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Final NOTUS Newsletter

‘The Memes Will Continue’

FinalNOTUS_2025-0122_Noem-WH-alteredimages.jpg

An image showing social posts of Nekima Levy Armstrong’s arrest. On the left is the original photo posted by Secretary Kristi Noem, and on the right is a digitally altered image by the White House communications team. (Images from @KristiNoem and @WhiteHouse/X.com)

By Tim Grieve

January 22, 2026 05:30 PM

Good afternoon. Here’s what you need to know.

The Latest

Pam Bondi said federal agents have arrested three people for protesting at a Saint Paul church Sunday. Bondi, who previously fired lawyers who prosecuted Jan. 6 protestors, said the Trump administration will “not tolerate attacks on places of worship.”

  • A magistrate judge refused to sign a criminal complaint against Don Lemon, who says he attended the protest to cover it as a journalist.
  • The White House posted what appears to be a digitally altered photo of one of the defendants. When NOTUS’ Violet Jira asked about it, the White House said it “often posts memes” and then accused her of “looking for new ways to defend criminals.”

Jack Smith testified before the House Judiciary Committee and said the Trump administration will do “everything in their power” to indict him. Donald Trump seemed to agree.

Trump sued JPMorgan and Jamie Dimon, claiming the bank dropped him as a client after Jan. 6 because of “unsubstantiated, ‘woke’ beliefs” that it needed to distance itself from the president and his politics.

Trump said he’d sue The New York Times (again) after a Times/Siena poll suggested his 2024 coalition is collapsing.

The Hill

The House is jamming the Senate by putting the repeal of a provision that would have allowed senators to sue the government over Jack Smith’s investigation into a must-pass spending bill.

Security renovations at the Hart Senate Office Building have been postponed after some senators complained that the work would force them to vacate their offices.

Chris Collins, a former congressman from New York who pled guilty to insider trading charges before getting a pardon from Trump, is running for Byron Donalds’ seat — in Florida.

Amy Klobuchar filed paperwork setting up a run for governor in Minnesota.

The Administration

The U.S. wants regime change in Cuba this year, sources told The Wall Street Journal.

Greenland’s prime minister said he doesn’t know what’s in Trump’s ‘framework’ for his country, but that the idea of giving the U.S. sovereignty over military bases is a nonstarter.

  • NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said the idea of the U.S. annexing Greenland didn’t even come up when he met with Trump in Davos.

JD Vance says the government is investigating the shooting of Renee Good in a “way that respects people’s rights.” Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said Sunday that the government is not investigating because there’s nothing to investigate.

Marco Rubio got another job. The president put him in charge of efforts to hold the 2035 World Expo in Miami.

Boom or Bust?

Thank you for reading! Today’s newsletter was produced by Kate Nocera, Chris Fong and Andrew Burton. If you liked it, please forward it to a friend. If someone shared it with you, please subscribe — it’s free! Got a tip or comments to share? Email us at finalnotus@notus.com.