Free Republic

Just one member of Silicon Valley Bank's board of directors had a career in investment banking, while the others were major Democratic donors, it has been revealed. Tom King, 63, was appointed to the board in September after previously serving as the CEO of investment banking at Barclay's. He has had 35 years of experience in investment banking. But he is the only one on the board with a career in the financial industry, while others are a former Obama administration employee, a prolific contributor to former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and even a Hillary Clinton mega-donor who prayed at...

Former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) is set to join the University of Virginia as a professor at its Center for Politics. “With democracy under fire in this country and elsewhere around the world, Liz Cheney serves as a model of political courage and leadership,” the center’s director, Larry Sabato, said in a statement. “Liz will send a compelling message to students about integrity. She’s a true profile in courage, and she was willing to pay the price for her principles — and democracy itself.” Cheney will participate in university-wide lectures, serve as a guest lecturer in student seminars, contribute to...

The project includes updating the utility service with backup emergency dual natural gas and propane. Adds a full building services generator to the facility for power, should normal utility power fail. ... Democrat Governor Tina Kotek, who previously promised to cut the state’s use of natural gas, is having a dual natural gas and propane backup generator installed at Mahonia Hall, the official residence of the Oregon governor. According to the official bid, “The project includes updating the utility service with backup emergency dual natural gas and propane. Adds a full building services generator to the facility for power, should...

BREAM: "We're about $200 billion [in Ukraine aid] so far. There are questions about where the U.S. commitment ends..." KIRBY: "We're going to support Ukraine for as long as it takes."

California Democrat Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who announced earlier this week that she will not seek re-election in 2024, on Wednesday appeared to be confused about what action she had taken regarding a two-vote series in the Senate, according to a report. "Did I vote for that?" Feinstein asked her longtime chief of staff, David Grannis, about a vote to approve a judicial nominee to the federal bench, Business Insider reported. Grannis, who, according to the outlet, had already explained to Feinstein that the votes on Biden appointees would be taking place throughout the day, responded: "No." Describing the "most jarring...

YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki says she’s stepping down

James Biden secretly negotiated a $140 million settlement deal in 2012 between a U.S. company and the Saudi Arabian government due to his relationship with then-Vice President Joe Biden, court documents reveal. The revelation represents one more instance of the Biden family business peddling influence while President Joe Biden was an elected official. House Oversight Committee James Comer (R-KY) reportedly already has copies of the court documents and is investigating the scandal as a part of his probe into the Biden family for nine violations, including wire fraud, tax evasion, and money laundering. In 2011, upon the Saudi’s refusal to...

The Austin City Council on Wednesday voted to fire City Manager Spencer Cronk following his response to the winter storm earlier this month. The council voted 10-1 in a special called session, with only Natasha Harper-Madison (District 1) voting against Cronk's firing. Cronk's termination is effective Thursday, Feb. 16. He will receive a one-year severance of $463,001.50, under a City ordinance in which he was hired in 2018. The council has appointed Jesús Garza, who served as Austin's city manager from 1994 to 2002, to serve as interim city manager. “I serve at the pleasure of the mayor and council...

SALEM, Ore. -- The Oregon Department of Justice is opening a criminal investigation into allegations that senior officials in the state's alcohol regulatory agency violated ethics laws by diverting rare, sought-after bourbons for personal use, the state attorney general said Friday. The officials said they were paying for the whiskey, which can cost thousands of dollars a bottle, but they allegedly used their knowledge and connections at the commission to obtain the products, according to an internal investigation by the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission. The practice had purportedly been going on for many years and involved not only state...

Former Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R-AR) is likely to announce his decision on whether he’ll run for president in April, the prominent Republican said earlier this week. Hutchinson has hinted at a possible White House run for weeks, telling CBS News on Monday that he would make an announcement “probably [in] April.” It’s not clear whether Hutchinson has made a final decision, telling the outlet it depends on the “response to the message that I bring.”

Mainstream Network Radio News. Hunter Biden told Congress they have no standing to Investigate him, nor request documents, and he WILL NOT COMPLY!

South Carolina Democratic Rep. James Clyburn funneled six figures worth of campaign cash to two of his family members throughout the 2022 election cycle, filings show. The longtime congressman's campaign largesse included forking tens of thousands of dollars over to a company linked to his son-in-law. He also sent nearly $100,000 to his grandson, Federal Election Commission records show. While it's legal for federal politicians to pay family members from their campaigns, ethics experts have generally disapproved of the practice. Despite this, both political parties have taken advantage of the perk. Clyburn's family payments the last election cycle include $57,500...

Hunter Biden, who is under investigation for tax fraud, has reportedly sold a total of about 12 paintings to anonymous buyers during his father’s term as president of the United States. While the average yearly wage of an American artist is $73,013, Hunter has reportedly raked in hundreds of thousands of dollars as a novice painter. Previous reports indicated Hunter sold five paintings for $375,000 each in 2021. But according to a new estimate by a gallerist, Hunter’s has now sold about 12 paintings for less than his asking price of $500,000, Washington Post reported.

Former Arkansas state Sen. Jeremy Hutchinson received a 46-month prison sentence for his role in a bribery and tax fraud scheme, the Department of Justice announced Friday. Hutchinson, 48, of Little Rock, pleaded guilty in 2019 to filing a false tax return in the U.S. District Court of Eastern Arkansas. He also pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to commit federal program bribery in the U.S. District Court in Western Arkansas, according to a DOJ news release. Sentencing is still pending in the U.S. District Court of Missouri on a plea deal reached in a separate case, according to...

The Supreme Court has been under attack since the 2020 election, with protests outside the homes of judges, an unprecedented leak, and now scrutiny in the professions of family members. SCOTUS released its report earlier this month into who might have leaked the draft opinion by Justice Samuel Alito concerning returning the question of abortion back to the states. The report did not find the leak, but one lawmaker has expressed an opinion on the matter.Now there is a question about the professional work of one of the justices’ wives. U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts’s wife could face...

The delusion is strong with this one. A report on Saturday indicates that former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, mired around 3% in GOP Presidential Primary polls, looks ready to launch a quixotic bid next month for the Oval Office anyway. Haley’s senior aides are prepared to assume essential campaign roles once Haley gives the green light. She already possesses the necessary infrastructure thru her prominent political action committee and political nonprofit to build a ground game and campaign operation. Should Haley launch a bid for president as expected, such a move would mark a broken promise to former President...

Ronna McDaniel is coming under even more fire for alleged frivolous spending as insiders claim she's using donor money as a 'personal piggybank' – amid revelations the Republican National Conference spent nearly half-a-million dollars on her luxury Washington, D.C. apartment and another $75,000 on beauty and spa services. The RNC chairwoman, who is facing a tough reelection racee for an unprecedented fourth term on Friday, has faced criticism from her opponents for wasteful spending of donor funds meant for getting more Republicans elected. A new review of Federal Election Committee filings show that funds went toward rent in one of...

Audits of 12 school districts has state Auditor General Timothy DeFoor believing school boards are playing a “shell game” with taxpayer funds by moving money into reserve accounts to allow them to make a case for raising property tax rates. State laws limit how much school districts can raise property taxes and sets limits on those increases but allows for exceptions to be granted in one of two ways: ask voters’ permission through a referendum or ask the state Department of Education for a referendum exception. “These 12 districts collectively raised taxes 37 times during the four years we reviewed...

Amid the brouhaha over President Joe Biden’s improper retention of classified documents and concerns that his son, Hunter Biden, had access to them, a 2018 form on which Hunter Biden claims to have spent nearly $50,000 a month on rent surfaced from the presidential son’s abandoned laptop. On it, Hunter Biden lists his father’s Wilmington house as his address, raising questions about whether he was using rent payments to pass money to his father. The money, $49,910, was actually a reference to rental payment for a Washington, D.C., office space used by Hunter Biden. But the story of the document...

PORTLAND, Maine -- The U.S. would risk enabling the spread of extremism in Europe if it stopped providing support to Ukraine in its war with Russia, Maine's independent senator said Monday in the wake of meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Sens. Angus King of Maine and Jack Reed of Rhode Island, who sit on the U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services, traveled to Kyiv last week to meet with Zelenskyy. King said he came back more certain that U.S. aid to Ukraine is vital. Ukraine is slated to receive $44.9 billion in U.S. aid as part of the recent...