@joemenn.bsky.social
Washington Post reporter covering hacking, disinformation and what’s left of privacy. Author of books on the Cult of the Dead Cow, organized criminal hacking, and Napster. Pulitzer co-finalist 2024. Signal joemenn.01
In 2025, as Bluesky grew from 25M to 42M users, we took actions to keep it welcoming, using proactive design to reduce toxic content by 79%. Our 2025 Transparency Report shares how we're building a safer platform while keeping a transparent and human-centered approach: bsky.social/about/blog/0...
30.01.2026 14:08 — 👍 5136 🔁 575 💬 302 📌 94Not sure that history would be kind to a Temu Yalta.
30.01.2026 17:35 — 👍 3 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
In Minneapolis, far-right influencers posing as journalists are casting themselves as victims and labeling ICE-watch groups “terrorists.” Their big new evidence—“infiltrated” Signal chats—isn’t a secret, had no calls for violence and urged people to witness, not interfere.
www.ms.now/news/minneap...
lol
29.01.2026 22:13 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
New: Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, is leading an administration-wide effort to probe the 2020 election for fraud and regularly briefing Trump and top White House officials on her progress. Officials are discussing EOs on voting ahead of midterms.
www.wsj.com/politics/ele...
Here's the letter from Meta's legal counsel to Quinn Emanuel, which represents both NSO Group and individuals making these categorically false claims. As numerous experts have noted -- their suit has no evidence and they should withdraw it or face a sanctions challenge.
29.01.2026 17:02 — 👍 7 🔁 4 💬 0 📌 0
Finally got around to a bit of research I'd been meaning to explore, and: There is no documented instance of an ICE officer being identified and assaulted while off duty because he wasn't masked. www.pbump.net/o/ices-excus...
29.01.2026 18:05 — 👍 11982 🔁 4488 💬 469 📌 225
New by me in the Big, if True category. Free marketing link. wapo.st/4qa7hfz
29.01.2026 15:51 — 👍 6 🔁 5 💬 0 📌 2
It remains to be seen how the Venezuelan people will respond to a more overt CIA presence in the country post-Maduro. For years, Maduro cast the CIA as a convenient boogey man, repeatedly accusing the agency – without evidence – of attempting to topple his regime as he clung to power despite US opposition. Now, the CIA has helped supplant Maduro and is poised to help actively manage the Trump administration’s dealings with Venezuela’s new leadership.
Absolutely incredible sequence from CNN.
"Maduro was a paranoid lunatic always lying about the CIA trying to overthrow him. Anyways, now that the CIA has overthrown him..."
3/ The FBI is seeking to seize numerous records from the 2020 election, including ballots, tabulator tapes, digital data and voter rolls.
The warrant alleges that these may constitute “evidence of the commission of a criminal offense.”
www.documentcloud.org/documents/26...
A federal judge, in a published order, so very much on the record:
“ICE has likely violated more court orders in January 2026 than some federal agencies have violated in their entire existence.”
Message from "Signal Support" Dear User, this is Signal Security Support ChatBot. Our system has detected a recent login attempt to your account from an unrecognized device or location. As a security measure, we have blocked this attempt and sent a verification code via SMS to your registered phone number. If this was NOT you: To secure your account and block this unauthorized access, please reply to this message with the verification code you just received. If this WAS you: You can safely ignore this message. The login attempt will be automatically approved shortly. Thank you for helping us keep your account secure.
Signal will never message you like this.
If you get a message like this, SOMEONE IS TRYING TO HACK YOUR SIGNAL.
DO NOT GIVE THEM THAT CODE.
Tuesday morning:
New CBS boss promises “huge emphasis on scoops.”
Tuesday evening:
CBS Evening News anchor interviews his mom.
www.yahoo.com/entertainmen...
"Its acronym, F.A.F.O., references a slang term for negative consequences." www.nytimes.com/2026/01/27/u...
28.01.2026 01:07 — 👍 4709 🔁 1237 💬 46 📌 120
ICE deported a 5-year-old US citizen to Honduras, where she had never been, after holding her & her mother in a hotel room 80 miles from home for several days and not allowing them access to a lawyer www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
28.01.2026 01:42 — 👍 4069 🔁 2313 💬 77 📌 155
Finally. A comprehensive look at the “neo-Nazi .. ethnic cleansing” content coming out of “the offices of the White House .. using official government accounts ..”
@nytimes.com
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/27/u...
Here's the 🎁 link (no paywall)
wapo.st/45scxnC
Former tech reporter Pranshu and I worked with his predecessor as India bureau chief, the fearless Gerry Shih, on a Pulitzer-finalist series about that country’s domination of US tech giants. Gerry now leads Israel coverage, and both of their jobs are at risk. #SavethePost, tell Jeff Bezos.
27.01.2026 04:04 — 👍 14 🔁 6 💬 0 📌 1
BREAKING Greg Bovino has been removed as Border Patrol "commander at large" and will return to El Centro Calif, where he is expected to retire soon. A stunning turnaround after Pretti killing. Bovino's traveling blue city crackdown is over www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...
26.01.2026 23:40 — 👍 10508 🔁 3211 💬 1297 📌 3697Cutting the reporters, photographers, researchers and editors who bring you vital information amid a sea of slop, propaganda and lies is not a winning strategy. #SaveThePost
26.01.2026 22:07 — 👍 26 🔁 9 💬 1 📌 0
Update on the case I covered in which anonymous Meta accounts were trying to stop DHS from unmasking them: It worked, but once again DHS dropped the subpoenas to Meta before a judge could rule against them and set a precedent. arstechnica.com/tech-policy/...
26.01.2026 21:55 — 👍 10 🔁 5 💬 0 📌 0Well that is certainly a take!
26.01.2026 21:50 — 👍 5 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0sauron, widely known for his perfect record of keeping intruders out
26.01.2026 17:03 — 👍 48 🔁 11 💬 1 📌 0
Since July, I've tracked at least 2,300 cases in which federal judges have ruled ICE has illegally detained people without bond or due process.
This is one that stands out:
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
If you are truly for law and order, it seems to me you should support investigations of civilian killings by a separate agency. Otherwise you are just rooting for the people with guns, no matter what they do.
26.01.2026 00:30 — 👍 97 🔁 13 💬 4 📌 1I was already crying, and then I remembered he lived to see the US withdraw from WHO, the dismemberment of the CDC as he knew (& had formed) it, & the desecration of so much else he worked for, and I cried harder. God, it’s a brutal time right now.
25.01.2026 21:36 — 👍 191 🔁 51 💬 6 📌 1
The event, which has not been promoted or advertised, is taking place in the East Room of the White House on Saturday. Guests include director Brett Ratner; Queen Rania of Jordan; Zoom CEO Eric Yuan; Apple CEO Tim Cook; New York Stock Exchange CEO Lynn Martin; AMD CEO Linsa Su; Mike Tyson; socialite and Fiat heiress Azzi Agnelli; self-help guru Tony Robbins; and photographer Ellen von Unwerth, who shot the movie poster for the film.
Barron Trump and Ratner's mother will also be on hand, along with Mike Hopkins of Amazon Studios, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy and Marc Beckman, a senior adviser and longtime manager to the First Lady who was reportedly involved in every aspect of the project. Since the usual White House screening room in the East Wing has been shut down to construct the Trump ballroom, Melania built a make-shift theater, with state of the art sound and film equipment (overseen by Ratner himself), and a giant movie screen brought in for the occasion.
On tonight’s White House agenda:
Trump and guests will get a private screening of MELANIA, the documentary about the First Lady, @thr.com reports.
Attendees include Apple CEO Tim Cook, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, Mike Tyson, per the article.
John Mitnick @JohnMitnick I helped to establish DHS in 2002 and 2003 and later had the homeland security portfolio as a White House Counsel and served as General Counsel of the Department. I am enraged and embarrassed by DHS’s lawlessness, fascism, and cruelty. Impeach and remove Trump—now. George Conway ⚖️🇺🇸 @gtconway3d The deadly shooting in Minneapolis today was a straight-up execution of a protester by Trump's federal brownshirts. The thugs wrestled him to the ground. They pistol-whipped him, then shot him multiple times. They murdered him.
Beyond helping establish DHS itself in 2003, Mr. Mitnick was a senate-confirmed Trump choice for General Counsel for DHS in his first term. I've talked with him a few times, and he's not a man for hyperbole. So bear that in mind when you see him calling out DHS's "lawlessness, fascism, and cruelty."
25.01.2026 01:05 — 👍 6471 🔁 2379 💬 58 📌 65🚨 SCHUMER just now: “Senate Democrats will not provide the votes to proceed to the appropriations bill if the DHS funding bill is included.”
24.01.2026 23:57 — 👍 5451 🔁 974 💬 232 📌 277As a former Tea Party guy, let me say it's astonishing how quickly a lot of people went from "don't tread on me" to "obey or die."
24.01.2026 19:40 — 👍 237 🔁 25 💬 16 📌 1
