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Monday, December 29, 2025
How does Putin put have so much control over Trump? Check the Epstein files!
Sign the petition: The deadliest year in ICE detention is getting worse after death of Camp East Montana detainee 66,000 DETAINEES!
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Camp East Montana in El Paso, Texas, the largest immigrant detention camp in the U.S., is the latest ICE prison gaining national attention for its horrid conditions. After visiting East Montana, Rep. Veronica Escobar denounced the foul-tasting drinking water, rotten food, and unlivable sanitation conditions ICE is subjecting prisoners to.1,2
This month, one man detained at Camp East Montana and other detention facilities died after being transferred to a local hospital. At least 30 people have died in ICE custody under Trump this year, the deadliest year in at least two decades.3
The inhumane conditions in ICE prisons are shocking and widespread, from Camp East Montana to Alligator Alcatraz, to detention centers in Illinois, Pennsylvania, California, and beyond. Human rights groups have called on Trump, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, and ICE to immediately shut down Camp East Montana4 — but ICE spokespeople continue claiming conditions at their prisons are exemplary.5
Rep. Escobar, who represents El Paso in Congress, said, “Despite claims from DHS about the inhumane, abhorrent conditions at facilities like Camp East Montana being ‘categorically false,’ my own visits and discussions with detainees prove otherwise.”6
The abuses are seen across ICE prisons: disappearances at Alligator Alcatraz;7 beatings at Camp East Montana;8 widespread, secretive mistreatment at the east coast’s largest ICE prison, Moshannon Valley Processing Center.9
ICE currently holds a record 66,000+ detainees in its prisons, and the agency wants to further expand its abusive facilities to warehouse-like “mega detention centers.”10,11
Trump’s mass deportations dragnet is taking people away from their families and communities, and throwing them into torture centers. Congress must launch a full investigation and end this abuse.
Sign the petition: Shut down Camp East Montana, Alligator Alcatraz, and all inhumane ICE prisons!
Thanks for taking action,
Joey and the Demand Progress team
Sources:
- Reuters, “Migrants at largest US detention camp face foul water, rotten food, congresswoman says,” November 11, 2025.
- ACLU, “Human Rights Groups Urge ICE to End Immigration Detention at Fort Bliss Military Base, Halt Abusive Third-Country Deportations,” December 8, 2025.
- Rep. Ramirez Press Release, “Ramirez, Tlaib Statement on Death of Illinois Resident at North Lake Processing Center in Michigan,” December 18, 2025.
- ACLU, “Human Rights Groups Urge ICE to End Immigration Detention at Fort Bliss Military Base, Halt Abusive Third-Country Deportations,” December 8, 2025.
- NBC News, “Hundreds of alleged human rights abuses in immigrant detention, report finds,” August 5, 2025.
- El Paso Matters, “Guatemalan held at East Montana Detention Facility dies after months of medical treatment under ICE custody,” December 9, 2025.
- Miami Herald, “Hundreds of Alligator Alcatraz detainees drop off the grid after leaving site,” September 16, 2025.
- ACLU, “Human Rights Groups Urge ICE to End Immigration Detention at Fort Bliss Military Base, Halt Abusive Third-Country Deportations,” December 8, 2025.
- Asian Pacific Islander Political Alliance, “Shut Down Moshannon,” 2025.
- CBS News, “ICE's detainee population reaches 66,000, a new record high, statistics show,” November 6, 2025.
- NBC News, “'Mega detention centers': ICE considers buying large warehouses to hold immigrants,” November 7, 2025.
Contributions to ActBlue Civics and Demand Progress Action are not deductible as charitable contributions for federal income tax purposes. Join our online community on Instagram or Twitter.
The Hound 12/29
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Press Onward
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Press Onward
To journalists everywhere: fight like hell
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As Benjamin Franklin was leaving Independence Hall at the close of the Constitutional Convention in 1787, a woman asked him what kind of government had been established. “A republic, if you can keep it,” he famously and presciently answered.
A republic is a form of government in which power is held by the people, who elect representatives to exercise that power on their behalf.
Our republic has survived civil war and world wars. It has withstood economic depressions and deadly pandemics. It has persevered in the face of scandals and political assassinations. For 238 years, the Constitution, buttressed by the rule of law, has been our bulwark against tyranny. But now we are faced with a cult leader-cum-authoritarian hell-bent on destroying it.
As we look back on 2025, we’re hard-pressed to find a corner of society more tormented than the American media. We have a president who is trying to disassemble an essential component of our democracy, piece by piece, reporter by reporter.
It has been what might generously be called a terrible year for legacy media.
So, Mr. Franklin, how do we keep it?
We can turn to another Founding Father, Thomas Jefferson, for the answer.
“If a nation expects to be ignorant and free… it expects what never was and never will be.” In other words, a republic requires an informed, educated citizenry. People kept in the dark can not simultaneously safeguard liberty.
The freedom of the press is crucial to a democratic republic. That freedom is enshrined in the First Amendment and not by accident.
If “We the People” do not know what is happening, we can not hold the powerful accountable. If the powerful are not held to account, we no longer have a functioning democracy.
The powerful, who are acutely aware of how the truth can diminish their authority, are doing their damnedest to restrict and control the media. Donald Trump is leading the charge by chipping away at the First Amendment.
How bad was 2025?
Trump shuttered Voice of America, the international media organization whose mission was to spread democracy, handing Russia, Cuba, and China victories they weren’t even trying to win.
His executive order gutted public broadcasting, stripping $1.1 billion in congressionally allocated dollars. That order, which accused PBS and NPR of failing to create “fair, accurate, or unbiased” reporting, is a clear violation of the First Amendment.
Since taking office for the second time, the president has sued ABC News, CBS News, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, the BBC, CNN, YouTube, Meta, and X — netting more than $90 million in settlements, so far, without stepping foot in a courtroom.
He has hobbled the press’s ability to cover the White House and Pentagon. He banned the Associated Press from participating in the press pool because they refuse to call the Gulf of Mexico by the name Trump has chosen.
His secretary of defense required the media to sign what amounted to a loyalty oath in order to have access to the Pentagon. All major media organizations refused.
Those organizations that are still part of the White House press corps are subject to daily scoldings by a press secretary who lies as easily as she breathes.
Trump-aligned tech billionaires now own The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, and CBS News. The media not yet owned by friends of the administration are cowed and controlled by his Federal Communications Commission.
The FCC, once an independent agency, is now helmed by an author of Project 2025. Brendan Carr launched investigations against a number of media companies on Trump’s hit list.
His pressure campaigns have resulted in the short-lived suspension of “Jimmy Kimmel Live” on ABC and CBS not renewing the “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” despite top ratings. Both hosts have been highly critical of the president. Carr also used his regulatory power to make shows like “60 Minutes” come to heel.
It’s almost unthinkable that correspondents at “60 Minutes” have to think twice about speaking truth to power. But it has come to that. It is simply heartbreaking.
Even before Trump took office, the media landscape was more like a hellscape. As this reporter has long said, decades of corporate consolidation meant most legacy media had been purchased by huge publicly traded companies whose concern was shareholder value, not journalistic quality.
At any given time, those corporations could have regulatory issues before multiple arms of the government, concerning an array of business interests. Those interests trump the audiences’ right to know almost every time.
Too few voices were and are dominating, homogenizing, and marginalizing the news.
The internet further transformed the media business model. On one hand, it allowed people to get their news immediately. On the other, it pushed news organizations to publish, air, and post more quickly than ever before, eroding trust. It also diluted and fragmented the news, where clicks were now king.
Since the bottom line was now the only line, news coverage budgets dwindled. The belt-tightening cut deep into the marrow of what was once considered a public trust.
National and foreign bureaus closed. Local newsrooms shrank by 75% in less than 25 years, according to a study by Muck Rack. One-third of counties in this country no longer have even one full-time journalist.
And the local television stations that have survived are now part of the corporatization of the media. Three multibillion dollar conglomerates own 80% of local media markets. You can thank Carr for facilitating – not stopping – this consolidation.
It is a pretty bleak picture, but all is not lost. Independent journalism is more robust and accessible than ever before. Platforms such as Substack, beehiiv, and Ghost give journalists full creative control and a financial alternative. They give news consumers choice, a break from the 24-hour news wheel, and perhaps more importantly, community. The Steady community is case in point.
We need to build on that. Good reporting is expensive but Americans have shown time and again they believe it’s worth it. A new model built on subscriptions is working, and it will only grow more powerful.
I believe it is up to the independent journalists, who are not beholden to corporate overlords or bottom lines to demand the truth, show courage in the face of compliance and capitulation, and fight the rising tide of autocracy to save our republic.
Thank you to everyone who has joined us here. Our community is strong and vibrant — because of you. We look forward to a hopeful and more truthful 2026. Looking forward to staying steady with you in the new year.
Steady is free, but to support my team’s efforts to protect our democracy through the power of independent journalism, we’d appreciate it if you would consider joining as a paid subscriber. It keeps Steady sustainable and accessible for all.
No matter how you subscribe, I thank you for reading.
Stay Steady,
Dan
NEWS: Mass Boycott of the Kennedy Center Grows as Artists Cancel Performances Because of Trump
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NEWS: Mass Boycott of the Kennedy Center Grows as Artists Cancel Performances Because of Trump
This evening I spoke with one of those artists, Kristy Lee.
Good evening. Tonight I am bringing you an exclusive interview with Kristy Lee, a folk music artist who has made the decision to cancel her upcoming performance at the Kennedy Center. Her reason is straightforward. Donald Trump. I am working around the clock to get you this exclusive content. Please consider subscribing if you can. Many around the White House want me to stop this work, I refuse.
Lee’s decision comes amid deepening turmoil at one of America’s most important cultural institutions. Under the current administration, the Kennedy Center has undergone sweeping changes that many artists now describe as politicization rather than stewardship. What was once a broadly respected national stage is increasingly seen as a partisan symbol, and artists are responding by walking away.
“I don’t have much power, and I don’t run with the big dogs who do. I’m just a folk singer from Alabama, slinging songs for a living,” Lee previously said. “My songs are really just my own diary set to music. They’re not polished or hit songs, but they’re my truth and nobody can take that from me. I’m proud of that.”
Her withdrawal is not happening in isolation. According to the New York Times, a prominent New York dance company announced tonight as well that it was canceling its performances at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in protest of the center being renamed to include President Trump.
Doug Varone and Dancers said it would withdraw from a two-night engagement scheduled for April that was meant to celebrate the company’s 40th anniversary. Doug Varone told the Times the decision would cost the company $40,000. Still, they chose to walk away.
This move follows a wave of cancellations and resignations that began in February after Donald Trump removed members of the Kennedy Center’s board and replaced them with loyalists. Since then, the fallout has accelerated.
The Kennedy Center’s own website recently confirmed that two New Year’s Eve performances by the Cookers, a well-known jazz ensemble, were canceled. The center had previously promoted the group as an all-star septet set to ignite the stage with fire and soul. The reason for those cancellations was not initially explained, but they followed jazz musician Chuck Redd’s decision to cancel his annual free Christmas Eve concert at the venue.
Rather than responding with restraint, the center’s leadership has escalated tensions. Richard Grenell, the chairman of the Kennedy Center, threatened Redd with a $1 million lawsuit after he withdrew his performance. In a letter to Redd, Grenell accused him of intolerance, writing that the renaming of the center honored President Trump’s extraordinary efforts to save the institution.
The message artists are sending is unmistakable. The issue is not intolerance. It is protest. Artists are objecting to the transformation of a national cultural institution into a political monument. For decades, the Kennedy Center stood as a rare space that transcended party lines. That reputation is now in jeopardy.
Those who resigned or withdrew earlier this year include some of the most respected names in American arts, among them Pulitzer Prize winner Rhiannon Giddens, soprano Renée Fleming, and singer-songwriter Ben Folds.
Kristy Lee’s decision reflects a broader reckoning. Artists who do not wield political power are making one of the few choices available to them. They are choosing not to lend their voices, their labor, or their credibility to an institution they believe no longer represents artistic independence.
When artists leave in this number and with this level of conviction, the problem is not the artists. The problem is the institution they no longer recognize.
🚨Trump RAGES As HORRIBLE NEW VIDEO Just WENT VIRAL
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