JM Rieger

Thomas Jefferson in 1787:

“Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.”

www.wsj.com/opinion/a-la...

And I would be remiss if I did not include one of my favorite videos to produce every year:

The wildest political moments of the year

You can watch a cutdown of 2025's moments below and you can watch each video I have done over the past 8 years here: www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...

In recent weeks, the Trump administration has shifted its immigration enforcement rhetoric and tactics following the deaths of two U.S. citizens.

I examined these shifts in a video that I published yesterday.

In January, one of the first actions that the House took was voting to codify into law Trump's long-desired changes to showerheads.

I put together a video looking at the many times Trump has focused on the issue over the years.

www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Before taking office, Donald Trump promised to immediately turn around the U.S. economy.

But 11 months into his presidency, he was still asking for more time.

I put together a mashup.

Later in November, my colleagues and I revealed that Del. Stacey Plaskett of the U.S. Virgin Islands had texted with Jeffrey Epstein during a 2019 hearing with Michael Cohen.

I analyzed multiple video feeds to sync the texts with the hearing footage.

www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

In November, it appeared that Trump had struggled to stay away during an Oval Office event.

I analyzed multiple video feeds and found that Trump had spent nearly 20 minutes struggling to keep his eyes open.

www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

In late October, House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries announced his support for Zohran Mamdani, nearly four months after he became the Democratic nominee for New York mayor.

I pulled together a mashup of the 17 weeks that Jeffries and Schumer spent refusing to endorse him.

In October, Trump and his allies floated federalizing National Guard troops.

It was something Trump and those officials opposed years before.

I dug into the archives to produce this video.

As President Trump prepared to the largest tariff increases in decades, I dug into Trump's past remarks on tariffs and found that Trump had been saying nearly the same thing about tariffs since the 1980s.

It all began with a fixation on Japan.

Last year, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testified before Congress and repeatedly denied his previous statements on vaccines.

I dug into the archives and contrasted what he said previously with his testimony.

Here are some of my favorite videos that I've done over the past year:

Well, I was laid off at The Washington Post today.

It's been an honor to work with some of the best journalists in the business.

I'm hoping to continue reporting, producing videos and finding long-forgotten archival footage.

If you have any openings, reach out.

Homeland Security is targeting Americans with this secretive legal weapon Under Trump, the Department of Homeland Security has weaponized administrative subpoenas to attack free speech, according to privacy and civil rights groups.

Exclusive: Homeland Security has used what’s known as an administrative subpoena, a legal tool that federal agencies can issue without an order from a judge or grand jury.

Under President Trump, DHS has weaponized the tool to strangle free speech.

ICE Attorney: 'This job sucks' A federal judge in Minnesota demanded to know why ICE is not complying with court orders and failing to immediately release immigrants who are being wrongfully detained as part of Operation Metro Surg...

A government lawyer expressed frustration in a courtroom on Tuesday over ICE not complying with court orders to release people detained.

“I wish you would just hold me in contempt of court so I can get 24 hours of sleep. The system sucks, this job sucks"

www.fox9.com/news/federal...

On immunity for immigration officials:

JD Vance
Jan 8, 2026
"A federal law enforcement official engaging in federal law enforcement action..that guy is protected by absolute immunity"

JD Vance
Jan 22, 2026
"I didn't say..officers who engaged in wrongdoing would enjoy immunity"

On arrest quotas:

Stephen Miller
May 29, 2025
"We are looking to set a goal of a minimum of 3,000 arrests for ICE every day"

Kristi Noem
Feb. 1, 2026
"There's no [arrest] quotas"

On detaining citizens:

Kristi Noem
Oct. 30, 2025
"There's no American citizens [that] have been arrested or detained. We focus on those..here illegally"

Kristi Noem
Jan. 15, 2026
"There may be individuals..we may be asking who they are..and having them validate their identity"

On deportations:

Donald Trump
Jan. 20, 2025
"We will begin the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens"

Tom Homan
Jan. 14, 2026
"We're arresting the worst of the worst. And are we arresting illegal aliens with no criminal history? We absolutely are."

In recent weeks, the Trump administration has shifted its immigration enforcement rhetoric and tactics following the deaths of two U.S. citizens in Minnesota.

My latest supercut for @washingtonpost.com:

New Economist/YouGov Poll:

Do you think people who are licensed to carry a concealed handgun should be allowed to do so at a protest?

Overall
43% Yes
39% No

Democrats
48% Yes
33% No

Republicans
38% Yes
48% No

d3nkl3psvxxpe9.cloudfront.net/documents/ec...

‘Fell the enemies:’ Illini Republicans support ICE amid killings - The Daily Illini In a post that included a graphic of a presumed officer holding a gun to someone's head, Illini Republicans stated that they “stand with ICE."

The University of Illinois chapter of College Republicans has been placed under Title VI review after it posted an image on social media that appeared to reference the killing of Alex Pretti. dailyillini.com/news-stories...

Hegseth Sees ‘Plenty of Winning’ for Bezos’s Blue Origin Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth heaped praise on Jeff Bezos-backed Blue Origin in a visit to the space venture’s facility, recruiting another billionaire in his effort to reform government weapons buyi...

"Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth heaped praise on Jeff Bezos-backed Blue Origin in a visit to the space venture’s facility...the company has signaled recently that it’s narrowing its focus to the work it’s contracted to do for the federal government." www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Exclusive | Classified Whistleblower Complaint About Tulsi Gabbard Stalls Within Her Agency Congress hasn’t seen the complaint, which was filed eight months ago with the U.S. intelligence community watchdog’s office.

WSJ reports a whistleblower complaint filed in May against Tulsi Gabbard is so classified it has resulted in months of wrangling over how to share it with Congress.

The IG is generally required to share complaints found credible within three weeks.

www.wsj.com/politics/nat...

Uber Eats Ordered to Pay $3.5 Million Over NYC Delivery Worker Pay The food-delivery business agreed to pay $3.15 million in restitution to 48,000 workers across the city, and $350,000 in civil penalties and fees.

"An investigation by [NYC] alleged Uber Eats failed to pay workers the minimum pay rate between Dec 2023 & Sept 2024 for time spent on canceled trips..Uber & other food-delivery companies engineered their interfaces to lower workers’ tip earnings by $550m" www.wsj.com/business/ube...

Judge orders 5-year-old Liam Ramos and his dad released from ICE detention A judge has ordered the U.S. to release a father and 5-year-old son who were taken into custody during the immigration crackdown in Minnesota.

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — A judge on Saturday ordered the U.S. government to release by Tuesday a 5-year-old boy and his father from a Texas detention center where they were taken after being detained by immigration officers in a Minneapolis suburb last month. apnews.com/article/immi...

Trump wants to build a 250-foot-tall arch, dwarfing the Lincoln Memorial The president is eyeing a plot of land near Memorial Bridge. The art critic who proposed the idea called for a smaller arch or for Trump to pick a new site.

Trump wants to build a 250-foot-tall arch, dwarfing the Lincoln Memorial www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

We are now 43 days beyond the statutory deadline for the FULL release of the Epstein files

Yesterday, the Justice Dept released approximately HALF of the potentially responsive pages

Hundreds of thousands of those pages are redacted

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick Planned Trip to Epstein’s Island

NEW: Howard Lutnick, the billionaire who serves as President Trump’s commerce secretary, planned a visit to Epstein’s island in 2012.

Lutnick previously claimed that he was so revolted by Epstein that he had cut ties with him years earlier.

1/6

www.nytimes.com/2026/01/30/u...

Don Lemon arrested by federal officials over church protest Former CNN host Don Lemon was arrested by federal officials and charged in connection with a church protest in Minneapolis that he had covered.

Breaking news: Federal authorities arrested journalist Don Lemon Thursday evening, accusing him of breaking federal law during a protest against the Trump administration’s immigration policies at a church in Minnesota this month.