Tangle

Over the last couple of months, our inbox has been inundated with questions about the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and Customs and Border Protection (CBP).Readers from across the political spectrum are trying to separate fact from fiction: Can ICE actually arrest U.S. citizens? What are my rights when a Border Patrol officer talks to me? How are all of these agents being trained amid a massive hiring push by the Trump administration? Online and in the opinion sections of news outlets, misinformation has been rampant. In our own coverage, we’ve tried to address some of these questions, but the answers are often legally nuanced and impossible to sum up in a single sentence, a post on X, or a thirty-second TikTok video. Today, though, we’re going to address them in detail. Ad-free podcasts are here!To listen to this podcast ad-free, and to enjoy our subscriber only premium content, go to ReadTangle.com to sign up!You can subscribe to Tangle by clicking here or drop something in our tip jar by clicking here. Our Executive Editor and Founder is Isaac Saul. Our Executive Producer is Jon Lall.This podcast was written by: Isaac Saul, Ari Weitzman, Audrey Moorehead, Russell Nystrom and audio edited and mixed by Dewey Thomas. Music for the podcast was produced by Diet 75.Our newsletter is edited by Managing Editor Ari Weitzman, Senior Editor Will Kaback, Lindsey Knuth, Bailey Saul, and Audrey Moorehead.

On todays episode of Suspension of the Rules, Isaac, Ari and Kmele are chatting live in person about the Epstein files, opinions about Jasmine Crockett, The Washington Post lay offs and an airing of grievances section where Isaac airs it out about why his Tangle team is incompetent. It's a good one!Ad-free podcasts are here!To listen to this podcast ad-free, and to enjoy our subscriber only premium content, go to ReadTangle.com to sign up!You can subscribe to Tangle by clicking here or drop something in our tip jar by clicking here. Our Executive Editor and Founder is Isaac Saul. Our Executive Producer is Jon Lall.This podcast was hosted by: Isaac Saul and edited and engineered by Dewey Thomas. Music for the podcast was produced by Jon Lall.Our newsletter is edited by Managing Editor Ari Weitzman, Senior Editor Will Kaback, Lindsey Knuth, Bailey Saul, and Audrey Moorehead.

On Friday, the Justice Department published approximately three million pages of materials related to the government’s investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said this release concluded the department’s review of files related to Epstein, having released roughly 3.5 million pages in total. The release was mandated by the Epstein Files Transparency Act, a law passed in November 2025 with near-unanimous Congressional approval. Ad-free podcasts are here!To listen to this podcast ad-free, and to enjoy our subscriber only premium content, go to ReadTangle.com to sign up!You can read today's podcast⁠ ⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠, our “Under the Radar” story ⁠here and today’s “Have a nice day” story ⁠here⁠.You can subscribe to Tangle by clicking here or drop something in our tip jar by clicking here. Take the survey: What do you think of the latest Epstein release? Let us know.Our Executive Editor and Founder is Isaac Saul. Our Executive Producer is Jon Lall.This podcast was written by: Isaac Saul and audio edited and mixed by Dewey Thomas. Music for the podcast was produced by Diet 75.Our newsletter is edited by Managing Editor Ari Weitzman, Senior Editor Will Kaback, Lindsey Knuth, Bailey Saul, and Audrey Moorehead.

On Friday, President Donald Trump announced his nomination of former Federal Reserve Governor Kevin Warsh to be the next chair of the Federal Reserve, choosing him to succeed current Chairman Jerome Powell when Powell’s term expires in May 2026. The nomination will now go to the Senate for confirmation, where Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) has vowed to block its advancement in the Senate Banking Committee until a Justice Department probe into Powell is resolved. Ad-free podcasts are here!To listen to this podcast ad-free, and to enjoy our subscriber only premium content, go to ReadTangle.com to sign up!You can read today's podcast⁠ ⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠, our “Under the Radar” story ⁠here and today’s “Have a nice day” story ⁠here⁠.You can subscribe to Tangle by clicking here or drop something in our tip jar by clicking here. Take the survey: What do you think of Warsh’s nomination? Let us know.Our Executive Editor and Founder is Isaac Saul. Our Executive Producer is Jon Lall.This podcast was written by: Will Kaback and audio edited and mixed by Dewey Thomas. Music for the podcast was produced by Diet 75.Our newsletter is edited by Managing Editor Ari Weitzman, Senior Editor Will Kaback, Lindsey Knuth, Bailey Saul, and Audrey Moorehead.

On Thursday night, former CNN anchor and independent journalist Don Lemon was arrested in Los Angeles and charged with federal civil rights violations for his alleged actions at a protest inside a Minnesota church in January. The Department of Justice charged Lemon, activist Nekima Levy Armstrong, Minnesota-based journalist Georgia Fort, and six others with conspiracy to interfere with the civil rights of church congregants and with violating the federal Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act. Lemon, who has maintained that he was covering the protest as a journalist, was released without bond after appearing in federal court on Friday afternoon. His next hearing is scheduled for February 9 in Minneapolis.Ad-free podcasts are here!To listen to this podcast ad-free, and to enjoy our subscriber only premium content, go to ReadTangle.com to sign up!We’re hiring.Applications are open for a part-time role on the Tangle editorial team. This remote position will involve in-depth research and editing work on the daily newsletter, as well as opportunities to contribute to our podcast, YouTube, and social media channels. We are accepting applications until Tuesday, February 10 at 11:59 PM ET. To learn more about the position and how to apply, click here.You can read today's podcast⁠ ⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠, our “Under the Radar” story ⁠here and today’s “Have a nice day” story ⁠here⁠.You can subscribe to Tangle by clicking here or drop something in our tip jar by clicking here. Take the survey: What do you think of the church protest? Let us know.Our Executive Editor and Founder is Isaac Saul. Our Executive Producer is Jon Lall.This podcast was written by: Isaac Saul and audio edited and mixed by Dewey Thomas. Music for the podcast was produced by Diet 75.Our newsletter is edited by Managing Editor Ari Weitzman, Senior Editor Will Kaback, Lindsey Knuth, Bailey Saul, and Audrey Moorehead.

Kanye West says he’s sorry. And I forgive him.I first wrote about West’s antisemitic rants in 2022, when he began engaging with the world of antisemitism. And, in some narrow ways, I defended him: I pleaded with people to accept that some of the stereotypes he was calling out were actually tied to realities we should discuss, that we can explain the overrepresentation of “The Jews” — my people — in the entertainment industry, while also calling out West when his ranting tipped into paranoia and conspiracy.In the months and years since, West — who now goes by Ye — has been using increasingly unhinged language. His reality has become more and more divorced from the one you and I share. He apologized in 2023, then took it back; by 2025, he was back to posting Nazi propaganda on social media, selling merchandise adorned with swastikas, and dropping club anthems lionizing Hitler. His social media activity made clear that he was either all the way down the rabbit hole or in the depths of a mental crisis, and following him went from angering to amusing to alarming. I stopped defending him and started blaming him for the rise in antisemitism among his fans, and more broadly for the normalization of antisemitism across our culture. Ad-free podcasts are here!To listen to this podcast ad-free, and to enjoy our subscriber only premium content, go to ReadTangle.com to sign up!You can subscribe to Tangle by clicking here or drop something in our tip jar by clicking here. Our Executive Editor and Founder is Isaac Saul. Our Executive Producer is Jon Lall.This podcast was written by: Isaac Saul and audio edited and mixed by Dewey Thomas. Music for the podcast was produced by Diet 75.Our newsletter is edited by Managing Editor Ari Weitzman, Senior Editor Will Kaback, Lindsey Knuth, Bailey Saul, and Audrey Moorehead.

On todays episode of Suspension of the Rules, Isaac, Ari and Kmele talk about how you should actually handle interactions about law enforcement, a little bit about Kanye West and then a heated grievance section about 5k worth of podcasting gear being stolen from Isaac's office. Isaac then wraps up the episode with a great interview with Elliot Williams, about of his new book Five Bullets, the story of Bernie Goetz and the shooting that tore New York City and the country apart.Ad-free podcasts are here!To listen to this podcast ad-free, and to enjoy our subscriber only premium content, go to ReadTangle.com to sign up!You can subscribe to Tangle by clicking here or drop something in our tip jar by clicking here. Our Executive Editor and Founder is Isaac Saul. Our Executive Producer is Jon Lall.This podcast was hosted by: Isaac Saul and edited and engineered by Dewey Thomas. Music for the podcast was produced by Jon Lall.Our newsletter is edited by Managing Editor Ari Weitzman, Senior Editor Will Kaback, Lindsey Knuth, Bailey Saul, and Audrey Moorehead.

On Monday, President Donald Trump announced that border czar Tom Homan would go to Minnesota to oversee immigration enforcement efforts. Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino, who had previously spearheaded the operations, reportedly left Minnesota on Tuesday along with an unspecified number of Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agents; Bovino returned to his previous post in California. Separately, two Customs and Border Patrol agents who fired guns in the Saturday shooting death of 37-year-old U.S. citizen Alex Pretti were placed on leave; Bovino had previously shared that the agents had been reassigned to another state but were still working. The moves follow widespread, bipartisan scrutiny of DHS over Pretti’s death and the earlier shooting death of 37-year-old U.S. citizen Renee Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer.Ad-free podcasts are here!To listen to this podcast ad-free, and to enjoy our subscriber only premium content, go to ReadTangle.com to sign up!You can read today's podcast⁠ ⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠, our “Under the Radar” story ⁠here and today’s “Have a nice day” story ⁠here⁠.You can subscribe to Tangle by clicking here or drop something in our tip jar by clicking here. Take the survey: Do you think DHS should adjust its methods? Let us know. Our Executive Editor and Founder is Isaac Saul. Our Executive Producer is Jon Lall.This podcast was written by: Isaac Saul and audio edited and mixed by Dewey Thomas. Music for the podcast was produced by Diet 75.Our newsletter is edited by Managing Editor Ari Weitzman, Senior Editor Will Kaback, Lindsey Knuth, Bailey Saul, and Audrey Moorehead.