Latest news with #LauraLoomer
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Laura Loomer Attacks ‘Fox News Barbie' Pam Bondi Over Epstein List
Far-right activist Laura Loomer says Pam Bondi would rather be the next 'Fox News Barbie' than succeed as attorney general. Loomer is one of several MAGA and Republican figures who feel duped after the FBI and Bondi's Department of Justice announced there's no evidence of a so-called 'client list' featuring high-profile names linked to late pedophile Jeffrey Epstein's crimes, nor that Epstein had 'blackmailed prominent individuals' with such dirt. Loomer has taken particular aim at Bondi because the attorney general told Fox News in February that not only does the Epstein list exist, but that it was 'sitting on my desk right now' for review. Loomer has since called on Bondi to resign, or for President Donald Trump to fire her, for allegedly misleading the public about the list's existence or failing to disclose it. Speaking on New York's morning radio show Sid & Friends in the Morning, hosted by Sid Rosenberg, Loomer repeated her calls for Bondi to lose her job over the Epstein bait-and-switch, adding that Bondi shouldn't have been appointed to the top role in the first place. 'Talk about an absolute fumble. She had one job, and upon being nominated as attorney general by President Trump, she talked a big talk, went on Fox News,' Loomer said. 'I mean, honestly, it seems like she spends more time on Fox News auditioning to be another Fox News Barbie than she does actually doing her job as attorney general.' In a memo, the FBI and DOJ also dismissed the conspiracy theory that Epstein didn't take his own life and was instead murdered inside his cell at New York City's Metropolitan Correctional Center in August 2019. The debunked claim was previously pushed by top Trump loyalists Kash Patel and podcaster Dan Bongino, who are now leading the FBI as director and deputy director, respectively. Loomer questioned whether Trump made the right decisions in elevating certain MAGA figures to top Cabinet roles and other positions in the wake of the Epstein fallout. 'Was it the best decision to put people in these positions because they had a popular podcast, or because they look good on TV, or because they're on Fox News a lot?' Loomer asked. 'We kind of have a reality TV cabinet. I don't think that Pam Bondi is qualified to be the attorney general. She's kind of a bimbo.' Loomer also rejected the suggestion that Bondi said there's no Epstein client list because Trump—a one time friend of the billionaire financier—is actually named in it. She argued that if that were the case, Democrats such as former President Joe Biden would have 'exploited that information and released it' ahead of the 2020 or 2024 elections. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt defended Bondi after the attorney general initially appeared to claim the Epstein client list was on her desk, before later stating it does not exist in the DOJ memo. 'She was saying the entirety of all of the paperwork, all of the paper in relation to Jeffrey Epstein's crimes,' Leavitt told reporters Monday. 'That's what the attorney general was referring to.' The Department of Justice did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Beast.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Bondi Takes Revenge on Family of Man Who Created Anti-ICE App
Pam Bondi's Justice Department has fired the wife of the man who developed a controversial 'anti-ICE' warning system after far-right influencer Laura Loomer attacked her on X, the Daily Beast can disclose. Carolyn Feinstein, who is married to ICEBlock developer Joshua Aaron, had served as a forensic accountant at the DOJ's Office of the U.S. Trustee for almost a decade. On Friday she received an email from the department informing her that her position would be terminated. 'This was retribution. I was fired because of the actions, or activism, of my husband,' Feinstein told the Daily Beast Monday. 'It is insulting to me because I dedicated myself and my career to serving the people of the United States, and now the DOJ is claiming I was attempting to harm some of them. And that's not true.' Feinstein, who specializes in bankruptcy fraud, says she was 'targeted' because of her husband's work. Aaron found himself on the receiving end of MAGA's fury after giving an interview to CNN late last month in which he explained how his app works and why he had developed it. 'When I saw what was happening in this country, I wanted to do something to fight back,' Aaron told the network, comparing the Trump administration's nationwide immigration crackdown to purges carried out by the Nazi regime in Germany. 'We're literally watching history repeat itself.' With almost a million downloads at last count, ICEBlock provides users with an 'early warning system' when Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have been spotted within a five-mile radius of their location, allowing targets of immigration raids to avoid confrontation with the authorities. Within hours of the CNN segment airing, GOP supporters had worked themselves into a frenzy, with Trump administration officials like Department for Homeland Security border czar Tom Homan and ICE Acting Director Tom Lyon blasting the network for 'pushing' the app and calling on the DOJ to investigate the matter. 'We will not be intimidated. We will not be deterred,' Aaron told The Daily Beast at the time. 'As long as ICE agents have quotas, and this administration ignores people's Constitutional rights, we will continue fighting back. No human is illegal.' Feinstein says that she took it upon herself to inform the DOJ of her relationship with Aaron after the backlash first kicked off more than three weeks ago. 'Since we live in the same house, I thought it was pertinent to contact my employer, the DOJ, to notify them of death threats that were coming in and just in case I needed to be out of the office, so they would be prepared,' she told the Daily Beast. Within a week, she said that she was then contacted by the Office of the U.S. Trustee, which said it was reaching out on behalf of an ethics committee. 'They asked me about my relationship to the ICEBlock App,' she said. 'And I informed them in so many words that I really didn't have any relationship or involvement in the app, I was married to the creator.' While Feinstein says she does appear as a minority shareholder of All U Chart, Inc., the company that holds the IP for ICEBlock, this is a purely practical arrangement so that 'if Joshua were incapacitated, or further, I have the ability to shut it down.' Then, last Wednesday, pro-Trump influencer Laura Loomer claimed on X that she had identified Feinstein as Aaron's spouse and revealed that the couple lives together in Texas. In a subsequent interview on NewsMax, Homan said Loomer had been in touch to share those findings and that he had since contacted the DOJ over the matter, telling the host that 'all [Aaron is] doing is giving a heads up to criminals.' 'The DOJ's looking at it, and they need to throw some people in jail,' he added. Loomer later posted that Attorney General Pam Bondi, or 'Blondi' as she's dubbed her amid the ongoing 'Epstein list' furor, 'could have a big win right now if she FIRES Carolyn Feinstein from the DOJ and launches a criminal investigation into both Joshua Aaron and Carolyn Feinstein for their role in ICEBlock app.' She also called on Trump to 'have a little chat with [Apple CEO] Tim Cook' for allowing the app to be listed on the Apple Store in the first place, adding, 'We need to MAKE AMERICA SAFE AGAIN!' Feinstein says she received her termination note 'within 24 hours' of Homan's Newsmax interview airing. While she underscored again that she has no involvement with the app, she said the 'language used to describe the ICEBlock app and its function' in the DOJ's termination letter 'is not only incorrect, but offensive,' taking particular issue with terms like 'illegal alien.' 'My service to the people of the United States was unbiased,' she added. 'Each one of them landed on the same level for me. I didn't play favourites, I didn't have a disservice to any person within the United States because of who they are, what they look like, or where they work.' Responding to emailed requests for comment on Feinstein's firing, the White House told the Daily Beast it defers to the DOJ on 'any DOJ-related staffing matters.' A spokesperson for the DOJ said it had spent 'several weeks' looking into Feinstein's activities and discovered she has interests in the company that holds the IP for the ICEBlock app. 'ICEBlock is an app that illegal aliens use to evade capture while endangering the lives of ICE officers' and that the department 'will not tolerate threats against law enforcement or law enforcement officers,' the spokesperson said. The Department for Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, did not respond to a request for comment. Solve the daily Crossword
The Independent
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Independent
Laura Loomer hits the ‘trifecta' in Trump's loyalty test and that's why he keeps her around, biographer says
The seamlessness with which far-right activist Laura Loomer fits in with President Donald Trump 's inner circle has made her an easy ally to keep around, a former Trump biographer says. Loomer, 32, has created controversy with her Islamophobic claims but her abiding devotion to the president has led to her having an apparent sway in the firing of some senior officials. It's been widely reported that many of Trump's closest officials are not fans of Loomer, who they see as unpredictable, and aides have attempted to keep Loomer at arms-length from the president. But Michael Wolff, the author of four books about Trump's presidency, says Loomer has the 'trifecta' of what the president wants in an ally. 'She's, what, 30 years old? She looks the part. She's on television often for Donald Trump,' Wolff said on the Daily Beast Podcast this week. 'That's the trifecta. I mean, what's not to like from Donald Trump's point of view?' Loomer, who has the polished, conservative look of other women in Trump's orbit, has shown an unwavering devotion to the president despite having no official role in the administration. That combination serves as a 'comfort blanket system' for Trump, Wolff said. 'He sees that she's very television,' he continued. 'I think she just comes in and she just amuses him.' Loomer appears to be aware of that, too. Speaking to the New York Times earlier this month, Loomer asserted that she maintains a slim figure and always looks her best for the president. That includes purchasing a new outfit anytime she's meeting him. That means she fits right in with the crowd of women that Trump likes to surround himself with, conventionally attractive young women, while also going to bat for him any chance she gets. She's a fierce defender of Trump, using her X platform to call out any person in the administration she believes is not completely loyal to the president. Last week, she went as far as to blame Attorney General Pam Bondi for the Epstein Files debacle and called for Trump to fire her. Her influence with the president has even led to some changes in staffing. In April, Loomer reportedly gave Trump a list of disloyal National Security Council staffers who were subsequently fired.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
The MAGA provocateur has nailed the Trump 'trifecta,' according to Michael Wolff.
MAGA activist Laura Loomer checks all the right boxes for President Donald Trump, even though many of his closest advisers seem intent on keeping her at arm's length. 'She's, what, 30 years old? She looks the part. She's on television often for Donald Trump,' Trump biographer Michael Wolff told The Daily Beast Podcast this week. 'That's the trifecta. I mean, what's not to like from Donald Trump's point of view?' Wolff, author of Fire and Fury, said 'everybody is trying to keep Laura Loomer out,' except for Natalie Harp, the devoted Trump aide who's been referred to as the 'human printer' and 'nutter conduit' to Trump.
The Verge
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Verge
The intolerable memes of Alligator Alcatraz
Alligator Alcatraz, Florida's hastily built, $225 million-and-counting immigrant detention facility in the Everglades, is both a de facto concentration camp and a right-wing meme. President Donald Trump's most ardent supporters are willing to excuse — or are in some cases reveling in — allegations of inhumane treatment at the facility: worms in food, floors flooded with fecal water, fluorescent lights left on for 24 hours a day, and no air conditioning at night despite South Florida's relentless humidity. To them, the whole thing is a big joke, fodder for memes that activate the base even as they turn the majority of Americans off from Trump's draconian immigration enforcement. One Republican member of Congress is also selling Alligator Alcatraz merch Laura Loomer, a close confidante of Trump's, was giddy at the prospect of potential escapees dying in the act. 'The good news is, alligators are guaranteed at least 65 million meals if we start now,' she posted on X. (The figure refers not to the estimated number of undocumented immigrants in the country but to the United States' entire Latino population.) Conservative commentator Benny Johnson compared the facility's entrance to Jurassic Park and bragged about getting official Alligator Alcatraz merch during his visit. (Before his rightward turn, and before he was fired from BuzzFeed for plagiarism, Johnson also compared the Arab Spring to Jurassic Park. It's unclear if he's seen any other movies.) One Republican member of Congress is also selling Alligator Alcatraz merch to fund her reelection campaign. There's more merch on Etsy. Obviously, there's also a shitcoin. The memes and merch are more than a get-rich-quick scheme for enterprising nativists, though grift is obviously always part of the MAGA equation. In his second term, Trump has turned immigration enforcement into a spectator sport. Far-right influencers like Chaya Raichik, better known as Libs of TikTok, have been invited to ride-alongs with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has turned her position into a sort of cowboy cop cosplay, often appearing in public in a bulletproof vest or a ten-gallon hat (or sometimes both). The official White House X account is posting 'deportation ASMR' and Studio Ghibli-fied images of crying migrants in handcuffs. There's a real glee to it. To borrow from Adam Serwer, the cruelty is the point, but there's more to it than that. At this year's Conservative Political Action Conference, Vice President JD Vance said that voters had given Trump a mandate on immigration enforcement; Trump won the popular vote in part because the public was clamoring for mass deportations. It's true that before the 2024 election, most voters expressed disapproval with President Joe Biden's border policy and seemed open to a more hardline approach to immigration. But Trump — and the zoomers presumably running the White House's social media — either haven't realized that public opinion is no longer on his side with regard to immigration, or they simply don't care. Trump seems even less beholden to public opinion in his second term than he was in his first. Since January, he has pursued deeply unpopular policies, from tariffs to completely gutting the federal government, so relentlessly that he has even lost support from his own base. Half a year into Trump's second term, it's clear that voters agreed with some of his proposals in abstract terms — they elected him because he promised to 'do something about immigration' and 'run the government like a business' — but don't like how these policies have played out in practice. A chunk of Republican voters have turned against tariffs and Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency. Still other Trump supporters have seen their friends, relatives, and spouses targeted by ICE since the president's return to office. One naturalized citizen who voted for Trump was even stopped by ICE agents while driving to work; he now believes that ICE is racially profiling Latinos. He told a local news station that he voted for Trump because he would be targeting 'criminals, not every Hispanic, Spanish-look-alike.' Trump's approval rating on immigration is now down to 41 percent, the lowest since his second term began. Voters may have trusted Trump to get 'criminals' out of the country, but they weren't necessarily expecting his administration to indiscriminately target noncitizens (and some citizens as well), deploy the National Guard to arrest immigrants and crack down on protesters in Los Angeles, or disappear hundreds of people to a Salvadoran megaprison. In a post on X, White House adviser Stephen Miller justified the decision to sic the National Guard on protesters by saying that 'America voted for mass deportations.' Recent polling suggests that Americans are no longer on board with Trump's immigration agenda. Rather than responding to this shift in voters' sentiment, the administration appears to be doubling down on its all-or-nothing approach to immigration enforcement and to its gleeful depictions of these draconian policies online. The memes create a sort of alternate reality, a virtual universe in which everyone is still on the Trump Train and all Americans are thrilled at the prospect of feeding immigrants to alligators. This echo chamber benefits from — and is amplified by — algorithmic silos. Your average voter may read about Alligator Alcatraz in the news, but they aren't necessarily seeing Benny Johnson's concentration camp selfies. The memes are in-group signaling; they engender a sense of belonging for Trump's most ardent supporters while inuring them to the cruelty of this new era. The memes are politics disjointed from polls and demagoguery free of democracy, a sign that the White House — either out of recklessness or something much worse — does not care about elections.
