Free Republic

Lefty billionaire Stephen Cloobeck dramatically cut ties with Eric Swalwell and revealed he has kicked him out of his mansion — hours before the congressman dropped his run for California governor. “I am no longer supporting Eric,” Cloobeck told The Post in an exclusive interview. “F—ing tell everyone I’m a libertarian. F— you, Democrat Party. I’m a libertarian now.” The ugly break-up between the timeshare mogul and Bay Area congressman — who pulled out of the governor’s race late Sunday — marks yet another stunning point in Swalwell’s cratering political career. Following public allegations Friday of rape, sexual assault and...

WASHINGTON — Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel revealed that his island nation is bracing for an attack from the US and declared that he is willing to die resisting President Trump. Since last December, the US has imposed a blockade around Venezuela as part of its Operation Southern Spear effort, and used that to cut off oil supplies to Cuba, which has since plunged further into an energy crisis. “I don’t think there would be any justification for the United States to launch a military aggression against Cuba, or for the US to undertake a surgical operation or the kidnapping of...

Top Secret Location this time, as I get a unique opportunity to inspect an ultra rare Medieval Wayside Cross, next to a lost Roman road, deep on a private estate with no public access. Believed to have been erected in the 13th or 14th centuries to provide reassurance for Christians travelling the ancient Roman road, this remarkable survivor has never been seen on video before and it speaks of the afterlife of the Roman road, before it disappeared from view. Along the way we get to see a well-defined surviving section of the road in the form of a causeway...

The first group of migrants deported from the US to third countries has arrived in Costa Rica. About 25 migrants — including citizens of Albania, Cameroon, China, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Kenya and Morocco — touched down in the island nation’s capital of San Jose on Saturday. “Upon entering the country, the migrants will receive primary care from the Professional Migration Police, with ⁠the cooperation of the International Organization for Migration (IOM),” Costa Rica’s General Directorate of Migration and Foreigners said in a statement. The group of 25 was the first to arrive in the Central American country since the US...

Rep. Eric Swalwell’s political career is collapsing at a shocking speed. Within 24 hours, the Bay Area congressman went from Democratic frontrunner for California governor to facing pressure to not only end his campaign but resign from Congress — while now being the subject of a criminal sexual assault investigation into allegations by a former staffer she was raped while drunk at an April 2024 charity gala. Three other women have made claims about sexual misconduct ranging from inappropriate messages or unwanted contact. The women have claimed they have documented visits to the hospital and contemporaneous messages with friends and...

(Apr. 12, 2026) — The news is full of foreign policy crises, scandals, conflicts, and trends in all directions. However, a current case before the U.S. Supreme Court tops it all. It’s the birthright citizenship case, which determines the future of our nation and what sort of country it will be. Does the U.S. have sovereignty to confer its own citizenship, or does anyone from any point on the globe have the right to take it from us? Are we an autonomous nation or a colony of the world? Under current policy, any child born on U.S. soil to a...

California is under invasion from a 20-pound rodent once believed to have been eradicated from the state – and officials now fear humans may be to blame. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife said DNA testing of the 2.5-foot-long pest, known as a nutria, shows the current population is linked to animals in Oregon, not to the species that roamed California in the 1970s before being wiped out. “This study supports our long-held belief that the current invasion is the result of reintroduction rather than explosive growth of a remnant, undetected population,” the CDFW ‘s Nutria Eradication Program Manager...

As birthright citizenship is debated in the Supreme Court, resurfaced videos of top Democrats echoing the argument of the Trump administration sparked a conservative uproar on social media. "If making it easy to be an illegal alien isn’t enough, how about offering a reward for being an illegal immigrant?" Sen. Harry Reid said on the Senate floor in 1993. "No sane country would do that. Right? Guess again. If you break our laws by entering this country without permission and give birth to a child, we reward that child with U.S. citizenship and [a] guarantee of full access to all...

Congressman Eric Swalwell’s senior staff have said they are “horrified” by sexual misconduct allegations made against him. “As leaders of teams working for Eric Swalwell, we’re horrified by the recent reporting in the San Francisco Chronicle and by CNN,” a statement signed by staffers for Swalwell’s 14th congressional district and the “Eric Swalwell for Governor 2026” campaign read on Saturday, April 11. “We stand with our former colleague, and the other women who have come forward. We believe you should stand with them, too.” His staff went on, “The behavior detailed in these reports is abhorrent, beneath the dignity of...

Democratic Representative Eric Swalwell’s bid for California governor continues to be plagued by an exodus of staffers and supporters, following a series of sexual misconduct allegations against the congressman. Since the allegations first emerged this week, multiple campaign aides have resigned and nearly every endorsement has been rescinded, with several leading Democratic figures calling for him to drop out of the race. Swalwell has called the allegations against him “flat false,” and alleged that these were timed to disrupt his campaign. Newsweek contacted the campaign via email outside of regular working hours for comment. Why It Matters Before the allegations...

A year after threatening to “dramatically” downsize the operations of San Francisco’s Presidio, President Donald Trump has terminated the park’s board of trustees. The six trustees, who were all appointed by former President Joe Biden, received letters of termination on Wednesday. The Presidio Trust still has not been informed if new trustees have been appointed. “The Administration has informed our board members that their appointments to the Presidio Trust board have been terminated,” the trust said in a statement to the Chronicle. “We had been anticipating that we would ultimately receive new board members and are awaiting information on the...

Rome is one of the most famous cities in history. But it did not rise in an empty land. Before empire, before marble, before the Roman world takes over the map, central Italy is already crowded with graves, hilltop communities, powerful neighbors, painted tombs, and cities of the dead. This episode explores the older world that shaped Rome before Rome shaped the Mediterranean. This map-based history documentary covers early Rome and central Italy from 800 to 500 BC, including Villanovan culture, hut urns, Veii, Tarquinia, Cerveteri, Pyrgi, Pontecagnano, and the growth of Rome in the 6th century BC. Using archaeology,...

Rep. Eric Swalwell denied allegations of rape and sexual assault in a social media post that was filmed Friday at the Beverly Hills mansion of his eccentric billionaire benefactor, The Post has learned. Multiple sources confirmed that the video Swalwell recorded of his full-throated denial was taken from a room inside the 9,700-square-foot home of Stephen Cloobeck, who’s also been shacking up with an alleged honeytrapper accused of burglarizing the home of rich, older men in Los Angeles. “A lot has been said about me today through anonymous allegations, and I thought it was important that you see and hear...

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) says she will force a House floor vote next week on removing embattled Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) from Congress following stunning sexual assault allegations against him – saying she won’t serve with “sexual deviants.” Luna made the comment to Fox News on Saturday, a day after a former unidentified staffer said he sexually assaulted her on two occasions while she was intoxicated, including at a 2024 charity gala in New York. “I hate having to be kind of the hall monitor of Congress if you will, but it’s gotten really bad,” she said. “Eric has...

Ethnic humour has become one of those things we don't do well anymore, or simply won't do because nobody wants to lose their job. Back when it was still tolerated – about fifteen or twenty years ago – what was left of ethnic humour (as practiced by comics like Dave Chappelle or Chris Rock) was gatekept by a single, unbreakable rule: you can only make an ethnic joke if you're a member of the ethnicity that's the butt of the joke. Now, of course, this is largely off the table because nobody thinks the risk is worth it anymore. I...

Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell has been accused of violating immigration and employment law to keep his illegal live-in Brazilian nanny in the country, according to a pair of recently filed complaints. When his South American babysitter’s temporary work authorization was about to expire in 2022, he and wife Brittany Swalwell lied to the feds to keep Amanda Barbosa working for them, a new complaint filed Tuesday with the Department of Labor claimed. Another complaint, filed to the Department of Homeland security in February and previously unreported, accuses Swalwell of paying the nanny under the table with campaign funds for a...

Visitors to Rome's Colosseum now have a new chance to step back into history thanks to a renovation project that's unearthed several entrance columns that have been buried for hundreds of years. Italy’s most iconic landmark has been given a remarkable new look. The Colosseum in Rome has undergone a major restoration, revealing parts of its original structure that have been hidden for centuries. New travertine marble blocks have been installed outside the arena, marking where grand entrance columns once stood. The project restores the monument’s perimeter and highlights details long buried underground, including original entrance numbers that guided spectators...

Spanish police recovered a 17th-century velvet guild manuscript that had been missing for a century after spotting it for sale online. The artefact will remain the property of its current owner, but it will now be conserved. The manuscript is a copy of ordinances signed in 1479 by Ferdinand the Catholic that elevated velvet-making from a trade to an art, granting the velvet-makers privileges and social recognition. Agents from the Heritage Group of the National Police Unit assigned to the Valencian Community found the document during routine monitoring of online sales of cultural goods, police said in a statement. The...

Former vice president and failed presidential candidate Kamala Harris was roasted online Friday after she introduced another accent while trying to impersonate President Donald Trump as a "mob boss." "You know, the way that he's thinking of foreign policy, it seems, is when he talks about America First, it's to withdraw from these relationships and these connections," Harris said while arguing that the administration has lost sight of international cooperation as a means to address regional conflict. "And then he kind of acts like a mob boss. So, then he's kind of like, 'Oh, well, you know, you take Eastern...

Published in the April 3 edition of the Santa Fe New Mexican. Below text from NMOGA website I grew up in Carlsbad. I went away for college, but I came back as quickly as I could. Coming home was always the goal, and I’m proud to be back. I love this state. I love its people, its landscape and its stubborn independence. The oil and gas industry I represent is made up of people just like me: New Mexicans who were born here, who raised families here, who chose to build their lives and livelihoods here. So, I’ll confess that...