Free Republic

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) said Saturday that if he is elected president, he will ask soccer player Megan Rapinoe to be his secretary of state. He said at the progressive Netroots Nation conference that one of his firs acts as president would be to get a secretary of state who embraces world unity and “love rather than hate,” as he rebuked President Trump’s foreign policy.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has voted to approve fining Facebook approximately $5 billion as a penalty for the company's privacy violations in the Cambridge Analytica scandal, The Guardian reported. According to the Washington Post, an anonymous source familiar with the issue said Friday that the settlement was approved 3-2, and that the Justice Department is expected to approve the move. In addition to the fine, which would be the highest ever levied by the FTC against a technology company and the highest ever levied for a privacy violation, Facebook will reexamine how it handles user data. The Washington Post...

President Donald Trump on Friday renewed attacks on freshman Democratic lawmakers Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortezand Ilhan Omar and came to the defense of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Trump lashed out at Ocasio-Cortez for her recent remarks responding to Pelosi's criticism of the "Squad" -- the group of four freshman including Ocasio-Cortex and Omar. She had said Pelosi was “singling out” Democratic women of color for criticism, calling it "disrespectful."

You’ve probably heard a lot overnight about President Trump backing down on trying to get a citizenship question on the census questionnaire next year.Perhaps you too were surprised that this president who takes on even meaningless slights or disagreements on Twitter would give up so easily. He didn’t.The rest of the day’s story is somewhat different: Trump says he’s devised another path to the same information, which isn’t certain to be tied up for months with obstructionist lawsuits. And Attorney General William Barr is vocally backing him up. Makes it less of a backdown in his eyes.“Today,” Trump declared...

WASHINGTON -- Former Deputy Assistant to the President Dr. Sebastian Gorka and Brian Karem, White House reporter for Playboy, got into a shouting match in the Rose Garden at the White House on Thursday. Trump had tweeted that the Rose Garden event would be a press conference but he did not take questions from reporters on-site. "The White House will be hosting a very big and very important Social Media Summit today. Would I have become President without Social Media? Yes (probably)! At its conclusion, we will all go to the beautiful Rose Garden for a News Conference on the...

President Trump will announce that he will use executive action to add a citizenship question on the 2020 census at a news conference Thursday afternoon, a White House source confirmed to The Post. The president tweeted that he would address the controversial question in a tweet Thursday morning days after he signaled he was considering using an executive order to include it. “The White House will be hosting a very big and very important Social Media Summit today. Would I have become President without Social Media??,” Trump said on Twitter. “Yes (probably)! At its conclusion, we will all go to...

Cases filed after court rules President Trump can't do that. On Tuesday, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled President Trump is not allowed to block people on his Twitter account, because the social-media page was used for “official purposes” and such a move would violate the First Amendment. Within hours, one of the far-left newcomers to Congress who has done the same thing, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., also was sued. The Associated Press reported the decision in Trump’s case “is likely to reverberate throughout politics after the Manhattan court warned that any elected official using a social-media account...

California Earthquakes Leave Naval Station China Lake ‘Not Mission Capable’ By: Gidget Fuentes July 9, 2019 11:24 AM California State Route 178 SW of Trona, following the M7.1 earthquake. Road is now closed for repairs. SAN DIEGO – Two major earthquakes that struck Southern California late last week opened fault lines on Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake and prompted officials to evacuate residents. Since Saturday, the Navy testing installation has been declared “not mission capable until further notice.” As of late Monday, the Navy’s key research-and-development site for major aviation and weapons systems testing and evaluation remained off-limits to...

Ross Perot, self-made billionaire, renowned patriot and two-time independent candidate for U.S. president, has died after a five-month battle with leukemia. (please see full article at the link)

Alleged child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein will agree to give up names of individuals who took part in the trafficking ring he ran—in exchange for a substantially lower sentence. A two-count indictment unsealed by federal prosecutors on July 8 charged the 66-year-old billionaire financier with sex trafficking and conspiracy charges. Epstein allegedly sexually exploited and abused dozens of minor girls at his homes in Manhattan, New York, and Palm Beach, Florida, among other locations. The charges carry with them a maximum sentence of 45 years in jail. At Epstein’s age, the charges are tantamount to “a life sentence” Geoffrey Berman,...

Tom Steyer, the former hedge fund investor turned impeachment activist, announced on Tuesday that he would challenge President Trump in 2020, reversing a previous decision not to enter the race. In a video announcing his candidacy, Mr. Steyer positioned himself as a populist outsider, railing against corporate interests that he described as holding too much sway over the political system. “Americans are deeply disappointed and hurt by the way they’re treated by what they think is the power elite in Washington, D.C.,” Mr. Steyer said in the video. “And that goes across party lines and it goes across geography.” Included...

Full title: BOOM! Pilot Logs Reveal ALMOST EVERY TIME Bill Clinton Flew on Epstein’s Lolita Express — UNDERAGE GIRLS WERE ON THE PLANE! (VIDEO)

We’re proud to celebrate inclusivity for all gender identities and expressions. In partnership with NCTE, we’re giving away special edition Pronoun Packs and encouraging everybody to share their pronouns with #Pride today and every day.

Thus far, President Trump has managed to stonewall efforts by Democrats to obtain his federal tax returns, with those efforts likely to be held up for some time, possibly needing to go all the way to the Supreme Court. But perhaps not so with his state taxes. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed a new bill into law today specifically crafted to allow the release of state tax returns to Congress upon the request of any of three committees. It would apply to the President, as well as some other executive branch officials and political party leaders. (NY Times)...

WATCH: U.S. Soccer Player Allie Long Drags and Drops American Flag; Kelley O'Hara Jumps in to Save It ... After the United States Women’s National Soccer Team’s (USWNT) won the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup for the fourth time, co-captain Megan Rapinoe and midfielder Allie Long can be seen disrespecting the flag. Long dropped the American flag on the ground to do a choreographed celebration with Rapinoe and co-captain Alex Morgan. While posing for the cameras, Long and Rapinoe dragged the American flag with their feet after it was on the ground. Midfielder Kelley O’Hara quickly picked up the flag...

After a roaring success on Independence Day, President Trump announced from the White House Monday afternoon Salute to America will take place again next year. "I hope you all had a truly wonderful Independence Day weekend in spite of the heavy rain, and it was really heavy, we had a remarkable Salute to America on the National Mall. Incredible," Trump said. "Standing on the steps of the great Lincoln Memorial and looking out on the crowd, these incredible, big beautiful crowds braving the weather all the way back to the Washington Monument, we celebrated freedom and all of its magnificence...

The Justice Department team that is leading the prosecution of alleged child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein includes the daughter of former FBI Director James Comey. Geoffrey Berman, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said at a press conference Monday that Maurene Comey is part of the public corruption unit handling the case against the well-connected and wealthy businessman. Maurene Comey, an assistant U.S. attorney, was named alongside Alex Rossmiller and Alison Moe as the prosecutors assisting Berman with the case. James Comey, who was fired as FBI director in 2017 by President Trump, had been a...

The USWNT filed its lawsuit for equal pay in March, noting that not only do the women win more than the men, but in recent years they've brought in more revenue too. Still, their male counterparts are paid more in bonuses, etc. We know the women's team has fan support in its pursuit of more money. The U.S. fans who were lucky enough to be in Stade de Lyon during Sunday's final in Lyon, France were shouting, "Equal pay!" in between their usual "USA! USA!" chants.

An indictment alleging sex trafficking and sex trafficking conspiracy was unsealed Monday morning against billionaire financier and registered sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who is set to make his first appearance in a New York City federal court later in the day. Epstein is being held at the Metropolitan Correctional Center, a federal jail near the Manhattan courthouse where he is due to appear Monday afternoon. Federal prosecutors are set to announce details at a press conference at 11 a.m. ET. Attorney David Boies told Fox News on Sunday that he expected more superseding indictments would be added. Boies said both...

Deutsche Bank announced Sunday that it will pull out of global equities sales and trading, scale back investment banking and slash thousands of jobs as part of a sweeping restructuring plan to improve profitability. Deutsche will cut 18,000 jobs for a global headcount of around 74,000 employees by 2022. The bank aims to reduce adjusted costs by a quarter to 17 billion euros ($19 billion) over the next several years. The German bank’s decision to scale back investment banking comes just two days after investment banking chief Garth Ritchie stepped down by “mutual agreement.” Deutsche expects its restructuring plan to...