Free Republic

Al Franken sounds restless. The disgraced former senator misses being in public office, and it sounds like he’s toying with the idea of staging a comeback, telling a CBS News affiliate in Minnesota this week that he hasn’t ruled out the idea of getting back in the game. The moment occurred during an interview at Bug-O-Nay-Ge-Shig High School on the Leech Lake Indian Reservation, where the former senator helped secure $12 million in renovations funding. "That means a lot to me. It was very moving for me. It was very gratifying. I put my heart in the job," Franken said....

Senator Markey has announced his support for the Iran deal that will let the terrorist regime inspect its own Parchin nuclear weapons research site, conduct uranium enrichment, build advanced centrifuges, buy ballistic missiles, fund terrorism and have a near zero breakout time to a nuclear bomb. There was no surprise there. Markey had topped the list of candidates supported by the Iran Lobby. And the Iranian American Political Action Committee (IAPAC) had maxed out its contributions to his campaign. After more fake suspense, Al Franken, another IAPAC backed politician who also benefited from Iran Lobby money, came out for the...

Filming the line that is there for the MAGA rally in Rochester, NY.

Hundreds of people lined up outside Mayo Civic Center in a chilly breeze Thursday morning for a chance to see President Donald Trump at an evening campaign rally. T.J. Jergenson, 65, a retiree from Alexandria, Minn., left home at midnight for the long drive. He snagged a spot a few hundred people back in line. “We need to support our president,” Jergenson said. “He’s a businessman. He knows where to spend money and where not to.” The crowd was lively and festive. Some brought chairs and coolers for the wait. “We want Trump” cheers broke out sporadically and the song...

Rep. Keith Ellison, who is facing abuse allegations from an ex-girlfriend, says he’s considering stepping down from his position as the deputy chair of the Democratic National Committee. The congressman told WCCO Radio on Wednesday that he’s considering stepping down from his DNC role to focus solely on the race for Minnesota attorney general. “I need to put 100 percent of my time, energy and resources into the race and my office, so it is something I am considering,” he told the radio station. Earlier this year, Ellison announced that he was leaving his 5th District seat to pursue the...

Sen. Lindsey Graham, the South Carolina Republican who called last week’s Judiciary Committee hearing into sexual assault allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh an “unethical sham,” isn’t done yet. Now he’s taking on a pivotal moment during the hearing -- an exchange between Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Kavanaugh. Klobuchar pressed Kavanaugh on whether he ever blacked out while drinking or had events he couldn’t remember, but instead of answering, he asked the same questions of her. After a brief break in the hearing, Kavanaugh apologized to Minnesota’s senior senator.

The Minnesota DFL Party's attempt to find a law enforcement agency willing to investigate a domestic abuse claim against U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison was mired in uncertainty on Wednesday, after the Minneapolis Police Department said it would seek to refer the case to another jurisdiction. Earlier Wednesday, the DFL asked Minneapolis police to investigate the allegation after both a city attorney and a county prosecutor declined to review a report the party commissioned that did not substantiate the allegation. "Due to a conflict of interest, or the appearance of a conflict of interest, the Minneapolis Police Department will not be...

The Minnesota DFL Party on Wednesday asked the Minneapolis Police Department to investigate a domestic abuse claim against U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison, after both a city attorney and a county prosecutor declined to review a report the party commissioned that did not substantiate the allegation. Charlene Briner, a senior adviser for the party, told the Star Tribune on Wednesday that the DFL sent its investigative report to the Minneapolis Police Department “and asked that they investigate the claims described in the report to determine whether any criminal conduct occurred.” The party asked the Lockridge Grindal Nauen law firm in August...

Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) is leading an effort to try to force President Trump to boost the number of refugees permanently resettled in the United States over the next fiscal year by more than 300 percent. Ellison is the Democrat nominee for the statewide office of attorney general in Minnesota. He holds a slight lead in the most recent polls over his Republican opponent, Doug Wardlow, and is currently entangled in allegations of sexual abuse by two women. The issue of refugee resettlement has become a hot topic in the state's gubernatorial race between GOP nominee Jeff Johnson and Democrat...

Dakota County Attorney James Backstrom has agreed to review claims of abuse made by the ex-girlfriend of Minnesota Rep. Keith Ellison, but only if a law enforcement agency completes an investigation first, according to a letter from the county attorney's office. The letter, which was sent to the Minneapolis City Attorney's Office, came a day after a report compiled by an attorney hired by the DFL. That letter indicated Karen Monahan's allegations that Ellison once physically abused her could not be substantiated was made public. The DFL said Monday they would ask the City of Minneapolis Attorney's Office for review....

Trump Rally tonight!!

This story went live last night before 6:30 p.m. ET, when NBC aired its clown-show interview with Swetnick. Did Collins watch it?Does she still think the feds should devote days of extra investigation to running it down, bearing in mind that reporters from various outfits have spent the past week dumpster-diving to find so much as one witness who can corroborate Swetnick’s claims — with no luck? NBC itself noted on-air before the interview ran that it tried to find supporting witnesses and couldn’t. Of the four names Swetnick provided to them, “One of them says he does not...

Wendy Rogers, the GOP nominee for Congress in Arizona’s first congressional district, has taken a slight lead over Democratic incumbent Rep. Tom O’Halleran (D-AZ) in a key district that could decide the fate of the majority in the U.S. House of Representatives. This district is one of just a handful nationwide where Republicans have an opportunity to flip a seat currently represented by a Democrat back into GOP hands. A couple other such seats exist in Minnesota and one more is in Nevada, but there are hardly any pickup opportunities for Republicans when it comes to defending their House majority....

Even though Twitter forbids racist “epithets,” “tropes,” and “other content that degrades someone,” the posts remain on the platform. In fact, Twitter specifically describes “dehumanizing language” to be against its rules — like comparing people to dogs. Twitter has stripped conservative accounts of their verification on numerous occasions, and in November, the social network stopped taking requests for account verification, meaning that Twitter has to now verify accounts selectively. Tommy Robinson, Laura Loomer were stripped of their verification amongst many others, while WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been repeatedly denied verification, despite the fact that he has over 780,000 followers...

Now this… A second Minnesota woman accused Rep. Keith Ellison of domestic violence. And a police 911 report confirms the incident thanks to work of Laura Loomer!

Democratic Rep. Keith Ellison isn’t having the best week, but it’s nothing compared to what women around him have been through. The Minnesota lawmaker and Deputy Chair of the Democrat National Convention was accused by Karen Monahan of being physically abusive during their relationship. Karen’s son, Austin Monahan, backs up her claim. Now a second woman has courageously stepped forward, and she’s got the 911 report that gives her horrifying story some serious weight. Laura Loomer published the official report to her website.

The Star Tribune has joined a legal effort to unseal the divorce records of U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison, the Democratic candidate for attorney general. Ellison and his ex-wife, Kim Ellison, divorced in 2012. The related records have been sealed, so the public cannot access the information. The Star Tribune’s motion to intervene and unseal the records follows a similar action by Alpha News, a right-leaning online news and opinion site. The efforts follow allegations by Ellison’s ex-girlfriend, Karen Monahan, that Ellison domestically abused her in 2016. He has denied the allegation repeatedly, and Monahan has continued to press her case...

Karen Monahan, the former girlfriend of Democratic Rep. Keith Ellison who has accused him of domestic abuse, on Saturday posted on Facebook several screenshots of messages she allegedly received from the congressman in 2017. “After I realized this situation was narcissist abuse, I told him I now understood the dynamics of the relationship and the various forms of abuse,” Monahan wrote via Facebook. “He would call that bickering when he was called out. But he still left messages like this throughout the whole year of 2017.” ETC... Sceenshots at link.

The chairman of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party said investigators have concluded their investigation into abuse allegations against Rep. Keith Ellison by his former girlfriend, and it will issue its final report soon. “I’m starting to get a little frustrated because it’s been a long time now, almost two months,” Ken Martin told The Associated Press. “I hope soon. I hope any day here.” **SNIP** The Minnesota DFL Party’s attorney was initially tasked with investigating Monahan’s claim. But Martin hired an outside investigator so that the inquiry “wouldn’t be colored by people with associations with the party,” he said.

The Democrats sacrificed Al Franken in order to shore up their effort to win a Senate seat in Alabama. They knew that Minnesota’s governor would appoint another Democrat to replace Franken, so they could net a Senate seat with an upset pickup in Alabama, which is exactly what happened. Many Minnesota Democrats are still unhappy that Franken was forced out of the Senate, not by Republicans but by his own Democratic colleagues. Now it is starting to look as though the Democrats may be throwing Deputy DNC Chairman Keith Ellison overboard in a similar manner. We noted last week that...