JOHN R. ALLEN

The Justice Department has dropped its probe of retired four-star Gen. John Allen for his role in an alleged illegal foreign lobbying campaign on behalf of the Persian Gulf nation of Qatar.

The president of the Brookings Institution has resigned amid a federal investigation into whether he illegally lobbied on behalf of the wealthy Persian Gulf nation of Qatar.

The prestigious Brookings Institution has placed its president, retired four-star Marine Gen. John Allen, on administrative leave amid a federal investigation into Allen’s foreign lobbying.

The FBI has seized the electronic data of a retired four-star general who authorities say made false statements and withheld incriminating documents about his role in an illegal foreign lobbying campaign on behalf of Qatar.

A former top-ranking State Department official is set to plead guilty for improperly helping a wealthy Gulf country try to influence U.S. policy and not disclosing on a government ethics form gifts he received from a disgraced political fundraiser.

Rep. Andy Kim, D-N.J., cleans up debris and trash strewn across the floor in the early morning hours of Thursday, Jan. 7, 2021, after protesters stormed the Capitol in Washington, on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)Water bottles, clothing, Trump flags, even a U.S. flag littered the ground inside the U.S. Capitol after a mob backing President Donald Trump ransacked the building. New Jersey Rep. Andy Kim walked amid the mess shortly after voting to certify Joe Biden’s victory over Trump — and felt the weight of the day wearing on him — when something motivated him to clean up the debris. I felt this kind of heightened, kind of supercharged kind of patriotism that I just felt take over,” he said in an interview. “I think it was 1 in the morning,” said fellow New Jersey Democratic Rep. Tom Malinowski.

WASHINGTON Scores of retired military and defense leaders are denouncing President Donald Trump and accusing him of using the U.S. Armed Forces to undermine the rights of Americans protesting police brutality and the killing of George Floyd. The condemnation Friday came in an op-ed in The Washington Post, signed by 89 former defense officials, and in a letter in support of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, signed by 55 retired military leaders. The president also threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act of 1807 to deploy federal troops to quell the protests. In the letter released by the Biden campaign, leaders including retired Gen. Merrill McPeak, an Air Force chief of staff in the 1990s, call on Trump to stop tarnishing the military by deploying its forces against peaceful protesters. Those of us who have served believe the greatness of our military -- and the greatness of our nation -- depends upon the calls for change in the streets today becoming votes for change in November, the 55 military leaders wrote.