Free Republic

So the issue with Gration at State wasn’t that he used private e-mail services for official business, or at least that’s Gration’s recollection of it. In fact, Gration had no problem using the “OpenNet” system, but State wouldn’t allow him to use his official devices to go outside of it. There is also one other key difference between Gration and Hillary, emphasis mine: “It is false that I ignored State Department instructions and willfully disregarded State Department regulations concerning the use of commercial email for official government business. I used the OpenNet for much of my official business as I...

In 2012, U.S. Ambassador to Kenya Scott Gration abruptly stepped down from his post. According to a Foreign Policy report by Josh Rogin (now a reporter for Bloomberg), Gration was the subject of a whithering evaluation from the State Department: The impending release of a highly critical report by the State Department’s Inspector General’s office prompted the sudden resignation Friday of U.S. Ambassador to Kenya Scott Gration, according to administration and congressional sources. Very soon after the Ambassador’s arrival in May 2011, he broadcast his lack of confidence in the information management staff. Because the information management office could not...

OSLO (AFP)--A U.S. special envoy on Sudan Thursday stressed the need for cooperation with the country's leadership, after a prosecutor said there is enough evidence for a further arrest warrant against Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir for genocide. "Right now President al-Beshir is the president of the country and we have to work with him to solve those issues that are facing the people (of Sudan) and (that) are facing the region," said U.S. envoy Scott Gration. "But that does not mean that (Beshir) does not need to do what's right in terms of facing the International Criminal Court and those...

WASHINGTON (AP) — A senior administration official says President Barack Obama has chosen retired Air Force Gen. J. Scott Gration to be a special envoy to war-wracked Sudan. Gration is a close personal friend of Obama and has considerable experience on African issues.

WASHINGTON - U.S. President-elect Barack Obama has asked retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Scott Gration, one of his top foreign policy and military advisers during his campaign, to take the helm of NASA, according to a source informed of the selection.

Despite keeping Defense Secretary Robert Gates in the Pentagon, President-elect Obama’s transition team informed 90 Bush appointees their services will not be needed after Inauguration Day. Scott Gration, a senior official on Obama’s transition team, called and emailed several of President Bush’s Pentagon appointees about 10 days ago to inform them they were being dismissed. Those calls and emails were followed up by an email from Jim O'Beirne, the special assistant to the secretary of defense for White House liaisons, who expressed exasperation that Gration informed the employees directly instead of letting O'Beirne's office know first. "With regard to the...

Was the Pentagon's exclusion of Obama foreign policy advisor Maj. Gen. Scott Gration, USAF (Ret.) from Barack Obama's planned visit with wounded troops at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany the reason for Obama's cancellation of the visit?Piecing together the information being reported in various news outlets points in that direction.Der Spiegel first reported the story in a brief note on their live thread on Obama's visit to Berlin yesterday morning (EDT). Free Republic was the first to pick up the story. From there it was picked up by Hot Air, then spread through the blogosphere and into the the...

WASHINGTON - Sen. Barack Obama's refusal to wear an American flag lapel pin along with a photo of him not putting his hand over his heart during the National Anthem led conservatives on Internet and in the media to question his patriotism. Now Obama's wife, Michelle, has drawn their ire, too, for saying recently that she's really proud of her country for the first time in her adult life. Conservative consultants say that combined, the cases could be an issue for Obama in the general election if he wins the nomination, especially as he runs against Vietnam war hero Sen....

WASHINGTON - A photograph circulating in the Internet of Democratic Sen. Barack Obama dressed in traditional local garments during a visit to Kenya in 2006 is causing a dustup in the presidential campaign over what constitutes a smear. The photograph portrays Obama wearing a white turban and a wraparound white robe presented to him by elders in Wajir, in northeastern Kenya. Obama's estranged late father was Kenyan and Obama visited the country in 2006, attracting thousands of well-wishers. The gossip and news Web site The Drudge Report posted the photograph Monday and said it was being circulated by "Clinton staffers"...

By James A. Barnes, National Journal © National Journal Group Inc. Monday, March 31, 2008 If potential presidents can be judged by how they run their campaigns, then how they staff those efforts may provide important clues to the kinds of talent they would recruit for their administrations. Because Democratic front-runner Barack Obama is a relative newcomer to national politics, an examination of his inner circle of political and policy advisers offers new windows into his thinking, leadership style, and sources of expertise. The Democratic front-runner's team has a relatively shallow bench, but its political achievements thus far are quite...

The Obama campaign has issued a new statement blaming the Pentagon for Obama's controversial decision to scrap visits to U.S. troops and Rammstein Landstuhl military bases in Germany on Friday.Der Spiegel initially reported this morning that Obama had cancelled the visits without reason. Then as word spread through the political world after the story was first posted at Free Republic, Obama's campaign issued a statement saying Obama thought it would be "inappropriate" to visit the troops while on a campaign trip.After the McCain campaign issued a statement upbraiding Obama for snubbing the troops saying that it is never inappropriate to...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Barack Obama is considering former top military leaders among his possible running mates, according to a senator who met Tuesday with the Democratic presidential candidate's vice presidential vetting team. North Dakota Sen. Kent Conrad told The Associated Press said the team asked him about potential candidates from three broad categories _ current top elected officials, former top elected officials and former top military leaders. Conrad would not disclose which names they discussed, and the Obama campaign has been keeping the process a closely guarded secret. "We talked about many names," Conrad said, including "some that are out...