Samuel Rubenfeld (he/him)
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srubenfeld.bsky.social
Samuel Rubenfeld (he/him)
@srubenfeld.bsky.social
senior reporter, financial crime and corruption, MLex.

Talk for hours, I hardly know ya
But I, I'm listening

https://www.mlex.com/mlex/financial-crime
Pinned
NEW: My colleagues and I joined the @nyguild.bsky.social after ratifying our contract, a side-letter to the @law360union.bsky.social collective bargaining agreement.

nyguild.org/post/newsgui...
NEWSGUILD OF NEW YORK WELCOMES MLEX US WORKERS
NEW YORK –  Editorial workers at LexisNexis regulation news websites MLex US and FTCWatch are joining The NewsGuild of New York as part of Law360 Union.
nyguild.org
Reposted by Samuel Rubenfeld (he/him)
Friday night news dump: Trump just opened a marine national monument to commercial fishing.

Environmentalists worry that fishing in the area could damage sensitive ecosystems and habitats for endangered whales and other species. Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2026/02/06/c...
Trump Opens Marine National Monument in Atlantic to Commercial Fishing
www.nytimes.com
February 7, 2026 at 2:01 AM
Reposted by Samuel Rubenfeld (he/him)
always disorienting when you say it out loud that minnesota is still under occupation
February 7, 2026 at 4:24 AM
Reposted by Samuel Rubenfeld (he/him)
UPDATE: The layoffs announcements at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution are trickling in. They include:

• Allie Gross, an investigative reporter, and
• Jozsef Papp, a crime and public safety reporter

So far, all of the (publicly) laid-off reporters are women and/or people of color.
BREAKING: @ajc.com on Tuesday evening said it will lay off approximately 50 staffers, about 15% of its headcount, as it seeks to cut costs and marshal resources to invest in its growth.

The AJC published its last print edition on 12/31. About half of those laid off will come from the newsroom.
The AJC to cut staff as it continues digital transformation
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution said Tuesday it will lay off staffers in the newsroom and other segments of the business.
www.ajc.com
February 5, 2026 at 6:59 PM
Reposted by Samuel Rubenfeld (he/him)
(CBS News) - U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has said he had "limited interactions" with Jeffrey Epstein, but documents show they were in business together as recently as 2014.

@cbsnews.com
www.cbsnews.com/news/howard-...
Lutnick and Epstein were in business together, Epstein files show
Though the commerce secretary has called his interactions with Epstein as "limited," the two were in business together four years after Epstein's 2008 guilty plea.
www.cbsnews.com
February 7, 2026 at 4:07 AM
Reposted by Samuel Rubenfeld (he/him)
Damn i remember some big lawsuits of broadcasters over editing of events showing WH figures
February 7, 2026 at 4:29 AM
Reposted by Samuel Rubenfeld (he/him)
I wrote about Savannah Guthrie's video plea, and how it collapsed the usual distance between audience and media figure [giftie] www.nytimes.com/2026/02/05/a...
Savannah Guthrie’s Video Shows a Rare and Anguished Reality
www.nytimes.com
February 6, 2026 at 2:40 PM
Reposted by Samuel Rubenfeld (he/him)
The American figure skater's unapologetic queerness feels more important than ever.
Amber Glenn, a queer icon from Texas, is about to make Olympic history
The American figure skater's unapologetic queerness feels more important than ever.
bit.ly
February 7, 2026 at 1:40 AM
Reposted by Samuel Rubenfeld (he/him)
Federal and local law enforcement officials in Las Vegas are investigating a possible illegal laboratory in a residential subdivision that they say may be linked to another similar investigation in California.
F.B.I. Investigates Links to Biological Labs in Las Vegas and California
The Las Vegas lab had vials of a “reddish liquid,” the police said. The California lab, uncovered in 2023, had materials “possibly associated with infectious diseases,” officials said.
nyti.ms
February 7, 2026 at 3:00 AM
Reposted by Samuel Rubenfeld (he/him)
Absolute scenes throughout: Frank Seddio talking about eggplant parm; Frank Carone backing Bichotte’s unendorsement; Bichotte undoing her own unendorsement; Darlene Mealy talking to reporters to literally “won’t say”; Farah Louis and Bichotte being pals again — www.politico.com/news/2026/02...
Brooklyn Democrats’ fiasco over Hochul endorsement reveals a party in disarray
The decision to temporarily pull backing is viewed by many as driven by a personal vendetta.
www.politico.com
February 7, 2026 at 3:12 AM
They will stop at nothing in their goal to kill you and your family.
Federal vaccine advisers are setting their sights on the next targets: the mRNA Covid shots, and vaccines offered to pregnant women. One panelist, Robert Malone, says he is “trying to force FDA to come clean” on data showing harms of COVID shots
Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2026/02/06/h...
Federal Vaccine Advisers Take Aim at Covid Shots
www.nytimes.com
February 7, 2026 at 4:05 AM
Reposted by Samuel Rubenfeld (he/him)
At the National Prayer Breakfast, President Donald Trump spoke from prepared remarks as he discussed the persecution of Mariam Ibrahim. But then the president appeared to ad-lib – and claimed that he was the one who got Ibrahim freed.
‘I did that’: Trump takes credit for a prisoner release that happened before he even ran for president | CNN Politics
At the National Prayer Breakfast on Thursday, President Donald Trump spoke from prepared remarks as he discussed the persecution of Mariam Ibrahim. Ibrahim was unjustly imprisoned and sentenced to dea...
www.cnn.com
February 7, 2026 at 3:33 AM
Reposted by Samuel Rubenfeld (he/him)
AWFUL news tonight. This blesses the “mandatory” detention in the 5th Circuit without bond (and little chance at habeas) of every undocumented immigrant who originally entered across the border, no matter how many decades in the past.

It will fuel ICE’s push to transfer people to Texas immediately.
BREAKING: A 5th Circuit panel has backed ICE's mass detention policy, a decision that clears the way for the administration to lock up people who are in immigration proceedings

It's a 2-1 ruling
Majority: Jones (Reagan), Duncan (Trump)
Minority: Douglas (Obama)

s3.documentcloud.org/documents/26...
February 7, 2026 at 3:20 AM
Reposted by Samuel Rubenfeld (he/him)
Breaking: A divided 5th Circuit panel upheld the Trump administration's policy of placing people arrested in its immigration crackdown in mandatory detention without an opportunity to be released on bond. It's the first appeals court to uphold it. www.reuters.com/world/us/us-...
US appeals court upholds Trump's immigration detention policy
A divided federal appeals court upheld on Friday the Trump administration's policy of placing people arrested in its immigration crackdown in mandatory detention without an opportunity to be released ...
www.reuters.com
February 7, 2026 at 3:49 AM
Reposted by Samuel Rubenfeld (he/him)
Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is seeking to leverage her popularity to help her party win Sunday’s snap election as she pushes her right-wing agenda to boost her country's economy and military capabilities in the face growing tensions with China and an unpredictable Washington.
Japan's first female prime minister counts on her popularity to help her party win Sunday's election
Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is seeking to leverage her popularity to help her party win Sunday’s snap election as she pushes her right-wing agenda to boost her country's economy and military capabilities in the face growing tensions with China and an unpredictable Washington.
bit.ly
February 7, 2026 at 4:00 AM
Reposted by Samuel Rubenfeld (he/him)
SCOTUS BOUND: 5th Circuit, 2-1, backs Trump admin's authority to detain undocumented immigrants who've been in US for years without bond hearings to argue for release. Majority: Jones (Reagan)/Duncan(Trump). Dissent: Douglas (Biden). Via @kyledcheney.bsky.social
www.politico.com/news/2026/02...
Appeals court backs Trump’s mass detention policy
The ruling from the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals contradicts thousands of lower-court rulings.
www.politico.com
February 7, 2026 at 2:49 AM
Maybe he should stop going to games
Knicks owner James Dolan is here in Detroit.
February 7, 2026 at 2:48 AM
Reposted by Samuel Rubenfeld (he/him)
NewsGuard, a company that rates the reliability of online news outlets, is suing President Trump’s FTC for censorship and allegedly barring a major ad agency from using its ratings because it disagrees with its assessments of right-wing channels.
A company that rates news sites says the Trump administration is strangling it
NewsGuard sues Trump’s FTC alleging censorship after Chairman Andrew Ferguson barred a major ad agency from using its ratings
www.washingtonpost.com
February 7, 2026 at 2:30 AM
Reposted by Samuel Rubenfeld (he/him)
The Trump administration is attempting to eliminate most opportunities for immigrants with deportation orders to appeal cases, the government’s latest step to strip immigrants of due process rights so they can be deported faster. on.wsj.com/4qFE6Sd
Trump Administration to Curtail Immigrant Appeals of Deportation Decisions
The changes are part of a new policy that aims to strip immigrants of rights in the legal process.
on.wsj.com
February 7, 2026 at 2:33 AM
Reposted by Samuel Rubenfeld (he/him)
???
February 7, 2026 at 2:31 AM
Reposted by Samuel Rubenfeld (he/him)
Climate superfund bills are gaining momentum despite DOJ lawsuits against the only 2 states have passed them, NY and Vermont. Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2026/02/06/c...
Climate ‘Superfund’ Bills Spread Nationwide, Despite Legal Battles
www.nytimes.com
February 6, 2026 at 5:33 PM
Reposted by Samuel Rubenfeld (he/him)
A federal judge on Friday gave advocates and the Justice Department six days to fix what she described as a vast disconnect in evidence regarding the treatment of immigrant detainees in Minnesota. www.courthousenews.com/judge-blasts...
Judge blasts 'enormous gap' in feds' defense over blocking detainees' access to counsel
If an agreement is not made between the opposing parties in the next week, a federal judge will likely rule in favor of advocates.
www.courthousenews.com
February 7, 2026 at 12:58 AM
Reposted by Samuel Rubenfeld (he/him)
Ukrainian mother's joy after phone call with son she thought had been killed
Ukrainian mother's joy after phone call with son she thought had been killed
Nazar Daletskyi's family were sure he had been killed and had buried what they thought was his body in 2023.
www.bbc.com
February 7, 2026 at 1:08 AM
Reposted by Samuel Rubenfeld (he/him)
Battered by concussions, some former N.F.L. players are desperately searching for help beyond conventional medicine.

In this story, two of them (Derek Anderson and Brian Cushing) travel to Colorado to try psilocybin mushrooms.

www.nytimes.com/2026/02/05/u...
N.F.L. Careers Scarred Their Brains. Could Mushrooms Provide Relief?
www.nytimes.com
February 6, 2026 at 11:27 PM
Reposted by Samuel Rubenfeld (he/him)
New: Trump's administration tonight told a Boston judge that his proposal that it issue a student visa to a Babson College student it deported to Honduras in violation of a court order is "unfeasible" and said ICE declines to facilitate her return. www.reuters.com/world/us/tru...
Trump administration won't let student deported to Honduras return
President Donald Trump's administration on Friday called a judge's proposal that the government issue a student visa to a college student it deported to Honduras in violation of a court order "unfeasi...
www.reuters.com
February 7, 2026 at 1:26 AM