FBI informant

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Judge Rips FBI in Freeing 'Newburgh Four' Defendant

James Cromitie was too clueless to be a leader of terrorists, ruling says

(Newser) - A man convicted in a post-9/11 terrorism sting was ordered freed from prison by a judge who criticized the FBI for relying on an "unsavory" confidential informant for an agency-invented conspiracy to blow up New York synagogues and shoot down National Guard planes. US District Judge Colleen McMahon on...

Report: Peter Thiel Was FBI Informant

He focused on foreign influence in Silicon Valley, according to political activist Charles Johnson

(Newser) - Tech billionaire Peter Thiel has bankrolled Republican politicians who've publicly attacked the FBI, from former President Donald Trump to Sen. JD Vance. It's somewhat surprising then that a new report from Insider alleges he has served as an FBI informant. Alt-right political activist Charles Johnson claims he helped...

Source of Deutsche Bank's Secret Files Turns Up Dead

Valentin Broeksmit was an FBI informant; no foul play is suspected

(Newser) - A whistleblower who supplied secret files to federal authorities investigating Deutsche Bank's dealings with former President Trump has been found dead. The body of 46-year-old Valentin Broeksmit was found by a cleaning crew just before 7am Wednesday at Woodrow Wilson High School in Los Angeles, Sgt. Rudy Perez of...

Behind the Schoharie Crash: an 'Outlaw Limo Company'

And at its helm, an FBI informant

(Newser) - On Oct. 6, 2018, the brakes went out on a modified Excursion that was carrying 17 friends and relatives who were headed to a New York brewery in celebration of a 30th birthday. The crash that ensued in Schoharie caused blunt-force trauma that killed nearly all of them instantly. "...

'White Boy Rick' Released After 32 Years

Richard Wershe Jr. locked up for drug crimes despite being FBI informant

(Newser) - Richard Wershe Jr., the youngest-ever paid FBI informant, is a free man 32 years after he was locked up for drug crimes. Wershe, 51, was released by the Florida Department of Corrections on Monday; his lawyer tells Fox 2 Detroit he will return to Michigan, where he has a support...

Report: Undercover FBI Agent Pressed Trump Aide for Info

George Papadopolous claims she tried to seduce him

(Newser) - Vindication for President Trump? According to a report in the New York Times , the FBI sent an undercover agent to pose as a research assistant and meet with Trump aide George Papadopoulos months before the 2016 election. The woman, who told Papadopoulos her name was Azra Turk, directly asked the...

Paul Ryan Gives His Opinion on Trump Pardoning Himself

'No one is above the law'

(Newser) - House Speaker Paul Ryan is agreeing with another senior House Republican who says there's no evidence that the FBI planted a "spy" in Donald Trump's 2016 campaign. The comments contradict the president, who has insisted the agency planted a "spy for political reasons and to help...

Trump Calls FBI Informant Report 'Bigger Than Watergate'
Trump Embraces
Controversial
FBI Spy Theory
THE RUNDOWN

Trump Embraces Controversial FBI Spy Theory

Allegations of informant inside campaign being used to discredit Mueller investigation

(Newser) - It's something Trump has said would be "bigger than Watergate" and the "all time biggest political scandal" ever if it pans out to be true. What he's referring to: a report in the New York Times this week that the FBI planted an informant to spy...

'Jared Fogle Is a Monster': FBI Informant

Rochelle Herman-Walrond spent 4 years secretly recording Fogle for FBI

(Newser) - "I'm numb and I'm shocked. I'm relieved most of all," says the Florida woman who secretly recorded Jared Fogle for the FBI for four years, building up evidence that led to charges that will send the ex-Subway pitchman to prison . Per WWSB , Rochelle Herman-Walrond, IDed...

One of FBI's 'Most Valuable, Vilified' Informants Speaks

Emad Salem comes out of hiding

(Newser) - As an undercover informant for the FBI in the early '90s, Emad Salem infiltrated the terrorist cell behind the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, ultimately becoming head of security for Omar Abdel Rahman, the "blind sheik." In 1995, his testimony led to the convictions of Abdel Rahman...

Al Sharpton Spied on Mob for FBI: Docs

Sharpton calls report 'crazy'

(Newser) - Al Sharpton is vigorously denying a report that he was once an FBI informant spying on the Genovese and Gambino crime families. The Smoking Gun yesterday published a major investigative piece based on hundreds of pages of FBI documents obtained via Freedom of Information Act requests that reveal that Sharpton,...

Big Reveal: FBI Had Mole Who Met bin Laden—in 1993

He then died on a CIA mission

(Newser) - The FBI once had a mole so deep within al-Qaeda that he met with Osama bin Laden and provided the intelligence necessary to thwart his planned attack on a Masonic Lodge in LA, new investigative reports from the Washington Times and NBC News have revealed. The informant started out as...

FBI Nabs 18 Sheriff's Deputies for Jail Abuse

Jailers allegedly caught and grilled federal informant

(Newser) - The FBI is arresting 18 former and current LA county sheriff's deputies today following a 2-year investigation into abuse and corruption at Los Angeles County jails, NBC News reports. According to a criminal complaint and four grand jury indictments, officers beat and held inmates without justification, and conspired to...

FBI OKed Over 5K Crimes by Informants in 1 Year

2011 report says agency approved 5,658 'otherwise illegal' activities

(Newser) - Whitey Bulger wasn't the only FBI informant whose criminal activity the agency turned a blind eye to: USA Today has its hands on the FBI's 2011 "otherwise illegal activity report," a tally it sends to the Justice Department every year reporting the number of crimes it...

Top WikiLeaks Volunteer Was FBI Informant

Sigurdur "Siggy" Thordarson sold out Assange for $5K

(Newser) - One of Julian Assange's key volunteers doubled as an informant for the FBI, he tells Wired . In August 2011, Sigurdur "Siggi" Thordarson, 18, sent an email to the US embassy in Iceland promising "intel"; the next day, he walked into the embassy building, flashed Assange's passport,...

Informant: I Bribed FBI Agent With Cash, Cars, Shoes

Man indicted in Atlanta rapper murder says payoffs didn't help him

(Newser) - A former Russian mobster and FBI informant indicted in the murder of Atlanta rapper Lil Phat says his FBI handler asked for and got bribes during the time he was under investigation for the killing. His lawyer also says that despite gifting the agent with $3,500 in cash, as...

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