Free Republic

In a historic ruling, The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that the Harvard and UNC race-based affirmative action programs are unconstitutional. Schools nationwide will no longer be able to discriminate against students on the basis of race. How outlandish were Harvard’s affirmative action policies? An African American student placed within the 40th percentile of their academic index is more likely to gain admission than an Asian student who ranks in the topmost, 100th percentile. Similarly, Black students who fall within the 50th percentile have greater chances of acceptance than White students who are at the pinnacle of their academic performance....

‘Despicable’: Slovene bishops condemn Jesuit artist’s abuseSlovenia’s Catholic bishops on Thursday condemned as “despicable” the emotional, sexual, and spiritual violence committed against women by a famous Slovenian priest at the heart of an abuse and cover-up scandal roiling the Vatican and the Jesuit order of Pope Francis.The Slovene bishops’ conference broke three weeks of silence with a statement in which the churchmen also voiced solidarity with the victims of the Rev. Marko Ivan Rupnik and urged anyone harmed by him or any other priest who abused his authority to come forward.“It is never the victims’ fault! We are on their...

The judge handling the assault case of the husband of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi disclosed that she had previously worked with the couple's daughter in the 90s. David DePape, 42, was charged with attempted murder for striking Paul Pelosi, 82, with a hammer after he broke into the Pelosi's San Francisco house, calling out 'Where's Nancy' – the same phrase used by Capitol rioters on January 6. Judge Loretta Giorgi revealed in court that she was a colleague of Christine Pelosi when the pair worked at the San Francisco attorney's office but added that they hadn't spoken in several...

Top House Democrats Maxine Waters and James Clyburn have continued to shell out tens of thousands of dollars in campaign funds to their family members ahead of the November midterm elections. The re-election campaign for Waters, the U.S. House Financial Services Committee chairwoman, paid a total of $16,000 to the congresswoman's daughter in four separate payments in July and September of this year. Karen Waters, who has been organizing slate-mailing operations to bolster her mother's re-election since 2003, and her company, Progressive Connections, have received more than $1.2 million from Waters’ campaign over the past nearly two decades. *** Waters,...

Schools Chancellor David Banks quietly promoted Mayor Adams’ girlfriend to a top job at the Department of Education, just months after Adams hired Banks’ girlfriend as a deputy mayor, The Post has learned. Banks named Tracey Collins — Adams’ longtime partner and NYC’s unofficial First Lady — the DOE’s “senior advisor to the deputy chancellor of school leadership,” Desmond Blackburn. She started the new job in July, and got a giant, 23% raise to $221,597 a year, records show. Hizzoner named Banks’ girlfriend, Sheena Wright, and four other women deputy mayors last Dec. 21. Deputy mayors made $251,982 in FY...

White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain‘s wife, Monica Medina, has been selected as President Joe Biden‘s newly-created Special Envoy for Biodiversity and Water Resources. To steal a tongue-in-cheek phrase from New England radio legend Howie Carr, Medina was “chosen after a nationwide search,” I’m sure. We actually don’t know because the State Department refused to say. When asked point blank if there was a nationwide search process, a State Department spokesperson skirted the question and instead claimed this wasn’t a new position at all. “The Special Envoy for Biodiversity and Water Resources is not a new position but rather...

NEW YORK — Mayor Eric Adams on Friday named his younger brother as a deputy NYPD commissioner, police sources said — a move that immediately raised conflict-of-interest questions. Bernard Adams was assigned to the office of new Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell, sources said. The post — which comes with a yearly salary of around $240,000, according to SeeThroughNY.net — is believed to be temporary. Sources expect Bernard Adams to be transferred elsewhere once other high-level personnel moves are finalized.... ...The appointment by Adams, who won office on a tough-on-crime platform, raised eyebrows among government watchdogs....

@mtracey Meritocracy update: the son of Bob Menendez, Rob, has already been pre-anointed as the next Congressman from this part of northern New Jersey, taking his dad’s old seat in the House. They’ll be the only father-son duo in Congress

New York Times story seen as effort to put spin on bad news Long before the New York Post's blockbuster, election-eve stories on Hunter Biden's laptop in 2020, investigative reporter and author Peter Schweizer documented the Biden family's international business of selling access to the White House for millions of dollars. Schweizer's 2018 book "Secret Empires: How the American Political Class Hides Corruption and Enriches Family and Friends" and a follow-up, "Profiles in Corruption: Abuse of Power by America’s Progressive Elite," presented evidence that five members of the Biden family cashed in while Joe Biden was vice president.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams on Sunday defended his decision to name his brother, former NYPD police officer Bernard Adams, as a deputy NYPD commissioner. Though he acknowledged a city ethics panel will “make the determination” on whether there’s a conflict of interest over bringing on his brother for the job, Adams argued it’s necessary given the threat he faces from “white supremacy.” “Let me be clear on this: My brother is qualified for the position. Number one, he will be in charge of my security, which is extremely important to me at a time when we see an...

Mayor Adams on Friday named his younger brother as a deputy NYPD commissioner, police sources said — a move that immediately raised conflict-of-interest questions. Bernard Adams was assigned to the office of new Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell, sources said. The post — which comes with a yearly salary of around $240,000, according to SeeThroughNY.net — is believed to be temporary. Sources expect Bernard Adams to be transferred elsewhere once other high-level personnel moves are finalized.

DOVER, Del. (AP) — Delaware’s state auditor, who is responsible for rooting out government fraud, waste and abuse, was indicted Monday on public corruption charges. An indictment issued by a New Castle County grand jury charges Kathleen McGuiness, 58, with felony counts of theft and witness intimidation, and misdemeanor charges of official misconduct, conflict of interest and noncompliance with state procurement laws. Prosecutors said the charges include allegations that McGuiness hired her daughter and one of her daughter’s friends, both high school seniors at the time, as temporary employees in May 2020, even though other temporary employees had to leave...

Meghan McCain, the daughter of the late Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), said Wednesday on ABC’s “The View” that CNN host Chris Cuomo is an example of the “worst kinds of nepotism” for not covering his brother Governor Andrew Cuomo alleged sexual harassment scandal. McCain said, “You want to talk about nepotism, not having to talk about the biggest scandal in the country when it has to do with your brother, and you’re hosting CNN? That’s nepotism. The Cuomo family and CNN are the worst kinds of nepotism that the media has an example of. If it were my brother, if...

Joe Biden has nominated three of the wives of his political allies to plum diplomatic posts - putting his own spin on the tradition of giving the coveted positions to major donors. The ambassadors to Austria, Slovenia and the U.N.'s world food program are all wives of supporters. Biden is also reportedly considering Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of John F. Kennedy, for an ambassadorial role in Asia or Australia.

While President Joe Biden promised that none of his family members would receive government jobs, that hasn't extended to his top tier of advisers Psaki was asked at the Monday briefing what safeguards the White House has in place to prevent preferential hiring of family members. 'We have the highest ethical standards of any administration in history,' Psaki replied. 'A number of ethics officials have conveyed that and we're proud of that... This is the most diverse administration in American history.' At least five children of his top aides have gotten jobs, according to a report Friday in The Washington...

Biden aide and White House counselor Steve Ricchetti now has not one but three children working within the administration, including son J.J. Ricchetti who was just hired by the Treasury Department as a Special Assistant in the Office of Legislative Affairs. Ricchetti, a recent University of Pennsylvania graduate, in his Instagram bio included a link to a document about supporting the Defund the Police movement and donating to bail funds for protesters. The document, titled "#blacklivesmatter," also included links to social media posts about how to disable tanks. The link was removed after an inquiry to Treasury from Fox News....

The US government’s former ethics chief is slamming the Biden administration for a potentially “illegal” nepotism spree, saying that it “royally sucks” and is “a real ‘f— you'” to ethical governance.Walter Shaub, director of the US Office of Government Ethics from 2013 to 2017, gained fame for frequently faulting the Trump administration, but turned his fire on President Biden on Friday.

Joe Biden as vice president hired one of his son Hunter’s investment-firm staffers as a personal assistant, emails from his son’s discarded laptop show. Anne Marie Person, 34, left Hunter Biden’s Rosemont Seneca Partners in 2014 to join the veep’s staff — and stayed in close contact with her former bosses, keeping them apprised of visiting dignitaries and official events they might have interest in, according to the emails. Rosemont Seneca and its affiliates have come under scrutiny, as the US Department of Justice investigates Hunter Biden’s foreign dealings as part of a possible tax-fraud probe. Hunter Biden secured meetings...

Pope Francis Appoints Fellow Jesuit as New Bishop of Hong KongROME — Pope Francis has appointed Jesuit Father Stephen Chow Sau-yan to be the new Bishop of the Diocese of Hong Kong as the latest elevation of members of his order to positions of influence.Father Chow, who currently serves as the Provincial of the Chinese Province of the Society of Jesus, will replace Cardinal John Tong Hon, who has served as the Apostolic Administrator of Hong Kong since January 2019.In naming Chow to occupy this important and controversial post, Pope Francis has continued his penchant for appointing members of his...

Hunter Biden owes massive credit card debt after living like a high roller with access to millions of dollars linked to business dealings overseas that proved insufficient to satisfy his ravenous appetite for drugs, prostitutes, and luxury cars, the Daily Mail reported Friday. The Daily Mail published a bombshell report surrounding the potentially incriminating contents of a laptop purportedly owned by Hunter that was dropped off at a Delaware repair shop and eventually given to the FBI.On Friday, the Daily Mail unveiled contents of the laptop that go well beyond the emails first reported by the New York Post in...