memeorandum: FBI Counterterrorism Agents Spent Weeks Seeking a Climate Activist — Then Showed Up at His Door (Jacqueline Sweet/The Intercept)

4:05 PM ET, February 12, 2026

Top Items:

Matt Lavietes / NBC News:

Trump administration says it is ending its immigration surge in Minnesota — More than 4,000 undocumented immigrants have been apprehended since the operation began in November, according to the Department of Homeland Security. — ADD NBC NEWS TO GOOGLE — Listen to this article with a free account

Discussion: New York Times, CBS News, Mother Jones, NextDraft, The Guardian, HotAir, Townhall, Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion, Washington Examiner and The Hill

Gigi Douban / NPR:
Trump border czar Tom Homan announces Minnesota immigration surge is ending

Associated Press:
Live updates: Federal authorities announce end to Minnesota immigration crackdown

Discussion: Politico, Associated Press, New York Daily News and New Republic

Associated Press:
What independents think of Trump's recent immigration actions, according to a new AP-NORC poll

Discussion: MS NOW and Mediaite

Steve Karnowski / Associated Press:
Federal authorities announce an end to the immigration crackdown in Minnesota

AP-NORC:
About 6 in 10 think Trump has gone too far when it comes to deploying federal immigration agents in major U.S. cities.

Discussion: New York Times, Fox News, Bloomberg, Newsweek and The American Conservative

Jeffrey M. McCall / The Hill: Nick Shirley's independent journalism is the future of news

Ruth Igielnik / New York Times:
The Republican Party's Advantage on Immigration Shrinks, Poll Finds

Discussion: Fox News

Lisa Friedman / New York Times:

Trump Administration Erases the Government's Power to Fight Climate Change — The Environmental Protection Agency repealed the bedrock scientific finding that says greenhouse gases threaten human life and well being. It means the agency can no longer regulate them.

Discussion: Washington Post, The Hill, Newsweek, The Independent, Joe.My.God. and Common Dreams

Matthew Daly / Associated Press:

WATCH: Trump, EPA's Zeldin announce end of scientific basis for U.S. action on climate change — Watch in our video player above. — The rule finalized by the Environmental Protection Agency rescinds a 2009 government declaration known as the endangerment finding that determined …

Discussion: NOTUS, NBC News, New York Times, CNBC, Associated Press, Politico, Grist, Bloomberg, The Hill, Fox News, Slate, Washington Times, NewsNation, The Verge, Transport Topics, TechCrunch, Scientific American, Gizmodo, Los Angeles Times, IJR, New York Post, Fortune and MS NOW

Ben Geman / Axios:
EPA abandons the foundation of greenhouse gas rules

Discussion: Straight Arrow News, Electrek, Tampa Free Press, Common Dreams, New Republic and Scientific American

Ella Nilsen / CNN:
Trump repeals EPA's ability to regulate climate pollution, teeing up a legal battle with global stakes

Discussion: CNBC, Washington Examiner, Reuters, Politico, UPI, RedState, The Guardian, NewsMax.com, Governor of California, Federation of American …, Axios, Wired, CBS News, Independent Women and CalMatters

G. Elliott Morris / Strength In Numbers:

The less voters knew, the more they liked Trump in 2024. Not Anymore — Two notes: First, this is a special article with insights from Strength In Number's recent polling with Verasight. We just finished writing our February poll, and will publish the results in two weeks.

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money and The Bulwark

Zachary Basu / Axios:

A year into Trump's term, voters say Biden was better … The White House has nine months to turn the ship around before a potential midterm wipeout for Republicans. … - Harvard CAPS/Harris (Jan. 28-29): Mark Penn's polling firm found that 51% of registered voters say Trump is doing …

Discussion: Raw Story, CalMatters and Times of San Diego

Charles P. Pierce / Esquire:

Pam Bondi Threw an Insolent Tantrum Before the House Judiciary Committee — And she did so to dodge a simple question about the Epstein files. — Attorney General Pam Bondi met the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, and she did a great job. She blustered. She filibustered. She shouted.

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Politico, RedState, The.Ink, The Status Kuo, CBS News, The Floridian, Racket News, Mediaite, New York Post, New Republic, Fox News, The Daily Signal, The Gateway Pundit and IJR

NBC News:

Lawmakers demand DOJ stop tracking lawmakers' Epstein files searches — Attorney General Pam Bondi brought a document referencing Rep. Pramila Jayapal's search history to a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Wednesday. — ADD NBC NEWS TO GOOGLE — Listen to this article with a free account

Discussion: CNN, The Contrarian, The Hill, House Committee …, Axios, CNBC, Fox News, The Independent, CBS News, ABC News, NOTUS, Breitbart, Techdirt, Truthout, The Guardian, Bloomberg, New York Magazine, The Daily Caller, MS NOW, Forbes, New Republic, Mediaite, The Wrap, Joe.My.God., Washington Examiner, twitchy.com and Al Jazeera

Politico:
Mike Johnson chides DOJ for tracking lawmakers' perusal of unredacted Epstein files

Discussion: The Hill, New York Sun, NewsMax.com, Raw Story and Washington Examiner

Julie K. Brown / The Epstein Files:
Bondi's charade — Pam Bondi dropped the ball on the Epstein case a long time ago

Discussion: CBS News, All Rise News, Washington Examiner and Mediaite

Dan Mangan / CNBC:

Judge blocks Pete Hegseth's censure of Sen. Mark Kelly over troops video, for now … A federal judge on Thursday enjoined Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth from censuring Sen. Mark Kelly over the Arizona Democrat's participation in a video reminding American military service members of their right to refuse illegal orders.

Discussion: CNN, Rolling Stone, Axios, Democracy Docket, RedState, The Guardian, The Daily Signal, Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion, CBS News, New York Post, Patterico's Pontifications, The Borowitz Report, Raw Story, The Gateway Pundit and Mediaite

Elena Moore / NPR:
Judge temporarily blocks Pentagon action against Mark Kelly over illegal orders video

Discussion: Washington Post, MS NOW, NBC News, NOTUS, Washington Times and Washington Examiner

Politico:
Federal court blocks Hegseth effort to punish Democratic senator

Discussion: Associated Press, New Republic, New York Sun, New York Daily News, New York Times, The Daily Caller, ABC News and Cronkite News

Ella Lee / The Hill:
Judge blocks Hegseth, Pentagon bid to punish Mark Kelly over ‘illegal orders’ video

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Reuters and UPI

Paul Krugman:

Making America Stagnate Again — Deportations don't create jobs and will increase deaths of native-born Americans. Who knew? — Yesterday's employment report was widely expected to be weak. As it turned out, it was unexpectedly strong, with an estimated 130,000 jobs added.

Discussion: Raw Story, Washington Examiner, New York Times and Wall Street Journal

NBC News:

CBP shot down party balloons with anti-drone tech before FAA closed El Paso airspace, sources say — The sudden airspace closure came after CBP officials did not coordinate with officials from the FAA, four people familiar with the matter said. — Listen to this article with a free account

Discussion: Straight Arrow News, The Hill, Military and Veteran …, Raw Story and Associated Press

New York Times:
Border Officials Are Said to Have Caused El Paso Closure by Firing Anti-Drone Laser

Jordain Carney / Politico:

DHS shutdown all but certain after failed Senate vote — Lawmakers are heading for the exits following a failed Senate vote Thursday, all but guaranteeing the Department of Homeland Security shuts down early Saturday morning. The funding lapse, which will hit parts of DHS harder than others …

Discussion: Democracy Docket, The Hill, New York Times, Payday Report, Newsweek, The Gateway Pundit, Meidas+, E&E News, Joe.My.God., The Dispatch and MS NOW

Jacqueline Sweet / The Intercept:

FBI Counterterrorism Agents Spent Weeks Seeking a Climate Activist — Then Showed Up at His Door — Federal Bureau of Investigation agents, at least one of whom works on counterterrorism, went to the home of a former member of a climate activism group for questioning last week …

Media Matters for America:

Nick Fuentes: “The number one political enemy in America is women. ... They have to be imprisoned.” — Fuentes: “So just like Hitler imprisoned Gypsies, Jews, communists, you know, all of his political rivals, we have to do the same thing with women. ... So they go to the gulag first.

Nick Robins-Early / The Guardian:

Elon Musk posted about race almost every day in January — Many social media posts by Tesla CEO on his platform are indiscernible from those of white supremacists, say experts — Elon Musk's longtime fixation on a white racial majority is intensifying. The richest man in the world posted …

Politico:

Judge orders Trump administration to help dozens of deportees return to the US … The Supreme Court later ruled that legal challenges to the Alien Enemies Act deportations should have been filed in Texas, not Washington. However, the justices concluded that the men did not receive adequate notice …

Jose Pagliery / NOTUS:
Judge Orders Trump Administration to ‘Facilitate’ Return of 137 Venezuelans Deported to CECOT

Discussion: New York Times, Washington Examiner, Fox News, The Hill, CBS News, Bloomberg, Forbes, Newsweek, Washington Times, Advocate, The Independent and The Gateway Pundit

Babak Dehghanpisheh / NBC News:

Nicolás Maduro is still the ‘legitimate president’ of Venezuela, acting leader Delcy Rodriguez says — “Cooperation is off to a tremendous start,” Energy Secretary Chris Wright told NBC News as the two countries hammered out details of how Venezuela's vast oil reserves are to be distributed.

Discussion: Breitbart, Mediaite, NewsMax.com, Reuters and Washington Examiner

Fabiola Zerpa / Bloomberg:
Venezuela to Grant More Oil Drilling Blocks to Chevron, Repsol

Discussion: NewsMax.com

David R. Lurie / Public Notice:

We are all passengers in Trump's death cab — Public Notice is supported by paid subscribers. Become one ⬇️ — 💬 Subscribe to PN 💬 — Nearly 13 months into Trump's second term, the most terrifying attribute of his regime is its utter contempt for the United States …

NBC News:

Trump administration working to expand effort to strip citizenship from foreign-born Americans — U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services officials focused on denaturalization were sent to offices nationwide, sources say. — WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is dramatically expanding …

Discussion: NewsMax.com and The Independent

Celisa Calacal / KCUR:

Kansas City developers halt sale of warehouse for ICE detention center as public pressure mounts — Federal officials first toured the building in January, sparking speculation over whether the owners had sold the building to the U.S. government. Media reports suggested the sale was part …

Discussion: Spotlight PA and Slate

Jake Kwon / BBC:

Kim Jong Un chooses teen daughter as heir, says Seoul — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has selected his daughter as his heir, South Korea's spy agency told lawmakers on Thursday. — Kim Ju Ae - who is believed to be 13 - has in recent months been pictured beside her father in high-profile events …

Discussion: Federal News Network, Associated Press, New York Sun, The Daily Caller, Human Events, Fox News, Bloomberg, UPI, Al Jazeera and arabnews.jp

Reuters:

Trump's Justice Department antitrust head Gail Slater stepping down — The Trump administration's head of the Justice Department's antitrust division said Thursday she is stepping down less than a year after being appointed by President Donald Trump. — Gail Slater was confirmed in March …

Jonah E. Bromwich / New York Times:

U.S. Attorney Chosen to Replace Trump Pick Is Quickly Fired by White House — Federal judges had appointed Donald Kinsella, a veteran litigator, as top prosecutor in the Northern District of New York after the Trump administration's nominee was found to be serving unlawfully.