In this in-depth interview Billie Jean Sweeney — a former editor at The New York Times — details how the paper shifted towards openly promoting anti-trans hatred, why this was directed from the very top, how some staff pushed back and the immense damage done by the NYT legitimizing bigotry.

Bloomberg has a really good story on how scandalous Trump's pardon of Juan Orlando Hernández is. This is just the first ¶ of 3-¶¶ on sources, but gives a sense of who would want to tell similar stories. www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...

Yes, confront GOP House and Senate members endlessly. But don't ASK them questions about TRUMP--that always fails. ASK them about themselves: About what they are DOING to impeach Trump for having given such pardons. Don't give them a choice to outsource this to Trump.

Trump has now warned Iran that if it cracks down on protests the US will invade, Dulles brother style. Meanwhile, Russia is sending Iran extra support. Again, at some point Trump's covert wars will put him at odds with Putin.

Lots to think about here for moving forward. Gift link.

Welcome to 2026. We're back today with our first Emptywheel Friday of the new year! Marcy Wheeler @emptywheel.bsky.social & I get together every Fri to discuss news you need to know. Join us today 3pm ET/noon PT youtu.be/7Spp8_PxCvY, nicolesandler.com, emptywheel.net, pod, nicolesandler.substack.com

I am begging everyone, but ESPECIALLY reporters, to clearly differentiate between ICE and Border Patrol. Literally begging!!

Where We Go from Here www.emptywheel.net/2026/01/02/w...

I've been tracking the spread of nonconsensual deepfakes on X for more than two years. Here's a timeline of how Musk's leadership allowed the practice to flourish from a once-underground market to a viral trend, with little recourse for victims or legal enforcement. spitfirenews.com/p/grok-csam-...

There's an old saying in business that you should never launch an enterprise product on the same day as your CSAM scandal. But Elon didn't get to where he is playing by the rules

Two of the defendants in the conspiracy to dox case in LA are challenging their indictment on 1A grounds. Here's the more interesting of the challenges, from FPDs who got the defendant off on ANOTHER charge last year. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Now Pete Hegseth has the Coast Guard spending days looking for the people he didn't manage to kill.

sequel opportunity

"[Miller] is someone that people, including Republicans, can scapegoat for Trump’s failures (and they’ll be right). And if we don’t make sure that happens, then he’ll scapegoat brown people."

Trump defense attorney DOJ employee #5 Stan Woodward has filed a notice of appearance in the Dan Richman case which suggests they're going to invent ANOTHER reason to stall so that they can throw this all to Aileen Cannon and she can resume shredding the Constitution.

Do people know that there are almost 1 million Muslims in NYC? Where are the stories about how Muslims are feeling about the first Muslim Mayor in NYC?

🤬🤬🚨🚨🤬🤬

And the Inspectors General Trump fired were in process of discovering it. Once case they discovered was a connected right winger in FL, whose was Bradley Bondi magically succeeded in making disappear.

In case you missed it, Nathan Sanders and @schneier.com write “AI is poised to play a more volatile role than ever before in America’s next federal election in 2026.” trib.al/xvgWWmh

@briankarem.bsky.social www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Qtj...

Next time Trump brags about his superior ability to recognize a giraffe at a press conference someone should ask him why is he taking so many cognitive tests so often.

🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

Agree and same. I've been hesitating to say it here, but the pendulum is indeed starting to swing back. Hold on for the ride, or better yet organize to maximize on all the change that will be possible if we don't waste this opportunity.

Indeed. I lived in lower Manhattan during Occupy (and was actually pregnant then), and Occupy was so disruptive to Wall Street and so honest and lasted so long that it inevitably opened conversations that would not have happened otherwise that are a straight line to Mamdani's election--

Trump has repeatedly voiced support for shooting protesters here in the States. Like, any time there's a protest.

There's an 8-hour version of this, but these highlights illustrate the 2 main points. - You want Jack Smith to be a federal prosecutor for as long as he wants. - You want Donald Trump to be removed from office immediately. #ImpeachConvictImprison www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUVG...

The Republican Party is just fine with Donald J. Trump jump starting a 21st century version of the slave trade. Ans they're all just fine with it. Apparently, the rest of us are fine with it as well because it still going on. www.youtube.com/watch?v=sx2v...

Good point. Too bad we don’t have that anymore thanks to Trump.

WOOOOOOOOOO LET’S GO TISH JAMES

This was my absolute favorite part of this banger of a speech.

This is the kind of big thinking we need. The Democratic world should be going through Supreme Court precedents. Here the key date is the 2000 GWB election, which @raskin.house.gov called effectively stolen — and the Court’s work after that the fruit of a poison tree.

I agree with all the suggestions in this thread.

Any reparations demand would need to include the shutting down of all of the immigrant jails too.

LOL

One underrated thing Mamdani has going for him is that he has always known he is ineligible for the presidency The profession of elected official attracts a lot of people with delusions of grandeur and an agenda built around getting to the job they want rather than doing the job they actually have

I've seen a couple of people asking if the three main campaign promises are achievable. And the answer is yes. 1. Freeze the Rent - The Mayor controls the Rent Guidelines Board, which votes every year on how much rents go up for over 2.4 million rent stabilized tenants.

crowd screaming "tax the rich" at a mayoral inauguration in the heart of the global center of capitalism, you love to see it

zohran quoting and then rejecting "the era of big government is over," the line that captured the zenith of clintonian neoliberalism, is highly symbolic

Every moment today was full of hope. This one too:

RESOLVED: We will do the work needed to get our state reps and Governor Hochul to tax the rich this year to fund childcare for everyone. New Yorkers, please sign this letter to your state reps and then share with others you know in NY. Our goal is 25K this month. 👉 act.ourtime.nyc/email-your-l...

@jumaane.bsky.social spoke incredibly movingly. I appreciate that he always talks about immigrant rights and trans rights. A city for everyone. He got choked up when speaking to a "Black boy 49 years ago" - himself. Telling him that it would all be all right. I teared up.

The shots in this thread are historic and iconic. Thank you @gregpak.net for being there.

Obsessed with this juxtaposition

This is a crucial line from Mamdani Mike Johnson-for one-is very polite. Yet his policies will likely kill millions of Americans. Cutting Medicaid and failing to extend the ACA subsidies alone will cause over 51,000 to die. Per year He should be forever hiding in shame. Instead-he’s House Speaker

Despite what we are often told, this line from Mamdani’s inauguration speech is what true pragmatism actually looks like: “Beginning today, we will govern expansively and audaciously. We may not always succeed. But never will we be accused of lacking the courage to try.”

After so much devastation, joy and hope may feel a little uncomfortable. May we all get used to it. Big leaps are coming. There is hope.

🔥🔥🔥

Mamdani: For too long, those fluent in the good grammar of civility have deployed decorum to mask agendas of cruelty