Free Republic

House Republicans are escalating scrutiny of Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) after Oversight Committee members moved to seek immigration records connected to long-standing allegations surrounding her second marriage. Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) confirmed this week that lawmakers are pursuing subpoenas related to Omar’s immigration history and that of her former spouse, amid claims that the marriage may have been entered into for immigration purposes. “Federal marriage fraud and knowingly entering a marriage to evade immigration laws is a serious felony punishable by prison time, steep fines, denaturalization, and deportation,” Mace said in a statement. “Marrying a sibling is illegal in every...

South Carolina state Rep. John Lastinger (R), a pastor, won the special election for South Carolina House District 88, defeating Democrat and retired Army Col. Joseph “Chuck” Hightower. The seat opened after former state Rep. RJ May (R) resigned following a guilty plea in a federal child sexual abuse material case. Lastinger, who ran as a conservative backing anti-abortion measures and gun rights, will serve through next November.

A South Carolina man accused of drunk driving and stealing a patrol car vowed to take his case to President Donald Trump during a fiery spat at his bond hearing. William Waters allegedly stole the patrol car from the QuikTrip gas station in Spartanburg County on Saturday night while suffering from an apparent mental health crisis. Waters, 34, appeared before a judge on Monday, facing charges of grand larceny, failure to stop for blue lights and driving while under the influence. As the judge read the charges out, the suspect repeatedly interrupted, accused the judge of lying and refused to...

A small town committee in South Carolina kept a Nativity display in a market parking lot in defiance of the mayor’s order that it be taken down. The controversy began in Mullins, South Carolina, around Thanksgiving when Kimberly Byrd, head of the Mullins Beautification Committee, said her committee would decorate the town’s new marketplace “like a Hallmark movie” for the Christmas season, believing it would draw in business. The group paid for the decorations out of their own pocket and included a Nativity scene, but Mayor Miko Pickett reportedly asked that it be removed, fearing it would offend residents of...

Everyone loves a good party, even when they're behind bars. One shindig at a South Carolina prison was ruined, however, when authorities intercepted a drone carrying items needed for a heck of a crab boil. A photo from the Bishopville prison showed a raw steak still in the grocery store packing, crab legs and Old Bay with side plastic baggies of marijuana and a couple of cartons of cigarettes. The drone was also seized Sunday morning, authorities said. All in Piggly Wiggly bags, so you know it's high quality.

Corrections officers at a South Carolina prison intercepted a covert package dropped by a drone containing a selection of indulgent fare and banned substances. Guards unwrapped the package to find steak, marijuana, crab legs, an abundance of cigarettes, and to spice it up, a tin of Old Bay seasoning. The illicit meal was dropped into the Lee Correctional Institution in Bishopville, S.C., by a drone, the South Carolina Department of Corrections said on X on Monday, with the caption, “seems some folks were planning an early holiday Old Bay crab boil and steak dinner along with their marijuana and cigarettes...

The measles outbreak in South Carolina is “accelerating” with no end in sight following Thanksgiving and other large gatherings, state health officials said Wednesday. As of Wednesday, 111 measles cases had been reported in what’s known as upstate South Carolina — an area in the northwest of the state that includes Greenville and Spartanburg. “We are faced with ongoing transmission that we anticipate will go on for many more weeks,” Dr. Linda Bell, state epidemiologist for the South Carolina Department of Public Health, said during a news briefing Wednesday. Twenty-seven of those cases have been reported since Friday. “That is...

"Here’s a hard truth Republicans don’t want to hear: Nancy Pelosi was a more effective House speaker than any Republican this century," she wrote. "I agree with her on essentially nothing. But she understood something we don’t: No majority is permanent." The congresswoman wrote that unlike Republicans, when Democrats hold the majority, "they ram through the most progressive policies they can," and "deliver for the coalition that elected them while they are in power." Continuing her criticism of Congress' dysfunction, Mace maintained that "the current House is restrictive and ineffective," producing "control with barely any results." She argued that "Republican...

Undercover footage from the pro-life group Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust allegedly shows a "multi-state abortion fund, the Palmetto State Abortion Fund, (PSAF) secretly transporting a minor for an abortion, two hours away, despite the parent’s clear disapproval." The Details: A media release sent to Live Action News from Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust read in part: Survivors’ undercover journalist posed as a 15-year-old and captured interactions with PSAF’s founder, staff, and a volunteer driver[,] Kathryn Weir. Via a hidden camera, she captured the entire operation from being picked up at the Myrtle Beach Mall and being driven to Planned...

Abortion activists in South Carolina have been caught on an undercover video taking a 15-year-old girl to an abortion center for a secret abortion. Undercover footage released by the pro-life group Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust exposes a multi-state abortion fund secretly transporting a minor for an abortion two hours away, despite the parent’s clear disapproval. The video, captured by an undercover journalist posing as a 15-year-old girl, shows interactions with abortion activists with the Palmetto State Abortion Fund. The footage documents the operation from pickup at the Myrtle Beach Mall to a Planned Parenthood clinic in Charleston that was...

A woman in South Carolina has been charged with attempted murder and child endangerment for allegedly leaving her baby to die after a chemical abortion using misoprostol failed to end the infant's life in the early third trimester. Key Takeaways: * Twenty-year-old Jocelyn Byrum gave birth to a baby at 27 weeks after taking misoprostol. * Byrum's baby was born alive, and police discovered she did not call for help or offer any assistance to the premature infant. * The federal Born Alive Infants Protection Act protects babies born alive after an attempted abortion, ensuring they are legally viewed as...

Today’s Republican Party is big on manliness and masculine virtues. The MAGA right in particular is forever obsessing over who is the biggest, the strongest, the most fearless among them.This is why, watching President Trump’s fight to keep a lid on the Epstein files, I have been struck, delighted even, that among the vanishingly few Republican lawmakers with the courage to defy him have been three fire-breathing congresswomen: Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Nancy Mace of South Carolina.Love ’em or hate ’em, these House troublemakers bucked their party leadership, stared down their president and made...

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A South Carolina firing squad has executed a man Friday, the third person to die by that method in the state this year. Three prison employees, all with live ammunition, volunteered to carry out the execution of Stephen Bryant, 44, who was pronounced dead at 6:05 p.m. Bryant killed three people in five days in a rural area of the state in 2004. Bryant chose to die by firing squad instead of lethal injection or the electric chair. He made no final statement and briefly glanced toward the 10 witnesses before the hood was placed on...

A man has been arrested in South Carolina after threatening a group of pro-life activists with a deactivated grenade. Key Takeaways: * Pro-lifers from the group Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust were threatened with a grenade while protesting outside a church Sunday morning. * Police later determined the grenade was hollowed out. * The pro-life group was protesting the church's involvement with pro-abortion organizations. The Details: Richard Lovelace, 79, a retired lawyer, faces charges after allegedly harassing pro-lifers from the group Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust, whose members were gathered outside St. Anne's Episcopal Church in Conway, South Carolina. Police...

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) repeatedly cursed at law enforcement officials at Charleston International Airport on Thursday, calling police “f***ing incompetent” and berating Transportation Security Administration personnel, according to the incident report. The scene, first reported by Wired on Friday, began when police tasked with escorting Mace to her gate were a few minutes late in meeting her car outside the airport. Mace chose to use an access lane intended for flight crew members, a smaller checkpoint that is part of the Known Crewmember program and overseen by TSA. Officers from the Charleston County Aviation Authority Police Department, who expected her...

Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., is demanding the resignation of Charleston Airport CEO Elliot Summey and threatening legal action after airport officials accused her of mistreating staff. "My lawyers are examining EVERY LEGAL OPTION," Mace wrote in a post to X. "Elliot — I’m waiting for that resignation letter. Tomorrow morning. Get your computer ready and start typing. You’re completely and totally COOKED."

Two dozen Christian pastors in York County have joined together to publicly call on members of their faith to embrace Muslims as their brothers and sisters. The Rev. Sam McGregor, pastor at Allison Creek Presbyterian Church near Lake Wylie, said he has jump-started the local effort because of recent threats against Muslims in the United States that came to light during the trial of Robert Doggart. Doggart, a failed congressional candidate from Tennessee, pleaded guilty this month to plotting to kill Muslims who live in a religious community in New York. The FBI uncovered and stopped Doggart’s plan. A similar...

Among political conservatives, there is no hotter potato at the moment than the civil liability protections afforded by Section 230 to online operators. Unless Republicans learn to love it again and reject the censorship lawfare complex favored by Democrats, they risk dooming our tech leaders and everyone who uses their products to the sharks circling our legal system.The twenty-six words tucked into the Communications Decency Act of 1996 shielded publishers from liability so they could host and moderate content and still allow a wide range of speech without fear of lawsuits. Since then, Section 230 has evolved to be one...

SUMMERVILLE, S.C. (WCIV) — Crowds of people in Summerville have begun the first of two 'No Kings' demonstrations in the Charleston area Saturday. The "No Kings" movement says "millions" will gather around the US on Saturday. The planned protests come amidst an ongoing government shutdown threatening federal workers and services, Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in Portland, and the Trump administration's flirtations with invoking the Insurrection Act to quash dissent.

PIEDMONT, S.C. — South Carolina's SB 323 could change abortion access, the definition of contraceptives, and criminal charges, among other things. Our crews have been reporting on the bill and its potential impacts. This week, our reporter sat down with Sen. Richard Cash, who wrote the bill. Reporter Peyton Furtado: "So you've made these changes to a law, and it's already in place. You've had some amendments here. Can you tell me a little bit about some of the changes you've made and why you made these changes? Sen. Richard Cash: "Well, the goal is to save more babies early...