Free Republic

Embattled Rep. Eric Swalwell on Friday night issued a full-throated denial of sexual misconduct and rape allegations leveled against him, calling them “absolutely false” while issuing an apology to his wife. “These allegations of sexual assault are flat false,” the Democratic candidate for California governor said in a more than minute-long video on social media. “They are absolutely false. They did not happen. They have never happened. And I will fight them with everything I have.” Swalwell was forced to swat down scathing allegations of sexual misconduct brought by four women this week — including a former staffer who claims...

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday declared a 32-hour ceasefire in Ukraine over the Orthodox Easter weekend, following an earlier call from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for a pause in some of the hostilities to observe the holiday. Putin's decree, released by the Kremlin, orders Russian forces to observe a ceasefire starting at 4 p.m. Saturday and lasting until the end of Sunday. Zelenskyy proposed earlier in the week that each side stop targeting each other's energy infrastructure over the holiday, saying he made the offer through the United States, which has been mediating talks between delegations from Moscow and...

Gavin Newsom is reflecting on the long-term grief he dealt with after witnessing his mother end her life through assisted death, also referred to as death with dignity. Newsom was a 34-year-old rising politician at the time and told the outlet that he felt guilty that his busy schedule kept him distant as his mom suffered from the disease. But when the day arrived, he and his sister Hilary were by Tessa’s side. “I hated her for it — to be there for the last breath — for years,” he said. “I want to say it was a beautiful experience....

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s latest wiffle-waffle messaging on Israel is the Democratic Party’s problem in a nutshell: Even while support for the Palestinian people is now at a two-decade high, party leadership simply cannot get in tune with voters.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has paid an emotional tribute to soldiers killed while fighting for Russia in its war against Ukraine, saying his ‘heart aches’ in a rare admission of military losses. Kim made the comments on Thursday at a ceremony in Pyongyang, where he met with commanders of a unit that had fought for Russia in the western Kursk region, according to North Korean state media KCNA. He praised them as “a heroic army,” with state media photos showing Kim pinning commendation badges on soldiers’ uniforms. Photos released by KCNA also showed Kim pinning badges on the...

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters Monday that “nobody was texting war plans” following news breaking that Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, gained access to a Signal group chat featuring Trump administration officials talking about plans for an attack against Houthi rebels in Yemen. “Nobody was texting war plans, and that’s all I have to say about that,” Hegseth said outside a plane in Hawaii after being asked about Goldberg’s access to the chat.Hegseth also called Goldberg “a deceitful and highly discredited, so-called journalist who’s made a profession of peddling hoaxes time and time again.”Goldberg gained access to...

Mr. Putin expressed that endorsement this month, noting that a change in sanctions against Russia could come should she be elected. Now Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is walking back Mr. Putin’s statement. “It was a joke,” Mr. Lavrov said in an interview with Sky News Arabia that was posted on the Russian Foreign Ministry’s website Friday. “President Putin has a good sense of humor. He often jokes during his statements and interviews.” “I see no long-term differences in our attitude to the current or previous elections in the United States, because it is ruled by the notorious deep state,”...

It’s a cold day in hell when a leftist outlet like The Atlantic admits free speech online is actually a good thing. Atlantic contributing writer Jeffrey Rosen published a May 2 piece praising Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s view of Twitter and free speech: “Elon Musk Is Right That Twitter Should Follow the First Amendment.” Musk’s perspective on remaking the censorship-obsessed platform into a public town square that encourages diversity of opinion is backed up by “[a] long history of free-speech jurisprudence,” Rosen said.

A 42-year-old man suffered second-degree burns after an unknown suspect threw acid on him during an altercation. Investigators say that an argument broke out between two people in the 2600 block of S. 13th Street about 8:30 p.m. Friday. The fight escalated when the victim, 42-year-old Mahud V, had acid thrown at him causing serious injuries. Mahud says that the acid burned through two layers of his coat. "I don't know the guy. I never saw him in my life and he did this to me. Who carries around a bottle of acid?," Mahud said. Witnesses say that the attacker...

Former Democratic National Committee (DNC) general chairman Ed Rendell says his party’s scariest opposition in 2016 would be a GOP presidential ticket comprised of Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.). “In terms of who we fear the most, the Democratic side, just speaking for myself, I would fear John Kasich and Marco Rubio as vice president,” Rendell told host John Catsimatidis on “The Cats Roundtable” on New York’s AM-970 on Sunday. “That would be the ticket I would fear the most.”(continued)

LAS — More of everything. That’s what Arizona Republican U.S. Sens. John McCain and Jon Kyl said is needed to secure the U.S.-Mexican border. They spoke after touring parts of the border near Douglas with area law enforcement leaders on Saturday. “A tremendous amount of progress has been made, but as we also heard when we said, ‘What do you need?’ the answer was essentially more of everything,” Kyl said. When the senators visited the same stretch several years ago, none of the fencing had been constructed and many of the cameras and lights were not in place. Kyl pointed...

LEBANON, N.H. — Republican presidential front-runner Rudy Giuliani is leaving the door open to allowing the blind and physically disabled to carry guns. During a town hall meeting in northwestern New Hampshire Tuesday night, Giuliani told a former police officer blinded in the line of duty and concerned about the former New York City mayor's stance on guns, "You don't have to worry." "You have a constitutional right, that is protected, to bear and carry arms. It is the Second Amendment," Giuliani told about 200 attendees in a high school gymnasium in Lebanon. "If someone disagrees with that, you have...

President Bush will speak in Tucson, Arizona today and address some of the most pressing issues facing America, namely, border security and illegal immigration. With today’s speech, the president has the opportunity to build on the momentum generated among conservatives from his recent Supreme Court appointment and his strong stand against the Democrats regarding pre-war intelligence on Iraq. What conservatives are looking for is a policy that carries forward the recent string of initiatives coming from the House and Senate which are now focusing more on the vital area of border security and less on so-called “guest worker” programs. Hopefully,...