TODAY’S LAW ENFORCEMENT story

Former top FBI agents sue, claiming illegal Trump purge

What happened
Three senior FBI officials fired by FBI Director Kash Patel (pictured above) alleged in a lawsuit yesterday that they were the targets of an unlawful “campaign of retribution” orchestrated by the White House and Justice Department. Patel acknowledged that the firings last month were “likely illegal,” but said he had no choice “because ‘the FBI tried to put the president in jail and he hasn’t forgotten it,’” according to the lawsuit filed by Steve Jensen, Spencer Evans and Brian Driscoll, a veteran agent who served as acting director before Patel was confirmed.

Who said what
The lawsuit is an "eye-popping indictment of the bureau by people who occupied some of its most senior and sensitive positions for years," Politico said. The 68-page complaint claims "Trump loyalists executed brazen political vendettas, lacked basic understanding of FBI management” and “were beholden to the whims of White House aides such as Stephen Miller” and “wildly buffeted by the vagaries of opinions floated by Trump allies on social media.”

Patel “not only acted unlawfully but deliberately chose to prioritize politicizing the FBI over protecting the American people,” the lawsuit said. “His decision to do so degraded the country’s national security by firing three of the FBI’s most experienced operational leaders” in “preventing terrorism and reducing violent crime.”

What next?
Driscoll, Jensen and Evans are seeking reinstatement in the FBI and, “among other remedies, the awarding of back pay, an order declaring the firings illegal and even a forum for them to clear their names,” The Associated Press said.

TODAY’S SPACE Story

NASA reveals ‘clearest sign of life’ on Mars yet

What happened
NASA announced yesterday that a rock sample collected on Mars by its Perseverance rover last year contains what appear to be biosignatures, or signs of previous life, on the Red Planet. “This very well could be the clearest sign of life that we’ve ever found on Mars,” acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy said at a press conference coinciding with the publication of a paper on the findings in the journal Nature.

Who said what
NASA scientists were “giddy” when Perseverance found the rock with telltale signs of microbial life in a former lakebed called the Jezero Crater, The New York Times said. After a year studying the sample from 140 million miles away, “we are at the point where we are actually saying in detail, ‘Here is what we have found,'” study lead author Joel Hurowitz told the Times. And the chances are “better than a coin flip” that the sample contained convincing evidence of life.

The rock, dubbed Cheyava Falls, is “composed of finely packed sediment and covered in specks resembling poppy seeds and leopard spots,” said The Washington Post. Those specks, the study found, are “minerals that — on Earth — have traditionally been created from microbial activity.” That's the “closest we’ve actually come to discovering ancient life on Mars,” NASA science mission chief Nicky Fox told reporters, but it “certainly is not the final answer.”

What next?
The “underlying elephant in the room” is that for the NASA scientists to confirm their theories, the rock samples “need to be returned to Earth,” said Space.com, and “NASA’s Mars Sample Return program remains in limbo due to budget constraints” and “priority shifts” in the Trump administration.

It’s not all bad

Retirees in Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley gather six days a week to pick up trash from sidewalks, gutters and bushes — and to keep loneliness at bay. The group, Volunteers Cleaning Communities, picks a stretch of road to beautify, and when they’re finished, it looks “visibly different,” group leader Jill Mather said to the Los Angeles Times. “It’s instant gratification.” The retirees enjoy coffee together after every cleanup, meet for game nights and have inspired offshoot groups in Santa Monica and Brentwood.

Under the radar

Burkina Faso’s disinformation war

With the help of “AI-generated images, deepfake anthems and algorithmic fervor,” Burkina Faso’s president has been transformed into a “digital messiah,” gripping the attention of Africans across the continent, according to The Africa Report. Ibrahim Traoré, the military leader of the West African country, is splashed across social media in a variety of postures: “stoic in military fatigues,” “draped in pan-African flags” or as a “diving warrior glowing with celestial light.”

Beyoncé, Selena Gomez and other celebrities have paid homage to him through song or dramatic emotional displays. But these images, which have racked up millions of views, are fraudulent — part of a torrent of disinformation that reaches far beyond Burkina Faso’s borders. Traoré has become “one of the most talked-about leaders” in Africa, “building an image as a pan-Africanist firebrand” in the style of Thomas Sankara, the “Marxist revolutionary sometimes referred to as Africa’s Che Guevara,” said New Lines Magazine.

Burkina Faso’s ties with Russia have helped in the creation and distribution of pro-Traoré propaganda. Since March 2024, Russia has conducted at least 19 “distinct disinformation campaigns” across Burkina Faso, as well as neighboring Niger and Mali, said the Foreign Policy Research Institute. And the effort is “contributing to cycles of violence” in the region.

But while some Traoré supporters believe the videos are real, others don’t seem to care as long as it feeds a “real hunger for strong, authentic African leadership,” said New Lines. Deepfakes and mislabeled videos are “going viral not because people are being fooled but because they tap into frustration, pride and hope.”

On this day

September 11, 1941

Construction began in Arlington, Virginia, on the Pentagon, the headquarters of the U.S. Department of Defense and one of the largest office buildings in the world. Six decades to the day after construction began, the Pentagon was hit by a plane in the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

TODAY’S newspaperS

‘Horrific act’

“Charlie Kirk, conservative activist, fatally shot in Utah,” the Los Angeles Times says on Thursday’s front page. “Republicans, Democrats condemn ‘horrific act,’” says the Arizona Republic. “Wave of violence leads to manhunt” in the Texas capital, the Austin American-Statesman says. “Escalating Israeli attacks force impossible choice,” The Washington Post says. “Israel’s attack could threaten U.S.-Gulf bond,” says The New York Times. “24 years after 9/11, alliances fractured” and “victims’ families aim to prove Saudi involvement,” USA Today says. “9/11 illness battle still raging," with “sick, dying, angry” responders, the New York Daily News says. “Boat U.S. attacked appeared to have turned around, undercutting Trump self-defense claims,” says The Boston Globe.

► See the newspaper front pages

Tall tale

Hare today, gone tomorrow

Officials in Florida’s Everglades National Park are using robot bunnies to lure out the park’s invasive Burmese python population. The snakes are hard to spot, as they blend into their surroundings, and authorities say the pythons have already eliminated 95% of small mammals and thousands of birds. The monitored robot rabbits emit heat and a scent and mimic a bunny’s natural movements, and when a python approaches, a signal is sent and a worker is deployed to remove it.

Morning Report was written and edited by Nadia Croes, Catherine Garcia, Scott Hocker, Anya Jaremko-Greenwold, Justin Klawans, Rafi Schwartz, Peter Weber, Kari Wilkin and Abby Wilson, with illustrations by Stephen Kelly and Julia Wytrazek.