Free Republic

A top financial backer of left-wing causes in the US has been accused of sexually harassing a female employee, pushing for “threesomes” with her and her future husband while they worked at his California winery — and then retaliating against them for calling out his “lewd” conduct. Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss exposed himself, “brazenly groped,” and made other unwanted sexual advances toward Madison Busby before forcing her to resign her job, according to a jaw-dropping lawsuit filed April 25 in San Luis Obispo County Superior Court. ... Wyss, a resident of Teton County, Wyo., purchased the property in 2000 and...

SNIP “In my country, we are fighting like hell for the democracy we once took for granted. That affects all of us here because the arts are democratic. Art is inclusive, it brings people together. Art embraces diversity and that’s why art is a threat, that’s why we are a threat to autocrats and fascists,” he said. “America’s philistine president has had himself appointed head of one of our premier cultural institutions,” he continued. “He has cut funding and support to the arts, humanities and education. And now he has announced a 100% tariff on films produced outside of the...

Rep. Eric Swalwell (D., Calif.), who has accused Republicans of enabling Russia, took maximum campaign donations from a top lobbyist for Nord Stream 2 AG, the company behind an oil transportation project dubbed "Putin’s pipeline." Swalwell, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, received $2,900 last year from Vincent Roberti Sr., the chairman of lobbying powerhouse Roberti Global. Roberti gave $5,400 to Swalwell’s campaign in 2018. Roberti Global received $2.4 million in 2021 from Nord Stream 2 AG, a Switzerland-based subsidiary of Russian oil giant Gazprom. Critics of the 761-mile pipeline have long said it would allow Vladimir Putin to...

@RepThomasMassie Last night, I received a 2024 Defender of Economic Freedom Award from @CFGfoundation This award is given to lawmakers who vote to protect economic liberty and advocate for limited government, lower taxes, and the reduction of wasteful government spending.

General Michael Flynn has declared his readiness to return to the White House as President Donald Trump’s National Security Advisor. On Monday, the decorated combat veteran and former National Security Advisor under President Trump took to X with a powerful statement: “For over four decades, I’ve dedicated my life to serving this great nation, from the battlefields of Afghanistan and Iraq to the halls of Washington. Whether in uniform, in government, or as a private citizen, my commitment to America and its people has never wavered. I’ve faced challenges, taken hits, and become stronger, always driven by a deep love...

Former National Security Advisor John Bolton said Tuesday on CNN’s “New Central” that no world leader should “equate” the opinions of the American people with those of President Donald Trump. Bolton said, “I think Trump is ripping through decades of American effort to build up good faith, trust, reliance, counting on the United States in times of crisis. And the economic cost of the tariffs are going to be bad.” He added, “I think you saw a little bit of that in the meeting today. The leader who was backing down in that meeting was Trump. He’d already made all...

Former National Security Advisor John Bolton said Monday on MSNBC’s “Ana Cabrera Reports” that if President Donald Trump attempted to take control of Greenland with military force, it “would provoke an impeachment crisis almost immediately.” On NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Trump downplayed the likelihood but did not completely rule it out. He said, “I don’t say I’m going to do it, but I don’t rule out anything. No, not there, you need that. We need Greenland very badly. Greenland is a very small amount of people which will take care of and will cherish them and all of that, but...

BOSTON — Former Vice President Mike Pence on Sunday will receive the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award for his refusal to go along with President Donald Trump’s efforts to remain in office after losing the 2020 election... The award recognizes Pence “for putting his life and career on the line to ensure the constitutional transfer of presidential power on Jan. 6, 2021,” the JFK Library Foundation said, when it made the announcement last month. Pence will receive the award at the JFK Library in Boston.

* Co-founder of the Institute for Policy Studies * Was associated with the Students for a Democratic Society in the 1960s Marcus Raskin was born April 30, 1934 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the second son of Russian Jewish immigrants. At age 16, he left home to study piano at New York’s Juilliard School. In 1954 Raskin graduated from the University of Chicago with a BA in liberal arts, and three years later he earned a JD from the University of Chicago Law School. In 1958 he moved to Washington, D.C. to serve as legislative counsel to a group of Democratic congressmen....

U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus have put Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on notice: Don't mess with the name Fort Cavazos. With support from President Donald Trump, Hegseth has begun reversing a Biden-era initiative to remove the names of Confederate figures from military installations. Hegseth has restored names with Confederate connotations to two Army bases, and he has vowed to continue. That has sparked fears that the Central Texas armored division base named for Gen. Richard E. Cavazos, the Army's first Hispanic four-star general, could be next. The Congressional Hispanic Caucus is trying to get in front...

"GOP Sen. Rand Paul says he expects to have enough votes in Senate to pass resolution to effectively block Trump’s tariffs. But Paul, who expects the vote Wednesday, attacked Speaker Johnson’s move to block such resolutions as “dishonesty.”" *** The background to this, via Politico: The White House warned that Trump will veto a bipartisan Senate resolution that would terminate his sweeping global “Liberation Day” tariffs. The statement of administration policy from the Office of Management and Budget, sent to congressional offices Monday, comes ahead of an expected vote this week forced by several Democrats led by Sen. Ron Wyden...

BREAKING: Indian-born Congressman Shri Thanedar (D-MI) files to impeach President Donald Trump. He is bringing forward 7 Articles. I bet Trump is literally shaking. "Defying a unanimous 9-0 Supreme Court ruling? That has to be the final straw. It's time we impeached Donald J. Trump. The court said the wrongfully deported Kilmar Garcia must be allowed to return and receive due process. Trump ignored it. He ignored the Constitution." "He ignored the very checks and balances that keep our democracy intact. This isn't an isolated incident. It's part of a dangerous deliberate pattern. That's why today I introduced a resolution...

As Russia continues its warfare against Ukraine, one outspoken Republican senator is encouraging President Donald Trump to put Russian President Vladimir Putin in his place. "Putin has reneged on every promise that he has made to President Trump. His latest proposal is, well, nothing. He wants to keep all the territory that he's taken," Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said on the latest installment of "Fox News Sunday." "He wants to prohibit Ukraine from joining NATO, and he wants America and Europe to stop helping Ukraine," he added. "I think that Putin thinks that America has taken the bullet train to...

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said Thursday on MSNBC’s “Chris Jansing Reports” that if President Donald Trump disobeyed a Supreme Court order, “extraordinary action will be necessary.” Jansing said, “The Supreme Court said the administration must facilitate the return of Kilmer Abrego Garcia, who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador. That has not happened. Are we at the point, Senator, where you feel extraordinary action is warranted?” Schumer said, “Look, the case will be back to the Supreme Court, they sent it down to the lower court judge. But if the president disobeys a Supreme Court order, extraordinary action...

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., is continuing his push against President Donald Trump's tariffs, with legislation he is co-sponsoring against them to come before the Senate next week. Paul says lawmakers should be in control of tariffs, rather than Trump, through the use of a national-emergency law. The discussion will come less than a month after Paul was one of the only two chamber Republicans to vote against his party's budget, which is seen as a key part of the president's tax cuts, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday. "I don't have any bad feelings towards the president, but this is...

WASHINGTON — Many Republican lawmakers lie low when they have differences with President Trump. Sen. Rand Paul has taken the opposite approach. “Congress needs to grow a spine, and Congress needs to stand up for its prerogatives,” the Kentucky Republican told reporters, complaining that Trump relied on a national-emergency law to impose tariffs that Paul believes should be controlled by lawmakers. His comments came just days after he was one of only two GOP senators to vote against the party’s budget framework that is key to Trump’s tax cuts, saying it didn’t do enough to reduce the deficit. The libertarian...

A federal judge in New York on Tuesday extended his block on removal of Tren de Aragua gang members facing deportation under the Alien Enemies Act. US District Judge Alvin Hellerstein, a 91-year-old Clinton appointee, blasted DOJ lawyers during a hearing on Tuesday and accused them throwing people out of the US “because of their tattoos.” Earlier this month Hellerstein blocked the removal of two alleged Tren de Aragua gang members in New York.

‘If you look at Russia, yes, it’s obviously huge geographically, but the population is about 150 million people, about half the size of the US, and five times smaller than Europe. They’re big, but they’re weak, and they prove their weakness by the fact that they can’t even successfully wage war against a much weaker neighbor. So we have to stop being afraid of Russia or bowing down to Russia. We have to stand up to Russia, we have to protect Ukraine, support Ukraine, and if we do it right, it will all end well. It’s all about peace through...

This is a constitutional crisis and Donald Trump must release Kilmer now.

Rep. Jamie Raskin threatened foreign leaders who “facilitated authoritarianism in our country” by currying favor with President Trump on issues like deportation — saying that Democrats will not “look kindly” on his supporters when they “come back to power.” Referencing El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele specifically, Raskin (D-Md.), 62, suggested that Dems should keep score of foreign leaders who brownnose Trump, 78, during his second term. “Implicit in it should be the idea that if and when we come back to power — and we will — we are not going to look kindly upon people who … facilitated authoritarianism...