Is This Crypto's Fimbulwinter?  —  Now is the winter of our discontent crypto wallet  —  Made glorious summer by this sun of York Trump  —  This newsletter is often focused on depressing stuff: Scandals, lies of the powerful, scams that defraud the public.

ICE and CBP's Face-Recognition App Can't Actually Verify Who People Are … BY DELL CAMERON AND MADDY VARNER  —  INNER LOOP  —  Inside the ICE Forum Where Agents Complain About Their Jobs  —  “I'm all for removing illegals, but snatching dudes off lawn mowers in Cali and leaving the truck and equipment just sitting there?

White House Offers Shifting Story on Gabbard's Presence at Georgia Raid  —  President Trump said Thursday that Attorney General Pam Bondi had directed Tulsi Gabbard to be present for an operation at an election center.  It was the administration's fourth explanation for her presence.

Trump promises Schumer funding for NY tunnel project — if Penn Station and Dulles Airport are renamed after him  —  Donald Trump Senate leadership Aviation news  —  President Donald Trump told Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer last month that he was finally prepared to drop his freeze …

The Washington Post Is No Longer Useful to Jeff Bezos  —  When I was home over Christmas, I was digging through some of my dad's baseball memorabilia when I came across a copy of the Washington Post from March 7, 1999: “Printing Revolution Spurs New Look,” the lead headline read.

Why a Republican Supreme Court just handed a victory to Democrats  —  On Wednesday, the Supreme Court handed down a one-sentence order announcing that California's newly gerrymandered maps, which are expected to give Democrats as many as five more seats in the US House, may go into effect during the 2026 midterms.

The G.O.P. Senator Who Can't Stop Thinking About the Boy ICE Detained … Her son had been at the orthodontist for 45 minutes when Katie Britt saw the picture of the boy in the bunny hat.  —  Waiting in her car for her son's appointment to finish, the Republican senator from Alabama …

Anti-ICE Antifa member arrested on federal charges of Cyberstalking and Threatening Communications after allegedly calling for the murder and assault of federal immigration officers in Minneapolis  —  For Immediate Release  —  MINNEAPOLIS - Self-identified Antifa member Kyle Wagner …

Kamala Harris Partners With Soros-Funded Nonprofit To Rebrand Her Failed Campaign's Social Media Accounts  —  'It's where you can go online to get basically the latest of what's going on,' Harris says of her much-teased new project, ‘Headquarters’  —  Kamala Harris teased a major announcement …

Maryland man facing attempted murder charges after showing up at OMB Director Russell Vought's home  —  Add CBS News on Google  —  A Maryland man who said he feared that President Trump's reelection would lead to a “fascist takeover” is facing attempted murder charges …

Ron Wyden Only Talks Like This When The Spies Do Something *Real* Bad  —  ALMOST FIFTEEN YEARS AGO, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) granted me an interview in his Senate office, with the understanding that he was going to say nearly nothing.  —  Wyden is a longstanding member of the Senate intelligence committee.

Untangling the ideas of Donald Trump's Fed nominee  —  What is Warshonomics?  —  Few consider the Federal Reserve to be an all-singing, all-dancing body.  But Kevin Warsh did manage to talk a fellow Fed governor into belting out a musical number at his first meeting in 2006.

“You're Not Going to Investigate a Federal Officer”  —  Minutes after a federal agent shot and killed a Mexican immigrant in a Chicago suburb last September, a group of police officers stood on the sidewalk trying to figure out the answer to a question of protocol: Who would investigate the shooting?

Jeffrey Epstein's Money Mingled With Silicon Valley Start-Ups  —  The disgraced financier regularly courted tech industry figures not just for their prestige but also for access to promising companies.  —  In 2014, Coinbase was a two-year-old start-up offering people the ability to buy and sell Bitcoin.

The Actions of ICE, February 2026  —  Americans Increasingly Disapprove of ICE's Actions  —  Americans have increasingly grown opposed to the actions of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).  About two-in-three Americans now say ICE's actions in enforcing immigration laws have gone too far …

Slotkin rejects Justice Department request for interview on Democrats' video about ‘illegal orders’  —  Democratic Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan is refusing to voluntarily comply with a Justice Department investigation into a video she organized urging U.S. military members to resist …

Trump Administration to Make It Easier to Fire 50,000 Federal Workers  —  A rule expected to be completed on Thursday would create a government-employee category that offers fewer job protections  —  WASHINGTON—The Trump administration is planning to make it easier to discipline …

Top Minnesota prosecutor says ICE cases are sidelining ‘pressing priorities’ … In a filing accompanying Rosen's statement, Justice Department attorneys emphasized that the “crushing burden” caused by immigration cases had led U.S. attorneys offices to “shift resources away from other critical priorities, including criminal matters.”

A Revolt Inside Paul Weiss Over the Epstein Files Took Down Brad Karp  —  Latest batch of Epstein emails prompted partners to push elite law firm's leader from chairman role  —  On Wednesday, an exclusive group of 10 or so Paul Weiss partners met unbeknown to their longtime chairman …

Layoffs in January were the highest to start a year since 2009, Challenger says … Layoff plans hit their highest January total since the global financial crisis while hiring intentions reached their lowest since the same period, outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas reported Thursday.

Marco Rubio has one less job in the Trump administration … The administration fired Archivist Colleen Shogan in February 2025, installing his own leadership at the agency which drew Trump's ire for its role in the Justice Department's investigation and prosecution of him over allegations …

Donald Trump Became President By Appealing to Conspiracy Theorists — Now He's Driving Them Away  —  This excerpt is part of TPM Cafe, TPM's home for opinion and news analysis.  —  Donald Trump may not have been the first president to believe in conspiracy theories, but he was definitely …

Scoop: U.S. and Russia agree to observe New START nuclear pact after expiration  —  The U.S. and Russia are closing in on a deal to continue to observe the expiring New START arms control treaty beyond its expiration on Thursday, three sources familiar with those talks tell Axios.

What's Really Driving These Bogus Claims of Voter Fraud  —  This week, President Trump called on his party to nationalize American elections, an unconstitutional move that he said would be justified because of the danger of noncitizens casting ballots.  “These people were brought to our country to vote …

The DOJ Redacted a Photo of the Mona Lisa in the Epstein Files  —  While Epstein's victims endure the fallout of their photos and names being exposed in the Department of Justice's latest tranche of files, investigators redacted a photo of the Mona Lisa.  Now we know why.

Republicans clash over the Senate filibuster and Trump-backed voter ID bill  —  Some SAVE Act backers insist that the GOP can use a “talking filibuster” to tire out Democrats and pass it.  Majority Leader Thune hasn't ruled out trying, but he's skeptical it could work.  —  Listen to this article with a free account

'Do you think you're the devil himself?': highlights from the bizarre, newly released Bannon-Epstein interview  —  The interview, revealed in the latest tranche of Epstein files, was reportedly intended for a sympathetic documentary  —  Steve Bannon, a one-time adviser to Donald Trump …

Lindsey Graham says Johnson is open to expanding Smith probe payouts  —  South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham is pitching fellow Republicans on expanding who can sue over the now-defunct Jack Smith investigation — and Graham claims he has a key supporter in Speaker Mike Johnson.