Free Republic

As the U.S. military escalates its posture around Venezuela—with naval deployments in the Caribbean, B-52 overflights, lethal strikes on alleged drug boats, and confirmed CIA covert operations—advocates of regime change are reviving a dangerous analogy. Many have pointed to the United States’ 1989 invasion of Panama and toppling of dictator Manuel Noriega as proof that swift, surgical operations can get the job done. In private conversations with several current and former U.S. officials, they have nodded toward this parallel. Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, who just last month was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, has appealed to the United...

George Washington University Law Professor Jonathan Turley is not a conservative, but he is an honest and very smart man. Since the news of Maduro’s capture by the U.S. Military under Trump this morning, he has been pointing out that Trump did not need approval from congress to do this, despite what Democrats are claiming now. Turley uses the example of Manuel Noriega, who was removed from Panama by the United States in 1989 under similar circumstances. He refers to the actions of other presidents as well.

This week, the lingering allegations over the marital history of Rep. Ilhan Omar (D., Minn.) took an ominous step when Border Tsar Tom Homan publicly acknowledged that the government is looking into the matter.Rep. Omar has long denied that she married her brother to gain his entry into the United States, but the allegation has continued to rage on the Internet and among her critics.The question is whether this is a substantive case of fraud or defamation.Homan stated that he was investigating whether Omar committed immigration fraud, but also noted that the statute of limitations has been an issue.In his...

Despite calls for many Democratic politicians and pundits to temper their inflammatory rhetoric, this week has proven a further escalation in this dangerous form of rage rhetoric. DNC Chair Ken Martin just told MSNBC’s “The Beat” that “we may be nearing” the moment when “elections don’t matter and then the resistance looks completely different.” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called on people to “forcefully rise up.” With political violence on the rise, these leaders are clearly fueling the mob in hopes that they and their party can ride the wave of rage back into power. History suggests that it is...

Below is my column in The Hill on the controversial remarks of Sen. Tim Kaine (D. Va.) denouncing a nominee who believed in natural law and the concept of God-given rights. By the end of the hearing, Kaine effectively lumped Alexander Hamilton with Ayatollah Khomeini in his statement at the committee hearing. Here is the column: Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) this week warned the American people that a Trump nominee for a State Department position was an extremist, cut from the same cloth as the Iranian mullahs and religious extremists. Riley Barnes, nominated to serve as assistant secretary of State...

George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley said Thursday on Fox News’ “Hannity” that the legacy media refuses to cover new Russiagate revelations because doing so would require them to admit they played a role in the cover-up. Since the allegations emerged involving officials from the Obama administration and Hillary Clinton’s campaign, corporate media has largely shifted its focus to other issues. While discussing the legal side of the scandal, Fox News’ Sean Hannity asked Turley who should “be worried” about potential legal repercussions. “Well, there’s a lot of people worried in this city tonight. This is the great reveal...

Law professor Jonathan Turley does not mince words as to which former Obama official is most at-risk of being charged for their role in the Russian collusion hoax. The George Washington University Law School faculty member described ex-CIA Director John Brennan as being the “30-point buck out in the open” regarding potential charges stemming from the trove of disclosures about who orchestrated this operation. The head honcho, Barack Obama, has already been named in a criminal referral to the Department of Justice. The former president ordered a new intelligence report on Russian collusion after the IC’s initial assessment didn’t support...

Since his arrival at the struggling newspaper, Washington Post publisher and CEO Will Lewis has fought to reverse the plunge in revenue and readership to save this great American newspaper. His greatest challenge has been the staff itself, which seems willing to embrace bankruptcy rather than give up its bias. This week, Lewis sent another warning to his intransigent staff: get on board or get out. I have written about Lewis’s fight to save the Post from itself over the years. Many writers and editors seemed to believe that owner Jeff Bezos would run the newspaper as a type of...

Yesterday, the Supreme Court issued a relatively rare clarification of its earlier opinion, which lifted the injunction on the deportation of immigrants to third-party countries. In a surprising response, Judge Brian Murphy in Boston ruled that he considered his orders regarding the eight immigrants set for deportation to South Sudan to remain unchanged by the decision. The Court quickly disabused him of that notion by declaring that he was not in compliance with its order. What was most remarkable, however, was the sharp concurrence by Justice Elena Kagan who, despite voting against the original order, called out Murphy for defying...

I had to share this moving video of the final march of the 41st Sergeant of the Guard, Sgt. 1st Class Andrew Jay. As a military history nut, one of my favorite (and repeated) experiences is watching the changing of the Guard at Arlington. The precision, dignity, and respect of the ceremony should be witnessed by every American. Since 1948, the U.S. Army’s 3rd Infantry Regiment “The Old Guard” has guarded the Tomb 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. This was the final march of the 41st Sergeant of the Guard and it was especially moving as Jay...

The warning was stark. At issue was a privileged class that has long dictated policy despite countervailing public opinion. At issue, the luminary warned, is nothing short of democracy itself. No, it was not the continued rallies of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., VT) to “fight oligarchy.” It was Justice Clarence Thomas rallying his colleagues to fight technocracy, or government by experts. He warned against allowing “elite sentiment” to “distort and stifle democratic debate.” Yet, the story is even more profound of an elite class which succumbed to the Icarian gene and fell to Earth due to hubris and excess. In...

One of the biggest lies ever told in the history of the world is that the Democrat Party is the party of "love" and "compassion." In fact, one of the reasons I completed my conversion to the dark side (conservatism) all those years ago and never looked back was the realization that there was nothing "loving and compassionate," for example, about advocating for the "right" to terminate innocent, unborn life at any stage of pregnancy. So, like many on our side of the aisle, whenever I hear such claims coming from Democrats and their allies in the press, I just...

A Romanian national pleaded guilty on Monday to charges related to his role in a “swatting” ring that targeted dozens of public officials, including a former US president. Going by the aliases “Plank,” “Jonah” and “Cypher,” 26-year-old Thomasz Szabo took part in a years-long conspiracy to place bogus 911 calls, claiming emergencies were taking place at the homes of top government officials, and make bomb threats against government buildings and houses of worship, according to Justice Department. Szabo and a co-conspirator, 21-year-old Serbian national Nemanja Radovanovic, allegedly targeted about 100 people, including members of Congress, governors, cabinet-level executive branch officials...

This week, the Supreme Court continued to deliberate over what to do with the growing number of national or universal injunctions issued by federal district courts against the Trump Administration. The court has long failed to address the problem, and what I call “chronic injunctivitis” is now raging across the court system. Justices have only worsened the condition with conflicting and at times incomprehensible opinions. Both Democratic and Republican presidents have long argued that federal judges are out of control in issuing national injunctions that freeze the entire executive branch for years on a given policy. For presidents, you have...

We previously discussed the legislation passed by Washington State democrats that requires priests to violate the sanctity of the confessional to report child abuse. I described the law as “blatantly unconstitutional” in eviscerating the right to the free exercise of religion. The state is moving to create an effective system of sacramental snitches and the Catholic Church is declaring “enough.” It has announced that any priest who complies with the law will be promptly excommunicated. We previously discussed the proposed legislation that would target priests who learn of any “reasonable” basis to believe that a child “has suffered abuse or...

The 46th News & Documentary Emmy Awards nominations are out, and it seems that everyone is talking about just one of them. The “Outstanding Edited Interview” category is hardly a common draw for public or even industry attention. However, one of this year’s nominees is CBS for its primetime special featuring then-Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. The interview is the basis for a $20 billion lawsuit by President Donald Trump against CBS News and its parent company, Paramount Global, alleging election interference due to the biased editing out of an embarrassing answer by...

According to The Harvard Crimson, Harvard will offer high-school-level math courses to its students. The remedial assistance has rekindled criticism over Harvard’s move away from standardized tests in making admissions decisions. For years, Harvard has been accused of lowering admissions standards to achieve “equity” goals in its classes. The school opposed efforts to uncover its admissions data. When that data was ultimately revealed, sharp differences emerged based on race. The differences led to the historic decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, 600 U.S. 181 (2023) barring the use of race in college admissions. As court decisions made it...

In a 5-4 ruling, the Supreme Court delivered a victory to the Trump Administration on the deportations under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act of suspected gang members of Tren de Aragua. The Court ruled that U.S. District Judge James Boasberg’s March 15 order temporarily blocking deportation was invalid and that he should never have proceeded in the case. Rather, as some of us previously argued, the Court ruled that this is a habeas case that should be heard in Texas. Chief Justice Roberts joined Justices Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch, and Kavanaugh to support the Administration. Boasberg’s actions have been closely followed...

George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley predicted Monday that even “liberal justices” on the Supreme Court might support ending so-called “nationwide” injunctions. A divided three-judge panel from the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit upheld an injunction issued on March 15 by United States District Judge James Boasberg of the District of Columbia ordering the Trump administration to turn two planes carrying members of the Venezuelan prison gang Tren de Aragua (TdA) to El Salvador around. Turley said that too many judges elected to “yield” to temptation, leading to “exasperation” among the high court’s...

Legal expert Jonathan Turley delivered encouraging news for the Trump administration this week, stating that the Supreme Court is likely to side with President Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to deport over 200 members of the Venezuelan criminal gang Tren de Agua. Speaking on America’s Newsroom with Bill Hemmer, Turley said the legal debate surrounding the administration’s decision is “controversial” but that the courts are fully equipped to resolve it. “There are certainly strong arguments for the administration to make here,” Turley began. “I think that we have to be honest that there are good faith...