EXCLUSIVE: Senate Republicans are demanding answers on whether confidential human sources from Justice Department agencies beyond the FBI were used on Jan. 6, 2021, while also questioning whether Inspector General Michael Horowitz thoroughly reviewed classified and unclassified communications between handlers and their sources, warning that without that review, there may be a "major blind spot" in his findings.
Horowitz last week released his highly anticipated report that there were more than two dozen FBI confidential human sources in the crowd outside the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, but only three were assigned by the bureau to be present for the event. Horowitz said none of the sources were authorized or directed by the FBI to "break the law" or "encourage others to commit illegal acts."
But now, Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Ron Johnson, R-Wis., are demanding further information from Horowitz, writing to him in a letter exclusively obtained by Fox News Digital that it is "unclear" if his office reviewed the use of confidential human sources by other DOJ components during the Capitol riot.
"This IG report was a step in the right direction, but Senator Johnson and I still have questions the Justice Department needs to account for," Grassley told Fox News Digital. "The American people deserve a full picture of whether Justice Department sources from its component agencies, in addition to the FBI, were present on January 6, what their role was, and whether DOJ had knowledge of their attendance."
Grassley told Fox News Digital that Horowitz and his team "must redouble its efforts to make sure it has reviewed all relevant information and provide a sufficient response to our inquiry."
Johnson told Fox News Digital he believes the report made public last week "may have only provided a fraction of the story regarding the presence and activities of confidential human sources or undercover federal agents in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 6, 2021."
"I urge the Inspector General’s office to be fully transparent about their work to ensure that Congress and the public have an accurate and complete understanding about what it actually reviewed," Johnson said.
In their letter to Horowitz, Grassley and Johnson noted that the inspector general’s office received more than 500,000 documents from the Justice Department and its components as part of its investigation.
"According to the report, your office obtained: CHS reporting, thousands of tips provided to the FBI, investigative and intelligence records from the FBI case management system, emails, instant messages, and phone records; contemporaneous notes of meetings and telephone calls; chronologies concerning the lead-up of events to January 6; after-action assessments; training materials and policy guides; and preparatory materials for press conferences or congressional testimony as well as talking points," they wrote.
Grassley and Johnson told Horowitz "it is vital" that his office "more precisely explain what records it sought and received from all DOJ component agencies."
Grassley and Johnson are demanding answers on whether Horowitz obtained evidence on whether other DOJ component agencies had tasked or untasked undercover confidential human sources in the Washington, D.C., area or at the Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021.
They are also asking if all communications were obtained between DOJ component agency handlers and confidential human sources or undercover agents present in the D.C. area, and whether he has received classified and unclassified non-email communication platforms used by the FBI.
Grassley and Johnson are also demanding Horowitz share all FD-1023 forms, or confidential human source reporting documents, used in the investigation with them.
As for his initial report, Horowitz "determined that none of these FBI CHSs was authorized by the FBI to enter the Capitol or a restricted area or to otherwise break the law on January 6, nor was any CHS directed by the FBI to encourage others to commit illegal acts on January 6."
The report revealed that the FBI had a minor supporting role in responding on Jan. 6, 2021 – largely because the event was not deemed at the highest security level by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Horowitz, though, said the FBI took significant and appropriate steps to prepare for that role.
According to the report, there were a total of 26 confidential human sources in the crowd that day, but only three of them were assigned by the bureau to be there.
One of the three confidential human sources tasked by the FBI to attend the rally entered the Capitol building, while the other two entered the restricted area around the Capitol.
If a confidential human source is directed to be at a certain event, they are paid by the FBI for their time.
As President Biden's term comes to an end, he is reportedly considering commuting the sentences of most, if not all, of the 40 men on the federal government’s death row.
The Wall Street Journal, citing sources familiar with the matter, reported that the move would frustrate President-elect Trump's plan to streamline executions as he takes office in January.
Attorney General Merrick Garland, who oversees federal prisons, recommended that Biden commute all but a handful of egregious sentences, the sources said.
The outlet reported that possible exceptions could include Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the 2013 Boston Marathon bomber who killed three and wounded more than 250; Robert Bowers, who killed 11 people in the 2018 attack on the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh; and Dylann Roof, who in 2015 killed nine at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina.
Those who could see their death sentences commuted to life in prison include an ex-Marine who killed two young girls and later a female naval officer, a Las Vegas man convicted of kidnapping and killing a 12-year-old girl, a Chicago podiatrist who fatally shot a patient to keep her from testifying in a Medicare fraud investigation and two men convicted in a kidnapping-for-ransom scheme that resulted in the killings of five Russian and Georgian immigrants.
The move came after Biden, a lifelong Catholic, spoke with Pope Francis Thursday. In his weekly prayer, Pope Francis asked for the commutation of America’s condemned inmates.
A decision from the president could come by Christmas, some of sources said. The outlet noted that the biggest question is the scope of the commutation of the death row inmates.
Biden is the first president to openly oppose capital punishment, and his 2020 campaign website declared he would "work to pass legislation to eliminate the death penalty at the federal level and incentivize states to follow the federal government’s example."
In January 2021, Biden initially considered an executive order, sources familiar with the matter told The Associated Press, but the White House did not issue one.
Six months into the administration, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced a moratorium on federal capital punishment to study it further. The narrow action has meant there have been no federal executions under Biden.
EXCLUSIVE: A conservative legal watchdog is expected to file a brief with a Kentucky court to urge a judge against blessing a consent decree forged by Attorney General Merrick Garland and the city of Louisville and Jefferson County, Ky., that would reform police practices after the controversial 2020 death of Breonna Taylor.
The Oversight Project is placing its amicus brief on the docket of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky on Friday morning as a judge prepares a schedule to rule on activating the agreement.
Oversight Project Executive Director Mike Howell said the consent decree includes a "laundry list of BLM-type standards that have been argued for over the years since George Floyd['s death in 2020]" and the riots that followed.
"Louisville would be a sanctuary city for gangbangers," Howell warned, adding he hopes Friday’s addition to the docket gives the court pause before agreeing to any accelerated timeline for approval.
Taylor was killed in a hail of police gunfire after Louisville officers sought to serve a drug warrant at her boyfriend Kenneth Walker’s house, when her beau fired a "warning shot" through the door and struck Officer Jonathan Mattingly in the leg.
A hail of return fire followed, fatally wounding Taylor, and five officers were later involved in legal cases where one was found guilty of deprivation of rights under the color of law for reportedly firing blindly through a window amid the chaos.
Walker later alleged he mistook the police for intruders and did not hear them announce themselves. Louisville wound up paying Taylor’s family $12 million in a wrongful death settlement.
Last week, Garland announced the consent decree with Louisville, saying it will bring about needed systemic reforms to policing to prevent a repeat of what happened to Taylor.
Howell said, however, that the decree will only hamstring the police department and also defy the will of Kentucky voters who elected new Republicans on the Louisville council on the issue of law and order.
"[The decree] basically limits the ability for officers to react quickly and in a strong way. It's very heavy on the de-escalation techniques, particularly as it relates to this category of people who they call ‘behaviorally impaired’ or something to that effect," Howell said.
Howell said there is concern over the spiking teenage murder rate – violence committed by suspects aged 11-17 – and that the decree wrongly imposes new standards for dealing with youth offenders as well as stop-and-frisk restrictions.
One of the most glaring issues with the agreement is the fact Louisville councilmen, Kentucky lawmakers and the general public will all be prevented from making further adjustments to policing policies for five years, if the judge signs the decree.
In a consent decree system, an official monitor appointed by the judge, and not the relevant legislature, is the arbiter of policies that fall under said agreement unless both parties that forged it agree to change them.
Howell said, in that regard, the Biden Justice Department and Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg, a Democrat, appear to be rushing through the legal process to head off the likelihood a Trump Justice Department will balk at the agreement.
"The most basic responsibility of government is to keep our people safe while protecting constitutional rights and treating everyone fairly," Greenberg said in a statement about the decree. "As mayor, I promised to uphold that responsibility, and I have."
"The Department of Justice saw the action we’ve already taken and our commitment to aggressively implement police reform. As a result of these improvements, we have a consent decree unlike any other city in America."
Greenberg said any decree must build on reforms made in recent years, cannot "handcuff police as they work to prevent crime" and also be financially responsible and have a clear sunset date.
"I felt comfortable signing this because our officers will have clear guidance and goals to meet, the DOJ can’t move the goalposts, and our officers can focus on good police work, not paperwork," added Louisville Police Chief Paul Humphrey.
The Oversight Project’s amicus brief is backed by law enforcement advocacy leaders like Jason Johnson, president of the Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund.
Johnson, whose group promotes constitutional policing and studies similar consent decrees, told Fox News Digital it's clear the Biden DOJ realizes such an agreement would be "D.O.A." when President-elect Donald Trump assumes the Oval Office.
"Most of these police consent decrees are more of an activist wish list than effective means to remedy constitutional violations by police agencies. The Justice Department is trying to impose burdensome rules that far exceed their authority under law," Johnson said.
He suggested that technical assistance letters, which aim to encourage reforms without imposing a judicial arbiter, are generally preferred in most cases.
"But, the activist lawyers in the Biden administration prefer to use a sledgehammer instead of a scalpel. This approach has proven counterproductive time and again — hurting public safety, police morale, and police-community relations more than it helps."
Meanwhile, Howell said he hopes the Kentucky judge will see that Greenberg and Garland are trying to "turn him into a legislature" when it comes to law enforcement practices.
Under the consent decree system, the policy changes will be untouchable by a more hawkish Trump DOJ for up to five years, rendering the new administration’s predicted actions in the law enforcement realm moot in Louisville.
Criminals will likely endorse the decree, he said, as they will use the encyclopedia of new policing standards to their benefit.
Attorneys at the Department of Justice are urging federal judges to reject petitions from at least two Jan. 6 defendants who are asking that they be allowed to return to the nation's capital for President-elect Trump's inauguration.
Cindy Young, convicted of four misdemeanors for her involvement in the riot at the Capitol, and Russell Taylor, who pleaded guilty to a felony conspiracy charge, both petitioned the courts to allow them to return to Washington, D.C., despite provisions of their sentences requiring them to stay away.
"Contrary to Young’s self designation that she ‘poses no threat of danger to the community,’ Young presents a danger to the D.C. community, including the very law enforcement officers who defended the Capitol on January 6, 2021," U.S. attorneys said in response to Young's petition. The federal attorneys cited calls from Young "for retribution against those involved in January 6 prosecutions" and argued that she has failed "to recognize the seriousness of her actions."
A request from Taylor, who was invited to attend the inauguration by members of Utah's congressional delegation, is also being challenged by attorneys at the Department of Justice who argue that the serious nature of his crimes should preclude him from being able to "return to the scene of the crime."
"He is asking for the Court to bless his desire to return to the scene of the crime, and the Court should not look past his criminal conduct the last time he was on Capitol grounds," the U.S. attorneys wrote in a filing to U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth. The attorneys added in their court filing that, while they had granted previous travel requests to other defendants involved in the Capitol siege, those approvals were to support people's continued employment, and the requests did not involve travel to the nation's capital.
However, another Jan. 6 defendant, Eric Peterson, who was convicted of a misdemeanor in November for his involvement in the Capitol riot but has yet to be sentenced, was given approval by U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan to travel to the District for Trump's swearing-in ceremony, according to Peterson's criminal case docket. Notably, the docket did not include any responses from the Department of Justice urging Chutkan to deny Peterson's request.
There remains uncertainty around whether Trump will pardon any, some or all of those defendants who were convicted of crimes as a result of their involvement in the U.S. Capitol siege that occurred in 2021.
Trump has said at times that pardons will be reserved for those who remained peaceful on that fateful day; however, at other points he has suggested a blanket pardon for all those who were convicted. One thing that he has been steadfast on is that the pardons will come quickly following his inauguration on Jan. 20.
The Department of Justice declined to comment for this story.
US Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel might return to politics by running to lead the Democratic Party.
Lorenzo Bevilaqua/ABC via Getty Images
Rahm Emanuel reignited one of the longest-running debates about Obama's legacy.
Emanuel said more Wall Street bankers should have faced justice.
Now Biden's US ambassador to Japan, Emanuel is considering a possible run to lead the Democratic Party.
Former Obama White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel said on Tuesday that it was a mistake that more top Wall Street executives didn't pay a price for their role in the 2008 financial crisis.
"Not only was no one held accountable, but the same bankers who engineered the crisis were aggrieved at the suggestion of diminished bonuses and government intervention," Emanuel wrote in a Washington Post op-ed. "It was a mistake not to apply Old Testament justice to the bankers during the Obama administration, as some had called for at the time."
Emanuel, Biden's US ambassador to Japan, is eyeing the potential of returning to politics by running to become the next chair of the Democratic National Committee. In his column, Emanuel said the Democratic Party has been "blind to the rising sea of disillusionment."
"When Donald Trump declared, 'I am your warrior. I am your justice. And for those who have been wronged and betrayed, I am your retribution,' he was channeling a nation's fury," Emanuel wrote. "The online cheerleading for the killer of a health-care insurance CEO in New York City is just more evidence of this seething, populist anger."
In a subtle rebuke of Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign, Emanuel said the nation is not looking for rosy optimism in a time of great instability.
"Campaigns of joy in an era of rage don't win elections," he wrote.
Emanuel's comments reignite one of the longest-running debates of the Obama era: why more top-level executives were not prosecuted in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. Kareem Serageldin, a former top official at Credit Suisse, was the only top banker to receive a sentence connected with The Great Recession. Progressives, including Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent, have said the lack of prosecutions is a "clear indictment of our broken criminal justice system."
Former Attorney General Eric Holder has said that the DOJ didn't have the needed evidence.
"I think you have to understand, if we could have made those cases, we certainly would have," Holder told NBC late-night host Seth Meyers in 2016. "These are the kind of things that are career-defining. People come to the Justice Department to make these kind of cases. But given the statutes we had to work with and the burdens of proof we had to meet, we were simply unable to do that."
A former mayor of Chicago, Emanuel is a polarizing figure for some in the Democratic Party. He ditched a 2018 reelection campaign for a third term amid signs that his unblemished electoral streak might be squelched. Obama's choice of Emanuel as his first chief of staff surprised some observers who saw the Illinois native as an embodiment of political insiders for a president who ran to shake up the nation's capital. He is widely regarded as a key force behind the passage of the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, Obama's singular domestic achievement.
Emanuel's younger brother, Ari, is a Hollywood titan and CEO of Endeavor, which owns World Wrestling Entertainment and the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
The race to lead the Democratic Party during Trump's second administration is particularly crowded. Until Emanuel formally enters the field, the three major candidates are former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley, Wisconsin Democratic Party chair Ben Wikler, and Ken Martin, chair of the Minnesota Democratic Farmer-Labor Party, are also in the running.
The next Democratic leader will have a high-profile role, given that Republicans will have complete control over Congress.
As FBI Director Christopher Wray is slated to resign after seven years of service in his 10-year tenure, questions about the bureau's "political motivation" have been reignited, with critics like President-elect Trump citing bias in domestic terrorism and civil rights probes.
While Wray, who was appointed by Trump in his first term, has faced scrutiny from conservatives for a kind of political bias in the bureau, FBI whistleblower Kyle Seraphin said the FBI's shift toward politicized agendas within its field offices began in the post-9/11 era when sweeping reforms and surveillance powers were granted to the agency.
"What people are seeing is the natural outgrowth of letting FBI agents, or FBI senior management, forecast what they think the crime is going to be in the country, being incentivized to be correct, because they're going to be paid a monetary bonus at the end of it if they're right, and then they go out and find that crime," Seraphin told Fox News Digital.
"And so it looks very politicized," he added. "But I think that's actually just a mistake of the correlation. In reality, what's going on is the FBI is serving the interests of the senior management, which is that they want to get paid, and the easiest way to get paid is to go round up MAGA people, which they fall under this category of … anti-government, anti-authority, violent extremists."
Over the last four years, the FBI has increased its focus on domestic terrorism, particularly targeting white supremacist activities. The agency's caseload more than doubled from about 1,000 to 2,700 investigations between spring 2020 and September 2021, according to the Government Accountability Office. FBI Director Christopher Wray testified in September 2020 that white supremacy constitutes the largest domestic terrorism category.
Critics, however, have questioned the FBI's definition of domestic terrorism. Seraphin said a New Mexico field office prioritized "anti-abortion extremists" as the state’s third-highest national security threat. Separately over the summer, a Texas doctor was charged with four felonies for exposing alleged transgender surgeries on children at a hospital.
"Everybody assumes that it's about politics because the FBI has some really politically motivated leads," Seraphin said. "The current deputy director, Paul Abbate, is very politically motivated, and he's very hard leading to the left."
Seraphin blamed the FBI's seemingly political bias on an integrated program management, a McKinsey & Company-designed system rewarding executives with large bonuses for meeting self-set metrics, including domestic extremism and terrorism.
In December 2023, the House Judiciary Committee released a report titled "The FBI's Breach of Religious Freedom: The Weaponization of Law Enforcement Against Catholic Americans." The report followed Seraphin’s disclosure of an FBI memo labeling certain Catholic Americans as potential violent extremists.
"They use national security words to go after domestic individuals, and they have national security tools to look through your email to grab access to your comms, your phone calls, your text messages, your emails and so on," Seraphin said. "They have the ability to look into your bank account and check out your financial records. And should they find evidence of a crime that is not related to what they're searching for, the threat that they're actually looking for?"
"Do we want people to get away with crime? No, but we want the government to be accountable to the freaking Bill of Rights," Seraphin said.
In a December interview on NBC's "Meet the Press," Trump said, "I can't say I'm thrilled with him," when asked if he would fire Wray upon entering his second non-consecutive presidential term.
"He invaded my home," Trump said, referencing the FBI's 2022 search of his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida. Trump announced at the end of November his nomination of Kash Patel – a Trump ally and previous chief of staff to the secretary of defense – as the next FBI director. Patel has been critical of the FBI's handling of investigations relating to Trump.
Seraphin, who said he has spoken to Patel about the bureau, said he may be "the most qualified" nominee for the role.
"He understands what the FBI does to directors in order to maintain their status quo," Seraphin said. "That makes him a very potentially disruptive force to the status quo. But I actually think he'll be if he's able to achieve the things that he said, which is going out there and rooting out the corruption, taking away the political things, making sure that the FBI is subservient to the Constitution."
Wray made his resignation announcement during an FBI virtual town hall from Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, during which thousands of FBI employees across the country were expected to attend online.
"After weeks of careful thought, I’ve decided the right thing for the bureau is for me to serve until the end of the current administration in January and then step down," Wray said during the town hall. "My goal is to keep the focus on our mission: the indispensable work you’re doing on behalf of the American people every day. In my view, this is the best way to avoid dragging the bureau deeper into the fray while reinforcing the values and principles that are so important to how we do our work."
Wray also said his focus is and always has been on the FBI doing what is right.
"When you look at where the threats are headed, it’s clear that the importance of our work – keeping Americans safe and upholding the Constitution – will not change. And what absolutely cannot, must not, change is our commitment to doing the right thing, the right way, every time," Wray said.
Fox News Digital reached out to the FBI but did not hear back by the publication deadline.
Fox News Digital's Greg Wehner and David Spunt contributed to this report.
President Biden's act of clemency, the largest in a single day, has left some congressional Republicans unhappy, while a number of Democrats are hoping to see it expanded.
"I’m not surprised at this point anymore," Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., said. "I think I’m still trying to get over the Hunter Biden thing after he promised America he wouldn’t do it."
Biden broadly pardoned his son Hunter Biden earlier this month despite promising he would not. Hunter was convicted in two separate federal cases.
According to Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., Biden had lost whatever credibility he had left when he pardoned his son.
"Every president at the end of their term has that same kind of act. Where’s the bar live?" asked Rep. Morgan Luttrell, R-Texas. "Nobody knows. I haven’t gone deep into the waters to see exactly who he’s touching. But it’s the United States, hey?"
The president revealed Thursday he had commuted jail sentences for nearly 1,500 people and granted 39 pardons for nonviolent offenders.
"Does that tell you how corrupt he thinks this administration has been?" Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-Ga., wondered.
"I did very few, and I wanted to make sure if the community didn't buy in" that the person would not receive a pardon.
"I would make sure that my staff would go back and check in that area and do a due diligence and a deep dive," he explained.
Asked if Manchin trusted that Biden's administration did it own due diligence on the people whose sentences were being commuted, he said, "I would like to think. I believe in the process. I believe in the system. So, I hope so."
Senate Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin, D-Ill., released a statement on Biden's action, approving of it.
"The president took an important step by commuting the sentences of these men and women. In far too many cases in our justice system, the punishment doesn’t fit the crime. I have long advocated for criminal justice reform to address these inequities and commend President Biden for this act of mercy and for his leadership," the senator said.
"These individuals have successfully returned to their communities and reunited with their families. I urge the president to continue using his pardon power during his remaining time in office to address miscarriages of justice, just as the founders of this democracy intended."
Other Democrats applauded the move, including Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., who told reporters, "These are nonviolent offenders, and I think they represent compassion. In no way is [this] gonna jeapardize public safety. So, I support the president, what the president did."
Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., expressed an appetite for even more similar actions from Biden, saying Thursday, "We’re still hoping he will offer clemency to the people who are on death row. We’re still looking for the next list of people."
Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., said he supported Biden using his pardon power, though he hasn't looked through all the people affected. He explained it is "important to use that pardon power and clemency to even out our system and to evolve with our system as we move forward."
A conservative research group has sent a letter to President-elect Trump’s Attorney General nominee Pam Bondi, calling on her to fire a number of Department of Justice (DOJ) workers who it says are "woke radical leftists and donors" who cannot be trusted to carry out Trump’s agenda.
In a letter obtained by Fox News Digital, the American Accountability Foundation (AAF) wrote to Bondi urging her to sack the individuals who currently work for the agency’s Voting Section of the Civil Rights Division, claiming that they have pushed transgender issues, worked for George Soros-linked organizations and donated to radical left-wing politicians and groups. The voting section is tasked with enforcing federal laws that protect the right to vote.
"These people are woke radical leftists and donors who have no place in the Department of Justice," the group writes in the letter signed by AAF President Thomas Jones. "In order to restore the American people’s trust in election integrity and a neutral civil service, they must be fired and replaced with America-first attorneys who will execute on the agenda the American People voted for in November."
The letter, which rails against the "deep state" terrorizing the country and "threatening democracy itself," was also addressed to Harmett Dhillon, President-elect Trump’s nominee for Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights. Bondi is the former Florida Attorney General.
The letter zeroes on DOJ employees Janie Sitton, Catherine Meza, Daniel Freeman, John "Bert" Russ IV and Dana Paikowsky, and attempts to make a case as to why they are unfit to work at the agency. AAF also promises to share more information on "problematic staff" in the future.
Sitton, the group says, is being singled out for her promotion of the transgender agenda and donating to leftist politicians.
In 2000, while working for the DOJ, Sitton authored an article that called for the adoption of a new legal system deemed "transgender jurisprudence" and stated the need to "rethink" the basic known "assumptions and constructs upon which our society and laws are based."
Sitton even took issue with common traditions such as identifying a newborn infant as a boy or girl based on the child’s sex, arguing that society has been wrong to assume or assign a gender to infants, the AAF says.
Paikowsky, the group says, has worked for years advancing far-left political agendas, including pushing for prisoners to vote, and has deep ties with Soros-linked organizations.
In addition to donating to liberal politicians, Paikowsky’s LinkedIn shows that she worked as a policy associate for the Open Society Foundations, an organization founded by the billionaire financier.
Shortly after graduating from Harvard Law School, Paikowsky then went to work for the Campaign Legal Center (CLC) as a fellow for the Equal Justice Works program while also working as a legal intern for the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights. The CLC has received significant funding from Soros in recent years, according to the AAF.
A 2019 law review article Paikowsky wrote for the Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review suggested an extensive framework to turn "jails into polling places" and described numerous examples of local elections across the nation, including local district attorney races, where a small number of inmate voters could have changed the election results, according to the AAF.
The group also slams Meza, who is an attorney at the voting division, for supporting gun control while she was chief counsel for the NAACP and claiming that she had accused people of not wearing masks or observing proper social distancing rules as forms of voter intimidation in 2020.
Russ made the list for being an attorney for the DOJ who had filed a 2021 complaint against Georgia’s election integrity initiatives. The complaint accused the state of having racist intentions by prohibiting unsolicited absentee ballots from being mailed to voters, requiring voter identification and prohibiting the potential bribing of voters with food and drinks at polling places.
Fox News Digital reached out to the DOJ’s Voting Section of the Civil Rights Division for comment but did not immediately receive a response. Fox News Digital also asked the agency whether each of those named in the letter would like to respond.
It's not the first time the AAF has sought to influence the makeup of the federal government under Trump. Last week, the group compiled a list of "woke" senior officers they want Pete Hegseth to sack, should he be confirmed to lead the Pentagon.
Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz said there were more than two dozen confidential human sources (CHSs) in the crowd outside the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, but only three were assigned by the FBI to be present for the event, while stressing that none of the sources was authorized or directed by the bureau to "break the law" or "encourage others to commit illegal acts," Fox News has learned.
Horowitz on Thursday released his highly anticipated report on the FBI’s Handling of its Confidential Human Sources and Intelligence Collection Efforts in the Lead Up to the Jan. 6, 2021 Electoral Certification.
"Today’s report also details our findings regarding FBI CHSs who were in Washington, D.C., on January 6," the report states. "Our review determined that none of these FBI CHSs was authorized by the FBI to enter the Capitol or a restricted area or to otherwise break the law on January 6, nor was any CHS directed by the FBI to encourage others to commit illegal acts on January 6."
The report revealed that the FBI had a minor supporting role in responding on Jan. 6, 2021 — largely because the event was not deemed at the highest security level by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Horowitz, though, said the FBI took significant and appropriate steps to prepare for that role.
According to the report, there were a total of 26 confidential human sources in the crowd that day, but only three of them were assigned by the bureau to be there.
One of the three confidential human sources tasked by the FBI to attend the rally entered the Capitol building, while the other two entered the restricted area around the Capitol.
If a confidential human source is directed to be at a certain event, they are paid by the FBI for their time.
"One FBI field office tasked a CHS to travel to DC to report on the activities of a predicated domestic terrorism subject who was separately planning to travel to DC for the January 6 Electoral Certification; a second FBI field office tasked a CHS to travel to DC to potentially report on two domestic terrorism (DT) subjects from another FBI field office who were planning to travel to DC for the events of January 6; and a third CHS, who had informed their handling agent that they intended to travel to DC on their own initiative for the events of January 6, was similarly tasked by their field office to potentially report on two DT subjects from other FBI field offices who were planning to travel to DC for the events of January 6," the report states.
Horowitz stressed that no sources were encouraged or authorized by the FBI to enter the Capitol or any restricted area and stressed that they were not encouraged or authorized to commit any illegal acts.
Twenty-three of the confidential human sources present on Jan. 6 came to Washington, D.C., to the Capitol on their own. Of that group, three entered the Capitol during the riot, and an additional 11 sources entered the restricted area around the Capitol.
But Horowitz said that investigators "found no evidence in the materials we reviewed or the testimony we received showing or suggesting that the FBI had undercover employees in the various protest crowds, or at the Capitol, on January 6."
As for reimbursements to confidential human sources, Horowitz stated that at least one was "reimbursed" for their travel, even though that CHS "was only tasked with attending the Inauguration and not the electoral certification on January 6."
The FBI, reacting to Horowitz's report Thursday, said the bureau "did not have primary responsibility for intelligence collection or event security on January 6 but nonetheless ‘recognized the potential for violence and took significant and appropriate steps to prepare forthis supporting role.’ Further, the Report includes the OIG’s analysis regarding the FBI’s use of confidential human sources (CHSs), and concludes that no FBI CHSs ‘were authorized to enter the Capitol or a restricted area or to otherwise break the law on January 6, nor was any CHS directed by the FBI to encourage others to commit illegal acts on January 6.’"
The FBI said it accepts Horowitz's recommendations moving forward, specifically for the FBI to "assess the processes and procedures it uses to prepare for events that it determines present potential domestic security issues — but have not been designated as NSSE or SEAR events by DHS — to ensure that its processes and procedures set forth with clarity the division of responsibilities between and within the relevant FBI field office and FBI Headquarters."
The FBI said that DHS has since designated the upcoming 2025 certification of the election a national special security event, and said the bureau "is coordinating closely with DHS, the U.S. Secret Service, the U.S. Capitol Police and other responsible agencies in preparation for the 2025 electoral certification and the subsequent Presidential Inauguration."
"The FBI is nonetheless committed to assessing our policies and procedures for other, non-NSSE future events, as recommended, to ensure that they clearly set forth the division of labor among FBI field offices and divisions," the FBI said.
Horowitz had testified on Capitol Hill earlier this year before the House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, a subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee.
During the hearing, Horowitz did not deny that federal government confidential human sources were in the crowd during the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.
"This report confirms what we suspected," House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, told Fox News Digital. "The FBI had encouraged and tasked confidential human sources to be at the capitol that day. There were 26 total present. Four entered the Capitol and weren’t charged, which is not the same treatment that other Americans received."
Jordan added: "This has been our concern all along — agencies being weaponized against the American people. It’s not how our system is supposed to work."
Jordan reminded that there were two inspector general reports released this week — this report focused on CHSs on Jan. 6, and one earlier in the week about the FBI spying on congressional staffers during its Trump-Russia probe, including President-elect Trump's nominee for FBI director, Kash Patel, while he was on the House Intelligence Committee.
"There were two IG reports this week and I think they may have had something to do with Mr. Wray's announcement this week," Jordan said.
FBI Director Christopher Wray on Wednesday announced he will resign next month before Trump takes office.
"When Chris Wray first got there back in 2017, the FBI was spying on congressional hill staffers, including the guy who is slated to replace him, and then the day after he announces he's leaving, this report comes out and confirms what so many of us suspected, that there were these confidential human sources present on Jan. 6," Jordan said.
"After weeks of careful thought, I’ve decided the right thing for the Bureau is for me to serve until the end of the current Administration in January and then step down," Wray said during a town hall on Wednesday, announcing his resignation.
"My goal is to keep the focus on our mission – the indispensable work you’re doing on behalf of the American people every day. In my view, this is the best way to avoid dragging the Bureau deeper into the fray, while reinforcing the values and principles that are so important to how we do our work."
Fox News Digital looked back on the director’s last seven years with the federal agency, compiling five of the biggest controversies that rocked the bureau, as well as the Biden administration overall.
Approximately 30 armed FBI agents converged on Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home in Florida in August 2022 to execute a search warrant regarding classified documents in the former president’s possession.
The unprecedented raid included agents rifling through former and upcoming first lady Melania Trump’s wardrobe. The agents seized 33 boxes of documents amid the search warrant.
"He invaded my home. I’m suing the country over it. He invaded Mar-a-Lago. I’m very unhappy with the things he’s done. And crime is at an all-time high. Migrants are pouring into the country that are from prisons and from mental institutions, as we’ve discussed. I can’t say I’m thrilled," Trump said of Wray during an interview with NBC that aired Sunday.
Earlier this year, it was revealed the Biden administration authorized the use of deadly force during the raid. The jarring revelation added fuel to the fire of conservatives slamming the raid, though the FBI clarified that the same language was used in a similar search warrant for President Biden’s Delaware home.
Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley, who called for Wray’s resignation in a scathing letter earlier this week, argued there were "serious questions" revolving around the raid considering Trump had been cooperating with investigators regarding the classified documents.
"This raid occurred despite serious questions about the need for it. President Trump apparently was cooperating with the investigation, notwithstanding liberal press reports. He voluntarily turned over 15 boxes of documents months before the FBI’s drastic escalation," Grassley continued, adding that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton never faced such a raid "even though she and her staff mishandled highly classified information while using a non-government server."
Trump, in reaction to Wray’s resignation, again railed against the "illegal" raid on Mar-a-Lago.
"Under the leadership of Christopher Wray, the FBI illegally raided my home, without cause, worked diligently on illegally impeaching and indicting me, and has done everything else to interfere with the success and future of America. They have used their vast powers to threaten and destroy many innocent Americans, some of which will never be able to recover from what has been done to them," he wrote on Truth Social.
Wray testified before the House Judiciary Committee in July and defended that he "would not call it a raid" on Mar-a-Lago, instead saying the FBI conducted "the execution of a lawful search warrant."
In January 2023, conservative lawmakers slammed an internal FBI memo from the Richmond field office, titled "Interest of Racially or Ethnically Motivated Violent Extremists in Radical-Traditionalist Catholic Ideology Almost Certainly Presents New Mitigation Opportunities."
The memo identified "radical-traditionalist Catholic[s]" as potential "racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists" and said that "racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists (RMVEs) in radical-traditionalist Catholic (RTC) ideology almost certainly presents opportunities for threat mitigation through the exploration of new avenues for tripwire and source development."
The memo was rescinded, but lawmakers scrutinized Wray as to why Americans were targeted due to their religious beliefs – which defies the U.S. Constitution.
Twenty Republican lawmakers wrote in a letter to Wray last year, saying that the memo "singled out traditional Catholics for their pro-life views, accusing RTCs of ‘hostility towards abortion-rights advocates’ in the aftermath of the Dobbs decision…"
"This specific call out to pro-life views is of even greater concern, considering the slow rate of investigation and response to the violent attacks that a number of pro-life pregnancy centers and Catholic Churches have experienced since the Dobbs decision was leaked in May of last year," they wrote.
Wray said in a 2023 Senate Judiciary hearing that, "We do not and will not conduct investigations based on anybody’s exercise of their constitutionally protected religious [expression]."
The FBI also came under fire during Wray’s tenure when the FBI raided a home and arrested a pro-life man in Pennsylvania in 2022.
Mark Houck, a Catholic dad of seven who would often pray outside a Philadelphia abortion clinic, was arrested at his rural Pennsylvania home in Kintnersville by the FBI. The arrest stemmed from an altercation he had with a Planned Parenthood escort in Philadelphia in October 2021. Houck was accused of pushing the abortion clinic escort, who allegedly verbally harassed Houck's 12-year-old son outside the clinic.
The Biden administration alleged Houck violated the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, which makes it a federal crime to use force with the intent to injure, intimidate and interfere with anyone because that person provides reproductive health care.
Houck was acquitted by a jury last year after arguing that he was protecting his son. He and his wife Ryan-Marie argued the FBI used excessive force during the arrest, filing a lawsuit against the DOJ earlier this year alleging the arrest followed a "faulty and malicious investigation."
The DOJ and FBI were heavily criticized by parents nationwide in 2021, when Attorney General Merrick Garland issued a memo directing the FBI to use counterterrorism tools related to parents speaking out at school board meetings against transgender-related issues and critical race theory curricula.
The memorandum followed the National School Boards Association (NSBA) sending a letter to President Biden, asking that the federal government investigate parents protesting at school board meetings, claiming school officials were facing threats at meetings.
The NSBA requested that parents' actions should be examined under the Patriot Act as "domestic terrorists," sparking Garland’s eventual memo, which did not use the phrase "domestic terrorist."
"After surveying local law enforcement, U.S. Attorney’s offices around the country reported back to Main Justice that there was no legitimate law-enforcement basis for the Attorney General’s directive to use federal law-enforcement and counterterrorism resources to investigate school board-related threats," the House Judiciary Committee stated in an interim report on the memo last year.
Garland testified before the Senate last year that the memo "was aimed at violence and threats of violence against a whole host of school personnel," not parents "making complaints to their school board," but the memo set off a firestorm of criticism from parents, nonetheless.
"The premier law enforcement agency of the United States of America, the FBI, was used as a weapon by the DOJ against parents who dared to voice their concerns at the most local level – their school board," Moms For Liberty founder Tiffany Justice told Fox News Digital last year.
In Grassley’s blistering 11-page letter to Wray on Monday, he slammed the FBI for acting as an "accomplice to the Democrats’ false information campaign" surrounding his investigation into "alleged Biden-family corruption."
Grassley said that the FBI "sat on bribery allegations" against Biden when he served as vice president, as well as Biden's son, Hunter Biden, and Ukrainian officials.
"Consistent with that FBI failure, yet another glaring example of FBI’s broken promises under your leadership is its inexcusable failure to investigate bribery allegations against former Vice President Joe Biden, while strictly scrutinizing former President Trump. You’ve repeatedly claimed you would ensure the FBI does justice, ‘free of fear, favor, or partisan influence.’ The FBI under your watch, however, had possession of incriminating information against President Biden for three years until I exposed the existence of the record outlining those allegations, but did nothing to investigate it," he wrote.
At question in the investigation was an FBI-generated FD-1023 form that allegedly described a multimillion-dollar criminal scheme involving then-Vice President Biden and a foreign national relating to the exchange of money for policy decisions. Grassley ultimately acquired the document through legally protected disclosures by Department of Justice whistleblowers.
That document reflects the FBI's interview with a "highly credible" confidential human source who described meetings and conversations they had with an executive of Ukrainian natural gas firm Burisma Holdings over the course of several years, starting in 2015. Hunter Biden sat on the board of Burisma at the time.
Biden denied the accusations, calling the bribery allegations a "bunch of malarkey" last year.
"Still, to-date, the DOJ and FBI have neither answered whether they investigated the substance of the FD-1023, nor have they provided an explanation for any effort undertaken to obtain the financial records and other pieces of evidence referenced within the document," Grassley wrote to Wray on Monday. "This sounds a lot like Director Comey’s leadership of the FBI, which was nothing short of shameful."
When asked about Grassley’s letter earlier this week, the FBI said it "has repeatedly demonstrated our commitment to responding to Congressional oversight and being transparent with the American people."
"Director Wray and Deputy Director Abbate have taken strong actions toward achieving accountability in the areas mentioned in the letter and remain committed to sharing information about the continuously evolving threat environment facing our nation and the extraordinary work of the FBI."
Trump faced a shocking assassination attempt in July during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, where he was hit on the side of his face as the suspect opened fire on the crowd.
Trump survived the attempt, while local dad and volunteer firefighter Corey Compatore lost his life protecting his family.
Wray came under fire regarding the assassination attempt when he appeared before the House Judiciary Committee and cast doubt on whether a bullet actually struck Trump.
"I think with respect to former President Trump, there’s some question about whether or not it’s a bullet or shrapnel that, you know, hit his ear," Wray said at the hearing.
Trump blasted him online for the comment.
"FBI Director Christopher Wray told Congress yesterday that he wasn’t sure if I was hit by shrapnel, glass, or a bullet (the FBI never even checked!), but he was sure that Crooked Joe Biden was physically and cognitively ’uneventful’ - Wrong!" Trump wrote on Truth Social in July.
"No, it was, unfortunately, a bullet that hit my ear, and hit it hard. There was no glass, there was no shrapnel. The hospital called it a "bullet wound to the ear," and that is what it was. No wonder the once storied FBI has lost the confidence of America!"
The FBI later confirmed a bullet, "whether whole or fragmented," struck Trump.
The FBI did not provide Fox News Digital with additional comment when presented with the scandals on Wednesday afternoon. The FBI later followed up and, while the agency did not address any of the scandals, provided a lengthy list of what the bureau said it believes are Wray’s accomplishments.
Wray stepping down as FBI director clears the path for Trump’s pick to lead the FBI, Kash Patel, to begin the confirmation process in earnest. Wray, whom Trump appointed during his first administration, was in the midst of a 10-year appointment that did not end until 2027. If Wray had not announced that he would voluntarily step down, Trump would have needed to fire him in order for Patel to potentially take his spot if confirmed by the Senate.
"Kash Patel is the most qualified Nominee to lead the FBI in the Agency’s History, and is committed to helping ensure that Law, Order, and Justice will be brought back to our Country again, and soon. As everyone knows, I have great respect for the rank-and-file of the FBI, and they have great respect for me. They want to see these changes every bit as much as I do but, more importantly, the American People are demanding a strong, but fair, System of Justice. We want our FBI back, and that will now happen. I look forward to Kash Patel’s confirmation, so that the process of Making the FBI Great Again can begin," Trump added in his reaction to Wray’s resignation.
Fox News Digital's Andrew Mark Miller and Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
Washington, D.C., councilman Trayon White edged closer to expulsion this week after an investigative report found he violated multiple city code of conduct provisions.
Despite being arrested by the FBI on a federal bribery charge in August, White, a Democrat representing Ward 8, recently secured a third term on Election Day in a landslide victory.
While the federal criminal case remains pending, the report, commissioned by an ad hoc committee and conducted by the law firm Latham & Watkins LLP, was submitted to the council on Monday following an independent probe into whether White violated applicable D.C. law, the D.C. Code of Conduct, or Council Rules. The council is meeting next Monday to deliberate the findings and consider whether to recommend sanctions against White.
The councilman has pleaded not guilty to allegations he accepted $156,000 in cash payments in exchange for using his position to pressure government employees at the Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement (ONSE) and Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services (DYRS) to extend several D.C. contracts. The federal complaint says the contracts were valued at $5.2 million and were for two companies to provide "Violence Intervention" services in D.C.
D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson established the ad hoc committee in August.
White has declined multiple offers to meet with the committee since.
Councilman Kenyan McDuffie, who chairs the ad hoc committee, said the investigation found "substantial evidence" that White’s alleged conduct connected to the bribery claims violated several provisions of the D.C. Council’s Code of Official Conduct, FOX 5 DC reported. McDuffie said that the report does not support allegations White violated residency requirements outlined in the District of Columbia Home Rule Act of 1973.
The investigation spanned 11 weeks and involved 22 interviews with officials from multiple D.C. agencies, including DYRS, ONSE and the Office of Risk Management; current and former members of White’s staff; leaders in the violence intervention community and other individuals believed to have information related to the allegations against White.
The law firm also reviewed relevant documents and records obtained from D.C. agencies and thousands of emails from the official accounts of White and his staff.
FIRST ON FOX: President-elect Trump said Christopher Wray's resignation is a "great day for America," telling Fox News Digital it "will end the weaponization" of the FBI, while touting his nominee Kash Patel as the "most qualified" to lead the bureau.
Wray announced Wednesday afternoon his plans to resign in January 2025.
"The resignation of Christopher Wray is a great day for America as it will end the weaponization of what has become known as the United States Department of Injustice," Trump told Fox News Digital. "I just don’t know what happened to him."
Trump said his administration "will now restore the rule of law for all Americans."
"Under the leadership of Christopher Wray, the FBI illegally raided my home, without cause, worked diligently on illegally impeaching and indicting me, and has done everything else to interfere with the success and future of America," Trump told Fox News Digital. "They have used their vast powers to threaten and destroy many innocent Americans, some of which will never be able to recover from what has been done to them."
The president-elect looked ahead to his nominee to lead the bureau, Kash Patel.
"Kash Patel is the most qualified nominee to lead the FBI in the Agency’s History, and is committed to helping ensure that Law, Order, and Justice will be brought back to our Country again, and soon," Trump said. "As everyone knows, I have great respect for the rank-and-file of the FBI, and they have great respect for me. They want to see these changes every bit as much as I do but, more importantly, the American People are demanding a strong, but fair, system of justice."
"We want our FBI back, and that will now happen," he continued. "I look forward to Kash Patel’s confirmation, so that the process of Making the FBI Great Again can begin."
During a town hall Wednesday, Wray announced his plans to resign next month.
"After weeks of careful thought, I’ve decided the right thing for the bureau is for me to serve until the end of the current administration in January and then step down," Wray said during the town hall. "My goal is to keep the focus on our mission – the indispensable work you’re doing on behalf of the American people every day. In my view, this is the best way to avoid dragging the bureau deeper into the fray while reinforcing the values and principles that are so important to how we do our work."
The FBI director said the decision was not easy for him, adding he loves the FBI, its mission and people.
Wray is seven years into his 10-year term.
Trump appointed Wray in 2017 after he fired former Director James Comey from the post.
Trump nominated Kash Patel to serve as FBI director earlier this month, giving Wray the option to leave on his own or be fired.
While Wray’s last day is still undecided, it is expected to be in January before Trump’s inauguration.
The moment Wray leaves, Deputy Director Paul Abbate will become acting director until the new director is in place. Abbate is a career official who is eligible to retire from the bureau soon. He planned months ago to retire in the new year.
Meanwhile, Patel has been meeting with lawmakers on Capitol Hill this week and has received a warm reception.
Patel's experience ranges from personally carrying out dangerous missions in the Middle East in an effort to bring home U.S. hostages to implementing counterterrorism strategies against America’s most-wanted terrorists.
Current and former U.S. national security officials and lawmakers say that when looking at his résumé "objectively," he is "one of the most experienced people ever to be nominated" to lead the bureau.
During the first Trump administration, Patel served as a deputy assistant to Trump and as senior director for counterterrorism. In that role, Patel was involved in presidential missions aimed at decimating al Qaeda senior leadership and ISIS command and control. Patel was involved in the planning of the mission to take out Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, among others.
Patel also was involved in efforts to bring some of the most-wanted terrorists to the U.S. for prosecution, and worked on Trump administration efforts to return dozens of U.S. hostages back home.
Beyond his counterterrorism work, Patel was heavily involved in U.S. strategy to counter Chinese, Russian, Iranian and North Korean efforts against U.S. interests. He also worked on the implementation of multimillion-dollar sanctions against foreign adversaries.
Prior to working as a deputy to Trump and in the NSC, Patel worked in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) as the principal deputy to the acting DNI Ric Grenell and helped former Director John Ratcliffe transition into the role. Trump nominated Ratcliffe last month to serve as the director of the CIA.
At ODNI, Patel also worked to focus intelligence collection against counter narcotic and transnational threats.
The Fulton County District Attorney's Office declined this week to turn over any new communications between District Attorney Fani Willis and outgoing special counsel Jack Smith, asserting in a new court filing that the documents either do not exist or are exempt from disclosure under Georgia law.
The update was shared Tuesday by Judicial Watch, a conservative legal group that sued Willis in March after her office denied having any records of communication between Willis and Smith or between Willis and the House January 6th Committee.
Both Smith and the House Select Committee had been investigating alleged efforts by President-elect Donald Trump and his allies to overturn the results of the 2020 election—putting their investigations directly in the crosshairs of Judicial Watch and other conservative activists.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney ordered Willis last Monday to produce any records of communication with either Smith or the House Select Committee on Jan. 6 within five business days, siding with Judicial Watch in determining that Willis had indeed violated the state’s open records act by failing to respond to the lawsuit.
Willis, for her part, claims she was not properly served by the group.
The Fulton County Open Records Department appears to disagree. In a new court filing this week, they said that their staff conducted a "diligent search" but had not uncovered any records of documents or communications between Willis and Smith, the special counsel tapped by Attorney General Merrick Garland in 2022 to oversee two investigations into the alleged actions of former President Donald Trump.
Additionally, staff for the Open Records Department asserted any records or documents between Willis and the House Select Committee on Jan. 6 are still "legally exempt" or "exempted from disclosure" to Judicial Watch under the Georgia Open Records Law, which itself protects against the release of documents or records that arose from an investigation, subsequent indictment, or prosecution in the ongoing case against Trump and his allies.
The filing comes as Willis's actions have come under scrutiny by Republican lawmakers and conservative nonprofit groups.
Members of the Republican-led House Judiciary Committee have said Willis asked the House Select Committee on January 6th to share information with her office, prompting additional scrutiny into those communications.
Trump and 18 others pleaded not guilty in Fulton County last year to all charges stemming from a sweeping racketeering indictment brought by the DA's office, which accused them of attempting to overturn the results of the presidential election.
The charges against Trump in Georgia had been on hold after his attorneys filed an appeal to have Willis disqualified from the case, citing alleged conflicts of interest.
Importantly, the charges against Trump in the state have not yet been officially dropped, despite his status as president-elect.
The case's status comes as Smith has wound down all federal court proceedings against Trump following his victory in the 2024 election and longstanding Justice Department policy that prevents U.S. prosecutors from bringing federal criminal charges against a sitting president.
Fox News Digital’s Haley Chi-Sing contributed to this report.
This comes three years after the tragic accident that occurred in Chiapas, Mexico, which killed and maimed scores of migrants, including children.
Four of the Guatemalan nationals – Tomas Quino Canil, 36; Alberto Marcario Chitic, 31; Oswaldo Manuel Zavala Quino, 24; and Josefa Quino Canil De Zavala, 42 – were arrested by Guatemalan law enforcement and surrendered to U.S. authorities.
Another smuggler – Jorge Agapito Ventura, 32 – was taken into custody by U.S. law enforcement at his home in Cleveland, Texas. The name of the sixth smuggler was blacked out in court documents from the federal court in Texas.
According to Guatemalan Interior Minister Francisco Jiménez, the smugglers are part of a Guatemalan criminal group called "Los Quinos." All six were indicted in connection with the crash in a federal court for the Southern District of Texas.
According to the indictment, all six smugglers conspired between October 2021 and February 2023 to facilitate the travel of migrants from Guatemala through Mexico with the United States as the intended destination.
The indictment alleges that the smugglers recruited Guatemalan migrants to enter the U.S. illegally, collected payments from them and even distributed written scripts to migrant children on what to say if apprehended by U.S. immigration authorities.
During the journey, the smugglers moved the migrants on foot and on buses, cattle trucks and trailers.
On Dec. 9, 2021, migrants being transported by the smugglers in a trailer crashed into a steel pedestrian bridge near a small town called Tuxtla Gutierrez, resulting in more than 50 deaths.
Rescue workers discovered the crash with migrants inside the cargo trailer tossed and crushed in a pile of both the living and the dead. The trailer had been loaded with around 200 migrants.
In a statement released this week, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said: "Human smugglers should heed these charges and arrests as a warning: you will be held accountable for your deadly crimes."
"The Justice Department is holding accountable the individuals who we allege preyed on vulnerable migrants and are responsible for this heinous crime that resulted in the deaths of over 50 people and injured over 100 more," said Garland. "We will continue to work across agencies and across borders to stop the scourge of human smuggling."
U.S. Attorney Alamdar Hamdani for the Southern District of Texas said that "while this crash transpired beyond our borders, it is imperative that the pursuit of justice transcends those boundaries."
"Today, we reiterate our commitment to ensuring that those allegedly responsible for exploiting the vulnerabilities of families seeking refuge and opportunity face the full force of the law," said Hamdani.
The six are being charged with conspiracy to bring undocumented aliens to the United States, placing life in jeopardy, causing serious bodily injuries and causing death. The penalties for these crimes include death or imprisonment up to life.
Republican Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley doubled down that he believes Christopher Wray has failed his "fundamental duties" as FBI director in a blistering letter expressing he has "no confidence" in Wray’s continued leadership over the agency.
"For the good of the country, it’s time for you and your deputy to move on to the next chapter in your lives. I’ve spent my career fighting for transparency, and I’ve always called out those in government who have fought against it," Grassley wrote in a letter to Wray on Monday morning, referring also to the FBI’s deputy director Paul Abbate. "For the public record, I must do so once again now."
Grassley went on to say he "must express my vote of no confidence in your continued leadership of the FBI. President-elect Trump has already announced his intention to nominate a candidate to replace you, and the Senate will carefully consider that choice. For my part, I’ve also seen enough, and hope your respective successors will learn from these failures," Grassley, who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, continued.
The longtime Republican senator’s letter comes as Trump’s pick to lead the FBI, Kash Patel, headed to Capitol Hill on Monday to meet with lawmakers, including Grassley, and rally support for his confirmation.
Before the Senate could potentially confirm Patel as FBI chief under the second Trump administration, Wray would need to step down or be fired, as he is in the midst of a 10-year appointment that does not end until 2027.
Grassley’s lengthy letter to Wray, which spans 11 pages, detailed specific examples of Wray’s "failures" as FBI director, which Grassley said "shattered my confidence in your leadership and the confidence and hope many others in Congress placed in you." The Iowa senator previously argued that Wray has "failed" as FBI director in a social media message posted one day after Trump nominated Patel as FBI chief.
Grassley pointed to the FBI’s "unprecedented raid" of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home in Florida in August 2022 regarding classified documents as an example of Wray's failures. The Republican senator noted the raid included about 30 armed agents who were authorized to "use lethal force if needed" in order to execute the search warrant.
The agents "even searched the former First Lady’s clothing drawers," Grassley continued.
"This raid occurred despite serious questions about the need for it. President Trump apparently was cooperating with the investigation, notwithstanding liberal press reports. He voluntarily turned over 15 boxes of documents months before the FBI’s drastic escalation," Grassley continued, adding that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton never faced such a raid "even though she and her staff mishandled highly classified information while using a non-government server."
He also hit the FBI for acting as an "accomplice to the Democrats’ false information campaign designed to undermine my investigation of alleged Biden-family corruption."
"On August 6, 2020, as Senator Ron Johnson and I were finishing our report on the Biden family’s financial connections to foreign governments and questionable foreign nationals, you succumbed to pressure from Democrats in Congress and provided an unnecessary briefing that Democratic leadership requested in an effort to falsely label our investigation as Russian disinformation."
"That briefing consisted of information we already knew and information that wasn’t connected to our Biden investigation. We made clear at the time our concern that the briefing would be subject to a leak that would shed false light on the focus of our investigation. Predictably, on May 1, 2021, the Washington Post did just that, falsely labeling our investigation as Russian disinformation," he continued.
He added that the FBI "sat on bribery allegations" against Biden when he served as vice president, as well as Biden's son, Hunter Biden, and Ukrainian officials.
"Consistent with that FBI failure, yet another glaring example of FBI’s broken promises under your leadership is its inexcusable failure to investigate bribery allegations against former Vice President Joe Biden, while strictly scrutinizing former President Trump. You’ve repeatedly claimed you would ensure the FBI does justice, ‘free of fear, favor, or partisan influence.’ The FBI under your watch, however, had possession of incriminating information against President Biden for three years until I exposed the existence of the record outlining those allegations, but did nothing to investigate it," he wrote.
Grassley argued that under Wray’s leadership, the FBI has also shown an "outright disdain for congressional oversight," including failure to provide lawmakers with information related to the "FBI’s ongoing mishandling of sexual harassment claims" made by female employees.
"This request was not pulled out of a hat. It was based on credible whistleblower disclosures alleging hundreds of FBI employees had retired or resigned to avoid accountability for sexual misconduct," Grassley wrote.
The FBI also "refused" to provide information to lawmakers regarding the vetting process of Afghan nationals amid the Biden administration's botched withdrawal from the nation in 2021, Grassley added. The FBI also came under fire from Grassley for "refusing to provide information to Congress on the FBI’s ‘Richmond memo,’" which has become known as the anti-Catholic memo for depicting traditional Catholics as violent extremists.
"Your and Deputy Director Abbate’s failure to take control of the FBI has hindered my work and others’ work throughout multiple Congresses on matters that needed timely information, and has prevented the truth on some issues from ever reaching the American people. You’ve also shown a continuing double standard and failure to carry through on promises," Grassley wrote in his letter.
When asked about Grassley's letter, the FBI told Fox News Digital that "the FBI has repeatedly demonstrated our commitment to responding to Congressional oversight and being transparent with the American people."
"Director Wray and Deputy Director Abbate have taken strong actions toward achieving accountability in the areas mentioned in the letter and remain committed to sharing information about the continuously evolving threat environment facing our nation and the extraordinary work of the FBI."
Trump joined NBC’s "Meet the Press" for an interview that aired Sunday, where the president-elect also slammed Wray and said the "FBI’s respect has gone way down over the last number of years."
"He invaded my home. I’m suing the country over it. He invaded Mar-a-Lago. I’m very unhappy with the things he’s done. And crime is at an all-time high. Migrants are pouring into the country that are from prisons and from mental institutions, as we’ve discussed. I can’t say I’m thrilled," Trump said during the interview.
"I certainly can not be happy with him. Take a look at what’s happened. And then when I was shot in the ear, he said, maybe it was shrapnel. Where’s the shrapnel coming from? Is it coming from heaven? I don’t think so. So we need somebody to – you know, I have a lot of respect for the FBI. But the FBI’s respect has gone way down over the last number of years," Trump continued.
Wray has not revealed whether he will voluntarily step down as FBI director, with Trump expected to fire Wray in order to make room for Patel as FBI director.
Patel is a longtime Trump ally and crusader against the "deep state," who has advocated for the firings of "corrupt actors" within the FBI, "aggressive" congressional oversight over the agency, complete overhauls to special counsels, and moving the FBI out of Washington, D.C.
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment on Grassley's letter, but did not immediately receive responses.
President Biden pardoned his son, Hunter Biden, ending a saga that has lasted for more than six years, with wide-ranging investigations by the Justice Department and both chambers of Congress related to his conduct and business dealings.
Hunter Biden was found guilty of three felony firearm offenses stemming from Special Counsel David Weiss’ investigation. The first son was also charged with federal tax crimes regarding the failure to pay at least $1.4 million in taxes. Before his trial, Hunter Biden entered a surprise guilty plea.
The charges carried up to 17 years behind bars. His sentencing was scheduled for Dec. 16.
Here’s a look back at how it all began:
The federal investigation into Hunter Biden began in 2018.
The probe was predicated, in part, by suspicious activity reports (SARs) regarding foreign transactions. Those SARs, according to sources familiar with the investigation, involved funds from "China and other foreign nations."
Fox News first reported the existence of some type of federal investigation involving Hunter Biden in October 2020, ahead of the last presidential election. It became known then that in the course of an existing money laundering investigation, the FBI had subpoenaed the laptop purportedly belonging to Hunter Biden.
Stories about the laptop were widely panned by Democrats and mainstream media outlets as Russian disinformation. At the time, then-Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe confirmed that the laptop was "not part of some Russian disinformation campaign," but that claim was rejected by Democrats and many in the media.
Social media companies like Twitter and Facebook censored and limited the circulation of stories related to Hunter Biden's laptop before the 2020 presidential election.
Only in 2022 did media outlets verify that the laptop did belong to Hunter Biden and did hold legitimate records belonging to him.
Twitter, under the new ownership of Elon Musk, released records surrounding the company's decisions to block the circulation of the Hunter Biden stories – even though he had been under federal investigation at that point for nearly two years.
Hunter Biden confirmed the investigation into his "tax affairs" in December 2020, after his father was elected president.
But Hunter Biden’s business dealings were also, simultaneously, being investigated by Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., in 2019. Specifically, the senators were investigating Hunter Biden’s business dealings with Ukrainian natural gas firm Burisma Holdings.
Grassley and Johnson released a report in September 2020 saying that Obama administration officials "knew" that Hunter Biden’s position on the board of Burisma was "problematic" and that it interfered "in the efficient execution of policy with respect to Ukraine."
Hunter Biden joined Burisma in April 2014 and, at the time, reportedly connected the firm with consulting firm Blue Star Strategies to help the natural gas company fight corruption charges in Ukraine. During the time Hunter Biden was on the board of the company, Joe Biden was vice president and was running U.S.-Ukraine relations and policy for the Obama administration.
Also in 2019, Hunter Biden’s business dealings in Ukraine came into the spotlight during the first impeachment of now-President-elect Donald Trump.
House Republicans wanted to call Hunter Biden to testify in the impeachment proceedings in the fall of 2019.
Trump was acquitted in Feb. 2020 on both articles of impeachment against him — abuse of power and obstruction of Congress — after being impeached by the House of Representatives in December 2019.
Trump was impeached after a July 2019 phone call in which he pressed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to launch investigations into the Biden family’s actions and business dealings in Ukraine, specifically Hunter Biden’s ventures with Burisma and Joe Biden’s successful effort to have former Ukrainian Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin ousted.
At the same time as that call, Hunter Biden was under federal investigation, prompted by his suspicious foreign transactions.
Trump's request was regarded by Democrats as a quid pro quo because millions in U.S. military aid to Ukraine had been frozen. Democrats also said Trump was meddling in the 2020 presidential election by asking a foreign leader to look into a Democrat political opponent.
Republicans had been investigating Hunter Biden’s business dealings, specifically with regard Burisma. House Republicans, who were in the minority at the time, made several requests to subpoena Hunter Biden for testimony and documents related to the impeachment of Trump and his business dealings that fell at the center of the proceedings.
Biden has acknowledged that when he was vice president, he successfully pressured Ukraine to fire Shokin. At the time, Shokin was investigating Burisma and Hunter Biden had a highly lucrative role on the board, receiving thousands of dollars per month. The then-vice president threatened to withhold $1 billion of critical U.S. aid if Shokin were not fired.
"I said, ‘You’re not getting the billion.' … I looked at them and said, ‘I’m leaving in six hours. If the prosecutor is not fired, you’re not getting the money,’" Biden recalled telling then-Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. Biden recollected the conversation during an event for the Council on Foreign Relations in 2018.
Meanwhile, once President Biden took office, the House Oversight Committee led by Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., began investigating Hunter Biden’s business dealings and the business dealings of the Biden family. Comer ultimately found that the Biden family and its associates had received more than $27 million from foreign individuals or entities since 2014.
But it wasn’t until 2023 that whistleblowers from the IRS, Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler, brought allegations of politicization in the federal probe of Hunter Biden to Congress.
The two alleged that political influence had infected prosecutorial decisions in the federal probe, which was led by Trump-appointed Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weiss, who they said had requested to become a special counsel.
After Shapley and Ziegler testified publicly, Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Weiss as special counsel to continue his investigation of the first son and, ultimately, bring federal charges against him in two separate jurisdictions — Delaware and California.
House Republicans continued to investigate allegations of politicization brought by Ziegler and Shapley, as well as findings related to the Biden family’s business dealings from Comer’s probe.
Comer, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan and Ways & Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith came together and launched an impeachment inquiry against President Biden to determine whether he had any involvement in his son’s business dealings. Biden repeatedly denied having any involvement, despite evidence placing him at meetings and on phone calls with his son and his foreign business partners.
In August, House lawmakers released their final report, spanning 292 pages, saying that Biden had engaged in "impeachable conduct." They said he had "abused his office" and "defrauded the United States to enrich his family."
Republicans said there is "overwhelming evidence" that Biden had participated in a "conspiracy to monetize his office of public trust to enrich his family." They alleged that the Biden family and their business associates had received tens of millions of dollars from foreign interests by "leading those interests to believe that such payments would provide them access to and influence with President Biden."
In the summer of 2023, Hunter Biden pleaded guilty to federal gun charges as part of a plea deal that collapsed before a federal judge in Delaware. In a stunning reversal, Hunter Biden was forced to plead not guilty and sat for a trial this year.
Before his trial for federal tax crimes, Hunter Biden pleaded guilty.
President Biden’s pardon of his son came after months of vowing to the American people that he would not do so.
But on Sunday, the president announced a blanket pardon that applies to any offenses against the U.S. that Hunter Biden "has committed or may have committed" from Jan. 1, 2014, to Dec. 1, 2024.
"From the day I took office, I said I would not interfere with the Justice Department’s decision-making, and I kept my word even as I have watched my son being selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted," Biden said. "There has been an effort to break Hunter — who has been five and a half years sober, even in the face of unrelenting attacks and selective prosecution. In trying to break Hunter, they’ve tried to break me — and there’s no reason to believe it will stop here. Enough is enough."
Biden added, "I hope Americans will understand why a father and a president would come to this decision."
The 13 members of the House’s bipartisan panel investigating the assassination attempt of President-elect Trump huddled around a microphone in the Rayburn House Office Building early Thursday afternoon. The task force had just concluded its hearing exploring what went wrong and how to fix problems at the Secret Service.
"We tried to set the tone that this was going to be a serious and bipartisan effort," said Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo., the top Democrat on the task force. "And that's exactly what you see here. And that's exactly how it played out."
"We never identified as Republicans or Democrats. We have identified as task force members," declared Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Penn., who chaired the effort.
The committee forged common ground about how the Secret Service had failed its mission in Butler, Penn., when gunman Thomas Crooks nearly killed Mr. Trump. They are pleased with some reforms at the Secret Service, such as increased use of drones, automated robot "dogs" on the property of the incoming President’s golf club in Florida and enhanced communication with local law enforcement.
Bipartisan lawmakers also expressed frustration that they never got to examine the body of Crooks. They still haven’t determined a motive. Nor have they established whether Crooks worked alone or had help.
"The Department of Justice to this point has not provided this task force with information about the digital devices," lamented Rep. Laurel Lee, R-Fla., who served on the committee.
"And that’s still a black hole to this day?" asked yours truly.
"Correct," replied Lee.
Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe was the lone witness at the hearing.
He declared "there will be accountability and that accountability is occurring." Yet he didn’t cite specific examples of discipline.
"It is essential that we recognize the gravity of our failure. I personally carry the weight of knowing that we almost lost a protectee," added Rowe at the hearing. "I have reflected extensively on the agency's substandard performance during the advance for the Butler rally."
That’s all well and good. But no one will remember any of that. And in fact, no one will remember that the committee embodied one of the best examples of significant bipartisanship in Congress in years.
That’s because of a thermonuclear fracas which erupted between Rep. Pat Fallon, R-Tex., and Rowe.
I have covered Congress for decades. I’ve seen former Rep. Bob Walker, R-Penn., slam the gavel down so angrily that the head broke off and spiraled into the well of the chamber. I’ve seen a near fist-fight between lawmakers early in the morning of January 7, 2021, hours after the Capitol riot. Just last year, Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., challenged Teamsters President Sean O’Brien to a fight during a hearing. Never mind that Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., chased former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., through the halls on the same day. Burchett said McCarthy elbowed him in the kidneys.
But I have never observed a verbal brawl between a lawmaker and a witness like the Fallon-Rowe tilt.
Both men utterly exploded in anger, barking at each other and jabbing their index fingers.
Various accounts said the two "sparred." If this was sparring, then Ali versus Frazier was afternoon tea at the Willard.
"You are out of line!" thundered Rowe. "You are out of line, Congressman!"
"Don't try to bully me!" fumed Fallon. "Don't try to bully me!"
"Do not invoke 9/11 for political purposes!" yelled Rowe. "I was there out of respect!"
"Oh, that’s a bunch of horse hockey!" retorted Fallon. "You endangered President Biden's life! Vice President Harris's life, because you put those agents out of position!"
Anything of substance about improvements by the Secret Service or after-action reviews fell by the wayside. This was now the main event. And no one would recall much else.
Here’s some context on what lit the fuse to his melee:
From the dais, Fallon held up a picture of President Biden, Vice President Harris, President-elect Trump along with President-elect and Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, standing at Ground Zero on 9/11 of this year. Fallon notes that Rowe is in the picture, near the principals. One photo displayed by Fallon even circled Rowe in red.
Fallon asked Rowe whether he was the "Special Agent in Charge" or "SAC" that day. That’s where things spiraled out of control.
"Actually, Congressman, what you're not seeing is the SAC of the detail out of the picture's view," said Rowe.
His voice then grew gravelly with just a splice of disdain.
"That is the day where we remember the more than 3,000 people that have died on 9/11," said Rowe, his verbal timbre rising. "I actually responded to Ground Zero. I was there going through the ashes of the World Trade Center. I was there at Fresh Kills (Landfall in New York)."
That’s when Fallon sneered at Rowe.
"I'm not asking you that! I'm asking you if you were the Special Agent in Charge!" hollered Fallon.
Fallon asserted that Rowe was not serving as a true protective agent that day. He suggested that Rowe essentially shoved other agents out of the way for political purposes – endangering the lives of protectees.
"You know why you were there? Because you wanted to be visible, because you were auditioning for this job that you're not going to get!" said Fallon.
He suggested that Rowe wanted the "acting" removed from his title.
"Did you have a radio with you? Did you wear a vest? Did you wear a weapon? No," said Fallon.
"I did, sir!" growled Rowe.
Before the hearing, I asked Rowe whether he wanted to become the permanent Secret Service Director. He didn’t respond.
Fallon alleged that Rowe’s positioning asserts that the lives of President Biden and Vice President Harris were endangered. He implied that lessons have not been learned after the Butler, PA, assassination attempt.
After the hearing, Fallon claimed that Rowe’s positioning at the event was a "vanity project."
I asked Fallon whether the verbal contretemps would "distract from the bipartisanship."
"That wasn’t the intent," Fallon replied.
Fallon pinned the blame on Rowe, saying "he started screaming."
Rowe left the Capitol complex before reporters could ask for his take on the mayhem.
I asked Fallon if there was anything else he should expect after the clash.
"If there's a bag of heroin in my car, or I get a rope around my neck and get un-alive, you’ll know why," said Fallon.
The Trump assassination attempt is already radioactive. And while the committee tried to focus on the failures and what had gone wrong, all that most people will remember is one of the most volatile quarrels in the history of Congressional hearings.
Special Counsel Jack Smith is required to submit to the Justice Department a report summarizing the results of his dual investigations into President-elect Trump — an action that will put a formal end to his two-year probe and one that will punt all next steps, including whether to make public the results of the report, to outgoing Attorney General Merrick Garland.
Smith — a longtime prosecutor who worked in The Hague and at the Justice Department, including as chief of the DOJ's Public Integrity Section — was tapped by Garland in 2022 to investigate both the alleged effort by Trump and his allies to overturn the results of the 2020 election, as well as Trump's keeping of allegedly classified documents at his Florida residence.
Justice Department regulations mandate that a special counsel submit to the attorney general a confidential report detailing the findings of their investigation after it is concluded, and explaining any prosecution or declination decisions they reached as a result of the probe.
In Smith's case, the prosecution decision is immaterial, given Trump's status as president-elect and longstanding Justice Department policy against bringing criminal charges against a sitting president.
But he still must outline the investigation and its findings in his report to Garland, who will then decide whether to share it publicly.
Notably, Garland has opted to release the reports from two other special counsels whose investigations concluded during his tenure — publishing both the summary reports submitted by John Durham, who was tapped by then-Attorney General Bill Barr in 2019 to review law enforcement and intelligence gathering during the 2016 presidential campaign and the origins of the Trump-Russia probe, as well as the final report from Robert Hur, a former U.S. attorney whom he tapped in 2023 to investigate President Biden's handling of classified documents.
These reports were made public at the same time as they were shared with members of Congress. But it is unclear whether Garland will move to do the same with Smith's findings, given their sensitivity and Trump's status as president-elect.
The Justice Department declined to respond to Fox News's request for comment on the status of the report or whether Garland plans to share it publicly.
Smith has long pointed to Dec. 2 as the deadline for his team to submit their final status reports to the federal judges in the D.C. and the 11th Circuit Courts summarizing the results of their investigations into the cases against Trump, which were dismissed without prejudice late last month.
Under Justice Department regulations, a special counsel is required at the conclusion of their work to "provide the Attorney General with a confidential report explaining the prosecution or declination decisions reached."
Garland has the authority to decide whether to make Smith's report public before Biden leaves office, or whether to punt it to the incoming Trump administration.
It is unclear how he will act, however, and the Justice Department did not respond to Fox News Digital's request for more information on the matter.
Smith had indicted Trump in D.C. earlier this year on charges stemming from the former president's alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election outcome, and his team also brought federal charges against Trump in Florida in the classified documents case.
Trump, for his part, had railed against the special counsel investigation as a politically motivated "witch hunt" and vowed during his presidential campaign to fire Smith "within two seconds," if elected. Smith, for his part, is expected to resign before Trump's inauguration, and his team of prosecutors has moved in recent weeks to wind down their cases against Trump.
Late last month, Smith filed motions to vacate deadlines in both cases against Trump following his election, citing an Office of Legal Counsel memo that states it is against Department of Justice policy to investigate a sitting president for federal criminal charges and is a violation of the separation of powers doctrine.
They have also cited a July Supreme Court decision that widened the criteria for immunity for sitting presidents.
Smith's team stressed in their most recent court filing that their motion to vacate the case is based solely on the Office of Legal Counsel policy, and not on the merits of the investigation itself.
"That prohibition is categorical and does not turn on the gravity of the crimes charged, the strength of the Government’s proof, or the merits of the prosecution, which the Government stands fully behind," Smith’s office wrote in their motion to dismiss the election interference case.
"The Government’s position on the merits of the defendant’s prosecution has not changed. But the circumstances have," they added.
Let’s face it, trust in most of our government institutions has utterly collapsed.
Many people don’t have faith in the FDA, the DOD, HUD, Homeland Security, the health agencies, and the list goes on. And they don’t trust the media to deliver basic facts about Washington without bias and blunders.
These sentiments have basically been growing for the last 60 years, since the lies about Vietnam merged with the lies about Watergate and forced Richard Nixon to resign.
But the most sensitive federal agency, everyone would agree, is the Justice Department, including the FBI. Donald Trump has been attacking these agencies for years (along with the "fake news"), accusing them of politically persecuting him. He campaigned outside courthouses by telling reporters the prosecutors and judges were awful people who were out to get him solely because he was the leading candidate to win back the White House.
Joe Biden, by breaking his promise not to pardon his son Hunter, did more than just lie. He ripped his own DOJ for "selectively and unfairly prosecuting" his son.
I used to patrol the endless hallways of the J. Edgar Hoover building as the Justice Department beat reporter. On the criminal side, it is supposed to be independent, since Justice often winds up investigating the administration. Back in the day it was filled with fair-minded career prosecutors who pursued legitimate leads regardless of party.
In saying that Hunter Biden was singled out for harsh treatment, the outgoing president is making the same argument as the incoming president, that the department is badly biased. Little wonder that so many people don’t trust DOJ.
All Biden had to do when repeatedly asked about a pardon or commutation was "I’m not going to discuss hypotheticals." Then at least he wouldn’t have the lying part.
There is no question that Pam Bondi, despite some roughing up, will be the next attorney general, having precisely the experience (Florida AG, career prosecutor) that Matt Gaetz so blatantly lacked. She is not going to blow up the department.
But in picking Kash Patel to run the FBI – and ignoring that Chris Wray is not through with his 10-year term – Trump is sending a very different message. And this isn’t some dark secret. It’s in the nominee’s own words.
Patel has vowed to shut down the bureau’s Washington headquarters. He said last year on Steve Bannon’s podcast, which we played on "Media Buzz": "We will go out and find the conspirators…not just in government, but in the media.… Whether it’s criminally or civilly, we’ll figure that out."
In his 2022 book "Government Gangsters," Patel names 60 people as part of the deep state, "a cabal of unelected tyrants…the most dangerous threat to our democracy." The press has dubbed this an enemies list.
It includes the aforementioned Bill Barr (for blocking his appointment), NSC chairman John Bolton (an "arrogant control freak"), and Defense Secretary Mark Esper (who tried to fire him).
Also on the list, as recounted by the New Republic:
Joe Biden.
Kamala Harris.
Hillary Clinton.
Merrick Garland.
Samantha Power, who now runs the Agency for International Development.
Former Obama officials James Clapper; John Brennan; Peter Strzok (who trashed Trump in texts with his FBI girlfriend, Lisa Page), Andrew McCabe (FBI deputy director), Eric Holder and Loretta Lynch.
A striking number are Donald Trump’s own appointees: Pat Cippolone (his White House counsel). Gina Haspel (his CIA director). Mark Esper. Charles Kupperman (his deputy national security adviser).
Cassidy Hutchinson (Mark Meadows’ top aide, who criticized Trump in her testimony before the House Jan. 6 committee).
It’s a pretty big list. And having worked for Trump hardly provides immunity.
Patel would have his work cut out for him, though he’d have to get a career prosecutor to submit a wiretap request or search warrant to the courts.
Meanwhile, many Democratic lawmakers are hitting their party’s president pretty hard for the Hunter pardon, in interviews with the Times.
Colorado Congressman Jason Crow: He promised he would not do this. I think it will make it harder for us going forward when we talk about upholding democracy."
Washington Congresswoman Marie Gluesenkamp Perez: "The president made the wrong decision. No family should be above the law."
Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet said the Biden move "put personal interest ahead of duty and further erodes Americans’ faith that the justice system is fair and equal for all." And his late dropout from the race was also "putting his personal interest ahead of his responsibility to the country."
Vermont Sen. Peter Welch: "President Biden’s pardon of his son Hunter is, as the action of a loving father, understandable — but as the action of our nation’s chief executive, unwise."
Michigan Sen. Gary Peters: "Wrong."
Pretty bracing stuff.
Some progressives defended Biden, such as Texas Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett: "Way to go Joe!" She said a 34-count convicted felon is about to walk into the White House, perhaps missing the news that Jack Smith has dropped the charges.
On "Morning Joe" yesterday, Mika Brzezinski, while saying she wished Biden hadn’t promised no pardon, took on the coverage: "You look at what has happened on the Trump side, especially if you even parallel pardons that Trump has done himself, it’s just always so — it seems so hysterically imbalanced!"
Joe Scarborough spoke of "the frustration that many Democrats are having on the New York Times, The Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, a lot of mainstream organizations blowing this up to the size that they believe is really out of proportion, given everything Donald Trump has done in the past and what he’s doing right now."
Still, the two presidents have wound up in the same place in their view of the Justice Department as partisan and politicized.
One fascinating tidbit dug up by the Times: When Biden had Trump to the White House, according to three sources, and listened to his familiar grievances about the biased DOJ – the president-elect "surprised his host by sympathizing with the Biden family’s own troubles with the department."
Critics of "deep state" foe Kash Patel, President-elect Trump’s pick to lead the FBI, call the veteran official a "danger" to the U.S. who will politicize the bureau – but a review of the agency's recent history shows the upper echelon of the FBI has long had a politicization problem, and Patel says he's just the man to end it.
Trump announced over the weekend that he is nominating Patel as FBI director, after years as a public defender and working up the echelons of the federal government, including as senior director for counterterrorism at the National Security Council under the Trump administration, and chief of staff to acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller toward the end of Trump's first term.
Patel is an outspoken crusader against the "deep state." In a book published last year, he explicitly called for revamping the FBI in a chapter dubbed "Overhauling the FBI," and moving the FBI’s headquarters out of Washington, D.C.
Since 2013, the FBI has seen three directors take the helm: James Comey, who served under the Obama administration before Trump fired him in May 2017; short-term acting-director Andrew McCabe under the Trump administration; and current director, Christopher Wray, whom Trump also appointed.
Amid the political left’s outrage over the Patel pick, Fox News Digital revisited a handful of the agency’s scandals that were lambasted as politically motivated and spoiling the integrity of the agency.
In 2017, the FBI and Special Counsel Robert Mueller came under fire when it was revealed that two FBI employees tasked with investigating and handling alleged Russian interference into the 2016 election had texted each other anti-Trump rhetoric.
"[Trump’s] not ever going to become president, right? Right?!" FBI attorney Lisa Page texted FBI agent Peter Strzok in August 2016, Fox Digital previously reported.
"No. No he won’t. We’ll stop it," Strzok responded.
Strzok wrote in another August 2016 text, seemingly referring to Trump’s chance of winning the 2016 election: "I want to believe the path you threw out for consideration in Andy’s office – that there’s no way he gets elected – but I’m afraid we can’t take that risk. It’s like an insurance policy in the unlikely event you die before you’re 40."
Strzok and Page were both working on Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election – which ultimately found no evidence that Trump or his campaign coordinated with Russia – before Mueller dismissed Strzok from the investigation amid the text scandal. Page left the team before the text messages were discovered and revealed to the public.
The pair had also worked together on the investigation into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server for official government duties.
The FBI ultimately fired Strzok in 2018 over the texts, as conservative lawmakers and critics lambasted the "bias" within the FBI.
"In Louisiana, we call that bias, we don't call that objective," Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said on Fox News at the time.
While then-House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy said: "Peter Strzok's manifest bias trending toward animus casts a pall on this investigation… His bias impacted his decision-making and he assigned to himself the role of stopping the Trump campaign or ending a Trump Presidency."
"This is not the FBI I know," the South Carolina Republican added.
Trump slammed the scandal as an instance of "treason."
"A man is tweeting to his lover that if [former Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton] loses, we'll essentially do the insurance policy," Trump said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal in 2018. "We'll go to phase two and we'll get this guy out of office."
"This is the FBI we're talking about – that is treason," he continued. "That is a treasonous act. What he tweeted to his lover is a treasonous act."
Trump dismissed FBI Director James Comey on May 9, 2017, with Deputy Director Andrew McCabe stepping up to take the helm of the agency for roughly three months before he was fired for allegedly leaking information to the press and initially lying about the leaks, Justice Department's internal watchdog found in a 2018 investigation.
McCabe automatically assumed the responsibilities of FBI director upon Comey’s firing, as the Trump administration searched for another FBI chief. McCabe had reportedly been in the running for the nomination, but was ultimately replaced by Wray in August of that year. Then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions fired McCabe just days before he would have been eligible for a lifetime pension after it was determined that he had leaked a self-serving story to the press regarding the bureau’s probe of Clinton’s email server, and then misled investigators on the matter.
Sessions said McCabe "made an unauthorized disclosure to the news media and lacked candor − including under oath − on multiple occasions."
The DOJ IG report found McCabe leaked information of an August 2016 call to the Wall Street Journal for an Oct. 30, 2016, story titled "FBI in Internal Feud Over Hillary Clinton Probe." The story focused on the FBI announcing the reopening of the Clinton investigation after finding thousands of her emails on a laptop belonging to former Democratic Rep. Anthony Weiner, who was married to Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin.
The Journal reported a senior Justice Department official expressed displeasure to McCabe that FBI agents were still looking into the Clinton Foundation, and that McCabe had defended the FBI’s authority to pursue the issue.
McCabe filed a lawsuit over the firing, and saw his pension restored as part of a settlement deal that also vacated Sessions’ decision, and removed any mention of being fired from McCabe’s FBI record.
Under Director Comey’s tenure as FBI chief, the agency came under fire when media outlets began reporting in 2019 that the DOJ’s watchdog made a criminal referral to U.S. prosecutor John Durham regarding FBI attorney Kevin Clinesmith, elevating the investigation from an inquiry to a criminal probe. Durham was the U.S. attorney for Connecticut and later tapped by then-Attorney General Bill Barr to lead a criminal investigation into the origins of the FBI investigating alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Clinesmith had worked on the FBI's Crossfire Hurricane investigation, which investigated alleged claims Russia interfered in the 2016 election, when Trump won the Oval Office in his campaign against Clinton.
The DOJ inspector general accused Clinesmith, though not by name, of altering an email about former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page to say that he was "not a source" for another government agency, downplaying Page’s relationship with the CIA. Page had worked as an "operational contact" for the CIA for about five years until 2013.
The Justice Department relied on Clinesmith’s altered email assertion as it submitted a third and final renewal application in 2017 to eavesdrop on Page under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).
The Justice Department’s charging document stated that Clinesmith "did willfully and knowingly make and use a false writing and document, knowing the same to contain a materially false, fictitious, and fraudulent statement and entry in a matter before the jurisdiction of the executive branch and judicial branch of the Government of the United States."
Clinesmith ultimately pleaded guilty to "one count of making a false statement within both the jurisdiction of the executive branch and judicial branch of the U.S. government, an offense that carries a maximum term of imprisonment of five years and a fine of up to $250,000."
He was sentenced in 2021 to 12 months probation and 400 hours of community service.
Page said the 2020 Clinesmith indictment was the "first step on the road to justice" for the FBI and DOJ, slamming Clinesmith's actions as "false conspiracies and made-up lies paid for by Democrats."
"Friday was just a first step on the road to justice, because it was the first time that I started to see some semblance of justice from the DOJ and FBI with the fact they were acting in accordance with Crime Victims' Rights Act, a law that was totally avoided and not respected throughout last four years," Page told "Mornings with Maria" at the time.
Trump’s first national security adviser Michael Flynn, who also served as Obama administration Defense Intelligence Agency chief, was embroiled in FBI legal woes at the start of Trump’s first administration amid the FBI’s Crossfire Hurricane investigation, which ultimately sparked the Mueller investigation and was followed by the Durham report.
In December 2017, when Comey helmed the FBI, Flynn struck a plea deal with Mueller, pleading guilty to giving false statements to the FBI, which included comment regarding his communications with a Russian ambassador. Flynn also admitted to filing paperwork under the Foreign Agents Registration Act that contained misrepresentations regarding business with Turkey.
The plea deal included Flynn’s cooperation with Mueller’s special counsel investigation into Trump's alleged connections to Russia during the 2016 election.
In 2019, however, Flynn claimed innocence and accused the FBI of misconduct. Internal FBI documents made public in 2020 showed top FBI leadership discussing the motivation behind interviewing Flynn when he served as national security adviser and whether their "goal" was "to get him to lie, so we can prosecute him or get him fired."
The documents were handwritten notes between the FBI's former head of counterintelligence Bill Priestap following a meeting with Comey and McCabe, Fox News Digital previously reported. The notes suggested that agents also planned to get Flynn "to admit to breaking the Logan Act" when he spoke to then-Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak during the presidential transition period.
Strzok was notably one of the FBI agents who interviewed Flynn.
Trump ultimately pardoned Flynn in 2020 and his case was dismissed. Flynn has since said he faced a "political persecution of the highest order."
"So, you know, we went and made the decision that this was the direction that we wanted to go and good enough for President Donald Trump for coming through, and we’re certainly grateful to him," Flynn said in 2020 on Fox News. "But at the same time, we also know that this was a political persecution of the highest order and not something that any American should ever have to go through."
Trump announced over the weekend that he is nominating Patel as FBI director, touting him as someone who will "end the growing crime epidemic in America, dismantle the migrant criminal gangs, and stop the evil scourge of human and drug trafficking across the Border."
Patel has been a staunch Trump ally, including joining the 45th president during his trial in Manhattan in the spring, and echoing that the United States’ security and law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, need to be overhauled. Patel published a book last year called "Government Gangsters," where he railed against the "deep state," the weaponization of the federal government and the Russia investigation into Trump.
"Things are bad. There’s no denying it," Patel wrote in his book. "The FBI has gravely abused its power, threatening not only the rule of law, but the very foundations of self-government at the root of our democracy. But this isn’t the end of the story. Change is possible at the FBI and desperately needed," he wrote.
"The fact is we need a federal agency that investigates federal crimes, and that agency will always be at risk of having its powers abused," he continued, advocating the firing of "corrupt actors," "aggressive" congressional oversight over the agency, complete overhauls to special counsels, and moving the FBI out of Washington, D.C.
Democrats and liberal members of the media have slammed Trump’s choice of Patel, calling him as a "danger" to the U.S. and "unqualified" for the role.
"It’s a terrible development for the men and women of the FBI and also for the nation that depends on a highly functioning, professional, independent Federal Bureau of Investigation. The fact that Kash Patel is profoundly unqualified for this job is not even, like, a matter for debate," McCabe said on CNN following the announcement. "The installation, or the nomination, I guess we should say at this point, of Kash Patel as FBI director can only possibly be a plan to disrupt, to dismantle, to distract the FBI, and to possibly use it as a tool for the president’s political agenda."
Before Patel could assume the role as FBI chief, Wray would need to step down or be fired, as he is in the midst of a 10-year appointment that does not end until 2027. The Senate would also have to confirm Patel.
"It is the honor of a lifetime to be nominated by President Trump to serve as Director of the FBI," Patel said in a statement following the announcement. "Together, we will restore integrity, accountability, and equal justice to our justice system and return the FBI to its rightful mission: protecting the American people."
Fox News Digital's Brooke Singman, Ronn Blitzer and Joseph Wulfsohn contributed to this report.
