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Sunday Message from MeidasTouch Founder Ben Meiselas and MeidasTouch Network Jan 11 By Ben Meiselas As you know, this Sunday message is my favorite post of the week. It lets me pause for a brief moment with you, grab a cup of coffee, and reflect on the past week. It’s been an eventful week. It’s been a tragic week. It’s been a week filled with so many strong feelings. But one thing is obvious. The resistance grows stronger. Trump grows more desperate and more dangerous. This is where we stand. An important reminder: the paid subscriptions to this Substack have been the biggest help for the overall expansion of the MeidasTouch Network. You saw our expansion in action this week. So please become a paid subscriber today if you can. We view our role not just as expanding Meidas, but using our platform to elevate all independent news that supports democracy and the truth. Let’s talk about this week. Then let’s talk about what Meidas did this week. This week saw the Trump regime invade Minnesota with 2,000 paramilitary gestapo ICE forces that terrorized communities. The terror escalated and escalated, and ultimately an ICE terrorist murdered a 37-year-old mother in cold blood. Say her name. Renee Nicole Good was murdered by ICE gestapo agent Jonathan Ross. Trump, Vance, Kristi Noem, and the entire regime defamed Good after she was murdered by lying and saying she was a domestic terrorist who weaponized her vehicle as part of a terror attack on ICE. The lies from this regime are asinine and despicable. Following the murder of Renee Good, the regime has ordered another 1,000 gestapo forces to join the 2,000 forces already in Minneapolis. The goal is to terrorize Blue states and Blue cities and invoke martial law. We’ve seen this authoritarian playbook throughout history in other countries. It’s shameful this is what is happening in the United States. In addition to adding an additional 1,000 forces to the invasion of Minneapolis, the Trump regime also sent a memo via terrorist Cabinet Member Kristi Noem saying they would ignore a federal judge’s order permitting Congress Members to immediately access and inspect detention centers upon request as required by longstanding law. Noem’s actions are clearly unlawful. The Trump regime continues its criminal cover-up of the Epstein files. They have refused to make any production of documents for the past several weeks. To date they’ve only released about 1 percent of the files. They failed to produce a mandatory report about their redactions. The entire DOJ is now a racketeering enterprise involved in the cover-up of a child sex trafficking ring. It is disgusting. It was good to see Representatives Khanna and Massie write a letter to the federal judge this week demanding an independent monitor be appointed to take over the production of the documents. Then there’s foreign policy. Last night, the United States Embassy in Venezuela issued an emergency evacuation order to any American in the country stating that gangs loyal to the authoritarian regime currently in control of Venezuela under Trump’s pal Delcy Rodríguez are going through the phones of people and torturing and kidnapping them if they support the United States or the Machado opposition party. So much for people celebrating in the streets in Venezuela. All the while, Trump keeps on threatening to invade Greenland, and the threats have gotten so serious that France and Germany and other European countries are preparing for what a war against the United States would look like if the United States carried out an invasion. This is the state of Trump’s regime and the country. But as I said, the resistance grows stronger and Trump grows more despised each day. Peaceful protests are growing across the country that is fed up with a regime spending all its time attacking the people and inflicting pain and suffering instead of making people’s lives better and actually governing. This has been a big week for Meidas. Thanks to the paid subscriptions on this Substack, we launched our Washington DC Bureau. Pablo Manríquez joined MeidasTouch and he has been reporting daily from Capitol Hill. We’ve been asking Representatives and Senators from both parties the questions you want answered. Finally, your voice is being heard on Capitol Hill. We’ve expanded our partnership with Status Coup to bring you reporting from Minneapolis and on the frontlines of what’s taking place. This week I interviewed Governor Shapiro, Mayor Mamdani, Senators Schiff and Warren and Kim, Representatives Walkinshaw and Kamlager-Dove and Krishnamoorthi. I also interviewed Ben Folds, the former Ambassador to Denmark Rufus Gifford, the former Deputy National Security Advisor Jon Finer, and George Conway. It’s been a busy week. We’ve been working tirelessly here at the MeidasTouch Network. We are in rapid expansion mode thanks to your support and your subscriptions here. I hope you’ve been satisfied with the expansion steps we’ve executed this week. I’ve been discussing them for a few months now so it’s good to see them in action and the impact they’re having. We have a lot of work to do. This isn’t going to be easy. But I am very confident we will defeat this evil regime as long as we stay together and keep fighting. It’s okay to feel saddened by the injustices around us, but let us never lose hope. Don’t let them take away your joy, your empathy, and your desire for a better tomorrow. I promise you we will make it through this together. Thanks for sharing this coffee with me on Sunday. If you are able to become a paid subscriber, please do so now. We need to keep this momentum and we need to keep growing. Thanks for all you do! I am so grateful to have you fighting with us. Meidas+ is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

COMMENTS: 

The actions of the regime continue to get more and more disturbing. Suppressing access to information and to roam the streets to intimidate people. This is the America that we have become in less than a year.

The 2026 election cannot come fast enough, so we can bring a degree of oversight to these thugs.

Masked men walking around our streets with guns and making people scared to go to church or a doctor’s appointment. Refusing to allow a person that they shot, access to medical care is not what the majority of people want and needs to end.

REMOVE THE REGIME & ELECT ZERO REPUBLICANS!!

Agreed. We need a new opposition party. The Republicans are no longer ones that can say they support and defend the Constitution.

We have an open window of opportunity.

If we can get three (3) Republicans, we can issue subpoenas, hold hearings.

Jerry Weiss scenario. https://jerryweiss.substack.com/

On Thursday, the Senate voted to advance a bill that would stop the Trump administration from additional attacks on Venezuela without congressional approval. The vote was 52–47 with five Republicans joining all the Democrats to move the measure forward. Republicans killed a similar measure in November, but Trump’s enormously unpopular incursion into Venezuela and threats against Greenland prompted five Republicans to reassert congressional authority over military action. CNN called it “a notable rebuke of the president.”

The five Republicans voting for the bill were Susan Collins of Maine, Josh Hawley of Missouri, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Rand Paul of Kentucky, and Todd Young of Indiana.

Immediately, Trump posted on social media that the five “should never be elected to office again.” By reasserting the power of Congress, he wrote, they were “attempting to take away our Powers to fight and defend the United States of America.”

Trump is in a pickle. Here is Baghdad By the Sea, at least one House MAGAT, my rep, opposes him on immigration. Many other House Republicans oppose him on the Epstein coverup. Others on the Obamacare issue. It's up to us to convince more to join them.

In Minnesota Congressional Republicans need to be pressured. We need to contact their donors. Local businesses. Local Holy Joes. Picket. Sit in.

The current Republican U.S. representatives for Minnesota are:

District 1: Brad Finstad (since August 12, 2022)

District 6: Tom Emmer (since January 3, 2015)

District 7: Michelle Fischbach (since January 3, 2021)

District 8: Pete Stauber (since January 3, 2019)

Local Fox outlet. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KMSP-TV

Meidas should be promoting https://www.removetheregime.com/

Removal coalition

Fun Fact! There are 18 states that have a recall provision via petition by constituents for Representatives. Here they are along with the number of Republican Reps they have in Congress (note Senators cannot be recalled, only expelled): Alaska (1), Arizona (6), California (9), Colorado (4), Georgia (9), Idaho (2), Kansas (3), Lousiana (4), Michigan (7), Minnesota (4), Montana (2), Nevada (1), New Jersey (3), North Dakota (1), Oregon (1), Rhode Island (0), Washington (2), Wisconsin (6).

𝚃 𝚁 𝙰 𝙲 𝙺 𝙳 𝙾 𝙺 . 𝙲 𝟶 𝙼

U.S. federal representatives (Senators and House Members) generally cannot be recalled by their constituents because the U.S. Constitution does not provide for it and explicitly reserves removal power to Congress itself (through expulsion) or through elections. State attempts to recall federal officials are barred by federal law, though debates continue over whether states could implement such a process, especially after the 17th Amendment.

Yes, but 18 states DO have a recall mechanism. ALL states should have that, as well as recall for senators.

How do they defy federal Constitutional law? This may be for elected state officials not federal. I don't understand how they could subvert the Constitution.

So true on needing the elections, however it’s only January, and Minneapolis/ St. Paul has 3 thousand ICE thugs and federal funding of basic services has been cut off. Protest, call and speak up.

It is a numbers game. I know it’s not a game. But I’m describing that the people outnumber the the many ice and other agents. The fear of causing harm to self or others stops us from plunging all out. It also thinking that all will be better without having to succumb to extreme measures. But should this remain the norm our desperation will overcome our sense of harm. I can’t believe we are at these circumstances. It can get worse and someone is betting the people are thinking this way. Whether or not the right thing happens it’s looking like it’s a us vs them situation. If the people realize that bad things are going to continue to happen then what are the choices? I value my life and I value every other life, we are not living, nor will we accept forced slavery. The mad man at the controls values no one, he has already proven that. Those who still think to applaud his antics and remain unmoved though he destroys common decency displace alliances remove friendships-that have been cemented for ages; those will never move to the light.

Have you ever seen anything so ridiculous like what this person is trying to do? All at the same time invade countries, dissolve allies, endanger the citizenry, desecrate the people’s houses, openly demonstrate colosal greed, destroy principals and name call the media, all while not suffering any penalty. Alas, he is king we are the fools. Let me know if I forgot anything.

And recall your 4 Republican Representatives...

I just realized that you are Canadian. There is no mechanism in America to recall federal elected officials. The Constitution does not allow for it. The only way to remove an elected official is by voting them out of office when the term is up or for the governing body to vote for removal form the house or senate. This would require a Constitutional amendment which in this hyper partisan government would never pass. I can't understand why these states are wasting money on this futile gesture that will accomplish nothing.

There are recall mechanisms in the 18 states as stated above, for Representatives only. I offer no opinion on why those mechanisms exist or how effective they are. But if I were a resident of one of those states, I would sure look hard at using the tools at my disposal!

They are also spreading misinformation that two of her kids don't live with her because she abused them. I fact checked it and there is no court information saying this, no witnesses to this alleged abuse. They are trying to hurt her reputation by saying these things and that she deserved it. 3 shots to the face, no one deserves that, even a conservative. I told someone on facebook, the difference between the two parties is that Democrats have empathy for their fellow man. He told me empathy was bullshit and to give him a break. Well there you see how stupid people only like Trump. Every angle of those videos show the agent not in front of the vehicle and that she was turning away from him. She was also pleasant to them, telling them she wasn't mad at them. Yeah, she deserved to be executed. These are sick people. I asked this guy what if it was one of your loved ones this happened to. Of course he didn't answer back. This country has gone off the tracks. I hope we can fix it.

Musk apparently has said that he thinks empathy is a fundamental weakness of Western civilization.

Yeah I remember him saying that. He doesn't have empathy but to me empathy is a strength not a weakness. This Republican party is out of control.

The democratic party better be thinking hard about how to prevent fraud in the 2026 election, and, furthermore, what they will do if T tries to prevent the election from happening at all. I believe it is very unlikely that the 2026 election will proceed without major interference from the T regime!

The democratic party better be thinking hard about how to prevent fraud in the 2026 election, and, furthermore, what they will do if T tries to prevent the election from happening at all. I believe it is very unlikely that the 2026 election will proceed without major interference from the T regime!

We are no longer witnessing isolated abuses of power or a rogue administration flexing for attention. What’s unfolding is a calculated, long-term strategy — and Trump is merely a symbol, not the architect. This is the slow, deliberate erosion of democracy — a “boiling the frog” scenario in which the heat rises so gradually that too many fail to react until it’s fatal.

We are already in hot water. Yet the dominant response has been little more than “thoughts and prayers,” punctuated by eloquent speeches from those who’ve never had to confront the realities of rising authoritarianism — or fascism, to call it what it is.

This administration has committed enough transgressions to demand a full political reckoning. Had the roles been reversed, the Democratic party would likely have been impeached eight months ago.

So why hasn’t this administration — compromised, lawless, and demonstrably unfit — been held accountable? Why wasn’t the machinery of democracy set in motion to force a reset in 2025, when it might still have made a difference?

This widespread reluctance to act cannot be laid solely at the feet of MAGA extremism. While the Epstein scandal remains a grotesque footnote, the deeper crisis lies in the systematic dismantling of rights and liberties — traded away in favor of the wealthy elite. Even the most steadfast Republican voters must now confront a painful question: what exactly are they defending, and at what cost?

The erosion of rights, accountability, and democratic norms has weakened the Republican base. The illusion of invincibility is cracking. A contest of wills is not only possible — it is necessary.

And it must happen now. Fire must be met with fire — before the midterms. Because the midterms may not come.

The time for platitudes is over. Real action is needed. The hard yards must be run.

Because if you don’t run — the world pays the price.

As Good's wife said "we have whistles they have guns". There may never have been a way in place to stop this overthrow of our Democracy from within.. When the tyrant can send a memo via terrorist Cabinet Member Kristi Noem again saying "They would ignore a federal judge’s order permitting Congress Members to immediately access and inspect detention centers upon request as required by longstanding law." You tell me how we stop this... getting the new congress in place in Jan 2027 is not something we can wait for...One quite bizarre event are Venezuelan gangs flipping on the US, you can bet the oil companies are pulling away fast....As for Epstein, I am now convinced that, at times, he secretly video taped the rapes for blackmail (follow the money) but often with permission, so these vile sadists could watch them over again..We cannot comprehend going into that dark a place because none of us thinks like a sadist pedophile. The only ones that can are we survivors.....He is a megalomaniac but he also knows what's in the files which include some of his multi millionaire "friends" .. His rage is escalating daily and he's coming out violently..We need another "Pentagon Papers" hero for the "epstein files" which may stop this tyrant in his tracks....Michael Wolff said epstein had the "silver bullet" to stop trump... it's in those files, probably on video.... he will run to russia or to the saudis ....

Jonathan Ross was holding his cell phone which means that with the huge increase in ICE they haven't outfitted them with the basic equipment police forces have to ensure human rights are respected. Thus we have no complete record from Ross's vantage point of what happened as he did not aim his camera accurate throughout the encounter.

DON'T ALLOW THE WEALTHY TO CONTINUE TO BUY ELECTIONS!

WATCH PAUL SINGER! 

He already created a PAC to DEFEAT CONGRESSMAN TOM MASSIE OF KENTUCKY for his recent support to release the EPSTEIN FILES. 

Meet Paul Singer, the Billionaire Trump Megadonor Set to Make a Killing on Venezuela Oil

“Paul Singer’s shady purchase of Citgo has everything to do with this coup.”

https://www.commondreams.org/news/paul-singer-venezuela

Donors to Trump allies’ anti-Massie super PAC revealed

https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2025/07/31/congress/maga-ky-super-pac-donors-00487931

Politics

January 6, 2026

Trump’s Venezuela Move Could Deliver a Big Win for This MAGA Billionaire

Hedge funder Paul Singer, whose firm acquired Citgo at a bargain price, has much to gain from Nicolás Maduro’s ouster.

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/01/trump-venezuela-oil-maduro-billionaire-paul-singer-citgo-elliot-management-hedge-fund/

How billionaire and Trump donor Paul Singer could benefit from Maduro's removal

January 7, 2026

https://www.npr.org/2026/01/07/nx-s1-5668254/how-billionaire-and-trump-donor-paul-singer-could-benefit-from-maduros-removal

Please also note that the WEALTHY are supporting NETANYAHU & ISRAEL - this includes MIRIAM ADELSON who, along with her now deceased husband, has supported ISRAEL'S  POLICIES. 

NETANYAHU is BOMBING other nations, expanding his MIDDLE EAST WARS and seeking to engage TRUMP et al in his ESCALATION, in addition to continuing GENOCIDE in GAZA. HUMANITARIAN AID is being blocked while GAZANS STARVE. 

 

OIL! There is a GLUT OF OIL ON THE GLOBAL MARKET! 

Reports indicate that 2 MILLION BARRELS PER DAY ARE PRODUCED IN EXCESS OF DEMAND. OIL PRICES are currently ~ $56/BARREL. Look up the prices yourself! 

OIL COMPANIES WILL NOT INVEST IN A MONEY LOSING PROPOSITION LIKE THIS! 

Incidentally, why isn't the PRICE dropping at the PUMPS? Is it because of OIL COMPANIES & STOCK BUY BACKS with their excess profits?

DIRTY ENERGY IS NOT A FUEL OF THE FUTURE! 

Notice that DAFFY DON just spewed LIES about CHINA & WIND TURBINES... 

From RON FILIPKOWSKI: TRUMP WIND TURBINE LIES! … 

Trump today on wind turbines in China: “All you have to do is say to China, how many windmill areas do you have in China? They are not able to find any. They don’t have windmills. I have told my people, we will not approve windmills. We will not approve any windmills in this country.” … 

My 5 second Google search: “China has a massive and rapidly growing number of wind turbines, leading the world in installed capacity, with estimates suggesting hundreds of thousands of units by late 2024, China had over 560 GW of wind capacity, adding huge amounts yearly (e.g., ~87 GW in 2024), dominating new global installations, and has massive offshore wind farms, including the world's largest single wind farm (Gansu), underscoring its dominance in global wind power development.” 

Dig in deeper and you'll find that CHINA is leading the WORLD with CHEAP SOLAR COLLECTORS that provide BATTERY BACKUP for poorer people..... while Trump wallows in DIRTY ENERGY $$$ 

The US is an ENERGY GUZZLER! WE can reduce our consumption & challenge the DATA CENTERS that guzzle energy & water. Delusional TRUMP cancelled OFFSHORE WIND PROJECTS that would provide CHEAP CLEAN ENERGY to MILLIONS of homes due to his LIES & DELUSIONS.... 

TRUMP is shipping LNG offshore causing GAS (METHANE) prices to rise for AMERICAN CONSUMERS. TRUMP expects AMERICAN TAXPAYERS to pay for this fiasco as the National Debt is $70 TRILLION! TRUMP et al are destroying the AMERICAN ECONOMY while they get RICHER with their SCHEMES.