Free Republic

President Joe Biden "absolutely did not apologize" for his use of the term "an illegal" during last week's State of the Union address, principal deputy press secretary Olivia Dalton told reporters Monday. "I want to be really clear about something: the president absolutely did not apologize. There was no apology anywhere in that conversation," Dalton said. "He did not apologize. He used a different word." Biden made the "illegal" comment during an ad-libbed exchange with GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene after being heckled by her and other Republicans to say the name of Laken Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student police...

Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Marcia Fudge announced Monday that she is stepping down from her cabinet position later this month -- marking only the second cabinet secretary to do so during the Biden administration. "From her time as a mayor, to her years as a fierce advocate in the U.S. House of Representatives, Marcia's vision, passion, and focus on increasing economic opportunity have been assets to our country. I'm grateful for all of her contributions toward a housing system that works for all Americans, and I wish her well in her next chapter," President Joe Biden wrote in...

A former investigative journalist with ABC News and father-of-two girls has been sentenced to six years in jail after he was found guilty of possessing child porn. James Gordon Meek, 53, was sentenced to 72 months in prison after he was caught sending and receiving sexually explicit content involving prepubescent minors while visiting South Carolina in 2020. Federal prosecutors had initially pushed for the disgraced journalist to receive between 12 and a half and 15 years. Meek joined ABC News' Washington bureau as an investigative producer in 2013 and was based in Virginia returned to Virginia with an iPhone containing...

Another day, another leak. Special Counsel Jack Smith has uncovered new details about Trump’s so-called ‘inaction’ to stop the protestors on January 6 in a leak to ABC News ahead of Trump’s pitch to the appeals court on immunity claims. President Trump told supporters on January 6 to “peacefully and patriotically” protest. The new hit piece targets Trump’s senior advisor Dan Scavino. “Special counsel Jack Smith’s team has uncovered previously undisclosed details about former President Donald Trump’s refusal to help stop the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol three years ago as he sat watching TV inside the White House,...

At long last, the names contained in court documents related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein are being released. It’s a slow trickle, to be sure, but four long years after the arraignment and eventual death of Epstein in prison, it’s a release that’s long overdue. One reporter who no doubt vehemently agrees with this sentiment is reporter Amy Robach, who said she had the story a full three years before Epstein’s death, only for her employer at the time, ABC News, to, in her words, “quash” the whole thing. This information comes from a leaked video of Robach’s comments...

Some eulogize him... 2006/7 His daughter is about 5. He can't answer his daughter's question, he claims, 'who created the Jews.' linkNov 16, 2012: Refaat Alareer: "most Jews are [Alareer wrote] evil." Alareer: "You Jews won;t understand, you will never, yo are a jew after all." link link link linkSep 25, 2020: Hitler was [Alareer wrote] a peacemaker, like Rabin..linkAugust 2021: Alareer attacked Hamas because they were negotiating with "terrorists" and "Nazis[sic]" – i.e. with Israel. Nov. 21, 2021: the day that Eliyahu David Kay was murdered in Jerusalem's Old City, Alareer shared a picture of the murderer Fadi Abu...

An attorney for one of former President Donald Trump's co-defendants in the Fulton County district attorney's 2020 election interference case admitted at a hearing Wednesday that he had shared witness proffer videos of key figures in the case with a media outlet, saying he thought it was in his client's interest to do so. Jonathan Miller, an attorney for Misty Hampton, made the confession during an emergency hearing for a protective order that was prompted by the publication of parts of the video statements of Sidney Powell, Jenna Ellis, Kenneth Chesebro and Scott Hall by ABC News and The Washington...

ABC News' Chief White House correspondent Mary Bruce was criticized for her characterization of a pro-Palestinian demonstration in Washington D.C., which left the White House and other buildings vandalized, over the weekend. Pro-Palestinian demonstrators descended on Washington on Saturday night, protesting President Biden's support of Israel and demanding a cease-fire in Gaza. Some in the crowd could be seen vandalizing and shaking the White House fence at one point. Antisemitic graffiti was also left on several buildings along the protesters' path through the city, according to social media posts. Some protesters were heard chanting, among other slogans, "F--k Joe Biden,"...

Pope suggests blessings for same-sex unions possible in response to 5 conservative cardinalsPope Francis has suggested there might be ways to bless same-sex unionsVATICAN CITY -- VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis has suggested there could be ways to bless same-sex unions, responding to five conservative cardinals who challenged him to affirm church teaching on homosexuality ahead of a big meeting where LGBTQ+ Catholics are on the agenda.The Vatican on Monday published a letter Francis wrote to the cardinals on July 11 after receiving a list of five questions, or “dubia,” from them a day earlier. In it, Francis suggests...

We’re seeing signs of a notable shift in how some U.S. mainstream media outlets operate. Surprisingly, some have started reporting certain news stories fairly and accurately. Recently, the Washington Post published an article urging Joe Biden not to run in 2024 and CNN spent an entire segment blathering on about what a liar Joe Biden is. Now, most likely, CNN and the Washington Post have gotten their marching orders from higher-ups who’ve decided Joe needs to go. But there’s a lot more to this story. What’s even more notable and can’t be so easily explained away is a recent ABC...

An ABC News reporter who bragged about ‘debunking’ evidence of an elite pedophile ring had pleaded guilty to a sickening array of child sex crimes, according to reports. James Gordon Meek, 53, who served as a national security journalist at ABC, is scheduled to appear in a Virginia federal court on Friday following his January 2023 indictment on child rape charges. He faces up to 20 years behind bars. The disturbing crimes were exposed after the FBI conducted a raid on the journalist’s Arlington home in April 2022. FBI officials were alerted by Dropbox in March 2021 of ‘sickening child...

Disgraced former ABC investigative journalist James Gordon Meek is reportedly set to plead guilty to federal child pornography offenses, which could have put him behind bars for decades. Meek, 53, is expected to change his plea to guilty during an appearance in a federal courtroom in Virginia on Friday. The move to change his plea comes after his attorney filed a motion in June to delay his July trial, The Daily Beast reported. The filing argued a delay would allow Meek's team and prosecutors to 'engage in discussions regarding the possible resolution of the case.' A plea deal could allow...

Eight of the so-called "fake electors" in Georgia who were allegedly involved in efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election in the state have accepted immunity in the Fulton County probe into the matter, according to their lawyer. In a court filing in the case on Friday, an attorney who represents 10 of the fake electors said the Fulton County district attorney's office reached out in April to provide an immunity offer for eight of her clients. "After reviewing the actual, written offers of immunity, each of those eight electors accepted their immunity offer," the filing by the...

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is a bigger problem for the Democrats and their media arm than they realized. The blowback from an interview with Linsey Davis that aired Thursday on ABC demonstrates the nature of the problem. You see, before airing the taped interview, ABC censored his comments attacking the effectiveness and safety of the Covid vaccines. Zachary Stieber of The Epoch Times (paywalled but available to AT readers by special arrangement) reports:ABC News cut off a presidential candidate when he started talking about COVID-19 vaccines, raising concerns about censorship.Robert Kennedy Jr., who recently announced his presidential run as a...

During former President Trump’s speech at Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday following his arraignment in a Manhattan courthouse, ABC News blurred out the message written on his podium. “TEXT TRUMP to 88022” was displayed as a way to fundraise for his presidential campaign, but the news organization did not want their viewers to see this in what critics say is a case of “election interference.” ABC News blurs out “TEXT TRUMP to 88022” in its coverage of Trump’s post-arraignment speech as reports suggest the Trump campaign has raised over $10 million since his indictment. pic.twitter.com/nCrE3XzSS5— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) April 5, 2023Looks like...

Unlike some of my friends on the Right, I understand the criticism of Kevin McCarthy’s decision to give Tucker Carlson exclusive access to the footage of January 6. Partisans can manipulate video, especially 41,000 hours of it, and even Tucker presumably wouldn’t disagree that he’s a partisan. It’s easy to slice up video to serve the narrative you prefer, to enhance and manipulate it, and to add dramatic flourishes to increase its emotional impact. And we can understand that by discovering what the January 6 committee did with the video, which appears to include all of the above. I missed...

While the residents of East Palestine, OH, are still dealing with the aftermath of an ecological disaster they had no part in creating, the political battle over the incident continues apace.Pete Buttigieg, who completely ignored the derailment for ten days, finally visited the small town on Thursday. That only came after Donald Trump made a trip to bring water and supplies, putting the Biden administration on the hot seat. Meanwhile, the blame game has started, with the White House claiming that it was Republicans who were responsible for a train accident…two years after Biden took office.But leave it to the...

Dax Tejera, the executive producer of ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” died suddenly Friday at the age of 37. ABC News President Kim Goodwin announced “with a heavy heart and great sadness” that Tejera died of a heart attack on Friday night, according to a memo she sent to company staff obtained by Mediaite. He is survived by his wife Veronica and their two young daughters. Goodwin said in the memo she would be sharing more information in the coming days.

Two network news veterans and key players from the Lincoln Project are teaming up to launch a "pro-democracy" media company on the same day that former President Trump is expected to announce his 2024 bid. Why it matters: The founders of the new website, Resolute Square, say they aim to counter the right-wing media ecosystem — and be a home to people who reject political extremism and the GOP.

In a throwback to 2020, ABC News reports that a “red mirage” could make it look like Republicans are winning big on the night, but that a full vote count could take “weeks.”The legacy news outlet has published an article titled ‘Early election night results might not indicate final tallies (and why that’s OK)’.The piece explains how Republicans may “appear to be leading their Democratic opponents, even by large margins” in federal and statewide races, but that their leads “will dwindle, or crumble completely” after “dumps” of mail-in and absentee ballots are counted after election day, which could take “weeks”.Why...