January 29, 2026

A New York Times liveblog on Trump stuff is here. ~~~

⭐Catie Edmondson: “Senate Democrats have struck a deal with Republicans and the White House to pass five spending bills to fund a large portion of the government for the remainder of the fiscal year, as well as a stopgap measure to fund the Department of Homeland Security for two weeks while they continue negotiating guardrails to rein in immigration agents. Republicans had pushed to fund the department for several weeks, but Democrats insisted on a shorter-term measure. It is unclear how quickly the House can and will process those funding bills after the Senate passes them. The shutdown deadline is midnight on Friday.” 

Jean Guerrero of the New York Times: “This week, Honduras inaugurated a new president, Nasry Asfura, a construction magnate backed by ... members of the notorious MS-13 gang and ... [Donald] Trump.... Days before MS-13 gang members posing as election observers threatened to kill anyone who didn’t vote for that candidate..., Mr. Trump warned Hondurans of 'hell to pay' if they chose a different outcome. Mr. Asfura’s victory marks the success of Mr. Trump’s campaign to resuscitate a political party tainted by its widely known ties to cartels. The story of how Mr. Trump came to intervene in Honduran politics and align himself with a foreign terrorist organization is essential for understanding the world he is trying to build.... There is a coherent logic to [Trump's actions in Latin America]: They expand territorial power for a class of transnational elites who believe they’re above the law....

“[Honduras's] right-wing party, an ally of Próspera [-- a city/exploitative-enterprise-zone backed by Trump-aligned tech moguls such as Peter Thiel and Marc Andreessen --], governed its citizens the way Mr. Trump and his allies envision governing Americans: through violent dispossession and exploitation. In the United States, a mirror world has already begun to form with the unleashing of multiple federal police forces that have already killed at least three citizens and a number of immigrants.” The link is a gift link. Guerrero's column is less a condemnation of Trump -- though it is that -- than of a long history of the U.S. exploiting Latin America. MB: She coheres all of the discrete things I know about our misadventures south of the border.

Jenna Russell of the New York Times: “Democrats in Maine reacted with a mixture of surprise, relief and some confusion to the announcement by Senator Susan Collins early Thursday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement had ended its stepped-up enforcement in the state, after a weeklong operation focused in and around the cities of Portland and Lewiston. Residents who closely tracked the movements of federal agents last week had reported a steep drop-off in their presence in recent days, prompting speculation that federal officials were rethinking their aggressive approach after a second protester was killed in Minneapolis last weekend. 'While the Department of Homeland Security does not confirm law enforcement operations, I can report that Secretary Noem has informed me that ICE has ended its enhanced activities in the State of Maine,' Senator Collins said in a statement.”

Kate Brumback of the AP: “In an extraordinary scene this week, FBI agents pulled box trucks up to a warehouse south of Atlanta and drove away with hundreds of boxes containing ballots and other documents related to the 2020 election in Georgia’s most populous county.... The search injects the FBI and Justice Department, institutions that historically have made investigative and prosecutorial decisions outside the whims of the White House, into the center of a long-running personal grievance of the president.... FBI Co-Deputy Director Andrew Bailey and U.S. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard were seen onsite.... Gabbard’s participation was unusual, given that she is not part of the FBI or federal law enforcement. She has been central to Trump administration efforts to cast doubt on intelligence community conclusions of Russian interference on Trump’s behalf during his successful 2016 campaign, and her presence may be laying the groundwork for the federal government to try to assert that the 2020 race he lost was somehow tainted by foreign meddling.... 

“U.S. Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said that if Gabbard believes a foreign intelligence service tried to swing the election she is obligated to inform the intelligence committee. 'Or she is simply attempting to inject the non-partisan intelligence community into a domestic political stunt designed to legitimize conspiracy theories that undermine our democracy,' Warner said at a committee hearing Thursday.”

Catharine Tunney of CBC (Canada) News:  "B.C. Premier David Eby says Alberta separatists meeting with the U.S. administration and seeking financial backing is an act of 'treason,' as the issue of national sovereignty loomed over a meeting between the premiers and Prime Minister Mark Carney on Thursday.... [Eby] was reacting to reports that members of ... Donald Trump's administration have held meetings with members of the Alberta Prosperity Project, a separatist group that is pushing for the western province to become independent. The group is openly seeking a $500-billion US line of credit from the U.S. Treasury to help bankroll the new country if they come out victorious in a referendum. An official with the U.S. State Department confirmed the meetings, saying the department 'regularly meets with civil society types,' but added that 'no commitments were made.'... Asked about the cross-border meetings, Carney would only say he expects the U.S. administration — which has previously made jabs about making Canada the 51st state — to 'respect Canadian sovereignty.'... Last week..., [U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent] spoke encouragingly about the prospect of Alberta separating from Canada." Thanks to RAS for the lead.

Sadly, Reality Chex contributor westcoastman has been violated. Somebody broke into his car, and although it appears nothing was stolen, the vandals left 4 tickets to the Melanie movie. Our sympathies, of course. Or, you might say, “If they showed this film on a plane, people would still walk out.”

Katherine Tully-McManus, et al., of Politico: “Eight Republicans joined every Senate Democrat to block sweeping government funding legislation from advancing Thursday amid ongoing negotiations around a potential offramp to avert a lengthy shutdown of several agencies. The Senate voted 55-45 against moving forward with a six-bill package that would fund, among other things, the departments of Homeland Security, State and Health and Human Services, as well as the Pentagon.... The House already passed these bills, then left town for recess. The Senate was on track to clear them without much drama. But then came last weekend’s killing in Minneapolis of Alex Pretti ... at the hands of Border Patrol agents.... Democrats now say they will oppose advancing the funding measure as long as funding for DHS is included — or until Republicans agree to legislation that would put new guardrails around ICE.... Many of Democrats’ requests for changing the DHS bill were pursued earlier in the process at the committee level, but didn’t have the support to make it into the bipartisan and bicameral compromise package.” 

~~~ Michaela Towfighi of the New York Times: “Bruce Springsteen released a new song, 'Streets of Minneapolis,' on Wednesday in response to two fatal shootings by federal immigration enforcement agents in the city this month. Mr. Springsteen dedicated the song to 'the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good.' He said he wrote it on Saturday, the same day immigration agents killed Mr. Pretti, a 37-year-old I.C.U. nurse, during a confrontation. Ms. Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, was killed by an ICE agent on Jan. 7.”

Marie: Donald Trump loves to trash Somalia, which is pretty much a country without a government. The irony of course is that Trump is doing all he can to create a gigantic version of leaderless Somalia right here. We don't have a real president. Important administrative departments -- like Justice (Injustice) and the EPA (Environmental Pollution Agency) -- don't function, either. The Congress sometimes doesn't even show up for work, nor does it perform all of its customary and required functions when the critters do crawl into town. The Supreme Court, when it isn't lying down so the fake president* can wipe his feet on their robes, is hiding its non-decision decisions in its shadow docket. We, the people are on our own. Those who live in Minneapolis & St. Paul are doing a pretty good job of it. Looks like we can't let them stand alone. 

Alan Feuer & Glenn Thrush of the New York Times: “For nearly a year, Justice Department leaders have adopted ... [Donald] Trump’s strong-arm approach to the law, punishing his enemies, protecting his friends and attacking the credibility of judges, prosecutors and even the victims of law-enforcement violence..... [Attorney General Pam] Bondi and [her chief deputy Todd] Blanche have tried to refocus public attention on the aggressive tactics of demonstrators. They have also pushed prosecutors and the F.B.I. to turn up the heat on critics of the immigration crackdown: politicians, protesters, even relatives of the victims.... On Tuesday, Kash Patel, the F.B.I. director, announced one of the most aggressive actions to date, saying that the bureau would investigate an encrypted Signal chat used by local activists to monitor immigration raids....

“Few, if any, of these actions have been taken without the knowledge of the White House. Trump aides participated in the drafting of a threatening letter that Ms. Bondi sent to local officials last week.... This strategy has left the U.S. attorney’s office in Minneapolis, one of the most respected in the nation, in crisis. On Tuesday, prosecutors in the office’s criminal division confronted the Trump-appointed U.S. attorney, Daniel Rosen, and an aide to Mr. Blanche, over concerns that they were being asked to execute orders that went against the department’s mission and best practices.... Some of the prosecutors suggested they were considering resigning in protest, those people said, days after six others had quit over similar concerns.” 

Ana Swanson of the New York Times: “The U.S. trade deficit in goods and services rebounded to $56.8 billion in November, rising 95 percent from the previous month as ... [Donald] Trump’s tariffs continued to cause huge fluctuations in trade, according to data from the Commerce Department released on Thursday.” CNBC's report is here.

Minnesota. Lisa Lerer of the New York Times: “Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota formally announced her campaign for governor on Thursday with a call for unity and decency in her troubled state, which has been roiled by political violence..., [Donald] Trump’s immigration crackdown and widespread protests after two killings of Minnesotans by federal agents. Ms. Klobuchar, a popular Democrat with a history of winning by double-digit margins, has spent nearly two decades in the Senate as a common-sense centrist with a folksy demeanor and a carefully cultivated history of bipartisanship. Now, with her run for governor, the self-proclaimed “senator next door” is gambling that her message of moving past partisan divides can still work even amid one of the most volatile domestic conflicts of the second Trump administration.”

Marie: I didn't listen to much of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing yesterday during which Marco Rubio testified about Trump's corrupt "deal" with Venezuela, but I don't think they covered this unsurprising but scandalous development: ~~~

~~~ Anthony Faiola & Evan Halper of the Washington Post: “Two global trading houses that brokered an opaque deal with the Trump administration this month to sell Venezuelan oil were previously prosecuted for bribery schemes involving oil sales elsewhere..., underscoring concerns by anti-corruption experts and lawmakers that the arrangement is vulnerable to abuse. The administration granted confidential licenses to Vitol and Trafigura in early January to sell Venezuelan oil with little independent oversight. The licenses come a year after the Trump administration gutted the foreign corrupt practices unit of the Justice Department, which brought charges against the two companies and their traders in 2020 and 2024. The licenses ... allow Vitol and Trafigura to buy tens of millions of barrels of oil in Venezuelan reserves that had been blocked by sanctions from being sold.... According to public records, a senior trader at Vitol donated $6 million to political committees supporting Trump’s 2024 election.” Thanks to RAS for the link. 

We in the U.S. are the left-behinds: ~~~

~~~ Paul Krugman: "On Monday India and the European Union concluded negotiations on a breakthrough free trade agreement.... The agreement ... shows that the world is becoming ever more estranged from an erratic, abusive United States. In other words, other countries are moving, step by step, toward an economic divorce from America. Unlike Donald Trump, who thinks of international trade as a zero-sum game, the Europeans and the Indians understand that a free trade agreement between them is a very good deal for both parties.... Furthermore, this is a real trade deal, not ... [one of] Trump’s fantasy deals.” Both the Europeans and India have very good reasons to pivot away from Trump. Private companies are shifting away, too. "The world trading system as we knew it lasted for three generations after World War II. It was a rules-based system, in which everyone considered the U.S. a reliable, trustworthy partner. But now US economic relations with other nations have turned abusive, and the world is moving toward divorce. And this will make Americans measurably poorer."

~~~~~~~~~~ 

The New York Times' live updates of developments in the federal occupation of Minnesota are here. From the pinned item at 9:45 am ET: “Tom Homan..., [Donald] Trump’s border czar, said on Thursday that the immigration crackdown in Minnesota could wind down if federal agents gained broader access to state jails, amid public outrage over the administration’s policies. 'The withdrawal of law enforcement resources here is dependent upon cooperation,' Mr. Homan told reporters at a news conference outside Minneapolis. 'As we see that cooperation happen, then the redeployment will happen,' he added.... Federal immigration agents appeared to press on with their aggressive operations on Wednesday, and the Trump administration’s lawyers defended their actions, describing the surge of federal agents there as a legitimate exercise of its power.” ~~~

Ernesto Londoño: “State officials have been noting that they routinely transfer custody of inmates in prisons to ICE, and that many jails share information about immigrants in their custody with the federal agency. This article explains the history of this issue.” 

Zolan Kanno-Youngs: “At this morning’s news conference, Tom Homan appeared to speak to two different audiences: the many Americans concerned about the violent tactics they have witnessed in Minneapolis and ... Trump himself. He has portrayed himself as a diplomatic mediator searching for 'common sense' cooperation on immigration enforcement, something many Americans may find difficult to digest after the two fatal shootings involving federal agents. But he also is aware that the White House is watching. 'We are not surrendering our mission at all,' Homan said....

“Tom Homan appears to be putting the onus on state and local officials. He is essentially saying that the state and local leaders on Minnesota are the ones that can determine if a drawdown of federal forces happens from Minneapolis — if they agree to the administration’s demands to open up their jails to federal agents. The administration has throughout the past year used the levers of the federal government to pressure Democratic cities to bend to their demands on immigration enforcement....

“Tom Homan is calling on Minnesota’s residents to turn down the temperature and stop the 'hateful rhetoric.' 'I begged for the last two months on TV for the rhetoric to stop,' Homan said. Even as some Trump administration officials say they are focused on de-escalating the situation in Minnesota, Trump last night shared a social media post that called Alex Pretti ... a 'domestic terrorist,' a claim that does not match legal reality.”

BUT. Marie: As skeptical as I've been that Tom Homan or anyone at DHS would tamp down their aggressive, violent attacks on Minnesotans, there's this new report that -- if put into operation -- would dramatically change the situation on the ground. It suggests a complete about-face from the snatch-grab-and-pummel approach that has characterized the feds' methodology so far: ~~~

~~~ David Gilmour of Mediaite: “Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers in Minnesota have been ordered not to 'COMMUNICATE OR ENGAGE' with 'AGITATORS' during future operations, according to new internal guidance from ... a senior agency official. The new instructions, circulated on Wednesday and exclusively reviewed by Reuters [firewalled], also limit ICE activity to immigrants with criminal charges or convictions in a departure from the broad sweeps that have sparked fierce backlash, legal challenges, and street protests.... Under the new approach, Reuters reported that ICE officers will be equipped with megaphones and instructed to clearly announce each step of an arrest, an effort to impose order after the volatile scenes previously seen.”

Insane Old Man Gets Hold of Phone Again. David Gilmour of Mediaite: “... Donald Trump unleashed in another frenetic late-night posting spree on Truth Social on Wednesday, sharing over 50 posts and taking aim at former President Barack Obama, California Governor Gavin Newsom, and boosting a new footage that appears to show Minneapolis shooting victim Alex Pretti in a previous altercation with federal agents.... [Trump] amplified a screengrabbed post from X advancing a sprawling conspiracy theory that foreign goverments in China and Iran, alongside Italy, Merrill Lynch, the CIA, and the FBI colluded with Obama to 'install Biden as a puppet.'”

Jacob Soboroff of MS NOW interview Gov. Tim Walz about the federal government's occupation of Minnesota. Walz discusses, among other matters, his conversation with Donald Trump about the invasion: ~~~ 

 ~~~ William Vaillancourt of the Daily Beast, republished by Yahoo! News: “Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz on Wednesday spilled details of his phone conversation earlier in the week with the president.... As Walz ... described it to MS NOW, the phone call showed how Trump, 79, failed to grasp the basic nature of the situation in Minneapolis. '[Trump] told me that he doesn’t understand what’s wrong with Minnesota: “I don’t know what’s wrong with you people,’” Walz said. “I said, “Nothing’s wrong with us, Mr. President. We’re one of the most effective states and one of the best places to live.’” And he told me that, “Well, look, Tim, we did this in New Orleans. We did it in Louisville. There’s no problems.” And I said, “You didn’t kill anybody in Louisville or New Orleans, and the operation here looks very different from that,’” Walz continued. 'And then he told me, it was successful in Venezuela.... He saw an operation in Venezuela against a foreign nation in the same context [that] he saw an operation against a U.S. state and a U.S. city.'”

It just wasn't bad enough to goad some madman into attacking a U.S. Congresswoman with some kind of noxious spray, was it? There must be some way Donald Trump can make it worse. (I know you know he can. And he did.) ~~~ 

~~~ Max Rego of the Hill: Donald “Trump, without evidence, suggested Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) staged an incident during her town hall Tuesday night when a man sprayed her with an unknown substance. 'I don’t think about her. I think she’s a fraud,' Trump told ABC News. 'She probably had herself sprayed, knowing her.' When asked if he had seen video of the incident, the president said, 'I haven’t seen it. No, no. I hope I don’t have to bother.'” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Michael Biesecker, et al., of the AP: “... U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar blamed ... Donald Trump for threats to her safety on Wednesday, one day after she was accosted and squirted with liquid at an event in Minneapolis.The man arrested for Tuesday’s attack has posted online in support of the Republican president. 'Every time the president of the United States has chosen to use hateful rhetoric to talk about me and the community that I represent, my death threats skyrocket,' Omar said during a press conference.” ~~~

     ~~~ Tommy Christopher of Mediaite: “House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) blasted ... Donald Trump over his 'disgusting' rant about the attack on Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) in a new CNN interview.... [Jeffries said,] '... the president’s lies and misinformation continue to fan the flames of these types of violent incidents. And it’s at a moment like this where we actually need leadership from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and it’s something that we never get from this president. Ilhan Omar, of course, is a strong, courageous, hardworking public servant. This should have never happened. I’m thankful that she is physically OK. She’s mentally strong, as is always the case, and we stand by her.'” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Evan Hurst of Wonkette has more on the incident. Like this: Despite her staff urging her to be checked out at a hospital, Omar went on after the incident: Addressing the public, she said, “Here is the reality people like this ugly man don’t understand. We are Minnesota Strong. We’ll stay resilient in the face of whatever they might throw at us.” As for Trump's assertion, Hurst writes, "the person who did it was a dumpy MAGA loser named Anthony Kazmierczak, age 55.... He follows such absolute losers on Twitter as LibsOfTikTok and Benny Johnson and Candace Owens and Tim Pool and Elon Musk.Yeah, MAGA, it was staged. They just happened to hire somebody who has been living his entire life as a dead-end, least-common-denominator, humanity’s-least-valuable-player Trump supporter." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Annie Karni of the New York Times: “As ... [Donald] Trump riled up a rally crowd on Tuesday night describing immigrants bent on harming and killing Americans, he singled out one person in particular as an example of a bad actor. Foreigners coming into the United States, he told his audience in Iowa, 'have to show they can love our country; they have to be proud — not like Ilhan Omar.' The crowd booed. They recognized the name of the Democratic congresswoman from Minnesota, whom the president has demonized and dehumanized for years with racist and xenophobic attacks, venting that she should 'go back' to her country, referring to her as 'garbage,' and mocking her hijab by calling it a  'little turban.' Not long afterward, at her own event in North Minneapolis, Ms. Omar was attacked by a man who rushed the lectern where she was speaking, spraying her with a strong-smelling liquid.... 

“A Somali-born Muslim woman elected to Congress in an era defined by Mr. Trump’s bigoted attacks against immigrants, Ms. Omar has in the past seen death threats against her rise to the highest levels among U.S. lawmakers. Ms. Omar has sometimes been assigned a 24-hour security detail from the Capitol Police. That added protection is available at the discretion of the House speaker. But for the past year, Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, has not offered it to her, she noted in an interview last December. After the attack on Tuesday, Ms. Omar made a formal request for extra Capitol Police protection and Mr. Johnson agreed....” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs of the New York Times: “The man who squirted liquid from a syringe onto Representative Ilhan Omar in Minneapolis on Tuesday night had for years posted online about his anger at Democrats and had recently told a neighbor that he might be arrested at an event featuring the congresswoman. The man, Anthony J. Kazmierczak, 55..., is now in jail on suspicion of assault while prosecutors determine what charges to file against him. On Facebook, Mr. Kazmierczak, who went by Andy, frequently wrote and shared posts from others about conservative issues, including some that criticized Democratic lawmakers. Ms. Omar was the subject of one post he shared in 2021.... Mr. Kazmierczak had recently told a neighbor that he was going to attend an event held by Ms. Omar and that he might be arrested.” On Facebook, Kazmierczak has showed support for Trump, Charlie Kirk's organization & gunman Kyle Rittenhouse. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Justin Rohrlich of the Independent: “The man accused of attacking Rep. Ilhan Omar ... is a 'piece of s**t' with lifelong anger issues who has been fixated on the Somali-born lawmaker – and the Somali diaspora in general – for years, his younger brother told The Independent. 'I’m not surprised this happened,' Anthony James Kazmierczak’s brother said Wednesday morning in a phone interview from his home in North Carolina. '... Unfortunately, he and my mother are both right-wing extremists.'.... The Independent agreed not to name the brother, who said he has begun receiving death threats.”

Here's video, taken on January 13, of a man who appears to be Alex Pretti in the altercation with federal agents during which they broke his rib. There's no way to tell for certain, at this point. what occurred before Pretti spat at their vehicle and kicked out the taillight. The narrator, however, says that agents were blocking the road, and observers "were shouting at the agents as they walked back to their vehicles." I don't understand the agents' response to Pretti's damaging the vehicle's taillight. Their "purpose" seems to be to rough him up and pepper-spray a number of other observers. As I said earlier today, murder and mayhem seems to be their primary goal. That's not "keeping the peace" or "making Americans safer": 

 

~~~ Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs of the New York Times: “The nurse who was fatally shot by federal agents in Minneapolis on Saturday was pushed to the ground by different agents at a protest 11 days before he was killed, according to newly unearthed videos that show him spitting and cursing at them and kicking a taillight on one of their S.U.V.s.... 'What are you doing here?' [Alex Pretti] shouts at agents who are standing next to two of their S.U.V.s. He repeatedly curses at them and spits at one agent as the agent is getting into a vehicle. When the agents begin to drive away, Mr. Pretti kicks twice at one of the vehicle’s taillights, breaking it. That seems to prompt the agents to get back out of the vehicle and push him to the ground. The agents, at least some of whom are with Homeland Security Investigations, a division of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, hold Mr. Pretti on the ground for about 20 seconds before letting him go and driving off. As Mr. Pretti gets back to his feet, what appears to be a gun is seen tucked into the back waistband of his pants.... A representative for Mr. Pretti’s family confirmed that it was him in the video [embedded above].”

Gregory Svirnovskiy of Politico: “Two Customs and Border Protection agents involved in the killing of Minnesota nurse Alex Pretti last week have been placed on administrative leave, the agency said on Wednesday. The agency said the leave is 'standard protocol.' But it appears to be a change in status for the two agents, who were not identified. Since-sidelined Border Patrol commander Greg Bovino on Sunday told reporters the agents were at work in other cities. 'All agents that were involved in that scene are working, not in Minneapolis but in other locations,' Bovino said. 'That’s for their safety.' After publication, an agency spokesperson said in a second statement that the officers had been on leave since Saturday, apparently contradicting Bovino.” (Also linked yesterday.)

Alan Feuer of the New York Times: “The chief federal judge in Minnesota excoriated Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Wednesday, saying it had violated nearly 100 court orders stemming from its aggressive crackdown in the state and had disobeyed more judicial directives in January alone than 'some federal agencies have violated in their entire existence.' The extraordinary broadside by the judge, Patrick J. Schiltz, came in a ruling in which he temporarily rescinded an order he had issued on Tuesday, summoning Todd Lyons, the acting director of ICE, to appear in front of him to explain why he should not be held in contempt for violating so many orders arising from the Trump administration’s hard-line immigration actions in Minnesota. While Judge Schiltz, a conservative jurist appointed by President George W. Bush, let Mr. Lyons off the hook for the moment, he cautioned that he might change his mind and order him to appear again to answer questions if ICE continues to violate court orders.” Update: The link has been changed to one that appears to be a gift link. (A plain ole link was provided yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ As Scott Lemieux points out in LG&$, what DHS is doing in Minnesota is the opposite of a law enforcement operation. 

Refugees have a legal right to be in the United States, a right to work, a right to live peacefully — and importantly, a right not to be subjected to the terror of being arrested and detained without warrants or cause in their homes or on their way to religious services or to buy groceries.... At its best, America serves as a haven of individual liberties in a world too often full of tyranny and cruelty. We abandon that ideal when we subject our neighbors to fear and chaos. -- District Judge John R. Tunheim, Order, January 28 ~~~

~~~⭐Miriam Jordan of the New York Times: “A federal judge on Wednesday evening ordered federal agents to stop detaining and deporting refugees in Minnesota who were lawfully admitted to the United States, and to immediately release those currently held for re-examination of their cases. The judge granted a temporary restraining order, halting for now the Trump administration’s operation, which has swept up at least 100 people so far. The administration is likely to appeal the ruling.... Judge [John] Tunheim’s order came in response to a class-action lawsuit filed by refugees represented by the International Refugee Assistance Project, the Berger Montague law firm and the Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law.” MB: That should take the wind out of Stephen Miller's sails for a while.

Heather Cox Richardson: “On Monday, four Democrats from the House Committee on the Judiciary wrote to [AG Pam] Bondi noting that '[f]ederal agents have now gunned down and killed two American citizens — Renée Good and Alex Pretti—in Minneapolis. Videos taken by bystanders ... leave little doubt that there is no legal or moral justification for these cold-blooded homicides. Yet, under your leadership, the Department of Justice (DOJ) ... actively obstructed any investigation into these killings, and ... now appears to be covering up the most egregious civil rights offenses and systematically condoning the lawless killing of Americans by agents of the government.' The four Democratic representatives — Jamie Raskin of Maryland, Pramila Jayapal of Washington, Mary Gay Scanlon of Pennsylvania, and Lucy McBath of Georgia — noted that Bondi’s refusal to investigate the deaths was unprecedented, and demanded the department provide all documents and information related to the killings by February 2, including those showing who ordered the department to abandon the investigations.” ~~~

I've said it before and I'll say it again: NOTHING will stop President Trump and this Department of Justice from enforcing the law. -- AG Pam Bondi, in a social media post, apparently with no irony intended ~~~

~~~ Cole Premo of CBS News (a new state media venture): "Attorney General Pam Bondi says that she is 'on the ground' in Minneapolis and that 16 people have been taken into custody, accused of assaulting law enforcement. Bondi announced her visit to the state in an early Wednesday afternoon social media post. She called the accused 'rioters' and said they 'have been resisting and impeding our federal law enforcement agents.' According to Bondi, they were arrested under 18 U.S. Code § 111s, which is a federal statute that criminalizes assaulting, resisting or impeding federal officers. Bondi says more arrests are expected." 

~~~ Marie: Okay, Bondi -- as we already knew -- is refusing to even investigate "cold-blooded homicides" committed by DHS agents. Now we are learning that ICE has violated nearly 100 court orders. Yet Bondi is "on the ground" (very tough!) arresting "rioters." So you tell me if parachuting Mr. Bribes into Minnesota is going to fix things: ~~~

~~~ Alex Gangitano & Jordain Carney of Politico: “The White House is counting on Tom Homan to cool temperatures – in Minneapolis and in Washington. White House officials hope Homan, an Obama appointee and experienced immigration hand, can mollify Democrats’ concerns over the administration’s aggressive enforcement actions enough to keep the government funded ahead of Friday’s deadline. But it’s a high-wire act. A White House official said Homan’s efforts to  'appease' Democrats are the only arrow left in the quiver. There is no plan B, the official said.” ~~~

     ~~~ Michael Williams, et al., of CNN: “As acting director of ICE during Trump’s first term, Homan served as the public face and vocal defender of some of the administration’s most contentious immigration policies, including the separation of children and families who crossed the border. He said at a public event in September 2017 that his agency would arrest undocumented people who came forward to care for the children, which previous administrations had avoided. He has also virulently opposed 'sanctuary city' policies that restrict local law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration efforts.... The New York Times reported in September that Homan was recorded in 2024 accepting a bag that contained $50,000 in cash by undercover FBI agents in an investigation the Trump Justice Department later closed.” MB: Remember that Trump's fake “reason” for invading Minnesota was to root out the fraudsters, so sending a fixer who is a fraudster himself is rich.

Meryl Kornfield & Dan Diamond of the Washington Post: “Veterans Affairs employees have not received any agencywide acknowledgment of the killing of ICU nurse Alex Pretti, frustrating workers already upset by Trump officials’ immediate response to their colleague’s death.... VA Secretary Douglas A. Collins on Wednesday told senators in a hearing that he wanted to 'express my deepest sympathies to the family and colleagues of Minneapolis VA medical center nurse Alex Pretti,' adding that the killing remains under investigation and that he would not comment further. The comments followed Collins’s X post on Sunday that angered some employees of VA’s facility, with the secretary blaming Pretti’s death on 'state and local officials’ refusal to cooperate with the federal government to enforce the law and deport dangerous illegal criminals.'... VA officials in Washington also initially blocked Minneapolis hospital employees from holding a memorial for Pretti, though that decision was later reversed.... Staff were also initially told not to leave messages of support for Pretti in some of the center’s public spaces, the employees said. A memorial is now planned for next week.”

Lisa Mascaro of the AP: “A groundswell of voices have [has!] come to the same conclusion: Kristi Noem must go. From Democratic Party leaders to the nation’s leading advocacy organizations to even the most centrist lawmakers in Congress, the calls are mounting for the Homeland Security secretary to step aside after the shooting deaths in Minneapolis of two people who protested deportation policy. At a defining moment in her tenure, few Republicans are rising to Noem’s defense. 'The country is disgusted by what the Department of Homeland Security has done,' top House Democratic Reps. Hakeem Jeffries of New York, Katherine Clark of Massachusetts and Pete Aguilar of California said in a joint statement. 'Kristi Noem should be fired immediately,' the Democrats said, 'or we will commence impeachment proceedings in the House of Representatives.'”

Marie: Maybe you've met all the dumbo DHS employees you think you can handle. But, please, let me introduce you to one more: ~~~

~~~ Amazing Incompetence Alert. John Sakellariadis of Politico: “The interim head of the country’s cyber defense agency uploaded sensitive contracting documents into a public version of ChatGPT last summer, triggering multiple automated security warnings that are meant to stop the theft or unintentional disclosure of government material from federal networks, according to four Department of Homeland Security officials.... The apparent misstep from Madhu Gottumukkala was especially noteworthy because the acting director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency had requested special permission ... to use the popular AI tool soon after arriving at the agency this May, three of the officials said. The app was blocked for other DHS employees at the time.”

Carl Hulse of the New York Times: Donald “Trump and Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the minority leader, moved on Wednesday night toward a possible agreement to negotiate new restrictions on federal immigration agents, potentially averting a government shutdown early Saturday when funding for multiple federal agencies is slated to lapse. Under the emerging plan, according to two officials knowledgeable about it, the Senate would split off legislation funding the Department of Homeland Security from a six-bill package of spending measures needed to keep the military, health programs and other federal agencies funded for the remainder of the fiscal year. The Senate would pass those bills before a Friday midnight deadline, and Congress also would consider a short-term extension for homeland security operations, which would prevent an interruption of services by the Transportation Security Agency, Coast Guard and Federal Emergency Management Agency. That stopgap bill would provide time for talks between lawmakers and the White House to draft a new homeland security spending bill that would include new restrictions that Democrats have demanded on the tactics of immigration enforcement officers and more accountability for those accused of using excessive force.”

Little Marco Outlines Crazy, Slapdash System of Messing with Venezuela. Michael Crowley of the New York Times: “Venezuela’s interim government has agreed to submit a monthly 'budget' to the Trump administration, which will release money from an account funded by the country’s oil sales and initially managed by Qatar, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday ...  during an appearance before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.... But the plan drew sharp questions from skeptical Democrats, and Mr. Rubio conceded that it was 'novel' and hastily designed. The role of Qatar — a Middle Eastern country thousands of miles from Venezuela whose ruler has won ... [Donald] Trump’s favor — drew particular criticism from Democrats, who questioned its legality and transparency.... It was Mr. Rubio’s first public testimony to Congress since American forces captured Venezuela’s leader, Nicolás Maduro, on Jan. 3, and an opportunity to clarify U.S. policy toward the country.... Mr. Rubio ...  said that the approach was necessary because of a 'fiscal crunch' in Venezuela and that it was a 'short-term mechanism' not meant to become permanent.” ~~~

     ~~~  Marie: So Big Daddy Donald collects all of la Señora Rodriguez's earnings, then gives her a bit of spending money from the pile of cash -- and keeps the rest for himself and his banker buddies. Nothing wrong with that arrangement. If you love the patriarchal/colonialist approach to international relations. ~~~

~~~ Oil Sí, Democracy No. John Hudson & Noah Robertson of the Washington Post: “Advocates for the opposition leader [María Corina Machado], who saw Trump’s ouster of [Nicolás ] Maduro as a potential watershed moment for self-governance, have become anxious that Washington may prefer reliability over democracy.... Trump has made clear that the primary goal of ousting Maduro was not democratic change — the stated goal of past failed U.S. regime change efforts — but controlling the energy resources of Venezuela, which has one of the world’s largest oil reserves. 'We take the oil,' Trump told the New York Post earlier this month.” 

Georgia on His (Addled) Mind. Ryan Reilly, et al., of NBC News: “The FBI executed a search warrant at a Fulton County elections hub on Wednesday, seeking records related to the 2020 election, according to the county.... State Sen. Josh McLaurin, a Democrat who represents Fulton County, called the search 'extremely alarming.' Speaking last week at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland..., Donald Trump repeated his false claim that the 2020 election was 'rigged,' and said that 'people will soon be prosecuted for what they did.' Fulton County has been a fixation of Trump's following his 2020 election loss in Georgia. In the lead-up to the Jan. 6 attack, Trump pressured Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in a phone call to 'find 11,780 votes,' which was roughly Joe Biden’s margin of victory in the state.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ The Devil Went Down to Georgia. Devlin Barrett, et al., of the New York Times: “The move harnesses the investigative power of the Justice Department and the F.B.I. behind baseless claims by Mr. Trump and his supporters that the 2020 election was stolen from him. State and local officials and election experts have repeatedly refuted those assertions.The search warrant authorized F.B.I. agents to search for all 'physical ballots from the 2020 general election' in the county, according to a copy viewed by The New York Times, as well as all ballot images produced by scanning ballots, all voter rolls from that year, and all tabulator tapes, which serve as a kind of voting machine receipt for election results. The warrant, which was signed by a magistrate judge, Catherine M. Salinas, said the records were sought as part of an investigation into possible violations of a federal law against destruction of election-related records, and another statute that makes it a crime to knowingly procure fraudulent voter registration or fraudulent votes.... By Wednesday afternoon, about a dozen agents had descended on the Fulton County Election Hub and Operation Center.” ~~~

~~~ Doug Clark & Jen Fifield of ProPublica: “When the FBI executed a warrant on Wednesday to seize records from the 2020 presidential vote in Fulton County, Georgia, it marked both an extraordinary event in the history of American elections and a significant escalation in ... Donald Trump’s breaking of democratic norms, several legal experts said.... At a press conference, Fulton County Commission Chair Robb Pitts said that the ballots had been 'safe' in the county’s custody and defended its handling of the election as fair and accurate. But now that the ballots had been seized, he said, the county 'can no longer satisfy … that those ballots are still secure.'... Experts said the action in Fulton County had triggered fears of federal interference in this year’s midterm elections. 'It’s a dramatic escalation in the Trump administration’s efforts to expand federal control over our country’s historically state-run election infrastructure,” said Derek Clinger ... [of] the State Democracy Research Initiative, an institute at the University of Wisconsin Law School.” ~~~

~~~ Justin Levitt of Election Law Blog: "I’ve been wrestling with how there could be probable cause that any of the evidence to be seized shows a prosecutable crime.... [For one thing, a]ny allegedly illegal activity in 2020 itself would be beyond the statute of limitations for either statute cited (at least in the warrant return itself).... I’m really curious what the FBI showed to get a federal magistrate to sign off on probable cause that the elections office intentionally threw documentation away before the 22-month mark, which ran in September 2022.... The warrant [was] published on X by Greg Bluestein of the AJC, and here in PDF...."

     ~~~ Rick Hasen: "The worse prospect is that this is a test run for 2026, when control of Congress may be at stake, and Trump could try to seize voting machines or otherwise interfere with state ballot tabulation processes in swing districts around the country where control of Congress may be at stake. There’s going to have to be some proactive steps to make sure this does not happen in 2026."

Sometimes Slapping Your Name over the Door Is Just Not Enough. Travis Andrews of the Washington Post: “In a Jan. 16 news release, the Kennedy Center announced that Kevin Couch would be its new senior vice president of artistic programming. On Jan. 22, the center posted the announcement on X. Not a week later, Couch resigned.... Couch’s surprisingly quick resignation comes as the Kennedy Center is shedding talent from its stages, with many cancellations announced after ... Donald Trump ... had his name added to the building and its branding. Among those who have canceled their upcoming appearances are composer Philip Glass, soprano Renée Fleming, banjoist Béla Fleck and 'Wicked' composer Stephen Schwartz.” ~~~

~~~ Olivia George & Jonathan O'Connell of the Washington Post: “The Trump administration is preparing to sell the Old Post Office, a 19th-century landmark in the heart of D.C. that previously housed one of the president’s luxury hotels.... On Pennsylvania Avenue between the White House and the Capitol, the building is now home to a Waldorf Astoria hotel. For many, though, it remains synonymous with the previous tenant: The Trump International Hotel, which opened nearly in lockstep with Trump’s 2016 election and served as a clubhouse of sorts during his first term.... The General Services Administration — the federal government’s real estate arm and owner of the Old Post Office building — hosted a meeting Jan. 15 to discuss the 'the proposed disposal,' according to an invitation reviewed by The Post. The property was among hundreds the administration listed for sale last spring before abruptly reversing course hours later.” 

Sam Roberts of the New York Times: “Dr. Angella D. Ferguson, a pediatrician whose groundbreaking research aided in the early diagnosis and treatment of sickle cell anemia, a painful and deadly disease that disproportionately afflicts people of African descent, died on Jan. 6 at her home in Chevy Chase, Md. She was 100.... Dr. Ferguson was one of a small group of pediatricians ... who as Black women physicians were rarities for their time, and who as researchers focused on sickle cell, a field that many white clinicians had overlooked.”

~~~~~~~~~~ 

UK/China/USA. David Pierson of the New York Times: “Meeting in Beijing on Thursday, [British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and President Xi Jinping of China] agreed to pull their relationship out of a yearslong ice age,' a reset driven by different but coinciding needs to navigate an increasingly volatile Washington.... In the past, the countries have sparred over human rights and Chinese interference in British politics. Concerns about Chinese espionage were at the heart of years of delays in the approval of a new Chinese mega-embassy in London, which critics said would make it easier for Beijing to conduct spying operations. Mr. Starmer, who made the trip with a large delegation that included executives from banking, pharmaceutical and automobile companies, described China as vital to Britain’s interests.... By emphasizing business over security and human rights, Mr. Starmer, a Labour Party politician, is breaking from years of successive Conservative Party prime ministers.... Mr. Starmer is trying to woo Beijing without provoking ... [Donald] Trump. ”