Daily Beast: Musk Accuses Trump Aide of Federal Crime as Feud Explodes

The former boss of the Department of Government Efficiency has ramped up his attacks on White House staffer Sergio Gor.

Elon Musk has accused one of President Donald Trump’s top aides of committing a federal crime.

Weeks after the epic breakup between the president and the world’s richest man, Musk has continued to snipe at Sergio Gor, the director of the presidential personnel office, who he believes fueled his falling out with Trump.

Earlier this week, Musk described Gor as a “snake” after the New York Post reported that, even though Gor is in charge of vetting thousands of executive branch employees, he himself hasn’t been fully vetted.

But on Friday, the former head of the Department of Government Efficiency ramped up his attacks, writing on X: “He deliberately lied about where he was born on Federal forms. That’s a serious crime.”

“Gor is breaking the law,” Musk later added.

The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House about Musk’s latest comment, which came in response to a series of posts by Ukraine-born American race car driver Igor Sushko accusing Gor of being a “Russian spy.”

Sushko had posted a series of articles relating to the White House aide, including a New York Post story questioning where Gor was born; details of a fact-finding trip he took to Russia while working for Senator Rand Paul; an archive of Gor’s high-school email suggesting it referred to him as “Russian-Maltese”; and a now-retracted investigation by former Washington Post reporter-turned-independent journalist Brian Krebs.

Central to Musk’s attack is the claim that Gor failed to file his own SF-86, the critical vetting form required for permanent U.S security clearance. This was despite Gor being responsible for vetting thousands of executive branch employees.

Among other things, the form covers citizenship, employment history, relatives, foreign contacts and travel, financial activities, and drug use. The White House, however, insisted earlier this week that Gor filled out the form, has the relevant clearance, and is a “trusted adviser to President Trump.”

Underpinning Musk’s accusation is a long-standing rift with Gor, who says the 38-year-old fueled his spectacular falling out with Trump earlier this month.

Things got particularly messy when Gor encouraged Trump to rescind his nomination for Jared Isaacman—Musk’s personal friend—to lead the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) just days before his Senate confirmation vote. Trump at the time cited Isaacman’s “prior associations”—a reference to Isaacman’s past donations to Democrats—as the reason for withdrawing his nomination.

And that last tidbit is probably the real issue here — F’Elon Musk’s buddy won’t be running NASA, which would have removed a lot of regulatory obstacles from Musk’s path, not to mention helping to ensure a steady stream of lucrative government contracts.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/elon-musk-accuses-trump-aide-sergio-gor-of-federal-crime-as-feud-explodes

The Hill: Republican lawmaker on US bombs against Iran: ‘This is not constitutional’

Rep. Thomas Massie (Ky.), one of the most vocal Republicans pushing against American intervention in Iran, posted on the social platform X that President Trump’s bombing of Iranian nuclear sites is unconstitutional.

Massie wanted to introduce a war powers resolution in the House on Tuesday that would prohibit American involvement in Iran.

“This is not our war. But if it were, Congress must decide such matters according to our constitution,” he posted on X on June 16.

Republican Rep. Warren Davidson (Ohio) echoed a similar sentiment to Massie’s in a post on X.

“While President Trump’s decision may prove just, it’s hard to conceive a rationale that’s Constitutional,” Davidson wrote.

https://thehill.com/policy/defense/5362332-massie-on-u-s-bombs-against-iran-this-is-not-constitutional

Raw Story: ‘Grandmother who won’t stop talking’: GOP aides say Stephen Miller won’t hang up

Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff for policy and President Donald Trump’s Homeland Security Advisor, just won’t get off the phone, according to a new report.

The Wall Street Journal reported Friday night that Trump 2.0 has Miller’s fingerprints all over it, with Miller “emerg[ing] as a singular figure in the second Trump administration, wielding more power than almost any other White House staffer in recent memory—and eager to circumvent legal limitations on his agenda.”

Miller has drafted or edited each of Trump’s signed executive orders, according to the report, giving him considerable influence over Trump’s second term. This comes after the president refused to give him a leading role at the Department of Homeland Security, reportedly telling aides he didn’t see Miller as leadership material, according to the report.

Also of note — Miller appears to be getting under the skin of GOP aides on Capitol Hill who say they can’t get him off the phone.

https://www.rawstory.com/stephen-miller-2672408339

More here:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/ar-AA1H8sPE

And here:

https://www.thedailybeast.com/stephen-miller-is-driving-congressional-aides-crazy-with-non-stop-calls

Daily Digest: The GOP is fed up with Trump

Donald Trump’s decision to attack in Iran has all of America on edge. And many Republicans are fed-up with the US president.

A military decision of this magnitude marks a major departure from Trump’s long-held reluctance to commit U.S. forces abroad. It has derailed his broader foreign policy objectives, such as improving ties with Gulf nations, brokering a peace deal in Ukraine, and finalizing international trade agreements.

The divide caused by Trump due to the situation in Iran is simply adding to Donald Trump’s problems. Prior to the war between Iran and Israel, surveys conducted nationwide indicated a notable drop in voter support for President Trump, signaling a potentially difficult terrain within the Republican Party as he contends with fluctuating public opinion.

https://www.msn.com/en-ph/news/other/the-republican-revolt-against-trump-is-real-and-growing/ss-AA1DBAxg

Associated Press: Vance blames California Dems for violent immigration protests and calls Sen. Alex Padilla ‘Jose’

Vice President JD Vance on Friday accused California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass of encouraging violent immigration protests as he used his appearance in Los Angeles to rebut criticism from state and local officials that the Trump administration fueled the unrest by sending in federal officers.

Sending in masked thugs to rough people up and kidnap Hispanics off the streets and sidewalks is exactly what the problem is. If JD Dunce is too much of an idiot to understand that, c’est la vie. We can’t fix stupid! And the demonstrations will continue until ICE either cleans up their act or is put back in their kennels.

Vance also referred to U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla, the state’s first Latino senator, as “Jose Padilla,” a week after the Democrat was forcibly taken to the ground by officers and handcuffed after speaking out during a Los Angeles news conference by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on immigration raids.

JD Dunce is a pathetic racist pig. He served in the Senate with Sen. Padilla and knows full well what his actual name is.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/vance-blames-california-dems-for-violent-immigration-protests-and-calls-sen-alex-padilla-jose/ar-AA1H7TGD

Independent: Texas man returns from honeymoon alone after wife is arrested by ICE in US Virgin Islands

Taahir Shaikh of Arlington says his wife, Ward Sakeik, was detained by ICE in February in St. Thomas

A recently-married Texas couple has spent over 120 days apart after the bride was detained by ICE during their honeymoon in the US Virgin Islands.

Taahir Shaikh of Arlington says his wife, Ward Sakeik, was detained by ICE in February in St. Thomas, despite having a pending green card application and documentation of her stateless status.

“She’s considered stateless, which essentially just means you’re born in a country that doesn’t give you birthright citizenship. And since she was a Palestinian refugee that was born in Saudi Arabia, they weren’t recognized as Saudi nationals,” Shaikh told NBC DFW.

Shaikh said Sakeik was just 8 years old when her family arrived in the U.S. on a visa. Although their asylum request was denied, her lack of citizenship meant the government couldn’t deport them. Instead, they were placed under an order of supervision and required to check in with immigration authorities once a year.

Since then, Sakeik has graduated from the University of Texas at Arlington and now works as a wedding photographer. She has always complied with immigration rules for 14 years, Shaikh said.

[Her husband] says they carefully chose to travel to the U.S. Virgin Islands for their honeymoon, believing it wouldn’t jeopardize her pending immigration status.

ICE addressed Sakeik’s arrest in a statement to NBC DFW, writing, “The arrest of Ward Sakeik was not part of a targeted operation by ICE. She chose to leave the country and was then flagged by CBP trying to re-enter the U.S.

“The facts are she is in our country illegally. She overstayed her visa and has had a final order by an immigration judge for over a decade. President Trump and Secretary Noem are committed to restoring integrity to the visa program and ensuring it is not abused to allow aliens a permanent one-way ticket to remain in the U.S.”

ICE concluded, “She had a final order of removal since 2011. Her appeal of the final order was dismissed by the Board of Immigration Appeals on February 12, 2014. She has exhausted her due process rights and all of her claims for relief have been denied by the courts.”

But as the government has already admitted, she has nowhere to go. Period. Stop. That should be the end of the story.

https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/wife-arrested-texas-ice-couple-b2774196.html

Latin Times: Trump Now Says Farmers May Continue Employing Migrants Under a System Where They Assume ‘Responsibility’ For Them

“We’re looking at doing something where in the case of good, reputable farmers, they can take responsibility for the people that they hire,” Trump said

President Donald Trump said on Friday that farmers may be able to keep employing undocumented migrant workers without fearing enforcement raids under a system in which they would take “responsibility” for them.

“We’re looking at doing something where in the case of good, reputable farmers, they can take responsibility for the people that they hire, and let them have responsibility, because we can’t put the farms out of business, and at the same time, we don’t want to hurt people that aren’t criminals,” Trump told press on Friday.

Take responsibility … until ICE shows up and takes them away?

“Don’t want to hurt people that aren’t criminals”? Just what the hell do you think you’ve been doing?

One of Trump’s dumbest ideas yet!

It was not immediately clear how the system would work, and is the latest of several changes of tune regarding the matter.

Understatement! They need to get Trump into a memory-care unit.

https://www.latintimes.com/trump-now-says-farmers-may-continue-employing-migrants-under-system-where-they-assume-585388

Latin Times: Latino Journalist Arrested While Covering Immigration Protest Faces Criminal Charges

Mario Guevara has been charged for filming an ICE operation while driving

Latino journalist arrested while covering an immigration protest in Georgia now faces criminal charges stemming from a different incident, local media reported.

Concretely, Mario Guevara has been charged with distracted driving, failure to obey a traffic control device and reckless driving, Fox 5 Atlanta noted. The charges are related to filming an ICE operation while driving and running a red light, his lawyer said.

Immigration officials then told the outlet that Guevara has overstayed his visa and was ordered to leave the country by an immigration judge in 2012. His lawyers contend that he is authorized to work in the country. Advocates are planning to hold a demonstration on Saturday demanding his release as his lawyers work to secure a bond hearing.

Guevara, who fled El Salvador almost two decades ago, was arrested last Saturday while streaming during a different protest in DeKalb county. Videos of the incident show that Guevara can be heard telling an agent that he is a journalist before being arrested. He was also wearing a vest with the word press on the chest.

The Associated Press detailed Guevara fled El Salvador along with his family in 2004 after being beat and threatened over his work as a political reported. In the U.S., he worked for the largest Spanish-speaking outlet, Mundo Hispanico, before launching his own outlet, MGNews.

“He’s been doing this kind of work for over 20 years and is being detained now,” said his lawyer, Giovanni Diaz, to the outlet. “It’s concerning. He’s a member of the press and didn’t seem to be committing any felonies,” he added.

https://www.latintimes.com/latino-journalist-arrested-while-covering-immigration-protest-faces-criminal-charges-585342

Straight Arrow News: Lime starts geofencing restriction at Seattle court after anti-ICE blockade

A scooter and e-bike rental company has reprogrammed its vehicles so they can’t be parked outside Seattle’s immigration court, where protesters used them to impede Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers, Straight Arrow News has learned. Lime changed GPS settings on its scooters and bikes to create a no-parking zone outside the Henry M. Jackson Federal Building in downtown Seattle.

Lime says it acted to ensure its riders’ safety, not to assist ICE or other law enforcement agencies.

The change follows a June 10 protest against immigration raids carried out to fulfill President Donald Trump’s pledge of mass deportations of undocumented immigrants. 

Protesters used “dozens of e-bikes and scooters” to create a barricade at the federal building, KIRO-TV of Seattle reported. One such barricade, as seen in footage posted to social media, was used “to slow down an ICE bus from leaving,” KIRO said.

https://san.com/cc/lime-starts-geofencing-restriction-at-seattle-court-after-anti-ice-blockade

Daily Beast: Florida Proposes ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ to House Illegal Migrants

The state’s AG has pitched a dystopian Everglades detention camp surrounded by crocs and snakes as an “efficient” solution for holding “criminal aliens.”

ICE’s assault on illegal migrants could be about to take a dystopian twist—with the creation of a detention camp dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz.”

Florida’s Attorney General James Uthmeier has proposed building a center in the middle of the Everglades—surrounded by ‘gators, crocs and snakes—as a “low-cost” solution for detaining what he described as “criminal aliens.”

Speaking from the Miami-Dade Collier training facility, Uthmeier said in a video posted to his X account that the abandoned airfield site in a 30-square-mile patch of isolated swamp, could quickly be transformed into what he called “Alligator Alcatraz.”

“People [detained migrants] get out, there’s not much waiting for them other than alligators and pythons. Nowhere to go, nowhere to hide,” he declared. “It presents an efficient, low-cost opportunity… because you don’t need to invest that much in the perimeter.”

With ICE detention centers overflowing, Uthmeier claimed the site could be operational within 30 to 60 days of breaking ground and could house up to 1,000 people.

Uthmeier also did not provide any details about funding, oversight, and federal involvement…. The [DHS] department is tearing through its budget, which is already more than $1 billion in the red, according to a report in Axios on Monday.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/florida-attorney-general-james-uthmeier-proposes-alligator-alcatraz-to-house-illegal-migrants