Free Republic

When Republican members of Congress learned in November 2011 that the Obama administration was contemplating a swap -- Taliban terrorists for captured ArmySgt. Bowe Bergdahl -- they wrote to then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton of their fears. Mrs. Clinton wrote back that they had nothing to worry about. The White House would follow the law requiring a 30-day heads-up. "I want to make clear that any transfer from Guantanamo will be undertaken after consultation with Congress and pursuant to all legal requirements for transfers, including those spelled out in the FY2012 [National] Defense Authorization Act," she said of the law...

“I request to interview you as soon as possible about your comments about Sergeant Bergdahl during frequent appearances in front of large audiences in advance of his court-martial," said the letter, which was obtained Saturday. "Based on your personal knowledge of matters that are relevant to Sergeant Bergdahl’s right to a fair trial this interview will help us determine whether to seek a deposition order under Rule of Court-Martial 702 or your personal appearance as a witness at an Article 39(a) session of the court-martial.”

Lawyers for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, the most famous US Army deserter since Sgt. Eddie Slovik went before a firing squad in January 1945, are having a sad about Donald Trump. Trump says Taliban turncoat Bergdahl, now awaiting a general court-martial after walking away from an Afghanistan outpost in 2009, should face a firing squad of his own. The lawyers say Trump's polluting the jury pool for Bergdahl's court-martial, and they want to talk to the GOP presidential front-runner about it. Both are blowing hard. Trump, for votes: Surely he knows the Army doesn't execute military deserters -- Slovik being the...

LAS VEGAS (October 9, 2015) — Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump said Thursday that Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl should have been executed for leaving his post in Afghanistan. "We're tired of Sgt. Bergdahl, who's a traitor, a no-good traitor, who should have been executed," Trump said to cheers at a rowdy rally inside a packed Las Vegas theater at the casino-hotel Treasure Island.

The U.S. Army announced Tuesday that accused deserter Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl's court-martial is delayed until Feb. 6, 2017. This seven-month delay comes as the respective legal counsels filed their motions Tuesday morning at Fort Bragg, N.C. His court-martial had been scheduled for Aug. 8. Army Judge Col. Jeffery Nance presided over the 35-minute hearing, discussing dates and specific legal motions with attorneys. Charges against Bergdahl include desertion and misbehavior before the enemy. Stars and Stripes reported the delay gives attorneys time to pore through classified documents that may contain evidence.

FORT BRAGG, N.C. (AP) -- Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who walked off his combat outpost in Afghanistan and spent five years in captivity, will be court-martialed under a new commander-in-chief. A military judge decided Tuesday to delay Bergdahl's trial from August until February to provide time for resolving disputes over the defense team's access to classified documents.

Tommy DiMassimo, the Wright State University student with Atlanta ties who in March rushed the stage at an Donald Trump rally in Ohio, has raised $340 from 10 people through a Go Fund Me page for his legal defense as of Wednesday afternoon. His funding goal is $25,000, according to the page. DiMassimo was arrested March 12 after he vaulted a stage barrier and rushed to the back of the stage in a hangar near Dayton International Airport in Vandalia, Ohio, a suburb of Dayton. His Go Fund Me page gets political, saying that he rushed the stage “not to...

Huma Abedin, the longtime confidant to Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton, took aim at Donald Trump's proposal to ban Muslims from entering the United States in an email with the subject line: "I'm a proud Muslim." "Donald Trump is leading in every national poll to be the Republican nominee for president. And earlier today, he released his latest policy proposal: to ban all Muslims from entering our country," wrote Ms. Abedin, in an email Monday evening to Mrs. Clinton's supporters. "I'm a proud Muslim — but you don’t have to share my faith to share my disgust."

A man arrested for disrupting a rally Wednesday night in Worcester, Massachusetts by leading Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump pleaded guilty and was sentenced to one year in prison for a 2005 attempt to blow up a Marine Recruiting Center in Worcester.

One of two men arrested at a Donald Trump rally in Worcester was arrested in 2005 for planting a suspect device inside a Marine Corps recruiting facility.

t would appear that Donald Trump got the Secret Service detail just in the nick of time. One of the protesters from Trump’s campaign stop in Massachusetts yesterday is named Peter Rondon. He was arrested and convicted for trying to bomb a Marine Recruitment center in ’05: A Domestic Terrorist! MASSACHUSETTS – “Police removed Rondon after he stood on his chair and started yelling “racist,” according to a police report. Police said he was deliberately pushing and bumping people around him. “Rondon was forcefully removed from the event by police. “Court records show Rondon was arrested in 2005 after being...

<p>The attorney defending Army deserter Bowe Bergdahl says that the officer who presided over his Article 32 hearing last month is going to recommend that he face a lower-level court martial, thus sparing him a long prison sentence.</p> <p>An Army officer is recommending that Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl face a lower-level court martial and be spared the possibility of jail time for leaving his post in Afghanistan, his lawyer said Saturday.</p>

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — An Army officer is recommending that Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl face a lower-level court martial and be spared the possibility of jail time for leaving his post in Afghanistan, his lawyer said Saturday. Defense attorney Eugene Fidell said Lt. Col. Mark Visger has decided Bergdahl’s case should go to a military system similar to civilian courts that handle misdemeanor charges. It limits the maximum punishment to reduction of rank, a bad conduct discharge and a short jail term, though that isn’t being sought, Fidell said. ... Paul Boyce, a spokesman for the U.S. Army’s Force Command, released...

I really have only posted about 3 vanities in 10 years, so forgive me. I was wondering if it would be possible for the family of a slain soldier to sue Bergdahl for wrongful death? Not so much for the money, but to get the facts out.

As homosexual Army soldier Bradley Manning’s treason trial continues at Fort Meade, Maryland, the support he has received from Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul has been curiously ignored by the major media, now touting Paul as someone who could win the January 3 Iowa Republican Caucuses. Paul has called Manning, a crossdresser with acknowledged mental problems, a “hero” and “patriot” for stealing government secrets and providing them to WikiLeaks.

So a judge asks the government to kindly ask her not to... Now this can’t be, can it? A Clinton aide blatantly destroying evidence in a criminal investigation? That would never happen. OK, I’ll wait for you to stop laughing. This is the level of absurdity we’ve reached in the Hillary e-mail boondoggle, except that this doesn’t even really quite cover it. Because not only is Cheryl Mills destroying e-mails she’s supposed to be handing over, but the federal judge who issued the order is now sadly reduced to pleading with the Obama Administration to please ask her not to....

A Navy sailor assigned to a nuclear-powered submarine has been accused of using his cellphone to snap revealing photos of the sub’s top-secret inner spaces. Prosecutors say Machinist Mate 1st Class Kristian Saucier took the photos aboard the attack submarine Alexandria, the Navy Times reported Saturday. He has been charged with unauthorized retention of defense information and destroying his laptop and a camera to thwart an FBI probe.

Detroit police have issued an arrest warrant for the artist who created the famous “Hope” poster in support of President Obama during the 2008 election, it was revealed Wednesday. The Detroit Free Press reported that Shepard Fairey faces two felony counts of malicious destruction of property. The warrant was filed Friday. Police claim that Fairey caused about $9,000 in damage while he was in Detroit to complete a commissioned mural. The charges carry a maximum penalty of up to five years in jail, as well as fines that could exceed $10,000. …

An LBGT immigrant rights activist interrupted President Obama during a speech at a White House reception on Wednesday. “President Obama, release all LGBTQ immigrants from detention,” said the person who identified as a trans woman. "I am tired of the violence we’re facing,” the woman told Obama.

In the two years since the Edward Snowden saga went public, a handful of people who actually understand the Western signals intelligence system have tried to explain the many ways that the Snowden Operation has smeared NSA and its partners with salacious charges of criminality and abuse. I’ve been one of the public faces of what may be called the Snowden Truth movement, and finally there are signs that reality may be intruding on this debate. No American ally was rocked harder by Snowden’s allegations than Germany, which has endured a bout of hysteria over charges that NSA was listening...