Free Republic

Several reporters have gone to therapy to cope with the January 6 Capitol riot, according to a report by Vice News. “Reporters who survived the deadly Capitol riot are still struggling. Some won’t go back into the building. Several have sought therapy to deal with trauma. Many still aren’t sleeping well,” the publication said in a tweet.

Richard A. Serrano Washington Bureau July 21, 2011, 3:41 p.m. Reporting from Washington— Two days after U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian A. Terry was killed in December, the top ATF supervisors in Phoenix said in internal emails that weapons found at the scene in Arizona came from a failed agency sting operation. But nearly two months later, when U.S. Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) inquired about the origin of the guns, senior officials in Washington with the Justice Department and its Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms were evasive. Grassley asked whether the guns were "used" in the killing. According...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan's arguments as solicitor general in several cases on government secrecy were at odds with a promise of transparency made by her boss and top client, President Barack Obama. In four of five cases she dealt with involving the Freedom of Information Act, Kagan argued in favor of secrecy, Justice Department documents show. In those four lawsuits, the Supreme Court took her side and let lower court rulings in the government's favor stand. The justices haven't yet said whether they will take the fifth case, in which Kagan argued against broadening an open...

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer and Attorney General Terry Goddard asked a judge on Friday to dismiss a lawsuit that seeks to overturn the state's new immigration law. Lawyers for both officials say the lawsuit by Washington-based researcher Roberto Frisancho should be thrown out because his claim is based on his speculation that, as a U.S.-born Hispanic, he will be asked for immigration papers as a result of the law. The law requires police to question a person's immigration status if officers have a reasonable suspicion that the person is in the country illegally. Brewer and Goddard's lawyers say the lawsuit...

<p>POWDER SPRINGS -- A lawyer for a woman killed along with her two daughters in Cobb County says the family fled Kenya in 2001 because she feared the girls would have to undergo female circumcision.</p> <p>Immigration attorney Charles H. Kuck said that Jane Kuria left Kenya in January 2001 after the death of her husband and the destruction of their home. Kuck said that according to her political asylum application, the couple was targeted in Kenya because of their opposition to female genital mutilation.</p>

SACRAMENTO - California's business leaders say they're willing to spend more money on public schools and even raise taxes to pay for them as long as the increased spending is tied to major reforms and holding schools accountable, according to a survey released Monday. Three-quarters of the 1,342 chief executives surveyed said they either support or strongly support the idea of raising taxes to boost public school spending if the increase were tied to a specific reform they support. They listed the most crucial reforms as teaching essential basic skills such as reading, writing and math in combination with communication...

NEW YORK - The search for a witness to a fatal shooting by police intensified with the arrests of four people who have provided clues about the mysterious man's identity, a law enforcement official said Thursday. Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said the Wednesday apartment raid that led to the arrests was related to the shooting investigation, but he declined to elaborate. Another law enforcement official later told The Associated Press that the arrests of three men and one woman on gun charges produced information about the identity of an important witness to the shooting, which has set off a storm...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 17, 2006 -- Military children interested in helping Santa this year have until Nov. 21 to submit their application to participate in the first “Top of the World Toy Summit” at the North Pole. America Supports You and Operation Homefront, with the support of Wal-Mart, are facilitating this “meeting of the minds” Nov. 29, to help Santa ensure kids around the world have a fun-filled holiday season. Operation Homefront will select 20 servicemembers’ children from applications received through its Web site to serve as “ambassadors of fun” during the summit to be held in North Pole, Alaska,...

WASHINGTON - The government is pushing for three years in prison for a former Bush administration official found guilty of covering up his relationship with disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff. The prison time could be years less than what David Safavian, former chief of staff of the General Services Administration, was initially expected to face for lying and hiding details of his connections with Abramoff from investigators and lawmakers. Federal prosecutors calculated that Safavian's sentence should be between 30 and 37 months, based on federal guidelines, and asked that he be sentenced "at the high end of that range." Safavian could...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - A software developer running for governor and the U.S. Senate felt so strongly that voters should have "None of the Above" as a choice that he made it his middle name. The State Election Commission voted 5-0 to nix the middle name from the ballot. Now, David "None of the Above" Gatchell is challenging the commission in court to get the words on the Nov. 7 ballot. "I feel so strongly about this and I knew that it should be my name," he said. "That's who I am." Gatchell, 58, ran as an independent in the 2002...

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A blueprint for trying to start a war between the United States and Iran was among a "huge treasure" of documents found in the hideout of terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, Iraqi officials said Thursday. The document, purporting to reflect al-Qaida policy and its cooperation with groups loyal to ousted President Saddam Hussein, also appear to show that the insurgency in Iraq was weakening. The al-Qaida in Iraq document was translated and released by Iraqi National Security Adviser Mouwafak al-Rubaie. There was no way to independently confirm the authenticity of the information attributed to al-Qaida. Although the...

WASHINGTON, May 25, 2006 – Three terrorists were killed yesterday after planting a roadside bomb west of Baghdad, and the commander of Multinational Force West is seeking a criminal investigation of an April 26 incident in which an Iraqi civilian was killed. Coalition forces from 1st Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, observed three terrorists digging holes and placing roadside bombs near the Abu Ghraib district. Coalition forces then engaged and killed all three terrorists. IMPORTANT!! In other news, Marine Maj. Gen. Richard C. Zilmer has asked the Naval Criminal Investigative Service to investigate an April 26 incident in which Marines...

The Tucson Police Department is asking for the public's help in identifying a female protester who kicked an officer in the face during the April 10 pro-immigration rally. After closely reviewing video footage from the rally, police have been able to single out the female who they say intentionally kicked Officer Nathan A. Tullgren, 26, as he was on the ground making an arrest, said Tucson police Chief of Staff Capt. Brett Klein on Friday. Police say she could face a charge of aggravated assault on a peace officer. According to Klein, Tullgren had just pulled a male off of...

Federal prosecutors alleged Monday that Hollywood private eye Anthony Pellicano recently conspired with known mobsters in Chicago to put a prison "hit" on the man he allegedly hired to threaten a Los Angeles Times reporter. The hit, according to court papers, was allegedly aimed at Alexander Proctor, an ex-convict who was arrested for placing a dead fish with a rose in its mouth and a sign that said "Stop" on the windshield of reporter Anita Busch's car in the summer of 2002. When an FBI informant later surfaced with Proctor on tape boasting that he was working for Pellicano, federal...

Law firm records sought by fedsJefferson's daughter once worked there Thursday, March 23, 2006 By Bruce Alpert Washington bureau WASHINGTON -- In an indication that the federal investigation of Rep. William Jefferson, D-New Orleans, is continuing, a Virginia grand jury has subpoenaed records from a law firm where one of the congressman's daughters once worked, according to sources familiar with the case. In addition, Judge T.S. Ellis III has agreed to delay sentencing for Brett Pfeffer, 37, a former Jefferson congressional aide who pleaded guilty in January to two felony charges, including aiding and abetting the solicitation of bribes. The...

Mullah sought after boys flee school in chains By Massoud Ansari in Karachi (Filed: 05/02/2006) Pakistani police have issued an arrest warrant for a mullah at one of the country's Islamic schools after two young pupils claimed to have been beaten up and kept in chains for failing to memorise Koranic scripture. Mohammad Ammar, eight, and Ahsan Mawia, 10, were found crawling through the streets in shackles in the dead of night after fleeing in terror from a strict school in Karachi. The pair were in a "hysterical state" and showed "visible sign of torture", according to police who examined...

Mexican authorities on Friday announced the capture of a top Mexican drug smuggler wanted in the United States for cocaine trafficking and money laundering and who was included among the 40 most-wanted fugitives in the world. Oscar Arriola Marquez, leader of the Arriola Marquez cartel, was arrested on Thursday in the northern state of Coahuila, one of three states where the organization is based, Attorney General Daniel Cabeza de Vaca said. “He is one of the drug traffickers most sought after in the United States” and among the 40 most-wanted fugitives in the world, Cabeza de Vaca said. Mexican authorities...

The Santa Clara County civil grand jury and district attorney are investigating whether San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales received any personal or political payments for helping Norcal Waste Systems secure an $11.25 million amendment to a city garbage contract, according to a subpoena obtained by the Mercury News. District Attorney George Kennedy issued the subpoenas earlier this month to companies at the center of the controversy -- Norcal and its recycling subcontractor California Waste Solutions. Prosecutors requested documents that would show any income or political contributions Gonzales or his campaigns may have received. Two earlier investigations into the mayor's secret...

WASHINGTON - Widely recognized as a military hawk, President Richard M. Nixon fretted privately over the notion of any no-holds-barred nuclear war, newly released documents from his time at the White House reveal. Visions of such an all-out war involving nuclear missiles were unpalatable from the first days of Nixon's presidency, starting in 1969 and lasting until the summer of 1974, when he resigned during the Watergate scandal. Recently declassified papers from that time in history show that Nixon wanted an alternative to the option of full-scale nuclear war — a plan for a gentler war, one that could ultimately...

NEW YORK - A Pakistani man went on trial Wednesday on charges alleging he agreed to help an al-Qaida operative planning a chemical attack against Americans sneak into the United States. Uzair Paracha, 25, is accused of agreeing to support the plot during meetings with two al-Qaida operatives and his father, a businessman held at Guantanamo Bay. "This trial is about the defendant's role in helping al-Qaida penetrate this country and attack the United States from within its own borders," Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Bruce said in his opening statement. Bruce said Paracha was trying to help Majid Khan, an...