The DOJ urged judges to reject efforts to block its $1.7 billion "anti-weaponization fund," arguing the cases are moot because of Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche's assertions that the fund is not going forward.
A federal judge last week temporarily blocked the $1.8 billion fund from being used after a Jan. 6 prosecutor sued to block the Trump administration’s actions.
As California officials continue to be mocked for the glacier-speed ballot-counting process, the U.S. Dept. of Justice announced several investigations into possible election fraud. Without commenting on any specific allegations, acting U.S. Attorney for Central California Bill Essayli announced Friday that his office, in conjunction with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, had opened "multiple election fraud investigations."'We will investigate and prosecute. Every legal vote deserves to be counted. Every illegal vote cancels one out.' "Protecting the integrity of California’s elections is a top priority for my office," said Essayli in the post on social media. "California’s election system has serious structural vulnerabilities. Universal vote-by-mail with no voter ID requirements creates conditions where fraud can go undetected and unpunished, eroding public confidence."The highly anticipated results in two California elections are still in limbo as the ballot count continues. Critics accuse Democrats of stalling the process in order to allow for fraud, but others say the electoral system in California prioritizes ballot access at the expense of delayed results."We will follow the evidence wherever it leads and prosecute any violations of federal election law to the fullest extent," Essayli added.Left in the lurch are the candidates awaiting the primary results for the Los Angeles mayoral election as well as the California governor's race. Currently, Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton and mayoral hopeful Spencer Pratt appear headed toward the general election, but as more tranches of votes are counted, the gap narrows for third-place Democratic competitors to steal their spot. The top two vote-getters in each race will advance to the general election.Essayli went on to say they were working to comprehensibly audit the voter rolls. "The state has stonewalled every effort to verify that only eligible U.S. citizens are registered to vote. This case is now before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal," he added.Video from L.A. County's central processing center, where the ballots are being counted, showed an official from the U.S. Attorney General's Office reviewing and monitoring the effort. RELATED: The man who propelled AOC into Congress fails SPECTACULARLY in race for Pelosi's seat "My office will not look the other way," Essayli concluded. "We will investigate and prosecute. Every legal vote deserves to be counted. Every illegal vote cancels one out."On Thursday, Newsom's press office said, "For the record: we wish the votes were counted faster, too."Democratic California Attorney General Rob Bonta offered only a brief statement about the announcement."My office has a presence on the ground right now, is monitoring the situation closely, and stands ready to protect voters and ensure California’s election laws are followed," he wrote. Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
Protesters have spent nearly two weeks outside a federal detention facility in Newark — forming human chains, blocking vehicle exits, and clashing with officers in riot gear. A U.S. senator got caught in a cloud of pepper spray, and New Jersey's sitting governor, Democrat Mikie Sherrill, was turned away at the gate. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin called those incidents "nothing more than a political stunt … for fundraising clips."Now the state has turned to the courts.'A better gym than the one I go to.''New Jersey Democrat Attorney General Jennifer Davenport announced Tuesday that she had filed suit against GEO Group Inc., the private company operating Delaney Hall under a $1 billion federal contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The suit seeks to compel GEO Group to grant state health inspectors full access to the facility.The suit alleges that on Thursday, inspectors were permitted to examine only the food-service area and were blocked from the medical unit, sleeping quarters, and bathing and toileting facilities. The broader allegations — worms in food, no toilet paper, inadequate medical care — are sourced to detainee accounts relayed through lawyers, family members, and advocacy groups. A University Hospital doctor also reported a confirmed tuberculosis case, the lawsuit claimed.Newark Mayor Ras Baraka (D) separately announced that the city was filing its own suit to close the facility, citing an unverified report that a detainee suffered a miscarriage without proper care.The DHS wasted no time dismissing the litigation as "frivolous.""This is a frivolous lawsuit," the department posted on X. "ICE is committed to transparency, and Delaney Hall complies with all required state and local laws.""Just last week on May 28, four representatives of the New Jersey State Health Department arrived at approximately 11:00 AM. They entered the facility and inspected the foodservice department. The inspection of the kitchen was completed and they departed around 12:30 PM."The DHS has also flatly disputed the hunger strike claim: "FACT CHECK: there is NO HUNGER STRIKE at Delaney Hall."One Republican member of Congress, Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-N.J.), toured the facility and pushed back on the narrative, describing a library, an outdoor soccer field, and what he called "a better gym than the one I go to."RELATED: 'Violent agitator' savagely bit ICE agent during riots in New Jersey, says DHS Selçuk Acar/Anadolu/Getty Images Movimiento Cosecha's New Jersey chapter, Cosecha New Jersey, has been present at the protests — a group that has called for an end to the entire immigration detention system — alongside ICE Out of New Jersey, Eyes on ICE New Jersey, and other radical groups. The DHS said protesters arrived "carrying anti-ICE signs and Antifa flags" and physically blocked federal vehicles.Security expert Lora Ries told NTD the protesters were "organized, funded, and trained" — a characterization that echoed New Jersey's own attorney general, who noted that some demonstrators arrived "armed with helmets, shields, or gas masks" and deliberately refused to leave.Critics have also pointed to the closure last month of the Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman, the primary federal watchdog for immigration detention. The DHS said, "Congress did" it, not the department.Newark lifted its nightly curfew Tuesday evening, and family visitation was restored. The state and city lawsuits are pending.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
A federal appeals court appeared skeptical Friday of the Trump administration’s bid to build the proposed White House ballroom, but it also sharply questioned whether a preservationist group can even sue to stop the project. A three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit heard arguments from both the Department of […]
The D.C. Circuit is reviewing an injunction issued by a judge who said "no statute comes close to giving the President the authority he claims to have."
Trump administration has asked DC circuit court of appeals to reverse lower court decision which blocked construction of $400m ballroomNo court has the authority to halt construction of Donald Trump’s White House ballroom and a secure underground facility, a Department of Justice lawyer has argued, suggesting only US Congress had the power to stop the project.The Trump administration has asked the Washington DC circuit court of appeals to reverse a lower court decision which blocked construction of a $400m ballroom on the site of the White House’s demolished East Wing. Construction of a secure bunker for staff underground at the site was allowed to proceed while the dispute between Washington DC preservationists and the White House continues. Continue reading...
President Donald Trump, on Thursday, announced that he plans to nominate Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche to head the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) for a full term. The same day, Trump also told reporters that he has no plans to nominate Acting National Intelligence Director Bill Pulte as a permanent replacement for Tulsi Gabbard. Trump's Pulte appointment is drawing widespread criticism, as he has no intel experience. But according to law professor and former federal prosecutor Barbara McQuade, Trump views "incompetence" as a plus — not a minus — in his administration.Trump, McQuade laments in an opinion column for MS NOW, chooses "incompetent" or inexperienced appointees on purpose because they are less likely to question his policies. "Pulte was, and remains, the head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency — hardly the background one would expect for the leader of America's 18 intelligence agencies," the former DOJ prosecutor writes. "That's particularly true during a time when America is at war with Iran, a hostile foreign adversary whom the U.S. government considers a state sponsor of terrorism…. Pulte replaces Tulsi Gabbard, who resigned from the post last month amid disagreements over the threat posed by Iran."McQuade continues, "Gabbard's resume was thin, but at least she had experience in the military and in Congress. Pulte appears to lack any national security expertise at all. In fact, his only apparent qualification is unflinching loyalty to the president and an eagerness to weaponize the government against Trump's perceived foes."McQuade notes that she was working in DOJ in 2001 when Congress — in response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks — created the director of national intelligence (DNI) position, which requires one to oversee "the nation's collection, analysis, and dissemination of information relating to terrorist plots, cyberattacks, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and malign foreign influence.""Why would a president want to fill such a sensitive and important position with someone who lacks any bona fide credentials?" McQuade writes. "Perhaps the appointment reflects what historian Ruth Ben-Ghiat calls 'engineered incompetence.' When a leader appoints an individual to an office that is above their station, the official becomes beholden to the leader — who, in turn, gains absolute control. Knowing they are in over their head, the official is less likely to assert independent judgment or to object when the leader acts in his self-interest instead of the public good."McQuade adds, "Engineered incompetence explains how a Fox News host, (Pete Hegseth), gets appointed secretary of defense and promptly shares sensitive attack plans over a Signal chat…. Effective leaders value candid advice, even when it means hearing things that conflict with their policy preferences. A leader who ignores unpleasant news is one who is unprepared to make clear-eyed choices on behalf of the people he was elected to serve. With a loyalist like Pulte leading the president's daily intelligence brief, the engineered incompetence itself poses a grave risk to our national security."
Bill would provide $30 billion to ICE, $22 billion to Customs and Border Protection