WASHINGTON—Two Republican congressmen are calling on FBI Director Kash Patel to investigate &#8220;the case of five aborted children&#8221; whose deaths were covered up during President Joe Biden&#8217;s administration, The Daily Wire can first report.
Reps. Chip Roy of Texas and Andy Biggs of Arizona argue to Patel in the Tuesday letter first obtained by The Daily Wire that, under the Biden administration, the FBI &#8220;departed from its core public safety mission, suffered from senior leadership failures, and refused any real transparency or accountability for its actions.&#8221;
The premie-sized baby bodies were discovered by pro-life activists Lauren Handy and Terrisa Bukovinac outside a Washington, D.C. area abortion clinic in 2022 shortly before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, as The Daily Wire has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/i-went-to-the-clinic-of-the-dc-abortionist-accused-of-gruesome-crimes-heres-what-i-saw">extensively reported</a>. Though advocates and Republican lawmakers have sounded the alarm for years about these babies, warning that they appear to have been brutally and illegally aborted in violation of federal law, D.C. and the Biden administration took no steps to properly investigate the matter, instead targeting the women who recovered the bodies.
&#8220;As Chairs of the Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government and the Subcommittee on Crime and Federal Government Surveillance, we remain concerned about the Biden-Harris Administration’s refusal to investigate the circumstances of the case of five aborted children, also known as the D.C. Five, whose remains were allegedly discovered at the Washington Surgi-Clinic in March 2022 by a pro-life advocacy group,&#8221; the congressmen wrote.
&#8220;As we continue to conduct our investigation into the District of Columbia’s enforcement of the Partial-Birth Abortion Act and the Born Alive Infants Protection Act, serious questions remain surrounding the deaths of these children.&#8221;
The letter specifically requests that the FBI review the decision not to move forward with an investigation into the baby bodies, as well as the Biden administration&#8217;s &#8220;apparent decision not to enforce the Partial-Birth Abortion Act and the Born Alive Infants Protection Act.&#8221;
&#8220;While MPD maintained that the unborn children were &#8216;aborted in accordance with the law,&#8217; 5 pro-life advocates noted evidence that the children were victims of partial-birth abortions,&#8221; the lawmakers write. &#8220;Aborting a child through a partial-birth abortion is a crime under federal law. The Supreme Court of the United States upheld the federal ban on partial-birth abortions in 2007.&#8221;
The lawmakers note that a violation of the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act is a &#8220;serious accusation,&#8221; and not one to be &#8220;taken lightly.&#8221;
&#8220;Despite this significant claim, both the MPD and the Biden-Harris Administration chose to ignore any potential evidence of a crime for two years,&#8221; they write. &#8220;The Biden-Harris Department of Justice at one point allegedly directed the D.C. Medical Examiner to dispose of the bodies because &#8216;there [was] no reason to keep those babies anymore.'&#8221;
Roy and Biggs emphasized President Donald Trump&#8217;s commitment to &#8220;protect and respect every life—born and unborn,&#8221; and argued that medical experts have previously alleged that these aborted children &#8220;showed signs of being victims of partial-birth abortions.&#8221;
<div id="attachment_907845" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-fbi-must-investigate-biden-coverup-of-aborted-babies-found-in-dc-lawmakers-say/anti-abortion-activist-group-hold-news-conference-surrounding-the-recently-discovered-fetuses-in-d-c-home" rel="attachment wp-att-907845"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-907845" class="wp-image-907845 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-1389723564-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-1389723564-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-1389723564-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-1389723564-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-1389723564.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" /></a>Pro-life activist Lauren Handy listens during a news conference on the five babies she found in Washington, DC. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)</div>
&#8220;Yet no independent examination outside the D.C. Medical Examiner’s office has been conducted,&#8221; the lawmakers argue. &#8220;Based on evidence collected at the time of recovery, including the disturbing photos of the children, all five of these children appear to have developed well past the point of viability and likely suffered severely painful abortion procedures. However, without an independent and unbiased medical examination, it is not known how each child died.&#8221;
&#8220;Serious questions remain about the circumstances of these children’s deaths,&#8221; they continued. &#8220;If partial- birth abortions were conducted on these unborn children, that is a violation of federal law and should be investigated accordingly.&#8221;
The lawmakers request that Patel and the FBI review the evidence related to the &#8220;D.C. Five&#8221; by 5:00 p.m., on April 29, and that Patel arrange for &#8220;appropriate FBI officials to provide a staff level briefing related to the FBI’s review and potential investigation regarding the D.C. Five.&#8221;
The call to action is consequential. This is the first time that Republicans have held power since the baby bodies were discovered — and an FBI investigation may expose that D.C. abortionist Cesare Santangelo has been committing gruesome crimes just miles from the White House. The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/i-went-to-the-clinic-of-the-dc-abortionist-accused-of-gruesome-crimes-heres-what-i-saw">reported in April 2022</a> that pro-life <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/d-c-authorities-wont-autopsy-recovered-bodies-of-these-aborted-babies-police-are-hiding-barbaric-crimes-pro-lifers-say">medical professionals and experts</a> estimated that the babies were at the end of the 2nd trimester or in the 3rd trimester when they were aborted.
(Warning: Graphic and disturbing images described below.)
Pro-life activists, like those with the Progressive Anti Abortion Uprising, believe that Santangelo has been allowing babies born alive through his botched abortions to die in his clinic. Their claims stem in part from undercover videos in which Live Action <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxOWyumLufA">recorded Santangelo discussing</a> how he would allow babies to die if they were accidentally delivered during abortions.
“Very strong evidence suggests the ‘DC Five’ unborn children were killed within miles of our US Capitol building,&#8221; Roy told The Daily Wire on Tuesday. &#8220;I have sent a friendly letter to our Department of Justice aiming to get answers about why the Biden Administration did not investigate this brutal and likely illegal act, as well as the apparent decision not to enforce the Partial-Birth Abortion Act and the Born Alive Infants Protection Act.&#8221;
&#8220;I am confident the current leadership at the DOJ and FBI will take action to defend life in our nation’s capital and to ensure that these five babies receive justice,&#8221; he added.
The activists who found the babies told The Daily Wire in 2022 that Santangelo has a history of “sloppy,” “cheap” abortions. They emotionally described to The Daily Wire how they discovered the bodies, detailing opening a large bucket in which &#8220;Baby Boy #1&#8221; was lying. They named him &#8220;Christopher X,&#8221; and Bukovinac described him as “a beautiful 30+ week baby boy with hair on his head,&#8221; saying that she believes he was most likely born alive.
Handy, who was prosecuted by the Biden Justice Department for protesting outside abortion clinics and jailed until Trump pardoned her in January, said that the injuries that another one of the babies has are “consistent with what we’d expect from a partial-birth abortion — which is a federal crime.”
“Santangelo has a history of being sloppy, facing wrongful death lawsuits, and ignoring the law,” she said.

House Freedom Caucus Holds Press Conference To Discuss Government Funding

EXCLUSIVE: FBI Must Investigate Biden Coverup Of Aborted Babies Found In DC, Lawmakers Say

Abortion

Donald Trump

kash patel

A 40-year-old New Mexico man has been charged over arson attacks that targeted the headquarters of the Republican Party and a Tesla showroom in Albuquerque, the Justice Department announced.
The DOJ <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/albuquerque-man-charged-connection-arson-attacks-tesla-dealership-and-republican-party-new">said</a> Monday that 40-year-old Jamison Wagner had been arrested by the FBI over the attacks, which burned out two Teslas and left significant damage to the GOP headquarters in Albuquerque. Attorney General Pam Bondi said that the DOJ would be seeking 40 years in prison for Wagner if he is convicted.
Wagner was charged with two counts of malicious damage or destruction of property by fire or explosive.
“Let this be the final lesson to those taking part in this ongoing wave of political violence,” Bondi said. “We will arrest you, we will prosecute you, and we will not negotiate. Crimes have consequences.”
The DOJ said that it had identified Wagner through evidence left at the scene of the attacks and surveillance footage.
The first attack took place on February 9 when two Tesla vehicles outside the Tesla Albuquerque Showroom were targeted with a homemade incendiary device. Inside one of the vehicles was found a glass container with napalm material. Other vehicles and the outside of the showroom were spray-painted with swastikas and the words “Die Elon,” “Tesla Nazi Inc,” and “Die Tesla Nazi.”
<div id="attachment_907537" style="width: 1400px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-907537" class="size-full wp-image-907537" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Screen-Shot-2025-04-14-at-2.52.38-PM.png" alt="" width="1390" height="751" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Screen-Shot-2025-04-14-at-2.52.38-PM.png 1390w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Screen-Shot-2025-04-14-at-2.52.38-PM-300x162.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Screen-Shot-2025-04-14-at-2.52.38-PM-1024x553.png 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Screen-Shot-2025-04-14-at-2.52.38-PM-768x415.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1390px) 100vw, 1390px" />Credit: DOJ.</div>
The next attack took place on March 30, when the headquarters for the New Mexico GOP were firebombed, leaving significant damage. The phrase “ICE = KKK” was spray-painted on the building as well.
<div id="attachment_907539" style="width: 1409px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-907539" class="size-full wp-image-907539" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Screen-Shot-2025-04-14-at-2.52.16-PM.png" alt="" width="1399" height="965" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Screen-Shot-2025-04-14-at-2.52.16-PM.png 1399w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Screen-Shot-2025-04-14-at-2.52.16-PM-300x207.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Screen-Shot-2025-04-14-at-2.52.16-PM-835x576.png 835w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Screen-Shot-2025-04-14-at-2.52.16-PM-768x530.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1399px) 100vw, 1399px" />GOP headquarters: DOJ.</div>
Investigators said they linked Wagner to the attacks by matching his Hyundai Accent to one leaving the scene of the GOP headquarters after the bombing and matching his physical appearance to surveillance footage of the suspect.
The FBI also said it found materials for making incendiary devices at his home, spray paint matching the vandalism at both crime scenes, an “ICE=KKK” stencil matching what was spray-painted at the GOP headquarters, and at least eight suspected incendiary devices.
“This arrest is part of the FBI’s aggressive efforts to investigate and hold accountable those who have targeted Tesla facilities in various states across the country,” said FBI Director Kash Patel. “Under Attorney General Bondi’s leadership, we will continue to locate and arrest those responsible for these acts of domestic terrorism, and the FBI will work with partners at the Department of Justice to ensure such lawbreakers face justice.”

MixCollage-14-Apr-2025-02-54-PM-4419

‘Domestic Terrorism’: FBI Arrests Man For Firebombing New Mexico Tesla Showroom, GOP Headquarters

Albuquerque

Arson

Crime

Department of Justice

domestic terrorism

Elon Musk

New Mexico

Pam Bondi

Republican Party

Tesla

U.S.

A Wisconsin teenager charged with the murder of his parents was allegedly plotting to assassinate President Donald Trump, according to the FBI.
An FBI <a href="https://htv-prod-media.s3.amazonaws.com/files/casap-fed-sw-67f9cbaa7affd.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">affidavit</a> unsealed on Sunday said that 17-year-old Nikita Casap murdered his parents as part of an alleged plan to assassinate Trump and overthrow the American government. A manifesto cited by the FBI in the affidavit revealed a plan to kill Trump in order to sow chaos in the United States.
Casap was already <a href="https://www.waukeshacounty.gov/media/0yqgp1rd/03-27-25-cider-hills-update.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">under arrest</a> by the Waukesha County Sheriff’s Department for the murder of Tatiana Casap and stepfather Donald Mayer. Their bodies were uncovered by law enforcement officers after Casap did not show up to school for two weeks, and they were asked to perform a welfare check.
According to the FBI, they were murdered as part of Casap’s plan to kill Trump.
“He was in touch with other parties about his plan to kill the President and overthrow the government of the United States. And he paid for, at least in part, a drone and explosives to be used as a weapon of mass destruction to commit and attack. The killing of his parents appeared to be an effort to obtain the financial means and autonomy necessary to carrying out his plan,” the FBI application for a search warrant said.
“Other parties, with whom Casap was in contact, appear to have been aware of his plan and actions and to have provided assistance to Casap in carrying them out,” the agency added.
The affidavit was provided in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin to show probable cause that Casap was engaged in a conspiracy to kill the president and an attempt to use a weapon of mass destruction.
The FBI investigation said that Casap had adopted radical views, and wanted to kill Trump and possibly Vice President JD Vance to “bring some chaos.” He allegedly wanted to bring down the government because he believed that the American government was controlled by Jews.
“It is clear that the jews control all of the White countries, and it is clear that they promote White genocide and degeneracy. This for the white race to survive, it is necessary to accelerate the collapse of the countries,” a portion of his alleged manifesto included in the affidavit said.
The manifesto also included the line, “HAIL HITLER HAIL THE WHITE RACE HAIL VICTORY.” 
The FBI said that Casap planned to flee to Ukraine after the attack and was communicating with a male in Russia about the plans.

President Trump Meets With El Salvador President Nayib Bukele At The White House

Wisconsin Teen Accused Of Murdering Parents As Part Of Plot To Assassinate Trump

assassination attempt

Murder

Wisconsin

A man named Aliakbar Mohammed Amin was arrested by the FBI on Friday night after he made threats against both President Donald Trump and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.
Amin, 25, was arrested in Lilburn, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta. A source close to Gabbard says she was informed by the FBI that a firearm was confiscated from Amin at the time of the arrest, and that a trial date has been set for later this month.
&#8220;Bottom line, the FBI does not tolerate threats and will hold offenders fully accountable,&#8221; the local FBI Atlanta office said on Friday night. The FBI says more information regarding the specific threats will not be released until next week.
The arrest comes days after CNN dismissed credible threats against Gabbard, suggesting that her attempts to hide the address of a Texas property she owns were actually part of an attempt to commit voter fraud. Her office has raged at CNN for running the story, threatening to file a defamation lawsuit and accusing the liberal outlet of putting Gabbard&#8217;s safety at risk.
&#8220;I told CNN that Tulsi Gabbard had credible, active threats against her and her family and they went ahead and doxxed her address anyway,&#8221; <a href="https://x.com/alexahenning/status/1910858284661157922?s=42">wrote</a> Alexa Henning, Gabbard&#8217;s deputy chief of staff at the intelligence office, after the FBI announced the arrest on Friday.
CNN was investigating whether Gabbard committed fraud by voting in Hawaii, where she served in Congress and lived nearly her whole life, after declaring a property her &#8220;homestead&#8221; in Texas. Her office told CNN that the reason it was declared a homestead was because, in Texas, that designation allows you to keep the address private.
&#8220;Declaring her ‘homestead’ in Texas, per law, ensured her address would remain confidential in response to ongoing, high-level, credible threats against her and her family,&#8221; Gabbard spokeswoman Olivia Coleman said. This was communicated to CNN a week before it published its story, which dismissed this explanation.
The arrest also comes as protests rage against Trump, top members of his administration, and his allies. Earlier on Friday, a Pennsylvania man named Shawn Monper was arrested for writing that he planned to assassinate Trump on YouTube, where he posted as &#8220;Mr Satan.&#8221; Monper lived in Butler, Pennsylvania, where Trump narrowly escaped an attempt on his life during a campaign rally last summer.
Monper&#8217;s arrest came after he wrote on YouTube that all of Trump&#8217;s appointments needed to be killed.
&#8220;We just need to start killing people, Trump, Elon, all the heads of agencies Trump appointed, and anyone who stands in the way,&#8221; Monper wrote in a remark that was flagged for authorities by Google, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/11/us/politics/trump-elon-musk-ice-threats.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to The New York Times.
Gabbard, a former Democrat who bucked her party to support Trump, has attracted particular ire from the Left.

GoSy9d4XMAAhB9z

FBI Arrests Man, Aliakbar Mohammed Amin, For Threats Against Trump, Tulsi Gabbard

Terrorism

Tulsi Gabbard

President Donald Trump’s &#8220;big beautiful bill&#8221; takes a major step forward &#8212; upping the prospect of making his tax cuts permanent. The FBI is warning Americans about the alarming rise in the sexual exploitation and extortion of kids online. And, a new Daily Wire investigation raises questions about activist judges’ roles in padding the Social Security database with dubious disability claims.
It’s Friday, April 11, and this is the news you need to know to start your day. If you’d rather listen to your news, today’s edition of the Morning Wire podcast can be heard below:
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<h2>House Advances Trump-Backed Budget Bill</h2>
<div id="attachment_906413" style="width: 2570px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-906413" class="wp-image-906413 size-full" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2209555558-1-scaled.jpeg" alt="U.S. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) (L) and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) speak at a press conference on the Republican budget bill at the U.S. Capitol on April 10, 2025 in Washington, DC." width="2560" height="1440" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2209555558-1-scaled.jpeg 2560w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2209555558-1-300x169.jpeg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2209555558-1-1024x576.jpeg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2209555558-1-768x432.jpeg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2209555558-1-1536x864.jpeg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2209555558-1-2048x1152.jpeg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px" />Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images</div>
Topline: The House passed a budget blueprint on Thursday in a critical step toward a permanent renewal of Trump’s 2017 tax cuts.
GOP leaders were able to overcome conservative holdouts to push the budget reconciliation process forward for Trump’s <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hold-trump-scores-big-beautiful-victory-house-budget-vote">“Big, Beautiful Bill.”</a> The legislation makes the 2017 tax cuts permanent and includes funding for Trump’s priorities on defense, energy, and immigration. It also lifts the debt limit for two years.
However: The Senate resolution recently approved by the House outlines about $400 billion in budget cuts, whereas the original House blueprint called for at least $1.5 trillion. Calls for deeper spending cuts among House conservatives drove much of the opposition to the bill.
Reconciliation is a complicated process, but the short version is that with this House vote, lawmakers in both chambers can now haggle over the final version of a budget bill. The eventual bill to come out of those negotiations only needs 50 votes in the Senate instead of the usual 60 to overcome a filibuster, but there’s always the concern that the gripes from House conservatives over Thursday’s bill could threaten the final bill as well. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) has said he hopes to have a bill on Trump’s desk by Memorial Day.
Meanwhile: According to the Trump administration, as many as 75 nations have offered to renegotiate trade deals with the United States in the wake of the 90-day pause on Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariff scheme &#8212; a baseline tariff rate of 10% remains in force, however, while China has been singled out for retaliatory tariffs of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/white-house-lays-out-exact-tariff-rate-on-china-going-forward">145%</a>.
Inflation has also slowed at a greater-than-expected rate, according to the March Consumer Price Index, which <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2025/04/10/inflation-rate-eases-to-2point4percent-in-march-lower-than-expected.html">recorded</a> year-over-year inflation of 2.4%, below the projected 2.6%.
<h2>FBI Raises Alarm About Online Exploitation Of Minors</h2>
<div id="attachment_906415" style="width: 2570px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-906415" class="wp-image-906415 size-full" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-169816088-scaled.jpeg" alt="Silhouette of 16 year old girl texting backlit at window." width="2560" height="1440" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-169816088-scaled.jpeg 2560w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-169816088-300x169.jpeg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-169816088-1024x576.jpeg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-169816088-768x432.jpeg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-169816088-1536x864.jpeg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-169816088-2048x1152.jpeg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px" />Alan Oliver via Getty Images</div>
Topline: The <a href="https://www.ic3.gov/PSA/2025/PSA250306">FBI is warning</a> about the sharp rise in the sexual exploitation and extortion of minors online, leading to dozens of suicides of teens across the nation.
One form is called “sextortion” &#8212; sexual extortion is when a predator, usually an adult, either coerces or coaxes a minor into sending sexually explicit images or video footage, then extorts them over it. Predators will threaten to release that material unless the minor either produces additional explicit content or gives them cash. In some cases, the offenders are motivated by sexual gratification, but at other times, they are primarily after money.
The FBI posted a video last week about the sharp rise in sextortion, specifically citing a violent online network known as 7-6-4. Members in the U.S. and abroad are coercing minors and other vulnerable people to commit disturbing sex-related crimes or self-harm. “People have been asked to engage in cruelty to animals, self-mutilation of some sort,” FBI agent Ashley Johnson told <a href="https://fox2now.com/news/missouri/stl-fbi-warns-764-network-using-blackmail-to-exploit-minors-draft/">Fox 2</a> earlier this month. “In some cases we’ve had individuals ask children – if they knew they had a sibling – to film themselves sexually abusing their sibling.”
Another subtype of sexploitation primarily targets teen boys &#8212; offenders will pose as attractive women online and trick the minors into sending explicit content. They then threaten victims, telling them they will post the material publicly and send it to their friends and family if they don’t send payment. One report found that <a href="https://www.parents.com/more-teen-boys-being-threatened-with-sextortion-8623766?utm_source=chatgpt.com">90%</a> of all financially motivated sexual extortion victims were males between the ages of 14 and 17. These schemes have been linked to a string of suicides by young boys. A <a href="https://www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices/sacramento/news/sextortion-a-growing-threat-preying-upon-our-nations-teens#:~:text=The%20sextortion%20involved%20at%20least,the%20activity%20to%20law%20enforcement">memo</a> from the FBI’s Sacramento Field Office says that these sextortion offenders are often foreigners, primarily from West African countries like Nigeria and Ivory Coast or Southeast Asian countries like the Philippines.
From October 2021 to March 2023, the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations received more than 13,000 reports of this activity. There were about 12,600 victims, who were mostly boys, and at least 20 suicides have been connected to these schemes. But those numbers are likely even higher &#8212; <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/health-wellness/2025/02/25/teenage-boys-mental-health-suicide-sextortion-scams/78258882007/">a more recent report from USA Today</a> found that sextortion cases have been tied to at least 30 suicides of teen boys since 2021.
And this trend is growing. In just a six-month period in 2023, for example, the FBI saw a <a href="https://www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices/sacramento/news/sextortion-a-growing-threat-preying-upon-our-nations-teens#:~:text=The%20sextortion%20involved%20at%20least,the%20activity%20to%20law%20enforcement">20% increase</a> in reports of financially motivated sextortion. <a href="https://www.missingkids.org/cybertiplinedata">CyberTipline</a>, which is an organization run by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, received nearly 190,000 reports of Online Enticement of Children for Sexual Acts. That number has quadrupled since 2021, when the Tipline received around 44,000 reports.
<a href="https://info.thorn.org/hubfs/Research/Thorn_TrendsInFinancialSextortion_June2024.pdf?sm_guid=NzcxOTIyfDc4MzA5NjAxfC0xfGNlc2VAbmNvc2UuY29tfDcyMDIwMTJ8fDB8MHwyMjU0MzA0NTd8MTEzMnwwfDB8fDc2NjM5Nnww0">Instagram and Snapchat</a> are the two most-used apps for these crimes. Messages can disappear on both apps, which might lead to victims putting their guard down before sending over explicit images used against them. If you or someone you know thinks they’re a victim of sextortion, please call law enforcement. You can report it to the FBI by calling 1-800-CALL-FBI or by visiting <a href="https://tips.fbi.gov/">tips.fbi.gov</a>.
<h2>Social Security Scheme</h2>
<div id="attachment_906417" style="width: 2570px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-906417" class="wp-image-906417 size-full" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-129310646-scaled.jpeg" alt="Judge's gavel." width="2560" height="1440" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-129310646-scaled.jpeg 2560w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-129310646-300x169.jpeg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-129310646-1024x576.jpeg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-129310646-768x432.jpeg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-129310646-1536x864.jpeg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-129310646-2048x1152.jpeg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px" />Tetra Images via Getty Images</div>
Topline: A new investigation raises questions about activist judges’ roles in padding the Social Security database with dubious disability claims.
The Daily Wire’s Government Efficiency reporter, Luke Rosiak, found that dozens of judges overrule Social Security staff’s denials in almost every case they hear &#8212; granting what could amount to lifetime disability payments to people ruled ineligible to receive them.
About 1,200 administrative law judges are paid more than $200,000 a year to hear appeals from people who want to get disability benefits from Social Security despite having been ruled ineligible. They’re represented by a “union for judges,” the Association of Administrative Law Judges, that is suing to prevent the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) project from accessing information about Social Security staff.
The president of that union, a Democratic donor named Som Ramrup, overturned the rulings of Social Security’s experts and approved payments in 94% of the cases she heard last year. Ronald Herman, who hears cases in the Detroit area, approved 95% of the nearly 1,300 cases he heard. Jan Leventer, hearing cases in Queens, approved 94% of 2,200 cases. Some, including one of the supervisory judges, actually approved payments in 100% of the cases they heard last year. You’d think judges would operate on the assumption that Social Security’s staff experts were right most of the time, but as a group, they’re much more deferential to the people asking for money. The data show that 85 judges overturned non-disabled determinations more than 80% of the time, while only 16 upheld them more than 80% of the time.
Some of these rates seem mathematically impossible, and it’s evidence that the process is broken. This is important because you’ll hear that it’s a fool’s errand to try to cut the federal deficit because much of it is so-called “non-discretionary” items like Medicare and Social Security. But this is an example of how the DOGE project might find waste in those areas, too.

Donald Trump Delivers Joint Address To Congress

Morning Brief: Trump’s Big Bill, ‘Sextortion,’ & Activist Judges

Media

Mike Johnson

Morning Wire

Politics

Sexual Abuse

Social Security

Suicide

Three years ago, 17-year-old Gavin Guffey was playing video games with his friends on a summer night, when he got a message from who he thought was a pretty girl on Instagram. Not even two hours later, Gavin took his own life. 
Gavin is one of dozens of teen boys who was tragically victimized in a sexual extortion scheme targeting minors – <a href="https://www.ic3.gov/PSA/2025/PSA250306">a growing trend</a> the FBI is warning parents about. 
Sexual extortion, also known as sextortion, occurs when an offender coerces or tricks a minor into sending them sexually explicit images or video footage, and then threatens to release that material unless the minor produces additional explicit content. Or, in the case of financially-motivated sextortion, the offender will demand payment instead of more sexual content. 
Brandon Guffey, a Republican lawmaker in South Carolina and Gavin’s father, spoke to The Daily Wire about his son’s case and how he’s working to protect other minors and hold predators and social media companies accountable.
“We as parents can lock our doors to protect our kids, but now so much of their life is online, and we don&#8217;t realize the people who are contacting our kids on the other side,” Guffey said. 
Reports of sextortion cases of minors are rising each year. The FBI saw a <a href="https://www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices/sacramento/news/sextortion-a-growing-threat-preying-upon-our-nations-teens#:~:text=The%20sextortion%20involved%20at%20least,the%20activity%20to%20law%20enforcement">20% increase</a> in reports of financially motivated sextortion in just one six-month period in 2023. From October 2021 to March 2023, the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations received more than 13,000 reports of such online activity targeting minors. There were about 12,600 victims, mostly boys, and at least 20 suicides. 
A more recent number, <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/health-wellness/2025/02/25/teenage-boys-mental-health-suicide-sextortion-scams/78258882007/">according to a USA Today report</a>, found that sextortion cases have been tied to at least 30 suicides of teen boys since 2021. And that number is likely a low estimate, since some families might not even be aware their child was a victim of sextortion, due to the online nature of the crime. 
Additionally, the <a href="https://www.missingkids.org/cybertiplinedata">CyberTipline</a>, which is run by the National Center of Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), received nearly 190,000 reports of Online Enticement of Children for Sexual Acts, which includes sextortion. That number has quadrupled since 2021, when the Tipline received around 44,000 reports.
Tammy Lee is the CEO of <a href="https://ourrescue.org/?gad_source=1&amp;gclid=CjwKCAjwtdi_BhACEiwA97y8BIwhSnKn23zbRPE-oMdzCOuM0zlMpDHlCAycrVcJKjTzToQZ-p7UUhoC2VMQAvD_BwE">Our Rescue</a>, a nonprofit focused on ending child exploitation that partners with law enforcement in all 50 states. She told The Daily Wire that online threats need to be taken seriously by parents. 
“We really believe that every parent has to take this to be one of the most serious threats against their children of our time, because predators are everywhere,” she said.
Talks about “stranger danger” with children must evolve to include discussions about online safety, Lee noted. 
“We used to teach our kids to watch out for strangers, or people in white vans,” Lee said. “Now, we have to worry about who is coming into our child&#8217;s bedroom through their gaming console, or through their iPhone, or their iPad, because these predators lurk online looking for kids that they can extort.” 
<a href="https://info.thorn.org/hubfs/Research/Thorn_TrendsInFinancialSextortion_June2024.pdf?sm_guid=NzcxOTIyfDc4MzA5NjAxfC0xfGNlc2VAbmNvc2UuY29tfDcyMDIwMTJ8fDB8MHwyMjU0MzA0NTd8MTEzMnwwfDB8fDc2NjM5Nnww0">Instagram and Snapchat</a>, according to NCMEC, are the two most-used apps for these crimes. Messages can disappear on both apps, which might lead to victims putting their guard down before sending over explicit images used against them.  
In financially-motivated sextortion cases, young males are most often targeted. In fact, one report found that <a href="https://www.parents.com/more-teen-boys-being-threatened-with-sextortion-8623766?utm_source=chatgpt.com">90%</a> of all financially-motivated sexual extortion victims were males between the ages of 14 and 17. 
<a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/health-wellness/2025/02/25/teenage-boys-mental-health-suicide-sextortion-scams/78258882007/">According to parents of numerous victims</a>, minors will be messaged by an account they think is being operated by a female of similar age, who might tell them they have mutual friends. The conversation then turns sexual, the victim sends over explicit material, and soon after, the blackmail begins. 
A <a href="https://www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices/sacramento/news/sextortion-a-growing-threat-preying-upon-our-nations-teens#:~:text=The%20sextortion%20involved%20at%20least,the%20activity%20to%20law%20enforcement">memo</a> from the FBI’s Sacramento Field Office says that financially-motivated sextortion offenders are often foreigners, primarily from West African countries like Nigeria and Ivory Coast, or Southeast Asian countries like the Philippines. Lee told The Daily Wire that the nonprofit, which often works with law enforcement, is seeing the same pattern. 
“Our officers that we partner with in digital forensics are definitely seeing a spike in these crimes originating from some of the African countries,” Lee said. “They&#8217;ll post and pretend to be a teenage girl or a teenage boy asking for explicit images. Once those images are exchanged, then the predator from one of these African nations will go in and threaten them.” 
After losing his son in 2022, Guffey was sworn in as a state representative in South Carolina and became a fierce advocate in the fight against sextortion. Just a year after his son’s death, Guffey got “<a href="https://governor.sc.gov/news/2023-08/governor-henry-mcmaster-signs-gavins-law">Gavin’s Law</a>” signed into law. 
“My son Gavin was contacted by a predator through Instagram messaging,” Guffey told The Daily Wire. “He jumped off the video game with friends to have a chat with this female, or so he thought. They began to share images, and within 1 hour and 40 minutes, Gavin took his life.”
“I&#8217;d never heard of what sextortion was, or had a clue of what it was,” Guffey said. 
After his son passed, Guffey said he and his family were contacted by the scammers for more money, and he was even taunted about Gavin committing suicide. 
“They began to extort Gavin&#8217;s 16-year-old brother, a 14-year-old cousin, and then, trying to extort me as well, fully aware that Gavin had taken his life,” he said. “They sent a message to me and said, ‘Did I tell you your son begged for his life?’” 
<div id="attachment_905659" style="width: 968px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-905659" class="wp-image-905659 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2195735962-958x576.jpg" alt="State Rep. Brandon Guffey of Rock Hill stands outside the federal courthouse in Columbia on Monday with a photo of his son, Gavin Guffey." width="958" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2195735962-958x576.jpg 958w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2195735962-300x180.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2195735962-768x462.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/GettyImages-2195735962.jpg 1006w" sizes="(max-width: 958px) 100vw, 958px" />State Rep. Brandon Guffey of Rock Hill stands outside the federal courthouse in Columbia on Monday with a photo of his son, Gavin Guffey // The State via Getty Images </div>
In January, the Nigerian scammer who blackmailed Guffey’s son was extradited to the United States and is facing life in prison. 
Hassanbunhussein Abolore Lawal has been <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-sc/pr/nigerian-man-extradited-us-after-being-indicted-sextortion-scheme-caused-death-sc-teen">charged</a> with child exploitation resulting in death, the production and distribution of child sexual abuse material, coercion and enticement of a minor, cyberstalking resulting in death, interstate threats with intent to extort, and aiding/abetting, according to the Department of Justice. Additionally, Lawal is accused of targeting the victim’s family in the stalking and extortion charges.
“Often with these extortion schemes, you have money launderers within the United States that are transferring funds in order to get them overseas, and then typically overseas, in Gavin&#8217;s case, they come out of Logos, Nigeria,” Guffey explained. “There is a well-known group called the Yahoo Boys that are doing a lot of these extortion schemes.”
The “Yahoo Boys” will “‘bomb’ high schools, youth sports teams and universities with fake accounts, using advanced social engineering tactics to coerce their victims into a compromising situation,” <a href="https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/nigerian-yahoo-boys-social-media/">according</a> to Infosecurity Magazine. 
The group gets its name from the web service provider Yahoo, and the criminals are tied to past “Nigerian Prince” scams before shifting to elderly fraud, fake job scams, and sextortion, the magazine reports. 
There’s also been a rise in sextortion acts from a group called 764. Members here in the United States and abroad are forcing minors and other vulnerable people to commit disturbing sex-related crimes or self-harm. In these cases, predators are motivated by sexual gratification. 
Ashley Johnson, special agent in charge of the FBI’s St. Louis Field Office, <a href="https://fox2now.com/news/missouri/stl-fbi-warns-764-network-using-blackmail-to-exploit-minors-draft/">discussed</a> 764’s activities on FOX 2, earlier this month.
“People have been asked to engage in cruelty to animals, self mutilation of some sort,” she said. “Some cases we’ve had individuals ask children — if they knew they had a sibling — to film themselves sexually abusing their sibling.” 
Moreover, artificial intelligence is widening the net of sextortion victims, Lee told The Daily Wire. 
“More and more of these sex predators are going online and they&#8217;re becoming more sophisticated in the ways that they go after young people, minors who they&#8217;re trying to exploit,” she said. “What&#8217;s brand new that we&#8217;re seeing now is AI — AI is becoming a very emerging threat for sextortion where these predators can take an image of a fully clothed child and turn it into child sexual abuse material.” 
Addressing teens who might find themselves swept up in a sexual extortion scam, Guffey urged young people to be brave and report such crimes. 
“I tell them, number one, don&#8217;t send images to someone that you&#8217;ve never met before. I mean, you don&#8217;t want sending images, period,” he said. “But if you do, make sure that your face and your privates are not identifiable in the same picture as well. And if that does happen, don&#8217;t be scared. Be brave enough to go to your parents, to go to law enforcement to report this.”
“If you feel like you can just pay them and this’ll go away, they&#8217;re going to continue to go after not only you — ‘cause it will never stop once you pay them money, they&#8217;re going to continue to go after other teens and make them feel the same way that you feel right now,” Guffey continued. “So, it&#8217;s very important for us to report it so we can go after these criminals.”
In his son’s case, the scammers were asking for “a couple hundred” dollars, Guffey recalled.
“I think it was $25 [Gavin sent] over to them. But, of course, that&#8217;s never enough. The key to this is to ensure that you never send a penny.” 
As for parents of potential victims, Guffey is preaching grace and understanding. 
“I would say for parents, number one, I think often we as parents get very angry whenever our child makes a mistake, and we need to learn grace again,” he told The Daily Wire. “We can say, ‘don&#8217;t send pictures, don&#8217;t share pictures,’ but, nowadays you don&#8217;t even have to; it can be AI. And this is your reputation, and it&#8217;s getting spread throughout your entire community — it&#8217;s not one school where you get this name.”
“You need to be there to fight for your kid and make sure you have the conversation that regardless of what the situation is, make sure that they know that you will be there for them,” he continued. “I felt like I had that conversation and that connection with Gavin, however, this was just so much shame that he didn&#8217;t feel that he could come to me.”
Guffey is working with Texas Sen. Ted Cruz (R.) on the bipartisan <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/cruz-introduces-bill-protecting-victims-from-deepfake-revenge-porn">Take it Down Act</a>. The bill would require social media platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook to remove any content that features explicit images or videos of minors, known as &#8220;child sexual abuse material,” or CSAM, or “revenge porn,” within 48 hours of the content being flagged. 
On Tuesday, the Take it Down Act <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/2025/03/readout-from-first-lady-melania-trumps-roundtable-discussion-on-online-protection-and-the-take-it-down-act/">passed</a> the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and has been championed by First Lady Melania Trump. 
&#8220;This marks a significant step in our bipartisan efforts to safeguard our children from online threats,&#8221; Mrs. Trump said in a statement. &#8220;I urge Congress to swiftly pass this important legislation. Together, we can create a safer, brighter future for all Americans!”
Lee also encouraged parents to speak to their children about this issue. “The average parent only spends 46 minutes in a child&#8217;s lifetime talking about how to stay safe online,” she told The Daily Wire. 
“This can be a very difficult topic for parents to want to talk about with their kids, but it is the next great safety factor that they have to bring up with their kids in order to keep them safe,” she added. 
Since that conversation can be a challenge for some parents, on its website, Our Rescue offers a guide called <a href="https://ourrescue.org/files/OurRescue_Start_Talking_2025.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Let&#8217;s Start Talking</a>. The nonprofit also spends time in schools across the country with its law enforcement partners to encourage online safety, Lee said. 
Outside of educating parents and children, Guffey wants social media companies to have protections stripped from them over their lack of action concerning CSAM material. 
“I think the number one thing that we have to do is to remove Section 230, or revisit Section 230, which was written in 1996,” he told The Daily Wire. “It gives these companies — who are the richest companies since the inception of man — it absolves them from being sued. So we can sue them, but things get thrown out before discovery because they just say, ‘We&#8217;re not responsible for anything online because this is a public forum.’”
Guffrey is currently suing Meta, the parent company of Instagram, over his son’s death. “I filed a suit directly on my own, not demanding money, but demanding change.” 
Addressing parents and children, Guffrey had a simple closing message: “Tomorrow needs you.” 
“Tomorrow needs adults to stand up and fight to protect our children,” he said. “But tomorrow certainly needs the next generation. If we don&#8217;t have the next generation, then what are we fighting for?” 
If you or someone you know thinks they’re a victim of sextortion, please call law enforcement. You can report it to the FBI by calling 1-800-CALL-FBI or visiting <a href="https://tips.fbi.gov/">tips.fbi.gov</a>.

Big Tech and the Online Child Sexual Exploitation Crisis

Dozens Of Teen Boys Take Their Own Lives As Online Sextortion Cases Spike

Dozens Of Teen Boys Have Taken Their Own Lives As Online Sextortion Cases Continue To Spike

Africa

Social Issues

Social Media

A Muslim man who hated America and Christianity was convicted of targeting multiple churches with fake bomb threats while collecting bomb-making materials, the Justice Department announced.
The DOJ <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/arizona-man-convicted-crimes-arising-out-plot-targeting-christian-churches" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> Friday that 45-year-old Zimnako Salah was convicted of targeting four churches across Arizona, California, and Colorado with fake bomb threats. At the same time, the FBI said it found evidence that Salah was constructing an actual bomb in a storage crate he was renting, according to a criminal complaint.
Salah was convicted last week of making a bomb threat hoax, obstructing the free exercise of religion, threatening the use of a dangerous weapon or explosive, and targeting Christians because of their religion.
“This Department of Justice has no tolerance for anyone who targets religious Americans for their faith,” Attorney General Pamela Bondi said. “The perpetrator of this abhorrent hate crime against Christians will face severe punishment.”
At one church in Roseville, California, in November 2023, Salah tied a backpack to a toilet in the men’s restroom before leaving with the intent to scare congregants into thinking they may be the victims of a bombing, the DOJ said. One woman who handled the backpack believed that she &#8220;might meet Jesus today&#8221; because of the package.
“Planting a hoax bomb at the Roseville church was not an isolated incident or a prank for this defendant,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Michele Beckwith for the Eastern District of California. “His actions were designed to threaten and intimidate the congregation because he disagreed with their religious beliefs.”
In another incident, Salah left a backpack in the sanctuary of a Christian church in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Salah attempted to conduct a similar hoax at two other churches — one in Greenwood Village, Colorado, and the other in La Mesa, California — but was questioned by church security.
According to the criminal complaint filed against him, Salah is a Northern Iraqi who has lived in Arizona for about 20 years. 
In his interactions with others, the FBI found that he expressed his hate for America, telling people, “F*** this country. I hate America. This country went to Iraq and killed a lot of people.&#8221;
And at the same time he was carrying out the bombing hoaxes, the FBI discovered that Salah was renting a storage unit near Greenwood Village where he had materials like duct tape with nails, red and white wires attached to a battery, nails and bolts, a box of ignition coils, and multiple propane tanks.
<div id="attachment_904293" style="width: 1179px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-904293" class="size-full wp-image-904293" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Screen-Shot-2025-04-07-at-2.39.00-PM.png" alt="" width="1169" height="700" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Screen-Shot-2025-04-07-at-2.39.00-PM.png 1169w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Screen-Shot-2025-04-07-at-2.39.00-PM-300x180.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Screen-Shot-2025-04-07-at-2.39.00-PM-962x576.png 962w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Screen-Shot-2025-04-07-at-2.39.00-PM-768x460.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1169px) 100vw, 1169px" />FBI criminal complaint.</div>
At the time, the FBI said in its criminal complaint that the evidence indicated that the materials were “possibly being used to attempt to make a viable explosive device.” The DOJ later determined that Salah had “been building a bomb capable of fitting in a backpack.”
On the wall of the storage unit were spray-painted words in Arabic derogatory toward Jewish people and about Muhammed. Video records showed that Salah had searched for videos of “Infidels dying” and watched videos of ISIS murdering Christians, according to the DOJ.
<div id="attachment_904295" style="width: 1214px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-904295" class="size-full wp-image-904295" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Screen-Shot-2025-04-07-at-2.38.37-PM.png" alt="" width="1204" height="728" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Screen-Shot-2025-04-07-at-2.38.37-PM.png 1204w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Screen-Shot-2025-04-07-at-2.38.37-PM-300x181.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Screen-Shot-2025-04-07-at-2.38.37-PM-953x576.png 953w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Screen-Shot-2025-04-07-at-2.38.37-PM-768x464.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1204px) 100vw, 1204px" />Salah&#8217;s Storage unit: FBI criminal complaint.</div>
Salah could face up to six years in prison and a $250,000 fine if sentenced to the maximum penalty.
President Donald Trump has made targeting anti-Christian bias a major priority for his administration. He signed an executive order in February to create a task force aimed at protecting Christians and religious liberty.

MixCollage-07-Apr-2025-03-05-PM-1154

‘Hate Crime Against Christians’: Iraqi Man Convicted Over Bomb Threats Targeting Churches

Bombings

California

Christianity

Churches

Hate Crime

ISIS

Islam

In an interview with Morning Wire that was released on Sunday, Washington Free Beacon reporter Jon Levine opened up about the FBI&#8217;s coverup of the Hunter Biden laptop story in 2020.
Earlier this week, the House Judiciary Committee <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/04/02/opinion/miranda-devine-new-fbi-chat-logs-reveal-extraordinary-gag-order-senior-leadership-used-to-shutdown-any-hunter-biden-laptop-discussion/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">revealed</a> that after the New York Post published the Biden laptop story in October 2020, the FBI instructed its agents not to discuss it and even scolded one agent for confirming the story&#8217;s authenticity. According to chat logs released by the House Judiciary Committee, an FBI analyst confirmed the Biden laptop story to Twitter and was promptly &#8220;admonished&#8221; by higher-ups who lamented that &#8220;he won&#8217;t shut up.&#8221;
In one discussion, an FBI attorney told an agent, “Please do not discuss the Biden matter.”
Levine, who formerly wrote for the New York Post, told Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief John Bickley that he and his team at the Post &#8220;already kind of knew the FBI knew [the laptop] was real,&#8221; but added that the House Judiciary Committee&#8217;s revelations were &#8220;new&#8221; to him.
&#8220;And it&#8217;s extra insidious because if you go back to that time, which is now five years ago, the FBI was running around that same week saying, &#8216;Well, we&#8217;re looking into this being a Russian information dump,'&#8221; Levine said. &#8220;So on the same week, the same day, they knew it was real, they were counter-programming the narrative.&#8221;
<iframe style="width: 100%; max-width: 660px; overflow: hidden; border-radius: 10px;" src="https://embed.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/coverup-the-fbi-hunter-bidens-laptop-4-6-25/id1576594336?i=1000702363522" height="175" frameborder="0" sandbox="allow-forms allow-popups allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-storage-access-by-user-activation allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation"></iframe> 
A <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/collections/the-hunter-biden-files" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Daily Wire review</a> of the contents of Biden&#8217;s laptop conducted by reporter Luke Rosiak revealed Hunter Biden&#8217;s attempts to use the family name for massive business deals and propose business plans that would apparently include Joe Biden.
The FBI appeared to know about the laptop in the weeks before the story dropped, asking social media companies to look out for a Russian “hack and leak” operation involving Hunter Biden. The suppression of the story — and of the New York Post — that followed likely had a major impact on the 2020 presidential election.
&#8220;They were actively casting doubt on it when they knew it was real. And it&#8217;s inescapable now that it was clearly so they could help steer the election towards Joe Biden, which is actually what happened,&#8221; Levine told Morning Wire.
It would have been one thing for the FBI to say that it was looking into the matter and wasn&#8217;t going to comment, but the bureau actively tried to discredit the story, Levine said.
&#8220;When they were actually the ones who were speaking the falsehoods, we were trying to tell the truth. They essentially ran an information operation on the American people,&#8221; he added. &#8220;They spread us a bunch of BS because the truth was detrimental to Joe Biden. They didn&#8217;t want it out.&#8221;
Asked if he thinks trust in the FBI can be restored under new leadership after the Hunter Biden laptop saga, Levine said that there must be a complete overhaul of the top leadership and mid-management agents.
&#8220;It&#8217;s not the rank and file people. They&#8217;re very good,&#8221; he said, adding, &#8220;I think we should get a slimmed-down FBI because obviously we&#8217;ve seen how they abuse their power, and Democrats will be in charge at some point again. And I don&#8217;t want a giant FBI in the hands of Democrats.&#8221;

Hunter Biden

‘Spread Us A Bunch Of BS’: Reporter Dishes On FBI’s Coverup Of Hunter Biden Laptop

2020 Election

Joe Biden

The Justice Department announced Wednesday night that another “high level” MS-13 gang member wanted in connection to multiple murders had been arrested in New York. 
Attorney General Pam Bondi said that Joel Vargas-Escobar, an illegal immigrant from El Salvador, had been arrested on Tuesday and charged with a racketeering conspiracy involving 11 murders. Vargas-Escobar, who was previously deported in 2018, is suspected of being part of the command and control structure of MS-13 in Las Vegas and California. 
Vargas-Escobar was charged with racketeering conspiracy, two counts of murder-in-aid of racketeering, and multiple gun charges. He was detained by law enforcement on Long Island. 
“The American people are safer following the arrest of yet another MS-13 leader thanks to the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division and Joint Task Force Vulcan,” Bondi said. “This terrorist entered our country illegally and is accused of orchestrating 11 murders — under President Trump’s leadership, we will not rest until this terrorist organization is completely dismantled and its members are behind bars.”
Vargas-Escobar is accused of operating MS-13’s “Parkview” clique in Las Vegas and personally ordering two murders and orchestrating nine more, according to the DOJ. The murder victims were taken to remote mountain or desert locations and tortured before being killed.  
“The arrest of yet another violent and dangerous MS-13 leader is a major win for our FBI agents, law enforcement partners, and safer American streets,” said FBI Director Kash Patel. “Our agents and analysts are continuously coordinating across multiple field offices and investigating with our valued partners to keep this work going — and we will not stop until that work is done.”
The alleged gang leader first appeared in court Wednesday morning in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York – Central Islip. He will be sent to Nevada for his trial, where he could face life in prison if convicted. 
This arrest follows an <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/fbi-arrests-top-ms-13-leader-just-outside-d-c-america-is-safer-today" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announcement last week</a> the FBI had arrested 24-year-old Henrry Josue Villatoro Santos, who the DOJ said was the top leader of MS-13 for the East Coast. He was arrested and charged with immigration and gun crimes last week during a predawn operation in Virginia.

EL SALVADOR-PRISON-GANGS-INMATES

FBI Arrests ‘High Ranking’ MS-13 Member Accused Of ‘Orchestrating’ 11 Murders

Illegal Immigation

Las Vegas

MS-13 Gang

Nevada

New York

President Donald Trump unveils his highly anticipated tariff plan in a Rose Garden speech. Damning new evidence points to an FBI cover-up ahead of the 2020 election. And, trade negotiations between the U.S. and the U.K. hang in the balance, as the fate of a pro-life protester becomes a bargaining chip.
It’s Thursday, April 3, and this is the news you need to know to start your day. If you’d rather listen to your news, today’s edition of the Morning Wire podcast can be heard below:
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<h2>Trump’s “Liberation Day” Tariffs</h2>
<div id="attachment_902231" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-902231" class="size-large wp-image-902231" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Trump-Rosegarden-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Trump-Rosegarden-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Trump-Rosegarden-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Trump-Rosegarden-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Trump-Rosegarden-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Trump-Rosegarden-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Trump-Rosegarden-1800x1200.jpg 1800w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Trump-Rosegarden-1200x800.jpg 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />(Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)</div>
Topline:  After months of anticipation, President Trump rolled out his plans to implement historic tariffs on Wednesday, transforming American trade policy with the stroke of his pen.
World leaders, investors, the business community — everyone has been holding their breath ahead of what Trump described as “Liberation Day.” The announcement in the White House Rose Garden was among the most consequential moments in American trade policy since NAFTA was implemented in 1994, or even the Smoot-Hawley Act of 1930.
The Plan: The U.S. will establish a minimum 10% baseline tariff on all countries, regardless of what they charge. From there, the president announced that rates would be reciprocal. But according to Trump, the United States will be gracious, in his words, “kind reciprocal, not full.” In a truly remarkable scene, the president held up a giant poster board listing dozens of countries along with the rate they’ll now pay. Trump says that number was decided by adding up each country’s tariffs, value-added taxes, and currency manipulation. That number was then divided by two, and the final rate was decided.
According to the president, China’s overall rate on U.S. imports is 67%, so we’ll charge 34%. The European Union will face 20% rates; Japan, 24%; Australia, 10%; India, 26%; the United Kingdom will pay 10%; South Africa will pay 60%; and so on.
The president devoted much of his address to the auto industry, saying foreign tariffs had driven American companies to outsource production, leaving our manufacturing base decimated. In an effort to bring that auto production back to the United States, Trump announced additional 25% tariffs on all auto imports. Following that announcement, he called Brian Pannebecker, a United Auto Worker, to the podium.
 “My entire life I have watched plant after plant after plant, in Detroit and the metro area, close,” Pannebecker said. “And the UAW members… we support Donald Trump’s tariff policies 100 percent.”
This plan marks not just a transformation of global trade but also a political transformation. For decades, Republican administrations have opposed tariffs, while Democrats were generally in favor. But Democrats now argue that tariffs are a tax on consumers and will drive inflation higher. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), for example, said Trump was “taking a sledgehammer to the US economy” and vowed to fight his tariff policy “tooth and nail.”
The question now becomes how those other countries respond — will they lower rates in an effort to find relief or dig in for a prolonged trade war? We’ll have answers soon. 
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<h2>FBI Biden Cover-Up</h2>
<div id="attachment_902233" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-902233" class="size-large wp-image-902233" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/FBI-Coverup-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/FBI-Coverup-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/FBI-Coverup-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/FBI-Coverup-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/FBI-Coverup-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/FBI-Coverup-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/FBI-Coverup-1800x1200.jpg 1800w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/FBI-Coverup-1200x800.jpg 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />(Photo by Nes via Getty Images)</div>
Topline: House investigations revealed Tuesday that the FBI sought to silence its own agents from discussing Hunter Biden’s laptop publicly.
Congress has received internal messages from the FBI, which, while heavily redacted, suggest a coordinated effort to cover up elements of the Hunter Biden laptop story in the lead-up to the 2020 presidential election. An FBI analyst confirmed the laptop’s authenticity in a phone call with Twitter on October 14, 2020, the day that a story in the New York Post on information found in Biden’s laptop dropped. After that, the FBI’s brass shut down public discussion. 
According to these messages, an FBI official told Elvis Chan, the FBI liaison for social media companies, that there was a “gag order” on talk about the laptop. This was apparently as the FBI was actively investigating the laptop for criminal conduct. Chan asked what specific crime was suspected of being violated, and the response was censored. But it was apparently shocking enough to make Chan write back, “oh crap. Ok. it ends here.”
The allegation is that the FBI knew the laptop was authentic as early as October 14, 2020, but still moved to censor the New York Post story before the election.
“We already kind of knew the FBI knew it was real,” Jon Levine of the Washington Free Beacon told Morning Wire. “But the sort of real time details, like on the very same day [the Post broke the story] they knew it was real. That&#8217;s new and it&#8217;s extra insidious because if you go back to that time… the FBI was running around that same week saying, well, we&#8217;re, we&#8217;re looking into this being a Russian information dump.”
All the FBI had to do was confirm the laptop’s authenticity. Instead, it allowed a considerable censorship operation to smother a news story. Several major media outlets propped up the FBI’s narrative, from <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/03/26/media/nprs-katherine-maher-admits-outlet-failed-to-cover-hunter-biden-laptop/">NPR</a> saying it didn’t want to “waste our time on stories that are not really stories” to <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2020/10/19/hunter-biden-story-russian-disinfo-430276">Politico</a> publishing a story citing dozens of foreign intelligence officials who claimed the laptop “[had] all the classic earmarks” of Russian disinformation. All while the FBI was, in fact, investigating a very real Hunter Biden laptop. The fact that officials from other agencies signed on to that claim suggests the suppression effort extended beyond the FBI.
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<h2>US Pressures UK Against Censorship</h2>
<div id="attachment_902235" style="width: 870px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-902235" class="size-large wp-image-902235" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/UK-Opinion-Liscence-860x576.jpg" alt="" width="860" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/UK-Opinion-Liscence-860x576.jpg 860w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/UK-Opinion-Liscence-300x201.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/UK-Opinion-Liscence-768x514.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/UK-Opinion-Liscence-1536x1028.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/UK-Opinion-Liscence-2048x1371.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 860px) 100vw, 860px" />(Edited satirical photo, Original by Mariia Morozova via Getty Images)</div>
Topline: The State Department announced it’s closely monitoring the case of a woman targeted by the British government for her pro-life activism while the United Kingdom negotiates a trade deal with the US.
Over the weekend, the State Department announced that it is following the developments surrounding retired medical scientist Livia Tossici-Bolt. She was reportedly arrested in Bournemouth, England, in 2023 for holding a sign near an abortion clinic that read, “Here to talk if you want.” She’s one of many pro-life activists prosecuted for pro-life activism and prayer in the vicinity of abortion clinics. The U.K. has “buffer zone” laws that prohibit this kind of activity in those areas, including silent prayer. She faced a criminal trial on March 6, and a verdict is expected to be handed down on April 4.
The State Department&#8217;s announcement was an oblique warning. Headlines from The Telegraph and other high-profile European publications indicate that the United Kingdom’s censorship of its citizens could actually become a massive liability in regard to the transatlantic relationship, which has historically been very friendly. The State Department never directly said the trade deal was imperiled, but it did say that the U.S. is “concerned about freedom of expression in the United Kingdom.&#8221;
The State Department confirmed to Daily Wire White House Correspondent Mary Margaret Olohan that its senior advisor, Sam Samson, recently met with Livia in the U.K. Sources close to the situation told The Daily Wire that State Department officials held bilateral meetings with members of the British government about the topic, including the officials who are pushing hate speech laws. The United States has emphasized that its alliance with the United Kingdom must be civilizational – American allies must be on board with American values, including freedom of speech. 
The White House has not commented directly on this matter, but Vice President JD Vance has consistently made opposition to government censorship a trademark issue. Vance chastised European leaders for censoring their citizens at a security conference in Munich earlier this year. On Tuesday, he reiterated his vision for a liberated West at a Heritage Foundation event.
“ We can rebuild the kind of society where virtue and freedom and our ancient liberties are preserved and enforced and facilitated by our government rather than torn down by our government,” Vance said. “You see in Europe, people arrested for praying and you have the police asking them, well, what are you praying about? As if it was any of the police&#8217;s business.”

President Trump Holds “Make America Wealthy Again Event” In White House Rose Garden

Morning Brief: ‘Liberation Day’ Tariffs, An FBI Cover-Up, & America Pressures Brits On Free Speech

Free Speech

laptop computer

Tariffs

United Kingdom

In the first full month after Kash Patel was confirmed as FBI director on February 20, the FBI received a record number of new agent applications.
5,577 new applications were filed in March, after 2023 saw a monthly average of 2,797 applications, and 2024’s monthly average was 3,383. The most recent month that saw a number approximating March was April 2016, when  5,283 applications were filed, Fox News <a href="//989FF4A0-0F8C-4440-985D-4FBE43B7AD5F/v" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>.
“Director Patel and Deputy Director Bongino have put a major emphasis on restoring confidence in federal law enforcement and boosting new agent recruiting,” FBI spokesman Ben Williamson told Fox News Digital. “These record early returns certainly suggest the new FBI is heading in the right direction.”
“The record number of FBI job applications in March shows that people are inspired by Kash Patel’s commitment to restoring integrity and effectiveness at the bureau,” Patel advisor Erica Knight added. “Americans are putting their trust in his leadership to rebuild the FBI and keep our communities safe. &#8230; this is just the beginning. Kash is dedicated to creating a stronger, more trusted FBI that serves the American people the way it was always meant to,&#8221; Knight said.
In May 2024, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) sent a <a href="https://www.richlandsource.com/2024/05/06/jordan-opens-inquiry-into-fbis-dei-hiring-practices/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">letter</a> to the FBI regarding its emphasis on DEI in hiring and the recruiting fallout from it. He stated:
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On Inauguration Day, President Biden issued his first Executive Order promulgating DEI programs within the whole of Executive Branch. A few months later, on April 21, 2021, you announced the hiring of the FBI’s first Chief Diversity Officer, Scott McMillon. From that time forward, we understand that the FBI has struggled with attracting enough qualified applicants from all desired target groups to sustain its mission. This is likely due to the FBI re-focusing its recruitment efforts on DEI statistics. 
In October 2023, a group of retired FBI Special Agents and Analysts, many of whom held senior positions of trust and authority within the FBI, authored a report detailing ‘alarming trends’ in the FBI’s recruitment and selection process. The detailed, 112-page report highlighted several troubling findings, including that: “The law enforcement and intelligence capabilities of the FBI are degrading because the FBI is no longer hiring ‘the best and brightest’ candidates to fill the position of Special Agent of the FBI. &#8230; An increasing number of lower quality candidates — described by one source as ‘bread crumbs’ because they were rejected by other federal law enforcement agencies — are applying to become FBI Special Agents; and the FBI is selecting those candidates to become FBI Special Agents because they satisfy the FBI’s priority to meet Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) mandates …  The FBI’s Special Agent hiring numbers are down, likely due to the decline in the Nation’s trust in the FBI and a corresponding decrease in the number of individuals interested in applying to the FBI for employment.” 
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Intelligence Chiefs Testify To House Select Committee On Intelligence

FBI Recruiting Soars As Patel Takes Control

House Republicans will probe the “partisan investigations” the FBI carried out under the Biden administration in a hearing next week, The Daily Wire has learned. 
The House Judiciary Subcommittee on Oversight will speak with multiple former FBI agents about the &#8220;decline&#8221; of the bureau under President Joe Biden on April 2. Under Biden, the FBI faced criticism for its <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-set-to-sue-federal-government-for-100m-over-mar-a-lago-raid" target="_blank" rel="noopener">investigations</a> into President Donald Trump, treatment of Christians, and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/kidnapped-at-gunpoint-pro-life-activist-testifies-about-harrowing-fbi-raid-of-home" target="_blank" rel="noopener">targeting</a> of peaceful pro-life advocates. 
The subcommittee said that the hearing will examine how the FBI “abandoned its core mission to uphold the Constitution and protect the American people, wasting taxpayers&#8217; hard-earned money on partisan investigations, ineffective procedures, and abusive tactics.”
Chaired by Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ), the hearing will also “highlight how the FBI, under the Trump Administration and Director Kash Patel&#8217;s leadership, is focused on regaining public trust and returning to its original mandate of protecting the American public.”
“Under the Biden administration, taxpayer dollars were being used for politically motivated investigations that harmed innocent Americans and violated their rights,&#8221; Van Drew told The Daily Wire. &#8220;Next week, we will uncover the full extent of these misused resources and the damage done to the American people. As chairman of this subcommittee, my priority remains to restore trust in our justice system and ensure that our agencies operate fairly and without political bias.”
Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX), who has made headlines for her attacks on Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Sen. Ted Cruz, is the ranking member on the subcommittee. 
The hearing is called &#8220;Inside the Biden FBI: Waste, Fraud, Abuse, and a Bureau Leadership in Decline.”
One of the witnesses will be Stewart Whitson, a former FBI supervisory special agent, who is the senior director of federal affairs for the conservative watchdog group Foundation for Government Accountability. Richard Stout, a former FBI special agent and director of the group Reform the Bureau, and former FBI special agent Nicole Parker will also testify. 
Biden’s FBI, helmed by Christopher Wray, was sharply criticized for its handling of numerous operations, including a raid of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home to seize alleged classified documents. 
The FBI also faced scrutiny over its armed raid of pro-life father of 11 Paul Vaughn at his home in rural Tennessee. Vaughn was arrested by the FBI over his involvement in a peaceful pro-life protest at Mt. Juliet, Tennessee, abortion facility in 2021. 
“My house was assaulted, my wife and children were terrorized, and I was kidnapped at gunpoint by four armed men,” Vaughn previously told Congress of the arrest. “I had just sent three of my children to the car so I could take them to school when the house began to shake from a loud banging near the front door. I heard men shouting from my front porch, ‘Open up! FBI!’”
Vaughn was eventually pardoned by Trump alongside nearly two dozen other pro-life activists.
FBI Director Kash Patel has promised to end political prosecutions at the bureau and focus on going after violent criminals and cracking down on drug trafficking.

FBI Director Wray Testifies Before House Judiciary Committee

‘Abandoned Its Core Mission’: Lawmakers To Probe Biden FBI’s ‘Partisan Investigations’

Biden Administration

Christopher Wray

House Judiciary Committee

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FBI