Free Republic

CHICAGO (CBS) – A former U.S. attorney representing embattled Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. is negotiating a plea deal with the federal government, CBS 2 has learned. CBS 2 Chief Correspondent Jay Levine has the exclusive details. The plea deal would end Jackson’s 17-year career as a congressman representing Chicago’s South Side and suburbs. At the center of negotiations is white-collar criminal defense attorney Dan Webb, who served as Chicago’s top federal prosecutor in the 1980s, when several Cook County judges were indicted for public corruption under the “Operation Greylord” investigation. Webb, the chairman of Winston & Strawn LLP in Chicago,...

Outgoing CIA Director Gen. David Petraeus’ resignation over an extramarital affair was reportedly held until after Tuesday’s election to avoid “potential embarrassment” for President Barack Obama, according to Newsmax. FBI agents learned of the affair while monitoring Petraeus’ emails out of concern that the woman, Petraeus biographer Paula Broadwell, may have had access to his personal account, the Associated Press reported. But an FBI source told Ronald Kessler, the author and journalist who broke the Secret Service prostitution scandal, that rather than having Petraeus resign immediately, the decision was made to hold it until after the election for political purposes:...

(Reuters) - Pentagon leaders knew of the September 11 attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi an hour after it began, but were unable to mobilize reinforcements based in Europe in time to prevent the death of the U.S. ambassador, according to a timeline released on Friday. Senior defense officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, rejected criticism accusing the Pentagon of failing to move quickly to send reinforcements to relieve the consulate or using armed aerial drones to fire on the attackers. "The Department of Defense acted quickly after learning of the incidents unfolding in Benghazi," said one official, adding...

(CNSNews.com) -- The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) released the results of an informal exit poll on Friday that shows more than 85 percent of American Muslim voters picked President Barack Obama in Tuesday's election. That number is lower than a similar poll conducted in 2008 that showed 89 percent of American Muslims cast a ballot for Obama. CAIR conducted the informal survey of 650 American Muslim voters, with just 4 percent of respondents stating that they voted for Mitt Romney. Poll findings: 95.5 percent of the Muslim voters said they went to the polls on Nov. 6. 85.7 percent...

(Reuters) - The chances are good, but not guaranteed, that Elizabeth Warren will secure a highly coveted seat on the Senate Banking Committee, a move that would dramatically elevate her campaign against Wall Street excess. Senior Senate Democratic aides, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Massachusetts senator-elect is a logical fit for the committee, even though it is rare for a freshman senator to get such a plum assignment. If she gets the slot, Warren's bully pulpit would be replaced with real power. The bipartisan panel can greatly influence policy decisions through its oversight of financial services, international trade,...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton paid tribute Thursday to slain U.S. Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens, calling him a "fallen hero" who understood that diplomacy requires taking risks. About two months after Stevens and three other Americans were killed in an attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi on Sept. 11, Clinton said the State Department and Pentagon are reviewing security at high-threat diplomatic posts to determine what improvements should be made.

I really hope someone with more backbone challenges this feckless speaker: ABC NEWS – Asked whether he will make another attempt to fully repeal the Affordable Care Act, Boehner said “the election changes that” and “Obamacare is the law of the land.”

Rep. Allen West is leading by more than 300 votes in Palm Beach County, Fla., a hopeful sign for the Tea Party favorite fighting for his political life after Tuesday’s election, a source told TheBlaze. No winner has been declared in the congressional race between the Republican West and his Democratic opponent Patrick Murphy, though Murphy had a 2,456-vote lead in the unofficial vote total. But a Republican observer who has been monitoring the counting process said West pulled ahead in Palm Beach County on Thursday as the initial count continues. Ballot printing errors led to ballots that could not...

(Reuters) - Attorney General Eric Holder said on Thursday he has not decided whether to stay on as the chief U.S. law enforcement officer in President Barack Obama's second term.

A House committee is planning to hold a hearing next week on the Libya consulate attack, following up on an issue that Republicans had emphasized before the presidential election in questioning President Obama's foreign policy record. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans were killed in the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on the consulate in Benghazi. A local Libyan extremist group is suspected of carrying out the attack, but the Obama administration has been criticized for its confusing explanation for the strike and for security warnings that apparently weren't heeded. The House Intelligence Committee will hold its hearing on the...

"I thought Obama would be buried in a landslide, instead I’ve been in a bit of a mudslide on my face.

(Reuters) - China appears to be within two years of deploying submarine-launched nuclear weapons, adding a new leg to its nuclear arsenal that should lead to arms-reduction talks, a draft report by a congressionally mandated U.S. commission says. China is alone among the original nuclear weapons states to be expanding such deterrent forces, the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission said in a draft of its 2012 report to the U.S. Congress. Beijing is "on the cusp of attaining a credible nuclear triad of land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles, submarine-launched ballistic missiles, and air-dropped nuclear bombs," the report says.

Beyonce celebrated President Obama’s reelection on Tuesday night by taking a dig at Mitt Romney supporters. The singer posted a photo of a piece of notebook paper which read: “TAKE THAT MITCHES” on her Tumblr shortly after Obama’s victory was announced. It appears that the post has since been removed.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) -- Puerto Ricans have endorsed U.S. statehood for the Caribbean island but also ousted the pro-statehood governor in a close election. Gov. Luis Fortuno conceded defeat Wednesday to his main challenger after concluding there were not enough outstanding ballots to close the gap with his main challenger,

Fox News: Victory for Comrade Obamao.

Al Gore is having a flashback to 2000 watching the 2012 presidential election returns from Florida. "At some point after this election, I hope there will be a reckoning for these governors and state legislators that have intentionally tried to prevent people from voting," Gore said on Current TV on Tuesday night while looking at video clips of the long lines facing voters in Dade County. "This is a disgrace to this country."

NEW BERN, NC (WNCT) – A North Carolina 69-year-old’s comment posted on Barack Obama’s Facebook page, which has more than 30 million likes, has unleashed a flood of complaints about potential voter fraud. Jim Turner admits he wrote the following on the president’s Facebook page: “I have voted once in Beaufort, once in Henderson, twice in Emerald Isle, and will vote in my precinct in Pine Knoll Shores. I will do whatever it takes to save our country from the world envisioned by Mitt” Romney. The idea someone could have voted four times in one election ignited fury on WNCT’s...

Brown_Man @Jersey_Brownie @megynkelly @foxnewspolitics My Aunt Joanne tried to vote for Romney in Pittsburgh, someone had already voted using her name for BO #fraud 6 Nov 12 Evidently, Aunt Joanne isn’t alone. Other Twitter users report a similar issue. They show up to vote and are told they have voted already.

A poster featuring President Obama that read "Change the Atmosphere" was reported to be hanging on a wall at a Florida, polling station. This photo was reportedly taken by a voter inside precinct 1321-1251 at Jack L McLean Community Center in Tallahassee, FL:

MADISON, Wis. (AP) - Bob Dylan says he thinks President Barack Obama is going to win a landslide. Dylan made the prediction Monday night midway through the song "Blowin' in the Wind" during a concert in the battleground state of Wisconsin.