Free Republic

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The 22nd Statewide Grand Jury on Friday released its first interim report a little more than a year after Gov. Ron DeSantis petitioned its formation. While the governor was primely targeting COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers and their advertisement of vaccine efficacy, the first report drew conclusions mainly on lockdowns and masks, and the grand jury said the issue of the vaccines was far more nuanced and could not be answered in a “vacuum.” It also said that the Biden administration did not cooperate with efforts to obtain testimony from officials representing agencies like the CDC, FDA and U.S....

Joe Wurzelbacher, otherwise known as ‘Joe The Plumber’ passed away at the age of 49 from pancreatic cancer, a source confirmed to the Daily Caller. Wurzelbacher, who became well known during the 2008 presidential campaign after confronting former President Barack Obama about whether or not his tax plan would end up costing him more, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in early 2023.

The SECURE 2.0 Act has provisions that will impact how high earners can save for retirement. Beginning in 2024, if you earn more than $145,000 each year and are age 50 or older, your catch-up contributions must be made as after-tax Roth contributions.

A storm off the coast of Charleston, South Carolina, battered a Carnival cruise ship for hours late Friday night before it docked, leaving passengers terrified. Passengers aboard the Carnival Sunshine described shattered glass, water pouring into rooms and hallways, the ship pitching about and a lack of communication from cruise staff. Some passengers and crew members needed "minor assistance" from medical staff, a Carnival cruise spokesman told CBS News. "Guests on board the ship were safe," the spokesman added.

If you qualify for special checks or rebates related to either tax surpluses or inflation in 2022, you might want to hold off on filing your tax return, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) says. The agency is clarifying whether these special state tax rebates should be taxed federally, an IRS spokesperson tells CNBC Make It.

I have to go on Medicare early next April. I have my credit reports frozen. Does anybody know which ones I need to un freeze in order to log on? Foot traffic to the local SS office is backed up late February. The local SS office had no clue which credit report I needed to unfreeze.

I was watching the Weather Channel this morning and just like clockwork they pull SAD off the seasonal reporting shelf. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/seasonal-affective-disorder/symptoms-causes/syc-20364651 I am a 60 something and have never experienced this. I've taken long airline trips and have experienced jet lag on occasion, but it does not last for more than a day or so. Anybody on FR have this disorder?

I've had a clean driving record for close to 30 years. Every few years a cop will latch on and give me a driving test which I have passed. I thought I would report on today's test. It is clear in my mind I was clearly getting stalked. After the traffic light changed to green, the police car was slow to respond to the traffic light and didn't keep up with traffic flows. The question I have are police officers immune from distracted driving laws?

Vanity post. I am renter and just got my renewal offer for my upcoming rental agreement. Costs associated with renting are going up ~6% ore so. That is a nice chunk of change.

Federal agents arrested Igor Danchenko, the primary researcher of a dossier compiled by ex-British spy Christopher Steele, as part of Special Counsel John Durham’s probe into the origins of the FBI’s Crossfire Hurricane investigation into former President Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. The charges against Danchenko are not yet known, since Durham’s indictment is sealed.

State Department officials were explicitly ordered in spring 2019 to stop tracking 13 prominent Americans' social media accounts for information about the Joe Biden-Ukraine scandal because the monitoring violated federal law, according to emails that were originally redacted to hide the concerns from the American public. "We are barred by law from actively monitoring the accounts of American citizens in aggregate — and particularly from identifying and monitoring individual, selected accounts," a State Department official wrote in an April 1, 2019 email to officials in Washington and the U.S. embassy in Kiev The unredacted emails, obtained by Just the News,...

U.S. intelligence officials submitted an investigative referral to the FBI in September 2016 regarding an alleged plan by Hillary Clinton to link Donald Trump to Russia’s election interference efforts, according to John Ratcliffe, the director of national intelligence. Ratcliffe noted in the letter, which he sent to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, that U.S. intelligence is not certain whether the allegation underlying the referral was based on fabrications from Russian intelligence agencies. Ratcliffe said in the letter that on Sept. 7, 2016, U.S. intelligence officials forwarded a referral for an investigation regarding Clinton to then-FBI Director James Comey and...

A former British intelligence officer, who is now a director of a London private security-and-investigations firm, has been identified as the author of the dossier of unverified allegations about President-elect Donald Trump’s activities and connections in Russia, according to the Wall Street Journal. A Christopher Steele, a director of London-based private intelligence company, Orbis, purportedly prepared the dossier under contract to both Republican and Democratic adversaries of then-candidate Trump. The poor grammar and shaky spelling plus the author’s use of KGB-style intelligence reporting, however, do not fit the image of a high-end London security company run by highly connected former...

The Justice Department Inspector watchdog referred FBI agent Stephen Somma for disciplinary review after an investigation into alleged Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act abuses. Somma, a counterintelligence investigator in the FBI's New York field office, was identified only as "Case Agent 1" in Inspector General Michael Horowitz's report, released in December. Sources told the New York Times that Somma is that official. The FBI did not comment for the report. Somma was “primarily responsible for some of the most significant errors and omissions" during the process of obtaining FISA warrants to wiretap Trump campaign adviser Carter Page in 2016 and 2017,...

Los Angeles International Airport officials apologized late Tuesday night for an “unacceptable level of service” after travelers using the new Uber, Lyft and taxi pickup system faced gridlock, packed shuttle buses and long wait times for rides. Tempers ran high as travelers encountered heavy traffic on the way to the new pickup area and wait times for Uber and Lyft that often exceeded an hour. Some travelers said it took them longer to find a ride home than it did to fly to Los Angeles. “We really, really apologize for people who got caught in that,” said Michael Christensen, LAX’s...

Nancy Sobin knows her way around paperwork. She started her own business three years ago, helping small business owners and elderly clients manage their finances. That's when she turned to the Obamacare exchanges for health coverage. "I was fortunate enough, because I was just starting my business, to get a subsidy … and it was pretty good insurance" for about $300 a month, said the owner of Professional Paperwork Services in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. But as her business improved, her insurance options changed last year. "I didn't get the subsidy anymore, because my business went well," Sobin explained. So, she...

Eshoo’s involvement began when Blasey Ford, a constituent in her Peninsula district and a professor of psychology at Palo Alto University, called her congresswoman’s office requesting a meeting. A staffer talked to her in advance, but Eshoo said she didn’t realize the magnitude or significance of Blasey Ford’s allegations until the two met in person for more than an hour and half on July 20.

Yet another delay requested by the Special Counsel in the sentencing of Michael Flynn.

A federal judge has found a witness in contempt for refusing to testify before the grand jury hearing evidence in special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. U.S. District Chief Judge Beryl Howell made the ruling Friday after a sealed hearing to discuss Andrew Miller’s refusal to appear before the grand jury. Miller is a former aide to longtime Trump confidant Roger Stone. Miller’s lawyer Paul Kamenar said after the hearing that Miller was “held in contempt, which we asked him to be in order for us to appeal the judge’s decision...

Fusion GPS founders Peter Fritsch and Glenn R. Simpson urge the public to set aside the “Russia collusion” theory and to focus instead on President Donald Trump’s business practices, which they say could have aided global money-laundering.