James Downie
@jamescdownie.bsky.social
Columnist and editor at MS NOW (formerly MSNBC). WGAE member. Ex-Washington Post Opinions. DC born and raised. D.C. United and Montreal Canadiens fan.
jim.downie@nbcuni.com; jdow.92 on Signal
jim.downie@nbcuni.com; jdow.92 on Signal
Reposted by James Downie
Rep. Seth Moulton comes on CNN and starts by saying: "Is anyone going to just stop for a second and be honest? This is insane. What the hell are we doing? We've got a lot of problems in America today, and invading / occupying / running Venezuela does not solve any of them."
January 3, 2026 at 6:46 PM
Rep. Seth Moulton comes on CNN and starts by saying: "Is anyone going to just stop for a second and be honest? This is insane. What the hell are we doing? We've got a lot of problems in America today, and invading / occupying / running Venezuela does not solve any of them."
Also seems like these traders are practically asking Dems to investigate these trades on Day 1 after taking back the House.
A side story is there’s a ton of insider trading on these prediction markets. New accounts making hundreds of thousands on their first and only trade, that maduro would be ousted. Seems like insider trading is legal if not encouraged on these platforms
January 3, 2026 at 6:50 PM
Also seems like these traders are practically asking Dems to investigate these trades on Day 1 after taking back the House.
Reposted by James Downie
Reposted by James Downie
Notably, this is all about cocaine trafficking, no mention of fentanyl. Sharp-eyed observers will note the shift from the Trump administration's justification for blowing up boats in the Caribbean...
January 3, 2026 at 5:51 PM
Notably, this is all about cocaine trafficking, no mention of fentanyl. Sharp-eyed observers will note the shift from the Trump administration's justification for blowing up boats in the Caribbean...
Reposted by James Downie
We're living out Rubio's "ideological" project, which is basically that he and his funders want Cuba back to run it like a plantation.
January 3, 2026 at 12:13 PM
We're living out Rubio's "ideological" project, which is basically that he and his funders want Cuba back to run it like a plantation.
Reposted by James Downie
AP: Across the Venezuelan capital, there were no signs that the U.S. had taken over control of Venezuela’s government or military forces. The Miraflores Palace and military bases remained guarded by Venezuela’s armed forces
Live updates: Trump says US is ‘going to run’ Venezuela in interim. No immediate signs of US control
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has been captured by the United States. U.S. President Donald Trump's administration says he'll face charges on a New York indictment.
apnews.com
January 3, 2026 at 5:13 PM
AP: Across the Venezuelan capital, there were no signs that the U.S. had taken over control of Venezuela’s government or military forces. The Miraflores Palace and military bases remained guarded by Venezuela’s armed forces
Reposted by James Downie
He's gonna claim it for himself, isn't he...
RUBIO: He is a fugitive of American justice with a $50 million award. I guess we saved $50 million.
TRUMP: We should make sure. Don't let anybody claim it. Nobody deserves it but us.
TRUMP: We should make sure. Don't let anybody claim it. Nobody deserves it but us.
January 3, 2026 at 5:20 PM
He's gonna claim it for himself, isn't he...
Reposted by James Downie
It’s not about drugs. If it was, Trump wouldn’t have pardoned one of the largest narco traffickers in the world last month.
It’s about oil and regime change.
And they need a trial now to pretend that it isn’t. Especially to distract from his sinking under Epstein and skyrocketing healthcare costs.
It’s about oil and regime change.
And they need a trial now to pretend that it isn’t. Especially to distract from his sinking under Epstein and skyrocketing healthcare costs.
January 3, 2026 at 3:34 PM
It’s not about drugs. If it was, Trump wouldn’t have pardoned one of the largest narco traffickers in the world last month.
It’s about oil and regime change.
And they need a trial now to pretend that it isn’t. Especially to distract from his sinking under Epstein and skyrocketing healthcare costs.
It’s about oil and regime change.
And they need a trial now to pretend that it isn’t. Especially to distract from his sinking under Epstein and skyrocketing healthcare costs.
Reposted by James Downie
NEW: The anonymous "researcher" in Nick Shirley's viral "fraud" video--treated as a concerned citizen on Fox News and elsewhere--is actually a Minnesota state lobbyist and political activist who worked with a GOP House staffer to provide Shirley info/
theintercept.com/2026/01/03/m...
theintercept.com/2026/01/03/m...
Unnamed Source in Viral Minnesota Somali Fraud Video Is Right-Wing Lobbyist Who Called Muslims “Demons”
David Hoch, who goes by his first name in Nick Shirley’s video allegedly exposing Somali fraud, referred to “demon Muslims” on social media.
theintercept.com
January 3, 2026 at 12:19 PM
NEW: The anonymous "researcher" in Nick Shirley's viral "fraud" video--treated as a concerned citizen on Fox News and elsewhere--is actually a Minnesota state lobbyist and political activist who worked with a GOP House staffer to provide Shirley info/
theintercept.com/2026/01/03/m...
theintercept.com/2026/01/03/m...
I'm currently at a museum within 5 minutes of the White House, and I passed half a dozen closed restaurants in the ~two blocks to walk here.
Trump says "The restaurants are opening" This is not true. I live downtown and restaurants are virtually empty.
January 3, 2026 at 5:06 PM
I'm currently at a museum within 5 minutes of the White House, and I passed half a dozen closed restaurants in the ~two blocks to walk here.
Reposted by James Downie
I feel like I haven’t even been properly lied to about the purposes of this war
January 3, 2026 at 9:13 AM
I feel like I haven’t even been properly lied to about the purposes of this war
Reposted by James Downie
Perhaps we should have prosecuted the last administration that did an illegal war. Much to consider.
January 3, 2026 at 2:05 PM
Perhaps we should have prosecuted the last administration that did an illegal war. Much to consider.
Reposted by James Downie
“Trump's Venezuela Attack: It’s All About the Oil, Stupid!”
Here are five times Donald Trump himself admitted that illegally attacking Venezuela and toppling Nicolás Maduro was aimed at seizing the country’s massive oil reserves.
My latest for Zeteo:
Here are five times Donald Trump himself admitted that illegally attacking Venezuela and toppling Nicolás Maduro was aimed at seizing the country’s massive oil reserves.
My latest for Zeteo:
Trump's Venezuela Attack: It’s All About the Oil, Stupid!
Here are five times Donald Trump himself admitted that illegally attacking Venezuela and toppling Nicolás Maduro was aimed at seizing the country’s massive oil reserves.
zeteo.com
January 3, 2026 at 1:49 PM
“Trump's Venezuela Attack: It’s All About the Oil, Stupid!”
Here are five times Donald Trump himself admitted that illegally attacking Venezuela and toppling Nicolás Maduro was aimed at seizing the country’s massive oil reserves.
My latest for Zeteo:
Here are five times Donald Trump himself admitted that illegally attacking Venezuela and toppling Nicolás Maduro was aimed at seizing the country’s massive oil reserves.
My latest for Zeteo:
Reposted by James Downie
Among the many reasons you don’t kidnap a foreign head of state at gunpoint even if you have the capability, is that it sparks consequences you can neither control nor anticipate.
January 3, 2026 at 10:27 AM
Among the many reasons you don’t kidnap a foreign head of state at gunpoint even if you have the capability, is that it sparks consequences you can neither control nor anticipate.
Reposted by James Downie
December 31, 2025 at 9:41 PM
Reposted by James Downie
Jack Smith deposition transcript released
Follow along as a team of @ms.now reporters comb through it:
Follow along as a team of @ms.now reporters comb through it:
Jack Smith deposition transcript released
The deposition of the former special counsel, who led two failed prosecutions of President Donald Trump, took place earlier this month before the House Judiciary Committee.
www.ms.now
December 31, 2025 at 8:21 PM
Jack Smith deposition transcript released
Follow along as a team of @ms.now reporters comb through it:
Follow along as a team of @ms.now reporters comb through it:
Reposted by James Downie
for almost 15 years, i was willing to speak the truth even when it was unpopular. at first they mocked me, threw rocks at me, called me an "old man" who needed to "shut the fuck up." now they take these things as self-evident.
December 31, 2025 at 9:17 PM
for almost 15 years, i was willing to speak the truth even when it was unpopular. at first they mocked me, threw rocks at me, called me an "old man" who needed to "shut the fuck up." now they take these things as self-evident.
As @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social says, “I do not regret to inform you that we are going to win."
Breaking News: President Trump abandoned, for now, his efforts to deploy National Guard troops in Chicago, Portland and Los Angeles.
Live Updates: Trump Vetoes, Epstein Files and More
nyti.ms
December 31, 2025 at 10:03 PM
As @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social says, “I do not regret to inform you that we are going to win."
Reposted by James Downie
Trump and Stephen Miller are actually failing in crucial ways. Deportations are lagging behind their goals, courts are mostly functioning, and their fascist, ethnonationalist cruelties have unleashed a countermobilization of unexpected scope and power.
New from me:
newrepublic.com/article/2046...
New from me:
newrepublic.com/article/2046...
December 31, 2025 at 2:06 PM
Trump and Stephen Miller are actually failing in crucial ways. Deportations are lagging behind their goals, courts are mostly functioning, and their fascist, ethnonationalist cruelties have unleashed a countermobilization of unexpected scope and power.
New from me:
newrepublic.com/article/2046...
New from me:
newrepublic.com/article/2046...
Reposted by James Downie
rare instance of a CEO saying something useful and true
admitting you don't know things is good and cool
admitting you don't know things is good and cool
Tubi CEO: I wish I'd known earlier in my career that no one actually knows what they're doing
Tubi CEO Anjali Sud says impostor syndrome helped fuel her leadership success. The former Amazon executive shares how embracing self-doubt can drive confidence and career growth.
www.cnbc.com
December 31, 2025 at 9:59 PM
rare instance of a CEO saying something useful and true
admitting you don't know things is good and cool
admitting you don't know things is good and cool
Reposted by James Downie
And actually--Comet Pizza was a page out of a playbook that started with daycare decades before.
In 1983, a California mom accused her son's childcare provider of subjecting children to Satanic rituals--like flushing them down toilets into secret basements where they were then filmed for porn. 1/🧵
In 1983, a California mom accused her son's childcare provider of subjecting children to Satanic rituals--like flushing them down toilets into secret basements where they were then filmed for porn. 1/🧵
Trump guys are about to Comet Pizza every third daycare center because they think they are all fronts for Somali money laundering. They're only doing this near cities with progressive mayors. This is straight up Government by LibsOfTikTok.
December 31, 2025 at 1:19 AM
And actually--Comet Pizza was a page out of a playbook that started with daycare decades before.
In 1983, a California mom accused her son's childcare provider of subjecting children to Satanic rituals--like flushing them down toilets into secret basements where they were then filmed for porn. 1/🧵
In 1983, a California mom accused her son's childcare provider of subjecting children to Satanic rituals--like flushing them down toilets into secret basements where they were then filmed for porn. 1/🧵
Hesitant Dems should heed Lincoln's words to McLellan on Oct 13, 1862: "Are you not over-cautious when you assume that you can not do what the enemy is constantly doing? Should you not claim to be at least his equal in prowess, and act upon the claim?...If we never try, we shall never succeed."
December 31, 2025 at 1:02 AM
Hesitant Dems should heed Lincoln's words to McLellan on Oct 13, 1862: "Are you not over-cautious when you assume that you can not do what the enemy is constantly doing? Should you not claim to be at least his equal in prowess, and act upon the claim?...If we never try, we shall never succeed."
In May, a high-ranking federal prosecutor in Nashville resigned the day Kilmar Abrego Garcia was indicted. The DOJ has claimed local prosecutors acted alone in the indictment.
Now, newly released emails show Todd Blanche and other DOJ leaders pushed for charges. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/30/n...
Now, newly released emails show Todd Blanche and other DOJ leaders pushed for charges. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/30/n...
December 31, 2025 at 12:48 AM
In May, a high-ranking federal prosecutor in Nashville resigned the day Kilmar Abrego Garcia was indicted. The DOJ has claimed local prosecutors acted alone in the indictment.
Now, newly released emails show Todd Blanche and other DOJ leaders pushed for charges. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/30/n...
Now, newly released emails show Todd Blanche and other DOJ leaders pushed for charges. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/30/n...