steven monacelli
@stevanzetti.bsky.social
special investigative correspondent @texasobserver.org • columnist @thebarbedwire.com • contributor @coolzonemedia.bsky.social • publisher @proteanmag.com • send tips via Signal: stevanzetti.12
Read & support my work: https://linktr.ee/Stevanzetti
Read & support my work: https://linktr.ee/Stevanzetti
Pinned
ICE Prosecutor Who Runs Racist X Account Returns to Dallas Immigration Court
James Rodden, who the Observer identified last year as the operator of the account that routinely posted hateful statements, appeared to be back at work Tuesday.
www.texasobserver.org
BREAKING: James Rodden, an ICE prosecutor who the Observer identified last year as the operator of an X account that posted “America is a White nation," “‘Migrants’ are all criminals,” and apparent praise of Adolf Hitler, appeared to be back at work Tuesday.
www.texasobserver.org/ice-prosecut...
www.texasobserver.org/ice-prosecut...
Some personal news: I've changed my name
February 11, 2026 at 7:37 PM
Some personal news: I've changed my name
Reposted by steven monacelli
Court battle over surveillance footage at the Broadview ICE detention center reaches new levels of kafkaesque absurdity: The DOJ claimed it *couldn't afford* hard drives to put video footage on. Plaintiffs bought THE US GOVERNMENT hard drives. ICE "lost" them.
www.404media.co/government-l...
www.404media.co/government-l...
Government Loses Hard Drives It Was Supposed to Put ICE Detention Center Footage On
A Kafkaesque saga in which the government has failed to produce critical video footage has reached new levels of absurdity.
www.404media.co
February 11, 2026 at 6:09 PM
Court battle over surveillance footage at the Broadview ICE detention center reaches new levels of kafkaesque absurdity: The DOJ claimed it *couldn't afford* hard drives to put video footage on. Plaintiffs bought THE US GOVERNMENT hard drives. ICE "lost" them.
www.404media.co/government-l...
www.404media.co/government-l...
Reposted by steven monacelli
EXCLUSIVE: A whistleblower tells @thebarbedwire.com he spent years burying radioactive fracking waste, which melted the bones in his neck and jaw. Then a residential community — and an elementary school — was built on top. 🧵
thebarbedwire.com/2026/02/11/a...
thebarbedwire.com/2026/02/11/a...
Whistleblower Says Radioactive Fracking Waste Site Melted His Jaw. Now There’s an Elementary School There.
Then an elementary school was built on top of it.
thebarbedwire.com
February 11, 2026 at 3:05 PM
EXCLUSIVE: A whistleblower tells @thebarbedwire.com he spent years burying radioactive fracking waste, which melted the bones in his neck and jaw. Then a residential community — and an elementary school — was built on top. 🧵
thebarbedwire.com/2026/02/11/a...
thebarbedwire.com/2026/02/11/a...
Reposted by steven monacelli
For decades, Texas let drillers spread staggering amounts of radioactive and PFAS-ridden waste on the fringes of the nation’s fourth largest metro area — while making it virtually impossible for the public to know where.
Absolutely fucking insane story from @saulelbein.bsky.social today
Absolutely fucking insane story from @saulelbein.bsky.social today
Whistleblower Says Radioactive Fracking Waste Site Melted His Jaw. Now There’s an Elementary School There.
Then an elementary school was built on top of it.
thebarbedwire.com
February 11, 2026 at 12:35 PM
For decades, Texas let drillers spread staggering amounts of radioactive and PFAS-ridden waste on the fringes of the nation’s fourth largest metro area — while making it virtually impossible for the public to know where.
Absolutely fucking insane story from @saulelbein.bsky.social today
Absolutely fucking insane story from @saulelbein.bsky.social today
Reposted by steven monacelli
"audit logs from six Texas school districts show campus camera feeds are captured in a national database that police agencies across the country can access."
Police departments across the US are quietly leveraging school district security cameras to assist Donald Trump’s mass immigration enforcement campaign, an investigation by @the74.bsky.social reveals.
Local police aid ICE by tapping school cameras amid Trump’s immigration crackdown
Local police assisted federal immigration agents by repeatedly searching school cameras that record license plate numbers, data show
www.theguardian.com
February 10, 2026 at 11:02 PM
"audit logs from six Texas school districts show campus camera feeds are captured in a national database that police agencies across the country can access."
Reposted by steven monacelli
NEW via me and @alejacorazonhm.bsky.social: Cardinal Blase Cupich, who runs the Archdiocese of Chicago, says that DHS has stopped priests under his purview and demanded proof of citizenship “because of their color.” religionnews.com/2026/02/10/c...
Cardinal Cupich says feds stopped priests, demanded citizenship proof
(RNS) — ‘I’ve had some priests who are of a different color being targeted and arrested — stopped — because of their color and asking them to prove that they’re citizens. That’s not America,’ the Chic...
religionnews.com
February 10, 2026 at 11:53 PM
NEW via me and @alejacorazonhm.bsky.social: Cardinal Blase Cupich, who runs the Archdiocese of Chicago, says that DHS has stopped priests under his purview and demanded proof of citizenship “because of their color.” religionnews.com/2026/02/10/c...
Reposted by steven monacelli
NEW: ICE has a plan to lease offices across the US as part of a secret, months-long expansion campaign.
Today, @wired.com is publishing dozens of those locations. Many are near schools, medical offices, and places of worship.
Vital work from @leahfeiger.bsky.social that I'm proud to publish.
Today, @wired.com is publishing dozens of those locations. Many are near schools, medical offices, and places of worship.
Vital work from @leahfeiger.bsky.social that I'm proud to publish.
ICE Is Expanding Across the US at Breakneck Speed. Here’s Where It’s Going Next
ICE plans to lease offices throughout the US as part of a secret, months-long expansion campaign. WIRED is publishing dozens of these locations.
www.wired.com
February 10, 2026 at 4:13 PM
NEW: ICE has a plan to lease offices across the US as part of a secret, months-long expansion campaign.
Today, @wired.com is publishing dozens of those locations. Many are near schools, medical offices, and places of worship.
Vital work from @leahfeiger.bsky.social that I'm proud to publish.
Today, @wired.com is publishing dozens of those locations. Many are near schools, medical offices, and places of worship.
Vital work from @leahfeiger.bsky.social that I'm proud to publish.
???
Rep. Mark Alford (R-TX) revealed that House Republicans are "investigating" Bad Bunny's Super Bowl halftime show because they suspect it was "much worse than the Janet Jackson wardrobe malfunction.
House GOP launches Bad Bunny probe: 'Worse than the Janet Jackson wardrobe malfunction'
Rep. Mark Alford (R-TX) revealed that House Republicans are "investigating" Bad Bunny's Super Bowl halftime show because they suspect it was "much worse than the Janet Jackson wardrobe malfunction."During a Tuesday interview on Real America's Voice, Alford told the hosts that he and other House Repu...
bit.ly
February 10, 2026 at 3:06 PM
???
Reposted by steven monacelli
If you swap Islam out to a different religion and think about how outraged that group and folks would be if what was said about Muslims was said about them... it is pretty clear what this is about.
Without a Border ‘Invasion,’ Texas G.O.P. Turns to an Old Enemy, Islam
www.nytimes.com
February 10, 2026 at 1:50 PM
If you swap Islam out to a different religion and think about how outraged that group and folks would be if what was said about Muslims was said about them... it is pretty clear what this is about.
Reposted by steven monacelli
Our MOLLY Award Submissions are now OPEN! Our annual prize for investigative journalism is open to both print and digital outlets, with an annual award of $5000.
Stories can be submitted until March 20. Find out how to enter your work here:
Stories can be submitted until March 20. Find out how to enter your work here:
The Molly Awards Submissions
SUBMISSIONS ARE NOW OPEN. The MOLLY Investigative Journalism Prize is an annual award of $5,000, open to national print and digital outlets. The deadline for submissions is 11:59 PM CST on Friday…
www.texasobserver.org
February 3, 2026 at 8:53 PM
Our MOLLY Award Submissions are now OPEN! Our annual prize for investigative journalism is open to both print and digital outlets, with an annual award of $5000.
Stories can be submitted until March 20. Find out how to enter your work here:
Stories can be submitted until March 20. Find out how to enter your work here:
It's always a pleasure when I call someone and their greeting is "I can't tell if it's a good thing or a bad thing that you're calling me"
February 9, 2026 at 10:59 PM
It's always a pleasure when I call someone and their greeting is "I can't tell if it's a good thing or a bad thing that you're calling me"
Are there any Dallas zoning heads that follow me
February 9, 2026 at 10:57 PM
Are there any Dallas zoning heads that follow me
Going to the jazz uncle function, or as we like to call it, the junction
February 9, 2026 at 2:54 PM
Going to the jazz uncle function, or as we like to call it, the junction
How many times can a man be brutally frame mogged before he loses the light of God
February 9, 2026 at 2:41 PM
How many times can a man be brutally frame mogged before he loses the light of God
Thanks to ProPublica for citing my prior @texasobserver.org report in their story about how an "election fraud" researcher who is a convicted bathroom voyeur may be fueling the federal government's investigations
February 9, 2026 at 2:02 PM
Thanks to ProPublica for citing my prior @texasobserver.org report in their story about how an "election fraud" researcher who is a convicted bathroom voyeur may be fueling the federal government's investigations
A post from Texas Governor Greg Abbott today clearly indicates he is factoring the political views of public school students into his narrative justifying a state takeover of a local school district.
February 8, 2026 at 4:51 PM
A post from Texas Governor Greg Abbott today clearly indicates he is factoring the political views of public school students into his narrative justifying a state takeover of a local school district.
AI tools that claim to be able to detect media bias are incredibly unreliable. Here's a report from Biasly, analyzing an article in the Dallas Express, a website funded by a GOP megadonor that employs a former GOP operative and candidate as its CEO and has routinely boosted GOP candidates...
February 8, 2026 at 4:21 PM
AI tools that claim to be able to detect media bias are incredibly unreliable. Here's a report from Biasly, analyzing an article in the Dallas Express, a website funded by a GOP megadonor that employs a former GOP operative and candidate as its CEO and has routinely boosted GOP candidates...
Reposted by steven monacelli
The Guardian - NSA detected a phone call between foreign intelligence and a person close to President Trump. A whistleblower says DNI Tulsi Gabbard blocked sharing of the report and took it to the White House chief of staff. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2...
NSA detected phone call between foreign intelligence and a person close to Trump
Whistleblower says that Tulsi Gabbard blocked agency from sharing report and delivered it to White House chief of staff
www.theguardian.com
February 7, 2026 at 11:31 PM
The Guardian - NSA detected a phone call between foreign intelligence and a person close to President Trump. A whistleblower says DNI Tulsi Gabbard blocked sharing of the report and took it to the White House chief of staff. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2...
POV: you order a round of milks at the steakhouse
February 7, 2026 at 11:29 PM
POV: you order a round of milks at the steakhouse
"Limited interactions," as in forming a limited partnership or LLC
(CBS News) - U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has said he had "limited interactions" with Jeffrey Epstein, but documents show they were in business together as recently as 2014.
@cbsnews.com
www.cbsnews.com/news/howard-...
@cbsnews.com
www.cbsnews.com/news/howard-...
Lutnick and Epstein were in business together, Epstein files show
Though the commerce secretary has called his interactions with Epstein as "limited," the two were in business together four years after Epstein's 2008 guilty plea.
www.cbsnews.com
February 7, 2026 at 5:44 AM
"Limited interactions," as in forming a limited partnership or LLC
Thread: emails from the Jeffrey Epstein library strongly suggest that Epstein and/or Ghislaine Maxwell were in communication with the Special Agent in Charge of the Dallas Secret Service Field Office in 2009, after Epstein was initially convicted in 2008
In an email exchange with Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell wrote that a man named Mike Lee's current position as of 2009 was "Head of dalas" (sic), and clarified she meant Dallas and that it was not a codeword.
Hmm...
Hmm...
February 7, 2026 at 12:24 AM
Thread: emails from the Jeffrey Epstein library strongly suggest that Epstein and/or Ghislaine Maxwell were in communication with the Special Agent in Charge of the Dallas Secret Service Field Office in 2009, after Epstein was initially convicted in 2008