Raw Story: Trump DOJ plan would let it indict lawmakers who opposed him with no oversight

According to a bombshell report from the Washington Post, the Department of Justice under Attorney General Pam Bondi is considering a plan that would let federal prosecutors investigate and indict members of Congress unfettered by traditional oversight designed to stop political persecution.

Traditionally, before such an investigation could proceed, a prosecutor would have their case reviewed by the lawyers in the Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section. But that would go away under the new proposal.

The report notes that, should the proposal go into effect, “a long-standing provision in the Justice Department’s manual that outlines how investigations of elected officials should be conducted” would be shunted aside and allow possible prosecutions based purely on politics.

https://www.rawstory.com/trump-doj-political-prosecutions

Raw Story: DHS bid to fix ‘crucial misstatement’ in court causes violation of judge’s order

This was summed up by legal expert Roger Parloff, who said, “In correcting an earlier (crucial) misstatement about Guatemalan OCG, whom government removed to Mexico and who is now hiding in Guatemala due to fear of persecution, government inadvertently identified OCG’s name, violating court order and heightening the danger OCG’s in.”

Parloff added, “Complicated background, but OCG is a name plaintiff in the DVD class action, which is trying to prevent aliens from being removed to 3d countries without an opportunity to raise and litigate claims of fear of persecution and torture.”

DHS today is just a bunch of total f*ck*ps!

https://www.rawstory.com/dhs-fix-crucial-misstatement-mexico

Knewz: Trump DHS Threatens AOC With Arrest

[DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia] McLaughlin warned Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) would also face arrest if she took similar unauthorized actions. An investigation into assaults on ICE agents is underway. McLaughlin said, “If she trespasses and if she assaults law enforcement officers, as we saw earlier, I think that’s certainly on the table. As far as we’ve heard, a lot of Democrats make the argument that they’re just conducting oversight, congressional oversight.”

Just lots of huffing & puffing & theatrics from one of King Donald’s unqualified bimbos for a hypothetical problem that hasn’t happened and likely never will.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-dhs-threatens-aoc-with-arrest/ss-AA1F12N9

USA Today: Thousands of federal employees are on a roller coaster of being fired, rehired

‘Inefficency in the name of efficiency,’ according to one federal employee who was fired, rehired and may be fired again.

In recent months, tens of thousands of federal workers have been fired, rehired and threatened with firing again.

For now, they have a two-week reprieve, after a federal judge in California ordered the Trump administration not to carry out any additional firings for two weeks, but the administration has asked the Supreme Court to overturn that ruling.

But employees describe weeks of uncertainty, worry and doubt as their jobs are off, then on, then off again.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2025/05/18/federal-employees-fired-rehired-await-court-decision/83600693007

Washington Examiner: Judge allows Trump to fire top CIA doctor who appeared on ‘Deep State Target List’

A federal judge cleared the way for President Donald Trump to fire a top CIA doctor involved in the firing of agents who refused to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

At a Friday hearing, U.S. District Judge Michael Nachmanoff declined to prevent Dr. Terry Adirim from being fired from her position as head of the CIA Centers for Global Health Services. Adirim claimed that her firing was due to her being targeted by “a political extremist,” but the Department of Justice argued the evidence was only circumstantial.

Her firing came shortly after right-wing activist Laura Loomer met with Trump at the White House, leading some to suspect that her firing was the direct result of an appeal from Loomer. She has “exposed” several Trump administration staffers for alleged disloyalty and ties to foreign adversaries, coinciding with several firings.

Rolling Stone: Scott Bessent Compares Trump’s Qatari Jet Gift to the Statue of Liberty

It’s not the same

No, Qatar‘s royal family gifting a $400 million Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet known as a “flying palace” to the government that will reportedly then go to Donald Trump‘s presidential library is not the same as France giving the Statue of Liberty to the American people. But that is what Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent tried to claim on Sunday.

“Even if Qatar isn’t asking for anything in return now for the jet, I mean, that’s a bill that could come due,” Jake Tapper, host of CNN’s State of the Union said to Bessent. “Nobody… just gives a $400 million jet just to be nice.”

“Well, I don’t know, Jake,” Bessent said. “The French gave us the Statue of Liberty. The British gave us the Resolute Desk. I’m not sure they asked for anything in advance.”

Trump’s bozos are just too dense to get it!

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/bessent-trump-qatar-statue-of-liberty-1235342112

MSNBC: Trump took Bruce Springsteen’s bait [Opinion]

This week’s mini-feud pits two predictable septuagenarians against each other. And the result is a personal gift to the Boss.

“The mighty E Street Band is here tonight to call upon the righteous power of art, of music, of rock ’n’ roll in dangerous times,” he said in the minute-long speech, to raucous cheers.

“In my home, the America I love, the America I’ve written about, that has been a beacon of hope and liberty for 250 years, is currently in the hands of a corrupt, incompetent and treasonous administration,” he continued before asking fans to “raise your voices against authoritarianism and let freedom ring!”

Later in the evening, Springsteen offered a withering takedown of what he’s seen happening in the U.S. under Trump.

“They are persecuting people for using their right to free speech and voicing their dissent,” Springsteen began, in remarks that were later posted on his website and YouTube channel. He continued:

They’re rolling back historic Civil Rights legislation that led to a more just and plural society. They’re abandoning our great allies and siding with dictators against those struggling for their freedom. They’re defunding American universities that won’t bow down to their ideological demands. They’re removing residents off American streets and, without due process of law, are deporting them to foreign detention centers and prisons.

He also took aim at Trump’s fellow Republicans, as well as the Democratic Party, arguing that they had all failed to protect Americans “from the abuses of an unfit president and a rogue government.”

Still, he said, “The America that I’ve sung to you about for 50 years is real, and regardless of its faults is a great country with a great people. So, we’ll survive this moment.”

And of course the vile King Donald just can’t resist the temptation to badmouth the Boss, and Biden, too. The final score:

Boss 1

Trump 0

https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/trump-post-bruce-springsteen-taylor-swift-gift-rcna207397

MSNBC: My family experienced apartheid. I know Afrikaners aren’t refugees.

If the Episcopal Church had agreed to resettle South African Boers, then it would have elevated a lie that will affect refugee resettlement for years to come.

The combination of the Trump administration granting expedited refugee status to white South Africans and the Episcopal Church ending a 40-year partnership with the federal government rather than help resettle fake refugees leaves me with contradictory feelings.

As an Episcopal priest and a dual citizen of the United States and South Africa, I am proud of the Episcopal Church for standing up and speaking out about the U.S. government’s lies of a white “genocide” in South Africa. In equal measure, I am devastated that the work our church has done for decades, giving hope and care to people forced to leave their homelands, is ending because of white supremacy and Christian nationalism.

If the Episcopal Church had agreed to resettle South African Boers, then it would have elevated a lie that will affect refugee resettlement for years to come. If white South Africans are experiencing genocide, then it is truly an enviable genocide. White South Africans, who are about 7% of the country’s population, own about 75% of South Africa’s farmland and control a great majority of senior corporate positions. Our Palestinian brothers and sisters experiencing a true genocide would likely be happy if they had control over 30% of their ancestral land.

The Episcopal Church has taken a moral stand. The Boers who arrived on U.S. soil this week are not refugees. They are white people using their privilege to leap over legitimate refugees who have been waiting to escape political repression and life-threatening situations.

https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/trump-afrikaners-apartheid-refugees-genocide-rcna206660

MSNBC: Trump’s White House accidentally admitted the truth about its tax plan [Opinion]

Earlier this week the White House published evidence that the president’s “big, beautiful bill” hikes taxes on the poor to cut taxes for the rich.


The subtitle say it all: “hikes taxes on the poor to cut taxes for the rich”!


https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/trumps-white-house-accidentally-admitted-truth-tax-plan-rcna207301

MSNBC: How Trump’s ‘bribe now, pain later’ budget scheme hit a surprise roadblock [Opinion]

The conservative revolt over Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ threatens a major component of his bid to keep Congress in the GOP’s hands next year.

Rep. Chip Roy of Texas had major problems with the bill his fellow Republicans presented to the House Budget Committee on Friday. On paper, the legislative package for President Donald Trump’s agenda slashes more than a trillion dollars in federal spending over the next decade. But Roy and other hard-line conservatives on the panel were frustrated at the bill’s timeline for those cuts. Their “no” votes tanked the bill and sent House leadership scrambling for last-minute weekend negotiations to salvage what Trump calls his “big, beautiful bill.”

Roy is right about the imbalance and trickery on display, as the current bill back-loads the savings while raising the federal deficit in the short term. The problem for him is that Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and the rest of the House leadership team aren’t the source of his concerns. Instead, the catalyst for his ire lies Roy is right about the imbalance and trickery on display, as the current bill back-loads the savings while raising the federal deficit in the short term. The problem for him is that Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and the rest of the House leadership team aren’t the source of his concerns. Instead, the catalyst for his ire lies down Pennsylvania Avenue at the White House.

Meanwhile, “down Pennsylvania Avenue at the White House”:

That hesitance from the White House can be chalked up in part to next year’s midterm elections. Politico’s Rachel Bade recently reported that Trump is already “hyper-engaged in the fight to keep the GOP’s majorities in Congress” …

It’s those pesky mid-terms that are spooking them!

https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/trump-congress-budget-tax-cuts-chip-roy-rcna207299