Pam Bondi escalates potential criminal charges for Obama officials involved in 'Russia hoax' with bombshell grand jury order
Attorney General Pam Bondi signed an order on Monday directing an unnamed prosecutor to convene a grand jury, Fox News first reported.
It comes after Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard submitted criminal referrals to the Justice Department last month for former President Barack Obama and his officials including ex-Intel Chief James Clapper and ex-CIA Director John Brennan.
She unveiled evidence claiming that Obama and his team illegally conspired in the lead up to the 2016 presidential election to link Donald Trump to Russia.
The directive from Bondi also follows FBI Director Kash Patel discovering a stash of bags in a secret room at the bureau with damning documents related to the Russia investigation the were meant to be burned.
The documents where published by Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa and consist of the classified annex to former Special Counsel John Durham 's final report on the origins of the FBI investigation into Trump's 2016 campaign.
Bondi's move on Monday is an escalation that takes President Trump's administration a massive step closer to criminally charging Obama and his former administration officials.
A source familiar with the action speculated to the Daily Mail that the criminal referrals Bondi is acting on are likely for John Brennan and James Comey.
This story is breaking and will be updated.
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The Guardian
13 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Montana manhunt continues as Tennessee murder suspect is arrested
Montana governor Greg Gianforte on Tuesday signed an executive order freeing up more resources for local law enforcement as they searched a mountainous area for a former US soldier suspected of killing four people at a bar on 1 August. The search for Michael Paul Brown stretched into its fifth day with more than three dozen law enforcement agencies helping with an effort that Montana's top officials described during a news conference as the highest priority in the state. Meanwhile, the man wanted in the late July killings of the parents, grandmother and uncle of an infant found abandoned in a front yard in western Tennessee has been arrested, police said. Austin Robert Drummond faces four counts of first-degree murder, one count of aggravated kidnapping and weapons offenses, according to officials. In Montana, a team with the state's national guard has flown nearly 20 hours since the killings the Owl Bar in Anaconda, looking for any clues for Brown's whereabouts as an undisclosed number of officers searched on foot. 'Rest assured, our brave men and women of law enforcement aren't giving up, and I ask that you not give up on them either,' Gianforte said. Authorities allege Brown, 45, fatally shot four people at the Owl Bar with a rifle that police believe was his personal weapon. They allege he fled in a white pickup that he later ditched and stole another white vehicle stocked with clothes, shoes and camping supplies. A female bartender and three male patrons were killed. They have been identified as Nancy Lauretta Kelley, 64; Daniel Edwin Baillie, 59; David Allen Leach, 70; and Tony Wayne Palm, 74. The shooting rattled Anaconda, a tight-knit town of about 9,000 people. And many residents remain on high alert with the suspect still at large. Montana attorney general Austin Knudsen reiterated Tuesday that authorities are operating under the assumption that Brown is armed and extremely dangerous. Without providing more details, Knudsen said there's evidence that authorities are searching in the right area. About 22 square miles (57 square kilometers) of forest south-west of Anaconda have been closed to the public by the national forest system as the search continues. Knudsen added that it does not appear that Brown has broken into any cabins or homes in the area to get food or additional supplies. Knudsen and investigators declined to share the number of law enforcement personnel active in the search Tuesday. Canine detection units and drones equipped with heat-detection technology were also being used in the search, they said. Federal authorities were offering a reward of up to $10,000 for any information leading to Brown's capture. Family members have said Brown has struggled with mental illness for years, and they had sought help for him. Brown, who lived next door to the Owl Bar, served in the army as an armor crew member from 2001 to 2005 and deployed to Iraq from early 2004 until March 2005. He also was in the Montana national guard from 2006 to 2009. In Tennessee, two men other than Drummond had been arrested on allegations that they assisted him, according to investigators. The victims were found dead in Tiptonville, Tennessee, about 40 miles from where the baby at the center of the case was left, officials have said. They were identified as James M Wilson, 21; Adrianna Williams, 20; Cortney Rose, 38; and Braydon Williams, 15. Police have said Drummond had a relationship with the victims and that the killings were targeted. Drummond was taken into custody amid a search on Tuesday, police in Jackson said in a social media post. His arrest came shortly after police had warned residents of Jackson, which is about 74 miles (119 kilometers) away from the crime scene in Tiptonville, to stay inside their homes, having received a report that he was spotted in a neighborhood. An automated message from the local public defender's office said to call back later.
Daily Mail
13 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Wife of Delphi killer who murdered two girls and ripped a small town apart claims her 'wonderful husband' is innocent in eerie first interview
The wife of Delphi killer Richard Allen has broken her silence to insist her husband of 34 years is a 'family man' and 'not the monster' who murdered two teenage best friends in a crime that ripped apart the small, tight-knit Indiana town. Kathy Allen spoke out for the first time since Allen's conviction for the February 2017 murders of Libby German, 14, and Abby Williams, 13, in the new ABC News Studios' series 'Capturing Their Killer: The Girls on the High Bridge'. 'My husband's not a monster. He's not the monster that people think he is,' she said in the series. 'He is a family man. Ricky is a wonderful, caring, compassionate father. Non-judgmental, very giving. He has good morals.' She said: 'How dare you accuse someone who is nothing but a people-pleaser and works out in the public. How dare you.' Allen was arrested and charged with the February 13, 2017, murders in October 2022 after a resurfaced tip and an unspent bullet tied him to the crime scene. He was convicted in November on two counts of murder and two counts of felony murder, before two of the counts were vacated under double jeopardy rules. Allen was sentenced to the maximum 130 years in prison. Months later, on July 18, Allen was moved out of state from the Pendleton Correctional Facility in Madison County, Indiana, to the Lexington Assessment and Reception Center in Cleveland County, Oklahoma. Allen continues to appeal the verdict. Libby German (left) and Abby Williams (right) set off on a walk along the Monon High Bridge trail in Delphi, Indiana, on February 13 2017 and never returned Despite his conviction - and dozens of jailhouse confessions prior to his trial - Kathy has stood by her husband. In the new series, she refused to believe he committed the shocking crimes and insisted the real killer or killers are still at large. 'I want true justice for Abby and Libby but it should not be at the expense of an innocent person, she said. 'These girls deserve justice. The right person or persons need to be found instead of just going with what you believe.' In the show, Kathy fawned over photos of her life with Allen from their prom pictures to wedding photos. 'Man he was a good-looking guy,' she gushed. 'I still is.' She and Allen went to school together but were introduced through her cousin. 'He was really cute and he had kind of long, wavy blonde hair, beautiful blue eyes,' she said. 'He was just really sweet. I hadn't met a guy like him before. Ricky and I always felt a connection.' The couple married as soon as they left high school and had a daughter, Brittany, in 1994. 'He was so excited about having a girl. He was a good daddy,' she said. The family moved to Delphi in 2006 in part, Kathy said, because they believed the town of around 3,000 residents was a good place to raise a child. Allen worked at the local CVS store in the heart of the community. Kathy remembers the day Abby and Libby went missing. The two best friends had set off on an afternoon walk on February 13 2017 along the Monon High Bridge. When they failed to return, a search was launched. Kathy told the series how Allen had the day off work that day and she had returned home to find him on the couch. They saw on the news that Libby and Abby were missing and Allen admitted to her that he had been on the trails that afternoon. He claimed he hadn't seen the girls, she said. The next day - Valentine's Day - searchers found Abby and Libby's bodies around half a mile from the trail, close to Deer Creek. Both of their throats had been cut, with the murder weapon believed to be a box cutter. Libby was naked while Abby was fully dressed in some of Libby's clothes. An unspent bullet was found between their bodies. In the moments before they died, Libby had captured a video on her cellphone of their killer following them over the rickety bridge. It captured the chilling voice of the man - who became known as 'Bridge Guy' - ordering the terrified girls: 'Guys... down the hill.' Libby's cellphone was found hidden beneath Abby's body, leading cops to find the footage and release a grainy photo of the killer. Kathy told the series that she thought the image could be anyone. 'The first time I saw the picture of bridge guy, it could've been anybody,' she said. Kathy encouraged her husband to tell police he was on the trails the day of the murders, and 'he was more than willing to help,' she said. After he met with an officer, 'we heard nothing,' she said. That information was lost for more than five years due to a clerical error, before investigators came across the tip in October 2022. A search executed at the Allen home uncovered a 'Bridge Guy starter kit' including blue jeans and a Carhartt jacket matching the outfit worn by 'Bridge Guy.' Investigators also found a Sig Sauer Model P226 pistol which Allen said only he had access to. Ballistics experts matched the gun to the bullet found between the two victims' bodies. While behind bars awaiting trial, Allen confessed to murdering the girls a staggering 61 times including in jailhouse phone calls to his wife and mom as well as in meetings with a prison psychologist. In one damning confession presented at trial, Allen revealed information that only the killer could have known. He said he had planned to take the girls into the woods to rape them but was startled by a white van driving past and so quickly killed them, jurors heard. The man in the white van testified he drove home from work at around 2.30pm that afternoon, to his property close to Deer Creek - a timeline that matched the time Libby's cellphone last recorded movement. The evidence about the van was not known until Allen offered up that information, prosecutors said. Allen's defense claimed his damning confessions were the result of a mental health crisis due to the 'prisoner of war' treatment he endured inside state prison. Instead, Allen's attorneys made the extraordinary accusation that Libby and Abby were murdered as part of a 'ritualistic sacrifice' by a local white nationalist cult called Odinists. As part of the shocking theory, Allen's defense pointed to sticks found on the victims' bodies, claiming they were arranged specifically into Pagan symbols. Jurors did not hear this theory at trial, as the judge blocked the defense from introducing the Odinism theory or from introducing any other alternative suspects. Speaking about the bombshell theory, Kathy said she believes the 'truth is going to come out'. 'You don't kill those girls the way you do and leave them that way without it meaning something,' she said. When her husband went on trial, she said she was hopeful that he would be acquitted. 'This was the first time in two years that we actually had some hope,' she said. 'I felt pretty positive that they were going to make the right decision because reasonable doubt was written all over this case.' When she heard the guilty verdict being read out, Kathy said she was in 'shock'. 'I wanted to stand here and scream for him,' she said. Since his trial, Allen's attorneys continue to file a string of legal objections and have appealed his conviction. Kathy said she is 'very hopeful' he will be freed on appeal. 'I've got everything ready for him to come home… I'm not giving up.' Allen is now in prison custody in Oklahoma. On July 29, Allen's attorneys filed a motion for a 30-day extension to appeal his conviction.
Daily Mail
13 minutes ago
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Seattle business owner pays fines after homeless camp took over
A Seattle business owner has slammed city bureaucrats after he was forced to pay hefty fines when a homeless camp took over his vacant building. Sam Hawley hit out at leaders in the vagrant-riddled city for exacerbating his problems after his business, JOANN Fabric and Crafts, went bankrupt earlier this year. He said vagrants quickly took over the property's parking lot and destroyed the area. But before he could invest in additional security features, he was fined for having code violations including graffiti and not having a fence around his vacant building. 'During a week in June, 15 or 20 people moved into the parking lot, and it was kind of chaos,' Hawley told KOMO . He said he was 'in the process of installing a fence' at the time that cost upwards of $30,000, but as the 'concrete was drying,' city officials slapped him with fines. 'That was the first I ever heard from them. There was no forewarning. There was no offering of an attempt to fix it. It just started with fines right away,' Hawley said. 'It's tough. On one hand, you have the homeless. On the other hand, you have the city coming at you.' Hawley said the response from city officials is all the more frustrating because they refuse to take any action to move the homeless camp from his property, even as locals continually call the cops on the group. Hawley said the homeless camp has repeatedly had the police called on them for squatting, trespassing and drug taking, but no action is ever taken to permanently keep them from the area. He said fury among the community has been growing, particularly due to open drug use across the street from a children's playground. The business owner said he was still reeling from the loss of his firm when the first fines came in June, and he received a fine of $684 from the Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections (SDCI) for building code violations. Hawley said this meant that he was automatically registered on the city's 'Vacant Building Monitoring' program. Stuck in a bureaucratic tailspin, he said that this forced him to shell out another $332 for a follow-up inspection. Despite being in compliance with the city's code after bringing his building within guidelines by that point, Hawley said he was then charged a five percent 'technology fee' because of the process he was in. 'I understand addressing vacant buildings. I just think this is a little overboard,' he said. He added that the homeless camp was only able to move in because he was away from the property for one week after Joann Fabric and Crafts closed - which he said was 'frustrating.' He said that he began putting up fencing and repairing the squalid conditions almost immediately, but it took some time to line up contractors, in which time the city had already began fining him. 'It would just be nice to have a little grace period,' he concluded to KOMO. It comes as Seattle has become one of the hotbeds of homelessness in the US, with recent figures showing the issue is continually growing in the Democrat-led city. In the 2024 Annual Homelessness Assessment, a report to Congress released in January 2025, analysts found that city leaders are failing to provide even basic shelter to homeless people. Over 57 percent of the city's homeless population live without any shelter, compared to just three percent in New York City where officials provide a number of shelters. Seattle leaders declared a state of emergency in 2015 over its homelessness crisis, but in the time since the city's homeless population has surged a staggering 88 percent. In Washington state at-large, only the much more populated state of California has a higher homeless population, per the Seattle Times .
