Free Republic

A top adviser at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) deleted records critical to uncovering the origins of COVID-19 — and used a “secret back channel” to help Dr. Anthony Fauci and a federal grantee that funded gain-of-function research in Wuhan, China, evade transparency. NIH senior adviser Dr. David Morens improperly conducted official government business from his private email account and solicited help from the NIH’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) office to dodge records requests, according to emails revealed in a memo by the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, which The Post obtained Wednesday. “[I] learned from...

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that he disagrees with arrest warrants sought against him by the International Criminal Court (ICC), suggesting that U.S. leaders could be next.The ICC this week said it would seek arrest warrants for Mr. Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and the Hamas leaders, prompting criticism from both Israeli and top U.S. officials, including President Joe Biden. The ICC claimed that the warrants for the Israeli leadership were over the country’s conduct in the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict.Mr. Netanyahu said the warrants against himself and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over the country’s conduct in its fight...

Former President Donald Trump is set to hold a campaign rally in the South Bronx on Thursday, an audacious statement of intent in a borough that hasn’t backed a Republican for the White House in 100 years. Not since Calvin Coolidge won every Empire State county in 1920 and 1924 has a GOP candidate won the Bronx and Trump is unlikely to break that trend — having failed to reach 10% support in 2016 and barely reaching 15% four years ago. “The park only holds a couple thousand people. So this is certainly not going to be a Wildwood. But...

Californians pay more at the gas pump than residents of any other state in the United States despite Gov. Gavin Newsom’s (D-CA) so-called “plan” to crack down on windfall oil profits. “Is Gavin Newsom trying to help Donald Trump?” Is Wall Street Journal’s Allysia Finley question, citing his plan to raise fuel prices in Nevada and Arizona just before the November presidential election. Nevada and Arizona’s gas prices heavily reflect those in California due to them being significantly reliant (90 and 50 percent) on California for their fuel supply. According to recent reports, the California Energy Commission is looking to...

President Joe Biden revealed that his administration will be canceling more than $7 billion in student debt for 160,000 people. The White House issued a statement Wednesday announcing that 160,000 people in the United States would have their student loans canceled, erasing a total of $7.7 billion in student debt for those people. In June 2023, the Supreme Court issued a 6-3 decision to block Biden’s plan to cancel $430 billion in student loan debt for almost 40 million people.

Julie Kelly 🇺🇸 @julie_kelly2 Spent most of the day at Ft. Pierce federal courthouse to cover two hearings in classified docs case. Special Counsel team's frustration with Judge Aileen Cannon is really evident. And it's glorious. David Harbach, one of Smith's lead prosecutors and usually a cool customer in court, had a series of mini temper tantrums this morning. At times pounding his fist on the podium and clapping his hands in anger to emphasize a point, Harbach was totally unprofessional, demeaning, and petulant. Cannon asked Harbach to "calm down" during one diatribe about accusations DOJ threatened one of the...

As things stand, Joe Biden will not be on Ohio's general election ballot in November, setting up potentially disastrous down-ballot consequences for Democrats. For months, the president and his party have been pushing the legislature to pass a "fix" that would allow him to make the state deadline in early August. On Wednesday, the Republican-led legislature justifiably told him to pound sand. The fix won’t happen through the legislature, said Ohio House Speaker Jason Stephens, R-Kitts Hill, and Ohio House Minority Leader Allison Russo, D-Upper Arlington, during separate gaggles Tuesday morning. “There’s just not the will to do that from...

Thirteen fed-up counties in liberal Oregon have voted in support of measures to start negotiations to secede from the state and join conservative Idaho. Crook County became the latest to approve the 'Greater Idaho Measure' following a vote on Tuesday. The proposal seeks to move the Oregon border 200 miles to the west, meaning that 14 counties and several partial counties would fall under Idaho state lines. Organizers behind the Greater Idaho movement say east Oregonians are being alienated by the state's progressive policies which they blame for high crime rates. They claim a move to Idaho would allow residents...

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Wednesday said it is not Joe Biden’s job to secure the US border amid an invasion of millions of military-age men from the most dangerous parts of the world. More than 10 million illegal aliens – mainly military-age men – have invaded the US since Joe Biden was installed in January 2021. Illegals from the most dangerous parts of the world including the Middle East and Africa, have crossed over the border. Illegal aliens are raping and murdering innocent Americans. And what does the White House say about the invasion and carnage: It’s...

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) on Wednesday appeared to back allowing Ukraine to use American-provided weapons to strike Russia or Russian-controlled territory. One reporter asked Johnson about a House Intelligence Committee letter calling on the Biden administration to allow Ukraine to strike Russia with American-supplied weapons. The letter stipulates that this would allow Ukraine to strike “Russian-controlled territory” as well as Russian territory and represents a significant escalation in America’s seemingly endless proxy war against Russia.

China’s latest test shows commitment to perfecting electromagnetic tech while US waffles between defunding or reviving its efforts The Type 072 destroyer (pictured) was spotted in 2018 carrying what military experts believed to be the PLA Navy’s first electromagnetic rail gun. Photo: Handout / SCMP China’s latest electromagnetic railgun test ultimately failed but underscored its relentless pursuit of the weapon, contrasting sharply with the US’s uncertain commitment to the potential game-changing technology. This month, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported that the People’s Liberation Army-Navy (PLA-N) tested an electromagnetic railgun by firing a smart bomb 15 kilometers into the...

House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik filed an ethics complaint against Judge Juan Merchan for an alleged conflict of interest pertaining to his daughter’s role at a firm known for representing Democratic politicians. Merchan, an acting Supreme Court justice in New York, is presiding over the unprecedented criminal trial against former President Trump stemming from charges brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. Stefanik, R-N.Y., filed the complaint with the New York State Commission on Judiciary Conduct, warning that Trump, who pleaded not guilty to all 34 counts of falsifying business records, faces "a maximum of 136 years’ imprisonment" if...

Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) is very upset that former President Donald Trump will be campaigning on her turf. When speaking to the press on Tuesday, the House Representative for New York’s 14th Congressional district accidentally admitted that the trial is de facto election interference by hobbling one candidate’s presidential campaign. She actually compared it to wearing an ankle bracelet. Watch: VIDEO AT LINK................... “…the legal version of an ankle bracelet…” @AOC is so astonishingly stupid, she probably does not appreciate the ramifications of what she just admitted out loud. Congratulations, Alexandria. You just admitted to strategic and deliberate election interference....

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) reportedly gave almost every Democrat an earmark in exchange for their votes for a $1.2 trillion spending bill that was passed despite the objections of a majority of House Republicans.As Johnson and House Democrat Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) negotiated two government funding bills, the Democrat leader secured a major victory in exchange for voting for Johnson’s spending bill: a considerable bump in earmarks for Democrats’ home districts.###The earmarks were tucked well within the Transportation spending bill; a CNN analysis suggested that the earmarks for Democrats went up $616,279 for almost every Democrat member over what had...

For anyone who thought 2024 was going to be free and fair, please disabuse yourself of that idea immediately.The progressive Democrats constantly tell us that illegal aliens are not voting in our elections, because of course it’s illegal. Well, so is crossing the border illegally, but we’ve seen how that has gone—how many tens of millions of illegals are actually living here? (I suspect Ann Coulter is right when she puts that number around 50 million.)Yet, those very same progressive Democrats have been teaching “non-citizens” how to participate in what should be, American elections. The District of Columbia Board of...

Despite national attention and thousands of protesting parents, a federal court is refusing to allow parents to opt their children out of LGBT courses in school. The U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals decided on Wednesday that Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) in Maryland does not have to allow parents to opt their children out of LGBT-themed lessons. Judge G. Steven Agee, a George W. Bush appointee, claimed that the parents seeking to opt their children out of the lessons in question did not provide sufficient evidence to justify a preliminary injunction.In March of last year, MCPS added nearly two...

Fifteen incumbent Republican legislators, including Senate President Pro Tem Chuck Winder, R-Boise; Sen. Scott Herndon, R-Sagle; and Rep. Julianne Young, R-Blackfoot; lost their re-election bids Tuesday, according to unofficial primary election results released by the state and counties. Winder, the highest ranking member of the Idaho Senate, lost to Republican challenger Josh Keyser in the District 20, Idaho Senate Republican primary election. With 100% of Ada County precincts reporting, Keyser secured a 281-vote victory over Winder, according to the Ada County Elections Office.

The United States has long had the world’s biggest defense budget, with spending this year set to approach $900 billion. Yet this spending is rapidly being eclipsed by the fastest-growing portion of federal outflows: interest payments on the national debt. For the first seven months of fiscal year 2024, which began last October, net interest payments totaled $514 billion, outpacing defense by $20 billion. Budget analysts think that trend will continue, making 2024 the first year ever that the United States will spend more on interest payments than on national defense. ... Just two years ago, interest payments were the...

An independent group of McDonald's franchise owners have spoken out about the the chain's $5 meal bundle planned for this summer. The US's biggest fast food chain is trying to lure back customers fed up with its price hikes. Customers will get a total of four items - either a McDouble or McChicken sandwich, small fries, small soft drink and four McNuggets - for $5. 'The fact remains that in order to provide the consumer with more affordable options, they must be affordable for the owner/operators. 'McDonald's vast resources and financial investment are essential to any sustainable affordable strategy,' the...

Fani Willis on Tuesday won the Democratic primary in Georgia for her Fulton County District Attorney seat, which she has held since 2020. Willis won with 89 percent of the vote at the time the Associated Press called the race. Polls closed at 7 p.m. ET and the AP called the race shortly before 7:40 p.m. The result came as Willis seeks to continue her election interference case against former President Donald Trump. Willis indicted Trump and several other co-defendants for charges relating to the 2020 presidential election results in the state and violations of the state's Racketeer Influenced and...