Free Republic

The National Park Service’s closure of the World War II and other memorials violates rules requiring them to stay open, 93 House members charge in a letter to the agency. Led by Michigan Republican Rep. Bill Huizenga, they claim that Park Service Director Jonathan Jarvis is simply making up closure rules to punish the public during the government shut down and they question the costs of the random closures in Washington where not all memorials are being closed. "The National Park Service continues to act in an arbitrary and punitive manner to exclude veterans from memorials built in their honor...

Hunter Biden's private equity firm invested in a company run by a Chinese executive with ties to officials at some of the highest levels of the Communist Party of China, it emerged on Thursday.

The strange and fascinating world of the British spy known as ‘Chris Whatsit’ was unravelling yesterday. Christopher Steele was once MI6’s top spy on Russian affairs and lived in the shadows until being unmasked as the alleged author of the ‘dirty dossier’ on Donald Trump. He was dubbed ‘Chris Whatsit’ by his late wife on their first date because she could not remember his name – but he revelled in being a man of mystery. Now the 52-year-old is hoping to return to anonymity after fleeing his £1.5million home in Surrey, telling his neighbour to look after his three cats....

The Republican National Committee wants to know why Bill Clinton’s former adviser purchased the house in California that Bill Clinton’s black sheep half-brother Roger lives in. An RNC memo from chief strategist Sean Spicer spells out the mystery: Justin Cooper owns an almost $900,000 home in the lush hills of an upscale Los Angeles suburb. But interestingly enough, he doesn’t live there. Roger Clinton does. Cooper is Bill Clinton’s body man turned wheeler-dealer. He’s gone from making a modest salary working in the White House to setting up an LLC just to buy a home for the president’s brother to...

Fast-growing Tesla Motors has leased a Fremont building once occupied by Solyndra before the solar company’s high-profile implosion, the Silicon Valley Business Times reported Thursday. The 500,000-square-foot facility, at 901 Page Ave., was the last of Solyndra’s former buildings to remain empty. Seagate Technologies snapped up Solyndra’s main factory — built with $528 million in federal loans — in 2012. And earlier this year, SolarCity leased a two-building Solyndra complex at 47700 Kato Rd. Tesla CEO Elon Musk chairs SolarCity’s corporate board.

Ever wonder how lowly paid lawmakers leave office filthy rich? Sen. Dianne Feinstein is showing how it’s done. The US Postal Service plans to sell 56 buildings — so it can lease space more expensively — and the real estate company of the California senator’s husband, Richard Blum, is set to pocket about $1 billion in commissions.

Mr. Nadhmi Auchi is a business partner of Syrian-born businessman Antoin "Tony" Rezko, who has supported US Presidential candidate Barack Obama financially since his first run for the Illinois state senate in 1996.

Illinoispaytoplay.com (IP2P) has learned that Daniel S. Mahru, former business partner of Antoin "Tony" Rezko, made a deal with the Department of Justice (DoJ) for his silence. IP2P is the first to report that on, October 4 2012, Daniel S. Mahru will receive probation at his sentencing hearing. IP2P has also learned that this is being done to insure Mahru will not speak of crimes, of which he has knowledge, that implicate Barack Obama, Valarie Jarrett, Allison Davis, Tony Rezko and others. (Remember Tony recently saying he committed crimes for which Fitzgerald did not charge him.) IP2P is also investigating...

Amrish Mahajan, former president of failed Mutual Bank of Harvey and a major fundraiser for imprisoned former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, has been barred from future participation in the banking industry under a newly released regulatory order. Mr. Mahajan consented, without admitting or denying unsafe or unsound banking practices, to a May 1 order by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. prohibiting him from participating “in any manner” in the conduct of the affairs of any federally insured institution. ... Mr. Mahajan was known for his political connections, particularly to Mr. Blagojevich. Mutual Bank briefly entered the realm of national politics after...

The city is trying to kick-start development of vacant 62-acre parcel near downtown controlled by a controversial Iraqi billionaire once linked to convicted Democratic influence peddler Antoin "Tony" Rezko.

Sources tell CBS 2’s Kramer that Gov. Paterson is concerned that Mayor Mike Bloomberg, a staunch supporter of putting the mosque at ground zero, and President Barack Obama, might be advising mosque leaders to dig in their heels and insist on the present location.

NEW YORK (CBS 2) – There was a possible resolution in the works Tuesday night in the debate surrounding the proposed mosque and Islamic cultural center near ground zero. CBS 2′s Marcia Kramer has learned it looks as if the developers of the mosque may be willing to budge and move away from the Park 51 location where they originally planned the construction. So will the mosque be moving? New York Gov. David Paterson plans to meet with developers of the controversial ground zero mosque as early as this week to offer them state land – at another location –...

FEC Dismisses Judicial Watch Complaint Alleging Northern Trust Provided Obama Special Discounts on "Super Super Jumbo" Home Loan Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, announced today that the Federal Election Commission (FEC) has "closed the file" on Judicial Watch's complaint against Senator Barack Obama for allegedly accepting a below market rate mortgage loan in 2005 not available to the general consumer. In its factual and legal analysis the FEC confirms Obama obtained a discounted loan but said no laws were violated. According to Judicial Watch's original FEC complaint, filed July 8, 2008, the Illinois...