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White House liaison Heidi Stirrup was reportedly barred from the U.S. Department of Justice building in recent weeks. (Photo: Administration for Children and Families)
Within the past two weeks, as President Donald Trump spread lies about voter fraud and refused to accept his loss of the November election, White House liaison Heidi Stirrup was barred from the U.S. Department of Justice building in the nation's capital for pressuring staff to give her inside information about investigations into election fraud and other issues, the Associated Pressrevealed Thursday.
The move came just a few months after Stirrup "was quietly installed" to serve as the president's "eyes and ears" at the department, according to the AP, which noted that she is a close ally of Trump senior adviser Stephen Miller, the mastermind behind the administration's cruel immigration agenda. Stirrup was previously acting director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement and a deputy White House liaison at the Department of Health and Human Services.
"Stirrup had also extended job offers to political allies for positions at some of the highest levels of the Justice Department without consulting any senior department officials or the White House counsel's office and also attempted to interfere in the hiring process for career staffers, a violation of the government's human resources policies," the AP reported.
The outlet noted that though she was told to vacate the premises, Stirrup "technically still remains in her position after being placed at the Justice Department by the White House Office of Presidential Personnel." The report broke as the White House on Thursday announced her appointment to the board of visitors to the United States Air Force Academy.
\u201cThis is what happens when the president thinks the Justice Department is just an extension of the legal department at the Trump Org family of grifter criminal enterprises\n\nTrump aide banned from Justice after trying to get case info https://t.co/Ky7hZF9os8 via @politico\u201d— Tim Wise (@Tim Wise) 1607033038
Along with Stirrup's appointment, Trump announced several others--including lobbyist Brian Ballard to the board of trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and lobbyist Jeffrey Miller to the United States Holocaust Memorial Council.
Regarding those two appointments, the Daily Beastreported that "the apparent parting gift for two of the president's most lavish financial supporters installs them in largely ceremonial roles where they will serve well into President-elect Joe Biden's administration."
While Biden is assembling his administration in the lead-up to his inauguration planned for January 20, Trump continues to tweet baseless allegations about election fraud and file lawsuits contesting the results--even though his own attorney general, William Barr, told the AP earlier this week that the DOJ has seen no evidence of voter fraud that would change the outcome.
The interview sparked speculation that Barr will soon become just the latest official to be fired for defying the president, as well as surprise. The watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) tweeted: "Not even AG Bill Barr, one of Trump's most notorious enablers, is willing to keep up the pretense of fraud in the 2020 election. That says a lot."
Trump fired back on Thursday, telling reporters during an unrelated event in the Oval Office that Barr "hasn't done anything" about the president's unfounded allegations of election fraud and that DOJ officials "haven't looked very hard, which is a disappointment, to be honest with you."
Meanwhile, Wisconsin's right-wing Supreme Court on Thursday declined to hear one of the many lawsuits that the Trump campaign has filed in an effort to throw out legally cast ballots. This particular case, filed earlier this week, is about more than 221,000 ballots in two of the state's most Democratic counties.
Trump and Musk are on an unconstitutional rampage, aiming for virtually every corner of the federal government. These two right-wing billionaires are targeting nurses, scientists, teachers, daycare providers, judges, veterans, air traffic controllers, and nuclear safety inspectors. No one is safe. The food stamps program, Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid are next. It’s an unprecedented disaster and a five-alarm fire, but there will be a reckoning. The people did not vote for this. The American people do not want this dystopian hellscape that hides behind claims of “efficiency.” Still, in reality, it is all a giveaway to corporate interests and the libertarian dreams of far-right oligarchs like Musk. Common Dreams is playing a vital role by reporting day and night on this orgy of corruption and greed, as well as what everyday people can do to organize and fight back. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover issues the corporate media never will, but we can only continue with our readers’ support. |
Within the past two weeks, as President Donald Trump spread lies about voter fraud and refused to accept his loss of the November election, White House liaison Heidi Stirrup was barred from the U.S. Department of Justice building in the nation's capital for pressuring staff to give her inside information about investigations into election fraud and other issues, the Associated Pressrevealed Thursday.
The move came just a few months after Stirrup "was quietly installed" to serve as the president's "eyes and ears" at the department, according to the AP, which noted that she is a close ally of Trump senior adviser Stephen Miller, the mastermind behind the administration's cruel immigration agenda. Stirrup was previously acting director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement and a deputy White House liaison at the Department of Health and Human Services.
"Stirrup had also extended job offers to political allies for positions at some of the highest levels of the Justice Department without consulting any senior department officials or the White House counsel's office and also attempted to interfere in the hiring process for career staffers, a violation of the government's human resources policies," the AP reported.
The outlet noted that though she was told to vacate the premises, Stirrup "technically still remains in her position after being placed at the Justice Department by the White House Office of Presidential Personnel." The report broke as the White House on Thursday announced her appointment to the board of visitors to the United States Air Force Academy.
\u201cThis is what happens when the president thinks the Justice Department is just an extension of the legal department at the Trump Org family of grifter criminal enterprises\n\nTrump aide banned from Justice after trying to get case info https://t.co/Ky7hZF9os8 via @politico\u201d— Tim Wise (@Tim Wise) 1607033038
Along with Stirrup's appointment, Trump announced several others--including lobbyist Brian Ballard to the board of trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and lobbyist Jeffrey Miller to the United States Holocaust Memorial Council.
Regarding those two appointments, the Daily Beastreported that "the apparent parting gift for two of the president's most lavish financial supporters installs them in largely ceremonial roles where they will serve well into President-elect Joe Biden's administration."
While Biden is assembling his administration in the lead-up to his inauguration planned for January 20, Trump continues to tweet baseless allegations about election fraud and file lawsuits contesting the results--even though his own attorney general, William Barr, told the AP earlier this week that the DOJ has seen no evidence of voter fraud that would change the outcome.
The interview sparked speculation that Barr will soon become just the latest official to be fired for defying the president, as well as surprise. The watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) tweeted: "Not even AG Bill Barr, one of Trump's most notorious enablers, is willing to keep up the pretense of fraud in the 2020 election. That says a lot."
Trump fired back on Thursday, telling reporters during an unrelated event in the Oval Office that Barr "hasn't done anything" about the president's unfounded allegations of election fraud and that DOJ officials "haven't looked very hard, which is a disappointment, to be honest with you."
Meanwhile, Wisconsin's right-wing Supreme Court on Thursday declined to hear one of the many lawsuits that the Trump campaign has filed in an effort to throw out legally cast ballots. This particular case, filed earlier this week, is about more than 221,000 ballots in two of the state's most Democratic counties.
Within the past two weeks, as President Donald Trump spread lies about voter fraud and refused to accept his loss of the November election, White House liaison Heidi Stirrup was barred from the U.S. Department of Justice building in the nation's capital for pressuring staff to give her inside information about investigations into election fraud and other issues, the Associated Pressrevealed Thursday.
The move came just a few months after Stirrup "was quietly installed" to serve as the president's "eyes and ears" at the department, according to the AP, which noted that she is a close ally of Trump senior adviser Stephen Miller, the mastermind behind the administration's cruel immigration agenda. Stirrup was previously acting director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement and a deputy White House liaison at the Department of Health and Human Services.
"Stirrup had also extended job offers to political allies for positions at some of the highest levels of the Justice Department without consulting any senior department officials or the White House counsel's office and also attempted to interfere in the hiring process for career staffers, a violation of the government's human resources policies," the AP reported.
The outlet noted that though she was told to vacate the premises, Stirrup "technically still remains in her position after being placed at the Justice Department by the White House Office of Presidential Personnel." The report broke as the White House on Thursday announced her appointment to the board of visitors to the United States Air Force Academy.
\u201cThis is what happens when the president thinks the Justice Department is just an extension of the legal department at the Trump Org family of grifter criminal enterprises\n\nTrump aide banned from Justice after trying to get case info https://t.co/Ky7hZF9os8 via @politico\u201d— Tim Wise (@Tim Wise) 1607033038
Along with Stirrup's appointment, Trump announced several others--including lobbyist Brian Ballard to the board of trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and lobbyist Jeffrey Miller to the United States Holocaust Memorial Council.
Regarding those two appointments, the Daily Beastreported that "the apparent parting gift for two of the president's most lavish financial supporters installs them in largely ceremonial roles where they will serve well into President-elect Joe Biden's administration."
While Biden is assembling his administration in the lead-up to his inauguration planned for January 20, Trump continues to tweet baseless allegations about election fraud and file lawsuits contesting the results--even though his own attorney general, William Barr, told the AP earlier this week that the DOJ has seen no evidence of voter fraud that would change the outcome.
The interview sparked speculation that Barr will soon become just the latest official to be fired for defying the president, as well as surprise. The watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) tweeted: "Not even AG Bill Barr, one of Trump's most notorious enablers, is willing to keep up the pretense of fraud in the 2020 election. That says a lot."
Trump fired back on Thursday, telling reporters during an unrelated event in the Oval Office that Barr "hasn't done anything" about the president's unfounded allegations of election fraud and that DOJ officials "haven't looked very hard, which is a disappointment, to be honest with you."
Meanwhile, Wisconsin's right-wing Supreme Court on Thursday declined to hear one of the many lawsuits that the Trump campaign has filed in an effort to throw out legally cast ballots. This particular case, filed earlier this week, is about more than 221,000 ballots in two of the state's most Democratic counties.
"Who close to Trump knew that he was going to suspend the tariffs?" asked Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy. "Which of his Mar-a-Lago friends or his billionaire advisers were able to capitalize on that inside information?"
The timing of U.S. President Donald Trump's Wednesday social media post declaring that "this is a great time to buy" stocks and subsequent announcement of a three-month tariff pause quickly raised suspicions of possible insider trading and market manipulation by the highest levels of the American government.
The S&P 500, which tracks the performance of the nation's top publicly traded companies, posted its largest single-day gain since 2008 after Trump pumped the brakes on part of his tariff scheme, which had sent global markets into a tailspin in recent days.
Trump announced his decision hours after effectively urging Americans to buy stocks in a morning post on Truth Social—though at the time there was no public information indicating that any kind of tariff announcement was imminent.
"How is this not market manipulation?" asked Rep. Mike Levin (D-Calif.). "If you're a Trump supporter and you did what he said and you bought, then you did great. On the other hand, if you're a retiree or a senior or somebody in the middle class over the last few days that didn't have the tolerance for risk and you decided to sell, you got screwed."
When Trump's pause announcement came hours later, U.S. equities skyrocketed, adding over $5 trillion in value to the market in a matter of hours. Elon Musk, a top Trump lieutenant and the world's richest man, saw his wealth—which is largely tied up in Tesla stock—soar by nearly $30 billion on Wednesday, according to Forbes' real-time billionaire tracker.
"Who benefited? And who made money?" Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) asked in a video posted to social media Wednesday evening. "This should matter to you, too, because this could be an enormous scam."
"The question is, who close to Trump knew that he was going to suspend the tariffs?" said Murphy. "Which of his Mar-a-Lago friends or his billionaire advisers were able to capitalize on that inside information?"
An insider trading scandal is brewing.
Trump's 9:30am tweet makes it clear he was eager for his people to make money off the private info only he knew. So who knew ahead of time and how much money did they make? pic.twitter.com/AJbtEq372n
— Chris Murphy 🟧 (@ChrisMurphyCT) April 10, 2025
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.)
recommended late Wednesday that "any member of Congress who purchased stocks in the last 48 hours should probably disclose that now."
"I've been hearing some interesting chatter on the floor. Disclosure deadline is May 15th," she wrote. "We're about to learn a few things. It's time to ban insider trading in Congress."
During a House Ways and Means Committee hearing on Wednesday, Rep. Steven Horsford (D-Nev.) grilled Trump trade representative Jamieson Greer on the tariff pause, saying, "It looks like your boss just pulled the rug out from under you and paused the tariffs—the taxes—on the American people."
"Is this market manipulation?" Horsford asked. "If it's not market manipulation, what is it? Who's benefiting? What billionaire just got richer?"
JUST NOW: Rep Steven Horsford GRILLS Jamieson Greer on Donald Trump’s tariff reversal: “Is this market manipulation? If it’s not market manipulation, what is it? Who’s benefiting? What billionaire just got richer?” pic.twitter.com/Wfx8VlLemu
— Marco Foster (@MarcoFoster_) April 9, 2025
Last week, Trump himself suggested that he's deliberately manipulating equity prices, reposting a video claiming that he is "purposely crashing the market" as part of a "secret game" that "could make you rich."
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the agency tasked with investigating insider trading and other violations, is now headed by Wall Street-friendly Trump appointee Paul Atkins, whom the Republican-controlled U.S. Senate confirmed on Wednesday.
The Wall Street Journal reported that all three of the major U.S. stock indexes closed Wednesday "with moves unseen since some of the most volatile stretches in recent decades."
"The S&P 500 jumped 9.5% on Wednesday, its largest one-day percentage gain since the financial crisis of 2008," the Journal noted. "The Dow surged more than 2,900 points, or 7.9%—its biggest daily increase ever in point terms and the biggest percentage gain since the coronavirus swept the globe in March 2020. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite soared 12.2%, its highest one-day jump since the dot-com era."
In the days leading up to the tariff pause, Trump faced widespread criticism and backlash, including from some of his billionaire supporters. Bill Ackman, a billionaire hedge fund manager, had urged Trump to enact "a 30-, 60-, or 90-day pause before the tariffs are implemented."
"This was brilliantly executed," Ackman gushed after Trump announced the partial tariff pause. "Textbook, Art of the Deal."
"We sounded the alarm, and they're backing off," said Sen. Elizabeth Warren. "But the fight's not over."
Social Security advocates celebrated a hard-fought win on Wednesday while still stressing that the Trump administration poses a dire threat to millions of Americans' earned benefits.
The Social Security Administration on Tuesday seemingly walked back plans to require beneficiaries to verify their identities using an online system and force those who couldn't do so to provide documentation at an SSA field office—some of which may soon be targeted for closure.
"Beginning on April 14, Social Security will perform an anti-fraud check on all claims filed over the telephone and flag claims that have fraud risk indicators," the agency wrote Tuesday on X, the social media platform owned by billionaire Elon Musk, head of President Donald Trump's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
"Individuals that are flagged would be required to perform in-person ID proofing for the claim to be further processed. Individuals who are not flagged will be able to complete their claim without any in-person requirements," the SSA explained. "We will continue to conduct 100% ID proofing for all in-person claims. 4.5 million telephone claims a year and 70K may be flagged. Telephone remains a viable option to the public."
The Trump administration was previously accused of trying to "sabotage" SSA by cutting phone services and forcing people who could not verify their identity online through "my Social Security" to do so in-person. That policy was initially set to take effect at the end of March, a rapid rollout reportedly pursued at the request of the White House.
Then, late last month, SSA delayed the start date until April 14, and said that people applying for Medicare, Social Security Disability Insurance, or Supplemental Security Income would be exempt from the rule and could complete their claims by phone.
Reporting on the policy's apparent full rollback on Wednesday, Axios shared an email from a White House official who said that "because the anti-fraud team implemented new technological capabilities so quickly, SSA can now perform anti-fraud check on all claims filed over the phone."
Those who are flagged "would be required to perform in-person ID proofing for the claim to be further processed," the official told the outlet, echoing the X posts. "The administration remains committed to protecting our beneficiaries from fraud. There will no disruptions to service."
Welcoming the development on X, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said: "We sounded the alarm, and they're backing off. But the fight's not over. Trump and Musk still want to fire thousands of Social Security workers, close offices, and cut services. We'll keep fighting back."
Richard Fiesta, executive director of the Alliance for Retired Americans, similarly said in a statement: "Organizing and mobilizing works. From the moment DOGE announced its dangerous plan to eliminate SSA telephone services, our members sprang into action—making thousands of calls to elected officials, organizing rallies and demonstrations, and demanding the protection of the services they have earned and paid for."
"We are grateful that our voices were heard. As of today, most Americans will still be able to apply for their earned retirement, survivor, or disability benefits through the method that works best for them—whether by phone, in person, or online," Fiesta continued. "Forcing millions of seniors and people with disabilities to rely solely on an understaffed network of closing field offices or an online-only system would have placed an unreasonable burden on vulnerable people and done little to curb fraudulent claims."
Like Warren, he vowed that "we will continue to fight to ensure that SSA is fully staffed and that local field offices remain open and accessible to the public."
Social Security Works also celebrated the news, writing on X: "After a massive public outcry, Elon Musk's DOGE is backing away from cuts to Social Security phone service that would have forced millions of Americans into overcrowded field offices. Your voice matters!"
"But DOGE is still making other huge cuts to the Social Security Administration," the advocacy group added. "These cuts are already making it far harder for Americans to claim their earned benefits. We need to stay loud! Plan or join a rally on April 15th."
"Elon Musk orchestrated a plan to rip off consumers with impunity when he tweeted 'Delete CFPB' and Congress just rubber-stamped it," said one campaigner.
In a move likely to further enrich Elon Musk, the world's richest person, the Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday voted to revoke a rule empowering a federal agency to oversee digital payment applications including Apple Pay, CashApp, and Venmo like it monitors banks and credit card companies.
House lawmakers passed S.J. Res. 28 by a party-line vote of 219-211, a move that followed the Senate's vote last month to rescind the Consumer Financial Protect Bureau (CFPB) rule requiring payment apps to be regulated under the agency's supervisory authority.
"The vote," the progressive advocacy group Demand Progress said, "is the latest in a damning and telling chain of events benefiting Elon Musk," chairman of the social media company X.
The group laid out the timeline:
"Musk is now on a glide path to launch X Money this year without the watchdog agency to ensure that he follows federal rules mandating data security standards, disputes for fraudulent payments, consumer protections against debanking, and more," Demand Progress said.
"And through the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, Musk now has access to sensitive information about competitors in the digital payments space like Cash App, PayPal, and Venmo that have been investigated by the CFPB, potentially giving X Money an unfair business advantage," the group added.
BREAKING: Congress just voted to strip the CFPB of its power to make sure payment apps like CashApp protect consumers, just as Elon Musk gears up to turn Twitter into his own payment app.
[image or embed]
— Demand Progress (@demandprogress.bsky.social) April 9, 2025 at 2:03 PM
As Consumer Reports noted Wednesday:
The CFPB's rule (also known as the larger participant rule) applies to digital wallet and payment providers handling more than 50 million transactions per year. The most widely used apps subject to the rule process an estimated 13 billion consumer payment transactions annually, according to the CFPB.
In 2023 alone, consumers reported losing $210 million to scams on peer-to-peer payment apps, a staggering 62% increase from 2021. In addition, users who accidentally send a payment to the wrong person find it nearly impossible to get their money back.
"Elon Musk orchestrated a plan to rip off consumers with impunity when he tweeted 'Delete CFPB' and Congress just rubber-stamped it. Today's shameful vote means that X, an app already swarming with bots and scammers, will be able to connect to your bank account and allow fraudsters to take your money without accountability," Emily Peterson-Cassin, corporate power director at Demand Progress, said Wednesday.
"Thanks to the CFPB's supervision, $120 million was refunded to consumers who were scammed through Cash App," Peterson-Cassin added. "That kind of policing will be significantly harder now that Congress has voted to strip the CFPB of its ability to proactively watch over payment apps. And thanks to DOGE's intrusions into the CFPB's databases, Musk now has access to sensitive financial data from companies investigated by the agency, including virtually all would-be competitors to X Money in the digital payments space."
Other consumer advocates also panned the House vote, with Consumer Reports advocacy program director Chuck Bell arguing that "by voting to repeal the CFPB's rule, Congress is turning a blind eye to the fraud that runs rampant on payment apps and the privacy risks users can face when Big Tech companies collect their sensitive financial data and share it widely with other companies."
"Today's vote weakens the CFPB's ability to stop unfair practices that put consumers who use payment apps at risk and ensure that Big Tech companies are following the law," Bell added.