Free Republic

Daniel Greenfield August 15, 2022 In June, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction’s office (SIGAR), dispatched letters to Secretary of State Blinken and Samantha Power complaining that the State Department and USAID were stonewalling its investigation of waste, corruption and terror cash. "Two SIGAR audits are also being hindered by a lack of cooperation from State and USAID. The first evaluates your agencies’ compliance with the laws and regulations prohibiting transfers of funds to members of the Taliban and the Haqqani Network," the letter to Power complained. The Haqqani Network, which is allied with Al Qaeda, gained control of...

It seems I can’t keep up with the latest DOJ or FBI scandal as of late. In the last two weeks, I have penned two pieces at RedState, voicing my displeasure with their continued political targeting and questionable tactics.While some missed my sarcasm regarding the “J. Edgar glory days,” the problems at the FBI and DOJ, along with other federal law enforcement organizations (I’m looking at you, ATF), are nothing new. While this author is going to stop far short of suggesting that the likes of McVeigh and Nichols had justification to do what they did, one can certainly step...

Let’s begin with the conclusion so as not to keep anyone waiting: Punishment under the law is no longer acceptable in a “woke” society. One may still be subjected to legal prosecution if the crime threatens the Left, as happened to Donald Trump, Carter Paige, and Michael Flynn. “Truth,” however, has nothing to do with such prosecutions of convenience, although punishment is highly acceptable under informal social norms. So, we have “cancel culture” that can ruin a person’s life in an afternoon, moving right along until the victim enters his eternal rest.Rejecting legal punishment except in political cases can be...

In recent days, the Trump campaign has touted a number of affidavits collected from poll workers in Michigan that they say proves the existence of widespread irregularities in the Michigan vote counting process, and which they plan to attach as an exhibit to an expected lawsuit that will challenge the certification of the vote in Michigan.... By my count, the 234 pages contain affidavits from 101 individuals. The majority of them appear to be handwritten impressions of the counting process. Here, by my count, is a complete list of actual allegations that raise the potential of voter fraud from these...

After a big buildup, the migrant caravan full of Central America's finest has finally arrived, and as screengrabs from local television broadcasts show, they gave America the bird. Seriously. Buried in a News 8 broadcast from San Diego was footage of illegal migrants and their supporters on the U.S. side breaching the U.S. fence on the border, waving a big Honduran flag, victory-style, and whipping out a big middle finger at America. In times past, arriving immigrants used to kiss the earth. Today, they wave the middle finger at us. Look at these photos, both from News 8 and the...

PHOENIX (AP) - A campaign finance violation complaint has been filed with the Maricopa County Recorder's Office against a newly formed independent political committee linked to hedge fund tycoon George Soros.

....the former secretary of state will speak publicly about her use of a private email account, rather than a government address while she was secretary of state. Last week, the New York Times first reported that she used only her personal email account while she was secretary of state...

This past week’s D.C. Court of Appeals panel ruling that customers in the 36 states that didn’t establish their own exchange and use HealthCare.gov instead cannot be given premium tax credits was assailed by the program’s backers as “flagrant judicial activism.” Presidential Press Secretary Josh Earnest promised that “this insupportable ruling will be ignored. For the Court to insist upon a literal reading of the statute at this late date would unduly hamper the President’s scope of action. He cannot and will not abide having his hands tied by this judicial interference.” At issue is explicit statutory language in the...

Every President, every politician, and every human being tells lies and engages in acts of hypocrisy. But Barack Obama does these things to a far greater degree than anyone else that I have ever known of. His campaign promises were so much better sounding than anyone else’s – no lobbyists in his administration, waiting five days before signing all non-emergency bills so people would have time to read them, putting health care negotiations on C-SPAN, reading every bill line by line to make sure money isn’t being wasted, prosecution of Wall St. criminals, ending raids against medical marijuana in states...

A Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) has criticised the US government for ignoring guidelines surrounding the National Security Agency's (NSA) Prism programme for domestic surveillance of web users. FISC set out suggested regulations for the Prism programme, which spied on citizens' emails and web use for around 10 years before being shut down in 2011... "NSA exceeded the scope of authorised acquisition continuously during the more than [redacted] years of acquisition under these orders," wrote Judge Bates in a 117 page document. He added that guidelines stated that the government should only gather data on those for whom there was...

Confidential reports from state regulators show how Florida bankers made risky bets, broke the law, enriched themselves and their friends, and hurt their own institutions....and got away with it.

In the wake of an admission by an IRS official that conservative groups had been targeted for additional scrutiny, Rep. Michael Turner will introduce legislation Monday that would increase the penalty for singling out ideological organizations —including the possibility of jail time. Turner, a member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said news about the IRS is an example of abuse of government power. “Across the country, people are appalled to learn the IRS targeted people because of their political beliefs,” the Ohio Republican told POLITICO. “These are issues of basic rights of expression.” He added, “This is...

Berkeley Code Pink Out-Gunned By Move America Forward Pro-Troop Supporters February 12, 2008 - Berkeley, CA - PipeLinenews.org - As the nine member Berkeley City Council prepared to decide the fate of the city’s Marine Corp Recruiting Center, Move America Forward - the nation’s largest grassroots pro-troop organization - took to the streets, confronting a rag-tag group of counter culture lefties, including members of Code Pink, a group much in favor with California Democrat legislators. Starting at 5am conservatives streamed into the notoriously radical city of 100,000, carrying the dual themed but unified message of support for both our...

CHICAGO – The Rev. Jesse Jackson was arrested Saturday at a demonstration outside a south suburban gun shop and charged with one count of criminal trespass to property.

The Justice Department is asking Internet companies to keep records on the Web-surfing activities of their customers to aid law enforcement, and may propose legislation to force them to do so. The director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Robert S. Mueller III, and Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales held a meeting in Washington last Friday where they offered a general proposal on record-keeping to a group of senior executives from Internet companies, said Brian Roehrkasse, a spokesman for the department. The meeting included representatives from America Online, Microsoft, Google, Verizon and Comcast.... An executive of one Internet provider that...

America has always been a country built of many immigrant peoples, who bring with them richness in cultures and diversity from all areas of the world. Our nation has consistently welcomed immigrants, refugees, and exiles fleeing injustice and oppression and seeking liberty and the opportunity to achieve a full life. They have found work, built homes and lives, and provided security for themselves and their families. During the past 20 years, about 23 million newcomers have arrived in our nation, surpassing the “first great wave” of the late 19th and early 20th centuries in terms of the numbers of immigrants...

Here's something to get you all riled up for the weekend... Join CODEPINK for New Year’s in Cuba December 27-January 2, 2006 Cuba is one of the most beautiful and fascinating countries on Earth—and George Bush says you can’t go there. Well, we’re going anyway, and we invite you to join us! This New Year’s CODEPINK will be organizing a large group of fun-loving and freedom-loving Americans to break George Bush’s ban on travel to Cuba. Join co-founders Medea Benjamin and Jodie Evans, together with Academy Award winning producer Paul Haggis, as we visit with farmers at their co-ops, doctors...

OLYMPIA—Today State Auditor Brian Sonntag released the 2004 Statewide Accountability Report highlighting 41 audit findings issued against state agencies. Of the 41 audit findings, 23 are repeat findings from last year's audit. An additional 16 management letters (problems identified that don't rise to the level of a finding) were issued to agencies (including 7 regarding audit findings from last year that have not been resolved). In addition to the 41 audit findings, the state auditor highlighted the following "audit challenges": • In addition to refusing to provide electronic records, agencies are using other methods to cause delays in our audits...

Conflicting reports tell us that Mr. Berger will be “cleared of all charges” (WSJ) and "In spite of what the Wall Street Journal said, the National Archives really isn't commenting on this case because it's under investigation," Susan Cooper, chief spokeswoman for the Archives, told NewsMax.com. Ms. Cooper went on to say that there are two key issues under consideration: Whether or not information was “permanently” destroyed and/or withheld from the 9/11 Commission. WSJ reported that Archives officials said that “no original materials are missing” and “nothing Mr. Berger reviewed was withheld from the commission investigating the Sept. 11, 2001,...

Senators Ted Kennedy (D-MA) and Larry Craig (R-ID) are trying to sneak through their AgJOBS amnesty/"guestworker" bill (S. 1645) as an amendment (S. Amdt 3396) to the currently pending National Defense Authorization Act (S. 2400). The disastrous AgJOBS bill could grant amnesty to as many as three million illegal aliens in the U.S. and bring in hundreds of thousands of new immigrant workers. A vote on the Senate floor could come this week -- possibly tomorrow -- and Sens. Kennedy and Craig have every intention of attaching their amnesty bill to every piece of legislation on the Senate floor between...