Kevin Grant

Americans Stranded in the Middle East Aren’t Getting Help from the State Department “Please do not rely on the U.S. government for assisted departure or evacuation,” a State department hotline said when NOTUS called Tuesday afternoon.

NEWS: Americans were told to evacuate the Middle East — but the State Dept is not helping them do it.

We called the State hotline. First thing you hear is an automated message: "Do not rely on the U.S. government for assisted departure or evacuation."

As Iran War escalates, Trump and allies focus on pushing SAVE America Act While bombs fall on U.S. bases, Trump is posting about the SAVE America Act.

NEW: President Donald Trump and his MAGA allies are not letting a shooting war in the Middle East distract them from their social media campaign for passage of the SAVE America Act. www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/...

The judges in WV have seen enough.

They say that if the ICE continues detaining people in ways they have unanimously deemed illegal they will start issuing civil fines and contempt findings — including against state officials who help them carry it out.

storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

perhaps I have made a mistake

Here’s new and irrefutable evidence from the Epstein files that Howard Lutnick made false statements and was misleading about his interactions with Jeffrey Epstein. It hasn’t yet caused a storm. So please give it a read and share widely.

Georgia Is Letting a Railroad Seize Land a Black Family Has Owned For 100 Years Descendants of enslaved people are fighting an attempt to use eminent domain to carve a spur through one of Georgia’s largest Black‑owned farms.

In the 1800s, a slave owner purchased over a dozen people in Georgia and set the foundation for his family’s generational wealth

Generations later, a railroad company owned by one of his descendants is using eminent domain to seize land of Black farmers

BREAKING: The Supreme Court STRIKES DOWN Trump's "emergency" tariffs. The vote is 6–3. www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25p...

that is monstrous

Exclusive: US plans online portal to bypass content bans in Europe and elsewhere The portal could potentially put Washington in the unfamiliar position of appearing to encourage citizens to flout local laws.

The U.S. State Dept is reportedly developing an online portal that will enable people in Europe and elsewhere to see content banned by their govts, "including alleged hate speech and terrorist propaganda," as a way to counter censorship. The site will be hosted at "freedom.gov."

"The president is actively considering strikes on Iran as early as this weekend"

MS NOW reporter Jake Traylor shares the latest as Trump holds inaugural "Board of Peace" meeting"

Prince Andrew's Arrest Across the pond in Britain, justice and accountability is a serious matter

Never in a million years did I ever fathom when I resurrected the Epstein story in 2018 that it would lead to first arrest of a British Royal in four centuries. Not since King Charles I was arrested in 1647.
open.substack.com/pub/jkbjourn...

'Students Are Being Treated Like Guinea Pigs:' Inside an AI-Powered Private School Leaked documents reveal the inner workings of Alpha School, which both the press and the Trump administration have applauded. The documents show Alpha School's AI is generating faulty lessons that som...

This is an insane story start to finish. $65k a year "AI school" heavily surveils students, generates nonsensical questions that "does more harm than good," scrapes from competitors. Stores hours of video of children insecurely. Lots more:

www.404media.co/students-are...

Civil rights groups ask court to protect Fulton County voter data seized by FBI The federal government should be expressly banned from copying or sharing the seized records, the groups said.

🚨BREAKING: A group of civil rights organizations including the NAACP have asked a federal court to protect voters’ personal information after the FBI seized ballots and other election materials during a raid on Fulton County. www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/...

Pam Bondi Thought That Went Pretty Well

Pam Bondi Thought That Went Pretty Well

🚨 United States v. Benson Learn more here.

🚨BREAKING: Federal Court DISMISSES DOJ lawsuit to gain access to Michigan’ unredacted statewide voter registration list. Another BIG victory for our clients and voters. Another stunning defeat for Pam Bondi. www.democracydocket.com/cases/michig...

A group of Buddhist monks has finally reached Washington, D.C., on foot, completing a 15-week trek for peace from Texas apnews.com/article/budd...

REP. STEIL: Some Dems demands put at risk the safety of members of law enforcement

CNBC: You mean like taking off their masks and having a badge that shows who they are?

STEIL: Well, they're known to their supervisors

CNBC: No other law enforcement officials in the US are allowed to wear masks

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Alberto Castañeda Mondragón says his memory was so jumbled after a beating by immigration officers that he initially could not remember he had a daughter and still struggles to recall treasured moments like the night he taught her to dance. But the violence he endured last month in Minnesota while being detained is seared into his battered brain. He remembers Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents pulling him from a friend’s car on Jan. 8 outside a St. Paul shopping center and throwing him to the ground, handcuffing him, then punching him and striking his head with a steel baton. He remembers being dragged into an SUV and taken to a detention facility, where he said he was beaten again. He also remembers the emergency room and the intense pain from eight skull fractures and five life-threatening brain hemorrhages.

ICE told nurses this Minneapolis man “purposefully ran headfirst into a brick wall.”

What actually happened is that they pulled him from a car, beat him so viciously with a steel baton that he had 8 skull fractures, 5 life-threatening brain hemorrhages, and couldn’t remember he had a daughter.

We’re looking at another very big Dem overperformance tonight—in a Trump+13 district. Dem Chasity Martinez is up 61-39 with more than half the vote in. Notably, like in TX last weekend, the e-day vote has been even *better* for her than the early vote. voterportal.sos.la.gov/graphical

Again, if you were alive in the 1980s, this is among the most wonderful & truly incredible things you have ever witnessed in your lifetime.

By the way, for those of you not in MN: Homan’s strategy was to withdraw some agents, so it felt like we were in the denouement of the crisis, and then escalate hard against observers. They’re being incredibly aggressive with observers now. National media may not want to check out just yet

VA Gov. Spanberger (moderate, was in CIA) and NYC Mayor Mamdani (left, is in DSA) both taking steps to block local law enforcement from helping ICE as it violently violates people's rights is a good example of how the relevant divide in the Dem coalition isn't center-left, it's fight-don't fight.

Federal judge rules DOJ can ‘no longer’ be trusted in voter roll crusade The judge pointed to a letter from Bondi to Minnesota that tied federal immigration enforcement to demands for voter data as the smoking gun.

NEW: A federal judge in Oregon issued a sweeping rebuke of the Justice Department’s nationwide push to seize state voter rolls, ruling that the department can no longer be presumed to be acting in good faith and warning that its conduct threatens voters and states’ rights.

Trump's War on Wind Energy Is Costing Him Blue-Collar Support “A lot of my members voted for President Trump in the last election, and they completely turned around on him,” one union chapter president, whose members work on offshore wind projects, said.

Some of working-class voters are changing their minds about Donald Trump as his administration’s war on renewable energy has cost them their jobs, labor leaders and workers said.
https://www.notus.org/energy/trump-wind-energy-blue-collar-support

One reason Minneapolis remains in the world's eye is we have one of the most robust & independent media ecosystems remaining in the country. You all need this...and more! @mprnews.org @startribune.com @sahanjournal.bsky.social @minnesotareformer.com @minnpost.bsky.social @racketmn.com etc.

A protester holds a sign that reads “stand with the Post”

Protesters stand outside of the headquarters

Protesters stand outside of the headquarters of the Post

Protesters are listening to a speaker

Scenes outside of the Washington Post headquarters right now:

You Can’t Kill Swagger My old corner of The Washington Post raised some of the best journalists in the business.

In almost any newsroom, the Sports section works the hardest, but also has the most fun and often produces the best journalism. This was especially true with the sports section of the Washington Post. Wonderful obituary by @sallyjenx.bsky.social
www.theatlantic.com/culture/2026...

holy shit

ICE is afraid of children protesting “Next time, I’ll be back with a gas mask.”

ICE tear gassed a bunch of children on Saturday. This was a massive escalation of force. They were shooting tear gas at the back of the crowd, it took these unmasked people maybe 3-5 minutes in the cloud of tear gas to escape in without trampling. www.theverge.com/policy/87278...