DOJ Reportedly Working to Indict ‘Star Witness’ of Jan. 6 Committee

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DOJ Reportedly Working to Indict ‘Star Witness’ of Jan. 6 Committee

(Ken Silva, Headline USA) The Justice Department is reportedly seeking a criminal indictment against Cassidy Hutchinson, who was the Democrat-controlled January 6th Commission’s “star witness” in the wake of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol Hill protest.

The Washington Post and several other outlets have reported over the last few days that the DOJ is presenting its case against Hutchinson to a federal grand jury. Rep. Barry Loudermilk, who leads a new Jan. 6 committee probing potential criminality stemming from the 2021 hearings, referred her for prosecution in March.

In 2024, Loudermilk released what he described as evidence indicating that Hutchinson “knowingly provided false testimony” regarding a handwritten note allegedly given to Trump on that day.

According to Loudermilk, Hutchinson claimed she wrote the note urging people at the Capitol to leave. However, then-Trump attorney Eric Herschmann said he was the actual author.

Hutchinson also repeated a secondhand, unsubstantiated account that Trump supposedly lunged toward the front of a presidential vehicle to force a Secret Service driver to take him to the Capitol. At the time, Trump’s lead Secret Service agent, Robert Engel, and the driver disputed that account, affirming in a transcribed interview that the lunging never occurred. The Jan. 6 Committee did not release these transcripts publicly.

Additionally, an investigation into Hutchinson implicates that then-January 6th Commission Vice Chair Liz Cheney, who secretly communicated with her during the proceedings, and may have pressured her to fire her attorney.

And if all that weren’t enough, according to the Post, members of Congress may have been “sexting” with Hutchinson.

“Multiple colleagues had raised concerns with the speaker’s office about the potential for public disclosure of ‘sexual texts from members who were trying to engage in sexual favors’ with Hutchinson,” the Post reported in January 2025. “Separately, a member of [Mike] Johnson’s staff [said] that Hutchinson could ‘potentially reveal embarrassing information.’”

The specific details of the DOJ’s potential case are unclear, and it is not known whether any of these disputed accounts are included in it.

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

Buffalo Mass Shooting Trial Set to Begin This Week

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Buffalo Mass Shooting Trial Set to Begin This Week

(Headline USA) Jury selection is set to begin Tuesday in the federal trial in which Payton Gendron faces a potential death penalty for his alleged attack at the Tops Friendly Market in 2022, which killed 10 people and is believed to be the deadliest shooting targeting black people by a lone gunman in the last century.

Gendron is facing over two dozen federal hate crime charges and more than a dozen firearms charges. He is already spending life in prison after pleading guilty to state murder charges in a 2023 trial where he tearfully admitted to the crimes and renounced his past views.

His defense team is not going to dispute his guilt. Their sole objective is to ensure Gendron is spared from execution.

“Nothing will change the fact that Payton Gendron will die in prison,” the federal public defender office said in a statement. “At trial, we will offer mitigating evidence about Payton that the jury needs to consider in making its decision. Nothing we say or do is intended to be disrespectful or insensitive to the victims, the survivors, or their loved ones.”

It’s unclear what Gendron’s defense lawyers will present to the jury, but one mitigating factor may be that their client appeared to have been monitored by law enforcement before his attack. Indeed, it’s been reported that Gendron may have been communicating with a “retired” federal agent as little as 30 minutes before his shooting spree.

The Justice Department is also concealing some evidence from the public in the Gendron case. The DOJ disclosed the existence of classified information in an April 14 court filing, telling the presiding judge that it intends to keep such evidence secret on national security grounds.

History

On May 14, 2022, a then-18-year-old Gendron drove over 200 miles from his home in Conklin, a predominantly white and rural town, to Buffalo. He fired around 60 shots from a semiautomatic rifle at employees and shoppers. Video revealed Gendron apologized to a white store worker after shooting him in the leg. He surrendered to police as he exited the supermarket.

Investigators found past social media posts and other writings by Gendron dedicated to planning an attack to frighten people who were non-white and non-Christian into leaving the U.S. He also promoted a “great replacement theory” that people of color will replace white people through higher birth rates and immigration.

The victims who were killed were all Black and between ages 32 and 86. Besides Chaney, they included Geraldine Talley, Katherine Massey, Pearl Young, Andre Mackneil, church deacon Heyward Patterson, Ruth Whitfield, Roberta Drury, Margus Morrison and Aaron Salter, a retired Buffalo police officer who was working as a security guard.

Under President Joe Biden, the U.S. Justice Department in 2024 decided to pursue a death sentence. It was the first capital case overseen by then-Attorney General Merrick Garland, who had previously put a moratorium on the death penalty.

Gendron and his legal team relayed that he would only plead guilty in his federal case in exchange for a life sentence. The Justice Department rejected that proposal.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

Man Falls to His Death from a Six Flags Roller Coaster in Georgia

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Man Falls to His Death from a Six Flags Roller Coaster in Georgia

(Headline USA) Police are investigating after a man fell to his death from a roller coaster at a Six Flags near Atlanta, watched by other visitors to the amusement park as he was catapulted from the ride.

Officials have not confirmed how the man died Monday at Six Flags Over Georgia in Austell, about 15 miles northwest of Atlanta. No information has been released about the condition of several others who were hurt.

Cobb County Police Department major crimes unit detectives are investigating.

Authorities and Six Flags did not identify the ride associated with the man’s death, but local TV stations showed video of passengers being evacuated from the Goliath roller coaster.

Logan Conner said he was on the Goliath with his fiancée when he saw the man come out of his seat.

“The man started levitating in the air sideways,” he told NBC. “We made direct eye contact with him.”

Britny Landry had been on the ride earlier Monday and was waiting in line to go again. She could see part of the Goliath track.

“We just look, and I just see somebody fly out,” she told KTVU-TV. She said she wasn’t sure if that’s what she saw at first. “Maybe somebody had a bag or something.”

Six Flags Entertainment Corporation temporarily closed nine roller coasters across six amusement parks, “out of an abundance of caution,” according to a company spokesperson, who said staff members and local authorities responded immediately and that the park is cooperating with the investigation.

“We are deeply saddened by the guest incident at our park today,” the spokesperson said, adding that the company is providing support to guests and staff who were impacted.

Police and Six Flags did not immediately respond to messages seeking additional information Tuesday. A message seeking comment also was sent to the state Office of Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner.

Goliath, which was opened in 2006, reaches a top speed of 70 mph with a height of 200 feet, according to the park’s website.

During about 3 1/2 minutes, riders “navigate through razor-sharp turns and soar over colossal hills,” the website says.

Lisa Cupid, Cobb County Board of Commissioners chairwoman, said next of kin of the man who died have been notified.

“I cannot imagine the horror the patrons and employees witnessed today, and my heart aches for the family who lost a loved one,” Cupid said. “We are all grappling with how something so devastating could happen at a place that has given generations of families such happy memories.”

The park is a major part of the county’s tourism and brings in visitors from across the Southeast, Cupid said.

The death would be at least the seventh at the Georgia park, including one in 2006 in which a man had a likely heart attack on the Goliath coaster, according to the Doan Law Firm, which tallies amusement park accidents and represents victims.

It also comes less than two weeks after Six Flags Magic Mountain in Southern California announced the retirement of its famous X2 roller coaster following lawsuits alleging serious brain injury caused by the ride. The park settled one wrongful-death lawsuit from the family of a 22-year-old man who died after riding the coaster in 2022.

Last year, a 32-year-old man died from blunt impact injuries after riding a high-speed roller coaster at the Universal Epic Universe theme park in Florida. His death was ruled accidental.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

SpaceX Plans Massive Wharf, Road Network on Louisiana Coast

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SpaceX Plans Massive Wharf, Road Network on Louisiana Coast

(, The Center Square) SpaceX is planning to build a massive maritime shipping complex on Louisiana’s Gulf Coast, complete with docking facilities, access roads and extensive cargo-handling areas, according to state records detailing the company’s expanding plans in Vermilion Parish.

The project would establish a major new industrial shipping hub along Freshwater Bayou, connecting facilities on the Gulf of Mexico to inland waterways through a network of roads and shipping channels.

According to a state project database, the development would be privately financed and would accommodate vessels beyond those operated by SpaceX, suggesting the infrastructure could serve commercial maritime operations outside the aerospace company’s own activities.

Spokespersons for Louisiana Economic Development, the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers all declined requests for more information.

Preliminary engineering plans show a sprawling construction project involving thousands of feet of waterfront docking space, hundreds of acres of industrial staging areas and extensive dredging to accommodate large vessels.

The proposed infrastructure includes approximately 3,500 feet of space where ships could dock to load and unload large cargo. The plans also call for inland docking facilities connected to existing navigation channels, along with approximately 15.5 miles of heavy-haul roads and more than a mile of elevated roadway.

Poll: $2 Trillion Deficit Sparks Concerns Among Voters

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Poll: $2 Trillion Deficit Sparks Concerns Among Voters

(Therese Boudreux, The Center Square) With the federal government borrowing $2 trillion over the past 12 months, 88% of U.S. voters say addressing the federal deficit is important – yet they disagree on what the best solution is, new polling shows.

When federal spending in a year is higher than collected revenues – such as money from taxes and tariffs – the U.S. government runs a deficit, which adds to the national debt. The most recent year that the government ran a surplus instead of a deficit was 2001.

The Center Square’s Voters’ Voice Poll found that 47% of voters surveyed think that simply cutting government waste, fraud, and abuse can “significantly reduce” the deficit.

By contrast, 41% think reducing the deficit will require “major changes to federal spending and taxes” and 12% of voters are unsure.

The poll was conducted by Noble Predictive Insights from Oct. 5-7, 2026, and surveyed registered voters nationally via opt-in online panel and text-to-web cell phone messages. The weighted sample included 2,527 respondents comprised of 1,136 Republicans, 1,171 Democrats, and 220 True Independents (Independents who, when asked if they leaned toward one of the major parties, chose neither).

Independents as a whole slightly preferred cutting wasteful and fraudulent spending. True Independents, however, were the most evenly split, with 38% choosing the latter compared to 36% choosing spending and taxation changes. A large chunk, 26%, of True Independents remain unsure.

Only 39% of Democrats polled thought that cutting waste, fraud, and abuse would meaningfully reduce the deficit, compared to 57% of Republicans. Nearly half of Democratic voters instead favored changing spending and taxation policy, compared to just 34% of Republican voters.

Eliminating “waste, fraud, and abuse” has become a mantra for the second Trump administration, which has devoted significant resources to the effort.

After the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), headed early in Trump’s second term by billionaire Elon Musk, became mired in controversy, the White House shelved the project but replaced it with the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, headed by Vice President J.D. Vance.

Notably, The Center Square’s poll revealed that within all age groups, racial groups, education levels, income levels and geographic areas; the option to cut waste, fraud and abuse always outranked the option of making major changes to spending and tax policy.

Both males and females were also more likely than not to favor cutting wasteful and fraudulent spending over implementing major fiscal policy changes.

But when compared to male respondents, female voters were slightly more likely to choose cutting fraud and excess by a two-percentage point margin. Men, on the other hand, proved much more likely to choose spending and tax policy changes compared to women, 45% to 37%, respectively.

The poll’s margin of error is +/- 1.95%.

The national debt is currently $40.28 trillion, according to U.S. Treasury data. Eliminating fraudulent and improper payments alone would likely not significantly reduce annual deficits, fiscal watchdogs say.

The Government Accountability Office found that 15 federal agencies together made an estimated $186 billion in improper or fraudulent payments in fiscal year 2025.

Fiscal watchdogs like the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget have continuously warned Congress about the consequences of high spending.

In response to the Voters’ Voice Poll results, CRFB President Maya MacGuineas said “[e]verything needs to be on the table” to address skyrocketing federal deficits.

“When the budget deficit is reaching $2 trillion outside a war or national emergency, that’s about as clear a sign as you can get that things are no longer normal nor sustainable. Given the consequences of high and rising debt on affordability, borrowing costs, and our national security, this has become a major challenge requiring major changes,” MacGuineas told The Center Square.

“That means rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse where we find it, but it also means shoring up the major drivers of our borrowing — the rapidly-rising costs of Social Security and federal health care programs — as well as raising sufficient revenues to fund our priorities.”

Elon Musk Emerges as GOP’s Biggest Donor

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Elon Musk Emerges as GOP’s Biggest Donor

(Headline USA) Elon Musk, the world’s only trillionaire, has quietly become the biggest known donor in this year’s midterm elections, doling out more than $276 million since July to try to save Republican majorities in Congress.

The numbers, first reported by the New York Times ahead of this week’s federal filing deadline, were confirmed by Andrew Romeo, a spokesperson for Musk’s super PAC.

The money includes $158 million given to the Senate Leadership Fund, the main super PAC supporting Republican Senate candidates, one of the largest known political donations in American history, according to the Times.

Another $76 million went to America PAC, a Musk super PAC, which has once again built out a major turnout operation like the one it used to help elect President Donald Trump by knocking on doors in 2024.

Musk also provided $10 million to Lone Star Liberty PAC, a group that supports the Republican nominee for Senate in Texas, Ken Paxton. The race has been a major focus of Musk’s efforts.

It’s a dramatic turnaround since last May, when Musk said he intended to cut back on future political spending. “I think I’ve done enough,” he said at the time.

Despite the cash infusion, Musk has generally kept a lower profile than in 2024, when he appeared on stage next to Trump at rallies, and in the early days of the president’s second term, when he led the Department of Government Efficiency.

He had a falling out with Trump while leaving his government post, but the two have since reconciled. Trump presented Musk with the National Medal of Science last week.

Musk’s net worth has fluctuated around the trillion-dollar line this year based on changes in stock prices, but he topped $1 trillion again last week according to Forbes magazine.

Republican have a gaping financial advantage over their Democratic counterparts — a disparity that has been a rare bright spot for a party that is bracing for major potential losses amid deep voter frustration over the president’s performance, stubbornly high prices and the unpopular war with Iran.

They have been using the money to blanket the airwaves in the race’s final stretch.

“These robust investments have allowed the G.O.P. apparatus to get its message out so Republicans can have a fighting chance to defy history,” Romeo told the Times.

Democrats responded to the news by accusing Republicans of using vast amounts of cash to mask their shortcomings.

“Republicans are hoping to buy these elections, injecting tens of millions into races to try and outrun their unpopular candidates, unpopular president, and unpopular economy,” said Lauren French, a spokesperson for Democrats’ Senate Majority PAC.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press. 

Schumer’s Senate Leadership Faces Midterm Test

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Schumer’s Senate Leadership Faces Midterm Test

(Headline USA) Chuck Schumer has won and lost Senate majorities since becoming Democratic leader a decade ago. But this year’s midterm elections could be his most important yet, with some in the party having said he needs to step down and make way for a new generation.

Schumer, who has directly or indirectly overseen his party’s Senate campaign arm in almost every election cycle over the last 20 years, has regained trust within his caucus, for now, as Democrats are hopeful of making gains in the midterm elections despite a difficult map that favors Republicans.

Allies of the New York Democrat say it’s a significant turnaround from last year, when the party was still reeling from major election losses. A low point came in the spring of 2025, when the party’s base erupted at Schumer for voting to keep President Donald Trump’s government open.

Interviews with more than a dozen Democratic senators in recent weeks indicate that Schumer has recovered his political standing with many in his caucus. If Democrats gain seats in the election, colleagues expect him to easily win enough support in the closed-door leadership election, likely the week after Election Day.

Should they win a majority, a feat once seen as improbable, another term as leader would be nearly assured, many said. Both parties pick their Senate leaders by secret ballot, so no senator has to reveal their vote.

Still, nothing is guaranteed. While no Democrat has stepped up to challenge Schumer, that could quickly change if his party suffers an unexpected level of losses. And several Democratic candidates around the country have said publicly that they won’t vote for Schumer or have remained noncommittal.

Interviewed by The Associated Press earlier this month, Schumer stated unequivocally that he’s running for another term as leader. He said he believes Democrats have won more favor with voters over the last year and have a shot at winning the majority after fighting Trump’s tariffs, forcing more than a dozen votes to end the war in Iran and focusing on affordability, corruption and healthcare.

“I think our caucus is strong, it’s united,” Schumer said. “A year ago, everyone said it was out of reach. Today, we have a broader map, strong candidates, a clear contrast.”

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., said that “Senate seats in some ruby red states seem to be in play” because of candidates Schumer recruited.

Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden, a Democrat who has served with Schumer for almost 30 years, said that “if you had told us in 2025 that we’d be in the home stretch with a really good shot of taking the majority, it would have been like, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me.’ You can’t argue with results.”

And if Democrats don’t win additional seats? “I’m not thinking about that,” Wyden said.

While Schumer appears to be in a good position at the moment, many Democratic senators won’t say publicly whether they will support him — particularly those in the most progressive wing of the party.

“It’s a little bit too early to speculate on that right now,” said Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent who caucuses with Democrats.

Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren said she is focused on November’s elections. 

“We’ll know a lot more after the midterms,” she said.

Freshman Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan has called for a “new generation” of leaders across the party.

“It’s not a secret that Democrats still haven’t totally found their footing after Trump,” Slotkin said in a recent interview, adding that “we have to see what the results of the election are.”

Even if there are losses in Senate races, it’s unclear if any other Democrat wants the burden of being leader. Many are instead eyeing runs for the White House in 2028.

Speculation about a challenge to Schumer has centered on Sens. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, Chris Murphy of Connecticut and Brian Schatz of Hawaii, who has already said he’s running for the No. 2 leadership spot to replace retiring Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin.

Asked about Schumer, Van Hollen said he doesn’t want to discuss it yet.

“Look, I think everybody wants to get through this election, and then we’ll go from there,” Van Hollen said in an interview before the Senate left Washington to campaign.

Several Senate candidates around the country have either said they won’t vote for Schumer if they are elected or remained noncommittal, including Troy Jackson in Maine, Adam Hamilton in Kansas and Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan.

At the same time, the Senate Majority PAC, which is closely aligned with Schumer, has put millions of dollars into those campaigns and others. Schumer backed El-Sayed’s primary opponent, but the two met in Washington last month.

El-Sayed said after the meeting that the party is united and “we’re having really productive conversations about what it takes to win.”

Several of the Democratic senators who insisted on anonymity to share their views agreed that Schumer is likely to win another term as leader. There have been very few discussions about a change, said one, partially because Schumer has stayed close to almost everyone in his caucus, keeping them on speed dial in his famous flip phone. 

Another senator said that they aren’t aware of Schumer asking for any commitments just yet.

At the same time, some said they would like to see Schumer, who is up for reelection in 2028, announce that this is his last term as leader and commit to helping transition to a successor. A commitment like that could end the conversation, one senator said.

Another senator said that a commitment from Schumer about the future isn’t as important — what will matter is if they win in November.

All of the senators agreed that there are no obvious contenders right now to challenge him, but that could change quickly if Democrats lose Senate seats in November.

Attitudes within the Democratic caucus have improved since last year, when the base revolted against Schumer for the March vote to keep the Republican president’s government open. Progressive groups like MoveOn called for him to step down, arguing that Democrats needed to fight harder against Trump and Republicans.

Schumer regained some favor with Democrats inside and outside the Capitol during a prolonged government shutdown a year ago and as he has repeatedly blocked Trump’s nominees and Republican legislation.

But while the calls to resign or step aside have waned, many are still agitating for change.

“Our priority right now is organizing and making sure we elect a new generation laser-focused on affordability and fighting corruption,” said Joel Payne, a national spokesman for MoveOn.

Referring to the 2025 calls for Schumer to step aside, Payne said the group’s members have “already rendered a judgment on Schumer’s tenure and made clear they’re eager for new leadership that energizes the party base.”

It’s unclear, though, whether calls from the progressive wing of the party will influence the secret ballot vote, in which Schumer needs only a majority to win.

Sen. Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., dismissed the talk about Schumer’s future.

“It’s hard to lose if no one else is challenging you,” he said.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press. 

Democrat Candidate in Texas Senate Race Denies Going to Mental Hospital

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Democrat Candidate in Texas Senate Race Denies Going to Mental Hospital

(Ken Silva, Headline USA) James Talarico, the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Texas, has denied rumors that he was at a mental hospital earlier this month.

Talarico addressed the issue Sunday in an interview with local NBC reporter Phil Prazan, attributing his recent nine-day absence to having the flu. Talarico has diabetes, which can make having the flu especially nasty.

“If you don’t take the opportunity to get well, sometimes you can get even sicker,” he said.

Linder Center HOPE, where Talarico was rumored to have been sent for his mental issues, also said that he never received treatment there.

Rumors about Talarico’s mental health stem from social media posts made by conservative influencers Caroline Wren, Sara Gonzales, and Nick Sortor. Wren posted flight logs showing a private jet flying on Oct. 9 from Austin, Texas to Hamilton, Ohio—near the Linder Center—while Sortor posted a short recording Sunday of a Linder Center employee saying over the phone that Talarico had been discharged from there on Saturday.

However, Talarico had already made a public appearance Friday, the day before he was supposedly discharged from the mental facility. Reporter Tony Ortiz obtained the full phone call with the Linder Center employee, who also said that she did “not find anyone with that name (Talarico) for the last four days that’s been discharged and they’re not here in the building.”

Ortiz further noted that multiple outlets, including the Blaze and the Daily Mail, declined to publish reports about Talarico and the mental hospital because of a lack of hard evidence.

Gonzales, who works for The Blaze, tweeted on Sunday that the rumors about Talarico would be “confirmed by even MORE EXPLOSIVE EVIDENCE very soon.”

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

DOJ Announces 16 Election Crime Cases

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DOJ Announces 16 Election Crime Cases

(José Niño, Headline USA) On Monday, the Justice Department announced charges involving 16 people in election related cases across the country, including alleged illegal voting by noncitizens, fraudulent voter registration, multiple voting, and an alleged attempt to cast a deceased person’s ballot.

The cases span at least 10 federal districts and involve alleged misconduct in the 2022 and 2024 elections. The department said the allegations include voting by non-citizens in federal elections, false citizenship claims on voter registration forms, voting on behalf of a deceased person, casting ballots in more than one state, and alleged citizenship fraud connected to voting registration.

In New Mexico, a federal grand jury indicted Patrick Perea, 62, on one count of fraudulent voting. Prosecutors allege that Perea attempted to submit his late wife’s absentee ballot during the November 2024 general election through the Bernalillo County Clerk’s Office in Albuquerque.

Federal prosecutors in Pennsylvania charged four non-citizens with voting as aliens during the 2024 election. The group includes Hacina Saadi, a French national described as illegally present in the United States, plus Pakistani nationals Jamil Ahmad and Nighat Jamil and Portuguese national Paulo Silva, all described as lawful permanent residents.

The DOJ also announced cases in Alabama. Peruvian national Silvia Delgado Phelps and Jamaican national Staciann Pollion Davis, both lawful permanent residents, face complaints alleging unlawful voting as noncitizens. Separately, Forrest Scott Woody of North Carolina is charged with allegedly voting in Alabama after already voting in North Carolina during the 2024 general election.

In Missouri, Cuban national Andres Garcia faces two counts involving alleged unlawful votes in federal elections in 2022 and 2024. Prosecutors allege that Garcia falsely claimed American citizenship during voter registrations in 2004 and 2013 and voted in at least 15 elections over two decades, including at least 13 federal contests.

Other cases include allegations involving Canadian national Stanley Walton in Idaho, Dominican-born Lizabeth Almonte Rosa in New Jersey, British national Cary Ann Patterson in Ohio, Pakistani national Arshed Zuberi in Ohio, Filipino national Eliza Moss in Ohio, Polish national Dawid Nalepa in Hawaii, and Canadian national Sandra Madeline Watson in Kentucky. The allegations involve unlawful voting, improper citizenship claims, or both.

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

Report: Trump, Rubio Weigh Firing Don Jr’s Ex-Fiancé

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Report: Trump, Rubio Weigh Firing Don Jr’s Ex-Fiancé

(Headline USA) President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are considering firing U.S. Ambassador to Greece Kimberly Guilfoyle after a series of reports alleging she has engaged in improper and possibly illegal conduct before and during her tenure in Athens, according to the Associated Press.

A senior U.S. official reportedly said Sunday that Trump and Rubio are “extremely pissed off” by Guilfoyle’s reported conduct and would likely decide on what action to take this week after Monday’s Columbus Day holiday.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations, said Rubio had been particularly angry, not least because he visited Athens just last week and Guilfoyle attended most, if not all, of his events and greeted him on his arrival with a bear hug as the allegations swirled.

In a series of stories, The Wall Street Journal has reported questionable conduct by Guilfoyle, including an alleged threat to a host country official, accepting improper gifts and services and offering to use her influence inside the administration in return for the payment of a large credit card bill.

Guilfoyle has not addressed the reports directly, but in a statement released late Sunday, her lawyers denied she had done anything wrong and claimed that the money she was seeking from the Trump donor was payment for services — public appearances and speaking engagements that predate her ambassadorial nomination — that had not been paid.

The lawyers, David Schwartz and Jesse Binnall, also rejected allegations of impropriety related to Guilfoyle’s travel on private planes, saying that before every such trip she “sought, obtained and followed State Department guidance and followed the Department’s travel regulations,” they said.

“Ambassador Guilfoyle has served, and will continue to serve, with integrity, honor and distinction. We are evaluating all available legal remedies to collect this debt and any other potential causes of action,” the lawyers said.

After defending Guilfoyle following the first report, Rubio has declined to comment publicly on the growing allegations. On Wednesday, Rubio said: “Our ambassador has been a strong ambassador here.”

But after another report appeared late Wednesday, Rubio on Thursday before leaving Athens berated journalists for asking about the allegations, saying he didn’t know if they were true and that he would not respond if he could not confirm them.

“You guys walk around thinking that because some source told you something and you reported it, it’s the gospel. It’s not the gospel. It’s not the gospel for me. That’s not the way we do things,” Rubio said at the foot of his plane as Guilfoyle, who was there to see him depart, looked on.

The official said that Rubio had grown increasingly frustrated as the reports multiplied.

A second U.S. official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss personnel matters, said the State Department’s inspector general is looking into the allegations, which first began surfacing in the Journal late last month and have since multiplied.

The second official could not say if a formal IG probe had begun. Inspectors general often conduct informal inquiries into complaints against staffers and many times those inquiries do not result in a full-on investigation, which can result in disciplinary action up to and including dismissal.

The State Department has declined to comment on a potential IG investigation.

The top two Democrats on the House Foreign Affairs and Senate Foreign Relations committees, Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York and Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, as well as the ranking member on the House Committee for Oversight and Government Reform, Robert Garcia, D-Calif., have already called for an investigation into Guilfoyle.

Since late September, the Journal has detailed numerous accounts of questionable conduct by Guilfoyle. Its first report said that she had told guests at a reception that the U.S. could undermine the Greek government if it chose to, promoted the business interests of one particular Greek construction and energy company, and allowed its lobbyist into private diplomatic meetings.

While Rubio was in Athens, the Journal reported — citing text messages — that Guilfoyle had asked a Trump donor and supporter to pay a $100,000 credit card bill just before her confirmation hearing, promising him access to administration officials if he did.

The Journal then reported that Guilfoyle had been enraged about not being invited to a Greek-themed event at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, earlier this year and demanded to attend while boasting about luxury travel to France with energy company executives.

Another report, from the British tabloid The Daily Mail, said that Guilfoyle had alienated staff at the U.S. Embassy in Athens and had pushed the bounds of behavior appropriate for the top representative of the U.S. government to Greece.

Guilfoyle is a former Fox News Channel host and California prosecutor who was once engaged to Trump’s son Donald Jr.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

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