Wednesday, September 24, 2025

Like attracts like or Chump always picks losers


First up, Katie Phang.


Second up, go read Marcia's "The continued attacks on trans people" from last night.  Really important post about the attacks of transgender people.  That's what happens when an idiot like Donald Chump is in the White House.

Loved C.I. in the snapshot (posted in full at the end of this post) today.  I hadn't realized that the mid-terms meant two things.  I got that it meant that we had a chance to take back the House and the Senate next year.  I had forgotten that it also meant Chump becomes a lame duck.  Republican Party's got to focus on their next nominee.  That nominee can't be applauding Chump and stand a chance of winning -- not with the inflation, not with the attacks on people's healthcare, etc.  And Chump will throw his tantrums but find less and less support.

Yea!

For now, we can just enjoy Chump's many failures.  He never met a qualified person he liked.  Have you noticed that?  Ashleigh Fields (THE HILL) reports:

The nation’s 250th birthday celebration will go on without the help of a White House-appointed director who was removed from planning efforts after allegedly making unapproved posts and financial decisions.

Ariel Abergel, a 25-year-old who previously worked as a Fox News producer, was fired from the bipartisan Semiquincentennial Commission after being appointed to the role by President Trump.
The Wall Street Journal first reported the news of the Trump appointee’s removal. 

The commission is made up of 16 unpaid private citizens, eight members of Congress and 12 federal officials who serve as nonvoting ex-officio members supported by the America250 foundation.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Attorney General Pam Bondi, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) each serve on the committee.

Abergel was terminated “after he initiated a security breach of a commission social-media account, attempted to procure the resignations of multiple commissioners by misrepresenting himself as acting on behalf of Congressional leadership, and engaged in multiple other serious and repeated breaches of authority and trust,” an America250 foundation spokesperson told The Journal.


Ariel is a male by the way.  That Little Mermaid is a male.  And he probably landed on Chump's s**t list last July -- he was the one who planned that disappointing military parade that Chump wanted to celebrate himself.

Chump has never found anyone qualified in his second term -- it's been one loser after another.  But he keeps dipping into the FOX "NEWS" pool, doesn'the?

One failure after another: Loose Lips Hegseth, Drunken Jean . . . Over 23 of these losers.  But he still won't bring in Laura Ingraham.  She's probably too masculine for him.  I think Laura exists to disprove the image of FOX "NEWS" hiring pretty blondes.  

Speaking of inexperienced failures, Theodoric Meyer (WASHINGTON POST) reports, "On Monday, the president named Lindsay Halligan, a former insurance lawyer with no prosecutorial experience, as interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. Halligan replaces Erik S. Siebert, who resigned Friday as interim U.S. attorney after refusing to prosecute two of Trump’s most prominent political enemies."


Meanwhile, Little Marco disgraced himself.   He's just a Chump puppet.  At least when he was in the Senate, he called his own shots.  Things just get worse and worse for Little Marco.  Leigh Kimmins (DAILY BEAST) reports:

Secretary of State Marco Rubio was put on defense Tuesday over his boss Donald Trump’s claim he would end the Ukraine war on “day one.”

He was confronted with the reality that the war is raging months into Trump’s second term as he appeared on NBC News’ Today show, where he had intended to hype the president’s address to the United Nations in New York.

Trump campaigned on a promise to stop hostilities between the two nations after Russian President Vladimir Putin green-lit a full-scale invasion in February 2022. And Trump, who is forcefully stuffing his hat into the ring for a Nobel Peace Prize following his dubious peace-keeping efforts, took it upon himself to act as the peace-maker.

However, Putin has led him on a merry dance, and the bloody conflict has continued unabated.

On the Today show, anchor Craig Melvin bluntly told Rubio that, nearly 250 days into Trump’s second term, his promise remains unfulfilled.

Speaking of stupid: Rashida Tlaib.  Callum Sutherland (TIME) reports:

President Donald Trump took aim at the decision from several countries to recognize a Palestinian statehood, arguing that it serves as a "reward" to Hamas during his address at the United General Assembly in New York on Tuesday.

"As if to encourage continued conflict, some of this body is seeking to unilaterally recognize a Palestinian state," said Trump. "The rewards would be too great for Hamas terrorists for their atrocities. This would be a reward for these horrible atrocities, including October 7."

Trump said he has been "deeply engaged" in trying to procure a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war, and insisted that he wants all hostages to be released. "We have to get it done," Trump emphasized.

"This could have been solved so long ago, but instead of giving into Hamas ransom demands, those who want peace should be united with one message, release the hostages now," he said, arguing that Hamas has “repeatedly rejected reasonable offers to make peace.”


Remember when dumb ass Rashida refused to endorse Kamala Harris or campaign for her.  Remember Rashida and her trashy sister doing everything they could to sink Kamala's campaign.  

They got what they wanted: Chump in the White House. 

Seen on BLUESKY:

‪hope reins‬
 ‪@hopereins.bsky.social‬
· 1mo
Replied to 
VOTING > PROTESTING

Rashida Tlaib and the Dearborn mayor led the charge against Kamala Harris and Biden. Yelled and screamed not to vote for her because of Gaza. Palestinians are facing genocide. Where are they now? Not a freekin word from either of them. Freekin Crickets!;'


Here's C.I.'s "The Snapshot

Tuesday, September 23, 2025.  Chump continues to destroy the economy, Kamala Harris reminds how he swore he'd fix it on day one and she observes how feckless so many business leaders have become, Senator Adam Schiff calls out the bribe-taking Tom Homan, we take a part an article sent to the public e-mail account for us to highlight in order to explain what we won't highlight here (poorly written articles containing one factual error after another) and much more including how Chump is losing his power not just due to his abuses but also to the natural effect of mid-terms turning presidents in their second term into lame ducks.


Let's start with the White House and Karoline Leavitt who was asked about Donald Chump's illegal actions and abuse of office as he went after political enemies.  Propaganda Pig Leavitt swiped her head repeatedly and chomped and grunted and squealed as she lied lied lied.  Robert McCoy (THE NEW REPUBLIC) explains:


White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt crumbled Monday when pressed about President Trump’s lawfare against New York Attorney General Letitia James.

Trump last week forced Erik Siebert out of his post as U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia for failing to find (read: concoct) evidence of James’s criminality during a five-month-long investigation.

James previously filed a civil case against Trump, in which he was ultimately found liable for business fraud in September 2023. (An appeals court last month tossed a $500 million penalty—but not the verdict.) Now, like several other Trump foes, James faces a thinly veiled retribution campaign, in which she’s accused by the administration of mortgage fraud.

ABC White House correspondent Selina Wang laid these facts before Leavitt at a Monday press conference. Considering that a monthslong investigation into James by Siebert (a Trump appointee) yielded no evidence, she asked, “Is the president saying here it doesn’t matter if there’s a crime, he just wants his political enemies to be charged?”

Leavitt launched into a tirade against James, who, she said, “completely abused her oath of office” and “was actively and openly engaged in lawfare.” The press secretary also falsely claimed that last month’s removal of Trump’s half-billion-dollar civil fraud penalty meant the president was “exonerated” of James’s “witch hunt”—when, in reality, the appeals court upheld the lower court’s verdict that Trump is indeed liable for fraud.


Most likely after that, Propaganda Pig kicked her hind legs in the air and charged at the wooden fence around her pigsty in an attempt to get out of the barn yard.


In the meantime, are you ready for Farmageddon?  Donald Chump's destroyed the economy and farmers are seeing it.  James Havers (MONEYWISE) reports:



The combines are rolling across the American Midwest, but instead of excitement, many farmers say this harvest feels more like a crisis.

Trade wars, rising costs, labor shortages and high interest rates have converged into what some growers call ‘farmageddon,’ a tidal wave of financial and emotional strain threatening one of this country’s most vital industries. And with markets closing and storage bins filling fast, they say time is running out.

“It just seems like things have stalled all summer long,” Brian Warpup told CNN recently [1], who grows corn and soybeans on 3,900 acres in northeastern Indiana. “With harvest here, patience may be running thin.”


Donald Chump was handed off a functioning economy, one that had recovered from the pandemic and was an example for the entire world.  And in 246 days, he has destroyed the US economy.  Last night on MSNBC, Kamala Harris pointed out on THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW that Chump said that he was going to lower prices -- day one -- and he did not.



That's the entire interview audio only.  They have it up on their YOUTUBE channel with video in various segments.  

Chump did not improve the economy, he has wrecked it.  Report after report makes that clear.  Mike Moen (PUBLIC NEWS SERVICE) adds:


China is still holding off on making soybean purchases from U.S. farmers, as its trade war with the Trump administration plays out. A key North Dakota ag group says without an immediate solution, it could be harder for local farmers to stay in business.

As regional farmers fan out for the fall harvest, some are scrambling to find extra storage for their soybeans, because China continues to look to other nations for this commodity.

North Dakota Farmers Union President Mark Watne said the dilemma also weighs down prices for other major crops like corn. He said the ripple effect could be felt for a while.

"This is a mess, and time is of the essence here," said Watne. "We can't just keep throwing things into storage and not have any corrective action, someplace along the line that's going to utilize up the supply, or we'll see two, three years of lower prices because of this action."

He agreed with analysts who predict the crisis will fuel more farm bankruptcies. The Farmers Union acknowledges this summer's domestic tax law did secure some benefits for farmers, but Watne said the effects won't be noticed until next year.


During a recent trip to Washington DC, Nebraska farmers told members of Congress they’re being adversely impacted by President Donald Trump’s tariffs, and they need financial assistance.

Many corn and soybean producers say they’re losing money on their products. The administration says it’s using economic levies to level the playing field.
Nebraska Farmers Union President John Hansen said ag producers want greater support for using farm products in biofuel production, including ethanol and aviation fuel.

"We need to be able to get serious about domestic utilization of soybeans and corn in our gasoline and our diesel fuel," said Hansen, "and we could be helping take a lot of pressure off of losing foreign markets if we had better domestic utilization."


And that's just the farmers.  Julie Zauzmer Weil (WASHINGTON POST) provides this overview of Chump's failing economy:

That’s largely because key monthly costs for most Americans - shelter, food, health care, electricity - are outpacing inflation. Rents are up 3.8 percent - the largest increase since 2011 - the Census Bureau reported last week, and roughly half of all renters spend more than the recommended 30 percent of their incomes to cover the cost. Utility prices have spiked, according to the consumer price index, with natural gas and electricity bills rising 13.8 and 6.2 percent, respectively, since last year. And though President Donald Trump promised to lower food costs during the presidential campaign, grocery prices just posted their biggest increase since 2022, due in large part to his tariffs.

Other sectors where inflation is rising faster include homeownership and medical care, while falling gasoline prices help bring down the overall average.

“It’s not that they have a choice. We’re talking about things that people must buy. They have to live somewhere. … They have to heat their homes. They need lights,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics.


How are people coping?  The best that they can. While grocery prices continue to increase, Americans are spending more on discounted foods.  There's not much more that Americans can do right now.  They've had to give up so much as it is because Chump has wrecked the economy and now, studies keep finding, that discounted food consumption is the only way many are staying afloat in this economy.  

He has wrecked everything.  Matt Egan (CNN) observes:

             The nation’s top economic statistician was fired. Central bank independence is being undermined. The federal government is buying chunks of private companies and demanding cuts of revenue streams. Presidential power to lob tariffs has been wielded in unprecedented fashion. And federal regulators are threatening media companies over late-night comics.

These events all took place this year, and not in a third-world country, but in the world’s preeminent democracy under President Donald Trump.

Some political scientists see a pattern that suggests American democracy is being undermined in real time. The stakes are massive for the US economy and the business world.     

             “I have never been this concerned about democracy in the United States,” Vanessa Williamson, a senior fellow of governance studies at the nonpartisan Brookings Institution, told CNN in a phone interview.

CEOs are growing alarmed — even if they’re publicly staying quiet to avoid the wrath of the White House.

Business leaders are “quite alarmed” in private about the state of democracy in the United States, according to Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, the Yale professor known as the “CEO Whisperer” due to his extensive rolodex in the business community.

“We’ve had a serious erosion of the foundations of democracy,” Sonnenfeld, founder and president of the Yale Chief Executive Leadership Institute, told CNN.


As Kamala noted to Rachel last night,  the capitulation to Chump has been surreal,  "bending to blackmail and outrageous demands."


Angelina Jolie speaks for many Americans in the video below.





"I love my country but I don't at this time recognize my country."

That's because Chump has destroyed it.  

Let's take his attempt to out Nixon Tricky Dick.  Travis Gettys (RAW STORY) explains:


The president posted — and then deleted — a message to Bondi complaining that "nothing is being done" about former FBI director James Comey, New York Attorney General Letitia James and Democratic Senator Adam Schiff, a day after federal prosecutor Erik Siebert complied with Trump's demand for his resignation for failing to bring mortgage fraud charges against James.

"There's some speculation that this was meant as a private message to Pam Bondi," Lemire told "Morning Joe." "The White House has not confirmed that, but the writing of it might have been meant as a DM, as opposed to a Truth Social post because Trump then took that post down, tried to clean it up with a subsequent posting.

"But this is, we know President Trump campaigned on the idea of retribution. That was one of his campaign platforms last year, and this is what that appears to look like, and we have seen U.S. attorneys across this country find a lack of evidence, there has not been a charge yet against Letitia James, the New York State attorney general. There have not been charges yet against Sen. Schiff or others."

"We have also seen, though, an effort by this president to remove a U.S. attorney who wouldn't bring charges, and he makes mention of that in this post, too, saying he needs to be replaced with someone perhaps more compliant, and I think this is what Democrats have been warning about for months, that we'd get to this step," Lemire added.

"Will there be follow-through? We'll see in the days ahead, but this is, as one senior Democrat put to me over the weekend, this is a five-alarm fire."


Last night at THE NEW REPUBLIC,  Kate Riga and John Light wrote:


Former Trump defense attorney Lindsey Halligan was reportedly sworn in as interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Monday after the president forced out her predecessor for failing to turn up wrongdoing with which to charge New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) and other public figures he considers his enemies.

Erik Siebert, the previous acting U.S. attorney, resigned Friday after Trump told reporters he wanted him gone. 

Halligan has no prosecutorial experience. Most recently, she worked in the White House staff secretary’s office, reportedly tasked with censoring the Smithsonian museums. Previously, per ABC, she handled insurance claims related to the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case.

Trump announced that he’d be appointing her Friday via social media. That post came shortly after one that was styled as (and possibly intended to be) a direct message to AG Pam Bondi, where Trump reamed her out for not pursuing his political enemies (including James) aggressively enough.


The president of the United States is not supposed to misuse the government.  He or she is not allowed to, for example, ask the IRS to audit his political enemies.  Nixon tried all of that.  Those were high crimes and misdemeanors.  People were put on enemies lists and harassed at the borders -- US citizens harassed as they came back into the country.


Because Nixon was a crook and not an idiot, he knew to keep it hidden. Chump's a fool suffering from dementia and he is putting it out there for all to see, he is making his own case publicly for why Congress should move to impeach him. 


The mid-terms are important because Democrats stand a good chance of regaining one house of Congress, maybe both.


But the mid-terms are important for another reason.  

After the mid-terms focus turns to the next presidential election.


Someone who cannot run again -- like Chump -- becomes a lame duck.


There will be less need for Republicans who remain in Congress after the mid-terms to continue their slovenly support of Chump.  They'll need to focus on the candidates on their side who want to become the next president.  


To do that, a GOP candidate wanting to win the primaries is going to have to distinguish him or her self from Chump.  Following the mid-terms, Americans are not going to want to hear JD Vance promising that he will continue Chump's failed policies that have increased prices, his failed policies that have destroyed healthcare, his failed policies that have destroyed education, his failed policies that have . . .


They will have to draw a line between themselves and the current president.  They will have to run against 'the establishment.'  


That's a reason Chump should fear the mid-terms.  Even the feckless will stand up to him after the mid-terms -- or come as close to standing up as they are physically possible.


An e-mail from [unnamed publication] wants to know how to get something noted.  Oh, I have to name them sorry.  THE NATION magazine.  I still have a few friends at the rag.  After the way they lied and worked to defeat Kamala -- including the editorial that argued you shouldn't vote for her -- they can go f**k themselves.  I've said that to friends there and I've said it here at this site.  But let's pretend that it's another outlet.  You would e-mail common_ills@yahoo.com and someone would look over it.  If they thought it was worthy of note, they'd put it in a folder for me to look at.  Sometimes they might put one in that they're unsure of.  I'd read and I'd decide.  


I was asked to highlight an article at ZNET, garbage written poorly by Bayan Saleh.  It's an embarrassment in every way of piece of writing can be and ZNET should honestly pull it.  

"Nina Bang: The Marxist Historian Who Opened the Doors of Power to Women" -- sorry Bayan but if, as you write, Nina got her masters in 1894 then there was at least one woman before opening the doors of power or she wouldn't have been able to get the degree.  (Some sources note her highest degree was a doctorate and there year the degree was awarded also differs from source to source.)  

In Bayan's badly written 3rd grade summary, she offers:

Selected Works

Karl Marx: His Life and Work (1918)


What does that say?  "Works"?  That's plural.  Change it to "Selected Work" or note the other book she was an author of (the two-volume) TABLES OF SHIPPING AND GOODS (she also translated another author's book on Karl Marx).  

Then you have this:


Although committed to women’s issues, she did not position herself within a liberal feminist discourse. Instead, she considered women’s liberation inseparable from the liberation of society as a whole from economic and political constraints. She rejected a form of feminism that isolated gender struggle from class struggle, believing that such an approach stripped the movement of its revolutionary substance.

No, she wasn't a feminist, she pretty much rejected feminism itself as ENCYCLOPEDIA.COM notes, "Although Bang was one of the first established female political activists, she was not an active feminist; she considered women's social and legal issues part of general political issues and part of the general battle for democratic progress. 

"She was among the first women historians to break men’s monopoly over academic history writing."

 Really?  


She was born in 1866.  The first known female historian is usually said to be Anna Comnena who wrote THE ALEXIAD and who was born in 1083. Others who predate Bang include Matilda Josyln Gage, Henrica van Erp, Johanna Naber, Harriet Martineiu, Anna Julia Cooper, Mary Wollstonecraft, Luise Gerbing, Mary Bonaventure Browne and, as a feminist, I'm smart enough to know that for every one woman historian I'm aware of there are probably 100 more who are either erased in history or misclassified as something else (Anna Julia Cooper's first book -- a collection of speeches and essays A VOICE FROM THE SOUTH BY A BLACK WOMAN OF THE SOUTH is not considered a history book by some but a book by a black woman forced into slavery and published 27 years after the end of The Civil War about the life she observed is history)l


I don't have much tolerance for nonsense.  A lot of stuff that gets submitted via e-mail qualifies as nonsense. 

Let's trudge through these three paragraphs from the bad ZNET column:


In 1895, she married Gustav Bang, a historian and prominent politician of the Social Democratic Party. For Nina, marriage was not a traditional framework of male authority but a partnership built on intellectual equality and a shared political project.

Together, they formed a rare Marxist-socialist duo, jointly analyzing the social and political realities of their time and contributing to the development of a radical critical vision for the future of Denmark and the world.

They had no children, but their relationship extended beyond private life into the public sphere, as their home became both an intellectual salon and a hub of political activity. Gustav’s death in 1915 was a personal shock to Nina, but it transformed into a renewed commitment, as though grief became a driving force for her continued defense of the working class and marginalized groups.


They had no children?  

That must have come as a surprise to Merete Hansen.  Who?  Gustav Ban and Nina Bang's daughter Merete Bang Hasen


I can do this with at least 21 more examples of a piece that should have never been published.  As an Iraqi woman who escaped to Denmark, is the author compelled to make up lies?  She wasn't the first feminist (she' wasn't a feminist) in Denmark, she wasn't the first to blaze a trail.  I have no idea why an Iraqi woman would be so fascinated with this woman and bend over backwards in order to make her appear to be a feminist, a first and so much more.  But that's how you can get rejected and ignored by me: Write poorly and make one factual error after another.  It's a shame that despite Iraq's rich history of feminism -- and lengthy history -- Bayen Saleh writes such an embarrassing article 


Let's wind down with Senator Adam Schiff:


Schiff on Homan: “Who takes 50,000 in cash in a bag, if they’re doing something legitimate?”

Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) joined MSNBC’s Alex Witt Reports to discuss Donald Trump’s ongoing efforts to weaponize the Department of Justice (DOJ) against his political opponents and the administration’s hypocrisy on DOJ investigations in the wake of a bombshell report detailing the closing of a bribery probe into White House Border Czar Tom Homan.

Schiff slammed Trump for pressuring the Attorney General to bring baseless cases against his critics – including himself, former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James – and for filling DOJ and FBI leadership with loyalists who have undermined serious investigations while dismissing corruption among Trump’s allies. Schiff also slammed FBI Director Kash Patel for his testimony in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee on the Epstein case and the firing of senior FBI agents who investigated Trump.


 

View the full interview here.

Key Excerpts:

On Trump pushing Attorney General Bondi to pursue baseless charges:

He made it very clear that he was firing the U.S. Attorney of Virginia for not bringing a meritless mortgage fraud case against Letitia James, and he’s basically out in the opening pressuring his Attorney General, sending a message to other U.S. attorneys out there that if they don’t do his will, they don’t do his bidding and bring meritless cases against his enemies, they could be fired. And this is unlike anything we’ve ever seen. Nixon had his enemies list, but it wasn’t so exhaustive and blatant as this, where he was ordering, in front of the whole country, the Justice Department to go after his enemies. In my case, for impeaching him, leading his first impeachment, for serving on the January 6 Committee. And what he wants to try to do is not just go after me and Letitia James or Lisa Cook, but rather send a message that anyone who stands up to him on anything, anyone who has the audacity to call out his corruption will be a target, and they will go after you. It’s an effort to try to silence and intimidate people, but I refuse to be silenced or intimidated.

On weaponization of the Justice Department:

I served for almost six years in the U.S. Attorney’s Office. I venerated my experience in that department, all the hard-working men and women who are doing, I think really, really important work on serious cases. But this just casts a shadow over all of it. We’ve seen top leadership at the department devastated. We’ve seen three top people, Trump criminal defense lawyers, appointed to the top positions of the Justice Department. They’re running things. When you see, for example, Todd Blanche personally intervene in the Epstein case, someone Blanche who acknowledged that he has a continuing duty to his client as Trump’s criminal defense lawyer, then it’s the interest of the American people that suffer. You’re seeing the same devastation at the FBI, where senior FBI agents are being fired or pushed out, so the nonpartisan leadership at the top is being pushed out. It’s gone. And instead, you have this now fully weaponized department to go after the president’s enemies. And in the case of Tom Homan, to run interference against investigations that are a serious and warrant investigation. So, you have both the dismissal of charges against the president’s allies like Eric Adams, the dismissal of investigations against Tom Homan and pressure to bring meritless investigations against the president’s enemies.

On the investigation into Tom Homan:

These people should have never been confirmed for these positions. And there’s only a limit to what Democrats can do, given that we don’t have the votes in the Senate to defeat them. We need some Republicans of good conscience to turn down the arcade juniors that are going to endanger the public health of the people exists. They’re going to endanger the national security and to call for the resignation of people like Tom Homan. I mean, how can you have a top if. Enforcement official, the border czar, like Tom Homan, who took $50,000 from undercover agents in a bag, in a bag with the apparently, reportedly the promise of helping deliver federal contracts when he was going to take a position in the Trump administration. How can you have that person in leadership? He should be gone. And I hope my Republican colleagues will join me and others in demanding that the videotape of him taking the bag, literally holding the bag, be shown to the public. We also, I think, got to hear the audio conversations of him making those promises in a change for that 50,000 in cold cash. I mean, who does that? Who takes 50,000 in cash in a bag, if they’re doing something legitimate?

### 


And also from Senator Schiff's office, let's note this on the same topic:


Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, released the following statement in response to reports that the Trump administration intervened to close an investigation into former Acting Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and current White House Border Czar, Tom Homan, despite evidence of Homan collecting bribes in exchange for facilitating future government contracts.

The investigation reportedly included video of Homan accepting $50,000 in cash from undercover Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents last fall.

“Nothing demonstrates the Trump administration’s culture of corruption like closing an ongoing investigation into one of the President’s close associates despite clear evidence of a conspiracy to commit bribery captured on camera.

“The Justice Department, FBI, and White House must be held to account. Congress must demand that the administration immediately preserve all evidence related to this investigation and immediately release the video of Homan. The public should be able to watch the conduct of a high-ranking law enforcement official for itself.

“From this report, it appears that the investigation into Homan was known to Attorney General Pam Bondi, FBI Director Kash Patel, and other key administration officials, including then-Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove. It is critical that we understand who knew about this probe, who specifically ordered its end and under what circumstances, and whether it influenced the Trump Administration’s decision to place Homan in a position that avoided Senate confirmation and accountability to Congress.

“The American people also deserve a clear accounting of Homan’s influence on federal contracting decisions. Homan has repeatedly touted this administration’s aggressive plans for expanding immigrant detention centers, including for families with young children. If he was willing to accept at least $50,000 from an undercover FBI agent, any contracts that Homan approved or advocated for must be scrutinized by independent watchdogs and Congress.”

###


The following sites updated: