Crazy idea: Don't data mule the President's claim he's getting $1-3B in "oil" from Delcy Rodriguez without also publishing how much the invasion cost. Did she just pay you to make her President?

Aldrich Ames, CIA officer convicted of spying for Russia, dies at age 84 www.cbsnews.com/news/aldrich...

Every year @erininthemorning.com puts together a list of trans Girl Scouts that sell cookies. If you’d like to purchase some, please consider these girls. Trans youth have been under a vicious attack so it would be nice to show some support. Thanks 🩵🤍🩷 www.erininthemorning.com/p/2026-trans...

It pains me to say it, but if the US is serious about "taking over" Greenland, then it is at least as great as security threat to Western Europe as Russia is. And should be treated accordingly.

The response to Jan. 6 was a stated attempted to restore and protect democratic governance. Five years on, I think it's safe to say it—we—failed. Latest newsletter for the five-year anniversary of the attack on the U.S. Capitol: postsfromunderground.ghost.io/jan-6-was-ou...

The Irish government has just announced plans to gut judicial review by (amongst other things) narrowing locus standi so much that civil society groups won't be able to challenge illegal acts of public bodies. Amongst other things, this is clearly contrary to Articles 79 and 80 GDPR.

Andy Kim up now.

How the Deep State Taught Stephen Miller to Love Socialism www.emptywheel.net/2026/01/06/h...

"Tony Dokoupil’s ‘CBS Evening News’ Debut Is an Inauspicious Sign of Where CBS News Is Headed." By Daniel D'Addario in Variety. variety.com/2026/tv/colu... "...an anchor whose ambitious ability to see which way the wind blows has so far outstripped his broadcasting talent." A recommended critique.

Brazilian exports surged to record levels in 2025, shrugging off months of punishing US tariffs thanks to expanded shipments to China and other major trading partners.

Both Maduro and his wife have submitted filings to get medical attention for injuries suffered during their capture (these filings are sealed). Also Bruce Fein is joining Maduro's team.

Some worthwhile Jan6 speeches from Dems (and Thom Tillis, tho I missed it) in the Senate right now. www.c-span.org/congress/?ch...

Either someone took over her Xitter account, or Tulsi has sucked it up and betrayed all the things she said about invading Venezuela in 2019.

I wrote this about NATO and Denmark as people were and are getting it wrong saideman.blogspot.com/2026/01/gree... I feel @emptywheel.bsky.social 's pain when she sees people piling on Merrick Garland...

Here's the comparison of the Maduro case with the Noriega precedent I've been waiting for.

Actually pretty funny they have to share a podium AND ALSO Kushner is a lot taller than Witkoff.

This sign wins

The video @thefarce.org and I did on Trump and the grievance myth behind January 6.

There are only 218 Republicans left in the House. Make them produce a majority every day, every hour, for every thing.

If you're writing 1800 words about how we failed to account for January 6 and DON'T mention SCOTUS (particularly if you're comparing with Brazil) or impeachment, you're simply doing propaganda for the GOP.

Texan oil pipeline billionaire behind €30m investment in Waterford airport

Why did Trump pick Jeff Landry for his second Greenland flunky, anyway? Bc LA was acquired by purchase?

Bari Weiss's Free Press website ran this screed by Matt Taibbi defending his lawsuit against a book author. But the Free Press apparently never reached out to the author. Even though Weiss spiked that 60 Minutes piece for not reaching out to enough Trump officials www.thefp.com/p/matt-taibb...

I've watched thousands of videos from the Jan. 6 riot as part of NPR's reporting and archive project on that day. Here are some of the lesser known videos that have really stuck with me. 🧵

For five years running, the first criminal docket of the year in DC has been a Jan6er. 2022: Dan Shaw 2023: Paul Modrell 2024: Christopher Keniley 2025: Timothy DesJardins 2026: Brian Cole FIVE YEARS of crimes Trump inspired. www.courtlistener.com/docket/72099...

Note that some of the fraud in MN was discovered by HHS IG, and HHS and SBA IGs were fired at a time when GOP was celebrating the latter predicting he'd find $200B more COVID related fraud. www.emptywheel.net/2025/02/12/t...

One thing hidden in the (New Year's Eve dump of the) Jack Smith deposition is that Jim Jordan called Trump on January 6 because Mark Meadows had never known him to be scared before. www.emptywheel.net/2026/01/01/j...

And there was at least a chance Cheney could have pulled Iraq off. There's so much obviously flawed in Trump's plans here, and THIS generation of Heritage interns are even less competent than the ones who fucked up Iraq.

Why don’t they ever explain that documents tying Hernandez to drug trafficking and money laundering were unsealed in 2019, by Trump’s DOJ? When they answer “I don’t have the facts” give them the facts.

I'll repeat, again, that there's little reason to think the indictment itself would fail (whether Barry Pollack succeeds with an immunity/arrest challenge is another issue). Maduro's co-conspirator pled guilty in June, so DOJ has to do little more than tie Maduro to his actions.

Why does it matter that Nicolás #Maduro told a US judge he’s still president of #Venezuela? International law prohibits prosecution of a sitting head of state in another country’s courts. @keitnerlaw.com explains head of state immunity and the Maduro case: www.justsecurity.org/128073/head-...

I do not understand this perspective. It totally ignores the fact that Trump himself destroyed the pesky western democratic order. Why does Putin care that he lost Maduro when he has the US as an ally in his autocratic struggle?

1. Hundreds of corps that pledged to stop donating to members of Congress who voted to overturn the election on 1/6/21 have broken their promise over the last 5 years But we've identified 10 promise keepers: Farmers Airbnb Expedia Nike Clorox Eversource Energy Holland & Hart Qurate Whirlpool Lyft

January 6 Was a Violent Insurrection; It Was Also a Fraud Against the GOP Faithful www.emptywheel.net/2026/01/06/j...

This is on day 3, when things look successful. 80% is low for Trump on most issues, and it's where he started on other issues that have badly gone south for him, like Epstein.

Just saw this in LinkedIn for anyone interested in looking into Grok's production of CSAM and non-consensual sexualised imagery. www.linkedin.com/posts/mtechl...

Trump: We will subjugate the world w/tariffs. China: No rare earths for you! No markets for soy farmers! Trump: We must subjugate Venezuela for rare earths! Oil companies will pay! Exxon: Um, no we won't! Trump: We must pay the oil companies to occupy Venezuela for their rare earths! Soy farmers: ?

Exactly. And why do they think Rodriguez can stay safe w/o a Cuban guard if Cabello (who has been indicted alongside Maduro since 2020) finds her too complacent?

It'd genuinely be useful for LAins w/some time and a camera to go get some video to demonstrate Stephen's breeding partner's inferior intelligence.

If you're Delcy Rodriguez, is Diosdado Cabello or Stephen Miller a more imminent threat? If you've taken out the Cuban unit protecting Maduro, who will keep her safe from rivals and the people?

"The reported demise of the GOP’s hawks and neocons has always been exaggerated. Many still populate Trump’s foreign policy team, up to the cabinet level, most prominently Secretary of State and National Security Advisor Marco Rubio." -- @mpaarlberg.bsky.social www.newstatesman.com/internationa...

Believing that Venezuela is an island is the same kind of mindset that leads you to believe you can impose big tariffs on coffee and bananas. www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NiB...

Here's Stephen Miller bragging about having encircled the "island" of Venezuela. I don't doubt there have been US covert forces on its land border, but even I have seen reporting abt stuff going down on the border w/Colombia. www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NiB...

How the Deep State Taught Stephen Miller to Love Socialism www.emptywheel.net/2026/01/06/h...

In that batshit insane interview? Stephen Miller repeatedly (after 4:15) calls Venezuela an island. I don't rule out that Miller doesn't know the difference between Venezuela and Greenland. edition.cnn.com/2026/01/05/p...

The White House has been horny to send Stephen Miller onto CNN for a month. And I **really** do not think this helped them, at all. If nothing else it should make Miami exceedingly alarmed.

What happens when right wing white men are given DEI jobs.

Note I laid this out a day before NYT did, with details. The important detail is that the TdA allegations in the indictment (and the Zetas and the Sinaloa ones) are flimsy -- the latter goes thru Maduro associate who pled guilty last year.

Not mentioned of course is that Stephen Miller has ordered up what are murders even by US law. What stops Colombia from snatching him to put him on trial, particularly given that Trump plans to invade anyway?

In Moscow, grudging recognition that Trump has successfully pulled off the decapitation operation in Caracas that Putin and Gerasimov has planned in Kyiv. But a sense that this means more than ever before that Ukraine is to come to Russia as part of the "grand bargain" with Trump.