Free Republic

That anonymous internet persona with an anime cartoon avatar in your Discord chat might actually be a contractor sent to spy on you. Enter the world of “threat intelligence.” It’s the term of art for a growing set of surveillance and security firms that create fake online personas to infiltrate and scrape data from private corners of the internet. The industry provides corporate and government clients with insight into conversations on private, invite-only Discord chats, WhatsApp groups, Reddit forums, and dark web message boards to help those powerful customers keep tabs on a variety of potential threats, from political hacktivists...

Rep. Matt Gaetz said the FBI offers “cash payments” to incentivize key personnel to target conservative Americans who may share views the establishment does not like — ideas such as supporting building a wall on the southern border, advocating for the Second Amendment or even defending the Betsy Ross flag...

Elon Musk has dropped a bombshell on Twitter as evidence mounts up against the FBI regarding the events of Jan. 6, 2021. Musk called attention to a new report from investigative reporter Michael Shellenberger on Twitter. Shellenberger’s report states: “FBI says it won’t release Jan 6 surveillance video because it would show too many undercover government agents and informants.” “The FBI & Democrats say the whistleblowers who testified today are ‘a threat to our national security,’ but they’re not,” Shellenberger wrote. “Rather they are honorable public servants who are being attacked for exposing abuses of power related to January 6....

Suspended FBI agents Garret O’Boyle, Steve Friend, and Marcus Allen testified Thursday before the House Select Committee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government to detail the alleged ‘abuses of power’ by the federal bureau’s leadership – ranging from discrimination against conservatives to inflation of domestic terrorism statistics. O’Boyle testified that he was transferred across the country only to be suspended on his first day of work...

The allegations from FBI whistleblowers is the subject of a hearing on Thursday.. The Federal Bureau of Investigation obtained the financial records of Americans from Bank of America "without any legal process" following the January 6, 2021 riot, according to an interim staff report from the House Judiciary Committee and Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government. The report containing allegations from FBI whistleblowers is the subject of a select committee hearing on Thursday. "Just like FBI whistleblowers [Garret] O’Boyle and [Stephen] Friend, retired FBI Supervisory Intelligence Analyst George Hill provided the Committee with detailed allegations of FBI...

The FBI conducted thousands of queries on digital data collected on U.S. citizens in 2021 and 2022 despite having no warrant and no justification under the FBI’s own rules, according to an internal report released on May 10.The audit, conducted by the FBI Office of Internal Auditing (OIA), was intended to examine the agency’s compliance with rules for querying data the government routinely collects on U.S. citizens under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA).FISA allows the government to collect electronic data, including phone calls, text messages, and emails of foreigners overseas, even if the communications...

Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.), a member of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, said Monday that House Republicans might have to “use the power of the purse” to compel the FBI to cooperate with their investigations. “The Congress is this country’s checkbook and we can start cutting funds to the FBI,” Burchett told Maria Bartiromo on Fox Business’ “Mornings With Maria.” The FBI has refused to release a document that allegedly describes “very serious and detailed allegations” involving Joe Biden. On May 3, Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) issued a Congressional subpoena demanding that the FBI produce an unclassified...

An FBI surveillance contractor infiltrated the chatrooms of two airline industry groups opposed to vaccine mandates to collect intelligence on the groups’ organizing activities, investigative journalist Lee Fang reported. The contractor, Flashpoint, which in the past infiltrated Islamic terror groups, now focuses on “anti-vaccine” groups and other domestic political organizations, according to Fang. In a webinar presentation for clients last year, which Fang analyzed on his Substack, Flashpoint analyst Vlad Cuiujuclu demonstrated his company’s methods for identifying and entering encrypted Telegram chat groups. He explained how the company attempted to join chatrooms of transportation workers resisting the COVID-19 vaccine mandates....

Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy said he would attempt to shut down the FBI and replace it with another entity if he’s elected president.Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy speaks at the National Rifle Association annual convention in Indianapolis, Ind., on April 14, 2023. (Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times)During an interview with “Meet the Press” on Sunday, Ramaswamy, a businessman, suggested that he does not want to “defund the FBI” after host Chuck Todd suggested it.“I didn’t say defund the FBI. I said shut down the FBI and replace it with something new,” said Ramaswamy on Sunday. “I think it’s a new...

Over a MILLION of which were in error.Link to video of today's exchange between DOJ Inspector General Horowitz and Rep. Matt Gaetz.

"Federal agencies cannot conceal their wrongdoing behind illegal nondisclosure agreements and related documents," Grassley and Johnson wrote. Republican Sens. Chuck Grassley (Iowa) and Ron Johnson (Wisc.) sent letters to the Justice Department demanding answers after a former FBI agent said he was forced to sign a nondisclosure agreement that did not include the legally required whistleblower exceptions allowing him to come forward to Congress. Whistleblower protections have been enshrined in federal law for more than a decade, and federal agencies may not use taxpayer dollars for nondisclosure agreements without including whistleblower exceptions. However, former Special Agent Steve Friend, who came...

The federal judge overseeing the Proud Boys seditious-conspiracy trial in Washington on April 16 rejected a defendant’s calls for a mistrial and his allegations of evidence tampering, withholding of exculpatory evidence, and government misconduct.In a 10-page ruling, U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly rejected requests from defendant Dominic Pezzola for a mistrial or dismissal of charges.Kelly called Pezzola’s conclusions “bizarre” and said they “lack legal and factual support.”Pezzola claimed he was deprived of exculpatory evidence from video footage aired in March on Fox News’ “Tucker Carlson Tonight.”Proud Boys defendant Dominic Pezzola smashes Capitol windows with a riot shield on Jan. 6,...

RICHMOND, Virginia (LifeSiteNews) –– The FBI planned to recruit leaders in both a Virginia diocese and the Society of St. Pius X to spy on faithful Catholics.The FBI provided information to U.S. Congressman Jim Jordan, Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, admitting that it had sought information “derived from at least one undercover employee” seeking to infiltrate religious organizations as “new avenues for tripwire and source development.” Jordan has previously received 18 pages of heavily-redacted documents regarding its investigation of Catholics and the Catholic Church in the Diocese of Richmond, Virginia. Due to the limited response thus far by the...

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) is set to unveil a resolution next week blasting former President Trump’s call to remove funding from the FBI and Justice Department (DOJ) over the federal investigations into him. Schumer sent a letter to his Democratic colleagues in the Senate on Tuesday that he is presenting a resolution to “defund” the federal law enforcement agencies. “Donald Trump’s call for defunding federal law enforcement agencies is a baseless, self-serving broadside against the men and women who keep our nation safe,” the letter states. “The former President and his allies in Congress must not subjugate justice...

You like the Latin Mass? You’re a white supremacist. You like the old traditions of the Catholic Church? You’re a radical. FBI headquarters revoked the documents from the Richmond office. The House Judiciary Committee has been demanding all documents about the operation since February: On February 16, 2023, Chairman Jordan and Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) sought information from the FBI relating to a January 23, 2023 “domain perspective” document generated by the Richmond Field Office entitled “Interest of Racially or Ethnically Motivated Violent Extremists in Radical-Traditionalist Catholic Ideology Almost Certainly Presents New Mitigation Opportunities.” “The documents produced to date show...

In an April 10 Press Release, Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) announced that his committee has subpoenaed the FBI for documents relating the FBI’s move to infiltrate Latin Mass communities in search of any “radical extremism” that could potentially signal domestic terrorism. Vatican journalist, Diane Montagna tweeted out the latest on the FBI’s efforts to weaponize the Southern Poverty Law Center’s decades-old witch hunt against Latin Mass Catholics: House Judiciary Committee Chairman @Jim_Jordan confirms FBI planned to “engage in outreach to leadership” of SSPX chapels in Richmond area “to sensitize these congregations to warning signs of radicalization & to enlist their...

Former President Donald Trump pitched a novel idea on Truth Social yesterday following his bizarre arraignment in Manhattan. He called on Republicans in Congress to “defund” the FBI and the Department of Justice. His suggestion was quickly jumped on from both sides of the aisle and compared to leftist calls to defund the police. At PJ Media, our colleague Robert Spencer makes the argument that Trump may be onto something and presents a case for why this should be attempted. He also argues that Trump’s critics are incorrect in describing this as being analogous to defunding the police. But this...

Former FBI Director James Comey praised the unprecedented indictment of former President Trump by a Manhattan grand jury on Thursday, by tweeting, "It's been a good day." Trump was indicted after Manhattan District Attorney Alivn Bragg had been investigating Trump for hush money payments made leading up to the 2016 presidential election. Comey, who was fired by Trump in 2017 and one of the central figures involved in the Russia collusion case against Trump and the Steele dossier, echoed comments made by other Trump opponents on Twitter.

An IRS agent stopped by the home of Twitter Files journalist Matt Taibbi the same day of his congressional testimony on the weaponization of the government, according to House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, who’s demanding an explanation over the oddly timed visit. Jordan sent a letter to IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel and the Department of Treasury on Monday in hopes of getting to the bottom of why the federal agent appeared at Taibbi’s New Jersey home on March 9 and left a note, according to an editorial in The Wall Street Journal that cited the letter. The note reportedly instructed...

The FBI worked hand in hand with federal agencies for nearly a decade to strip at least 60 U.S. citizens of their gun rights — a once-secret operation largely brought to light as part of a Washington Examiner investigation. Between 2011 and 2019, the FBI coordinated with the Secret Service and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to obtain signatures on internal bureau forms from citizens at their homes and in other undisclosed locations that stripped their rights to own, buy, or even use firearms, according to multiple reports from the Washington Examiner and the Daily Caller beginning in September 2022....