Lawfare Update!

Judicial Watch Seeks Warrant Records of Michael Caputo’s Google Account
Records Reveal Criminal Fraud Investigation of Hillary Clinton’s Late Brother
HHS Doles Out $258 Million to Illegal Immigrant Minors

Judicial Watch Seeks Warrant Records of Michael Caputo’s Google Account

Americans have a right to know why the Biden Justice Department secretly authorized the sweeping seizure of Michael Caputo’s entire Google account just days after President Donald Trump won the 2024 election. We are asking the court to unseal these records so the American people can finally see the basis for this unprecedented government intrusion.

Judicial Watch together with Michael Caputo, a longtime ally and policy advisor to Trump, filed a motion asking the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to unseal the search warrant materials related to a November 18, 2024, warrant that authorized the federal government to seize the entire contents of Caputo’s Google account (In the Matter of the Search of Information Associated with Six Accounts Stored at Premises Controlled by One Provider Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 2703 for Investigation of Violations of 18 U.S.C. § 951 (No. 24-sc-2315)).

Issued shortly after President Donald J. Trump won the November 2024 election, the Biden Justice Department warrant authorized the seizure of the private content of Caputo’s Google account, along with all related data, for the period from January 1, 2019, to April 1, 2021. The seizure was sweeping in scope. It reached every Google platform Caputo used—email, messaging, voice, and chat—as well as all files stored in Google Drive and photos; all search, browsing, and location history; calendar entries, contacts, and documents; advertising and analytics data; and all associated metadata, including IP addresses, device identifiers, and timestamps.

On the same day, the court ordered Google not to disclose the warrant’s existence to Caputo for one year, and sealed the warrant, application, affidavit, and all related materials. The seal remains in place.

Caputo was not notified that the government had seized his account until December 30, 2025—more than a year after the warrant was issued. Although the warrant was first obtained in November 2024, the seizure was kept hidden from Caputo and the investigation remained active through nearly the entire first year of President Trump’s new administration.

Caputo has never been charged with any crime. (In 2025, Caputo worked for Ed Martin, then-acting U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia.)

In its motion, Judicial Watch and Caputo state:

Judicial Watch is investigating the potential politicization of numerous federal law enforcement agencies and whether they abused their powers to attack an ally of a political opponent.

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In the days after the November 2024 election, the United States seized [Caputo’s] entire online private life, as reflected in his Google account. It did so without his knowledge. … As the subject of the search warrant, whose most private communications, files, digital and banking records were seized without his knowledge, Caputo’s interest in these records is obvious.

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Because no compelling governmental interest justifies continued sealing, and because both Caputo, whose entire online private life was seized, and Judicial Watch, which seeks to inform the public about the weaponization of the federal government against political opponents and their allies, have powerful interests in disclosure, the Court should unseal these materials.… The historical presumption of access to warrant materials vastly outweighs any interest the government may have in maintaining the seal.

We also have pending lawsuits for records about spying by the Biden administration on Caputo and the Trump 2024 presidential campaign. In June 2025, we sued the U.S. Department of Justice and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence after the agencies failed to respond adequately to requests for records regarding the investigation of Caputo(Judicial Watch Inc. v. U.S. Department of Justice (No. 1:25-cv-02631)), (Judicial Watch Inc. v. U.S. Department of Justice (No. 1:25-cv-01903)), (Judicial Watch Inc. v. Office of the Director of National Intelligence (No. 1:25-cv-02469)).

“In the days after President Trump won reelection, the government secretly seized my entire online life—my emails, my photos, my private files, my location, all of it—and didn’t even let Google tell me it had happened,” Caputo said. “I was never charged with anything because I did nothing wrong. I have every right to see the affidavit used to justify this outrageous invasion of my privacy, and so does the public. I’m grateful to Judicial Watch for fighting to drag this into the light.”

The Biden administration’s secret seizure of Trump friend Michael Caputo’s entire digital life after the 2024 election is a stunning abuse of power and yet another example of the weaponization of federal law enforcement against President Trump and his allies. The Biden administration raided a private citizen’s online life, forced Google to hide it from him for a year, charged him with nothing, and is still concealing the basis for it behind a court seal. Astonishingly, this secret surveillance was kept hidden from him through nearly the entire first year of President Trump’s new administration. The American people have a right to know who authorized this assault and why.”

Caputo is a political consultant and former assistant secretary for public affairs at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The unsealing of these materials is one piece of our broader investigation into whether federal law enforcement agencies abused their powers to target the allies of a political opponent. If the court unseals the materials, We will obtain, analyze, and make them available to the public.

We have taken a leading role in exposing the politicization and weaponization of federal law enforcement. We  previously moved to unseal the search warrant materials used in the FBI’s August 2022 raid on Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home and to publish the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court transcripts relating to the surveillance of former Trump campaign advisor Carter Page.

We are currently pursuing multiple Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuits for records about the investigations of other Trump allies.

In April 2026, we sued the Justice Department for records on the Biden FBI’s search warrants used in the April 2021 raid on former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s residence and office (Judicial Watch Inc. v. U.S. Department of Justice(No. 1:26-cv-01158)). Giuliani served as a personal attorney and informal advisor to Trump.

In November 2025, we sued the Justice Department for records concerning investigations of Mike Lindell (Judicial Watch Inc. v. U.S. Department of Justice (No. 25-cv-03850)).

In March 2025, we sued the Justice Department and U.S. Department of Homeland Security for records regarding Christina Bobb, a former lawyer for Trump (Judicial Watch Inc. v. U.S. Department of Justice (No. 1:25-cv-00588)).

Records Reveal Criminal Fraud Investigation of Hillary Clinton’s Late Brother

Anthony “Tony” Rodham, the late brother of Hillary Clinton, for decades used his connections with the Clintons to further his interests. Rodham described himself as a “facilitator” and had a range of opportunities, like addressing Chinese investor conferences and joining an advisory board of a company seeking permission to mine for gold in Haiti. Among other controversies, Rodham also pursued contracts in post-earthquake Haiti, seeking a $22 million housing deal while Bill Clinton co-chaired the recovery commission, a proposal that collapsed.

We’ve learned more. We received 77 pages of heavily redacted Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) records in a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit revealing that Rodham was the subject of a 1996 FBI investigation involving allegations of potential wire and mail fraud connected to a proposed Romanian vehicle import venture.

The documents report that “the investigation has assumed sensitive political aspects because it has been determined that ANTHONY “TONY” RODHAM, a brother of HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON, may have played a role …”

We filed the December 2025 lawsuit after the FBI failed to respond to a June 2019 FOIA request for all investigative reports on Rodham (Judicial Watch, Inc. v. U.S. Department of Justice (No 1:25-cv-04237)).

In August 2019, the FBI acknowledged it had located over 13,000 pages of records responsive to the request, as well as audio and video files that are potentially responsive to the request. After years of delays, in May 2025, the FBI again acknowledged possession of responsive records and asked if there was still interest. We acknowledged our continued interest in having the request processed without modification of its scope. Having received no further response from the FBI, we filed suit.

The records, among other activities, discuss a proposed importation of vehicles from Romania in 1995, “the ARO 24 this spring at a base price of $9,828, including air conditioning and a driver’s-side air bag. It will also sell the ARO 10, a smaller, two-door vehicle, starting at $7,995.”

The records include an April 1996 report from the FBI’s Savannah office revealing that Rodham was the subject of an FBI investigation opened by the Miami Field Office under the case title “Anthony D. Rodham” and case number 196D-MM-79121. In FBI records, the “196” designation refers to wire fraud.

FBI records dated June 1996 describe a seemingly fraudulent scheme involving Tony Rodham and two associates:

Captioned matter is an investigation involving the solicitation by Subjects [Redacted] and [Redacted] of auto dealers throughout the United States. [Redacted] and [Redacted] own and operate EAST EUROPEAN IMPORTS, INC. (EEI), a U.S. Company, from corporate offices located in Coral Gables, Florida. [Emphasis in original] They have allegedly made claims to prospective dealers that EEI has the exclusive American rights for the importation of two models of a Romanian four-wheel drive vehicle, known as the “ARO”.

Questions have now arisen as to whether, in fact, EEI ever had a legitimate contract with the Romanian government, and/or with the Rumanian manufacturer or exporter of the ARO, to import these vehicles to the U.S. The investigation has assumed sensitive political aspects because it has been determined that ANTHONY “TONY” RODHAM, a brother of HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON, may have played a role in securing the alleged ARO importation rights on behalf of EEI. [Emphasis in original] RODHAM travelled to Romania with [Redacted]and [Redacted] and met with Romanian officials in this regard. There are credible allegations RODHAM was directly told that [Redacted] and [Redacted] had submitted fraudulent and inflated financial statements to Romanian authorities in order to support EEI’s credibility as a viable importer of the ARO. Despite this notification, RODHAM has purportedly continued to promote EEI to the Romanian government as a legitimate importer of the vehicles.

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To obtain an “exclusive” franchise for the sale of ARO vehicles within a specific geographic territory, EEI representatives have solicited deposits of at least $30,000 from each prospective ARO dealer. These monies were provided to EEI as partial payment for an ARO “Parts, Special Tools and Sign Package”, with the balance of monies [$39,900] for full payment of the franchise (a total cost of $69,900) due to EEI upon the company’s acceptance of the dealer’s application.

It should be noted that, to date, NO ARO vehicles have ever been imported by EEI from Romania for sale in the United States. [Emphasis in original] Miami investigation has revealed, in fact, that there is very little likelihood an ARO vehicle will ever be imported to America by EEI. [Emphasis in original] Miami is also aware Subjects[Redacted] and [Redacted] were involved during 1986 through 1987 in a virtually identical scheme as the one described herein to import the ARO vehicle from Romania to the U.S. and to the Caribbean. At that time, their business was known as ROMAN MOTORS CORPORATION.

After more than two decades of delay, these FBI records reveal a criminal investigation involving Hillary Clinton’s brother and raise serious questions about what remains hidden in the government’s files not only about Hillary’s brother but Hillary Clinton herself.

While Hillary Clinton was secretary of State, former Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe and Rodham were involved in a controversy over their involvement in the EB-5 cash-for-visas program, in which they raised at least $46 million from investors for their GreenTech Automotive electric-car company. Greentech filed for bankruptcy in February 2018.

In August 2017, we uncovered records from the State Department revealing repeated use of unsecured communications for classified information and numerous examples of Clinton Foundation donors receiving special favors from former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s. The emails also reveal instances of Rodham seeming to attempt to leverage his influence as Clinton’s brother: In January 2010, Clinton’s confidential assistant Monica Hanley forwarded to deputy chief of staff Huma Abedin a request from Rodham, on three issues. One involved help on a “green card renewal,” another involved a visit by someone of which Abedin said they “wanted to regret,” and a third involved a job for someone whose CV Rodham forwarded to State.

In July 2017, we received records from the State Department revealing incidents of Huma Abedin, providing special State Department treatment to major donors to the Clinton Foundation and political campaigns. The heavily redacted documents from Abedin’s non-government account included an email from Rodham to Abedin revealing he acted as a go-between for a Clinton Foundation donor, Richard Park. The records also revealed Clinton Foundation executive Doug Band instructing Abedin to “show love” to Clinton donor Andrew Liveris.

HHS Doles Out $258 Million to Illegal Immigrant Minors

All United States taxpayers will be on the hook for years to come for Biden’s open borders policies. The Department of Health and Human Services recently announced that $258 million will go toward providing post-release services for unaccompanied migrant minors already living in the U.S. Our Corruption Chronicles blog details the latest generosity taxpayers likely didn’t know they were funding.

The southwest border is “more secure than at any point in history,” but Americans are still paying an enormous price for the Biden administration’s unprecedented illegal immigration crisis, including a new multi-million-dollar investment to support the influx of underage migrants still living in the United States. The government calls them Unaccompanied Alien Children (UAC), though the overwhelming majority are not really children but rather young adults in their teens and some have criminal histories. Under U.S. law the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), which is a branch of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), is responsible for caring for UAC, which are overwhelmingly males over the age of 14, according to government figures. They come from Guatemala (32%), Honduras (20%), Mexico (20%), El Salvador (8%), and “other” (19%). More than half a million entered the country during the Biden administration and Uncle Sam has spent a fortune to provide them with housing, food, an education, medical care, and recreational activities before and after they are released to sponsors throughout the country.

This month ORR announced it is awarding $258 million to provide UAC with home study and post release services, a substantial allocation that comes less than a year after the agency doled out $500 million to give the illegal alien minors “high-quality” residential services. That money went to group homes that specialize in caring for specific populations such as teen mothers, shelters that provide a child-friendly setting for kids of all ages and transitional foster care for those under the age of 13, including sibling groups, pregnant or parenting teens and children with specific individualized needs. Under that grant UAC received educational and clinical services as well as medical care, recreation, and individual counseling. Recipients of the taxpayer funds committed to providing private spaces for meetings with attorneys and a separate bedroom for isolation or quarantine for those infected with a communicable disease. “Ideally, there should be at least one isolation-capable bedroom, for every 25 children, equipped with a door that closes while allowing line-of-sight through a small window,” according to last year’s grant document, which was issued in late August. The “distinct illnesses” of the UAC were described to include varicella and influenza.

This month’s $258 million award will provide underage migrants with post release services and help the illegal aliens navigate family reunification challenges, trauma recovery, and integration into their new communities in the U.S. “These services are to be provided in a manner that is sensitive to each unaccompanied alien child’s individual needs and in a way they can understand, regardless of spoken language, reading comprehension, or disability, to ensure meaningful access for all eligible children, including those with limited English proficiency,” the lengthy grant document states. Appropriate services and treatments will be provided to special populations such as UAC involved in the juvenile justice system and those at high risk of involvement as well as UAC with disabilities and those at risk for worker exploitation or labor trafficking. American taxpayers will also provide legal services under the latest grant, English language classes and general education courses, medical and behavioral healthcare, tutoring, gang prevention services, family stabilization or counseling and an array of other benefits. This is unlikely to be the last allocation for the continuous support of the hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrant minors that have entered the country through the Mexican border in recent years.

It is worth mentioning that in this most recent grant, the Trump administration is specifically banning the use of the funds for any diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEI and DEIA) activities. That includes any research related to DEI or DEIA, activities that discriminate based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, or other protected traits, and any efforts that promote a “discriminatory equity ideology.” The administration is also forbidding grant recipients from using the funds to support any services or activities that “inculcate or promote gender ideology.” The fact remains however, that disastrous open border policies of the past will keep American taxpayers on the hook for years to come. The government even funds a leftwing group’s $200 million annual program that provides illegal alien minors with free legal assistance.

Until next week,

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