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‘Pedophile protector!’ Ex-cop gets in Dan Bongino’s face over Epstein probe failures
Former FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino was confronted in public Saturday over his handling of the criminal probe into Jeffrey Epstein and potential co-conspirators, with one heckler issuing Bongino an especially brutal nickname, as seen in a clip of the confrontation that went viral on Sunday.
Details of the event Bongino was confronted are sparse, though the conservative news website The Gateway Pundit reported Sunday that it took place Saturday evening. Far-right lawyer and Army veteran Ivan Raiklin also confirmed details of the incident after refuting claims that he had been the one to confront the former FBI deputy director. Bongino has also shared at least 10 posts on social media Sunday morning mocking the group that apparently confronted him.
In the video, an unidentified individual recording the encounter approached Bongino and immediately began insulting the ex-FBI official.
“You’re a pedophile protector!” the individual can be heard shouting. “A pedophile protector, pedophile protector!”
A visibly angry Bongino fired back and could be heard shouting “go volunteer to do something!"
“I was a cop for nine years, you’re a pedophile protector, f-----!” the individual said, using a homophobic slur. “You’re a pedophile protector, f--- you, dude, f--- you!”
Raiklin was initially attributed as having been the one to confront Bongino by several prominent X users, an attribution he refuted several times.
“I wasn't the one who said that nor caused the scene,” Raiklin wrote in a social media post Sunday. “It was some former cop.”
Another clip of the encounter filmed from a different angle – shared by the far-right extremist group Oath Keepers – shows Bongino lashing out at the group, shouting “you didn’t do s—!”
Bongino has faced MAGA outrage in the wake of his resignation from the FBI over his agency’s handling of its probe into Epstein and potential co-conspirators. Despite having hyped up theories around Epstein prior to his role at the agency, he later signed off on a memo that concluded Epstein had died by suicide and that no evidence existed to prosecute potential co-conspirators of Epstein.Tom Homan scrambles to explain ICE airport duties after Trump puts him under the gun
Donald Trump’s impulsive weekend decision to deploy U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to the nation’s airports to do the jobs of TSA agents not being paid by the administration, put his border czar on the spot on CNN.
Early Sunday morning, the frustrated president said ICE would pulled from their jobs grabbing immigrants off the street to help out at airports plagued by TSA sick-outs and that Homan would be responsible for getting it done.
Appearing on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Tom Homan, who inherited former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem’s duties after she was fired, was pressed by host Dana Bash over training for agents who have no airport security experience .
According to Homan, it is a “work in progress” and details are still be worked out before the Monday deadline.
“Are ICE agents even remotely trained to handle security at airports?” the CNN host asked.
“Ice agents receive high-level training,” Homan insisted. “And, you know, ICE agents are assigned at many airports across the country already. They do a lot of investigation, criminal investigation on smuggling reports. But, you know, there's, I mean, there's a lot TSA agents covering exits, you know, people that enter through the exits. You know, certainly a highly trained ICE law enforcement officer can cover an exit that makes people don't go through those exits entering the airport, through the exits. That stuff like that relieves that TSA officer to go to screening and to, to reduce those lines. “
“I don't see an ICE agent looking at an x-ray machine because they're not trained in that,” he admitted.
After the Trump official elaborated, “So hopefully we'll have all those answers here by this afternoon, but we're working on it. And when we deploy tomorrow, we'll have a well-thought-out plan to execute,” the skeptical CNN host asked, “With respect, if you're doing this in 24 hours, how well thought out could it possibly be?”
“Again, ICE has been at airports across the country for a long time. It's just expanding those things,” Homan pushed back. “Look, it does it –– how much of a plan does it mean to guard an exit, to make sure no one comes through that exit? And we're talking about security options. And these officers are well-trained in security and they're well-trained in identification. And we're going to do what we can to help TSA move those people through the line.”
- YouTube youtu.be
‘It sounds awfully McCarthy-like’: MAGA lawmaker nailed for FBI dismissals over J6
Longtime CNN host Michael Smerconish butted heads with one of Donald Trump's biggest fans in the House on Saturday morning over the firing of key FBI officials late Friday to be followed by what is being called a "purge" of the department.
On Friday, acting deputy attorney general Emil Bove, who previously served as part of the president's legal team in a criminal case in New York where Trump was found guilty on 34 felony counts related to business fraud, oversaw the firing of key FBI officials and then demanded the names and titles of all the FBI employees who took part investigating the insurrection at the nation's Capitol on Jan. 6.
Speaking with the CNN host, Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) said he saw no problem with cleaning house at the FBI which led Smerconish to note it sounds like something disgraced Sen. Joseph McCarthy (R-WI) attempted in the 1950's.
ALSO READ: Top GOPer's ‘most immediate’ priority for new committee includes probing a MAGA conspiracy
"Who in the world, in the FBI, if this takes place, is going to be willing to investigate any malfeasance alleged within this administration," the CNn host prompted his guest. "People are going to say, if 'I now pursue what is reported as someone breaking the law who works for this president, I’m going to lose my job.'”
The Florida Republican protested, "No. That’s simply not true because there’s a difference between you have actual evidence that would lead towards an investigation versus –– no pun intended, ––trumped up evidence, which is exactly what took place as far back as the Russia collusion scandal."
Claiming FBI officials "...led to the FISA courts knowingly to open up an investigation into President Trump’s first presidential campaign," Donalds maintained, "You have to deal with the fact that, yes, during this current presidential campaign, the Biden administration and the DOJ were either working with or allowing these indictments, which were silly."
"Everybody knew they were political, but they were allowed to continue. They brought in Jack Smith. They raided Mar-A-Lago. I mean, I can go on," he added, as the CNN host attempted to interrupt his guest's harangue.
"Real quick and I want to add this point," Donalds exclaimed. "I would add for the rank-and-file FBI agents who do their job every single day, they were shaking their heads, saying, 'What the hell is going on?' So we need this place cleaned up.”
"I myself have been plenty critical of [former attorney general] Merrick Garland and [ex-special counsel] Jack Smith and this whole process over several years and I'm not thinking about them," the CNN host countered. "I’m thinking about a woman, a man in a DC field office who played no policy role and was given an assignment to go out and conduct an investigation whose name now shows up on a list."
"It sounds awfully McCarthy-like and they might lose their jobs," he added.
You can watch below or at the link.
- YouTube youtu.be
‘That is not his platform’: Trump butting heads with GOP over major budget issue
Republicans in Congress are aiming to gut federal safety net programs in order to pass costly policies, like a 10-year extension of tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans. But they may have an unlikely obstacle in the form of President Donald Trump.
Politico's Rachel Bade recently reported that Trump may not have the stomach to ram through trillions of dollars in federal spending cuts, despite the eagerness of many GOP lawmakers. In order to reach their austerity goals, some Republicans have even targeted earned benefits like Social Security and Medicare for potential cuts in the future.
Earlier this week, Trump was forced to walk back his plans to freeze spending on federal grants and loans, which caused a panic across the country for millions of Americans. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt insisted multiple times that the funding freeze would not impact direct federal assistance programs like Social Security payments and food stamp benefits.
READ MORE: Republicans float plan to slash benefits for working class to pay for Trump tax cuts
"He does not like taking benefits away — that is not his platform," one unnamed senior GOP lawmaker told Politico.
Bade wrote that Republicans are divided about whether to blow their political capital forcing through unpopular austerity measures, with some expecting the House of Representatives will inevitably flip back to Democratic control after the 2026 midterms given Republicans' razor-thin majority. But other Republicans are more cautious, hoping to build on gains they made in traditionally blue states like California, New Jersey and New York. And one unnamed GOP aide to Politico that Trump is particularly opposed to the idea of Democrats retaking a chamber of Congress.
“It’s not so much preservation of Republicans, it’s preservation of Donald Trump,” the aide said. “He doesn’t want a Democratic House because he saw what happened to him for two years — investigations... impeachments.”
But Trump's point of view runs counter even to some of his own Cabinet appointees. One key example is Russ Vought, who has been tapped to head the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). One anonymous Republican appropriations aide told Politico that the controversial OMB memo announcing the federal funding freeze (which was eventually rescinded) had "Russ’s name written all f—ing over it." The aide added that there was a "disparity between what Trump wants to do and what Russ wants to do."
READ MORE: 'Allow some of this to be privatized': GOP gov admits goal of DOGE is to gut Social Security
Click here to read Bade's full article in Politico.
Trump moves to fire FBI officials who investigated him: report
President Donald Trump is moving to fire FBI officials who were involved in criminal investigations of him, reported the Associated Press on Friday.
While it is not immediately clear how many agents will be affected by the move, "officials acting at the direction of the administration were working to identify individual agents who could be terminated, said the people who insisted on anonymity to discuss private conversations," said the report.
According to NBC News, one official who has already been notified of impending termination is David Sundberg, head of the Washington FBI Field Office. Sundberg was put in charge by former FBI Director Christopher Wray, himself a Trump appointee from the previous term.
The Washington Field Office was involved closely in working with special counsel Jack Smith on the criminal investigation of Trump's effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
This comes after Trump moved to fire career prosecutors in the Justice Department who were likewise involved with those cases — a highly unusual move, as normally the only officials who are changed out with new administrations are U.S. attorneys, not the career prosecutors underneath them.
It also comes as Trump pushes MAGA loyalist Kash Patel to serve as the new FBI director, in spite of his extensive enemies lists and his threats to criminally target journalists.
Top Treasury official quits suddenly as Elon Musk sends cash-cutting ‘engineers’ to agency
A lead Treasury official suddenly quit after Elon Musk sent "engineers" into the agency to figure out ways to halt funds for various projects, the New York Times reported Friday.
The Times reported that David Lebryk, a career civil servant who ensures billions in payments are being made, has left amid the Trump administration's purge of federal employees.
It came days after "Elon Musk deployed engineers to the agency to find a way to shut off funds to various projects," the Times reported.
ALSO READ: Americans are doubling down on the thing that hurts them the most
Lebryk led the team of people who cut checks to Social Security recipients, government employees, contractors and other
Musk claims he'll cut $2 trillion from government spending in the next year.
Progressives warn Trump-Musk agenda is true threat to aviation safety
As President Donald Trump attempted to vilify diversity initiatives in the wake of the worst U.S. air disaster in decades, progressives warned that the true threat to aviation safety going forward is Trump and billionaire Elon Musk's shared goal of gutting the federal workforce and eliminating regulatory efforts that have helped make flying the nation's least dangerous form of transportation.
"We need to learn more about what happened and how to prevent this type of catastrophe in the future," Joel Payne, chief communications officer at MoveOn Civil Action, said in a statement Thursday. "But one thing is for sure—our air safety and disaster response relies on the same type of federal funding and resources that Donald Trump and his right-wing billionaire backers like Elon Musk have been moving to cut."
Echoing others, Payne noted since Trump's second term began less than two weeks ago, he implemented a hiring freeze that appears to include air traffic controllers and dismantled the Aviation Security Advisory Committee. Payne also pointed to Musk's role in leaving the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) without a permanent leader following the collision of a passenger jet and Army helicopter that killed 64 people.
"There are real consequences for the American people from the chaos and mismanagement that we have already seen since Trump took office," said Payne. "As we work to learn the lessons of this tragedy, we need Trump, his allies, and his administration to end their assault on the public services that are essential to keeping us safe."
Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) similarly argued that "what actually hurts aviation safety" is "purging the federal workforce of career public servants and experts who have spent their entire lives working to keep the American people safe."
"It's too early in the process for the crash to be definitively pinned on the policies of Trump and Musk. But if we want more airline disasters, Trump and Musk are on just the right collision course."
The National Transportation Safety Board is expected to release a preliminary report on the deadly collision within 30 days as investigators work to determine the immediate causes of the catastrophic incident.
As Common Dreamsreported, the FAA indicated Thursday that air traffic control staffing was "not normal" at the time of the collision. Air traffic control understaffing is a nationwide problem that analysts said could be exacerbated by the new administration's far-reaching attacks on federal workers and funding.
"The government is a complex and delicate system. Letting Elon Musk thrash around inside it like some silage-drunk bull in a red-cape factory will cause untold damage," The American Prospect's Ryan Cooper wrote Thursday. "The details are still being investigated. It's too early in the process for the crash to be definitively pinned on the policies of Trump and Musk. But if we want more airline disasters, Trump and Musk are on just the right collision course."
‘We are the marks’: Some Trump fans feel they’ve been had after ‘Ponzi’ meme coin release
President Donald Trump's official meme coin isn't just rubbing some cryptocurrency executives the wrong way -- it's also annoying some of his run-of-the-mill MAGA supporters.
The Guardian has flagged some comments posted on a pro-Trump subreddit recently that show disillusionment with Trump's decision to launch his own digital currency, which surged in value shortly after being released only to see its price plunge in the following weeks.
Many MAGA fans on the subreddit believed that Trump's meme coin was a quick cash-grab at the expense of his fans, many of whom may have plugged significant chunks of cash into it early on, only to see its value quickly evaporate.
Among other things, posters on the forum described the coin as "degrad[ing] to the office of the Presidency,” “a lame money grab,” “a bad idea with a million ways to go wrong and derail his second term,” “shady,” and “kinda gross."
ALSO READ: Senator: RFK Jr. lied about vaccines like Brett Kavanaugh lied about Roe v. Wade
Another poster argued that Trump's meme coin "looks bad and is bad," while yet another declared that "this crypto is the most blatant Ponzi scheme in history and we are the marks."
These criticisms haven't stopped Trump and his business partners from further getting into the cryptocurrency business, writes The Guardian.
"On Tuesday, the Trump Media and Technology Group, which operates Trump’s social media platform Truth Social, announced the launch of a financial technology brand called 'Truth.Fi,' through which the company plans to invest up to $250m in crypto-currencies and 'crypto securities,' and other investment accounts," the publication writes.
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‘Pedophile protector!’ Ex-cop gets in Dan Bongino’s face over Epstein probe failures
Former FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino was confronted in public Saturday over his handling of the criminal probe into Jeffrey Epstein and potential co-conspirators, with one heckler issuing Bongino an especially brutal nickname, as seen in a clip of the confrontation that went viral on Sunday.
Details of the event Bongino was confronted are sparse, though the conservative news website The Gateway Pundit reported Sunday that it took place Saturday evening. Far-right lawyer and Army veteran Ivan Raiklin also confirmed details of the incident after refuting claims that he had been the one to confront the former FBI deputy director. Bongino has also shared at least 10 posts on social media Sunday morning mocking the group that apparently confronted him.
In the video, an unidentified individual recording the encounter approached Bongino and immediately began insulting the ex-FBI official.
“You’re a pedophile protector!” the individual can be heard shouting. “A pedophile protector, pedophile protector!”
A visibly angry Bongino fired back and could be heard shouting “go volunteer to do something!"
“I was a cop for nine years, you’re a pedophile protector, f-----!” the individual said, using a homophobic slur. “You’re a pedophile protector, f--- you, dude, f--- you!”
Raiklin was initially attributed as having been the one to confront Bongino by several prominent X users, an attribution he refuted several times.
“I wasn't the one who said that nor caused the scene,” Raiklin wrote in a social media post Sunday. “It was some former cop.”
Another clip of the encounter filmed from a different angle – shared by the far-right extremist group Oath Keepers – shows Bongino lashing out at the group, shouting “you didn’t do s—!”
Bongino has faced MAGA outrage in the wake of his resignation from the FBI over his agency’s handling of its probe into Epstein and potential co-conspirators. Despite having hyped up theories around Epstein prior to his role at the agency, he later signed off on a memo that concluded Epstein had died by suicide and that no evidence existed to prosecute potential co-conspirators of Epstein.Tom Homan scrambles to explain ICE airport duties after Trump puts him under the gun
Donald Trump’s impulsive weekend decision to deploy U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to the nation’s airports to do the jobs of TSA agents not being paid by the administration, put his border czar on the spot on CNN.
Early Sunday morning, the frustrated president said ICE would pulled from their jobs grabbing immigrants off the street to help out at airports plagued by TSA sick-outs and that Homan would be responsible for getting it done.
Appearing on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Tom Homan, who inherited former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem’s duties after she was fired, was pressed by host Dana Bash over training for agents who have no airport security experience .
According to Homan, it is a “work in progress” and details are still be worked out before the Monday deadline.
“Are ICE agents even remotely trained to handle security at airports?” the CNN host asked.
“Ice agents receive high-level training,” Homan insisted. “And, you know, ICE agents are assigned at many airports across the country already. They do a lot of investigation, criminal investigation on smuggling reports. But, you know, there's, I mean, there's a lot TSA agents covering exits, you know, people that enter through the exits. You know, certainly a highly trained ICE law enforcement officer can cover an exit that makes people don't go through those exits entering the airport, through the exits. That stuff like that relieves that TSA officer to go to screening and to, to reduce those lines. “
“I don't see an ICE agent looking at an x-ray machine because they're not trained in that,” he admitted.
After the Trump official elaborated, “So hopefully we'll have all those answers here by this afternoon, but we're working on it. And when we deploy tomorrow, we'll have a well-thought-out plan to execute,” the skeptical CNN host asked, “With respect, if you're doing this in 24 hours, how well thought out could it possibly be?”
“Again, ICE has been at airports across the country for a long time. It's just expanding those things,” Homan pushed back. “Look, it does it –– how much of a plan does it mean to guard an exit, to make sure no one comes through that exit? And we're talking about security options. And these officers are well-trained in security and they're well-trained in identification. And we're going to do what we can to help TSA move those people through the line.”
- YouTube youtu.be
