Free Republic

A month before President Trump’s inauguration, Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff flew to the United Arab Emirates with two goals: discussing regional issues with the Abu Dhabi royal known as the “spy sheikh,” and attending a cryptocurrency conference. Less than five months later, Witkoff’s son, co-founder of the crypto venture World Liberty Financial, took the stage at a conference in Dubai to announce the company had struck a deal for the sheikh’s company to buy $2 billion of their new cryptocurrency. The expected tens of millions of dollars in annual profits would be split between the Witkoffs and their co-founders—and...

Elon Musk has been in regular contact with Putin since late 2022. At one point, Putin asked him to avoid activating his Starlink satellite internet service over Taiwan as a favor to Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Big @WSJ scoop

VALDOSTA, Ga.—President Trump tried to use his unsupported claims of widespread voting fraud to boost turnout in two Senate runoff elections next month, urging supporters at a rally here to re-elect two senators but oust other local officials he blames for his own election loss.

WASHINGTON—On the eve of a critical Senate hearing that could decide the fate of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, a third woman came forward to accuse him of sexual misconduct in the early 1980s as partisan anger deepened on both sides. The revelations shocked Capitol Hill, where Republican lawmakers are seeking to advance a nomination that legal scholars and lawmakers have said could cement a conservative majority. Judge Kavanaugh’s judicial elevation, once expected to move smoothly through the Senate, now hangs on the votes of a handful of GOP senators who said they were troubled by the late-breaking claims. Sens....

WASHINGTON—President Trump isn’t expected to declare a national emergency at the southern border when he addresses the nation Tuesday night about his request for funding for his long-promised wall along the U.S.-Mexico boundary, according to a person who has reviewed drafts of the speech. The president’s speech didn’t include any declaration of a national emergency, according to the person. Instead, the speech seeks to explain the president’s rationale for why he viewed the situation at the border as a crisis. Mr. Trump has said he wouldn’t sign any bill ending the partial government shutdown, which is now in its third...