“The Attorney General of the United States showed her true colors.” John Buss, @repeat1968
Good Day, Sky Dancers!
Just when you think the Circus of Incompetence and Evil has wound down, another one of the players finds a way to the stage to make a hash of reality. The Epstein files and the illegal ICE raids have pretty much taken center stage, but other atrocities are happening within the Trump Regime. I’m going to focus on the Testimony given by Pam Bondi and the entire Epstein mess that has alerted us to exactly how many people with money and power have ruined the lives and the innocence of children.
I must issue trigger warnings here because none of this is easy to see or read.
I will start with this analysis by Dahlia Lithwick at Slate. “Pam Bondi Is Not Practicing Law. The attorney general’s testimony before Congress revealed what a farce this is.”
The release of the Epstein files—the slow-drip revelations of a web of privileged (mostly) men trading gifts, access, favors, and sickening child predation as casually as Pokémon cards—has been deliberately parsed out through 2026 as to both be buried itself and bury other horrific news coming out of the Trump administration. But this misses a critical point: The Epstein file dump is not simply playing out as a backdrop against which other acts of American lawlessness are occurring. The Epstein story is also the template and the proof text for all that is happening in Minnesota; at dangerous detention centers; in efforts to punish members of Congress for lawful speech; for crypto scams; and for measles outbreaks. It is an ongoing road map for an administration that lives out the reality that they are rich and powerful and famous enough to be above the law each day, and wishes for the rest of us to ultimately learn and accept that fact.
And it is equally true that Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick could bring his children and their nannies to a bespoke lunch on Epstein’s island in 2012, long after he allegedly broke off contact with the sex predator, precisely because Lutnick’s children and their nannies were not the types of children or women who would be abandoned there to be raped and threatened. He is also a walking infomercial about whom the law protects and whom it leaves broken and invisible, behind. Lutnick’s testimony this past week, like Bondi’s, is thus operating as a still life in what happens when the law becomes inert. On the one hand, it is not relevant as a restraint to those who need not rely on it; on the other, it is not protective for those who do.
Liz Plank, on her Substack, describes the nausea and disorientation felt by women realizing this past week that we had all been gaslit yet again. Those of us who cannot even begin to imagine a permission structure that allowed and encouraged passing young girls around, trading insults and articles about them (“your littlest girl was a little naughty”), and bonding over the hysteria of #MeToo can barely comprehend why it was that this class of men always took the gift and the freebie and the shitty watch and the plane trip, because access to yet more of the same somehow became the coin of the realm. What Plank describes as “trust bias”—the psychological tendency to assume that others are operating within the same moral and ethical universe as yourself—means that we are all, once again, annihilated by the fact that America’s shared moral universe is a collective fiction, one that constrains one class of people and merely titillates another.
We err when we call what is being done by ICE officials to citizens and noncitizens on the streets of American cities “law,” just as we err when we call what has thus far been afforded the Epstein survivors “justice.” Indeed, the word law is too generous to contain the plea deals and the willing ignorance and the prison transfers that were granted to Jeffrey Epstein and his co-conspirators at every turn. And the word injustice is far too small to describe the spectacle of hundreds of survivors who have still not been given a reckoning or a measure of genuine accountability, whose unredacted names appeared in public documents and who had never been contacted by the Department of Justice.
Pam Bondi may be in charge of many officials and many investigations and many legal things at the DOJ, but what she is protecting is neither justice nor law. And that means that what Plank describes as a trust bias is also an exquisitely American “law bias,” and we should dispense with the notion that we are all in some group compact to protect and preserve the same things. The law is neither protecting the vulnerable nor constraining the Epstein class. And perhaps we should stop referencing that word to mean either project, much less deploying it to describe both.
One of Maria Farmer’s works of art was released from the Epstein Files.
Continue to read this excellent piece at the link. Meanwhile, a friend of mine sent this link to a site with a Link to the Justice Department. The link provides a window into the artwork from Jeffrey Epstein survivor Maria Farmer, found in the Epstein files. CNN reported on Farmer during the first wave of releases. This is from December 19,2025. “Epstein files vindicate a survivor who reported him in the 1990s, but others are still seeking answers.” Everyone is still seeking answers, and all we get are performances like Bondi’s and distractions.
The Justice Department’s partial release of its files related to Jeffrey Epstein on Friday marked a moment of triumph for Epstein survivor Maria Farmer and her sister Annie, who have said for years that Maria had filed one of the first complaints against Epstein in the 1990s.
An FBI document released Friday included a 1996 description of a criminal complaint against Epstein related to child pornography.
While the name of the complainant is redacted in the document, Maria Farmer’s lawyer, Jennifer Freeman, confirmed on CNN that the complaint was in fact made by her client.
The “facts of complaint” part of the document says that the woman — who describes herself as a professional artist — had taken photos of her underage sisters for her own personal artwork.
“Epstein stole the photos and negatives and is believed to have sold the pictures to potential buyers,” the document reads. “Epstein at one time requested (redacted) to take pictures of young girls at swimming pools.” It continued: “Epstein is now threatening (redacted) that if she tells anyone about the photos he will burn her house down.”
Examining these photos is difficult. It is, however, one way we can give voice to these survivors. These paintings have returned to the conversation about who exactly should be brought to justice for this massive child sex trafficking travesty.
Maria’s painting shows many familiar faces. Take a look.
It appears that DHS will shut down this weekend. This is from the AP. “What to know about the Homeland Security shutdown starting this weekend.”
Another shutdown for parts of the federal government is expected this weekend as lawmakers debate new restrictions on President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement agenda.
Funding for the Department of Homeland Security is set to expire Saturday. Democrats say they won’t help approve more funding until new restrictions are placed on federal immigration operations after the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minneapolis last month.
The White House has been negotiating with the Democrats, but the two sides failed to reach a deal by the end of the week, guaranteeing that funding for the department will lapse.
Unlike the record 43-day shutdown last fall, the closures will be narrowly confined, as only agencies under the DHS umbrella — like Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection — will be affected. Still, depending on how long the shutdown lasts, some federal workers could begin to miss paychecks.
Services like airport screening could also suffer if the shutdown drags on for weeks.
At the Transportation Security Administration, about 95% of employees are deemed essential. They will continue to scan passengers and their bags at the nation’s commercial airports. But they will work without pay until the funding lapse is resolved, raising the possibility that workers will being calling out or taking unscheduled leave. Many TSA workers already faced financial stress last year.
“Some are just now recovering from the financial impact of the 43-day shutdown” said Ha Nguyen McNeill, a senior official performing the duties of TSA administrator. “Many are still reeling from it.”
This is breaking news from theWashington Post. “Much of DHS set to shut down as Democrats demand new restraints on ICE. Democrats are pushing for new policies requiring agents to wear body cameras and get judicial warrants for raids.”
The Department of Homeland Security is expected to shut down early Saturday as congressional Democrats and the White House remain at an impasse over new restrictions on federal immigration agents.
The shutdown beginning at 12:01 a.m. Saturday would impact about 13 percent of the federal civilian workforce, including the Transportation Security Administration, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Coast Guard.
But Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection — the main targets of Democrats’ outrage — would be able to continue immigration enforcement efforts due to an influx of funding from the Republican tax and spending law passed this past summer.
Despite the stalemate, both chambers of Congress have already left Washington and do not plan to return until Feb. 23 after a scheduled week-long recess that includes, for some senators, a trip to the Munich Security Conference in Germany.
State governments are fighting to keep the Election Clause of the U.S. Constitution real. This is from Democracy Docket‘s Matt Cohen.
The Democratic chief election officials of six states are denouncing two new voter suppression bills making their way through Congress — underscoring how the legislation would place a huge burden on voters and election administrators just as midterm election season kicks off.
“These bills would place a massive burden on American eligible voters, require unfeasible overhauls of state systems while preparations for the 2026 midterm elections are well underway, and create unfunded mandates for already under-resourced states and municipalities,” the secretaries wrote. “American voters will be the ones paying for this — by paying more in taxes, spending more time jumping through bureaucratic hoops, or losing access to the ballot box altogether.”
The House passed the SAVE America Act late Wednesday evening in a 218-213 vote, with every present Republican — along with one Democrat, Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas — voting in favor of the sweeping voter suppression bill. The bill — along with the MEGA Act, which was introduced earlier this week — stands to disenfranchise millions by imposing strict requirements for voters to show proof of citizenship when they register to vote, and to provide photo ID when casting ballots.
While the secretaries highlight that both bills “would make it harder for eligible voters to both register and cast their ballots,” they also call attention to the reality that GOP lawmakers have yet to address: Making such extensive changes to the voting process so close to an election would create chaos for election administrators.
Some states, like North Carolina, have already started with early voting, and any attempt to overhaul requirements for voters to register and cast ballots would be extremely costly to both states and voters, according to the secretaries.
“A series of sweeping overhauls to the nation’s voter registration and election administration laws, when some states are weeks or months away from conducting their primary elections, is not a serious effort at improving the democratic process,” the letter said. “Election administrators already face significant challenges in educating voters on registration requirements, especially considering the significant mis- and dis-information on the issue coming out of Washington, D.C.”
Democracy backsliding is real. One more surreal headline from about the HHS Secretary who admits to snorting coke from bathroom toilets. This is from The Hill’s Joseph Choi. “HHS shaking up top personnel to push Trump, MAHA priorities ahead of midterms.”
Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Thursday announced a reshuffling of top staffers in his department as the Trump administration looks to shore up health wins that can boost GOP success in the upcoming midterms.
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Deputy Administrator Chris Klomp will be chief counselor at the HHS.
John Brooks, CMS deputy administrator and the chief policy and regulatory officer, will now be CMS senior counselor. Kyle Diamantas, deputy commissioner for human foods at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and Grace Graham, FDA deputy commissioner for policy, legislation, and international affairs, have been named as senior counselors for the FDA.
As CNN reported, current HHS chief of staff Matt Buckham will also move to a senior counselor role. Administration officials who spoke with the outlet said the changes came as a result of conversation between the HHS and the White House.
“In just over a year, we have driven historic progress on President Trump’s health care priorities and delivered real, measurable change,” Kennedy said in a statement.
“We are restoring accountability, challenging entrenched interests, and putting the health of the American people first. I am proud to elevate battle-tested, principled leaders onto my immediate team—individuals with the courage and experience to help us move faster and go further as we work to Make America Healthy Again.”
Kennedy’s support for President Trump helped deliver a bloc of voters long critical and suspicious of the medical establishment. But many observers have noted this support is tenuous.
As Jeff Hutt, a spokesperson for the MAHA PAC, recently told The Hill “Make America Health Again” voters aren’t necessarily those who show up strongly for the GOP during midterms.
Can you believe anyone still believes this guy?
Anyway, with that , I have to get ready to go get a mammogram. Have a great weekend! It’s total Mardi Gras Crazy down here! It’s also Friday the 13th.
What’s on your Reading, Action, and Blogging list today?
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BONDI: You didn't ask Merrick Garland anything about EpsteinBALINT: Weak sauce BONDI: And with this antisemitic culture right now, she voted against a resolution–BALINT: You want to go there! Really? Talking about antisemitism to a woman who lost her grandfather in the Holocaust! *storms off*
Pam Bondi has been a complete and total failure at her job. The Epstein survivors showed more courage just by being in that room than she did under oath. She refused to answer questions and chose complicity. America deserves better.
holy shit — Bondi's new tactic is refusing to answer Democratic questions, then using time during the next Republican questioner to smear the previous Democratic member and accuse them of being complicit in violence crimes
I’m really struggling with my emotions about the state of our country these days. I used to feel enraged about Trump’s insane policies, but now I feel mostly anxiety and intense sadness. I have to admit that I haven’t even followed the news very carefully for the past week or so. I just can’t handle it.
I know this probably sounds silly, but I’ve been thinking back to when I was in 7th or 8th grade. My junior high school had an essay contest and I won with an essay called “A Letter to a Russian Student.” Of course this reflected some brainwashing from the cold war era, but in those days I did feel glad and even proud to be an American.
There have been times since then that I felt shame about my country–when Nixon was president, for example; and when George W. Bush was using torture. Obviously the U.S. has never been perfect–far from it. But I have never felt as ashamed to be an American as I do now under Trump’s horrific, chaotic rule. Trump is really, truly evil, and I fear for our future if the Democrats don’t take over Congress in the midterm elections.
It’s difficult to pick a “worst” Trump issue, but I guess it has to be mass deportations or the Epstein scandal. Of course there are also tariffs, his attack on universities, the skyrocketing cost of health insurance, and RFK Jr’s attack on vaccines, and other preventative health policies. Oh, and we can’t forget Trump’s horrendous attacks on the environment. No wonder I’m overcome with anxiety and sadness.
Anyway, here are some stories that captured my attention this morning.
On Oct. 4, Marimar Martinez, a teacher’s assistant at a Montessori school, was driving in Chicago when she observed federal immigration agents on patrol. She had begun to honk her horn to warn her neighbors about their presence when she collided with a Border Patrol vehicle. Moments later, the agent in the vehicle, Charles Exum, fired multiple shots into Martinez’s car, hitting her again and again. (Later, Exum would brag to colleagues that he had “fired 5 rounds and she had 7 holes.”)
Prosecutors for the government charged Martinez with assaulting a federal officer and accused her of trying to ram Exum with her car. The Department of Homeland Security described her actions as domestic terrorism, a charge the agency would repeat after the death of Renee Good in January at the hands of another immigration agent.
Marimar Martinez
The government’s case unraveled, however, when it became clear that its story did not fit the evidence — evidence that officials with Customs and Border Protection tried to hide. The government dropped its case against Martinez a month later, and on Friday a federal judge authorized the release of the body camera footage so that the public could see the incident for itself.
Recently, Martinez joined with other Americans brutalized by federal immigration agents to tell their stories to a forum of congressional Democrats led by Representative Robert Garcia of California and Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, the top Democrats on the House Oversight Committee and the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. Garcia and Blumenthal convened the event to collect testimony on — and highlight — “the violent tactics and disproportionate use of force by agents of the Department of Homeland Security.”
The people who testified spoke to the terror of their confrontations with masked, armed and often trigger-happy federal agents. “I will never forget the fear, and having to quickly duck my head as the shots were fired at the passenger side of the car. Any one of those bullets could have killed me or two people I love,” said Martin Daniel Rascon, who was stopped by agents who broke the windows of the vehicle he was in and began firing when the driver, frightened, tried to escape.
If democracy rests on mutual recognition, on our capacity to see one another as full and equal persons, then the power to speak and be heard lies at the foundation of democratic life. It is when we speak — when we argue, appeal, explain and testify — that we put into practice our belief in the ability of others to understand, reason and empathize. Or as Thomas Jefferson remarked in 1824, “In a republican nation whose citizens are to be led by reason and persuasion and not by force, the art of reasoning becomes of first importance.”
Thus far, growing public opposition to Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection has been a function of the power of the image — of videos of shootings and abuse — but the testimony of Martinez, Rascon and others should remind us of the power of words and personal experience to also move the public. Crucially, there is the power inherent in giving victims of wrongdoing a chance to tell their stories, not as one perspective among many but as part of the official record.
The Internal Revenue Service improperly shared confidential tax information of thousands of individuals with immigration enforcement officials, according to three people familiar with the situation, appearing to breach a legal fire wall intended to protect taxpayer data.
The erroneous disclosure was only recently discovered, the people said. The IRS is working with officials from the Treasury Department, Justice Department and Department of Homeland Security on the administration’s response.
Federal law mandates strict protections of the identities of taxpayers, including the sharing of data within the federal government. Undocumented immigrants have for years paid taxes with assurances from the federal government that doing so would not result in them being targeted by immigration enforcement.
But in a controversial decision, Treasury, which oversees the IRS, in April 2025 agreed to provide DHS with the names and addresses of individuals the Trump administration believed to be in the country illegally, pursuant to DHS requests.
Before the agreement was struck down, DHS requested the addresses of 1.2 million individuals from the IRS. The tax agency responded with data on 47,000 individuals, according to court records.
When the IRS shared the addresses with DHS, it also inadvertently disclosed private information for thousands of taxpayers erroneously, a mistake only recently discovered, said the people familiar, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution.
The affected individuals could be entitled to financial compensation for each time their information was improperly shared. And government officials can personally face stiff civil and criminal penalties for sharing confidential tax information.
Support for President Donald Trump’s immigration agenda is in free fall in early 2026 after federal immigration agents shot and killed two Americans last month, according to the new NBC News Decision Desk Poll powered by SurveyMonkey.
The administration’s aggressive tactics and deportation goals have dragged down Americans’ views of Trump on the very issue that helped sweep him into office, the survey shows.
Immigration and border security had long stood out as a strength for Trump in polls, both as he ran for a second term in 2024 and in the first year of his new administration. Now, Trump’s ratings on the issue have sunk to the same level as his overall job approval rating.
In a double-digit shift, 49% of adults strongly disapprove of how Trump has handled border security and immigration, up from 38% strong disapproval last summer and 34% in April. Self-identified independents drove the erosion, with the share of strong disapprovers in that group having risen 11 points since August.
Fully 60% of those surveyed in the week after the death of Alex Pretti in Minnesota somewhat or strongly disapproved of Trump’s actions on border security and immigration. Another 40% approved of Trump on the issue, including 27% who strongly approved and 13% who somewhat approved.
Read more at the link.
On the Epstein Files
Heather Cox Richardson at Letters from and American: February 10, 2026.
As of yesterday, members of Congress who sit on the House or Senate Judiciary Committees can see unredacted versions of the Epstein files the Department of Justice (DOJ) has already released. As Herb Scribner of Axios explained, the documents are available from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM on computers in the DOJ building in Washington, D.C. The lawmakers cannot bring electronic devices into the room with them, but they are allowed to take notes. They must give the DOJ 24 hours notice before they access the files.
The Epstein Files Transparency Act required the DOJ to release all the Epstein files by December 19. Only about half of them have been released to date, and many of them are so heavily redacted they convey little information. After members of Congress complained, on Friday, January 30, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said they could see the unredacted documents if they asked.
In a letter dated the next day, Representative Jamie Raskin (D-MD) immediately asked for access on behalf of the Democratic members of the House Judiciary Committee, saying they would be ready to view the files the following day, Sunday, February 1.
Jeffrey Epstein
After viewing the files briefly yesterday, Raskin told Andrew Solender of Axios that when he searched the files for President Donald Trump’s name, it came up “more than a million times.” Raskin suggested that limiting members’ access to the files is part of a cover-up to hide Trump’s relationship with the convicted sex offender, a cover-up that includes the three million files the DOJ has yet to release despite the requirements of the Epstein Files Transparency Act. One of the files he did see referred to a child of 9. Raskin called it “gruesome and grim.”
Representative Ro Khanna (D-CA) added: “There’s still a lot that’s redacted—even in what we’re seeing, we’re seeing redacted versions. I thought we were supposed to see the unredacted versions.”
Material that has come out has already shown members of the administration and their allies are lying about their connections to Epstein. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who lived next door to Epstein for more than ten years, said in October that he had cut ties with Epstein in 2005 after visiting his home and being disgusted. The files show that in fact, Lutnick not only maintained ties with Epstein but also was in business with him until at least 2018, long after Epstein was a convicted sex offender. Members of both parties have called for Lutnick to resign.
Testifying today before the Senate Appropriations Committee, where members took the opportunity to ask him about his ties to Epstein. Lutnick acknowledged that he had had more contact with Epstein than he had previously admitted, but maintained: “I did not have any relationship with him. I barely had anything to do with him.” But even Republicans expressed discomfort with Lutnick’s visit with his family to Epstein’s private island.
Read more at the link.
Lutnick needs to go. It’s not just the Epstein lies. He has slavishly lied about Trump’s tariffs and other economic policies.
Howard Lutnick’s Jeffrey Epstein problem may be getting worse.
Republicans on Capitol Hill are getting more unsettled about revelations that the Commerce Secretary’s ties to Epstein were closer than he acknowledged. And Trump administration allies are now actively debating his fate — even as the White House continues to proclaim his job is safe.
Howard Lutnick
Lutnick, a longtime friend of President Donald Trump, is facing political heat after the latest batch of documents released on Epstein’s case show significant interactions between Lutnick and the convicted sex offender, who lived nextdoor to him in New York. Emails show that the two men were in contact for years after Epstein’s 2008 conviction.
Lutnick has not been connected to any wrongdoing by the files. Yet there’s bipartisan concern in the Senate about Lutnick, with Democrats calling for his ouster and some Republicans queasy over the spiraling storyline.
Lutnick testified Tuesday to the Senate Appropriations Committee about dining with Epstein on his island in 2012 with family and other friends — contradicting his own October comments that he and his wife chose to “never be in the room with that disgusting person ever again” after the disgraced late financier showed the couple his massage room back in 2005.
One Republican senator told Semafor that Lutnick’s job would be in serious jeopardy “if it were anybody but President Trump” in charge.
The Justice Department has released the names of three people the FBI once called co-conspirators of Jeffrey Epstein after lawmakers complained that the names had been improperly withheld.
The Justice Department unredacted parts of an Aug. 15, 2019, FBI internal document from the bureau’s Criminal Investigative Division — which included a reference to billionaire Les Wexner as a co-conspirator — and reposted it after Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Ro Khanna, D-Calif., complained that the department had violated the Epstein Files Transparency Act by redacting the names. Massie and Khanna co-authored the bill, which compelled the Justice Department to release all of its records on Epstein, and they have been vocally critical of the department’s handling of the release.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche responded in a post of his own, saying: “The document you cite has numerous victim names. We have just unredacted Les Wexner’s name from this document, but his name already appears in the files thousands of times. DOJ is hiding nothing.”
The newly released version of the 2019 document shows eight people are listed as co-conspirators, including four whose names are not redacted: Wexner, the former CEO of Victoria’s Secret; Lesley Groff, Epstein’s longtime secretary; the late modeling agent Jean-Luc Brunel; and Ghislaine Maxwell, the only person who was charged in connection with Epstein. She was convicted of sex trafficking charges and is serving a 20-year prison sentence.
Four other names on the document are still redacted. It is unclear who those people are; prosecutors have said Epstein used women he preyed on as recruiters. A separate document dated August 2019 indicated that some of the others were victims, as well, and had been cooperating with investigators.
Ro Khanna, the US congressman, publicly revealed the names of six men whose identities were redacted from the Jeffrey Epstein files, including Leslie Wexner, a billionaire retail magnate, whom the FBI appeared to have labeled as a co-conspirator.
Ro Khanna
The Democratic representative of California disclosed the names during a floor speech on Tuesday, following a visit to the Department of Justice, where he and Thomas Massie, a Republican congressman from Kentucky, spent two hours reviewing unredacted documents.
The six men named by Khanna are Wexner, the Victoria’s Secret founder; Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, CEO of DP World and an Emirati billionaire businessperson; and four others identified as Nicola Caputo, Salvatore Nuara, Zurab Mikeladze and Leonic Leonov.
Khanna did not provide evidence of wrongdoing against any of them nor have they been charged with a crime in connection with Epstein.
“If we found six men that they were hiding in two hours, imagine how many men they are covering up for in those 3m files,” Khanna said during his floor speech.
New analysis of U.S. Census data shows that states across the U.S. where key midterm elections will take place this year paid over $134 billion in tariffs in the period since President Donald Trump began implementing widespread trade duties in March 2025 through last November. In all, the U.S. Census data compiled by Trade Partnership Worldwide showed a total of $199 billion in tariffs paid by states during that time period.
Rep. Greg Meeks at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 5. Photo Tom Williams, CQ Roll Call via Getty Images
But Trump’s tariffs and affordability are expected to be factors in the upcoming midterm election cycle. Recent CNBC survey data from the American consumer and pricing data show that the affordability issues are real and many voters have soured on the economy. A January poll from The New York Times and Siena University found that 54% of voters oppose Trump’s tariffs. Some members of the GOP are starting to break with their leaders over the tariffs issue, joining Democrats on Tuesday in a vote to defeat a rule that would have prohibited the House from challenging tariffs issued by Trump. The House is expected to vote Wednesday on a measure to overturn Trump’s tariffs on Canada introduced by Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y.
“Americans struggling with affordability rightly blame tariffs for higher prices on many everyday purchases,” said Dan Anthony, executive director of the We Pay the Tariffs small business coalition and president of Trade Partnership Worldwide. “The president could eliminate tens of billions in taxes in the states that will determine the 2026 elections. He just doesn’t want to,” Anthony said.
House Democrats are already planning to force votes overturning at least two of President Trump’s tariffs, with more likely to follow, senior lawmakers tell Axios.
Why it matters: House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has repeatedly blocked these votes over the past year, but his attempt to do so on Tuesday was thwarted by a trio of Republican defectors in a late-night vote.
Johnson’s procedural maneuver to stop Democrats from forcing votes to end Trump’s tariffs under the National Emergencies Act failed 214 to 217, with Reps. Don Bacon (R-Neb.), Kevin Kiley (R-Calif.) and Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) breaking away.
What they’re saying: “We are going to do Canada today and follow with Mexico,” House Foreign Affairs Committee ranking member Greg Meeks (D-N.Y.) told Axios in a text message Wednesday morning.
More are likely to follow, a senior House Democrat speaking on the condition of anonymity told Axios, but it is undecided which countries they will target.
There are “lots of thoughts” on that, the lawmaker said.
Still, a House Democratic leadership aide cautioned that Republicans may still try to maneuver to block the tariff votes from coming to the floor.
The Trump administration tried and failed Tuesday to indict Democratic lawmakers over a video urging members of the military and intelligence communities not to comply with unlawful orders, three sources familiar with the matter told NBC News.
Six Democrats participated in the video, and some had said they would not cooperate with the Justice Department’s probe into their involvement.
Lawmakers said U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s office in Washington had sought interviews with them over the video.
The indictment, pursued by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, led by Trump appointee Jeanine Pirro, is the latest example of the Justice Department’s targeting the president’s perceived political opponents. The government attorneys assigned to the case are political appointees, not career Justice Department prosecutors, according to a source familiar with the investigation….
The FBI had sought interviews with the six members of Congress who appeared in the video, which was posted to social media in November: Reps. Jason Crow of Colorado, Maggie Goodlander of New Hampshire and Chris Deluzio and Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania, and Sens. Mark Kelly of Arizona and Elissa Slotkin of Michigan.
The lawmakers, all of whom served in the military or in intelligence roles, said in the video that the Trump administration was pitting members of the military and the intelligence communities “against American citizens.”
They then pointed out that public servants can refuse illegal orders. “Now, more than ever, the American people need you,” the lawmakers say in the video. “Don’t give up the ship.”
Under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, members of the military are obliged to obey only lawful orders and must refuse those that are manifestly illegal.
The Food and Drug Administration has declined to review Moderna’s application for the first mRNA-based flu vaccine, a decision that shocked the company and that comes as the agency plans to tighten federal vaccine approvals.
The nation’s top vaccine regulator, Vinay Prasad, told Moderna that it lacked an “adequate and well-controlled” study, the company said in a news release Tuesday. In a large clinical trial, the vaccine was compared with Fluarix, an approved standard-dose flu vaccine. Prasad’s letter did not detail concerns with the safety or efficacy of the vaccine, which Moderna was aiming to target for adults ages 50 and older.
Vinay Prasad
Moderna President Stephen Hoge said that the company had previously engaged with the FDA on the trial design and that the agency had indicated it would be acceptable.
“We’re trying right now to reach out to the FDA and understand what would be necessary for them to start reviewing the submission,” Hoge said in an interview….
Last fall, Prasad laid out a stricter approach for federal vaccine approvals, alarming a dozen former FDA leaders who said the change risks undermining the nation’s ability to fight diseases. In a November internal email, Prasad urged the agency to rethink its framework for annual flu shots, examine whether Americans should receive multiple vaccines at the same time and require larger studies to net approval for certain shots.
Moderna has requested a formal meeting with the agency. It said the vaccine has been accepted for review in the European Union, Canada and Australia.
The Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday plans to repeal the legal framework that underpins its power to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.
“President Trump will be joined by Administrator Lee Zeldin to formalize the rescission of the 2009 Obama-era endangerment finding,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a briefing on Tuesday. “This will be the largest deregulatory action in American history, and it will save the American people $1.3 trillion in crushing regulations.”
A coal-fired power station in Pawnee, Ill., in 2025.Chicago Tribune TNS file
Known as the endangerment finding, the EPA’s 2009 decision says that greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane are heating the Earth and that warming threatens public health and welfare. It therefore functions, under the Clean Air Act, as the lynchpin for rules that set emissions standards for cars and trucks and require fossil fuel companies to report their emissions, among others.
The move is expected to upend most U.S. policies aimed at reducing climate pollution — if the repeal can withstand court challenges from environmental groups, which had already been preparing to sue.
The text of the rule repealing the finding has not yet been released, so many details are still unknown. However, the EPA released a draft version in August, which also proposed removing all greenhouse gas emissions standards for motor vehicles. Leavitt said the EPA’s planned deregulation would reduce the costs of cars, SUVs and trucks — an indication that the final draft may also include the vehicle emissions rollback.
“Attention International Olympic Committee, thank you for your attention to this matter.” John Buss, @repeat1968
Good Day, Sky Dancers!
This weekend had a Super Bowl, the Winter Olympics, and a peak ongoing #FARTUS shitshow. The headline that caught my attention was the FBI seizure of 2020 ballots in Fulton County, Georgia. The Election Clause of the U.S. Constitution is short and leaves much to be determined by Congress and the courts. However, it is quite clear that both State Representatives and Congress are responsible for elections. The DOJ is completely out of its realm when it comes to what happened in Fulton County. Stacked courts and statewide politics are key here.
This headline is from Politico. Josh Gerstein has the analysis. “Fulton County argues FBI seizure of 2020 ballots shows ‘callous disregard’ for constitutional rights. A Trump-appointed judge set a Tuesday deadline to disclose justification for the raid.”
Local officials in Georgia demanding that the FBI return hundreds of thousands of ballots from the 2020 presidential election contend that the seizure took place with “callous disregard” for the constitutional rights of voters and county officials, according to court filings unsealed Saturday.
In addition to unsealing the Democratic-run county’s legal arguments, Boulee issued an order Saturday giving the Justice Department until 5 p.m. Tuesday to file publicly the arguments federal prosecutors put forward to persuade Magistrate Judge Catherine Salinas to issue the search warrant authorizing the seizure of all of the physical ballots from the 2020 election, along with ballot images, tabulator tapes and voter rolls.
Boulee said unsealing the affidavit was appropriate due to “the importance of the public’s access to judicial proceedings,” but he said he will allow Justice Department lawyers to redact the names of “non-governmental witnesses” from the version that is made public.
Without providing evidence, President Donald Trump has long complained that fraud led to his loss in Georgia in 2020. In a phone call shortly after the election, he famously but unsuccessfully implored state officials to “find” about 11,800 ballots so that he could be declared the winner.
More recently, Republicans have complained that Fulton County computer files are missing images corresponding to thousands of physical ballots, but county officials have countered that recounts and court challenges verified the vote tallies there and that the law at the time did not require keeping the computer scans.
“Claims that the 2020 election results were fraudulent or otherwise invalid have been exhaustively reviewed and, without exception, refuted,” Fulton County Attorney Y. Soo Jo wrote in the county’s motion demanding return of the seized ballots. “Eleven different post-election lawsuits, challenging various aspects of Georgia’s election process, failed to demonstrate fraud.”
Trump’s obsession with losing is at odds with one of our most precious rights. The Right to vote with a secret ballot is on the line here. The Super Bowl is one of those panem et circenses events in our country. It displays some of the worst and best of our cultural quirks. You won’t catch me watching it, but I do eventually come around to going to YouTube to watch the Musical performances. My vote for the best half-time performance is Prince forever. You can follow this link to Parade to see how many American Super Stars have taken the field. “Prince’s ‘Legendary’ Super Bowl Halftime Show Goes Viral Ahead of Bad Bunny Performance. Prince put on an epic Super Bowl halftime show that fans are still talking about.”
I’m going to use The Wall Street Journalas my source for the Super Bowl halftime show report. “Bad Bunny Uses Joy to Put Out Political Firestorm at Super Bowl Halftime. ‘We’re still here,’ Puerto Rican superstar says in Spanish while spiking a football.”
Bad Bunny delivered a pointed message in Spanish to millions of Americans watching the Super Bowl on Sunday night: “We’re still here.”
In a history-making halftime show performed almost entirely in Spanish, the Puerto Rican star paid tribute to his heritage and the many countries—from Brazil to Mexico—whose people have come to shape the modern-day U.S.
Just a week ago, Bad Bunny denounced Immigration and Customs Enforcement while accepting a Grammy award, stoking further political furor from conservatives ahead of the Super Bowl. But on the halftime stage, he offered up a buoyant celebration of Latino culture.
The elaborate stage design included a maze of sugar cane and a single-story house similar to the one he used during his 31-date residency in San Juan, Puerto Rico, last summer. As Bad Bunny strutted through the greenery, he passed by old men playing dominoes, women chatting in a nail salon and boxers sparring—a montage of scenes from life in Puerto Rico.
He opened with some of his kinetic reggaeton hits—“Tití Me Preguntó,” an insistent single about a hyperactive love life, and “Yo Perreo Sola,” a club missile—and later moved through muscular Latin trap (“Monaco”) and sparkling salsa (the opening of “Nuevayol”).
A stream of celebrities showed up to offer their support: Jessica Alba, Pedro Pascal, Cardi B, Karol G and Young Miko threw a house-party behind a phalanx of dancers. Lady Gaga sang a salsa version of her hit “Die With a Smile,” originally a duet with Bruno Mars, while Ricky Martin delivered a full-throated rendition of Bad Bunny’s song “Lo Que le Pasó a Hawaii”—which critiques the potential consequences of U.S. statehood for Puerto Rico through the lens of Hawaii.
Bad Bunny finished his set by spiking a football which read “Together, We Are America.” Then he led a raucous singalong to his nostalgic hit “DTMF” as a crowd hoisted the flags of nations across Latin America behind him.
“He went from bagging groceries 10 years ago to playing the biggest stage this planet has to offer, and did it unwaveringly on his own terms in his native tongue,” said Carlos Cancela, a Bad Bunny fan and former executive at a major label. “He is quite literally the embodiment of the American Dream.”
But Bad Bunny, whose full name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, also sparked the latest culture-war controversy as conservatives railed against his selection. Right-wing influencers and commentators zeroed in on the star’s past criticism of President Trump’s immigration agenda, his Spanish-language song lyrics and his gender-fluid fashion choices. Last week, Bad Bunny said, “ICE out,” on stage at the Grammys, where he became the first artist to win album of the year for an all-Spanish release, “Debí Tirar Más Fotos.”
Of course, Trump wasn’t the center of attention here so he had to make a particularly set of nasty comments about Ocasio and the show. This is from The Guardian. “Trump claims ‘no one could understand’ Bad Bunny halftime show: ‘A slap in the face to our country’. Rant comes as Turning Point USA’s ‘All-American’ Super Bowl halftime show garnered just four million viewers.” Trump is a one trick pony. He puts on a display of overt racism to deflect anything that gets in the way of his perceived greatness and tries to draw attention away from the current Epstein file dump.
Toward the end of his set, Bad Bunny was handed a ball with the words, “Together, we are America” written on it, and a message on the big screen read: “The only thing more powerful than hate is love.”
That Truth Social screed is up there on the worst of the worst list. He just keeps outdoing himself these days. This link The Independent. “Trump claims ‘no one could understand’ Bad Bunny halftime show: ‘A slap in the face to our country’. Rant comes as Turning Point USA’s ‘All-American’ Super Bowl halftime show garnered just four million viewers.” Rhian Lubin has the story.
Toward the end of his set, Bad Bunny was handed a ball with the words, “Together, we are America” written on it, and a message on the big screen read: “The only thing more powerful than hate is love.”
But the message of unity clearly did not go down well with the president.
“Nobody understands a word this guy is saying, and the dancing is disgusting, especially for young children that are watching from throughout the U.S.A., and all over the World,” Trump raged.
“This “Show” is just a “slap in the face” to our Country, which is setting new standards and records every single day — including the Best Stock Market and 401(k)s in History!” the president fumed. “There is nothing inspirational about this mess of a Halftime Show and watch, it will get great reviews from the Fake News Media, because they haven’t got a clue of what is going on in the REAL WORLD.”
It was not immediately clear whether Trump watched the Turning Point USA halftime show, but from the president’s Truth Social post, it became apparent he did not miss the Puerto Rican megastar.
Trump is hosting his own Super Bowl watch party thousands of miles away at his Mar-a-Lago resort in West Palm Beach, Florida, according to the president’s public schedule.
What’s left of the Washington Post had this headline today. “Trump plans to keep Democratic governors out of traditionally bipartisan meeting. The White House did not explain why Democrats were not invited to the meeting. In addition, at least two Democrats were uninvited to a White House dinner, according to their offices.” Mariana Alfaro has the story.
President Donald Trump plans to keepDemocrats out of a traditionally bipartisan White House gathering of governorstypically held as part of the National Governors Association’s annual Washington summit, the organization said.
According to the governors’ offices, the president also revoked invitations sent to Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D), the NGA’s vice chair; and Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) to attend a second White House event scheduled to occur around the summit: a dinner for governors.
“This week, I learned that I was uninvited to this year’s National Governors Association dinner — a decades-long annual tradition meant to bring governors from both parties together to build bonds and celebrate a shared service to our citizens with the President of the United States,” Moore said in a statement Sunday. “… It’s hard not to see this decision as another example of blatant disrespect and a snub to the spirit of bipartisan federal-state partnership.”
Moore told CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday that he was confused by the White House’s decision, saying that, just a few weeks ago, he led a bipartisan group of governors who met with the president as Trump signed a memorandum on bringing down energy costs.
Moore also said on CNN that it was “not lost” on him that he is the only Black governor of a state.
“I find that to be particularly painful, considering the fact that the president is trying to exclude me from an organization that not only my peers have asked me to help to lead, but then also a place where I know I belong in,” he said. “I’m never in a room because of someone’s benevolence nor kindness. I’m not in a room because of a social experiment. I’m in the room because I belong there and the room was incomplete until I got there.”
Eric Maruyama, a spokesperson for Polis, said the decision to exclude the Colorado governor was “disappointing.”
“Gov. Polis has always been willing to work with anyone across the political spectrum who wants to help work on the hardest problems facing Colorado and America, regardless of party or who occupies the White House,” Maruyama said in a statement.
Those of us living the reality of high prices and questionable incomes realize the Trump Economy is in a ditch that feels like we’re careening towards a cliff. However, Trump does not see it that way. This is from NBC News. You don’t need to be an economist like to realize how tough it is to make ends meet if you’re not a billionaire. “Trump accepts ownership of the current economy: ‘I’m very proud of it’. In an exclusive interview with NBC News, the president said the country is already experiencing the “Trump economy.” This is reported by Jonathan Allen.
President Donald Trump says it’s his economy now.
In an interview with “NBC Nightly News” anchor Tom Llamas that aired during the Super Bowl on Sunday, the 47th president said the country is already experiencing the Trump economy.
“At what point are we in the Trump economy?” Llamas asked.
“I’d say we’re there now,” he replied. “I’m very proud of it.”
His remarks come at a time when most Americans tell pollsters they are not satisfied with the state of the economy and as Trump executes a barnstorming strategy to bring his economic message to political battlegrounds before the November midterms.
An NPR/Marist/PBS News survey released last week showed that 36% of adults say they approve of Trump’s handling of the economy, while 59% disapprove. In off-year elections last November, Democrats in Virginia, New Jersey and New York hammered away at “affordability” on their way to victory.
In the interview, which was taped Wednesday in the Oval Office, Trump said the economy is doing so well that Democrats are abandoning that message — and also blamed his predecessor, President Joe Biden, for stubbornly high prices on some staples.
“In the last four days, it’s only four days, the Democrats have not uttered the word ‘affordability,’” he said. “They’re the ones that caused the problem. I took over a mess in every way.”
Using figures that are not backed up by the administration’s own data, Trump claimed that the gross domestic product has grown by 5.6% on his watch. According to the Labor Department, the economy grew at a strong annualized rate of 4.4% in the third quarter of 2025. It has not grown at more than 5% in any quarter since 2021, when the U.S. was recovering from the Covid pandemic.
Excuse me while I make my humble grocery list and pull my hair out. Oops. I forgot the Winter Olympics. Well, there’s this from the L.A. Times. “U.S. Olympic athletes in Italy are speaking out about the political situation at home.”
Olympic skiers Mikaela Shiffrin and Hunter Hess are among the athletes who’ve talked about the political situation in the U.S. while at the Milan-Cortina Games.
President Trump called freestyle skier Hess a “loser” on social media after Hess said he had mixed emotions about representing the U.S. at the Olympics.
Multiple U.S. athletes emphasize they represent American values of inclusivity and compassion, not the current political situation in the country.
Feeling any better?
“The only thing more powerful than hate is love.”
Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio
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State governments are fighting to keep the Election Clause of the U.S. Constitution real. This is from 
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But in a controversial decision, Treasury, which oversees the IRS, in April 2025 agreed to provide DHS with the names and addresses of individuals the Trump administration believed to be in the country illegally, pursuant to DHS requests.
Trump’s obsession with losing is at odds with one of our most precious rights. The Right to vote with a secret ballot is on the line here. The Super Bowl is one of those panem et circenses events in our country. It displays some of the worst and best of our cultural quirks. You won’t catch me watching it, but I do eventually come around to going to YouTube to watch the Musical performances. My vote for the best half-time performance is Prince forever. You can follow this link to 
Of course, Trump wasn’t the center of attention here so he had to make a particularly set of nasty comments about Ocasio and the show. This is from 
That Truth Social screed is up there on the worst of the worst list. He just keeps outdoing himself these days. This link 
What’s left of the 
Those of us living the reality of high prices and questionable incomes realize the Trump Economy is in a ditch that feels like we’re careening towards a cliff. However, Trump does not see it that way. This is from 
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