Friday, March 20, 2026

Stop the nonsense about John Roberts finding his back bone

The Crooked Court.  We keep hearing that Supreme Court Justice John Roberts is standing up or about to stand up to Chump.  And it really doesn't happen.  For example, Erik De La Garza (RAW STORY) reports:


Legal commentators say Chief Justice John Roberts is pushing back against President Donald Trump after warning that criticism of judges can spiral into personal attacks.

Speaking this week at Rice University in Houston, Roberts suggested that criticism of court rulings can become problematic when it shifts “from a focus on legal analysis to personalities.”

“Their opinions are subject to criticism,” Roberts said of judges across the judiciary during the appearance on Tuesday. “But personally directed hostility is dangerous, and it’s got to stop.”

Analysts view the remarks from the conservative justice – who Trump has targeted, most recently for his ruling involving the president’s tariff policy – as a thinly veiled response to the MAGA leader.

“Their opinions are subject to criticism,” Roberts said of judges across the judiciary during the appearance on Tuesday. “But personally directed hostility is dangerous, and it’s got to stop.”

Analysts view the remarks from the conservative justice – who Trump has targeted, most recently for his ruling involving the president’s tariff policy – as a thinly veiled response to the MAGA leader.

It's not happening.  It's like when some rushed to see the tariff's decision as Roberts standing up.  


Joe Patrice (ABOVE THE LAW) noted when that decision came down:


Like clockwork, mainstream legal analysts fell over themselves to frame the tariff decision as “The Supreme Court’s Declaration of Independence” or a “Turning Point,” a triumph of institutional integrity shepherded by the Court’s moderate voices. Jonathan Turley, who has never met a conservative judicial overreach he couldn’t launder into respectability, crowed that the tariff decision proves the Court “continues to exercise independent judgment.”

Anyone hoping to bolt a fairy tale narrative onto the Supreme Court is fooling themselves. Or at least trying to fool you.

Nothing about Friday’s opinion signals a Court finding its backbone. Real, dyed-in-the-wool, Reaganaut conservatives hate tariffs and three of the Supreme Court’s six conservatives chose the conservative movement over the prattling of a president who brags about being able to identify a giraffe in a test designed to track cognitive decline. The Federalist Society didn’t spend decades building this Court so a president could impose a massive tax hike on imports. They weren’t so much rejecting a naked Republican policy interest, as defending an older one.

We’re not sitting here watching the president of the United States have an unhinged meltdown over the Supreme Court because it’s suddenly a nonpartisan institution. Trump’s fury is so pronounced because the Supreme Court’s conservatives are brazenly partisan and Trump ran face first into one of the few internecine conflicts within the Republican Party. He’s angry because the Supreme Court told him they would rubberstamp his every desire — up to and including stealing classified documents and conspiring to commit election fraud — and he discovered right-wing business interests still outrank him in some conservative hearts.

The Chief Justice sold out the institutional legitimacy of the Supreme Court to help Donald Trump return to office because the people who guide his judgment wanted more tax cuts and fewer protections for marginalized people. In return, he gets publicly berated on national television. Maybe this is some sort of “turning point,” but based on the record as it exists right now, this isn’t the beginning of the “John Roberts: Principled Jurist” redemption arc, this is just a guy choking down his karmic vegetables. Donald Trump didn’t hide the ball during his 2024 campaign — his few, but significant breaks with conservative conventional wisdom were front and center. Roberts understood that this day would come, and it would probably be humiliating, and that he’d still do it anyway because he hates the Voting Rights Act more than he loves self-respect.

And that's illuminating.  Joe Patrice knows what he's writing about.  And here's the second to last paragraph of Joe's commentary from February:


He’s sat around as Trump spent the next year attacking lower court judges in terms that generated a 327 percent increase in threats against the federal judiciary. Federal judges sounded the alarm that they feared for their lives, telling NBC News that the Supreme Court “doesn’t have our backs.” One judge said flatly that if nothing changed, “somebody is going to die.”As the leader of the judiciary, Roberts responded by issuing a year-end report about how Thomas Paine would probably yearn for a return to the monarchy and collecting a funding boost for Supreme Court security.


Again, stop waiting for Roberts to save us.  He can't even defend the federal judges when Chump attacks them. 

 


"The Snapshot" (THE COMMON ILLS):

Friday, March 20, 2026.  ICE and Homeland Security continue to destroy lives, Kristi and Corey's relationship embracing corruption gets some media attention, Donald Chump's former friend Jeffrey Epstein continues to be an anchor around Donald's neck, Senator Adam Schiff calls out the administration's use of private e-mail accounts to avoid their correspondence being made public, and much more. 


Candy Castillo Collantes was six months pregnant when she stepped inside the giant tent where she would live for the next 47 days.

Her enclosure at the South Texas detention center held dozens of bunk beds, she said, with one tiny slit for a window. Women wailed late into the night for their husbands and children. When Ms. Collantes experienced vaginal bleeding and asked for medical care at the facility, she and her lawyer said, she was offered only water, prenatal vitamins and a temperature check.

“It’s not a center that we know has a doctor,” Ms. Collantes, a 38-year-old Venezuelan who obtained temporary legal status under the Biden administration, said in an interview from the facility in late February. “The people here can’t tell you that everything is fine.”

Ms. Collantes had heard from other detainees about a woman who had gone into labor at their detention center months earlier.

She was terrified that she could be next.

Pregnant women who have been swept up in President Trump’s immigration crackdown have been held in detention centers as late as eight months into their pregnancies without adequate food or medical care, according to a New York Times examination of 10 cases. The Times review found that, in those cases, the Department of Homeland Security violated longstanding agency guidelines for how to treat pregnant women in detention, subjecting them to conditions that medical experts say can jeopardize the health of mothers and their babies.

Pregnant women said they were served food covered in cockroaches and water that tasted like bleach. They described how Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents shackled their hands and feet, refusing to believe that they were pregnant until a bump appeared. One woman said ICE agents ignored her as she lay on the floor screaming in pain, and took her to the emergency room only after her fellow inmates began banging on the door for help.


This morning, MS NOW posted a report by Rosa Flores about the Dilley detention center in Texas.  






While conducting a war on pregnant women, ICE also makes sure to conduct one on children.  Samantha Michaels (MOTHER JONES) notes:

In November, a 22-year-old woman disembarked from her deportation flight in Honduras, five months pregnant and distraught. Immigration officers in the United States had flown her out of the country without asking her an important question: Did she have any kids? Her 2-year-old daughter was left behind.

“They didn’t ask me anything,” she said in Spanish, according to a new report from the Women’s Refugee Commission and Physicians for Human Rights.

The two nonprofits recently visited Honduras to speak with newly deported parents there. Over five days in November, researchers interviewed 29 people, as well as staffers from a Honduran reception center who had interacted with hundreds of other deportees.

The vast majority of parents said ICE had not asked them if they had kids, contrary to the agency’s own rules. “We’ve been tracking significant levels of family separation, in violation of the policies that the US government has to protect family unity,” says WRC’s Zain Lakhani.

ICE has long had guidelines for detained immigrant parents. Under the Biden administration, the rules required officers to record whether detainees had minor children at home, and to ensure the kids had someone to care for them. This is still true under the Trump administration, even though ICE weakened the guidelines significantly last July. 



The problems with ICE are not on hold.  The problems continue.  Edith Olmsted (THE NEW REPUBLIC) notes: 

A 19-year-old Mexican teenager arrested over a minor traffic infraction died in an ICE facility in south Florida this week.

Royer Perez-Jimenez died on Monday of a “presumed suicide” in his cell at Glades County Detention Center in Moore Haven, Florida, according to a statement from ICE. His official cause of death remains under investigation. 

[. . .]
Perez-Jimenez is the thirteenth person to die in ICE custody this year, and the thirty-sixth person to die in detention since Donald Trump launched his sweeping immigration crackdown. He is also the youngest to die in custody since Trump resumed office. 



The Trump administration has reshaped a lesser-known corner of the Justice Department to set immigration policy and escalate mass detentions and deportations.

An administrative court known as the Board of Immigration Appeals has published a body of immigration case law that significantly narrows the due process and relief from deportation available for immigrants, an NPR analysis of its decisions shows.

The White House has done that by shrinking the size of the board by nearly half — and stacking the remaining slate of 15 judges with President Trump's appointees.

Last year, their decisions backed Department of Homeland Security lawyers in 97% of publicly posted cases; that's at least 30 percentage points higher than the average from the last 16 years.

The board has made it harder for immigration courts to offer immigrants bond in lieu of detention. It's made it easier to deport migrants to countries other than their own. And a new proposed regulation would make it harder for people to appeal their immigration decisions at all.

The board did this last year while quickly pumping out 70 published decisions, a record number of precedent-setting cases.



Kristi Noem has been fired by Donald Chump and will no longer be Secretary of Homeland Security. Chump's desired replacement for Noem is the equally upsetting Markwayne Mullin.  But it goes beyond one person.  And it goes all the way up to Donald Chump himself who is responsible for all the people who have died in ICE detention and been harmed in ICE detention, and been targeted by ICE while going about their own daily business.  

Chump has okayed racial profiling, he has been fine with US citizens being targeted.  

Chump has attacked everything that we are supposed to be and supposed to believe in and he has destroyed lives in the process.  

To carry this out, he's had to staff his Cabinet with idiots who are unqualified for their jobs and who lap at his feet while betraying the Constitution and launching savage attacks on democracy.


Kristi Noem has been fired.   During her tenure, she brought Corey Lewandowski along with her to Homeland Security.  THE NEW YORK POST reported that Kristi and Corey were having an affair back on September 15, 2023:

Married Republican South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem has engaged in a years-long affair with longtime Donald Trump adviser Corey Lewandowski, multiple sources told The Post Friday.

Though no images of the two getting frisky are known to exist, the pair have been less than discreet about their relationship, with one source recalling them making out at a hotel bar during the 2021 Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando, Fla.

“I remember it was so absurdly blatant and public,” said the person, who recalled Noem and Lewandowski getting “handsy” at the bar of the Hyatt Regency Orlando with between 100 and 200 others around.

“It wasn’t like 2 a.m.,” the source said. “It isn’t like we caught them at some dive bar miles away. It’s a lobby bar where everyone is staying and so there’s a bajillion political operatives and journalists and electeds around. I remember I saw it with my own eyes and a couple other people saw it and the blatantness was absurd.”

The rumors only increased when Kristi was confirmed as Secretary of Homeland -- especially when she moved on to a military base and Corey was seen coming and going all the time -- taking out the trash, you name it.

They never should have been allowed to work together due to this alleged relationship.  The week she was fired, she'd been asked the day before in a House hearing repeatedly about whether or not she was having an affair with Corey and Kristi refused to answer.  









It's become more of an issue since she was fired.  But it is a reflection -- an indictment -- of Donald Chump.

He installed her as Secretary of Homeland Security and didn't object to her bringing her boy toy with her.  He didn't object to their deals that profited them.  The greed in this administration is on full display and possibly Chump's avarice -- on such a grand scale -- distracts from the corruption in those serving under them.

But they all have their own problems, don't they?  Whether it's Kristi and Corey giving their friends contracts or Tom Homan taking a $50,000 bribe -- caught on tape by the FBI.  

Chump allows it.  He waives it through.  

If the Democrats get control in the November mid-terms of even one house of Congress, the ethical and criminal actions of this administration will be put squarely into the spotlight.  It's where Congress should have been focusing for the last year; however, the GOP control of both houses has enabled this administration in its corruption.



More than a year ago, The GEO Group founder George Zoley asked for a meeting with Corey Lewandowski, a close ally of President Donald Trump who had just started a powerful position as a top adviser to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

As a titan of the private prison industry, GEO Group stood to benefit from Trump’s mass deportation agenda, which would require the federal government to spend tens of billions of dollars to transport, detain, monitor and deport undocumented immigrants. The company’s federal contracts in those areas already totaled more than $1 billion per year.
But Zoley and his advisers were worried that the road to securing new government contracts now ran through Lewandowski. The two had history: Lewandowski and Zoley had butted heads during the transition between Trump’s November 2024 election and his January 2025 inauguration, before Lewandowski officially worked for the government, according to two industry sources and one senior DHS official familiar with the matter.

During the transition, Lewandowski told Zoley that he wanted to be paid in exchange for protecting and growing GEO Group’s DHS contracts, according to a senior DHS official and three people familiar with their discussion. Zoley, concerned about the propriety of the ask, told Lewandowski he would have no part of it, the sources said, describing the confrontation as tense.

Lewandowski took a role as an unpaid “special government employee” at DHS once the new administration was sworn in, where he advised and acted as a “de facto chief of staff” to Noem and, sources said, influenced contract awards. Zoley scrambled to find a way to assuage tensions from the meeting during the transition, two industry sources familiar with the matter said. He secured a follow-up with Lewandowski in late February or early March 2025.
That second meeting did not go much better.

Zoley offered to put Lewandowski on retainer — a recurring consulting fee — with GEO Group, according to two industry sources familiar with the matter.

Lewandowski balked, saying he wanted to be compensated based on the company’s new or renewed contracts with DHS, the two sources said.

“He wanted payments — what some people would call a success fee,” said a person with knowledge of the meeting.

Zoley declined, the two sources said. In the months that followed, the length of two of GEO Group’s federal contracts shrank, and currently several of its facilities that could house migrants sit idle, even as Congress and Trump have poured money into DHS to execute the mass deportation campaign. GEO Group officials believe that is tied to their not agreeing to Lewandowski’s solicitations, said a source familiar with the GEO Group officials’ thinking.


One senior White House official said aides were "aware of the allegations of pay to play," and another said at least four companies had raised concerns. No action has been taken against Lewandowski, in part due to his relationship with the president, according to people familiar with internal discussions.

The allegations come as Lewandowski's role inside DHS has drawn scrutiny. Although the department has said he does not approve contracts, internal records recently reviewed by ProPublica show his signature appearing on major spending decisions, and officials have said he often reviewed agreements above $100,000 before they reached Noem.




Two companies with ties to veteran political operatives received at least $23 million in commissions for their role in the controversial Department of Homeland Security ad campaign that helped lead to Secretary Kristi Noem’s ouster.

One of the firms, Safe America Media, received at least $15.2 million and was formed last February just a few days before it was awarded the limited-bid contract to work on the overall $220 million, taxpayer-funded ad campaign, according to an internal DHS memo and three people familiar with the contracts who were granted anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly about the contracts. Safe America Media was run by Republican operatives Mike McElwain and Patrick McCarthy, who have ties to a firm that did extensive media buying on President Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign.
The second firm, People Who Think, received at least $7.7 million from its 10 percent commission on a portion of the $220 million, according to the memo, which was written by DHS Deputy Under Secretary for Management Paul Stackhouse, and reviewed by POLITICO. People Who Think was co-founded by Jay Connaughton, who did work for Trump’s 2016 campaign and has reportedly worked for other conservative politicians and causes.

The March 3 DHS memo noted there was only a “limited competition” for the awarded contracts because of the “urgent and compelling need” for the ad campaign. It also stated that People Who Think’s 10 percent commission for international advertising and Safe America Media’s 12 percent commission for domestic advertising was below the industry norm of 15 percent.
Besides military recruiting efforts and Covid-19-related campaigns, the DHS ads were the most expensive U.S. government marketing campaign in the last 10 years, Bloomberg reported.
The information about the contracts add new details to the ongoing fallout over DHS’s $220 million ad campaign, which included a video of a cowboy-hat clad Noem riding a horse at Mount Rushmore. It also highlights how political operatives were awarded contracts worth millions of dollars with seemingly little oversight or guardrails — including from President Donald Trump, who White House officials have said did not sign off on the ad campaign.

So the White House knew but, again, with Chump leading the waves of corruption, no one was going to harsh the buzz of the crooks serving underneath the convicted felon.



The Department of Homeland Security has been ordered to preserve all of its records and internal communications as part of a probe into Corey Lewandowski, the de facto chief of staff and alleged lover of Kristi Noem.

Ranking Democrats on three House committees sent a letter Wednesday asking the DHS Inspector General to investigate allegations of corruption, mismanagement, and self-dealing at the department involving Lewandowski.

The former Trump adviser served for more than a year as a special government employee, a role that is supposed to be limited to 130 days per year, but Lewandowski has rarely left Noem’s side since she became secretary.

He amassed a staggering amount of power as her righthand man, including traveling with her to meet with world leaders, participating in high-level policy meetings, advising Noem on personnel decisions, arranging contractor meetings and reviewing contracts, and scheduling the secretary’s meetings with DHS officials and lobbyists.

At the same time, he has continued to pursue his business interests in the private sector and refused to provide financial disclosures.

“Mr. Lewandowski exercised outsized influence over DHS far beyond what an SGE is authorized to do, acting as a shadow chief of staff” for Noem, the ranking Democrats on the committees for Homeland Security, Oversight and Reform, Transportation and Infrastructure wrote in their letter. 

 

The Trump administration is allegedly carrying out a more than $1 billion scam on immigrants, the “largest fraud in the history of the U.S. immigration system,” according to a new analysis.

The Cato Institute study alleges that a combination of Trump administration policies, including freezing visa and status applications for citizens of 92 countries, has resulted in the government collecting more than $1 billion in fees for immigration petitions it never plans to finalize.
“The government took their money, and now it won’t even adjudicate their applications—in many cases, it refuses even to issue denials,” Cato immigration expert David J. Bier writes in the analysis. “The State Department is actually telling consular officers not to notify future applicants that the government has banned them.”

The alleged fraud originates from a group of new restrictions, according to the analysis. They include the Trump administration’s expanded travel ban affecting 40 countries; a freeze and ex post facto review of applications for immigration benefits such as employment authorization and permanent residency; and a recently announced State Department policy pausing visa processing for 75 countries. The Trump administration alleges migrants from these 75 countries draw excessively from the U.S. welfare system.



There are now two defining stories of Trump’s second term, with outcomes the president had not foreseen.

One is the war with Iran that the administration appears to have blundered into without understanding how it was going to get out.

The other is the Jeffrey Epstein scandal, where Trump pledged full transparency on the campaign trail and has spent the past year trying to walk it back.

[. . .]
Trump’s other unresolved matter, that of his one-time pal Jeffrey Epstein, has been received more warmly around the world. Like it or not, the administration’s blunders have re-ignited a scandal that had flickered out until his return to power.

The release of the Epstein files has unleashed new scrutiny of the behavior of once-untouchables like former Prince Andrew and “Prince of Darkness” Lord Peter Mandelson.

The evil of Epstein’s collaborators, like French model agency boss Jean Luc Brunel, has emerged from the files.

Trump’s allies have no problem with America exposing the repellent actions of a wealthy clique that believed itself above the law. They will say “thank you” for that.

Just as long as Trump didn’t go to war with the hope that everyone would forget all about it.


We're not forgetting about it.  Yes, we're turning to news about Donald Chump's buddy, the late Jeffrey Epstein. He promised, if elected, the Epstein files would be released.  In February of last year, Attorney General Pam da Bimbo Bondi invited eager right-wing influencers to meet with her as she handed out binders of 'information' -- turned out that information was all already released -- and declared that sitting on her desk were The Epstein Files and she'd be releasing them shortly. 

Only she didn't.

She did give Chump a heads up in May that he was all in the files.  And then they walked back their promise to release the files and it took an act of Congress -- literally, an act of Congress -- to start the release of files.

Start?

All the files were supposed to have been released by now.  That is the law that Congress passed and that Chump signed.  

But at least thee million pages are said to be still unreleased. 




The top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee is demanding that Kevin Warsh, tapped by President Donald Trump to become the next Federal Reserve chair, explain what if any relationship he had with the late convicted sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein.  

In a letter sent to Warsh on Wednesday evening, Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts sought clarifications after Warsh’s name appeared in documents related to Epstein released by the government earlier this year. Epstein died in prison in 2019.
Noting Warsh’s name appeared in communications by Epstein employees about a holiday party on the Caribbean island of St. Barthélemy in 2010, Warren wrote: “It is unclear whether and to what extent you interacted with Mr. Epstein in association with the invitation referenced in this email exchange.”

“As the Senate considers your nomination to serve as Chair of the Fed, it is essential that Congress and the public fully understand the extent of any interactions or relationship you had with Jeffrey Epstein,” Warren wrote. She noted the communications that included Warsh’s name appeared at a time when Epstein had already been convicted of sex crimes with a minor, and as he faced civil lawsuits over similar issues.

Warren, the ranking minority member of the Senate Banking Committee that will vet Warsh's nomination, requested Warsh respond by March 31 to eight questions detailing possible interactions between him and Epstein and others associated with him.


Democrats are moving to impeach U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and accusing her of refusing to co-operate in a briefing about the Epstein files on Wednesday.

Congressman for California Robert Garcia likened the closed-door briefing to an “outrageous fake hearing” after Bondi said she would not adhere to a subpoena requiring her to testify under oath.
Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche went to Capitol Hill to try to quell bipartisan frustration over the Justice Department’s handling of millions of files related to the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking investigation after the House Oversight Committee, made up of both Democrats and Republicans, voted to subpoena her earlier this month.

Five Republicans on the committee sided with Democrats to support the subpoena for Bondi to appear for a deposition on April 14.

On Tuesday, Congresswoman Summer L. Lee introduced articles of impeachment against Bondi, outlining several alleged offences, including "defiance of the Oversight Committee’s subpoena to release the full, unredacted Epstein files, defiance of the Epstein Files Transparency Act, abuse of investigatory and prosecutorial authority, defiance of federal court orders, and perjury in congressional testimony," she said in a news release.


The Democrats smell blood. Oversight’s subpoena was bipartisan, approved with a handful of Republicans joining Democrats. And it gives the opposition a firm lever: an April 14 deposition date that serves as a key test of compliance. 

If Bondi dodges, Democrats can try to build toward contempt, and it speaks to some of MAGA’s worst fears about the Epstein files. 

If she shows, Democrats get sworn testimony and a transcript, which is more fodder for their fight against the Trump administration. 

Either way, it’s political downside for the administration, because Epstein is the kind of scandal where nothing new is rarely reassuring. The public assumes there’s always more and it’s being kept, deliberately, from them. 


Yesterday, the Democrats on the House Oversight Committee released the following:

Washington, D.C. — Today, Rep. Robert Garcia, Ranking Member of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, released the following statement after Darren Indyke, long-time lawyer for Jeffrey Epstein and co-executor of Epstein’s estate, was deposed by the Oversight Committee. Survivors have shared with the Committee that Darren Indyke and Epstein accountant Richard Kahn may have known about Epstein’s activities and helped facilitate his crimes through their management of his legal and financial affairs.

“Darren Indyke played a central role in facilitating Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse of women and girls and managing legal strategies that helped Epstein avoid government scrutiny. In his deposition before the Committee, Indyke would not confirm or deny a settlement with Jane Doe 4, who accused Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein of abuse when she was a minor. However, he confirmed the existence of hard drives held by Epstein’s private investigators. These hard drives are of great interest to our committee. Survivors and victims of Jeffrey Epstein deserve to know the truth. Oversight Democrats will not stop until there’s full transparency about everyone complicit in Epstein’s crimes,” said Ranking Member Robert Garcia.

Oversight Democrats are eager to secure the hard drives held by Epstein’s private investigators. The subpoenas for Richard Kahn and Darren Indyke, close associates of Jeffrey Epstein, were issued after successful motions offered by Oversight Democrats and adopted on a bipartisan basis. Richard Kahn’s subpoena can be found here and Darren Indyke’s subpoena can be found here.

 

###

Yesterday, the House Oversight Committee deposed another person on Epstein.  Anna Betts (GUARDIAN) reports:

Darren Indyke, Jeffrey Epstein’s longtime lawyer, told US House lawmakers on Thursday that he “had no knowledge whatsoever of Jeffrey Epstein’s wrongdoings” during his employment.

The deposition before the House oversight and reform committee on Thursday morning is behind closed doors, but according to a copy of Indyke’s opening statement provided to the Guardian by his attorney, Indyke told lawmakers that that his primary role “was to provide corporate, transactional and general legal services to Mr Epstein and his companies, and I did so”.

Indyke, who began working for Epstein in the 1990s, is testifying under subpoena as the panel continues its investigation into the late disgraced financier.





And on MS NOW, Ari covered a revelation from BBC NEWS about Epstien.




Let's wind down with this from Senator Adam Schiff's office:

In a new oversight letter, Senators point to Trump officials’ use of personal email accounts to blatantly evade transparency laws and conduct sensitive official business related to efforts to unlawfully dismantle federal climate regulations

Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW), is leading Senate Democrats in demanding answers on records revealing U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) officials engaged in repeated potential violations of the Federal Records Act, the Federal Advisory Committee Act, and the Freedom of Information Act by using personal email accounts to communicate and collaborate with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on work to support EPA’s rescission of the greenhouse gas endangerment finding.

“These emails illustrate that CWG members were intent from the start on manufacturing a false narrative that sought to inaccurately downplay the harms of climate change. In these emails, members of the working group repeatedly demonstrated their intent to evade transparency laws,” the Senators wrote. 

The letter includes, for example, one of these exchanges: “CWG member Steven Koonin wrote from his Gmail account: “We should be mindful that our email communications that go to DOE addresses are subject to FOIA.” Mr. Koonin even asked fellow CWG member Roy Spencer: “Roy- is there are [sic] gmail address we can use for you, rather than the [University of Alabama Huntsman] address (which may itself be subject to FOIA)?” 

“These emails from personal accounts also indicate coordination with EPA and clearly show that EPA requested the production of the report, purportedly to justify the agency’s rescission of the endangerment finding and associated termination of vehicle emissions rules,” the Senators continued.  

The coordinator of the CWG, Travis Fisher, wrote, “the EPA team asked that the document be DOE-branded,” and “I’ve been told this summary of the science will be published as a technical support document relevant to a new proposed rule on tailpipe emissions standards for motor vehicles.”  

The Senators are also asking whether Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) also engaged in similar practices regarding the use of personal emails, and coordination between DOE, EPA, and the White House. 

In addition to Schiff, the letter was signed by Ranking Member of EPW Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.). and Senators Edward Markey (D-Mass.) and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.). 

The full text of the letter can be found here and below. 

Dear Secretary Wright and Administrator Zeldin: 

We write to request answers from your agencies concerning the blatant use of personal email accounts by administration officials to evade public scrutiny laws and conduct sensitive official business related to your agencies’ efforts to unlawfully dismantle federal climate regulations. Records uncovered through litigation reveal that U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) appointees engaged in repeated potential violations of the Federal Records Act, the Federal Advisory Committee Act, and the Freedom of Information Act through the routine use of private email accounts to collaborate on the drafting of an error-riddled climate report requested by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to help justify the rescission of the greenhouse gas endangerment finding. These records call into question to what extent DOE and EPA officials may have improperly used personal email accounts and resisted public records requests throughout your agencies’ work to produce the February 12, 2026, rescission of the greenhouse gas endangerment finding. 

During litigation over the legality of DOE’s “Climate Working Group” (CWG)—a group of fossil fuel industry loyalists that was established to provide cover for EPA’s rescission of the endangerment finding—the court ordered DOE to turn over records related to the working group. These records revealed an extensive paper trail of working group members using their personal email accounts to develop the scientifically unsound report entitled, A Critical Review of Impacts of Greenhouse Gas Emissions on the U.S. Climate. These emails illustrate that CWG members were intent from the start on manufacturing a false narrative that sought to inaccurately downplay the harms of climate change. 

In these emails, members of the working group repeatedly demonstrated their intent to evade transparency laws. For example, CWG member Steven Koonin wrote from his Gmail account: “We should be mindful that our email communications that go to DOE addresses are subject to FOIA.” Mr. Koonin even asked fellow CWG member Roy Spencer: “Roy- is there are [sic] gmail address we can use for you, rather than the [University of Alabama Huntsman] address (which may itself be subject to FOIA)?” 

These emails from personal accounts also indicate coordination with EPA and clearly show that EPA requested the production of the report, purportedly to justify the agency’s rescission of the endangerment finding and associated termination of vehicle emissions rules. The coordinator of the CWG, Travis Fisher, wrote, “the EPA team asked that the document be DOE-branded,” and “I’ve been told this summary of the science will be published as a technical support document relevant to a new proposed rule on tailpipe emissions standards for motor vehicles.” 

Further, a judge appointed by President Ronald Reagan held that the CWG violated the Federal Advisory Committee Act by working in secret to develop the report. It is clear that the administration recognizes that the DOE report is fundamentally tainted, as evidenced by EPA’s insistence in the final rescission of the endangerment finding that the agency “is not relying on” the report “for any aspect of this final action,” despite having cited the CWG group’s work numerous times in the proposed rule. 

However, what is not clear and what deserves public scrutiny is to what extent DOE and EPA officials routinely use their personal email accounts to conduct official business and whether this practice was employed by EPA officials—as it was by DOE officials and CWG members— during work on the climate report or throughout the preparation of EPA’s rescission of the endangerment finding. 

DOE’s failure to comply with the Freedom of Information Act also deserves public scrutiny. Several organizations have expressed that DOE has failed to produce any records in response to numerous Freedom of Information Act requests submitted to the Department throughout 2025. The fulfillment of public records requests under the Freedom of Information Act is not optional; it is required under the law. 

Given the numerous apparent legal violations associated with DOE’s climate work and EPA’s rescission of the endangerment finding, we request responses to the following by March 31, 2026: 

  1. Did any current or former EPA employees use personal email accounts to conduct business related to the February 12 rescission of the endangerment finding? If so, please provide all instances of such communications. If you do not currently know the answer to this question, please explain how you will evaluate whether this has occurred and what accountability measures you will employ to prevent any future issues. 
  2. Did any current or former EPA employees use personal email accounts to coordinate with the DOE CWG? How did EPA personnel communicate the agency’s requests (referenced in the DOE CWG released email records) to the CWG?  
  3. Did employees at DOE or EPA communicate with the White House or other agencies through personal emails, Signal chats, or other private messaging platforms regarding the development of either the July 23, 2025, DOE report or the EPA final agency action to rescind the endangerment finding? If so, please provide all instances of such communications. 
  4. To what extent did DOE coordinate with EPA and the White House on this report? Did any coordination with the White House on the rescission of the endangerment finding occur outside of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) review process or with entities in the White House other than OIRA? 
  5. Mr. Fisher wrote, “I am happy to relay any questions you all have to the relevant folks at DOE or other agencies.” What other agencies besides DOE and EPA were involved in this effort? 
  6. During the preparation of either the CWG report or the endangerment finding rescission, did DOE or EPA employees use personal email accounts to communicate with outside stakeholders, such as oil and gas companies, trade associations, think tanks, nonprofits, or other groups? Did DOE or EPA employees hold any official or unofficial meetings with such stakeholders during the preparation of the CWG report or the endangerment finding rescission? 
  7. What steps are you taking to ensure the preservation of relevant records sent via official or unofficial channels pursuant to the Federal Records Act? 
  8. Will you commit to complying with all requests by the National Archives to preserve records or investigate breaches of the Federal Records Act at your agencies? 
  9. Will DOE commit to providing records in response to outstanding Freedom of Information Act requests submitted to the Department during the year 2025? 
  10. Given the CWG’s numerous violations of federal transparency laws, will you commit that both DOE and EPA will no longer work with Travis Fisher, John Christy, Judith Curry, Steven Koonin, Ross McKitrick, and Roy Spencer? 
  11. What actions is DOE taking to ensure accountability for Seth Cohen and Joshua Loucks, two current DOE appointees who used their personal email accounts to communicate with the CWG? 

###


The following sites updated:






Posted by at

Thursday, March 19, 2026

Science post: New species of baby dinosaur, 13,000 year old foot prints, the introduction of the bow & arrow

Science grab-bag post.  Let's start with some exciting news. PHYS.ORG has an article by University of Texas at Austin about a baby dino:


Cute, green, and sporting two sprigs of hair on his head, a mischievous baby dinosaur named Dooly is one of the most beloved cartoon characters in South Korea. So, when researchers from The University of Texas at Austin and the Korean Dinosaur Research Center discovered a new species of baby dinosaur from Korea's Aphae Island, they knew exactly what to call it: Doolysaurus.

"Dooly is one of the very famous, iconic dinosaur characters in Korea. Every generation in Korea knows this character," said Jongyun Jung, a visiting postdoctoral researcher at UT's Jackson School of Geosciences who led the research. "And our specimen is also a juvenile or 'baby,' so it's perfect for our dinosaur species name to honor Dooly."

The baby dinosaur is the first new dinosaur species discovered in Korea in 15 years and the first Korean dinosaur fossil found with portions of its skull. The skull bones were revealed when the fossil underwent a scientific micro-CT scan at the University of Texas High-Resolution X-ray Computed Tomography (UTCT) facility.

"When we first found the specimen, we saw some leg bones preserved and some vertebrae," Jung said. "We didn't expect skull parts and so many more bones. There was a fair amount of excitement when we saw what was hidden inside the block."


Stephen Luntz (IFL SCIENCE) adds:

The individual dinosaur was about the size of a turkey, but growth markings in its femur revealed it was at most two years old and still growing. Jung and co-authors think the adults might have been about twice as large, but that estimate is rough.

Although not discussed in their paper, the authors also think this dinosaur junior had fuzzy body-covering threads that would have given it a more babyish appearance. “I think it would have been pretty cute,” said study coauthor, UT's Professor Julia Clarke. “It might have looked a bit like a little lamb.”

“Dooly is one of the very famous, iconic dinosaur characters in Korea. Every generation in Korea knows this character,” said Jung. “And our specimen is also a juvenile or ‘baby’, so it’s perfect for our dinosaur species name to honor Dooly.”


TEXAS STANDARD spoke with Jongyun Jung and Julia Clarke about the discovery and posted a transcript of the conversation:


Texas Standard: So when did you realize you had a new species and how did you feel at that moment?

Jongyun Jung: Yeah, actually my research background was the fossil footprints and kinds of their footprints and tracks. But yeah, I’m always dreaming to finding new dinosaur species by my hands.

So when we found this character, after we excavate these dinosaur fossils and scanning this specimen, we figured out very different character with other dinosaur species.

And yeah, this is the one of the very important moments in my life.

Julia Clarke: I’m going to add to that, I’ll just say that figuring out whether you have a new species, it might be interesting to know, is not an easy process because you have to compare the attributes of the new specimen, the new skeleton, to all other known dinosaurs.

And there are different data sets that help you do that, but it’s like you have to look at every bump on every bone, at the characteristics of every part of the skull to make sure that you don’t have another representative of a previously described species.

So when we finally had that evidence and we could clearly say that this was a new species, yeah, it was a very exciting moment. I mean, given this is the first — a new dinosaur species described from Korea in how many years is it, Jongyun?

Jongyun Jung: After 15 years.


So Doolysaurus is a new and exciting discovery.  Let's go to another new discovery.  This one is 13,000 years old.   Melissa Ait Lounis  (DAILY GALAXY) reports:


A set of 13,000-year-old footprints discovered on Calvert Island is offering rare, direct evidence of human activity along North America’s Pacific coast. Preserved in shoreline sediment, the tracks point to a small group moving together at the water’s edge.

Such discoveries are uncommon. According to Duncan McLaren, lead author of the study published in PLOS One, fossilized footprints are rarely found in archaeological contexts, though coastal erosion can occasionally reveal them.

At the time these footprints were made, sea levels were lower than today, exposing stretches of coastline that are now submerged. This environmental context makes the site particularly valuable for understanding early human presence in the region.

The find also contributes to broader discussions about how the first humans reached the Americas, especially the role of coastal routes during the last ice age.

Researchers uncovered 29 distinct footprints, with clear impressions of toes, arches, and heels. According to the study, the sizes correspond to three individuals, roughly equivalent to a woman’s size 8-9, a junior’s size 8, and a smaller adult size.


So that will factor into the migration information.  Let's stay with the Americas and go to a tool that we all know of today and when it first came to be present in the United States.  Eric Ralls (EARTH.COM) reports:

A new study is reshaping how scientists think about one of humanity’s most important hunting tools. The bow and arrow – long assumed to spread slowly across western North America – now appears to have arrived almost all at once – about 1,400 years ago.

That rapid rollout didn’t just replace older weapons. It set off a chain of changes that played out differently depending on where people lived.

By tracing when and where the bow took hold, researchers are uncovering how a single innovation can move quickly across vast landscapes – and why it doesn’t lead to the same outcome everywhere.

Preserved wooden weapons recovered from melting ice, dry caves, and rock shelters hold direct evidence of this transition.

Analyzing those remains, Briggs Buchanan at the University of Tulsa demonstrated that bows and arrows emerged across both northern and southern regions at nearly the same moment.

Across 136 well-preserved weapons spanning thousands of years, the same pattern appears: a sudden debut followed by sharply different regional outcomes.

Jennifer Ouellette (ARS TECHNICA) adds: 

At some point in North America, the atlatl was replaced by the bow and arrow, thanks to the latter’s increased arrow accuracy, distance, velocity, more frequent shots, plus the ability to shoot (and reshoot) from a number of different positions. There were also trade-offs, though: Using a bow costs more to make and maintain, for instance, and it requires both hands to operate, making it difficult to also hold a shield. Its widespread adoption probably occurred because the benefits outweighed the downsides.

It’s challenging to determine when the bow was introduced and how quickly it was adopted because the weapons are made with organic materials that tend not to be preserved, unlike stone, bone, or metal tools. So for this latest study, Eren and his co-authors focused on radiocarbon dating a carefully curated dataset of clearly identifiable weapons found in dry caves and rock shelters (naturally anaerobic environments).

The radiocarbon dating results showed that the bow and arrow emerged in North America roughly 1,400 years ago. However, in the north, that weapon coexisted with the atlatl for several centuries, while the bow proved to be disruptive almost immediately in the south, quickly rendering tools like the atlatl obsolete. For the authors, this is evidence of “a relatively late introduction that occurred nearly simultaneously across a vast area, followed by regionally distinct adoption trajectories.”

In other words, the bow and arrow likely had a single origin that then rapidly diffused through cultural transmission networks, with a few regional differences affecting the rate of replacement. Eren et al. note that there is also evidence from other studies of people in several geotemporal contexts converging on bow-and-arrow technology multiple times since the African Middle Stone Age. So more data is needed to make a definitive finding, and for now, at least, “such testing is beyond current archaeological resolution and analysis,” the authors wrote.

  

Now that's a lot so far and we can use our imagination to picture what these discoveries might lead to.  Guess what?  Humans aren't the only ones with imagination. TOMMOROW'S WORLD TODAY reports:


A new set of experiments, published in the journal Science, showed that a bonobo named Kanzi was able to play along with a game of make-believe, providing the first evidence that humans aren’t the only animals capable of using their imagination.

Presenting the test as part of a game, a team of researchers offered Kanzi invisible juice and grapes, similar to a child’s pretend tea party. The results showed that the primate was able to track the invisible juice as it was being “poured” between bottles and pitchers.

“He’s able to follow along and track the location of a pretend object, but at the same time, he appreciates that it’s not actually there,” said Chris Krupenye, an author of the study and an assistant professor of psychological and brain sciences at Johns Hopkins University.

Though scientists previously assumed that imagination or the ability to consider multiple realities was an exclusively human trait, some observations of behaviors in primates called this into question. These include young chimpanzees playing with a “log doll” and moving imaginary blocks.

“We think of our ability to imagine other worlds or other objects, or imagine futures, as one of these rich features of human mental life that are presumed to be unique to our species,” Krupenye said. But apes “might share some of the foundational cognitive machinery that will enable at least some degree of imagination.”


Eric Ralls (EARTH.COM) explains:


Pretend play looks like child’s stuff. Empty cups. Fake juice. An invisible grape. On the surface, it seems light and silly. But beneath that simple scene sits a hard mental task: keeping track of something that is not really there while also knowing it is not real.

Imagination relies on a skill called secondary representation. A brain can hold two ideas at once without mixing them.

One idea matches reality, such as empty cups on a table. Another idea exists only in imagination, such as juice inside one cup. The brain keeps both ideas separate to avoid confusion.

Human children develop this skill early. Pretend games with tea or food show clear understanding of real and imagined situations.

Scientists link secondary representation to planning, understanding others, and thinking about possibilities. For many years, researchers debated whether animals could use this kind of thinking.



RJ Mackenzie (SCIENCE NEWS) adds: 

By a year old, human children can start playing pretend. By age three, most kids can build whole imaginary words in their minds. This ability is necessary for many complex tasks.

The new study started with Kanzi, a very special bonobo. He had learned to communicate with scientists using symbols that represent words. Such symbols are called lexigrams.

“We were starstruck by Kanzi,” says Amalia Bastos. She studies behavior and intelligence in animals at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland.

Bastos met Kanzi in 2023. During their first meeting, Kanzi used a board with lexigrams to ask Bastos and a colleague to chase each other. Bastos noticed that the bonobo really enjoyed watching them run after one another, even if it was just pretend.

That got her wondering what other types of make-believe games Kanzi might be able to understand. So she asked Christopher Krupenye for help. He’s a cognitive scientist at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Md. Together, they designed make-believe tests for Kanzi.

In the first of those, Kanzi sat down at a table with two glasses. A researcher brought out an empty, see-through pitcher. With the pitcher, they pretended to fill up the two glasses with imaginary “juice” — Kanzi’s favorite drink. Then, they poured the imaginary juice from one of the glasses back into the pitcher and asked Kanzi which glass was full.

The bonobo chose the glass that still had make-believe juice more than two out of every three times. That’s a lot more correct answers than if Kanzi were just guessing. But the researchers worried this might not be because he was playing pretend.

“Kanzi is an old bonobo. Maybe his vision isn’t very good. Maybe he thinks that there’s real juice in these things,” says Bastos. So she and her colleagues asked Kanzi to choose between real and fake juice, to make sure he could see the difference.


"The Snapshot" (THE COMMON ILLS):

Thursday, March 19, 2026.  Tulsi Gabbard provides the Senate Intelligence Committee with answers that did not back up Donald Chump's many lies, despite Donald claiming that he kicked his buddy Jeffrey Epstein out of his resort a document emerges explaining that never happened, Pam Bondi tries to get over on the House Oversight Committee, and much more,

For three weeks now, Donald Chump has been saying that this couldn't have been predicted and that couldn't have been predicted.  Who could have known that the Strait of Hormuz -- for example -- could be used by Iran to cut off the flow of oil?  Who could have known?

Well, it turns out anyone listening to the intelligence briefings.  

Yesterday, Tulsi Gabbard declared, "I am here today to present the 2026 Annual Threat Assessment, joined by the Directors of the CIA, DNI, FBI and NSA.  This briefing is being provided in accordance with ODNI’s statutory responsibility and represents the Intelligence Community’s assessment of the threats facing U.S. citizens, our Homeland, and our interests."  The Director of National Intelligence was speaking before the Senate Intelligence Committee.  

Senator Mark Warner (Ranking Member or Vice Chair of the Committee) noted in his opening remarks that the DNI had not been updating them or meeting with them.


Senator Mark Warner: Instead, unfortunately, we have seen the DNI involve herself in purely domestic matters.  Last month, we saw Director Gabbard personally participate in a law enforcement raid to seize election ballots and voting machine records in Fulton County, Georgia -- a raid tied to an election that the president lost six years ago.  When the warrant supporting the raid was unsealed, it showed something deeply troubling: There was no foreign connection to justify the involvement of our nation's top spy.  Instead, the predicate for the warrant was a slop of debunked conspiracy theories that had already been rejected repeatedly by courts, by independent investigators and even by Georgia's own Republican Secretary of State. Yet the nation's top intelligence official was personally involved in this operation.  This raises one very serious question: If the intelligence community is not being deployed to mobilize against foreign threats, why is it being deployed at all on a domestic issue? The DNI's appearance at this raid, as well as her involvement in seizing voting machines from Puerto Rico, suggests something that should also alarm every American -- I believe an organized effort to misuse her national security powers to interfere in domestic politics and potentially provide a pretext for the president's unconstitutional efforts to seize control of the upcoming elections. Don't take my word for it.  The president has repeatedly pushed for the nationalization of our elections, calling for federal government to override the state election laws and quote, "Take over voting" while continuing to make false statements about election fraud. And we have heard troubling rhetoric from senior officials that reinforce these concerns. As former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said publicly, "We've been" -- and this is a quote -- "We've been proactive trying to make sure we have the right people voting electing the right leaders to lead this country." 


He returned to this topic during his questioning.


Senator Mark Warner: Director Gabbard, the whole country knows that you were recently involved in a FBI raid to seize ballots in Fulton County, Georgia. Yet this was despite the fact that the warrant showed no foreign interference or nexus.  Matter of fact, the warrant was based entirely on conspiracy theories that have already been examined and rejected repeatedly.  Now where is the authority for you to involve yourself in a domestic law enforcement activity? 

DNI Tulsi Gabbard:  Thank you, Vice Chairman, I appreciate the question.  I, as you know, I've addressed every issue you've raised in detail in a letter but I'm grateful for the opportunity to do it in this forum.  As you stated, Congress provided by statute, ODNI, with the responsibility of election security and counter intelligence in 2021. As you also know, ODNI has purview and --

Senator Mark Warner: Could you -- could you -- I know the history very well but could just 

-- addressing the question?  ODNI also has purview and overview over two domestic related agencies, the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI, both of which have purview over election security responsibilities to ensure the integrity of our elections. I want to correct one of your statements that you've made multiple times which is false.  I did not participate in a law enforcement activity nor would I because that does not exist within my authorities. 

Senator Mark Warner: You were present on the scene.  Are the photos -- are the photos of you on the scene?

I was at Fulton County, sir, at the request of the president and to work with the FBI to observe this action that had long been awaited. I was not aware of what was in the warrant or was not in --

Senator Mark Warner: What was the president's specific request for you to go?  What was the specific request that was made by the president for you to show up in Fulton County.

DNI Tulsi Gabbard: To go and observe the FBI's activities on this issue.

Senator Mark Warner: Look -- Do you have the answer why the president was knowing about this affidavit before it was even served?

DNI Tulsi Gabbard: I'm not aware that the president knew about an affidavit before it was served.

Senator Mark Warner: Then why was he sending you to Fulton County?  

DNI Tulsi Gabbard:  This occurred the day that the FBI had it approved, their warrant approved by a local judge and they began to execute this.  To answer your question, sir, about the foreign nexus question in order for us to better understand the vulnerabilities in our election systems that may exist today as we look to 2026 and, yes, we are very focused on trying to make sure that this election is one that the American people have --

Senator Mark Warner: Director Gabbert, let me -- I've got a number of questions, Director Gabbert.  I have a number of questions.  Let me ask my next question, please. You have not provided any of the required reports or briefings to this committee on foreign interference.  This is the first threat assessment since 2017 that didn't even mention foreign interference.  Last year when you were in already confirmed, it mentioned it at high level.  Are you saying there is no foreign threat to our elections in the midterms this year? 

DNI Tulsi Gabbard:  As I stated in the outset of my remarks, this year's annual threat assessment matches the prioritization of threats and -- 

Senator Mark Warner:  Please answer the question.  Yes or no, is there foreign threat interference to our elections this year? Are there --

DNI Tulsi Gabbard:  Please allow me to answer the question, sir.  The intelligence community has been and continues to remain focues on any collection and intelligence products that show a potential foreign threat for those who are -- 

Senator Mark Warner:  So far there have been none, ma'am, because you've made on system.  Excuse me, ma'am, if you want to ask the questions, you should have stayed in Congress. Please answer the questions.

DNI Tulsi Gabbard: I didn't ask you a question, sir, I'm trying to answer your questions.

Senator Mark Warner: So, you're saying the failure to provide any reports or the failure to have any mention of a foreign threat assessment -- I would draw the conclusion there must be no foreign threat to our elections in '26.  So that brings me to a question that I have for both you ma'am and [FBI] Director [Kash] Patel.  There are reports that in 2020 the president was preparing an executive order to potentially seize ballots or bring in federal forces. There is a published report that there is a similar EO being drafted right now about 2026 citing China.  Director Patel, do you have any knowledge of that draft EO?  

FBI Director Kash Patel: Thank you, Vice Chairman, I do not, sir.

Senator Mark Warner: Director Gabbard, do you have any?

DNI Tulsi Gabbard:  I do not.

Senator Mark Warner: Thank you.  Let me move to Iran.  Now I understand and I appreciated, Director Gabbard, your comments yesterday about agreeing that the president has sole authority, I guess, in his bones to declare whether something is an imminent threat. I didn't agree with your friend, Mr. [Joe] Kent, but I didn't again -- I agreed with him yesterday on the fact that there was no imminent threat.  I guess what I'm concerned about -- one thing -- is even in your printed testimony today on page six and your last paragraph on page six, as a result of Operation Midnight Hammer, Iran's nuclear enrichment program was obliterated. There's been no efforts to try to rebuild their enrichment capability.  You omitted that paragraph from your oral opening. Was that because the president had said there was an imminent threat two weeks? 

DNI Tulsi Gabbard:  No, sir.  I recognized that the time was running long and I skipped through some of the portions. 

Senator Mark Warner: You chose to omit the parts that contradict the president.  The president continues to say as well that you know he had no idea. He was shocked that the Iranians had moved to take over the Strait of Hermoz. Did you provide any intelligence that would say that it would be -- that it was not likely that the Iranians would try to move on this trade.

DNI Tulsi Gabbard: I'm not aware of those remarks and I think that those of us here at the table can point to the fact that historically the Iranians have always threatened to leverage their control.

Senator Mark Warner:  Why would the president say he was amazed?

DNI Tulsi Gabbard: I'm not aware of those remarks.

Senator Mark Warner: What about the comments the president made that he was surprised again reports that Iran struck the adjacent Gulf States?

DNI Tulsi Gabbard:  Again, I'm not aware of those remarks.  We have --

Senator Mark Warner: Let me ask you, did you brief the president?  Did you brief the president?  Did you brief the president if he starts a war of choice that the likely result would be that Iran would strike adjacent Gulf nations and close the Strait of Hoemuz?  Did you brief  on those two facts that I think have been consistently the con -- the assumptions of the intelligence community.

DNI Tulsi Gabbard: I have not and won't divulge internal conversations.  I will say that those of us within the intelligence community continue to provide the president with all of the best objective intelligence available to inform his decisions.


Let's note a line of questioning from Senator Mark Warner.


Senator Ron Wyden: Director Gabbard, last year you testified -- and I quote -- "Iran's large conventional forces are capable of inflicting substantial damage to an attacker, executing regional strikes and disrupting shipping -- particularly energy supplies through the Strait of Hormuz.  In other words, every problem we're seeing now was not only foreseeable but was actually predicted by the intelligence agencies. So, Director, in the lead up to the start of this war three weeks ago, did intelligence agencies stick to their assessment that in response to an attack, the Iranians had the capability to shut down the Strait of Hormuz?

DNI Tulsi Gabbard:  Thank you, Senator Wyden.  The intelligence community has continued to provide the president and his team with the intelligence related to this operation in Iran before and on an ongoing basis.

Senator Ron Wyden:  So right now we're in a global energy crisis.  We're paying more for gas, the economy is in danger, and it seems to me -- and I heard you discuss this with Senator Warner, too, that there's a lot of hedging going on with respect to entirely foreseen consequences of the war and that strikes me, Madam Director, as what amounts to a historic mistake.  Now my second question is: Did the intelligence agencies assess that the Iranians could respond to a regime change attack from us by attacking US forces and other Americans in the region?  

DNI Tulsi Gabbard: The IC assessment has always taken very seriously the threat of the Iranian regime's missile capabilities and how our American troops within the region may be put at risk.

Senator Ron Wyden:  Again, you know, it seems to me with Americans dying in the war, it's hard to see how you can sit here and say that the intelligence agencies couldn't provide a clear warning that, if attacked, the Iranians would respond by attacking our people.  Now, on Monday, Madam Director, Donald Trump was asked about Iranian strikes on the Gulf States.  He said, and I quote, "Nobody, nobody, no, no, no, the greatest experts -- nobody thought they were going to hit the Gulf States."  You all are supposed to be the greatest experts.  That's what we have you there for.  Director Gabbard, did the intelligence agencies assess that Iran could conduct strikes on our own partners in the region if it was attacked?

DNI Tulsi Gabbard:  The intelligence community has continued to assess the potential threats to the region, the existing threats to the region and providing those assessments to the policy makers and decision makers.


There was a lot of commentary about Tulsi's testimony.  I think Lawrence O'Donnell gets it right in his commentary below.



In the hearing, Senator Michael Bennet noted:

President Trump has offered no credible justification for the imminent threat, no clear goals, no strategy or timeline.  His message keeps changing, I think, in really damaging ways. President Trump said Iran’s nuclear facilities had been "totally obliterated" in June 2025. But when he launched this latest war, he said we need to "eliminate the imminent nuclear threat of those totally obliterated nuclear facilities."

Chump just  says anything and moves on.  He lies and his lies go against his earlier lies. 

"The lack of clarity," Bennet observed, "should matter to everybody."  

But it doesn't.  And it certainly did not matter to the Committee Chair Tom Cotton.

Bennet was asking questions of CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Ratcliffe was refusing to answer and misdirecting and getting louder and louder and Bennet asked to reclaim his time but Cotton muttered something about both being grown men and they could handle it.

Does he not know what the duties are for Committee chairs?

Or was he just choosing to -- as he did throughout the hearing -- avoid the realities that Chump has lied and lied and lied about the war on Iran?


Yesterday another hearing took place that was scheduled.  But there was also the House Oversight Committee.  They had subpoenaed Attorney General Pam da Bimbo Bondi to be deposed in April as part of the investigation into Jeffrey Epstein.  Late Monday, Pam announced she would show up Tuesday.  And did.  And it was all nonsense from Pam and protection from Committee Chair James Comer. 





While Bondi again attempted to defy the rule of law and to lie for Chump, something else happened yesterday.  US House Rep Dan Goldman took to the floor of Congress to read into the record a page Pam's Justice Department had released but had heavily redacted.  Removing the redactions, Goldman saw that this was not about shielding the victims, it was about letting Chump continue to lie.



President Donald Trump’s name has appeared several times on the already released Jeffrey Epstein files. Having said that, the president has time and again denied any wrongdoings and dismissed having any knowledge of the crimes of the late sex offender.
The president and his administration have also repeatedly claimed that Trump allegedly kicked Epstein out of Mar-a-Lago as the latter was trafficking female employees from the club.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has missed the deadline to release all the Epstein files. Even among the released sections, there have been alleged instances of attempts to redact Trump’s name and images.

Among the files that were released, there was a heavily redacted version of a 2009 email from Epstein’s attorney, Jack Goldberger. On Wednesday, March 18, New York Rep. Dan Goldman said on the House floor that he had seen the unredacted version and displayed the same, which he mentioned was the complete email.

With the email at his disposal, Goldman accused the president of “false statements over the past quarter century about Jeffrey Epstein,” and also criticized Attorney General Pam Bondi for the decision of her department to redact the contents of the mail.

Goldman further voiced his concern, saying, “If the attorney general is covering up this information that she then reveals to Congress, what else is she covering up about Donald Trump’s involvement in the Epstein files?”

The conversations that took place in the course of the whole email appeared to be directly contradicting Trump’s claims that he had expelled Epstein from Mar-a-Lago as the mail showed that the disgraced financier was “never asked to leave.”



The document is an October 2009 email containing information about a conversation between one of Epstein’s attorneys, Jack Goldberger, and an attorney for Trump, Alan Garten. The email was initially released to the public in redacted form. In the unredacted version, as Goldman highlighted, Goldberger wrote that Garten said Epstein was never asked to leave Trump’s Mar-a-Lago country club in Florida as he was not a member, but may have been a guest. 

This directly contradicts Trump’s claim that he kicked Epstein out of the resort in 2004 due to his poaching of Mar-a-Lago employees. Goldman claimed that the document was being deliberately withheld by the Department of Justice, violating the Epstein Files Transparency Act that Trump signed into law in November.

“This document here was redacted to the public. It was unredacted to Congress and it completely disputes everything that Donald Trump has said about Jeffrey Epstein,” Goldman said, displaying a blown-up poster of the email. “Now, why is this important? Because if the attorney general is covering up this information that she then reveals to Congress, what else is she covering up about Donald Trump’s involvement in the Epstein files?”





Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche is blocking the Drug Enforcement Administration from releasing an unredacted document from the Jeffrey Epstein files about an investigation involving drug trafficking and money laundering, according to a letter Democratic Senator Ron Wyden sent to Blanche on Tuesday.

The document, a 69-page target profile prepared for the DEA by the Department of Justice’s now-defunct Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces, was released in January along with millions of pages of other documents from the Epstein files. Although heavily redacted, it showed that the DEA and the Task Forces, known as OCDETF, investigated Epstein, 12 other people and two businesses in 2015.

The target profile said the “individuals are involved in illegitimate wire transfers which are tied to illicit drug and/or prostitution activities occurring in the U.S. Virgin Islands and New York City.” (OCDETF, a  transnational crime fighting unit created in the Reagan era, was defunded and shuttered last year.)

Earlier this month, Bloomberg News reported that the DEA-OCDETF probe centered on the procurement of Eastern European prostitutes for high-profile clients and the illicit funding and distribution of so-called club drugs, including ecstasy, methamphetamines and ketamine, a drug known to facilitate date rape. The individuals, whose identities were redacted in the target profile, included Epstein’s brother, accountants, attorneys and European women who worked as his assistants or fashion models, according to the people familiar with the case.  





Yesterday, the Senate Homeland Security Committee heard from Senator Markwayne Mullen whom Chump has nominated to be the new Secretary of Homeland Security.  Jim Newall (SLATE) offers:

The issue for Mullin is that there’s one Republican colleague he absolutely does not get along with, and the feeling is mutual. It’s a senator whom Mullin recently called a “freaking snake.” Mullin also said he understood why that senator’s neighbor “did what he did”—beat him to a pulp—in a 2017 assault. That senator is Rand Paul, the chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, which confirms DHS nominees.

During Wednesday’s Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing into Mullin’s nomination, bygones would not be bygones. It didn’t take long to recognize that the core of the hearing would be an honor dispute between two strong-willed men.

Paul opened the hearing by describing his attack in rich detail: The six broken ribs, the damaged lung, the infections and pneumonias, the coughing of blood, the chest tubes.

“Tell the world why you believe I deserved to be assaulted from behind, have six ribs broken, and a damaged lung,” Paul addressed the nominee. “Tell it to my face why you think I deserved it. And while you’re at it, explain to the American public why they should trust a man with anger issues to set the proper example for ICE and Border Patrol agents.”

A hearing like this, in which the nominee has recently joked about an assault on the committee chairman, is a rarity. But the opportunity was nevertheless there for a sort of staged closure: Mullin could apologize, say he got carried away, and pledge to work with the chairman going forward.

Mullin did not choose that path. When he first responded to Paul, Mullin acknowledged that the two “just don’t get along,” and aggressively said to Paul that it “seems like you fight Republicans more than you work with us.” When Paul pressed him again about his lack of apology, lack of contrition, and inability to even say he “misspoke,” while ribbing him about his “low impulse control” and presentation of “machismo,” Mullin didn’t waver.

“I did not say I supported” the attack, Mullin said. “I said I understood it.”

[. . .]

One thread that [Senator Gary] Peters pulled on was whether Mullin had inflated his background. As the Washington Post reported before the hearing, Mullin has never served in the military, but he has often told stories alluding to being in hairy situations “overseas” while on “special assignments.” He has referred to the “smell” of war. In the hearing, Mullin described an “official,” “classified” trip from a decade ago which only “four people” were read in on. He refused to offer any more details in an open setting. As Paul and Peters tried to get more information, they lost their ability to not wryly make fun of him, with Paul describing it as “this super-secret mission.”

“No, I did not say ‘super-secret,’ sir,” Mullin responded.


Let's wind down with this from Senator Patty Murray's office:

NYT: Republicans, Braced for Losses, Push More Voting Restrictions in Congress

AP: The biggest change to voting in Republican election bill could become a burden for many US voters

PBS: How Trump’s SAVE America Act would reshape voting and why critics are concerned

NPR: Trump wants to stop states from voting by mail and using voting machines

 ***WATCH PRESS CONFERENCE HERE, DOWNLOAD HERE***

Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, held a virtual press conference to sound the alarm on the dangers of Trump and Republicans trying to ram through the SAVE America Act to make it harder and more expensive for Americans to register to vote and cast their ballots—as they do nothing to make life more affordable for working people. Senator Murray was joined by, Mary Hall, Thurston County Auditor, and Eliza Sweren-Becker, Deputy Director, Voting Rights and Elections, Democracy at the Brennan Center, who spoke to how the SAVE America Act will make it harder and more expensive for Americans to vote.

Trump and Republicans’ SAVE America Act would push states to purge American citizens from the voter rolls, kill voter registration by mail and online, reject common IDs used to register to vote—making Americans pay for new IDs and therefore making it more expensive to vote, force Americans to register to vote in person, and penalize married women who have changed their last names.

“Republicans are charging ahead to jam through the so-called SAVE America Act, with no regard for common sense, cost, or our democracy and our values. This push on this bill isn’t going to save anyone, but it is going to make it more expensive and harder to vote. You might as well call it the Suppressing American Voters Effectively Act,” said Senator Murray. “Your Real ID, your driver’s license, student ID, or even Tribal ID, none of the forms of ID you might actually be carrying on a daily basis will cut it under the new law Republicans want to pass. Instead, you may need to track down your birth certificate—or shell out for a new copy. Or you may pay $165 at least to get a passport… And let’s talk about what this means for married women: there are 69 million women who have changed their names in this country—I’m one of them. And Republicans are insisting that in addition to providing proof of citizenship, we may have to provide additional documentation like a marriage certificate or something showing the name change. Just my opinion—but it’s not very pro-family of Republicans to throw up roadblocks to keep married women from voting. And let’s talk about voting by mail—because no state votes by mail better than we do in Washington state. Well under this legislation, you’d need to mail a photocopy of an acceptable ID to submit your ballot… This bill is a disaster for democracy and I’m not going to let this get passed into law. I will stay on the Senate floor and debate this bill until the sun comes up if that’s what it takes. But the American people need to recognize that Republicans are serious about trying to nationalize our elections. Trump is serious about taking them over.”

In Washington state, there are currently 1.6 million married women whose names don’t match their birth certificates. The SAVE America Act would create additional administrative barriers for these women to register to vote and require all voters to include a photocopy of an acceptable photo ID in the envelope returning their ballot—every election. This will make it more difficult for local county officials to handle and count ballots efficiently. It would also require Americans to register to vote in person with an acceptable photo ID and with proof of citizenship, a driver’s license, tribal ID, or military ID would not be sufficient on their own.  

Trump and Republicans are using conspiracy theories to justify making it harder and more expensive for Americans to vote. The SAVE America Act would dismantle the safe, proven systems millions of Americans rely on to register to vote. Republicans want to make online registration, mail registration, and voter registration drives illegal—forcing voters to register in person with documents like a birth certificate or passport, even though about 146 million Americans, roughly half the country, don’t have a passport. A new passport costs $165—Trump and Republicans effectively want to implement a modern-day poll tax. The Save America Act would also hit women especially hard. Millions of women around the country change their last name after marriage, which can make it much harder to produce documents required to register to vote under the new requirement. Under the SAVE America Act, states would share their voter rolls with the DHS SAVE Program and be pushed to remove anyone flagged by that program from the rolls. The SAVE Program would make recommendations on which voters to purge from the rolls based on their database, which was rebuilt by DOGE and has already misidentified U.S. citizens as being ineligible to vote.

“The SAVE America Act is the most dangerous, anti-democratic piece of legislation I have ever seen,” said Mary Hall, Thurston County Auditor. “This bill isn’t about security. It is a burdensome attempt to push millions of eligible voters out of the democratic process. It creates mandates that ignore the reality of how Washington State residents want to vote. From an administrative standpoint, implementing this before a general election is impossible.”

“If this bill becomes law, it would be the first federal voter suppression law ever. Congress is supposed to be protecting the freedom to vote, not undermining it,” said Eliza Sweren-Becker, Deputy Director, Voting Rights and Elections, Democracy at the Brennan Center.

Senator Murray believes that the right to vote is essential to making sure our democracy stays a democracy. The ability for people to use their voice and their vote to have a say in our government is foundational, and that means people have to have the power in our elections—not special interests, dark money, or just those at the very top. Senator Murray is working to use every legislative tool available to strengthen voting rights and protect every American’s right to have their voice heard in our democracy. As Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Senator Murray continues to ensure that election security is prioritized. In FY 2026, Murray secured $45 million for election security grants for states and U.S. territories, a $30 million increase over fiscal year 2025—to improve the administration of federal elections, upgrade voting equipment, make security enhancements, and protect Americans’ right to have their vote counted in free and fair elections. In 2023, Senator Murray cosponsored the Freedom to Vote Act, legislation to improve access to the ballot for Americans, advance commonsense federal election standards and campaign finance reforms, and protect our democracy.

Senator Murray’s remarks, as delivered, are below:

“Unfortunately, we’re here to talk about how the delusions of one President have pushed a major American political party to try—in the most ham-handed way possible—to nationalize our elections. Republicans are charging ahead to jam through the so-called SAVE America Act, with no regard for common sense, cost, or our democracy and our values.

“This push on this bill isn’t going to save anyone, but it is going to make it more expensive and harder to vote for everyone. You might as well call it the Suppressing American Voters Effectively Act.

“So how did we get here? Since 2020, President Trump has ranted and raved about how the election was stolen from him.It’s important to know that Trump’s conspiracy theories were soundly and thoroughly debunked—by Republican election officials,by journalists on all sides, and, importantly, by the courts.

“But here’s the thing about Trump’s inner circle, they were cowards by every measure that mattered, they were cynical enough to just go along with him—never mind the catastrophic damage being done to our democracy.

“Worse, many of them aggressively championed this false cause—that election fraud is rampant, and Trump had the 2020 election stolen from him. To this day, in our Senate hearings, Trump administration nominees will twist themselves into pretzels when you ask them if the 2020 election was stolen. They will dance around giving an honest answer for fear of angering the President. It is a really pathetic display.

“But that dynamic is key to understanding why Congressional Republicans are focused on passing this dumbfounding voter suppression bill, instead of addressing the urgent crises we face like, oh, I don’t know funding TSA, conducting even basic oversight of the war with Iran, or working with Democrats to lower costs.

“Well now we’re here. The bill is on the Senate floor. So, let’s talk about it. Everyone should know how this bill is going to make their life worse.

“First off, you’re going to have to dig up, or pay for, all kinds of paperwork you honestly may not even have anymore. If you’re registering to vote for the first time, or moved to Washington state, and are registering to vote here for the first time, you’re going to have to do that in person now. That really makes no sense. This bill is not solving problems—it is creating them.

“And guess what: your Real ID, your driver’s license, student ID, or even Tribal ID, none of the forms of ID you might actually be carrying on a daily basis will cut it under the new law Republicans want to pass. Instead, you may need to track down your birth certificate—or shell out for a new copy. Or you may pay $165 at least to get a passport. Half of all Americans do not even have a passport. And 21 million Americans do not have easy access to the other kinds of documentation they need to prove their citizenship.

“And let’s talk about what this means for married women: there are 69 million women who have changed their names in this country—I’m one of them. And Republicans are insisting that in addition to providing proof of citizenship, we may have to provide additional documentation like a marriage certificate or something showing the name change. Just my opinion—but it’s not very pro-family of Republicans to throw up roadblocks to keep married women from voting.

“And let’s talk about voting by mail—because no state votes by mail better than we do in Washington state. Well under this legislation, you’d need to mail a photocopy of an acceptable ID to request your ballot and again to submit your ballot. Sorry, but who even owns a photocopier anymore?

“This is all so absurd—to say nothing about how this President wants to ban all voting by mail. Forget the fact that Trump himself has voted by mail plenty of times.

“Look, I got into politics to help people and solve problems. This bill creates problems and helps no one.

“Voter fraud is not a real issue we have yet to solve—because it is already incredibly rare and it is already illegal—if you try to commit voter fraud you can already be put in jail. But I cannot overstate how rarely this happens. The average American is more likely to be struck by lightning than they are to commit voter fraud—seriously. That is a real stat.

“And here’s the thing: many of my Republican colleagues recognize that none of this is necessary or practical to force on our states. But they are going along to get along with this President—and in some ways, that’s a whole lot worse.

“So, here’s where the rubber hits the road: this bill is a disaster for democracy and I’m not going to let this get passed into law. I will stay on the Senate floor and debate this bill until the sun comes up if that’s what it takes.

“But the American people need to recognize that Republicans are serious about trying to nationalize our elections. Trump is serious about taking them over.

“So that’s why I’m here today. To get the word out. And I’m pleased to be joined by some experts—people who really understand the nuts and bolts of democracy.

“So, with that, I’m very pleased to introduce Mary Hall, she is the auditor for Thurston County. Mary is someone who is highly regarded by both sides—that’s the way it should be. Administering elections is not partisan and it never should be.

“So, Mary thank you for joining me today, and with that I am going to turn this over to you.”

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