Worth Knowing, Probably Not Quite Threadworthy 1/14

[SVPete]

Patel fired 'corrupt' FBI agents in anti-Trump Arctic Frost inquiry who 'weaponized' law enforcement

https://justthenews.com/government/courts-law/patel-fired-corrupt-fbi-agents-anti-trump-arctic-frost-inquiry-who-weaponized

FBI Director Kash Patel revealed Monday that he had fired the “corrupt” FBI agents involved in the bureau’s anti-Trump Arctic Frost investigation who had “weaponized” the law enforcement agency after President Donald Trump on Monday shared new revelations unearthed by Just the News.

An FBI supervisor who openly opposed Trump on social media played a crucial role in igniting the controversial Arctic Frost probe in 2022 related to January 6, with the bureau special agent pressing to add the former president as a formal subject of the investigation and circulating articles from liberal activists and leftwing news sources to make his case, according to evidence recently turned over to Congress and published by Just the News over the weekend.

“These FBI Agents are total Scum, in their own way no better than the insurrectionists in Portland, Minnesota, Los Angeles, etc. Kash better get them out, NOW!” Trump said in a Monday post on his Truth Social account. “Radical Left Lunatics put in by the ‘Auto Pen’ [Biden] and Obama!”

Patel quickly responded with a Truth Social post of his own.

“Thank you Mr. President. Under your leadership, this FBI found the corrupt actors and terminated their employment last year,” the FBI director said. “America voted for the end of weaponized law enforcement, and that’s what we are delivering.”

A real investigation does not start with pre-written conclusions. Those who wrote the conclusions of the shamvestigations need, minimally, to be canned and banned from government jobs.

[SVPete]

‘Drill, Baby, Drill’ is Back: Federal Oil, Gas Permits Soar Under Trump

https://legalinsurrection.com/2026/01/drill-baby-drill-is-back-federal-oil-gas-permits-soar-under-trump/?vcrmeid=AdEPVTydE2aQ2GlvtA8qQ&vcrmiid=0oExZwPDEEuWAhaWn0tLDQ

“Drill, baby, drill” was the prime plank in Donald Trump’s platform when he ran for president.

It’s back, as oil and gas permitting has increased sharply in Trump’s second term, with federal drilling approvals and lease sales on public lands and offshore areas accelerating over the last year and continuing to surge in recent months.

The Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management approved 5,742 permits to drill between Jan. 20, 2025 — the first day of President Donald Trump’s second term — and Jan. 6 of this year, according to data from the agency.

That dwarfs the 3,696 approvals issued over the comparable period in 2024-2025 under former President Joe Biden. BLM also held 22 lease sales in 2025, leasing some 328,000 new acres of public land across 10 states for oil and gas development.

“As promised, the Trump Administration has cut burdensome, unnecessary red tape and approved permits at record speed to unleash American energy,” White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers said in a statement Friday. “President Trump’s energy dominance agenda is restoring the ability for oil and gas companies to ‘DRILL, BABY, DRILL’ which why gas prices have hit a new multi-year low.”

As an addendum to the article's comment about CA gas prices, yes, they are higher. This is "courtesy" of higher state taxes/fees and state gooberment harassment of refineries, but at the same time, CA gas prices are $1.00-$1.50 per gallon than the prices were during most of the LIEden MalAdministration.

[SSG Snuggle Bunny]

‘Drill, Baby, Drill’ is Back: Federal Oil, Gas Permits Soar Under Trump

Opening up American domestic drilling is why we have to steal oil from Venezuela and Iran...or something.

[SVPete]

Opening up American domestic drilling is why we have to steal oil from Venezuela and Iran...or something.

Sadly, I have seen some conservatives buying the idea that the Maduro operation was all about oil. We may be hearing "No Blood For Oil" 3.0, but it's still as stupid as versions 1.0 (Gulf War) and 2.0 (Iraq invasion).

[enslaved1]

Over 12,000 feared dead after Iran protests, as video shows bodies lined up at morgue

Information trickling out of Iran on Tuesday suggests that a crackdown by authorities to end more than two weeks of widespread anti-government protests has likely been far more deadly than activists outside the country have reported. With phone lines opening back up for calls from inside the Islamic Republic, two sources, including one inside Iran, told CBS News on Tuesday that at least 12,000, and possibly as many as 20,000 people have been killed.

Britain's Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said in Parliament on Tuesday that the U.K. government believed there "may have been 2,000 people killed, there have been more. My fear is that the number may prove to be significantly higher."

The truth has been incredibly difficult to piece together due to Iran's hardline rulers cutting off internet access and phone service in the country for the last five days. While a complete internet shutdown in Iran remained in place for a fifth day, some Iranians were able to make phone calls out of the country on Tuesday, though it was still not possible to call into Iran from outside.

Information coming out is still spotty, because the Iranian government shut off the internet (apparently Musk has opened up Starlink connections) but this is mostly for the lurkers who 1) do not seem to be talking too much about this revolt against a dictatorship and 2) really think what's going on here, even if one isn't 100% on board with the administration's choices and actions, is anything close to a totalitarian tyranny.  There's more bodies in the single pictured makeshift morgue than ICE has racked up, even if one wants to argue any of those deaths/injuries were not justified self-defense.
 

[enslaved1]

Suspended Michigan autoworker who heckled Trump gets outpouring of donations

Tens of thousands of dollars have been raised for an autoworker at a Ford plant in Michigan who was suspended without pay after heckling Donald Trump.

TJ Sabula is said to have called the president a “pedophile protector” as Trump toured the automotive giant’s River Rouge complex on Tuesday.

Trump then appeared to give Sabula the middle finger, according to a video published by celebrity news and gossip site TMZ, which claimed that Trump also yelled obscenities prior to making the gesture.

Fascinating how much money can appear from the folks who think we need to tax the rich to pay for everyone's needs when they want to virtue signal, isn't it? 

[SVPete]

I'm good with Progs flushing into this twit's pockets money that could have been used for something vastly worse.

[SVPete]

Republican senators subpoena phone companies for names of those targeted in Arctic Frost probe

https://justthenews.com/government/congress/republican-senators-subpoena-phone-companies-names-those-targeted-arctic-frost

Republican Sen. Ron Johnson on Wednesday subpoenaed three telecommunications companies for unredacted records related to Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith’s Jan. 6 investigation that swept up data on more than 400 individuals including their phone records.

Johnson previously requested such records from the companies, including AT&T, Verizon, and Lumen, but their responses were heavily redacted or failed to provide “the names of the individuals or entities associated with the phone numbers in the subpoenas,” said Grassley, of Iowa, and Johnson, of Wisconsin.

The subpoenas were sent by Johnson’s Homeland Security Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations and the cover letters were co-signed by Grassley, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, who has also probed special counsel Smith.

Documents released by the pair last year showed that the Biden administration's FBI opened an investigation into President Donald Trump and hundreds of his allies over their Jan. 6 activities with weak evidence, which included obtaining phone records and geolocations of prominent lawmakers, Just the News previously reported.

The targets of Smith's abuse of power need to know the extent of his targeting and abuse.

[SVPete]

Justice Department Shuts Down ‘Fake News’ Report Alleging ‘Mass Resignation’ Over ICE Incident

https://www.dailywire.com/news/justice-department-shuts-down-fake-news-report-alleging-mass-resignation-over-ice-incident

WASHINGTON—The Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division says there is no merit to an MS Now report alleging that top DOJ officials quit their jobs over an alleged division decision not to investigate the fatal ICE shooting of Renee Good.

The report from the outlet formerly known as MSNBC alleged that at least four officials from the Civil Rights Division resigned “in protest over the administration’s handling” of Good’s death, citing “three people briefed on the departures.”

MS Now reported that their frustration was specifically with Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon for her decision not to investigate the incident, writing that the departures “represent the most significant mass resignation at the Justice Department since February.”

There’s a problem with this reporting, however: according to Dhillon and her staff, there has not been a single resignation over the incident.

Fact-checking is Reich-wing when it threatens annoymorously-sourced claims Progs want to be true.

[SVPete]

Supreme Court says Illinois congressman can sue over state mail-in voting laws

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/supreme-court-says-illinois-congressman-can-sue-over-state-mail-in-voting-laws

The Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that federal candidates have the right to challenge state election laws that govern the counting of ballots in their states, clearing the way for an expected flurry of new lawsuits in the run-up to this year's midterm elections.

Justices ruled 7-2 that candidates running for federal office have the standing to sue state election boards over their counting of ballots – including challenging laws that allow for the counting of late-arriving mail-in ballots.

"Candidates, in short, are not ‘mere bystanders’ in their own elections," Chief Justice John Roberts said, writing for the majority. "They have an obvious personal stake in how the result is determined and regarded."

  Candidates for office have a valid interest that elections not be tainted with fraud? Who knew?

[SVPete]

JD Vance's Office Corrects WSJ for Peddling Fake News About VP's Stance on Iran

https://townhall.com/tipsheet/mattvespa/2026/01/13/no-jd-vance-isnt-breaking-with-trump-on-possible-strikes-on-iran-n2669390

The Wall Street Journal, or swamp forces in general, because this is DC, decided to chum the waters by peddling a narrative about an alleged split between President Trump and Vice President JD Vance about what to do on Iran. The crux of the reported disagreement centers on VPOTUS pushing for diplomacy over military strikes regarding Iran, which has undergone weeks of protests. Government forces have reportedly engaged in mass slaughter to suppress the popular uprising, with death tolls soaring into the tens of thousands. It’s hard to verify, as the nation has shut down most communications, but the videos and images coming out of the country are ghastly.

Trump has said some strong options are being considered vis-à-vis Iran. He mentioned it on Air Force One this week and warned Ayatollah Khamenei that serious consequences will be rendered should anything befall the protesters. Well, that’s happened. The vice president’s office was swift and loud regarding pushing back against this narrative that the president and Mr. Vance are at odds (via WSJ):

  TWSJ needs to learn that even "Too perfect" annoymorous claims need to be fact-checked. And that stories that cannot be verified need a close encounter of the spike kind.

[SVPete]

The Detail Nobody Wanted to Hear: ICE Agent Suffered Internal Bleeding After Good Struck Him

https://pjmedia.com/david-manney/2026/01/14/the-detail-nobody-wanted-to-hear-ice-agent-suffered-internal-bleeding-after-good-struck-him-n4948277

This news may weaken the left's narratives.

Federal investigators have come out to say that ICE agent Jonathon Ross suffered internal bleeding after being struck by Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis.

Reports by CBS News state that Ross was treated at a hospital for internal injuries consistent with blunt force trauma, and the resulting internal bleeding triggered imaging, monitoring, and medical intervention. This sequence only follows a serious physical impact.

1. How many Dems and other Progs know and admit that Renee Good hit the officier significantly enough for him to be hospitalized?

2. Would a pre-Bari-Weiss CBS Skews have reported this?

3. Are his CT scans and other medical records now Reich-Wing because IC-Haters don't want them to be true or to become publicly and widely known?

[DefiantSix]

...The targets of Smith's abuse of power need to know the extent of his targeting and abuse.

More to the point, every name on the list that comes back is a separate charge against Jack and his accomplices. _{Call 'em what they are}

[SVPete]

More to the point, every name on the list that comes back is a separate charge against Jack and his accomplices. _{Call 'em what they are}

I was thinking along the lines of ## or ### individual civil lawsuits. Think of it as retaliatory solidly-grounded lawfare.

[DefiantSix]

I was thinking along the lines of ## or ### individual civil lawsuits. Think of it as retaliatory solidly-grounded lawfare.

Jack et.al can respond to the court from "Pound You In The Ass" Prison just like everybody else.

The more important consequence of their actions and arrogance IMHO are the criminal convictions. Having to face civil suits from victims who have the money to ensure the case goes all the way is just icing on the cake.