Sarah K. Burris

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) doesn't appear to know, and he likely hasn't seen whatever video, speech, or statement reporters want to ask him about.

For the past several weeks, as reporters peppered Johnson with questions about President Donald Trump's cognitive decline, violence at the hands of ICE and other federal agents, and even things said by members of his own caucus. He answered simply that he doesn't know and hasn't seen it, heard it or examined it.

A Religious News Service reporter caught Johnson in a fib, while others couldn't help but notice that Johnson doesn't seem to know anything about anything.

Asked about a pastor being shot in the face by a pepper round by federal agents, Johnson responded, “I can't comment on any of those instances. I haven't seen or heard any of those videos…Religious freedom does not extend and give you the right to get in the face of an ICE officer and assault them.”

"Note: I asked this question, and you’ll hear me say 'yes you have' here — because Johnson was already *directly asked* about one of these instances in one of earlier shutdown press conferences," said Jack Jenkins, national reporter for Religion News Service.

It comes after Johnson was leveled by Jon Stewart on "The Daily Show" on Monday. He showed a clip of Johnson being asked about Trump's demand for $230 million from the DOJ for himself. Johnson said he hadn't spoken to Trump and didn't know any specifics.

"Uhhhh, I'm just f---ed up," Stewart said, mocking Johnson.

The day after the DOJ question, another reporter followed up, asking Johnson's opinion on it. The Speaker swore he wasn't trying to dodge the question: "I haven't had time to dig into the details."

Stewart mocked Johnson for claiming he had a lot to do, alleging it was only to cover up the investigation files surrounding Jeffrey Epstein. Republican members are out of Washington for another week, and Johnson is refusing to negotiate on the budget or healthcare. So, many people have questions about what exactly Johnson knows.

"Mike has never seen or heard of anything happening," posted CJ Fogler.

"When not appearing at a podium, does Mike Johnson go to his office, stand facing a corner and stick his fingers in his ears? The man never seems to have heard or seen anything ever," Broadway lawyer Michael Salerno questioned.

"More s--- Mike Johnson doesn’t know," said Mueller, She Wrote's Allison Gill on Bluesky.

"Can a reporter grow a pair and just say what we all are thinking already?" asked national security lawyer Bradley P. Moss. "He is deliberately refusing to look at information so he can remain ignorant. Pure and simple."

Even "Mother Jones" commented, "Mike Johnson, the perpetually unaware, strikes again."

"Has Mike Johnson ever considered holding his daily presser an hour later to give him time to read a paper?" influencer Schooley asked.

United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection are now deploying advanced technology to identify undocumented migrants on city streets.

The tech site 404 Media reported Wednesday that agents are using facial recognition technology on cell phones to scan the faces of random people.

In one case, ICE agents surrounded a driver stopped in Chicago, and when the driver refused to show ID, an Enforcement and Removal Operations agent seized his phone and scanned his face for identification.

“I’m an American citizen, so leave me alone,” the driver protested. Officers replied, “Alright, we just got to verify that. If you could take your hat off, it would be a lot quicker. I’m going to run your information.”

404 Media reviewed several videos and posts showing CBP and ICE conducting random stops and using biometric technology, sometimes without clear justification "beyond the color of someone’s skin."

The site also investigated ICE’s use of the Mobile Fortify app to tap into a database of 200 million images. The app queries an unprecedented number of government databases to return the subject’s name, date of birth, alien number, and any deportation orders.

Jeramie Scott, senior counsel and director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center’s Surveillance Oversight Program, called the ICE revelations alarming: “Facial recognition is a powerful and dangerous surveillance technology,” Scott told 404 Media. “Using such an app further takes away control from the people and gives it to the government. Its use should not be taken lightly.”

Scott added, “ICE’s deployment of facial recognition on whoever they deem suspicious is pure dystopian creep—the continual expansion of surveillance until our reality mirrors dystopian science fiction. Law enforcement’s use of surveillance technology must be strictly regulated. Without limits, our democracy becomes unrecognizable.”

Read the full report here.

The entertainment site Otakukart reported that the normal Wednesday episode of "South Park" will not be the Halloween episode. Instead, the Comedy Central giant is doing its own Halloween special —to air on Friday night.

And it's bound to give MAGA a fright.

The special episode is titled “The Woman in the Hat,” and its "release marks an event designed to coincide with Halloween’s spirit of unsettling fun and satire," the site wrote.

The ongoing thread this season is a relationship between cartoon President Donald Trump and Satan, who has become impregnated with Trump's baby while staying in the White House. Satan very much wants to keep the baby, while Trump does not.

The Halloween special will involve Trump's real-life plan to tear down the East Wing of the White House to build his ballroom.

The show will feature Trump working with Satan on the project and overseeing the demolition, wearing hard hats. Satan has a cream and brown Coach handbag casually thrown over his shoulder.

"Further heightening the episode’s tension is a ghostly presence haunting the White House’s East Wing amid this chaos, underlining the supernatural with political satire," the report said. "The inclusion of figures such as Kristi Noem and Stephen Miller adds layers of sharp commentary on recent political figures and controversies."

Satirical depictions of Noem in the show have primarily centered on her face melting and her penchant for shooting of dogs.

The report claimed, "South Park’s decision to air this special episode on Halloween night rather than the usual Wednesday is a strategic move to capture attention during a high viewership window associated with festive, spooky programming. This shift highlights the significance Comedy Central places on the episode’s potential cultural impact."

Read the full report here.

Former New Jersey U.S. Attorney Alina Habba was brutally needled in a Substack post on Tuesday by a former deputy chief at the U.S. attorney's office in New York.

Habba lost her bid to keep her job before a district court and appealed, but her track record of winning has never been strong, legal expert Kristy Greenberg said.

Greenberg outlined why Habba is "wildly unqualified" for the job, and noted she also has a track record of losing.

"She's got the only losing record in New Jersey worse than the Jets," Greenberg quipped.

She noted that Habba's short time as U.S. attorney was not only a "disaster" but "Snooki brought less chaos to New Jersey than Habba did."

Greenberg sounded the alarm about an upcoming appeals court decision on Habba, noting that if they rule in favor of Trump, it will effectively remove the Senate's "advice and consent" duties and the judicial responsibility to appoint a U.S. attorney in the event one cannot be confirmed.

It will also have a direct bearing on whether Trump-appointed U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan is legally representing the Eastern District of Virginia in court. If she is not considered "legal," all of her cases are dropped, including those against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, Greenberg explained.

"You know the cases are bad when the Trump-appointed Republican refused to charge them, knowing it would cost him his job," Greenberg continued. "You know the cases are bad when even Trump's own attorney general, Pam Bondi, and deputy attorney general Todd Blanche, said that there wasn't enough evidence to convict them, according to the New York Times."

"I haven't seen a trainwreck this out of control since I binged 'The Hunting Wives,'" Greenberg said of Halligan.

If Trump wins in the Habba campaign, she reiterated, "he gets a national army of unqualified loyalist soldiers who fight for Trump. Not the country."

Rep. Tom Kean (R-NJ) appears to have broken a "no fundraiser" rule set by Speaker Mike Johnson with a posh "golf outing" at a private golf and country club.

Johnson told members in September, ahead of the shutdown, that he didn't want to give Democrats any political fodder at a time of difficult financial times for the government.

But Kean was the special guest at the Union County Republican Committee's Inaugural Golf Outing on Monday, according to a digital invitation. The event also included gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciattarelli, who is in a statistical tie with Democratic Rep. Mikie Sherrill, The New York Times reports.

"Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has urged his GOP colleagues not to hold fundraisers during the shutdown because it could open them up to political attacks," The Hill reported earlier this month when the shutdown began.

The fundraiser also comes amid revelations that healthcare premiums will increase 175% in New Jersey for 2026 for those who buy through the state’s exchange, Politico reported Tuesday.

Democrats are demanding that Republicans extend Affordable Care Act subsidies to garner support for their continuing resolution that funds the government for a few more months.

President Donald Trump spoke on an aircraft carrier off the coast of Japan on Tuesday, and his comments were so overly political and partisan that one retired four-star general was left disgusted.

Speaking in Japan, Trump teased the possibility of more wars, despite his 2024 election pledge to get the United States out of international wars and consider "America First" policies.

"We will not be politically correct. You don't mind that, do you? When it comes to defending the United States, we're no longer politically correct," Trump rambled. "We're going to defend our country any way we have to. And that's usually not the politi-, politically correct way. From now on, if we're in a war, we're going to win the war. We're going to win it like nobody ever before. You know, we'd go in with — we'd blast the hell out of countries. Shouldn't have gone in. By the way, if you don't go in, that's even better. We don't have to go in peace through strength. But, you know, we'd go in, we'd win, and then we'd leave. They used to say to the victor belong the spoils. Well, we'd be the victor. Then we'd leave. Because we had people that didn't know what the hell they were doing."

MSNBC's Jonathan Lemire said it's hardly anything new to see Trump treat military events like campaign rallies. This is his third example.

Speaking to Katy Tur on Tuesday, retired Gen. Barry McCaffrey said that it may not be new, but it isn't right.

"He's unconstrained. And I think when you take that presentation aboard the carrier in Tokyo Bay, which sounded unhinged and was cringeworthy."

He noted the new Japanese Prime Minister was also on hand as troops chanted USA.

"It was bellicose. It was resonating with those young sailors. That's the other thing. You know, there is a widespread feeling among some in the military to push back against what they consider woke strictures on the armed forces. So we ought to be concerned about this," the general continued.

"If that speech in Tokyo aboard a carrier had been made by a military officer, he would have been canned and court martialed for violation of politicization of the military," McCaffrey continued. "But we got a real problem. This message is being heard, and people are responding to Trump's rhetoric."

A group of former Republican lawmakers and a few Democrats sent a letter of support for former FBI Director James Comey's case, alleging that prosecutor Lindsey Halligan is an illegitimate U.S. attorney without the power to properly indict.

"Amici respectfully submit that the Administration’s appointment of Lindsey Halligan as United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia violates the letter and the spirit of the Appointments Clause and the statutes that implement it," the group wrote, citing the relevant statutes.

"The Administration’s appointment of Ms. Halligan—which involved stacking numerous interim appointments under § 546 without obtaining the Senate’s advice and consent—appears designed to circumvent the public hearing and accountability that Senate confirmation requires," the filing continues. "Indeed, the publicly reported facts surrounding Ms. Halligan’s appointment reflect precisely the sort of dangers that can arise when the advice and consent requirement is disregarded. Amici urge the Court to reject this transparent attempt to sidestep the Appointments Clause with respect to Ms. Halligan and to grant Defendant’s request for relief."

The letter goes on to recall that "the grand jury voted to indict Mr. Comey with respect to only two out of three charges Ms. Halligan had sought. Ms. Halligan was the only prosecutor to present the case to the grand jury and was the only prosecutor to sign the indictment."

Former Reps. Barbara Comstock (R-VA), Mickey Edwards (R-OK), Wayne Gilchrest (R-MD), Jim Greenwood (R-PA), Tom Petri (R-WI), Christopher Shays (R-CT) and David Trott (R-MI) joined with three former Democratic members of Congress in an amicus brief, or "friend of the court" filing.

Read it here.

The late conservative Charlie Kirk's flagship organization, Turning Points USA, is facing internal strife without him.

The New Republic's Ellie Quinlan Houghtaling noted Tuesday that a civil war has broken out during the first public event without the group's leader, which she warned is "already a mess."

Kirk, who was shot and killed in Utah last month, leaving behind a wife and two children, was set to run the AmericaFest summit in December.

At issue is Tucker Carlson, a longtime ally to the right, who has fallen out of favor with some due to his vocal opposition to Israel.

Carlson "has been a thorn in the side of the organization’s fundraising efforts for some time now," the report said.

Far-right personality Candace Owens published text messages she exchanged with Kirk in which the group's founder was unsure about whether to let Carlson take the stage. TPUSA has confirmed the text messages are authentic.

“Just lost another huge Jewish donor,” Kirk wrote. “$2 million a year because we won’t cancel Tucker.”

The New York Times believes the donor is Robert Shillman, a tech billionaire who supports Israel.

“Jewish donors play into all the stereotypes,” Kirk said in another text to Owens.

Houghtaling noted that The Bulwark reported on the civil war because other anti-Israel voices are participating in the event, like Jack Posobiec and Steve Bannon.

“No, it’s not good that Carlson, Bannon, Posobiec, and [Texas Attorney General Ken] Paxton are speaking at TPUSA’s AmFest in December,” tweeted Kimberly Ross, a contributor at the conservative Washington Examiner. “It’s bad, actually. The cancer should be cut out.”

Read the full report here.

Republicans are drawing a line that Amer Ghalib should not be the ambassador to Kuwait after some of his previous comments came to light.

The Washington Post reported Tuesday that despite his 2024 election support in Michigan, Ghalib's comments about Israel and support for former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein were a no-go.

“I think that your long-standing views are directly contrary to the views and positions of President Trump and to the position of the United States,” said Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX). He announced his opposition during the hearing for Ghalib.

On Monday, Sen. Dave McCormick (R-PA) also said he wouldn't support Ghalib.

The White House wouldn't comment, but one person familiar with the administration said there are “no plans to pull Ghalib’s nomination at this time.”

The Post explained it as a reflection of Trump's complicated coalition that elected him.

"At times, he’s sided with establishment Republicans, who cheered a massive U.S. bombing campaign against Iran’s nuclear program this summer," the report said. "But the president has also pressured Israel at other points, scolding Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for a direct attack on Qatar, a firm U.S. ally, and pushing the government to accept a ceasefire with Hamas to end the war in Gaza."

On Monday, the administration pulled the nomination of Joel Rayburn, who was slated to be the assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern Affairs. He was caught liking a Facebook post referring to Jews as “monkeys.”

Read the full report here.

There are now 25 states that are parties to a lawsuit against the federal government seeking to block the elimination of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) on Nov. 1.

Writing on Tuesday, Nevada journalist Steve Sebelius reported that his state added its name to the list.

"The Trump Administration's choice to cut SNAP benefits is not only a deliberate, cruel, and extraordinarily harmful decision, it is unlawful. And the reason it cites — the outgoing federal government shutdown — is inadequate," said Attorney General Aaron Ford.

"Contingency funds exist for this exact scenario, yet the USDA has decided to abdicate its responsibility to Nevadans and refused to fund SNAP benefits. I understand the stress of not knowing where your next meal is coming from, because I've lived it. I don't wish that stress on any Nevadan, and I'll fight to be sure nobody in our state goes hungry. I urge Governor [Joe] Lombardo to do the same and to work with his party and President Trump to ensure Nevadans receive their SNAP benefits," the attorney general continued.

The attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia, as well as the governors of Kansas, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania, joined in the national lawsuit, NBC News listed.

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities cited that nationally, 62 percent of SNAP participants are in families with children and 37 percent are in families with members who are older adults or are disabled."

When President Donald Trump was shot at during a campaign stop in Pennsylvania, all he wanted to know was how it was playing on television.

In his new book, ABC News reporter Jonathan Karl said that Trump broke every single Secret Service rule for protectees. Speaking to "The View" on Tuesday, Karl said that he uncovered all of the transcripts of interviews of the agents, who told Congress that Trump fought them, refusing to stay down because he wanted to rally his supporters in the moment.

"By the way, when he gets to the hospital I found out — when he gets to the hospital, his aides — he comes out, the aides are in other cars, as he comes in, there's the handful of aides there and he says, 'How is it playing? How does it look on TV?' That was his first thought," Karl said.

Co-host Whoopi Goldberg then pivoted to ask about MAGA voters like farmers and ranchers and whether Trump is being attentive to his followers.

Karl said that Trump's focus is on redecorating the White House, and he feels like he has all he needs from Congress.

The news site Semafor held a forum on Tuesday where a lobbyist confessed how easy it is to manipulate President Donald Trump's administration.

Ethan Lane, a lobbyist for the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, commented: "You don't need $2 million in TV spend anymore to manipulate a conversation. You need the right few influencers and the right bots," he said.

Lane said that the administration doesn't appear to distinguish between real people and bots, making it much easier for an organization to create momentum than to recruit legitimate people concerned about an issue or company.

"They don't seem to have a huge amount of concern about whether those are real or sort of a creation of the internet," Lane said. "That's, I think, a lot about, sort of, their assessment of where their voters' heads are and how perception is playing out for what the administration's doing, but it can lead to a target-rich environment for whoever, right, to really manipulate a narrative with a pretty modest investment, quite frankly."

"We're a grassroots industry, so we take pride in the fact that we don't need that," he added. "But when you're getting outspent and outgunned by computers, it's a very frustrating situation."

Trump places a high value on social media, he explained. So, influencers or large groups of people who can tweet or comment on posts have a huge impact.

"It's not expensive to fire up a bot farm and have a bunch of, you know, shills on the internet, put on some fake cowboy hats. I mean, you know, truly, and that's been our reality for months now," Lane told Semafor.

Former Labor Secretary and class warrior Robert Reich took to social media on Monday to sound the alarm about something "flying under the radar that you should know about."

There's a new directive from Trump, NSPM-7, or National Security Presidential Memorandum number seven, that Reich said, "could make it a crime to criticize him."

"In September, Trump ordered the Attorney General and the Secretaries of State, Treasury, and Homeland Security to implement new measures to 'counter domestic terrorism and political violence,'" he explained.

"Now, at first glance, this may sound reasonable. After all, we all oppose political violence. But the reality is far more dangerous: NSPM-7 hands the federal government sweeping power to target anyone who speaks out against Trump or his administration," warned Reich. "It’s a blueprint for criminalizing disagreement as 'terrorism.'"

The American Civil Liberties Union noted, "Like the president’s investigation into the Open Society Foundations and his order purporting to designate 'Antifa' as a 'domestic terrorist organization,' which is not a thing!), NSPM-7 is a deliberate attempt to sow fear and intimidate and silence opposition to the president’s abuses."

The FBI has already visited the home of someone who appeared at a protest under NSPM-7.

Reich called the language in the order "alarmingly reminiscent of the McCarthy-era witch hunts" of the 1950s, in which Sen. Joseph McCarthy (R-WI) threw around accusations about being a communist, as people were blacklisted, silenced, and fired over an allegation.

Trump's memo is "filled with the same kinds of vague, accusatory terms — 'anti-American, anti-capitalist, anti-Christian' — McCarthy once used to smear and destroy political opponents," said Reich. "Under these sweeping definitions, peaceful advocacy could be branded as extremism. A sermon, a protest sign, an op-ed in a student paper, or even a donation to a social justice or environmental group could be held up as 'evidence' of disloyalty."

He noted that Trump has already started using words to describe Democrats like “vermin,” “scum,” and “the enemy within.” He even went so far as to tell members of the Navy and Marines, “take care of this little gnat on our shoulder called the Democrats.”

"Such rhetoric isn’t just petty or divisive," Reich continued. "It’s highly dangerous, especially when paired with a presidential memo designed to give those words the force of law."

Reich closed by warning that memos like this from Trump aren't about terrorism or safety, but about silencing his critics under threats, investigations and even imprisonment. Any person who believes America has a right to "speak freely, worship freely and associate without fear" should contact their member of Congress to "intervene immediately."

This is "not democracy — it's a return to the darkest days of McCarthyism, when fear and accusation replaced freedom and truth."

Read the full comments here.

The Justice Department was forced to walk back a significant claim it made in court that proved false.

In submitting a list of "undisputed facts," the Justice Department alleged that the situation in Oregon was so dangerous "that nearly a quarter" of Federal Protective Services had to be diverted to Portland.

Trump deployed the National Guard to Portland and has made baseless claims that the city was "burning down."

“I looked at Portland over the weekend. The place is burning down, just burning down," Trump said last week. “You look at a place like Portland, it’s just — it’s ridiculous, when they say that there’s no problem. The place is — it was on fire over the weekend.”

Adam Klasfeld, who runs "All Rise News," noted the letter flagging the error was sent in a letter to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. It turns out that it was more like around 13.1%. That amounts to "65 of the 86 individuals employed to Portland were inspectors."

"Relatedly, we stated in our supplemental brief that 'it is undisputed that nearly a quarter of the agency’s entire FPS capacity had to be redirected over a relatively short period to a single location in one medium-sized American city due to the unrest there.” ECF No. 69.1 at 30. This statement was incorrect," the letter confesses.

Saying a quarter of the entire Federal Protective Services may seem like a huge number. Whereas, citing 65 people doesn't sound as significant.

"Defendants’ declarations explain in detail why the surge of FPS personnel in response to violence and unrest is unsustainable. But defendants take with the utmost seriousness their obligation to provide the Court with accurate and up-to-date information..." it continued.

As Klasfeld highlighted, the DOJ said that they "deeply regret the errors."

International law expert Ben Farley reposted the update on Bluesky, noting that it is a "significant revision of factual position from DOJ with potentially significant implications for the 9th Cir. panel's decision in Oregon v. Trump--and maybe the 9th Cir.'s decision to take (or not) the case en banc."

En Banc is a request for everyone on the court to weigh in on the matter.

President Donald Trump might be the commander in chief, but two National Guard soldiers vowed to refuse to follow his orders if they conflict with the law and the Constitution.

Two Illinois National Guard members told CBS News that they want no part of deploying to Chicago to help deport immigrants.

The report called it "a rare act of open defiance from within the military ranks."

"It's disheartening to be forced to go against your community members and your neighbors," Staff Sgt. Demi Palecek told CBS News. She is a Latina guardswoman running for the Illinois state legislature.

"It feels illegal. This is not what we signed up to do," she said.

She joins Capt. Dylan Blaha, another Guard member, in saying their fellow soldiers felt uneasy after Trump federalized 500 troops for Chicago. He's running for Congress in District 13.

"I signed up to defend the American people and protect the Constitution," Blaha said. "When we have somebody in power who's actively dismantling our rights — free speech, due process, freedom of the press — it's really hard to be a soldier right now."

In the Trump era, there's a chance that Blaha and Palecek could be "court-martialed, imprisoned or get a felony-level discharge, depending on who issued the order and whether the soldier is under state or federal control," the report said.

If her superior gives her a direct order to deploy, she said she'd "absolutely" defy it.

"I would definitely say no," she said. "I'm not going to go against my community members, my family and my culture. I believe this is the time to be on the right side of history."

Blaha agreed.

"Look at 1930s, 1940s Germany," Blaha said. "There is a point where if you didn't stand up to the Gestapo, are you just actively one of them now?"

The deployment is currently paused until there is a final ruling over the matter or until the U.S. Supreme Court steps in.

Read the full report here.