Jake Lahut
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jakelahut.bsky.social
Jake Lahut
@jakelahut.bsky.social
Reporter covering the Trump White House & 2026 midterms. Emergency backup hockey writer. FR/EN 🇫🇷
jakelahut.com

(Signal: Leak2Lahut.26)
Anyone else wondering what Tulsi Gabbard is supposed to do in her job at this point?
January 27, 2026 at 3:43 PM
Reposted by Jake Lahut
“My work for Texas Monthly demands hundreds of hours on the road each year. Being pulled over by immigration-enforcement officers has felt like an inevitability for months.”
What It Feels Like Getting Stopped by ICE
My work for Texas Monthly demands hundreds of hours on the road each year. Being pulled over by immigration enforcement officers has felt like an inevitability for months.
www.texasmonthly.com
January 27, 2026 at 3:27 PM
So @bencollins.bsky.social is like the Medici of Bluesky, commissioning art & shit?
January 27, 2026 at 4:06 AM
Reposted by Jake Lahut
SCOOP: Palantir Defends Work With ICE to Staff Following Killing of Alex Pretti

WIRED obtained Slack conversations + an updated internal Palantir wiki defending the company's work for ICE to outraged workers.

More here:
www.wired.com/story/palant...
Palantir Defends Work With ICE to Staff Following Killing of Alex Pretti
“In my opinion ICE are the bad guys. I am not proud that the company I enjoy so much working for is part of this,” one worker wrote on Slack.
www.wired.com
January 26, 2026 at 10:11 PM
Reposted by Jake Lahut
NEW: Palantir workers had a lot of questions for leadership about the company's work with ICE this weekend, per staff chats reviewed by WIRED, and got some pretty defensive answers. @makenakelly.bsky.social has the scoop:
Palantir Defends Work With ICE to Staff Following Killing of Alex Pretti
“In my opinion ICE are the bad guys. I am not proud that the company I enjoy so much working for is part of this,” one worker wrote on Slack.
www.wired.com
January 26, 2026 at 10:15 PM
The JD-Noem-Bovino-Miller faction vs. everyone else def has my spidey senses tingling
Note that Karoline Leavitt refuses to answer when asked if Trump backs Miller calling Pretti a "domestic terrorist."

It's now clear Vance miscalculated badly by rushing out to smear the victims and declare ICE has total immunity. This is getting away from them.

newrepublic.com/article/2056...
January 26, 2026 at 7:32 PM
Need a better term to describe this phenomenon (which I have observed as well, but it’s hard to quantify).

Some sort of normie vibe shift
This sounded sarcastic and it's really not: I've noticed a lot of these accounts are moving away from sharing generic "bad things are happening so take care of yourself" type posts to resharing more tangible resources or actions, like places to donate, etc. Small, but still seems different.
January 26, 2026 at 7:08 PM
And Corey Lewandowski isn’t even a regular employee! He’s one of the most powerful SGEs in the govt, and somehow he hasn’t gone over his 130 day limit
The other thing to take into account: Homan at least has credibility among the rank-and-file of DHS given he was a career official, unlike Kristi Noem or Lewandowski, who are political appointees.
if Tom "Cava Bag" Homan is your emergency crisis comms guy, you're fucked
January 26, 2026 at 6:55 PM
Even when Hegseth and Waltz were in deep shit, the administration was not distancing itself from them the way they have been today with Noem & Bovino (and also, by extension, Stephen Miller)
January 26, 2026 at 6:50 PM
Notable
Leavitt not backing up Kristi Noem's description of Alex Pretti as a "domestic terrorist" when asked.
January 26, 2026 at 6:35 PM
Reposted by Jake Lahut
ABC: Noem said Pretti committed an act of domestic terrorism. Stephen Miller labeled him a domestic terrorist. Does the president agree?

LEAVITT: I have not heard the president characterize Mr Pretti in that way
January 26, 2026 at 6:34 PM
Kinda notable that there are Republican governors with future political aspirations who have not tried to smear Good & Pretti.

I’m thinking of someone like a Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who has mainly been focusing on the storm, but who also normally doesn’t pass up any chance to own the libs.
January 26, 2026 at 6:29 PM
Seriously, what happened to this Joe Lonsdale dude that made him like this?
MAGA military geniuses are talking about Minnesota protestors like they are the Iraqi insurgency, the Taliban, and the Viet Cong all rolled into one.
January 26, 2026 at 6:18 PM
Reposted by Jake Lahut
A fascinating thing about Threads is that it gave the type of people who had mainly participated in social media by commenting on homeschool influencers’ instagram posts an opportunity to go viral themselves
a not insignificant number of people on Threads seem to believe the snow storm was The Government's attempt to refreeze the Leviathan, the world-eating serpent, which was getting loose (to eat the world, I assume)
January 26, 2026 at 5:06 PM
I’ve seen a lot, but Trump hucking the Melania documentary while the ground shifts under him in Minnesota is pretty surreal
January 26, 2026 at 5:05 PM
Reposted by Jake Lahut
Someone in Italy told me ICE is all over their main news channels right now, with some calling ICE "squadristi" aka Mussolini Blackshirts and saying ICE is dangerous and untrained.
January 26, 2026 at 4:32 PM
Reposted by Jake Lahut
A Post insider helped explain to me why the Post is doing such great work despite Everything. Normally, when a superstar journo is covering a beat, younger reporters may have to wait decades to get their chance. Since many of those stars left in the last year, they're getting that chance now.
My @washingtonpost.com colleagues worked round the clock this weekend to expose the truth of what's happening in Minneapolis and bring urgent weather news to millions facing dangerous cold and snow.

If you value this work, tell Jeff Bezos to #SaveThePost
www.washingtonpost.com/investigatio...
Federal agent secured gun from Minn. man before fatal shooting, videos show
A Washington Post analysis of videos sheds light on the encounter that left 37-year-old Alex Pretti dead.
www.washingtonpost.com
January 26, 2026 at 4:41 PM
Reposted by Jake Lahut
Two weeks ago this guy announced he was providing legal help to the agent who shot Renee Good. That's how quickly the winds are shifting.
pretty wild statement re: Republican Chris Madel drop from race for MN governor:

"Saying he cannot support the national GOP's 'stated retribution on citizens of our state, nor can I count myself a member of a party that would do so."
January 26, 2026 at 2:38 PM
I think Trump is confusing the 2020 election with the 2024 election, again, in one of his latest Truth Social posts. Not even gonna post the screenshot. Just a quick update With Regard to Cognitive.
January 26, 2026 at 3:15 PM
If you are familiar with Melugin, this is a big big deal. Not tryna knock the guy, but ICE and CBP typically feed him what they see as positive little tidbits
Bill Melugin of Fox News may be the best-sourced journalist within ICE and CBP. If he's hearing this, the administration has a real problem.
January 26, 2026 at 1:40 AM
Reposted by Jake Lahut
The Star-Tribune is taking donations to help fund the purchase vital newsroom supplies and equipment, including protective and tactical gear for street reporters and photogs. If you live in MSP, pls subscribe. If you don't and want to help, here's a way -- www.startribunecompany.com/donate-payme....
Donate Payment - Star Tribune Company
DonateDonate Now Donate Thank You for Supporting the Minnesota Star Tribune Thank You for Supporting the Minnesota Star Tribune See Other Ways to Give We Value Your Privacy The Minneapolis…
www.startribunecompany.com
January 25, 2026 at 4:10 AM
Reposted by Jake Lahut
BARTIROMO: But how was he threatening Border Patrol? How was he using a gun to threaten? He was filming it

KASH PATEL: That's something I'll let DHS because they are investigating that case

(Notable that even Bartiromo seems to be bothered by this!)
January 25, 2026 at 3:30 PM
Holy shit, the response from Trump admin folks on the Sunday shows has been even more pathetic than I anticipated
January 25, 2026 at 3:27 PM