Free Republic

The allegations against Sen. Robert Menendez may have started with unsubstantiated stories about trysts with prostitutes, but questions about the lawmaker’s conduct have reached the point where they’re not focused on sex. A slow drip of national news reports about the New Jersey Democrat and his ties to Florida ophthalmologist and political donor Salomon Melgen have put his office on the defensive over an assortment of issues including a port contract in the Dominican Republic and a possible intervention in a Medicare billing dispute involving the doctor. Menendez tried to move forward with his normal agenda Thursday, holding a morning...

By Bob Beauprez and Christopher JaardaThe New York Times is reporting that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will begin conducting a review of all deportation cases in the immigration courts with the goal of “halting” the deportation “of many illegal immigrants with no criminal record.“  In other words, this is a back door amnesty by a President desperate to score political points with a constituency critical to his reelection. “Many immigration offenses, including being present in the United States without legal status, are civil violations; they are not crimes,” wrote the NY Times citing communications from John Morton, Director...

Robert Poole, chairman of the state board of directors for The Second Mile, contributed about $2,400 to the campaign of Magisterial District Judge Leslie Dutchcot in 2007, according to Dutchcot’s campaign finance reports. Dutchcot arraigned Jerry Sandusky and set the $100,000 unsecured bail, after the Attorney General’s Office asked for a higher, cash bail and electronic monitoring. Criticism has arisen that Dutchcot had a conflict of interest with The Second Mile, as a volunteer and donor for the organization Dutchcot. She has not commented on that issue, saying previously that a judge is not allowed to comment on pending cases....

Newly released emails show a Democratic donor, as well as officials inside the White House, were expressing concern more than a year ago that now-bankrupt solar firm Solyndra's financial situation could deteriorate and prove "embarrassing" for the Obama administration. The emails were released Monday by a Republican-led House panel looking into Solyndra, which filed for bankruptcy last month after receiving nearly $530 million in federal government loans. As with other internal emails that have been disclosed as part of the investigation, the documents reflected uneasiness with Solyndra among those inside and near the administration. A Democratic fundraiser, in a May...