January 9, 2026

Molly Hennessy-Fiske, et al., of the Washington Post: “Renee Nicole Good had 'stopped to support our neighbors' when she was fatally shot by an ICE officer during an exchange of words on a residential street, according to a statement issued by her wife and video made public Friday. 'We had whistles. They had guns,' Rebecca Good said in the statement.... A video released Friday by Alpha News appears to show the moments immediately before the shooting from the perspective of one of the ICE officers. In the video, Renee Good can be heard speaking to an ICE officer through the open driver’s-side window, saying, 'That’s fine, dude, I’m not mad at you,' as the officer circles her vehicle while filming with a phone camera in his left hand. Rebecca Good, who was outside the car, can be heard taunting the officer: 'Go get yourself some lunch, big boy.' The video abruptly ends seconds later as the car reverses and then moves forward. The video does not show whether the vehicle struck the officer. It records what sounds like shots being fired.... Vice President JD Vance blamed Good for her own death, and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem said Good’s actions amounted to “an act of domestic terrorism.” ~~~

~~~ The agent's video is linked above & appears in this news feed. It begins at 1:05 minutes into the feed:

      ~~~ Marie: In the version of the video I saw on MS NOW, a male voice -- presumably one of the ICE agents -- is heard saying, "Fucking bitch!" just after Agent Ross shoots Good dead. Nicolle Wallace said MS NOW got the video from JD Vance's social media feed. How JayDee thinks this video exonerates ICE is beyond me: a woman smiles & says, "I'm not mad at you, Dude," while an agent, possible the shooter, uses an expletive to describe her. 

Everything Is Going Very Smoothly:

~~~~ Talmon Smith of the New York Times: “The unemployment rate fell in December, but job growth across 2025 was the lowest in five years.”

What the Great Dealmaker Hath Wrought: ~~~ 

⭐Patricia Cohen of the New York Times: “The European Union, overcoming deep dissension among its members, gave the green light to a sweeping trade pact with four South American countries on Friday that would create one of the largest free-trade zones in the world, connecting markets with more than 700 million people. The agreement offers a stark contrast to the amped-up aggression on display this week from the Trump administration. As Europe worked to extend an era of economic collaboration, the United States, its once-close ally, demonstrated that it preferred coercion over cooperation. In Brussels, European leaders negotiated and revised rules to win agreement. Across the Atlantic..., [Donald] Trump authorized military raids to oust Venezuela’s president and capture two tankers.... He then doubled down on threats to Colombia, Cuba and Greenland.... To some degree, Mr. Trump’s confrontational approach and embrace of trade wars helped seal a deal between the 27-member European Union and four South American nations in the trade bloc known as Mercosur that had languished for a quarter-century.”

Annie Correal & Max Bearak of the New York Times: A hastily-arranged phone call between Donald Trump & Colombian President Gustavo Petro might have averted another Trump-instigated international crisis. The conversation Wednesday “was a complete break with the two leaders’ approach, for nearly the past year, of using social media to attack, often in derisive and caustic posts, each other’s politics and personalities....  Mr. Trump seemed to threaten Colombia, and other countries, with military action on Sunday.... The exchange raised the possibility that Mr. Petro, like left-leaning leaders in Brazil and Mexico, might be able to avoid the punishment threatened by Washington, such as unilateral military action or additional tariffs, and walk a fine line between fulfilling Mr. Trump’s demands and remaining true to his ideology.” 

Trump, Putin Piss Off the Pope. Motoko Rich & Elisabetta Povoledo of the New York Times: “Amid escalating threats across the globe, Pope Leo XIV used an annual address on Friday to the diplomatic corps to the Vatican to forcefully condemn 'a diplomacy based on force' and a 'zeal for war.' Nations must commit to work together to follow international laws and 'cannot depend on mere circumstances and military or strategic interests,' Pope Leo told the diplomats in the speech, which amounts to a sort of annual papal foreign policy statement. Leo did not mention any world leaders by name. But his remarks were pointed given the events of recent days, including the Trump administration’s military operation in Venezuela and threats against Greenland, and on a day when Russia said it had attacked Ukraine with a nuclear-capable intermediate-range ballistic missile.” ~~~

~~~ Anthony Faiola, et al., of the Washington Post: “For days [right before Christmas], the influential Italian cardinal [Pietro Parolin] had been seeking access to Secretary of State Marco Rubio..., desperate to head off bloodshed and destabilization in Venezuela. In his conversation with [Brian] Burch, [the U.S. ambassador to the Holy See and] a Trump ally, Parolin said Russia was ready to grant asylum to [Nicolás] Maduro and pleaded with the Americans for patience in nudging the strongman toward that offer. 'What was proposed to [Maduro] was that he would go away and he would be able to enjoy his money,' said a person familiar with the Russian offer.  'Part of that ask was that [President Vladimir] Putin would guarantee security.'” MB: Ah, but what the Cardinal didn't realize was that Marco answered to a higher power. No, no, not that one. Trump. Marco, perhaps, should catch up on the Inferno. I believe there's a place in the Eighth Circle reserved for him.

Alan Feuer of the New York Times: “Vice President JD Vance said on Thursday that the Justice Department would create a high-ranking position with broad authority to investigate fraud across the country that would be  'run out of the White House' and answer directly to himself and ... [Donald] Trump. The assertion by Mr. Vance that he and Mr. Trump intended to exercise direct supervision over a senior Justice Department official was one of the administration’s most brazen efforts to date to toss out the traditional boundaries that have long existed between the White House and investigations conducted by federal law enforcement. The announcement came at a news conference that was primarily held to defend the shooting this week of a 37-year-old woman in Minneapolis by a federal immigration agent.... He also appeared to conflate the allegations about day care fraud [in Minnesota] with unfounded claims that the woman who was slain in Minnesota ... had been part of a left-wing 'network' of activists dedicated to going after immigration officials.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Thanks to Akhilleus for the link. I missed this one. See also his commentary in today's thread. This really is extraordinary. Not only does Trump control the so-called Justice Department as no president since Nixon has done, he also will have his own junior "justice" department, always at the ready to harass his perceived enemies with fake fraud charges. It looks like the problems he's had with his fake prosecutors failing to make cases against Letitia James & Jim Comey are too much for Trump to bear. ~~~

     ~~~ Ken W. observed in today's Comments that it seemed as if "the murderous madness is being cranked up faster and faster and that we're inevitably heading toward bigger and bigger explosions not that far down the road." I think that's right. Like many a substance abuser, Trump must take more and more of his drug of choice to satisfy his desire. When Susie Wiles, Trump's chief-of-staff, said Trump had "an alcoholic's personality," she knew whereof she spoke. Trump's addiction is power, and he just can't get enough of it. So like a rat addicted to nicotine, he just keeps pushing that lever more and more often. The nation and the world political order is disintegrating not just because the POTUS* is senile and mentally unstable, but also because he is an addict desperately in need of an intervention he is not going to get.

As reported in a story linked below, Team Trump prosecutors are still harassing New York attorney general Letitia James. But there's this: ~~~  

When the Executive branch of government skirts restraints put in place by Congress and then uses that power to subject political adversaries to criminal investigations, it acts without lawful authority. Subpoenas issued under that authority are invalid. -- Federal Judge Lorna G. Schofield ~~~  

~~~ Jeremy Roebuck, et al., of the Washington Post: “A judge on Thursday barred the top federal prosecutor in Albany from overseeing a criminal investigation into New York Attorney General Letitia James, delivering the latest blow to the Justice Department’s efforts to prosecute one of ... Donald Trump’s perceived enemies. U.S. District Judge Lorna G. Schofield ruled that John A. Sarcone III — a Trump loyalist appointed in March as interim U.S. attorney for the Northern District of New York — has been unlawfully serving in his role for months. Sarcone had no legal authority when he subpoenaed James’s office during the summer as part of a probe into whether her office had violated civil rights of Trump or others, Schofield said.”

Iran. Leily Nikounazar & Aurelien Breeden of the New York Times: “Iran’s supreme leader vowed on Friday that the government would 'not back down' in the face of protests that have rocked the country in recent weeks, as the country’s leadership threatened to escalate its crackdown on demonstrators....  Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ... accused the protesters of being vandals who were trying to 'please' ... [Donald] Trump. Hours later, Iran’s Supreme National Security Council said that 'saboteurs' would be shown “no leniency.” It was one of several official statements on Friday that appeared to signal the government would heighten its repression of the uprisings, despite Mr. Trump’s pledge to aid protesters if they faced lethal force.”

Mitch Smith of the New York Times: “With the Minneapolis area in a state of upheaval, Minnesota officials renewed their calls on Friday for state agents to be allowed to help investigate the fatal shooting of a woman by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer earlier this week. Two days after the federal officer shot and killed Renee Nicole Good..., immigration agents remained in Minneapolis, public schools were closed and the Minnesota National Guard was activated in what Gov. Tim Walz’s office described as a precautionary move.... In Minnesota on Friday, a few-dozen protesters faced off with federal agents outside a government building. Agents shot pepper balls at demonstrators who approached a fence, and at least one person was taken into custody by law enforcement. The Department of Homeland Security also announced plans on Friday to re-examine thousands of refugee cases in Minnesota, framing that effort as a way to root out fraud.”

Richard Luscombe of the Guardian: “The killing of a US citizen by a federal immigration agent in Minneapolis was a five-alarm fire for the Trump administration. But a torrent of untruths, half-truths, smears and innuendo has been unleashed by the White House, and amplified by its social media and cable television acolytes, in an attempt to douse the flames. Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic House minority leader, called the homeland security secretary, Kristi Noem, a 'stone cold liar' on Thursday for her efforts to falsely portray the victim, Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old mother of three and award-winning poet, as a 'domestic terrorist'.... The victim-blaming began almost immediately after news broke of Good’s killing on Wednesday. Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary of the Department of Homeland Security and a regular spokesperson for ICE, declared in a post on X that 'one of these violent rioters weaponized her vehicle, attempting to run over our law enforcement officers in an attempt to kill them – an act of domestic terrorism'. Multiple ICE officers were hurt, she insisted, when videos of the shooting showed no such thing.”

Like Michelle Goldberg (column linked below), Heather Cox Richardson sees the racial component to the murder of Renee Nicole Good. If Trump's base -- white people -- identify with Good, Trump is toast.

Justin Glawe of Public Notice: “While Good’s killing is just the latest act of brutality carried out by Trump’s unaccountable masked thugs — what increasingly looks like the president’s personal secret police — it marks a new chapter in the decade-long tragedy of police brutality caught on film for the entire nation to witness. But what makes this police killing distinct from others in the past decade that have roiled the nation and sparked mass protests ... is that this one has the tacit approval of the White House. Exacerbating matters are the Trump administration’s justifications of the incident.... Before Good had even been identified, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem started smear her and lying about what happened.... 

“Given the footage, Trump’s claim that the agent is 'lucky to be alive' is mind-bogglingly absurd. No video that has been posted so far even remotely backs up that claim. Further proof that the agent was not injured — in addition to the video evidence — came from Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara. O’Hara said Wednesday that federal law enforcement informed him 'only the woman' was injured at the scene of Good’s killing.... here is no indication that Good’s actions interfered with any law enforcement operation being carried out on Wednesday. In fact, before she was killed, she calmly waived an ICE vehicle past her SUV. The vehicle passed without incident, video shows.”

Jacey Fortin & Anna Griffin of the New York Times have more on the federal agents' shooting of two people in Portland, Oregon, including the names of the victims. MB: Again, this is not a few "rogue agents" behaving badly; this is an entire federal apparatus, directed from the top down, to harm whoever displeases them, by whatever means suit them. Then they will lie about it and pretend to take the high road and declare themselves the victims. If you're a prominent person, the harm to you may be reputational or financial. Or you could go to jail. If you're an ordinary person, the harm also could be physical. They could shoot you. Dead.

At Long Last. Hailey Fuchs of Politico: “The Senate unanimously approved a measure Thursday to display an existing plaque honoring the officers who protected the Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021 riot. Congress passed a law in March 2022 mandating the plaque, but years later it has yet to be installed. Speaker Mike Johnson has argued the project is 'not implementable,' and the Justice Department has maintained in litigation that an existing plaque does not comply with the law because it lists the departments who responded, not the individual officers. The measure on Thursday, led by Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), sought to address the long-running political squabble.... It’s not clear when the Senate will install the plaque, which will remain in the Senate until a permanent location is identified on the west front of the Capitol. The resolution does not need to be approved by the House.”

~~~~~~~~~~

⭐David Sanger, et al., of the New York Times: Donald “Trump declared on Wednesday evening that his power as commander in chief is constrained only by his 'own morality,' brushing aside international law and other checks on his ability to use military might to strike, invade or coerce nations around the world. Asked in a wide-ranging interview with The New York Times if there were any limits on his global powers, Mr. Trump said: 'Yeah, there is one thing. My own morality. My own mind. It’s the only thing that can stop me.' 'I don’t need international law,' he added. 'I’m not looking to hurt people.' When pressed further about whether his administration needed to abide by international law, Mr. Trump said, 'I do.' But he made clear he would be the arbiter when such constraints applied to the United States. 'It depends what your definition of international law is,' he said.  Mr. Trump’s assessment of his own freedom to use any instrument of military, economic or political power to cement American supremacy was the most blunt acknowledgment yet of his worldview. At its core is the concept that national strength, rather than laws, treaties and conventions, should be the deciding factor as powers collide.” (Also linked yesterday.) See also Lydia Polgreen's NYT column, linked below. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Trump's claim that he is limited only by his own (nonexistent) "morality" brings to mind Defector Albert Burneko's post (which I came across via Mike Masnick, linked below): "Now that the Trump administration has shown it will immediately make up a flagrant lie in an attempt to justify the summary execution of a U.S. citizen, on video, in broad daylight — and will outright valorize the ICE agent who drew his pistol and killed a civilian for the crime of moving her vehicle a few feet — the message is clear, to ICE agents and everyone else: Nothing constrains these agents except whatever inhibits any individual one of them, personally, from brutalizing and murdering any person who disobeys them..... The people and institutions charged with accountability for this will instantly, invariably find a way to justify any action; it all runs backward from that.... In the eyes of the state and its agents, all of the rest of us are walking around with a standing presumption, not just of guilt, but of murderous intent. Anything but total and immediate submission is domestic terrorism."

     ~~~ Katie Rogers of the New York Times describes the Times' reporters' two-hour meeting with Trump. 

⭐Anna Griffin, et al., of the New York Times: “Federal agents shot two people in Portland on Thursday during a traffic stop.... A Homeland Security Department spokeswoman said in a statement that U.S. Border Patrol agents were conducting a 'targeted vehicle stop,' and that an agent fired a shot after the driver tried to run them over. The spokeswoman, Tricia McLaughlin, described the agents’ target as an undocumented immigrant and member of Tren de Aragua, a gang with roots in a Venezuelan prison that has been a frequent target of ... [Donald] Trump. She provided no immediate evidence that the person who was targeted was affiliated with the gang. Bob Day, Portland’s police chief, said at an evening news conference that he had no information on the identity of the two people who were shot, a man and a woman. He said that the federal officials involved in the shooting were no longer on the scene when local officers arrived. The police were alerted to the shooting when the injured man called 911, Chief Day said.... Chief Day said local officials knew little about the shooting and that the investigation would be led by the F.B.I. 'We do not know if this is an immigration-related event,' he said. 'We do not know which federal agencies were involved.'” (Also linked yesterday.) Update: I've changed the link to one which appears to be a gift link. The story itself also has been updated. ~~~ 

     ~~~ The Oregonian's story, which has more details, is Shane Kavanaugh & Maxine Bernstein of the Oregonian: "The shooting occurred at about 2:15 p.m. [PT] at Adventist Health’s Medical Office 3 building ... as federal officers tried to box in a truck that had driven into the lot, police and a witness said. A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin, said agents were trying to make a traffic stop at the time of the shooting. She characterized it as self-defense.... A man who was at the medical building said he saw federal officers follow a Toyota truck into the parking lot of the office building and try to corner it. One officer pounded on the window, he said. The driver then backed up and moved forward at least a couple of times, striking a car behind him, before turning and speeding off, said the man who gave only his first name.... Officers fired about five shots at the truck as it left, the witness said.” Emphasis added. An AP story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Uh, how is it self-defense to shoot five times at a fleeing vehicle? ~~~

     ~~~ Casey Parks, et al., of the Washington Post: “Officials in Oregon have launched an investigation after federal agents shot and injured two people Thursday.... 'When agents identified themselves to the vehicle occupants, the driver weaponized his vehicle and attempted to run over the law enforcement agents,' [DHS spokesperson Tricia] McLaughlin said in a statement. She said an agent 'fired a defensive shot.' After the shooting, McLaughlin said, 'the driver drove off with the passenger, fleeing the scene.' The two people shot, a man and a woman, were found by Portland police and brought to a hospital, according to the police department. Police said their conditions are unknown. 'We have been clear about our concerns with excessive use of force by federal agents in Portland and nationally,' Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield (D) wrote on social media late Thursday, adding that his office was opening a formal investigation to examine whether 'any federal officer acted outside the scope of their lawful authority.'” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: McLaughlin -- as well as Leavitt, Noem, JayDee and Trump -- should be charged as accessories after the fact. McLaughlin isn't even trying. She just shuffles through a stack of her prepared excuses to find a few that appear to jibe with ICE's crime of the moment: A domestic terrorist tried to run over the agent. S/he weaponized her vehicle. He was a gang member. He had a criminal history. S/he was a radical liberal. S/he was obstructing a legitimate law enforcement operation. The agent feared for his life. It was self-defense. ~~~

     Marie: Donald Trump has unleashed murdering thugs around the nation and across the hemisphere. Trump's approval of deadly violence is both direct and implicit. Whatever you do, Team Trump will cover it up. Or he'll pardon you. And give you a medal. There is no one to stop the violence. None of us is safe from them. We have zipped right past 1984 and moved into the chaotic savagery of Lord of the Flies. As you can see from the next report linked, this murderous project didn't begin this week. With the Portland shootings, the number of known victims is up to eleven: ~~~

~~~ Chris Hippensteel, et al., of the New York Times: “In the last four months alone, immigration officers have fired on at least nine people in five states and Washington, D.C. All of the individuals targeted in those shootings were, like the woman killed on Wednesday, fired on while in their vehicles. In each case, officials have claimed that the agents fired in self-defense, fearing they would be struck by the vehicle. At least one other person died as a result of those shootings.... ICE and the Homeland Security Department’s policy on the use of force says that officers are authorized to use deadly force only if the officer 'has a reasonable belief that the subject of such force poses an imminent threat of death or serious bodily injury.' The policy further states that officers should 'avoid intentionally and unreasonably placing themselves in positions in which they have no alternative to using deadly force.'” MB: So there are two common-sense policies right there that the officer who shot Good violated. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ And There's This. Hamed Aleaziz of the New York Times: “Weeks before the fatal shooting of a driver in Minneapolis by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer, officials at ICE warned agents on the ground to remain vigilant about protesters and be 'prepared to take appropriate and decisive action should you be faced with an imminent threat.'... The email went on to allege that 'criminal entities' had issued instructions to 'shoot on sight' when encountering certain immigration officers.... The stark counsel, delivered to all agency deportation staff members from a leading ICE official, underscores the atmosphere of alarm that has pervaded the agency over increasingly hostile protests as the Trump administration has stepped up immigration enforcement in cities. Protesters have yelled expletives, blown whistles, thrown snowballs and blocked ICE vehicles as officers hunted down those with deportation orders, or questioned those believed to be unlawfully in the country. Officers have at times responded violently.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: For some reason, Aleaziz buried that "shoot on sight" warning way down the story. Telling agents that the protesters and observers they encounter have been primed by "criminals" to kill them is one step short of urging the agents to shoot first, just in case.

Marie: Ten years ago this month, Donald Trump said, "I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn't lose any voters, OK?" Now, one of his thugs has shot somebody in broad daylight on a major street in a major American city with multiple videographers recording the event, and sure enough, Team Trump has arranged to get away with murder: ~~~

~~~ Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs, et al., of the New York Times: “A top state law enforcement official said Thursday that federal agencies were denying Minnesota investigators access to evidence from a fatal shooting by an immigration enforcement officer the day before, preventing them from participating in the inquiry into an incident that officials have described in starkly different terms. Drew Evans, the superintendent of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, said on Thursday that his agency had withdrawn from the investigation of the death of Renee Nicole Good, 37, as a result.... Federal officials, including ... [Donald] Trump, defended the shooting as lawful, saying that the agent who fired his weapon was acting in self defense. City and state officials described those accounts variously as 'propaganda,' 'garbage' and 'bullshit,' with a video analysis showing that the woman’s vehicle appeared to be turning away from the officer as he opened fire.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ This story has been updated. “The death of Renee Nicole Good, 37, prompted furious demonstrations; protesters were met with tear gas at a federal building Thursday morning and at least 1,000 people gathered in south Minneapolis in the evening. Gov. Tim Walz activated the state’s National Guard 'out of an abundance of caution,' according to his office, though the troops have not yet been deployed. Documents obtained by The New York Times suggested that at least 100 more federal agents were being deployed to Minnesota.” ~~~

     ~~~ Mark Berman, et al., of the Washington Post: “The administration’s decision to take sole control of the investigation, combined with ... Donald Trump and other officials’ staunch backing of the ICE officer’s actions, marks a break from some past instances in which local, state and federal officials worked together on high-profile probes, including in Minnesota.... [DHS Secretary Kristi] Noem, asked about [freezing Minnesota out of the investigation]..., said they 'do not have any jurisdiction in this situation' and pivoted to attacking Minnesota’s leaders.... Emily Heller, who witnessed the shooting, told The Post that the ICE agents appeared to give conflicting instructions to Good, indicating they wanted her to move her car before advancing on the vehicle. Video from Heller’s phone, which she shared with The Post, showed a neighbor identifying himself as a doctor and trying to approach Good’s car to provide aid. The neighbor was rebuffed by officers, one of whom said: 'Give us a second. We have medics' en route.... Paramedics arrived on the scene nearly seven minutes after the shooting, the video showed.”

Devon Lum, et al., of the New York Times analyze video of the murder of Renee Nicole Good from three different cameras. They find that the videos contradict claims by Donald Trump & Kristi Noem and show that the vehicle was turning away from the officer who killed the driver. The vehicle did not hit him or "run over him." Their analysis is consistent with Heather Cox Richardson's narrative, linked yesterday. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Aaron Davis & Jonathan Baran of the Washington Post lean toward similar conclusions. MB: However, the Bezos Post says only that the analysis "raises questions" about Trump's & Noem's accounts. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Mike Masnick of TechDirt: "From all the evidence [much of which is cited in Masnick's post], it’s clear that Good had stopped and when ICE agents started demanding she move, she started to pull around the ICE vehicle in front of her. She paused to let another vehicle drive by her. As that happened (for no apparent reason) the ICE agent who eventually murdered her walked around the right side of her car to the front. As he does that two other ICE agents approach the car, with one telling her to exit the car while another yells for her to move. She then proceeds to try to drive away from the ICE agents. The one who had stepped in front of her car steps aside and then just starts madly firing at her head. He murdered her. And Trump and his cronies are lying about it with video evidence directly contradicting every word.... This murder of an American citizen on a quiet street—someone who was just there to observe and monitor ICE agents kidnapping people—exemplifies why ICE is fundamentally incompatible with a free society." Read on. ~~~

~~~ The AP further describes general & specific law enforcement rules for using deadly force against a driver of a moving vehicle. (Also linked yesterday.) 

Andrew Feinberg of the Independent: “An irate Vice President JD Vance lashed out at reporters at a White House press briefing as he defended the Trump administration’s defense of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer who shot and killed a woman in Minneapolis.... Vance began grousing about how media reports over the last 24 hours had quoted prominent Democrats — including [Minnesota Gov. Tim] Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey — who described the shooting as 'murder' or questioned whether the shooting was justified.... 'The way that the media by and large has reported this story has been an absolute disgrace, and it puts our law enforcement officers at risk every single day,' he said.... Vance ... — without offering evidence — [accused Renee Nicole Good] of being in Minneapolis  'to interfere with a legitimate law enforcement operation in the United States of America' and calling her part of what he described as 'a broader left-wing network to attack, to dox, to assault and to make it impossible for our ICE officers to do their job.'... He continued, shouting, as he accused 'you people in the media' of  'lying about this attack' while again stating that Good had been 'trying to ram' the officer who shot her.” Read on. Here's a Washington Post report. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I like the part in the Independent story where Vance pulls out an old right-wing conspiracy theory about lefties buying pallets-full of bricks to throw at law enforcement officers. More on fictional protesters throwing bricks in the ridiculous West Wing story below. ~~~

~~~ Dan Mangan of CNBC reports on some of the excuses JayDee earlier has proffered for killing a woman in cold blood. (Also linked yesterday.)

Michelle Goldberg of the New York Times: “Americans — particularly, let’s be honest, white Americans — might have thought themselves immune from ICE abuses. The killing of Renee Nicole Good ... tests that assumption. ICE..., [Minnesota attorney General Keith Ellison told me], is all but telling people, “‘You want to defend your neighbors, you’re going to do it at the risk of your own life.” I think that’s the unmistakable message. Just looking at the tape, they could have said, “You get out of here,” right? And then she gets out of there. They didn’t want her to get out of there. They wanted to either drag her out of that car or do what they did. And it was all about teaching lessons.' The lesson didn’t end with Good’s killing — the administration had to smear her afterward....  Kristi Noem ... accus[ed] Good of trying to run agents over in 'an act of domestic terrorism.' Vice President JD Vance called her a 'deranged leftist.'” Do read on. The link is a gift link (I'm definitely going to run out of gift links this month.)

Paul Campos in LG&$: "We're finally on our own. The murder of Renee Good was an intentional act in several senses. First, it was a murder in the classic legal sense, in that the ICE agent who shot and killed her was in no danger — the video clearly shows Good trying to drive away as masked armed men shout contradictory orders at her — so the use of deadly force had no justification. Of course the entire right wing is lying about this, recalling a famous quote from 1984: 'The Party told you to ignore the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.'... But this was an intentional act in a more abstract and attenuated sense, in that Stephen Miller has created a set of circumstances in which it was inevitable that this sort of murder would happen in this way, so he could pursue his sadistic fantasies of a violent crackdown on protest against the regime (note here that Good wasn’t even protesting...)." Read on. Campos has more to say. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

Heather Cox Richardson sees green shoots. Marie: She is far more optimistic than I. The trouble with her green shoots, as I see it, is that they are minimal, "normal" responses to extraordinary bad acts: a few Republicans, mostly for their own self-preservation, defy Trump; Spotify drops violent ICE recruitment ads because listeners are dropping Spotify. You're better off to accept Richardson's view over my deepening pessimism. I'd like to be wrong. Perhaps the green shoots will grow swiftly and bear fruit that ripens. ~~~

Douglas MacMillan of the Washington Post: “The Trump administration says it is focused on protecting unaccompanied migrant children.... But for the past three months, [the Office of Refugee Resettlement] has also locked some teenage migrant boys inside a secure juvenile prison in southeast Pennsylvania with a long and publicly documented history of staff physically and sexually abusing juvenile offenders in its care.... ORR awarded $9 million to Abraxas Alliance in August to hold up to 30 young immigrants deemed a danger to themselves or others in its facility in Morgantown.” (Also linked yesterday.)

Lydia Polgreen of the New York Times: “About 10 minutes into the astonishing news conference at which ... [Donald] Trump celebrated the lightning-strike operation to abduct Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, Trump wandered into a rambling disquisition on the success of American troops patrolling the streets of American cities. 'I just have to congratulate our military,' he said.... 'The job that they’ve done, whether it’s in Washington, D.C., where we have a totally safe city where it was one of the most unsafe cities anywhere in the world, frankly, and now we have no crime in Washington, D.C.' To a casual listener, these might seem like the sleepy digressions of the oldest man ever to assume the presidency. But to my ear, his emphasis on domestic deployments of the American military, especially in the context of a foreign military action, crystallized the most chilling hallmark of Trump’s second presidency: the seamless fusion of domestic and foreign policy, bypassing America’s constitutional system of government to assume virtually boundless, unchecked power.... All domestic activities can somehow be linked to foreign-menaced national security. It is one small trick to destroy constitutional and democratic rule.”

Judd Legum of Popular Information: Trump's plans for Venezuelan oil "could be a financial windfall for Paul Singer, a Trump-supporting billionaire." Singer bought Citgo in a fire sale (which he helped force), and it has refineries on the Gulf of Mexico which "are purpose-built for Venezuelan heavy crude." (Also linked yesterday.)  

You know, when you're a homeowner living in your "forever home," sometimes you just can't stop renovating. It doesn't look as if Trump plans to leave 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue even if he does have a nice enough retirement bungalow in Florida: ~~~ 

~~~ Katie Rogers, et al., of the New York Times: “After tearing down the East Wing of the White House to build a lavish new ballroom, Mr. Trump is turning his sights to a more famous section of the White House. He wants to build a second level on top of the colonnade that connects the West Wing to the White House residence. In an interview with The New York Times on Wednesday evening, Mr. Trump said that he was calling the project the 'Upper West Wing.' He said that it was currently under design and that if he liked what he saw, he would move forward. He said that West Wing aides could have additional office space there, or that it could be  'first ladies’ offices for future first ladies.' Later, during a tour of the White House residence, he said he planned to tear up the brick walkways in Lafayette Park and replace them with granite.... Mr. Trump said his decision to tear up the park walkways, in part, was because protesters could pluck bricks from the walkway and throw them.... He estimated [that the park reno] cost would be about $10 million. 'I pay everything,' he said when asked whether taxpayers or donors would foot the bill.” ~~~

~~~ Jonathan Edwards & Dan Diamond of the Washington Post: “... Donald Trump plans to build his controversial ballroom as tall as the White House’s main mansion itself, the project’s chief architect told a federal review committee Thursday — a significant change of plans that breaks with long-standing architectural norms requiring additions to be shorter than the main building.... [Architect Shalom] Baranes also estimated the project’s footprint would be about 45,000 square feet, roughly half the size that the administration has described since announcing the project in July. Of that, the ballroom itself would account for about 22,000 square feet and accommodate roughly 1,000 seated dinner guests, he said. Baranes said the 90,000-square-foot size repeatedly cited by White House officials includes a second floor.... Baranes told the panel that the White House had abandoned plans to make the ballroom larger. But he said officials are now considering a one-story addition to the West Wing’s colonnade to create symmetry with the planned two-story colonnade that would lead from the White House to the ballroom building.” ~~~

     ~~~ The White House itself is about to become an ADU -- an Accessory Dwelling Unit -- connecting two substantial buildings, all suitably fitted out as a huge assisted living facility. ~~~ 

~~~ The POTUS* Is Completely Demented. Cleve Wootson of the Washington Post: “... Donald Trump said he will meet with Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado next week — and that he would accept the award she has said she wants to share with him. 'I understand she’s coming in next week sometime, and I look forward to saying hello to her,' the president said of the Venezuelan opposition leader during an interview with Fox News’s Sean Hannity that aired Thursday. Trump added that he heard Machado wants to give him the prize, 'and that would be a great honor.'” MB P.S. You can give away the medal. You can sell it. You can give away the prize money. But the recipient of your generosity does not become a Nobel laureate. You cannot “share” the prize that has been awarded to you. ~~~

Matthew Goldstein & Joe Rennison of the New York Times: Donald “Trump said he was ordering the two big government-controlled mortgage finance firms to start buying bonds backed by mortgages, his latest bid to make it easier for Americans to buy a home. In a post on social media on Thursday, Mr. Trump said he was directing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to buy up to $200 billion in mortgage-backed bonds.... After the statement, the difference between the interest rates on mortgage bonds and Treasuries narrowed by 0.1 percentage points, a sharp move in that market and an early indication that the initiative could have some effect on the mortgage market. Some analysts questioned the extent of the impact on consumer mortgage rates over time, given that those rates are influenced by a number of factors, including Federal Reserve policy.”

Harassing Tish, Ctd. Devlin Barrett & Jonah Bromwich of the New York Times: “Federal prosecutors are investigating financial transactions involving the New York attorney general, Letitia James, and her longtime hairdresser, opening a new front in their pursuit of one of ... [Donald] Trump’s perceived enemies.... The hairdresser, Iyesata Marsh, has known Ms. James for years. Last month, Ms. Marsh was indicted in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana and charged with bank fraud and aggravated identity theft in connection with the purchase of a Land Rover about three years ago.... Prosecutors are interested in talking to Ms. Marsh about past financial transactions involving Ms. James or her campaign.... The new front in the Justice Department’s long-running campaign to build a criminal case against Ms. James shows that the efforts extend beyond one federal prosecutor’s office, and highlight the degree to which investigators are scouring her professional, personal and political life for evidence of wrongdoing. There is no indication that Ms. Marsh, who has yet to enter a plea in her case, is cooperating.”

Kenneth Chang & Amanda Holpuch of the New York Times: “NASA will bring a crew of four astronauts home from the International Space Station before its scheduled return because of a 'controlled medical evacuation,' agency officials said on Thursday. During the 25-year history of the space station, this is the first time that astronauts will return early because of a medical issue. NASA did not provide details on who had the medical issue, or what the issue was. But the agency said that the astronaut was in stable condition.”

Robert Jimison & Megan Mineiro of the New York Times: “The Senate on Thursday agreed to debate a war powers resolution aimed at curbing ... [Donald] Trump’s use of military force in Venezuela, with five Republicans joining Democrats in a rare bipartisan rebuke of the White House. The 52-to-47 vote set the stage for a vote now expected next week on a measure that would force Mr. Trump to seek congressional authorization for continued U.S. military operations in Venezuela.... The resolution has little chance of being enacted or imposing any constraint on Mr. Trump.... It also reflected worries in Mr. Trump’s own party about his bellicose and seemingly open-ended action in Venezuela, undertaken with no consultation or authorization by Congress.... Senators Susan Collins of Maine, Todd Young of Indiana and Josh Hawley of Missouri — all of whom had opposed similar resolutions in the past — joined all Democrats in backing the measure. So did Senators Rand Paul of Kentucky and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, who had previously backed war powers measures.” (This is the stand-alone version of a liveblog item linked yesterday.) Politico's report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Carl Hulse of the New York Times: “With Republican control of the Senate at risk in November..., [Donald] Trump on Thursday took the unusual step of urging the defeat of his party’s most vulnerable incumbent, Senator Susan M. Collins of Maine. After she and four other Republicans joined with Senate Democrats to vote to start a debate over restricting the president’s ability to use military force in Venezuela, Mr. Trump used social media to take a harsh shot at them. 'Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Rand Paul, Josh Hawley, and Todd Young should never be elected to office again,' Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social, condemning their 'stupidity' and saying that Republicans should be  'ashamed' of the senators from Maine, Alaska, Kentucky, Missouri and Indiana. Ms. Collins is the sole one of the five Republicans who will face voters in midterm elections this year as she seeks a sixth term in what is acknowledged to be a very challenging political environment.”

Michael Gold & Carl Hulse of the New York Times: “The House on Thursday passed a bill to resurrect health care subsidies that expired last year, as a breakaway faction of House Republicans joined Democrats in a largely symbolic vote that may bring fresh momentum to bipartisan efforts to find a compromise on health care costs. The measure, which would restore expanded Affordable Care Act tax credits for three years, has no path to enactment given that it has already been rejected by the Senate. But its passage, on a 230-to-196 vote, could fuel ongoing negotiations to reach a long-shot election-year compromise on a health care package. Democrats, who effectively seized control of the floor and muscled through the legislation over fierce opposition from Speaker Mike Johnson, framed the vote as a victory that validated a risky decision to make the subsidies their central focus during the government shutdown last fall. They erupted in cheers when the measure passed.” Politico's story is here.

Annie Karni of the New York Times: “In the House, dozens of Republicans voted with Democrats on Thursday afternoon in an attempt to override Mr. Trump’s first two vetoes of his second term. But with most of the G.O.P. siding with the president, they ultimately did not have enough votes to clear the two-thirds threshold necessary for either override to succeed.... But taken together [with the Senate's vote on the war powers resolution], the action suggested that, as an unpopular military incursion unfolds abroad, and a continuing affordability crisis festers at home, some Republicans in Congress worried about their own looming re-election campaigns were seeking a bit of distance from Mr. Trump and his policies.” An NBC News story is here. MB: The initial House votes for these two bills were unanimous. That is to say, the majority of House Republicans were for it before Donald Trump was against it. These cowardly jamokes cannot think for themselves. They're useless.

Kadia Goba, et al., of the Washington Post: “Significant numbers of Republicans joined with Democrats in voting against ... Donald Trump’s interests on high-profile pieces of legislation Thursday, suggesting his party’s unyielding loyalty to this point in his term has started to splinter.... Thirty-five Republican lawmakers voted to override Trump’s veto of the Arkansas Valley Conduit Act, a bill meant to aid a decades-old Colorado water project, while 24 Republicans voted to negate Trump’s veto of the Miccosukee Reserved Area Amendments Act, which codifies tribal land rights in Florida.... Seventeen [House] Republicans supported the [Affordable Care Act subsidies] measure.... The repeated rebukes of the president, and the number of lawmakers defecting, are unusual.”

Minho Kim of the New York Times: “Five states controlled by Democrats sued the Trump administration on Thursday for freezing $10 billion in funding for child care subsidies, social services and cash support for low-income families, asking a federal judge to declare the pause illegal and restore the money. The lawsuit, filed by New York and joined by California, Colorado, Illinois and Minnesota, came two days after the administration moved to shut off the funding to the five states. The Department of Health and Human Services, which distributes the funds, cited without evidence 'potential' fraud and misuse by ineligible noncitizens like undocumented immigrants across the five states, invoking a major welfare fraud scheme that has rocked Minnesota. The freeze could jeopardize programs that serve hundreds of thousands of low-income households in the five states....”

Marie: Bezos Washington Post Editors take Jim Jordan's side against Jack Smith's. They say Smith doesn't understand the First Amendment (but Jordan does). I'm not sure the Bezos boyz understand that "shouting fire in a crowded theater" thing.

Jeff Cox of CNBC: "The U.S. labor market ended 2025 on a soft note, with job creation in December less than expected, according to a report Friday from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Nonfarm payrolls rose a seasonally adjusted 50,000 for the month, lower than the downwardly revised 56,000 in November and short of the Dow Jones estimate for 73,000. At the same time, the unemployment rate fell to 4.4%, compared to the forecast for 4.5%." At 8:35 am ET, this was breaking news.

Ana Swanson of the New York Times: “The U.S. trade deficit in goods and services shrank to $29.4 billion in October, down from $48.1 billion the prior month as the Trump administration’s tariffs continued to weigh on trade, data from the Commerce Department showed on Thursday. The figure was the lowest monthly trade deficit recorded since June 2009. But because of a surge in imports earlier this year, the overall trade deficit from January to October was still up 7.7 percent from the previous year. Imports in October fell 3.2 percent to $331.4 billion from the previous month, while exports rose 2.6 percent to $302 billion. Because exports grew more than imports, the U.S. trade deficit shrank, in line with ... [Donald] Trump’s goals.... Economists have said trade patterns have been distorted by businesses’ efforts to avoid paying tariffs, and cautioned against drawing too many conclusions from a few months of data.” (Also linked yesterday.)

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Minnesota. Adeel Hassan of the New York Times: “More than 25 years after he was found guilty of first-degree murder in the killing of a woman who ran a small country store, Brian Pippitt walked out of Minnesota’s largest prison a free man on Wednesday. Mr. Pippitt, 63, was convicted in 2001 and sentenced to life in prison for the 1998 murder of Evelyn Malin, 84, who had owned a convenience store in a rural area north of Mille Lacs Lake.... His conviction was upheld on appeal, and his post-conviction petition was denied. For the last decade, lawyers at Centurion Ministries, a national nonprofit group that works to free the wrongly convicted, and the Great North Innocence Project, based in Minneapolis, have maintained that there was no forensic or physical evidence connecting him to the crime. In 2024, concluding a two-year investigation of Mr. Pippitt’s case, the conviction review unit of the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office..., concluded that Mr. Pippitt was neither at the scene of the murder, nor was he involved in the crime.”

New York. Benjamin Oreskes, et al., of the New York Times: “New York is poised to vastly expand free and low-cost child care for families across the state over the next several years, and to put New York City on track to become the first city in the United States to provide free universal child care. On Thursday, Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Zohran Mamdani stood together to announce a plan that would begin by expanding child care options for nearly 100,000 young children, putting the mayor on a path toward realizing the most ambitious and costly promise of his campaign and handing him a significant political victory barely a week into his term.”

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Canada. The Kindness of (Canadian) Strangers. Rylee Kirk of the New York Times: “Hundreds of passengers were stranded at the airport in Gander, Newfoundland, waiting in vain for taxis, when suddenly residents pulled up in their own cars. It wasn’t Sept. 11, 2001, when 6,500 marooned passengers from 240 diverted aircraft were taken in by local residents. It was Wednesday.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I don't think I want Canada to become part of the U.S. But if New Hampshire -- which shares a border with Canada -- decides to become part of Canada, I'm all for it.    

Russia/Ukraine, et al. Andrew Kramer of the New York Times: “The Russian defense ministry said on Friday that it had struck Ukraine with a nuclear-capable intermediate-range ballistic missile, an ominous warning by President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia as U.S.-led negotiations to end the war have gained steam. Russia said it had used the missile, known as the Oreshnik, and other weapons to hit drone-making and energy infrastructure in Ukraine. Explosions were reported early Friday near the western city of Lviv after the Ukrainian military warned of a potential missile launch. The Oreshnik can carry conventional or dummy warheads in addition to nuclear ones. The Russian defense ministry called the strike a response to an attempted Ukrainian attack last month on one of Mr. Putin’s residences in Russia. Ukrainian officials have called the Kremlin’s claims of an attack on the residence a lie intended to derail the peace talks, and U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that there is no evidence that such an attack occurred.”

Ukraine Bows to Trump's Corruption. Constant Méheut of the New York Times: “Ukraine on Thursday awarded a bid to mine a major state-owned lithium deposit to investors that include a billionaire friend of ... [Donald] Trump, as his administration has indicated it is looking for investment opportunities in the war-torn country. The decision was made by a Ukrainian government commission, according to two commission members.... While it still requires formal approval from Ukraine’s cabinet of ministers, the officials said the deal was essentially sealed. The winning consortium ... includes Ronald S. Lauder, a cosmetics heir who has known Mr. Trump since college and planted the idea in his mind of buying resource-rich Greenland. The other investor is TechMet, an energy firm partly owned by a U.S. government investment agency created during Mr. Trump’s first term. The two commission members ... dismiss[ed] any suggestion of favoritism. Still, by cultivating ties with investors connected to Mr. Trump and his administration, Kyiv is positioning itself favorably with the American leader....”