Free Republic

A Democratic state auditor is taking Massachusetts legislative leaders, including members of her own party, to court after uncovering nearly $12 million in alleged fraud in public assistance programs, seeking to enforce a voter-approved audit law. "What are they hiding? If there's nothing to hide, open up the doors, let the sun shine in. Let's do this audit," Massachusetts State Auditor Diana DiZoglio said on "Saturday in America." DiZoglio, a Democrat and former member of both the Massachusetts House and Senate, is filing a complaint with the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court to enforce a 2024 ballot measure that authorized her...

Numerous Democratic leaders say their high-migration, low-wage sanctuary city economies are crashing because President Donald Trump is requiring them to comply with national labor laws.“We are now expected to absorb the fiscal consequences of [federal] enforcement activities,” the treasurers of 16 states wrote to President Trump. “This is not acceptable.”The treasurers of Massachusetts, New York, Illinois, Minnesota, and nine other states are asking the federal government to exempt them from national laws that protect Americans’ civil rights, labor, housing, and anti-fraud laws.“We urge your administration to immediately scale back enforcement activities causing this harm and to ensure the economic stability...

On January 28, 2025, Harmeet K. Dhillon filed an amicus curiae brief on behalf of the Trump administration, detailing why the Massachusetts handgun roster is unconstitutional under the Second Amendment. Harmeet K. Dhillon is Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. The lawsuit timeline began almost 5 years ago.In 2021, a number of Massachusetts residents and the Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) filed suit against then AG Maura Healey in Massachusetts, contending the Massachusetts handgun roster violated the rights protected by the Second and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution.On May 19, 2022, the District Court granted a motion...

Independence at the Federal Reserve? Only sometimes, it seems.was rocked by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Then, the progressive lawmaker exposed her hypocrisy at a confirmation hearing involving Stephen Miran, President Donald Trump’s pick to join the Federal Reserve Board temporarily. While Warren shrieked in the upper chamber about central bank independence, she forgot to talk about her own list of demands to Fed Chair Jerome Powell.Elizabeth Warren Talks to Stephen MiranLast month, Fed Governor Adriana Kugler abruptly resigned from the Eccles Building, effectively vacating a seat at the powerful establishment. Days later, President Trump unveiled...

Four Massachusetts residents are accused of using more than 100 stolen identities to get over $1 million in food stamps and pandemic-era unemployment benefits in a multi-state fraud scheme, federal prosecutors say. U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts Leah Foley said stolen identities from Connecticut, Florida, Kentucky, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Puerto Rico were used to obtain $440,000 in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits from Massachusetts and Rhode Island. The defendants also allegedly submitted fraudulent documents in order to receive more than $700,000 in Pandemic Unemployment Assistance from Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Washington and Nevada. --snip-- Three defendants charged...

Democrat Mayor Michelle Wu of Boston, Massachusetts, is going viral for saying that every human on earth has the “legal right” to come to the U.S.A. Wu’s comments have resurfaced and are once again gaining thousands of comments from outraged Americans. In a video clip of an interview from March, Wu is seen saying, “Every single human being has the legal right to come to the United States and seek shelter.” Of course, federal immigration law states that hopeful immigrants cannot just arrive on America’s shores, but must file for visas or asylum while still in their own country (or...

Of course, federal immigration law states that hopeful immigrants cannot just arrive on America’s shores, but must file for visas or asylum while still in their own country (or otherwise outside the U.S.), then go through applications and interviews before being allowed to come to the United States. The far-left mayor’s comments have elicited a wide range of replies from congressmen, conservatives, and tens of thousands of regular Americans alike.

A bill advancing through the Massachusetts Senate would make reducing how much people drive an explicit goal of state transportation policy. It is called the Freedom to Move Act. The bill, SB 2246, does not impose mileage caps on individual drivers. There is no odometer check, no per-driver limit, and no new fines or taxes written into the legislation. Instead it directs the state to set targets for reducing total vehicle miles traveled statewide — targets that would be incorporated into transportation planning, infrastructure investment, and long-term emissions policy. Transportation is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in Massachusetts,...

This blows! A Massachusetts man accidentally set his home on fire while using a blowtorch to melt ice stubbornly clinging to his roof after the winter storm that battered the Northeast last week. The homeowner in Milton, Mass. decided to get creative while attempting to tackle the sheets of ice cemented to his roof. He whipped out a blowtorch, scaled a ladder and got to work. But minutes into the endeavor, his roof caught fire and flames spilled into the gutter, Local 12 reported. The man was able to slide off the ladder and rushed inside to call 911. When...

Steven Tyler's attorneys can claim partial victory in a new court ruling as arguments continue in a child sex-abuse lawsuit brought by the former Julia Holcomb. Los Angeles County Judge Patricia A. Young has dismissed claims of alleged abuse in Oregon, Washington and Massachusetts, citing laws governing the age of consent and the statute of limitations. Crucially, however, the California-based charges against Aerosmith's frontman can go forward. In terminating the other claims, Judge Young would apparently stop them from being refiled again. She promised a written decision soon. "I have clearly signaled how I intend" to rule, Young said from...

Think twice about that granola bar in the morning because, yes you’re reading this correctly, ice cream may be a better option. A new study from Tufts University in Boston has created the “Food Compass,” a “nutrient profiling system” that ranks how healthy foods are by giving options a score. And the system is turning some preconceived notions of health on their head, namely ranking a granola bar lower than a chocolate ice cream cone topped with nuts. Researchers spent three years investigating over 8,000 different types of food and drink, examining 54 different attributes and using “cutting edge science”...

We all know the government ruins everything it touches. This includes science and even basic nutrition. For years, it's pushed the food pyramid -- carb heavy -- despite lots of research that shows meat and protein are very healthy and beneficial. So it's not a surprise that a study from Tufts University -- funding by the NIH -- shows that Cheerios and Lucky Charms are healthier than beef and eggs.

In a statement, a DHS spokesperson said agents detained Ozturk because she “engaged in activities in support of Hamas.” “Rumeysa Ozturk is a Turkish national and Tufts University graduate student who was granted the privilege to be in this country on a visa. DHS and ICE investigations found Ozturk engaged in activities in support of [[Hamas]], a foreign [[terrorism|terrorist]] organization that relishes the killing of Americans,” the statement read. “A visa is a privilege, not a right. Glorifying and supporting terrorists who kill Americans is grounds for visa issuance to be terminated. This is commonsense security.”... However, Ozturk was already...

Officials at Tufts University urged the community to report sightings of immigration officials Tuesday after they were alerted about federal activity near the campus.Yolanda Smith, chief of the university’s police department, told students and staff in an email that the campus’ Department of Public Safety was “actively monitoring the situation in coordination with our municipal partners in Medford and Somerville.”Anyone who encountered immigration officials “on or near campus” was urged to call campus police. They also referred community members to their Office of University Counsel website, which included information about their protocols regarding federal agents.“Tufts has a well‑defined process for...

A federal judge in Vermont on Friday released a Turkish Tufts University student detained in a Louisiana immigration center more than six weeks after she was arrested while walking along a street in a Boston suburb, allowing her to return to her studies. U.S. District Judge William Sessions in Burlington released Rumeysa Ozturk pending a final decision on her claim that she’s been illegally detained following an op-ed she co-wrote last year that criticized the school’s response to Israel’s war in Gaza. Details of her release and travel plans were not immediately available, and an Immigration and Customs Enforcement...

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Wednesday explained why it had detained Tufts University student Rumesya Ozturk earlier this week. Footage of Ozturk’s arrest went viral on social media. The incident raised questions about the Trump administration’s targeting of college students who have participated in anti-Israel protests and activities. NEW: I’ve obtained new footage of the abduction of Tufts student Runeysa Ozturk which includes audio of her kidnappers. pic.twitter.com/gucwFxdnOi — Daniel Boguslaw (@DRBoguslaw) March 26, 2025 Ozturk, a Turkish national, had been residing in the United States on a student visa. DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin stated in a...

Tufts University promoted an event intended to "Root Out Racism" among "White Christian Folks." The event, titled “Rooting Out Racism: An Online Retreat for White Christian Folks,” was marketed as a “retreat about white supremacy.” The event’s host, Spiritual Grounding, which does not appear to be directly affiliated with Tufts, insisted upon the necessity of the retreat as “George Floyd’s murder has highlighted once again the need for white folks to do their work.”

A Massachusetts university has decided to take down a historical mural after students complained that the paintings depicting only white men eroded the school’s commitment to diversity and inclusion. Tufts University stated in a news release that the Alumnae Lounge mural, which depicts “the great names of men” who informed the school’s history, does not include “a single image of a person of color, for example, despite the fact that black students were enrolled at Tufts as early as the late nineteenth century.”

Liberal students at Tufts University are pressuring the student government to deny funding for the College Republicans to host an event featuring Ben Shapiro. The funding request was scheduled for discussion by the Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate on October 29, but was tabled at the request of the Tufts College Republicans President George Behrakis, who told The Tufts Daily that the club need time to prepare a response following “a swift mobilization against us by leftist student groups.”

A Tufts University student-made “disorientation” guide refers to Israel as a “white supremacist state” and slams the campus Hillel for “exploit(ing) black voices for their own pro-Israel agenda.” The guide, created by leftist activist students for those like themselves, “suggests resources for students of color, low-income students, the LGBT community and women,” according to Haaretz. Similar guides are offered at other colleges as “official” alternatives.