Happy New Year 2025

Tag: investigations

Russ Vought, tapped as CFPB’s acting director, directs bureau to issue no new rules, stop all investigations

Office of Management and Budget director Russell Vought is now also the acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, where he has directed staff to not issue any new rules, to suspend effective dates of all final rules and to stop any new investigations.

Vought, also a Project 2025 author, was named acting director of the CFPB on Friday.

“I am honored that President Trump designated me as Acting Director of the Bureau on February 7, 2025,” Vought said in an email to CFPB colleagues obtained by RealClearPolitics. “As Acting Director, I am committed to implementing the President’s policies, consistent with the law, and acting as a faithful steward of the Bureau’s resources.”

He issued several directives that, effective immediately, must be followed by all employees, contractors and other CFPB personnel “unless expressly approved by the Acting Director or required by law,” according to RealClearPolitics.

RUSSELL VOUGHT CONFIRMED TO HEAD GOVERNMENT’S LEADING BUDGET OFFICE AFTER DEMS HOLD 30-HOUR PROTEST

Russell Vought speaks during a Senate Budget Committee hearing on his nomination, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (Jacquelyn Martin/AP)

The directives include not approving or issuing any proposed or final rules or formal or informal guidance and for the bureau to suspend the effective dates of all final rules that have been issued or published but have not gone into effect.

Vought also ordered the bureau not to “commence, take investigative activities related to, or settle enforcement actions.” CFPB must not open any new investigation in any manner and must cease any pending probes, he said.

The acting director said the CFPB shall not issue public communications of any type, including research papers.

Russell Vought is sworn in during the Senate Banking Committee nomination hearing in the Dirksen Senate Building on January 22, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)

Additionally, the CFPB must not approve or execute any material agreements, including those related to employee matters or contractors, and must not make or approve filings or appearances by the bureau in any litigation except to ask for a pause in proceedings.

The bureau was also told to cease all supervision and examination activity and to cease all stakeholder engagement.

Vought also sent a letter to the Federal Reserve requesting no money for the CFPB’s third quarter of fiscal year 2025.

SENATE DEMOCRATS SPEAK ALL NIGHT AGAINST TRUMP OMB NOMINEE, DELAYING CONFIRMATION VOTE

Russell Vought testifies during the Senate Banking Committee nomination hearing in the Dirksen Senate Building on January 22, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)

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“Pursuant to the Consumer Financial Protection Act, I have notified the Federal Reserve that CFPB will not be taking its next draw of unappropriated funding because it is not ‘reasonably necessary’ to carry out its duties,” Vought wrote on X. “The Bureau’s current balance of $711.6 billion is in fact excessive in the current fiscal environment. This spigot, long contributing to CFPB’s unaccountability, is now being turned off.”

This comes after Vought was confirmed by the Senate on Thursday to lead the Office of Management and Budget.

Fox News Digital has reached out to CFPB for further comment.

February 9, 2025
Top DOJ official says FBI employees who ‘simply followed orders’ on Jan 6 investigations won’t be fired

Mass exodus at the FBI and DOJ expected

Fox News correspondent David Spunt has the latest on the debate surrounding President Donald Trump’s efforts to overhaul the FBI and Justice Department on ‘Special Report.’

FBI employees who “simply followed orders” with respect to their investigations into Jan. 6 defendants will not be fired or face any other penalties, Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove confirmed in an internal memo.

Bove’s memo this week accused Acting FBI Director Brian Driscoll of refusing to reply to requests from President Donald Trump’s administration to identify “the core team in Washington, D.C. responsible for the investigation relating to events on January 6, 2021.”

“That insubordination necessitated, among other things, the directive in my January 31, 2025 memo to identify all agents assigned to investigations relating to January 6, 2021. In light of acting leadership’s refusal to comply with the narrower request, the written directive was intended to obtain a complete data set that the Justice Department can reliably pare down to the core team that will be the focus of the weaponization review pursuant to the Executive Order,” Bove wrote.

“Let me be clear: No FBI employee who simply followed orders and carried out their duties in an ethical manner with respect to January 6 investigations is at risk of termination or other penalties,” Bove continued. “The only individuals who should be concerned about the process initiated by my January 31, 2025 memo are those who acted with corrupt or partisan intent, who blatantly defied orders from Department leadership, or who exercised discretion in weaponizing the FBI.”

FBI AGENTS GROUP TELLS CONGRESS TO TAKE URGENT ACTION TO PROTECT AGAINST POLITICIZATION

Acting leadership at the FBI is refusing to cooperate with President Donald Trump’s administration, Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove claimed in a memo. (AP/iStock)

“There is no honor in the ongoing efforts to distort that simple truth or protect culpable actors from scrutiny on these issues, which have politicized the Bureau, harmed its credibility, and distracted the public from the excellent work being done every day. If you have witnessed such behavior, I encourage you to report it through appropriate channels,” he added.

Bove’s latest memo comes after a group of nine FBI agents filed a lawsuit Tuesday seeking to block the public identification of any FBI employees who worked on the Jan. 6 investigations.

FBI AGENTS GROUP TELLS CONGRESS TO TAKE URGENT ACTION TO PROTECT AGAINST POLITICIZATION

The plaintiffs, who filed the lawsuit anonymously in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, said that any effort to review or discriminate against FBI employees involved in the Jan. 6 investigations would be “unlawful and retaliatory,” and a violation of civil service protections under federal law.

Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove, a former Trump attorney, directed the FBI acting director to fire seven specific employees by Monday. (Angela Weiss – Pool/Getty Images)

The lawsuit cited the questionnaire employees were required to fill out detailing their specific role in the Jan. 6 investigation and Mar-a-Lago investigation led by former Special Counsel Jack Smith.

AFTER STINGING ELECTION DEFEATS, DNC EYES RURAL VOTERS AS KEY TO 2026 MIDTERM SUCCESS

Acting FBI Director Brian Driscoll is blocking the release of information on the FBI’s investigations into Jan. 6, Bove said. (FBI)

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President Donald Trump declined to answer questions on Monday over whether his administration would remove FBI employees involved in the investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot, telling reporters only that he believes the bureau is “corrupt” and that his nominee for FBI director, Kash Patel, will “straighten it out.”

Fox News’ Breanne Deppisch contributed to this report

Anders Hagstrom is a reporter with Fox News Digital covering national politics and major breaking news events. Send tips to [email protected], or on Twitter: @Hagstrom_Anders.

February 5, 2025
FBI agents sue Trump DOJ to block any public identification of employees who worked on Jan. 6 investigations

A group of nine FBI agents filed a lawsuit Tuesday seeking to block the public identification of any FBI employees who worked on the Jan. 6 investigations into the U.S. Capitol riots, in an attempt to head off what they described as potentially retaliatory efforts against personnel involved in the probe.

The plaintiffs, who filed the lawsuit anonymously in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, said that any effort to review or discriminate against FBI employees involved in the Jan. 6 investigations would be “unlawful and retaliatory,” and a violation of civil service protections under federal law.

The lawsuit cited the questionnaire employees were required to fill out detailing their specific role in the Jan. 6 investigation and Mar-a-Lago investigation led by former special counsel Jack Smith.

FBI AGENTS GROUP TELLS CONGRESS TO TAKE URGENT ACTION TO PROTECT AGAINST POLITICIZATION

FBI agents have filed a lawsuit to block the public identification of any employees who worked the Jan. 6 cases. (Getty Images)

“Some Plaintiffs were required to fill out the survey themselves, others were told that their supervisors would be filling out the form,” the lawsuit noted, adding that the employees “were informed that the aggregated information is going to be forwarded to upper management.”

“Plaintiffs assert that the purpose for this list is to identify agents to be terminated or to suffer other adverse employment action. Plaintiffs reasonably fear that all or parts of this list might be published by allies of President Trump, thus placing themselves and their families in immediate danger of retribution by the now pardoned and at-large Jan. 6 convicted felons.”

President Donald Trump declined to answer questions on Monday over whether his administration would remove FBI employees involved in the investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot, telling reporters only that he believes the bureau is “corrupt” and that his nominee for FBI director, Kash Patel, will “straighten it out.”

This is a breaking news story. Check back soon for updates.

Breanne Deppisch is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital covering the 2024 election and other national news.

February 4, 2025
Fauci potentially to be deposed as GOP continues investigations into COVID

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., is continuing his efforts to investigate the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic, and he wants answers from Dr. Anthony Fauci.

In his new position as chairman of the Senate’s Homeland Security committee, Paul issued subpoenas to 14 agencies from the outgoing Biden administration aimed at building on past congressional investigations into the COVID-19 virus and risky taxpayer-funded gain-of-function research. It is unclear who exactly from each agency will ultimately be deposed, but a Fauci deposition is possible.

“In the wake of Anthony Fauci’s preemptive pardon, there are still questions to be answered,” Paul said in a statement after announcing the issuance of his subpoenas. “Subpoenas were sent from the Committee to NIH [National Institutes of Health] and 13 other agencies regarding their involvement in risky gain-of-function research. The goal of the investigation will be to critique the process that allowed this dangerous research, that may have led to the pandemic, to occur in a foreign country under unsafe protocols and to ensure that there is sufficient oversight and review going forward, making sure a mistake of this magnitude never happens again.”

FORMER NASCAR STAR DANICA PATRICK SUPPORTS TRUMP REVOKING FAUCI’S SECURITY DETAIL

While former President Joe Biden preemptively pardoned Fauci to protect him from political retribution under the new Trump administration, legal experts have questioned the validity of such a pardon. Missouri Attorney General Andrew Baily suggested to Fox News that since Biden’s own Justice Department indicated he lacked the mental faculties to be held criminally liable for improper handling of classified documents, it could be argued he also lacked the mens rea to issue pardons to people like Fauci. Additionally, the pardon Fauci received only covers his actions from January 2014 to the date of his pardon. As a result, a refusal to comply with a congressional subpoena could also potentially result in criminal charges.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., questions former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci during a hearing about the U.S.’ response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 4, 2021. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images | AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Paul’s investigation will build on a previous bipartisan probe launched by the Senate’s Homeland Security committee last year looking into the national security threats posed by “high-risk biological research and technology in the U.S. and abroad.”

A second investigation being launched by Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., the chairman of the Permanent Select Subcommittee on Investigations, will similarly probe concerns in the new Congress surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic and will include a review of email communications from Fauci.

MISSOURI AG SAYS LEGAL ACTION AGAINST ANTHONY FAUCI IS STILL ON THE TABLE

Since the pandemic began, Paul has sent dozens of requests for information related to the origins of the COVID-19 virus and gain-of-function research. Last year, his efforts revealed documents that he said show that government officials from at least 15 federal agencies knew in 2018 that China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) was working on creating a coronavirus similar to COVID-19.

Security personnel stand guard outside the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan, China. (Hector Retamal/AFP via Getty Images)

The WIV has been a centerpiece in the debate over the origins of COVID-19, as it was eventually discovered that American scientist Peter Daszak’s EcoHealth Alliance was using taxpayer dollars to conduct risky research on the novel bat virus out of the WIV prior to the COVID-19 outbreak. Earlier this month, the Department of Health and Human Services barred Daszak and EcoHealth Alliance from receiving federal funding for five years.

Meanwhile, Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), told Congress in May 2021 that the NIH “has not ever and does not now fund gain-of-function research in the Wuhan Institute of Virology.”

DR. FAUCI SAYS HE APPRECIATES PRESIDENT BIDEN’S PARDON BUT INSISTS ‘NO CRIME’ WAS COMMITTED

Dr. Anthony Fauci is sworn-in before testifying in front of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic in Washington, D.C., on June 3, 2024. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

The Trump administration is reportedly preparing an executive order to halt all U.S. funding going towards gain-of-function research.

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Federal officials remain split on where the COVID-19 virus originated from. Three agencies — the Department of Energy, the FBI and the CIA — have determined that the most likely origin narrative is the lab leak theory, but others in the intelligence community and throughout the federal government say they can either not conclude that a lab leak was the most likely scenario, or they say that a natural origin scenario is most likely. A declassified intelligence report from 2021, published by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, posited that if a lab leak did turn out to be the catalyst of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was likely the result of an accident.

Representatives for Paul declined to comment for this report, while Fauci did not respond to a request for comment.

February 1, 2025
GOP chairman signals investigations over alleged debanking of conservatives

Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., addresses claims of conservatives being debanked and weighs in on Joe Bidens last minute pardons

A leading House Republican is signaling that his committee is set to investigate claims that some individuals and entities were debanked by financial institutions because of their connection to conservative political causes.

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., appeared on “Sunday Morning Futures” and addressed claims that conservatives have been debanked by leading financial institutions. The discussion occurred after President Donald Trump raised concerns about debanking during remarks to the World Economic Forum.

“We’ve heard numerous instances of conservatives being debanked and what we want to know is, is this a process of the bank’s ESG policy, or is this our government stepping in like what we found with Twitter and Facebook, where the government stepped in and said they wanted certain conservatives deplatformed and censored, and certain conservative content removed,” Comer said.

“We want to know, again, is this the government involvement – another dirty trick by Joe Biden’s administration – or is this just bad liberal policy that discriminates against conservatives by the banks,” he added.

TRUMP’S DAVOS COMMENTS REIGNITE DEBANKING CONTROVERSY

House Oversight Committee Chair Jamie Comer said his panel plans to look into debarning claims. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images / Getty Images)

Bartiromo asked if Comer has evidence of banks cutting ties with conservative clients, and the chairman said he does.

“Yes, especially people that were involved in different energy-type businesses as well as very outspoken conservative activists. So there are numerous instances, enough to open an investigation,” he replied.

“Again, is this ESG policy – which is discriminatory and ironically, the Democrats have passed all this banking legislation that prohibits discrimination – is this discriminatory because of ESG, or is it the government, are the bank examiners, as President Trump hinted in his remarks you played earlier, are these bank examiners with a wink and a nod saying, ‘Don’t let this person bank at your bank,’” Comer said.

TRUMP CONFRONTS BANK OF AMERICA CEO FOR NOT TAKING ‘CONSERVATIVE BUSINESS’

President Donald Trump spoke to the World Economic Forum on Jan. 23, 2025, and criticized banks for what he said was politically motivated debanking. (Halil Sagirkaya/Anadolu via)

The chairman said banks are “going to be asked a lot of questions,” and added, “I will say this for the banks, during the Biden influence peddling investigation the banks were the one entity that did cooperate with us. So I expect that the banks will cooperate with our questions, and hopefully we can get some answers.”

“At the very least we want to change this,” Comer said. “We’re not talking about debanking meaning they denied a loan, that happens every day in the banking world. This is just opening up savings accounts and checking accounts. I mean this is unheard of to do this, and it’s against the law – the laws, ironically, that the Democrats created against discrimination.”

CONSERVATIVE GROUP TAKES AIM AT WALL STREET IN REPORT CLAIMING BIG BANKS HAVE UNDERCUT FIREARMS INDUSTRY

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon recently said banks should be able to more freely tell clients why their accounts were closed. (Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg via / Getty Images)

Federal laws and financial regulations can prompt banks to close accounts over concerns about things like money laundering or illicit financial activities.

Trump’s debanking comments at the WEF were directed at Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan as well as JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon. Both banks have disputed allegations that politics contributed to decisions to close bank accounts.

“We serve more than 70 million clients, and we welcome conservatives,” a Bank of America spokesperson told FOX Business. “We are required to follow extensive government rules and regulations that sometimes result in decisions to exit client relationships. We never close accounts for political reasons, and don’t have a political litmus test.”

A JPMorgan spokesperson said in a statement that the bank would “never close an account for political reasons, full stop. We follow the law and guidance from our regulators and have long said there are problems with the current framework that Washington must address.”

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Dimon appeared on JPMorgan Chase’s “The Unshakeables” podcast and said in a discussion about challenges that crypto firms have encountered with debanking that banks are not allowed to tell clients why they were debanked and had their accounts closed.

“I think we should be allowed to tell you,” Dimon said. “When we report stuff, the federal government should probably know about it, and there should be far clearer lines about what we have to do and what we don’t have to do or things like that.”

January 28, 2025