We have late word this evening that the Department of Justice has launched a “criminal investigation” of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minnesota Mayor Jacob Frey over a purported “criminal conspiracy” to impeded ICE’s work in the state. Let’s start with the obvious and important fact that the bar that has to be cleared to launch such an investigation is essentially nil. Only you need is a couple toadyish and corrupt DOJ appointees and they are currently in over-supply. Getting a criminal indictment let alone a conviction is in a different universe of possibility. The main point of this is simply to generate the headlines you’re seeing this evening (“criminal investigation!”) and perhaps load state and local government with subpoenas or perhaps raids.
Continue reading “Watch What They’re Doing: Trump Threatens to Make War on the States”White House: Turns Out People Think ICE Kinda Sucks
There’s a fascinating and kind of hilarious item in Axios today. The headline is: Trump’s immigration erosion worries his team. Reading the piece, it all appears to be a reaction to the fairly obvious point that the highly visible and increasingly brutal ICE raids are not popular. And the American public is beginning to see these “surges” into Blue cities, rightly, not as aggressive immigration enforcement but as something more like punitive expeditions into what Trump views as enemy cities or something like occupied territory.
What I’ve noticed is how top administration leaders and especially the ICE agents on the ground are increasingly leaning into the visions of these “surges” and raids as a kind of cleansing violence, even much more than they were in the early period of this effort back in the summer. They increasingly look less like efforts to rack up deportation numbers ( that may be happening in a more piecemeal fashion across the country ) and more like hyper-violent expeditions targeting all the people who — in the MAGA vision — are getting in the way of Making America Great Again.
Continue reading “White House: Turns Out People Think ICE Kinda Sucks”What the ‘Federal Invasion’ of Minneapolis Looks Like on the Ground: Photos
Minneapolis is in the midst of what local leaders are calling a “federal invasion.” In the days since an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer fatally shot 37-year-old resident Renee Good, reports have surfaced of a woman being dragged from her car while on her way to a routine appointment at the Traumatic Brain Injury Center. A Venezuelan man was shot in the leg by an ICE agent. A family of eight reported being teargassed on their way home from their son’s basketball game, causing a 6 month old to fall unconscious.
In the Trump administration’s telling, these incidents are all the fault of protesters, who are getting in ICE’s way. His supporters are generally in lockstep with the administration, echoing claims that Good was a “domestic terrorist” and that the images coming out of Minneapolis show protesters impeding law enforcement.
But many Americans are disturbed by what they’re seeing: seemingly indiscriminate violence being enacted by ICE and Customs and Border Protection agents against immigrants and U.S. citizens alike. The flood of photos and footage out of Minneapolis is having a real impact on public perceptions of the agency and what’s happening in the city.
Continue reading “What the ‘Federal Invasion’ of Minneapolis Looks Like on the Ground: Photos”There’s More at Stake Than Just Interest Rates. Here’s What Trump Could Do With the Whole Federal Reserve Toolkit
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on whether President Trump can continue his rampage through the federal government by removing Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook without due process, giving the executive unprecedented power over the nation’s premier financial institution.
Trump has since his first term openly tried to manipulate Federal Reserve governors into cutting interest rates, seemingly to benefit his own political and business interests and those of his allies. He’s taken unprecedented steps to apply pressure, including trying to remove Cook on a manufactured allegation of mortgage fraud and arguing with Federal Reserve Board Chair Jerome Powell in-person over the cost of renovations to two Fed buildings. Late last week, Trump’s administration launched a sham criminal investigation of Powell, accusing the Chair of lying about the cost of the renovations in a move decried by a bipartisan panel of experts and elected officials.
At its core, the Federal Reserve is America’s central bank. It consists of the Board of Governors in Washington D.C. and 12 regional banks, each responsible for its own multi-state district.
The Fed’s two main mandates are to maintain maximum employment and to control price inflation. For those aims, it wields just one tool: controlling interest rates that affect the cost of borrowing money and doing business. Using economic data, members of the Fed vote eight times a year on whether to raise, lower, or hold interest rates.
If the Supreme Court decides Trump can remove Cook, it will swing wide open the door that would give the president full power to pluck out Fed governors and replace them with his own loyalists.
A Trump takeover of the Fed could mean the president, through his chosen governors, would be able to slash rates at will, risking skyrocketing inflation and driving up unemployment, as has happened in countries like Argentina and Turkey.
But the Fed has many more tools the president could seize if SCOTUS kills Federal Reserve independence, a panel of experts said on a Thursday morning press call organized by Groundwork Collective, a left-leaning economic policy organization.
Beyond a protracted affordability crisis, here’s what else is at stake.
Trump Could “Reward His Billionaire Friends.”
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) highlighted the Federal Reserve levers Trump could pull to enrich himself and the billionaires who have adhered themselves to him in his second term, openly courting the president in exchange for preferential policy.
“Once Trump controls a majority of the Fed, he can use the Fed’s vast powers to enrich himself personally, to reward his billionaire friends, and to punish his enemies,” Warren said.
Trump could help himself and business owner friends by cutting interest rates and making it cheaper to do business.
He could also abuse the Fed’s role as the “bankers’ bank,” in which Federal Reserve Banks provide banks with commercial services the way banks serve their individual customers. Those responsibilities expanded during the 2008 global financial crisis, when the Federal Reserve bailed out Wall Street by purchasing tens of billions of dollars worth of “toxic” securities from the world’s largest financial institutions to bolster companies’ balance sheets.
Trump could further leverage that authority to lend money to financial institutions run by business people who have allied themselves with the president.
On the Flip Side, He Could Punish His Enemies.
A Trump-controlled Federal Reserve Board could withhold funds and services from banks whose leaders draw the president’s ire.
Trump has shown little to no restraint in weaponizing the federal government against his political opponents. He’s tried to yank funds from blue states, weaponized the Department of Justice against officials who have challenged him, and removed congressionally approved agency officials at-will, regardless of the law.
Exerting unprecedented influence over the central bank would give the president free rein to regulate and supervise financial institutions. The Fed helps write regulations for financial institutions, investigates banks for rules violations and enforces the law. The Fed has even more jurisdiction over the tens of state banks, those chartered by states rather than the federal government, including the power to force out-of-compliance state banks to “forfeit all rights and privileges of membership” in the Fed banking system. From there, it’s not hard to envision a megalomaniac president using the power of the Fed to bully blue states by manipulating their financial institutions.
“What if a bank doesn’t lend to a key ally of the White House?,” queried Rohit Chopra, former Consumer Financial Protection Bureau director, on Thursday. “Will they face losing access to the Fed’s primary credit programs? Or what if they don’t cooperate with a key item on the president’s agenda? Do they have to worry about getting debanked?”
A Backdoor Power of the Purse
The U.S. Treasury holds its checking accounts at the Fed, where the government receives revenues and issues payments. The Fed also facilitates Treasury auctions of securities, including Treasury notes, bonds and bills, to investors to raise money.
A Fed controlled by the president could help facilitate Treasury auctions not when the department’s spending exceeds its income, but at the president’s whim to raise revenue for whatever reason. Trump could also abuse the Fed’s Treasury account by exerting more unilateral influence over the department withholding or issuing payments outside of congressional approval.
“The central bank controls the monetary levers, is the backbone of the payment system,” said Columbia Law professor Lev Manand on Thursday. “And the monetary levers can be abused to lend money, to buy assets in ways that further the administration’s priorities and allow the administration to evade the legislature that is supposed to under our constitutional system have the power of the purse.
“A president that could control the Federal Reserve would be even more capable of evading Congress,” Manand said, “which is, I think, the reason why this is so high stakes.”
Hive Maintenance Scheduled for January 16, 2:15 pm ET
As part of a larger effort to find long-term solutions to make sure our members are having a good user experience in The Hive, the forums will be undergoing some much-needed maintenance today, January 16, at 2:15 p.m. ET. During this time, the Hive will be read-only with most features, including the ability to comment, unavailable for about an hour. The updates and maintenance will increase the speed and reliability of The Hive server going forward. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to us at siteissues@talkingpointsmemo.com.
Come Out and Say Hi
We’re under two weeks out from our first Morning Memo Live event featuring a really smart panel of people deeply knowledgeable on the story I care about most: the politicization and weaponization of the Justice Department.
It is the sine qua non of Trump’s drive toward a uniquely American form of authoritarianism. There can be no rule of law without the fair, consistent, and independent enforcement of the law for everyone. But over the past year, Trump has brought the Justice Department under the direct control of (and even into!) the White House and used it as a sword against his foes and shield for his allies.
To talk about this historic shift and the many permutations of it that are still unfolding, I’ll be moderating a discussion with Stacey Young from Justice Connection, which is providing support to current and recent DOJ employees; former assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron Zelinsky, who served on Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team and led the prosecution of Roger Stone; and Anna Bower, who covers these issues closely for Lawfare (while fielding occasional Signal messages from Lindsey Halligan).
In addition to the panel discussion, it’ll be a TPM community event with a Q&A and a light reception to follow. Come on out and help us make it a great evening. Details and tickets available here (TPM members should have a special discount code in their inboxes).
Renee Good Suffered Multiple Gunshot Wounds
COMING UP SOON!
We’re hosting our first Morning Memo Live event on Jan. 29 in Washington, D.C. Find details and tickets here — and TPM members should look out for a special discount code in your inboxes. Reach out to talk@talkingpointsmemo.com if you didn’t receive or can’t find it.
Wrapping Up a Dynamic Week
I hope you’ll forgive a less narrated Morning Memo today. Instead I wanted to pull together a slew of developments on the mass deportation front and sweep up a few other important stories that I hadn’t gotten to this week. I think it still provides a striking snapshot of where things are right now, domestically and internationally.
The Killing of Renee Good
- Renee Good had two gunshots wounds to the right side of her chest, one to her left forearm, and a possible fourth on the left side of her head, according to a fire department report released Thursday along with police reports and 911 transcripts.
- The NYT has put together an in-depth video analysis of the Good shooting.
- A group of 33 former federal prosecutors in Minnesota are asking the Trump administration to reconsider its decision to exclude the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension from the investigation into the Good shooting.
- Lawfare: Minnesota Can Prosecute Jonathan Ross—But It May Not Be Easy
Latest from Minnesota …
- The ACLU has filed a class-action lawsuit against the Trump administration in federal court in Minnesota alleging that it is engaging in racial profiling by targeting Latinos and Somalis for detention. The case was brought on behalf of three U.S. citizens with Latino and Somali backgrounds who were detained by federal agents.
- “Listen. Have y’all not learned from the last couple of days?” a federal agent was recorded last week telling an observer after a minor collision with concerned citizens trailing a federal convoy two days after the Renee Good shooting.
- A Minneapolis couple accused ICE agents of deploying tear gas and stun grenades around them and their six children, causing their 6 month old to lose consciousness and require CPR.
Thread of the Day
No One Is Safe
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem suggests virtually anyone could face a Kavanaugh stop.
Quote of the Day
“Those people that are arrested for interference or impeding, assault, we’re going to make them famous. We’re going to put their face on TV. We’re going to let their employers and their neighborhoods and their schools know who these people are.”—White House “border czar” Tom Homan
Potential Homicide in ICE Custody
A medical examiner in Texas is reportedly poised to rule that the Jan. 3 death of detainee in ICE custody was a homicide, the WaPo reports: “A 55-year-old Cuban immigrant, Lunas Campos died following a struggle with detention staff, according to an eyewitness account and an internal ICE document reviewed by The Post.”
‘Stunningly Vindictive’
The fight over discovery into Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s vindictive prosecution claim continues in the criminal case in Tennessee, with his lawyers now accusing federal prosecutors of having “reneged” on earlier promises to hand over evidence ahead of an important hearing later this month.
Judge Blasts Trump Admin’s Targeted Deportations
U.S. District Judge William Young of Boston, a Reagan appointee, condemned in open court the Trump administration policy of targeting pro-Palestinian activists for deportation:
I find it breathtaking that I have been compelled on the evidence to find the conduct of such high-level officers of our government — cabinet secretaries — conspired to infringe the First Amendment rights of people with such rights here in the United States. These cabinet secretaries have failed in their sworn duty to uphold the Constitution.
Young has yet to rule on a remedy for the constitutional violations he found.
Mahmoud Khalil Loses Appeal
In a significant setback for legal immigrants targeted by the Trump administration for their political views, an appeals court said federal district courts are without jurisdiction to hear the constitutional claims of Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil until he exhausts his claims in the executive branch’s immigration court system.
2026 Ephemera
OH-09: Madison Sheahan is resigning as the deputy director of ICE to seek the GOP nomination against Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D), the longest-serving woman in Congress.
Judge Blocks DOJ From Getting Voter Rolls
U.S. District Judge David O. Carter of Santa Ana has blocked the Trump DOJ from obtaining California’s voter rolls.
Just a Coincidence?
Perhaps it’s unrelated, but the following overt investigative moves in controversial cases came within days of President Trump’s excoriation of federal prosecutors last week at the White House for being too slow and weak in pursuing his favored cases:
- D.C. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro issued subpoenas to the Federal Reserve on Jan. 9;
- Since late last week, Pirro sought interviews with five Democratic members of Congress involved in the video urging service members to perform their duty not to abide by unlawful orders;
- The FBI searched the Virginia home of WaPo reporter Hannah Natanson on Wednesday in a purported leak case that included a subpoena to the WaPo itself, all of which followed a Jan. 9 complaint against a government contractor in Maryland federal court for unlawful detention of national defense information.
I would caution that the overt moves in the case of the WaPo are more complicated with a longer lead time and therefore harder to move on a dime in response to a rant from the President.
Must Read
The Purged: “Donald Trump’s destruction of the civil service is a tragedy not just for the roughly 300,000 workers who have been discarded, but for an entire nation.”
‘The Dumbest Thing I’ve Ever Heard’
Watch NATO fall apart in real time as President Trump continues to threaten to seize Greenland from Denmark, even as some Republicans on the Hill try to reassure the beleaguered U.S. ally.
A World Without Rules
At Foreign Affairs, Oona A. Hathaway and Scott J. Shapiro warn that President Trump isn’t just jeopardizing the international legal system but the existence of any rules constraining state power:
In the short term, the world faces deep instability; leaders may sometimes invoke the postwar rules but may also increasingly ignore them, depending on what is convenient. This is a recipe for unrelenting conflict, as states would be in doubt about what the rules are and therefore unsure of how to avoid provoking violence. Until a clear set of rules takes hold, the world will be a profoundly dangerous place.
A longer-term possibility is a world in which states are no longer prohibited from resorting to force and at least one superpower acts as if there are no rules at all. In this world, not only would the rules be unpredictable, they would depend entirely on the impulses of whoever happens to command the most coercive power at a given moment.
What a Big Boy
President Trump accepted the Nobel Prize from its most recent recipient like the cheap club championships he awards himself at his own golf courses — and with just as much self-awareness:
Hot tips? Juicy scuttlebutt? Keen insights? Let me know. For sensitive information, use the encrypted methods here.
Senate Takes Big Step Toward Funding Gov’t as Some Dems Demand ICE Constraints
The Senate on Thursday passed three appropriations bills in a largely bipartisan 82-15 vote. The three bills, grouped into a minibus, will fund the Departments of Energy, Commerce, Interior and Justice, the EPA, water programs and federal science initiatives through the end of the current fiscal year.
Continue reading “Senate Takes Big Step Toward Funding Gov’t as Some Dems Demand ICE Constraints”The FBI Freeze-out in Minnesota Is a Bigger Deal Than You Think
You’ve probably seen that the FBI asserted exclusive control over the investigation into the death of Renee Good. This is a bigger deal than I think most people think. If I understand correctly, since this case involved federal officers and a crime scene controlled by federal officers the practicalities of the situation are relatively straightforward. The feds collected the evidence. The shooter is a federal agent. They can say, don’t talk to the locals. And clearly the shooter is happy to oblige. So in this particular case the nature of the incident means the feds have all the stuff and they simply don’t share it. As far as I know the FBI has not claimed any ability to overrule or remove the case from local authority. They’re just making bogus claims about jurisdiction and refusing to share the evidence. And in this case, especially with an increasingly obedient federal judiciary, possession is 9/10s of the law.
Continue reading “The FBI Freeze-out in Minnesota Is a Bigger Deal Than You Think”Trump Threatened to Invoke the Insurrection Act — He’ll Need an Insurrection First
The Trump administration has flooded Minneapolis with thousands of immigration enforcement officials who have killed, shot and brutalized its inhabitants.
Protests have ramped up accordingly. Videos show ICE officers using force against the protesters, in some cases reportedly taunting them with ICE officer Jonathan Ross’ killing of U.S. citizen Renee Good last week. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) has put the National Guard on standby.
And Thursday morning, President Trump posted on Truth Social: “If the corrupt politicians of Minnesota don’t obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the Patriots of I.C.E., who are only trying to do their job, I will institute the INSURRECTION ACT…”
Continue reading “Trump Threatened to Invoke the Insurrection Act — He’ll Need an Insurrection First”