Free Republic

The Trump administration is yanking $74 million in federal highway grants from the Empire State for refusing to comply with the feds’ demand that it boot immigrant truck drivers with expired work authorizations off the roads, The Post has learned. The US Department of Transportation warned Gov. Kathy Hochul’s Department of Motor Vehicles, in a bombshell letter on Thursday, that continued non-compliance could lead Washington to withhold another $147 million in highway funding grants. “I promised the American people I would hold any state leader accountable for failing to keep them safe from unvetted, unqualified foreign drivers. I’m delivering on...

Accused sexual abuser Eric Swalwell spent a whopping $500K of donor cash inside luxury hotels — including the rooms where he allegedly raped two women — according to campaign financial records reviewed by The California Post. The disgraced politician racked up close to $36,500 in hotel expenses over the last 12 months — billing 70 different charges in the US and Mexico, according to the records. Swalwell’s hotels of choice included the Intercontinental Mexico City, where he spent $4,300 meeting with deported resident Miguel Hildago; Hotel ZIggy in West Hollywood, the Roosevelt Hollywood, the exclusive Ned Nomad in New York...

The annual festival of Songkran usually signifies a dazzling week-long celebration — but this year’s death toll paints a picture that’s anything but. While the Thai holiday is globally famous for being the “world’s largest water fight,” the reality on the ground is a horrific cycle of road accidents, drunk driving and reckless behavior. In the first three days of Songkran this year, more than 191 deaths have been recorded with 951 accidents and 911 injuries. Despite the government’s road safety campaign, enforcement of stricter drunk driving laws and increased police checkpoints, the carnage continues. Marking the Thai New Year,...

New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill bashed the “inherited” World Cup host agreement in which FIFA is absolved of paying for transportation to the matches at MetLife Stadium — and insisted she won’t stand for its planned price gouging. NJ Transit plans to raise prices to a staggering $100 for fans traveling from New York Penn Station to MetLife Stadium for the eight FIFA World Cup games hosted at the Garden State arena. The average ticket goes for $12.90, marking an egregious 775% premium for all. While the rumored hike has “not been finalized,” according to a NJT spokesperson, locals are...

US Ambassador to the EU Andrew Puzder has said that Ireland and the US have “similar interests” that are among key issues for the relationship between the two countries. Mr. Pudzer is in Dublin to discuss priorities ahead of Ireland’s upcoming EU presidency, which is due to begin in July. “I think one of the one of the key areas would be what we call deregulation, what you guys call simplification,” he said on RTÉ’s Six One News. “I’ve had a conversation with the Irish ambassador to the EU, and I know that simplification is going to be on the...

Accused SantaCon cheat Stefan Pildes actively flaunted his lavish lifestyle on Instagram — before being busted for allegedly funneling millions in charity cash from the annual Christmas-themed booze fest to bankroll his bougie vacations. The founder of the notorious seasonal bar crawl, who was arrested Wednesday on wire fraud charges, shamelessly paraded himself globetrotting with his wife and friends on trips to Nevada’s Burning Man festival, the Las Vegas Sphere and ski getaways, videos on his Instagram account show. Pildes, 50, was also seen blowing the would-be donations on a string of concerts last year, including Lady Gaga’s “Mayhem Ball”...

The Los Angeles District Attorney’s office has already assigned a prosecuting attorney to aid in the criminal investigation of a bombshell rape claim against disgraced former Rep. Eric Swalwell. LA District Attorney Nathan Hochman announced the rare move after Lonna Drewes, 50, on Tuesday accused Swalwell of drugging, choking and raping her at a West Hollywood hotel in 2018. Drewes delivered evidence to the West Hollywood sheriff’s station shortly after giving a press conference to announce the allegations, saying she has damning texts, photographs and journal entries that will prove the claims. Representatives for LA Sheriff Robert Luna confirmed that...

One activity that saw a boom during the pandemic was baking sourdough bread. This unique cooking process requires a special starter and feeding the mix almost daily to keep it active. It turns out this fun hobby is still alive and well in New Hampshire. Dragonfly Dough Co. Katlynn Wageling makes a variety of sourdough baked products at Creative Chef Kitchens in Derry. It's a commercial kitchen space where small food businesses can do their kitchen work. In 2025, she started a small business called Dragonfly Dough Company. Wageling said sourdough requires extra work. "It's so much longer, such a...

A Department of Homeland Security employee was murdered by a convicted felon immigrant who was naturalized under the Biden administration during a bloody killing spree in Georgia early this week, officials said Wednesday. Lauren Bullis, who worked as an auditor at the federal agency, was shot and stabbed in Atlanta when 26-year-old Olaolukitan Adon-Abel allegedly went on his deadly rampage on Monday morning. Bullis, a 40-year-old auditor for the DHS, had taken her dog out for a stroll when she was targeted as part of three random attacks allegedly carried out by the madman across the city. Adon-Abel’s alleged rampage...

Close, but no Obama. Former President Joe Biden spotted a familiar face on stage during his portrait unveiling at Syracuse University School of Law Tuesday and demanded the man join him at the podium in an awkward exchange. “I always want to turn around to one guy and say … ‘Barack, what are you doing?’” Biden joked during the event at his alma mater. The 83-year-old former president was referring to Jeffrey Scruggs, who is black and the chairman of the school’s Board of Trustees, and apparently reminds Biden of the 44th president, Barack Obama. Biden awkwardly put the spotlight...

The woman famously known as “Baby Jessica” over her dramatic miracle rescue from a Texas well as a tot in 1987 has just been busted for alleged domestic assault, authorities said. Jessica McClure Morales, now 40, was arrested Saturday night over a disturbance at her home in Midland County, Texas, where she is believed to live with her husband, Daniel Morales, and their two kids, KXAN reported. Authorities have not released details about the incident, but McClure Morales was charged with assault causing bodily injury involving family violence. Her arrest comes decades after the now-married mom of two made global...

Dr Thomas Shaknovsky indicted for second-degree manslaughter after prosecutors allege he removed a patient's liver instead of his spleen SNIP The Office of the State Attorney for the First Judicial Circuit in Florida announced in a release Monday that Dr. Thomas Shaknovsky was charged with second-degree manslaughter after he allegedly removed the liver from 70-year-old Bill Bryan of Muscle Shoals, Alabama, in 2024 during a procedure at Ascension Sacred Heart Emerald Coast Hospital in Miramar Beach, Florida. Prosecutors allege the surgery was scheduled to be a laparoscopic splenectomy, a minimally invasive procedure used to remove the spleen, but the removal...

A 110-foot Ferris wheel, state pavilions and patriotic festivities are coming to the National Mall in Washington, D.C., as part of a 16-day "Great American State Fair" marking the nation’s 250th anniversary. "As our nation prepares to celebrate 250 years of freedom and opportunity, the National Mall will once again serve as the stage for telling our nation’s story. Thanks to President Donald J. Trump’s leadership," said Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum in a release. "The Great American State Fair will bring all 50 states and six territories together in one place, showcasing the people, landscapes, and traditions that...

The vile street takeovers afflicting Los Angeles are getting more and more violent, police say, and they expect things will only get worse heading into the summer. Los Angeles cops swarmed more than 90 street takeovers already far in 2026, making at least 79 arrests, impounding 114 race cars, grabbing four stolen vehicles and seizing four firearms. At least five people were shot at LA county street takeovers this past weekend alone. Cops say the illegal gatherings are getting more and more bloody — and with warmer weather coming, things will only get worse. “There’s robberies, rapes, shootings, murders, stabbings,”...

WASHINGTON — The Department of Justice under former President Joe Biden “withheld evidence” and approved “aggressive arrest tactics” when targeting pro-life defendants — and then slapped them with longer prison sentences than pro-abortion ones, according to an explosive internal review released Tuesday. The DOJ revealed the stunning abuses in a nearly 900-page report after examining more than 700,000 records related to the Biden administration’s prosecutions under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act. The 1994 law was passed to protect access to houses of worship, religious institutions, abortion clinics and pregnancy resource centers. But the Biden DOJ was...

DC is in full meltdown mode after Eric Swalwell announced on Monday he would resign from Congress amid explosive sexual misconduct allegations — sparking a firestorm of speculation from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. The bombshell departure of the high-profile Trump critic came via a somber written statement in which Swalwell apologized for his conduct and admitted to “mistakes in judgement” while still pushing back on the most serious accusations — including an ex-staffer who claimed he raped her. But his attempt to control the narrative quickly unraveled. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) torched Swalwell in a series...

Hotels in Los Angeles, California are struggling, a new report from industry researchers claimed in a new report. “Hotels are struggling to keep up with rising operating costs coupled with falling demand,” the American Hotel and Lodging Association (AHLA) researchers said last week. According to AHLA, the city’s minimum wage mandate and other policies led to increased “costs without flexibility to reflect market conditions and demand levels.” A phased-in minimum wage hike in Los Angeles mandated up to $30 per hour for airport and hotel workers. The law was signed into law last year by Mayor Karen Bass, mandating that...

The Trump administration will celebrate the groundbreaking of a controversial new natural gas pipeline in New York City on Tuesday — with the project set to run off the coast of the city to boost the region’s energy supply. President Trump strongly backs the Northeast Supply Enhancement pipeline and used his influence to persuade Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul to approve the permits allowing the project to proceed, despite fierce opposition from anti-fossil fuel environmentalists. Energy Secretary Chris Wright, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Environmental Protection Secretary Lee Zeldin will attend the event at Brooklyn’s Floyd Bennett Field, hosted by Williams...

A sixth-grade educator withdrew from consideration for Minnesota’s Teacher of the Year award after photos of him dressed in leather bondage while participating in an XXX-rated BDSM performance resurfaced online. Thomas Rosengren, a teacher and theater director in the Atwater Cosmos Grove City public school system, was named one of 11 finalists for the coveted award last week. On Monday, though, Education Minnesota tweaked its list, adding a brief note that Rosengren “has withdrawn from consideration.” Alpha News Minnesota reported that the sudden elimination came just four days after it reached out to Education Minnesota inquiring about damning photos that...

Rep. Eric Swalwell finally quit Congress on Monday amid accusations of rape and sexual abuses, but the larger scandal is how long he got away with it. Fellow Democrats kept mum for years, though his sleazy behavior toward women has reportedly been long known; nor did the left-leaning media in California or Washington investigate the rumors — even after he notoriously fell for a Chinese “honeypot” agent. Dems plainly only turned on Swalwell in a bid to thin the field in California’s governor race, where two Republicans now lead the nonpartisan “jungle” primary and so might lock out the donkeys...