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“What has been happening in Jenin city and the refugee camp over the past two weeks is similar to that of Gaza but on a smaller scale,” Mohammad Jarrar said Monday.

Hundreds of residential units make up the 120 destroyed buildings, he said, noting that the destruction had impacted thousands of families.

Jarrar described scenes of devastation amid a shortage of food, water and medication as services have been disrupted because of the operation. He added that displacement is expected to only further increase.

Israel launched its operation two days after the first stage of the Gaza ceasefire began, dubbing it “Operation Iron Wall.”

The Israeli military said the operation was aimed at eliminating “terrorists and terror infrastructure” and “ensuring that terrorism does not return to the camp after the operation is over – the first lesson from the method of repeated raids in Gaza.”

More than 40 Palestinians have been killed across the West Bank by the Israeli military since the operation was launched, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, which said that 25 of those people were from Jenin. Dozens more have been injured, the ministry said.

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a far-right nationalist who opposes the Israel-Hamas ceasefire, said in a January statement that security in the West Bank had been added to the country’s “war goals.”

Smotrich publicly toyed with quitting the Israeli government when the Gaza ceasefire was announced, but decided to stay in the cabinet after saying he had received assurances from Netanyahu on his commitment to continue Israel’s military operations in the West Bank and Gaza.

The mayor said that schools might be opened to take in displaced people, as was seen in Gaza over the 15-month-long war.

“Today the (Jenin) camp is uninhabitable and would require major reconstruction efforts for it to stand on its feet,” he said, adding that the “crisis is huge,” and that alternative housing for the displaced might be needed for around six months.

Last week, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said that Israeli troops would remain in the Jenin camp once their current operation is complete – a significant change in Israeli policy.

Meanwhile, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), said in a statement Monday that “Jenin camp has been rendered a ghost town.”

“Operations conducted both by Israeli and Palestinian security forces have led to the forced displacement of thousands of camp residents, many of whom will now have nowhere to return to. The basics of life are gone,” it said.

“Today’s shocking scenes in the West Bank undermine the fragile ceasefire reached in Gaza, and risk a new escalation,” the UNRWA statement added.

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A former British soldier convicted of spying for Iran after an audacious three-day escape from a London prison was sentenced Monday to more than 14 years behind bars for betraying his country.

Daniel Khalife, 23, was convicted in November of violating the Official Secrets Act and Terrorism Act for providing restricted and classified material to Iran.

“As a young man you had the makings of an exemplary soldier, however, through the repeated violations of your oath of service, you showed yourself to be instead a dangerous fool,” Justice Bobbie Cheema-Grubb said.

Jurors in Woolwich Crown Court had rejected his testimony that he was trying to work for the UK as a double agent.

Khalife’s spying case had not received much attention until he broke out of Wandsworth Prison on the underbelly of a food delivery truck. He was on the run for three days before police arrested him on a bicycle by a canal in London.

Khalife pleaded guilty to the escape during his trial, but continued to contest the spying charges.

Khalife’s lawyer, who argued his acts were more like a plot from “Scooby Doo” than a James Bond thriller, said his client had only passed along imprecise information, including “laughably fake” documents that caused no actual damage.

“There’s no way that what Mr. Khalife did is going to wind up being a lesson for budding spies,” attorney Gul Nawaz Hussain said. “His intentions were neither sinister nor cynical.”

But prosecutors said Khalife had in fact played a “cynical game” by claiming he wanted to be a spy after he had delivered a large amount of restricted and classified material to the Iranian intelligence service, including the names of special forces officers.

Khalife testified that he had been in touch with people in the Iranian government but that it was all part of a ploy to ultimately work as a double agent for Britain, a scheme he developed from watching the TV show “Homeland.”

Authorities said he presented a true risk to national security because of the threat that Iran poses. Police noted that the UK has disrupted 20 plots by Iran, including assassination plans.

British security services were not aware of Khalife’s contacts with the Iranians until he contacted MI6, the UK’s foreign intelligence service, to offer to work as a double agent.

He reached out to MI6 anonymously, saying he had earned the trust of his Iranian handlers and that they had rewarded him by leaving $2,000 cash (£1,578) in a dog poo bag in a north London park.

Khalife joined the army at 16 and was assigned to the Royal Corps of Signals, a communications unit that is deployed with battlefield troops, as well as special forces and intelligence squads.

He was told he could not join the intelligence service because his mother is from Iran.

At 17, he reached out to a man connected with Iranian intelligence and began passing along information, prosecutors said. He was given NATO secret security clearance when he took part in a joint exercise at Fort Cavazos in Texas in early 2021.

The judge noted that his security breaches while on US soil could have caused diplomatic damage.

Khalife’s escape from the Victorian-era prison drew attention to larger failures in the nation’s aging and overcrowded correctional system. An inquiry is currently underway into how Khalife was able to escape and whether others helped.

Two men have been arrested on charges of helping him after he escaped.

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As Germany enters the final few weeks of its election campaign, the man poised to be the next chancellor has doubled down on tightening the country’s immigration policy — shifting the nation to the right.

Merz and the Union party, comprised of the CDU and their Bavarian sister party the CSU, lead the polls with 30% of the vote.

Last week, Merz, a former investment banker at BlackRock with a pilot’s license, also made migration the focus of his campaign. The German lawmaker brought forward two pieces of legislation severely curbing migration. While the non-binding bill passed by a small majority, the binding “Influx Limitation Act” failed. Ahead of that Friday vote Merz told fellow parliamentarians, “the door to hell, we can still close together”.

Notably, among those who voted against the bill, were members of Merz’s own party.

Germany has seen a spate of recent attacks perpetrated by migrants that has catapulted the issue to the center of the election campaign.

In January an attack in Aschaffenburg left two people dead, including a two-year old boy. The attacker was an Afghan migrant. Just before Christmas six people were killed in Magdeburg after a Saudi-origin migrant drove a car through a Christmas market.

Merz dismissed his party’s role in the bill’s failure. Instead, he looked to deflect the blame on to the ruling Social Democratic Party (SPD), headed by current chancellor Olaf Scholz.

But that does not tell the whole story of a tumultuous week for Merz.

There is an unwritten agreement between Germany’s largest parties that they would never seek the support of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) to pass laws or legislation – it’s known as the firewall. Working with the far-right is a taboo in German politics.

Last week Merz made it clear that he did not mind if the AfD voted for his proposals on curbing migration. The far-right party voted on both pieces of legislation Merz proposed, helping push the non-binding bill over the line, a risky gambit that prompted hundreds of thousands of protesters onto the streets.

On the issue of Elon Musk, who has become a feature of this election cycle, Merz said “I don’t appreciate what he is doing, but he is doing something which he is free to do”. Musk has been controversially inserting himself into the German election campaign in favor of the AfD.

“European level” response to Trump

Taking note of US President Donald Trump’s economic measures against some of the US’s closest allies, Merz was clear that any tariffs placed on the European Union would be handled at “the European level”.

The United States is the European Union second largest trading partner, according to US trade data. On Sunday President Trump called the European Union an “atrocity” that would also be facing tariffs, saying the bloc was “taking advantage” of the United States.

On the issue of ending the war, something which President Trump vowed to do within 24 hours after he assumed office, Merz said it would be best to cooperate with the US.

He was eager however, to hear the plans from the horse’s mouth: “we do not yet know what they are really planning to do. I would like to see what they are planning to do”.

Crucially for Merz, he may not have to wait much longer.

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A female swimmer has died in a shark attack in the waters off a popular tourist spot on Australia’s east coast, authorities said.

Emergency crews were called to the Woorim Beach at Bribie Island, about 80 kms (50 miles) north of Brisbane around 5 p.m. local time on Monday following reports of a serious shark bite incident, Queensland state police said on Monday.

“The female was swimming when she was bitten by a shark … the female sustained life-threatening injuries and succumbed to those injuries,” a police spokesperson said in an email.

Police did not disclose the age of the victim though Australian media widely reported the victim was a 17-year-old girl.

Christopher Potter, a resident, said the beach is frequently used by swimming groups through the day.

“It’s known there are a lot of sharks around Bribie, but this close to shore, it’s still a shock,” he told Australian public broadcaster ABC News.

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Kensington Place released a photo of a smiling Princess of Wales in honor of World Cancer Day on Monday.

According to the palace’s post on X, the photo was taken by her six-year old son Prince Louis. It shows Catherine with arms outstretched atop a log in a forest.

“Don’t forget to nurture all that lies beyond the disease,” reads the short caption, signed “C.”

Catherine last month revealed that she is in remission from cancer.

“As anyone who has experienced a cancer diagnosis will know, it takes time to adjust to a new normal,” she said in a post on X in January.

“I am however looking forward to a fulfilling year ahead. There is much to look forward to. Thank you to everyone for your continued support.”

Catherine, who is also known as Kate, stepped back from her public duties last year to undergo treatment for an unspecified cancer. In September, she announced that she had completed her chemotherapy, and said she was “doing what I can to stay cancer free.”

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A rebel group that claimed to have captured the city of Goma in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo last week has called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, after fighting with the Congolese military has left hundreds of people dead.

In a statement on Monday, the rebel coalition, Alliance Fleuve Congo (AFC) – which includes the M23 armed group – said it had declared the truce, starting Tuesday, “in response to the humanitarian crisis caused by the Kinshasa regime,” referring to DR Congo’s government.

The DRC and much of the international community have accused neighboring Rwanda of backing the M23 rebels.

It is unclear if the Congolese army will agree to the ceasefire. Previous interventions, including truce agreements, failed to cease hostilities.

“Have you seen the Rwandans do what they say? It (the ceasefire announcement by the rebels) is a communication for international consumption and to put the international community to sleep on its feet,” he said.

United Nations experts also estimate that up to 3,000-4,000 Rwandan soldiers are supervising and supporting M23 fighters in the east of the DRC, outnumbering the rebel group’s forces in the country.

Last week, DRC leader Felix Tshisekedi vowed “a vigorous and coordinated response” against M23, describing the group as Rwanda’s “puppet.”

Fighting erupted last week as the rebels advanced into Goma, the capital of DRC’s North Kivu province.

More than a dozen foreign peacekeepers, as well as the military governor of North Kivu, were killed trying to fend off the rebels, and thousands of locals were displaced.

According to the UN’s latest figures, at least 900 bodies have been recovered from the streets of Goma, and around 2,880 injuries have been recorded since the end of January. A report by the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said many healthcare facilities are overcrowded and in urgent need of medicine and equipment.

The rebel alliance emphasized it has “no intention of capturing Bukavu or other areas,” referring to the capital city of the neighboring South Kivu province, where many displaced people from Goma had fled.

“However, we reiterate our commitment to protecting and defending the civilian population and our positions,” it said.

Rebel leader Corneille Nangaa also told Rwandan media last week that his group’s objective was “to go to Kinshasa.”

“We are going to fight until we get to Kinshasa. We have come to Goma to stay; we are not going to withdraw. We are going to move forward from Goma to Bukavu … up to Kinshasa,” he said.

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El Salvador has agreed to house violent US criminals and receive deportees of any nationality, in an unprecedented deal that has alarmed critics and rights groups.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the agreement on Monday after meeting with Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, as he visits several Central American countries to drive forward the Trump administration’s agenda on migration.

“In an act of extraordinary friendship to our country … (El Salvador) has agreed to the most unprecedented and extraordinary migratory agreement anywhere in the world,” Rubio told reporters.

The country will continue accepting Salvadoran deportees who illegally entered the US, he said. It will also “accept for deportation any illegal alien in the United States who is a criminal from any nationality, be they MS-13 or Tren de Aragua and house them in his jails,” he said – referring to two notorious transnational gangs with members from El Salvador and Venezuela.

In addition, Bukele “has offered to house in his jails dangerous American criminals in custody in our country, including those of US citizenship and legal residents,” Rubio said,

Bukele confirmed the agreement on X, saying in a post, “We are willing to take in only convicted criminals (including convicted U.S. citizens) into our mega-prison (CECOT) in exchange for a fee.”

“The fee would be relatively low for the U.S. but significant for us, making our entire prison system sustainable,” he added.

Ahead of the announcement, critics had warned that such a plan could be part of democratic backsliding.

“The US is essentially proposing to send people to a country that is not the country of origin nor is it necessarily the country that they passed through,” said Mneesha Gellman, an international politics scholar and professor at Emerson College.

One of the most striking aspects of the deal is that Salvadorean law doesn’t differentiate between alleged gang members and people found guilty of a crime. Under the draconian state of emergency that has ruled the Central American country since 2022, authorities can detain anyone simply on the suspicion of being members of a gang.

Bukele has boasted a high incarceration rate as a recipe for security – El Salvador now boasts the highest such rate in the world – but human rights organizations such as Amnesty International believe many of the over 80,000 people jailed under the state of emergency are innocent.

This is a developing story.

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The U.S. Agency for International Development’s fate is hanging in the balance as the second Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, is working on an apparent overhaul of the agency. 

A review of USAID’s recent history shows that it repeatedly has been accused of financial mismanagement and corruption long before Donald Trump’s second administration, Fox News Digital found. 

Tech billionaire and DOGE Chair Elon Musk has been on a warpath against USAID — which is an independent U.S. agency that was established under the Kennedy administration to administer economic aid to foreign nations — as he leads DOGE’s mission of cutting government fat and overspending at the federal level. 

Musk announced in an audio-only message on X overnight on Sunday that ‘we’re in the process’ of ‘shutting down USAID’ and that Trump reportedly agreed to shutter the agency.

‘With regard to the USAID stuff, I went over [it] with him in detail, and he agreed that we should shut it down,’ he said. ‘I actually checked with him a few times [and] said, ‘Are you sure?’’ 

He added that Trump responded, ‘Yes.’ 

As of Monday morning, hundreds of USAID employees reported they were locked out of the agency’s computer system and that its headquarters in Washington, D.C., was closed on Monday. 

On X, Musk has railed against the organization as rife with ‘marxists’ and is operating as a ‘criminal organization.’ 

‘USAID is a criminal organization. Time for it to die,’ Musk posted to X on Sunday. 

‘USAID was a viper’s nest of radical-left marxists who hate America,’ he said in another message. 

Trump repeatedly proposed slashing the nation’s foreign aid budget for USAID and the State Department during his first administration, including proposing in his first year in office to slash the budgets by 37%, which Congress rejected. 

‘With $20 trillion in debt, the government must learn to tighten its belt,’ Trump said back in 2017 while advocating for the cuts.

His rebuke of foreign aid stretches back even further to his 2016 presidential run, outlining in his famed candidacy speech next to the golden elevator at Trump Tower that the nation must ‘stop sending foreign aid to countries that hate us.’

‘It is necessary that we invest in our infrastructure, stop sending foreign aid to countries that hate us and use that money to rebuild our tunnels, roads, bridges and schools — and nobody can do that better than me,’ he said in his 2015 speech announcing his candidacy for president. 

Fox News Digital looked back at the controversies USAID has faced in recent years, finding a bevy of allegations, including that the agency reportedly helped fund terrorist organizations and Chinese groups, and that its watchdog allegedly omitted negative findings from publicly published reports. 

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment regarding the following USAID allegations in light of DOGE’s targeting of the agency, but did not immediately receive a reply. 

Sen. Tom Cotton warns taxpayer money diverted to Hamas 

Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., sent a blistering letter to Biden-era USAID administrator Samantha Power in October 2024, sounding the alarm on the ‘likely misuse of more than one billion dollars in U.S. humanitarian aid sent to Gaza since October 2023,’ Fox Digital reported at the time. 

‘As I predicted would happen from the outset, credible reporting indicates that Hamas terrorists have diverted this aid; indisputable evidence demonstrates that the aid was always at high risk of diversion,’ he continued, pointing to U.S. aid that was delivered to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), whichhe said has apparent ties to Hamas. 

Trump ended funding to UNRWA in 2018, when his first administration described the UN agency as an ‘irredeemably flawed operation.’

Cotton pinned blame on the Biden-Harris administration for the ‘likely misuse,’ seething that ‘in all likelihood,’ the ‘administration has prolonged the Gaza war, allowed aid to flow to Israel’s enemies, and misused taxpayer funds.’

‘Your agency announced approximately $336 million in additional humanitarian funding for Gaza, Judea, and Samaria. On the same day, the United Nations acknowledged that Fateh al-Sharif, a Hamas leader in Lebanon killed in an Israeli airstrike, was employed by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency. UNRWA, a major USAID partner before October 7, remains a chief conduit for UN humanitarian assistance in Gaza despite extensive evidence of its ties to Hamas,’ he continued. 

USAID pushed back on the claims in comment to Fox Digital at the time, saying it does not fund UNRWA. President Joe Biden halted U.S. funding to UNWRA in March of 2024 for one year. 

‘USAID does not provide any funding to UNRWA, nor did we do so prior to October 7, 2023,’ the spokesperson said in October 2024. ‘In addition to extensive risk mitigation procedures, USAID works closely with the Government of Israel to assist with the coordination of and discuss potential risks to all humanitarian assistance entering Gaza. USAID has not received evidence from the Government of Israel, our partners, or other sources to support the claims in Senator Cotton’s letter.’ 

Cotton’s office responded to the statement: ‘Administrator Power and USAID do not have an adequate vetting process to ensure that American taxpayer dollars do not end up with terrorists. If a terrorist front organization like UNRWA is the only ‘distribution system’ in Gaza, Power should reconsider sending aid there in the first place. Our tax dollars should not fund a group that has assisted in the kidnapping and murder of Americans.’ 

Syrian national charged with diverting millions in funding to terrorist organization 

A Syrian national named Mahmoud Al Hafyan, 53, was charged in November 2024 for allegedly diverting more than $9 million in U.S.-funded humanitarian aid to terrorist groups, including the Al-Nusrah Front. The Al-Nusrah Front, also known as Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, is a designated terrorist organization with ties to al-Qaeda, according to the State Department.

USAID’s office of the inspector general outlined in its press release on Al Hafyan’s 12-count indictment that the U.S. had awarded $122 million to the Syrian national’s NGO between 2015 and 2019. The funds were intended for food kits to bolster citizens amid Syria’s bloody civil war. He is accused, however, of directing the food kits to the Al-Nusrah Front, as well as selling them on the black market, according to the press release. 

‘This defendant not only defrauded the U.S. government, but he also gave the humanitarian aid he stole to a foreign terrorist organization,’ said U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves said at the time. ‘While this foreign terrorist organization fought with the cruel al-Assad regime, the people who were supposed to receive the aid suffered.  This office has a history of pursuing criminals around the globe, no matter how many years it takes, and will do all it can to ensure that Mahmoud Al Hafyan is held accountable for these crimes.’

Former USAID administrator repeatedly meets with Soros foundation 

Samantha Power — the Biden administration’s USAID administrator and former U.S. ambassador to the UN under former President Barack Obama’s tenure — was discovered to have repeatedly met with left-wing groups such as George Soros’ Open Society Foundations while serving as the foreign aid agency’s administrator, Fox Digital reported in 2023. 

Power met with George Soros’ Open Society Foundations at least two times and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation at least five times, Fox Digital reported. She also held meetings with other powerful groups, such as the Ford and Rockefeller foundations, according to 700 pages of internal calendar entries that stretched back to 2021 and were obtained by Fox News Digital in 2023. 

USAID brushed off Power’s string of meetings with powerful left-wing groups as part of her official role and USAID’s mission to fight a spate of global issues ranging from poverty to education. 

‘Administrator Power meets with a wide variety of officials and sectors to discuss USAID’s mission to reduce extreme poverty, fight child malnutrition, spur economic growth, expand educational opportunities around the world, and build resilient global health systems,’ a USAID spokesperson told Fox News Digital in 2023. ‘Working with philanthropies and the private sector to catalyze resources to tackle these complex global challenges is important to improving the quality of life for people around the world.’

Taxpayer funds directed to Chinese entities known for coronavirus research

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) published a report in 2023 finding that both USAID and the National Institutes of Health directed taxpayer funds to American universities and a nonprofit organization before the money found its way to Chinese groups, including the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

The report found that between 2014 and 2021, U.S. taxpayer funds were redirected to entities including the Wuhan Institute of Virology, the Wuhan University and the Academy of Military Medical Sciences, which is part of the Chinese Communist Party. The three groups each received more than $2 million combined from the U.S. government ‘through seven subawards,’ according to the GAO report.

‘The selected entities are government institutions or laboratories in China that conduct work on infectious diseases, including pandemic viruses, and have had actions taken by federal agencies to address safety or security concerns,’ the report states. ‘All three selected Chinese entities received funds.’

In January, the CIA under the second Trump administration released an updated assessment on the origins of COVID-19, favoring the theory that the contagious disease was due to a lab leak. The CIA previously had maintained that it did not have sufficient evidence to conclude whether COVID originated in a lab or a ‘wet market’ in Wuhan, China.

USAID accused of removing negative findings from inspector general reports 

Eight auditors and employees for the USAID inspector general’s office sounded the alarm to the Washington Post in 2014 that negative findings surrounding the agency’s work were removed from final reports and audits.

In the wake of the 2011 Egyptian Revolution, for example, USAID established NGO-led, pro-democracy programs in the nation, though the NGO workers were not registered to work in the country, the Washington Post reported in 2014. Egypt arrested 43 NGO workers, including 16 Americans, for operating illegally in the country, with USAID quietly paying Egypt $4.6 million to bail out the Americans, according to the report. 

When auditors questioned the bail payment to the Egyptian government in a draft IG report, the findings were not included in the final report that was made publicly available just months later. Instead, the 21-page draft report was whittled down to a nine-page report. The auditors and employees who spoke to the outlet reported that negative comments were removed from various audits between 2011 and 2013.

‘The office is a watchdog not doing its job,’ a retired audit supervisor at the inspector general’s office told the outlet. ‘It’s just easier for upper management to go along to get along. The message is: ‘Don’t make waves, don’t report any problems.’’

Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters on Monday that he is now the acting director of USAID. 

‘USAID is not functioning. It has to be aligned with U.S. policy. It needs to be aligned with the national interest of the U.S.,’ he told reporters while in El Salvador. ‘They’re not a global charity. These are taxpayer dollars. People are asking simple questions. What are they doing with the money? We are spending taxpayers money. We owe the taxpayers assurances that it furthers our national interest.’

‘I am the acting director,’ he confirmed when asked if he is now in charge. ‘Our goal was to allow our foreign aid with the national interest. It has been 20 or 30 years. They have tried to reform it. That will not continue.’ 

Rubio became the Trump administration’s first confirmed cabinet member on Jan. 20. Days after his confirmation, the State Department announced a pause on all U.S. foreign assistance funded by or through the State Department and USAID out of an effort to ensure current American policies reflect Trump’s administration’s priorities. 

‘Consistent with President Trump’s Executive Order on Reevaluating and Realigning United States Foreign Aid, Secretary [Marco] Rubio has paused all U.S. foreign assistance funded by or through the State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) for review,’ the statement read. ‘He is initiating a review of all foreign assistance programs to ensure they are efficient and consistent with U.S. foreign policy under the America First agenda. President Trump stated clearly that the United States is no longer going to blindly dole out money with no return for the American people.’

Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman, Benjamin Weinthal and Morgan Phillips contributed to this report. 

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The Federal Bureau of Investigation Agent’s Association (FBIAA) sent a letter to House and Senate leaders Monday raising ‘urgent concerns’ over recent actions taken by acting DOJ and FBI personnel, which they say could threaten the careers of thousands of employees and risks disrupting the bureau’s essential work.

The FBIAA, a voluntary professional association representing more than 14,000 active and retired FBI special agents, cited in particular the order from acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove to terminate the entire FBI senior leadership team, and the assistant director in charge of the Washington Field Office, as well as the order for bureau employees to compile lists of all current and former personnel who worked on investigations related to January 6, 2021, and a Hamas-related case.

The FBIAA said the lists ‘will be used to determine whether those individuals should face additional personnel actions,’ though the Trump administration has not yet said it will move to take action against individuals involved. 

Still, the group said, the recent actions taken by the Trump administration have given them reason for concern.

‘Put simply, Special Agents who risk their lives protecting this country from criminals and terrorists are now being placed on lists and having their careers jeopardized for carrying out the orders they were given by their superiors in the FBI,’ the group said, saying the actions both lack ‘transparency and due process,’ and ‘are creating dangerous distractions, imperiling ongoing investigations, and undermining the Bureau’s ability to work with state, local, and international partners to make America safe again.’

President Donald Trump declined to answer questions on Monday over whether his administration would remove FBI employees involved in the investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot, telling reporters only that he believes the bureau is ‘corrupt’ and that his nominee for FBI director, Kash Patel, will ‘straighten it out.’

‘I think the FBI was a very corrupt institution, and I’m a victim of it in the true sense,’ Trump told Fox News, adding that he believes the bureau’s reputation has been ‘damaged badly, as has the DOJ’s.’

‘But you know what, we have to have pristine, beautiful, perfect law enforcement,’ Trump said.

Former Justice Department officials have cited concerns that the actions could have an incredibly chilling effect on the work of the FBI, including its more than 52 separate field offices, whose agents have decades of experience in detecting and responding to counterterrorism threats, organized and violent crime, drug trafficking, and more.

One retired FBI agent urged calm, noting to Fox News that the acting director and deputy director of the FBI still remain in place. This person also stressed that the Jan. 6 investigation and the FBI personnel involved in investigating each case ‘fully followed Bureau and DOJ guidelines,’ and that violations of federal statutes were ‘proven beyond a reasonable doubt in federal courts of law.’

‘While convictions may be overturned or pardoned, nothing changes the original nexus of a federal investigation,’ this person said.

This is a breaking news story. Check back soon for updates.

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The U.S. Treasury and Commerce Departments will establish a sovereign wealth fund in accordance with a new executive order President Donald Trump signed on Monday. 

The sovereign wealth fund, a state-owned investment fund with various financial assets like stocks and bonds, could foot the bill for purchasing TikTok, according to Trump. 

‘We’re going to be doing something perhaps with TikTok, and perhaps not,’ Trump told reporters Monday. ‘If we make the right deal, we’ll do it. Otherwise, we won’t.’

‘But we could put that as an example in the fund,’ Trump said. ‘And we have a lot of other things that we could put in the fund. And I think in a short period of time we’d have one of the biggest funds.’

Countries like Norway and Saudi Arabia utilize sovereign wealth funds, as do multiple U.S. states. 

Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent said the sovereign wealth fund would be created within the next 12 months. 

‘I think it’s going to create value and be of great strategic importance,’ Bessent told reporters Monday. 

Bessent and Commerce Secretary nominee Howard Lutnick are instructed to devise a plan in the next 90 days for the creation of the fund, according to the White House. The proposal will include recommendations on funding mechanisms, investment strategies, fund structure and a governance model. 

More details on the sovereign wealth fund were not immediately available, and it’s unclear whether Congress will sign off on it.  

However, Trump signaled on the campaign trail in 2024 that he was interested in a sovereign wealth fund, using revenue from tariffs to pour into the wealth fund and then use that money to pay for projects like highways, airports and medical research. 

Additionally, Rep. Morgan McGarvey, D-Ky., introduced legislation in September 2024 called the American Sovereign Wealth Fund Exploration Act to research ways to create a sovereign wealth fund in the U.S. 

Meanwhile, Trump has weighed in a few times on the future of TikTok in recent weeks and said that he’s spoken with multiple parties who are interested in purchasing the app. 

Although TikTok briefly went offline for U.S. users in January after the Supreme Court upheld a ban on the social media platform, Trump signed an executive order just hours after his inauguration on Jan. 20 delaying a ban on TikTok for 75 days.

The Supreme Court’s unanimous ruling on the TikTok ban cited national security concerns, specifically due to the ‘relationship with a foreign adversary’ and the app’s data collection practices. 

But Trump said in the executive order delaying the ban that he has ‘the unique constitutional responsibility for the national security of the United States, the conduct of foreign policy, and other vital executive functions.’

‘To fulfill those responsibilities, I intend to consult with my advisors, including the heads of relevant departments and agencies on the national security concerns posed by TikTok, and to pursue a resolution that protects national security while saving a platform used by 170 million Americans,’ Trump said in the executive order. ‘My Administration must also review sensitive intelligence related to those concerns and evaluate the sufficiency of mitigation measures TikTok has taken to date.’

The Associated Press and Fox News’ Andrea Margolis contributed to this report. 

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