Republicans Are Panicking Over Texas Senate Race

The Texas Senate race is making Republicans nervous.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is challenging incumbent Senator John Cornyn in the Republican primary, and the race is so close that an expensive runoff election is possible. A runoff could draw resources away from other close elections around the country and aid Democratic efforts to flip the seat.

Republican donors have poured over $60 million into the state to defeat Paxton, who is also running against Representative Wesley Hunt. But Paxton is still the front-runner in the race despite the fact that he didn’t even air any TV ads until the middle of February, with the election on March 3. If none of the candidates get more than 50 percent of the vote, a runoff would take place 10 weeks later.

Paxton has been hammered by attack ads airing his many scandals since he was first elected attorney general in 2014. In 2015, he was indicted by a grand jury on securities fraud and faced civil action from the Securities and Exchange Commission over it. Paxton also faced a whistleblower lawsuit in 2020 from seven aides in his office accusing him of abuse of office, bribery, and other crimes. He escaped trial in both cases, though he was ordered to pay a hefty settlement to his aides.

The Texas House still impeached him in 2023, only for the state Senate to acquit him of any wrongdoing. Last year, his wife, state Senator Angela Paxton, filed for divorce on “biblical grounds,” referring to her husband’s extramarital affair. Many Republicans feel that all of this would be easy fodder for the Democratic challenger, whether that’s Representative Jasmine Crockett or state Representative James Talarico.

“Honestly, if you look at the polling in a general election setting, I don’t think it’s outside the realm of possibility that the seat [flips], depending on who the Democrats nominate,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune told Politico. Paxton, meanwhile, enjoys strong support from the MAGA right over his efforts to fight the results of the 2020 election and sue Pfizer over the Covid-19 vaccine, among other conservative credentials.

Internal polling from the National Republican Senatorial Committee has Paxton losing to Talarico by three points and Cornyn defeating Paxton by the same margin. If Crockett is the Democratic nominee, she would lose to Cornyn by seven points and Paxton by one, according to the poll.

Neither fear nor polling has helped Cornyn’s standing, and President Trump hasn’t offered his help, either, saying earlier this month of the Republican candidates that “I’m friendly with all of them. I like all of them, all three.” One thing is for certain: The Republican primary is going to be close, and the winner will have a tall order: Democrats are turning out in their own Senate primary in record numbers.

Just one day after Republicans invited Nick Shirley to join them at the State of the Union address, the right-wing YouTuber endorsed a copycat of his work warning against a “Jewish invasion.”

“EXPOSE IT ALL,” Shirley wrote on X, sharing a post from fellow right-wing content creator Tyler Oliveira announcing his recent 73-minute “documentary on New Jersey’s Jewish Invasion.”

Oliveira’s portfolio includes clips titled “I Deported ILLEGAL Immigrants with ICE!” and dozens of videos dehumanizing Black people. In 2024, he published and amplified unverified (and since debunked) claims that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, were causing “constant car crashes” and were capturing and eating local pets.

But somehow, blatantly targeting the Jewish community was a step too far for Oliveira’s far-right audience.

“The replies to this tweet show the double standards and hypocrisy of half of the ‘republican influencer’ space,” Oliveira wrote, defending his work against droves of online critics. “Does welfare abuse/fraud only suck when it’s a Somali? Ask your local ‘MAGA Republican influencer’ where he draws the line.”

Oliveira was also banned from Patreon over the video, though it wasn’t the first time he released a controversial piece about Jewish communities. In January, the 26-year-old posted a video to YouTube titled “Inside the New York Town Invaded by Welfare-Addicted Jews …”

But in a testament to the genre’s political affiliations, known white supremacist Nick Fuentes defended Oliveira’s latest doc, claiming that “when it comes to African Somali Muslims, everything is tolerated.… When another guy does the exact same thing to the Jews, ‘This is another holocaust.’”

Shirley clearly feels similarly.

Shirley gained national notoriety last year after he published a video that inspired the conservative caucus to politically scapegoat Somali immigrants. Vice President JD Vance circulated the video, positing that Shirley had “done far more useful journalism than any of the winners of the 2024 @pulitzercenter prizes.”

In his widely circulated “investigation,” Shirley door-knocked a slew of Somali-run day care centers in Minnesota, arguing that sites that did not respond or allow him—an unannounced, unknown white man—entrance into a center filled with children had fraudulently accepted federal funding.

It would later emerge that elements of Shirley’s report were incorrect or inadequately reported: At least two of the centers featured in his video had been closed for several years, according to Minnesota’s Department of Children, Youth and Families. The government had already investigated federal fraud in Minnesota—during the Biden administration, more than 90 Minnesotans were charged, with at least 60 cases resulting in convictions.

Nonetheless, the report resulted in the suspension of $185 million intended for Minnesota from the Department of Health and Human Services.

It also stirred a national services controversy, in which predominantly blue states were accused of abusing federal funds for programs focused on childcare and local poverty. In truth, states of all stripes across the nation have participated in benefits abuse, but not everyone suffered the federal cuts. Instead, Donald Trump axed $10 billion from five Democratic states, including Minnesota.

The Department of Homeland Security has kidnapped yet another Columbia University student—and lied to campus public safety officers to get into her building.

Columbia neuroscience undergraduate student Ellie Aghayeva posted “Dhs illegally arrested me. Please help,” on her Instagram story early Thursday morning.

Columbia University President Claire Shipman said federal agents told campus officials that they were looking for a missing person in order to gain access to the building.

“All law enforcement agents must have a judicial warrant or judicial subpoena to access non-public areas of the University, including housing, classrooms, and areas requiring CUID swipe access,” Shipman wrote in a statement. “If law enforcement agents seek entry to non-public areas of the University, ask the agents to wait.… Do not allow them to enter or accept service of a warrant or subpoena.”

DHS has yet to comment.

This comes less than a year after DHS agents abducted Columbia University graduate Mahmoud Khalil. And their methods—lying—are also similar to how they detained Columbia student Mohsen Mahdawi. Both Khalil and Mahdawi are Palestinian.

“ICE has no place in our schools and universities. These activities do not make our city or country safer, but rather drive mistrust and danger,” New York City Council members Julie Menin and Shaun Abreu wrote in a joint statement. “As Columbia College alumni, our hearts are with the community there, and we have been in contact with the University to offer our assistance.”

This story has been updated.

Trump administration officials just can’t seem to decide whether Iran is actually enriching uranium, as the president threatens to launch a major military strike there.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio revealed that Iran was not currently enriching uranium, while speaking to reporters Wednesday at St. Kitts and Nevis.

“They are in possession—first and foremost, after their nuclear program was obliterated, they were told not to try to restart it, and here they are. You can see them always trying to rebuild elements of it,” he said. “They’re not enriching right now, but they’re trying to get to the point where they ultimately can.”

Rubio’s statement directly contradicted the Trump administration’s main justification to attack Iran—and statements from other U.S. officials.

U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff claimed on Fox News Saturday that Iran’s enrichment level had reached “60 percent.”

“They’re probably a week away from having industrial-grade bomb-making material,” Witkoff warned.

Most nuclear reactors that produce electricity only require uranium that is enriched to between 3 percent and 5 percent. Highly enriched uranium is anything above 20 percent, and weapons-grade uranium is enriched above 90 percent, according to the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation.

After Donald Trump launched a massive bombing campaign on three of Iran’s nuclear facilities in June, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and the White House insisted that the United States had “obliterated” the country’s nuclear capabilities. Nine months later, and even MAGA Republicans are struggling to sell the administration’s story that Iran was once again a threat.

Top U.S. military officials, meanwhile, have reportedly warned the White House against dragging the country into war with Iran, arguing that it could entangle America in a prolonged conflict.

It seems that a key provision in the 2008 sweetheart plea deal that protected Jeffrey Epstein from serious sex trafficking charges was proposed by a former federal prosecutor who regularly corresponded with the sexual predator. 

The Miami Herald has reported that former chief criminal prosecutor Matthew Menchel not only had a social and business relationship with Epstein, he even dated his defense lawyer—showing that Epstein was just as deeply entrenched within the law enforcement apparatus as he was in the financial one. 

According to the Herald’s reporting, while Menchel insisted on a minimum two-year sentence and a felony conviction for Epstein, he also proposed that it be in state court, not federal—which ultimately gave Epstein the work release that got him out of jail for periods at a time. And Menchel initially discussed those stipulations without the knowledge of the lead prosecutor on the case, Marie Villafana. Instead, he discussed it with Epstein’s defense lawyer Lily Ann Sanchez—whom he dated without telling his supervisors, according to a 2020 report from the Justice Department’s Office of Professional Responsibility. 

“I told Lily [sic] that a state plea with jail time and sex offender status may satisfy the USA,” Menchel wrote to Villafana in July 2007.

Villafana was incensed, as she had already prepared an 82-page prosecution memo directed to U.S. attorney Alex Acosta and Menchel that suggested a 60-count indictment for Epstein, the Herald reported. 

“[I]t is inappropriate for you to enter into plea negotiations without consulting with me or the investigative agencies, and it is more inappropriate to make a plea offer that you know is completely unacceptable to the FBI, ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement], the victims and me,” she wrote back to Menchel. 

Villafana described Menchel’s response to this as an intimidation effort.  

“If the U.S. Attorney [Acosta] or the First Assistant [Sloman] desire to meet with you, they will let you know. Nor will I direct Epstein’s lawyers to communicate only with you,” he wrote back. “If you want to work major cases in the district you must understand and accept the fact that there is a chain of command — something you disregard with great regularity.”

Menchel quit the Miami U.S. Attorney’s Office in August 2007, one month before Epstein’s non-prosecution deal was finished, and was not involved in final negotiations. The two men went on to develop a close social and business relationship, regularly corresponding over the next decade. And even though Menchel’s lawyers insist that their correspondence was only “​​in the context of potential representation and referrals, none of which ever materialized into any business,” emails show Menchel initiating correspondence with Epstein, and the men even had dinner together multiple times. 

The full report reveals just how powerful—and how devious—Epstein was. And it wasn’t just him, or Ghislaine Maxwell. He got plenty of help along the way.

This post has been updated for clarity.

A nearly blind refugee was found dead on the streets of Buffalo, New York, Tuesday after Border Patrol officers dropped him off at a Tim Hortons location miles from home last week.

Nurul Amin Shah Alam, 56, who survived the Rohingya genocide in Burma and arrived in the United States as a refugee in December 2024, was found by Buffalo police Tuesday night after they responded to a report of a dead body. He had been missing since February 19 after being released from the Erie County Holding Center on bail. Since an immigration detainer had been placed on him, the Erie County Sheriff’s Office contacted Border Patrol before his release, and agents picked him up that day.  

Shah Alam had been in the holding center for the past year after he was arrested by Buffalo police while walking in his neighborhood with the help of curtain rods he used as walking sticks. He got lost and found his way to a porch of another person’s home as she was letting her dog out. The woman called the police, and Shah Alam, having poor vision and unable to speak English, didn’t respond to police commands to drop the rods.

A scuffle ensued, and his lawyer, Benjamin Macaluso, said that police beat and tased Shah Alam before arresting him. He was then charged with numerous offenses, including assault, trespassing, and possession of a weapon. Macaluso said that Shah Alam’s family didn’t bail him out at the time for fear that he would be detained by ICE and sent out of state. 

Shah Alam had made a plea deal with the Erie County District Attorney’s Office on charges of trespassing and possessing a weapon, which allowed him to “clear” the detainer, Macaluso told the nonprofit news outlet Investigative Post. So the agents dropped him off at the café, seven miles away from where Alam’s family lives on the east side of Buffalo.

Border Patrol claims that’s where Shah Alam agreed to go. After agents realized that Shah Alam wasn’t supposed to be in their custody, they “offered him a courtesy ride, which he chose to accept to a coffee shop, determined to be a warm, safe location near his last known address, rather than be released directly from the Border Patrol station,” a spokesperson for the agency said in a statement.

The statement even had the audacity to claim that a man blind in one eye, with blurry vision in the other, who needed two sticks to walk, “showed no signs of distress, mobility issues, or disabilities requiring special assistance.”

Border Patrol also didn’t notify Shah Alam’s family that they released him. Macaluso and Shah Alam’s family spent the following few days looking for him, and the attorney opened a missing person’s case with Buffalo police Sunday. On Monday, the case was mistakenly closed for hours because a detective thought Alam was actually taken to an ICE facility before being reopened later that day.

Now, a man who survived a genocide has died because of negligence by Border Patrol agents only 14 months after arriving in the U.S. Even before that, he was arrested and held for a year seemingly because of a miscommunication, and despite having legal status, his family justifiably feared that ICE would detain him thanks to the Trump administration’s reputation of ignoring long-standing immigration law. Shah Alam should still be alive, but thanks to failures from local authorities all the way to the federal government, he passed away on a cold Buffalo street without his family. 

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis may be left footing the bill for Alligator Alcatraz—Donald Trump’s wetland-themed concentration camp—so the Department of Justice can sidestep threats from environmental groups that would shut the facility down, according to the Florida Phoenix.

In a filing Tuesday, the Department of Justice clarified that the ICE facility in the Florida Everglades wasn’t eligible to receive federal funding for construction—only for its day-to-day operation.  

“Any potential future federal funding is reimbursement-based, calculated per detainee, and available only for operational costs—not construction or facility modification,” Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Adam Gustafson wrote.

“As it likely will be structured, there will be no potential federal funding of the facility’s design, siting, maintenance, or construction, and no federal approval authority over whether the facility is built at all,” he added.

The filing was made as part of an ongoing legal battle brought by the Friends of the Everglades, Earthjustice, and the Miccosukee Tribe, who hoped to block the construction. The groups alleged that the expedited construction of a facility at the Big Cypress National Preserve had been done without complying with federal environment laws and regulations. A lower court had sided with the environmental groups, and the government appealed the decision. 

The government’s appeal hinges on the question of federal funding: If the facility never received federal dollars, then it wouldn’t need to comply with federal laws. 

In a separate filing Tuesday, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier claimed that the Sunshine State had accepted the “risk” that the FEMA money reimbursement might “not materialize” at all.

But when Alligator Alcatraz was first announced, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem claimed the facility would “in large part be funded by FEMA’s Shelter and Services Program.” The facility would cost $450 million a year to operate. 

If the funds for construction don’t arrive—and it seems like they won’t—the Florida Division of Emergency Management might have to foot more than just the $245 million construction bill. So far, the FDEM has pulled together roughly $406 million to fund the state’s immigration enforcement efforts. 

In September, DHS announced that it had submitted an application for a $608 million grant for Alligator Alcatraz to FEMA and been approved—but that didn’t mean that the money had actually been sent, DOJ lawyers claimed Tuesday. 

FDEM Director Kevin Guthrie said earlier this month that FEMA told him the DOJ had held up the massive reimbursement. 

The White House is prepping for war with Iran—but that outcome is getting more and more difficult to rationalize, even for MAGA loyalists.

Oklahoma Senator Markwayne Mullin flopped and floundered Wednesday night to properly explain the need for another war during a sit-down interview with CNN’s Kaitlan Collins.

“I think people see the risks for sure…. It’s just hard sometimes to get your head around that we were told last summer it was obliterated, and now we’re saying a strike might be necessary if the talks don’t work,” Collins said.

“But obliterated is much different than the rebuilding it. They are purposefully trying to rebuild it,” Mullin replied.

“But how can you rebuild it if it was obliterated?” pressed Collins.

“I’m just saying, why do you think China and Russia—” started Mullin, before Collins interjected to repeat her question.

“But I’m just saying why do you think China and Russia—” Mullin said again.

“But how can you rebuild it if it was obliterated?” Collins asked a third time.

“I’ve already explained that,” Mullin responded. “How do you rebuild your legs after you shatter them? How do you rebuild a house after it’s been knocked down by a tornado or a hurricane? You can rebuild things. The foundation may still be there, you can build a lot back on the foundation once the top of it is removed. If the structure of the foundation is there, they can start rebuilding.”

Donald Trump ordered a strike on Iran’s nuclear sites on June 22 without the express approval of Congress. The attack damaged facilities in Fordo, Natanz, and Isfahan, though a postmortem battle damage assessment by the Pentagon’s intelligence arm determined that the missile barrage only set Iran’s nuclear program back by a few months, rather than the “years” that Trump had advertised.

The topic of striking Iran again has resurfaced amongst the president’s top aides over the last month. Since January 22, the U.S. has built an enormous military presence across a web of U.S. bases in the Middle East for the mere possibility of war, flooding ships—including naval destroyers and aircraft carriers—and more than a dozen jets to the region, reported CNN.

On Monday, Trump announced on Truth Social that the potential for war with Iran is still very much on the table. Top U.S. military officials, meanwhile, have reportedly warned the White House against dragging the country into war with Iran, arguing that it could entangle America in a prolonged conflict.

U.S. officials including Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner—Trump’s son-in-law—met with an Iranian delegation in Geneva early Thursday to discuss the countries’ ongoing standoff.

The talks have paused, though an adviser to Iran’s supreme leader told CNN that an “immediate agreement” could be within reach if the discussions singularly focus on Iran’s “non-production of nuclear weapons.”

Transgender people across Kansas are receiving letters warning them that their driver’s licenses are now invalid due to a new state law.

Senate Bill 244 takes effect Thursday, and requires to transgender people to have licenses corresponding with the sex of their birth. It passed last month, with Kansas legislators overriding Democratic Governor Laura Kelly’s veto. Anyone who receives the letter has to surrender their license and pay for a new one, and if they are caught without a valid license, the penalty is a class B misdemeanor, with a sentence of up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.

Gender marker changes had been allowed on Kansas licenses since 2007 despite the efforts of Kansas Republicans. That changed with SB 244, which doesn’t just ban gender changes going forward, but invalidates any changes made in the past. And the bill doesn’t come with a grace period lasting months—it’s taking effect immediately upon publication in the Kansas Register, which is updated on Thursdays.

“The Department is working as quickly as possible to notify individuals whose credentials will be affected under SB 244, ensuring they have sufficient time to update their credentials and avoid any disruption,” Zach Denney, a spokesperson for the Kansas Department of Revenue, told The Topeka Capital-Journal. “Letters are being sent to those impacted, and they should begin receiving them soon.”

About 1,500 people in the state are expected to receive letters, although Denney said that number could go down as the department “continues to look through and refine our records.” In addition to requiring new driver’s licenses, SB 244 also bans transgender people from bathrooms that match their gender identity in public buildings, and even goes as far as to create a bounty system giving people the ability to sue transgender people they see using the “wrong” restrooms for at least $1,000. The bill is written vaguely enough to potentially include private restrooms, too.

It’s a bill designed to appease a right-wing panic about transgender people, hiding behind bathroom safety, even though other states have not had any crimes or issues resulting from transgender people using the restroom of their gender. All it’s going to do is make the lives of many Kansans more difficult and make conservatives feel better about a problem that doesn’t exist.

First Lady Melania Trump will preside over the United Nations Security Council on March 2, addressing “Children, Technology, and Education in Conflict.”

“Mrs. Trump’s leadership will mark the first time a sitting U.S. First Lady presides over the Security Council as members consider education, technology, peace, and security,” a press release from her office read.

While the first lady has shown an interest in children’s welfare, particularly in Russia’s war on Ukraine, it’s hard to imagine her address as any more than a symbolic gesture that will look good in a social media post. U.S. Ambassador Mike Waltz will be in attendance.