Political Glance
FBI Director Kash Patel illegally fired top FBI executives on orders from the Trump administration as part of a campaign to turn the nation’s premiere law enforcement agency into a political arm of the White House, a federal lawsuit filed Sept. 10 alleges.
Former acting FBI Director Brian Driscoll Jr. and two other ousted FBI senior officials filed the 68-page lawsuit against Patel and the FBI, Attorney General Pam Bondi and the Justice Department, and the Trump administration. Driscoll, Steven Jensen and Spencer Evans allege in the suit that they were targets of politically motivated retribution and had their constitutional and legal rights violated.
Once he took over at the FBI, they allege, “Patel’s actions stood in stark contrast to his sworn testimony during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee. There, he assured the Committee and the country that ‘all FBI employees will be protected against political retribution.’” The FBI, Justice Department and White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment from USA TODAY.
Ousted FBI leaders file lawsuit against Director Kash Patel, Trump administration
Lisa Cook to remain at Federal Reserve while fighting Trump’s attempt to fire her, judge rules
A federal judge has ruled that Federal Reserve board member Lisa Cook can stay in her post while suing Donald Trump over his unprecedented bid to fire her.
Cook is legally challenging the US president after he sought to remove her, citing unconfirmed allegations of mortgage fraud, amid an extraordinary campaign by his administration to strengthen its control over the US central bank.
She asked US district judge Jia Cobb to impose a temporary restraining order against Trump’s attempt to “immediately” dismiss her, pending further litigation. The administration has argued that Trump is able to fire Fed governors “for cause” and appoint replacements.
Trump has spent months attacking the Fed, where most policymakers – including Cook – have so far defied his calls for interest rate cuts. He has spoken of rapidly building “a majority” on the central bank’s board, calling into question the future of its longstanding independence from political oversight.
Supreme court lifts restrictions on Los Angeles immigration raids in win for Trump
Federal agents can resume sweeping immigration operations in Los Angeles after the US supreme court lifted an order barring the Donald Trump administration from stopping people solely based on their race, language or job.
The court ruled in favor of Trump’s administration, granting a stay against a restraining order from another judge that found “roving patrols” of immigration agents were conducting indiscriminate arrests in LA. The ruling from the conservative majority is a win for the administration in its ongoing effort to enact mass deportations.
US district judge Maame E Frimpong in Los Angeles had found a “mountain of evidence” that enforcement tactics were violating the constitution. The plaintiffs, who said the administration’s approach amounted to “blatant racial profiling”, included US citizens swept up in immigration stops. An appeals court had left Frimpong’s ruling in place.
But the Trump administration argued the order wrongly restricted agents carrying out its widespread crackdown on illegal immigration.
House committee releases image of entire Epstein birthday album, including letter signed by Trump – follow live
In a statement, the Republican chair of the committee, congressman James Comer of Kentucky, also scolded House Democrats for “cherry-picking documents and politicizing information received from the Epstein Estate today”.
Democrats on the committee posted an image of the letter attributed to Trump on social media, and of another letter that refers to the current president.
The second letter released by the Democrats was from Joel Pashcow, a member of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club, who made a crude joke about a woman the Wall Street Journal reports “Epstein and Trump each courted in the 1990s, according to court testimony and people familiar with the matter.”
'Let's Cut Out The Middleman': Zohran Mamdani Hits Trump With A Direct Challenge
New York City’s Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani took on Donald Trump on Thursday as the president reportedly looks to “clear the field” and better former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s chances to win November’s election.
Mamdani, in response to Cuomo’s call for a series of borough-focused debates between the two, instead turned his attention to the president.
“Let’s cut out the middleman. Why should I debate Donald Trump’s puppet when I could debate Donald Trump himself?” the democratic socialist told CBS New York.
“If Donald Trump is serious about this, he should come to New York City. We can have as many debates as you want about why he is cutting SNAP benefits for hungry New Yorkers just to fund tax cuts for his billionaire donors.”
The challenge from Mamdani — who continues to lead in the polls over Cuomo, GOP nominee Curtis Sliwa and scandal-plagued New York Mayor Eric Adams (D), who is running as an independent — comes a day after The New York Times reported that Trump advisers discussed getting a job for Adams in the administration if he drops out.
'Playing cops and robbers like children'. Federal judge blasts DOJ for DC crime crackdown
Another federal judge in the nation’s capital has blasted the Justice Department for filing federal felony charges it couldn't convince a grand jury to approve, this time in the case of a man accused of threatening to kill President Donald Trump.
The failure to secure an indictment is another setback for Trump’s handpicked U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, former Fox News host Jeanine Pirro, whose office has repeatedly disproved the axiom that a grand jury will indict even a ham sandwich.
“It's not fair to say they're losing credibility. We're past that now,” U.S. Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui said of Pirro's office and the broader Justice Department during a Sept. 4 hearing for the accused man, Edward Alexander Dana, a person in attendance confirmed to USA TODAY.
“There's no credibility left,” Faruqui later said, according to that person.
Justice Department Launches Criminal Investigation Into Fed Governor Trump Wants Fired
The U.S. Justice Department has launched a criminal mortgage fraud probe into Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook and has issued grand jury subpoenas out of both Georgia and Michigan, according to documents seen by Reuters and a source familiar with the matter.
The investigation followed a criminal referral from Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte, and is being conducted by Ed Martin, who was tapped by Attorney General Pam Bondi as a special assistant U.S. attorney to assist with mortgage fraud investigations involving public officials, along with the U.S. Attorneys’ offices in the Northern District of Georgia and the Eastern District of Michigan, according to the person, who spoke anonymously since the matter is not public.
Pulte, who was appointed by Trump, has accused Cook of committing fraud by listing more than one property as a primary residence when she applied for mortgages, potentially to secure lower interest rates. Cook owns properties in Michigan, Georgia and Massachusetts.
Trump terminated Cook over Pulte’s mortgage fraud allegations against her, prompting her to file a lawsuit challenging his effort to oust her.
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- Federal judges anonymously criticize Supreme Court over Trump cases
- Judge strikes down Minnesota law banning religious tests for college credit program
- Release of ‘missing minute’ of Epstein video contradicts Bondi claim cameras stopped recording
- Judge reverses Trump administration’s cuts of billions in research funding to Harvard
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