Liar or ignoramus? Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told the Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday that she knew nothing about the case of Marimar Martinez, the Chicago woman who survived being shot five times last year by Border Patrol agents.
■ Martinez, in a statement issued after the hearing: “It was reported in every national news outlet for months. Does she not read the newspaper? Is she not briefed on shootings of U.S. citizens by border patrol agents?”
■ ProPublica: Noem misled Congress about the role in Homeland Security contracts played by a top aide …
■ … with whom she reportedly has had a romantic relationship, even though both are married with children.
■ Mother Jones: Even Republicans are losing patience with Noem …
■ … or, as The Daily Beast puts it, “Republican senator flays puppy killer ICE Barbie in epic takedown.”
■ Gov. Pritzker: “It is long past time she steps down.”
■ The Tribune reports: Chicago’s immigration court has lost nearly half the judges who worked there last year.
Not so fast. Law professor Joyce Vance on the federal government’s reversal of a decision to abandon an intimidation campaign against four big law firms: “Trump told his Justice Department to change its mind.”
■ Popular Information exposes how the Trump administration hires legal interns: “You MUST be aligned politically with President Trump. … GPA is not a strong factor.”
■ Former U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich mourns: “The wonderful department I once loved is being turned to shit.”
Illinois’ would-be money mavens. The Trib profiles the four candidates—all women—running to be the Democrats’ candidate for state comptroller.
■ Hey, candidates: The p in comptroller is silent (2013 NPR link).
■ Axios Chicago reports that “political attack ads are taking on a different energy this primary cycle, thanks to big bucks from national super PACs backing cryptocurrency.”
■ Ready to make your call? The Chicago Public Square Voter Guide Guide is here.
‘Colbert bump!’ The Hollywood Reporter credits the firestorm over Texas Senate candidate James Talarico’s suppressed appearance on Stephen Colbert’s show in Talarico’s Democratic primary win.
■ Wonkette’s Evan Hurst: The call in that race came late because of “fuckery … caused by Republicans.”
■ Texas Republicans are bracing for what the AP calls “an ugly fight” in a Senate primary runoff …
■ … but it says North Carolina could play a bigger role in which party controls the Senate after this fall.
‘No consequences.’ Expat Trib columnist Kevin Williams, now a resident of Portugal, regrets that Americans take what their country does elsewhere in the world so lightly.
■ Defense Secretary Hegseth: The U.S. “can’t stop everything” that Iran fires in the war the Trump administration launched.
■ A Northwestern University journalism professor at the university’s Qatar campus has been sheltering in place with her husband and children as Iranian missiles strike.
■ Columnist Jeff Tiedrich paraphrases Trump’s counsel to Americans trapped by the violence abroad: “Sucks to be you.”
■ American Prospect editor Ryan Cooper: “It’s official: Donald Trump is worse than George W. Bush in every way. … Bush at least pretended like he had to seek democratic permission.”
■ Investigative reporter Ken Klippenstein writes, “Setting aside the absurdity of the question of if killing a head of state is an act of war, there’s a deadly serious question here: What even is war anymore?”
■ PolitiFact gives Trump a “Full Flop” rating for his reversal on “regime-change” wars.
‘President Clinton clearly was mistaken.’ Gov. Pritzker says the former president was wrong when he testified that Pritzker was aboard convicted and dead sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s plane …
■ … prompting the Clinton team to walk back that testimony.
■ Sun-Times columnist Neil Steinberg: The Epstein scandal is complicating the fight against child abuse.
‘Our destiny together, you and me.’ Now that Trump’s agreed to attend the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner for the first time as president, Jimmy Kimmel’s begging: “Please let me host. … You, me, the commissioner of the FCC, all at a table together? Think of the ratings.”
Thanks. Mike Braden made this edition better.
A Square public service announcement
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