Good morning, I’m Thom Hartmann, and welcome to Raw America.
We have a lot to get to this morning. A Washington grand jury just humiliated the Trump Justice Department by refusing to indict Democratic lawmakers who told soldiers to follow the Constitution. Three Republican congressmen cracked open the wall protecting Trump’s job-killing tariff regime. The FAA has mysteriously shut down all airspace over El Paso, Texas for ten days with no explanation. And Kristi Noem is in freefall after two Americans were killed by her immigration agents in Minneapolis, with even her own ICE director refusing to defend her on Capitol Hill. It is Wednesday, February 11th, and democracy is fighting back. Let’s get into it.
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Grand Jury Rebukes Trump Justice Department
Six Democratic lawmakers made a video telling military members to follow established protocols and refuse orders they believe to be unlawful. Every one of them served in the military or intelligence community before Congress. What they said is entirely consistent with long-standing military law.
Trump called it seditious and posted that the offense was “punishable by death.” The Justice Department opened a criminal investigation. The FBI started calling the lawmakers in for interviews. And then a grand jury of Washington citizens heard the evidence and said no. They refused to indict Senators Mark Kelly and Elissa Slotkin, or Representatives Jason Crow, Chrissy Houlahan, Maggie Goodlander, and Chris Deluzio.
Grand jury rejections are extraordinarily rare. The fact that it keeps happening in Washington tells you everything about the gap between what this Justice Department is selling and what it can actually prove. Kelly called it “an outrageous abuse of power.” Slotkin called it a win for the Constitution, while noting it was “another sad day for our country.” She’s right on both counts.
Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is separately trying to strip Kelly of his retired Navy captain rank. A federal judge heard arguments last week and appeared skeptical. Kelly is suing to stop what he calls unconstitutional retaliation. The courts, like that grand jury, may not give this administration what it wants.
CBS Producers “Jumping Ship” Over MAGA Makeover
Institutional capture is playing out in real time outside of Washington. Over at CBS Evening News, a different kind of purge is underway: The network is hemorrhaging staff after editor-in-chief Bari Weiss, who was installed by a Trump donor who bought CBS, herself installed Tony Dokoupil as anchor and began remaking the newsroom in a distinctly MAGA-friendly image.
At least six of the roughly 20 producers working on CBS Evening News have taken voluntary buyouts ahead of company-wide layoffs. Eleven total staffers chose the exit ramp after a buyout offer went out to over 40 non-union employees. Insiders describe it as people jumping ship, and who could blame them?
Weiss, a former opinion columnist with zero professional experience in television news, essentially dared the newsroom to quit if they couldn’t embrace her vision. Translation: Become propagandists or get out.
The ratings tell their own story: Dokoupil’s show has been rapidly losing viewers since he took over in January, and the decline shows no sign of stabilizing. Audiences can smell the transformation happening, and the staff exodus and cratering ratings suggest viewers and journalists alike recognize propaganda when they see it.
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Something Big Is Happening Over El Paso
Wednesday morning, the FAA shut down all airspace over El Paso, Texas. It’s a ten-mile radius up to 18,000 feet. For ten full days, through February 21st. The stated reason: “special security.” That is all the Trump administration has offered.
Aviation experts are calling it unprecedented. Former FAA Safety Team member Kyle Bailey told Fox News this kind of restriction normally lasts a day or two for a VIP visit. A ten-day lockout at 18,000 feet over a major American city has not happened since after September 11th. Bailey suspects military testing at one of the two bases in El Paso. Any plane that violates the restriction can be shot down.
El Paso has nearly 700,000 residents. The government has sealed their sky and will not say why. In a healthy democracy, that answer would be demanded and provided. We will stay on this story.
Noem’s Own ICE Director Won’t Defend Her
Kristi Noem is in serious trouble, and Tuesday’s congressional hearing made it impossible to ignore. Todd Lyons, the acting ICE director she appointed, was asked repeatedly whether Noem should resign following the deaths of two Americans in Minneapolis. He refused to answer every time.
Those two Americans were Renee Good, a 37-year-old mother of three shot by an ICE agent as she tried to drive away from a protest, and Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse shot multiple times after stepping in to help a woman agents had shoved to the ground. The administration called both of them violent threats. Video evidence and witnesses say otherwise. Nearly 150 lawmakers are backing impeachment proceedings against Noem.
When Rep. Eric Swalwell asked Lyons to apologize to Renee Good’s family for the president calling her a domestic terrorist, Lyons said no. When Swalwell asked whether Good was, in fact, a domestic terrorist, Lyons wouldn’t answer that either.
Trump told reporters Noem is doing “a very good job.” But he has quietly handed operational control of the Minneapolis operation to border czar Tom Homan, cutting Noem out of the enforcement effort she championed. A Quinnipiac poll last month found 58 percent of Americans want her removed. Only 34 percent want her to stay.
When your own people won’t defend you in public, and the president is praising you while privately replacing you, the clock is usually running.
That is Raw America for this Wednesday morning. Share this with someone who needs it. Become a subscriber if you haven’t already. And we will see you back here tomorrow.
I’m Thom Hartmann. Stay engaged, stay informed, and never stop fighting for the America we know is possible. Good morning.
