Free Republic

LONDON—A lawyer for Julian Assange has claimed in court that President Trump offered to pardon Assange if the WikiLeaks founder agreed to help cover up Russia’s involvement in hacking emails from the Democratic National Committee. Assange’s lawyers said on Wednesday that former Republican congressman Dana Rohrabacher offered Assange the deal in 2017, a year after emails that damaged Hillary Clinton in the presidential race had been published. WikiLeaks posted the stolen DNC emails after they were hacked by Russian operatives. The claim that Rohrabacher acted as an emissary for the White House came during a pre-extradition hearing in London. Assange...

China has reportedly deployed 40 industrial incinerators to the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak Wuhan. Chinese media reports that the furnaces have been shipped to the city amid ongoing fears the death toll is being covered up. NTD reports that the cabins are for the disposal of animal carcasses, while China Ship news reports the incinerators are for medical waste. Wuhan has been at the centre of the global epidemic which has infected more than 75,000 people and killed more than 2,000. It is believed the virus spread from bats to other animals in the so-called “wet markets” in the...

Key Points President Donald Trump retweeted a claim that he was “the victim of a seditious conspiracy out of the” Justice Department and the FBI. Attorney General William Barr has warned people close to Trump that he might resign if the president continues commenting on criminal cases. Trump has publicly complained about the case against his friend, political operative Roger Stone, who lied to Congress about his contacts with WikLeaks. ====================================================================== Your move, Mr. Attorney General. President Donald Trump on Wednesday retweeted claims that he is “the victim” of a Justice Department conspiracy, hours after reports that the department’s chief...

Mike Bloomberg's campaign is sounding the alarm that Bernie Sanders will soon amass an unsurmountable delegate lead if the Democratic field stays split — and took the extraordinary step of suggesting laggards should drop out. What they're saying: Kevin Sheekey, Bloomberg's top strategist, said: "The fact is if the state of this race remains status quo — with Biden, Pete and Amy in the race on Super Tuesday — Bernie is likely to open up a delegate lead that seems nearly impossible to overcome." "I don’t think many people understand the dire circumstances here." Why it matters: Based on every...

Sen. Bernie Sanders split with one of his top campaign surrogates on Medicare for All on Tuesday night. He said his signature plan to enroll everyone in the US under a government-run health insurance system was already a compromise. At a CNN town hall, Sanders distanced himself from Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who said last week that passing a watered-down version of the legislation would be still represent a significant progressive achievement. Asked about Ocasio-Cortez's comments, the Vermont senator initially praised the freshman congresswoman's achievements in her first year in the House. But he disputed her assessment of the plan.

• One more thing about Bloomberg: He isn’t merely trying to buy the Democratic nomination; he’s also starving the Democratic Party into submission. The Intercept notes that Bloomberg is hiring so many Democratic political staff people, with guaranteed salaries through November whether he gets the nomination or not: Bloomberg’s spending is having a shockingly disruptive effect on Democratic politics throughout the country: He is hiring armies of staffers and canvassers in nearly every state in the country at eye-popping salaries, poaching talent from other campaigns and progressive organizations that are now struggling to fill jobs. In just three months, the...

Bloomberg is rising in polls and just qualified for the debate stage in Nevada, but a question nags: who really wants Bloomberg to be president? Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s massive campaign spending—hundreds of millions of dollars and counting—appears to be paying off. One poll this week showed Bloomberg tied with Sen. Bernie Sanders in Virginia, each with 22 percent, and after garnering 19 percent in a national poll released Tuesday, Bloomberg has qualified for the Democratic presidential debate tonight in Las Vegas.At first glance Bloomberg’s poll surge suggests the New York billionaire has a real shot at...

President Donald Trump granted clemency to eleven people Tuesday in what mainstream media outlets are calling a “clemency spree,” but many are ignoring the several women — including women of color — who were granted relief from long prison sentences, in pursuit of headlines tying Trump to “corruption” and “white collar crime.” Trump did, of course, grant commutations and pardons to several high-profile individuals, including former governor Rod Blagojevich, former New York police comissioner Bernard Kerick, financier Mike Milken, and pro-football Hall of Famer Edward DeBartolo, Jr. But while media focused on creating a common thread tying these commutations and...

The FBI not only gave ex-British Intelligence officer Christopher Steele classified information, they paid him to show up to accept the information, according to the Inspector General report released late last year. The information about Steele received little media attention, but Eric Felten at RealClearInvestigations (my former employer) has now brought that information into the light. Remember, Steele is the one who compiled the infamous Steele Dossier filled with salacious information about President Donald Trump. He was paid by the Hillary Clinton campaign and Democratic National Committee. “The report by Inspector General Michael Horowitz details how a team of FBI...

There’s “far apart on the political spectrum,” and then there’s Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Meghan McCain. On Wednesday morning, those opposing political views came to a head during Ocasio-Cortez’s appearance on The View, where she sparred with McCain on everything from the 2020 Democratic primary to Bernie Bros. While the two remained relatively civil for the entire interview, there were a few moments of tension when McCain grilled Ocasio-Cortez on socialism and progressive policies. “To conservatives like me, it is like the apocalypse,” said McCain. “It’s a huge ask for people like me, this seismic shift from capitalism to socialism.”...

A Kobe University doctor touched off a furor with a firsthand account of a virus-stricken cruise ship in which he said the protections against infection were so weak he was scared he would get sick himself. Kentaro Iwata, who made the allegations in widely circulated YouTube videos after spending Tuesday aboard the Diamond Princess, told The Wall Street Journal in an interview that the crew should be removed as soon as possible because of the danger of catching the novel coronavirus on the ship.

If anyone is watching his press conference it will make Dem HEADS EXPLODE! Calling the Dems racist, being gracious, giving Trump props for being a problem solver, not a normal politician not getting anything done. And the Black guy next to him nodding yes about Trump being the real deal!!!

“More than 1,100 former federal prosecutors and Justice Department officials called on Attorney General William P. Barr on Sunday to step down after he intervened last week to lower the Justice Department’s sentencing recommendation for President Trump’s longtime friend Roger J. Stone, Jr.,” The New York Times reported on Sunday—if you can call it reporting.Not once in the 800-word article did the Times address the overwhelming evidence that the thousand-plus signatories were politically motivated critics of President Donald Trump. In fact, to the contrary, the Times claimed “the former Justice Department lawyers” “came from across the political spectrum” to...

The Chinese regime is using “non-traditional collectors,” such as professors, researchers, and front companies — as opposed to traditional undercover spies - to acquire sensitive technology from the US. The Chinese regime is 'very proactive' acquiring U.S. research BEFORE it becomes classified,keep in mind with western democracies and in the U.S. in particular a lot of information that’s of use is not classified. This is 'a vulnerability that’s significant'...So essentially they’re obtaining vast amounts of data/information essentially legally, but because they are being very active and proactive, they access it either before it becomes classified or they access obscure information...

It’s been a tough week for Mike Bloomberg. As Democrats were going to the polls in New Hampshire last Tuesday, video emerged of the former New York mayor defending his controversial stop, question, and frisk (SQF) policy by saying minority suspects should be thrown against walls. In addition, several stories came out with multiple allegations of sexism. So it’s no surprise that he is now… in second place nationally in a new poll and first in Virginia in another? If the opposition research dump was meant to halt his rapid rise in the polls over the past two months, it...

Here's hoping 2020 is the best year yet!! Now that he has been forever acquitted, President Trump should put the failed partisan impeachment attempt behind him, then concentrate on winning the 2020 election with wide coattails. Then bide his time as the cases against the various coup plotters wind their way through the justice system. Highest priority political items: Win the election, hold the senate, take back the house!! And then continue the work of making America great again: Build the wall, enforce the law, deport them all!! End DACA!! End sanctuary cities!! End anchor babies!! Continue cutting regulations, cutting...

A spokeswoman for Sen. Bernie Sanders's (I-Vt.) presidential campaign said Wednesday she “misspoke” when she claimed Sanders’s primary opponent former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg has had a heart attack. “I mispoke when I said Bloomberg had a heart attack,” Sanders spokeswoman Briahna Joy Gray tweeted Wednesday, after making the comments on CNN’s “New Day'' earlier that morning. “Rather, he underwent the same stent procedure as Bernie. Bernie released 3 detailed medical reports in December — just like the other candidates.” Gray followed up with a link to a New York Times article from 2007 which reported Bloomberg had...

If nothing else is learned during the 2020 election season, this one lesson must be taught, shared, and passed down through the ages: the Democrat Party of 2020 absolutely deserves Bernie Sanders. Of course, many Democrats will deny this, because they well know that Crazy Bernie is a presidential electoral disaster just waiting to happen. Every caucus and primary he wins or finishes strongly in puts the democrats closer to that well-deserved reality. Despite their recent efforts -- Mike Bloomberg entering the race, Hillary declaring Sanders a “career politician” that “nobody likes,” James Carville complaining that Sanders wants criminals and...

Trigger warning: This essay is about America's growing Nazi problem. Some Nazis may be offended. Democrats are on the hunt for Nazis. Their own elected officials tell us so. Senators and congressmen assure us that in Donald Trump's America "hate is on the rise." Nobody can feel safe, they say. Not Jews, not blacks, not immigrants, not women, not even American Indians drumming in the faces of young school boys. Everyone must be on constant guard for hate. It must be confronted and nipped in the bud. If you're not sure who is spreading this hate, look for red ball...

Love him or hate him, and avowed socialist Bernie Sanders does evoke extremes in feeling, even conservatives often credit him with being honest. They shouldn’t. Not only has the Vermont senator and presidential contender changed positions to capture today’s “woke” Democrat Party left flank, but there are three factors to be considered when assessing honesty, and Sanders fails in the most dangerous way possible. Oh, he certainly possesses authentic passion. Sanders isn’t empty to the core, as an early Arkansas Democrat critic said of Bill Clinton; he’s not a full-fledged opportunist such as Queen of Mean Amy Klobuchar or Pistol...