Saturday, January 31, 2026

Chump's dementia is only getting worse

Convicted Felon Donald Chump has dementia and that explains a portion of the crazy but it does not explain everything.  Brian Karem (SALON) notes even Republicans in Congress are wondering about Mr. Chump:

President Donald Trump’s first Cabinet meeting of the year on Thursday looked like a remake of the movie “Freaks,” the 1932 horror film about a group of carnival sideshow performers. High government officials sang his praises, chanted their version of “one of us, one of us” and buried him in needless and irrelevant praise.

Later that afternoon, as Trump signed yet another executive order in the White House, the chanting was repeated. In neither case did the president entertain questions from the press — though we still have many after the recent killings of two American citizens in Minneapolis at the hands of federal officers. During the Cabinet meeting, Trump didn’t even allow Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem the opportunity to speak. 

It is apparent we’ve reached the point of no return. Untethered by reality, the Trump circus can no longer surprise any of us. But it is a growing danger to all of us — and the Republicans know it. 

When I heard this week that Trump nailed a photo of himself and Vladimir Putin, the Russian leader accused of war crimes, on a wall in the White House, I couldn’t pretend to be surprised — even after several Republicans with private courage and public fealty reached out to me. “That’s sending the wrong message,” they said. “What is wrong with him?”

The delusional, demented president, along with the elected nattering nabobs of narcissism in the MAGA party who inhabit Congress and dominate the Supreme Court, have left us at a point where facts do not exist. This is made worse by an independent press that has been decimated and replaced by magpies chirping for attention and any chance to go viral.

Comments on the article include:

John Smith
52 minutes ago
Everything is wrong with Trump! Trump is not a well individual. Never has been. Now throw in Dementia and Failing Senior Citizen health on top of the many mental health issue's Trump has always had and it is a recipe for a complete disaster.


Mike Woodard
50 minutes ago
Your article underestimates the power of cult.  They only await their new position on everything from dear leaders mouth. He may have lost 1 or 2 % of them, no more.

Profile Picture
M W
13 minutes ago
He is the same he's always been, a vapid con man who has relied on his bluster and baloney since daddy turned him loose - own it ex-republicans

Reformschool Dropout
12 minutes ago
Not enough repubs are asking what is wrong with deranged dump. Most of this party is cowardly and will let this madman drive this country into a ditch we'll never get out of.



Mr. Chump has dementia and he is evil.  As every thing else fades, those two issues remain the same.  Hannah Broughton (THE MIRROR) reports:

In a revealing resurfaced hot mic leak, President Trump can be heard admiring North Korea's dictator, Kim Jong Un, and even says he wants his people to treat him the same way North Koreans treat Kim.

The reporter asks Trump, "Are we close to [having] Mr. Kim, here at the White House?"
"Uh, it could happen. Yeah, I would have him. It's something that could happen, yeah. Hey, he's the head of a country, and I mean, he's the strong head, don't let anyone think anything different. He speaks, and his people sit up and [give] attention. I want my people to do the same," Trump replied.

The comment was made in Trump's first presidency, during a Fox News interview on the White House's North Lawn in 2018, just days after Trump met with the North Korean dictator in Singapore. Trump went on to praise Kim as a strong leader.
The startling remark prompted another reporter to ask Trump to expand on what he meant later, to which Trump said he was "kidding" and said, "You don't understand sarcasm."
The unnerving comments have resurfaced just as Trump has been increasingly described as a dictator. During his recent visit to Davos, Switzerland, Trump even stated at a press conference that "sometimes you need a dictator," which, worryingly, tallies with his previous admiration for Kim Jong Un.

Reported on and made during his first term.  Yet, U.S. House Representative Rashida Tlaib refused to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024 when Ms. Harris ran for the presidency.  Ms. Tlaib argued they were the same -- Mr. Chump and Ms. Harris.  Two Americans are dead -- Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti -- because of Mr. Chump.  But Ms. Tlaib saw no difference.  She and others worked to prevent Ms. Harris from winning.  They worked to put Mr. Chump into the White House.  Ms. Tlaib is not a Democrat (she is a Democratic Socialist) and she betrayed the country by promoting the lie that Ms. Harris was the same as Mr. Chump -- a man she voted twice to impeach in his first term.  Ms. Tlaib is responsible for all the evil Mr. Chump has done during his second term. 

Yet she has nothing to say about that, no apology to offer.

Carl Gibson reports on one company that is pushing back on Mr. Chump's lies:

President Donald Trump has recently been claiming that retail chain Walmart is closing hundreds of stores in California. Now, the company is directly refuting him.

CNN fact-checker Daniel Dale reported Thursday that Trump spread several falsehoods in a late-night social media posting spree, making "wildly inaccurate and often conspiratorial claims." On two separate occasions, Trump posted a YouTube video entitled "California Governor PANICS as Walmart Shuts Down 250+ Stores Across State" to his Truth Social platform. The video asserted Walmart was unable to afford California's "$22" hourly minimum wage (California's hourly minimum wage is currently $16.90 for all employers, and $20 for fast food employees).
"This isn’t accurate information,” an unnamed Walmart spokesperson told CNN. "In fact, we actually just recently opened a new store in California."

California Governor Gavin Newsom (D), who is presumed to run for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination, wrote on his own social media account that all of California's 303 Walmart stores remain open.

"We cannot believe we have to say any of this out loud. We cannot believe this is real life," Newsom said. "And we truly cannot believe this man has the nuclear codes."


If you are not getting the depth of Mr. Chump's dementia, he is now accusing former President Barack Obama of stealing the 2020 election.  Diksha (INQUISITR) reports:

Donald Trump went on a Truth Social posting spree. His posts were full of misinformation, conspiracy theories with AI videos, and false accusations. His major targets were Barack Obama, Gavin Newsom, and Joe Biden.

People are expecting an investigation into ICE murders in Minnesota, and Trump is busy posting on Truth Social. In one of his posts, he accused Obama of treason. He posted a video from last year saying, “Barack Hussein Obama is the ringleader.”
During that time, he had also posted an AI-generated video of Obama getting arrested in the Oval Office. He also demanded severe consequences for treason; however, there was no truth to the videos.
Trump claimed Obama had rigged elections along with Joe Biden. In addition, Hillary Clinton and James Comey were involved in treason. He called Obama guilty, while there is no evidence suggesting the same. MAGA supporters may believe Trump’s posts showing how dangerous the misinformation is.
Furthermore, he claimed Obama installed Biden as a puppet with the help of the CIA and FBI. He has been suggesting this conspiracy theory of Iran, Italy and China’s role in electing Biden for years now.

Trump may never stop attacking Obama. On the other hand, Barack Obama is urging the Americans to see the implications of ICE’s actions in Minnesota. He is still looking out for the citizens sharing resources to support people in the state.


If you are not getting how sick Mr. Chump is, Mr. Obama was not president in 2020.  Mr. Chump was.  Mr. Obama left the White House in January of 2017.  But somehow, in 2020, he had the authority to order the C.I.A. and the F.B.I. to rig the 2020 election.  Mr. Chump is a liar and a person with dementia.  We need to remove him from office via the 25th Amendment.  

 


This is C.I.'s "The Snapshot:" 


Friday, January 30, 2026.  US House Rep Jasmine Crockett reports on a visit with a five-year-old boy held in an ICE gulag, Chump's words of violence (and pattern of violence) 'inspire' one of his followers to run a car into a school girl, Ghislaine Maxwell is in the news, a shutdown looms and much more.


Donald Chump's words and actions degrade this country and egg on violence.  We saw that with the attack on Ilhan Omar this week and we saw it yesterday in Nebraska.  Matthew Chapman (RAW STORY) reports:

Chaos struck at an anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement student protest at a school in Fremont, Nebraska, when an SUV with a Trump flag attached to it struck a girl participating in the demonstration.

According to News Channel Nebraska, "Dozens of students were part of the protest and were holding signs and chanting. A boy, who appeared to be high-school aged, parked his SUV with the flag in front of the school, got out of the vehicle and exchanged words with the protesters. He then got back into the SUV, revved the engine and drove forward. A girl, who appears to be a student, was standing several feet in front of the vehicle, facing it and holding a sign toward the car. The driver accelerated and hit the protester, casting her to the side."

The boy driving the SUV "stopped briefly as a school administrator approached, then drove away from the scene," the report continued.



Video captured by News Channel Nebraska shows the driver getting into a red SUV that’s carrying a flag supporting President Trump’s 2024 campaign. Protesters are standing on the sidewalk when one student steps in front of the parked vehicle. The driver appears to go forward, slows and then speeds up, hitting the person, who appeared to land on the hood of the SUV and then roll off to the side. The driver initially slowed down after hitting the student and then left the scene.

Chump's words of violence and his violent actions breed violence.  

Senator Chuck Schumer's incompetency encourages incompetence and it is past time he stepped down as the Democratic Party's leader in the Senate.   Gavin J. Quinton and Ana Ceballos (LOS ANGELES TIMES) reported yesterday:

Senate Democrats reached a deal with the White House late Thursday to prevent a partial government shutdown by moving to temporarily fund the Department of Homeland Security for two weeks, providing more time to negotiate new restrictions for federal immigration agents carrying out President Trump's deportation campaign.

The deal follows widespread outrage over the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens — Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti — by federal agents in Minneapolis amid an aggressive immigration crackdown led by the Trump administration.

Under the agreement, funding for the Department of Homeland Security will be extended for two weeks, while the Pentagon, the State Department, as well as the health, education, labor and transportation departments, will be funded through Sept. 30, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's office confirmed to The Times.

While the Senate could approve the deal as early as Thursday night, it is unclear when the House will vote for the package. To avert a government shutdown, both chambers need to approve the deal by midnight EST Friday.


Chuck was so strong talking about extracting justice and yet?  He's giving them two more weeks.  Two more weeks.  If another American citizen dies, that's going to be blood on Chuck's hands as well as on Chump's. Chump is at an all time low and this doesn't lead to bravery from Chuck.  Instead, Chuck caves yet again.  Sophie Brams (THE HILL) notes:

President Trump’s approval rating is slipping, with more than two-thirds of Americans saying they disapprove of how the president is handling his job, according to a new Pew Research Center poll.

The poll, released Thursday, found that Trump’s approval rating fell 3 percentage points from last fall and now stands at 37 percent. Trump’s support among Republicans remains high at 73 percent approval, though that figure is down slightly from a poll conducted last September.


Over two-thirds of Americans disapprove of Chump and yet that's not enough for Chuck to stand up.  If it reaches 100% disapproval?  Chuck might make another attempt at standing up.  He won't really stand up but he will attempt to.  

Chuck's inability to stand up for the American people may go unnoticed since the deal he signed off on has collapsed as Republicans in the Senate feuded among themselves.  Mia McCarthy, Calen Razor and Benjamin Guggenheim (POLITICO) report Senator Lindsey Graham had a snit fit over a provision put into the bill by the House which "would repeal a law allowing senators to receive cash payouts if they had phone records seized by former special counsel Jack Smith." 

Lindsey is very worried about toll slips showing who he spoke to.  It's almost as though Lindsey has something to hide.  What could Lindsey be hiding?  Well we know it's nothing to do with sex, right?  Lindsey is a confirmed and lifelong bachelor.  He claims he once fell in love with a flight attendant but it must have been one-sided because she didn't want to give up her career and marry a US senator.  According to Lindsey, that would have been a step down for her.  That makes sense, right?

So at present, the deal that Chuck made is no longer a firm deal and the government may go into a shutdown by midnight as a result of Lindsey's concerns over anyone knowing who he spoke to on the phone.

Here's MEIDASTOUCH NEWS covering the news that we may go into a shutdown today.

 


  
During Chuck's cowering, ICE is only more emboldened.  Jenna Sundel (NEWSWEEK) notes, "A video that appears to show an ICE agent telling an individual, 'You raise your voice, I erase your voice,' has sparked backlash, with a free speech organization calling the statement  'about as un-American as it gets'."  Sundel notes US House Rep Ted Lieu's reaction to the news:


Representative Ted Lieu, a California Democrat, on X: “Dear @DHSgov : You need to implement an immediate stand down of ICE and Border Patrol interior operations so your agents can learn the Bill of Rights to the Constitution of the United States.”


ICE doesn't get it.  Even their one-time leader Greg Bovino doesn't get it.  Jeremiah Hassel (THE MIRROR) notes:

Border Patrol chief Greg Bovino broke his silence after his abrupt axing from his Minnesota post amid intense backlash following the deaths of two protesters this month.

Speaking to a reporter at Mt. Rushmore, he addressed the men who were put on leave after the shooting death of Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse who was thrown to the ground, beaten and shot after attempting to defend another protester who was being pepper-sprayed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents.

"I want you to know: I've got your back, now and always — I love you, I support you, and I salute you," he told freelance conservative journalist Nick Sortor. It comes after Bovino was accused of 'Nazi cosplay' with a bizarre yet chilling uniform choice.


Anyone hoping shame and guilt might silence Bovino has been proven wrong.  How many more statements will he make that only serve to damage Chump?  I'm sure they can find someone else who will fall for lies on FACEBOOK.  Adam Downer (DAILY BEAST) explains:

A top immigration official was tricked by a fake news story posted by a QAnon social media account shortly before getting demoted.

The 55-year-old Border Patrol “commander-at-large” Greg Bovino was duped on Jan. 25 by a social media post that said MAGA-favored rockstar Ted Nugent had pledged $100,000 to feed ICE agents in Minnesota.

He engaged with the post on X during his last full day leading Minnesota’s federal immigration enforcement operations before he was replaced by Trump’s border czar. 

The story originated from the Facebook page “America’s Last Line of Defense,” which posts conservative-leaning satire. All of their posts are watermarked with a logo reading “Nothing on this page is real.”

The phony tale includes a Nugent quote from a Fox News interview that never occurred, in which the 77-year-old singer pledged to fly in a “metric ton of barbecue” to Minnesota.


That's beyond stupid and goes to how unqualified he is.  He needs to go and to go  quickly.  And the administration really needs to get off social media.  Demian Bio (LATIN TIMES) explains:

The Department of Homeland Security deleted a post after its top spokesperson was confronted by a journalist over content that had links with white supremacy.

The New York Times detailed an exchange with DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin in which the journalist noted that a post seeking to recruit agents for ICE that had the phrase "we'll have our home again," also used in a white supremacist song.

McLaughlin denied that was the case, saying that if the post were actually about the song, that would be "a problem" and "morally repugnant."

"There are plenty of references to those words in books and poems," the official added, noting that she was "in charge of everything" posted on the department's social media.

However, the article added, the actual song played in the background when the post was opened on Instagram's mobile app. McLaughlin denied that being the case, saying "it's not there."

However, less than an hour after the interview, the post was removed from Instagram. Those on X and Facebook, which didn't feature the song, remain online.



These are the crooks that put a five-year-old boy into ICE 'detention.'  He's in a gulag and US House Rep Jasmine Crockett reports that he is not doing well.


For any who missed the story last week, let's drop back to last Friday's snapshot.:


Moving on to another topic, ICE gestapo now uses tactics that even the Italian mafia would repudiate.  Grasp just how low standards, ethics and morals have dropped in the second term of Chump El Gordo Fat Ass.  Laura Romero (ABC NEWS) reports:


A 5-year-old boy was taken into custody with his father by ICE agents in Minnesota on Tuesday in what some local officials say is the latest instance of heightened federal immigration enforcement in the state.

The family of 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos, who was detained on Tuesday as part of the federal government's ongoing immigration crackdown, has a pending asylum case but no order of deportation directing that they be removed from the United States, officials at Conejo Ramos' school said in a statement.
The 5-year-old was apprehended by immigration officials shortly after arriving home from preschool while his father was in their driveway, officials said. 

"Another adult living in the home was outside and begged the agents to let them take care of the small child, but was refused," officials from Conejo Ramos' school said. "Instead, the agent took the child out of the still-running vehicle, led him to the door, and directed him to knock -- asking to be let in to see if anyone else was home -- essentially using a 5-year-old as bait."

The father and child are both government custody, school officials said.


Please read Mike's "Jack Smith, HONEY DON'T and Miss Sassy JD Vance" to discover how JD Vance is lying to try to pretend what happened didn't happen by ignoring the fact that the child's relative asked ICE to hand the child over but ICE refused.


If you're not disgusted with ICE, you're not paying attention. 


We noted Jasmine talking to CNN about the child and here she is speaking to MS NOW.



A five year old boy.  Put in a gulag.


They are liars and they are idiots and they are Nazis.  Max Bearak and Ali Watkins (NEW YORK TIMES) note:


Ecuador’s foreign ministry said it lodged a formal diplomatic protest with the United States after a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent attempted to enter the country’s consulate in Minneapolis without permission on Tuesday morning.

Employees of the consulate stopped the agent from entering, the Ecuadorean foreign ministry said in a statement Tuesday night. Under the Vienna Conventions, to which the United States is a party, foreign consular buildings are off-limits to law enforcement from the host country without authorization from consular officials.


It's a shame that Chump's gestapo doesn't understand the laws or that you're expected to follow the law. 

And then there's the continued attack on Canada that Chump's initiated.  Julia Ornedo (THE DAILY BEAST) reports:


Canadians hit President Donald Trump with failing marks as details of his administration’s secret meetings with Alberta separatists emerged.

A survey by the Canadian nonprofit Angus Reid Institute, conducted from Jan. 23 to 27, found that two-thirds of Canadians gave the 79-year-old American leader a failing mark for his first year back in office.

Sixty-six percent of Canadians gave Trump’s first year an ‘F,’ while 15 percent gave him an ‘A’ or a ‘B’ and 16 percent gave him a ‘C’ or a ‘D.’

[. . .]

The poll came out on Wednesday, just as the Financial Times reported that “very, very senior” officials in the State Department covertly met with the Alberta Prosperity Project, a fringe group of far-right separatists who want the oil-rich province to become independent.

Jeff Rath, the group’s legal counsel who attended the meetings in Washington, told the outlet that “the U.S. is extremely enthusiastic about a free and independent Alberta.” 




Melania Chump's film opens today.  Jeff Bezos spent millions on it.  He even paid $28 million to Melanie (see Ann's "The 'documentary' about the First Slut" and "Con artist Melania" and Elaine's "The First Slut, Evil Zuckerberg, Sly Dunbar has passed").  Yet while he gives her $28 million, he lays off workers.   Shane Croucher (NEWSWEEK) reports:

Jeff Bezos’s e-commerce giant Amazon said it will cut 16,000 roles across the organization in its latest round of layoffs.

The news was confirmed in a blog post on Wednesday by Beth Galetti, senior vice president of people experience and technology at Amazon. Corporate roles are those affected by the new cuts. Back in October, Amazon had cut 14,000 corporate roles. The layoffs are Amazon’s biggest since 2023, when the company cut 27,000 jobs.


Bezos is also preparing to fire numerous journalists. at THE WASHINGTON POST -- the paper he's ruined.  Charlotte Klein (INTELLIGENCER) reports:


The ostensible reason for the layoffs is that the Post, like many other newspapers, is losing money. But unlike other newspapers, the Post is also in the midst of a demoralizing destruction of its brand that has alienated hundreds of thousands of subscribers and left even its staff unsure of what the paper is trying to do, both journalistically and business-wise. “I’m increasingly finding it hard to justify the cuts from a journalistic perspective,” said one staffer. “Of course, financially, the Post is in a deep hole and I understand that. But some of that hole, if not a lot of it, is because of Jeff Bezos.”

,

The Post was once known for its independent accountability journalism, dating back to the Pentagon Papers and Watergate and running all the way through to January 6. It was also once known for being the foremost authority on goings-on in the nation’s capital. Now it no longer has a clear identity, a crucial component for any paper’s success, whether it’s the New York Times or the Wall Street Journal. The Post finds itself in this no man’s land largely because of a series of editorial and business decisions made outside the newsroom, at the highest level of the company — most notably, Bezos’s 11th-hour decision to pull the editorial board’s endorsement of Kamala Harris in 2024, which led to 250,000 digital readers cancelling their subscriptions in protest of Bezos’s apparent kowtowing to Trump.




The administration continues to break the law regarding The Epstein Transparency Act.  They have still released only 1% of the files.  They are over a month late now in complying with the law Congress passed and Chump signed.  Donald wants to protect his friends, as he told former US House Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene.  Daniel Hampton (RAW STORY) notes a new development

Ghislaine Maxwell, the accomplice of Jeffrey Epstein, may be serving time in a cushy Texas federal prison, but the convicted child sex trafficker just detonated a political time bomb from behind bars, according to a new Daily Beast report Tuesday.

In a recent habeas petition, Maxwell dropped a bombshell claim that four potential "co-conspirators" and "25 men" scored "secret settlements" tied to Epstein's abuse — without facing any indictment.

The report said Attorney General Pam Bondi and the Justice Department are doing everything possible to avoid one glaring question: "Who are these men, and why are they still being protected?"

Congress passed the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which President Donald Trump signed into law in November, forcing the Justice Department to release unclassified records. Yet the DOJ has toiled along, redacting, delaying, and otherwise slow-walking compliance "like it’s trying to outlast public attention."


Rovelyn Barba (ENSTARZ) adds,  "The new information has put more pressure on the Justice Department to explain why some Epstein-related records haven't been made public. The source brought up the broader implications of the filing and asked the main question that federal authorities are facing: 'Who are these men, and why are they still being protected?'"

On MS NOW, Ari brought up Jeffrey Epstein yesterday to show how what's been done there could be used to out Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.




Let's wind down with this from Senator Elizabeth Warren's office.

“Donald Trump wants us to write him another blank check and let ICE keep rolling in the dough…I’m a hell no…We cannot give one more penny to Trump’s ICE while its masked, poorly-trained agents terrorize people all across this country.”

Video of Floor Speech (YouTube)

Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) spoke on the floor of the Senate calling for a complete overhaul of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency and said she would be voting against any additional funding for the agency until serious constraints are included to stop ICE’s violence.

Senator Warren condemned the brutal killings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good by ICE agents. She highlighted the arrests of five year old Liam in Minneapolis and Marcelo Gomes da Silva in Massachusetts.

“The people ICE grabbed up, the people they shot, are not threats to you and me…The risk is not from them. The risk increasingly comes from out-of-control ICE agents who can’t follow the basic training…This invasion by ICE is not making any of us safer,” said Senator Warren.

“I want to be clear: If it were up to me, Congress would completely overhaul ICE, strip the agency down to its studs, repeal billions in Trump’s bloated spending, and end these abuses entirely,” Senator Warren continued.

She called on her colleagues in the Senate to stand up to these abuses of power and reject the DHS funding bill in front of the Senate this week, along with clawing back Congress’ previous funding for ICE.

“Congress has the power to claw back those funds. Congress needs to use that power and take back that money so that Congress has meaningful oversight over an out-of-control ICE,” she said.

“Democrats are ready to rein in this rogue agency, but we need Republicans in Congress to stop this violence as well…Being ‘disturbed’ doesn’t change anything—and the ICE agents who are waving around loaded guns know that. Republicans in the Senate have the power to do something and start righting these wrongs,” she continued.

Senator Warren ended with reading into the record a statement from Alex Pretti’s final medical student, saying the statement gave her a “sliver[] of hope.”

“[I]f we don’t speak up, we are complicit in this violence…If we don’t speak up, we are giving up on our democracy and our country…It is time to make meaningful change. And that change starts right here in the United States Senate,” said Senator Warren.

Transcript: Speech on ICE’s Actions Across America
Floor of the U.S. Senate
January 28, 2026

Senator Elizabeth Warren: “Please get the truth out about our son. He was a good man.”

Those are the words of Michael and Susan Pretti, the parents of Alex Pretti, who over the weekend was killed by masked federal agents in Minneapolis.

I am here to be part of getting the truth out.

Masked federal agents shot and killed Alex Pretti, an American citizen, in broad daylight.

Alex was an ICU nurse at the Minneapolis VA hospital. A nurse for veterans.

He was a son. A brother. A friend. A caretaker.

And he was killed while he was trying to help a woman who had been pushed to the ground by a federal agent.

The last words that Alex spoke on this earth were, “Are you all right?” Those are the words of a good man trying to help someone who had been knocked down by an out-of-control ICE agent.

Do not let anyone tell you otherwise.

And Mr. Pretti was not the first.

17 days earlier, ICE agents shot and killed Renee Good, a 37-year-old American citizen and mom dropping off her kid at school. She had stuffed animals in her glove compartment. While ICE agents cursed at her, her last words on this earth were: “I’m not mad at you.”

There have been more incidents. ICE agents detained Liam, a five-year-old boy, who was literally ripped off the streets by the strap of his Spiderman backpack. A preschooler.

In Massachusetts, Marcelo Gomes da Silva, a high schooler, was arrested by ICE on his way to volleyball practice. And Rumeysa Ozturk, a student at Tufts University was cornered by six masked agents, shoved into an unmarked van, and taken to a detention facility in Louisiana.

And it goes on and on and on, story after story after story.

The people ICE grabbed up, the people they shot, are not threats to you and me. They are not violent criminals that Trump promised to go after. They are not, as Trump said, “the worst of the worst.” No. These are our neighbors, they are our friends, they are our colleagues, they are people who treat us when we are sick.

The risk is not from them. The risk increasingly comes from out-of-control ICE agents who can’t follow the basic training manual that our local police, our state police and our National Guard are all trained to follow. This invasion by ICE is not making any of us safer.

And if we don’t put a stop to it, these masked agents are going to kill more people.

We are at a turning point in our country.

And what we do next is a question now in front of the United States Senate — in front of my colleagues here today.

This week, we are tasked with funding the government, and one part stands out. Last summer, Trump and the Republicans lavished ICE with $75 billion. That’s more than their annual budget for seven years. And maybe that is why ICE is handing out $50,000 recruiting bonuses.

Now, in this budget, Trump and the Republicans want to reward ICE with $10 billion an additional in funding.

That’s right: Donald Trump wants us to write another check, hand it over to ICE, and let them keep rolling in the dough.

But here’s my view: I am a NO. I am a hell no.

We cannot give one more penny to Trump’s ICE while its masked, poorly-trained agents terrorize people all across this country.

It is time for the Senate to step up and stop ICE’s violence.

We must stand united and we must fight back and we must do it now.

I want to be clear: If it were up to me, Congress would completely overhaul ICE, strip the agency down to its studs, repeal billions in Trump’s bloated spending, and end these abuses entirely. And I’m going to keep fighting for that.

There are also some immediate, common sense steps we can take right now.

Here’s some of what I’m fighting for.

One: End ICE’s violence. No more roving patrols and profiling people on the street. No more treating people like they’re guilty just because of their skin color or because they speak with an accent. No more threatening people with guns just because they are recording what is going on.

Two: Follow the law. ICE must follow the same rules as everyone else in law enforcement: get a warrant from an independent judge before barging into people’s homes and snatching people from their families. And make no mistake: there should be real consequences for anyone who knocks down someone’s door without a real warrant. This is the United States of America, and last I checked, the Constitution still matters. We must enforce it.

Three: Accountability. It’s about time Border Patrol and ICE wear a damn badge. No more masked secret police. Let me say it again: no more masked secret police.

And real accountability means accountability for Renee Good, it means accountability for Alex Pretti, it means accountability for every other victim of these federal agents. DHS must cooperate with state and local officials for real, independent investigations of these shootings. End these cover-ups. We need transparency and accountability for victims of ICE’s violence.

Part of the reason that ICE officers can act like they have no oversight is that Donald Trump and the Republicans in Congress pre-funded ICE for years in their “Big Beautiful Bill.” As things stand right now, ICE can skate by for years without getting a budget—and without any oversight—from Congress. And you know those health care cuts that are closing hospitals and causing people’s health insurance premiums to spike? That is the money that is now being used by ICE to terrorize our communities. That is wrong. Congress has the power to claw back those funds. Congress needs to use that power and take back that money so that Congress has meaningful oversight over an out-of-control ICE.

And that should just be the start.

I am urging every single Senator – Democrat and Republican – to vote no on this budget bill and stop bankrolling ICE’s abuses.

And I want to put a finer point on this: Republicans control the White House. Republicans control the Senate. Republicans control the House of Representatives.

Democrats are ready to rein in this rogue agency, but we need Republicans in Congress to stop this violence as well. I know that there are Republicans right now who are seeing what we’re seeing in Minnesota, and they know it is wrong. It is time to speak out. Silence is complicity.

Grow a spine. Show some backbone. Being "disturbed" doesn’t change anything—and the ICE agents who are waving around loaded guns know that. Republicans in the Senate have the power to do something and start righting these wrongs. Help the Democrats put meaningful constraints on ICE. Help our people be safe.

To everyone who is angry, I’m angry too. I’m furious, and I’m here in the Senate to fight back for you. But it’s in moments like this that we must resist the urge for that anger and fear to take over. It is time to turn our anger into action.

So I want to end with this.

I saw a post by Alex Pretti’s student that I want to read excerpts from into the record. This is all a direct quote.

“I was Alex Pretti’s final nursing student. For the past four months, I stood shoulder to shoulder with him during my capstone preceptorship at the Minneapolis VA Hospital. There he trained me to care for the sickest of the sick as an ICU nurse. He taught me how to care for arterial and central lines, the intricacies of managing multiple IVs filled with lifesaving solutions, and how to watch over every heartbeat, every breath, and every flicker of life, ready to act the moment they wavered.

“Alex carried patience, compassion and calm as a steady light within him. Even at the very end, that light was there. I recognized his familiar stillness and signature calm composure shining through during those unbearable final moments captured on camera.

“It does not surprise me that his final words were, ‘Are you okay?’ Caring for people was at the core of who he was. He was incapable of causing harm.

“He spoke out for justice and peace whenever he could, not only out of obligation, but out of a belief that we are more connected than divided, and that communication would bring us together.

“Please honor my friend by standing up for peace, preferably with a cup of black coffee in hand and a couple of pieces of candy in your pocket, just as he would. Step outside with your dog, breathe in the world, hike or bike as he loved to do, and let yourself find peace in the quiet moments within nature. Stand up for justice and speak with those whose views differ from your own. Hold your beliefs with strength, but always extend love outward, even in the face of adversity.

“Take one step, no matter how small, to help heal our world. Through these acts, carry his light forward in his name. Let his legacy continue to heal.”

Like many of you, I see the video of his death, and I am gutted. I see him lying on the ground as two ICE agents pump a total of ten bullets into him. I see his lifeless body on that cold Minneapolis street and I feel sadness and anger and horror down to my bones.

But here's what's given me slivers of hope: It's every single person who’s speaking out and refusing to stay silent in the face of these injustices. It is the post from his last student. It’s the hundreds of thousands of Minnesotans who haven’t been baited into violence, but who instead continue to show up and peacefully protest.

They are a reminder that now is the time to dig deep, stand up, and say clearly: What ICE is doing is wrong and we can stop it. We must stop it. It’s time to get ICE out.

Because if we don’t speak up, we are complicit in this violence. If we don’t speak up, we are giving our OK to a federal agency that is openly and aggressively violating the Constitution. If we don’t speak up, we are giving up on our democracy and our country.

It is time to speak up. It is time to make meaningful change. And that change starts right here in the United States Senate.

###



The following sites updated:

Thursday, January 29, 2026

Chump's grift is noticed by Senator Ron Wyden

The Convicted Felon Donald Chump is someone who breaks the law with little to no concern.  He has spent his time enriching his own pockets with one scheme after another since he was sworn in for the second term. He is bothered that people are rightly asking questions.  Ariana Baio (INDEPENDENT) reports:

President Donald Trump is being asked to provide more information about the Rolex watch and gold bar he accepted from Swiss businessmen last year, shortly before agreeing to lower tariffs on Swiss goods, by the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee.

Oregon Senator Ron Wyden is seeking more details to determine whether the president violated laws by accepting the gifts before cutting the deal, according to the letter seen by Bloomberg.
In November, a delegation of Swiss businessmen visited the White House to speak with Trump after he imposed a 39 percent tariff on Swiss goods. Shortly thereafter, a Rolex table clock, which does not appear to be available for purchase by the general public, appeared on the president’s desk.

In addition, a custom gold bar was displayed on the Resolute Desk, worth more than $130,000, according to Wyden’s office.

Less than two weeks later, Trump announced a deal that reduced Swiss tariffs from 39 percent – the highest tariff placed on any Western country – to 15 percent. The Swiss tariffs remain at this rate.

At the time, the White House said the gifts were donations to Trump’s future presidential library, complied with U.S. and Swiss laws and were cleared by the White House legal counsel.

In his letter, Wyden wrote: “Trump’s acceptance of gifts of significant monetary value just days before lowering tariffs on goods from Switzerland creates a blatant conflict of interest and possible constitutional violations.”


Comments on the article include:

Truth Is
19 minutes ago
Trump is a grifter who has a sweet tooth for keeping everything whether he needs it or not.  It is a psych deal with him.  Israel loaned the White House a collection of ancient, ceramic oil lamps.  Later it was discovered that Trump took them to Florida.  That is who is in the Oval Office.

Julia Bourgelas
40 minutes ago
There should never be a question about Mr. Trump's ethics - he has none.

Steven Weiss
12 minutes ago
Trump entirely believes that he is king of America and all tribute is his due. Personally, I preferred the old America in which we our presidents at least tried to have a sense of constitutionality.

David Milner
24 minutes ago
Watch out when Felon47 leaves office. He can't keep any of those things over a certain value without personally paying for them. Of course, he didn't understand that he couldn't keep secure documents the last time either. He still needs to go to jail for that one.


kcj4Tx
18 minutes ago
Does that stupid orange monkey not know that those "gifts" belong to the people of the United States, not him? Just one more prosecution that lying weasel will have to endure once we throw him out in the street.



Donald Trump’s administration has been using federal officers to go after undocumented immigrants, but now his political action committee is threatening to sic the agents on his own donors.

Earlier this week, Trump’s Never Surrender PAC sent out a fundraising email that had this provocative subject line: “Are you an illegal alien?”
The text of the message, as captured by the Archive of Political Emails, suggested the answer might be yes under certain caveats.

“Your file says you’re a top MAGA patriot... But my records to my survey STILL say: RESPONSE PENDING. Don’t tell me, you’re an Illegal Alien?!? That cannot be true!” the message said, before adding, “This is your FINAL MOMENT to Prove me wrong ... please. Are you a proud American Citizen or does ICE need to come and track you down?”

The bottom of the message is a link to “TAKE CITIZENS ONLY SURVEY.”

What an awful e-mail.  And it is not funny.  It is not cute.  It just makes clear that Mr. Chump and those around him do not care about the American people.  That e-mail no doubt worried a number of people who read it and left them thinking they would be targeted by ICE.  Not funny, not one bit funny.

And it is not funny that a Donald Chump supporter has just seen harm to her own mother as a result of Mr. Chump.  ATLANTA BLACK STAR NEWS notes:


President Donald Trump has long attacked social safety net programs, calling them wasteful and “socialist.” Now, as federal cuts continue to roll in, some of his own supporters are feeling the impact firsthand.

One of them is a Trump voter who posts online under the name DiAnne George. Her comments have drawn attention for showing a sharp disconnect between her political beliefs and the now personal effects of the policies she supports.
In an earlier Facebook post, George warned that recent years had felt like unfolding biblical prophecy and that the rise of what she calls socialist‑Democrat politics was a threat to the country.

Political agendas, she wrote, were sold as progress, but socialism leaned heavily toward state control, redistribution, and dependency. “The same people celebrating today will be the ones dealing with tax hikes and budget shortages tomorrow,” she added. “Funds will dry up and collide with economic reality.”
But her tone shifted when the cuts reached her own family.

Responding to one of Trump’s recent posts, George said federal reductions had harmed her elderly mother, who received notice that there was no HEAP money available to help cover heating costs, Dianne noted. “Why would you cut funding that helps people to heat their homes?” she asked. 
The program she referenced, known federally as the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, or LIHEAP, provides critical support to seniors, people with disabilities, and low‑income households struggling to pay energy bills.

It helps families avoid dangerous temperature conditions by assisting with heating and cooling costs, emergency services, weatherization, and minor home repairs. In Georgia, LIHEAP is federally funded and aims to reduce health and safety risks such as illness, fire, or utility disconnection. 

Cuts or delays can be dangerous, especially during extreme weather when lack of heat or air conditioning quickly becomes a health crisis. 


Now her mother suffers.  And so many more people suffer.  People in need are the ones suffering.  Mr. Chump is truly a corrupt and evil man. Some comments on the article:

A Burn
8 hours ago
Is bailing out the farmers because they lost their market to the tariffs welfare? They watched DT do it in the first term & then voted for DT 2.0 & he's done it again. The taxpayers are paying billions to bail out Argentina so they can undercut the US cattle ranchers... ?

John Fed Way
16 hours ago
These Trump supporters are not really sharp. 12 of the top 15 federal assistance (welfare) states per capita voted for Trump.  Of course they will be impacted by the cuts to give him and the rich a 4.+ trillion dollar tax cut.  And they aint seen nuthin yet. The HUGE cuts to things like SNAP and Medicaid dont kick  in until after the midterms (of course).

Henrik Tran
9 hours ago
Trump's MAGA base comprises largely poor poorly educated individuals who cast their votes on hating immigrants and people of color, not on what the government must do to improve their lives. Hatred doesn't bring foods to the table, and Trump's pro-rich-people policies are whipping them hard. They can undo the damage by voting Democratic from now on.

Jimmy O'Neill
5 hours ago
“Why would you cut funding that helps people to heat their homes?” she asked. 
Same reason he cut SNAP, feeding children in schools, Medicaid, etc etc...so he could give more tax breaksfor billionaires.





This is C.I.'s "The Snapshot" for today:


Thursday, January 29, 2026.  Chump's back to attacking, Congress has questions about the murder of Alex Pretti,  "Kristi Noem and Stephen Miller break out into a nasty cat fight," Bruce Springsteen releases a new song,  and much more.




That's Bruce stepping up and showing the way.  Last night in "Patti Smith, Chris Hemsworth, Giancarlo Esposito, Tatiana Maslany, Martha Stewart, John Leguizamo, Jimmy Kimmel, Andy Cohen," Kat noted some like Bruce who have already been speaking out and others who are joining in.  

The actions of ICE and Border Patrol do not belong in a democracy and Chump's gestapo is facing real pushback including from judges.  


Late last night, Reis Thebault, Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs, Chelsia Rose Marcius and Alan Feuer (NEW YORK TIMES) reported:


The chief judge in Minnesota condemned Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Wednesday for violating more than 100 court orders in January alone, while Trump administration lawyers argued to another judge that the surge of federal agents in the state were a legitimate exercise of law enforcement power.

In the ICE case, Judge Patrick J. Schiltz said the agency had violated more judicial directives in a month than “some federal agencies have violated in their entire existence.” But the Trump administration defended its actions in Minnesota in a court filing in another case, in which state officials are aiming to block the immigration crackdown.

The court actions came as Senate Democrats threatened to withhold votes for a spending package that would avert a government shutdown unless changes were made in the wake of Alex Pretti’s killing by federal agents. Democrats are trying to use the budget vote to ensure that federal agents remove their masks and end roving immigration patrols, according to Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader. They also want agents to observe conventional law enforcement standards on use of force and to begin carrying proper identification.

The Trump administration’s aggressive immigration crackdown has prompted an outpouring of anger in Minnesota and beyond, especially after the fatal shootings of Mr. Pretti and Renee Good, another U.S. citizen.

Here's Ben and MEIDASTOUCH NEWS reporting on it.



As Aaron Blake (CNN) observed earlier this week:


But on Monday night, a Republican-appointed federal judge delivered a fresh reminder that the administration’s fast-and-loose approach isn’t going to stop giving it problems any time soon.

Patrick Schiltz, the chief US district judge in Minnesota, has become increasingly exasperated with the administration’s actions — and appears primed to be a thorn in its side.

He’s now taken the extraordinary step of summoning acting ICE Director Todd Lyons to court on Friday, threatening him with contempt ahead of what will surely be a much-watched hearing.

The hearing raises the prospect that a top federal official could be sanctioned for his agency’s failures to obey the courts. And at the very least, he’ll be forced to begin accounting for an extraordinary number of cases — more than 2,000, according to Politico’s Kyle Cheney — in which judges have ruled that ICE has illegally detained people.

And Schiltz’s actions in recent days suggest he’s ready to hold the administration’s feet to the fire in a way few other judges could — or would.

And while a judge’s personal politics and the president they were appointed by shouldn’t matter, in this case they very much do.

Schiltz was not only nominated by George W. Bush, but he’s a former clerk for the conservative icon, the late Justice Antonin Scalia. He becomes the latest Republican-appointed judge to cry foul about what the administration is doing.


Across the country, people of all political stripes are reeling as ICE continues to kill on the streets of America.  That includes clergy.  From last night's THE NEWSHOUR (PBS):


Geoff Bennett:  One of the country's highest-ranking Catholic leaders and a top ally of Pope Leo is sharply criticizing the Trump administration's immigration enforcement, calling ICE a lawless organization.

During an interfaith service this week, Cardinal Joseph Tobin, the head of the Archdiocese of Newark, urged members of the church to pressure lawmakers to block funding for ICE. His remarks come after the deaths of Alex Pretti and Renee Nicole Good, and after the detention of Liam Conejo Ramos, a 5-year-old boy who was taken into custody by federal agents after arriving home from preschool and sent with his father to a family detention center in Texas.

For more now, we're joined by Cardinal Joseph Tobin.

Thanks for being with us.


Cardinal Joseph Tobin, Archbishop of Newark: Good evening.


Geoff Bennett:  Before speaking out, I imagine you must have weighed the implications. What specific moral and theological convictions ultimately compelled you to speak publicly?


Cardinal Joseph Tobin: I think the principle motivator was a concern for the common good.

In the Catholic way of thinking and approaching social-moral questions, it's not simply the vindication of competing rights, but it's rather the preservation of the common good. And so to look at how the actions in Minneapolis or anywhere else affect the common good, those are people like whom you mentioned, the refugees, people without legal status, as well as the citizens of the United States.


Geoff Bennett: And you have called not just for prayer, but for political action, calling for the defunding of ICE, as we mentioned.

What concrete changes do you envision?


Cardinal Joseph Tobin:  Well, I think what we want to do is -- as much as possible, is use as a principal motivator the human dignity of people.

And I think what I was calling for and I still call for and will call for is the recognition of the dignity of human beings, no matter what their legal status may be.


Geoff Bennett:  How do you reconcile this call to push back against actions you believe are unjust with the church's teaching and the Scripture's teaching of respect for government authority?


Cardinal Joseph Tobin:  Well, I think that we pray for our government officials. And as St. Paul says in First Timothy, we pray that in order that we can live tranquil and decent lives and following our values.

And so we not only pray for ourselves, but we pray for others, because we recognize, in human dignity, the dignity of especially people who don't -- do not necessarily look like us.



Let's turn to another piece of garbage trash, Douglas Collins.  Scaredy cat 'served' in the military as a chaplain -- continues to do so. He wasn't acting like a chaplain in Congress yesterday, he was acting like the lying coward he is.  And Senator Elissa Slotkin wasn't having it. 



Senator Patty Murray was also at the hearing.  Her office notes:




***WATCH: Senator Murray’s exchange at the hearing***

Washington, D.C. — Today, at a Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs hearing with U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary Doug Collins, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA)—a former chair and senior member of the committee—spoke forcefully about the murder of Alex Pretti and Secretary Collins’ insulting and inadequate response, and pressed Secretary Collins on VA’s response to employees at the Minneapolis VA who are mourning the death of their colleague. Senator Murray also pressed Secretary Collins on the Trump administration’s extreme VA abortion ban, which prohibits abortion even in cases of rape or incest.

In opening comments, Senator Murray said:

“Before I begin my questions—people across America are really reeling from the horrifying murder of Alex Pretti by federal agents.

“As we all know, Alex Pretti was an ICU nurse at the Minneapolis VA Medical Center. He is remembered by colleagues and friends as a calm presence amid the chaos of the hospital, someone who cared deeply for the veterans he served. He was remembered as a mentor, a caretaker, and someone who wanted to make a difference in the world. The father of one veteran Mr. Pretti cared for until the end, described him as‘the sweetest person you can imagine.’

“Alex Pretti spent his last minutes trying to help a woman, she was a bystander who was being assaulted by federal agents. He was killed by those federal agents moments later.

“Immediately after he was killed—the Trump administration began spreading sickening lies about him. They lied about who he was, what he was holding, what he was doing in the moments before his death.

“Trump and the miserable folks at the DHS showed right away they didn’t care about getting the facts—any facts. They told Americans not to believe what we all saw and heard with our own eyes and ears. We all saw an American shot and killed by federal agents in broad daylight.

“Mr. Secretary, your initial response to a VA nurse being killed by federal agents was to blame it on Minnesota officials. You didn’t say a word about who Alex Pretti was, or the incredible work that he did for veterans. You mentioned him today but still didn’t refer to that. That is certainly a choice.

“Words cannot describe how outraged I am—and how outraged we all should be—at the killing of Alex Pretti, who simply did not have to die, and at this administration’s rush to spread lies about American citizens—whose only crime was peacefully exercising their First Amendment rights.

“Joining ICE or Border Patrol does not give you a license to murder. So I want to reiterate to all of you that there must be an independent investigation and real accountability here.

“This can’t continue—and I hope that we agree on that basic point, and Republicans join us to work with us to make that happen.”

[VA STAFF MOURNING ALEX PRETTI]

Senator Murray began her questioning by pressing Secretary Collins on reports that Minneapolis VA employees have not been granted personal leave to mourn their colleague, saying: “It is my understanding that Minneapolis VA employees have not been granted personal leave to mourn their colleague because they’re subject to mandatory overtime due to staffing shortages. Are you allowing any of the employees there to get personal help, to take any time off, or to offer them your support as they go through a very trying time of losing a very close colleague?”

“Yes, we are providing all that we can through the Minneapolis VA to those workers,” Secretary Collins said, before turning the question to Gregory Goins, Acting Chief Operating Officer at the Veterans Health Administration. Mr. Goins replied that, “When… these tragedies occur; they’re offered employee assistance programs, they’re offered Whole Health employee assistance programs, they’re also offered things through community partners, if necessary. If anybody comes forward to want to take leave because of a coworker, a close coworker, we always have empathy in allowing them to do so.”

“And if I could just add—and I apologize—they just had a memorial service for Alex Pretti yesterday at noon, where over 300 employees attended and were able to memorialize and remember him,” Mr. Goins continued.

Later in the hearing, Senator Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) followed up on Senator Murray’s line of questioning, grilling Secretary Collins on an email received by staff at the Minneapolis VA yesterday that said in part, “we have been instructed to pause the memorial planned for today.” The vigil was held anyway. Secretary Collins and Mr. Goins placed the blame for the email on “a leadership official in Minneapolis,” denying they had instructed staff at the Minneapolis VA to pause the memorial for Alex Pretti that they had referenced in their testimony.

[VA ABORTION BAN]

Senator Murray continued her questioning by pressing Secretary Collins on the Trump administration’s decision to implement a near-total ban on abortion care at VA, and ban providers from even discussing abortion with their veteran patients— moves Senator Murray has repeatedly and forcefully spoken out against:

“In late December, not long ago, the Trump administration quietly implemented a near-total abortion ban at the VA,” Senator Murray said. “VA’s final rule prevents the more than 460,000 women veterans of reproductive age—over half of whom live in states with abortion bans—from receiving abortion care at the VA now. VA providers aren’t even allowed to discuss abortion as an option with veteran patients.”

Senator Murray asked, “Secretary Collins, a simple question, if a veteran has been raped, is she able to get abortion care at the VA under current policy? Yes or No?” 

“The VA was up until ‘22, was not doing any abortions at all. This was a decision by the previous administration to bend the law to go back, something that had been of over generations of both Democrat and Republican administration, that the VA was not in the issue of abortion,” answered Secretary Collins in part.

Senator Murray reiterated, “No. A simple question, if you are raped, can you get abortion care?”

Secretary Collins replied in part, “There are no abortions to be done at the VA medical centers, except the ones that are the life threatening of a mother.”

“I just want everyone to know, under this VA Final Rule – no exceptions for rape or incest. And I find that outrageous,” Senator Murray responded.

“Up until October, or until ‘22 when Secretary McDonough changed what was the high precedent and law of this country, there were no abortions of any kind for any excuse or any reason,” said Secretary Collins in part.

“And he rightfully corrected that to make sure that if someone was raped or a victim of incest, they could get health care,” Senator Murray corrected Secretary Collins.

Senator Murray was the first woman to join the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee and the first woman to chair the Committee—as the daughter of a World War II veteran, supporting veterans and their families has always been an important priority for her. Senator Murray has been outspoken in standing up for veterans, VA employees, and VA researchers against Trump and Elon Musk’s indiscriminate mass layoffs this year—forcefully denouncing the administration’s plans, pressing administration witnesses at every opportunity, and holding multiple press conferences with VA employees and veterans in Washington state who were abruptly laid off for no reason. Earlier this year, Senator Murray forcefully denounced the Trump administration’s initial plan to fire 80,000 employees at VA. Toward the end of last year, Senator Murray released a videoslamming the Trump administration’s new plan not to fill thousands of open positions at VA, and demanding answers.

Advocating for women veterans and their access to reproductive health care has also been a longtime focus for Senator Murray. Senator Murray called on VA to provide abortion care to veterans early in the Biden administration, and she applauded the Biden administration’s announcement later in the year that would begin to provide abortion care for veterans and their eligible dependents to protect the health and life of the individual and in cases of rape or incest. Murray has helped lead the charge in calling out Republicans for their attacks on, and attempts to undo, this limited and commonsense policy. Senator Murray also leads the Veteran Families Health Services Act, comprehensive legislation that would expand fertility treatments—including IVF—and family-building services for servicemembers and veterans who are unable to conceive without assistance, and she has sought unanimous consent to pass the legislation on multiple occasions. She introduced new legislation last summer with Senator Duckworth to help cover IVF costs for servicemembers and military families—and slammed Speaker Johnson from working behind the scenes to strip an amendment mirroring that legislation from the final National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2026. Senator Murray voted against the NDAA last year, citing—among other things—the failure to include her provision to expand IVF care for servicemembers and veterans. Yesterday, Senator Murray introduced a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution to overturn the Trump Administration’s new rule ending abortion counseling entirely and abortion care for veterans who have been raped or whose pregnancy is threatening their health.

Senator Murray slammed the Trump administration’s initial move to ban abortion care at VA in August, and sounded the alarm again in December when the Trump administration quietly implemented a near-total abortion ban at VA.

###


Senator Amy Klobuchar took to the floor of the Senate to call for ICE out of her state now:


January 28, 2026

WATCH KLOBUCHAR’S FULL REMARKS HERE

WASHINGTON — On the Senate floor today, U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) delivered remarks honoring Renee Good and Alex Pretti, calling for ICE to leave Minnesota, and opposing the ICE funding bill.

“In the last year, we have too often come to the floor to discuss tragedies in our state. This summer, an assassin killed our friend Melissa Hortman, the former Speaker of the Minnesota House, and her husband, Mark. And we were once again shaken to our core when a mass shooter attacked Annunciation Catholic Church right in the middle of mass. Children in their first week of school — two children murdered, 21 more people injured, including 18 kids.

In recent weeks, Minnesota has once again been at the center of America's heartbreak, but we are also at the center of America's courage and hope.

We honor Renee Good today. Renee Good, who left behind three children, including a six year old when she was shot and killed by an ICE agent. Her wife said this: ‘kindness radiated out of her. … She literally sparkled.’ And asked everyone to ‘honor her memory by living her values: rejecting hate and choosing compassion.’

We also honor the memory of Alex Pretti, a VA intensive care nurse who did one of the most selfless jobs people could think of: caring for our veterans, often in their final hours. A man described by his friends and family as ‘a kindhearted soul.’

Both Renee and Alex should be alive today.

Anyone who cares about federalism, about freedoms, about liberties should be horrified by what is happening. If you care about the Constitution, I say to our colleagues on the other side of the aisle, you should be horrified because what is happening in our state has been a violation of the First Amendment, the right to assemble. … The Second Amendment — Alex was a lawful gun owner, but he was immediately criticized for that.… They've been violating the Fourth Amendment, ramming into people's homes without a judicial warrant. … And this administration is going after the Fifth Amendment, the right to due process.

There are 3,000 federal officers in Minnesota, and I can not state it more unequivocally: ICE must leave Minnesota. 

Law enforcement has made this clear. They can't do their jobs, they can't investigate burglaries, they can't help on some of the complex cases, because they're being called to people's homes all the time, because of the ICE agents hanging around homes of just regular citizens in parking lots, chasing people down local businesses. 

Business leaders have come out and said, enough. Police chiefs in our state have joined together. Police chiefs across the nation have joined together and said: we believe in proper police procedures and the rule of law. 

But the biggest story out of this is the everyday people, the ordinary people doing extraordinary things. They've rallied together, brought food to their neighbors, drove other kids to school, showed up for small businesses and marched -- 50,000 strong.”

Download Klobuchar's full remarks from HERE

###







Okay, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has now made a statement that should disturb us all.  Zachary Leeman (MEDIAITE) reports:

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is chalking up her actions in office to the direction of President Donald Trump and Homeland Security Advisor Stephen Miller.

Noem, Miller, and others in the administration have faced backlash over their description of the circumstances surrounding federal agents shooting and killing 37-year-old Alex Pretti in Minneapolis on Saturday. Noem and others claimed Pretti wanted to “massacre” agents before the confrontation. Administration officials have pointed to the fact that Pretti was armed as proof of his malicious intentions, but Second Amendment activists have consistently pushed back against this.

Pretti’s death followed an ICE agent shooting and killing 37-year-old mother Renee Good in the same city earlier this month. The city is currently suing the administration over ICE’s deployment.
 

Miller previously referred to Pretti as an “assassin.”
[. . .]

“Everything I’ve done, I’ve done at the direction of the president and Stephen,” Noem reportedly said to someone who relayed her comment to Axios.


Everything she's done?  Even the alleged ongoing affair with Corey Lewandowski?  Oh my goodness.  They're freaks in the administration.  Telling Kristi how to have sex with Corey.  Freaks.


MAGA operative Corey Lewandowski—who has long been rumored to be having an affair with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem—will be extending his stay as her de facto chief of staff.

Despite being classified as a temporary employee, Lewandowski has been playing a shadow role of sorts at DHS since Trump was reelected, pulling many of the logistical strings behind the scenes while Noem played dress-up in tactical gear and posed for pictures.
Lewandowski’s continued work at DHS was confirmed when an Axios reporter spotted him loudly discussing DHS vendor contracts on the phone at Reagan National Airport in D.C. last week. Lewandowski reportedly mentioned a drone program, as well as Peter Thiel’s Palantir.

There have been countless reports of the alleged affair between Noem and Lewandowski over the last five years.

“Everybody knows they’re together. Can I prove it? No, but they’re together,” an anonymous administration employee told New York magazine last year. Another called it the “worst-kept secret in D.C.” Since 2019, various people have claimed they witnessed interactions like Noem sitting in Lewandowski’s lap and Lewandowski slapping Noem’s butt.



From Day 1, he was Donald Trump’s pit bull.

Corey Lewandowski was a hard-charging political operative who worked for a group backed by the Koch brothers when Mr. Trump put him in charge of a nascent White House campaign with only a handful of staff members in 2015. Untested at the presidential level, he led with a simple mantra: “Let Trump be Trump.”

With an attack-and-never-apologize style that mirrored his boss’s, Mr. Lewandowski could almost always count on Mr. Trump’s eventual support over the next decade, as he ping-ponged from government to lobbying and back again with several scandals in his wake.

Now back as a top adviser to Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, he finds himself at the center of the uproar over the immigration crackdown in Minnesota, where two American citizens have been killed by federal agents in the past month.

Mr. Lewandowski and Ms. Noem met with Mr. Trump on Monday for nearly two hours as the administration faced intense pressure, including from Republicans, to ease up federal immigration agents’ aggressive tactics in Minnesota.


You have to wonder about the religious fundamentalists -- the American Taliban -- who support Chump and how they tolerate two married people working together while cheating on their spouses -- being paid by the taxpayer to interact with their 'alleged' lover.  I guess that's just how they inform us that The Heritage Foundation is just a group of swingers having orgies.  And how they explain to us that while they pretend that they're religious as they hate on LGBTQ+ people and demand abortion be outlawed, they're just liars and fake asses who gladly look the other way during a high profile affair. They are fundamentalists when it's convenient for them.


In the meantime, as Ben points out this morning, Chump is spiraling again




Let's wind down with this from Senator Amy Klobuchar's office:

January 28, 2026

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), along with every other Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, is urging the Department of Justice (DOJ) to heed the calls of career prosecutors and open a civil rights investigation into the fatal shooting of Renee Good by U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers in Minneapolis earlier this month. 

In their letter to Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, the Senators emphasize that DOJ’s decision not to investigate Ms. Good’s killing represents a broader trend of how the Department is neglecting the enforcement of civil rights laws.  

The Senators’ letter comes after Assistant AG Dhillon announced that DOJ’s Civil Rights Division would not investigate Ms. Good’s killing—reportedly ignoring the recommendations of career prosecutors, including the head of the Criminal Section, and despite the leading role the Civil Rights Division office normally assumes in investigating potential civil rights violations. The letter was sent last week, before a Border Patrol agent shot and killed Alex Pretti in Minneapolis. 

Along with Klobuchar the letter was signed by Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Senators Peter Welch (D-VT), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Chris Coons (D-DE), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Alex Padilla (D-CA), and Adam Schiff (D-CA). 

“Your decision not to investigate the ICE agent’s conduct is a marked departure from past administrations of both parties, which historically have taken swift action to open civil rights reviews of many fatal interactions with law enforcement. These investigations have been conducted even when criminal charges were considered unlikely,” wrote the Senators. “After you informed Division personnel that you would not consider opening an investigation into whether the ICE agent violated federal law, several career prosecutors —including the head of the Criminal Section, which is responsible for these investigations—accelerated planned departures from the Division.” 

“Instead of investigating Ms. Good’s killing, DOJ has announced the U.S. Attorney’s office in Minnesota would investigate alleged connections between Ms. Good and her widow and groups that have been monitoring ICE activity in Minneapolis. DOJ ordered federal agents to conduct its investigation without Minnesota’s local authorities,” the Senators continued. “Refusing to share investigative materials or permit a joint investigation is highly unusual. Six lawyers from the U.S. Attorney’s office in Minnesota have also resigned in protest of this investigation.” 

The full letter is here and below.

 Dear Assistant Attorney General Dhillon:

On January 7, 2026, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent fatally shot Renee Good in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  Two days later, you announced the Division would not investigate the fatal incident—despite the reported request of career prosecutors in your office to do so and despite the leading role your office normally assumes in investigating potential violations of 18 U.S.C. 242.  

Your decision not to investigate the ICE agent’s conduct is a marked departure from past administrations of both parties, which historically have taken swift action to open civil rights reviews of many fatal interactions with law enforcement.  These investigations have been conducted even when criminal charges were considered unlikely.  

According to public reporting, multiple career prosecutors in the Division offered to lead an inquiry into the shooting.  Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, second-in-command at the Department of Justice (DOJ), reinforced your decision to take an investigation off the table when he publicly claimed there was “no basis” for a civil rights probe into Ms. Good’s death.  His assertion is contradicted by a Federal Bureau of Investigation agent’s determination—after an initial review—that sufficient grounds existed to open a civil rights investigation into the ICE agent who shot Ms. Good.  

After you informed Division personnel that you would not consider opening an investigation into whether the ICE agent violated federal law, several career prosecutors—including the head of the Criminal Section, which is responsible for these investigations—accelerated planned departures from the Division. 

Instead of investigating Ms. Good’s killing, DOJ has announced the U.S. Attorney’s office in Minnesota would investigate alleged connections between Ms. Good and her widow and groups that have been monitoring ICE activity in Minneapolis.  DOJ ordered federal agents to conduct its investigation without Minnesota’s local authorities.  Refusing to share investigative materials or permit a joint investigation is highly unusual.  Six lawyers from the U.S. Attorney’s office in Minnesota have also resigned in protest of this investigation. 

Your decision not to investigate Ms. Good’s killing reflects a trend in the Division under your leadership of ignoring the enforcement of civil rights laws in favor of carrying out President Trump’s political agenda. This trend, combined with apparent political interference in investigative and prosecutorial decisions, undermines public trust, the legitimacy of our institutions, and the rule of law. We urge you to listen to career prosecutors and open a civil rights investigation into the death of Ms. Good. 

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