Free Republic

Reality check: Trump has singled out ActBlue, the Democratic fundraising platform, for federal scrutiny of possible illegal foreign contributions. ActBlue has admitted to more than 200 such questionable donations. Democrats fear that they’re being targeted for political retaliation, and that a probe could force ActBlue to shut down. But AP’s Brian Slodysko and Steve Peoples sifted through Trump’s records and found that he got 1,600 similarly maybe-problematic contributions since 2020 — many through WinRed, Republicans’ answer to ActBlue. The response: The White House didn’t specifically address the AP’s findings, but said House Republicans had “uncovered specific evidence of potentially unlawful...

President Donald Trump on Sunday blasted Harvard’s secrecy when it comes to the university’s large number of students from foreign countries. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said: “Why isn’t Harvard saying that almost 31% of their students are from FOREIGN LANDS, and yet those countries, some not at all friendly to the United States, pay NOTHING toward their student’s education, nor do they ever intend to. Nobody told us that! “We want to know who those foreign students are, a reasonable request since we give Harvard BILLIONS OF DOLLARS, but Harvard isn’t exactly forthcoming. We want those names...

A South American gang with many illegal alien members that cropped up to rival the infamous Tren de Aragua is victimizing vulnerable rural Americans, warns crime expert Robert Charles. “I’ve read some of the public accounts that suggest that this offshoot group is trying to distinguish itself by being more violent,” Charles, who was formerly an assistant secretary of state at the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, said of Anti-Tren. With the recent charges against almost 20 accused members of the gang by the Trump Justice Department, the new threat has garnered more attention,...

Vice President JD Vance fired back at Joe Biden's new criticism of the infamous Oval Office meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, dismissing the former commander-in-chief's foreign policy as a "total disaster." "I think it's rich for Joe Biden to comment on anything that we’re doing when it comes to Russia and Ukraine," Vance on Thursday told Fox News anchor Martha MacCallum on "The Story." "Under Biden’s administration, Russia launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine… I wish Joe Biden the best. I don't really care what he has to say about American foreign policy because so much of what he...

Democrats on Thursday were bracing for a sustained attack on their fundraising operation by Republicans, as President Donald Trump targets ActBlue. Trump plans to direct Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate the major online donation platform for what the administration cast as “unlawful ‘straw donor’ and foreign contributions to American elections” in a presidential memorandum on Thursday. “President Trump is taking action to address malign actors and foreign nationals who seek to illegally influence American elections, undermining the integrity of our electoral process,” a fact sheet detailing the memo obtained by POLITICO states. “ActBlue has become notorious for its lax...

April 24, 2025 MEMORANDUM FOR THE SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY THE ATTORNEY GENERAL THE COUNSEL TO THE PRESIDENT SUBJECT: Investigation into Unlawful “Straw Donor” and Foreign Contributions in American Elections Federal law (52 U.S.C. 30121 and 30122) strictly prohibits making political contributions in the name of another person, as well as contributions by foreign nationals. Notwithstanding these laws designed to protect American democracy, press reports and investigations by congressional committees have generated extremely troubling evidence that online fundraising platforms have been willing participants in schemes to launder excessive and prohibited contributions to political candidates and committees. Specifically, these reports raise...

HARRIS FIGHT FUND Over the last few months, Republicans have escalated their attacks on an unlikely target: ActBlue, the platform Kamala Harris and many Democrats use to receive campaign contributions. In the next hour or so, Donald Trump himself is expected to sign a "presidential memorandum" asking his Attorney General to perform some kind of investigation into ActBlue. Let's be clear on what this is about: Donald Trump wants to make it harder for people like you to contribute to Democratic candidates so it's easier for billionaires like Elon Musk to buy elections.

Over the past two decades, a reclusive Swiss billionaire has poured more than $800 million into left-wing causes across America, and now states are fighting back. Hansjörg Wyss, 89, a Swiss national with an estimated net worth of roughly five billion dollars, has quietly become one of the most influential donors on the American left. He has spent more than $800 million bankrolling hundreds of left-wing causes across the United States, donating millions to climate change groups, abortion activists, and the Clinton Foundation. Information about him is sparse, but his sister once wrote that Wyss seeks to “(re)interpret the American...

Putting partisan politics far above patriotism (if he has any), top Democrat Rep. Jamie Raskin is outright threatening vengeance on foreign leaders who work with the Trump administration. Yes, he washes it through rhetoric about fighting “authoritarianism in our country,” but that’s simply cover for goonish threats. Raskin (D-Md.) issued it on the “Pod Save America” podcast, after progressive host Tommy Vietor cited (surely left-wing) Latin America experts as urging Democrats to warn off “any foreign government that participates in the extraordinary rendition of American citizens.” Reality check: No one is proposing any “extraordinary rendition of American citizens.”

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is suing President Trump’s administration in federal court for targeting international students who had their legal status revoked. “The consequences of Defendants’ unilateral and unlawful termination are dire. The termination puts students out of lawful student status. Plaintiffs and the class face immigration detention and deportation. Plaintiffs and the class face severe financial and academic hardship. Further, Plaintiffs and the class are not able to obtain their degrees and work pursuant to the Optional Practical Training (OPT) program after graduation,” ACLU’s lawyers wrote in the class action lawsuit filed in New Hampshire. “Indeed, Defendants’...

The First Amendment is not a suicide pact between a nation and foreigners who wish it harm.Last week, an immigration judge ruled that the Trump administration met the legal requirements under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) to deport Mahmoud Khalil, who is a U.S. permanent resident and also a prominent pro-Palestinian political organizer.As a quick refresher, the arrest of Khalil is part of a broader crackdown by the Trump administration on revoking the student visas of political activists who have taken part, or supported, the Pro-Palestinian/Anti-Israel movements that have taken hold of American college campuses since the Oct. 7...

Most Americans have no idea what’s happening on their highways. While we’re all stuck debating the border, our roads have also been totally overrun — not just with bad policies, but with foreign truck drivers who don’t belong behind the wheel or on our streets.. Shannon Everett from American Truckers joined Steve Bannon’s WarRoom to blow the lid off this growing and dangerous trend. According to Everett, what’s happening right now should terrify anyone who drives. That’s scary and disturbing, but it gets even worse… An American trucker says illegals — possibly Jamaican or Haitian—are being given commercial driver’s licenses,...

Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) appears to be in some legal trouble that could actually stick this time. The Daily Signal reported on Thursday that the Federal Elections Commission has launched an investigation into Crockett regarding highly suspicious donations made to her 2024 re-election campaign. According to the outlet, a conservative advocacy group called The Coolidge-Reagan Foundation made the FEC complaint on March 26. FEC assistant general counsel for complaints examination and legal administration then notified Crockett via letter on April 2nd. “The respondents will be notified of this complaint within five business days,” Brown said in the letter. “You will...

Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt says TODAY is the deadline for all foreign nationals in the U.S. for over 30 days to register with the federal government. Non-compliance is a crime! Watch the short video on the linked X post. She is dynamite. Strong, assertive, no-nonsense. Such a breath of fresh air compared to the nappy haired lesbo alien we had last administration. TranscriptThe deadline for registration under the Alien Registration Act is today. All foreign nationals present in the United States longer than 30 days must register with the federal government. Failure to comply with this is a crime, punishable...

The Federal Elections Commission (FEC) has opened an investigation into Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) over donations to her campaign that were made through ActBlue, a Democrat fundraising platform that has recently come under scrutiny for suspicious donation activity. A complaint to the FEC was filed by conservative advocacy group the Coolidge-Reagan Foundation in March against Crockett with respect to her fundraising activity on ActBlue as well as alleged voter intimidation, according to the Daily Signal. On April 2, the group was notified by the FEC that the agency would be looking into the matter with respect to Crockett. “The respondents...

The United States District Court for the District of Columbia, the source of many of the cases interfering with President Donald Trump’s authority, has 15 judges, (Counting Chief Judge James Boasberg) and five of them were born outside the United States. While country of origin doesn’t come up in most jobs, it is worth asking if judges with ties to foreign nations and cultures are the right ones to make decisions affecting the U.S. military or immigration. The concept of foreign-born judges is a newer phenomenon in this district. In addition to the 15 main judges, the D.C. District has...

Of all the judges in the U.S. all five foreign-born judges of the D.C. court managed to get their fingerprints on controversial Trump cases... The United States District Court for the District of Columbia, the source of many of the cases interfering with President Donald Trump’s authority, has 15 judges, (Counting Chief Judge James Boasberg) and five of them were born outside the United States. While country of origin doesn’t come up in most jobs, it is worth asking if judges with ties to foreign nations and cultures are the right ones to make decisions affecting the U.S. military or...

A new report from a nonprofit and nonpartisan government watchdog is shedding light on the tens of billions of dollars that have poured into U.S. universities in recent years, including $20 billion to some of the most prestigious universities in the country. The report, produced by Americans for Public Trust and released this week, found that $60 billion in foreign gifts and contracts were funneled into American colleges and universities, including $20 billion alone to elite schools like Harvard, Yale, and others. Within that total, $795 million came from nations that are long-standing adversaries to the United States, including China,...

EU defence spending plans are driving German, French, and Italian bond yields higher. Japan’s are soaring too. The dollar is sinking: what does it all mean for gold and silver? A graph. This week, the end-February decline in gold and silver prices appear to be over, with a recovery based on a firm undertone. In early European trading this morning, gold was $2,920, up $60 from last Friday’s close, and silver $32.60, up $1.50. Despite the recent transfers of physical gold into New York, there still appears to be a bear squeeze in place. Look at how Comex Open Interest...

Students participating in Pro-Hamas demonstrations on college campuses who are non-immigrant visa holders have been put on notice that they will face deportation by the Trump administration. Firming up a similar message from President Donald Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, whose department issues the visas required to study in the United States, made clear that foreign students who support terrorist organizations will face severe consequences. In a Truth Social post by President Trump on Tuesday, the Commander in Chief issued a warning to students protesting on behalf of Hamas, saying, “Agitators will be imprisoned/or permanently sent back to the...