{"id":15620,"date":"2026-01-27T19:00:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-28T03:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bradblog.com\/?p=15620"},"modified":"2026-01-27T19:06:02","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T03:06:02","slug":"trump-blinks-bovino-out-mn-op-falters-but-continues-as-midterm-accountability-looms-bradcast-1272026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bradblog.com\/?p=15620","title":{"rendered":"Trump Blinks, Bovino Out, MN Op Falters but Continues as Midterm Accountability Looms: &#8216;BradCast&#8217; 1\/27\/2026"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/BradBlog.com\/Images\/BradCast_Bovino_012726.jpg\" hspace=\"6\" vspace=\"3\" border=\"0\" align=\"right\">We&#8217;ve got a <i>lot<\/i> to get to on today&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/BradBlog.com\/BradCast\"><i>BradCast<\/i><\/a>. While much of our coverage may seem like a grab bag from the headlines above, you&#8217;ll find there is a central theme at its heart. I think. [<i>Audio link to full show follows this summary.<\/i>]\n<p>Among our coverage today&#8230;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>We begin with the darkest news, so things can only get brighter from there, right? The <b>Bulletin of Atomic Scientists<\/b>, keepers of the notorious <b>&#8220;Doomsday Clock&#8221;<\/b> reveal their <a href=\"https:\/\/thebulletin.org\/doomsday-clock\/2026-statement\/\">latest adjustment<\/a>, ticking the metaphorical timepiece from last year&#8217;s 89 seconds to midnight, to just 85 seconds to humanity&#8217;s end this year. The group of science advocates cited increasing risk of nuclear warfare, worsening human-caused climate change (<b>Donald Trump<\/b> was singled out there) and other threats to civilization itself, such as the misuse of biotechnology and artificial intelligence.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Buffoonish, Nazi-ish <b>U.S. Customs and Border Patrol<\/b> chief enforcement clown, <b>Gregory Bovino<\/b>, is <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/shooting-minneapolis-protests-ice-immigration-lawsuit-5bd12d70d3c76bfe5eacd802ce7480a7\">pushed out<\/a> following the latest killing of another U.S. citizen over the weekend in his violent, chaotic <b>Minneapolis<\/b> operation. New villains are <a href=\"https:\/\/talkingpointsmemo.com\/morning-memo\/bovino-is-out-as-trump-recasts-lead-goon-role\">rotated in<\/a> by the White House, even as Trump appears to try and <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/trump-pretti-minnesota-immigration-enforcement-eb9e63a625b624d2ba4ed467cb0f956c\">play nice<\/a> with his mortal enemies, <b>Minnesota<\/b>&#8216;s Democratic Gov. <b>Tim Walz<\/b> and Minneapolis Mayor <b>Jacob Frey<\/b>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>But there are even more signs that the courageous people of Minneapolis are winning this one, even if the battle is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/jan\/27\/minnesota-ice-raids-alex-pretti-killing-dhs-report\">far from over<\/a>. The chief federal judge in Minnesota (a <b>George W. Bush<\/b> appointee) has <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/immigration-enforcement-minnesota-ice-b0cec9d1c5bae4b62469011775082300\">ordered in-person testimony<\/a> from the Acting Director of <b>ICE<\/b>, after the Administration has repeatedly failed to comply with court orders regarding immigrant rights. The judge has ordered him to explain why he should not be held in contempt by the court.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Trump&#8217;s corrupt U.S. Attorney General <b>Pam Bondi<\/b>&#8216;s thuggish <a href=\"https:\/\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/mn_letter_1.24.26.pdf\">letter<\/a> to Minnesota&#8217;s Gov. Walz &#8212; sent to the state just after the border patrol agent <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2026\/01\/25\/nx-s1-5687875\/minneapolis-shooting-minnesota-ice-alex-pretti-dhs-investigation\">execution<\/a> of 37-year old VA ICU nurse and U.S. citizen <b>Alex Pretti<\/b> over the weekend &#8212; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/jan\/26\/pam-bondi-minnesota-voter-rolls-ice-surge\">landed with a thud<\/a>, after she essentially suggested the federal immigration crackdown would end only if the state turned over its voter roll data to the federal government. Voting rights and election law experts described the move as <a href=\"https:\/\/electionlawblog.org\/?p=153962\">&#8220;reprehensible&#8221;<\/a>.  Bondi has sued some 23 states who refused to comply with the demand. Two weeks ago, a federal judge in <b>California<\/b> <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/california-voter-data-justice-department-lawsuit-0305190ba958051bb86741ac00da36a7\">dismissed<\/a> the DOJ&#8217;s lawsuit against the state, finding it &#8220;unprecedented and illegal&#8221;. Last week, a judge in <b>Georgia<\/b> <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/georgia-voter-information-lawsuit-9429dd306e9aa70cd4c823927cfae101\">dismissed<\/a> the lawsuit in the Peach State. And yesterday, a federal judge in <b>Oregon<\/b> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/justice-department\/federal-judge-dismisses-doj-lawsuit-seeking-oregon-voter-rolls-rcna256069\">dismissed<\/a> the DOJ&#8217;s suit there. In the meantime, MN Sec. of State <b>Steve Simon<\/b> has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2026\/01\/26\/nx-s1-5688964\/minnesota-data-bondi-letter\">explained<\/a> that he has no intention of violating state or federal law to answer Bondi&#8217;s &#8220;ransom note&#8221;.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>As we <a href=\"https:\/\/bradblog.com\/?p=15612\">covered last week<\/a>, a recent federal review of nearly 50 million voter registrations <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/01\/14\/us\/politics\/noncitizen-voters-save-tool.html?unlocked_article_code=1.GFA.HX_i.k3IDsa5y4fxJ&#038;smid=url-share\">found zero evidence<\/a> of widespread fraud by noncitizens on the voter rolls in state after state, county after county. In a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.democracydocket.com\/news-alerts\/utah-reviewed-its-voter-rolls-for-noncitizens\/?utm_campaign=13200977-Free%20Newsletter%20Emails&#038;utm_medium=email&#038;_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_8aQ0s-8Npw-J-rRqpfHvPmbA8NFc8uEzvrpOjNUOGB5unl7kqzDHJdvGiunZONZ1iymWHuRZmCzDZXJaYc\">new report<\/a> late last week, out of more than two million active voter registrations in <b>Utah<\/b>, the state was able to find just one single noncitizen on its rolls. The state found that the person never voted and has since been removed from the rolls. Utah is another state that has correctly refused to turn over its unredacted voter data to Bondi and the DOJ.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>In news from the front lines of the Trump\/GOP <b>Gerrymandering Wars<\/b>, Democrats in <b>Maryland<\/b> are now <a href=\"https:\/\/www.democracydocket.com\/news-alerts\/maryland-democrats-introduce-redistricting-legislation-to-counter-trump-gerrymanders\/\">moving ahead<\/a> with a plan to draw a new map designed to flip the state&#8217;s last remaining Republican U.S. House district from &#8220;red&#8221; to &#8220;blue&#8221;. And a state judge in <b>Virginia<\/b>, just before airtime today, <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/virginia-judge-rules-redistricting-plans-illegal-aa92e2eceeef476b4045b31c2c5affdc?utm_source=onesignal&#038;utm_medium=push&#038;utm_campaign=2026-01-27-Breaking+News#\">declared<\/a> the effort by state Democrats to adopt a constitutional amendment to redraw its U.S. House map to flip as many as 4 or 5 seats from &#8220;red&#8221; to &#8220;blue&#8221; this year to be unlawful. Proponents of the measure accuse Republican opponents as forum shopping for a friendly judge and vow to appeal his ruling.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Finally, Desi Doyen joins us for <a href=\"https:\/\/bradblog.com\/?p=15619\">our latest <i>Green News Report<\/i><\/a> following the weekend&#8217;s deadly <b>winter storm<\/b> across much of the U.S.; as House Republicans vote to overturn a decades-long ban on <b>toxic mining<\/b> in MN; as Michigan&#8217;s Attorney General sues the <b>Big Oil<\/b> &#8220;cartel&#8221;; and as a judge blocks Trump&#8217;s attempt to withhold funding for a national <b>EV charging network<\/b> adopted by Democrats under President Biden&#8230;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<blockquote><p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\".\/Images\/Speaker_Icon_24.png\" style=\"width: 24px; float: none; vertical-align: middle;\"><span style=\"font-size: 18px; line-height: 18px;\"> <b><i><a href=\"https:\/\/BradBlog.com\/audio\/BradCast_BradFriedman-DoomsdayClock-BovinOutMN-VoterRollSuitOR-GerrymanderMD-OR_012726.mp3\">CLICK TO LISTEN OR DOWNLOAD SHOW!&#8230;<\/a><\/i><\/b><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><center><b>* * *<\/b><\/center><i>While we post <a href=\"https:\/\/BradBlog.com\/BradCast\"><\/i>The BradCast<i><\/a> here every day, and you can hear it across all of our great affiliate stations and websites, to automagically get new episodes as soon as they&#8217;re available sent right to your computer or personal device, subscribe for free at <a href=\"https:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/the-bradcast-w-brad-friedman\/id803467610\">iTunes<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pandora.com\/podcast\/the-bradcast-w-brad-friedman\/PC:1000025838\">Pandora<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/tunein.com\/radio\/The-BradCast-with-Brad-Friedman-p477565\/\">TuneIn<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.iheart.com\/podcast\/256-the-bradcast-w-brad-friedm-30973643\/\">iHeart<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/The-BradCast-w-Brad-Friedman\/dp\/B08JJRN86R\/ref=sr_1_1\">Amazon<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/bradblog.com\/podcastgen\/bradcast\/feed.xml\">our native RSS feed<\/a>!<\/i><\/p>\n<p><!--BB-DONATEPITCH-START--><\/p>\n<div style=\"background:#f5f0e0; border:2px solid #6b5a2e; border-radius:6px; padding:10px 14px; text-align:center; font-family:Georgia,serif;\"><span style=\"display:block; margin:0 0 8px 0; color:#3a2e0e; font-size:0.95em; line-height:1.5;\"><strong>The BRAD BLOG<\/strong>, <em>The BradCast<\/em> and <em>Green News Report<\/em> are all 100% independent and 100% listener and reader supported!<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/bradblog.com\/Donate\" style=\"display:inline-block; background:#6b5a2e; color:#ffffff; padding:6px 18px; border-radius:4px; font-weight:bold; text-decoration:none; font-family:Georgia,serif; font-size:0.9em;\">Please CLICK HERE to help support our work today!<\/a><\/div>\n<p><!--BB-DONATEPITCH-END--><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We&#8217;ve got a lot to get to on today&#8217;s BradCast. While much of our coverage may seem like a grab bag from the headlines above, you&#8217;ll find there is a central theme at its heart. I think. [Audio link to full show follows this summary.] Among our coverage today&#8230; We begin with the darkest news, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[192,89,675,1300,543,223,513,479,2053,753,548,1110,1129,261,477,2037,102,784,219,501,540,51,872,126,1484,198,31,105,243],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-15620","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-accountability","category-media-appearance","category-bradcast","category-cbp","category-climate-change","category-dept-of-justice","category-dhs","category-donald-trump","category-election-2026","category-electric-vehicles","category-extreme-weather","category-gerrymandering","category-ice","category-immigration","category-kpfk","category-kristi-noem","category-maryland","category-mining","category-minnesota","category-nuclear-power","category-oil","category-oregon","category-pam-bondi","category-rights-and-freedoms","category-tim-walz","category-us-house","category-utah","category-virginia","category-voter-registration"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bradblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15620","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bradblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bradblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bradblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bradblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15620"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bradblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15620\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bradblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15620"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bradblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15620"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bradblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15620"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bradblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcoauthors&post=15620"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}