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January 16, 2026

6 entries on this date.

DOJ court filing revealed DOGE shared Social Security data of 300 million Americans via an unapproved server

A Justice Department court filing dated January 16, 2026 disclosed that Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) team members at the Social Security Administration had copied and shared a database of more than 300 million Americans' personal records through Cloudflare, a third-party server not approved to store SSA data and outside the agency's security protocols; SSA said it still cannot determine what was shared or whether it remains on the server. The same filing disclosed that SSA referred two DOGE employees to the Office of Special Counsel for potential Hatch Act violations after a political advocacy group contacted them seeking Social Security data to match against state voter rolls as part of an effort to overturn election results in certain states.

Trump pardoned three defendants in a Puerto Rico bank-regulator bribery scheme, including banker Herrera Velutini and ex-Gov. Vázquez

On January 16, 2026, President Trump pardoned three co-defendants in a Puerto Rico bank-regulator bribery scheme: Venezuelan-Italian banker Julio Herrera Velutini, former Governor Wanda Vázquez Garced, and former FBI agent Mark Rossini. Prosecutors had alleged that Herrera Velutini arranged roughly $300,000 in support for Vázquez's 2020 reelection campaign in exchange for firing a banking regulator investigating his bank. The pardons wiped out the cases, including Vázquez's guilty plea to reduced campaign-finance charges.

U.S. Border Patrol detained Gresham, Oregon family, including 7-year-old, in Portland hospital parking lot; held past Flores limit

U.S. Border Patrol agents detained Darianny Liseth González de Crespo, her husband Yohendry de Jesús Crespo, and their 7-year-old daughter Diana in the parking lot of Adventist Health Portland on January 16, 2026, while the Gresham, Oregon family sought emergency care for the child's persistent nosebleed. The Department of Homeland Security confirmed on the record that Border Patrol agents made the detention; the family was driven to Washington state and flown to the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas, where they were held together for 21 days -- one day past the 20-day limit on detaining children set by the 1997 Flores Agreement.

ICE re-arrested Garrison Gibson at Minneapolis check-in, a day after judge ruled his battering-ram arrest unlawful

On January 16, 2026, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents re-arrested Garrison Gibson, a 37-year-old Liberian national living in Minneapolis under an order of supervision, during a scheduled check-in at the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building -- one day after U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Bryan ordered his release, ruling that ICE's January 11 battering-ram arrest of Gibson violated the Fourth Amendment and that ICE had ignored its own regulations on revoking supervised release. ICE held Gibson roughly three hours before releasing him again that afternoon, fitted with an ankle monitor and returned to supervision, again without providing the notice or interview the regulations require before revoking an order of supervision.

DOJ opens criminal investigation into Gov. Tim Walz and Mayor Jacob Frey over their anti-ICE statements

On January 16, 2026, the U.S. Justice Department opened a criminal investigation into Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey over an alleged conspiracy to impede federal immigration agents during Operation Metro Surge, the roughly 3,000-agent ICE and Border Patrol deployment to the Twin Cities. Sources told CBS News the inquiry rests on 18 U.S.C. Section 372 and stems from the officials' public criticism of the operation, which had intensified after an ICE agent killed Minnesota resident Renee Good on January 7. Subpoenas to Walz, Frey, Attorney General Keith Ellison, the St. Paul mayor's office, and two counties followed the next week.

Lea County Sheriff's deputy tased traffic-stop subject after he was on the ground; charged with battery

On January 16, 2026, Lea County Sheriff's Deputy Dustyn Bennett stopped Israel Arenivas on New Mexico Highway 132 while investigating a report of a stolen motorcycle. Body camera footage obtained by KOB 4 shows Bennett grabbed Arenivas, threatened to tase him after he pulled free and remained standing, and then deployed a Taser twice -- once while Arenivas was standing and again after he was already on the ground. Bennett now faces a misdemeanor battery charge over the encounter.