Attention to the Unseen

Yesterday, in response to my own sense of powerlessness while watching the ongoing assault on democracy led by Elon Musk and Donald Trump, I engaged in a quixotic gesture: I went down to my local FBI field office to offer a small token of public support. Not surprisingly, it isn’t possible to walk into an FBI office. Since the Oklahoma bombing, all such offices are well fortified. This office did have a kiosk in front of the main entrance where…

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The New York Times reports: Brian Driscoll, the acting director of the F.B.I., has become an improbable symbol of quiet resistance toward the Justice Department’s campaign to single out F.B.I. employees who investigated the Jan. 6 riot. To start, Mr. Driscoll’s appointment was an accident. Shortly after President Trump’s inauguration, the White House identified the wrong agent as acting director on its website and never corrected the mistake. Even if he was not meant to be leading the agency, he…

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Politico reports: FBI agents who worked on cases stemming from the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol — or the criminal investigations of President Donald Trump — have filed a class action lawsuit to block Justice Department leadership from assembling lists of agents they say will be used as part of a retaliation campaign. The agents, who brought the federal suit anonymously, included screenshots of a three-page survey they say DOJ leadership intends to use to identify thousands of agents…

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Wired reports: Federal employees are seeking a temporary restraining order as part of a class action lawsuit accusing a group of Elon Musk’s associates of allegedly operating an illegally connected server from the fifth floor of the US Office of Personnel Management’s (OPM) headquarters in Washington, DC. An attorney representing two federal workers—Jane Does 1 and 2—filed a motion this morning arguing that the server’s continued operation not only violates federal law but is potentially exposing vast quantities of government…

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Ya'll remember Merritt Corrigan and Peter Marocco?#SeditionHunters #Acountability #Jan6thInsurrection pic.twitter.com/giIb4IebTp — Not Sandy 📛 (@K2theSky) November 4, 2024 In November, D Magazine reported: Pete Marocco, the executive director of Dallas HERO, and his wife, Merritt Corrigan Marocco, have been accused by citizen investigators of entering the U.S. Capitol during the January 6, 2021, insurrection. A group of semi-anonymous, volunteer sleuths that has become known as the Sedition Hunters identified the couple by scouring social media, video footage, and by using…

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A USAID employee, who has requested anonymity for fear of retribution, writes: Working for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) — the conduit for American soft power across the globe — demanded I prepare for frightening things that thankfully most Americans don’t need to worry about. Defensive driving techniques to escape from a terrorist attack. How to spot where landmines might be in the field. Emergency first aid in the event of a shooting or other attack, including in…

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The New York Times reports: The top agent at the F.B.I.’s New York field office vowed in a defiant email to his staff to “dig in” after the Trump administration targeted officials involved in the investigations into the Jan. 6 attack — and praised the bureau’s interim leaders for defending its independence. “Today, we find ourselves in the middle of a battle of our own, as good people are being walked out of the F.B.I. and others are being targeted…

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NBC News reports: Less than two weeks into his term, President Donald Trump is waging war against his own government, creating a deep sense of fear in the federal workforce — and recipients of federal aid — as he tests the limits of his power to alter the scope, function and nonpartisan nature of government without Congress. Primarily using two little-known agencies — the Office of Management and Budget and the Office of Personnel Management — Trump has tried to…

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NBC News reports: Acting FBI Director Brian Driscoll on Friday refused a Justice Department order that he assist in the firing of agents involved in Jan. 6 riot cases, pushing back so forcefully that some FBI officials feared he would be dismissed, multiple current and former FBI officials told NBC News. The Justice Department ultimately did not dismiss Driscoll. He sent out a memo to the workforce Friday night explaining that he had been ordered to remove eight senior FBI…

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