Free Republic

The US military strikes on three of Iran’s nuclear facilities last weekend did not destroy the core components of the country’s nuclear program and likely only set it back by months, according to an early US intelligence assessment that was described by four people briefed on it. The assessment, which has not been previously reported, was produced by the Defense Intelligence Agency, the Pentagon’s intelligence arm. It is based on a battle damage assessment conducted by US Central Command in the aftermath of the US strikes, one of the sources said. The analysis of the damage to the sites and...

President Donald Trump has privately complained that the Supreme Court justices he appointed have not sufficiently stood behind his agenda, according to multiple sources familiar with the conversations. But he has directed particular ire at Justice Amy Coney Barrett, his most recent appointee, one of the sources said. The behind-closed-doors grievances have been wide-ranging, and while many have been about Barrett, Trump has also expressed frustration about Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, the sources familiar with the matter said. The complaints have gone on for at least a year, the sources said. The president’s anger, sources said, has been...

Newark Liberty International Airport is “not safe” for travelers, one air traffic controller at the has reportedly warned. “It is not safe. It is not a safe situation right now for the flying public,” the federal air safety employee reportedly told NBC News correspondent Tom Costello. “Really an incredible statement, unsolicited. He just said that to me, and separately, ‘Don’t fly into Newark. Avoid Newark at all costs,’” Costello recounted on MSNBC. The airport, which saw 24.3 million passengers and is the second busiest in the New York City area, has been drowning in delays and cancellations for days. Federal...

I would not be surprised to see a denial of this report, probably before I'm done writing about it. NPR is reporting that, according to an anonymous US official, the White House is now looking for a new Secretary of Defense to replace Pete Hegseth. The White House has begun the process of looking for a new secretary of defense, according to a U.S. official who was not authorized to speak publicly... This comes as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth continues to find himself mired in controversy. NPR has also confirmed with the same official that Hegseth shared details ahead of...

Trump administration officials fired more than 300 staffers Thursday night at the National Nuclear Security Administration — the agency tasked with managing the nation’s nuclear stockpile — as part of broader Energy Department layoffs, according to four people with knowledge of the matter. Sources told CNN the officials did not seem to know this agency oversees America’s nuclear weapons. An Energy Department spokesperson disputed the number of personnel affected, telling CNN that “less than 50 people” were “dismissed” from NNSA, and that the dismissed staffers “held primarily administrative and clerical roles.” The agency began rescinding the terminations Friday morning. Some...

(CNN) - President-elect Donald Trump has offered Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik the job as US ambassador to the United Nations, two sources familiar told CNN on Sunday. The New York congresswoman, the fourth-ranking House Republican, has been a strong ally of the president-elect and a major fundraiser for the GOP.

President Joe Biden reportedly believes Hunter Biden is a victim of the weaponization of justice following his gun conviction on Tuesday. A Delaware jury found Hunter guilty of all three gun charges. He faces up to 25 years in prison and $750,000 in fines. The octogenarian pledged last week in France he would not pardon Hunter. He has not, however, spoken about whether he would deliver a commutation. The president feels guilty over Hunter’s legal predicament, two people not authorized to speak publicly about private conversations about Hunter told Politico. They also told the outlet Joe Biden believes he contributed...

The Fox News host Sean Hannity tried to sell Donald Trump on a novel way to heal the wounds of his presidency and the deadly Capitol attack: a pardon for Hunter Biden. The bizarre idea was referred to in texts released by the House January 6 committee, which on Thursday held its first primetime televised hearing. In one message, Hannity told Kayleigh McEnany, then White House press secretary, Trump “was intrigued by the pardon idea!! (Hunter)”.

Before this story has played out to its conclusion, I will figure out how to turn it into a fine powder and snort it. Ingesting it in dribs and drabs over the course of the day simply isn’t enough. Which reminds me: It’s disgraceful that in 2019 America, which is literally governed by a reality-show host, we don’t have cameras inside the Giannulli household broadcasting this drama in real time for our entertainment. The feds should agree to knock a year off her sentence if Loughlin’s willing to agree to that. Recommended A Palo Alto woman harassed an elderly Jewish...

LINK ONLY...................... https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-10-03/fbi-said-to-lack-white-house-approval-to-talk-to-kavanaugh-ford

Donald Trump’s former chief strategist Steve Bannon is keeping the door open to ditching Roy Moore as the sexual-assault allegations against the Alabama Republican Senate candidate continue to pile up.

Defense Secretary James Mattis was caught off guard by President Trump's announcement that he was banning transgender people from serving in the military, according to a New York Times report. Mattis, who was on vacation at the time of Trump's decision, only had one day's worth of notice before Trump tweeted his announcement of the policy, the paper reported. The report described him as "appalled." Sources close to the Defense secretary told the Times that Mattis was infuriated by the tweets, and saw them as an insult to transgender Americans currently serving in the military. On Wednesday morning, Trump wrote...

Former president George W. Bush reportedly said Donald Trump’s inaugural speech was “some weird sh-t.” Bush made the comments after the January inauguration ceremony, which was also attended by Presidents Obama, Carter and Clinton, according to New York Magazine. “That was some weird sh-t,” Bush said before departing the dais, where he infamously struggled to wrangle a poncho in the day’s downpour.

Embattled Metra Executive Director Phil Pagano, under investigation by his own agency for financial issues, threw himself in front of a Metra train this morning and was killed, sources said. It happened in an unincorporated area near Crystal Lake just after 8 a.m.

June 1, 2006 — Military sources told ABC News that there are likely to be charges filed against officers up the chain of command in connection with the killing of 24 civilians by U.S. Marines in Haditha, Iraq, in November 2005. Those who could be charged include senior officers who were not on the scene at the time of the killing but should have known something wrong had happened and done something about it. Today the White House confirmed that it was nearly three months after the Haditha killings that an investigation began, only after Time Magazine showed a video...