Free Republic

A decorated FBI official who is suing the agency for wrongful dismissal said he was asked to pledge loyalty to Donald Trump during his vetting for the role. In his first interview since leaving the FBI in 2025, Brian Driscoll, who served as the interim director of the agency under the US president, told CNN he was repeatedly asked about his personal political views while being interviewed for the role. Mr Driscoll and two other senior FBI officials are suing Kash Patel, the head of the agency, and the FBI over allegations of wrongful termination. The lawsuit accuses Mr Patel...

LONDON — King Charles III will sit on a gilded throne in the U.K. parliament on Wednesday and announce a year-long legislative plan for “my government.” There’s one problem: he doesn’t know who’ll be leading it by Christmas. His Prime Minister Keir Starmer has faced an extraordinary five days since a mauling in mid-term elections: A make-or-break reset speech fell flat, more than 90 of his 403 MPs called for him to resign, four junior ministers quit and at least one Cabinet minister, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, privately urged him to set a timetable for his departure. Yet Starmer remains...

The Republican-led South Carolina state Senate rejected a measure Tuesday to take up a redraw of the state’s congressional map despite pressure from President Donald Trump.A resolution that would have extended the state’s legislative session, set to end this week, to tackle redistricting fell short of the two-thirds support needed, with five Republicans voting against it.The vote shuts the door, at least for now, on Republican plans to carve up the state’s lone majority-Black district, represented by longtime Democratic Rep. James Clyburn, before the midterm elections. South Carolina’s primaries are set for June 9.

US Senator Rand Paul has said he introduced a constitutional amendment aimed at ending automatic birthright citizenship for children born in the US to undocumented immigrants. "I introduced a constitutional amendment to end birthright citizenship," Paul said on X on Monday. "The 14th Amendment was never meant to reward illegal entry." The Kentucky lawmaker drew a distinction between legal and illegal immigration, arguing that lawful immigration historically strengthened the US, while illegal immigration is being used to obtain citizenship benefits. "Legal immigration built this country. Illegal immigration is being used to game the system. Only children of legal residents should...

Netflix has been sued in Texas over claims it collects data belonging to children and adults in the US state without their consent, and uses "addictive" design to keep them hooked. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton accused the streaming giant of "spying" on citizens saying it "records and monetises billions" of pieces of information about how users behave on the platform, despite suggesting otherwise. "Every interaction on the platform became a data point revealing information about the user," his office said. Netflix has rejected the claims and says it will challenge them in court, according to a statement shared with...

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and his wife, "Fox & Friends" co-host Rachel Campos-Duffy, fired back on Friday after former Sec. Pete Buttigieg and his husband launched a barrage of attacks against the Duffys' upcoming "Great American Road Trip" reality TV series.The feud ignited Friday after the couple announced the new show on "Fox & Friends." Chasten Glezman Buttigieg quickly took to X to bash the project, accusing the Duffys of taking a "multi-month, taxpayer-funded family road trip" while gas and grocery prices soar due to "Trump's war of choice."He went on to call the couple "unfocused, unserious, and out of...

A mother in Indiana faces 18 years behind bars after allegedly leaving her three children and dogs home alone to fester in deplorable conditions. Ashley Rogers, 42, was arrested on three counts of neglect of a dependent after officers searched her home and found her three children and dogs had been living in squalor. Fort Wayne Police officers arrived to Rogers home at around 12.20pm on April 30 following reports of a minor threatening to harm themselves and discovered the property covered in black mold, animal feces and filled with piles of trash. ogers's boyfriend, Antione Burnett, was at the...

Sir Keir Starmer has appointed former Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown as a special envoy on global finance, as he attempts to shore up his position after his party suffered heavy election losses. Downing Street said the prime minister had also hired former Labour deputy leader Harriet Harman as an adviser on tackling violence against women and girls. Brown and Harman, two influential and respected figures in the party, met Sir Keir in Downing Street before their roles were announced. The prime minister's authority is tottering after Friday's dire election results piled pressure on him, with some Labour MPs calling...

The scale of the electoral challenge facing Labour has been laid bare as the party haemorrhages councillors at the local elections and Reform makes significant gains. Keir Starmer’s party went into Thursday’s local elections expected to lose up to 1,850 councillors, with senior figures describing the contest as “tough”. Initial results overnight painted a bleak picture for the prime minister, with Labour losing councillors in its traditional northern heartlands. Reform took control of its first council at around 6am, gaining overall control of Newcastle-under-Lyme from Labour. The party’s leader, Nigel Farage, described the early results as a “historic change in...

David Allen Funston approached children playing outside their homes and used candy and toys to lure them into his vehicle in 1995 and 1996, he was sentenced to 20 years and 8 months in prison, as well as three consecutive sentences of 25 years to life. he was granted parole at a board hearing in September, Funston used a Barbie doll to lure the victim who spoke with The Times into his vehicle in Foothill Farms in 1995. He then took her to a house, bathed with her, put her on a bed, held a knife to her throat and...

FR CANTEEN MISSION STATEMENT Showing support and boosting the morale of our military and our allied military and the family members of the above.Honoring those who have served before. FReeper Canteen Come on in, we're open Need a place just to hang out? This is it. Pull up a seat and relax. We serve coffee, tea, conversation and music. Our AWESOME military, our AWESOME allies, and their families are welcomed and honored here. Birthday wishes for all MAY babies.No worries in the FReeper Canteen Just Hangin' Cafe. Grab a cup or a glass, and start a conversation. You never...

Shell has revealed a surge in quarterly profits on the back of the Middle East conflict but also given an update on costly war damage to its output. The oil and gas firm reported net profits of $6.9bn (£5.1bn) for the first three months of the year. The sum is more than double the result achieved between October and December 2025 and 24% higher on the same period last year. Like rival BP last week, Shell said the main boost to its bottom line came from oil trading, while profits in its chemicals and products business quadrupled. The headline profits...

Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy, at risk of further distancing himself from President Donald Trump as his primary election draws closer, says the administration isn’t doing enough to restrict access to abortion pills. Cassidy, one of the few remaining Republicans in Congress who voted to convict Trump at his impeachment trial after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, on Tuesday accused the administration of moving too slowly in reviewing the safety of the abortion medication mifepristone. Many expect the review won’t be complete until after the midterm elections in November. The issue has renewed relevancy, though, as Louisiana is...

Democratic senator Sherrod Brown and Republican senator Jon Husted won their party’s nominations in Ohio’s primary elections on Tuesday, according to the Associated Press – teeing them up for what is expected to be a high-profile and expensive Senate race in November’s midterm elections. Husted ran unopposed, while Brown had a single opponent whom he handily outraised. The veteran politicians are standing in a special election to be decided in the 3 November midterms that will determine who serves the remainder of the six-year term JD Vance won in 2022, before becoming vice-president last year. Husted was appointed by Mike...

Nigel Farage has declared that Labour faces electoral annihilation in Wales on Thursday, telling a Reform rally the nation has been reduced to a "basket case" by more than 20 years of Labour governance. Addressing supporters in Merthyr Tydfil on Tuesday in what he billed as the campaign's "last big speech," Mr Farage cast the Senedd vote as a verdict on Sir Keir Starmer's time in Downing Street. Both Reform and Plaid Cymru have led opinion polls in the run-up to Thursday's vote, pushing Labour into third place. Mr Farage said: "The Labour Party have not lost an election in...

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — An affidavits reveals new details in what led to police arresting a man who was seen carrying an AR-15 style gun inside of a restaurant on Chattanooga's Southside Sunday.Officers were dispatched around 4:17 p.m. after the affidavit says a concerned caller reported a suspicious man who may have been concealing a firearm.When police arrived at Bollywood Tacos, they found the man—later identified as 20-year-old Roman McDonald—sitting in a booth inside the restaurant.According to the arrest report, officers attempted to detain McDonald and discovered a Colt SP1 AR-15 rifle hidden in his pants.The weapon was loaded, with a...

Area 51 experienced at least 17 earthquakes in a single day this week, with stumped experts admitting the behavior is highly “unusual.” The secretive Nevada Air Force base, long associated with reports of UFOs, was hit by comparatively shallow quakes, prompting conspiracy theories about nuclear testing. The cluster of earthquakes ranged in magnitude from 2.5 to 4.4 and struck near the base, which is about 80 miles from Las Vegas, according to US Geological Survey (USGS) data. The first, most powerful quake, struck 2.5 miles below ground just after 3 p.m. Wednesday local time, followed by more than a dozen...

Venezuela’s deposed president, Nicolás Maduro, never enjoyed the charisma or genuine popularity of his predecessor, ‘El Comandante’ Hugo Chávez. So all the murals, billboards and installations dotted around Caracas urging the release of the 63-year-old statesman – along with his wife Cilia Flores – from American captivity, don’t exactly feel like a grassroots effort. ‘Bring them home!’ reads one mural, evoking the Israeli hostages kidnapped by Hamas. Meanwhile, a stopwatch installed in Caracas’s Bolivar Square counts how long it has been since the presidential couple were abducted by the US army in early January. Maduro currently resides in the Metropolitan...

Reform UK has said it would open migrant detention centres for people awaiting deportation in areas that vote for the Green Party. The party had previously said it would build removal centres in remote areas of the country if elected, as part of plans to detain up to 24,000 people within 18 months. Zia Yusuf, Reform UK's home affairs spokesperson, said Green-controlled areas would be prioritised because of what he described as the party's support for "open borders". A Green Party spokesperson said it was a "disgusting idea" and accused Reform of "making abhorrent announcements in attempts to distract voters"...

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) is falling slightly behind his GOP challengers ahead of Louisiana’s Republican primary, according to a new poll. The incumbent senator is currently in third place among likely Republican primary voters in the state, according to an Emerson College poll released Thursday. Louisiana State Treasurer John Fleming (R) received 28 percent of respondents’ support, and Rep. Julia Letlow (R-La.) received 27 percent while Cassidy garnered 21 percent. Twenty-two percent of the poll’s respondents said they are currently undecided on their vote in the state’s May 16 Republican primary election, which is now less than three weeks away....