Category: Deep State

Conspiracy about a hidden government undermining Trump.

Trump Administration Targets FBI Agents Linked to January 6 Investigations, Undermining Justice Integrity

The Trump administration is pursuing an alarming agenda to purge career law enforcement officials, specifically targeting those associated with the January 6 investigations and other Trump-related inquiries. This directive, originating from the Department of Justice, demands a comprehensive list of FBI employees who participated in these critical investigations, potentially affecting thousands of individuals dedicated to upholding the rule of law. Such actions not only threaten the integrity of the Justice Department but also expose a broader pattern of political retribution designed to weaken institutions that Trump perceives as opposition.

In an email obtained by CNN, acting FBI director Brian Driscoll instructed bureau leaders to compile names of any personnel involved in the January 6 investigations. This request serves as a stark reminder that the new Trump administration is willing to dismantle the independence of federal law enforcement to retaliate against those who have conducted legitimate inquiries into his actions. The political ramifications of this purge are profound, sending a chilling message to agents who depend on the bureau’s integrity to effectively combat crime without partisan influence.

Two key memos highlighted in this initiative signal a drastic shift in how the Justice Department operates under Trump’s leadership. The first memo explicitly outlines the requirements for identifying employees associated with investigations into the Capitol riots, while the second memo relates to ongoing cases against high-profile figures, including members of Hamas. This dual approach suggests that the administration intends to reshape judicial oversight based on political alignment rather than legal merit.

Moreover, the immediate termination of several prosecutors who worked on January 6 cases has led to widespread alarm within the FBI. Agents have expressed that this mass dismissal is not just a personal attack but a significant blow to the bureau’s capacity to manage major criminal probes effectively. Such drastic changes signal a blatant effort to impede ongoing investigations that could have far-reaching implications for democratic accountability.

The implications of this purge extend beyond attorney layoffs and agent firings; they represent a concerted effort to undermine the foundations of the federal law enforcement agency. By fostering a culture of fear and retribution, Trump is clearly attempting to politicize the FBI, prioritizing loyalty over legal responsibility. This not only hinders justice but also erodes public trust in the institutions designed to serve and protect the democracy that so many have fought to uphold.

(h/t: https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/31/politics/fbi-agents-who-investigated-january-6-fired/index.html)

Trump Purges 12 Independent Inspectors General to Install Loyalists

In a shocking late-night purge, President Donald Trump dismissed the independent inspectors general of at least 12 federal agencies, signaling a dangerous consolidation of power aimed at replacing unbiased overseers with loyal allies. This unprecedented action undermines the very foundation of accountability within the government, as these inspectors play a crucial role in identifying and reporting fraud, waste, and abuse.

The inspectors were abruptly informed of their termination via emails from White House personnel, with the dismissals appearing to violate federal law requiring a 30-day notice to Congress prior to firing any Senate-confirmed inspector general. This blatant disregard for established regulations reflects Trump’s authoritarian inclinations, facilitating a shift towards widespread corruption.

Among the ousted inspectors were those overseeing significant departments such as Defense, State, and Veterans Affairs, raising concerns about the intent behind these dismissals. Trump’s prior history of targeting watchdogs, particularly those who investigated his administration, supports the notion that these firings are intended to eliminate any checks on his power and further his agenda without scrutiny.

Senator Elizabeth Warren has decried the actions as a “purge of independent watchdogs,” highlighting the grave implications for government transparency. By removing inspectors general who serve as critical counterweights to executive power, Trump is effectively dismantling the mechanisms designed to prevent misconduct and ensure accountability.

The fallout from this purge may leave remaining inspectors general in a precarious position, as they face tough decisions about the rigor of their oversight under a Trump-controlled government. This pattern of loyalty over integrity in leadership roles poses a dire threat to American democracy, with implications that could resonate for years to come.

(h/t: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/01/24/trump-fire-inspectors-general-federal-agencies/)

Trump’s Plan Undermines Civil Service Protections and Fuels Political Loyalty in Federal Workforce

Donald Trump has officially reinstated a controversial plan aimed at stripping employment protections from federal workers, which could lead to a significant realignment of the federal workforce. This move, which affects tens of thousands of employees, has raised alarm over the potential for increased political loyalty over merit-based hiring within the government. By allowing the administration to reclassify career civil servants, Trump is positioning himself to stock government agencies with obedient supporters rather than qualified professionals.

The executive order was justified by the Trump administration as a necessary response to what they label a “deep state” of bureaucrats who allegedly obstructed his initiatives during his first term. The order claims to restore accountability within the civil service, but it is widely understood as an effort to erase protections that prevent political favoritism and arbitrary dismissals based on loyalty rather than competence. Critics have pointed out that this restoration of the patronage system undermines over a century of civil service reforms designed to ensure nonpartisan governance.

Leading labor groups, including the National Treasury Employees Union, have already filed lawsuits against this policy. Union representatives argue that Trump’s order is a blatant attempt to corrupt federal institutions by removing due process protections, allowing employees to be fired for political alignment rather than job performance. The American Federation of Government Employees has condemned this unprecedented assertion of executive power, stating it risks creating a government workforce loyal only to Trump and not to the Constitution or American citizens.

Furthermore, Trump has introduced exhaustive performance evaluation measures for senior federal leaders, simplifying the process for firings based on subjective assessments of their effectiveness. Such initiatives illustrate a growing trend toward authoritarian control over public service and raise concerns regarding transparency and accountability within federal agencies. The lack of due process for those reclassified under this new plan poses a direct threat to a professional and impartial civil service.

As this strategy unfolds, it reflects Trump’s broader aims to dismantle structured governance and centralize authority around his own administration, undermining the foundations of American democracy. The reintroduction of these policies appears less about improving government efficiency and more about enabling political vendettas and ideological purges that could decimate the federal workforce. This alarming initiative is just one of many steps Trump is taking to reshape the government into a tool for his political agenda.

Musk and Ramaswamy Advance Trump’s Dangerous DOGE Agenda in Congress

Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy recently met with Republican lawmakers at Capitol Hill to discuss Donald Trump’s controversial initiative, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), aimed at slashing federal programs and regulations. This meeting raised serious concerns about the prioritization of wealth and corporate interests over the needs of the American people, particularly vulnerable populations who rely on essential services like Medicare and Social Security.

The DOGE initiative is a thinly veiled attempt to fulfill Trump’s agenda of dismantling crucial government functions under the guise of efficiency. Musk and Ramaswamy, both wealthy entrepreneurs with limited public service experience, were tasked with leading this effort. Their lack of accountability and transparency threatens to undermine democratic processes and further enrich the oligarchs at the expense of everyday citizens.

During the closed-door meeting, lawmakers discussed potential cuts to various federal programs. Rep. Virginia Foxx even suggested reducing the Department of Education, a move that could devastate educational opportunities for countless students. Despite some lawmakers expressing a desire to maintain support for popular programs, the overall tone was one of prioritizing fiscal austerity without consideration for the human impact of these decisions.

Critics, including good-government advocates, are rightfully alarmed about the implications of allowing unelected individuals like Musk and Ramaswamy to influence federal budget cuts. Their advisory role lacks the traditional checks and balances that ensure a fair and transparent process. The Federal Advisory Committee Act, which was designed to uphold these standards, appears to be disregarded in favor of unaccountable decision-making.

The backdrop of this initiative is a staggering $6 trillion federal budget deficit, exacerbated by tax cuts for the wealthy, which Trump and his allies have historically championed. As these Republican lawmakers align themselves with Musk and Ramaswamy, it becomes clear that their focus is not on genuine budget reform but rather on advancing a neoliberal agenda that prioritizes corporate interests and undermines the fundamental rights of American citizens.

(h/t: https://abcnews.go.com/amp/Business/wireStory/elon-musk-vivek-ramaswamy-bringing-trumps-doge-capitol-116487139)

Trump’s Dangerous Move to Target Military Officers for Courts-Martial Reveals Authoritarian Tendencies

In an alarming move, the Trump transition team is reportedly compiling a list of both current and former U.S. military officers for potential courts-martial. This initiative raises serious questions about the motives behind targeting military personnel who may have opposed or criticized the former president’s actions. The list appears to be part of a broader strategy to silence dissent and further consolidate power, echoing tactics often seen in authoritarian regimes.

Reports indicate that this effort is being driven by individuals connected to Trump’s inner circle, including prominent supporters who have openly embraced conspiracy theories. This behavior is reminiscent of fascist regimes, where loyalty to a singular leader is prioritized over democratic principles and accountability.

Among those associated with this troubling initiative is Matt Flynn, a leader in the QAnon conspiracy movement, alongside his brother Michael Flynn, a disgraced former general. Their involvement underscores the disturbing trend of militarizing political loyalty, where questions or criticisms of leadership are treated as acts of treason.

The implications of compiling such a list are profound, signaling a potential crackdown on military personnel who choose to speak out or maintain their integrity. This tactic not only undermines the values of democracy but also threatens the moral fabric of the armed forces.

As Trump and his allies continue to pursue these authoritarian strategies, it is imperative for the American public to remain vigilant and recognize the dangers posed by such actions. The normalization of hate and the silencing of dissent are hallmarks of a regime that prioritizes power over the principles of liberty and justice.

(h/t: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/trump-transition-team-compiling-list-current-former-us-military-office-rcna180489)

One question both Republican job applicants and potential Trump jurors must answer

There is a prevalent question in both job interviews for Republican positions and potential jurors in Trump’s upcoming trials: ‘Do you believe the 2020 election was stolen?’ Job applicants in key states are being tested for loyalty to Trump, while prosecutors aim to assess juror impartiality. Trump’s first criminal trial, involving ‘hush money’ payments to Stormy Daniels, is set for April. The prosecution sees questioning jurors on the election as a way to gauge impartiality. Trump’s attorney disputes the need for the question, calling it irrelevant to the case. The former president faces 34 felony counts related to covering up an alleged affair with Daniels.

New White House personnel chief tells Cabinet liaisons to target Never Trumpers

Johnny McEntee called in White House liaisons from cabinet agencies for an introductory meeting Thursday, in which he asked them to identify political appointees across the U.S. government who are believed to be anti-Trump, three sources familiar with the meeting tell Axios.

Behind the scenes: McEntee, a 29-year-old former body man to Trump who was fired in 2018 by then-Chief of Staff John Kelly but recently rehired — and promoted to head the presidential personnel office — foreshadowed sweeping personnel changes across government.

  • But McEntee suggested the most dramatic changes may have to wait until after the November election.
  • Trump has empowered McEntee — whom he considers an absolute loyalist — to purge the “bad people” and “Deep State.”
  • McEntee told staff that those identified as anti-Trump will no longer get promotions by shifting them around agencies.

The backstory: Several administration officials have already been targeted in a post-impeachment blitz.

  • Barely 48 hours after Trump was acquitted in the Senate, Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman — a key national security official who testified during the impeachment inquiry that Trump’s July 25 call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was “improper” — was “escorted” out of his White House post.
  • U.S. ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland, who also testified in the impeachment investigations, was fired the same afternoon.
  • Trump has also promoted or brought back several people he considers core loyalists — including McEntee, former White House communications director Hope Hicks, and U.S. Ambassador to Germany Ric Grenell.
  • McEntee’s job already is being tested with Trump’s decision to tap Grenell, a staunch loyalist who has never worked for an intelligence agency, as the Acting Director of National Intelligence. Trump has said it’s only a temporary move until he names a new permanent director.
  • But his efforts to put a Republican congressman in that job, thereby plucking him out of a Senate race with a complicated GOP primary, aren’t going smoothly.

[Axios]

Trump Claims He’s Heard FBI ‘Lovers’ Had a ‘Restraining Order,’ Admits He Has No Evidence

Not long after Donald Trump took to the stage at a rally in Hershey, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday night, the president launched into one of his biggest crowd-pleasers: pillorying the “deep state,” particularly by performing fan-fic-style dialogue between the “FBI lovers” Lisa Page and Peter Strzok.

It’s a routine that he’s been honing on the re-election campaign trail for months, perhaps most famously during an October campaign event in Minneapolis, where he appeared to make orgasmic, panting noises—much to the audience’s delight—while doing a mock-dialogue between the two “lovers” about how much they “love” each other and hate that “son of a bitch” Trump.

And on Tuesday night, the president went a step further, claiming he’d “heard” gossip about previously unknown relationship woes between the two former FBI employees—though Trump conceded he could just be spreading pure disinformation.

“So FBI lawyer Lisa Page was so in love she didn’t know what the hell was happening,” Trump blared. “Texted the head of counterintelligence Peter Strzok, likewise so in love he couldn’t see straight! This poor guy. Did I hear he needed a restraining order after this whole thing to keep him away from Lisa? That’s what I heard. I don’t know if it’s true. The fake news will never report it, but it could be true.”

After pointing out the reporters gathered in the back so the audience could loudly boo them, the president continued to make the baseless claim that a restraining order was put in place. At the same time, Trump gave a contorted explanation of the alleged restraining order.

“Now that’s what I heard, I don’t know,” he added. “I mean, who could believe a thing like that? No, I heard Peter Strzok needed a restraining order to keep him away from his once lover. Lisa, I hope you miss him. Lisa, he will never be the same.”

It is unclear where, if anywhere, Trump got this. The White House did not immediately respond to a request seeking comment.

A source familiar with Page’s thinking told The Daily Beast on Tuesday night that Trump’s allegation is “absolutely untrue.”

On Wednesday morning, Page took to Twitter herself, saying “This is a lie. Nothing like this ever happened. I wish we had a president who knew how to act like one. SAD!”

Both Page and Strzok have become prominent bêtes noires for MAGA fans and Trumpworld, due to their illicit affair and the text messages they exchanged bashing Trump and discussing an “insurance policy” in the event the 2016 Republican nominee actually won against Democratic rival Hillary Clinton.

In an interview with The Daily Beast published this month, Page explained why she was choosing to publicly speak out now, stating: “Honestly, his demeaning fake orgasm was really the straw that broke the camel’s back.”

“I had stayed quiet for years hoping it would fade away, but instead it got worse,” she said, adding that “it had been so hard not to defend myself, to let people who hate me control the narrative. I decided to take my power back.”

Additionally, news broke earlier Tuesday that the former FBI attorney had sued the FBI and Department of Justice. “I take little joy in having done so. But what they did in leaking my messages to the press was not only wrong, it was illegal,” she alleged on Twitter.

[The Daily Beast]

Trump called the FBI ‘scum’ and hit out at the report that discredited his theory the Russia probe was a deep-state plot at a wild Pennsylvania rally

President Donald Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania on Tuesday night lashed out at the FBI, calling staff of the agency “scum.”

He also doubled down on discredited conspiracy theories following the release of a report that undermined the president’s claims that the Russia probe was a “deep state” plot meant to damage his presidency.

Trump repeated claims the FBI had “spied” on his 2016 campaign. The report, released the day before by the Justice Department’s inspector general, Michael Horowitz, had found such a characterization to be groundless.

“When the FBI uncovered evidence showing that we did absolutely nothing wrong, which was right at the beginning, they hid that exonerating, you know that, they hid it,” Trump said.

That comment seemed to refer to a finding in the report that there were significant “omissions” in the FBI’s application for a wiretap of Carter Page, a Trump campaign official.

“They hid it so nobody could see it and they could keep this hoax going on for two more years,” Trump said. “They knew right at the beginning.”

The report in fact found that the Russia investigation was launched on the basis of multiple contacts between Trump campaign officials and Russians.

“The FBI also sent multiple undercover human spies to surveil and record people associated with our campaign,” the president said.

“Look how they’ve hurt people. They’ve destroyed the lives of people that were great people, that are still great people. Their lives have been destroyed by scum. OK, by scum.”

While Trump and his allies have often characterized the FBI’s surveillance as “spying,” the long-anticipated report found that the FBI followed its rules in opening an investigation into contacts between Russia and Trump officials and concluded that top officials were not driven by “political bias or improper motivation” in doing so.

It did, however, did find an improper handling of applications for surveillance warrants, such as Page’s.

Attorney General William Barr has criticized the report’s conclusions, a highly unusual move. Barr has tasked the Pennsylvania prosecutor John Durham with conducting a separate investigation into the origins of the Russia inquiry.

“I look forward to Bull Durham’s report, that’s the one I look forward to,” Trump said, referring to the 1988 baseball movie starring Kevin Costner in a riff on Durham’s name.

“And this report was great by the IG, especially since he was appointed by President Barack Hussein Obama,” Trump said. Using Obama’s middle name is often associated with a movement by the far right to falsely suggest Obama is Muslim.

[Business Insider]

Trump appears to do bizarre impression of FBI agent having sex

Donald Trump appeared to perform an impression of former FBI agent Peter Strzok and attorney Lisa Page having sex while the president was in the middle of a speech during a rally in Minnesota on Thursday.

Mr Trump slammed his hand on the podium and shouted “I love you, Lisa,” and “I love you too, Peter” before moaning “Lisa, I love you, Lisa! Lisa! Oh, God, I love you Lisa!”

The president had previously called Mr Strzok a “sick loser” amid investigations by special counsel Robert Mueller into Russian meddling in US elections. Mr Mueller removed Mr Strzok from his team after discovering anti-Trump text messages between Mr Strzok and Ms Page, who had an affair.

The president has falsely claimed that the texts had been deleted and has frequently argued that the messages amount to “corruption” within an investigation that followed Hillary Clinton’s loss in the 2016 presidential election.

At his Minnesota rally, Mr Trump continued to mock the text messages: “And if she doesn’t win, Lisa, we’ve got an insurance policy, Lisa: we’ll get that son of a bitch out.”

[The Independent]

Media

1 2 3 … 6