the Taliban’s a terrorist group?” In the clip...

Rep. Darrell Issa, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, sent a subpoena Wednesday to Attorney General Eric Holder as part of his investigation into the gun trafficking operation known as "Fast and Furious." "Top Justice Department officials, including Attorney General Holder, know more about Operation Fast and Furious than they have publicly acknowledged," the California Republican said in a statement. "The documents this subpoena demands will provide answers to questions that Justice officials have tried to avoid since this investigation began eight months ago. It's time we know the whole truth." The subpoena seeks, among other things,...

CBS reporter Sharyl Attkisson has been doggedly covering the ATF and DOJ scandal surrounding the gunwalking “Fast and Furious” case. And now she’s coming out with some juicy details about her attempts to get information from the DOJ and the White House regarding the case. On Laura Ingraham’s radio show Tuesday, Attkisson said she was “screamed” and “cussed” at by the White House while trying to get information last Friday, and that a DOJ spokesperson “yelled” at her while she was trying to get clarification on the case. And she named names. Ingraham: So they were literally screaming at you?...

Via Laura Ingraham’s producer Matt Wolking, vivid proof that it’s not true that “the media” is ignoring Fast & Furious. Most of the media is, but Sharyl Attkisson at CBS has been filing scoops damned near every day, including last night’s bombshell that briefings were sent to Holder as early as July 2010. Ingraham asked her about that in the clip you’re about to hear. Attkisson’s reply: I’m certainly not the one to make the case for DOJ and White House about what I’m doing wrong. They will tell you that I’m the only reporter–as they told me–that is not...

The Fast and Furious scandal, in which the Justice Department knowingly gave Mexican criminal gangs thousands of guns, just keeps escalating. The latest development centers around whether or not Attorney General Eric Holder lied to Congress about having knowledge of the controversial gun trafficking operation. Recently released documents say Holder was briefed about the operation long before he told the Judiciary Committee he was first aware of what was going on. (Holder now claims he misunderstood the question was being asked.) What's more, CBS News investigative journalist Sharyl Attkisson -- who's been covering the scandal from the beginning -- says...