Free Republic

British ex-spy Christopher Steele spread other accusations against President Trump not included in his well-publicized election dossier, according to the Justice Department’s recent report on FBI misconduct. The report by Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz shows at least three little-noticed Steele assertions that went to Crossfire Hurricane, the bureau’s Trump probe headquarters. And like 13 of his dossier’s accusations of a conspiracy between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin, those three didn’t pan out either. The three allegations had to do with supposed Trump campaign cash from Moscow via Azerbaijan, a Russian intelligence officer, and a purported intervention by Russian...

Former FBI Director James Comey had harsh words for House Republicans on Monday, saying their silence in response to President Donald Trump’s attacks on the Justice Department is “shameful.” Comey said Republicans “have to have the courage to stand up and speak the truth, not be cowed by mean tweets or fear of their base.” He was on Capitol Hill for a second closed-door interview with two Republican-led committees investigating what they say was bias at the Justice Department before the 2016 presidential election. Republicans argue department officials conspired against Trump as they started an investigation into his ties to...

RUSH: Mark Penn is back today. He’s the former Clinton pollster. Speaking of the Clintons, does the name John Huber ring a bell? John Huber is a lawyer who was named by the former attorney general Jeff Sessions to look into the Clinton Foundation and other nefarious acts engaged in by the Clintons. This headline: “FBI Raids Home of Clinton Foundation Whistleblower.” This is a story from The Daily Caller, an exclusive report, very troubling, and in alignment with a previous suspicion that the whole investigation into the Clinton Foundation is bogus. According to the Daily Caller, “FBI agents raided...

Opposition research being sent around about President Trump’s second nominee to the Supreme Court, Brett Kavanaugh, accuses him of calling Hillary Clinton a bitch 21 years ago–in a private setting among friends where he was allegedly seen to mouth the b-word but not actually say it. The fate of Kavanaugh’s nomination to the high court apparently depends on whether this is seen as a resume enhancer or a nomination killer. The Washington Post’s Robert Costa tweeted several days ago about a snippet from a book by former conservative journalist turned Democratic Party activist David Brock about a gathering he attended...

It’s not just Hillary Clinton who can’t quit Russia. The whole Democratic Party keeps going back to 2016. In a move that reeks of desperation, the DNC filed a civil suit Friday against President Trump’s campaign, Russia and WikiLeaks, alleging a vast (right wing!) conspiracy to tip the election to Trump. The suit’s flamboyant charges made headlines, but that only served to obscure the real meaning. Namely, that top Dems are giving up their fantasies that special counsel Robert Mueller will deliver them from political purgatory by getting the goods on Trump. The trashy suit is their way of trying...

One of the bigger news items to hit yesterday was that the Democratic National Committee accused Russian government hackers of penetrating the DNC's computer network and gaining access to the entire database of opposition research on GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump. The DNC further said that no financial, donor or personal information appears to have been accessed or taken, suggesting that the breach was traditional espionage, not the work of criminal hackers. It appears that was not entirely true, because barely 24 hours later, the alleged "Russian" hackers has emerged under the Guccifer2 handle, and instead of a group of...

Mr. Garfinkle of Garfinkle’s New Method Hebrew School in Milwaukee used to frequently echo King Solomon’s admonition; “There’s nothing new under the sun.” I was reminded of that this week when the rapidly unfolding “scandal” of Trump’s purported dealings with Russia hit the news. It has more than a few similarities with the Dan Rather faked-up story of GW Bush’s National Guard service where an anonymous, never-found source supposedly gave Bill Burkett a demonstrably fake report and Dan Rather ran with it. This time a Bush (Jeb) is involved but as an instigator of the story, not a victim. John...

If you want to disbelieve this because it’s coming from HuffPo, feel free. I’m inclined to disbelieve it — not because of the source but because it cannot possibly be true that the competition failed to take Trump seriously even after his poll lead persisted throughout the fall and winter. Yet the evidence is compelling. As Sam Stein notes, you’re more likely to find basic oppo stuff on Trump, like his dubious “opposition” to the Iraq war and his sex chats with Howard Stern, on BuzzFeed than you are in a Cruz or Rubio campaign ad. If Republicans had that...

The leader of a group hoping to improve liberals' fortunes at the state level revealed on Friday plans to start tracking conservative state legislators based on the assumption that "someone’s going to say something about black people" or women. The comments came at the first ever conference of the State Innovation Exchange (SiX), the Left’s attempt to counter conservative policy successes that have followed Republican victories at the state level. “We’re working with David Brock and Media Matters and American Bridge who have trackers that we can send out to monitor the debate on some bills that you all might...

Jamie Estrada, 41, of Los Lunas, N.M., pleaded guilty Monday to the unlawful interception of electronic communications and false statement charges arising out of the unlawful interception of wire communications intended for others, including New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez and members of her staff. Estrada briefly served as campaign manager in 2009, as Martinez was beginning her bid for governor. The Republican won election in 2010 and took office in January 2011. “Each and every one of us has a right and an expectation of privacy in our electronic communications, including our emails, and those who violate the law by...

Last week former Mitt Romney campaign manager Matt Rhoades and two young Republican sharpshooters, Tim Miller and Joe Pounder, announced they would set up a new organization, America Rising, devoted to the collection, dissemination and deployment of opposition research against Democrats and a counterpart to the hugely successful American Bridge on the left. [snip]

It could be one of the biggest political intelligence coups of the 2012 battle to control Congress. Media Trackers, a conservative investigative watchdog group, discovered nearly three-dozen Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee opposition research notebooks – extensive secretive manuals outlining anything that could be used against a political opponent. Several news outlets have reported that some of the files have been quietly published on the DCCC’s website to facilitate their use by independent expenditure groups. On Thursday, however, Media Trackers published a dozen opposition research books that Democrats have so far managed to keep secret.

It could be one of the biggest political intelligence coups of the 2012 battle to control Congress. Media Trackers, a conservative investigative watchdog group, discovered nearly three-dozen Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee opposition research notebooks – extensive secretive manuals outlining anything that could be used against a political opponent. Several news outlets have reported that some of the files have been quietly published on the DCCC’s website to facilitate their use by independent expenditure groups. On Thursday, however, Media Trackers published a dozen opposition research books that Democrats have so far managed to keep secret. The twelve unpublished manuals range in...

Welcome to Amerika. Obama has press secretaries in the media. He also has his brown shirts in the unions, especially teachers unions. Indoctrinating kids has been a staple of the Obama regine of terror. The latest craze in Obama indoctrination is forcing eight grade students at Liberty Middle School in Fairfax County, to seek out the vulnerabilities of Republican presidential hopefuls and forward them to the Obama campaign. No, this is not Nazi Germany, this is not Mao’s China, this is not North Korea. It’s whatever is left of America. “This assignment was just creepy beyond belief — like something...

Pop quiz: Which Republican presidential candidate supported the confirmation of Sonia Sotomayor? Hint: It’s the same one who endorsed a pro-abortion-rights presidential candidate in an earlier campaign. Give up? The answer is Rick Santorum. Santorum was rightly known as a conservative firebrand during his 12 years in the Senate, but the 1998 confirmation vote for Sonia Sotomayor to the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals was a notable exception, and so was his endorsement of Arlen Specter’s bid for the 1996 Republican presidential nomination

Think Mitt Romney has been hit hard this Republican primary campaign? Try reading through what John McCain had in store for the former Massachusetts governor in 2008. Two hundred pages of what appears to be the McCain campaign’s old opposition research book against Romney was published on Tuesday by BuzzFeed, offering in great detail a litany of potential vulnerabilities in his record. Many of the issues – like Romney’s past support of gay rights and abortion rights – are familiar to GOP voters, but at minimum, the book serves as a vivid reminder of why many conservatives are wary of...

Newt Gingrich helped bankroll his resurrection from a has-been to a Republican presidential front-runner by exploiting a gap in federal campaign finance laws to create a political money machine that raised $54 million over five years. The former House speaker appears to have made unprecedented use of a supposedly independent political committee that collected unlimited donations, financing a coast-to-coast shadow campaign that raised his profile and provided a launch pad for his presidential run. Gingrich's American Solutions for Winning the Future, which he shuttered in July, shelled out at least $8 million for the chartered jets in which he hop-scotched...

Perhaps taking a page out of the James Carville strategy of handling “bimbo eruptions,” Herman Cain’s campaign is asking: “Who is Sharon Bialek?” From a release/email: … In stark contrast to Mr. Cain’s four decades spent climbing the corporate ladder rising to the level of CEO at multiple successful business enterprises, Ms. Bialek has taken a far different path. The fact is that Ms. Bialek has had a long and troubled history, from the courts to personal finances – which may help explain why she has come forward 14 years after an alleged incident with Mr. Cain, powered by celebrity...

<p>Herman Cain's campaign is revealing suspicions about who is behind the story regarding the former unidentified employees who accused Mr. Cain of sexual harassment in the late 1990's.</p>

COOPER EGGED THEM ON was the title on the Drudge Report this morning. Cooper framed an attack on Herman Cain and setup the others to join in on a Psychological Lynching of Herman Cain. Cooper set it up framing that Herman's 999 plan would not work and then had each of the Candidates fire on Herman Cain. Despite the withering attach Herman stood fast.