Free Republic

Federal surveillance laws put in place after Nixon were supposed to protect U.S. citizens. The Obama administration used them to spy on political opponents. The drip-drip-drip of newly declassified documents related to the Trump-Russia investigation, together with recent reports that a classified leak against former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn might not have come from an unmasking request, leaves little doubt that the Obama administration weaponized federal surveillance laws to target Trump associates and undermine the incoming administration.The story thus far is complex, but it reveals a disturbing abuse of power by the Obama administration that suggests congressional reform of...

Q:"Are you able to go back, then, or do you see yourself permanently outside the party? A:"I don’t think going back is really plausible. Three years ago I was using the rhetoric, or terminology, of “going back to,” or “saving,” or “restoring.” Those kinds of words. But Trump’s been renominated, and liberating the party from Trump or Trumpism seems awfully far-fetched. Obviously, if he loses in November, things are in more flux, and maybe there’s some opportunities. But I can’t honestly conceive of working with Mitch McConnell and John Cornyn and Kevin McCarthy. I’m just disgusted by what they’ve been...

Harvard Law professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz joined “Tucker Carlson Tonight” Wednesday to discuss the constitutionality of forcing members of the public to be vaccinated against the coronavirus, should a vaccine become available. Host Tucker Carlson began the segment by acknowledging the argument that people “don’t have a right to endanger other people, your right to punch ends at the tip of my nose” before asking Dershowitz whether “the government has a right to endanger” people who may have an adverse reaction to a vaccine by forcing them to take it. “The Supreme Court has said yes, and if the case...

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s longtime personal lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen will be released from federal prison Thursday and is expected to serve the remainder of his sentence at home, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press. Cohen has been serving a federal prison sentence at FCI Otisville in New York after pleading guilty to numerous charges, including campaign finance fraud and lying to Congress. He will be released on furlough with the expectation that he will transition to home confinement to serve the remainder of his sentence at home, the person said. Cohen, 53,...

It seems that Susan Rice is a serial liar. She is in hot water herself as the rest of the Obama administration. Her team confirmed to Fox News that she was directed by White House Counsel to write the Jan 20, 2017 memorandum documenting an Oval Office meeting in which President Obama & National Security officials discussed Michael Flynn. Susan Rice, sent an email to herself on January 20, 2017 memorializing a secret January 5 Oval Office meeting. Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Sally Yates, James Comey, Susan Rice, John Brennan and James Clapper all were in the January 2017 Oval...

The economy has gone from President Donald Trump's greatest political asset to perhaps his biggest weakness. Unemployment is spiking at an unprecedented rate. Consumer spending is vanishing. And GDP is collapsing. History shows that dreadful economic trends like these spell doom for sitting presidents seeking reelection. The coronavirus recession will cause Trump to suffer a "historic defeat" in November, a national election model released Wednesday by Oxford Economics predicted. The model, which uses unemployment, disposable income and inflation to forecast election results, predicts that Trump will lose in a landslide, capturing just 35% of the popular vote. That's a sharp...

Barack Obama would beat Donald Trump if he could run for president again by more than 10 per cent if an election were held today, a poll revealed Wednesday, as tensions between the former president and successor spiked this month. The survey, taken May 18-19, shows that there is still significant public support for the former president over the current White House resident by a margin of 54 per cent to 43 per cent. Progressive public relations consultant, Eric Schmeltzer, took $4,500 out of his own pocket to personally commission the poll with Public Policy Polling to see who would...

Hollywood celebrities couldn’t resist freaking out after President Donald Trump made a surprise announcement Monday that he is taking hydroxychloroquine with zinc. The commander in chief said that he has been taking the anti-malaria drug for more than a week under his physician’s care and so far feels fine. [snip] Even the left-wing Snopes has debunked claims that the president owns a financial stake in the drugmaker. But that didn’t stop financially illiterate Hollywood stars from resurrecting the hoary claim on Tuesday to smear the president. Barbra Streisand led the social media charge, implying that President Trump is taking the...

President Donald Trump and former President Barack Obama won’t team up to reveal the 44th President’s official White House portrait, people familiar with the discussion told NBC News. NBC’s sources said that Obama will forgo the ceremony as long as Trump is in office and is willing to potentially wait until 2025 to have his and former First Lady Michelle Obama’s portraits revealed in the East Room. The Obamas began the customary consultation process for the portraits, different from those revealed in 2018 at the National Portrait Gallery, shortly after leaving office in 2017.

On Monday, Trump revealed that he had been taking hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malarial drug he has touted as a possible COVID-19 treatment, for the past few weeks. During an interview on CNN, Pelosi reacted to news of Trump using the unproven drug and took a jab at the president's shape. "As far as the president is concerned, he’s our president, and I would rather he not be taking something that has not been approved by the scientists, especially in his age group and in his, shall we say, weight group. Morbidly obese, they say," Pelosi said. "So, I think it’s not...

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Monday that it's "not a good idea" for President Trump to be taking hydroxychloroquine as a potential treatment for coronavirus. "I would rather he not be taking something that has not been approved by the scientists, especially in his age group and in his, shall we say, weight group, morbidly obese, they say," Pelosi said during an appearance on CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360." "So, I think that it's not a good idea," she said. Trump said earlier in the day that he has been taking hydroxychloroquine, which is used to treat malaria, for the past...

President Trump said Monday that he was “surprised” by Attorney General William Barr’s statement that he doesn’t anticipate a criminal investigation into former President Obama or former Vice President Joe Biden. “I think if it was me, they would do it. I think if for them, maybe, they’re not going to,” Trump told reporters Monday afternoon when asked about the attorney general's comments. “I’m surprised because Obama knew everything that was happening.” “I think it’s just a continuation of a double standard. I am surprised by it,” the president continued. Barr earlier Monday said he didn’t expect U.S. attorney John...

WASHINGTON – The State Department watchdog whom President Trump fired last Friday had been looking into whether Secretary Mike Pompeo had ordered a staffer to perform personal errands including walking his dog, making dinner reservations and grabbing dry cleaning, a source familiar with the investigation told Fox News on Sunday. Still, Democrats on the House Foreign Affairs and Senate Foreign Relations Committees already had requested, through public letters, records of any open inspector-general matter dealing with the Office of the Secretary. The State Department did not respond to a request for comment.

"To serve our country and deal with this kind of hate really it sets, I think, the wrong tone and sends a message that our country isn’t as inclusive, as welcoming as we could like it to be," Omar said. "And so, I work really hard to try to make sure that we are leading with compassion."

<p>For two months, President Donald Trump repeatedly pitched hydroxychloroquine as a safe and effective treatment for coronavirus, asking would-be patients “What the hell do you have to lose?”</p> <p>Growing evidence shows that, for many, the answer is their lives.</p> <p>Clinical trials, academic research and scientific analysis indicate that the danger of the Trump-backed drug is a significantly increased risk of death for certain patients. Evidence showing the effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine in treating covid-19 has been scant. Those two developments pushed the Food and Drug Administration to warn against the use of hydroxychloroquine outside of a hospital setting last month, just weeks after it approved an emergency use authorization for the drug.</p>

Rep. Justin Amash (L-Mich.) announced Saturday he will not run for president as a Libertarian, saying the circumstances do not “lend themselves” toward a successful third-party campaign. “I’ve spent nearly three weeks assessing the race, appearing in media, talking to delegates and donors, watching the Libertarian Party’s convention plan unfold, and gathering feedback from family, friends, and other advisers,” Amash tweeted. “After much reflection, I’ve concluded that circumstances don’t lend themselves to my success as a candidate for president this year, and therefore I will not be a candidate.” Amash maintained that a third party candidate could contribute a fresh...

The day he declared the COVID-19 pandemic a national emergency, President Donald Trump made a cryptic offhand remark. “I have the right to do a lot of things that people don’t even know about,” he said at the White House. Trump wasn’t just crowing. Dozens of statutory authorities become available to any president when national emergencies are declared. They are rarely used, but Trump last month stunned legal experts and others when he claimed — mistakenly — that he has “total” authority over governors in easing COVID-19 guidelines. That prompted 10 senators to look into how sweeping Trump believes his...

Former President Barack Obama on Saturday criticized U.S. leaders overseeing the nation’s response to the coronavirus, telling college graduates in an online commencement address that the pandemic shows many officials “aren’t even pretending to be in charge.” Obama spoke on “Show Me Your Walk, HBCU Edition,” a two-hour event for students graduating from historically black colleges and universities broadcast on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. His remarks were unexpectedly political, given the venue, and touched on current events beyond the virus and its social and economic impacts. “More than anything, this pandemic has fully, finally torn back the curtain on the...

Hollywood actress Lori Petty — who has starred in Orange Is the New Black, Point Break, and the critically acclaimed Tank Girl — has insulted Americans across the board by claiming that they have low IQ’s. “I believe what we have forgotten is that the average IQ in Amurrrikkka is 99,” Petty tweeted on Friday. She said that a third of Americans, including President Donald Trump, have IQ’s lower than that. “A third, plus the murder-in-charge, I guess, lower than that. So, in the house I happily stay, besides kissing y’all.” It remains unclear what spurred Lori Petty’s acrimonious tweet,...

Protesters lined up body bags on the steps of Florida’s state capitol building Tuesday morning amid the coronavirus pandemic. They were in Tallahassee to encourage Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to listen to state and federal medical experts. The body bags symbolize the additional victims of COVID-19 that could result from relaxing shelter in place orders. A larger than life Donald Trump caricature dressed in a prison jumpsuit joined the protesters along with the grim reaper. This group calls themselves the indivisible movement. Members staged similar protests at the capitol buildings in Austin, Texas and Phoenix, Arizona Tuesday.