NewzIntel.com

Category: Federal Bureau of Investigation

  • MIL-OSI USA: February 20th, 2025 Heinrich Statement Opposing FBI Director Nominee Kash Patel

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for New Mexico Martin Heinrich

    WASHINGTON — U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich, a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, released the following statement opposing the nomination of Kash Patel for the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI):

    “Kash Patel has glorified convicted criminals who attacked police officers on January 6, peddled outrageous conspiracy theories, and threatened to defund parts of the FBI while using what remains to exact revenge on President Trump’s political enemies.

    “Mr. Patel was nominated for one reason: To do Donald Trump’s bidding. That’s a direct contradiction of the FBI’s motto: ‘Fidelity, Bravery, and Integrity.’ Mr. Patel’s poor judgment and lack of national security experience make him wholly unqualified to keep Americans safe as our FBI Director. For these reasons, I voted no on his nomination.” 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: McConnell on Confirmation of FBI Director Patel

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Kentucky Mitch McConnell
    Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) issued the following statement today regarding the confirmation of Kash Patel as FBI Director:
    “Threats to the United States homeland are growing. From terrorism to cybercrime to violent crime to cartel and drug violence to counterespionage, the work of the FBI has never been more important. The Bureau’s reputation in recent years has been plagued by high-profile scandals that risk politicizing its critical work. Director Patel has committed to restoring Americans’ trust in the FBI, and I hope and expect he will move quickly to reset the Bureau with greater transparency, accountability, and cooperation with the Congress. Finally, as foreign adversaries like the PRC become more emboldened to steal our secrets, the FBI must not lose sight of its counterintelligence mission.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Kaine Files Amendments to Republican Budget Resolution

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Virginia Tim Kaine
    WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA), a member of the Senate Budget Committee, filed amendments to the Senate Republicans’ budget resolution in an attempt to improve the bill, which currently tees up tax cuts for billionaires by cutting critical funding for programs that Virginians rely on. Republicans are using a legislative process known as “reconciliation,” which allows certain legislation to be expedited and passed in the Senate by a simple majority, avoiding the 60-vote threshold needed for most other legislation. The Senate will begin consideration of the budget resolution later today.
    “I’d like to focus on cutting taxes for the middle-class. Unfortunately, Republicans disagree. Instead, they are coming after your Medicaid and Medicare benefits, your health care, education programs, and other critical funding that Virginians rely on so that they can tee up their tax cuts for billionaires. I’m filing several amendments to safeguard Virginians from President Trump’s proposed tariffs, which would raise costs; protect federal employees who provide essential services to millions of Americans; prevent cuts in funding for community health centers and national security programs; and more. I will be pushing to get votes on my amendments and will do everything I can to stop Republicans from passing policies that hurt Virginians and our economy and make us less safe,” Kaine said.
    Kaine filed a series of amendments, including:
    To cut taxes for middle-class Americans.
    To protect Americans from new, senseless taxes by preventing abuse of emergency authorities to launch trade wars with Canada and Mexico.
    To prevent cuts to federal funding for air traffic safety.
    To prevent the Department of Veterans’ Affairs from reducing its workforce below levels needed to staff and provide services at new or remodeled facilities.
    To prohibit funding for agency efforts to reclassify federal employees in the civil service outside of any schedule not currently in the competitive service.
    To prevent federal agencies and departments from terminating, rescheduling, or furloughing federal workers who are also veterans.
    To prevent federal employees in harm’s way overseas from losing critical protections.
    To protect Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents and federal prosecutors from political retribution.
    To deny access to classified materials to anyone without a proper security clearance.
    To protect Virginians who receive health insurance coverage through Medicaid expansion.
    To protect rural hospitals from cuts that would threaten rural communities’ access to health care.
    To protect access to health care services provided by Federally Qualified Health Centers.
    To ensure working families are able to access affordable and high-quality child care.
    To prevent a reduction of programs that support high-quality teacher and school leader preparation.
    To protect seniors and people with disabilities who use long-term services and supports.
    To prevent reductions in staff at the Mine Safety and Health Administration, who ensure miners do not get hurt or die on the job.
    To undo the harm that the January federal funding freeze did to Head Start programs.
    To protect the Pell Grant program from facing cuts or changes to the program that will hurt low- and middle-income students most.
    To prohibit termination of national security programming implemented by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
    To prohibit termination of foreign assistance contracts with U.S. farmers or with faith-based organizations.
    To prohibit funding for a new Middle East war in Gaza or appeasement of Russia in Ukraine.
    To prevent cuts to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.
    To prevent cuts to voluntary conservation agriculture programs.
    To ensure that much-needed funding comes to Virginia to repair federally maintained trails—such as the Virginia Creeper Trail—impacted by natural disasters in 2024.
    To prohibit any efforts to privatize or defund the United States Postal Service.
    Kaine has spoken out against Republicans’ proposal on the Senate floor and during a Senate Budget Committee markup.
    President Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress are currently negotiating an extension to Trump’s 2017 tax law, which cut taxes for large corporations and the highest-income earners and substantially increased the federal deficit. They are now proposing broad-based tariffs and massive, across-the-board cuts to federal programs like Medicaid to fund these tax cuts for billionaires. Tax estimates have shown that if fully enacted, Trump’s tariffs could raise costs by $2,500 to nearly $4,000 per household, and American consumers could lose between $46 billion to $78 billion in spending power each year.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Michigan Man Indicted on Wire Fraud and Aggravated Identity Theft Charges

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    MINNEAPOLIS – A Michigan man has been indicted on wire fraud and aggravated identity theft charges after purchasing nearly 2,500 stolen login credentials from a malicious dark web marketplace and using them to make fraudulent financial transactions and offering some for sale on other internet sites, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Lisa D. Kirkpatrick.

    According to court documents, from approximately February 2020 to November 2020, Andrew Shenkosky, 29, devised and executed a scheme while residing in Minnesota to defraud and obtain money through false pretenses. Shenkosky accomplished his scheme by purchasing and accessing stolen account information from the Genesis Market, an illicit online marketplace that was ultimately taken down by the FBI in or about April 2023. Genesis Market compiled hundreds of thousands of stolen login credentials, including cell phone numbers, email addresses, usernames, and passwords from malware-infected computers of victims across the world, and offered that stolen information for sale on the dark web. 

    According to court documents, Shenkosky purchased an invite code to Genesis Market using a cryptocurrency Coinbase account he fraudulently created in the name of one of his victims. In furtherance of his scheme, Shenkosky purchased 2,468 stolen credentials of various victims on Genesis Market. Shenkosky then used the stolen data to, among other things, make an unauthorized withdrawal from another victim’s bank account without their knowledge or authorization and transferred the funds to a PayPal account under his control. Shenkosky also offered and attempted to sell some of the victims’ stolen account data on a now-defunct cybercriminal forum named Raid Forums. 

    In January 2025, a grand jury returned an indictment charging Shenkosky with three counts of wire fraud, one count of aggravated identity theft, one count of possession of unauthorized access devices, and one count of trafficking computer access information. He made his initial appearance before Magistrate Judge Elizabeth Stafford in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan on February 11, 2025, and his arraignment hearing is scheduled in the District of Minnesota for February 25, 2025. 

    This case is the result of an investigation conducted by the FBI Cybercrime Unit and the FBI Minneapolis and Detroit Field Offices. 

    Assistant U.S. Attorneys Benjamin Bejar and Robert Lewis are prosecuting the case.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Man Wanted in Cold Case Murder Sought by the FBI and Long Beach Police Department; Reward Offered

    Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime Alerts (b)

    The FBI is offering a reward of up to $25,000 for information leading to the location of a one-time Long Beach resident who was charged with a murder that occurred at a restaurant in Long Beach, California, on October 18, 2008.

    Jose Manuel Flores, 47, is wanted for his alleged involvement in the shooting death of an individual inside the Brite Spot Restaurant in Long Beach, California, on October 18, 2008.

    Following an investigation by the Long Beach Police Department, Flores was charged with murder and possession of a firearm by a felon on March 9, 2010, in the Superior Court of the State of California in Long Beach. Flores had a criminal history and was considered a felon at the time of the alleged murder.

    Once detectives with the Long Beach Police Department determined that Flores had fled the state of California, they requested assistance from the FBI in order to locate Flores, who was thought to have fled south of the U.S. border. On June 24, 2010, a federal arrest warrant was issued for Flores in the United States District Court in Los Angeles after he was charged with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.

    Flores uses a date of birth of November 25, 1977, and was born in Florida. He has used aliases including “Willie” and “Malo.” He has also used the suffix “Jr.” at the end of his formal name. Flores has brown eyes and brown hair and weighed approximately 160 lbs. in 2010, with a height of 5’7”. Flores is an American citizen of Hispanic descent. He has tattoos on his right arm, back, chest, head and neck. A photo of Flores dated 2008 can be found on the FBI’s wanted poster for Flores at Flores Wanted Poster.

    Flores has ties to or may visit Southern California and Mexico. He previously resided in Long Beach, California, and is believed to currently be living in Mexico. Flores is known to have ties to the Los Zetas cartel in Mexico. Flores should be considered armed and dangerous with violent tendencies.

    The FBI is offering a reward of up to $25,000 for information leading to the location of Jose Manuel Flores.

    If you have any information concerning this case or the whereabouts of Flores, please contact the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office at (310) 477-6565 or the Long Beach Police Department Homicide Detail at (562) 570-7244. You may also contact your local FBI office, the nearest American Embassy or Consulate, or you can submit a tip online at tips.fbi.gov. 

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Saint Paul Man and Mounds View Woman Sentenced to Prison for Armed Carjacking in Minneapolis

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    MINNEAPOLIS – A Saint Paul man has been sentenced to 51 months in prison, and a Mounds View woman will serve 41 months in prison for their respective roles in aiding and abetting a Minneapolis carjacking, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Lisa D. Kirkpatrick.

    According to court documents, on October 6, 2023, Carvon Antonio Saine, 19, and his co-defendant Isis Martinaz Brent, a.k.a. Jayda Marie White, 20, approached an elderly victim who had just parked a 2013 Chevrolet Malibu on the street in South Minneapolis. Brent brandished a Carl Walther 9mm semiautomatic pistol and demanded the victim’s keys. During the carjacking, an associate of Brent’s forcefully snatched the victim’s bags, causing the victim to fall and suffer bodily injury on their hands and knees. The Malibu experienced mechanical issues and was later found abandoned. A short time later, Brent and Saine approached a second victim in a parking lot on Chicago Avenue South. Brent knocked on the window, demanded the victim’s keys, and again brandished the Walther semiautomatic pistol at the victim. The second victim was able to escape the attempted carjacking. 

    Saine and Brent were sentenced Tuesday in U.S. District Court before Judge John R. Tunheim, each on one count of aiding and abetting a carjacking. 

    This case is the result of an investigation conducted by the Minneapolis Police Department and the FBI.

    Assistant U.S. Attorney David Green prosecuted the case.
     

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: U.S. Attorney’s Office Secures Guilty Plea in Firearm Assault Case

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    ALBUQUERQUE – A Shiprock man pleaded guilty to two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon after an incident that left one of the victims requiring medical treatment for facial injuries.

    According to court documents, Jerome Weaver, 21, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation, admitted to intentionally assaulting two victims using a firearm with the intent to cause bodily harm. As a result of the assault, one of the victim’s required medical treatment for facial injuries.

    Weaver will remain on conditions of release pending sentencing, which has not been scheduled. At sentencing, Weaver faces up to 10 years in prison followed by three years of supervised release.

    Acting U.S. Attorney Holland S. Kastrin and Raul Bujanda, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Albuquerque Field Office, made the announcement today.

    The Farmington Resident Agency of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Albuquerque Field Office investigated this case with assistance from the Navajo Police Department and Navajo Department of Criminal Investigations. Assistant United States Attorney Brittany DuChaussee is prosecuting the case.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Vice President of Health Care Software and Services Company Pleads Guilty to $1B Health Care Fraud Conspiracy

    Source: US State of Vermont

    A Kansas man pleaded guilty today to operating an internet-based platform that generated false doctors’ orders to defraud Medicare and other federal health care benefit programs of more than $1 billion.

    According to court documents, Gregory Schreck, 50, of Johnson County, admitted that he and his co-conspirators targeted hundreds of thousands of Medicare beneficiaries to provide their personally identifiable information and agree to accept medically unnecessary orthotic braces, pain creams, and other items through misleading mailers, television advertisements, and calls from offshore call centers. Schreck and his co-conspirators owned, controlled, and operated DMERx, an internet-based platform that generated false and fraudulent doctors’ orders for orthotic braces, pain creams, and other items for these beneficiaries. Schreck, a vice president of the company that operated DMERx, admitted that he offered to connect pharmacies, durable medical equipment (DME) suppliers, and marketers with telemedicine companies that would accept illegal kickbacks and bribes in exchange for signed doctors’ orders that were transmitted using the DMERx platform. Schreck and his co-conspirators received payments for coordinating these illegal kickback transactions and referring the completed doctors’ orders to the DME suppliers, pharmacies, and telemarketers that paid for them. The fraudulent doctors’ orders generated by DMERx falsely represented that a doctor had examined and treated the Medicare beneficiaries when, in reality, purported telemedicine companies paid doctors to sign the orders without regard to medical necessity and based only on a brief telephone call with the beneficiary, or sometimes no interaction with the beneficiary at all. The DME suppliers and pharmacies that paid illegal kickbacks in exchange for these doctors’ orders generated through DMERx billed Medicare and other insurers more than $1 billion. Medicare and the insurers paid more than $360 million based on these false and fraudulent claims.

    Schreck pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud and faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled at a later date. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

    Supervisory Official Antoinette T. Bacon of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; Acting Special Agent in Charge Isaac Bledsoe of the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) Miami Regional Office; Acting Special Agent in Charge Justin E. Fleck of the FBI Miami Field Office; Special Agent in Charge David Spilker of the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General (VA-OIG)’s Southeast Field Office; and Special Agent in Charge Jason Sargenski of the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General, Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS), Southeast Field Office made the announcement.

    HHS-OIG, FBI, VA-OIG, and DCIS are investigating the case.

    Trial Attorneys Darren C. Halverson and Jennifer E. Burns of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section are prosecuting the case. Fraud Section Trial Attorneys Andrea Savdie and Shane Butland assisted in the prosecution.

    The Fraud Section leads the Criminal Division’s efforts to combat health care fraud through the Health Care Fraud Strike Force Program. Since March 2007, this program, currently comprised of nine strike forces operating in 27 federal districts, has charged more than 5,800 defendants who collectively have billed federal health care programs and private insurers more than $30 billion. In addition, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with HHS-OIG, are taking steps to hold providers accountable for their involvement in health care fraud schemes. More information can be found at www.justice.gov/criminal-fraud/health-care-fraud-unit.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Indian National Sentenced to 8 Years in Federal Prison for Defrauding Elderly Victims of Nearly $6 Million

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    AUSTIN, Texas – An Indian national was sentenced in a federal court in Austin today to 97 months in prison for conspiracy to commit money laundering.

    According to court documents, Moinuddin Mohammed, 34, engaged in a conspiracy to launder proceeds of a scheme to defraud elderly victims out of hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash and gold. Mohammed was a courier who picked up the cash and gold from vulnerable elderly people. The international conspiracy originated from India and involved the impersonation of government officials in order to convince the victims to turn over millions of dollars from their retirement and savings accounts.

    Multiple victims were contacted by a person claiming to be the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Texas, who told the victims that they were under investigation or at risk of financial loss. The victims were told that they would need to deposit cash, gold or other items of financial value in order to resolve the investigation or prevent the loss. One victim was defrauded of more than $300,000, another was defrauded of approximately $151,500, and a third victim lost a total of approximately $470,000 to the fraud scheme. Nationwide, investigators identified 21 victims who lost a total of nearly $6 million to the scheme.

    In addition to his imprisonment, Mohamed will pay full restitution in the approximate amount of $960,000, forfeits $20,000 in cash that was seized by investigators, and forfeits a money judgement in the amount of $16,000.

    “The significant sentence of this courier for an international fraud scheme sends a strong message that we will investigate and prosecute those at every level of the organization,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Margaret Leachman for the Western District of Texas. “Mohammed illegally used the likeness of government officials to prey on and victimize the vulnerable, elderly people in our community, and fraudsters like him will be held accountable.”

    “Mohammed targeted some of our most vulnerable elderly citizens in an effort to line his own pockets and the pockets of foreign fraudsters,” said Special Agent in Charge Aaron Tapp for the FBI’s San Antonio Field Office.  “The FBI continues to see an uptick in financial scams targeting our elderly population and we work every day to bring awareness to our victims and justice to those who perpetuate these devastating schemes. We want to thank our U.S. Attorney’s Office for aggressively pursuing justice for those who fell victim to this scammer. Cases like this are a priority for the FBI and we encourage anyone who has been a victim of a financial scam to contact your local FBI office or go to www.IC3.gov. We also encourage the public to review the FBI’s last report on Elder Fraud to educate yourselves and protect those you love.”

    The FBI investigated the case.

    Assistant U.S. Attorney Keith Henneke prosecuted the case.

    ###

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Hoeven Statement on Confirmation of Kash Patel as FBI Director

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for North Dakota John Hoeven

    02.20.25

    WASHINGTON – Senator John Hoeven today issued the following statement after the Senate confirmed Kash Patel to serve as Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI):

    “Kash Patel has served as a public defender, prosecutor, and in leadership positions at the Department of Defense, Office of the Director of National Intelligence and National Security Council. He will focus the FBI on protecting the American people and prioritizing law and order to help make our communities safer. We congratulate Director Patel on his confirmation to lead the FBI.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Convicted fraudster illegally in the country charged with failing to surrender to prison

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    HOUSTON – A Honduran woman illegally residing in the United States has been indicted for failing to surrender to serve her sentence for conspiracy to commit wire fraud, announced U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei.

    Leidy Areli Hernandez Lopez, 44, pleaded guilty May 10, 2023, to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud stemming from her role in selling illegal temporary Texas license plates. U.S. District Judge George C. Hanks Jr. later sentenced her to serve 30 months in federal prison and to pay over $316,000 in restitution.  

    She was to report to federal prison before 2 p.m. April 9, 2024. However, she failed to do so.

    A federal grand jury returned an indictment Feb. 20 charging her with failure to surrender. If convicted of that charge, she faces another five years in federal prison.

    Lopez is considered a fugitive, and a warrant remains outstanding for her arrest. Anyone with information about her whereabouts is asked to contact the FBI at 713-693-5000. 

    The FBI conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Belinda Beek is prosecuting the case.

    An indictment is a formal accusation of criminal conduct, not evidence. A defendant is presumed innocent unless convicted through due process of law.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Vice President of Health Care Software and Services Company Pleads Guilty to $1B Health Care Fraud Conspiracy

    Source: United States Attorneys General 8

    A Kansas man pleaded guilty today to operating an internet-based platform that generated false doctors’ orders to defraud Medicare and other federal health care benefit programs of more than $1 billion.

    According to court documents, Gregory Schreck, 50, of Johnson County, admitted that he and his co-conspirators targeted hundreds of thousands of Medicare beneficiaries to provide their personally identifiable information and agree to accept medically unnecessary orthotic braces, pain creams, and other items through misleading mailers, television advertisements, and calls from offshore call centers. Schreck and his co-conspirators owned, controlled, and operated DMERx, an internet-based platform that generated false and fraudulent doctors’ orders for orthotic braces, pain creams, and other items for these beneficiaries. Schreck, a vice president of the company that operated DMERx, admitted that he offered to connect pharmacies, durable medical equipment (DME) suppliers, and marketers with telemedicine companies that would accept illegal kickbacks and bribes in exchange for signed doctors’ orders that were transmitted using the DMERx platform. Schreck and his co-conspirators received payments for coordinating these illegal kickback transactions and referring the completed doctors’ orders to the DME suppliers, pharmacies, and telemarketers that paid for them. The fraudulent doctors’ orders generated by DMERx falsely represented that a doctor had examined and treated the Medicare beneficiaries when, in reality, purported telemedicine companies paid doctors to sign the orders without regard to medical necessity and based only on a brief telephone call with the beneficiary, or sometimes no interaction with the beneficiary at all. The DME suppliers and pharmacies that paid illegal kickbacks in exchange for these doctors’ orders generated through DMERx billed Medicare and other insurers more than $1 billion. Medicare and the insurers paid more than $360 million based on these false and fraudulent claims.

    Schreck pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud and faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled at a later date. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

    Supervisory Official Antoinette T. Bacon of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; Acting Special Agent in Charge Isaac Bledsoe of the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) Miami Regional Office; Acting Special Agent in Charge Justin E. Fleck of the FBI Miami Field Office; Special Agent in Charge David Spilker of the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General (VA-OIG)’s Southeast Field Office; and Special Agent in Charge Jason Sargenski of the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General, Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS), Southeast Field Office made the announcement.

    HHS-OIG, FBI, VA-OIG, and DCIS are investigating the case.

    Trial Attorneys Darren C. Halverson and Jennifer E. Burns of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section are prosecuting the case. Fraud Section Trial Attorneys Andrea Savdie and Shane Butland assisted in the prosecution.

    The Fraud Section leads the Criminal Division’s efforts to combat health care fraud through the Health Care Fraud Strike Force Program. Since March 2007, this program, currently comprised of nine strike forces operating in 27 federal districts, has charged more than 5,800 defendants who collectively have billed federal health care programs and private insurers more than $30 billion. In addition, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with HHS-OIG, are taking steps to hold providers accountable for their involvement in health care fraud schemes. More information can be found at www.justice.gov/criminal-fraud/health-care-fraud-unit.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Missouri Couple Arrested for Abducting and Sexually Abusing a 13-Year-Old That They Groomed Online

    Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime Alerts (c)

    Defendants Sexually Assaulted Teen Victim in Their Van and Apartment Over Several Days

    ROANOKE, Va. – A married couple from Springfield, Missouri, was arrested recently and charged with transporting a minor in interstate commerce with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity.

    Justin Johiah Curtright, 40, and Christin Marie Curtright, 32, groomed the 13-year-old victim over the internet, traveled from Missouri to pick her up from her home in Virginia, then repeatedly sexually assaulted her in their van and at their Springfield, Missouri apartment until she was rescued by police.

    According to the federal criminal complaint filed last week, in May 2024 the victim met Justin Curtright on Discord, an online group chat platform, where the two talked for hours.  The victim initially used an alias and claimed she was 18 years old. Justin Curtright soon began talking in sexual overtones and eventually sent the victim a sexually explicit video of himself.

    The next morning, Justin added the victim to a private Discord channel that included him and his wife, Christin Curtright.  From that point, the three talked extensively, both online and by phone.  The victim eventually admitted she was only 13 years old.

    The Curtrights also engaged in sexually explicit acts on-camera while video chatting with the victim. Justin would frequently pretend to be the victim’s father.

    At some point near the end of June, the Curtrights devised a plan to drive to southern Virginia to abduct the victim and take her to their Springfield apartment. On the morning of July 24, 2024, as planned, the Curtrights met the victim near her home in Virginia. The victim got in the Curtrights’ vehicle, and they transported her back to Missouri.

    During the trip back to Missouri, the Curtrights each took turns sexually assaulting the victim while the other drove. Once they reached their apartment, they continued their sexual abuse and exploitation of the victim for several more days.

    On July 27, 2024, officers with the Springfield Police Department went to the Curtrights’ apartment, where they found the victim hiding in the back of a closet in the Curtrights’ bedroom.  The victim had a debit card and false ID that Justin Curtright gave her, which represented her as Justin’s 15-year-old daughter.

    Springfield officers seized the Curtrights’ phones, which held recordings of the Curtrights’ video chats grooming and sexually exploiting the victim, as well as images of the victim being abused during the drive to Missouri.

    If convicted, the Curtrights face a mandatory minimum of 10 years and a maximum punishment of life in prison.

    Acting United States Attorney Zachary T. Lee and Stanley M. Meador, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Richmond Division, made the announcement today.

    The Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Springfield Police Department, and various local law enforcement agencies investigated the case.

    Assistant United States Attorney Drew O. Inman is prosecuting the case for the United States.

    A criminal complaint is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Long Island Investment Advisor Charged in Superseding Indictment With Attempted Obstruction of Justice, Bank Fraud Conspiracy, Wire Fraud Conspiracy and Money Laundering Conspiracy Charges

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    Adam Kaplan Allegedly Attempted to Injure and Bribe Witnesses, Manufacture Evidence, Bribe Law Enforcement Officials, and Defraud Additional Victims

    Earlier today, at the federal courthouse in Central Islip, a superseding indictment was filed that added two counts against Adam Kaplan for attempted obstruction of justice in connection with a grand jury investigation in the Eastern District of New York and during his pretrial release on fraud charges.  The superseding indictment also added additional charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit bank fraud against Adam Kaplan for conduct, including while on pretrial release, as well as an additional charge of money laundering conspiracy against Adam Kaplan and Daniel Kaplan.  In July 2023, Adam Kaplan and Daniel Kaplan, investment advisors with a financial services firm (Financial Services Firm), were charged in a 16-count indictment with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, investment advisor fraud and money laundering in connection with a scheme to defraud at least 50 victims of more than $5 million. The defendants, who are twin brothers, will be arraigned on the superseding indictment at a later date.

    John J. Durham, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York and James E. Dennehy, Assistant Director in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI), announced the charges. 

    “As alleged in the superseding indictment, before his arrest, and while he was aware of a grand jury investigation into his crimes, Adam Kaplan attempted to threaten and injure victims and witnesses and bribe law enforcement,” stated United States Attorney Durham.  “But his disregard for the law and court-ordered rules didn’t stop there, he also repeatedly and flagrantly violated his conditions of pretrial release.  This Office will not tolerate attempts by defendants to undermine the criminal justice process and will prosecute them to the full extent of the law.”

    Mr. Durham thanked the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, Chicago office, for its work on the case. 

    “Adam Kaplan allegedly ordered threats be made to his victims and attempted to bribe authorities to disrupt a federal investigation into the brothers’ misconduct,” stated FBI Assistant Director in Charge Dennehy.  “Kaplan’s alleged actions reflect remorselessness as he continued to make concerted efforts to protect his multimillion-dollar fraud scheme even following his initial arrest. The FBI will never tolerate individuals who prey upon populations for personal wealth, and then resort to extreme measures to conceal their egregious wrongdoings.” 

    As set forth in court filings and the underlying indictment, between May 2018 and November 2022, Adam Kaplan and Daniel Kaplan defrauded at least 50 clients of the Financial Services Firm, including some elderly and disabled victims, of at least $5 million.  Between January 2023 and September 2024, Adam Kaplan and a co-conspirator defrauded additional individuals of approximately $1 million and also conspired to defraud a financial institution. 

    The superseding indictment charges that, between April 2023 and September 2024, while aware of a federal grand jury investigation into the brothers’ conduct, Adam Kaplan attempted to influence, obstruct and impede the underlying investigation, including through attempts to threaten, injure and pay off witnesses, and destroy evidence. Specifically, Adam Kaplan (i) ordered an associate to create a fake email from a victim so that Adam Kaplan could use the fake email as evidence at trial and to impeach that victim’s credibility; (ii) engaged in a months’ long fraudulent scheme to steal money from victims; and (iii) attempted to tamper with, threaten and pay off witnesses, including telling his associate that a victim needed “to fear,” that a victim should be “peeing blood / missing teeth and another visited / scared,” that a victim should be sent skull and crossbones imagery, and that his associate should “put [a victim’s] phone on fire . . . Seriously, please blow it up.” After his arrest, while on release on a multimillion-dollar bond, Adam Kaplan (i) attempted to bribe a Department of Justice official; (ii) continued his fraudulent schemes and continued to pay off witnesses; and (iii) committed credit card fraud.  To perpetuate these crimes, Adam Kaplan used multiple burner phones to avoid detection and monitoring by law enforcement, used aliases, attempted to break into others’ email accounts and attempted to destroy evidence.

    If you were a client of Adam Kaplan or Daniel Kaplan and would like to file a complaint, please visit www.iC3.gov.  Please reference “Adam Kaplan” or “Daniel Kaplan” in your complaint.    

    The charges in the superseding indictment are allegations and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

    The government’s case is being handled by the Criminal Section of the Office’s Long Island Division.  Assistant United States Attorneys Adam Toporovsky and Paul Scotti are in charge of the prosecution, with assistance from Paralegal Specialist Janelle Robinson.

    The Defendants:

    ADAM S. KAPLAN
    Age:  35
    Great Neck, New York

    DANIEL E. KAPLAN
    Age:  35
    Great Neck, New York

    E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 23-CR-293(S-1) (JMA)

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Kershaw County Man Sentenced to Federal Prison for Gun and Drug Offenses

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    COLUMBIA, S.C. — Cameron Jones, 26, of Camden, has been sentenced to more than seven years in federal prison for possession of a firearm by a felon and possession with intent to distribute cocaine.

    Evidence obtained in the investigation revealed that on April 1, 2022, an officer with the Camden Police Department was patrolling a local park due to recent violence in the area. When the officer approached the park, Cameron Jones began to run from the officer while holding his waistband. The officer chased Jones and saw Jones throw items into some bushes. The officer eventually caught Jones. While Jones was detained, officers with the Camden Police Department and Kershaw County Sheriff’s Office went back to the area where Jones threw items into the bushes and found a tan pistol with a drum magazine and 24.11 grams of cocaine. Additionally, Jones had over $3,700 in cash in his pockets. Further investigation revealed that Jones’ DNA was on the firearm and that he had previously posted pictures with the firearm on social media.

    The court also heard information that on Dec. 19, 2023, FBI agents and officers with the Kershaw County Sheriff’s Office and Camden Police Department arrested Jones after he was indicted by a grand jury for his conduct on April 1, 2022. After his arrest, the Kershaw County Sheriff’s Department executed a search warrant on his home and found, multiple handgun magazines, marijuana, methamphetamine, and 18 machine gun conversion devices (also known as Glock switches), and a magazine matching the firearm from April 1, 2022.

    Jones has a prior conviction for distribution of cocaine which prohibits him from possessing a firearm or ammunition and was a known member of a gang at the time of his arrest.

    United States District Judge Joseph F. Anderson sentenced Cameron Jones to 93 months imprisonment, to be followed by a three-year term of court-ordered supervision.  There is no parole in the federal system. 

    This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

    This prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.

    This case was investigated by the FBI Columbia Field Office, the Kershaw County Sheriff’s Office, and the Camden Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Lamar J. Fyall and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Sanford are prosecuting the case.

    ###

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: PDS Gang Leader Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison for Drug Trafficking and Firearms Possession

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

                WASHINGTON – Andre Alonte Willis, 33, of Washington, D.C., and a leader of the Push Dat Shit (PDS) street crew, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court to 240 months in prison on five felony convictions related to drug trafficking and firearms offenses in the District of Columbia. 

                The sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin, Jr., FBI Special Agent in Charge Sean T. Ryan of the FBI Washington Field Office Criminal and Cyber Division, ATF Special Agent in Charge Anthony Spotswood of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives Washington Field Division, and Chief Pamela Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department.

                On September 12, 2024, a jury convicted Willis, also known as “Boogie,” of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute more than 100 kilograms of marijuana; conspiracy to use, carry, and possess firearms and machine guns in furtherance of drug trafficking; illegal possession and transfer of a machine gun; possession with intent to distribute marijuana; and possessing a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking.   

                Evidence at trial proved that Willis was a “big homie” in the D.C. street crew known as “Push Dat Shit” or “PDS,” and was the gang’s primary source of exotic strains of marijuana that he acquired from a variety of sources in California. FBI agents seized $150,000 in cash, along with a loaded handgun and marijuana packaged for distribution from Willis’ apartment when he was arrested.

                PDS maintained gang territory on the 3300 – 3500 blocks of Wheeler Road, Southeast, and adjacent areas, and operated an open air drug market outside the Holiday Market. In approximately August 2018, PDS became allied with a neighboring street gang known as Jugg Gang, or “JG.”  Between August 2018 and April 2023, members of the allied PDS/JG street crew sold drugs from Holiday Market and from “trap houses” that they maintained in apartment buildings surrounding that location. 

                As their drug business grew, PDS/JG became the target of drive-by shootings conducted by rival gangs – shootings they referred to as “spinning the block.” Beginning in approximately August 2019, a PDS/JG member began assembling and distributing fully automatic AR-Pistol assault rifles that he purchased as “kits” from online retailers. Such firearms are defined as “privately made firearms” by the ATF but are frequently referred to as “ghost guns” on the street.  PDS/JG members used, carried, and possessed these “ghost gun” AR-Pistol machine guns in order to both defend their territory from rival gangs, but also to “spin the block” on rival gangs in order to deter and dissuade the rivals from entering PDS/JG territory. PDS/JG members “kept score” with rival gangs, and the points earned by “spinning the block” varied depending on the “importance” of the people that were injured or killed

                In calculating Willis’ sentence, U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson included sentencing enhancements based on her finding that the conspiracy involved between 400 and 700 kilograms of marijuana, as well as her findings that Willis was a leader of more than five people in jointly-undertaken criminal conduct, and that he recklessly created a substantial risk of death or serious bodily injury to others in the course of fleeing from the FBI to avoid arrest. Wills was also ordered to serve a five-year term of supervised release after completing his prison sentence.

                This case was investigated by the FBI, ATF, and MPD. The matter was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys James Nelson and Justin Song and Paralegal Specialist Melissa Macechko.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Graham Votes To Confirm Kash Patel

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for South Carolina Lindsey Graham
    WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) today made this statement after voting to confirm Kash Patel as Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Patel was confirmed by a vote of 51-49.
    “I am extremely pleased to have cast my vote to confirm Kash Patel as the new director of the FBI. Kash has been a federal defense attorney and prosecutor, and he has been deeply involved in counter terrorism practice and policy. He was also one of the key figures who discovered the Russian hoax against President Trump.
    “Kash is the right man to clean up the FBI to restore Americans’ confidence and trust that the FBI is not a political organization, it is a law enforcement organization. The men and women of the FBI will be in good hands with Kash Patel.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Welch Speaks on Kash Patel’s Willingness to Enable Trump’s Reckless Illegality Before Voting Against His Nomination: “He’s on a mission to wreck the FBI”

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator Peter Welch (D-Vermont)
    WASHINGTON, D.C. –Today, U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.) spoke on the Senate Floor before voting against Kash Patel, President Trump’s pick to serve as the next Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Senator Welch expressed his opposition to Mr. Patel and raised concerns about Mr. Patel’s involvement and actions enabling President Trump’s firing spree of career FBI agents and officials, his unwillingness to stand up against President Trump’s demands, and his perpetuation of Trump’s Big Lie about the 2020 election.  
    “Mr. Patel is not the person to lead the FBI. And my hope is that all of us should consider what Mr. Patel will do. He’s going to use the power of the FBI to go after all those in government, those in the media, and those across the country he doesn’t agree with. He cannot serve as the next director of the FBI,” said Senator Welch. 
    Watch the Senator’s full remarks below: 
    Read key excerpts from Senator Welch’s remarks here: 
    “I believe that this country and Congress is in the midst of a slow-moving but rapidly accelerating constitutional crisis. This is real, and we can ignore it or see it. It began most visibly, of course, on January 6, 2021, when two norms of this republic—the peaceful transfer of power and the renunciation of violence to affect the outcome of a vote count and certification— were breached. And where many members of the House and Senate also voted against certifying the election of the person chosen by the people in their own states. The president continues to say that the election was stolen, and he has coached his nominees to embrace the Big Lie.  
    “The first month of the Trump Administration has shown a contempt for the Constitution; an acceptance of lawlessness that is dangerous to the future of our republic. President Trump’s election denialism was only an early sign of his disregard for the norms and requirements of the Constitution. Now, empowered in a second term by a Congress and a Judiciary which refused to assert their independence, Mr. Trump has enacted executive order after executive order to dismantle our institutions. He doesn’t have the authority to do what he’s doing.” 
    ■■■
    “It is my view that this administration is showing maximum contempt for core constitutional values, including, most importantly, the separation of powers. This is not about what the president’s agenda is. This is about his disregard about the limits that apply to each branch of government. And we have a dilemma. There are many in Congress that are fully in support of President Trump’s policies. That’s his right to pursue them, any member’s right to support them.  
    “But it has to be that we accept our unique responsibility—each of the 100 U.S. Senators—that we have to guarantee that in pursuit of those policies, it is done within constitutional boundaries. That is the glue that has held this country together through thick and thin for nearly 250 years. You know, this is not just talk about civic aspiration. It’s a recognition that the separation of powers, that the system of checks and balances—we’re custodians of that, each of us here—that the concept of the executive’s ambition should be matched with the ambition of the legislature. That’s what’s held us together through the turmoil of our own history.” 
    ■■■
    “I’m voting against Mr. Patel, primarily, but not exclusively, because he’s clearly an instrument in [Trump’s] effort to continue eroding the precepts of the Constitution on separation of powers. And I urge all my fellow Senators, Republican and Democrat, to embrace the responsibility we have to assert our responsibility and authority as a coequal branch…   
    “I’m regarding what President Trump has been doing in his first month in office as an illegal rampage—it’s a rampage of illegality. He’s showing a contempt for Congress and a contempt for the United States Judiciary. Mr. Patel has signed onto that agenda. He isn’t just someone who will be forced to participate in the president’s campaign of retribution, he’s an active participant. He’s got his ‘enemies list.’ We know this because his own words said what the FBI—’what was the FBI doing planning January 6 for a year?’ No basis for that, other than to set up the attack on the good men and women of the FBI.”   
    ■■■
    This morning, Senator Welch joined Senate Judiciary Democrats outside of the FBI Headquarters building in Washington, D.C. to call on their Republican colleagues to block the nomination of Mr. Patel on the Senate Floor. 
    Senator Welch has expressed reservations about Mr. Patel’s nomination in the Senate Judiciary Committee. During Mr. Patel’s confirmation hearing, Senator Welch grilled the nominee about his refusal to acknowledge that President Biden won the 2020 Presidential Election and stressed the importance of combatting any attempt to weaponize the Justice Department and the FBI under the Trump Administration. Last week, Senator Welch reacted to reports that Mr. Patel has been personally involved in the Trump Administration’s ongoing efforts to target and fire career FBI agents and officials. Under oath, Mr. Patel told Senator Welch he had no recollection of the purge at the FBI.  

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Durbin: Kash Patel’s Record Shows He Is A Dangerous, Inexperienced, & Dishonest Trump Loyalist Who Is Not Qualified To Serve As Next FBI Director

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Illinois Dick Durbin

    February 20, 2025

    In a speech on the Senate floor shortly before the vote on his nomination, Durbin summarizes Kash Patel’s disqualifying behavior

    WASHINGTON – In a speech on the Senate floor, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, delivered his closing argument against the nomination of Kash Patel to serve as the next Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).  In his remarks delivered shortly before the vote on Patel’s nomination, Durbin underscored Patel’s extremism, his blind loyalty to President Trump, his dangerous support of January 6 insurrectionists, and his history of peddling lies about the federal government.

    “If Senate Republicans confirm Mr. Patel, I believe they will come to regret this vote, probably sooner rather than later.  I, for one, am convinced that Mr. Patel has neither the experience, the judgment, nor the temperament to lead this… criminal investigative agency [FBI],” Durbin began.  “Let me be clear.  This is not a partisan issue.  During my time in the Senate, I have voted for four FBI Director nominations before this one.  Each one was a Republican, and I voted for them, nevertheless.”

    “I oppose Mr. Patel because he is dangerously, politically extreme.  He has repeatedly expressed his intention to use our nation’s most important law enforcement agency to retaliate against his political enemies,” Durbin said.

    Durbin then began to lay out his justification for opposing Patel’s nomination and warned his Republican colleagues about the potential consequences of allowing an unqualified extremist to lead the nation’s top law enforcement agency.  Durbin first pointed to the credible whistleblower allegations that detailed Patel’s direct involvement in the ongoing purge of senior law enforcement officials at the FBI. 

    “The Director is the only political appointment at the FBI. Congress took steps to ensure that this position remains as apolitical as possible by providing for a single term of 10 years for a director and subjecting the appointment to the advice and consent of the Senate… But as we have seen for weeks now, the Trump Administration’s purge of the FBI is a political exercise that has spread to career officials,” Durbin said.  “This purge has dramatically weakened the FBI’s ability to combat national security threats and has made Americans less safe.  Senior leaders with collectively hundreds of years of experience have been forced out, creating a leadership vacuum.”

    Thousands of FBI agents now fear for their jobs because they were assigned to work on cases related to the January 6 insurrection or President Trump’s long list of legal infractions.  Whistleblowers have come forward with evidence that Patel, as a private citizen, called for these agents to be fired—which Patel denied vehemently despite being under oath during his nomination hearing.  Further, these career agents now fear for their own and their families’ safety as January 6 insurrections continue to make credible, serious, and public threats against them.

    “I have heard directly from FBI agents who now fear for their safety and the safety of their families. To understand why, let me tell you about a January 6 rioter named Edward Kelley.  Mr. Kelley was convicted of assaulting law enforcement during the attack on the U.S. Capitol… and he was given a full and unconditional pardon by Donald Trump.  But Mr. Kelley has also been convicted in his home state of Tennessee of conspiracy to murder the FBI agents who investigated his role in the January 6 attack.  Now he is arguing that President Trump’s blanket pardon should cover his attempt to kill FBI agents,” Durbin said.

    “When asked about the possible firings of career FBI officials at his confirmation hearing, Mr. Patel, under oath, said, ‘I don’t know what’s going on right now’ at the FBI.  That’s not true.  Thanks to multiple brave whistleblowers, we now know that Mr. Patel likely committed perjury in making that statement,” Durbin said.  “Even before being confirmed as the FBI Director, Mr. Patel is already directing the ongoing purge of honorable career public servants despite his status as a private citizen.”

    Durbin offered several more examples of Patel’s consistent dishonesty, including the string of lies his told during his own confirmation hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee.

    “At his hearing, Mr. Patel implausibly told me that he could not recall Stew Peters, a man who has been identified as an antisemitic Holocaust denier… This is simply not true, considering that Mr. Patel appeared on Mr. Peters’s podcast eight times.  Eight times, and he couldn’t recall the man’s name.  And, Mr. Peters has since revealed that he and Mr. Patel directly communicate via their personal cell phones ‘constantly,’” Durbin said.

    As Durbin noted in his remarks, Patel continually offered unequivocal support to insurrectionists, producing a recording of January 6 rioters singing in order to raise money.  Under oath at his nomination hearing, Patel testified that he was not involved in the project despite being quoted saying, “We got this idea to record the January 6 prisoners who recite the national anthem every night from the D.C. prison… Then we took that to studio… So we mastered and digitized that.”

    “Mr. Patel also claimed he ‘didn’t have anything to do with’ the recording of the so-called January 6 Prison Choir, which includes at least six rioters who violently assaulted police officers,” Durbin said.  “Mr. Patel has called these violent January 6 rioters ‘political prisoners.’  That includes Guy Reffitt, who was sentenced to 87 months in prison for his role in the January 6 assault.”

    “Mr. Reffitt brought a gun to the Capitol on January 6…  Mr. Reffitt’s 19-year-old son, Jackson, turned him in to law enforcement after the attack, despite Reffitt’s threats to shoot Jackson and his sister,” Durbin said.  “Mr. Reffitt received a full and unconditional pardon from President Trump.  Guess where he was on January 30 of this year?  Back at the Capitol complex, at Mr. Patel’s confirmation hearing.”

    Durbin then pointed to those who have warned against the nomination of Patel to serve as FBI director, including many of President Trump’s former appointees.

    “Consider who is warning us about Mr. Patel: former Trump officials who know him, like Attorney General Barr, CIA Director Haspel, Defense Secretary Mark Esper, and National Security Advisor John Bolton… All Republican appointees. Mr. Patel has left a long trail of grievances, lashing out at anyone who is not completely aligned with him. He calls Democrats ‘vindictive, evil, [and] vicious,’ and repeatedly attacks Republican Senators who don’t toe the MAGA line,” Durbin said. 

    “I have read Mr. Patel’s book, Government Gangsters.  It includes an enemies list of 60 names, ‘members of the deep state’ in the words of Kash Patel, which includes distinguished public servants from both political parties.  What do they all have in common?  From Attorneys General Bill Barr and Merrick Garland to former FBI Directors Bob Mueller and Chris Wray, they all have had the misfortune of crossing paths with the vindictive Patel,” Durbin said.

    Durbin underscored his final point, reiterating that Patel aims to dismantle the FBI from the inside out. 

    “Mr. Patel claims he respects law enforcement, but his words and actions demonstrate his disdain for the FBI.  He has said that on day one, he plans to ‘shut down’ the FBI headquarters.  And he has falsely claimed that the FBI ‘was planning January 6 for a year,’ beforehand.  There is no truth to that statement,” Durbin said.

    Durbin concluded by emphasizing that Patel will serve as a dangerous, influenceable lackey for President Trump and tarnish the reputation of an independent FBI.

    “Mr. Patel’s record demonstrates that he is dangerous, inexperienced, and dishonest.   He should not and cannot serve as an effective FBI Director.  Mr. Patel has been crystal clear that he plans on using the FBI’s vast surveillance and investigative authority to ‘come after’ the President’s enemies,” Durbin said.

    “It is shocking that my Republican colleagues are willing to support Mr. Patel, despite the serious threat he poses to our national security.  I’m sorry to say that I believe they will quickly come to regret this vote,” Durbin concluded.

    To view Durbin’s questions to Patel in his confirmation hearing click here and here.

    Video of Durbin’s remarks on the floor is available here.

    Audio of Durbin’s remarks on the floor is available here.

    Footage of Durbin’s remarks on the floor is available here for TV Stations.

    -30-

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Luján: Patel Will Use FBI’s Power for Political Retribution

    US Senate News:

    Source: US Senator for New Mexico Ben Ray Luján
    Patel Has Repeatedly Pushed Conspiracy Theories and Threatened to Go After President Trump’s “Enemies List”
    Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) issued the following statement after Senate Republicans voted to confirm Kash Patel as the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI):
    “Instead of addressing crime and keeping New Mexicans safe, the Trump administration is firing FBI agents for doing their jobs and upholding the law. Even before his confirmation, multiple whistleblowers revealed that Mr. Patel has been directing the dismissal of senior law enforcement officials at the FBI to seek retribution on behalf of the President. With Kash Patel in charge, the FBI will be weaponized to target those on Mr. Patel’s ‘enemies list’ instead of working toward solutions to make our communities safer.
    “Make no mistake, Mr. Patel was nominated – and confirmed – to follow through with President Trump’s agenda of revenge and retribution. He has no business leading the very agency that he’s called to dismantle.”  

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Suburban Chicago Man Sentenced to More Than Five Years in Prison for $1.5 Million COVID-Relief Fraud

    Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime Alerts (b)

    CHICAGO — A federal judge has sentenced a suburban Chicago man to more than five years in prison for fraudulently obtaining more than $1.5 million in small business loans under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

    Over a five-month period in 2021, FEROZ JALAL participated in a scheme to defraud banks and the U.S. Small Business Administration.  The SBA’s Paycheck Protection Program allowed qualifying small businesses to receive low-interest, government-backed loans to cover a temporary loss of revenue during the Covid pandemic.  As part of the scheme, Jalal submitted to lenders and the SBA at least a dozen applications for PPP loans on behalf of businesses that he and others purportedly owned.  The applications contained false statements and misrepresentations concerning the purported entities’ employees, revenues, costs, and statuses of operations.  In support of his applications, Jalal provided, among other things, fake IRS tax filings and bogus spreadsheets that purported to document the companies’ payroll expenses.

    Jalal and co-schemers submitted fraudulent applications for PPP loans in amounts totaling $1.792 million, causing $1.644 million to be disbursed by lenders.

    Jalal, 51, of Niles, Ill., pleaded guilty last year to bank fraud and money laundering charges.  On Feb. 11, 2025, U.S. District Judge John F. Kness sentenced Jalal to five years and two months in federal prison and ordered him to pay more than $1.5 million in restitution to the SBA.

    The sentence was announced by Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI, and Sean Fitzgerald, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago office of Homeland Security Investigations.  Substantial assistance was provided by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG).  The government was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Hayes.

    Anyone with information about attempted Covid-relief fraud can report it to the Department of Justice by calling the National Center for Disaster Fraud at (866) 720-5721, or by filing an online complaint at https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Waukee Man Sentenced to 32 Years in Federal Prison for Fentanyl and Fraud-Related Charges

    Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime Alerts (b)

    DES MOINES, Iowa – A Waukee man was sentenced today to 32 years in federal prison for fraud, money laundering, and fentanyl distribution.

    According to public court documents and evidence presented at sentencing, Stephan Rashad Haley, 36, also known as “Ace” and “Bosh,” acquired large quantities of counterfeit pills containing fentanyl from multiple drug sources and distributed the fentanyl-laced pills in the Southern District of Iowa. During an October 2023 search warrant at Haley’s Waukee residence, law enforcement located a stolen, loaded pistol, marijuana, cocaine, and pills containing fentanyl. Haley used the stolen pistol during an October 2023 shooting at an apartment complex in West Des Moines. At sentencing, the Court found Haley was responsible for more than 12 kilograms of fentanyl.

    From May to August 2023, Haley also participated in a vast, multi-million-dollar fraud scheme. Working with coconspirators located throughout the country, Haley recruited at least three other individuals to open fraudulent bank accounts and deposit stolen checks. The portion of the conspiracies in which Haley participated caused an intended loss of over $3.5 million to more than 10 victims.

    After completing his term of imprisonment, Haley will be required to serve a five-year term of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system. Haley was also ordered to pay $66,437 in restitution.

    Ten of Haley’s co-defendants in the fraud and money laundering case remain set for trial, currently scheduled to begin on June 23, 2025. Eight co‑defendants have pleaded guilty.

    United States Attorney Richard D. Westphal of the Southern District of Iowa made the announcement. This case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and West Des Moines Police Department, with assistance from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, Clive Police Department, United States Postal Inspection Service, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, Des Moines Police Department, Secret Service, and numerous state and local agencies from across the country.

    This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results. For more information about Project Safe Neighborhoods, please visit Justice.gov/PSN.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Drug Distributor Caught with Massive Amounts of Fentanyl and Methamphetamine as Well as Firearms, Body Armor, and Silencer Sentenced to 13 Years in Prison

    Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI Crime News (b)

    Tacoma – A 32-year-old Renton, Washington resident was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to 13 years in prison for his role in a drug trafficking ring connected to Aryan prison gangs, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Teal Luthy Miller. Shawn Ellis was arrested in March 2023, when federal agents moved in following a two-year investigation of drug trafficking activities. A search of Ellis’ car turned up buckets filled with fentanyl pills and kilos of methamphetamine, as well as four firearms – including a machine gun. At today’s sentencing hearing, Chief U.S. District Judge David G. Estudillo said, “We’re talking about a significant amount of controlled substances,” and added, “What is really significant and obviously scary for the community is the firearms.”

    According to records filed in the case, Ellis was a prolific drug redistributor. He obtained drugs from one branch of the drug conspiracy and sold the drugs to other customers for profit. Ellis would order as much as 30 pounds of methamphetamine at a time. When Ellis was arrested, agents seized the buckets of fentanyl and methamphetamine as well as cocaine and fake Xanax pills. Ellis carried four guns in the car to protect his drugs – a loaded pistol between the driver’s seat and center console, an SK-15 rifle hidden in a violin case, a shotgun and a second loaded pistol. He also had body armor in the vehicle.

    In a storage shed Ellis controlled were five additional firearms, a large amount of ammunition, additional body armor and a homemade silencer. Ellis also stored cash, jewelry, precious metals, coins and other collectibles in the shed – proceeds of his drug trafficking.

    Ellis has two prior felony drug convictions and is prohibited from possessing firearms.

    In asking for a 15-year sentence prosecutors wrote to the court, “But the danger Ellis posed to the community does not stop (with his possession of a silencer). He carried guns in his car along with his drugs, including a pistol which he kept close at hand near the driver’s seat. Ellis also kept in the car a second pistol, a shotgun, and an AR-15 type rifle that he hid in a violin case. This rifle proved to be a machinegun that fires fully automatically. As a felon, Ellis could not legally possess any firearms, much less a silencer or a machinegun.”

    Law enforcement made two dozen arrests on federal charges on March 22, 2023. The coordinated takedown involved ten swat teams and more than 350 law enforcement officers. On that day law enforcement seized 177 firearms, more than ten kilos of methamphetamine, 11 kilos of fentanyl pills and more than a kilo of fentanyl powder, three kilos of heroin, and more than $330,000 in cash from eighteen locations in Washington and Arizona. Earlier in the investigation law enforcement seized 830,000 fentanyl pills, 5.5 pounds of fentanyl powder, 223 pounds of methamphetamine, 3.5 pounds of heroin, 5 pounds of cocaine, $388,000 in cash, and 48 firearms.

    The top-level leader of the drug trafficking ring, Jesse Bailey, is scheduled to be sentenced on June 13, 2025, and his wife and co-conspirator Candace Bailey, is scheduled for sentencing on May 16, 2025.

    This case is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.

    This investigation was led by the FBI with critical investigative teamwork from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Washington State Department of Corrections and significant local assistance from the Tacoma Police Department, Pierce County Sheriff’s Office, and the Thurston County Narcotics Task Force, led by the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office. Throughout this investigation the following agencies assisted the primary investigators: Washington State Patrol, Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine, Lewis County Sheriff’s Office, Lakewood Police Department, and U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS).

    The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Zach Dillon, Max Shiner, and Jehiel Baer.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Cortez Masto Votes Against Confirming Kash Patel to be FBI Director

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Nevada Cortez Masto
    Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) voted against the confirmation of Kash Patel to be the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
    “The FBI is one of the most important law enforcement agencies in the country. It prevents terror attacks, investigates drug trafficking, human trafficking, and other organized crime, and combats public corruption,” said Senator Cortez Masto. “Kash Patel, however, has said he wants to gut the bureau and use the government’s power to target President Trump’s political enemies. A Patel-led FBI will not prioritize keeping Nevada families safe, and I therefore cannot vote to confirm him.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Okfuskee County Resident Pleads Guilty to Armed Felony Assault

    Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime News

    MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma announced that Gregory Dwayne Guinn, a/k/a Gregory Dewayne Guinn, age 23, of Okemah, Oklahoma, entered a guilty plea to one count of Assault with a Dangerous Weapon with Intent to Do Bodily Harm in Indian Country, and one count of Use, Carry, Brandish, and Discharge of a Firearm During and In Relation to a Crime of Violence.

    The Indictment alleged that on January 15, 2024, Guinn assaulted an individual with a dangerous weapon, with intent to do bodily harm.  The Indictment also alleged that on that day, Guinn knowingly used, carried, brandished, and discharged a firearm during and in relation to that crime of violence.

    The crimes occurred in Okfuskee County, within the boundaries of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation Reservation, in the Eastern District of Oklahoma.

    The charges arose from an investigation by the Okfuskee County Sheriff’s Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

    The Honorable Jason A. Robertson, U.S. Magistrate Judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, accepted the plea and ordered the completion of a presentence investigation report.  Guinn will remain in the custody of the United States Marshals Service pending sentencing.

    Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jacob R. Parker and Patrick M. Flanigan represented the United States.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Lawton Man Sentenced to Serve Life in Federal Prison for Murder After Woman’s Body is Found in Wildlife Refuge

    Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime News

    Co-Defendant Previously Sentenced to Serve 96 Months for Accessory After the Fact to Murder

    OKLAHOMA CITY – TEVIN TERRELL SEMIEN, 30, of Lawton, has been sentenced to serve life in federal prison for second-degree murder and illegal possession of a firearm after a previous felony conviction, announced U.S. Attorney Robert J. Troester.

    According to public record, on May 17, 2023, Karon “Dinkers” Conneywerdy Smith, 68, was found dead in the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge. Investigators searched Smith’s home, which was within Indian Country, and observed blood consistent with a violent struggle. Smith’s vehicle was missing as well. On May 21, 2023, Texas law enforcement observed Smith’s vehicle driving south of Dallas, Texas. Officers attempted to pull the vehicle over, but the vehicle fled at a high speed and eventually crashed into a lake. The two occupants of the vehicle, later identified as Semien and Nicole Leigh Logsdon, attempted to flee on foot but were apprehended.

    On October 17, 2023, a federal grand jury returned a four-count Indictment against Semien and co-defendant Nicole Leigh Logsdon, 25, also of Lawton. The Indictment charged Semien with one count of first-degree premeditated murder, one alternative count of second-degree murder, and one count of illegally possessing a firearm after a previous felony conviction. Logsdon was separately charged with accessory after the fact to murder.

    On April 22, 2024, Semien pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and being a felon in possession of a firearm. As part of his plea, Semien admitted to deliberately and intentionally killing Smith.

    On January 10, 2024, Logsdon pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact to murder and admitted to helping Semien in his attempt to avoid arrest and prosecution. On July 15, 2024, Logsdon was sentenced to serve 96 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release.

    At the sentencing hearing on February 3, 2025, U.S. District Judge Stephen P. Friot sentenced Semien to serve life in federal prison. In announcing his sentence, Judge Friot noted the nature and circumstances of the offense, pointing out that Semien’s choices and conduct amounted to an “unfathomably cruel and depraved murder.” Judge Friot also noted Semien’s criminal history.  Public record further reflects that Semien has previous felony convictions which include burglary in Jefferson County, Texas, and conspiracy to commit second degree burglary in Comanche County District Court case number CF-2022-292.

    This case is in federal court because Smith and Logsdon are enrolled members of the Comanche Nation and the murder occurred within Indian Country.

    This case is a result of an investigation by the FBI Oklahoma City, Dallas, and New Orleans field offices; the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation; the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; the Comanche Nation Police Department; the Comanche County Sheriff’s Office; the Lawton Police Department; the U.S. Marshals Service; the Rice, Texas Police Department; and the Navarro County, Texas Sheriff’s Office. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Kaleigh Blackwell and Trial Attorney Mark Stoneman with DOJ’s Criminal Division (former AUSA with the Western District of Oklahoma) prosecuted the case.

    The case furthers the Department of Justice’s Missing or Murdered Indigenous Persons efforts to address violence against Native American individuals. More information about this initiative is at https://www.justice.gov/tribal/mmip.

    Reference is made to public filings for more information. 

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  • MIL-OSI Security: Convicted Felon Sentenced To 20 Years For Possessing With The Intent To Distribute Fentanyl, Methamphetamine, And Cocaine

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    Tampa, FL – Acting U.S. Attorney Sara C. Sweeney announces that U.S. District Judge Thomas P. Barber has sentenced Emmanuel Dourthe (26, Deltona) to 20 years in federal prison for conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute controlled substances, possession with the intent to distribute controlled substances, and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. Dourthe pleaded guilty in November 2024.

    According to court documents, on February 14, 2023, law enforcement officers searched a storage unit that Dourthe, along with his co-conspirator Brendan Wells, utilized to store narcotics they were selling and intending to sell. Inside the storage unit, officers located 408 grams of methamphetamine, 399.7 grams of fentanyl, and 27.7 grams of cocaine. In addition, numerous bottles and baggies with various powders suspected to be cutting agents, as well as mixing tools, were found. A Smith & Wesson M&P semiautomatic rifle, along with numerous gun cases, magazines, and ammunition were also seized from the storage unit.

    A search of Dourthe’s phone had initially alerted law enforcement to the existence of the storage unit. Dourthe’s phone contained messages that showed that Dourthe and his associates were trafficking narcotics and that Wells, as well as others, were also involved in this trafficking.

    The firearm retrieved from the storage unit was swabbed for DNA, and testing revealed the presence of Douthe’s DNA on the firearm. Dourthe is a convicted felon and therefore prohibited from possessing a firearm or ammunition under federal law.

    Earlier in the day on February 14, 2023, law enforcement searched a backpack belonging to Wells, recovered from a residential search. Inside the backpack, law enforcement found what the Drug Enforcement Administration laboratory later confirmed to be 143.98 grams of methamphetamine.

    Wells pleaded guilty in November 2024. His sentencing is scheduled for March 26, 2025.

    This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Samantha Newman. The forfeiture is being handled by Assistant United States Attorney Suzanne Nebesky.

    This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

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  • MIL-OSI Security: Drug distributor caught with massive amounts of fentanyl and meth as well as firearms, body armor, and silencer sentenced to 13 years in prison

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    Tacoma – A 32-year-old Renton, Washington resident was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to 13 years in prison for his role in a drug trafficking ring connected to Aryan prison gangs, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Teal Luthy Miller. Shawn Ellis was arrested in March 2023, when federal agents moved in following a two-year investigation of drug trafficking activities. A search of Ellis’ car turned up buckets filled with fentanyl pills and kilos of methamphetamine, as well as four firearms – including a machine gun. At today’s sentencing hearing, Chief U.S. District Judge David G. Estudillo said, “We’re talking about a significant amount of controlled substances,” and added, “What is really significant and obviously scary for the community is the firearms.”

    According to records filed in the case, Ellis was a prolific drug redistributor. He obtained drugs from one branch of the drug conspiracy and sold the drugs to other customers for profit. Ellis would order as much as 30 pounds of methamphetamine at a time. When Ellis was arrested, agents seized the buckets of fentanyl and methamphetamine as well as cocaine and fake Xanax pills. Ellis carried four guns in the car to protect his drugs – a loaded pistol between the driver’s seat and center console, an SK-15 rifle hidden in a violin case, a shotgun and a second loaded pistol. He also had body armor in the vehicle.

    In a storage shed Ellis controlled were five additional firearms, a large amount of ammunition, additional body armor and a homemade silencer. Ellis also stored cash, jewelry, precious metals, coins and other collectibles in the shed – proceeds of his drug trafficking.

    Ellis has two prior felony drug convictions and is prohibited from possessing firearms.

    In asking for a 15-year sentence prosecutors wrote to the court, “But the danger Ellis posed to the community does not stop (with his possession of a silencer). He carried guns in his car along with his drugs, including a pistol which he kept close at hand near the driver’s seat. Ellis also kept in the car a second pistol, a shotgun, and an AR-15 type rifle that he hid in a violin case. This rifle proved to be a machinegun that fires fully automatically. As a felon, Ellis could not legally possess any firearms, much less a silencer or a machinegun.”

    Law enforcement made two dozen arrests on federal charges on March 22, 2023. The coordinated takedown involved ten swat teams and more than 350 law enforcement officers. On that day law enforcement seized 177 firearms, more than ten kilos of methamphetamine, 11 kilos of fentanyl pills and more than a kilo of fentanyl powder, three kilos of heroin, and more than $330,000 in cash from eighteen locations in Washington and Arizona. Earlier in the investigation law enforcement seized 830,000 fentanyl pills, 5.5 pounds of fentanyl powder, 223 pounds of methamphetamine, 3.5 pounds of heroin, 5 pounds of cocaine, $388,000 in cash, and 48 firearms.

    The top-level leader of the drug trafficking ring, Jesse Bailey, is scheduled to be sentenced on June 13, 2025, and his wife and co-conspirator Candace Bailey, is scheduled for sentencing on May 16, 2025.

    This case is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.

    This investigation was led by the FBI with critical investigative teamwork from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Washington State Department of Corrections and significant local assistance from the Tacoma Police Department, Pierce County Sheriff’s Office, and the Thurston County Narcotics Task Force, led by the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office. Throughout this investigation the following agencies assisted the primary investigators: Washington State Patrol, Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine, Lewis County Sheriff’s Office, Lakewood Police Department, and U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS).

    The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Zach Dillon, Max Shiner, and Jehiel Baer.

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  • MIL-OSI USA: Senator Collins’ Statement on Nomination of Kash Patel to Serve as FBI Director

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Maine Susan Collins
    Published: February 20, 2025

    Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Susan Collins issued the following statement on the nomination of Kash Patel to serve as Director of the FBI:
    “The nomination of Kash Patel to serve as Director of the FBI comes to the Senate against the backdrop of recent personnel actions at the Department of Justice, including the resignations of several career federal prosecutors who felt they were being instructed to act in a manner inconsistent with their ethical obligations.  In addition, a questionnaire has been sent to thousands of FBI employees regarding their involvement in certain investigations.  As I have stated previously, these initiatives raise the specter that adverse actions could be taken against FBI employees – including special agents in the field – who have dedicated their careers to public service and who do not choose their assignments.  It is critical that any efforts to promote accountability at the FBI be carefully calibrated and not have the effect of driving away dedicated public servants who keep our country and communities safe. 
    “In this context, there is a compelling need for an FBI Director who is decidedly apolitical.  While Mr. Patel has had 16 years of dedicated public service, his time over the past four years has been characterized by high profile and aggressive political activity.  Mr. Patel has made numerous politically charged statements in his book and elsewhere discrediting the work of the FBI, the very institution he has been nominated to lead. These statements, in conjunction with the questionnaire sent to thousands of FBI employees, cast doubt on Mr. Patel’s ability to advance the FBI’s law enforcement mission in a way that is free from the appearance of political motivation.
    “While I strongly support efforts to ensure all federal employees perform their responsibilities ethically and in accordance with the law, Mr. Patel’s recent political profile undermines his ability to serve in the apolitical role of Director of the FBI.
    “Therefore, I will vote against his nomination.” 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Welch at the FBI HQ: “Kash Patel is a crown jewel in Trump’s lawless rampage.”

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator Peter Welch (D-Vermont)
    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, joined Senate Judiciary Democrats outside of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Headquarters building to call on their Republican colleagues to block the nomination of Kash Patel, President Trump’s pick to serve as Director of the FBI. The Senators highlighted the dire consequences of Mr. Patel’s willingness to take out vengeance on behalf of President Trump and called on their colleagues to oppose his appointment as the FBI Director on the Senate Floor today. 
    Read Senator Welch’s remarks below:  
    “Since January 20th, Donald Trump has been on a lawless rampage. He has invaded the authority of Congress by canceling programs that have appropriated funds. He’s inflicted cruelty on people who have been loyal public servants in agencies across the country. He is threatening farmers with these high tariffs, calling it an emergency.  
    “Kash Patel is a crown jewel in this lawless rampage. He’s an instrument of Donald Trump’s effort to destroy the Justice Department and the FBI, so that he is absolutely and completely, not only above the law, but beyond the law. He’s called it ‘my Justice Department.’ Kash Patel agrees. He willingly agrees to carry out the vengeance tour of Donald Trump. That’s what he does. 
    “This FBI has been so revered in our country. Sure, it has issues at various times, as every agency does. But this has been a non-political agency. No longer. And when in the confirmation hearing, my colleagues…asked about the purge? He heard nothing. See nothing, hear nothing, say nothing. He didn’t know anything about it. Two days later, it comes out he was masterminding it and implementing it as he was lying to us in the committee.  
    “So, the biggest threat to our country right now is Donald Trump’s frontal assault on the rule of law, and one of the generals in that assault is Kash Patel. We must defeat his appointment as the FBI Director.” 
    Watch a livestream and view photos from the press conference below: 
    Senator Welch joined Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), and Senate Judiciary Committee members Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), and Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) at the press conference. 
    In the Senate Judiciary Committee, Senator Welch has expressed reservations about Mr. Patel’s nomination. During Mr. Patel’s confirmation hearing, Senator Welch grilled him about his refusal to acknowledge that President Biden won the 2020 Presidential Election and stressed the importance of combatting any attempt to weaponize the Department of Justice and the FBI under the Trump Administration. Last week, Senator Welch reacted to reports that Mr. Patel has been personally involved in the Trump Administration’s ongoing efforts to target and fire career FBI agents and officials. Under oath, Mr. Patel told Senator Welch he had no recollection of the purge at the FBI. 

    MIL OSI USA News –