Free Republic

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) slammed Sen. Lindsey Graham’s (R-S.C.) push for Russian sanctions, calling his bill “self-defeating economic warfare.” Graham’s sanctions bill on Russia would impose a 500 percent tariff on imports from any country that buys Russian oil, gas, uranium and other products. The legislation has more than 80 co-sponsors in the Senate, potentially making it veto-proof. But GOP senators are waiting on President Trump to move ahead with the legislation, and Trump said this week he hasn’t even looked at it. Trump has also said he doesn’t want to undermine the chances of a peace deal between Russia...

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) says Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) is using President Trump’s legislative agenda to “secretly explode” the Pentagon’s budget by adding $150 billion in military spending onto the national debt. “This bill is going to spend $300 billion in the first two years … $300 billion on military and border,” Paul, a critic of the House-passed version of the GOP mega bill, told Fox Business host Larry Kudlow in an interview on Wednesday. Paul said the spending cuts in the bill amount to $1.5 trillion over 10 years or about $150 billion per year. “In the first year...

On Sunday, Politico published a story titled "2 states, 1 tepid view of Kamala Harris and her political future." A much more accurate title of the story by Melanie Mason and Brakkton Booker would be "2 states, 2 tepid views of Kamala Harris and her political future."Although Mason and Booker tossed cold water on the idea of Harris running for president again via the South Carolina primary they were also much less than enthusiastic about her running for governor of California. If they didn't quite toss cold water on that campaign they seemed to throw much less than even lukewarm...

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz sought to energize activists at a Democratic state convention in South Carolina, as the party's 2024 vice presidential nominee works to keep up the high national profile he gained when Kamala Harris selected him as her running mate. Walz, a former schoolteacher who went on to serve in Congress and then became his state’s governor, keynoted the South Carolina gathering in Columbia, traditionally a showcase for national-level Democrats and White House hopefuls. Speaking to convention delegates for more than half an hour, Walz used colorful language and spoke plainly as he lobbed...

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) seems to be vulnerable in his home state of South Carolina’s Republican primary, a Lynch for Senate poll commissioned with Pulse Opinion Research found. The top lines of the survey spell bad news for Graham, as 57 percent of Republican primary voters in his state “would not vote for Lindsey Graham if the election were held today,” according to the press release. The poll found that likely voters in South Carolina are “dissatisfied with Lindsey Graham and are just as likely to vote for a more conservative, America First candidate.”

At least 11 people were injured Saturday night when gunfire erupted during a Memorial Day weekend gathering on a docked charter boat in Little River, South Carolina, police said. Horry County Police said in an online statement Monday morning that 10 of the people hurt in the shooting were hospitalized with gunshot wounds, including one who was in critical but stable condition. An eleventh victim suffered a non-gunfire-related injury, police said. A motive for the shooting remains under investigation, and detectives are working to identify those responsible for the shooting. "Thus far, the investigation indicates that the shooting was an...

At least 11 people were taken to hospitals after a shooting Sunday night in a South Carolina beach town, authorities said. Horry County Police did not give the conditions of anyone hurt in the shooting that happened about 9:30 p.m. in Little River.

As President Donald Trump attempts to muscle his GOP agenda through a narrow House majority, Rep. Chip Roy is perhaps the most important holdout to win over. He may also be the toughest. Speaker Mike Johnson and his team have been confident they can pass Trump’s massive reconciliation bill, because they don’t believe any Republican will want to stand in the way and face Trump’s wrath. But Roy, the unapologetic fiscal hawk, is the rare GOP lawmaker willing to publicly challenge the president. He has already survived multiple calls by his own party to oust him — including from Trump...

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) filed a Wednesday resolution to expel Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-N.J.) over pending federal charges related to a scuffle involving lawmakers, protesters and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers outside a migrant detention facility in New Jersey. McIver was accused of assaulting, impeding and interfering with law enforcement after touring Delaney Hall on May 9 to conduct legal oversight. She has said she did nothing wrong while accusing ICE officers of pushing her. Democrats have defended McIver while accusing the Trump administration of a political prosecution, while Mace joined other Republicans who have widely criticized her actions.

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) shared photos of her “naked silhouette” on Capitol Hill Tuesday, alleging that they were taken without her consent by her ex-fiance. “Freedom is not a theory. It is the right to breathe. It is the right to dress and undress, to sleep without someone’s camera filming your naked body,” the congresswoman said during a House Oversight Committee hearing. “The Founders wrote liberty in parchment, but hidden cameras erase it in pixels.” “I speak not just as a lawmaker, but as a survivor.”

The South Carolina Supreme Court today unanimously upheld the Fetal Heartbeat and Protection Act that protects the lives of unborn children when a heartbeat is detected, usually by six weeks gestational age. The 27-page opinion upheld that of 5th Circuit Court Judge Daniel Coble who ruled in May of 2024 in favor of the Heartbeat Act noting that it was the will of the General Assembly to establish the fetal heartbeat at six weeks of gestation. With limited exceptions, including protections for the mother’s life and health, the Fetal Heartbeat Act protects unborn children when the fetal heartbeat can be...

Authorities in Lancaster, South Carolina, have charged six illegal immigrants between the ages of 13 and 21 in connection with the “random” May 2 murder of a mother who was driving to meet friends in Rock Hill. Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office deputies located Larisha Sharrell Thompson, 40, deceased with a gunshot wound behind the wheel of her vehicle on Riverside Road in Lancaster, which is located about an hour south of Charlotte, North Carolina. On May 12, authorities announced the arrests of three adults, including Asael Aminadas Torres-Chirinos, 21; Jarby Ardon Ramos-Odari, 18; Jeyson Sobied Pineda-Salgado, 17; and three juveniles,...

A beautiful 22-year-old college student was fatally shot inside of a Columbia, South Carolina, rental home on Saturday night by a career criminal who was “on a spree of thefts, break-ins and credit card fraud,” the Columbia Police Department said. Logan Federico, a college student from Waxhaw, North Carolina, was spending the weekend at a rental home with friends in South Carolina when she was senselessly murdered by a career criminal. After stealing firearms and credit cards from a nearby home, 30-year-old Alexander Dickey broke into the Columbia rental home early Saturday morning, entered Logan Federico’s room and fatally shot...

Thursday on CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360,” senior political commentator Van Jones spoke with a group of African Americans in South Carolina who explained why they voted for and continue to support President Donald Trump. Seth Dawkins said, “I mean, part of it is he’s an &&&^&^&. I like — I like authenticity.” Detra German said, “It just opened my eyes to maybe he’s not this person that I have been led to believe that he was.” Kyasia Kraft said, “I saw how things were going during his first term, and I was pleasantly surprised, and I was pleased with what...

A shooting in Myrtle Beach, South Caroline left one person dead and 11 others injured late Saturday night, according to police. The Myrtle Beach Police Department is now scrambling to piece together the horrific scene as the popular tourist hotspot turned into a zone of terror. Just before the clock struck midnight on Saturday at 11:50 p.m., Myrtle Beach police officers stumbled upon a full-blown brawl involving a crowd of people. According to the authorities, they 'observed a disturbance involving multiple individuals.' Cops say a chaotic fight turned deadly in Myrtle Beach when someone whipped out a weapon, forcing an...

An American Airlines plane en route to Charleston, South Carolina clipped another plane en route to New York carrying several members of Congress parked on the tarmac waiting for takeoff at Reagan Washington International Airport at 12:45 pm on Thursday. No injuries were reported. The reason for the collision in unknown and under investigation. Members of Congress who were on the plane posted about the incident on social media. “Serving in Congress has come with some once in a lifetime experiences… like just now while stationary on the runway at DCA, another plane just bumped into our wing. Heading back...

A paralyzed Army veteran who drowned in a swimming pool may have taken his own life because he discovered his wife was having an affair with a pastor, his sister has claimed. Chris Skinner, 41, was found dead in a neighborhood pool in Myrtle Beach, SC, on Sept. 6, 2021. Both the cops and coroner’s office eventually declared the case a suicide and ended their probes, but the coroner’s office recently reopened its investigation again, although there is no suggestion it involves foul play. She pointed to conflicting descriptions of how Skinner got into the pool from police and coroner...

A dark mass of clouds hung low over North Charleston as Marine Col. Charles "Tre" Del Pizzo began his descent. It was a Sunday afternoon, late September 2023. Del Pizzo's hands were on the control stick and throttle of an F-35B Lightning II, the U.S. military’s most advanced stealth fighter, a $136 million supercomputer with wings. The F-35B can hover like a helicopter, and Del Pizzo planned to use that technology to land. Del Pizzo had just finished a training sortie over the Atlantic with a second F-35B pilot, practicing tactics at upwards of 500 mph at seven times the...

After years of hustle, film and TV producer Stephen Love found himself in a situation many of his peers would salivate over: He was in four bidding wars. Studios clamored to snap up his projects. Hollywood trade news outlets gushed about their merits, bolstering Love’s career and reputation. But all the while, Love was shooting commercials and music videos and trying to get consulting gigs to make ends meet. He even drove for ride-share companies. The son of a preacher and a teacher, Love, 35, grew up on a farm in York, S.C., almost 40 miles south of Charlotte, N.C....

A deranged “Free Palestine” extremist attempted to terrorize the family of DEI U.S. Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett by threatening her sister with a mailbox bomb. According to WYFF, citing the Charleston Police Department, authorities responded around 9:30 a.m. Monday after receiving an alarming bomb threat directed at Amanda Coney Williams. The threat, sent via email to an employee of the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office late Sunday night, detailed an alleged homemade explosive device that was supposedly placed in Williams’ mailbox. The email read: “Using a 1×8-inch threaded galvanized pipe, end caps, a kitchen timer, some wires, metal clips...