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FBI Agent Steve Friend, Who Blew Whistle on Jan. 6 Investigation, Is Fired From Agency After Veiled Threat to Director Kash Patel

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A former FBI agent who was suspended under the Biden administration and was reinstated under President Trump to much fanfare has been ousted again, The Post has learned.

FBI whistleblower Steve Friend issued what was deemed to be a threat against Director Kash Patel on a podcast hosted by ex-FBI agent Kyle Seraphin last week and that outburst helped cost him his job on Saturday, bureau insiders told the Post.

Friend gained fame for claiming he was wrongly placed on leave by ex-FBI Director Chris Wray for exposing problems with the Jan. 6 investigation that saw roughly 1,600 defendants prosecuted for the 2021 attack on the Capitol. He went on to become an author, media commentator — and onetime ally of Patel.

Suspended in August 2022 and having resigned in February 2023, Friend returned to the FBI’s payroll on Oct. 10. However, he hadn’t been performing duties at the FBI in Jacksonville, as he had not yet been cleared for a background check, an issue that can arise in whistleblower cases.

While pedaling a conspiracy theory that Patel falsely arrested alleged DC pipe bomber Brian Cole Jr. as part of an elaborate “cover up,” Friend made disturbing remarks about bringing “God’s wrath” to punish him. (Read more from “FBI Agent Steve Friend, Who Blew Whistle on Jan. 6 Investigation, Is Fired From Agency After Veiled Threat to Director Kash Patel” HERE)

Bombshell Files Reveal FBI Doubted It Had Probable Cause to Raid Mar-a-Lago for Classified Documents

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The FBI did not believe agents had probable cause to execute a search warrant at President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in August 2022, according to internal records released Tuesday by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa).

The FBI’s Washington Field Office said it “does not believe (and has articulated to DOJ [counterintelligence]) that we have established probable cause for the search warrant for classified records at Mar-a-Lago,” according to one of the records authored by an unidentified assistant special agent.

“DOJ has opined that they do have probable cause,” the document continues, “requesting a wide scope including residence, office, storage space.”

The FBI official noted that agents had spent six weeks trying to establish probable cause that were “counterproductive.”

“We haven’t generated any new facts, but keep being given draft after draft after draft,” one official in the bureau’s Washington Field Office groused in a July 13, 2022, email. “Absent a witness coming forward with recent information about classified on site, at what point is it fair to table this?” (Read more from “Bombshell Files Reveal FBI Doubted It Had Probable Cause to Raid Mar-a-Lago for Classified Documents” HERE)

Accused Lefty Extremist Texted FBI Snitch About ‘Terrorist Diary’: ‘Lmaooooo I Have To Get Rid Of That’

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Leftists charged in a suspected bombing plot in California allegedly told an undercover FBI informant of their radical intentions several times before their Friday arrest, even mentioning a “terrorist diary,” court records show.

The paid informant and an undercover FBI agent were key to infiltrating the leftist group Turtle Island Liberation Front (TILF) and disrupting its alleged New Year’s Eve terrorist plot, the FBI said in a criminal complaint filed Saturday. Defendant Zachary Page said during a December in-person meeting — which included the unnamed informant and agent — that he was “100,000 percent” sure the FBI would certainly be tracking TILF’s activities ahead of the attack, according to the complaint.

“I kind of had this notebook where I wrote down multiple plans that never happened or got delayed,” Audrey Carroll, another of the four TILF defendants, allegedly said in a Dec. 10 text to the informant on Signal. “So it’s like / my terrorist diary / lmaooooo / I have to get rid of that.”

The same woman gave the undercover operative a handwritten document labeled “Operation Midnight Sun” that outlined the New Year’s Eve bombing plot, which involved detonating bombs at companies across Los Angeles when the clock struck midnight, the FBI alleged. The FBI’s surveillance climaxed with a Friday SWAT raid in the Mojave Desert, where the four defendants allegedly gathered at a campsite to test explosives, officials said Monday.

Court records do not yet list attorneys for the defendants, who made their first appearance in court Monday on charges of conspiracy and possessing an unregistered explosive device. (Read more from “Accused Lefty Extremist Texted FBI Snitch About ‘Terrorist Diary’: ‘Lmaooooo I Have To Get Rid Of That’” HERE)

Ex-CIA Director Brennan, Former FBI Officials Subpoenaed as Part of Russiagate Probe: Sources

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Former CIA Director John Brennan, ex-Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and former FBI officials Peter Strzok and Lisa Page were among more than two dozen people subpoenaed Friday as part of a Justice Department investigation into the 2016 Trump-Russia collusion probe.

A total of 30 federal grand jury subpoenas were issued related to the investigation into the Obama-era “Russigate” probe, a source told The Post.

The people targeted are seen as “part of the conspiracy” that peddled claims President Trump’s campaign colluded with the Russian government ahead of the 2016 election, the source said.

US Attorney Jason Reding Quiñones is supervising the probe out of the Southern District of Florida, where the grand jury is, according to Fox News, which first reported on the subpoenas.

The FBI launched a criminal investigation into Brennan in July, after CIA Director John Ratcliffe released a “lessons-learned review” of the Obama administration’s spy agencies’ assessment that Russia meddled in the 2016 presidential election to help Trump. (Read more from “Ex-CIA Director Brennan, Former FBI Officials Subpoenaed as Part of Russiagate Probe: Sources” HERE)

Mysterious Area 51 ‘Unmanned Aircraft’ Crash Probed by Air Force, FBI — as Claims, Rumors Swirl

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A mysterious aircraft crash near Nevada’s secretive Area 51 has triggered weeks of speculation, a military probe — and allegations of a government cover-up.

The incident occurred Sept. 23 on public land just outside the boundaries of the classified base at Groom Lake, about 83 miles north-northwest of Las Vegas, according to the Air Force and KLAS-TV, which reported on the crash Thursday.

A spokesperson for Creech Air Force Base confirmed the mishap involved an aircraft assigned to the 432nd Wing, which operates unmanned aerial vehicles.

No fatalities or injuries were reported, and recovery operations wrapped up Sept. 27, the base said.

But what followed — a base lockdown, flight restrictions and apparent tampering at the crash site — has fueled widespread rumors about what really fell from the sky.

The Air Force said investigators discovered “signs of tampering” during a follow-up site survey on Oct. 3, including an inert training bomb and an aircraft panel of unknown origin that were placed there after the crash. (Read more from “Mysterious Area 51 ‘Unmanned Aircraft’ Crash Probed by Air Force, FBI — as Claims, Rumors Swirl” HERE)

Biden Admin Lied: FBI Had 274 Plainclothes Agents Embedded in Jan. 6 Crowds, Congressional Source Says

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The FBI has acknowledged it had 274 plainclothes agents in the massive crowds on Jan. 6, 2021, more than four and a half years after questions were first raised about the level of FBI involvement that day, Blaze News has learned.

A senior congressional source said the number is not necessarily a surprise, since the FBI often embeds countersurveillance personnel at large events.

But given the FBI’s until-now steadfast refusal to disclose the level of its presence at the Capitol, the figure might still be viewed with skepticism in some quarters.

The news comes in the wake of claims by the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Inspector General that the FBI had no undercover personnel in the Jan. 6 crowds.

“We found no evidence in the materials we reviewed or the testimony we received showing or suggesting that the FBI had undercover employees in the various protest crowds, or at the Capitol, on January 6,” the DOJ OIG said in an 88-page report released in December 2024. (Read more from “Biden Admin Lied: FBI Had 274 Plainclothes Agents Embedded in Jan. 6 Crowds, Congressional Source Says” HERE)

Watch: James Comey Defiantly Responds to Indictment — ‘I Am Not Afraid’

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Former Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director James Comey claimed he is innocent amid news Thursday that he has been federally indicted.

Comey posted a video to his Instagram account wherein he said he was “not afraid” and felt ready to go to trial.

“My family and I have known for years that there are costs to standing up to Donald Trump. But we couldn’t imagine ourselves living any other way. We will not live on our knees, and you shouldn’t either. Somebody that I love dearly recently said that ‘fear is the tool of a tyrant,’ and she’s right. But I’m not afraid and I hope you’re not either. I hope instead you are engaged, you are paying attention, and you will vote like your beloved country depends upon it which it does,” he stated.

“My heart is broken for the Department of Justice but I have great confidence in the federal judicial system. I’m innocent, so let’s have a trial and keep the faith,” Comey added:

Comey was indicted on one count of making false statements and one count of obstruction of justice, Breitbart News reported on Thursday. (Read more from “Watch: James Comey Defiantly Responds to Indictment — ‘I Am Not Afraid’” HERE)

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FBI: Dallas Sniper Who Attacked ICE Facility had ‘Anti-ICE’ ‘Ideological Motive’

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By Breitbart. FBI Director Kash Patel reported that the man who shot at an ICE facility in Dallas on Wednesday morning had an “idealogical {sic} motive.” At least one of the bullets loaded in a clip had “Anti-ICE” marked on the shell casing.

Director Patel said the man fired several rounds at the Dallas Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility Wednesday morning. Patel said the man killed one person and wounded several others. He then took his own life as agents approached his rooftop location.

In a statement on social media, Patel wrote:

While the investigation is ongoing, an initial review of the evidence shows an idealogical motive behind this attack (see photo below). One of the unspent shell casings recovered was engraved with the phrase “ANTI ICE.” More updates will be forthcoming.

These despicable, politically motivated attacks against law enforcement are not a one-off. We are only miles from Prarieland Texas where just two months ago an individual ambushed a separate ICE facility targeting their officers. It has to end and the FBI and our partners will lead the these investigative efforts to see to it that those who target our law enforcement are pursued and brought to the fullest extent of justice.

(Read more from “FBI: Dallas Sniper Who Attacked ICE Facility had ‘Anti-ICE’ ‘Ideological Motive’” HERE)

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Shooter Joshua Jahn’s brother claims sniper ‘didn’t have strong feelings about ICE’: report

By New York Post. The anti-ICE gunman who opened fire on agents and migrants at a federal facility in Dallas Wednesday, killing one person and wounding two others, “didn’t have strong feelings” about ICE — and knew how to use a rifle, but wasn’t a very good shot, according to his brother.

“I didn’t think he was politically interested,” Joshua Jahn’s brother Noah told NBC News. “He wasn’t interested in politics on either side as far as I knew.

“He didn’t have strong feelings about ICE as far as I knew.” . . .

He said his brother knew how to shoot — and their parents owned a rifle — but that Joshua wasn’t a skilled shooter.

“He’s not a marksman. He would not be able to make any shots like that,” Noah Jahn said. (Read more from “Shooter Joshua Jahn’s brother claims sniper ‘didn’t have strong feelings about ICE’: report” HERE)

FBI Claims It Found ‘Secret’ Files in Trump Nemesis’ Office

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The FBI said it recovered classified documents and files marked “secret” from the office of Donald Trump’s former national security adviser, John Bolton.

Agents carried out a sweep of the Washington D.C. office of Bolton, now a vocal Trump critic and nemesis of the president, the same day it carried out an early morning raid at his home in Bethesda, Maryland, on Aug. 22.

An inventory of items seized during the office search, obtained by Politico, shows Bolton had classified files discussing weapons of mass destruction, “secret” travel memos, and “confidential” files related to a U.S. mission to the United Nations and government strategic communications.

The FBI did not specify the volume of material recovered from Bolton’s office but said it included folders marked “confidential” that contained pages labeled “secret.” Court filings indicated that no sensitive materials were removed from Bolton’s home.

In its search warrant application, the FBI said it was gathering evidence related to allegations of conspiracy to gather, transmit, or lose defense information, and the unauthorized removal and retention of classified documents. (Read more from “FBI Claims It Found ‘Secret’ Files in Trump Nemesis’ Office” HERE)

DOJ Settles with Ten FBI Whistleblowers Targeted by Biden Administration

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Ten FBI whistleblowers who say the Biden administration punished them for their “political beliefs” and for disclosing misconduct in the bureau will have their security clearances reinstated and collect back pay, according to a settlement announced Tuesday.

“These ten (whistleblowers) collectively suffered 12-years-worth of unjustified suspension time,” Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, posted on X after getting word of the settlement. “They were punished (because) of their disclosures/political beliefs. In other words, they were treated like skunks at a picnic. Now they receive justice.”

Sen. Grassley has long advocated for the whistleblowers and has helped navigate the settlements to their retaliation complaints. According to the Senator’s office, under the Biden administration the ten whistleblowers received retaliation that included demotions, loss of pay, and revocation of security clearances.

The legal nonprofit Empower Oversight represented the ten FBI employees. The organization detailed in a 12-page, March 5 letter to the FBI’s general counsel the improper “retaliatory targeting” of the men and women it represented. (Read more from “DOJ Settles with Ten FBI Whistleblowers Targeted by Biden Administration” HERE)

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr