Bongino may have given big hint about nature of J6-related pipe bomb case
FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino announced Monday that the bureau will revisit a number of "cases of potential public corruption" that apparently went nowhere under previous management.
Bongino indicated that he and FBI Director Kash Patel have decided to re-open or assign "additional resources and investigative attention" to the following cases: "the DC pipe bombing investigation, the cocaine discovery at the prior administration's White House, and the leak of the Supreme Court Dobbs case."
This renewed interest in improprieties swept aside during the Biden era signals the FBI's new leadership might actually be serious about restoring trust in the agency, which was badly damaged in recent years by its politicization and apparent engagement in "election interference"; its difficulty holding leftist extremists accountable; and its zealous targeting of conservatives and Democrats' political opponents.
Blaze Media contributor and investigative reporter Steve Baker — who with Joseph Hanneman has dug extensively into the planting of pipe bombs near the Washington, D.C., offices of the Democratic National Committee and the Republican National Committee on Jan. 5, 2021 — welcomed the news.
Baker noted, however, that there was something "curious" about Bongino framing the cases as instances of "potential public corruption," particularly with regard to the case of the pipe bombs.
"It's not public corruption if it was MAGA [behind it]; if it was Antifa; if it was BLM; if it was Oath Keepers; the Proud Boys; the 3% Militia or something like that," Baker told Blaze News. "It's only a public corruption case if they believe that it's an inside job by Capitol Police, Metro Police, FBI, or U.S. Secret Service."
On its website, FBI uses the term "public corruption" in reference to violations of federal law by public officials at the federal, state, and local levels of government.
RELATED: Was the DNC pipe bomb planted while Kamala Harris was inside on January 6?
Baker downplayed the possibility that the public corruption framing was the result of careless wording, suggesting that Bongino likely "can't even type out a single X post without going through general counsel."
Baker also suggested that if one or more of the cases had been closed, the bureau should have said as much and disclosed its conclusions to the public.
"For them to say that they're reopening the case implies that the FBI closed the case, that it was not an ongoing case. Therefore, they should have told the American people that they didn't or couldn't solve it," said Baker.
Blaze News reached out to the FBI for comment but did not receive a response by publication time.
Baker indicated that the FBI signaled as recently as January that the investigation into the pipe bomb case was still alive. On Jan. 4, the bureau announced that the $500,000 reward for information pertaining to the bomber remained in effect.
According to Axios, the case remains unsolved even after the FBI assessed over 600 tips and conducted over 1,000 interviews.
RELATED: Blaze News original: FBI agents: True servants of justice — or bullies 'just following orders'?
While seemingly easier cases to solve, the probes into who primed pro-abortion radicals by leaking the Supreme Court's Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision and who left cocaine in the Biden White House similarly left the public with their suspicions unverified.
White House mystery
White powder was discovered near the West Executive Entrance of the Biden White House, not far from the Situation Room on July 2, 2023, by members of the Uniformed Division of the Secret Service. Precautionary closures were undertaken while D.C. Fire and EMS investigated.
Following a field test, a firefighter with the department's hazardous material team concluded that the substance was "cocaine hydrochloride."
'You still don't know what everyone in the public knows.'
The U.S. Secret Service launched an investigation into how the cocaine made it into the White House while Hunter Biden — a longtime drug-abuser who was kicked out of the Navy Reserve for cocaine use — had then been visiting.
The FBI's crime lab conducted "advanced fingerprint and DNA analysis" on the cocaine baggie. Unfortunately, the FBI results received by the Secret Service were allegedly a dead-end on fingerprints and DNA.
The Secret Service announced it was ending its probe into the matter without a suspect on July 13, 2023.
Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck suggested that in the cocaine case, the Secret Service and FBI were either evidencing extreme incompetence or engaged in a cover-up, stating in 2023, "At some point you need to say, 'You know, you're really bad at these ongoing investigations because you've had an ongoing investigation on Hunter Biden for how many years? And you still don't know what everyone in the public knows.'"
High court leaker
An initial draft of the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade was leaked a month early, then published in May 2022 by Politico.
'I personally have a pretty good idea who is responsible.'
The high court characterized the leak as "one of the worst breaches of trust in its history," stressing it was "no mere misguided attempt at protest" but rather "a grave assault on the judicial process."
Chief Justice John Roberts directed Gail Curley, the marshal of the court, to investigate the leak. The marshal failed to identify the responsible party and admitted as much in her 2023 report. Then-Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff attested to the thoroughness of the court's inquiry.
In the wake of the investigation's conclusion, President Donald Trump noted on Truth Social, "The Supreme Court has just announced it is not able to find out, even with the help of our 'crack' FBI, who the leaker was on the R v Wade scandal. They'll never find out, & it's important that they do."
RELATED: Kash Patel, Dan Bongino say Jeffrey Epstein DID commit suicide: 'I've seen the whole file'
Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito later indicated that he had an idea who might have been responsible but that his suspicion wasn't enough.
"I personally have a pretty good idea who is responsible, but that's different from the level of proof that is needed to name somebody," Alito said, according to the Wall Street Journal. "It was a part of an effort to prevent the Dobbs draft ... from becoming the decision of the court. And that's how it was used for those six weeks by people on the outside — as part of the campaign to try to intimidate the court."
Bongino noted in his post Monday, "I receive requested briefings on these cases weekly and we are making progress. If you have any investigative tips on these matters that may assist us then please contact the FBI."
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TikTok app in jeopardy after SCOTUS upholds ban, citing 'national security concerns'
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Friday upholding the federal ban on TikTok, a popular social media app used by 170 million Americans.
In a unanimous decision, SCOTUS agreed with the government that "national security concerns" regarding the app's affiliation with the People's Republic of China and its data collection outweighed users' First Amendment rights.
"There is no doubt that, for more than 170 million Americans, TikTok offers a distinctive and expansive outlet for expression, means of engagement, and source of community," the opinion said. "But Congress has determined that divestiture is necessary to address its well-supported national security concerns regarding TikTok’s data collection practices and relationship with a foreign adversary."
Last April, Congress passed the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, which would compel ByteDance, the China-based company that owns TikTok, to divest from the app by this Sunday.
TikTok claimed that the law "was conceived and pushed through based upon inaccurate, flawed, and hypothetical information," and Noel Francisco, who argued before SCOTUS on behalf of TikTok and ByteDance, said that if the law goes into effect, the app will "go dark" on January 19.
At that point, third-party providers like Apple and Google could face penalties for offering the app on their respective stores, and users who have already downloaded the app will likely no longer receive updates for it. Some TikTok influencers have already begun migrating their content to other platforms.
Though he signed the ban into law, President Joe Biden has signaled that enforcement of it will fall to the incoming administration. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that while "TikTok should remain available to Americans," it should have "American ownership or other ownership that addresses the national security concerns identified by Congress in developing this law."
'The Supreme Court decision was expected, and everyone must respect it.'
With the deadline fast approaching, President-elect Donald Trump has appeared interested in reaching a middle way regarding TikTok. He asked SCOTUS last month to suspend implementation of the law so that his administration could work out a "political resolution" for the matter. TikTok CEO Shou Chew will be one of several tech titans to attend Trump's inauguration on Monday.
The courts have thus far not cooperated. Back in December, a three-judge panel of the D.C. Court of Appeals — which included an Obama appointee, a Reagan appointee, and a Trump appointee — upheld the ban.
Now with SCOTUS — composed of one Biden appointee, three Trump appointees, two Obama appointees, two George W. Bush appointees, and one George H.W. Bush appointee — upholding the ban, Trump may have to get creative to find a solution.
Shortly after the ruling came down on Friday, Trump indicated he had already anticipated that SCOTUS would keep the ban in place. "The Supreme Court decision was expected, and everyone must respect it. My decision on TikTok will be made in the not too distant future, but I must have time to review the situation. Stay tuned!" he posted to Truth Social .
In a separate post, Trump also hinted that he may be able to reach a solution about TikTok with Chinese Chairman Xi Jinping directly.
I just spoke to Chairman Xi Jinping of China. The call was a very good one for both China and the U.S.A. It is my expectation that we will solve many problems together, and starting immediately. We discussed balancing Trade, Fentanyl, TikTok, and many other subjects. President Xi and I will do everything possible to make the World more peaceful and safe!
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Biden’s ‘Hail Mary’: Threatening to REFORM the ‘extreme’ Supreme Court
Joe Biden may have dropped out of the 2024 presidential race — but that doesn’t mean he won’t try to take the country down with him on his way out.
In a speech on Monday at the LBJ Presidential Library in Texas, Biden outlined his plan to get back at Trump and “reform” the Supreme Court, and he railed against the “extreme positions” he believes some of the justices hold.
“I’m calling for a constitutional amendment, called ‘No one is above the law amendment,’” Biden mumbled. “No immunity for crimes former president committed while in office.”
“That already exists. They can’t actually commit crimes on purpose,” Pat Gray of “Pat Gray Unleashed” comments. “If the president, if he was about to go strangle one of the reporters there and kill them, he would be held responsible and accountable for that.”
Biden continued his barely intelligible speech, telling the audience that he believes “we should have term limits for Supreme Court Justices of the United States as well.”
“The United States is the only major constitutional democracy that gives lifetime seats in their high court. Term limits would help ensure that the court membership changes with some regularity,” Biden said, proposing an 18-year-term limit.
“That would help ensure the country would not have what it has now, an extreme court,” he continued, noting that those on the court have “an extreme agenda.”
“They’re always following the playbook of socialists and Nazis and fascists,” Gray says, after Keith Malinak notes that Cuban American congressmen and women said the first thing Nicholas Maduro did in Venezuela was change the Supreme Court.
However, Speaker Mike Johnson claims that the plan would be “dead on arrival.”
When reporters asked Biden about Johnson’s claim, Biden retorted with “he is,” as in Johnson is “dead on arrival.”
“Isn’t that violent rhetoric? Is that a threat?” Gray asks, shocked.
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