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‘He should go’: Senate Dems turned on Swalwell ahead of resignation announcement

Tue, 14 Apr 2026 17:12:34 -0400

News that now-former Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., would abandon his California gubernatorial bid in the wake of sexual misconduct allegations on Sunday didn’t prevent Senate lawmakers on Monday from demanding that the embattled congressman go one step further and resign.

"I do," Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wisc., said plainly when asked if Swalwell should step down from the House of Representatives.

"Yes," Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., answered.

But even as lawmakers began weighing in, Swalwell said he had decided to yield to the pressure. He announced plans to leave office, even while pushing back on claims of abuse, harassment and even rape.

ERIC SWALWELL FACES MANHATTAN SEX ASSAULT PROBE AFTER ENDING CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR CAMPAIGN AMID ALLEGATIONS

"I am deeply sorry to my family, staff, and constituents for mistakes in judgment I've made in my past. I will fight the serious, false allegations made against me. However, I must take responsibility and ownership for the mistakes I did make," Swalwell said in a statement.

To Sen. Jeane Shaheen, D-N.H., the deciding pressure point likely came from his district.

"I think he must have heard from his constituents and he responded to that," Sen. Jeane Shaheen, D-N.H., said.

Bombshell reporting from CNN and the San Francisco Chronicle last Friday recounted allegations from several women, providing detailed accounts of how Swalwell had pursued intoxicated women, pressured employees into intimate situations and asked for explicit images from female contacts.

SWALWELL'S FALL FROM GRACE SPARKS DEMOCRAT RUSH TO RETURN CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS AMID SCRUTINY

The story prompted several lawmakers across both chambers to demand Swalwell’s resignation.

In the hours ahead of Swalwell’s resignation announcement, senators voiced alarm at the detailed accounts and their sources.

"They sound extraordinarily serious and I think — I don’t know Mr. Swalwell, but I do think when you have this many people who know him well, [making accusations] he should go," Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., said.

Ahead of his resignation, Swalwell had faced a potential expulsion resolution, a vote that, if successful, would have stripped him of his seat.

Despite his ultimate decision to step away, Swalwell condemned the effort.

PELOSI DISTANCES HERSELF FROM ALLY SWALWELL AMID SEXUAL MISCONDUCT ALLEGATIONS

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"I am aware of efforts to bring an immediate expulsion vote against me and other members. Expelling anyone in Congress without due process, within days of an allegation being made, is wrong. But it's also wrong for my constituents to have me distracted from my duties. Therefore, I plan to resign my seat in Congress," Swalwell said.

"These accusations are false, fabricated, and deeply offensive — a calculated and transparent political hit job designed to destroy the reputation of a man who has spent twenty years in public service," Sara Azari, Swalwell's attorney, wrote on social media Tuesday. "The timing, nature and coordinated rollout of these vile and heinous allegations speak for themselves.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom must announce a special election to fill Swalwell’s seat within 14 days, according to California state law. Once announced, the election must be held within 140 days.

Sen Ron Johnson says Senate is 'broken' and calls for ending the filibuster over DHS funding fight

Sun, 29 Mar 2026 14:59:54 -0400

Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., said Republicans should move toward ending the Senate filibuster on "Sunday Morning Futures" as lawmakers battle over Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding, arguing the chamber’s 60-vote threshold to end a filibuster is preventing action on border and homeland security priorities.

Johnson called Democrats "obnoxious" and "obstructionist," blaming them for the current government shutdown as the congressional stalemate over funding DHS continues. Democrats are refusing to allocate money to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which falls under DHS, unless their proposed reforms to the agency are accepted.

The Wisconsin Republican said Democrats would continue to obstruct budgetary votes under the current administration and predicted that, when they reclaimed the majority, they would get rid of the filibuster anyway.

"The split in the Senate, in terms of a filibuster, is [between] those of us who believe that Democrats will [get rid of] it next time they have the power, and those who are hoping beyond hope that they won't."

In practice, most major legislation in the Senate can be delayed or blocked by a filibuster unless 60 senators vote to end debate. As long as this is the case, Johnson argued, the deadlock will persist.

REPUBLICANS CAN FUND ICE FOR AN ENTIRE DECADE WITHOUT A SINGLE DEM VOTE: SEN CRUZ

He recommended moving toward a reconciliation process, a special budget procedure Congress can use to get around the filibuster and pass certain changes more quickly than ordinary legislation.

"Let's get as much DHS funding as possible, move to reconciliation, pass a reconciliation bill focused on DHS funding through fiscal year 2029, and then be ready for another reconciliation to fund the rest of government, starting in October, when Democrats obstruct the regular order appropriation process," he said.

SEN KENNEDY SAYS HE WOULD ACCEPT DEMOCRATS' OFFER TO 'OPEN UP EVERYTHING' BUT ICE

Johnson admitted that he didn't yet have a sufficient number of Republicans on his side to pass a vote dispensing with the filibuster, but argued that the U.S. Senate was "broken" due to overly complex rules impeding progress.

"My colleagues [say] 'We don't want to be responsible for breaking the Senate.' How could it be much more broken?" he asked.

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"When we're at war with Iran… They might possibly have sleeper cells here in this country. We can't even fund the very agency designed to keep our homeland safe. I don't see how it could get much worse. So I'm for ending the 60-vote threshold and ending the filibuster."

Senate GOP holdouts refuse to budge as shutdown talks continue

Thu, 29 Jan 2026 15:22:26 -0500

A cohort of Senate Republicans broke ranks with their leadership on Thursday to help Senate Democrats tank a massive funding package, and most aren’t planning on changing their minds.

Seven GOP lawmakers joined Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and all Senate Democrats to torpedo the six-bill funding package geared toward averting a partial government shutdown.

The gang of seven have varying issues with the package, including billions in earmarks, lack of legislation to prevent future shutdowns and the fact that the White House and Republican leadership are leaning toward splitting the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding bill from the broader funding bunch.

7 REPUBLICANS JOIN DEMS TO BLOCK MAJOR GOVERNMENT FUNDING PACKAGE AS SHUTDOWN LOOMS

Among the group was Sens. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., Rand Paul, R-Ky., Rick Scott, R-Fla., Ted Budd, R-N.C., Ashley Moody, R-Fla., Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala.

Johnson told ӣ��Ƶ Digital, "There's a bunch of reasons, [I] don’t even want to get into it," on why he voted no. When pressed, he said that billions in earmarks were a major problem and noted that the GOP conference had an agreement to not include any in funding bills.

"Here we are in the majority," Johnson said, "and we're loading it up."

TENSIONS BOIL IN HOUSE OVER EMERGING SENATE DEAL TO AVERT GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN

He was also unhappy with the DHS bill likely being stripped out from the package and angered over his legislation, the No Shutdown Fairness Act, not being included or even considered on the Senate floor.

"I mean, we haven't taken care of that yet," Johnson said. "Without addressing the root cause here, it's like, you know, why do we continue to allow these shutdowns to even occur?"

"I’m tired of it," he continued.

Scott was similarly incensed over earmarks, as was Budd.

A spokesperson for Budd told ӣ��Ƶ Digital that the lawmaker "has expressed longstanding concerns with earmarks in the Labor-HHS title, including multiple earmarks for both abortion providers and facilities that perform gender transitions on children."

THUNE STEAMROLLS DEMS' DHS REVOLT AS FETTERMAN DEFECTS, SCHUMER UNDER PRESSURE

While some stew over the current state of the funding package, Senate Democrats and Senate Republicans are going back and forth on the length of a possible short-term funding extension, known as a continuing resolution (CR), specifically for the DHS bill.

Sources familiar with negotiations told ӣ��Ƶ Digital that Republicans are looking for a longer, six-week patch for the agency, while Democrats want a two-week CR. The hope is negotiations between Schumer and the White House land somewhere in between.

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If a deal is struck, that means that the funding package would come back to the floor at some point on Thursday. From there, lawmakers could procedurally fast-track the process and wrap up late Thursday night, well ahead of the funding deadline.

But, that requires agreement from everybody, and the GOP rebels may not allow the process to move swiftly in order to strike deals on amendment votes.

Paul, who perennially votes against funding packages big and small, signaled he may slow down any momentum, unless he gets a vote on an amendment to carve out millions in "refugee welfare money."

"If we get at least a vote on that, we'll agree to condense time," Paul said.

State-level AI rules survive — for now — as Senate sinks moratorium despite White House pressure

Sat, 06 Dec 2025 05:00:52 -0500

The Senate is quietly winning the battle over states’ abilities to craft their own artificial intelligence (AI) regulations, but there is still a desire to chart out a rough framework at the federal level.

The issue of a blanket AI moratorium, which would have halted states from crafting their own AI regulations, was thought to have been put to bed over the summer. But the push was again revived by House Republicans, who were considering dropping it into the annual National Defense Authorization Act.

However, Republicans in the lower chamber have pulled back from that push, even as the White House has pressed Congress to create a federal framework that would make regulations more cohesive across the country.

LAWMAKERS UNVEIL BIPARTISAN GUARD ACT AFTER PARENTS BLAME AI CHATBOTS FOR TEEN SUICIDES, VIOLENCE

A trio of Senate Republicans, Sens. Josh Hawley of Missouri, Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, who banded together to block the original proposal, cheered the provision's apparent rise from the grave.

Hawley told ӣ��Ƶ Digital that it was good news that the provision would not be included in the defense authorization bill, but warned that "vigilance is needed, and Congress needs to act."

"I mean, for everybody out there saying, ‘Well, Congress needs to act and create one standard,’ I agree with that," he said. "And we can start by banning chat bots for minors."

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who chairs the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation committee, initially pushed for a moratorium to be included in Trump’s One Big, Beautiful Bill. His position on the issue has been to unchain AI to give the U.S. a competitive edge against foreign adversaries like China.

But that attempt was nearly unanimously defeated over the summer and stripped from the bill. And Cruz hasn’t given up.

"The discussions are ongoing, but it is the White House that is driving," Cruz told ӣ��Ƶ Digital.

PROTECTING KIDS FROM AI CHATBOTS: WHAT THE GUARD ACT MEANS

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., acknowledged that getting the moratorium into the defense authorization bill would be difficult earlier in the week.

"That’s controversial, as you know," Thune said. "So, I mean, I think the White House is working with senators and House members for that matter to try and come up with something that works but preserves states’ rights."

Trump declared last month that the U.S. "MUST have one Federal Standard instead of a patchwork of 50 State Regulatory Regimes," and argued that over regulation at the state level was threatening the investment, and expected growth, of AI.

The White House reportedly drafted an executive order that would have blocked states from regulating AI that would have withheld certain streams of federal funding from states that didn’t comply with the order, and enlisted the Department of Justice to sue states that crafted their own regulations.

So far, Trump has not taken action on the order.

AI COULD DRIVE US UNEMPLOYMENT TO 20%, SENATORS WARN AS NEW BILL TARGETS JOB TRACKING

Blackburn, who was the leading player in thwarting Cruz’s previous attempt to assert an AI moratorium into Trump’s marquee tax bill, also wants some kind of federal framework, but one that is designed to "protect children, consumers, creators, and conservatives," a spokesperson for Blackburn told ӣ��Ƶ Digital in a statement.

"Senator Blackburn will continue her decade-long effort to work with her colleagues in both the House and Senate to pass federal standards to govern the virtual space and rein in Big Tech companies who are preying on children to turn a profit," the spokesperson said.

And Johnson, another key figure in blocking the moratorium earlier this year, argued to ӣ��Ƶ Digital that it was an "enormously complex problem. It's my definition of a problem."

But unlike his counterparts, he was more skeptical about Congress producing a framework that he would be comfortable with.

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"I'm not a real fan of this place," Johnson said. "And I think we'd be far better off if we passed a lot fewer laws. I'm not sure how often we get it right. Look at healthcare, look at how that's been completely botched."

"What are we gonna do with AI? Hard to say, but we just don't go through the problem-solving process," he continued. "And again, I'm concerned, the real experts on this have got vested interests. Whatever they're advising is, can you really trust them?"

Jack Smith meeting with then-FBI Director Wray recorded as ‘significant case notification’ in J6 probe

Thu, 13 Nov 2025 14:35:19 -0500

EXCLUSIVE: Former special counsel Jack Smith met with then-FBI Director Christopher Wray months after he began investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riots and the 2020 election, ӣ��Ƶ Digital has learned.

ӣ��Ƶ Digital exclusively reviewed the document that FBI Director Kash Patel recently shared with Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley and Sen. Ron Johnson containing the new development.

EXCLUSIVE: JACK SMITH TRACKED PRIVATE COMMUNICATIONS, CALLS OF NEARLY A DOZEN GOP SENATORS DURING J6 PROBE, FBI SAYS

Grassley, R-Iowa, and Johnson, R-Wis., are currently reviewing the documents as part of their joint investigation into Smith’s "Arctic Frost" probe.

The information was included as part of a "significant case notification" drafted by the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division on May 25, 2023.

"On 5/24/2023, Special Counsel Jack Smith met with FBI Director Wray," the document reads.

The meeting took place just a day before the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division created the "significant case notification" document.

An FBI "significant case notification" is an internal record used by the bureau to alert senior leadership and FBI field offices about a case of high public interest. This notification provided a case update on "Arctic Frost," which the bureau considered a "sensitive investigative matter."

"Jack Smith claims he wants to tell his story to Congress, but when I asked him point-blank if he ever met with Garland, Monaco, or Wray as part of his investigation, he refused to answer," Grassley told ӣ��Ƶ Digital.

JACK SMITH DEFENDS SUBPOENAING REPUBLICAN SENATORS’ PHONE RECORDS: ‘ENTIRELY PROPER’

The revelations are significant, as Grassley, in October, sent a letter that specifically asked Smith whether he had met with Wray, then-Attorney General Merrick Garland, then-Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco or then-FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate.

Smith replied to Grassley, but declined to share information about any of his meetings with those officials.

"Either Smith has a bad memory, or he’s simply not willing to come clean about his actions," Grassley told ӣ��Ƶ Digital, adding that if Smith "really wanted the American people to hear the truth, he’d be cooperating with my straightforward congressional oversight requests instead of making excuses."

EXCLUSIVE: JACK SMITH PUSHES FOR PUBLIC TESTIMONY TO CONFRONT ‘MISCHARACTERIZATIONS’ OF TRUMP PROBES

"I’m going to continue investigating to ensure the public gets full transparency," Grassley said.

Smith, in October, requested to testify in open, public hearings before the House and Senate Judiciary Committees.

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"Given the many mischaracterizations of Mr. Smith’s investigation into President Trump’s alleged mishandling of classified documents and role in attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 election, Mr. Smith respectfully requests the opportunity to testify in open hearings before the House and Senate Judiciary Committees," Smith attorneys Lanny Breuer and Peter Koski wrote.

Smith did not immediately respond to ӣ��Ƶ Digital’s request for comment.

Secret Service will not renew former director Kim Cheatle's security clearance

Sat, 02 Aug 2025 21:57:44 -0400

Former Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle will not have her top-level security clearance renewed, the agency said.

This comes after Cheatle resigned last year amid mounting scrutiny over security lapses that led to the assassination attempt against then-candidate Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Trump survived an assassination attempt during the July 13, 2024, rally, suffering an injury to his ear after a bullet grazed him, while audience member Corey Comperatore was killed and two others in the crowd were wounded. A Secret Service sniper fatally shot the gunman, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, who had climbed to the top of a nearby building.

The Secret Service, as well as several top U.S. intelligence agencies, including the CIA and FBI, regularly update the security clearances for former directors. But the Secret Service now says not all former directors will have their clearances renewed under current Director Sean Curran.

SECRET SERVICE DIRECTOR CHEATLE RESIGNS AFTER MOUNTING PRESSURE IN WAKE OF TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT

"The U.S. Secret Service sponsors security clearances for all the former directors for their knowledge of operational and national security matters," a Secret Service spokesperson said in a statement to ӣ��Ƶ. "The purpose for this was so the agency could maintain formal and protected communication including potentially sensitive and classified matters with former officials."

"Since appointed, Director Curran has been building a dynamic team of knowledgeable advisors that will help implement his vision for the agency," the spokesperson continued. "Additionally, Director Curran has been modernizing the intelligence apparatus within the agency. During that process, he has determined that not all former directors will have their clearances renewed."

The move not to renew Cheatle's security clearance comes as some Republican lawmakers were voicing opposition to a potential renewal, including Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wisc., who argued that her leadership decisions contributed to the agency’s numerous failures surrounding the assassination attempt against Trump.

"Following the security debacle in Butler, the former director of USSS made the right decision to resign," Johnson said in a statement to RealClearPolitics. "I see no reason for her security clearance to be reinstated."

BUTLER ONE YEAR LATER: REVISITING THE HISTORIC ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT AGAINST DONALD TRUMP

Johnson, who chairs the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, had probed the Secret Service’s failures leading up to the assassination attempt in Butler.

Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., who serves on the Senate Judiciary Committee that conducted a joint investigation with a Homeland Security panel into the lapses in Butler, said the agency's failures should prevent her from holding a security clearance.

"Kim Cheatle disgraced the Secret Service by failing to prevent a horrifying attempt on President Trump’s life," Blackburn said in a statement to RealClearPolitics. "Not only did she oversee one of the greatest security failures in our nation’s history, but she also stonewalled congressional oversight and ran away from my colleagues and me when we confronted her. Under no circumstances should she be allowed to regain her security clearance, and it is shameful she would even try."

Cheatle resigned as director 10 days after the shooting in Butler, as she was facing intense pressure from Republicans over the security failures.

"To the Men and Women of the U.S. Secret Service, The Secret Service’s solemn mission is to protect our nation’s leaders and financial infrastructure," Cheatle wrote in a letter to the agency at the time. "On July 13th, we fell short on that mission."

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"As your Director, I take full responsibility for the security lapse," she added.

On the first anniversary of the assassination attempt, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who chairs the Homeland Security Committee, accused her of lying in her testimony to Congress in the aftermath of the shooting when she denied accusations she turned down requests for more resources for Trump’s security.

The former director pushed back on Paul's allegations.

"Any assertion or implication that I provided misleading testimony is patently false and does a disservice to those men and women on the front lines who have been unfairly disciplined for a team, rather than individual, failure," she responded in a statement provided by her attorney.

Johnson demands NARA turn over records related to Biden's mental 'decline' amid Senate probe of 'cover-up'

Thu, 17 Jul 2025 17:25:16 -0400

EXCLUSIVE: Sen. Ron Johnson is demanding the National Archives turn over all records related to former President Joe Biden’s "mental and physical health and cognitive decline," ӣ��Ƶ Digital has learned.

ӣ��Ƶ Digital exclusively obtained a letter Johnson, R-Wis., sent to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is serving as the acting archivist of the United States.

Johnson, who leads the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, said he is now conducting an investigation into "the cover-up of former President Biden’s health and cognitive decline."

"My office has been reviewing the allegations that former President Biden, cabinet members, and his staff covered up his declining mental and physical health over the course of his presidency," Johnson wrote to Rubio, adding that the allegations "raise serious questions about who was making key presidential decisions if the former president was incapable of doing so.

EXCLUSIVE: WHITE HOUSE INVESTIGATING BIDEN USE OF AUTOPEN IN SPRAWLING PROBE OF ‘INCOMPETENT AND SENILE’ FORMER PRESIDENT

"One of these key decisions may have involved the presidential power to grant clemency or pardons — a matter that the White House Counsel’s Office, among other entities, are currently investigating," Johnson wrote.

BIDEN ONLY HAND-SIGNED ONE PARDON DURING FINAL SPREE, AND IT WAS HIS MOST CONTROVERSIAL ONE

ӣ��Ƶ Digital exclusively reported Tuesday that the White House Counsel’s Office, in conjunction with the Justice Department, is investigating Biden’s use of an autopen and already is reviewing more than 27,000 documents turned over by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).

"The reporting further suggests that these records represent only a portion of the information in NARA’s possession that may be related to the coverup of former President Biden’s alleged mental and physical decline," Johnson wrote to Rubio, referring to the ӣ��Ƶ Digital exclusive report.

Johnson is now demanding that NARA turn over all records provided to the White House Counsel’s Office referring to or relating to Biden’s mental or physical health or the alleged cover-up, including all communications.

Johnson also is demanding communications between or among any former White House officials, members of Biden’s Cabinet or their staff or other staff relating to Biden’s mental or physical health.

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Specifically, Johnson is demanding records belonging to former White House chief of staff Ron Klain, former White House chief of staff Jeff Zients, former advisor Mike Donilon, former counselor to the president Steve Ricchetti, Biden personal attorney Bob Bauer, Biden senior advisor Anita Dunn, former White House Physician Kevin O’Connor and others.

Johnson gave Rubio until July 30 to turn over the records.

Trump sent a memo in June to the Department of Justice directing Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate the autopen use and to determine whether it was related to a decline in Biden's mental state.

The White House Counsel's Office is investigating Biden's use of an autopen, a machine that physically holds a pen and features programming to imitate a person’s signature. Unlike a stamp or a digitized print of a signature, the autopen has the capability to hold various types of pens, from a ballpoint to a permanent marker, according to descriptions of autopen machines available for purchase.

Biden used an autopen to sign a slew of documents while in office. He also used an autopen to sign final pardons, including preemptive pardons for members of his family, Dr. Anthony Fauci, Gen. Mark Milley and members and staff of the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riots. He only signed one pardon by hand, for his son Hunter, after vowing to the American people for months he would not pardon Hunter.

TRUMP CLAIMS BIDEN PARDONS ARE ‘VOID,’ ALLEGING THEY WERE SIGNED VIA AUTOPEN

In his final weeks in office, Biden granted clemency and pardoned more than 1,500 individuals in what the White House described at the time as the largest single-day act of clemency by a U.S. president.

Biden, in a recent interview with The New York Times, defended his use of an autopen, saying he "made every decision" on his own.

"We’re talking about (granting clemency to) a whole lot of people," Biden said.

However, the Times reported that Biden "did not individually approve each name for the categorical pardons that applied to large numbers of people," according to the former president and his aides.

Congressional committees, like the House Oversight Committee, are also investigating the autopen use and Biden's health while in office.

A senior administration official recognized the simultaneous efforts but stressed that the White House Counsel's investigation is separate from any congressional probes.

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Officials told ӣ��Ƶ Digital the investigation is a "massive effort," and one that they hope to finish "as soon as possible."

As for Trump, officials told ӣ��Ƶ Digital he does not use an autopen for anything that could be considered official business.

The only time Trump may use the autopen is for unofficial business, including correspondence, letters for birthdays or commissioned records for widely shared documents, his office said.

SCOOP: Sen Ron Johnson readies subpoenas for FBI, DOJ in Butler shooting probe

Thu, 10 Jul 2025 15:29:58 -0400

FIRST ON FOX: Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., is gearing up to subpoena the FBI and Justice Department for more information on last year’s assassination attempt against President Donald Trump.

Johnson, who chairs the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, was a co-author of last year’s bipartisan Senate Homeland Security Committee report on the assassination attempt against Trump in Butler, Pa.

FIRST RESPONDERS SIT DOWN WITH WIDOW OF FIREFIGHTER KILLED AT BUTLER, PENNSYLVANIA, TRUMP RALLY

But that report was not the final product. Now he’s plowing ahead with the investigation that he described as "maddening" because of the roadblocks and barriers he has faced along the way. And last night, he approved a subpoena to get more information from the FBI and Department of Justice.

"I'd like our report to be bipartisan, but everybody else seems to have been moving on here and not particularly interested in an investigation. I am," Johnson said. "Whether I have the other officers involved or not, I'm moving forward, which is why I approved a subpoena."

ONE YEAR AFTER TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT, BUTLER WIDOW DEMANDS ACCOUNTABILITY FROM SECRET SERVICE

Johnson accused the FBI and DOJ of "not sharing with us," and said that he needed documentation to move forward with his investigation and that he was "not getting it."

"We're continuing to be stonewalled, and I’m not happy about it," he said.

ӣ��Ƶ Digital reached out to the FBI and Justice Department for comment.

Nearly a year ago, gunman Thomas Crooks fired off eight rounds from a rooftop near the stage of Trump’s rally, grazing the then-presidential candidate on the ear and killing one rally attendee, firefighter Corey Comperatore, and wounding others before being slain.

FBI'S KASH PATEL VOWS 'YOU'RE GOING TO KNOW EVERYTHING WE KNOW' ABOUT TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT

The previous preliminary report was the product of a joint investigation with the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, which at the time were led by Senate Democrats when they controlled the majority.

That report found that failures in the U.S. Secret Service’s "planning, communications, security, and allocation of resources for the July 13, 2024, Butler rally were foreseeable, preventable, and directly related to the events resulting in the assassination attempt that day."

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Johnson reiterated that he hoped the final report, and his subpoena push, would be a bipartisan effort.

"I'm hoping they all join on. But again, if not … I've got unilateral subpoena power, so, I will issue that subpoena," he said. "But if the other officers join in, great."

Top Trump ally predicts Senate will blow past 'big, beautiful bill' deadline

Thu, 19 Jun 2025 07:00:32 -0400

A Senate fiscal hawk doesn’t believe Republicans can hit their own self-imposed timeline to pass President Donald Trump’s "big, beautiful bill."

Senate Republicans are racing against the clock to finish work on their version of the president’s colossal bill after the House GOP advanced its offering late last month.

So far, each of the 10 Senate committees has unveiled a portion of the bill and are fine-tuning each chunk to conform with Senate rules and address concerns among varying factions in the conference.

'IT JUST BAFFLES ME': SENATE REPUBLICANS SOUND ALARM OVER MEDICAID CHANGES, SPENDING IN TRUMP MEGABILL

Republican leaders are gunning to put the package on the floor next week, ahead of a scheduled recess for Independence Day, but Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., believes there is enough resistance against the bill to torpedo that timeline.

"I think we have enough people that are saying, ‘No, we're not going to proceed to the bill prior to July 4.’" he said. "We need more time, but I think our efforts now are concentrated."

Johnson has long been pushing for far deeper cuts in the package, far beyond the goal of $1.5 trillion set in the House’s offering and the pursuit of $2 trillion in cuts in the Senate’s package to begin putting a major dent in the nation’s deficit.

SENATE PANEL NAVIGATES DELICATE COMPROMISES ON MEDICAID, TAXES IN LATEST CHUNK OF TRUMP'S MEGABILL

The lawmaker’s remarks came during a press call where he debuted his 31-page report on the GOP’s quest to ram the president's agenda through Congress.

The report offered a variety of scenarios of the deficit and growth impacts the Republicans’ plan could have based on varying levels of compound annual growth rates that varied from over 2%, 3% and 4%.

The report was meant to be a thumb in the face of the Congressional Budget Office’s findings on the bill and overall state of federal spending and deficits. But it also rejected the arguments made by Republican leaders and the White House in its pursuit of showing the reality of the nation’s fiscal health and the effect the "big, beautiful bill" could have on it.

'FULLY JUSTIFIED': GRAHAM PLOWS AHEAD WITH TRUMP BORDER FUNDING DESPITE PAUL'S OBJECTIONS

Ron Johnson acknowledged the sentiments of House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Trump that the spending cuts achieved in the House product were unprecedented but countered that "we've faced an unprecedented level of spending increase" since the pandemic.

"You can argue about the twigs and leaves on the forest floor, but I'm forcing everybody to take a step back and look at the look at the forest," Ron Johnson said. "It's blazing, and we got to put this forest fire out."

There are others with varying concerns, including the addition of a debt-ceiling hike and proposed changes to Medicaid, who could form a multi-faceted coalition to tank the bill.

Thune can only afford to lose three votes if he hopes to pass the bill, given that the nature of the budget reconciliation process skirts the filibuster and that Democrats have been iced out of the process thus far.

Ron Johnson noted that he hoped Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., wouldn’t put the full bill on the floor next week because "I really think it’ll be voted down."

"If we do vote it down, I don't want anybody to interpret it as a slap in the face of either Leader Thune or President Trump," Ron Johnson said. "It's just saying, ‘Guys, we need more time. The ball has been in the Senate court for two weeks."

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Johnson has been a proponent of breaking up the megabill into two or three chunks, rather than tackling it all in "one fell swoop." However, he acknowledged there would need to be some kind of mechanism that would allow lawmakers to have "at least two, if not three, bites at the apple."

"I understand this process is to kind of jam everybody, but let's not do what Nancy Pelosi did and say, ‘Hey, got to pass this bill to figure out what's in it,’" he added. "Let's know fully what's in it. Let's do as President Trump asked. … He wants the Senate to make a better bill."

GOP Senator Ron Johnson says he's 'trying to force reality' on DC

Fri, 13 Jun 2025 04:18:25 -0400

When it comes to the nation's federal government, GOP Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin is "not a fan."

He believes that it "causes or exacerbates more problems than it actually solves," telling ӣ��Ƶ Digital during an interview on Wednesday that the bulk of his oversight is "to expose how awful government is" in order to obtain "public support for reducing it, limiting its size, limiting its cost, limiting its influence over our lives."

"As our federal government grows, our freedoms recede," he said. "You see what the federal government does, how it wastes money."

TRUMP ALLY STANDS FIRM AGAINST ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’ DESPITE PRESSURE: ‘IT’LL COMPLETELY BACKFIRE'

The national debt has ballooned to the eye-watering sum of more than $36 trillion, with lawmakers and presidents from both parties presiding over the deficit spending that has led the nation to this point.

Johnson said he's "trying to force reality" upon everyone in the nation's capital, regardless of whether they want to face that reality.

He said for decades the nation has been suffering a "chronic debt crisis," illustrating the dramatic decline in the value of the U.S. dollar by noting that "the dollar you held back in 1998 is now only worth $0.51 cents," while "a dollar you held in … 2019 is only worth $0.80 cents."

The senator referred to inflation as "the silent tax."

But he's certainly not staying silent.

Johnson indicated that the elected leaders are mortgaging the future of American children, but "don't talk about it."

"I'm forcing everybody to look at it," he said, noting that his "primary role" is to force "acknowledgment of our problem."

But as keenly as Johnson advocates the idea of slashing the sprawling tentacles of the massive federal bureaucracy, right now he's just pushing to pare spending down to pre-pandemic levels.

The conservative fiscal hawk has been making headlines for taking a stand against the Trump-backed One Big Beautiful Bill Act that cleared the GOP-controlled House of Representatives last month.

But Johnson told ӣ��Ƶ Digital that he actually likes a lot of the measure.

"I'm really not critical of the bill as far as it goes," Johnson explained, noting that he's a "big supporter" of much of what's in it, though he noted that has not read all of it — the measure is more than 1,000 pages long.

REPUBLICANS CHALLENGE ‘IRRELEVANT’ BUDGET OFFICE AS IT CRITIQUES TRUMP'S ‘BEAUTIFUL BILL’

"My main beef is it just doesn't go far enough," he said, noting that after the COVID-19 pandemic Democrats failed to return to pre-COVID spending and deficit levels.

The Congressional Budget Office's estimated budgetary impact for the measure indicates that the net effect on the deficit would be a more than $2.4 trillion increase over the fiscal years 2025-2034.

But White House Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought has said the measure would decrease deficits.

"The bill REDUCES deficits by $1.4 trillion over ten years when you adjust for CBO's one big gimmick--not using a realistic current policy baseline. It includes $1.7 trillion in mandatory savings, the most in history. If you care about deficits and debt, this bill dramatically improves the fiscal picture," Vought said in a post on X.

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Johnson also noted during the interview that there has not been a "reckoning" regarding the "abuse" at all levels of government during the COVID-19 pandemic.

He noted that he does not refer to the COVID-19 jab as a vaccine. Instead, he referred to it as an "injection," asserting that it is "not a vaccine," and that it caused injuries and death.

The senator said that he thinks the shots should have "black box warnings."

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website states that the "CDC recommends a 2024-2025 COVID-19 vaccine for most adults ages 18 and older" and claims that the "vaccine helps protect you from severe illness, hospitalization, and death."

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Johnson, who has served in the Senate since 2011 and won election to a third term in 2022, said he'd prefer not to seek another term in office.

"I don't covet this job," he said, noting that he wants to leverage his post to help save America and aid those who are "ignored by the system."

While he's not ruling out another run, Johnson, who turned 70-years-old earlier this year, said he'd "be happy" to return to Oshkosh and "live a nice, peaceful life."

Trump ally stands firm against 'big, beautiful bill' despite pressure: 'It'll completely backfire'

Sun, 08 Jun 2025 11:00:33 -0400

EXCLUSIVE — One of the leading opponents of President Donald Trump’s "big, beautiful bill" declared not even the commander in chief will be able to deter him from speaking out against what he sees as a bill that falls short of Republicans’ goal of cutting government waste.

"It’ll completely backfire on him," Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., told ӣ��Ƶ Digital of any attempts by Trump to sway him on the current legislation.

Johnson has become a prominent voice of opposition against the House GOP’s offering to the budget reconciliation process. Senate Republicans finally began the tedious process of parsing through the bill this week.

'HE'S NOT A BIG FACTOR': TRUMP'S SENATE ALLIES DISMISS ELON MUSK'S CALLS TO 'KILL THE BILL'

Lawmakers in the upper chamber, Johnson included, are determined to make changes to the bill, with most wanting to make reductions to Medicaid and food stamps more palatable. Trump has made it clear his bill must pass but has acknowledged the Senate will need to make a few changes.

Trump’s directive has been to deliver a bill that can survive the razor-thin majorities in both chambers.

Johnson, however, wants to see spending returned to pre-pandemic levels, cuts that are trillions of dollars deeper than what House Republicans could stomach. And he is ready to vote against the bill unless he sees the changes he wants.

And he believes that a pressure campaign from the president against him and other like-minded fiscal hawks will fail.

He said a better approach would be to work with lawmakers and fiscal hawks like him to gain a better understanding of the reality of the country’s fiscal situation, a reality that "is grim," he said.

SEN. RON JOHNSON PROPOSES 'LINE-BY-LINE' CUTS TO PASS TRUMP'S 'BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL'

NATIONAL DEBT TRACKER: AMERICAN TAXPAYERS (YOU) ARE NOW ON THE HOOK FOR $36,214,501,400,213

Johnson has been up front about his disdain for the bill but has so far avoided public retribution from Trump. In fact, the two have spoken twice this week, once on Monday and later during a Senate Finance Committee meeting at the White House Tuesday.

The lawmaker has told Trump he’s in Trump's corner and that he wants "to see you succeed," but he has been steadfast in his position that the bill does not go far enough to tackle the national debt.

And the debt continues to climb, nearing $37 trillion and counting, according to ӣ��Ƶ’ National Debt Tracker.

The House’s offering set a goal of $1.5 trillion in spending cuts over the next decade, which lawmakers in the lower chamber have pitched as a positive step forward to righting the country’s fiscal ship, an offering Johnson panned as falling drastically short of the GOP’s promises to cut deep into government spending.

"What's so disappointing about what happened in the House is it was all rhetoric. It's all slogans," Johnson said. "They picked a number. Literally, they picked a number out of the air."

GOP SENATORS EXPRESS 'CONCERNS,' 'SKEPTICISM' OVER TRUMP'S SPENDING BILL AFTER MUSK RANT

Johnson views this attempt at the budget reconciliation process as a rare opportunity to "do the hard things" when it comes to spending cuts, but others in the GOP have been more hesitant to cut as deep.

Johnson said a main reason Republicans have so far fallen short of meeting the moment for the most part is that lawmakers don’t understand just how much the federal government shovels out the door year in and year out.

The lawmaker recalled a moment roughly three years ago during a debate over another year-end omnibus spending bill, when each of the dozen appropriations bills is crammed into one, bloated package that is universally reviled and almost always passes.

He asked his colleagues if they really knew just how much the government spends, and no one "volunteered to answer."

"Nobody knew. I mean, think of that. The largest financier in the world. We're supposedly, in theory, the 535 members of the board of directors, and nobody knew," he said. "Why would they? We never talked about it."

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Johnson has been busy trying to better educate his colleagues, putting together his own charts and graphs that cut out the "noise," like the latest nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office report that found the legislation would add $2.4 trillion to the national debt over a decade. The GOP has universally panned that projection.

"We can't accept this as a new normal," Johnson said. "We can't accept — you can take pot shots of CBO, but you can't deny that reality. [It] might be off a little bit, but that is the trajectory, and that's undeniable."

Sen Ron Johnson suggests he may not run for re-election in 2028

Thu, 29 May 2025 14:28:28 -0400

GOP Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin indicated that he does not want to run for a fourth Senate term, but he isn't ruling it out.

Johnson, who is serving his third six-year Senate term, said during remarks at a Wednesday event hosted by the Milwaukee Press Club and WisPolitics.com that he learned from his run for a second term that "you can't say … never."

In a 2022 Wall Street Journal piece, Johnson explained his about-face on seeking another term.

US OFFICIALS DELAYED WARNING PUBLIC ABOUT HEART INFLAMMATION RISK FROM COVID SHOT: REPORT

"During the 2016 campaign, I said it would be my last campaign and final term. That was my strong preference and my wife’s. We both looked forward to a normal private life," he said. "I believe America is in peril. Much as I’d like to ease into a quiet retirement, I don’t feel I should."

The senator, who has been vocal in objecting to the Trump-backed One Big Beautiful Bill Act that most in the House GOP voted to pass last week, said during his remarks on Wednesday that he would like to place America on a "sustainable course" and return home.

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"I don't covet the position," he said.

But while he's not slamming the door on the possibility of running for Senate again, he flatly ruled out the prospect of a presidential bid.

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"No, God, what an awful job," he said when asked whether he'd ever run for the presidency. He said he wouldn't want to make the decisions that a commander in chief must make.

US officials delayed warning public about heart inflammation risk from COVID shot: report

Wed, 21 May 2025 12:19:56 -0400

U.S. health officials knew about the risks of myocarditis from COVID-19 vaccines but downplayed the concern and delayed informing the public about the risks of taking the jab — that is according to a new Senate report released by Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., on Wednesday.

Johnson, chairman of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, has been investigating the safety and efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccines. Earlier this year, he subpoenaed the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for records relating to COVID-19 vaccine safety data and communications about the pandemic.

SEN. RON JOHNSON: THE COVID COVER-UPS HAVE TO END

The interim report, spanning 55 pages, obtained and reviewed by ӣ��Ƶ Digital, revealed that Biden administration officials "withheld crucial health information from the Subcommittee and the public."

Since 2021, Johnson has sent more than 70 oversight letters, which he says were "either completely ignored or inadequately addressed."

The report highlights the records Johnson has obtained pursuant to the subpoena from the new, Trump administration-led health agency. Specifically, the report focuses on HHS’ awareness of and response to cases of myocarditis — a type of heart inflammation — following COVID-19 vaccination.

SCIENTISTS FIND CLUES ON WHY COVID VACCINE CAUSES CHRONIC HEALTH PROBLEMS IN SOME

Johnson’s report says the 2,473 pages of records he obtained "contain evidence of the Biden administration’s efforts to downplay and delay warning the public about the risks of myocarditis associated with the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines."

The report points to records from May 2021, in which health officials at HHS discussed whether to issue a formal warning about myocarditis.

According to the report, the formal warning about myocarditis was initially going to be distributed nationwide as a Health Alert Network message, which, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), is CDC’s "primary method of sharing cleared information about urgent public health incidents with public information officers; federal, state, territorial, tribal, and local public health practitioners; clinicians; and public health laboratories."

However, Johnson’s report said that health officials at CDC and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) "ultimately decided against issuing a formal HAN and, instead, posted ‘clinical considerations’ on CDC’s website about myocarditis."

"Based on the subpoenaed records the Subcommittee has received to date, as well as public FOIA documents, this interim report will highlight records and present a timeline showing U.S. health officials knew about the risk of myocarditis; those officials downplayed the health concern; and U.S. health agencies delayed informing the public about the risk of the adverse event," it said.

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The report also highlights the Israeli Ministry of Health notifying officials at the CDC in February 2021 of "large reports of myocarditis, particularly in young people, following the administration of the Pfizer vaccine."

The report also highlights documents showing CDC officials discussing "safety signals" for myocarditis with mRNA vaccines in April 2021 based on Defense Department and Israeli data, but "still not taking immediate steps to warn the public."

Documents obtained by Johnson also show CDC officials communicating with Moderna and Pfizer representatives about the risks.

Johnson also obtained "draft meeting notes from late May 2021 exchanged between U.S. public health officials which included the question: ‘Is VAERS signaling for myopericarditis now?,’ and the answer: ‘For the age groups 16-17 years and 18-24 years, yes.’"

"VAERS" is an acronym for the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System.

FLASHBACK: SEN. RON JOHNSON CONFRONTS HHS SECRETARY ABOUT REDACTED FAUCI EMAILS ON COVID-19 ORIGINS

"Rather than provide the public and health care providers with immediate and transparent information regarding the risk of myocarditis following mRNA COVID-19 vaccination, the Biden administration waited until late June 2021 to announce changes to the labels for the Moderna and Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines based on the ‘suggested increased risks’ of myocarditis and pericarditis," the report states. "Even though CDC and FDA officials were well aware of the risk of myocarditis following COVID-19 vaccination, the Biden administration opted to withhold issuing a formal warning to the public for months about the safety concerns, jeopardizing the health of young Americans."

The report added that the Biden administration’s decision "to downplay the COVID-19 vaccine health risks and delay warning the public about cardiac-related adverse events associated with the mRNA vaccines jeopardized the public’s health."

According to the report, as of April 25, VAERS reported 38,607 deaths and more than 1.6 million "adverse events worldwide associated with the administration of COVID-19 injections."

Of the more than 38,000 deaths, the report said 25% occurred on Day 0, 1, or 2 following injection, compared to "2,663 deaths reported to VAERS associated with the flu vaccine over a period of 35 years."

"No other reports of adverse events associated with any other drug or vaccine even come close to these statistics," the report states. "And yet, those who oversaw the development and distribution of the COVID-19 vaccines continue to insist it is safe and effective, without providing the data to prove their claims."

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Johnson’s report demands that the "full extent" of the Biden administration’s "failure to immediately warn the public about all COVID-19 vaccine adverse events must be completely exposed."

"The American people fund the federal health departments and agencies with their hardearned tax dollars," the report states. "The information developed by these departments and agencies belong to the American people, and should be made fully and transparently available."

The report states that as "the roadblocks are removed and more documents that have been hidden and withheld for years become available, the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations will provide transparency and let the American public see what is their right to see."

Grassley, Johnson press DOJ IG to respond on whether ‘untasked’ undercover agents were present on Jan 6

Wed, 16 Apr 2025 11:21:00 -0400

EXCLUSIVE: Sens. Ron Johnson and Chuck Grassley are demanding information from the Justice Department’s inspector general on whether any unassigned or "untasked" confidential human sources (CHSs) from DOJ agencies beyond the FBI were in or around the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

In 2024, DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz revealed 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.

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.

WERE UNDERCOVER SOURCES FROM OTHER DOJ AGENCIES PRESENT ON JAN. 6? GRASSLEY, JOHNSON DEMAND ANSWERS

Horowitz, in that report, said none of the sources were authorized or directed by the FBI to "break the law" or "encourage others to commit illegal acts."

In December, and after the release of Horowitz’s report, Grassley, R-Iowa, and Johnson, R-Wis., demanded information on whether confidential human sources from DOJ agencies beyond the FBI were used on Jan. 6, 2021.

In an April 7 letter exclusively obtained by ӣ��Ƶ Digital, Horowitz notified the senators that he found no evidence the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), or the Bureau of Prisons deployed confidential human sources to Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, 2021.

"We can confirm that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS), and the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) did not have any undercover employees in Washington, D.C. on January 6 in connection with the events of January 6," Horowitz wrote in his response. "This includes in or around the Capitol or in the restricted area of the Capitol."

"We can also confirm that the ATF, DEA, USMS, and BOP did not have any tasked CHSs in Washington, D.C. on January 6 in connection with the events of January 6," Horowitz continued. "This includes in or around the Capitol or in the restricted area of the Capitol."

However, Horowitz could not conclusively say whether any of those agencies had "untasked" confidential human sources – or those who traveled on their own initiative – present on Jan. 6, 2021.

"With respect to whether any DOJ law enforcement components other than the FBI had untasked CHSs in Washington, D.C. on January 6 in connection with the events of January 6, unlike the FBI, we have no information at this time as to whether the ATF, DEA, USMS, or BOP conducted a post-January 6 canvass to determine if any of their CHSs traveled on their own initiative (untasked) to D.C. in connection with the January 6 events," Horowitz wrote.

Horowitz notified Grassley and Johnson that after conversations with their Senate staff on the matter, the DOJ inspector general’s office is inquiring those agencies further on whether they have any information to indicate whether any of their confidential human sources were in Washington, D.C., "on their own initiative (untasked) for the events on January 6."

"We will supplement this response when we receive that information," Horowitz wrote.

Grassley and Johnson, in a letter to Horowitz obtained exclusively by ӣ��Ƶ Digital, demanded Horowitz provide that information, saying his investigative work appeared to be "narrowly focused" on just the FBI's use of CHSs, and said his response on "untasked CHSs from DOJ components other than the FBI" was "less definitive."

Additionally, Grassley and Johnson are demanding further information on confidential human sources, noting that "the term ‘undercover agent’ can mean many things."

Grassley and Johnson are now reiterating their request for information on whether "any federal law enforcement components, including FBI, ATF, DEA, USMS, or BOP had employees or contractors wearing civilian clothing in the Washington D.C. area; at the Capitol Building; and in restricted areas on J6 in an official or unofficial capacity."

Meanwhile, Grassley and Johnson, in December, also questioned whether 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, in his April letter to the senators, said he reviewed the "relevant portions of CHS files in the FBI’s electronic record-keeping system for CHS management" and obtained "relevant portions of those files," including underlying text messages, photographs and videos.

Horowitz said he obtained emails documenting the FBI’s Washington Field Office communications with CHS handlers of the tasked CHSs, and emails of CHS handling agents of "untasked" CHSs who contacted the Washington Field Office during the events of Jan. 6, 2021.

"We flagged certain additional documents to be produced, including 1023s, documentation of unauthorized illegal activity (which generated a negative response), approvals for the tasked CHSs, and some underlying text messages and photographs referenced in 1023s, including text messages sent and shared between CHSs and their handlers," Horowitz wrote, adding that he also obtained instant messages from the FBI’s classified and unclassified communication platforms.

DOJ IG REVEALS 26 FBI INFORMANTS WERE PRESENT ON JAN. 6

"As with all reviews, we sought the information that was most relevant to our review, one aspect of which was to confirm that no FBI handling agent, FBI Headquarters personnel, or WFO personnel authorized any CHS to engage in illegal activity on January 6, 2021," Horowitz stressed. "Given this scope, and the fact that the OIG did not receive any information indicating that any individual handling agent had inappropriate communications with a CHS, the OIG requested and reviewed relevant text messages between handling agents and CHSs, but did not request all of the text messages for all of the 26 CHSs and their handlers."

Horowitz explained that for many of the confidential human sources in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, "the handling agents did not know of the CHSs’ presence in Washington, D.C. until after the events of that day."

"We further note that, in the hundreds of prosecutions that took place in connection with the events at the Capitol on January 6, 2021, and the extensive discovery that took place during those prosecutions, we are not aware that any CHS (or other person) provided text messages to a Court indicating that a FBI agent had encouraged or instructed (with or without authorization from their Field Office, WFO, or FBI headquarters) anyone to engage in illegal activity on January 6, 2021," Horowitz wrote.

However, Grassley and Johnson say Horowitz’s response falls short, noting he "did not request all of the text messages for all of the 26 CHSs and their handlers."

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"It’s well past time the American people received complete transparency and clarity regarding the full extent of the Justice Department and its component agencies’ involvement in the events of J6," Grassley and Johnson told ӣ��Ƶ Digital in a joint statement. "Inspector General Horowitz must be thorough in his approach and shed light on every corner of the department he oversees."

Grassley and Johnson added, "We expect Horowitz to bring finality to this investigation by fully complying with our requests."

A spokesperson for Horowitz did not immediately respond to ӣ��Ƶ Digital's request for comment.

Grassley, Johnson demand NARA turn over Biden records relating to email aliases, family business dealings

Mon, 24 Feb 2025 17:36:52 -0500

FIRST ON FOX: Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley and Sen. Ron Johnson are demanding the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) turn over records relating to former President Joe Biden’s use of a personal email address to conduct official government business and relating to his family’s financial dealings.

Grassley, R-Iowa, and Johnson, R-Wis., penned a letter to the acting general counsel of NARA demanding the records, which they have been seeking from the agency since 2021.

FLASHBACK: NATIONAL ARCHIVES TO HAND OVER 62,000 BIDEN RECORDS TO HOUSE GOP, INCLUDING EMAILS USING ALIASES

"Since 2021, we have conducted oversight of Joe Biden’s use of multiple pseudonyms and personal email addresses for official government business when he served as vice president," they wrote. "Despite our multiple requests for information, the Biden White House failed to respond."

Grassley and Johnson noted that they have sent five letters to NARA requesting documents they say are "vital" to their oversight work.

"Although former President Biden is no longer in office and he pardoned his son Hunter and other family members, we believe it is of importance to review these records so the American people have a full accounting of Joe Biden and his family’s activities while Joe Biden was in government," they wrote.

The senators are demanding all records in NARA’s possession referencing Hunter Biden and his business partners, including Devon Archer and Christopher Heinz; Chinese and Russian business associates; and joint-ventures and groups that they worked with, including Rosemont Seneca, Rosemont Capital, Bohai Harvest, Blue Star Strategies, CEFC China Energy, Hudson West and more.

FLASHBACK: BIDEN WAS IN DIRECT CONTACT WITH HUNTER’S BUSINESS PARTNERS USING EMAIL ALIAS AS VP

They also are demanding records to or from the office of the vice president – Biden's role in the Obama administration – referencing those individuals and those companies.

Grassley and Johnson are also demanding all records with Joe Biden’s pseudonyms and email addresses, including "RobinWare456@gmail.com, Robert.L.Peters@pci.gov, JRB Ware2, and 67stingray."

They also want "all records encompassed in the nine boxes of records."

Grassley and Johnson have been investigating Hunter Biden’s business dealings since 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" Hunter Biden’s position on the board of Burisma was "problematic" and 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 ran U.S.-Ukraine relations and policy for the Obama administration.

Meanwhile, ӣ��Ƶ Digital exclusively reported in 2023 that Biden, as vice president, used alias email accounts 327 times during a nine-year period – 2010 to 2019 – to correspond with his son and his business associate, Eric Schwerin.

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Most of that email traffic took place while Biden was vice president. Fifty-four of the emails were "exclusively" between Joe Biden and Schwerin, who House Republicans described as "the architect of the Biden family’s shell companies."

The information came amid the House Republican impeachment inquiry against 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 2024, House lawmakers released their final report, spanning 292 pages, saying Biden had engaged in "impeachable conduct." They said he "abused his office" and "defrauded the United States to enrich his family."

WERE UNDERCOVER SOURCES FROM OTHER DOJ AGENCIES PRESENT ON JAN 6? GRASSLEY, JOHNSON DEMAND ANSWERS

Republicans said there was "overwhelming evidence" that Biden participated in a "conspiracy to monetize his office of public trust to enrich his family." They alleged the Biden family and their business associates 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.

Before leaving office, President Biden announced a blanket pardon for his son, applying to any offenses against the U.S. that Hunter Biden "has committed or may have committed" from Jan. 1, 2014, to Dec. 1, 2024.

Biden’s pardon of his son came after months of vowing to the American people that he would not do so.

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And hours before leaving office on Jan. 20, the president issued pardons for his brother, Jim Biden, and his brother's wife, Sara Jones Biden; his younger sister, Valerie Biden Owens, and her husband, John Owens; and his brother, Francis Biden.

The president argued that his family could be subject to "politically motivated investigations" after he left office.

MAHA caucus member pledges hearings into 'corruption' of a public health sector 'captured by Big Pharma'

Thu, 20 Feb 2025 04:00:19 -0500

FIRST ON FOX: Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., a member of the newly created Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) senatorial caucus, told ӣ��Ƶ Digital in an exclusive interview that one of the first hearings he wants to hold as chair of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations would focus on "the corruption of science" within the public health system.

Johnson said he hopes the MAHA caucus will "restore integrity" to the scientific community while adhering to recently confirmed Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s other agenda items.

"That's just foundational, we have to do that first," Johnson said. "I think we need to give the … COVID injection injured a fair hearing."

EVERYTHING TO KNOW ABOUT MAHA

Created in December by Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kansas – who is also a physician – the MAHA caucus "will focus on nutrition, access to affordable, high-quality-nutrient-dense foods, improving primary care, and addressing the root causes of chronic diseases," acting as a congressional arm for implementing RFK Jr.'s agenda.

So far, the only other members of the caucus are Republicans, but Johnson said the MAHA movement is largely nonpartisan. Other issues Johnson hopes the coalition will explore are the childhood vaccine schedule and potential theories behind the cause of autism.

"We haven't even been allowed to ask these questions," Johnson said. "I'd like to hold a hearing on what questions remain unanswered, what science needs to be conducted with integrity to start answering these questions."

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"We can certainly reveal the fact that there are legitimate questions that are outstanding that the American people want answers to in a completely nonpartisan way," he said.

Johnson said the HHS and scientific community were "captured by Big Pharma" and Dr. Anthony Fauci, former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Fauci is currently facing the ire of Republicans for unanswered questions about taxpayer-funded gain-of-function research.

He said MAHA's goal is "to end that corporate capture of federal health agencies" and "reinstall in federal agencies their real mission, which is on behalf of the American public."

And a new bill he said he may introduce could address that by restoring "doctors to the top of the treatment pyramid" instead of having their hands tied by associations and health groups.

"We should have a bill, and I would call it ‘Right to Treat,’" Johnson said. "Right now, they're being crushed at the bottom of the pyramid, and the pyramid starts with people like Anthony Fauci, basically non-practicing physicians, telling doctors how to take care of their patients. That's completely backwards. We need to re-establish doctors at the top of the treatment pyramid."

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RFK Jr. was confirmed by the Senate last week in a 52-48 vote, nearly entirely along party lines. Kennedy's controversial hearings focused on his previous public statements about vaccines. Kennedy has been critical of "Big Pharma" and "Big Food" on the campaign trail during his own independent bid for the presidency and continues in the MAHA movement under Trump's administration.

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"Our country is not going to be destroyed because we get the marginal tax rate wrong. It is going to be destroyed if we get this issue wrong," Kennedy said of the increase in chronic illnesses. "And I am in a unique position to be able to stop this epidemic."

Since RFK Jr.'s swearing-in, Trump has issued sweeping firings across several federal departments, including HHS, leading to a protest led by federal employees outside HHS in Washington, D.C., on Friday.

Were undercover sources from other DOJ agencies present on Jan. 6? Grassley, Johnson demand answers

Sat, 21 Dec 2024 04:00:02 -0500

DOJ IG Horowitz said there were 26 confidential human sources in the crowd on Jan. 6, 2021

Sen. Ron Johnson releases preliminary findings of probe into Trump assassination attempt

Mon, 22 Jul 2024 05:34:32 -0400

Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wisc, released his official 13-page preliminary findings of his office's investigation into the assassination attempt of former President Trump.

Trump survived the assassination attempt on July 13 at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, where alleged gunman Thomas Mathew Crooks, 20, opened fire, killing one spectator and injuring several others, including Trump, who suffered injuries to his ear.

Shortly following the incident, Johnson's office began contacting federal, state and local government entities, as well as private companies, to solicit information about the security failures at the rally, the senator's office said. The preliminary findings are based on the initial information Johnson's office obtained after the shooting.

The senator's office said he is sharing this information with the public to be transparent.

TRUMP SHOOTING: TIMELINE OF ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT RAISES QUESTIONS ABOUT HOW GUNMAN EVADED SECURITY

The preliminary findings determined that the Secret Service did not attend a security briefing given to local SWAT and sniper teams on the morning of July 13, that local law enforcement said communications were siloed and they were not in frequent radio contact directly with the Secret Service, that local law enforcement notified command about Crooks before the shooting and received confirmation that the Secret Service was aware of the notification and that the Secret Service was seen on the roof of the American Glass Research (AGR) building with local law enforcement following the shooting.

The investigation also found that photos of the shooter were sent to the ATF for facial recognition and that local law enforcement said the Secret Service was initially not planning on sending snipers to the rally.

Johnson's office also provided a timeline of the events on July 13:

9 a.m. — Butler County Emergency Services held a briefing for the local SWAT and Sniper units from Butler County, Beaver County, and Washington County providing security for Trump's rally. The briefing outlined the security perimeter for the event and areas of responsibility for each local unit as well as staging locations, including sniper locations, for each local unit and the Secret Service.

Attendees of the briefing said no Secret Service or other federal law enforcement were present for the briefing and that the Secret Service initially did not plan to provide sniper units before changing plans for unclear reasons. It is unknown why the Secret Service did not attend the briefing.

9:27 a.m. — Crooks enters a Home Depot in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania. Video footage of the store reportedly shows him entering alone.

9:41 a.m. — Crooks purchases a 5.5 FT Aluminum Dual Platform ladder.

9:42 a.m. — Crooks exits the Home Depot. Video footage of the parking lot reportedly shows him leaving in a vehicle, although the footage could not identify the make and model of the vehicle.

10:30 a.m. — Two local law enforcement snipers are in position on the second floor inside the AGR building.

5:10 p.m. — Crooks is first seen by one sniper (AGR sniper 1) at the AGR building.

5:14 p.m. — AGR sniper 1 takes pictures of Crooks.

TOP REPUBLICAN WARNS OF 'RUDE AWAKENING' IF 'STONEWALLING' CONTINUES AS SECRET SERVICE FACES HEARING

5:28 p.m. — AGR sniper 1 takes a picture of a bicycle and what appears to be two bags near the AGR building, although it is unclear what happened to the bicycle and bags after the day of the shooting.

5:32 p.m. — AGR sniper 1 observes Crooks looking at his phone and using a rangefinder.

5:38 p.m. — AGR sniper 1 messages the "Sniper Group" about Crooks.

5:40 p.m. — AGR sniper 1 is instructed to "call into command" about Crooks.

5:41 p.m. — AGR sniper 1 calls into command and offers a description of Crooks and the rangefinder, and says Crooks was "lurking around [the] AGR building."

5:49 p.m. — Photos of Crooks were sent to Butler County Emergency Services Command.

5:55 p.m. — Butler County Emergency Services confirms the photos were received.

5:59 p.m. — Butler County Emergency Services asks which direction Crooks is moving. AGR sniper 1 is initially unsure which direction Crooks is moving.

6:05 p.m. — AGR sniper 1 later says Crooks has a backpack and is moving northeast "in the direction of Sheetz."

6:06 p.m. to 6:12 p.m. — AGR sniper 1 moves to the ground floor of the building to meet local law enforcement patrol to notify them of Crooks' presence.

Roughly 6:11 p.m. — Crooks start to open fire, and the Secret Service then returns fire and kills Crooks.

6:23 p.m. — Beaver County SWAT operators step onto the roof where Crooks was stationed and confirm he is dead. Local law enforcement from another county and at least one Secret Service agent also walked onto the roof.

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6:46 p.m. — Crooks is patted down when law enforcement finds a transmitter device, Crooks' phone and the rangefinder in his pockets.

7:45p.m. to 7:46 p.m. — As requested by the Allegheny Bomb Squad, local law enforcement sent pictures of Crooks and the items to an ATF agent. The ATF is reportedly using the pictures of Crooks to run facial recognition.

Creator of immigration chart that 'saved' Trump's life from would-be assassin credits 'providence'

Mon, 22 Jul 2024 04:00:48 -0400

Pat McIlheran said 'there's a lot of providence' in the making of the immigration chart

Republican senator slams 'unserious' efforts by Congress to hold Biden, COVID authorities accountable

Tue, 09 Apr 2024 17:36:58 -0400

Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., lambasted Congress on Tuesday for "out of control" federal spending and "unserious" efforts to hold the government accountable.

Johnson, the ranking member on the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, spoke at the Heritage Foundation's Weaponization of U.S. Government Symposium in the morning, where he discussed his investigations into the COVID-19 pandemic response and great difficulty conducting oversight of the Biden administration.

The problem with Congress, Johnson said, is that members have voted to grow the government without conducting proper oversight of waste, fraud and abuse. He said federal spending is on track to be $6.9 trillion this year while the budget for his investigative committee was cut.

GOP SENATORS DEMAND DOJ, FBI PROMISE NOT TO RETALIATE AGAINST BIDEN WHISTLEBLOWERS

"I got my funding cut when I became ranking member, OK. Do you know how many staff members we have to do oversight over millions of government employees? We've got five. That's how unserious Congress is about oversight," Johnson said.

The Wisconsin Republican has led the charge in the Senate to investigate the origins of COVID-19. He has also accused the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of coordinating with social media companies to censor COVID vaccine skeptics – although critics have accused Johnson of peddling anti-vaccine misinformation. Johnson is also a leading Senate Republican probing corruption allegations surrounding President Biden's involvement with his son, Hunter Biden's, business dealings.

BIDEN-APPOINTED JUDGE TORCHES DOJ FOR DEFYING SUBPOENAS AFTER PROSECUTING TRUMP ADVISER

But on Tuesday, Johnson warned that the federal government has grown "out of control" to the point where Congress cannot perform oversight and accountability.

"Administrations, both Republican, Democrat, give us the middle finger," Johnson said. "They don't respond. Yeah, so they are completely unaccountable to the American public through your elected representatives. And that's been going on for decades. So, they are completely immune from oversight investigation."

HUNTER BIDEN CLAIMED HE DIDN'T 'STAND TO GAIN ANYTHING' IN CONTROVERSIAL BURISMA ROLE DESPITE MAKING MILLIONS

Republicans involved with the Hunter Biden investigation have said the White House is stonewalling investigators by withholding evidence and preventing Justice Department witnesses from testifying. Hard-line conservatives have advocated for Congress to use the power of the purse to leverage the Biden administration into cooperation by withholding agency funding; but most lawmakers are opposed to that strategy, which would likely result in a partial government shutdown.

Johnson said his colleagues are "not really contemplating all this government they're voting for, all this spending."

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"Again, to me, the problem is a massive federal government that has gone so far outside the constraints of the Constitution. Government is doing things that our Founding Fathers never contemplated," Johnson said.

GOP senators demand DOJ, FBI promise not to retaliate against Biden whistleblowers

Tue, 18 Jul 2023 14:34:47 -0400

FIRST ON FOX: Sen. Chuck Grassley and other Republican senators are calling on Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray not to retaliate against whistleblowers who told Congress about allegations of a criminal bribery scheme involving then-Vice President Joe Biden and a foreign national.

"We write to you today in support of the brave and courageous Department of Justice whistleblowers who have approached Senator Grassley’s office to disclose wrongdoing within the DOJ and the Federal Bureau of Investigation," Grassley and the Republican senators wrote in a letter to Garland and Wray, obtained by ӣ��Ƶ Digital.

"Whistleblowers are brave men and women who perform an invaluable public service and must be protected," they continued. "Accordingly, we demand that you commit that no taxpayer funds will be used by DOJ or FBI to expose the identity of or retaliate against any whistleblowers."

The whistleblowers revealed the existence of an FBI-generated FD-1023 form. That form reflects the FBI's interview with a "highly credible" confidential source who detailed multiple meetings and conversations he or she had with a top executive of Ukrainian natural gas firm Burisma Holdings over the course of several years starting in 2015.

DOJ BRIEFED HUNTER BIDEN TEAM ON JOE BIDEN ALLEGATIONS, BUT EXCLUDED IRS AGENTS: GRASSLEY

The Burisma executive alleged that he paid $5 million to Joe Biden and $5 million to Hunter Biden in exchange for influence over policy decisions. Hunter Biden sat on the board of Burisma Holdings at the time of the alleged conversations.

The executive also alleged that he has 17 audio recordings of conversations he had with Hunter Biden and Joe Biden, which he kept as somewhat of an "insurance policy."

"Without whistleblowers, Congress would have never known the existence of the unclassified FD-1023 form involving an alleged multi-million dollar bribery scheme between then-Vice President Joe Biden, Hunter Biden and a foreign national," the senators wrote.

The FD-1023 form was first brought to Grassley, R-Iowa, by a whistleblower. Grassley, along with Republicans in both the Senate and the House, have been demanding answers as to what the DOJ and FBI have done to verify or investigate the allegations contained in the document.

GRASSLEY, GRAHAM DEMAND FBI TURN OVER KEY DOCUMENT LINKED TO BIDEN ALLEGATIONS

In their letter, the senators laid out a timeline dating back to Oct. 13, 2022, when Grassley first wrote to Garland, Wray and U.S. Attorney for Delaware David Weiss about original whistleblower disclosures that indicated the "FBI has within its possession, significant, impactful and voluminous evidence with respect to potential criminal conduct by Hunter and James Biden."

"DOJ and FBI failed to respond," the senators wrote.

On May 3, 2023, Grassley and House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., wrote to Garland and Wray, first noting that they were aware of the unclassified FD-1023 form.

"The FBI refused to even admit this document existed until Senator Grassley informed Director Wray on May 31, 2023, that he had reviewed it," the senators wrote.

By early June, the FBI agreed to provide the House Oversight Committee access to the document in a secure setting, but the bureau "only provided the unclassified document to the House in a classified facility and with significant redactions," they wrote.

"DOJ and FBI have refused to produce a fully unredacted version of the FD-1023 to either the Senate or the House," they wrote. "Getting the full and complete 1023 is critical for the American people to know and understand the true nature of the document and to hold DOJ and FBI accountable."

Grassley and the senators demanded that Garland and Wray respond "no later than August 1, 2023 with your commitment to do so."

In additional to Grassley, the letter was signed by Sens. Ron Johnson, John Barrasso, Mike Braun, Ted Budd, Kevin Cramer, Josh Hawley, Rick Scott, John Cornyn, Mike Lee, Eric Schmitt, Roger Wicker, Tommy Tuberville, Ted Cruz, Cynthia Lummis, Marsha Blackburn, Roger Marshall, Cindy Hyde-Smith, Lindsey Graham, Mike Crapo, James Risch, Deb Fischer and Bill Hagerty.

The letter was directed to Garland and Wray but the senators also sent a copy to Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz.

GRASSLEY: BURISMA EXECUTIVE WHO ALLEGEDLY PAID BIDEN HAS AUDIO RECORDINGS OF CONVERSATIONS WITH JOE, HUNTER

The FBI has denied retaliating against whistleblowers, as recently as last week when Wray testified before the House Judiciary Committee.

"The FBI has not and will not retaliate against individuals who make protected whistleblower disclosures," the FBI told ӣ��Ƶ Digital on Tuesday. "In fact, FBI employees who report evidence of wrongdoing through a protected disclosure are protected from retaliation."

The DOJ did not immediately respond to ӣ��Ƶ Digital’s request for comment.

In the House, Comer has subpoenaed the FBI to turn over the document to his committee, and threatened to hold Wray in contempt of Congress if the bureau did not comply. Instead, the FBI made accommodations and brought a redacted version of the document to Capitol Hill for lawmakers to review in a secure SCIF. Comer is still seeking an unredacted version of the FD-1023.

President Biden has slammed the allegations in the form as "a bunch of malarkey."

EXCLUSIVE: JOE BIDEN ALLEGEDLY PAID $5M BY BURISMA EXECUTIVE AS PART OF A BRIBERY SCHEME, ACCORDING TO FBI DOCUMENT

The Justice Department last month announced that the president’s son had entered a plea agreement that will likely keep him out of jail. Hunter Biden is set to plead guilty to two misdemeanor counts of willful failure to pay federal income tax, and to one charge of possession of a firearm by a person who is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance.

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Hunter Biden is expected to make his first court appearance on July 26.

GOP demands special counsel probe after IRS whistleblowers axed from Hunter Biden case

Thu, 06 Jul 2023 18:00:08 -0400

Top Republicans on Capitol Hill are demanding that the Office of Special Counsel investigate claims IRS whistleblowers were removed from the probe into Hunter Biden.

In June, the House Ways and Means Committee released transcripts of two IRS whistleblowers who alleged that the Justice Department and IRS investigation into the president's son's business dealings were "influenced by politics." Those whistleblowers claimed they were removed from the investigation into Hunter Biden after they made those allegations.

In a letter sent Wednesday to Henry J. Kerner in the Office of Special Counsel (OSC), Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and others asked the Office of Special Counsel to "immediately investigate all allegations of retaliation against these IRS whistleblowers."

They also asked the office to "immediately seek the appropriate disciplinary actions against all who engaged in unlawful conduct against these whistleblowers."

IRS WHISTLEBLOWER DEFENDS CLAIMS HUNTER BIDEN GOT SPECIAL TREATMENT FROM THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT

Others signing the letter included Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis.; House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo.; Oversight and Accountability Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky.; and Judiciary Committee Jim Jordan, R-Ohio.

OSC handles disclosures of wrongdoing within the executive branch of the federal government from current federal employees, former federal employees and applicants for federal employment.

"The DOJ and IRS must be held accountable for all instances of whistleblower retaliation and misconduct, and federal agencies cannot conceal their wrongdoing behind illegal nondisclosure directives and related documents," they wrote.

IRS WHISTLEBLOWER DEMANDS WASHINGTON POST CLEAR HIS ‘GOOD NAME’ AFTER HUNTER BIDEN TEAM’S ‘DEFAMATORY' CLAIMS

The lawmakers noted that an internal IRS email was sent to supervisors, including one of the whistleblowers, from IRS Acting Special Agent in Charge (ASAC) Kareem Carter, saying "no information involving the investigation can leave the field office without first going through the chain of command directive by seeking approval from a supervisor."

That email, the lawmakers say, lacked a lawfully required "anti-gag provision" that should have included whistleblower protections to report wrongdoing.

"The anti-gag provision prohibits the use of appropriated funds and the enforcement of a nondisclosure agreement or other restrictive policy, form, or agreement that does not specifically allow for lawful, protected disclosures and that each policy, form, or agreement must use specific language apprising the employee of their rights to make such disclosures," the lawmakers wrote.

DOJ TOLD IRS NOT TO INTERVIEW JOE BIDEN'S GRANDCHILDREN IN HUNTER PROBE TO AVOID 'HOT WATER': WHISTLEBLOWER

The lawmakers said they have also been made aware of an IRS email sent by Deputy IRS Commissioner for Services and Enforcement Doug O’Donnell to IRS employees regarding the lawful reporting of allegations of wrongdoing and protected whistleblower disclosures.

"In this email, the Deputy Commissioner states that he is writing because of concerns related to the reporting of allegations of wrongdoing and the lawful reporting of misconduct," the letter states.

"While the email states the ‘IRS is deeply committed to protecting the role of whistleblowers,’ it fails to inform IRS employees of their Constitutional and statutory right to make protected disclosures to Congress," the Republicans said.

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"The importance of protecting whistleblowers from unlawful retaliation and informing whistleblowers about their rights under the law cannot be understated. After all, it is the law," they wrote.

The lawmakers asked for a briefing and advisement of next steps by the OSC no later than July 19.

Grassley, Johnson demand answers after FBI said Hunter Biden probe advanced Russian disinformation

Fri, 30 Jun 2023 05:00:12 -0400

EXCLUSIVE: Senators Chuck Grassley and Ron Johnson are raising new questions about a 2020 FBI briefing in which the agency said the senators' investigation into Hunter Biden was advancing Russian disinformation at a time the FBI was looking into some of the same allegations.

"The more we learn about what the FBI was up to in the summer of 2020, the more questions we have about what was done with information related to the Hunter Biden investigation," Grassley, R-Iowa, told ӣ��Ƶ Digital this week. He called the briefing "totally unnecessary" and said it was a "clear effort to discredit our oversight."

"Was there a broader effort by federal law enforcement to improperly silence or sideline anything critical of the Biden family in the run-up to the 2020 election?" Grassley asked. "The timeline that is emerging does not paint a picture of an apolitical FBI, and the bureau has a duty to explain itself, which it has so far failed to do."

The two senators opened an investigation into Hunter Biden’s finances, specifically his role on the board of Ukrainian natural gas firm Burisma Holdings. At the time of the FBI briefing, the senators were finalizing their report that would be released in September 2020.

FLASHBACK: GRASSLEY, JOHNSON DEMAND FBI INTERVIEW, SAY PREVIOUS MEETING ON HUNTER PROBE PUSHED FALSE RUSSIAN DISINFO TALE

On Aug. 6, 2020, the FBI provided a briefing to Grassley and Johnson "on behalf of the FBI and intelligence community," a briefing the senators have repeatedly said was given "because of pressure" from Democrats "to falsely attack" their investigation.

The two senators say that, in August 2020, FBI officials initiated a scheme to downplay derogatory information on Hunter Biden for the purpose of shutting down investigative activity relating to his potential criminal exposure by labeling it "disinformation."

The senators also noted that whistleblowers have alleged that local FBI leadership "instructed employees not to look at the Hunter Biden laptop immediately after the FBI had obtained it."

GARLAND DENIES INTERFERING WITH HUNTER BIDEN PROBE IN FIRST COMMENTS SINCE WHISTLEBLOWER CLAIMS RELEASED

But the briefing took place as the Justice Department’s federal investigation into Hunter Biden was well underway. By December 2019, the FBI had obtained the laptop belonging to Hunter Biden and knew material on the laptop was "not manipulated" and contained "reliable" evidence.

Johnson told ӣ��Ƶ Digital the mixed messages from the FBI are problematic.

"As troubling as Biden family corruption is — and the extent to which it comprises American foreign policy — there is a much larger story of corruption to be uncovered," he said this week.

"The complicity of federal law enforcement and the unequal application of justice is a true threat to our democracy," Johnson added. "Because the partisan corruption spans Democrat and Republican administrations, one has to wonder, ‘How is it being orchestrated and sustained?’"

The FBI has told ӣ��Ƶ the bureau had no comment when asked why the briefing was delivered to Grassley and Johnson in August 2020 and whether the FBI sought to downplay and discredit derogatory information about Hunter Biden.

HUNTER BIDEN TAX PROBE BEGAN AS ‘OFFSHOOT’ IRS INVESTIGATION INTO AMATEUR PORNOGRAPHY SHOP: WHISTLEBLOWER

Grassley and Johnson in September 2020 released their Hunter Biden report, which said 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 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 running U.S.-Ukraine relations and policy for the Obama administration.

Grassley and Johnson’s 2020 report also revealed U.S. Treasury Department records that "show potential criminal activity relating to transactions among and between Hunter Biden, his family and his associates with Ukrainian, Russian, Kazakh and Chinese nationals."

Grassley and Johnson said they received records that Hunter Biden "sent thousands of dollars" to people who have "either been involved in transactions consistent with possible human trafficking, an association with the adult entertainment industry or potential association with prostitution."

IRS whistleblowers involved in the IRS’ investigation into Hunter Biden have corroborated the information contained in the Senate report, which also found millions of dollars in "questionable financial transactions" between Hunter Biden and his associates and people with ties to the Chinese Communist Party.

On the other side of the Capitol, the House Judiciary, Oversight and Ways and Means committees have demanded transcribed interviews from more than a dozen Justice Department, IRS, FBI and Secret Service officials regarding allegations of politics influencing prosecutorial decisions in the Hunter Biden investigation.

The House Oversight Committee is investigating the Biden family’s business dealings. That investigation has further revealed that the Biden family and its business associates created more than 20 companies and received more than $10 million from foreign nationals while Joe Biden served as vice president.

Committee Chairman James Comer said some of these payments could indicate attempts by the Biden family to "peddle influence" and said the family appeared to take steps to "conceal the source and total amount received from the foreign companies."

WHISTLEBLOWER: 'NO WAY OF KNOWING' IF EVIDENCE OF 'OTHER CRIMINAL ACTIVITY' EXISTED ABOUT BIDENS ON LAPTOP

The White House continues to insist President Biden was "never in business" with his son.

The DOJ last week announced that Hunter Biden will plead guilty to two misdemeanor counts of willful failure to pay federal income tax and one charge of possession of a firearm by a person who is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance. The plea deal is likely to prevent Hunter Biden from having to serve prison time.

Maria Bartiromo discusses Antony Blinken's role in Biden laptop disinformation with Sen Ron Johnson

Thu, 04 May 2023 10:28:13 -0400

SEN TED CRUZ ON IF SENATE REPUBLICANS ARE UNITED ON THE DEBT BILL

Unless at some level, unfortunately, Senate Republicans are never united there. There are 49 Senate Republicans and 52 points of view. That's that's just the nature of the Senate. That being said, I think what we ought to be doing in the Senate is we ought to be standing up and backing up the House Republicans. The House Republicans are showing leadership right now, and Senate Republicans should stand shoulder to shoulder with the House and say Joe Biden, come to the table. Chuck Schumer has already said this bill is DOA, dead on arrival. He will he doesn't want to consider it. No Democrat other than Joe Manchin, who's facing a very tough reelection, is suddenly listening to his voters. Other than Joe Manchin, no Democrat has any interest in passing this bill. And I'm going to tell you a simple, practical reality. Biden is saying we must have a clean debt ceiling. Kevin McCarthy cannot pass a clean debt ceiling in the House. The votes are not there. That's not going to happen, which means Biden is wasting everyone's times with this brinksmanship. And you know who bears a big part of the fault of that? The corrupt corporate media. Because Biden is counting on, even if he fearmongers, takes us to the edge of the cliff. Even if Biden drives us over the cliff like Thelma and Louise with a handkerchief on his hair, he's quite confident the media will happily blame Republicans. And it's why he's being so reckless with your economic future and with mine.

JOHN RATCLIFFE ON ANTONY BLINKEN’S ROLE IN THE "SPIES WHO LIED" LETTER

Yeah. Maria, what's interesting about that is that in that clip that you played, you know, that was a statement that I was making as the DNI and unequivocally stating the intelligence community's position on the Biden laptop. It was also based on conversations that I'd had with the Department of Justice and the FBI confirming that they did have that laptop and it was part of a money laundering investigation that was ongoing. So Anthony Blinken and Mike Morrell and the 50 former intelligence officials who didn't have access to intelligence but had put this letter together, as you pointed out, Maria, it was 14 hours after I made those statements on national TV that they published this letter. So they knew that the letter that they were going to put out was false at that point. It was confirmed by the ICI and by the Department of Justice, but they decided to do it anyway. This was two weeks before a presidential election. They knew that the letter that they were putting out was essentially a hoax, a fraud on the American people intended to mislead them and in the process to frame a foreign government for something that that that was not taking place. You know, that is you know, that is a fraud on the American people. It's election interference. And, you know, this is a the group of same group of people like Mike Morell, who tried to do it in 2016 with the Steele dossier, where they weren't successful, came back in 2020 and again, knowing full well deliberately went ahead to mislead the American people and essentially said, look, we only need to keep this alive for two weeks. After that, we can admit that the Hunter Biden laptop, the Biden family laptop is real, but then it'll be too late. And that's exactly what happened.

BLINKEN AND WIFE EMAILED FREQUENTLY WITH HUNTER BIDEN, RAISING QUESTIONS ABOUT ROLE IN LAPTOP COVER STORY

SEN RON JOHNSON ALLEGES ANTONY BLINKEN LYING UNDER OATH TO THE SENATE IN 2020

RON JOHNSON: Really focusing on the Bidens private talent in 2019 and then into 2020 where we had the pandemic outbreak. So that didn't make things easier. Know, quite honestly, I didn't have the full support of my committee or the conference to subpoena the Bidens they thought is too political. Right. So, you know, they were professing their innocence. So so we invited all of them to come in, to testify, to proclaim their innocence. What is interesting and here's a little news for you, Anthony Blinken finally did come in and sit down for a voluntary transcribed interview in December of 2020 because he wanted to be secretary of state. And now because of more information that's come out, we know that he lied boldface to Congress about never emailing Hunter Biden. My guess is he told a bunch of other lies that hopefully we'll be able to bring him and his wife back in, tell them to preserve their records. You cannot trust Joe Biden. You cannot trust Hunter Biden. You can't trust the Biden family. You can't trust some of the people that they have surround themselves with. I mean, these made men. I basically agree with that statement. This is the problem. Harold Ford's what what what do you do when you have an effect? Coconspirators of the Biden family inside the agencies, inside our intelligence agencies, the Department of Justice, the FBI. And you have the political party, the Democrats who couldn't care less, have no interest whatsoever in the corruption that is being uncovered bit by bit as we pull back the the layers of the onion here and then peel them back.

MARIA BARTIROMO So just to be clear, you just said you believe Anthony Blinken lied to you under oath.

STATE DEPARTMENT DUCKS QUESTIONS ON CHARGE THAT BLINKEN ORCHESTRATED HUNTER BIDEN LAPTOP COVER STORY

RON JOHNSON: Yes, he did. He said he did not email Hunter Biden. And now we have those emails. We also know that his wife, using her private email address when she was a employee of the State Department, was basically a conduit between her husband and Hunter Biden as well. So, again, I think there's so much more to uncover here. There's so much more investigation. He needs to be subpoenaed. I don't have a subpoena power. He had to come in just voluntarily. If he wants to proclaim his innocence, I doubt he'll do that. But he must and she must preserve their records, their personal emails. When you get to the bottom of this, we need to show how corrupt these individuals are.

NEWT GINGRICH ON WHY SUSAN RICE LEFT THE WHITE HOUSE WITH BIDEN ANNOUNCING HIS RE-ELECTION BID

Well, I think at a minimum, it probably is a sign that she said don't do it. And he said, I'm doing it anyway. And I think she just didn't want to be part of a Biden reelection. And I also think that I was very struck when Mark Halperin, in his wide world of news, ran the video of Michelle Obama on stage with Bruce Springsteen. She's playing a tambourine. She recently had 9000 people at an event with Oprah in Los Angeles. I think Republicans had better pay significant attention to Michelle Obama. I hadn't believed that until I saw her on stage with Bruce Springsteen. I thought, you know, this is not a person who's hiding. So it's conceivable that Susan Rice and others are beginning to say they're not going to be part of some kamikaze reelection campaign with a guy who can't remember what he did yesterday.

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Sen. Ron Johnson confronts HHS secretary about redacted Fauci emails on COVID-19 origins

Wed, 22 Mar 2023 16:56:18 -0400

Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson, a Republican, confronted Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra about the unredacted emails from former National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) director Dr. Anthony Fauci regarding the origins of COVID-19.

Johnson confronted Becerra during Wednesday’s Senate Finance Committee hearing on President Biden’s budget request for HHS.

The Wisconsin Republican asked Becerra whether he believes it is important to "understand how the coronavirus originated," to which Becerra responded "absolutely."

BIDEN’S DOJ IS QUIETLY TRYING TO ORCHESTRATE TAXPAYER-FUNDED BAILOUT OF MODERNA

Johnson continued his line of questioning of the HHS secretary, asking Becerra if an employee in his department that is "spearheading the investigation" into COVID’s origins.

Becerra responded that the department’s inspector general, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institute of Health (NIH) are "doing a scrub."

"We’re all trying to get as much information," Becerra said. "The difficulty is that we’re not getting a lot of cooperation from some of the sources externally that could probably give us a better understanding."

"Well, let’s talk about a lack of cooperation, because I’d say the same thing is true in terms of cooperation out of the agencies," Johnson interjected, asking Becerra if he believes the public has "a right to know" how the government is spending their tax dollars "and how they’re operating."

Becerra answered in the affirmative, saying the "public does have a right to know."

Johnson noted there are "two primary methods for that:" Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests and "congressional oversight."

"Would you agree that FOIA is generally subjected to more redactions than congressional oversight would be?" Johnson asked.

"I wouldn’t say that, but we do have to be careful of what goes into the public domain with respecting confidentiality," Becerra responded.

"I understand, there’re some exceptions that are very explicit out there. A lot of them make sense," Johnson interjected again. "But I would argue, as many people do, that congressional oversight really is not subject to those same redactions, particularly when we have security clearances and we can take a look at classified information that is appropriately redacted under FOIA."

"Let me give you a couple of examples," Johnson continued, whipping out a packet of documents from a 2021 court-ordered FOIA request of "4,000 pages of documents, primarily emails of Anthony Fauci."

FORMER CDC DIRECTOR SLAMS GAIN-OF-FUNCTION RESEARCH: ‘PROBABLY CAUSED THE GREATEST PANDEMIC’ IN HISTORY

Johnson said that "five members" of the Senate Homeland Security Committee asked for the unredacted documents and pointed to a law requiring the turnover of unredacted documents.

The Wisconsin Republican said he and his colleagues dropped the number of requested pages to 400, received only 350 pages, and asked for the final 50 pages "for over a year."

"This is what the 50 pages look like," Johnson said, holding up and flipping through the almost completely redacted documents.

"I’m asking you: will you commit today to provide our oversight… will you commit to provide us the last 50 pages of communications between Anthony Fauci, Francis Collins, David Ferrar, as it relates to the origins of the coronavirus. Will you commit to that?" he asked.

"Senator, I absolutely will commit to make sure we follow up with you on your request to get some of that information," Becerra responded. "Again, this is in compliance with the law that you receive the information. I don’t know what particular statute with regard to disclosure was applied here, but you are absolutely entitled to the information that, by law, a member of the Senate or the House—"

Johnson interjected a third time, accusing Becerra of "not complying with the law" because his agency is "redacting things" between agencies and organizations outside federal agencies when requested by Senate offices.

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"Again, these redactions are not complying with the law," Johnson said. "We will follow up with you. I expect to see the unredacted 50 pages soon."

"We complied with the law, senator," Becerra claimed. "But we absolutely will make sure we follow up with you."

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