Free Republic

When Jeffrey Clark was tapped to lead the second Trump administration’s chief regulatory review office, it marked an astonishing redemption. For years, congressional investigators and prosecutors had pursued the former Department of Justice official ---SNIP--- The disciplinary process in the D.C. bar is radically disparate according to the political affiliation and views of the respondent attorney,” Clark’s lawyers charged. A preliminary review of public records indicates that a majority of the board that made the Clark recommendation was comprised of registered Democrats, individuals who had contributed to Democrat candidates, or public advocates of progressive causes. Only one board member was...

Whatever Winsome Earle-Sears had for dinner tonight before her debate against Abigail Spanberger ahead of the Virginia gubernatorial election in November, we want some of that. Because Sears came out swinging haymakers and continued throwing molten fire at Spanberger for the entire hour while basically taking over the debate from the moderators.

1. The Classification of the AfD by an Administrative Agency In the spring of 2025, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV, Germany's domestic intelligence service) classified the political party Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) as a "right-wing extremist" organization. This classification granted the authorities the power to place its members and supporters under police surveillance without prior judicial authorization, including measures such as intercepting private communications or the BfV recruiting informants within the party. This "judgment" was not delivered by an independent court. It was created by an administrative agency directly under the authority of the Interior...

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machada awarded the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize, beating out the US President who brokered this week's ceasefire and hostage deal with Hamas.

President Donald Trump's historic peace deal between Israel and Hamas was brokered in a Miami mansion 1,000 miles from the halls of power in Washington D.C. Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner was in his $32.2million home on Miami's Indian Creek, often referred to as 'Billionaire Bunker,' when he learned Hamas was open to releasing Israeli hostages held captive since the October 7 attacks. After taking part in weeks of intense, high stakes negotiations with all the major players in the war - Kushner knew it was time to act.

The 2025 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded on Friday to Venezuelan political opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, "for her tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy." Chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee Jørgen Watne Frydnes, announcing the award, called Machado "a brave and committed champion of peace." He lauded Machado as a "key, unifying figure in a political opposition that was once deeply divided — an opposition that found common ground in the demand for free elections and representative government."

An LGBT organization in New Braunfels is hosting a drag show on Saturday that is being marketed as “all ages.” While the Riverside Pride Festival was originally slated to take place at the Comal County Fairgrounds, the event has since been moved to an alternate location—Faith United Church of Christ. The Comal County Fair Executive Board released a statement Tuesday evening explaining that the LGBT organization had decided to move the event following concerns over “age appropriateness.”

The case against Kristin Smart's killer went back before a judge Thursday, nearly three years since his first-degree murder conviction was handed down. An appeal in his case was heard in Ventura County. It argues Paul Flores did not receive a fair trial in Monterey County. Court documents show he's asking that his first-degree murder conviction be overturned or reduced to second-degree murder. The documents cite alleged errors during trial and "reversible misconduct." After submitting 75 pages to the Court of Appeals, Flores’ court-appointed attorney, Solomon Wollack, appeared via Zoom Thursday, presenting three arguments as to why he believes the...

Democratic nominee and mayoral front-runner Zohran Mamdani’s lead over Andrew Cuomo in the race for City Hall has narrowed after incumbent Mayor Eric Adams exited the race, according to a new poll released Thursday. Mamdani leads the race with 46% of likely voters backing him, followed by independent candidate Cuomo with 33% support and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa with 15%, the Quinnipiac University survey finds. In a Quinnipiac survey that gauged a 4-way race last month, Mamdani received 45% support to 23% for Cuomo, 15% for Sliwa and 12% support for Adams. Other polls showed Mamdani with a hefty lead...

Synergy is facing new revelations it has overcharged West Australians for power. (ABC News: Cason Ho) More than 170,000 customers have been overcharged a total of $40 million by WA's state-owned energy retailer Synergy since 2009, it has been revealed. The overpayments range from amounts under a dollar, to thousands of dollars, according to Synergy CEO Kurt Baker, who said most of those affected were residential customers. "We've accepted payments to approximately 170,000 closed accounts, resulting in overpayments," he told ABC Radio Perth. "In many cases this has happened because Synergy's allowed customers to continue to pay to their closed...

While defending his decision to perform at the controversial, state-sponsored Riyadh Comedy Festival in Saudi Arabia, Aziz Ansari said he planned to donate “part of the fee” to “causes that support free press and human rights,” listing Reporters Without Borders and Human Rights Watch, which has long been critical of the comedy festival and the Saudi regime. But in a statement to Variety, a spokesperson for Human Rights Watch said the organization “cannot accept” donations from Ansari and other comedians who have “generously offered to donate part of their performance fees.” (Jessica Kirson said “I deeply regret” performing at Riyadh...

The event has drawn criticism due to human rights abuses by the Saudi governmentJimmy Kimmel grilled comedian Aziz Ansari over his involvement in the controversial Riyadh Comedy Festival in Saudi Arabia. The state-sponsored festival, which also featured fellow standups Dave Chappelle and Bill Burr, has drawn criticism due to the Saudi Arabian government’s alleged human rights abuses, as well as accusations around its involvement in the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018. Appearing on the October 7 edition of Jimmy Kimmel Live, Ansari was faced with questions from the host about performing. “This is something that’s become a big...

President Donald Trump suggested Thursday that Spain be expelled from NATO over its failure to match the higher defense spending requirement he has engineered. "We had one laggard, it was Spain," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. "They have no excuse not to do this, but that's all right. Maybe you should throw them out of NATO frankly." In June, the 32-nation North Atlantic Treaty Organization agreed to massively boost defense spending over the next decade under pressure from Trump, who at the time threatened to punish Madrid on trade for resisting the new target of five percent of...

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill into law Thursday that will make it illegal to declaw a cat in California, a practice that lawmakers and animal advocates argued is outdated and inhumane. Assembly Bill 867 by Assemblymember Alex Lee (D-San José) bars veterinarians from performing the procedure, which involves amputating the first bone in each of a cat's toes or severing its tendons so that it can't extend its claws. California law previously required the procedure to be performed by veterinarians, but will now limit it to cases of medical necessity. "Many countries have already outlawed this inhumane practice," said...

A third of Republicans support deporting citizens who disagree with Donald TrumpMost presidential hopefuls make hokey promises to fix the economy, heal divisions or restore America’s promise. Donald Trump offered something different. “For those who have been wronged and betrayed, I am your retribution,” he promised the crowd at the 2023 Conservative Political Action Conference. Since his inauguration in January that vengeance has come relentlessly. The administration has ordered investigations into former Biden aides, bullied some of the country’s most powerful law firms and cut federal funding for universities. Two weeks ago James Comey, the onetime FBI director who was...

Donald Trump is on a roll. He not only wrangled Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu into submission, but also the terrorist organization Hamas, which has apparently agreed to release all remaining hostages. The war in Gaza, which has claimed the lives of at least 67,000 Palestinians, looks to be coming to an end. On Thursday evening, Trump took a victory lap as Israel and Hamas, who have been negotiating in Egypt, assented to the first phase of his 20-point peace plan. “I am very proud to announce that Israel and Hamas have both signed off on the first Phase of...

On a season eight episode of The Simpsons, newscaster Kent Brockman interviews a man who’s woken up from a 23-year-long coma, and lets him know that Sonny Bono is now a Congressman and Cher has won an Oscar. The man dies soon after. If someone were to wake up from a coma today to find out that Donald Trump, who 23 years ago was hosting The Apprentice, is now the leading candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize, it would have a similar result. But who else deserves the award? If you can give Peace Prizes to Al Gore and Barack...

More than 1,000 small boat migrants crossed the Channel to reach Britain on Wednesday, the Home Office has confirmed. There were 1,075 arrivals in a 24-hour period aboard 15 dinghies, the department said, the third highest number so far this year. It brings the total since the start of the year to 35,476, up 33 per cent on the same period last year. The total number of small boat migrants to have reached Britain since Labour came to power now stands at 58,718. The Government's 'one in, one out' deal with France came into force more than two months ago....

Today, Lindsey Halligan, the newly appointed U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, announced that a federal grand jury returned an indictment charging New York State Attorney General Letitia James with Bank Fraud under 18 U.S.C. Section 1344 and False Statements to a Financial Institution under 18 U.S.C. Section 1014. New York Attorney General Letitia James responded on Twitter: This is nothing more than a continuation of the president’s desperate weaponization of our justice system. I am not fearful — I am fearless. We will fight these baseless charges aggressively, and my office will continue to fiercely protect New...

On Oct. 9, 2009, President Barack Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize for what the Norwegian Nobel Committee called “his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.”