Uncensored Free Speech Platform

Trump makes good on troop pullout promise, vows return if Democrat city crime worsens
Every delay has consequences.

The Trump administration withdrew all federalized National Guard troops from U.S. cities as of earlier in 2026, following through on President Donald Trump's announcement in December 2025 that warned "we will come back" if crime spirals in left-wing cities once again.  
U.S. Northern Command — the military command responsible for homeland defense and coordinating defense support during domestic emergencies — states on its website that all Title 10 National Guard troops in Los Angeles, Chicago and Portland, Oregon, were demobilized as of Jan. 21. 
Trump federalized and deployed National Guard troops under Title 10 in June 2025, citing the need to protect Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and federal property amid immigration unrest. Troops were sent to cities that also historically have struggled with spiraling crime trends, including during the 2020 era when the nation saw the largest single-year increase in murders since the FBI began tracking such data in the 1960s.  
More than 5,000 troops in Los Angeles, approximately 500 in Chicago and 200 in Portland, Oregon, were demobilized, The Washington Post first reported Wednesday. 
WHITE HOUSE SAYS MURDER RATE PLUMMETED TO LOWEST LEVEL SINCE 1900 UNDER TRUMP ADMINISTRATION
The White House directed Fox News Digital to Trump's announcement on the withdrawal back in December 2025 when approached for comment on the Washington Post's report. 
"We are removing the National Guard from Chicago, Los Angeles, and Portland, despite the fact that CRIME has been greatly reduced by having these great Patriots in those cities, and ONLY by that fact," Trump wrote Dec. 31, 2025. "Portland, Los Angeles, and Chicago were GONE if it weren’t for the Federal Government stepping in." 
He added that the troops will return — but likely only when crime spirals in the left-wing cities, adding that he was puzzled by local liberal leaders who would want the troops to leave the city. 
"We will come back, perhaps in a much different and stronger form, when crime begins to soar again - Only a question of time!" he wrote. "It is hard to believe that these Democrat Mayors and Governors, all of whom are greatly incompetent, would want us to leave, especially considering the great progress that has been made???"  
Title 10 troops serve under federal active-duty orders, distinct from Guard forces deployed elsewhere and under different legal authorities. 
For example, there is still a National Guard presence in Washington, D.C., as service members there remain on duty under a nonfederal status, while National Guard troops in New …

Starmer accused of ‘stuffing government’ with ‘pedophile apologists’
This deserves loud pushback.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer‘s woes continue as he answers yet again for an ally’s connections to a convicted child sex offender.

Starmer was forced to strip Matthew Doyle, his former chief of communications, of his membership in the Labour Party on Monday after it emerged that Doyle previously campaigned for a friend charged with possessing indecent images of children.

Doyle, who Starmer made a peer in the House of Lords in December, campaigned for Labour councillor Sean Morton in 2017 after he was charged with possessing the illicit pornography — a charge to which Morton would eventually plead guilty. Doyle apologized earlier this week.

Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer leaves 10 Downing Street to attend the weekly Prime Ministers’ Questions session in parliament in London, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch grilled Starmer at Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday over the fact that Doyle was ennobled despite a story in the Sunday Times that exposed his work for Morton immediately following his selection for the peerage. She scolded Starmer for giving Doyle “a job for life in the House of Lords” despite his work with Morton.

“To appoint one pedophile supporter cannot be excused as ‘misfortune’. To appoint two shows a catastrophic lack of judgment,” she said in the House of Commons.

“Matthew Doyle did not give a full account of his actions,” Starmer said in his own defense at the Prime Minister’s Questions. “I promised my party and my country there will be change, and yesterday I removed the whip from Matthew Doyle.”

The questions devolved into a back-and-forth of outrage as Starmer said he would “take no lectures from the Tories on standards in public life,” citing Boris Johnson‘s “Partygate” scandal and recent comments from Tory MP Robert Jenrick about “not seeing enough white faces in Birmingham.”

“How dare he criticize us?” Badenoch shot back. “We weren’t the ones stuffing government with hypocrites and pedophile apologists.”

Doyle’s downfall comes as Starmer struggles to contain the fallout from revelations that former British ambassador to the United States, Lord Peter Mandelson, regularly provided government information to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein following his conviction for soliciting a child prostitute.

Starmer, who appointed Mandelson despite his known connection to Epstein, insists the former ambassador concealed the nature and extent of their relationship, which …

Slotkin mocks ‘good boy’ Mike Johnson after failed DOJ indictment: ‘Take a beat’
Law enforcement shouldn't be political.

Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) mocked House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) as a “good boy” for President Donald Trump on Wednesday after he argued that she and five other congressional Democrats should be charged with obstruction.

“The speaker of the House should take a beat and remember why he’s there, and that our founding fathers designed this as a separate branch of government to provide checks and balances on the president, not salute like a good boy and do what he says every single time,” Slotkin told the Washington Examiner.

Her comments came hours after the Justice Department failed to secure a grand jury indictment against the congressional Democrats, two senators and four House members, who filmed a video urging service members to disobey illegal orders.

It’s not clear which charges the DOJ ultimately pursued, but Johnson responded to the failed indictment by reiterating that they should be prosecuted. Trump has accused Slotkin and her Democratic colleagues of “seditious behavior” over the video and previously suggested they should be put to death.

“I think that anytime you’re obstructing law enforcement and getting in the way of these sensitive operations, it’s a very serious thing, and it probably is a crime,” Johnson said on Tuesday evening.

Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ), the other senator being scrutinized by the DOJ, joined Slotkin at a Wednesday morning press conference after the grand jury decision, vowing to keep “all of our legal options open” should the Trump administration decide to pursue the charges further.

The two also chided congressional Republicans for largely sidestepping an uproar over the investigation, which Democrats said is intended to chill free speech. Kelly disputed Senate Majority Leader John Thune’s (R-SD) Wednesday assessment that the grand jury decision is an example of the “judicial system at work,” before pivoting to Johnson later in the press conference.

Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) and Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) speak during a news conference on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

“I think Mike needs to go back to his office and seriously think about what he said publicly,” Kelly said.

“He’s the speaker of the House of Representatives. He’s one of the most powerful people in this country,” he added. “And if he’s going to side at every moment with this administration when they are clearly not on the side of the Constitution, I think he’s got to really evaluate why he is there …

4 Big Moments From Bondi’s House Judiciary Testimony
Are they actually going to vote on something real?

The Jeffrey Epstein files, fraud, and the Biden administration’s lawfare were among the topics that Attorney General Pam Bondi addressed during her testimony Wednesday before the House Judiciary Committee.  

Here are four big takeaways from the hearing.  

1. ‘Should be Apologizing’ 

Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., suggested investigations of Trump’s enemies were distracting the Justice Department from reviewing the files of Epstein, a well-connected convicted sex offender who died in prison in 2019. 

He spoke for four minutes before asking a question.  

“The DOJ has failed to bring any of these perpetrators to justice,” Nadler said regarding the names in the Epstein files. “Instead, you have engaged in a relentless pursuit of Donald Trump’s perceived enemies. I want to focus on just one example.” 

He brought up a federal indictment against New York Attorney General Letitia James alleging mortgage fraud; a case subsequently dismissed.  

“How many of Epstein’s coconspirators have you indicted? How many perpetrators are you even investigating?” Nadler asked.  

Bondi attempted to answer, but Nadler kept interrupting her. He eventually jumped to answer his own question, “zero.” 

“I’m not going to get in the gutter with these people,” Bondi said. 

Nadler noted a social media post by Trump complaining about the two impeachments and five indictments against him.  

Bondi, who was on the team of lawyers defending Trump in his first Senate impeachment trial in early 2020, noted she and Nadler–one of the House managers–were on opposite sides.  

“During impeachment, you said the president conspired and sought foreign interference in the 2016 election. [Former special counsel] Robert Mueller found no evidence,” Bondi said. “Have you apologized to President Trump? All of you who participated in those impeachment hearings against Donald Trump, you all should be apologizing. You sit here, and you attack the president, and I am not going to have it.” 

She followed that the Trump administration is in the process of releasing the Epstein files.  

“They are talking about Epstein today. This has been around since the Obama administration,” Bondi said. “This administration released over 3 million pages of documents. Over 3 million, and Donald Trump signed that law to release all of those documents. He is the most transparent president in the nation’s history.” 

Trump signed the bill that passed overwhelmingly in Congress. 

Later in the hearing, Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, asked Bondi if more individuals involved with Epstein would be indicted. She responded, “We have several investigations pending.”

2. ‘You Have to be Quiet’ 

At several points, ranking member Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., told Bondi–the third woman to serve as U.S. attorney general–to stop talking. 

Raskin jumped into the exchange between Bondi and Nadler to say he warned Bondi not to “filibuster.” 

“I told you about that Attorney General, before we started,” Raskin said.   

Bondi defiantly replied, “You don’t tell me anything.” 

Later in the hearing, the two got in another exchange when Raskin said each member has only five minutes and accused Bondi of “going off on a wild goose chase, …

White House Religious Liberty Commission drops Carrie Prejean Boller after accusing her of hijacking antisemitism hearing
Is this competence or optics?

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R-TX), the chairman of the Trump administration’s Religious Liberty Commission, removed Carrie Prejean Boller from the commission following her remarks in a heated hearing on antisemitism.

“Carrie Prejean Boller has been removed from President Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission. No member of the Commission has the right to hijack a hearing for their own personal and political agenda on any issue. This is clearly, without question, what happened Monday in our hearing on antisemitism in America. This was my decision,” Patrick wrote on X.

Prejean Boller’s removal comes after she questioned Jewish students and religious leaders on the definition of antisemitism, whether anti-Zionism is considered antisemitism, and said that her Catholic faith teaches her not to embrace Zionism. Prejean Boller, who won the Miss California USA pageant in 2009, also wore a pin that showed the U.S. flag adjacent to the Palestinian flag, as she called Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip following Hamas’s deadly Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel a “genocide.”

Prejean Boller asked Rabbi Ari Berman, president of Yeshiva University, “If I don’t support the political state of Israel, am I an antisemite?” Berman responded that he doesn’t “personally label people,” but “if somebody says they’re an anti-Zionist, they are saying about themselves that they have a double standard, and hypocrisy, and they’re taking antisemitic positions.”

“I don’t agree with that, because as a Catholic, I don’t agree that the new, modern state of Israel has any biblical prophecy meaning at all,” Preajean Boller said.

Prejean Boller faced ridicule from the hearing audience at the Museum of the Bible as she made her remarks, responding to the boos and outcry with, “I think you should remain quiet and respect this hearing.” She also questioned a Jewish University of California, Los Angeles graduate who experienced antisemitism whether speaking out against the humanitarian crisis in Gaza should be seen as antisemitic.

In Patrick’s statement announcing that he removed Prejean Boller from the commission, he said that in the Spring, the commission would “deliver one of the most important reports in American history” to President Donald Trump.

“The President respects all faiths. He believes that all Americans have a right to receive the great inheritance given to them by our founding fathers in the First Amendment. I am grateful to President Trump for having the vision and boldness to …

Neal Dunn retirement rumors lay bare how precarious Johnson majority really is
What's the endgame here?

Rumors floating around Capitol Hill that retiring Rep. Neal Dunn (R-FL) plans to resign from Congress early are shining a spotlight on the fragility of Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-LA) majority heading into a competitive midterm election year.

The 72-year-old Dunn, who announced in mid-January that he would not seek reelection, is rumored to be considering leaving the House of Representatives before the midterm elections. But he brushed off reporters when asked by multiple outlets whether he intended to resign early, giving variations of “no comment.”

The congressman’s office did not respond to a request for comment by publication time.

Dunn’s district, which President Donald Trump won by 18 percentage points over Democratic nominee Kamala Harris in 2024, is solidly red. The seat is expected to remain safe for Republicans even if Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) takes up a congressional redistricting effort. Florida Republican Party Chairman Evan Power has announced his campaign to replace Dunn.

If Dunn resigned early, however, that would put the House at 217 Republicans and 214 Democrats. Johnson currently has a one-seat majority, and Dunn’s resignation would not have any impact. But any GOP vacancies, whether a member resigns, dies, or is merely absent for votes, would give the speaker zero room for party defections when looking to pass contentious bills.

Leadership is already preparing for the reality of Dunn departing Congress, with Johnson telling reporters on Wednesday he has asked Dunn to finish out the remainder of his term.

“Neal Dunn is a beloved member of Congress and a great man, and you know, he’s informed us he’s not going to run for reelection,” Johnson said.

The speaker, notably, does not appear ready to press the panic button just yet, even with rumors swirling that the Florida congressman may leave soon.

“What he does from here forward, I’m not sure — you need to ask him about it,” Johnson added. “But I’ve encouraged him to stay and be a part of this, and I think he wants to do that.”

Dunn is one of 50 House members who are opting not to seek reelection to their seats in the 2026 election, whether to retire from politics or vie for another office.

Former Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is the only member who opted to resign early, leaving Congress on Jan. 5. Gov. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) resigned her House seat a couple of weeks after winning her gubernatorial bid last year.

Both political parties are expected to gain a member once the …

Prosecutor who left Minnesota office amid anti-ICE unrest joins Don Lemon defense team
This looks less like justice and more like strategy.

A longtime federal prosecutor who left the U.S. attorney’s office in Minnesota last month amid a wave of resignations linked to concerns over the Trump administration's handling of anti-ICE agitators has joined former CNN anchor Don Lemon’s defense team, court filings show.
Joseph H. Thompson, a former senior leader in the Minnesota U.S. attorney’s office before he resigned, will now defend Lemon alongside Abbe Lowell, bringing firsthand experience from the same federal district prosecuting the case. Lowell is a well-known defense attorney who has sparred with the Trump administration in a number of high-profile cases in the past year alone, representing New York Attorney General Letitia James, Federal Reserve Board Governor Lisa Cook and former National Security Adviser John Bolton. 
Lemon will fight these charges "vigorously and thoroughly" in court, Lowell told Fox News Digital last month.  
According to a formal notice of appearance, Thompson will appear alongside Lemon in federal court Friday for an arraignment and initial court appearance in the Minnesota federal district.
DON LEMON TAPS HUNTER BIDEN'S ATTORNEY TO FIGHT TRUMP DOJ CHARGES
Lemon, who describes himself as an independent journalist, was arrested last month for his alleged involvement in the storming of Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, by anti-ICE agitators. Eight others were also arrested and charged in an event that Attorney General Pam Bondi described at the time as a "coordinated attack." 
"Make no mistake, under President Trump’s leadership and this administration, you have the right to worship freely and safely," Bondi said in a video posted to social media.  "And if I haven’t been clear already, if you violate that sacred right, we are coming after you."
Thompson is one of roughly 14 federal prosecutors who resigned from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Minnesota since January — a mass exodus many have attributed to the Justice Department's handling of the unrest in Minnesota. He was one of five U.S. prosecutors who resigned from the office shortly after the fatal shooting of Renee Good and concerns over DOJ's handling of the case.
"It was an honor and privilege to serve as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in both the District of Minnesota and Northern District of Illinois," Thompson said on LinkedIn to announce his departure. He did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment on the news that he will represent Lemon. 
Thompson previously spent 11 years at the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Minnesota, including in key leadership roles. He served as …

Grand Juries Are Saving Democracy
Law enforcement shouldn't be political.

Log In

Email *

Password *

Remember Me

Forgot Your Password?

Log In

New to The Nation? Subscribe
Print subscriber? Activate your online access

Skip to content Skip to footer

Grand Juries Are Saving Democracy

Magazine

Newsletters

Subscribe

Log In

Search

Subscribe

Donate

Magazine

Latest

Archive

Podcasts

Newsletters

Sections

Politics

World

Economy

Culture

Books & the Arts

The Nation

About

Events

Contact Us

Advertise

Current Issue

Politics

/ February 11, 2026

Grand Juries Are Saving Democracy

A Washington, DC, panel rejected Jeanine Pirro’s lame attempt to indict six Democratic Congresspersons merely for reminding military and intelligence officials to obey the law.

Joan Walsh

Share

Copy Link

Facebook

X (Twitter)

Bluesky Pocket

Email

Edit

Ad Policy

US Attorney Jeanine Pirro asked a grand jury to indict six Democratic Congresspersons, all military veterans, who recorded an ad reminding their military and intelligence community colleagues they are not obliged to obey illegal orders from their superiors.(Aaron Schwartz / Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The entrance to the Supreme Court building announces “Equal Justice Under Law,” but it hasn’t felt like SCOTUS represented that American value for quite some time—roughly since Bush v. Gore in December 2000, even more so since gutting the Voting Rights Act in Shelby in 2013, and especially since the John Roberts court declared, in 2024, that the president is immune from punishment for “official acts,” even those demonstrably illegal, while in office.

Meanwhile, an undersung underpinning to American justice has repeatedly emerged as the hero in this second, lawless Donald Trump administration: local grand juries, most famous for the slur that they’ll easily indict a ham sandwich. That was never (uniformly) true, but the low expectation of rigor has served to focus attention on the ways these ordinary citizens have courageously stood up to Trump when so many elites, including universities, law firms, the GOP Congress, and six of nine SCOTUS justices, have caved.

Related Articles

Hell Cats vs. Hegseth

Joan Walsh

The Pentagon’s “Bad-Faith, BS” Review of Women in Combat Roles

Joan Walsh

The most recent grand jury victory for democracy came late Tuesday afternoon, when a Washington, DC, panel refused to indict six Democratic Congresspersons, all military veterans, who recorded an ad reminding their military and intelligence community colleagues that they are not obliged to obey illegal orders from their superiors. The stirring ad, titled “Don’t Give Up the Ship,” merely repeated language common to US military training courses since World War II.

The FBI had been investigating all six: Senators Mark Kelly of Arizona and Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, along with Representatives Jason Crow of Colorado, Maggie Goodlander of New Hampshire, and Chris Deluzio and Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is conducting his own petty jihad against Kelly, formally censuring him and docking his retirement pay. “[Kelly] released a reckless and seditious video that was clearly intended to undermine good order and military discipline,” Hegseth claimed …

Trump presses for Iran diplomacy in meeting with Netanyahu
The headline tells the story.

President Donald Trump told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday that he is not giving up on diplomatic talks with Iran as the Jewish state expresses skepticism that Tehran will give up its nuclear program.

“There was nothing definitive reached other than I insisted that negotiations with Iran continue to see whether or not a Deal can be consummated,” Trump posted on Truth Social, shortly after a two-hour meeting at the White House. “If it can, I let the Prime Minister know that will be a preference. If it cannot, we will just have to see what the outcome will be.”

Neither Trump nor Netanyahu addressed reporters during their seventh meeting since Trump returned to office last year. They also did not issue a joint statement on Wednesday. Still, Trump said they had “a very good meeting, the tremendous relationship between our two Countries continues.”

The president also issued a warning to Iran in his social media post. “Last time Iran decided that they were better off not making a Deal, and they were hit with [Operation] Midnight Hammer — That did not work well for them,” he wrote, referring to last year’s joint strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites. “Hopefully this time they will be more reasonable and responsible.”

President Donald Trump listens as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during an arrival at his Mar-a-Lago club, Monday, Dec. 29, 2025, in Palm Beach, Florida. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

If negotiations with Iran fail, Trump is reportedly considering sending a second aircraft carrier to the Middle East to further prepare for military action. “The Iranians really want to make a deal. Either we make a deal, or we have to do something very tough — like last time,” he told Channel 12 earlier this week.

NETANYAHU SIGNS ISRAEL ONTO BOARD OF PEACE IN MEETING WITH MARCO RUBIO

Israel has accused Tehran of building a nuclear weapon and is pushing for limits to Iran’s ballistic missile programs, pointing to its support of terrorism in the region. Netanyahu is hoping to influence Trump after U.S. officials held indirect talks with Iranian negotiators in Oman last Friday.

“The Prime Minister believes any negotiations must include limitations on ballistic missiles and a halting of the support for the Iranian axis,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement on Saturday.

ICE shutdown fight might restrict FEMA, Coast Guard to ‘life-threatening’ emergencies
This is performative politics again.

Agency heads that operate under the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) warned a shutdown could cripple U.S. readiness across half a dozen areas as the agency looks poised to enter a funding lapse by the end of the week over Democrats' demands to reform immigration enforcement operations.
Five agency leaders delivered that message before the House Appropriations Committee Wednesday.
Lawmakers entertained remarks from the directors of the Coast Guard, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Secret Service — all of which receive funding from the DHS bill.
SCHUMER, JEFFRIES MEND RIFT, PRESENT UNITED FRONT ON DHS REFORMS AS DEADLINE NEARS
Across the board, leaders said the shutdown would force the government to focus only on life-threatening missions at the cost of future preparedness.
Admiral Thomas Allen, who oversees the U.S. Coast Guard, said that would force his agency to eliminate much of its current work.
"A lapse in appropriations requires the Coast Guard to suspend all missions except those for national security or the protection of life and property," Allen said.
"A funding lapse has severe and lasting challenges for our workplace, operational readiness and long-term capabilities."
Other agency heads, such as acting TSA Director Ha Nguyen McNeill, echoed Allen’s framing, noting the compounding effects of the shutdowns on affected workers.
"Jonathan Abdullahi serves as a lead (technical standard officer) working at Tucson International Airport for eight years," McNeill said, referring to one employee who went through the 43-day government shutdown in October 2025. 
"After missing multiple paychecks, he had no choice but to put everything on his credit cards, even after the government reopened and he received back pay," McNeill said. "He’s still playing catch-up financially due to the high interest rates on the cards." 
By contrast, some Democrats argued that, even in the middle of a shutdown, the most essential services would be preserved.
"The reality is that nearly 90% of the department will continue operating, even if Congress fails to complete its work by the end of the week," Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, said of DHS.
Currently, DHS is running off a two-week funding extension lawmakers advanced in late January when an impasse over Democrats' demands threatened a $1.2 trillion spending package.
SCHUMER, JEFFRIES TRASH TRUMP'S DHS PROPOSAL AS 'INCOMPLETE AND INSUFFICIENT'
In the wake of two deadly confrontations between …