Top Items:
Reuters:
Exclusive: White House uses USAID funds for budget director Vought's security, documents show — The White House budget office is using millions of dollars from the former U.S. foreign aid agency to pay for the security detail of Russell Vought, President Donald Trump's budget chief …
Discussion:
Raw Story
Wall Street Journal:
A Pilot Fired Over Kristi Noem's Missing Blanket and the Constant Chaos Inside DHS — Secretary, with close adviser Corey Lewandowski, faces fire for confrontational immigration crackdown and self-promotional style; White House to wind down Minnesota operations — Kristi Noem knew she needed a reset.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, The Parnas Perspective, Raw Story, Washington Times, New Republic, New York Post, Reason, The Independent and Mediaite
Michael S. Derby / Reuters:
NY Fed report says Americans pay for almost all of Trump's tariffs — Americans are shouldering almost all of President Donald Trump's import tax surge, a report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said on Thursday. — The bank said 90% of the tariffs imposed by the president …
Discussion:
Liberty Street Economics, New York Times, Washington Post, Focus Taiwan, Financial Times and CBS News
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Christopher Rugaber / Associated Press:
Inflation measure falls to nearly five-year low as gas prices fall and housing costs cool — A key measure of inflation fell to nearly a five-year low last month as apartment rental price growth slowed and gas prices fell, offering some relief to Americans grappling with the sharp cost increases of the past five years.
Discussion:
CBS News, NOTUS, Axios, Associated Press and Fortune
New York Times:
Goldman Sachs General Counsel Kathryn Ruemmler Resigns Over Epstein Ties — Kathryn Ruemmler, a former top Obama administration lawyer, is out at Goldman Sachs after emails showed a friendship with the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein spanning many years. — Goldman Sachs's top lawyer …
Discussion:
Bloomberg, Above the Law, New York Post, Raw Story, Mediaite and Semafor
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Financial Times:
Top Goldman Sachs lawyer Kathy Ruemmler to resign over Epstein links — Attorney to depart Wall Street bank on June 30 after new documents revealed extent of her ties to the sex offender — Goldman Sachs general counsel Kathy Ruemmler said she will resign this summer after documents released …
Discussion:
Axios, New York Post, The Daily Wire, CNBC, The Daily Caller, Reuters, NOTUS, Forbes and The Hill
New York Times:
Meta Plans to Add Facial Recognition Technology to Its Smart Glasses — In an internal memo last year, Meta said the political tumult in the United States would distract critics from the feature's release. — Five years ago, Facebook shut down the facial recognition system for tagging people …
Discussion:
The Verge, The Information and TechCrunch, more at Techmeme »
Associated Press:
Trump pardons 5 former NFL players for crimes ranging from perjury to drug trafficking — President Donald Trump on Thursday pardoned five former professional football players — one posthumously — for various crimes ranging from perjury to drug trafficking.
Discussion:
The Guardian, The Hill, New York Times, Washington Times, Breitbart, Fox News, OutKick and Dose.ca
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The Athletic:
President Trump pardons Hall of Famer Joe Klecko and four other former NFL players — Share full article — President Donald Trump pardoned former NFL players Joe Klecko, Nate Newton, Jamal Lewis, Travis Henry and the late Billy Cannon on Thursday, according to White House pardon czar Alice Marie Johnson.
Discussion:
New Jersey Online
Pooja Salhotra / New York Times:
A D.H.S. Shutdown Looms. Bruised Minnesotans Urge Their Parties to Dig In. — Congressional Democrats say they will approve no money for the Department of Homeland Security without guardrails on immigration agents. Their voters in Minnesota are demanding no less.
Discussion:
Council on Foreign Relations and The Guardian
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Mitch Smith / New York Times:
Prosecutor Seeks Dismissal of Charges Against Man Shot by ICE
Discussion:
Joe.My.God. and GV Wire
Axios:
Behind the Curtain: Resistance rising — Little by little, week after week, a subtle but significant shift is unfolding in American politics: Institutions and even a small but growing number of Republicans are standing up to President Trump. … But the law of political gravity is starting to apply to Trump.
RELATED:
Eric Levitz / Vox:
Trump discovers that the road to autocracy is lined with potholes
Discussion:
The Atlantic, Christian Science Monitor and Straight Arrow News
Susan B. Glasser / New Yorker:
“If We Don't Have Free Speech, Then We Just Don't Have a Free Country”
Konstantin Toropin / Associated Press:
Second US aircraft carrier is being sent to the Middle East, AP source says — The world's largest aircraft carrier has been ordered to sail from the Caribbean Sea to the Middle East, a person familiar with the plans said Thursday, as U.S. President Donald Trump considers whether to take possible military action against Iran.
Associated Press:
Logistics giant DP World replaces chairman named in Jeffrey Epstein documents — Dubai has announced a new chairman for DP World, one of the world's largest logistics companies, replacing the outgoing head who was named in the Jeffrey Epstein documents. The announcement by the government's …
Discussion:
The Hill, Al Jazeera, Newsweek, ABC News, Bloomberg, KTVZ-TV, KVIA-TV, NewsMax.com, Transport Topics, France 24, Bangor Daily News, Semafor, Forbes, FreightWaves and 5Pillars
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Lisa Needham / Public Notice:
The Fulton County raid is part of Trump's total war on voting — PN is supported by paid subscribers. Become one ⬇️ — 🧠 Subscribe to PN 🧠 — While it may seem like the entire federal government is currently focused on violently attacking immigrants …
Discussion:
Truthout, The Conversation, Washington Post and Shipwreckedcrew's Port-O-Call
Wall Street Journal:
Gabbard Whistleblower Complaint Based on Intercepted Conversation About Jared Kushner — Substance of the conversation, which covered in part issues related to Iran, isn't known — WASHINGTON—The highly classified whistleblower complaint against Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard …
Ben Kamisar / NBC News:
Members of Congress prepare to face angry, dissatisfied primary voters in 2026 — The first round of primaries on March 3 includes examples of the type of incumbent challenges both parties will be dealing with all midterm year. — Lawmakers in both parties face a reckoning from within …
RELATED:
Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge:
Ring cancels its partnership with Flock Safety after surveillance backlash — Following mounting pressure and a questionable Super Bowl ad, the Amazon-owned company walked back its plan to integrate with the controversial law-enforcement technology company.
Discussion:
flocksafety.com, Straight Arrow News, CNBC, TechCrunch, Associated Press, The Register, Futurism, Variety, Mashable and Berkeleyside, more at Techmeme »
ProPublica:
“Not Ready for Prime Time.” A Federal Tool to Check Voter Citizenship Keeps Making Mistakes. — Reporting Highlights — Widespread Errors: An expanded federal tool for identifying noncitizens on voter rolls is making persistent mistakes, particularly in assessing citizenship for people born outside the U.S.
Discussion:
Washington Times, One America News Network, The Post Millennial and The Philadelphia Inquirer
Paul Krugman:
The MAGA Bubble Is Imploding — Americans aren't buying Trumpist gaslighting about the economy … Attorney General Pam Bondi's meltdown on Wednesday while being questioned the House Judiciary Committee was exceptional, even by this administration's rock-bottom standards.
Discussion:
Raw Story, Balloon Juice, CNN and GV Wire
Jen Rice / Democracy Docket:
In victory for Democrats, Virginia Supreme Court says redistricting vote can go forward — In a big win for Virginia Democrats' efforts to counter President Donald Trump's GOP gerrymanders in other states, the Virginia Supreme Court said the state can hold its special election on the redistricting plan.
Discussion:
NBC News, Blue Virginia, Cardinal News and Independent Women
New York Times:
The Infrastructure of Jeffrey Epstein's Power — This is an edited transcript of “The Ezra Klein Show.” You can listen to the episode wherever you get your podcasts. — At the end of January, Trump's Justice Department released what it said was the last tranche of the Epstein files …
Discussion:
The.Ink
New York Times:
Trump Wants Smithsonian to Create a Different Official Portrait — The painted portrait from President Trump's first term was completed more than four years ago, but never unveiled. Now he wants the National Portrait Gallery to commission a new one. — The unveiling of an official …
Discussion:
The Independent
The Harvard Crimson:
Justice Department Sues Harvard Over Admissions Records — The U.S. Department of Justice sued Harvard on Friday, seeking a court order requiring the University to turn over admissions records requested as part of a federal civil rights review. — The lawsuit follows a 2023 Supreme Court decision …
Discussion:
Bloomberg, Washington Times, Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion and The Independent
Media Matters for America:
Jesse Watters: “Epstein got his money from two Jewish billionaires” and “the Jewish banking dynasty, the Rothschilds”
Discussion:
Wonkette
AP-NORC:
A majority disapprove of how Trump is handling Greenland — Twenty-four percent of adults approve of Trump's handling of Greenland; 72% disapprove. … The Trump administration's approach to Greenland is proving unpopular among U.S. adults, according to a new AP-NORC poll.
Discussion:
Associated Press, MeidasTouch News, The Dispatch and Navigator Research
William Kristol / The Bulwark:
The Resistance Gains Momentum — HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. sure has a way with words. During an appearance on Theo Von's podcast This Past Weekend yesterday, Kennedy described why he had been determined to keep going to in-person addiction-recovery meetings during the COVID pandemic: “I'm not scared of a germ.
Discussion:
Snopes, Salt Lake Tribune and Jewish Insider
Jana Winter / Reuters:
Exclusive: Arizona sheriff blocks FBI access to evidence in Nancy Guthrie abduction, source says — An Arizona sheriff is blocking FBI access to key evidence in the investigation into the abduction of U.S. television journalist Savannah Guthrie's mother, impairing its ability to assist in the probe …
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, Fox News, KVOA-TV, NewsNation, Tampa Free Press, Page Six, IJR, The Daily Caller, The Wrap, RedState, The Post Millennial, Raw Story, TMZ.com, UPI and New York Post
New York Times:
Trump Administration Live Updates: Justice Dept. Sues Harvard Over Admissions Inquiry — What We're Covering Today — Harvard Lawsuit: The Trump administration accused the Ivy League school on Friday of failing to produce documents sought as part of a Justice Department investigation into its admissions process.
Discussion:
NewsMax.com
Marc A. Thiessen / Washington Post:
Kari Lake is making Trump's job harder in Iran — She has gutted America's ability to get good information to the Iranian people in a conflict. — If President Donald Trump takes military action in Iran, he will need help from the Iranian people. The U.S. military can decapitate the regime from the air.
Nikole Hannah-Jones / New York Times:
What It Means to Be a White ‘Race Traitor’ … In August 1964, the Federal Bureau of Investigation found the bodies of three murdered civil rights workers in an earthen dam on a farm outside Philadelphia, Miss., following their disappearance a month and a half before.
Haley Britzky / CNN:
His family fled Afghanistan facing threats for supporting US troops. Now he sits in ICE custody at risk of being sent back — The Middle East Asia Immigration Donald Trump — When Said Noor, a US Army veteran, picked up a phone call on December 2, he immediately knew something was wrong.
Joyce Vance / Civil Discourse with Joyce Vance:
Voting: A Right, Not A Privilege, For Now — Republicans want to change that with the SAVE Act … Wednesday, House Republicans passed the SAVE Act. It's currently pending in the Senate. The most important thing to understand about it is that it's not about protecting our elections from fraud.
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit, Newsweek, BizPac Review, PennLive and New York Times

