WASHINGTON — Justice Department prosecutors in the Biden administration discussed their desire to target Catholic nuns, text messages shared with The Daily Wire show.
Communications obtained by Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) show <a href="https://www.wsj.com/us-news/law/trump-trial-special-counsel-jack-smith-prosecutors-team-20d57b78" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Joseph Cooney and Molly Gaston</a> texting one another in February 2021 as they scoured media coverage of January 6. The texts specifically reference a New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/01/29/us/oath-keepers-capitol-riot.html#:~:text=Donovan%20Crowl%20and%20Jessica%20Watkins,Watkins%20close%20by." target="_blank" rel="noopener">photo of religious sisters</a> who attended the &#8220;Stop the Steal&#8221; rally, wearing traditional habits and veils, as well as big Trump scarves around their necks.
&#8220;I would like to take a special assignment of finding and prosecuting them,&#8221; Gaston wrote to Cooney.
&#8220;I&#8217;m with you,&#8221; responded Cooney. &#8220;Although I&#8217;d like to prosecute any nun who still wears the head habit.&#8221;
&#8220;Hahaha,&#8221; his fellow DOJ prosecutor responded.
The Justice Department provided the communications to Grassley as part of his investigation into Arctic Frost, an FBI investigation into Republicans and conservatives. Both Cooney and Gaston went on to serve as top deputies to Special Counsel Jack Smith throughout his Arctic Frost investigation. They now head &#8220;Gaston &amp; Cooney PLLC,&#8221; and Cooney is running for Congress in Virginia.
Grassley, who previously released messages showing that Cooney and other DOJ prosecutors sought to find ways to target Trump with criminal charges over January 6, told The Daily Wire that he found the messages appalling.
“Freedom of religion is a cherished First Amendment right enshrined in our Constitution by the Founding Fathers,&#8221; the senator said. &#8220;I was appalled, but sadly not surprised, to discover evidence of Biden DOJ prosecutors threatening to use the power of the federal justice system to target people of faith.&#8221;
&#8220;Time and again, my oversight has shown the Biden Justice Department, including these prosecutors who went on to advance Jack Smith’s Arctic Frost investigation, showed total disdain for equal justice,&#8221; he added.
Cooney, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment, is now running as a Democrat for a congressional seat in Virginia — specifically Virginia&#8217;s 7th congressional district, which is part of the Diocese of Arlington, one of the most traditional Catholic dioceses in the United States serving over 430,000 Catholics in the Northern Virginia area.
He&#8217;s running on an overtly anti-Trump platform, telling CNN last week: &#8220;Donald Trump needs to be impeached. I’m running for Congress to do it.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Donald Trump needs to be impeached.
I’m running for Congress to do it. <a href="https://t.co/aYTwrNwKm8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pic.twitter.com/aYTwrNwKm8</a>
— J.P. Cooney (@cooneycongress) <a href="https://twitter.com/cooneycongress/status/2047876577883509038?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">April 25, 2026</a></blockquote>
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Cooney also <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/explosive-report-reveals-the-biden-administrations-disdain-for-religious-pro-life-activists?author=Mary+Margaret+Olohan&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=2&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Explosive+Report+Reveals+The+Biden+Administration%E2%80%99s+Disdain+For+Religious+Pro-Life+Activists" target="_blank" rel="noopener">disparaged the report</a> the DOJ put out this month on the weaponization of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, defending the Justice Department&#8217;s actions after it was exposed that the Biden DOJ used FACE to prosecute and imprison pro-life protesters while providing &#8220;extensive support to abortion clinics” and ignoring and downplaying &#8220;vandalism and attacks against pregnancy resource centers or houses of worship.”
The report also found that the Biden DOJ was in constant contact with pro-abortion groups to track the travel plans of Christian pro-life activists who had not been charged with any crimes.
Cooney, however, said he is proud of his team&#8217;s work on these cases.
&#8220;The Trump DOJ&#8217;s report on the FACE Act is false,&#8221; Cooney said in a post on social media. &#8220;I am proud of my team&#8217;s work prosecuting people who conspired to barricade a reproductive health clinic, shoved staff, and forced a woman seeking treatment to climb through a reception window. That&#8217;s not First Amendment activity — that&#8217;s a crime.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
The Trump DOJ&#8217;s report on the FACE Act is false. I am proud of my team&#8217;s work prosecuting people who conspired to barricade a reproductive health clinic, shoved staff, and forced a woman seeking treatment to climb through a reception window. That&#8217;s not First Amendment…
— J.P. Cooney (@cooneycongress) <a href="https://twitter.com/cooneycongress/status/2044132489543991782?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">April 14, 2026</a></blockquote>
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In other messages reviewed by The Daily Wire, Cooney and Gaston discussed COVID-19 restrictions on Catholic masses. Gaston complained that it was &#8220;insane&#8221; for Catholics to be upset that then-President Joe Biden was receiving Holy Communion at Holy Trinity in Georgetown.
&#8220;People are insane,&#8221; she told Cooney.
&#8220;It&#8217;s ridiculous,&#8221; he responded, before asking her if she was going to mass in person. When Gaston replied that no, she wasn&#8217;t going to mass, and she wasn&#8217;t even watching mass via a live stream, Cooney shared that someone he knew (their name was redacted) was going to &#8220;daily mass since the summer, thankfully without a problem.&#8221;
&#8220;They really shouldn&#8217;t be doing that,&#8221; he added.
&#8220;Wow,&#8221; responded Gaston. &#8220;Good for them, except not.&#8221;
The New York Post&#8217;s Miranda Devine reported last summer that Cooney and other prosecutors showed &#8220;nitpicking malice&#8221; that &#8220;tainted special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation.&#8221;
“Can we do some work to nail down Trump’s role in this,” Cooney wrote to his colleagues at the DOJ in a March 8, 2023, email with the subject line: “J6 Prisoner Choir/DJT.”
Cooney attached an article from Forbes that was headlined “Trump Collaborates On Song With Jan. 6 Defendants,&#8221; writing that Trump recorded the January 6 prisoner choir singing the &#8220;Pledge of Allegiance&#8221; at Mar-a-Lago.
&#8220;Proceeds are intended for families of incarcerated J6 defendants — but there is apparently a vetting process that excludes families of defendants who assaulted police officers,&#8221; Cooney wrote, according to the New York Post, adding that he would talk to colleagues about &#8220;doing some follow up here to nail down Trump’s role.”

Untitled design – 2026-04-29T134642.653

EXCLUSIVE: Biden DOJ Lawyers Fantasized About Prosecuting Catholic Nuns, Emails Show

Chuck Grassley

Joe Biden

Millions of Americans this week will head to the polls in several crucial elections, more revelations regarding former President Joe Biden’s Arctic Frost operation come to light, and President Donald Trump draws a line in the sand regarding Christian persecution in Nigeria.
It’s Monday, November 3, 2025, and this is the news you need to know to start your day. Today’s edition of the Morning Wire podcast can be heard below, and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/mrn-251103-member-exclusive">the video version can be seen on The Daily Wire</a>:
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<h2 style="text-align: center;">Election Day Preview</h2>
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Topline: It’s election week, with millions of Americans heading to the polls for the first time since Donald Trump’s 2024 victory.  
New York: The race for New York City’s mayor is getting the most national attention. An avowed socialist could soon lead America’s largest city. The 34-year-old Zohran Mamdani came out of nowhere this year to win the Democratic Primary, and he’s maintained a significant double-digit lead throughout the general election.
He is running against Republican Curtis Sliwa and former New York Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo, who, after losing in the primary, began running as an independent. Current polling shows Mamdani with an average lead of 14 points.
Mamdani’s endorsements: Typically, whoever wins the primary in New York is immediately endorsed by party leaders. But with the exception of far-Left folks like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, most national Democrats were hesitant to sign on — clearly concerned about tying themselves to Mamdani’s more radical views.
While New York Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) eventually were pressured into endorsing Mamdani, in an extraordinary move, high-profile Democrats like  Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) have yet to do so.
Join us now during our exclusive Deal of the Decade. Get everything for $7 a month. Not as fans. As fighters. Go to <a href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">DailyWire.com/Subscribe</a> to join now.
Interestingly, Mamdani’s support is coming from foreign-born Americans. One of the latest polls shows that among voters born in America, Cuomo is actually ahead by nine points. But among foreign-born voters, Mamdani holds a massive 38-point lead.
New Jersey: Republicans have had their eye on the Garden State ever since last November, when Trump got within six points of victory. In 2020, he lost by 16% – the second-largest shift to the right in any state in the country.
A few months ago, the governor’s race looked like a blowout, with Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) ahead by more than 20 points. But Republican nominee Jack Ciatarelli has gained significant ground. The latest polls show him within about three points.
Virginia: Democrats were embarrassed in Virginia four years ago when Republican Glenn Youngkin pulled off a stunning upset. This time, Republican Winsome Earle-Sears needs an even bigger upset to defeat Democrat Abigail Spanberger.
This governor’s race has, in many ways, been defined by the Attorney General election, specifically, Jay Jones, the Democratic nominee. Last month, leaked texts from 2022 showed him wishing death on Republican colleagues in Virginia, even saying he hoped their children died because “only when people feel pain personally do they move on policy.” Despite those messages, Jones stayed on the ticket, though it did lead to him cratering in the polls.
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Operation Arctic Frost Revelations</h2>
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Topline: New whistleblower documents expose a Biden-era &#8220;enemies list&#8221; buried deep in a federal investigation codenamed Arctic Frost. Republicans say this probe, which targeted President Trump and hundreds of his allies, weaponized the Justice Department for political reasons.
Arctic Frost started as an FBI operation in April 2022, led by then-agent Timothy Thibault. Initially, it was aimed at probing alleged efforts by Trump allies to challenge the 2020 election. But when Special Counsel Jack Smith took over in November of that year, it ballooned into the basis for Trump&#8217;s election interference indictments. Those charges were eventually dismissed.
But now, whistleblower records obtained by Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) show a lot more was going on at the time — Arctic Frost became a sweeping dragnet targeting Republican senators, donors, and outside conservative groups.
Grassley has also revealed that the authorization for Arctic Frost had come from the top of the Biden administration, meaning then-Attorney General Merrick Garland and then-FBI Director Christopher Wray.
The predicate: Grassley released 197 subpoenas issued in 2023 alone. The subpoenas included nonpublic grand jury material that demanded everything from emails to phone metadata to bank records and credit reports of 34 individuals and 163 businesses, including many conservative groups such as Turning Point USA.
The subpoenas sought communications from nine Republican senators, including Ted Cruz, Lindsey Graham, and Ron Johnson, as well as from House members and White House aides such as Stephen Miller and Jared Kushner. They even went after media companies — Fox News, Newsmax, Sinclair — demanding donor lists and fundraising data.
Repercussions: Cruz is demanding the House impeach D.C. Chief Judge James Boasberg, an Obama appointee, for approving a 2023 gag order that silenced carriers like AT&amp;T from alerting targets. Cruz said there were &#8220;no facts or evidence&#8221; to justify it, and Rep. Brandon Gill (R-TX) is drafting articles, calling Boasberg a &#8220;radical activist judge&#8221; who enabled spying on senators.
Some could be charged with crimes. Some conservative legal experts are pushing for criminal charges against DOJ and FBI staffers for conspiring to violate the free speech, free assembly, and privacy rights of their targets.
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Trump Threatens Nigeria Over Christian Persecution</h2>
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Topline: President Trump issued a stark warning to Nigeria over the persecution of Christians – while he continues to flex U.S. might in South America.
Nigeria: Trump said the U.S. military would move on Nigeria “guns-a-blazing” unless it stops the persecution of Christians. He <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115476385101120405">posted</a> on Truth Social on Saturday that Nigeria needs to “move fast” or the U.S. military will “completely wipe out the Islamic Terrorists who are committing these horrible atrocities.”
That post came a day after Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115470116607441456">announced</a> that he had designated Nigeria a “COUNTRY OF PARTICULAR CONCERN,” which means Nigeria has been identified for “particularly severe violations of religious freedom” <a href="https://europeanconservative.com/articles/news-corner/trump-calls-for-support-for-persecuted-nigerian-christians/">under</a> the International Religious Freedom Act.
The scope of the persecution is vast. According to one report, more than 7,000 Christians have been killed in Nigeria just since the start of the year, which makes Nigeria easily the deadliest country for Christians globally.
Sen. Cruz <a href="https://www.cruz.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/sen-cruz-statement-on-president-trump-action-against-nigeria-for-christian-persecution">said</a> that the designation is “a critical step in holding accountable and changing the behavior of Nigerian officials who have facilitated and created an environment conducive to the outrages in Nigeria.” He has introduced legislation to take it a step further, punishing in particular officials who push blasphemy and sharia laws in Nigeria.
Nigerian President Bola Tinubu <a href="https://x.com/officialABAT/status/1984640117361840491">said</a> the accusations of Christian persecution do “not reflect our national reality,” and that “Nigeria is a country with constitutional guarantees to protect citizens of all faiths.” A spokesman for the president <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/trump-tells-department-defense-prepare-possible-action-nigeria-rcna241330">added</a> Sunday that he would welcome U.S. help fighting terrorism “as long as it (the U.S.) recognizes our territorial integrity.”
South America: According to reports from the <a href="https://www.wsj.com/world/americas/u-s-eyes-striking-venezuelan-military-targets-used-for-drug-trafficking-cafcfe47?st=tchg4R%3E">Wall Street Journal</a> and the <a href="https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/venezuela/article312722642.html">Miami Herald</a>, the president has weighed military strikes on Venezuelan targets, which could be launched at any time.
The reported targets would be military assets used in the drug trade, and if the president moved forward with strikes, it would serve not only as a clear message to drug traffickers but to President Nicolás Maduro, as well. The Trump administration wants him out of government – the sooner the better for him.
The military pressure on Venezuela is the opposite of the pressure Trump has used in Argentina. There, the country’s libertarian president, Javier Milei, won a massive victory in the midterm elections, at least partly due to Trump’s offer of an economic lifeline to Argentina’s government – but only if Milei’s reforms were protected.

MRN_251103_V2

Morning Brief: Election Day Nears, Biden-Era ‘Enemies List,’ & Trump Warns Nigeria

Morning Brief: Election Day Preview, Arctic Frost Revelations, And Trump Threatens Nigeria

Argentina

Donald Trump

Media

Morning Wire

New Jersey

New York City

Nigeria

Politics

Ted Cruz

Venezuela

Virginia

Zohran Mamdani

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) gave a <a href="https://www.rev.com/transcripts/arctic-frost-press-conference">press conference</a> on Wednesday in conjunction with a massive document dump relating to a probe — undertaken by former President Joe Biden&#8217;s Justice Department — code-named Arctic Frost.
Arctic Frost, which would ultimately grow into Special Counsel Jack Smith&#8217;s investigation into the 2020 presidential election, included nearly 200 subpoenas aimed at Republicans in Congress and Trump allies outside of Capitol Hill — from high-dollar donors and super-PACs to Mike Lindell&#8217;s MyPillow. Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) described the slew of subpoenas as &#8220;nothing short of a Biden administration enemies list.&#8221;
&#8220;Arctic Frost was the vehicle by which partisan FBI agents and DOJ prosecutors could improperly investigate the entire Republican political apparatus,&#8221; Grassley said when he made the list public. &#8220;Contrary to what Smith has said publicly, this was clearly a fishing expedition.&#8221;
Grassley also revealed a few days earlier that the authorization for Arctic Frost had come from the top of the Biden Administration.
&#8220;Just received this doc frm DOJ Proof that Biden Atty General Merrick Garland + Deputy Atty General Lisa Monaco + FBI Dir Chris Wray all PERSONALLY APPROVED opening Arctic Frost,&#8221; Grassley posted the letter along with a brief comment. &#8220;This investigation unleashed unchecked govt power at the highest levels.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Just received this doc frm DOJ Proof that Biden Atty General Merrick Garland+ Deputy Atty General Lisa Monaco+ FBI Dir Chris Wray all PERSONALLY APPROVED opening Arctic Frost
This investigation unleashed unchecked govt power at the highest levels My oversight will continue <a href="https://t.co/atuRnC8ara">pic.twitter.com/atuRnC8ara</a>
— Chuck Grassley (@ChuckGrassley) <a href="https://twitter.com/ChuckGrassley/status/1981426515284721848?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 23, 2025</a></blockquote>
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The Federalist&#8217;s Sean Davis shared a list of organizations whose bank records had been subpoenaed: &#8220;The corrupt Biden FBI subpoenaed the bank records, donor lists, and emails of nearly every major conservative organization and leader in the country, including Donald Trump’s campaign, the RNC, Conservative Partnership Institute, Save America PAC, America First Policy Institute, and even MyPillow.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
BREAKING: New Arctic Frost whistleblower documents show that the corrupt Biden FBI subpoenaed the bank records, donor lists, and emails of nearly every major conservative organization and leader in the country, including Donald Trump’s campaign, the RNC, Conservative Partnership… <a href="https://t.co/EK01dfvilh">pic.twitter.com/EK01dfvilh</a>
— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) <a href="https://twitter.com/seanmdav/status/1983615138856104107?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 29, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Senator <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/i-was-offended-ted-cruz-explains-why-he-wasnt-tracked-by-bidens-fbi">Ted Cruz</a> (R-TX) mentioned the operation during a recent podcast, saying that when he&#8217;d learned that Verizon had turned over cellphone data on a number of his colleagues, he&#8217;d initially felt left out that he&#8217;d not been included on the list. It was only later that he&#8217;d learned that his name was only excluded because his wireless carrier, AT&amp;T, had effectively told the FBI to &#8220;go jump in a lake.&#8221;
Grassley later revealed that the subpoenas had also included a landline in Cruz&#8217;s Senate office.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Sen. Chuck Grassley just revealed that Jack Smith sent a subpoena to Verizon to tap my Senate office phone.
This comes after learning that nearly 20% of Senate Republicans’ cellphones, including mine, were also subpoenaed.
Arctic Frost is the Biden DOJ’s Watergate, and they… <a href="https://t.co/qBR5lT9XIV">pic.twitter.com/qBR5lT9XIV</a>
— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) <a href="https://twitter.com/SenTedCruz/status/1983617871403217018?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 29, 2025</a></blockquote>
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In addition to issuing the subpoena for Cruz&#8217;s wireless phone, which he abandoned after being challenged by AT&amp;T, the same <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/leftist-judge-threatens-to-hold-trump-admin-in-criminal-contempt-of-court-over-deportation-flights">Judge James E. Boasberg</a> who has tangled repeatedly with Trump over illegal alien deportations issued a <a href="https://thefederalist.com/2025/10/29/100-times-worse-than-watergate-3-biggest-revelations-from-latest-arctic-frost-document-dump/">second order</a>.
&#8220;Judge Boasberg issued an order to AT&amp;T and signed that order prohibiting AT&amp;T from informing me of this subpoena for at least one year,&#8221; Cruz explained. &#8220;And Judge Boasberg gave the basis for that order, and I’m going to quote from the order Judge Boasberg signed: &#8216;The court finds reasonable grounds to believe that such disclosure will result in destruction of, or tampering with evidence, intimidation of potential witnesses, and serious jeopardy to the investigation.'&#8221;
The Texas Senator went on to declare that Boasberg had &#8220;precisely zero evidence to conclude that I am likely to destroy or tamper with evidence or to intimidate potential witnesses. Zero evidentiary basis for that. This order is an abuse of power. This order is a weaponized legal system.&#8221;
That order, according to Davis, is also a violation of federal law.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
It is a violation of federal law (2 U.S.C. 6628) to prevent data carriers from informing the Senate of collection of its data. Boasberg wrote an illegal order to ban the Senate from being informed, because that same law REQUIRES federal courts to quash the data collection upon a… <a href="https://t.co/RCMkV71gpJ">https://t.co/RCMkV71gpJ</a> <a href="https://t.co/O3sNNMaSCp">pic.twitter.com/O3sNNMaSCp</a>
— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) <a href="https://twitter.com/seanmdav/status/1984366733331685398?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 31, 2025</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;Arctic Frost was Joe Biden&#8217;s Watergate,&#8221; Cruz added. &#8220;Merrick Garland was a fundamentally corrupt Attorney General, Jack Smith was a fundamentally corrupt prosecutor. This was a political enemies list from the beginning: 197 subpoenas for 430 Republican entities and individuals. That is an absolute and egregious abuse of power.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Arctic Frost is Joe Biden’s Watergate.
Biden’s DOJ issued 197 subpoenas for 430 Republican entities and individuals.
This was a political enemies list from the beginning and an outrageous abuse of power. <a href="https://t.co/ak2kktzPvg">pic.twitter.com/ak2kktzPvg</a>
— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) <a href="https://twitter.com/SenTedCruz/status/1983654260387803216?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 29, 2025</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;Twenty percent of the Republicans in the United States Senate were the target of this fishing expedition,&#8221; Cruz continued.
Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) rounded out the mid-week press conference with the assertion that Arctic Frost would never have gotten off the ground if Trump had not declared his intention to return to the campaign trail in 2024.
&#8220;So what I want to explain to the people of the country is that within several days of him announcing, &#8216;I&#8217;m to seek the White House again,&#8217; an avalanche began to form. And I really do believe that none of this would&#8217;ve been happening if Trump had set out the 2024 cycle,&#8221; Graham said. &#8220;But once he announced, I&#8217;ll have my own chart one day, we&#8217;ll show you what happened, and when it happened. Within about eight months of announcing, he had 91 felony charges against him in Georgia in New York and other places.&#8221;
&#8220;So here&#8217;s what I think that when he said he wanted to have a political comeback, it triggered the Democratic machine to destroy him before he could ever get started. And in their effort to destroy him, there were no boundaries,&#8221; Graham continued. &#8220;The goal was to stop Trump, and to look at anything and everything that could stop Trump and ignore the Constitution, and a lot of other things &#8230; I don&#8217;t think the 2020 election bothered anybody until Trump decided to run in 2024 legally.&#8221;
&#8220;You deserve to know what YOUR GOVT was doing in the dark Without whistleblowers Arctic Frost would hv stayed in the shadows Now we follow the facts &amp; take action to make sure this govt weaponization NEVER happens again,&#8221; Grassley concluded.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
You deserve to know what YOUR GOVT was doing in the dark Without whistleblowers Arctic Frost would hv stayed in the shadows Now we follow the facts &amp; take action to make sure this govt weaponization NEVER happens again
— Chuck Grassley (@ChuckGrassley) <a href="https://twitter.com/ChuckGrassley/status/1984288447050493971?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 31, 2025</a></blockquote>
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President Biden And Attorney General Garland Deliver Remarks On Gun Crime Prevention

‘The Biden DOJ’s Watergate’: Arctic Frost Docs Reveal Massive Operation Targeting Trump Allies

'The Biden DOJ's Watergate': Arctic Frost Docs Reveal Massive Operation Targeting Trump Allies

Mike Lindell

Explosive documents reveal that President Biden’s FBI snooped on GOP senators, The Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh uncovers shocking new details about the early prison release of a Kentucky killer, and America’s leading evangelical magazine takes seven-figure donations from one of the nation&#8217;s biggest abortion funders.
It’s Wednesday, October 8, 2025, and this is the news you need to know to start your day.
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<h2 style="text-align: center;">Revealed: Biden FBI Snooped On GOP Lawmakers</h2>
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Topline: As the government shutdown continues, Washington has been rocked by new revelations that the Biden DOJ snooped on several Republican Congress members as part of its January 6 probe.
This week, Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley (R-IA) released a document showing that President Joe Biden’s FBI obtained and analyzed phone metadata of eight sitting Republican senators and one Republican House member.
The move came as part of the DOJ’s previously undisclosed Arctic Frost investigation, which went after Republicans for alleged election meddling following the 2020 election. Grassley released a statement along with that document, where he said, “Based on the evidence to date, Arctic Frost and related weaponization by federal law enforcement under Biden was arguably worse than Watergate.”
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The Republican lawmakers targeted by the FBI were Sens. Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, Dan Sullivan of Alaska, Josh Hawley of Missouri, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, and Rep. Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania.
Democrats’ response: Democrats have sought to downplay the story, saying the FBI was simply doing its job to investigate election meddling — and reminding folks that agents were not listening in on phone calls, and were only looking at who they called, and when. 
That has done little to alleviate Republican outrage. Blackburn excoriated the FBI in an interview with Morning Wire: “It is a violation of our civil rights. It’s a violation of our privacy rights. No one can find a time when … the FBI has done this.”
What Republicans want: Republicans have demanded an investigation to determine the extent of the scheme and who was responsible for it.
Former FBI Director Christopher Wray and Attorney General Merrick Garland would have had to approve the operation. Republicans want to know if President Biden was also involved. 
<h2 style="text-align: center;">The Most Violent ‘Nonviolent’ Convict Secures Parole</h2>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-982713" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Kentucky-Killer-Outrage-300x169.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="169" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Kentucky-Killer-Outrage-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Kentucky-Killer-Outrage-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Kentucky-Killer-Outrage-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Kentucky-Killer-Outrage-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Kentucky-Killer-Outrage.jpg 1920w" sizes=" (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
Topline: More details are coming out about the early prison release of a Kentucky man convicted in the brutal slaying of a young boy. He has shockingly been deemed a nonviolent offender.
What happened: Ronald Exantus broke into a family’s home and stabbed multiple people with a kitchen knife, including a 6-year-old boy who later died from those injuries. These crimes occurred in Woodford County, Kentucky, located just west of Lexington.
Exantus was tried in 2018 and found not guilty of that murder by reason of insanity. He was convicted for the lesser charge of assault and sentenced to 20 years in prison, but he was released in early October – 13 years early – and placed on just eight months of supervised probation.
Hmmm: According to the parole board, Exantus qualifies as nonviolent under Kentucky state law. The board has faced major criticism over the release, but it says that its members repeatedly voted for Exantus to remain in prison. 
In a statement to The Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh, the board said, “Every time it had the opportunity, the Parole Board recommended Ronald Exantus stay in prison.”
After a review for parole on September 30, the board announced that it had issued a decision to keep the criminal in prison for the remainder of his sentence. The board added, “Despite this decision, Kentucky law required the Department of Corrections to release the inmate on Mandatory Reentry Supervision.”
In short, state law required Exantus to be released because he wasn’t convicted of a capital offense related to the killing of Logan Tipton. He was only convicted on lesser charges of second-degree assault for attacking Logan’s sibling and father.
What happens now: Exantus is not quite a free man. He enters a state of parole, which means that he must abide by conditions. Those exact terms are still unknown, but in most cases, if the conditions are broken, the parolee could be sent back to prison.
The case could also come under federal scrutiny, as the White House has weighed in on the issue. On Saturday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt highlighted one of Walsh’s social media posts and said that the administration is looking into the situation. The White House said it is “wholly unacceptable for a child killer to walk free after just several years in prison.” 
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Christianity Today Funded By Abortion Backer</h2>
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Topline: America’s most prominent evangelical magazine, Christianity Today, is under fire for <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/evangelical-magazine-christianity-today-takes-over-1-million-from-abortion-funder">accepting</a> financial support from a major abortion funder. Readers also accuse the publication of softening its pro-life stance in recent years.
Since 2022, Christianity Today has received more than one million dollars from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. That includes $600,000 for election coverage.
What makes this controversial is Hewlett’s history. The foundation is the second-largest private funder of Planned Parenthood in the United States. It gave the abortion provider more than $100 million between 2000 and 2023. 
After Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022, Hewlett announced it was increasing its “reproductive equity” budget by 30% – essentially doubling down on supporting abortion access and securing Hewlett’s spot as one of the country’s largest abortion funders.
Influence on CT? Christianity Today has always maintained that it upholds a pro-life ethic. However, since Hewlett’s donations began, the magazine has started publishing articles that advocate for a broader definition of “pro-life.”
Instead of focusing solely on protecting unborn babies, these pieces have argued that the term should also include fighting racial injustice, supporting new federal entitlements like paid family leave, and supporting amnesty for illegal immigrants.
Many pro-life leaders say that redefining the term in this way waters down its meaning. Seth Gruber, founder of the pro-life organization White Rose Resistance, told The Daily Wire that he believes leftists are deliberately working to redefine the term “pro-life” in an effort to advance progressive political priorities under its banner.
Also, in the run-up to the 2024 election, Christianity Today published articles arguing that the issue of abortion was not necessarily a good enough reason to vote and that Christians should consider sitting out. And their board chair took on the role of spokesperson for Evangelicals for Biden.
Step back: Christianity Today has become more reliant on grants and donations over the past five years. In 2020, only about 20 percent of its revenue came from grants. Today, it’s more than half. Over the past few years, it has also received $8 million from the Lilly Endowment, the foundation established by the Eli Lilly family, known for its pharmaceuticals.
Experts warn that when an outlet grows dependent on foundations with their own ideological agendas, it risks aligning with those priorities — even if that means softening its historic Christian commitments.
Part of why the controversy stings is that evangelist Billy Graham founded Christianity Today in 1956 to be a theologically conservative alternative to The Christian Century, which was considered liberal.
Critics have long contended that the outlet has drifted to the left in both tone and substance. The Hewlett Foundation’s funding, particularly the grants marked for “covering elections,” has struck many observers as confirmation of that gradual ideological shift.

MRN_251008-Thumbnail-V1

Morning Brief: Biden’s GOP Spy Games, A Child Killer Set Free, & Christianity Today’s Abortion-Tied Donor

Abortion

Christianity Today

Kentucky

Marsha Blackburn

The FBI has been caught rifling through the phone records of nearly a dozen Republican members of Congress — all swept up in special counsel Jack Smith’s relentless pursuit of President Donald Trump.
Records released by Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) on Monday show that the FBI analyzed the metadata of phone calls from Sens. Marsha Blackburn (TN), Cynthia Lummis (WY), Ron Johnson (WI), Tommy Tuberville (AL), Dan Sullivan (AK), Josh Hawley (MO) Bill Hagerty (TN), Lindsey Graham (SC), and Rep. Mike Kelly (PA.). The records were part of Smith’s “Arctic Frost” investigation, which led to Trump being charged in Washington, D.C., over accusations that he tried to overturn the 2020 presidential election. 
“This document shows the Biden FBI spied on 8 of my Republican Senate colleagues during its Arctic Frost investigation into ‘election conspiracy.’ Arctic Frost later became Jack Smith&#8217;s elector case against Trump,” Grassley posed on X. “BIDEN FBI WEAPONIZATION = WORSE THAN WATERGATE.”
&nbsp;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
This document shows the Biden FBI spied on 8 of my Republican Senate colleagues during its Arctic Frost investigation into &#8220;election conspiracy&#8221; Arctic Frost later became Jack Smith&#8217;s elector case against Trump
BIDEN FBI WEAPONIZATION = WORSE THAN WATERGATE <a href="https://t.co/V2JyiVlX48">pic.twitter.com/V2JyiVlX48</a>
— Chuck Grassley (@ChuckGrassley) <a href="https://twitter.com/ChuckGrassley/status/1975297712712262100?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 6, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The document Grassley shared showed that the FBI obtained the toll data of the GOP lawmakers&#8217; calls, meaning they gathered basic information, such as the date and time of certain phone calls. The agency did not monitor the content of the communications, the senators said. 
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FBI Director Kash Patel stated on Tuesday that agents had been fired as a result of the revelations and noted that the CR-15 squad, a public corruption unit within the FBI that assisted Smith’s investigation, had been disbanded. 
“Transparency is important and accountability is critical. We promised both, and this is what promises kept looks like. This FBI is delivering,” Patel <a href="https://x.com/FBIDirectorKash/status/1975506285656207664">said</a>. “As a result of our latest disclosure about the baseless monitoring of members of Congress by the prior leadership team of the FBI, we have already taken the following actions: We terminated employees, we abolished the weaponized CR-15 squad, and we initiated an ongoing investigation with more accountability measures ahead.”
President Donald Trump slammed Smith in a Tuesday morning post on Truth Social.
&#8220;Deranged Jack Smith got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. A real sleazebag!!!&#8221; he <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115332808536869094">wrote</a>.
Sen. Johnson <a href="https://x.com/FBIDirectorKash/status/1975506285656207664">said</a> the revelation did not &#8220;surprise&#8221; him, but added that it should “shock every American.” He said he was briefed by FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino on the FBI’s actions. 
“We were surveilled simply for being Republicans,” he said. “What the Biden Administration has done is an outrageous abuse of power — it is blatant political persecution. Those responsible must be held fully accountable.”
Sen. Hawley <a href="https://x.com/HawleyMO/status/1975305232071487986">called</a> for a full investigation into the FBI&#8217;s handling of the tracking.
“This is an abuse of power beyond Watergate, beyond J. Edgar Hoover, one that directly strikes at the Constitution, the separation of powers, and the First Amendment,” he said. “We need a full investigation of all involved: who knew about it, who ordered it, and who approved it.”

Special Prosecutor Jack Smith addresses reporters after his grand jury has issued more indictments of former President Donald Trump on August 01 in Washington, DC.

‘Beyond Watergate’: Biden’s FBI Snooped On Phone Records From GOP Lawmakers In Trump Investigation

2020 Election

Congress

Jack Smith

kash patel

A newly declassified document from former Special Counsel John Durham&#8217;s report suggests the Obama-era FBI ignored intelligence that indicated Hillary Clinton&#8217;s campaign or Russian disinformation fueled allegations of collusion between President Donald Trump&#8217;s 2016 campaign and Russia.
The disclosure of the <a href="https://www.grassley.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/declassified_durham_annex_released_by_chairman_grassley.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">annex</a>, which still has some redactions, comes more than two years after Durham completed his investigation and heavily criticized the FBI&#8217;s Crossfire Hurricane probe into alleged links between Trump&#8217;s campaign and Russia. Trump&#8217;s second administration declassified the section as the president and members of his team <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/time-to-go-after-people-trump-wants-severe-consequences-for-dems-who-pushed-russia-hoax" target="_blank" rel="noopener">demanded accountability</a> for what they deemed to be a Russia collusion hoax.
One key section of the classified addendum to the Durham Report says the &#8220;FBI was fully alerted to the possibility that at least some of the information it was receiving about the Trump campaign might have its origin either with the Clinton campaign or its supporters, or alternatively, was the product of Russian disinformation. Despite this awareness, the FBI appears to have dismissed the [intelligence information] as not credible without any investigative steps actually having been taken to either corroborate or disprove the allegations.&#8221;
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), who is chairman of the Judiciary Committee and a lead Russiagate investigator who pushed for the declassification of the annex, released the document on Thursday.
&#8220;Based on the Durham annex, the Obama FBI failed to adequately review and investigate intelligence reports showing the Clinton campaign may have been ginning up the fake Trump-Russia narrative for Clinton&#8217;s political gain, which was ultimately done through the Steele Dossier and other means,&#8221; Grassley said in a statement. &#8220;These intelligence reports and related records, whether true or false, were buried for years. History will show that the Obama and Biden administrations&#8217; law enforcement and intelligence agencies were weaponized against President Trump. This political weaponization has caused critical damage to our institutions and is one of the biggest political scandals and cover-ups in American history. The new Trump administration has a tremendous responsibility to the American people to fix the damage done and do so with maximum speed and transparency.&#8221;
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hillary-clinton-greenlit-russia-hoax-to-hide-email-scandal-declassified-docs-reveal" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: Hillary Clinton Greenlit Russia Hoax To Hide Email Scandal, Declassified Docs Reveal</a>
In 2020, when he served as director of national intelligence, now-CIA Director John Ratcliffe <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-feds-referred-hillary-to-fbi-for-probe-after-allegedly-approving-plan-to-create-trump-russia-scandal-to-distract-from-email-scandal-odni-says" target="_blank" rel="noopener">unveiled</a> documents that showed federal officials referred Clinton to the FBI for investigation after obtaining &#8220;insight&#8221; into a Russian intelligence analysis that alleged she approved a campaign plan to link Trump to Russia&#8217;s hacking operations to distract from the controversy over her unauthorized use of a private email server while serving as secretary of state.
The annex in Durham&#8217;s report says FBI personnel, including then-Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, shared the intelligence regarding the potential Clinton campaign plan with high-ranking career officials at Department of Justice on March 31, 2016, and affirms that &#8220;multiple high-ranking&#8221; U.S. officials were apprised of the situation, including an August 3, 2016, briefing in the White House by CIA Director John Brennan to President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, FBI Director Comey, among others. It says notes from Brennan show the CIA sent an investigative referral to the FBI in September of 2016 that included the &#8220;purported Clinton campaign plan.&#8221;
One of the most heavily redacted parts of the annex says the CIA prepared a written assessment in 2017 on the &#8220;authenticity and veracity&#8221; of the intelligence described in the referral memo. &#8220;The CIA stated that it did not assess that the above [redacted] memoranda, or [redacted] hacked U.S. communications, to be the product of Russian fabrications,&#8221; it adds.
Durham <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/john-durham-affirms-crossfire-hurricane-investigators-kept-in-dark-about-alleged-clinton-plan" target="_blank" rel="noopener">testified</a> to Congress in 2023 that agents on the FBI&#8217;s Crossfire Hurricane team were not made aware of the intelligence, and his report indicated the &#8220;Clinton Plan intelligence&#8221; could have been helpful to them. The report pointed to British ex-spy Christopher Steele&#8217;s <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/01/us/trump-russia-investigation-dossier.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">now-discredited</a> anti-Trump dossier, stemming from research funded by Clinton&#8217;s campaign and the Democratic National Committee, that the FBI was <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/doj-inspector-general-finds-17-significant-errors-or-omissions-in-carter-page-fisa-applications" target="_blank" rel="noopener">found</a> to have improperly used to secure FISA surveillance warrants against onetime Trump campaign adviser Carter Page. It also referenced the unfounded secret <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/durham-finds-researcher-felt-threatened-by-schiff-staffer" target="_blank" rel="noopener">backchannel</a> between the Trump Organization and Russia&#8217;s Alfa Bank that Clinton and her team <a href="https://twitter.com/HillaryClinton/status/793250312119263233">promoted</a> in the run-up to the 2016 election.
&#8220;Whether or not the Clinton Plan intelligence was based on reliable or unreliable information, or was ultimately true or false, it should have prompted FBI personnel to immediately undertake an analysis of the information and to act with far greater care and caution when receiving, analyzing, and relying upon materials of partisan origins, such as the Steele Reports and the Alfa Bank allegations,&#8221; Durham&#8217;s report said. &#8220;The FBI also should have disseminated the Clinton Plan intelligence more widely among those responsible for the Crossfire Hurricane investigation so that they could effectively incorporate it into their analysis and decision-making, and their representations to the OI attorneys and, ultimately, the [Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court].&#8221;
During an <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/cia-director-says-classified-docs-will-blow-lid-off-russiagate" target="_blank" rel="noopener">interview</a> on Fox News over the weekend, Ratcliffe told &#8220;Sunday Morning Futures&#8221; host Maria Bartiromo that he had been working to secure the release of a classified section from Durham&#8217;s <a href="https://www.justice.gov/archives/media/1381211/dl" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a>.
&#8220;What hasn&#8217;t come out yet and what&#8217;s going to come out is the underlying intelligence that I have spent the last few months making recommendations about final declassification and sent that to the Department of Justice,&#8221; he said. &#8220;That will come out in the John Durham report classified annex. And what that intelligence shows, Maria, is that part of this was a Hillary Clinton plan, but part of it was an FBI plan to be an accelerant to that fake Steele dossier, to those fake Russia collusion claims by pouring oil on the fire, by amplifying the lie and burying the truth of what Hillary Clinton was up to.&#8221;
Ratcliffe went on to explain that &#8220;much of&#8221; the testimony that Clinton, former FBI Director James Comey, and Brennan provided to Durham or Congress in the past five years &#8220;is, frankly, completely inconsistent with what our underlying intelligence that is about to be declassified in the Durham annex, what that reflects.&#8221;
Acknowledging how Attorney General Pam Bondi has a new &#8220;<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/justice-department-to-form-strike-force-to-assess-weaponization-of-intel-community" target="_blank" rel="noopener">strike force</a>&#8221; tasked with evaluating the evidence relating the Obama administration&#8217;s efforts to drive the Russia collusion allegations, the CIA director added, &#8220;It is a different Department of Justice, a different FBI, and an opportunity to look at how these people really did conspire to run a hoax, a fraud on the American people and against Donald Trump&#8217;s presidency.&#8221;
Comey <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spKHw3IFUVc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">testified</a> before the Senate in 2020, claiming, &#8220;In the main, it was done by the book, it was appropriate, and it was essential that it be done.&#8221; He also conceded there &#8220;were parts of it that were concerning.&#8221;
In an op-ed <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/30/opinion/trump-obama-treason-russia-miller.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">published</a> by The New York Times this week, Brennan and Clapper made a brief mention of Durham as they pushed back on Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard&#8217;s <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/gabbard-obama-launched-years-long-coup-treasonous-conspiracy-against-american-people" target="_blank" rel="noopener">claim</a> that members of the Obama administration waged a &#8220;treasonous conspiracy&#8221; to undermine Trump.
&#8220;The special counsel John Durham, who was appointed during Mr. Trump&#8217;s first term to investigate how the Russia probe was conducted, similarly found no evidence of an Obama administration conspiracy against Mr. Trump,&#8221; they wrote. &#8220;But he affirmed the findings of the special counsel Robert Mueller, who conducted a separate investigation into the allegations, which found ample evidence of Russian interference in the election.&#8221;

John Durham

New Durham Bombshell: Obama-Era FBI Allowed Trump-Russia Hoax To Fester

Hillary Clinton

James Comey

John Brennan

Russia

Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) says he was &#8220;offended&#8221; by President Donald Trump&#8217;s call for him to scrap the &#8220;blue slip&#8221; tradition in which home-state senators can effectively block nominees they do not support.
The rebuke from Grassley, whose panel has been advancing Trump’s picks for U.S. attorney and judge positions, came as Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/thune-warns-dems-are-setting-dangerous-and-ugly-precedent-with-trumps-nominees" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pressures</a> the Senate to cancel its plans for a summer recess and confirm more of his nominees.
&#8220;Last night, I was surprised to see President Trump on Truth Social go after me and Senate Republicans over what we call the &#8216;blue slip,'&#8221; Grassley announced at the beginning of a nominations hearing.
&#8220;Now, to people in the real America — not here in this Washington, D.C., an island surrounded by reality — the people in real America don’t care about what the &#8216;blue slip&#8217; is, but, in fact, it impacts in their states the district judges who serve their communities and the U.S. attorneys who ensure law and order is enforced,&#8221; Grassley said.
He continued, &#8220;I was offended by what the president said, and I’m disappointed that it would result in personal insults.&#8221;
Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-rips-unconstitutional-senate-custom-that-allows-democrat-sleazebags-to-stall-judicial-noms" target="_blank" rel="noopener">urged</a> Grassley to do away with the &#8220;blue slip&#8221; custom in a post on Truth Social, contending that any of his nominees from states with Democrat senators would keep getting shut down because of it.
&#8220;Chuck Grassley, who I got re-elected to the U.S. Senate when he was down, by a lot, in the Great State of Iowa, could solve the &#8216;Blue Slip&#8217; problem we are having with respect to the appointment of Highly Qualified Judges and U.S. Attorneys, with a mere flick of the pen,&#8221; Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114938820270436889" target="_blank" rel="noopener">declared</a>.
The president also said the &#8220;blue slip&#8221; tradition was &#8220;probably&#8221; unconstitutional while pushing Grassley to &#8220;step up&#8221; and &#8220;not let the Democrats laugh at him and the Republican Party for being weak and ineffective.&#8221; He called Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Sens. Mark Warner (D-VA), Cory Booker (D-NJ), and Adam Schiff (D-CA), and others &#8220;SLEAZEBAGS.&#8221;
Democrats have already used the &#8220;blue slip&#8221; tradition against Trump&#8217;s nominees in the first six months of his second term.
Schumer <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/schumer-intervenes-block-trumps-us-attorney-nominees" target="_blank" rel="noopener">revealed</a> he would block two picks for federal prosecutor roles earlier this year, but Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-outmaneuvers-schumer-on-pick-for-top-federal-prosecutor" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sidestepped</a> the process the Democrat sought to jam by <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/05/nyregion/nocella-edny-us-attorney.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">appointing</a> his nominees to be interim U.S. attorneys — a designation that lasts only 120 days.
Grassley has voiced support for Trump’s call for the Senate to cancel its August recess to combat tactics by the Democrats to hinder the confirmation process.
“If Pres Trump asks us to not take [an August recess, I’m with] him. Democrats [have] been slow walking nominations,” Grassley <a href="https://x.com/ChuckGrassley/status/1949630801978495084" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in a Sunday post on X written with a lot of short-hand. “We [have] to make up for their wasted time, he went on, &#8220;Trump needs his administration in place.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), who <a href="https://x.com/jordainc/status/1950568488650859007" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reportedly</a> backs Grassley on the &#8220;blue slip&#8221; issue, warned Democrats on Tuesday that they were setting a &#8220;dangerous and ugly precedent&#8221; with their &#8220;historic level of obstruction.&#8221;
RELATED: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-rips-unconstitutional-senate-custom-that-allows-democrat-sleazebags-to-stall-judicial-noms">Trump Rips &#8216;Unconstitutional&#8217; Senate Custom That Allows Democrat &#8216;SLEAZEBAGS&#8217; To Stall Judicial Noms</a>

Senator Chuck Grassley,

Republican Chairman ‘Offended’ As Trump Pushes Him To Nuke Senate Custom

Presidential nomination

U.S. Senate

The Senate on Tuesday narrowly voted to confirm a Justice Department official who previously defended President Donald Trump during his criminal trials to the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Overcoming vigorous Democrat opposition, the Republican-led Senate confirmed acting deputy attorney general Emil Bove to the lifetime judicial position in a 50-49 vote. Republican Senators Lisa Murkowski (AK) and Susan Collins (ME) joined Democrats in voting against his appointment. 
“Congratulations to our dear friend Emil Bove on his confirmation to serve on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals! This is a GREAT day for our country,” Attorney General Pam Bondi <a href="https://x.com/AGPamBondi/status/1950363578646544696">said</a> on X. “I cannot thank Emil enough for his tireless work and support at [the Justice Department]. He will be missed — and he will be an outstanding judge.”
Bove previously worked as Trump’s lawyer when the Biden administration prosecuted him over his alleged mishandling of classified documents and alleged election interference in the 2020 election. Bove also worked with Trump on the New York hush money case, where Trump was convicted of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records but given an unconditional discharge. Before working for Trump, Bove was a federal prosecutor for the Southern District of New York, working on drug and terrorism cases.
In the weeks after Trump nominated him to the judgeship, Democrats have pointed to numerous complaints against Bove from whistleblowers claiming that he instructed Justice Department officials to ignore judicial orders. Democrats were also critical of Bove’s role in the firing of some of the Justice Department lawyers who led the January 6 prosecutions and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/doj-orders-charges-to-be-dismissed-against-nyc-mayor-eric-adams-on-certain-conditions">dismissal</a> of the federal case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams. 
Ahead of the confirmation vote, Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) <a href="https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/press/rep/releases/grassley-exhaustive-efforts-to-vet-emil-boves-nomination-prove-hes-fit-for-the-job">defended</a> Bove, accusing Democrats of trying to “weaponize” the whistleblower process. 
“He has a strong legal background and has served his country honorably. I believe he will be a diligent, capable, and fair jurist,&#8221; Grassley said. “It’s no surprise to anyone who’s followed this nomination that I have serious concerns with how my Democratic colleagues have conducted themselves. The vicious rhetoric, unfair accusations and abuse directed at Mr. Bove by some on this Committee has crossed the line.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) <a href="https://apnews.com/article/emil-bove-confirmation-whistleblowers-trump-republicans-democrats-71f92822cb2e8d57387748c2451fa724">claimed</a> that the confirmation was a “dark day” for the country. 
“It’s unfathomable that just over four years after the insurrection at the Capitol, when rioters smashed windows, ransacked offices, desecrated this chamber, Senate Republicans are willingly putting someone on the bench who shielded these rioters from facing justice, who said their prosecution was a grave national injustice,” he said.

Jury Continues Deliberations In Trump Hush Money Trial

Republicans Push Past Democrat Obstruction To Confirm Trump-Aligned Judge

Chuck Schumer

Department of Justice

Judges

Lisa Murkowski

Senate

Susan Collins

President Donald Trump pushed Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) on Tuesday to toss a Senate tradition that has empowered Democratic senators to unilaterally block the president’s judicial nominees.
Grassley chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, which oversees judicial nominations. The “blue slip” custom on the committee is not required, but was adopted as an internal vetting procedure to encourage communication between the White House and the senators of the state in which the nominee will serve, giving senators influence over appointments in their states.
Democrats have stalled Trump’s nominees by refusing to give their assent with “blue slips,” a blue-colored form given to senators where a federal judicial nominee would serve. If the senator withholds or returns a negative blue slip expressing disapproval, they can use the custom as a tool for obstruction. The tradition&#8217;s enforcement is controlled by the chair&#8217;s discretion.
“Chuck Grassley, who I got re-elected to the U.S. Senate when he was down, by a lot, in the Great State of Iowa, could solve the ‘Blue Slip’ problem we are having with respect to the appointment of Highly Qualified Judges and U.S. Attorneys, with a mere flick of the pen,” <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114938820270436889">said</a> Trump. “Democrats like Schumer, Warner, Kaine, Booker, Schiff, and others, SLEAZEBAGS ALL, have an ironclad stoppage of Great Republican Candidates.”
“Put simply, the President of the United States will never be permitted to appoint the person of his choice because of an ancient, and probably Unconstitutional, ‘CUSTOM,’ that if you have, even one person in the opposite Party serving in the U.S. Senate, he/she must give consent, thereby completely stopping the opposite Party’s Nomination,” he added.
The president said that in states with Democratic senators, his own judicial nominees would have to either be a Democrat or “a weak and ineffective Republican” to receive blue slip approvals.
“I would never be able to appoint Great Judges or U.S. Attorneys in California, New York, New Jersey, Illinois, Virginia, and other places, where there is, coincidentally, the highest level of crime and corruption — The places where fantastic people are most needed!” the president said.
Trump said that former President Joe Biden broke the blue slip custom at least twice during his term, and that previous presidents have also worked around the Senate tradition.
A Grassley spokesman suggested in a statement on Tuesday that, despite the president’s pressure, the Judiciary Committee chair would retain the blue slip custom.
“Chairman Grassley has already successfully moved U.S. Attorneys through committee who have received blue slips from Democrats, including Senators Warner and Kaine of Virginia and Klobuchar and Smith of Minnesota,” the spokesman said, according to <a href="https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2025/07/29/congress/trump-hits-grassley-00483005">Politico</a>. “When a nominee comes out of committee all 100 senators have a say on the nomination and part of their consideration is based on the home state senators’ input.”

Trump Rips ‘Unconstitutional’ Senate Custom That Allows Democrat ‘SLEAZEBAGS’ To Stall Judicial Noms

Executive

Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) voiced support for President Donald Trump&#8217;s call for the upper chamber to cancel its August recess and confirm more of his nominees.
The Iowa Republican, whose panel has been <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/a-benchmark-of-excellence-senate-confirms-first-judge-of-trumps-second-term" target="_blank" rel="noopener">advancing</a> Trump&#8217;s picks for U.S. attorney and judge positions, shared his stance on Sunday. He alluded to how Democrats have been <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/senate-republicans-erupt-over-dem-stalling-of-trump-nominees" target="_blank" rel="noopener">impeding</a> the process with such moves as forcing procedural votes.
&#8220;If Pres Trump asks us to not take [an August recess, I&#8217;m with] him. Democrats [have] been slow walking nominations,&#8221; Grassley said in a <a href="https://x.com/ChuckGrassley/status/1949630801978495084">post</a> on X written with a lot of short-hand. &#8220;We [have] to make up for their wasted time Trump needs his administration in place.&#8221;
Earlier this month, after Congress passed the &#8220;One Big, Beautiful Bill&#8221; and a $9 billion rescissions package, Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-calls-on-senate-to-cancel-long-weekends-and-get-his-people-confirmed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">urged</a> Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) to keep the Senate busy cementing his second-term priorities.
&#8220;Hopefully the very talented John Thune, fresh off our many victories over the past two weeks and, indeed, 6 months, will cancel August recess (and long weekends!), in order to get my incredible nominees confirmed,&#8221; Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114882283904953607" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> on Truth Social. &#8220;We need them badly!!! DJT.&#8221;
Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) proposed a benchmark for lawmakers to reach before going into a recess or, as an alternative, an off-period without <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/this-is-how-recess-appointments-work-and-how-they-could-help-trump-fill-his-cabinet" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pro forma sessions</a> that prevent the president from making appointments in their absence.
&#8220;The Senate shouldn’t recess before clearing the 135-nominee confirmation backlog,&#8221; Lee <a href="https://x.com/BasedMikeLee/status/1948955024136307064" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> on X. &#8220;If the Senate recesses anyway, it should *actually* recess—NO PRO FORMA SESSIONS, as their only purpose is to prevent Trump from making recess appointments.&#8221; He added: &#8220;The Senate can’t have it both ways.&#8221;
Trump seemed to like the proposal.
&#8220;Very Important,&#8221; the president <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114920864979561533" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> on Truth Social, along with a screenshot of Lee&#8217;s post. &#8220;Republicans must play to win. Clear the 135. So badly needed!&#8221;
The Hill <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5412770-senate-gop-trump-recess/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> last week that Thune, who is also overseeing efforts to pass appropriations bills ahead of a potential government <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/thune-warns-schumer-may-cave-to-far-left-push-for-govt-shutdown-in-coming-weeks" target="_blank" rel="noopener">shutdown</a> in September, was open to the idea of nixing the August recess.
&#8220;We’re thinking about it. We want to get as many [nominations] through the pipeline as we can,&#8221; he said, according to the news outlet.
The Senate has already <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/senate-confirms-last-of-trump-2-0-cabinet-secretaries" target="_blank" rel="noopener">confirmed</a> Trump&#8217;s Cabinet secretaries and other nominees over the past six months.
Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) <a href="https://x.com/SenMullin/status/1949868977976463795" target="_blank" rel="noopener">noted</a> on Monday how 107 of Trump&#8217;s nominees have been confirmed so far in 2025 compared to the 55 picks confirmed half a year into his first term in 2017.
&#8220;After confirming the President&#8217;s entire cabinet at record pace, [the Senate GOP] is working [with the White House] to prioritize all remaining confirmations,&#8221; Mullin said on X. &#8220;Like I&#8217;ve said, I&#8217;m in it. Let&#8217;s get it done.&#8221;
The GOP-led House has already begun its August recess.
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/not-a-vacation-house-leaders-unveil-rival-game-plans-for-most-important-work-month" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> during a press conference last week that August is &#8220;arguably the most important work month on our calendar&#8221; because House Republicans would return to their districts to meet voters and promote the &#8220;One, Big, Beautiful Bill.&#8221;
Meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has knocked the House GOP over leaving for what he calls the <a href="https://x.com/SenSchumer/status/1949165466078924822" target="_blank" rel="noopener">&#8220;Epstein recess&#8221;</a> in a supposed bid to dodge the latest controversy rocking Washington, D.C.

Senator Chuck Grassley

Key Senator Backs Trump On Nixing Summer Recess

U.S.

In a decisive victory for President Donald Trump, the GOP-led Senate confirmed on Monday the first judicial nominee of his second term.
Whitney Hermandorfer, of Tennessee, prevailed in her bid to become a U.S. Circuit Judge for the Sixth Circuit by a 46-42 <a href="https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1191/vote_119_1_00384.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">vote</a> along party lines. She is poised to replace Judge Jane Branstetter Stranch, an <a href="https://www.congress.gov/nomination/119th-congress/150/3#:~:text=Description-,Whitney%20D.,vice%20Jane%20Branstetter%20Stranch%2C%20retiring." target="_blank" rel="noopener">Obama pick</a>. A dozen members of the upper chamber did not vote.
The confirmation of Hermandorfer to join the Cincinnati-based bench that hears appeals from Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and Tennessee is &#8220;a boon to the federal judiciary,&#8221; Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) said in a statement.
&#8220;As the Director of the Strategic Litigation Unit in Tennessee, she’s led major cases on civil rights and the separation of powers and is widely praised for her legal mind, impeccable qualifications, collegial nature and constitutionalist philosophy,&#8221; Grassley added. &#8220;I was proud to lead Ms. Hermandorfer’s nomination through the Senate Judiciary Committee and am confident she will be an excellent federal judge.&#8221;
When Trump nominated Hermandorfer earlier this year, the White House <a href="https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/white-house-press-release-president-donald-j-trump-announces-judicial-candidate-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> that she was the director of the Strategic Litigation Unit in the Office of the Tennessee Attorney General, had previously served as an associate at Williams &amp; Connolly, LLP in Washington, D.C., and boasted experience working as a law clerk to Justices Samuel Alito and Amy Coney Barrett of the Supreme Court, now-Supreme Court Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh when he was a judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, and Judge Richard J. Leon of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
The White House also noted that Hermandorfer earned her B.A., magna cum laude, from Princeton University, where she was co-captain of the women’s varsity basketball team, earned her J.D. from the George Washington University Law School, where she graduated summa cum laude and first in her class, and was editor-in-chief of the George Washington University Law Review.
&#8220;I am pleased to announce the nomination of Whitney Hermandorfer to serve as a Judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit,&#8221; Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@Hua341/posts/114455316115570433" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in a post on Truth Social in May. &#8220;Whitney has been serving the Great People of Tennessee, in the Attorney General’s Office, where she has strongly litigated in Court to protect Citizens from Federal Government Overreach. A former Co-Captain of the Princeton University Women’s Basketball Team, Whitney is a staunch defender of Girls’ and Women’s Sports. She has a long history of working for Judges and Justices who respect the RULE OF LAW, and protect our Constitution, including Justice Samuel Alito and two fine Supreme Court Justices I appointed in my First Term. Whitney is a Fighter who will inspire confidence in our Legal System. Thank you Whitney!&#8221;
Democrats warned that Hermandorfer was too green and might give into politics.
&#8220;Senate Republicans just confirmed their first judicial nominee of Trump 2.0,&#8221; Senate Judiciary ranking member Dick Durbin (D-IL) <a href="https://x.com/SenatorDurbin/status/1944882255635026248" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> on X. &#8220;Whitney Hermandorfer is inexperienced and partisan – with a record that repeatedly put Donald Trump ahead of the law. This is the playbook we must watch for, call out, and vote down.&#8221;
When Hermandorfer testified during her confirmation hearing last month, she contended that judges should adhere to boundaries established under the Constitution. That came as Republicans had been pushing for <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/impeachathon-ensnares-growing-number-of-get-trump-judges" target="_blank" rel="noopener">impeachment</a> of some members of the federal judiciary who were ruling against some of Trump&#8217;s actions in a way they believed had waded into activism.
&#8220;It is an extraordinary power, the Article III power, to decide cases &#8230; With that power, again, comes great responsibility and humility to understand the proper role of a judge is to interpret the law and not make the law or bend the law to whatever policy preferences the judge might have individually,&#8221; Hermandorfer <a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/1930290647715455172" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>.
Hermandorfer later advanced out of the Judiciary Committee by a 12-10 <a href="https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/press/rep/releases/judiciary-committee-advances-judicial-nominations-for-sixth-circuit-and-missouri-district-courts-us-attorney-nominations-for-idaho-and-pennsylvania" target="_blank" rel="noopener">vote</a>. Other Trump nominees for judgeships were also reported favorably to the full Senate and could be confirmed in the days and weeks to come. If Trump&#8217;s second term is like his first, he still has more than a <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2021/01/13/how-trump-compares-with-other-recent-presidents-in-appointing-federal-judges/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">couple hundred</a> judicial appointments to go.
&#8220;Tennessee native — Judge Whitney Hermandorfer — is the first judicial nominee confirmed by the Senate in [Trump&#8217;s] second term,&#8221; Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN) <a href="https://x.com/SenatorHagerty/status/1944889075892093034" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in a post on X after the final vote on Monday. &#8220;She will set a benchmark of excellence for future judicial nominees — President Trump could not have made a better choice. Congratulations, Judge Hermandorfer!&#8221;
Grassley&#8217;s team <a href="https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/press/rep/releases/senate-builds-on-record-setting-confirmation-pace-with-first-judicial-confirmation" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> that during the first six months of Trumps&#8217; second term, the Senate has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/senate-gop-breaks-through-dem-obstruction-on-trump-2-0-civilian-nominees" target="_blank" rel="noopener">confirmed</a> 21 members of Trump&#8217;s Cabinet, &#8220;putting his team in place faster than the last three incoming administrations.&#8221; It also pointed out that the upper chamber has so far confirmed 89 of his civilian nominees, &#8220;outpacing the first Trump administration,&#8221; and confirmed 12 ambassador nominees, &#8220;which is more than the incoming Biden, first Trump and George W. Bush administrations.&#8221;

Whitney Hermandorfer

‘A Benchmark Of Excellence’: Senate Confirms First Judge Of Trump’s Second Term

Bill Hagerty

Courts

Dick Durbin

Tennessee

The Biden administration ignored tens of thousands of concerning reports involving unaccompanied migrant children, according to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA).
Grassley looked into Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) records at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and found over 65,000 ignored or dismissed reports concerning migrant children. Nearly 7,000 of those reports were cases of suspected human trafficking and nearly 2,000 others were related to fraud.
Since President Donald Trump assumed office on January 20, HHS has worked through over a quarter of those cases left over from the Biden administration and made dozens of arrests, according to Grassley.
“My oversight exposed the Biden-Harris administration for placing unaccompanied migrant children with dangerous sponsors and actively obstructing law enforcement and Congress’ efforts to rescue vulnerable kids. I applaud the Trump administration for its swift action to protect unaccompanied migrant children by addressing the concerning reports the Biden-Harris administration shelved,” said Grassley in a <a href="https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/grassley-exposes-biden-harris-backlog-of-criminal-complaints-in-migrant-children-program">statement</a>. “I look forward to working with Secretary Kennedy to ensure justice is served.”
Back in April, HHS confirmed that tens of thousands of cases had been ignored and that it was working to clear the “backlog” left by the previous administration.
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“ORR is digging through nearly 65,000 reports of concern about unaccompanied alien children — most ignored, many dismissed — each one a missed chance to protect a child. This isn’t just paperwork. This is a systemic failure of the Biden administration. It is children&#8217;s lives put at risk,” HHS said in a statement posted to social media.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
ORR is digging through nearly 65,000 reports of concern about unaccompanied alien children — most ignored, many dismissed — each one a missed chance to protect a child. This isn’t just paperwork. This is a systemic failure of the Biden administration. It is children&#39;s lives put…
&mdash; HHS.gov (@HHSGov) <a href="https://twitter.com/HHSGov/status/1914698523762639067?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 22, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
At least 500,000 children entered the United States during former President Joe Biden’s tenure. Those children were often flown in or bused to the homes of strangers after the Biden administration relaxed rules on background checks for sponsors of the children.
At least 85,000 of those children who crossed as unaccompanied minors were <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/whistleblowers-detail-how-85000-unaccompanied-minors-went-missing-after-biden-admin-dropped-them-off-with-sponsors">lost</a> by the administration. HHS officials under the Biden administration failed to locate the children again after leaving them with sponsors.
Grassley wrote a letter to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. ripping the previous administration for stonewalling the senator’s demands for information on unaccompanied alien minors (UAC).
“The purpose of my inquiry is clear: to determine the scope and severity of child trafficking and exploitation through the UAC program nationwide. After I made this urgent inquiry, HHS under Secretary Becerra obstructed my investigation and instructed contractors and grantees not to answer, and to instead send my inquiry to the Assistant Secretary for Legislation, who of course also failed to provide any requested information,” Grassley wrote in a Tuesday <a href="https://www.grassley.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/grassley_to_hhs_-_backlog_of_unaccompanied_migrant_children_reports.pdf">letter</a>.

Chuck Grassley: Biden Admin Ignored 65,000 Troubling Reports About Unaccompanied Alien Children

Department of Health and Human Services

Illegal Immigration

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

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