Tag Archives: FBI

Guardian: Throwing their bodies on the gears: the Democratic lawmakers showing up to resist Trump

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Republicans may literally own social media platforms, but some Democrats are buying back legitimacy with protests

A flock of Ice agents, some masked, some sporting military-operator fashion for show, smooshed the New York City comptroller, Brad Lander, up against a wall and handcuffed him in the hallway of a federal courthouse in early June, shuffling the mild-mannered politician into an elevator like the Sandman hustling an act off the stage 10 miles north at Harlem’s Apollo Theater.

Like at the Apollo, Lander’s arrest was a show. News reporters and cellphone camera-wielding bystanders crowded the hall to watch the burly federal officers rumple a 55-year-old auditor asking for a warrant.

“I’m not obstructing. I’m standing here in this hallway asking for a judicial warrant,” Lander said. “You don’t have the authority to arrest US citizens.”

“This is an urgent moment for the rule of law in the United States of America and it is important to step up,” Lander told the Guardian after the arrest. “And I think the dividing line for Democrats right now is not between progressives and moderates. It’s between fighters and folders. We have to find nonviolent but insistent ways of standing up for democracy and the rule of law.”

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“There’s a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious, makes you so sick at heart, that you can’t take part,” Mario Savio, a student leader in the free speech movement, a campaign of civil disobedience against restrictive policies on student political activity, said 60 years ago during a campus protest. “You can’t even passively take part. And you’ve got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus, and you’ve got to make it stop.”

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Hannah Dugan, a Wisconsin judge, allowed a man to leave through the back doors of her courtroom, allegedly in response to the presence of immigration officers waiting to arrest him. FBI agents subsequently arrested Dugan in her Milwaukee courtroom on 25 April, charging her with obstruction.

The FBI director, Kash Patel, posted comments about her arrest on X almost immediately, and eventually posted a photograph of her arrest, handcuffed and walking toward a police cruiser, with the comment: “No one is above the law.” Digitally altered photographs of Dugan appearing to be in tears in a mugshot proliferated on social media. Trump himself reposted an image from the Libs of TikTok website of Dugan wearing a Covid-19 mask on the day of her arrest.

Three days later …

It’s long read — best to click on the link below and read the article in its entirety.

Throwing their bodies on the gears: the Democratic lawmakers showing up to resist Trump
Republicans may literally own social media platforms, but some Democrats are buying back legitimacy with protests

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/30/democrats-trump-resistance

DNYUZ: Pam Bondi Axes Jan. 6 Prosecutors in ‘Horrifying’ Purge

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Attorney General Pam Bondi has fired at least three career Justice Department prosecutors who worked on cases related to the Jan. 6 insurrection.

The attorneys were informed in letters signed by Bondi that they were “removed from federal service effective immediately” with no further explanation, NBC News reported.

One federal law enforcement official told NBC that the firings were “horrifying,” calling it “a slap in the face not only to them, but to all career DOJ prosecutors.”

“No one is safe from this administration’s whims and impulses,” the insider added. “And the public certainly is not served by the continued brain drain of DOJ—we are losing the best among us every day.”

The move is an escalation of the Trump administration’s targeted retaliation against federal officials who worked on cases against President Donald Trump and his supporters.

Pam Bondi Axes Jan. 6 Prosecutors in ‘Horrifying’ Purge
Attorney General Pam Bondi has fired at least three career Justice Department prosecutors who worked on cases related to the

https://dnyuz.com/2025/06/28/pam-bondi-axes-jan-6-prosecutors-in-horrifying-purge

News Nation: Doxing strikes nerve among federal agents

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Democrats push back against masked agents arresting immigrants, but Republicans worry about officers’ safety

Doxing has already struck a nerve among federal agents in El Paso supporting immigration operations.

“I have experienced that with one of my employees, who was photographed during an operation. It was put out on Instagram, and the individual who had posted that had indicated that ‘the community needs to remind him where he came from,’” said Jason T. Stevens, HSI special agent in charge in El Paso.

What is clearly free speech for some can translate into a threat to others.

“My employee felt such a threat that he completely changed his appearance to be able to protect his family when he’s off-duty and out in the community with them,” Stevens said at a recent Senate committee hearing in Washington, D.C.

FBI Deputy Assistant Director Jose Perez said doxing – the act of publishing someone’s private information online without consent – can not only hurt the target but also their loved ones.

“The doxing poses tremendous vulnerability,” said Perez, who heads the Criminal Investigative Division. “One example […] In this incident, the agent was being threatened also with pictures of his children to back down on the operations that are ongoing. It is a significant threat that we are concerned with.”

Dox them all — the masked Gestapo thugs terrorizing neighborhoods and disappearing people off the streets get no sympathy from me!

Let the First Amendment rule!

News Nation: Doxing strikes nerve among federal agents

https://www.newsnationnow.com/us-news/immigration/border-coverage/doxing-strikes-nerve-among-federal-agents

Guardian: Trump and Hegseth admit doubts about level of damage to Iranian nuclear sites

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President calls intelligence ‘inconclusive’, while defence secretary describes harm to facilities as ‘moderate to severe’

Donald Trump and the US defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, have admitted to some doubt over the scale of the damage inflicted on Iran’s nuclear sites by the US bombing at the weekend, after a leaked Pentagon assessment said the Iranian programme had been set back by only a few months.

“The intelligence was very inconclusive,” Trump told journalists at a Nato summit in The Hague, introducing an element of uncertainty for the first time after several days of emphatic declarations that the destruction had been total.

“The intelligence says we don’t know. It could’ve been very severe. That’s what the intelligence suggests.”

The president then appeared to revert to his claim that “it was very severe. There was obliteration”. Later in the day, he claimed that was the conclusion from “collected intelligence”, and that the Iranian programme had been set back “decades”.

Trump also likened the US use of massive bunker-buster bombs on the Fordow and Natanz uranium enrichment sites to the impact of the US nuclear weapons dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the second world war, using the comparison specifically in reference to their impact in ending a conflict.

Over the course of the day, Trump’s claims became more far-reaching, even rejecting reports from the nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), that Iran’s 400kg stock of 60% enriched uranium could no longer be accounted for, and appeared to have been moved.

Despite all the huffing and puffing, the bombings were pretty much a flop.

Trump and Hegseth admit doubts about level of damage to Iranian nuclear sites
President calls intelligence ‘inconclusive’ while defence secretary describes harm to facilities as ‘moderate to severe’

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jun/25/trump-and-hegseth-admit-doubts-over-irans-nuclear-sites-damage-by-us-strikes

Straight Arrow News: National Guard, DEA raid illegal marijuana farms in Southern California

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More than 300 National Guard troops initially tasked with aiding law enforcement in the Los Angeles protests and subsequent unrest assisted federal agents during the week of June 15 in a large-scale raid targeting three suspected illegal marijuana farms in Thermal, a desert community in Riverside County, California. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) led the operation, which spanned approximately 787 acres in the Coachella Valley.

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However, California officials argue that extending the Guard’s role to operations far from Los Angeles exceeds Trump’s authority. In a federal court filing cited by The Los Angeles Times, California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office stated that the marijuana farm raids were not related to protecting federal property or personnel in Los Angeles, and questioned whether the president’s order remains legally valid, given the changed circumstances.

The dispute centers on whether Trump’s extended use of the National Guard violates the Posse Comitatus Act, which restricts the use of military forces for domestic law enforcement without congressional approval. Bonta’s office asked the court to review whether federalized troops can operate in areas where no violence or protests are occurring. Defense Department documents indicate that the deployment could last 60 days or longer, at the discretion of the secretary of defense.

National Guard, DEA raid illegal marijuana farms in Southern California
A federal raid in Thermal sparked a legal fight over Trump’s use of National Guard troops for immigration enforcement far from Los Angeles.

https://san.com/cc/national-guard-dea-raid-illegal-marijuana-farms-in-southern-california

The Hill: Opinion: What ICE agents are doing is outrageous — and legal

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The Trump administration’s draconian immigration enforcement actions are raising the specter of American autocracy, prompting many to ask — perhaps for the first time — how the U.S. could possibly have gotten here. Videos of masked ICE agents in street clothes accosting unsuspecting people in public places, or smashing car windows and dragging people into unmarked vehicles, are all over the internet and social media.

The behavior of ICE agents is also revealing glaring blind spots in the law, which has long been premised on the assumption that government officials mostly act in good faith, prompting the widespread question: Can they legally do that?

Rather astonishingly, the answer is — for the most part — yes, they can.

ICE’s heavy-handed tactics are even being used against people once presumed to be immune from raw police brutality: elected officials.

…

Opinion: What ICE agents are doing is outrageous — and legal

https://thehill.com/opinion/immigration/5364547-what-ice-agents-are-doing-is-outrageous-and-legal

Daily Caller: Feds ‘Tracing Money’ Behind LA Riots In Expanding Probe

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The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is “currently tracing money” connected to the recent left-wing riots in Los Angeles in partnership with other agencies, Trump administration officials announced Tuesday.

IRS, FBI and Department of Justice (DOJ) leaders said in a video posted to X that their agencies are working together to investigate financial support for anti-deportation riots that rocked Los Angeles for several days starting June 6. The unrest has led to nearly $20 million in costs for Los Angeles so far and more than 550 arrests on charges such as resisting, obstructing or delaying, attempted murder, looting and vandalism.

There’s surely a grand conspiracy in there somewhere. If the feds can’t find one, they’ll invent one.

DOJ prosecutor Bill Essayli noted the Thursday arrest of a man on charges of conspiracy to commit and aiding and abetting civil disorders for allegedly handing out face shields to rioters. “These violent agitators put peaceful demonstrators at risk,” he said.

If you believe the feds, every one of them is a hardened murderer in desperate need of deportation. The reality is that most “rioters” are peaceful demonstrators being assaulted with tear gas, flash bangs, and rubber bullets. There is no reason why lawful demonstrators should be denied face protection.

Feds ‘Tracing Money’ Behind LA Riots In Expanding Probe
The IRS is

https://dailycaller.com/2025/06/18/feds-tracing-money-behind-los-angeles-riots-fbi-irs-doj

CNN: DHS issues new guidance for lawmakers visiting ICE facilities after tense confrontations

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After a spate of tense encounters involving lawmakers at Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities, the Department of Homeland Security is asking members of Congress to provide 72 hours of notice before visiting detention centers, according to new guidance.

Under the annual appropriations act, lawmakers are allowed to enter any DHS facilities “used to detain or otherwise house aliens” to inspect them as part of their oversight duties. The act outlines that they are not required “to provide prior notice of the intent to enter a facility.”

The agency’s new memo also seeks to differentiate ICE field offices from detention facilities, noting that “ICE Field Offices are not detention facilities” and therefore do not fall under the appropriations act provision.  

Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, the top Democrat on the Homeland Security Committee, called the move “unprecedented” and an “affront to the Constitution and Federal law.”

DHS issues new guidance for lawmakers visiting ICE facilities after tense confrontations | CNN Politics
The agency’s new memo seeks to differentiate ICE field offices from detention facilities, noting that “ICE Field Offices are not detention facilities” and therefore do not fall under the appropriations act provision.

https://www.cnn.com/2025/06/19/politics/dhs-ice-visits-congress-lawmakers

Daily Beast: MAGA Madman Told ‘Prepper’ Wife to Flee During Killing Spree

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An unsealed FBI agent’s affidavit reveals what Vance Boelter texted his wife soon after allegedly committing a pair of brazen shootings.

Hours after allegedly killing a Minnesota state representative and her husband, Vance Boelter sent a text to his wife telling her to flee.

In a newly unsealed affidavit obtained by The New York Times, FBI agent Terry Getsch described the message the suspect sent to Jenny Boelter, 51.

“The text stated something to the effect of they should prepare for war, they needed to get out of the house, and people with guns may be showing up to the house,” he wrote.

Boelter, 57, and his wife were “preppers,” Getsch said. The term refers to people who prepare for a cataclysmic event they believe is imminent, often stockpiling food and equipment.

As it turned out, Boelter himself was the “cataclysmic event”! 😀

MAGA Madman Told ‘Prepper’ Wife to Flee During Killing Spree
An unsealed FBI agent’s affidavit reveals what Vance Boelter texted his wife soon after allegedly committing a pair of brazen shootings.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/maga-madman-vance-boelter-told-prepper-wife-to-flee-during-killing-spree

Daily Beast: DOJ Seeks Lifetime Behind Bars for Jan. 6 Convict Pardoned By Trump

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The Tennessee man was convicted of conspiring to murder FBI agents and other officials. He claims his pardon for his crimes on Jan. 6, 2021, should also apply to that conviction.

Federal prosecutors are asking a judge to sentence a Jan. 6 rioter to a lifetime behind bars—despite President Donald Trump pardoning his crimes at the U.S. Capitol.

Edward Kelley, a 35-year-old East Tennessee native, was convicted in November of conspiring to murder FBI agents and other officials who investigated his role in the Jan. 6 Capitol riots.

Kelley was separately convicted of throwing a Capitol cop to the ground, with the help of others, and smashing a window with a piece of wood. However, those charges were wiped away by the president’s sweeping pardon of so-called “Jan. 6ers” in January.

Kelley has contested that Trump’s pardon of his Capitol crimes should also apply to his conviction for plotting to kill FBI agents and local law enforcement in Tennessee.

The Department of Justice disagrees. In a sentencing memorandum filed Tuesday, and first reported by Politico, they asked a judge to send Kelley to prison for the rest of his life.

“Kelley created a list of specific people he intended to assassinate, including agents, officers, and employees of the FBI, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, Tennessee Highway Patrol, Maryville Police Department, Blount County Sheriff’s Office, and Clinton Police Department,” the memorandum read. “To effectuate his plan, Kelley sought the assistance of others to identify his victims’ pattern of life and to murder them at their offices, homes, and in public places.”

Part of his alleged plan was to attack his local FBI office in Knoxville by using “improvised explosive devices attached to vehicles and drones.”

…

Apparently some scumbags are too scummy even for a low-life like Trump.

DOJ Seeks Lifetime Sentence for Jan. 6 Convict Pardoned By Trump
The Tennessee man was convicted of conspiring to murder FBI agents and other officials. He claims his pardon for his crimes on Jan. 6, 2021, should also apply to that conviction.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/doj-seeks-lifetime-sentence-for-jan-6-convict-pardoned-by-trump