Stephen Miller, Not (Just) Kristi Noem and Greg Bovino, Must Be Held Accountable
Bill Melugin, whom I call the Fox News Chief Deportation Propagandist (though he has been moved to cover Congress) was the person who first reported that Alex Pretti had a weapon.
Around 56 minutes after CBP killed Pretti at 9:02 AM CT, so 3:02 IT, they had already gotten Melugin this picture (and in the process proven that they were not securing evidence from the crime scene, which damning fact Melugin has never, AFAIK, pointed out).
Among the lies that Melugin disseminated after the murder were that:
- The person CBP was snatching was “an illegal alien wanted for violent assault”
- That Pretti “approached US Border Patrol officers with a 9 mm semi-automatic handgun”
- “[T]he armed suspect violently resisted”
- “Medics on scene immediately delivered medical aid to the subject”
- “[T]his looks like a situation where an individual wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement”
- “200 rioters arrived at the scene”
Plus, there’s no sign that CBP ever looked for an ID, so I suspect we may one day confirm that DHS claims Pretti had no ID will be proven false.
The Star Tribune debunked most of these lies.
As to the claim that the target of the operation was “wanted for violent assault”? The MN Department of Corrections has launched a dedicated website to correcting DHS lies, including a press release explaining that the guy Greg Bovino claimed they were pursuing had, in fact, been released by ICE during Trump’s first term.
In the hours following the shooting, U.S. Border Patrol Chief Gregory Bovino held a press conference asserting that the operation was targeting an individual named Jose Huerta-Chuma and characterized him as having a significant criminal history. Because federal statements have repeatedly included inaccurate information about Minnesota custody and criminal records, the DOC reviewed available records to determine whether the individual referenced had any connection to Minnesota state prison custody.
Based on DOC records and publicly available Minnesota court data:
- The individual identified by federal officials has never been in Minnesota DOC custody.
- DOC and court records show no felony commitments associated with this
Public Minnesota court records reflect only misdemeanor-level traffic offenses from more than a decade ago.- The individual is not currently under DOC supervision.
DOC records further indicate that an individual by this name was previously held in federal immigration custody in a local Minnesota jail in 2018, during President Trump’s first administration. Any decisions regarding release from federal custody at that time would have been made by federal authorities. DOC has no information explaining why this individual was released.
Importantly, the lies Melugin told were the maximal lies that adjudged liar Greg Bovino would himself tell. Fox News’ Chief Deportation propagandist immediately aired the claims of Greg Bovino, even though Melugin has to be aware of the many times Bovino has been proven a liar in court proceedings, including this two page passage from Judge Sara Ellis’ 233-page memorandum enjoining DHS from further abusive methods (which the Seventh Circuit overturned):
Turning to Bovino, the Court specifically finds his testimony not credible. Bovino appeared evasive over the three days of his deposition, either providing “cute” responses to Plaintiffs’ counsel’s questions or outright lying. When shown a video of agents hitting Rev. Black with pepper balls, Bovino denied seeing a projectile hit Rev. Black in the head. Doc. 191- 3 at 162:21–165:17; Doc. 22-44 (Ex. 44 at 0:10–12, available at https://spaces.hightail.com/space/ZzXNsei63k). In another video shown to Bovino, he obviously tackles Scott Blackburn, one of Plaintiffs’ declarants. Doc. 191-3 at 172:13–173:7; Doc. 22-45 (Ex. 45 at 0:19–30, available at https://spaces.hightail.com/space/ZzXNsei63k). But instead of admitting to using force against Blackburn, Bovino denied it and instead stated that force was used against him. Doc. 191-3 at 173:9–176:11, 179:11–181:5. Bovino also testified that, in Little Village on October 23, 2025, several individuals associated with the Latin Kings were found taking weapons out of the back of their car, and that they, as well as at least one individual on a rooftop and one person in the crowd of protesters, all wore maroon hoodies. Id. at 227:2– 228:21. He further testified that he believed the “maroon hoodies . . . would signify a potential assailant or street gang member that was making their way to the location that I was present” and that “there did begin to appear, in that crowd, maroon hoodies, both on top of buildings and in the crowd.” Doc. 237 at 18:22–19:10. But Bovino also admitted that he could not identify a street gang associated with the color maroon, id. at 19:11–13, although Hewson acknowledged that while Latin Kings members usually wear black, “they also can throw on maroon hoodies,” Doc. 255 at 264:17–20.10 Even were maroon hoodies to signify gang membership, the only evidence on footage from the relevant date of individuals dressed in maroon protesting in Little Village consists of a male wearing a maroonish jacket with an orange safety vest over it, Alderman Byron Sigcho-Lopez wearing a maroon sweater with a suit jacket over it, a female in a maroon shirt, a female in a maroon sweatshirt, and a man with a maroon hoodie under a green shirt and vest. Axon_Body_4_Video_2025-10-23_1053_D01A38302 at 10:03–10:33; Axon_Body_4_Video_2025-10-23_1106_D01A32103 at 16:12–17:17. Bovino’s and Hewson’s explanations about individuals in maroon hoodies being associated with the Latin Kings and threats strains credulity.
Most tellingly, Bovino admitted in his deposition that he lied multiple times about the events that occurred in Little Village that prompted him to throw tear gas at protesters. As discussed further below, Bovino and DHS have represented that a rock hit Bovino in the helmet before he threw tear gas. See Doc. 190-1 at 1; Homeland Security (@DHSgov), X (Oct. 28, 2025 9:56 a.m.), https://x.com/dhsgov/status/1983186057798545573?s=46&t=4rUXTBt_W24muWR74DQ5A. Bovino was asked about this during his deposition, which took place over three days. On the first day, Bovino admitted that he was not hit with a rock until after he had deployed tear gas. Doc. 191-3 at 222:24–223:18. Bovino then offered a new justification for his use of chemical munitions, testifying that he only threw tear gas after he “had received a projectile, a rock,” which “almost hit” him. Doc. 191-3 at 222:24–223:18. Despite being presented with video evidence that did not show a rock thrown at him before he launched the first tear gas canister, Bovino nonetheless maintained his testimony throughout the first and second days of his deposition, id. at 225–27; Doc. 237 at 11–17. But on November 4, 2025, the final session of his deposition, Bovino admitted that he was again “mistaken” and that no rock was thrown at him before he deployed the first tear gas canister. Doc. 238 at 9:12–21 (“That white rock was . . . thrown at me, but that was after . . . I deployed less lethal means in chemical munitions.”); id. at 10:20–23 (Q. [Y]ou deployed the canisters, plural, before that black rock came along and you say hit you in the head, correct? A. Yes. Before the rock hit me in the head, yes.”).
10 John Bodett testified at the preliminary injunction hearing about his experiences in Little Village. As a resident of that neighborhood, he stated that he observed Latin King colors to be black and gold. Doc. 255 at 84:10–17.
Everyone who has followed Stephen Miller’s invasions knows Bovino is a confirmed and committed liar. Yet Melugin still airs his claims, as if they might be credible, and rushed to do so after Pretti’s murder.
Melugin is an integral part of DHS’ propaganda apparatus.
And that’s why it matters that, yesterday, Melugin published a very long tweet describing how sad the goons are to be treated as goons. The statement is still full of bullshit (which I’ve annotated in bold comments).
NEW: Since yesterday’s deadly shooting in MN, I’ve talked to more than half a dozen federal sources [wow! six whole sources!] involved immigration enforcement, including several in senior positions, who all tell me they have grown increasingly uneasy & frustrated w/ some of the claims & narratives DHS pushed in the aftermath of the shooting.
Specifically, I’m told there is extreme frustration with DHS officials going on TV and putting out statements claiming that Alex Pretti was intending to conduct a “massacre” of federal agents or wanted to carry out “maximum damage”, [this claim was first aired by Melugin] even after numerous videos appeared to show those claims were inaccurate. While they say it was a terrible decision to show up with a gun and inject himself into a federal law enforcement operation, there is no indication Pretti was there to murder law enforcement, as videos appear to show he never drew his holstered firearm.
These sources say this messaging from DHS officials has been catastrophic from a PR and morale perspective, as it is eroding trust and credibility – comparing it to when Democrats falsely claimed the border was closed or that Haitians were being whipped at the border. [huh?]
Some of these sources have described DHS’ response to the shooting as “a case study on how not to do crisis PR”, one said they are so “fed up” that they wish they could retire, [I mean, you could just quit] another said “DHS is making the situation worse”, and another added that “DHS is wrong” and “we are losing this war, we are losing the base and the narrative.” [war? who are you in a war with?]
These sources all believe this is going to end up being what they call a “bad shoot”, a “shitty” situation that happened in seconds where agents likely heard “gun!” [one excuse], then the disarmed firearm may have had an accidental discharge [another excuse] that spooked the agents [boo!], and they shot. The agents do not have the luxury of multiple slow motion angles – and had to make split second decisions. [Alex Pretti doesn’t have the luxury of yet more thin excuses]
All of the sources support the mass deportation agenda, but have serious hesitations about the way it is being carried out [again, you could just quit] and the messaging that comes with it. Many of the sources have expressed frustration that ICE is routinely blamed for the actions of Border Patrol, a completely separate agency. [and yet ICE officer Jonathan Ross (who may have been working with Bovino) acted just as badly as Pretti’s murderers]
And as bullshit, we should treat it as yet more far right, probably white male, attempts to disavow personal responsibility for their own actions.
The entire country is seeing that the goons are trigger-happy goons, and in response, they’ve (well, six of them, anyway) run to Melugin to try to blame other goons for the bad behavior of all the goons.
The sentiment that the propaganda is not working anymore is shared more broadly, especially among Murdoch rags. WSJ issued an editorial calling on Trump to pause the invasion of MN. While it still tries to blame Pretti for helping a woman who was assaulted by CBP, it called bullshit on the lies that Stephen Miller and Kristi Noem were telling.
The Saturday shooting of Alex Pretti, as he lay on the ground surrounded by ICE agents, is the worst incident to date in what is becoming a moral and political debacle for the Trump Presidency.
Videos of an event aren’t always definitive, but this is how it looks to us. Pretti attempted, foolishly, to assist a woman who had been pepper-sprayed by agents. Multiple agents then tackled Pretti, and he had a phone in one hand as he lay on the ground. An agent discovered a concealed gun on Pretti, and disarmed him. An agent then shot Pretti, and multiple shots followed.
The Trump Administration spin on this simply isn’t believable. Stephen Miller, the political architect of the mass deportation policy, called Pretti a “domestic terrorist.” He was a nurse without a criminal record.
Kristi Noem, the Homeland Security secretary, said the fact that he carried a gun and (she said) two magazines, meant he “arrived at the scene to inflict maximum damage on individuals and to kill law enforcement.”
But he had a license to carry a gun, which was legally concealed, not carried in his hand as some claimed. He was carrying his phone. To hear the ardent gun-rights advocates of the Trump Administration claim he had malicious intentions because he carried a concealed weapon is bizarre.
[snip]
Whether he likes it or not, most of the burden now lies with Mr. Trump as the President who controls ICE. He would be wise to pause ICE enforcement in the Twin Cities to ease tensions and consider a less provocative strategy. Yes, many on the left would conclude that their civil disobedience has paid off. But Mr. Trump can still pursue enforcement with a smaller force and a strategy aimed at criminals, not at hotel maids and gardeners.
Mr. Trump and his advisers could also help themselves, and the country, by explaining what they are trying to do and sounding conciliatory. Ms. Noem and Mr. Miller aren’t credible spokesmen. Their social-media and cable-TV strategy is to own the libs, rather than to persuade Americans. [my emphasis]
And WSJ’s Trump-whisperer Josh Dawsey described Trump equivocating even as his advisors, starting with his chief gatekeeper, Stephen Miller, debate about what to do.
“I don’t like any shooting. I don’t like it,” Trump added. “But I don’t like it when somebody goes into a protest and he’s got a very powerful, fully loaded gun with two magazines loaded up with bullets also. That doesn’t play good either.”
Trump also signaled a willingness to eventually withdraw immigration enforcement officials from the Minneapolis area.
“At some point we will leave. We’ve done, they’ve done a phenomenal job,” he said. Trump didn’t offer a time frame for when agents might depart. Asked if agents would leave soon, he praised what the administration had done already in Minnesota and said, “We’ll leave a different group of people there for the financial fraud.”
[snip]
Trump’s advisers have been in discussions for weeks about the administration’s aggressive deportation policies, and Saturday’s shooting brought new urgency to those conversations.
Some of the president’s aides have come to see the increasingly volatile situation in Minneapolis as a political liability even as the White House has publicly doubled down on its operations in the city, according to administration officials. White House chief of staff Susie Wiles has taken repeated calls from Minnesota officials, the administration officials said.
Some in the administration worry that public polling and sentiment has turned against the administration’s immigration actions in cities, and some discussions have centered on how to continue deportations without clashing with protesters, officials said. Trump adviser Stephen Miller has continued to push for aggressive immigration enforcement, arguing the administration shouldn’t back down in Minneapolis.
Perhaps the savviest response among Republicans trying to talk sense to Trump came from OK Governor Kevin Stitt, who as Chair of the National Governor’s Association, has already spoken to federalism concerns during the Chicago invasion. Stitt told CNN that Trump was getting bad advice, a comment that — if Trump took it seriously — might lead him to question the garbage Stephen Miller tells him.
Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, a Republican, expressed concerns about Trump’s goals.
“Americans are asking themselves: ‘What is the endgame? What is the solution?’ We believe in federalism and state rights. And nobody likes feds coming into their states. And so what’s the goal right now? Is it to deport every single non-US citizen? I don’t think that’s what Americans want,” Stitt told CNN’s Dana Bash on “State of the Union.”
Pressed by Bash on whether federal agents needed to pull out of Minnesota, Stitt said, “I think that the president has to answer that question. He is a dealmaker and he’s getting bad advice right now.”
(It is a failure of journalism that Stitt, who is of Cherokee descent, has not been asked about the multiple ICE arrests of Native Americans in Minnesota; neither has Markwayne Mullins, among Trump’s closest allies in the Senate, who is also Cherokee.)
The Pretti murder has, whatever else it has done, made blaming liars — starting with Kristi Noem — for the illegitimacy of the DHS invasions fashionable.
It’s the kind of collapsing legitimacy I envisioned when I laid out, starting 24 days ago, that three things we should try to accomplish this year were to:
- Hold Stephen Miller accountable for his failures
- Visualize how Stephen Miller took money for cancer research and veterans care to pay for a goon army snatching grandmothers
- Discredit Key Spokespeople, including Stephen Miller, Todd Blanche’s office, DHS spox Tricia McLaughlin, and Greg Bovino.
Right wingers are looking at the polling and begging for an out and their immediate instinct is to scapegoat.
Thus far, Kristi Noem is the primary target of the scapegoating. Not even I have focused enough attention on Corey Lewandowski, not even in this post, even though he has overstayed the legal limits of the Special Government Employee appointment and has long exhibited the kind of quick trigger that DHS goons have.
Ultimately, though, Stephen Miller is responsible for both the invasions and Trump’s commitment to sustaining them, even as they destroy the US and Trump’s legacy.
From the start, Stephen Miller has believed that if he just created enough fascist spectacle, people would learn to love his thuggery. That was always failing because — it turns out — not as many people get erotic pleasure out of watching armed men roll around in the street on top of a brown person as Miller imagined; Miller created negative spectacle that drowned out his planned fascist spectacle.
Now that effort has gotten multiple people killed, Republicans want to distance themselves from it.
Their efforts to blame just Kristi Noem and/or Stephen Miller is, itself, just another propaganda campaign — after all, Bill Melugin is carrying it.
But if the right wing wants to tell that story, let’s make sure Miller is included in that story.
Update: Even NYP has called on Trump to deescalate.
Update: Kate Starbird describes that Melugin and other right wing spin artists actually got less engagement on Xitter than the left wing accounts that first posted about the murder.
Note the cluster of posts between 10am and 10:40am CST. (I’ve added a red box there.) These posts received, by far, the most engagement in our dataset. These are the posts that shape the broader discourse. And the vast majority of them were critical of ICE, sometimes implicitly, and other times explicitly calling out and blaming them for the “murder” or “execution” of “another person.” Below are a selection of the most highly reposted posts from that time:
During this same time period, a counter frame began to emerge — with the help of a Fox News journalist. Shortly after 10am CST, Bill Melugin reported via X that the victim, which he referred to as the “suspect,” had been armed. His post was sourced to DHS (the Department of Homeland Security) and contained an image of gun. This new information, which could be easily fit into a counter frame, set off a flurry of activity on the right.
We can see this in our data, as several right wing influencers posted content highlighting the “evidence” that DHS produced and using that to place blame on the victim. Here’s a selection of some of those posts, sized by number of reposts:
[snip]
These five posts, shared between 10am and 11am CST, reveal the prominent frames on the right, suggesting that the victim was responsible for his killing, that he was armed and resisting arrest, and that Democratic leadership contributed. Some of these posts seemingly extend beyond claims from official sources to make false allegations that the victim was an “illegal alien” and contested claims that he brandished and/or fired the weapon. Others simply spin the new evidence — of the victim’s gun — into alternative interpretations about the causes of the event.
But perhaps the most striking thing about this graph is that these posts from influencers on the right framing the event as self defense by ICE agents do not get anywhere near the same amount of engagement as the posts by influencers on the left framing the event as another “murder” by ICE.
Bill Melugin, propagandist for tRump, is a blatant fluffer. My local Sinclair TV station is equally awful. They are on line polling for approval of the ICE, CBP, etc tactics. Their question is do you approve of removing worst of worst (not a direct quote)? Of course the vast majority response is yes. No mention of the removal of 2 & 5 year old children or the murders in Minneapolis.
Let us not forget that even if Alex Pretti hadn’t been murdered, here was an American citizen who was not doing anything illegal, or even antisocial or disrespectful; and he was beaten to the ground by a gang of masked criminals and would have been arrested, thrown in jail and possibly charged with one or more felonies.
We need to lower the level at which we are outraged.
I wonder if these guys get any sobriety/drug test after the killing.
Did you see the video of the goon clapping after the shooting?
re- Sheryl_Robins January 26, 2026 2:13 pm
So shooting people, the drug/beverage of choice, gets them high.
I remember, I think during the US attack on Iraq and Afghanistan, NYT was interviewing some of the young people as they were being shipped off to there being so gung-ho about using their bang-bangs.
They don’t ask about any specific tactics, I’ll bet. Like distributing flyers, purportedly from a school, offering “food aid” to families as a ruse to get in and abduct people. Or masquerading as school provided transportation to take kids into detention. I have personal knowledge of both of those things happening. And the schools have had to take proactive measures to combat such tactics.
Do you think most Americans would be ok with that if you told them, Sinclair station?
Most Americans that watch Sinclair are ok with that.
One can tell from CBP’s actions that they did not know that Pretti had a firearm. That they were not concerned that he had a firearm. When LEO’s suspect/observe a “suspect” with a firearm, they engage at a distance. They do not rush the “suspect”. This is for many good reasons, personal safety amongst them. If CBP suspected that Pretti was armed, they would have shot him from distance. Look at Uvalde, they knew there was a gunman shooting kids, and yet they didn’t rush the suspect.
The idea that guns aren’t allowed at protests is belied by Kyle Rittenhouse, and a host of protests by right wingers, see the protest at the Michigan Capitol in spring 2020. And if not complying with an officer is reason for the officer to shoot, why was Ashli Babbit a cause celeb for the right, and why didn’t the Capitol police open fire on the insurrectionists?
The contradictions and the lies are the point. It is a display of dominance.
“But I don’t like it when somebody goes into a protest and he’s got a very powerful, fully loaded gun with two magazines loaded up with bullets also. That doesn’t play good either.”
Why is no one rolling tape on Trump’s support of Kyle Rittenhouse?
Probably because literally days ago Trump mixed up Greenland and Iceland several times and we weren’t even given the courtesy of an aggressive “you knew what he meant”. Nope, he was referring to the fact it was a land of ice apparently. No use asking a question to get an answer you can’t print with a straight face.
Can someone help me understand why the Attorney General of Minn did not seek an arrest warrant for the ICE agent who shot and killed Renee Good? Even if the federal courts ruled the warrant invalid, at least there would have been an attempt to hold the agent accountable.
Indictments and arrest warrants are typically sought after the investigation is complete. Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) was blocked from processing the scene by a mob of federal agents who denied them access to the scene in the immediate wake of the event, even though BCA had a judicial warrant. The mob departed and allowed the perimeter of the scene to collapse. BCA was there yesterday attempting to do whatever processing they could, despite the fact that much evidence has been spoiled. DHS absconded with physical evidence and several witnesses, and are denying BCA access.
So, the reason is unprecedented federal obstruction of the state investigation of the state law crime of murder. Minnesota obtained a TRO from federal court barring the feds from further spoiling evidence. But the U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota ducked service of the TRO yesterday, which is another highly irregular action. That TRO will be served this morning.
Presumably, the feds will be ordered to share whatever evidence they haven’t contaminated with the state, and ordered to disclose the identity of those agents at the scene. Once that happens, perhaps we’ll see indictments and arrest warrants. According to Bovino, the agents involved have been “reassigned” to other jurisdictions though, I’m guessing out of state. Then we’ll see if they fight extradition.
My understanding is that BP/ICE didn’t release the names of the agents involved. We might be approaching the point where local law enforcement requests arrest warrants for masked people wearing ICE/Police tactical gear (“matches the description of the shooter(s)”), but I kind of hope we don’t go there soon.
I would love to see – obtained via a subpoena from MN state officials issued against the DOJ, DHS, and the WH – what the specific mission ICE and CPB officers were given as part of Metro Surge, and what “rules of engagement” these officers were given with respect to the use of physical force, chemical agents, and deadly weapons.
I would love to see who signed those mission orders and approved the rules of engagement.
And most of all, I would love to see the emails and other communications between the WH, DOJ, and DHS. Yes, Stephen Miller, that means you.
The DOJ (can we call it Injustice yet?) hasn’t even released half the Epstein files in defiance of signed Congressional law. And now with news that they’re even sidelining the FBI, DHS will ride Supremacy Clause arguments here all the way to SCOTUS. Those bruises on Trump’s hand will reach their inevitable destination long before all the fallout from this case does. But with good effort from all of us, hopefully so will a midterm blue wave.
“DOINJ”…works for me.
* haven’t release 99% of the Epstein Files as of 01/26/26.
Allison Gill (MSW) has FOIAed that.
What the Trump administration is attempting to do with these ICE/CPB assault on cities was to:
1. Inflict pain on large blue cities. Hope to generate violent protests. Take control to derail or deligitemize the coming elections (authoritarian agenda).
2. Expell as many non-white non-citizens as possible (racist agenda).
3. Generate internet “content” for propaganda to flood the zone, keep the MAGA base feeling protected by Trump.
In the last few weeks, with the murder or Renee Good and the execution of Alex Pretti, they are in big trouble. The protests have been %100 non-violent, the two victims were white (a young mother and an ICU nurse), the excuses are completely bogus as can be seen on multiple video, and now they are running head to head with their own NRA rhetoric about the right to carry leagally a firearm to a protest (or anywhere). Even the WSJ editorial can see the writing on the wall. This disgusting and abject strategy by Stephen Miller is backfiring completely. Trump used to “own” immigration and now a majority of the population think that he is failling at it. A majority of the population think that ICE is not reformable and will need to be shut down. Every interview and public pronouncements by Miller, Noem, Bovino, and Bessent will go on record and will probably be part of a diffamation lawsuit by the families of the victims. More, they might be held accountable in the future for obstruction of justice.
It’s a “mirroring” problem. Their expectation was that protests would not be of the civil society type, but would be armed and dangerous, because that’s how they themselves would have reacted to such a provocation. There was likely never going to be the reaction they needed to “justify” more troops (viz., left protesters mostly staying away from the Jan 6 “event”). And note Bovino’s turn to military cosplay, wearing a greatcoat that resembles a World War 2 German army one (available on eBay for a couple hundred bucks) and then later showing up with a holster sling prominently displayed, for all the world like some SA trooper.
Add the “Border Czar” Homan to your list of scapegoats, who reportedly is coming here to Minnesota today.
https://www.mprnews.org/story/2026/01/26/border-czar-tom-homan-being-sent-to-minnesota-trump-says
Is there no end to the federally-employed criminals we have to put up with here in Minnesota?
It truly feels surreal living in “Commiefornia” under “Governor Gruesome” while all the attention is being dumped unceremoniously on you poor Minnesotans. Stay strong, your efforts and the Fed’s malfeasance may well turn the true North blue for a generation.
To comfort everybody:
President Donald Trump said in a social media post Monday that Homan “has not been involved in that area, but knows and likes many of the people there.”
The president added: “Tom is tough but fair, and will report directly to me”
He has a face that looks like he hasn’t smiled since he was burning wings off flies as a kid.
I actually view Homan’s mission to be separate. He disagrees with Miller/Noem/Bovino on how they’re going about this. So this is likely an attempt to either salvage the mission or save face.
Every time Homan gets in front of reporters / cameras, the first question should be “What happened to the $50,000 that FBI handed you in a Cava bag?” He won’t give a straight answer but it will remind everyone that he is a criminal with no credibility.
Same with Trump.
Yes we are still talking about the Epstein files.
I hear he can be bought off for $50k in cash!
The courts are hurting justice, “which the Seventh Circuit overturned.”
And about “we are losing this war, we are losing the base and the narrative.” [war? who are you in a war with?], “Dimon said in a recent speech at the Institute of International Finance that the current conflict in Ukraine and the Middle East has already begun a third world war.”
https://www.newsweek.com/world-war-three-has-already-begun-jp-morgan-ceo-says-1976854
and
“JPMorgan Chase CEO says he and his team are preparing for WWIII
Dimon’s “team is running scenarios in preparation for a global conflict involving nuclear powers.
Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, told the crowd that war was imminent and nuclear proliferation was a greater existential threat than climate change.”
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/jpmorgan-chase-ceo-says-team-151500347.html
Roger Parloff and Chris Geidner are live-posting the MN v NOEM TRO hearing this morning:
https://bsky.app/profile/rparloff.bsky.social/post/3mddhrcapr22d
9:36 AM · Jan 26, 2026
https://bsky.app/profile/chrisgeidner.bsky.social/post/3mddjnwvq6k2x
10:10 AM · Jan 26, 2026
Parloff’s THREAD broke, so here’s the rest:
https://bsky.app/profile/rparloff.bsky.social/post/3mddk7bxwsk2e
10:20 AM · Jan 26, 2026
10:57 AM [ET] · Jan 26, 2026 Parloff [Judge to State]:
I am very NOT impressed by the lawyer for the feds. He doesn’t seem to have a clue what’s going on.
Fed lawyers are selected for looks. And competent ones quit or were fired.
Adam Klasfeld also live-posted the TRO hearing:
https://bsky.app/profile/klasfeldreports.com/post/3mddiosiff52q
9:52 AM · Jan 26, 2026
Stephen Miller lives in a bubble at the top of the power hierarchy. This is his second time around and he evidently feels more secure in his ability to bring his borrowed power to bear on the world. He has advanced from trying to convince people to believe obvious lies to forcing them to behave as though they do. Lack of credibility may have become a lapel pin he is proud to wear because it signifies his power to bend people to his will.
A few things:
1). You know things are bad if they are sending Homan in as the cleanup person. He looks and talks like a thug, so this will only make things worse.
2). I guess the GOP has changed their longstanding strategy from telling people to “wait until all the facts are in” after each shooting to declaring a immediate judgement before the victim is cold.
3). Trump apparently is starting to realize what a PR disaster this whole MN occupation is and will be looking for scapegoats. After trying and failing to find them in victims, he will need to find someone else. Noem will likely be the first choice.
4). Many books will be written about the extreme psychopathic personalities of Miller, Noem, Homan, Blanche, Bovine, etc. I suspect there will be many details about them that will further illuminate how evil and corrupt they are.
“Ultimately, though, Stephen Miller is responsible for both the invasions and Trump’s commitment to sustaining them, even as they destroy the US and Trump’s legacy.”
I respectfully disagree. As I have long maintained here, I see Miller as a power-mad psychopath. His supposed “genius” has always been a myth sustained by those desiring to use his hatred as a cloak; he plays Machiavelli but lacks the brains to grasp the essential role of subtlety when it comes to influencing others to further your aims.
Stephen Miller is a monster, but he is Trump’s monster. It may be tempting now, as we watch Trump’s flailing descent into what might be called his dotage, to look elsewhere. But Trump created Miller by giving him power in his first term, and Trump could still cancel that loan of instrumental power now. He chooses not to, and it remains his choice. His groping responses to the MN shootings reveal an old man riddled with doubts, but he IS president, as he loves to remind everyone. He could do something, and he hasn’t.
Is Trump competent? I think we’re stuck on that point now — Miller may have been Trump’s monster when Trump was competent, but if he’s no longer so this is all on Miller.
That’s not to say Trump should in any way be exonerated. He’s a danger to himself and others and should be treated as such, and persons like Miller removed from his presence.
If Trump is not competent, then no one is restraining Miller. He is allowed to run wild by Wiles and others. If Trump is competent, then he is ok with Miller running wild. Of course, it might be that Trump is too involved in his ballroom to pay attention.
Miller shows that he is almost as ignorant of history as Trump. Or maybe they don’t care about history or facts. Disregard for history is the logical extension of “We are omnipotent. We create our own facts.”
I’ve shared this here before in passing, but it becomes more and more frightening how little a sizable number of high profile people seem to care about the shadow of the future. A federal pardon won’t protect from a large set of other bad consequences that could even include incarceration, and there isn’t even a guarantee Trump will remain in his right body or mind to use the federal pardon. What if he has a heart attack tomorrow? Is everyone so sure “left out of new Signal chat” Vance won’t want to do his own purge, Khrushchev style? These people are acting with impunity with neither laws nor populism behind them at levels never seen in the modern era and nearly never seen in American history. What have they been told will keep them safe? Cancelled elections? Waiting planes to Russia? Nothing seems too farfetched now.
“What if he has a heart attack tomorrow? ”
C’mon, you’re gonna give me wet dreams, and I’m 72.
America had an opportunity at Immigration refrom under Joe Biden and Biden even had R-support. Remember, Trump put the kabash on the reform and told the R’s not to negotiate with Biden.
Here were are. Trump is POTUS, his ICE/Border patrol is out of control murdering Americans, dragging pregnant women off of sidewalks, locking up 5 year old kids to get at their parents. The Trump Admin’s immigration policy maker, Stephen Miller simply does not want anyone that is not of northern eurpopean caucasian ancestry to be admitted into the United States. Those that are brown, are being deported without due process.
I agree the Miller/Trump agenda is completely racist, but the violent militarization and supersizing of ICE/Border Patrol was the goal all along — a masked secret police force answerable only to Trump whose mission it is to terrorize American citizens into obedience, regardless of our rights or the Constitution. Trump hates democracy. He wants absolute power and is using the wildly exaggerated “danger” of illegal immigration (very appealing to racists) as an excuse to grab it. The difference between America now and Nazi Germany is that millions of Americans are standing up for everyone’s rights, unlike Germans who refused to do the same for German Jews.
More like, answers only to Miller. He’s running this shitshow.
None of this is accidental, although the outcomes may be.
It has been asserted here before, but bears repeating: Putin and the Russian methods are Trump’s GPS.
I agree, earthworm.
Stephen Miller simply does not want anyone that is not of northern eurpopean caucasian ancestry to be admitted into the United States.
Except maybe not Norway anymore. Because Nobel Prize awarded to the wrong personage, instead of the one who “stopped” between 0-8 wars.
Probably not Denmark, either, since they won ‘t give Greenland to The Felon Guy.
Someone in a video I watched yesterday stated that a number of fed thugs’ actions open them up to being charged as accessories after the fact to Pretti’s murder (assuming the next administration has the political will). Assuming that’s accurate, how far up the hierarchy could that approach go?
All those federal agents who compromised the scene, took witnesses away and confiscated their cell phones, and helped the killers flee the jurisdiction, I believe could theoretically be charged under Minnesota law as accessories to murder. Assuming Minnesota gets to investigate and charge the murder itself.
I know (thank God) very little about guns. What kind of a pistol is that in the picture? What caliber?
I read that Trump and Gov. Walz had a productive and friendly phone call this morning. I hope Walz knows better than to believe anything Trump says.
I’m sure that Walz knows that, and that what The Felon Guy says depends on the last person who talked to him, or what he saw on his TV during “executive time”.
White House “press” conference [1/2 an hour ago]:
https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3mddvlrvcpn2u
1:43 PM · Jan 26, 2026
Aaron Rupar:
https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3mddwmgwpek2z
2:02 PM · Jan 26, 2026
Ah yes, Homan, Miller and Bovino. What a united and smoothly-functioning team they will make!