Stories Speak Volumes: Jan 18-Jan 23
A Round-Up of National and International News
Compiled by
There are so many stories making up the mosaic of national/international news that we can’t cover them all every week. The biggest stories now seem to be: Israel and Iran, the Trump presidency (lawfare and judges), immigration (migrants and illegals), wars, weaponization of government (the deep state) against Trump and conservatives, our nation’s debt, massive inflation, climate change controversy and related expenses of government, industry attempting to address these issues, the Chinese threat, national security, abortion, taxpayer cuts, Ukraine peace, and hatred and violence against Christians. Here are just a few:
Arizona’s Democrat AG Kris Mayes: ICE ‘Officers’ Are Not ‘Real Law Enforcement’
Jan. 24: Breitbart by Awr Hawkins
During an interview aired by 12 News, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes (D) said she does not consider Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) “officers” to be “real law enforcement.” She specifically put the word “officers” in quotation marks, saying, “I put that in air quotes because I don’t think they are real law enforcement.”
Obamas Urge People to ‘Draw Inspiration’ From Anti-ICE Protesters
Jan. 25: Gateway Pundit by Ben Kew
The Obamas have denounced the “heartbreaking tragedy” of the latest death of an anti-ICE protester in Minnesota. The former president and First Lady have responded to the death of 37-year-old Alex Jeffrey Pretti, who was killed after trying to wrestle ICE agents while armed with a loaded firearm. In a post on the X platform, Obama said that Americans should “draw inspiration” from those attempting to interfere with President Trump’s policy of mass deportations.
Since Trump returned to the White House last year, Obama has largely stayed quiet on the administration’s agenda. His latest intervention, however, suggests he views the disruption of federal law enforcement and the rights of illegal aliens as a fight worth taking on.
Tim Walz Compares ICE Raids To Nazis Arresting Anne Frank
Jan. 25: Gateway Pundit by Cassandra MacDonald
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz compared President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement operations to the Nazis’ arresting Anne Frank during a press conference on Sunday at the State Emergency Operations Center in Blaine. This isn’t Walz’s first time comparing immigration enforcement to Nazi Germany.
Minnesota’s sanctuary policies, under his leadership, have long hindered federal immigration efforts. DHS has repeatedly warned about a surge in violence against its officers, attributing it to “radical rhetoric” from sanctuary politicians. In a statement earlier this month, DHS reported an unprecedented 1,300% increase in assaults on ICE officers and a 3,200% increase in vehicular attacks compared to previous years.
Arizona Police Association Slams Attorney General Kris Mayes For Encouraging Leftists To Shoot And Kill ICE Agents
Jan. 26: Gateway Pundit by Jordan Conradson
The Arizona Police Association, one of the state’s largest law enforcement advocacy organizations, issued a statement late last week, rebuking Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes after she suggested that Arizonans would be justified in shooting and killing ICE agents. As The Gateway Pundit reported, Mayes, in a recent televised interview, suggested that you have the right to kill masked ICE agents in Arizona.
Mayes’s police liaison, David Harvey, has since resigned from his position, likely due to her calls for violence against law enforcement officials The organization further notes that law enforcement officers, including those in Arizona and members of the Attorney General’s own security detail, sometimes wear plainclothes or nontraditional police uniforms with face coverings when necessary.
White House: Trump Wants Minnesota ‘Resistance and Chaos to End Today’
Jan. 26: Breitbart by Nick Gilbertson
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Monday, following President Donald Trump’s phone call with Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN), that Trump wants the “resistance and chaos” in Minnesota to end immediately.
Before Leavitt laid out the president’s demand and his four-point plan to return to “law and order” in Minnesota during Monday’s White House press briefing, she said that Democrat leaders in the state, “with sanctuary city policies, have actively defied federal immigration law and the will of the people.”
Leavitt said that Customs and Border Protection (CBP) would not be needed to support Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in Minnesota if Walz and Frey adopt “these common sense cooperative measures that I will add, have already been implemented in nearly every single other state across the country.”
On top of this, Trump is calling for Congress to pass legislation to put an end to sanctuary cities.
Private Jet That Crashed in Maine Was Registered to Anti-ICE Lawyers Spending Millions to Elect Democrats in Texas
Jan. 26: Gateway Pundit by Cassandra MacDonald
The private jet that crashed during takeoff from Bangor International Airport in Maine on Sunday evening is registered to prominent anti-ICE lawyers who were spending tens of millions of dollars to elect Democrats in the upcoming Texas primaries.
The crash resulted in seven fatalities and one serious injury. The jet was registered to Arnold & Itkin Trial Lawyers, known for its aggressive litigation and leftist political activism, including substantial financial support for Democrat causes, particularly those opposing strict immigration enforcement and Republican policies in Texas.The Texas Voice previously reported: Two liberal personal injury law firms that have combined to spend over $11 million thus far in the 2026 election cycle – including spending to influence Texas Republican Primary elections – have boasted about their work representing illegal immigrants on their firm websites. On his website, Kurt Arnold of the Arnold & Itkin law firm brags about obtaining the “largest settlement for an undocumented worker in United States history.”
CA Billionaire Democrat Supporters Having Buyer’s Remorse as Progressives Push ‘Tax the Rich’ Measure
Jan. 26: Red State by Becky Noble
“The 2026 Billionaire Tax Act” was first talked about in October of 2025, after the ballot initiative was filed with the California Attorney General’s Office by the Service Employees International Union – United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU-UHW). The initiative allegedly proposes a one-time five percent wealth tax on California billionaires. The revenue would presumably go to fund healthcare, including illegal immigrants on Medi-Cal.
PirateWires’ Mike Solana spoke with 21 billionaires. Most of whom are planning on leaving the state. The breadth of work experience among this group is impressive, and ranges from artificial intelligence, defense, cryptography, security, biotechnology, finance, general software development, and venture capital. The combined worth of the companies the group owns is around $1.3 trillion, and they employ roughly 50,000 people.
One of the venture capitalists of the group told Solana bluntly: “If this tax actually passes, I think the technology industry kind of has to leave the state. Because every person running a company will have to look at the math, and they will think, ‘Well obviously that cannot happen because it will literally destroy the company.’”
Another in the group had this to say about the proposed bill: “If it does or doesn’t pass, this is the single most radicalizing red pilling thing to ever happen to push them into the arms of the Republican Party, and I think it makes clear, more than anything else that happens, that it’s not about helping the poor but impoverishing the rich, and the pain is part of the point. That’s a new realization for a lot of people.”
One billionaire, seeing the state money grab for what it is, said: “I think 100 percent of people who are looking at this understand it is being marketed as a one-time thing, but it will not be one time, and it will not only target billionaires. Once the structure is put in place, it is going to expand.”
There Is Absolutely Nothing Historically Unprecedented or Dangerous About Using the Insurrection Act
Jan. 27: Red State by Adam Turner
The Founding Fathers – George Washington, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson – all used the Insurrection Act. The modern Democrat “Gods” – Franklin Roosevelt and John Kennedy – both employed the Insurrection Act. Recent Republican Presidents – Ronald Reagan and George Bush I – both applied the Insurrection Act.
What’s unfolding in Minneapolis right now isn’t “protest.” It’s low-level insurgency infrastructure, built by people who’ve clearly studied the playbook. Signal groups at 1,000-member cap per zone. Dedicated roles: mobile chasers, plate checkers logging vehicle data into shared databases, 24/7 dispatch nodes vectoring assets, SALUTE-style reporting (Size, Activity, Location, Unit, Time, Equipment) on suspected federal vehicles. Daily chat rotations and timed deletions to frustrate forensic recovery. Vetting processes for new joiners. Mutual aid from sympathetic locals (teachers providing cover, possible PD tip-offs on license plate lookups). Home-base coordination points. Rapid escalation from observation to physical obstruction—or worse.
Why Beijing Is Concerned About Losing the Islamic Republic Regime
Jan. 27: Red State by Erik Durnelka
The world watches closely as the brave people of Iran protest against the Islamic Republic (IR) regime. Regime security forces have killed thousands of people as part of a crackdown on the protests, with an estimate placing the death toll for January 8 and 9 at more than 36,500. President Trump urged Iranians to “keep protesting,” telling them that “help is on the way.”
The USS Abraham Lincoln and its strike group have arrived in the Middle East. The Pentagon is surging other military assets to the region as well. According to Al Arabiya, a Saudi state-owned news outlet, the U.S. will conduct a multi-day readiness drill in the Middle East. The Ayatollah is reportedly in hiding.
China’s partnership with the Islamic Republic is shaped by its energy needs and geostrategic interests. In 2021, Beijing and Tehran signed a 25-year agreement to boost cooperation in the areas of energy, infrastructure, technology, and security. China purchases approximately 90 percent of Iran’s oil, with Iranian crude accounting for almost a quarter of China’s oil imports. This sanctioned oil is sold at heavily discounted prices primarily to Chinese teapot refineries, roughly 25 percent of Beijing’s refining capacity. These refineries are highly dependent on Iranian oil.
Iran also functions as a strategic foothold for China in the Middle East. Tehran and Beijing cooperate with one another to counter American influence in the region. China has helped fuel Iran’s nuclear weapons programs and is arming Iran-backed Houthi militants. Chinese weapons have also ended up in the hands of Hamas, and Gaza’s tunnels were reportedly built with the assistance of People’s Liberation Army advisors and engineers.
Iran sits at the crossroads of the Middle East, Central Asia, and Europe, making it a key node in China’s Belt and Road Initiative. Beijing has a strategic interest in Iran’s ports. In 2025, a railway connecting Iran and China was launched. This new land route cuts freight travel times by half and allows both countries to circumvent sanctions. Iran’s rail authority claims that around 40 Chinese freight trains arrived in the country in 2025, a sharp increase from just seven trains over the past seven years.
James O’Keefe: Leftist Agitators Admit Who’s Funding Anti-ICE Protests
Jan. 27: Gateway Pundit by Cristina Laila
James O’Keefe and his team went undercover inside of the Minnesota mob and got the leftist agitators to admit who’s funding the anti-ICE protests. “Our team went undercover inside the mob and was surrounded as agitators admitted what groups they worked with on hidden cameras. An entire network of NGOs, unions, and activist groups including “SEIU”, “Make the Road New York”, and the “Independent Socialist Group” are all behind this chaos,” James O’Keefe said.
James said a hodgepodge of NGOs and nonprofits are funding the anti-ICE protests.
Another nonprofit, “Make The Road New York,” received $16 million in government grants.
Donald Trump Speaks at Trump Accounts Summit
Jan. 28: Breitbart by Noah Dulis
“President Trump’s Working Families Tax Cuts include a new revolutionary program – Trump Accounts – giving the future of America, a stake in America,” the Treasury Department stated. “Trump Accounts allows parents, guardians, or other custodians to establish a new type of tax-advantaged individual retirement account for their children.”
“Children born between January 1, 2025, and December 31, 2028, are eligible to receive $1,000 from the Treasury as a pilot program contribution,” they explained. “In addition to the pilot program, parents can contribute up to $5,000/year, and employers up to $2,500/year.”
Trump Nominates Colin McDonald as Head of New Fraud Division at Justice Department
Jan. 28: The Epoch Times by Naveen Athrappully
President Donald Trump announced a head for the new national fraud enforcement division of the Justice Department in a Jan. 28 post on Truth Social. “I am pleased to nominate Colin McDonald to serve as the first ever Assistant Attorney General for National FRAUD Enforcement, a new Division at the Department of Justice, which I created to catch and stop FRAUDSTERS that have been STEALING from the American People,” Trump said, adding that fraud schemes recently uncovered in Minnesota and California were found to have stolen “hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars.”
Trump announced the creation of the Department of Justice’s new division for national fraud enforcement on Jan. 8 for combating the “pervasive problem of fraud” in the country. The division will enforce criminal and civil laws against fraud targeting federal government programs, federally funded benefits, businesses, nonprofits, and private citizens nationwide The issue has come into the spotlight with the uncovering of alleged widespread fraud schemes in states such as Minnesota.
ICE And CBP To ‘Draw Down’ Number of Forces in Minnesota After Tom Homan Strikes Deal with State Officials
Jan. 29: Gateway Pundit by Cullen Linebarger
President Trump’s decision to send Border Czar Tom Homan has paid dividends that should ease tensions and enable ICE and CBP agents to focus their attention elsewhere. During a press conference in Minneapolis on Thursday, Homan announced that he had reached an agreement with state officials such as Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison.
Homan told reporters that Minnesota officials have agreed to hand over criminal aliens to ICE. Homan went on to explain that Minnesota officials will also notify ICE when dangerous criminal illegals are being released so that ICE can pick them up.
Due to this agreement, ICE agents will now begin pulling back in Minnesota so they can focus on other targets elsewhere.
Two Million Casualties in Ukraine War by Spring, Says Study
Jan. 29: Breitbart by Oliver JJ Lane
More than twice as many Russian soldiers have been killed than Ukrainians in the course of the Ukraine war so far and the conflict is close to hitting two million casualties, analysis claims. Russia is suffering “massive numbers of fatalities and total casualties” and the “blood cost” of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine turning into a protracted war is becoming a “Russian vulnerability”, a report on the state of military losses in the war by the Center for Strategic and International Studies claims.
The total number of military casualties for both sides continues to rise and, at present rates of loss, will hit two million this Spring, they claimed. Included in this are approximately 1.2 million Russian casualties including killed in action, wounded, and missing, with 415,000 new casualties in 2025 alone.
Of those 1.2 million casualties since February 2022, it is estimated that between 275,000 and 325,000 Russian troops have been killed, the report states. This is a considerable number; it is more than all American battlefield deaths in Korea, Vietnam, Gulf War, Afghanistan and Iraq combined, and is five times higher than all Russian-Soviet wars since the Second World War combined.
The grim two million casualty milestone rapidly approaching is a significant advance on the 1.4 million casualties reckoned in Summer 2025.
Former CNN Anchor Don Lemon Arrested for Church Riot
Jan 30: Breitbart by John Nolte
Don Lemon, a former CNN anchor, was arrested Thursday night in Los Angeles, according to news reports. The specific charges have not been released, but it is believed he will be charged with what’s known as the Ku Klux Klan Act, or the Enforcement Act of 1871, which outlaws interfering with civil rights, like religious worship.
Lemon was part of a gang of January 18 rioters who stormed St. Paul’s Cities Church earlier this month. The Trump administration said this was a violation of the FACE Act. This arrest warrant was the result of a grand jury indictment.
Cities Church Responds to Don Lemon Arrest
Jan. 30: The Daily Signal by Tyler O’Neil
Cities Church, the St. Paul, Minnesota, church invaded by agitators opposing Immigration and Customs Enforcement, responded Friday after federal agents arrested former CNN host Don Lemon.Thursday night in Los Angeles.
“We are grateful that the Department of Justice acted swiftly to protect Cities Church so that we can continue to faithfully live out the church’s mission to worship Jesus and make him known,” Jonathan Parnell, the church’s lead pastor, said in a statement.
Renee Carlson and Doug Wardlow, the attorneys for True North Legal who represent Cities Church, also celebrated the arrests.
Trump Picks Warsh to Lead Federal Reserve
Jan. 30: Breitbart by John Carney
President Donald Trump said Friday he intends to nominate Kevin Warsh as the next chairman of the Federal Reserve, marking a comeback for the former Fed governor who was passed over for the top job in 2017.
Warsh, 55, served on the Fed’s Board of Governors from 2006 to 2011 and has advised Trump on economic policy. He will succeed Jerome Powell when his term expires in May, pending Senate confirmation. Trained as a lawyer, Warsh would be the second attorney in a row to lead the central bank.
Mike Hernandez is co-founder of the Citizens Journal–Ventura County’s online news service and writes for CitizensJournal.net and MountainTopMedia.com. He is a former Southern California daily newspaper journalist and religion and news editor, writer of “Prayer Over News Daily” and edits the weekly “Stories Speak Volumes” and other columns. Mr. Hernandez mentors citizen journalists with trainings held every other month (on Saturdays at Shasta Bible College and online) and can be contacted at MikeHernandezMedia.com.