Like Maria Said Paz

Saturday, March 07, 2026

Markwayne and Junior

Isaiah's THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS "Perks Of The Job"

Him as Secretary of Homeland Security is even scarier than the hideous Kristi Noem. Jeffrey St. Clair (COUNTERPUNCH) notes:

Puppy Killers’ presumed replacement at DHS, Sen. Marywayne Mullin–who will be confirmed by his fellow senators just to get him out of their chamber–told CNN he wants “to see more lethality at home and abroad.” So apparently, Trump axed Noem because her immigration agents had only killed three American citizens in the last year and not more?

Turning to the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Junior is an abject failure. The man who snorted cocaine off a toilet seat and tricked himself out in college reportedly due to drug debts is over the US healthcare and he is destroying our system. Equally true, Americans are aware of this destruction that he's carrying out. Erika Edwards (NBC NEWS) reports:

Americans are losing confidence in the nation’s public health agencies, according to a survey from the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania.

The survey of 1,650 adults, conducted last month, found that on matters of health, a majority of Americans say they have far more confidence in their own doctors, pediatricians and career scientists at federal agencies than the political appointees charged with overseeing those scientists.

It comes as Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has defended some of his more controversial decisions by arguing that they are necessary to restore trust in public health.

After he fired Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Susan Monarez after just a month on the job, he wrote in a Wall Street Journal editorial that the agency had “squandered public trust” and that it was his mission to restore it. And when he fired all of the members of an influential vaccine advisory committee last summer, he said that the Department of Health and Human Services was “prioritizing the restoration of public trust above any specific pro- or anti-vaccine agenda.”

However, trust in public health agencies has fallen in Trump’s second term, according to the survey. Confidence in the CDC, the Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health hovered around 75% during the Biden administration. Since Trump’s second term began, trust in the agencies has dropped to just over 60%.

Some comments on the article:

michael haynie

Just Now

MAGAts have an uncanny belief that some brain-wormed, heroin addicted, knucklehead with an OPINION has more credibility than those that have spent their lives studying and researching specific topics.

Now he wants to remove sugar from certain drinks.

Will probably suggest using toilet seat cocaine as a replacement.

Niki Bell

13 hours ago

I trust RFK to guide my medical and health decisions. I simply listen to what he says and do the complete opposite.

Tonae Bradshaw

12 hours ago

I do not take medical advise from someone who has no medical knowledge except what he dug up from some whacko and I do not trust anyone who does not believe in Science. I can research if I have a question for myself and trust myself long before I trust a man with half a brain and it doesn't work right.

Kevin Cullen

13 hours ago

A man who voluntarily self-medicated with heroin for over a decade, while a parasite munched on his brain is not an example to be held up of how to live a healthy life.

Brainie Yrn0tu

13 hours ago

It's bad enough that RFK jr has ZERO credentials in any field that his agency deals in.

There are also the utterly insane things that he says that even grade-schoolers know is nonsense.

David S

9 hours ago

Restore trust in public health? Give me a break. Anyone who once drove home with a whale’s head strapped to the roof of his car — with his kids inside — claims half his brain was eaten by worms, and had a dozen Kennedy family members refuse to endorse him for president probably isn’t the guy to restore anyone’s trust.

"The Snapshot" (THE COMMON ILLS):

Friday, March 6, 2026. Kristi Noem fired by Chump as Secretary of Homeland Security, her lies to Congress this week are not forgotten and some Democrats are talking pursuing perjury charges against her, Chump has a new idiot in mind for her job, documentation of the interview with a woman who spoke to the FBI repeatedly about Chump molesting her as a child are finally released, and much more.

Yesterday morning, it was one story after another about how Chump had asked this member of Congress or that one whether he should fire Kristi Noem. Those whispering about it to the press didn't seem eager to attach their response to the question -- possibly so as not to expose themselves to Chump as the leakers? By the time the afternoon rolled around, Josh Dawsey, Tarini Parti and Michelle Hackman (WALL ST. JOURNAL) were reporting:

President Trump is preparing to fire Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, according to advisers familiar with his thinking.

The president has already been asking aides and congressional Republicans for names of potential replacements, the advisers said.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security said, “Secretary Noem serves at the pleasure of the President.” The White House didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Alex Griffing (MEDIAITE) noted before that:

Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) told CBS News’ Alan He on Thursday that President Donald Trump called him after his grilling of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem the day before, and suggested that Noem’s under oath testimony had not been accurate.

Noem and Kennedy tussled during a Senate hearing on Wednesday over the hundreds of millions of dollars she spent on a pro-ICE ad campaign she starred in.

“The president approved ahead of time you spending $220 million running TV ads across the country in which you are featured prominently?” Kennedy asked Noem during the hearing.

“Yes sir, we went through the legal processes–” Noem replied.

“Did the president know you were gonna do this?” Kennedy demanded as Noem insisted Trump was aware of it.

“I’m not saying you’re not telling the truth. It’s just hard for me to believe, knowing the president, as I do, that you said, ‘Mr. President, here’s some ads I’ve cut, and I’m going to spend $220 million running them,’ that he would have agreed to that,” Kennedy replied.

“I don’t think Russ Vought would have agreed to that,” Kennedy added, referring to the fiscal hawk running the Office of Management and Budget.

Kristi Noem told so many lies to Congress this week. Senator Dick Durbin is the Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee -- one of the committees that heard testimony from Kristi this week. Yesterday he called her out early in the day over the lies she told to the Judiciary Committee on Tuesday. His office issued the following:

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, delivered an opening statement during today’s Senate Judiciary Committee executive business meeting condemning the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem for lying under oath during Tuesday’s oversight hearing. Secretary Noem lied about DHS following court orders, denied that DHS has detained U.S. citizens, and lied about Corey Lewandowski’s role at DHS.

Durbin also spoke about the nominees who were considered today including Robert Cekada, to be Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF); Anna St. John, to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana; and Andrew Davis, to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas.

Key Quotes:

“I have served on this Committee for more than 25 years… and I’ve never been through a hearing like our DHS oversight hearing with Secretary Noem [on] Tuesday. The Secretary took an oath to tell the truth. But instead, she repeatedly failed to do so.”

“When I asked her if [DHS] follows court orders, Secretary Noem responded, ‘We follow court orders when they are given to us.’ This is demonstrably false. Even the Trump DOJ admitted in [a] sworn declaration that ICE has violated over 50 court orders in the state of New Jersey alone.”

“Secretary Noem also denied that DHS has detained U.S. citizens. Americans around the country, including in my home state of Illinois, know this is false. One of my constituents, U.S. citizen Dayanne Figeroa, was detained for hours after federal agents rammed her car and forced her to the ground. During ‘Operation Midway Blitz,’ my staff documented the arrest and detention of at least 40 U.S. citizens in my state of Illinois alone.”

“Secretary Noem also lied about the role of her de facto chief of staff, Corey Lewandowski. When asked directly whether Mr. Lewandowski has any role in approving DHS contracts, she denied it with an unequivocal ‘no.’ [But] DHS records show Mr. Lewandowski personally approved a multimillion-dollar contract last year—and that he routinely signs off on large awards before they reach the Secretary’s desk.”

“Mr. Chairman, the Secretary’s testimony was not just evasive or troubling, she repeatedly made false statements under oath. This should concern every member of this Committee—Republican and Democrat alike. This Committee has an obligation to hold the Secretary accountable. I look forward to discussing this with you and other members of the Committee [about] what our recourse is.”

“Let me say on a more personal note: several questions were repeatedly asked of her… really got to the heart of who she is. The question of common decency. To call victims in Minnesota who died and a victim in Illinois who barely survived five shots from [Border Patrol] agents. She refused to say ‘I’m sorry, I said the wrong thing.’ She claimed they were domestic terrorists. There was no evidence of that. None. Imagine those families just having lost a daughter or a son, mourning their loss, and have a member of the President’s cabinet announce on public television… that their deceased child was a domestic terrorist. I know that the phrase ‘I'm sorry, I should have done a better job’ is just unacceptable in this Administration.”

“We also cannot ignore that Secretary Noem has seriously weakened our capacity to prevent cybersecurity and terrorist attacks… Homeland Security Investigations and the FBI had a dedicated team of agents dedicated to investigating Iran’s efforts to evade international sanctions, sell oil on the black market, and fund their military and outside allies. Those investigations are now stalled, as agents are too busy with immigration enforcement.”

“Last spring, the FBI was forced to recall dozens of agents who specialized in counterterrorism, counterintelligence, and cybersecurity from immigration duty because of possible Iranian retaliation after the strikes against its nuclear sites.”

“Last week, FBI Director Patel attempted to distract from his Olympics trip by firing at least a dozen personnel who worked on counterintelligence matters… we’re in the midst of the sixth day of a war and the counterintelligence agents in these agencies have been fired for political reasons.”

“As a result of the President’s misguided priorities—and the incompetent leadership of individuals like Secretary Noem and Director Patel—America is less safe in an increasingly dangerous world.”

Video of Durbin’s opening statement is available here.

Audio of Durbin’s opening statement is available here.

Footage of Durbin’s opening statement is available here for TV Stations.

Durbin then spoke about the nominees considered in Committee today. He first voiced his concerns over Robert Cekada, nominated to be Director of ATF.

“While Mr. Cekada is a career professional who is committed to fighting crime, and I’m glad we had a chance to sit down together, his hearing testimony does not assure me that he would stand up [to the] Trump Administration to ensure this very controversial agency is not weaponized against the American people.”

Durbin then shared his deep concerns about Andrew Davis, nominated to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas. Durbin shared his concerns that Mr. Davis would not be able to put aside his partisan advocacy if he is confirmed to the bench.

“Mr. Davis has repeatedly argued that the qui tam provision of the False Claims Act, or FCA—a law the Chairman has championed for many years—violates the Constitution. Whistleblowers who bring qui tam actions play an important role in holding accountable those who defraud the federal government. Of $6.8 billion in FCA settlements and judgments last year, qui tam actions comprised $5.3 billion of that amount.”

[Mr. Davis] defended racist commentary from conservative pundit and former Republican official Bill Bennett, who said ‘I do know that it’s true that if you wanted to reduce crime, you could, if that were your sole purpose, you could abort every black baby in this country, and your crime rate would go down.’ Mr. Davis defended this statement as ‘essentially accurate.’”

“Mr. Davis’s failure to disavow his article is just plain unacceptable. How can people of color have faith that Mr. Davis will treat them fairly in his courtroom if he is confirmed?”

Durbin then spoke on Anna St. John, nominated to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. Durbin raised concerns about Ms. St. John’s partisan ideology and serious questions about her ability to impartially administer justice if she is confirmed.

“Her practice largely consists of challenging class-action settlements—and she has also made time to file amicus briefs in politically charged cases… Ms. St. John’s public commentary is also troubling. She has criticized what she calls ‘woke ideology.’ She has challenged First Amendment protections guaranteed by [the Supreme Court more than 60 years ago in] New York Times v. Sullivan.”

“In November 2021, Ms. St. John testified against bipartisan legislation ending forced arbitration in cases of workplace sexual assault and harassment. The legislation enjoyed broad support among lawmakers from both parties, yet Ms. St. John argued in defense of forcing sexual assault victims into closed-door arbitration proceedings and claimed that ending forced arbitration ‘turns these women into unwilling pawns.’”

“The issue was brought before the Committee at the urging of former Fox News host Gretchen Carlson, one of the leading advocates for legislation following her harassment by Roger Ailes. She is speaking out publicly [against] Ms. St. John’s nomination.”

“Listen to what Gretchen Carlson said, ‘While women around the country bravely shared the urgency of eradicating forced arbitration, St. John used her power and influence to gaslight these women and the public. She downplayed their stories and minimized their pain.’”

“I remember when Grethen Carlson was in this room. So many of us went up to her afterward and praised her for her courage to speak out for the harassment she [experienced] in her own personal life… We voted unanimously for that bill—Democrats and Republicans. Now we have a nominee who is opposed to it and says it is wrong. I’m going to vote no.”

Video of Durbin’s statements about Mr. Cekada, Mr. Davis, and Ms. St. John are available here.

Audio of Durbin’s statements about Mr. Cekada, Mr. Davis, and Ms. St. John are available here.

Footage of Durbin’s statements about Mr. Cekada, Mr. Davis, and Ms. St. John are available here for TV Stations.

Durbin was not the only one calling out Noem's lies to the Committee. Luke Barr (ABC NEWS) notes:

A Democratic senator says Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem provided false testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

In her appearance before the committee on Tuesday, Noem was asked by Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., whether her adviser Corey Lewandowski, who is serving as a special government employee, has any role in approving DHS contracts, and she said no.

"Evidence suggests that your testimony was false. Internal DHS records show that Mr. Lewandowski has personally approved contracts at DHS, including, but not limited to, a multimillion-dollar contract," according to a letter Blumenthal sent to Noem on Wednesday. "And current and former DHS employees have stated that Mr. Lewandowski's signature is a green light for money to be transmitted to contractors."

Blumenthal sent the letter on Wednesday night, after Noem’s testimony in front the House Committee.

In a follow-up appearance before a House committee on Wednesday, Rep. Jared Moskowitz asked Noem if she would like to correct her answer from Tuesday.

"What I would say is that he is an adviser to the Department of Homeland Security," she said.

Sources have told ABC News that Lewandowski is Noem's de facto chief of staff, despite having a 130-day cap on being able to work at the department, due to his status as a special government employee.

According to multiple sources, Lewandowski and Noem both approve contracts and "nothing" gets to the secretary without Lewandowski's approval.

Joshua Kaplan and Justin Elliott (PRO-PUBLICA) note:

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem misled Congress on Tuesday about the powers of her controversial top aide Corey Lewandowski, according to records reviewed by ProPublica and four current and former DHS officials.

Lewandowski has an unusual role at DHS, where he is not a paid government employee but is nonetheless acting as a top official, helping Noem run the sprawling agency. For months, members of Congress have asked the agency to detail the scope of his work and authority.

At a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., asked Noem whether Lewandowski has “a role in approving contracts” at DHS. Noem responded with a flat denial: “No.”

But internal DHS records reviewed by ProPublica contradict Noem’s Senate testimony. The records show Lewandowski personally approved a multimillion-dollar equipment contract at the agency last summer.

That was not a one-off. Lewandowski has approved numerous contracts at DHS and often needs to sign off on large ones before any money goes out the door, the current and former department employees said.

Last year, Noem imposed a new policy that consolidated her and her top aides’ power over all spending at DHS, requiring that she personally review and approve all contracts above $100,000. Before the contracts reach Noem, they must be approved by a series of political appointees, who each sign or initial a checklist sometimes referred to internally as a routing sheet. Typically, the last name on the checklist before Noem’s is Lewandowski’s, the DHS officials said.

It's important to remember that PRO PUBLICA reported months ago, regarding contracts, how Homeland Security granted a contract that benefitted the husband of Noem's then spokesperson. Joshua Kaplan, Justin Elliott and Alex Mierjeski (PROPUBLICA) noted in November:

In recent days, five U.S. senators and two representatives requested documents from the Department of Homeland Security and a formal investigation into how a firm closely tied to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem ended up receiving money from a $220 million, taxpayer-funded ad campaign.

The demands came in response to a ProPublica story this month that revealed that the Republican consulting firm had been secretly working on the ads, which star Noem. The company, called the Strategy Group, has long-standing personal and business ties to Noem and her senior aides at DHS. Its CEO is married to Noem’s chief spokesperson at DHS.

Under Noem, DHS bypassed the normal competitive bidding process when awarding the contracts — allocating the majority of the money to a mysterious Delaware LLC that was created days before the deal was finalized. The Strategy Group does not appear on public documents about the deal.

“The public deserves to know that government officials are not using taxpayer dollars to enrich themselves and their friends on the backs of hardworking Americans,” four Senate Democrats on the homeland security committee wrote in a letter to the DHS inspector general. They called for the inspector general to investigate whether DHS officials had violated federal laws and contracting regulations “designed to prevent self-dealing.”

[. . .]

ProPublica found that the Strategy Group’s undisclosed work for DHS included running a shoot for a recently aired ad that featured Noem on horseback at Mount Rushmore, delivering a message to immigrants. Among the firm’s ties to Noem: It played a central role in her last gubernatorial campaign in South Dakota, and it has worked closely with Noem’s top aide at DHS, Corey Lewandowski. The office funding the ad contracts is listed as the DHS Office of Public Affairs, which is run by Tricia McLaughlin; McLaughlin is married to the CEO of the Strategy Group, Ben Yoho.

Tricia has taken to Twitter to defend herself and her husband. Some might believe her but she has a long history of lying in public statements. (See Ava and my "Media: They fail to note the pattern of ICE lies but make time to defend this year's John Fetterman.") So I'll instead just note that she's one of those people who puts herself first. In what she posted to Twitter she stupidly wrote "my and my husband's" because she doesn't know grammar and she has no manners.

We should also note that this money Kristi was throwing around? She wasn't very careful with it. It wasn't her money so maybe she didn't care? But when spending US taxpayer money, she did so without a care. In the hearing on Tuesday, Senator Cory Booker offered an example of how Kristi's contracts were wasteful -- here he is noting where she paid twice the worth of a property.

Senator Cory Booker: ICE officers entered the grounds of a high school in Minneapolis. That's a fact. Elementary school children in New Jersey are terrified of your agents. When they came up a school bus top, they fled. Another school, higher education, Columbia University. your agents reportedly lied to students, told them they were searching for a missing person to gain access to private spaces, to non public areas of campus. Secretary Noem, these are kids. They're terrified in our communities. How do you think that affects them when children in my stage go running, fleeing and often you will pursue children throwing them to the ground, getting on their backs,putting them in handcuffs. I want to talk to you about this incredible empire of for-profit companies that are profiting at rates we've never seen and the way you're using money. Let's -- let's drill down on the warehouses, the DHS has been buying over the last several months, totaling hundreds of millions of dollars. Are you familiar with the acquisition of a warehouse DHS recently bought in Roxbury Township, New Jersey?

Secretary Kristi Noem: Yes.

Senator Cory Booker: You are familiar with that.

Secretary Kristi Noem: I'm familiar.

Senator Cory Booker: How much you spent of it?

Secretary Kristi Noem: No, sir. I do not.

Senator Cory Booker: $129.3 million. Do you know how much it was assessed for in New Jersey?

Secretary Kristi Noem: Sir, we're purchasing centers across the country to build efficiency into our detention system. Efficiency so that we can --

Senator Cory Booker: As a person who's run tight budgets before and had taxpayer dollars. You paid $129.3 million for a facility in my state that was assessed at less than half of that at $62 million to work for a president that says he's a great dealmaker. I can't believe he thinks that you're a great dealmaker.

The property was assessed at $62 million and Kristi okayed the contract to purchase it with our tax dollars for twice that amount, for $129.3 million.

That exposes the administration for the fools that they are and for their inability to properly oversee the taxpayer dollar. DOGE, remember that? That con job was all about, supposedly, eliminating government waste. It wasn't about that. It was about destroying our infrastructure. But Chump posed forever as the fiscally responsible twat. Reality? He never was nor was his Cabinet. And when Kristi Noem is wasting so much of the taxpayer monies, that's not a good look.

Zolan Kanno-Youngs and Hamed Aleaziz (NEW YORK TIMES) report:

Ms. Noem’s ouster came after she was grilled by lawmakers on a range of topics during congressional hearings.

She declined to apologize for her description of Mr. [Alex] Pretti and another U.S. citizen killed by federal agents in Minneapolis, Renee Good, as domestic terrorists. She said her statements were informed by “reports from the ground, from agents at the scene.”

Senator John Kennedy, Republican of Louisiana, grilled Ms. Noem about a ProPublica report that her department had spent more than $200 million on ad contracts, which he said had been steered to her former political consultants. Mr. Kennedy described the ads, including one in which she appeared on a horse in front of Mount Rushmore, as wasteful spending meant to boost Ms. Noem’s “name recognition.”

Shortly after, the rumors began, Natalie Dreier (COX MEDIA GROUP) posted:

President Donald Trump announced that Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem will be leaving her post and will be replaced by Sen. Markwayne Mullin.

Trump posted the move on Truth Social.

The president said he will nominate Mullin to replace Noem, effective March 31.

Noem will become “the Special Envoy for The Shield of the Americas, our new Security Initiative in the Western Hemisphere,” Trump wrote.

Noem was in Nashville speaking when Chump posted of her firing. Madeleine Ngo (NEW YORK TIMES) noted, "Noem has finished her remarks at the Nashville conference. She spoke for about 30 minutes and did not address her firing by President Trump." Michael Gold (NEW YORK TIMES) noted:

Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the minority leader, would not commit to voting to confirm Mullin. And he said that Noem’s firing did not change Democrats’ demands for new restrictions on immigration enforcement in order to fund the Department of Homeland Security.

“This is a problem of policy, not personnel. The rot is deep,” Schumer said. “No one person can straighten this up until the president changes the whole agency, stops the violence, and reins in ICE.”

So he created a new job for her -- "Special Envoy for The Shield of the Americas."

As Elaine noted last night, "Kristi Noem is out as Secretary of Homeland Security. Chump wants to install Markwayne Markwayne Mullins -- the idiot senator from Oklahoma. I'll call it a win that Kristi's out of her post (but Chump's given her a new one). Hopefully, Markwayne Markwayne won't be a quick confirmation. Be wonderful if he didn't get confirmed but let's hope they do a real hearing and not the rubber stamps that the GOP delivered in the early months of 2025."

After her firing yesterday, Senator Richard Blumenthal's office issued the following:

[WASHINGTON, DC] – U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, released the following statement after President Trump announced that Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem had been fired from her position:

“Kristi Noem’s firing is well-earned. The atrocities she oversaw, the falsehoods she peddled, and the corruption she committed – all richly deserve her discharge. President Trump should have made it explicit, rather than disguising it with another position of public trust. Whoever follows her must institute commonsense reforms that the American people have demanded and police forces around the country routinely follow. Changing only the top official is inadequate without changing the practices and power structure in the department.”

-30-

And he also spoke to Carl Hulse and Michael Gold (NEW YORK TIMES):

Senator Richard Blumenthal, Democrat of Connecticut, said on Thursday evening that he would press for a perjury investigation into Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary whom President Trump fired hours earlier.

Mr. Blumenthal said that he would call for the Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations to investigate whether Ms. Noem had lied under oath during a Senate hearing on Tuesday, when she said that Corey Lewandowski, one of her top advisers, did not approve contracts for the Department of Homeland Security.

Mr. Blumenthal said that Democrats had evidence to suggest that Mr. Lewandowski had done so, and that Ms. Noem’s removal did not protect her from an investigation.

“Her firing doesn’t absolve her or relieve her of potential liability for perjury, and we are going to pursue an investigation of the evidence that she lied, because it relates to corruption in the administration,” said Mr. Blumenthal, the top Democrat on the panel.

Senator Alex Padilla's office issued the following:

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee, issued the following statement after President Trump announced that he would fire Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem and nominate Senator Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) to replace her:

“It’s about time. Kristi Noem’s tenure was a complete failure and she never should have been confirmed in the first place. But make no mistake: a new secretary doesn’t change the need for serious reforms at DHS and doesn’t undo the cruelty and terror the agency has unleashed on our communities at the direction of Donald Trump. We still need a full overhaul of ICE and CBP to ensure these agencies enforce our immigration laws in a way that reflects our values, doesn’t tear families apart, respects civil rights, and upholds the Constitution.”

Earlier this week, Padilla questioned DHS Secretary Noem on the Trump Administration’s cruel mass deportation and detention campaign, attacks on legal immigration, and efforts to meddle in the upcoming 2026 midterm elections. Padilla called on Noem to resign, be fired, or be impeached by the House for her failed leadership of the Department. He also joined a press conference after the hearing to stand by three U.S. citizens who were assaulted and detained by DHS officers and agents.

Padilla has consistently voted against funding ICE and CBP’s lawless and reckless actions under President Trump.

###

Turning to the topic of Jeffrey Epstein, Sarah K. Burris reports:

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) walked through all of the details that connect trafficker Jeffrey Epstein and Russian intelligence. Those connections also link President Donald Trump.

According to Whitehouse, the pathway goes through Ghislaine Maxwell's father, which the senator read from his MI6 file that Robert Maxwell was "a thoroughly bad character and almost certainly financed by Russia."

Whitehouse walked through all of the relationships that Epstein had with international assets, including Israeli and U.S. intelligence. Recently released files prompted Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk to announce they would do a wide-ranging investigation into Epstein's possible links to Russian intelligence.

One of those was Epstein's relationship with Oleg Deripaska, who also had a close relationship with Trump's campaign chairman Paul Manafort.

The Senator walked through a number of documents and emails in the Epstein files showing that Russian girls were part of his recruitment for the men that he sought to manipulate.

Whitehouse cited one communication from French model scout Jean-Luc Brunel to Epstein saying he found "a teacher" to help Epstein with his Russian. "She is 2 times 8 years old and not blond," he said.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. identified more than $1 billion in suspicious transactions that it flagged to the U.S. government. The big bank identified about 4,700 transactions, saying that "they were potentially related to reports of human trafficking involving Mr. Epstein," reported The New York Times.

In other Epstein news, Stephen Fowler and Saige Miller (NPR) report:

The Justice Department has published additional Epstein files related to allegations that President Trump sexually abused a minor after an NPR investigation found dozens of pages were withheld.

They include 16 new pages that cover three additional FBI interview summaries with a woman who accused Trump of sexual abuse decades ago when she was a minor. Also included are two pages of an intake form documenting the initial call to the FBI from a friend who relayed the claims.

NPR's investigation previously found 53 pages that appeared to be missing from the public database.

Now that these documents are published, there are still 37 pages of records missing from the public database, including notes from the interviews, a law enforcement report and license records.

AFP adds:

The documents released on Thursday include descriptions of multiple 2019 interviews the FBI held with the woman, who alleged she was assaulted by Epstein and Trump while she was aged between 13 and 15 years old.

In one interview, the woman said Epstein took her to “either New York or New Jersey” and introduced her to Trump. She told investigators that she bit Trump as he attempted to force her to perform oral sex on him.

The woman said she and people close to her received threatening calls over the years demanding she keep quiet, which she believed were related to Epstein.

FBI records reportedly suggest agents stopped speaking with her in 2019. In the report of the woman’s final interview, conducted in October 2019, during Trump’s first presidency, agents asked whether she would be willing to provide more information about Trump.

In response, the agent wrote, she “asked what the point would be of providing the information at this point in her life when there was a strong possibility nothing could be done about it”.

Joe Sommerlad (INDEPENDENT) notes:

The three “302” memos now released record a series of interviews conducted by FBI agents with Trump’s accuser and contain only straight notes on what was said, with no additional commentary from the interviewers.

The agents first spoke to the alleged victim in July 2019, shortly after Epstein was rearrested and a month before his death in a New York City jail cell.

According to documents, she said that the pedophile had first met her in South Carolina in the 1980s and sexually abused her when she was 13. She made no mention of Trump.

A memo recounting that conversation was previously released.

In the first of the new documents, the woman alleges that Epstein “drove her and/or flew her to either New York or New Jersey” when she was still underage and took her to a “very tall building” where, she says, she was first introduced to Trump.

According to the accuser, Trump asked everyone else present to leave the room and “mentioned something to the effect of, ‘Let me teach you how little girls are supposed to be.’”

He then allegedly pressed her head against his crotch, anticipating oral sex, only for the woman to bite him, at which point Trump allegedly struck her and said “words to the effect of, ‘get this little bitch the hell out of here.’” She also claims to have heard Trump and Epstein discussing blackmail and money laundering.

In a third interview, conducted later that month, the woman describes receiving threatening phone calls and several incidents where she was “almost run off of the road” by other cars, which she said she believed was ordered by Epstein or Trump.

In a fourth session that October, the woman expressed doubts about the value of making allegations when the statute of limitations on the incidents she described had, in all likelihood, long since passed. She was advised to “to go home and take as much time as she needed to think about speaking with the agents further,” the documents allege.

ADDED: Winding down with this from THE BLACK COMMENTATOR:

BlackCommentator.com

March 5, 2026 Issue 1077

The Black Commentator

Issue #1077

is now Online

March 5, 2026

Read issue 1077

Our email address is BlackCommentator@gmail.com

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The following sites updated:

Thursday, March 05, 2026

A few thoughts

Kristi Noem is out as Secretary of Homeland Security. Chump wants to install Markwayne Markwayne Mullins -- the idiot senator from Oklahoma. I'll call it a win that Kristi's out of her post (but Chump's given her a new one). Hopefully, Markwayne Markwayne won't be a quick confirmation. Be wonderful if he didn't get confirmed but let's hope they do a real hearing and not the rubber stamps that the GOP delivered in the early months of 2025.

Alright, FOX "NEWS" undercovers stories it can't attack. If it can't attack, they go silent on a story. They're doing that on The Epstein Files currently. Alex Henderson notes:

Jeffrey Epstein survivor Danielle Bensky has been an outspoken critic of the U.S. Department of Justice's (DOJ) handling of its files on the late billionaire financier and convicted sex offender. Bensky, who met Epstein when she was a young ballerina and says she was abused by him, has been reaching out to a variety of media outlets —including those on the right.

But according to Bensky, Fox News and other right-wing media outlets are ignoring her.

In a Wednesday, March 4 post on X, former CNN host Jim Acosta — who interviewed Bensky for his internet show — tweeted, "A dancer abused by Epstein, Dani Bensky tells me she and other survivors are being ignored by 'Republican media' outlets like Fox. If you want to understand why so many people are giving Trump a pass on Epstein, it's partly because they’re watching Fox."

They have no value in the story. They can't use it to trash Democrats so they just ignore it.

"The Snapshot" (THE COMMON ILLS):

Thursday, March 5, 2026. Pete Hegseth dishonors the fallen, Chump has no plan for the war he's started with Netanyahu, Kristi Noem cannot admit she was wrong, Congress calls more people to testify about Jeffrey Epstein, and much more.

"He's no where near prepared to be Secretary of Defense," Joe Scarborough declared today on MORNING JOE.

Chief Warrant Officer 3 Robert M Marzan, 54, Maj Jeffrey R O'Brien, 45, Capt Cody Khork, 35, Sgt Noah Tietjens, 42, Sgt Nicole Amor, 39, and Sgt Declan Coady, 20 are the six fallen who've been named. The six fallen troops that Hegseth couldn't honor yesterday. Joe and Mika are right to call Hegseth out on this.

Ben (MEIDASTOUCH NEWS) notes in the video below that there's talk of the war on Iran lasting through September.

Ben also notes the CIA distortion that Kurds in Iraq were leading an uprising against Iran. The Talabani family, to name just one of the two major players in the Kurdistan, is and remains very tight with the Iranian government.

Chump has no plan for this war. Netanyahu announced to the White House that he was going to war with Iran and Chump jumped on board. No questions asked.

Tomorrow, munitions makers will meet at the White House with Chump imploring them to heavily increase their production because, oops, Chump doesn't have the weapons needed to carry out the war that is going to last more than a week.

There was no going to Congress for authorization. There was no planning at all. As Mike notes this morning in "Chump protects the oil but not the American people," Americans are stranded throughout the Middle East. And they're told not to go to the local embassies.

They've been abandoned. Let's note this from US House Rep Ted Lieu's office:

With commercial flights canceled due to war with Iran, many Americans are unable to book trips back to the U.S.

Congressmembers call for Secretary of State Rubio to use charter flights, military operations and all other resources possible to help stranded Americans leave; lawmakers also criticize Administration for failing to have evacuation plan already in place

WASHINGTON – Due to the war with Iran, U.S. Reps. Grace Meng (D-NY) and Ted Lieu (D-CA) late today led a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio urging the State Department to help stranded Americans leave the Middle East and return to the United States.

The State Department has advised Americans in 15 Middle East countries and territories to leave due to serious safety risks, and the agency has instructed them to depart using commercial transportation. But with airlines cancelling commercial flights out of the region, and airports there closed, most Americans are unable to book a trip home. The State Department has announced charter flights from just three of the countries on the list.

The letter to Rubio, which is signed by 61 Members of Congress (including Meng and Lieu), calls for charter flights, military operations and all other resources at the State Department’s disposal to be used to bring Americans back to the U.S. safely and quickly. It also asks the Department to issue updated guidance including making sure Americans know what expenses they are responsible for in the case of evacuation. In addition, the correspondence criticizes the Administration for failing to have an evacuation plan already in place.

“So many Americans want to desperately return home from the Middle East but are unable to do so,” said Meng, “The State Department needs to step up and help them. Three days after the war began, the Department says it’s finally working on it. But it should have already had a plan in place, and now must immediately come up with one to evacuate these stranded Americans, just like other countries are doing for their citizens. This needs to happen at once and I urge the State Department to act as fast as possible.”

“The Trump Administration has totally failed at planning how they were going to keep Americans caught in this conflict safe and get them out of harm’s way,” said Lieu. “The State Department has a responsibility to help Americans get home but has so far come up short, leaving United States citizens to fend for themselves. That’s outrageous. Secretary Rubio and the Trump Administration must do everything in their power to safely evacuate Americans NOW.”

A copy of the letter to Secretary Rubio can be viewed here.

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At THE NEW YORK TIMES, Luke Broadwater observes:

As President Trump uses U.S. military force overseas, his calculation has been that he can launch military operations with the loss of few American lives and minimal disruption to the economy.

The opening days of the war in Iran are challenging that assumption.

Already, six Americans have been killed. Gulf allies are under attack. The stock market wobbled. Gas prices are rising. The U.S. military is spending, by some estimates, hundreds of millions of dollars per day. In Iran, an airstrike on a girls’ elementary school killed 175 people, according to local health officials and Iranian state media, and the Trump administration says it is investigating who was responsible.

While no American ground troops have yet been sent to Iranian soil, the administration has not ruled out deploying soldiers. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Wednesday suggested the conflict might not be short.

“We are accelerating, not decelerating,” Mr. Hegseth told reporters, adding: “More bombers and more fighters are arriving just today.”

[. . .]

Representative Jason Crow, a Colorado Democrat and former Army Ranger who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, warned Wednesday that the United States was headed down the same path of endless war that he had seen firsthand and that Mr. Trump had campaigned against.

“After trillions of dollars, thousands of American lives, decades of endless conflict, my entire adult life, a quarter of a century of American war — here we go again,” Mr. Crow said. “Donald Trump campaigned on ending the wars because he knew at the time that that’s what Americans wanted, and still want, and yet, here we go again.”

The Epstein Files. Alex Woodward (INDEPENDENT) reports:

The Department of Justice has withheld from the public nearly 48,000 files stemming from investigations into Jeffrey Epstein, after publishing more than 2 million pages of documents under the Epstein Files Transparency Act.

The initial legally mandated releases of documents comprised more than 3 million pages, though that figure is now roughly 2.7 million, according to an analysis of the files by CBS News and The Wall Street Journal.

A spokesperson for the Justice Department told the outlets that “47,635 files were offline for further review and should be ready for re-production by the end of the week.”

Those offline files include materials connected to unverified allegations against President Donald Trump, The Independent previously reported.

People need to be testifying to Congress about the relationships with Epstein. Maegan Vazquez (WASHINGTON POST) reported Tuesday night, "Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, a former Manhattan neighbor of Jeffrey Epstein, has agreed to voluntarily testify before the House Oversight Committee as part of its investigation into the convicted sex offender, the panel’s chairman announced Tuesday. Lutnick has faced growing bipartisan pressure to testify about his ties to Epstein following the Justice Department’s release of a tranche of documents that suggested Lutnick maintained contact with Epstein years after claiming to have distanced himself from him." Howard Lutnick is a public servant and he has already deceived the American public once with regards to Epstein. As WIKIPEDIA notes:

Lutnick said in October 2025 interview that he was neighbors with Jeffrey Epstein but swore in 2005 that he would never be in the same room ever again with him due to his "disgusting" behavior at a meeting with Epstein, Lutnick, and Lutnick's wife. As Lutnick explained at that meeting he had asked why Epstein had a massage table in the middle of his house: "I say to him, 'Massage table in the middle of your house? How often do you have a massage?...And he says, 'Every day.' And then he gets, like weirdly close to me, and he says, 'And the right kind of massage'...[I]n the six to eight steps it takes to get from his house to my house, my wife and I decided that I will never be in the room with that disgusting person ever again."[99] Despite this, Lutnick went on to have various contact with Epstein for many years afterward.[99]

He shared that false story. In fact, he continued to have contact with Epstein, he visited Epstein's island -- a photo was circulated last week -- many years after that claimed 2005 break and he was business partners with Epstein. All of this was disguised when Lutnick elected to lie in October while speaking to THE NEW YORK POST's Miranda Devine on her podcast.

He should be testifying and he's not the only one who should. Nathaniel Rosenberg (CT INSIDER) reports, "Lesley Groff may be headed to Washington, D.C., later this year to answer questions from lawmakers on her longtime boss, sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. Groff, a New Canaan resident, on Tuesday was called to testify as part of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee's long-running probe into Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell's trafficking ring. Her testimony was scheduled for June 9, according to a letter sent by committee chair Rep. James Comer, R-Ky.."

On Twitter, Niels Groeneveld explains Groff's role:

The Recruiter’s Lie – How Lesley Groff Kept the Office Running While the System Fell Apart

In the shadowy machinery of Jeffrey Epstein’s empire, Lesley Groff was the person who made the day-to-day operations seamless. She was the consummate executive assistant, the gatekeeper who ensured Epstein’s world spun exactly as he demanded. But Groff’s role was not just clerical; it was structural. From her desk, she managed the flow of appointments, communications, and travel that enabled the exploitation of vulnerable girls to continue undetected for years. She was the quiet engine of the network, ensuring nothing ever seemed out of place—even when everything was.

Survivors and former employees have described Groff as Epstein’s right hand, the one who handled scheduling, arranged flights, booked hotels, and answered calls, including those from the many young women who cycled through Epstein’s orbit. These calls weren’t just about meetings or logistics. They were about grooming, control, and a steady reinforcement of the system’s rules. Victims have testified that Groff called them directly to coordinate visits, often under the guise of employment or “massage” appointments. These seemingly benign interactions helped normalize the abuse, masking predation as routine.

Groff’s position gave her unique visibility into Epstein’s world. She worked in his Manhattan townhouse, in his Florida estate, and within the tight inner circle that kept the billionaire’s secrets. Yet when Epstein’s network began to unravel, Groff was one of the few insiders who managed to avoid serious legal consequences. Her immunity under Epstein’s 2008 non-prosecution agreement—a deal widely criticized as one of the most egregious miscarriages of justice in modern history—ensured she could not be prosecuted for her involvement at the time. It was a legal firewall that silenced questions and allowed her to retreat into private life.

But Groff’s story is more than a tale of one assistant who happened to work for the wrong man. She embodies the way enablers—often women—were embedded into Epstein’s operation to provide a veneer of normalcy. Victims have recalled how Groff and others like her made the network appear professional and legitimate. They sent emails, issued checks, and arranged travel with the same brisk efficiency as any corporate office. This structure lulled outsiders, and even some insiders, into believing that what they were participating in was above board.

The tragedy is that this administrative infrastructure was precisely what allowed Epstein’s crimes to flourish. Without someone like Groff to manage the details, the network would have been chaotic, easier to detect. Instead, everything was curated, timed, and executed with a precision that made Epstein nearly untouchable for years. That she remains largely out of the public eye today, her name only surfacing occasionally in unsealed documents or victim testimony, is a testament to how effectively she has avoided the reckoning that others in Epstein’s circle have faced.

The question that lingers is whether Groff truly understood the full scope of what she was enabling or whether, like others in the network, she compartmentalized her role until it felt like just another job. Victims have little doubt. They remember the calls, the messages, the quiet instructions that kept them coming back. Whether Groff believed the lie or simply repeated it, the result was the same: the office kept running, the system stayed intact, and the abuse continued unabated.

Lesley Groff’s story matters because it illustrates a central truth about networks like Epstein’s. Predators cannot operate at scale without infrastructure, and infrastructure requires people willing to keep the machine humming. The recruiter’s lie was not just about bringing girls into the system. It was about convincing everyone—victims, staff, and perhaps even herself—that nothing was amiss. And as long as that lie held, the system never broke.

Dan Mangan (CNBC) reports, "The House committee investigating the notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein on Tuesday night asked Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Goldman Sachs' top lawyer, Kathryn Ruemmler, billionaires Leon Black and Ted Waitt, and three other people to testify about their dealings with Epstein."

And yesterday came news of another whose testimony is requested, Attorney General Pam Bondi. The Democrats on the House Oversight Committee issued the following:

Washington, D.C. — Today, the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform secured a subpoena for Attorney General Pam Bondi following a motion by Congresswoman Nancy Mace supported by all Committee Democrats. This motion comes as Attorney General Bondi has failed to comply with the bipartisan House Oversight Committee subpoena issued in August 2025, requiring the release of the complete, unredacted files to the Committee, and as the Department of Justice (DOJ) under her leadership continues to illegally withhold and conceal Epstein file materials from Congress.

“For months, Attorney General Bondi has been instrumental in orchestrating the White House’s cover-up of the Epstein files, and has failed to comply with our bipartisan subpoena for the release of the complete, unredacted files. The American people deserve transparency, survivors deserve justice, and we are demanding answers,” said Ranking Member Robert Garcia.

During a full committee hearing of the House Oversight Committee, Republican Congresswoman Nancy Mace proposed the motion to subpoena Attorney General Bondi for her failure to comply with the legally binding Oversight Committee subpoena and the Epstein Files Transparency Act. All Oversight Democrats in attendance voted in the affirmative, joined by Republican Rep. Nancy Mace, Rep. Lauren Boebert, Rep. Michael Cloud, Rep. Scott Perry, and Rep. Tim Burchett. The bipartisan subpoena passed the House Oversight Committee 24 to 19.

Last month, Ranking Member Garcia demanded answers from Attorney General Bondi about the DOJ’s suppression of documents alleging President Trump’s sexual abuse of an underage victim after viewing unredacted DOJ documents, which include specific allegations against President Trump, that were not reflected in the DOJ’s public database. Ranking Member Garcia also called for Attorney General Bondi to resign after learning that the DOJ has been spying on the search history of Members of Congress who go through the “unredacted” versions of the Epstein files. Ranking Member Garcia called out Attorney General Bondi’s massive doxxing of victims after exposing the identities of dozens of survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual abuse in their latest release of documents. In January, Ranking Member Garcia demanded the full release of all the files in the DOJ’s possession after learning that the Department released only 3.5 million pages of the Epstein files, out of the total 6 million pages they collected.

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Tuesday, Senator Mazie Hirono observed,"We've all seen pictures and videos of ICE agents ripping people out of their cars, shooting them with pepper balls, or worse, murdering people in the street. This is not normal. None of this is normal, but it's what communities being targeted by ICE are forced to face every day under this regime." She was speaking at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing where their witness was Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem. We noted some of the hearing yesterday.

Let's note this exchange from the hearing.

Senator Peter Welch: On the question of Alex Pretti and Renee Good . . . knowing what you do know, do you want to take an opportunity to apologize to their families; that you characterized them—on the basis of the information you had at the time—that they were engaged in domestic terrorism?

Secretary Kristi Noem: I certainly offer my condolences to these families, and for their loss. It was a tragic situation that we saw in Minneapolis, and we continue to work to make sure those situations are handled appropriately.

Senator Peter Welch: That’s not an apology. Can I be precise in my question? I understand you’re offering condolences. You said something that accused them of being domestic terrorists: a 37-year-old mother of three; a 37-year-old veterans administration nurse. One question: Do you want to apologize for the characterization that they were domestic terrorists?

Secretary Kristi Noem: I will continue every day to get up and to work hard to give everybody factual information and do all I can to portray --

Senator Peter Welch: I want to move on.

Time and again, senators asked Noem about her describing Renee and Alex as domestic terrorists and time and again, she did not have an apology on hand to provide. Senator Dick Durbin at one point asked her, "Is it so hard to say you were wrong . . . and when you fail, do you admit it publicly?"

She insisted she did ("absolutely") but nothing in her statements on Tuesday or yesterday demonstrated she was capable of saying the words "I was wrong."

Yesterday?

Yesterday, she appeared before the House Judiciary Committee. US House Rep Jamie Raskin is the Ranking Member on the Committee.

US House Rep Jamie Raskin: We're glad to meet you, even though it's been 13 months since you took office and more than five weeks since two American citizens were shot dead in Minneapolis." He was speaking to the Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem who was following up her appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee with one in front of the House committee. Renee Good was a 37 year-old poet about 20 years younger than you are now and, like you, both a devout Christian and the mother of three. She was on her way home from a school drop off when she encountered an ICE operation and one of your agents shot her dead. Shot her three times. She bled out in the driver's seat of her car after your agents refused to let a doctor or EMTs approach her. You expressed no sympathy for her family and no regret for her killing by an ICE agent. You ran a smear campaign against Renee Good. You called her a domestic terrorist. Alex Pretti was also 37 and, like you, a federal worker. He was an ICU nurse at a VA hospital, outstanding in his job, providing comfort to many of our vets in their final hours. He was standing on a street corner filming your agents as they roughed up peaceful protesters -- Americans have the First Amendment right to record government agents in public places -- eight different federal have unanimously found. But your agents pepper-sprayed Alex Pretti for helping a woman that they had pushed to the ground. Then they threw him to the ground. They beat him up. They stripped him of a lawful firearm he had never touched. And then after confiscating it, they shot him dead with ten bullets. Before his body was even cold, you launched a smear campagin against him using the same language, asserting without evidence that Alex Pretti had committed an "act of domestic terrorism and intended to kill law enforcement." The disturbing video tells the true facts you tried to cover up with propaganda and we can play it only because other brave Americans used their phones to capture the actual reality of this horror.

Clip played from NBC NEWS with Kristi Noem declaring Renee Nicole Good's actions "an act of domestic terrorism" and then with her declaring on camera in the report that Alex Pretti was someone who "committed an act of domestic terrorism. That's the facts."

US House Rep Jamie Raskin: Madam Secretary, you've provided no evidence to back up your defamatory lie against either of these American citizens. There have been three homicides in Minneapolis in 2026. Your agents committed two of them. Rather than work with state and local authorities to solve these homicides, you barred Minnesota's investigators from the crime scenes. You're denying them access to all the evidence that you have about the deaths of their citizens. It smells like a cover up and it makes me wonder whot the real domestic terrorists are. But you didn't just lie about Renee Good and Alex Pretti. In dozens of cases, federal judges have found that your officials lied to them in court. A Reagan appointed judge [Judge William G. Young] rejected the testimony of your acting ICE director Todd Lyons as "disingenuous, squalid and dishonorable." Another judge called the affidavit of a top ICE official, "the sorriest statement I've ever seen" adding she was shocked when she saw it and that if you were asking to get a warrant issued on this, I'd throw you out of my chambers. Here are a few more examples of the scores we found in the case books.

Staffers behind Raskin hold up two poster boards one has Judge Karin Immergut's "[. . .] inconsisten with every other piece of evidence received on the subject." the other has Judge Gary R. Brown's "[T]he information presented in the Diaz Declaration proves evasive and demonstrably false."

US House Rep Jamie Raskin (Con't): Yesterday, you insisted under oath to the Senate that you follow court orders but that's not true either. Just last month, your lawyers were forced to admit that you had violated immigration court orders more than 50 times in 10 weeks. And that was just in New Jersey, one of 94 judicial districts in America. In Minnesota, Judge Patrick Schultz, a George W. Bush appointee, concluded that "ICE has likely violated more court orders in January 2026 than some federal agencies have violated in their entire existence . . . ICE is not a law unto itself." And while you make a daily mockery of our courts and our Constitution, you're treating the billions of dollars our colleagues showered on your department like a personal slush fund. You've budgeted an astonishing $220 million for media consultant contracts so you can star in self-promoting photo shoots and lavish ad campaigns like this one of you riding horseback at Mount Rushmore which was shot during last year's government shutdown. You're living rent-free in the official waterfront residence reserved for the commandant of the US Coast Guard. You spent $172 million to buy not one but two luxury jets for your travel. And now you're using taxpayer funds to lease a third jet -- a $70 million luxury 737 Max with a queen-size bedroom in the back, a deluxe serving bar and four flat screen TVs -- a big beautiful jet, paid for by the big, beautiful bill. Yesterday under questioning from the Senate, you said you plan to refurbish this jet to make it into this kind of airplane which is what's actually being used for deportations in order to save the taxpayers money. In other words, you're saying that's actually a deportation plane. But wouldn't it have been cheaper just to buy a deportation plane in the first place? It's like buying a Rolls Royce to turn into a metro bus. I was almost prepared to buy that story of how the jet was both for executive travel and mass deportation. And then I heard about an airborne episode of entitlement, arrogance and contempt that I could hardly believe. Apparently, when your special blanket, your blankie, was left on one of the government jets and not transported over to the new one, your special government employee, Corey Lewandowski, chivalrously stepped forward to fire the pilot midair -- a 2003 Coast Guard Academy graduate and distinguished US Coast Guard Commander in Air Station Washington DC. But then he had to be rehired immediately because there was no one else who could fly the two of you on the rest of the journey back home. Secretary Noem, you're flying high now, maybe even a little bit too close to the sun, but with all these free planes and houses and pilots, you've traveled a long distance from your actual job and the things you should be doing as head of Homeland Security. Your agency is charged with protecting the homeland. It includes FEMA, TSA, the Secret Service, the Coast Guard, the Cyber Security and Infrastructure Security Agency as well as ICE and CBP. Yet you've hollowed out the national security mission. You've redeployed thousands of people responsible for tracking terror financing and fighting cyber threats to go work on your mass immigration roundup. You reassigned to the roundup agents working a key national security probe into Iran's terror financing -- paralyzing that investigation. And to run what's left of Homeland Security's ruined terrorism prevention office, you actually installed a 22 year-old intern whose chief listed qualification for the job was that he had participated in a model UN club his junior year of college. Through FEMA, you're supposed to provide disaster relief to our communities. Yet last summer, as floods devastated central Texas and killed 135 people, including 25 girls and 2 counselors at a Christian summer camp, you withheld crucial support, including search and rescue teams, for 72 hours. Why? Those were three crucial days during which people drowned and died waiting for bureaucratic approval. You promised to use ICE and CBP to expel the worst undocumented immigrants guilty of committing violent crimes like the people responsible for murdering the children of these angel families, these angel mom and moms and dads who've joined us today. Instead, your masked agents have been indiscriminately rounding up any and all immigrants and citizens who your agents think look like immigrants. They've arrested kindergarteners, daycare teachers and parents dropping off kids at school. They drag grandparents out of their homes in their underwear in sub-zero temperatures and rip children out of their beds in the middle of the night or use them as bait to arrest their parents. Just last month, your agents picked up Nurul Amin Shah Alam -- a severely disabled and nearly blind Rohingya refugee lawfully in America who didn't speak English. You claimed your agents dropped him at a safe, warm location. Again, not the truth. They dropped him off miles from his home in the dark at a closed coffee shop in subfreezing temperatures. And now because of this cruelty, this man too is dead. You have a quarter of a million employees and a budget larger than that of 150 countries. You command over 80,000 sworn law enforcement officers, more than the number of police officers in New York, Chicago, LA, Houston, DC, Las Vegas and Dallas combined. On top of that, our colleagues have handed ICE an additional $75 billion by slashing funds for Medicaid, children's health insurance and rural hospitals. Secretary Noem, your job is to protect the homeland. The most precious possession that we've got in our homeland is our freedom and the Constitution and the Bill of Rights that protect it. You seem to have forgotten what our most precious possession is. The billions of dollars showered on your department have paid for violence and chaos in the American heartland and a sweeping assault on the basic rights of the American people. But the heroic citizens of Minneapolis have shown America how to fight back against this reign of terror and win with the truth, with solidarity, with mutual self-help, with creative joy and humor and music, with mass nonviolent assembly and protest, and with irrepressible love of children and kindness towards animals and other living things. You've turned our government against our people and you've turned our people against our government. But the people are winning today. Although we know we must continue to wake up every day like the people of Minneapolis and go out and fight for constitutional freedom. We are clearly in the fight of our lives and we obviously have very serious questions for you today about what you are turning our government into.

Let's wind down with this from Senator Patty Murray's office:

NYT: Despite Promises, Veterans Affairs Department Cut Thousands of Roles for Doctors and Nurses – READ HERE

***WATCH: Senator Murray’s opening remarks at the hearing***

Washington, D.C. — Today, at a joint Senate and House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs hearing for the legislative presentation of The American Legion and VSOs, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA)—a former chair and senior member of the Senate committee—spoke forcefully to her Republican colleagues on the true cost of Trump’s war of choice with Iran. Senator Murray reiterated her call to end the war with Iran and slammed Trump for sending our servicemembers to war while failing to keep his promise to care for them when they return home, as he cuts thousands of unfilled roles for nurses and doctors at VA.

In opening comments, Senator Murray said:

“Thank you to all of you who are here today and everyone in this country who has served our nation. We all owe you, and we all say this, a debt of gratitude for your service, but it is more than that. We owe you to keep the promise that when you come home, we will be there for you in any way, both to the current veterans and to the ones who we will see in the future.

“I think it’s really important today Mr. Chairman, and this has kind of been glossed over, this point of time we are in, where we have a President who is taking us to war in Iran. Who seems to have no problem sending other kids off to a war, but seems to have a problem in picking up the tab, when it comes right by doing our servicemembers when they come home. With a VA right now, that has waiting lines that veterans can’t get served, that we see doctors and nurses who are not being hired, and no thought has been given to that.

“What we hear from Trump, is that he is saying this bombing campaign in Iran could go on ‘indefinitely.’ He’s saying that the death of our servicemembers in a war of choice is, quote and he said this— ‘just the way it is.’ He’s saying he won’t rule out putting American boots on the ground in Iran.

“I think it is a very serious time for our country. I have served on this committee for more than thirty years, I know the consequences of war as each and every one of you does in front of me. And to go to war without preparing for the future and making sure that we are there for the men and women who serve us—and we thank them for that—but when they come home as well. And Mr. Chairman, we are not ready for that today, this has to be a consequence that we consider.

“For numerous reasons, I’m going to be using my voice today to vote no on the war in Iran. But it is the responsibility of this committee and every Member of Congress to think about all the consequences of war and take that into account and hold this administration accountable and make that clear when we make our choices moving forward. I thought it was really important to say that today with all of you who have served our country and know what those sacrifices mean.”

Senator Murray was the first woman to join the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee and the first woman to chair the Committee—as the daughter of a World War II veteran, supporting veterans and their families has always been an important priority for her. Senator Murray has been outspoken in standing up for veterans, VA employees, and VA researchers against Trump and Elon Musk’s indiscriminate mass layoffs last year—forcefully denouncing the administration’s plans, pressing administration witnesses at every opportunity, and holding multiple press conferences with VA employees and veterans in Washington state who were abruptly laid off for no reason. Last year, Senator Murray forcefully denounced the Trump administration’s initial plan to fire 80,000 employees at VA. Toward the end of last year, Senator Murray released a videoslamming the Trump administration’s new plan not to fill thousands of open positions at VA, and demanding answers.

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The following sites updated: