Free Republic

Dems divided as anti-Israel flank grows more vocal Democratic leaders convinced their colleagues on Tuesday to drop an effort championed by the party’s left flank that would have delayed U.S. military assistance to Israel as the country battles Iranian-backed terrorist groups. Rep. Steny Hoyer (D., Md.), the House’s second-highest-ranking Democrat, told reporters that after pressure from leadership, Rep. Gregory Meeks (D., N.Y.), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee (HFAC), abandoned efforts to delay over $735 million in arms sales to Israel. The Jewish state has used such weaponry during the past two weeks to battle Hamas terrorists as they...

[Subtitle: “I hope that my story will help you understand the methods of Russian operatives in Washington and how they use U.S. enablers to achieve major foreign policy goals without disclosing those interests,” Browder writes.]The financier Bill Browder has emerged as an unlikely central player in the ongoing investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 elections. Sergei Magnitsky, an attorney Browder hired to investigate official corruption, died in Russian custody in 2009. Congress subsequently imposed sanctions on the officials it held responsible for his death, passing the Magnitsky Act in 2012. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s government retaliated, among other ways,...

House Foreign Affairs Committee member Rep. Norma Torres (D-CA) on Friday told CNN’s Brianna Keilar that she believes Russian President Vladimir Putin may have dirt on President Donald Trump. “I wonder how concerned you are that Putin was able to influence not just through sort of Russian meddling and trying to persuade voters or Americans, but actually to influence the president in a way that has him picking what Putin’s saying over his own intel community?” Kellar asked. “I think after the 2016 elections, the gloves were really off when it came to Vladimir Putin’s influence with President Trump and...

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton won't testify to Congress next week on Benghazi, after fainting and suffering a concussion Saturday and due to her ongoing stomach ailment. "While suffering from a stomach virus, Secretary Clinton became dehydrated and fainted, sustaining a concussion," Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Philippe Reines said in a statement. "She has been recovering at home and will continue to be monitored regularly by her doctors. At their recommendation, she will continue to work from home next week, staying in regular contact with Department and other officials. She is looking forward to being back in the office...

Michael Rubin testifies at House Foreign Affairs Committee (excerpt) Secretary Clinton is correct to note the challenges the Islamic Republic poses, but is incorrect to blame her predecessors rather than the Islamic Republic itself for the failure of diplomacy. It is a myth that the United States has not engaged Iran. Every administration since Jimmy Carter's has engaged the Islamic Republic. During the 1980 presidential campaign, Ronald Reagan criticized the Carter administration's diplomacy toward Iran but then, faced with his own Iranian-instigated hostage crisis, also sought to offer incentives. During his inaugural address, George H.W. Bush extended an olive branch...