Category: US

John Bolton urged the Biden administration to cease negotiations with Iran after a federal indictment revealed an alleged plot to assassinate the former Trump adviser. Bolton said others are also being targeted and called for the US to work on removing the regime from power.

“I do think it’s important for people to understand that this plot, this effort to kill me… and I’m certainly not alone in this, they’re after plenty of people, including average citizens, not just former government employees — that shows the real nature of the regime,” Bolton told Yahoo News in an interview Thursday.

On Wednesday the Justice Department unsealed charges against a member of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in what court documents describe as a brazen murder-for-hire plot to assassinate the former national security adviser to avenge the death of Iran’s top military general Qassem Soleimani. This comes after the Biden administration and Iranian officials recently concluded talks in Vienna to potentially revive the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, also known as the Iran nuclear deal.

The US withdrew from the agreement in 2018 under the Trump administration but is now trying to resuscitate the deal.

“I wouldn’t restart the nuclear talks,” Bolton said. “To me, going back in the deal is a huge strategic mistake for the United States. So what I would do would be to terminate discussions. I don’t think you’re ever going to achieve peace and security in the Middle East as long as the current regime in Tehran is in power. So my policy would be removing the regime.”

He said this could be done by exploiting factions and rivalries within the regime’s military and leadership.

“I think finding those potential dissident military officers in particular, and very carefully communicating with them to separate the regime at the very top is the way, with careful planning, I think you can bring it down,” he told Yahoo News. “It’s not going to happen overnight. … It takes time. It’s hard. It’s very risky.”

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The White House did not respond to Yahoo News’ request for comment on Bolton’s call for the US to topple Iran’s regime.

Bolton said this is the only way forward and skewered the Biden administration for solely focusing on restoring the 2015 deal.

Bolton described the administration’s efforts to revive the deal as “the holy grail for them,” and said it would take something “extraordinary” for the administration to stop their efforts.

“I know many of the people involved in this in the administration, they are pursuing this with a religious zeal,” Bolton said.

Yahoo News reported on Wednesday that an unnamed second target, referred to as a former senior high-ranking Trump administration official, is former Secretary of State and CIA Director Mike Pompeo. A source close to Pompeo said the Justice Department contacted the former secretary of state last week to notify him of the plot and the charges.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani denied the allegations in a statement, calling them “fiction,” according to Israeli news outlet i24NEWS.

“The Islamic Republic warns against any action that targets Iranian citizens by resorting to ridiculous accusations,” Kanani said.

The plot against Bolton stems from the death of Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani, according to the indictment. In January 2020, the Trump administration conducted a drone strike that killed Soleimani while he was on a trip to Iraq. Since then, the regime in Tehran has threatened revenge against those it deems responsible and has made a series of threats and started legal proceedings against US officials.

Bolton left the Trump White House prior to Soleimani’s death but his hawkish views on Iran and other past actions have been cited by Iran as reason for wanting him killed.

An intelligence report obtained by Yahoo News last month stated that the “Iranian regime is waging a multipronged campaign — including threats of lethal action, international legal maneuvering, and the issuance of Iranian arrest warrants and sanctions — against select US officials to avenge the death of IRGC-QF Commander Soleimani in January 2020, raising the threat at home and abroad for those Iran views as responsible for the killing.”

IRGC-QF stands for Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force, an elite division of Iran’s military.

According to the report, Tehran has “consistently identified former President Donald Trump, former Secretary of State Michael Pompeo, and former CENTCOM Commander General Kenneth McKenzie as among its priority targets for retribution” since January 2021.

Yahoo News previously reported that concerns about retaliatory attacks after Soleimani’s death against officials involved in the strike against him prompted Congress to appropriate $15 million for security for departing Secretary of State Pompeo and others.

“I think in the White House, their brains are compartmentalized,” Bolton told Yahoo News Thursday. “Here, you have the nuclear problem here, you have the terrorist problem. They’re not compartmentalized in Iran. And unfortunately, Iran is the adversary that’s threatening us. So … at a conceptual level in the White House, they can distinguish between the nuclear program and attacks on Americans on American soil. That’s not how they see it in Tehran.”

Four former officials being targeted by Iran told Yahoo News that they were dismayed by the Biden administration’s continued efforts to negotiate with a regime actively trying to assassinate them and other former US officials. Two of these former officials told Yahoo News they supported the nuclear deal but urged the administration to put JCPOA talks on hold until Iran stops trying to kill officials on US soil.

The nuclear deal is not a good deal but it’s better than nothing, said one former official who said he supported the Biden administration efforts to revive the 2015 agreement. But, this person said, talks should only summarize if there are assurances Iran will stop trying to kill American officials on US soil. This person requested anonymity out of concern for the security of family members.

“The real concern for all of us is not what Iran is doing, it’s what the US is not doing,” said Rob Greenway, former senior director for Middle Eastern and North African Affairs of the National Security Council.

Greenway said there were steps that the White House should take immediately to respond to the threats against former officials. Greenway is one of the former US officials sanctioned by Iran; Iran requested Interpol issue red alert notices on officials including Greenway, currently an adjunct fellow at the Hudson Institute.

“I would extend protection for all government officials against whom there are active Iranian threats. Not all those threatened by Iran have government-provided personal security details,” Greenway said.

The White House did not respond to Yahoo News’ questions about providing security for additional officials.

He also said he would “recommend we cease active negotiations with Iran until compelling and verifiable assurances made publicly and privately to cease all efforts targeting US citizens including former government officials.” Greenway told Yahoo News.

A White House spokesperson told Yahoo News that the Biden administration will continue to pursue JCPOA talks as long as he believes it’s in “US national security interests.”

“President Biden has been clear that he will ensure Iran never acquires a nuclear weapon. He believes diplomacy is the best path to achieving that goal,” a spokesperson said. “At the same time, the Biden administration has not and will not waive in protecting and defending all Americans against threats of violence and terrorism. We will continue to bring to bear the full resources of the US government to protect Americans.”

When asked how he thinks the US should be responding to the threats, Bolton reiterated his opposition to the Iran nuclear deal, and said he doesn’t believe there’ll be peace and security in the Middle East as long as the current regime in Tehran is inpower. Bolton called for the Biden administration to remove the regime from power, but demurred when asked if he’d tried to do this when he worked in the Trump administration.

I think [the regime is] far more vulnerable than people think. I think there’s enormous dissatisfaction across the country. The government has the weapons — that’s the problem. The people don’t have the weapons. So it’s a difficult situation, but nobody should think this regime is rock solid. It is definitely not.

The plot described in court records shows the world what Iran is capable of, he said.

“It’s a look inside their soul. And it’s a confirmation [that] they can make a lot of commitments about their nuclear weapons program, [and] have no intention whatsoever of honoring them.”

House Democrats appear determined to forge ahead with the Manchin-Schumer social spending and taxation plan despite their lack of knowledge on the fiscal implications of the legislation.

According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), a nonpartisan agency that analyzes the impact of legislation on the budget, it will be “weeks” before an updated analysis can be completed on the bill, officially called the Inflation Reduction Act.

“Given the scope of the amendments to title I, Committee on Finance, CBO expects that it will be a few weeks before we can fully analyze and estimate those budgetary effects, at which point we will provide a complete cost estimate for the legislation,” CBO Director Phillip Swagel wrote in a Thursday letter to Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who serves as chairman of the Senate Committee on the Budget.

The CBO completed an analysis on the original “Build Back Better” bill that passed the House in November, but not on the latest version of the bill agreed to by Sen. Joe Manchin, DW.Va., and Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y., that passed in the Senate on Sunday.

VULNERABLE HOUSE DEMOCRAT SAYS HE WILL SUPPORT MANCHIN-SCHUMER SPENDING BILL, POINTING TO ITS LIKELY PASSAGE

Despite the unavailable data, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has scheduled a vote on the bill for Friday, raising questions about why Democrats seem to be in a rush to pass the legislation amid uncertainty over party unity behind it and sharp criticism from Republicans.

The rush to vote on the legislation also serves as a stark reminder of Democrats’ heavily scrutinized efforts to pass a health care reform bill, known as ObamaCare, in 2010 without members of Congress knowing the full contents of the bill.

“We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it,” Pelosi said at the time.

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According to Democrats, the Inflation Reduction Act spends $433 billion, but would raise $739 billion in revenue over a period of years.

A man identified by two law enforcement sources as Ricky Shiffer, who died in a confrontation with police after firing a nail gun at an FBI Cincinnati building, appeared to post online in recent days about his desire to kill FBI agents shortly after former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence was searched.

Two law enforcement officials confirmed Shiffer’s name to NBC News. Shiffer attended the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, according to three people aiding law enforcement who saw him in photos taken from the day of the attack, however it’s unclear if he went inside the building. Shiffer frequently posted about his attendance at the Capitol on social media.

On Truth Social, a social media platform founded by Trump’s media company, Trump Media & Technology Group, Shiffer appeared to have posted a message detailing his failed attempt to gain entry to the FBI building.

“Well, I thought I had a way through bullet proof glass, and I didn’t. If you don’t hear from me, it is true I tried attacking the FBI, and it’ll mean either I was taken off the internet, the FBI got me, or they sent the regular cops while,” the account @RickyWShifferJr wrote at 9:29 am ET, shortly after police allege the shooting occurred.

Shiffer posted to Truth Social multiple times in the days after the FBI searched Trump’s residence about wanting to engage in violence. One post called for people to arm themselves and be ready for “combat.”

“We must not tolerate this one,” he wrote.

Shiffer’s Truth Social account, which was seen by NBC News on Thursday evening, has since become unavailable.

After another user responded that his photo and information had been forwarded to the FBI, Shiffer’s account responded: “Bring them on.”

In response to another user asking if Shiffer was advocating for terrorism, Shiffer’s account responded that users should kill FBI agents “on sight” and also target a vague list of enemies who try to stop the slayings.

In reply to another user on Tuesday, Shiffer responded, “You’re a fool if you think there’s a nonviolent solution.”

On May 7, Shiffer replied to a post by Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Green on Twitter, in which she wrote, “I know they are trying 1984, but I’m feeling 2016 vibes.”

“Congresswoman Greene, they got away with fixing elections in plain sight,” Shiffer wrote. “It’s over. The next step is the one we used in 1775.”

On the same day, responding to a post by Donald Trump Jr. on Twitter imploring users to “Get ready” because “the midterm variant (of COVID-19) is coming and it’s going to be really scary,” referencing conspiracy theories that COVID -19 is manufactured or not dangerous, Shiffer responded, “Do not comply.”

Pro-Trump internet forums erupted with violent threats and calls for civil war in the hours and days after the Mar-a-Lago search, including from at least one person who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6.

Many Republican lawmakers have criticized the Biden administration over the search.

Attorney General Merrick Garland on Thursday called criticism by Trump allies of the Justice Department “unfounded,” as did FBI Director Christopher Wray, who said Thursday that threats against the FBI “should be deeply concerning to all Americans.”

Trump repeatedly posted to Truth Social after the search, including to insinuate that the FBI had planted evidence.

Beto O’Rourke turned some heads at a campaign rally Wednesday when he called one audience member a motherf*****.” And while the former US Representative received cheers from the crowd, political experts say he went too far.

The Democratic gubernatorial candidate was speaking to a crowd in North Texas about the mass shooting in Uvalde, where a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers, when a member in the audience began to laugh, NPR member station KUT reported.

O’Rourke quickly spun around and pointed at the heckler and said, “It may be funny to you, motherf*****, but it’s not funny to me, OK.”

The crowd immediately began cheering in support of O’Rourke’s snappy interjection.

According Cal Jillson, professor of Political Science at Southern Methodist University, O’Rourke’s kneejerk reaction shows he’s passionate, which is good, but dropping an f-bomb in a room with elderly attendees and kids, not so much.

“Light cursing can make you seem more authentic to your supporters, but there are shades of language that are dangerous,” Jillson said. “[O’Rourke] may have skated right up to it and past it.”

Rice University Political Science professor Mark Jones echoed similar sentiments: “It helps them, it hurts them.”

Jones said the shock-and-awe effect of strong obscenities isn’t as damaging as what it does to his reputation.

“These are voters who are Democratic voters, Republican voters, who don’t have an issue with profanity in their private lives but hold public officials and those making public pronouncements to a higher standard,” Jones said.

Texans have a long and strong history of supporting individualism, Jillson explained, which may be why O’Rourke’s snappy reaction was showered with applause at the moment. But if language like that won elections, we would see more of it, he said.

Jillson said jaw-dropping language in public can be counterproductive because it leaves the audience and members of the media flabbergasted. Instead of talking about a candidate’s message, they’re focused on their audacious choice of words.

“It’s not usually of much importance as the moment passes, but the fewer moments you have like this the better because you want to plan out those moments in a campaign like you would in life or business,” Jillson said.

O’Rourke’s opponents will likely seize the moment to attack his credibility. Gov. Gregg Abbott, who intends to keep his job from him, will likely use the soundbite to target voters who frown upon that kind of language.

Toilet talk and opponent bashing seem more commonplace now than ever before in politics, Jillson said, which is unfortunate because it makes it harder for these people to do their jobs.

“You hear people being called fascists, communists, groomers and pedophiles in ways you didn’t hear decades ago, and now you hear people more emboldened to capture the audiences’ attention,” he said. “It’s harmful to our politics because it becomes more difficult to conduct politics and find that middle ground on issues.”

The man who fired a nail gun into an FBI Cincinnati building Thursday before he was killed by officers was at the Capitol on Jan. 6, officials said.

Two officials familiar with the matter identified the suspect as Ricky Walter Shiffer.

Officers fatally shot the suspect after failing to negotiate with him, Ohio State Police spokesman Lt. Nathan Dennis told reporters.

The man raised a gun and officers opened fire, Dennis said.

It wasn’t clear if he fired, Dennis said, nor was it clear who fired the fatal shot. The man was pronounced dead at the scene, which Dennis described as a rural area off Interstate 71.

No officers were injured and a potential motive is still under investigation, Dennis said.

Earlier, two law enforcement sources told NBC News that a man armed with an AR-15 style rifle got inside the FBI building and fired a nail gun toward personnel before fleeing in a car.

“At approximately 9:15 EST, the FBI Cincinnati Field Office had an armed subject attempt to breach the Visitor Screening Facility (VSF),” FBI Cincinnati said in a statement. “Upon the activation of an alarm and a response by armed FBI special agents, the subject fled northbound onto Interstate 71.”

Clinton County Emergency Management Agency alerted that Interstate 71 was closed in both directions in the area of ​​the standoff at 1 pm The agency issued an update around 5 pm saying “law enforcement operations and response has ended.”

“Law enforcement has traded shots with a male suspect who is wearing a gray shirt and body armor,” the agency said in an initial statement, warning people nearby to stay inside and lock their doors. Ohio State Highway Patrol said the suspect had fired shots from a Ford Crown Victoria while he was being pursued by police.

Brian Murphy, a former official at the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI who’s now an executive at the open source intelligence firm Logically, told The Associate Press on Wednesday that his company has observed a large uptick in threats against FBI personnel and facilities on social media platforms since the FBI’s search of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Largo home.

FBI Director Christopher Wray on Wednesday decried Trump supporters who have been using violent rhetoric against law enforcement in the wake of the search.

“I’m always concerned about threats to law enforcement,” Wray said. “Violence against law enforcement is not the answer, no matter who you’re upset with.”

This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.

Associated Press and Antony Planas contributed.

WASHINGTON — Attorney General Merrick Garland said Thursday that he “personally approved the decision to seek a search warrant” for former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort and that the Justice Department filed a motion earlier in the day to make the warrant public.

Speaking about his decision at a brief news conference, Garland said the department “does not take such actions lightly” and first pursues “less intrusive” means to retrieve material. Garland noted that it was Trump’s “right” to reveal Monday’s FBI search of his property and that all Americans are entitled to a presumption of innocence.

Garland added that the Justice Department has asked to make public the property receipt detailing what agents found inside the Trump property.

Trump received a federal grand jury subpoena this spring for sensitive documents the government believed he retained after his departure from the White House, a source familiar with the matter confirmed.

Garland’s nod to “less intrusive” avenues for recovery of documents appeared to be a reference to the subpoena and suggested that Trump had not turned over all of the material sought by the Justice Department.

Trump defended himself in a statement posted to his Truth Social media platform after Garland’s remarks, claiming that his lawyers were “cooperating fully” and had developed “very good relationships” with Justice Department officials.

“The government could have had whatever they wanted, if we had it,” he wrote. “Out of nowhere, and with no warning, Mar-a-Lago was raided” by “VERY large numbers of agents, and even ‘safecrackers.’ They got way ahead of themselves. Crazy!”

Conservative journalist John Solomon first reported Thursday afternoon that Trump was sent the subpoena months before the FBI searched his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida on Monday.

The source familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the subpoena was related to documents that Trump’s legal team discussed with Justice Department officials at a previously reported meeting on June 3.

The federal officials who went to Mar-a-Lago for the June meeting were “coming down to retrieve the documents that were being requested” in the subpoena, the source familiar with the matter said, adding that the meeting was arranged with the Trump team’s understanding that turning over relevant documents that day would fulfill the subpoena.

Citing “two sources briefed on the classified documents” sought in the subpoena, The New York Times reported Thursday that federal officials were prompted to search Mar-a-Lago because uncollected material was particularly sensitive to national security.

The source familiar with the matter told NBC News that Trump’s lawyers last heard from the Justice Department before the FBI search shortly after the June meeting, when federal officials asked for additional security in the storage facility where documents were held. Trump’s team added a second lock to the basement storage area, the source said.

During Thursday’s remarks, Garland also defended the Justice Department against “unfounded” attacks made by Trump and his allies.

“I will not stand by silently when their integrity is unfairly attacked,” he said. “Every day they protect the American people from violent crime, terrorism and other threats to their safety while safeguarding our civil rights.”

FBI Director Christopher Wray, who was appointed by Trump, echoed those sentiments in a statement Thursday night.

“Unfounded attacks on the integrity of the FBI erode respect for the rule of law and are a serious disservice to the men and women who sacrifice so much to protect others. Violence and threats against law enforcement, including the FBI, are dangerous and should be deeply concerning to all Americans,” he said.

“Every day I see the men and women of the FBI doing their jobs professionally and with rigor, objectivity, and a fierce commitment to our mission of protecting the American people and upholding the Constitution. I am proud to serve alongside them,” Wray added .

Earlier this week, Trump attacked the FBI in a Truth Social post, with similar remarks from his allies.

“Everyone was asked to leave the premises, they wanted to be alone, without any witnesses to see what they were doing, taking or, hopefully not, ‘planting,’” he wrote. “Why did they STRONGLY insist on having nobody watching them, everybody out?”

Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy, a friend of the former president, said that while the two men had not discussed the investigation, “my guess is he’s pretty shocked.” Ruddy echoed Trump’s attacks on the FBI, calling the search a “publicity stunt” and depicting the Justice Department as politicized.

“Unfounded attacks on the integrity of the FBI erode respect for the rule of law and are a serious disservice to the men and women who sacrifice so much to protect others. Violence and threats against law enforcement, including the FBI, are dangerous and should be deeply concerning to all Americans. Every day I see the men and women of the FBI doing their jobs professionally and with rigor, objectivity, and a fierce commitment to our mission of protecting the American people and upholding the Constitution. I am proud to serve alongside them.”

Garland’s appearance Thursday followed an outpouring of criticism from Justice Department officials and alumni who faulted him both for his reticence amid the unprecedented search of an ex-president’s home and for failing to defend federal agents from unfounded claims that they had planted evidence.

A former Justice Department official told NBC News: “In a normal investigation, secrecy is important and justified. But when you’re talking about sending dozens of FBI agents into the bedroom of the former president of the United States to go through his drawers, you need to explain what’s going on.”

If not, this person added, “everyone will assume the worst.”

“This is a completely unprecedented move by US law enforcement, and I’m frankly astonished that no one has bothered to explain or justify it in any way.”

The White House was not given advance notice of Garland’s remarks, a senior White House official said.

Garland on Thursday put the onus on Trump to reveal more about the search, deflecting criticism that the Justice Department has been overly secretive. Under the motion filed by prosecutors, Trump now has two choices: He can allow the warrant to be made public, or he can keep it secret and risk appearing as if he has something to hide.

“I thought it was both completely appropriate and absolutely brilliant to ask the president’s lawyers to weigh in on a decision to unseal,” said Chuck Rosenberg, a former US attorney and FBI official who has worked in Democratic and Republican administrations. “If there’s no there, you would expect the president to agree.”

Representatives and attorneys for Trump did not immediately respond to requests for comment about whether he planned to fight Garland’s motion to unseal the search warrant.

The Justice Department’s motion does not seek to make public the affidavit of probable cause, which includes the FBI’s justification for searching Mar-a-Lago.

According to the court filing, a federal judge signed off on the search warrant last Friday. The filing notes that Trump and his lawyers have copies of both the warrant and a “redacted Property Receipt listing items seized pursuant to the search” — and that they can object to the public release of those documents.

“Given the intense public interest presented by a search of a residence of a former President, the government believes these factors favor unsealing the search warrant” and related materials, the filing says. “That said, the former President should have an opportunity to respond to this Motion and lodge objections, including with regards to any ‘legitimate privacy interests’ or the potential for other ‘injury’ if these materials are made public.”

The next step is for Justice Department officials to meet with Trump’s lawyers and determine whether he intends to fight disclosure of the warrant and the property receipt, according to an order Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart issued Thursday. The Justice Department must file a notice by 3 pm ET Friday to inform the judge of the Trump team’s intentions.

An irony of the investigation is that it centers on paper records. As president, Trump had an aversion to reading briefing material that staff members would hand him, former administration officials said. David Shulkin, the former veterans affairs secretary, said that when he would meet with Trump in the Oval Office or an adjacent private dining room where the ex-president often worked with the TV tuned to Fox News, he was struck by the absence of paperwork .

“President Trump never wanted any paper from us,” Shulkin said. “I would go into his office initially and say, ‘Mr. President, I have a briefing for you.’ And he would literally, with his hands, push it back and say, ‘I don’t want that.’ He didn’t want to read any of that stuff. When you go into the Oval Office, my recollection of President Trump was there wasn’t a paper anywhere. His desk from him was a Diet Coke and nothing else. ”

John Kelly, a former Trump White House chief of staff, said he would instruct Cabinet secretaries to brief Trump in person. “I would say this to members of the Cabinet,” Kelly told NBC News. “Rather than give him something to read, tell him.”

Kelly, the longest-serving chief of staff of Trump’s presidency, said that when he took the job in the summer 2017 he was told that Trump had been briefed on the Presidential Records Act and its requirement that documents be preserved.

He also said he would speak to Trump about the importance of retaining records. The message did not sink in, Kelly said, and aides would on occasion retrieve crumpled or torn pieces of paper from a wastebasket and try to piece them back together so they could eventually be turned over to archivists.

Still, Trump plainly valued some of the paper records that got to his desk. He would open a drawer of the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office and show guests the letter he got from former President Barack Obama when he left office in January 2017, a former White House official said. Or he would show visitors an executive order or a letter he had gotten from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

At his home in Mar-a-Lago, he would greet guests at dinnertime and have an aid retrieve an executive order to show them, the person said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss Trump’s practices.