Les Guthman

DHS Ousts CBP Privacy Officers Who Questioned ‘Illegal’ Orders Department of Homeland Security leaders removed top privacy officers who objected to mislabeling government records to block their public release, WIRED has learned.

Scoop: DHS ousted multiple privacy officers at CBP after they questioned orders to purposely mislabel records about government surveillance to prevent their release under FOIA.

Important ruling on immigration operations in Minnesota

Judge Tostrud (Trump appointee):

"Plaintiffs have made a clear showing that Defendants have adopted a POLICY authorizing federal immigration officers to conduct investigatory stops based on ethnicity or race without reasonable suspicion."
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Tarrio is, quite literally, a pardoned terrorist.

Opinion | ‘Wuthering Heights,’ MAGA Style

Claude could never write this…
‘Wuthering Heights,’ MAGA Style www.nytimes.com/2026/03/07/o...

ICE Detention of Teen Musicians Roils Texas Mariachi Community

ICE Detention of Teen Musicians Roils Texas Mariachi Community www.nytimes.com/2026/03/08/u...

Two people in custody after 'suspicious devices' found outside NYC mayor's official residence The anti-Islam protest was led by right-wing influencer Jake Lang. It's not clear whether New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani was in Gracie Mansion at the time.

Happy to know that our Mayor and First Lady are safe, but horrified that there was such a disturbing threat of violence outside their residence.

Vile displays of Islamophobia will never be tolerated in our city.

Sen. Whitehouse to uncover connections between Trump, Russia, and Epstein. YouTube video by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse

@whitehouse.senate.gov did a VERY long speech of Trump and Epstein's ties w/Russia yesterday.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylvT...

If you are Gen X, Millenial, Gen Z or Gen Alpha, you have essentially never known a moment in your adult life when the U.S. has not been preparing to fight, fighting, supporting or teeing up the conditions to fight an unnecessary, costly war in the Middle East.

BREAKING: New York City reports the lowest levels of shootings, shooting victims, and murders ever recorded for the first two months of a year. Major crime is down nearly 8% citywide, burglary hit a record low, and retail theft dropped 25%

Thanks to @atrupar.com in clipping this -- it was an insane comment on so many levels I'm not sure everyone appreciated all the insanity.

Could have seen that coming a mile away.

Trump’s Case for War With Iran Faces Growing Scrutiny U.S. intelligence showed threats from Iran loomed, as they had for years. But they were not imminent.

"U.S. officials and lawmakers with access to classified information ... say the administration’s assertions are incomplete, unsubstantiated, or flat-out wrong."

- Wall Street Journal

Screenshot of excerpt from opinion that reads: "Despite this, the New York courts refused to stay the trial court’s order. After that highly questionable injunction was issued, the applicants filed appeals in both the Appellate Division (the State’s intermediate appellate court) and the Court of Appeals (its highest court) challenging the trial court’s order on federal constitutional grounds. At the same time, applicants asked both courts to stay the trial court’s order. The Appellate Division refused to issue a stay, and by order issued on February 11, the Court of Appeals sent the appeal filed in that court to the Appellate Division and dismissed applicants’ motions for a stay."

With nowhere else to turn, the applicants asked us to issue a stay, and we have jurisdiction to entertain their application. Title 28 U. S. C. §1257(a) gives us jurisdiction to review “[f]inal judgments or decrees” that are rendered by a State’s highest court and adjudicate federal constitutional claims, and the Court of Appeals’ February 11 order falls within that category.

1/9: In the New York redistricting case, Justice Alito's justification for why #SCOTUS even had *jurisdiction* to issue a stay is based upon a remarkably misleading portrayal of the state court proceedings.

I realize this is technical, but I wanted to write a short thread to explain the shadiness:

'UNIMAGINABLE CRUELTY': Judge Gary Brown, a Trump appointeee from NY, thrashes DHS' treatment of a man who came to the US at 9 as an abuse/neglect victim, has no criminal record and became a college grad.

"The laws of decency condemn such villainy." storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Kash Patel’s latest firings ousted agents with expertise in Iran The FBI director gutted a specialized, global espionage unit of counterintelligence agents, just days before Operation Epic Fury.

TERRIBLE TIMING: When FBI Director Kash Patel fired a dozen FBI agents and staff last week for their role in the classified documents investigation of Donald Trump, he targeted an elite counter espionage unit that investigates threats from foreign adversaries and specializes in Iran.

Iran Things that Got Memory Holed, Including the So-Called Negotiators, Steve and Jared - emptywheel Among the things that have gotten forgotten about Trump's Iran invasion is that Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff were purportedly negotiating peace, which of course they weren't.

Reup: Iran Things that Got Memory Holed, Including the So-Called Negotiators, Steve and Jared

emptywheel.net/iran-things-...

A line graph showing NSF grant awards made through 2/27/26 for fiscal year 2026 compared with grant awards for fiscal years 2021-2025.

NSF Update (Awards through 2/27/26)

Directorates to follow

1/10

Admissions so far:
1) They were lying abt threat from Iran.
2) They were lying about good faith of negotiations.
3) They begged UK for help immediately (and Ukraine offered needed expertise).
4) They're escalating on Day Two.

Giving distinct 2003 vibes. Pahlavi has been in exile since 1979.

The front page of the NYT.

How would you know that the attack was 1) illegal and 2) w/o clear justification?

February 26, 2026 Dear members of the Columbia community: This morning at approximately 6:30 a.m., federal agents from the Department of Homeland Security entered a Columbia Residential building and detained a student. We are working to gather more information, working to reach the family, and providing legal support. Our understanding at this time is that the federal agents made misrepresentations to gain entry to the building to search for a "missing person." We are working to gather more details. It is important to reiterate that all law enforcement agents must have a judicial warrant or judicial subpoena to access non-public areas of the University, including

It is important to reiterate that all law enforcement agents must have a judicial warrant or judicial subpoena to access non-public areas of the University, including housing, classrooms, and areas requiring CUID swipe access. An administrative warrant is not sufficient. If law enforcement agents seek entry to non-public areas of the University, ask the agents to wait to enter any non-public areas until contacting Public Safety. Public Safety will contact the Office of the General Counsel to coordinate the University's response. Do not allow them to enter or accept service of a warrant or subpoena. We will update our community as additional information becomes available. Sincerely,

BREAKING: Columbia President Claire Shipman says DHS agents entered a residential buliding this morning and detained a student.

"Our understanding at this time is that the federal agents made misrepresentations to gain entry to the building to search for a 'missing person.'"

Incredibly important decision, yet one the Supreme Court already intervened on in the shadow docket. There’s a decent chance this makes it to the Supreme Court next term.

"To echo Malcolm X, these monstrosities should be stopped by any means necessary," writes @willbunch.bsky.social about the Trump regime's plans for a concentration camp network as part of its mass deportation infrastructure, something ICE’s Todd Lyons likened to "[Amazon] Prime, but w/human beings.”

Today, I spoke at the Ukrainian Organization of Washington State rally to commemorate the 4th anniversary of the war in Ukraine. We must continue to stand with Ukraine and their ability to remain a sovereign, democratic nation.

A lot of people, including me, were wondering how an IRB could ever approve this study.

The answer is that no IRB did. The person who “signed off” on approval from the only ethics board that reviewed it had resigned three years earlier. His signature was used without his knowledge.

“It seems hard for the president to rely on the 15 percent statute (122) when his DOJ in our case told the Court the opposite.”

“It seems hard for the president to rely on the 15 percent statute (122) when his DOJ in our case told the Court the opposite.”

Leopards Eating People’s Faces party is undefeated!

DoJ cases against protesters keep collapsing as officers’ lies are exposed in court String of embarrassing defeats for prosecutors as experts condemn DoJ effort to cast people as ‘violent perpetrators’

"In Chicago, of 92 people arrested for assaulting or impeding officers last fall, 74 cases have resulted in no charges; in 13 cases, charges were filed and dismissed; and five charged cases were still pending. . . there have been no convictions.

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

“She kept hearing the same thing from them: that ICE officers are paid a bonus every time they detain someone. ‘Individual ICE agents get money per head that they detain – the guards told me that.’”

This was more or less what the bogs 2000 mules allegations were.