‘More people are going to get hurt.’ Chicagoan Marimar Martínez—shot five times by a Border Patrol agent in October—told Congress yesterday that the gunman’s flip text after the shooting read “like I was disposable to him.”
■ See that hearing here.
■ The feds prosecuting protesters at the Broadview detention facility plan to use the defendants’ “chants” as evidence of terrorist intent.
■ The Senate’s advanced a plan that would resume funding for Border Patrol and ICE.
‘Sometimes, two wrongs do make a right.’ Columnist Eric Zorn on Virginia voters’ approval of a congressional remap plan: “I despise partisan gerrymandering. … But that said, I’m thrilled that Democrats are fighting back.”
■ The Bulwark on President Trump’s objections to that outcome: “Even in the crowded catalog of Trump’s bogus fraud claims, this one stands out as laughable.”
■ HuffPost: “Trump started a redistricting war. Democrats are winning it.”
■ The Rights & Insights newsletter: “Trump has eliminated election safeguards and installed loyalist election deniers in key roles.”
Naval chief overboard. Trump’s Navy secretary—who had no previous military experience—is out, with no explanation.
■ In an early-morning social media post, Trump declared that he’s ordered the Navy “to shoot and kill any boat [sic]… that is putting mines in the waters of the Strait of Hormuz.”
■ Concerned that his CBS show will end before the Iran war does, Stephen Colbert is bequeathing a big box of war jokes to Jimmy Kimmel.
■ Colbert’s also putting his giant “Late Show” sign up for charity auction—and bidding this morning had already topped $15,000.
■ Warner Bros. shareholders have OK’d a giant takeover by CBS parent Paramount.
Targeted killings, automated. Investigative journalist Ken Klippenstein: “The U.S. military’s secretive Special Operations Command plans to establish its first-ever center for AI-driven missions.”
■ Columnist Jeff Tiedrich: Trump “just heroically saved the lives of eight imaginary women.”
‘Also known as … wrong.’ Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nonsensical defense of Trump’s math is drawing ridicule.
■ The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has blocked publication of a report showing COVID shots cut the likelihood of hospital visits.
Ask your doc. With a growing number of physicians using AI scribes to record patient conversations, tech watchdog Kim Komando recommends these four questions for your doctor on your next visit.
■ Block Club: A medical executive who fled to Dubai ahead of his indictment on charges of embezzling millions of dollars from Loretto Hospital finally appeared in court yesterday.
■ The Sun-Times: The owner of the property on which the shuttered West Suburban Medical Center sits is suing to take control of the place from his business partner, the CEO of the company that has ridden West Sub and Weiss Memorial to failure.
Library liberation front. Illinois lawmakers are weighing a bill to forbid publishers from charging libraries more for e-books and audiobooks than they charge the public.
■ Chicago-based historian Rick Perlstein talks to an acclaimed author of children’s and young-adult books about “the terror campaign against children's literature.”
■ The Trump-compliant FCC is investigating whether the TV ratings system is giving a pass to issues of gender identity in kids’ shows.
Breathe mindfully. A new American Lung Association report finds Chicago’s air quality among the nation’s worst.
■ Speaking of air quality: Trump’s reclassified state-licensed medical marijuana as a less-dangerous drug.
■ The CTA’s promising “refresh and renew” improvements for 28 train stations.
‘It’s alarming. It’s unconstitutional. And it’s wrong.’ The New York Times’ executive editor condemns the FBI’s investigation of a Times reporter who documented fishy business under FBI Director Kash Patel.
■ The Times (gift link) calls it “an example of the Trump administration examining whether to criminalize … practices that are widely considered protected by the First Amendment.”
■ A free speech advocate tells CNN: “This … eerily echoes the bureau’s darkest days.”
■ Here’s the original Times report from February (also a gift link)—partly datelined from Ronald Reagan’s boyhood home, Dixon, Ill.
■ Wonkette: “Patel is a sober, cool dude who files reasonable lawsuits and has sex.”
■ Columnist Rick Wilson: Trump “picks people for loyalty, and loyalty in his world is inversely correlated with competence.”
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