Had Sex With a Prostitute? The FBI Will Still Hire You

Headline USA Editor
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Had Sex With a Prostitute? The FBI Will Still Hire You

(Headline USA) The FBI is dropping a categorical hiring ban on applicants who have had sexual encounters with prostitutes and will instead consider in a more holistic manner at least some candidates who have engaged in the practice in the past, according to people familiar with the matter.

The move away from an automatic disqualification falls along a continuum of evolving recruitment standards within federal law enforcement and at the buttoned-up bureau, which several years ago relaxed its approach to candidates’ past marijuana use and has drawn more recent concern among some current and former agents about a perceived loosening of recruitment requirements as it seeks to replenish its ranks.

The bureau still intends to dismiss applicants who are revealed during the vetting process to have engaged in prostitution within the last 10 years, three or more times overall or while in a position of trust such as public safety, according to guidance issued this past spring and described by a person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to discuss internal decision-making and spoke on condition of anonymity. For others, it will allow for consideration of the context of the conduct rather than treat it as grounds for an automatic rejection from the FBI’s hiring process.

The practical impact is not immediately clear since many who have engaged in prostitution may still be either immediately disqualified or weeded out upon further scrutiny from FBI polygraphers and security officials.

The FBI said the change was meant to account for the fact that some otherwise suitable candidates, including service members, may have engaged in the practice in places where it is legal and to accommodate applicants who themselves may have been victims of sexual abuse.

“It is false to suggest criminal behavior like this is no longer disqualifying at the FBI. Any applicant who has engaged in criminal sexual acts like those referenced would of course not be eligible for employment, and it is ridiculous to suggest otherwise,” the FBI said in a statement that described the background check process as “wide-ranging and extensive.”

“The FBI has and always will maintain some of the highest suitability standards for its applicants and employees in the US Government,” the statement added.

Justice Department is easing recruitment requirements in general

Even so, the shift is being made at a time when current and former officials worry that the FBI, and the Justice Department more generally, have eased recruitment requirements while facing a mass personnel exodus brought on by retirements, voluntary resignations and firings. The bureau, for instance, has taken steps to make it easier for its own professional staff to become agents and has offered a truncated training academy for applicants from other federal law enforcement agencies.

“If they’re moving the bar for sexual encounters to include prostitution, what is that saying about the applicant pool? They’re trying to bring in more people, which to me indicates that the applicant pool is extremely shallow right now,” said Daniel Brunner, a retired FBI agent who spent two decades in the bureau.

In 2015, then-Attorney General Eric Holder issued a memo reiterating that all Justice Department employees were prohibited from soliciting or accepting prostitution, including in places where it was legal. But both before and since that directive, the FBI and other federal law enforcement agencies have confronted periodic episodes in which agents serving abroad have been accused of sexual encounters with prostitutes.

As recently as last year, for instance, the Justice Department inspector general substantiated allegations that a supervisory special agent solicited and used prostitutes on multiple occasions while overseas and used a bureau-issued cellphone for the transactions.

Chris Piehota, a retired top FBI executive, said he would be more troubled if the bureau were to loosen its standards for current employees who require periodic renewals of their security clearances. But he said he could understand the FBI leaning “toward leniency” for actions taken as a teenager or college student.

“I don’t think you get a better or worse candidate from something you did in your college years,” Piehota said. “That’s why they have the screening process, that’s why they have the vetting process. And the people who do the recruiting and hiring, they look at all those things.”

Background checks, polygraph tests and more

Applicants to the FBI undergo a multi-step application and vetting process that includes, among other things, a background check, a detailed questionnaire, credit checks, interviews with neighbors and colleagues and a polygraph test. The comprehensive regimen is meant to uncover any prior criminal conduct in an applicant’s past as well as embarrassing personal information that could make an employee vulnerable to blackmail.

Felony convictions, domestic violence convictions, failure of a urinalysis and the bureau’s drug policies are among factors treated as automatic disqualifiers.

Though the new guidance will allow for a broader and more contextual evaluation of applicants who disclose past experience with prostitution during their polygraph admission, such an admission has historically been typically regarded as a “death knell” for potential employees at agencies including the FBI, CIA and NSA, said Daniel Meyer, a Washington lawyer who specializes in the background check and the security clearance process.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

Alleged WWII Memorial Vandal Indicted

Headline USA Editor
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Alleged WWII Memorial Vandal Indicted

(Headline USA) A Kentucky woman has been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges that she intentionally damaged The World War II Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

Melissa Farris is scheduled to be arraigned next week on two felony counts. Grand jurors indicted her Thursday on charges of destroying the veterans’ memorial and destroying government property.

An attorney for Farris didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment on Friday.

Farris, of Elizabethtown, Kentucky, is suspected of spray painting the words “Clean hands dirty $” on the monument and filling a fountain with bubbles on Aug. 13. She was ordered released after her initial court appearance on Aug. 17.

President Donald Trump posted about the damage to the memorial on social media with a reference to his repeated claims — without providing evidence — that vandals had been damaging the nearby Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.

“Our beautiful World War II Memorial was just hit by Spray Painting Vandals,” Trump wrote his Truth Social site. “First the Reflecting Pool, now this.”

A former Olympian was charged in late July with deliberately damaging the Reflecting Pool, but the Justice Department later moved to dismiss that case, saying evidence prosecutors had received refuted the idea that vandals were to blame.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

9/11 Trial Finally Set for Next Year

Headline USA Editor
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9/11 Trial Finally Set for Next Year

(Headline USA) A U.S. military judge on Wednesday set a summer 2028 trail date for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and three others accused of plotting the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

The trial is scheduled to begin June 5, 2028, 18 months later than the January 2027 start that prosecutors had requested. The additional time is needed to resolve pretrial disputes, including disagreements about what evidence can be presented at trial, Air Force Lt. Col. Michael A. Schrama wrote in his ruling.

The U.S. military and successive administrations have struggled for more than two decades to bring to justice the man charged with planning one of the deadliest attacks ever on the United States.

The 2028 trial depends on the case meeting deadlines and milestones along the way and it could again be delayed. A trial was previously scheduled in 2021 but later canceled.

Mohammed is accused of developing and directing the plot to crash hijacked airliners into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Another of the hijacked planes flew into a field in Pennsylvania. He faces trial alongside three alleged accomplices: Walid bin Attash, Ali Abdul Aziz Ali and Mustafa al-Hawsawi.

They are among the last of the detainees held at the U.S. military base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

A federal appeals court last year threw out an agreement that would have allowed Mohammed to plead guilty in a deal sparing him the risk of execution for al-Qaida’s 2001 attacks.

That deal stipulated life sentences without parole for Mohammed and two of his co-defendants. It also would have obligated the men to answer any lingering questions that families of the victims have about the attacks. But after negotiating the deal for two years, former President Joe Biden’s administration repudiated it.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

Winning $1 Million Isn’t What It Once Was!

Money Metals News Service
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Winning $1 Million Isn’t What It Once Was!

(Mike Maharrey, Money Metals News Service) Who wants to be a millionaire?

Well, I’m certainly willing to give it a shot!

But as it turns out, becoming a millionaire isn’t quite what it used to be.

You’ve probably heard of the game show. Who Wants to Be a Millionaire first aired in August 1999, starring Regis Philbin as the host. It was modeled off a British game show of the same name. Producers have tweaked the show over the years, but it’s still running today, with Jimmy Kimmel hosting.

This season features celebrity pairs competing to win $1 million for charity.

The game follows a quiz show format with contestants answering increasingly difficult multiple-choice questions. Competitors have the option to keep their current winnings or risk them on the next question. To help with difficult questions, contestants have a limited number of “lifelines,” including eliminating two choices, polling the audience, or calling a friend to help.

Get yourself on the show, answer enough questions correctly, and you too can be a millionaire.

Of course, in 1999, becoming a millionaire meant something. Today? Well, maybe not so much.

Interesting fact. When Who Wants to Be a Millionaire aired in 1999, there were roughly 7.64 millionaires in the U.S. based on total net worth.

In 2025, there were 23.6 million millionaires.

In other words, the number of millionaires has increased by 208.9 percent since Who Wants to Be a Millionaire debuted.

Now, you might look at this factoid and think, ‘Wow! Americans are doing a lot better today than they were 27 years ago!’ Unfortunately, that’s not really the case. It’s just that our money has become that much crappier.

How much crappier?

As it turns out, you need to win double the money to buy the same stuff that $1 million bought in August 1999, when Who Wants to Be a Millionaire debuted.

So, since the show first aired, there are three times as many millionaires in the U.S. buying half the stuff.

They probably need to just go ahead and change the name of the game to “Who Wants to win $500,000?”

That doesn’t quite have the same ring to it, does it?

But it reflects reality.

Your government has ruined your money. And it continues to ruin your money as a matter of policy.

Never forget: inflation is the plan!

The best-case scenario is that the Federal Reserve and the government keep inflation “under control” at 2 percent. That means your purchasing power declines by a little more than 10 percent every five years, and by more than 20 percent in 10 years.

And inflation is rarely “under control.”

Sadly, in another 30 years or so, it will take $4 million or more to live a 1999 millionaire lifestyle.

So, sure, I want to be a millionaire.

But I’ll take my million in gold and silver. At least 30 years from now, it will still buy at least as much as it does today – maybe more! After all, the government can’t print gold or silver.

Mike Maharrey is a journalist and market analyst for Money Metals with over a decade of experience in precious metals. He holds a BS in accounting from the University of Kentucky and a BA in journalism from the University of South Florida.

There’s a Race for Vault Space as Physical Gold Demand Surges Globally

Money Metals News Service
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There’s a Race for Vault Space as Physical Gold Demand Surges Globally

(Mike Maharrey, Money Metals News Service) It’s a bull market in gold vaults.

The surging gold price has sparked a significant uptick in demand for physical bars and coins. And with so many investors stacking gold, they need someplace to store all that metal.

Sharps Pixley told The Financial Times that its vaults are packed “floor to ceiling.” The London-based bullion dealer is seeking a site to build an additional depository.

Swiss gold group MKS Pamp also needs more storage. The company’s chief commercial officer, Omar Leiss, said he is looking to build a “substantial” vault specifically catering to the group’s richest clients.

“When people are leaving $200 million or more with us, we want to make sure we have the right infrastructure in place for them.”

Leiss said he’s noticed a surge in demand for the company’s top-tier “white glove service” serving clients investing a minimum of $50 million over the last 12 to 18 months.

“They want it as a safety net. If for any reason the banking system collapses, at least they have this gold that is physically allocated and outside the banking system.”

These are not an isolated phenomenon. As The Financial Times reports, there is a global race to build additional precious metals vaults “from Switzerland to Singapore.”

“This is a problem the industry doesn’t usually have — after all, gold takes up very little space, and a vault can last for hundreds of years. But the blistering rally in the gold price, which has doubled in the last three years, and accompanying surge of demand from wealthy individuals who insist on holding their gold in physical bar form, have prompted a small rush of activity in the normally sleepy vaulting sector.”

Swiss Gold Safe operates six vault locations. COO Ludwig Karl said the company needs to expand every single depository.

Sharps Pixley director said the need for more vaulting space is partly a function of wealthy investors pivoting out of gold-backed ETFs.

“It is not ETFs that clients want now. It is bars. It is coins.”

ETFs are a convenient way for investors to play the gold market, but owning ETF shares is not the same as holding physical gold. You don’t own metal. You own paper.

Another gold dealer with vaults in eight sites globally told the FT that “physical gold has become very in vogue,” noting that many of his clients who were focused on ETFs two years ago now want gold bars and coins.

“They want to have a highly liquid asset, but they also want to have it in multiple jurisdictions. They want to be as close to the metal as possible, and they want as few intermediaries as possible.”

Despite the January price correction and gold trading sideways in the ensuing months, wealthy investors remain bullish on gold.

As Hong Kong-based Cavendish Investment Corporation managing partner Jean-Sebastien Jacquetin put it, the decline in the price did not “change the case for gold.”

“There is a correction in the market, which is normal. But fundamentally gold is still highly in demand.”

He said some families his company serves hold a quarter to a third of their portfolio in gold.

A recent HSBC survey found that nearly half of high net-worth investors plan to increase their gold allocations in the next year. Only 13 percent said they had plans to decrease their gold holdings.

The survey found that gold is especially popular among Gen Z investors. Many maintain a 50 percent or more allocation to the yellow metal.

“Gold could end 2026 as Gen Z’s leading non-cash asset, ahead of equities,” according to the HSBC report.

The debasement trade seems to be juicing gold demand pressure. This is an investment strategy that emphasizes holding tangible assets such as gold, silver, and other commodities to protect against the decline of fiat currencies by monetary debasement.

We see the debasement trade in action as central banks and many foreign investors swap dollar-denominated assets, particularly Treasuries, for gold.

Treasuries have been selling off in recent months, with many countries increasingly wary of holding U.S. debt. The national debt eclipsed $40 trillion last week, and with U.S. policymakers seemingly uninterested in addressing out-of-control borrowing and spending, America’s fiscal situation doesn’t inspire confidence.

On top of the fiscal problems, the U.S. has weaponized the dollar as a foreign policy tool. This has made some countries even more wary about holding greenbacks.

World Gold Council market strategist John Reed has noticed this trend.

“What gold tells you is that, in general, people are concerned that we are heading towards a more fractured, less stable, less predictable world, where the U.S. is seen as a less trustworthy partner — that U.S. Treasuries are perhaps not what they were in the past.”

If you opt for third-party vaulting, it’s important to find a trusted partner.

Money Metals offers secure precious metals storage in its state-of-the-art facility.

Here are just a few advantages of storing with Money Metals:

  • Money Metals Depository contents are fully insured by Lloyd’s of London.
  • Metals stored in your account are segregated and never commingled or rehypothecated — and cannot be used as collateral for a loan by anyone but you.
  • Depository holdings are independent and removed from any bank, Wall Street, or Washington, D.C.

Mike Maharrey is a journalist and market analyst for Money Metals with over a decade of experience in precious metals. He holds a BS in accounting from the University of Kentucky and a BA in journalism from the University of South Florida.

H-1B Sponsorship Now Runs Through Private Homes, New Analysis Finds

Jose Nino
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H-1B Sponsorship Now Runs Through Private Homes, New Analysis Finds

(José Niño, Headline USA) A fresh analysis of federal visa records suggests that H-1B sponsorship has evolved into something resembling a self-sustaining side hustle, according to a report from the Center for Immigration Studies. 

The scheme works as follows: An H-1B holder forms a company, sponsors their own visa through it, then extends sponsorship to friends and relatives. Bloomberg’s dataset of H-1B records indicates this pattern occurs at considerable scale nationwide.

This tactic isn’t entirely new. H-1B holders have long been able to form American companies and use them to bring in additional family and acquaintances through further visa sponsorship. What changed is that a Biden era regulation, the H-1B modernization rule finalized late in his term, explicitly permits foreign nationals to establish businesses and sponsor themselves for H-1B status and related benefits. Critics note this stands among numerous Biden regulations that fueled immigration disorder, rules the Trump administration has inexplicably left untouched.

The 2024 visa data paints a striking picture across various zip codes. In Celina, Texas, every single approved H-1B visa (21 of 21) listed a residential address as the worksite. Aldie, Virginia showed 150 of 151 approved visas tied to homes, while Jersey City recorded 172 of 181. Charlotte, North Carolina saw 14 of 15 approved petitions linked to residential addresses, and Wylie, Texas showed 12 of 13. 

In a similar vein, Cary, North Carolina registered 43 of 54, Aubrey, Texas showed 21 of 27, and Frisco, Texas recorded 95 of 156. Additional clusters appeared in Cumming, Georgia (42 of 110), Santa Clara, California (106 of 463), and Milpitas, California (75 of 324), among numerous other locations nationwide.

These figures represent selected examples rather than an exhaustive count, since confirming residential status requires manually checking each address individually.

Suspicious worksite patterns weren’t invisible before now. Labor Condition Application data published for decades by the Department of Labor hinted at similar irregularities, though that dataset never mapped cleanly onto individual visa approvals. Bloomberg’s compilation changes that by directly linking worksites to the specific H-1B petitions USCIS actually approved.

Most flagged residences had just a single approved visa tied to them in the year examined, though determining whether the same address served as a worksite across multiple years would require further digging. Certain homes, however, hosted well over 100 approved visas, sometimes spanning several different sponsoring employers at once.

José Niño is the deputy editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/JoseAlNino  

Jelly Roll Models How NOT to Have a 6-Decade Career in Country Music

Editor 1
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Jelly Roll Models How NOT to Have a 6-Decade Career in Country Music

(Ben Sellers, Headline USA) From very early on, it was apparent that performer Jason “Jelly Roll” DeFord was one of many Trojan horses being propped up by Music Row’s astroturfing studio executives.

The 41-year-old ex-felon, who topped the scales at around 550 pounds, has a too-good-to-be-true back story, particularly when every release of his is the same sad-sack warbling that he first rode to fame on 2022’s “Son of a Sinner.”

Yet, in an era when nearly every Nashville artist is either recycling an earlier hit or trying to follow Taylor Swift’s path to pop-crossover success, DeFord exuded a sort of authenticity that compensated for his extreme lack of sex appeal.

It resonated, most of all, with red-state fans who were jaded by superficial songs with airplay determined by algorithms. But while the taste of success may have motivated DeFord to cut his calorie intake, his desire to overindulge managed to manifest in other ways.

In stark contrast with the late Dolly Parton, who was universally beloved because she actively avoided wading into political debates — often deflecting them with her humble, self-deprecating humor — DeFord opted to shed the last ounces of appeal he may have had with MAGA during a stint guest-hosting on Jimmy Kimmel Live.

“From one fat pig to another, take it from me that physical fitness is very important,” he said on the show. “Trust me, you’ll be happy to see your p***s again.”

DeFord celebrated having lost 300 pounds (which would put him at around 250) while taking potshots at President Donald Trump, whose weight is officially listed at 238, up from 224 pounds during his 2025 physical, according to Time magazine.

At 6-foot-3 the 80-year-old Trump’s body-mass index puts him in the “overweight” category, but still shy of “obese.”

At 6-foot-1, DeFord still has about 25 pounds to lose before he will fit into the lower category.

Reactions included some social-media users accusing DeFord of being a “traitor.”

But others, like the Media Research Center’s Brittany Hughes, were far blunter in their takedowns.

“I mean, it’s like Jelly Roll woke up that morning and decided, ‘You know what, all of this money doesn’t fit in my wallet anymore. I should alienate half my fanbase,” Hughes said.

“Like, he lost 300 pounds and all of his common sense along with it,” she added. “What, you lose a bunch of weight and then Hollywood invites you to the cool kids table and the price of admission is flipping off all the Republicans who handed you a Grammy?”

Hughes then went straight for the jugular.

“You’re a 41-year-old dude who was big as a house like five minutes ago, and now you’re mocking an 80-year-old man who, by the way, has you by two inches and still weighs less than you,” she said.

“You have no policy experience. You have nothing to add to the political discussion,” she continued. “You are a former drug addict who married a hooker that you’re now divorcing. If taking cheap shots at people for quick laughs is where it’s at, you’re a walking target.”

Rep. Jimmy Patronis, R-Fla., also weighed in, saying that DeFord was no longer welcome in the Florida panhandle.

“He’s always been the token ‘country’ star the libs in California are allowed to enjoy,” Patronis wrote. “(He ain’t country, never was.)”

DeFord, however, appeared to wallow in the controversy that had him following literally in the footsteps of Trump-obsessed recent guest host Rosie O’Donnell, while shrugging off the prospect of becoming the new Bud Light.

“As a former felon and drug dealer, who has lost 300 pounds, has tattoos all over his face—and won three Grammys — this is the weirdest thing I’ve ever done to ‘stun’ people,” he said, according to NewsNation.

Ben Sellers is a freelance writer and former editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/realbensellers.

Trump Admin Reportedly Launching New IRS Policy Targeting Leftist Nonprofits

Luis Cornelio
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Trump Admin Reportedly Launching New IRS Policy Targeting Leftist Nonprofits

(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) Several leftist nonprofit organizations could lose their tax-exempt status under a new policy currently being developed within the Trump administration, several news outlets reported Thursday.

Specifically, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and the IRS could strip the tax-exempt status of entities such as George Soros’s Open Society Foundations, the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

All three entities have been behind some of the most aggressive leftist attacks against conservatives, Republicans and freedom-aligned individuals, organizations, politicians and activists.

According to the New York Post, which cited three anonymous sources, Bessent is planning a “sweeping audit of outfits deemed to be using and abusing Uncle Sam’s tax code.”

The outlet added that “Bessent’s inner circle is drafting a blueprint that could ultimately strip non-compliant organizations of their 501(c)(3) status, according to two of the people familiar with the plans.”

If the entities are deemed to have violated these rules, they could face what the Post described as “massive back payments and civil penalties,” according to the same sources.

In response to the reported plans, an Open Society Foundations spokesperson said, “Threatening any nonprofit’s tax status for political reasons would be nothing more than an illegal attempt to target and stifle work that the administration disagrees with.”

The reporting comes as the DOJ investigates the Open Society Foundations over allegations of potential wrongdoing. Neither the foundation or its officials have been charged with any offenses.

The Southern Poverty Law Center has been indicted by a federal grand jury over allegations that it misled donors while using millions of dollars to enrich so-called informants inside hate groups. Former SPLC Intelligence Project Director Heidi Beirich has also been indicted in the case.

Right-Wing Provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos Detained by ICE

Ken Silva
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Right-Wing Provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos Detained by ICE

(Ken Silva, Headline USA) Right-wing provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos has been detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and is facing deportation, ICE announced Friday.

“Yiannopoulos legally entered the country on May 14, 2019, through New York City, New York,” ICE said on Twitter/X.

“He chose to overstay his welcome in violation of our nation’s laws. Yiannopoulos was issued a final order of removal by an Immigration Judge on July 22, after failing to show up for his immigration hearing. He will remain in ICE custody pending removal.”

Yiannopoulos, who is from the United Kingdom, was once a rising star in the U.S. conservative movement as a flamboyant pro-Trump homosexual. His career was derailed around 2017, when a video of him condoning pedophilia surfaced. Yiannopoulos was canceled as a CPAC speaker as a result, and was largely ostracized by mainstream conservative groups thereafter.

He did serve a brief stint as an intern for former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga.

Yiannopoulos currently works for rapper Kanye West, also known as Ye. CBS News reported Friday that he was detained in Louisiana ahead of a Ye concert scheduled there that night.

Ken Silva is the editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.

Minn. Police Raid Apartment of Rep. Ilhan Omar’s Son

Luis Cornelio
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Minn. Police Raid Apartment of Rep. Ilhan Omar’s Son

(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) Minnesota police on Tuesday allegedly raided the apartment where the son of Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., resides while investigating his roommate in a weapons probe.

Officers with the Minneapolis Police Department raided the home of Adnan Hirsi while investigating his roommate, Abdulrahman Tulle Abdi. Guns and ammunition were confiscated during the raid, according to Alpha News.

The outlet reported Thursday that the raid came after police detained Abdi, 22, during a traffic stop in Minneapolis. The suspect was cited on allegations of driving “after cancellation” and having “no proof of insurance.”

An apparent statement from MPD, shared by Alpha News on Facebook, claimed that police recovered a firearm from the vehicle during the impound process.

MPD officers later tracked Abdi and arrested him “without incident.” The was booked into the Hennepin County Jail on weapons charges, the statement added.

The incident comes after Omar previously used her national platform to claim that immigration agents detained her son and released him only after he presented his U.S. passport. It also comes amid renewed scrutiny of Omar from the Trump administration.

White House border czar Tom Homan revealed in an interview with Newsmax last year that DHS was reviewing immigration records related to Omar’s marriage to Ahmed Elmi, whom some news outlets have claimed is her brother.

“We’re pulling the records, we’re pulling the files,” Homan said. “We’re looking at it … I’m running that down this week.”

Omar claimed earlier this year that Homeland Security Investigations placed an undercover agent outside one of her town hall meetings in Minneapolis.

In an Aug. 7 letter to Michael McCarthy, interim special agent in charge of the HSI St. Paul Field Office, Omar claimed that the agency’s actions put “an entire community at risk.”

“Instead of monitoring the area for those who might wish harm to me and my constituents, Richfield Police were required to devote time to investigating why an HSI agent was outside of a Congressional event in a vehicle with mismatched plates,” she wrote. “It also raises serious and uncomfortable questions about the purpose of HSI’s presence outside of my event. At best, your agent was unable to assess that the parking lot of a community center hosting a Congressional event wasn’t the best place to conduct a drug operation. At worst, it emphasizes many Americans’ growing concern that the Trump administration uses ICE to surveil political opponents and may interfere with our democracy.”

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