Songwriters
Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly met through producer Keith Olsen in 1981,
and it quickly became clear that the two had very complementary
songwriting strengths.
"Billy was way stronger
lyrically and I'm much stronger musically. So rather than me struggling
to finish a lyric and rather than him writing a simplistic rock and roll
song, we started working together," Kelly recalled Monday (Feb. 16)
afternoon, shortly after Steinberg died of cancer at the age of 75.
The
Grammy-winning lyricist left behind songs that defined the ‘80s and
‘90s, including a string of No. 1 tunes written with Kelly, such as
Madonna's "Like a Virgin," Whitney Houston's "So Emotional" and Cyndi
Lauper's "True Colors."
They delighted in how
well they worked together. "In the early days, we would just kind of
laugh and look at each other, like, ‘Did you hear that? What did we just
do?" Kelly recalls. "It was just like a chemical reaction. You put
something in a test tube, and it bubbles over. He and I really made
magic together."
Kelly recalls that Steinberg
"would sit with a legal pad and his little fountain pen and just stare
at that page and I'd watch his brain grinding. He just was great with
words and catch phrases. He just was born to do it. He just had a gift."
They
had a legion of other hits, among them, Pretenders' "I'll Stand by
You," the Bangles' "In Your Room," Lauper's "I Drove All Night" and the
Divinyls' "I Touch Myself." Taylor Dayne, Tina Turner, Pat Benatar,
Bette Midler, Cheap Trick, Belinda Carlisle and many other artists also
recorded their songs.
Steinberg
and Kelly, who signed to Epic Records as a duo under the name I-10,
began getting their songs recorded in the early ‘80. "We had had some
luck writing good songs and placing some songs, but we hadn't had any
big hit records," Kelly recalls.
That all
changed when Madonna cut "Like a Virgin," a song inspired by Steinberg
falling in love again after a bad breakup. The pair, who were inducted
into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2011, scored their first No. 1 on
the Billboard Hot 100 with the Madonna song in 1984 and quickly followed
with four more No. 1 songs over five years. More than 40 years later,
"Like a Virgin" remains Madonna's biggest hit, spending six weeks at No.
1.
In his mid-20s, he formed the group Billy Thermal, which eventually signed to Richard Perry's Planet Records. Their breakthrough occurred in 1980 when Linda Ronstadt heard their album and decided to record their song "How Do I Make You?" for her 1980 Mad Love
album. The album went to the top three on the charts and went platinum,
and Ronstadt's version of their song reached the top 10.
Pat Benatar, on her 1980 album Crimes of Passion,
covered another Billy Thermal song, "I'm Gonna Follow You". In 1981.
Steinberg wrote "Precious Time", which became the title track for
Benatar's album Precious Time.
Also in 1981, he began writing with Tom Kelly, who had written another
song ("Fire and Ice") on the album for Benatar. When the song "Like a Virgin" was played for Warner Bros., executives thought it would be perfect for Madonna.
Steinberg later recalled writing the lyric in 1983 after a failed
relationship, saying that he had genuinely felt that he'd "made it
through the wilderness" and that he was "beat, incomplete". Madonna's
version of the song was No. 1 for six weeks in the United States in
1984. It became a worldwide hit and was the title track for her number one album.
In the mid-1990s, Steinberg began writing with Rick Nowels, who had established himself as a songwriter for artists such as Stevie Nicks and Carlisle. Their greatest success of the period was the Celine Dion recording of "Falling into You". In 1997, Steinberg co-wrote the track "One & One" with Nowels and Marie-Claire D'Ubaldo for Edyta Górniak, and the song became a hit in Europe and Asia. Górniak became the first Polish singer on the Music & Media's European Radio Top 50 airplay chart. Between 1997 and 1999, he wrote songs for Melanie C on her debut album Northern Star as well as the Corrs' second album Talk On Corners.
In 2005, Steinberg collaborated with Bay Area producer Josh Alexander in addition to Jessica and Lisa Origliasso of the Veronicas to write several tracks for the Veronicas' debut release, The Secret Life Of..., including the third single, "When It All Falls Apart". Steinberg and Alexander also wrote "All About Us", a hit for the Russian pop duo t.A.T.u. They wrote JoJo's 2006 single "Too Little Too Late" and Leigh Nash's "Nervous in the Light of Dawn" and "My Idea of Heaven", and Katharine McPhee's "Over It" in 2007. In 2008, Steinberg and Alexander wrote "Fly on the Wall" for t.A.T.u.'s album Happy Smiles. He wrote songs with Alexander on JoJo's scrapped album All I Want Is Everything.
The
Jeffrey Epstein scandal isn’t going anywhere — despite the recent
release of roughly 3 million documents by the Department of Justice.
The story’s longevity is partly because of the horrific scale of Epstein’s predations.
The
latest releases also placed a shadow over the previous accounts given
by allies of President Trump — from Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to
Elon Musk — regarding their dealings with Epstein.
[. . .]
Beyond all of that, there is the broader fear and anger raised by the nature of the Epstein story.
Specifically,
it stokes the sense of a wealthy and powerful elite hovering above the
rest of society, forming a chummy circle of mutual protection, and
remaining out of reach of the laws and ethical standards to which
everyone else is subject.
At a time when
anti-elitist populism is already one of the strongest animating
political forces in the United States — and in many other parts of the
world — the Epstein story is rocket fuel.
French
police searched the Arab World Institute in Paris on Monday as part of a
probe into its former head, ex-culture minister Jack Lang, and his
links to late convicted United States sex offender Jeffrey Epstein,
prosecutors said.
France's National Financial
Prosecutor (PNF) said in a statement that the Arab World Institute was
among several locations being raided.
Prosecutors
this month opened a preliminary investigation of Lang and his daughter,
Caroline, on suspicion of tax fraud following the release of documents
on Epstein in the US
Lang, who was culture
minister under the late Socialist president Francois Mitterrand,
resigned this month from the Arab World Institute, which he had led
since 2013.
He has said he was unaware of
Epstein's crimes despite corresponding with him between 2012 and 2019,
11 years after the financier was convicted of soliciting prostitution
from an underage girl. Epstein died in prison by suicide in 2019.
Hyatt
Hotels Corp. Executive Chairman Tom Pritzker said he would retire from
his position at the company and won’t stand for reelection to its board,
citing an association with the late disgraced financier Jeffrey
Epstein.
“My job and responsibility is to
provide good stewardship. That is important to me. Good stewardship
includes ensuring a proper transition at Hyatt,” Pritzker said in a news
release on Monday from the Pritzker Organization. He said he decided to
quit the role he’s held since 2004 after discussions with fellow board
members.
Chump
is a member of The Epstein Class and made clear to then US House Rep
Marjorie Taylor Greene that he intended to protect his friends.
Attorney
General Pam Bondi tried to pacify critics of the Justice Department’s
handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files by sending Congress a letter
Saturday with a list of 130 names—which for some reason, included dead
celebrities.
The list contains some absurd
names, including people whom Epstein had merely mentioned but never even
met, such as Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe, and Janis Joplin. Monroe
passed away when Epstein was only nine. While the list does include the
names of known Epstein associates such as President Trump, Les Wexner,
and Steve Bannon, it also includes Representatives Thomas Massie and Ro
Khanna, who have pushed for the files release.
Also
named on the list are Trump enemies like George Clooney and former
Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden. Representative Marjorie Taylor
Greene is also mentioned with her name spelled incorrectly.
Arguably
the most egregious part of the letter, however, is the assertion from
Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche that the DOJ had
fulfilled its legal requirements and considers the legal matters of
Epstein and his associates and accomplices settled. Khanna called out
Bondi’s antics on X.
A
new report on Sunday torpedoed one of President Donald Trump's "central
defenses" about his ties to convicted sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein.
Trump
has often claimed that he has never been credibly accused of wrongdoing
over the course of his relationship with Epstein. He has also claimed
that he never knew of Epstein's crimes, even though the recently
released Epstein files include a transcript of Trump calling a local
police station and telling them about "creepy" Epstein.
But a new report undermines both of those claims. Investigative political reporter Roger Sollenberger reported on
Sunday that Trump was credibly accused of abusing at least two young
girls, citing court records and an internal FBI slideshow that was
released in the latest tranche of Epstein files.
"So
far, Trump — thanks in part to false statements, misdirection, public
confusion, and excessive redactions from his own DOJ — has evaded the
crosshairs of credible allegations in the Epstein files," the report
reads in part.
"However,
this claim — along with the second about Trump’s knowledge of Epstein’s
behavior, from a Maxwell trial witness and included in the same
slideshow — would contradict the narrative that the sitting president
has not been credibly accused of wrongdoing in the Epstein saga," it
continued.
CBS
News reported on the Epstein files release on Saturday in an article
called, "Trump insider Tom Barrack kept in regular contact with Jeffrey
Epstein for years, files show." Barrack is also an administration
ambassador to Turkey.
"President
Trump's longtime confidant Thomas Barrack, now serving as U.S.
ambassador to Turkey and special envoy to Syria, was in regular, close
contact with Jeffrey Epstein for years after Epstein's 2008 conviction
for soliciting a minor, a CBS News analysis of over 100 texts and email
exchanges from the newly released Justice Department documents shows,"
according to CBS.
The outlet further reported,
"The correspondence places Barrack, a globe-trotting billionaire, among a
circle of wealthy and influential figures who maintained social contact
with Epstein even as his criminal history became widely known. Their
relationship continued even after Barrack became a prolific fundraiser
for Mr. Trump's 2016 campaign, and later, led his inaugural committee
and became a frequent presence in the White House."
Chump
is "still in the Epstein class” -- as US House Rep Thomas Massie
observed on ABC's THIS WEEK with Martha Raddatz on Sunday:
And
still in The Epstein Class certainly explains why Barrack, Steve Bannon, Robert Kennedy Junior, Alex Acosta, Lutnick and
Musk are not just in Chump's circle but also were in Epstein's circle.
The
latest controversy involves 6 million Justice Department documents
related to the Epstein case. Although evidence and Epstein’s victims
allege his involvement in an international sex trafficking operation,
the FBI and Justice Department issued a memo last July saying that they planned no further charges and no further information on their investigations of Epstein.
But last November, responding to victims’ calls for accountability, Congress overwhelmingly passed a law requiring
the department to release the files within 30 days, while protecting
victims’ names and revealing the names of pedophiles and other
perpetrators.
The New York Times found that references to Trump appear 38,000 times across more than 5,300 documents made
public so far. The department’s decision not to release the remaining
documents has led to predictable speculation that they contain
particularly scandalous allegations about the president and other
high-ranking people.
Becker is calling for an independent counsel to be put in charge of the Epstein documents.
Yesterday,
MEIDASTOUCH NEWS noted that, per the UK's Channel Four, only 2% of the
Epstein documents have been produced by the US Justice Dept.
In other news today, Rev Jesse Jackson has passed away.
The Rev. Jesse
Jackson, whose impassioned oratory and populist vision of a “rainbow
coalition” of the poor and forgotten made him the nation’s most
influential Black figure in the years between the civil rights crusades
of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the election of Barack Obama,
died on Tuesday. He was 84.
His death
was confirmed by his family in a statement, which said that Mr. Jackson
“died peacefully” but did not give a cause or say where he died.
Mr.
Jackson was hospitalized in November for treatment of a rare and
particularly severe neurodegenerative condition, progressive
supranuclear palsy (PSP), according to the advocacy organization he
founded, the Rainbow PUSH Coalition. In 2017, he announced that he had
Parkinson’s disease, which in its early stages can produce similar
effects on bodily movements and speech.
[. . .]
With his gospel of seeking common ground, his pleas to “keep hope alive”
and his demands for respect for those seldom accorded it, Mr. Jackson,
particularly in his galvanizing speeches at the Democratic conventions in 1984 and 1988,
enunciated a progressive vision that defined the soul of the Democratic
Party, if not necessarily its policies, in the last decades of the 20th
century.
It was a vision, animated by
the civil rights era, in which an inclusive coalition of people of
color and others who had been at the periphery of American life would
now move to the forefront and transform it.
Jackson was what one pundit called “an American original.”
He was born to an unwed teenage mom in Greenville, South Carolina,
during the Jim Crow era but rose to become a civil rights icon and a
groundbreaking politician who mounted two electrifying runs for the
presidency in the 1980s.
Jackson’s dual bids for the Democratic presidential
nomination inspired Black America and stunned political observers who
marveled at his ability to draw White voters. He was a Black crossover figure long before Barack Obama hit the national stage.
Jackson first rose to national prominence in the 1960s as a
close aide to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. After King’s assassination
in 1968, Jackson became one of the most transformative civil rights
leaders in America — to the chagrin of some of King’s aides, who thought
he was too brash.
But his Rainbow Coalition,
a bold alliance of Blacks, Whites, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native
Americans and LGBTQ people, helped pave the way for a more progressive
Democratic Party.
“Our flag is red, white and blue, but our nation is a
rainbow – red, yellow, brown, Black and White – and we’re all precious
in God’s sight,” Jackson once said.
One of Jackson’s signature phrases was “Keep hope alive.” He
repeated it so often that some began to parody it, but it never seemed
to lose meaning for him. He was a force for social justice over three
eras: the Jim Crow period, the civil rights era and the post-civil
rights era that culminated with the election of Obama and the Black
Lives Matter movement.
Through his eloquence and singular drive, Jackson didn’t
just keep hope alive for himself. His dream of a vibrant, multiracial
America still inspires millions of Americans today.
Jackson’s vision remade the Democratic Party. He was the
first presidential candidate to make support for gay rights a major part
of his campaign platform, and he made a concerted effort to challenge
the Democratic Party’s prioritization of White, moderate, middle-class
voters, says David Masciotra, author of “I Am Somebody: Why Jesse Jackson Matters.”
“A Democratic party that now represents a multicultural America and has
someone like Kamala Harris as the (former) Vice President and Obama as
the former President began in many ways with those Jackson campaigns,”
Masciotra says.
Jackson began his work as an organizer with
the Congress of Racial Equality, participating in marches and sit-ins.
He attended North Carolina A&T State University and graduated with a
degree in sociology. He began rallying student support for King during
his divinity studies at Chicago Theological Seminary and participated in
the 1965 Selma-to-Montgomery march in Alabama.
Shortly
afterward, Jackson joined the Southern Christian Leadership Conference,
or SCLC, to work alongside King full time. He drew praise from King as a
young man running the SCLC’s economic development and empowerment
program, Operation Breadbasket — “we knew he was going to do a good job, but he’s done better than a good job,” King said.
As he grew as an organizer, Jackson married
Jacqueline Brown, who survives him, in 1962. They have five children,
including former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., D-Ill.
Jackson,
who was at the motel in Memphis, Tennessee, with King when he was
assassinated in 1968, did not let up after King’s death. He took his
vision for Black liberation even further by founding People United to Save Humanity,
or PUSH, in 1971. He resigned from the SCLC that year to start PUSH
after he was suspended from the organization; he was accused of using
the SCLC for personal gain. PUSH worked to improve economic conditions
of Black communities in the country and later expanded to politics with
direct action campaigns and social areas through a weekly radio show and
awards for Black people.
Jackson’s 1984 presidential bid prompted the launch of his National Rainbow Coalition,
which opposed President Ronald Reagan’s policies and advocated for
social programs, voting rights and affirmative action. PUSH and the
National Rainbow Coalition merged in 1996 and are now the Rainbow/PUSH
Coalition.
His 1984 campaign angered some Democrats who said his ideas were too left-leaning and would hurt the party in the general election. Jackson dismissed the concerns.
“The
great responsibility that we have today is to put the poor and the
near-poor back on front of the American agenda,” Jackson said of the
1984 campaign in a 1996 interview with PBS. “This is a dangerous mission, and yet it’s a necessary mission!”
[Rashad] Robinson, the former president of Color of Change, remembers listening
and watching as his family members made their first political donations
after listening to one of Jackson's presidential campaign speeches.
"I didn't understand everything he said, but I understood what it
meant," said Robinson, who later wrote a college paper on Jackson's
campaigns. "He was such a possibility model. There are so many people
who are in politics today who would not be where they are today thanks
to Jesse Jackson. There certainly would be no Barack Obama if there was
no Jesse Jackson. And there would have been no Bill Clinton either."
In 2000, Clinton awarded Jackson the Presidential Medal of Freedom, citing his decades of work to make the world a better place.
"It's
hard to imagine how we could have come as far as we have without the
creative power, the keen intellect, the loving heart, and the relentless
passion of Jesse Lewis Jackson," Clinton said.
Trahern
Crews, who helped found the Black Lives Matter-Minnesota chapter, said
he grew up with Jackson's "I am Somebody" recitations ringing in his
ears. Jackson often led crowds in a call-and-answer chant that usually
included variations on "I may be poor … but I am … Somebody. I may be
young … but I am … Somebody."
"That allowed future generations to stand up and follow and his
footsteps and declare Black Lives Matter and recognize our humanity,"
Crews said. "When we go back and watch videos of Rev. Jesse Jackson
marching and fighting for housing rights, voting rights, ending housing
discrimination and said 'I am Somebody,' that encouraged activists of
today to stand up and fight against 400 years of racist policies in the
United States."
Let's wind down with this from Senator Adam Schiff's office
Freedom 250 group has been
reportedly soliciting high-dollar donations in exchange for preferential
access to President Trump and official government events held for
America’s 250th birthday.
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and six Senate colleagues are demanding
information about Freedom 250, a new private entity reportedly
soliciting large private donations while offering donors exclusive
access and other benefits tied to President Donald Trump and events
planned for the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States of America.
In a letter
to White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, the Senators demand the
White House produce a list of donors who have given to Freedom 250, who public reports say
were promised benefits including access to White House “VIP” events and
ceremonial roles in the semiquincentennial. The Senator’s inquiry also
seeks an explanation as to how the group is involved in planning the
anniversary events and what ethical guidance the group received from the
Office of Government Ethics or White House ethics officials.
“It is imperative that Congress and the public understand how
decisions are made, who exercises control, and what guardrails exist to
prevent inappropriate donor influence. Absent clear rules, this
structure risks blurring the line between legitimate civic fundraising
and pay‑for‑play access tied to official government functions, an all
too familiar feature of the current Administration,” the Senators wrote.
The Senators raise concern that the arrangement between the federal
government and Freedom 250 could violate federal bribery, conflict of
interest, and ethics laws.
The Senators emphasized the importance of their probe by highlighting
the administration’s poor record of preserving the public trust when it
comes to preferential access to donors, as recently illustrated by
solicitation of private donations by the same Trump-allied fundraiser
for the White House ballroom construction project.
“These circumstances warrant careful scrutiny to ensure that
preparations for the nation’s semiquincentennial remain nonpartisan,
transparent, and focused on the public interest. Furthermore, these
concerns echo previously raised inquiries – which remain unanswered –
regarding the financing of President Trump’s White House ballroom
construction project, which includes private donations from individuals
and corporations whose business interests are directly impacted by the
Administration and its decisions,” the Senators wrote.
Schiff led a similar inquiry
into the financing of the White House ballroom construction in October,
raising concerns about influence donors could exert on the Executive
Branch in exchange for donations to support the reportedly $400 million
price tag.
Joining Schiff in demanding answers on Freedom 250 are Senators
Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Richard Durbin
(D-Ill.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), and Elizabeth
Warren (D-Mass.).
The full text of the letter can be found here and below.
Dear Ms. Wiles:
We write seeking clarity regarding the funding, governance, and
role of Freedom 250, a private entity planning and promoting events
associated with the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United
States. Recent reporting indicates that Freedom 250 is soliciting large
private donations while offering donors exclusive access and other
benefits tied to the President. These reports raise serious questions
about transparency, potential conflicts of interest, and whether access
to the Administration’s official or quasi‑official activities is being
conditioned on or provided in exchange for financial contributions.
According to public accounts, Freedom 250 appears to operate
alongside, and in some cases overlap with, America250, the
congressionally authorized commission established by the United States
Semiquincentennial Commission Act of 2016 to plan a nonpartisan,
civic‑focused commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the
nation’s founding. To the extent Freedom 250 is shaping major
anniversary programming or coordinating with the White House and federal
agencies, it is imperative that Congress and the public understand how
decisions are made, who exercises control, and what guardrails exist to
prevent inappropriate donor influence. Absent clear rules, this
structure risks blurring the line between legitimate civic fundraising
and pay‑for‑play access tied to official government functions, an all
too familiar feature of the current Administration.
We are particularly concerned by the solicitation for sponsorship
packages circulated to potential Freedom 250 donors promising
supporters who give $1 million or more preferential access to the
President and high-profile events held at or in connection with official
government venues. Linking private contributions – explicitly or
implicitly – to invitations to White House events, photo ops, ceremonial
roles, or other forms of access unavailable to the general public,
raises serious concerns about the auctioning of government activities.
Furthermore, these arrangements may implicate federal bribery, conflict
of interest, or ethics statutes and will be subject to close scrutiny.
These concerns are heightened where events are sponsored, hosted,
or facilitated by the White House or federal agencies, yet appear to
serve President Trump’s political agenda and allies while presenting
opportunities for donor recognition that resemble political fundraising
activity. Government-sponsored civic commemorations should not serve as
platforms for political messaging or partisan activity, nor should they
create opportunities for donors to exert influence with federal
decision-makers under the guise of patriotic celebration. Moreover, the
use of a private entity to raise funds for activities closely associated
with the presidency risks circumventing transparency, disclosure, and
guardrails that ordinarily apply to campaign fundraising or official
government operations.
Taken together, these circumstances warrant careful scrutiny to
ensure that preparations for the nation’s semiquincentennial remain
nonpartisan, transparent, and focused on the public interest.
Furthermore, these concerns echo previously raised inquiries – which
remain unanswered – regarding the financing of President Trump’s White
House ballroom construction project, which includes private donations
from individuals and corporations whose business interests are directly
impacted by the Administration and its decisions. It is also alarming
that Meredith O’Rourke – identified as a lead fundraiser coordinating
private donations for both the White House ballroom project and
Freedom 250 – appears to be centrally involved in soliciting high‑value
contributions tied to access to the Office of the President and
President Trump himself in both efforts.
In order to carry out our oversight responsibilities and provide
transparency to the American public, we request the following
information by February 20, 2026:
Provide a complete list of all individual and corporate donors
who have contributed to Freedom 250 to date, including the amount and
date of each contribution.
Describe any benefits, access, recognition, or other
consideration donors have received or been promised in connection with
their contributions.
Describe Freedom 250’s governance structure, including its
leadership, board members, and any formal or informal role played by
White House officials or federal agencies in its operations or
decision‑making.
Describe Meredith O’Rourke’s specific role in facilitating
fundraising efforts for both the White House ballroom project and
Freedom 250.
Explain how Freedom 250 coordinates with America250, the U.S.
Semiquincentennial Commission, or other federally authorized entities,
including whether funds, programming responsibilities, or branding are
shared.
Describe any ethics guidance sought or received by the White
House regarding Freedom 250’s fundraising practices, donor access, or
relationship to official government activities.
Provide any records of communication between the White House
and/or Freedom 250 leadership and the Office of Government Ethics or
White House designated agency officials.
We look forward to your response and to ensuring that
preparations for the nation’s 250th anniversary reflect transparency,
integrity, and service to the public interest.
Can we all agree that Diana Ross is the definition of indefatigable?
“You
know I’m 81, right?” she playfully asked the audience while jutting a
hip during “Upside Down," her frothy 1980 disco jam resurrected by
Netflix's "Stranger Things."
At the first of
her three shows at the cozy Encore Theater at Wynn Las Vegas Feb. 12,
Ross spent about 90 minutes regaling a generation-spanning crowd with
some of the most recognizable songs in music history. And sequins. And
floor-length taffeta capes. And a gleaming smile that is as inviting as
her singalongs.
While the Vegas concerts are
technically the start of her Diana In Motion tour – which will play a
dozen more shows around the country before she heads to Japan in May –
Ross and Las Vegas have been intertwined for decades.
Diana
is on fire and has been for the last four or so years. To see her live
is to be pulled into a magical and one-of-a-kind show. I've seen her
four times now -- since she released the THANK YOU album -- and each
performance has been a revelation.
Billy Joel is pressing pause on his touring schedule after undergoing surgery.
On
Tuesday, the “Piano Man” told fans he has to reschedule his next eight
stadium concerts so he can recover from an unspecified “medical
condition.”
“While I regret postponing any
shows, my health must come first,” Joel said in a statement on social
media. “I look forward to getting back on stage and sharing the joy of
live music with our amazing fans. Thank you for your understanding.”
The
singer “is expected to make a full recovery,” with plans to undergo
doctor-supervised physical therapy, according to the statement.
But MAGA media
has a very different idea of how to measure the worth of a father. They
believe it’s by how many kids he has produced. In this worldview, the
father deserves most of the credit, despite putting almost no effort
into the production side of having babies. In an era when most people
can barely afford to raise one kid, this focus on quantity isn’t just
tone-deaf. It reduces kids to a commodity, which in turn encourages
neglectful, toxic or even abusive approaches to parenting.
Before his death, Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk was a perfect example of these damaging ideas. He hyped the idea that having “a ton of children” is inherently virtuous, at least for white people. (He was less happy about Black people having a lot of kids.) But Kirk also argued that people should “get
married young and have more kids than they can afford” — a message that
was no doubt pleasing to his old-fashioned GOP donors who want their
daughters to give up their careers and move back to their parents’
suburban neighborhoods. But for actual families, it’s a bad idea,
especially as Republicans like Kirk want to simultaneously gut public
education and social spending. Growing up in poverty isn’t fun or
romantic. It’s stressful and leads to long-term problems for a lot of kids.
From Defense Secretary Pete Hegsethbragging about his seven kids to Vice President JD Vancegloating about his fourth
that is on the way, the idea that having a big family is the same as
having a happy family is ubiquitous on the right. As I explained on a recent episode of “Standing Room Only,” Fox News even had a segment where they ranked Donald Trump‘s Cabinet members by how many kids they have.
Most famously, Tesla CEO Elon Musk is so obsessed with having kids — he has at least 14 — that he reportedly hits up women
he’s never met up on X, asking them to have babies for him, often
through in vitro fertilization. He is exhibit number one in why this
casual conflation of quantity with quality in fatherhood is so
misguided.
Musk is a terrible father. This is most obvious when it comes to his eldest daughter, who he has reportedly rejected for being transgender.
But the billionaire appears to have a strained relationship with many
of his children, in no small part because he can’t stop getting into
pointless conflicts with their many mothers. He appears to be estranged from his young son
with reformed influencer Ashley St. Clair; apparently he’s mad at her
for trying to get him to acknowledge their child. Musk does seem
attached to X, a son he had with the musician Grimes, but he’s been
accused of neglecting his other children with her and refusing her visitation time with her son.
Staying with Homeland Security, THE NEW YORK TIMES notes, "The Department of Homeland Security’s funding has lapsed and lawmakers
are deadlocked over a proposal to restore it, with Democrats seeking
restrictions on the federal agents carrying out President Trump’s
immigration crackdown." Brittney Melton (NPR) adds, "The agency shut down after lawmakers failed to meet a Friday deadline to
fund DHS and its workforce of over 260,000 people. The funding lapse
points to a greater issue: Congress's consistent failure to do its job
on time." Sahil Kapur, Scott Wong, Julie Tsirkin and Frank Thorp V (NBC NEWS) explain
that the Democrats and the White House continue to debate what's needed
before funding can be approved, "The two sides have continued to trade
offers, signaling some hope for an agreement. But it remains unclear
which Democratic demands the White House will agree to and Congress left
Washington on Thursday without a deal.
ED
O'KEEFE: We turn now to House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who
joins us this morning from New York City. Leader Jeffries, thank you for
being here.
DEMOCRATIC LEADER HAKEEM JEFFRIES: Good morning. Great to be with you.
ED
O'KEEFE: So as this shutdown continues, I want to remind our viewers
what it is, exactly, congressional Democrats are seeking to reopen the
Department of Homeland Security. You want immigration agents to show
IDs, to wear body cameras, take off their masks, stop racial profiling
and seek judicial warrants to enter private property. Talks between the
White House and congressional Democrats are continuing. Are you willing
to compromise, to let any of these go, to get the government reopened?
REP.
JEFFRIES: Well, our value proposition is simple, taxpayer dollars
should be used to make life more affordable for the American people, not
brutalize or kill them, as we horrifically saw in Minneapolis with the
cold blooded killings of Rene Nicole Good and Alex Pretti. We know, and
the American people clearly know, that ICE is totally out of control and
they need to be reined in. Because the American people deserve
immigration enforcement that is fair, that is just, and that is humane.
And so, we need dramatic change at ICE, including, but not limited to,
the types of things that you laid out before any DHS funding bill moves
forward.
ED O'KEEFE: With the
exception of some flexibility on body cameras, because they're starting
to spend some money to get those out there, some Republicans have
rejected this list of policy reform proposals. You guys still seem miles
apart. So when, conceivably, will we see this resolved? And again, I
ask you, if- are there any of these points that you're willing to let go
in order to get the government reopened?
REP.
JEFFRIES: Well, we're willing to have a good faith conversation about
everything, but fundamentally we need change that is dramatic, that is
bold, that is meaningful and that is transformational. And these are
common sense things. For instance, judicial warrants should be required
before ICE agents can storm private property or rip everyday Americans
out of their homes. We need to make sure that there are actual
independent investigations, so that if state and local laws are
violated, in many cases, violently violated, that state and local
authorities have the ability to criminally investigate and criminally
prosecute anyone who has violated the law. Because we cannot trust
Kristi Noem or Pam Bondi to conduct an independent investigation. We
believe that sensitive locations should be off limits, sensitive
locations like houses of worship, schools, hospitals or polling sites,
and that fundamentally ICE should be targeting violent felons who are
here unlawfully, as opposed to violently targeting law abiding immigrant
families, which is completely inconsistent with what Donald Trump
promised the American people he would do.
ED O'KEEFE: Right. And we, of course, this past week reported that
about 14% of those detained had violent criminal records. About 60% of
them were wanted on criminal records overall. But it was that 14%,
violent criminals. Again, I just- it sounds like this is going to go on a
while, because Tom Homan wasn't terribly flexible on anything,
especially on the issue of warrants and masks. You're not ceding any
ground. So there's a few things coming up here. For example, State of
the Union is scheduled for a week from Tuesday. Should it be held if the
Department of Homeland Security is shut down?
REP. JEFFRIES: Well, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. It is certainly my hope--
ED O'KEEFE: --Sounds like you're going to get to it, though. I mean--
REP. JEFFRIES:--we can come to a resolution in advance of it. Well,
here's the thing, the administration and Republicans have made a clear
decision that they would rather shut down FEMA, shut down the Coast
Guard and shut down TSA, than enact the type of dramatic reforms
necessary so that ICE and other DHS law enforcement agencies are
conducting themselves like every other law enforcement professional in
the country. For instance, police officers don't use masks. County
Sheriffs don't use masks. State troopers don't use masks. Why is it that
ICE agents who are untrained, are being unleashed on American
communities with this type of lawlessness, violence and brutality.
Unacceptable, unconscionable, and it's un-American.
When an
immigration agent shot Julio C. Sosa-Celis in the leg last month in
Minneapolis, touching off hours of tense protests, the Trump
administration rushed to sell a version of events that demonized the
wounded man and defended the agent.
About
two hours after the gunfire, a Department of Homeland Security
spokeswoman claimed that three people had attacked an agent with a broom
and snow shovel. She said the agent “fired a defensive shot to defend
his life” as he was “being ambushed.” The next day, Kristi Noem, the
homeland security secretary, accused the men of trying to kill the
agent.
But the federal government’s account soon shifted. And by Friday, it had fully unraveled.
When
assault charges were filed days after the shooting against Mr.
Sosa-Celis and one of the other men, Alfredo A. Aljorna, officials
changed their narrative, saying it was not three people who attacked the
agent, but two. Several other details revealed in court records also
differed from the original account.
Then
on Thursday, the top federal prosecutor in Minnesota asked a judge to
drop the case, saying that “newly discovered evidence in this matter is
materially inconsistent with the allegations.” On Friday, the acting
director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Todd Lyons, said two
agents had been placed on leave for providing accounts that appeared to
conflict with video footage of what happened. Those agents, he said,
could eventually face termination and prosecution.
[. . .]
The
collapse of the government’s narrative, which came just as the
administration was ending its more than two-month surge of immigration
agents to Minnesota, was the latest instance of the Department of
Homeland Security providing an account of a shooting that later proved
questionable or outright wrong. For many, especially those already
skeptical of the Trump administration’s deportation agenda, the repeated
emergence of evidence that undermines official accounts has cast doubt
on almost anything the government says about immigration enforcement.
This is absolutely egregious. Two men were accosted by
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, and one took a bullet to the
leg. Then the federal government called them murderers and hit them
with heavy charges, all for ICE’s own head to admit that his agents
appear to have been lying under oath—a crime that this administration doesn’t seem to take very seriously.
This
shooting happened one week after Renee Good was killed, and just over a
week before Alex Pretti was killed. The Trump administration lied to us
about both of those events, as well. Only time will tell just how many more of these ICE shootings were offensive rather than defensive.
On HBO's LAST WEEK TONIGHT WITH JOHN OLIVER last night, John addressed the lies of Homeland Security.
Students in more than three dozen states
have walked out of class to protest the Trump administration’s
deportation tactics in recent weeks, a wave of defiant demonstrations
that continues as some officials have vowed to crack down.
Teenagers
in Utah carried backpacks and bullhorns as they walked out of eight
schools in Salt Lake County. In Maine, students in mittens convened on a
bridge over the Kennebec River. Scores of students were seen stopping highway traffic
in Maryland. Classmates at a high school in Sunnyside, Wash., lined a
parking lot carrying hand-drawn posters. “We are skipping our lesson to
teach you one,” read one.
But in Texas, where more than half of all
public school students are Hispanic, Republican leaders have tried
teaching a very different lesson of their own, threatening students,
teachers and school districts with severe consequences for taking part
in demonstrations.
Gov. Greg Abbott of
Texas has suggested that state funding could be stripped from school
districts and that students who are disorderly during protests should be
arrested. The Texas Education Agency has warned that districts found to
have facilitated walkouts could be taken over by the state.
“Schools and staff who allow this behavior should be treated as co-conspirators,” Mr. Abbott said in a social media post last week, which focused on one walkout in Kyle, Texas, outside of Austin.
Yet
despite the threats from state officials — and the pleas to students
from many school administrators — the protests over immigration
enforcement did not stop.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott threatening to take away state funding from
high schools with students who participate in protests is a restriction
of the First Amendment.
In response to high school students protesting Immigration and
Customs Enforcement on Jan. 30, Abbott argued walkouts are disruptive
and lead to criminal chaos, and the schools allowing this behavior
should be treated as co-conspirators.
But what is so criminal about student walkouts?
This type of political demonstration has been conducted by students
since 1766. The Great Butter Rebellion at Harvard University, where
students protested poor food quality, is considered the first student
protest in the United States.
As Seguin High sophomore Janelle walked to the corner of Silo and
Eden roads in Arlington, a green shirt with a Mexican flag stitched on
the back draped over her shoulders.
Worry, anger and fear all washed over her as she stood next to
classmates and wondered what the consequences would be for walking out
of school to protest recent deportations and deadly shootings related to
immigration enforcement. Then she remembered her grandmother, who
inspired her to attend Thursday’s protest in the first place.
“She came here as an immigrant,” Janelle said. “So I feel like I
should be out here and show her that I can do it, and I can protect
people.”
Janelle was one of many in Arlington and Mansfield who participated
in walkouts this week to protest against the U.S. Immigration and
Customs Enforcement.
Caitlin Leggett (KTXS) reports, "Students from Abilene High School walked out of class and marched to
Abilene City Hall around noon Thursday, staging a student-led protest
centered on concerns about immigration enforcement and what they
described as recent actions by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement." KTAB/KRBC offer a photo essay here. CNN notes, "More than 100 Dripping Springs High School students walked out of
class and marched Tuesday to protest Immigration and Customs
Enforcement, but some participants left the demonstration with traffic
citations. Students carried signs and chanted as they left campus.
One student, asked what they decided to put on their sign, said, 'We
are skipping our lessons to teach you one. ICE out'." Jacob Daniels (KRISTV) adds, "Students at multiple Corpus Christi Independent School District campuses
walked out of classes Thursday afternoon, carrying signs and chanting
in what many described as a powerful statement. The demonstration
sparked debate among community members about student safety and
supervision during the protest." Arthur Clayborn (KLTV) notes, "Kilgore High School students walked out
of classes Thursday morning to protest deportations by Immigration and
Customs Enforcement, or ICE, with organizers saying recent family
separations in their community motivated the demonstration. Student
organizer Kemuel Ondinyo said he was inspired to act after watching
similar protests at other Texas schools and witnessing deportations
affecting people in his community." Bianca Seward (HOUSTON PUBLIC MEDIA) notes,
"More than 50 students from the Houston Academy for International
Studies walked out of school Tuesday protesting Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (ICE) operations in the United States. The protest, which
students said they started planning last week, started just after noon.
While chanting 'ICE off our streets, ICE off our streets,' several
students said they were there to call attention to the treatment of
immigrants under the Trump administration."
And on Friday, walk outs continued. Priscilla Rice (KERA) reports,
"Young North Texans continue to protest the federal government’s
anti-immigration policies by walking out of class. More than 200
students walked out of Grand Prairie High School just after 11 a.m. on
Friday. Students told KERA stronger U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement measures have affected not only their community, but
communities nationwide." WBAP notes, "Several dozen students walked out of the Dallas Uplift Williams
Prepatory School Friday morning, hiking into Dallas to protest ICE
immigration activities at the American Airlines Center. Waving flags
from several nations, students say they are protesting immigration and
other federal agent violence, illegal arrests, and illegal deportations
of their teachers and neighbors who have been here for years." Daniel Perreault (KVUE) adds,
"Students at multiple Austin ISD schools walked out of class during the
school day once again on Friday to protest. Students from three Austin
high schools walked out around 1:30 p.m. and then marched to Austin
City Hall." And Matt Mitchell (HOODLINE) notes,
"More than a hundred McNeil High School students walked out of class in
Round Rock on Friday afternoon, marching off campus to the corner of
McNeil Drive and Parmer Lane to protest recent actions by U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The midday demonstration kicked off
shortly after 2 p.m., part of a wave of student-led protests that has
rolled across Central Texas since late January."
On Friday thousands of high school students walked out of Los
Angeles-area schools to protest ICE’s Gestapo tactics, participating in
another national “day of action.” Those who gathered outside the federal
jail in downtown Los Angeles heroically stood up against an attack with
gas and batons by federal agents.
Helicopter video by local television stations show demonstrators
standing their ground near the U.S. Metropolitan Detention Center, many
obviously teenagers, some shoving back and throwing objects at the
federal thugs in self-defense.
[. . .]
In a related retaliatory action, Ricardo Lopez, a history teacher at the
Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) Charter Synergy Quantum
Academy in South Los Angeles, was fired for opening a locked gate to
allow students, who were then risking injury by climbing over gates and
fences, to join the walkout, a move school administrators labeled
insubordination. Already almost a thousand signatures have been
collected demanding Lopez’s reinstatement. To date the United Teachers
of Los Angeles (UTLA) bureaucracy has issued no statement in support of
the victimized teacher.
A group of singers gathered in downtown Indianapolis Sunday night to protest U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The demonstration, which was organized by Indy Singing Resistance,
was held at Monument Circle at 6 p.m. Instead of chanting, protestors
used their signing voices to express themselves.
In a release sent ahead of the protest, Singing Resistance indicated
that a small group of people would lead all who show up for the event.
Those leaders taught demonstrators the songs they planned to sing during
the protest upon their arrival at the event. No singing experience was
required for protest attendees.
In Tennessee, WCYB reports, "Despite rainy conditions,
protesters took to the streets in Johnson City on today to rally against
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in the region,
saying they are concerned about what they describe as an increased ICE
presence spreading across Northeast Tennessee. Community members
gathered holding signs and chanting, saying they would not stay silent
against what they described as growing enforcement efforts by ICE.
Pandora Burns a protestor said, 'I mean they don't stop deporting people
in the rain either so'."
Meanwhile unhinged Pam Bondi sent out a letter on Saturday announcing that all the Epstein files had been released.
The Epstein Class. A group Chump's protecting. His friends.
Remember the ones that would be hurt by the release of the Epstein
files? He yelled that at Marjorie Taylor Greene, remember? Christopher Lamb (CNN) reports:
Steve Bannon, a former White House adviser to US President Donald Trump,
discussed opposition strategies with convicted sex offender Jeffrey
Epstein against Pope Francis, with Bannon saying he hoped to “take down”
the pontiff, according to newly released files from the US Department
of Justice.
Messages
sent between the pair in 2019, released in the massive document dump
last month, reveal Bannon courted the late financier in his attempts to
undermine the former pontiff after leaving the first Trump
administration.
Bannon
had been highly critical of Francis whom he saw as an opponent to his
“sovereigntist” vision, a brand of nationalist populism which swept
through Europe in 2018 and 2019. The released documents from the DOJ
appear to show that Epstein had been helping Bannon to build his movement.
“Will take down (Pope) Francis,” Bannon wrote to Epstein in June 2019. “The Clintons, Xi, Francis, EU – come on brother.”
Pope
Francis was the people's pope so it's only natural that a disgusting
creep like Steve Bannon would want to take him "down." The Epstein
Class is being made uncomfortable and a few are having to find the exit
door. Claire Zillman (FORBES) notes:
On Thursday, Goldman Sachs said general counsel Kathryn Ruemmler will leave the bank
in June after the documents showed she stayed in close contact with
Epstein until 2019, at one point calling him “Uncle Jeffrey” as she
thanked him for high-end gifts. And on Friday, Dubai-based logistics
group DP World named a new chair and new CEO, signaling the departure of Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem
whose emails with Epstein included references to sexual experiences.
Both ousters followed earlier resignations in the U.K. public sector,
namely those of former U.S. ambassador Peter Mandelson from the House of Lords and Morgan McSweeney, Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s chief of staff who’d advised on Mandelson’s appointment.
Following an exodus of talent who have left the Wasserman Group talent agency after emails between founder Casey Wasserman and Jeffrey Epstein associate
Ghislaine Maxwell were revealed in the Justice Department's latest
tranche of documents, pressure for the founder to step down came to a
boiling point. On Friday, Wasserman announced that he was selling the
company as he had become a "distraction" to the business he founded 24
years ago.
The latest releases also placed a shadow over the previous accounts
given by allies of President Trump — from Commerce Secretary Howard
Lutnick to Elon Musk — regarding their dealings with Epstein.
There
is no suggestion of criminality around either Lutnick or Musk, but the
latest batch of emails contradicted Lutnick’s earlier assertions of when
he had cut off contact with Epstein and called into question Musk’s
previously emphatic insistence that he “refused” to visit the disgraced
financier’s Caribbean island.
In
one newly released email, the entrepreneur asks Epstein which day or
night might feature the wildest party on the island. It’s unclear if
Musk actually visited.
Beyond all of that, there is the broader fear and anger raised by the nature of the Epstein story.
Specifically,
it stokes the sense of a wealthy and powerful elite hovering above the
rest of society, forming a chummy circle of mutual protection, and
remaining out of reach of the laws and ethical standards to which
everyone else is subject.
At
a time when anti-elitist populism is already one of the strongest
animating political forces in the United States — and in many other
parts of the world — the Epstein story is rocket fuel.
A
Donald Trump insider has been revealed to have been in "regular
contact" with the late child sex abuser Jeffrey Epstein, including in
one email that says "miss u," according to the latest DOJ release.
CBS
News reported on the Epstein files release on Saturday in an article
called, "Trump insider Tom Barrack kept in regular contact with Jeffrey
Epstein for years, files show." Barrack is also an administration
ambassador to Turkey.
"President
Trump's longtime confidant Thomas Barrack, now serving as U.S.
ambassador to Turkey and special envoy to Syria, was in regular, close
contact with Jeffrey Epstein for years after Epstein's 2008 conviction
for soliciting a minor, a CBS News analysis of over 100 texts and email
exchanges from the newly released Justice Department documents shows,"
according to CBS.
The
outlet further reported, "The correspondence places Barrack, a
globe-trotting billionaire, among a circle of wealthy and influential
figures who maintained social contact with Epstein even as his criminal
history became widely known. Their relationship continued even after
Barrack became a prolific fundraiser for Mr. Trump's 2016 campaign, and
later, led his inaugural committee and became a frequent presence in the
White House."
According to an FBI document released by the DOJ, the agency received a tip
in June of 2021 from an individual whose name has been redacted, but is
described as an alleged “victim,” a former member of the Sinaloa Cartel, and a close confidant of Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.
According
to the document, the individual was formally interviewed by an FBI
agent, and accused Trump of being aware of and having funded “underage
sex parties at the Donald Trump Golf course.”
That
individual went on to claim that they had “recordings of Trump, Epstein
and Maxwell discussing marketing strategies for high profile sex
parties,” according to the FBI official who drafted the document, their
name also redacted. The individual claimed that in one of the
recordings, Trump can be heard stating “he was aware of the underage sex
parties.”
Let's wind down with this from Senator Alex Padilla's office:
Padilla and Wyden sound alarm that IRS errors improperly exposed private taxpayer information to ICE
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senators Alex Padilla
(D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Immigration
Subcommittee, and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Ranking Member of the Senate
Finance Committee, demanded answers and accountability from the Internal
Revenue Service (IRS) after the agency admitted in a court filing that
the flawed system it adopted to transfer people’s home addresses to
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) potentially led to thousands
of records being shared improperly in violation of taxpayer privacy
laws. In a new letter
to Acting IRS Commissioner Scott Bessent and Homeland Security
Secretary Kristi Noem, the Senators also raised grave concerns that the
automated system the Trump Administration created to transfer taxpayer
data to ICE may have misidentified a large but unknown number of
taxpayers — possibly including American citizens — in response to ICE
inquiries, potentially exposing them to immigration enforcement actions
at a time when serious questions are being raised about how such actions
are being carried out.
“The IRS failed to properly verify that the information it disclosed
to ICE belonged to the correct taxpayers. Instead, it used a faulty,
automated verification system to identify the taxpayers whose
information it thought it could disclose under the terms of the agency’s
data-sharing agreement, which it reached last year with the Department
of Homeland Security,” wrote the Senators. “… The IRS
now admits that this system led to exactly the kinds of grave mistakes
our taxpayer privacy laws were designed to prevent, and that Congress as
well as IRS employees previously warned could happen under this
data-sharing agreement.”
Senators Padilla, Wyden, and additional Senate Democrats warned early last year that the data-sharing agreement between the IRS and ICE would result in serious errors and violate taxpayer privacy. They demanded details about the status and potential misuse of the data sharing program as recently as January 30 of this year.
“The risk to innocent people was entirely predictable once
taxpayer data was used for immigration enforcement,” continued the
Senators.
“Because the administration ignored the warnings, we now face the
extraordinarily troubling likelihood that in some significant, unknown
number of cases, the IRS not only provided return information to ICE in
violation of strict taxpayer privacy laws, but it also provided
information about the wrong taxpayers. Those individuals may have been
injured by ICE, improperly detained or imprisoned, or improperly
deported.”
In their letter, the Senators called for explanations of exactly how
many taxpayer records were shared improperly, who was responsible and
what accountability measures will be taken, whether anyone has been
wrongly detained or deported based on shared data, and what steps the
Trump Administration is taking to notify taxpayers whose information was
improperly disclosed. The letter was also signed by Senators Catherine
Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Angus King (I-Maine), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Adam
Schiff (D-Calif.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), and Peter Welch (D-Vt.).
Last spring, Senators Padilla, Wyden, and Cortez Masto condemned the IRS’
plan to provide sensitive taxpayer information to the Department of
Homeland Security to locate suspected undocumented immigrants. The
Senators also led a March 2025 letter to IRS and DHS leadership raising the alarm on reports that DHS and the Department of Government Efficiency illegally requested sensitive taxpayer information from the IRS.
Full text of today’s letter is available here and below:
Dear Acting Commissioner Bessent and Secretary Noem:
We write with alarm following up on our January 29, 2026, letter
to Acting Commissioner Bessent regarding the IRS’s disclosure of 47,289
taxpayers’ return information (including “last known addresses”) to
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials. Validating our
fears expressed in that letter, an IRS court filing made on February 11,
2026, confirms that thousands of these disclosures may have been
improper.
The government has argued that it was permitted to disclose tax
return information with respect to specific taxpayers who were under
active investigation by ICE. That premise is subject to litigation, and
ICE’s initial claim that it had more than a million active
investigations underway is absurd. Furthermore, the IRS failed to
properly verify that the information it disclosed to ICE belonged to the
correct taxpayers. Instead, it used a faulty, automated verification
system to identify the taxpayers whose information it thought it could
disclose under the terms of the agency’s data-sharing agreement, which
it reached last year with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
This agreement was signed by Secretaries Bessent and Noem. The IRS now
admits that this system led to exactly the kinds of grave mistakes our
taxpayer privacy laws were designed to prevent, and that Congress as
well as IRS employees previously warned could happen under this
data-sharing agreement.
Because it is common for multiple taxpayers to have similar or
identical names and because not all ethnic groups follow the same naming
conventions, the IRS needs more than an individual’s first and last
name to ensure it does not disclose information about the wrong taxpayer
in violation of Internal Revenue Code (IRC) section 6103.
In its recent court filing, the IRS admits it provided return
information, including the taxpayers’ “last known addresses” (which may
be current addresses unknown to ICE), even in many cases where ICE’s
request for taxpayer information included a name but not a complete or
accurate address.
As an example, if ICE requested the last known address of “John
Doe” at “Unknown Address, 99999” the IRS’s automated system would
disclose the last known address for a person named John Doe to ICE. This
is because the IRS system only looked to see if the address field in
ICE requests was or was not populated, not whether it was populated with
an address that matched IRS records.
The IRS estimates that up to five percent of its 47,289
disclosures to ICE may have involved insufficient address data. In other
words, thousands of taxpayers’ information may have been disclosed in
violation of section 6103, including those who are not targets of
immigration investigations.
The risk to innocent people was entirely predictable once
taxpayer data was used for immigration enforcement. Because the
administration ignored the warnings, we now face the extraordinarily
troubling likelihood that in some significant, unknown number of cases,
the IRS not only provided return information to ICE in violation of
strict taxpayer privacy laws, but it also provided information about the
wrong taxpayers. Those individuals may have been injured by ICE,
improperly detained or imprisoned, or improperly deported.
That would be an unimaginable nightmare for those wrongly
targeted people and their families. Conditions in ICE facilities are
horrific, and 32 people died in ICE custody last year, meeting the
record last reached in 2004, and another 8 have died this year alone.
The Trump administration has deported people to foreign torture prisons,
third countries they have no ties to, or back to their home countries,
despite having pending asylum claims. Exposing people to such risk
because of an improper sharing of tax information is unconscionable.
As noted in our prior letter, penalties for 6103 violations are
severe. IRC section 7213 requires responsible employees to be
terminated, and IRC section 7431 allows a taxpayer to bring a civil
lawsuit for damages.
Injured taxpayers will not know they can sue until the government
informs them of their rights. The government is required by section
7431 to inform the victims when a person is criminally charged with a
violation of section 6103 or when the IRS proposes an adverse action
against an employee.
Accordingly, please respond no later than March 15 to the following questions:
1. Exactly how many taxpayers’ return information was disclosed
in circumstances that the IRS now considers improper or potentially
improper?
a. How and when did you find out about the inappropriate disclosures?
b. Who at the IRS first became aware that the inappropriate disclosures were made?
2. Which officials are responsible for approving, executing, and
supervising the disclosures now considered to be improper or potentially
improper?
3. Has any IRS or DHS employee been investigated, charged,
disciplined, placed on administrative leave, or otherwise held
accountable in connection with any improper disclosures?
a. If not, explain why not.
b. If so, please identify the employee and describe the accountability measure taken.
4. Have DHS or ICE accessed, reviewed, relied upon, copied, or
further disseminated the affected data before remediation efforts began?
5. What specific steps have DHS or ICE taken to prevent further disclosure or dissemination of the data?
6. What specific steps are DHS and ICE taking to dispose of data improperly disclosed by the IRS?
7. Have any of the 47,289 taxpayers whose information the IRS provided to ICE been questioned, arrested, detained, or deported?
a. If so, how many are among the subset of individuals whose information the IRS shared improperly with ICE?
b. What steps are the IRS and DHS taking to make this determination?
c. What plan has the IRS and DHS put in place to remedy any detainments or deportations made in error?
8. Have any affected taxpayers been notified that their information has been improperly disclosed?
a. If not, when will the notification occur?
b. If the IRS has concluded that such notice is not required, provide the legal basis for that determination.
We look forward to your prompt and complete response.
