3-Point Shots: Tuesday, February 3, 2026
On why things are worse than they appear.
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Tuesday, February 3, 2026
This is a “No B.S., calling it as I see it” edition of Three-Point Shots.
1. There’s been no “de-escalation” in Minneapolis.
After the American people reacted with justifiable horror and anger at the murder of two innocent Americans in Minneapolis during the month of January, President Trump said it was time to “de-escalate” things there. He reassigned the Nazi-adjacent ICE commander Greg Bovino and replaced him with the corruption-adjacent ICE hack Tom Homan.
However, the Trump Administration’s immigration enforcement record in Minneapolis does not suggest much has changed. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) continues to carry out arrests that sweep well beyond the administration’s stated focus on violent offenders. Community organizations and local attorneys repeatedly report encounters in which long-time residents with deep family and work ties to the city are detained for minor infractions or past immigration violations.
The administration also relies heavily on tactics that blur the line between federal enforcement and community life. ICE arrests near courthouses and during routine check-ins create a chilling effect, discouraging immigrants from appearing in court, reporting crimes, or cooperating with police. Minneapolis officials and advocates warn that this dynamic makes the city less safe overall, as trust between immigrant neighborhoods and public institutions eroded. De-escalation, in this context, would mean reducing fear and encouraging civic participation; instead, enforcement strategies often achieve the opposite.
Taken together, these realities suggest that the Trump Administration’s rhetoric about de-escalation has not translated into practice in Minneapolis. Enforcement remains violent and disruptive, leaving immigrant communities to bear the consequences of a policy approach that prioritizes displays of toughness over building stability and trust.
2. Dems Pull Off a Surprise in Tarrant County: What Does it Mean?
It’s no big secret that the GOP’s fortunes in partisan elections last year were not good. From New York City to Miami, Democrats won races thought unwinnable just months before.
Saturday, Democrat Taylor Rehmet defeated Republican Leigh Wambsganss for the SD-9 seat in Tarrant County formerly occupied by GOPer Kelly Hancock. Rehmet won by 14 points in a district that Donald Trump carried by 17 points just last year – a 31-point swing, for the less mathematically inclined. Rehmet will replace – until next January, at least – Kelly Hancock, the GOP incumbent who is the Acting State Comptroller.
(Taylor Rehmet, Man of the Hour)
Rehmet’s victory is striking for several reasons. Senate District 9, encompassing parts of Tarrant County including Fort Worth and surrounding suburbs, had not elected a Democrat in over three decades and long served as a Republican stronghold. Furthermore, his campaign was significantly outspent by Wambsganss’s, yet his message on economic issues, affordability, and support for working families resonated strongly with voters.
Of course, the oracles are a-flutter, their tea leaves predicting everything from GOP loss of the U.S. Senate (the House seems a foregone conclusion) to the defeat of Greg Abbott by Gina Hinojosa. None of this is likely to happen, but the Democrats have some reason to be optimistic with primaries just a month away.
3. An Honorable Lawyer? At the DOJ???
The defining characteristic of the Department of Justice under Donald Trump is its contemptuous disregard for the justice system and the laws it is required to enforce. That is certainly true at the top, where hacks like Pam Bondi and Todd Blanche mock the laws they are supposed to enforce on a daily basis.
But the DOJ has over 10,000 attorneys and even Bondi and Blanche can’t keep up with getting them to act unethically in service of the Trump agenda. Joyce Vance tells the following story in her “Civil Discourse” Substack, to which I heartily urge you to subscribe:
… Julie Le is a Special Assistant United States Attorney (SAUSA) in Minneapolis. SAUSAs are often hired into temporary positions or to increase manpower in a specific area, but they can also come into a U.S. Attorney’s Office on a detail from another federal agency or even as unpaid volunteers.
Julie Le volunteered to help with the flood of cases filed by immigrants arguing they had been improperly detained during Project Metro Surge in Minneapolis. Today, Le was the lawyer sent into court to explain the Department of Homeland Security’s failure to comply with court orders requiring the immediate release of detainees to Federal Judge Jerry Blackwell.
He was all business with Le in court today, when he asked why court orders were being disobeyed.
Paul Blume with Fox9 in St. Paul reported on what happened next: “SHOCKING FEDERAL COURT MOMENT: DOJ attorney Julie Le, “The system sucks, this job sucks” to Judge Jerry Blackwell who pressed her on why so many court orders are being ignored by ICE/Trump admin. She asked to be held in contempt just so she could get 24 hours of sleep.”
Blume continued, “Judge Blackwell had ordered the SHOW CAUSE hearing because he was frustrated that in 5 Habeas cases he was presiding over, he felt his orders were being ignored, leaving immigrant detainees unconstitutionally locked up for days. Ms. Le said that govt lawyers just cannot keep up.”
“I am here to make sure the agency understands how important it is to comply with court orders,” Le, who reportedly became “visibly emotional,” said during the hearing. She told the Judge new procedures are being put in place to bring ICE into compliance with court orders, but acknowledged “it has been like pulling teeth and has required non-stop work in an already depleted office.”
There would not be these administrative problems were it not for the fact they were arresting too many people, though. I think clogging the system of adjudication was probably part of the plan. If we can't deport them, let's throw them in detention and let them wait until courts get around to their cases, years from now.
Not a lot of choices here: A gun in one hand, a bottle of quaaludes in the other. Or maybe I should wait until the Trump Colossus is erected in the rotunda.