Democrat Denver Mayor Mike Johnston recently said he was prepared to break with President-elect Donald Trump’s deportation plans and Republicans are warning he will absolutely suffer the consequences.
Johnston said during a recent interview that he was prepared to protest against anything he believes is “illegal or immoral or un-American” in the city – including the use of military force.
During a Sunday morning interview on Face The Nation, Paul told anchor Margaret Brennan that Johnston’s plan is a “form of insurrection” that could see him removed from office.
BRENNAN: The stated Trump plan is to use the military or military assets, deputize the National Guard, and have them act as immigration agents. Do you believe that is lawful?
PAUL: You know, I’m 100% supportive of going after the 15,000 murderers, the 13,000 sexual assault perpetrators, rapist, all of these people. Let’s send them on their way to prison or back home to another prison. So I would say all points bulletin all in. But you don’t do it with the army because it’s illegal. And we’ve we’ve had a distrust of putting the army into our streets because the police have a difficult job. But the police understand the Fourth Amendment. They have to go to judges. They have to get warrants. It has to be specific. And so I’m for removing these people. But I would do it through the normal process of domestic policing.
Now, I would say that the mayor of Denver, if he’s going to resist federal law, which there’s a long standing, standing history of the supremacy of federal law, he’s going to resist that. It will go all the way to the Supreme Court. And I would suspect that he would be removed from office. I don’t know whether or not that would be a criminal prosecution for someone resisting federal law. But he will lose. And people need to realize that what he is offering is a form of insurrection where the states resist the federal government. Most people objected to that and rejected that long ago. So I think the mayor of Denver is on the wrong side of history and really, I think will face legal ramifications if he doesn’t obey the federal law.
The president-elect’s pick to be the next border czar responded that he’s willing to put the Denver Mayor in jail for outright flouting Trump’s policies.
“You are absolutely breaking the law,” Tom Homan, Trump’s “border czar” designate, told Fox News’ Sean Hannity. “All he has to do is look at Arizona v. U.S. and he would see he’s breaking the law. But, look, me and the Denver mayor, we agree on one thing. He’s willing to go to jail, I’m willing to put him in jail.”
Homan pointed to a statute that says it’s a “felony if you knowingly harbor and conceal an illegal alien from immigration authorities.”
Homan said they have to secure this country and save lives.
“President Trump has been clear, we want to concentrate on public safety threats and national security threats. I find it hard to believe that any governor would say they don’t want public safety threats removed from their neighborhoods,” he said.
A former Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) contractor has pleaded guilty to acting as an agent of Iran.
The Department of Justice announced on Wednesday that 42-year-old Abouzar Rahmati, a naturalized U.S. citizen and resident of Virginia, pleaded guilty to acting as an agent of Iran by pursuing an FAA job to gain access to information. From 2017 to 2024, Rahmati met with Iranian officials, communicated with security officials, and provided “non-public materials about the U.S. solar energy industry.”
According to the DOJ, it was Rahmati who offered his services to Iran:
In August 2017, Rahmati offered his services to the Iranian government through a senior Iranian government official who previously worked in Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security and with whom Rahmati had previously attended university. Four months later, in December 2017, Rahmati traveled to Iran, where he met with Iranian intelligence operatives and government officials and agreed to obtain information about the U.S. solar energy industry, to provide that information to Iranian officials, and to conduct future communications under a cover story based on purported discussions about research with fellow academics.
Rahmati previously was an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) 1st Lt., a branch of the Iranian Armed Forces, from June 2009 to May 2010. The IRGC is a designated terrorist group by the U.S. government.
The DOJ said Rahmati offered his services to Iran in August 2017 through a former colleague who was a senior Iranian government official who previously worked at the country’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security.
Rahmati traveled to Iran four months later and met with intelligence operatives and government officials, the DOJ said. He also agreed to gather and provide Iranian officials with information about the solar industry in the U.S.
Rahmati provided information “relating to solar energy, solar panels, the FAA, U.S. airports, and U.S. air traffic control towers” to his brother in Iran, which was then provided to government officials. He also at one point provided information related to “the National Aerospace System (NAS), Airport Surveillance Radar systems, and radio frequency data.”
In early 2018, Rahmati obtained private and open-source materials related to the U.S. solar industry, then provided them to the office of Iran’s Vice President for Science and Technology.
Rahmati is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 26, and he faces a maximum of 10 years in prison for acting as an agent of a foreign government, and up to five years in prison for conspiracy.
The guilty plea comes amidst President Donald Trump’s ongoing nuclear negotiations with Iran in which the president has warned military options are on the table should Iran not agree to never possess a nuclear weapon.
David B. Gleason from Chicago, IL, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
President Trump’s Cabinet is scheduled to meet at 11:30 a.m. today, with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth expected to face fresh questions over allegations that he helped direct — or enabled — a follow-up U.S. strike that killed survivors of an earlier attack on an alleged drug-smuggling boat in the Caribbean.
The controversy reignited after The Washington Post reported Friday that Hegseth verbally ordered that a Sept. 2 attack “kill everyone” on board a vessel the administration has described as a narcotics-smuggling threat. The report also said a second strike was carried out to eliminate people who survived the first hit — a claim that has fueled bipartisan demands for oversight and raised the specter of potential war-crimes exposure if investigators conclude the targets no longer posed an imminent threat.
By Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America – Pete Hegseth, CC BY-SA 2.0
White House: strike was lawful — and “in self-defense”
The Pentagon has pushed back on key elements of the reporting. But at the White House briefing Monday, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt did not deny that a follow-up strike occurred. Instead, she framed the Sept. 2 operation as lawful and defensive, saying it was conducted “in self-defense” in international waters and “in accordance with the law of armed conflict.”
Leavitt said: “On September 2nd, Secretary Hegseth authorized Admiral Bradley to conduct these kinetic strikes,” adding: “Admiral Bradley worked well within his authority and the law, directing the engagement to ensure the boat was destroyed and the threat to the United States of America was eliminated.”
Pressed on whether the admiral ordered a second strike because survivors remained after the first, Leavitt declined to discuss operational specifics — while emphasizing the admiral’s discretion. She also disputed the most incendiary allegation about Hegseth’s initial guidance, saying: “I would reject that the secretary of War ever said that,” before adding: “However, the president has made it quite clear that if narco-terrorists, again, are trafficking illegal drugs toward the United States, he has the authority to kill them.”
Why lawmakers are calling it a possible war-crimes issue
The allegations matter not just politically, but legally. Under the law of armed conflict, the permissibility of using lethal force often turns on whether a person remains a legitimate military target — for example, whether they pose an active threat or are otherwise directly participating in hostilities. If survivors were incapacitated and no longer threatening U.S. forces, critics argue a follow-up strike could violate established protections. That legal question is now central to the pressure campaign Congress is building around Hegseth and the Pentagon’s evidence.
The dispute has also exposed an ongoing split on Capitol Hill. Democrats — and some Republicans — have questioned both the proof that targeted boats were actually carrying drugs and the legal theory supporting repeated strikes without explicit congressional authorization.
Venezuela tensions raise the stakes for the meeting
The Cabinet session comes as U.S.-Venezuela tensions intensify, with the administration accusing President Nicolás Maduro of enabling drug trafficking. Reports indicate the White House is weighing broader options, and the strikes have become part of a larger argument about whether the U.S. is drifting toward a more direct confrontation.
Against that backdrop, today’s meeting is expected to put Hegseth “in the hot seat” internally as well as publicly: Cabinet gatherings are often where presidents and senior advisers test whether a controversy is containable — or whether it’s beginning to endanger other priorities.
The “Signal” scandal: why Hegseth is back under a familiar microscope
This is the most sustained scrutiny Hegseth has faced in months — and it echoes the Signal scandal that shook the Pentagon earlier this year.
In late March and early April 2025, reporting revealed that senior national security officials were discussing impending military operations in a Signal group chat, an encrypted but commercial messaging app not intended for classified coordination. Coverage described officials sharing sensitive operational details tied to strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen, and the episode triggered alarms about both national security risk and records retention.
The controversy escalated when additional reporting described a second Signal chat that allegedly included Hegseth’s wife, brother, and others in his circle — prompting the Pentagon’s watchdog to open a review into his Signal use and related compliance concerns.
Now, with allegations of a second strike and potential violations of the laws of war, critics argue the pattern is the same: discretion and aggressiveness first, oversight and guardrails later.
A retired four-star admiral who once served as the Navy’s second-highest ranking officer, was convicted of bribery and other conspiracy charges on Monday. The conviction marks the most senior member of the U.S. military ever convicted of committing a federal crime while on active duty.
Following a five-day trial, retired four-star Adm. Robert Burke, 62, was found guilty on Monday of a scheme to direct lucrative contracts to the training company Next Jump in exchange for a $500,000-a-year job after leaving the Navy, according to a news release from the Department of Justice.
Burke is facing up to 30 years in prison for his role in the scheme to direct contracts potentially worth millions of dollars to a New York City-based company that offered training programs to the Navy.
Burke, who served aboard attack and ballistic missile submarines, rose through the ranks to eventually become chief of naval personnel in 2016 followed by vice chief of naval operations in June 2019. He then took command of U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa and Allied Joint Forces Command in June 2020 before retiring in summer 2022.
Yongchul “Charlie” Kim and Meghan Messenger, co-CEOs of Next Jump, allegedly participated in the scheme to get a government contract in exchange for offering Burke a position with the company.
Kim and Messenger were each charged with bribery and conspiracy to commit bribery, according to the case’s unsealed indictment. They face trial in August, which is when Burke will be sentenced.
Kim and Messenger, via their company Next Jump, provided a workforce training pilot program to a small component of the Navy from August 2018 through July 2019. However, the deal appeared to go downhill and the Navy terminated a contract with the company in late 2019 and directed it not to contact Burke.
But in summer 2021, Messenger and Kim met with Burke in Washington, D.C., to reestablish their company’s business relationship with the Navy. While at the meeting, the two “agreed that Burke would use his position as a Navy Admiral to steer a contract” to their firm — as well as influence other Navy officers to award another contract to the company — in exchange for his future employment there, according to the Justice Department.
Burke in December 2021 then ordered his staff to award a $355,000 contract to Next Jump to train personnel under Burke’s command in Italy and Spain, which the company performed in January 2022.
In October 2022, Burke began working at Next Jump with an annual salary of $500,000 and a grant of $100,000 in stock options.
Burke was accused of making several false and misleading statements to the Navy to conceal the scheme, such as implying that his discussions to join Next Jump began months after the contract was awarded.
“When you abuse your position and betray the public trust to line your own pockets, it undermines the confidence in the government you represent,” U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro wrote in a post on X following the conviction.
When you abuse your position and betray the public trust to line your own pockets, it undermines the confidence in the government you represent. Our office, with our law enforcement partners, will root out corruption – be it bribes or illegal contracts – and hold accountable the… https://t.co/Qp3iJC0hI5
President Donald Trump announced Friday that he plans to expand his crime crackdown strategy to Chicago, calling the city “a mess” and signaling more federal involvement in local law enforcement.
This move comes after the recent federal takeover of the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department and the deployment of federal agents — including National Guard troops — across Washington, D.C., as part of the administration’s ongoing law-and-order agenda.
“After we do this will go to another location, and we’ll make it safe, also. We’re going to make our country very safe,” Trump said to reporters while seated at the Resolute desk. “We’re going to make our cities very, very safe. Chicago’s a mess.”
🚨 BREAKING – CHICAGO IS NEXT: It's official, President Trump will SURGE federal resources and/or National Guard to the blue crime-infested city of CHICAGO after the mission in DC is complete
"African American ladies, beautiful ladies, they're saying, PLEASE President Trump,… pic.twitter.com/Wg6TOVlMCI
Unsurprisingly, progressive Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson isn’t on board. In recent weeks, he has fired back at Trump’s threats, touting a supposed drop in crime under his leadership. Johnson points to homicides being down more than 30% and shootings nearly 40% compared with last year.
He also warned that bringing in the National Guard would only make matters worse, calling it “destabilizing.” Johnson pointed to the Trump administration’s record, arguing that its $158 million cut to violence prevention funding created upheaval in underserved communities.
Gov. JB Pritzker — widely seen as a likely 2028 presidential contender — also pushed back, accusing Trump of making personal attacks and defending Illinois’ progressive approach to criminal justice reform.
During his 2024 presidential campaign, Trump threatened to federalize D.C. because of the city’s struggle to control crime. The Aug. 3 attempted carjacking and brutal beating of a former Department of Government Efficiency staffer brought the issue back to the spotlight, sparking national debate. The following week, on Aug. 11, Trump declared a crime emergency in D.C., sparking the federal takeover.
“The city government’s failure to maintain public order and safety has had a dire impact on the federal government’s ability to operate efficiently to address the nation’s broader interests without fear of our workers being subjected to rampant violence,” Trump’s executive order read.
On Friday, Trump declared on Truth Social that D.C. was “safe again” and that it would soon “be great again.” He also praised law enforcement personnel for “doing a fantastic job.”
Under the Posse Comitatus Act and the 10th Amendment, the president can’t deploy federal or National Guard troops into a state without the governor’s approval — unless certain rare conditions are met. Without that consent, the move would almost certainly trigger a constitutional fight.
A West Virginia woman was arrested in Ripley over the weekend after authorities said she used social media to issue threats against President Donald Trump.
Police arrested 39-year-old Morgan L. Morrow and charged her with making terroristic threats. Investigators allege Morrow attempted to recruit others online to help carry out violence against the president. (RELATED: Suspect Held Without Bail After Alleged Assault On Congressman)
According to the New York Post, Morrow was arrested over a TikTok video suggesting that finding a terminally ill sniper among 343 million Americans should not be difficult. The remark was cited in a criminal complaint obtained by Charleston-Huntington’s WOWK.
Morrow is being held at the South Central Regional Jail. No bond has been set, and the investigation remains ongoing.
BREAKING UPDATE: West Virginia librarian Morgan Morrow has been ARRESTED following our reporting of her post appearing to recruit individuals to ass*ssinate Trump.
The Jackson County Public Library staffer was detained at her home and allegedly admitted to police that the TikTok was “intended as a threat directed toward President Donald J. Trump.”
Morrow revealed her “personal reasons for wishing harm upon the president,” according to the complaint, which did not elaborate on what they were.
Morrow claimed she had no intention to personally carry out the threat, the complaint said.
But deputies said such statements are “designed to encourage, inspire or entice others to carry out the threatened act, regardless of whether the speaker publicly intends to personally do so.”
The arrest comes amid heightened scrutiny of threats against public officials. In recent years, federal authorities have prosecuted multiple cases involving threats, plots, or attempts targeting President Trump.
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The man accused of attempting to assassinate former President Donald Trump at his Florida golf course in September filed a motion requesting the judge recuse herself from the case.
Ryan Routh’s legal team raised concerns about Judge Aileen Cannon’s impartiality due to her appointment by Trump and the former president’s public praise of her judicial decisions regarding his classified documents case, according to the motion.
Routh’s attorneys argued that the unique nature of the case could lead the public to question the fairness of the proceedings.
“Mr. Trump is the current Republican candidate for President in next month’s election. On the campaign trail, he has repeatedly praised Your Honor for her rulings in his case,” the motion stated. “By repeatedly and publicly praising this Court by name for its rulings in his case, Mr. Trump has arguably bolstered the perception that the Court is partial in his favor. Moreover, were Mr. Trump to become President again in the future, he would be in a position to nominate Your Honor to a vacancy on a higher appellate court, including the U.S. Supreme Court.”
The defense highlighted the potential conflict of interest, given Trump’s role as the alleged victim in this case.
“As the alleged victim here, he has a significant stake in the outcome of this case too. Were he to become President in the future, he would have authority to nominate Your Honor to a federal judgeship on a higher court were a vacancy to arise.”
Cannon previously granted former Trump’s motion to dismiss the classified documents case in July, siding with his argument that Special Counsel Jack Smith’s appointment was unconstitutional.
White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles delivers remarks during the Memorial Service for Charlie Kirk at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, Sunday, September 21, 2025.(Official White House Photo by Daniel Torok)
An attorney representing White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles in 2023 is disputing claims that he agreed to allow the FBI to record a phone call with his client without her knowledge, according to a report from Axios.
“If I ever pulled a stunt like that I wouldn’t – and shouldn’t – have a license to practice law,” the unidentified attorney told Axios. “I’m as shocked as Susie.”
The denial comes amid renewed scrutiny over the FBI’s investigative tactics during Special Counsel Jack Smith’s probes into President Donald Trump ahead of the 2024 election.
Wiles, who managed Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign and now serves as White House chief of staff, was reportedly stunned to learn that the FBI subpoenaed her phone records in 2022 and 2023 as part of those investigations. According to Axios, she told associates, “I am in shock.”
Reuters first reported the subpoenas, which were issued during Smith’s investigations into Trump’s efforts to challenge the 2020 election results and his handling of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago.
According to Fox News, the records obtained through subpoena included toll data — such as phone numbers and the dates and times of calls — but did not include the content of conversations.
The controversy escalated after two FBI officials reportedly claimed that agents recorded a 2023 phone call between Wiles and her attorney. The officials alleged that the attorney was aware the call was being recorded and gave consent, though Wiles herself was not informed.
However, the attorney has “categorically” denied consenting to any recording, Axios reporter Marc Caputo wrote on X. Wiles reportedly believes her lawyer and suspects that Biden-era FBI officials may have misrepresented what occurred.
Separately, Fox News Digital reported that at least 10 FBI employees were fired Wednesday in connection with the matter.
The developments have drawn strong reactions from Trump allies and conservative commentators.
Trump 2024 co-campaign manager Chris LaCivita wrote on X that he knows the attorney and believes him, calling the situation “a violation of basic constitutional rights every American has” and urging accountability.
OutKick founder Clay Travis also weighed in, writing, “So the lawyer Biden’s FBI eavesdropped on during a call with Susie Wiles said he had no idea it happened. This is a huge story. Biden’s FBI spied on Trump’s campaign manager in the 2024 campaign.”
In a separate statement obtained by Fox News Digital, Patel — whose phone records were also reportedly subpoenaed — criticized prior FBI leadership.
“It is outrageous and deeply alarming that the previous FBI leadership secretly subpoenaed my own phone records — along with those of now White House chief of staff Susie Wiles — using flimsy pretexts and burying the entire process in prohibited case files designed to evade all oversight,” Patel said.
Two brothers from Absecon, New Jersey, were arrested Tuesday and charged in connection with alleged online threats targeting Tricia McLaughlin, the Department of Homeland Security’s Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs and a top public-facing spokesperson for Secretary Kristi Noem, authorities said.
Ricardo Antonio Roman-Flores and Emilio Roman-Flores, who are twins, were taken into custody after investigators alleged they posted violent statements on X about McLaughlin and federal immigration officers, including an alleged call to “Shoot ICE on sight,” according to the account of the case shared by law enforcement officials.
Investigators allege one brother responded to McLaughlin with: “[The Second] Amendment is in place for moments like this. Shoot ICE on sight,” followed by: “We Americans should find you, tar you, feather you, and hang you as we did to anyone serving tyrants before the Revolutionary War.” A second, partially redacted post attributed to the other brother reportedly read: “Shoot ICE on sight.”
Prosecutors say the threats went further—allegedly escalating to talk of torturing and killing McLaughlin “in a medieval fashion.” McLaughlin has been front-and-center defending DHS enforcement actions on TV and online, and she’s repeatedly framed threats against officers as downstream of increasingly incendiary politics around immigration.
The charge sheet, as described, splits like this:
Emilio: unlawful possession of an assault weapon, possession of prohibited weapons, conspiracy, terroristic threats, criminal coercion and cyber harassment.
Ricardo: one count of conspiracy—terroristic threats.
ICE Director Todd Lyons said the arrests came within three days of the alleged posts and warned that threats against federal officials will be prosecuted. “We will find you, we will arrest you, and we will prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law. We are not afraid of you,” Lyons told Fox News Digital. He added: “If you threaten our law enforcement or DHS officials, we will hunt you down, and you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
FOX NEWS ALERT: Two New Jersey brothers have been arrested and charged with threatening to torture, hang, and kiII DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin.
Twin brothers Ricardo Antonio Roman-Flores and Emilio Roman-Flores from Absecon, New Jersey,… pic.twitter.com/78dl6SVmZr
DHS is trying to make a broader point: this isn’t just one ugly thread online—it’s part of a threat environment they say has intensified alongside the administration’s border crackdown. In a DHS release dated Oct. 30, 2025, the department claimed ICE personnel have faced an “8,000% increase in death threats,” citing harassment and threats aimed at officers and their families.
The issue has also surfaced in recent disputes over whether public-facing tools that track immigration enforcement activity endanger federal officers. In a Reuters report published Monday, a developer sued the Trump administration after an app that let users share locations of immigration agents was removed from Apple’s store; the administration cited safety concerns for federal officers, while the developer argued the app relied on public observations.
