Free Republic

On Monday, The New Yorker printed a lengthy piece by reporter Jane Mayer about the sad fate of former Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn. Franken resigned from the Senate in 2017 after a bevy of women accused him of sexual harassment; their accounts ranged from unwanted kisses to unsolicited a-- grabbing. In the midst of the #MeToo movement, Franken stepped down, all the while decrying President Trump's own record of allegations concerning mistreatment of women. At the time, there were two possible interpretations of events. The first was more inspiring: After decades of defending sexual misconduct by powerful Democratic figures, Democrats...

The Justice Department has revealed the name of a former U.S. attorney accused of misconduct after Buzzfeed News successfully sued for disclosure of his identity. The Justice Department announced in May 2017 that the since-retired attorney had an affair with a subordinate, created a hostile work environment and possibly violated department policy on sexual harassment. A federal judge ruled in March that public interest superseded government officials’ right to privacy, forcing the Justice Department to disclose last week the attorney in question was Stephen Wigginton, who served as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois from 2010 to 2015....

A man told his story to Big League Politics about an encounter with Fox News host Shep Smith in 2004 in New York City. The man describes how he woke up with Smith on top of him with his tongue down his throat, how he tried to push the Fox host off him, and how Smith lunged at him three or four more times while continuing to force the unwanted physical encounter. In a revelatory interview with Neil McCabe for Big League Politics, John Doe #1, 35, says that Smith took advantage of him. Here is audio from the interview:

Often these days people tell me how they don’t trust what they are told by the press.  I tell them they don’t know half the story.  I read many news stories that I find interesting and then I decide I should dig deeper.  It is very often surprising how the story turns out quite a bit different than what the MSM has led us peasants to believe.When the story broke that there was mistreatment of women during the 2016 Bernie Sanders campaign, I initially had a moment of schadenfreude and then moved on to other matters.   Then the complexion...

Renowned astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson will be investigated by Fox and National Geographic Networks after allegations of sexual misconduct were leveled against him. Patheos.com published accounts Thursday from two women who say that Tyson behaved in a sexually inappropriate manner with them. Tyson was host of “Cosmos” on Fox in 2014 and a new edition of the series was to air on National Geographic next year. Tyson has not commented publicly and an email request for comment to his representative was not immediately returned. …

California Democratic Party Chairman Eric Bauman, who is facing an internal investigation after multiple party staffers accused him of sexual assault or harassment, is taking a leave of absence until the probe is finished, the party announced Monday. Party spokesperson Mike Roth said Bauman had decided to take a leave of absence "[a]fter taking the holiday weekend to consider the most constructive path forward for the work of the California Democratic Party". "Chair Bauman believes this decision is the best way to ensure the independence and integrity of the process," Roth added. "The Party is confident that the procedures in...

"Sarah Scott accused Pardue of sexual misconduct, the Los Angeles Times reported. Scott, 35, told the newspaper the incident happened when she and Pardue, 43, were filming a sex scene"

Meanwhile, the main worry shouldn’t be that Mueller will spring a last-minute subpoena on the president, but that he will charge the president with Russian Collusion and Obstruction of Justice without a lick of proof just as he claims unnamed “opponents” are purportedly paying women to make against him. Vicious #MeToo-like allegations of sexual misconduct are hovering over the head of Special Counsel chief Robert Mueller III, a virtual untouchable ever since his rise to Russian Collusion investigation prominence. The Mueller allegations have surfaced a little over a month after Palo Alto Professor Christine Ford tried to throw a proverbial...

WASHINGTON—The White House has found no corroboration of the allegations of sexual misconduct against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh after examining interview reports from the FBI’s latest probe into the judge's background, according to people familiar with the matter.

As the Senate prepared to question Christine Blasey Ford on the allegations that she was sexually abused by Kavanaugh, new allegations have come out of the woodwork. However, these new allegations are even weaker than Ford’s allegations. What is the left trying to do here? This whole situation is very suspicious, according to reports.

Until today, perhaps the most national news-worthy thing Bill Hybels has done is announce his eventual retirement from being the lead pastor Willow Creek Church, a transition which he has planned meticulously. That all changed, though, when the Chicago Tribune published a story about allegations of sexual misconduct leveled at Hybels by prominent current and former leaders at Willow Creek. Hybels has said he believes those making the claims against him have “colluded” against him in an effort to discredit his ministry. According to the Tribune, which conducted an investigation into the allegations, the claims of misconduct are numerous. “The...

Well, after giving one of the most non-introspective speeches on the Senate floor regarding his sexual harassment allegations, Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) is now a private citizen. The Minnesota Democrat was hit with sexual misconduct allegations around the Thanksgiving holiday last year. He’s been accused of groping multiple women, forcibly kissing one as well. As of today, Stuart Smalley has left the building. Here’s his formal resignation letter: Here's Franken's letter of resignation, which took effect at noon CST. #mnsen pic.twitter.com/UpofdVrtiN— Kyle Potter (@kpottermn) January 2, 2018 The Franken allegations arose just as the Alabama special election was winding down....

The sexual harassment reckoning has exposed many men in positions of power for their bad behavior. Matt Lauer, Charlie Rose, Mark Halperin and others have either been fired or suspended for sexual misconduct. In the political realm, Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) is resigning in early January after multiple women accused him of sexual harassment. Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) made his way to the exit after his sexual harassment allegations made it into the limelight; he paid $27,000 to settle a claim in 2015. And yes, that’s our money he used for that expenditure. This reached a boiling point during the...

There is a strong argument to be made that Sen. Al Franken's central reason for resigning is he knew he would be reduced to being shunned by his peers and the press if he were to continue representing Minnesota in the congressional upper chamber. In short, he would have become a joke, an afterthought, a pariah, a no one. For the egocentric Minnesotan who was courted by everyone in the Democratic Party to headline their fundraisers -- both for their re-elections as well as their state party's coffers -- and fawned over for his Hollywood pedigree and admired by progressives...

It’s over. The Alabama special election is over. The polls have closed. The only thing that Republican Roy Moore and Democrat Doug Jones can do now is wait. Moore has been dealing with multiple accusations of sexual molestation and assault from multiple women. These events occurred when Moore’s accusers were teenagers. It’s been an issue that has plagued the Moore campaign. As the ballots are being counted, turnout in some areas of the state is higher than usual. Yet, CNN’s panel of pundits noted that high black turnout, which is what Democrats are hoping for, might not be enough to...

Well, the sexual harassment reckoning that’s sweeping the country has claimed another member of the media: Ryan Lizza. The Georgetown professor and New Yorker writer was fired from the publication earlier this afternoon for “improper sexual conduct.” Georgetown University said that fall semester classes have concluded, but that Mr. Lizza won’t be teaching next semester. In a statement, Lizza denied there was any impropriety, noting that this was a “respectful” relationship with a woman he dated. The lawyer representing Lizza’s accuser said in a separate statement that the woman, who wishes to remain anonymous, said the relationship was anything but...

The likes of Kirsten Gillibrand parade themselves as paragons of avenging feminist virtue in calling on Sen. Al Franken to resign. But the Morning Joe crew sees another motive behind the Democrat’s move to force Franken out: “cynical politics.” Mika Brzezinski, Joe Scarborough, and Willie Geist all made similar points: the move to defenestrate Franken is really about Democrats trying to give themselves the high ground on the issue of sexual misconduct. The Dems’ real target is Roy Moore. Get the rest of the story and view the video here.

Hang in there, Al baby! That’s Chris Matthews’ message to embattled Senator Al Franken. Despite many of his fellow Dem senators and the head of the DNC calling for Al’s head over allegations of sexual misconduct, Matthews, on this evening’s Hardball, encouraged Franken not to cave—at least not right away. Excerpts: “Now here’s the question. What does he got to gain in quitting? Why isn’t in his interest to say, you know what? I’m going home this holiday season and I’ll think about it . . . The reason I say this is, won’t he regret any impulsive decision? ....

The fit finally hit the shan for Sacramento mayor and former NBA star Kevin Johnson. His latest troubles are a stark reminder of the despicable White House role in railroading a vigilant government watchdog who red-flagged Johnson's corruption years ago. Sports fans buzzed last week after ESPN shelved a documentary celebrating Johnson's efforts to keep the Sacramento Kings basketball team in his city. The public relations disaster came at the hands of the weekly Sacramento News & Review, which has published damning reports all year long on Johnson's use of public resources for personal gain — along with sports website...

Gerald Walpin, the inspector general who was at the center of controversy in 2009 when he was fired by the White House amid an investigation of an Obama friend, died today. He was 84. Walpin's son-in-law, Allan Tananbaum, said Walpin was struck by a car while crossing a street in Manhattan. Walpin was fired in June 2009 for his investigation of the misuse of money in AmeriCorps, the service organization that was part of the Corporation for National and Community Service, where Walpin served as inspector general. The investigation focused on Kevin Johnson, the former NBA star who became mayor...