Free Republic

<p>The former top prosecutor in Baltimore, convicted of fraud for lying about financial hardship during the pandemic in order to buy a beach house with money from the federal government, will serve no prison time.</p><p>Marilyn Mosby, 44, was sentenced to 12 months of house arrest, 100 hours of community service and three years of supervised release Thursday, Erek Barron, United States Attorney for the District of Maryland announced.</p>

Convicted fraudster and former Baltimore District Attorney Marilyn Mosby will avoid jail time for perjury and mortgage fraud after facing up to 40 years in prison. U.S. District Court Judge Lydia Kay Griggsby said the fact that Mosby is a mother of two daughters helped motivate her decision to sentence the former prosecutor to 12 months of home detention, three years of supervised release, and 100 hours of community service in lieu of prison, WBAL TV reported. Though Mosby has maintained her innocence, she was found guilty of taking advantage of the CARES Act — the first coronavirus relief bill...

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.

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) said he laughs at the term “America first,” an increasingly common phrase heard in the Republican Party regarding U.S. foreign policy that he finds “disorienting.” Romney said during an interview with MSNBC’s “The 11th Hour with Stephanie Ruhle” earlier this week that growing isolationism in the GOP is “unimaginable” considering its past leaders, like former Presidents Reagan, George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush, as well as former Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). Romney argued the term, popularized by former President Trump, “flows” in from talk radio and TV, where “outrageous” things are embraced by the party’s...

Kyle Becker @kylenabecker “I don’t regret anything I said... I haven’t taken anything I said then back." Mitch McConnell stands by remarks that former President Trump is "practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of January 6" and should potentially be held "criminally responsible"

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday blamed Tucker Carlson for turning some Republicans against the idea of providing military aid for Ukraine by demonizing the war-torn country. The top Republican in the Senate argued that Carlson’s outspoken stance against US support for Ukraine was one of the primary reasons why approving more than $60 billion in emergency spending for the former Soviet state took so long to achieve. “I think the demonization of Ukraine began by Tucker Carlson, who in my opinion ended up where he should have been all along, which was interviewing Vladimir Putin,” McConnell said during...

Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA) raged at Republicans lawmakers on the House floor for opposing an aid package to Ukraine before Saturday’s vote. The House passed a $61 billion aid bill for Ukraine amid the country’s current war with Russia. Lawmakers also passed other bills providing assistance to Taiwan and other U.S. allies. Hardline conservative lawmakers opposed the bipartisan legislation by arguing the money should have gone towards security at the U.S. southern border. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) worked with Democratic lawmakers to bring the aid bills to the floor and ensured it’s passage. Connolly responded to those complaints by noting...

The FBI was tipped off in April 2020 to gain-of-function virus research in China, funded by the agency formerly headed by Dr. Anthony Fauci, that “would leave no signature of purposeful human manipulation,” emails from agents at the bureau show. “These smoking gun documents showed the FBI quickly understood that Fauci’s agency funded the gain-of-function research that could disguise the resulting coronavirus as ‘natural,’” Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said in a statement. In an email exchange from April 23, 2020, with the subject line “Follow up call,” a person whose name is redacted passes along details and analysis to...

Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) said Sunday that Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) will be blamed if the U.S. fails to provide aid to Ukraine and it loses its war against Russia. “Now, he has to think about his conscience, because I got to tell you, if Ukraine loses this fight, he will be the guy in the history books that are written about why Ukraine lost this fight,” Kinzinger said in an interview on CNN. “They won’t necessarily say that he’s the one that pulled the aid, but he’s the one that could have done something which changed it.” “We...

RINO Representative Mike Gallagher (WI) will exit the House as early as next month. Gallagher, who is currently serving as the chairman of the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, last month announced that he will not seek reelection. Instead of serving out the rest of his term, Gallagher will retire early leaving the GOP with a one-vote majority! But it’s worse than that. Gallagher announced he will leave in mid-April. If Gallagher would have left before April 9th he would have triggered a special election in his district. Because he is leaving after April 9th but still in...

Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., announced Friday that he would be resign from Congress early, leaving the House GOP with a slim one-vote majority. He confirmed in a statement on X that he will resign effective April 19.

The Biden administration has finalized a slate of highly-anticipated environmental regulations curbing gas-powered vehicle tailpipe emissions as part of its broader efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and combat global warming. In a joint announcement Wednesday, the White House and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) unveiled the most aggressive multi-pollutant emission standards ever finalized.

Sen. Todd Young (R-IN) will not vote for his own party’s nominee for president, he said Tuesday. The establishment politician’s statement that he will not vote for Donald Trump comes days after the former president locked up the party’s nomination. Young had indicated earlier he would not endorse Trump, but Tuesday is the first time he admitted publicly he will not even vote for his party’s standard bearer. “At some point, principled conservatives need to incentivize our party, the Republican Party, to nominate somebody that principled conservatives can actually believe in,” Young told a local Indiana outlet. “Stated differently, I’m...

Louisiana GOP Sen. Bill Cassidy on Sunday criticized his party’s presumptive presidential nominee, saying that former President Donald Trump’s rhetoric about illegal immigrants “reflected poorly” and that he’s spoken about migrants in a “dehumanizing fashion.” Asked about Trump’s recent comments that not all undocumented immigrants are people, Cassidy told NBC News’ “Meet the Press,” “The president’s rhetoric has reflected poorly ... regarding folks who are coming here illegally — illegally — and they shouldn’t be, but in a dehumanizing fashion. And that’s why again, many people continue to have reservations.” “The best thing going for Donald Trump running for president...

The Biden administration is funneling $1 billion in taxpayer funds to America's northern and southern borders to make dozens of federal ports of entry more climate friendly. The General Services Administration (GSA) announced it would direct Inflation Reduction Act funds to support the climate initiatives at the border, even as the ongoing surge of migrants strains federal resources. While GSA Administrator Robin Carnahan and Andrew Mayock, President Biden's Federal Buy Clean Task Force co-chair, said the action would reduce "harmful emissions," the move was slammed by Republicans and experts. “As usual, the Biden administration is refusing to address a problem...

The Biden administration announced Thursday that it is giving Native American tribes across the country a total of $120 million to fight climate change.

Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra refused to explain Thursday why “hardworking Americans should pay” for foreign lawbreakers’ healthcare when grilled by Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso. Barrasso detailed how cities are being overwhelmed by illegal immigrants draining their resources and putting a massive strain on health funds and infrastructure, noting Denver Health saw more than 20,000 illegally present foreigners seeking medical care in 2023. Denver Health is “at a critical, critical point” as costs pile up, CEO Donna Lynne said, according to Becker’s Hospital Review. “Can you please explain why it is the responsibility of hard-working American...

GOP Rep. Ken Buck will retire from Congress next week leaving Republicans with a razor-thin majority. Following the resignation of Kevin McCarthy, Bill Johnson, Ken Buck and the ousting of George Santos, the Republicans will be left with a razor-thin majority of 218-213. ..... Snip..... House Speaker Mike Johnson was shocked by Ken Buck’s surprise announcement. “I was surprised by Ken’s announcement. I’m looking forward to talking with him about that,” Speaker Johnson told reporters on Tuesday.

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) torpedoed a Republican-sponsored bill on Wednesday that would automatically detain illegal aliens charged with violent crimes. Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) had tried to force a floor vote on the bill, which would allow Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to detain any illegal charged with a violent crime in an effort to prevent liberal prosecutors from releasing them back into the population after arrest, giving them the chance to go out and commit other crimes, Fox News reported.

Congressional leaders in the House and Senate have reached a deal on a spate of appropriations bills, clearing the way for a short-term spending patch that would extend funding deadlines further into March. Appropriators finalized the agreement on Wednesday, two sources told the Washington Examiner, just three days before the government is set to enter a partial shutdown. The proposal would maintain the two-pronged deadlines Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has advocated but would extend the dates slightly to give lawmakers time to finalize the legislative text and bring them to the floor for votes. “We are in agreement that Congress...