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… ProPublica: “The two federal immigration agents who fired on Minneapolis protester Alex Pretti are identified in govt records as Border Patrol agent Jesus Ochoa and CBP officer Raymundo Gutierrez. The records viewed by ProPublica list Ochoa, 43, and Gutierrez, 35, as the shooters during the deadly encounter last weekend that left Pretti dead and ignited massive protests and calls for criminal investigations.”
… “Ochoa is a Border Patrol agent who joined CBP in 2018. Gutierrez joined in 2014 and works for CBP’s Office of Field Operations. He is assigned to a special response team, which conducts high-risk operations like those of police SWAT units. Records show both men are from South Texas.”
… “A longtime resident of the Rio Grande Valley, Ochoa had for years dreamed of working for the Border Patrol and finally landed a job there, his ex-wife Angelica said. By the time the couple split in 2021, he had become a gun enthusiast with about 25 rifles, pistols and shotguns.”
… WSJ: “4 days before Trump’s inauguration last year, lieutenants to an Abu Dhabi royal secretly signed a deal with the Trump family to purchase a 49% stake in their fledgling cryptocurrency venture for half a billion dollars, according to company documents. The buyers would pay half up front, steering $187 million to Trump family entities. The deal with World Liberty Financial was signed by Eric Trump. At least $31 million was also slated to flow to entities affiliated with the family of Steve Witkoff.”
… “The investment was backed by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, an Abu Dhabi royal who has been pushing the US for access to tightly guarded AI chips. Tahnoon—sometimes referred to as the ‘spy sheikh’—is brother to the UAE’s president, the govt’s national security adviser, as well as the leader of the oil-rich country’s largest wealth fund. He oversees a more than $1.3 trillion empire, making him one of the most powerful single investors in the world.”
… “The deal marked something unprecedented in American politics: a foreign govt official taking a major ownership stake in an incoming US president’s company. Under the Biden admin, Tahnoon’s efforts to get AI hardware had been largely stymied over fears that the sensitive technology could be diverted to China. Of particular concern was one of Tahnoon’s own companies, the AI firm G42, which had stoked alarm among intelligence officials and lawmakers over its close ties to the sanctioned tech giant Huawei and other Chinese firms.”
… “Trump’s election reopened the door for him. In the months that followed, Tahnoon met multiple times with Trump, Witkoff and other US officials, including in a March visit to the WH where the sheikh told officials he was eager to work with the US on AI and other issues. Two months later, the admin committed to give the tiny Gulf monarchy access to around 500,000 of the most advanced AI chips a year—enough to build one of the world’s biggest AI data center clusters.”
… The New Yorker’s David Kirkpatrick calculated that Trump has made $4.05 billion in the past year off the presidency: “Last summer, I tallied how much money he and his immediate family had made off his high office. My method was conservative. It seemed unfair to begrudge Trump the profits from the many businesses he owned before entering the WH. So I excluded from my calculation preëxisting hotels, condos, and golf courses, along with plausible extensions of those long-standing businesses.”
… “Likewise, Trump is hardly the first President to trade access or potential influence for political fund-raising, and he generally cannot spend such money on personal expenses, so I set that aside, too. Lastly, I left out funny-money assets he couldn’t readily cash out without setting off a fire sale that would eviscerate their value, such as his shares in the company behind Truth Social, his social-media platform.”
… “Even excluding all that, by August, the Presidential profiteering reached $3.4 billion. And since then the First Family has kept busy. The end of Trump’s first year in office seemed an opportune time for an update.”
… CNN: “Democrats notched another victory Sat in special elections during Trump’s second term, flipping a seat in the Texas Senate that Trump won by 17 points in 2024. Taylor Rehmet, a union president and Air Force veteran, defeated Trump-backed Leigh Wambsganss in a runoff for the Fort Worth-area 9th District. His victory marks the latest success for Democrats ahead of this year’s midterms.”
… “Trump had made a late push for Wambsganss, posting on social media in support of her campaign 3 times in the last two days of the race. Democrats flipped more than 20 state legislative seats in special or regularly scheduled elections last year. Most recently, in Dec they won a Georgia district that Trump had carried by about 12 points.
… Election data analyst G. Elliott Morris: “Rehmet carried the seat 57.2% vs his Republican challenger, Leigh Wambsganss, at 42.8%. That’s a 14.4-point margin, and a 31.4-point swing vs Harris’s margin in 2024 (if you ignore votes for minor-party candidates, the swing rounds up to D+32).”
… “This swing of 32 points from Trump’s 2024 performance is the largest Democratic overperformance in a competitive special election since Trump took office. Since Trump took office, Democrats have flipped 8 Republican-held state legislative seats in special elections across 5 states. Republicans have flipped zero Democratic seats. The average swing across these eight flips is 19 points. Tonight’s 32-point swing in Texas blew past that.”
… “A big wave is gathering for 2026. There is at present no question of the existence of this wave, just its height. For Democrats, tonight is another piece of evidence that the 2026 midterms are going to be a good year for them (if the elections are free and fair, which is not guaranteed). The environment could grow more or less favorable for them in the next 9 months. If tonight is any indication, Republicans should be worried about holding onto TX in this year’s Senate race. Especially if Ken Paxton wins the primary.”
… Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI): “If you are considering running for office, this is the year. It’s gonna be a wave, grab a board and start paddling.”
… From Election Mapping, a social media account that analyzes data: “To put this upset in Tarrant County into perspective: if Democrats overperformed statewide in Nov the way Taylor Rehmet did tonight, the GOP’s gerrymander would actually backfire - and Democrats would net 3 House seats in Texas.”
… “You could argue many of the new seats, especially in South Texas, are dummymanders. They were drawn assuming Trump’s gains with Latino voters would stick. They haven’t. And that swing back (by 50 points) is exactly what powered tonight’s Democratic win.”
… “Also worth noting: Rehmet did better with Hispanic voters than Hillary Clinton. That’s insane. And remember, Texas Senate districts are actually larger than Texas House seats, which makes this kind of overperformance very notable.”
… Trump was asked about the result today: Q - “A Democrat won a special election in Texas in an area that you won by 17 points. Trump: I’m not involved in that. That’s a local race. I don’t know anything about it. I had nothing to do with it.”
… Trump posted this yesterday: “Today is the day! To all Voters in Texas’ 9th State Senate District: GET OUT AND VOTE for a phenomenal Candidate, Leigh Wambsganss. She is a highly successful Entrepreneur, and an incredible supporter of our Movement to, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN. My very good friend, Lt Gov Dan Patrick, needs a strong conservative Republican in SD-9 to KEEP TEXAS RED! The Radical Left Democrats are spending a fortune to beat a true MAGA Warrior, Leigh Wambsganss. You can win this Election for Leigh, who has my Complete and Total Endorsement. POLLS CLOSE AT 7 P.M. GET OUT AND VOTE FOR LEIGH WAMBSGANSS! Leigh will NEVER let Texas, or the USA, down!”
… Democratic strategist Matt McDermott: “Democrats didn’t just see a 30-point shift in Texas and flip a State Senate seat red to blue: they did it while being outspent 20-to-1. This will send shockwaves through the Republican Party.”
… FL Gov Ron Desantis: “A swing of this magnitude is not something that can be dismissed. Republicans should be clear-eyed about the political environment heading into the midterms.”
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… Christian Menefee also won the special election in TX for Congress. Punchbowl: “House Republican leadership will be in the same position they were during the last shutdown. A new Democrat won a special election and needs to get sworn in. Rep.-elect Christian Menefee’s election brings Johnson’s majority to 218-214. That’s a one-vote cushion for Johnson’s House GOP.”
… The Hill: “I asked President Trump if he has changed his mind on endorsing in Texas’ Republican Senate primary and he tells me he’s ‘giving it a serious look. You’ll be seeing soon,’ he says.
… Just when it looked like Trump was going to stay out it looks like the seismic Texas results has made him decide to weigh in. Democrats are hoping he will endorse MAGA favorite Ken Paxton, who has maintain a consistent lead in the polls over Sen. John Cornyn. Dems want to face Paxton because corrupt serial philanderer Paxton is toxic to independents. But the TX results may cause him to endorse Thune’s guy Cornyn, which will not make MAGA faithful (who consider Cornyn a RINO) very happy.
We make the entire Weekend Bulletin available to free subscribers, while about the first third of the daily Bulletins during the week are available to everyone. Everyone can also join our always-lively comments section on the Weekend one, which typically causes the number of people who post comments to double.
If you missed Friday’s Bulletin, you can find it here.
… Politico: “Second Amendment advocates are warning that Republicans shouldn’t count on them to show up in Nov, after Trump insisted that demonstrator Alex Pretti ‘should not have been carrying a gun.’ The WH labels itself the ‘most pro-Second Amendment admin in history.’ But Trump’s comments about Pretti, who was legally carrying a licensed firearm when he was killed by federal agents last week, have some gun rights advocates threatening to sit out the midterms.”
… One gun advocate: “I’ve spent 72 hours on the phone trying to unfuck this thing. Trump has got to correct his statements now. They will not come out and vote. He can’t correct it 3 months before the election.”
… Dudley Brown, president of the National Association for Gun Rights: “All you have to do is lose 4-6% of their base who left it blank, who didn’t write a check, who didn’t walk districts, you lose. Especially marginal districts — and the House is not a good situation right now.”
… Pew: “Trump’s approval rating stands at 37%, down from 40% in the fall. By more than two-to-one, Americans say the admin’s actions have been worse than they expected (50%) rather than better (21%). 27% say they support all or most of Trump’s policies and plans, down from 35% when he returned to office last year. That change has come entirely among Republicans.”
… Trump was asked by reporters for his response to the latest release of Epstein files: “I was told by some very important people that not only does it absolve me, it’s the opposite of what people were hoping, you know, the radical left.”
… Trump’s name appeared in the files over 1,800 times.
… Speaker Mike Johnson was asked on NBC about it: Q - “President Trump’s name appears throughout the Epstein files. Do you have any outstanding questions about the relationship between Trump and Epstein? Johnson: I do not.”
… Well, glad that’s settled. “Checks and balances” had a good run.
… Elon Musk was busy this weekend trying to explain his emails to Epstein where he was trying to get invited to the island only to have Epstein blow him off. Metro: “They showed the Tesla boss asking to attend one of the ‘wildest parties’ on Epstein Island in 2012. This was just 3 years after the disgraced financier was released from prison for soliciting prostitution from a minor.”
… Musk wrote: “Probably just Talulah and me. What day/night will be the wildest party on =our [SIC] island?” At the time of the emails, he was married to actress Talulah Riley.
… A year later in December 2013, he also asked Epstein: “Will be in the BVI/St Bart’s area over the holidays. Is there a good time to visit?” Epstein replied: “Always space for you.” Musk replied, “probably the 1st [January 2014] then,” to which Epstein replied: “The second or third would be perfect.”
… Another email exchange shows Epstein arranging a visit to SpaceX to have lunch together.
… Musk posted this on X to explain himself: “I had very little correspondence with Epstein, but was well aware that some email correspondence with him could be misinterpreted and used by detractors to smear my name.”
… Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) to Meidas on how 3 million documents were withheld by DOJ from release based on exceptions to the law: “I don’t understand why they get to decide—without explanation—why half of the material should be held back. And Trump’s name is all over it. So now we know why there was such a cover-up—and they can’t even do that well.”
… Self-described “J6 activist” and national delegate to the RNC, Trisha Hope: “I feel physically ill knowing I worked so hard to support Trump and it appears he is a sick pedophile. I can’t fathom the evil mind a person has to have to harm children. I expect accountability for EVERYONE who are found to have committed crimes per the Epstein disclosure. I don’t care which side of the aisle they are on and even if they sit in the WH. NO ONE GETS A PASS AND THIS DAMN SURE ISN’T A HOAX, President Trump!”
… AOC: “Even with everything in this Epstein drop, remember: this is a minority of the files. This is STILL just what they were *willing* to release - in violation of the law, which requires release of all files. Pam Bondi’s DOJ is still hiding most of them. We need them all.”
… Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), who co-sponsored the bill with Khanna to force release of the files: “Within hours of the Epstein file release, a superPAC funded by Israel-first billionaires Miriam Adelson, Paul Singer, and John Paulson, who himself appears in Epstein’s black book, bought another $800,000 of TV ads against me. I’ll still win, but if I lose, it was worth it.”
… Shannon Watts with Moms Demand Action: “There are over 1,000 emails between Dr. Peter Attia and Epstein. Attia was recently hired by CBS as a news contributor. There are also emails between Epstein and the wife of Bari Weiss, who now runs CBS.”
… Dr. Vin Gupta: “Peter Attia makes millions convincing us he’s the longevity guru and to trust all his health advice. The private Attia was just revealed. Disgusting and abominable behavior. And to think he’s a CBS News medical analyst.”
… Another person who was in the Epstein files was Brett Ratner, making a comeback by directing Melania’s movie after he was blacklisted by Hollywood for multiple sexual harassment allegations. This is Brett with Epstein and an unidentified survivor.
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… The Wrap: “Brett Ratner’s tasteless, tedious, criminally shallow propaganda puff piece ‘Melania’ is nearly 2 hours of self-congratulatory torture. The film records the 20-day build-up to Trump’s second inauguration from the perspective of Melania, and I have no idea why she was okay with this movie being released, because Brett Ratner couldn’t find the humanity in a funeral.”
… “Literally. He couldn’t find the humanity in a funeral. The film includes footage of President Jimmy Carter’s funeral service and yet it gives no s–ts about Carter as a human being, or a president, or even a corpse. In ‘Melania,’ the entire framework for Carter’s funeral is that it reminds her of her deceased mother, so Carter doesn’t even matter. His death is just a tedious distraction from what she really wants to do. Granted, what she really wants to do is visit a church and light a candle, which seems sympathetic until Ratner hits us with a snazzy live recording of ‘Amazing Grace,’ cued up so the applause hits when Melania lights a wick. Honestly, I don’t know how you could make grief look more performative.”
… “Ratner had unprecedented access, and yet he couldn’t find a single interaction between Donald and Melania where it looks like they’re interested in each other. The first time we hear the President’s voice he’s calling to talk about the election results. Melania says she didn’t watch them. Then she stares dead-eyed into the middle-distance while he raves about how amazing he was. Then she hangs up, looking distracted. And this is the documentary that’s supposed to make them look good.”
… AOL: “The reviews are in, and they’re brutal. Brett Ratner‘s $75 million documentary about Melania Trump has received a miserable 6% rating among critics on Rotten Tomatoes, making it one of the worst-reviewed films in recent memory. Released this weekend, the Melania documentary has been absolutely eviscerated by entertainment journalists.”
… Minister of Propaganda Karoline Leavitt was on Fox talking about the movie: “I want to say congratulations to Mrs. Trump, our beautiful, wonderful, classy first lady, on the debut of her documentary film. I know that it’s a blockbuster movie.”
… Fox has been hyping the paltry $8 million the movie took in opening weekend as a huge success compared to documentaries in general. The difference is that most documentaries cost tens of thousands to make not tens of millions. They also don’t debut in 1,400 theaters. They also aren’t hyped by Amazon. They also don’t get $35 million in promotions and get free hype by the president, Fox, Newsmax and paid influencers with tens of millions of combined social media followers.
… Republican voter registration consultant Scott Presler posted that the big crowds of people who are going to see the Melania movie will give him an opportunity to sign up new voters: “Let’s register voters outside of movie theaters playing the Melania movie.”
… The official government account for DHS posted this: “Want affordable housing? Help report illegal aliens.” Then lists the ICE hotline number.
… So I guess the sales pitch is that if you get a migrant family deported you can move into their house. Same thing the Nazis told Germans in the 1930s about Jews.
… Dep. AG Todd Blanche was asked about deportations on ABC: Host - “70% of those who have been detained don’t have criminal records. Blanche: Well, just hang on. The fact that they’re here illegally is a crime.”
… Keep in mind that when Trump and Republicans refer to “criminal illegal aliens,” they mean everyone who is here on an asylum claim is a criminal. Latino voters who flipped to Trump in 2024 didn’t quite get that. They thought when Trump said he was going to deport all the criminals, that meant migrants who committed crimes after they arrived in the US. Turns out Trump meant they are criminals because they are here. Based on the polls showing them flipping to Dems in big numbers, Latino voters get it now.
… Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) on Fox: “I mean, come on. We’re still pretending that ICE is going after dangerous people? They aren’t. What is happening in MN right now is a dystopia. ICE is teargassing elementary schools, it is disappearing legal residents into cars, it is murdering American citizens.”
… WaPo: “More than 34,000 Minnesotans have signed up to be trained as ICE observers with various activist groups in recent weeks, many of them since Jan. 7, when a federal agent shot and killed Renée Good. The killings of Good and Alex Pretti underscore the dangers for the city’s widespread resistance movement, a loosely connected network of neighborhood volunteers who communicate on Signal, the private messaging app, as they play cat and mouse with heavily armed and masked federal agents on snowy streets.”
… Edwin Torres DeSantiago, a manager for the Immigrant Defense Network, which is training more than 2,000 people a week to become ‘constitutional observers’: “What we have built in Minnesota is why Bovino is no longer here. It is the reason why the tone has changed nationally.”
… “The influx of new volunteers is a ‘blessing,’ Torres DeSantiago said, because it means more citizens to gather video footage of immigrant removals that could be used in ongoing state and local lawsuits and in the future. ‘It’s a long-term game,’ he said.”
… Trump made this deranged post: “To all complaining Local Governments, Governors, and Mayors, let us know when you are ready, and we will be there — But, before we do so, you must use the word, “PLEASE.” Remember that I stated, in the strongest of language, to BEWARE — ICE, Border Patrol or, if necessary, our Military, will be extremely powerful and tough in the protection of our Federal Property. We will not allow our Courthouses, Federal Buildings, or anything else under our protection, to be damaged in any way, shape, or form.”
… Rep. Kelly Morrison (D-MN) to MS NOW on conditions at Whipple ICE detention center in MN: “The minute I opened the door to talk to her, she said, ‘they are treating us like animals in here. The women that are in this cell with me, we slept on a cold concrete floor last night. We were begging for a blanket, and the guards were cruel’. We have to resolve as Americans that every single person deserves human dignity.”
… Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) on NBC: “There has to be accountability. Do I think impeaching Kristi Noem is going to solve the issue of ICE? No. But it’s gonna send a signal that you can’t wield power without a check in this country. And that’s what we have with ICE agents smashing windows, following people to churches.”
… Khanna: “I was in Minneapolis. 3rd and 4th generation Minnesotans were talking about tyranny. They were talking about ICE agents going to bookstores. They were talking about ICE Agents following them to church. What is going on in the country is a violation of the 1st, 2nd and 4th Amendments. I can’t in good conscience vote to give more money to ICE agents as they’re violating our constitutional rights.”
… MN AG Keith Ellison on MS NOW: “Trump undermined Tom Homan just as soon as he sends him here, which tells us what? There’s chaos in the WH. They don’t know what they want. They don’t clue as to what their plan or strategy is other than brutal repression.”
… Ellison on his lawsuit against Bondi for her letter stating that they will remove ICE if MN turns over their voter data: “The real problem with the case is not that the judge didn’t understand the gravity or facts. I’m sure she understands both. The problem is there is no legal precedent for this. We’ve never seen a moment in American history where through force of arms, a federal admin was trying to bully a state into submission. The problem with law is it’s based on precedent.”
… Todd Blanche was asked by CNN about Tulsi Gabbard showing up at the FBI raid of the Fulton County elections office: Q - “If President Biden sent his politically appointed DNI to Mar a Lago, you would have been understandably very unhappy about it. Blanche: Biden's DNI was involved in that case. Bash: He wasn’t there and it involved classified documents, not voter rolls. Blanche: There's a lot of classified information around voter integrity.”
… Mike Johnson was asked about it on NBC: Q - “Is it healthy for this country’s democracy for the president to be questioning the 2020 election 5 years later with claims that have been deemed to be false? Johnson: What’s healthy is for everybody to be focused on election integrity. Host: But that’s not ‘election integrity.’ He’s still talking about an election he lost. Johnson: We know there was a lot of irregularity.”
… Blanche was also asked about the arrest of Don Lemon: Q - “Was it about trying to make a an example out of somebody who the president has sparred with? Blanche: I don't even know that the president's even ever thought of Don Lemon. Bash: He called him a sleazebag yesterday.”
… I did a quick search of Trump’s Truth Social account. He made 10 nasty posts in the last 3 years about Lemon - several of them recent.
… Blanche: “If you’re going to work in this DOJ, you are going to execute on the president’s priorities. Host: You just actually made my point right there. You said it’s the president’s priorities. The president calls for them publicly to be prosecuted and then they’re prosecuted. Blanche: That’s not the president’s priorities. That’s a Truth that he sent out.”
… Trump to reporters on his DC building plans: “We're considering an arc. It's like Arc de Triomphe in Paris. We're the only major city doesn’t have one. Q - Are you really thinking about one 250 feet high? Trump: I'd like it to be the biggest one of all. We're the biggest, most powerful nation. I'd like it to be the biggest one.”
… If this monstrosity ever gets built, there should be a huge turnout in 2029 the day it is torn down.
… Trump was asked about his $10 billion lawsuit for his tax returns getting leaked: Q - “You’re suing the IRS. Talk about what it’s like to be on both sides of the lawsuit. Trump: It's very interesting. I've virtually won the Mar-a-Lago break-in suit. And you know I have to work out some kind of a settlement. I'm supposed to work out a settlement with myself.”
… “Virtually won” means that Pam Bondi is about to reach a settlement with Trump’s attorneys to pay him taxpayer money and admit guilt on behalf of the US govt for the Mar-a-Lago documents search. Now Trump is back wanting more money for the tax return release, which he pledged to release himself for years but never did.
… But not to worry, even though Trump’s DOJ will be settling multiple cases with Trump’s lawyers to pay him a fortune in taxpayer money, he claims he will donate it all to charity: “I’m supposed to work out a settlement with myself. We could make it a substantial amount, nobody would care, because it’s gonna go to numerous, very good charities.”
… Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) was asked about it on CNN: Q - “This is a sitting president suing American taxpayers for $10 billon. Are you comfortable with that? Johnson: I don’t doubt the federal government deserves to be sued. The problem is we don’t have $10 billion.”
… House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries on CNN: “Why is Trump focused on enriching himself, his family, and his friends as opposed to driving down the high cost of living?”
… Trump was asked about Canada’s imminent major trade deal with China: “If they do a deal with China, we will do something very substantial. We don't want China to take over Canada and if they make the deal that he's looking to make, China will take over Canada. And the first thing they're going to do is end ice hockey.”
… Fox host Kayleigh McEnany abruptly ended her interview on Fox with Pete Buttigieg after he said this when asked about Maduro: “If they were really serious about drug trafficking, why did Trump pardon the former president of Honduras who was convicted of bringing in tons of cocaine. How did this criminal get a pardon from Trump? Did he contribute to the ballroom? Do he buy some of that crypto currency and make the Trump family wealthier. Why are all these many fraudsters getting pardoned?”
… McEnany responded as the music started playing to get Buttigieg off the show: “I would note that the president felt that the former president of Honduras was treated unfairly. Thank you for you viewpoint, we love having alternative viewpoints here.”
… Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) was asked about affordability on Fox: “It needs to be addressed. And I've encouraged the president to address it. And it's not enough to tell the American people not to believe their own lying checkbooks. He helped get inflation down from 9% to roughly 3%. But it's still not enough.”
… Inflation was 3% when Trump took office in January 2015. It is 3% now.
… Trump’s former DOJ Chief of Staff Chad Mizelle posted on X: “If you are a lawyer, are interested in being an AUSA, and support President Trump and anti-crime agenda, DM me. We need good prosecutors. And DOJ is hiring across the country. Now is your chance to join the mission and do good for our country.”
… National Review editor and Fox legal analyst Andy McCarthy: “If support for the president is now a condition of enforcing federal law, Congress should defund DOJ. DOJ should only exist if it’s nonpartisan. Too dangerous to liberty otherwise. If AG Garland’s office had posted this, MAGA and GOP would be calling for impeachment.”
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