Uncensored Free Speech Platform

Can anyone make an argument in favor of Pam Bondi as attorney general?

I’m not shocked that she was chosen — I understand the political and strategic reasons behind the decision. What I find troubling, though, is her behavior, which often comes across as unprofessional and divisive. I struggle to see how that conduct helps build trust, credibility, or unity, especially in a role that carries so much responsibility.
That said, I’m genuinely open to hearing another perspective. If there are substantive reasons people believe she is the right choice — whether based on experience, policy positions, effectiveness behind the scenes, or long-term strategy — I’d appreciate hearing that case. I’m trying to understand what supporters see that I may be missing?

Dems dig in, guarantee shutdown with block of DHS funding
What's the endgame here?

Lawmakers are jetting from Washington, D.C., without a deal to prevent a partial government shutdown. 
Their departure comes after the Senate was unable to send a full-year funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to President Donald Trump’s desk. 
Senate Democrats doubled down on their demands for stringent reforms to immigration enforcement, and bucked multiple attempts to keep the agency open on Thursday.
DHS FUNDING BILL FAILS AFTER SCHUMER REJECTS TRUMP’S ICE REFORM OFFER
With both chambers now on their way to a weeklong recess, the agency is expected to shutter at midnight Friday. Unless a deal is struck before lawmakers return, DHS will be shut down for at least that period of time.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., made the call to send lawmakers home, and noted that if negotiations made a breakthrough they would be on 24-hour notice to return. But talks, for now, are somewhere between baby steps and stuck. 
"What it appears to me, at least at this point, is happening is the Democrats, like they did last fall, they really don't want the solution," Thune said. "They don't want the answer. They want the political issue." 
SCHUMER, DEMS CHOOSE PARTIAL SHUTDOWN AS NEGOTIATIONS HIT IMPASSE
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and his caucus blocked an attempt to pass the original DHS funding bill and a subsequent two-week funding extension. 
Their resistance comes after the White House unveiled the legislative text of the administration’s counter-offer, which several Senate Democrats balked at Thursday morning. 
"The administration doesn't actually want to reform ICE," Schumer said. "They never do it on their own. That is why we need — we are fighting for — legislation to rein in ICE and stop the violence."
Senate Democrats have demanded a stringent list of reforms to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). They weren't persuaded by border czar Tom Homan that operations in Minneapolis would be drawn down as negotiations continue.
It was a déjà vu moment from months earlier, when Thune repeatedly tried to peel Democrats away from Schumer during the longest government shutdown in U.S. history but failed to break their blockade.
SHUTDOWN CLOCK TICKS AS SCHUMER, DEMOCRATS DIG IN ON DHS FUNDING DEMANDS
While there was optimism that negotiations were moving in a positive direction earlier this week, those hopes appeared to have shattered. 
"At this point, it seems clear that the Democrats are going to walk away from that bipartisan conversation," a senior White House official said. "They're going to shut the …

US lawmakers warn Taiwan to ‘meet the moment’ as China stages invasion-style drills
Notice what's missing.

FIRST ON FOX: A bipartisan group of senior U.S. lawmakers is urging Taiwan to dramatically boost its defense spending, warning that political gridlock in Taipei risks undermining deterrence as China escalates military pressure around the island.
Sens. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., and Chris Coons, D-Del., along with Reps. Young Kim, R-Calif., and Ami Bera, D-Calif., sent a letter of 34 lawmakers Thursday to leaders of Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan expressing "serious concerns" that a proposed special defense budget could be only partially funded.
"We hope you will support a robust, multiyear special defense budget … that adequately meet(s) the moment and send(s) a clear signal of Taiwan’s will to defend itself," the lawmakers wrote.
The warning comes as Taiwan’s president, Lai Ching-te, pushes for a major multiyear defense package aimed at strengthening the island’s asymmetric warfare capabilities — including missiles, air defense systems, drones and reserve force training — designed to make any Chinese invasion or blockade far more costly.
US MOVE ON VENEZUELA SPARKS TAIWAN COMPARISONS AS LAWMAKERS DEBATE CHINA THREAT
But the proposal has become entangled in a fierce domestic political battle.
Opposition parties that control Taiwan’s legislature have resisted fully approving the special defense budget, arguing for revisions and greater oversight. The standoff has fueled concern in Washington that delays could weaken Taiwan’s readiness at a time when Beijing is intensifying military operations near the island.
The People’s Liberation Army has conducted multiple large-scale exercises around Taiwan in recent months, including drills simulating encirclement and blockade operations. Chinese aircraft routinely cross the median line of the Taiwan Strait and enter Taiwan’s Air Defense Identification Zone, while Chinese vessels have increased activity in surrounding waters.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has repeatedly refused to rule out the use of force to bring Taiwan under Beijing’s control.
"The threat posed by the People’s Republic of China against Taiwan has never been greater," the U.S. lawmakers wrote, citing growing military pressure and coercive actions designed to "undermine Taiwan’s will to resist."
The letter also acknowledges mounting frustration in Washington over delays in U.S. weapons deliveries to Taiwan, noting that the United States must address its own "massive backlog" of approved arms sales.
CHINA’S ENERGY SIEGE OF TAIWAN COULD CRIPPLE US SUPPLY CHAINS, REPORT WARNS
"For our part, the U.S. must address the massive backlog in weapons deliveries to …

Congress investigates NASA over funding ‘bilateral collaboration’ with CCP
This looks less like justice and more like strategy.

EXCLUSIVE — Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Rep. John Moolenaar (R-MI) are pressing NASA on why the agency seemingly funded “bilateral collaboration with Chinese entities” through its research grants, according to a letter obtained exclusively by the Washington Examiner. 

The pair of congressmen honed in on the research of Stanford University professor Wendy Mao. Mao, according to a congressional analysis of academic publications, received federal support for 31 research projects she carried out alongside affiliates of the Center for High Pressure Science and Technology Advanced Research, an entity that has appeared on the Bureau of Industry and Security Entity List since 2020 and whose parent organization has been on the list since 1997.

The list, published by the Department of Commerce, catalogues entities believed to be involved “in activities contrary to the national security or foreign policy interests of the United States” as well as those at risk of becoming adversarial to America. HPSTAR is affiliated with China’s nuclear weapons program, according to the Commerce Department. Mao herself concurrently held a position at HPSTAR, which her father founded, while conducting federally funded research.

Mao’s ties to Chinese state research entities were documented by the Stanford Review in December 2025.

In one of Mao’s publications, she collaborated with a researcher from the University of Science and Technology of China, a state-run institution, while receiving funding from NASA. Over the course of this research, Mao and her co-authors utilized the Chinese state university’s supercomputing center as well as U.S. government facilities, which Grassley and Moolenaar said constitutes “a direct or material reliance on PRC state infrastructure.”

“The publication lists only Stanford and Chinese co-authors yet explicitly acknowledges NASA funding, which — absent an FBI-certified congressional waiver — raises questions about potential violations of the Wolf Amendment,” the lawmakers wrote of the research. 

A 2019 aerial view of Stanford University in California is seen. Stanford is a private university that was founded in 1885 by Leland and Jane Stanford. (JasonDoiy/Getty Images)

The Wolf Amendment is a federal law that bans bilateral cooperation between NASA-funded researchers and Chinese entities. 

Domestic researchers can obtain FBI waivers to circumvent the Wolf Amendment in certain circumstances. 

Grassley and Moolenaar, in a second letter obtained …

THUNE: DHS Shutdown Very Likely
This isn't complicated—it's willpower.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune announced a shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is likely when the clock strikes midnight on Friday, due to a lack of agreement with Democrats on funding the agency.

“We don’t have a solution yet,” Thune, R-S.D., told reporters outside the Senate floor Thursday afternoon. “The Democrats, at least at the moment … have no interest in funding the Department of Homeland Security.”

Thune said leadership had been seeking unanimous consent to pass yet another funding extension for the department, but Democrats would not provide the votes.

At the end of the week, funding from the current short-term stopgap funding extension will expire, leaving the Coast Guard, national disaster response teams, and cybersecurity infrastructure unfunded.

The budget reconciliation bill passed in July 2025 has already provided billions in funding for border security and deportation operations under DHS’ umbrella.

Democrats have demanded restrictions on immigration law enforcement officers in the wake of the shooting deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, Minnesota. 

The White House and Senate Republicans have engaged with Senate Democrats’ demands for concessions such as prohibiting mask-use and requiring judicial warrants for deportations.

“The White House made, I think, what was a good faith effort … to try to get to an answer here … that will allow the government to stay open, and that was rejected by Democrats today,” said Thune. 

“The idea of not even allowing us to have an extended amount of time to negotiate this suggests to me, at least, that there isn’t a high level of interest in actually solving this issue.”

Thune added that the White House had provided legislative text the night before to Democrats that attempted to address their concerns, but “so far they’re not getting any kind of response from Democrats, even allowing us to continue this and allow the government to stay open.”

The Senate will recess next week, but Thune says he has told senators to “be available to get back here if there’s some sort of a deal they strike.”

On an optimistic note, Thune added, “I’m encouraged to hear that they [Democrats] are actually going to put together … a counterproposal” for DHS funding.

The post THUNE: DHS Shutdown Very Likely appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Trump says he ‘wasn’t aware’ of Lutnick’s 2012 visit to Epstein’s island
Are they actually going to vote on something real?

President Donald Trump told reporters Thursday that he wasn’t aware of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick‘s visit to Little St. James, an island previously owned by Jeffrey Epstein.

Trump was asked about recent revelations regarding Lutnick and Epstein during a White House event, specifically whether he was aware about the 2012 visit to the island.

“No I wasn’t aware of it,” Trump said. “I actually haven’t spoken to him about it, but from what I hear, he was there with his wife and children.”

“I guess in some cases, some people were — I wasn’t. I was never there,” the president said. “Somebody will someday say that I was never there.”

Lutnick testified before the Senate Appropriations Committee on Tuesday, where he faced significant questioning on the drama and detailed three specific meetings with Epstein, including a trip with his family to Little St. James. Days prior, the latest release of Epstein documents by the Justice Department showed that Lutnick, who had previously stated he severed ties with Epstein in 2005, had maintained sporadic contact with Epstein through 2018.

The commerce secretary lived next door to the disgraced financier and sex criminal in New York City. Lutnick told lawmakers Tuesday that the 2012 visit to Epstein’s island was for a family lunch.

“We had lunch on the island,” he said. “That is true, for an hour, and we left with all of my children, with my nannies, and my wife all together. We were on family vacation. We were not apart. To suggest there was anything untoward about that in 2012 — I don’t recall why we did it.”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, while briefing reporters on Tuesday, claimed that Trump had not lost confidence in Lutnick.

HISPANIC CONSERVATIVES ACCUSE HOUSE GOP HOPEFUL OF DEFRAUDING DONORS AND ACTIVISTS

You can watch Trump’s comments in full below.

Federal judge blocks Trump's bid to move Biden-commuted death row inmates to ‘Alcatraz of the Rockies’
This looks less like justice and more like strategy.

A federal judge on Wednesday blocked the Trump administration from transferring 20 former death row inmates to the federal "supermax" prison in Colorado, ruling the move likely violated their Fifth Amendment due process rights.
The 35-page ruling from U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly sets up a dispute between executive authority and prisoners’ procedural rights. 
Under Article II’s "Take Care" clause, the president is charged with executing federal law, and the Bureau of Prisons — overseen by the attorney general — has broad discretion to determine where inmates serve their sentences. But Kelly said the administration could not transfer the inmates without first giving them a meaningful opportunity to challenge the move.
TONY HAWK, TAIWAN AND A FLASHLIGHT: TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT SUSPECT’S BIZARRE DEFENSE
Kelly, a Trump appointee, stressed that his ruling had no bearing on the nature of the crimes committed by the ex-death row inmates, many of whom he noted have been convicted of "some of the most horrific crimes imaginable."
"The placement of an inmate with a life sentence at ADX Florence raises no constitutional concerns so long as the inmate is afforded adequate process," he said. 
Instead, the ruling focused narrowly on whether the inmates were given a real opportunity to contest the transfer, which Kelly said they were not. The order is a temporary blow to the Trump administration's effort to counter sweeping clemency actions Biden took during his final month in office — moves critics described as a political "Hail Mary" that lacked proper vetting.
"The Constitution requires that whenever the government seeks to deprive a person of a liberty or property interest that the Due Process Clause protects — whether that person is a notorious prisoner or a law-abiding citizen — the process it provides cannot be a sham," Kelly said.
Next steps in the case were not immediately clear, and the Justice Department declined to respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment on whether it would seek to appeal the ruling.
The effort comes as Attorney General Pam Bondi and the Trump administration have sought to reverse Biden's sweeping clemency actions, including the commutations of 37 death row inmates, many of whom have been convicted of particularly heinous and violent crimes. 
One individual was convicted of murdering a married couple who were camping in the Ouachita National Forest in July 2003.
Another was convicted of kidnapping, robbing, and murdering a 51-year-old local bank president by tying him to a concrete block and chain hoist, and tossing him …

Supreme Court urged to weigh in on Pennsylvania’s mail ballot dating law
Why resist verification?

The Republican National Committee asked the Supreme Court to hear a case over Pennsylvania’s law requiring mail ballots to be dated by the voter, warning that an appeals court ruling that struck down the law continues a dangerous precedent of courts intervening in election rulemaking.

The RNC will be before the high court next month, when it argues in Watson v. RNC over the legality of laws that allow states to count mail-in ballots that arrive after Election Day. It also filed a petition to the Supreme Court this week, asking the justices to take up its challenge to an appeals court ruling over another mail ballot law in Pennsylvania, this one requiring voters to write the correct date on their mail-in ballot for the state to count it. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled last year that the law did “not pass constitutional muster,” leading the GOP to appeal to the high court.

“The panel declared unconstitutional perhaps the least burdensome voting rule imaginable: Pennsylvania’s requirement that voters who choose the convenience of mail voting write a date in a specified field on the ballot-return envelope,” the RNC said in its petition.

“This decision continues the alarming trend of courts wielding the so-called Anderson-Burdick framework to anoint themselves, rather than state legislatures, as the ‘bear[ers of] primary responsibility for setting election rules,'” the petition continued.

The RNC argued that the Anderson-Burdick framework, a combination of two prior Supreme Court rulings that outline how courts should look at balancing the interests of the state with the burden an election law imposes on the voter, was misapplied in a vague manner that would leave virtually any voting rule vulnerable to being struck down.

“If that holding is left uncorrected, no voting or ballot-casting rule will be safe from open-ended, standardless federal judicial review—and even invalidation. No burden on voters will be too minimal to escape the federal courts’ notice, and every state interest must be supported by evidence sufficient to satisfy federal judges,” the RNC said in its petition.

“State legislatures will have no latitude to innovate with new voting regimes, including those that make voting easier,” the petition continued.

The RNC also warned that the third circuit ruling “upends the Constitution’s careful balance between States’ authority to regulate elections and the right to vote,” by giving a political victory to people who “lost …

Judge Weighs in on War Department Censure of Sen. Mark Kelly Over Video
This isn't complicated—it's willpower.

A federal judge stopped War Secretary Pete Hegseth–at least temporarily–from censuring Sen. Mark Kelly for his role in a video telling American soldiers to refuse illegal orders.

Judge Rich Leon, an appointee of Republican President George W. Bush, on Thursday ruled in favor of Kelly, D-Ariz., a retired Navy captain, who had joined five other Democrat members of Congress telling service members to refuse “illegal” orders, without giving a clear definition of illegal.  

Hegseth had moved to reduce Kelly’s Navy rank and retirement pay as a consequence. Judge Leon issued the order in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., blocking the move.

“Today a federal court made clear Pete Hegseth violated the Constitution when he tried to punish me for something I said,” Kelly said in a post on X.

“This is a critical moment to show this administration they can’t keep undermining Americans’ rights. I also know this might not be over yet, because Trump and Hegseth can’t admit when they are wrong.”

Today a federal court made clear Pete Hegseth violated the Constitution when he tried to punish me for something I said.

This is a critical moment to show this administration they can't keep undermining Americans' rights.

I also know this might not be over yet, because Trump…
— Senator Mark Kelly (@SenMarkKelly) February 12, 2026

President Donald Trump slammed the Democrat video as “seditious behaviors, punishable by death.” He called them “traitors.” 

Leon’s opinion said Kelly had the First Amendment right to make the comments in the video.  

Leon acknowledged, “military service members enjoy less vigorous First Amendment protections given the fundamental obligation for obedience and discipline in the armed forces.” 

The post Judge Weighs in on War Department Censure of Sen. Mark Kelly Over Video appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Federal judge upholds temporary protected status for Haitian immigrants
This affects the entire country.

A federal judge on Thursday upheld her order postponing the termination of temporary protected status for around 350,000 Haitians in the United States.
The Justice Department appealed U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes' stay to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit but simultaneously requested that she rescind her order. Judge Reyes heard arguments from both sides on Thursday and said that she is denying the government’s motion and would issue a written order before Feb. 19, which is the next deadline in the appellate court case. 
Reyes' order pauses Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s termination of Temporary Protected Status for Haitians.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION BLOCKED FROM ENDING TEMPORARY PROTECTED STATUS FOR HAITIANS
"During the stay, the Termination shall be null, void, and of no legal effect," she wrote. "The Termination therefore does not affect the protections and benefits previously conferred by the TPS designation, including work authorization and protection from detention and deportation, and the valid period of work authorization extends during the stay."
At the end of Thursday's hearing, Reyes said she had something "important" to put on the record.
"People are entitled to their views," said Reyes, who is both the first Latina and openly LGBTQ person to serve in Washington, D.C., as a district court judge.
LEFT-WING COURT HANDS KRISTI NOEM BIG WIN IN ‘UNVETTED IMMIGRATION’ CASE
"I am an immigrant. I did not hide that from the president of the United States … or from the U.S. Senate," Reyes said, adding that she has heard questions about "how someone like me, an immigrant and a lesbian could get this job."
Reyes remarked that she doesn't hear anyone talking about how she was magna cum laude at Harvard Law and practiced law at a top firm for 22 years.
Reyes then went on to read threats that have been emailed to her chambers. "I don't mind being called the C-word," Reyes said, before quoting from various threats she said she has received.
"I hope you lose your life by lunchtime … God d*** you. I hope you die today … The best way you could help America is to eat a bullet," Reyes quoted. Judge Reyes also quoted from social media posts about her, including one which read, "Hang the b****."
"Many of my colleagues have received threats," she said, adding there have been threats to the families of judges as well. "To those who would threaten judges … we will act without fear or favor. … We will continue to do our jobs. … We will not be intimidated."

‘You Ought to Be in Jail’: GOP Senator Accuses Minnesota Attorney General of Enabling Fraud  
Are they actually going to vote on something real?

Sen. Josh Hawley accused Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison of having knowledge of massive welfare fraud in his state yet enabling the fraud to continue.

“I should call you prisoner because you ought to be in jail,” Hawley, R-Mo., told Ellison in a heated exchange during a Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing Thursday.

Hawley specifically pressed Ellison on an alleged conversation the attorney general had with leaders of the Minneapolis nonprofit Feeding Our Future, which orchestrated a massive fraud scheme.

The organization claimed to be working with caterers and restaurants to provide meals to schoolchildren during the COVID-19 pandemic, but the group was found to have submitted fake invoices and meal count sheets while receiving more than $250 million in federal child nutrition assistance.

In November 2025, the Department of Justice announced one of the individuals involved in the fraud scheme had been sentenced to 10 years in prison “for his role in the $300 million Feeding Our Future case, the largest COVID-19 fraud scheme in the United States.”

Hawley claimed the leaders of Feeding Our Future met with Ellison at the end of 2021 and asked the attorney general for “help in getting investigators off their backs.”

“They complained to you for upwards of an hour about state investigators going after them, and they begged you to help them, and you agreed to it, amazingly, and we know you did because it’s all caught on tape,” Hawley said.

Hawley proceeded to read a portion of what he claimed was a transcript of the meeting between Ellison and the representatives of Feeding Our Future.

“You said to them, ‘Send me the names of all these folks who are investigating [Feeding Our Future] … and I’ll take that list, and I’ll call the person over at Education who’s investigating them,’” Hawley read.

Ellison accused Hawley of “cherry-picking quotes” from the conversation.

Hawley repeatedly asked Ellison why he helped Feeding Our Future.

“I didn’t help them,” Ellison responded, adding, “my team assisted with the information that led to the prosecution and conviction of these people.”

“No, you didn’t, you didn’t lift a finger to prosecute them,” Hawley retorted.

“Yes, we did,” Ellison responded, noting it was a federal prosecution, which Hawley called “BS.”

Hawley also accused Ellison of taking $10,000 from Feeding Our Future, referring to reports that Ellison received $10,000 in contributions from members of the organization.

“That’s a lie,” Ellison shot back.

The exchange continued before Hawley told Ellison he should resign.

NEW: Full, very heated exchange between Sen. @HawleyMO (R-MO) & Minnesota AG Keith Ellison about the Minnesota fraud scandal that ended with Hawley telling Ellison he should be in prison & Ellison responding by essentially saying good luck with that.
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) February 12, 2026

The Daily Signal contacted Ellison’s office for a response to Hawley’s accusations. Brian Evans, Ellison’s press secretary, told The Daily Signal that Ellison already addressed the meeting Hawley referred to in an op-ed for the Star Tribune published in April 2025.

In the op-ed, …

Nicki Minaj calls on ‘Barbz’ to tell their senators to pass the SAVE Act
Are they actually going to vote on something real?

Rapper Nicki Minaj is asking her fanbase to call their legislators on Thursday to urge them to pass the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act.

The SAVE America Act passed the House of Representatives on Wednesday, but it is unlikely to pass the Senate, where Republicans only have a three-seat majority — nowhere near the 60 votes needed to pass it via the filibuster.

Minaj, who has emerged as an ally to the Trump administration, is now urging her fans, whom she refers to as “Barbz,” to get the legislation to President Donald Trump’s desk.

“Barbz, get your pretty little fingers out & call your senators. I’ll bribe you if I have to,” Minaj said on X.

Barbz, get your pretty little fingers out & call your senators. I’ll bribe you if I have to.
— Nicki Minaj (@NICKIMINAJ) February 12, 2026

Minaj posted again on X, telling her fans to call their senators and post “#SaveAct.” She also posted a video of herself walking down a hallway as a “bribe” to her fans. 

“If you all do it, I’ll let you choose between a new look & Spaces. The choice is yours,” Minaj said.

The White House reposted Minaj’s video on X, writing “Barbz- find your senators.”

TO DEMOCRATS, THE SAVE ACT IS POLITICAL KRYPTONITE

Prior to Minaj’s call to action, billionaire and X owner Elon Musk reposted an X user’s graphic showing Republican senators who are “holdouts” on the SAVE America Act.

Musk also asked his followers to call their senators and “ask for voter ID to be passed.”

Please call your senator and ask for voter ID to be passed
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 12, 2026

Washington Examiner investigations editor Sarah Bedford said Republicans could pursue a “talking filibuster” to get the SAVE America Act passed, as this would “force Democratic members” to explain in “hours-long speeches” why they oppose this voter identification bill being passed.

Bedford also said the SAVE Act being “dead on arrival” in the Senate would be “a real failure” for Senate Republican leadership