Free Republic

Epstein fever appears to have mercifully broken at Politico. Yes, although as recently as this past summer when Politico went full frenzy by publishing SIX Jeffrey Epstein stories in a 24 hour period in the apparent belief that the Epstein files would provide salvation from the Trumpocalypse, brutal reality appears to have set in.It isn't that they are any less hostile to Trump but even Trump-hating analyst Ankush Khardori recently admitted the sad truth that the release of those files is unlikely to unlikely to harm Trump.As a result, Politico has been forced to do something very unusual when it...

Belgium? Really? Of all the places in the world you would not expect to be a cesspool of nearly open corruption, Belgium pretty much tops the list. But there it is. Belgium is basically a narco-state, a top Antwerp judge has warned.https://t.co/zH0fSm2mfR— POLITICOEurope (@POLITICOEurope) October 27, 2025Like so many things that sound insane when you say them, the claim that Belgium is now more akin to Mexico than a land of peace and chocolates is easy to dismiss as the fever dream of a cranky conspiracy theorist than a reflection of reality. But, according to an Antwerp judge, who published...

Donald Trump’s drive to secure peace in Ukraine must not let Vladimir Putin off the hook for war crimes committed by Russian forces, a top EU official has warned, effectively setting a new red line for a deal. In an interview with POLITICO, Michael McGrath, the European commissioner for justice and democracy, said negotiators must ensure the push for a ceasefire does not result in Russia escaping prosecution. His comments reflect concerns widely held in European capitals that the original American blueprint for a deal included the promise of a “full amnesty for actions committed during the war,” alongside plans...

On paper, Lexington County, S.C., and Placer County, Calif., have a lot in common. They’re both big, wealthy, suburban counties with white supermajorities that border on their respective state’s capital cities…But when it comes to how long their residents can count on living, the parallels fall apart. Placer has a Scandinavia-like life expectancy of 82.3 years. In Lexington, the figure is 77.7, a little worse than China’s. Step back and look at a map of life expectancy across the country and the geographic patterns are as dramatic as they are obvious. If you live pretty much anywhere in the contiguous...

The nation’s largest TV station owners want Carr’s Federal Communications Commission to loosen the rules that limit how many stations a single company can operate, a goal that many conservatives have been pressing for years. But they have a formidable opponent in Trump confidant Chris Ruddy, the majority owner of Newsmax Media, who wants to keep the rules in place and now appears to be making headway with the president. “NO EXPANSION OF THE FAKE NEWS NETWORKS,” Trump wrote Sunday on Truth Social, echoing Ruddy’s argument that removing the ownership cap would hurt conservatives. “If anything, make them SMALLER!” Since...

The number has skyrocketed in recent weeks and includes at least 20 judges appointed by Trump himself.The Trump administration’s bid to systematically lock up nearly all immigrants facing deportation proceedings has led to a fierce — and mounting — rejection by courts across the country.That effort, which began with an abrupt policy change by Immigration and Customs Enforcement on July 8, has led to a tidal wave of emergency lawsuits after ICE’s targets were arrested at workplaces, courthouses or check-ins with immigration officers. Many have lived in the U.S. for years, and sometimes decades, without incident and have been pursuing...

The White House is poised to put forward a two-year extension for the Obamacare subsidies set to expire at the end of the month. Trump’s plan will attempt to take the healthcare issue off the table ahead of the midterm elections. Healthcare was a key part of Democrats’ successful campaign in the 2018 midterm elections. Trump’s proposal for ACA subsidies will include potential caps on income, limiting the recipients of the program, while also requiring that all enrollees pay some premium. According to the healthcare non-profit KFF, should the subsidies lapse, premiums will double for Americans and an additional 2...

Very sad news for those of you who have become connoisseurs of the hilarious inadvertent comedy provided by Politico's over-the-top obsession with the Jeffrey Epstein files the past few months. Those good times might soon be gone.No more laughs provided by a panicked Politico publishing FIVE stories last July 18 solely on the topic of the Wall Street Journal possibly tossing President Donald Trump a "lifeline" in the form of a probable fake news story about a birthday letter supposedly sent by Trump to Epstein. Yes, the fun has continued for months culminating with Wednesday's Politico announcement of a possible...

Politico's Playbook on Wednesday announced what could be the biggest world news story of the year. An end to the bloody Ukraine-Russia war via a peace deal negotiated by the Trump administration. So guess where the immediate focus of the story was? If you have been following the absurd obsessions of Politico recently you would know the answer despite not quite believing it: Jeffrey Epstein. In fact their obsession in the Playbook story by Jack Blanchard and Dasha Burns, "A peace deal ‘as soon as this week’," came immediately after their joyous announcement:

Fresh off their staggering electoral losses this month, Republicans are urging President Donald Trump to start hitting the campaign trail for them next year with control of Congress on the line. And in a sign of their rising anxiety over Democrats’ renewed enthusiasm, the requests for rallies have started rolling in. Wisconsin GOP Chair Brian Schimming said Trump’s team is “certainly aware” he wants to see the president visit the purple state next year, where he won by his thinnest margin in 2024 and his party is defending two competitive House seats and trying to win statewide races. Schimming plans...

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, the once steadfast ally of Donald Trump who has since fallen out with the president, said the saga around convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has “ripped MAGA apart.” Greene made her comments while flanked by some of Epstein’s victims outside the Capitol on Tuesday, just hours before the House is set to vote on a bill that would force the Justice Department to release Epstein case files.

Emails revealed that Summers sought advice from Epstein on romantically pursuing a woman he referred to as his mentee.Summers’ comment comes after a senior Trump administration official and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) each called on institutions to sever ties with Summers.The statement leaves question marks hanging over the fate of several positions Summers occupies, which include a board seat at OpenAI, a tenured position at Harvard, an unpaid nonresident fellow position at the liberal Center for American Progress think tank and a paid contributor role at Bloomberg News. A Summers spokesperson declined to answer a direct question about those roles.Earlier...

A federal magistrate judge says “government misconduct” may have tainted the criminal case against former FBI Director James Comey, describing a cascade of apparent errors by lead prosecutor Lindsey Halligan. The magistrate judge, William Fitzpatrick, ordered prosecutors Monday to quickly turn over records of secret grand jury proceedings to defense attorneys as they seek to dismiss the false-statement and obstruction-of-Congress charges pending against Comey in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia. Judge says possible errors by Lindsey Halligan could imperil Comey case In a rare move, the judge ordered prosecutors to hand over records of the grand jury proceeding to the...

President Donald Trump’s call for House Republicans to support releasing Jeffrey Epstein-related documents was a stunning capitulation after a months-long campaign to block the vote. It was also a specific defeat for Trump at the hands of a despised GOP opponent: Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky. “He got tired of me winning,” Massie said of Trump’s U-turn in an interview Monday morning. Insisting “I DON’T CARE!” in a late-night Truth Social post, Trump was bowing to the inevitable — a broad House Republican mutiny on a vote that was only scheduled because Massie forced it. It was the result of...

The world wants an American climate leader, and Gavin Newsom is happy to play the part — even if the country he represents isn’t quite ready to follow.BELÉM, Brazil — Gavin Newsom can’t get out of a meeting or a talk at the international climate talks here without being swarmed by reporters and diplomats eager for a quote, a handshake, a photo.On a tour Tuesday of a cultural center with Gov. Helder Barbalho, the leader of the Brazilian state hosting the talks, a passerby recognized them both. “There’s the governor,” he exclaimed. “And there’s the California governor.” Later in the...

Arizona Democrat Adelita Grijalva was sworn in to the House Wednesday after a record 50-day wait, vowing to immediately join an effort to disclose files related to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Grijalva had expressed no special interest in the Epstein case prior to her Sept. 23 election. But she became intertwined in the fate of a bipartisan effort to disclose Justice Department files related to the disgraced financier after it became clear she could provide the final necessary signature on a discharge petition forcing a House vote on the matter.

Trump haters always think they haven't been aggressive enough in taking Trump down. Politico senior writer Ankush Khardori posted an article on Election Day headlined "Avoiding Merrick Garland’s Mistakes the Next Time Democrats Hold Power." The "mistakes" Khardori sees are that Garland did not push hard enough nor fast enough in his politically motivated lawfare against Trump, even though it resulted in two federal indictments as well as two federally influenced state indictments.Khardori's thirst for lawfare vengeance in the next future Democrat DOJ was inspired by a newly published book. Leftist journalists scold Garland as a spineless jellyfish.

Senator Rand Paul is tired of being the only Republican senator willing to stand up to President Trump. The libertarian spoke with Politico’s Dasha Burns just days after being deliberately left out of Trump’s gathering of GOP senators in the Rose Garden. “We have everybody but one person here,” Trump said Wednesday. “We’re just missing one person. You’ll never guess who that is. Let me give you—he automatically votes no on everything. He thinks it’s good politics. It’s really not good politics.”

Sen. Lindsey Graham on Sunday defended the White House’s decision to strike Venezuelan boats, hinting that President Donald Trump may even “expand” military operations in the region. In an interview with CBS’ Margaret Brennan on “Face the Nation,” the South Carolina Republican said Trump is “doing the right thing.” “President Trump told me yesterday that he plans to brief members of Congress when he gets back from Asia about future potential military operations against Venezuela and Colombia,” Graham said. “So there will be a congressional briefing about a potential expanding from the sea to the land. I support that idea.

Social and religious conservatives spent more than a year lobbying first the Trump campaign and then the administration against mandating or subsidizing insurance coverage of in vitro fertilization, which they consider akin to abortion.Last week, their work paid off.President Donald Trump unveiled policies to lower the cost of fertility drugs and to create a new pathway for optional employer-based coverage of IVF, arguing the moves would make it easier for couples to have children. But Trump, who promised on the campaign trail to make fertility treatments free for all patients, will not have the government pay for it or require...