Free Republic

An artificial intelligence company poses a threat to "vulnerable Pennsylvanians," state officials said Tuesday, after one of the company's chatbots was accused of posing as a doctor with the means to prescribe medication. The state's medical board is demanding that operators of Character.AI "be ordered to cease and desist from engaging in the unlawful practice of medicine and surgery," according to the complaint filed against Northern California-based Character Technologies Inc. "We will not let AI companies mislead vulnerable Pennsylvanians into believing they’re getting advice from a licensed medical professional," Gov. Josh Shapiro said in a statement Tuesday. "We’re taking Character.AI...

Republican South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace named several lawmakers Monday who she claims used a congressional “slush fund” to cover up alleged sex scandals. Mace said she uncovered 1,000 pages of documents detailing how certain lawmakers allegedly evaded consequences for sexual scandals, according to a Monday post on X. Mace originally subpoenaed the House Oversight Committee in March in light of a string of sexual scandals that resulted in two resignations from Congress. (RELATED: REPORT: Two GOP Lawmakers Go Head-To-Head In Push To Expel One Another) Notably, Mace said that these documents are only from the last 22 years, claiming...

Raymond Eugene Chandler III has been charged with Influencing, Impeding or Retaliating against a Federal Official by Threatening a Family Member and Influencing, Impeding or Retaliating against a Federal Official by Threat, according to an unsealed affidavit from May 1. One voicemail message Chandler allegedly sent to the unnamed member of Congress graphically depicts a scenario Chandler hoped the congressman would imagine where wealth protestors have surrounded his home before "they slit your throat and they slit your daughter’s throat and they slit everyone’s throat." Authorities say that Chandler left a second message to the congressman, saying: "You've probably getting...

Sen. John Fetterman sounded the alarm Friday about the leftward drift of his own party, warning that a “small Communist takeover” is underway in Maine as Graham Platner closes in on the Democratic Senate nomination. Appearing on Fox News’ “Jesse Watters Primetime,” the Pennsylvania Democrat said the rise of Mr. Platner — an oyster farmer and Marine Corps veteran who wrote in a 2021 Reddit post, “I got older and became a communist” — exemplified the Democratic Party’s inability to resist its worst impulses. “There is kind of a small Communist takeover in Maine,” Mr. Fetterman said. “Platner, he’s already...

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democratic nominee for vice president last cycle, opted to fly to Maine to stump for Graham Platner, an oyster farmer who is running for Senate and who has a Nazi tattoo. Several members of Congress responded. “Don’t forget to ask him about his Nazi tattoo,” stated Rep. Pat Fallon (R-Texas). “Can you let him know there’s ways to remove the Nazi tattoos from his chest?” asked Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.). “In case it wasn’t clear before why Kamala Harris selected Tim Walz over Josh Shapiro. This is who they are,” the Republican Jewish Coalition stated....

A Southwest Airlines flight attendant prayed for President Trump’s assassination on social media after a gunman breached security at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. Michele Carpino made the perverse plea on her Facebook page just minutes after news broke that would-be assassin Cole Allen stormed the annual black-tie Washington press bash last Saturday. “Oh please sweet baby Jesus,” Carpino wrote in a since-deleted Facebook post, Libs of TikTok reported. “WE NEED BETTER ASSASSIN’S! [sic],” she commented after Allen was thwarted by Secret Service agents. Carpino has a history of posting disturbing anti-Trump screeds on social media. “One day we will...

A Pennsylvania man who recently launched a campaign for U.S. Senate is accused of leaving a series of violent voicemails threatening President Donald Trump and a member of Congress’s family, according to unsealed federal court documents on Friday, May 1. Raymond Eugene Chandler III, of Wilkinsburg, was arrested and charged after a federal investigation into repeated threats made over voicemail, authorities said. Chandler is charged with influencing, impeding, or retaliating against a federal official by threatening a family member and by threat, according to the affidavit. The criminal complaint, unsealed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania,...

WILLIAMSPORT — The township in Lycoming County that is embroiled in controversy with the developer of a Bass Pro Outpost store is looking for a new solicitor. Joseph F. Orso III resigned Wednesday after three weeks citing irreconcilable differences regarding legal strategy in the development case at the site of the old Lycoming Mall. The township and its supervisors are under court order to sign a subdivision plan needed by Famvest, a State College developer, to proceed with its plans for a Bass Pro on the site of a former Best Buy. Famvest is consolidating two parcels it owns to...

Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) joked that he is not the “popular guy” when asked about his relationship with his Democratic colleagues in Congress. Fetterman described his relationship with Democrats on Capitol Hill as “cordial,” as the Pennsylvania senator continues to face backlash over his voting record that has included breaking from the majority of Democrats on the Iran war and ending government shutdowns. “Well, [it’s] cordial,” Fetterman said on Fox News, after pausing to laugh at the question initially. “I’m not necessarily the popular guy, which is strange to me because I’m a Democrat and I’m the guy who flipped...

Two men armed with assault rifles robbed a Brinks truck and got away with cash Tuesday morning, Philadelphia police say. Police said officers responded to the 7200 block of Torresdale Avenue around 9:45 a.m. for a robbery in progress. Police sources said a car pulled up in a parking lot, two armed masked suspects jumped out and robbed a Brinks truck that was making a stop at a check-cashing business. Surveillance photos from a nearby camera show two men dressed in black, wearing masks, running out of a blue car. The person in the front appears to be pointing an...

A pro-life activist whose 2022 arrest by the FBI under the Biden administration drew national headlines has reached a seven-figure settlement after suing the Justice Department over his arrest and prosecution. Mark Houck filed a lawsuit against the department in 2023 seeking restitution for what he called "a faulty investigation" and "excessive force" after a SWAT team of around 25 people arrested him in front of his children at his home on Sept. 23, 2022, allegedly with guns drawn.

"Politics War Room" James Carville and Al Hunt speculated on whether Sen. John Fetterman, D-Penn., may switch parties and throw Democrats’ Senate plans in disarray. As Carville and Hunt took questions from listeners, one asked why Fetterman, who has been known for taking surprisingly bipartisan stances, doesn’t just go all the way and switch parties. "I am not a big Fetterman fan," Carville said, declaring he thinks Fetterman is often motivated by wanting to see his name featured in newspapers. "He may switch, because they are going to correctly say if he wants to run again – I don’t know,...

The Republican-led Senate on Wednesday rejected the latest Democratic attempt to halt President Donald Trump’s war in Iran, turning aside a resolution that would require the U.S. to withdraw forces from the conflict until Congress authorizes further action. The 47-52 vote was the fourth time this year that the Senate has voted to cede its war powers to the president in a conflict that Democrats say is illegal and unjustified. Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman was the only Democrat to vote against it. Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky voted with Democrats. Republicans say they will keep faith in Trump’s wartime...

Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito became ill during an event in Philadelphia on the evening of March 20, a spokesperson for the high court said Friday. “Out of an abundance of caution, he agreed with his security detail’s recommendation to see a physician before the three-hour drive home,” the spokesperson said. Alito, 76, underwent an examination and received fluids for dehydration, the spokesperson said, adding he returned home that night, which was previously planned. “Justice Alito was thoroughly checked by his own physician, and he returned to work the following Monday for oral argument,” the spokesperson added. Alito has attended...

Police in Dauphin County were dispatched to Hersheypark on Friday evening after a group of teenagers was involved in an altercation during the park’s opening day. A Hersheypark spokesperson provided the following statement to PennLive: “There was an altercation between a group of teenagers in Hersheypark the evening of Friday, April 3. Police responded to assist Park security in swiftly addressing the situation and removing those involved from the Park. “As safety is our top priority, Hersheypark has a zero tolerance policy for behavior of this type. Those who do not abide by our policy will no longer be welcome...

Jaheim Alford told his passengers, “I am going to kill everyone in the car” as he shifted his car into sport mode and accelerated through a red light into a York city intersection the night of Sept. 8, 2024, according to police. He smashed his red Hyundai sedan into a blue Honda Odyssey carrying two people — one of whom was pregnant, and later lost the child, police said. He was smoking marijuana before he got behind the wheel, police said. Alford, 24, of Latta, South Carolina, was originally arrested on 16 charges, led by three counts of attempted homicide....

Gov. Josh Shapiro reacted swiftly to news that President Donald Trump had signed an executive order attempting to restrict voting rights, blasting it with a post on the governor’s social media pages: “President Trump can sign whatever the hell he wants to, but it won’t change the Constitution. The authority to set our election rules belongs to the states — and as Governor, I will protect your right to vote. That includes your right to vote by mail." Trump’s order would create a nationwide list of eligible voters and restrict mail-in voting, among other restrictions. Under the order, the Department...

Stacy Garrity, the presumptive Republican nominee for governor of Pennsylvania, had the ultimate fundraiser this weekend: An event at President Donald J. Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla. Garrity’s campaign, a GOP source confirmed, cleared six-figures in proceeds from the event, secured commitments for future fundraisers, and got some face time with Trump, who made an unannounced appearance at the Friday event. Garrity, the state treasurer from Bradford County, has successfully cleared the GOP primary field of all opponents, guaranteeing her a spot on the fall ballot. But she is considered a significant underdog in her quest to defeat...

It was a time for the future of America to speak up. The No Kings 3 rally at the Historic Courthouse, a passionate and peaceful response to the policies of the Trump administration, featured only high school speakers and was one of four demonstrations held Saturday in Chester County. The event was sponsored by Chester County Indivisible and donations were directed to The Fund for Women and Girls.

Lehigh County Commissioner Zachary Cole Borghi was arrested on charges that he allegedly bought and sold cocaine from his home and his job inside Bethlehem City Hall, the district attorney's office announced Wednesday. Lehigh County District Attorney Gavin Holihan said more than 100 new charges filed against Borghi were born out of a 2025 drug investigation involving the county's 12th Investigating Grand Jury. Court documents show Borghi became the subject of a drug trafficking investigation in May of 2024. According to Holihan, Borghi played a minor role in that initial grand jury investigation, which involved more than 40 other defendants....