It's always a treat to be on @thebulwark.com pod with @timmiller.bsky.social to talk about *everything.* This was a wide-ranging pod, about the psychology of complicity, to DHS/ICE, media mergers, AI, and....looksmaxxing and MAGA face? Yes, really. www.thebulwark.com/p/amanda-car...

Happy Friday! I'm back home after a terrific three-day swing co-hosting The View. Today, I'll be chatting with @timmiller.bsky.social for the main @thebulwark.com pod.

Viktor Orban is now 20 points behind in the polls - and so he has ordered the military to guard “key energy facilities” against a possible Ukrainian “attack.” Hungarians fear he plans a fake national security emergency or false-flag incident before the April 12 election apnews.com/article/hung...

here we go again. www.nj.com/mosaic/2026/...

NEW: We’re suing DHS for attempting to silence and intimidate Maine residents. From surveillance technology to "domestic terrorist" watchlists, the federal government is unlawfully retaliating against those who dare to document its abuses. protdem.org/4srJQQP

So Trump illegally confiscated the money, normal consumers paid extra, and corporations get to pocket any refunds. Lose-lose-lose.

I’m in NYC ahead of the storm, settling in to enjoy The View Monday-Weds this week! ❤️

*Alan Dershowitz* had the audacity in 2019 to demand @jkbjournalist.bsky.social be denied a Pulitzer for her Epstein work. www.gatestoneinstitute.org/14003/pulitz... Julie was right. The victims were right Julie's relentless, heroic journalism should be recognized. Give her the damn Pulitzer.

Yes. Give Julie her Pulitzer.

Perfect visual of a president who openly, flagrantly believes he is above the law. I can’t wait to tell our kids about how we stopped the autocrats. This just gave me a huge boost of new energy.

One of Trump’s biggest tricks is making the supposed free speech absolutists gag themselves.

Gutsy of Colbert to tell viewers that CBS is complying in advance. “at this point, [Carr has only] released a letter that says he’s thinking about doing away with the exception—but my network is unilaterally enforcing it as if he had." latenighter.com/news/late-sh...

Free speech for everyone!* *Except Democratic senators, candidates, Don Lemon, ICE protesters, college students, colleges, law firms, TV hosts, judges, and anyone else Trump’s DoJ/FCC/DoE/DHS feels like targeting. Do I have that right?

PBS News Hour: U.S. citizens detained by immigration agents describe how they were treated. Watch the segment here www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMgC... I'm clipping transcripts of the citizens speaking in this thread 1/3

Worth the click. New Jersey man explains why he came out to protest for the first time in his life. www.reddit.com/r/thebulwark...

Federal immigration officers have repeatedly used lethal or near-lethal force in ways that appear to violate their own published policies or general policing guidelines. The pattern is so consistent that it signals that published policies have been superseded by unpublished ones encouraging violence

New story up on the Homeland Security Department’s new tactic: flood social media companies with subpoenas to unmask anonymous accounts that criticize ICE or monitor the movements of ICE agents. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/13/t...

"They want to make you think twice before you and other lawmakers cut similar videos or speak out against the administration's actions. I presume you're not going to be intimidated, but do you think others might be?" "They already have been." @captmarkkelly.bsky.social joins @samsteindc.bsky.social

He literally says in this clip that ICE will keep in Minnesota “quick reaction forces” — a military term — to go after “agitators.” Remember that those on the ground in MPLS have spent more than a week trying to tell everyone that Trump’s prior “deescalation” was a ruse and ICE is still operational

Oof, this old clip from *checks notes* 2018 popped up as I was going through some files. It was clear to me how the WH protected abusers then. And look to what degree they are protecting Jeffrey Epstein (JEFFREY EPSTIEN!!!) now. How low we have fallen. www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYqR...

Gallup announces, after 88 years, it will no longer track public approval of presidents. Trump's second-term approval rating fell to 36% in December, among the lowest ever recorded by the company. The president repeatedly has threatened to sue media and polling firms that portray him negatively.

Likely-historic photo by NBC News of all the Epstein victims asked to raise their hands if they've not yet been asked to meet with the DOJ as Bondi testifies in foreground

DOGE was the biggest scam abcstlouis.com/newsletter/n...

Rep. Kennedy: Will you commit to immediately unmasking every ICE agent and requiring them to wear standard uniforms with identifiable badges? ICE Chief Lyons: No. Rep. Kennedy: Your answer is completely unacceptable.

So a Trump attorney that aided his 2020 campaign (and wrote a memo encouraging Pence to skip counting electoral votes) was given an "election integrity" job in the administration, where he made a referral to investigate Fulton County. 1/2

It didn’t matter to Lutnick that Epstein was a known sex offender. Lutnick still lunched with Epstein, brought his wife and kids around Epstein, and went into business with Epstein. That’s the reality. Abuse of women, girls, kids has not been a dealbreaker in media, banking, or politics.

During October's ICE raid in NYC's Chinatown, I saw an IRS criminal division agent standing guard on a corner. A majority of that agency had been detailed to ICE ERO. For @slate.com, I wrote about the phenomenon of federal agents from once-specialized agencies absorbed into this national police blob

ICE CANNOT BE PERMITTED TO BEAT PEOPLE LIKE THIS -- AND THEN LIE ABOUT IT!! abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory...

A million times this.

this is happening now

This is great.

The Washington Post—for which I wrote editorials for nearly a decade—has closed its Kyiv bureau. @lawfaremedia.org has not—and we will not. We now employ more people in Kyiv than the Washington Post. Let me tell you about what we have done in Ukraine over the past year and why we are not leaving

🧵

Trump, once again, posted something despicable on social media. But he'll be a former president one day. And he's going to go down as the most disgraceful one in American history because of stuff like this. The list is long. It won't be deniable. It won't be forgotten. Because we won't let it.

Once again, turning services meant to serve the public into tools for self-promotion.

A must watch interview that demonstrates the total necessity of using, and defending, our First Amendment right to observe, record, and document what federal agents are doing in our streets.

*Low whistle.* This story. Phew. www.thebulwark.com/p/shocking-s...

Thanks, Adam. And yes, I'm worried about the DHS/DoJ/Intel trifecta of potential election interference in the midterms and 2028.

So that leaves how many thousands.

"Are you saying the survivors are being identified and the potential abusers are being protected?" "That is exactly my point." Epstein survivor Jess Michaels on survivors’ names and personal information being published in the Epstein files. #Newsnight

Many people don't realize how special and valuable having a Department of Justice that is impartial and insulated from political influence is until it's gone.

For what it’s worth, @washingtonpost.com broke this story www.washingtonpost.com/investigatio...

Nearly ten years ago I co-founded @wbaidlaw.bsky.social to provide pro bono representation of whistleblowers. Yet another example of the great work it does. The DNI & Tulsi Gabbard have a lot of explaining to do.

Last night, GOP Senator Rand Paul went on national TV to flatly reject DHS's lies about the Pretti execution: "My advice to [DHS], if they're watching: If you come into [our hearing] and try to justify that [Pretti] was assaulting a police officer, that cannot be acceptable."

I testified Friday before Gov. Pritzker's commission studying abuses of ICE and CBP and tried to explain how the agencies went so far off track. It's actually way worse than I ever realized. Please read and share my testimony as Congress considers reform: www.doomsdayscenario.co/p/accountabi...

They aren’t deescalating anything. They’re claiming new extra-constitutional powers. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/30/u...

“De-escalation”

Most recently, @amandacarpenter.bsky.social wrote about how the ramping up of state force in response to political dissent is all about eliminating competition in this year’s midterm elections — and, ultimately, in an effort to entrench himself in power. www.ifyoucankeepit.org/p/free-speec...

Update: All three have bailed on this appearance. No Noem, no Bondi, no Gabbard. Once again when these folks need to deliver substance, evidence, to a smart audience...they don't have the goods.

Bondi says she personally directed the arrest, WH smears and cheers.