Free Republic

Jennifer Williams, a foreign service officer and aide to Vice President Pence who testified in the House impeachment inquiry, has asked to leave her post early. Politico reported Thursday that Williams, who is on detail from the State Department, plans to leave her position in Pence’s office early in order to join Central Command. Pence’s chief of staff Marc Short subsequently told The Hill in a statement that Williams had requested an early departure from her role, set to end in March, and that the office is “evaluating her request.” “Jennifer Williams, a State Department employee detailed to the Vice...

The thousands of people who descended upon the Jersey Shore town for President Donald Trump's 'Keep America Great' rally at the Wildwoods Convention Center left behind a sea of trash in the parking lot — including their abandoned beach chairs and blankets — after the rally wrapped up.Rally-goers were allowed to bring chairs as they waited in line — some for up to 48 hours before the event — but they weren't allowed to bring them inside the venue.Factor in the blankets they used to stay warm, and all their drinks and food they were snacking on during the long wait...

WASHINGTON - Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar, and the UAE on Tuesday issued statements welcoming the Trump administration's peace plan. "The Kingdom reiterates its support for all efforts aimed at reaching a just and comprehensive resolution to the Palestinian cause," said the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs. "The kingdom appreciates the efforts of President Trump's administration to develop a comprehensive peace plan between the Palestinian and the Israeli sides, and encourages the start of direct peace negotiations between the Palestinian and Israeli sides, under the auspices of the United States," the statement reads. It also called to resolve any disagreements with...

They don’t call Mark Levin ‘The Great One’ for nothin’. With all of the rhetoric we’re seeing today in social media and in traditional media about the John Bolton story, it’s good to see Levin pushing back with actual facts. Like this … If every word of this New York Times story is true, which I doubt as it’s another politically timed leak, how does this change anything? As a matter of FACT, there was no quid pro quo. And there’s still no evidence to the contrary. https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/01/26/trump-denies-new-york-times-report-on-john-bolton-book/ … Good point. House Democrats weren’t able to prove anything about quid...

President Trump denied early Monday that he told then-national security adviser John Bolton the holding of military aid to Ukraine was tied to investigations into Democrats. Trump said he “NEVER” had that conversation with Bolton despite a New York Times report that claims Bolton was told Trump wanted to continue freezing $391 million in security assistance until officials in Ukraine helped with the probes. “I NEVER told John Bolton that the aid to Ukraine was tied to investigations into Democrats, including the Bidens,” Trump wrote on Twitter. “In fact, he never complained about this at the time of his very...

The U.S. Embassy compound in Baghdad was hit by multiple rockets on Sunday, two U.S. officials told ABC News. This is the first time the compound has been hit directly in years and comes just weeks after pro-Iranian militia members and their supporters assaulted the compound in Iraq. Rocket attacks on the Green Zone are very common. Last week three rockets were fired into Baghdad's Green Zone, the heavily fortified area of the capital that houses the embassy, government buildings and U.S. service members. Iraqi officials said Monday that there were no injuries. Both U.S. officials told ABC News that...

It may be difficult to believe in this enlightened age but there was a time not so long ago when the National Review was the intellectual heart of America's conservative movement. Its writers were sharp, gifted and irreverent. Their appearances on Fox News and other TV outlets made them rock stars. All that ended on January 22, 2016, when the magazine posted online its "Against Trump" issue. Once again, the editors proudly chose to stand athwart history rather than make it. They chose to lose with what they consider honor rather than win. 22 writers signed on, each penning...

Sen. Mike Braun, R-Ind., said on Sunday that he hopes undergoing impeachment and the trial in the Senate will “be instructive” for President Trump. Braun’s comments came during a contentious back-and-forth with moderator Chuck Todd on NBC’s “Meet The Press,” where Todd told the Indiana lawmaker that Trump "is going to take acquittal and think, 'I can keep doing this,'" "No, I don't think that," Braun replied. "Hopefully, it'll be instructive." "I think he'll put two and two together," the Indiana Republican added. "In this case, he was taken to the carpet."

Kobe Bryant died in a helicoper crash in Calabasas Sunday morning ... TMZ Sports has confirmed. Kobe was traveling with at least 3 other people in his private helicopter when it went down. A fire broke out. Emergency personnel responded, but nobody on board survived. 5 people are confirmed dead. We're told Vanessa Bryant was not among those on board. The cause of the crash is under investigation.

In an editorial published Wednesday at National Review, the editors argue that an “unspoken consensus” has emerged among Republican senators that what President Trump did was wrong but it doesn’t warrant his removal from office. The editors think this a “reasonable” position and that Republicans should make the case for it publicly, but they can’t because of the president’s “obstinacy” in defending his actions vis-à-vis Ukraine.Instead of insisting that Trump “cannot be impeached for any abuse of power unless that abuse took the form of a criminal violation of a statute,” they write, “Republicans would be better off arguing...

Voters give the economy its best ratings in nearly two decades in the latest Fox News Poll -- and credit President Trump. And yet as his impeachment trial begins, Trump’s job approval holds steady, while half say the Senate should remove him from office. The poll, released Sunday, finds 55 percent give the economy positive ratings (excellent or good). It’s been 19 years since this many felt as positively (59 percent in January 2001).

White House photo of Trump at March for Life. Like Donald Trump, I attended my first March for Life this year. I didn’t march. Instead, I was there to record the faces and screams of the angry ugly left as I often do at these sorts of events . Stunningly, the angry ugly left didn’t show up. That's understandable because whenever the momentum is against the left, they ignore their opposition. I see this firsthand all the time when it comes to voter fraud and especially when racial discrimination is done by the traditional victims of discrimination . What...

Iran was dealt a severe blow with the strike that killed Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani. Yet because of Iran’s core interests, the danger to U.S. servicemembers in Iraq is far from over. Instead of playing politics, Washington must realize that risking the lives of American forces in a gamble to reduce Iranian influence in Iraq isn’t worth it and may be self-defeating. Just look at the history of America and Iran.Many Americans view this history as starting in 1979 when, during the Iranian Revolution that overthrew the shah, Islamic radicals stormed the U.S. embassy in Iran and held...

The attendees' acceptance of Trump is all the more surprising given the theme of this year's annual WEF meeting: "Stakeholders for a Cohesive and Sustainable World." Trump, after all, is a climate-change denier, although he seems to have kept his denial under wraps in his prepared address. He limited his barbs at environmentalists (https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-world-economic-forum-davos-switzerland/) to urging a rejection of "the perennial prophets of doom and their predictions of the apocalypse," including "an overpopulation crisis in the 1960s, mass starvation in the '70s and an end of oil in the 1990s." The change of heart toward Trump may have something to...

Senator Mitt Romney, one of four centrist Republicans seen as open to a Democratic push to call witnesses and introduce new evidence in the trial, admitted disliking not being in touch with his staff in the chamber. "Ha, I do miss my electronic connection, I've got to tell you," Romney said during a short break. "No doubt about that."

The decade that just ended saw a period of uninterrupted economic growth. In the decade to come, we'll pay for squandering it. Since the so-called Great Recession officially ended in the third quarter of 2009, the United States has enjoyed 42 consecutive quarters of solid if unspectacular economic growth. That's the longest run of uninterrupted growth since government economists began tracking the business cycle in the 1850s, far outpacing the average economic expansion of 18 months. Employment has increased by 12 percent, the jobless rate reached record lows, and America's gross domestic product (GDP) has increased by more than 25...

This is hilarious...and SPOT-ON!

Chesley Sullenberger, the pilot who performed the “Miracle on the Hudson”, has told Donald Trump’s daughter-in-law Lara Trump to “grow up” and “show some decency”, after she mocked Joe Biden for stuttering. Biden, a frontrunner for the Democratic nomination to face President Trump in November, has spoken openly about his lifelong experiences with a stutter. Lara Trump, who is married to the president’s second son Eric, works for the Trump re-election campaign and spoke in that capacity at an event in Iowa on Friday, the day after the seventh Democratic debate. “I feel kind of sad for Biden,” she said....

More than a week after an attack by al-Shabaab that killed three Americans, including a soldier, the Pentagon announced a deadly airstrike was carried out in Somalia on the designated terrorist group. U.S. Africa Command, or AFRICOM, said the strikes were conducted in the area of Qunyo Barrow, Somalia, on Thursday, killing two members of the group. The State Department has designated al-Shabaab as a Foreign Terrorist Organization affiliated with al-Qaeda. “Al-Shabaab presents a threat to America, the African people, and our international partners,” said U.S. Army Maj. Gen. William Gayler of AFRICOM. No civilians were killed or injured in...

A year and a half into Donald Trump’s presidency, Henry Kissinger set out a theory. “I think Trump may be one of those figures in history who appears from time to time to mark the end of an era and to force it to give up its old pretences,” he told the Financial Times. “It doesn’t necessarily mean that he knows this, or that he is considering any great alternative. It could just be an accident.” A term has been coined to describe this notion: Ryan Evans of War on the Rocks calls them “Trumportunities.” It is the idea that,...