Free Republic

Sending a defeated rival to the penitentiary is not the American way (except, maybe, in New Jersey, Illinois or Louisiana). But in a swamp there’s always an alligator eager to bite off any fingers searching in the murk for the drain plug. Democrats are big fans of special prosecutors, especially this year, so maybe Hillary Clinton deserves the scrutiny Robert Mueller and his lawyers are giving Donald Trump & Co. Since nearly all of Mr. Mueller’s lawyers contributed to Hillary’s campaign, they might leap at the opportunity to see how their money was spent. Or maybe Hillary deserves a special...

Nearly a third of territory reclaimed from the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria since 2014 has been won in the past six months, due to new policies adopted by the Trump administration, a senior State Department official said Friday. Brett McGurk, the State Department’s senior envoy to the anti-Islamic State coalition, said that steps President Trump has taken, including delegating decision-making authority down from the White House to commanders in the field, have “dramatically accelerated” gains against the militants. Combined Islamic State losses in both countries since the group’s peak control in early 2015 total about 27,000 square...

A ballistic rocket is test-fired through a precision control guidance system in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) May 30, 2017. KCNA/via REUTERS North Korea has produced a miniaturized nuclear warhead for its growing arsenal of ballistic missiles, and that changes the strategic playing field. The public was made aware of this aspect of North Korea’s capabilities for the first time Tuesday, when The Washington Post revealed parts of a confidential Defense Intelligence Agency report. The Defense Intelligence Agency introduced that North Korea “has produced nuclear weapons for ballistic missile delivery, to include...

Governor of Guam Eddie Calvo praised President Trump's "fire and fury" threat against North Korea. " I want a president that says that if any nation such as North Korea attacks Guam ... that they will be met with hell and fury," Calvo said on Fox News last night. He encouraged the people of Guam to not panic, saying threat is no different from those in the past, that this is "about the third, fourth threat made by North Korea specifically to Guam."

President Trump is the new "comeback kid," with his approval rating in a new national poll rebounding after a freefall. The latest Zogby Analytics survey, provided to Secrets, gave Trump a 45 percent approval rating, driven by big gains among Hispanics, union households and voters in the West. What's more, said Zogby, more men approve of Trump than don't. "The president's approval rating has rebounded somewhat since our July poll. Following a series of disastrous weeks, Trump's approval numbers have moved up slightly, especially among his base and a few other sub-groups not known for their support of the...

President Trump could win the White House again in 2020 — which likely would send hostile political operatives and the disapproving news media into an epic meltdown. News flash: Get ready. Mr. Trump will likely win re-election, says one analyst. “President Trump did not ascend to the White House in the usual way; he broke with traditional campaign orthodoxy and tactics,” Ford O’Connell, a political analyst and adjunct professor at the George Washington University Graduate School of Political Management, tells Inside the Beltway. “While Trump’s first six months in the White House have been marked by early stumbles, a...

The White House Office of the Press Secretary For Immediate ReleaseJuly 31, 2017 Statement from the Press Secretary Anthony Scaramucci will be leaving his role as White House Communications Director. Mr. Scaramucci felt it was best to give Chief of Staff John Kelly a clean slate and the ability to build his own team. We wish him all the best.

Snip There’s no such narrative around Eric Cantor, the former Republican House majority leader from Richmond who was spectacularly ousted in his 2014 primary by a no-name economics professor. Let’s back up a moment. Remember the summer of 2013, when the “Defund Obamacare Tour” drove the news cycle all through Congress’s August recess? The town halls organized by the political arm of the Heritage Foundation enlivened the base and furthered what had been the GOP’s core message since 2010—that Obamacare was bad and, if Americans helped Republicans hold both chambers, it could be repealed. Cantor helped create that perception. Earlier...

A new poll shows Republican Ed Gillespie and Democrat Ralph S. Northam tied in the November race for governor, a significant improvement for Gillespie over a poll last month showing him trailing Northam by 8 points. They each have support from 44 percent of Virginia voters, with Libertarian Cliff Hyra at 3 percent and another 9 percent undecided, according to a Monmouth University poll released Monday. A Quinnipiac University poll in June had Northam up by 8. Monmouth University's Polling Institute also found that low approval ratings for President Donald Trump may be hurting Gillespie, because if Trump were not...

At the close of a 20-year run for the Women of Faith tour, the brand-new version of the women’s gathering with a much younger target demographic—the Belong Tour—was poised to take the reins as the next big event for evangelical women. But due to “critically low ticket sales and the high cost of producing these events,” the 2017 tour was canceled before the first scheduled event took place, according to the event organizers. The event billed itself as a two-day event for “every woman—for conservatives and liberals, young and old, married and single, those who go to church and...

President Trump is talking to Senator Ted Cruz and others about what they would do differently as Attorney General, should Jeff Sessions resign, as reports indicate. White House sources also report President Trump was truthful when he made comments expressing buyer’s remorse over appointing Jeff Sessions to the role. Trump staffers believe Sessions, Donald Trump Jr, and Rohrabacher aide Paul Behrends were unfairly scapegoated due to the left-wing Russia narrative. In addition, a replacement for special prosecutor Bob Mueller is being acitvely discussed as the President weighs the decision to fire the Rosenstein-appointed prosecutor. Many within the Trump camp...

U.S.—A new, exclusive CNN investigative report revealed Thursday that millions of American voters may have potentially colluded with the Trump campaign to elect Donald Trump as President of the United States. While Russia has been accused of interfering in the election, the breaking report indicates that the collusion may have extended to a significant portion of the U.S. population—“as many as 60 million citizens, and possibly even more.” “The conspiracy goes much deeper than anyone expected,” Jake Tapper said on his news segment The Politics Lead. “We’re talking tens of millions of people involved in this secret plot to make...

A former Soviet military intelligence officer told the Associated Press on Friday that a Russian lawyer he accompanied to a June 9, 2016, meeting at Trump Tower offered to provide information about illicit financial activity carried out by the Democratic National Committee. Nine days later, on June 18, Guccifer 2.0, the hacker believed to be a front for Russian spy agencies, dropped a bombshell. “NEW DOCS FROM DNC NETWORK: LOTS OF FINANCIAL REPORTS AND DONORS’ PERSONAL DATA,” was the headline plastered across the Guccifer 2.0 website.

The Russian attorney whose campaign-season meeting with Donald Trump Jr. has caused headaches for the White House was cleared to enter the U.S. at the time of the visit by the Obama State Department, officials confirmed to Fox News late Thursday. A brief timeline released overnight helps to resolve questions over how Natalia Veselnitskaya even had legal permission to be in the U.S. And it also shows multiple Obama agencies were involved on multiple occasions in granting access to the lawyer after she was initially denied a visa. According to the timeline released by the Department of Homeland Security, the...

The Trump administration is calling out Senate Democrats for blocking President Trump's nominations. The Senate has only confirmed 48 of 197 nominees to departments and agencies, and only two of 23 judicial nominees. Donald J. Trump ✔ @realDonaldTrump The Senate Democrats have only confirmed 48 of 197 Presidential Nominees. They can't win so all they do is slow things down & obstruct! 6:59 AM - 11 Jul 2017 16,061 16,061 Retweets 52,253 52,253 likes

The U.S. and Russia struck a deal for a cease-fire in southwest Syria, according to reports, marking a major breakthrough in the six-year civil war as President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin held their first face-to-face meeting. Details were sketchy but the cease-fire was scheduled to take effect Sunday at noon Damascus time, The Associated Press reported, citing U.S. officials. The deal reflects a new level of involvement by the U.S. in Syria’s civil war. Mr. Trump had previously stepped up U.S. actions with airstrikes against chemical weapon stashes of the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria. Jordan and Israel...

Obama hold-over Ambassador Paul W. Jones tried to sabotage Trump’s trip to Poland according to diplomatic sources. Jones attempted to mislead the Trump advance team to believe that the Polish people still love former Polish President Lech Walesa and to hold extensive meetings and photo ops with him. Despite Walesa’s historical achievements during Solidarity, numerous scandals since that time including accusations of his work as a Communist collaborator have altered views of Lech Walesa in Poland. At this point, Lech Walesa has fallen out of favor with much of Poland, and the current Law and Justice Party, which welcomed President...

Virginia has executed a man who killed a hospital security guard and sheriff's deputy after escaping from custody in 2006. Thirty-five-year-old William Morva was pronounced dead at 9:15 p.m. Thursday after an injection at the Greensville Correctional Center in Jarratt. He had no last words. It was the first execution carried out in Virginia under a new protocol that makes more of the lethal injection procedure secret. Morva was in jail awaiting trial on attempted robbery charges when he overpowered a deputy sheriff during a trip to the hospital. He used the deputy's pistol to fatally shoot an unarmed security...

The news media continues to snipe at the White House. But there’s some Trump triumph as well. First lady Melania Trump is earning accolades for her grace on the global stage this week. Yes, an admiring press chronicles every fabulous ensemble she wears down to the last fashion detail. But they also are applauding Mrs. Trump’s demeanor and diplomatic skills during her second overseas tour. “While in Poland this week, she delivered a powerful and assured speech,” wrote Chris Spargo of The Daily Mail, noting that Mrs. Trump simply “shines.” The first lady appears up to the challenge of her...

President Trump has accepted an invitation from Slovenian President Borut Pahor to visit Slovenia, first lady Melania Trump's home country. Pahor extended the invitation to Trump during the Three Seas Initiative summit, a meeting of the countries that border the Baltic, Adriatic and Black seas, Pahor's office said in a statement. It's not clear when the visit will take place. On his Twitter account, Pahor posted a photo with Trump, and said the two were discussing a potential visit.