The Morning Sixpack - September 16, 2025
Trump skates on last case, Patel fumbles FBI, Cook keeps Fed seat, Redford bows out, deportations gut child trafficking probes, Florida woman decks gator.
Kash Patel Faces the Senate Hot Seat as FBI Director Amid Lawsuit and Kirk Fallout
Kash Patel walked into the Senate Judiciary Committee today carrying more baggage than a Spirit Airlines passenger. The Trump loyalist, tapped to run the FBI despite never having led anything close to this scale, is defending his leadership at a time when the bureau is under intense scrutiny. His testimony comes after a week of messy social media gaffes, criticism over his handling of the Charlie Kirk assassination manhunt, and a fresh lawsuit from some of the FBI’s most decorated former officials.
Patel, confirmed back in February by a razor-thin 51-49 Senate vote, still has Trump’s backing—for now. Over the weekend, Trump praised Patel and the FBI for capturing 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, the suspect in Kirk’s killing, within 33 hours. Patel has been eager to credit his “executive decision” to release surveillance images that helped lead to Robinson’s arrest, claiming transparency as his guiding principle. “We apprehended our suspect in 33 hours because we were transparent and open with the American public,” Patel bragged.
But transparency quickly turned into chaos when Patel botched an announcement on X (formerly Twitter). First, he declared Kirk’s suspected killer in custody. Ninety minutes later, he backtracked, admitting the man had been released after questioning. Asked about it this week, Patel said he had “no regrets,” even while former FBI leaders shook their heads at his amateur-hour approach to public communications. One retired senior agent bluntly said, “You don’t rush out and say the person of interest is the person who did the shooting.”
If the social media missteps weren’t bad enough, Patel is now being sued by three former FBI heavyweights—Brian Driscoll, Steven Jensen, and Spencer Evans—who claim they were fired at the direction of the White House for refusing to politicize the bureau. The lawsuit alleges Patel admitted to them he was told to fire anyone who worked on cases tied to Trump, a move that the plaintiffs argue directly undermined U.S. national security by stripping the FBI of its top counterterrorism and violent crime experts.
So here we are: an FBI director with no law enforcement leadership experience, accused of purging seasoned agents to please the White House, fumbling his way through social media during a national manhunt, and now testifying to Congress while trying to look like he’s still in control. It’s the political equivalent of duct-taping the engine back onto the plane mid-flight—and Patel doesn’t even have his pilot’s license.
Source: NPR
Editor: If this is what “draining the swamp” looks like, it turns out the swamp water got replaced with Red Bull and conspiracy podcasts.
Court Blocks Trump’s Attempt to Oust Fed Governor Lisa Cook Before Rate-Cut Meeting
A federal appeals court just told Trump he can’t boot Lisa Cook from the Federal Reserve—at least not yet. In a 2-1 decision, the D.C. panel rejected the administration’s emergency request to remove her ahead of this week’s central bank meeting, leaving Cook in place as she fights what she says is an unlawful firing.
Trump’s team argues Cook falsified mortgage documents years before she joined the Fed, claims now under Justice Department investigation. She hasn’t been charged, and her lawyers say property records prove otherwise. They also argue the president can’t use unproven allegations unrelated to job performance as grounds to override the Federal Reserve Act’s “for cause” standard for removal. Judge Jia Cobb already ruled Cook was “substantially likely” to win on that point, freezing Trump’s move.
The White House isn’t backing down. “The President lawfully removed Lisa Cook for cause,” spokesman Kush Desai insisted, vowing an appeal. DOJ lawyers even compared keeping Cook on the board to letting Bernie Madoff sit on it—an argument that tells you exactly how subtle this administration is playing it.
Cook, meanwhile, says Trump is targeting her for clashing with his relentless push to slash interest rates. Her lawyers warned that yanking her before Tuesday’s meeting would threaten not just her seat, but the Fed’s independence—and possibly rattle already jittery markets. The panel’s majority agreed, noting that removing her now would “upend, not preserve, the status quo.”
Bottom line: Trump scored one new Fed governor (Stephen Miran) confirmed in time for this week’s meeting, but Lisa Cook will still be in the room—and still voting. For now, the independence of the Federal Reserve hangs by a thread, but at least one court is keeping the scissors out of Trump’s hands.
Source: Wall Street Journal (gift article)
Editor: Trump comparing Lisa Cook to Bernie Madoff is like comparing jaywalking to armed robbery—except one of those things might actually get prosecuted.
Georgia Court Boots Fani Willis, Killing the Last Criminal Case Against Trump
Donald Trump just ran out the clock on his final criminal case—and walked away clean. With the Georgia Supreme Court refusing to intervene, Fulton County DA Fani Willis is officially out, and the once-massive election interference case is now in the hands of Georgia’s Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council. Translation: Trump’s legal jeopardy in Georgia is dead in the water.
The ruling leaves Trump’s lawyers gloating and Willis issuing a bitter statement about “respecting the legal process.” Her disqualification follows months of controversy over her relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade and a bruising court fight that ended with the appeals court declaring this case “the rare” situation where even the appearance of impropriety demanded her removal. Judge Benjamin Land dissented, warning the ruling set a brand-new precedent. But that didn’t matter—the Supreme Court shrugged and let it stand.
Trump’s legal team wasted no time claiming victory. “Willis’ misconduct during the investigation and prosecution of President Trump was egregious and she deserved nothing less than disqualification,” said Steve Sadow, Trump’s lead attorney. For them, this wasn’t just a win—it was the closing of the chapter on what they call “political lawfare persecutions.”
Now, the case file sits in limbo. Pete Skandalakis of the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council could find a new prosecutor, but nobody expects a trial against Trump himself to happen before his term ends in January 2029. More likely, the case gets quietly shelved or whittled down to lower-level defendants like Mark Meadows, Rudy Giuliani, or Georgia GOP officials. Four co-defendants, including Sidney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro, already pleaded guilty long ago—but Trump, as always, walked away untouched.
And here’s the kicker: this was the last criminal case standing against him. The DOJ dropped its two federal prosecutions after his reelection. His 34-count New York conviction over falsifying records to cover up his Stormy Daniels mess? Wiped clean with an unconditional discharge right before inauguration. The man who racked up more indictments than most mob bosses just got away with all of it.
Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Editor: Only in America can you fail upwards from porn star hush money, election subversion, and racketeering into “Mr. President” again. At this point, Trump’s biggest risk is a paper cut from all the legal paperwork stamped “DISMISSED.”
Trump’s Deportation Drive Pulls FBI Agents Off Child Predator Cases
Trump’s “largest deportation program in American history” is leaving child predators and extremists free to operate while FBI agents chase immigrants.
According to data obtained by the Cato Institute, nearly 20% of FBI agents—about 2,840 out of 13,800—have been yanked from counterterrorism and cybercrime squads and reassigned to immigration enforcement. That’s a bigger reshuffling than what happened after 9/11, but this time the priority isn’t terrorists plotting attacks—it’s rounding up undocumented workers.
The consequences are brutal. In Baltimore, the entire domestic terrorism squad was reassigned to hunt immigrants, abandoning investigations into a vile extremist network known as “764,” which targets children as young as 13. Prosecutors say the group coerces minors into cutting names into their skin, setting themselves on fire, and even abusing pets or siblings—all for blackmail and exploitation. Now, with fewer agents on the case, that investigation has slowed to a crawl.
Michael Feinberg, a former FBI executive, summed up the problem bluntly: “Agents aren’t out there recruiting sources. They are not maintaining trip wires. They are not able to keep their ear to the ground about what’s happening among extremist movements. As a result, the extremists have more latitude to do things that harm our society.” Or in plain English: we’re leaving the wolves to guard the henhouse while the shepherds are told to chase sheep over a border fence.
Director Kash Patel insists the bureau’s mission hasn’t changed, telling agents in a memo that “crushing violent crime and protecting national security are intertwined.” He claims local SACs (special agents in charge) have flexibility to prioritize threats. But dozens of current and former officials disagree, saying Patel has gutted entire departments and fired dissenters to keep Trump happy. Meanwhile, corruption, fraud, and foreign influence cases are gathering dust.
This isn’t law and order—it’s political theater at the expense of public safety. Child exploitation, domestic terrorism, and major white-collar crime are being shoved aside so Trump can rack up deportation numbers. We were told this was about “protecting America.” Funny how America’s children are now more vulnerable because the FBI is too busy playing ICE with better suits.
Source: My Daily Grind News
Editor: When the FBI’s top priority shifts from catching predators to padding deportation stats, don’t be surprised when the predators win. The monsters aren’t crossing the border—they’re already in the basement with the Wi-Fi on.
Robert Redford, Sundance Visionary and Hollywood Icon, Dies at 89
Robert Redford—the golden boy who became Hollywood royalty, an Oscar-winning director, and the godfather of indie cinema—has died at 89. His publicist said he passed away at home in Sundance, Utah, surrounded by family. No cause of death was released.
Redford’s career was as wide-ranging as it was influential. He went from playing charismatic outlaws in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and con men in The Sting to winning an Academy Award for directing Ordinary People. His boyish looks made him a box-office dream in the ’60s and ’70s, but he spent decades proving he was much more than a pretty face—pushing into political narratives, riskier roles, and eventually the director’s chair.
But Redford’s legacy extends far beyond acting. In the 1980s, he founded the Sundance Institute and Film Festival, giving unknowns like Quentin Tarantino, Steven Soderbergh, and Darren Aronofsky the break they needed. “For me, the word to be underscored is ‘independence,’” he said in 2018. “I’ve always believed in that word.” Ironically, the festival became so big that by 2027 it will relocate from Park City to Boulder, Colorado—an evolution Redford himself endorsed.
He was also a passionate environmentalist, lobbying for clean air and water, conservation, and sustainable land use long before it was trendy. His love for the outdoors colored his films too, from Jeremiah Johnson to A River Runs Through It. Alongside activism, Redford kept acting well into his later years, earning rave reviews in All Is Lost (2013) and what he called his farewell role in The Old Man and the Gun (2018).
Redford leaves behind a complicated but towering legacy: leading man, indie film champion, activist, director, and cultural outlaw. He was married twice, had four children, and helped reshape both Hollywood and the stories America tells itself. His death closes a chapter on one of cinema’s greatest lives—but his imprint on film, politics, and art will last for generations.
Source: AP News
Editor: Redford proved you can be devastatingly handsome, fiercely independent, and still spend decades sticking it to the Hollywood system. That’s a résumé even Paul Newman would raise a glass to.
Florida Woman Punches Alligator in the Face to Save Her Dog
A Florida woman went full action hero and punched an alligator in the eye to rescue her tiny dog from its jaws. #FloridaWoman
Danie Wright of Land O’ Lakes was walking her 4-month-old shih tzu, Dax, when a 5-foot gator lunged from a creek and clamped down on the pup’s collar.
“I turned and looked, and an alligator had him,” Wright told The New York Times. With no time to think, she started swinging. “I just punched him, punched and punched,” she told WTSP-TV. After a few blows to the gator’s eye, it loosened its grip just enough for Wright to yank her dog free—though not before its teeth scraped down her arm.
Incredibly, Wright even managed to flip the gator onto its back before fleeing inside with Dax. She later recorded video of the reptile still lurking behind her home. Florida Fish and Wildlife trappers eventually removed it from the property.
The terrifying encounter could have ended in tragedy, but thanks to Wright’s quick fists, Dax survived. She’s now warning other pet owners: “Just be careful with your dogs, you know these alligators are no joke.”
This is Florida in a nutshell—where dog walks double as UFC bouts with wildlife, and the locals don’t flinch at punching prehistoric reptiles square in the face.
Source: UPI
Editor: Some people walk their dog with pepper spray. In Florida, you apparently need a right hook and the reflexes of Mike Tyson.