Featured Timeline Entries
February 12, 2025 - A DHS audit finds FEMA has misspent billions of taxpayers’ dollars for years

A FEMA disaster assistance center set up to aid victims of January’s wildfires in Los Angeles.
(Credit: AFP/Getty Images)

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has mismanaged tens of billions of dollars over the years, according to numerous government reports on its spending.

The government agency’s response to COVID, hurricanes, floods and housing migrants have all come under fire for being wasteful and going largely unchecked — and the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has been sent in to analyze its spending.

The most recent audit of the embattled disaster response agency claimed it mismanaged nearly $10 billion during the COVID pandemic between 2020 and 2023.

FEMA even approved a grant of $1.1 billion despite it only being supported by only a single piece of paper with no itemized costs, a Jan. 30 audit by the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of the Inspector General found.

The request was also “not prepared by a licensed professional engineer or cost-estimating professional,” according to the 36-page report.

The Trump administration has called for a complete overhaul of FEMA, which has a slated budget of $65 billion for fiscal year 2025.

During the pandemic, $1.5 billion was doled out “for one state’s medical staffing” without the proper vetting and “could have been put to better use for other disasters,” the January audit found.

“These issues occurred due to the unprecedented circumstances surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic and FEMA not following established requirements when delivering public assistance funding,” said the report, which did not name the states that received the FEMA pandemic payments.

It also cited $8.1 billion distributed by FEMA for “costs that have yet to be determined allowable,” according to the report.

A leading FEMA critic said there is “no doubt” the agency made a mess of COVID disaster relief. (Read more: New York Post, 2/12/2025)  (Archive)

February 12, 2025 - NARA emails reveal Biden's White House involvement in Trump classified documents case

February 12, 2025 - Reuters was paid millions by the Defense Dept. for “large scale social deception”

DOD PAID REUTERS $9M FOR “SOCIAL ENGINEERING” PROGRAM

DOGE investigations reveal mysterious Defense Department payments to Reuters for “large scale social deception” project between 2018-2022.

While DARPA claims it was for cyber defense, questions swirl about why a news agency received millions for “social engineering.”

The revelation comes as other media outlets face scrutiny over federal funding.

Source: USASpendingGov, @stillgray

February 12, 2025 - Musk reveals 150 year-olds are collecting Social Security

Musk: There’s crazy things, like just a cursory examination of Social Security, and we’ve got people in there that are 150 years old. Now, do you know anyone that’s 150? I don’t, okay? They should be in the Guinness Book of World Records; they’re missing out. So, you know, that’s a case where like I think they’re probably dead. That’s my guess. Or they should be very famous, one of the two.

 

February 12, 2025 - Congress spent over $500 billion on expired programs last year without authorization

An explosive report has revealed just how deep the abuse of the government purse goes.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released a report that went viral this weekend.

The report detailed that the federal government spent over half a trillion dollars on programs that expired last year without ever actually authorizing the funding.

About 2,500 expired appropriations made up the $516 billion. That is no way to run a government.

From the CBO: “CBO identified 1,264 authorizations of appropriations that expired before the beginning of fiscal year 2024 and 251 authorizations of appropriations that were set to expire by the end of fiscal year 2024.

“CBO estimates that $516 billion was appropriated for 2024 for activities with expired authorizations, which the agency identified for each House and Senate authorizing committee (Table 1) and appropriations subcommittee (Table 2).”

24 laws were responsible for $470 billion of the $516 billion in total funding for expired authorizations that the CBO identified. 21 of those 24 laws also accounted for most of the funding in 2023 for expired authorizations.

Some of these laws date back to 40 YEARS AGO.

Here’s the list:

The news gets worse, though. Even more authorizations are set to expire this year, including $892 billion in defense spending.

(Read more: Gateway Pundit, 2/12/2025)  (Archive) (CBO Report, July 2024)

February 12, 2025 - The American al Qaeda terrorist whose college tuition was fully funded by USAID, was also a guest speaker at a Pentagon luncheon

@SpeakerJohnson there is more!

After Colorado State tuition, apparently funded by USAID, Awlaki was invited to be a guest speaker at the Pentagon.

FOIA emails obtained by Fox News I-unit showed the Awlaki luncheon was part of DoD’s immediate outreach after 9/11.

Menu: Smoked Turkey, Roast Beef, Smoked Ham, ‘East side West side’
Vegetarian option

Disconnect: FBI interviewed Awlaki months earlier about his direct contact with hijackers in San Diego and Virginia.

Note: DoD email cites Awlaki’s “Civil Engineering’ degree from Colorado State.

Our Fox News I-unit reporting in 2010 + 2011 called “Secrets of 9/11”investigated the al Qaeda hijackers’ domestic support network.

@browne_pamela + producer Cyd Upson

USAID FOIA via Intelwire
DoD luncheon FOIA Fox News

February 12, 2025 - A trillion dollars in fraud, waste, and abuse—every single year—because of weak ID verification in government programs

Wow. Haywood Talcove, CEO of LexisNexis Special Services, testifying in front of the DOGE Subcommittee, says by implementing robust ID verification could save $1 trillion every single year in entitlements.

“Between federal, state, and local government, you can save one trillion dollars a year by simply putting in front-end identity verification, eliminating self-certification, and monitoring the back-end of the programs that are providing the benefits.”

A trillion dollars in fraud, waste, and abuse—every single year—because of weak ID verification in government programs. That’s what Haywood Talcove just exposed in front of the DOGE Subcommittee, and it confirms exactly what Trump and Musk have been saying: the system is completely broken and designed to enrich fraudsters, not serve the American people.

For years, Democrats have fought against basic ID verification, claiming it’s “unnecessary” while simultaneously allowing billions to flow into fraudulent claims—whether it’s welfare fraud, Medicaid scams, or illegal migrants gaming the system. One trillion dollars per year could be saved just by requiring real ID verification—but Biden’s bureaucrats would rather let that money vanish than admit their policies are enabling the fraud.

DOGE is exposing the deep rot within federal, state, and local governments. Every taxpayer should be outraged that their hard-earned money is being funneled into fake identities, self-certification scams, and unmonitored benefit programs that are effectively a Democrat slush fund.

This isn’t just incompetence—it’s deliberate. The Trump administration is now putting an end to the grift, and the panic from the establishment proves it. Fraud is over. The reckoning has begun.

February 13, 2025 - Obama created DOGE

February 13, 2025 - A Weaponized FBI: It's real, whistleblowers testify, boasting scars to prove it

Democrats have cast the Trump administration’s ouster of eight senior FBI leaders as a “purge” and act of “retribution” from a weaponized Justice Department, some likening it to President Nixon’s “Saturday Night Massacre.”

But former colleagues of the terminated “G-men” say this narrative is backward. FBI officials, past and present, have marshaled significant evidence via whistleblower complaints and testimony indicating that several terminated leaders routinely used their offices for partisan purposes.

These include allegations that at least two of the fired officials, Jeffrey Veltri and Dena Perkins, manipulated the security clearance review process to personally and professionally punish conservatives, COVID-19 vaccine skeptics, and Jan. 6 whistleblowers who reported suspected bureau malfeasance, and retaliated against those who came to the whistleblowers’ defense.

A third, Timothy Dunham, is also alleged to have improperly suspended security clearances.

Jeffrey Veltri (l) Dena Perkins (c) Timothy Dunham (r) (Credit: public domain)

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) read numerous accounts of alleged misconduct perpetrated by these and other officials into the record this morning as the committee considered the nomination of Kash Patel for FBI Director.

One subordinate of the three terminated individuals, a former supervisory special agent in the Security Division, “SecD,” from which Veltri and Perkins hailed, and whom Dunham oversaw, told the committee:

I witnessed abuses committed against multiple employees by FBI senior leaders, particularly by Jeff Veltri and Dena Perkins. I also saw SecD retaliate against five of its own employees for protesting these unlawful practices. Because I spoke out against these abuses, Perkins and Timothy Dunham suspended my security clearance, costing me my job and continuing employment, totaling approximately $700,000 in lost wages and retirement benefits.

Former FBI official Marcus Allen (Credit: video clipping)

Another former FBI official, Marcus Allen, told the committee that Veltri and Perkins “caused the suspension of my security clearance because I questioned whether the FBI Director was truthful to Congress and whether the FBI was obeying the law and Constitution in the January 6, 2021 investigations.” What followed left “financial and emotional damage to me and my family will never be completely restored.”

A third, Special Agent Garret O’Boyle, who has been indefinitely suspended without pay for well over two years in alleged retaliation for whistleblowing, told the committee that Veltri, Perkins, Dunham, “and other leadership up to Christopher Wray, are responsible for what happened to me and my family.”

“Ensuring that they no longer work at the FBI is not retribution; it’s responsible leadership.”

Patel has been nominated to replace Wray, who came under fire from Republicans who believed the bureau targeted Trump supporters, parents, pro-life activists, and others. The Republican allegations informed President Trump’s first-day executive order, “Ending the Weaponization of the Federal Government,” and his Jan. 31 directive terminating eight high-level figures – including those overseeing branches from counterterrorism to criminal investigations and the heads of the bureau’s Miami and Washington field offices. The memo also called for a review of the work of all FBI personnel pertaining to Jan. 6, numbering 5,000 in all, for misconduct.

While no findings have been issued regarding that larger probe, the Jan. 31 memo, drafted by Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Emil Bove, suggests a legitimate rationale for terminating the FBI leaders. It notes that the bureau and they themselves were complicit in malfeasance pertaining to the Jan. 6 investigation, the weaponization of security clearances, and resisting Justice Department directives. Consequently, Bove wrote, the DOJ did not trust them “to assist in implementing the President’s agenda faithfully.”

The Justice Department did not respond to RealClearInvestigations’ inquiries in connection with this story, and RCI was unable to reach Veltri, Perkins, Dunham, or the five other terminated officials.

Democrats have assailed the firings. A letter signed by all 10 Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats stated, “Our alarm has only grown in the past two weeks as this purge of experienced career prosecutors and agents has expanded … We can only assume these decisions are intended to prevent the Department from investigating national security and public corruption, while also serving as political retribution against the President’s perceived enemies and stoking fear among the dedicated and talented workforce in our nation’s premier law enforcement agency.”

Sen. Mark Warner, Vice Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, added: “These are people who have served our country, protected Americans and put criminals behind bars. Now they have been pushed out simply for doing their jobs.”

A central complaint of the whistleblowers is that, consistent with the Bove memo, FBI officials weaponized security clearances. Specifically, they allege that the bureau’s Security Division has baselessly suspended and/or revoked security clearances in retaliation against those who have made protected disclosures. As maintaining a security clearance is an essential condition of employment, the suspension of one’s clearance typically triggers an indefinite employment suspension without pay. The suspended are also barred from seeking outside employment or accepting gifts. The associated probes can last months and even years, with the targeted waiting first for their cases to be fully investigated and adjudicated, and then sometimes waiting still longer during an appeals process.

The process can be so onerous that Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz has noted that it can be leveraged to encourage disfavored employees to resign rather than fight a lengthy and costly battle.

While the FBI has denied claims that the Security Division has abused this power in recent years, Horowitz detailed misconduct in testimony before the House Judiciary Committee last September. His team had seen evidence indicating that the division had used the investigation and adjudication process to punish whistleblowers.

One whose case Horowitz highlighted involved Marcus Allen, a decorated Marine Corps veteran and award-winning FBI Staff Operations Specialist. Veltri and Perkins allegedly played an integral role in targeting him.

Allen’s duties included supporting the Charlotte, N.C. field office’s Joint Terrorism Task Force in ongoing investigations and intelligence requests pertaining to Jan. 6. This included gathering and sharing relevant open-source information. In September 2021, Allen reported to his supervisors that various news outlets, including RealClearInvestigations, RealClearPolitics, and the New York Times, had reported that confidential FBI informants were present at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and a “significant counter-story” had formed.

Allen told his colleagues, “There is a good possibility the DC elements of our organization are not being forthright about the events of the day or the influence of government assets.” Minutes later, he forwarded his colleagues an email with a link to a video contrasting the Times’ report with then-FBI Director Wray’s testimony in March 2021 before the Senate Judiciary Committee, suggesting Wray may not have provided the whole truth about the FBI’s links to Jan. 6.

Suspended Without Pay 27 Months

This would set off a chain of events that would leave Allen suspended and without pay for 27 months – forced, along with his wife, to take early withdrawals from their retirement accounts to make ends meet.

Charlotte field office personnel forwarded Allen’s emails to the FBI’s Office of General Counsel, which passed them to Veltri – then-head of the Security Division section responsible for all personnel investigations.

Rather than first passing concerns to the division’s referral evaluation unit, as is customary, Veltri instigated an immediate investigation on the grounds of Allen’s potential lack of allegiance to the U.S. A successor would call this an “abortion of the process.”

Days later, Veltri received an email from the Charlotte field office, which expressed “added concerns” regarding Allen. Delivered on behalf of that office’s head, then-Special Agent in Charge Robert Wells, one of the eight FBI officials the Trump administration would terminate, it noted that Allen was one of two employees not to attest to his COVID-19 vaccination status, even though President Biden had made vaccination mandatory for all federal employees.

Veltri’s then-Assistant Section Chief Perkins used the email as justification to instruct the FBI’s Insider Threat Office to open an assessment into Allen.

That office would review Allen’s communications and conclude he harbored “hostile views towards the FBI and current administration.” To justify this characterization, it stated that Allen had sent “links from questionable sources,” including RealClearPolitics. It surmised Allen was trafficking in “extremist propaganda” and that he “may pose an insider threat to the FBI.”

Yet a subsequent probe of Allen’s communications by the FBI would find “no information validating” the basis for an investigation into Allen. Interviews with four Charlotte field office officials indicated they lacked evidence that he was disloyal, sympathized with Jan. 6 rioters, or was otherwise ill-equipped to handle his duties.

Despite the misgivings of the investigator and his supervisors on the case, IG Horowitz found that security division management – which included Veltri and Perkins – insisted that Allen’s security clearance be suspended pending investigation.

A January 2022 memorandum did just that, claiming on the basis of his emails and refusal to comply with the vaccine mandate that Allen “promoted unreliable information which indicates support for the events of January 6th” and “espoused conspiratorial views.”

According to the D.C.-based watchdog group that helped represent Allen, Empower Oversight, the agent was in limbo for 27 months while his case was investigated, adjudicated, and appealed.

When interviewed by the security division in connection with his case – some four months after his clearance and pay had been suspended – Allen, a self-described “faithful Catholic,” indicated that “the Holy Spirit compelled him” to make the disclosure that would land him in hot water.

Veltri would allegedly deride Allen for that remark, suggesting, according to another division official represented by Empower Oversight, that he “was delusional for referring to his religious belief … for disclosing wrongdoing.”

Even though, as his counsel has detailed, all line-level employees who reviewed the Allen case believed he should retain his clearance, the bureau revoked his clearance under pressure from management, purportedly including Veltri.

Three individuals within the division responsible for processing Allen’s case would be reassigned in retaliation for disclosing misconduct in the division’s targeting of him.

It was not until May 2024 – after Horowitz’s office had initiated a reprisal investigation – that Allen reached a settlement with the Justice Department, agreeing to resign in exchange for full back pay and reinstatement of his security clearance.

Horowitz’s office would issue a May 2024 memorandum providing employees claiming reprisal additional means to defend themselves against indefinite unpaid suspension in light of Allen’s tribulations.

The Case of Garret O’Boyle

FBI whistleblower Garret O’Boyle (Credit: public domain)

In emotional testimony before Congress last fall, Allen lamented that Special Agent Garret O’Boyle was being subjected to a similarly tortuous process.

O’Boyle, a veteran who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, alleges that he was targeted by Perkins on baseless grounds – and has been suspended without pay for nearly two-and-a-half years.

Empower Oversight, which also serves as his counsel alongside several Security Division whistleblowers, has detailed that in late 2021 and early 2022, O’Boyle began making a series of protected disclosures, first internally regarding FBI COVID-19 policies that he believed were unconstitutional and unlawful, and then to Congress concerning the politicization of the FBI.

Among the congressional disclosures was his view that the bureau may have opened a politically motivated criminal investigation into conservative muckraker Project Veritas – about which the Justice Department had made false claims in court.

In May 2022, Project Veritas published an interview with a masked FBI official making similar claims.

After applying for and being accepted to a new assignment with a start date of September 2022, in August, O’Boyle sold his Kansas home and prepared to move to Virginia with his three children and his wife, who was eight months pregnant. On the first day, upon arriving at his new post, O’Boyle was accused of leaking information to the press and had his security clearance suspended. He and his family were effectively rendered homeless, since he had not closed on his new home, and was left without an income.

The Security Division investigator on O’Boyle’s case had previously told the then-Acting Section Chief Perkins that there was no evidence O’Boyle had leaked anything to the media. Rather, he had disclosed to his superiors that he believed O’Boyle may have made protected disclosures to Congress. Yet, as Empower Oversight President Tristan Leavitt told the House Judiciary Committee last fall, Perkins “responded that she had already briefed the FBI’s 7th floor that SA O’Boyle was a media leaker, and did not want to correct this misunderstanding.”

Evidence suggests that Veltri and Perkins discussed O’Boyle’s transfer in advance of his move, with whistleblowers inferring that a scheme was hatched to ensnare him.

Shortly after the suspension, Veltri would be made head of the FBI’s Miami field office, its fifth-largest. He would lead the investigation into the assassination attempt on President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago. At the time, earlier reports resurfaced that Veltri had demonstrated an anti-Trump bias, claims the FBI batted down.

The bureau revoked O’Boyle’s security clearance in July 2024 after it became aware he had made protected disclosures to the DOJ inspector general and in advance of coming hearings where O’Boyle’s plight was likely to be exposed.

That month, O’Boyle’s legal team, which also includes the American Center for Law & Justice and Binnall Law Group, filed a “request for reconsideration” of the revocation. That entitles O’Boyle to review the evidence used to justify the revocation. O’Boyle’s team did not receive such information until six months later, on Jan. 30, 2025. The receipt of that information triggers a 30-day period with which to prepare and submit his appeal.

“The crazy Kafkaesque system puts deadlines on the employee, but the FBI has an infinity whenever it wants – zero deadlines on its responses,” Jason Foster, Empower Oversight’s Founder and Chairman, told RCI.

Perkins reportedly pushed an unnamed adjudicator who had recommended ending O’Boyle’s suspension out of his job .

According to this adjudicator’s disclosure to Congress, “Perkins has moved several other employees who report to her for recommending decisions contrary to her interests [and] bases many of her decisions on favoritism.”

She “is considered corrupt and dishonest by FBI employees,” he said.

These claims dovetail with those of a former supervisory special agent at the Security Division — the supervisor whose testimony Chairman Grassley read into the record this morning. The agent, a Democrat, is also represented by Empower Oversight.

In a July 2024 letter summarizing some of the unnamed whistleblower’s claims, Leavitt said his client had observed that:

The outcomes of clearance investigations and adjudications were often pre-determined by the Division’s acting Deputy Assistant Director [Veltri] and the acting Section Chief [Perkins] responsible for security clearance investigations and adjudications, who often overruled line staff and even dictated the wording of documents in the clearance process.

In a related letter to Horowitz and the Justice Department’s Office of Professional Responsibility, the FBI official of nearly 20 years disclosed, through Empower, that during his time as a Security Division investigator under the leadership of Veltri and Perkins, it was common for investigators to ask “whether employees under investigation had vocalized support for former President Donald Trump or whether they had vocalized objection to the COVID-19 vaccine.”

Veltri and Perkins allegedly would “ask in staff meetings whether employees whose clearances were under investigation had received the vaccine.”

The supervisory special agent asserted that the duo’s perspective “was that if an FBI employee fit a certain profile as a political conservative, they were viewed as security concerns and unworthy to work at the FBI.”

In April 2022, investigators overseen by Veltri and Perkins issued a questionnaire reflecting this view in connecting with a probe of a 12-year FBI veteran whose security clearance had been suspended one month prior.

Under penalty of potential disciplinary action, investigators asked co-workers of the suspended employee whether he had vocalized “support for President Trump,” “objection to COVID-19 vaccination,” or “intent to attend 01/06/2021” – a reference to the Capitol riot.

The suspension came some 15 months after the agent had self-reported, following the events of Jan. 6, that while on personal leave, he had peacefully observed activities among crowds near the Capitol. After making disclosures to Congress regarding alleged politicization and security clearance process abuses in his case and others, he would have his security clearance revoked. After appealing, with the process dragging on, the agent retired.

As for the longtime supervisory special agent who had reported on Veltri and Perkins’ misconduct, he too had his security clearance suspended. Foster told RCI that the individual who signed off on the agent’s suspension was Timothy Dunham.

Another unnamed Empower client, Foster told RCI, claims that Dunham threatened to suspend the individual’s security clearance as a means of retaliation and delayed reinstating the security clearance of another employee for over a year.

Dunham served as the executive assistant director of the FBI’s human resources branch – under which the Security Division sits – from the summer of 2023 until his termination, pursuant to the Bove memorandum.

These terminations may be only the beginning of efforts to remedy alleged malfeasance pertaining to whistleblowers. Attorney General Pam Bondi, in establishing the Justice Department’s Weaponization Working Group shortly after her confirmation, indicated that one of its focuses will be examining “the retaliatory targeting, and in some instances criminal prosecution, of legitimate whistleblowers.”

This article was originally published by RealClearInvestigations and made available via RealClearWire.

(RealClearWire, 2/13/2025) (Archive)

February 13, 2025 - Colorado officials knew for over a year that a Venezuelan criminal gang was operating in Aurora and did not warn public

February 13, 2025 - House Judiciary Report - Trump Admin and DOGE punish 11 federal agencies that were targeting Elon Musk’s companies

House Judiciary Report, 2/13/2025 – FACT SHEET: TRUMP ADMINISTRATION, DOGE PUNISH AGENCIES INVESTIGATING ELON MUSK’S COMPANIES (The embedded links within this report did not copy over here. Go to source link for that additional info.)

Several Federal Agencies That Were Investigating Elon Musk’s Companies Have Become The Early Targets Of The Trump Administration And Musk’s Department Of Government Efficiency (DOGE)

• Department of Labor (DOL): DOL, which oversees the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP), and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) had over a dozen open investigations into Tesla and SpaceX regarding alleged unfair labor practices, safety violations, and discriminatory work practices.
• NLRB filed a complaint against SpaceX after eight employees said they were fired in retaliation
for speaking critically of Musk; SpaceX sued the NLRB in response. OFCCP was conducting an
audit of potential workplace discrimination at Tesla. EEOC sued Tesla for alleged racial
harassment and retaliation in 2023.
• The DOL Inspector General was unlawfully fired by Trump during his midnight purge of
inspectors general on Jan. 24.
• Trump fired the chair of the NLRB and has effectively shut down NLRB’s ability to rule on cases.
• Trump gutted OFCCP via an executive order on Jan. 21st before their investigation’s findings could
be made public.
• Trump fired two of the three Democratic Commissioners on the EEOC.
• Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB): Consumers have submitted over 300 complaints about
Elon Musk’s Tesla to the CFPB. 66 of these complaints were submitted in the last year.
• Trump fired CFPB Director Rohit Chopra and installed Project 2025 architect Russ Vought as the
bureau’s acting director.
• CFPB’s Washington headquarters has been closed, and staff and contractors have been told that
they cannot “perform any work tasks.”
• Musk tweeted “Delete CFPB” less than a week after the agency finalized a rule that could put his
planned collaboration with Visa to offer a real-time payments system on the platform into the
agency’s crosshairs.
• U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID): The USAID Inspector General initiated a probe
into Starlink satellite terminals provided to the Government of Ukraine
• USAID has been shuttered after Musk’s DOGE took a wrecking ball to the agency.
• The USAID Inspector General was fired days after publishing a report critical of the Trump
Administration’s dismantling of the agency.
• Department of Transportation (DOT): DOT, which oversees the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration (NHTSA) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), had several open
investigations into Tesla. FAA had recently ordered SpaceX to carry out a formal investigation into the
loss of a Starship vehicle during a test flight, and previously ordered over $630,000 in civil penalties
against SpaceX.
• The DOT Inspector General was fired by Trump.
• The FAA Administrator resigned effective Jan. 20, following pressure from Musk.
• U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA): The USDA Inspector General launched a probe into Elon
Musk’s Neuralink in 2022 for potential violations of the Animal Welfare Act. As of January, the
investigation was ongoing.
• The USDA Inspector General, a 22-year veteran of the agency, was fired by Trump and later
escorted out of her office by security guards.
• Environmental Protection Agency (EPA): EPA regulators have settled multiple lawsuits with Tesla
over violations of the Clean Air Act and hazardous waste laws at the company’s automotive manufacturing
plant in Fremont, California.
• The EPA Inspector General was fired by Trump.
• Federal Election Commission (FEC): The FEC is set to rule on a number of complaints filed during the 2024 election cycle, including complaints pertaining to Musk’s America PAC.
• The Trump Administration unlawfully removed FEC chairwoman Ellen Weintraub from her post.
• Department of the Interior (DOI): DOI oversees the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), which monitors
the federal lands near SpaceX’s launch site in Texas for any damage to threatened species’ habitats. Musk
has repeatedly clashed with FWS, calling their review process “unacceptable.”
• The DOI Inspector General was fired by Trump.
• Department of Defense (DOD): Concerns that SpaceX has repeatedly failed to comply with federal
reporting protocols aimed at protecting state secrets, including by not providing some details of Musk’s
meetings with foreign leaders, have reportedly triggered federal reviews by DOD’s Office of Inspector
General, the Air Force, and the Pentagon’s Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and
Security. The Air Force also recently denied Musk high-level security access, citing potential security
risks associated with the billionaire.
• The DOD Inspector General was fired by Donald Trump.
• Department of Justice (DOJ): DOJ filed a lawsuit in 2023 against SpaceX for allegedly discriminating against asylees and refugees in hiring. DOJ also opened investigations into whether Tesla has been candid in describing the features of its vehicles.
• While leaving its Inspector General in place, for now, the Trump Administration has taken several
actions to gut the DOJ, including firing top leadership and prosecutors.
• Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC): The SEC sued X in January 2025, alleging Musk misled shareholders about his Twitter stock purchases in 2022 and ordering Musk to pay the federal government as much as $150 million. Musk called the agency a “totally broken organization” in response to the lawsuit.
• Trump vowed to fire the SEC Chair Gary Gensler “on day one”; Gensler stepped down before
Trump could fire him, leaving a Republican majority at the SEC.
• Office of Government Ethics (OGE): Days after Members of Congress requested that OGE investigate Mr. Musk’s conflicts of interest—given his status as a Special Government Employee and his extensive business holdings that receive billions of dollars in federal government contracts and subsidies—the Director of OGE was fired by Trump

February 13, 2025 - Top Biden HHS official funnels billions to illegal aliens through her nonprofit connections

Robin Dunn Marcos

A top official in the Biden administration’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) directed millions in migrant assistance grants to nonprofits where she previously held senior positions, a watchdog report revealed Thursday.

Robin Dunn Marcos, who led HHS’s Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) under former President Joe Biden, oversaw $22.6 billion in grant distributions since 2020, with her former employers emerging as top beneficiaries. The International Rescue Committee (IRC), where she spent 23 years as a senior director, received $598 million, while Church World Service, her employer of four years, was awarded $355 million, according to an OpenTheBooks report.

“Consistent with the Ethics Pledge, Robin Dunn Marcos is recused from participating in particular matters involving specific parties in which IRC is or represents a party,” a spokesperson for the Administration for Children and Families, ORR’s parent agency, told the outlet. “That recusal obligation lasts for two years from her date of appointment, which was September 11, 2022.”

While HHS officials maintained to the outlet that Dunn Marcos recused herself from decisions involving her former employers, OpenTheBooks reported that IRC’s funding increased dramatically during her tenure, jumping from $22 million in fiscal year 2021 to over $235 million in 2023.

Through a network of nonprofit organizations, ORR provided an extensive array of benefits to migrants, including dollar-for-dollar matching savings plans for vehicle and home purchases, small business loans up to $15,000 and credit repair loans up to $1,500. Additional services included “cultural orientation,” emergency housing support, legal assistance and Medicaid care. The OpenTheBooks report called the programs a “giant magnet for those seeking to cross the border and claim asylum.”

ORR dramatically increased funding in general during Dunn Marcos’ tenure, with annual grant disbursements soaring from $2.6 billion in fiscal year 2020 to a peak of $10 billion in fiscal year 2023, according to the watchdog group. The surge in spending coincided with record-breaking southern border crossings, as Customs and Border Protection reported 2.4 million apprehensions during the same period.

The most substantial portion of funding — $12.4 billion — went toward programs for unaccompanied minor children, even as the agency faced mounting criticism over its handling of minors in its care. Tom Homan, now President Donald Trump’s border czar, estimated that 300,000 migrant children were unaccounted for under the program’s watch, he said in a January 2023 interview with Fox News.

OpenTheBooks filed a Freedom of Information Act request in 2023 for any emails exchanged between Dunn Marcos and IRC and has not yet received a response. Dunn Marcos left her post at ORR after Trump took office in January. (Read more: The Daily Caller, 2/13/2025)  (Archive)

February 14, 2025 - There is an eruption of D.C. internet searches for "BleachBit," "Wipe Hard Drive," "Criminal Defense Lawyer" that suggest deep state panic mode

Internet search trends in the Washington, DC, metro area have been nothing short of stunning in recent weeks, reflecting what appears to be growing panic within the federal bureaucracy as President Trump and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) root out corruption in non-governmental organizations (NGO) and federal agencies.

Earlier this week, internet search trends for “Criminal Defense Lawyer” and “RICO Laws” went viral on X, fueling speculation that Washington’s political elites were in panic mode. The searches coincided with DOGE’s efforts to neuter USAID’s funding of NGOs that propped up a shadow government, as well as begin cutting tens of thousands of workers from various federal agencies.

Now, more suspicious search trends have erupted among DC residents as DOGE efforts went into beast mode at the end of the week.

“Washington DC searches soar for “Swiss bank” (yellow), “offshore bank” (green), “wire money” (red) and “IBAN” (blue),” WikiLeaks wrote on X late Thursday.

Search terms “Wipe” (blue) and “Erase” (red) also moved higher in recent weeks. Wipe hard drives?

Well, yes, the search term “wipe hard drive”across the DC metro has gone absolutely parabolic.

And “BleachBit” too!

(Read more: Zero Hedge, 2/14/2025)  (Archive)

February 14, 2025 - A list of the unreleased Russiagate documents

Russiagate is the greatest political scandal of all time for a simple reason: the combined forces of Obama, the sitting president at the time, along with the FBI and CIA, worked to take down President Trump based on something not only fabricated—but fabricated by them. It was an attempted coup by a sitting president against his democratically elected successor.

Yet here we are, eight years after the full weaponization of government to remove Trump, and not only has no one been held to account, but vast troves of critical documents remain unreleased.

While many documents have come out, there has been no concerted effort to secure the rest—nor even a clear list of what’s still missing.

Below is a list of crucial documents that remain unreleased (big thank you to @ClimateAudit and @FOOL_NELSON for compiling it). The list may not be complete, so feel free to add to it. The point is simple: if we don’t define what’s missing, there will be no effort to release it. We cannot let Obama’s attempted coup fade into history. There needs to be relentless pressure to get these documents released in the coming weeks and months—before new hoaxes are unleashed on Trump and this is once again forgotten:

Unreleased Russiagate Documents

2016:
•DNC Logs: May 23–25
•Crossfire Reports: Related to DNC & DCCC
•DHS Attribution Assessments & Briefings: Leading to Oct 7 announcement
•FBI Intel Assessment on Steele Reporting (Oct): Drafts & corresponding materials
•Unredacted FBI 302: Aug 2 interview with Australian diplomats Alexander Downer & Erika Thompson
•Unredacted Cables: Downer cable (May 11)
Thompson cable (May 16)
•Downer’s U.S. Embassy Visit (July 26): Correspondence & minutes
•Declassified Briefings: CIA to Senate Intel Committee (Nov 23)
•FBI-DNI to House Intel Committee (Dec 5)
•Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA): Declassified & unredacted drafts on Russian interference (Dec 9)
Classified version presented to Obama (Jan 5) & Trump (Jan 6)
•Senate Intel Committee Report (2020): Unredacted section on ICA
•Christopher Steele Interview (Oct): FBI 302, notes & correspondence
•Brennan Notes: Unredacted version of July 28 White House briefing on Clinton’s plan to smear Trump as a Russian agent
•Fusion Cell (CIA, NSA, FBI): All memos and emails, unredacted Sept 7 memo

2017:
•Lyall-Grant Memo: Mark Lyall-Grant’s warning about Steele
•FBI & DOJ documents and correspondence on FBI’s identification & interviewing of Igor Danchenko (Steele’s Primary Sub-source)
•FBI documents and correspondence regarding conferral of Confidential Human Source status to Danchenko
•Transcripts & reports of FBI interviews with Danchenko (post-Jan 2017)
•FBI & DOJ briefings leading up to Mueller’s appointment
•FBI & DOJ role and documents regarding Jeff Sessions’ recusal
•Papadopoulos Interview (Jan): Full transcript
•Mueller “Investigation”: Withheld FBI 302s, unredacted FBI 302s, documentation of interviews in non-302 format, correspondence about Christopher Steele

2018 & Beyond:
•Horowitz Report: Classified version
•Horowitz Interviews: Transcripts or reports
•Durham Report: Any classified version
•Durham Interviews: Transcripts or reports
•Danchenko Trial: Exhibits

February 13, 2025 - Shellenberger: USAID paid for Trump impeachment effort

Michael Shellenberger at a Congressional hearing on Thursday testified about a program funded and controlled by USAID that was used to propagate Russiagate.

REP. THOMAS MASSIE (R-KY): Mr. Shellenberger, can you explain how you traced USAID funding that served as the basis for whistleblower report in 2019 which led to the impeachment of President Trump?

MICHAEL SHELLENBERGER: Sure, well you may remember that the so-called whistleblowers in the White House was actually a CIA analyst and in that whistleblower’s complaint which led to the impeachment, one of the central pieces of evidence was created by a USAID-funded and controlled organization called the OCCRP. And we have another piece out today about how it participated in the Russiagate hoax as well, creating essentially very important information leading to that. So I mean you have in USAID a much larger fund of money and a much broader strategy for information control that included censorship but also as I mentioned taking control of investigative journalism really worldwide.

I amazing. So yeah, I mean that’s an agency when we saw that get shut down by Doge, I thought that was completely appropriate. If there’s something in there that it was doing that’s valuable, then you could refund it later.

But my view, same thing with CISA, death penalty for organizations that participated in violations of the First Amendment like CISA. Cybersecurity is an extremely important function. It shouldn’t be contaminated and undermined by censorship activities.

MASSIE: I think it’s always been known that our government has funded the change in administrations, if we can say it politely, of other governments. But isn’t it borderline treason when the taxpayer, when organizations entrusted with protecting our country are now undermining our own government?

SHELLENBERGER: Absolutely. I mean if you’re trying to do regime change, illegal, if you’re weaponizing DHS, FBI, CISA, that’s treasonous regime change activities redirected that you developed abroad, that we developed abroad for regime change directed against the American people and our representatives. I mean it’s shocking and we still haven’t dealt with it as a country.

(RealClearPolitics, 2/13/2025)  (Archive)

Michael Schellenberger and Dan Bongino are covering the USAID aspect of the Trump impeachment but they are overlooking the outcome of that operation which was Norm Eisen’s first Trump impeachment which was to pre-bunk Joe Biden’s corruption before the 2020 election. The USAID story was one piece of that.

Norm then went on to work with the national security state on the lawfare portion to take out Trump. Senator Grassley exposed the operation. It was called Arctic Frost.

The National security state has been working with Norm Eisen to take out Trump since 2016. It’s called a color revolution/coup. They are continuing this effort today via lawfare (FBI case, USAID funding, all of the Trump EOs, etc).

Everyone involved should be charged with sedition and/or treason.

UPDATE 6/22/2025

Jonathan Katz (Credit: Brookings Institute)

Now there is evidence that a high-level USAID official was involved in this likely criminal scandal involving the White House leaker Eric Ciaramella and Norm Eisen, one of the leaders in the far left globalist movement to remake America into a communist one-party regime.

Jonathan Katz is the the co-author of Norm Eisen’s Democracy Playbook which is based on Gene Sharp’s color revolution book “From Dictatorship to Democracy.”

Katz is also Ciaramella’s counterpart at USAID who allegedly met with the Ukrainian delegation back in 2016.

This was confirmed by Fool Nelson and the Elizabeth Zentos interview with Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee in 2020.

(Read more: The Gateway Pundit, 6/22/2025) (Archive)

February 16, 2025 - CBS 60 Minutes portrays Kristina Drye as a fired civil servant for USAID; Instead was employed by an NGO and Samantha Power’s former speech writer

Kristina Drye (she/her) claims to be a “National Security professional” on LinkedIn.

Turns out she was a speechwriter for USAID’s director Samantha Powers.

But before USAID, Drye worked for Giant Oak, Inc. (GOI)—an international intelligence gathering firm. GOI claims to sweep the internet to monitor the world population and “helps close windows of vulnerability” by finding “negative news in chat rooms, social media and discussion websites, the deep web, and articles or sources in foreign languages” which they claim “makes the world a safer place.”

February 17, 2025 - US Congress: USAID Islamic terror financing allegations shake Washington

(Credit: RAIR Foundation)

The DOGE investigations have shattered long-dismissed claims that USAID is funneling American taxpayer dollars to terrorist organizations. What was once labeled “conspiracy theory” is now backed by hard evidence: billions of dollars have been funneled over decades into terrorist training camps and Islamic terror groups, including the Taliban, ISIS, Al-Qaeda, Boko Haram, and ISIS Khorasan.

Now, the truth is coming to light, and Washington is in crisis mode.

$697 Million Per Year—Plus Billions More in Cash Shipments—Directly to Terrorists

In a bombshell congressional hearing, Republican Congressman Scott Perry accused USAID of funneling $697 million annually—along with weekly cash shipments of $40–$80 million—to Islamic terrorist groups.

“Who gets some of that money? Your money—$697 million annually—plus shipments of cash go to ISIS, Al-Qaeda, Boko Haram, and ISIS Khorasan. That’s what it’s funding,” Perry declared.

These revelations were confirmed by the Defense Oversight and Government Ethics (DOGE) investigation, which uncovered a stunning network of fraudulent programs used as cover to launder taxpayer dollars to terrorists.

The Afghanistan Scam: “Women’s Programs” That Fund the Taliban

Perry exposed the fraudulent USAID programs supposedly meant to help Afghan women:

  • Women’s Scholarship Endowment – $60 million per year
  • Young Women Lead – $5 million per year

These programs claim to empower women in Afghanistan, yet Perry pointed out the obvious absurdity:

“The Taliban bans women from speaking in public, yet somehow, the American people are supposed to believe that this money is being used for the betterment of women in Afghanistan? It is not. You are funding terrorism, and it’s coming through USAID.”

Even more disturbing, a new DOGE report reveals that some of this money is being redirected to Taliban-run “martyrs’ welfare” programs—providing stipends to families of Taliban fighters killed attacking U.S. troops.

CIA whistleblower Sarah Adams confirmed:

“We’re paying Taliban families whose members died fighting us. Meanwhile, our veterans’ families get squat.”

Pakistan’s : $8.84 Billion for “Ghost Schools”

The Pakistan education scandal is even bigger than originally reported. Since 2002, USAID has pumped $8.84 billion into education programs—with no proof that the schools even exist.

Among the most blatant frauds:

  • $136 million was allocated for 20 schools—not a single one has been found.
  • $20 million went to educational television for kids who can’t attend school—because the schools don’t exist.

“We even spent $20 million on educational TV—for kids who don’t have access to these nonexistent schools. It’s absurd!” Perry slammed.

Meanwhile, Haqqani Network leader Sarajuddin Haqqani and Abdullah Bin Laden (Osama Bin Laden’s son) have reportedly benefited from USAID-linked funds, further proving that taxpayer dollars are ending up in the hands of Al-Qaeda-affiliated groups.

(Read more: RAIR Foundation, 2/17/2025)  (Archive)

February 17, 2025 - Congressman Tim Burchett: DOGE is going to find a “paper trail” of money that went overseas and ended up back into pockets of lawmakers

Congressman Tim Burchett (R-TN) said the Democrats are terrified of Elon Musk and DOGE because there is a “paper trail” of money that went overseas and right back into their pockets.

“You’re going to see a paper trail come back to Washington, DC. That’s why a lot of people are nervous. You’ll see a lot of retirements. They are stealing from the American taxpayer and now they’ve got their hand caught in the cookie jar, and all they can do is attack Elon Musk,” Burchett said on Fox News.

(…) It is all hands on deck to stop Elon Musk’s DOGE from accessing federal data so the Trump Administration can cut wasteful government spending.

(Read more: The Gateway Pundit, 2/17/2025) (Archive)

When Elon Musk asked how Norm Eisen could be financed, I replied, “If the United States govt gave money to Qatar, knowing Qatar was going to send that money to organizations within the USA intended to carry out an objective of a small group in U.S. govt., what would that be called?”

Qatar is a major source of funding for the Brookings Institute.  Brookings funds various Lawfare operations, including Norm Eisen.  The extended process is quite simple. If elements within the U.S. Govt., wanted to indirectly fund Brookings, could they do it by sending funds to Qatar?

The question is not supposition, because this was the exact process Hillary Clinton and Leon Panetta used for the State Dept to send weapons to the Libyan “rebels,” aka Operation Zero Footprint.

Operation Zero Footprint was the State Dept/CIA sending funds to Qatar, and the Qatari govt then purchasing missiles from the CIA to give to al-Qaeda affiliates in Libya.  We can consider the historic Iran-Contra scandal under a similar framework. However, the nuanced difference is about sending money toward a foreign govt (via USAID), while knowing the money would return to fund a domestic agenda inside the USA.

Example: USAID sends money to the U.K, and then British political allies send political operatives into the USA to support Kamala Harris.  We know the latter part of that sentence happened.  So, did the Biden administration (Samantha Power) fund the Labour Party operation?

Are the various political NGOs and activist groups in the USA actually funded, indirectly, by U.S. taxpayers?  Many signs point to, yes.

Against this high likelihood, it becomes just a natural extension of the process if U.S. politicians are beneficiaries of the circular laundry operation. That is what Representative Tim Burchett believes will surface if the DOGE team follow the money trail. (Conservative Treehouse, 2/17/2025)

February 17, 2025 - D.C. District Judge Chutkan declines to immediately issue order halting Musk and DOGE from accessing federal data

Judge: Had hearing on Friday, I asked Plaintiffs to file proposed order narrowing; filed narrowing proposed scope on Sat. at 4; at Friday’s hearing it was my harm extremely serious & colorable claim; but TRO wasn’t tailored to gov’t; narrowed from 11 to 2 dept; revised to ask to enjoin Musk, DOGE, defendants, accessing/copying in 7 agencies; or terminating agents/employees in agencies: OPM, educ., labor, hhs, energy, transportation, commerce; asked for 14 days; cite complaint, declaration, news report. Gov’t responded: remains too broad & not tied to appointment clause; asked to proceed on PI; 1:30 a.m. Plaintiffs filed reply, arguing threat of data disclosure & dismanteling will cause irreparable harm, and oppose PI and seek discovery. On Friday: TROs/PI are extraordinary remedies, PI only after notice; TROs purpose to preserve status quo; same 4 part test applies to both. Emergency TRO so immenent. Plaintiff if deny & get PI, then allow discovery?

Plaintiffs: We are confident we have evidence necessary to get TRO. Judge: Lots of news reports out there. Court can’t act based of news reports–they can’t find basis for TRO. Plaintiffs: I can point to what has already happen. Absolutely narrowing request. Our concern is how they are using data–for purpose other than designed to be collected. Judge: Tie to complaint? Plaintiff: From statement Musk makes; X posts; DOGE website (workforce; regs; finance): Using data they have access to to decide how to make cuts. So, Educ. Dep’t: School notes shortage of educators, poor outcomes, plus money–rely for operational & technical support. What is threatened by DOGE? Plaintiffs: DOGE has affected funding cuts across Educ. including research program, such as Institute of Educational Science have in past studied programs used in New Mexico. Judge: If I don’t issue TRO & convert to PI: And you win? If it gets slashed can’t you get money. Cuts to nuclear hurts New Mexico. Plaintiff: We’re getting reports to DOGE direction called for cuts to CDC staff, including Indian Health Staff, just made public, new secretary is trying to rehire poeple…New Mexico has large tribe…Judge: It has to be extreme harm it has to be imminent, and tomorrow and it will definitely happen. Something that can’t be “undone”–difficult or challenging, it can be undone.

Judge: Generalized fear, even if likely, isn’t enough for TRO and I’m not seeing it so far. Plaintiffs Lawyer: If Defendants have evidence to refute this. . . (NOT Defendants’ job). Cites to Washington Post article of DOGE memos of plans to spending cut. On Wednesday will start with continue to staffing cuts–nothing described. Judge must have rolled eyes: “I understand your frustration.” Plaintiff references X posts of “Education’s next” so ask TRO based on identified targets with agencies with direct ties and direct harms.
Judge: References other cases, why can’t Plaintiffs get TRO in 2 days b/c it is happening tomorrow or today? This is a prophaletic TRO and that’s not allowed. Plaintiff: “Going back to Washington Post” and showing DOGE memo saying all agencies will be targeted, between DOGE memos, statements, and X posts, on Wednesday we will see more. This is Appointment Clause claim, is different then other TROS. Our request is drastically different b/c we aren’t seeking to enjoy Agencies: It is targeted to Musk & DOGE and that they aren’t using info in unconstitutional ways.
Judge: Look at relief? What is harm if they have access to the inform? How is that directed to harm?
Plaintiff: It is the use of the data. How they identify how to make cuts is through access to data.
Judge: But it is in DOGE’s remit (authority) to analyze data. Also, if it already happened, it’s not imminent.
Plaintiff: Yes, they were charged w/ rooting out waste. These are not advisors, based on statements, etc., it is clear that CMS, directions where to cut were from Musk & DOGE and only able to do through anaylsis of data. Giving “directives” is well beyond EO.
Judge: Again, you are for TRO: You also want to stop all personnel decisions, how does this cause harm.”
Plaintiff: Only place for safe disposal of nuclear waste; Energy issued notice to terminate personnel, that includes staff who oversee disposal.
Judge: Wouldn’t those employees have the claim.
Plaintiff: Our harm is state’s ability to carry out its function. Lose of administration personnel, no one to pick up phone, or write checks.
Judge: TRO actions OMP access, have different claims, privacy

Judge: Why wouldn’t those other cases provide relief that bar access to data. noted two other cases that cover access/firing. (Judges Cooper & Bates)
Plaintiff: Those were privacy act claims. We want to make sure Musk & DOGE aren’t using data inappropriately.
Judge: BUT the harm you are alleging is already being considered in other cases & still broad: 7 large agencies no data/no firing?
Plaintiff: Yes, because relief has not been issued yet. Difference between enjoining agency & enjoining Musk/DOGE. That is significant distinction.
Judge: What would imminent harm re DOT & Dep’t of Commerce, to Plaintiffs States.
Plaintiff: Inability to carry out programs & functions. (She isn’t answering).

Judge to Musk: reports of 1000 who received termination notices. Is it true?
Gov’t: I can’t confirm.
Judge: Wait! Not small thing, you haven’t looked at it?
Gov’t: I looked to what was relevant. I’ll look at it.
Judge: And are additional terminations planned in next 14 days. I can’t base on news reports. But you should be able to say we fired & we will fire x more.
Gov’t: Starting w/ State Declaration to justify imminent injury. Only 3 states discuss data access and concerns by residents. New Mexico: Says it has data at 3 agencies. Plaintiffs say that the concern is “not the access,” so the TRO shouldn’t address it. All discuss possible actions, that may affect downstream: That’s not imminent.
Judge: Reason that language is used is because DOGE actions have been unpredictable & scattershot. Will there been terminations/will there be?
Govt: There basic point is that Musk or DOGE is exercising sovereign power without authority–but all the actions complained about, there is a paper trail. What is clear is that you have a properly named officer exercising his authority. NO evidence of Musk or DOGE doing the terminating.
Judge: Musk hasn’t been appointed/confirmed–essentially a private citizen to fire/hire/contract/terminate, without congressional.
Govt: He is a Special Government Employee. There theory is that Musk exercises authoritative “influence.” THAT is not an appointment clause claim: They have not shown any formal or actual authority to make any decision himself.
Judge: I think you’re going too far.
Gov’t: Has state marshalled evidence of imminent harm.
Judge: Can gov’t agree to hold off on mass termination while PI is litigated? If not, what is harm?
Gov’t: I can’t make commitment. Agency heads have authority to manage work place.
Judge: Allegation is DOGE is directing termination. Accessing data/firing people/terminating contract, i.e., essentially running government.
Gov’t: Need evidence to back it up & it’d be easy to find: Someone is exercising power. And they can’t show that “someone” isn’t a person with power. Identify who fired. What authority. States haven’t done. Just saying puppetstrings:
Judge: Has a Court ever granted TRO re Appointment Clause?
Plaintiffs: I’d have to confirm. Judge: No, I haven’t found any. This is factually one of a kind situation. There may not be a TRO issued but we’ve never experienced this type of wielding of power. Our papers speak for themselves on points Gov’t made.

Plaintiff: Seeking to restrain DOGE & Musk & not agencies, if they don’t have authority then it won’t hurt agencies.
Judge: Thank you for coming in and making yourself available. I will rule motion for TRO & issue further scheduling. Hope to get out in 24 hours. If you have to come for PI briefing, what are you proposing: Plaintiff meet w/ Gov’t attorney & work out.

UPDATE 2/18/2025

Judge Chutkan Denies Democrat AGs Request For Restraining Order Against Elon Musk and DOGE

February 17, 2025 - Over 25 million American Social Security recipients are aged 100 and older, some older than the U.S. Constitution itself

Elon Musk’s DOGE team has unearthed jaw-dropping irregularity from the U.S. Social Security database.

The numbers are truly mind-boggling: over 25 million Americans registered aged 100 and older, with some purportedly older than the U.S. Constitution itself.

Late Sunday night, Musk tweeted a staggering claim accompanied by a table of ages, suggesting that the Social Security Administration might be paying out benefits to “vampires.”