Today in Politics, Bulletin 299. 2/2/26

… WSJ: “A US intelligence official has alleged wrongdoing by DNI Tulsi Gabbard in a whistleblower complaint that is so highly classified it has sparked months of wrangling over how to share it with Congress. The filing of the complaint has prompted a continuing, behind-the-scenes struggle about how to assess and handle it, with the whistleblower’s lawyer accusing Gabbard of stonewalling the complaint.”

… “A cloak-and-dagger mystery reminiscent of a John le Carré novel is swirling around the complaint, which is said to be locked in a safe. Disclosure of its contents could cause ‘grave damage to national security,’ one official said. It also implicates another federal agency beyond Gabbard’s, and raises potential claims of executive privilege that may involve the WH.

… “The complaint was filed last May with the intelligence community’s IG, according to a Nov letter that the whistleblower’s lawyer addressed to Gabbard. The letter accused Gabbard’s office of hindering the dissemination of the complaint to lawmakers by failing to provide necessary security guidance on how to do so. In a statement, a spokeswoman for Gabbard’s office confirmed that the complaint concerned Gabbard but dismissed it as ‘baseless and politically motivated.’”

… “Months later, lawmakers still haven’t received the complaint itself. Some Democratic staffers on the intelligence committees have tried to learn more about the complaint in recent weeks, with little success, congressional aides said. The lengthy delay on sending the complaint to Congress is without known precedent, according to watchdog experts and former intelligence officials.”

… Rapper Nicki Minaj, who has gone all-in boarding the Trump Train recently and was just granted Trump Gold Card citizenship, has decided to ride in the QAnon car of the MAGA movement, posting this during the Grammys: “Your favorite artist has been practicing rituals in a satanic cult where they take babies from other countries and mutilate and kill them as a form of a blood sacrifice to their God. You see, when your master is satan, you must constantly shed blood. However, the JIG IS UP.”

… Trump threatened to sue Grammy host Trevor Noah: “The Grammy Awards are the WORST, virtually unwatchable! CBS is lucky not to have this garbage litter their airwaves any longer. The host, Trevor Noah, whoever he may be, is almost as bad as Jimmy Kimmel at the Low Ratings Academy Awards. Noah said, INCORRECTLY about me, that Donald Trump and Bill Clinton spent time on Epstein Island. WRONG!!!”

… “Noah, a total loser, better get his facts straight, and get them straight fast. It looks like I’ll be sending my lawyers to sue this poor, pathetic, talentless, dope of an M.C., and suing him for plenty$. Ask Little George Slopadopolus, and others, how that all worked out. Also ask CBS! Get ready Noah, I’m going to have some fun with you!”

… This is what Noah said when Billie Eilish won Song of the Year: “That is a Grammy that every artist wants almost as much as Trump wants Greenland, which makes sense because Epstein’s island is gone, he needs a new one to hang out with Bill Clinton.”

… When he was asked about it today, Trump referred to Epstein as "Jeffrey” in his answer, then corrected himself and called him “Jeffrey Epstein”. That shows you that even today his first instinct is to call him by his first name because they were so friendly and spent so much time together.

… This weekend’s Super Bowl halftime show performer Bad Bunny won Album of the Year. This is what he said when receiving the award: “Before I say thanks to God, I’m going to say ‘ICE out.’ We’re not savages, we’re not animals, we’re not aliens. We are humans and we are Americans.” He is from Puerto Rico.

… Erika Kirk’s Turning Point has announced the lineup of performers of their alternate Super Bowl halftime show so right-wingers can avoid having to watch the “woke” show being performed in the stadium by Bad Bunny. The headliner is Kid Rock (what a surprise), along with 3 other people I never heard of named Brantley Gilbert, Lee Brice and Gabby Barrett.

… Marge Greene on Kim Iversen’s podcast: “MAGA is - I think people are realizing it was all a lie. It was a big lie for the people.”

… Greene said Trump has turned on his base and only care about the megadonors: “Those are the people that get the special favors, the govt contracts, they get the pardons. And it’s the foreign countries that are running the show here. It’s the major big corporations and what is best for the world. That’s really what MAGA is.”

… Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R-FL) talked about Latino voters fleeing the GOP because of mass deportations: "We've been warning the admin about the enforcement that's been going on. We thought there should've been a course correction a long time ago, and now I guess it's gonna be forced on us by the Democrats. We should've been focusing on criminals and gang members, not grandmothers. That was a mistake, and it's coming back to haunt us right now."

… But Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX) told CNN that Republicans shouldn’t overreact to the big special election wins by Dems, claiming that Republican voters didn’t show up because of bad weather: "What happened is there was a huge snow storm, ice storm really that hit north Texas and central Texas."

… Dem turnout in the same weather was very strong. Also, the results in Texas tracks with what has been happening in elections all over the country during the past year.

… Fox host Paul Mauro has a different theory. He claimed that since the Melania movie is supposedly so popular all over the country, Dems are now worried about losing the midterms: “What they’re really worried about is if this is indicia of the midterms. This is the indication that the silent majority is still out there.”

… Kayleigh McEnany then chimed in: “My mom went to see Melania. She said the theater was packed, it was standing room only. People were cheering through it, they were excited. It was interactive—people interplaying with the film. She said it was just electric.”

… I guess we pretty much have no chance.

… I’m also now prepared to bet money on my earlier prediction that Trump will sue the Academy Awards when Melania isn’t nominated for Best Documentary.

… BUT, as it turns out, the box office numbers are rigged. Bulk sales of tickets are being promoted through emails from the National Faith Advisory Board (NFAB), a faith coalition led by Paula White-Cain, who also served as a senior advisor in the White House Faith Office. The film had a $7 million opening weekend.

… The message encourages supporters to purchase group tickets and private theater buyouts, directing them to a custom sales portal which offers private screenings for groups of more than 30 people. Recipients are encouraged to watch the movie to "support our first lady," because "supporting this film is about standing up for grace over the noise, dignity over distortion, and for the truth.”

… Trump was asked today about UAE investing $500 million in his crypto company right before Trump agree to all the sale of advanced AI chips to them: Q - “The WSJ reported that the royal family of Abu Dhabi invested hundreds of millions of dollars in World Liberty. Can you explain why you decided to take that investment? Trump: I don't know about it. I know crypto is a big thing and they like it. A lot of people like it. The people behind me like it. My son is handling that. My family is handling it. And I guess they get investments from different people.”

… Politico: “Mike Johnson hopes to pass the 5 full-year funding bills and the two-week DHS stopgap Tues relying only on Republicans, after Hakeem Jeffries told him he wouldn’t help secure the Democrats needed to expedite the legislation. GOP leaders will have to quell an internal Republican revolt before they get there. It’s not clear whether Johnson can get past the procedural step of adopting a rule with GOP support still uncertain and Dems unlikely to bail him out. GOP leaders and WH officials are trying to convince key hard-liners to get on board.”

… Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL): “BIG UPDATE: House GOP leadership will no longer move the appropriations under suspension, meaning there will be a rule to which the SAVE Act can be added. If they do not, these appropriations bills will FAIL. Voter ID and the SAVE Act are NOT negotiable. We MUST secure our elections!”

… Luna continues to claim that she has enough votes rounded up to tank the bill just sent back by the Senate unless Johnson attaches the SAVE act to it, which is a poison pill that will never clear the senate filibuster. It has been my belief all along that she was going to back down on this once Trump put the hammer down, but she continues to double and triple-down on her threat.

… But then Trump put down the hammer this afternoon: “I am working hard with Speaker Johnson to get the current funding deal, which passed in the Senate last week, through the House and to my desk, where I will sign it into Law, IMMEDIATELY! We need to get the Government open, and I hope all Republicans and Democrats will join me in supporting this Bill, and send it to my desk WITHOUT DELAY.”

… “There can be NO CHANGES at this time. We will work together in good faith to address the issues that have been raised, but we cannot have another long, pointless, and destructive Shutdown that will hurt our Country so badly — One that will not benefit Republicans or Democrats. I hope everyone will vote, YES!”

… Now we will watch Luna, Tim Burchett and the other highly principled nutjobs cave and vote for it under orders from the Orange Master.

… We continue to work our way through the latest release of the Epstein files and continue to find interesting things like this email about Trump from Epstein to Peter Thiel.

… There is also this one from Epstein to Noem Chomsky:

… Despite the fact that Steve Bannon was also all over the files right up until Epstein went to prison, Trump went out of his way to praise him today. Trump posted a picture of Bannon and Peter Navarro with this caption: “Two very good guys who were treated so unfairly by Sleepy Joe Biden. But now, they are bigger than ever!!!”

I expect that tomorrow is going to be a pretty crazy day with Congress back in session with a huge vote on the appropriations package. I have not been quick to join the chorus of activists criticizing leadership’s handling of this because there are really so many different ways this can play out and I am in wait and see mode.

I think they have a plan, I’m hopeful it is a good one, and I don’t think they are going to share it with the public. I do know that we have the upper hand and all the leverage, so anything less that serious concessions on ICE by Republicans that are rock-solid and legally enforceable will be unacceptable.

Thank you to everyone who reads, shares and subscribes to my work. If you missed yesterday’s Bulletin, you can find it here.

… NY Post: “Anti-aging physician and newly named CBS News contributor Peter Attia swapped hundreds of chummy, eyebrow-raising emails with Jeffrey Epstein - including once joking that female genitals counted as a ‘low carb.’ In stomach-churning missives, the controversial anti-aging physician frequently asked after