February 25, 2026

Samantha Schmidt of the Washington Post: “Cuban forces killed four people on an American speedboat after it opened fire on Cuban border agents Wednesday morning, the country’s Interior Ministry said. As the Florida-registered vessel came within a nautical mile of Cuba’s northern coast, the country’s border guard troops approached and asked for identification, the Interior Ministry said in a statement. The speedboat crew opened fire on the Cuban troops, injuring the vessel’s commander, the ministry said. Cuban forces returned fire. Four people on the speedboat were killed and six wounded, the ministry said. The wounded were evacuated to receive medical attention.” Politico's story is here.

⭐Mattathias Schwartz of the New York Times: “A federal judge in Boston on Wednesday found that the Trump administration’s policy of summarily deporting immigrants to so-called third countries — nations other than their countries of origin — is unlawful. In an 81-page ruling, Judge Brian E. Murphy of the Federal District Court for the District of Massachusetts wrote that the government must first try to deport detained immigrants to their home countries — or to countries designated by an immigration judge when the immigrants were ordered removed from the country. After that process, immigration detainees must be given 'meaningful notice' before being deported to another country, to allow them the opportunity to raise any fears they have that they might be persecuted or tortured there. Judge Murphy, who was appointed to the bench by President Joseph R. Biden Jr., paused his own order for 15 days, which gives the government time to seek an appeal. 

“Still, the ruling amounts to a sweeping repudiation of one of the administration’s most aggressive deportation policies, one in which immigrants are flown to distant places to which they have no ties, including Eswatini, Rwanda and Ghana. Deportations to third countries have been a high-profile component of the administration’s broader effort to depict migrants as 'barbaric' criminals who should be dealt with harshly — and to persuade migrants to self-deport and leave the country voluntarily.”

Brad Reed of Common Dreams: “A report produced by the office of Sen. Adam Schiff reveals that federal immigration enforcement agencies amassed a gigantic weapons stockpile during the first year of ... Donald Trump’s second term. In total, the report released by Schiff (D-Calif.) finds that US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) committed to spending over $144 million on weapons and ammunition over the last year, a massive increase over these agencies’ spending on weapons in years past.... The report documents how both agencies have combined to spend tens of millions of dollars purchasing lethal weapons, including 'AR-style rifles, pistols, and large quantities of accessories, such as optical sights for firearms and suppressors'; so-called 'less-lethal' weapons including 'TASERs, pepper sprays, tear gas canisters, and canister launchers'; and assorted kinds of ammunition.... Schiff’s report concludes with a warning about the US Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) 'growing plans to build a heavily-armed domestic police force.'...” ~~~

     ~~~ Sen. Schiff's report is here. MB: What I'm seeing is a heavily-armed, pro-Trump paramilitary force that will be a very souped-up version of the ragtag J-6 insurrection gang (although it seems probable that some of the J-6 crowd have joined ICE or the CBP) who failed in Trump's first attempt at a coup. 

Ali Swenson of the AP: “Wellness influencer, author and entrepreneur Dr. Casey Means on Wednesday ... faced tough questions from senators about topics that have become divisive in recent years, such as vaccines and hormonal birth control, as well as about her qualifications and potential conflicts. The Stanford-educated physician’s disillusionment with traditional medicine drove her to a career in which she has promoted various products, at times without disclosing how she could benefit financially. She has no government experience, and her license to practice as a physician is not currently active.” 

Michael Kunzelman of the AP: “Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is appealing a judge’s order that blocks him from punishing Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly, a former Navy pilot, for participating in a video that called on troops to resist unlawful orders, according to a court filing on Tuesday. Justice Department officials filed a notice that they wil[l] ask a panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to review the Feb. 12 ruling by U.S. District Judge Richard Leon.”

Andrew Ackerman, et al., of the Washington Post: “A top Trump Treasury official is leaving his post after privately raising objections to White House-backed plans to crack down on alleged fraud within the Somali immigrant community in Minnesota.... John Hurley, a donor to ... Donald Trump who is serving as the undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, began telling associates in recent weeks that he was leaving his post. Hurley had recently conveyed his concerns to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent about a project to enhance federal monitoring of international payments from the Minneapolis area.... His departure underscores how some Trump allies in the federal government are uneasy with the extent of White House directives to deploy law enforcement tools against Minneapolis’s Somali community.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Here's what I don't get: how could someone who objects to overtly racist policies have contributed to Trump in the first place when Trump has been overtly racist all his adult life? 

Joe Sommerlad of the Independent: “Bill Gates has apologized to staff at his charitable foundation over his past friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, also admitting to two extramarital affairs..., according to The Wall Street Journal, citing an audio recording of the latest biannual Gates Foundation town hall.... Gates ... said the women pictured with him in the files were Epstein’s assistants, whom the billionaire had asked to pose with him.... During the town hall, the billionaire also admitted to two affairs. 'I did have affairs, one with a Russian bridge player who met me at bridge events, and one with a Russian nuclear physicist who I met through business activities,' he said.”

Mike Baker & Michael Gold of the New York Times have at long last picked up the story of all the missing key Epstein file documents that recount reports and interviews of a woman who told the FBI that Donald Trump abused her sexually & physically when she was a child. The Times report explains very well how the reporters know the DOJ has withheld these documents. Update: the link has been changed to one that appears to be a gift link. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: The excuses the DOJ gives for withholding the files are not getting any more convincing. This is a cover-up. It took some sleuthing and cross-checking to find the story among the 3 million documents released, and the DOJ must have counted on no one catching it. But independent journalist Roger Sollenberger did put together some of the pieces ten days ago, and other journalists have built on his discovery. And because the cover-up breaks a specific law, it's a criminal cover-up, IMO.  

Gregory Svirnovskiy of Politico: “Larry Summers, the embattled former Treasury secretary and Harvard president, is leaving his teaching post at the higher education institution at the end of the academic year, as the fallout over his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein continues to spill into public view.... Summers took a step back from his teaching duties late last year — and also left his job as director of Harvard’s Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government — amid a review into his ties to the late convicted sex offender.” Update: a more extensive New York Times report is here. The Harvard Crimson story, which broke the news, is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: This isn't so much about having a criminal friend, Larry, as it is about disrespecting the young woman you are tasked with teaching. Teachers with your misogynistic views are what has led to this situation: ~~~

     ~~~ Anonymous, in a Guardian op-ed: “I am a 15-year-old girl. Let me show you the vile misogyny that confronts me on social media every day[.]... I actively try to avoid online misogyny, but I am met with it incessantly whenever I open my mainstream social media apps.... [For instance, a] few days ago I saw an Instagram reel of a young woman talking about how she had been raped six years ago, struggled with thoughts of suicide afterwards, but managed to rebuild her life again. Among the comments – the majority of which were from men – were things like 'Well at least you had some', 'No way, she’s unrapeable', 'Hope you didn’t talk this much when it happened', 'Bro could have picked a better option.'” Thanks to RAS for the link.

⭐David Frum of the Atlantic: “States of the Union are rituals intended to demonstrate the unity of the nation.... The ritual depends for its meaning, however, on certain standards of behavior.... The speech last night was empty and uselessly garrulous. Its length was its first declaration of disrespect for those obliged to sit through it. Trump’s name-calling of his predecessor and of the members of Congress in the chamber, his demands that legislators rise at his command, his strategic deployment of systematic untruth in service of those demands to rise and clap — put together, he misused the State of the Union ritual in ways so radical as to call the ritual itself into question.... The president is present in Congress as a guest.... Next January, the next speaker could do everyone a favor with a letter that begins: 'Dear Mr. President, the time has come for your State of the Union message. Please send it in writing.... This is the method that was good enough for Rutherford B. Hayes, and, Mr. Trump, it is more than good enough for you.'” Thank you to akaWendy for this gift link. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Frum is right, although I would not send an impolite letter. I would simply not invite Trump; send no letter at all. If Trump demanded an invitation, I would send him a letter inviting him to send his advice in writing. At that point, I would explain -- politely -- that Trump abused his invitation the previous year by using the high-profile venue to repeatedly insult his hosts and make false statements to the American people. I might advise him that if he submitted a satisfactory, respectful report in writing, he might be invited to deliver that report in person, but that straying from his written message would result in the Sergeant-at-Arms evicting him from the Capitol. (And if it came to that last bit, I would follow through.) 

In case you thought CBS News could right itself after getting off to a very rocky start "under new management," we are here to tell you that you were far too optimistic: ~~~ 

~~~ Annals of “Journalism,” Ctd. Jennifer Bahney of Mediaite: “CBS News’s Tony Dokoupil raved about ... Donald Trump’s State of the Union address Tuesday night, calling it 'extraordinary.'” Thanks to RAS for the link.

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Most Disappointing SOTU Ever! Marie; I was sure that bingo card RAS found yesterday would be a winner in more ways than one. But in checking through the transcript of Trump's remarks, it turns out the speech was a real dud in more ways than one. He and his speechwriters forgot/skipped over some of what have been his go-to lines. (Xs mark the ones he hit.) If only he had mentioned Greenland! Or trashed Canada! Or claimed his low poll numbers were fake. At least we would had some winners. I think Phillips O'Brien (linked below) provides an explanation of what happened here: "To understand ... how scared [Trump] is, its best to look at what he avoided talking about or more accurately what he talked about as little and as carefully/generically as possible." That is, Trump, et al., purposely left out of the speech or downplayed mention of his many unpopular policies: like acquiring Greenland by force & knocking our very good Canadian neighbors: 

Tyler Pager & Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: Donald “Trump delivered the longest State of the Union address in American history on Tuesday night, insisting that he had overseen a 'turnaround for the ages' during his first year back in office, even as voters lose confidence in his handling of the economy. In his remarks, which clocked in at one hour and 47 minutes, Mr. Trump introduced few new policies and instead appeared to relish the theatrics of the moment. He used the opportunity to berate Democrats as 'crazy' for not standing or applauding for his priorities, especially on crime, immigration and the economy. Mr. Trump’s tone shifted throughout his address, seesawing between soaring descriptions of the country’s gains, including gold medals at the Olympics, and strikingly graphic stories of overseas conflicts and crime in the United States.... Here are six takeaways from Mr. Trump’s State of the Union address.”

Steven Sloan & Steve Peoples write the AP's takeaways “Much of the nation is worried about the direction of the economy, but Trump says the good times are here, insisting repeatedly that rising costs are no longer a problem.... In addition to the [U.S.] hockey team, he singled out war heroes and those who had taken brave stands in other countries, using the moment to bestow numerous presidential medals in an effort to give the address a more positive gloss.... Yet in one revealing moment, Trump lamented why he couldn’t give a congressional medal to himself.... [He] soon took aim at Democrats and blamed them for many of the nation’s ills.... He seemed to get angrier as the speech progressed.... The president also used the speech to reprise his attack on the integrity of U.S. elections. 'Cheating is rampant in our elections,' Trump said.... What he didn’t mention: the most aggressive immigration enforcement tactics that threatened to bring the U.S. to the brink earlier this year.”

Katie Rogers of the New York Times: “... [Donald Trump] spent the better part of two hours baiting the ranks of incensed Democrats in the chamber and endeavoring to define them to the electorate as 'sick,' unpatriotic and utterly out of step with the values of most Americans. 'These people are crazy, I’m telling ya, they’re crazy,' Mr. Trump said at one point, while relaying the story of a young person who had been forced to undergo a gender transition. 'Boy oh boy, we’re lucky we have a country with people like this — Democrats are destroying our country, but we’ve stopped it just in the nick of time.'... [Mr. Trump wrapped] himself in the imagery of American heroism with staged asides throughout the speech while throwing the blame for every problem, from the security of elections to the state of the economy, back on his opponents.

“Representative Al Green of Texas, who was ejected from the chamber last year for waving his cane at Mr. Trump, was once again removed after he held up a sign proclaiming 'BLACK PEOPLE AREN’T APES' — a reference to a racist video Mr. Trump recently shared on social media. Representative Lauren Underwood of Illinois got up and walked out rather than 'take another minute' of the speech. And Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, a frequent target of Mr. Trump’s, was one of a handful who yelled at him.... In a rebuttal address for the Democrats, Gov. Abigail Spanberger of Virginia said that Mr. Trump had largely avoided the concerns of everyday Americans. 'He lied, he scapegoated and he distracted,' Ms. Spanberger said.”

A transcript of the SOTU speech is here, via CBS News. This appears to be a transcript of the speech as delivered, with edits to make Trump sound halfway sensible. (MB: I'm guessing here, as I didn't compare the transcript here closely to Trump's actual remarks.) The New York Times transcript looks slightly closer to what Trump actually said, but they're not much different. Video of the full speech and Democratic response is here.

Joyce Vance on Substack: "The headline for the speech? It was long and boring.... Trump didn’t have a stirring message or even just a nominally cohesive one to deliver. If you weren’t already in Trump’s camp, it’s unlikely you are now. Instead, he seemed to luxuriate in the spotlight like a show-off kid with a captive audience.... Trump seemed to stay mostly on his teleprompter. But the speech was full of lies — so obvious that we all caught them as they came out of his mouth, especially his claims about the economy...."

Melissa Goldin & Calvin Woodward of the AP: “On inflation, immigration, tariffs and matters of war and peace..., Donald Trump presented a frequently distorted account of the state of the nation Tuesday as he claimed a 'turnaround for the ages' and myriad achievements that don’t pass scrutiny. Trump has spent the last year boasting of his accomplishments while mocking the record of his predecessor, Joe Biden. But much of this bluster has been based on misinformation, which he again fell back on during his State of the Union address. Here’s a closer look at the facts[.]” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: There a terrific advantage to being a shameless liar. A regular politician usually has to look around for facts that fit the narrative s/he wants to convey. Somebody like Trump just makes 'em up out of whole cloth. No need for research; no need for hedging. Just tell 'em gas only costs $1.85 a gallon. ~~~

~~~ Paul Krugman: “One other lie that struck me ... was Trump’s insistence that the world admires what he’s doing: 'America is respected again, perhaps like never before.' Trump’s desire for external validation is, frankly, pathetic. And the truth is that we are despised like never before.... And foreign leaders have completely lost faith in America: We’ve become a country whose word can’t be trusted, a country that betrays its allies[.]... It’s true that in some ways the world fears us in a way it didn’t before — in the same way that one steps carefully around a belligerent drunk in a bar. But we haven’t been this weak on the world stage since before World War II. Anyway, that speech won’t pull Trump out of his downward spiral. Time to attack Iran?”

Phillips O'Brien on Substack: “If I could boil [the SOTU speech] down to one thing it is this: Donald Trump is reading the polls, realizes that many of his policies are deeply unpopular, and is scared.... To understand ... how scared he is, its best to look at what he avoided talking about or more accurately what he talked about as little and as carefully/generically as possible. The first was the Supreme Court after the Tariff ruling last week.... He hardly mentioned the court or the ruling. When he did, he even tried very hard to be presidential, describing the ruling which he had earlier blasted as traitorous only as 'unfortunate.'... Trump even avoided the whole tariff question as much as possible.... One thing that he avoided entirely was ICE.... He avoided unpopular foreign policy subjects.... It was one of the least Trump-like major addresses, and that alone makes it worthy of note. Also, a scared Trump is a dangerous Trump.” 

Reid Epstein of the New York Times: “Gov. Abigail Spanberger of Virginia framed the Democratic Party’s rebuttal to ... [Donald] Trump’s State of the Union address around three questions: Is he making life more affordable? Is he keeping Americans safe? And is he working on Americans’ behalf? Ms. Spanberger, who took office last month, argued that on all three counts, the answer was no.” Here's the AP's report. 

Evan Hurst of Wonkette has some thoughts on Hakeem Jeffries and how Democrats should fight back. And it ain't by being the sweetest, politest little shrinking violent evah.  

Everybody Wins! Thanks to RAS for the link: ~~~

OR you can watch this alternative state of the union presentation by MoveOn.Org & Midas Touch Network. MB: At least I think the link is where you get it. Here's a MoveOn link RAS found. One or the other should work.

Elliot Morris of Strength in Numbers: “... the numbers Trump faces going into his [SOTU] speech are brutal. Our brand-new February Strength In Numbers/Verasight poll finds the president at his lowest point on virtually every metric. Trump’s overall job approval has fallen to net -22, and he’s now underwater or tied on every single issue we track, including border security, which had been his last remaining bright spot. Democrats have opened a 10-point lead on the generic congressional ballot, the widest we’ve recorded. And voters disapprove of Trump’s tariff policy — presumably his focus, according to [JD] Vance, and which was largely invalidated by the Supreme Court last week — by 21 points. Trump will use his SOTU address to refocus attention on all the 'great things' he has done for the American people in his first year in office. But the average person is saying they don’t support his agenda. The State of our Union, in one term, is anti-Trump.” (Also linked yesterday.) 

Further Cheapening the Medal of Freedom. Julianna Bragg of Axios: Donald "Trump during the State of the Union on Tuesday revealed he is awarding Connor Hellebuyck, the Team USA goalie who helped the men's Olympic hockey team win gold at the 2026 games, with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. The award is considered the U.S. government's highest civilian honor and is usually presented to recognize a lifetime of significant achievements in the arts, public service, science, or other fields, per the Library of Congress." MB: I don't doubt Hellebuyck earned his Olympic gold medal, and good for him. But you don't merit a lifetime achievement award for stopping a few hockey pucks. Playing sports -- being especially good at playing sports -- is not heroic. This is embarrassing.

Jamelle Bouie of the New York Times: “What followed [Donald Trump's 2024 election]..., was an effort to subordinate the entire society to the whims of one man. He did not do this alone. Rather than defend its prerogatives as the first branch among equals, the Republican-led Congress neutralized itself as a constitutional force, deferring to Trump as he destroyed the federal bureaucracy, subverted the rule of law, targeted opponents and rivals with threats and blackmail and governed by executive decree. And, eager to implement its baroque theories of unlimited presidential power, the Republican-led Supreme Court gave sanction to Trump’s effort to remake the executive branch in his image, even when history, tradition, law and the will of the people through Congress said otherwise. Worse, in the months before Trump won his second election, this same court freed him from fear of criminal prosecution in an extraordinary declaration of presidential immunity.... What Trump has [now], a little more than one year into his second term, is a failed presidency: one that has crashed on the rocks of his ambition to supplant constitutional government with that of his own will.” The link appears to be a gift link. 

Chaos? What Chaos? Ana Swanson of the New York Times: “A new tariff on most global imports went into effect in the United States just after midnight Tuesday at 10 percent, despite ... [Donald] Trump’s pledge over the weekend to impose a 15 percent rate. The 10 percent surprised executives and foreign leaders, who had been expecting the 15 percent rate that Mr. Trump announced in a social media post on Saturday. The change underscored the confusion and uncertainty of the past few days, after the Supreme Court on Friday struck down many of Mr. Trump’s tariffs and he quickly vowed to replace them. A White House spokesman said that the 15 percent increase was still being worked on and that he did not know when it would go into effect. The change would require additional presidential action, he said.” (Also linked yesterday.) 

Meg Kelly & Imogen Piper of the Washington Post: “The U.S. military has rapidly increased its presence near Iran, shifting more than 150 aircraft to bases in Europe and the Middle East since a second round of nuclear talks between the United States and Iran ended without a breakthrough on Feb. 17, according to publicly available flight tracking data and satellite imagery reviewed by The Washington Post. The current presence of U.S. military forces in the region is among the largest in more than two decades, since before the Iraq war in 2003. The buildup comes after ... [Donald] Trump threatened to attack Iran unless a deal can be reached to restrict Iran’s nuclear program, although he has not indicated the goals of such an attack. Iranian officials have said a deal is possible but that reaching one will take time.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Paul Waldman on Public Notice: Donald Trump is “about to write a new chapter in the long and (mostly) ignominious history of American presidents thinking they can bend the world to their will by dropping bombs on foreign countries, yet he himself doesn’t seem to know why, let alone how it’s supposed to end.... There’s been no effort to persuade allies or Congress (let alone obtain an official congressional authorization), and Trump’s own comments about Iran are brief and vague, full of weak attempts to sound tough and his usual 'We’ll see what happens' dodge.... Last June, the US and Israel conducted a series of strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities and military leadership.... When the '12 day war' was over, Trump told the world that the problem of a nuclear Iran had been eliminated. 'The strikes were a spectacular military success,' he said. 'Iran’s key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated.' Yet here we are eight months later, and it turns out that the Iran nuclear program was not totally obliterated, as was clear at the time. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Trump doesn't explain what he's doing and why, (a) because he doesn't know, and (b) because he is the only person in the world who matters so none of the rest of us is owed an explanation. Being Trump means never having to know what you're doing.

Sore Winner. Ben Stockton of the Telegraph, republished by Yahoo! News: "Donald Trump shared an AI-generated video depicting him punching a Canadian ice hockey player after Team USA clinched the gold medal in Sunday’s Winter Olympics final. The minute-long video posted on Mr Trump’s Truth Social account in the early hours of Monday morning shows the president skating in a suit and tie, pushing over Canadian players before ripping off his gloves and repeatedly punching one of them in the face. Later in the video, Mr Trump scores and is embraced by the USA players.... The USA team was booed as the players made their way onto the ice at the start of the final match. Mr Trump also shared a post from Kari Lake, an anchor, a staunch ally of his who made two unsuccessful bids for governor and the senate.” Thanks to  for the lead. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Tell your children that real presidents do not do stuff like this. Real presidents are dignified. They know how to celebrate the home team's victory without pretending (a) that they are the star players who nearly single-handedly won the game, and (b) that they celebrated the victory by violently attacking an opponent, then gloating about it. What a sick fuck! ~~~

 

Lisa Rubin & Mychael Schnell of MS NOW: "The Justice Department has withheld notes and memos reflecting FBI interviews from its release of the Epstein files, including interviews with a woman who accused ... Donald Trump of sexually abusing her when she was a minor, MS NOW has confirmed.... According to a source who has viewed the unredacted documents, a woman interviewed by the FBI in July 2019 [MB: when Trump was president*] about her Epstein allegations is the same woman who alleged that Trump forced her to perform oral sex on him 35 years ago, when she was 13 or 14 years old, and subsequently hit her. That allegation appears in a 2025 PowerPoint presentation [MB: when Trump was president*] detailing each of the FBI’s Epstein-related investigations and a spreadsheet of unconfirmed tips called into the bureau’s National Threat Operations Center reviewed by MS NOW. MS NOW has found that of at least four interviews the FBI conducted with the woman related to the Epstein investigations, only one memo — and no handwritten notes — reflecting such an interview is included on the DOJ site." This reporting is based on earlier reporting by Stephen Fowler of NPR (linked yesterday) & by independent journalist Roger Sollenberg (linked February 17). ~~~

~~~ Hailey Fuchs of Politico: “Democrats on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee are investigating whether the Justice Department purposefully withheld materials in its release of the Jeffrey Epstein files that included sexual assault allegations against ... Donald Trump. Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), the ranking member of the panel, said in a statement Tuesday that such an act by DOJ would violate the law Congress passed in November, which required the administration to publicly release all files in its possession related to the federal case against Epstein, a convicted sex offender.” ~~~

     ~~~ Rep. Garcia's full statement is here. 

Sharon Otterman of the New York Times: “Richard Axel, a Nobel Prize-winning scientist and professor, announced Tuesday that he was resigning as a co-director of a flagship neuroscience institute at Columbia University because of his friendship with Jeffery Epstein. The resignation is the latest fallout in the world of academia from the release of millions of pages of files in late January that showed how Mr. Epstein’s relationships with billionaires, scientists and others in positions of power continued even after his 2008 felony convictions and his prison sentence for solicitation of prostitution by a minor. Dr. Axel is not accused of wrongdoing in connection with Mr. Epstein. But the files show that he was a frequent guest of Mr. Epstein’s at his Manhattan home and that he also served as an intermediary on Mr. Epstein’s behalf with Columbia officials involved in admissions and philanthropy.”

Erik Wemple of the New York Times: “A federal magistrate judge ruled on Tuesday that the court, and not the Justice Department, would search devices that the government seized from a Washington Post reporter’s home last month, resolving an impasse over how to handle the materials. The judge, William B. Porter of the Eastern District of Virginia, came down against an 'unsupervised, wholesale' search expedition conducted by the government.... The Federal Bureau of Investigation obtained an iPhone, two computers and other devices when it searched the home of the reporter, Hannah Natanson, who covers the federal government for The Post.” Politico's report is here. MB: Yeah, fine. But I'll be the FBI has already downloaded every bit & byte from Natanson's computers & phones & has been nosing around in her notes since they seized the devices.

Alan Blinder, et al., of the New York Times: “The Trump administration sued the University of California on Tuesday, accusing its Los Angeles campus of endemic antisemitism that compromised the civil rights of Jewish employees. Filed nearly seven months after the Justice Department sought a range of policy concessions and more than $1 billion from the university, the lawsuit represented a significant escalation in the long-running dispute between the Trump administration and one of the nation’s largest and most prestigious public university systems. The 81-page lawsuit, brought in Federal District Court in Los Angeles, accused U.C.L.A.’s administration of having 'turned a blind eye to — and at times facilitated — grossly antisemitic acts and systematically ignored cries for help from its own terrified Jewish and Israeli employees.'” The AP's story is here.

Glenn Thrush of the New York Times: “The F.B.I. director Kash Patel’s four-day trip to Italy — culminating in a celebratory beer swig with the U.S. hockey team at the Milan Olympics — included several hours of work meetings, a handful of meet-and-greets, hours of down time, private meals and 'cultural activities,' according to an internal schedule obtained by The New York Times.... [The schedule] suggests that Mr. Patel had long segments of personal and leisure time.... The taxpayer-funded visit to the Games reignited the firestorm over Mr. Patel’s use of government resources, which intensified on Tuesday when Senate Democrats aired new allegations against the director, citing an anonymous whistle-blower inside the Trump administration.” ~~~

~~~ Carol Leonnig & Ken Dilanian of MS NOW: "Agents with the FBI’s elite evidence response team were delayed in reaching the scene of a mass shooting at Brown University in December because there was no FBI plane available to take them to Rhode Island, according to three sources and a whistleblower’s account newly provided to Congress. FBI Director Kash Patel was in south Florida at the time with one of the FBI’s two available jets and had given an order to hold the other for another team [-- Quantico's Hostage Rescue Team --] that would not normally respond to the scene, according to the whistleblower and the sources. The evidence response team instead had to drive through the night amid a snowstorm to reach the university in Providence, Rhode Island, by 9 o’clock the next morning.... Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., the ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, obtained the whistleblower’s account. In a letter sent Tuesday to the Government Accountability Office and the Justice Department’s inspector general, Durbin accused Patel of harming the FBI’s critical investigations due to his misuse of FBI resources and aircraft and his inexperience." 

Gregory Svirnovskiy of Politico: “The federal government has abandoned plans to build an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in New Hampshire, GOP Gov. Kelly Ayotte announced in a social media post Tuesday. The announcement is a major victory for Ayotte, who pleaded her case in conversations with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem last week.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: "Pleaded?" I doubt it. I am of the impression that Ayotte is one ruthless harridan. I'll bet she chewed up that puppy-killer (hat o' the day and all) and spit her out. ~~~

~~~ Brandon Friedman, a former Obama administration official, compares the floor plan for the new ICE detention facility/concentration camp in Georgia with the floor plans of some other (in)famous blueprints. (Also linked yesterday.) 

Being a Republican Means Never Having to Say You're Sorry. Kadia Goba of the Washington Post: “Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) said Tuesday that he has no plans to resign despite scattered but growing calls from fellow House Republicans for him to drop his reelection bid or leave Congress following allegations that he had an affair with a staff member who later died after lighting herself on fire. 'I’m not going to resign. I work every day for the people of Texas,' Gonzales told reporters on Capitol Hill. Gonzalez, who has been endorsed by ... Donald Trump, declined to answer questions about whether suggestive text messages shared publicly by the former staff member’s former husband were authentic communications between him and the staffer.”

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