Politics Chat, February 5, 2026

Senator Ron Wyden’s open letter to CIA Director John Ratcliffe, a Minnesota courtroom transcript reveals systemic failures inside DHS, Democrats’ demands to rein in federal immigration enforcement before further DHS funding, warning signs of masked federal agents, fallout from the Epstein files and Brad Karp’s resigns from Paul Weiss, mounting concern over Trump’s efforts to rig the 2026 elections through gerrymandering and voter suppression, and Trump’s latest return to the Big Lie. Get full access to Letters from an American at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe