Free Republic

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) on Sunday appeared to poke fun at the size of the crowd that attended former President Trump’s keynote speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) over the weekend, saying that the room was “half-full.” “You saw the scenes at CPAC, that room was half-full,” Christie said on ABC’s “This Week.” “The reason I don’t think the rallies are going on … I don’t think the rallies would be nearly as big as they were before.” Camera shots from Trump’s speech at the conference showed that the room was not nearly at full...

Former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe refuted accounts from Pentagon officials that Chinese balloons entered U.S. airspace on at least three occasions under the Trump administration. Ratcliffe, who served as former President Donald Trump's spy chief from 2020 to 2021, joined a few other former Trump administration officials claiming to have no awareness of such an incursion and described the recent balloon incident as "unprecedented." "I can refute it. It didn't happen," Ratcliffe said... Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Secretary of Defense Mark Esper both denied knowing about a similar instance of a Chinese balloon hovering through...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stressed that his country needs long-range missiles to help combat Russian missile attacks following a blast in the Donetsk region on Saturday that killed three people. “It would have been possible to stop this Russian terror if we could provide the appropriate missile capabilities of our military,” Zelensky said in an address posted to the president’s website on Saturday.... ...Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-Ind.), a Ukrainian native, has also pressured the Biden administration to provide long-range missiles to the country....

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) urged a pair of senators that previously led talks on police reform to revive their push to pass a bipartisan reform package in the wake of the death of Tyre Nichols after he was beaten by police in Memphis. Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Tim Scott (R-S.C.) led negotiations on a policing reform bill that failed in 2021 after the murder of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minnesota. After the House passed the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, its Senate counterparts ultimately gave up on efforts to find a compromise.

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) has introduced a bill that would ban members of Congress from trading and owning stocks, using the name of his legislation to take a jab at Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). Hawley on Tuesday introduced the Pelosi Act — or the Preventing Elected Leaders from Owning Securities and Investments Act — renewing a legislative push to curtail stock trading by lawmakers that has failed over the last few years.