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Top Five takedowns: Kash Patel’s FBI hits the ground running with major early victories

Top Five takedowns: Kash Patel’s FBI hits the ground running with major early victories

Kash Patel has spent his first month as FBI director cracking down on some of the Trump administration’s top law enforcement priorities, including violent crime, gang activity and drug trafficking – all while managing to avoid much of the high-profile controversy that has embroiled some other senior national security officials. His early moves have earned him accolades from Republicans in Congress, who have been quick to praise Patel’s first weeks in office, including his effort to move quickly and share certain documents long requested by majorities on the House and Senate Judiciary Committees. “Under the leadership of Attorney General Pam Bondi, the Bureau is working aggressively each and every day to find violent criminals, no matter where they are, and bring them to justice,” Patel told Fox News Digital in reflection on his first few weeks heading up the bureau. “Any success thus far is a credit to the brave men and women of the FBI and our state and local law enforcement partners who do amazing work to execute the mission,” he added. Just five weeks after his confirmation as FBI director, here are some of Patel’s earliest – and most significant – wins.  JUDGE FIGHTING TRUMP OVER EL SALVADOR DEPORTATIONS ASSIGNED TO LAWSUIT OVER SIGNAL CHAT LEAK The FBI this week announced the arrest of the top U.S. MS-13 leader, 24-year-old Salvadoran national Henrry Josue Villatoro Santos. Santos was captured in Woodbridge, Virginia, and was charged with being an illegal alien in possession of a firearm.  Officials told Fox News this week that Santos is one of the top three leaders of the MS-13 gangs in the U.S. Bondi, the U.S. attorney general, and Patel both watched the arrest take place from a nearby tactical operation center.  In an interview with Fox News, Bondi praised the team for executing a “clean, safe operation” and credited FBI personnel for getting “one of the worst of the worst of the MS-13 off the streets this morning.” Patel announced last week that since Jan. 20, the FBI has apprehended three fugitives from the FBI’s top 10 Most Wanted list – an achievement that he said on social media is the result of good leadership and hard work from bureau personnel.  The individuals captured include Arnoldo Jimenez, accused of murdering his wife in Burbank, Illinois, in 2012; Donald Eugene Fields II, charged with child sex trafficking and child rape charges in federal and state court, respectively; and Francisco Javier Roman-Bardales, another MS-13 leader arrested in Mexico last week and extradited to the U.S., where he was charged with racketeering, conspiracy, conspiracy to provide and conceal material support and resources to terrorists, narco-terrorism conspiracy and alien smuggling conspiracy.  TRUMP ADMINISTRATION INVOKES STATE SECRETS ACT ON HIGH-PROFILE DEPORTATION CASE Roman-Bardales had been a fugitive for nearly three years prior to his arrest and is believed to be a founding member of the MS-13 leadership structure in the U.S., where he helped direct the group’s unlawful activities in the U.S., El Salvador, and elsewhere for roughly 20 years.  Patel praised the arrests in a post on X, noting that the successes of the FBI are “not an accident.”  “When you let good cops be good cops, this is what happens,” he said. “This administration is giving the new FBI and AG Bondi the resources to get the job done — and we won’t stop.” The FBI under Patel successfully raided and arrested 22 members of a narcotics trafficking ring in Lubbock, Texas, believed to be tied to violent drug cartels based in Mexico. The operation comes as Patel and Bondi have moved to crack down on narcotics and drug trafficking as part of Trump’s agenda for his second White House term.  In a post on X, Patel praised the work of the FBI’s Dallas Field Office, the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement, and the Drug Enforcement Administration.  “These are the operations that mean safer streets for American families,” Patel said. “And we are just getting started.”  MORE THAN HALF A MILLION LAW ENFORCEMENT PERSONNEL BACK PATEL AS FBI DIRECTOR The FBI and U.S. Department of Justice have worked in tandem to crack down on a wave of vandalism targeting Tesla dealerships, charging stations, and individual Tesla cars in the U.S. – actions that Bondi described in a press conference earlier this month as acts of “domestic terrorism” punishable by up to 20 years in prison. Individuals have been arrested in recent weeks for setting fire to, and shooting at, Tesla cars and dealerships across the country, vandalizing charging stations and carving graffiti, including anti-Trump messages, into personal vehicles. The crimes have prompted a federal crackdown pursued by FBI and DOJ leadership.  Most recently, authorities on Thursday announced federal charges against a 36-year-old Las Vegas resident accused of setting fire to vehicles at a Tesla collision business in Nevada earlier this month. Video footage obtained by authorities shows an individual using Molotov cocktails to set the Teslas on fire, using an AR-30 rifle to shoot bullets into the vehicles, and spray-painting the word “resist” onto the individual cars.  Las Vegas authorities described the crime as a “targeted” attack on the Tesla facility.  “As promised, acts of violence and vandalism will not be tolerated, and today law enforcement personnel acted quickly to arrest an individual on charges including arson,” Patel said Thursday in a press release announcing the federal charges. “Under Attorney General Bondi’s leadership, we will continue to pursue these investigations with the full force of law and will bring to justice anyone responsible for these attacks.” This week, the Department of Justice announced the successful disruption of a major cryptocurrency financing scheme believed to be used to launder money to Hamas – a significant victory for the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division and Cyber Division and the FBI’s Albuquerque Field Office, which ran point on the investigation. The financing ring purportedly controlled by Hamas was used by the terrorist group to launder more than $1.5 million in virtual cryptocurrency from donors since October 2024, according to

‘This is our home’: D-day for Afghans facing Pakistan deportation

‘This is our home’: D-day for Afghans facing Pakistan deportation

Islamabad, Pakistan – Pakistan is the only home Mohammad Laal Khan has known. He was born here. He married here. His children were born here. He buried his eldest brother here. But a late-night police raid in November last year shattered his sense of belonging. Khan was born in South Waziristan, a tribal district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a few years after his parents fled the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Since the 1990s, the family — including Khan’s mother, four brothers, their families, and other relatives — has lived in the suburbs of Pakistan’s capital Islamabad in mud-plastered houses without electricity or other basic utilities. Now he is on Pakistan’s list for deportation. “It is as if being an Afghan is a curse upon our existence,” Khan, 36, told Al Jazeera on a recent March afternoon in the same room where dozens of police officers had stormed in, threatening to take away all the men. Khan says, despite much pleading, four of his brothers were taken away and charged with living in the country “illegally”. Their ordeal ended after two weeks when a court granted them bail. Advertisement The entire family possesses Afghan Citizenship Cards (ACC), a government-sanctioned identification document issued to Afghan citizens living in Pakistan. But over the past two years, between September 2023 and February 2025, a systemic government crackdown on Afghan nationals has resulted in the expulsion of nearly 850,000 Afghans from Pakistan, including women and children. Now, hundreds of thousands of ACC-holding Afghans like Khan, having spent almost their entire lives in Pakistan, face expulsion from April 1. “We don’t know anything about Afghanistan. We have lived here all our lives, made friends here, built our businesses here. If the government insists on throwing us out, we will leave, but we will return once again,” Khan said. “This is our home.” Pakistan’s deportation plan Pakistan currently hosts more than 2.5 million Afghans, according to government estimates. Among them, about 1.3 million possess a Proof of Registration (PoR) card, first introduced in 2006 and issued by the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, while another 800,000 hold an ACC, issued in 2017. These documents were previously recognised as proof of legitimate residence in Pakistan. Not any more. In a two-page document issued in January, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s office outlined a three-phase “relocation” plan. The first phase targets the deportation of all Afghans now viewed as undocumented — including ACC holders. The second phase focuses on PoR cardholders, who have been granted relief to stay until June 2025. The final phase will address Afghan citizens who are awaiting relocation to third countries. Advertisement Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry said the government was firm in its stance, despite pleas from the UNHCR and global rights organisations such as Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Amnesty International. “We have hosted Afghans in the country for four decades, showing our hospitality and generosity, but it cannot continue indefinitely. They will have to return,” he told Al Jazeera. With the start of this new wave of deportations slated for around Eid — Pakistan celebrates the otherwise festive occasion on March 31 — the deadline has prompted criticism. Many see it as an effort to wrongfully demonise Afghan nationals by linking them to criminal activities. In recent years, Pakistan has suffered from a series of deadly attacks by armed groups that Islamabad alleges operate from Afghanistan. This has also led to a spike in tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers. “Pakistani officials should immediately stop coercing Afghans to return home and give those facing expulsion the opportunity to seek protection,” said Elaine Pearson, Asia director at HRW, in a March 19 statement. Calling the deadline “unyielding and cruel”, Amnesty International also urged Pakistan to reconsider its decision. “These opaque executive orders contravene the government’s own promises and repeated calls by human rights organizations to uphold the rights of Afghan refugees and asylum seekers,” said Isabelle Lassee, deputy regional director for South Asia at Amnesty International, in a March 26 statement. Advertisement But echoing Chaudhry’s sentiments, Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has insisted that the government had “fulfilled its obligations” by hosting Afghans and was not bound to consult the UNHCR. However, Qaiser Afridi, the spokesperson for the UNHCR, said they are concerned that among the ACC holders, there may be some individuals who may require international protection. “We are urging the government to see their situation through a humanitarian lens. We also call for engagement between Pakistan and Afghanistan so that their return can be dignified and voluntary,” Afridi told Al Jazeera. That alone, Afridi said, would ensure that “reintegration in Afghanistan is sustainable”. Mohammad Laal Khan and his family members live in an informal settlement in the suburbs of Islamabad, where they do not have any amenities [Abid Hussain/Al Jazeera] ‘Why are we being pushed away?’ Originally from Kunduz in Afghanistan, Khan’s family relocated to Islamabad in the early 1990s and has lived there ever since. Khan’s room has rough, mud-plastered walls enclosing a modest space with folded mattresses, a simple rug, and a few personal belongings. Sitting quietly in the room was Khan’s mother, Guldana Bibi, 71, with a wrinkled face, deep-set hazel eyes, and a scarf covering her head. “I have lived in this country for four decades. My children, my grandchildren, were all born here. My husband was my last connection to Afghanistan, and he died years ago. Why are we being pushed away?” she said. Advertisement Along with his brothers, Khan ran a wood shuttering business, but twice in the last 10 years – in 2015 and 2023 – they were forced to stop work and sell what they had in their shops due to government crackdowns on Afghans. Khan claims he incurred losses of nearly 1.8 million rupees ($6,400). “People ask why we haven’t done better economically. My response is, how can you when your life is repeatedly uprooted, or you’re forced to pay bribes just to exist?” Khan said, sitting cross-legged with his

Musk hands $1m cheques to voters in Wisconsin judicial race

Musk hands m cheques to voters in Wisconsin judicial race

Race for state Supreme Court seat most expensive in US history as billionaire pushes to prevent challenges to Trump’s agenda. Elon Musk has handed $1m cheques to two Wisconsin voters as he promotes a conservative candidate in the state’s upcoming Supreme Court election. The tech billionaire, a close ally of President Donald Trump, handed out the oversized cheques at a rally in Green Bay on Sunday night, increasing the spending in what is already the most expensive judicial race in US history. Musk performed a similar move during November’s presidential election. Democrat rivals in Wisconsin – a contested swing state – have failed in their effort to block the handout by claiming it constitutes election interference. The April 1 election pits conservative candidate Brad Schimel against the Democrats’ Susan Crawford. The liberals currently hold a 4-3 majority on the court. The billionaire has become heavily involved in the judicial election, which is seen as an early referendum on Trump’s controversial first few weeks in the White House. He also insists that liberals will seek to use the Wisconsin court to change voting districts and thus affect future election results in the swing state, should they win. Advertisement In a speech on Sunday evening, Musk told a crowd that the vote was a “super big deal”. “What’s happening on Tuesday is a vote for which party controls the US House of Representatives,” he declared. “Whichever party controls the House … to a significant degree, controls the country, which then steers the course of Western civilisation,” he said, adding that he thinks the vote was “going to affect the entire destiny of humanity”. Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Susan Crawford addresses a crowd on Saturday, March 29, 2025, at a campaign stop in a field office for the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, in Milwaukee [File: Andy Manis/AP] Earlier, an effort to block the handouts was denied by the Supreme Court. Wisconsin Democrat Attorney General Josh Kaul argued in a filing that the Tesla chief’s actions violate state law. “Wisconsin law prohibits offering anything of value to induce anyone to vote,” Kaul said, adding, “Yet, Elon Musk did just that.” The Supreme Court declined to take the case, without providing a rationale for its decision. Trump agenda The vote comes as the court is expected to rule on abortion rights, union rights, and voting rules, as well as congressional redistricting, potentially affecting the 2026 midterms and the 2028 presidential election. In the short term, the way the court swings is part of Trump’s broader agenda to prevent judicial bodies from blocking his agenda. Numerous legal challenges are under way seeking to halt the president’s controversial actions on immigration, state institutions, and foreign policy. Musk argued that if Crawford was elected it would open the way for a liberal court to “redraw the districts, they will gerrymander the district and deprive Wisconsin of two seats on the Republican side”. Advertisement “Then they will try to stop all the government reforms we are getting done for you, the American people,” he added. Musk also announced that he would pay supporters $20 for every voter they recruit over the next two days. Adblock test (Why?)

French court finds far-right leader Le Pen guilty of embezzlement

French court finds far-right leader Le Pen guilty of embezzlement

DEVELOPING STORYDEVELOPING STORY, Prosecution demands that Marine Le Pen be barred from office threaten to derail her bid for the presidency in 2027. A French court has found far-right leader Marine Le Pen guilty of embezzling European Union funds. The Paris court ruled that Le Pen used more than 3 million euros ($3.3m) of European Parliament funds to pay members of her National Rally party. The ruling threatens to push the nationalist out of the 2027 presidential race, in which she is currently the frontrunner, according to opinion polls. The sentencing, set to be announced immediately, could see Le Pen declared ineligible to run for office. She has accused prosecutors of seeking her “political death”. A jail sentence and heavy financial penalty are also possible. “If Marine Le Pen can’t run, that would change the landscape of the French far right and its prospects,” said Al Jazeera’s Natacha Butler from the Paris courtroom. “Most likely it would be Jordan Bardella to take her place, the current president of RN. “But he is much younger and not the same kind of dominant force as Marine Le Pen,” she added. “He’s not the figure that so many in France know, and so some say he would likely find it tougher in the 2027 race. Advertisement “Others say a fresh face may be what’s needed.” This is a developing story, more to follow … Adblock test (Why?)

Dems ridicule bill aimed at abolishing TSA, suggest ‘Bin Laden’ and ‘the Ayatollah’ would support it

Dems ridicule bill aimed at abolishing TSA, suggest ‘Bin Laden’ and ‘the Ayatollah’ would support it

Two House Democrats appeared to ridicule Sen. Mike Lee’s, R-Utah, bid to abolish the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). “Who supports my bill to abolish TSA?,” Lee asked in a post on X. “Bin Laden,” Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., wrote in response to Lee’s question. “The Ayatollah, probably,” Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., replied to Lee. REPUBLICANS LOOK TO ABOLISH TSA IN FAVOR OF PRIVATE SECURITY AT AIRPORTS The TSA was created in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. “The attacks resulted in the creation of the Transportation Security Administration, designed to prevent similar attacks in the future,” according to the agency’s website. “The Aviation and Transportation Security Act, passed by the 107th Congress and signed on Nov. 19, 2001, established TSA.” Lee and Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., introduced the “Abolish TSA Act of 2025” last week.  MIKE LEE CONTINUES CALLING FOR ABOLITION OF TSA The measure calls for shifting the performance of airport security screenings to private companies. “The TSA has not only intruded into the privacy and personal space of most Americans, it has also repeatedly failed tests to find weapons and explosives,” Lee said. “Our bill privatizes security functions at American airports under the eye of an Office of Aviation Security Oversight, bringing this bureaucratic behemoth to a welcome end. American families can travel safely without feeling the hands of an army of federal employees.”  The measure would call for the Homeland Security secretary, in consultation with the Transportation secretary, to submit to Congress a plan to create an Office of Aviation Security Oversight in the Federal Aviation Administration — the office would oversee and regulate aviation security activity. FLIGHT PASSENGER, 106, SAYS AIRPORT PERSONNEL CONTINUE TO FLAG HER AGE: ‘NOT SOME STUPID OLD LADY’ CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP The secretary would also need to furnish plans to shift aviation security activity and equipment to private companies, and “to transfer to the Department of Transportation any functions, personnel, assets, and liabilities of the Administration with respect to surface transportation, including activities relating to mass transit, freight rail, highway motor carriers, and pipelines,” according to the measure.