Oral argument in Trump v. Barbara will reveal nothing new about the Fourteenth Amendment. It will reveal how gone this Court really is.

The Supreme Court Has Never Heard a Case As Easy As This One
This article is part of TPM Cafe, TPM’s home for opinion and news analysis....

(talkingpointsmemo.com)

When the birthright citizenship decision comes out, people will say it could never have gone any other way, that the law was obvious. But the mere fact that SCOTUS took on the case is evidence enough that we are living in a time of democratic precarity.

The Declaration of Independence specifies 27 grievances with King George III and Britain.

Donald Trump and his regime have committed at least 20 of those same offenses highlighted in yellow.

#NoKings

There wasn’t a single Democratic elected official who celebrated Charlie Kirk’s death. Not one. Donald Trump is openly celebrating Robert Mueller’s death and no Republicans are condemning him. Both sides are not the same.

“The speed with which US democracy is being dismantled is unprecedented in modern history.“ www.theguardian.com/world/commen...

I never thought I would live through that. But here I am.

‘Trump is aiming for dictatorship’. That’s the verdict of the world’s most credible democracy watchdog | Martin Gelin
Sweden’s V-Dem Institute warns that the US is no longer a liberal democracy. And autocracy is creeping across Europe too, says writer Martin Gelin

(theguardian.com)

People arrested while protesting ICE say federal agents took samples of their DNA. It`s legal, but experts say the practice raises questions about what the government is doing with that genetic data. n.pr/4lyzEDy

ICE officers are taking DNA samples from protesters they`ve arrested
People arrested while protesting ICE say federal agents took samples of their DNA. It`s legal, but experts say the practice raises questions about what the government is doing with that genetic data.

(n.pr)

You can`t ask for unconditional surrender if you are not at war.

Trump is dragging us into an illegal war without the support of Congress or the American people.

FactPost(factpostnews.bsky.social): Q: Trump said recently there will be no deal with Iran except unconditional surrender. What does that look like?

Hegseth: Trump sets the terms. We`ll decide when they`re ready or not

Declaring that no quarter will be given unequivocally violates international humanitarian law. Indeed, ordering that no quarter will be given, threatening an adversary therewith or conducting hostilities on this basis is prohibited and constitutes a war crime.

Matt Novak(paleofuture.bsky.social): Hegseth: “We will keep pushing, keep advancing. No quarter, no mercy for our enemies.“

No quarter is the refusal to take prisoners and instead just execute everyone. It`s been considered a war crime for over a century.

JFC.

Impeach and remove this lawless man, you fools.

Nothing like fighting for democracy and self determination!

Matt Novak(paleofuture.bsky.social):
Trump says he must be involved in picking Iran's next leader
"They are wasting their time. Khamenei's son is a lightweight. I have to be involved in the appointment, like with Delcy [Rodriguez] in Venezuela," Trump said.

(axios.com)

As I explain via the latest “One First,” the only theme that unites the Supreme Court’s (unrelated) grants of emergency relief Monday night in the California transgender student and New York redistricting cases is what might be called “selective judicial impatience.”

And that’s *not* a good thing:

214. The Court`s (Selective) Impatience is a Vice
The only theme uniting Monday night`s twin grants of emergency relief is the Republican appointees` willingness to upend long-settled limits on the Court`s power when, but only when, they *want* to.

(stevevladeck.com)

The strikes on Iran are blatantly illegal. I explained in June why the strikes on Iran`s nuclear facilities were unlawful under US and international law. Everything I wrote then is true today, but this is a far larger assault with far graver consequences.
(nytimes.com)

NEW: The USPS changed its rules on how it postmarks ballots.

This may affect elections at every stage at which there`s a mail deadline.

An underplayed one: VOTER REGISTRATION.

Many voters who send in their registration forms by mail could be postmarked late, missing out without realizing it.

In an Intense Election Year, New Post Office Rules Could Trip Up Voter Registration - Bolts
A change in how mail is postmarked could lead some voters to miss key deadlines, including voter registration. Advocates worry the people most affected will be those already facing voting barriers.

(boltsmag.org)

Trump: “I can do anything I want to do to them ... I`m allowed to destroy the country.“

So SCOTUS, with its fabricated-out-of-thin-air immunity doctrine, has actually made American presidents less accountable than LITERAL royalty.

The New York Times(nytimes.com): Breaking News: Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly known as Prince Andrew, was arrested in Britain on suspicion of misconduct in public office over his links to Jeffrey Epstein, the BBC said

(nyti.ms)

I know we’re all just used to Trump living in his Mad King era, but this isn’t how this is supposed to work at all. The entire reason the Constitution puts this power in Congress is so that whether or not we go into a war of choice isn’t just one man’s decision.

US military prepared to strike Iran as early as this weekend, but Trump has yet to make a final call, sources say

The White House has been briefed that the military could be ready for an attack by the weekend, after a significant buildup in recent days of air and naval assets in the Middle East, the sources said. But one source cautioned that Trump has privately argued both for and against military action and polled advisers and allies on what the best course of action is.

(cnn.com)

Then they blatantly lied about it in a Congressional hearing.

The Department of Homeland Security collected data on Chicago residents accused of gang ties to test if police files could feed an FBI watchlist. Months passed before anyone noticed it wasn’t deleted.

SLOTKIN: So the fact we have ICE agents saying out loud to people they're trying to arrest that 'we're gonna put you in a database,' they are making that up?

LYONS: We do not do that

(wired.com)

Steve Bannon calls for Trump to deploy ICE and military troops to polling sites
(dlvr.it)

Breaking: Eight more prosecutors are leaving the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Minnesota, including Ana Voss, the current civil division chief, the Star Tribune reports.
(startribune.com)

New from me: It is not just that the US is experiencing democratic backsliding. Authoritarianism has emerged more quickly than in other benchmark countries.

This graph from John Burn-Murdoch sums it up. 🧵 (donmoynihan.substack.com)

Steve Levitsky, the co-author of How Democracies Die, on the dangerous place we have reached as Trump escalates:

“Orbán doesn’t arrest journalists,” he said. “And in Hungary if you walk the streets of Budapest or other Hungarian cities, you will not find heavily armed masked men abducting people.“

Trump: “Sometimes you need a dictator.“

Minnesota`s state FBI-like bureau is suing Noem. It says before pre-emptively declaring the killing righteous and abandoning the crime scene, feds took exclusive custody of evidence, including “apparently seized cellphones.“

MN asserts a sovereign right to investigate crimes within its borders.
(storage.courtlistener.com)

Crockett: “When you look at the press conference Trump held, he didn`t talk about democracy. I know there are a lot of people talking about how this is good for the Venezuelan people because Maduro was ba. That`s not why he did it. He has not cared about Venezuelans at all. Here`s the receipts ... “

The Constitution does say that war powers belong to Congress. But there are important exceptions, like if the president really, really wants to go to war. Or it’s the weekend. Or it’s January. Or he thought he saw a spider. www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/...
(theatlantic.com)

Trump Is Already Discussing Preemptive Pardons For His Lawless Administration

The revelation comes as Pete Hegseth faces scrutiny for a possible war crime, and as a judge pursues a contempt inquiry into the defiance of his order.

Read now: zeteo.com/p/trump-is-a...
(zeteo.com)

Former US ambassador to Hungary: “After years watching Hungary suffocate under the weight of its democratic collapse, I came to understand that the real danger of a strongman isn’t his tactics; it’s how others, especially those with power, justify their acquiescence.“ (h/t @bnovak.bsky.social)
(nytimes.com)

Whatever you do, don’t call this person, who is a close advisor to the President, a threat to American democracy.

President Trump is dismantling democracy—one piece at a time.

Here’s a roundup of what he’s done since returning to the White House. It paints a damning picture. 🧵

“.. the Times editorial board has compiled a list of 12 markers of democratic erosion .. The sobering reality is that the United States has regressed, to different degrees, on all 12.”

@nytopinion.nytimes.com
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Out: Voice of America broadcasts the words of Ronald Reagan to puncture the propaganda of foreign authoritarians.

In: A neighboring democracy apologizes to America’s authoritarian president for puncturing his propaganda by broadcasting the words of Ronald Reagan. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/01/w...
(nytimes.com)

“It matters when the government lies, because a democratic government that destroys the presumption that it`s accountable for its actions will soon either stop being democratic or stop being a government.“

emptywheel(emptywheel.bsky.social): Reason, on all the shameless lying Tricia McLaughlin does.

reason.com/2025/10/22/h.. ()

Careful explainer about the legality of what is going on. Even for those of us who are trying to pay close attention, it is difficult, because the OMB is not publicly explaining it`s legal reasoning for spending when there is no appropriation in place.

Hayes Brown(hayesbrown.bsky.social): new from (www.msnbc.com)

NEW — I spoke to DoorDash about the White House claiming the company`s report shows “inflation has been tamed“ and whether that`s an interpretation one should make. An economist also weighed in, pointing out dictatorships use data obfuscation as a tool, and right now they`re “grasping at straws.“
(thehandbasket.co)

Trump`s illegal murders in the Caribbean just got worse. An internal DOJ memo on the bombings says the victims are waging war on the US, but per NYT, it extensively cites the WH`s *own claims* to this effect as evidence!

It gets even darker than that. 1/

(new piece) (newrepublic.com)

license plate data merged with credit header data, marriage records, vehicle ownership, and voter registrations, in one app for ICE agents. oh and it sends push notifications when someone they`re seeking is nearby.
🆒: www.404media.co/this-app-let...
(404media.co)

“If the government starts using the database and does not put out the appropriate disclosure and then later does put out that appropriate disclosure, they still have violated the law,” EFF’s Adam Schwartz told @WIRED.com. (wired.com)

Here are the Declaration of Independence’s grievances against King George III. Many apply to Trump.
(motherjones.com)

New, from me:
America is no longer a functioning democracy. It is a competitive authoritarian system, hurtling rapidly toward authoritarianism.
This was a hard piece to write but we can`t move forward if we don’t acknowledge where we are. (donmoynihan.substack.com)

We know from other countries and contexts that aspiring authoritarians often target scientists, elevate loyalists, and suppress or sideline any who might have the knowledge, expertise, or power to challenge government transgression and failures to make science-based policy decisions. In response to such threats, the US scientific community can work to rebuild critical elements of the federal science enterprise now being dismantled or compromised, including science advisory committees and scientific assessments, which for decades have helped ensure that the best available science informs policy decisions. (science.org)

During the agents’ violent attack on a delivery worker Saturday morning in DC, bystanders repeatedly demanded the agents share their badge numbers. One of them—his face fully obscured by a black balaklava—eventually shot back, “Do I have to answer to you?”

It was a moment as brazen as it was astonishing. We’ve long known that federal agencies operating under Trump consider themselves above or outside the law. But to hear it stated so confidently, so plainly, that the federal government does not have to answer to the people who pay their salaries was jarring.

“You guys are ruining this country. You know that, right?” one bystander said to the agents at one point during the incident. An agent, ironically clad in a rainbow face mask, replied “Liberals already ruined it.”

Again, brazen and astonishing. He’s saying the agents have no choice but to be doing because liberals provoked them with their crazy ideas about freedom and democracy.
(thehandbasket.co)

“Thank you again, thank you again,” Trump said, taking Roberts’s hand into both his own and shaking it vigorously. Then, as he began to step away, the president tapped Roberts on the arm in a gesture of buddy-buddy intimacy, and said: “Won’t forget.”

In the past 10 weeks America has witnessed an extraordinary outpouring of decisions from its highest court that should make Trump very happy indeed. The six rightwing justices who control the court – three of them given their lifetime seats by Trump himself – have effectively greenlighted the president’s explosive and law-busting agenda.

“The supreme court was never intended to function like this. Never before has it entertained such challenges from the president, and never before has it decided them so flippantly.”

Prominent jurists have held Roberts responsible for emboldening Trump’s drive towards an authoritarian presidency. J Michael Luttig, who served on a federal appeals court for 15 years, put the criticism starkly. “The chief justice is presiding over the end of the rule of law in America,” Luttig told the Guardian.
(theguardian.com)

Unfortunately, the question, "Why didn’t Russians rise up and do something as Putin was destroying their democracy?" is becoming much easier to answer. What say you, Americans? Does this look like Trump and his gang are waiting for 2026 or 2028?

Michael MacKay @mhmck: Senior commanders loyal to the Constitution are being purged. People whose only qualification is personal loyalty to Trump are taking their place.

The Führer principle (unquestioning obedience to the leader) is key to completing the transition of the United States to fascism.

(washingtonpost.com)

Argentine statistician Graciela Bevacqua once lost her gov't job for refusing to doctor inflation data. I talked to her.

Officials produced junk reports for years & prosecuted Bevacqua for releasing independent ones

On Argentina's fall into blindness & lessons for the US

Cristina Kirchner succeeded her husband in becoming Argentina’s president, and her government plowed ahead with producing defective inflation reports that bolstered their agenda. Crackdowns were launched on private sector economists who released inflation readings contradicting official figures. Often, their data showed inflation at double the rate reported by the government. Bevacqua was among the rebellious consultants fending off the threat of jail time and steep fines exceeding $120,000.

At INDEC, credibility that took generations to build was lost in just a few years. The Economist magazine stopped publishing INDEC’s statistics and labeled them “bogus.” Argentines treated the data as no better than garbage. Investors fumbled in the dark, driving up borrowing costs.

The International Monetary Fund stepped in to rebuke Buenos Aires, like a headmaster trying to wrangle better behavior out of a stubborn student. The IMF censured Argentina in 2013 for the grossly distorted state of its data and demanded it start cleaning up their number-crunching. Otherwise, Argentina could lose access to critical loans or even face expulsion from the organization. It was the first time the IMF had penalized a member country that way.

(qz.com)

The agency’s response to public records requests indicated potential violations of federal records laws, experts said.

The Department of Homeland Security rebuffed a request for public records related to the National Guard deployment in Los Angeles this summer, saying that the agency had not maintained text message data among top officials since early April, according to its communications with a nonprofit watchdog group.

Under the Federal Records Act, government agencies are required to preserve all documentation that officials and federal workers produce while executing their duties, and they have to make federal records available to the public under the Freedom of Information Act unless they fall under certain exemptions.

The responses from the department indicate that officials there are failing to preserve internal communications, which would violate federal law, said Chioma Chukwu, the executive director of American Oversight.

Any Justice Department investigation into potential violations of the Federal Records Act could happen only after the head of the National Archives made referral to the U.S. attorney general, Pam Bondi, she noted. The current acting archivist is Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Mr. Trump fired the nation’s archivist, Colleen Shogan, less than a month into his second term.
(nytimes.com)

@MayorOfLA shows up to Little Tokyo and reacts to the 100 agent ICE/BP raid during @CAgovernor‘s press conference about redistricting.

Christopher F. Rufo (@realchrisrufo):Trump has the opportunity to do a Bukele-style crackdown on DC crime. Question is whether he has the will, and whether the public the stomach. Big test: Can he reduce crime faster than the Left advances a counternarrative about “authoritarianism”? If yes, he wins. Speed matters.

Bukele suspended due process, the right to legal counsel & freedom of assembly so he can imprison people indefinitely without charge or trial. It's grotesquely un-American. Amazing how many conservatives now openly detest the Constitution.

Wild to me that the GOP once claimed to be the party of the Constitution when you have some of its intellectuals lusting after one of the world's worst authoritarians. Mock "authoritarianism" all you want, but the Founders cared a lot about that, actually. Humiliating.

It's crazy that—in the year of our Lord 2025—some want to act like the only choices are "let murderers run amok" or "suspend the Constitution." That's a false choice. I'm sorry our country's founding document is inconvenient for you, but it protects unpopular people for a reason.

In his first term, Trump politicized the position of immigration judge. Now he is firing them for not providing the decisions he wants.

Gravel Influencer (gravelinfluencer.bsky.social): The judge interviewed said he was pressured to dismiss cases so that ICE could arrest people outside courtrooms.

(wbur.org)

The real danger of a strongman isn’t his tactics; it’s how others, especially those with power, justify their acquiescence.

Former US ambassador to Hungary: "After years watching Hungary suffocate under the weight of its democratic collapse, I came to understand that the real danger of a strongman isn’t his tactics; it’s how others, especially those with power, justify their acquiescence." (h/t @bnovak.bsky.social)

American officials and academics who, like me, lived in Hungary...would often tell ourselves stories to explain this submissiveness: that docility is rooted in Hungary’s oppressive communist past, that its democracy was simply too young to withstand a strongman. Then I returned to the US....

Here, too, powerful people are responding to authoritarian advances just as their Hungarian counterparts have — not with defiance, but with capitulation....Institutions and professions that have long acted as bastions of critical inquiry, civilized contestation... have fallen silent

Those best positioned [in Hungary] to uphold democratic norms chose the comfort of an illusion over the courage of action. They were and are invisible by choice.... The lesson of Hungary is this: We cannot claim to care about democracy only when it costs nothing.
(nytimes.com)

New, from me: until recently the big question was “what happens when Trump defies the courts?”
The answer, as it turns out, is that SCOTUS will support him.
The new question is what are the consequences for American democracy and governance?

* The Trump administration has defied or frustrated the court in more than one third of the 165 cases where the courts have ruled against them.
* Since April, SCOTUS has granted relief to Trump in all 15 of the emergency applications, writing a decision to explain its reasoning only three times.
* It is not just that SCOTUS is weakening Congress by giving its powers to Trump; it is also weakening other parts of the judiciary.
* It is overturning decisions in a fashion it did not do under Biden (hat tip to @adambonica.bsky.social for the graph).
* Lower court judges know they will receive death threats if they rule against Trump. They are frustrated with the blatant nature of his law-breaking. Now imagine how those judges feel when the Supreme Court waves away their efforts to defend the law.
* SCOTUS has created a presidential version of Wilhoit’s Law: "Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition, to wit: There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect."
* One basic question is whether words or legal terms hold any meaning. For example, Presidents are allowed to do limited and narrow reductions in force (RIFs). They are not allowed to do large-scale reorganizations without Congress. But Trump is just calling his massive reorganization a RIF.
* Recent SCOTUS decisions allowing Trump to move ahead with his stated goal of illegally dismantling the Department of Education illustrate how fights about spending are fights about democracy.

(donmoynihan.substack.com)

In just six months, over 50 immigration judges have left or been fired, and all hiring in the pipeline was frozen. And now we’re hearing that the admin was illegally ordering judges to interpret the law in a way the Trump admin wanted.

David J. Bier (@David_J_Bier): Immigration judges said they were told **how to rule** by DOJ to aid arrests of immigrants in courthouses.

A judge in DC has ruled that the Trump administration has to stop violating public disclosure laws. This is about the administration's efforts to take over Congress' power of the purse & altho the opinion is 60 pages, what the judge has to say is worth your time.

"Relying on an extravagant & unsupported theory of presidential power, Defendants claim that their apportionment decisions—which are legally binding & result in the actual spending of public funds—cannot be publicly disclosed"

Federal judges use exclamation points sparringly, but here, the judge writes, "Defendants are therefore required to stop
violating the law!"

The judge skips over the preliminary injunction phase and rules on the merits, granting partial summary judgment in favor of plaintiffs who challenged the Trump administration's illegal acts because there are no disputed issues of fact in the case. What does that mean?

The Trump admin didn't deny it was violating the law, instead, arguing plaintiffs lacked standing to sue & Congress's laws requiring the president to disclose the info were unconstitutional. The judge ruled against the gov't, specifically referring back to the Constitution & separation of powers.

In explaining the separation of powers argument the judge writes: The President’s constitutional obligation “does not permit [him] to refrain from executing laws duly enacted by the Congress as those laws are construed by the judiciary.” Presidents have to follow the law.

Trump's administration doesn't want to tell you how it's using taxpayer dollars. The judge says there's no basis for the administration to refuse to comply with a law, duly passed by Congress. This is all so basic, but also so refreshing to see a judge taking the time to say it so eloquently.

The court permanently enjoins the government from removing this information from public view--they law says we're entitled to know how Trump's administration is using taxpayer dollars & the court agrees. The gov't wants a stay to decide about appealing; the judge gives them just 3 days.

And the judge? Not exactly a raving partisan. Judge Emmet Sullivan was appointed to DC Superior Court by Reagan, the DC Court of Appeals by Bush, & the fed'l bench by Clinton. He has a fascinating track record, holding the gov't to account no matter who's in the WH.
(ecf.dcd.uscourts.gov)

US government has added the DNA of approximately 133,000 migrant children and teens to a criminal database, which critics say could mean police treat them like suspects “indefinitely.”
(wired.com)

Budget agreements won’t matter, funding obligations won’t matter, expended funds on the basis of promised reimbursement won’t matter.

You really don’t get the impression the GOP is thinking through what this means for the second they’re not in control.

Sahil Kapur (sahilkapur.bsky.social): “We don’t have an appropriations process. It’s broken. It’s been broken for a while,” said Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., who sits on the Senate Appropriations Committee.

He predicted that there will be CRs and rescission packages for the next four years.

(nbcnews.com)

I’m gonna post some of the remarks that US Magistrate Judge Espinoza made in the hearing to dismiss with prejudice the horrendous arrest & charges of Newark Mayor Baraka. @emptywheel has the full transcripts. The NJ USAO acted unprofessionally & unethically. The judge noted this:

“An arrest, particularly of a public figure, is not a preliminary investigative tool. It is a severe action, carrying significant reputational and personal consequences, and it should only be undertaken after a thorough, dispassionate evaluation of credible evidence”


“The apparent rush in this case, culminating today in the embarrassing retraction of charges, suggests a failure to adequately investigate…&…consider the implications of your actions before wielding your immense power. Your Office must operate with a higher standard than that.”

Judges don’t scold lightly. This needed to be said, and the judge said it. We can’t go down this road.

We as a society and as individuals must demand better of the people to whom we give immense power.

Trump released his video message to newly naturalized citizens. He welcomes them to the "national family," adding that they have a responsibility to "fiercely guard" and preserve American culture.

These video messages, played at naturalization ceremonies nationwide, are brief but experts in presidential rhetoric say they are important — not only are they meaningful to newly naturalized citizens, but they provide insight on how each president values immigration and their broader vision for the country.

Trump went on to welcome new citizens into the "national family," adding that they now have a responsibility to "fiercely guard" and preserve American culture

" That fits into his larger narrative, but that's not usually what you see at an American naturalization ceremony.  It's much more of a celebration and I'm not saying that Trump doesn't celebrate those ideas, but it's less celebratory than his predecessors," said Jason Edwards, a communications professor at  Bridgewater State University in Massachusetts who has studied presidential welcomes to new citizens.
(npr.org)

"Unlike January 2021 — when the Big Lie scheme failed — by 2029 Trump and his cohorts will have new tools to carry out a coup, including a massive federal police force with a proven willingness to engage in systemic illegality at Trump's behest."
(publicnotice.co)

Unprecedented and illegal: Russ Vought refuses to release White House budget as required by law.
White House aide on skipping full budget: It ‘wasn’t in our interest’
Russell Vought, director of the White House budget office, defended the administration’s decision not to release a full federal budget.
(washingtonpost.com)

The IRS is building a program that would give ICE officers unprecedented access to confidential tax data.
@ProPublica.org has obtained a blueprint of the system, which would create an “on demand” process allowing ICE to obtain the home addresses of people it’s seeking to deport.
(truthout.org)

I'm stunned. ICE attorneys not identifying themselves in COURT?

Zackary Berger שלום בערגער (drberger.bsky.social): In @theintercept.com, Debbie Nathan reports on ICE lawyers refusing to give their names in court - and immigration judges going along with it.

“We’re not really doing names publicly,” said Judge ShaSha Xu — after stating her own name and those of the immigrants and their lawyers. It was the first of two separate instances The Intercept identified in which judges chose to withhold the identities of the attorneys representing the Trump administration’s deportation regime.

(theintercept.com)

SCOTUS when Biden administration seeks to reduce student loan debt: Major question where they have to jump in and block before any action takes place.
SCOTUS when Trump eliminates the entire Department of Education: Lets see how this plays out, no need to intervene right now.

Mark Joseph Stern (mjsdc.bsky.social): BREAKING: The Supreme Court allows the Trump administration to move forward with the abolition of the Department of Education. It gives no explanation for its order. All three liberals dissent. www.documentcloud.org/documents/25...

From Sotomayor's dissent:

(documentcloud.org)

The U.S. has a free-trade agreement with South Korea ratified by Congress, under which Korea has almost no tariffs or other trade barriers on U.S. goods. Trump is arbitrarily, and unconstitutionally, overriding that deal and imposing a 25% tax on all imports from Korea, on a whim.

And while it's a trivial point, the fact that Trump's letter to South Korea's president announcing the new tariff rate reads like it was written by a 14-year-old boy is also just embarrassing.

The Constitution gives Congress, not the president, the power to make trade policy, including setting tariffs. Congress has delegated too much of that power to the president over the years. But it has not given him the power to arbitrarily impose permanent tariffs on countries on all imports from a country. Yet that is exactly the power Trump is claiming. It's yet another of his unconstitutional assertions of executive authority, which the courts need to step up and stop.

One other important point: while Trump's letter (and the others like it) are written to the heads of the various countries on whose imports Trump is imposing tariffs, the letters should really be written to the American businesses that import goods from places like South Korea, Japan, and Cambodia, since they're the ones that are now going to be required to pay a 25% tax on everything they import. Trump continues to pretend "South Korea" is paying the tariffs, but it's companies, and consumers, that pay them.

SCOOP: Another round of firings hit immigration courts on Friday. These firings come after Congress approved $3 billion in part to hire more judges. Since the start of the admin, over 80 judges have been fired or took the Fork in the Road.
(npr.org)

Since April 4, #SCOTUS has issued 15 rulings on 17 emergency applications filed by Trump (three birthright citizenship apps were consolidated).
... It has granted relief to Trump in all 15 rulings.
It has written majority opinions in only 3.

Today's order is the 7th with no explanation *at all.*

My quick take on Monday #SCOTUS ruling in the Dep't of Ed. downsizing case—and how the justices' inconsistent treatment of the student loan cases during the Biden administration illustrates in technicolor why the Court really needs to explain its rulings:
(stevevladeck.com)

This is illegal: these are civil servants who cannot be fired except for cause. The Trump administration is claiming powers here it does not have, assuming the Supreme Court will continue to let it act with impunity.

Timothy McBride (mcbridetd.bsky.social): Bondi fires 20 Justice Dept. employees involved in Trump prosecutions wapo.st/3U85CK1

(washingtonpost.com)

Explanation of what Trump is doing with ICE, while hollowing out the FBI, is dead on the money. We need to pay attention now, before it's too late.

ICE targeting students who have criticized the Trump administration is “blatantly unconstitutional,” warns professor of democracy Lucan Ahmad Way. “You can't simply racially profile or profile people based on their national origin and start pulling them off the streets,” says Joyce Vance. “That, by definition, is a police state.” With an explosion of new funding for ICE, as part of the GOP’s megabill, there’s yet more reason to be alarmed. With a rapid expansion of ICE, the danger, says Vance, “is that the people in charge are no longer the career officials with training who understand loyalty to the Constitution. These are quite literally people who understand loyalty to Donald Trump.”

(msnbc.com)

The patriotic response to today’s threat to American democracy is to oppose Trump soberly and strategically.

The first 100 days of President Trump’s second term have done more damage to American democracy than anything else since the demise of Reconstruction. Mr. Trump is attempting to create a presidency unconstrained by Congress or the courts, in which he and his appointees can override written law when they want to. It is precisely the autocratic approach that this nation’s founders sought to prevent when writing the Constitution.

Mr. Trump has the potential to do far more harm in the remainder of his term. If he continues down this path and Congress and the courts fail to stop him, it could fundamentally alter the character of American government. Future presidents, seeking to either continue or undo his policies, will be tempted to pursue a similarly unbound approach, in which they use the powers of the federal government to silence critics and reward allies.

It pains us to write these words. Whatever our policy differences with other modern presidents, every one of them fundamentally believed in democracy. They viewed freedom, constitutional checks and balances and respect for political opponents as “the bulwark of our Republic,” as Ronald Reagan said in the opening of his first Inaugural Address, while praising his predecessor Jimmy Carter.

Mr. Trump has attacked at least five pillars of American democracy in his first 100 days:

• Separation of powers.
• Due process.
• Equal justice under law.
• Free speech and freedom of the press.
• Government for the people.

(nytimes.com)

“This is a path of perfect lawlessness, one that courts cannot condone.” (On the refusal to return Kilmar Abrego Garcia from El Salvador)
- Reagan Appointee Wilkinson

“The court cannot imagine how the public interest might be served by permitting federal officials to flaunt the very laws that they have sworn to enforce.” (On the revocation of a student’s visa)
- George W. Bush Appointee Schiltz

“This sentence staggers. It is wrong as a matter of law and attempts to read an entire provision out of the Constitution.” (On a claim that courts “do not have a role” in regards to the Aliens Enemies Act)
- Biden Appointee Sweeney

“Allowing constitutional rights to be dependent upon the grace of the executive branch would be a dereliction of duty by this third and independent branch of government and would be against the public interest.” (On an attempt to designate someone as an “alien enemy” without due process)
- Land, George W. Bush Appointee

“Of great concern to this court is that respondents contradict themselves throughout the entire record.” (On inconsistent evidence about gang affiliation)
- Clinton Appointee Briones

“Defendants have failed to respond in good faith, and their refusal to do so can only be viewed as willful and intentional noncompliance.” (On a failure to identify many officials involved in Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s removal)
- Obama Appointee Xinis

“As is becoming far too common, we are confronted again with the efforts of the executive branch to set aside the rule of law in pursuit of its goals.” (On a claim that Venezuela has invaded the U.S.)
- George W. Bush Appointee Gregory

“Generalization of criminality to the Venezuelan T.P.S. population as a whole is baseless and smacks of racism predicated on generalized false stereotypes.” (On insinuations that Venezuelan immigrants are gang members)
- Obama Appointee Chen

“In short, the order raises constitutional eyebrows many times over. It punishes and seeks to silence speech ‘at the very center of the First Amendment.’” (On an executive order targeting Jenner & Block)
- George W. Bush Appointee Bates

“Indeed, the government has been brazen.” (On The Associated Press’s access to the White House being restricted for not using “Gulf of America”)
- Trump Appointee McFadden

“I’ve been on the bench for over four decades. I can’t remember another case where the question presented is as clear as this one. This is a blatantly unconstitutional order.” (On the order denying birthright citizenship)
- Reagan Appointee Coughenour

“The executive order contradicts the text of the 14th Amendment and the century-old untouched precedent that interprets it.” (On the order denying birthright citizenship)
- George W. Bush Appointee Laplante

“It is hard to fathom a more straightforward display of arbitrary and capricious actions than the defendants’ actions here.” (On a funding cut for the agency overseeing Voice of America)
- Reagan Appointee Lamberth

“In short, the government asks the court ‘to overlook the simplest, most logical explanation’ for what happened. The court declines.” (On a claim that an agency was not responsible for a funding freeze it had announced)
- Trump Appointee McElroy

“To hold otherwise would be to bless the president’s obvious attempt to exercise power beyond that granted to him by the Constitution and shield the executive branch’s counterterrorism actions from independent oversight, public scrutiny and bipartisan congressional insight regarding those actions.” (On the firing of two Democrats on the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board)
- George W. Bush Appointee Walton (nytimes.com)

Using truncated procedures, the six-justice conservative majority gave a green light to many of the president’s most assertive initiatives.

The emergency rulings in Mr. Trump’s favor were theoretically temporary and provisional. In practice, they allowed the president to pursue his policies indefinitely and sometimes irreversibly.

In the first 20 weeks of Mr. Trump’s second term, his administration filed 19 emergency applications asking the justices to pause lower court losses while lawsuits continued. That is the total number of such applications the Biden administration filed over four years, and far more than the eight applications filed over the 16 years of the George W. Bush and Barack Obama presidencies.

Many of the emergency decisions were based on rushed and cursory briefs, and came after the court did without oral arguments. They were usually delivered in orders containing scant or no reasoning.

In cases decided with signed majority opinions after full briefing, oral arguments and sober consideration, the court delivered 10 6-to-3 decisions out of 56, and just six of those split with the three liberal justices in dissent. In the term that ended last July, by contrast, there were 20 decisions decided by 6-to-3 votes. (nytimes.com)

Bombing Iran without congressional authorization escalated a bipartisan trend of presidents bypassing the original intent of the Constitution.

Representative Thomas Massie, a libertarian-leaning Kentucky Republican, wrote on social media that “this is not constitutional.” Mr. Trump responded fiercely, saying he will back a primary challenger to Mr. Massie, a clear warning to other Republicans who may be considering criticizing his move.

In 1973, at the end of the Vietnam War, Congress tried to reclaim some of its eroding authority by enacting the War Powers Resolution, overriding a veto by President Richard M. Nixon. It says a president may only introduce forces into hostilities with congressional authorization or if the United States has been attacked. (nytimes.com)

With Supreme Court Ruling, Another Check on Trump’s Power Fades
The court tied the hands of judges at a time when Congress has been cowed and internal executive branch constraints have been steamrolled.

The Supreme Court ruling barring judges from swiftly blocking government actions, even when they may be illegal, is yet another way that checks on executive authority have eroded as President Trump pushes to amass more power.

[T]he diminishing of judicial authority as a potential counterweight to exercises of presidential power carries implications far beyond the issue of citizenship. The Supreme Court is effectively tying the hands of lower-court judges at a time when they are trying to respond to a steady geyser of aggressive executive branch orders and policies.

But the present era is very different. Presidential power began to grow again in the Reagan era and after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. And now Mr. Trump, rejecting norms of self-restraint, has pushed to eliminate checks on his authority and stamp out pockets of independence within the government while only rarely encountering resistance from a Supreme Court he reshaped and a Congress controlled by a party in his thrall. (nytimes.com)

What the Court is saying is that the government is likely to suffer irreparable harm from being prevented from implementing a flagrantly unconstitutional policy that threatens to render an untold number of children stateless

David Noll (david.noll.org): i'm not going to post anything more about Trump v. CASA because it is not the most important thing in the world, but I respectfully submit that this paragraph alone justifies all the derision directed at the Court and Justice Barrett.
For non-lawyers, she is saying that the government (by which she means executive branch) is ***irreparably harmed*** by not being able to strip the citizenship of children born in the United States to undocumented parents.
To spell it out still further, she's saying that if Stephen Miller's minions can't strip the citizenship of American citizens ***now***, the executive branch will be harmed in a way that courts can't later remedy. That's completely gratuitous. the court could have prohibited nationwide injunctions while still finding that the government hadn't shown irreparable harm in this case. And it's so transparently racist, and so transparently false, that it warrants viewing this opinion alongside Trump v. United States and Trump v. Hawaii, whatever your thoughts on the scope of district courts' remedial authority.

Honestly, even the Chinese and Russians never made me do this to get a visa. Even the North Koreans, who made me hand over my phone for the duration of my visit, never made this demand.

Steve Herman (newsguy.bsky.social): US Embassy Thailand - All who are applying for an F, M or J nonimmigrant visa must adjust the privacy settings on all of their social media accounts to 'public' for vetting.

President Donald Trump said he approved of a plan to use National Guard officers as immigration judges in the state. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis had been pushing the plan for months as a way to speed up deportations.

Former JAGs [say] deploying JAGs as immigration judges in Florida would arguably violate the Posse Comitatus Act, which generally bars federal troops from participating in civilian law enforcement or “executing the laws,” unless otherwise authorized by the Constitution or Congress.

“That runs the gamut from making arrests, investigating crimes, and doing police work, all the way up to guarding prisoners or running courts,” says Daniel Maurer, an Army JAG until 2024 who also taught law at West Point and at the Judge Advocate General’s School in Virginia. (motherjones.com)

If even a fraction of what this letter says is true, Emil Bove should be prosecuted for criminal contempt and disbarred.

In no way should he be confirmed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. (judiciary.senate.gov)

Damn‼️ Federal agents blew a door off for this?

Federal agents blasted their way into an LA home where Jenny Ramirez lives with her boyfriend and two kids. She heard the blast while checking on her 6-year-old, with her 1-year-old in her arms.

Ramirez says everyone in the home is a U.S. citizen. Agents told her they were looking for her boyfriend. Later that morning, he called to say Border Patrol told him to turn himself in, possibly over a crash a week earlier, where he rear-ended a truck carrying federal agents.

The Trump administration has, for the first time ever, built a searchable national citizenship data system.

The tool, which is being rolled out in phases, is designed to be used by state and local election officials to give them an easier way to ensure only citizens are voting. But it was developed rapidly without a public process, and some of those officials are already worrying about what else it could be used for.

Legal experts told NPR they were alarmed that a development of this magnitude was already underway without a transparent and public process.

When federal agencies plan to collect or use Americans' personal data in new ways, there are procedures they are required to follow beforehand, including giving public notice. (npr.org)

Te post reports that some of our most significant federal agencies are operating like two-bit criminal enterprises that are afraid to keep records of their activities

Across President Donald Trump’s administration, a creeping culture of secrecy is overtaking personnel and budget decisions, casual social interactions, and everything in between, according to interviews with more than 40 employees across two dozen agencies, most of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid reprisals. No one wants to put anything in writing anymore, federal workers said: Meetings are conducted in-person behind closed doors, even on anodyne topics. Workers prefer to talk outdoors, as long as the weather cooperates. And communication among colleagues — whether work-related or personal — has increasingly shifted to the encrypted messaging app Signal, with messages set to auto-delete.

Trump’s own political appointees are also resistant to writing things down, worried that their agency’s deliberations will appear in news coverage and inspire a hunt for leakers, federal workers said.

But this shift is different [from previous behavior], workers said — more far-reaching, affecting every aspect of external and internal communications. The overall effect has been to impede honest discussion, slow work, stir confusion and depress morale.

“I’ve never seen this much secrecy and lack of transparency from any leadership, including in the military,” said a nearly 10-year veteran of the General Services Administration. “We don’t know anything until it happens.” (washingtonpost.com)

Trump urges Senate Republicans to ditch rules & overrule the parliamentarian—yet another power grab by a leader who scorns norms, undermines democracy, & thinks he’s a king.

Let’s see who still has a spine in the GOP. (thehill.com)

One reason impoundment is illegal is that it prevents Presidents from remaking laws previously passed by Congress by, for example, discriminating against disfavored groups

Anne Lutz Fernandez (lutzfernandez.bsky.social): One reason impoundment is illegal is that it prevents Presidents from remaking laws previously passed by Congress by, for example, discriminating against disfavored groups

(edweek.org)

Trump threatens to arrest Mamdani and then adds, "a lot of people are saying he's here illegally"

welp, I guess the nation's largest city is no longer free to elect a mayor of its choosing

I told you that the SCOTUS's ban on national injunctions would supersize Trump's lawlessness. Well, it's starting.

Let me break some news for you: Trump is stealing money to build facilities like Alligator Alcatraz - from an account earmarked for the OPPOSITE of detention. I'm the top Democrat on the sub-committee that writes the budget for DHS. I know that budget. Since 2019, the budget always includes a line item for detention beds AND a line item for the Shelter and Services Program ("SSP"). They are very different programs.

The detention account funds secure beds for immigrants who are detained. But many asylum applicants are released into the U.S. as their cases are processed. SSP provides small grants to help local communities provide shelter or services to those people.

But now Sec. Noem is saying the SSP account - explicitly designed to help non-detained immigrants - can be used to pay for Alligator Alcatraz and other detention facilities. That is a stunning violation of the law. DHS is just brazenly stealing the SSP money. SSP is supposed to be used for the OPPOSITE of detention. But because Trump is obsessed with imprisoning as many peaceful immigrants - day laborers, farms workers, students, children - as possible, he is desperate for more detention space. So he's just violating the law.

Maybe this seems like a small thing - moving money from one DHS account to another. But if Trump can get away with violating the appropriations law this brazenly, what stops him from ignoring the entirety of Congress's spending law? The answer WAS a district court injunction. This action is so obviously illegal that a district court would have easily stopped it. But now, in effect, only the Supreme Court can block it - and they only take a few cases a year. So Trump likely just gets away with it.

Skateboarding and live-streaming to be deemed “violent tactics” to justify the arrest of those expressing their first amendment rights.

This is what an authoritarian police state looks like.

DHS is urging law enforcement to treat even skateboarding and livestreaming as signs of violent intent during a protest, turning everyday behavior into a pretext for police action

At the same time, the guidance urges officers to consider a range of nonviolent behavior and common protest gear—like masks, flashlights, and cameras—as potential precursors to violence, telling officers to prepare “from the point of view of an adversary.”

Protesters on bicycles, skateboards, or even “on foot” are framed as potential “scouts” conducting reconnaissance or searching for “items to be used as weapons.” Livestreaming is listed alongside “doxxing” as a “tactic” for “threatening” police. Online posters are cast as ideological recruiters—or as participants in “surveillance sharing.”

(wired.com)

"it’s just another example of Donald Trump having no respect for the actual values of the United States military.”

"They’ve bulldozed the traditions and norms. Now we’ve got the Pentagon itself putting out nasty tweets." --
@fpwellman.bsky.social
(publicnotice.co)

Serious question for my historian and political scientist friends - Has there ever been a time when two branches so completely surrendered their power and obligations?

"The high court has given the president immunity and protected him from nationwide injunctions. Congress is giving ground on spending and tariffs. It adds up to a turbocharged executive." (washingtonpost.com)

This has been the golden rule for fascists and racists since time began:

Identify the parts of your nation that are crumbling (on your watch) and blame it on people who don’t look like you.

What is rare (and uniquely dangerous) is to find these people running the government.

Aaron Rupar (atrupar.com): Stephen Miller: "What would LA look like without illegal aliens? You would be able to see a doctor in the ER right away, no wait time, no problem. You kids would go to a public school that had more money than they know what to do with. Classrooms would be half the size." (link)

In March, federal ATF analysts tried to catch 4 fugitives from Virginia's Farmville ICE detention center.

They tapped into Richmond's Flock cameras, which the department says was a violation.

In response, Richmond police will cut off all federal access to the camera network.

Police said ATF agents, who were repurposed to focus on immigration enforcement in March, made searches in the RPD system for 4 months – from March through June 11.

RPD Chief Rick Edwards said he wouldn't have allowed the access, had he known what ATF were seeking.

Edwards: “I’ve been clear with the public, with city leadership, and within this department: the Richmond Police Department does not enforce federal immigration law, and we do not investigate a person’s immigration status." (richmond.com)

The Defense Department is reviewing the request. If approved, one official said, it would be the first time National Guard troops were used to help enforce an immigration crackdown in the country. (nytimes.com)

The acting head of ICE couldn't believe that I would question his agency's use of masked, unidentified agents to sweep up student immigrants during *police week*. Have I no sense of patriotism???? (washingtonpost.com)

The president’s use of the National Guard serves his own interests above the country’s.

The National Guard is typically brought into American cities during emergencies such as natural disasters and civil disturbances or to provide support during public health crises — when local authorities require additional resources or manpower. There was no indication that was needed or wanted in Los Angeles this weekend, where local law enforcement had kept protests over federal immigration raids, for the most part, under control.

Which made President Trump’s order on Saturday to do so both ahistoric and based on false pretenses and is already creating the very chaos it was purportedly designed to prevent.

Some legal experts note that Mr. Trump’s order goes even further. He “has also authorized deployment of troops anywhere in the country where protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement are occurring or are likely to occur, even if they are entirely peaceful,” Liza Goitein, the senior director at the liberty and national security program at the Brennan Center for Justice, said in a social post. “That is unprecedented and a clear abuse of the law.”

In 2020 it was Gen. Mark Milley, Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Attorney General William Barr who stepped in and overruled Mr. Trump in his pursuit of using active-duty troops to bring a violent end to demonstrations in Lafayette Square, much to the president’s frustration. His current attorney general, Pam Bondi, and secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, have shown little reservation about potentially putting troops in a position where they might have to decide whether to follow an illegal or immoral order or unnecessarily endanger civilians. (nytimes.com)

A Supreme Court decision demonstrates a new degree of imperiousness, seeming to co-sign the Trump administration’s contempt for the lower courts.
(nytimes.com)

Such a path could drastically raise the stakes for federal investigations of state or county officials, bringing the department and the threat of criminalization into the election system.
(nytimes.com)

Homan says he's talked with acting US Attorney Alina Habba about possibly prosecuting Democrats

In purporting to license otherwise illegal conduct by tech firms, President Trump set a precedent expanding executive power, legal experts warned.

Attorney General Pam Bondi told tech companies that they could lawfully violate a statute barring American companies from supporting TikTok based on a sweeping claim that President Trump has the constitutional power to set aside laws, newly disclosed documents show.

In letters to companies like Apple and Google, Ms. Bondi wrote that Mr. Trump had decided that shutting down TikTok would interfere with his “constitutional duties,” so the law banning the social media app must give way to his “core presidential national security and foreign affairs powers.”

...some legal experts consider Mr. Trump’s action — and in particular his order’s claim, which Ms. Bondi endorsed in her letters, that he has the power to enable companies to lawfully violate the statute — to be his starkest power grab. It appears to set a significant new precedent about the potential reach of presidential authority, they said. (nytimes.com)

“Rolling Stone reached out to all 53 GOP senators after the president said he didn't know whether he needs to honor the nation's founding document. None replied.”

“Don’t you need to uphold the Constitution of the United States, as president?” Welker asked Trump after he pleaded ignorance about whether everyone in America has a right to due process, a constitutional right.

“I don’t know,” Trump replied. “I have to respond by saying again that I have brilliant lawyers that work for me. They are going to obviously follow what the Supreme Court said. What you said is not what I heard the Supreme Court said. They have a different interpretation.”
(rollingstone.com)

At the ICE detention centre in New Jersey:
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka has been arrested by the DOJ after Members of Congress (apparently being shoved by agents) attempted to include him on a visit. Baraka has opposed the facility, saying it opened without permits.

Congresswoman Lamonica McIver accuses ICE of assaulting her and two other members of Congress who were attempting to do their statutory duty by visiting the facility.

Rep. Menendez Jr. says ICE brought 20 armed agents to intimidate them.

A video that says everything about this regime: A Newark Mayor attempting to visit a detention facility opened in his city without permits is handcuffed and detained by agents.

Apparently Ras Baraka is now being held at the local ICE field office.

Utter fury from Rep. Robert Menendez directed at ICE: “They feel no weight of the law & no restraint. That was shown in broad daylight when they not just arrested the Mayor of Newark but when they put their hands on two members of congress. HOW IS THIS ACCEPTABLE? TO ANYONE IN THIS COUNTRY.” 🔥

This is CRUCIAL legal context for the assault by ICE on Members of Congress today. ICE has NO LEGAL AUTHORITY to prevent members of Congress visiting facilities to exercise oversight. There’s isn’t even a requirement to give prior notice of a visit.

Marco Rubio officially declares that individuals who criticize Israel will be denied entry visas to the United States.

The Trump administration has expanded Palantir’s work with the government, spreading the company’s technology — which could easily merge data on Americans — throughout agencies.

In March, President Trump signed an executive order calling for the federal government to share data across agencies, raising questions over whether he might compile a master list of personal information on Americans that could give him untold surveillance power.

Creating detailed portraits of Americans based on government data is not just a pipe dream. The Trump administration has already sought access to hundreds of data points on citizens and others through government databases, including their bank account numbers, the amount of their student debt, their medical claims and any disability status.

Mr. Trump could potentially use such information to advance his political agenda by policing immigrants and punishing critics, Democratic lawmakers and critics have said. Privacy advocates, student unions and labor rights organizations have filed lawsuits to block data access, questioning whether the government could weaponize people’s personal information.
(nytimes.com)

"There are two kinds of society in which armed agents of the government conceal their identities:

(1) Failed states, where criminals contest the government’s hold on power.

(2) Authoritarian states, where the government has total, unchecked power."
(thebulwark.com)

Administration has threatened to pull funding from jurisdictions that don’t cooperate with immigration enforcement

“The administration’s actions and threats defy the Constitution and decades of legal precedent. The courts rejected this playbook in 2017, and the law hasn’t changed,” the coalition said. (wsj.com)

Trump’s recent call for a “violent day” of policing is part of his plan to push cops to be as brutal as possible and shield them from accountability

For years, Donald Trump had hoped — and tried — to implement programs and federal policies that would allow American police forces to act with impunity and cartoonish levels of brutality. When he was president, several ideas that Trump repeatedly bellowed about in the Oval Office included conducting mass executions, and having U.S. police units kill scores of suspected drug dealers and criminals in urban areas in gunfights, with the cops then piling those corpses up on the street to send a grim message to gangs. The ideas were so grisly and paramilitary-sounding that some Trump administration officials began privately referring to them as his plans for “American death squads.”

Trump has spoken frequently about offering police “immunity from prosecution” — particularly as it relates to the central role he wants cops to play in carrying out the largest mass-deportation regime in U.S. history. Those who study fascist history warn that such promises should give us chills. Ruth Ben-Ghiat is a professor at New York University, an expert in Mussolini’s fascist reign in Italy, and the author of Strongmen. “The fascists did the same thing,” she says. “They made a deal with the police.” In Trump’s case, she insists, he’s taking advantage of the “worst part of our institutions,” namely the racially disparate and often brutal realities of American policing. There’s a name for what Trump is proposing. “These are called ‘authoritarian bargains,’” Ben-Ghiat says. “He courts the police by saying, ‘You won’t pay a price for any violence I ask you to do.’ He is arranging these things ahead of time.”

His campaign also reminded his followers that “President Trump has committed to deploying federal assets, including the National Guard, to restore law and order when local law enforcement refuses to act,” emphasizing that should he return to the White House, he’ll have heavily armed military units that he could swiftly unleash to bolster his demands for police impunity. (rollingstone.com)

On April 18, CREW and Public Citizen filed a motion for a preliminary injunction and partial summary judgment, asking that the court order the apportionments database be made public again and find that its removal violated the law.

Approximately two weeks ago, OMB took down the website, removing the apportionments database from public view. This move has denied CREW and the American public information that is critically important to keeping citizens informed about the activities of government officials and agencies and to ensuring transparency, ethics and integrity in government. (citizensforethics.org)

People sometimes need a jarring reminder of how far down the path Trump administration is going toward authoritarian assertions of power

A sign: John Yoo, architect of torture memos and maximal presidential powers, sharply rebukes President Trump and DOJ actions on 4 grounds @npr.org interview:

• There's no state of war


• It's anathema to post 9/11 Constitutional rules to deny due process to people apprehended on American soil


• Attacks on judges and talk of disobeying judicial orders


• It's illegal to send migrants to be tortured in El Salvadorian prisons

The U.S. has sent people it has detained — people it calls terrorists — to a prison overseas — indefinitely. This is true in 2025, after the Trump administration deported at least 261 foreign nationals to a maximum security prison in El Salvador.And it was also true two decades ago, following the attacks of Sept. 11, after the U.S. government began to house captured Taliban and al-Qaida fighters in the military prison at the U.S. Naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.During the George W. Bush administration, John Yoo wrote the legal justification for the treatment of Guantanamo detainees, now widely referred to as "the torture memos."Yoo argues that there are key legal differences between what the Bush administration did – and what the Trump administration is attempting in El Salvador.

(npr.org)

I thought the GOP was the party of states' rights?!?

A federal official threatened to arrest Wisconsin's Governor for "distributing guidance that asked state agency employees to consult with an attorney if federal agents show up at state buildings with legal documents."

Nick Knudsen (nickknudsenus.bsky.social): Trump's threat to arrest Governor Evers is a chilling attempt to normalize fascism & silence dissent.

They want to bully & intimidate anyone who doesn't conform to their ideology.

Senior executives are being pushed out and the director, Kash Patel, is more freely using polygraph tests to tamp down on news leaks about leadership decisions and behavior.

The actions have obliterated decades of experience in national security and criminal matters at the F.B.I. and raised questions about whether the agents taking over such critical posts have the institutional knowledge to pursue cornerstones of its work.


One F.B.I. lawyer was removed from a key job overseeing human resources and notified while on medical leave. Others have been forced out of jobs, typically with no explanation. A succession of top agents, all women, were given an ultimatum: Take a different post or be asked to retire.

It is not clear how Mr. Patel is reaching these decisions, but former F.B.I. officials say such removals would typically be set off by conduct that warranted being investigated or adjudicated, like a bad inspection or reports of misconduct. Under previous directors, special agents in charge, who typically lead field offices, were rarely removed. By one estimate, more than a half dozen were asked to transfer or face a demotion.

At a recent meeting, senior executives were told that the news leaks were increasing in priority — even though they do not involve open cases or the disclosure of classified information. Former officials say senior executives, among others, were being polygraphed at a “rapid rate.” (nytimes.com)

FBI agents are now visiting Charlottesville’s public defenders *at their homes*. It’s naked intimidation of our justice system.

"It was before 7 a.m. on the Friday before Memorial Day weekend when the wife of Charlottesville public defender Donald Bellah, asleep inside the couple's rural Albemarle County residence, was awakened by two FBI agents. They told her they wanted to speak with her husband.

Around that same time, other agents were arriving at other lawyers' homes.

"There was no attempt to contact any one of us other than just showing up at our houses at the same time," Bellah told The Daily Progress. "I'm angry; it was intending to intimidate us."


Bellah represented one of the two men detained April 22 inside the Albemarle County Courthouse in downtown Charlottesville by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. That raid provoked widespread criticism after videos showed three ICE agents dressed in plain clothes refusing to show badges or arrest warrants to bystanders who questioned the men. One of the ICE agents wore a balaclava, masking his identity in possible contravention of Virginia law. (dailyprogress.com)

The Civil Rights Division “persecuted” police departments throughout its long history, precisely *because* they were violating civil rights laws.

If you follow me, you've heard me talk about my current project on the early years of the Civil Rights Division, when it took an aggressive approach to racist law enforcement in the South, even prosecuting the sheriff and deputy sheriff in Neshoba County over the "Mississippi Burning" murders.

And that was before civil rights laws -- the thing Dhillon claims she wants her people enforcing? -- made a regular habit of including police oversight in their purview, from Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act to Section 14141 of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994.

It's deeply dishonest to pretend that CRD oversight of local law enforcement is somehow a brand-new development that was pushed by "woke" activists when, in fact, it's been around longer than Dhillon or I have been alive.

A good lawyer would know all that. A bad one wouldn't.

Here's a fresh example.

Local police departments get federal funding and "surplus" equipment like this, so under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, they can be investigated and prosecuted by CRD for a range of discriminatory actions.

Sec 4 (a)the Attorney General and the Secretary of Defense, in consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security and the heads of agencies as appropriate, shall increase the provision of excess military and national security assets in local jurisdictions to assist State and local law enforcement.
(b) the Secretary of Defense, in coordination with the Attorney General, shall determine how military and national security assets, training, non-lethal capabilities, and personnel can most effectively be utilized to prevent crime. (whitehouse.gov)

Stephen Miller: "Children will be taught to love America. Children will be taught to be patriots. Children will be taught civic values for schools that want federal taxpayer funding ... we're gonna make sure these funds are not being used to promote communist ideology."

Oklahoma Education Commissar Ryan Walters announces new academic standards for the coming school year. Among other things, all students will be required to learn Trump's version of the 2020 election.

CNBC: Will you potentially block the Verizon merger with Frontier Communications because of DEI policy?

FCC COMMISSIONER BRENDAN CARR: Yeah. Of course ... I've told everybody that if they want to get a deal done before the FCC, they need to get rid of any invidious forms of discrimination.

MURRAY: It was due last week. By law.

PATEL: I understand.

MURRAY: You're not gonna follow the law? ... And you have no timeline?

PATEL: No

MURRAY: Hmm. We're not having a budget hearing without a budget request. So where is it?

New: President Trump is using a bizarre legal loophole to allow the military to perform domestic law enforcement activity on U.S. soil.

Trump Is Quietly Using The U.S. Military In A Whole New Way

Since last month, Trump has authorized soldiers to detain “trespassers” on U.S. soil.

The military is usually barred from carrying out civil law enforcement work...

(huffpost.com)

Constitution: "Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall take the following Oath or Affirmation:– I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

Years before the Constitution, the Declaration indicated the importance of an independent judiciary, objecting that the King "has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries."

A woman who asked about Trump’s tariff plan was lifted out of her seat and carried away at Mike Lawler's town hall meeting. Shameful.
(usatoday.com)

This is a TARGETED PROGRAM to remove GENERALS and ADMIRALS and other MILITARY OFFICERS that do not align politically with Donald Trump.

This way if they ever declare martial law or invoke the military to break the law there will be little to no resistance from non-Trumpers.

Natasha Bertrand (@NatashaBertrand): Just in: SecDef Hegseth has ordered senior Pentagon leadership to cut the number of four-star generals and admirals by at least 20% across the military, according to a memo signed by Hegseth dated Monday and obtained by CNN. (CNN.com)

Wait, what??? How would this not be an obvious violation of Voice of America Charter? (independent.co.uk)

MAGA voted for a guy who said “I don’t know” when asked if he believed it was his job to protect the Constitution and ensure due process rights for people in the United States..

Then… when asked if he agreed with the assertion that everyone in the U.S.-citizens and noncitizens alike-is entitled to due process under the Fifth Amendment, Trump responded, “I don’t know. I’m not a lawyer. I don’t know”

This dumb fuck doesn’t know the constitution

$80 BILLION for the mass deportation agenda. That’s more than 20 years worth of National Park Service budgets.

The priorities here are dark. The immigration courts would get a measly 30% annual increase while ICE detention goes up by 364% and they fund 10,000 new ICE officers.

Adam Isacson( @adam_wola): The House Judiciary's mammoth spending bill for "mass deportation" is now public and will be marked up in committee on Wednesday. Here are all items I see that are $100 million or more. They add up to a staggering $79.52 billion. (judiciary.house.gov)

BREAKING: Police just surrounded Rev. William Barber, prominent activist and pastor, as he and others prayed in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda.

Police then expelled everyone (including press) to (presumably) arrest them.

Covered protests here a lot. Never seen anything like it. (religionnews.com)

Scoop: All of the managers in DOJ's voting section have been remove and political appointees have told attorneys to dismiss all active cases without explanation (theguardian.com)

charles sterling (@chasster123): The dismissal of cases, such as challenges to voting laws in Georgia and Pennsylvania, without explanation, breaks DOJ norms and raises alarms about voter suppression, especially as states pass restrictive measures; former DOJ employees warn this could lead to politicized hiring and a weakened federal role in protecting voting rights, per The Guardian's reporting.

Q: “The president signed an executive order…threatening to defund sanctuary cities for their policies. Why not just arrest the leaders who are harboring and shielding illegal aliens from deportation?”

Tom Homan: “Wait to see what's coming.”

ICE will prosecute the 2 women in this video—who only dared to ask agents if they had warrant—with felony obstruction charges.

ICE finally admit it is their "undercover" agents caught on video—but will only investigate the innocent bystanders—and have "promised" to file charges against them.

The 2 women appear to be volunteers with the Immigration Rapid Response Hotline, a public service promoted by several civil rights and immigrant support groups.

Truly terrifying executive order from DJT. All local law enforcement will now use aggressive tactics to police cities, and when they break the law, those big law firms who caved will represent them pro bono. Martial Law is starting.

AG Bondi will have the authority to prosecute local politicians she deems are obstructing law enforcement or using DEI to restrict law enforcement. What a complete disgrace this administration is.

(whitehouse.gov: STRENGTHENING AND UNLEASHING AMERICA’S LAW ENFORCEMENT)

Ed Martin's latest target: Wikipedia.

The interim U.S. attorney and pro-Trump bulldog has sent a letter seeming to threaten the Wikimedia Foundation's tax-exempt status over allegations that it is "spreading propaganda." (washingtonpost.com)


The eagle-eyed may note that Martin himself is no stranger to outlets that spread propaganda, as the Post reported last week (Trump’s D.C. U.S. attorney pick appeared on Russian state media over 150 times)
"Nominee Ed Martin did not initially disclose his RT and Sputnik appearances from 2016 to 2024 to the Senate. The State Department has said the networks act like arms of Russian intelligence."

Nicholas Gilbert, a dairy farmer from Potsdam, New York, is facing tough economic lessons in the middle of President Donald Trump’s ongoing trade war. Like many others in border towns, Gilbert assumed tariffs would be Canada’s problem—not his.

But when a recent livestock feed order from Ontario arrived, Gilbert was shocked to see it cost him $2,200 more than usual. The extra cost was due to tariffs, which he thought would be handled by the Canadian supplier. Instead, the bill landed squarely on his shoulders.

“I’m not even sure it’s legal!” Gilbert told The Atlantic. “We contracted for the price on delivery. If your price of fuel goes up or your truck breaks down, that’s not my problem! That’s what the contract’s for.”

[Judge Cano] added that each of the men had immigration paperwork that suggested that they were not subject to removal. “Their papers stated in the upper right-hand corner, ‘This Person is Not Subject to Removal.’ They each had a specific court date regarding their asylum hearing,” Cano stated.

Ortego-Lopez installed a glass door for Nancy Cano in late 2023, according to court documents. He continued doing a few jobs for her in 2024 and after he was evicted from his apartment in April 2024, she offered him a stay in their “casita,” a small house on their property.

"Hannah C. Dugan has committed herself to the rule of law and the principles of due process for her entire career as a lawyer and a judge. Judge Dugan will defend herself vigorously, and looks forward to being exonerated."

At the hearing, [U.S. Magistrate Judge] Dries asked if prosecutors were seeking detention, and they said they were not. He answered that he did not believe that the charges were “eligible” for detention.

Multiple Milwaukee County judges confirmed that the arrest took place at the courthouse.

Franklyn Gimbel, a prominent Milwaukee defense attorney and former federal prosecutor, called Dugan’s arrest “outrageous.”

“A person who is a judge, who has a residence who has no problem being found, should not be arrested, if you will, like some common criminal,” Gimbel said. “And I'm shocked and surprised that the U.S. Attorney's Office or the FBI would not have invited her to show up and accept process if they're going to charge her with a crime.”

(Actual Complaint)

Seeing claims about the judge "hiding" the defendant. Read the complaint, folks (written by DOJ). The guy was literally in the public area where the agents were. I guess he got on an elevator before they could get to him. The complaint says after letting the defendant exit she came back to the bench (actual complaint)

To read the Criminal Complaint and attached FBI Affidavit that gave rise to Wisconsin State Judge Hannah Dugan’s federal criminal arrest today for obstructing or impeding a proceeding before a department or agency of the United States and concealing an individual to prevent his discovery and arrest is at once to know to a certainty that neither the state courts nor the federal courts could ever even hope to administer justice if the spectacle that took place in Judge Dugan’s courthouse last Friday April 18 took place in the courthouses across the country.

On the facts as alleged by the FBI, it’s hard to imagine that the Federal Government could ever prove that Judge Dugan “obstructed or impeded a proceeding before a department or agency of the United States” within the meaning of 18 U.S.C. Section 1505 or that she “concealed an individual so as to prevent his discovery and arrest” within the meaning of 18 U.S.C Section 1071.

Through all his troubles, neither the DOJ/FBI nor any state authorities ever subjected Donald Trump to arrest, preferring in every case to proceed by indictment and voluntary surrender. It’s notable that a sitting judge and pillar of the Milwaukee community was not extended the same courtesy.

Fwiw, in 2018, a Massachusetts state judge was indicted by federal authorities on a similar factual situation—but NOT arrested. The charges were ultimately dropped and the matter referred to the bar (where I believe a disciplinary matter is still pending). (bajournal.com)

Judge Dugan allegedly protected the defendant from detention by giving them sanctuary in her chambers.

Several witnesses report that ICE did not present a warrant before entering the courtroom and it is not clear whether ICE ever possessed or presented a judicial warrant. (2/6)

Judge Dugan allegedly protected the defendant from detention by giving them sanctuary in her chambers.

Several witnesses report that ICE did not present a warrant before entering the courtroom and it is not clear whether ICE ever possessed or presented a judicial warrant.

Rep. Ryan Clancy (D-19) issued the following statement:
“I commend Judge Hannah Dugan’s defense of due process by preventing ICE from shamefully using her courtroom as an ad hoc holding area for deportations.

We cannot have a functional legal system if people are justifiably afraid to show up for legal proceedings, especially when ICE agents have already repeatedly grabbed people off the street in retaliation for speech and free association, without even obtaining the proper warrants.

While the facts in this case are still unfolding, it’s clear that actions like Judge Dugan’s are what is required for democracy to survive the Trump Regime. She used her position of power and privilege to protect someone from an agency that has repeatedly abused its own power.

If enough of us act similarly, and strategically, we can stand with our neighbors and build a better world together.”

Sen, Ted Cruz: "I  can also assure you that were this a Republican president, a Republican Attorney General, and a Republican IRS that were targeting Democrats, I at least would speak out just as vigorously against it because if we are going to respect rule of law, the apparatus of the federal government cannot and should not be used as a partisan tool to bludgeon your enemies."

I gather not everyone understands why I find this so troubling. So let's talk about what we mean when we say "rule of law." More specifically, let's talk about what the Nobel Prize–winning economist Friedrich Hayek wrote about it.

“Stripped of all technicalities,” Hayek wrote, “this means that government in all its actions is bound by rules fixed and announced beforehand—rules which make it possible to foresee with fair certainty how the authority will use its coercive powers in given circumstances……and to plan one’s individual affairs on the basis of this knowledge.”

In other words, the key thing about rule of law is that we all know ahead of time what is legal and what is not, so that we can act accordingly. Obviously, it would be unjust to punish people for doing things that you never told them were forbidden.

Thus, laws need to be published. They need to be internally consistent. And they need to be *forward-looking* only. You can't retroactively declare something a crime and then go after people for things they already did.

They also need to bind government actors just as they do members of the public. That, really, is the crucial distinction between "rule of law" and its opposite, "arbitrary rule," or "rule of man," where the law just is whatever the guy in power says it is at any given moment. If the law can change from moment to moment according to the mere whim of the person in charge, you don't have rule of law as Hayek defines it — because people can't "plan [their] individual affairs" on the basis of rules that are constantly in flux.

Remember, Hayek was an economist. So he was focused on the ways in which rule of law allows markets to function. Here we can really see how the Trump administration's approach to tariffs is at odds with the idea of rule of law. If POTUS announces that a tariff of a certain amount will go into effect on a certain date against a certain country, then changes his mind a day later, then changes it again a week after that, and again in three months, and so on, he's making it impossible for anyone to plan. This introduces a huge amount of uncertainty into the system, which will have a depressive effect on economic activity as market actors have to hedge for all the endless possibilities that might be coming.

But for me, absence of rule of law is an even bigger deal when it comes to criminal law than when it comes to economic regulation. It's one thing to get hit with a tax you weren't expecting. It's another thing to be told without warning that you face punishment in the form of arrest, imprisonment, deportation, etc. Rule of law requires that everyone knows in advance what is allowed and what is not.

When it comes to the Trump administration's deportation efforts, as the original tweet shows, that is not happening. The government's lawyer admits the person "was lawfully admitted to the United States." But even the lawyer doesn't know whether he's currently here legally. So, as the judge asks—how is he supposed to know?

The government's lawyer admits the person "was lawfully admitted to the United States." But even the lawyer doesn't know whether he's currently here legally. So, as the judge asks—how is he supposed to know?

And why can't the lawyer say if the person is currently here legally? Because the Trump administration is claiming it has the right to remove an immigrant's legal status with no warning, which amounts to retroactively declaring him in violation of the law.

This is the opposite of rule of law as Hayek defined it, where laws must be predictable, known in advance, and stated as general principles, so that everyone has a fair opportunity to comply. And this is important to all of us, immigrants or not, because if the law can change from moment to moment, we cannot be sure that our own status (natural-born citizen, naturalized citizen, green card holder, etc.) will protect us.

Oh, and if you're inclined to think this isn't a valid concern...think again:

They had lawyers, trials, most were given pretrial release, allowed to testify in their own defense, got discovery, could call witnesses, could cross-examine witnesses, could present mitigation at sentencing, and had a right to appeal.

🚨The eugenicist is making a list of autistic people🚨

RFK Jr is using data from insurers, pharmacies, labs, health devices to create a list of autistic Americans

I unequivocally condemn this illegal action which will endanger the lives of autistic Americans.

I encourage colleagues to file suit.

(link)

The GOP weaponizes conservative media to create the specter of fraud.

Voter fraud. Medicaid fraud. Social Security fraud. Welfare fraud.

They know these are trivially rare. But they also know perceived fraud fuels the politics of resentment that justifies DOGE-style cuts and keeps them in power.

President Trump’s immigration crackdown ensnared Kseniia Petrova, a scientist who fled Russia after protesting its invasion of Ukraine. She fears arrest if she is deported there.

On Feb. 16, customs officials detained her at Logan International Airport in Boston for failing to declare samples of frog embryos she had carried from France at the request of her boss at Harvard.

Such an infraction is normally considered minor, punishable with a fine of up to $500. Instead, the customs official canceled Ms. Petrova’s visa on the spot and began deportation proceedings. Then Ms. Petrova told her that she had fled Russia for political reasons and faced arrest if she returned there.

Immigrants from Iran, Venezuela, Hungary and Nicaragua said the first months of the Trump administration have given them a familiar sinking feeling.

(washingtonpost.com)

The Trump administration is quietly drafting a bold new policy for combating terrorism that targets a wide range of perceived foes, from Tesla vandals to protesters, intelligence sources tell me.

(kenklippenstein.com)

Some folks have asked why Donald doesn’t just pick up the phone and bring Abrego Garcia back. Besides the cruelty, what’s the point of defying the lower court’s order? Basically, he wants to see if he can get away with it.
Think back to the immunity ruling. SCOTUS sent it back down to the lower court so it could be appealed again to SCOTUS. That would give the bought-and-paid-for Roberts a second chance to kill the case. It was never going to trial, even if Trump had lost the election.
SCOTUS added some very vague language for the lower court in the immunity ruling, saying the government had to prove whether an official act didn’t have the presumption of immunity based on how much it might impede the power of the executive.
So basically, whatever the lower court decided was subject to vague rules that SCOTUS would get to take a look at a second time. I’m sure they would have tossed enough key evidence and facts to cripple the entire case had it gotten that far.
In the Abrego Garcia case, SCOTUS also issued a vague guideline and remanded to the lower court to interpret it. “The District Court should clarify its directive, with due regard for the deference owed to the Executive Branch in the conduct of foreign affairs.”
That one sentence is what’s allowing Trump to stall the return of Abrego Garcia. To be clear, is IS ignoring the lower courts order to return him, but he could appeal her order on the grounds that he’s not being shown enough deference and due regard.
In fact, he has said he would follow a Supreme Court order, but not a District Court order. So why doesn’t he just call Bukele and bring Abrego Garcia home? I think he wants to defy this order and see if the Supreme Court will let him get away with it.

Why? Because if Trump can legally say “We can’t bring him home” without having to prove it, that means he doesn’t have to bring anyone home. And if he doesn’t have to bring anyone home, he can send anyone there forever. END/
(muellershewrote.com)

Tim Dickinson (‪@timdickinson.bsky.social‬): Has anyone produced the contract by which El Salvador is holding folks for the US?

It is very good question and one I’ve been asking for months.

If there is an international agreement with El Salvador for these renditions, the Trump administration is legally required under the Case-Zablocki Act to share it with Congress.

To my knowledge, they have not done so.

Possible multiple US-El Salvador agreements/arrangements/understandings.

State declaration in Abrego Garcia case refers to “arrangements”—term used to avoid implying a legally binding agreement reportable under Case-Zablocki.

In February, there was also reporting on a broader “agreement.”

Re: US agreements/arrangements/understanding with El Salvador for renditions—

The amended reporting requirements for international agreements and qualifying non-binding instruments are here. (uscode.house.gov)

And DOJ now advancing a variety of arguments for not disclosing these various instruments in the Abrego Garcia litigation—notwithstanding the reporting requirements of the amended Case Zablocki Act.

Don’t think I’ve previously seen any suggestion that the agreements/arrangements with El Salvador were classified.

AP reporting on what sounds like an exchange of notes does not mention classification. (Notwithstanding spurious state secrets invocation in AEA case.) (APNews)

Senator Shaheen invoking the Case-Zablocki Act to request whatever binding or non-binding instruments exist with El Salvador for these renditions. (senate.gov)

Glad to see @meeks.house.gov and @joaquincastrotx.bsky.social also invoking the Case-Zablocki Act with respect to the Trump administration's rendition agreements/arrangements with El Salvador.

Tim Dickinson (‪@timdickinson.bsky.social‬): Has anyone produced the contract by which El Salvador is holding folks for the US?

It is very good question and one I’ve been asking for months.

If there is an international agreement with El Salvador for these renditions, the Trump administration is legally required under the Case-Zablocki Act to share it with Congress.

To my knowledge, they have not done so.

The principle at stake here is so fundamental it predates even Magna Carta in English law, and before that stretching all the way back to Rome, and has its similarly ancient equivalents in every legal system in the world, because it's the inherent bedrock foundation of what courts and laws are for.

Pwnallthethings (@pwnallthethings.bsky.social‬): Exciting to find out if it is legal to somehow constructively detain someone in a rube goldberg machine designed so that they cannot file for habeas relief

Trump to Bukele: "Home-growns are next. The home-growns. You gotta build about five more places. It's not big enough."

On the White House’s theory, if they abduct you, get you on a helicopter, get to international waters, shoot you in the head, and drop your corpse into the ocean, that is legal, because it is the conduct of foreign affairs.

The entire practice of the Holocaust of the Jews involved zones of statelessness. It is easier to move people away from law than it is to remove law from people. Almost all of the killing took place in artificially created stateless zones.

If we accept the idea that moving a person from one place to another undoes rights and disempowers the judiciary, we are endorsing the basic Nazism practice that enabled the killing of millions.

My book "Black Earth" was all about this. I will try to write a summary tomorrow.

The president told a Central American dictator to build five more massive slave labor camps to hold US citizens.

What have I been saying about DOGE consolidating data for Trump to use against ANY INDIVIDUAL in the U.S.? With AI, it's a tool of terror to disconnect you from your job, apt, mortgage, govt benefits—all at his whim w/a few clicks. Paired w/facial rec software, now arrest you, send you gulag-bound.

The Washington Post (‪@washingtonpost.com‬): Exclusive: The Trump administration is pushing agencies to turn over information on where people work, study and live. The data is normally protected from dissemination.

(washingtonpost.com)

NEW: GOP lawmakers are preparing reconciliation bill with $90-175 BILLION in new funding for immigration enforcement.

ICE's entire annual budget is ~$9 billion.

Inside the Trump administration's plan for the real mass deportation campaign:

(theatlantic.com)

While presenting an award at the Breakthrough Prize ceremony this month, Mr. Rogen said President Trump had “single-handedly destroyed all of American science.”

The edited version of Mr. Rogen’s remarks on YouTube skip the jokes and start with an explanation of Mr. ’t Hooft’s childhood and his contributions to science.

Republican Congressmen from West Virginia and Missouri, respectively, took a trip to El Salvador on Tuesday where they were given a tour of Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo (CECOT), a two-year old maximum security prison. Each posted photos to their social media pages after the visit, gloating about their access.

Photos like this are only possible when you’ve become so divorced from the humanity of others that they become nothing more than props in your political ploy.

Amnesty International released a statement condemning the March abduction of 238 men from the US to El Salvador and warned of the dangers of CECOT. “Reports indicate extreme overcrowding, lack of access to adequate medical care, and widespread ill-treatment amounting to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment. Additionally, Salvadoran organizations have reported more than 300 deaths of individuals while in state custody, some of them showing clear signs of violence.”

Every morning I read the news and something else reminds me of Robert Musil saying in 1930s Germany that one of the defining aspects of fascism was the mockery of compassion

The Trump administration believes it has the legal authority to abduct any individual—citizen or immigrant, documented or not—and illegally deport them to another country without due process. It further claims that it can extinguish all of that person’s constitutional rights by imprisoning them in a foreign nation. And it asserts that once that person has been locked away abroad, the U.S. government has no power or responsibility to bring them home, even if they were indisputably deported in error.

Remarkably, the administration did not make these arguments in secret memos meant to remain hidden from the public, but in a brief to the U.S. Supreme Court filed Monday morning.

The 4th Circuit’s reaction [to their arguments] was scathing. Judge Stephanie Thacker pointed out that the administration is constructing “a slippery—and dangerous—constitutional slope” by disclaiming “any ability to return those it has wrongfully removed by citing their physical presence in a foreign jurisdiction.” If it can get away with this, she asked, “what is stopping the Government from removing and refusing to return a lawful permanent resident or even a natural born citizen?” The answer, of course, is nothing. “If due process is of no moment,” then the government could snatch any American citizen off the street, falsely accuse them of being a “criminal alien,” ship them to an overseas prison, then disavow any responsibility to bring them back.

The Constitution says that "No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law." So what was the law that appropriated money to Trump to pay $6 million a year for deportees to be kept in an El Salvadoran prison?

Magna Carta in 1215: "No free man shall be seized, imprisoned, dispossessed, outlawed, exiled, or ruined in any way ... except by the lawful judgement of his peers and the law of the land."

Senator Susan Collins of Maine, the chairwoman of the Appropriations Committee, joined top Democrats in insisting that the president does not have the power to “pick and choose” what to fund.

A top Senate Republican on Thursday accused President Trump of illegally refusing to spend $2.9 billion approved by Congress, teaming with Democrats in an early salvo in the simmering struggle between Congress and the White House over which has the ultimate power over federal spending.

They pointed to a memo Mr. Trump had sent to Congress on Monday that declared that only a portion of the $12.4 billion designated as emergency funding in the legislation would actually be spent, “because I do not concur that the added spending is truly for emergency needs.”

The legislation is part of an escalating Republican campaign to take aim at judges who have moved to halt some of President Trump’s executive orders.

"The whole will of democracy is imbued into the president" is some insane, general will, Robespierre nonsense. The president's main job, under the Constitution, is to execute the commands of Congress. In almost all areas - including war and trade - Congress is supposed to determine what policy will be, and the president is supposed to carry it out.

Unitary executive theory is also wrong, because Article I explicitly gives Congress the power to pass any laws it deems necessary and proper to carry out its commands - including laws that, for instance, establish independent agencies. But even if you believe in unitary executive theory, that does not change the fact that the executive branch's chief function is to execute Congress' commands.

The Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel has traditionally been a powerful guardrail in American government.

It has issued interpretations of the law that bind agencies across the executive branch, decided which proposed policies were legally permissible or out of bounds and approved draft executive orders before they went to presidents to be signed.

But in President Trump’s second term so far, the office has largely been sidelined. As Mr. Trump issues policy after policy pushing legal limits and asserting an expansive view of his power, the White House has undercut its role as a gatekeeper — delaying giving it senior leadership and weakening its ability to impose quality control over executive orders.

Liar Greg Abbott says he has refused to set a special election to fill the seat of recently diseased Democratic Rep. Sylvester Turner because he says Harris County doesn’t do their elections properly.
[Has video]

He’s a citizen. He’s a lawyer. The Feds tried to take his phone at the border.

The CBP officer told him: "We know you're a lawyer. We know you take on big cases."

The officer then proceeded to demand that the lawyer turn over his phone so that they could go through his personal stuff and get info on his clients. That's outrageous.

(link)

NYT: "As the Trump administration pulls government websites and data offline, it is selectively stripping away the public record, letting the president declare his own version of history, archivists and historians said." www.nytimes.com/2025/04/05/t...

(NY Times)

It's simple. Everyone in the US enjoys the protections of the Constitution - even visitors. So if someone commits a crime here, you give them due process here. You charge them here, try them here, and sentence them here. You don't deport them to an offshore torture prison.

Trump’s attacks on the five pillars of civil society will succeed unless the pillars demonstrate courage and take collective action against the attacks.

The chill affects the five major pillars of civil society:
- universities
- science
- the media
- the law
- the arts

Good Lord. How many prisoners are in that cell behind her?

Looks like a scene from a concentration camp in WWII with dozens in a cell built for only a few.

Drew Harwell (drewharwell.com): Homeland Security secretary Kristi Noem making content in front of the imprisoned men of El Salvador's notorious Terrorism Confinement Center mega-prison (link)

It's good we have 3 co-equal branches, right?

(Speaker Mike Johnson floats eliminating federal courts as GOP ramps up attacks on judges
- NBC NEWS )

Fox host Rachel Campos-Duffy bemoans the fact the Trump admin is expected "to somehow prove that [those sent to El Salvador mega prison] are gang members"

"They're trying to create another hurdle"

I suspect this is how they're planning to strip naturalized citizens they don't like of their citizenship also, they're going to dig through your forms, socials, etc etc and find some pretext for saying you obtained citizenship through fraud

Joshua J. Friedman (joshuajfriedman.com): NEW: The Trump administration has started new deportation proceedings against Mahmoud Khalil in Louisiana, now claiming he failed to disclose his membership in UNRWA and Columbia U Apartheid Divest and the precise length of his employment at the British Embassy in Beirut. (Links to docs in 🧵 below) (link)

(NYTimes.com)

The tyrant usually tries to destroy as many institutions as possible because they're constraints on his power.

As Trump flouts court orders, threatens Democratic officials, militarizes immigration enforcement, and threatens use of the military at protests, rightwing Americans – from members of Congress to local police – are becoming emboldened and defensive of the policies coming from the White House.

As Trump flouts court orders, threatens Democratic officials, militarizes immigration enforcement, and threatens use of the military at protests, rightwing Americans – from members of Congress to local police – are becoming emboldened and defensive of the policies coming from the White House.

What follows [at the link] is a timeline of actions that highlight the alarming level of politicization and weaponization of the Department of Justice under the second Trump administration. Politicization includes the misuse of the Department's powers for political purposes rather than the independent and impartial enforcement of the laws. Weaponization includes a deliberate and systematic misuse of the Department's powers for political or personal purposes and in defiance of the rule of law.

The DOJ is arguing, on behalf of the President, that the President can scoop up anyone, put them on an airplane, and then no laws apply because no court has jurisdiction.

Whether the person is a citizen wouldn't change that because there's no point they could even tell a court they're a citizen.

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick (reichlinmelnick.bsky.social): Wow. DOJ is arguing that the President has authority outside the Alien Enemies Act in international waters "that would not be subject to either orders."

Boasberg seems skeptical, asking if the president's foreign power exists only once the plane crosses into international airspace? (link)

Just so that we're all clear what's happening here:

The United States is deporting people without due process, sending them to labor camps in El Salvador, and paying the Salvadoran government for it.

You may not recognize it at first, but life in this country will never be the same if people stop coming from abroad because they are not guaranteed protection under the law. www.nytimes.com/2025/03/16/u...
(link)

The Alien Enemies Act is a wartime authority that can be used against any noncitizen from a country at war with the United States, regardless of whether they are in the country legally or not. Its use here for immigration enforcement purposes is flagrantly unlawful.

@alaynatreene w/ @priscialva: The Trump administration is preparing to invoke a sweeping wartime authority -- the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 -- to speed up the president's mass deportation pledge, according to multiple sources familiar with the discussions (CNN.com)

Posobiec: Trump can't violate the Constitution because "Trump is the living embodiment of the American Constitution."

This is just textbook fascism.

It is antithetical to everything our Founders fought for.
[Includes video]

As President Trumps' lawyers, we are proud to fight to protect his leadership as our President and we are vigilant in standing against entities like the AP that refuse to put America first.

The duties of each US attorney's office as defined by 28 U.S. Code § 547 are: (1) prosecute federal crimes; (2) represent the United States in civil actions; and (3) collect debts owed to the federal government which are administratively uncollectible
Cornell Law

New FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino calls for Trump to "fabricate executive powers" by setting up a fake courtroom in the White House to override federal judges: "Why can't the executive be the judge?"
[Includes video]

Trump official announces that Trump has signed an executive order claiming that only the president can speak for "what the law is"

(This is not how the Constitution works)
[Includes video]

NEW: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is expected to start a sweeping overhaul of military lawyers to make the US less restricted by the laws of armed conflict, per ppl familiar @theguardian.com exclusive www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
(link)

Holy crap. The DOJ is arguing that the President can unilaterally deport anyone he wants without ANY statutory authority, just on his inherent authority as President over national security.

That is a terrifying claim to make and not one that has ever been recognized before in US history.

Chris Geidner (chrisgeidner.bsky.social): Holy crap. The DOJ is arguing that the President can unilaterally deport anyone he wants without ANY statutory authority, just on his inherent authority as President over national security.

That is a terrifying claim to make and not one that has ever been recognized before in US history. (link)

Elon Musk Shared, Then Removed a Post Absolving Dictators for Genocide
The post falsely claimed that Joseph Stalin, Adolf Hitler and Mao Zedong were not responsible for the murders of millions of people, but rather public sector workers were.
(link)

Trump said multiple times during the campaign that Israel should be allowed to "finish the job"--the exact wording he uses again here--and some ppl really thought he was gonna be better for Gaza than Biden or Harris.

Read this great explainer alongside the McMahon memo about winding down the Ed Dept.

Tl;dr - Big Ed Dept functions are created by law & located at Ed by law. Can't undo that w/o 60 Senate votes. If/while law matters.

(And follow/subscribe to @marisakabas.bsky.social who is doing the work).
(link)

Marisa Kabas (marisakabas.bsky.social): SCOOP: Now that Linda McMahon is confirmed/sworn in as secretary, Trump will be imminently issuing an executive order eliminating the Department of Education.

I've obtained a draft of an email that McMahon will be sending to staff re: the EO and the department's "final mission".

Here is a portion:

The Association of American Law Schools joins the American Bar Association's call to stand for the rule of law and against extra-constitutional change.

We are barreling toward a full blown constitutional crisis.

Trump's announcement that he's ending thousands of aid contracts FUNDED BY CONGRESS is unconstitutional and illegal - and horrible for our security.

1/ A quick🧵on what's going on.

Hegseth says firing of top military lawyers was about making sure "they don't exist to be roadblocks to anything that happens."
[Includes video]

Yes. If DHS can barge in, say your visa was revoked, be told you have a green card, say it's revoked too, and then disappear you so that neither your lawyer nor your family can find you, then all the guardrails are gone. There is no policy, practice, or law protecting anyone.
(link)

Look, folks, this is it. The entire ballgame. Either we're a Republic of laws & the Constitution, or we have a dictator. This is fascism, & the impeachment vote should be happening today. Every single university president in the country should be out, in front of microphones, condemning this.
(link)

I need y'all to sit with this headline and understand what is being done to our community. They're trying to criminalize our very existence.

This is a campaign of eradication.

www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/rcna...
(link)

Trump-appointed toadies at DOJ have issued a finding that Presidential Records Act is unconstitutional and Trump therefore does not need to file it. No court was involved; just Trump`s own lawyers telling him what he wans to hear.

What does that mean?
(1/2)

I said it back in early 2025 but Elon Musk seizing the Treasury`s payment systems and the federal payroll systems from career bureaucrats was one of the most important steps in achieving Trump`s coup against our Constitution and no one was paying attention

Jacob T. Levy(jacobtlevy.bsky.social): www.nyti (www.nytimes.com)

Ten minutes before oral arguments for the birthright citizenship case at the Supreme Court began on Wednesday, a hush came over the courtroom. President Trump walked in and came face to face with justices whom he has tried to bully and intimidate. He stayed for a little more than an hour.

Trump Attends Supreme Court Oral Arguments in a Presidential First
President Trump’s presence in the court puts him face to face with justices whom he has tried to bully and intimidate.

(nyti.ms)

***Leaked White House Video***

Trump criticized “stupid” Republican Supreme Court justices, even ones that he appointed, for being independent and ruling against him

Exclusive: FBI Director Kash Patel is pressing to release a decade-old investigative file involving Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-California), according to people familiar with the effort.

It is highly unusual for the FBI to release case files tied to a probe that did not result in criminal charges.

Kash Patel’s push against Democratic lawmaker raises concerns within FBI
FBI Director Kash Patel is pushing to post documents related to a Democratic lawmaker who has not been accused of wrongdoing, raising alarms within the Bureau.

(washingtonpost.com)

An Apache attack helicopter conducting a training flight hovered near the pool area of musician Kid Rock’s mansion in the Nashville suburbs.

It also flew close to No Kings protests on Saturday.

The Army says it`s investigating violations of safety standards and other regulations.

(washingtonpost.com)

“Dems Prepare for Trump to Seize Ballots and Interfere in the Midterms“

‘Our highest risk in 2026 and potentially in 2028 is the federal government trying to disrupt and undermine our elections,’ says Colorado’s secretary of state.

Dems Prepare for Trump to Seize Ballots and Interfere in the Midterms
‘Our highest risk in 2026 and potentially in 2028 is the federal government trying to disrupt and undermine our elections,’ says Colorado’s secretary of state.

(zeteo.com)

Every Justice Department or FBI employee who worked on the criminal investigations into President Donald Trump has been fired, resigned, or took early retirement, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said. https://cnn.it/4ddkUrI
(cnn.it)

It`s not just that unilaterally paying TSA agents is illegal.

It`s that Trump has now repeatedly undermined the core of the congressional power of the purse. He`s not spending money that has been appropriated by law (impoundments) and he`s spending money that has not been appropriated.

These actions aren't just illegal, although they are that. They aren't just unconstitutional, although they are that. They are anti-constitutional: they strike at the core of one of the principles that allows our entire constitutional order to function.

From the Founding through the present day, the power of the purse has been understood as one of Congress's most potent tools against the executive: the executive can't do anything without money, and he can't spend money without Congress.

If Trump is able to get away with ignoring that, with arrogating the entire power of the purse to himself, then Congress has pretty much no way of checking him.

Also worth noting that, in Plutarch's telling--the telling that the Founding generation would have known intimately--it was Caesar's raiding of the treasury and threatening of the tribune Mettellus, who tried to defend it, that was one of the clearest signs that he intended to become a dictator.

Why USG is keen to transfer any survivors:

1) If USG detains supposed “narco-terrorists“ under purported LOAC authority at GTMO, they will challenge their detention in court—exposing whole campaign to legal scrutiny.

2) If USG prosecutes them, then facts will undermine the political narrative.

Nick Turse(nickturse.bsky.social): SOUTHCOM attacked another boat in the Pacific Ocean.

Two civilians were killed. One was rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Bertholf and transferred to the Costa Rican Coast Guard.

theintercept.com/2025/11/17/t...

The US President casually announcing his intention to commit war crimes on social media. That`s where you`re at, America.

Aaron Rupar(atrupar.com): Trump: “If Iran doesn’t FULLY OPEN, WITHOUT THREAT, the Strait of Hormuz, within 48 HOURS from this exact point in time, the United States of America will hit and obliterate their various POWER PLANTS, STARTING WITH THE BIGGEST ONE FIRST! Thank you for your attention to this matter.”

This is not the biggest issue right now but it really does underscore how much the trump-vance-miller White House has subsumed the rest of the federal apparatus into Trump’s political and personal operation.

Why is tom homan, a non senate confirmed White House staffer, controlling ICE rn

Aaron Rupar(atrupar.com): BASH: Are ICE agents going to move into American airports starting tomorrow?

HOMAN: Yes. I`m currently working on the plan. We`ll execute tomorrow.


BASH: Are ICE agents even remotely trained to handle security at airports?

HOMAN: ICE agents receive high-level training.

After Trump`s FCC commissioner fixated on a report he didn`t like, a Bay Area radio station demoted a well-liked anchor and dialed back on political programming, staff said. Reporters also said they were dissuaded from pursuing political or controversial topics.
(apnews.com)

FCC Chair Brendan Carr threatens broadcast licenses over Iran War coverage

Trump wants the media cheerleading his war of choice in Iran—or else.

FCC chair threatens to revoke broadcast licenses over Iran war coverage
The goal is obvious: Turn independent news outlets into state propaganda machines.

(motherjones.com)

A federal judge blocked the Trump administration’s threat to cut Colorado’s SNAP benefits, finding that it appeared to be retribution over the state’s refusal to pardon convicted election denier Tina Peters. www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/...

Trump threatened Colorado funding as ‘punishment’ over Tina Peters, judge finds
Possible funding cuts to Colorado`s SNAP program came shortly after Trump issued a legally meaningless “pardon” to Peters, and amid a “barrage of threats and actions designed, by all appearances, to p...

(democracydocket.com)

“I`m willing to take a not guilty. I`m willing to take a no true bill.“

What she means is she`s willing to bring legally deficient cases that harass innocent defendants, waste her line prosecutors` time, and makes her office look like jerkoffs in front of judges and juries.

Aaron Rupar(atrupar.com): this is beyond parody, folks. a complete mockery of the DOJ.

NEW: More evidence that those who tried to overturn the results of the 2020 election are working with Trump administration officials to set the rules for the 2026 midterms. @dougbockclark.bsky.social

Trump Officials Attended a Summit of Election Deniers Who Want the President to Take Over the Midterms
The meeting’s participants included Kurt Olsen, a White House lawyer charged with reinvestigating the 2020 election, and Heather Honey, the Department of Homeland Security official in charge of electi...

(propublica.org)

“Let’s not bury the lede here: The DoD wants to use AI for fully autonomous lethal systems and mass surveillance of American citizens. Anthropic said `no,` and now the US government is retaliating by trying to destroy it.“ — @lizdye.bsky.social

Pete Hegseth C*ckblocks Anthropic
And OpenAI collects its winnings.

(publicnotice.co)

As Trump’s admin follows the modern-day authoritarian playbook to consolidate power, crack down on the opposition and try to undermine our elections with conspiracy theories and barriers to vote, we know his goal is to entrench his faction in office.

Introducing: The Entrenchment Agenda
How Trump plans to dig in, cement power, and crush competition

(ifyoucankeepit.org)

President Trump`s approach to Iran is reckless, the editorial board writes.

“He started this war without explaining to the American people and the world why he was doing so. Nor has he involved Congress, which the Constitution grants the sole power to declare war.“ nyti.ms/4rLzhbh
(nyti.ms)

The birthright citizenship IS an easy case. That’s the point. That’s the flex. “No matter what rights you think you have, no matter how universally acknowledged you think they are, no matter how central to American values those rights are, WE decide whether or not you have those rights”……
/1

Raffi Melkonian(rmfifthcircuit.bsky.social): At the risk of having this skeet blopped on my head in a couple of months, the birthright citizenship case is an incredibly easy case decided by straightforward text, and that’s part of why these amicus briefs are all such dunks.

This has nothing to do with fraud.

The agents Trump allegedly sent to investigate fraud are shooting protesters and arresting children. His DOJ is gutting the U.S. Attorney’s Office and crippling their ability to prosecute fraud. And every week Trump pardons another fraudster.

Aaron Rupar(atrupar.com): Dr Oz, with Vance standing behind him, announces that “we`re going to for the first time take a massive action to defer funds to a state,“ then details they are defending $259m of funding for Medicaid programs in Minnesota that take care of pregnant women, seniors, and people with disabilities

Dem Attorneys General Prepare for What Seems Inevitable: Trump Election Interference talkingpointsmemo.com/where-things...

Dem Attorneys General Prepare for What Seems Inevitable: Trump Election Interference
Legal War Plans There’s a new Politico piece out today on the...

(talkingpointsmemo.com)

That a judge Trump appointed *after* he lost the 2020 election did so much to get him back in the Whitehouse in 2024, and is still actively protecting him should be a massive scandal.

Chris Geidner(chrisgeidner.bsky.social):
BREAKING: Judge Aileen Cannon purports to bar DOJ from ever releasing of Volume II of Jack Smith’s report or “any information or conclusions in Volume Il.” storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Bondi Spying On Congressional Epstein Searches Should Be A Major Scandal
Yesterday, Attorney General Pam Bondi appeared before the House Judiciary Committee. Among the more notable exchanges was when Rep. Pramila Jayapal asked some of Jeffrey Epstein`s victims who were in the audience to stand up and indicate whether Bondi`s DOJ had ever contacted them about their experiences. None of them had heard from the Justice Department. Bondi wouldn`t even look at the victims as she frantically flipped through her prepared notes. (techdirt.com)

Hegseth`s unconstitutional retaliation against Sen. Kelly was so brazen that an exasperated federal judge used more than a dozen exclamation points!

Highlights from the ruling: “Horsefeathers!“ and “Please!“

“That is a troubling development in a free country!“
(buff.ly)

With a tone and flourish that suggested he was auditioning for “The Apprentice,” Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche immediately fired yesterday an interim U.S. attorney who had just been appointed by the federal judges in the Northern District of New York. (talkingpointsmemo.com)

I can`t think of an attorney general ever showing this much open contempt for Congress before.

Not only would most of them think this kind of conduct was beneath them, they`d have known that the Judiciary Committee chair, whatever the party, would never stand for clownish antics like this.

Aaron Rupar(atrupar.com): Bondi is now just straight up ignoring questions from Democratic members

The Constitution gives states authority to run elections for a reason: Decentralizing the process helps to prevent authoritarianism.

Trump`s attempts to seize federal control of elections are alarming and illegal and cannot be allowed to succeed.
(nytimes.com)

Ossoff: “This is a seismic event. This should have people across the country absolutely shook. This is a huge deal. This is an FBI raid on the Fulton County Elections office ... This is a shot across the bow at the midterm elections. He tried to steal power when he lost it in 2020.“

Since we published this, Pam Bondi`s X account has started posting mugshots of Minnesotans arrested for impeding ICE/CBP. Sharing a defendant`s photo publicly in this way is forbidden under DOJ rules

Quinta Jurecic(qjurecic.bsky.social): ICE and (www.theatlantic.com)

Senior White House official says local and state police in Minneapolis “have been ordered to stand down and surrender.”

What?

A French judge explains how Trump sent people from the US Embassy to try to intimidate her during Marine Le Pen`s trial for embezzlement — something they`ve done to other judges around the world

Beyond helping establish DHS itself in 2003, Mr. Mitnick was a senate-confirmed Trump choice for General Counsel for DHS in his first term. I`ve talked with him a few times, and he`s not a man for hyperbole. So bear that in mind when you see him calling out DHS`s “lawlessness, fascism, and cruelty.“

FBI Raid on WaPo Reporter’s Home Was Based on Sham Pretext (theintercept.com)

If you don’t have an independent central bank, you’re investing enormous power in a president who can abuse it and follow their whims.
(motherjones.com)

Former Trump admin attorney: A shooting by a federal officer under these circumstances, which clearly are unjustifiable, would ordinarily have been taken up by the Criminal Division. The fact that Pam Bondi refused to do so is a clear indication of the authoritarianism that is now permeated DOJ

The senior defense official told The Intercept that Trump was now almost completely unrestrained and that the system of geopolitical agreements, norms, and institutions crafted by the U.S. since World War II is finished.

“The liberal rules-based order,” the official said, “is dead.”

Nick Turse(nickturse.bsky.social): EXCLUSIVE: Pentagon Official on Venezuela War: “Following the Old, Failed Scripts”

“America is a rogue state,” the defense official said, calling Trump a “tyrant.” The official added: “It feels like the end of the Republic in Star Wars and the Revenge of the Sith”

theintercept.com/2026/01/05/t.. ()

According to my sources, the FBI was initially open to a concurrent investigation with the MN Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (the state agency that would do this investigation).

Trumpy U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen heard about this and intervened, barring the FBI from cooperating with local police.

Carl Quintanilla(carlquintanilla.bsky.social): MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Minnesota investigators say they can`t access evidence after fatal ICE shooting and FBI won`t work jointly on probe.

@reuters.com

I obtained a letter from Sen Bennet/Hickenlooper (D) and Rep Boebert/Hurd (R) urging colleagues to stand up to Trump`s retaliation against Colorado. “If Congress allows... non-controversial, bipartisan bills to be vetoed for reasons unrelated to their substance, no bill is safe.“

This is truly terrible. House GOP voted unanimously to approve these two mundane bills. But after Trump vetoed them out of personal pique, the GOP immediately falls in line and votes against overriding the veto.

Just a pack of cowards.
(nbcnews.com)

Sen Ted Cruz backs impeachment effort targeting judges who’ve ruled against the White House.
In hearing Cruz said Judges Boasberg and Boardman “meet the standard for impeachment and for conviction and removal from office.” www.nbcnews.com/politics/con...
(nbcnews.com)

Blatant politicization of DOJ powers.

“The assistant attorney general will not work out of the Justice Department, the vice president said. Instead, the position will be run out of the White House and overseen by President Trump and Vance, he said.“
(cbsnews.com)

ROGERS: Do you see any checks on your power on the world stage?

TRUMP: Yeah. There`s one thing. My own morality. My own mind. That`s the only thing that can stop me.

KANNO-YOUNGS: Not international law?

TRUMP: I don`t need international law. I`m not looking to hurt people.

Apropos of absolutely nothing to do with the masked men with no visible agency insignia carrying crates of who knows what out of the shooter`s house, but HBO just released an amazing documentary into DHS “shadow units“ whose job was to destroy evidence of Border Patrol`s crimes
(borderreport.com)

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the US central bank had been served grand jury subpoenas from the Justice Department threatening a criminal indictment, a dramatic escalation of the Trump administration’s attacks on the Fed. (bloomberg.com)

The White House says the Smithsonian Institution must submit materials about current and upcoming exhibitions and events for a review that will determine whether they express “improper ideology.“ n.pr/4583d8f
(n.pr)

Comer: “You`re gonna see the Trump administration continue to freeze funds until Democrat governors do like what the Republican governors are doing: they`re complying with the federal government, with the Trump administration.“

Today the Pentagon censured Senator Mark Kelly and moved to strip part of his earned military retirement benefits for stating the truth.

This administration is trying to convince Americans that truth is whatever it says it is—even when the evidence is plainly in front of us.

“California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota, and New York“ — ah, blue states under governors he has beef with, then.

Love to see the faithful execution of the laws and the congressional power of the purse set aside for Trump`s notions of running a personalist autocracy.

More Perfect Union(moreperfectunion.bsky.social): BREAKING (www.axios.com)

Secretaries Rubio and Hegseth looked every Senator in the eye a few weeks ago and said this wasn’t about regime change. I didn’t trust them then and we see now that they blatantly lied to Congress.

The New York Times(nytimes.com): President Trump said on Saturday that the U.S. had captured the Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro. Follow live updates. www.nytimes.com/live/2026/01...

Susie Wiles tells Chris Whipple that she had a “loose agreement“ with Trump to end the “score settling“ after 90 days, but acknowledges that prosecutions of his enemies has been driven in part by the president`s desire for retribution. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/16/u...
(nytimes.com)

NYT: “In a newly obtained recording of a phone call from late 2020, President Trump can be heard pressing the speaker of the Georgia House of Representatives to hold a special legislative session to overturn Mr. Trump’s election loss.”

@nytimes.com
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/17/u...

The Kennedy Center board “voted“ to rename the Kennedy Center after Donald Trump, but members of the board say they were muted on the call and not allowed to vote no.
(open.substack.com)

Even President Trump`s chief of staff acknowledged that DOJ`s indictment of NY AG Letitia James was based on “retribution.“

This is not normal. Political prosecutions are the stuff of kings and dictators, not presidents.
(nytimes.com)

Judge Mark Wolf on why he resigned:
What we have now under President Trump is utterly inconsistent with equal justice under law. I watched, virtually day after day, his direction to the DOJ to prosecute his perceived political enemies and to insulate his friends, his family….

Sean Duffy on blue states: “What I can do is I can pull their money. That`s the leverage I do have ... I guarantee you that the federal taxpayer is not going to fund their roads and bridges and their systems when they are putting illegals on the roads.“

1 - the exec branch can`t decline to spend $ Congress appropriated

2- the fed govt can`t use federal $ to extort states over policy/political disagreements

3-the fed govt can`t use federal $ to impose conditions unrelated to the funding program

4-the fed govt can`t use federal $ to coerce states

Aaron Rupar(atrupar.com): Sean Duffy on blue states: “What I can do is I can pull their money. That`s the leverage I do have ... I guarantee you that the federal taxpayer is not going to fund their roads and bridges and their systems when they are putting illegals on the roads.“

This is the real cancel culture.

Using the full force of the government to punish perceived enemies, aid their billionaire tech cronies, and protect pedophiles, neo-Nazis, and other extremist, antisemitic hate groups.

THIS is the threat to our rights and freedoms.
(nytimes.com)

The Justice Department ordinarily would prevent attacks on voting rights. Now it’s carrying them out.
(motherjones.com)

NEW: President Trump`s first veto of his second term kills a unanimous bill to fund a major drinking water project in Colorado. Trump had threatened punishment for Colorado for imprisoning his ally Tina Peters. www.9news.com/article/news...
(9news.com)

Bloomberg has a really good story on how scandalous Trump`s pardon of Juan Orlando Hernández is. This is just the first ¶ of 3-¶¶ on sources, but gives a sense of who would want to tell similar stories.
(bloomberg.com)

If in say 2014 you asked the question “if the President threatened to pull funding from a state unless that state passed a bill the President wanted, should that President get impeached?”

The response for this anonymous President would have been 100% yes from both Ds & Rs.

100%.

Remarkable how brutal the ruling against Trump on Abrego Garcia truly is: It details flagrant and malicious abuses of power all throughout. Trump and Stephen Miller were testing their ability to spread lawless state terror. But the court held the line. 1/

(new piece) (newrepublic.com)

Since 9/11, the FBI has spent a ton of resources effectively entrapping angry poor people into pretending they were engaging in a terrorist plot and then “stopping“ the plot that never had any chance of being carried out. This is almost certainly another such case.
(techdirt.com)

“A former F.B.I. agent who was charged with encouraging the mob that stormed the Capitol...to kill police officers has been named as an adviser to the [DOJ] task force that President Trump established to seek retribution against his political enemies.“
(nytimes.com)

This is not just Trump bloviating. It`s not a “distraction play.“ It`s been referred to DOJ for potential prosecution. So when Trump says explicitly that the target (in this case Adam Schiff) should go to “prison“ for this, it`s functionally a directive to DOJ to act.

Greg Sargent(gregsargent.bsky.social): Trump just said Schiff merits “prison“ for the “fraud“ an IG supposedly found.

Again, I talked to experts/former IG who described the process used here as deeply troubling.

This is becoming his model for manipulating bureaucracy to hatch pretexts to target foes:

newrepublic.com/article/1980...

REPORTER: Gabbard has submitted a criminal referral. Who should the DOJ target?

TRUMP: It would be President Obama. And Biden was there with him ... the leader of the gang was Obama. Barack Hussein Obama. He`s guilty. This is treason.

The mortgage fraud claim against Lisa Cook is false, per documents obtained by Reuters.

Bill Pulte`s accusation, the sole pretext Trump used to fire her from the Fed, was that she claimed two homes as primary residence.

These docs show she did not. (reuters.com)

JUST IN: A federal judge in Rhode Island — Trump appointee Mary McElroy — says the Trump admin violated “several laws“ in a last-minute bid to force homelessness organizations to subcribe to its transgender policies in order to access a pool of $75 million in housing grants.

once again, when pressed on where trump gets the authority to take an action, vance’s argument is, essentially, that trump is sovereign

Aaron Rupar(atrupar.com): Q: On the Venezuela vessel strike, what legal authority were you guys working under?

JD VANCE: The legal authority is there are people who are bringing -- literal terrorists -- who are bringing deadly drugs into our country

Context, this is a particularly glaring attack on Senate advice and consent: Monarez was the more acceptable choice after they effectively rejected his first nominee (withdrawn), an antivax ex-congressman. This after Congress in 2023 changed the law to make CDC Dir. subject to Senate confirmation.

Sam Halpert(samhalpert.bsky.social): The method you’re looking for is impeachment.

It cannot go unchallenged that one Senate-confirmed appointee can decide to fire another Senate-confirmed appointee for speaking with Senators. Cabinet officials who hold this view must not be allowed to serve. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/27/h...

Judge rules Education Department messages blaming Democrats for the shutdown unconstitutional www.nbcnews.com/politics/tru...
(nbcnews.com)

More than 100 former top Justice Dept officials, including dozens of former prosecutors, file court brief opposing James Comey`s prosecution:

“not the judgment of an impartial prosecutor, but rather an expression of retributive animus by the President“
(washingtonlitigationgroup.org)

I think at this point it’s fair to say that we’re no longer under the rule of law.

Trump Orders Santos to Be Freed From Prison ‘Immediately’ www.nytimes.com/2025/10/17/u...
(nytimes.com)

Two more career prosecutors fired for refusing to indict NY AG Letitia James because they could not find probable cause to charge her. 🎁
(nytimes.com)

Kinda seems like whether or not the president has the power to assassinate people with no due process, no input from Congress, no review, no oversight, and with no obligation to provide anyone with any information or evidence other than “trust me” is an important test of our democracy.

Greg Sargent(gregsargent.bsky.social): News on Trump boat bombings --> Now that SouthCom Commander Alvin Holsey has resigned, likely over the bombings, ranking Armed Services Dem Adam Smith tells me committee Ds will demand Holsey`s sworn testimony and press Rs to join them.

Smith spoke to us on the pod:
newrepublic.com/article/2019.. ()

The wildest thing about every Trump pardon and commutation?

“Mr. Santos will also no longer be required to pay more than $370,000 in court-ordered restitution to his victims…”

Kaine: “We should not be allowing the president to create a secret enemies list and make the unilateral decision about whether to kill people without sharing that information at least with the Armed Service and Intel committees. So this is very troubling.“

Covering Jamal Khashoggi`s murder was one of the most disturbing things I`ve worked on. Hearing Trump say he was “extremely controversial“ and people “didn`t like him“ is chilling. Hard to take any other way than he thinks there is moral ambiguity in the murder of a journalist.

Truly mind-blowing levels of hypocrisy from this admin on using government strong arming to threaten social media companies into censoring
(washingtonexaminer.com)

New from me:
Kash Patel is engaged in purges, removal of real accountability, and impunity for loyalists at the FBI.
Researchers told me that these are the exact patterns that create abusive national security organizations under authoritarianism. 🧵 (donmoynihan.substack.com)

The Justice Department ordinarily would prevent attacks on voting rights. Now it’s carrying them out.
(motherjones.com)

Trump`s pet court is clearly preparing to strip even more power from the legislative branch.
(motherjones.com)

Awful: Trump just admitted in a new interview that he knows “very little“ about the Honduran ex-president he pardoned. This guy trafficked a gazillion times more drugs into the US than anyone Trump has executed. Wrecks his case for the boat bombings.

New from me: (newrepublic.com)

WSJ has an interesting visual on Trump`s pardons, and I`m glad for the increased focus.

One thing that`s missing, IMO, is a focus on who is harmed by these pardons.
(wsj.com)

The dark money group Heritage Action says Trump threatened to strip all federal funding from Indiana if state senate rejects 9-0 gerrymandered map today. This is height of autocracy. Trump & his allies using political and economic terrorism to force state legislature to vote for rigged map

Trump has signed an executive order targeting Susman Godfrey, the law firm that helped Dominion Voting Systems obtain its $787 million settlement from Fox for the network`s 2020 election lies.

Effort would install Trump ally at agency’s criminal unit who has drawn up list of investigative targets
Shapley has told people that he is going to replace Guy Ficco, the chief of the investigative unit, who has been at the agency for decades, and that Shapley has been putting together a list of donors and groups he believes IRS investigators should look at. Among those on the list are the billionaire Democratic donor George Soros and his affiliated groups, according to a senior IRS official and another person briefed on the list. It couldn’t be determined upon what grounds Shapley would seek to begin such an investigation. The effort within the IRS coincides with a larger administration effort to probe left-leaning groups...

Trump has ordered Bessent as the acting IRS commissioner to refer certain tax-exempt organizations to the Justice Department for further investigation. Bessent has also been directed to use the Treasury’s terrorism and financial-intelligence office to examine groups’ financial flows and try to trace any illicit funding streams. (wsj.com)

The Trump administration is escalating its efforts to punish lawyers whom it sees as obstacles to the president’s agenda.

The Justice Department is asking a federal judge to impose “substantial monetary sanctions” on a California lawyer who briefly halted but ultimately failed to block the deportation of an immigrant from Laos who pleaded guilty to attempted murder in the 1990s.

Legal experts described the sanctions motion against Schroeder, which hasn’t been previously reported, as highly unusual. DOJ brought the disciplinary action after Schroeder asked federal judges to stop the deportation of his client, Vang Lor. In emergency court papers seeking to block the deportation, Schroeder cited the administration’s aggressive effort to expel other foreigners under the Alien Enemies Act, and he argued that his own client might be unlawfully ensnared in that effort.
(politico.com)

This FBI raid makes clearer that second-term success for the President includes retribution.

[Trumps's] revenge campaign took an ominous turn Friday as FBI agents raided the home and office of Mr. Trump’s first-term national security adviser John Bolton. They brought two broad warrants to search the “premises.” Agents showed up unannounced at his Bethesda, Md., home at 7 a.m. They confiscated his wife Gretchen’s phone because it was visible and not on her person. Mr. Bolton had already left for his office, which is where FBI agents greeted him.

It’s hard to see the raid as anything other than vindictive. Mr. Bolton fell out of Mr. Trump’s favor in the first term and then wrote a book about his experience in the White House while Mr. Trump was still President. Mr. Trump tried and failed to block publication. The President then claimed Mr. Bolton had exposed classified information, though the book had gone through an extensive pre-publication scrub at the White House for classified material.

It’s unlikely that Mr. Bolton broke any laws on national secrets, and he certainly didn’t share any with us over our long association with him. But perhaps Mr. Trump intends for the process itself to be the punishment even if there is ultimately no criminal charge. Mr. Bolton has to pay for legal counsel, and his family has to endure the anxiety of being under federal government siege.

The real offender here is a President who seems to think he can use the powers of his office to run vendettas. We said this was one of the risks of a second Trump term, and it’s turning out to be worse than we imagined.
(wsj.com)

Removing The Wall Street Journal from the WH press pool is part of a broader campaign to silence dissent, erase oversight, and control what the public hears and believes.

But facts and truth aren’t for the WH to determine.
(theguardian.com)

“who should the DOJ target” is a *grossly* inappropriate question to ask the president, it’s even more inappropriate for him to answer, and every member of the press corpse with an ounce of integrity should have made that point and walked out the door and there

Aaron Rupar (atrupar.com): REPORTER: Gabbard has submitted a criminal referral. Who should the DOJ target?

TRUMP: It would be President Obama. And Biden was there with him ... the leader of the gang was Obama. Barack Hussein Obama. He's guilty. This is treason.

EXCLUSIVE: Justice Dept carries out Trump directive by seeking 'substantial' financial penalty for lawyer who won court orders delaying client's deportation to Laos for two weeks. DOJ accuses attorney of misleading judges by invoking Alien Enemies Act
(politico.com)

Paul Manafort: Pardoned for lying to protect Trump.
George Papadopolous: Pardoned for lying to protect Trump.
Mike Flynn: Pardoned for lying to protect Trump.
Roger Stone: Pardoned for lying to protect Trump.

Next up, Ghislaine Maxwell.

Important: Note that Trump just posted documents plainly given to him by administration agencies as part of his quest to show Schiff merits prosecution. This is an open flaunting of the use of agencies to gin up pretexts for prosecuting enemies.

We reported on how Trump administration agencies appear to have ginned up a pretext for urging DOJ to prosecute Adam Schiff in this piece. One former IG called the process used here "highly irregular":
(newrepublic.com)

Maurene Comey's goodbye note to SDNY colleagues:

Yesterday was unexpectedly my last day in the Office. I was summarily fired via memo from Main Justice that did not give a reason for my termination.

Every person lucky enough to work in this office constantly hears four words to describe our ethos: Without Fear or Favor. Do the right thing, the right way, for the right reasons without fear of retribution and without favor to the powerful.

For the majority of my nearly ten years in SDNY, fear was never really conceivable. We don't fear bad press; we have the luxury of exceptional security keeping us physically safe; and, so long as we did our work with integrity, we would get to keep serving the public in this office. Our focus was really on acting "without favor." That is, making sure people with access, money, and power were not treated differently than anyone else; and making sure this office remained separate from politics and focused only on the facts and the law.

But we have entered a new phase where "without fear" may be the challenge. If a career prosecutor can be fired without reason, fear may seep into the decisions of those who remain. Do not let that happen. Fear is the tool of a tyrant, wielded to suppress independent thought. Instead of fear, let this moment fuel the fire that already burns at the heart of this place. A fire of righteous indignation at abuses of power. Of commitment to seek justice for victims. Of dedication to truth above all else.

It has been an honor to fight for those principles by your side.

Maurene

WHOA. The Trump admin barred states from receiving ANY disaster relief or transportation funding unless they agree to commit state law enforcement resources to helping ICE and to end any state benefits program open to all residents regardless of status. So states are now suing.

New: States say the Trump Admin is holding emergency relief and transit funds "hostage" in retaliation for not complying with immigration directives.

"More cars, planes, and trains will crash, and more people will die as a result."

(courthousenews.com)

Unearthed audio: GOP AZ Governor candidate Andy Biggs saying he'd like to "eliminate courts" with a bill that removes judges if they're "not in good standing" with the Trump administration

Yikes. Two days after Andy Payan testified at a preliminary injunction hearing--challenging a major federal surveillance rule--the IRS sent an audit notice to his business.
Andy's gas station is one of hundreds of businesses along the border that has been ordered to report cash transactions over just $200 to the federal government. It's an unprecedented financial surveillance program.
After a day-long hearing, where Andy was a witness, a federal judge entered a preliminary injunction. Among other grounds, the judge found the order likely violates the Fourth Amendment.
The audit notice is dated May 14. Andy testified on May 12. The timing is... peculiar.

So we @IJ filed a motion with the Court, asking the Court to demand an explanation from the govt. And yesterday the Court agreed--ordering the govt to explain itself by Friday, June 6. We'll see what the govt has to say!

New- Chris Krebs’ “membership in Global Entry has been revoked. Krebs, who has repeatedly attested to the security of the 2020 election, told CNN he finds it hard to believe this isn’t another act of retribution…” (@jaketapper.bsky.social)

Chris Krebs’, President Donald Trump’s former director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, membership in Global Entry has been revoked. Krebs, who has repeatedly attested to the security of the 2020 election, told CNN he finds it hard to believe this isn’t another act of retribution from the administration.

On Wednesday afternoon, Krebs received an email saying that his Trusted Traveler Program status had changed. He logged into the program and learned his Global Entry program membership had been revoked, he told CNN. Global Entry is the US Customs and Border Protection program that gives low-risk travelers expedited clearance when they arrive in the US. (cnn.com)

The interim U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia has sent letters to several leading medical journals asking for information about their editorial practices.

The letters began arriving at medical journals around the country over the last few weeks.

"It has been brought to my attention that more and more journals and publications … are conceding that they are partisans in various scientific debates," wrote Edward R. Martin Jr., the interim U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, in a letter to the journal CHEST.

"It's pretty unprecedented," says J.T. Morris, a lawyer at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, a free speech advocacy group. He says the First Amendment protects medical journals.

"Who knows? We've seen this administration take all sorts of action that doesn't have a legal basis and it hasn't stopped them," Morris says. "And so there's always a concern that the federal government and its officials like Ed Martin will step outside and abuse their authority and try to use the legal process and abuse the court system into compelling scientific journals and medical professionals and anybody else they disagree with into silence."

Since this was published yesterday, NPR reports JAMA joins NEJM on the list of journals that confirms they’ve been sent threatening letters by Trump’s DOJ, ominously referencing their tax-exempt status in a bid to compel regime-friendly editorial choices.

A Trump-aligned prosecutor’s attack on medical journals is a threat to your health care—and the medical establishment should not comply (scientificamerican.com)

NEW: Federal prosecutors have impaneled a grand jury in Virginia to investigate New York AG Letitia James after a Trump administration official alleged in a criminal referral she may have falsified real estate paperwork.
(theguardian.com)

"“Director Pulte cherry-picked an August 17, 2023 power of attorney that mistakenly stated the property to be Ms James’ principal residence,” James’s lawyer, Abbe Lowell, wrote. “The broker understood this, and that Ms James was not a Virginia resident.”

In a statement, Lowell criticized the investigations as baseless, adding: “This appears to be the political retribution President Trump threatened to exact that AG Bondi assured the Senate would not occur on her watch. If prosecutors are genuinely interested in the truth, we are prepared to meet false claims with facts.”

In a statement, Lowell criticized the investigations as baseless, adding: “This appears to be the political retribution President Trump threatened to exact that AG Bondi assured the Senate would not occur on her watch. If prosecutors are genuinely interested in the truth, we are prepared to meet false claims with facts.”

Real estate lawyers in Virginia suggested the paperwork was not likely to be an issue unless James had misrepresented her intentions with the house to a lender or insurer. James said in a separate loan application that she did not intend to live in Virginia."

An underreported detail of Judge Hannah Dugan’s arrest at her workplace by federal agents is the fact she was handcuffed and photographed, and later shackled and placed in a holding cell ahead of her initial court appearance.

Not only is this extremely abnormal, it was entirely unnecessary. A sitting judge with no history of breaking the law is not a flight risk.

60 Minutes on Trump attacking law firms.

Scott Pelley: "You're not suggesting the President is running a protection racket."

John Keker: "I am. I'm suggesting that he is violating the rule that says you can't offer a thing of value in return for an official act. That happens to be the definition of bribery."

The Attorney General is so unserious.

If you’re a prosecutor who is serious about obtaining a conviction, you don’t go on Fox and talk about the (alleged) facts of the case like this.

Has Bondi read the Justice Manual? Has Bondi heard of pretrial publicity motions? How about bar ethics rules?

The president ordered an inquiry into ActBlue, the main Democratic fund-raising platform, in his latest move using the government to target political opponents.

It was the third time in three weeks that Mr. Trump has directed the government to target a perceived political enemy. He has drastically expanded the use of his powers to try to damage domestic opponents, eroding a post-Watergate norm of Justice Department independence far more than he ever did in his first term.

“He’s trying to block lawful grass-roots donations from supporters giving just $5 or $10 to candidates who oppose him while further empowering the corrupt billionaires who already control his administration,” they said.

The news program has faced mounting pressure from both President Trump and its corporate ownership at Paramount, the parent company of CBS News.

In an extraordinary declaration, Mr. Owens — only the third person to run the program in its 57-year history — told his staff in a memo that “over the past months, it has become clear that I would not be allowed to run the show as I have always run it, to make independent decisions based on what was right for ‘60 Minutes,’ right for the audience.”

“60 Minutes” has faced mounting pressure in recent months from both President Trump, who sued CBS for $10 billion and has accused the program of “unlawful and illegal behavior,” and its own corporate ownership at Paramount, the parent company of CBS News.

On April 13, apparently irked by that evening’s edition of the show, Mr. Trump accused “60 Minutes” of “fraudulent, beyond recognition, reporting” in a social media post and urged his government regulators to strip CBS of its broadcast license. “CBS is out of control, at levels never seen before, and they should pay a big price for this,” Mr. Trump wrote.

NEW: Read the resignation letter of three federal prosecutors who'd worked on the Eric Adams case: "Now, the Department has decided that obedience supersedes all else, requiring us to abdicate our legal and ethical obligations in favor of directions from Washington."

(link to full pdf)

Trump brags about his shakedown of major law firms: "We have a lot of law firms that have paid me a lot of money... they paid $100m on average... hopefully I won't need that many legal fees. I may. Who knows? After it ends. After I leave maybe I'll need it, but if I do it won't be very pleasant."

“The F.B.I. has suspended an analyst on Kash Patel’s so-called enemies list after Mr. Patel told lawmakers that the bureau under his leadership would stay out of the political fray and not punish employees for partisan reasons.”

(NYTimes.com)

Trump now saying — contrary to his previous statements and those of federal officials — that people removed from the U.S. to El Salvador are in the “sole custody” of El Salvador

The elite law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom has had discussions with President Trump’s advisers about a deal to avert the type of executive order that the White House has been imposing on many of its competitors, according to five people briefed on the matter who were not authorized to speak publicly about private conversations.

“They’re all bending and saying, ‘Sir, thank you very much,’” Mr. Trump said, adding that law firms are saying, “‘Where do I sign? Where do I sign?’”

Mr. Mueller, who worked at WilmerHale before retiring in 2021, had investigated the Trump campaign’s ties to Russian officials during the president’s first term.

[Trump] directed the cancellation of all government contracts with WilmerHale, and the suspension of any security clearances of its employees. The order also barred WilmerHale employees from federal buildings, banned them from communicating with government employees and prevented them from being hired at government agencies.

The order said Mr. Trump was in part punishing WilmerHale for the firm’s connections to Mr. Mueller, who led an inquiry that the order described as “one of the most partisan investigations in American history.”

Trump brags about his shakedown of major law firms: "We have a lot of law firms that have paid me a lot of money... they paid $100m on average... hopefully I won't need that many legal fees. I may. Who knows? After it ends. After I leave maybe I'll need it, but if I do it won't be very pleasant."
[Has video]

The top federal prosecutor who supervised criminal cases at the Washington, D.C. U.S. Attorney's office resigned on Tuesday, citing what she described as an improper demand by officials appointed by President Donald Trump's administration to launch a criminal probe and pursue an asset freeze.

Trump administration had ordered her to investigate a government contract awarded during Joe Biden's administration and pursue a freeze of the recipient's assets.

She said that neither request was supported by the evidence, which she said she was provided with by the Deputy Attorney General's office.

[She had been at the DOJ for over 24 years.]

NEW: Another Skadden attorney has resigned in protest, citing the law firm’s decision to strike a deal with Trump.

“Skadden is on the wrong side of history. I could no longer stay knowing that someday I would have to explain why I stayed,” the lawyer, Thomas Sipp, wrote in his resignation letter.

This should be the demand of EVERY BAR ASSOCIATION in the United States. GOP attorney I know are outraged at all the calls for impeachment by judges stating the law honestly. Those calling for impeachment are engaging in pure fascism. Speak out Bar Associations!

(oilcity.news)

This is a blatantly unconst'l letter. The govt may not coerce private institutions into suppressing other people's speech by threatening them with legal penalties if they refuse, as SCOTUS affirmed 9-0 last year
(oyez.org Case)

But will it matter?

(foxnews)

Like other top law firms, the law firm at which Doug Emhoff, Kamala Harris’s husband, is a partner, has cut a deal with Trump.

In the last two weeks, Trump has been marveling at the capitulation of various law firms to his demands. “They’re all bending and saying, ‘Sir, thank you very much,’” Trump has said.

The president issued a new order Tuesday sanctioning yet another law firm, Jenner & Block. The result overall has been called an extraordinary threat to the constitutional rights of due process and legal representation, as well as a far weaker effort to challenge Trump’s actions in court than during his first term.

Legal scholars say no previous U.S. administration has taken such concerted action against the legal establishment,

Trump has used executive orders to target powerful law firms that have challenged him.

Trump on Friday ordered Attorney General Pam Bondi to expand the campaign beyond individual law firms by sanctioning lawyers

The sweeping campaign is targeting the livelihoods of the people best qualified to contest the legality of Trump’s agenda.

“It sends little chills down my spine,” U.S. District Judge Beryl A. Howell said in court as she granted Perkins Coie a temporary restraining order this month and suggested the executive order might have been unconstitutional.

Fascists respond to capitulation with more aggression. Elon Musk has already started targeting firms himself.

This would be an unprecedented step, had Trump not already targeted firms Perkins Coie and Covington & Burling for representing Hillary Clinton and assisting former government Special Counsel Jack Smith, respectively. But unlike those other firms, Paul, Weiss, led by its chairman Brad Karp, unilaterally surrendered last Thursday.

Commissioner Slaughter and I just sued to clarify that we're still FTC commissioners. But this is bigger than us. This is about economic stability. If the President can break a 90-year-old Supreme Court ruling to fire us for no reason, he can do it to the Fed, the FDIC and SEC.

NEW: Trump fired FEC Chair Ellen Weintraub in January.

She and others say it's illegal.

But the FEC is moving ahead as if it isn't, and last week issued several rulings with out her.
In January, Trump took the unprecedented step of firing an FEC commissioner.

Weintraub, a Democrat, had been publicly critical of Trump for Jan 6, her GOP colleagues for never voting to approve recommendations from the FEC’s general counsel against Trump
Weintraub responded that the firing was illegal and that she'd continue to "stir up some good trouble."

11 Democratic Senators and a GOP former FEC chair agreed that Trump's move was illegal.
Despite the dispute, the six-member commission—already down one member after a January resignation—released rulings last week with just four votes, indicating it is operating without Weintraub.
(an example)

On Weds., Weintraub filed an amicus brief in a case challenging Trump’s EO to take control of the FEC (but not related to her own status).

“My top priority now (and filing this amicus brief is part of it) is to continue to raise my voice about threats to our democratic system and constitutional order,” Weintraub told Forbes. “Turns out one doesn’t need a dot.gov email address to do that.”

(forbes.com)

The acting commissioner of the Social Security Administration admits he retaliated against the entire population of Maine—mostly newborn babies and their parents—because he thought the state’s governor had been rude to Trump in a White House meeting. www.nytimes.com/2025/03/24/u...
(NY Times)

"France's research minister said a French scientist was denied entry to the US this month after immigration officers at an airport searched his phone and found messages in which he had expressed criticism of the Trump administration." He had been traveling to a conference near Houston, TX. 3/19/25
(link)

NEW: Over 20 GOP & conservative former officials joined together to send a clear message:

Trump's use of the 1798 Alien Enemies Act is UNPRECEDENTED & UNLAWFUL

His move to deport individuals without due process cannot and should not be tolerated
(amicus brief)

Trump says he will withhold federal tax dollars to Maine colleges unless the Gov of Maine personally apologizes to him.

Our first post is a big one...Statement from Keker, Van Nest & Peters on Trump's Latest Executive Order "Preventing Abuses of the Legal System and the Federal Court."

The agreement is a significant development in the retribution campaign Mr. Trump has opened against several top law firms that he sees as having supported efforts to help his opponents or unfairly prosecute him. And it is the latest demonstration of how Mr. Trump has used his power to extract concessions or public signs of support for his agenda from corporate leaders, news organizations and others since his election victory in November.

Assuming that the past six weeks are predictive of what's next, expect an age of anxiety; expect the elimination of tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of jobs; expect the decimation of liberal institutions to go on for all four years of Trump's second term; expect government services to deteriorate; expect reduced funding of the safety net; and expect more homelessness, hunger and disease. Expect poverty; expect the financial starvation of universities and of nongovernmental organizations; and expect unannounced raids, unreliable data and an America increasingly aligned with authoritarians worldwide. Expect a pervasive climate of suspicion and a preoccupation with revenge. Expect more suffering, more fear, less security and less happiness.

Not only did Paul Weiss bend the knee, they offered to lend their expertise to Trump's efforts to also get universities to fall in line.
(semafor.com)

1/? Judges across ideological lines are ruling against Trump at strikingly similar rates (84% liberal, 86% centrist, 82% conservative). This isn't partisan opposition to Trump–it's the judiciary functioning as intended by cutting across partisan lines to uphold the Constitution.

"No system of ordered liberty can allow the Government to use the carrot of dismissing charges, or the stick of threatening to bring them again, to induce an elected official to support its policy
objectives."

- Hagan Scotten's resignation letter (SDNY attorney prosecuting Eric Adams')

Trump signs an executive order suspending the security clearances for attorneys and employees at a law firm that worked with Jack Smith's team.

Reporter: What do you say people who are worried about targeting a firm or individuals who aren't Jack Smith for his actions–

Trump: Excuse me, I've been targeted for four years... don't talk to me about targeting
[Includes video]

The Trump administration recently denied a funding request from the city of Asheville, North Carolina, to help its recovery from Hurricane Helene, telling the city it must cut a program meant to aid female and minority contractors.

(link)

NEWS: Two days after a federal judge ruled that Trump's order against one law firm likely violated multiple constitutional provisions, Trump tonight issued a similar order against the firm of Paul Weiss.

Here's the unhinged "background" section:

Section 1. Background.
Global law firms have for years played an outsized role in undermining the judicial process and in the destruction of bedrock American principles. Many have engaged in activities that make our communities less safe, increase burdens on local businesses,
limit constitutional freedoms, and degrade the quality of American elections. Additionally, they have sometimes done so on behalf of clients, pro bono, or ostensibly "for the public good" -- potentially depriving those who cannot otherwise afford the benefit of top legal talent the access to justice deserved by all.

It then contains security clearance review, contracting, racial discrimination, and personnel sections.

Section 2. Security Clearance Review.
(a) The Attorney General, the Director of National Intelligence, and all other relevant heads of executive departments and agencies (agencies) shall immediately take steps consistent with applicable law to suspend any active security clearances held by individuals at Paul Weiss and Mark Pomerantz, pending a review of whether such clearances are consistent with the national interest.
(b) The Office of Management and Budget shall identify all Government goods, property, material, and services, including Sensitive Compartmented Information Facilities, provided for the benefit of Paul Weiss. The heads of all agencies providing such material or services shall, to the extent permitted by law, expeditiously cease such provision.

(link)

This is extremely, extremely bad.

Our legal system cannot function if the govt retaliates – and if courts allow it to retaliate – against lawyers who take matters the govt disfavors.

Kyle Cheney (kyledcheney.bsky.social): NEW: President Trump moved Tuesday to punish a law firm for providing pro bono legal services to Jack Smith as he prepared to face a potential investigation from the Trump administration.

He is stripping security clearnces and govt funding from the firm. (link)

I know everything about Nixon seems quaint in comparison, but this was specifically one of the crimes mentioned in the articles of impeachment against Nixon.

Josh Marshall (joshtpm.bsky.social): So two DOGEbros now embedded at IRS are, according to WAPO, finalizing an 'omnibus agreement' for IRS to share Americans' individual tax data with officials across the US govt, something that would appear to be plainly illegal.
(WashPo DOGE IRS Tax Records)

Never thought I’d see the President of the United States threatening to commit blatant war crimes on social media, but here we are.

“The president has frequently railed against judges when they rule against him. What often happens next is a barrage of violent threats from his followers against those judges. We spoke with 26 federal judges– 9 Democratic appointees, 17 Republican, both sitting and retired.“

@60minutes.bsky.social

Federal judges who`ve ruled against Trump administration denounce threats against themselves, their families
Federal judges say criticism from President Trump can put their safety at risk. The White House says the president “understands the dangers of political violence.“

(cbsnews.com)

Federal Judge John Coughenour says he’s received dozens, if not hundreds, of death threats after he ruled against the Trump administration. cbsn.ws/3N73lPr
(cbsn.ws)

Amber Glenn won Olympic gold on Sunday. That same day, she left social media because of death threats. Her offense: she`d told reporters the queer community is going through “a hard time.“ The headline called it “backlash.“

The Threshold
The right used to attack athletes who protested. Now they attack athletes who express feelings at all.

(readtpa.com)

The deeper issue is Miller and maybe Vance want people who are eager to show solidarity with immigrants to fear state violence.

They want us to fear Trump is capable of the worst.

I try to develop a theory of the moment here. 5/5

(h/t @radleybalko.bsky.social)

newrepublic.com/article/2055...

AOC: “How rich is it that she is saying showing up to the scene of a protest with a legally owned weapon should be grounds for a person`s death, execution at the hands of the state, by the same party and administration that praises Kyle Rittenhouse.“

In videos posted on social media, one employee can be heard saying: “This is the Ecuadorian consulate. You’re not allowed to enter.” The agent responds, “If you touch me, I’ll grab you.”
(nytimes.com)

As Republicans celebrate Gov. Walz not running again, Hope tells the Post the threats she and Gus were getting in the wake of the Shirley video became too much and he decided to put his family first

The timing of this post and the reference to the murders being “due to the anger ... caused others through … TDS“ suggests strongly that Trump believed that **one or more of his supporters** had committed the murders—and that they had committed the atrocity **justifiably**.

Trump attacks quickly turn to threats:
(nbcnews.com)

Trump suggests Rob Reiner`s death was due to ‘TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME’
(dlvr.it)

It shouldn`t escape notice that Trump explicitly threatened to use *the state* to target anyone he and MAGA scapegoat for Charlie Kirk`s murder. We really could see Stephen Miller and Kash Patel use the FBI for 60s-style domestic persecution.

Some thoughts on that:
(newrepublic.com)

Just in the past 3 days, I happened to speak to an academic, a US politician and a former Biden official who had all received death threats and severe harassment from the MAGA movement. It`s now a common experience. I am sorry MTG has to live through the same thing, but she can`t be surprised

Carl Quintanilla(carlquintanilla.bsky.social): MTG: “.. “I am now being contacted by private security firms with warnings for my safety as a hot bed of threats against me are being fueled and egged on by the most powerful man in the world. .. The man I supported and helped get elected.”

@mediaite.com #GA14
www.mediaite.com/media/news/m...

Trump promoting a death threat should not be dismissed as just one more of his excesses.

When a wannabe autocrat aligns himself with a call to execute political foes, it’s not just another Trump social media post. It’s another warning.
(motherjones.com)

BREAKING:

Sen. Elissa Slotkin says police responded to her home tonight in response to a bomb threat. Slotkin wasn`t at home at the time.

This is two days after Trump said Slotkin and other Democrats committed “seditious conspiracy, punishable by death.“

“We’re at real risk of normalizing political violence as a part of our democracy.”

ICYMI, the Trump administration is shutting down prevention programs across the federal government—right as political violence in America has been surging www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
(motherjones.com)

Johnson threatens House Dems with expulsion and worse: "It's pretty clear the law was violated. You might've noticed the Wisconsin judge... she's facing potentially six years in jail... what these House Democrats did is in that same lane as what the judge is being indicted for."

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R): "We are all afraid…I am oftentimes very anxious myself about using my voice because retaliation is real."

Pennsylvania state authorities have arrested and charged a Harrisburg man they said set fire to the governor’s mansion while Gov. Josh Shapiro and his family slept, forcing them to evacuate early Sunday before the blaze severely damaged part of the building.

The man, identified as Cody Balmer, 38, jumped a fence and managed to evade state troopers after he broke into the building, the authorities said. He fled the scene and was arrested after turning himself in to the police on Sunday afternoon, officials said at a news conference.

Mr. Balmer was charged with attempted murder, arson and terrorism

Fired Justice Department employee reveals that Trump officials tried to send armed officers to her home to intimidate her and her family:

“I will not be bullied into concealing the ongoing corruption and abuse of power.”

“This highly unusual step of directing armed law enforcement officers to the home of a former Department of Justice employee who has engaged in no misconduct, let alone criminal conduct, simply to deliver a letter, is both unprecedented and completely inappropriate"

Ryan J. Reilly “paints a vivid and urgent portrait of… disarray” (ryanjreilly.com): The former U.S. pardon attorney says special deputy U.S. Marshals were dispatched to her home on Friday night ahead of her testimony (starting momentarily) at a Democratic “shadow hearing” focused on Trump and the rule of law.
(nbcnews.com)

The Oklahoma lawmaker, a former mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter, on Saturday posted to X a video of himself at a stairway in the US Capitol building recounting the tale of the newspaper columnist Charles Kincaid.

In 1890, Kincaid shot dead former Kentucky congressman William Taulbee, with whom he had been feuding.

“There’s a lot we could say about reporters and the stories they write, but I bet they would write a lot less false stories – as President Trump says, fake news – if we could still handle our differences that way,” Mullin says at the conclusion of the almost two-minute clip.

Trump’s Attorney General Pam Bondi just issued a threat to Rep. Jasmine Crockett, telling her to “tread very carefully” when criticizing Elon Musk.
(politico.com)

"They're scared shitless about death threats and Gestapo-like stuff," a former member of Trump's first administration tells me.

According to one source with direct knowledge of the events, North Carolina senator Thom Tillis told people that the FBI warned him about "credible death threats" when he was considering voting against Pete Hegseth's nomination for defense secretary. Tillis ultimately provided the crucial 50th vote to confirm the former Fox & Friends host to lead the Pentagon. According to the source, Tillis has said that if people want to understand Trump, they should read the 2006 book Snakes in Suits: When Psychopaths Go to Work. (When asked for comment for this story, a spokesperson for Tillis said it was false that the senator had recommended the book in that capacity. The FBI said it had no comment.)

Meanwhile over on the other place, rightwing free speech warriors (this guy is a former DeSantis campaign staffer) are calling for me to be denaturalized and deported because they don't like my political speech. This is what fascism and racism looks like, folks.
(link)

If you damage the businesses of the richest man in the world, his friend the President wants to put you in indentured servitude in another country.
If you trash the Capitol to overturn the election, its pardons and praise.

Aaron Rupar (atrupar.com): Trump threatens to put American citizens on deportation flights to a slave prison in El Salvador

"One prominent first-term critic of Mr. Trump said..that not only would he not comment on the record, he did not want to be mentioned in this article at all. Every time his name appears in public..the threats against him from the far right increase."
(NYTimes.com)

An under covered story is how GOP politicians fear their physical safety if they defy Trump agenda. A high level MAGA person told me: "They should be afraid. They didn't win the election. Trump did."
(APNews.com)

“Three Hundred Habeas Cases in Which the Government Has Defied Court Orders”

An extraordinary database of non-compliance, from @katherinepomps.bsky.social and @benjaminwittes.lawfaremedia.org for @lawfaremedia.org.

www.lawfaremedia.org/article/thre...

www.nytimes.com/2026/04/03/u...

So, we`re just not doing that whole Article 1 thing anymore, is that it?

Trump Directs Officials to Pay All D.H.S. Employees

(nytimes.com)

BREAKING: Judge Brann has ejected the new leaders of the NJ U.S. attorney`s office, once again finding the Trump administration is illegally attempting to circumvent Senate confirmation.

He says this could result in dismissals of indictments.
(storage.courtlistener.com)

“What is happening now is the administration is making new policy, but then insisting that the new policy take effect immediately before a challenge about its lawfulness is determined,” Jackson said. www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson criticizes Supreme Court emergency rulings
During a public forum, Jackson and conservative Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh offered differing views of President Trump’s wins before the high court.

(washingtonpost.com)

Although, of course, Trump could try to do something illegal, I do not believe Trump could appoint Mullin as “acting“ DHS Secretary under either the Federal Vacancies Reform Act or the DHS order of succession.

FVRA: federalregister.gov

DHS: law.cornell.edu


(law.cornell.edu)

Trump`s war on Iran is illegal — full stop

No Congressional authorization, no imminent threat, no legal basis under the Constitution, the War Powers Resolution, or the UN Charter

A president does not get to start a war alone

- TN

Trump’s War on Iran Is Illegal
Neither a future threat nor regime change can be legal justification for war without congressional authorization.

(contrarian.substack.com)

This is an

Unnecessary

Unauthorized

Undeclared

Unconstitutional

War.

Congress needs to check and balance Donald Trump.

This Is an Unnecessary, Unauthorized, and Unconstitutional War
Congress has a duty to take up War Powers resolutions and assert its primacy over matters of war and peace.

(thenation.com)

If America still had the rule of law, this would be the easiest prosecution ever, but we all know absolutely nothing will happen.

JUST IN: Judge Murphy has ruled that the Trump administration`s policy of sending deported immigrants to third countries without notice or a chance to challenge is illegal and unconstitutional.
(storage.courtlistener.com)

NEW: Remember when the government rounded up dozens of unaccompanied children in the middle of the night and tried to summarily deport them?

A Trump-appointed judge entered an injunction barring their removal.

But lawyers for the children say the government is trying to circumvent that order.

BREAKING

Former ICE agent:

On my first day training new cadets, I received secretive orders to teach them to violate the Constitution by entering homes without a judicial warrant.

📍 𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐋:

A federal judge harshly rebuked DHS and ICE for blocking detainees’ access to lawyers and violating constitutional rights, issuing an emergency order to restore legal access and halt transfers after finding the agency ignored court-mandated protections. #AbuseOfPowerWatch

Trump Judge Torches DHS in Scathing ICE Ruling
U.S. District Judge Nancy Brasel called BS on the administration’s excuses, too.

(thedailybeast.com)

Trump: “The Democrats refuse to vote for Voter I.D., or Citizenship. The reason is very simple — They want to continue to cheat in Elections. This was not what our Founders desired … There will be Voter I.D. for the Midterm Elections, whether approved by Congress or not!“

I`m assuming it`s generally not good when a judge issues an order pointing out that the government was “not interested in participating in this process“ and “essentially told the Court to pound sand.“

But what do I know?
(storage.courtlistener.com)

On Tuesday afternoon, the FBI finally released a court-ordered affidavit showing the basis for its January raid seizing nearly 700 boxes of ballots and voting records from the 2020 election in Fulton County, Georgia.

The evidence inside was shockingly thin.

The FBI`s Fulton County raid was based on debunked claims by election deniers
The evidence provided for seizing 700 boxes of ballots was shockingly thin.

(motherjones.com)

NEW: Federal judges are increasingly furious at what they see as a pattern / playbook of defiance by the Trump administration to court orders in immigration cases — in Minnesota and around the country.

Here’s a look at what they’re seeing

1) WHISKING DETAINEES TO OTHER STATES: ICE has made a practice of pinballing people from where they're arrested to facilities in Texas, New Mexico or elsewhere, and sometimes more than once. It can complicate or defeat challenges to their detention.

2) BLOWING OFF DEADLINES: When detainees sue for release, the administration is increasingly blowing off court-ordered deadlines to response. It's become almost routine and has led judges to order release in some cases.

3) IMPROPER CONDITIONS: When judges order an ICE detainee released, ICE is sometimes requiring them to submit to "conditions" like GPS monitoring, even though they're not criminal defendants. Judges say this is a plain violation of their orders.

4) LEFT IN THE COLD -- OR WITHOUT I.D.: With increasing frequency, ICE detainees who win release say they're being let out 1000s of miles from home — and without belongings, like ID, wallets and warm clothes for MN weather. Judges are having to order "humane treatment."

5) DEFICIENT HEARINGS: When judges order detainees to get a chance for bond, they want them to have a fair chance to prove they are not a danger or a flight risk. Increasingly, judges say the bond hearings held by DOJ have fallen short of constitutional standards

6) ERRORS ABOUND: The crush of habeas cases have led to an epidemic of sloppy filings, incorrect info provided to courts, botched attachments of crucial files, etc. But they're at their most severe when they lead to erroneous deportations.

7) `FATIGUED`: Judges are increasingly exasperated by what they see as a strategy to make the process — in court and for detainees writ large — as cumbersome and painful as possible, especially when judges have been rejecting their detentions en masse. www.politico.com/news/2026/02...
(politico.com)

ICE is so out of control, they are failing to response to Trump`s DoJ!!
“[Judge] Blackwell said that he had repeatedly heard that failures to comply with court orders often came after DOJ lawyers reached out to their ICE counterparts and got *no response.*“ (politico.com)

some Public Service Journalism: I took that Minnesota judge`s pdf list of court orders that ICE violated, found all the cases on CourtListener and linked to the dockets reason.com/2026/01/30/j...
(reason.com)

Four attorneys told ABC News they have been denied access to their clients at the Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis, where they are being held, which they say would violate 5th & 6th Amendment rights to due process & the right to consult with counsel. abcnews.go.com/US/lawyers-a...
(abcnews.go.com)

The opinion from Judge David Novak, a Trump appointee, is about as sharp an opinion as we`ve seen.

Novak concludes that Halligan “elected to simply ignore valid court orders issued by Judge Currie at the direction of the Chief Judge of the Fourth Circuit.“

NEW: Minnesota BCA was denied access to the crime scene. They got a WARRANT and DHS STILL BLOCKED THEM. So DHS doesn’t need a warrant to enter your house, but an actual warrant to enter the crime scene is denied?

Moriarty: “I was working with the BCA all day. What happened at the scene was that the federal agents stood about 2 feet apart w/ large batons & they physically prevented the BCA from entering the scene ... DHS prevented them from even entering the scene with a lawfully signed, by a judge, warrant.“

A federal judge issued a nationwide (technically a national class) “declaratory” judgment that the Trump administration’s mandatory detention policy is unlawful. The Trump administration’s response has been to say that it is not bound by the ruling and the judge can go pound sand.

Nate Raymond(nateraymond.bsky.social): New: The (www.reuters.com)

A federal court dismissed the Trump Justice Department’s lawsuit seeking access to California’s full voter registration database Thursday, warning that the government’s bid for the voter records “threatens the right to vote which is the cornerstone of American democracy.
(democracydocket.com)

Quite a statement by judge who ruled a 4th Trump-appointed acting US Attorney (John Sarcone in NY) is unlawfully appointed

Judge says Trump Admin made “choice to invoke that power thru a statutory end-run & then leverage that power against a perceived rival of the President.

BREAKING: In a major win for voters, a federal court blocked key parts of Trump’s anti-voting executive order.

The judge ruled Trump had no authority to rewrite election rules, target mail-in ballots or force new barriers to voter registration.
(democracydocket.com)

JUST NOW: Huge mass of agents in a standoff, weapons drawn as Reps. Ilhan Omar, Angie Craig, and Kelly Morrison attempt to conduct congressional oversight at the Whipple Building, which has been HQ for thousands of ICE agents.

@zeteo.com

I want to remind everyone that the US has sanctioned members of the International Criminal Court for going through a formal legal process to identify international leaders who engaged in war crimes, making them vulnerable to arrest.

Aaron Rupar(atrupar.com): STEPHANOPOULOS: Why wasn`t congressional authorization necessary?

RUBIO: It wasn`t necessary because this was not an invasion. We didn`t occupy a country. This was an arrest operation.

It`s not a “funding freeze“ or “hold.“ It`s an unlawful seizure of federal funds and it`s categorically unconstitutional.
(wsj.com)

BREAKING: Federal judge in Los Angeles issues preliminary injunction against Department of Homeland Security to restrict use of force against press, legal observers and protesters.

Judge in LA Press Club v. Noem calls out “surprising savagery“ of DHS officers:

“The First Amendment demands better.“

BREAKING: Mark Wolf, appointed to the federal bench by Ronald Reagan, writes that he is resigning as a judge to have the freedom to speak out against the president`s assault on the rule of law. (theatlantic.com)

Remember, historically judges will almost always take gov`t claims at face value. It`s an astounding fact that judges are now increasingly realizing that this administration just flat out lies to them constantly. And it`s good to see them calling it out (in this case with a Trump-appointed judge).

Mark Joseph Stern(mjsdc.bsky.social): A long and comprehensive opinion, but this jumped out at me: The judge accused the Federal Protective Service—which was called in to suppress the protests—of lying under oath to slander the regular Portland police.😬

DOJ recently admitted that other FPS claims in this case were objectively false.

That`s why it`s important to push back against the falsehoods being fed daily to the federal law enforcers. “You`ve got blanket immunity against states` arresting you.“ No, you don`t. “Bystanders have no right to get out their phones and take a video when you arrest someone.“ Yes, they do. /5, end
(cato.org)

Erez Reuveni, a fired Department of Justice lawyer who`s now blowing the whistle, says he witnessed a disregard of due process and for the rule of law at the DOJ. cbsn.ws/4qkAtSr
(cbsn.ws)

“(Officers) refuse to recognize local or court authority. A judge says you can’t arrest journalists. Watch us. A judge says we have to wear badges. No. State law says we can’t drive around in unmarked vans? Too bad. Elected officials who want to see what is going on should prepare to be arrested.“
(donmoynihan.substack.com)

Trump`s mechanism to pay the troops during the shutdown is by far the most illegal budgetary action he`s taken as POTUS, potentially setting the stage to break everything.

It`s also needless because Congress would easily pass a troop pay bill if Johnson were willing to gavel in.

Long thread.

As Trump again ramps up attacks on judges as biased, consider: his own appointees rule against his admin 49% of the time. Republican appointees 65%. Reporters should ask: If the judiciary is biased, why do the judges he picked keep ruling against him?

When the top JAG at Southern Command told the Pentagon that their plans to blow up fishing boats based on suspicions that they might have drugs in the cargo hold was certainly illegal, Hegseth simply ignored him, while others told him his career was over. www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...
(independent.co.uk)

Ten months into the Trump II presidency, it’s become all too normal for his Justice Department to refuse to comply with direct court orders, to engage in bad faith charades in court, and to dare judges to do anything about it.
(talkingpointsmemo.com)

That`s meaningless without some statutory basis. See eg NY v. FERC, 535 U.S. 1 (2002)(a federal agency “literally has no power to act, let alone preempt the validly enacted legislation of a sovereign State, unless and until Congress confers power upon it.“)

But with current SCOTUS, who knows?

Reuters(reuters.com): BREAKING: President Donald Trump is considering an executive order that would seek to preempt state laws on artificial intelligence through lawsuits and by withholding federal funding, according to a draft of the order seen by Reuters reut.rs/485QCmm

“A second whistleblower and former Justice Department attorney has come forward with evidence that corroborates allegations that Trump’s judicial nominee Emil Bove directed DOJ attorneys to defy court orders and withhold information from judges, according to Whistleblower Aid, a nonprofit that helps public and private sector workers report and expose wrongdoing.

“This whistleblower has ‘provided substantive, internal DOJ documents’ that back up claims made by former senior DOJ attorney-turned-whistleblower Erez Reuveni, said the group.”

Jennifer Bendery (@jbendery): NEW: A second whistleblower and former DOJ attorney has produced evidence that backs up allegations that Trump's judicial nominee Emil Bove told DOJ attorneys to defy court orders, mislead judges + withhold info from judges, says whistleblower group.

(huffpost.com)

Trump officials accused of defying 1 in 3 judges who ruled against him
(washingtonpost.com)

The Trump administration was ordered to stop cutting research grant funding, and has claimed in court to be following that order.

Now, a whistleblower is claiming they've continued cutting funding anyways.

Court orders are NOT optional.
(propublica.org)

Q: “Have you been in touch with El Salvador about returning Abrego Garcia? Has a formal request from this administration been made?”

Rubio: “I would never tell you that. And you know who else I'd never tell? A judge.”

Judge Hannah Dugan was arrested on suspicion that she “intentionally misdirected federal agents away from” an immigrant being pursued by the authorities, the F.B.I. director said in a social media post that he later deleted.

The Trump administration has vowed to investigate and prosecute local officials who do not assist federal immigration enforcement efforts, denouncing what they call “sanctuary cities” for not doing more to assist federal apprehensions and deportations of millions of undocumented immigrants.

At a confirmation hearing, the nominees, two of whom have been Trump defense lawyers, offered little to assuage Democrats’ fears.

“There is no hard and fast rule about whether, in every instance a public official is bound by a court decision,” he said Wednesday. “There are some instances in which he or she may be lawfully bound and some instances where he or she may not be lawfully bound.”

At least 19 states, all of whom with Democratic attorneys general, presented “undisputed evidence” they were not receiving FEMA funds already appropriated by Congress.
(newrepublic.com)

"The Executive Branch hereby notifies the Court that no further information will be provided in response to the Court’s March 18, 2025 Minute Order based on the state secrets privilege." storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
(filing link)

Three cabinet secretaries tell a federal judge that they think he and we, the people, are stupid and expect SCOTUS to agree:
- (Bondi)
- (Rubio)
- (Noem)

Trump fired the only two Democrats on the five-member board that runs the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), one of the agencies responsible for enforcing laws that protect consumers and check corporate power.

The president can only lawfully fire FTC commissioners – who serve seven-year terms – for incompetence or malfeasance. That's according to the statute that created the FTC, as well as a 1935 Supreme Court ruling that held President Franklin Roosevelt broke the law when he fired a Republican commissioner for opposing his agenda.

Trump's team isn't claiming either malfeasance or incompetence..

Here's a list of court orders that have put a halt to various Trump/DOGE firings and spending cuts. It's by no means comprehensive, just everything I could find at the moment. Its purpose is to show that neither Trump nor DOGE are steamrollers. They've had some wins, but they've had a lot of setbacks too.

Homan: "We're not stopping. I don't care what the judges think. I don't care what the left thinks. We're coming."

here's video of AG Pam Bondi claiming on Fox last night that the Trump administration "absolutely" will keep doing deportation flights even in the face of court orders telling them to stop
[Includes video]

Just so we're all clear, the Supreme Court *expressly ruled* that the president cannot fire FTC commissioners without cause in 1935's Humphrey's Executor. Trump's action here is brazenly illegal under any interpretation of the law as it stands.
(reuters.com)

Is there a right to defy a U.S. court order provided one does so outside the bounds of the U.S.? No, says equity whiz Samuel Bray, who's exactly the person I was hoping would weigh in on the legalities. He says it's straight contempt.
(link)

When asked if the Administration will comply with court orders on fired federal workers, WH Press Secretary Leavitt says the orders are unconstitutional: You cannot have a low level district court judge filing an injunction to usurp the executive authority of the President...
(link)

Officials at an Omaha-area high school ordered the student newspaper to remove this editorial cartoon criticizing ICE, then demanded prior review of articles about their censorship. Via @splc.org, which is advocating for the students: splc.org/2026/03/nebr...

Carr has hardly been subtle about what he appears to believe his role is in the Trump administration: threatening and sidelining those in the media who broadcast commentary or interview politicians who speak counter to the Trump administration`s agenda.

Carr Counts Defunding and Threatening Media As Wins for Trump Admin
Carr Thinks Its His Job to Gut Legacy Media Federal Communication Commission...

(talkingpointsmemo.com)

Brendan Carr: “Look at the results so far — PBS defunded, NPR defunded, Joy Reid gone from MSNBC, Sleepy Eye Chuck Todd gone, Jim Acosta gone, John Dickerson gone, Colbert is leaving, CBS is under new ownership — & soon enough CNN is going to have new ownership as well”

#NoKings protest tomorrow 🤘🏼

Pentagon Pete`s attempt to dictate exactly what reporters write/say is clearly unconstitutional. The decision was an absolute no-brainer.

The real tragedy is that the NYT had to sue in the first place. The Trump Admin is trying to bury resistance and our rights.
(nytimes.com)

The Constitution protects the acts of naming federal law enforcement agents and documenting how they behave on the streets. Under no circumstances should Congress grant this administration new legal weapons to use against Americans who do either of those things.

Brad Johnson(climatebrad.hillheat.com): Senate D (www.politico.com)

Trump Wants to Put You in a Massive, Secret Government Database

Chilling reporting by @laurenleharper.bsky.social on the “unimagined levels of surveillance and harassment“ that await us!
(theintercept.com)

The dude is circling the drain. He’s now calling on people in media to be imprisoned for treason if they don’t report on the war to his liking.

License plate readers. Cellphone location data. Social media monitoring. Now real-time facial recognition on the street. DHS is building a surveillance apparatus—and you`re probably already in it.

Watch the full video on our YouTube.

MEDIA ADVISORY: At a press conference Thursday, a coalition of organizations, elected officials, religious leaders, journalists, attorneys, academics, and individuals will call for the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate crimes committed by federal agents under Operation Midway Blitz.

MEDIA ADVISORY: At Press Conference Thursday, a Coalition Will Call for a Special Prosecutor to Investigate and Prosecute Crimes Committed by Federal Agents During “Operation Midway Blitz”
On March 12, a coalition will announce a call for a special prosecutor to investigate and prosecute crimes by federal DHS agents.

(loevy.com)

Mahmoud Khalil writing in Fox News one year after his detention: “The right to speak our minds, no matter who holds power, is the foundation of our democracy, and it is in peril. Whatever you may think of me or my views, that foundation belongs to all of us.”

The US government targeted me for my political speech. It could happen to you, too
Mahmoud Khalil argues that his detention by ICE over his pro-Palestinian speech is a dangerous violation of the First Amendment that threatens the free speech rights of all Americans.

(foxnews.com)

The Prairieland case is a major test of the Trump administration’s push to label “antifa” protesters as terrorists.

Wearing All Black at Protests Makes You Guilty of Terrorism, Prosecutors Tell Jury
The case is a major test of the Trump administration`s push to label “antifa“ protesters as terrorists.

(interc.pt)

Jayapal to Noem: “None of these four US citizens were charged with a crime, none had their citizenship questioned, and all were lawfully exercising their First Amendment rights. Do you have anything you want to say to them?“

Stephen Colbert blasted Brendan Carr after FCC scrutiny led CBS to pull an interview with Texas State Rep James Talarico. Instead, `The Late Show` posted it to YouTube.

Colbert Says CBS Pulled Guest Over FCC Scrutiny; Posts Interview to YouTube Instead
Stephen Colbert blasted Brendan Carr after FCC scrutiny led CBS to pull an interview with Texas State Rep James Talarico. Instead, `The Late Show` posted it to YouTube.

(dlvr.it)

Recent CBS News news:
1. Anderson Cooper leaves 60 Minutes after two decades
2. Stephen Colbert reveals network won’t let him air interview with Dem
3. Producer says politics dictating what airs
4. Owner’s bid for CNN parent back on the table.
5. Not firing Epstein pal.

DHS is being more aggressive than ever targeting anonymous social media accounts that have spoken out against ICE, asking Big Tech to hand over information on users without signed judicial warrants

story w/ @sheeraf.bsky.social
(nytimes.com)

Glad this is getting covered, but also… Completely surreal to read the NYT report on this as recently disclosed info, and just an allegation. This happened to every observer I know! It happened to me twice! I have it on video both times!

ICE Agents Menaced Minnesota Protesters at Their Homes
Protesters in Minneapolis and St. Paul said in sworn statements that they were singled out by agents who demonstrated that they knew where they lived.

(nytimes.com)

NEW: “CBS Evening News” producer Alicia Hastey sends a bombshell farewell note:

Stories are “evaluated not just on their journalistic merit but on whether they conform to a shifting set of ideological expectations.”

Rhetorial question but how is it ice`s job to go after agitators

Spencer Ackerman(attackerman.bsky.social): He literally says in this clip that ICE will keep in Minnesota “quick reaction forces” — a military term — to go after “agitators.” Remember that those on the ground in MPLS have spent more than a week trying to tell everyone that Trump’s prior “deescalation” was a ruse and ICE is still operational

“It is totally inappropriate and against the separations of powers for the DOJ to surveil us as we search the Epstein files. (US Attorney General) Bondi showed up today with a burn book that held a printed search history of exactly what emails I searched.“ - Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA).

In one 30-minute stretch, three legal observers were arrested — as Trump’s Border czar Tom Homan calls on locals to “end the resistance.”
(interc.pt)

In a dramatic departure from how DOJ historically used the federal material support for terrorism statute, it is upgrading what would have been routine prosecutions into terrorism cases when they involve people President Trump has cast as his political enemies. (talkingpointsmemo.com)

Horrifying and unnerving. DHS sent an administrative subpoena to Google for this retiree`s records and even sent armed agents out to his house for the “offense“ of writing the following completely anodyne email to a federal prosecutor using an email address he found via Google.

EXCLUSIVE: Trump Calls His Enemies Terrorists. Does That Mean He Can Just Kill Them?

From boat strikes to killings in the streets of Minnesota to NSPM-7, the White House leans on the word “terror” to justify its violence.
(theintercept.com)

1/ Ian Austin has since been re-arrested along with Don Lemon, which he believes is bc the video we made of him (below) criticizing the Trump regime and encouraging fellow vets to wake up had gotten millions of views.

It`s not just journalists. It`s ANYONE. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
(motherjones.com)

This was the kind of treatment the union activists got today from Oregon’s largest unions alongside coalitions like @jwjpdx.bsky.social. They fired projectiles and injured many demonstrators and broke out neighbors windows. Gas for a half dozen miles in each direction. #iceout

Breaking on MS NOW:

Career DOJ prosecutors in both Minnesota and Los Angeles refused to be involved in charging Don Lemon and the other journalists who covered the Minneapolis church protests.

The prosecutors believe the evidence does not support the charges, per @carolleonnig.bsky.social.

The Justice Department plans to subpoena Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison as part of a criminal investigation of state and local officials, sources say. Follow live updates. https://cnn.it/4qOn4Ch
(cnn.it)

I keep thinking about how Trump’s Deputy Attorney General, Todd Blanche, accused Governor Tim Walz & Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey of “terrorism.”

The absurdity of this claim makes it no less dangerous. The Trump regime is demonizing all opposition to its unconstitutional policies as “terrorism.”

So simply naming someone is doxxing, but taking photos and license plate numbers to create a database of the opposition for government stalking and harassment purposes is not?

Naming someone is not doxxing them, and moving them to another city to kill more is conspiracy against rights.

“You raise your voice, I erase your voice.“

ICE in Minneapolis are erasing your rights.
Please share our new video of what`s happening in our city. youtu.be/W1dyNcRGRXY
(youtu.be)

NEW!! “DOJ investigating Gov. Tim Walz, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey over alleged conspiracy to impede immigration agents“ Reminder that the first people Hitler put in camps were his political opponents. This is right from the FASCIST playbook! www.cbsnews.com/news/justice...
(cbsnews.com)

Saint Paul schools will be closed Tuesday and Wednesday to prepare for optional online learning.

I’ve seen schools close for snow, for pandemic, for natural disaster. I’ve never seen schools close because of threat from our own government.

Five years later, and it still bears repeating: January 6 was a heavily armed insurrection.
(motherjones.com)

“In any event, the new CBS Evening News is neither heterodox in its perspectives nor a platform for diverse debate or vox pop(ulism). Instead, as evidenced by these first outings of the new Evening News, Weiss and Dokoupil are producing state propaganda.“

Jeff (Gutenberg Parenthesis) Jarvis(jeffjarvis.bsky.social): .@katiecouric.bsky.social asked me to write about the state of CBS News after Weiss and Dokoupil. I`m honored she asked.
An Expert`s Analysis of Tony Dokoupil`s First Week Anchoring katiecouric.com/news/opinion.. ()

These peaceful observers I spoke to had ICE show up at their homes in what they see as attempts at intimidation. ICE has somehow been accessing Minnesotans` private data in likely violation of state law, according to privacy advocates.
(share.google)

White House Refuses to Rule Out Summary Executions of People on Its Secret Domestic Terrorist List

The Trump administration ignored questions about whether it would order the killings of those on its NSPM-7 list — even while answering our other queries.
(theintercept.com)

50 ICE agents swarming a public library to arrest one person.

This isn’t policing — it’s authoritarian spectacle.
Armed intimidation, fear as policy, and taxpayer money burned to terrorize communities.

This is fascism in plain sight. #TrumpWatch #Resist

White House Refuses to Rule Out Summary Executions of People on Its Secret Domestic Terrorist List

The Trump administration ignored questions about whether it would order the killings of those on its NSPM-7 list — even while answering our other queries.
(theintercept.com)

NEW: Jan 6 police hero emerges as “go-to” Congressional witness to fight “whitewashing” of Capitol siege:

“The only thing that will stop me is if people stop lying about Jan. 6 and just acknowledge what the day was and what really transpired”

===>
(cbsnews.com)

The Constitution guarantees your right to follow, record, protest, and notify others about the agents and what you see. These are core First Amendment rights, and DHS has clearly ordered its agents to threaten and violate those rights. cato.org/blog/dhs-pol...
(cato.org)

Per @npr.org, the Department of Homeland Security, in partnership with the White House U.S. DOGE Service, has built a searchable national citizenship register with data from the Social Security Administration & immigration records— without public notice & comment.
Infrastructure for a police state.
(npr.org)

NEW: The Pentagon told journalists it will require them to pledge they won’t gather any information — even unclassified — that hasn’t been expressly authorized for release, and will revoke the press credentials of those who do not obey. @washingtonpost.com
(washingtonpost.com)

Charlie Kirk’s murder has rapidly become a pretext for a large-scale attack on opposition political speech
(slowboring.com)

Over the decades I have spoken at all of the service academies and War Colleges. They`ve all known I was “a critic“ of many policies

This is a really, really ominous development

(AFAcad cancelling a speaker, in endowed-lecture series, because she has criticized Trump.)
(gazette.com)

From Bovino`s deposition: (1) he calls protestors “violent“ if they articulate views hostile to ICE, even if no violence is manifested; (2) he instructs his forces to attack and arrest protestors who express “hyperbolic comments,“ which is to say, criticism of ICE and Bovino.

Four months after assaulting, then arresting SEIU CA President David Huerta at a protest, DOJ is moving to dismiss.
(storage.courtlistener.com)

At the request of the U.S. Department of Justice, a Facebook group used by nearly 80,000 people to report sightings of federal immigration agents in the Chicago area has been taken down by the social media giant Meta, Facebook’s parent company.
(trib.al)

Supercut of comments from Republicans today alone about the No Kings rallies taking place this weekend. This has to be some of the worst, and most anti-American, coordinated messaging of all time.

Indiana University, which has now been subordinated to the direct control of the Indiana GOP, announces that criticism of the MAGA movement and doctrines of the GOP is forbidden. An instructor is dismissed for speaking critical words about the MAGA movement.
(nytimes.com)

I am spending Saturday night writing about all the people Trump is targeting with politically motivated criminal investigations and prosecutions. Legacy media has largely whitewashed these stories with both sides coverage. Subscribe to Democracy Docket now, because I never will. hubs.ly/Q03M8rql0
(hubs.ly)

A leaked memo by U.S. AG Pam Bondi directs the FBI to compile a list of groups that may be labeled “domestic terrorism” organizations based on political views related to immigration, gender and U.S. policy. Bondi’s effort targets “not just the left,” but “anyone who isn’t a Trump supporter.”
(buff.ly)

HAPPENING NOW: Senator blumenthal.senate.gov and Rep. robertgarcia.house.gov are holding a bicameral public forum to hear testimonies from five U.S. citizens about being assaulted, profiled, and unconstitutionally detained by DHS agents.

Watch live: www.facebook.com/SenBlumentha...
(blumenthal.senate.gov)

There`s a lot you could say about this unhinged, late night rant from the President. But the most reckless part is how easily he throws around the word “seditious“ whenever someone says something he doesn`t like. It undermines our democracy and puts people in danger.

According to a new court filing, the Trump administration has a six-page list of banned words that Head Start locations are forbidden from using when describing their programs.
Among the censored words: “disability,“ “race,“ “women,“ “trauma,“ “Gulf of Mexico.“ Short thread with the full list. 🧵

What the actual fuck.

US Tennis Association: “We ask all broadcasters to refrain from showcasing any disruptions or reactions in response to the President’s attendance in any capacity, including ENG [Electronic News Gathering] coverage.”
(benrothenberg.com)

He suggests prosecuting CNN, while pressuring a settlement out of CBS.
(wsj.com)

Dr Katherine Blouin (isisnaucratis.bsky.social): Heard multiple reports of Canadians being asked at US custom desks in 🇨🇦 airports what they think of the current USA administration. Those who responded w mild comments like "glad it is not the same here" were refused entry and banned from entering the 🇺🇸 for 5 years.

This is a red alert for anyone in Canada planning on travelling to the United States. People are being denied entry for mild political positions that contradict the current regime.

But, and this is crucial, when it happens at airport pre-clearance in Canada, worst-case is DENIAL, not detention.

A new administration’s efforts to pressure the news media, punish political opponents and tame the nation’s tycoons evoke the early days of President Vladimir V. Putin’s reign in Russia.

She asked too many questions that the president didn’t like. She reported too much about criticism of his administration. And so, before long, Yelena Tregubova was pushed out of the Kremlin press pool that covered President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia.

In the scheme of things, it was a small moment, all but forgotten nearly 25 years later. But it was also a telling one. Mr. Putin did not care for challenges. The rest of the press pool got the message and eventually became what the Kremlin wanted it to be: a collection of compliant reporters who knew to toe the line or else they would pay a price.

The decision by President Trump’s team to handpick which news organizations can participate in the White House press pool that questions him in the Oval Office or travels with him on Air Force One is a step in a direction that no modern American president of either party has ever taken. The White House said it was a privilege, not a right, to have such access, and that it wanted to open space for “new media” outlets, including those that just so happen to support Mr. Trump.

But after the White House’s decision to bar the venerable Associated Press as punishment for its coverage, the message is clear: Any journalist can be expelled from the pool at any time for any reason. There are worse penalties, as Ms. Tregubova would later discover, but in Moscow, at least, her eviction was an early step down a very slippery slope.

The news media is being pressured. Lawmakers have been tamed. Career officials deemed disloyal are being fired. Prosecutors named by a president who promised “retribution” are targeting perceived adversaries and dropping cases against allies or others who do his bidding. Billionaire tycoons who once considered themselves masters of the universe are prostrating themselves before him.

Judges who temporarily block administration decisions that they believe may be illegal are being threatened with impeachment. The uniformed military, which resisted being used as a political instrument in Mr. Trump’s first term, has now been purged of its highest-ranking officers and lawyers. And a president who calls himself “the king,” ostensibly in jest, is teasing that he may try to stay in power beyond the limits of the Constitution.

I wrote about the free speech advocates who spent the last decade pearl clutching about the campus left while (intentionally or unintentionally) manufacturing consent for the right-wing assault on free expression.
(link)

Trump at the DOJ: "I believe that CNN and MSNDC, who literally write 97.6% bad about me, are political arms of the Democrat Party. And in my opinion, they are really corrupt and they are illegal. What they do is illegal."
[has video]

Trump says that it should crime to criticize the courts – "It has to stop, it has to be illegal, influencing judges" – which would make his own conduct when he criticized judges who ruled against him a crime

DC U.S. Attorney Edward Martin says his office will not consider applications for government jobs from people affiliated with Georgetown Law, or other schools that espouse disfavored views on diversity. (link)

Freedom of speech, freedom of expression, etc.
(link)

i guess this is what Elon actually meant by "free speech"?
(link)

Political speech is at the heart of our 1st Amendment protections because America has always stood as a place where we honor dissent and debate. 

Chris Kluwe was seemingly fired for engaging in his 1st amendment rights. I'm demanding answers on whether his removal was illegal and unconstitutional.
(link)

A Trump adviser said a Voice of America reporter was "treasonous." Now the reporter has been put on leave, pending an investigation.

And articles have been watered down to remove criticism of the president. (link)

Once upon a time, these were actions by a private company. Now they are actions being undertaken by a high-ranking government official, in connection with his public activities. This raises 1A issues that didn't exist before.

Patrick Chovanec (prchovanec.bsky.social): Once upon a time, these were actions by a private company. Now they are actions being undertaken by a high-ranking government official, in connection with his public activities. This raises 1A issues that didn't exist before.

"Normally, we treat each bullet point as a separate story. But they are all connected. We are witnessing an extraordinarily broad chilling effect in American society."

Look at the length of these lists - this effort to intimidate and silence opposition is a key part of Trump II's authoritarianism.

This Is the Greatest Threat to Free Speech Since the Red Scare (NYT)
(link)

Trump this morning reposted a call for him to serve a third term as a reward for “a stolen election”

Trump to Reuters about the midterm elections: “When you think of it, we shouldn`t even have an election.“ www.reuters.com/world/us/fiv...
(reuters.com)

Miriam Adelson encourages Trump to serve an illegal third term during a Hanukkah celebration at the White House. The crowd chants “four more years!“

It’s Unconstitutional, but Trump Keeps Musing About a 3rd Term www.nytimes.com/2025/10/27/u...
(nytimes.com)

Tuberville on Trump`s third term: “He might be able to go around the Constitution, but that`s up to him.“

it blows my mind that anyone is still pretending like trump is anything but a dictator, here is steve bannon talking about how they, in clear and certain terms, intends to install trump as president in 2028

I have said since Trump starting laying the groundwork for the Big Lie in the first part of 2020 that he would not leave office willingly. I have been correct so far. And I`m telling you again he will not leave office willingly. www.nbcnews.com/politics/don...
(nbcnews.com)

Rep. Andy Ogles: “The president is a true leader ... I think he should be eligible for a third term.“

The 22nd Amendment is clear: President Trump has to give up his office after his second term. But his refusal to accept that underscores how far he is willing to consider going to consolidate power.

Frequently, Trump claims he had nothing to do with the naming of things after himself.

Marketing or a cult of personality? Trump`s name and face are all over the place
Frequently, Trump claims he had nothing to do with the naming of things after himself.

(n.pr)

The Treasury Department plans to put President Trump’s signature on all new paper currency.

The move coincides with an ongoing effort to place his likeness on a coin, which has sparked criticism since federal law prohibits depicting a living president on U.S. currency.
(wapo.st)

Trump’s handpicked arts panel today may vote to put his face on a U.S. gold coin.

A separate, bipartisan panel already rejected the idea, saying it was anti-Democratic and even illegal.

“Monarchs and dictators put their faces on coins, not leaders of a democracy,” @merkley.senate.gov told WaPo.

Trump’s face on a gold coin? His hand-picked panel will decide.
The proposal has already been resisted by members of a separate federal coin committee — and panned by former member Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

(washingtonpost.com)

As chair of the Board of Peace, with a lifetime appointment, Trump determines the council’s membership, chooses the executive board, and has the final say on all things.

Trump’s Orwellian Board of Peace Consists Entirely of Human Rights Abusers
An Intercept analysis finds that every single Board of Peace member state has been rebuked for human rights violations.

(interc.pt)

“Hanging that banner should put to rest any doubt that Donald Trump has hijacked the independence of the Justice Department. He — not the American people — is the only client DOJ’s current leadership serves.“

Large banner of Trump unfurled at Justice Department headquarters

The DOJ has traditionally operated with a degree of separation from the White House to prevent the department`s powers from being abused for political purposes.

(nbcnews.com)

A large banner of Donald Trump was hung outside of the Justice Department headquarters in Washington, DC, emphasizing the White House’s control over the nation’s top law enforcement branch that once pursued criminal prosecutions against the president. https://cnn.it/4cBCqW7
(cnn.it)

This is what holding power in D.C. requires today: complete submission to the whims of Trump, and enthusiastic participation in his regime’s campaign of gratuitous cruelty and madness. buff.ly/ZbUIG1r

Doug Burgum, the Regime Toady of Our Time
Dashing the hopes of establishment Democrats, Trump’s interior secretary and ‘energy czar’ has adopted his boss’s excesses as his own.

(buff.ly)

Wrote about Trump’s very on-brand obsession w/renaming buildings.

“There’s nothing wrong with wanting to be recognized for greatness, but most presidents have, I think, understood they could not crown themselves, and create their own bed of laurels while in office,” historian Ellen Fitzpatrick said

Trump Wants His Name On Federal Buildings. That Should Worry You.
It`s not normal for a sitting president to rename federal buildings for himself, presidential historians say.

(huffpost.com)

Department of Interior says if you put a sticker over Trump`s face on your national park entrance pass, the pass will be invalidated.
Meanwhile Trump`s decision to put his face on the passes is being challenged in court
(sfgate.com)

Of all the competitive authoritarian developments of the past year I think the fall of CBS News is among the most chilling. That this can happen to easily and so quickly freaks me the fuck out.

Tero Kuittinen(teroterotero.bsky.social): Nightmarish. CBS News is now running straight state propaganda. They handed Hegseth all three segments and are now tweeting flattering sound bites.

- @ryanbort.bsky.social @andrewperez.bsky.social and I reported in June that Trump had been asking confidants about putting a statue of himself in the Kennedy Center or naming *parts* of it after himself.

They’re going even further apparently. Cartoonishly culty
(rollingstone.com)

As Trump`s physical and political decline worsens, the cultish flattery from top aides has proportionally grown. As @moiradonegan.bsky.social says on the pod, Trumpworld is now puffing him up publicly to compensate for his deterioration.

Moira is so good here: (newrepublic.com)

What`s striking about Trump`s lies, and those of his apologists, is that they`re not even plausible. They don`t try to be plausible. As others have noted, that`s kind of the point. True authoritarian control and power is telling a blatant and obvious lie, and showing you can get away with it.

Aaron Rupar(atrupar.com): Q: Can you explain what`s going on with the bandages on Trump`s hand?


LEAVITT: We`ve given you an explanation. The president is literally constantly shaking hands.

WATCH: “Donald Trump wants to be a king. That is the best explanation for everything he has been doing in recent days. Just look at what he is doing to the White House,” says Chris Hayes.
(youtube.com)

Absolutely bonkers personalist regime stuff www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
(theatlantic.com)

This is where we are now. Official US government building, in this case the Department of Labor headquarters, has hung a large portrait of Trump on the outside. These are scary times.

An actual post from the official White House account. You can't even make this up.

Buried in amendments to the Interior Dept. Gov funding bill, is a stipulation that the Kennedy Center Opera House must be renamed the 'First Lady Melania Trump Opera House' in order to receive federal funds.

The Appropriations Committee adopted that amendment by a vote of 33-25.

After years pressing to end U.S. aid to Ukraine, many Republicans have abandoned that position now that President Trump is supporting the country against Russian aggression.

Less than two years ago, House Republicans were so livid about the idea of continuing to aid Ukraine in its fight against Russian aggression that they deposed their own speaker, Kevin McCarthy, in part to protest what they said was a “secret side deal” he had made to do so.


But now, more than three years into the war, many Republicans in Congress who have railed consistently against sending more money and weapons to Ukraine and clamored to end American involvement in the war are rushing to shift their stance, following the lead of President Trump.

“I explicitly trust Donald Trump,” he said in an interview. “I call him the peacemaker in chief. He knows what he’s doing, and I trust him.”

The pivots have been jarring at times, particularly for those who made opposition to supporting Ukraine central to their political brand.

Senator Rick Scott, a Florida Republican who once vehemently opposed U.S. aid to Ukraine, also spoke favorably about Mr. Trump’s plan. His stance marked a notable departure from just a over a year ago, when he held up the Senate floor for nearly two hours denouncing a bipartisan military aid package for Ukraine.
(nytimes.com)

Trump wants his people calling the shots. And Bove has proved, above all, that he belongs to the president.

The president has staffed the top leadership of the Justice Department with individuals whose chief qualification appears to be that they represented Mr. Trump as private lawyers. Pam Bondi, the attorney general, was one of Mr. Trump’s defense lawyers at his first impeachment trial. (Previously, she was the attorney general of Florida.) Todd Blanche, the deputy attorney general, represented Mr. Trump at his criminal trial in Manhattan. D. John Sauer, the solicitor general, was the lead counsel for Mr. Trump at the Supreme Court when he challenged his prosecution in Trump v. United States. Mr. Bove, who is now Mr. Blanche’s principal deputy in the Justice Department, was his partner in the defense of Mr. Trump in Manhattan. Just as Mr. Trump has put his onetime advocates at the pinnacle of American law enforcement, the nomination of Mr. Bove signals the president’s desire to embed his loyalists in the judicial branch.

At the age of 44, Mr. Bove has never written anything of consequence or even, apparently, expressed any views on the central issues of constitutional law. That in itself is not unprecedented for a lower court nominee, but what does distinguish Mr. Bove is his record of hard-edge advocacy and loyalty to Mr. Trump.

In his second term, Mr. Trump has made clear that he will evaluate incumbent and prospective judges solely on whether they will endorse his agenda, especially when it comes to tests of his authority on issues like immigration. In a social media post announcing the nomination, the president said Mr. Bove would “do anything else that is necessary to, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN.”

His remarkable change of heart about the Federalist Society raises the question of whether Mr. Trump’s second-term judicial nominees will prize loyalty to him over the ideological priorities that meant so much to his supporters in his first term.
(nytimes.com)

Mike Johnson: "God miraculously saved the president's life -- I think it's undeniable -- and he did it for an obvious purpose. His presidency and his life are the fruits of divine providence. He points that out all the time and he's right to do so."

6/ Here's another one. Trump snuck $40 million in this bill for a "statue garden". Likely will be filled with MAGA "heroes", reportedly maybe somewhere in South Dakota.

Plenty of money for Trump statue gardens, but not enough money to keep feeding hungry kids.

The cost to repair Washington, D.C., streets after the upcoming military parade celebrating the Army’s 250th anniversary could cost as much as $16 million, according to U.S. military officials.

That’s part of an estimated $45 million total cost for the June 14 military parade, which coincides with President Donald Trump’s 79th birthday. The cost estimates have fluctuated as planning continues.

Trump had long wanted a military parade during his first term. But it was canceled over concerns about cost and the optics of a military parade in the nation’s capital that could be seen as akin to the kind commonly seen in Moscow, Beijing or Pyongyang, North Korea. The inclusion of tanks in a potential parade also drew concerns about what their tracks might do to the streets of Washington. (nbcnews.com)

In President Trump’s first term, the Pentagon opposed his desire for a military parade in Washington, wanting to keep the armed forces out of politics.

In President Trump’s first term, the Pentagon opposed his desire for a military parade in Washington, wanting to keep the armed forces out of politics.

There will be 28 Abrams tanks, 6,700 soldiers, 50 helicopters, 34 horses, two mules and a dog, according to the Army’s plans for the June 14 event.

The Army estimates the cost at $25 million to $45 million. But it could be higher because the Army has promised to fix any city streets that the parade damages, plus the cost of cleanup and police are not yet part of the estimate. While $45 million is a tiny fraction of Mr. Trump’s proposed Pentagon budget of $1.01 trillion for fiscal year 2026, it comes as the administration seeks to slash funding for education, health and public assistance.

There was no big parade in Washington back when the Army turned 200 in 1975.

“Having tanks rolling down streets of the capital doesn’t look like something consistent with the tradition of a professional, highly capable military,” Dr. Brooks said in an interview. “It looks instead like a military that is politicized and turning inwardly, focusing on domestic oriented adversaries instead of external ones.”

There have been big American military parades in the past, but the last one was almost 35 years ago, to commemorate the end of the first Gulf War. Military parades in the United States have traditionally followed the end of major conflicts, such as the Civil War and the two World Wars. (nytimes.com)

This is real:
[Trump tweets picture of himself as Pope]

This shit seems low stakes, but it isn’t. It’s what they do in North Korea.

Aaron Rupar (atrupar.com): REPORTER: President Trump looks healthier than ever before. I'm sure everybody in this room could agree. Is he working out with Bobby Kennedy and is he eating less McDonald's?

LEAVITT: I can confirm the president is in very good shape (link)

[has video]

So Trump ditched tradition, broke protocol, and took down Barack Obama’s portrait—just to hang his own.

This space in the entrance hall is traditionally reserved for the last president to have their official portrait unveiled — and that’s still Barack Obama.

Straight-up tin pot dictator energy. Insecure and petty to the end. 🫤

Members of Trump's cabinet, as well as Congresspeople and Senators, are being instructed to wear a tribute to their inglorious, convicted felon leader.

BREAKING: In a stunning moment, Rep. Melanie Stansbury makes an impassioned speech saying Americans rejected a king 250 years ago, to which Marjorie Taylor Greene responds "Threats against the President of the U.S. will not be tolerated by anyone."
[Includes video]

“This Administration is barely paying lip service to the constitutional or international law governing the use of force. But we have these rules for a reason,” @becingber.bsky.social told @theintercept.com. “Rushing to war on one man’s whims is the exact opposite of what the Constitution demands.”

Nick Turse(nickturse.bsky.social): NEW: Pentagon Reveals Attacks in Latin America Are Just the Beginning

With “Operation Total Extermination” and Trump’s threats against Cuba, expect more U.S. military strikes in the region.

theintercept.com/2026/03/23/t.. ()

INBOX: the police chief of Quakertown, Pa., led a group of plainclothes officers to disrupt a peaceful high school student sidewalk protest yesterday.

They threw an underage girl to the ground, choked her, and disconnected all calls to the detention center where she and others are currently held.

Quakertown parents, groups demand release of students in police clash
Civil rights groups and parents gathered in front of the Quakertown Police Department Saturday demanding answers for the violent confrontation Friday.

(phillyburbs.com)

“You have to vote for us.”

Trump tells soldiers to vote GOP in campaign-style rally at Fort Bragg
Army policy prohibits partisan displays, and most service members refrained from cheering.

(washingtonpost.com)

I and millions of Americans believe exactly the same thing Kasparov does.

Too many troops, too many new prisons, too much money not under Congressional supervision.

We`re not just witnessing a mass deportation scheme anymore.

This is something significantly bigger and scarier.

This is the 38th time that the U.S. military has unlawfully killed civilians on the orders of Pete Hegseth and Donald Trump. At least 130 people — never charged with crimes, their identities unknown to their executioners — are now dead.
Patrick De Klotz(patdeklotz.bsky.social): We are m (www.nytimes.com)

Steve Bannon says the federal government is planning to send ICE officers to patrol polling stations during the midterms.

“We`re going to have ICE surround the polls come November.“

“We`re not going to sit here and allow you to steal the country again.“ www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/...
(democracydocket.com)

Remember the incident where DHS claimed officers shot a guy because he attacked them with a snow shovel?

Yeah. It didn`t happen. They shot him through the door of his own home. And then arrested him. And then lied about it. Again.

And they almost shot some kids in the process.

Matt Novak(paleofuture.bsky.social): They just blindly shot through the fucking door.

“Additional photographs show damage consistent with a bullet fragment lodged in a bedroom wall down the hallway — suggesting it traveled between a mattress and a portable crib in a room where several small children sleep.“

Fucking surreal that people dressed like this and carrying assault rifles are permitted to kidnap people off our streets

I was there. They were indiscriminately firing multiple canisters into a huge peaceful crowd. Fucking cowards

I`ve seen videos of the indiscriminate use of tear gas on a large crowd that was clearly peaceful and filled with Portlanders of all ages, and well off the macadam facility. We banned tear gas for a reason. I join Councilor Green in calling for enforcement of our laws.

Mitch Green(councilorgreen.bsky.social): I just got tear gassed along with thousands of union members, many of whom had their families with them. Federal agents at the ICE facility tear gassed children. We must abolish ICE, DHS, and we must have prosecutions. I expect to see enforcement of our city code prohibiting the use of tear gas.

CNN airs compilation of federal agents acting with extreme aggression towards peaceful observers.

Nick Miroff: After 9/11, George W. Bush created the Department of Homeland Security to prevent future terror strikes. Now DHS shifted from defending the country against foreign terrorists to deploying agents on American streets for the purpose of terrorizing American citizens.
(theatlantic.com)

It always was an invasion.

Anna Bower(annabower.bsky.social): Senior White House official says local and state police in Minneapolis “have been ordered to stand down and surrender.”

What?

“Battalions of armed federal agents are moving thru neighborhoods, transit hubs, malls & parking lots & staging near churches, mosques & schools. Strangers w/guns have metastasized in spaces where daily life should be routine & safe... like a military occupation.“ (startribune.com)

This video filmed by Ben Luhmann shows the moment a federal agent sprayed chemical irritants directly into a man`s face in south Minneapolis.

Three agents already had the man pinned to the ground when a fourth agent walked up and sprayed the irritants.

Protester: “It just feels like they`re murdering the most peaceful people we have, the people who are out on the street, young, and trying to protect other people“

MS NOW: “I`m just getting something handed to me -- a statement from DHS -- that it will investigate the fatal shooting of a 37-year-old protester by its officers rather than the FBI. So they`re gonna be investigating that which they already issued a summary about. It would seem like a closed book.“

More unaccountable thuggery, via the AP Twitter account. After being screamed at not to knee him in the face, the agent...knees him in the face again. See for yourself

Second man shares horrific story of being blinded by officers at anti-ICE rally in Santa Ana
(latimes.com)

????BREAKING: ICE unleashes ONSLAUGHT of flash bang grenades and chemical ammunition at unarmed Minneapolis protesters in WAR-LIKE attack. Several protesters struck. Our reporter @zdroberts.bsky.social struck in the head.

“I got hit in the head really bad.“ LIVE NOW ⬇️

Pritzker: The Insurrection Act is designed for circumstances where your rights can’t be protected by local authorities

This is exactly the opposite.

Your civil rights are being infringed upon by CBP and ICE, and then they want to call in troops claiming that they’re protecting CBP and ICE.

“A social media video shows a uniformed DHS officer kicking over a candle at a memorial set up for Renee Nicole Good, who was fatally shot by an ICE agent in Minneapolis.”

“The officer in the video told a protester who confronted him, ‘I don`t give a f—.’”
(people.com)

Remember that time Greg Bovino oversaw a paramilitary attack on an apartment complex inhabited by civilians in the name of chasing Tren de Aragua and they never produced ANY evidence to back that claim?
(propublica.org)

It’s hard to know if people outside MN understand how much of life is grinding to a halt here because of Trump’s occupation. Schools have shut down, businesses are scaling back hours or closing because their employees aren’t safe. The whole city is weighted down.

This guy is in Minneapolis standing before an American citizen in an SUV.

The only reason he`s brandishing an assault rifle is because he wants the people he`s purportedly there protecting to feel terrorized by his presence.

This is not protection. This is occupation.

Breaking NYT:

The Pentagon used a secret aircraft painted to look like a civilian plane in its first boat attack, according to officials briefed on the matter.

The laws of armed conflict forbid combatants from feigning civilian status.

That is a war crime called “perfidy.“
(nytimes.com)

NEW: U.S. Military Willing to Attack “Designated Terrorist Organizations” Within America, General Says

“That is one of the concerns with the administration asserting that the President essentially has a license to kill outside the law,” says expert.
(theintercept.com)

Chicago resisted. Protests came with a price. Bruises from pepper balls and fits of sickness from the tear gas. But also the shattering of illusions and loss of faith that what they witnessed could not happen in America. It did and is happening in America www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/28/c...
(chicagotribune.com)

Trump on sending the troops into American cities: “It`s sort of like war. I hate to tell you.“

The President of the United States is threatening to go to war with an American city.

This is not a joke. This is not normal.

Donald Trump isn`t a strongman, he`s a scared man. Illinois won’t be intimidated by a wannabe dictator.

This is bad, bad stuff, but it`s extra bad, bad while the military is deployed to patrol American streets, ostensibly to fight crime. The administration continues to creep over every constitutional and legal right and rule meant to protect us from tyranny.

Gift Link
(nytimes.com)

Trump: “I don`t think we`re gonna necessarily ask for a declaration of war. I think we`re just gonna kill people... Okay? We`re gonna kill them. They`re gonna be, like, dead.“

We are seeing not just a merging of different parts of the armed forces; we are also seeing a deprofessionalization. Competent people are fired. Those willing to break the law are hired. Normal practices are abandoned as the new force becomes more responsive to the demand for quotas & brutalization.

Gregory Pratt(royalpratt.bsky.social): Experts warn this aggressive approach will likely fuel greater abuses of civil and human rights, heighten public anger and lead to more warrantless arrests, straying far from the previous stated focus on “the worst of the worst.” “Spectacle, not security.” www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/02/b...

Last night, the National Guard chased children who were out enjoying Halloween in Navy Yard.

There is no valid reason for armed soldiers to terrorize children like this. End Trump’s occupation of DC. National Guard out NOW.

Here’s a disturbing video from Evanston of a federal agent hitting a man on the ground as people yell that he can’t breathe.