Free Republic

Inflation in the Federal Reserve’s preferred price gauge eased in January after making steady increases throughout the fall. The personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index increased by 0.3 percent in January, easing to a 2.5-percent annual increase from 2.6 percent in December. The moves were in line with economists’ expectations. “This is about the only inflation indicator this month where the Fed can find some refuge,” Olu Sonola, economist with Fitch Ratings, wrote in an analysis. Concerns about resurgent inflation have been mounting after prices in both the PCE and the broader consumer price index (CPI) increased between September and...

Inflation in the United States surged higher in January. The Department of Labor said Wednesday that the consumer price index (CPI) rose 0.5 percent in January from the prior month, much more than expected. Compared with a year ago, consumer prices are up three percent. Economists had expected the monthly pace of inflation to decline to 0.3 percent after prices rose 0.4 percent in December. The median forecast called for a 2.9 percent gain over the past 12-months, matching the prior month’s year-over-year gain. Core inflation, a metric that excludes volatile food and energy prices, rose by 0.4 percent for...

On January 13, 2025, Special Counsel Jack Smith’s “Report On Efforts To Interfere With The Lawful Transfer Of Power Following The 2020 Presidential Election Or The Certification Of The Electoral College Vote Held On January 6, 2021” was made public. Former congresswoman Liz Cheney called the report an “exhaustive and independent investigation.” But Smith’s report is riddled with deceit, ranging from his failure to discuss President Donald Trump’s pre–January 6 authorization of 10,000 National Guard troops for the Capitol to his deceitful description of the critical timeline of events regarding Trump’s speech that day.

Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), who headed Congress’s special investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, said Tuesday that he has been in talks with the White House about presidential pardons. His comments confirmed a report, published hours earlier by Punchbowl News, that Thompson had at least one conversation in December with the White House counsel’s office about a potential pardon. He emphasized that he wasn’t lobbying for any special favors. “It wasn’t preemptive,” Thompson said. “We had a discussion about pardons. It wasn’t a particular pardon. … I said for me, as a member of the...

President Joe Biden used an op-ed on Sunday about January 6, 2021, to lob political attacks against President-elect Donald Trump. Biden ran for president in 2020 pledging to “restore” decency and honor to the White House. That pledge appeared to fail once again after Biden’s piece was published in the Washington Post under the headline, “What Americans should remember about Jan. 6.” In the option article, Biden tried to divide Americans by reminding them about events surrounding the previous election and its fallout: An unrelenting effort has been underway to rewrite — even erase — the history of that day....

Representative Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) claimed Sunday on CBS’s “Face the Nation” that President-elect Donald Trump’s violent rhetoric had not stopped and caused the hammer attack on her husband, Paul. Partial transcript as follows: MARGARET BRENNAN: You know, tomorrow morning at the Capitol you and other members of Congress will be there to certify the election win in 2024 of Donald Trump. There’s an unprecedented level of security, in part because of what happened four years ago with the violent attack by his supporters to change the outcome of the last election. Why do you think that so many members of...

The Weekly Gardening Thread is a weekly gathering of folks that love soil, seeds and plants of all kinds. From complete newbies that are looking to start that first potted plant, to gardeners with some acreage, to Master Gardener level and beyond, we would love to hear from you. If you have specific question about a plant/problem you are having, please remember to state the Growing Zone where you are located. This thread is a non-political respite. No matter what, you won’t be flamed, and the only dumb question is the one that isn’t asked. It is impossible to hijack...

Senator-elect Adam Schiff (D-CA) claimed Sunday on ABC’s “This Week” that Americans did not vote for President-elect Donald Trump to see him “pardon criminals” involved in January 6. Host George Stephanopoulos said, “How about the question about the January 6th pardons?” Schiff said, “Well, I am greatly concerned about it. First of all, that he could pardon people that beat police officers, gouged them, bear sprayed them, but also, even beyond that, just the general message it would send, George, that his first pardons are going to go to people who sought through the use of violence at the Capitol...

Senator Mitt Romney (R-MA) said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union” that January 6, 2021 will be seen “as a very dark day in American history.” Host Jake Tapper said, “Four years ago next month you were running for your life from the mob on January 6. And now the person that you said was responsible for that day is about to return to the White House. He says he’s going to pardon a lot of the people that have been convicted for the crimes committed on that day. What do you think the legacy of January 6 will...

Representative Eric Swalwell (D-CA) claimed Tuesday on MSNBC’s “Deadline” that his lawsuit against President-elect Donald Trump was “not going away.” Host Nicolle Wallace said, “Congressman I heard you have votes, if you have more minute I would love to give you the last word.” Swalwell said, “I do. I will tell you I had lunch with Harry and some of the other officers today with Speaker Pelosi. I wanted to just share with them obviously gratitude during this season of thanks, but also that I am not going away. Adam Schiff and others are not going away. A whole new...

Liz Cheney, a former member of the partisan January 6 Committee, said Monday that she should not go to jail for allegedly destroying 117 of the panel’s files. President-elect Donald Trump accused members of the partisan panel on Sunday of destroying committee evidence that he said exonerated him from allegations of wrongdoing. The accusation came after Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-GA), who led the House Administration Committee’s oversight investigation, said in January his computer forensic investigators discovered that 117 files went missing, presumably deleted or encrypted by the panel’s members.

A judge in Delaware has dismissed a lawsuit against Fox News that was brought by an Arizona man at the center of a conspiracy theory about what sparked the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. Ray Epps, a former U.S. Marine, sued Fox last year alleging the network knowingly promoted what his attorneys said were “destructive conspiracy theories” about his involvement in the riot. Epps was sentenced earlier to a year of probation for his role in insurrection, after admitting to engaging in disorderly or disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds after storming the Capitol.

President Joe Biden’s border deputies will have admitted roughly nine million inadmissible migrants at the southern border by President Trump’s Inauguration Day, according to data quietly released just before the November 5 election. The agency data shows that Biden’s pro-migration chief, Alejandro Mayorkas, registered 10.5 million illegal migrants at the border from January 2021 to June 2024.

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) appeared to destroy his own party’s argument against former President Donald Trump by saying that he would honor the election result — if it were “free and fair.” Democrats’ closing argument against Trump in the 2024 election has been that Trump is a “wannabe dictator,” and their evidence is — once again — the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021. But now Raskin, and others, seem to be saying that they, too, would be open to challenging election results if they believed the election had been “stolen.”

Democratic strategist James Carville said Wednesday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” that the Harris-Walz campaign should stop discussing the 2020 presidential election and the January 6 Capitol riot. Host Joe Scarborough said, “Tell me what you have leaned through all your years in politics starting with Bill Clinton, what’s still applies today in 2024, when you break politics down to its bare essence?” Carville said, “Be aggressive. Don’t take anything for granted. I think that’s a good lesson for Vice President Harris’ campaign. You come out and have a good debate don’t go back in.” He continued, “They need to sell...

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Thursday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” that former President Donald Trump “was enjoying” watching the riot at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. Clinton said, “I came back in to my house, I didn’t have any knowledge of anything going on, and, you know, Chelsea and her husband, Mark and the kids were living with us during COVID, and Bill was at our breakfast table and Chelsea was standing next to him, and they had the television on and I didn’t even know what they were watching.” She continued, “There were these images...

Former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) highlighted the “horror” of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, and his own response, in an ad released Tuesday as part of his campaign for the U.S. Senate. “On January 6, as we watched in horror, Hogan didn’t just talk about defending democracy, he did something. Sending in the Maryland National Guard to protect the Capitol,” the narrator says in the TV ad, titled “Never Backs Down.” “That’s the same Larry Hogan. Tough. Independent. Never backs down,” the narrator continues. The one-minute ad shows footage from the Jan. 6 attack on the...

Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) expressed fresh frustration at his fellow Republicans on Wednesday in response to newly released video of then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi the day after the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, showing the California Democrat saying former President Trump has to “pay a price.” When asked to respond to footage showing Pelosi stressing that the National Guard should have been called earlier while stressing a focus on Trump in the riot’s aftermath, Kinzinger said the video evoked fresh memories of that day. “She was reacting how we all did, and it just kind of takes me back to...

CINCINNATI — Multiple teens and an 18-year-old man have been sentenced for their part in a Jan. 23 assault on a man downtown. In court Friday, 18-year-old Jadin Shaw was sentenced to 18 months in prison for his part in the assault. In addition to Shaw, multiple juveniles have also been sentenced for the attack after accepting plea deals; WCPO is not naming them because they are still children. In addition to Shaw, five juveniles were also charged in the crime: A 14-year-old has been sentenced to probation A 15-year-old was ordered to pay $800 in restitution to the victim...

On Tuesday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” co-host Mika Brzezinski stated that Columbia students breaking into a campus building overnight “looked exactly like January 6.” While Brzezinski’s fellow co-host Joe Scarborough stated that people who were justifiably offended by January 6 and Charlottesville are equivocating on the campus disorder. Scarborough said, “Well, what did that look like, what did those kids look like when they were breaking the windows?”