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Jason Paladino

@jasonpaladino.bsky.social
927 followers 508 following 270 posts

investigative reporter/freelance researcher work in: Drop Site News, Zeteo, The Intercept, Project On Government Oversight, Grid News (RIP), Investigative Reporting Program jpaladino.substack.com

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Reposted by Jason Paladino
CJ Ciaramella @cjciaramella.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Notably, the DOJ press release announcing the indictment of an ICE officer for false statements doesn't include a statement from the U.S. Attorney or any Main Justice officials, which is unusual.
Christian Castro Indicted by Grand Jury for Making False Statements
MINNEAPOLIS – U.S. Attorney Daniel N. Rosen for the District of Minnesota announced that on Sept. 2, a federal grand jury indicted Christian Jeremiah Castro, 52, of Texas, on six counts of making materially false statements to the FBI, during an interview on Jan. 14. DOJ continues to evaluate all facts and evidence in this case and has not ruled out additional charges.

Castro made an initial appearance on these charges before a U.S. Magistrate Judge in the Southern District of Texas today. If found guilty, Castro faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison on each count.

According to the indictment, on Jan. 14, Castro and his partner, while working as Deportation Officers with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), attempted to stop a vehicle driven by Person 1, a then-26-year-old citizen of Venezuela. Person 1 continued driving, and Castro pursued Person 1 both by vehicle and on foot. Castro attempted to apprehend Person 1 in the front yard of a north Minneapolis duplex. As Person 1 and Castro struggled on the ground, Person 2, a then-24-year-old resident of Venezuela, who also lived in the duplex residence, attempted to assist Person 1. The physical interaction between Castro, Person 1, and Person 2 lasted approximately 11 seconds.

After Person 1 freed himself from Castro’s grasp, both Person 1 and Person 2 ran into the duplex residence through the front door. As Person 1 and Person 2 entered the residence and began to close the front door, Castro stood up, drew his service weapon, and fired a single shot through the front door. Person 2 was struck in the leg, and the fired bullet continued through the entryway, and lodged in the wall of the downstairs apartment of the duplex residence.

When Castro fired the bullet, multiple persons were inside the duplex residence, including minor children.

Later that same night, an FBI Special Agent interviewed Castro as part of an FBI investigation. During the interview, Castro told the FBI Special Agent that as Castro attempted to handcuff Person 1, an unknown man grabbed a red broom from the front porch of the residence and started hitting Castro with the broom. As Castro was scuffling on the ground, Castro said that a third unknown man came out of the house, grabbed a black snow shovel from the front porch, and began hitting Castro with the shovel. Castro stated that Person 1 wiggled out of his sweater, stood up, and started hitting Castro with the broom, while Castro was still on the ground. Castro said that he tried to block strikes from the broom with his hand. Castro said the two men dropped the broom and snow shovel and started running towards the house after Castro reached for his gun. Castro said that he lifted his back off the ground and fired one round from his gun in the general direction of the men at the same time they started running. Castro said he believed he was on the ground fighting with the man he tried to apprehend for approximately three minutes.

Castro was indicted on six counts of knowingly and willfully making materially false statements to the FBI during the interview on or about Jan. 14.

This case was the result of an investigation by the ICE Office of Professional Responsibility, Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, …
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Jason Paladino @jasonpaladino.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
DHS wants to buy 50,000 small surveillance drones, according to new contracting documents jpaladino.substack.com/p/dhs-wants-...
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Jason Paladino @jasonpaladino.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
A great roundup of Roth’s reign of terror at DOJ.
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AFK - ON SABBATICAL @bmeson.lucyparsonslabs.com · 01/08/2026
I’m old enough to remember that the federal government put out some attention grabbing headlines about Russia hacking some water pumps and it turned out to be a misconfigured computer. (Anyways, extraordinary claims, extraordinary evidence etc etc etc.)
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warrior cop @wyattprivilege.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
Every dollar spent on social services is, in some sense, a theft from the weapons industry
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AFK - ON SABBATICAL @bmeson.lucyparsonslabs.com · 20/07/2026
Want to see a public collection of all the times cops have been busted abusing Flock systems to stalk exes, spy on protests, or deport migrants? You can check it out here 👇🏽👇🏽👇🏽 HT @deflock library.kansas.watch
library.kansas.watch
ALPR Abuse Library — Kansas Watch
A publicly maintained index of news articles documenting abuses, misuses, and civil liberties concerns related to Automated License Plate Readers (ALPRs).
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Reposted by Jason Paladino
Christopher Wiggins @cwnewser.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
“Congress's top bathroom sheriff Nancy Mace is on the ballot, and while not all of the votes have been counted yet, she is in a respectful fifth place,” Sarah McBride just said. “I don't like punching down and I believe in the politics of grace. So all I will say is happy Pride, Nancy.”
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Jason Paladino @jasonpaladino.bsky.social · 28/05/2026
$1.5M and counting in support from Chevron and CRC (CA's largest oil driller), including $500,000 yesterday.
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Mehdi Hasan @mehdirhasan.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
“First Draft: Islamophobes Can't Shut Up Even as Muslims Are Murdered at a California Mosque” 3 people were shot dead at the Islamic Center of San Diego, amid rising GOP anti-Muslim invective that has been left largely unchecked by the mainstream media.
zeteo.com
First Draft: Islamophobes Can't Shut Up Even as Muslims Are Murdered at a California Mosque
Three people were shot dead at the Islamic Center of San Diego, amid rising GOP anti-Muslim invective that has been left largely unchecked by the mainstream media, top Democrats, and society at large.
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Jason Paladino @jasonpaladino.bsky.social · 16/05/2026
Organic vineyard management means we don’t have many effective options for pest control. We installed raptor perches a few years ago and today I caught this! An American Kestrel (Falco sparverius) snacking on a rodent.
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Reposted by Jason Paladino
Signal @signal.org · 22/04/2026
We are very happy that today Apple issued a patch and a security advisory. This comes following 404 Media reporting that the FBI accessed Signal message notification content via iOS despite the app being deleted.
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AFK - ON SABBATICAL @bmeson.lucyparsonslabs.com · 22/04/2026
Flock lies to the city council in Oshkosh Wisconsin (nice place btw) in order to win a contract, immediately gets busted, has it canceled one day later. Lmao. HT @deflockatlanta.org www.nbc26.com/oshkosh/oshk...
nbc26.com
Oshkosh moves to cancel just-approved Flock camera contract
Less than 24 hours after voting to approve a contract with Flock Group Inc., the Oshkosh Common Council could now reverse course.
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Jason Paladino @jasonpaladino.bsky.social · 22/04/2026
Xavier Becerra constantly fought to kill efforts to increase police accountability and his campaigns were funded by police unions. He threatened me with criminal charges after I obtained a list of CA’s dirtiest cops. Horrible choice for gov.
The Department hereby formally requests that you immediately permanently destroy the
spreadsheet you were provided, do not disseminate the spreadsheet (or any information therefrom, and provide verification that all copies in hard copy, email, thumb drives, hard drives, and servers have also been destroyed. You are hereby on notice that the unauthorized receipt or possession of a record from the Department's ACHS or information obtained from such a record is a misdemeanor. (Pen. Code, § 11143.)
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Zeteo @zeteo.com · 19/04/2026
"UK surveillance flights over Gaza were conducted with more US involvement than previously known." @jasonpaladino.bsky.social and @tobyburns.bsky.social reveal UK missions over Gaza used US contractor spy planes equipped with military tracking and surveillance tech. Read: zeteo.com/p/exclusive-...
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Chris Osieck @chrisosieck.bsky.social · 05/04/2026
Likely plan? I recently told colleagues that, based on what we've been seeing in images and videos, it feels like the Dahiya Doctrine is already being applied, given the pattern of strikes on infrastructure such as bridges, oil depots, steel plants, schools, and more.
ynetnews.com
Israel, US near limits of air campaign in Iran as pressure grows to end war
Analysis: residual Iranian capabilities still allow strikes on Israel and energy routes, while cautious US-Israel targeting gives Tehran time, forcing leaders to reconsider strategy amid failed diplom...
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AFK - ON SABBATICAL @bmeson.lucyparsonslabs.com · 18/03/2026
Folks, today is a good day to donate to @ddosecrets.org. The first time we did a BlueLeaks release, Feds illegally took our server offline. Later, we found out they were sending lies to police about us and calling us “criminal hackers” by @awinston.bsky.social (2020) www.theverge.com/2020/8/13/21...
theverge.com
Feds are treating BlueLeaks organization as “a criminal hacker group,” documents show
Supporters worry a crackdown is coming.
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Mike Hixenbaugh @mikehixenbaugh.com · 13/03/2026
The federal government isn't supposed to detain immigrant children for longer than 20 days. But when a Russian asylum seeker with 5-year-old twins asked why they'd been held for longer, an ICE officer falsely claimed the 20-day rule had been voided. Says who? he asked. "Trump," ICE responded.
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Project Salt Box @projectsaltbox.com · 11/03/2026
ICE WAREHOUSE TRACKER UPDATE We're now tracking contract awards for warehouse staffing and fit-out as the task orders drop. If a facility isn't listed yet, we haven't seen contracts for it. Explore the data here: tinyurl.com/ICEWarehouse...
Screenshot of a table showing staffing and construction contracts for ICE detention warehouses.
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Mike Hixenbaugh @mikehixenbaugh.com · 11/03/2026
I wrote this a decade ago after traveling to Bahrain while investigating the U.S. Navy's aging minesweeping systems, which had fallen into disrepair: "One potential nightmare scenario: A few mines in the Strait of Hormuz in the Middle East could shut down the key shipping channel for days or weeks"
The Navy is increasingly concerned that the Islamic State or other terrorist groups could acquire and deploy cheap naval mines, which analysts say are available on the international black market to any group able and willing to pay.

One potential nightmare scenario: A few mines in the Strait of Hormuz in the Middle East could shut down the key shipping channel for days or weeks. A fifth of the world’s oil supply moves through the narrow passage, the only route connecting the oil-rich Persian Gulf region to the open sea. Blocking it for even a few days could have a significant impact on global markets.

To emphasize the concern, the mine-clearing exercise led by the U.S. this spring tested how the international community would respond if a terrorist group placed mines in Hormuz or in other strategic choke points in the region. Reporters for The Virginian-Pilot and the Investigative Reporting Program traveled to Bahrain in April to observe the exercise.
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Jason Paladino @jasonpaladino.bsky.social · 11/03/2026
Just North of the Strait of Hormuz in 2016, approaching the USS Sentry (MCM-3), one of the wooden hulled minesweeping ships that the Navy just decommissioned. Would be pretty helpful to have these right about now! With @mikehixenbaugh.com and Zach Stauffer on the camera.
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Jason Paladino @jasonpaladino.bsky.social · 09/03/2026
Read my latest collab with @kenklippenstein.bsky.social We publish leaked DHS docs and muse on our own military’s religious fanaticism
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𓃺𝖙𝖔𝖓𝖎🪴🩻 @tonizamboni64.bsky.social · 09/03/2026
probably normal
screenshot of linked text: Televangelist John Hagee and chairman of Christians United for Israel delivered a sermon at the Cornerstone Church in San Antonio earlier this month, standing in front of a banner reading: “God’s coming…Operation ‘Epic Fury’.” In his sermon, he thanked Trump for having “crushed the enemies of Zion,” saying the attack on Iran will trigger biblically prophesied events including the invasion of Israel by a Russian-led army and Jesus’s defeat of the Antichrist at the Battle of Armageddon.
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autumn coded @hoovybaby.bsky.social · 06/03/2026
Absolutely sickening shit: the Dena had just participated in international naval exercises *with the US* and was unarmed and the US knew this and sank it anyway and left the survivors to drown
newrepublic.com
The Most Chilling Detail in the U.S. Attack on an Iranian Naval Ship
The Iranian warship was taking part in an international exercise with many other countries—including the United States.
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Max P III @blackballer.bsky.social · 06/03/2026
Always just enough democrats to crush anything thats good. Its a scam folks.
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Jason Paladino @jasonpaladino.bsky.social · 06/03/2026
Watching people do this gives me the same feeling as watching someone piss their pants in public.
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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 03/03/2026
WELCH: Mr. Yoho is also the husband of your former spokesperson, Tricia McLaughlin? NOEM: Yes WELCH: So your former assistant and her husband are the ones that got the DHS no bid contract for $143m. Any dispute about that? NOEM: No.
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Gillian Brockell @gillianbrockell.com · 27/02/2026
SCOOP: Noem's DHS has acquired at least NINE new jets in recent weeks, with another one on the way. Half are luxury jets. gillianbrockell.ghost.io/noems-luxury...
gillianbrockell.ghost.io
Noem’s luxury ‘deportation’ jet is the tip of the ICE-berg
Kristi Noem's DHS has acquired at least nine new aircraft in recent weeks, with another one on the way. Half are luxury jets.
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Jason Paladino @jasonpaladino.bsky.social · 27/02/2026
Devastating for those of us that report on where our tax dollars flow. SAM.gov is a hot mess, and would require a complete redesign to even begin to approach FPDS.
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Dave Levitan @davelevitan.bsky.social · 19/02/2026
Getting shown up in the arena of elite impunity by *the British monarchy* is an incredible “America at 250!” achievement
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Mike Masnick @masnick.com · 19/02/2026
She says over and over again "I'm going to read from Masnick's article." This is a nothing burger. No one who watched her video can possibly think she plagiarized me. I watched much of that long video and that guy may be the dumbest, angriest guy around. Not to mention misogynistic
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Jason Paladino @jasonpaladino.bsky.social · 19/02/2026
Byron Noem’s cuck chair
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Katie Drummond @katie-drummond.bsky.social · 19/02/2026
Come for the @wired.com cover art. Stay for the incisive, nuanced, wild ride of a story. I urge you to read it in full. "When I call up my longtime industry sources to get their thoughts on the gay tech mafia, not only have they heard of it—they have highly specific notions of how it works."
wired.com
Inside the Gay Tech Mafia
Gay men have long been rumored to run Silicon Valley. WIRED investigates.
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makena kelly @makenakelly.bsky.social · 19/02/2026
SCOOP: DHS strikes $1 billion purchasing agreement with Palantir. The news comes as Palantir leadership struggles to address internal tensions over the company's work with immigration enforcers. Here's how it was announced internally: www.wired.com/story/depart...
wired.com
DHS Opens a Billion-Dollar Tab With Palantir
"If you are interested in helping shape and deliver the next chapter of Palantir’s work across DHS, please reach out,” a Palantir executive wrote to employees about the massive purchasing agreement.
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Asawin Suebsaeng @swin24.bsky.social · 19/02/2026
If you’re an American service member who gets killed in a retaliatory strike, your family can take comfort in the fact that it was done in service of making the host of Celebrity Apprentice feel like a big man for a minute, before he moved on to something else and forgets about this forever
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Julie K. Brown @jkbjournalist.bsky.social · 19/02/2026
Never in a million years did I ever fathom when I resurrected the Epstein story in 2018 that it would lead to first arrest of a British Royal in four centuries. Not since King Charles I was arrested in 1647. open.substack.com/pub/jkbjourn...
open.substack.com
Prince Andrew's Arrest
Across the pond in Britain, justice and accountability is a serious matter
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dr. rich traditions, JD @helldude.bsky.social · 19/02/2026
using the first meeting of my "board of peace" to tease my latest upcoming war
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Jason Paladino @jasonpaladino.bsky.social · 31/01/2026
What day/night will be the wildest party on =our island?
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Jason Paladino @jasonpaladino.bsky.social · 31/01/2026
“I was photobombed”
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Prem Thakker ツ @premthakker.bsky.social · 30/01/2026
Interesting. @jasonpaladino.bsky.social asks Grok what it says Elon Musk wanted to visit Epstein's island, after it was known he was a pedophile & trafficker. Grok says they have "at most a questionable association" & echoes Musk's claim — despite presented evidence — that contact was "incidental."
Interesting. @jasonpaladino.bsky.social asks Grok what it says Elon Musk wanted to visit Epstein's island, after it was known he was a pedophile & trafficker.

Grok says they have "at most a questionable association" & echoes Musk's claim — despite presented evidence — that contact was "incidental."
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dr. rich traditions, JD @helldude.bsky.social · 29/01/2026
one note for the "optics" amateur consultant crowd: "abolish ice" is actually the calibrated negotiating stalking horse because we actually cannot tolerate a "department of homeland security" in a multicultural secular democracy
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Ryan Goodman @rgoodlaw.bsky.social · 25/01/2026
WOW on Pretti's denial of medical treatment "I informed the ICE agents that I am a physician, and I asked to assess the victim. At first, the ICE agents wouldn't let me through. ... But none of the ICE agents who were near the victim were performing CPR, ... None of the agents were helping him."
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Boo!-per Lund @cooperlund.online · 15/01/2026
They’re calling it the most divorced anyone has ever been
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Derek Johnson @derekjjohnson.bsky.social · 15/01/2026
Just so people outside of MN know - a lot of the US citizens getting “arrested” by ICE never get processed at Whipple. They are roughed up during the arrest and then often dropped off miles from where they were picked up. It means we don’t know the true scale of what ICE is doing based on ICE stats
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Andrea Grimes @andreagrimes.com · 15/01/2026
journalists never take the cops at their word 2026 challenge
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Jason Paladino @jasonpaladino.bsky.social · 15/01/2026
If you’re out in Minneapolis and want one piece of kit that will allow you to outmaneuver even the most fit ICE goon, get some of these bad boys:
Yaktrax, like chains for your shoes
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Jason Paladino @jasonpaladino.bsky.social · 08/01/2026
This dude will have a gofundme that hits a million bucks, a conservative talk show, and a pardon in the next 6 months.
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Jason Paladino @jasonpaladino.bsky.social · 08/01/2026
Tricia McLaughlin, the mouthpiece of DHS, posted a private jet photo to her Instagram. It was recently revealed that her husband’s company won a subcontract on a non-competed $220M contract from DHS, in a deal described by experts as “corrupt” and “worthy of an investigation.”
Trump Administration
Firm Tied to Kristi Noem Secretly Got Money From $220 Million DHS Ad
Contracts
The company is run by the husband of Noem's chief DHS spokesperson and has personal and business ties to Noem and her aides. DHS invoked the "emergency" at the border to skirt competitive bidding rules for the taxpayer-funded campaign.
by Justin Elliott, Joshua Kaplan and Alex Mierjeski
November 14, 2025, 5:00 amThe Department of Homeland Security has kept at least one beneficiary of the nine-figure ad deal a secret, records and interviews show: a Republican consulting firm with long-standing personal and business ties to Noem and her senior aides at DHS. The company running the Mount Rushmore shoot, called the Strategy Group, does not appear on public documents about the contract. The main recipient listed on the contracts is a mysterious Delaware company, which was created days before the deal was finalized.
No firm has closer ties to Noem's political operation than the Strategy Group. It played a central role in her 2022 South Dakota gubernatorial campaign. Corey Lewandowski, her top advis at DHS, has worked extensively
with the firm. And the company's CEO is married to Noem's chief spokesperson at DHS, Tricia McLaughlin,
The Strategy Group's ad work is the first known example of money flowing from Noem's agency to businesses controlled by her allies and friends.
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Tristan Lee @tristanl.ee · 08/01/2026
Law enforcement officers have a habit of giving confusing or contradictory orders, and then shooting people when they try to comply. See the shooting of Daniel Shaver.
aclu.org
‘You’re Fucked’: The Acquittal of Officer Brailsford and the Crisis of Police Impunity | ACLU
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leon @leyawn.bsky.social · 03/01/2026
this is your mission. our pedophile president needs you to jump out of a helicopter to kidnap a head of state and his wife so some oil ceos can make a lot of money. we’ll be watching from a resort in florida that still serves wedge salad and checking how many retweets we get. good luck soldier
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talia jane @taliajane.bsky.social · 27/12/2025
it’s always the people you’d most expect
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