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Tulsi Gabbard went down to Georgia — and no one in the Trump administration wants to take credit

Analysis by Aaron Blake
13 min ago
PUBLISHED Feb 5, 2026, 5:33 PM ET

United States Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard steps out of a vehicle outside the Fulton County Election Hub and Operation Center after the Federal Bureau of Investigation executed a search warrant there in relation to the 2020 election, in Union City, Georgia, on Wednesday, January 28.

Elijah Nouvelage/Reuters

The Trump administration is no stranger to shifting and inconsistent explanations. It’s not so much that the right hand and the left hand don’t seem to know what each other is doing, but that they often don’t seem to be in the same building.

But even by its standards, the administration’s ever-evolving explanations for Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard’s controversial presence near an FBI search of a Fulton County, Georgia, elections office last week have been bizarre.

Gabbard’s presence turned heads, given her purview generally involves coordinating US intelligence agencies and their efforts overseas, not domestic matters or law enforcement.

It’s been a little more than a week since Gabbard was pictured at the search. And we’re on at least the sixth – and arguably seventh – different explanation for it, with no one seeming to want to take credit for sending her.

Version 1 – Trump hails her role

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When CNN asked Trump last Thursday why Gabbard was there, he suggested he was well-apprised of the situation and that his spy chief was playing a key role.

“She’s working very hard on trying to keep the election safe. And she’s done a very good job,” Trump said. “And they, as you know, they got into the votes, you got a signed judge’s order in Georgia. And you’re going to see some interesting things happening.”

Versions 2 (and 2a) – Blanche seeks some distance

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But a day later, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche sought to put more distance between Gabbard and his department’s investigation.

When asked about the situation at a press conference about the Jeffrey Epstein files, Blanche appeared somewhat testy about the subject.

“She happened to be present in Atlanta,” Blanche said, initially making it sound like a coincidence.

But when a reporter pressed Blanche on it, he allowed that “we are working together as an administration on election integrity-type issues.”

Blanche then told CNN’s Dana Bash on Sunday, “I don’t know why the director was there.”

Then he told Fox News on Monday night: “First of all, she wasn’t at the search; she was in the area where the search took place. She’s not part of this investigation.”

Version 3 – Gabbard says Trump sent her

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But soon after Blanche’s Fox interview, Gabbard on Monday night posted a letter to congressional Democrats that indicated she was quite involved in the matter.

Outlets including CNN had reported that she had actually put Trump on the phone with FBI agents the day after the search – a controversial move given the possibility of political influence.

Gabbard in her letter said that her “presence was requested by the President.”

While Blanche had said she wasn’t actually at the search itself, Gabbard said she had “accompanied” top FBI officials “in observing FBI personnel executing that search warrant.”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt later said that Trump had “tapped” Gabbard “to oversee the sanctity and the security of our American elections” and said she is “working directly alongside the FBI director.”

US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard listens as President Donald Trump speaks during a Cabinet Meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington DC, on December 2, 2025.

Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images

Version 4 – Trump says he’s ‘not involved,’ suggests ignorance

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Despite Gabbard saying Trump had “requested” her presence – suggesting he was playing a role in the investigation – the president in an interview Wednesday spun a different tale.

“I’m not involved in it,” Trump told NBC News, “but they are inspecting and checking the ballots.”

Then NBC’s Tom Llamas asked much the same question Trump was asked six days prior: Why was Gabbard at the search of an elections office in Georgia?

But Trump’s answer this time was different.

“I don’t know,” he began.

Trump then suggested Gabbard’s presence made sense given the prospect of “international cheating.”

Version 5 – Trump says Bondi was behind it

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But the next morning – Thursday – Trump at the National Prayer Breakfast indicated Gabbard’s presence owed to a new figure entirely: Attorney General Pam Bondi.

“[Gabbard] took a lot of heat, because she went at Pam’s insistence,” Trump said. “She went in and she looked at votes, that want to be checked out, from Georgia.”

“The media asked, ‘Why is she doing it?’ Right, Pam?” Trump said. “Because Pam wanted her to do it, and you know why? Because she’s smart.”

Version 6 – Gabbard’s office says it was both Trump and Bondi

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Gabbard’s office clarified later Thursday that both Trump and Bondi were involved in sending Gabbard.

“There’s no contradiction,” Gabbard spokeswoman Olivia Coleman told CNN. “As the President said, he asked for Director Gabbard to be there. Attorney General Bondi also asked for her to be there. Two things can be true at the same time.”

Another spokeswoman posted the same statement on X, but the post no longer appears.

And when Leavitt was asked at a White House briefing the same day whether Trump had asked for Gabbard to be there, Leavitt avoided the question. She instead claimed that Trump had answered the question in his interview with NBC – when he had actually pleaded ignorance.

So what does it all mean?

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Not all of these explanations are mutually exclusive. But taken as a whole, they’re really difficult to square with one another.

At the very least, it’s a rather shocking and rapid evolution of the official explanation, in the course of one week’s time.

Let’s list just a few of the inconsistencies:

• Trump has gone from describing why Gabbard was there, in some detail, to saying he didn’t know why she was there.
• Gabbard said Trump sent her, but Trump really seemed to want to say it was Bondi’s idea – saying it three times. Today, Gabbard’s office still seems more keen to say that Trump sent Gabbard than the White House does.
• Despite Trump saying Bondi sent her, Bondi’s own deputy (Blanche) spent days saying he didn’t know why Gabbard was there and distancing her from the grand jury investigation.
• While Blanche said Gabbard was not part of the investigation, Gabbard said Trump had sent her to observe the search, and Leavitt said Gabbard has been “working directly alongside the FBI director” on election security.
• Despite Gabbard’s office saying Thursday that Trump had confirmed he asked for Gabbard to be present, Trump never actually said that himself. In fact, he said just a day earlier that he didn’t know why Gabbard was there – in the actual comments Leavitt cited.

Leavitt on Thursday afternoon downplayed questions about the matter.

“I’ve seen a lot of the media in this room get very caught up in the semantics of why Tulsi Gabbard was there,” Leavitt said. “I will tell you why, and the president agrees with this: Because election security is essential to national security.”

We can only surmise the reasons for these inconsistencies. But a very logical one is that it’s not terribly helpful for it to be known that Gabbard is involved, and it’s even less helpful for it to be known that Trump is.

After all, that raises the appearance that any possible prosecutions that come out of this investigation are political – and could even face motions to dismiss the cases for vindictive prosecution.

It also just seems to be the case that nobody particularly wants to be responsible for this – or at least, nobody besides Gabbard and her team. Her office has actually made a photo of her in Fulton County its banner on X. (She might view her pursuit of these matters as a chance to ingratiate herself to Trump, after some signs that she had been marginalized.)

Gabbard’s team aside, Trump and Leavitt seem to be mostly pushing it off on the Justice Department, while DOJ has downplayed her role.

Blanche’s comments especially – and arguably his testiness on the subject – made pretty clear that he’d prefer Gabbard not be viewed as playing a role in what his department is doing.

So what we’ve seen since then is a bunch of administration officials trying to account for all of it – while dealing with the infamously volatile and often-discordant commentary of their boss.

Tsunami of immigration detention cases strains U.S. Attorney’s offices across America

February 5, 2026 / 5:12 PM EST / CBS News

As immigration sweeps and detentions have expanded in Minnesota and around the country, the work of justifying those detentions is overwhelming federal prosecutors, who are being forced to sideline a range of other criminal and civil cases in order to keep pace.

The U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota declared in a new brief filed in federal court that his staff faces “an enormous burden” and that a “flood” of immigration cases is negatively affecting his office’s work.

“This office has been forced to shift its already limited resources from other pressing and important priorities,” wrote U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota Daniel Rosen, who was only confirmed to his post last October.

“Paralegals are continuously working overtime. Lawyers are continuously working overtime,” he wrote. “All this is happening while the MN-USAO Civil division is down 50%.”

Minnesota is not alone. The Justice Department is deploying some civil attorneys to assist U.S. Attorney’s offices across the nation, after those offices complained they are being crushed by a tidal wave of federal cases filed by immigrants challenging their detention, sources with direct knowledge of the matter tell CBS News.

The cases, known as “habeas corpus petitions,” started spiking in September after a Justice Department-run immigration court made a sweeping determination that the government could essentially detain a large swath of immigrants indefinitely while their removal proceedings are pending.

In response, immigration lawyers have flooded federal courts with requests for their clients to be released while they petition immigration judges for a bond hearing. In most cases, the government has been losing. By one count, the number of decisions that have been adverse to the Justice Department have skyrocketed – from nearly 100 in September to more than 600 by December, one source told CBS News.

The influx of cases is putting a major strain on U.S. Attorney’s offices, many of which experienced a mass exodus over the past year and are still struggling to hire qualified replacements. In some offices with smaller numbers of civil litigators, prosecutors who normally handle criminal cases are being asked to take on some of the burden, sources say.

“We never thought it would be a tsunami,” one official told CBS News, speaking anonymously in order to discuss internal Justice Department matters. Assistant U.S. attorneys who handle civil litigation “are exasperated,” another official said.

Justin Simmons, the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Texas, made an urgent request last month to senior leaders in the Justice Department’s Civil Division, saying the burden is unsustainable, one person familiar with the matter said.

In his request, Justin Simmons asked the department to temporarily deploy between five and 10 lawyers from the Civil Division’s Office of Immigration Litigation, an office that has already lost a huge number of attorneys. A spokesman for Simmons’ office declined to comment.

Shortly after that, the Executive Office for United States Attorneys sent a note to the civil chiefs of all 93 U.S. Attorney’s offices, asking them to provide data about the total number of pending immigration habeas cases as of January 26, 2026, according to another source. The note also asked for the total number of civil assistant U.S. attorneys since the beginning of fiscal year 2025 and how many are on board as of January 2026.

The offices facing the biggest burden are those whose districts are home to immigration detention facilities, sources said.

A Justice Department spokesperson told CBS News the administration is “complying with court orders and fully enforcing federal immigration law.”

If rogue judges followed the law in adjudicating cases and respected the Government’s obligation to properly prepare cases, there wouldn’t be an ‘overwhelming’ habeas caseload or concern over DHS following orders,” the spokesperson said. “The level of illegal aliens currently detained is a direct result of this Administration’s strong border security policies to keep the American people safe.”

U.S. Attorney in Minnesota calls burden “enormous”

Rosen said the “enormous burden” of immigration petitions in Minnesota coincided with government cuts, and then a wave of resignations that drained his office of experienced attorneys after two people were shot and killed by federal agents as part of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in the state.

The departures left the already-diminished office with as few as 17 assistant U.S. attorneys, according to sources inside the office — down from 70 during the Biden administration.

At the same time, nearly 430 petitions were filed related to immigration arrests in January, according to court documents, in addition to more than 100 filed at the end of 2025. Immigration advocates and nonprofits have filed the motions on behalf of those detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents that have conducted the sweeping raids in Minnesota.

Rosen added that his office is in “reactive mode” and has since ceased all affirmative civil enforcement. Officials thus are no longer filing any lawsuits on behalf of the federal government to enforce environmental regulations and civil rights protections, or to recover money from tax and insurance fraud, among other responsibilities.

The criminal division also plays a critical role in prosecuting cases related to narcotics, exploitation, child pornography and terrorism, as well as serving Native American reservations.

One area hit hard in the cuts: efforts to prosecute those behind the widening fraud scandal in Minnesota. Those fraud cases had been cited by the Trump administration as the pretext for sending thousands of federal agents to the Twin Cities earlier this year.

Former prosecutors Joe Thompson, Harry Jacobs, Daniel Bobier and Matthew Ebert — the four attorneys who had been leading the $250 million Feeding Our Future fraud case, which was the first to drop in the massive Minnesota fraud scandal — have resigned and handed off the prosecution to relative newcomers to the office.

Harry Jacobs, who was recently named head of the office’s criminal division, was also involved in the prosecution of Vance Boelter, the man accused of assassinating former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark.

Sources close to the attorneys who left have cited a variety of factors for the staff shakeup, including caseload management, structural issues within the office, the Trump administration’s influence on the office and concerns related to Operation Metro Surge — the ongoing immigration enforcement operation in the Twin Cities that has led to thousands of arrests as well as repeated clashes with protesters.

Ana Voss, the former head of the U.S. Attorney’s office in Minnesota’s civil division, is also among those to depart, sources previously told CBS News.

In a prior court filing, Minnesota’s chief judge threatened to hold the acting head of ICE in contempt in connection with one of the detention cases. In his order, however, Chief Judge Patrick Schiltz praised Voss in a footnote and acknowledged that she was doing her job to the best of her abilities despite the lack of cooperation by the Department of Homeland Security.

“The Court expresses its appreciation to attorney Ana Voss and her colleagues, who have struggled mightily to ensure that respondents comply with court orders despite the fact that respondents have failed to provide them with adequate resources,” he wrote.

The strain on government lawyers was made vivid during one court hearing in a habeas corpus case earlier this week. In a remarkable scene, a federal judge questioned the government’s handling of immigration cases, and ICE attorney Julie Le — who was assigned to assist the Justice Department in Minnesota — expressed exasperation.

“What do you want me to do? The system sucks. This job sucks. And I am trying every breath that I have so that I can get you what you need,” Le said, according to a transcript.

Le, who has been assigned more than 80 cases since last month, also suggested at one point that the judge hold her in contempt of court “so that I can have a full 24 hours of sleep.”

Le has been removed from her posting at the Justice Department, the Associated Press reported.

House GOP moves to require proof of citizenship, photo ID to vote in federal election

The House Rules Committee will consider the SAVE America Act on Monday, Rep Chip Roy says

By Elizabeth Elkind
Fox News

Published February 5, 2026 2:33pm EST

NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles!

House GOP leaders are forging ahead on legislation aimed at imposing new federal guardrails to ensure only U.S. citizens vote in national elections.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., confirmed to Fox News Digital that the chamber would vote on the SAVE America Act introduced by Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, next week.

It comes after conservatives threatened to extend the partial government shutdown earlier this week if the legislation was not included in Congress’ bipartisan funding bills. But those lawmakers backed off their demands after getting assurances from the White House that the Senate would give the bill serious consideration.

SENATE REPUBLICANS PUSH TO DEPORT, DENATURALIZE FRAUDSTERS AMID MINNESOTA SCANDAL

Attendees listen as Rep. Chip Roy speaks at an “Only Citizens Vote” bus tour rally advocating passage of the SAVE Act at Upper Senate Park outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 10, 2025.(Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)

The House’s vote next week hikes the growing pressure on the Senate to take up the bill, where it will face long odds of passing. Its backers are hoping a little-known maneuver called a “standing filibuster” will be key to breaking through Democratic opposition, however.

“These are common-sense measures that protect American voters,” Scalise explained to Fox News Digital on Thursday.

“Only Democrats in Congress could oppose these basic requirements that prevent voter fraud, and that’s because they want illegal aliens to vote in our elections. Why else would they support open borders, oppose deporting illegal aliens, and oppose election security like picture ID?”

The SAVE America Act is an updated version of Roy’s Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which passed the House in April 2025 but was never taken up in the Senate.

Whereas the SAVE Act would create a new federal proof of citizenship mandate in the voter registration process and impose requirements for states to keep their rolls clear of ineligible voters, the updated bill would also require photo ID to vote in any federal elections.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise speaks during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 5, 2025.(Daniel Heuer/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“It’s all the same concept, right? I mean, you want citizenship, and then you want to guarantee that the person voting is the person voting. Photo ID is, I think, a critically important element to that, and we want to require that for federal elections,” Roy told Fox News Digital on Thursday.

SCHUMER FACES BACKLASH AFTER CALLING SAVE ACT ‘JIM CROW’ DESPITE PREVIOUS ALLEGATION FALLING FLAT

The bill is expected to easily pass the House — the original SAVE Act got support from all Republicans and four Democrats — but its survival in the Senate is more complicated.

Most legislation needs 60 votes to break through a filibuster, meaning at least seven Democrats will need to vote with Republicans to advance the bill.

Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill on Oct. 20, 2025, in Washington, D.C.(Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., led a small coalition of conservatives threatening to extend the most recent government shutdown if the SAVE America Act was not attached to the funding bill that President Donald Trump signed into law on Tuesday.

Luna told reporters she spoke with the White House on Monday night where she got assurances that Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., is looking at using a maneuver called a “standing filibuster” to ensure a vote on the bill.

It would restore antiquated filibuster rules in the Senate that require opponents of a bill to be physically present in the chamber and speaking continuously to delay its consideration.

The move would also eliminate the need for 60 votes to break a filibuster, which currently does not require lawmakers to be present in the chamber until a vote — rather, it would end when opponents were done speaking. Each senator can give a maximum of two speeches, though without any time constraints.

The downside of such a move is that it would grind Senate proceedings to a halt until the filibuster was over. But Roy argued that any such delay in the upper chamber’s duties would fall squarely on Democrats’ shoulders.

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“What we’re trying to say is that for something as important as sovereignty in our elections, we should force that question,” Roy said. “If Democrats want … a long, drawn-out, talking filibuster, then let them explain that to the American people.”

Scalise told Fox News Digital, “Once House Republicans pass this bill—and we will—I urge the Senate to quickly put it on the floor so we can send it to President Trump’s desk. The American people are demanding action — Congress must answer their call and pass this critical legislation.”

Elizabeth Elkind is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital leading coverage of the House of Representatives. Previous digital bylines seen at Daily Mail and CBS News.

Follow on Twitter at @liz_elkind and send tips to elizabeth.elkind@fox.com

CBS News poll on opportunity and the economy. Is it easier or harder now to buy a house, get a job?

February 5, 2026 / 5:13 PM EST / CBS News

Following years of negativity about the economy, most Americans feel there are increasing opportunities for the wealthy today, but decreasing opportunities for the middle class. Big majorities feel it’s harder today to buy a house, get a good job, or raise a family than it was for previous generations — including for today’s young people.

But more immediately for Americans and their wallets now, the view that prices are rising isn’t quite as widespread as it was this fall, so some of the public is starting to see the inflation rate stabilizing.

Financial differences describe different choices about spending going forward, too.

Those in lower-income tiers are often cutting back, and say utility costs have hit them hard of late. But those more closely tied to the stock market tend to say their overall finances are good, and higher earners say they’ll keep spending the same.

On the jobs front, most who have one feel at least somewhat secure about it, but that sense of security isn’t as strong today as it was in the fall.

The job market

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A majority of Americans feel at least somewhat secure in their jobs, though the percentage that feels very secure has dropped slightly from October. And most Americans feel that if they were looking for a job, it would be difficult to find the kind of job they would want.

That’s not entirely connected to concerns about AI — people tend to think finding a job will be hard, no matter their view is on AI. But people who do think AI will tend to reduce job availability in their field are even more pessimistic about the prospect of finding a job.

Prices

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Most Americans still feel prices are going up. That view, however, is not as prevalent in the public as it was this fall.

Finances and income differences

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As has been the case for years, the economy finds Americans with two very different descriptions of their financial situation, in part hewing to their incomes and how much their financial situation is tied to the stock market.

For example, when people say the stock market matters a lot in their finances, they report their overall situation as better.

Overall views of the economy aren’t much changed of late. Most do think it is going to get worse, and the specific outlook still isn’t positive: Just one in five think it will be growing or booming in the next year.

Today, most feel the income gap between the richest and the middle class is increasing.

Spending

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Amid the cold weather and storms that have hit much of the nation lately, those at lower income levels say utility costs are difficult or a hardship.

Meanwhile, in terms of discretionary purchases, those at relatively lower income levels say they’ll be cutting back, while those with higher incomes say they’ll spend the same.

*

This CBS News/YouGov survey was conducted with a nationally representative sample of 2,425 U.S. adults interviewed between February 3-5, 2026. The sample was weighted to be representative of adults nationwide according to gender, age, race, and education, based on the U.S. Census American Community Survey and Current Population Survey, as well as 2024 presidential vote. The margin of error is ±2.4 points.

https://www.cbsnews.com/video/powell-u-s-economy-pushed-right-through-significant-trade-policy-changes/

Slotkin declines DOJ interview request in ‘illegal orders’ video case

February 5, 2026 at 4:46 p.m. EST 23 minutes ago

Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Michigan) during a hearing on April 3 at the Capitol. (Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post)

By Mariana Alfaro

Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Michigan) has refused to voluntarily participate in a Justice Department investigation over a video she and five other Democratic members of Congress recorded late last year that urged U.S. troops to resist unlawful orders from the Trump administration.

In a Thursday letter to U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro reviewed by The Washington Post and first reported by the Associated Press, Preet Bharara, an attorney for Slotkin, defended the senator’s decision and said the message that Slotkin and the other Democrats shared was “uncontroversial and incontrovertible.”

“As a former member of the intelligence community, and current member of Congress with oversight of those communities, Senator Slotkin felt duty-bound to ensure those individuals understood that the law not only allows, but requires them, to refuse an illegal order,” Bharara wrote.

On Thursday, Slotkin said in a video on X that many lawyers told her “just be quiet, keep my head down, and, hopefully, this will all just go away.

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“But that’s exactly what the Trump administration and Jeanine Pirro want — they’re purposely using physical and legal intimidation to get me to shut up. More importantly, they’re using that intimidation to deter others from speaking out against the administration. The intimidation is the point, and I’m not going to go along with that.”

In the 90-second November video, Slotkin and the other Democratic lawmakers — including Sen. Mark Kelly (Arizona), who faces a Pentagon inquiry over his involvement in the clip — urge troops to resist unlawful military orders from the Trump administration, amid its controversial uses of the military.

President Donald Trump accused the lawmakers of sedition “punishable by DEATH.”

In January, Slotkin and the other Democrats featured in the video said they were under federal investigation over their actions. Slotkin said at the time that both Pirro and the FBI had asked to interview her in the matter.

“I’m not going to legitimize their actions,” Slotkin said Thursday in her video statement on X. “The video we made was public. I’ve done a ton of public talking about it since then, including now, and our Constitution is crystal clear on the issue of freedom of speech.”

In his letter to Pirro on Thursday, Bharara said Slotkin would consider suing Pirro’s office “for malicious prosecution and infringement of her Constitutional rights” if the investigation continued. He also demanded that the Justice Department preserve any and all information, documents and communications related to the investigation in case that lawsuit went forward.

In a separate letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi, Bharara said Slotkin would not sit for an interview requested by the FBI. He urged Bondi to end any investigation into the video and reiterated that the senator would consider litigation if the inquiry continued.

Bharara told Bondi that there is “nothing for prosecutors to investigate — there is no crime here.”

Slotkin’s legal team, Bharara added, met with two members from Pirro’s office. He said the officers “could not articulate any theory of possible criminal liability or identify any statute they were relying on or that could have been violated.”

Spokespeople for the White House, the Justice Department and Pirro’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

‘We need them’: Ohio’s GOP Governor pushes back on possible ICE surge focused on Haitians in Springfield | CNN Politics

2026-02-05T19:05:16.668Z / CNN

‘We need them’: Ohio’s GOP governor pushes back on possible ICE surge focused on Haitians in Springfield

By Dana Bash, CNN

Updated 2:29 PM EST, Thu February 5, 2026

More than a year after President Trump falsely accused Haitians in Springfield, Ohio of eating pets, DHS has worked to revoke Haitians’ legal status, and the city is bracing for a possible ICE operation. Ohio’s Republican Gov. Mike DeWine joins Dana Bash to push back on that possibility, telling Bash, “If they lose temporary protected status, then they no longer can work, and the companies can’t employ them. That’s a blow to the economy. It’s a blow to the state.”

7:48 • Source: CNN

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Frustrations from judge, prosecutor in Minnesota boil over amid Trump’s ICE surge: “Not above the law”

February 5, 2026 / 5:16 PM EST / CBS News

Washington — A federal court hearing in Minneapolis on Tuesday provided an extraordinary window into the volume of immigration-related cases overwhelming federal prosecutors in Minnesota amid the Trump administration’s surge of immigration agents to the Twin Cities, and the frustrations of exasperated judges who have said their orders are repeatedly ignored.

The hearing before U.S. District Judge Jerry Blackwell was over cases brought by five different immigrants who were arrested in Minnesota and had subsequently challenged their detentions. Blackwell had ordered each of the men to be released from immigration custody, but then had to repeatedly seek information from the government about their locations and statuses.

The proceeding gained widespread attention when the federal prosecutor, Julie Le, invited Blackwell to hold her in contempt of court “so that I can have a full 24 hours sleep.”

“What do you want me to do? The system sucks. This job sucks. And I am trying every breath that I have so that I can get you what you need,” Le said, according to a transcript of the hearing.

Le was subsequently removed from her detail with the Justice Department, according to a source familiar with the matter. She told Blackwell she began working with the Justice Department in January after volunteering to move from her post as an Immigration and Customs Enforcement lawyer to assist with the influx of cases in Minnesota stemming from the Trump administration’s enhanced immigration operations, dubbed Operation Metro Surge. The person said Le was removed from the detail after her comments Tuesday.

“They are overwhelmed and they need help, so I, I have to say, stupidly enough to volunteer,” she told the judge of her decision to help the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Minnesota with the habeas claims it received. The office has been hit with a wave of resignations in recent weeks.

Le added that she had sought to resign from her Justice Department position, but no replacement had been found. She said she intended to remain on assignment until one was identified.

“If they don’t, then by all mean (sic), I’m going to walk out,” Le told Blackwell. “…I am here just trying to make sure that the agency understand how important it is to comply with all the court orders, which they have not done in the past or currently.”

Le added that she is “not White” and said her family is “at risk as any other people that might get picked up too.”

Asked by the judge whether she was brought into her new role with “no proper orientation or training,” Le said she was.

“We have no guidance or direction on what we need to do,” Le said, adding that the Justice Department will “just throw you in the well and then here we go.”

Blackwell, meanwhile, expressed his own frustrations with what he said was a lack of compliance by the government with his orders.

“A court order is not advisory and it is not conditional,” he said. “It is not something that any agency can treat as optional while it decides how or whether to comply with the court order.”

Blackwell told Justice Department lawyers that in some instances, he had to issue multiple orders asking for information about the status of detainees who were arrested and then ordered to be released from custody.

“Volume, that is, the volume of cases and matters, is not a justification for diluting constitutional rights and it never can be. It heightens the need for care,” Blackwell said during the hearing. “Having what you feel are too many detainees, too many cases, too many deadlines, and not enough infrastructure to keep up with it all, is not a defense to continued detention. If anything, it ought to be a warning sign.”

The Justice Department, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and ICE “are not above the law,” Blackwell said.

“What we really want is simply compliance, because on the other side of this is somebody who should not have been arrested in some instances in the first place who is being hauled in jail or put in shackles for days, if not a week-plus, after they’ve been ordered released,” he said. “That’s my concern is for upholding the rule of law and the constitutional rights of all concerned.”

He pressed Le on whether she was making her frustrations known to the Justice Department, DHS and ICE, and Le responded that she sends emails with “big, bold font” in an effort to get their attention.

Still, Blackwell remained critical of the lack of expediency in freeing the men from detention.

“I wholeheartedly embrace the notion of a unitary executive, as in DHS, ICE, the DOJ, all a part of the Executive Branch,” the judge said, referencing a legal theory that is embraced by the conservative legal movement. “And if there’s a problem in the restaurant, I don’t intend to go in the kitchen to try to figure out who makes the bread. And all of it is part of the Executive Branch.”

Before stepping back to her seat, Le said she was doing her best and working toward “fixing a system, a broken system.” But, she added, “I don’t have a magic button to do it. I don’t have the power or the voice to do it. I only can do it within the ability and the capacity that I have.”

Kira Kelly, an attorney for two of the immigrants, then stood up and called the situation “unprecedented.” She said government attorneys “don’t have the power to get their clients under control.”

“An email with bold font is not going to change the widespread, systemic pattern of disregard for court orders and honestly for basic human rights in this situation,” Kelly said.

DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin told CBS News in a statement that Le was a probationary attorney, and called her conduct “unprofessional and unbecoming of an ICE attorney in abandoning her obligation to act with commitment, dedication, and zeal to the interests of the United States Government.”

Blackwell is not the first judge in Minnesota to express frustrations with the Trump administration and its response to orders in immigration cases. Judge Patrick Schiltz, the chief judge on the U.S. district court in Minnesota, lambasted ICE last week for violating what he said was 96 court orders issued in 74 cases.

“ICE is not a law unto itself. ICE has every right to challenge the orders of this Court, but, like any litigant, ICE must follow those orders unless and until they are overturned or vacated,” Schiltz wrote in a four-page decision.

In a recent court filing, U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen said that more than 427 habeas cases were filed in Minnesota alone, and that his office “has been forced to shift its already limited resources from other pressing and important priorities.”

“The burden of this flood of new lawsuits not only falls on the Government, but also on the District Court,” Rosen said, adding that the civil division in his office that typically handles these cases was only at 50% filled.

美俄同意恢复军事对话 核条约续约有望 | 联合早报

发布时间: 2026年2月5日 23:30

（莫斯科／华盛顿综合电）美国和俄罗斯的《新削减战略武器条约》（New START）周四（2月5日）到期，但几个小时后，就有消息指美俄可能同意到期后继续遵守条约。联合国与国际组织呼吁美俄谈判限制核武军备，担心引发新的军备竞赛。

美国新闻网站Axios周四报道，熟悉谈判的消息人士称，美俄即将达成一项协议，在《新削减战略武器条约》到期后继续遵守条约。

报道说，双方过去24小时在阿布扎比进行谈判。目前仍不确定美俄是否同意继续遵守条约多一段时间，可能多半年。

白宫仍未对此置评。

在条约到期的几个小时后，美国五角大楼周四称，美俄已同意在中断四年多后，恢复高级别军事对话。

美军欧洲司令部指出，恢复军事对话的协议是在阿联酋首都阿布扎比举行的乌克兰和平谈判取得进展之后达成的。特朗普的特使威特科夫和女婿库什纳出席了此次谈判。

俄罗斯总统普京去年9月建议继续遵守《新削减战略武器条约》一年，但没有收到美方的正式回应。

克里姆林宫发言人佩斯科夫周四表明，如果华盛顿对莫斯科提出继续遵守条约限制的提议做出建设性的回应，俄罗斯仍然准备与美国对话。

美国国务卿鲁比奥周三受询时似乎不急于推动核军控条约延期，只说总统特朗普会在迟些时候处理这一问题。

鲁比奥说：“总统过去已明确指出，如要在21世纪实现真正的军备控制，不可能在不包括中国的情况下推进，因为他们（中国）拥有庞大且增长迅速的核武库。”

美国科学家联盟（FAS）估计，中国部署和储存的核弹头约600枚，远少于美国的3700枚和俄罗斯的约4300枚。不过，五角大楼去年12月发表的报告指出，到2030年，中国核弹头库存可能超过1000枚。

俄乌战争爆发后，俄罗斯在2023年暂停执行条约。分析指出，《新削减战略武器条约》作为一项军控手段仍然有价值，因为俄罗斯没有正式退出条约，并承诺遵守条约规定的核弹数量限制。美国国务院去年初提交给国会的一份报告指出，美方高度确信俄罗斯在2024年没有进行任何超过条约限制的大规模核军备活动。

国际忧军备竞赛加速 促美俄克制

国际对核军备无所限制仍是忧心忡忡。联合国秘书长古特雷斯周三晚说，这是半个多世纪以来，全球首次面对一个战略核武库不再受限的世界，敦促美俄尽快重返谈判桌。

古特雷斯发声明说：“几十年来取得的成就付诸东流，时机再糟糕不过了。当前动用核武器的风险，正处在几十年来的最高水平。”

国际废除核武运动（ICAN）也呼吁美俄在新协议谈判期间，继续遵守条约限制。ICAN负责人帕克说：“没有《新削减战略武器条约》的限制，美俄新一轮军备竞赛加速的风险将真实存在……而其他拥核国也将感受到被迫跟进的压力。”

教宗良十四世周三呼吁美俄尽力避开新一轮的军备竞赛；北约官员周四呼吁美俄在核领域保持克制与负责任，指这对全球安全至关重要。

另外，中国外交部发言人林剑周四在例行记者会上回答媒体的提问指出，中方对美俄《新削减战略武器条约》到期失效表示遗憾，并指条约对维护全球战略稳定具有重要意义。

林剑强调，中方一贯主张推进核裁军，必须遵循维护全球战略稳定和各国安全不受减损的原则，并说中国的核力量与美俄完全不在一个量级，现阶段不会参加核裁军谈判。

不过，在澳大利亚访问的德国外长瓦德富尔，周四呼吁中国在武器发展上保持克制。他说，中国应当加入未来的军备约束。

[美国][俄罗斯][核武器][中国]

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Watchdog releases scathing report on Tlaib’s alleged ties to terrorist groups, warning of ‘potential risks’

The report calls on Congress and the federal government to investigate Tlaib’s ties

By Andrew Mark Miller
Fox News

Published February 5, 2026 11:03am EST

FIRST ON FOX: A comprehensive new briefing document from a prominent nonpartisan research and policy group is sounding the alarm on “serious ethical and national security concerns” related to Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib and her affiliations with individuals and organizations linked to designated foreign terrorist entities.

“The conduct of Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, including her rhetoric, affiliations, campaign infrastructure, and ideological alignment with certain individuals and organizations, raises serious concerns about potential risks to the ethical and institutional integrity of the United States government,” the report, released by the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy’s advocacy and policy-oriented arm, states.

The report details a “recurring pattern” of behavior that it says suggests an ideological affinity for radical movements, ranging from participation in conferences featuring convicted terrorists to significant campaign payments made to activists linked to Hamas and Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-aligned networks.

The briefing covers Tlaib’s financial history and says her campaign apparatus poured large sums of cash to anti-Israel activists, including almost $600,000 between 2020 and 2025 to Unbought Power, a consulting firm headed by Rasha Mubarak.

[MEET THE RADICAL ANTI-ISRAEL ACTIVISTS JOINING ‘SQUAD’ DEM TLAIB AT DETROIT CONFAB]

Rep. Rashida Tlaib silently protested Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s July 24 speech to Congress.(Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)

Mubarak has faced scrutiny for her past affiliations with the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), an unindicted co-conspirator in the 2009 Holy Land Foundation terror-financing trial, and the Alliance for Global Justice (AFGJ), which has been investigated for ties to the PFLP-linked group Samidoun.

Tlaib, according to the briefing, has shared the stage with a variety of questionable figures highlighted by a conference alongside Wisam Rafeedie, a convicted PFLP operative, who defended the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack as “resistance.”

“Through public endorsement, co-sponsorship, and amplification, Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib has consistently engaged with a range of organizations known to maintain operational or ideological ties to terrorist networks,” the briefing states. “Tlaib has engaged with and disseminated the messaging of these groups and has shared related content on social media platforms, has participated in events organized by these groups, and has referenced their terminology and conceptual frameworks in official congressional communications.”

[FORMER BIDEN AIDE ACCUSES ‘SQUAD’ REP. TLAIB OF ABANDONING CONSTITUENTS FOR ‘ACTIVIST’ AGENDA]

Tlaib is no stranger to being accused of promoting hostile foreign actors, and the House of Representatives has already taken formal action against the Michigan Democrat twice.

She was first censured in November 2023 for promoting alleged false narratives regarding the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks. A second resolution was introduced in September 2025 following her appearance at the “People’s Conference for Palestine,” where speakers allegedly “whitewashed” convicted Hamas financiers.

Tlaib’s language made another appearance in the briefing as ISGAP Action described antisemitic “tropes” used by the Michigan congresswoman on multiple occasions.

The report cites an August 2021 event where Tlaib referenced “people behind the curtain” making money off “racism” from “Gaza to Detroit.”

[CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP]

Reps. Ilhan Omar, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rashida Talib have irked supporters of Israel on both sides of the political aisle since Hamas’ devastating terror attacks on Oct. 7.(Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)

The briefing goes further than issuing warnings about Tlaib’s record and calls on government agencies to take specific action.

The briefing calls for a formal congressional inquiry into Tlaib’s conduct that specifically reviews her public statements that allegedly align with terrorist organizations, her attendance at events honoring convicted terrorists and a thorough review of her campaign fundraising sources.

Additionally, the briefing asks the Department of Justice’s National Security Division to conduct a legal review to determine if Tlaib or her affiliates have violated 18 U.S. Code §2339B, which prohibits providing material support to foreign terrorist organizations.

The Federal Election Commission, according to the briefing, should perform a forensic audit of Tlaib’s campaign finances focusing on donations from individuals tied to terror networks.

“Tlaib’s conduct demonstrates how extremist ideologies can infiltrate mainstream democratic institutions,” the report concludes. “If left unchecked, her actions will continue to legitimize hate.”

Last year, Tlaib’s name came up in another ISGAP Action report that highlighted what it called a multi-generational campaign by the Muslim Brotherhood to “transform Western society from within” and covertly infiltrate the United States.

“The election and re-election of congresswomen such as Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), who have openly defended positions aligned with Brotherhood perspectives on Israel, counterterrorism, and international relations, demonstrates the intersection of identity politics and Brotherhood narratives,” the report stated.

“While neither congresswoman has a documented formal affiliation with the Muslim Brotherhood, both have appeared at events organized by Brotherhood-aligned organizations, have received campaign support from Brotherhood-aligned donors, and have consistently advocated positions aligned with Brotherhood objectives.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Tlaib’s office for comment.

Andrew Mark Miller is a reporter at Fox News. Find him on Twitter @andymarkmiller and email tips to AndrewMark.Miller@Fox.com.

Russia says 2.8-ton chunk of Aletai meteorite disguised as garden ornament found being smuggled to U.K.

Updated on: February 5, 2026 / 10:54 AM EST / CBS/AFP

Moscow — Russian investigators have prevented a giant meteorite fragment being smuggled to Britain disguised as a garden ornament, the Federal Customs Service reported Thursday.

The huge specimen weighing about 2.8 tons is believed to have come from the Aletai meteorite, one of the largest known iron meteorites on Earth, it said.

Prosecutors have opened a criminal investigation.

“The strategically important cargo was discovered during checks on a sea container at the port of Saint Petersburg,” the customs service said in a statement.

An image from video shared by the Russian Federal Customs Service and Russia’s state-run TASS news agency shows an official inspecting what the customs agency said was a 2.8-ton chunk of the Aletai meteorite intercepted at the port in Saint Petersburg, on Feb. 5, 2026, as it was set to be smuggled out of the country to the U.K. Russian Federal Customs Service/TASS

“When attempting to export it, it was declared as a garden sculpture. But a detailed inspection revealed that the origin and value of the cargo differed from the information declared,” it added.

Video showed customs officers prying open a crate to find the rock, its surface grey and rugged.

The fragment could be worth approximately 323 million rubles ($4.2 million), the statement said.

The statement did not say who attempted to import the fragment, only that it was destined for the United Kingdom.

An image from video shared by the Russian Federal Customs Service and Russia’s state-run TASS news agency shows an official inspecting what the customs agency said was a 2.8-ton chunk of the Aletai meteorite intercepted at the port in Saint Petersburg, on Feb. 5, 2026, as it was set to be smuggled out of the country to the U.K. Russian Federal Customs Service/TASS

Scientists have expressed ethical concerns about the sale of meteorites, which are often coveted for research purposes and hold important clues about the make-up of the early solar system.

The Aletai meteorite was discovered in western China in 1898 and is thought to be at least 4.5 billion years old. It is unclear when the meteorite slammed into the Earth’s surface, but such landings do occur from time to time.

The Aletai meteorite is of a similar age to one that ripped through the roof of a home in the U.S. state of Georgia last year. That was seen as a fireball blazing across the sky in broad daylight by dozens of witnesses.