Free Republic

Political Theater...While Comey's testimony might be interesting, I labor under no delusion that it will be meaningful Tomorrow, FBI Director James Comey will appear before the House Oversight and Government Reform committee, where he’ll attempt to explain his baffling decision not to recommend charges for Hillary Clinton. How he’ll do that is anyone’s guess, since virtually every media outlet - even the left-wing ones - seems stunned that his “no charges” announcement began with a litany of chargeable offenses.

WASHINGTON—House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) and Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC) jointly issued the following statements regarding the chairmanship of the Government Operations Subcommittee.“Last week I announced a change in the Government Operations sub-committee chairmanship. A number of people have asked me to reconsider that decision. Having spoken with Mark Meadows several times during the past week, I think we both better understand each other. I respect Mark and his approach. The discussions and candor have been healthy and productive. Ultimately, I believe we both want to do what is best for the country. Obviously I...

Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) on Tuesday won a competitive four-way race to become the House Oversight Committee chairman in the new Congress starting in January. Chaffetz and Reps. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), Mike Turner (R-Ohio) and John Mica (R-Fla.) vied to succeed current Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), who is term-limited, for the high-profile gavel. All four candidates emphasized throughout their candidacies that they'd try to run the committee differently from Issa's controversial tenure. Over the course of the last two days, the House GOP Steering Committee, a panel consisting of elected leadership, top committee chairmen and regional representatives that determines...

Yesterday Secret Service Director Julia Pierson fielded questions from furious and skeptical lawmakers after a number of serious failures by the agency to properly protect the President. Pierson started her testimony by saying she "takes full responsibility" for the failures, especially the most recent incident of fence jumper Omar Gonzales making it all the way inside the White House, but failed to answer a number of questions. Republican Congressman Trey Gowdy questioned Pierson on a shooting incident that occurred at the White House in 2011. Pierson failed to provide adequate answers as to why that incident was first classified as simply...

VIDEO: 4 minutes - Rep. Marcia Fudge's oral presentation of the privileged resolution on House floor. The chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus is calling House Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) to be stripped of his gavel for his behavior at a contentious IRS hearing on Wednesday. Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio) told Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) on Thursday that Issa’s conduct in the hearing — which included cutting off the microphone of Rep. Elijah Cummings (Md.), the ranking Democrat — amounted to “an affront to the expectations of the American people.” Fudge also said Issa should apologize on the House...

You can always count on the White House to react strongly to “internal” threats. Yes, the folks who could care less who is blowing up whom in Syria, Libya or Boston, takes people who snitch on them very seriously. Their newest weapon is a program called “Inside Threat,” which, according to McClatchy, is designed not to just to clamp down on classified leaks, but rather to make sure ANY unauthorized disclosure of ANY information that make them look bad will leave a mark on the miscreant leaker. Given the proclivities of the administration to impale themselves on the sharp edge...

In the mid 1990s, ACORN and the SEIU partnered with other progressive organizations to help form the Marxist New Party, a political coalition. In 1995, Obama sought out their nomination. He was successful in obtaining that endorsement and used a number of New Party volunteers as campaign workers. The fact that Obama received the New Party’s endorsement in his first run for office cannot be dismissed as insignificant. On the contrary, Obama’s ties to the New Party and the New Party’s backers at ACORN and the SEIU are long-standing, substantial, and reveal a great deal about his personal political allegiances....