By Ben Meiselas
Hi all! It’s Wednesday, and the news has been nonstop. Let me try to make sense of it all for you and catch you up on the latest. Thank you to all our subscribers for making our reporting possible. Remember to like, share, and subscribe to keep us going.
First, you need to see this video of our FBI. Federal agents, deployed near the Brown University campus in Rhode Island, were shown methodically kicking through snow in search of evidence connected to a school shooting, days after the horrific attack. This came after federal authorities had already provided incorrect information to local officials, resulting in the detention of the wrong suspect. This is dysfunction on full display.
This is what federal law enforcement has been reduced to under Donald Trump’s leadership. Confusion. Public errors. A lack of accountability. And, increasingly, performative chaos that erodes trust in institutions that depend on public confidence to function at all. It’s yet another example of why we need serious, experienced people in positions of authority.
That erosion is not confined to one agency or one incident. It is systemic. While federal agents were scrambling in Rhode Island, the House of Representatives was experiencing a political rupture that underscored just how unstable Republican leadership has become in the Trump era. Three Republican members broke with Speaker Mike Johnson and the MAGA bloc, signing onto a Democratic discharge petition led by Leader Hakeem Jeffries to force a vote on extending Affordable Care Act subsidies for three years. It was a remarkable rebuke of party leadership and an implicit admission that sabotaging health care access has become politically indefensible.
A discharge petition is not a casual maneuver. It is a last resort, used when leadership refuses to allow a vote despite clear majority support. That Republicans felt compelled to take this step speaks volumes. For years, Americans have been promised that Republicans would replace the Affordable Care Act with something better. Trump has repeatedly said his health plan is coming in “two weeks.” Nearly a decade later, he’s got nothing to show. Not even a “concept of a plan.”
That history was laid bare on the House floor by Representative Jim McGovern of Massachusetts, who meticulously documented nearly a decade of broken promises. From 2016 through 2025, Trump repeatedly pledged an imminent health care plan. “Two weeks away,” “four weeks,” “very soon,” “just about completed.” All lies.
And for those keeping score, this is the second discharge petition in recent weeks to force a vote on legislation that is overwhelmingly popular. The rare maneuver was used recently to force the vote on the Epstein Files, which Johnson refused to bring to the floor.
While Republicans fracture over health care, the administration’s approach to immigration enforcement has taken an even darker turn. In Chicago, Greg Bovino, a senior Border Patrol official under Trump, returned with teams conducting aggressive operations across neighborhoods like Little Village and Cicero in Illinois. Video footage shows Bovino mocking residents, taunting them with profanity, and joking theatrically about enforcement actions. He referred to his presence as a kind of holiday spectacle.
This kind of intimidation is simply reprehensible. Chemical agents deployed against civilians. Public humiliation. Language that treats communities as enemies rather than constituents. And the people are pissed.
Public opinion reflects this reality. According to recent Ipsos and CNN polling, Trump’s approval rating has been underwater every single day since March 12, totaling 281 consecutive days. He is now deeply negative on every major issue: immigration, foreign policy, trade, the economy, and especially his handling of the Epstein case. On that issue alone, his net approval is negative 29 points. The data speaks for itself.
Yet accountability remains elusive, in large part because Republicans have refused to allow transparency. Special Counsel Jack Smith offered to testify publicly before Congress, without time limits, to answer questions about the investigations into Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election and his retention of classified documents. Republicans declined. Instead, they opted for a closed-door deposition, while continuing to attack Smith on partisan media outlets.
Smith’s opening statement, which we obtained, was stark and precise. His investigation developed proof beyond a reasonable doubt that Trump engaged in a criminal scheme to overturn the election and obstruct the lawful transfer of power. It also established that Trump willfully retained highly classified documents, storing them in unsecured locations and repeatedly attempting to obstruct justice. These are not partisan opinions. They are findings supported by grand jury indictments.
Speaker Johnson, meanwhile, claims that Republicans with “false narratives with the truth” to avoid backlash from their recent moves, even as members of his own caucus defect to protect Americans from losing health coverage. When pressed about the political consequences of allowing subsidies to expire, he dismissed concerns and blamed Democrats for “breaking the system.” Johnson says that he’ll win back voters by telling them the real history of health care, and by blaming Democrats for not voting for the “Big Beautiful Bill.” Nevermind the fact that the bill passed, Americans’ insurance costs are set to skyrocket, and the bill doesn’t help these issues — but rather, it makes massive cuts to Medicare and Medicaid. Johnson’s behavior is simply ghoulish.
And that’s not all. FCC Chair Brendan Carr testified before the Senate today and said, unequivocally, that the FCC is not an independent agency, but rather, under full control of Trump. Shortly after, the administration scrubbed any references to the FCC being independent from the agency’s website. Appalling. I will be releasing a longer video on this shortly.
A few other updates before I go:
The Senate has passed a $901 billion defense bill. Included in the bill is a demand that Pete Hegseth provide all video of the military’s boat strikes.
The Trump administration is moving to dismantle the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Colorado, taking aim at one of the world’s leading climate research labs. The research center is one of the world’s most highly regarding labs, and is essential in protecting people from natural disasters. The administration says their work is “woke.” Seriously.
Another Republican has announced his retirement. Representative Dan Newhouse of Washington says he will not run for reelection.
We are witnessing a sustained assault on the idea that government should function, tell the truth, and serve the public. This community, and all Americans, must remain a check on this regime. So thank you for being here. Thank you for staying engaged, liking these posts, sharing this information with friends and family, and for subscribing. We’re all in this together,
