Ryan Lucas
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Consider This from NPR
The fallout from the Signal breach begins
Republican senators actually didn't ask about it at all in the public hearing, but Democrats absolutely grilled Gabbard and Ratcliffe on this. Democratic lawmakers called the actions of Trump's national security team here dangerous, incompetent, reckless. And they said that it could have had serious real world consequences. Here's the top Democrat on the panel, Senator Mark Warner of Virginia.
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The fallout from the Signal breach begins
Now, Warner said that's because the Houthis could have moved their air defenses or repositioned them if they'd had this info and then threatened American aircraft. Absolutely. OK, well, what did Gabbard and Ratcliffe have to say for themselves? Well, Gabbard at first wouldn't even acknowledge that she was in the group chat. Ratcliffe, for his part, did acknowledge that right away.
Consider This from NPR
The fallout from the Signal breach begins
He said that he was in the chat, but he tried to downplay the gravity of the situation. He said that government officials are allowed to use signal to communicate and coordinate for work. At the same time, I will say that our colleague, Tom Bowman, is reporting that the Pentagon warned a week ago against using Signal even for unclassified information.
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The fallout from the Signal breach begins
Now, Ratcliffe and Gabbard both repeatedly said at the hearing today that none of the information was classified in this group chat. But lawmakers were very, very skeptical of that. Here's Senator Angus King, an independent from Maine.
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The fallout from the Signal breach begins
Now, questions about that specific information there, Ratcliffe directed actually to the secretary of defense, who was not at the hearing. But Ratcliffe did at one point acknowledge that those sorts of things should only be discussed on classified channels. And look, the government does have its own secure communication systems for these sorts of things.
Consider This from NPR
The fallout from the Signal breach begins
Now, the FBI director, Kash Patel, was at this hearing as well. Democrats asked him whether the FBI is investigating this breach. And Patel said that he didn't have any update on that.
Consider This from NPR
The fallout from the Signal breach begins
Well, the administration is very much trying to say that this is all much ado about nothing. But I will say the information discussed in the chat is exactly the sort of intelligence a sophisticated adversary like Russia or China would want on the U.S. And the officials in the chat are all top of the target list of foreign intelligence services.
Consider This from NPR
The fallout from the Signal breach begins
Now, as for what's next, Democrats on the Intelligence Committee made this clear today that they want to get to the bottom of it, and they have very much vowed to get to the end of this.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 03-26-2025 4PM EDT
Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee pushed Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe for answers, particularly after the full group chat chain was made public by The Atlantic. It showed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth texting details on timing, weapons and attack sequencing of the U.S. airstrikes in Yemen. Here's Colorado Democrat Jason Crow.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 03-26-2025 4PM EDT
Crowe, who is a former U.S. Army Ranger, said the refusal to accept responsibility is outrageous and a leadership failure, and he called on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to resign. Ryan Lucas, NPR News, Washington.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 04-23-2025 5PM EDT
U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell spent two hours grilling a Justice Department attorney over the executive order against Perkins Coie. Trump's order takes several punitive steps, including suspending security clearances for the firm's employees. and barring its attorneys' access to government officials and buildings. Judge Howell last month temporarily blocked enforcement of aspects of the order.
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NPR News: 04-23-2025 5PM EDT
At this hearing, she pressed the Justice Department for details on the deals that other law firms have struck with the president to avoid punishment, as well as legal basis for targeting Perkins Coie for embracing diversity and inclusion in its hiring. At a separate hearing in the same courthouse, another federal judge heard arguments from the law firm WilmerHale
NPR News Now
NPR News: 04-23-2025 5PM EDT
that also has sued over a similar executive order targeting it. Ryan Lucas, NPR News, Washington.
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NPR News: 04-02-2025 7PM EDT
Other firms, though, have opted to reach an agreement with Trump. With today's deal, Milbank is now the fourth to do so. In a social media post, Trump says Milbank will, among other things, provide at least $100 million in pro bono legal services to causes that both Trump and the firm support. Milbank's chairman Scott Elliman says the agreement is consistent with the firm's core values.
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NPR News: 04-02-2025 7PM EDT
More from NPR's Ryan Lucas. President Trump is waging a campaign against big law firms that he accuses of weaponizing the justice system. Trump has issued executive orders that punish specific law firms because they've represented clients or issues unfavorable to the president. Three of the targeted firms have sued and won court orders temporarily blocking Trump's actions.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 01-27-2025 8PM EST
Oath Keepers founder and leader Stuart Rhodes was convicted of seditious conspiracy and other crimes in connection with the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021 and sentenced to 18 years in prison. President Trump, in one of his first acts back in office, commuted Rhodes' sentence to time served. On Friday, a judge barred Rhodes from visiting D.C., the U.S.
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NPR News: 01-27-2025 8PM EST
Capitol, or its grounds without the court's permission. The new Trump-appointed acting U.S. attorney pushed back, arguing that Rhodes and seven other Oathkeeper defendants were no longer subject to the court's supervision. Now, the judge has agreed that Trump's act of clemency does away with the defendant's supervised release and they are not bound by the travel restrictions.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 12-16-2024 7PM EST
At a hearing in federal court in Los Angeles, former FBI informant Alexander Smirnoff pleaded guilty to lying about bribes for the Bidens and to charges of tax evasion. According to a statement of facts that accompanied his plea deal, Smirnoff lied to his FBI handler, making up a story about a Ukrainian gas company paying millions of dollars in bribes to President Biden and his son Hunter.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 12-16-2024 7PM EST
That false claim later played a central role in the ultimately unsuccessful effort by House Republicans to impeach President Biden. Under Smirnoff's plea deal, prosecutors and his defense team have agreed to recommend a sentence of between four and six years in prison. Sentencing is scheduled for early January. Ryan Lucas, NPR News, Washington.
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NPR News: 02-11-2025 11AM EST
Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove sent a memo to the acting U.S. attorney in Manhattan, Danielle Sassoon, instructing her to dismiss the charges against Mayor Adams as soon as practicable, subject to a few conditions. Those include that the matter be reviewed after New York City's mayoral election this fall.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 02-11-2025 11AM EST
The memo says the directive is not based on an assessment of the strength of the case. Instead, it says the indictment last year came too close in time to the mayoral election this upcoming November. It also says the prosecution hinders Adams' ability to help in Trump's immigration crackdown. The move comes after Adams visited Trump in Florida and attended his inauguration.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 04-01-2025 6PM EDT
Attorney General Bondi says Thompson was a father of two young children and is killing a premeditated cold-blooded assassination that shocked America. She says after careful consideration, she has instructed federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty for Thompson's accused killer, Luigi Mangione. Bondi says this decision is in line with President Trump's agenda to stop violent crime.
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NPR News: 04-01-2025 6PM EDT
Federal prosecutors charged Mangione in December with several offenses, including using a firearm to commit murder. The 26-year-old also faces charges at the state level. Mangione's attorney says that in seeking the death penalty against him, the Justice Department has moved from the dysfunctional to the barbaric. Ryan Lucas, NPR News, Washington.
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NPR News: 01-23-2025 6PM EST
A person familiar with the situation told NPR the administration pulled the security protection for Pompeo and Hook on Wednesday. Mike Pompeo, Brian Hook, and John Bolton had received security details from the U.S. government because of threats from Iran. Iranian officials have publicly stated they want to avenge the death of Qasem Soleimani, an Iranian general who was killed in a U.S.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 01-23-2025 6PM EST
drone strike during Trump's first term in office. The Justice Department charged an Iranian national in 2022 with plotting to kill Bolton. Iran also has plotted against Trump, and the Biden administration beefed up Trump's security this past summer in light of those threats. Ryan Lucas, NPR News, Washington.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 01-15-2025 8PM EST
Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee say Pam Bondi is highly qualified to lead the Justice Department. They are touting her long career as a local prosecutor in Florida, as well as her eight-year stint as the state's attorney general. Democrats, however, have pressed Bondi on whether she will maintain the department's independence from the White House.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 01-15-2025 8PM EST
Under questioning, Bondi has said the department must act independently, but she argued, echoing committee Republicans, that the department unfairly targeted Donald Trump with two prosecutions, and she pledged that she will end what she called the weaponization of the department if she's confirmed as attorney general. Ryan Lucas, NPR News, Washington.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 03-13-2025 7AM EDT
President Trump issued the executive order last week that accuses Perkins Coie of dishonest and dangerous activity. The order seeks to prohibit federal contractors from retaining the law firm and to bar Perkins Coie employees from access to federal buildings and officials. Now, U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell is temporarily blocking parts of the executive order.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 03-13-2025 7AM EDT
Ruling from the bench, Judge Howell said President Trump's order is clearly intended to punish the law firm and likely violates its First, Fifth, and Sixth Amendment rights. She also said his order will be seen as an attempt to intimidate the entire legal profession from advocating for clients and causes unfavorable to the president. Ryan Lucas, NPR News, Washington.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 01-17-2025 6PM EST
Court papers say the former CIA analyst took steps to cover his tracks, including deleting journal entries and destroying his cell phone and an Internet router, He used to send photos of classified documents. Rahman faces up to 10 years in prison for both counts. He's scheduled to be sentenced in May. Ryan Lucas, NPR News, Washington.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 01-17-2025 6PM EST
The 34-year-old pleaded guilty to two counts of willful retention and transmission of classified national defense information. Asif William Rachman leaked two top-secret documents that contained classified information about Israeli preparations to attack Iran. At the time of the leak, Israel's intention to conduct military strikes was well-known, and it did later hit Iran with airstrikes.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Roundup: Kash Patel Confirmed As FBI Chief; China Sees Opportunity As USAID Gets Cut
And there are a lot of people, whether they be Democrats and also former national security officials, who have concerns about Patel, about his qualifications, about his experience, his temperament, and whether he's really the right man for this job.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Roundup: Kash Patel Confirmed As FBI Chief; China Sees Opportunity As USAID Gets Cut
Well, there are a whole bunch of them. There's the fact that he's a very close ally of President Trump. There are concerns about whether he can be independent from the White House or whether he's somebody who's going to do exactly what President Trump wants him to do. Traditionally, the FBI is independent, and it's something that has been very important historically.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Roundup: Kash Patel Confirmed As FBI Chief; China Sees Opportunity As USAID Gets Cut
There's also just the fact that he's made a lot of inflammatory comments over the years He's talked about wanting to root out the deep state. He's called public servants, law enforcement officials who investigated Trump gangsters. He says that people who stormed the Capitol on January 6th, who fought with police, he says that they are political prisoners.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Roundup: Kash Patel Confirmed As FBI Chief; China Sees Opportunity As USAID Gets Cut
That's, of course, echoing the sort of comments that we've heard from the president. And more broadly, he's just a very... fierce critic of the FBI itself. He has said on a bunch of podcast appearances that he wants to shut down FBI headquarters on day one. He wants to turn it into a museum to the deep state.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Roundup: Kash Patel Confirmed As FBI Chief; China Sees Opportunity As USAID Gets Cut
Lawmakers, certainly Democrats, asked him about a lot of these things during his confirmation hearing. Patel tried to push back on them. He said that he would not politicize the FBI, that he wants to take politics out of the FBI. He wants to focus on traditional crime fighting. But those comments did little to assuage the concerns that Democrats have.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Roundup: Kash Patel Confirmed As FBI Chief; China Sees Opportunity As USAID Gets Cut
And really one of the biggest concerns with Patel centers around things that he has said about wanting to go after his perceived enemies and Trump's perceived political enemies. And now you have Patel in charge of an organization, the FBI, which has these vast, vast investigative powers.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Roundup: Kash Patel Confirmed As FBI Chief; China Sees Opportunity As USAID Gets Cut
And there are a lot of concerns that he will make good on those statements that he made when he was not at the FBI about wanting to go after perceived enemies.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Roundup: Kash Patel Confirmed As FBI Chief; China Sees Opportunity As USAID Gets Cut
I will say that Patel takes over at the FBI at a tumultuous time for the organization. The new leadership at the Justice Department has pushed out at least eight senior leaders there, really top-level folks with a lot of experience. And more broadly, the new leadership at the Justice Department has demanded and now received a list of
The NPR Politics Podcast
Roundup: Kash Patel Confirmed As FBI Chief; China Sees Opportunity As USAID Gets Cut
thousands, around 5,000 or so FBI employees who worked on January 6th investigations. Remember, that was one of the largest investigations, if not the largest in Justice Department history, touched every state in the US. They've demanded a list of everyone who worked on that.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Roundup: Kash Patel Confirmed As FBI Chief; China Sees Opportunity As USAID Gets Cut
And that has led to concerns at the FBI for a lot of these concerns from folks who worked there of potential mass firings there, essentially a purge. And so the The impact that something like that would have on the FBI's ability to do its job and to protect the American public is a significant concern.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Roundup: Kash Patel Confirmed As FBI Chief; China Sees Opportunity As USAID Gets Cut
And how Patel is going to deal with that and how he's going to try to lead an organization as big and important as the FBI is something that we're just going to have to wait and see how that pans out.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Roundup: Kash Patel Confirmed As FBI Chief; China Sees Opportunity As USAID Gets Cut
Thank you.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Roundup: Kash Patel Confirmed As FBI Chief; China Sees Opportunity As USAID Gets Cut
I'm Ryan Lucas. I cover the Justice Department.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Roundup: Kash Patel Confirmed As FBI Chief; China Sees Opportunity As USAID Gets Cut
No, it wasn't really in doubt. Republicans did, for the most part, kind of unite and lockstep behind it. But this vote came out to 51 to 49. There are two Republican senators who voted against confirming Patel. That would be Maine's Susan Collins and Alaska's Lisa Murkowski. And if you look at the three directors immediately before Patel, they all received at least 92 votes in favor.
The NPR Politics Podcast
Roundup: Kash Patel Confirmed As FBI Chief; China Sees Opportunity As USAID Gets Cut
So that gives you a sense of how controversial a nominee Patel is to lead the FBI, which, to remind people, is a really big job. The FBI is responsible for investigating counterterrorism, bank robberies, cybersecurity, all sorts of things across the spectrum. And there's a lot of crime going on. And a lot of this comes down to the FBI to fight. So this is a very big job.
Up First from NPR
Intel Hearing On Group Chat, Return To Office Mandate, Black Sea Deal
Well, there are a couple of issues here. First off, this group chat reportedly involved sensitive strategy discussions among top US officials, including the vice president. And it also reportedly involved discussions about targeting, about weapons and attack sequencing of US military strikes in Yemen before those airstrikes happened.
Up First from NPR
Intel Hearing On Group Chat, Return To Office Mandate, Black Sea Deal
These discussions weren't on a secure US government communication system. They Instead, we're in a group chat set up by National Security Advisor Mike Waltz on the Signal messaging app, which is commercially available, widely used by all sorts of folks. Our colleague Tom Bowman is reporting that the Pentagon warned actually just last week against using Signal even for unclassified information.
Up First from NPR
Intel Hearing On Group Chat, Return To Office Mandate, Black Sea Deal
The Pentagon said Russian hackers are targeting the app to spy on people of interest. So that's issue number one. Issue number two here is that a journalist, the editor of The Atlantic, Jeffrey Goldberg, was included in this group chat. And that, of course, is a serious security breach.
Up First from NPR
Intel Hearing On Group Chat, Return To Office Mandate, Black Sea Deal
Well, initially, Tulsi Gabbard wouldn't even acknowledge that she was in the chat. For his part, though, CIA Director John Ratcliffe didn't try to play that game. He said straight out he was part of this chat. But he did say U.S. officials are permitted to use Signal to communicate and coordinate for government work purposes.
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Intel Hearing On Group Chat, Return To Office Mandate, Black Sea Deal
He and Gabbard said there was no classified information shared in this chat. The White House has said the same thing. But that line received a lot of skepticism from lawmakers on the panel. And that includes Maine Independent Angus King.
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Intel Hearing On Group Chat, Return To Office Mandate, Black Sea Deal
Now, Ratcliffe and Gabbard both said at one point that the information from an intelligence perspective wasn't classified. But then when it comes to specific military information about the airstrikes, they said the Secretary of Defense has the authority to determine what's classified and what's not on that. So pointing to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for answers on those questions.
Up First from NPR
Intel Hearing On Group Chat, Return To Office Mandate, Black Sea Deal
Hegseth was not at this hearing yesterday, but he has said publicly that nobody was texting war plans.
Up First from NPR
Intel Hearing On Group Chat, Return To Office Mandate, Black Sea Deal
While the same intelligence officials are testifying before House lawmakers today, they'll no doubt face more questions. But stepping back a bit, the top Democrat in the House and Senate are both calling for an investigation. Democrats, of course, don't have a lot of power. They're in the minority. Republicans control both houses of Congress.
Up First from NPR
Intel Hearing On Group Chat, Return To Office Mandate, Black Sea Deal
Some GOP senators have expressed concern about this security breach and how this all went down. That includes the Senate Majority Leader John Thune. He told reporters yesterday that they need to figure out what happened. So there may be more to come on this.
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Intel Hearing On Group Chat, Return To Office Mandate, Black Sea Deal
Good morning.
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Fed Rates Pause, USIP Loses Case, Israel Restarts Gaza Ground Invasion
Right. Five members of the USIP board filed this lawsuit overnight Tuesday. The court held a hearing on it Wednesday afternoon. So that gives you a sense of the urgency here. What the lawsuit argues is that the USIP board members were unlawfully removed from their positions by President Trump. They say that USIP is an independent nonprofit think tank created and funded by Congress.
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Fed Rates Pause, USIP Loses Case, Israel Restarts Gaza Ground Invasion
So it's not a part of the executive branch, they say. The board members who are suing, they want to be reinstated. They want to stop the Trump administration's efforts to dismantle the institute and its operations. Now, at this hearing, what they were asking the judge to do was to temporarily block Doge's takeover.
Up First from NPR
Fed Rates Pause, USIP Loses Case, Israel Restarts Gaza Ground Invasion
of USIP to get Doge out of the Institute and its systems and to get the board members back in. Yeah, and the judge denied that request. So what was her reasoning? Well, U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell said that there was confusion in this complaint itself, in the lawsuit. She also pointed out that a temporary restraining order
Up First from NPR
Fed Rates Pause, USIP Loses Case, Israel Restarts Gaza Ground Invasion
which is the specific ask that was being made yesterday, is really an extraordinary step. There are certain thresholds, legal thresholds, that have to be met for a court to agree to take that step. And what Howell said was that a couple of those thresholds just weren't met, including the likelihood of this lawsuit to succeed on the merits. So she declined to block Doge's takeover.
Up First from NPR
Fed Rates Pause, USIP Loses Case, Israel Restarts Gaza Ground Invasion
For now, Doge will be allowed to remain in control of the U.S. Institute of Peace for the time being as the court continues to consider this lawsuit. But still, Howell made very clear at this hearing that she had very serious concerns about Doge and how it had gone about gaining access to USIP.
Up First from NPR
Fed Rates Pause, USIP Loses Case, Israel Restarts Gaza Ground Invasion
Is that what she was talking about? Yes, but it wasn't just that. Two FBI agents also made a house call to the head of USIP security over the weekend to question him. The lawsuit also alleges that FBI agents threatened a criminal investigation, that the D.C. U.S. Attorney's Office also threatened a criminal investigation. I'll say prosecutors didn't dispute that at yesterday's hearing.
Up First from NPR
Fed Rates Pause, USIP Loses Case, Israel Restarts Gaza Ground Invasion
And then you also have, as you said, armed D.C. police officers showing up at USIP and escorting senior staff from the building. That includes the head of the institute, who's a former ambassador who served
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Fed Rates Pause, USIP Loses Case, Israel Restarts Gaza Ground Invasion
In multiple administrations, both Democratic and Republican, Judge Howell said that she was, quote unquote here, very offended by how Doge has operated at USIP, by how it treated American citizens, as the judge said, just trying to do their job. She said that those actions were probably terrorizing for folks at USIP. And she asked, why act like that? Why? Was it just because Doge was in a rush?
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Fed Rates Pause, USIP Loses Case, Israel Restarts Gaza Ground Invasion
That's right. There are a lot of cases out there right now challenging administration policies. Some of those cases are expected to end up at the Supreme Court. The president and his allies have been lashing out at judges who have ruled against the administration. They've called for judges to be impeached. Chief Justice John Roberts issued a rare statement this week pushing back on that.
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Fed Rates Pause, USIP Loses Case, Israel Restarts Gaza Ground Invasion
Now, judges always say that they rule on the facts in the law that are before them in a given case. And look, I was in court last week when Judge Howell blocked a Trump order targeting a law firm. And then yesterday, same judge, Judge Howell, looked at the facts and the law in the USIP case and declined to block Doge's actions at USIP. All right.
Up First from NPR
Latest On New Orleans Attack; New Congress Comes Into Session; Carter's Funeral
Right. Well, Jabbar was born in Texas. He grew up there. He served in the U.S. Army for many years as a human resource specialist as well as an IT guy. He also started a few businesses. Several of them appear to have had severe financial difficulties recently. He's been divorced several times.
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Latest On New Orleans Attack; New Congress Comes Into Session; Carter's Funeral
Now, the FBI has said that Jabbar was inspired to carry out this attack by the Islamic State terrorist group. He uploaded several videos to the internet in the hours immediately leading up to the attack. Talking about this, here's the FBI's Christopher Rea.
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Latest On New Orleans Attack; New Congress Comes Into Session; Carter's Funeral
Now, in addition to those videos, investigators also recovered an ISIS flag from the back of Jabbar's truck. Now, the FBI says Jabbar appears to have acted alone. And that's important because the bureau originally said he might have had help, accomplices. But after an initial investigation chasing down leads, it says it does not appear that Jabbar did have any accomplices.
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Latest On New Orleans Attack; New Congress Comes Into Session; Carter's Funeral
Well, there's an important distinction here between an attack that is directed by a terrorist group and one that is inspired by a terrorist group. In a directed attack, a terrorist organization is in contact with a person or a cell of people, say, in the United States and directs them, for example, to attack a specific target.
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Latest On New Orleans Attack; New Congress Comes Into Session; Carter's Funeral
In an inspired attack, in contrast, there doesn't need to be any direct contact. An individual instead can say, well, watch or read ISIS propaganda online. come to sympathize with the group's ideology or its worldview, and then decide to carry out violence to act in the group's name on their own. And in the case of the Islamic State, of ISIS, it has pushed this idea in its online propaganda.
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Latest On New Orleans Attack; New Congress Comes Into Session; Carter's Funeral
It's urged people to use whatever tools they have on hand, including cars, to attack soft targets, things such as public celebration like New Year's Eve. The FBI director told Congress this past summer, in fact, that this is the kind of threat that it's seen from foreign terrorist organizations now. And those sorts of attacks, U.S.
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Latest On New Orleans Attack; New Congress Comes Into Session; Carter's Funeral
counterterrorism officials often say are incredibly hard to stop because there isn't a big operation that the FBI can penetrate beforehand to disrupt it.
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Latest On New Orleans Attack; New Congress Comes Into Session; Carter's Funeral
Well, you're right. Terrorism is not a front page issue the way that it once was, certainly not like we saw after 9-11 and also not like a decade ago when the Islamic State was at its apex. But the Islamic State still has branches, affiliates around the world that are very much active.
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Latest On New Orleans Attack; New Congress Comes Into Session; Carter's Funeral
And as for the threat in the U.S., what I would say is that counterterrorism officials here have been saying for a while that the threat may not be at the level that it once was, but it also most definitely has not disappeared.
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Latest On New Orleans Attack; New Congress Comes Into Session; Carter's Funeral
FBI Director Christopher Wray has warned about the danger posed in particular by what the FBI calls homegrown violent extremists, people who radicalize on their own and decide to carry out an attack here in the U.S. Wray has also said that the threat level more broadly has really spiked after the Hamas attack on Israel in October of 2023.
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Latest On New Orleans Attack; New Congress Comes Into Session; Carter's Funeral
And I should note that the Justice Department has recently foiled what it says were plots on behalf of ISIS just in the past year, including one in Oklahoma and another in New York.
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Latest On New Orleans Attack; New Congress Comes Into Session; Carter's Funeral
Authorities say at this point in time, there is no evidence that those two incidents are linked in any way. Investigators have identified the driver of the Cybertruck as Matthew Leibelsberger. He was a master sergeant in the U.S. Army, a Green Beret, a decorated combat vet with multiple tours in Afghanistan.
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Latest On New Orleans Attack; New Congress Comes Into Session; Carter's Funeral
Authorities say that Leibelsberger shot and killed himself in the Cybertruck right before it exploded. As for the question of why, the FBI says Leibelsberger bore no animosity toward Trump. So it wasn't about that. It says their investigation so far suggests that Leibelsberger was likely suffering from mental health issues and also had some other family issues.
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Latest On New Orleans Attack; New Congress Comes Into Session; Carter's Funeral
Here's FBI Special Agent Spencer Evans.
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Latest On New Orleans Attack; New Congress Comes Into Session; Carter's Funeral
Investigators also released experts of Leibelsberger's writings in which he says America is headed toward collapse, that this is a wake-up call. And he also says in one that he needs to cleanse his mind of brothers that he lost and relieve himself of the burdens of lives that he took.
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Zelenskyy-Vance-Trump Blow Up, DOJ Demotions, Feds Plan for Bird Flu
Well, sources tell me and our colleague Kerry Johnson that the acting U.S. attorney in Washington, D.C., Ed Martin, demoted at least seven top prosecutors in the U.S. attorney's office here. One of them is John Crabb. He was a supervisor in the office. He was involved in the cases against Trump allies Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro. He also oversaw January 6th cases.
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Zelenskyy-Vance-Trump Blow Up, DOJ Demotions, Feds Plan for Bird Flu
Another prosecutor is Greg Rosen. He led the Capitol Siege Unit. That's the unit that prosecuted January 6th cases. And then two of the other attorneys who were demoted worked on two of the most high-profile cases to come out of the Capitol riot investigation. One of the attorneys helped lead the prosecution against Stuart Rhodes. He's the leader of the far-right Oath Keepers extremist group.
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Zelenskyy-Vance-Trump Blow Up, DOJ Demotions, Feds Plan for Bird Flu
Rhodes was convicted at trial of seditious conspiracy. One of the other attorneys helped spearhead the case against Enrique Tarrio, the former head of the Proud Boys extremist group. Tarrio as well was convicted of seditious conspiracy at trial.
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Zelenskyy-Vance-Trump Blow Up, DOJ Demotions, Feds Plan for Bird Flu
So the bottom line here is all of the attorneys who were demoted were senior prosecutors with a lot of experience, and now they're being reassigned to basically entry-level jobs.
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Zelenskyy-Vance-Trump Blow Up, DOJ Demotions, Feds Plan for Bird Flu
Well, one source tells me that Martin notified these individuals by email. In at least one of the emails, Martin said that every U.S. attorney has to assess the needs of their office as set forth by the president and the attorney general and, in essence, their priorities. And therefore, these senior prosecutors were being reassigned, effective immediately.
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Zelenskyy-Vance-Trump Blow Up, DOJ Demotions, Feds Plan for Bird Flu
And at least one of the emails ended by saying, this change is not temporary. Now, I'm told that some of the senior prosecutors were assigned to misdemeanors, which is where brand new prosecutors in the office are usually assigned. Others were demoted to what's known as the intake section, which is also for junior folks in the office.
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Zelenskyy-Vance-Trump Blow Up, DOJ Demotions, Feds Plan for Bird Flu
One person I spoke with described these demotions as pure political retribution for working on cases that the Trump administration does not like. Now, I contacted the U.S. Attorney's Office about these actions for comment. It did not respond. But this is not the first time that Ed Martin, the acting U.S. attorney here, has taken what appear to be retaliatory action against the office he leads.
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Zelenskyy-Vance-Trump Blow Up, DOJ Demotions, Feds Plan for Bird Flu
He previously fired more than a dozen prosecutors in his office who were January 6 cases. So this is just the latest turmoil to hit the U.S. Attorney's Office here in D.C., which is one of the most important in the country.
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Zelenskyy-Vance-Trump Blow Up, DOJ Demotions, Feds Plan for Bird Flu
Well, first off, these demotions and firings of career prosecutors for what appear to be retaliatory reasons are all being undertaken by an administration that says it is ending the politicization of the Justice Department. That's something that we hear quite often from Trump's Attorney General Pam Bondi.
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But Justice Department veterans say the DOJ under the Trump administration has cut breaks for Trump's political allies, for example, moving to drop the case against former Republican Congressman Jeff Fortenberry. You can also point to prosecutors withdrawing from an investigation against sitting Republican Congressman Andy Ogles.
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And then, of course, there's the department's decision to drop the corruption case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams. Adams has pledged to cooperate with the Trump administration's immigration enforcement. The decision to drop that case set off an uproar. More than a half dozen veteran Justice Department prosecutors resigned in protest. That includes the acting U.S. attorney in Manhattan.
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who said that there was no good faith basis for dropping the Adams prosecution. So all of these things have really rattled the Justice Department and the career, that apolitical career folks who work there. So this is undoubtedly a very, very turbulent time for the Justice Department.
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Thank you, Scott.
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Good morning.
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It's a pretty rare thing. Biden never did it. Trump didn't do it in his first term. In fact, I could only find four occasions that it has happened since 2000. Twice President Obama did it. The first time was a speech about changes his administration was making to surveillance programs. The other time was at a farewell ceremony for his first attorney general.
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The other two instances were early in President George W. Bush's administration, one of them being a ceremony in 2001 to rename the department's headquarters after Robert F. Kennedy. So it is rare for a president to do this. Historically, presidents keep their distance from the Justice Department.
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There's been a norm for decades now, respected by both Republican and Democratic administrations, that the department should be independent and free from political interference. But President Trump has made clear that he has a very different idea about the relationship between the president and the Justice Department.
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Well, we heard a bit of it at the top. The White House says Trump is going to talk about restoring law and order, about removing violent criminals from communities and ending what the White House says is the weaponization of justice against Americans for their political leanings.
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And that last idea there is a central theme for Trump, his allies on the Hill, and for his new Justice Department leadership, Trump, of course, argues that he was unfairly targeted by federal prosecutors during the Biden administration. He has promised vengeance.
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The new Justice Department leadership talks a lot about ending the purported weaponization and politicization of the Justice Department in recent years. But at the same time, they have taken punitive action against nonpolitical career prosecutors and officials who worked on investigations or issues that Trump doesn't like.
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Well, for one, the new department leadership has fired prosecutors who worked on the special counsel investigations into Trump, saying that those folks couldn't be trusted to implement the president's agenda. They have fired prosecutors who worked on the January 6th Capitol riot cases. They've demoted senior career prosecutors who worked cases involving Trump allies.
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The Justice Department frames this as ending weaponization, but critics say that these actions appear to be retaliation against folks who work cases the president didn't like. Now, at the same time, the department has cut breaks for Trump allies. Critics point to the Justice Department's decision to dismiss corruption charges against the New York City mayor. Eric Adams.
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Adams has pledged to cooperate with Trump's immigration enforcement. More than a half dozen veteran Justice Department prosecutors resigned in protest. That includes the acting U.S. attorney in Manhattan who said there was no good faith basis to drop the Adams case.
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It's a good question. You know, it's no secret, as we've said, that Trump has been extremely critical of the Justice Department over the years. So it's going to be interesting to see what he has to say, how he says it as he lays out his vision for the department in the very building that he has been so critical of.
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Well, one of the first things that she did was sign a whole bunch of memos, more than a dozen of them, that aim to advance the president's agenda and the department's role in it. These things address a whole range of topics. Bondi revived the federal death penalty. She set up an October 7th task force to focus on the threat posed by Hamas.
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Other memos address immigration enforcement, the drug cartels. This sort of thing reflects the shift in priorities that we often see out of the Justice Department with the change in administration. Saying that, though, there's one memo in particular that really stood out, and it raises questions about whether the department under Bondi aims to go after the people who investigated Trump.
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Tell us about that memo. Well, the subject line is restoring the integrity and credibility of the Department of Justice. But what the memo does is establish what it calls a weaponization working group that will review the criminal and civil cases that were brought against Trump over the past four years by federal and state prosecutors.
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It will also look at the capital right investigations and what the memo calls the pursuit of improper investigative tactics. and unethical prosecutions relating to the Capitol attack. Now, Bondi has been a fierce defender of Trump over the years. Before she was attorney general, she talked about investigating the investigators. And there are certainly concerns that that's what's going on here.
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And look, in the past few weeks, the department has already fired more than a dozen prosecutors who worked on Trump investigations because the new leadership said those folks couldn't be trusted to carry out the president's agenda. And there's also been turmoil at the FBI. So where do things stand now? Right. There's been a lot of nervousness and fear at the FBI over the past week.
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Remember, the FBI falls under the authority of the Justice Department. But the panic at the FBI started after the number two official at the Justice Department ordered the firing. of eight senior career FBI officials, and at the same time demanded a list of all FBI personnel who worked on any January 6th case. That's around 5,000 FBI employees and all.
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Now, that set off fears at the FBI of possible mass firings. Sources told me about FBI agents printing out their HR files because they were worried that they'd be fired immediately, they wouldn't have access to the system. Things have settled down a bit in the past few days. The FBI handed over a list of employees who worked January 6 cases, but not the agents' names, to the Justice Department.
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The department says this is part of a review process related to ending what it calls the weaponization of the justice system. There are still concerns, though, about FBI agents' names possibly being made public. And then they or their families facing threats. Remember, Trump pardoned some 1,500 January 6th defendants, including people who were convicted of violence.
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Agents have actually filed two lawsuits to try to prevent agents' names from being made public. So there's a lot of concern here. There's a court hearing scheduled on those lawsuits today. So there will certainly be more to come.