iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Radley Balko

Kyle Clark @kylec.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

NEW: As Colorado’s Tina Peters reportedly meets with President Trump to discuss an election “plan,” her attorney says the plan involves seizing ballots nationwide and discusses strategy for a potential civil war

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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 5h

Authoritarian regime grabs electronic communication devices of prominent opposition member. Since it’s highly unlikely there is anything on her phone about immigration paperwork from 30 years ago we can assume this just became a fishing expedition.

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Evan Bernick, a finite mode with a smol hooman and a lorg floof @evanbernick.bsky.social · 3h

the bar for stripping people of citizenship is extremely high. It’s identical to that required for a criminal conviction. Beyond a reasonable doubt, citizenship procured by fraud. You don’t launch an investigation *with the goal of* getting there.

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Evan Bernick, a finite mode with a smol hooman and a lorg floof @evanbernick.bsky.social · 4h

read that sentence. it is a description of political persecution. anyone giving this the time of day as a serious legal case is a fool.

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NBC News @nbcnews.com · 5h

An ad attacking Maine Democratic Senate candidate Troy Jackson features a quote from a union leader. He tells NBC News he never commented on Jackson's plan and was "shocked" to see the quote.

nbcnews.to

Union leader quoted in Maine Senate attack ad sends ‘cease and desist’ to GOP PAC

The ad quotes a union official slamming Democrat Troy Jackson’s healthcare plan. He told NBC News he never commented on Jackson’s plan and was “shocked” to see the quote.

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Dave Levitan @davelevitan.bsky.social · 6h

Feel free to correct me but I'm pretty sure he is the only politician in history where the actual words coming out of his mouth do not matter in the least to his supporters. Coherence is simply not a requirement.

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Radley Balko @radleybalko.bsky.social · 6h

Crazy idea: Democrats should defend immigration and immigrants, run on the idea that immigrants make America great, and stop Homer Simpsoning themselves into the shrubbery every time Republicans try to demagogue it.

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JJ in DC @jjindc.bsky.social · 6h

🧊🛩️ CENTRAL AFRICAN REP 🌍⛓️ 😲 A Journey Aviation G5 (tail: N62FF), on a long-range ICE mission out of Texas, delivers chained humans to a third stop in Bangui 🇨🇫

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Juan Escalante @juanescalante.com · 10h

I guess helping rebuild local businesses after a major hurricane is also grounds for deportation

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Radley Balko @radleybalko.bsky.social · 10h

UPDATE: It gets even better. Pathetic, ignorant little man. bsky.app/profile/theb...

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Attorney Kathleen Martinez @attorneymartinez.bsky.social · 13h

BREAKING: " Videos collected by local investigators make it “pretty obvious” that an ICE officer intentionally ran over Miguel Parra Hernandez during an immigration stop Saturday, which could lead to assault charges, the district attorney said Tuesday."

nbcnews.com

Texas DA says ICE intentionally hit immigrant with a car and may have withheld evidence

Harris County DA Sean Teare told NBC News his office has collected multiple videos for its own investigation but isn’t getting cooperation from the federal government. ICE denied their agent intentio...

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Radley Balko @radleybalko.bsky.social · 13h

Dude committed crimes on camera then signed his name to them online.

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Radley Balko @radleybalko.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

Congressman whines that his own voters laughing at him is a violation of his First Amendment rights.

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Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

WOW. Kristi Noem and Elon Musk, among others, "chose to turn the power of the federal government against a singular employee with an impeccable record of public service. ... The attacks against Ms. Comans were based entirely on false information" and many officials "knew [they] were untrue."

In conducting this hearing, the Court is not called upon to resolve factual disputes between
the parties. The facts set forth in this Memorandum Opinion and Order were proposed by the
Plaintiff, unobjected to by the Government, and then deemed admitted by the Court. Dkts. 74, 75,
77.2 These facts establish that high-ranking government officials, including then Secretary of DHS
Kristi Noem and Elon Musk, engaged in a coordinated public relations campaign to impugn the
personal and professional integrity of Ms. Comans. For reasons unfathomable to this Court,
officials chose to turn the power of the federal government against a singular employee with an
impeccable record of public service. In short, Ms. Comans was professionally targeted and
personally attacked by government officials for no legitimate reason. The attacks against Ms.
Comans were based entirely on false information, and many government officials knew the
accusations were untrue at the time they were made. With no regard for the truth and with no
consideration for the personal and professional effect on Ms. Comans, government officials
exploited their access to mass media outlets to broadcast false information. These false
statements reached hundreds of millions of people. The purpose of this Order is, to the best of
this Court’s ability, to correct the public record and establish as a matter of law that the
statements made by these officials about Ms. Comans were objectively and demonstrably false.

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Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

Finally, Kristi Noem and Corey Lewandowski sent a statement to Laura Loomer, telling her Ms. Comans was "fired for illegally funding" migrant shelters "in violation of President Trump's Executive Order." Both Lewandowski and Noem, the government now admits, knew this was false.

vii. February 11, 2025, Statement by DHS Secretary Noem and Corey Lewandowski to Blogger Laura Loomer. On or about February 11, 2025, Laura Loomer, a blogger with a large following, posted on X that “FEMA’s Chief Financial Officer Mary Comans was just fired for illegally funding over $59 MILLION for illegal Aliens to stay in luxury hotels in NYC last week in violation of President Trump’s Executive Order.” Ms. Loomer was given this information by then DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and DHS Special Government Employee Corey Lewandowski. Ms. Noem and Mr. Lewandowski provided this information to Ms. Loomer with the expectation that she would further disseminate it to her on-line followers. The Government concedes and the Court finds that other than the fact that Ms. Comans had been fired, the information provided to Ms. Loomer was entirely false. The Government further concedes and the Court further finds that Ms. Noem, Mr. Lewandowski, and officials at FEMA and DHS knew this information was false at the time it was provided to Ms. Loomer

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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

Excerpts from Michael Lewis on DOGE (Guardian article). 1. Gavin Kliger, white nationalist, refused to shake hands with the Black IRS staffer who briefed him on privacy issues. Or pay attention. Kliger now has a defense start-up valued at 1.4B thanks to DOGE. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

Phyllis, who loved working for Kathleen and saw falling on hand grenades as part of her job, never told her how this one had felt. She knew Gavin had expressed enthusiasm for white nationalists, and he likely knew that she knew. She tried to break the ice by walking in with her hand extended; Gavin stared at it and declined to shake it, though he had shaken the hands of the white men who had offered them. “He was kind of cool towards me,” said Phyllis. Before she could even start the briefing, he said, You know, I’ve heard these rules before at other agencies. Yes, she said, but these rules are different, because no other agency is governed by this privacy law, and this law can get you thrown in jail very quickly. As she walked him through the basics – how you can’t use your personal phone for business, how if you happen to so much as glimpse a form 1040 with someone’s name on it you must avert your eyes – Gavin played on his phone. “He’s multitasking right in front of me, typing and texting,” said Phyllis. “It was, here’s a routine that I must endure.”

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Colin Carlson @colincarlson.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

New paper out today shows that ICE and National Guard presence in DC led to a pretty sizable drop in pediatric ER visits among Spanish-speaking and Hispanic patients. If sick kids can't go to the emergency room, immigration justice has to be a public health issue. jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

jamanetwork.com

Federal Immigration Enforcement Deployment and ED Utilization Among Children

This cross-sectional study evaluates changes in pediatric emergency department utilization following the August 11, 2025, immigration enforcement deployment in Washington, DC, and whether these chang...

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Radley Balko @radleybalko.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

This is the funniest thing I've seen in a week.

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Nicholas Grossman @nicholasgrossman.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

I don’t think the president of the United States should lie on behalf of China and Russia, publicly defending their work helping Iran kill Americans. To me, siding with US enemies is bad, not good, and the US president should oppose that instead. Sorry to get so partisan, but that’s how I feel.

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Ron Filipkowski @ronfilipkowski.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

JD Vance running around the country saying he’s fighting health care fraud while his nominee for the senate in TX who he completely supports is partying in Dubai with a guy whole stole over $300 million in health care fraud and gave Paxton $190,000. This is the Republican Party.

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Radley Balko @radleybalko.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

Re-watched that Leo Sayer episode recently. It's such a perfect time capsule. And Sayer had an incredible voice.

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Radley Balko @radleybalko.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

PS: I'll also soon be launching a podcast. (I know: I'm really ahead of the curve on this!) I'm excited about the first episode. It's a moving interview with a brave woman who has been through hell. In a just world, her story would have an impact on one of this midterm's most important races.

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Radley Balko @radleybalko.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

I don't paywall any of my work. So I rely on reader subscriptions for the bulk of my income and to fund my reporting. So if you find this work important, I'll hope you'll consider becoming a paid subscriber -- or contributing separately through Paypal or Venmo. Thank you!

radleybalko.substack.com

About - The Watch

Reporting and commentary on civil liberties and the criminal justice system. Plus other stuff. Click to read The Watch, by Radley Balko, a Substack publication with tens of thousands of subscribers.

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Radley Balko @radleybalko.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

Finally, here's the end-result of a two-year investigation into the wrongful accusations of child sexual abuse levied by wealthy families in the D.C. area against a teaching assistant at a daycare facility. radleybalko.substack.com/p/accusing-j...

radleybalko.substack.com

Accusing Jordan Silverman

A D.C. teaching assistant was accused of molesting up to 15 kids. Multiple law enforcement agencies cleared him. But his nightmare was just beginning.

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Radley Balko @radleybalko.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

I've continued to work to debunk and correct "heterodox" outlets that launder Trump's bullshit. Here's a two-part series picking apart coverage of asylum seekers, refugees, and child migrants in the Free Press: radleybalko.substack.com/p/how-the-fr... radleybalko.substack.com/p/how-bari-w...

radleybalko.substack.com

How The Free Press spun Trump's cruelty toward migrants as a heroic campaign to "save" kids

As Bari Weiss guts CBS News -- and sets her sights on CNN -- the publication she founded continues to sanitize this administration's worst abuses

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Radley Balko @radleybalko.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

I also resurrected an effort I started at the Washington Post to keep a running clearinghouse of studies, surveys, and other data related to race and the criminal justice system: radleybalko.substack.com/p/a-guide-to...

radleybalko.substack.com

A guide to racism in the criminal justice system

A repository of studies, surveys, and reports on the disparate ways white, Black, and Latino people are treated by police, prosecutors, courts, and prisons

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Radley Balko @radleybalko.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

And Chris Duncan, whose case I've been covering for 15 years, was released last Thanksgiving: radleybalko.substack.com/p/the-framin...

radleybalko.substack.com

The framing of Chris Duncan

Part One: “You won’t believe the videotape we have.”

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Radley Balko @radleybalko.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

Most importantly, two wrongly convicted people whose cases I've covered were released from prison, each after serving more than 30 years. Charlie Vaughn, the subject of my first long reported piece in the newsletter, finally got out in January.

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Radley Balko @radleybalko.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

I launched my newsletter 4 years ago this month after I was let go from the Washington Post. So toward the end of each year, I do a push for paid subscribers to help me continue doing my work. Here's a quick thread on some highlights from the past year . . .

radleybalko.substack.com

Four years of The Watch: And an appeal for your support

A thank you to the paid subscribers who make my work possible. You should join them!

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Will Bunch @willbunch.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

My probe into how local cops in Pa.'s York County teamed with ICE to bust 500-plus immigrants on busy highways, terrifying the Haitian community and shattering families over a busted headlight 287(g) has made York the worst place for immigrants in the eastern U.S. www.inquirer.com/opinion/york...

inquirer.com

How York County became the most dangerous place for immigrants in the eastern U.S. | Will Bunch

Local cops working with ICE in York County, Pa. have made hundreds of arrests, with many more afraid to leave home.

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The New Republic @newrepublic.com · 12/10/2026

The people of Portland, Oregon, were probably very confused about why they were being flooded with information about the Maine Senate race. trib.al/F8k3r9A

trib.al

GOP Group Spends Thousands to Help Susan Collins—in Wrong Portland

The people of Portland, Oregon, were probably very confused about why they were being flooded with information about the Maine Senate race.

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Thor Benson @thorbenson.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

Really tired of repellent computer dweebs talking like they're hardened warriors

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Radley Balko @radleybalko.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

Months after his release from prison, Oklahoma prosecutors continue to harass Richard Glissip with the threat of another trial. Seems to be a pattern lately of prosecutors refusing to acknowledge that wrongful convictions happen. theintercept.com/2026/10/06/j...

theintercept.com

The Key Witness Against Richard Glossip Just Returned to Court. It Didn’t Go Well.

Decades after blaming Richard Glossip for his own actions, Justin Sneed is less credible than ever — and prosecutors know it.

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Julian Sanchez @normative.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

Why would a physical search of Omar’s home in 2026 be relevant to or necessary for an investigation into whether her dad filled out a form incorrectly decades ago?

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Radley Balko @radleybalko.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

Just to be clear, the latter would be wrong regardless of whom they were targeting. But they’re also clearly targeting her because of her position.

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Radley Balko @radleybalko.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

If there’s evidence of fraud or other financial crimes, let’s see it. But trying to denaturalize and deport a sitting member of Congress over mistakes a parent allegedly made on immigration forms when she was a child is immoral and reprehensible. We can’t stand for it.

foxnews.com

Immigration enforcement officials search Ilhan Omar's home in pre-dawn raid

Rep. Ilhan Omar's home was the subject of a pre-dawn HSI raid.

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Marisa Kabas @marisakabas.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

perhaps this is a lesson that judges need to stop taking the government at its word!!!!

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Mrs. Detective PikaBOO, Esq. @clapifyoulikeme.favrd.social · 12/10/2026

“I hate abortion pills because the Nazis used them in extermination camps, which I am neutral to positive about”

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