Free Republic

When Georgia Republican Rep. Mike Collins announced his candidacy for Senate last year, his official “war room” account on X posted a short campaign video that ended with the on-screen slogan: “Georiga, Let’s Ride.” From that widely mocked spelling mistake on day one to a House ethics probe to revelations that his son-in-law made white nationalist posts on social media, Collins has suffered a series of setbacks that have hobbled his campaign. Meanwhile, incumbent Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff has developed a national profile by blasting President Trump and surged in state polls. The latest polls show Ossoff, 39 years old,...

James McMaster, 94 years old, lost about $1.3 million in the collapse of First Liberty Building & Loan, the Georgia investment firm built by a family of Republican power brokers. He recently got a call to contribute to a GOP campaign. “I said, ‘OK, let me tell you. Here’s where I’m at,’” McMaster said. “‘When you get all the politicians that have received funds from them and get them to return them, then maybe we can talk.’” The saga of First Liberty and the Frost family that ran it—and were long among the Georgia GOP’s most influential names—haunts the midterms....

Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) insists he has “zero interest” in running for president in 2028, but a growing corner of the Democratic internet is acting as though he may not get the final say. The Georgia Democrat’s national profile has surged in recent weeks as clips of his increasingly combative attacks on President Donald Trump rack up attention online, fueling comparisons to former President Barack Obama and speculation that another relatively young senator could make a rapid leap from Capitol Hill to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. That attention reached another level after Ossoff took an unusually personal swipe at Trump during...

Ossoff said, “It’s been amazing to watch this White House meltdown over this all week. And about Natalie Harp, these White House staffers are adults, public officials paid by the taxpayers, with immense power in positions of public trust. And whether it’s Natalie Harp printing out Donald Trump’s daily dose of delusion and flattery, or Peter Navarro steering taxpayer funded loans to Trump family investments, or Pete Hegseth deluding the president daily into deepening this quagmire in the Middle East, no one cares about their feelings.”

Megyn Kelly tore into Sen. Jon Ossoff for dragging Trump aide Natalie Harp into an attack on the president — accusing the Georgia Dem of insinuating that the pair are having an affair without evidence and then refusing to own it. “I think … this is despicable because — why would you attack a 35-year-old cancer survivor as a possible affair partner to the president of the United States when you have absolutely nothing to back that up?” Kelly said on Tuesday’s edition of SiriusXM’s “The Megyn Kelly Show.” The former Fox News star was reacting to remarks Ossoff made...

CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. — A Cartersville man said ICE agents wrongly detained him at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. The American citizen told Channel 2’s Ashlyn Webb that he’s still shaken by what happened. John Phillips had made it through TSA, had his ID checked and went through facial recognition before agents stopped him as he was boarding, he said. “I’ll never approach a door of an aircraft without wondering if there’s guys standing back there,” he said. It was supposed to be a routine work trip to Las Vegas, but a Delta agent told him the airline was working to...

Newly obtained surveillance video is providing a clearer picture of the moments before and after gunfire erupted outside the southwest Atlanta home of Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger's communications director. [Robert Sinners] The video, obtained by Channel 2's Michael Seiden, appears to show three people walking toward Robert Sinners' home just before gunshots ring out. A second surveillance camera captures people running from the area immediately after the shooting. 30 shots fired at Georgia elections official's home; neighbor helped police spot suspects | 2:40 WSB-TV | 380K subscribers | 13,519 views | August 7, 2026

U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff picked up a high-profile endorsement Tuesday from former U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake, an Arizona Republican whose clashes with President Donald Trump prompted him to back other prominent Democrats. Flake said he still disagrees with Ossoff on key policy issues. But in an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, he said character outweighed those partisan differences. “I’m still a conservative Republican. But character matters. And I want someone in that seat who takes the institution seriously and will protect the institution,” Flake said.

A federal case in Atlanta is raising questions about a privacy-focused mobile operating system, with prosecutors arguing that its features were used to erase evidence. The US Department of Justice is attempting to prosecute Atlanta resident Sam Tunick under a federal statute that makes it a crime to destroy property in an effort to prevent it from being seized. The case centers on Tunick's use of GrapheneOS, an open-source operating system that works on Google Pixel phones and lets users enter a passcode to wipe a device clean. Experts said the legal approach is unusual and may be the first...

Toast on Lenox is a popular Atlanta brunch spot that's beloved for its good food and the warm and friendly service you typically receive from the moment you walk in the door. It opened in the city's Buckhead neighborhood in 2021, with a second location opening up in Midtown in 2023. It's sort of an upscale-casual place that serves updated takes on Southern dishes. Advertisement Many in Atlanta also celebrate its popularity because it's a successful black-owned business, co-owned by Tamara Young and Chef Virgil Harper. And that's fine; it's a free country, and people are welcome to celebrate what...

THOMASVILLE, Ga. — As Earl Williams drove through a historic Black neighborhood, Dewey City, in his hometown, he hardly recognized what he saw. Homes that once belonged to friends, family, and neighbors had siding covered in mold. Some were boarded up. Others had holes in their roofs. Black churches once used Oquina Creek, which runs along the neighborhood’s border, to baptize congregants. Today, fecal bacteria and other contaminants have made the water unsafe due to an aging wastewater system. “Sometimes you get the feeling like you’re in a Third World country,” Williams said. After three decades in Washington, D.C., he...

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., was accused of putting on an accent during a Memphis rally last week, with critics on social media comparing her to former Vice President Kamala Harris. Ocasio-Cortez was speaking at a campaign rally in Memphis on Friday for progressive U.S. House candidate Justin Pearson, who currently serves as a Tennessee state representative. "We cannot afford to leave Tennessee behind," she said. "We cannot afford to leave Kentucky behind, Alabama behind, Mississippi behind, Georgia behind, South Carolina behind. There is no country where we are split apart." "About a month or two ago, we were in Montgomery,...

Former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) on Saturday slammed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s post commemorating two U.S. service members killed in Jordan as a result of Iranian strikes. “Godspeed, heroes. Their sacrifice only stiffens our resolve,” Hegseth wrote on social platform X. Greene said it was inappropriate to deem their deaths a “sacrifice.” “Sacrifice?? What the f— are you talking about?? They did not willingly sacrifice themselves. They were killed because of the war you, Trump, and the admin, are waging on behalf of a FOREIGN COUNTRY, Israel,” Greene wrote in a response on X. “You mean their deaths fuel...

COBB COUNTY, Ga. — An attorney is accused of smuggling drugs into jail. He and three other suspects are facing charges. Investigators say the drugs were soaked into papers the attorney delivered to his client. On Instagram, attorney Joseph Anfield-El markets himself as a champion and friend to his clients, but investigators say he wasn’t just representing his clients at the jail. “He didn’t respect this facility, and in my mind he didn’t service the clients. Yeah, he serviced them, but not the way he should’ve been servicing them with legal services,” said Cobb County Sheriff Craig Owens.

Bottoms 51, Jackson 44

HINESVILE, Ga. — A former Georgia housing authority executive director and a Savannah man have been indicted on federal fraud charges stemming from what prosecutors say is a yearslong scheme that allegedly cost a public housing agency more than $2.5 million. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Georgia, Melanie S. Thompson, 55, of Savannah, is charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, 19 counts of wire fraud, and two counts of making false, fictitious, or fraudulent claims. Toriono L. Byrd, 52, of Savannah, is charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Federal prosecutors say the...

Atlanta News First Investigates obtained surveillance video and police records that tell a different story than the one the public heard.

A group of seven Senate Democrats, led by Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.), is again demanding unprecedented details and justifications for Secretary of War Pete Hegseth’s personnel and chain of command decisions, including promotion lists. The senators are pressing for the specific legal authorities, criteria, and processes used, along with any reasons beyond standard military performance, qualifications, or conduct. They also requested demographic breakdowns of promotions and removals to flag and general officer ranks.

Federal agents crushed the California arm of a vicious transnational organized crime syndicate in series of stunning raids Tuesday that saw the arrest of at least 11 accused criminals in the Golden State — and over a dozen more in the US, Canada and Europe. Los Angeles federal agents led the global takedown of the India-based Bishnoi Gang, a fearsome global mob blamed for extortion, drug dealing and the assassination of political figures, industrialists, actors and musicians in North America and India.

Michelle Mickens was placed on indefinite leave for claiming the world was 'safer' after the TPUSA founder was killed Former Georgia teacher Michelle Mickens settled her lawsuit with the Oglethorpe County School District on Wednesday after claiming she was unfairly punished over quotes related to Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk after his assassination.In October, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) filed a lawsuit on behalf of Mickens after she was placed on indefinite leave and reportedly encouraged to resign for making controversial comments about Kirk's assassination on her private Facebook page in September."I think it's worth it. I think...