Free Republic

Even as war rages in Iraq, federal agents have begun to unlock the secrets of an unlicensed, unregistered Islamic charity in upstate New York that allegedly pumped millions of dollars into Baghdad. Flouting U.S. economic sanctions, the group shipped cash out of Syracuse, laundered it in banks in Jordan and then illegally funneled it into Iraq, according to an unsealed federal indictment. Operating under the name Help the Needy, the organization described itself as a tax-exempt nonprofit that provided food and humanitarian assistance to the "starving children and suffering Muslims of Iraq." But it lacked charitable status, misrepresented itself in...

The Saudi man arrested by the Joint Terrorism Task Force yesterday in Idaho has ties to close associates of terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden and to four Arab men charged at the same time with channeling funds to Iraq. Sami Omar Al-Hussayen – a University of Idaho doctoral candidate supported by the Saudi government – was a terrorist bagman, according to a federal criminal justice source quoted by a Seattle newspaper. Saudi student Sami Omar al-Hussayen "He's in touch with people who could pick up the phone, call [bin Laden], and he would take the call," the source told the...

Idaho public universities have ramped up spending to $6 million on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts and teaching students about 'white fragility' and 'toxic masculinity.. Idaho Freedom Foundation (IFF) researchers have lifted the lid on a tripling of DEI spending since 2022 at Boise State University (BSU) and three other taxpayer-funded schools across the Gem State. Those schools now have 75 administrators dedicated to DEI, many of them earning six-figure salaries. The top earner, Yolanda Bisbee, is an expert on tribal relations who bags $170,706 per year as chief diversity officer at the University of Idaho (UI). 'The DEI...

The move comes more than three months after the late-night stabbing spree. University officials said the owner of the home where three of the students lived gave the building to the university. Police have not released a motive for the suspect, who is awaiting trial, leaving many with unanswered questions. Xana Kernodle, Ethan Chapin, Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves were found dead inside the home on King Street in Moscow on 13 November. On 30 December, a criminology student was arrested and charged with their murders and burglary. He is due to go trial in June. Prosecutors have yet to...

BOISE, Idaho – A federal appeals court delivered a stinging rebuke Friday to the Bush administration's post-Sept. 11 detention policies, ruling that former Attorney General John Ashcroft can be held liable for people who were wrongfully detained as material witnesses after 9/11. A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the government's improper use of material witnesses after Sept. 11 was "repugnant to the Constitution and a painful reminder of some of the most ignominious chapters of our national history." The court found that a man who was detained as a witness in a federal terrorism...

U of I pays 'inspiration officer' $112K for 9-month contract MOSCOW, Idaho. - Public records show the University of Idaho is paying a Minnesota consultant who spends less than two weeks a month on the Moscow campus $112,500 to serve as its "chief inspiration officer." The Moscow-Pullman Daily News reports the university signed a contract with Magaly Rodriguez last year, paying her $12,500 a month as part of a nine-month contract that expires in June. Schools officials say the workshops conducted by Rodriguez have helped save programs, but some faculty are criticizing the contract that was signed during the same...

A California attorney lobbying the U.S. Supreme Court for a review of Barack Obama's qualifications to be president confronted the chief justice yesterday with legal briefs and a WND petition bearing names of over 325,000 people asking the court to rule on whether or not the sitting president fulfills the Constitution's "natural-born citizen" clause. According to Orly Taitz, the attorney who confronted Chief Justice John Roberts at a lecture at the University of Idaho, the judge promised before the gathered crowd that he would, indeed, read and review the briefs and petition. "I addressed him in front of 800 people...