Jim Bourg

Longtime wire service Editor In Charge of Washington. Current independent DC journalist. Public Impact News Substack at:

[ProPublica @propublica]

At one time, the future of offshore wind “looked limitless,” said one New England mayor.

But as the Trump administration has frozen new offshore wind farms and paid developers billions to pack up shop, workers have watched opportunity disappear.
https://t.co/h9nevrF4yF

[Liam McCollum @MLiamMcCollum]

Thomas Massie says there are three possibilities for @DraftMassie 2028:

1. Run in the Republican Party
2. Run Independent, or
3. Take over the Libertarian Party to rebrand it as the American Liberty Party

He says nothing is off the table and he's going to explore data on each

[Flightradar24 @flightradar24]

Before, during, and after the nationwide ground stop on 13 November in the United States. Thousands of flights were affected by IT equipment issues as the FAA cleared the national airspace system. Flight cancellations have topped 10,000.

[Homeland Dems @HomelandDems]

What the hell is going on?

Trump and his cabinet are completely out of their depth. Their incompetence, secrecy, and recklessness are putting Americans in danger—and they can’t even clearly explain to the American people what’s happening.

[Anna Giaritelli @Anna_Giaritelli]

I’ve spoken with 60 air traffic controllers tonight about what Sean Duffy said at the White House today. None of them are buying what he said because they said these types of switches that the FAA is doing, they don’t happen during the day, they don’t happen during busy times like a Friday afternoon. They’re doing these midweek, middle of the night when there is no air traffic going on. The controllers were saying, “We don’t buy that this is actually what’s happening, the reason that Sean Duffy is saying this has happened.”

[Jim Bourg @jimbourg]

Really great job for your first time asking questions in the briefing room yesterday, @lukeradel. Helen Thomas, Sam Donaldson and so many others who have gone before you (and who have generally taken years to get up to speed and the level of poise, incisive questioning, and professionalism you showed) would be proud. You killed it. And the way you hung on for the follow-ups was a masterclass in working that room. WELL DONE. Look forward to seeing you there soon.

[Acyn @Acyn]

WOW MULLIN SAYS THE UPGRADES DUFFY PUT IN CAUSED THE OUTAGE

“The new technology was overwhelming the older system”

[Flightradar24 @flightradar24]

Airspace clearing above the United States tonight as flights land, but cannot take off, as the FAA’s nationwide ground stop continues. Ground stop was issued at 20:54 UTC.

[Aishah Hasnie @aishahhasnie]

I'm told this is not remotely close to what happened

[Sarah Fitzpatrick @S_Fitzpatrick]

There have been recent discussions in the WH and at DOJ about how to force journalists to reveal their sources in government. Among the possible tactics discussed: *arrests* of journalists according to 3 people familiar with the matter. @TheAtlantic https://t.co/rySy4JPhop

[Molotov @ipoolgian]

🚨 IMPORTANTE

Exclusiva de Reuters muestra el verdadero móvil de la operación militar que llevó a la captura de Maduro

La investigación reveló que una semana antes de la operación militar del 3 de enero, el vicepresidente JD Vance abordó la futura venta del crudo venezolano con un operador de la firma Vitol y megadonante de su campaña, allanando el camino para que Vitol y Trafigura recibieran sin licitación el monopolio de comercialización petrolera que ya les ha generado cientos de millones de dólares.

Registros de vuelo ubican el avión oficial de JD Vance y el jet privado de John Addison (operador de Vitol) juntos el 27 de diciembre en Bozeman, Montana, rumbo al exclusivo Yellowstone Club.

Según una fuente enterada del encuentro, Vance preguntó qué tan rápido podrían vender el crudo venezolano si EEUE tomaba el control del suministro.

Aunque Addison negociaba gasolina en EEUU y carecía de experiencia técnica en contratos internacionales de crudo, había donado 300.000 dólares a Vance en 2022 y 7 millones de dólares a comités de Trump en 2024 (el mismo año en que Vitol pagó 50 millones en California por un caso de manipulación de precios donde Addison fue señalado).

Recomendado por Vance, Addison recibió el 5 de enero (dos días después de la operación) la llamada del secretario de Energía, Chris Wright.

La Casa Blanca omitió la licitación pública y el 9 de enero Vitol y Trafigura ya tenían las licencias.

Con más de 200 millones de barriles exportados en lo que va de 2026, expertos estiman que los operadores ganan entre 3 y 3,50 dólares por barril (un margen de 3,5 % a 4 %, superior al 1 %–3 % habitual de Vitol). Ambas firmas mantienen en secreto sus contratos con PDVSA, y Vitol confirmó tener además relación comercial con NABEP, la petrolera de Alejandro Betancourt

Este reporte se suma a la filtración del informe de KPMG publicada ayer por The New York Times, según la cual Vitol y Trafigura concentraron el 61 % de los 12.260 millones de dólares ingresados a la Cuenta de Custodia de Venezuela antes de que Washington transfiriera casi la totalidad de esos fondos de vuelta al Banco Central de Venezuela

Es decir:

Una semana antes del ataque militar, el gobierno de Trump ya estaba coordinando en un club privado de esquí cómo repartir la comercialización del petróleo venezolano a sus megadonantes de campaña sin licitación pública.

https://t.co/U3MFGkmOn9

[James E. Clyburn @RepJamesClyburn]

I hope everyone takes a good hard look at this picture.

Trump’s under-construction ballroom is now bigger than the rest of the White House. Much bigger.

The contrast says everything you need to know about this President and his priorities.

[CantStopPoppin @CantStopPoppin]

For anyone who hasn't heard about this yet: ICE showed up at the front door of Dr. Ann Lawani in Lodi, California, while she was still in her pajamas, shackled her at the wrists, waist, and ankles, and shipped her all the way to a detention center in Louisiana.

She’s a frontline nurse who worked through the worst of COVID, directs the master's nursing program at the University of San Francisco (overseeing 230+ nursing students), and takes care of her 83-year-old dad.

When her family and lawyer tried to find out where she was taken, ICE’s online locator came back with "0 results." It turns out ICE quietly changed its policy the day before her arrest to stop listing thousands of detainees in the public database, so her family had no idea where she was for days while she was bounced from Stockton to Bakersfield to El Paso to Louisiana.

DHS put out a statement claiming she had a 2013 removal order, but they conveniently left out that on the *exact same day* in 2013, an immigration judge granted her Withholding of Removal blocking her deportation to Nigeria because she faced persecution there.

She has zero criminal record, has checked in with ICE for 13 years, and has a valid federal work permit through 2029. Because they legally can't send her to Nigeria, Rep. Josh Harder says ICE has been trying to quietly deport her to an undisclosed third country behind her lawyer's back.

Full write-up and breakdown of what happened here:
https://t.co/cu2O8Gz0Md

Support independent coverage & frontline updates:
https://t.co/cRnzhrQHyV

[Jessica Huseman @JessicaHuseman]

I’ve just checked, and Hannity also claimed to be leaving the Catholic Church in 2017, 2019 and this April.

[Jim Bourg @jimbourg]

This is absolutely normal at the Tomb of the Unknown soldier - and anyone behaving like that at ANY TIME would get yelled at exactly like that, as the soldiers there are ordered to do so, in order to maintain a 100% quiet and respectful environment whenever visitors are present. I have heard it happen multiple times there with tourists exactly as it transpired here. @atrupar

[Aaron Rupar @atrupar]

wow -- CNN broadcast footage of an Arlington guard yelling at a group with Pete Hegseth to "MAINTAIN SILENCE ... PAY RESPECT!" after someone in his entourage started laughing at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

[Katie Benner @ktbenner]

ICE agent who fatally shot an immigrant in Maine talked of foreign bloodlines, denounced noncitizens and more, according to emails
My story w.@AlexandraBerzon
https://t.co/ofCD3vg6K4

[Susan @susanbordson]

NYT 🎁 🔗 from the reporter on this.

The reporting provides more evidence that the Dept of Homeland Security has not properly vetted or trained ICE agents and also hires agents who hold strong anti-immigrant ideology

[Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @ReichlinMelnick]

NEW: The @nytimes confirms that ICE deliberately electronically "disappeared" tens of thousands of people in detention and ordered contractors to refuse to reveal where they're held to family or lawyers.

30% of all immigrants detained in ICE jails now have their location hidden.

[Krystal Ball @krystalball]

Alex Karp now says that Palantir is progressive, he’s always been a Democrat, Trump went too far on immigration and his primary commitment is to economic justice. LMAOOOOOO

[Aaron Rupar @atrupar]

Trump: "Green Beret Ryan Hendrickson was leading his team through a Taliban-held village in Afghanistan at 3 in the morning when he was stepped on by enemy. I mean, he was the enemy, the enemy was all over. He made the mistake. A mistake that people understood when they were in the battles, jungles."