JUST IN: U.S. Customs and Border Protection says Border Patrol agent Charles Exum, who shot Chicago's Marimar Martinez, "was placed on administrative leave":

I called up one of the White House "special government employees" linked to the Fulton County ballot seizure. I ended up on the phone for nearly two hours. It got weird. talkingpointsmemo.com/news/meet-th...

TPM called the "special government employee" involved in the Fulton County FBI raid ... it got weird.

"Fight against being ass" is a message that more people need to receive, tbh

"To make their case, prosecutors have turned to a group long known for spreading anti-Muslim conspiracy theories to provide them with an expert witness to define what antifa is supposed to be:" the Center for Security Policy

"The violence being wielded against our neighbors and in our streets is born out of a lasting vestige of our nation’s post-9/11 pandemonium: the Department of Homeland Security," writes Faisal Al-Juburi, co-CEO of @raicestexas.bsky.social talkingpointsmemo.com/cafe/dhs-was...

In the first antifa domestic terrorism trial, the DOJ is relying on an anti-Muslim conspiracy theory group to define 'antifa'

Absolutely horrifying. (And incredibly important reporting from The Daily Texan, the student newspaper at the University of Texas at Austin.)

NEW: The Trump admin publicized the arrest of an "antifa domestic terrorist," implying he was charged with threatening federal agents. But the criminal complaint suggests Kyle Wagner was charged with Instagram beefing with controversial rightwing agitator Jayden Scott. zeteo.com/p/trump-admi...

NEW: Of all the states that voted for Harris over Trump in 2024, there's only one where a Dem governor is overseeing an ICE's 287(g) program: Massachusetts. Other blue states have quit, or even outright banned it. My colleague on what's happening: boltsmag.org/massachusett...

The Trump admin has used 2339A—the “material support for terrorism” statute—against Black Lives Matter protesters in Alabama and anti-ICE demonstrators in Texas. The ex-DOJ prosecutor who pioneered the use of 2339A says he's never seen anything like it. talkingpointsmemo.com/news/trump-d...

ICE has now spent over half a BILLION dollars just on purchasing warehouses around the country to convert into detention camps. If these mega-camps are utilized to the full capacity ICE intends, they'll be the largest prisons in the country, with little real oversight. www.ajc.com/politics/202...

Concentration camps: stories of as many as 50 people to a cell — men and women in some cases — with no windows and limited airflow, a single camera-monitored toilet, aluminum blankets, no showers and poor quality food.

ICE told nurses this Minneapolis man “purposefully ran headfirst into a brick wall.” What actually happened is that they pulled him from a car, beat him so viciously with a steel baton that he had 8 skull fractures, 5 life-threatening brain hemorrhages, and couldn’t remember he had a daughter.

HAPPENING NOW: DHS just expedited Liam Conejo Ramos' asylum hearing to this morning, meaning it's possible the five-year-old and his family could be deported as soon as today. Rep. Joaquin Castro: "The Trump administration is trying to take him away again." www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-...

From @acyn.bsky.social (posted on X) "Reporter: Do any of you have a favorite animal? Child: My favorite one is a gold snake that can move. It has gold eyes, and it has a super-duper tail… Reporter: Mr. Mamdani, the second question for you. Mamdani: Yes. It’s also the golden snake."

I wrote about how the women Epstein and co victimized have been minimized and ignored as individuals even in popular discourse about the very abuse they endured—and how the legal system has punished them and other women, not helped them, for daring to come forward. spitfirenews.com/p/even-the-m...

Legally here on a work permit. Arrested when he went to renew it. Not fighting his deportation. Yet he's been in detention 29 days. No access to a lawyer. Has been given no information about his case. Family inquiries also ignored. ICE only responded when local news requested comment.

I cannot tell you how much doubt was consistently directed at the Gaza Health Ministry’s casualty numbers and how much pressure was put on news organizations to couch those numbers as unreliable. Biden himself said they were fabricated! www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...

Trump's DOJ has been mining for trans children's info via broad, intimidating subpoenas to hospitals. "They’re fishing for someone to prosecute," lead counsel in a DC case told me. But...they keep losing. From me and the great @joshkovensky.bsky.social ⤵️ talkingpointsmemo.com/news/trump-d...

these conditions are horrifying. this is an amazing story of community organizing strategy and commitment, as well as another example of the criminalization of mutual aid @lataco.bsky.social

Reddit’s conspiracy theory board, which boasts 856,000 active weekly users, has long been unabashedly pro-Trump. That blind loyalty is now cracking, @rothschildmd.bsky.social explains.

TPM is reviving The Franchise, our weekly newsletter on elections & voting rights as the Trump administration continues its assault on election administration, the franchise and democracy overall. talkingpointsmemo.com/the-franchis...

I enjoyed speaking with Brad yesterday about the long shadow of the War on Terror and how the Trump DOJ has begun to bring material support for terrorism charges against protestors associated w various left wing causes talkingpointsmemo.com/news/trump-d...

Trump Turns 'War on Terror' Tools Against Domestic Political Foes: Today's #BradCast Guest: @joshkovensky.bsky.social of @talkingpointsmemo.com; Also: 2020's 'ItalyGate' ballot hacking conspiracy returns; A few staffing issues for the government in MN... FULL STORY, LISTEN: bradblog.com?p=15628

NEW: My first piece for @talkingpointsmemo.com where I'm going to be a regular contributor about conspiracy theories and disinformation, on how Trump is losing his coalition of cranks and conspiracists who elevated him to power. talkingpointsmemo.com/cafe/donald-...

"This is the story of an extraordinary effort by the second Trump administration to shape our ideas about who and what men and women are — a campaign that began targeting trans people but has vast implications for the rights of cisgender people as well."

can’t not hear and see:

If you are able, The Post's union has started a layoff fund for those fired by the world's fourth-richest man today. gofund.me/a310d0286

We gotta come up with a better system than “everything rests on whether these twelve billionnaires are nice”

A lot of people cannot just start a paid newsletter or become freelancers to sustain their careers. The sports, metro, and international desks did work that requires *team* resources, like legal checks, documents, access to archives, and long-term beat experience.

BREAKING: The Supreme Court allows new California congressional districts that favor Democrats.

what a godawful day for journalism, following a great many other godawful days for journalism

Join Josh Kovensky and John Light on Substack Live at 10:30 a.m. for a conversation on NSPM-7, the Trump administration’s crackdown on its ideological enemies, and its novel use of “material support for terrorism” charges. talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/join-...

Across the country, federal prosecutors are upgrading what would have been routine prosecutions into terrorism cases when they involve people President Trump has cast as his political enemies. @joshkovensky.bsky.social investigates: talkingpointsmemo.com/news/trump-d...

This is absolutely insane: DHS claims the right to subpoena your emails and to send investigators to your house. In this case, because a retiree sent the mildest possible criticism to a prosecutor. No judges involved. www.washingtonpost.com/investigatio...

Jose Huerta Chuma is a man in hiding — and he's also a man in distress. He's been replaying the fatal shooting of Minneapolis resident Alex Pretti over and over again in his mind, wondering if he could have done something differently and if there's something that "would have saved that life."

Republicans mightily struggling in New York in a new Siena poll. Kathy Hochul leads GOP opponent Bruce Blakeman 54% to 28%. (She won by 6% in 2022.) Democrats have a 56/29 lead in the generic congressional ballot. (Result was 57/43 in 2024). Trump approval is 33/63. sri.siena.edu/2026/02/03/h...

Extremely cool to have an excerpt from my new book, To Catch A Fascist: The Fight To Expose The Radical Right, in @talkingpointsmemo.com today.

ICE tear gassed a bunch of children on Saturday. This was a massive escalation of force. They were shooting tear gas at the back of the crowd, it took these unmasked people maybe 3-5 minutes in the cloud of tear gas to escape in without trampling. www.theverge.com/policy/87278...

Under Trump, the DOJ has changed how it brings terrorism cases, and is training them on the opposition talkingpointsmemo.com/news/trump-d...

@letsgomathias.bsky.social: Antifa is neither a radical terrorist organization or just a loose "idea." It is real, and refers to an underground network of anarchists, socialists and communists dedicated to destroying the far right “by any means necessary.” talkingpointsmemo.com/cafe/what-an...

@letsgomathias.bsky.social: The story of American antifa is a Cassandra story: few listened when its activists sounded the alarm about rising fascism in America.

🚨 Documents leaked to me reveal a federal watchlist of American protesters suspected of being Antifa - including its supposed leader. One Department of Homeland Security document says a 29-year-old resident of Portland "is the leader of Antifa": www.kenklippenstein.com/p/feds-ident...

4 federal agents pull over an elderly US citizen for the suspected crime of being brown, break her car window, throw her to the ground, then drive off after they find her US Passport in her purse. The Salem Police, when called, say there’s nothing they can do. www.salemreporter.com/2026/01/31/u...

Another eight federal prosecutors have left or announced their intentions to leave the Minnesota U.S. Attorney’s Office, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the situation.

ICE has been bad since it was created, but it's clearly worse than it's ever been. I talked to @radleybalko.bsky.social about how we got here for my newsletter

This article is a very good example of why "more training" and "more vetting" isn't the answer. Jesus Ochoa and Raymundo Gutierrez joined Border Patrol in 2018 and 2014 respectively. These aren't new agents. www.propublica.org/article/alex...

BREAKING: The two federal immigration agents who fired on Minneapolis protester Alex Pretti are identified in government records as Border Patrol agent Jesus Ochoa and Customs and Border Protection officer Raymundo Gutierrez.

Judge orders release of 5-year-old Liam Ramos and father from ICE detention center www.ms.now/news/liam-ra...