FBI responds to Tesla attacks by launching task force



The FBI has formed a dedicated task force to put a stop to the ongoing attacks against Elon Musk's Tesla.

Musk's electric vehicle company has been the target of recent attacks from the left after he began serving as a senior adviser to President Donald Trump. Musk has been working alongside the president and the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency to root out waste and fraud within the federal government.

'There are definitely people behind this, and not just the solo actors.'

The FBI has received 48 reports of attacks on Tesla vehicles, dealerships, and charging stations so far this month. The bureau is investigating at least seven of those incidents alongside local law enforcement, the New York Post reported Monday.

According to the news outlet, the onslaught of destructive strikes prompted the FBI to launch a dedicated 10-person task force consisting of special agents and intelligence analysts from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in the Department of Treasury and the FBI's Counterterrorism Division.

Additionally, the ATF is placing personnel in FBI field offices, beginning with San Antonio, Texas. So far, there have been destructive protests in at least nine states.

The FBI issued a public safety announcement about the recent attacks on Saturday.

"FBI warns of nationwide incidents—arson, gunfire, and vandalism targeting Tesla EVs, dealerships, and charging stations in 9+ states, linked to political grievances," it read.

It noted that the perpetrators of the crimes against the company are attacking those they "perceive to be racists, fascists, or political opponents."

The bureau urged the public to be vigilant near Tesla-owned locations.

The Trump administration has vowed to hold the bad actors accountable for their crimes against Musk and Tesla.

Attorney General Pam Bondi has referred to the attacks as "domestic terrorism."

While the FBI claimed that the attacks were committed by "lone offenders," others, including Musk, are convinced someone is funding and organizing the destruction.

Musk has speculated that leftist organizations are behind the attacks.

Sierra One Consulting founder and former FBI agent Rob D'Amico told "Fox and Friends" on Monday, "What they [the FBI] really need to do is start looking at the conspiracy."

"Where are they getting their information? Who's inciting them, and who's encouraging them? There are definitely people behind this, and not just the solo actors," D'Amico said. "I do think there's coordination in there. I do think there's conspiracy behind it, and I think we'll be able to see the funding if we do it right. And that's what the FBI does great."

Action Network, a left-wing group, is encouraging a "TeslaTakedown" protest on March 29, dubbed the "Global Day of Action." Its website features a map of Tesla locations where activists are encouraged to protest.

"Sell your Teslas, dump your stock, join the picket lines," Action Network's site reads. "We're tanking Tesla's stock price to stop Musk."

The group claims that Musk is "destroying our democracy, and he's using the fortune he built at Tesla to do it."

"We are taking action at Tesla to stop Musk's illegal coup," it adds. "Tesla Takedown is a peaceful protest movement. We oppose violence, vandalism and destruction of property. This protest is a lawful exercise of our First Amendment right to peaceful assembly."

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Clinton-appointed judge orders Trump to 'immediately' rehire fired workers



On Thursday, a judge ordered the Trump administration to "immediately" rehire tens of thousands of probationary employees terminated from six federal agencies.

U.S. District Judge William Alsup, appointed by former President Bill Clinton, called the Office of Personnel Management's decision to lay off the federal workers "unlawful," a "sham," and a "gimmick," Politico reported. He insisted that President Donald Trump's administration had circumvented legal requirements by arguing the terminations were performance-based, which he claimed was not the case.

'The Government has engaged in an illegal scheme spanning broad swaths of the federal workforce.'

"It is a sad, sad day when our government would fire some good employee and say it was based on performance when they know good and well that's a lie," Alsup stated.

He demanded that the Departments of Defense, Treasury, Energy, Interior, Agriculture, and Veterans Affairs rehire the probationary employees. Yet, Alsup also noted that the agencies have the authority to implement "reductions in force."

"The words that I give you today should not be taken that some wild-and-crazy judge in San Francisco said that an administration cannot engage in a reduction in force," Alsup said. "It can be done, if it's done in accordance with the law."

During a Thursday hearing, Alsup accused the DOJ's legal team of being "afraid" to have individuals cross-examined because it "would reveal the truth."

"I tend to doubt that you're telling me the truth," the judge said. "I'm tired of seeing you stonewall on trying to get at the truth."

Assistant U.S. Attorney Kelsey Helland insisted that the directive to terminate the employees "was not an order by OPM."

"Everybody knew the new administration was prioritizing this and the political appointments wanted to comply with that administration priority," Helland explained.

The Government Executive reported that the judge's rehire order impacts roughly 24,000 probationary workers who were fired last month.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt accused Alsup of "attempting to unconstitutionally seize the power of hiring and firing from the Executive Branch."

"The President has the authority to exercise the power of the entire executive branch — singular district court judges cannot abuse the power of the entire judiciary to thwart the President's agenda," Leavitt remarked. "If a federal district court judge would like executive powers, they can try and run for president themselves."

The DOJ filed a notice to appeal.

On Thursday evening, a second federal judge, U.S. District Judge James Bredar, issued a temporary restraining order, calling for more than a dozen federal agencies to temporarily reinstate terminated workers.

The judge wrote, "In this case, the government conducted massive layoffs, but it gave no advance notice. It claims it wasn't required to because, it says, it dismissed each one of these thousands of probationary employees for 'performance' or other individualized reasons."

"On the record before the Court, this isn't true. There were no individualized assessments of employees. They were all just fired. Collectively," he added.

The Trump administration has terminated approximately 200,000 probationary employees across the federal government.

"When, as is likely the case here, the Government has engaged in an illegal scheme spanning broad swaths of the federal workforce, it is inevitable that the remediation of that scheme will itself be a significant task," Bredar stated.

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DOGE finds Treasury spent up to $4.7 TRILLION in untraceable payments



The Department of Government Efficiency announced on Monday that it had uncovered a significant tracking gap in the Department of Treasury's funding.

The DOGE explained in a post on X that the Treasury Department uses an "identification code" to link its payments to budget line items. However, it discovered that this tracking code was optional for approximately $4.7 trillion in expenses and was often left blank, rendering the funds nearly impossible to trace.

'Major improvement in Treasury payment integrity.'

"The Treasury Access Symbol (TAS) is an identification code linking a Treasury payment to a budget line item (standard financial process)," the DOGE wrote. "In the Federal Government, the TAS field was optional for ~$4.7 Trillion in payments and was often left blank, making traceability almost impossible. As of Saturday, this is now a required field, increasing insight into where money is actually going."

According to the Treasury Department's Bureau of the Fiscal Service, TAS described "any one of the account identification codes assigned by Treasury." The federal government's financial transactions are classified by TAS for reporting to the Treasury Department and the Office of Management and Budget.

Elon Musk responded to the DOGE's post, calling the directive to mandate the TAS field a "major improvement in Treasury payment integrity."

He noted that the change resulted from a combined effort among the DOGE, the Treasury Department, and the Federal Reserve.

The Trump administration clarified on Monday that Musk is not officially an employee of the DOGE and "has no actual or formal authority to make government decisions himself."

In a court filing, Office of Administration Director Joshua Fisher stated that Musk serves as "a Senior Adviser" to President Donald Trump and holds "no greater authority than other senior White House advisers."

According to the DOGE's website, within the first month of Trump's second term, the newly formed agency has already saved American taxpayers $55 billion.

These savings stem from "a combination of fraud detection/deletion, contract/lease cancellations, contract/lease renegotiations, asset sales, grant cancellations, workforce reductions, programmatic changes, and regulatory savings."

So far, the DOGE lists the United States Agency for International Development as the number one agency for "total contract savings," followed by the Department of Education, the Office of Personnel Management, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Department of Agriculture.

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DOGE scores legal win, maintaining access to data from three federal agencies



The Department of Government Efficiency, led by Elon Musk, secured a legal victory on Friday when a federal judge ruled that the agency can access data from the Department of Labor, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Earlier this month, a coalition of labor unions and nonprofit organizations filed a lawsuit to temporarily block the DOGE from accessing the agencies' systems and data.

'There needs to be an immediate wave of judicial impeachments, not just one.'

The complaint argued that the DOGE, established by a presidential executive order, is not a legitimate federal agency since it was not formed by Congress and thus should not be allowed access to sensitive government information.

However, United States District Judge John Bates disagreed, finding that the plaintiffs failed to show "a substantial likelihood that [the DOGE] is not an agency."

"If that is so, [the DOGE] may detail its employees to other agencies consistent with the Economy Act," Bates ordered.

Last week, Bates ruled that the plaintiffs also "failed to establish standing" in the case. However, the judge noted that the court "harbors concerns" about the DOGE's access.

Musk responded to Bates' Friday ruling in a post on X, writing, "LFG," an acronym for "let's f***ing go."

Musk had previously called for Bates' impeachment after the judge ordered several government agencies to restore web pages, including those on gender ideology, that President Donald Trump's administration had taken down.

"There needs to be an immediate wave of judicial impeachments, not just one," Musk stated.

In a separate post, Musk wrote, "Truly absurd. Judges as website editors!? We should at least ATTEMPT to fire this junky jurist. The notion of having a judge job for life, no matter how bad the judgments, is ridiculous! Enough is enough."

In another case brought by 10 Democratic attorneys general, U.S. District Judge Jeannette Vargas ruled on Friday to extend a temporary restraining order blocking the DOGE from accessing Treasury Department records while she reviews a preliminary injunction. Vargas argued there was a "sound factual basis" for the temporary block.

Over the weekend, sources told ABC News that the DOGE had requested access to an Internal Revenue Service system.

A White House spokesperson told the Washington Post, "Waste, fraud, and abuse have been deeply entrenched in our broken system for far too long. It takes direct access to the system to identify and fix it. DOGE will continue to shine a light on the fraud they uncover as the American people deserve to know what their government has been spending their hard earned tax dollars on."

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​Judge faces impeachment for blocking DOGE's Treasury access: 'Judicial overreach'



Representative Eli Crane (R-Ariz.) announced Tuesday morning that he is filing articles of impeachment against the judge who blocked the Department of Government Efficiency, led by Elon Musk, from accessing the Treasury Department's payment systems.

U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer, appointed by former President Barack Obama, issued a temporary restraining order on Saturday in response to an emergency request from 19 Democratic attorneys general. They argued that DOGE's access could risk exposing sensitive and confidential information.

'Where in the constitution does it say a President and his team cannot root out obvious waste, fraud and abuse?'

"The Court's firm assessment is that, for the reasons stated by the States, they will face irreparable harm in the absence of injunctive relief," Engelmayer wrote. "That is both because of the risk that the new policy presents of the disclosure of sensitive and confidential information and the heightened risk that the systems in question will be more vulnerable than before to hacking."

Those prohibited under the judge's order from accessing the information were instructed to "immediately destroy any and all copies of material downloaded from the Treasury Department's records and systems, if any."

The judge also concluded that the attorneys general demonstrated "a likelihood of success on the merits of their claims," calling their arguments "particularly strong."

The temporary restraining order prevents the DOGE from accessing the Treasury Department's payment systems until at least a scheduled hearing on February 14, when the judge may decide to extend or modify the order.

U.S. District Judge Jeannette Vargas, appointed by former President Joe Biden, will oversee the case.

Crane stated on Tuesday that he was "drafting articles of impeachment" against Engelmayer.

"Partisan judges abusing their positions is a threat to democracy," he wrote in a post on X. "The left has done 'irreparable harm' to this country. President Trump and his team at @DOGE are trying to fix it."

"This is obviously judicial overreach," Crane continued. "Judge Engelmayer is attempting to stop White House employees from accessing the very systems they oversee. Where in the constitution does it say a President and his team cannot root out obvious waste, fraud and abuse?"

Engelmayer did not respond to a request for comment from Newsweek.

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Senate confirms Trump's treasury pick



The Senate voted Monday to confirm Scott Bessent, President Donald Trump's pick to head the Treasury Department.

Bessent secured his confirmation in a 68-29 vote, making him the fourth member of Trump's Cabinet to be confirmed.

'We’ll erase debt, restore financial privacy, and unlock new technologies for a prosperous future. The golden age starts now.'

Bessent first advanced out of the Senate Finance Committee with a 16-11 vote. After his nomination passed the committee, the Senate voted 67-23 for cloture to move to the final confirmation vote.

"As Treasury Secretary, I’m committed to eliminating income taxes, replacing them with a fair consumption tax, and adopting a gold-backed currency," Bessent said in a Monday post on X following his confirmation. "We’ll erase debt, restore financial privacy, and unlock new technologies for a prosperous future. The golden age starts now."

The hedge fund billionaire sailed through his confirmation with bipartisan support, similar to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Other nominees are expected to have a much narrower confirmation, like that of Pete Hegseth, who was confirmed to serve as secretary of defense on Friday after Vice President JD Vance cast the tiebreaking vote.

Some of the most contested nominees will be in the hot seat this week, with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testifying on Wednesday and Thursday in an attempt to secure his spot heading the Department of Health and Human Services.

Tulsi Gabbard, who was tapped to serve as director of national intelligence, and Trump's FBI pick, Kash Patel, will also testify on Thursday.

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New ‘Transparency’ Act Forces Small Businesses To Register Personal Data With Federal Law Enforcement

By year-end, Americans will be required to hand over data on their small businesses to the federal government’s law enforcement database.