Category: Attack Law Enforcement

Kash Patel’s push against Democratic lawmaker raises concerns within FBI – The Washington Post

FBI Director Kash Patel is directing agents in the San Francisco office to rapidly redact and prepare for public release a decade-old investigative file concerning Representative Eric Swalwell and a suspected Chinese intelligence operative, according to three sources with knowledge of the matter. No evidence of wrongdoing by Swalwell has been identified in the file.

Patel's push to release the file has generated alarm within the FBI, with officials concerned that the action reflects a pattern of weaponizing the bureau against political opponents. The effort represents a continuance of Trump administration tactics targeting Democratic lawmakers, particularly those who have been vocal critics, including Swalwell and other members who led investigations into Trump.

Swalwell has been a consistent Trump critic and was previously targeted by the administration's Department of Justice in unsubstantiated allegations. The renewed focus on a file containing no evidence of his misconduct demonstrates the administration's systematic use of law enforcement to discredit and intimidate political adversaries rather than pursue genuine national security interests.

Internal FBI resistance to Patel's directive underscores deep institutional concern about the politicization of the bureau under his leadership. Career officials view the accelerated release of an investigative file unrelated to any proven violation as an abuse of power designed to damage a Democratic lawmaker through selective disclosure and public innuendo.

Representative Swalwell was approached by an FBI informant named Fang Fang, but upon being confronted by the FBI, he immediately cooperated and worked with federal agents to help stop the foreign operative's activities. However, conservative media outlets and Fox News spent years deliberately spreading false claims that Swalwell had a romantic relationship with Fang Fang, when in fact such a relationship involved a different political figure. In stark contrast, when Donald Trump was confronted with evidence of foreign agent involvement, the Mueller Investigation documented that he instead leveraged these contacts for his benefit and actively obstructed the FBI's ability to investigate him and his associates.

(Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/03/28/fbi-patel-eric-swalwell/)

Trump Celebrates Mueller’s Death as ‘Glad He’s Dead’

Donald Trump expressed satisfaction at former special counsel Robert Mueller’s death on Saturday, posting on Truth Social that he was “glad he’s dead” and that Mueller could “no longer hurt innocent people.” Mueller, who died Friday at age 81, led the 2017-2019 investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and potential Trump campaign coordination with Moscow.

Mueller’s probe resulted in a 448-page report concluding the Trump campaign did not conspire with the Russian government but explicitly declining to determine whether Trump obstructed justice. Trump consistently attacked the investigation as a “witch hunt” and “hoax,” claims he continues to make nearly seven years later, while granting clemency or pardons to multiple figures caught in Mueller’s inquiry, including Michael Flynn, George Papadopoulos, and Roger Stone.

Trump’s statement drew sharp condemnation from Democratic lawmakers. Senator Adam Schiff stated Trump’s response demonstrated his “basic indecency and unfitness for office,” while Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer criticized Trump’s cruelty and accused him of using the death as a distraction from policy failures including rising gas prices, ongoing military conflicts, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement abuses. Some Republicans also joined in the criticism.

The incident reflects Trump’s broader pattern of weaponizing the presidency against perceived enemies. Trump commuted the sentence of longtime adviser Roger Stone, and his administration has consistently worked to expand presidential power over federal agencies while targeting political opponents through the Justice Department.

Mueller served as a U.S. Marine and lifelong public servant whose investigation documented extensive contacts between Trump’s campaign and Russian operatives. Trump’s response demonstrates his continued hostility toward accountability mechanisms and his willingness to express malice toward those who scrutinize his conduct, normalizing the abuse of presidential office to settle personal grievances.

(Source: https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5794930-trump-reacts-mueller-death/amp/)

Trump DOJ Subpoenas Comey In Retribution Grand Conspiracy

The Department of Justice, led by Trump’s former personal attorneys, subpoenaed former FBI Director James Comey as part of a “grand conspiracy” probe targeting Trump’s political enemies, according to multiple media reports. The investigation, being conducted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, targets former intelligence and law enforcement officials who allegedly conspired to prevent Trump from exercising constitutional rights between his 2016 election and 2023 federal indictments. The probe has issued over 130 subpoenas in total.

Comey’s subpoena relates to his role drafting a January 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment concluding that Russia interfered in the 2016 election to sabotage Hillary Clinton and benefit Trump. Former CIA Director John Brennan received a similar subpoena last year for his involvement in the same assessment. Trump’s current CIA director, John Ratcliffe, referred both Comey and Brennan to the DOJ for prosecution, claiming they committed misconduct by including a summary of the Steele dossier in the assessment.

The dossier summary was placed in an annex and did not support the assessment’s core analytical judgments, a distinction that a Republican-led Senate Intelligence Committee confirmed in 2020 when it reached identical conclusions about Russian interference and determined the dossier played no role in supporting the assessment’s core findings. A Trump-appointed federal judge, Aileen Cannon, oversees the grand jury in the Trump-friendly Southern District of Florida and previously showed Trump unusual deference while handling special counsel Jack Smith’s classified documents investigation.

The DOJ’s retribution campaign against Trump’s perceived enemies has already produced a failed prosecution of Comey in the Eastern District of Virginia after judges ruled the prosecutor, former Trump attorney Lindsey Halligan, was unlawfully appointed. Attorney General Pam Bondi, another Trump personal attorney, all but confirmed the conspiracy investigation’s existence in statements to a far-right media outlet in December, while prominent Trump supporters previewed it in comments last year.

Brennan previously requested that the chief judge in the Southern District of Florida block Cannon from overseeing the DOJ’s conspiracy investigation due to her demonstrated bias during the classified documents case, citing her unusual favoritism toward Trump throughout that proceeding.

(Source: https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/justice-departmeny-comey-subpoena-trump-grand-conspiracy-probe/)

FBI Fires 10 Agents From Trump Documents Investigation

At least 10 FBI employees who investigated Trump’s retention of classified documents were fired on Wednesday following allegations by FBI Director Kash Patel that the bureau had improperly subpoenaed his phone records as a private citizen. Patel claimed the FBI used “flimsy pretexts” to obtain the records, though Reuters reported he provided no evidence of wrongdoing by the terminated staff. All fired agents and analysts worked on the documents case overseen by Special Counsel Jack Smith, which resulted in the first federal criminal indictments against a former president.

The firings represent Trump administration retaliation against federal employees who conducted investigations into Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election and obstruct the Justice Department’s classified documents inquiry. A source confirmed that White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles’ records were reviewed as part of the documents case, though verification of Patel’s claims remained unavailable. The Trump administration has systematically targeted personnel from both investigations, having previously purged senior FBI agents involved in Trump criminal investigations and fired prosecutors who worked on Smith’s team.

The FBI Agents Association condemned the firings as violations of due process, stating the removals “weaken the Bureau by stripping away critical expertise and destabilizing the workforce” while undermining recruitment and national security. Smith’s investigations led to charges that Trump unlawfully attempted to overturn the 2020 election results and retained classified records while obstructing efforts to retrieve them. A federal judge dismissed the classified documents charges in mid-2024 on grounds that Smith was unlawfully appointed, and Smith dropped the election charges after Trump won the 2024 race.

Trump has demanded prosecution of Smith, former Attorney General Merrick Garland, and former FBI Director Christopher Wray for what he characterized as “illegal and highly unethical behavior.” Attorneys for Smith countered that his actions were “entirely lawful, proper and consistent with established Department of Justice policy.” The Trump administration’s firing campaign extended to agents who worked the Arctic Frost election investigation, as controversy erupted over the FBI obtaining phone records of Republican lawmakers during the January 6 Capitol riot investigation.

(Source: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/at-least-10-fbi-staffers-who-worked-on-mar-a-lago-documents-case-are-fired-sources-say/)

FBI Agent Resigns as DOJ Blocks Renee Good Shooting Probe

FBI supervisor Tracee Mergen resigned from the Minneapolis field office after Washington leadership pressured her to abandon a civil rights investigation into ICE officer Jonathan Ross, who fatally shot 37-year-old Renee Good on January 7. Such inquiries are standard procedure following officer-involved shootings. The Trump administration weaponized the Justice Department by instead investigating Good and her partner for alleged ties to left-wing protest groups, prompting at least six senior prosecutors in the Minneapolis U.S. attorney’s office to resign in protest.

Senior Justice Department officials have stated there are no plans to investigate whether Ross used excessive force when he fired multiple shots at the unarmed mother sitting in her vehicle. Federal investigators refused to cooperate with state and local Minnesota prosecutors seeking to open their own inquiry into the shooting. The New York Times video analysis found no evidence supporting Trump administration officials’ claims that Good attempted to ram Ross with her Honda Pilot, yet they publicly labeled her a “domestic terrorist.”

The Justice Department simultaneously opened investigations into Minnesota Democratic elected officials, including Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, scrutinizing whether they conspired to obstruct Trump’s immigration enforcement through public statements. Subpoenas were issued this week to their offices and St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her’s office as part of this effort.

The department prosecuted three protesters—Nekima Levy-Armstrong, Chauntyll Louisa Allen, and William Kelly—charging them with conspiracy for interrupting a church service to protest a pastor’s apparent ICE work, alleging they “intimidated, harassed, oppressed and terrorized the parishioners.” Federal judges denied prosecutors’ requests to detain the three while awaiting trial.

These actions reflect a coordinated strategy by the Trump administration’s Justice Department to shield federal immigration enforcement from oversight, punish Democratic critics of ICE operations, and criminalize protest activity opposing deportation policies, while Trump falsely claimed protesters were paid agitators.

(Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/23/us/fbi-agent-ice-shooting-renee-good.html)

Patel Purges FBI Agents Tied to Trump Criminal Investigations

FBI Director Kash Patel has orchestrated a systematic removal of senior agents from the bureau’s field offices, targeting officials directly involved in investigations of Donald Trump. The special agents in charge in Atlanta and New Orleans were ousted, along with the acting assistant director of the New York field office, while approximately six agents in Miami were forced out for their role in the Mar-a-Lago search that recovered classified documents stored at Trump’s Florida resort. Additional agents were removed for involvement in the Arctic Frost investigation into Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

The scale of these removals is unprecedented in FBI history, an agency traditionally staffed by non-political civil servants operating as an independent law enforcement body. Patel and his staff informed conservative media outlets they are committed to purging anyone involved in authorizing payments to confidential sources who identified January 6 insurrectionists, making clear the political targeting of personnel based on their prior investigative work.

The timing of these firings coincided with former special counsel Jack Smith’s Capitol Hill testimony defending his prosecution decisions in both the classified documents case and the election interference investigation. Smith testified that his investigative approach was legally sound, but Republican lawmakers attacked him for alleged bias while Trump demanded Attorney General Pam Bondi investigate Smith during the hearing itself.

The FBI Agents Association has stated that firing agents without evidence of misconduct or proper legal cause violates proper procedure, yet Patel has proceeded without restriction. Prior to these removals, Patel fired a dozen agents for kneeling during a racial justice protest following George Floyd’s death, demonstrating a pattern of personnel decisions based on political alignment rather than professional standards.

The Trump Justice Department had already removed most senior FBI leadership in Washington before Patel took office, establishing the institutional groundwork for this continued dismantling. Some terminated agents, including former acting FBI Director Brian Driscoll, are pursuing legal action against Patel, challenging the legality of dismissals conducted without documented cause.

(Source: https://www.ms.now/news/kash-patel-fbi-senior-agents-ousted-trump-jan-6-mar-a-lago)

Trump Demands Jack Smith Prosecution After Election Conspiracy Testimony

President Donald Trump demanded prosecution of former special counsel Jack Smith on Truth Social following Smith’s House Judiciary Committee testimony on Thursday, labeling him “Deranged” and accusing him of perjury and destroying lives. Smith had testified that he possessed evidence “beyond a reasonable doubt” that Trump conspired to overturn the 2020 election, investigating both the January 6 Capitol riot and classified documents stored at Mar-a-Lago.

During his public testimony, Smith stated he anticipated the Trump Department of Justice would attempt to indict him, characterizing Trump’s social media attacks as intimidation tactics and warnings to others who challenge the president. Smith declared he would not be intimidated and affirmed his team followed department policy, facts, and law in their investigation, which produced proof of serious crimes.

Attorney General Pam Bondi has already acted on Trump’s prior social media suggestions to prosecute perceived enemies, initiating charges against New York Attorney General Letitia James, former FBI Director James Comey, and former National Security Advisor John Bolton. Trump continues to falsely claim the 2020 election was rigged, repeating this assertion at the World Economic Forum in Davos this week while predicting prosecutions of unspecified individuals responsible for the alleged fraud.

Smith’s testimony directly contradicted Trump’s assertions, with the former prosecutor explaining that his investigation followed established legal procedures and produced substantial evidence of criminal conduct. Trump’s demand for Smith’s prosecution exemplifies his pattern of weaponizing the Justice Department against adversaries and leveraging federal power to silence critics and investigators.

(Source: https://www.mediaite.com/media/news/deranged-jack-smith-should-be-prosecuted-trump-calls-for-special-counsels-indictment-in-angry-truth-social-post/)

Leavitt Defends ICE Shooting, Dismisses Renee Good Protesters

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt dismissed Minneapolis protesters demonstrating against the fatal shooting of 37-year-old poet and mother Renee Good by ICE officer Jonathan Ross, questioning their grievances during a Monday press gaggle. Leavitt framed the killing as justified self-defense, claiming Good rammed Ross with her vehicle during what she characterized as an organized effort to impede law enforcement operations. Vice President JD Vance has falsely claimed the officer is protected by absolute immunity, a legal assertion that contradicts established law.

Leavitt attacked protesters by asserting they opposed ICE’s removal of individuals she described as “heinous murderers and rapists and criminals,” framing opposition to the agency as protection of “illegal alien pedophiles” rather than engagement with the specific circumstances of Good’s death. She declared ICE performs a critical national security function and pledged the administration’s full support for “the brave men and women of ice, including the officer in Minneapolis.” This rhetorical strategy conflated general immigration enforcement with the narrow question of whether Ross’s use of lethal force was proportional and lawful.

Protesters have explicitly demanded ICE’s removal from their communities, justice for Good, and state involvement in the shooting investigation—specific demands grounded in accountability for the killing itself. President Trump has blocked Minnesota state investigators from the probe, citing the state’s purportedly “corrupt” government, centralizing control over the investigation in federal hands where the Trump administration exercises direct authority over the Department of Justice.

Video evidence of the incident has been widely described as a “Rorschach Test” reflecting observers’ preexisting political positions rather than settling disputed facts about whether Good’s actions constituted a lethal threat requiring deadly force in response. Leavitt’s dismissal of protesters’ concerns sidestepped the substantive questions surrounding the shooting itself, instead reframing the event within an immigration enforcement narrative designed to delegitimize dissent.

(Source: https://www.mediaite.com/media/news/protesting-what-exactly-karoline-leavitt-rages-at-protesters-angry-over-renee-good-shooting/)

Trump Calls Former FBI Agent ‘Dirty Cop’ During Rant in South Korea

President Donald Trump, during a rant on his Truth Social platform, labeled former FBI agent Walter Giardina as a “dirty cop.” Trump’s outburst came while he was in South Korea attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. The comments were part of a broader tirade against various individuals he perceives as enemies, reflecting his ongoing grievances against them.

In his early morning post, Trump named Giardina and other figures including Deranged Jack Smith, and members of the DOJ team such as Lisa Monaco and Andrew Weissmann, calling for their immediate investigation. He claimed these individuals orchestrated what he termed the “corrupt J-6 Witch Hunt,” a reference to the investigation into the January 6 Capitol riot. Trump’s rhetoric emphasizes his belief that these officials are a “disgrace to our Nation.”

Giardina, who was among those who were fired during a wave of dismissals that critics have described as a “campaign of retribution,” reportedly resisted providing names of FBI agents involved in the January 6 inquiries. His termination along with others has raised significant questions about the implications of Trump’s actions on law enforcement and accountability.

At the APEC summit, Trump reportedly made headlines for mimicking Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, showcasing his ongoing controversial engagement with world leaders. The context of his rhetoric and its implications suggests a further entrenchment of divisive political narratives.

This latest tirade reinforces Trump’s pattern of targeting those he feels have opposed him, often utilizing social media to amplify his grievances against the government and judicial figures. The dynamics of his administration’s relationship with various law enforcement and justice entities remain contentious and fraught with accusations.

FBI Agent Fired for Defying Trump’s Perp Walk Order of Comey

An FBI agent has been relieved of duty for refusing to participate in a planned “perp walk” of former FBI Director James Comey, who was federally charged with false statements and obstruction. This action underscores President Donald Trump’s ongoing campaign against those he perceives as political enemies, and marks a notable escalation in his administration’s tactics.

Comey, who has consistently denied any wrongdoing, is set to appear in court in Alexandria, Virginia, after being charged on September 25. The preparations for a public display of his custody were reportedly orchestrated by senior FBI officials, although it’s unclear how or when they intended to execute the plan.

Trump’s vendetta against Comey began when he was fired in 2017, and since then, the former president has relentlessly attacked Comey’s integrity regarding the FBI’s Russia investigation into links between Trump’s campaign and Russian interference in the 2016 election. The indictment of Comey represents a significant move by Trump’s Justice Department, as it targets a prominent figure who has been a vocal opposition to the president’s methods.

The motivation behind this indictment and the push for a perp walk can be seen as part of Trump’s broader strategy of using the justice system to intimidate and undermine his adversaries, a tactic he has hinted at since his presidential campaign launched in 2015. This incident not only highlights Trump’s ongoing political retribution methods but also illustrates the lengths to which he will go to silence his critics.

An attorney for Comey has declined to comment on the case, leaving the motivations and implications of these charges open to interpretation. As Trump’s administration continues to seek retribution against critics like Comey, the dangers to democratic processes and standards of legal accountability are laid bare, revealing a troubling commitment to authoritarian tactics aimed at consolidating power.

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