FLASHBACK: Biden downplays ISIS threat to US, repeatedly says white supremacy ‘most lethal’ danger
Before the devastating terror attack in New Orleans on New Year’s Day rocked the nation, President Biden and his administration repeatedly stressed that the greatest threat facing the country was white supremacy — even explicitly stating that terrorist organizations such as ISIS could not compare to the danger posed by white supremacists. “According to the intelligence community, terrorism from white supremacy is the most lethal threat to the homeland today. Not ISIS, not al Qaeda — white supremacists,” Biden said in June of 2021 on the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre. The comment came just weeks after he declared during the State of the Union that year, “We won’t ignore what our intelligence agencies have determined to be the most lethal terrorist threat to the homeland today: White supremacy is terrorism.” Early on New Year’s Day, New Orleans and the nation were rocked by a suspected terror attack when a man identified as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, allegedly rammed a truck into crowds of revelers celebrating the holiday on the city’s famed Bourbon Street. The FBI confirmed on Wednesday that they were investigating the incident as an act of terror, noting that they had confirmed the suspect had an ISIS flag in the vehicle at the time of the attack. BIDEN BLASTED FOR CALLING ‘WHITE SUPREMACY’ ‘MOST DANGEROUS TERRORIST THREAT’ AT COLLEGE SPEECH: ‘PURE EVIL’ ISIS is a jihadist group that has carried out terrorist attacks worldwide but has lost momentum in recent years, including in 2019 when U.S. forces killed Iraqi militant and ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. The FBI said Thursday that Jabbar had been “inspired” by ISIS, adding that they have not found any evidence that he was directed by ISIS to carry out the attack. BIDEN TELLS HOWARD GRADS ‘WHITE SUPREMACY’ IS THE ‘MOST DANGEROUS TERRORIST THREAT’ TO THE UNITED STATES The shocking attack has resurrected Biden’s previous rhetoric on white supremacy and the state of national security, which was also promoted by administration leaders such as Attorney General Merrick Garland. “In the FBI’s view, the top domestic violent extremist threat comes from ‘racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists, specifically those who advocated for the superiority of the white race,’” Garland declared in May of 2021 before the Senate Appropriations Committee of the top threats to the U.S. Garland was joined by Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayarokas in sounding the alarm on the threat that white supremacists posed to the U.S. that year. Garland and Biden administration officials at the time argued that Jan. 6, 2021, when supporters of President-elect Donald Trump breached the Capitol building, opened the floodgates to concern over home-grown threats to democracy. “I have not seen a more dangerous threat to democracy than the invasion of the Capitol,” Garland said at the time, calling it “an attempt to interfere with the fundamental element of our democracy, a peaceful transfer of power.” Biden has also cited the threat of white supremacy in more recent public remarks, including during his commencement address to Howard University in 2023. “White supremacy … is the single most dangerous terrorist threat in our homeland,” Biden said. “And I’m not just saying this because I’m at a Black HBCU. I say this wherever I go.” BIDEN ADMIN MOCKED FOR LABELING ‘WHITE SUPREMACY’ THE GREATEST THREAT TO US The U.S. Department of Homeland Security under the Trump administration released a report in 2020, called the “Homeland Threat Assessment,” which found that white supremacists and other “domestic violent extremists” posed “the most persistent and lethal threat” to the nation. Following Biden’s inauguration, Mayorkas declared that DHS was “taking a new approach to addressing domestic violent extremism, both internally and externally,” compared to the previous administration. Following the attack on Wednesday morning, conservative social media users and critics of the Biden administration resurrected Biden’s previous comments on white supremacy, quipping that the comments have “not aged well.” COLLEGE OFFERING ‘WHITE SUPREMACY IN THE AGE OF TRUMP’ COURSE AS PRESIDENT-ELECT RETURNS TO WHITE HOUSE The brother of the suspected terrorist told the New York Times that Shamsud-Din Jabbar had been raised Christian, but converted to Islam. The brother, Abdur Jabbar, underscored that his brother does not represent the Islamic faith and instead called his actions an example of “radicalization.” “What he did does not represent Islam,” he added. “This is more some type of radicalization, not religion.”
US Army soldier charged over alleged hacking of Trump, Harris phone records
A U.S. Army soldier has been charged with selling confidential phone records. Cameron John Wagenius, 20, was charged by federal authorities in Texas with two counts of unlawful transfer of confidential phone records information on Dec. 20 and the indictment was unsealed this week. Wagenius was a soldier at Fort Cavazos in Texas. Court records didn’t specify his rank. TOP REPUBLICAN DEMANDS ‘COSTS’ FOR CHINA AFTER IT HACKED TREASURY DEPT IN YEAR MARKED BY CCP ESPIONAGE He was allegedly linked to the online handle Kiberphant0m, which was part of several high-profile data breaches, including the Snowflake data hacking, and which claimed to have hacked President-elect Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris’ phone records, Reuters reported, citing cybersecurity journalist Brian Krebs. The alleged AT&T call logs for the 2024 presidential candidates were posted online in November, according to The Verge, which noted that the call logs had not been verified as genuine. The indictment didn’t give details on the hacking. GOP SENATOR QUESTIONS FBI OVER REPORTED IRANIAN HACK ATTEMPT OF TRUMP PICK KASH PATEL The indictment accuses Wagenius of selling “confidential phone records” online. “We are aware of the arrest of a Fort Cavazos soldier,” Fort Cavazos told Fox News Digital. “III Armored Corps will continue to cooperate with all law enforcement agencies as appropriate.” Fox News Digital has reached out to the Department of Justice for comment. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Wagenius will next be extradited to Seattle where the case is being handled. Reuters contributed to this report.
Biden awards Liz Cheney, Jan 6 committee chairman a medal: US ‘is better because of their dedication’
President Biden awarded the leaders of the former Jan. 6 House Select Committee, former Republican Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney and Mississippi Democrat Rep. Bennie Thompson, the second-highest civilian medal for their “exemplary deeds of service for their country,” according to the White House. “The Presidential Citizens Medal is awarded to citizens of the United States of America who have performed exemplary deeds of service for their country or their fellow citizens. President Biden believes these Americans are bonded by their common decency and commitment to serving others. The country is better because of their dedication and sacrifice,” the White House detailed in a statement Thursday. The White House announced 20 people across the nation would receive the Presidential Citizens Medal on Thursday, including Cheney and Thompson, who Biden lauded as “intrepid” and holding a “steadfast commitment to truth.” “Throughout two decades in public service, including as a Congresswoman for Wyoming and Vice Chair of the Committee on the January 6 attack, Liz Cheney has raised her voice—and reached across the aisle—to defend our Nation and the ideals we stand for: Freedom. Dignity. And decency. Her integrity and intrepidness remind us all what is possible if we work together,” the White House said in its statement of Cheney. FBI SHOULD PROBE ‘POTENTIAL’ LIZ CHENEY ‘WITNESS TAMPERING’ IN JAN 6 MATTER, HOUSE REPUBLICANS SAY “Born and raised in a segregated Mississippi, as a college student inspired by the Civil Rights movement, Bennie Thompson volunteered on campaigns and registered southern Black voters. That call to serve eventually led him to Congress, where he chaired the House January 6th Committee—at the forefront of defending the rule of law with unwavering integrity and a steadfast commitment to truth,” the statement on Thompson read. Thompson served as the chair of the Jan. 6 select committee, with Cheney serving as the vice chair. The Jan. 6 committee was founded in July 2021 to investigate the breach of the U.S. Capitol earlier that year by supporters of Trump ahead of President Biden officially taking office on Jan. 20. The Jan. 6 committee’s investigation was carried out when Democrats held control of the House. The committee concluded its 18-month investigation in 2023, after Republicans regained control of the House, and sent referrals to the Justice Department recommending that Trump be criminally prosecuted for his involvement in the lead-up to his supporters breaching the Capitol. ‘RIDICULOUS’: CHENEY RESPONDS TO TRUMP FLOATING JAIL TIME FOR J6 COMMITTEE MEMBERS The committee was composed of seven Democrats and two Republican lawmakers, Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, both of whom are no longer in office. Incoming Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., reacted to Biden’s decision to award Cheney with the medal in a comment to Fox Digital on Thursday, slamming her as a former elected official who “represents partisanship and divisiveness.” “President Biden was either going to pardon Liz Cheney or give her an award. She doesn’t deserve either. She represents partisanship and divisiveness, not Wyoming,” he said. Republican elected officials and President-elect Donald Trump have railed against the committee and its leaders for years, with a recent Republican House report calling on the FBI to investigate Cheney for “potential criminal witness tampering” related to her role on the former select committee. REP LOUDERMILK BLASTS JANUARY 6 COMMITTEE FOR TARGETING HIM: ‘THERE IS A WAR ON THE TRUTH IN THIS COUNTRY’ “Based on the evidence obtained by this Subcommittee, numerous federal laws were likely broken by Liz Cheney, the former Vice Chair of the January 6 Select Committee, and these violations should be investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation,” stated a report released last month by House Administration Subcommittee on Oversight Chair Rep. Barry Loudermilk, R-Ga. “Evidence uncovered by the Subcommittee revealed that former Congresswoman Liz Cheney tampered with at least one witness, Cassidy Hutchinson, by secretly communicating with Hutchinson without Hutchinson’s attorney’s knowledge.” Cheney and Thompson both slammed the report in comments to Fox Digital last month. DONALD TRUMP SAYS HE’LL PARDON JAN 6 RIOTERS ON DAY 1: ‘ACTING VERY QUICKLY’ “The January 6th Committee’s hearings and report featured scores of Republican witnesses, including many of the most senior officials from Trump’s own White House, campaign and Administration,” Cheney said. “All of this testimony was painstakingly set out in thousands of pages of transcripts, made public along with a highly detailed and meticulously sourced 800 page report. Now, Chairman Loudermilk’s ‘Interim Report’ intentionally disregards the truth and the Select Committee’s tremendous weight of evidence, and instead fabricates lies and defamatory allegations in an attempt to cover up what Donald Trump did. Their allegations do not reflect a review of the actual evidence, and are a malicious and cowardly assault on the truth. No reputable lawyer, legislator or judge would take this seriously.” Cheney had served as the third-highest ranking Republican in the House but was ousted from her role as GOP conference chair by her colleagues in 2021. Cheney lost her 2022 primary run for re-election to Trump-backed Rep. Harriet Hageman. HOUSE GOP REPORT ALLEGES JAN 6 COMMITTEE ‘DELETED RECORDS AND HID EVIDENCE’ The report followed speculation that Biden could grant Cheney a presidential pardon ahead of leaving the Oval Office. Late last year, Trump renewed his longstanding criticisms of Cheney and the Jan. 6 committee, suggesting she and Thompson could face jail time. “Cheney did something that’s inexcusable, along with Thompson and the people on the un-select committee of political thugs and, you know, creeps,” he said in an interview with NBC. “They deleted and destroyed all evidence.” “And Cheney was behind it. And so was Bennie Thompson and everybody on that committee,” he continued. “For what they did, honestly, they should go to jail.” The Presidential Citizens Medal is the second-highest honor a civilian can receive from the president, after the Presidential Medal of Freedom, according to the Associated Press.
U.S. threat landscape, domestic extremism pose a daunting—but familiar— test for Trump’s second term
During his first term as president, Donald Trump saw the height of a violent civil war in Syria, a resurgence of Islamic State activity, and a rise in ISIS-inspired attacks both abroad and on U.S. soil. Eight years later, many of these bogeymen have returned. In the last eight weeks, Syrian rebels launched a lightning offensive, wresting back control of the country and then of its capital—forcing longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad to flee to Russia for safe haven. Like Trump’s first term, the instability in the Middle East has prompted fresh questions over if, or what role the U.S. should play in Syria—amid concerns that failing to act will further open the power vacuum in Syria, making it ripe for exploitation by Islamic State militants and other terrorist groups. And on Wednesday, U.S. authorities scrambled to investigate and respond to two separate attacks in New Orleans and Las Vegas. Despite taking place thousands of miles apart, both are being investigated as possible acts of terrorism—a glaring indicator that the threat of homegrown extremism remains just as pervasive as ever. Ahead of Trump’s second term, the violence—and the unexpected collapse of Syria’s authoritarian regime— have prompted new questions as to how the U.S. might act. BOMB-MAKING MATERIALS FOUND AT NEW ORLEANS AIRBNB POTENTIALLY TIED TO BOURBON STREET TERRORIST: REPORT Options for Trump Trump, for his part, has long opposed the idea of involving U.S. troops in foreign wars. In 2019, he ordered the complete withdrawal of all military personnel in Syria’s north. He reiterated that view in a post last month on Truth Social, saying the U.S. should “have nothing to do with” the situation in Syria. “Let it play out,” he said. It’s unclear whether, or to what degree, this week’s deadly attacks may have swayed Trump’s decision. Fourteen people were killed in New Orleans early Wednesday morning by Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a Texas native and U.S. army veteran who had driven from Houston to Bourbon Street in a rented pickup truck, plowing through crowds of people massed outside the famed string of bars to celebrate the new year. Jabbar himself was fatally shot by police. FBI officials said that Jabbar, who had affixed an Islamic State flag to the rented vehicle, was “100% inspired by ISIS” in carrying out the terrorist attack, though it remains unclear whether he has any legitimate ties to the group. Jabbar had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State and is believed to have joined the group this past summer, officials said. He was also seen on surveillance footage planting two explosive devices in coolers along the corners of Bourbon and Orleans Streets, and another intersection nearby, though both were later rendered safe by bomb squad teams. Separately, the FBI said they are investigating a Las Vegas explosion carried out in a Tesla Cybertruck outside the Trump hotel in Las Vegas as a possible act of terrorism. The suspect in that case, Matthew Alan Livelsberger, had been a member of the U.S. Army’s elite special forces unit prior to the explosion, and FBI officials raided a house in Colorado Springs on Thursday that they said they believe could be connected to the case. CLICK HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS REPORTING ON THE TRUMP INAUGURATION Should Trump opt to maintain his longtime opposition to U.S. intervention in “foreign wars,” there are other options he could take to try to crack down on violent domestic attacks. This could include cracking down on immigration— a policy long embraced by Trump and many Republicans in Congress—to prevent possible threat actors from crossing the border. In fact, the Department of Homeland Security told reporters in June that it had identified more than 400 migrants from Central Asia and other countries who had been smuggled into the U.S. by ISIS-linked smuggling groups over the last three years, prompting a flurry of new arrests and “subjects of concern” designations. DHS officials said the arrests, first reported by NBC, were made out of “an abundance of caution,” and noted at the time that they had not identified any credible threats to the U.S. by the migrants, who may have simply been attempting to find a way to cross into the U.S. Still, a border crackdown might not be enough to solve the problem, made especially complex by the role of lone-wolf threat actors and individuals who become radicalized online. A pervasive threat The FBI has focused heavily on the risk of terrorism posed by domestic and homegrown violent extremists, as it noted in its most recent “Worldwide Threats to the Homeland” report. These small groups or individuals pose the biggest risk to national security, the report noted—often using easily accessible weapons, such as guns and cars, to attack so-called “soft targets,” or groups of civilians gathered en masse at accessible locations. The “greatest, most immediate international terrorism threat to the homeland” are individuals who have lived primarily in the U.S. and who carry out actions inspired by, but not at the express direction of, a foreign terrorist organization such as ISIS, the law enforcement agency said. Early in December, the FBI and other authorities warned of a heightened risk of vehicular attacks by lone-wolf offenders during the holidays, noting in a shared bulliten that threat actors have “plotted and conducted attacks against holiday targets” in previous years, with likely targets including public places with “perceived lower levels of security” holding large gatherings. The threat is also not going away. Trump’s first term as president saw multiple attacks carried out by individuals pledging allegiance to ISIS or other jihad groups—even if they had not been operating at the direction of the group itself. These individuals were responsible for the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting, the 2017 New York City truck attack, a 2017 machete attack at a Middle Eastern restaurant in Columbus, Ohio, and many more acts of violence. Vehicular attacks have also increased: Since 2014, there have been at least 16 vehicular ramming attacks in the U.S. and Europe carried out by individuals practicing
Harris County program decreases automatic evictions when tenants don’t come to court
After the court eviction diversion initiative started, default evictions favoring landlords dropped 44%.
New Orleans, Las Vegas suspects latest in long line of military radicals
A pair of suspected terrorist attacks on New Year’s Day were both allegedly carried out by former U.S. service members, raising questions about how those with access to sensitive intelligence and the nation’s most advanced weapons get swept up in radical beliefs. Early Wednesday morning, Texas resident Shamsud-Din Jabbar allegedly plowed into a crowd on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, killing 14. He was a former Army staff sergeant, with a deployment to Afghanistan under his belt. Hours later, a Tesla Cybertruck exploded in flames outside the Trump hotel in Las Vegas — a suspected terror plot that was linked to active-duty Army Master Sgt. Matthew Livelsberger, who allegedly carried out the attack that led to his own death while on approved leave. He was a member of the elite Green Beret unit. From 1990 to 2022, 170 individuals with U.S. military backgrounds plotted 144 unique mass-casualty terrorist attacks in the United States — 25% of all individuals who plotted mass-casualty extremist crimes during this period, according to a study by the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism. NEW ORLEANS ATTACK: INVESTIGATION CONTINUES, AS FBI SAYS NO OTHER SUSPECTS INVOLVED Questions posed to the Department of Defense about its plans to identify and root out radicals by Fox News Digital went unanswered. Here’s a look back at some other military radical extremists who have conducted attacks on U.S. soil in the 21st century: In 2009, former Army Major Nidal Hassan killed 13 people in a mass shooting at Fort Hood Army base in Texas. The Islamic extremist and former Army psychiatrist had spoken out about the U.S. presence in Iraq and Afghanistan. Retired Colonel Terry Lee, who worked with Hassan, told Fox News that the Army major would make “outlandish” statements like, “the Muslims should stand up and fight against the aggressor,” referring to U.S. troops. Hassan reportedly shouted, “Allahu Akbar!” as he opened fire, killing 13 and injuring 30 others in the deadliest mass shooting on a U.S. military base. Hassan admitted to the killings in court and now sits on death row. In 2021, Army soldier Bridges, 24, was arrested for conspiring to blow up the 9/11 memorial in New York and attempting to assist ISIS in killing U.S. soldiers. Now serving 14 years in prison, Bridges was caught when he began communicating online with a covert FBI agent who he believed to be an ISIS supporter in contact with ISIS fighters in the Middle East. Melzer, 24 at the time of his sentencing, is serving 45 years in prison for sending sensitive U.S. military information to the Order of the Nine Angles (O9A), an occult-based neo-Nazi and White supremacist group, in an attempt to facilitate a mass-casualty attack on Melzer’s Army unit. He was arrested in 2020 after joining the Army in 2018 to infiltrate its ranks and gain insight for his work for O9A. After being deployed to guard a remote, sensitive foreign U.S. military base, he shared details about the site with O9A members and began to call for a deadly attack on his colleagues. Miller, a lifelong White supremacist, shot and killed three people, two outside a Jewish community center and one outside a Jewish retirement home, in Kansas in 2014. Miller had been vocal about intending to kill Jews, though all of his victims were Christians. He served in the Army for 20 years, serving two tours of duty in the Vietnam War and 13 years as a member of the elite Green Berets. Having led a branch of the Ku Klux Klan, Miller had a history of run-ins with the law. He served three years in prison after being convicted in 1987 of conspiring to acquire stolen military weapons and for planning robberies and an assassination. Miller has since died in prison. WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT VICTIMS OF NEW ORLEANS TERRORIST ATTACK Thompson, a Navy veteran, committed a Salafi-jihadist-inspired hatchet attack in Queens, New York in 2014, injuring four police officers. The attack was deemed an act of terrorism as Thompson was a recent Muslim convert. In the months preceding the attack, he visited hundreds of websites associated with terrorist organizations. Thompson was involuntarily discharged from the Navy in 2003, after having been arrested six times between 2002 and 2003 in domestic disputes. He was shot dead by police on the scene of the 2014 attack. In 2016, Johnson ambushed police officers in Dallas, Texas, killing five and wounding nine others. The 25-year-old Army reserve Afghanistan War veteran was angry over police shootings of Black men. He perpetrated the attack at the end of a protest against the recent killings by police of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Philando Castile in Falcon Heights, Minnesota. Las Vegas authorities arrested Andrew Lynam, an Army reservist, alongside Navy veteran Stephen T. Parshall and Air Force veteran William L. Loomis — all self-identified Boogaloo Bois — on May 30, 2020, for conspiring to firebomb a U.S. Forest Service building and a power substation to sow chaos during a police protest after the killing of George Floyd. In total, 480 people with a military background were accused of ideologically driven extremist crimes from 2017 through 2023, some 230 of whom were arrested in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot.
‘Lives depend on it’: Republicans push for prompt Trump confirmations in wake of New Orleans attack
Senate Republicans are urging expedited confirmation of President-elect Donald Trump’s administration appointments, particularly those for crucial national security posts, in the wake of a New Year’s attack in New Orleans where a terrorist suspect drove a car into a large crowd, killing more than a dozen people. “Our hearts go out to everyone affected by the senseless terror attack in New Orleans,” said incoming Senate Republican Leader John Thune, R-S.D., on X. “With reports of ISIS inspiration, the American people expect clear answers from the administration,” Thune said. “The threat posed by ISIS will outlast this administration, and this is a clear example of why the Senate must get President Trump’s national security team in place as quickly as possible.” The FBI said the holiday attack left at least 14 people dead and dozens of others injured. Israel revealed that two of its citizens were among those injured. Victims’ names are not to be released until autopsies are finished and families are notified, New Orleans Coroner Dr. Dwight McKenna said in a statement. MIKE JOHNSON GETS PUBLIC GOP SENATE SUPPORT AHEAD OF TIGHT HOUSE SPEAKER VOTE Republicans in the Senate were already eager to quickly push through Trump’s selections, including Kash Patel for FBI director, Tulsi Gabbard for director of national intelligence and Pete Hegseth for secretary of defense. But with the latest attack and others developing around the country, many lawmakers have indicated that a prompt confirmation process is even more crucial. Incoming Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., wrote on X, “The U.S. Senate must confirm President Trump’s national security team as soon as possible. Lives depend on it.” HEALTHY LIVING, PARTY UNITY, AND ‘TIME TO SMELL THE ROSES’: CONGRESSIONAL REPUBLICANS’ NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS “I’ll be working to ensure President Trump has every tool at his disposal, including a fully confirmed national security and intelligence team ASAP to investigate these attacks and make our country safe again,” said Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., in response to the attack. Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., echoed that sentiment in her own statement, saying, “We must work nonstop to get President Trump’s national security team in place without delay.” Several other Republicans made similar calls for Trump’s choices for national security posts to be prioritized and confirmed without hesitation. BERNIE SANDERS PLANS TO SPEARHEAD LEGISLATION ON KEY TRUMP PROPOSAL Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., expressed frustration that the FBI was apparently behind on intelligence regarding the suspect in the New Orleans attack. “The fact that a reporter has better intel than the FBI tells us all we need to know. The FBI has failed its core mission,” the senator wrote on X in response to a report that New York Post reporters had arrived at the suspect’s home before the agency. “America needs a fearless fighter like [Patel] at the FBI,” Blackburn continued. DEM SENATOR REVEALS HOW SHE NARROWLY WON KEY STATE THAT TRUMP FLIPPED: ‘BE PRACTICAL TO FIND RESULTS’ Two sources on an FBI call with House and Senate members on Thursday informed Fox News that the FBI claimed they had zero intelligence on suspect Shamsud-Din Jabbar before the attack. The FBI told lawmakers that Jabbar was “inspired” by ISIS but added that they have no evidence yet that the terrorist group directed him.
Noida schools holiday: Classes up to 8 suspended due to cold wave until…
The mercury dipped below 10 degrees Celsius in Gautam Buddh Nagar on Thursday.
The 6 biggest FBI scandals under the Biden administration
The FBI under the Biden administration’s leadership has faced repeated scandals over the last four years, including in the waning days of the administration when a suspected terror attack rocked New Orleans early on New Year’s Day morning. Outgoing FBI Director Christopher Wray, who was nominated by Trump in his first administration, announced last month that he would step down from his post, clearing the path for Trump’s pick to lead the FBI, Kash Patel, to rally support for his confirmation process in earnest ahead of Trump’s inauguration this month. As President Biden’s administration comes to a close, Fox Digital revisits some of the top scandals the FBI has faced in the last four years. Chaos broke out on New Orleans’ famed Bourbon Street just after 3 a.m. on New Year’s Day when a truck plowed through crowds of revelers, leaving at least 15 dead and dozens of others injured. The FBI took the lead on the case and landed in hot water with conservatives and others for initially reporting to the public that the attack was not an instance of terrorism before ultimately backtracking. NEW ORLEANS ATTACK: INVESTIGATION CONTINUES FOR POTENTIAL LINKS BETWEEN BOURBON STREET AND TRUMP HOTEL BOMBING “We’ll be taking over the investigative lead for this event. This is not a terrorist event,” said New Orleans field office FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge Alethea Duncan during a Wednesday morning press conference. During that same press conference, however, the mayor of New Orleans contradicted Duncan’s comment and minced no words in detailing that the city faced an act of terror. “Know that the city of New Orleans was impacted by a terrorist attack. It’s all still under investigation,” Mayor LaToya Cantrell said. The FBI soon backtracked from its position that the attack was not an act of terror, releasing statements throughout the day that they were investigating the matter as related to terrorism, including confirming that an ISIS flag was found on the suspect’s vehicle that plowed through the crowds. “This morning, an individual drove a car into a crowd of people on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, killing a number of people and injuring dozens of others. The subject then engaged with local law enforcement and is now deceased. The FBI is the lead investigative agency, and we are working with our partners to investigate this as an act of terrorism,” the FBI said in one of its three statements provided to Fox Digital. The FBI’s handling of the matter, however, has sparked outrage from elected officials, Trump allies and voters on social media. “The FBI has a no-fail mission. There is no room for error. When they fail, Americans die. It’s a necessity that Kash Patel gets confirmed ASAP,” a source close to Trump told Fox News Digital on Thursday morning. Other conservatives and Trump allies railed against the FBI on social media, claiming the FBI has focused resources on issues such as DEI training and hiring instead of investigating and preventing crime. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and other conservatives also took issue with the FBI for allegedly responding to the suspect’s home in Texas after the media had already staked out the property. “The FBI didn’t show up to the NOLA suspect’s address until 1pm today. We were on scene before. No one came out of the home or answered the door,” New York Post reporter Jennie Taer posted to X on Wednesday. Blackburn responded to the Post reporter by saying the FBI had “failed” its mission as the nation’s top law enforcement agency. “The fact that a reporter has better intel than the FBI tells us all we need to know. The FBI has failed its core mission,” Blackburn posted. The suspect, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, was armed with a Glock and a .308 rifle during the attack and was killed after opening fire on police. Jabbar, a 42-year-old U.S. citizen who lived in Texas, is believed to have acted alone, the FBI announced Thursday. Trump slammed Biden and his administration’s policies for the attack. “With the Biden ‘Open Border’s Policy’ I said, many times during Rallies, and elsewhere, that Radical Islamic Terrorism, and other forms of violent crime, will become so bad in America that it will become hard to even imagine or believe. That time has come, only worse than ever imagined. Joe Biden is the WORST PRESIDENT IN THE HISTORY OF AMERICA, A COMPLETE AND TOTAL DISASTER,” Trump posted on Truth Social. Earlier Thursday, when approached for comment on the criticisms of its handling of the attack, the FBI directed Fox News Digital to its three previous statements on the attack that described it as an act of terror but did not comment on the New Orleans’ agent saying Wednesday that the attack was not connected to terrorism. “An ISIS flag was located in the vehicle, and the FBI is working to determine the subject’s potential associations and affiliations with terrorist organizations,” one FBI statement said. “The FBI is the lead investigative agency, and we are working with our partners to investigate this as an act of terrorism. We are aggressively running down all leads to identify any possible associates of the subject,” the statement added. Approximately 30 armed FBI agents converged on Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home in Florida in August 2022 to execute a search warrant regarding classified documents in the former president’s possession. The unprecedented raid included agents rifling through former, and upcoming, first lady Melania Trump’s wardrobe. The agents seized 33 boxes of documents. “He invaded my home. I’m suing the country over it. He invaded Mar-a-Lago. I’m very unhappy with the things he’s done. And crime is at an all-time high. Migrants are pouring into the country that are from prisons and from mental institutions, as we’ve discussed. I can’t say I’m thrilled,” Trump said of Wray during an interview with NBC that aired Sunday. Earlier this year, it was revealed the Biden administration authorized the use of deadly force during the raid. The jarring revelation added fuel to the fire of
Tracking government spending, Part 2: Contractual services and supplies
Spending on contracting and supplies is the second-biggest major spending group for the federal government, according to usaspending.gov. More than $1.1 trillion was spent on deals negotiated by the government to hire contractors for work. The category has increased by 19% from five years ago. “We expect massive cuts of all federal contractors and others who are overbilling the federal government,” said DOGE co-leader Vivek Ramaswamy on Fox Business’ Sunday Morning Futures. Contracting commercial companies for government goods and services dates back to the late 1700s. Over the years, laws have streamlined the process and helped make contracts more competitive. “We’re on the side of change. We got started by helping the Navy and then the Army get ready for World War Two to move faster, to do things better,” Booz Allen Hamilton CEO Horacio Rozanski said. “Now we’re the largest player in AI and cyber in the federal government, and we’re very proud of that whole history. But that’s a whole history of change. My sense is we’re ready for change. The country voted for it, and we need to see it happen.” VIRGINIA DEMOCRATS ‘ASKING THE WRONG QUESTION’ AMID OUTRAGE OVER DOGE FEDERAL WORKFORCE CUTS, GOP LEADER SAYS Booz Allen Hamilton is among the largest government contractors. In 2024, the company had more than $8 billion worth in agreements from agencies like the Defense Department, the General Services Administration and the National Science Foundation. “One of the things we’ve been talking about for years is this notion of outcome-based contracting. Instead of trying to figure out what does everything cost and how to do it. Let’s define an outcome, something that the government really needs, and let private industry compete for that,” Rozanski said. Federal agencies are responsible for negotiating the best deal for the government, but contractors have a history of overcharging. In 2014, a Defense Department Inspector General report showed that the agency was charged as much as 831% for spare parts. Another more recent audit found a 7,943% markup on a soap dispenser sold to the Air Force. Military contractors are only required to provide an explanation for prices if the contract is worth more than $2 million. If an item is labeled as “commercial,” companies do not have to justify prices. ‘WE’RE GOING TO GUT THE FISH’: REPUBLICANS GIVE DETAILS FROM CLOSED-DOOR MEETINGS WITH DOGE’S MUSK, RAMASWAMY In 2023, Booz Allen Hamilton agreed to pay $377.45 million to settle allegations that the company improperly billed commercial and international costs to its government contracts. “I think part of the challenge is the system. This system is built to manage risk and to get things done with the lowest risk possible. It is not built for speed,” Rozanski said. “We need DOGE to succeed in shifting towards efficiency, towards effectiveness. It’s what our clients want, it’s what we want. Will there be winners and losers in that? Of course. I expect I want Booz Allen to be a winner in that. But at the end of the day, we need to compete.” The Department of Defense obligated around $550 billion to government contracts in 2024, more than half of all government spending on contractors. Some analysts estimate the department could save millions by streamlining negotiations. “They’re for reducing some of the bureaucracy, but they’re also for understanding that there is a difference. To paint the entire federal government, the giant DMV is not fair,” Rozanski said. “There are all these areas where more can be done to do it faster, to do it better or to not do it at all, to get things done.” Some small businesses say that DOGE likely won’t have an impact on their work. “From a sort of an efficiency standpoint, we all of us have to operate at the optimum level of efficiency,” Arkisys co-founder Dave Barnhart said. “I’m not quite sure that’ll have an effect, because we’re essentially already operating as quickly as we possibly can within the U.S. government.” REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK: A DOGE IN THE FIGHT Arkisys has a contract with the Space Development Agency, which is part of the Space Force. The Port would give service providers, making repairs in space, a permanent station to deliver cargo or supplies. The federal government has specific contracts set aside for small businesses that helps level the playing field. “This particular arena of space and most especially the domain that we are talking about, which is servicing, that is doing something to a spacecraft in space after its launch, hasn’t been done before. It’s a wide-open research area. All kinds of innovation can happen,” Barnhart said. Other small business owners say they believe DOGE could help make the contracting process move faster. “One day you come up with the idea quickly. You got to get the funding and you got to develop it,” Aspetto co-founder Abbas Haider said. “You put in your white paper, that’s phase one funding. Then it’s phase two funding, then it’s phase three funding. By the time you’re on phase two, it’s months. Someone else has probably already copied your idea or already done something similar. So, why would I go to the government for those funding?” Instead of applying for specific contracts the government needs, Aspetto sells its high-tech body army products to various agencies within the U.S. government. “In our case, we’re just going to go ahead and take the risk and fund it ourselves, because it would just move things a lot faster,” Haider said. Aspetto makes bullet-resistant clothing, women’s body armor and K9-bullet-proof vests. The company has contracts with the Defense Department, the State Department and NASA. The FBI is also outfitting U.S. Border Patrol agents with Aspetto products. “I do believe they’re going to focus on innovation. If you’re going to compete with countries like China, you have to focus on innovation,” Haider said. NASA contributes most of its funding to contractors to develop innovative products for space travel. In 2024, the agency allocated more than 76% of its budget to