Free Republic

D’Antuono’s testimony ‘only reinforces our grave concerns that your reported actions are nothing more than a politically motivated prosecution.’ The high-level FBI official tasked with executing the raid on former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home last year said President Joe Biden’s Department of Justice breached protocol to justify the search proving that the FBI learned nothing from their attempts to undermine the Republican leader during the Russian collusion hoax. Less than one day after Special Counsel Jack Smith charged Trump with 38 counts related to his retention of government documents, House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan unveiled the damning testimony of...

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) sent a four-page letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland Friday expressing grave concerns with the indictment of Donald Trump and again requesting documents and information related to the raid at Mar-a-Lago that the DOJ has refused to provide to the committee.The letter begins by reminding Garland that Trump is “Biden’s chief rival in the upcoming presidential election” and a reference to the double standard created by the failure to prosecute Hillary Clinton for mishandling classified information (emphasis mine):The Biden Department of Justice is reportedly about to indict a former president and President...

Among the many questions Americans deserve to have answered surrounding the FBI’s activities, the Whitmer kidnapping hoax is near the top of the list. For the first time since the government failed to win a single conviction in the alleged criminal plot to “kidnap” Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer in 2020, a top Justice Department official was publicly confronted about the FBI’s primary role in concocting the hoax. It was not a welcome line of inquiry, to say the least. Matthew Olsen, head of the National Security Division, repeatedly rebuffed questions by U.S. Representative Dan Bishop (R-N.C.) about the case during...

The evidence is amassed and verified—the only unknown is what Republicans will do next. It could be the whopper of the year. “I can tell you that in every case we follow the facts and the evidence and the law and we do so without regard to politics or ideology,” Matthew Olsen, head of the Justice Department’s National Security Division, solemnly assured the House Judiciary Committee during a hearing last week. Olsen was responding to a question by U.S. Representative Dan Bishop (R-N.C.) about the decision to arrest several men for supposedly conspiring to abduct and assassinate Michigan Governor Gretchen...

The Justice Department is ditching the China Initiative, a national security program designed to tackle Chinese economic espionage in the US after a string of cases collapsed amid complaints it was fueling suspicion against Chinese Americans. It was launched by the Trump administration three years ago amid concerns of intellectual property theft at research universities. Matthew Olsen, assistant attorney general for national security, announced a change of strategy Wednesday. He said it followed a months-long review that found it was preventing universities attracting top talent. Instead, he said the work would continue as part of a broader strategy that included...

At a Senate hearing Tuesday titled "Domestic Terrorism Threat One Year After January 6," Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen explained why he created a new unit focused on domestic terrorism. "We have seen a growing threat from those who are motivated by racial animus, as well as those who ascribe to extremist anti-government and anti-authority ideologies," Olsen said. Olsen affirmed that the events that occurred on Jan. 6 are being investigated as acts of domestic terrorism. At the hearing, Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, pointed out that 75% of domestic terrorism cases during the Summer 2020 riots were attributed to "anarchist...

The Justice Department is establishing a specialized unit focused on domestic terrorism, the department's top national security official told lawmakers Tuesday as he described an “elevated” threat from violent extremists in the United States.Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen, testifying just days after the nation observed the one-year anniversary of the violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, said the number of FBI investigations into suspected domestic violent extremists has more than doubled since the spring of 2020. (snip) The officials said the department treats domestic extremist violence the same regardless of ideology.

Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) said Tuesday nightthat U.S. border officials have caught “at least 10″ Islamic State fighters or people with ties to the group as they tried to enter the U.S. through Mexico,a claim that was immediately disputed by the Obama administration. “I know that at least 10 ISIS fighters have been caught coming across the Mexican border in Texas,”Hunter said on Fox News Tuesday night. “There’s nobody talking about it.” Rep. Duncan Hunter Claims "10 Isis Fighters" Caught At The Southern Border. Greta ( 3:23 ) When asked by host Greta Van Susteren how he knows this,...

Reuters) - U.S. authorities are investigating possible collusion between militants who launched a deadly attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya and locally hired Libyan personnel guarding the facility, three U.S. officials said. So far there is no proof that the attackers, who killed U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other U.S. officials, were helped by Libyan security personnel hired by the consulate. One official said the Obama administration was playing down this possibility.However, all the officials said that the question of whether the attackers had inside help or advice was a serious issue in the U.S. investigation into...

The nominating process for the head of the National Counterterrorism Center, the hub for threat assessment within the U.S. government, is typically a routine affair. But for Matthew Olsen, President Obama's pick to lead the agency, the nomination is in jeopardy amid accusations that he misled a member of Congress when he was in charge of the administration's Guantanamo task force to close the military detention camp in 2009. Earlier this month, Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va.,who represents the district where the center is located, wrote to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, objecting to the nomination. Wolf said he believes...

February 20, 2009 Note: The following text is a quote: http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2009/February/09-ag-148.html Attorney General Appoints Executive Director to Lead New Task Force on Review of Guantanamo Bay Detainees WASHINGTON – Attorney General Eric Holder today announced the appointment of an Executive Director to lead a new interagency task force charged with continued implementation of the President’s Jan. 22 Executive Order calling for an immediate review of the status of individuals currently detained at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base. The Executive Director, Matthew G. Olsen, will lead the Guantanamo Detainee Review Task Force, which is responsible for assembling and examining relevant information and...