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LetMyPeopleVote

LetMyPeopleVote's Journal
LetMyPeopleVote's Journal
February 15, 2026

Maddowblog-Conversation about Jared Kushner served as basis for Gabbard whistleblower complaint

New details are bringing the DNI whistleblower controversy into sharper focus.
https://x.com/AndreasBoos/status/2022483331221270927
https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/conversation-about-jared-kushner-served-as-basis-for-gabbard-whistleblower-complaint

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard’s troubles managed to get worse early last week when The Wall Street Journal reported that an unnamed U.S. intelligence official accused the DNI of wrongdoing in a highly sensitive whistleblower complaint that was supposed to be shared with Congress....

On Thursday, one of the core details of the story also came to the fore. The Wall Street Journal reported:

The highly classified whistleblower complaint against Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard is related to a conversation intercepted last spring in which two foreign nationals discussed Jared Kushner, according to U.S. officials familiar with the matter.

It couldn’t be determined which country the foreign nationals are from or what they discussed about Kushner. But the connection to Kushner sheds further light on the top-secret whistleblower complaint that bureaucratically stalled within Gabbard’s agency for eight months and was kept locked in a safe until it reached Congress in heavily redacted form last week.


....And when that same official filed a complaint that was supposed to be shared with Congress, Gabbard apparently chose a different path.

There are still other unanswered questions — we don’t know what country the foreign nationals were from or what they had to say about Kushner — but the latest revelations should probably renew the broader conversation about the president’s son-in-law and his role in the administration.

In Trump’s first term, Kushner had an almost comically broad policy portfolio, but in the wake of Trump’s defeat in 2020, his son-in-law shifted his focus away from domestic policymaking and toward international business, launching a private equity firm and picking up $2 billion from Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund.

In the president’s second term, he’s nevertheless brought Kushner back into the fold, tapping his son-in-law to serve as a special envoy, representing the White House in Russia and the Middle East — despite concerns about Kushner’s experience, skill set, potential conflicts of interest and role in the private sector.
February 15, 2026

Government 101

February 15, 2026

MaddowBlog-It's not just Bannon: Republican lawmakers want ICE agents at local voting precincts

“There’s no reason for us to deploy to a polling facility,” the acting head of ICE said. Some GOP officials want to see it happen anyway.

#Republicans the #fascist party in the #USA It’s not just #Bannon: Republican lawmakers want #ICE agents at local voting precincts www.ms.now/rachel-maddo... #EVIL has taken over in te #US under #Trump stealing the #midterms #elections the world has to unite a against Trumps's America. #ASAP

Pi-Qui Djinn Djinni (@pi-qui.bsky.social) 2026-02-13T21:43:48.345Z

https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/its-not-just-bannon-republican-lawmakers-want-ice-agents-at-local-voting-precincts

“You’re damn right we’re going to have ICE surround the polls come November,” Bannon said on his podcast earlier this week.....

That said, it wasn’t long before his idea gained favor among Republicans on Capitol Hill.

Rep. Jason Smith: "Why should you ban ICE from being at polling places? Illegals are not supposed to vote in America. It does not make sense."

Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2026-02-12T13:26:12.197Z


For example, Rep. Jason Smith, who chairs the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, appeared on CNBC and said, “Why should you ban ICE from being at polling places? Because illegals aren’t supposed to vote in this America.”

The Missouri Republican said he believes that prohibiting ICE agents from patrolling local voting precincts “does not make sense.”

Around the same time, Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah asked by way of social media: “If noncitizens don’t vote, then why are Democrats worried about ICE agents going anywhere near a polling location?”

If these GOP lawmakers are genuinely confused, I think I can help.

Only American citizens can register to vote and cast ballots in federal elections. Republicans have spent years trying to find evidence of a national crisis of noncitizens voting, but the party has so far come up empty, chasing a mirage....

There’s no great mystery here. Too many on the right apparently want to create an environment of fear and intimidation, deploying federal immigration agents in the hopes that it might discourage voters from minority communities, fearing harassment and possible detention, from showing up and participating in their own country’s democracy.

SLOTKIN: Do you believe that ICE has the authority to be deployed to polling places?

LYONS: There's no reason for it

S: So if the president says he needs you to go and physically deploy around polling places, you'll say no?

L: There's no reason for us to deploy, but we do investigate voter fraud

Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2026-02-12T18:13:16.625Z


If lawmakers such as Smith and Lee continue to find this confusing, they could take up the matter with Todd Lyons, the acting ICE chief, who testified at a Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing Thursday that he didn’t see the point of what some Republicans were proposing.

“There’s no reason for us to deploy to a polling facility,” he told Democratic Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan at the hearing.


To think that some might have a problem with this “does not make sense” is ridiculous.
February 15, 2026

Navalny Was Poisoned With Frog Toxin, European Governments Say (NYT Gift Subscription)

The toxin was found in the body of the Russian dissident Aleksei A. Navalny, who died in prison two years ago, five governments said, challenging Russia’s official account.
https://x.com/davidaxelrod/status/2022725245703241790
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/14/world/europe/russia-navalny-poison.html?unlocked_article_code=1.MFA.R4jW.xcTUGM3fevsI&smid=nytcore-ios-share

Aleksei A. Navalny was most likely poisoned by a toxin found in a South American frog, five European countries said on Saturday, making the most concrete Western accusation yet that Russia’s leading opposition figure was murdered by his government in an Arctic prison two years ago.

Samples taken from Mr. Navalny’s body showed the presence of a toxic substance, epibatidine, according to a statement released by the foreign ministries of Britain, France, Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands.

“Epibatidine is a toxin found in poison dart frogs in South America. It is not found naturally in Russia,” the statement read.

“Only the Russian government had the means, motive and opportunity to deploy this lethal toxin against Alexei Navalny during his imprisonment in Russia,” it read.

The finding directly challenges Russia’s official account of Mr. Navalny’s death, which was that he died of natural causes. Instead, the statement said, the presence of a foreign toxin shows that the Russian authorities most likely killed Mr. Navalny, who was the government’s most prominent political opponent when he died in a maximum-security prison in the Russian Arctic in 2024.

It was also clear evidence that Russia has not ended its use of chemical weapons, disregarding international law, the statement added.
February 15, 2026

Golfers sue Trump administration over public course takeover in D.C.

Some area golfers say the president’s ambitions for East Potomac Golf Links could put low-cost entry points to the game out of reach.

Golfers sue Trump administration over public course takeover in D.C.

Some area golfers say the president’s ambitions for East Potomac Golf Links could put low-cost entry points to the game out of reach.

www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Helena (@gatomedianoche.bsky.social) 2026-02-15T01:21:04.126Z

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/02/14/dc-public-golf-course-trump-lawsuit

A pair of Washington-area golfers sued the Trump administration Friday over the president’s plan to overhaul a public golf course, alleging it violated several laws and the original spirit of the park.

Dave Roberts and Alex Dickson, who describe themselves as frequent patrons of East Potomac Golf Links, say the Interior Department skipped required environmental and health reviews to rush the project. The DC Preservation League, a nonprofit that advocates for protecting historic sites, joined the lawsuit, which watchdog groups and lawyers who have frequently opposed President Donald Trump’s agenda filed in U.S. District Court.

The lawsuit seeks to halt the project, vacate federal approvals and block any reassignment or termination of the existing lease, pending a full review. The complaint alleges possible violations of the National Environmental Policy Act, the National Historic Preservation Act and the Administrative Procedure Act, along with the 1897 congressional act that created the park and called for it to be “forever held and used as a park for the recreation and pleasure of the people.”

Trump, an avid golfer, and his allies have moved to remake East Potomac Golf Links and other local public courses, arguing that they are overlooked, often worn-down and in need of attention. Last year, the Interior Department terminated the lease of National Links Trust, a nonprofit that previously managed East Potomac and two other local courses.....

The Democracy Forward Foundation, Lowell & Associates and Democracy Defenders Fund brought the lawsuit.

We are acting to save this priceless part of our national park system from being another casualty of a reckless administration. We are honored for the partnership of our plaintiffs in fighting back against this unlawful assault on our cherished public space,” said Skye Perryman, the president and chief executive of Democracy Forward.
February 15, 2026

MaddowBlog-After a judge sided with Mark Kelly, what happens to Pete Hegseth's crusade?

The sooner the Pentagon chief and the rest of the Trump administration move on from this fiasco, the better off everyone will be.

After a judge sided with Mark Kelly, what happens to Pete Hegseth’s crusade?
The sooner the Pentagon chief and the rest of the Trump administration move on from this fiasco, the better off everyone will be. Pete hegseth is another little trump bitch.

Donna898 (@donna-f898.bsky.social) 2026-02-14T18:01:28.412Z

https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/after-a-judge-sided-with-mark-kelly-what-happens-to-pete-hegseths-crusade

In mid-December, the Pentagon announced that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was “escalating” his crusade against Sen. Mark Kelly, launching an “official Command Investigation” into the Arizona Democrat. It was, as The Washington Post noted soon after, an “unprecedented use of the military justice system to investigate a political adversary.”.....

If the former Fox News host had his hopes up, he has reason to be disappointed. MS NOW reported:

A federal judge temporarily blocked Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday from censuring Sen. Mark Kelly or reducing his military pension over a video reminding troops to ‘refuse illegal orders.’

U.S. District Judge Richard Leon’s preliminary injunction prevents Hegseth from taking those actions or reducing Kelly’s rank as a retired Navy captain
.


“Secretary Hegseth relies on the well-established doctrine that military servicemembers enjoy less vigorous First Amendment protections given the fundamental obligation for obedience and discipline in the armed forces,” the George W. Bush-appointed jurist wrote in his 29-page opinion.

Unfortunately for Secretary Hegseth, no court has ever extended those principles to retired servicemembers, much less a retired servicemember serving in Congress and exercising oversight responsibility over the military,” the judge added. “This Court will not be the first to do so!”.....

Hegseth’s failure dovetails with one of his former Fox colleagues, Jeanine Pirro, who’s currently the top federal prosecutor in the nation’s capital, authorizing prosecutors this week to try to persuade a grand jury to indict Kelly and his congressional colleagues on charges of seditious conspiracy.

That didn’t go well: Regular citizens on the grand jury rejected the ridiculous gambit on Tuesday. In fact, MS NOW confirmed that literally zero members of the grand jury were inclined to go along with the partisan scheme.

The sooner Hegseth and the rest of the Trump administration move on from this fiasco, the better off everyone will be.
February 15, 2026

Ex-GOP insider urges DOJ official to 'get pardon from Trump' after legal violation flagged

trump is not well. Blanch needs to get his pardon before trump is unable to grant that pardon

A former GOP strategist urged Deputy U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche on Saturday to get a "pardon from Trump sooner than later" because the president may soon die.

Raw Story (@rawstory.com) 2026-02-15T14:09:07.752Z

https://www.rawstory.com/todd-blanche-2675270129/

A former GOP strategist urged Deputy U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche on Saturday to get a "pardon from Trump sooner than later" because the president may soon die.

The disagreement began with a report that Dem. Rep. Ro Khanna had mistakenly read the names of innocent men on the floor of the House, as he asked why their names were redacted from the Epstein files released by the DOJ.

"Reps Khanna and Massie pushed the DOJ to unredact a file in the Epstein files. Then Khanna read four men's names from it in a House floor speech, calling them 'wealthy and powerful men that the DOJ hid for no apparent reason.' The only problem is that file is a SDNY photo lineup, and the 16 people on it have no known ties to Epstein, the DOJ confirmed," Jacqueline Sweet reported. "We identified 12 of the people on the list, and spoke to two of the men Khanna named, who denied any connection to Epstein and were seeking answers as to why their names were in the news. The lineup simply included people apparently arrested for various unrelated crimes over two decades in NYC, who resembled Maxwell and Epstein."

.....Enter conservative activist Rick Wilson, who recently predicted that "accountability is coming in hot" for fellow Trump appointee Pam Bondi. This time, he took aim at Blanche.

"Congress owes you nothing, Todd. DOJ from top to bottom is clearly engaged in a massive coverup and violations of the law," Wilson wrote. "You should get that pardon from Trump sooner than later. You never know when the actuarial tables will catch up to him."

https://x.com/TheRickWilson/status/2022674993528607196
February 15, 2026

Seething Trump froze out 2 Senate Republicans after racist video criticism: report

trump is really mad at two GOP senators

A simmering President Donald Trump privately fumed over the weekend at Mar-a-Lago at Republicans who dared to criticize his social media post sharing a racist video about the Obamas, according to a new report Friday.

Raw Story (@rawstory.com) 2026-02-14T05:00:10.652Z

https://www.rawstory.com/trump-video-obama/

A simmering President Donald Trump privately fumed over the weekend at Mar-a-Lago at Republicans who dared to criticize his social media post sharing a racist video about the Obamas, according to a new report Friday.

After refusing to apologize, Trump spent days stewing and plotting payback against GOP allies who spoke out, CNN's Alayna Treene reported.

The targets of his ire: Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), the sole Black Republican senator, and Sen. Katie Britt (R-AL).

“The president felt he could’ve handled that matter privately,” a senior Trump administration official told CNN about Scott. “He was like, ‘We work together all the time. He didn’t need to comment publicly.’”

Trump reportedly questioned the lawmakers' loyalty for publicly condemning the racist video and unleashed expletives while declaring Britt dead to him.

The video depicting the Obamas as apes stayed online for nearly 12 hours before removal — and only after GOP backlash forced the president's hand. Trump refused to accept responsibility, blaming an unnamed staffer while insisting "I didn't make a mistake."
February 15, 2026

Trump staff supplied applause during 'overtly political' speech to silent service members

The military did NOT applaud trump's latest speech

Trump staff supplied applause during 'overtly political' speech to silent service members

Raw Story (@rawstory.com) 2026-02-14T18:00:07.857Z

https://www.rawstory.com/trump-military-speech-2675269626/

Donald Trump's appearance at Ft. Bragg military base in North Carolina on Friday was met with a muted response from attending service members that put local GOP officials and the president’s staff in the position of of having to show enthusiasm for his remarks.

According to a report from the Washington Post, the presidential visit, which included a rare appearance by First Lady Melania Trump, was “overtly political” and included an exhortation for attendees to vote for Republicans in the midterm elections.

“You have to vote for us,” Trump told the troops as he pointed to his executive order restoring Ft. Bragg’s name after he was re-elected and then warning, “If we don’t win the midterms, they’ll take it off again. They’ll take it off again. You can’t let that happen.”

According to the Post’s Isaac Arnsdorf, Trump’s claims did not evoke much of a response from the crowd.

“Most of the uniformed service members refrained from reacting during Trump’s speech other than raising phones to take photos or videos,” the Post is reporting. “They mostly left the applause and cheers to his staff and the assembled Republican politicians, including the home state’s Sen. Ted Budd and Reps. Richard Hudson, Brad Knott and David Rouze

The report notes that despite Defense Department policy prohibits partisan political activity by active-duty service members, the president did rouse a few cheers, “when Trump asked who had received the $1,776 bonus checks he approved in December
February 15, 2026

'South Texas will never be red again': Home builders warn GOP over Trump's immigration raids

There are some demographic trends that show that Texas will turn blue. I was surprised to see Latino voters and the Rio Grande Valley support trump in 2024. I grew up in the Rio Grande Valley and that area used to be very blue. The recent Texas state senate race flipped Democratic because of Latino voters not being happy with trump. It seems that the shift in Latino voters could affect the Texas gerrymandered races
https://x.com/ThePoliticalHQ/status/2022829323267580384
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/02/14/south-texas-will-never-be-red-again-builders-warn-gop-over-trumps-immigration-raids-00781374

The meetings this month came after Democrats crushed a Republican in a special runoff election for a state senate seat in a Trump-friendly district in Tarrant County, which includes most of Fort Worth, rattling Republicans nationally. New research from the American Business Immigration Coalition and Comité de 100, first obtained by POLITICO, shows how slipping support among Latino voters could affect Republican-leaning districts in Texas, Pennsylvania, Florida and California.

Here is the chart that was cited
https://x.com/BeshearStan/status/2022777198445297691

trump's ICE policies may alienate Latino voters and turn Texas blue

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