memeorandum: Australia's opposition coalition reunites after split over hate laws (Sam McKeith/Reuters)

9:55 PM ET, February 7, 2026

Top Items:

Cate Brown / The Guardian:

NSA detected phone call between foreign intelligence and a person close to Trump — Whistleblower says that Tulsi Gabbard blocked agency from sharing report and delivered it to White House chief of staff — Last spring, the National Security Agency (NSA) detected evidence …

Discussion: NBC News, NewsNation, The Parnas Perspective and PoliticusUSA

Julian E. Barnes / New York Times:

Whistle-Blower Report Involved Intelligence About a Trump Contact — Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, moved to lock down an intelligence intercept that referred to someone close to President Trump, the report said. — Members of Congress were briefed this week …

Discussion: The Independent

New York Times:

Washington Post C.E.O. Will Lewis Steps Down After Stormy Tenure — Mr. Lewis will be replaced in the interim by Jeff D'Onofrio, formerly the chief financial officer, the company said. — Will Lewis, the embattled chief executive and publisher of The Washington Post, has stepped down, the company announced Saturday.

Discussion: NewsNation, The Wrap, Associated Press, The Hollywood Reporter, Awful Announcing, The Verge, Mediaite and The Daily Caller, more at Mediagazer »

Jon Passantino / Status:

Conflict of Disinterest … Last month, just ahead of the devastating layoffs at The Washington Post, a group of wealthy D.C. locals approached Post publisher and chief executive Will Lewis with a proposal: Would the Jeff Bezos-owned paper consider spinning off its local and sports sections and selling to them?

Discussion: Financial Times, Associated Press, CBS News, Bloomberg, NBC News, WLT Report, Mediaite, The Daily Caller, Variety, Semafor, NPR, Deadline, Awful Announcing, Fox News, NewsMax.com, The Post Millennial and The Wrap, more at Mediagazer »

Jamelle Bouie / New York Times:

This Is Just Who Trump Is — What motivates President Trump? — Not what motivates Trumpism, whatever that is. Not what motivates his MAGA supporters. Not what motivates the infrequent and marginal voters who delivered him his victories in 2016 and 2024. — No. What specifically motivates Donald J. Trump?

Associated Press:

Congressional Black Caucus chair says Trump's post on the Obamas shows a ‘bigoted and racist regime’ — Ever since a racist video was posted on President Donald Trump's social media account, the White House has offered shifting responses. First it dismissed “fake outrage,” then it deleted the post and blamed a staff member.

Miami Herald:

Who were the other men in the Epstein files? This is the FBI's own list — After the Justice Department shut the door on releasing the Jeffrey Epstein files in July 2025, FBI agents worked on drafts of a 21-page presentation of all the evidence the FBI had gathered in the case, including a summary of allegations against 11 men.

Discussion: The Next Gen Business, Raw Story, Agence France-Presse, The Wrap, The Hill and MS NOW

Julie K. Brown / The Epstein Files:
Here is the FBI's Epstein List

Discussion: Raw Story, New York Post and NewsMax.com

Amelia Gentleman / The Guardian:
Sex and snacks, but no seat at the table: the role of women in Epstein's sordid men's club

Discussion: Plain Dealer

Ernesto Londoño / New York Times:

Prosecutors Began Investigating Renee Good's Killing. Washington Told Them to Stop. — Federal prosecutors had a warrant to collect evidence from Ms. Good's vehicle, but Trump administration leaders said to drop it. About a dozen prosecutors have departed, leaving the Minnesota U.S. attorney's office in turmoil.

Discussion: The Independent, Newsweek, Santa Rosa Press-Democrat, Raw Story and NewsMax.com

Rylee Kirk / New York Times:

Ohio Man Is Charged With Threatening to Kill JD Vance — During the investigation, the man was found to have child sex abuse materials on his phone, federal prosecutors said. — An Ohio man was charged with threatening to shoot and kill Vice President JD Vance, federal prosecutors said on Friday.

US Department of Justice:
Ohio Man Charged for Threatening to Kill the Vice President of the United States

Discussion: The Hill, New York Daily News, One America News Network, WLT Report, The Daily Caller, Associated Press, NewsNation, The Gateway Pundit, BizPac Review and Plain Dealer

Josh Funk / Associated Press:
Ohio man charged with threatening to kill Vice President JD Vance and possessing child abuse files

Discussion: NBC News, Newsweek, Fox News, NewsMax.com and Townhall

Mike Hixenbaugh / NBC News:

Toddler hospitalized with respiratory failure was returned to ICE detention and denied prescribed medication, lawsuit says — The 18-month-old was sent back to a South Texas facility after days in intensive care with severe respiratory distress, according to a federal lawsuit.

Joe Charpentier / The Portland Press Herald:

ICE detainees from Maine being held under ‘inhumane’ conditions in Mass. facility, attorneys say — An Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesperson said the allegations of overcrowding and lack of access to lawyers are false. — Communities: — 9 min readFont size +

Los Angeles Times:

Councilmember Nithya Raman to run for L.A. mayor, challenging onetime ally Karen Bass — 8 min Click here to listen to this article — L.A. City Councilmember Nithya Raman jumps in the race for mayor, challenging former ally Karen Bass in the June primary.

Discussion: New York Post, New York Times, The Hill, The Daily Caller, The Post Millennial, Washington Examiner and Associated Press

Washington Post:

Zelensky says Russia is proposing huge economic deals with U.S. — The Ukrainian president said the Trump administration was pushing for a June deadline to end Russia's war. — KYIV — Days after negotiations to halt Russia's war in Ukraine ended inconclusively in Abu Dhabi …

Discussion: Associated Press, The Kyiv Independent, The Guardian, NewsMax.com, Los Angeles Times, Straight Arrow News, Washington Examiner, The Hill, Fox News, Al Jazeera, Reuters, France 24, Radio Free Europe/Radio … and Politico

Associated Press:

Immigrant whose skull was broken in eight places during ICE arrest says beating was unprovoked — Alberto Castañeda Mondragón says his memory was so jumbled after a beating by immigration officers that he initially could not remember he had a daughter and still struggles …

Discussion: Scripps News

New York Times:

Top ICE Lawyer in Minnesota Departs as Immigration Lawsuits Overwhelm Courts — Jim Stolley, the chief counsel for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Minnesota, has left as government prosecutors grapple with a crush of cases. — The top lawyer for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement …

Discussion: MS NOW

Jacob Knutson / Democracy Docket:

New version of GOP suppression bill would impose nationwide proof of citizenship, photo ID requirements — House Republicans Friday unveiled an amended version of their voter suppression bill that, if it became law, would gravely undermine the right to vote in the U.S. ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

Discussion: NewsMax.com and CBS News

Geraldine McKelvie / The Guardian:

Revealed: How Substack makes money from hosting Nazi newsletters — Exclusive: Site takes a cut of subscriptions to content that promotes far-right ideology, white supremacy and antisemitism — The global publishing platform Substack is generating revenue from newsletters …

Rachel Wolf / Fox News:

Virginia Democrat gives profanity-laced response to Cruz's criticism of the state's redistricting push — ‘You all started it and we f—ing finished it,’ Virginia Senate President Pro Tempore L Louise Lucas said — Virginia Senate President Pro Tempore Louise Lucas delivered …

Discussion: Washington Post, Raw Story, Crooks and Liars, Governor of Virginia and Washington Examiner

NPR:

State Department will delete X posts from before Trump returned to office — The State Department is removing all posts on its public accounts on the social media platform X made before President Trump returned to office on Jan. 20, 2025. — The posts will be internally archived …

Discussion: Newsweek and NewsMax.com

Aaron Rupar / Public Notice:

Anne Applebaum on Trump's betrayal of Europe — “They're bewildered we've allowed this to happen.” — ∙ Paid — Public Notice is supported by paid subscribers. Become one ⬇️ — 🧠 Subscribe to PN 🧠 — Last month's Davos World Economic Forum …

Dina Doll / Legal AF's Substack:

Ghislaine Maxwell's Bombshell Filing Raises Questions About Epstein's Hidden Network … Buried in a footnote of Ghislaine Maxwell's court filing, she makes the bombshell claim that there twenty-five accomplices of Jeffrey Epstein entered into secret settlements and that there are four unnamed employee co-conspirators of Epstein.

Washington Post:

The enthusiasm — and scorn — surrounding Bad Bunny's star turn at the Super Bowl — The halftime show will illustrate the nation's immigration divide whether or not the reggaeton star makes an explicit message about Trump's deportation drive. — Puerto Rican native Ray Sanchez generally …

Discussion: Billboard, Christian Science Monitor, Out Magazine, Capital B News, The Hill, KARE-TV, Daily Mail, CBS News, New York Times and Vox

Sam McKeith / Reuters:

Australia's opposition coalition reunites after split over hate laws — Australia's conservative opposition coalition reunited on Sunday after the junior partner National Party severed ties last month with the Liberal Party over its decision to back government hate speech laws drafted in the wake of the Bondi massacre.

Discussion: Bloomberg

Colleen DeGuzman / The Texas Tribune:

Two cases of tuberculosis detected at El Paso ICE facility — Eighteen cases of COVID-19 were also identified. U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar on Friday visited the 5,000-bed tent facility on the Fort Bliss Army base and said she saw many “chronic issues.” — TAKE OUR CONTENT — PLEASE!

Discussion: El Paso Times

Philip Bump / How To Read This Chart:

Let's consider some disasters. — It has been quite a week in quite a month in quite a year in quite a decade, has it not? A lot of things have gone sideways, often driven into ditches by distracted drivers. Happily for us, some interesting data visualizations have emerged as a result.

Andrew Trunsky / New York Times:

Pelosi to Endorse Jack Schlossberg, Again Backing a Kennedy for Congress — The former speaker, a prodigious fund-raiser and shrewd campaign strategist, seldom intervenes in primaries but has made an exception for a Kennedy before. — Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi is planning to endorse Jack Schlossberg …

Discussion: NBC News, CBS News, The Independent and Grabien

Spencer Kimball / CNBC:

Trump administration equity stakes pose risks to U.S. companies and markets … The Trump administration's portfolio of equity stakes in U.S. companies has reached a scale that is unprecedented outside economic crisis or wartime. — The administration has taken stakes or has agreements …

Nate Raymond / Reuters:

Trump administration won't let student deported to Honduras return — President Donald Trump's administration on Friday called a judge's proposal that the government issue a student visa to a college student it deported to Honduras in violation of a court order “unfeasible” …

Discussion: ABC News, The Boston Globe and Associated Press

Barak Ravid / Axios:

Netanyahu to hold urgent meeting with Trump Wednesday amid Iran negotiations — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has moved up his visit to Washington and is expected to meet with President Trump on Wednesday to discuss the negotiations with Iran, the prime minister's office said in a statement.