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February 4, 2026

7 entries on this date.

Gabbard's ODNI confirmed it covertly obtained and tested Puerto Rico voting machines, drawing expert alarm over its authority

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence, under Director Tulsi Gabbard, confirmed to reporters on February 4, 2026 that it had obtained electronic voting machines from Puerto Rico and tested them for security vulnerabilities, with the U.S. Attorney in Puerto Rico, Homeland Security Investigations agents, and an FBI supervisory special agent facilitating the turnover; ODNI cited "extremely concerning" cybersecurity findings without supporting detail and has not disclosed exactly when the machines were obtained or tested beyond saying it occurred "last year." A former senior U.S. intelligence official who has worked on election security called the action "well beyond what ODNI has the authority or expertise to do," and Puerto Rico's nonvoting congressional representative, Pablo José Hernández, said the administration has not explained why Gabbard's office was involved. The disclosure follows Gabbard's presence at an FBI search of a Fulton County, Georgia election office and Trump's calls to "nationalize" future elections.

Karoline Leavitt falsely claimed all 4,000 Operation Metro Surge arrests were dangerous criminals

On February 4, 2026, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt issued a public statement claiming that ICE had arrested "more than 4,000 dangerous criminal illegal aliens" in Minnesota since the start of Operation Metro Surge. An Intercept analysis of ICE arrest data obtained via a Freedom of Information Act request by the Deportation Data Project, published March 30, 2026, found that 63 percent of the 4,030 people arrested had no criminal convictions or pending charges, directly contradicting Leavitt's characterization. ICE possessed the underlying data at the time of Leavitt's statement.

CIA shuts down its World Factbook after more than 60 years, with no warning

On or about February 4, 2026, the CIA abruptly took its World Factbook — the authoritative public reference on the world's countries, published since 1962 and online since 1997 — offline, replacing it with a webpage declaring the publication had "sunset." The agency gave no advance notice and no explanation, declined to comment on the record, and set up redirects that led away from the data while removing the Factbook's historical archives, breaking millions of links used by schools, researchers, and news organizations.

ICE agents stopped and arrested H.L.A.O. while he was waiting for the Shelter Island ferry in Greenport, New York

On February 4, 2026, ICE agents in Greenport, New York, stopped a man identified in court filings as H.L.A.O. while he was waiting for the Shelter Island ferry, arresting and detaining him without a judicial warrant for 22 days. His arrest is one of eight named in the April 2026 class-action lawsuit Benitez v. DHS, which alleges ICE and CBP agents have conducted a systematic pattern of warrantless stops and arrests of Latino residents across New York based on race and ethnicity.

ICE detained a Columbia Heights, MN fifth-grader and her family, holding them in a Texas facility unknown to her school for a month

A Valley View Elementary fifth-grader in Columbia Heights, Minnesota stopped attending class in early January 2026, and her family became unreachable, leaving behind a school-issued Chromebook and an empty rental home. On February 4, 2026, Columbia Heights Public Schools disclosed that two classmates had recognized the girl in the cafeteria of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Dilley, Texas family detention center before their own release, and confirmed ICE has detained seven of its students, ages 5 to 17, since a district-area enforcement surge began; five have been released and two, including this girl, remain in custody. The exact date ICE detained the girl and her family has not been publicly established.

ICE agents detained Long Island man for 22 days after warrantless arrest at Greenport ferry stop

On February 4, 2026, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents detained H.L.A.O., a 46-year-old Long Island resident, at the Shelter Island ferry stop in Greenport, New York, without a judicial warrant. ICE agents approached him based on his appearance and the language he spoke; he was held in immigration custody for 22 days before being released.

Montana Free Press revealed Secretary of State Jacobsen told DOJ her office had satisfied its demand for the state's voter file

On February 4, 2026, Montana Free Press reported that emails obtained through a public-records request showed Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen's office had told the U.S. Department of Justice on December 2, 2025 that Montana had "fully satisfied" DOJ's August 14, 2025 demand for the state's complete voter registration list, which sought voters' full names, dates of birth, addresses, driver's license numbers, and the last four digits of Social Security numbers. The reporting did not establish the precise date the underlying file was transmitted or confirm which of the requested sensitive fields it contained; Jacobsen's office subsequently denied providing "confidential" or "unredacted" voter data without explaining the discrepancy with its own written confirmation to DOJ.