Free Republic

A drug dealer who had his prison sentence commuted by Donald Trump has returned to loan sharking as his family's ties to Jared Kushner might have helped get him free, according to a report. Staten Islander Jonathan Braun, 40, had served two-and-a-half years of his decade-long sentence for running an illegal marijuana cartel when the former president set him free along with 142 others. Braun is accused of returning to offering high-interest loans despite nationwide bans on the practice, according to the New York Times... Braun was in the inaugural class of the Kushner Yeshiva High School in Livingston, New...

One of former President Trump’s assistants reportedly told federal investigators Trump wrote to-do lists on the backs of classified documents, according to an ABC News report. ABC News, citing sources familiar with the matter, reported former Trump aide Molly Michael told investigators the former president wrote requests or tasks for her on the back of notecards, which she later realized were White House documents “with visible classification markings.” The documents were reportedly used to brief the former president about international matters and phone calls with foreign leaders, ABC News reported. Sources familiar with the matter told ABC News the notecards...

Former national security adviser John Bolton said the federal charges brought against former President Trump last week are “devastating,” adding that the indictment should result in the end of his Trump’s political career. “This is a devastating indictment,” Bolton, who served under Trump, said Monday on CNN. “I speak here as an alumnus of the Justice Department myself, because not only is it powerful, it’s very narrowly tailored. They didn’t throw everything up against the wall to see what would stick that this really is a rifle shot. And I think it’s, it should be the end of Donald Trump’s...

As the Ukrainian spring bloodily transitions into summer, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Generals are trying to manage a stalled, if not, failed winter offensive in the Donbas that has left as many as 75,000 Russian soldiers and Wagner Group mercenaries dead. As the Kremlin’s overall casualties continue to mount, upwards of 200,000 according to the United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defense, it is becoming increasingly clear we are likely seeing the beginning of the end of Putin in Ukraine – especially as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his Generals draw nearer Kyiv’s much-anticipated counteroffensive. Ukraine is a vast Texas-size...

The ruble, the national currency of Russia, has been depreciating the whole week. At midday on Friday, the dollar was trading at 83 rubles, the euro — 91 rubles. These are the lowest values that the ruble has hit since last spring when Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was just beginning. At the time, the currency markets were in full-blown panic, the dollar soared to 130 rubles, while the exchange rate fluctuations reached 10% a day. There are now far fewer causes for worry. Following the OPEC+ decision to cut oil production, the Brent crude price rose to $85, a comfortable...

Russia lost elections to three United Nations bodies this week, a sign that opposition to its invasion of Ukraine over a year ago remains strong. The votes in the 54-member U.N. Economic and Social Council follow approval of six non-binding resolutions against Russia by the 193-member U.N. General Assembly. The latest — on Feb. 23, the eve of the first anniversary of the invasion — called for Moscow to end hostilities and withdraw its forces and was adopted by a vote of 141-7 with 32 abstentions. In the ECOSOC votes, Russia was overwhelmingly defeated by Romania for a seat on...

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D) for the first time on Thursday addressed a claim by former President Trump that he would be arrested in connection to an investigation into a hush money payment made to adult film star Stormy Daniels, calling it the creation of a “false expectation.” Bragg, in response to demands by House Republicans to force his testimony and turn over all documents and communication on the case, wrote in a letter to Congress that such a move was an “unprecendent[ed] inquiry into a pending local prosecution.” “The letter only came after Donald Trump created a false...

TOPLINE Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office has asked former President Donald Trump to testify before a grand jury investigating a hush money payment to a porn star in the final stretch of the 2016 presidential campaign, according to the New York Times, in a strong signal that an indictment against the ex-president is near. KEY FACTS It’s not clear if Trump will accept the offer, though it’s rare for prospective defendants to testify, according to the Times report, which cited four unnamed sources “with knowledge of the matter.” The case centers around a $130,000 payment then-Trump fixer Michael Cohen...

Former President Donald Trump has never been in more serious — and fast-approaching — legal jeopardy. A Georgia grand jury has apparently already recommended Trump’s indictment in a 2020 election interference case. The Atlanta prosecutor handling that case told a judge that decisions on charging him and others are “imminent.” Special counsel Jack Smith, meanwhile, is showing none of the kid-glove deference to Trump that marked Attorney General Merrick Garland’s handling of the explosive cases. Moving at the legal equivalent of lightning speed, Smith is gathering evidence against the former president on two fronts: his taking a cache of classified...

Today on Morning Joe Mika and Joe talk about the Georgia probe with Trump and what the result will be but we also take a trip back into time to see what they really thought was going to happen

The nation's largest annual conference for Millennial and Gen-Z conservatives, AmericaFest, drew tens of thousands of attendees who seem divided on who should win the 2024 nomination—a troubling sign for the former president. As Trump acolytes, like his eldest son Donald Trump Jr. and unsuccessful gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, sang praises for Trump's 2024 campaign, many event speakers avoided endorsing the former president and interviews with attendees revealed that many aren't prepared to commit to another Trump term just yet. The four-day event in Phoenix, Arizona, is a glaring red flag for Trump's campaign. It signals there may not be...

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican weighing a 2024 White House bid, said Monday he believes former President Donald Trump is “at his lowest point ever,” as the House Jan. 6 committee wrapped up its investigation into what Hogan described as “one of the darkest days in American history.”In an interview with The Associated Press shortly before the committee released its recommendations, Hogan said he believes the former president should be held accountable, after he “inflamed kind of a riotous mob to go attack the seat of our democracy.” However, the outgoing, term-limited governor was not specific...

NBC host Chuck Todd said Sunday on KNBC’s “Today in LA Weekend” that he believes America is seeing the “beginning of the end” of former President Donald Trump’s political career. Anchor Conan Nolan said, “Part of the narrative following the midterm elections that Republicans are finally getting that they can’t win with Donald Trump. They’re tired of losing. Mike Allen of Axios has a piece where he says that he quotes one Republican as saying that President Joe Biden has carefully and cautiously waged war in Ukraine with no American troops, and he has had just one of the best...

With Conservatives point finger at Trump after GOP’s underwhelming election results: 'He's never been weaker' Many conservatives say Tuesday's election results show it's 'time to move on' from Trump. (Fox News'', November 9, 2022), as well as the Wall Street Journal - what do Freepers think?

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said there is no need for more massive strikes on Ukraine, days after the heaviest bombardment of the country since the war began. He said most designated targets of the strikes had been hit, adding that it was not his aim to destroy Ukraine. Moscow's goal of mobilising 300,000 men would be met within two weeks, he said. Mr Putin's words come as Russian forces seem stalled and Ukraine advances, almost eight months since the invasion. Speaking to journalists after a summit with regional leaders in Kazakhstan's capital Astana, the Russian leader said that the...

The horrifying attacks on Ukraine yesterday– are a sign that the Russian president is, if not yet desperate, getting nearer to it. They represent a highly significant psychological shift for the beleaguered leader. He is no longer trying to win the war: now he is simply trying not to visibly lose it. Previously he could have defined victory however he wanted. But by annexing Ukrainian regions, he has upped the already high stakes. If he cedes so-called ‘Russian’ territory, he will become the Tsar who gave away Russian land instead of the strongman who restored the empire. And by ordering...

Aformer Russian commander said that the reason Moscow has seen a series of military failures in Ukraine is because Russian President Vladimir Putin has been misled by lies that have impaired his decision-making on the battlefield. "I don't think our Supreme [would] have made [inappropriate] decisions if he was retrieving accurate information about the real circumstances. The system of total lies brought us to this situation," Andrey Gurulyov, former deputy commander of Russia's southern military district, told television presenter and propagandist Vladimir Solovyov on Russian state media. The latest setbacks Putin has suffered due to a successful counteroffensive from Ukrainian...

The news of municipal deputies from Russian districts signing a petition demanding Putin resigns was shared by Ksenia Torstrem, a member of the St. Petersburg municipality Semenovsky, who published the statement on Twitter. She urged other municipal deputies to join the statement. “We, the municipal deputies of Russia, believe that the actions of President V. V. Putin are detrimental to the future of Russia and its citizens.” “We demand Vladimir Putin’s resignation as President of the Russian Federation!” reads the text of the petition, signed by about 20 deputies.

Ukrainian accounts on social media are chattering excitedly this morning about activity in Kherson, the southern province that Russia has occupied since the start of the war. Ukraine’s government spent the last month warning that a counteroffensive to liberate the province was coming. Very soon. Any time now. Could be tomorrow! Could be the next hour! Tick tock.Time is not on Russia’s side in this war, as they’re running out of men and munitions and are unwilling to risk the political backlash that would come if they instituted a national draft. But time isn’t on Ukraine’s side either. Winter is...

A recently released FBI affidavit related to the Mar-a-Lago search spells trouble for Trump. "Donald Trump will be indicted in the classified documents matter," a national security lawyer said. The affidavit also throws a wrench into Trump's claim of innocence because "it was all declassified."