The FBI has foiled terrorist attacks and saved lives using so-called trip wires, Dr. Vahid Majidi, the former assistant FBI director in charge of the Weapons of Mass Destruction Directorate, tells Newsmax.

Ronald Kessler writes:

The wires are designed to tip off the FBI of potential terrorists by identifying people who buy suspicious chemicals or are funding enemies of the U.S., author and reporter Ronald Kessler wrote after interviewing Majidi.

Trip wires ended in the arrest of a 20-year-old college student from Saudi Arabia who was accused of planning to blow up the Dallas home of former President George W. Bush, according to Newsmax. In a separate case, the FBI became aware of a man who planned to make ricin from castor beans.

“We have a complete set of trip wires for chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear threats,” Majidi said.

Steve Neavling

 A top official of the ATF who was involved in the controversial gun operation “Fast and Furious” is working full time for investment bank J.P. Morgan while also collecting a government salary, according to two Republican lawmakers, Sari Horwitz of the Washington Post  reports.

Deputy Assistant ATF Director William McMahon has been receiving two salaries simultaneously, two Republican senators wrote in a letter to acting ATF director, B. Todd Jones.

What’s worse, they said, ATF was allowing McMahon to remain on leave and stay on the payroll for another four or five months to become eligible for retirement, according to the Post.

“ATF has essentially facilitated McMahon’s early retirement and ability to double dip for nearly half a year by receiving two full-time paychecks — one from the taxpayer and one from the private sector,” wrote Sen. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) and Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa).

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Steve Neavling

 A gender discrimination lawsuit has caused a sense of unrest and turmoil at Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the New York Times reports.

The lawsuit, which accuses the agency of retaliation and choosing female employees over male employees, also says the agency’s chief of staff, Suzanne Barr, created a hostile, sexualized environment at work.

The defendant, Janet Napolitano, secretary of Homeland Security, which is on paid leave pending the outcome of an internal probe.

The suit was filed by James T. Hayes Jr., special agent in charge of investigations for the agency’s New York office.

Pres. Obama at state of the union/white house photo

A Washington state man is in custody after the FBI notified the Secret Service of emails threats against President Obama, Reuters reports.

The Secret Service described the emails from Anton Caluori, 31, as alarming but didn’t elaborate.

Agents found Caluori brandishing a shotgun when they arrived at his home south of Seattle on Tuesday, Reuters reported.

Caluori was charged with threatening the president and assault of a federal agent, according to Reuters.