Free Republic

EXCLUSIVE: The FBI is investigating whether computer passwords were shared among Hillary Clinton's close aides to determine how sensitive intelligence "jumped the gap" between the classified systems and Clinton's unsecured personal server, according to an intelligence source familiar with the probe. The source emphasized to Fox News that “if [Clinton] was allowing other people to use her passwords, that is a big problem.”

Republicans may be poised for strong midterm gains, according to a new poll conducted for NBC News and the Wall Street Journal. Republicans hold a two-point lead nationwide on which party registered voters want to see in control of Congress. That lead expands to 10 points in Senate battleground states at 50 to 40 percent in the poll, conducted by Democratic polling firm Hart Research and Republican pollster Public Opinion Strategies. "With 56 days until Election Day, our poll provides greater insight into what is likely to happen, and the news is not good for the Democrats," Democratic pollster Fred...

Former congressman Allen West (R., Fla.) is making a statement on the right to bear arms on his right bare arm with a new tattoo. Aces High Tattoo Shop in West Palm Beach, Fla. showed off the former Republican’s ink on its Instagram account over the weekend.

Yesterday, a new George Washington University Battleground Poll was released, which showed that "Republicans hold a 4-point advantage on the generic congressional ballot." While a Republican "tsunami" remains unlikely, many of the new numbers, reflecting the preferences of likely voters, suggest that the 2014 midterm environment is headed toward the historical norm. As Five Thirty-Eight's Nate Silver explained, "On average in midterm years since 1990, the generic ballot has favored the opposition party by 5 percentage points by Election Day." Digging more deeply into the poll, a more distressing picture for Democrats emerges. Although they continue to maintain advantages among...

There’s fresh evidence that Republicans are inching toward winning control of the Senate in November.The bipartisan George Washington University Battleground Poll released Wednesday has the GOP ahead on the generic congressional ballot by 4 percentage points, 46 to 42 percent. More ominously for Democrats, in states where there is a competitive Senate race, Republicans lead the generic ballot by 16 percentage points, 52 to 36. “Though the American public is as divided as it has been all year, as we head into the 2014 general elections the advantage among likely voters is flowing toward Republicans,” said Christopher Arterton, George Washington...

The day after Mitt Romney opened the door to another possible presidential run, a new poll shows he has a huge lead among likely 2016 Iowa Republican caucus voters. According to a USA Today/Suffolk University poll released Wednesday, 35 percent of likely GOP caucus voters would vote for the 2012 GOP nominee in 2016. When Romney’s name was added to the pool, no other candidate received double-digit votes.

Scott Brown is back in the ballgame. The former Massachusetts senator had appeared to be fading in his bid to defeat incumbent Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen in New Hampshire, but a new poll shows that the race is now up for grabs. In the WMUR/UNH survey released Thursday night, Shaheen led Brown by 46 percent to 44 percent, which is within the poll’s margin of error of plus or minus 3.4 percentage points. This latest numbers show a dramatic swing in Brown’s direction from the previous WMUR/UNH poll, which was conducted a month-and-a-half earlier and showed Shaheen leading Brown by...

<p>Just after the opening kickoff of the Arizona Cardinals’ preseason game against the Dallas Cowboys on Saturday, Cardinals season ticket holder John Coulter wanted to take a picture. He says he asked his 15-year-old son to hold his beer cup while he did so.</p>

KENOSHA, WI -- An animal shelter was swarmed with armed government agents after employees began caring for a baby deer. "It was like a SWAT team," shelter employee Ray Schulze said. Nine DNR agents and four sheriff's deputies performed a raid on the Society of St. Francis animal shelter. They had received two anonymous snitch calls to notify them that a baby deer was being cared for. The agents came prepared with aerial spy photographs of the animal shelter, perhaps taken with a drone, showing evidence that the baby deer had been walking in and out of the barn.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) on Thursday released a new score on the split farm bill. The CBO said that the bill would reduce the deficit by $12.9 billion over 10 years compared to current law. This is far less than President Obama called for in his 2014 budget, which would cut $37.8 billion from farm subsidies. It is also about $1 billion less than the Senate gets from its farm program cuts.

In 2014, Obamacare’s blizzard of regulations and mandates will transform the U.S. market for health insurance, among people who buy coverage for themselves. Of increasing concern is the phenomenon of “rate shock,” whereby many Americans face substantial increases in their health insurance premiums. Much of the debate has focused on young men, the “bros” who will bear the brunt of Obamacare’s rate hikes. But in California, women and men will see equally high jumps in the underlying cost of individual-market premium

Another Republican congressman ventured into the realm of rape and pregnancy Wednesday, saying at a committee hearing that incidences of pregnancy from rape are “very low.” Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.), whose measure banning abortions after 20 weeks was being considered in the House Judiciary Committee, argued against a Democratic amendment to make exceptions for rape and incest by suggesting that pregnancy from rape is rare.

EW ALBANY, Ind. – Indiana Republican Senate candidate Richard Mourdock said Tuesday when a woman is impregnated during a rape, "it's something God intended." Mourdock, who's been locked in a tight race with Democratic challenger Rep. Joe Donnelly, was asked during the final minutes of a debate whether abortion should be allowed in cases of rape or incest. "I struggled with it myself for a long time, but I came to realize that life is that gift from God. And, I think, even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something that God intended to...

<p>An intelligence source on the ground in Libya told Fox News that there was no demonstration outside the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi prior to last week's attack -- challenging the Obama administration's claims that the assault grew out of a "spontaneous" protest against an anti-Islam film.</p>

he Democrats are done weaving their web in Charlotte, and wow, what a web it was—an intricate lattice of multicolored Silly String that included everyone and said nothing. Did you know that Democrats like the blacks? And the Hispanics? And the gays? And women? We didn’t know that. Now we do. Did you know the Democrats have a plan to make the next four years better than the last four? Really? We didn’t. And after watching their convention, we still don’t. All we know after watching it is that we all need to go forward together. ALL of us. Together....

An 18-year-old was killed and a 14-year-old was shot in separate shootings Saturday night, two of 13 people hurt in overnight gun violence across the city. Those shot Saturday night and Sunday morning are among at least 30 people shot since 6:20 p.m. Friday evening, 6 of them fatally.

DES MOINES, Iowa — Paul Ryan's remarks at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines today turned into a confrontational scene when hecklers sought to drown him out and then rush the stage. Ryan had barely begun speaking when a woman shouted, "Are you going to cut Medicare?" Two women rushed the stage, and one was apparently arrested by three Iowa State Patrolmen after getting on stage with a banner. "Woah...hey...alright...she must not be from Iowa," said a rattled Ryan as the woman got on stage and grabbed by police. The officers bounded out from behind the stage to pull...

A Washington state woman suffered 16 puncture wounds and over 100 lacerations after being attacked by a pack of raccoons. Twenty-eight-year-old Michaela Lee was jogging on a trail near her Lakewood home when her dog spotted two raccoons and chased them up a tree. “I went over to pick up the leash and head home when three other raccoons just charged out of the grass straight for me.

(CBS News) - A dozen people were shot and wounded Tuesday night in Chicago, a bloody start to the July 4 holiday in a city which has seen a dramatic rise in gang-related violence this year. CBS 2 in Chicago, in conjunction with the Sun-Times Media Wire, reports that three people remained hospitalized in critical condition, and a 15-year-old boy shot while playing basketball was in serious condition. At least five separate shootings were reported between 5 p.m. and just before 9 p.m., according to CBS 2. CBS News correspondent Dean Reynolds reported earlier this week that, as of Monday,...

On Saturday, as he sat in his wheelchair on the front porch of the family’s Austin home, Shepard found himself in the line of fire. This time it killed him. His 61-year-old mother, Margaret Shepard, said her son was outside visiting with at least one other man just after noon Saturday when the shooting started outside in the 4900 block of West Washington Boulevard. She was in the kitchen, unloading groceries, when she heard two gunshots “and they were really close.” “I thought ‘oh my goodness, what is going on here?’ ” Shepard said, noting that she walked through the...