Pro Democracy

The Week Ahead February 15, 2026

Another week where being prepared and knowing what’s coming will help you keep up with fast-moving developments and be a voice for saving our country. Here’s what you need to know: open.substack.com/pub/joycevan...

No Thrones. No Crowns. NO KINGS. - IOWA CITY RISES! · No Kings **We have the power and are claiming it together. Iowa City Rises!! No Thrones. No Crowns. No Kings.** What began in 2025 as a single day of defiance ...

I'm attending No Kings's event, “No Thrones. No Crowns. NO KINGS. - IOWA CITY RISES!” - sign up now to join me! www.mobilize.us/nokings/even...

My law firm is now litigating 85 voting and election cases in 40 states. This is the largest number of cases in the most states we have ever handled at one time. And, while Big Law firms mostly sit idly by, the need to protect elections in court is only growing.

Trump: ‘There will be Voter I.D. for the Midterm Elections, whether approved by Congress or not!’ "I have searched the depths of Legal Arguments not yet articulated or vetted on this subject, and will be presenting an irrefutable one in the very near future," wrote Trump, who is not a lawyer.

Trump is saying that he will disregard Congress and issue an Excutive order that will violate the Constitution.

Here is my promise: If he does that, we will sue and we will win. Just like we did the last time. www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/...

The NFL Owners and Olympic Organizers in Epstein’s Inbox The sports media is ignoring the story, but wealthy sports figures are all over the Epstein files.

NFL franchise owners in the EPSTEIN e-mails & assorted docs

Partial list:
*Robert Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots
*Steve Tisch, co-owner of the New York Giants
*Stephen Ross, owner of the Miami Dolphins
*Zygi Wilf, owner of the Minnesota Vikings
*Arthur Blank, owner of the Atlanta Falcons

Yes it’s Valentine’s Day. But it’s also the chosen birthday of Frederick Douglass who was born in 1818 on a plantation in Talbot County, Maryland. He escaped from slavery & rose to become the most eloquent and forceful voice for the abolition of slavery & for Black voting rights in the U.S.

The GOP’s Strategy Against Rural Women The roll back of women's rights in rural America

The GOP’s Strategy Against Rural Women
open.substack.com/pub/ruralres...

Watergate Redux? Ever felt like you have been in a situation before, but you just can’t put your finger on why. Then almost as if out of the blue it hits you? Is anybody beside me seeing any similarity of th…

Watergate Redux?  blogforiowa.com/2026/02/14/w...

Once again, a reminder that the "free speech" crusaders were always cynics operating in bad faith

We are entering the “falling out of windows” phase.

Sanders: The American people do not want this country to be an authoritarian society or an oligarchy. We have our differences, that’s what democracy is about—we argue it out. We don’t throw people who disagree in jail. We don’t intimidate the media. We don’t send ICE agents to shoot people.

Trump’s Version of “Domestic Terrorism” vs. the First Amendment The administration has given itself permission to prosecute people and organizations for their political views.

The Trump administration has supercharged the use of domestic terrorism investigations to scare Americans away from using their First Amendment rights to oppose its policies. bit.ly/4qwExhh

photo of Pam Bondi testifying in the foreground as a group of 7 women and 1 men raise their hands

Likely-historic photo by NBC News of all the Epstein victims asked to raise their hands if they've not yet been asked to meet with the DOJ as Bondi testifies in foreground

Building the camps The warehouseification of detention and initial thoughts on stopping it.

When I got the contract to write a history of concentration camps in 2014, I hoped to keep the US from ending up here. That didn't work out! But now it's critical to understand how much is already in process and the enormity of what's coming. The sooner we act to stop it, the more people we'll save.

Using Data for Good: A Crash Course Our response to "What can I do?"

Project Salt Box tonight:

projectsaltbox.substack.com/p/using-data...

YouTube video by Fast Politics w/ Molly Jong-Fast This Is What's Missing From The Epstein Files w/ Julie K. Brown

Absolutely worth watching with @jkbjournalist.bsky.social

youtu.be/7awbgL_BP_k

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.

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.

SEN. OSSOFF: “.. why are roving gangs of masked men — who look like they couldn’t pass the Army physical exam — dressed up like pretend Delta Force operators, on our streets, demanding papers, dragging people from their cars, and shooting people to death?”

@acyn.bsky.social

Here is the FBI's Epstein List We still don't know what the FBI did to investigate these allegations

"Contrary to what the FBI and DOJ have said over the past year, it turns out there really is an FBI list of other people suspected of possible wrongdoing in connection with Epstein. President Trump is on that list, as well as a number of other powerful people."
open.substack.com/pub/jkbjourn...

“And it’s not just an attack on librarians, but it’s attack on the books. But they’re also trying to devalue and defund libraries as a whole across the board.”

bookriot.com/the-finalist...

At least the Times is cleared-eyed about this. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/06/u...

Second lawsuit filed in State Historical Society's Iowa City closure Iowa's Department of Administrative Services acted irrationally, illogically, and capriciously — and abused its discretion — when it exonerated itself of any wrongdoing in closing, without warning or ...

Second lawsuit filed in State Historical Society’s Iowa City closure
www.thegazette.com/state-govern...

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

Incredible stuff from @wsj.com

www.wsj.com/us-news/igno...

#Epstein

#EpsteinFiles

I’m not sure we’ve properly addressed how profoundly disturbing it is that America can largely shrug at the stashing of human beings in giant warehouses.

I hope lawyers, secretaries of state, and state attorneys general are preparing for what’s coming.

Christian Nationalist Mischief In Iowa Update on LifeWise Academy - You May Want To Think Twice Before Dining At Pizza Ranch

Christian Nationalist Mischief In Iowa
open.substack.com/pub/henderso...

All Hat. No Cattle. Cosplay cowboys

All Hat. No Cattle.
open.substack.com/pub/jesspipe...