Free Republic

President Trump on Tuesday doubled down on claims that the Epstein files were “made up” by Obama, former FBI Director James Comey, and Joe Biden as he defended Attorney General Pam Bondi’s handling of the Epstein case.Trump responded to comments made by daughter-in-law Lara Trump that “There needs to be more transparency” with the Epstein documents, but Trump defended Pam Bondi, indicating that some of the allegations lack “credible evidence.”“She’s really done a very good job, and I think that when you look at it, you’ll understand that,” he said.He further told reporters that “these files were made up by...

SAN FRANCISCO — Former Vice President Al Gore on Monday compared President Donald Trump’s administration to Nazi Germany and issued a dire warning about Trump’s use of power in a speech devoted to climate change. Speaking at an event at the start of San Francisco’s Climate Week, Gore said the Trump administration was “trying to create their own preferred version of reality” to achieve their sweeping objectives similar to Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Party in the 1930s and ‘40s. “I understand very well why it is wrong to compare Adolf Hitler’s Third Reich to any other movement,” Gore said to an...

Michelle Obama is done with President-elect Trump, if her decision to skip next week’s inauguration means anything. The former first lady, who once called on Democrats to go high when Trump’s Republican Party goes low, will not be going to the Capitol to watch Trump take the presidential oath for a second time, leaving her husband, former President Obama, to go it alone. Longtime allies of the former first lady say she is sending a powerful statement by skipping the event. They say she wants nothing to do with a man undeserving of the presidency and is making no effort...

Hungry Floridians won't benefit, but the Governor's 2024 campaign will. While Floridians who are dealing with food insecurity this week may be on their own, it’s heartening to know Gov. Ron DeSantis is organizing a food drive. That’s the good news. The bad news for them is that it’s in another state. “We are doing a big canned food drive today in New Hampshire. We’re going to be donating to the New Hampshire Food Bank. So I would just say Americans as they enjoy their Thanksgiving, there’s a lot of people that are struggling with this economy so we want...

SAN ANTONIO (AP) - Texas Democratic gubernatorial nominee Beto O’Rourke said Sunday that he had cleared his campaign schedule after receiving treatment at a San Antonio hospital for an unspecified bacterial infection. In a statement tweeted Sunday by his campaign, O’Rourke said he sought treatment at Methodist Hospital in San Antonio after feeling ill Friday. Intravenous antibiotic infusions improved his symptoms, O'Rourke said. “While my symptoms have improved, I will be resting at home in El Paso in accordance with the doctors' recommendations,” he said. “I am sorry to have had to postpone events because of this, but (I) promise...

The Jeb Bush presidential campaign people deny it in a high-energy way so unlike their famously even-tempered boss: Tonight's South Carolina primary is not a litmus test for the former Florida governor's so-far fizzling presidential campaign. If he does lousy here, expect him to trudge on, through Nevada and next into Super Tuesday on March 1.

<p>THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.</p> <p>PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: The report from the International Institute for Strategic Studies confirming Saddam's enduring interest in developing weapons of mass destruction, that comes a day after former United Nations weapons inspector Scott Ritter insisted Iraq is not a threat to the U.S. He told the Iraqi parliament the country is on the verge of making an historical mistake by trying to remove Saddam Hussein. But in 1998, when Ritter resigned his U.N. post, he criticized the international community for being too easy when Iraq violated Security Council resolutions.</p>

Scott Ritter said he doesn't want forgiveness. Speaking publicly for the first time about the sex charge he was arrested for in 2001, the former U.N. arms inspector and one of the leading critics of the Bush administration's plans to attack Iraq said he has been held accountable for breaking the law. And it would be a shame, he said Wednesday, that his arrest could derail his efforts to help prevent a war in the Middle East. "I think it's important to put a human face on this, to remind people that there are issues out there bigger than a...