Free Republic

Randon Sprinkle, the former finance chairman of the Virginia Democratic Party, has been hit with federal charges of distribution of child pornography. According to a criminal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, the affiant “completed the extraction” of Sprinkle’s computer “and found two archived files constituting child pornography,” and one of the files referenced “consists of a 16-second video which shows an adult male’s erect penis penetrating the mouth of an infant.” FBI Richmond executed a federal search warrant on October 16, 2025. Internet archives show that Sprinkle formerly served as finance director...

Putting baby Jesus in zip ties places the Christmas story as a polemic against the Trump administration and its immigration law enforcement. Here in Dallas and elsewhere, individuals have been motivated by these narratives to attempt to kill ICE agents. Despite the virtues signaled by many Christian pastors across the United States, the demonization of law enforcement is not consistent with the teaching and praxis of Jesus. In fact, Mary and Joseph conformed to difficult imperial mandates compelling them to move and register in the hometown of Joseph. Herod is the dark evil figure of the Christmas story, and the...

The ammunition boxes stacked on the stage opened up to reveal figurines of angels and an infant Jesus lying in his manger. Six actors sang plaintive carols, accompanied by readings of the brooding poetry of Kharkiv writer Serhiy Zhadan. The audience sat, transfixed by the almost unbearable intensity of the spectacle. The nativity play, performed on a recent evening at Kharkiv’s puppet theatre, was a reminder that conflict has seeped into the fabric of almost everything in Ukrainian life over the past four years. “We can’t just put on comedies and escape from reality,” said Oksana Dmitrieva, the nativity play’s...

THE GIFT OF THE MAGI Those of you who are more "mature" Marines & Sailors will remember one of the pre-eminent TV series of the '50's, Rod Serling's Twilight Zone. Many of these programs were quite scary, but they usually had a good moral and made the point in a rather unforgettable manner. On one episode, an astronaut is readying for his blast off on a fifty-year mission to outer space. He is to be placed in a state of suspended animation and will not age one day by the time he returns to Earth. As fate has it,...

The difficult decision that Ukraine’s government now faces is between enduring continued bombing by Russia and relinquishing sovereign land to Russia that is a part of its own cultural identity. There are indications that Ukraine may consider ceding territory currently under Russian control if it received ironclad security guarantees in the event of a renewed Russian attack. But Ukraine is still trying to hold onto the part of the Donbas region that it has painstakingly fortified—or, at least, it is trying to avoid recognizing it as Russian and giving it up altogether. Ukraine still holds between 10 to 15 percent...

The suspected gunman behind both the deadly shooting spree at Brown University and the killing of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) professor was already dead for two days before authorities found his body inside a New Hampshire storage facility, officials said Friday. Claudio Neves Valente, a 48-year-old Portuguese national and former Brown University graduate student, died Tuesday from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, according to the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office. Police discovered his body Thursday night inside a storage unit in Salem following a nearly weeklong manhunt. Authorities identified Valente as the suspect who opened fire...

President Donald Trump announced Dec. 19 that his administration has sold more than $1.3 billion worth of “Trump Gold Cards,” a new immigration program offering expedited residency to high-skilled foreign talent, with proceeds going toward paying down the national debt. In remarks to the press, Trump said that sales had exceeded $1.3 billion and described the Gold Card as a “green card on steroids.” He said the option would allow companies to retain graduates from elite institutions, such as Harvard and Wharton, who might otherwise have to go back to their native countries upon graduation. “They graduate from the top...

One moment I was dancing with my friends and the next I was at the back of a pickup truck being dragged into Gaza. I spent 505 days underground in terror tunnels. There was no fresh air, no sunlight, no sense of time. Just darkness, pitch black 24 hours a day. I couldn't see my hand in front of my face. At one point, I thought that I had gone blind." Shem Tov spoke of the physical and emotional toll: "The hunger was constant. I was weak, dehydrated, and starving. Many days all I had was a single cracker and...

As the only president elected to four terms and who saw the country through two of its greatest cataclysms — the Great Depression and World War II — biographies of Franklin Roosevelt were certain to treat him as a magnificent figure of enduring accomplishment. In many respects he deserves this exalted regard: He transformed American government in fundamental ways, led the nation in the Second World War, created the building blocks for the postwar world order and left behind the durable New Deal Democratic Party coalition that dominated American politics for most of the next half-century, ending more than 70...

The alleged "mastermind" behind Minnesota’s $250 million Feeding Our Future fraud scandal tied to the Somali community is accused of wielding extraordinary power through threats and what the government described as "fake claims of racism." Aimee Bock, who founded the Feeding Our Future nonprofit in 2016, used her growing authority to silence dissent, discourage scrutiny from state regulators and cut off operators who refused to comply, prosecutors said. While other defendants splurged on luxury homes, cars and overseas property, prosecutors said, Bock instead controlled the levers of approval and reimbursement that allowed the scheme to flourish.

Summary Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) ended her campaign for New York governor on December 20, 2025, weeks after launching it on November 7, despite leading in polls. She also announced she will not seek re-election to her House seat, which expires in January 2027. Sources close to Stefanik attributed the withdrawal to President Trump's refusal to fully endorse her, instead remaining neutral in the GOP primary against Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, a longtime friend of Trump. Trump described both candidates as "fantastic people," hosted each separately at the White House, and expressed discomfort with their competition. New York Republican...

Top US officials met with a Russian delegation in Miami for the latest round of Urkraine peace talks Saturday, despite the Trump administration failing to bring the warring countries to the table for face-to-face talks. Moscow envoy Kirill Dmitriev flew to the US to meet with President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and US envoy Steve Witkoff in the Sunshine State, but refgused to engage his Ukrainian counterpart, Reuters reported.

Summary A few Republicans join Democrats in criticizing Epstein release as inadequate Justice Department missed deadline for full Epstein file disclosure Critics say redactions fuel conspiracy theories, erode Trump support The U.S. Justice Department released a partial, heavily redacted set of Epstein-related files on December 19-20, 2025, missing a congressional deadline for full disclosure under a bipartisan law signed by President Trump in November. The release included approximately 300,000 pages of documents, photos, and materials, with extensive redactions—including entirely blacked-out sections—and featured prominent references to former President Bill Clinton but few to Trump. Criticism came from both parties: Democrats accused...

SummaryAnkush Khardori, a POLITICO Magazine senior writer and former federal prosecutor, provides guidance on navigating the Justice Department's release of Epstein investigation files, mandated by a law signed by President Trump with a Friday deadline. The release involves over 300 gigabytes of data, including electronic devices, documents, logs, financial records, FBI interview summaries (302s), and internal communications, excluding child pornography material. Full compliance may take weeks due to volume. Khardori warns the release is unlikely to end Epstein conspiracy theories. Five rules:Don’t Read the Files Directly: Avoid drawing conclusions from isolated items; rely on reputable journalists for context, as raw...

Vivek Ramaswamy dismissed the idea of “Heritage Americans” as illegitimate during remarks at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest 2025 in Phoenix, Arizona, on Friday, directly challenging a narrative he says is gaining traction among some segments of the “online right.”“There’s a different vision of American identity that’s emergent in certain corridors of the online right,” Ramaswamy said during his speech on Day 2 of the conservative youth conference. “And it says that your identity as an American is based on your lineage. That how long you have been in the country, your lineage and your genetics tied to the blood and...

A Pennsylvania bill would recognize pets as family members, elevating their status in situations such as divorce. The Pennsylvania House of Representatives recently passed House Bill 97, which would elevate the legal status of pets as “living beings that are generally regarded as cherished family members that offer their owners companionship, security and assistance,” if signed into law. The bill would create an official definition of a companion animal, elevating its status in divorce proceedings. “Companion animals occupy a special category of personal property which does not include inanimate personal property. Therefore, it is the policy of the Commonwealth that...

President Donald Trump backed Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman for New York governor Saturday, a day after Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) announced her stunning withdrawal from the race. “Bruce is MAGA all the way, and has been with me from the very beginning,” the president posted on his Truth Social account, in his first endorsement since the dramatic development in the Republican primary. He called Blakeman, a longtime friend, a “fantastic guy” who will “win the big November Election” against Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY). “I am blessed and grateful to have the endorsement of President Donald J. Trump,” Blakeman said...

Summary Bill Clinton's spokesperson, Angel Ureña, accused the White House of using Clinton as a scapegoat following the congressional release of government files on Friday, which included photos of Clinton with Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell, a redacted young woman in a pool, and at a dinner with figures like Mick Jagger. In a statement on X, Ureña claimed the White House delayed the release to shield itself from future revelations, not to protect Clinton, and noted that White House chief of staff Susie Wiles had stated Donald Trump was wrong about Clinton visiting Epstein's island. Clinton maintains he ended ties...

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu plans to brief US President Donald Trump that any expansion of Iran’s ballistic missile programme could pose a threat requiring swift action, NBC News reported on Saturday (Dec 20). The report said Israeli officials believe Iran may be rebuilding nuclear enrichment sites bombed by the United States in June, and are preparing to present Trump with options for renewed strikes targeting Iran’s missile capabilities.

The actions of one man charged with a heinous crime have derailed the lawful U.S. immigration applications of people from 19 countries, with more potentially added in the coming weeks. The crime, of course, was the horrific and targeted attack on National Guard members Sarah Beckstrom and Andrew Wolfe last month in Washington, D.C. It was unconscionable and caused Beckstrom’s death. Terrorism, hate, and barbaric acts of violence have no place in any civilized society. This is a universal truth held by billions of people around the world regardless of faith, nationality, gender, or culture. Like Americans, many Afghans –...