State Department Finally Admits Real Reason It Detained Tufts Student

It’s official: ICE abducted a Tufts University student over an op-ed.

Rümeysa Öztürk, a Turkish Ph.D. candidate, was snatched off the street by six masked federal officers in March last year, even after the State Department had determined that the Trump administration had no evidence linking her to antisemitic activity.

The Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Homeland Security Investigations alleged that by co-authoring an opinion essay in the student newspaper that demanded Tufts “acknowledge the Palestinian genocide” and divest from companies tied to Israel, Öztürk was “creating a hostile environment for Jewish students and indicating support for a terrorist organization.”

A State Department memo, newly unsealed Thursday, states that the Trump administration “has not provided any evidence showing that Ozturk has engaged in any antisemitic activity or made any public statements indicating support for a terrorist organization or antisemitism generally.”

While Öztürk had expressed support for a student resolution put forth by the now-banned group Tufts Students for Justice in Palestine, the Trump administration did not supply evidence that Öztürk was involved in “any of the activities which resulted in TJSP being suspended from Tufts.”

Öztürk’s apparent kidnapping was part of a spate of arrests of foreign-born academics who had merely expressed support for Palestinians. If cruelty is the message of the Trump administration’s sweeping crackdown on immigrants and free speech, then Öztürk’s arrest was part of the opening salvo.

In May, a federal judge ordered that Öztürk be released from federal custody “immediately,” as she had made “substantial claims” that her constitutional rights had been violated. “Her continued detention chills the speech of the millions and millions of people who are not citizens,” U.S. District Judge William Sessions said at the time.

Kash Patel is firing senior agents and directors at the FBI with connections to investigations into Donald Trump.

MS NOW reports that the FBI has removed the special agent in charge in Atlanta, the acting assistant director of New York’s field office, and up to six agents in Miami who were involved in the bureau’s search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in 2022. Other agents who were involved in investigating Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election have also lost their jobs.

Firing employees en masse was previously unheard of at the FBI, which has a reputation for having nonpartisan career staffers. The move comes one week after Patel told a right-wing news outlet that he’d fire anyone who paid confidential sources to help identify rioters involved in the January 6, 2021 Capitol insurrection.

Patel has already fired other agents over perceived disloyalty to Trump, and, in one instance, for displaying an LGBTQ pride flag. Twelve agents who were fired last year for taking a knee during the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests sued Patel in December.

The FBI Agents Association, which represents more than 14,000 active and retired FBI special agents, has said that any firings of FBI agents without evidence of misconduct or other proper cause goes against the bureau’s policies, but Patel has ignored such criticisms.

The firings came one day after The New York Times published a lengthy and unflattering account of Patel’s one-year tenure at the FBI based on interviews with 45 current and former bureau employees. Not only did the article show Patel as incompetent and more concerned about image than effectiveness, but it also confirmed that his chief goal is carrying out retribution on behalf of the president. That seems to be the goal in this latest purge.

In apparent blissful ignorance of the country’s ICE-induced bedlam, several House Democrats voted alongside nearly every Republican member to give more money to the immigration agency.

The Department of Homeland Security’s $64.4 billion bill passed Thursday by a vote of 220–207, with seven Democrats voting in its favor. They were Representatives Henry Cuellar (Texas), Tom Suozzi (New York), Vicente Gonzalez (Texas), Laura Gillen (New York), Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (Washington), Jared Golden (Maine), and Don Davis (North Carolina).

Ahead of the vote, Suozzi wrote online that while “there is no question that ICE has overstepped its bounds,” he was willing to continue feeding the agency in order to avoid a government shutdown.

“I am voting for the Department of Homeland Security appropriations bill, not to expand ICE enforcement or add more agents, but to fund the core operations Americans rely on every day, FEMA disaster response, TSA security, Customs and Border Protection, the Coast Guard, passport processing, and other essential services,” Suozzi posted on X.

Suozzi also argued that the funding bill was the “product of bipartisan negotiations and responsible governing” and would provide funding for those critical agencies and services without expanding ICE’s budget.

Gillen issued a similar statement, claiming that her support was driven by advancing FEMA disaster relief. Other priorities of Gillen’s addressed in the package included efforts to stop child trafficking and the spread of fentanyl, and new support for cybersecurity and law enforcement.

“I’m shocked my colleagues would vote to cut off national and community security funding while leaving ICE to operate under the status quo,” she wrote.

The Democrats in favor of the bill tried to underscore its meager wins on reining in ICE: $20 million to outfit ICE personnel with body cameras, cuts to ICE funding for enforcement and removal operations, and a downsizing of the number of detention beds.

But the bulk of the caucus saw the funding package as a broken take on their current policy positions, chastising their colleagues for supporting the agency at a time when ICE is mass-employing undertrained personnel and giving them broad immunity to harass, intimidate, and harm American communities. A vote in favor, according to some Democrats, could bode poorly come midterms.

“You can’t out-Republican Republicans, because you’re going to lose your base and you’re not going to get any of the Republicans to come over to you,” Representative Pramila Jayapal told NBC News.

Meanwhile, one Republican voted against the measure—Kentucky Representative Thomas Massie—though his opposition did not have to do with what’s happening in Minneapolis, Chicago, or other ICE hot spots.

In a post on X, Massie argued that while he “voted for the SAVE Act and support[s] deporting illegals,” he wouldn’t approve more financial support to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, which he derided as the “liberals’ favorite censorship agency.”

“I don’t support online censorship,” Massie wrote.

Instead of high-speed rail or sorely needed infrastructure overhaul, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is using his powers to try to bring IndyCar racing to the streets of downtown Washington, D.C.

Punchbowl News reported Friday that Duffy is pushing for an IndyCar race around the National Mall as a part of the America250 celebrations this upcoming August. The Supreme Court would serve as the start and end of a full lap around the mall.

“The Grand Prix is an unprecedented opportunity to celebrate our nation’s proud racing pedigree, showcase the beauty of the National Mall, and generate millions in critical tourism revenue for the capital,” a Transportation Department spokesperson said. “We’ll keep working with our partners in Congress to outline the positive impacts it will have on the District and correct the record.”

The plan would need congressional approval, since there’s a ban on advertising on Capitol grounds, and Democrats are reportedly already concerned about potential infrastructure and logistics issues an event like this could cause. And they aren’t the only skeptics.

“The IndyCar schedule has been set for months, but Duffy wants this GP in August. How does this fit in? Non-championship exhibition event like Thermal Club was in ’24?” journalist Benjamin S. Weiss commented. “Does anyone actually think a street circuit along the Mall would make for good racing?”

FBI Director Kash Patel doesn’t like to read briefings.

Forty-five current FBI employees spoke to The New York Times about the state of the bureau one year into Patel’s tenure, and his lack of interest in reading is one of the many revelations about their new director. What they had to say painted a damning picture of Patel’s leadership.

Patel made his feelings known on the written word during his first director’s call with the heads of the bureau’s field offices. On that call, according to one field office leader, Patel “had no agenda, no thoughts, no strategy or leadership philosophy or priorities to share.”

“I specifically remember him saying at one point, ‘I don’t read.’ He explained he didn’t read briefing materials,” the leader said.

This seems to fit right in with previous reporting about Patel, from his repeated use of the FBI’s private jet to see his singer girlfriend to his apparent obsession with social media. In fact, the tagline of the Times report is about how current and former FBI employees say Patel’s changes “are undermining the agency and making America less safe.”

Patel largely got the FBI job because President Trump was impressed with his desire to take revenge on Trump’s enemies. It seems that a willingness to take the job seriously and effectively run the most powerful law enforcement agency in the U.S. wasn’t a factor, nor was the desire to read important materials. That’s something that he has in common with Trump.

President Donald Trump blamed the “big aspirin” he’s taking for his enormous bruise that has suddenly switched hands.

Trump was photographed at the World Economic Forum in Davos this week with what appeared to be yet another large bruise. This time, the back of his left hand was discolored, though normally it’s his right hand that’s been bruised.

Speaking to reporters on Air Force One Thursday, Trump offered an explanation for the injury.

“I clipped it on the table. So I put a little uh, what do they call it? Cream on it. But I clipped it,” Trump told reporters. “I would say, take aspirin if you like your heart, but don’t take aspirin if you don’t wanna have a little bruising. You know, if you take the big—I take the big aspirin. And when you take the big aspirin, they tell you, you bruise.

“The doctor said, ‘You don’t have to take that sir, you’re very healthy.’ I said, ‘I’m not taking any chances,’” Trump recounted.

As intent as Trump is to blame the injury on “big aspirin,” clearly he didn’t want to appear actually feeble.

But the oldest president ever elected to office has regularly been spotted with mysterious bruising on the back of his hand, giving rise to speculations about his health—including as to whether he is receiving undisclosed intravenous treatment.

The White House has dismissed concerns, citing Trump’s “frequent hand shaking and the use of aspirin”—a dubious line, given that the mark appears on the part of the hand subjected to the least, if any, pressure during a handshake.

President Trump is selling permanent membership spots on his new “Board of Peace” for $1 billion—and he won’t tell us what the money is for. 

“On the Board of Peace, some of the countries … I think the permanent members contributed a billion dollars,” a reporter asked Trump on Thursday night aboard Air Force One. “Is that money supposed to be for Gaza?” 

The “Board of Peace” was initially a post-ceasefire reconstruction plan for Gaza, hence the reporter’s question. But now it seems to have evolved into a Trump-controlled dupe of the United Nations.

“Some of the countries have already put up much more than that,” Trump responded. “Much more than that.” 

“What’s that money for?”

“That’s a lot of money, but it’s nothing compared to the value of peace,” Trump said, completely ignoring the direct question. “It’s so destructive for everybody when you have wars.” 

This is an incredibly dubious answer, especially from a president who has spent so much of his tenure personally enriching himself and his family. Is the membership fee for a chunk of real estate in Jared Kushner’s abhorrent “New Gaza” plan? Or is it going straight to Trump’s pocket via some offshore bank account based in Qatar? We may never know.  

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s rising global popularity has cost him a seat at Donald Trump’s “Board of Peace.”

“Dear Prime Minister Carney,” Trump posted on Truth Social Thursday evening. “Please let this Letter serve to represent that the Board of Peace is withdrawing its invitation to you regarding Canada’s joining, what will be, the most prestigious Board of Leaders ever assembled, at any time.

“Thank you for your attention to this matter!” he added.

The sudden revocation came hours after a heated back-and-forth between the neighboring leaders regarding Carney’s scathing address at the World Economic Forum in Davos, in which he marked the finale of Pax Americana and the end of a “rules-based order.”

“Every day we’re reminded that we live in an era of great-power rivalry,” Carney said Tuesday. “That the rules-based order is fading. That the strong can do what they can, and the weak must suffer what they must.

“The middle powers must act together because if we’re not at the table, we’re on the menu.”

The speech was phenomenally well met—except by Trump, who proceeded to warn Carney online that “Canada lives because of the United States.” Then he pulled the plug on Canada’s invite to his supposedly coveted “Board of Peace.”

Trump initially floated his “Board of Peace” idea back in September, as part of a 20-point peace plan to control Gaza, promising to include major heads of state as well as former world leaders, such as former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair.

But the board’s charter, as circulated to dozens of nations last week, makes little mention of Gaza. Instead, its goals appear to be as lofty as they are broad, seeking to “promote stability, restore dependable and lawful governance, and secure enduring peace in areas affected or threatened by conflict.”

The concept came under new scrutiny over the last week in light of Trump’s escalations toward Greenland and NATO. Trump has also invited leaders of nations with terrible track records on human rights, such as Russia and Saudi Arabia, to join.

Longtime U.S. allies warned that the “Board of Peace” could upend world order, with several, including France, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Slovenia, refusing to join the board at all.

Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob told reporters Wednesday that he had declined on the basis that such a body “dangerously interferes with the broader international order.”

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents dragged a half-naked elderly grandfather out into the snow in handcuffs while on a manhunt—but the person they were looking for was already in custody.

The Department of Homeland Security tried to justify dragging ChongLy “Scott” Thao out into the snowy streets of St. Paul, Minnesota, over the weekend by claiming that ICE had been conducting a “targeted operation” to arrest two convicted sex offenders who were “AT LARGE.”

But Minnesota Department of Corrections Commissioner Paul Schnell revealed Thursday night that one of the targets of that operation, Lue Moua, who was allegedly wanted for assault of a minor, was already in custody.

“He is in fact in prison and subject to a detainer,” Schnell said, during an interview on CNN’s OutFront with Erin Burnett. Schnell said ICE had previously been notified that Moua was not actually “at large.”

Schnell explained that while ICE’s coordination with local law enforcement was “long-standing,” ICE was not well coordinated with state law enforcement. “This is happening at a much higher level, a political level, and I think that’s part of the challenge here,” he said.

Clearly, DHS has been using the alleged presence of undocumented immigrants with heinous criminal records to justify countless cruelties in Minnesota, but the stories it’s spinning are simply fiction, and the so-called criminals it’s looking for aren’t even on the streets anymore.

Earlier this week, DHS demanded that leaders in Minnesota give it access to county jails and state prisons in order to deport an alleged 1,360 inmates who may be subject to deportation. The Minnesota Department of Corrections said the number of inmates DHS had actually identified was closer to 300 people—who would historically be released to federal officials after they’d finished serving their sentences.

Vice President JD Vance is claiming that the ICE violence in Minneapolis is the fault of leaders there.

Speaking to reporters while visiting Minnesota, Vance was asked what he would say to Minnesotans who say that ICE’s increased presence and harsh tactics are making them unsafe. Vance blamed local authorities for refusing to cooperate.

“I’d say that we’re doing everything that we can to lower the temperature, and we would like federal and local—excuse me, state and local officials to meet us halfway,” Vance began, before NBC reporter Maggie Vespa interjected.

“Are you saying that they’re not perceiving it correctly? Are you saying that they’re not seeing that it’s the tactics or the presence of the officers that are—” the reporter asked before Vance cut in.

“I’m sure that there are people that are seeing a lot of things that would make any member of our national community feel very upset, but I also think that if you understand this in context, this is the inevitable consequence of a state and local government that have decided that they’re not going to cooperate with immigration enforcement at all. In fact, they’re going to aggressively not cooperate,” Vance said.

Vance’s remarks are alarming, as he just glossed over the murder of Renee Good earlier this month, which touched off much of the protest in Minneapolis against ICE, as well as the many striking headlines from the area since then, including the use of a 5-year-old boy as bait Tuesday to arrest his father.

The vice president is basically saying to the people of Minneapolis to “tell the police to work with us, or else.” While Vance claims to want to lower the temperature, the longer he speaks, the more he doubles down in defense of ICE’s actions. If this is the Trump administration’s stance, it seems like things are only going to get worse.