{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.blumenthal.senate.gov/newsroom/press/release/senator-blumenthal-week-in-review-8/28/2026-9/4/2026", "Senator Blumenthal: Week in Review 8/28/2026-9/4/2026", "2026-09-04", "2026", "2026-09", "Democrat", "Senate", "CT", "Richard Blumenthal", "B001277", "www.blumenthal.senate.gov", "blumenthal", "https://www.blumenthal.senate.gov/newsroom/press", "scraper", "Condemning ICE\u2019s Abuse of Power & Harmful Tactics in Connecticut\n\n[Hartford, CT] \u2013 U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Ranking Member of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, held a public forum to receive testimony from the Danbury community about Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)\u2019s destructive and indiscriminate detentions last week. Prior to the forum, Blumenthal and Danbury Mayor Roberto Alves walked through downtown Danbury meeting with city residents and businessowners whose family members were detained by ICE. Blumenthal also joined a rally Wednesday evening to stand in solidarity with the Danbury community as they grapple with the escalating ICE activity in their community.\n\n\u201cThe stories I heard in Danbury about ICE\u2019s abuses were gripping & heartbreaking. I will be fighting to hold ICE accountable & ensure justice for detainees & their families,\u201d wrote Blumenthal with an accompanying video on Twitter/X.\n\nAs Ranking Member of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, Blumenthal has led an investigation into DHS\u2019s abuses. Blumenthal\u2019s forum in Danbury on Thursday follows four public forums hosted by Blumenthal and U.S. Representative Robert Garcia (D-CA), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, as part of their ongoing inquiry into the lawless and abusive tactics used by federal immigration agents:\n\nIn March, Blumenthal and Garcia hosted a forum to receive public testimony from young people, mothers, and a school administrator about DHS\u2019s reckless disregard for the safety of children. Prior to the forum, Blumenthal and Garcia released a report entitled \u201cCruelty is the Point: How Trump\u2019s Immigration Agenda Endangers Children,\u201d which documented 128 children who have been injured left unattended or otherwise put at direct risk of harm as a result of operations by DHS personnel.\n\nIn February, Blumenthal and Garica hosted a public forum on constitutional violations and abuses by ICE. The forum featured testimony from Ryan Schwank, a whistleblower who spoke publicly for the first time about his experience as an Instructor for the incoming \u201csurge\u201d of new ICE recruits at the ICE Academy at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (\u201cFLETC\u201d) in Glynco, Georgia. Teyana Gibson Brown, a U.S. citizen and resident of Minneapolis, Minnesota, also testified about ICE agents forcefully entering her home without a judicial warrant, breaking down her door and pointing guns at her family. Stevan Bunnell, the General Counsel for the Department of Homeland Security from 2013 to 2017, testified as well.\n\nAlso in February, Blumenthal and Garcia hosted a forum to receive testimony on the violent tactics and disproportionate use of force by DHS agents. The forum featured testimony from Brent and Luke Ganger, brothers of Renee Nicole Macklin Good, and Antonio Romanucci, the attorney representing their family; Marimar Martinez, Aliya Rahman, and Martin Daniel Rascon, all of whom were violently assaulted by DHS agents; and Seth Stoughton, a former police officer and Professor at the University of South Carolina School of Law.\n\nIn December, Blumenthal and Garcia received testimony from five U.S. citizens who were assaulted, detained, and denied their constitutional rights by DHS agents. The forum featured testimony from Americans across the country: Wilmer Chavarria, from Vermont; Dayanne Figueroa, from Illinois; Javier Ramirez, from California; George Retes, from California; and Andrea Velez, from California.\n\nBlumenthal also wrote Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin and the Acting Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) David Venturella requesting a meeting and demanding information about a dramatic increase in immigration enforcement activity in Connecticut over the last several weeks. The surge has focused on Danbury and nearby towns, where people have been targeted dropping their children off at school and going to work.\n\n\u201cOver the past week, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (\u201cICE\u201d) agents have sown fear and panic among parents, children, and workers as they detained scores of people in Danbury and other towns in Connecticut. What should have been a time of excitement and community as children in Connecticut return to school has quickly turned into a time of genuine terror,\u201d Blumenthal wrote.\n\n\u201cICE\u2019s actions in Connecticut showcased cruelty and brutality, as well as disregard for the safety and well-being of community members, especially children. They fostered an environment of fear that will undoubtedly impact school attendance rates and the emotional health of students, generally.\u201d\n\nThe full text of Blumenthal\u2019s letter is available here.\n\nOn Twitter/X, Blumenthal further slammed the harmful tactics used by ICE agents in Danbury and in communities across the country.\n\n\u201cCruelty is the point. ICE\u2019s goal is to sow fear in communities like Danbury. While we push for reforms in Congress, we\u2019ll support efforts to fight for justice owed to people detained,\u201d wrote Blumenthal with an accompanying video on Twitter/X.\n\nDemanding Answers About Trump\u2019s Executive Order Restricting Mail-In Voting\n\nAfter receiving information from a whistleblower, Blumenthal wrote Postmaster General David Steiner demanding answers and documents about the United States Postal Service\u2019s (USPS) rushed and potentially unlawful implementation of President Trump\u2019s Executive Order seeking to restrict mail-in voting.\n\n\u201cThis brave whistleblower has come forward with disturbing details about USPS\u2019 seemingly illegal plot to interfere in November\u2019s midterms,\u201d Blumenthal said. \u201cTheir system is set up to fail \u2013 and risk the right to vote for millions of Americans who cast their ballots by mail. Given this new information, such sloppiness and haste seems clearly part of a purposeful attempt to create chaos and prevent people from voting. I am demanding answers and accountability.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe crown jewel of American democracy\u2014our historic record of free and fair elections\u2014deserves better than this reckless, slapdash effort,\u201d said David Kligerman, Senior Vice President and Special Counsel at WhistleblowerAid.org, which represents the anonymous whistleblower. \u201cGiven this administration\u2019s record on curtailing voting rights, these glaring issues in the ballot mail program raise a troubling question: are these bugs\u2014or features? Now that these malignant flaws have been exposed by a brave whistleblower, the administration can choose to fix this dangerously haphazard program or barrel ahead toward a wholly preventable electoral disaster.\u201d\n\nAn anonymous whistleblower disclosure provided to Blumenthal includes new details about USPS\u2019s attempts to build an online system, known as \u201cthe Portal,\u201d and accompanying IT which will be used to screen ballots submitted by state election officials prior to USPS agreeing to mail them to voters. According to this whistleblower, USPS began work on the Portal a mere three-and-a-half months before it was meant to be deployed and has not put it through the standard testing an online system and its related IT like this typically requires. USPS has also reportedly implemented an impracticable zero percent failure rate that could result in a massive number of rejected ballots with no opportunity for appeal.\n\nIn April, Blumenthal joined U.S. Senators Alex Padilla (D-CA), Gary Peters (D-MI), and Dick Durbin (D-IL) in introducing the Absentee and Mail Voter Protection Act (Absentee MVP Act), which would block President Trump\u2019s illegal and unconstitutional executive order attacking mail and absentee ballots and protect the right to vote by mail.\n\nBlumenthal\u2019s letter to Postmaster General Steiner, which includes the whistleblower\u2019s disclosure, is available here.\n\nOn Twitter/X, Blumenthal reacted to the USPS\u2019s statement on the development of a U.S. Federal Ballot Mail Portal.\n\n\u201cAbsolutely nothing in the Postal Service\u2019s statement denies or contradicts the deeply disturbing details of the whistleblower\u2019s disclosure. Most importantly, it does nothing to directly address the fears of voters that USPS will refuse to deliver their ballots based on the output of a shoddy computer system they started building four months ago. \u2018Just trust us\u2019 is not acceptable. The Postal Service stated their commitment to transparency & accountability so I look forward to their detailed response to my specific questions & production of documents,\u201d wrote Blumenthal on Twitter/X.\n\nSlamming FanDuel for Misleading Response to Inquiry About Promo Video Targeting Gambling Addict\n\nBlumenthal and U.S. Representatives Paul Tonko (D-NY) and Valerie Foushee (D-NC) demanded answers after FanDuel refused to adequately respond to the lawmakers\u2019 questions about disturbing reports that the sportsbook repeatedly targeted problem gamblers with predatory perks to keep them trapped in their addiction, including with a personal message from Philadelphia Phillies first baseman, Bryce Harper. Last month, the lawmakers wrote to FanDuel, Major League Baseball (MLB), and the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) demanding answers about the policies that enabled this predatory promotion.\n\nIn a follow-up letter sent to FanDuel Chief Executive Officer Christian Genetski, the lawmakers called out the sportsbook for providing \u201cmisleading and incomplete\u201d responses to their initial inquiry and for failing to adequately address its exploitative VIP services and perks.\n\n\u201cWe remain unconvinced that FanDuel is making an active effort to protect bettors from harmful gambling and instead appears to be promoting addiction. We demand real answers to our previous letter and for FanDuel to explain this complete failure to respond to significant matters of public interest,\u201d the lawmakers wrote.\n\nThe lawmakers continued, \u201cIn its August 14th response, FanDuel failed to answer our questions about the specific steps taken to vet and monitor VIP activities, the extent to which VIP managers have encouraged problem gambling with other customers (including such videos), and any changes that it will make to its VIP program after this indefensible conduct.\u201d\n\nThe lawmakers continued, \u201cMoreover, in its response, FanDuel fails to demonstrate any commitment to its customers\u2019 well-being through any meaningful limitations on exploitative and dangerous marketing and business practice. FanDuel also boasts of its work with state regulators to meet requirements for licensed sportsbooks and other state laws on gambling yet fails to mention how its prediction markets app, FanDuel Predicts, undermines the integrity of\u2014if not bypasses\u2014those very regulations. FanDuel\u2019s so-called \u2018commitment\u2019 to its customers rings especially hollow when it is pushing out harmful and addictive features such as VIP perks, constant push notifications, and personalized promotions.\u201d\n\nThe full text of the lawmakers\u2019 letter is available here. FanDuel\u2019s August 14 response to the lawmakers is available here. The lawmakers\u2019 initial letters to FanDuel, MLB, and MLBPA are available here.\n\nOn Twitter/X, Blumenthal highlighted his letter and further slammed FanDuel for its targeting of gambling addicts.\n\n\u201cFanDuel preyed on problem gamblers, now it\u2019s attempting to dodge Congressional accountability. I won\u2019t stop demanding answers until FanDuel comes clean,\u201d wrote Blumenthal on Twitter/X.\n\nUrging Support for Kidnapped Ukrainian Children\n\nBlumenthal and U.S. Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) along with U.S. Representatives Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) wrote Secretary of State Marco Rubio urging him to move quickly in awarding $25 million the State Department has made available to \u201csupport the identification, return, rehabilitation, and reintegration of Ukrainian children forcibly transferred to Russia and Russian-occupied territories.\u201d\n\nAlthough the funding was announced in March, it has not yet been distributed. An estimated 20,000 Ukrainian children have been forcibly transferred to Russia or areas in Ukraine occupied by Russia.\n\n\u201cWhile we understand the need for rigorous review, thousands of kidnapped Ukrainian children remain separated from their families, and every delay extends the pain and suffering they and their families have already endured,\u201d the members wrote.\n\nThe full text of the bipartisan, bicameral letter is available here.\n\nBlumenthal Bulletin\n\nBlumenthal slammed Hegseth\u2019s purges at the Department of Defense.\n\nBlumenthal highlighted his GRID Act to ensure Big Tech and its partners bear the costs as data centers expand.\n\nBlumenthal slammed the Trump family investing in Polymarket while the CFTC sues states for regulating it.\n\nBlumenthal celebrated Tweed Airport\u2019s 95th birthday.\n\nBlumenthal marked 110 years of the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves in Guilford.\n\nBlumenthal attended the Annual CT United Ride.\n\nBlumenthal attended the annual Terryville Lions Country Fair.\n\nBlumenthal attended the Brooklyn Fair.\n\n-30-", 1, "2026-09-05T08:49:07Z", "2026-09-05T08:50:44Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.blumenthal.senate.gov/newsroom/press/release/senator-blumenthal-week-in-review-8/28/2026-9/4/2026"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.5670009888708591, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}