Photo illustration by Emma Spainhoward with photograph by Getty Images.
Good morning. Another day of biting cold. Sun and a high temperature around 23, but wind will knock even that modest high down to feel as cold as -4. Fun! Clear overnight with a low near 4. Schools in the District will open today on a two-hour delay. Most other area school systems are closed or will offer remote lessons. The Wizards host Milwaukee tonight, and the Capitals visit Detroit. You can find me on Bluesky, I’m @abeaujon.87 on Signal, and there’s a link to my email address below.
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I can’t stop listening to:
Racing Mount Pleasant, “Call It Easy.” The Michigan band brings its lovely indie rockto Songbyrd tonight.
Take Washingtonian Today with you! I’ve made a playliston Spotify andon Apple Music of last year’s music recommendations. I’ll make one for 2026 soon.
Here’s some administration news you might have blocked out:
It’s 2020 somewhere: FBI agents searched an elections building in Fulton County, Georgia, yesterday, signaling that President Trump‘s factually unencumbered quest to prove he did not lose the 2020 election to Joe Biden continues. (NYT) Here’s the warrant, which ProPublica secured. Photographs show that the US director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, was on the scene. (Washington Post) Here’s what to know about Trump’s tiresome obsession with Fulton County. (pbump.net) This doesn’t look great for this fall’s midterms? (AP)
The ICE storm: There were few signs of deescalation or the President’s purported new tone on Minnesota on the streets of Minneapolis yesterday. Federal agents pepper-sprayed protesters and broke car windows. Bureau of Prisons officers, who are involved in this for some reason, pushed and threatened to arrest reporters. (AP) ICE directed its operatives not to talk to “agitators,” but that guidance appears to be a work in progress. (Reuters) Patrick J. Schiltz, Minnesota’s top federal judge, said ICE has ignored 96 court orders since the beginning of the month. (NYT) US Attorney General Pam Bondi posted the photos of 11 people the feds have charged with assaulting federal officers, earning a rebuke from another federal judge. (NYT) Sharing such photos is a violation of DOJ rules. (Quinta Jurecic/Bluesky) As Trump’s operation in Minnesota has unfurled, Bondi’s department “has shielded federal agents from accountability, launched needless criminal investigations into Minnesota officials and residents, and pumped out propaganda to aid the far-right press in justifying ICE’s tactics.” (The Atlantic) DHS and the FBI keep more than a dozen watchlists of protesters and “domestic terrorists”—the same term administration officials clumsily deployed after the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti by two federal agents on Sunday. (Ken Klippenstein)
Meanwhile: Pretti’s parents have retained the lawyer Steve Schleicher, a former federal prosecutor who helped pursue the case against the Minneapolis police officer who murdered George Floyd. (PBS News) Workers at the VA, where Pretti was employed, say their agency has only grudgingly acknowledged his death. (Washington Post)
Scrambling: A tick-tock of what happened inside the White House as Trump learned his subordinates’ attempts to spin Pretti’s killing were not working. (NBC News) White House adviser Stephen Miller, who called Pretti a “would-be assassin,” has found few defenders among Republicans. Wonder why. (NOTUS) Asked about Trump calling him a “loser,” US Senator Thom Tillis, a Republican from North Carolina, said being labeled as such “makes me qualified to be homeland security secretary and senior adviser to the president.” (Manu Raju/X) The White House hopes that by dispatching Tom Homan to Minnesota, it can assuage Democratic demands that ICE be reformed before they vote to fund DHS. The deadline for a deal is tomorrow night. (Politico) A deal may be taking shape, though. (CNN) Democratic House leadership has urged members not to visit Minnesota. (Axios) The brother of Anthony Kazmierczak, who is accused of spraying US Representative Ilhan Omar with brown liquid at a town hall Tuesday, said his brother is a “piece of s**t” (stars presumably not in the original quote). (The Independent)
Wait, there’s more: ICE is reportedly headed to Springfield, Ohio, the center of lies about immigrants eating pets that JD Vance knowingly spread during the 2024 campaign. (TNR) Bruce Springsteen quickly wrote and released a song about Minneapolis. (Bruce Springsteen) The Dave Matthews Band retweeted a fan video that used its cover of “For What It’s Worth” as a soundtrack to images from Minneapolis. (Jake Tapper/X)
Administration perambulation: Kevin Couch, the Kennedy Center’s recently announced new VP of artistic programming, resigned a week after he took the gig. (Washington Post) The US embassy in Copenhagen removed flags that honored Danish soldiers who died in Afghanistan, a move the State Department says has nothing to do with Trump’s obsession with wresting Greenland from Danish control. (Washington Post) The US Supreme Court will hear Trump’s appeal of the verdict in E. Jean Carroll case next month. Who knows what they’ll decide. (The Hill) Nicki Minaj promoted “Trump accounts” alongside Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent yesterday. (CNBC) The Melania Trump documentary will premiere at the Kennedy Center tonight. Then, very few people will watch the film, which Amazon paid $40 million to acquire and will spend another $35 million to promote. (THR)
Hidden Eats, by Ike Allen:
Photo by Ike Allen.
New dim sum places are few and far between these days, so I made a beeline for Corner Bites as soon as I found out the Hong Kong-style teahouse had opened in Rockville last year. Turns out, the chef, who bemoans the frequent use of frozen dim sum items at restaurants around the DMV, takes his shrimp dumplings, pineapple buns, and steamed spare ribs very seriously. These pineapple buns are something special: tender, crumbly, and filled with a rich egg custard that is surprisingly not saccharine. (316 N. Washington St., Rockville.)
Recently on Washingtonian dot com:
• Ann Limpert reviews Acqua Bistecca and Brasero Atlántico.
• Eel is showing up on menus all around the region.
• We ranked some of the over-the-top caviar options on DC menus.
• Banana Leaf, which we’re fairly confident is the area’s only Sri Lankan restaurant, has reopened in Manassas.
Local news links:
• Another phone-selling scandal??? DOJ charged Javan King, a former contractor, with ordering thousands of mobile phones and reselling them. (USAO/DC)
• The GSA plans to sell the Old Post Office, the former site of the Trump International Hotel. (Washington Post)
• Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops to US cities will cost more than $1 billion. (Washington Post) The deployment to DC costs $55 million per month. (Zach Israel/Bluesky)
• Who’s responsible for plowing out the bus stops? (Greater Greater Washington)
• The District will suspend fines for people who haven’t been able to clear their sidewalks yet—but you’ve still got to clear them. Kind of a mixed message! (WJLA)
• Rescue crews pulled a Rottweiler named Church and an as-yet-unnamed Labrador retriever from a frozen lake in Spotsylvania County. (WUSA)
• A family in Fairfax was reunited with their dog, Luke, who has been missing for five years. (DC News Now)
Thursday’s event picks:
• Josh Shapiro discusses his new book, “Where We Keep the Light,” with Senator Raphael Warnock at Sixth and I.
• Not This Blue House play the Pie Shop.
• Redesign an unworn item from your closet at Femme Fatale DC.
See more picks from Briana Thomas, who writes our Things to Do newsletter.
Join the conversation!
Senior editor
Andrew Beaujon joined Washingtonian in late 2014. He was previously with the Poynter Institute, TBD.com, and Washington City Paper. He lives in Del Ray.