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sept event w climate town yt foghorn channel Climate Town

Please Don’t Watch This Senate Hearing

Citations reference first appearance, without repeating for subsequent usage:

Episode Credits

Creator/Host: Rollie Williams

Writers: Rollie Williams & Matt Nelsen

Director: Matt Nelsen

Editors: Rollie Williams & Paul Ramsdell

Executive Producers: Rollie Williams, Matt Nelsen & Daniella Philipson

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AN 1 26

President Donald Trump is deploying old-school tactics against some of his enemies: using FBI files to target them.

*The New York Times* reported Sunday morning that FBI Director Kash Patel is helping Trump target his foes using the information it has collected.

Now, the report said, "the bureau has added payback to its portfolio."

While Trump spent years alleging the “weaponization” of law enforcement against political foes, the new administration is “using federal law enforcement to carry out a partisan opposition research operation.”

The report said that Patel has been poring over files, trying to uncover documents that can “expose and discredit federal law enforcement officials who investigated Mr. Trump and his allies.”

The Times noted that it is currently unknown how “wide-ranging” Patel’s coordination with political appointees and Republican allies has been. The official overseeing the operation was Patel’s deputy, Dan Bongino, who recently left the FBI after a tumultuous year in the post. Internally, they referred to Bongino’s unit as the “director’s advisory team.”

Most of the focus has been on the investigation into the 2020 efforts to overturn the election and stage an attack on the U.S. Capitol. Former special counsel Jack Smith spoke to the House late last year about the findings of the probe and said he had "proof beyond a reasonable doubt" that what Trump did was unlawful.

During Trump’s last administration, the IRS was used to go after former FBI Director James Comey and his deputy, Andrew McCabe.

While President Joe Biden’s administration refused to turn over documents tied to the ongoing investigation, Patel is now claiming that Smith broke the law. Speaking to the House, Smith said that all of the information he gathered was approved by a federal judge, which will make it difficult to argue that he went rogue or violated the law with his probes.

J. Edgar Hoover ran his own operations while overseeing the FBI. Recently released information detailed the way in which the FBI was surveilling civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. As the Stanford School of Humanities and Sciences detailed, the counterintelligence campaign against MLK involved "illegal wiretaps on his phone and bugging hotel rooms when he traveled."

The FBI also spread misinformation about King being an "immoral communist."

The Times reported that the FBI now claims it is the “most transparent in history,” even as it refuses to release the legally required files on the investigation into sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The bureau has strategically released batches of anti-Smith material right before he testified behind closed doors.

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), who once cast himself as a champion of whistleblowers, is now helping funnel FBI leaks through his office. An unnamed FBI whistleblower, for example, alleged that one member of Jack Smith’s team was not “impartial.”

That agent, who no longer works at the FBI, is Walter Giardina, whom Trump has personally attacked for supposedly having “animosity” toward him. “Mr. Giardina vehemently denied those allegations in a meeting with bureau officials last July, two days after the funeral of his wife, who died of adrenal cancer at 49,” the report continued.

Lawyers representing FBI agents who have been fired under the Trump administration’s weaponization effort are calling out the double standard of using the government to attack someone for their politics while accusing others of doing the same. Those making the accusations are granted anonymity, allowing them to hide behind their own partisan protectors.

*Read the full report here.

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odd? an 10 25

A Senate Banking Committee hearing grew heated when Sen. John Neely Kennedy (R-La.) erupted at one of President Donald Trump's nominees to head a key federal agency.

Politico reported Thursday that Kennedy became visibly frustrated with acting Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) chairman Travis Hill while questioning him about FDIC workplace culture. Kennedy repeatedly pressed Hill on his plans for making the FDIC a less hostile workplace after a 2024 report found there was pervasive sexual harassment and discrimination at FDIC headquarters.

"I have had enough of this, and if your name came up in front of me right now, I wouldn’t vote for you," Kennedy told Hill. "Got nothing to do with your policy chops, but I have had enough."

Hill has personally not been accused of any sexual misconduct. However, an independent third-party investigation conducted last year by the law firm Cleary Gottlieb found that more than 500 current and former employees shared stories of harassment. Kennedy gave Hill an ultimatum: If he wanted his vote, he had 30 days to provide a comprehensive plan for addressing workplace culture within the FDIC

"Until I’m convinced that they’re not going to sweep this under the rug — and that there’s going to be justice for these young women that they touched and harassed and tried to have sex with — then I’m not going to go for him," Kennedy said.

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an 2 25

During a confirmation hearing for nominees chosen for high-profile posts within the Department of Justice, two of President Donald Trump's appointees wouldn't rule out disobeying federal court orders.

NBC News reported Wednesday that both Aaron Reitz and Dean John Sauer (who have been nominated as assistant attorney general and solicitor general, respectively) suggested to senators that they may ignore a ruling from a federal judge that they disagree with. While neither Reitz — who is chief of staff to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) — or Sauer outright said they would ignore a ruling, both gave cagey answers and notably didn't once definitively say that they would always abide by judges' decisions.

Sauer in particular hinted that he could disregard future orders, in citing two maligned Supreme Court cases: *Korematsu v. United States* and *Dred Scott v. Sandford*. In the Korematsu decision handed down in 1944, the Supreme Court ruled that the government had the right to detain Japanese Americans in remote prison camps. In the 1857 Dred Scott case, the Court ruled that slaves did not have the same protections as citizens and lacked standing to sue in court. Both decisions have been widely regarded as some of the worst in the Supreme Court's history.

READ MORE:**'Fake news': Law professor schools JD Vance after he suggests Trump ignore federal judges**

"I just wonder whether some historians might think we’d be better off if it [Korematsu] hadn’t been followed," Sauer told Senate Judiciary Committee ranking member Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) during the hearing.

While Democrats and Republicans on the committee were typically divided in their support of Trump's nominees, Sen. John Neely Kennedy (R-La.) agreed with Democrats who were concerned about the possibility of DOJ officials disregarding the federal judiciary. NBC reported that Kennedy took a veiled jab at former President Joe Biden's administration in his warning to Reitz and Sauer that they shouldn't entertain the idea of disobeying federal judges. He noted that the federal bench relies on its "legitimacy" as it doesn't have an "army" at the ready to enforce its orders.

“Don’t ever, ever take the position that you’re not going to follow the order of a federal court. Ever. Now, you can disagree with it. Within the bounds of legal ethics you can criticize it. You can appeal it, or you can resign,” Kennedy said. “For four years, I have watched people in this town — not all, not, not everybody — but many try to undermine the legitimacy of the federal judiciary and it triggered each and every time my gag reflex."

Earlier this month, Vice President JD Vance opined that the Trump administration was being unfairly treated by federal judges striking down some of his executive actions, like his order attempting to repeal birthright citizenship (which is guaranteed by the Constitution) and his order freezing federal funds already appropriated by Congress from being disbursed. But the administration appears to already be flouting the latter order, as some nonprofits have said they still can't access federal grant money that had already been approved.

READ MORE:**'First of many': Internet erupts after judge blocks Trump's 'blatantly unconstitutional' order**

Click here to read NBC's report in full.

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February 6, 2025, edition of Fox News' America Reports

JOHN ROBERTS (ANCHOR): So Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana who writes about this in the National Review. He says in part, numerous studies show human beings are happier and healthier when employed. Long-term joblessness associated with higher rates of cardiovascular disease, depression, and anxiety. One study even recommended employment as a quote critical mental health intervention.

He says there are 15 million able-bodied adults without children on Medicaid who could probably reenter the workforce. This is kind of like the idea that we saw back in the Clinton administration of welfare to work.

DR. MARC SIEGEL (FOX CONTRIBUTOR): Or bridge to jobs. And I completely agree with everything you just said. It is 15 million that have been identified, John.

In the Trump 1 administration 13 states received approval for just this kind of program and another 9 were applying for it when the Biden administration came in and nixed it. So, this is something on the table for a while.

I agree with the issue it improves health. I also think, by the way, that's its tied in with something else you are going to ask me about, which is people using Medicaid in the wrong way. They might have a way to make money, but they don’t tie it in with their health insurance so essentially Medicaid is part of a nanny state.

You know, the vast majority of people in this country get their insurance by working for it and they are proud of it and might even take a job a little less and they want in order to get the health insurance to provide for their family. With Medicaid it's uncoupled and the federal government pays 70% of Medicaid across the board, so even though it's a state-administered program to a large extent it is a federally-funded program and fraud and abuse and misuse of Medicaid is a federal crime.

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DDSB

Biden 'doubling down' in the face of 'absurdity' with latest climate push, expert says

Fox Business

Climate Depot executive editor Marc Morano reacts to comments from a Senate hearing on climate concerns and sounds off on the Biden ...

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an 1 25

Sen. John Neely Kennedy (R-La.) made a dig at a news outlet in the middle of a press conference following the deadly terror attack in New Orleans on New Years' Day. Several journalists, pundits and elected officials are now condemning his remarks.

The Daily Beast reported that while taking questions from assembled reporters on Wednesday, Kennedy was told that an NBC News reporter was "on the right" and wanted to ask a question. Kennedy said that "was an unusual position" for the outlet, which prompted the reporter to say: "I don't get it."

"You wouldn't," Kennedy responded.

READ MORE:**GOP senator uses hearing on 'hate crime crisis' as platform 'to launch a series of racist attacks'**

"Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana is a useless piece of s— saying all the wrong things at the wrong time for all the wrong reasons," tweeted former MSNBC host Keith Olbermann. "What a tone deaf, selfish, senile motherf—er."

Louisiana Public Service Commissioner Davante Lewis also chimed in, calling out Kennedy's "unacceptable and deplorable behavior" and telling the Bayou State's junior U.S. senator that the press conference "wasn't the time or place for you[r] jackass jokes."

"For once can you put the people of Louisiana over your media obsession," Lewis tweeted.

The terror attack, which was carried out by a 42 year-old American-born U.S. military veteran, left 14 dead and dozens injured on Bourbon Street in New Orleans' French Quarter. The attacker was eventually killed in a shootout with police.

READ MORE:**Ex-FBI official lays out 'split-second decisions' police had to make during Bourbon Street massacre**

"If my constituents had just been slaughtered in a terrorist attack I wouldn't be cracking jokes for the cameras but that's just me," former Obama administration official Eric Columbus posted to X.

"This man is a thorough disgrace to the office he holds," tweeted scientist and author Michael E. Mann. "He should resign immediately."

Watch the video of Kennedy's comment below, or by clicking this link.

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an 12 24

Retired Major General Randy Manner pushed back on Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) after he complained about President-elect Donald Trump and his MAGA supporters being called fascists.

During a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Trump's mass deportation plans on Tuesday, Kennedy accused Manner of wanting "open borders."

"It makes you angry that most Americans don't believe in open borders, doesn't it?" the senator asked.

"Not in the slightest, sir," Manner replied.

Kennedy took issue with a statement Manner made to CNN on Oct. 14.

"President Trump is not like any sane leader. I'm very proud of General Milley for saying that President Trump is a total fascist," Kennedy recalled Manner saying. "The challenge is because most MAGA Republicans, they don't understand what fascism is. The reality is that they are, in fact, fascists themselves."

"Did I read that accurately?" the senator pressed.

"Senator, I am happy to discuss my personal perspectives with you separately at any time," the general said. "That's not the purpose of the hearing today."

"You think you're smarter than the American people, don't you?" Kennedy wondered.

"Absolutely not, senator," Manner stated. "I am here to discuss the use of the military as part of this mass deportation."

ALSO READ:Agenda 47: Alarm sounded about Trump’s dystopian plans for his second term

"You think you're more virtuous than the American people, don't you, general?" Kennedy remarked.

"Senator, I am insulted by your comment," Manner insisted. "Senator, for 35 years, I served my country with absolute honor and distinction, and I will continue to do so."

Watch the video below from the Senate Judiciary Committee.

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