Anyone know what the status of Alex Saab, a key broker between VZ, Iran, and Russia, these days? Maduro named him to his cabinet last year. www.emptywheel.net/2023/02/13/a...

Trump's Selective Drug Enforcement in Latin America www.emptywheel.net/2026/01/03/t...

From the superseding indictment against Nicolás Maduro, in SDNY. The case is before Alvin Hellerstein. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

World reacts to US strikes on Venezuela www.straitstimes.com/world/europe...

Under all circumstances, the principles of international law and the UN Charter must be respected. We call for restraint. The safety of EU citizens in the country is our top priority. (2/2)

I have spoken with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and our Ambassador in Caracas. The EU is closely monitoring the situation in Venezuela. The EU has repeatedly stated that Mr Maduro lacks legitimacy and has defended a peaceful transition. (1/2)

A reminder TEXAS is not a “Red State” It’s a heavily gerrymandered and voter suppressed “Blue State”.

> Runs on no more wars > Starts a new war in Venezuela

A president who wanted a peace prize is actually a prime candidate to be tried for war crimes.

The FIFA Peace Prize doesn't mean what it used to

Some updates: CNN: The Senate Armed Services Committee was not informed in advance of any potential US military action carried out tonight in Venezuela.

Remember that there is a legitimately elected president of Venezuela: Edmundo Gonzalez. He won the election in 2024.

Folks, I meant very seriously that the Ark Experience--where there was a measles exposure--is Mike Johnson's old stomping ground: He ensured the Ark would get tourist $$ from KY. kentuckylantern.com/briefs/mike-...

Here's the measles. www.thedailybeast.com/health-autho...

John Roberts, December 31: Everything's cool. No problem with rule of law at all. Donald Trump, January 3: Now watch this!

Meanwhile, the slow moving white bronco chase is headed towards Irish waters. Russia is trying to help Mullahs stave off overthrow in Iran. Trump is bombing another RU client in VZ. And yet a few days ago Putin still could fool Trump w/the most transparent lie. www.irishtimes.com/ireland/2026...

While the Senate is asking Trump why they started a war to kidnap a foreign leader perhaps they might also ask why Trump freed a former foreign leader convicted of the same kind of crimes.

Support independent media.

Great follow up live discussion after reading the essay, “Where do we go from here” by @emptywheel.bsky.social

Great work by @emptywheel.bsky.social Read it, then read it again. In fighting fascism, HOW you fight matters.

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

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

sequel opportunity

Told ya. The grand jury in SDFL convenes on ... January 12.

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?

Year-end tally of Trump admin combat actions in 2025: —Yemen—1,000+ strikes* —Somalia—140+ strikes, 1 ground raid** —Syria—78+ strikes, 3 ground raids*** —Iran—3 B-2 strikes —Iraq—1 strike —Nigeria—1 set of TLAM strikes —Caribbean—11 strikes —Eastern Pacific—20 strikes —Venezuela—1 known CIA strike

Mike Johnson's stomping grounds.

It was only a matter of time b4 Trump's Venezuela adventure started to piss off Russia. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/01/u...

To kick off the new year, I'm playing music to set the mood. The Power of Positive Singing, now playing at nicolesandler.com for the next 24 hours. @emptywheel.bsky.social and I return live tomorrow for our first Emptywheel Friday show of the new year.

Bernie's right: Thank you, New Yorkers, for electing Mamdani.

Out: the weave In: the blink

Trump literally bid $100,000 on a painting last night during an auction at his private club (it went for $2.7 million)

Mamdani: "While only action can change minds, I promise you this: If you are a New Yorker, I am your mayor. Regardless of whether we agree I will protect you, celebrate with you, mourn along side you, and not for a second hide from you."

Mamdani: "We will answer to all New Yorkers, not to any billionaire or oligarch who thinks they can buy our democracy ... I will govern as a Democratic Socialist"

This is an insane thread. Trump is a deeply unwell man.

The world’s richest man is an explicit white supremacist whose personal LLM publicly produces and distributes CSAM based on real people. He has also built a compound to hold the dozens of children he has had with nearly as many women. This man has a TS clearance.

The worst part about this is that xAI *isn’t* reviewing to prevent future issues. Grok is just saying that because that’s the sort of thing a responsible company would do

Trump's skin is so delicate that Pam Bondi caused his hand to bleed when she nicked him with her ring while giving him a high-five at the RNC.

Epstein's treatments from Mar-a-Lago employees came to a halt in 2003, after an 18-year-old beautician returned from a house call to Epstein and reported to managers that he had pressured her for sex. The incident wasn't reported to Palm Beach police, according to former employees and police.

AOC: Zohran Mamdani will be the first Muslim mayor of our great city. He will be our first immigrant mayor in over a century. He will be the youngest mayor of New York City in generations. Most importantly, Zohran will be a mayor for all of us .

Mamdani: I promise you this. If you are a New Yorker, I am your mayor. Regardless of whether we agree, I will protect you, celebrate with you, mourn alongside you, and never, not for a second, hide from you

Mamdani: I have been told that this is the occasion to reset expectations, that I should use this opportunity to encourage the people of New York to ask for little and expect even less. I will do no such thing. The only expectation I seek to reset is that of small expectations.

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

Trump's Manufactured Minnesota Fraud, Homan’s Buried Bribery Scandal, and The DOJ’s Epstein Failures Collide While Democratic Momentum Surges Into The New Year

My main takeaway from the Jack Smith testimony: we should push our presidential candidate to make him Attorney General in 2029.

Bernie Sanders publicly swears in Zohran Mamdani as NYC mayor

A vivid lesson for law students and young lawyers: Statutory interpretation--and, in particular, asking "What was Congress up to here?"--can make a real difference! www.nytimes.com/2025/12/31/u...

tbh, the people who need to watch Marcy's videos the most are the reporters who cover Trump.

In the New Year, let us- those who can, support the GROWING INDEPENDENT MEDIA scene that’s creatively being constructed right in front of our eyes. @thefarce.org, great journalist on his own,teams up with @emptywheel.bsky.social to make the great videos of hers that are so informative. 👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻