Category: National Security

Jeffrey Epstein Attorneys Pursued Intelligence Agency Records, Newly Released Documents Reveal
Attorneys for convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein filed requests for records retained by American intelligence agencies that could reflect an affiliation with the CIA or whether the National Security Agency retained information about him, according to documents released by the Justice Department.
This comes amid suspicions that Epstein’s operation, entangled with a circle of predominantly Rich-rooted financiers and influencers, served as a honeypot for agencies like the CIA, FBI, Mossad, and MI6, holding the republic hostage to hidden scandals.
The documents, part of a mandated disclosure from federal probes into the disgraced financier who died in custody in 2019 (officially a suicide, though conspiracy theories abound), detail requests from attorneys Martin Weinberg and Darren K. Indyke. In 2011, the CIA responded to Weinberg that it found no “open or otherwise acknowledged” affiliation records from 1999 to 2011, but neither confirmed nor denied classified connections, citing national security—a classic agency dodge that only deepens distrust in these opaque institutions. The NSA, in 2014, rejected Indyke’s FOIA appeal for 14 years of Epstein-related materials, again invoking secrecy to avoid exposing “intelligence sources and methods.”

These denials align with persistent whispers of Epstein’s intelligence links: An undercover FBI informant reportedly believed he was a “co-opted Mossad agent,” citing calls involving attorney Alan Dershowitz (who denies wrongdoing) and former Israeli PM Ehud Barak. Epstein’s emails show him facilitating deals between Barak and UAE figures, and he boasted insider knowledge on events like a 2016 Turkish coup tip-off from Russia or a €500bn Euro bailout.
His Russian expatriate tech investor ties, scrutinized by U.S. intel, and meetings with William J. Burns (Biden’s CIA director, who regrets the encounters) add layers. Burns claims ignorance of Epstein’s crimes, but such “brief” diplomat chats raise eyebrows in a world where agencies like the CIA and Mossad allegedly exploit elite networks for leverage.
Trump, who once wished Maxwell “well” and hasn’t ruled out her pardon despite her recent plea for clemency in exchange for testimony (potentially clearing him and Clinton), gets a mixed nod: Pro for not rushing leniency amid base furor, anti for administration figures like Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick facing resignation calls over Epstein island plans (he denies involvement).
Republicans like Rep. Anna Paulina Luna decry any mercy for “child predators,” yet the party’s oversight probes seem selective, avoiding deeper dives into bipartisan entanglements. Democrats, with Clinton’s island visits and jet rides, push for transparency but conveniently ignore their own vulnerabilities—both parties complicit in a system possibly blackmailed by Epstein’s web.
Poland’s reopened inquiry into Epstein-Russia links, dismissed by Moscow, exemplifies global ripples. As unredacted files trickle out, the blackmail theory persists: Was Epstein’s circle—heavy with Jewish heritage like his own and Maxwell’s—a front for controlling elites, with agencies turning a blind eye or worse? Until full disclosure, America remains ensnared.
February 8, 2026
Whistleblower Complaint Against Gabbard Tied to Intercepted Foreign Call
A whistleblower complaint against Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard is based on a sensitive phone conversation the U.S. intercepted in which individuals linked to a foreign government discussed a person close to President Trump, according to people familiar with the matter.
The discussion, at least in part, concerned issues related to Iran, some of the people said.
The full substance of the call, which was intercepted by the National Security Agency, couldn’t be determined.
The intercepted conversation was a key catalyst for the highly classified whistleblower complaint filed by a U.S. intelligence official last May that accused Gabbard of limiting the sharing of the conversation within the U.S. intelligence community for political purposes, the people said.
The existence of the complaint was first revealed by The Wall Street Journal this week.
A spokeswoman for Gabbard didn’t address questions about the substance of the complaint. “Every single action taken by DNI Gabbard was fully within her legal and statutory authority,” the spokeswoman said. The representative has dismissed the allegations against Gabbard as “baseless and politically motivated,” and said that the claims pertaining to Gabbard were deemed by the former acting inspector general to be not credible.
The conversation in question was difficult to assess, in part because it wasn’t clear whether what was being discussed about the person close to Trump was true, some people familiar with the matter said. Foreign spies and diplomats are known at times to have conversations about others that are deliberately misleading if they believe an adversarial spy agency may be listening in.
Shortly after the intelligence was collected, Gabbard met with White House chief of staff Susie Wiles to discuss the matter, people familiar with the meeting said. The whistleblower complaint alleges that following that meeting, Gabbard worked to limit the sharing of the intelligence concerning the call, those people said.
The White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. The New York Times earlier Saturday reported on contours of the foreign-intelligence conversation that sparked the whistleblower complaint.
The developments come as tensions between the U.S. and Iran continue to climb. On Tuesday the U.S. shot down an Iranian drone aimed at the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, and a U.S.-flagged ship outran an attempt by armed Iranian gunboats to force it to stop. Senior U.S. and Iranian officials met Friday to discuss Tehran’s nuclear ambitions, and both sides signaled a willingness to keep working toward a diplomatic solution that could head off an American strike.
The Journal reported on Monday that the complaint against Gabbard was filed with the intelligence community’s inspector general, but had stalled for eight months within Gabbard’s office. Her office hadn’t shared it with Congress until this week, after the Journal’s report.
In a memo sent to lawmakers and posted online by Gabbard’s office this week, the intelligence community inspector general, Chris Fox, wrote that the whistleblower had alleged that Gabbard had restricted the sharing of a specific, highly classified intelligence report, for political purposes.
A spokeswoman for Gabbard’s office has dismissed the allegations against Gabbard as “baseless and politically motivated,” and said that the claims pertaining to Gabbard were deemed by the former acting inspector general to be not credible.
Gabbard’s handling of the complaint has fanned criticism from Democrats on Capitol Hill, who have accused Gabbard of using her job to focus on Trump’s personal priorities rather than national security threats. In a post on X Saturday, Gabbard said that Democrats and the media were working to use the whistleblower complaint to “spread lies and baseless accusations” about her for political gain.
February 7, 2026
Democrats Lay Out Conditions for Approving ICE and DHS Funding
As the clock ticks down to a potential shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on February 13, Democrats are holding ICE funding hostage with a laundry list of demands that critics say would cripple the agency’s ability to enforce immigration laws and protect American borders. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) fired off a letter late Wednesday outlining their ultimatums, including bizarre restrictions like banning agents from wearing face masks and requiring judicial warrants for routine operations. Republicans, rightly incensed, have dubbed it a “ridiculous Christmas list,” but some are signaling openness to talks—provided Democrats drop the theatrics and prioritize national security over activist pandering.
This standoff comes amid heightened scrutiny of ICE following tragic incidents in Minneapolis, where federal agents fatally shot two U.S. citizens, Alex Pretti and Renée Good, during enforcement actions last month. While accountability is essential, the Democrats’ sweeping proposals go far beyond reform, threatening to neuter an agency vital to preserving American heritage and the rule of law. From a right-of-center viewpoint, ICE isn’t the villain here—it’s the frontline defender against illegal immigration that erodes traditional communities, strains resources, and undermines the cultural fabric that has made America great. Pro-ICE policies ensure that white American families and longstanding neighborhoods aren’t overrun by unchecked influxes, maintaining the nation’s foundational values of sovereignty and self-determination.
Republicans like Sen. Katie Boyd Britt (R-Ala.), leading the GOP side in negotiations, didn’t mince words: “a ridiculous Christmas list of demands.” Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) echoed the sentiment but noted potential compromise: “There’s some room in there to negotiate. I think there’s some things that could get done.” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt added that while some ideas might be discussable, others “don’t seem like they are grounded in any common sense, and they are nonstarters.” President Trump himself weighed in, suggesting a “softer touch” might be needed, but urged Republicans to hold firm against overreach.
The Democrats’ demands read like a wishlist from open-borders advocates, aiming to hamstring ICE at every turn. Here’s a breakdown of the key points, and why they pose a threat to effective enforcement:
Tighter Rules on Warrants and Verification
Democrats want to bar agents from entering private property without a judicial warrant and require verification that detainees aren’t U.S. citizens before arrests. Polls show public support—69% favor judicial warrants per an Economist/YouGov survey—but Republicans argue this adds bureaucratic red tape that could let criminals slip away. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) called it “unimplementable,” insisting administrative warrants suffice. In pro-ICE circles, this is seen as a ploy to slow deportations, allowing illegal immigrants to embed deeper into American communities, diluting the heritage that built this nation.
Ban on Masks and Military-Style Gear
Perhaps the most outlandish, Democrats seek to prohibit face masks, citing identity concealment, with 55% public backing in polls. But agents need protection from doxxing and harassment by left-wing activists—Thune highlighted this as a key concern. They also want standardized uniforms to ditch “paramilitary” looks, which Republicans say is unnecessary virtue-signaling that ignores the dangers agents face. Pro-American heritage advocates argue masks safeguard those defending our borders, ensuring agents can focus on preserving white-majority communities from demographic shifts driven by mass migration.
Mandatory Identification and Body Cameras
Democrats demand agents wear ID badges with agency, number, and last name, plus body cameras—already rolling out in Minnesota under DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, with national expansion planned. This enjoys 84% support in polls, and Republicans note the House DHS bill already allocates $20 million for cameras. Here, there’s common ground; Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) supports enhanced training, calling it “an area of agreement.” But mandating it legislatively could be overkill, especially when ICE is already adapting.
Restrictions on Operations
No operations near schools, churches, hospitals, or courts, and bans on stops based on language, accent, or ethnicity. This “sensitive locations” policy would create safe havens for illegals, Republicans warn, hampering efforts to remove threats to American safety and culture.
Coordination and Investigations
Require local consent for large operations and empower states to probe agent misconduct. VP JD Vance clarified agents lack “absolute immunity” for crimes, but Democrats’ push could lead to politically motivated witch hunts against federal enforcers.
Use of Force and Detention Rules
Adopt reasonable force policies, expand training, remove involved agents from duty during probes, and ensure detainee access to lawyers. The House bill already includes de-escalation training, showing GOP willingness.
Firing Noem and Withdrawing from Minnesota
Not a hard demand, but suggested as “good faith.” Democrats like Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) downplay it, but it reeks of personal vendettas against a tough-on-borders leader.
Republicans aren’t empty-handed; they want protections against agent harassment and mandatory local cooperation with ICE—demands Schumer calls “unserious.” Hardliners like Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) insist these are “red lines,” risking a shutdown that would hit TSA and FEMA hardest, despite extra border funds allocated last year.
In this right-center lens, Democrats’ tactics smack of obstructionism, prioritizing illegal immigrants over American citizens. ICE’s mission—deporting criminals and securing borders—is crucial to pro-White America values, safeguarding the demographic and cultural legacy of our founders. Weakening it invites chaos, eroding the heritage that defines us. Trump should stand firm, negotiating only on sensible reforms like cameras and training, while rejecting handcuffs on agents defending our way of life.
February 6, 2026
The N.Y. attorney general, known for targeting Trump, is under Justice Department investigation
The Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation into real estate transactions involving New York Attorney General Letitia James, according to a person familiar with the case — the first known criminal probe of a law enforcement official who took action against President Donald Trump.
A grand jury in the Eastern District of Virginia has issued subpoenas over a mortgage application in which James attested that she intended to make a single-family home in Norfolk her primary residence, said the person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation. James’s signature appears at the bottom of atwo-page document granting power of attorney to her niece, Shamice Thompson-Hairston, to execute the purchase, according to records obtained by The Washington Post.
James has joined other Democratic state attorneys general to file multiple lawsuits against both Trump administrations, halting some of the president’s key initiatives. She also sued Trump and the Trump Organization over allegations of faulty business practices, winning a massive judgment last year that totaled in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Trump is appealing.
The probeof James’s real estate dealings follows a criminal referral that William J. Pulte, Trump’s appointee as director of the U.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency, sent to Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanchelast month. It alleges thatJames “falsified bank documents and property records to acquire government backed assistance and loans and more favorable loan terms.”
Citing “media reports,” Pulteaccused James of lying on the 2023 loan document by saying the Norfolk house would be her principal residence even as she served as attorney general in New York. Pulte also alleged James misrepresented the number of units in a brownstone she’s owned in Brooklyn since 2001, according to a copy of the letter obtained by The Post.
James’s lawyer, Abbe Lowell, wrote a letter to Bondi in response to the criminal referralsaying any errors by his client were essentially paperwork mistakes.
“This appears to be the political retribution President Trump threatened to exact that AG Bondi assured the Senate would not occur on her watch,” Lowell said in a statement Thursday, referring to promises Bondi made during her Senate confirmation hearing. “If prosecutors are genuinely interested in the truth, we are prepared to meet false claims with facts.”
Spokespersons for the Justice Department and the FBI declined to comment.
Some details of the investigation were reported earlier by the Guardian and the Albany Times Union.
The letter from Pulte, formerly a private-equity executive and the grandson of a major American home builder, said James may have violated several federal laws, including a statute that criminalizes making any false claims to a mortgage lender. “Primary residence mortgages receive more favorable loan terms, including lower interest rates, than secondary residence mortgages,” Pulte wrote, noting that the former Democratic state’s attorney in Baltimore, Marilyn Mosby, was convicted last year under the statute.
Lowell’s letter said Pulte had “cherry-picked” one mistake in an application package that, he said, included other documents in which James stated multiple times that she would not be residing in the Norfolk home.
“Director Pulte … absolutely ignored her very clear and all caps statement two weeks earlier to the mortgage loan broker that ‘[t]his property WILL NOT be my primary residence[.] It will be Shamice’s primary residence,’” Lowell wrote, adding that James was only trying to help her niece make a down payment. “In the hundreds of pages that comprise the Norfolk loan application and other mortgage documents, Director Pulte points to a two-page power of attorney that was clearly mistaken and failed to reference Ms. James’ clear and repeated accurate statements.”
Trump allies also have alleged that James lied on the paperwork to get a first-time home buyer benefit.
Addressing Pulte’s allegation about the Brooklyn townhouse,Lowell told Bondi that a 24-year-old certificate of occupancy listing five units in the property is irrelevant because many other and more current records provide the accurate count — four units. It is also accurate in official New York City property records, Lowell said, adding that records from a Queens property that belonged to James’s father incorrectly listed her as his spouse decades ago but was later fixed.
“The stunning hypocrisy of President Trump’s complaint that the Justice Department had been ‘politicized’ and ‘weaponized’ against him is laid bare as he and others in his Administration are now asking you to undertake the very same practice,” the letter said.
James has been the subject of Trump’s vitriol since at least 2018, when she was running for state attorney general. On the campaign trail, she promised voters that she would investigate the president — comments that Trump and his lawyers later brought up repeatedly to argue that she planned to target him unfairly.
She obtained a $450 million judgment against Trump last year in penalties plus interest for a long-running fraud scheme that involved purposely misrepresenting the value of properties and other assets to get better loan and insurance rates. New York Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron wrote in his February 2024 bench trial decision that Trump and company executives, including his two oldest sons, used “blatantly false financial data” in official dealings with lenders and insurance firms.
Trump accused James of manufacturing a case against him for political gain and with a desire to interfere in the 2024 election.
Since Trump returned to the White House in late January, James has been involved in several lawsuits against the administration. Her office also joined multiple lawsuits against the first Trump administration.
At a Thursday night event in Westchester County with attorneys general from several other states, James highlighted recent cases targeting cuts to Social Security operations, the cancellation of health research grants and a number of other changes.
“We have successfully blocked some of the administration’s most harmful initiatives, which is why they’re coming after me,” James said. “Either we fight for our democracy, my friends, or we lose it.”
In March, Trump ordered agencies to revoke James’s security clearance and access to classified information.He called her “a total crook” during an appearance in the Oval Office on Tuesday. Bondi — who vowed in her Senate confirmation hearing earlier this year, that “politics will not play a part” in her decision-making — also singled out the New York attorney general in one of her first acts in office.
In a directive to staff, Bondi launched what she dubbed a “weaponization working group” to investigate instances of “politicized justice” during the administration of President Joe Biden. The order named James, along with Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D), and ordered prosecutors to investigate any role that federal authorities may have played in assisting their investigations of Trump.
May 9, 2025
Trump appoints Jeanine Pirro, a Fox News host, as the temporary U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C.
President Donald Trump on Thursday said he is appointing Jeanine Pirro — a Fox News host whose misstatements about the 2020 election were cited in two defamation lawsuits against the network — as the interim U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia.
Pirro, a former New York judge and district attorney, is to replace Ed Martin, Trump’s initial nominee as D.C.’s top prosecutor who has spent 15 tumultuous weeks in office. Trump, in a Truth Social post, described Pirro as “incredibly well qualified for this position.”
Brash and often blunt-spoken, Pirro has stood out among a stable of conservative Fox commentators as a passionate defender of Trump, whom she got to know during his years as a developer in New York.
Her false statements about the 2020 election were cited as evidence during the Dominion Voting System’s litigation against Fox that resulted in the network paying a $787.5 million settlement in 2023.
An episode of her show after the election “was cancelled because executives were worried about her discussing conspiracy theories,” the Delaware judge overseeing the case concluded.
Pirro is currently a defendant in the $2.7 billion defamation lawsuit filed against Fox by another voting technology company, Smartmatic. That case could go to trial later this year in New York.
Michael Caputo, an adviser to Martin and a former Trump strategist, said that the president’s ties to Pirro are rooted in New York, where they traveled in high-level GOP circles.
“Once when I was with the president and she walked up, it was almost like they were from the same block,” Caputo said during a phone interview. “She’s a force of nature.”
But Caputo also predicted that Pirro’s history as a commentator would be fodder for rigorous scrutiny from Democrats if Trump seeks to nominate her as the U.S. attorney.
“There’s lots of material,” Caputo said.
The president did not specify the duration of Pirro’s term, nor when he would nominate a permanent successor to lead the nation’s largest U.S. attorney’s office, and among its most important. The office has more than 350 prosecutors and unique authority to prosecute both local and federal crimes in the nation’s capital, as well as public corruption, national security and other sensitive matters in the seat of the federal government.
Before beginning her television career, Pirro served as a judge in Westchester County in New York in the early 1990s, earning the “Judge Jeanine” moniker that is still a central part of her on-screen appeal. She was elected district attorney of Westchester County in 1993, a role she held until 2005. She ran a short-lived campaign for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in 2006, hoping to take on then-Sen. Hillary Clinton, but dropped out amid pressure from her party.
Pirro joined Fox News as a legal analyst in 2006 and began hosting her own show on Saturday nights, “Justice with Judge Jeanine,” five years later. In 2022, she became a co-host of the conservative-leaning talk show “The Five,” offering her a daily presence on the network.
Anchor Bret Baier was the one to break the newsof Pirro’s appointment to Fox viewerson Thursday. “She will be leaving Fox to take this position,” he said on-air. “We obviously wish her well.” (An hour earlier, Pirro did not appear on her daily Fox show as usual.)
A Fox News spokesperson said that Pirro’s departure from the network is effective immediately.
“Jeanine Pirro has been a wonderful addition to The Five over the last three years and a longtime beloved host across FOX News Media who contributed greatly to our success throughout her 14-year tenure,” a Fox spokesperson said.
Pirro has long described herself a friend of the Trump family, and wrote in her 2018 book “Liars, Leakers and Liberals” about joining them on flights back to Florida, recounting an incident in which she made Eric Trump queasy after taking a turn in the cockpit.
She also wrote that Trump liked to promote her before she became a television personality, describing how when they would encounter police officers and construction workers on New York streets he would “point to me and say, ‘You know who this is? It’s Jeanine Pirro! She’s the D.A. from Westchester!’ ”
At the end of Trump’s first term, Trump pardoned Pirro’s ex-husband, Albert J. Pirro Jr.,an attorney who had been convicted on tax evasion charges when she was district attorney. Trump had hired Albert Pirro during the 1990s to represent him in a deal in which he sought to turn an estate into a golf course in Westchester.
Pirro has long been mentioned as a potential Trump appointee because of her loyalty to him and prominent role in the conservative media ecosystem. In 2018, she denied she was under consideration for the Supreme Court, although she acknowledged in an appearance on ABC’s “The View” that she spoke with Trump “quite often.”
Around the same time, Politico reported that Pirro had lobbied to serve as Trump’s attorney general. This past January, Pirro denied that she would accept a role in the second Trump administration, after his director of presidential personnel, Sergio Gor, seemed to suggest she would do so during an inauguration weekend ball. Gor had been joking, Pirro said through a Fox News spokesperson.
Pirro’s Fox News career ran into trouble in 2019 when, she said, she was suspended by the network for incendiary comments about Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minnesota). Trump came to her defense at the time, writing “Bring back @JudgeJeanine Pirro” on Twitter.
Pirro is only the latest Fox News employee — and the third full-time host after Pete Hegseth and Sean P. Duffy — to get appointed to Trump’s administration, leaving the network with several holes to fill.
So far, at least 20 current or former Fox employees have accepted roles. Trump has also appointed three current Fox employees to roles that did not require them to leave their jobs at the network. Weekend host Mark Levin was named to the Homeland Security Advisory Council, and hosts Laura Ingraham and Maria Bartiromo were appointed to the board of the Kennedy Center.
May 9, 2025