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Josh Kovensky

@joshkovensky.bsky.social

Investigative reporter @TPM.bsky.social Get in touch at joshk@talkingpointsmemo.com or via Signal JoshKovensky.04

43,092 Followers  |  637 Following  |  754 Posts  |  Joined: 08.06.2023
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Posts by Josh Kovensky (@joshkovensky.bsky.social)

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Greg Bovino, other federal agents investigated for Operation Metro Surge actions Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said her office is already investigating 17 incidents involving potential unlawful conduct by federal agents.

The DA in Minneapolis is investigating Bovino and others.

02.03.2026 19:38 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 14172    ๐Ÿ” 3322    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 331    ๐Ÿ“Œ 193

Saw a bad argument yesterday from a Trump 1.0 Iran hawk that the 2001 AUMF authorizes the use of force against Iran.

Nope.

Amongst other things, the argument ignores verb tense and the stated purpose of the AUMF.

01.03.2026 19:21 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 43    ๐Ÿ” 6    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 3    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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Welcome to Wyoming, the Frontier of Americaโ€™s New Gilded Age

The richest Americans saw their net worth soar 120% from 2017-25 and the number of US billionaires jumped 50% to more than 900. Overall, the top 1% now control $55.8 trillion in assets โ€” more than the GDP of the US and China combined. www.nytimes.com/2026/03/02/u...

02.03.2026 14:40 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 228    ๐Ÿ” 126    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 17    ๐Ÿ“Œ 9
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Biden Promised Peace, but Will Leave His Successor a Nation Entangled in War (Published 2024)

It's hard to read this 2024 campaign piece and not gag www.nytimes.com/2024/08/09/u...

02.03.2026 14:30 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 29    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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Come Inside the War Room Prepping for SCOTUS to Upend Democracy For over a decade, no enemy has loomed larger to the Roberts...

Read @kateriga.bsky.social on SCOTUS gutting the Voting Rights Act and the groups preparing for the day after

talkingpointsmemo.com/news/voting-...

02.03.2026 14:14 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 24    ๐Ÿ” 9    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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U.S. launches 'major combat operations' in Iran, Trump says On Saturday Donald Trump announced the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran with strikes designed to prevent nuclear weapons and help Iranians.

โ€œThis is the eighth military intervention of Trumpโ€™s second term in officeโ€

28.02.2026 12:58 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 802    ๐Ÿ” 262    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 46    ๐Ÿ“Œ 25

Imagine if we lived in a world where powerful media figures faced professional consequences for being badly wrong on important issues.

28.02.2026 14:13 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 145    ๐Ÿ” 38    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 5    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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Under no circumstances do you "gotta hand it to" to the Bush admin. But they did still make a case for invading Iraq. Trump reneging on anything more than a video released in the middle of the night is a reminder of how contemptuous he and his admin are of the public
www.wsj.com/livecoverage...

28.02.2026 14:11 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 60    ๐Ÿ” 14    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 3    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

It's still a mystery to me why anyone believed Trump's "no new wars" line. Wishful thinking is powerful, but his first-term record was enough to show that his rhetoric during the campaign was as opportunistic as anything else

28.02.2026 14:00 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 50    ๐Ÿ” 4    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 5    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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In a statement, Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, accuses the Trump admin of peddling "misrepresented intelligence" to justify war with Iran

28.02.2026 14:00 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 53    ๐Ÿ” 10    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 3
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FBIโ€™s Top Influencers Tout โ€˜Antifaโ€™ Funding Investigations The White House wanted investigations into those it describes as left-wing activists...

FBI Director cites NSPM-7 as enabling its crackdown on left-leaning activists.

18.02.2026 19:47 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 32    ๐Ÿ” 12    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 5    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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Doug Wilson Preaches at Pentagon, Compares Services to Day of Pentecost Controversial Christian Nationalist preacher Doug Wilson stood at a podium inside the Pentagon on Tuesday as the guest preacher for the latest monthly Christian worship service held there for leaders ...

Here's what went on at that Pentagon service yesterday: publicwitness.wordandway.org/p/doug-wilso...

18.02.2026 15:36 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 6    ๐Ÿ” 3    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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Fire, Brimstone, and Hegseth: Idaho Christian Nationalists Establish a DC Beachhead WASHINGTON DCโ€”This past Sunday, Pastor Jared Longshore looked out at his congregants,...

Wilson opened a DC outpost of his church in July; I was there for the first service, which Hegseth attended. He and his followers see Trump II as a generational opportunity to spread christian nationalism aggressively

talkingpointsmemo.com/news/christ-...

talkingpointsmemo.com/news/russ-vo...

18.02.2026 15:32 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 33    ๐Ÿ” 18    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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An Outspoken Christian Nationalist Pastor Expands His Sway In Trumpโ€™s DC Idaho pastor Douglas Wilson can be provocative. He once wrote that โ€œslavery...

Doug Wilson, who once told me that he is trying to "get back to America in 1892," spoke at the Pentagon yesterday.

A few stories from the archive, including our scoop last year on when he first met Pete Hegseth

talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/an...

18.02.2026 15:27 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 51    ๐Ÿ” 32    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 10    ๐Ÿ“Œ 6
Mia Valentina Paz Faria
A 7-year-old from Venezuela who was living in Austin, Texas 
Detained for 70 days

โ€œI donโ€™t want to be in this place I want to go to my school.โ€

Mia Valentina Paz Faria A 7-year-old from Venezuela who was living in Austin, Texas Detained for 70 days โ€œI donโ€™t want to be in this place I want to go to my school.โ€

UPDATE: Staff at the ICE concentration camp in Dilley, Texas have begun raiding the dormitories of kids and their parents to confiscate and destroy letters from the children. This is in response to the ace reporting by 
@micarosenberg
 et al for ProPublica:

UPDATE: Staff at the ICE concentration camp in Dilley, Texas have begun raiding the dormitories of kids and their parents to confiscate and destroy letters from the children. This is in response to the ace reporting by @micarosenberg et al for ProPublica:

โ€œI donโ€™t want to be in this place I want to go to my school.โ€

- 7 year old imprisoned by ICE for 70 days in a concentration camp in Texas.

Today, after @propublica.org published this story, the camp was raided to confiscate letters from the children.

www.propublica.org/article/ice-...

17.02.2026 19:31 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 12153    ๐Ÿ” 7001    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 326    ๐Ÿ“Œ 832
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Guilt by Association: First โ€˜Antifaโ€™ Case Sweeps Anti-Trump Activists Into One Terrorism Conspiracy This article is part of TPMโ€™s ongoing โ€œCreating the Enemy Withinโ€ project,...

A protester accused of being part of a Texas "antifa cell" was held in solitary confinement for three months.

โ€œThey went and poisoned everyone against the defendants before we ever even knew what was going on,โ€ her sister told
@joshkovensky.bsky.social

talkingpointsmemo.com/news/guilt-b...

17.02.2026 19:16 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 212    ๐Ÿ” 108    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 4    ๐Ÿ“Œ 3
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Guilt by Association: First โ€˜Antifaโ€™ Case Sweeps Anti-Trump Activists Into One Terrorism Conspiracy This article is part of TPMโ€™s ongoing โ€œCreating the Enemy Withinโ€ project,...

Defendants form a version of โ€œantifaโ€ that a prosecutor in the case described as an โ€œanti-President Trump and anti-ICE movement,โ€ but that experts warn tips dangerously toward an attempt to prosecute based on ideology. talkingpointsmemo.com/news/guilt-b...

16.02.2026 22:31 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 118    ๐Ÿ” 57    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 6    ๐Ÿ“Œ 6
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The Quintessential Epstein Files Email - The American Prospect Jeffrey Epstein and his friends standing up for Mary Jo White against Elizabeth Warren tells you everything about the class war at the heart of the files.

Guys I found the best Epstein Files email. The one that illuminates an elite class that's cocooned themselves into an unaccountable shell of wealth and privilege, fighting to protect their secrets and offenses.
I could write a novel about this email.
prospect.org/2026/02/17/e...

17.02.2026 14:23 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 327    ๐Ÿ” 167    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 19    ๐Ÿ“Œ 41
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Bukele Pays for MAGA Lobbying through Opaque Public Electricity Company In Washington, Bukele has focused lobbying efforts on courting MAGA politicians and โ€œpositioning key narrativesโ€ in U.S. media. Heโ€™s now paying for it through a public electricity company that shields...

Bukele has focused lobbying on courting MAGA politicians and โ€œpositioning narrativesโ€ in US media. Heโ€™s paying for it through a public electricity company that shields financial information through a private subsidiary.

@periodistagl.bsky.social in today's newsletter beta.elfaro.net/en/el-salvad...

16.02.2026 16:14 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 14    ๐Ÿ” 7    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 1
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Guilt by Association: First โ€˜Antifaโ€™ Case Sweeps Anti-Trump Activists Into One Terrorism Conspiracy This article is part of TPMโ€™s ongoing โ€œCreating the Enemy Withinโ€ project,...

Guilt by Association: First โ€˜Antifaโ€™ Case Sweeps Anti-Trump Activists Into One Terrorism Conspiracy

talkingpointsmemo.com/news/guilt-b...

16.02.2026 13:48 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 33    ๐Ÿ” 15    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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TikTokers Came to Springfield Looking for ICE. Then the Child Trafficking Rumors Began. This story was originally reported by Amanda Becker of The 19th. Meet...

The conspiracy theories have triggered chaos in the Ohio city, where Haitian immigrant families and the groups working with them are already on edge. talkingpointsmemo.com/news/tiktoke...

16.02.2026 13:18 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 126    ๐Ÿ” 57    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 7
Following the electoral chaos caused by the COVID pandemic,
Texas modernized its election security laws. S.B. 1 aimed to make โ€œthe
conduct of elections . . . uniform and consistent throughout [the]
state[,] . . . reduce the likelihood of fraud in the conduct of elections, protect
the secrecy of the ballot, promote voter access, and ensure that all legally cast
ballots are counted.โ€ Tex. Elec. Code ยง 1.0015. Because โ€œthe potential
and reality of fraud is much greater in the mail-in ballot context than with inperson voting,โ€ S.B. 1 added additional election integrity provisions to
prevent mail ballot fraud. Veasey v. Abbott, 830 F.3d 216, 239 (5th Cir. 2016)
(en banc). Mail ballots are more susceptible to fraud because they render
election workers incapable of knowing what happens to the ballot once it is
mailed out. Due to the inherent vulnerability of mail ballots, โ€œ[f]raud is a real
risk that accompanies mail-in voting.โ€ Brnovich v. Democratic Natโ€™l Comm.,
594 U.S. 647, 686, 141 S. Ct. 2321, 2348 (2021). In particular, โ€œ[v]ote buying
schemes are far more difficult to detect when citizens vote by mail.โ€ Id. at
685, 141 S. Ct. at 2347 (quoting Report of the Commโ€™n on Fed. Election
Reform, Building Confidence in U.S. Elections 46 (Sept. 2005)).

Following the electoral chaos caused by the COVID pandemic, Texas modernized its election security laws. S.B. 1 aimed to make โ€œthe conduct of elections . . . uniform and consistent throughout [the] state[,] . . . reduce the likelihood of fraud in the conduct of elections, protect the secrecy of the ballot, promote voter access, and ensure that all legally cast ballots are counted.โ€ Tex. Elec. Code ยง 1.0015. Because โ€œthe potential and reality of fraud is much greater in the mail-in ballot context than with inperson voting,โ€ S.B. 1 added additional election integrity provisions to prevent mail ballot fraud. Veasey v. Abbott, 830 F.3d 216, 239 (5th Cir. 2016) (en banc). Mail ballots are more susceptible to fraud because they render election workers incapable of knowing what happens to the ballot once it is mailed out. Due to the inherent vulnerability of mail ballots, โ€œ[f]raud is a real risk that accompanies mail-in voting.โ€ Brnovich v. Democratic Natโ€™l Comm., 594 U.S. 647, 686, 141 S. Ct. 2321, 2348 (2021). In particular, โ€œ[v]ote buying schemes are far more difficult to detect when citizens vote by mail.โ€ Id. at 685, 141 S. Ct. at 2347 (quoting Report of the Commโ€™n on Fed. Election Reform, Building Confidence in U.S. Elections 46 (Sept. 2005)).

One particularly common form of โ€œmail ballot fraudโ€ is known as
โ€œvote harvesting.โ€ Vote harvesting describes a process whereby paid
election operatives โ€œgenerate applications for mail ballots in . . . targeted
precincts.โ€ Operatives often go door-to-door, talk to voters, and get them to
sign up to vote by mail. More nefariously, vote harvesting can also be
accomplished by paid operatives forging applications for voters without the
votersโ€™ knowledge or consent. Later, once the voters receive the mail ballots
that were requested by canvassing or by forgery, the same partisan operatives
return to collect the votersโ€™ completed mail ballots. As part of the ballot
collection process, the partisan operatives ensure that the ballots were cast
for a particular candidate.
Unsurprisingly, mail-in voting is a rich field for fraud. Between 2004
and 2021, 72% of all election prosecutions undertaken by the Texas Attorney
General involved mail ballot fraud. โ€œ[I]t should go without saying that a State
may take action to prevent election fraud.โ€ Id. at 686, 141 S. Ct. at 2348.
Faced with evidence of mail ballot fraud, Texas enacted S.B. 1, which
contained multiple provisions to address mail ballot fraud.

One particularly common form of โ€œmail ballot fraudโ€ is known as โ€œvote harvesting.โ€ Vote harvesting describes a process whereby paid election operatives โ€œgenerate applications for mail ballots in . . . targeted precincts.โ€ Operatives often go door-to-door, talk to voters, and get them to sign up to vote by mail. More nefariously, vote harvesting can also be accomplished by paid operatives forging applications for voters without the votersโ€™ knowledge or consent. Later, once the voters receive the mail ballots that were requested by canvassing or by forgery, the same partisan operatives return to collect the votersโ€™ completed mail ballots. As part of the ballot collection process, the partisan operatives ensure that the ballots were cast for a particular candidate. Unsurprisingly, mail-in voting is a rich field for fraud. Between 2004 and 2021, 72% of all election prosecutions undertaken by the Texas Attorney General involved mail ballot fraud. โ€œ[I]t should go without saying that a State may take action to prevent election fraud.โ€ Id. at 686, 141 S. Ct. at 2348. Faced with evidence of mail ballot fraud, Texas enacted S.B. 1, which contained multiple provisions to address mail ballot fraud.

Ultra-MAGA Judge Edith Jones of the 5th Circuit peddles deranged conspiracy theories about mass voter fraud and "ballot harvesting," declaring that mail voting "is a rich field for fraud" that's frequently exploited by "operatives" attempting to steal elections. www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub...

12.02.2026 18:18 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 383    ๐Ÿ” 118    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 33    ๐Ÿ“Œ 37

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) telling ICE/CBP heads that if the Pretti probe wraps and they find "nobody is to blame" and "no changes" are being made, "it destroys the trust in ICE." Says people don't trust it'll be a real investigation after administration comments โ€” there have to be "repercussions"

12.02.2026 16:24 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 296    ๐Ÿ” 62    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 11    ๐Ÿ“Œ 8
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How Trumpโ€™s Immigration Crusade Is Endangering Black Americans From what began as a routine traffic stop in Georgia, U.S. Army...

As the administration dilutes civil rights, activists and constitutional law scholars told TPM the overlap of street-level policing and immigration enforcement poses unique risks to Black Americans whose ancestors were enslaved here.
talkingpointsmemo.com/news/trump-i...

12.02.2026 14:05 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 50    ๐Ÿ” 21    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

If Clay Parikh's name sounds familiar, it might be because he was Kari Lake's "star witness" in 2022 who helped her [checks notes] lose.

azmirror.com/2022/12/21/n...

12.02.2026 00:01 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 63    ๐Ÿ” 20    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 3    ๐Ÿ“Œ 1
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It seems notable that Ruemmler has hired a defamation lawyer but.... ooof

www.cnn.com/2026/02/12/p...

12.02.2026 13:17 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 28    ๐Ÿ” 3    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 6    ๐Ÿ“Œ 1

This is the second account - the first being in Chicago - of DHS agents mass detaining people and then *sorting them by race*.

12.02.2026 02:26 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 15834    ๐Ÿ” 7774    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 520    ๐Ÿ“Œ 299

I called up one of the White House's "special government employees" involved in the Fulton County FBI raid.

I ended up on the phone for almost two hours hearing about the "deep state" "cabal," "Satanists," poison soda, and the "pure evil" of "gay pride." talkingpointsmemo.com/news/meet-th...

11.02.2026 23:53 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 3698    ๐Ÿ” 1215    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 152    ๐Ÿ“Œ 123
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Feds Cast About for an โ€˜Antifaโ€™ That Encompasses All Trump Opponents This article is part of TPMโ€™s ongoing โ€œCreating the Enemy Withinโ€ project,...

NPSM-7 has been interpreted, rightly, as an attempt to train the might of federal law enforcement on Trumpโ€™s political & ideological enemies. @joshkovensky.bsky.social gets into all of this a lot more in depth in a new TPM series on the Trump administrationโ€™s efforts to create an โ€œenemy within.โ€

11.02.2026 23:21 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 47    ๐Ÿ” 13    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 3    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

JUST IN: U.S. Customs and Border Protection says Border Patrol agent Charles Exum, who shot Chicago's Marimar Martinez, "was placed on administrative leave":

11.02.2026 22:26 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 1690    ๐Ÿ” 565    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 58    ๐Ÿ“Œ 52