Wicked Blue
Wicked Blue's JournalWhistleblowers Allege Kash Patel Is Already Carrying Out 'Purge' of FBI Employees -- Even Though He Hasn't Been Confirmed
Source: MediaIte
A top Democratic Senator says he is in possession of “highly credible information” from “multiple” whistleblowers which shows FBI Director nominee Kash Patel is carrying out a “purge” of FBI employees before he has even been confirmed to the job.
In a letter to Inspector General Michael Horowitz Tuesday (obtained by The New York Times), Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) — who is the ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee — alleged that Patel has already been purging FBI staff.
“I have received highly credible information from multiple sources that Kash Patel has been personally directing the ongoing purge of career civil servants at the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI),” Durbin wrote. “Although Mr. Patel is President Trump’s nominee to be FBI Director, he is still a private citizen with no role in government.”
According to Durbin, Patel is conducting the purge through several top White House and DOJ staffers — including Stephen Miller.
Read more: https://www.mediaite.com/news/whistleblowers-allege-kash-patel-is-already-carrying-out-purge-of-fbi-employees-even-though-he-hasnt-been-confirmed-yet/
Trump administration owes US business millions in unpaid bills amid USAID shutdown, lawsuit says
Source: AP
The Trump administration’s dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development is stiffing American businesses on hundreds of millions of dollars in unpaid bills for work that has already been done, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday.
The administration’s abrupt freeze on foreign aid also is forcing mass layoffs by U.S. suppliers and contractors for USAID, including 750 furloughs at one company, Washington-based Chemonics International, the lawsuit says.
“One cannot overstate the impact of that unlawful course of conduct: on businesses large and small forced to shut down their programs and let employees go; on hungry children across the globe who will go without; on populations around the world facing deadly disease; and on our constitutional order,” the U.S. businesses and organizations said.
An organization representing 170 small U.S. businesses, major suppliers, an American Jewish group aiding displaced people abroad, the American Bar Association and others joined the court challenge.
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/usaid-american-companies-layoffs-lawsuit-8c116d877c179169fbce2d3348fcd997
Federal Employee Union Sees 'Amazing' Growth Amid Trump Attacks
HuffPost
The largest union for federal employees says it’s seeing unusual growth amid President Donald Trump’s attacks on the government workforce.
Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, or AFGE, said the union has added more than 8,200 members through the first third of February, after adding nearly 8,000 in January. In normal times, a typical month might see a net gain of a few hundred, he explained.
The recent surge in signups means the union grew by about 5% in a matter of weeks, pushing its rolls to 321,000 ― its highest ever, the AFGE says. The union had set a goal of reaching a membership size of 325,000 by the end of 2025, but Kelley said they might end up hitting that goal before the end of this week.
“You know, I really want to send him an organizing award,” he joked of Trump on Monday.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/afge-growth-trump_n_67ab7d0de4b0c52db9aadf41
Is It Finally Time To See What Jack Smith Said About The Classified Documents Case?
HuffPost Live Updates
The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals may have just moved the nation one step closer to seeing the reasoning behind former special counsel Jack Smith’s prosecution of now-President Donald Trump’s alleged criminal retention of classified documents.
On Tuesday, the appellate court granted the Justice Department’s request from nearly two weeks ago to drop obstruction and false statement charges leveled against two of Trump’s onetime co-defendants, his valet Walt Nauta and Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos De Oliveira.
The Justice Department, observing longstanding policy against prosecuting sitting presidents, dropped the charges in the case against Trump shortly after he won the 2024 election. Nauta and De Oliveira, however, briefly remained on the hook but just days after Trump was inaugurated, the Justice Department moved to drop their charges too. (The department also abandoned an appeal it had filed to reinstate the charges while Joe Biden was still president.)
In early January. U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon temporarily barred the release of an extensive report compiled by Smith for then-Attorney General Merrick Garland explaining the special counsel’s decisions to prosecute Trump. The charges against Trump’s codefendants were still live at the time and Cannon argued publication would jeopardize the integrity of the case.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/donald-trump-white-house-live-updates_n_67aa443de4b0cced3687c9ec
Jordan Will Take 2,000 Children From Gaza, King Says
BBC Live Updates
After Trump indicated he would pressure Jordan and Egypt to take in millions of Palestinian refugees from the war-torn Gaza Strip, Jordan’s King Abdullah II said during a White House visit that his country would welcome 2,000 children in need.
Some of the Palestinian children need cancer treatments, the king said. He declined to offer a direct answer to Trump’s threat to cut off aid to Jordan if the nation did not accede to his demands. Rather, he maintained that he would seek a solution alongside Trump and Egyptian leaders.
Trump also reiterated his suggestion that the U.S. take over the Gaza Strip in order to revitalize it. He said the U.S. would not “have to buy” Gaza but would nevertheless “own it.”
“Nobody would question it,” Trump said.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/donald-trump-white-house-live-updates_n_67aa443de4b0cced3687c9ec
UK and US refuse to sign international AI declaration
Source: BBC
The UK and US have not signed an international agreement on artificial intelligence (AI) at a global summit in Paris.
The statement, signed by France, China and India among other countries, pledges an "open", "inclusive" and "ethical" approach to the technology's development.
Downing Street said the UK "hadn't been able to agree all parts of the leaders' declaration" and would "only ever sign up to initiatives that are in UK national interests".
Earlier, US Vice President JD Vance told delegates in Paris that too much regulation of artificial intelligence (AI) could "kill a transformative industry just as it's taking off".
Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8edn0n58gwo
Trump Says He Does Not View JD Vance As His Successor
HuffPost Live Updates
Trump declined to back Vice President JD Vance as his successor as GOP nominee at the next election, saying it is “too early” to endorse his number two.
During the second part of the president's interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier, the journalist asked, “Do you view Vice President JD Vance as your successor as the Republican nominee in 2028?”
“No, but he's very capable,” Trump replied.
While this could be interpreted as a snub to Vance, it could also underline Trump's apparent determination to stay on at the White House – despite being constitutionally prohibited from a third term.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/donald-trump-white-house-live-updates_n_67aa443de4b0cced3687c9ec
Or maybe he expects Gollumusk to succeed him as emperor
Elon Musk-led group makes $97.4 billion bid for control of OpenAI, WSJ reports
Feb 10 (Reuters) - A consortium of investors led by billionaire Elon Musk is offering $97.4 billion to buy the nonprofit that controls artificial intelligence startup OpenAI, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.
The offer intensifies a longstanding battle between OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Musk over the future of the startup at the heart of a boom in generative AI technology.
Musk's attorney, Marc Toberoff, said he submitted the bid to OpenAI's board on Monday, according to the report.
"It's time for OpenAI to return to the open-source, safety-focused force for good it once was," the WSJ cited Musk as saying in a statement provided by Toberoff. "We will make sure that happens."
https://www.reuters.com/markets/deals/elon-musk-led-group-makes-974-billion-bid-control-openai-wsj-reports-2025-02-10/
Scientists Warn Trump's NIH Cuts Will Drop 'Atomic Bomb' On Health Research
Source: HuffPost
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s drastic cuts to National Institutes of Health funding will cripple biomedical research, stifle innovation and eliminate thousands of jobs, including in red states that voted for the president, scientists warned this week.
Over the weekend, the NIH announced it is sharply reducing federal funding for overhead costs at universities, hospitals and institutes required to conduct research. Known generally as “indirect costs,” they include things like rent for space, utilities, internet access, payroll, equipment and other intangible benefits, like free research assistants. This differs from “direct” costs of doing the research, such as salary and supplies.
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Scientists and researchers who spoke to HuffPost expressed deep alarm about the impact of the funding cuts on medical research, warning it would cripple efforts to cure cancer and other deadly and debilitating illnesses around the world. Most requested anonymity because of fear of intimidation or retribution by the Trump administration.
“This attack on the very structure of the academic research enterprise is threatening a system that every other country in the world has tried to reproduce, for no gain on any side that I can see,” a research professor at the University of Chicago told HuffPost. “It seems spiteful and targeted at those of us who just want to contribute to a better society.”
Read more: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/donald-trump-nih-cuts-science_n_67aa3b53e4b0ade4a9a36a1e
How going full MAGA for Trump is hurting Elon Musk in his wallet
NJ.com
Published: Feb. 10, 2025, 1:06 p.m.
By Matt Arco | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
It’s unlikely to take a serious toll on the world’s richest man, but being a central and controversial figure in President Donald Trump’s administration could come at a price.
Elon Musk’s Tesla is taking a hit across the globe and “sales are tanking” since the billionaire got heavily involved in politics. Musk spent hundreds of millions of dollars in an effort to get Trump elected and has since taken the reins of a non-governmental entity that’s tasked with shrinking the size of the U.S. government.
From an Inside EVs report: “[F]ull-year and January sales results from various markets around the world indicate a bleak picture for the Elon Musk-led electric vehicle company. Even as it added the Cybertruck to its lineup in large volumes last year—which should have unlocked more buyers in America’s expansive pickup truck field—Tesla is seeing serious declines in places where it once had a near-lock on electric sales.”
It includes a 60% drop in sales in Germany compared to this time last year, a 63% drop in France and an 11.5% dip in China.
https://www.nj.com/politics/2025/02/how-going-full-maga-for-trump-is-hurting-elon-musk-in-his-wallet.html
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