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The director of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) was dismissed Friday, weeks after the agency prepared a preliminary bomb-damage assessment \u2014 later leaked to the media \u2014 that indicated U.S. strikes on Iran had delayed the country\u2019s nuclear program by only a few months.<\/p>\n
Air Force Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse, who had led the DIA since February 2024, \u201cwill no longer serve as DIA director,\u201d a senior defense official told The Post.<\/p>\n
Deputy Director Christine Bordine is now listed as acting director on the agency\u2019s official website.<\/p>\n
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reportedly fired Kruse over a \u201ca loss of confidence\u201d in the lieutenant general, two congressional officials told the New York Times.<\/p>\n
The DIA\u2019s classified, \u201clow confidence\u201d assessment of the June 21 airstrikes on Iran\u2019s Fordow, Isfahan, and Natanz nuclear sites was leaked to CNN three days after U.S. B-2 stealth bombers and cruise missiles targeted the facilities.An official said the assessment was based on limited intelligence collected the day after the strike. The document reportedly concluded that Iran could restore elements of its nuclear program within one to two months and that its stockpile of enriched uranium had not been destroyed in the airstrikes.<\/p>\n
The leak drew sharp anger from President Donald Trump and other senior administration officials. In a Truth Social post, Trump described the leak as \u201cAN ATTEMPT TO DEMEAN ONE OF THE MOST SUCCESSFUL MILITARY STRIKES IN HISTORY.\u201d He added in all caps: \u201cTHE NUCLEAR SITES IN IRAN ARE COMPLETELY DESTROYED!\u201d<\/p>\n
Special envoy Steve Witkoff dismissed claims that the United States failed to achieve its military objectives in Iran, calling such suggestions \u201ccompletely preposterous\u201d during an interview on Fox News\u2019 The Ingraham Angle.<\/p>\n
He also condemned the leak of the DIA assessment, describing it as \u201coutrageous\u201d and \u201ctreasonous,\u201d and urged an investigation to identify and hold accountable those responsible, the New York Post added.<\/p>\n
Kruse\u2019s dismissal marks the latest shake-up within the intelligence community under the Trump administration.<\/p>\n
In April, former National Security Agency Director Timothy Haugh was removed from his post on the same day that at least three National Security Council staff members were also dismissed.<\/p>\n
A Defense Department spokesman lashed out Wednesday at a Washington Post investigation into Secretary Pete Hegseth\u2019s security detail, accusing the newspaper of endangering the Cabinet member and his family.<\/p>\n
\u201cWaPo intentionally published sensitive details of @SecDef\u2019s security detail for him and his family \u2013 putting their safety at risk,\u201d Joel Valdez, the acting deputy press secretary for the Department of Defense,\u00a0said\u00a0on X. \u201cThere should be severe punishment for what @TaraCopp, @DanLamothe, and @AlexHortonTX are doing.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Post story, headlined \u201cHegseth\u2019s expansive security requirements tax Army protective unit,\u201d was published Wednesday morning and was allegedly based on more than a dozen interviews. Reporters Tara Copp, Alex Horton, and Dan Lamothe detailed how Hegseth\u2019s \u201cunusually large\u201d protective demands are straining the Army agency charged with safeguarding him, forcing agents to be pulled from criminal cases to cover his residences in Minnesota, Tennessee, and Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve never seen this many security teams for one guy. Nobody has,\u201d one Pentagon source said, according to the paper.<\/p>\n
The story drew sharp criticism from Hegseth\u2019s chief spokesperson, Sean Parnell, who said the report ignored the volatile threat environment.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the wake of two assassination attempts against President Trump, ICE agents facing a 1000% increase in assaults, and repeated threats of retaliation from Iran for striking their nuclear capabilities, it\u2019s astonishing that the Washington Post is criticizing a high-ranking Cabinet official for receiving appropriate security protection, especially after doxxing the DHS Secretary last week,\u201d Parnell said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAny action pertaining to the security of Secretary Hegseth and his family has been in response to the threat environment and at the full recommendation of the Army Criminal Investigation Division (CID),\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
New York Attorney General Letitia James was indicted on federal bank fraud charges after prosecutors alleged she lied on a mortgage application to obtain favorable loan terms on a Virginia property she later rented out.<\/p>\n
The indictment, returned by a federal grand jury, centers on a single-family home in Norfolk, Virginia, that James co-purchased in August 2020 for roughly $137,000. Most of the purchase was financed with a $109,600 loan that prohibited the home from being used as a rental or investment property, according to prosecutors.<\/p>\n
By misrepresenting the property as a second home, James received a lower interest rate and saved \u201capproximately $18,933 over the life of the loan,\u201d prosecutors said in a five-page filing.<\/p>\n
Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director William Pulte referred the case to the Department of Justice earlier this year, prompting a criminal probe that led to Thursday\u2019s indictment.<\/p>\n
According to financial disclosure forms reviewed by the\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe indicted attorney general also estimated the value of the property anywhere between $150,000 and $200,000,\u201d the Post reported.<\/p>\n
Despite the loan\u2019s clear prohibition against rental use, prosecutors allege James used the property as a rental investment and earned thousands of dollars in income that she failed to report on multiple disclosure forms.<\/p>\n
In her 2020 disclosure, James did list an \u201cinvestment real property\u201d in Norfolk that generated between $1,000 and $5,000 in revenue, but it is unclear if that referred to the same home named in the indictment.<\/p>\n
According to prosecutors, James agreed to a \u201cSecond Home Rider\u201d when taking out the loan, which required her to occupy the home as her secondary residence and forbade any rental or shared ownership arrangement.<\/p>\n
\u201cDespite these representations,\u201d the indictment reads, \u201cthe Norfolk property was not occupied or used by James as a secondary residence and was instead used as a rental investment property.\u201d<\/p>\n
Prosecutors also said James made false statements on her homeowners\u2019 insurance application, claiming the home would be \u201cowner occupied,\u201d and on her federal tax filings, where she classified the house as \u201crental real estate\u201d and reported \u201cthousand(s) of dollars in rents received.\u201d<\/p>\n
The federal indictment charges James with two counts: bank fraud and making false statements to a financial institution. If convicted on both counts, she faces up to 60 years in prison and fines totaling as much as $2 million.<\/p>\n
The judge presiding over James\u2019 mortgage fraud case on Friday rejected a motion seeking to compel federal prosecutors to maintain a log of all their communications with the media.<\/p>\n
Defense attorney Abbe Lowell had filed the request last week, following James\u2019 arraignment on charges of bank fraud and making false statements. The motion cited a report alleging that U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan exchanged a series of encrypted Signal messages with a reporter regarding the case,\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201c[T]he defendant does not demonstrate that it is necessary for the Court to order the government to track communications with the media in any particular form,\u201d wrote US District Judge Jamar Walker in his six-page order.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe defendant\u2019s request that the government be required to keep a communication log is DENIED,\u201d the Biden-appointed judge ruled.<\/p>\n
Walker further wrote that while Halligan\u2019s Signal chat with Lawfare senior editor Anna Bower earlier this month was \u201cunusual,\u201d he nevertheless declined to offer an opinion \u201con whether they were improper in any sense, either legal or ethical.\u201d<\/p>\n
Halligan\u2019s Signal messages to the reporter were configured to automatically disappear after eight hours, The Post reported.<\/p>\n
The judge did not address whether Halligan\u2019s communications \u2014 which reportedly disputed a New York Times story revealing that James\u2019 grandniece told a grand jury she had never paid rent on the Norfolk, Va., property at the center of the case \u2014 constituted material subject to discovery requirements.<\/p>\n
James pleaded not guilty last week to one count of bank fraud and one count of making a false statement to a financial institution.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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