Free Republic

The decentralized nature of cryptocurrency makes it an ideal vehicle for sanctions evasion and an increasingly vital pillar of Iran’s wartime economy. As the risk of renewed U.S.-Iran conflict rises, Tehran has moved quickly to adapt to wartime realities while attempting to limit the impact on border security, domestic stability, and the broader economy. Despite obvious constraints, the Islamic Republic has had a measure of success in maintaining control at home while circumventing U.S. pressure in the Strait of Hormuz through shadow tankers and ship-to-ship transfers to sustain oil exports. This has reignited Western debates over whether sanctions and military...

Former high-ranking FBI official Charles McGonigal started tearing up Thursday as he was sentenced to 50 months in federal prison for colluding with a Russian oligarch to evade US sanctions. McGonigal, 55, was ordered to surrender by Feb. 26, 2024, made to serve three years of supervised release following his time behind bars, and was fined $40,000. After he exited the courthouse, McGonigal told onlookers, “Happy holidays.” McGonigal, who helmed the FBI’s counterintelligence division in New York from 2016 to 2018, pleaded guilty to the charge back in August. “[McGonigal] well knew his actions violated those sanctions,” Manhattan federal judge...

Progressive nonprofits are having a rough time lately. In April, the Department of Justice alleged that the Southern Poverty Law Center secretly paid leaders of the Ku Klux Klan and Aryan Nations—not to dismantle these extremist groups, but, as prosecutors put it, to manufacture “the extremism it purports to oppose.” And a recent City Journal investigation by Ryan Thorpe and Christopher F. Rufo, based on a previous report from the Network Contagion Research Institute and the Intelligent Advocacy Network, as well as their congressional testimony, revealed that the California branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations has received more than...

American Federation of Teachers boss Randi Weingarten tapped hundreds of thousands in union resources to help write her controversial book — working with a team that raked in more than $1.4 million from the labor group, a new analysis found. Weingarten used the abundance of union-fueled resources for the liberal agenda-pushing “Why Fascists Fear Teachers: Public Education and the Future of Democracy” then pocketed a portion of the proceeds, the Freedom Foundation claimed in a new report. Her team included an attorney who supposedly worked on the book pro bono but whose firm raked in $977,000 for various work for...

Alex Saab fell out of favor with the new administration that took power since Maduro’s ouster and capture by US forces in January.

At the direction of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board has ordered the Texas American Muslim University at Dallas (TexAM) to halt its operations, stating that the organization is not a recognized university and thus “prohibited by law from granting or offering to grant degrees.” But there are other reasons for state agencies to be concerned: TexAM directors maintain ties to domestic radicals and foreign extremists. One of its founders is an overt supporter of foreign terror operatives, while seemingly accused of stalking and distributing “revenge porn” against a former mistress. Terror-Aligned Extremism Despite four different...

The groups admitted to 16 violations and agreed to pay a record $300,000 fine, the largest in Georgia history The Georgia Senate is ramping up its investigation into alleged campaign finance violations tied to Stacey Abrams’ voter outreach group, with a top lawmaker vowing to "follow the facts wherever they lead" as subpoenas have been issued to Abrams and other key figures. The Senate Special Committee on Investigations announced Monday that Abrams, along with New Georgia Project leaders Lauren Groh-Wargo and Nsé Ufot, must appear before lawmakers at the State Capitol at 10 a.m. on Friday. "This committee has a...

Hong Kong has become a critical financial and logistical lifeline for Iran’s regime — helping move illicit oil, weapons technology and surveillance tools that fuel Tehran’s military machine and domestic repression, according to a bombshell report set for release Monday. The 26-page report by the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation, titled “Oil, Arms, and Cash: How Hong Kong Fuels the Iranian Regime,” alleges that dozens of Hong Kong-based companies have helped Iran evade Western sanctions while funneling billions of dollars into the hands of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its terror proxies. “Simply put, without Hong Kong’s...

We reported on former President Barack Obama's effort this week to pump up his presidential center, which is finally opening in June.(snip) I can't imagine there would be a lot of ordinary folks beating down the doors to visit. As we've noted, the main building is not exactly a beacon of attractiveness. It's just flat-out ugly. They're even selling a pin that's supposed to look like the building, and the pin is similarly ugly. Plus, you have to shell out $30 for the pin, which is just a gray blob of clay. One of the funniest was this necklace, which...

The Trump administration’s cancellation of more than $100 million in humanities grants to scholars, writers, research groups and other organizations was unconstitutional, and the Department of Government Efficiency had no authority to end the funding, a federal judge in New York ruled on Thursday. U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon in Manhattan sided with The Authors Guild, several other groups and several people who had their grants canceled and sued DOGE and the National Endowment for the Humanities. McMahon permanently barred the administration from terminating the grants and criticized DOGE’s use of artificial intelligence in nixing the funding. Government lawyers had...

Requiring the disclosure of fiscal sponsorships is key. On April 23, the US Treasury Department announced that the IRS plans to revise Form 990—the annual information return filed by tax-exempt organizations—to improve transparency and strengthen oversight, specifically targeting reporting on government contracts, government grants, and fiscal sponsorship arrangements. The stated goals are to detect misconduct and hold wrongdoers accountable. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent put the matter bluntly: “We are ending the days of hiding fraud, abuse, and extremist activity behind complicated nonprofit arrangements. When bad actors misuse charitable structures, directors and officers should understand that transparency can lead to scrutiny,...

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton fired back at the ActBlue Democratic donation organization after it filed a lawsuit Friday accusing him of violating the Constitution. Paxton filed a lawsuit last month accusing ActBlue of illegally accepting donations forbidden by campaign laws. The portal has faced similar allegations from Republicans for years. The ActBlue lawsuit accused Paxton of violating the organization's First and Fourteenth Amendment rights of the Constitution. "ActBlue is trying to take me down," Paxton responded on social media. "I sued the fundraising platform for deceiving Americans by lying about its donation processes that allow fraudulent and foreign donations....

AB 1608 would rename and expand the powers of the High-Speed Rail Authority’s Inspector General while creating broad exemptions to withhold records California’s high-speed rail project, originally pitched to voters as a $33.5 billion endeavor under Proposition 1A in 2008, has spiraled into a staggering taxpayer nightmare with estimates now exploding as high as $231 billion — a more than 700% increase. Against this backdrop of relentless cost overruns, Assembly Democrats are advancing legislation critics say is explicitly designed to conceal the extent of the waste and shield the failing project from public accountability. AB 1608, authored by Assemblywoman Lori...

Grammy-winning rapper Prakazrel “Pras” Michel of the Fugees has reported to federal prison to begin a 14-year sentence following a conviction over illegally funneling millions of dollars in foreign contributions to former President Barack Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign. Michel reported to prison Thursday, a spokesperson said, with federal records listing him as an inmate at a low-security correctional institution in Arizona. “Today is a painful day for Pras, for his family, and for everyone who believes in a fair system of justice. Pras honors the legal process as he reports to begin his sentence,” said Erica Dumas, a spokesperson for...

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. – Federal taxpayers helped build a $2.2 billion solar plant — now electricity customers are on the hook to keep it running. The Ivanpah Solar Power Plant, a sprawling facility near the California-Nevada border built with billions in federal support during the Obama-era economic stimulus program, is stuck in a costly dilemma. Both the Trump and Biden administrations — along with the utility company that buys its power — have sought to shut it down, saying it underperforms, produces expensive electricity and has been overtaken by cheaper energy sources. But California regulators have refused to allow it...

RealRobert🇺🇸@Real_RobNHere it is:King Solomon Reporting:Holy God 🔥🔥🔥 AGAIN@jsolomonReports; U.S. intercepted intelligence confirms beyond a shadow of a doubt that Ukrainian officials were plotting to divert U.S. taxpayer money to Joe Biden’s campaign in the 2024 presidential election as a means to overthrow the United States government.President Trump has had it for months now, waiting for the right time to drop the bomb.2016: The General Prosecutor of Ukraine stated:“There’s enough evidence for me to open a criminal investigation into the illicit effort by Ukrainian officials to try to influence the United States election in favor of Hillary Clinton.”April 30, 2026

Biden administration officials may have sought to dodge public records laws and congressional oversight by classifying taxpayer-backed loans to Planned Parenthood as “Benghazi,” according to findings by Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa. Ernst, chairwoman of the Senate Small Business Committee, has been investigating Small Business Administration loans to the nation’s largest abortion provider under the Paycheck Protection Program during the COVID-19 pandemic. In a letter sent Monday to acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, Ernst asked for a Justice Department investigation “for potential Federal Records Act violation by concealment and/or attempted concealment” of SBA records regarding loans to Planned Parenthood and loan...

...“The Federal Reserve has revealed that US NGOs have more in assets than the combined 2025 GDP estimates for Japan, Germany and India combined — The combined assets held by US NGOs equals $14.2 trillion of your tax money” ...The combined assets held by US NGOs equals $14.2 trillion of your tax money and that of your children and grandchildren and great-great-great-great-great grandchildren. ...As of 2025, United States nonprofits held about $13.4–14.1 trillion in total assets. Including cash, investments, real estate, etc It has grown from $7 trillion a decade ago This is based on Federal Reserve data

The Energy Department is announcing a $325 million investment in new battery types that can help turn solar and wind energy into 24-hour power it said Friday morning. The funds will be distributed among 15 projects in 17 states and the Red Lake Nation, a Native American tribe based in Minnesota. Here is some of what is being funded, through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law of 2021: A project led by Xcel Energy in partnership with long-term battery manufacturer Form Energy will deploy two 100-megawatt battery systems at the site of coal plants that are closing in Becker, Minnesota and Pueblo,...

A bad week for Iran, the SPLC, and the Left in general. hat description comes from Chamath Palihapitiya, a venture capitalist, and relates to the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), which was just indicted by a federal grand jury in Alabama. The SPLC was formed years ago to seek damages for KKK victims. Over the years, it amassed a fortune and used it and its connections with the media and the Democrats unfairly to tar and ruin the livelihoods and reputations of individuals and organizations with which it disagreed -- including groups like Moms for Liberty and Parents Defending Education....