Free Republic

Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) appeared on Fox News’ “Hannity” this week to discuss the origins of the Steele dossier. He said it should really be called the “Simpson” dossier. Although Christopher Steele likely contributed “stories” to the dossier, and his years of experience in British intelligence lent credence to the document, Nunes believes that Fusion GPS founder Glenn Simpson may actually have written the majority of it. In his book “Spygate,” journalist Dan Bongino makes the same case. He points out the striking similarities between articles Simpson and his wife, Mary Jacoby wrote for the Wall Street Journal in 2007...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 25 (UPI) -- John McCain's campaign manager reportedly helped arrange the introduction of the Arizona senator to politically connected Russian businessman Oleg Deripaska. The Washington Post Friday said the meeting took place in 2006 at a dinner party in Switzerland and was followed up by a similar encounter in Montenegro seven months later. The Post said there was no evidence that McCain, a Republican presidential hopeful, and Deripaska had any further contact, but the newspaper contended the meeting illustrated the obstacles McCain faces in campaigning as a Washington "outsider" despite his long Senate career. The Switzerland meeting was...

John McCain has been hammering rival Barack Obama for being little more than a vapid "celebrity" and "elitist." But The Nation has obtained a photo revealing just how star-struck a straight-talking maverick can become when offered the chance to celebrate his birthday aboard a yacht filled with celebrities--even if one of those celebrity types turns out to be an A-list con man. The photograph substantiates reports that in late August, 2006, McCain celebrated his 70th birthday aboard a yacht, the Celine Ashley, rented by A-list con man Raffaello Follieri and his then-movie star girlfriend Anne Hathaway. In the current edition...

Excerpt - WASHINGTON — One of the giant mortgage companies at the heart of the credit crisis paid $15,000 a month from the end of 2005 through last month to a firm owned by Senator John McCain’s campaign manager, according to two people with direct knowledge of the arrangement. The disclosure undercuts a statement by Mr. McCain on Sunday night that the campaign manager, Rick Davis, had had no involvement with the company for the last several years. ~ snip ~