Free Republic

More than a dozen senior lawyers — many with decades of experience working under presidents of both parties — have been reassigned, the current and former officials say. Some have resigned in frustration after they were moved to less desirable roles unrelated to their expertise, according to the sources. “It’s been a complete bloodbath,” said a senior Justice Department lawyer in the division who is not authorized to speak publicly... The managerial jobs vacated in recent weeks have not been filled, so the traditional work of the division has all but stopped.

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump did not rule out the possibility of seeking a third term in the White House, which is prohibited by the Constitution under the 22nd Amendment, saying in an exclusive interview with NBC News that there were methods for doing so and clarifying that he was “not joking.” “A lot of people want me to do it,” Trump said in a Sunday-morning phone call with NBC News, referring to his allies. “But, I mean, I basically tell them we have a long way to go, you know, it’s very early in the administration.” “I’m focused on...

Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) said on Sunday that Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe “lied repeatedly” about messages in a Signal group chat in which top members of the Trump administration discussed an attack on Yemen.“Intelligence officials told your committee this week that no classified information was shared. Do you believe that directors Ratcliffe and Gabbard were truthful when they testified before your committee?” NBC News’s Kristen Welker asked Bennet on “Meet the Press.”“No, I think they lied repeatedly to our committee and to the House committee. Kristen, let me try to make this as...

Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that suggestions someone other than Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky should lead his nation was “horrific.” Host Kristen Welker said, “Let me start with Ukraine and that Oval Office meeting. The reaction continues to pour in, and you just heard me speak with House Speaker Mike Johnson. He left the door open to the possibility that it may be necessary for President Zelenskyy to resign in order to get to a broader peace agreement. Let me ask you this question, do you think that President Zelensky needs to resign in...

Social Security has never missed a benefit payment since the program first began sending individuals monthly benefits more than eight decades ago. But the recent actions at the U.S. Social Security Administration by Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency are putting monthly benefit checks for more than 72.5 million Americans at risk, former commissioner and former Maryland governor Martin O’Malley told CNBC.com. “Ultimately, you’re going to see the system collapse and an interruption of benefits,” O’Malley said. “I believe you will see that within the next 30 to 90 days.” Ahead of any interruption in benefits, “people should start...

President Donald Trump has long warned about an entrenched “deep state” of malevolent bureaucrats working to thwart his agenda. Many actual employees of the federal government have scoffed at this characterization, proud of the apolitical nature of the civil service and its ability to work across Republican and Democratic administrations. This time might have been no different — if Trump and Elon Musk hadn’t come in and declared war on them. While there were conflicts between Trump and civil servants in his first term, Trump may now be creating the broad resistance within the federal government he thought was there...

A federal appeals court struck down provisions in two Arizona voting laws that sought to increase proof-of-citizenship requirements for voter registration, saying this week that parts of the law amounted to “voter suppression.” The decision by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, based in San Francisco, upholds the findings of a lower court that blocked the 2022 Arizona laws signed by then-Gov. Doug Ducey, a Republican. It also sent one of the laws back to the district court to reconsider whether it was enacted with the intention to discriminate. "We’re glad that the 9th Circuit sees these laws for...

Nikki Haley, who served as United Nations ambassador in Trump’s first term and later challenged him for the 2024 GOP nomination, admonished Trump in a social media post: “These are classic Russian talking points. Exactly what Putin wants.” Another figure from Trump’s first term joined Haley in her condemnation. “Mr. President, Ukraine did not ‘start’ this war,” Trump’s former vice president, Mike Pence, wrote on X. “Russia launched an unprovoked and brutal invasion claiming hundreds of thousands of lives.” Blowback also came from the Rupert Murdoch-owned New York Post, normally a Trump-friendly outlet. The tabloid’s cover on Friday featured a...

A foreign service worker whose pregnant wife allegedly was denied emergency medical transport while stationed abroad has filed an affidavit in federal court against the Trump administration, claiming its “rushed, haphazard and cruel” push to shut down the U.S. Agency for International Development has placed the mother and unborn daughter at grave risk. The worker, who identified themselves only as "Terry Doe" in a filing that's part of a larger case in federal court in Washington, D.C., charges that the U.S. government twice denied previously approved medical transport orders for the mother, who is 31-weeks pregnant. “Each day has brought...

Sweeping layoffs, funding freezes and executive orders have provoked outcry among federal researchers and their university partners, who fear that science itself is under siege. “This is simply the end.” That was the five-word message that Rick Huganir, a neuroscientist at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, received from a colleague just before 6 p.m. two Fridays ago, with news that would send a wave of panic through the scientific community.… The flurry of activity in recent weeks stems from Trump’s executive orders that aim to shrink the federal workforce and target programs related to gender identity, environmental justice or diversity,...

NBC News’ chief foreign affairs Andrea Mitchell said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that there was an international backlash developing against President Donald Trump’s agenda. Host Kristen Welker said, “We just talked to the Trump national security adviser amid questions about Gaza, whether he plans to try to make Canada the 51st state and of course, all of these cuts that we’re seeing. How do you see the Trump doctrine right now?” Mitchell said, “It appears to the world as might makes right in Panama, Canada. You can argue that this is an opening bid but we’ve seen in...

SNIPOn Sunday afternoon, the FBI Agents Association sent employees a notice that some agents had received an email from senior officials ordering them to respond to a “12-question survey" asking about their involvement in Jan. 6 cases, according to two people who received it. <>SNIP <p">Regarding one of the questions, the association recommended that agents respond with the following wording: "I have been told I am ‘required to respond’ to this survey, without being afforded appropriate time to research my answers, speak with others, speak with counsel or other representation." The association recommended that they also write, “To the best...

American citizens, including citizens of Native tribal nations, have been pulled into the vast immigration operations ordered by President Donald Trump in accordance with his campaign vow to conduct mass deportations since Day 1. Those who are getting caught in Immigrations and Customs Enforcement raids are being targeted because of their race or skin color, according to witnesses.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom blasted President-elect Donald Trump’s response to the California wildfires in an interview on NBC News’ “Meet the Press” recorded Saturday, saying, “Mis- and disinformation I don’t think advantages or aids any of us.” Newsom appeared to be referring to Trump’s posts on Truth Social blasting Newsom, President Joe Biden and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass since the fires broke out Tuesday. In one post, the president-elect baselessly claimed Newsom had blocked a measure that would have allowed water to flow from Northern California to Southern California. “Responding to Donald Trump’s insults, we would spend another month,”...

California Gov. Gavin Newsom blasted President-elect Donald Trump’s response to the California wildfires in an interview on NBC News’ “Meet the Press” recorded Saturday, saying, “Mis- and disinformation I don’t think advantages or aids any of us.”Newsom appeared to be referring to Trump’s posts on Truth Social blasting Newsom, President Joe Biden and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass since the fires broke out Tuesday.In one post, the president-elect baselessly claimed Newsom had blocked a measure that would have allowed water to flow from Northern California to Southern California.

WASHINGTON — Lawyers and pro-democracy advocates are in the early stages of building a nationwide network of specialists aimed at defending and protecting people who may be targeted for retribution once President-elect Donald Trump takes office, according to multiple people involved in the effort. The sprawling initiative is intended to go far beyond legal assistance for those potentially subjected to criminal or civil investigations in a new Trump administration. Those working to create the infrastructure said that in addition to lawyers, they are recruiting accountants to help people who may find their taxes under audit, employment experts to advise those...

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah., took NBC News to task for "selectively omitting" a key part of the 14th Amendment in a question about birthright citizenship during an interview with President-elect Donald Trump on Sunday… "All persons born … in the United States, *and subject to the jurisdiction thereof,* shall be citizens of the United States," Lee wrote on X, highlighting the missing words in asterisks. "Those words matter," he added. The senator continued to break down the issue in a lengthy 12-part thread. "Congress has the power to define what it means to be born in the United States ‘and...

WASHINGTON — Foreign leaders have lined up to speak with him. He has rattled Mexico and Canada with threats of steep tariffs and warned there would be “hell to pay” for militants in Gaza unless they release the hostages by the time he’s sworn in.That won't happen for another 45 days, but Donald Trump, the president-in-waiting, isn't shying away from acting like the president-in-reality.Trump can't sign a bill or issue an executive order yet, but he is crowding out Joe Biden as the sitting president winds down his term and steadily recedes from public view. In two foreign trips since...

President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for director of national intelligence, former Democratic lawmaker Tulsi Gabbard, has been accused of amplifying Russian propaganda and would come to the job having never worked in the intelligence world or served on a congressional intelligence committee. ... In her public statements, Gabbard has often been at odds with the U.S. intelligence community’s assessments. If she is confirmed, her tenure would most likely be marked by clashes with government analysts who see Russian President Vladimir Putin’s government as the primary purveyor of disinformation designed to sow divisions in the U.S. Outraged lawmakers accused Gabbard two years...

WATCH: Rachel Maddow says the government will pull all of @elonmusk ’s contracts for supporting Trump.