Free Republic

A chief Republican critic of a controversial U.S. anti-gun-trafficking operation was briefed on ATF’s “Fast and Furious” program last year and did not express any opposition, sources familiar with the classified briefing said Tuesday. Rep. Darrell Issa (Calif.), who has repeatedly called for top Justice Department officials to be held accountable for the now-defunct operation, was given highly specific information about it at an April 2010 briefing, the sources said. Members of his staff also attended the session, which Issa and two other Republican congressmen had requested. Fast and Furious targeted Mexican gun traffickers but was linked to the killing...

Frank Melton, the mayor of Mississippi's largest city, died early Thursday, two days after losing a primary re-election bid and days before he was set to stand trial on federal civil rights charges. He was 60. (snip) Trial had been set to start Monday for Melton and a former bodyguard, who each faced two federal civil rights charges related to a sledgehammer attack on a duplex on Aug. 26, 2006, that Melton considered a crackhouse. (snip) He became a fixture in poor neighborhoods, where he would talk to youngsters about personal accountability and hard work. He tried to broker a...

The mayor of Mississippi's largest city died early Thursday, less than two days after losing a re-election bid in a contentious Democratic primary that came a week before his second federal trial.

Among our mayor’s greatest hits: • He once stopped a school bus on a busy interstate because he “needed a hug” from the kids inside. • He’s been known to strap weapons to his chest and leg that he has no authority to carry or conceal, then wear them in public. • He regularly suits up and leads SWAT-style “raids” on homes, businesses, and even roadblocks in busy traffic—without cause or a warrant. • He has tried to close down the city’s strip clubs for moral reasons, despite no authority to do so. • He once bulldozed an elderly woman’s...

Residents of the city’s Virden Addition tell the Jackson Free Press that they saw Mayor Frank Melton and a team of young men partially demolish a duplex at 1305 Ridgeway Street last Saturday night. Unlike at least some of the dilapidated homes that Melton has been regularly burning down in the city, this home was privately owned and occupied, they say. Michael Smith, of Jackson, is among residents near Bailey Avenue claiming that the mayor and a team of young men took sledgehammers to a home owned by Jennifer Sutton, hours after the mayor cut his hand during a crime...

Sources are telling the Jackson Free Press that Mayor Frank Melton has been indicted on at least one felony charge by a special grand jury this morning. Sheriff Malcolm McMillin and District Attorney Faye Peterson are expected to announce details at press conferences at 12:30 p.m. and 1:30 p.m. 12:24 p.m.: Mayor Frank Melton, Police Chief Shirlene Anderson and Chief of Staff Marcus Ward just walked into the Hinds County Courthouse. Yesterday, District Attorney Faye Peterson confirmed that the county's investigation of Melton for the events of Aug. 26 and 27 had been completed and was headed to the next...

Five of seven candidates for the 5th Congressional District seat responded to questions Wednesday in a televised forum, trying to score votes before next week's election. Rodney Alexander, D-Quitman, Robert Barham, R-Oak Ridge, Lee Fletcher, R-Monroe, Clyde Holloway, R-Forest Hill and Sam Houston Melton, D-Winnfield, responded to questions from reporters. Issues included homeland security, health care focusing on prescription drug assistance for Medicare recipients, the war on terrorism and the threat from Iraq, and economic issues including agriculture and free trade, among others. Barham, a state senator, said, as a combat veteran, he "would never take lightly a vote to...