Free Republic

Former employees at Minocqua Brewing Company's Madison tap room question how the brewery's political Super PAC, Minocqua Brewing Company Super PAC, uses donations, saying employees were paid from the PAC despite doing no work for it. Brewery owner Kirk Bangstad, has raised more than $2 million since the PACs creation to support liberal political causes. The $2 million raised by the Minocqua Brewing Super PAC represents a small fraction of Super PAC spending in Wisconsin, where such organizations spent $49 million on the state's most recent Supreme Court race alone. However, former employees say some of those funds went toward...

An immigrant who allegedly evaded federal agents with the help of a Milwaukee County judge pleaded guilty Thursday to being in the U.S. illegally. Federal prosecutors charged Eduardo Flores-Ruiz in April with reentering the country illegally after being deported. He faces up to two years in prison when he's sentenced and agreed to be deported whenever he is released, according to a summary of the plea deal he reached with prosecutors. Online court records did not list a sentencing date. His attorney, Martin J. Pruhs, didn't immediately respond to an email from The Associated Press on Thursday afternoon seeking comment....

Even a far-left federal judge isn’t buying Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan’s claim she’s immune from criminal prosecution. Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan claims she’s immune from being prosecuted over federal charges she helped a violent illegal immigrant elude Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. But Dugan learned on Tuesday that no man — or woman — is higher than the law. Apparently, Dugan’s alleged conduct was so egregious that even one of the more notoriously leftist federal judges in the country couldn’t look the other way. U.S. District Court Judge Lynn Adelman agreed with a U.S. Magistrate’s previous recommendation that...

- A Dane County judge on Friday ruled to increase the cash bond for a woman charged in a wrong-way crash that killed two teens last month, and ordered. Noelia Martinez-Avila, 30, saw her bond increased from $250,000 to $5 million following a ruling by Judge Diane Schlipper. Martinez-Avila is charged with two counts of homicide by intoxicated use of a vehicle, two counts of homicide by use of a vehicle with a prohibited alcohol content, two counts of knowingly operating while revoked causing death, second-offense OWI, operating with a prohibited alcohol content and failure to install an ignition interlock...

Luismar Liendo and Edwin Perez arrived in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, in January. They are political dissidents from Venezuela. They were granted refugee status by the U.S. President Donald Trump suspended the Refugee Admissions Program and cut off federal funds for nonprofit groups helping refugees. World Relief had expected each refugee to receive $1,325 for the first 90 days. Dive Deeper: Luismar Liendo and Edwin Perez, a married couple from Venezuela, experienced a shocking change in climate when they arrived in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, facing temperatures much colder than they were used to. Having been granted refugee status in the U.S.,...

JANESVILLE, Wis. -- The mother of the 15-year-old girl, who killed two and injured six at Abundant Life Christian School on Dec. 16, 2024, was found dead on Aug. 1 in an "apparent suicide," the Janesville Police Department confirmed to News 3 Now. Melissa Rupnow, who resided at the 1100 block of Matheson Street in Janesville, was found dead last week in what seemed to have "appeared a suicide," according to a Janesville police lieutenant. The lieutenant who confirmed the act could not elaborate because of an ongoing investigation. According to online court records, Melissa and Jeffrey Rupnow had been...

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass’ transition advisory team enlisted two Chinese intelligence-tied bankers who have fundraised for her and a nonprofit she helps lead, a Daily Caller News Foundation investigation discovered. Bass appointed Dominic Ng, CEO of East West Bank, and Simon Pang, co-founder of Royal Business Bank, to her mayoral transition advisory team in December 2022, according to the City of Los Angeles. In total, Ng, East West Bank and Pang have donated upwards of $1 million to Bass’ mayoral campaign and the Mayor’s Fund For Los Angeles, where Bass serves as an advisor to the board of directors,...

The latest records provide more details about the internal Homeland Security discussions of Walz’s history with China. Newly released internal memos confirm the Department of Homeland Security and FBI had longstanding concerns about Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and his connections to the Chinese Communist Party, especially after he was selected by Vice President Kamala Harris as her presidential running mate last year. Homeland Security turned over the documents to watchdog group Judicial Watch, which had filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request and sued the government earlier this year, seeking communications in an agency group chat that allegedly referenced...

Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., is pressing the Pentagon on its efforts to reinstate military troops fired by the Biden administration for forgoing the Covid shot, the senator revealed Thursday. In his Tuesday letter, the Wisconsin Republican asked Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to provide an update on what the Defense Department is doing to return service members booted for not getting the experimental jab under President Biden. As The Federalist previously reported, the mandate was announced by then-Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in August 2021, and — while ultimately repealed by Congress — resulted in the dismissal of roughly 8,700 troops from...

An illegal alien from Honduras faces deportation after allegedly driving while intoxicated and crashing, killing two teenagers in Dane County, Wisconsin. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has lodged a detainer against 30-year-old Noelia Saray Martinez-Avila, who was charged in the deaths of 18-year-old Hallie Helgeson and 19-year-old Brady Heiling. "Hallie Helgeson and Brady Heiling had their whole lives ahead of them—and they would still be alive today if it weren’t for Noelia Saray Martinez-Avila—a criminal illegal alien from Honduras," Assistant DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said. "Martinez-Avila recklessly drove the wrong way on...

Self-proclaimed "anti-oligarchy" crusader Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is once again showing who he really is by endorsing Rebecca Cooke, a Democrat backed by none other than George Soros and his network of far-left donors. Cooke, who’s running in Wisconsin’s 3rd Congressional District, has quietly accepted help from a Soros-funded PAC while claiming to fight for “the little guy.” Sanders’ endorsement exposes the hypocrisy of the progressive movement. In a move that perfectly captures the double standard of today’s progressive elite, Sanders has endorsed Cooke, a candidate with deep ties to dark money and George Soros-backed networks. Cooke, who calls herself...

From Lt. j.g. Jordyn Diomede, U.S. Navy, Navy Office of Community Outreach The U.S. Navy is bringing Navy Week back to Milwaukee from July 14-20, 2025. As part of a nationwide outreach effort, Milwaukee Navy Week will connect Sailors with the community through a variety of performances, educational events, and service projects. The week will conclude with performances by the U.S. Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron, the Blue Angels, during the Milwaukee Air and Water Show, July 19-20. The Blue Angels perform at the Guardians of Freedom Airshow during Lincoln Navy Week.Download Icon Download Share PRINT RSS Since its inception in...

... an opinion piece released at EndTimeHeadlines reveals that one [United Methodist] congregation has taken the agenda to an extreme. With an F-bomb-laden, LGBT "worship anthem" in which a performer loudly proclaims "I'm f****** gay." The commentary said, "It was once said that when the Church stops offending the world, it has stopped representing Christ. That grim warning came true again in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where Zao MKE Church – an official United Methodist congregation – recently led its Sunday worship with a profane, self-glorifying anthem titled, 'I'm F****** Gay.'"

The White House has demanded that Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) apologize for a social media post in which he told White House official Stephen Miller, who is Jewish, to “go back to 1930s Germany." White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly condemned the comment, calling it “absolutely disgusting.” She added, "Mark Pocan must apologize, not only to Stephen but to his constituents and seek professional help." Kelly also noted that such “crazed antisemitic hatred” emboldens extremists to target Jewish Americans. The comment came after Miller, who serves as the deputy chief of staff for policy, made a statement about New...

<p>To paraphrase the late Freedom Center founder David Horowitz: scratch a tolerant, inclusive, compassionate “liberal” and just underneath the surface you’ll find a raging, totalitarian racist and antisemite. Wisconsin Democrat Congressman Marc Pocan is the latest example of this ugly truth.</p>

In what can only be described as a win for the Wisconsin Republican Party, that state's Supreme Court has (for the moment) rejected a suit to withdraw the Badger State's congressional district maps. That means that the present maps will stay in place through the 2026 mid-terms, which makes the prospect for Republican candidates a little brighter. Democrats, on the other hand, are no doubt disappointed. The Wisconsin Supreme Court on June 25 rejected a request to reconsider the state's congressional maps ahead of next year's midterm elections, all but ensuring the current maps will remain in place for 2026....

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The liberal-controlled Wisconsin Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to hear challenges brought by Democrats seeking to throw out the battleground state’s current congressional district boundaries before the 2026 midterms.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court handed a victory to the Republican-controlled Legislature on Wednesday in a power struggle with Democratic Gov. Tony Evers. The court, in a unanimous ruling where the four liberal justices joined with three conservatives, struck down Evers' partial veto of a Republican bill in a case that tested both the limits of his broad veto powers and the Legislature's ability to exert influence by controlling funding. The court also ruled that the Legislature can put money for certain state programs into an emergency fund under the control of its budget committee. Evers had argued such a move...

Wisconsin Judge Hannah Dugan’s trial date has been removed from the calendar as the court reviews her motion to dismiss the case. As you probably recall, Judge Dugan was indicted last month for obstructing an ICE arrest after she tried to hide an illegal aliens from immigration authorities in her courtroom.

The man accused of killing a Minnesota lawmaker and wounding another went to the homes of two other lawmakers to carry out more carnage on the night of the shootings, a federal prosecutor said. But one of the other lawmakers wasn't home, and the suspect left the other house after police arrived, said acting U.S. Attorney Joseph Thompson. Vance Boelter surrendered to police Sunday after they found him in the woods near his home following a massive manhunt that began early Saturday near Minneapolis. "Boelter planned his attack carefully" by researching his intended victims and their families and conducting surveillance...