Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker appeared on CNN’s State of the Union (10/05/25), where he sharply criticized DHS Secretary Kristi Noem over the conduct of federal officials in Chicago.
Pritzker disputed Noem’s earlier claim that Chicago residents were “clapping” for DHS agents—calling it a misleading portrayal meant to suggest public support. He argued that DHS is turning Chicago into a “war zone” by targeting peaceful protesters instead of focusing on “the worst of the worst.”
#BREAKINVG: Gov Pritzker: "Let me just say that [@Sec_Noem] doesn't know what she's talking about. She frankly says that people are clapping? They are NOT, they are BOOING her on the street, and they are booing ICE & CBP…they are raiding neighborhoods where instead of going… pic.twitter.com/8HY11Auj0O
The clash may soon land in court. Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul has warned that if federal troops are deployed to Chicago, the state will file suit. Raoul is already suing over the administration’s withholding of public safety funds from states that refuse to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement.
The question now: will the courts permit President Trump to deploy military forces in Chicago over Gov. Pritzker’s objections?
MSNBC’s Legal Analyst Lisa Rubin appeared on the 09/19/25 edition of Deadline White House show where she made a compelling argument as to how Congress can and should go about getting Jeffrey Epstein-related information from former U.S. Attorney Alex Acosta.
#BREAKING: Lisa Rubin re #AlexAcosta: "There are a BUNCH of documents that Alex Acosta saw, and or was involved in creating, that could be released by DOJ tomorrow, but also, some of them might still be in Alex Acosta's own possession. I just want to detail THREE of them…[1]… pic.twitter.com/lZgmUL9X8i
Rubin said that there are a bunch of Epstein-related documents that Acosta either saw, or was involved in creating. This, she argued, meant the said documents were either currently in the possession of the Department of Justice, or even by Acosta himself.
The first question Congress needs to ask Acosta is about the 60-count federal indictment drafted by prosecutor Ann Marie Villafaña in 2007. DOJ definitely has this document, and the allegations therein, may shed a lot of light as to Epstein’s illicit operation, and potentially, the actions of his his co-conspirators, most of who were later granted immunity.
The second question regards the lengthy prosecution memo that aforementioned Villafaña wrote regarding the federal case re Epstein. Rubin says this can shed a lot of light as to the evidence the feds had against Epstein to support the 60-count indictment
Finally, Rubin says Congress should ask Acosta about his own interview transcript from the office of professional responsibility investigation that was conducted at DOJ in 2020. That was an investigation started at the instigation of Republican Senator Ben Sasse. Rubin argues that Acosta must have that transcript in his possession because he and his lawyers were given an opportunity to review it and suggest any corrections.
Long story short, the lingering questions about Jeffrey Epstein and his child sex trafficking operation must be answered, and key players like Acosta must not be allowed to come before Congress and just gaslight the public. These crucial documents are currently in the possession of the DOJ and/or Acosta, and the public deserves to see them.
An alternative route would be to have Ann Marie Villafaña testify before Congress. Who knows, she might have “kept receipts”.
As the Jeffrey Epstein scandal continues to heat up, new questions are being raised about the infamous 2008 sweetheart plea deal he received from then U.S. Attorney Alex Acosta, who later joined the Trump administration as Labor Secretary in 2017
#BREAKING: 🔥Kristy: "A week later after #Epstein is arrested, Acosta resigns and Trump gave a statement saying how great Acosta was…even when he found out that Acosta was connected with this kind of sweetheart deal, he didn't seem to care."🤦♀️ pic.twitter.com/X00jq28KEK
The running narrative thus far, has been that after details of the sweetheart plea deal started getting a lot of media coverage, the Trump administration was forced to cut ties with Acosta—he became a liability, if you will.
However according to Kristy Greenberg, herself a former federal prosecutor, President Trump might have known all along about Alex Acosta’s shady Epstein deal when he made him his labor secretary. As Greenberg further put it, “he [President Trump] didn’t seem to care.”
If Greenberg’s account holds up, it would reflect very poorly on the president as America’s moral leader. Republicans have for decades, put a premium on moral values, so it will be interesting to see how they navigate this Trump-Acosta relationship.
In his opening remarks at the Senate confirmation hearings for incoming DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, GOP Senator Rand Paul, Chairman of the Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs Committee, laid out brilliantly, the case as to why the behemoth that is DHS, begs for some serious oversight.
Senator Paul characterized DHS as a very powerful agency that was created after the 9/11 attacks to secure the homeland, but has since veered from its intended course, and into attacks against Americans simply exercising their free speech rights.
#BREAKING: @SenRandPaul : "Think about it, an agency [DHS] commanding over $110 BILLION annually, CAN'T account for its own activities. This is not just bureaucratic incompetence, it's emblematic of a deeper issue. An agency unsure of its own boundaries and commitments."😳 pic.twitter.com/m9C4drVSwe
Sen Paul: “Think about it, an agency [DHS] commanding over $110 billion annually, can’t account for its own activities. This is not just bureaucratic incompetence, it’s emblematic of a deeper issue. An agency unsure of its own boundaries and commitments.”
He went on to add that DHS is increasingly focusing on people’s social media posts, and even placing people on terrorism watchlists based on such posts—a total travesty.
Sen Paul for 🏆: "Instead of focusing on critical threats like securing the southwest border, DHS has shifted its gaze INWARD, targeting LAW ABIDING Americans. DHS…has often used its vast powers to target Americans exercising their constitutional rights. It's become an agency…
Bottom line folks, the criticisms Senator Paul levels at DHS are well founded and longstanding. The only question now is whether he’ll follow through, and use his position as Senate Homeland Security Chair, to provide the much-needed oversight DHS cries for.
Sadly, if the past is anything to go by, Sen Paul’s oversight promises might devolve into his just using his lofty committee chair perch to score political points by digging into, idk, Hunter Biden files. Let’s hope that doesn’t end up being the case, but I’ll readily admit, I would not be surprised.
Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo appeared on MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show (09/24/2021), where she blasted elected Republicans in Texas for giving in to former President Trump’s baseless demands for an audit into the state’s 2020 election results. The decision by the Texas Secretary of State’s office to conduct an audit into the election results of Collin, Dallas, Harris and Tarrant counties, came literally a few hours after Trump’s demand, which led a visibly upset Judge Hidalgo to tell host Maddow that Texas was “being run from Maralago.”
Judge Hidalgo told Maddow:“We have to remember we had incredibly successful elections here in Harris County in 2020. We had innovations that led to record turnouts from both parties, the highest in 30 years, I mean it was beautiful, and since then, no evidence has come out that would in any way cause the need for this kind of audit. All we’ve seen is [former]President Trump exhorting the state, or [Governor]Abbott, to have this audit…The reality of it is Texas is being run from Maralago, and that is dangerous, and it’s not appropriate…it’s extremely concerning.”
Judge Hidalgo added that time had come for politicians in Washington to get off the sidelines, and actively join the fight against voter suppression in the states, telling host Maddow, “We need the federal government to act, I mean, this has gone too far… This should be another call to action. We’ve got the writing on the wall. We’ve got to get off our chairs and get moving on all this.”
Bottom line folks, as Judge Hidalgo correctly pointed out, time has come for some decisive action to be taken against these naked efforts by Republicans at the state level, to restrict the voting rights of minorities. Democrats in Washington cannot just sit on the sidelines, and watch their counterparts in Republican-led states like Texas, go to war against GOP’s efforts to restrict minority voting rights. Simply put, time has come for Democrats in Washington to finally do away with the filibuster, and institute a national voting standard geared towards making it easier for people to vote, as opposed to GOP’s scheme of limiting access to the ballot box. As Judge Hidalgo correctly put it, congressional Democrats need to “get off their chairs and get moving” on a comprehensive federal voting rights law.
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From the beginning Yours Truly has maintained that there is something very strange/suspicious about the Trump/North Korea deal–that this is a Putin operation designed to help Trump politically, not solve the nuclear crisis
A bombshell 6/25/2018 segment on MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow Show just confirmed Yours Truly’s suspicions. Turns out per Maddow, that Trump had initially wanted to end joint military operations between the U.S. & South Korea but dropped the idea after pushback from Defense Secretary Mattis.
Later however, following a phone conversation with Putin, Trump abruptly decided to end the crucial joint military exercises that are meant to provide readiness in the unfortunate event North Korea launches a nuclear strike.
Even more troubling, and an issue that Congressional Dems should definitely inquire into, is the shocking revelation by Maddow that prior to Trump making the highly consequential decision on S. Korea joint exercises, neither Sec Def Mattis nor senior White House officials were consulted. In other words Putin simply told Trump to do it and he did it—fast!!
This is a very troubling development given that virtually all U.S. Intel agencies agree that Russia is not only America’s enemy but is actively working to inflict harm on America. The shocking report by Maddow that despite this threat, Putin is literally telling the U.S. President what to do with senior government officials seemingly left in the dark should be cause for great alarm.
Bottom line Congressional Dems must push for hearings on this issue
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