On June 24, Trump abruptly cancelled the scheduled signing ceremony for the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, which was passed by Congress on a bipartisan basis. He announced that he would refuse to sign it until Congress passed the SAVE America Act, which would limit access to voting for millions of Americans.
“Today’s Housing News Conference and Signing is hereby cancelled until such time as we pass the desperately needed SAVE AMERICA ACT, which I consider to be a National Emergency,” he wrote. “Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DJT”
CBS
There is no evidence that voter fraud, which is the basis of the SAVE America Act, is a “national emergency.” However, Republicans such as Brian Pritchard and South Dakota state Senator Thomas Pischke regularly commit voting fraud.
Trump claimed that the bill could hurt homeowners by creating new housing. However, this critique is inconsistent with his previous support for the bill, as noted by Representative Don Bacon.
Trump’s relations with Congress have deteriorated. A lunch with Republican Senators saw a shouting match between Senator Bill Cassidy and Trump over the Iran War. Trump’s refusal to sign the new housing bill cast a shadow over that meeting.
If Trump refuses to sign the housing bill, currently on his desk, within ten days, it will automatically become law.
On an unknown date, but after he took office on June 19, Acting Director of National Intelligence Bill Pulte terminated the positions of six career and political intelligence staff, and sent 45 employees to their home agencies. These terminations include Deputy Director of National Intelligence for Mission Integration William Ruger, who was put on administrative leave. The firings were mostly concentrated against the National Counterterrorism Center.
This comes after Pulte floated the terminations as soon as he took office, and after a Trump social media post that called for firings, claiming without elaboration that there were too many employees.
Senator Mark Warner claimed that Pulte was already in the process of wantonly firing hundreds of employees. Warner also claimed that Pulte floated committing the crime of taking the presidential daily brief, which includes some of the most classified information, to a non-secure location, which is illegal. Pulte also wanted a private government jet to travel between Chicago, Florida, and Washington D.C. for unknown reasons.
Pulte has no experience in intelligence, and is firing employees regardless of their own experience and contributions to American intelligence. This leaves the country more vulnerable to terrorist attacks, sabotage, and espionage.
On June 16, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Kash Patel, on X, announced the details of a sealed criminal investigation of a terrorist plot against the White House Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) event, which occurred two days prior.
The Secret Service and FBI discussed unsealing the investigation later in the day. However, Patel did so early without prior warning, while about ten suspects related to the plot were on the loose. Matt Quinn, the deputy director of the Secret Service, criticized Patel in public for endangering the integrity of the investigation.
I’ll tell you a phrase I learned early in my career in the New York field office and that’s `Don’t choke on your own smoke,” he said. “I’ll tell you the Secret Service led that investigation from the beginning. I’ll tell you that case is ongoing. In order to maintain the integrity of the investigation and the security plan, we chose not to leak it.”
Ken Dilanian on X
The terrorist plot in question was mulled by a religious extremist group with anti-government and anti-Semitic beliefs. They intended to use drones to stir panic, causing the frightened crowd to run toward a sniper team. The group also planned to storm the White House gate. After a call to the local police in Cincinnati by a concerned relative of one of the plotters, the first arrest was made on June 13. The case was sealed immediately after, precisely to catch and investigate the other criminals without their knowledge, an operation that Patel endangered with his characteristic showmanship.
The remaining suspects were arrested despite unprofessional FBI leadership.
The suspects were identified as Tycen C Proper, 19, the suspect arrested in Ohio, along with Bryan Omar Roa, 24, and Michael Alan Thomas, 32, of California, Daniel K Eskridge, 32, of Missouri and Abraham Hermosillo Alvarez, 31, of Nebraska. They were arrested across the four US states and each have been charged with conspiracy to commit murder, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said in a statement.
On June 15, California Governor Gavin Newsom announced that himself and his wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, were under investigation. The investigation started on an unknown date, but has been ongoing for about a year.
According to Newsom, federal agents questioned friends of his family and former employees, as well as organizations with ties to him, demanding records and “random documents.” The investigation is being spearheaded by the Eastern District of California. As of the time of this writing, it is unknown what specifically Newsom is being investigated for. A source for NBC vaguely stated that his wife was being investigated for her “taxes,” and another source for CNN stated that the investigation stems from a whistleblower report about a year ago. Regardless, there is no known public evidence that Newsom and his wife had committed a crime.
Newsom was adamant regarding his innocence.
“If he can’t intimidate me, he’ll go after the mother of our children,” Newsom said. “Donald Trump picked the wrong target. We have nothing to hide.”
CNN Politics
The political context of this is clear to even a casual observer of politics. Newsom has criticized and mocked Trump on social media, and was one of the few governors to directly retaliate against the gerrymandering of Texas, which was kicked into motion by Trump, by redistricting California mid-cycle. These facts, and the strong likelihood that Newsom is running for President in 2028, have made Gavin Newsom one of Trump’s most prominent political opponents.
On June 12, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) conducted a raid against Ohio Organizing Collaborative (OOC) in search of evidence for almost non-existent voter fraud.
A Cleveland office belonging to the OOC was searched, as well as the homes of people associated with the progressive group, which engages in voter registration efforts. Documents and computer files were seized.
In 2017, a canvasser that OOC paid committed voter fraud. However, they had no formal connection to the organization, and there has been no documented impropriety since. Representative Shontel Brown and former director and current board member of OOC, Prentiss Haney, accused the Trump administration of committing voter intimidation.
On June 11, Trump nominated United States attorney for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton to be Director of National Intelligence. This comes in the aftermath of Trump’s attempt to have loyalist Bill Pulte lead the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), which drew significant backlash from Congress. Trump’s installment of Pulte delayed Clayton’s confirmation process.
Trump selected Clayton despite his lack of intelligence experience. In Trump’s first term, Clayton served as Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and was previously Head of law firm Sullivan & Cromwell. Clayton initially drew bipartisan support, having been confirmed as attorney for New York’s Southern District by a 61-37 vote, due to a number of Democrats supporting him. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director John Ratcliffe recommended that Trump select Clayton. Democratic Representative Jim Himes and Senator Mark Warner also made favorable statements regarding Clayton’s selection as ODNI Director.
Clayton faced headwinds on July 15, however, when Senators Jon Ossoff and Warner asked Clayton who had won the 2020 Presidential Election. Clayton refused to answer, implying that loyalty to Trump and his false narrative that the 2020 election was stolen from him was more important than the simple truth and democratic institutions. Clayton also claimed to be ignorant to former Director Tulsi Gabbard’spresence at the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) raid of Fulton County’s elections facilities, which was based on Trump’s conspiracy theory that the 2020 election was stolen from him. He was also scrutinized over his involvement with subpoenas sent against New York Times journalists who investigated Qatar’s Air Force One jet bribe.
Despite this denial of basic reality, Clayton, on July 28, was confirmed in a 51-47 vote, this time without any Democratic votes.
On June 3, Trump signed an executive order that transferred about 10,000 career federal officials into Schedule Policy/Career, formerly known as Schedule F. This removes their civil service protections.
Schedule Policy/Career was designed to make it easier to terminate the positions of officials that worked on “policy-related” jobs. The reschedule limits accountability in the federal workforce. Whistleblower complaints filed by workers in this arrangement will be investigated by the agency they are in, as opposed to the Office of Special Counsel. Adverse personnel actions can no longer be brought to the Merit Systems Protection Board.
The implementation of Schedule Policy/Career, resurrected after former President Joe Biden removed it, may be illegal, potentially running afoul of “the Constitution, 1978 Civil Service Reform Act [sic] and the Administrative Procedures Act.”
Schedule Policy/Center has been reported to increase “political and personal favoritism in the workplace.” Wrongly dismissing this problem, Director of the United States Office of Personnel Management Scott Kupor and another unnamed official stated that the schedule does not feature a political litmus test. While this in and of itself is true, any federal job that ranks GS-5 or above has prospective employees has a politicized test that encourages loyalty to Trump himself.
In another move that strains all credulity, the DOJ under Trump’s full control claimed in early June to have no responsive documents to a FOIA request submitted by nonprofit-watchdog Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW). As Hafiz Rashid reported for The New Republic, the documents sought are connected to a “settlement” that would create an unprecedented “anti-weaponization” slush fund for anyone who feels they were “harmed” for stating political beliefs.
The division of DOJ that was supposed to have handled Trump’s lawsuit against the IRS—and the subsequent settlement that created a slush fund for his allies—claims to have no communication records related to it.
CREW, a progressive watchdog organization, filed a Freedom of Information request with the DOJ, and in response, they were told that the DOJ ‘did not locate the case you have cited’ within the DOJ’s Civil Division’s case management system.
<snip>
$1.776 billion ‘anti-weaponization’ fund is for anyone who believes they were unfairly prosecuted for their political beliefs—essentially trump’s allies who were prosecuted under the Biden administration. As part of the settlement, the IRS also pledged not to audit the Trump family or businesses now or at any point in the future.
Hafiz Rashid, The New Republic
Rashid adds, quite starkly, that the nation’s top law-enforcement division is either lying, working outside of normal channels—or both. “The fact that DOJ claims to have no records relating to communication about the settlement suggests that either it is lying or negotiations were conducted outside of the legal bodies that should have handled them.”
In a different TNR article (and for additional background), staff writer Matt Ford is even more blunt in his characterization of the fund being a “criminal enterprise” in search of legitimization.
The Trump administration set the stage for the largest heist in American history this week by creating an illegal fund of taxpayer dollars to compensate Donald Trump and his allies—including the January 6insurrectionists for being brought to justice after storming the Capitol in 2021.
The Justice Department’s announcement that it will set a $1.8 billion slush fund to settle a $10 billion lawsuit from Trump himself against the IRS drew widespread outrage from Democrats on Capitol Hill, who are exploring ways to block the payments. It also drew criticism from Capitol Police officers who were injured on January 6, who have filed a lawsuit to challenge the legality of this compensation scheme. Brian Morrissey, the Treasury Department’s top lawyer, reportedly resigned after the fund was announced.
Matt Ford, The New Republic
Morrissey’s resignation is notable if for no other reason than he had been working in Trump’s orbit since Regime 1, that time under monied operative Steve Mnuchin.
As I often point out on Bluesky, Donny’s mafia frequently engages in “dry runs” to hone and perfect criminal operations. Their profoundly false “weaponization” messaging dates back, of course, to the nonsense House panel of the same name: essentially, the whole affair is just a series of whiny-baby temper tantrums from right wingers who can’t stand getting checked by facts and actual Earth 1 adults.
sanctity of ballots was not properly defended during attacks by Cyber Ninjas and the Sid Powells and the Cathy Lathams in 2020 which is a major reason why we are in crisis today 📍🎩 @whodat35.bsky.social
In fact, so-called “House” “Select” “Subcommittee” on the “Weaponization” was the venue for Matt Taibbi and Elon‘s nonsense “Twitter Files” disinformation campaign. Central to that hot nonsense is the false claim that federal government was used as some sort of weapon (not even a dull butter knife, but okay) against the “oft-persecuted” MAGA Republicans™. They since got compliant media to type up tick-tock stories and Elmo of course since destroyed any vestige of Twitter’s original digital-town square.
Which brings me back to this “IRS” “settlement” and slush fund: that is weaponized government. As in, Webster’s Dictionary-level exact definition: Using federal dollars to enrich yourself, your crime family, and to investigate liberals who “wronged” you is exactly the type of overreach they were bitterly complaining about during the Biden years.
If you’re gonna go to all these lengths to convene a right-winger stitch-and-bitch club? At least make it halfway believable.
On June 2, Trump announced that he would be selecting Federal Housing Finance Agency director Bill Pulte as Director of National Intelligence (DNI). He will serve as acting director, while remaining as Federal Housing Finance Agency director and will remain as a chair of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
This announcement comes after the resignation of Tulsi Gabbard, who was increasingly isolated from Trump. Trump initially appointed Deputy Director of National Intelligence Aaron Lukas to succeed Gabbard.
Democrats and Republicans alike were alarmed by Trump’s decision. Senators John Cornyn and Bill Cassidy observed that Pulte lacked the qualifications for the job. Tacitly, Senate Majority Leader John Thune claimed that Pulte would weaponize the ODNI, and that it would be difficult to confirm his nomination.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told CNN “we don’t need a weaponized DNI, we need professionals there,” adding Pulte has a “lengthy road ahead of him” if Trump wants to make his appointment permanent through the Senate confirmation process.
Forbes
Senators Angus King and Mark Warner, both of whom are on the Senate intelligence committee, were equally concerned about the pick. Warner cautioned that Pulte, “demonstrated not just willingness but eagerness to use the authorities of government to pursue political retribution.”
On top of all of the domestic concerns that accompany Pulte’s nomination, his lack of experience stands to degrade America’s intelligence capabilities worldwide.
Giving in to bipartisan pushback against Pulte, Trump stated that he nominated United States Attorney Jay Clayton to permanently lead the ODNI, but then demanded that Clayton’s confirmation hearing be cancelled until Trump’s successor for the Southern District of New York, Jamie McDonald, is confirmed by the Senate. Trump is holding ODNI hostage to secure a judicial appointment.
On an unknown date, the Department of Justice (DOJ) initiated a criminal investigation against E. Jean Carroll.
The investigation pertains to whether or not she committed perjury when providing testimony against Trump in two lawsuits regarding his alleged sexual assault against her in the 1990s, with the other lawsuit being brought forward when Trump defamed her in 2019. The DOJ prosecutors claim that their smoking gun is Carroll’s statement that she had received no outside funding for the lawsuit, though it was revealed that Reid Hoffman, a billionaire, covered some expenses via a nonprofit. However, on its face, this argument has little credibility because it was already tried in court. As Carroll had no contact with Hoffman’s nonprofit which helped her legal team, Judge Lewis Kaplan found that she was telling the truth.
Carroll won both of these lawsuits. It is likely that she remains a personal target for Trump, who has now weaponized the DOJ against her, despite claiming to oppose politicized and personalized DOJ actions.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche has been recused from this investigation, as he was a personal lawyer for Trump who fought against Carroll in the appeals process.
On May 27, over 120 legal scholars, lawyers, judges, as well as a former Florida Supreme Court Justice Peggy Quince, filed a sweeping ethics complaint against former Attorney General Pam Bondi, who is currently a committeewoman on an advisory board for artificial intelligence, to the Florida Bar. The coalition includes the Democracy Defenders Fund, Lawyers Defending American Democracy, and Lawyers for Rule of Law.
In June 2025, the Florida Bar rejected a previous request to investigate Bondi, as she was a sitting officer “appointed under the U.S. Constitution while they are in office.” With her ouster, this excuse will not fly, strengthening hopes of an investigation into Bondi’s weaponization of the Department of Justice (DOJ).
The complaint in question focuses on the authoritarian and unprofessional nature of Bondi’s DOJ. A veteran immigration lawyer, on top of several career officials, who forced to act in an unethical manner, otherwise they would face expulsion. A major example that Trumpfile readers are aware of includes a massacre of prosecutors who refused to drop charges against corrupt former New York City Mayor Eric Adams. The complaint also notes that Bondi’s DOJ refused and violated court orders as they related to immigration and protests. Furthermore, the legal experts hammered Bondi on misleading the American public regarding the Epstein files, who claimed that the clientele list was on her desk, then changed her story after. It was accurately noted that Bondi’s DOJ released the names and faces of countless Epstein victims unredacted, which is illegal.
The DOJ immediately proved the unprofessionalism that the complaint accused it of by defending Bondi, who has no relationship with the DOJ anymore:
The Justice Department lashed out at the group’s latest bid against Bondi, saying: “This complaint is nothing more than a baseless and pathetic media stunt conjured up by inept attorneys desperate for relevance.”
Miami Herald
The DOJ offered no counterevidence to any of the claims made by the complaint, nor did it meaningfully defend Bondi’s conduct.
On May 20, Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Anthony Tata signed a memo that revised the military’s religious affiliation codes by removing 180 recognized religions. Most of the revised list removes Christian denominations, as well as Druid, Pagan, Asatru, deist, Eckankar, Heathen, humanist, Magick, New Age church, Rosicrucianism, shaman, spiritualist, Troth, Wiccan, and Unitarian Universalists faiths.
Without evidence, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell claimed that the previous list of recognized religions was “unmanageable.” This is despite the fact that it caused no problems within the military. The Pentagon did not specify what “other religions” implied. The separate denominations of Judaism and Islam were not catalogued.
Parnell also lied when he stated that the list does not “make any claims on the legitimacy of any faith or religious belief…” It did exactly that when it failed to describe the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as Christian. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth may have been influenced by evangelical pastor Doug Wilson, whom he invited to speak. Wilson does not believe that Mormons are Christian. Senators John Curtis and Mike Lee both denounced this exclusionary policy.
“It is unacceptable for a government entity to characterize a faith in a manner that contradicts the religion’s own foundational tenets,” Curtis wrote on X on Saturday.
CBS
Facing immense backlash from this measure, the Pentagon released a new list on June 8 that removed the “Christian” descriptor from all religions, removing the implied theological argument.
Hegseth has referenced his own Christian faith a number of times as Defense Secretary. The co-founder of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, Mikey Weinstein, expressed fears that this move to delegitimize other religions was unconstitutional, undermined the separation of church and state, and impose Christian nationalism on our secular, volunteer military.
