Andrew Black

Black History Month matters, especially now.

At the same time that politicians try to sanitize history, gut the Voting Rights Act, and roll back civil rights protections, we’re reminded that progress has always been contested.

Homeland Security is trying to force tech companies to hand over data about Trump critics | TechCrunch The use of administrative subpoenas, which are not subject to judicial oversight, are used to demand a wealth of information from tech companies, including the owners of anonymous online accounts docu...

Corporatist fascism, plain and simple.

DHS is trying to get tech companies to hand over data on Trump critics.

This is unconstitutional, and Congress must shut it down, before we turn into East Germany.
techcrunch.com/2026/02/03/h...

Trump suggests federal control of elections in ‘some areas’ In a lengthy interview with NBC, the president said he will accept the results of the midterm elections if they are “honest.”

This is an authoritarian power grab, full stop.

Nationalizing elections would put the executive branch in control of who votes and how. That’s how dictators rig outcomes, crush opposition, and assault democratic self-government.

This should alarm everyone: www.ms.now/news/trump-s...

No one should be opposed to this.

Bernie Dismantles NIH Director On Live TV, Warren Demands Congress “Grow A Spine” Over Midterm Election Theft, and AOC Blasts Trump’s Epstein Cover-Up Three leaders, multiple fronts, one mission: accountability

Trump’s $500M Crooked Crypto Deal, Election Theft Plot, and Gabbard’s Whistleblower Cover-up Expose The Most Corrupt Regime In US History

Newsom Defeats Trump: “He Started This War. He Lost.” Plus, Trump's rebrand of Kennedy Center goes so poorly he has to shut it down and blame ‘renovations’

Trump Suffers Major Loss To Newsom and Elon Musk’s Office Gets Raided In France, While Dems Hold Shadow Hearings To Expose ICE Abuses and Rally To Impeach Noem

Tell Congress: Impeach DHS Secretary Kristi Noem Contact Congress today!

Kristi Noem is an absolute disgrace. And if Mike Johnson is too big of a coward to impeach her, we will!

very weird “I am Spartacus” thing happening right now with the worst people on earth

Jeffrey Epstein’s Money Mingled With Silicon Valley Start-Ups

At the end of his life, Epstein had assets of around $600m. A large part of that was due to his ability to get in early to hot tech deals. The returns he made off those deals helped fund his lifestyle.

Here's a gift link for those who want to read the full piece: www.nytimes.com/2026/02/05/b...

One of @ering.bsky.social's great file finds: Epstein tried to help create an tech fund shortly before he was arrested in 2019 with two tech types. One of his partners, however, was worried about the "optics" of telling founders that Epstein was involved.

So they suggested Epstein conceal himself.

Here is Epstein asking Peter Thiel if he should invest in Spotify or Palantir. Thiel was (and still is) Palantir's chairman and tells Epstein there is "no need to rush." This is one of several emails where Thiel gives Epstein advice.

Epstein later invested $40m into one of Thiel's VC funds.

For example, here is Coinbase cofounder Fred Ehrsam in 2014 emailing w/ people around Epstein, including crypto entrepreneur Brock Pierce, asking to meet Epstein before the financier invested $3m in Coinbase.

Coinbase was a two year old startup. Epstein netted multimillion dollar returns from this.

Jeffrey Epstein’s Money Mingled With Silicon Valley Start-Ups

Epstein had many known connections to Silicon Valley CEOs, but less known was how he made money from those relationships.

We did a deep dive into how he got dealflow in Silicon Valley, giving him shots to invest in Coinbase, Palantir, SpaceX and other companies.

www.nytimes.com/2026/02/05/b...

Jeffrey Epstein’s Money Mingled With Silicon Valley Start-Ups

New: we dug into Epstein’s dealmaking in Silicon Valley. He used his connections with tech’s elite to get into hot startup deals, some of which paid off handsomely (coinbase) and others that did not (jawbone).

W/ @rmac.bsky.social + matt Goldstein

www.nytimes.com/2026/02/05/b...

MAGA Is Crashing Out Over The Epstein Files "I may be voting Democrat down ticket."

God will never forget what MAGA did. They are not forgiven. Nor shall they ever be. Can God get a fucking amen?!

/6 This is fundamental to being a lawyer. If it’s intolerable don‘t be a lawyer.

However, I am EXTREMELY sympathetic to Le being forced into a terrible position with no ethical supervision while genuinely concerned about the lives of the people her client is trying to destroy.

/5 So the right way would be for Le to ask to be replaced as rep in Court, and quit, and if forced into Court by the Court to say she is moving to withdraw and is ethically prohibited from answering Court’s questions. Not “my client is a fucking crook that is deliberately defying the court.”

/4 This may be a “noisy withdrawal” — like “I am obligated by the Rules of Professional Conduct to seek to withdraw and am unable to answer the Court’s questions,” which screams “my client is a crook who wants me to lie” — but they cannot reveal client confidences.

/3 If the U.S., through its actions, has tried to make them commit fraud on the court, or made it unreasonably difficult to do their job and abide by the Rules of Professional Conduct, their remedy is to quit and (if necessary) move to withdraw.

/2 AUSAs and DoJ attorneys are supposed to do justice and all that good stuff, but ultimately are still attorneys with obligations to their client, the United States.

They don’t have to lie or cheat for the United States but can’t throw their client under the bus, even if it’s the U.S..

Hi, I’m Ken, and I am here to tell you things you won’t like. It’s my job. I sympathize with Julie Le and am on her side in general but she went about it the wrong way.
/1

thinking about the dems' plan to fully fund ice on condition they stop doing already-illegal crimes

Irrefutable February 5, 2003 More than 22 years ago Make us preferred on Google AFTER SECRETARY OF STATE Colin L. Powell's presentation to the United Nations Security Council yesterday, it is hard to imagine how anyone could doubt that Iraq possesses weapons of mass destruction. Mr. Powell left no room to argue seriously that Iraq has accepted the Security Council's offer of a "final opportunity" to disarm. And he offered a powerful new case that Saddam Hussein's regime is cooperating with a branch of the al Qaeda organization that is trying to acquire chemical weapons and stage attacks in Europe. Mr. Powell's evidence, including satellite photographs, audio recordings and reports from detainees and other informants, was overwhelming. Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr., the senior Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, called it "powerful and irrefutable." Revealing those tapes and photographs had a cost, as Iraq will surely take countermeasures. But the decision to make so much evidence public will prove invaluable if it sways public opinion here and abroad. At a minimum, it will stand as a worthy last effort to engage the United Nations in facing a threat that the United States could, if necessary, address alone or with an ad-hoc coalition.

the washington post -- and joe biden -- 22 years ago today

As far as I know, this is DHS's first effort to explain their position that I-205 forms allow entry into the home. They rely on the dicta in the 1960 Abel case (before Payton) and re-imagine the plurality opinion in Lucas as if it were the majority (and then overrely on it).

Yale prof David Gelernter defends his letter urging Epstein to hire "v small goodlooking blonde" student by saying that he was "keep[ing] the potential boss's habits in mind."

This creep shouldn't be allowed anywhere near students.

yaledailynews.com/articles/gel...

Absolutely fucking repulsive.

Numerous people are pushing back against the reasonable consensus that Epstein was evil and that cozying up to him showed bad character. You are under no obligation to take those arguments seriously and respectfully. Look out, they may call you a “woke” “mob.”

They were never going to get to their stated deportations goal with due process. So they're phasing it out.

(Part 2)

EXCLUSIVE: DOJ's Civil Rights Chief Called Federal Election Interference Unconstitutional In a little-watched video in 2022, showing AAG Harmeet Dillion's statements about election security undercut the current administration and the work she's been doing.

EXCLUSIVE: Previously unreported remarks from the Civil Rights Division AAG, @HarmeetKDhillon run directly counter to what the President said recently, Congressional Republicans’ SAVE Act, and the conduct of her own office.

mimsnewspod.substack.com/p/exclusive-...