Todd Lyons, acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, admitted that two agents made "untruthful" statements following the shooting of Julio Sosa Celis in Minnesota.
Earlier this week, prosecutors asked a federal judge to dismiss charges against Sosa and Alfredo Aljorna. An FBI agent had claimed to the court that the men took part in an attack on ICE officers with a shovel and a broom handle before Sosa was shot.
"Today, a joint review by ICE and the Department of Justice (DOJ) of video evidence has revealed that sworn testimony provided by two separate officers appears to have made untruthful statements," Lyons said in a statement on Friday. "Both officers have been immediately placed on administrative leave pending the completion of a thorough internal investigation."
"Lying under oath is a serious federal offense. The U.S. Attorney's Office is actively investigating these false statements," he added. "Upon conclusion of the investigation, the officers may face termination of employment, as well as potential criminal prosecution."
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem had defended the two agents before the case fell apart.
"Our ICE agents are following the law and running their operations according to training. Last night, what we saw was three individuals, weaponized shovels and brooms, and attacked an ICE officer that had to defend himself," Noem said.
On Friday, U.S. District Court Judge Paul A. Magnuson ordered the case against the men to be dismissed with prejudice, meaning prosecutors cannot refile charges.
An attorney for the men said that they were "overjoyed" at the dismissal. The men were facing years in federal prison.
Justice Samuel Alito may be quietly plotting his retirement before the 2026 midterms, legal experts Dahlia Lithwick and Mark Joseph Stern wrote Friday for Slate. They joined another prominent legal expert in pointing to clues piling up.
Notably, Alito's memoir, "So Ordered: An Originalist's View of the Constitution, the Court, and Our Country," drops Oct. 6 — the day after the new Supreme Court term begins.
"Of course, justices do publish books on the bench. But there are some indications that this particular release will be a farewell postscript for Alito’s service," Stern opined.
That's suspicious timing, since justices typically publish books in September when they can actually promote them.
"The new term is gearing up, but the justices are not stuck in Washington. They are still free to fly around the country, plugging their latest release. I think it’s pretty unlikely that Alito would drop his memoir on a date when he specifically cannot do that," said Stern.
Meanwhile, conservative media have showered the justice with "valedictory" praise celebrating his 20 years on the bench, complete with what looks like a coordinated legacy-building campaign, he added.
Alito recently gave a rare interview to Politico — the outlet that leaked his Dobbs draft — where he seemed to view his abortion decision as the crowning achievement of his tenure while grumbling about the coarse state of American politics.
"He also hinted that he was not really enjoying the job or the coarse civic culture of our current moment," said Stern.
There's also Mollie Hemingway's forthcoming hagiography, "Alito: The Justice Who Reshaped the Supreme Court and Restored the Constitution," suggesting the justice may have cooperated with the MAGA "pseudo-journalist," he wrote.
Alito likely wants Trump to replace him now, while Republicans control the Senate, ensuring a younger, equally conservative successor who'll protect his jurisprudential legacy for decades. Unlike Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who stayed too long, Alito appears determined to exit on his own terms before Democrats potentially retake power, Stern said.
Convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell, an accomplice of Jeffrey Epstein, has been implicated in alleged fraud on her U.S. citizenship application.
Migrant Insider first reported that court documents recently released by the Department of Justice indicated that Maxwell likely lied on her U.S. citizenship application.
In documents filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Maxwell claimed that she had not "committed a crime or offense for which you were NOT arrested" and that she had not "been a prostitute, or procured anyone for prostitution."
The naturalization document was signed in October 1995. According to the Department of Justice, Maxwell was convicted of sex trafficking crimes dating back to 1994.
"From at least 1994, up to and including in or about 2004, GHISLAINE MAXWELL assisted, facilitated, and participated in Jeffrey Epstein's abuse of minor girls by, among other things, helping Epstein to recruit, groom, and ultimately abuse victims known to MAXWELL and Epstein to be under the age of 18," the DOJ said in a 2022 statement.
"Lying on an N-400 form is a serious federal offense," one immigration attorney told Migrant Insider. "Material misrepresentations—especially about criminal conduct—can be grounds for revocation of citizenship and potential criminal prosecution for immigration fraud."
Violating 18 U.S. Code § 1425 could result in 25 years in prison and denaturalization.
Maxwell is currently appealing a sentence of 20 years in federal prison for sex trafficking of minors. Her attorneys said this week that she would prove President Donald Trump is "innocent" of sex crimes in exchange for clemency.
Mockery abounded Friday after an unusual report revealed that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem fired a pilot over not moving her blanket — but then needed the pilot's help to fly her home.
The Wall Street Journal described in a bombshell report the chaos and dysfunction inside the Department of Homeland Security. Several sources complained on and off the record about Noem and her top adviser and purported romantic partner Corey Lewandowski, who frequently berate senior staffers, demand polygraph tests for employees they don't trust, and routinely fire employees for dubious reasons. In one incident, Lewandowski fired a U.S. Coast Guard pilot after Noem’s blanket was left behind on a plane during a maintenance issue, according to sources familiar with the incident.
On social media, people mocked Noem over the blanket incident.
"I am confused…does Noem have a security blanket she travels with??" Former FBI special agent and lawyer Asha Rangappa wrote on Bluesky.
"The details of the Kristi Noem blanket incident are just f------ perfect," Gizmodo reporter Matt Novak wrote on Bluesky.
"The Kristi Noem blanket incident is a bizarre example of how a regime of narcissists is swinging a wrecking ball at Americans' lives in service to their own egos," former Metro editor at the Chicago Tribune Mark Jacob wrote on Bluesky.
"Noem can’t just buy another blanket?" Another user wrote on Bluesky.
"BREAKING: Kristi Noem blanket reveal," Governor Newsom Press Office wrote on X, featuring an image of President Donald Trump and late financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
"DHS did not fire the officers who shot and killed Americans in cold blood. They did, however, fire an officer who accidentally left Kristi Noem's blanket on a plane," Democrats wrote on X.
Parents and critics alike erupted in fury Friday after an alleged Jeffrey Epstein co-conspirator was linked to one of the nation’s largest school photography companies, prompting multiple districts to cancel picture days, HuffPost reported.
That company is Lifetouch, which provides photography services for schools across the nation, and proudly touts on its website that it’s “built on the tradition of ‘Picture Day.’” Lifetouch is owned by Apollo Global Management Group, an assets management firm co-founded by billionaire Leon Black, a key source of Epstein’s wealth.
And, while Black has since stepped down as Apollo Global Management Group’s CEO, new details about his relationship with Epstein revealed recently – along with the company’s new CEO, billionaire Marc Rowan, another individual with close ties to Epstein – have prompted several school districts to cancel picture days it had scheduled with Lifetouch, and sparked fury among parents and critics online.
“Lifetouch is the largest school photo company in the country,” wrote Briana Rose Lee, the chair emerita of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, in a social media post on X. “They keep a database of all the digital photos of kids and their personal info. Burn. It. All. Down.”
Black, who reportedly paid Epstein $158 million for tax advice, stepped down as CEO of Apollo Global Management Group in 2021 after reporting revealed new details about his relationship with Epstein. After the Justice Department’s most recent release of Epstein files last month, however, a wave of “concerned parents” led to school districts in Texas and Arizona cancelling their scheduled picture days with Lifetouch “out of an abundance of caution.”
Lifetouch published a statement responding to the concern, denying any wrongdoing and insisting that it does not – and “has never provided” – photographs of children to third parties.
“Lifetouch images are shared only for the purposes of school records and to allow parents or guardians to purchase them,” the company wrote in a statement.
“Additionally, as part of our decades long relationship with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, Lifetouch prints SmileSafe cards free of charge for each student we photograph that families can use with law enforcement if a child goes missing.”
WASHINGTON — Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) would rather not be in the national spotlight because the President of the United States called for him to be hanged, but that doesn't mean he's not prepared to fight to the bitter end.
And this week, the only bitterness was emanating from the other side of Pennsylvania Avenue.
The TrumpWhite House suffered major setbacks in its attempt to make an example out of Kelly and other veterans in Congress who cut a video calling on active-duty service members to refuse any unconstitutional orders from Trump or Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
That video prompted Trump to say the Democrats were guilty of “seditious behavior,” an offense he claimed was “punishable by DEATH!” He also shared calls from supporters for the Democrats to be hanged.
Hegseth threatened to court martial Kelly, then attempted to reduce his rank and pension.
In an exclusive interview withRaw Story, Arizona's senior senator opened up about the barrage of attacks he and other veterans of the military or intelligence services have endured as a result of such Trump administration assaults.
"This government doesn't want us speaking out against them," Kelly said, while riding the tram underneath the U.S. Senate.
"Such a fundamental American right that we all have is to criticize the government. They don't like criticism."
‘Rights are on the line’
There was a lot of criticism this week over Trump’s attempt to censure the Democratic veterans who spoke out.
On Tuesday, a D.C. grand jury threw out charges the administration sought to bring against Kelly and the five other Democrats who spoke out.
On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Richard Leon sided with Kelly, blocking a planned Department of Defense punishment and scolding both the White House and Pentagon — “Horsefeathers!” he exclaimed — for "trying to shrink the First Amendment liberties of retired servicemembers."
Kelly is a decorated U.S. Navy pilot and astronaut — which is partly why the personal attacks from the Commander-in-Chief have been so unsettling.
"What have you thought of..." Raw Story asked, before the senator finished the question.
"The president wanting to hang me?" Kelly said. "I take a little bit of offense to it, you know, and saying I should be executed. It's outrageous. I mean, he's the president."
On Thursday, Judge Leon ordered Kelly and the Pentagon to come back in 30 days with an update on the issue between them, even as his ruling barred Hegseth from punishing Kelly by reducing rank or retirement pay or by taking any other step.
"There's a process," Kelly said. "I filed a lawsuit against Pete Hegseth to, you know, stop that process.
"The real thing that matters is there are over two million retired veterans — veterans whose First Amendment rights are on the line with this case.
"Because if they can say that me — as somebody who left the military 15 years ago and is a retired service member — that I do not have freedom of speech rights, and I'm a U.S. senator, if they can take away my rank after 25 years and take away some of my retirement pension, they can do that to anybody.
“Much easier to do that to somebody else."
‘I didn’t ask for this’
The high-stakes fight with Trump and Hegseth has raised Kelly's profile, with appearances on Jimmy Kimmel Live and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in recent months.
Even with 2026 being a midterm elections year, there's lots of chatter about a Kelly presidential run in 2028. For now at least, he brushes that aside.
"I didn't ask for this," Kelly said. "I was just trying to send a really very simple, basic message that I felt needed to be said, and, you know, this is all Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth's doing."
While calling for an execution is about as personal as politics can get, at the end of the day, Kelly laughs Trump off.
"Every day he just says outrageous stuff," Kelly said.
Kelly is confident the courts will continue to rule his way, because of the strength of First Amendment protections.
"The law and the Constitution are on our side here," Kelly told Raw Story. "So, yeah, I mean, anything can happen, but I feel pretty good about it."
The inmate who Jeffrey Epstein claimed had attempted to kill him in their cell was busted with a cell phone a few days before the sex offender arrived at the New York City detention center.
A Bureau of Prisons memo released as part of the massive trove of Epstein files released by the Department of Justice details an incident four days before Epstein's arrival in which the former police officer was accused of having a cell phone at the Metropolitan Correctional Center.
"On July 2, 2019, inmate Tartaglione, Nicholas; Reg. No. 78514-054 was found in possession of a cell phone," the memo states. "The following telephone numbers were found in the history of the telephone," but all 17 numbers were redacted in the document released by the DOJ.
Reporting at the time indicated that corrections staff at the Manhattan detention center caught Tartaglione, a former police officer who was awaiting trial in the killing of four men in Orange County, but he told staff that his cell mate at the time had tossed the phone to him as officers approached.
Federal prosecutors said they intended to seek a search warrant to investigate the contents of the mini phone, which was only capable of making voice calls, and have the device handed over to the FBI.
Epstein was placed in a cell with Tartaglione, a muscular retired police officer-turned-drug dealer, after his July 6, 2019, arrival, and the disgraced financier 17 days later told officers that his cellmate had shown him a newspaper article that placed his net worth at $77 billion and that he believed the ex-cop was trying to extort money from him.
The following night, July 23, 2019, Tartaglione told jail staff he found Epstein slumped on the floor with fabric around his neck, and once Epstein became alert he claimed his cellmate had tried to kill him, which he later walked back and said he couldn't remember what had happened.
Tartaglione has long insisted he did not try to kill Epstein, but also believes that the accused sex trafficker was deliberately exposed to violence behind bars to prevent him from standing trial.
“I clearly was not protected on purpose, nor was Epstein," Tartaglione wrote in a 2025 pardon petition. "I truly believe that the government wanted both Epstein and me dead,” Tartaglione wrote.
Epstein was placed on suicide watch for about a day after that incident but that status was downgraded to psychological observation, although he insisted he was not suicidal and did not feel hopeless, and he was assigned a new cellmate, Efrain Reyes, on July 30, 2019 – but that arrangement lasted only nine days until Reyes was transferred.
That night, on Aug. 9, 2019, Epstein had the cell to himself, and a corrections officer found him the following morning on the floor, unresponsive and cold to the touch.
Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) asserted that former President Barack Obama was "created" and not an "organic" person.
During an interview with Burchett on Friday, MAGA influencer Benny Johnson suggested that Obama was implicated in covering up the crimes of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
"Like, Obama's the one, Obama's the one who's, like, sort of skated on this," Johnson argued. "And nobody's really brought up his name. But wait a second, like, the vast majority of Epstein's most heinous crimes took place while Barack Obama was president. Epstein got out of jail right as Barack Obama was being put into office."
"Obama is, like, signing executive orders," he continued. "You can, like, tie all this back to the Rothschild Bank. Like, he's, like, doing all this stuff. And he's, like, somehow, like, Obama's getting zero pushback on this. Why is nobody asking Obama, like, why didn't you do something about Jeffrey Epstein?"
"Because President Obama was created," Burchett alleged. "He was not, he's not organic. I mean, you pick this obscure guy from college who has zero records you have college professors that don't remember him ever being there and he runs and he's and all of a sudden people drop out of races and he's unopposed and he goes from a state senator to a to a U.S. senator to an unknown to be in the United States because he was created."
"They found somebody that fit their mold," he added. "But that's the way Obama was. You know, he fit the suit, and he was, he's a good-looking and articulate guy, and, you know, had a couple of kids and came up through the corrupt Chicago machine."
"And we got to start realizing this. And the conservatives just aren't good at creating anybody."
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has criticized global sensation Bad Bunny multiples times following his Super Bowl performance — but she might actually be a fan.
People have uncovered on social media that Leavitt actually used the Bad Bunny song "DtMF” during her 2025 wrapped reel on Instagram, which featured some big personal and professional moments for her throughout last year, all to the sounds of the Latin artist and several other song mashups, The Daily Beast reported on Friday.
After his groundbreaking Super Bowl performance, Leavitt had a harsh response.
“I think it’s very ironic and frankly sad to see celebrities who live in gated communities with private security, with millions of dollars to spend protecting themselves, trying to just demonize again, law enforcement, public servants who work for the United States government to enforce our nation’s laws," Leavitt said.
MAGA has been very vocal about their dislike for the award-winning music star — although President Donald Trump did tune in to watch instead of Turning Point USA's pre-recorded Kid Rock show — and several people talked about how they didn't like his performance, including reality personality Jill Zarin, who was cut from an E! reboot of "The Real Housewives of New York City," titled “The Golden Life,” which was slated to begin filming in Florida.
On Instagram, several people commented on Leavitt's use of a Bad Bunny song in her own social media.
"Bad bunny playing for the recap is the funniest s--- I’ve seen so far this year. And we’re only 19 days in," user Lycette Beatty commented on Instagram. "She lowkey loves him like the rest of us."
"Not her using bad bunny on her stuff," another user wrote.
"I find it so ironic that all the musicians that are singing in this clip, don’t stand with her. They hate her," one user added.
"I thought bad bunny’s music is not for Americans," another user joked.
Several other users shared the unbothered and tired Bad Bunny meme, when the artist sat the table with his hand over his face after winning Album of the Year at the Grammy's.
A psychiatrist sent a detailed outline to Jeffrey Epstein mapping out a plan for escaping accountability – including plastic surgery – if he were ever caught.
An individual named Cynthia Reed passed along a seven-point outline, titled "What If I Get Caught?" that she told Epstein in a May 1, 2009, email had been written by Dr. Henry Jarecki in the context of a book that needed a co-author. While the book was never published, its purported chapter outline offered Epstein guidance for escaping capture or securing favorable treatment while incarcerated.
"Trouble avoidance," read the first bullet point in the outline, which then listed items of concern, including computer and telephone security, and advised "have a fall guy" and "avoid trackable expenditure."
The next bullet point offered advice for pre-trouble protections, such as setting up a safe house and making sure to have enough cash stashed away.
"Post-trouble," read the third bullet point, and Jarecki purportedly suggested to use disguises and fake identification or visit a plastic surgeon.
Jarecki advised readers in a section titled "post-arrest rules" to avoid being tracked with an ankle monitor and distrust interrogators because they'll assume he's guilty and attempt to trick him, and the psychiatrist also offered advice about trial rules and finding the right jail, according to the unearthed email
"Demography and goals of a jailer," Jarecki wrote, and then listed "special benefits": "(1) Episodic freedom (2) Conjugal rights (3) Drugs (4) Sex (5) Special food f. Religious services g. Infirmary & health h. Medical needs j. Good behaviour."
The last section advised readers such as Epstein on flight, and Jarecki suggested he familiarize himself with extradition laws in Brazil, Germany and Israel.
Epstein served 13 months of a 18-month sentence he received as part of a controversial plea agreement, and he received Jarecki's outline about two months before that sentence ended.
He was arrested again on sex trafficking charges in July 2019 but was found dead in prison about a month later of an apparent suicide.
In 2024, a former model sued Jarecki, a longtime Yale faculty member who was 91 at the time, on allegations that he enabled Epstein's sex trafficking and turned her into a "modern-day sex slave," but she voluntarily dismissed her civil lawsuit in April 2025.
Attorney General Pam Bondi made headlines this week after her explosive testimony before the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, but one remark stood out to former Trump official Miles Taylor, who called it “creepier than you think” and emblematic of what he described as President Donald Trump’s “new America.”
The remark in question was uttered by Bondi during a heated exchange with Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), where she described Trump, unprompted, as “the greatest president in American history,” a remark that sparked the room to erupt in laughter.
While no shortage exists of Trump officials lavishing praise on the president, it was the “reflexive” manner in which Bondi made the claim that stood out to Taylor, who previously served as a Homeland Security official under the first Trump administration.
“It wasn’t part of a pre-planned speech. She was a pull-string doll on a loop, programmed to say what she needed to say to survive,” Taylor wrote on his Substack “Defiance News” in an analysis published Friday.
“That’s because Bondi knows something that many of us don’t. To stay afloat and thrive in this new America, you must love the leader and love him loudly, just in case he’s watching. Attorney General Pam Bondi showed us all the new pledge of allegiance.”
Trump has offered himself no shortage of praise as well, having branded himself as a monarch, and declaring himself to be a “better” president than Abraham Lincoln and George Washington. In Trump’s “new America,” however, Taylor noted that it was a matter of survival that the president’s top officials trip over themselves in seeing who can praise their boss the most, a reality he said was demonstrated clearly with Bondi’s reflexive praise.
“As Bondi knows, even insufficient enthusiasm carries real consequences – from loss of access and influence to potential dismissal and even persecution,” Taylor wrote.
“That’s why Trump’s cabinet meetings have turned into bizarre, self-aggrandizing spectacles, with each senior official trying to outdo the next in their glorification of the president’s greatness, while he nods off comfortably, knowing that he’s not only captured the attention of his minions but also their souls.”
An analyst Friday pointed out that President Donald Trump has made fewer public appearances over the past several weeks as questions over his health have continued to increase.
Brian Karem, Salon's White House columnist, described how Trump has boasted that Washington, D.C. is booming, but Karem returned this week after being away and found "a city without its energy" — comparing that to Trump's recent behavior.
"And while the District seems tired, Trump seems more so," Karem wrote. "It doesn’t even seem like the president is trying his hardest to lie to us anymore. He just repeats the same lies with less energy, as if he too has grown weary of his own rhetoric. He’s telling us to turn the page on the Epstein scandal. But he’s on that next page too."
Trump met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday, but did not hold a press conference or speak to press following the meeting like he typically does. Instead he posted on his Truth Social platform.
And his "lethargic" demeanor was noticeable the next day, Karem explained.
"It was a low-energy Trump who showed up on Thursday in the Roosevelt Room with Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin to announce he was repealing the federal government’s authority to regulate climate change," Karem wrote.
Questions surrounding Trump's health have continued throughout his first year in office.
“'I think he’s running out of steam,' a few of my D.C. happy hour comrades confessed Wednesday after the hearings, 'Or he’s really sicker than he lets on,'" Karem wrote.
"Since the National Rifle Association rebuked his statement about confiscating guns following the killing of Alex Pretti by federal officers in Minneapolis, Trump has been seen very little. Maybe it’s just the politics," Karem added.
Lawmakers — both Democrats and Republicans — have told an analyst that Attorney General Pam Bondi's contentious performance this week could ultimately backfire on President Donald Trump and the GOP.
Salon's White House columnist Brian Karem revealed how Bondi's conduct could lead to an unexpected consequence ahead of the midterms in November.
"Still, nothing was as odd as Bondi’s performance, which was unprofessional and combative," Karem wrote. "She lashed out at legislators, telling them they had no right to accuse her of breaking the law, and called Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., a 'washed up loser lawyer.' Many Democrats and even some Republicans told me privately that her testimony will probably help the Democrats during the fall midterm elections."
One Republican staffer from Texas described Bondi as "the worst attorney general in history," Karem wrote.
Bondi wasn't the only Trump administration official this week facing questions from congressional leaders.
Customs Enforcement Acting Director Todd Lyons and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick also testified before House and Senate committees the day before Bondi, responding to questions about immigration enforcement and questionable ties to deceased convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
"For three hours, Lyons had a hard time defending ICE actions in Minneapolis before a House oversight hearing on immigration enforcement," Karem wrote. "Across Capitol Hill, Lutnick floundered while testifying before a Senate Appropriations subcommittee overseeing broadband funding and budget issues that ended up diving into the cancerous Jeffrey Epstein scandal following detailed revelations about the secretary’s connections to the convicted sex offender. Democrats, and even many Republicans, were left stunned when Lutnick admitted that he took his underage children and his wife to Epstein’s Caribbean island for lunch."
Karem described what Trump could be feeling following the week:
"And after two days of contentious hearings on Capitol Hill, Trump must be jealous," Karem wrote. "For once, since he returned to office, the president is not the center of attention. His staff, however, is overwhelmingly thankful for the respite. They know the danger of Trump talking. Besides, many members of Congress and Trump appointees are as shallow and demeaning as the president, so their rhetoric sounds the same."
The impact of this week could be telling come November, the writer explained.
"But every one of Trump’s people so far this week have probably helped Democrats. Republicans are wallowing in overconfidence, ignoring reality and are their own worst enemies," Karem wrote.
