Q. “Did Jack Smith lie to Congress about emails?”

A. “No, former special counsel Jack Smith did not lie, though House Republicans led by (House Judiciary Committee Chairman) Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) accused him of making false statements regarding congressional records. Jordan referred him to the Justice Department for potential criminal prosecution, alleging Smith gave misleading or false testimony during a closed-door deposition in December 2025.

“Jordan stated that Smith denied under oath obtaining text messages or records belonging to members of Congress. However, subsequent disclosures revealed Smith’s investigative team did review text messages from 44 lawmakers that had been swept up via National Archives/White House data requests rather than direct congressional subpoenas.

“Lawyers for Jack Smith strongly denied the allegations, maintaining that he testified truthfully and accurately answered the literal questions he was asked during the deposition.

“Former prosecutors dismissed the Republican criminal referral as legally weak, pointing out the ‘literal truth’ defense—noting that Smith’s answers were truthful to the specific questions posed regarding direct subpoenas, and he was not asked about alternative record-gathering avenues.”

A lot easier than writing it all yourself. Plus, you can’t be easily accused of bias.

Senator Kennedy before he went "full Cajun"

The Oxford English Dictionary, on the other hand, traces the word "affordability" back to the the 1910s. And the base adjective, "affordable," goes back to the 1850s.

Trump himself even referenced the subject of affordability on various occasions during his 2024 campaigning, inveighing against high inflation and promising to lower living costs for American families, with the promise to "Make America Affordable again." He even had hats made. MAAA!

And he would often add, "starting on day one!" So much for the It's my "first day on the job" blues. Hadn't he walked through the door and up to the stage with a plan already in mind? Sure sounded like it.

In fact, lowering the cost of living, of gas, and of groceries often seemed like a cornerstone of his whole 2024 campaign, He bragged he would fix inflation "on day one." He even, briefly, took to referring to himself as "the affordability president." Not bad for a guy who confessed he didn't even know the word.

“Starting on day one, we will end inflation and make America affordable again, to bring down the prices of all goods.” Trump Rally in Bozeman, MT (8/9/24).

"Starting the day I take the oath of office, I will rapidly drive prices down and we will make America affordable again." Campaign rally in Wilkes-Barre, PA (8/17/24).

"we’re going down and getting gasoline below $2 a gallon, bring down the price of everything from electricity rates to groceries, airfares, and housing costs ... with the goal of cutting the cost of a new home in half." Address to the Economic Club of New York (9/5/24).

"Groceries, cars, everything ... We're going to get the prices down. We are going to put a temporary cap on credit card interest rates at 10%." Campaign Rally in Erie, PA (9/29/24).

"Starting on day one, we will end inflation and make America affordable again." Campaign remarks prior to vice-presidential debate in in Waunakee, WI (10/1/24).

They'll call it sophistry, but the Donald always did have a natural penchant for saying whatever was needed to get him through the next ten minutes, and he actually sounds humorously entertaining, at times, doing it. At least to his followers. (See following post.)

In any event, he pulls it off more successfully than many of his newest-found colleagues in his newest-found profession. (Remember. This is, like, Trump's fourth or fifth career adventure, after real estate, casinos, golf clubs, wrestling, beauty pageants, laundering money for Russian oligarchs and acting gigs.) Politics is widely acknowledged for producing its fair share of fast talkers in a pinch, and he's lapping the field. (Elected president twice. Admittedly impeached as often.)

Whatever it is, he's certainly far, far better at it than the average Joe. Consider Ed Norton, struggling to explain his true feelings towards his mother-in-law when both Ralph and Trixie suspect he's been double-talking them. Trixie: "Just how DO you feel about my mother, Ed?" Ed, looking his wife in the eye: "Your mother is the sweetest old lady ..." and then turning toward Ralph, "meanest old lady there is!"

Admit it. Trump's a little better than that. Consider that 57% of Republicans still believe his policies have improved economic conditions. The sweetest old lady ....

The thing is, when the President says "two weeks," what he means is, "Tomorrow never comes." There's also an unuttered addendum along the lines of, "It's my profound hope you'll forget all about this by then." This isn't deja vu you're feeling, just vu. Actually, Trump's version of "manana" has gotten documented in public discourse on numerous occasions, including on this site, June 21 of last year.

That article included a link to an NPR-produced video documenting Trump's regular use of this little ruse to distract, misdirect, duck questions or just buy time on everything from inflation and the CPI index to healthcare reform to Putin's state of mind on Ukraine.

He'll even use the technique to escape offering specificity on various announcements and surprises he purports to have in store for us, which are then sometimes never brought up again.

Reacting to the hold the President was putting on the Iranian Armageddon, Jimmy Kimmel declared it "the TACO Tuesday of all TACO Tuesdays." He then presented his own companion manana-video catalog, reproduced here for your entertainment. Just in case you missed the first one.

No fan, that Jimmy. Such fun.

Interestingly, Brown when he spoke those words was director of a civil rights organization called the “Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.” (Possibly the high point of his life. Brown would be convicted of murder in 2002 and sentenced to life in prison without parole. He died in custody in 2025 at the age of 82 of multiple myeloma.)

Was Brown’s bellicose plaint truly justified or just brash trash talk from a known hothead? You may be surprised to find that some historians and contemporary observers are today inclined to agree with him. They point to the deep roots of violence in the history of our nation's founding, in its land seizures from Native Americans, in its long embrace of slavery and in the broader racist hostility that endures in some forms right up to the current time. Ask a Muslim. Or a Minnesotan.

And, one might add, in our country’s persistent penchant for going to war. Far more wars than you can count. Some noble, or at least principled: the American Revolution, the Civil War, World Wars I and II. And Desert Storm. Some, like the Spanish American War (started arguably by a couple of newspaper publishers), were PR events. Others cheap initiatives of economic aggression.

Public Domain
Col. Theodore Roosevelt in 1898 with his regiment on Cuba's San Juan Hill, which the "Rough Riders" (the 1st U.S. Volunteer Cavalry), had just captured, along with its sister, Kettle Hill, during the Spanish-American War. The Rough Riders were assembled by Roosevelt and Colonel Leonard Wood specifically for the Spanish-American War. A diverse mix of cowboys, miners, lawmen and college athletes, they were the only volunteer unit to see combat, fighting on foot and not on horseback. San Juan Hill made them famous, but in fact the 10th Cavalry and 24th Infantry fought alongside them, spearheading the charge up the hill and taking the primary role in some of the most fearsome fighting. Called the Buffalo Soldiers, these were experienced African American regiments of the regular U.S. Army. They were commanded by 1st Lt. John "Black Jack" Pershing. The nickname was originally a slur.

Many wars, legit or no, ended in something short of glory and triumph: 1812, Vietnam (and Cambodia and Laos), Afghanistan, Iraq, Korea. But those are the wars you know. Others are barely remembered now, lost in the sands of time and the dustbins of history. Here’s a few you were barely, or never, even aware of.

The Quasi-War (1798–1800): Fought with France, a limited naval conflict with relatively light casualties. The U.S. Navy lost 1 ship to enemy action (later recaptured) and 22 privateers, while capturing or destroying over 100+ French privateers and warships. Approximately 2,000 American merchant vessels were captured by French forces. Casualties: 160 (est.) U.S. personnel killed or wounded, over 100 French casualties.

The Barbary Wars (1801-1805, 1815): Fought to end the North African slave trade and protect U.S. merchant vessels from pirates, a key early foreign conflict. Casualties: American deaths, 50 (est.) Barbary States, (particularly Tripoli and Algiers), 800 (est.) deaths across both conflicts.

The Mexican–American War (1846 -1848): Followed the 1845 American annexation of Texas, which Mexico still considered its territory, (The Republic of Texas was de facto an independent country after its successful revolution against Mexico in 1836.) Mexico was defeated on the battlefield and the war was ended with Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Mexico recognized the cession of Texas, California, Nevada, and Utah as well as parts of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Wyoming. The U.S. agreed to pay $15 million for the physical damage of the war and assumed $3.25 million of debt already owed by the Mexican government to U.S. citizens. Mexico accepted the Rio Grande as its northern border with the United States. Counting civilians killed by violence, disease and accident, the Mexican death toll may have reached 25,000. American death toll reached 13,283.

The Boxer Rebellion (1899-1901): As part of an eight-nation alliance, U.S. Marines and soldiers participated in a multinational force in China to suppress a violent anti-foreign and anti-Christian uprising. Casualties: Allied deaths were relatively low compared to Chinese casualties, with several hundred (est.) foreign soldiers and civilians killed. Chinese deaths are estimated in the tens of thousands, with some estimates for total civilian deaths as high as 100,000.

via Wikimedia Commons
USN Lt. Stephen Decatur Jr fighting hand to hand with the Algerine at Tripoli, aboard a Tripolitan gunboat on August 3, 1804. Decatur boarded the boat after learning that a Tripolitan captain had shot and killed his younger brother, James. As Decatur struggled with the gunboat's captain, a Tripolitan sailor tried to attack him from behind. One of Decatur's sailors stepped forward and took the blow. (He died from the injury.) Decatur was promoted toCaptain at age 25, largely for his bravery in the Tripolitan War. (He remains the youngest Captain in U.S. naval history.) He commanded major vessels during the War of 1812 and became a celebrated American naval hero. Painting in the U.S. Naval Academy Museum Collection.

Texas-Mexico Border Conflicts (1917): A low-level cross-border involving armed raids and intensified violence during the Mexican Revolution's aftermath. Total expedition included 65 Americans killed and approximately 251+ Mexicans killed (169 Conventionists and 82 Constitutionalists). Major 1917 Conflict Casualties:

• Brite Ranch Raid: Americans: 3 killed (a postman and two passengers on a mail stage). Mexicans: 10 killed (raiders pursued back into Mexico by the Eighth U.S. Cavalry).

• Mexican Expedition Final Clashes: One of the last significant victories occurred at Ojos Azules, where U.S. forces killed 44 Villistas without suffering any American casualties.

• Border Violence & La Matanza: The period saw sustained violence by Texas Rangers, U.S. Army soldiers and vigilantes against residents of Mexican descent. Estimates of deaths from 1915–1919 suggest hundreds or potentially thousands of victims.

The American-Indian Wars (1600s–1920s): A series of conflicts spanning nearly three centuries. In the late 1960s-early ‘70s, a very funny Chicago radio jock, Larry Lujack, broadcast a recurring comedy feature called “Can This Marriage be Saved.” Frequently, he ruled it couldn’t. It’s likely Lujack would have ruled likewise, and very early on, about American Indians and their new friends from Europe. The indigenous people caught on quite early that their invaders were intent not just on possessing all the silver, gold and buffalo, but also the land.

And in a broader sense, you could say their lives as well, through the transmission of European diseases Indians had no natural defenses against. These “wealth transfers” had begun long before the United States were even part of a dream, but the Indians fared no better under Uncle Sam. Which is why so many tribes allied with the British rather than the colonies during the American Revolution. They figured those guys were less likely to stay.

Things only got worse as the colonies started moving west. Manifest Destiny, you know. The new Americans were pretty sure God was on their side. In the 18th and 19th centuries, the Indian nations produced a number of warrior chiefs noted for both their organizational leadership abilities and strategic battle skills. Many of their names are better known to our history books than those of their opposite numbers in the U.S. Cavalry.

Names like Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse, who led the battle at Little Bighorn. Or the Apache Geronimo, grudgingly renowned for his guerrilla warfare tactics. And Tecumseh, the Shawnee leader who organized a massive intertribal confederacy in his fight against the country’s westward expansion. And Red Cloud, (of the Lakota Sioux) who led a campaign (Red Cloud's War) against the U.S. Army, resulting in a treaty favorable to the Sioux. Which made him the first American Indian in the West to "win" a war against the United States. And Chief Joseph, famed for his leadership even in defeat, during the massive retreat of the Wallow Band of Nez Perce, a Native American tribe of the interior Pacific Northwest, in 1877.

And there was Osceola, who led the Seminoles in Florida’s Second Seminole War, who was so popular as a prisoner of war (captured by deception under a flag of truce) while held at Fort Moultrie (SC) that he was generally treated like a celebrity. He was given nearly free range of the Fort’s grounds, he was allowed to receive visitors and did sittings for portrait artist George Catlin. He was even ferried across the Cooper river to Charleston on occasion where he was an honored guest at the theater or social events.

Notable U.S. Cavalry v. Native American Engagements

• The Apache Wars (1851–1900) were Intense, long-running campaigns in the American West stemming from conflicts over (what else?) land and resources. Thousands of lives were lost on both sides of these confrontations. One estimate is that over 5,000 died during the peak of a 12-year period. Casualties included Apache combatants, U.S. soldiers, settlers, and Mexican residents. The conflict led to a major reduction in Apache, particularly Chiricahua, populations through battle losses and disease.

•In the 1862 Battle of Apache Pass, Apache forces claimed 63 warriors were killed by artillery and small arms, while the army reported 9 civilians killed before the fight.

• The Geronimo Campaign (1885-1886): During this phase, 55 civilians were killed, 1 warrior was killed in combat (Ulzana's Raid), and multiple groups surrendered, totaling over 100 soldiers and non-combatants as well. Prisoner Deaths: Between 1894 and 1913, approximately one-quarter of Chiricahua Apache prisoners died from disease, particularly tuberculosis.

• Apache–Mexico Wars in Sonora (1830s): According to one Mexican official, an estimated 5,000 Sonorans lost their lives to Apache hostilities, highlighting the severe, high-casualty nature of conflicts in that region in that era.

These and other conflicts resulted in a huge loss of Apache territory and forced relocation. With Arizona's Yavapai-Apache War, one Facebook post notes that only about 200 Apache and Yavapai Indians survived the conditions at San Carlos to return to their homeland in 1900.

• Little Bighorn (June 25–26, 1876), often referred to as Custer's Last Stand, was a decisive victory for the Lakota Sioux, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho tribes over the U.S. Army. The battle ensued out of the U.S. government’s efforts to move Lakota Sioux and Cheyenne onto reservations after gold was discovered in the Black Hills.

The Native Americans saw this action as breaking the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty and vowed to resist. Approximately 7,000 to 10,000 gathered in Montana, including 1,500 to 3,000 warriors, leading the Army to launch a campaign to force their surrender. Lt. Colonel George Armstrong Custer, who commanded the 7th Cavalry Regiment, pursued with a force of approximately 600 to 700 men including officers, troopers, scouts, and civilians.

The 7th Cavalry suffered 268 killed and 55 wounded in the fight. Custer and all 210 men in his immediate command perished. Native American casualties are uncertain, with estimates ranging from 31 to more than 100 warriors killed.

Seifert Gugler & Co., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
General Custer on horseback with his U. S. Army troops in battle with Native American Lakota Sioux, Crow, Northern, and Cheyenne at Little Bighorn. Custer had grossly misjudged his enemy's strength. Relying on flawed intelligence, he believed he was attacking a smaller, fragmented force rather than a unified army of thousands. He thought the "outnumbered" Lakota and Cheyenne warriors would flee and compounded his mistake by dividing his own forces in order to prevent their escaping his attack.

Total casualties from all of the American Indian Wars are difficult to pinpoint, but some official US government sources estimate roughly 19,000 white men, women, and children and over 30,000 Native Americans were killed in authorized conflicts. Other, broader estimates suggest deaths in the tens of thousands and to hundreds of thousands counting starvation, disease and conflict-related casualties..

The Pig War (1859): A boundary dispute between the United States and Briton over the British–U.S. border in the San Juan Islands (between Vancouver Island (present-day Canada) and the Washington Territory (present-day State of Washington)). It was resolved with little bloodshed. But, Britain? So-called because it was triggered by the shooting of a pig,

The Filipino-American War (1899-1902): A brutal conflict that resulted in over 200,000 civilian deaths. (Most caused by famine and diseases, exacerbated by the war's disruption.) Often referred to as the "Philippine Insurrection," it ignited after the United States annexed the Philippines following the Spanish-American War. What began as a joint effort to expel Spanish colonial rule turned into an all-out war of independence as Filipino nationalists realized the U.S. intended to replace Spain as their colonial masters. Approximately 4,200 to 4,300 U.S. soldiers died as well. Roughly 1,500 killed in action, but the majority succumbed, again, to disease.

Russian Civil War Intervention (1918-1920): Following World War I, the U.S. sent thousands of troops to Russia to support anti-Bolshevik forces, a move that largely disappeared from American memory but significantly influenced early Cold War tensions.

Occupation of Nicaragua (1912-1933): Part of the Banana Wars, when the U.S. military invaded various Latin American countries from 1898 to 1934. The Banana Wars were a series of conflicts that consisted of military occupation, police action, and intervention by the United States in Central America and the Caribbean between the end of the Spanish–American War in 1898 and the inception of the Good Neighbor policy in 1934.

American military interventions in Nicaragua were designed to stop any nation other than the United States of America from building a Nicaraguan Canal. During the occupation, 144 Marines were killed in action and 50 were wounded.

Some 50 years later, in 1983, the Reagan administration engaged in a "covert war" with Nicaragua to destabilize its Marxist-leaning Sandinista government, funding and training Contra rebels, and engaging in economic sabotage and CIA-supervised raids on ports. This was meant to counter Soviet/Cuban influence in Central America, culminating in the mining of harbors and, in October 1983, the invasion of nearby Grenada.

The Iran-Contra affair became a major political scandal during the second term of the Reagan administration. Senior U.S. officials were discovered to be facilitating the sale of weapons to Iran—then under an arms embargo—and using the proceeds to fund the Contra rebels in Nicaragua. The U.S. secretly sold missiles to Iran, often through Israel, with the goal of securing the release of American hostages held by Hezbollah-linked groups in Lebanon. Portions of the profits from the arms sales were diverted to support the anti-Sandinista Contras in Nicaragua. This was by way of bypassing the Boland Amendment, a series of laws passed by Congress that strictly prohibited U.S. government aid to the rebels.

Invasion of Grenada (October 1983): A. U.S.-led invasion of the Caribbean country of Grenada to overthrow a violent Marxist coup that had taken power days earlier. The action was prompted by concerns over the safety of the 600 to 1,000 American medical students resident in the country and fears of Soviet-Cuban expansionism in the Caribbean. Triggered by the execution of Prime Minister Maurice Bishop, the U.S. intervened to restore order and eliminate leftist influence.

The Reagan administration viewed the new military regime as an extension of Cuban and Soviet influence and sought to prevent the island from becoming a strategic staging point. Casualties: 19 U.S. service members killed and 116 wounded, approximately 24-25 Cuban forces killed and 59 wounded, 45 Grenadian forces killed and 358 injured. Additionally, 24 Grenadian civilians were killed, mostly during an attack on a mental hospital. The main combat phase of “Operation Urgent Fury,” which began on October 25, was largely completed by November 2. Some U.S. forces remained for security and stability operations, with the final combat units departing on December 15.

Whew. That’s enough of breast-beating over ancient and mostly forgotten squabbles. You can’t just go on with your life living in the past. Time to go in and catch up with what’s on the evening news.

• Federal agents involved in the operation at its peak — 3,000
• Number of people arrested — over 4,000 across Minnesota, mainly in Minneapolis
• Number of immigrants in Minnesota identified as subject to deportation — 1,360 (as claimed by federal officials)
• Number of people shot — 3
• Number of people killed — 2

1,360 Deportable Criminals — DHS claimed this number represented deportable criminals with active detainers (a formal notice or legal hold lodged by another jurisdiction) in Minnesota custody. However, Minnesota Department of Corrections (DOC) officials rebutted this figure, stating they could confirm roughly 300 to 500 individuals with active ICE detainers in state and local facilities.

~3,700 Other Arrestees — Data and local reports indicate the remainder of those detained generally fell into the following categories:

• Legal Proceedings — Many of the 3,700 non-criminal or low-level detainees are either in ICE detention facilities (which have expanded by 91% over the last year) or are undergoing removal proceedings in immigration court.
• Non-Criminal Detainees — Approximately 65% to 73% of those arrested during the surge had no criminal convictions. These individuals were often swept up in "collateral" arrests during home or workplace visits.
• Low-Level Offenders — A significant portion of the "criminal" arrests involved non-violent offenses such as DUI, fraud, theft, or illegal reentry.
• Wrongful Detentions — Reports emerged of U.S. citizens and children being detained during the peak of the operation. E.g., in one high-profile case, federal charges were dropped against two men after video evidence contradicted ICE officer testimony.
• Releases — Some detainees may be eligible for bond or release if they can prove they are not a flight risk or a danger to the community.

In Custody/Previously Processed:
Investigations into DHS lists revealed that many individuals listed in surge operations were already serving time in Minnesota prisons and were transferred to ICE custody after completing their sentences.

Detainer Discrepancies:
While federal numbers might suggest thousands, local county jail counts have shown far fewer active ICE detainers (e.g., approximately 300 in one reported check).

Active Cases/Pending Status:
Individuals not immediately deported may be in the middle of immigration court proceedings or awaiting legal review.

Bond or Release:
Detained individuals can request bond or, in some cases, are released while awaiting hearings.

The remaining uncounted or unverified individuals are typically in ongoing legal processes or in state custody. Moreover, some of the figures may represent, as suggested by state officials, "number games" wherein detainees were counted multiple times or were already in the pipeline.

A fair number of protesters and observers were also arrested or detained during the surge. A single total for protesters has not been released by federal authorities. However, specific major incidents provide a sense of those taken into custody:

January 10 — 29 protesters were arrested during large-scale national protests following the fatal shooting of Renée Good.

January 28 — 26 anti-ICE protesters were arrested for riotous conduct outside a Minnesota hotel.

January 29 — 67 protesters were arrested during a midnight demonstration outside the Graduate Hotel where ICE agents were staying. Charges included unlawful assembly.

February 7 — At least 50 people were arrested outside the B.H. Whipple Federal Building. State troopers detained 25 for failing to comply with dispersal orders.

February 12 — Roughly 20 protesters were arrested, cited, and released at the Richfield Target during a demonstration calling for the retailer to take a stand against the ICE presence.

A number of observers and bystanders were also swept up in enforcement actions. Federal authorities have reported they arrested more than 200 people for "impeding the work of law enforcement officers" at various times during the operation.

More than 20 people face federal felony charges for observing federal agents. Numerous U.S. citizens were detained for recording or questioning agents on public streets. High-profile journalist Don Lemon and activist Nekima Levy Armstrong pled not guilty in February to charges related to their presence at a protest inside a church run by an ICE field office pastor.

Federal agents gather near the scene of 26th Street and Nicollet Avenue, where federal agents shot and killed Minneapolis resident Alex Pretti Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026
(Photo by Nicole Neri/Minnesota Reformer)

Statistics not provided by federal and local sources courtesy of the Cato Institute and Google Chrome AI searches.