"We did not protect President Trump" -- Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, 1/30/26

1. Today, Jared Kushner is in Geneva representing the US in high-stakes negotiations with Iran. It is a last ditch effort to avoid war. But Kushner has debilitating financial conflicts that makes a deal less likely.

1. FACT: Trump’s new tariffs are just as illegal as his old tariffs But numerous media outlets are spreading false information about the law — and Trump is benefiting. Let's break it down.

Sort of weird that every year we make a big deal of the State of the Union and as soon as it’s over it’s immediately forgotten and has no impact on anything

1. On January 23, Crypto.com donated $5 million to MAGA Inc, Trump's primary Super PAC. (The donation was first disclosed in a FEC filing Friday night.) Less than 1 month later, on February 17, the Trump administration intervened on Crypto.com's behalf in a high-stakes federal lawsuit.

Trump has forced American consumers to shoulder the burden of billions in illegal tariffs over the last year. Americans will not be paid back. But instead of apologizing, Trump is imposing new tariffs worldwide for no discernible reason.

Trump illegally imposed billions in tariffs (taxes) on U.S. corporations. Much of those costs were passed onto consumers. The corporations might get their money back. You never will.

Coverage of Andy Barr, a sitting Congressman and candidate for U.S. Senate, running an ad declaring, "It's not a sin to be white" -- a variation of a notorious white nationalist slogan AP: Zero NYT: Zero WashPost: Zero Reuters: Zero Politico: Zero Axios: Zero

1. Major corporations — including General Motors, State Farm, JPMorgan Chase, Delta, and Microsoft — are bankrolling a political ad from Senate candidate Andy Barr featuring a white nationalist slogan.

"Israel has arrested several people, including army reservists, for allegedly using classified information to place bets on Israeli military operations on Polymarket." www.wsj.com/world/middle...

1. On Kalshi, over $100 MILLION was wagered on what song Bad Bunny would perform first during the Super Bowl On CNBC, Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour was presented with a hypothetical: Would it be OK for Bad Bunny's dancers, who knew what song would be played first, to bet? His answer might surprise you

1. Internal documents reveal that Freedom 250, which purports to celebrate the nation's 250th anniversary, is a vehicle to promote Trump and "America First" propaganda, including election conspiracies Major corporations like Mastercard and Deloitte and spending million to bankroll this effort

1. Trump Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has been caught brazenly lying about his relationship with Epstein. In October, Lutnick claimed his relationship with Epstein was "absolutely done" after a single meeting in 2005. That is absolutely false.

1. Trump has launched a torrent of bigoted invective against Somali migrants, calling them "garbage" and demanding they be kicked out of the country Now, the Trump administration is rigging the immigration courts against them We've uncovered the details of the scheme

FACT: Trump and his administration are engaged in an aggressive, multi-pronged effort to undermine the 2026 midterms.

I'm going to be participating in a online panel with Harvard's Shorenstein Center, Reporting on Power and Policy, at 1PM Eastern today. I will be on with fellow 2025 Nylan Prize winner, Samantha Maldonado, a senior reporter for THE CITY. You can tune in here: harvard.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

1. New FEC filings reveal that DraftKings and FanDuel, have emerged as major donors for the 2026 midterms, pouring millions into Super PACs. Previously, the companies have limited their political giving to state politics. While the spending is bipartisan, it thus far tilts towards Republicans.

Facts: popular.info/p/how-legacy...

Reporting the Trump had “pivoted” was journalistic malpractice popular.info/p/how-legacy...

1. Many large media outlets are reporting that Trump "pivoted" his strategy in Minnesota and has "changed course." This is what the White House WANTS YOU TO BELIEVE The only problem is it is not true

In response to the killing of two U.S. citizens by federal immigration officers, Apple CEO Tim Cook sent a note to his staff praising Trump for “his openness to engaging on issues that matter to us all”

Worth knowing. popular.info/p/the-corpor...

1. After weeks of silence, the CEOs of 68 large corporations based in Minnesota released and statement on ICE saying... what exactly? "There are ways for us to come together to foster progress..." "State, local and federal officials [should] work together to find real solutions..."

Amazon Web Services hosts massive surveillance systems for both ICE and DHS. Citizens Bank provides nearly $1 trillion in credit & bonds to private prison companies. AT&T has a $147 million contract to provide communications services to DHS. Know who is profiting from ICE’s cruelty.

UPDATE: Citizens Bank offered this response to Brookline.news, a local Boston publication: "We do not comment on specific clients or sectors and engage with companies that conduct their business in a lawful manner and if that is not the case, we are prepared to exit the relationship."

1. The Trump administration is not conducting its deadly immigration crackdown in Minneapolis alone Major corporations, including Amazon, Citizens Bank, and AT&T, are enabling — and profiting from — the operation. popular.info/p/the-corpor...

Jeff Bezos has more money than any person could possible spend in a lifetime, bought the Washington Post, made the editorial board his personal mouth piece, and is now gutting the rest of the paper.

Really hard to watch these videos and not conclude this was an execution

American survived without ICE from 1776 to 2003

The federal government is gunning people down in the streets, lying about what happened and then preventing any independent investigation of the killings

WTF happened to the Epstein files? Full release was required December 19 by federal law. Today, 99% are still undisclosed. Initially, there were rolling releases. Now, nothing in weeks. REMEMBER: The DOJ said the review of these documents was complete in JULY.

1. After months of denials, the Trump administration has admitted that DOGE staff misused Social Security data. A DOGE staffer signed a deal to share the data with a “political advocacy group” seeking to “overturn election results" The identity of the staffer is not disclosed but there are clues

1. In 2025, 32 people died in ICE custody. That figure was the largest in more than two decades and tied for the highest number of deaths among ICE’s detainee population ever. 2026 is only three weeks old, and it’s already shaping up to be much worse.

I won a prize from the Harvard Shorenstein Center for my newsletter, Popular Information. “Legum has built a model of journalism that combines meticulous investigative reporting with clear, accessible explanations of how power operates—and who benefits."

Amazon paid Melania Trump $40 million to make a documentary about her life and now it is flushing more money down the toilet by advertising the documentary on X.

"ICE’s failure to pay its bills for months has caused some medical providers to deny services to ICE detainees, an administration source, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press, told Popular Information." popular.info/p/ice-has-st...

I’ve been writing Popular Information for 8 years, and this is one of the most important stories I’ve ever published. This is a humanitarian crisis that has gone unreported.

1. ICE has STOPPED PAYING for medical treatment for its 73,000 detainees ICE has not paid its bills to 3rd party providers since OCTOBER and the situation will likely persist for MONTHS, a Popular Information investigation reveals Meanwhile, critically ill ICE detainees are not receiving care 🧵

This is insanity. They are being investigated for *making statements* critical of ICE. www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

Surprise! www.ft.com/content/da74...

1. These companies continued to advertise on X as Grok generated nonconsensual sexualized images of kids (and adults). We contacted all of them for comment. All 37 either declined to comment or did not respond. NFL Shein NBA Outback Steakhouse Burger King ESPN (Con't)

All these Draft Kings and Fan Duel ads should be required to disclose that if you consistently win your bets you’ll get kicked off their platforms.

REMINDER: The Trump administration was required by law to release all the Epstein files by Dec 19 and still has not released 99% of the files

1. In an interview with the New York Times, Trump claimed that, as a result of the civil rights movement, white men have been "very badly treated" and subjected to "reverse discrimination." Trump says that white men have been excluded from colleges and jobs. Here is the TRUTH.

1. There is an ongoing smear campaign against Renee Good, the 37-year-old mother killed by ICE. The goal is to convince Americans to believe an official narrative over objective evidence — including video of the incident.

REMINDER: The Trump administration was required by law to release all the Epstein files by December 19 and still has not released 99% of the files

Incredible that the Trump administration put out this new video of the killing of Renee Good as if it is EXCULPATORY for the ICE officer.

Elon Musk (net worth $600 billion+) says people shouldn't worry about saving for retirement because, in 20 years, everyone will have everything they want thanks to AI.

Records from the Federal Procurement Data System reveal that ICE has increased spending on “small arms, ordnance, and ordnance accessories manufacturing” by more than 600% compared to 2024 levels. popular.info/p/ice-boosts...