Leaked Emails Prove That Jeffrey Epstein Acted on Behalf of Israeli Government

Jose Nino
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Leaked Emails Prove That Jeffrey Epstein Acted on Behalf of Israeli Government

(José Niño, Headline USA) A trove of leaked emails examined by Drop Site News reporters Murtaza Hussain and Ryan Grim reveal the extraordinary role Jeffrey Epstein played in brokering a secret security deal between Israel and Mongolia. These emails were originally posted by Distributed Denial of Secrets, a non-profit whistleblower site.

The disgraced financier, who later died in prison in 2019 following charges related to sex trafficking, actively coordinated meetings and policy proposals that ultimately produced formal diplomatic ties between the two nations. In this case, Epstein used former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak as an intermediary. 

Barak visited Mongolia in April 2013, just one month after leaving his position as Israel’s Defense Minister. While the former prime minister met with President Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj and top security officials in Ulaanbaatar, Epstein orchestrated events from New York through constant email correspondence and strategic introductions.

The plan originated in January 2013 while Barak still served in government. On April 21, 2013, Barak arranged a meeting at Epstein’s Manhattan mansion for an “overview of the coming days” before departing for Mongolia. 

The Drop Site News report noted that Epstein coordinated with Terje Rød-Larsen, president of the International Peace Institute, who simultaneously visited Mongolia and signed cooperation agreements with Mongolian officials.

The emails reveal Barak pursued multiple business interests during his Mongolia visit. He contacted Russian-Israeli oligarch Viktor Vekselberg about potential opportunities, writing, “I’m in Mongolia. Already met with most of the leaders from the President downwards and several business people…I have a thought that could probably help.”

Epstein soon began mobilizing his network to join IPI’s Mongolia advisory council. On September 28, 2013, he reached out to Barak about collaborating with Lawrence Summers, a Harvard economist and former senior official under both the Clinton and Obama administrations: “spent the afternoon with Larry Summers, I think he would work well with you.” Barak welcomed the idea, replying, “I think greatly of him especially in re to advise for Sovereign Heads. We can complement each other effectively with a lot of synergies.”

In December 2013, IPI submitted a “Mongolia Presidential Advisory Agreement” to Mongolian officials, setting up a group of experts to advise on institutional reforms designed to promote “global peace and security.” 

The agreement also included a $100,000 payment for each member of the advisory board, according to a 2020 Dagens Næringsliv investigation.

The board convened for the first time on January 24, 2014, at the Intercontinental Hotel in Davos, Switzerland, with the Mongolian President, National Security Advisor, Rød-Larsen, and Lawrence Summers in attendance. Joining by phone were Kjell Bondevik, Kevin Rudd, Barak, and Epstein, whose professional affiliation was listed as “financier.”

By September 2015, Epstein was hosting dinners for the major players at his New York mansion, including Barak and top Mongolian officials, reinforcing his role both as fixer and facilitator.

In late 2017, Israeli and Mongolian officials met in Ulaanbaatar to finalize cooperation on emergency services and the adoption of Israeli technologies. Israeli military officers would later participate in joint exercises in Mongolia in 2019, according to The Times of Israel.

Barak has publicly downplayed his connections throughout these exchanges. He insisted that his interactions with Epstein were infrequent, stating that he saw him “on occasion” and had no knowledge of his involvement in sex trafficking or the exploitation of young girls. 

Portraying Epstein as a man who hid his true nature from those around him, Barak called him “a terrible version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.”

Per the Drop Site News report, pro-Palestinian hacking collective Handala announced the leak of “Israel Prime Minister Emails” on October 2, 2024, releasing a trove of material that included several of Barak’s private photos — among them a “mirror selfie,” a Crusader-style knight costume, and his Israeli passport. 

Portions of the leaked emails had previously surfaced in Reason magazine’s reporting on Epstein’s connections to Barak and prominent figures in the global technology sector.

Handala, which emerged in December 2023, has specialized in targeting Israeli political figures and institutions with data breaches and public disclosures. According to an analysis by Crowdstrike, Handala may have connections to Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence.

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

‘QAnon Shaman’ from Jan. 6 Sues Trump for $40 TRILLION

Luis Cornelio
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‘QAnon Shaman’ from Jan. 6 Sues Trump for $40 TRILLION

(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) Jacob Chansley, dubbed by the legacy media as “QAnon Shaman” after entering the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, has filed a $40 trillion lawsuit against the federal government, President Donald Trump and entities—a lawsuit in which he claims to be the true leader of the country.

Chansley, who is reportedly representing himself, filed the lawsuit in Maricopa County Superior Court, claiming that his First, Fourth and Second Amendment rights have been violated by the defendants. On Monday, he said he was “about to go get the summons stuff taken care of.”

He argued the defendants systematically trampled these rights and even declared himself the rightful leader of the United States, though expectations are that the lawsuit will not go far.

Other defendants include the Federal Reserve, the National Security Agency, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the Bank of International Settlements, the state of Israel, X Corp., T-Mobile, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and Warner Bros. Studios, according to the Phoenix New Times.

Chansley was among the 1,500 individuals pardoned by President Donald Trump on Jan. 20, 2025, after they were aggressively prosecuted by the Biden administration for protesting the certification of the 2020 election.

Chansley pleaded guilty after spending more than 300 days in solitary confinement following his arrest on Jan. 9, 2021, according to journalist Julie Kelly.

The Biden administration later boasted of his 41-month federal prison sentence for “his criminal conduct” on Jan. 6.

Chansley’s photos went viral that day, showing him in a Viking hat and carrying a six-foot spear.

“He was shirtless, wearing a Viking hat with fur and horns, covered in red, white, and blue face paint, and carrying an American flag tied to a pole with a sharp object at the tip and a bullhorn,” the Biden DOJ claimed.

Footage later released by Tucker Carlson showed law enforcement seemingly escorting Chansley around inside the Capitol building.

Vance Says Trump Is Considering Supplying Ukraine With Tomahawk Missiles

Headline USA Editor
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Vance Says Trump Is Considering Supplying Ukraine With Tomahawk Missiles

(Dave DeCamp, Antiwar.com) Vice President JD Vance said in an interview that aired Sunday that President Trump was considering the possibility of supplying Ukraine with Tomahawk missiles, a step that would mark a significant escalation of the proxy war, as the missiles have a range of over 1,000 miles.

“You asked this question about Tomahawks. It’s something the president is going to make the final determination on. What the president is going to do is what’s in the best interest for the United States of America … I know that we’re having conversations this very minute about that issue,” Vance said in an appearance on Fox News Sunday.

It’s unclear how Ukraine would use the Tomahawk missiles if they were supplied, as they are designed to be fired by US Navy warships and submarines. Vadym Skibitskyi, the deputy head of Ukraine’s military intelligence agency, previously said that Ukraine lacks the naval infrastructure to use sea-launched Tomahawks.

The US could potentially provide Ukraine with its new ground-based Typhon missile launcher, which can fire Tomahawks and was developed after the US withdrew from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty in 2019. The INF prohibited land-based missile systems with a range between 310 and 3,400 miles.

Vance didn’t address the risk of escalation that comes along with arming Ukraine with Tomahawk missiles, which are nuclear-capable. Moscow has previously made clear that US-backed missile strikes on its territory risk nuclear escalation, as it changed its nuclear doctrine to lower the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons after the Biden administration gave the green light for Ukraine to fire US-provided ATACMS missiles into Russia.

When asked about his previous opposition to the US arming Ukraine, the vice president pointed to the fact that the US is now having European countries fund the weapons shipments. However, last month, the administration announced a deal that will arm Ukraine with Extended Range Attack Munition (ERAM) air-launched missiles, which can hit targets up to 280 miles away, that will be partially funded by US military aid.

Tomahawks would put Moscow in range of Ukrainian missile strikes, and Vance’s comments came after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky threatened that Kremlin officials could become targets if the war continues. “They have to know where the bomb shelters are,” Zelensky said in an interview with Axios. “They need it. If they will not stop the war, they will need it in any case.”

In the same interview, Zelensky said that he had the explicit backing of President Trump to hit Russian energy infrastructure and arms factories and warned that if the US provided additional long-range capabilities, “we will use it.”

Russia, which hasn’t targeted Ukrainian leadership, has dismissed Zelensky’s threat. “Zelensky is trying to demonstrate to the Europeans, who now act as the breadwinners, that he is such a brave soldier,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. “Meanwhile, the state of affairs at the front indicates the opposite. With every passing day, the situation for Ukraine is inexorably deteriorating.”

This article originally appeared at Antiwar.com. 

War Department Pushes To Double or Quadruple Missile Production To Prepare for Potential War With China

Headline USA Editor
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War Department Pushes To Double or Quadruple Missile Production To Prepare for Potential War With China

(Dave DeCamp, Antiwar.com) The US War Department is pushing US weapons makers to double or even quadruple the production of missiles to help the US military prepare for a potential future war with China, The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.

The report said that senior Pentagon officials expressed a desire for a significant increase in production during a series of meetings with representatives from several US missile manufacturers. Steve Feinberg, the deputy US Secretary of War, has taken a leading role in the effort, which has been dubbed the Munitions Acceleration Council, and regularly speaks with some executives.

The US military has been openly preparing for a war with China for years despite the obvious risk of nuclear war. The preparations have involved expanding the US military footprint in the Asia Pacific, building alliances in the region, and increasing weapons shipments to Taiwan.

The Journal report said that the effort at expanding missile production is focused on weapons the Pentagon believes it needs for a conflict with China, including Patriot interceptors, Long Range Anti-Ship Missiles, the Standard Missile-6, Precision Strike Missiles, and Joint Air-Surface Standoff Missiles.

Since 2022, the Pentagon has formally considered China the top “threat” facing the US, although that may soon change as reports say the War Department’s forthcoming National Defense Strategy (NDS) may prioritize missions in the homeland and the Western Hemisphere over countering Beijing.

In a statement back in May, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said he was directing the Pentagon’s policy chief, Elbridge Colby, to begin work on the new NDS, which he said will “prioritize defense of the US homeland, including America’s skies and borders, and deterring China in the Indo-Pacific.”

Colby is a well-known China hawk who has long pushed for the US to prioritize China and prepare for a war over Taiwan, though there are signs that he has started to doubt the US’s ability to defend the island. Either way, the US is expected to continue its military buildup in the region.

Colby and other China hawks have long argued that the US should put more focus on arming Taiwan and preserving its military stockpiles to prepare for war in the region, but the US has continued to pour weapons into Ukraine and has used a significant amount of munitions over the past two years, backing Israel in its wars in the Middle East.

This article originally appeared at Antiwar.com. 

 

Trump To Attend Hegseth’s Meeting of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals

Headline USA Editor
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Trump To Attend Hegseth’s Meeting of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals

(Dave DeCamp, Antiwar.com) President Trump has said he will attend a meeting of hundreds of US military generals and admirals at the US Marine Corps Base in Quantico, Virginia, this Tuesday, which was called by US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.

The news of the highly unusual meeting, which involves gathering senior military officers stationed around the world, was first reported by The Washington Post last week. The initial report said it was unclear why the meeting was called, raising fears that Hegseth was preparing for a potential new war or military escalation.

But the Post has since reported that Hegseth is set to deliver a short speech on military standards on the idea of a “warrior ethos.” Hegseth and his recently rebranded Department of War have been stressing the use of terms like “warrior” and “war fighters” when describing US military personnel.

Senior officers are concerned that the meeting could involve firings since Hegseth has previously signed an order to reduce the number of four-star officers by 20%. Trump denied the idea that the gathering had negative implications for the generals and admirals.

“It’s really just a very nice meeting talking about how well we’re doing militarily, talking about being in great shape, talking about a lot of good, positive things. It’s just a good message,” the president told NBC News. “We have some great people coming in and it’s just an ‘esprit de corps.’ You know the expression ‘esprit de corps’? That’s all it’s about. We’re talking about what we’re doing, what they’re doing, and how we’re doing.”

This article originally appeared at Antiwar.com. 

 

Report: US Could Start Bombing Venezuela Within a Few Weeks

Headline USA Editor
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Report: US Could Start Bombing Venezuela Within a Few Weeks

(Dave DeCamp, Antiwar.com) The US military could start bombing targets inside Venezuela within a matter of weeks, according to a report from NBC News that was published on Saturday.

Sources told NBC that US military officials were drawing up options for striking alleged drug traffickers inside Venezuela, though the report said that so far, no plans have been approved by President Trump.

CNN also previously reported that the Trump administration was considering launching strikes inside Venezuela and was considering hitting targets with the goal of weakening Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. The US has accused the Venezuelan president of being the leader of a cartel, meaning he could be a potential target. The Venezuelan government has strongly denied the US allegations and recently announced additional military deployments to combat drug shipments from Colombia.

Since early September, the US has bombed at least three boats in the Caribbean that it claimed were carrying drugs. According to numbers released by President Trump, 17 people have been extrajudicially executed in the operations.

US officials have told The New York Times that while combating drug trafficking was the pretext for the recent military action in the Caribbean, the ultimate goal is regime change in Venezuela. The policy is being driven by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has long sought the overthrow of Maduro.

The NBC report said that some Trump administration officials were disappointed that the US military escalations in the region had not impacted Maduro’s grip on power or prompted any significant response. One official said that the White House has faced more pushback over bombing boats in the region than it expected. Recent polling shows the majority of Americans are opposed to the US military using force to carry out regime change in Venezuela.

While tensions are soaring between the US and Venezuela, they continue to cooperate on the deportation of Venezuelan citizens from the US. Ric Grenell, a special envoy for President Trump, has stated that he remains in communication with the Venezuelan government, and the NBC report said that Middle Eastern leaders have been mediating talks between the two sides.

This article originally appeared at Antiwar.com. 

Congressional Conflicts: Lawmakers Dump Tylenol Stock Before Autism Controversy

Headline USA Editor
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Congressional Conflicts: Lawmakers Dump Tylenol Stock Before Autism Controversy

(Mark Stricherz, The Center Square) Before President Trump warned pregnant women to avoid taking Tylenol, three members of Congress dumped stock in the Fortune 500 company that makes the popular painkiller — sell-offs that saved them from incurring sizable losses, an investigation by The Center Square found.

The lawmakers sold $1,001 to $15,000 each in Kenvue Inc., a Summit, New Jersey-based consumer products company that spun off from Johnson & Johnson two years ago. The sales are notable also because most investment analysts recommended that investors hold their shares.

Among the three lawmakers is U.S. Rep. Scott Franklin, a Florida Republican, whose committee work overlapped with his reported sale of Kenvue stock on June 16, House financial disclosures show. He is the vice chairman of a House Appropriations subcommittee that oversees the budget of the Food and Drug Administration, the federal agency that regulates Tylenol.

Franklin’s spokesperson did not return an email or phone call for comment.

Craig Holman, a lobbyist for Public Citizen, a nonprofit, said the lawmakers’ sale of Kenvue’s stock before the Trump administration’s announcement on Sept. 22 raises questions about whether lawmakers had inside information. 

“It’s a possible conflict of interest,” Holman said in an interview. “The fact that they sold prior to the public scandal suggests they might have traded on non-public information before the Trump administration lowered the hammer.” 

Kenvue has come under fire for its use of acetaminophen, the primary active ingredient in Tylenol. In August, the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, a private medical school in New York, reported that pregnant women who use acetaminophen may be at elevated risk of delivering babies with neurodevelopment disorders like autism and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. Other studies have found no connection.

On September 12, the Wall Street Journal reported that Kenvue’s interim CEO, Kirk Perry, met with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., to argue against declaring a strong link between Tylenol use and autism. Perry’s lobbying effort came up short.

​​A Kenvue spokeswoman said that “sound science clearly shows that taking acetaminophen does not cause autism.”

On September 22, Kennedy announced that the government would issue a warning on Tylenol packages about the possible risks for pregnant women.

Trump was blunt.

“Don’t take Tylenol,” he said in a press conference at the White House. “Fight like hell not to take it.”

Identifying possible conflicts of interest was a stated goal of a 2012 law known as the Stock Act. The law bars members of Congress, executive branch officials and their families from using information they discover in the course of their jobs for financial gain and requires them to file periodic transaction reports of trades worth more than $1,000 within 45 days. 

Legislation to prohibit lawmakers from trading and owning stocks has never come up for a vote before the full House or Senate. On July 30, the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs advanced a bill from U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, a Missouri Republican, that would do just that. Hawley’s legislation, like companion bills in the House, would permit lawmakers to own mutual funds.

No lawmaker has been prosecuted for violating the law.

In 2018, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged U.S. Rep. Chris Collins, a New York Republican, with insider trading. A member of the board of directors of a publicly traded Australian firm, Collins was accused of informing his son, a stock owner, that the company’s top product had failed a clinical trial before the news was public, the charges show. A year later, Collins pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Franklin reported that through a joint account with his wife, the couple sold $1,001 to $15,000 of Kenvue stock on June 16, according to a filing with the U.S. Office of the Clerk. 

U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna, a California Democrat, reported that his wife, Ritu Ahuja Khanna, sold stock in Kenvue through a blind trust on August 26, his filing showed. The sale came three weeks after she bought $1,001 to $15,000 worth of the stock, on August 4.

Spokeswoman Sarah Drory declined to comment.

The third lawmaker who reported dumping Kenvue’s stock is Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, a Rhode Island Democrat, through his wife, Sandra Thornton Whitehouse. A spokeswoman did not return a voicemail and email for comment.

None of the three lawmakers sold Kenvue stock alone on a single day. Each lawmaker reported selling the stock among his trades. Khanna reported that his wife via a blind trust bought 53 stocks and sold 51 on Aug. 26.

The lawmakers’ sales proved timely. Since June, Kenvue’s stock price has plunged more than 20 percent.

Defense Says More Time Needed for Tyler Robinson Case

Headline USA Editor
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Defense Says More Time Needed for Tyler Robinson Case

(Dave Mason, The Center Square) The defense won’t waive its right to a preliminary hearing but needs more time before a date is set, the court-appointed attorney for Tyler James Robinson, the 22-year-old man charged with the murder of conservative leader Charlie Kirk, said Monday during a Utah County court waiver hearing.

Kathryn Nester, Robinson’s lawyer, told Judge Tony Graf in the Provo courtroom that she needs at least another month to weigh through a massive amount of documents before further discussion about a preliminary hearing.

Graf set another waiver hearing for 10 a.m. Mountain Standard Time Oct. 30, and the prosecution and defense had no objections to the date and time. Nester said Robinson will be at that hearing in person.

Robinson was not in the courtroom Monday but participated virtually from Utah County Jail, where he remains incarcerated without bail. He didn’t speak.

Nester said she is waiting later for her motion on a detention hearing and may wait until the preliminary hearing to make it.

Nester talked in court about what she called “the voluminous nature of discovery” coming from the prosecution. Discovery is the process in which prosecution and defense exchange information and evidence before a trial to avoid surprises.

“We need to reset for another conference, another waiver hearing down the road, so we have a better idea of seeing discovery as it rolls out,” Nester told Graf. “My understanding is there are massive amounts of digital [materials] that are coming. Until we can get our heads around that, it is going to be difficult for us to know when we will be ready to do the prelim.”

Attorneys representing Utah County and Robinson agreed there’s a potential for a large number of witnesses in the case because Kirk was shot and killed before a crowd of up to 3,000 people at Utah Valley University.

Graf reminded the prosecution and defense that the rights of both the victim and the accused will be respected by the court.

Robinson is charged with seven counts, six of which are felonies. They include aggravated murder and multiple counts of witness tampering and obstruction of justice. Utah County Attorney Jeff Gray filed a notice with the court that he intends to seek the death penalty if Robinson is convicted of murder.

Kirk had a home in Scottsdale, Ariz., and his organization, Turning Point USA, is headquartered in Phoenix.

 

Hospital Refusing to Release Charlotte Train Stabber’s Medical Records to Police

Ken Silva
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Hospital Refusing to Release Charlotte Train Stabber’s Medical Records to Police

(Ken Silva, Headline USA) A local hospital that treated DeCarlos Brown Jr. after he stabbed a Ukrainian refugee to death is refusing to release his medical records to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department—even though Brown wants them to be disclosed.

Brown was taken to Atrium Health – Carolinas Medical Center to treat lacerations on his hand after he stabbed 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska to death on a Charlotte train on Aug. 22. He remained at the hospital until Aug. 28, when he was arrested and charged with first-degree murder. That same day, Brown, who is reportedly schizophrenic, requested that Charlotte police obtain his medical records—signing a release form for their disclosure.

However, Atrium Health refused to release the records, according to a Monday motion signed by Mecklenburg County Assistant District Attorney Austin Butler.

“On September 24, 2025, counsel for Atrium Health informed CMPD Detective Henry Buhr that Atrium Health is refusing to produce medical records pursuant to Defendant’s authorization,” Butler wrote in his Monday motion for a judge to compel disclosure. “Defendant’s medical records, including mental health, psychiatry and psychology records, are potentially relevant to Defendant’s prosecution.”

Butler also said in his motion that “Defendant made statements to Atrium employees relating to the homicide of Iryna Zarutska while at Carolinas Medical Center.”

The motion doesn’t state how specifically Brown’s medical records relate to his prosecution, though a judge has ordered him to a regional psych ward to see if he’s fit to stand trial. He hasn’t been sent there yet, according to county jail records.

Brown also reportedly told his sister that he believes a government put a chip in his body that caused him to stab Zarutska.

In any event, records show that a judge signed Butler’s motion on the same day he filed it—indicating that Atrium Health will be required to fork the records over to the police. The next hearing date for the case is Oct. 16.

Headline USA, which was the first publication to obtain and publish the full video of the gruesome incident, understands that Brown would still likely be incarcerated for the rest of his life, even if he were to be ruled incompetent to stand trial. He also might still face federal charges.

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

Center Square Exclusive: DOJ ‘Weaponization’ Victim Still in Jail, Asking for Trump Pardon

Headline USA Editor
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Center Square Exclusive: DOJ ‘Weaponization’ Victim Still in Jail, Asking for Trump Pardon

(Bethany Blankley​​, The Center Square) After former FBI Director James Comey was indicted on Thursday and as Congress continues to investigate the “weaponization” of the Biden Department of Justice, one “weaponization” victim is calling on President Donald Trump for help. 

Comey was indicted on charges of making false statements to Congress and obstruction of justice related to him denying that he leaked classified documents to a news outlet over the Trump-Russia election interference hoax investigation, The Center Square reported.

The “Russia hoax” was also used to target other Republicans including Florida native and Texas-based Republican political consultant Michael Shirley, his attorney and supporters argue. 

Shirley is currently incarcerated at a minimum-security prison camp in Miami and is calling on Trump for a full pardon. In his first week in office, President Donald Trump pardoned more than 1,500 people, including Biden DOJ “weaponization” victims.

“What happened to me is not just wrong, it was evil,” Shirley told The Center Square in an email in an exclusive interview. “My liberty was stripped because I wouldn’t play my part in the Biden DOJ’s grand scheme to prevent a second Trump presidency and a Republican takeover of Congress. The Left always screams of tyranny if Trump was elected, but I witnessed true tyranny first-hand under Biden. The ultimatum given to me: prison or parrot their lies. They needed my help smearing their opponents, no matter how far-fetched the source material was.”

Biden DOJ officials attempted to pressure Shirley to “revive the discredited Russia hoax against Donald Trump; falsely claim the 2018 Florida recounts – which elected Gov. Ron DeSantis and Sen. Rick Scott – were stolen; falsely confess to the existence of an illegal GOP fundraising operations to impede the 2024 elections,” Austin based Republican political consultant Andy Hogue told The Center Square in an exclusive interview. Hogue previously ran for mayor of Leander, Texas, and Shirley was his consultant at the time.

“I stood my ground against their lies when Democrats controlled everything. No one came to save me,” Shirley said. “Now, I sit here as a forgotten political prisoner – because I refused to lie.”

Biden DOJ prosecutors initially accused Shirley of bribing former Seminole County, Fla., Tax Collector Joel Greenberg but ultimately charged him with conspiracy to commit honest services fraud. They argued that Shirley adding billing rates to his invoices “caused the tax collector’s office to enter into a lucrative consulting contract with Shirley’s newly formed company, Praetorian Integrated Services LLC.” They also argued Shirley acted as a “de facto” public employee even though he was not a government employee. 

Former Austin City Councilmember Mackenzie Kelly argues Shirley’s billing practice was “entirely legal and routine in professional services.” His defense team questioned why he was tried in federal court, not county or state court. They also questioned why federal prosecutors refused to call their star witness, Greenberg, whose statements in previous legal proceedings were used to obtain the indictment. The appellate court has agreed to hear oral testimony.

His defense points to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in which justices warned that prosecutors might abuse the honest services statute, especially through erroneous jury instructions. This is what happened in Shirley’s case, his attorney argues: jury instructions were changed, and one juror was replaced. The judge refused to declare a mistrial. Shirley was indicted in 2022 and convicted in July 2023. He was sentenced to seven years in prison.

Shirley told The Center Square that during his trial, Biden DOJ prosecutors’ “bogus claims fell apart, and they were forced to twist the law and jury instructions to create a conviction.”

“If the DOJ can change the boundaries of the law on a whim during trial to convict someone they politically oppose, no American is safe,” Shirley said. 

“The DOJ’s case against Mr. Shirley was so tenuous that it abandoned its initial allegations and pivoted to an unfounded claim that Mr. Shirley’s invoicing practices were illegal, falsely categorizing him as a public official,” his attorney, Dr. Gavin Clarkson of Katy, Texas, said. “The regime’s desperation became evident during the trial. The truth is clear: the accusations against Mr. Shirley were based on lies and political malfeasance.

“Mr. Shirley’s appeal is ongoing, but he should not have to endure prolonged incarceration while awaiting an uncertain resolution. Immediate relief – whether through a pardon, commutation, or overturning of his conviction – is necessary.”

In 2021, Greenberg pleaded guilty to six felonies and was sentenced to 11 years in prison. He was linked to former U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-FL, who was accused of paying for sex with an underage girl. Gaetz denied the allegations and no charges were brought against him.

“The prolife prisoners had a foundation working to free them,” Hogue told The Center Square. “The J6ers had the benefit of mass media coverage. But who does Mike Shirley have? Friends and family. It’s surprising to me no matter how many clients he’s had at any level no one has stood up for him.”

Hogue sent letters on behalf of Shirley to a field office of every member of Texas’ congressional delegation. Only Republicans Sens. Ted Cruz and John Cornyn replied, he said. 

He’s hoping the Trump administration will pardon Shirley “because there is no sense in having him sit in jail while his appeal is ongoing. He is no danger to anybody.”

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