Politics
Wide-ranging group of US officials pursues Trump’s fight against ‘Deep State’
- Focus on retribution for Jan 6, Trump cases, Russia probe: source
- Documents show nearly 40 people involved from across government
- Group created to carry out Trump’s weaponisation order: ODNI
A group of dozens of officials from across the federal government, including US intelligence officers, has been helping to steer President Donald Trump’s drive for retribution against his perceived enemies, according to government records and a source familiar with the effort.
The Interagency Weaponisation Working Group, which has been meeting since at least May, has drawn officials from the White House, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the Central Intelligence Agency, the Justice and Defense Departments, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Homeland Security, the Internal Revenue Service and the Federal Communications Commission, among other agencies, two of the documents show.
Trump issued an executive order on his inauguration day in January instructing the attorney general to work with other federal agencies “to identify and take appropriate action to correct past misconduct by the federal government related to the weaponisation of law enforcement and the weaponisation of the Intelligence Community.”
Attorney General Pam Bondi and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard earlier this year announced groups within their agencies to “root out” those who they say misused government power against Trump.
Shortly after Reuters asked the agencies for comment on Monday, Fox News reported the existence of the group, citing Gabbard as saying she “stood up this working group.” Key details in the Reuters story are previously unreported.
Several US officials confirmed the existence of the Interagency Weaponisation Working Group to Reuters in response to the questions and said the group’s purpose was to carry out Trump’s executive order.
“None of this reporting is new,” said a White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
ODNI spokeswoman Olivia Coleman said, “Americans deserve a government committed to deweaponising, depoliticising and ensuring that power is never again turned against the people it’s meant to serve.”
The existence of the interagency group indicates the administration’s push to deploy government power against Trump’s perceived foes is broader and more systematic than previously reported. Interagency working groups in government typically forge administration policies, share information and agree on joint actions.
Trump and his allies use the term “weaponisation” to refer to their unproven claims that officials from previous administrations abused federal power to target him during his two impeachments, his criminal prosecutions, and the investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election.
The interagency group’s mission is “basically to go after ‘the Deep State,’” the source said. The term is used by Trump and his supporters to refer to the president’s perceived foes from the Obama and Biden administrations and his own first term.
Reuters could not determine the extent to which the interagency group has put its plans into action. The news agency also could not establish Trump’s involvement in the group.
Biden, Comey, others reportedly discussed
Among those discussed by the interagency group, the source said, were former FBI Director James Comey; Anthony Fauci, Trump’s chief medical advisor on the COVID-19 pandemic; and former top US military commanders who implemented orders to make COVID-19 vaccinations compulsory for servicemembers. Discussions of potential targets have ranged beyond current and former government employees to include former President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter, the source said.
A senior ODNI official disputed that account and said there was “no targeting of any individual person for retribution.”
“IWWG is simply looking at available facts and evidence that may point to actions, reports, agencies, individuals, etc. who illegally weaponised the government in order to carry out political attacks,” the official said.
Lawyers for Comey and Hunter Biden did not immediately respond to requests for comment, and there was no immediate response from Fauci.
Reuters reviewed more than 20 government records and identified the names of 39 people involved in the interagency group. Five of the records concerned the interagency group, five pertained to the Weaponisation Working Group that Bondi announced in February, and nine referred to a smaller subgroup of employees from DOJ and several other agencies that remain focused on the January 6, 2021, attack by Trump supporters on the US Capitol.
The source said an important player in the interagency group is Justice Department attorney Ed Martin, who failed in May to win Senate support to become US attorney for Washington after lawmakers expressed concern about his support for January 6 rioters. Martin, who also oversees Bondi’s DOJ weaponisation group, is the department’s pardon attorney.
Martin did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Other people working in or with the group include COVID-19 vaccine mandate opponents and proponents of Trump’s false claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him, according to a Reuters review of their social media accounts and public statements.
A Justice Department spokesperson acknowledged that Bondi and Gabbard were ordered by Trump to undertake a review of alleged acts of “weaponisation” by previous administrations but did not comment specifically on the Interagency Weaponisation Working Group’s activities.
Reuters could not determine whether the group has powers to take any action or instruct agencies to act or if its role is more advisory.
Russia probe and Jan 6 prosecutions were issues
The source said ODNI official Paul McNamara was a leading figure in the interagency group. McNamara is a retired US Marine officer and an aide to Gabbard. Two other sources said McNamara oversees Gabbard’s Directors Initiatives Group (DIG), as first reported by the Washington Post. He is among at least 10 ODNI officials associated with the interagency group, two documents show.
McNamara did not respond to an email making a request for comment.
Senators from both parties have already raised questions about the DIG’s operations, with Republicans and Democrats approving a defense budget bill this month containing a measure requiring Gabbard to disclose the group’s members, their roles and funding and how they received security clearances.
The source recalled the group being told that the ODNI, which oversees the 18-agency US intelligence community, had begun using what they called “technical tools” to search an unclassified communications network for evidence of the “deep state” and hoped to expand its search to classified networks known as the Secure Internet Protocol Router, or SIPRnet, and the Joint Worldwide Intelligence Communications System, or JWICS.
The ODNI official disputed this as inaccurate and “not how the systems operate.” Reuters could not obtain independent information about the tools.
A “big pillar they pushed” at the interagency group, said the source, was purging officials involved in investigating Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election and in compiling a 2017 multi-agency US intelligence assessment that determined Moscow attempted to sway the race to Trump.
Gabbard said in July that the DIG had found documents showing former President Barack Obama ordered intelligence agencies to manufacture the 2017 assessment – charges an Obama spokesperson rejected as “bizarre.”
The 2017 assessment’s conclusion was corroborated by a bipartisan Senate intelligence committee report released in August 2020 and by a review ordered earlier this year by CIA Director John Ratcliffe.
Another focus for the interagency group was retribution for the prosecution of the January 6 rioters, said the source.
Bondi tasked the DOJ Weaponisation Working Group with reviewing the J6 prosecutions. Some of the documents seen by Reuters show that a smaller sub-set of employees from across the government have been convening on the topic. The Justice Department denied in its statement to Reuters that a separate January 6 group exists.
Among other issues the source recalled being discussed were the Jeffrey Epstein files, the prosecutions of Trump advisers Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro, and the possibility of stripping security clearances from transgender US officials. Reuters could not independently confirm these were the subject of discussions.
The White House official said the Epstein files “have not been part of the conversation.” The official also disputed Reuters’ characterisation of what the working group has focused on.
The senior ODNI official also denied the group discussed the Epstein files, revoking security clearance for transgender officials or Bannon and Navarro’s cases.
Bannon did not respond to a request for comment. Navarro said his case was an example of Biden’s weaponisation of government.
Many people involved have been vocal Trump backers
The five documents pertaining to the interagency group indicate the involvement of at least 39 current and former officials from across the government.
In one document written before a spring gathering of the interagency group, ODNI official Carolyn Rocco said she hoped participants could help each other “understand current implications of past weaponisation.”
Reuters could not determine Rocco’s position at the ODNI; the office only makes public the names of top officers.
The source identified her as one of two former US Air Force officers involved with the group who work for Gabbard and have been vocal opponents of the COVID-19 vaccine mandate in the military. Rocco signed a January 1, 2024, open letter pledging to seek court-martials for senior military commanders who made the shots mandatory for service members.
Rocco did not respond to an emailed request for comment.
Some people on the list Reuters compiled from the documents it reviewed related to the interagency group have amplified Trump’s false election fraud claims.
One is former West Virginia secretary of state Andrew McCoy “Mac” Warner, according to two documents. Now an attorney in the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, Warner alleged while running for West Virginia governor in 2023 that the CIA “stole” the 2020 election from Trump.
Warner did not respond to a request for comment.
Other names found in two of the documents include at least four White House officials, an aide to Vice President JD Vance, and at least seven Justice Department officials, including former FBI agent Jared Wise, who was prosecuted for joining the January 6 assault and is now on Bondi’s DOJ weaponisation group.
Wise did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Two of the documents show the involvement of two CIA officers but Reuters could not determine what roles they may have played in the interagency group. The CIA is legally prohibited from conducting operations against Americans or inside the US except under very limited and specific circumstances.
The CIA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Officials from other federal agencies that have some involvement in the interagency working group, including the FCC, the FBI and the IRS, did not respond to requests for comment. The DOD did not respond to a request for comment.
A DHS spokesperson said the agency is working with other federal departments to “reverse the harm caused by the prior administration.”
VIENNA: Austria deported an Afghan national back to his home country on Tuesday for the first time since the Taliban seized power there four years ago, and the conservative-led coalition government in Vienna said that more would follow soon.
The government has made fighting illegal immigration a top priority, apparently seeking to erode support for the far-right Freedom Party, or FPO, by focusing on one of its core issues.
The three-party ruling coalition of centrist parties took office in March after the FPO won a parliamentary election but failed to form a governing alliance. The FPO has maintained its lead in opinion polls.
“This morning, a man convicted of serious crimes was deported to Kabul — the first deportation to Afghanistan since 2021,” Chancellor Christian Stocker of the conservative Austrian People’s Party wrote on X.
“Austria is thus sending a clear message: zero tolerance for anyone who has forfeited their right to remain by committing criminal offences,” he added.
In July, Austria became the first European Union country to deport a Syrian back to their home country since the civil war there broke out, despite objections by human rights groups that it was too soon to know if it was safe to do so.
Austria has been saying for months that it hopes to resume deportations to Afghanistan despite similar objections.
Amnesty International said in a statement that Afghanistan remains one of the most dangerous countries in the world.
“Anyone who deports people to a state that commits crimes against its own people is deliberately denying protection and breaking the law,” it said, adding: “This betrayal of human rights must be stopped immediately!”
Syria and Afghanistan are the top countries of origin of asylum-seekers in Austria. The government has said that initially those deported will primarily be criminal offenders.
“The Interior Ministry under Gerhard Karner is preparing further deportations,” Stocker said.
The deportation comes just a day after the European Union said that it has “initiated exploratory contacts” with the Taliban regime to boost deportations of failed asylum seekers.
A majority of EU nations had urged Brussels to reach out to Kabul to boost expulsions.
In a letter initiated by Belgium, 20 EU member states urged the European Commission to take action to enable both voluntary and forced returns of Afghans with no right to stay.
- Takaichi becomes Japan’s first female prime minister.
- Takaichi’s election marks a shift to the right in Japan.
- Equity markets optimistic about Takaichi’s economic policies.
Hardline conservative Sanae Takaichi was elected Japan’s first female prime minister on Tuesday, shattering the political glass ceiling and setting the country up for a decisive turn to the right.
An acolyte of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and an admirer of Britain’s Margaret Thatcher, Takaichi is expected to return to Abe-style government stimulus as she attempts to jumpstart an economy saddled with slow growth and rising prices.
While her victory marks a pivotal moment for a country where men still hold overwhelming sway, she named just two women to her cabinet, far fewer than what she had promised.
Takaichi is also likely to usher in a sharp move to the right on issues such as immigration and defence, making her the latest leader in tune with the broader rightward shift in global politics.
She received 237 votes in the election in parliament’s 465-seat lower house on Tuesday and then won a similar vote in the less powerful upper house.
Her victory was secured after her Liberal Democratic Party, which has governed Japan for most of its postwar history, agreed on Monday to form a coalition with the right-wing Japan Innovation Party, known as Ishin.
Together, the parties are two seats short of a majority in the lower house. That means Takaichi’s success will depend on her winning the cooperation of more opposition lawmakers, said Tadashi Mori, a professor of politics at Aichi Gakuin University.
“The two parties do not command a majority in either chamber, and to ensure a stable government and gain control of key parliamentary committees, they will need to secure more than half the seats,” he said.
Previous coalition broke up after quarter-century
Takaichi takes over when Japanese politics appears more fractured than at almost any other time in recent memory, thanks in part to the rise of the smaller, hard-right Sanseito Party, which has siphoned voters away from the LDP.
“Since former Prime Minister Abe passed away, we’ve felt that both national politics and the LDP itself have drifted leftward,” Sanseito head Sohei Komiya told broadcaster NHK, adding he hoped Takaichi would steer national politics back to the middle.
“While we won’t hesitate to oppose her when necessary, we intend to maintain a friendly working relationship,” he said.
The LDP’s former coalition partner, the more moderate Komeito, broke up their 26-year-old alliance this month after the LDP chose the right-wing Takaichi as its new leader.
No ‘Nordic’ cabinet after all
Takaichi named just two women to her cabinet: fellow Abe disciple, Satsuki Katayama, became the country’s first female finance minister, while Kimi Onoda became economic security minister.
In her leadership campaign, she promised to boost the number of women in the cabinet to match socially progressive Nordic countries. The percentage of female ministers in Nordic governments ranges from Denmark’s 36% to Finland’s 61%. Under Takaichi, women will make up 16% of Japan’s cabinet, including her.
“Only two female ministers, no surprise,” said Yoko Otsuka a professor of welfare policy and gender studies at Ritsumeikan University. “A female prime minister might slightly improve Japan’s Global Gender Gap Index ranking, but the reality barely changes.”
Takaichi trade moves stocks higher
Takaichi’s endorsement of Abe-style fiscal stimulus has prompted a so-called “Takaichi trade” in the stock market, sending the Nikkei share average to record highs, the most recent on Tuesday. But it has also caused investor unease about the government’s ability to pay for more spending in a country where the debt load far outweighs annual output. Both the yen and bond prices have weakened as a result.
Any attempt to revive Abenomics could also run into trouble because the policy was devised to fight deflation, not higher prices, said Aichi Gakuin’s Mori.
Some analysts say Ishin, which has advocated for budget cuts, could restrain some of Takaichi’s spending ambitions.
Takaichi has said defence and national security would be core pillars of any administration she led. She pledged to raise defence spending, deepen cooperation with the United States and other security partners. US President Donald Trump may visit as early as her first week in office.
A frequent visitor to the Yasukuni war shrine in Tokyo that some Asian neighbours view as a symbol of wartime aggression, Takaichi has also called for a revision of Japan’s postwar pacifist constitution to recognise the existence of the nation’s military forces.
Rising political star Shinjiro Koizumi will serve as defence minister while veteran lawmaker Toshimitsu Motegi will be foreign minister.
Takaichi will be sworn in as Japan’s 104th prime minister on Tuesday evening to succeed the incumbent Shigeru Ishiba, who last month announced his resignation to take responsibility for election losses.
French police on Tuesday stepped up the hunt for thieves who stole priceless royal jewels from the Louvre museum, as scrutiny mounted over security at the country’s cultural institutions.
Sunday’s audacious daylight robbery— which lasted just seven minutes— was the latest in a string of thefts from French museums in recent months, and has left authorities scrambling to increase protection measures.
In a separate case, a prosecutor said on Tuesday that a Chinese woman had been charged over taking part in the theft of more than $1 million worth of gold nuggets from another Paris museum last month.
Scores of investigators were still looking for Sunday’s culprits, working on the theory that it was an organised crime group that clambered up a ladder on a truck to break into the museum, then dropped a diamond-studded crown as they fled.
Detectives were scouring video camera footage from around the Louvre as well as of main highways out of Paris for signs of the four robbers, who escaped on scooters.
‘Worrying level of obsolescence’
The heist has reignited a row over the lack of security in French museums, after two other institutions were hit last month.
A report by France’s Court of Auditors seen by AFP covering 2019 to 2024 points to a “persistent” delay in security upgrades at the Louvre. Only a fourth of one wing was covered by video surveillance.
In January, Louvre president Laurence des Cars warned Culture Minister Rachida Dati of a “worrying level of obsolescence”, citing the urgent need for major renovations.
Interior Minister Laurent Nunez on Monday said he would tighten security outside cultural institutions.
In Sunday’s heist, thieves parked a truck with an extendable ladder, like those used by movers, below the museum’s Apollo Gallery shortly after it opened, climbing up and using cutting equipment to get through a window and open the display cases to steal the jewellery.
They made off with eight priceless pieces, including an emerald-and-diamond necklace that Napoleon I gave his wife, Empress Marie-Louise and a diadem that once belonged to the Empress Eugenie, which is dotted with nearly 2,000 diamonds.
The museum on Tuesday hit back at criticism that the display cases protecting the jewellery were fragile, saying they were installed in 2019 and “represented a considerable improvement in terms of security”.
Chinese arrest
Just last month, criminals broke into Paris’s Natural History Museum, making off with gold nuggets worth more than $1.5 million.
French authorities announced on Tuesday a 24-year-old Chinese woman has been charged and put in detention in that case after she was arrested in Barcelona, while trying to dispose of nearly one kilogramme (2.2 pounds) of melted gold pieces.
Also last month, thieves stole two dishes and a vase from a museum in the central city of Limoges, the losses estimated at $7.6 million.
“Museums are increasingly targeted for the valuable works they hold,” according to the Central Office for the Fight against Trafficking in Cultural Property.
Labour unions have complained that security staff positions at the Louvre have been cut, even as attendance at the world-famous museum, whose extensive collections include the Mona Lisa, has soared.
“We cannot do without physical surveillance,” on union source said.
The Louvre was shut per its usual schedule on Tuesday, having been closed on Sunday and Monday after the heist, leaving crowds of disappointed tourists.
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