Rebecca Burns

In my opinion, one of the biggest revelations from the Epstein-Trump emails is that Michael Wolff -- who calls himself a journalist -- acted as a publicist and PR crisis manager for the most notorious sexual predator in recent memory.

And he did this for YEARS!

Furious Liberals Call for Schumer to Step Aside, Senate Dems Mostly Quiet After their shutdown surrender, liberal lawmakers are begging their base to unite behind them anyway – as Trumpland celebrates that their opposition is a bunch of 'p*ssies.'

Progressive groups are calling for Chuck Schumer's ouster after centrist Dems' shutdown cave. Dem senators' phone lines are "exploding" with the same demands. So far, Senate Dems don't have a ton to say.

New at @zeteo.com w/ @swin24.bsky.social @premthakker.bsky.social zeteo.com/p/senate-dem...

Must-read investigation by @thomasbirm.bsky.social connecting the dots between the displacement of U.S. tenants and Palestinian families. (Spoiler: the same corporate entity profits from them both!)

The Eviction Kings One of Israel’s biggest companies is taking over huge swaths of US real estate—and tenants are paying the price.

Today's must-read by @thomasbirm.bsky.social: a major corporate landlord is fueling homelessness across the U.S. *and* the mass displacement of Palestinians in the West Bank.

The Israeli company owns tens of thousands of apartments in the South, filing evictions at nine times the national average.

Draws parallels with what @rebeccaburns.bsky.social uncovered in the illegal, racist raid in Chicago—cheaper for predatory landlords to have people kidnapped than evicted: inthesetimes.com/article/evic...

Workers Here Have More in Common With Palestinians Being Bombed Than the Billionaires Bombing Them Even beyond the prospects of a ceasefire, the United Electrical Workers are calling for an end to US military aid to Israel—and why other unions should be working towards the same thing.

Extremely honored to have run this piece last week from the national leaders of @ueunion.org.

Carl Rosen and Mark Meinster's last public act as they hand over the reins was to stand up for Palestine. Principled leaders who know that struggle is a long game.

inthesetimes.com/article/gaza...

Trump Gutted Agency Investigating Zombie Mortgage Debt Collectors Many homeowners were blindsided by huge bills from zombie mortgages. A federal investigation of unlawful debt collections has stalled after the Trump administration gutted the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

The Trump administration gutted the agency investigating how thousands of homeowners fell victim to zombie mortgages.

A new Bloomberg analysis shows just how widespread these debt collections have become

Top AIG Exec Has Major Fossil Fuel Ties - The American Prospect A Center for Media and Democracy investigation shows that John G. Rice, AIG’s lead independent director, holds the same position at Baker Hughes, a global fossil fuel technology company that has recei...

AIG insures fossil fuel infrastructure deals.
But AIG’s lead independent director, John G. Rice, holds the exact same position at Baker Hughes, which gets contracts to build fossil fuel infrastructure.
Big conflict found by our partners at @exposedbycmd.bsky.social.
prospect.org/2025/10/29/t...

This is genuinely terrifying and also entirely predictable, based on the direction of policy and rhetoric that has been, in many instances, entirely bipartisan in recent years

ICE and CBP Agents Are Scanning Peoples’ Faces on the Street To Verify Citizenship Videos on social media show officers from ICE and CBP using facial recognition technology on people in the field. One expert described the practice as “pure dystopian creep.”

New: Videos show ICE/CBP agents are scanning peoples' faces on the street to verify citizenship. ICE has tool to instantly look up unprecedented number of databases with just a photo

“I’m an American citizen so leave me alone”

“Alright, we just got to verify that”

www.404media.co/ice-and-cbp-...

Eviction By ICE? Federal immigration agents appear to have targeted Chicago tenants in “deliberate and systematic ways.” They’re still searching for answers about their landlord’s role in the raid.

Great and necessary reporting from @rebeccaburns.bsky.social about the landlord and property manager of the South Shore building that got raided
inthesetimes.com/article/evic...

“The caller reiterated that the agent had the apartment numbers' on his wrist."'
Audio of 911 calls during the South Shore raid—obtained by @southsideweekly.bsky.social, which has been all over this story—provide more evidence that agents targeted certain units
southsideweekly.com/911-calls-sh...

Cook County Board Reapproves Contract with ICE-Linked Data Firm as Raids Sweep Chicago Four years after first being warned that a contract risked exposing immigrant data to ICE, Cook County approved another renewal—this time with advocates commissioners voicing frustration that stronger...

I’ve been tracking this contract since 2023, and last week, Cook County quietly renewed it. As ICE raids continue across Chicago, the board approved another $1M deal with a data broker tied to ICE. My latest for @southsideweekly.bsky.social

@npr.org itself reported without comment last summer that mass deportation was the Trump coalition’s housing plan

State law specifically prohibits landlords from weaponizing immigration enforcement against their tenants, says Jake Marshall, staff attorney for @beyondlegalaid.bsky.social:
“No matter their immigration status, every tenant in Illinois is entitled to formal, in-court eviction proceedings."

That could set a dangerous precedent, says Jonah Karsh of @mtochicago.bsky.social: “If landlords can just call the feds to get rid of who they want, then that’s a really bleak reality for tenants and their security going forward.”

Meanwhile, dozens of citizens were detained for hours during the raid without explanation.

At least some of the units raided that night were occupied by longtime residents — including senior citizens — who, for one reason or another, had not been paying rent or did not have current leases.

Prior to the raid, the landlord tipped off federal authorities about dozens of Venezuelan migrants living in the building, claiming they had threatened other tenants, according to an unnamed official speaking to the Associated Press.

But just 8 of 37 people arrested had any kind of criminal record.

Eviction By ICE? Federal immigration agents appear to have targeted Chicago tenants in “deliberate and systematic ways.” They’re still searching for answers about their landlord’s role in the raid.

"It costs a lot more money to evict someone than to call ICE on them."

A month after the military-style raid on a Chicago apartment building, residents are still searching for answers about why their homes were targeted—and the role their investor landlord played. inthesetimes.com/article/evic...

Eviction By ICE? Federal immigration agents appear to have targeted Chicago tenants in “deliberate and systematic ways.” They’re still searching for answers about their landlord’s role in the raid.

Strange tags on raided apartments, a slumlord speculator under water with the bank & eviction drives in a gentrifying neighborhood. @rebeccaburns.bsky.social investigates how tenants were systematically targeted during September's military-style raid of a Chicago apartment building @inthesetimes.com

Excellent read by @rebeccaburns.bsky.social , from the history of union pension investments to the growing number of union members “calling for investment in social goods, like green energy and affordable housing.”

Financing Our Own Destruction How workers’ pensions fuel attacks on the working class—and how to reclaim them for the common good.

"As some of the world’s largest institutional investors, pension funds are especially exposed to the risks posed by climate change. They’re also uniquely positioned to address them."

@rebeccaburns.bsky.social on how to reclaim pensions for the common good.

inthesetimes.com/article/fina...

Financing Our Own Destruction How workers’ pensions fuel attacks on the working class—and how to reclaim them for the common good.

"Because of a patchwork, highly financialized retirement system, union pension dollars have been implicated in almost every manner of attack against the working class." Excellent piece by @rebeccaburns.bsky.social. inthesetimes.com/article/fina...

Pinknews: In a post on Truth Social earlier this month, the president demanded that Democrats support provisions in an appropriations bill which would ban federal funding for any hospital or medical facility that provided gender-affirming care, including hormone replacement therapy (HRT), to a patient of any age.

At a minimum, anxious Democrats and advocates believe that party leaders will capitulate on trans health care coverage in federal funding negotiations on the margins, allowing language that bans government-backed insurance plans from covering these services.

oh look, it’s literally the thing i wrote about for @rollingstone.com happening in real time. as we speak. like exactly what i reported, like a carbon copy.

as a reminder, here’s what i said people within the party and trans care advocates believe will most likely happen next.

8-year old Dasha Ramirez was playing with her brother at Millennium Park when Border Patrol took them. They’re now awaiting deportation to Guatemala. “We never imagined our Sunday would end this way, mother Noemi Chavez said. www.chicagotribune.com/2025/09/29/i...

Journalist Mario Guevara has been detained for over 100 days. Now, he faces deportation —for just doing his job.

The same energy that defended Jimmy Kimmel should be used to defend Guevara, a journalist who is not facing any charges.

Watch @seth-stern.bsky.social on @meidastouch.com for more.

I was back at 26 Federal Plaza today, where an ICE agent violently threw this bereft woman to the ground in front of her kids. She had not touched him. She did not pose any threat. She had to be taken to the hospital. (🎥: Elias Eliahu)

🤔

This dystopian ICE recruitment ad targeting Chicago cops is running right now.

The Real Estate Pity Party Tenant power helped carry Zohran Mamdani to victory—and the landlord lobby is none too pleased.

1/ In June, @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social won the Democratic mayoral primary in New York City, defeating real estate-backed candidates. He is now the party’s nominee.

@thomasbirm.bsky.social @rebeccaburns.bsky.social reporting.