Featured Timeline Entries
February 8, 2025 - NY Judge forbids all political appointees from accessing Department of Treasury data (this would include Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent)

New York Judge Paul Engelmayer just forbade all political appointees — including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent — from accessing Dept. of Treasury data, all based on Blueanon conspiracy theories!!

Those theories couldn’t be challenged because the order was EX PARTE — meaning Trump’s lawyers weren’t warned, and couldn’t weigh in. Only Democrat Attorneys General were allowed to argue.

The judge cites no law or logic to support this unprecedented order, because it defies both. The judge’s ruling is, in essence, that Scott Bessent simply occupies a ceremonial position without real power, like the King of England.

This is a grenade thrown into the functioning of the Treasury Department.

It forbids the elected government from accessing information about budget and finances. Instead, only the permanent, deep-state government can know what’s being spent.

It means Scott Bessent’s subordinates have far more power than Scott Bessent does.

Democrat pundits who whine about the Constitution are liars, and will shred it the first chance they get.

For now, the order is only for the next week, but if a court tries to make it permanent the Trump Administration should absolutely consider defying it.

Better yet, SCOTUS should bar this judge from ever hearing similar cases again, and every Democrat lawyer involved should be sanctioned.

This ruling is pure judicial sabotage. A New York Obama judge has just declared that the elected U.S. government cannot access Treasury Department data—all based on unchallenged, ex parte arguments from Democrat Attorneys General. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has effectively been stripped of his authority, with bureaucrats now holding more power than the officials appointed to lead them. This is how the deep state operates: unelected judges and bureaucrats undermining the elected president in broad daylight.

The ruling isn’t just lawless—it’s an open attack on the functioning of the federal government. There is no legal basis for declaring a Treasury Secretary powerless to oversee budget and financial data. This is a blatant attempt to keep Trump’s administration from uncovering whatever financial games the Biden-era bureaucrats have been playing. What are they trying to hide?

If this ruling is allowed to stand, it will create a dangerous precedent where leftist judges can effectively shut down any part of the federal government they don’t like. SCOTUS needs to step in immediately. If necessary, the Trump administration should consider defying this outrageous order. No judge has the right to hand control of the U.S. Treasury to unelected bureaucrats. This is a crisis, and it needs to be treated as one.

Elon Musk is absolutely right—this Obama-appointed judge is nothing more than a partisan activist in a robe. The idea that the U.S. Treasury Secretary can be blocked from reviewing his own department’s financial data is beyond absurd. It’s a blatant power grab by the deep state to keep Trump’s administration from exposing the corruption and waste buried in Biden-era spending. What exactly are they trying to hide?

This ruling is lawless and unconstitutional. It allows unelected bureaucrats—who answer to no one—to control the flow of financial information while the elected government is left in the dark. That’s not democracy; it’s judicial sabotage. If this precedent stands, what’s next? A judge deciding the president isn’t allowed to command the military? The left is weaponizing the courts to paralyze the government, all to protect their own corruption.

This case needs to be overturned immediately, and if necessary, the Trump administration should ignore it outright. No judge has the right to block the executive branch from governing. SCOTUS should intervene, and every Democrat lawyer involved in this disgraceful ruling should be sanctioned. America doesn’t need more deep-state obstruction—it needs transparency, accountability, and a government that actually works for the people.

Ah, this is the deep state in broad daylight, don’t you see? A single activist judge, with no legal basis and no accountability, just unilaterally decided that elected officials—the very people chosen by the American people—aren’t allowed to control their own Treasury Department. Instead, the unaccountable bureaucrats, the swamp creatures, get full authority over the nation’s finances.

And the best part? Trump’s legal team wasn’t even given a chance to argue! Ex parte rulings like this are the stuff of banana republics, not constitutional governance. This isn’t a legal decision—it’s a coup by paperwork. A rogue judge just declared that the Treasury Secretary is nothing more than a ceremonial figure, while the real power stays in the hands of unelected bureaucrats.

This is an attack on the democratic process. If SCOTUS doesn’t shut this down immediately, Trump’s administration has every right to ignore it outright. The Constitution doesn’t give activist judges the power to override elections. Period. If they want a fight, they just might get one. Ok? Ok.

🚨 JUDGE BLOCKS TRUMP’S TREASURY FROM SEEING ITS OWN DATA—INSANITY! 🚨

A New York judge just did the unthinkable—he banned Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent from accessing Treasury Department data. You read that right. The Biden-era deep state can still see everything, but the elected Trump administration officials? Locked out.

❌ No law supports this.
❌ No logic explains this.
❌ And Trump’s lawyers weren’t even allowed to challenge it!

Judge Paul Engelmayer handed down this outrageous ruling ex parte, meaning only Democrat Attorneys General got to argue. No debate, no defense—just raw judicial activism.

Elon Musk nailed it: “This ruling is absolutely insane!” How can anyone expect to fight fraud, waste, and abuse if the people in charge aren’t even allowed to see where the money is going?!

💰 Who benefits from this secrecy? The deep-state bureaucrats. The scammers. The people robbing taxpayers blind while pretending to care about democracy.

This order lasts a week for now—but if any court tries to make it permanent, Trump must consider defying it outright. Better yet, SCOTUS should step in immediately and put an end to this madness. This judge has no business ruling on cases he clearly sees as political weapons.

🔥 If you think the deep state is panicking and hiding something, drop a 🔥 in the replies!

February 9, 2025 - FOIA doc reveals USAID fully funded American al Qaeda terrorist Anwar Aulaqi's college tuition

Looks like USAID supported college tuition for Anwar Aulaqi (Awlaki) who later became a high level al Qaeda terrorist.

Aulaqi falsely claimed he was born in Yemen to secure the financial help via the State Dept. when he was actually a US citizen, born in Las Cruces New Mexico.

Aulaqi would later develop close ties with several 9/11 hijackers and attain leadership status in AQ’s Yemen affiliate.

Aulaqi was the godfather of the digital jihad that leveraged his writings and the web to radicalize Americans to AQ’s cause.

Aulaqi became the first American targeted for death by the CIA. In 2011, he was killed in a US drone strike.

Good catch @browne_pamela Via @intelwire

February 10, 2025 - DOGE unmasked the Uniparty and the NGO Boards they serve on

(An X Thread by @RepublicanData)

THE UNIPARTY UNMASKED – They Believe They Are “Democracy”

The seven NGOs in the chart below, in my view, represent the Uniparty. Each of these organizations receives substantial financial support from USAID or the Department of State.

Around 2019, the phrase “democracy in danger” began to dominate public discourse, amplified by the media. This was odd—after all, the U.S. is a democracy (or more precisely, a constitutional republic). But as I traced the influence of these NGOs, a pattern emerged: they are controlled by establishment politicians, they play a major role in shaping political narratives worldwide, and their core mission is always framed as “protecting democracy.”

Originally, these NGOs were created to support U.S. democratic efforts abroad—many of them emerging during the Cold War to combat the spread of communism. But with the fall of the Soviet Union, their original purpose faded. Instead of dissolving, they redefined their mission. Now, they have positioned themselves as the guardians of democracy itself.

This shift explains why Trump’s re-election was framed as a “threat to democracy.” To these NGOs, “democracy” means themselves. Their survival depends on maintaining that role, and any challenge to their authority is perceived as a direct attack on democracy itself.Image

Please note that @MikeBenzCyber is the expert on this topic—I’m just a technical person researching and learning alongside all of you.

To understand how these NGOs connect to democracy, let’s take a look at what AI says about the purpose of each one: 

🟥 International Republican Institute (IRI) (EIN 521340267) – Promotes democracy by training political parties and leaders, primarily supporting U.S. foreign policy interests through a Republican-aligned lens.

🟦 National Democratic Institute (NDI) (EIN 521338892) – Advances democracy by fostering political participation and governance reforms worldwide, aligned with Democratic Party priorities.

⚖️ Consortium for Elections and Political Process Strengthening (CEPPS) (EIN 521943638) – A coalition of democracy-focused NGOs (IRI, NDI, IFES) that supports electoral processes, civil society, and governance reforms globally.

🗽 National Endowment for Democracy (NED) (EIN 521344831) – Acts as the primary funding hub for democracy promotion efforts worldwide, distributing U.S. government grants to NGOs supporting political and civil society development.

🗳 International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) (EIN 521527835) – Strengthens global democracy by providing technical assistance for election security, integrity, and voter participation.

📡 Internews (EIN 943027961) – Supports independent media and press freedom worldwide, shaping democratic discourse by training journalists and combating disinformation.

💰 Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) (EIN 521398742) – Promotes democracy through free-market economic policies, advocating for business-friendly governance and anti-corruption initiatives.

⚒️ Solidarity Center (EIN 472130723) – Advances democracy by supporting independent labor movements and workers’ rights, often partnering with unions to promote political engagement. 

Note what they all have in common? They are all dedicated to advocating democracy.

And they have redefined “democracy” to mean themselves.

Let’s dig into each one in detail. 

First up:

💰 Internews Network receives substantial U.S. government funding, with $94.5 million in active grants from USAID and the Department of State. Its IRS Form 990 reports $93.9 million in taxpayer funding, out of a $124 million total budget.

Among its principal officers includes 🔵 Anna Soellner – VP of Communications at Reddit.

For more on Internews Network, I refer to the Wikileaks thread x.com/wikileaks/stat…

⚖️ Consortium for Elections and Political Process Strengthening (CEPPS) is another NGO promoting democracy worldwide. They have over half a billion dollars in active spending grants and $160+ million in annual contributions, mostly USAID.

💰Despite receiving grants for initiatives in countries such as Venezuela and Georgia, 100% of its funds act as a passthrough to three core organizations:

🔴 International Republican Institute (IRI) – 31% of CEPPS funding.
🔵 National Democratic Institute (NDI) – 41% of CEPPS funding.
⚖️ International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) – 28% of CEPPS funding.

Curiously, CEPPS reports no salaries. It is led by Kira Rebar, former foreign policy advisor to Bob Menendez, the now-indicted U.S. senator. 

International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) is one of the three CEPP organizations. Unlike other democracy-promoting NGOs, IFES does not receive direct USAID funding, but it still holds $33 million in active spending grants and operates with an annual budget of nearly $59 million.

Its notable principal officers include:

🔵 Steny Hoyer – Former Democratic Representative from Maryland and House Majority Leader.
🔴 Rob Portman – Former U.S. Senator from Ohio (Republican).
⚖️ M. Peter McPherson – Former USAID advisor. 

The other two CEPPS organizations, the NDI and IRI, must be viewed as part of the larger NED umbrella which includes four NGOs.

The National Endowment for Democracy (NED) was established in 1983 to advance democracy protection efforts worldwide. To prevent any single party from monopolizing its agenda, NED was structured as a bipartisan funding vehicle that supports two partisan-affiliated NGOs: the International Republican Institute (IRI) on the Republican side, and the National Democratic Institute (NDI) on the Democratic side.

NED itself holds approximately $1,618 million in active grants (allocated in a single large block by the Department of State) and operates with an annual budget of about $362 million. 

The National Democratic Institute (NDI) itself maintains a bipartisan leadership structure:

🔵 Karen Bass – Vice Chair of the National Endowment for Democracy; former U.S. Representative and current Mayor of Los Angeles (Democrat).
🔴 Elise Stefanik – Director at the National Endowment for Democracy; U.S. Representative from New York and House GOP Conference Chair (Republican).
🔴 Mel Martinez – Director at the National Endowment for Democracy; former U.S. Senator from Florida (Republican).
🔴 Peter Roskam – Vice Chair at the National Endowment for Democracy; former U.S. Representative from Illinois (Republican).
🔴 Steve Biegun – Director at the National Endowment for Democracy; former U.S. Deputy Secretary of State (Republican).

In addition to NDI and IRI, the NDI supports Center for International Private Enterprise and Solidarity Center. 

Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) is bipartisan as well.

🔴 Neil Bradley – President/Secretary; former Executive Vice President and Chief Policy Officer at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
🔴 Kim R. Holmes – Vice Chair; former Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs under President George W. Bush; previously the Executive Vice President at The Heritage Foundation.
🔵 Ruchi Bhowmik – Director; former deputy cabinet secretary to President Barack Obama. VP of Pubic Policy at Netflix.
🔵 Douglas Lute – Former Director (until 05/23); retired U.S. Army Lieutenant General and former U.S. Ambassador to NATO under President Obama. 

Although CIPE’s stated mission is to promote democracy and free markets through a business-oriented approach, its actual activities are unclear from its IRS Form 990. The majority of its expenses go toward salaries and a broad “Other” category, which lacks detailed breakdowns. The Schedule O explanation doesn’t provide much clarity—it mostly lists consulting fees and program service expenses, without specifying how these expenditures advances its mission.

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The Solidarity Center is another core beneficiary of NED, affiliated with AFL-CIO, making it closely tied to labor unions. (It could be seen as the labor counterpart to the free-market-focused CIPE.)

Although it doesn’t appear in my graph due to lower reported contributions, its official 2020 financial report shows it received $39 million in federal awards that year. Additionally, by searching the DataRepublican database, I found a federal award granted directly to the American Center for International Labor, which is connected to the Solidarity Center and holds $105 million in active spending grants.

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The International Republican Institute (IRI) is the third NED-funded NGO that, again, promotes democracy worldwide through a Republican-aligned perspective. Its leadership is dominated by establishment Republican politicians.

🔴 Mitt Romney – Director; Former U.S. Senator from Utah, 2012 GOP presidential nominee.
🔴 Lindsey Graham – Director; U.S. Senator from South Carolina.
🔴 Joni Ernst – Director; U.S. Senator from Iowa.
🔴 Tom Cotton – Director; U.S. Senator from Arkansas.
🔴 Marco Rubio (Formerly)
🔴 Dan Sullivan – Chairman; U.S. Senator from Alaska.
🔴 Kelly Ayotte – Director; former U.S. Senator from New Hampshire.
🔴 Mark Kirk – Director; former U.S. Senator from Illinois. 

Although IRI does not have a Schedule I on its 990, its audit is illuminating. It reports 38 million in salaries, 17.5 million in “fringe benefits”, 3 million in rent, 12 million on travel.Image

🔴 IRI also funds some progressive-aligned NGOs, despite its Republican affiliation.

🌍 International Organization for Migration (IOM) – A UN-associated NGO focused on refugee and displaced persons aid. It manages migration-related programs worldwide.

♀️ Office of Global Women’s Issues (S/GWI) – A division within the U.S. Department of State that ensures women’s and girls’ rights are fully integrated into U.S. foreign policy.Image
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The National Democratic Institute (NDI) is the fourth and final NED-financed NGO. It serves as the Democratic counterpart to IRI. Its principal officers include:

🔵 Barbara Mikulski – Director; longest-serving woman in the U.S. Senate, former Maryland Senator (Democrat).
🔵 Thomas Daschle – Chairman; former Senate Majority Leader, key figure in Democratic legislative strategy (Democrat).
🔵 Stacey Abrams – Director; high-profile Georgia political leader, voting rights advocate, and former gubernatorial candidate (Democrat).
🔵 Donna Brazile – Director; veteran Democratic strategist, former DNC chair, and political commentator (Democrat). 

Like the IRI’s audit, the NDI’s makeup is heavy on salaries, travel, and fringe benefits.Image
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NDI has $47 million in active spending grants worldwide.

Some of its major grantees, as listed on its IRS Form 990 Schedule I, include:

📡 Internews Network – Received $2.3 million to support independent media and press freedom initiatives.
⚖️ American Bar Association – Granted $1.1 million for legal and judicial development programs related to democracy.
🔴 International Republican Institute (IRI) – Surprisingly, NDI awarded $1 million to its Republican-aligned counterpart, despite their partisan affiliations, showing how these democracy-promoting NGOs interconnect as a true Uniparty.Image
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🧵 Thread End. I learned a lot in creating this thread and I hope you did too! 

After thinking it over last night, here’s how I would summarize it: These seven NGOs (eight if you count the off-the-chart Solidarity Center) together function as an “off-the-books” shadow U.S. government.

The National Endowment for Democracy (NED) was created to unify the U.S. against communism. Its four core organizations reflect a neat ideological symmetry of America’s two-party system:
➜CIPE pushes free-market policies, Solidarity Center represents labor and unions.
➜IRI serves Republican interests, and NDI aligns with the Democrats.

CEPPS is another umbrella group that includes IRI and NDI but also brings in IFES under the guise of fortifying election integrity.

And to make sure the narrative sticks, Internews Network spreads these viewpoints through global media.

Most of these NGOs were born during the Reagan years. While not all USAID and State Department funding flows through them, they control the purse strings for much of America’s global financial influence.

DEI initiatives created a system of unaccountability and dependency, which ended up injecting more money into them and further entrenches their power.

They see any challenge to their authority as a threat to democracy itself. But their greatest enemy is still the same one they’ve had since the Cold War—Russia. They’ve never lost the “Cold War” boomer mindset.

In their minds, they’re the superheroes keeping America from crumbling. And that entitles them to their travel perks, cushy post-election gigs, and all the other benefits that come with running an unacknowledged empire.

(Twitter/X thread by: DataRepublican (small r) @DataRepublican

February 10, 2025 - DOGE: FEMA sent $59M last week to luxury hotels in New York City to house illegal migrants

FEMA blatantly ignored Trump’s executive order and spent $59 million on luxury NYC hotels for illegal aliens in just one week—a direct illegal aliens and a slap in the face to American taxpayers. This isn’t just bureaucratic incompetence; it’s deliberate sabotage. Whoever authorized this needs to be fired immediately and held accountable for illegally diverting taxpayer money.

While American citizens struggle with disasters, FEMA—under corrupt deep-state operatives—decided that housing illegal migrants in luxury accommodations was a higher priority. Not emergency relief, not helping disaster victims, but providing premium hotel stays for people who shouldn’t even be in the country. This is why the system is broken—unelected bureaucrats think they can operate with zero consequences.

Now, Elon Musk confirms the U.S. will try to recoup the money. But the real question is: Will there be real consequences? Trump is taking back control, but these rogue agencies are still packed with bad actors defying his policies. The time for warnings is over—there must be mass firings, full investigations, and criminal charges if necessary.

The left is in full panic mode because their illegal immigration cash pipeline is being exposed and dismantled. But this only reinforces why the deep state must be purged. Americans deserve a government that works for them, not against them.

The @DOGE team just discovered that FEMA sent $59M LAST WEEK to luxury hotels in New York City to house illegal migrants.

Sending this money violated the law and is in gross insubordination to the President’s executive order.

That money is meant for American disaster relief and instead is being spent on high end hotels for illegals! A clawback demand will be made today to recoup those funds.

DOGE: Elon’s @dogeteam discovered FEMA employees illegally sent $59 million last week (in violation of Trump’s EO) to house illegal aliens in New York. Perhaps more shockingly, the money went to Pakistan thanks to a deal brokered by Sen Schumer. The Roosevelt Hotel is owned by Pakistan and is now leased by NYC to house illegal migrants. Thanks to FEMA, Pakistan has made $100 million so far out of a total $220 million deal negotiated by the city.

The city of New York pays $220 million to rent the entire Roosevelt Hotel in Manhattan to house illegal migrants.

The hotel is owned by the government of Pakistan, and the deal was part of a $1.1 billion IMF bailout package to help Pakistan avoid defaulting on their international debt.

Prior to this sweetheart deal, the hotel had been closed since 2020, having long-struggled with occupancy and in dire need of renovation.

UPDATE:

UPDATE

I have clawed back the full payment that FEMA deep state activists unilaterally gave to NYC migrant hotels.

FEMA was funding the Roosevelt Hotel that serves as a Tren de Aragua base of operations and was used to house Laken Riley’s killer.

Mark my words: there will not be a single penny spent that goes against the interest and safety of the American people.

February 10, 2025 - The irony of the Treasury data freak out is that the system is currently maintained by unvetted contractors

February 10, 2025 - Google: An NGO is non-governmental because it operates without government control and oversight, even though it receives government funding

Did everyone else understand that Non Governmental Organizations, ie, NGOs, receive most if not all of their funding from the government, or was I just being ignorant?

If NGOs receive most if not all of their funding from the government, what is the basis for calling them non-governmental?

The answer according to Google is that an NGO is non-governmental because it operates without governmental control and oversight even though it receives government funding.

Why is it beneficial for there to be non-profit organizations, that is NGOs, that receive all or substantially all of their funding from our government, but don’t have any government oversight or control?

Non-profits are not known for having good governance. The combination of funding without oversight and control creates the opportunity for fraud, waste and abuse that we have seen in some of the USAID grants that have been made public in the last week or so.

In the private markets, that is the real world, a majority shareholder would have control and oversight. Why do we allow our government to make majority investments without control and oversight? It makes no sense.

It is time we scrutinize all NGOs and reconsider investing taxpayer money in private organizations without proper oversight and control consistent with what a majority investor would expect in a private corporation.

February 10, 2025 - Kristi Noem accuses the FBI of leaking internal government documents planning a 'large scale' raid in Los Angeles

Kristi Noem has launched a scathing attack on the FBI after details of an immigration raid were leaked to the media.

Donald Trump‘s Homeland Security Secretary reacted Sunday to an article in the Los Angeles Times that cited leaked internal government documents planning a ‘large scale’ raid in the Californian city.

‘The FBI is so corrupt,’ Noem wrote on social media on Monday. ‘We will work with any and every agency to stop leaks and prosecute these crooked deep state agents to the fullest extent of the law.’

A federal law enforcement source said that FBI agents and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents were being called into help immigration enforcement officials to assist the deportation force. (Read more: The Daily Mail, 2/10/2025)  (Archive)

February 11, 2025 - Current federal cases challenging Trump Administration actions with links to free docket at Courtlistener

February 12, 2025 - Mike Benz on Joe Rogan: Barack Obama laundered USAID money through Cayman Islands to fund and train “Rent-a-Riots” to overthrow governments

Barack Obama was using USAID to pretend to send money to a country for “aid” and instead laundering it to the Cayman Islands

He would then use that money to fund and train “Rent-a-Riots” for protests to overthrow governments

Sound familiar?

Mike Benz on Joe Rogan: “A scandal during the Obama USAID era. We were running a number of rogue USAID operations in Cuba at the time. — I’m simply showing the American people where your tax dollars are going and how these things are structured in order to systematically fool you and to fool Congress and to fool the White House:

— USAID pumped $1.2 billion in, and we sponsored these activist groups and these civil society organizations to learn how to use Facebook, learn how to use Twitter, lose, learn how to use hashtags, learn how to coordinate street protests so that everyone knows where to go, what street to show up on, what kind of slogans to know, to use in order to create the pro-democracy predicate for it.”

He talks about how Obama funded a Twitter clone that would be used to push propaganda in Cuba to inspire these protests and overthrow the government (Mike Benz explains how Barack Obama overthrew many governments)

“So what they did is they took the exact same thing as Twitter, same user interface, same like, and retweet button zunzunio is, is the Cuban slang word for hummingbird. So just, it means it’s it’s bird, it was the Twitter bird, the whole thing. But the whole trick about it was you have to make it look like it’s coming from the Cubans if you’re going to do this operation

— We can get into the deeper layers of this, but contractors were funded by USAID

The data would then be used for micro targeting efforts towards anti and pro government users. In Cuba, the developers aim to, at first used non-controversial content such as sports and music and hurricane updates — What was the plan the whole time? Once they built up enough subscribers, they would begin to introduce political messages through social bots and encourage dissent in this, in this astroturfing — the whole point is, once they hit a critical mass, they would create ‘Rent-a-Riots”

“You’re using Cayman Islands bank accounts. You’re saying it’s, you’re earmarking it for Pakistani aid.” But the money was never sent to Pakistan, it was sent to the Cayman Islands to fund this whole operation

All this and much more is broken down extremely well in this video. This is INSANE

Full Interview 2/12/2025

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