Day 309

Secretive $7.5 Million Deal Sends 66 Deportees to Equatorial Guinea, Then On to the Countries They Fled

The Trump administration paid Equatorial Guinea $7.5 million in a secretive third-country deportation deal, sending 66 people on seven flights between November 2025 and August 2026, many of whom US immigration judges had granted withholding of removal or Convention Against Torture protection. Equatorial Guinea is rated 5 out of 100 by Freedom House and told deportees asylum was not available. All 29 people on the first two flights were later sent back to their countries of origin, according to Third Country Deportation Watch.

Pentagon Censures Sen. Mark Kelly and Moves to Cut His Rank Over 'Illegal Orders' Video; Court Finds Likely First Amendment Retaliation

In November 2025 six Democratic lawmakers with military or intelligence backgrounds released a video telling service members they can refuse illegal orders. President Trump called it "SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!" and said the lawmakers should be "ARRESTED AND PUT ON TRIAL." The Pentagon opened a misconduct review of Sen. Mark Kelly, a retired Navy captain; on 5 January 2026 Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a formal letter of censure and began proceedings to reduce Kelly's retired grade and pension. Federal prosecutors sought to indict the lawmakers, but a D.C. grand jury declined, according to multiple sources cited by ABC News and NPR. On 12 February 2026 Judge Richard Leon enjoined the censure, finding the actions likely retaliation for protected speech.

GHF winds down

GHF announces it is ending its mission in Gaza, citing the October ceasefire (Al Jazeera).

From: Gaza Humanitarian Foundation: US-Funded Aid Scheme Where Hundreds Were Killed Seeking Food (May–November 2025)

OPM Director says 'DOGE doesn't exist' — 317,000 removed

OPM Director claims 'DOGE doesn't exist' as a formal government entity while acknowledging that approximately 317,000 federal employees were removed from the workforce during its period of operation, representing the largest federal workforce reduction in modern history.

From: DOGE-Directed Mass Firings and Forced Resignations of Federal Workers

Both indictments dismissed

Judge Cameron McGowan Currie dismisses both the Comey and James indictments, finding that prosecutor Lindsey Halligan was unlawfully appointed in violation of Section 546 and the Appointments Clause.

From: Weaponization of the Department of Justice: Retaliatory Investigations and Prosecutions