Free Republic

COLUMBIA, SC (WSPA) - Officials say the winner of the $1.5 billion Mega Millions jackpot from October has claimed their prize. The South Carolina Education Lottery Commission says the winner chose to remain anonymous and chose a one-time cash payout of $877,784,124. This is the largest jackpot payout to a single winner in the history of the United States, according to the SC Education Lottery. The winning ticket for the October 23, 2018 drawing was sold at the KC Mart in Simpsonville. “We are delighted that the winner is a South Carolinian and has come forward to claim this remarkable...

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is working behind the scenes to boost the prospects of Neomi Rao, one of his former law clerks, to serve on a powerful federal appeals court in Washington — speaking privately with at least two Republican senators as she faces a contentious confirmation fight. Sen. Josh Hawley (Mo.) who publicly questioned how Rao would rule on issues such as abortion before supporting her in a key vote Thursday, disclosed this week that he had called Thomas. The justice has also phoned Sen. Tim Scott (S.C.), a sometimes deciding voice on controversial nominees. “He called me...

During CPAC on Feb. 28, Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) thanked President Trump for nominating Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh and having his "back."

CNN)Sen. Lindsey Graham joked about the rocky start to his relationship with President Donald Trump in a speech Thursday. "So President Trump and I did not start off well," the South Carolina Republican said at the Conservative Political Action Conference just outside Washington. "I remember being there the night he got elected and he said, 'Hey, Lindsey, I don't have your phone number,' and I said, 'There's a reason for that.' " Graham was a primary opponent of Trump's in 2016 and one of Trump's harshest critics within the GOP leading up to, and immediately after, the 2016 election.

LAMAR, S.C. (WPDE) — An incident report from Lamar police said a substance found two weeks ago on two cars belonging to Lamar Mayor Darnell Byrd-McPherson has a yellowish tint to it and that it's a type of powder similar to pollen. Byrd-McPherson said someone came onto her property back on Feb. 7 and vandalized her cars. She initially said the incident may be that of a hate crime. Byrd-McPherson said Wednesday the State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) was unable to make a determination of the substance because no sample was taken by the Lamar Police Department.

GREENVILLE, S.C. - The “generous stranger” who spent over $500 on cookies so two Girl Scouts wouldn’t have to stand in the cold, has been arrested by U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency. Detric McGowan was arrested Tuesday morning by the DEA according to WSPA. He was arrested with 10 other suspects for conspiring to import drugs from Mexico as well as numerous other charges. Karen Kelly, a vice president of the local Girl Scouts chapter, responded to the arrest in the Greenville News: "Nobody was hurt. Nobody was threatened. We had no reason to believe that this man was anything other...

The Senate is set to escalate a long simmering fight over President Trump's judicial nominees. Republicans are poised to confirm a pick for the influential circuit courts next week without the support of either of the nominee's home-state senators—a first for the Trump era. Eric Miller is the first appeals judge to get a vote on the Senate floor this year, and the 31st of Trump’s presidency. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) set up an initial vote on his Ninth Circuit nomination for Monday evening. “The judicial train is running in the committee and it will soon hit the floor,”...

A South Carolina man was surprised to find some unwanted house guests when he returned home last week -- a woman and her children had made themselves at home. Kent Foster told FOX Carolina he went to his home in Union, South Carolina, after work to find that the furniture had been moved and someone had smoked inside. He called 911 after he heard noises inside his home. Police went to the residence where Savannah Rhinehart, 25, allegedly told officers she lived there. Her two children were also there with her. "When she opens the door, the first thing she...

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) predicted on Friday that a "handful" of Republicans will back a resolution to block President Trump's emergency declaration to construct the U.S.-Mexico border wall. "A handful. …[But] there will be enough to sustain a veto," Graham told Fox News , asked how many Republicans would vote with Democrats in the Senate. Graham didn't offer a specific number for how many of his Republican colleagues he thinks will back the resolution. He said that he would "absolutely not" vote for the Democrat-led resolution, adding that he is "100 percent with the president." Graham, who has emerged as...

Disgraced former acting FBI director Andrew McCabe has provided clear evidence that in 2017 a small cabal of high-level officials inside the Department of Justice (DOJ) weighed whether to attempt to remove the duly-elected president of the United States. McCabe claims that he and others at the top of the FBI and DOJ held multiple discussions about invoking the Constitution’s 25th Amendment to declare President Trump unfit for office and install the vice president in his place. Is this proof that a rolling bloodless coup really existed within the government? McCabe himself previously provided false information to the DOJ, for...

Sen. Lindsey Graham suggested he would subpoena former Acting FBI Director Andrew McCade and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein if necessary in order to get to the bottom of purported discussions at the Justice Department about invoking the 25th Amendment to try to remove President Trump from office. “How can I not, if that’s what it takes?” Mr. Graham, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said in an interview that aired Sunday on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” “We’re going to find out what happened here and the only way I know to find out is to call the people...

Twitter continues to provide unmissable examples of media adoration of Democrats. Female reporters from CBS, CNN, and NBC gushily tweeted on Saturday about picking out an "amazing" jacket for Kamala Harris on the campaign trail. Does anyone think this happened for Michelle Bachman in 2011? Carly Fiorina in 2015? The professional excuse was Harris was touring small businesses in South Carolina. But the fashionistas were purring over a "great," "awesome," "amazing" coat they were "forcing" on the candidate. Here's Caitlin Huey-Burns from CBS:

RICHLAND COUNTY, SC S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster on Thursday fired the entire Richland County elections board, three months after the agency failed to count more than 1,000 votes in the 2018 election and a day after a chaotic board meeting that highlighted the agency’s dysfunction. “South Carolinians’ confidence in the lawful and professional oversight of elections must never be jeopardized,” McMaster said in a news release. “The repeated actions and behavior of these officials are wholly unacceptable and cannot be tolerated. To regain and maintain Richland County voters’ confidence at the ballot box, the entire board must be replaced with...

House Democrats reportedly will not strip Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) of her committee assignments after she apologized for tweets suggesting that American lawmakers were motivated to defend Israel by money. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) told Roll Call that "of course" Democrats would not strip Omar of committee assignments like Republicans did to Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa.) after he questioned how terms like "white supremacy" became offensive. “I don’t think she’s anti-Semitic,” Hoyer reportedly said. “She did apologize. The key will be that when we make a mistake like that, conscious or unconscious, that we don’t repeat it. That...

Senator Lindsey Graham wants to hold Democrats' feet to the fire on the Green New Deal and is asking for a vote on the non-binding resolution. Let’s vote on the Green New Deal! Americans deserve to see what kind of solutions far-left Democrats are offering to deal with climate change. https://t.co/VKTIyfnDCY— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) February 8, 2019 The Daily Caller: Graham knows the Green New Deal would never pass Congress. In fact, Democrats aren’t united behind the bill, which moderates fear will alienate key bases of their support, including unions. Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez unveiled the Green New...

South Carolina lawmakers have introduced legislation that seeks to criminalize abortion and make women and their doctors subject to felony charges if they receive or perform the procedure. Their efforts mark the latest state-level push to restrict access to abortion as politicians across the country prepare for a potential overturn of Roe v. Wade by the U.S. Supreme Court. State Senator Richard Cash and state Representative Josiah Magnuson separately introduced "personhood" legislation to South Carolina's legislature this session. The House bill specifically seeks to "establish that the right to life for each born and preborn human being vests at fertilization."...

RICHLAND COUNTY, SC  A convicted felon sought in Tuesday’s armed robbery at a Forest Acres bank is no longer believed to be in the Forest Acres area, the police chief said Wednesday. But he was still in South Carolina, according to the State Law Enforcement Division, or SLED. Samuel Levone Neathery “is or was in the Charleston area,” Wednesday morning, SLED spokesman Thom Berry told The State. The search for Neathery included a plane, helicopter and officers and K-9s on the ground Tuesday. On Wednesday morning Forest Acres Police Chief Marion Sealy said police believe he “is no longer in the...

Pushing back against Republican opposition, US President Donald Trump reaffirmed his determination to pull US troops out of “endless wars” in Syria and Afghanistan, in an interview that aired Sunday. But he said they would stay in Iraq to watch Iran. Trump cited the high cost in blood and money after years of fighting in Afghanistan, in arguing for a US withdrawal from the place where the 9/11 attacks were hatched. “It’s time,” he said in the interview with CBS’s “Face the Nation.” “And we’ll see what happens with the Taliban. They want peace. They’re tired. Everybody’s tired.” Trump’s comments...

COLUMBIA, S.C. - S.C. senators have revived a proposal to bring back the electric chair for the state’s death row executions, as well as add firing squads as an execution option. The proposal passed the state Senate by a 26-13 vote Wednesday, split mostly along party lines. It now heads to the S.C. House, where a similar proposal died last year. Backed by Senate Republicans, the bill is an attempt to address the S.C. Corrections Department’s inability to carry out executions because it does not have the chemicals needed for lethal injections. Drug companies won’t sell the state the chemicals,...

Newly minted Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham sent a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray Wednesday evening with questions about the raid on Roger Stone. In the early morning hours nearly a week ago, 29 armed FBI agents were sent to Stone's Florida home to conduct his arrest. 1. Why was it necessary to arrest Mr. Stone at his home in the early morning hours, rather than working through his attorneys to permit him to surrender voluntarily? 2. Was the manner of Mr. Stone's arrest consistent with the arrests of, and procedures for the arrests of, similarly charged individuals?...