The White House News

Arizona resident Jacob Chansley, the Jan. 6, 2021 rioter dubbed the “QAnon Shaman” whose image was ubiquitous on televisions as he wore face paint with animal fur and horns, plans to run for Congress in 2024.

The 35-year-old filed a statement of interest last Thursday, which, according to the Associated Press, indicates Chansley wants to run as a Libertarian in next year’s election for the 8th Congressional District seat in Arizona.

Rep. Debbie Lesko, R-Ariz., announced in October that she will not seek re-election to her seat, which the 64-year-old woman was first elected to in 2018. Her term will officially end in January 2025.

JAN. 6 RIOTER ‘QANON SHAMAN’ JACOB CHANSLEY SECURES EARLY RELEASE FROM PRISON TO HALFWAY HOUSE, LAWYER SAYS

Chansley, 35, is widely recognizable as the shirtless and face-painted man who, according to one federal judge, became the “very image” of the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Numerous pictures and videos from the riot show Chansley carrying an American flag through the Capitol building as a mob of then-President Trump’s supporters engaged in violent confrontations with police outside. 

Footage from the Capitol showed Chansley being escorted around the building by Capitol Police officers. At one point, at least nine police officers were seen close to Chansley, and none of them slowed him down.

FORMER LAWYER FOR ‘QANON SHAMAN’ SAYS JAN. 6 FOOTAGE WASN’T SHOWN TO CLIENT, CALLS PRISON SENTENCE A ‘TRAGEDY’

After the riot, Chansley was arrested and charged in connection with the riot. He pleaded guilty to civil disorder and violent entry to the Capitol in September 2021. 

Chansley was sentenced to 41 months in prison in November 2021, and after serving about 27 months, was transferred to a Phoenix halfway house in March 2023.

In a lengthy speech at his sentencing hearing, Chansley said he was “wrong for entering the Capitol” and did not excuse his actions.

JUSTICE DEPARTMENT APPEALS SENTENCES FOR PROUD BOYS ALREADY TO SERVE DECADE PLUS OVER JAN. 6 CAPITOL RIOT

“I am in no way, shape or form a violent criminal… no way a domestic terrorist,” Chansley said. “I’m a good man who broke the law. … I am truly repentant for my actions.”

He is among the more than 700 people sentenced in relation to Capitol riot-related federal crimes.

Chansley previously called himself the “QAnon Shaman,” but has since disavowed the QAnon movement.

The Biden-Harris campaign’s communications director argued that “a brick wall of MAGA extremism” has contributed to Americans struggling financially and working multiple jobs to make ends meet.

“That’s precisely why we need another four years to continue to finish the job, right? I think it’s important, too, that the president, of course, wants to get all of this done. But we have to be honest about the brick wall of MAGA extremism that we continue to run into when we’re trying to get things done for the American people,” Biden campaign official Michael Tyler told CNN’s Victor Blackwell on “CNN This Morning Weekend” on Saturday.

Tyler was responding to a question about how President Biden has previously said Americans shouldn’t be forced to work two jobs in order to stay afloat and above the poverty line.

“The Labor Department numbers came out for the third quarter; nearly 8.4 million people in this country are working at least two jobs. That’s the highest number since 2019. So, when people are looking for that economic shift, they don’t feel it,” Blackwell said before pointing to a woman who is working three jobs to make ends meet.

BIDEN ADMIN CLAIMS ECONOMIC POLICIES ARE ‘WORKING,’ BUT ITS OWN DATA PAINT A VERY DIFFERENT PICTURE

Tyler argued that the Biden administration needs four more years in the White House in order to “get the work done” on the economy.

US HOUSEHOLD INCOME FELL IN 2022 FOR THIRD STRAIGHT YEAR, CENSUS DATA SHOWS

“Are we going to continue the work to build an economy that grows and the middle out and the bottom up? Or do we want to return to the failed trickle down economic policies that Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans put into place for generations,” he said.

JEAN-PIERRE CONFRONTED WITH POLLS SHOWING ‘BIDENOMICS’ ISN’T POPULAR WITH AMERICANS

“This is the work that we have to do over the next four years. The president understands the challenges. He understands people’s concerns, and he is doing the work to solve them. And so we have to make sure that everybody gets out and votes on November 2024, so we can get the work done,” he said. 

The FBI whistleblower has called House Republicans “soulless demons” after they voted for funds for a new FBI headquarters, and have not taken steps to reform the troubled bureau.

In a tweet posted on X, Thursday, November 9, whistleblower Steve Friend called out the House GOP after they voted to give the FBI a new $300 million headquarters.

“Last year, I brought protected whistleblower disclosures about FBI weaponization to House GOP. They used it to go on TV and get elected. I lost my career and am under FBI investigation. Today the House GOP voted to give the FBI a $300 million HQ. Soulless demons. Go to hell,” Friend posted on X.

Friend claimed when 70 House Republicans voted to approve the $300 million towards the construction of a new FBI headquarters in Greenbelt, Maryland, it was a direct contradiction of a commitment made to him by Rep. Jim Jordan (R.-Ohio), the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.

WHISTLEBLOWERS SLAM FBI’S ‘NEFARIOUS’ WEAPONIZATION, SAY OTHER AGENTS ARE ‘TOO AFRAID’ OF GETTING ‘CRUSHED’

“People who swore to lay down their lives for America have questionable loyalty to the country? They are purging and rebuilding an FBI with people willing to roll over their own countrymen,” Friend said on X.

Friend told RedState.com that the House of Representatives has tremendous power that is not being used.

WHISTLEBLOWER SAYS HE’S ‘WILLING TO BE HOMELESS AT HANDS OF FBI’ TO SPEAK OUT ON ALLEGED WEAPONIZATION

“There’s a lot more tools at their disposal that I think they have that they’ve not used,” he said. “They can defund particular individuals’ salaries and positions and programs, and they just haven’t done it.”

Friend testified before the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government of the Judiciary Committee on May 18, along with Marcus Allen, an FBI staff operations specialist, and Garret O’Boyle, an FBI special agent, when the three men went to a luncheon hosted by House Republicans on the committee. 

FBI EXPECTS CONGRESS TO BE ‘SHEEP,’ IGNORE ALLEGATIONS OF ABUSE WHILE BUREAU PLANS $4B NEW HQ: TOP REPUBLICAN

Their testimony focused on ways the Justice Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation targeted conservatives for harassment, surveillance, and any chance to pull them into criminal proceedings. 

“The FBI has put evil people in charge of the most administrative of tasks. They people came at the Suspendables in unlawful ways which we continue to reveal,” Friend said on X.

The General Services Administration (GSA) began the process of building a new FBI headquarters in 2013 under the title “FBI Headquarters Consolidation,” which would move the current headquarters located at the J. Edgar Hoover Building, at Washington’s 935 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW. 

New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ office lashed out Sunday against any FBI employee who might have “improperly leaked details” of a federal corruption probe implicating Hizzoner. 

This comes in response to the New York Times’ reporting that the federal authorities were probing Adams for possibly improperly pressuring New York Fire Department officials into clearing the opening of a Manhattan sky-rise to house the Turkish consulate despite safety concerns about the 35-story building.

Reacting to the report in a statement provided to Fox News Digital, City Hall Chief Counsel Lisa Zornberg said, “The mayor and our team are continuing to work with investigators and cooperate. We hope that investigators will continue to cooperate with us and reprimand any federal officer who has improperly leaked details about this investigation as such conduct could prejudice the public and undermines the integrity of our law enforcement process.“

According to the Times, Adams’ unusual intervention came in the summer of 2021 after he won the Democratic mayoral primary but before the November general election. He was serving his second term as Brooklyn borough president at the time, and that role’s jurisdiction does not include Manhattan. The FBI reportedly has been questioning FDNY officials since last spring.

FBI PROBES ERIC ADAMS’ FOR PRESSURING NYC OFFICIALS INTO OPENING TURKEY’S CONSULATE IN MANHATTAN: REPORT

So far, federal law enforcement and prosecutors have not publicly disclosed the subject of the wide-ranging corruption probe, but an FBI search warrant for the Brooklyn home of Adams’ top campaign fundraiser, Brianna Suggs, obtained by the Times reportedly revealed the federal investigation has centered in part around whether Adams’ campaign conspired with the Turkish government, including its consulate general in New York, to illegally funnel foreign money into its coffers. 

On Friday, Adams’ attorney, Boyd Johnson, revealed in a statement that FBI agents quietly seized phones and an iPad from the mayor earlier in the week as part of an investigation into political fundraising during his 2021 campaign. The seizures happened as Adams was leaving a public event in Manhattan on Monday night. 

NYC MAYOR ERIC ADAMS’ ELECTRONIC DEVICES SEIZED BY FBI AMID CAMPAIGN INVESTIGATION

Johnson emphasized at the time that Adams “has not been accused of any wrongdoing and continues to cooperate with the investigation.” 

The FBI declined to comment to Fox News Digital on Sunday regarding the Times’ report. 

In a statement issued by the mayor’s campaign, Adams said, “As a borough president, part of my routine role was to notify government agencies of issues on behalf of constituents and constituencies. I have not been accused of wrongdoing, and I will continue to cooperate with investigators.”

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol reportedly told U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin both of their nations should be ready for “Hamas-style” attacks from North Korea in the region. 

The warning came when Yoon invited Austin and U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff General Charles Q. Brown, Jr. to the presidential residence in Seoul for a meeting over dinner, Yonhap News Agency reported. The outlet, citing presidential spokesperson Lee Do-woon, said Yoon called for “a vigilant South Korea-US combined defense posture capable of promptly and decisively retaliating against any provocations from North Korea, including surprise attacks resembling Hamas-style tactics due to its miscalculation.” 

Yoon said the Israel-Hamas war and the Ukraine-Russia war are directly and indirectly linked to North Korea. Austin reassured Yoon that President Biden is committed to further strengthening the U.S.-South Korea military alliance, according to Yonhap News Agency, as both allies on Monday are slated to discuss a range of security issues, including ways to bolster Washington’s extended deterrence commitment against North Korea’s missile and nuclear threats. 

The U.S. Department of Defense said Austin attended a ceremony honoring veterans from both countries at the War Memorial of Korea in Seoul after holding talks with South Korean Minister of National Defense Shin Won-sik, and Japanese Defense Minister Kihara Minoru at the South Korean Ministry of National Defense headquarters earlier Sunday.

NORTH KOREA CLOSING EMBASSIES AROUND THE WORLD AMID SUSPECTED FINANCIAL CRISIS

“Around the world, as you see our troops deployed and working together, it is impressive,” he said at the ceremony. “The United States military is the most powerful military in the world, and we absolutely take pride in our relationship with our Korean counterparts.”

Following Sunday’s talks, U.S. defense officials announced that Austin and his South Korean and Japanese counterparts have decided on a mechanism to facilitate the exchange of real-time missile warning data to improve each country’s ability to monitor missiles launched by North Korea. That mechanism is slated to be fully operationalized by the end of December.

The defense ministers also encouraged the development of a multi-year trilateral exercise plan which is scheduled to be finalized by the end of this year. Austin “also reaffirmed during the talks the United States’ steadfast alliance with both countries and the U.S. commitment to extended deterrence backed by the full range of its capabilities,” according to the Department of Defense. 

BLINKEN: US HAS ‘REAL CONCERNS’ ABOUT RUSSIA-NORTH KOREA MILITARY PARTNERSHIP

In addition to meeting with his South Korean and Japanese counterparts in Seoul, Austin will also attend the 55th annual Security Consultative Meeting and the United Nations Command inaugural meeting of member states’ defense ministers before departing for his final stop in Indonesia.

On Thursday, in talks with South Korea’s leadership, including Yoon, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed the growing threat posed by North Korea and its alleged provision of military equipment and munitions to Russia to help it wage war on Ukraine, the State Department said. 

They also spoke of the importance of U.S.-South Korean cooperation on global challenges, including China’s assertiveness and the instability in the Middle East.

“They shared concerns about the DPRK’s provocations in the region and strongly condemned the provision of military equipment and munitions by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to the Russian Federation for use in its war against Ukraine,” the State Department said of Blinken’s meeting with Yoon, referring to North Korea by its formal name. The Blinken-Yoon meeting also covered improving relations between South Korea and Japan as well as the importance of three-way cooperation between Washington, Tokyo and Seoul, the State Department said. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

The FBI is reportedly investigating New York City Mayor Eric Adams for possibly clearing the red tape to open a high rise housing the Turkish consulate in Manhattan. 

The New York Times, citing three people with knowledge of the matter, first reported Sunday that Adams, after winning the Democratic primary, allegedly contacted then-New York Fire Department Commissioner Daniel A. Nigro in late summer 2021, urging him to allow the Turkish government to occupy the building at least on a temporary basis. 

Fire officials had cited safety issues and declined to sign off on its occupancy, preventing the building from opening. The alleged intervention came while Adams was in his second term as Brooklyn borough president and before the November mayoral general election that year, when he defeated Republican candidate and Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa. 

Reached by Fox News Digital Sunday, the FBI declined to comment on the Times report. 

NYC MAYOR ERIC ADAMS’ ELECTRONIC DEVICES SEIZED BY FBI AMID CAMPAIGN INVESTIGATION

Fox News Digital also reached out to the mayor’s office and Adams’ attorney, Boyd Johnson, regarding the allegations. 

The Times reported that the FBI has been asking fire officials about Adams’ unusual intervention since at least last spring as part of a broader corruption probe. 

The newspaper cited a warrant for an FBI search of the home of the mayor’s chief fundraiser in reporting that the federal investigation has centered in part around whether Adams’ campaign conspired with the Turkish government, including its consulate general in New York, to illegally funnel foreign money into its coffers. 

Citing people familiar with the matter and city records, the Times reported that Adams’ alleged intervention cleared the way for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to preside over the grand opening of the $300 million, 35-story tower while visiting New York in September 2021 for the United Nations General Assembly despite deficiencies in its fire safety system. 

Adams’ campaign issued a statement on his behalf provided to the Times Saturday morning. 

“As a borough president, part of my routine role was to notify government agencies of issues on behalf of constituents and constituencies,” Adams said. “I have not been accused of wrongdoing, and I will continue to cooperate with investigators.”

WHAT THE FBI SEIZED FROM THE HOME OF NEW YORK CITY MAYOR ERIC ADAMS’ TOP FUNDRAISER 

The focus of the federal investigation has yet to be publicly disclosed by federal prosecutors. 

FBI agents quietly seized phones and an iPad from Adams early last week as part of an investigation into political fundraising during his 2021 campaign, his attorney disclosed Friday.

The seizures happened as Adams was leaving a public event in Manhattan, according to a statement from Johnson.

“On Monday night, the FBI approached the mayor after an event. The Mayor immediately complied with the FBI’s request and provided them with electronic devices,” Johnson said. “The mayor has not been accused of any wrongdoing and continues to cooperate with the investigation.”

The seizure of the devices, first reported by The New York Times, came four days after federal agents searched the Brooklyn home of Adams’ top campaign fundraiser, Brianna Suggs. That search prompted the mayor to cancel a planned trip to meet with White House officials in Washington and instead return to New York.

In a statement on Friday, Adams, a former police captain, said he had “nothing to hide.” “As a former member of law enforcement, I expect all members of my staff to follow the law and fully cooperate with any sort of investigation — and I will continue to do exactly that,” he said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.