wasn't he part of the manosphere?

prerna verma ('showbiz cheat sheet') notes:

Charlie Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, has been in the limelight ever since the former Turning Point USA CEO was assassinated. Some days, it is her makeup that grabs eyeballs, while other days, it is her intimate hugs that make headlines. But this time, she has managed to bring TPUSA back in the headlines. This has happened after a recently fired employee has made shocking allegations against her.

According to The Atlanta Black Star, a fired TPUSA employee claimed that nobody liked Erika. The young woman also revealed that Charlie’s widow is plotting to take over the company he founded. Not just that, she also stated that Kirk had once staged an event with paid attendees. The former employee also opened up about internal workings and power struggles within the organization. This had hardly ever been openly described by anyone outside the company’s top leadership.

Another controversy surrounding Erika arose from Candace Owens‘s allegations. Charlie’s alleged close friend had earlier claimed that TPUSA’s All-American halftime show was pre-recorded. The show, which aired at the same time as the Super Bowl Halftime Show, was apparently recorded weeks ago. According to Variety, it was confirmed that much of Kid Rock’s performance was captured in Atlanta.

does anyone want to address the fact that charlie kirk was part of the manosphere and that erika kirk is a woman?  does any 1 want to address the fact that her replacing him means turning point is no longer turning point?

'general hospital.'  

nathan found out maxi was out of a coma from his mother.  she wanted him to call maxi and get back with her.  his sister britt told mother to back off.  nathan did call felicity and maxi had gone to sleep by then.  

will maxi go back to being with nathan?

lucas told marco what he heard and told marco he'd been lying to him all along.  marco said he wasn't helpin his father except for getting back at sonny.  marco blames sonny for the death of his mother.  sidwell has this plan that will work and ...  lucas didn't want to hear it.  marco cried and told him how much he meant to him and promised that when this was over, it was over and he'd make sure britt was free from his father as well.  lucas accepted him at his word.

for now. 

elizabeth and ric had a good date.  

that's really it  oh, britt texted sonny a code and he deciphered it and knew where to meet up with her and did. 

let's close with c.i.'s 'The Snapshot:'

Monday, February 16, 2026.  ICE continues to be exposed for its lies, students protest ICE in Texas, the Epstein Class begins to suffer, and much more. 

Let's start with Sam Van Pykeren's piece for MOTHER JONES about how the administration is using NAZI propaganda to soften the public up to NAZI tactics:

This past year, official social media accounts from the Department of Homeland Security, the White House, and other government agencies have adopted a distinct voice online. The posts look like memes, utilizing dramatic AI-generated art, general patriotic slogans, and cinematic language about “defending the homeland” and shaping America’s future.

But if you look closer, a pattern emerges.

Many of these phrases, images, and attached media aren’t just regular social media content. They repurpose language, symbolism, and cultural references with direct connections to neo-Nazi and white supremacist movements. It’s content that experts say is instantly recognizable to those who are in the white supremacist know, but can be largely invisible to everyone else.

So, let’s look at a couple of the more egregious examples that reveal this pattern.

There has been not one, but two posts from our government institutions that reuse a phrase ripped straight from William Gayley Simpson’s book Which Way Western Man?. It was published and promoted by the National Alliance—considered one of the “best organized” neo-Nazi groups in the United States. The book is antisemitic, racist, and explicitly states that Adolf Hitler was right.

Staying with Homeland Security, THE NEW YORK TIMES notes, "The Department of Homeland Security’s funding has lapsed and lawmakers are deadlocked over a proposal to restore it, with Democrats seeking restrictions on the federal agents carrying out President Trump’s immigration crackdown."  Brittney Melton (NPR) adds, "The agency shut down after lawmakers failed to meet a Friday deadline to fund DHS and its workforce of over 260,000 people. The funding lapse points to a greater issue: Congress's consistent failure to do its job on time."  Sahil Kapur, Scott Wong, Julie Tsirkin and Frank Thorp V (NBC NEWS) explain that the Democrats and the White House continue to debate what's needed before funding can be approved, "The two sides have continued to trade offers, signaling some hope for an agreement. But it remains unclear which Democratic demands the White House will agree to and Congress left Washington on Thursday without a deal.

The issues were addressed yesterday on CBS' FACE THE NATION where guest host Ed O'Keefe spoke with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. 

ED O'KEEFE:  We turn now to House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who joins us this morning from New York City. Leader Jeffries, thank you for being here.

DEMOCRATIC LEADER HAKEEM JEFFRIES: Good morning. Great to be with you. 

ED O'KEEFE:  So as this shutdown continues, I want to remind our viewers what it is, exactly, congressional Democrats are seeking to reopen the Department of Homeland Security. You want immigration agents to show IDs, to wear body cameras, take off their masks, stop racial profiling and seek judicial warrants to enter private property. Talks between the White House and congressional Democrats are continuing. Are you willing to compromise, to let any of these go, to get the government reopened?

REP. JEFFRIES: Well, our value proposition is simple, taxpayer dollars should be used to make life more affordable for the American people, not brutalize or kill them, as we horrifically saw in Minneapolis with the cold blooded killings of Rene Nicole Good and Alex Pretti. We know, and the American people clearly know, that ICE is totally out of control and they need to be reined in. Because the American people deserve immigration enforcement that is fair, that is just, and that is humane. And so, we need dramatic change at ICE, including, but not limited to, the types of things that you laid out before any DHS funding bill moves forward.

ED O'KEEFE: With the exception of some flexibility on body cameras, because they're starting to spend some money to get those out there, some Republicans have rejected this list of policy reform proposals. You guys still seem miles apart. So when, conceivably, will we see this resolved? And again, I ask you, if- are there any of these points that you're willing to let go in order to get the government reopened?

REP. JEFFRIES: Well, we're willing to have a good faith conversation about everything, but fundamentally we need change that is dramatic, that is bold, that is meaningful and that is transformational. And these are common sense things. For instance, judicial warrants should be required before ICE agents can storm private property or rip everyday Americans out of their homes. We need to make sure that there are actual independent investigations, so that if state and local laws are violated, in many cases, violently violated, that state and local authorities have the ability to criminally investigate and criminally prosecute anyone who has violated the law. Because we cannot trust Kristi Noem or Pam Bondi to conduct an independent investigation. We believe that sensitive locations should be off limits, sensitive locations like houses of worship, schools, hospitals or polling sites, and that fundamentally ICE should be targeting violent felons who are here unlawfully, as opposed to violently targeting law abiding immigrant families, which is completely inconsistent with what Donald Trump promised the American people he would do.

ED O'KEEFE: Right. And we, of course, this past week reported that about 14% of those detained had violent criminal records. About 60% of them were wanted on criminal records overall. But it was that 14%, violent criminals. Again, I just- it sounds like this is going to go on a while, because Tom Homan wasn't terribly flexible on anything, especially on the issue of warrants and masks. You're not ceding any ground. So there's a few things coming up here. For example, State of the Union is scheduled for a week from Tuesday. Should it be held if the Department of Homeland Security is shut down?

REP. JEFFRIES:  Well, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. It is certainly my hope-- 

ED O'KEEFE: --Sounds like you're going to get to it, though. I mean-- 

REP. JEFFRIES:--we can come to a resolution in advance of it. Well, here's the thing, the administration and Republicans have made a clear decision that they would rather shut down FEMA, shut down the Coast Guard and shut down TSA, than enact the type of dramatic reforms necessary so that ICE and other DHS law enforcement agencies are conducting themselves like every other law enforcement professional in the country. For instance, police officers don't use masks. County Sheriffs don't use masks. State troopers don't use masks. Why is it that ICE agents who are untrained, are being unleashed on American communities with this type of lawlessness, violence and brutality. Unacceptable, unconscionable, and it's un-American. 

Meanwhile, the liars of ICE never stop lying.  Mitch Smith and Hamed Aleaziz (NEW YORK TIMES) report: 

When an immigration agent shot Julio C. Sosa-Celis in the leg last month in Minneapolis, touching off hours of tense protests, the Trump administration rushed to sell a version of events that demonized the wounded man and defended the agent.

About two hours after the gunfire, a Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman claimed that three people had attacked an agent with a broom and snow shovel. She said the agent “fired a defensive shot to defend his life” as he was “being ambushed.” The next day, Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, accused the men of trying to kill the agent.

But the federal government’s account soon shifted. And by Friday, it had fully unraveled.

When assault charges were filed days after the shooting against Mr. Sosa-Celis and one of the other men, Alfredo A. Aljorna, officials changed their narrative, saying it was not three people who attacked the agent, but two. Several other details revealed in court records also differed from the original account.

Then on Thursday, the top federal prosecutor in Minnesota asked a judge to drop the case, saying that “newly discovered evidence in this matter is materially inconsistent with the allegations.” On Friday, the acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Todd Lyons, said two agents had been placed on leave for providing accounts that appeared to conflict with video footage of what happened. Those agents, he said, could eventually face termination and prosecution.

[. . .]

The collapse of the government’s narrative, which came just as the administration was ending its more than two-month surge of immigration agents to Minnesota, was the latest instance of the Department of Homeland Security providing an account of a shooting that later proved questionable or outright wrong. For many, especially those already skeptical of the Trump administration’s deportation agenda, the repeated emergence of evidence that undermines official accounts has cast doubt on almost anything the government says about immigration enforcement.

In response to this news,  Malcolm Ferguson (THE NEW REPUBLIC) notes:

This is absolutely egregious. Two men were accosted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, and one took a bullet to the leg. Then the federal government called them murderers and hit them with heavy charges, all for ICE’s own head to admit that his agents appear to have been lying under oath—a crime that this administration doesn’t seem to take very seriously.

This shooting happened one week after Renee Good was killed, and just over a week before Alex Pretti was killed. The Trump administration lied to us about both of those events, as well. Only time will tell just how many more of these ICE shootings were offensive rather than defensive. 

On HBO's LAST WEEK TONIGHT WITH JOHN OLIVER last night, John addressed the lies of Homeland Security.

 Around the country, protests continue against ICE.  J. David Goodman, Mary Beth Gahan and Callie Holtermann (NEW YORK TIMES) report:

Students in more than three dozen states have walked out of class to protest the Trump administration’s deportation tactics in recent weeks, a wave of defiant demonstrations that continues as some officials have vowed to crack down.

Teenagers in Utah carried backpacks and bullhorns as they walked out of eight schools in Salt Lake County. In Maine, students in mittens convened on a bridge over the Kennebec River. Scores of students were seen stopping highway traffic in Maryland. Classmates at a high school in Sunnyside, Wash., lined a parking lot carrying hand-drawn posters. “We are skipping our lesson to teach you one,” read one.

But in Texas, where more than half of all public school students are Hispanic, Republican leaders have tried teaching a very different lesson of their own, threatening students, teachers and school districts with severe consequences for taking part in demonstrations.

Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas has suggested that state funding could be stripped from school districts and that students who are disorderly during protests should be arrested. The Texas Education Agency has warned that districts found to have facilitated walkouts could be taken over by the state.

“Schools and staff who allow this behavior should be treated as co-conspirators,” Mr. Abbott said in a social media post last week, which focused on one walkout in Kyle, Texas, outside of Austin.

Yet despite the threats from state officials — and the pleas to students from many school administrators — the protests over immigration enforcement did not stop.

THE COLLEGIAN editorial board counters Abbott:

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott threatening to take away state funding from high schools with students who participate in protests is a restriction of the First Amendment.

In response to high school students protesting Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Jan. 30, Abbott argued walkouts are disruptive and lead to criminal chaos, and the schools allowing this behavior should be treated as co-conspirators.

But what is so criminal about student walkouts?

This type of political demonstration has been conducted by students since 1766. The Great Butter Rebellion at Harvard University, where students protested poor food quality, is considered the first student protest in the United States.

And Abbot's threats didn't deter turnout last week.  Chris Moss and Bianca Rodriguez-Mora (FORT WORTH REPORT) report:

As Seguin High sophomore Janelle walked to the corner of Silo and Eden roads in Arlington, a green shirt with a Mexican flag stitched on the back draped over her shoulders.

Worry, anger and fear all washed over her as she stood next to classmates and wondered what the consequences would be for walking out of school to protest recent deportations and deadly shootings related to immigration enforcement. Then she remembered her grandmother, who inspired her to attend Thursday’s protest in the first place.

“She came here as an immigrant,” Janelle said. “So I feel like I should be out here and show her that I can do it, and I can protect people.”

Janelle was one of many in Arlington and Mansfield who participated in walkouts this week to protest against the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

 Caitlin Leggett (KTXS) reports, "Students from Abilene High School walked out of class and marched to Abilene City Hall around noon Thursday, staging a student-led protest centered on concerns about immigration enforcement and what they described as recent actions by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement." KTAB/KRBC offer a photo essay here.  CNN notes, "More than 100 Dripping Springs High School students walked out of class and marched Tuesday to protest Immigration and Customs Enforcement, but some participants left the demonstration with traffic citations. Students carried signs and chanted as they left campus. One student, asked what they decided to put on their sign, said, 'We are skipping our lessons to teach you one. ICE out'."  Jacob Daniels (KRISTV) adds, "Students at multiple Corpus Christi Independent School District campuses walked out of classes Thursday afternoon, carrying signs and chanting in what many described as a powerful statement. The demonstration sparked debate among community members about student safety and supervision during the protest."  Arthur Clayborn (KLTV) notes, "Kilgore High School students walked out of classes Thursday morning to protest deportations by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, with organizers saying recent family separations in their community motivated the demonstration.  Student organizer Kemuel Ondinyo said he was inspired to act after watching similar protests at other Texas schools and witnessing deportations affecting people in his community."  Bianca Seward (HOUSTON PUBLIC MEDIA) notes, "More than 50 students from the Houston Academy for International Studies walked out of school Tuesday protesting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations in the United States.  The protest, which students said they started planning last week, started just after noon. While chanting 'ICE off our streets, ICE off our streets,' several students said they were there to call attention to the treatment of immigrants under the Trump administration."

And on Friday, walk outs continued.  Priscilla Rice (KERA) reports, "Young North Texans continue to protest the federal government’s anti-immigration policies by walking out of class. More than 200 students walked out of Grand Prairie High School just after 11 a.m. on Friday. Students told KERA stronger U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement measures have affected not only their community, but communities nationwide."  WBAP notes, "Several dozen students walked out of the Dallas Uplift Williams Prepatory School Friday morning, hiking into Dallas to protest ICE immigration activities at the American Airlines Center. Waving flags from several nations, students say they are protesting immigration and other federal agent violence, illegal arrests, and illegal deportations of their teachers and neighbors who have been here for years." Daniel Perreault (KVUE) adds, "Students at multiple Austin ISD schools walked out of class during the school day once again on Friday to protest.  Students from three Austin high schools walked out around 1:30 p.m. and then marched to Austin City Hall."  And Matt Mitchell (HOODLINE) notes, "More than a hundred McNeil High School students walked out of class in Round Rock on Friday afternoon, marching off campus to the corner of McNeil Drive and Parmer Lane to protest recent actions by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The midday demonstration kicked off shortly after 2 p.m., part of a wave of student-led protests that has rolled across Central Texas since late January."

 And John Andrews (WSWS) reports:

On Friday thousands of high school students walked out of Los Angeles-area schools to protest ICE’s Gestapo tactics, participating in another national “day of action.” Those who gathered outside the federal jail in downtown Los Angeles heroically stood up against an attack with gas and batons by federal agents.

Helicopter video by local television stations show demonstrators standing their ground near the U.S. Metropolitan Detention Center, many obviously teenagers, some shoving back and throwing objects at the federal thugs in self-defense.

 [. . .]

In a related retaliatory action, Ricardo Lopez, a history teacher at the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) Charter Synergy Quantum Academy in South Los Angeles, was fired for opening a locked gate to allow students, who were then risking injury by climbing over gates and fences, to join the walkout, a move school administrators labeled insubordination. Already almost a thousand signatures have been collected demanding Lopez’s reinstatement. To date the United Teachers of Los Angeles (UTLA) bureaucracy has issued no statement in support of the victimized teacher.

Protests took place across the nation.  Today?  Austin Hanson (FOX 59) reports:

A group of singers gathered in downtown Indianapolis Sunday night to protest U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The demonstration, which was organized by Indy Singing Resistance, was held at Monument Circle at 6 p.m. Instead of chanting, protestors used their signing voices to express themselves.

In a release sent ahead of the protest, Singing Resistance indicated that a small group of people would lead all who show up for the event. Those leaders taught demonstrators the songs they planned to sing during the protest upon their arrival at the event. No singing experience was required for protest attendees.

In Tennessee, WCYB reports, "Despite rainy conditions, protesters took to the streets in Johnson City on today to rally against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in the region, saying they are concerned about what they describe as an increased ICE presence spreading across Northeast Tennessee. Community members gathered holding signs and chanting, saying they would not stay silent against what they described as growing enforcement efforts by ICE. Pandora Burns a protestor said, 'I mean they don't stop deporting people in the rain either so'."

Meanwhile unhinged Pam Bondi sent out a letter on Saturday announcing that all the Epstein files had been released.  

The Epstein Class.  A group Chump's protecting.  His friends.  Remember the ones that would be hurt by the release of the Epstein files?  He yelled that at Marjorie Taylor Greene, remember?  Christopher Lamb (CNN) reports: 

Steve Bannon, a former White House adviser to US President Donald Trump, discussed opposition strategies with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein against Pope Francis, with Bannon saying he hoped to “take down” the pontiff, according to newly released files from the US Department of Justice.

Messages sent between the pair in 2019, released in the massive document dump last month, reveal Bannon courted the late financier in his attempts to undermine the former pontiff after leaving the first Trump administration.

Bannon had been highly critical of Francis whom he saw as an opponent to his “sovereigntist” vision, a brand of nationalist populism which swept through Europe in 2018 and 2019. The released documents from the DOJ appear to show that Epstein had been helping Bannon to build his movement.

“Will take down (Pope) Francis,” Bannon wrote to Epstein in June 2019. “The Clintons, Xi, Francis, EU – come on brother.”

Pope Francis was the people's pope so it's only natural that a disgusting creep like Steve Bannon would want to take him "down."  The Epstein Class is being made uncomfortable and a few are having to find the exit door.  Claire Zillman (FORBES) notes:

On Thursday, Goldman Sachs said general counsel Kathryn Ruemmler will leave the bank in June after the documents showed she stayed in close contact with Epstein until 2019, at one point calling him “Uncle Jeffrey” as she thanked him for high-end gifts. And on Friday, Dubai-based logistics group DP World named a new chair and new CEO, signaling the departure of Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem whose emails with Epstein included references to sexual experiences. Both ousters followed earlier resignations in the U.K. public sector, namely those of former U.S. ambassador Peter Mandelson from the House of Lords and Morgan McSweeney, Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s chief of staff who’d advised on Mandelson’s appointment.

And Charisma Madarang (ROLLING STONE) notes another out the door:

Following an exodus of talent who have left the Wasserman Group talent agency after emails between founder Casey Wasserman and Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell were revealed in the Justice Department's latest tranche of documents, pressure for the founder to step down came to a boiling point. On Friday, Wasserman announced that he was selling the company as he had become a "distraction" to the business he founded 24 years ago.

Niall Stanage (THE HILL) notes:

The latest releases also placed a shadow over the previous accounts given by allies of President Trump — from Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to Elon Musk — regarding their dealings with Epstein.

There is no suggestion of criminality around either Lutnick or Musk, but the latest batch of emails contradicted Lutnick’s earlier assertions of when he had cut off contact with Epstein and called into question Musk’s previously emphatic insistence that he “refused” to visit the disgraced financier’s Caribbean island.

In one newly released email, the entrepreneur asks Epstein which day or night might feature the wildest party on the island. It’s unclear if Musk actually visited.

Beyond all of that, there is the broader fear and anger raised by the nature of the Epstein story.

Specifically, it stokes the sense of a wealthy and powerful elite hovering above the rest of society, forming a chummy circle of mutual protection, and remaining out of reach of the laws and ethical standards to which everyone else is subject.

At a time when anti-elitist populism is already one of the strongest animating political forces in the United States — and in many other parts of the world — the Epstein story is rocket fuel.

Donald Chump is a pedo protector and he's got a lot of people he's protecting.  David McAfee (RAW STORY) notes:

A Donald Trump insider has been revealed to have been in "regular contact" with the late child sex abuser Jeffrey Epstein, including in one email that says "miss u," according to the latest DOJ release.

CBS News reported on the Epstein files release on Saturday in an article called, "Trump insider Tom Barrack kept in regular contact with Jeffrey Epstein for years, files show." Barrack is also an administration ambassador to Turkey.

"President Trump's longtime confidant Thomas Barrack, now serving as U.S. ambassador to Turkey and special envoy to Syria, was in regular, close contact with Jeffrey Epstein for years after Epstein's 2008 conviction for soliciting a minor, a CBS News analysis of over 100 texts and email exchanges from the newly released Justice Department documents shows," according to CBS.

The outlet further reported, "The correspondence places Barrack, a globe-trotting billionaire, among a circle of wealthy and influential figures who maintained social contact with Epstein even as his criminal history became widely known. Their relationship continued even after Barrack became a prolific fundraiser for Mr. Trump's 2016 campaign, and later, led his inaugural committee and became a frequent presence in the White House."

And Alexander Willis (RAW STORY) reports on a document in the recent release of Epstein files:

According to an FBI document released by the DOJ, the agency received a tip in June of 2021 from an individual whose name has been redacted, but is described as an alleged “victim,” a former member of the Sinaloa Cartel, and a close confidant of Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.

According to the document, the individual was formally interviewed by an FBI agent, and accused Trump of being aware of and having funded “underage sex parties at the Donald Trump Golf course.”

That individual went on to claim that they had “recordings of Trump, Epstein and Maxwell discussing marketing strategies for high profile sex parties,” according to the FBI official who drafted the document, their name also redacted. The individual claimed that in one of the recordings, Trump can be heard stating “he was aware of the underage sex parties.”

Let's wind down with this from Senator Alex Padilla's office:

Padilla and Wyden sound alarm that IRS errors improperly exposed private taxpayer information to ICE

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senators Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee, and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee, demanded answers and accountability from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) after the agency admitted in a court filing that the flawed system it adopted to transfer people’s home addresses to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) potentially led to thousands of records being shared improperly in violation of taxpayer privacy laws. In a new letter to Acting IRS Commissioner Scott Bessent and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, the Senators also raised grave concerns that the automated system the Trump Administration created to transfer taxpayer data to ICE may have misidentified a large but unknown number of taxpayers — possibly including American citizens — in response to ICE inquiries, potentially exposing them to immigration enforcement actions at a time when serious questions are being raised about how such actions are being carried out. 

“The IRS failed to properly verify that the information it disclosed to ICE belonged to the correct taxpayers. Instead, it used a faulty, automated verification system to identify the taxpayers whose information it thought it could disclose under the terms of the agency’s data-sharing agreement, which it reached last year with the Department of Homeland Security,” wrote the Senators. “… The IRS now admits that this system led to exactly the kinds of grave mistakes our taxpayer privacy laws were designed to prevent, and that Congress as well as IRS employees previously warned could happen under this data-sharing agreement.”

Senators Padilla, Wyden, and additional Senate Democrats warned early last year that the data-sharing agreement between the IRS and ICE would result in serious errors and violate taxpayer privacy. They demanded details about the status and potential misuse of the data sharing program as recently as January 30 of this year. 

“The risk to innocent people was entirely predictable once taxpayer data was used for immigration enforcement,” continued the Senators. “Because the administration ignored the warnings, we now face the extraordinarily troubling likelihood that in some significant, unknown number of cases, the IRS not only provided return information to ICE in violation of strict taxpayer privacy laws, but it also provided information about the wrong taxpayers. Those individuals may have been injured by ICE, improperly detained or imprisoned, or improperly deported.”

In their letter, the Senators called for explanations of exactly how many taxpayer records were shared improperly, who was responsible and what accountability measures will be taken, whether anyone has been wrongly detained or deported based on shared data, and what steps the Trump Administration is taking to notify taxpayers whose information was improperly disclosed. The letter was also signed by Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Angus King (I-Maine), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), and Peter Welch (D-Vt.).

Last spring, Senators Padilla, Wyden, and Cortez Masto condemned the IRS’ plan to provide sensitive taxpayer information to the Department of Homeland Security to locate suspected undocumented immigrants. The Senators also led a March 2025 letter to IRS and DHS leadership raising the alarm on reports that DHS and the Department of Government Efficiency illegally requested sensitive taxpayer information from the IRS.

Full text of today’s letter is available here and below: 

Dear Acting Commissioner Bessent and Secretary Noem:

We write with alarm following up on our January 29, 2026, letter to Acting Commissioner Bessent regarding the IRS’s disclosure of 47,289 taxpayers’ return information (including “last known addresses”) to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials. Validating our fears expressed in that letter, an IRS court filing made on February 11, 2026, confirms that thousands of these disclosures may have been improper.

The government has argued that it was permitted to disclose tax return information with respect to specific taxpayers who were under active investigation by ICE. That premise is subject to litigation, and ICE’s initial claim that it had more than a million active investigations underway is absurd. Furthermore, the IRS failed to properly verify that the information it disclosed to ICE belonged to the correct taxpayers. Instead, it used a faulty, automated verification system to identify the taxpayers whose information it thought it could disclose under the terms of the agency’s data-sharing agreement, which it reached last year with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). This agreement was signed by Secretaries Bessent and Noem. The IRS now admits that this system led to exactly the kinds of grave mistakes our taxpayer privacy laws were designed to prevent, and that Congress as well as IRS employees previously warned could happen under this data-sharing agreement.

Because it is common for multiple taxpayers to have similar or identical names and because not all ethnic groups follow the same naming conventions, the IRS needs more than an individual’s first and last name to ensure it does not disclose information about the wrong taxpayer in violation of Internal Revenue Code (IRC) section 6103.

In its recent court filing, the IRS admits it provided return information, including the taxpayers’ “last known addresses” (which may be current addresses unknown to ICE), even in many cases where ICE’s request for taxpayer information included a name but not a complete or accurate address.

As an example, if ICE requested the last known address of “John Doe” at “Unknown Address, 99999” the IRS’s automated system would disclose the last known address for a person named John Doe to ICE. This is because the IRS system only looked to see if the address field in ICE requests was or was not populated, not whether it was populated with an address that matched IRS records.

The IRS estimates that up to five percent of its 47,289 disclosures to ICE may have involved insufficient address data. In other words, thousands of taxpayers’ information may have been disclosed in violation of section 6103, including those who are not targets of immigration investigations.

The risk to innocent people was entirely predictable once taxpayer data was used for immigration enforcement. Because the administration ignored the warnings, we now face the extraordinarily troubling likelihood that in some significant, unknown number of cases, the IRS not only provided return information to ICE in violation of strict taxpayer privacy laws, but it also provided information about the wrong taxpayers. Those individuals may have been injured by ICE, improperly detained or imprisoned, or improperly deported.

That would be an unimaginable nightmare for those wrongly targeted people and their families. Conditions in ICE facilities are horrific, and 32 people died in ICE custody last year, meeting the record last reached in 2004, and another 8 have died this year alone. The Trump administration has deported people to foreign torture prisons, third countries they have no ties to, or back to their home countries, despite having pending asylum claims. Exposing people to such risk because of an improper sharing of tax information is unconscionable.

As noted in our prior letter, penalties for 6103 violations are severe. IRC section 7213 requires responsible employees to be terminated, and IRC section 7431 allows a taxpayer to bring a civil lawsuit for damages.

Injured taxpayers will not know they can sue until the government informs them of their rights. The government is required by section 7431 to inform the victims when a person is criminally charged with a violation of section 6103 or when the IRS proposes an adverse action against an employee.

Accordingly, please respond no later than March 15 to the following questions:

1. Exactly how many taxpayers’ return information was disclosed in circumstances that the IRS now considers improper or potentially improper?

a. How and when did you find out about the inappropriate disclosures?

b. Who at the IRS first became aware that the inappropriate disclosures were made?

2. Which officials are responsible for approving, executing, and supervising the disclosures now considered to be improper or potentially improper?

3. Has any IRS or DHS employee been investigated, charged, disciplined, placed on administrative leave, or otherwise held accountable in connection with any improper disclosures?

a. If not, explain why not.

b. If so, please identify the employee and describe the accountability measure taken.

4. Have DHS or ICE accessed, reviewed, relied upon, copied, or further disseminated the affected data before remediation efforts began?

5. What specific steps have DHS or ICE taken to prevent further disclosure or dissemination of the data?

6. What specific steps are DHS and ICE taking to dispose of data improperly disclosed by the IRS?

7. Have any of the 47,289 taxpayers whose information the IRS provided to ICE been questioned, arrested, detained, or deported?

a. If so, how many are among the subset of individuals whose information the IRS shared improperly with ICE?

b. What steps are the IRS and DHS taking to make this determination?

c. What plan has the IRS and DHS put in place to remedy any detainments or deportations made in error?

8. Have any affected taxpayers been notified that their information has been improperly disclosed?

a. If not, when will the notification occur?

b. If the IRS has concluded that such notice is not required, provide the legal basis for that determination.

We look forward to your prompt and complete response.

Sincerely,

###

The following sites updated:

• 
  NPR Topics: Home Page Top Stories

  One Olympic sport still excludes women. This week's viewing numbers could change that

  2 hours ago
• 
  PBS NewsHour - The Latest

  Trump says Board of Peace members promise $5 billion for Gaza rebuild

  11 hours ago
• 
  Paul Krugman

  Who Is Paying the Trump Tariffs?

  1 day ago
• 
  The New Republic

  Food Used to Be Democrats’ Territory. What Happened?

  1 day ago
• 
  TPM – Talking Points Memo

  Hegseth Vows to Keep up Kelly Retribution Crusade

  2 days ago
• 
  Mikey Likes It!

  Idiot of the Week

  2 days ago
• 
  Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude

  another of 'the epstein class' gets pushed out - and maxie's out of a coma on general hospital

  2 days ago
• 
  SICKOFITRADLZ

  He is falling apart before our eyes

  2 days ago
• 
  Like Maria Said Paz

  Chump's tariff lies exposed

  2 days ago
• 
  Kat's Korner (of The Common Ills)

  Chuck D, Cardi B, Diana Ross and Cass Elliot

  2 days ago
• 
  Ruth's Report

  The sinking ship that is Donald Chump

  2 days ago
• 
  Trina's Kitchen

  Ham and Potato Casserole in the Kitchen

  2 days ago
• 
  Latino USA

  Culture Is Freedom: Remembering Garifuna Legend Aurelio Martínez

  3 days ago
• 
  
• 
  
•  

another of 'the epstein class' gets pushed out - and maxie's out of a coma on general hospital

in today's snapshot, c.i. notes sultan ahmed bin sulayen.  since the snapshot went up, sultan ahmed bin sulayen has been forced to resign his post due to his relationship with the late jeffrey epstein - specifically, over an e-mail to epstien thanking him for a video of torture that epstein shared.  shane croucher ('newsweek') reports:

Democratic U.S. Representative Ro Khanna took credit, along with his Republican House colleague Representative Thomas Massie, for the exit of Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem from the global logistics giant DP World, where he was replaced as CEO and chairman amid scrutiny over his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.

Emails between Sulayem and the late sex offender were in the Epstein investigation files published by the Department of Justice. The DOJ documents show that the pair corresponded about sexual experiences, and Sulayem continued a relationship with Epstein for years after the latter’s conviction for soliciting an underage prostitute in 2008.

In one exchange, which prompted Sulayem to be identified as the redacted recipient by Massie and a DOJ official, Epstein referred to a “torture video”. The nature of the video is unknown.

Khanna said in a Friday morning post on X that he and Massie had “called on DOJ to stop protecting this man & underact his name,” referring to Sulayem, whose name was redacted in some of the emails released. “They relented. Then I took to the House floor to name names. Today, he resigns. We will not rest until there is elite accountability for the Epstein class.”

Massie, in a separate post on X, also noted Sulayem’s resignation and linked it to his and Khanna’s flagging of the “torture video” email.

now for 'general hospital.'  maxie is out of coma.  she has heard from her kids georgie and james and from her boyfriend spinelli.  but mainly from her mother felicia.  felicia was the 1 who, at the end of the episode, had to tell her that nathan was back, that nathan was alive. nathan 'died' in 2018.  he and maxie were married.  

nathan was leaving lulu's when brook lyn - chip on her shoulder brook lyn - showed up and deduced that the 2 had feelings for 1 another.  she then lectured - attacked - maxie.  you know, brook lyn can't even support her husband chase.  she also refuses to adopt a child with chase.  maybe it's time brook lynn addressed her own damn problems?  their argument was ended when spinelli called to tell lulu that maxie was out of a coma.

lucas told elizabeth that marco wasn't being honest with him.  he'd heard marco and his father sidwell talking and he knew that marco was part of something sinister.  elizabeth told him that she knew marco loved him.  she also told him 'tough love time,' that he needed to move off the island tonight.

marco gave britt her shot and she told him he was destroying whatever he had with lucas by being in business with his father.  marco insisted he was only in business with sidwell for this 1 mission.  brit told him this 1 mission could be designing a weapon.  

later, marco was on the phone leaving a message for ross saying that he wanted to talk and about sonny.  behind him, lucas stood.  marco saw him when he turned around.  he had no idea  how long lucas was standing there.  

ava went to see nina and told her that she was interested in sidwell but that she had competition from lucy coe.  nina told her that she thought it was wrong because of sidwell's bad reputation but admitted ava had a glow and she was happy for her  lucy went to sidwell and apologized (as part of her scheme) for demanding he choose between her and ava.  sidwell showed up at nina's magazine to ask ava out.  ava was thrilled until she learned their dinner was a 3 some with lucy. 

let's close with c.i.'s 'The Snapshot:'

Friday, February 13, 2026.  The Epstein class suffers a loss at Goldman Sachs, Pam Bondi lied to Congress, Chump moves his war on immigrants onto migrants who legally became US citizens, ICE gets caught in more lies, Senator Patty Murray calls for an end to ICE attacking our Constitutionally protected rights, Senator Mark Kelly gets a legal win, and much more. 

LE MONDE reported last night, "A top lawyer for Goldman Sachs will leave the Wall Street bank, its chief executive said Thursday, February 12, after her close ties with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein were revealed. The firm's general counsel Kathryn Ruemmler had courted intense scrutiny after the Department of Justice dumped emails in recent weeks that showed her extensive relationship with the disgraced financier."  The Epstein Class.  Ruemmler was part of it.  Joshua Franklin and James Fontanella-Khan (FINANCIAL TIMES OF LONDON)  note that she plans to step down June 30th and quote her declaring, "I made the determination that the media attention on me, relating to my prior work as a defense attorney, was becoming a distraction."  Her prior work as a defense attorney?  She wasn't Epstein's defense attorney.  She was his friend.  She gave him free legal advice.  THE GUARDIAN notes:

 Up until her resignation, Ruemmler repeatedly tried to distance herself from the emails and other correspondence and had been defiant that she would not resign from Goldman’s top legal post, which she had held since 2020.

While Ruemmler has called Epstein a “monster” in recent statements, she had a much different relationship with him before he was arrested a second time for sex crimes in 2019 and later killed himself in a Manhattan jail; Ruemmler called Epstein “Uncle Jeffrey” in emails and said she adored him.

Rob Copeland, Maureen Farrell, Lauren Hirsch and Duy Nguyen (NEW YORK TIMES) explain:

She educated him on how the law differentiates between underage victims of sex crimes and adult prostitutes. “I think the point is that if she was underage, she could not legally consent to engaging in prostitution,” Ms. Ruemmler wrote to Mr. Epstein in 2015.

She offered advice on how to knock down the credibility of one of his accusers, writing in one email that Mr. Epstein’s lawyer could push the woman into a “perjury trap.”

Ms. Ruemmler signed some emails “xoxo” and swapped photos. She joked with Mr. Epstein about the weight of visitors at New Jersey rest stops and speculated about the sexual orientation of a well-known hedge fund billionaire.

And over a series of meetings, she sought his advice on personal and professional matters, (“men aren’t interested in women my age,” one email lamented).

In 2019, while interviewing for the job at Goldman, Ms. Ruemmler told Mr. Epstein that she was wearing gifts from him. “Am totally tricked out by Uncle Jeffrey today!” she wrote.

She lied about her relationship with Epstein.  But let's grasp that she knew what she was doing.  She knew she was lying about her relationship with Epstein.  But she also knew what he was doing.  Note this paragraph again:

She educated him on how the law differentiates between underage victims of sex crimes and adult prostitutes. “I think the point is that if she was underage, she could not legally consent to engaging in prostitution,” Ms. Ruemmler wrote to Mr. Epstein in 2015.

Wow.  What a concerned and moral authority the woman was. Ruemmler was advising a man convicted of child prostitution "on how the law differentiates between underage victims of sex crimes and adult prostitution."  She wrote, "I think the point is that if she was underage, she could not legally consent to engaging in prostitution."

And Goldman Sachs think they can wait until June 30th for her to exit?

The Epstein Class. 

Mackenzie Grizzard (BAYLOR LARIAT) notes:

Former Baylor President Kenneth Starr invited disgraced New York financier Jeffrey Epstein to visit Baylor’s campus in July 2012, according to newly released files.

The initial visit took place on July 30, 2012, inside Pat Neff Hall and was organized by Starr’s then-assistant Jennifer Jarvis and Epstein’s assistant Lesley Groff. Epstein was picked up from the Texas State Technical College-Waco airport by two assistants — Jeff Wittekiend and Angela Gray Oliver.

According to the files, after Epstein’s initial visit, Starr invited him to return to share a meal at the Allbritton House.

“It was great having Jeffrey here,” Starr wrote in his email. “He’s a prince. Next time, he is warmly welcome and encouraged to ‘break bread’ with me at the Allbritton House. His menu, my pleasure.”

They continued to remain in contact and Starr defended him:

In November 2018, the Miami Herald began investigating Epstein’s 2008 plea deal, under which he was sentenced to 18 months in jail on one count of soliciting prostitution and one count of soliciting prostitution from a minor. Epstein had to then register as a sex offender.

The Herald reached out to the Lanier Law Firm for a written statement from Starr about Epstein’s past conviction. Director of Marketing and Communications Johnny D. Cargill emailed Starr, who responded with a preliminary quote, with an official comment “forthcoming,” he said.

“Since paying his debt to society, Jeffrey has led a truly exemplary life and has moved on from this chapter over ten years ago,” Starr’s email reads. “He was a valued client of my former firm and remains to this day a trusted personal friend.”

 

At THE COLUMBIA SPECTATOR, Shoshoshi Das, Ruby Topalian, and Theresa Cullen note:

The College of Dental Medicine has “taken action” against two officials affiliated with Columbia who maintained relationships with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, the Office of Public Affairs announced in a Wednesday statement.

College of Dental Medicine administrators helped Karyna Shuliak, Dental ’15, gain admission in 2012 after she was initially rejected earlier that year. Epstein referred to Shuliak as his girlfriend in at least one email released by the Department of Justice on Jan. 30.

College of Dental Medicine administrators had also solicited donations from Epstein. On Aug. 16, 2012, three months after Shuliak was admitted to the school, Epstein advanced $100,000 to a fund named after Ira Lamster, then-dean of the College of Dental Medicine. Lamster served as dean from 2001 to 2012 and was another administrator involved with Shuliak’s acceptance. He left the University voluntarily in 2017.

Lamster acknowledged alerting the admissions team to Shuliak’s “interest” in a Columbia dental training program for international students after Epstein asked him to. “At that time we were pursuing a major gift from JE, and it was logical to agree to JE’s request,” Lamster wrote in a statement to Spectator. “It was made clear to the admissions director, however, that she should be judged on the merits of her application.”

Dr. Thomas Magnani, Dental ’80, has been officially removed by Columbia as part of this action. A former College of Dental Medicine professor and admissions review committee member, he helped admit Shuliak and solicited funds from Epstein. Magnani, who was Epstein’s dentist, appears earlier in a 2011 correspondence as a point of connection between Epstein’s assistant, Lesley Groff, and Columbia administrators. In April 2011, Groff and senior administrators arranged a special tour of the College of Dental Medicine for Shuliak as a “favor” to Magnani, according to the emails.

The other College of Dental Medicine official Columbia claims to have taken actions against is Letty Moss-Salentijn, the Edward V. Zegarelli Professor of Dental Medicine.

Moss-Salentijn, the vice dean for curricular innovation and interprofessional education, “will step down from her administrative roles,” Wednesday’s statement reads. The University did not state whether Moss-Salentijn will continue teaching at Columbia.

Pam Bondi embarrassed herself and her post as Attorney General with her outrageous performance before the House Judiciary Committee this week.   S.V. Date (HUFFINGTON POST) notes she also committed perjury:

Attorney General Pam Bondi falsely claimed in her sworn testimony to Congress Wednesday that Jeffrey Epstein’s partner in child *** trafficking was not transferred to a “lower-level” prison, even though her Justice Department moved Ghislaine Maxwell to a “Club Fed”-type facility last summer. 

Days after meeting with Bondi’s deputy and former Donald Trump defense lawyer Todd Blanche, Maxwell was transferred from Tallahassee, Florida, to the Federal Prison Camp in Bryan, Texas. Tallahassee is a low-security prison, but FPC Bryan is an even more relaxed “minimum-security” facility and is typically meant for nonviolent, white-collar criminals in their final months of captivity.

Bondi, like all witnesses who appear before Congress, began her testimony by agreeing to answer questions truthfully “under penalty of perjury” at the start of her appearance before the House Judiciary Committee.

So Pam's accidentally outed an undercover FBI agent and she's betrayed the survivors by releasing their names and additional information and on top of that?  She perjured herself Wednesday when she appeared before the House Judiciary Committee.   

She also outed herself as spying on members of Congress.  As we noted yesterday:

The Jayapal exchange revealed something else.  Remember Pam's binder?  Dan Manan (NBC NEWS) reports:

Attorney General Pam Bondi at a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Wednesday seemed to have a printout of Rep. Pramila Jayapal’s history of searches of the Department of Justice’s database of documents related to the notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Photos of a black binder that Bondi had at the hearing showed the words “Jayapal Pramila Search History” and a list of documents whose numbers coincide with the number of Epstein files.

Jayapal, a Washington state Democrat who sits on the Judiciary Committee, and other members of Congress have visited the DOJ in recent days to view documents related to Epstein that are not available to the public.

Jayapal blasted Bondi in a post on X on Wednesday evening.

“It is totally inappropriate and against the separations of powers for the DOJ to surveil us as we search the Epstein files,” Jayapal wrote.

“Bondi showed up today with a burn book that held a printed search history of exactly what emails I searched,” the congresswoman said.

“That is outrageous and I intend to pursue this and stop this spying on members.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., when asked by MS Now if Bondi’s alleged action was appropriate, at first said, “I’m not going to comment on an allegation that is unsubstantiated. I don’t know anything about it.”

“I haven’t seen or heard anything about that, but that would be inappropriate if it happened,” Johnson said.

Washington, D.C. (February 11, 2026)—Today, Rep. Jamie Raskin, Ranking Member of the House Committee on the Judiciary, issued the following statement after photographs revealed that Attorney General Pam Bondi has tracked the search history of Members of Congress who have reviewed the unredacted Epstein files at a satellite office of the Department of Justice:

"The Department of Justice has required Members of Congress who wish to review the slightly-less-redacted Epstein files to travel to a DOJ annex, sit at one of four DOJ-owned computers, use a clunky and convoluted software system provided by DOJ, and search for and read documents while DOJ staffers look over our shoulders. It is the perfect set up for DOJ to spy on Members’ review, monitoring, recording, and logging every document we choose to pull up.

“Today, photographs of Attorney General Bondi’s ‘burn book’ confirmed my suspicions. These photos show Bondi came to our hearing with a document entitled ‘Jayapal Pramila Search History’ and then listed the documents my colleague, Rep. Jayapal, reviewed while at DOJ, apparently to prepare the Attorney General for any questions Rep. Jayapal might ask.

“Not only has the Department of Justice illegally withheld documents from Congress and the American people. Not only has Attorney General Bondi failed to bring a single indictment against a single co-conspirator of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. But now Bondi and her team are spying on Members of Congress conducting oversight in yet another blatant attempt to intrude into Congress’s oversight processes.

“It is an outrage that DOJ is tracking Members’ investigative steps undertaken to ensure that DOJ is complying with the Epstein File Transparency Act and using this information for the Attorney General’s embarrassing polemical purposes. DOJ must immediately cease tracking any Members’ searches, open up the Epstein review to senior congressional staff, and publicly release all files—with all the survivors’ information, and only the survivors’ information, properly redacted—as required by federal law. I will also be asking the DOJ Inspector General to open an inquiry into this outrageous abuse of power. Let us use this humiliating disclosure about the Attorney General's work ethics to do a complete reset on the Epstein coverup.”   

 

###

On Thursday's MORNING EDITION (NPR),  US House Rep Jayapal Pramila spoke with host Steve Inskeep:

INSKEEP: What are your thoughts about that paper with your search history in the attorney general's hand?

JAYAPAL: Well, I think it's completely against the separation of powers. We are supposed to be able to, as lawmakers, go in, review the files, take whatever we want from there, not be surveilled and spied on by the Department of Justice. And it's - that was my search history. It was much more extensive than that, but that was the first page. And she clearly came in prepared with that information. In fact, I think she probably opened it up to us on Monday, two days before the hearing, so she could see what we were going to search and ask her about. Totally unacceptable. And we've asked for, immediately, a change in the process so that the DOJ is not spying on us.

INSKEEP: House Speaker Mike Johnson was asked about this. He said, I know nothing about it. Not going to comment on it. But if it happened, it's inappropriate. Are you getting any support from Republicans on that?

JAYAPAL: Yeah. I actually spoke to Mike last night about this, and I do think that there is bipartisan agreement that we should be able to review those files without the Department of Justice surveilling us. And that's exactly what she was doing, and I think she was doing it in preparation for the hearing. But also, I think they want to know what we're going to - what we're pulling up so that they can use it in some way. That was in her Burn Book. That's what we call that binder with all the opposition research against us that she kept trying to insult different members of Congress with. And I think that she - you know, I think there is bipartisan support to say this cannot continue to happen, and we need a whole new process for how we review these files and who tracks, you know, any of this.

INSKEEP: Just so I understand - and he'll speak for himself - but did you understand Speaker Johnson to be on board with taking some kind of action here?

JAYAPAL: Well, I think I'll just - I won't say what he said to me, but I'll just say what he said in the public quote. And I showed him and told him exactly what had happened and that the search was my search, and it clearly was surveilling.

INSKEEP: Now, you raised in the hearing the failure to redact the names of victims and then the redaction of other people who are in the files, one of them a man named Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem. As far as I could tell, you didn't get an answer about that particular case, but you brought it up in any case. What draws that particular redaction to your attention?

JAYAPAL: Well, the point I was trying to make is that the Transparency Act that we passed in Congress specifically said you have to redact the private information of survivors and you have to not redact the private information, the personal information of any potential predators or co-conspirators. And that's clearly what that email indicated, is that there was a powerful person who was being protected. He happened to - as I mentioned in my remarks, he happened to also be somebody with financial ties to Donald Trump and personal ties to Steve Bannon. And so I wanted to get her answer about why she was violating - allowing the violation of the law in both these instances, the nonredaction of that personal information of survivors and then the redaction of powerful people that she seemed to be protecting. She didn't want to answer that question.

The most important thing to me was getting her to turn around to the survivors and apologize to them because the harm is irreparable. That information is out there now. Nude photographs are out there. Even if the Department of Justice redacts that, that does not bring justice to the survivors. And, you know, it was just stunning to me that she refused to turn to them and take responsibility for what her Department of Justice had done to re-traumatize these survivors.

Two things on the above exchange.  First, Pam Bondi created her own worst photo op.  Molly Sprayregen (LGBTQ NATION) notes:

A powerful photo is circulating on social media that many are saying is a stark symbol of the administration’s lack of concern for the Epstein victims.

The photo shows a group of Epstein survivors raising their hands after Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D) asked who had not had the opportunity to meet with the Justice Department. Attorney General Pam Bondi, who was being questioned during a bizarre and combative House Judiciary Committee hearing, keeps her head down and her back turned to the victims, refusing to look at them. 

[. . .]

To many, the photo has become representative of Bondi’s attitude throughout the hearing – and of the administration’s attitude toward the Epstein controversy overall. 

 

Second, Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem?  Dylan Butts (CNBC) notes:

U.S. officials made new disclosures from the Epstein files on Monday, naming who they believe was the recipient behind a disturbing email sent by the deceased financier and sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein, in which he referenced a supposed “torture video.”

That name is Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, one of the Emirates’ most powerful business figures, who, for years, maintained a relationship with Epstein, with the communications often including explicit content, according to documents recently released by the U.S. Justice Department.

The latest revelation comes after Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky. and Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif. reviewed unredacted documents at the Justice Department on Monday.

Massie posted a screenshot of the email on the social media platform X. In the email, Epstein wrote to a redacted recipient: “where are you? Are you ok, I loved the torture video.” The reply stated: “I am in china I will be in the US 2nd week of May.”

[. . .]

The DOJ’s file release shows that Epstein once referred to Sulayem as a “close personal friend” he had known for 8 years. He also described Sulayem as one of his most trusted friends in other writings. 

In the world of Epstein, being a trusted friend appeared to have come with private communications regarding topics including but not limited to: arrangements with masseuses; sexual encounters with women; escort and prostitution services; lewd comments and jokes; and pornography.

Additionally, the two often appeared to be discussing in-person meetings. On several occasions, Sulayem corresponded with Epstein about Little St. James, Epstein’s private island in the U.S. Virgin Islands, which prosecutors allege was used as a base for sex trafficking.

Moving over to Chump's war on immigrants,  Rhian Lubin (INDEPENDENT) reports on Chump's latest immigration move -- removing citizenship from naturalized citizens:

The Trump administration is moving ahead with plans to strip some foreign-born Americans of their citizenship, with a target of 200 cases a month, according to a report.

In December 2025, guidance was provided to offices of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the agency within the Department of Homeland Security, requesting that they “supply the Office of Immigration Litigation with 100-200 denaturalization cases per month” in 2026.

The plans are now in motion, according to NBC News. Experts with the immigration agency have reportedly been carrying out visits to offices around the country and reassigning staff to review whether some citizens processed there could be denaturalized, people familiar with the plans told the outlet.

It is rare to strip someone of their citizenship. Between 1990 and 2017, there were only 11 denaturalization cases on average each year, according to the Brennan Center for Justice.

Individuals may only be legally stripped of their U.S. citizenship for a few specific reasons, such as if they committed fraud during the citizenship application process.

Colleen Long (NBC NEWS) adds:

Trump has long been preoccupied with the notion of citizenship — who gets to be an American and who doesn’t — and has expressed displeasure with immigrants from what he calls third world nations. He is separately seeking the power to strip citizenship from those born to foreigners in the U.S., though “birthright citizenship” appears in the Constitution. The Supreme Court is weighing his argument.

Trump’s Truth Social message to Americans on Thanksgiving Day last year was that he would remove anyone who wasn’t a “net asset” to the U.S. “or is incapable of loving our Country, end all Federal benefits and subsidies to noncitizens of our Country, denaturalize migrants who undermine domestic tranquility, and deport any Foreign National who is a public charge, security risk, or non-compatible with Western Civilization.”

Roughly 800,000 people become naturalized citizens every year, according to DHS. To become a naturalized citizen, a candidate must be over 18, already be a legal permanent resident, speak English, know U.S. history and social studies and have “good moral character,” according to the Immigration and Naturalization Act.

Foreign-born Americans were generally stripped of citizenship only if they were found to have committed fraud during their application processes. In past decades, those cases focused on ferreting out former Nazis who fled to the U.S. after World War II under false pretenses. Both Democratic and Republican administrations have sought to increase investigations, but it’s still rare for a reason, a former USCIS official said.

ICE lies.  Never forget that fact.  Jem Bartholomew (GUARDIAN) notes one of their imploding lies, "Marimar Martinez, a US citizen, was shot five times by a border patrol agent in October while in her vehicle. She was charged with a felony after officials at the Department of Homeland Security accused her of trying to ram agents with her vehicle. But the case was dismissed after video evidence emerged showing that an agent had steered his vehicle into Martinez’s car."  David Edwards (RAW STORY) notes, "President Donald Trump appeared personally supportive of an immigration agent who shot an innocent immigrant five times, according to evidence provided by her attorneys. At a press conference on Wednesday, attorneys for Marimar Martinez announced that their client was suing the U.S. government for shooting her last October after a border patrol agent's SUV allegedly swerved into her vehicle. Agents later claimed that Martinez had rammed them."  Evan Williams (TAG24 NEWS) notes that "Former Border Patrol commander-at-large Gregory Bovino reportedly emailed his congratulations to the Customs and Border Protection officer who shot a woman five times in Chicago.  'Good afternoon. I'd like to extend an offer for you to extend your retirement beyond age 57,' a leaked email sent by Bovino to Charles Exum, the agent who shot Marimar Martinez five times on October 4, 2025."  Renee Hickman (REUTERS) explains, "Video, text messages, emails and other records were released by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Chicago late on Tuesday after a district court judge said that the government had shown 'zero concern' about Martinez's reputation even after the government dropped the case in November."

 

Lawrence O'Donnell did a great segment on Marimar last night as he spoke with her attorney Christopher Parente.

Turning to the environment, Chump's determined to destroy the world.  Betty's noted twice this week -- "Chump moves to destroy the world" and "Chump destroys the planet" -- Chump's pan to rescind the 2009 EPA finding that greenhouse gases are a danger to our pubic health.  Dharna Noor (GUARDIAN) reports that he rescinded it yesterday and notes:

On social media, Barack Obama said the repeal will leave Americans “less safe, less healthy and less able to fight climate change – all so the fossil fuel industry can make even more money”.

The former secretary of state John Kerry called the new rule “un-American”.

“Repealing the Endangerment Finding takes Orwellian governance to new heights and invites enormous damage to people and property around the world,” said Kerry, who also served as Joe Biden’s climate envoy. “Ignoring warning signs will not stop the storm. It puts more Americans directly in its path.”

The final rule removes the government’s ability to impose requirements to track, report and limit climate-heating pollution from cars and trucks. Transportation is the largest source of climate pollution in the US.

Meanwhile, defeat for Chump and his nimby pamby boy Pete Looselips Hegseth.  Their attempt to curtail the free speech of Senator Mark Kelly received a set back.  Elena Moore (NPR) reports:

A federal judge in Washington, D.C., has granted Sen. Mark Kelly's request for a preliminary injunction against Pete Hegseth, in a lawsuit filed by the Arizona Democrat accusing the defense secretary of trying to punish him for his political speech.

Kelly, a former Navy Captain, sued Hegseth in January, one week after the defense secretary moved to formally censure him for participating in a video where he and several Democratic lawmakers told U.S. servicemembers they can refuse illegal orders.

"Our rules are clear. You can refuse illegal orders," Kelly says in the video.

At MS NOW, retired Lt. Col. Rachel E. VanLandingham, writes:

I’m a military retiree who has used my platform as a tenured professor and military law expert to push the Pentagon to improve — often through public criticism of its policies. I was greatly relieved, then, that a federal judge expressed Thursday just how dangerous the Trump administration’s witch hunt against Sen. Mark Kelly is. It is a threat to all military retirees’ freedom of speech and our unique ability to contribute to U.S. national security through that exercise.

In a fiery opinion that quoted Bob Dylan, Judge Richard Leon of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia thwarted Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s attempt to retaliate against Kelly — and abuse military law — over the senator’s speech. Leon temporarily enjoined the Pentagon from trying to reduce Sen. Kelly’s military rank because he had publicly criticized the Trump administration.

Hegseth’s speech-suppressive campaign against Kelly is extraordinary, and Judge Leon met the moment by clearly outlining its breathtaking consequences for those of us who served our nation in uniform. He noted that it “threatened the constitutional liberties of millions of military retirees.”

In early January, Hegseth issued a formal “letter of censure” against Kelly, a Navy combat veteran and astronaut who honorably retired in 2011 after decades of active-duty service. Hegseth claimed that Kelly’s various public critiques of the Pentagon last year — including his appearance in a video with five other military veteran lawmakers urging service members to disobey unlawful orders — constituted conduct both prejudicial to good order and discipline plus conduct unbecoming an officer. Both crimes are unique to the military.

Hegseth’s letter, in addition to characterizing Kelly’s speech as violative of military law, directed Pentagon proceedings to revisit Kelly’s retired rank, even though federal law does not allow administrative rank reduction based on postretirement conduct. Hegseth also threatened criminal prosecution if the senator continued making public comments, a dangerous turn given that the military criminal code extends to retirees (thanks to Civil War-era federal law that needs to be excised) and contains speech crimes with no analog in the civilian world.

Notably, Hegseth pursued this military administrative action solely against Kelly, and not the five other military veterans in the so-called seditious six video, because of Kelly’s status as a retiree. Like all military retirees with at least 20 years of honorable active-duty service, Kelly earns a pension based on his last rank while on active duty and remains subject to military criminal jurisdiction. 

Megan Mineiro and Zach Montague (NEW YORK TIMES) note, "The blunt ruling came after a grand jury in Washington rejected an extraordinary attempt by federal prosecutors in Washington to secure a criminal indictment against Mr. Kelly and five other Democratic lawmakers who together released a video in November directed at members of the military and intelligence community."

Let's wind down with this from Senator Patty Murray's office:

Murray: “The American people need us to meet this moment. We need to rein in ICE and CBP. We need to call out the avalanche of lies. And most importantly, we need to stand up for our communities—because they are being terrorized by their own government.”

Murray: “If Republicans want Democratic votes to fix that—then they need to understand half-measures will not cut it. What Democrats are demanding is reasonable and it is necessary. None of what we are asking for is extreme for local law enforcement—so why don’t those basic standards apply to ICE. There’s no good answer. Sorry—but I don’t care if Stephen Miller wants a special force that’s empowered to beat up and detain or shoot whomever he doesn’t like. In America, we believe in due process. We believe in our Constitution. We believe in law and order—safe streets, law enforcement we can trust. If you don’t like that? Go to Russia.”

Murray: “If ICE and CBP do not want to be called secret police—then they should not be wearing masks and should be carrying identification 24/7. If they do not want to be accused of kidnapping people—then they should not be dragging people out of cars and houses without warrants. And if they do not want to be accused of being lawless—then they need to start following the law.”

Murray: “Democrats have made abundantly clear: we cannot continue funding a rogue Department without substantial reforms. Accountability at DHS must be written into law… We’ve put forth incredibly reasonable reforms… But we cannot kick the can down the road as Republicans want us to do. The time to rein in these rogue agencies is right now.”

***WATCH: Senator Murray’s full floor speech***

Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, took to the Senate floor to speak about ICE and CBP’s flagrant abuses of Americans’ basic constitutional rights—and the imperative for Congress to take action to rein in the agencies. She made clear that while she remains at the table to negotiate key reforms the American people are demanding, she will not support a stopgap funding bill to continue the unacceptable status quo, and she underscored that Republicans and the White House need to work with Democrats to finalize a bill that reins in ICE and CBP.

Senator Murray’s remarks, as delivered, are below:

“What we have seen over the last many months is downright un-American: masked federal agents trampling people’s First, Second, and Fourth Amendment rights and more, breaking into people’s cars, teargassing protestors, using children as bargaining chips, and of course, killing American citizens in broad daylight.

“It is clear to just about everyone in every part of this country that—ICE and CBP are out of control—and must be reined in. Clear to everyone that is except maybe some Republicans in Congress.

“You know, for years, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have warned of government overreach and rogue federal agencies trampling Americans’ constitutional rights. They’ve gone to great lengths to speak out against ‘government tyranny’ when we ask mega corporations not to pollute. And you can bet they will scream to high heaven about ‘injustice’ and ‘government thugs’ when we ask billionaires to pay their fair share in taxes. Seriously! They will raise a racket for billionaires!

“But the truth is, the government tyranny Republicans long warned about is here—and many of them are just silent, they enabled it by cutting a $140 billion blank check for Secretary Noem to deploy masked ICE and CBP agents to terrorize our communities. ICE was spending beyond their funded level, so last summer Republicans handed Kristi Noem enough cash to fund an army.

“And she is using that blank check to send masked men going door-to-door asking for papers, charging into houses without a warrant, breaking car windows without a reason, staking out school zones, and dragging citizens and legal residents hundreds of miles away without so much as confirming their immigration status, or charging them with a crime.

“If Republicans are serious about their warnings on government tyranny, they must work with us to put an end to the insane attacks we’ve seen, including on Americans’ most basic rights. But right now, we still have some Republicans—who are seriously insisting masks have to stay on Trump’s secret police, and who are insisting DHS cannot be required to get judicial warrants before breaking into your home.

“We have a few Republicans acknowledging that the violence we’ve seen from ICE and CBP that must end, But we need to see more real, tangible progress to rein these agencies in through legislation—basic constraints upheld in law.

“Democrats are not asking for the moon—we are not trying to overhaul immigration laws. We are insisting on basic measures to protect our constitutional rights and hold these agencies accountable to some of the basic standards as local police. 

“After all, if ICE and CBP do not want to be called secret police—then they should not be wearing masks and should be carrying identification 24/7. If they do not want to be accused of kidnapping people—then they should not be dragging people out of cars and houses without warrants. And if they do not want to be accused of being lawless—then they need to start following the law. But they have been ignoring law after law, and court after court.

“In a recent decision, a Bush-appointed judge—a former Scalia clerk!—in Minnesota appended a list of 96 court orders that ICE has violated. What else do you call that—except a rogue agency.

“The American people need us to meet this moment. We need to rein in ICE and CBP. We need to call out the avalanche of lies. And most importantly, we need to stand up for our communities—because they are being terrorized by their own government.  

“It is not ‘targeted law enforcement’ when Trump sends 8,000 federal agents into one city—and has them go door-to-door. Especially not when agents literally tell people they are asking for papers solely because of how someone looks or speaks.

“It is not about our immigration laws when Trump is grabbing people who are following the law, people who have green cards in the mail, and even people who are U.S. citizens. It is not about stopping violent criminals when ICE is staking out schools and grabbing parents during pick up. In fact, just this week, we saw that the administration’s own data shows that only a tiny fraction of people they have detained are violent criminals. 

“They have also taken military spouses, taken parents of Marines, they have even taken veterans. In fact, last week—they deported a veteran. Do my colleagues hear me here? Trump deported a veteran! Think about that. Sit with that. We cannot look away from what is happening in this country. Men who fought for our freedom—are being denied theirs. Being exiled from the country they risked their life for.

“Meanwhile, children—kids who have done nothing wrong—are having their parents snatched away from them or are being snatched up themselves in a cruel ploy to use them as leverage.

“Given how outrageous, how lawless, how heartlessly un-American, Trump’s crackdown has become, it’s clear why people across the country are demanding action. And I don’t just mean in opinion polls—though the polls do actually overwhelmingly support action to rein in ICE, and even Republican voters think ICE has gone way too far. 

“But, I also mean people are demanding action in that great American way— protesting! Using their voice. Speaking out. Putting a spotlight on what ICE and CBP are doing to their friends and to their neighbors. And the Trump Administration’s response to that great American tradition—the First Amendment in action—has been about as unhinged, and un-American as it gets.

“The level of wanton violence and lawlessness we are seeing out of ICE and CBP is without comparison in recent U.S. history. This is the kind of stuff you expect out of Putin’s Russia. Agents are saying things to protestors like, ‘I will put a bullet in your head if you don’t shut up,’ or ‘You raise your voice… I erase your voice.’ And, Mr. President, the actions are even worse than the words.

“How many peaceful protestors have been tear gassed before Republicans think it’s a problem? How many children? Wasn’t the video of a drive-by gassing bad enough? What about the photo of the man pinned to the ground, getting sprayed in his face? How many car windows have to be shattered, and people dragged from their cars? No warrant—no nothing!

“Were you not outraged to see that woman on the way to a doctor’s appointment—dragged out of her vehicle for no reason? Were you not appalled to learn agents shattered a glass car window, dragged away a mother, and left a one-month-old baby in the back of the vehicle, blanket covered in glass shards? Were you not alarmed—to watch an agent point a rifle at the car window of someone sitting in their own driveway and bust out the window with a gun?

“How many people does ICE have to detain before Republicans stop sitting on their hands? How many kids do they have to tackle—like the young man at the Target that they slammed to the ground, marched off with, and then dropped him off miles away with no charges once they realized he was a U.S. citizen. There’s also the time they tackled a pregnant woman, or the time they marched a citizen out of his house in his underwear—in freezing weather.

“Agents have recklessly caused car accidents, only to arrest the person they ran into and then make things up. Agents have even tried to round up witnesses of their crimes and rush them out of state, and through deportation, before they can testify at a trial.

“How many people have to be murdered by federal agents in cold blood—until Republicans join us to stop this tyranny? And how many lies will Republicans tolerate? Because we have witnessed brazen, and dangerous, lies from this administration. They lied about Alex Pretti brandishing a gun—when he clearly never touched it. They lied about Renee Good trying to target agents with her car—when she was clearly just trying to drive away.

“They lied about a young woman ramming CBP agents before they shot her—only to drop the case against her. Newly released body cam footage shows the agent turned his wheel toward her vehicle. They said that an L.A. man was shot after he ‘weaponized his vehicle and began ramming law enforcement’—but body cam footage shows an agent’s gun go off by accident as he switched hands. They said someone in detainment died from suicide—when an autopsy found it was a homicide. They said someone got eight fractures in his skull from running into a wall on purpose—the man says he was beaten. Greg Bovino said he deployed tear gas on a crowd after someone threw a rock at him—only to admit the truth in court when confronted by video evidence.

“Mr. President, the list goes on, and on. And that’s just the lies we know about! Enough. Law enforcement cannot be lawless—but that’s exactly what we are seeing from ICE and CBP. And us Democrats have made abundantly clear: we cannot continue funding a rogue Department without substantial reforms. Accountability at DHS must be written into law.

“Now, my Democratic counterparts and I have been at the table the whole time. We’ve put forth incredibly reasonable reforms. Reforms that would increase accountability and transparency and compliance with constitutional rights. Reforms that do not impact DHS’s ability to detain convicted, violent criminals. And we remain committed and ready to land a funding bill that enshrines those reforms into law—and ensures FEMA, TSA, and other important functions get funded.

“But we cannot kick the can down the road as Republicans want us to do. The time to rein in these rogue agencies is right now. We cannot waste another moment—and if Republicans refuse to make the changes the American people are demanding, they are forcing a Republican shutdown of DHS.

“The chaos, the brutality—all of it has happened at the explicit direction of this President and a Republican Congress that wrote him a blank check for ICE and CBP.

“If Republicans want Democratic votes to fix that—then they need to understand half-measures will not cut it. What Democrats are demanding is reasonable and it is necessary. None of what we are asking for is extreme for local law enforcement—so why don’t those basic standards apply to ICE. There’s no good answer. Sorry—but I don’t care if Stephen Miller wants a special force that’s empowered to beat up and detain or shoot whomever he doesn’t like.

“In America, we believe in due process. We believe in our Constitution. We believe in law and order—safe streets, law enforcement we can trust. If you don’t like that? Go to Russia.

“So, Democrats are focused on getting a bill—but it has to be a bill that reins in the abuses we are seeing from ICE and CBP. And until a bill is negotiated, we cannot kick the can down the road and give license to Noem to continue the chaos with another CR that continues funding for ICE and CBP.

“Americans are demanding accountability, and we will settle for nothing less.

“And so, Mr. President, given the track record of lawlessness from ICE and CBP—which seems to be growing longer every single day. I will be voting no on the procedural vote today—and on Republicans’ inadequate proposal.

“The alleged withdrawal from Minneapolis is long-overdue—but it is not nearly enough to end the chaos and the violence we are seeing nationwide.

“We need real reform. We cannot let the Trump Administration act like things are business-as-usual when it is tear gassing peaceful protestors, detaining people in a complete violation of their rights, and even murdering citizens in cold blood. We cannot trust the same people who are lying about what is happening, to be truthful about accountability. We cannot trust the same administration that is purposefully trampling our rights, and causing this chaos—to end it.

“Late last night, we received more details on the White House’s proposal—and what’s clear at this point: it does not come close to addressing Americans’ grave concerns about how ICE and Border Patrol are operating. So, Mr. President, we need to see a lot more movement to rein in these rogue agencies.

“So, Congress has to do its job—and I will continue to negotiate in good faith to deliver the reform and accountability we need to see. But we have to stop this outrageous tyranny.”

###

The following sites updated:

• 
  NPR Topics: Home Page Top Stories

  Britain's High Court says government illegally banned Pro-Palestinian group

  1 hour ago
• 
  Latino USA

  Culture Is Freedom: Remembering Garifuna Legend Aurelio Martínez

  2 hours ago
• 
  The New Republic

  Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights Is Fan Fiction

  2 hours ago
• 
  Mikey Likes It!

  The nation reels from rabid dog Pam Bondi's crazy

  7 hours ago
• 
  Ruth's Report

  Pam Bondi is as crazed as Donald Chump

  7 hours ago
• 
  Thomas Friedman is a Great Man

  A star dies and a black hole emerges

  7 hours ago
• 
  Oh Boy It Never Ends

  Mama Cass Elliot movie?

  7 hours ago
• 
  Kat's Korner (of The Common Ills)

  Tina Turner, Jimi Hendrix, L7 and Heart

  7 hours ago
• 
  Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude

  the braying ass that is pam bondi (plus who's out of a coma on general hospital)

  7 hours ago
• 
  Trina's Kitchen

  Sweet Potato and Sausage Casserole in the Kitchen

  7 hours ago
• 
  SICKOFITRADLZ

  Bondi the human s**t show

  7 hours ago
• 
  Like Maria Said Paz

  Crazy Cheryl Hines and her delusional husband

  7 hours ago
• 
  Ann's Mega Dub

  Pam Bondi lied to Congress

  7 hours ago
• 
  PBS NewsHour - The Latest

  Strained U.S. ties loom over NATO leaders ahead of Munich Security Conference

  13 hours ago
• 
  TPM – Talking Points Memo

  Dem Senator Pushes Ice Director To Admit His Officers Have No Place at Polling Stations

  13 hours ago
• 
  Music

  The pop charts this week are influenced by the Grammys

  15 hours ago
• 
  Paul Krugman

  Making America Stagnate Again

  1 day ago
•