Free Republic

Casey Cooper is new to the bench, but he’s well-connected . Just three months into his tenure on the federal bench, and before his formal investiture ceremony later this week, newly minted — but well-connected — U.S. District Judge Christopher “Casey” Cooper has been handed one of the most high-profile and politically sensitive American terrorism cases in recent years ... Cooper, 47, was part of the Obama administration’s transition team and is one of the more connected people in D.C. legal circles, Marimow notes. His wife, Amy Jeffress, worked at the Justice Department as a national security adviser to the...

Classified info at compound required U.S. Marine protection Did the State Department under Hillary Clinton deliberately refuse to classify what has been described as sensitive information housed at the U.S. special mission in Benghazi? The storage of any officially classified information in the compound would have required the deployment of the U.S. Marine Corps Embassy Security Group for protection. Instead, external security at the facility was provided by unarmed local Libyan guards. Armed members of the Martyrs of the February 17th Brigades served as the official quick-reaction force that worked within the compound. The Brigade is an offshoot of the...

World leaders were unanimous Wednesday in condemning the killing of Mohammad Abu Khdeir, a 16-year-old Palestinian who was most likely kidnapped and murdered in revenge for the death of three Israeli teens that were abducted and recently found dead in the West Bank. In a series of posts on Twitter, National Security Adviser Susan Rice said the US is paying close attention to the investigation into the death of 17-year-old Mohammed Abu Khdeir. She also offered condolences to his family and the Palestinian people. US Secretary of State John Kerry also condemned the murder, calling the act "sickening" and saying,...

The White House is required provide Congress with an annual list of every one of its employees It's 2014 list, published today, shows that the president has 456 aides The lowest paid White House staffers make $42,000 a year, while the president's senior staff members make nearly four times that at $172,200The White House published its annual list of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue staff their salaries today. This year's list reveals that 456 aides serve at the pleasure of the president and make anywhere from $42,000 a year to $172,200 a year. Among the highest paid White House staffers are: National...

Ahmed Abu Khatallah, the Libyan militant charged in the 2012 Benghazi attacks, will face a federal judge Saturday afternoon for an initial court appearance, authorities confirmed to Fox News. At that time, the government is expected to outline the charges against him. Khatallah is being held at a federal courthouse in D.C. amid tight security, Department of Justice spokesman William Miller said. He was flown to Washington by helicopter shortly after sunrise from a navy warship, where he had been held since his capture nearly two weeks ago. Khatallah is accused of being involved in the Sept. 11, 2012 attack...

A man suspected in the attacks two years ago on U.S. facilities in Benghazi, Libya, which killed U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans arrived at federal court in Washington, D.C. today, a source told ABC News. Ahmed Abu Khattala was captured in Libya earlier this month. He's expected to be arraigned later today.

When The Washington Post reported the capture of Ahmed Abu Khattala, suspected in the Benghazi terrorist attacks that killed four Americans in 2012, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) were clear in asserting what they deem the proper course of action should be: send him to Guantanamo Bay. Reporters waiting outside the chamber received the news on their smartphones before senators began trickling out of the Senate Chamber. Many of them refused to comment, awaiting more details from their staff. But McCain and Graham spoke up. "I’m glad that they got him,” McCain stated, before suggesting that...

The suspected ringleader of the deadly 2012 Benghazi attacks, who was captured by U.S. forces over the weekend, was actually interviewed by multiple media outlets last year — a stunning revelation that could raise questions over why it took the U.S. so long to arrest the man.

CNN's senior international correspondent Arwa Damon, who spoke last year with Ahmed Abu Khattal, the suspected mastermind in the 2012 Benghazi terror attack that killed four Americans, said not only was he not in hiding but he actually offered to speak with American officials about the attack. Ahmed Abu Khattal did not deny he was at the consulate the night of September 12, 2012 but instead claims he was "directing traffic." Damon said while his story does not line up with the events of that night, she empathized his confidence in making himself available to talk with U.S. authorities.

When Fox News correspondent Jesse Watters asked Hillary Clinton fans about the deadly Benghazi terror attacks of 2012, he got some surprising answers. None were more surprising than the ones coming from several people who had no idea what Benghazi was, despite the fact that many argue it is Clinton’s biggest failure as secretary of state.

Representatives of prominent conservative groups converged on the Heritage Foundation on Monday afternoon for the umpteenth in a series of gatherings to draw attention to the Benghazi controversy. But this one took an unexpected turn. What began as a session purportedly about “unanswered questions” surrounding the September 2012 attacks on U.S. facilities in Libya deteriorated into the ugly taunting of a woman in the room who wore an Islamic head covering. The session, as usual, quickly moved beyond the specifics of the assaults that left four Americans dead to accusations about the Muslim Brotherhood infiltrating the Obama administration, President Obama...

US official: Libyan militant accused in Benghazi attack in US custody .

The U.S. military has captured a man believed to be one of the ringleaders of the deadly attacks on the American diplomatic compound and a CIA base in Benghazi, Libya, in September 2012, officials said Tuesday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — To congressional Republicans, "Benghazi" is shorthand for incompetence and cover-up. Democrats hear it as the hollow sound of pointless investigations. It is, in fact, a Mediterranean port city in Libya that was the site of an attack on an American diplomatic compound on the 11th anniversary of 9/11 that killed U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans. That's nearly all that U.S. politicians can agree on about Benghazi. It's been a political rallying cry since just weeks before President Barack Obama's re-election in November 2012. With the launch of a new House investigation, Benghazi is shaping...

U.S. Special Operations forces captured one of the suspected ringleaders of the terrorist attacks in Benghazi in a secret raid in Libya over the weekend, the first time one of the accused perpetrators of the 2012 assault has been apprehended, according to U.S. officials. The officials said Ahmed Abu Khattala was captured near Benghazi by American troops, working alongside the FBI, following months of planning, and was now in U.S. custody “in a secure location outside Libya.” The officials said there were no casualties in the operation, and that all U.S. personnel involved have safely left Libya.

President Barack Obama spent last weekend on the golf course and on vacation in Palm Springs, California while his National Security team took charge of monitoring the increasing unrest in Iraq, it was revealed on Monday. According to reports filed by journalists on the trip of the president's comings and goings, President Barack Obama spent Saturday afternoon and most of Sunday at exclusive resorts playing golf with White House aides. Meanwhile, National Security Adviser Susan Rice and her team were tasked with coming up with a plan to stop al Qaeda linked terrorist group Islamic State in Iraq and the...

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/05/how-can-we-understand-benghazi-without-probing-the-cias-role/275781/

Bowe Bergdahl: a Prisoner of WAR, a deserter taken hostage by the Taliban or an enemy combatant? If it isn't the first of the three rather the second, why then are all cable news outlets describing this as a prisoner swap? Why aren't they calling this an enemy combatant ( Taliban 5)/deserter or a EC/deserter swap? If Bowe Bergdahl deserted, then would he have then as well forsake the military, and thus his uniform? Would Bowe Bergdahl then be an enemy combatant?

Barack Obama is basically an enemy of America. Those who voted for him and those who manipulated the Republican primaries to insure a loser like Mitt Romney would be the GOP candidate to oppose him, have much to be ashamed of and much guilt to share. Obama has always been suspect in every aspect of his being from his fake life story to his devastating use of executive power to destroy our nation. Nevertheless, few among us could have predicted his treachery in the trade of five top level enemy commanders for a single soldier who willfully deserted and collaborated...

If the Bergdahl uproar feels creepily reminiscent of the Benghazi uproar, or the Syrian "red line" uproar, or the choose-your-own- Obama -foreign-adventure uproar, it's because they all have a common denominator. This is what happens when political hacks formally take over foreign policy. It's the "formal" point that bears some meditation. Barack Obama isn't the first president to make foreign-policy decisions on the basis of domestic political calculations. He does, however, win the distinction of being the first president to utterly disregard—to treat with contempt—the institutions and procedures that were designed to help the commander in chief insulate the serious...