Free Republic

Romney, Rand Paul, and Rob Portman vote with Democrats in support of State Dept nominee Three Senate Republicans shattered party unity to advance the nomination of a State Department nominee who has been accused of lying to Congress about the terms of a new nuclear agreement with Iran. On Tuesday, the nomination of Barbara Leaf, a veteran Democratic foreign policy hand who was nominated last year to serve as assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs, was approved by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee after three Republicans—Sens. Mitt Romney (Utah), Rand Paul (Ky.), and Rob Portman (Ohio)—abandoned their party...

The Washington, D.C., public school librarian who made third graders reenact graphic scenes from the Holocaust is a Democrat who claims she ran for office in New Jersey, where she was convicted of defrauding the state through a tutoring scam and charged with several counts of animal abuse. Kimberlynn Jurkowski was placed on leave this week after parents complained to Watkins Elementary School that she made students role-play the Holocaust, assigning students to be Jews and pretend to die in gas chambers and dig mass graves, according to the Washington Post. One student was assigned to be Adolf Hitler, who...

Terrorist lawyer Huwaida Arraf in campaign launch An anti-Israel activist who helped organize the 2010 flotilla of ships to the Gaza Strip and was the lawyer for a Palestinian terrorist who killed two Jewish college students is running for Congress as a Democrat in Michigan. Huwaida Arraf, who this week launched her campaign based on her record of "fighting injustice" on the world stage, is an activist lawyer who cofounded the International Solidarity Movement, which encourages anti-Israel activists to take "direct action" to force confrontations with Israeli forces. Arraf has used her status as an American citizen to protect Palestinian...

A Virginia commonwealth's attorney backed by left-wing billionaire George Soros tanked an effort to recall a Democratic school board member who prevented students from returning to classrooms. The Open Fairfax County Public Schools Coalition, a parents' group, in July reached the signature threshold to recall Elaine Tholen, a school board member who refused to reopen schools during the coronavirus pandemic. James Hingeley, the court-appointed attorney assigned to represent them in the case, dismissed Open Fairfax County Public Schools' petition on Friday. Hingeley, a Democrat who campaigned alongside Tholen in 2019, received $5,000 that year from the Soros-funded Justice and Safety...

Embattled governor Andrew Cuomo (D., N.Y.) has retained the services of a high-powered criminal defense attorney who defended Harvey Weinstein and Woody Allen against allegations of sexual assault. Elkan Abramowitz, a former federal prosecutor with close ties to Manhattan district attorney Cy Vance, will serve as legal counsel to the governor and his top aides, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday. New York attorney general Letitia James is investigating the Cuomo administration on several fronts. Three women have now accused the governor of sexual harassment. Allegations include unwanted kissing and touching, as well as inappropriate or suggestive comments, such as...