New York Times: As White House Steers Justice Dept., Bondi [Bimbo #3] Embraces Role of TV Messenger

Attorney General Pam Bondi [Bimbo #3] has adopted a conspicuously performative approach, willing to execute White House directives with little fuss.

Pam Bondi [Bimbo #3], the attorney general of the United States, circled the Roosevelt Room in late February, handing out bulky white binders labeled “Epstein Files: Phase 1” to a conclave of Trump-allied influencers summoned to the White House for their first visit.

That Ms. Bondi [Bimbo #3], the nation’s top law enforcement official, would prioritize a case of importance primarily to conspiracy theorists was telling. Anxious to appease the restive MAGA base, she hyped the disclosure as “breaking news” on Fox the night before, part of an effort to fulfill President Trump’s campaign promise to reveal new details on the financier Jeffrey Epstein’s misdeeds and death.

It was a dud. There were “no bombshells,” she said, according to one of those invited.

Later, activists on the right lashed out at Ms. Bondi [Bimbo #3]. She responded by blaming others, and then dispatched F.B.I. agents and prosecutors from the Justice Department’s national security division to scour the archives, officials familiar with the situation said. They found little. No one knows when Phase 2 is coming. But it is not likely to amount to much, those people said.

Since taking office as U.S. attorney general in early February, she has adopted a conspicuously performative approach to survive inside a Trump cabinet that rewards self-promotion, ritualized public flattery and, above all, a willingness to execute White House directives with little fuss.

Over the last few days, Ms. Bondi [Bimbo #3] signed off on Mr. Trump’s acceptance of a luxury Boeing 747-8 plane upgraded to serve as Air Force One donated by the Qatari royal family, which raised a host of ethical and legal questions. As a lobbyist, Ms. Bondi [Bimbo #3] herself received six-figure consulting fees from Qatar.

But her approach represents a noticeable departure from that of her predecessors at the Justice Department who saw themselves, to varying degrees, as guardians of institutional independence, attentive but not beholden to the presidency.

https://archive.is/fr5Xq#selection-4629.132-4629.368

NBC News: Kash Patel’s new way of leading the FBI: Fewer morning intel briefings, more pro sports events

Supporters of the new director say he is bringing needed change. Some current and former FBI and DOJ officials worry he is not taking the job seriously enough.

Patel’s approach to his new job has raised concerns that he is not taking the position seriously enough, a dozen current and former DOJ and FBI officials told NBC News.

Officials who worked on the morning director’s briefings were told that the schedule was changed because Patel sometimes failed to arrive on time, said two current and two former FBI and Justice Department officials familiar with the matter.

At the same time, Patel has drawn attention for regularly appearing with celebrities at professional sporting events around the country, according to flight logs and social media posts.

Since taking office on Feb. 20, Patel appears to have made three flights on FBI planes to Nashville, Tennessee, where his girlfriend, a country singer, lives; two flights to Las Vegas, where he has a home; and one flight to New York, where he attended a professional hockey game. FBI policy in recent years has mandated that directors fly on government aircraft for security reasons.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/rcna202865

Daily Beast: Kash Patel Is Seriously Infuriating FBI Officials

Day 30 (of 187) what…me worry? | technolandy: site of Ian Landy

FBI Director Kash Patel has alarmed some members of the bureau by taking what they say is an overly casual approach to the role.

President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the nation’s domestic intelligence and security service is a former prosecutor and political adviser who had little if any law enforcement experience when the president nominated him to head the bureau.

But instead of throwing himself into the job and trying to gain credibility with the officials he’s been tasked with leading, a dozen current and former officials at the FBI and Department of Justice said they worried he wasn’t taking the position seriously enough, NBC News reported.

For decades, the FBI chief has received an 8:30 a.m. daily “director’s brief” with the most important information gathered from thousands of agents and analysts. Patel reportedly had trouble making the morning briefing, so it was dropped from five days a week to two.

“Even that has been a struggle,” an unnamed official told NBC.

Two current FBI officials said Patel sometimes seems uninterested in the materials, forcing them to try to create briefs that will hold his attention.

Patel also ended a long-standing practice of holding secure weekly video conferences with field office leaders across the country, according to NBC. The meetings were considered a crucial way to share information and priorities across the bureau.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/kash-patel-is-seriously-infuriating-fbi-officials

NBC News: Kash Patel’s new way of leading the FBI: Fewer morning intel briefings, more pro sports events

Supporters of the new director say he is bringing needed change. Some current and former FBI and DOJ officials worry he is not taking the job seriously enough.

Probably asleep at the helm or out clubbing!

For decades, the head of the FBI has attended a daily 8:30 a.m. “director’s brief,” where he is presented the most important intelligence and law enforcement information gleaned from thousands of agents and analysts across the country, current and former FBI officials say.

And on Wednesday afternoons, the FBI director or his deputy held a secure video teleconference with the leaders of field offices across the country to share information about bureau priorities.

But that schedule has changed under FBI Director Kash Patel. Unlike his recent predecessors, Patel is receiving the “director’s brief” two days a week, according to two current officials with direct knowledge and two former FBI and Justice Department officials familiar with the matter. Patel has also stopped holding the weekly Wednesday-afternoon video teleconference with FBI leaders, one current and one former FBI official said.

Patel’s approach to his new job has raised concerns that he is not taking the position seriously enough, a dozen current and former DOJ and FBI officials told NBC News.

Officials who worked on the morning director’s briefings were told that the schedule was changed because Patel sometimes failed to arrive on time, said two current and two former FBI and Justice Department officials familiar with the matter.

At the same time, Patel has drawn attention for regularly appearing with celebrities at professional sporting events around the country, according to flight logs and social media posts.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/rcna202865

And we are not done screaming!

Let’s stop pretending this is complicated.

Mel Gibson beat the mother of his child while she held their infant daughter. He didn’t just yell. He didn’t just lose his temper. He didn’t just “slip up” on tape. He punched Oksana Grigorieva in the face, broke her teeth, gave her a concussion, and followed it up with an unhinged voicemail so vile it could be used as an instructional video for abusers.

“I’ll put you in a rose garden,” he said.

“You’re going to answer one day, boy.”

“You need a bat in the side of the head.”

He gasped through the call like a beast trying to breathe through its own rage, threatening to kill her — and by extension, threatening every woman who’s ever been told by a man with power, “You’ll never get away.”

And now?

He’s armed again.

Because the U.S. government decided he deserved it.

MEL GIBSON DIDN’T EARN REDEMPTION — HE BOUGHT IT

This isn’t redemption. This is rot wrapped in celebrity.

Mel Gibson has never shown meaningful contrition. His public image rehab didn’t come from atonement. It came from Hollywood cowardice and right-wing forgiveness, the same people who will scream “family values” while handing a man like this a fresh Glock and a box of ammo.

The only thing Mel Gibson regrets is that we heard him.

But you know who doesn’t forget?

The woman who lost her teeth. The baby who watched her mother bleed. And the millions of survivors watching this play out, knowing the state just set a precedent:

You can beat her. You can terrorize her.

And if you’re rich enough, white enough, and famous enough,we’ll give you your guns back.

MEET PAM BONDI — THE ENABLER-IN-CHIEF

Let’s talk about Pam Bondi — Trump’s handpicked Attorney General, the same political leech who once helped delay investigations into Trump’s fake university and then miraculously received a donation.

She had a choice.

She saw the audio. Saw the broken teeth. Saw the threats. Saw the photo of a bruised face and read the transcript where Gibson practically foamed at the mouth promising violence. And she signed the paperwork anyway.

She chose to side with the man who said:

“You should just smile and blow me, because I deserve it.”

That’s who Pam Bondi sided with. That’s who she trusted with firearms. Because nothing says “law and order” like re-arming a domestic abuser with a track record of violent threats, racism, and open misogyny.

There’s no rehabilitation here. Just rot in high heels and a signature pen.

THEY FIRED THE ONE WOMAN WHO DID HER JOB

Elizabeth G. Oyer wasn’t a judge — she was the U.S. Pardon Attorney, and she did something almost unheard of in Washington: she told the truth.

She reviewed the case and said no. She said Mel Gibson posed a risk. She said this wasn’t just a bad headline — it was a dangerous precedent.

So what did they do?

They fired her.

Because in this Justice Department, integrity is a liability.

Let that sink in: the man who once screamed “You look like a f*ing pig in heat” got his rights restored, and the woman who objected is now unemployed.

This wasn’t justice. It was a goddamn warning.

THIS IS A HELL OF OUR OWN DESIGN

If you’re a survivor, what does this tell you?

It tells you that the law does not protect you. That even with audio, even with photos, even with broken teeth and a baby in your arms — the man who did it can still win. All he needs is a few million dollars and the right people in office.

It tells you that Pam Bondi will hand him a gun. That Hollywood will hand him another movie deal. That America will hand him a standing ovation if he stages his comeback with just the right mix of crocodile tears and Christian nationalism.

And it tells every abuser watching:

Be patient. Play the victim.The system was built for you.

CLOSING THOUGHTS — AND A CURSE FOR THE COWARDS

This isn’t just a miscarriage of justice.

This is institutional complicity dressed up as due process. A celebration of white male rage, given a second chance because the world still thinks power is proof of virtue.

Mel Gibson is not a victim. He is not misunderstood.

He is a man who beat a woman while she held a child — and he is now armed and empowered by the government.

To every coward who helped make that happen — to Pam Bondi, to the cowards in the Justice Department, to the agents of rot who traded conscience for loyalty:

May you one day sit across from a survivor and explain why his gun mattered more than her life.

We will not forget this.

And we are not done screaming.

https://www.facebook.com/FearAndLoathingCloserToTheEdge/posts/653010460701593

Reuters: US Marshals were mobilized to warn fired DOJ lawyer over congressional testimony, attorney says

Sending out armed thugs to intimidate a former employee at his home to remain mum! 🙁

The U.S. Justice Department sent armed U.S. Marshals to deliver a letter warning a fired career pardon attorney about testifying to congressional Democrats, her lawyer said in a letter seen by Reuters on Monday.

“This highly unusual step of directing armed law enforcement officers to the home of a former Department of Justice employee who has engaged in no misconduct, let alone criminal conduct, simply to deliver a letter, is both unprecedented and completely inappropriate,” Michael Bromwich, a lawyer representing fired pardon attorney Liz Oyer, wrote to the Justice Department.’

Oyer has since told various media outlets that her firing came shortly after she declined to recommend restoring gun rights to actor Mel Gibson, a supporter of President Donald Trump.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/ar-AA1Ctrlb