News On Tap For Monday, February 9, 2026

Complicated & Beautiful

Today’s “News On Tap” still has the flavor of victory, not just for the Seahawks & some Olympians. We’ve got news updates on Trump’s ongoing immigration wars, and his war on democracy. There are also Trump/Epstein files updates, and Democrats won yet another special election! Plus, we’ll dive into the debate about Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl performance, politics at the Olympics, and what it really means to be an American today. Plus, our friend Brooklyn Dad Defiant is dropping by tonight. Read up now, and then join us at the bar tonight!

First Round - Immigration Wars Continue

Snow Jobs In Minnesota

• The Trump Admin. Claims Ice Is Using A ‘Softer Touch’ In Minnesota Now. Residents Say Don’t Be Fooled.

• Federal Prosecutors Began Investigating Renee Good’s Killing. Trump Admin. Staff Told Them To Stop. So They Quit The DOJ. [Gift Link]

• New Report Confirms FBI Dir. Kash Patel Halted Civil Rights Investigation Of Renee Good’s Killing Over Fear It Would Blow Up Trump’s Claims

• Top Ice Lawyer In Minnesota Leaves His Job Amid Burnout & Dissent, As Immigration Lawsuits Overwhelm Courts

ICE Monsters Everywhere

• An ICE Raid In A Small Town Brings Trump’s Deportations To Deep-Red Idaho [Gift Link]

• Immigration Raids In South Texas Are Really Starting To Hit The Economy, Especially In The Construction Industry

• White Irishman With Valid U.S Work Permit, Held By ICE Since September, Says The Internment Camp Conditions Are ‘Absolute Hell’

• Immigrant Whose Skull Was Broken During ICE Arrest Confirms Beating Was Unprovoked

• Two Tuberculosis Cases Detected At Camp East Montana ICE Facility In Texas

• Kids Trapped In Texas Immigration Facility Recount Inedible Food, No School, Nightmares

Laws & Legislators

• Senators Far Apart On DHS Funding Deal As Talks Stall With Partial Shutdown Deadline Looming

• Federal Judge Rules Border Patrol Agent’s Texts After He Shot Chicago Woman Marimar Martinez Five Times Will Be Released

• Extremist Right-Wing Fifth Circuit Appeals Court Rules ICE Can Continue To Imprison Immigrants Without Bond

• Steve Vladeck: The Fifth Circuit Jumps The Immigration Detention Shark

Second Round - The Trump/Epstein Files

• Ghislaine Maxwell Invokes Fifth Amendment During Closed House Oversight Committee Deposition, Answering No Questions

• Trump DOJ Says Members Of Congress Will Be Able To View Unredacted Epstein Files This Week

• House Judiciary Republicans Instructed Not To Bring Up Epstein Files In This Wednesday’s Hearing With AG Pam Bondi

• Julie K. Brown & Clare Healy: Who Were The Other Men In The Epstein Files? This Is The FBI’s Own List

Third Round - Dangers To Democracy

Lacking Intelligence

• New Whistleblower Report Says DNI Gabbard Blocked Info About Phone Call Between Trump & A Foreign Intelligence Asset Picked Up By NSA

• Trump State Department Is Now Publicly Deleting All Pre-Trump Posts On X/Twitter, But Will Archive Them

The Fight To Vote

• House Republicans Dig In On Push For Save Act In Hopes Of Pressuring Senate

• What The Save America Act Actually Calls For, As Trump Continues Calls To “Nationalize” Voting

Fourth Round - More News To Drink About

Election Land

• Democrats Overperform In Another Special Election, This Time In Louisiana, Denying Republicans A Pickup Opportunity

• A MAGA Attempt To Erase A Democratic House Seat Is Triggering Accusations Of Fraud And Violence In Utah

Foreign Affairs

• Pres. Zelenskyy Says U.S. Has Set June Deadline For Ukraine-Russia Peace Deal

• Portugal Elects A President, With A Leftist Leader Soundly Defeating A Challenger From A Growing Right-Wing Extremist Movement

Fifth Round - Media, Entertainment, & More

Rest In Peace

• 3 Doors Down Front Man Brad Arnold Dies At 47 Of Cancer

• Greg Brown, Founding Guitarist Of Cake Dies After ‘Brief Illness’

Media Matters

• ‘Washington Post’ CEO Will Lewis Is Asked To Step Down After Going AWOL During Massive Job Cuts

• Glenn Kessler: I Worked At The Washington Post For 28 Years. Bezos’ Cuts Just Ended The Paper As We Knew It.

• Biased Trump FCC Opens Probe Into ABC’s ‘The View’ After Interview With Texas Democratic Candidate James Talarico

• ‘One Battle After Another’ Director Paul Thomas Anderson Wins Top DGA Awards Prize; Other DGA Winners Include ‘The Pitt,’ ‘The Studio’ In TV Category

Super Bowl Recap

• Seattle Seahawks Suffocate New England Patriots’ Offense In 29-13 Super Bowl 60 Win

• NBC Censors Green Day Super Bowl Pre-Show Performance, Days After Band Tells ICE Agents To Quit

• Super Bowl Commercials 2026: Watch All The Best And Worst Ads

• Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl Halftime Show Was An All-American Triumph. Turning Point USA’s Was A Boring MAGA Grift With Kid Rock

• All The Bad Bunny Easter Eggs At The Super Bowl 60 Halftime Show, Explained

• Parker Molloy: The NFL Told You Why It Booked Bad Bunny

Olympics Recap

• American Breezy Johnson Wins Downhill Gold, As Lindsey Vonn Airlifted Off Course After Crash

• Ilia Malinin, The ‘Quad God’ & U.S. Team Win Figure Skating Team Gold At Olympics

• JD Vance Mercilessly Booed At Olympics Opening Ceremonies, As U.S. Athletes Deal With Mixed Emotions Representing Their Nation Right Now

• The World Heard JD Vance Being Booed At The Olympics Opening Ceremonies - Except For Viewers In The U.S.

• U.S. Olympic Athletes In Italy Are Speaking Out About Their Mixed Feelings Regarding The Political Situation At Home. Trump & MAGA Are Blasting Them For It.

• Olympic Athletes’ Medals Are Breaking This Year During Celebrations

Your Bar Regular Today

Brooklyn Dad Defiant, AKA Majid M. Padellan, blogger, author, activist, and host/co-host of TWO online shows – ‘The Defiant Weekly’ on Wednesdays, and ‘The JoJo & BDD Show’ with Jo Carducci on Thursdays, with both are available on his YouTube channel. BDD is back tonight for another evening of “Monday’s with Majid” - and there’s plenty to talk about. Obviously, we’ll talk about Bad Bunny, the Super Bowl, and how racist MAGAts freaked out this weekend - which conveniently BDD wrote about in a great piece at his Substack, “America, The Beautiful: How diversity made America beautiful, and why MAGA can’t stand it,” We’ll also talk about Trump’s ongoing wars on immigration & democracy, and of course the Olympics too. Grab a drink & join us tonight!

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