Free Republic

The Department of Justice on Monday unveiled a record-shattering crackdown on the corrupt underbelly of America’s health care system. A jaw-dropping 324 defendants — including 96 medical professionals — have been charged in 50 federal districts and 12 states for orchestrating over $14.6 billion in intended fraud, largely targeting Medicare, Medicaid, and federal health programs meant to serve the elderly, disabled, and the poor. The takedown, spearheaded by the DOJ’s Health Care Fraud Unit in coordination with HHS-OIG, the FBI, the DEA, and over a dozen state attorney general offices, marks the largest health care fraud bust in U.S. history....

The state of Washington is being sued by the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Civil Rights Division for violating the First Amendment right of priests to maintain confidentiality in the Confessional. The law, which was signed by Gov. Bob Ferguson on May 2, is due to go into effect July 27. The Catholic League was the first lay Catholic organization in the nation to write to Washington legislators about this issue. On February 10, I raised the following question to the lawmakers, “What broke?” I specifically asked, “where is the evidence that child molesters—in any state—report their crimes to priests in...

"I think President Trump was wrong. He went against the Constitution." Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, joined Chris Jansing on MSNBC Reports to discuss the legality of President Trump’s move to launch military strikes on Iran.

Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown declared a state of emergency Wednesday evening following riots against US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations in the downtown area. What began as a daytime demonstration quickly turned volatile, prompting police to deploy smoke grenades and pepper balls near Riverfront Park to disperse agitators. Mayor Brown announced an emergency curfew for downtown Spokane, effective at 9:30 pm on Wednesday and continuing through 5:00 am on Thursday. The curfew applied to the area bounded by Boone Avenue to Spokane Falls Boulevard and Howard Street to Division Street, including Riverfront Park. Exemptions to the curfew included: First...

A day of demonstrations at the Henry M. Jackson Federal building in downtown Seattle ended with protesters removing and burning American flags. The protests started early in the day, around 8 a.m., as protesters barricaded the driveways of the building with rental scooters and bikes. Police did not attempt to remove the barricades or disrupt the protest until later in the evening when officers clashed with groups of protesters near 2nd Ave and Marion Street. Demonstrators approached Seattle police officers who were moving through the area on foot and in vans. Police deployed pepper balls toward the protesters, but the...

Antifa and far-left activists clashed with police in fiery anti-ICE demonstration

Seattle has lost one of its most high-profile tech events due to mounting concerns over public safety and deteriorating conditions in the city’s downtown core. Microsoft has confirmed that it will no longer host its annual Build conference in Seattle starting in 2026, citing issues related to rampant homelessness, visible drug use, and urban decay. According to an internal email obtained by journalist Jonathan Choe of the Discovery Institute, Visit Seattle—the city’s official tourism and marketing organization—was informed that Microsoft will cancel its 2026 event and release all future holds for the conference in Seattle. The email, titled “DEFINITE BOOKING...

An Illegal immigrant has been found guilty of a DUI crash that resulted in the death of a state trooper. On Tuesday, a Snohomish County jury found Raul Benitez-Santana, 33, guilty of vehicular assault and vehicular homicide — in connection with the death of Washington State Patrol Trooper Christopher Gadd. In March 2024, Gadd, 27, was driving in his cruiser when he was hit by a speeding car going over 100 mph ... Benitez-Santana was under the influence at the time of the crash. He admitted to drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana before jumping in his vehicle. Benitez-Santana had reportedly...

Three young sisters have been found dead in Washington state after a tense weekend of searching. The sisters – Paityn Decker, 9, Evelyn Decker, 8, and Olivia Decker, 5 – failed to return from a “planned visitation” with their father on Friday, sparking a police canvass involving local detectives, federal officers and a Homeland Security helicopter in Chelan County, Washington. Authorities found their bodies near their father’s car on Monday at 3:45 p.m. around the Rock Island State Park campground in western Washington. The girls’ father, 32-year-old Travis Decker, remains missing and is wanted on suspicion of first-degree murder and...

Ranchers say their hands are tied as reintroduced wolves—listed as endangered—are feasting on cattle instead of hunting elk and deer.. Descendants of rewilded wolves are taking a heavy toll on cattle in Northern California and Oregon, killing calves and full-grown animals and putting stress on cow-calf operations and ranchers’ pocketbooks. Because wolves are listed as an endangered species under state and federal law, ranchers are hamstrung: They can’t shoot or harass these protected predators. The penalty for killing a wolf is steep; federal law carries a maximum sentence of one year in prison and a $100,000 fine, unless a rancher...

The Post Millennial has obtained the identities of the violent leftist agitators who were arrested outside of Seattle City Hall on Tuesday while attempting to disrupt a pro-Christian rally. Seattle Police apprehended eight individuals on various criminal charges, including felony assault on a police officer. The defendants include trans activists, a public school teacher, and individuals who have documented involvement with the anarchist extremist group, Antifa. Of the eight people arrested, seven were booked into jail. Their ages range from 19 to 60 years old, and half of the accused live outside of city limits, according to police records obtained...

“Bee” on alert. Roughly 250 million bees escaped into the wild when a commercial semi-truck rolled over in Washington state, prompting officials to warn locals to stay away from the area. The truck was hauling 70,000 pounds of honey bee hives when it overturned in a rural part of Whatcom County, just north of Seattle near the Canadian border, around 4 a.m. Friday, according to the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office.

Here's your daily update from the Pacific Northwest 👇 Caleb "Haven" Wilvich is a man who likes to wear dresses. Imagine this guy strutting naked around women with the blessing of America's courts: Two years later, a U.S. federal court of appeals has upheld the lower court's ruling that the spa must allow this man to be naked around naked women on their premises. In his dissent, Trump-appointed Judge Kenneth Lee said this: Now, under edict from the state, women — and even girls as young as 13 years old — must be nude alongside patrons with exposed male genitalia...

SEATTLE — A legally armed civilian shot and killed a 16-year-old boy Wednesday night after the teen allegedly opened fire on two people in downtown Seattle, according to police. The shooting happened just after 10 p.m. near First Avenue and Union Street. Police said the teen shot two people before he encountered a 57-year-old man licensed to carry a firearm, who then shot the teen. “One individual produced a weapon, fired on the two individuals and then began to flee the scene,” said Seattle Police Chief Shon Barnes. “When he did, he encountered a private citizen that was licensed to...

A series of devastating wolf attacks occurred over Memorial Day weekend at the Lost Marbles Ranch, Crystal River Ranch and McCabe Ranch, leaving two calves dead and others injured. A broad daylight attack at the Lost Marbles Ranch, carried out by three wolves from the notorious Copper Creek pack, took place in the heart of the calving grounds, a large meadow where ranchers actively monitor mothers and newborns during the critical calving season. The wolves separated a cow and a calf from the main herd, severely injuring the calf. While many in the public romanticize the idea of seeing a...

SEATTLE — Some tense moments at the King County Jail Monday. This, as protesters arrested over the weekend appeared before a judge. Nearly two dozen people were arrested Saturday at Cal Anderson Park in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood. That’s when a rally by a Christian pro-family group turned violent. Now Mayday USA is planning a rally of its own Tuesday, to call for Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell to resign. KIRO 7 has been pushing to get a response from the mayor. He finally responded late Monday. Just before 5 o’clock this afternoon, a spokesman for Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell released...

A group of Christians are demanding an apology from Democratic Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell after he called their event — which far-left rioters had disrupted — an “extreme right-wing rally.” Evangelicals supporting Mayday USA plan to rally Tuesday outside Seattle’s City Hall following Mayor Bruce Harrell’s Saturday statement on that day’s altercation. Harrell called the group’s “Don’t Mess With Our Kids” event in Cal Anderson Park an “extreme right-wing rally,” and claimed in his statement that the event was held specifically to “provoke a reaction by promoting beliefs that are inherently opposed to our city’s values, in the heart of...

In deep blue Washington state, where state leaders say men in women’s sports is just fine and dandy, one tiny school district is defying that policy. In early May, the Quilcene School Board passed a resolution requiring that student-athletes participate in the gender of their birth, according to the Seattle Times. The 3-2 vote bucks state law and the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association rule book. ... However, it is in keeping with the Trump administration’s definition of Title IX, which says women’s sports are only open to those born female. Chris Reykdal, Washington state superintendent of public instruction, has said...

A man attacked a woman with a knife and then fatally stabbed a man before another man shot and killed the knife-wielding suspect in self-defense Tuesday at a South Hill apartment complex, according to the Spokane Police Department. Officers were called about 5:15 p.m. to an altercation at the Hart Terrace apartment building, 3308 E. 11th Ave., police said in a news release. Lt. Jay Kernkamp told reporters Tuesday that officers found two people injured in the parking lot of the complex. Police and other emergency personnel tried to save them, but both died, according to the release. Detectives believe...

The White House condemned the Episcopal Church on Tuesday after it withdrew from federal refugee resettlement programs in protest when the government asked the church to resettle white refugees from South Africa. In a Monday letter, a top church leader noted South Africa’s history of Apartheid and said that assisting the refugees cuts against its “steadfast commitment to racial justice and reconciliation.” The Episcopal Church’s government relations arm had touted in 2024 its efforts to help “undocumented immigrants.” The Episcopal Church’s decision to terminate its decades-long partnership with the U.S. government over the resettlement of 59 desperate Afrikaner refugees raises...