The 'Signalgate' fallout continues
If one thing is clear to me after this week’s “Signalgate” revelations, it’s that the “Houthi Small Group PC” was not the first — and far from the only — revealing group chat between top national security officials in the Trump administration.
Otherwise, it sure seems like some of the participants would have objected to the kind of sensitive information, opinions and operational military details shared so freely on the chain. But not a single person did.
And this is important because every single Signal conversation where sensitive information was shared — whether it was about a military operation, a diplomatic negotiation or even just brainstorming between high-level White House officials — has the potential to provide information to our adversaries and enemies.
In order to monitor and evaluate what types of information is being shared, the intelligence community would typically do a damage assessment. But damage assessments are likely impossible for Signal chains that may have been deleted. Did M-A-R — Signal shorthand for Secretary of State Marco Antonio Rubio — archive all of his posts? Did S.M., otherwise known as Stephen Miller, ensure that there was a saved copy for the national archives? I think we all know the answer.
Without these logs, we may never know the full consequences of this carelessness. After all, the only reason we even know about the “Houthi Small Group PC” is because they accidentally included a reporter.
A person you should know: Tufts Ph.D. student Rumeysa Ozturk
On Tuesday night, masked federal agents in plain clothes stopped Rumeysa Ozturk — an international doctoral student and Fulbright scholar at Tufts University — on a city sidewalk, detaining her, confiscating her phone and backpack, and forcing her into an unmarked vehicle. By Wednesday, she was nearly 2,000 miles away, locked inside the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center, unable to even notify her family of her whereabouts.
Her crime? As far as we know right now, writing an op-ed.
At a recent press conference, the secretary of state failed to provide any justification for Ozturk’s detainment other than her criticism of Tufts University’s stance on Israel, dismissing concerns by saying, “If you come into the U.S. as a visitor and create a ruckus for us, we don’t want it.”
Let’s be clear: There is no carve-out in the Constitution for visa holders. Due process and free speech protections apply to all “persons” within the United States, not just citizens, as the Supreme Court has made abundantly clear for decades. And that’s likely why DHS agents moved Ozturk out of Massachusetts almost immediately, before a judge’s inevitable ruling that Ozturk couldn’t be taken out of state.
This isn’t just an attack on one person — it’s a preview of what’s to come.
Rubio, at the same press conference, said, “It might be more than 300 at this point. We do it every day. Every time I find one of these lunatics, I take away their visas.” Meaning, Rubio has every intention this policy will continue.
Just like with Donald Trump’s deportations of Venezuelan migrants — where some alleged “gang tattoos” have turned out to be soccer club logos, autism awareness symbols and even Michael Jordan’s jersey number — Trump’s crackdown on free speech will be sloppy. Officials won’t hold hearings before forcing students into unmarked vehicles. People will be wrongly targeted. Some perhaps intentionally, some by accident. And when that happens, the administration likely won’t backtrack — it’ll double down. Because admitting a mistake would be more embarrassing than ruining someone’s life.
3 elections to watch in Wisconsin and Florida
It may be an off year for elections, but the stakes couldn’t be higher in several key races that will shape the political landscape heading into 2026.
In Wisconsin’s state Supreme Court contest, early voting is already underway. The outcome there will determine whether the court maintains its 4-3 liberal majority or flips conservative — potentially paving the way for gerrymandering, attacks on abortion access and voting rights.
If you’ve been following the race, you know that Elon Musk is doing everything he can to tip the scales. In addition to spending millions on advertising and offering Wisconsin voters $100 to sign his petition opposing so-called “activist judges,” he claimed he might even go to Wisconsin on behalf of Republican candidate Brad Schimel and personally hand over two “checks for a million dollars” to supporters who can act as “spokesmen” for an online petition against “activist” judges.
This is not the first time Musk has offered cash to potential voters. After he tried something similar in Pennsylvania, Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner sued. But Musk’s team successfully argued in court that his cash payouts were technically “not random” — that’s why he now calls winners “spokespeople,” in order to avoid legal challenges under state lottery laws. (And indeed, Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul says he will seek to stop Musk’s payouts.)
In Florida, meanwhile, two special elections show surprisingly close margins. On paper, Republicans should be cruising in the elections to replace Matt Gaetz (District 1) and Trump’s former national security adviser Mike Waltz (District 6). After all, Gaetz won re-election in 2024 — despite a mountain of scandals — with 66% of the vote, and Waltz won with 75%.
And yet, recent polling has Republicans sweating. Trump’s handpicked replacement in the 6th District is only leading by 4 points — within at least one poll’s margin of error.
But the most telling election this week is one that’s not happening. The Trump administration pulled Rep. Elise Stefanik’s nomination for U.N. ambassador, worried about preserving the GOP’s razor-thin House majority. Given Trump carried her district by 20 points in November, the surprise move is not exactly a vote of confidence in his party’s popularity.
