Free Republic

We’ve reported extensively on the shenanigans at CBS News, the network that was forced to fork over $16 million in July to settle Trump’s lawsuit concerning their deceptive editing of a Kamala Harris interview a month before the 2024 presidential election. Much drama ensued at the outlet as veteran diehards continued to insist that resisting Trump and spewing anti-American rhetoric was part of their job description. Give credit, however, to David Ellison, Chairman and CEO of Paramount (Skydance Corporation), who brought on independent journalist, former NY Times opinion editor, and nowadays free thinker Bari Weiss to oversee the hopelessly biased...

Federal prosecutors say the Biden‑era border crisis produced one of the most brazen cybercrime cases in years. The Department of Justice charged 54 alleged members of the Venezuelan terror gang Tren de Aragua with using sophisticated malware to loot millions from U.S. ATMs and funnel the cash back to their criminal network. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Nebraska unsealed two sweeping indictments charging 54 individuals for their alleged roles in a nationwide ATM “jackpotting” conspiracy tied to the violent Venezuelan criminal organization Tren de Aragua (TdA). Prosecutors say the group deployed sophisticated malware to force ATMs across...

A federal appeals court on Monday took Judge Boasberg to task and delayed his contempt hearings until 2026. In March Boasberg granted a temporary restraining order (TRO) to stop the Trump administration from deporting thousands of Venezuelan nationals believed to be members of Tren de Aragua (TdA) gang under the Alien Enemies Act. Boasberg then threatened to hold Trump officials in contempt for not bringing some of the world’s most vicious killers, criminals, and rapists back to the United States. Judge Boasberg said he found probable cause to hold the Trump Administration in criminal contempt of court for defying his...

A panel of judges on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals has delayed proceedings in U.S. District Judge James Boasberg's contempt inquiry until 2026, instructing the litigants to opine on the authority of the court to pursue contempt at all. Boasberg has overseen a challenge involving the Trump administration's invocation of the Alien Enemies Act to deport members of Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. Boasberg had planned contempt hearings this week, though the Department of Justice appealed to the upper court and even moved to boot him from the case altogether. In the Monday order, the judges set a Jan....

Once again, the United States is using lethal force off its shores. In recent weeks, American drones and warships have sunk or disabled a string of speedboats in international waters off Venezuela. Washington says the vessels belonged to narcoterrorist networks tied to the Maduro regime and Tren de Aragua and that they were carrying cocaine and fentanyl precursors bound for the United States. At least 83 alleged traffickers and others are dead. Caracas calls this extrajudicial murder. Human-rights groups call it assassination. Cable-news panels and UN press releases are already rehearsing the same ritual question: Is this legal under international...

CDC: Cases Confirmed In 15 States, Including N.Y., With 25 In Florida Alone June 16, 2014 6:19 PM NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — First there was West Nile virus. Now health experts are warning about another virus carried by mosquitoes. The chikungunya virus — or “chik-v” — has sickened tens of thousands of people throughout the Caribbean with high fever and severe pain. Now Americans are coming down with it, too, and there’s fear that it will spread, CBS 2′s Kristine Johnson reported. “This is not a fatal infection; it’s just a miserable infection,” said Dr. William Schaffner, chairman of Vanderbilt...

It is unclear whether the cause of the syndrome is viral or bacterial – a distinction with implications for treatment – although autopsies have indicated that those who died were suffering from other complications, such as Chikungunya.Venezuelan hemorrhagic fever (VHF) is endemic in the two states of Portuguesa and Barinas, but transmission from person-to-person is uncommon.While samples have been sent to the Venezuelan National Institute of Health, the results have not yet been released publically and there is no suggestion from health officials that VHF is behind this particular outbreak.One doctor, who wishes to remain anonymous, attended a meeting last...

SummaryPatrick Byrne appeared on Alex Jones’ show to reveal a letter written by Hugo Carvajal, former head of Venezuelan military intelligence (2017 defector, currently imprisoned in New York on narco-terrorism charges).Key claims made in Carvajal’s letter and in the interview:Carvajal offers full cooperation with U.S. authorities, including turning over videotapes of election-rigging negotiations in dozens of countries.Venezuela, under Chávez and Maduro, deliberately weaponized the drug trade as a state policy (coordinated with Cuba, FARC, ELN, and Hezbollah) to attack the United States.Venezuelan regime created and armed criminal gangs (“colectivos” and Tren de Aragua) and exported criminality.In 2015, Carvajal was present...

Representative Jim McGovern (D-MA), Ranking Member of the House Rules Committee and Co-Chair of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, Representative Thomas Massie (R-KY), and Representative Joaquin Castro (D-TX), Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee's Western Hemisphere Subcommittee, have introduced a War Powers Resolution to block the Trump administration from engaging in hostilities within or against Venezuela absent congressional authorization. The Constitution does not permit the executive branch to unilaterally commit an act of war against a sovereign nation that hasn’t attacked the United States,” said Rep. Massie.

Several Democratic senators and one Republican, Rand Paul of Kentucky, filed a war powers resolution to prevent the United States from using its armed forces to engage in hostilities with Venezuela without congressional approval. The resolution was filed by Paul and Democratic senators Tim Kaine, Va., Adam Schiff, Calif., and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, N.Y. It directs President Donald Trump to stop using the military “unless specifically authorized by a declaration of war or specific authorization for use of military force,” according to The Hill.

Reporting Live from Central America. Me. The 30 November 2025 General Election has yet to be called. As of right now, there is a glitch in the ability of the Honduran election officials (CNE), to disseminate updates to the tallies. However, what we do know: the link between President Maduro of Venezuela and the Honduran presidency has been effectively removed. The socialist/communist candidate Rixi Moncada has been trounced gaining less than 20% of the vote. Specifically, 19.16% of the popular vote as of 4:09 PM CST, yesterday 1 December. That was the last official update before the CNE website failed...

The family of a Colombian fisherman who died in a U.S. military boat strike in September has filed a formal complaint with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights alleging the U.S. government illegally killed him. Alejandro Carranza was killed in a strike in the Caribbean on Sept. 15, according to the petition, filed on Tuesday. "From numerous news reports, we know that U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth was responsible for ordering the bombing of boats like those of Alejandro Carranza and the murder of all those on such boats," according to the petition. In the petition, Carranza's lawyer Dan...

Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said Tuesday that he only learned of a second strike on an alleged Venezuelan drug boat to finish off two survivors “a couple of hours later.” Hegseth disavowed responsibility amid a congressional outcry over the Sept. 2 follow-up attack on the wrecked vessel.

EXCLUSIVE: 🚨SECRETARY OF THE ARMY’S OFFICE PLOTTING COUP AT THE PENTAGON TO REMOVE @SecWar PETE HEGSETH AND REPLACE HIM WITH @SecArmy DAN DRISCOLL 🚨 Individuals in the office of US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll have been orchestrating a Coup against Secretary of War Pete Hegseth @PeteHegseth in an effort to have him removed by President Trump and replaced by Dan Driscoll. Over the last 2 weeks, the legacy media, which is incredibly hostile to Hegseth, has been posting puff pieces about Dan Driscoll and how he is a “rising star” at the Pentagon. Sources have told me that Jake Sullivan...

The week-old media frenzy over the sinking of a drug-running speedboat by the U.S. military in international waters on September 2 showed the first signs of winding down today. The issue was driven by a Washington Post account that was as much a paint-by-numbers narrative and a Rorschach test for your feelings on Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, as it was investigative reporting; see Washington Post Accuses Pete Hegseth of 'Illegal Order' to Kill Drug Runners, but Is It Real? – RedState. The article claimed that Hegseth instructed military commanders to kill "[t]wo survivors were clinging to the smoldering wreck."...

The anti-military sentiment that had been percolating for months on the set of ABC’s The View boiled over a bit on Monday. The suspiciously timed and anonymous accusations about alleged orders from War Secretary Pete Hegseth about eliminating alleged cartel drug smugglers from Venezuela gave the liberal ladies all the cover they needed to accuse American service members of “flat-out murder” and “war crimes.” All while admitting they were completely ignorant about international law. Fresh from shooting a soap opera in Italy, moderator Whoopi Goldberg led into the segment by suggesting other countries felt bad for America and alluded to...

(CNSNews.com) - Amid growing concern about the illicit drug trade across the U.S.-Mexico border, the terrorist groups Hezbollah and Hamas have been linked to South American drug trafficking organizations–and the money Hezbollah and Hamas make from narco-trafficking is used to finance their organizations, according to the non-partisan Congressional Research Service (CRS). “International terrorist groups, including Hamas and Hezbollah, have also reportedly raised funding for their terrorist activities through linkages formed with DTOs in South America, particularly those operating in the tri-border area (TBA) of Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina,” stated CRS in an April 30 report. As evidence that Hezbollah and...

Russia has begun evacuating its citizens from Venezuela, a sudden move that analysts say signals a major shift in Moscow's stance toward dictator Nicolás Maduro's embattled regime — and comes as U.S. military pressure on Caracas steadily intensifies, La Derecha Diario reported. The Association of Tour Operators of Russia confirmed that flights are being organized to remove Russians from Venezuela. The announcement, circulated widely by Russian media, sparked immediate speculation that Russian President Vladimir Putin is preparing for instability or distancing itself from Maduro after years of backing the socialist strongman. The evacuation order comes at an unusual moment. Russian...

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed on Monday that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth authorized the second, follow-up strike on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean in September following a bombshell Washington Post report that claimed he ordered the military to “kill everybody.” Leavitt told reporters at the White House press briefing that Hegseth authorized Adm. Frank Bradley to carry out the second strike, which reportedly killed two people who were hanging onto the burning vessel after an initial strike. “President Trump and Secretary Hegseth have made it clear that presidentially designated narco-terrorist groups are subject to lethal targeting...

This is CNN’s version of the story, by Natasha Bertrand: “US military carried out second strike killing survivors on a suspected drug boat that had already been attacked, sources say.” The US military carried out a follow-up strike on a suspected drug vessel operating in the Caribbean on September 2 after an initial attack did not kill everyone on board, sources familiar with the matter told CNN. That September strike was the first in what became a regular series of attacks on alleged drug boats. While the first strike appeared to disable the boat and cause deaths, the military assessed...