Monthly Archives: June 2025

Atlantic: The Shame of Trump’s Parade

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Today’s events are another step in an ongoing effort to turn the U.S. military into a partisan—and personal—instrument of the president.

Today—250 years since the Continental Army officially formed to fight for the independence of the American colonies against the British monarchy—marks a milestone in President Donald Trump’s effort to politicize the U.S. military. Though they are rare, military parades have happened before in Washington, D.C. For the most part, these have been celebrations of military achievements, such as the end of a war. But today is also Trump’s birthday, and what he and his supporters have planned is a celebration of Trump himself.

A mark of a free society is that its public institutions, especially its military, represent the body politic and the freedom-enabling equal rights that structure civic life. If service members and the public begin to believe that the military is not neutral but is in fact the servant of MAGA, this will threaten the military’s legitimacy and increase the likelihood of violent conflict between the military and the public. Today’s events bring us one step closer to this disaster.

And a few lies, none of which are true:

The organizers have made it abundantly clear that today’s purpose is to directly laud Trump and his politics. In promotional materials, they tell us, “Under President Trump’s leadership, the Army has been restored to strength and readiness.” They credit his “America First agenda” for military pay increases, enlarged weapons stockpiles, new technologies, and improvements in recruitment, declaring that he has “ensured our soldiers have the tools and support they need to win on any battlefield.”

As the Trump-aggrandizing bullshit piles up:

Monica Crowley, the State Department’s chief of protocol and a former Fox News host, went on Steve Bannon’s podcast WarRoom to say that the concurrence of the U.S. Army’s anniversary and Trump’s birthday is “providential.” She called it “meant to be. Hand of God, for sure.” She added, “It is really a gift, and we want to be sure that we celebrate in a manner that is fitting, not just of this extraordinary president but of our extraordinary country.” She also expressed hope that the crowd would serenade the president with “Happy Birthday.” Clearly, Trump isn’t merely the guest of honor; he is the reason for the party.

The Shame of Trump’s Parade
Today’s events are another step in an ongoing effort to turn the U.S. military into a partisan—and personal—instrument of the president.

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2025/06/250th-anniversary-army-parade/683162

ESPN: Mexico President Sheinbaum calls for no ICE action at Gold Cup

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Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Friday urged U.S. authorities not to conduct immigration enforcement targeting attendees of a Gold Cup soccer match in Los Angeles on Saturday, where Mexico‘s team is due to play the Dominican Republic.

Her comments followed recent raids by immigration authorities in Los Angeles targeting undocumented migrants, under policies associated with the President Donald Trump’s administration, which have sparked protests across major cities.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection, in a now-deleted post to social media, had also promised to be “suited and booted” at the first round of Club World Cup soccer matches, the curtain-raiser event for next year’s World Cup.

“We don’t believe that at any soccer match there will be any [immigration] action … we call for none to be taken by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement,” Sheinbaum said in her morning press conference.

Hope she’s not disappointed. I’d never trust either CBP or ICE to keep their word.

Mexico prez calls for no ICE action at Gold Cup
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum urged U.S. authorities not to conduct immigration enforcement targeting attendees of a Gold Cup match in the Los Angeles area.

https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/45508088/mexico-president-sheinbaum-ice-gold-cup-los-angles

Variety: Trump Lawyers Confirm They Are in ‘Active Settlement Discussions’ With Paramount Over President’s ‘60 Minutes’ Lawsuit

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Attorneys representing President Trump in his $20 billion lawsuit against CBS over the allegedly deceptive editing of a “60 Minutes” segment have requested an extension of court deadlines, citing the fact that the parties “are engaged in active settlement discussions.”

Multiple news outlets including Variety have reported that Trump and Paramount have been engaged in ongoing settlement talks. In a filing Friday on Texas federal court, lawyers for Trump and co-plaintiff Rep. Ronny Jackson of Texas – together with attorneys for Paramount Global – said they were requesting an extension to court deadlines “because the Parties are engaged in active settlement discussions, including continued mediation.”

No doubt millions more $$ are finding their way to our Grifter-in-Chief!

The corruption continues unabated.

Trump Lawyers Confirm They Are in ‘Active Settlement Discussions’ With Paramount Over President’s ‘60 Minutes’ Lawsuit
Lawyers for Trump confirmed they are in ’”’active settlement discussions, including continued mediation.”“The Parties are not seeking to extend any deadlines regarding the pending motions to dismiss, and Defendants intend to file their reply on or before June 23, 2025,” the filing said.

https://variety.com/2025/tv/news/trump-lawsuit-cbs-60-minutes-active-settlement-discussions-1236430937

Latin Times: Mexico Confronts ICE Over Denied Access After Death of Detained Mexican Citizen in Georgia

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Jesús Molina-Veya was discovered unresponsive in his cell on June 7 and died shortly after being taken to a local hospital

Mexico is pursuing legal options after a Mexican citizen died earlier this month while in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody at the Stewart Detention Center in Georgia. According to Mexican media reports, ICE is now preventing officials from the Mexican Consulate in Atlanta from entering the facility to speak with other detainees.

On June 7, 45-year-old Jesús Molina-Veya was found unconscious in his cell with a ligature around his neck, according to ICE. Despite CPR efforts, medical staff transferred him to Phoebe Sumter Hospital in Americus, where he was pronounced dead later that evening.

As the investigation into his death continues, Proceso reports that Mexico’s Secretariat of Foreign Affairs (SRE) has raised concerns that consular staff were “not notified for interviews” during recent visits to the ICE facility and has requested an explanation from officials at the detention center.

….

Mexico Confronts ICE Over Denied Access After Death of Detained Mexican Citizen in Georgia
Mexico’s Secretariat of Foreign Affairs (SRE) has raised concerns that consular staff were “not notified for interviews” during recent visits to the ICE facility and has requested an explanation from officials at the detention center.

https://www.latintimes.com/mexico-confronts-ice-over-denied-access-after-death-detained-mexican-citizen-georgia-584991

Daily Beast: Judge Frees Harvard Scientist ICE Tried to Deport to Russia

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Kseniia Petrova, 30, spent four months in federal custody after returning from a vacation with frog embryo samples.

A Harvard researcher charged with smuggling frog embryos into the United States has been released on bail after spending four months in federal custody.

In February, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) apprehended Kseniia Petrova, 30, at Boston Logan International Airport after she allegedly failed to properly declare frog embryo samples she had brought from Paris.

The Russian-born scientist had her visa revoked and was held at an ICE facility in Louisiana, facing deportation to Russia, where she had previously been arrested for speaking out against the invasion of Ukraine.

“If I go back, I am afraid I will be imprisoned because of my political position and my position against war,” Petrova told the Associated Press.

A federal judge ordered her release from ICE custody in May, ruling that the immigration officers had acted unlawfully, and that neither Petrova nor the nonliving frog embryos posed a threat.

However, she remained in federal custody after prosecutors in Massachusetts charged her with one count of smuggling goods into the U.S. That case is ongoing, and she must return to court next week for a hearing.

Judge Frees Harvard Scientist ICE Tried to Deport to Russia
Kseniia Petrova, 30, spent four months in federal custody after returning from a vacation with frog embryo samples.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/judge-frees-harvard-scientist-ice-tried-to-deport-to-russia

Esquire: Somehow Republicans Are Defending Kristi Noem After the Forceful Removal of Senator Alex Padilla

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I thought assaulting someone holding federal office was a crime. Not anymore, apparently.

So, apparently we’re bum-rushing US senators now. From The Guardian:

In video taken of the incident that has since gone viral on social media, Padilla is seen being restrained and removed from the room by Secret Service agents.“I’m Senator Alex Padilla. I have questions for the secretary,” Padilla shouts, as he struggles to move past the men removing him from the premises. “Hands off!” he says at one point.Emerging afterward, Padilla, who is the ranking member of the judiciary subcommittee on immigration, citizenship and border safety, said he and his colleagues had repeatedly asked DHS for more information on its “increasingly extreme immigration enforcement actions” but had not received a response to his inquiries.

This tinhorn governor of a state where nobody lives, this puppy-murdering hack whose political career outside of MAGA World was as dead as Custer, now gets to sic her black-shirted thugs on the senior senator of a state that she and her criminal boss and all their attendant lords have been lying about, and about which she had flown to Los Angeles to lie about some more.

Dumbass in a ballcap says what? She just admitted they’re blowing up the town to get rid of the mayor and governor. If the courts ever get their teeth back, this gaffe will figure prominently in many filings.

Meanwhile, Padilla is hauled into a backroom and driven to the floor and handcuffed.

And not for nothing, but threatening and/or assaulting the holder of any federal office is a felony and could draw you five to ten in the pokey. And these goons are pretty identifiable.

And, of course, the administration’s prevarication mill went into full operation almost instantly. From The New Republic via Yahoo:

In posts on X, the official DHS account and Assistant DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlin released a statement attempting to justify wrestling Padilla to the ground and handcuffing him. “Senator Padilla chose disrespectful political theatre and interrupted a live press conference without identifying himself or having his Senate security pin on as he lunged toward Secretary Noem,” the statement read.

Tricia learned to lie like this at the AEI’s Leadership Institute.

But in a video of the altercation from Padilla’s office, the senator could be heard clearly identifying himself. “Hands off! I’m Senator Alex Padilla, and I have questions for the secretary,” said the California Democrat as a security guard pushed him out of the room.

It’s clear that the goons looked at him and just saw another angry brown face. And by their reactions, Tricia and her boss are similarly afflicted.

This is also all my bollocks. Noem knows who Padilla is and, if she doesn’t, she should, and he did identify himself. Third-rate hack with a fourth-rate alibi.

And what about Speaker Moses? What did you expect?

That sanctimonious sumbitch wants Padilla censured. And he spent the afternoon hiding. If he’s a Christian, I’m an Ostrogoth.

The day was not without its burlesque, however. In a House Oversight Committee hearing, Rep. Maxwell Frost asked Chairman James (Jughead) Comer to issue a subpoena for Noem regarding the events of the day. Comer, of course, refused, probably because Padilla was not carrying Hunter Biden’s laptop at the time. And then we were off.

Somehow Republicans Are Defending Kristi Noem After the Forceful Removal of Senator Alex Padilla
I thought assaulting someone holding federal office was a crime. Not anymore, apparently.

https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a65058840/senator-padilla-kristi-noem-james-comer-marjorie-taylor-greene

Independent: US citizen blasts ICE after being detained as he drove to work: ‘They’re the criminals’

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ICE and Homeland Security agents forced Elzon Lemus out of his car and detained him for between 20-25 minutes, apparently based solely on his appearance

A New Yorker who was stopped and detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents says he was treated like a criminal for simply existing as a Hispanic person in the U.S.

“[ICE] said that they’re looking for criminals, but in reality, they’re the criminals,” Elzon Lemus, a 23-year-old from Brentwood, told reporters during a Thursday press conference.

Lemus, an electrician, was riding in the passenger seat of a car on his way to work when ICE agents stopped the vehicle in Westbury, New York. The ICE agents reportedly said that Lemus “looks like somebody we are looking for.”

He asked “who are you looking for exactly, because it’s definitely not me.” Much of his interaction with ICE was captured on cellphone video.

After the car was stopped, Lemus says he was surrounded by ICE and Homeland Security Investigations vehicles. The agents then threatened him and demanded his ID.

“This is going to go one of two ways here. I need to see your ID — if you’re not the guy I’m looking for, you’re not the guy I’m looking for. But we need your ID,” the ICE agent says in the video.

Lemus said he demanded the agents’ name and badge number, but they refused to provide any identifying information, claiming they were “not authorized” to do so.

“I told them that I’m not authorized to give my ID then,” Lemus said.

An ICE agent threatened him again.

“If we don’t get your ID we are going to need to figure out another way to ID you and that may not work out well for you,” the agent said.

Lemus was then placed in handcuffs for refusing to provide identification to the ICE agents. He said he was hesitant to cooperate because he hadn’t committed any crimes, and he knew the federal agents were not local police, NBC 4 reports.

“I didn’t want to get my ID because as soon as I saw how they were dressed, I knew they weren’t police officers. I didn’t commit a crime and wasn’t driving,” he said.

The ICE agents allegedly left Lemus in cuffs for 20-25 minutes, and confiscated his phone to prevent him from filming them. They eventually found his ID in his pockets.

“It was heartbreaking … it felt like my rights were just out the window,” Lemus said.

US citizen blasts ICE after being detained as he drove to work
ICE and Homeland Security agents forced Elzon Lemus out of his car and detained him for between 20-25 minutes, apparently based solely on his appearance

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/us-citizen-detained-ice-criminals-new-york-b2769786.html

Alternate: Trump ‘made a mockery of all of us’: MAGA devotees revolt over foreign policy about-face

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Politico reports President Donald Trump’s own MAGA devotees warned him of Israel’s penchant for military escalation. Now the retaliation is setting in.

“The White House claims it played no part in the strikes on Tehran’s nuclear facilities Thursday night,” says Politico. Tehran was even slated to meet with U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff over the weekend for peace talks, but now the U.S. is in a precarious place considering it unilaterally funds nearly a third of Israel’s military machine. Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu’s strike also threatens to pull the U.S. deeper into Middle East conflict — to the chagrin of a huge swathe of Trump’s MAGA base.

Politico reports President Donald Trump’s own MAGA devotees warned him of Israel’s penchant for military escalation. Now the retaliation is setting in.

“The White House claims it played no part in the strikes on Tehran’s nuclear facilities Thursday night,” says Politico. Tehran was even slated to meet with U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff over the weekend for peace talks, but now the U.S. is in a precarious place considering it unilaterally funds nearly a third of Israel’s military machine. Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu’s strike also threatens to pull the U.S. deeper into Middle East conflict — to the chagrin of a huge swathe of Trump’s MAGA base.

You cast your lot with a tyrant; now you are getting what you paid for! 😀

Trump ‘made a mockery of all of us’: MAGA devotees revolt over foreign policy about-face

https://www.alternet.org/trump/trump-made-a-mockery-of-all-of-us-maga-already-pouncing-trumps-weakness-over-strikes

Mediaite: CNN’s Erin Burnett Asks Padilla If Trump DHS Chief’s Agents Jacked Him Up ‘Because of How You Look?’

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On Thursday night’s edition of CNN’s OutFront, Burnett picked up on a comment from CNN commentator Xochitl Hinojosa, and asked Padilla if his race had anything to do with the heavy-handed response:

BURNETT: I don’t know if you just heard what Xochitl was saying. She was saying that what she finds so unsettling as a Hispanic woman is that she feels that this happened to you because of how you look. And that as one of two sitting senators from California, those — those Secret Service agents would have known exactly who you were. And in fact, after you started talking, you said, “I’m Senator Alex Padilla”, and you said it multiple times.

Do you think that it was because of how you look?

SEN. ALEX PADILLA (D-CA): Look, I don’t know what the motives are. I think the point is this, Erin, and as I said, when I — when I came out of the building a little while after the incident, if this can happen to me, a United States senator representing the state of California, if this is how the Department of Homeland Security and the people around the secretary will treat a United States senator for having the audacity to ask a question, then imagine what they can do — imagine what they are doing to people in communities, not just throughout Los Angeles, but throughout the country.

CNN’s Erin Burnett Asks Padilla If Trump DHS Chief’s Agents Jacked Him Up ‘Because of How You Look?’
CNN anchor Erin Burnett asked Alex Padilla (D-CA) if agents at Trump DHS Secretary Kristi Noem’s press conference attacked him “because of how you look?”
CNN’s Erin Burnett Asks Padilla If Trump DHS Chief’s Agents Jacked Him Up ‘Because of How You Look?’

Law & Crime: ‘Doesn’t speak with precision about things sometimes’: DOJ attorney offers mixed praise for Trump’s communication skills during Abrego Garcia hearing

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An attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice offered some mixed praise of President Donald Trump‘s communication skills during a previously secret hearing in the Kilmar Abrego Garcia case.

A transcript of the hearing was recently released, in redacted form and limited fashion, by U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis, a Barack Obama appointee, in response to a motion to unseal several documents in the case filed by multiple news organizations.

While the transcript is not yet available on the public court docket, The New York Times’ Alan Feuer obtained a copy of the document and posted a notable snippet of an exchange between the judge and DOJ attorney Jonathan Guynn in a post on X (formerly Twitter).

“President Trump is you know, is a master messenger in many ways, but he also doesn’t speak with precision about things sometimes,” the government lawyer said. “And I think that this might be one of those situations where perhaps his comments were based on what he was recalling may have been the state of play previously.”

While the transcript is not yet available on the public court docket, The New York Times’ Alan Feuer obtained a copy of the document and posted a notable snippet of an exchange between the judge and DOJ attorney Jonathan Guynn in a post on X (formerly Twitter).

“President Trump is you know, is a master messenger in many ways, but he also doesn’t speak with precision about things sometimes,” the government lawyer said. “And I think that this might be one of those situations where perhaps his comments were based on what he was recalling may have been the state of play previously.”

The DOJ lawyer’s remarks came amid a discussion about the 45th and 47th president’s ability to have Abrego Garcia brought back stateside.

Until the Maryland man was abruptly returned earlier this month, the official position of the government was that the U.S. simply no longer had control of the situation. Attorney after attorney, in courtroom after courtroom, insisted the decision rested with officials in El Salvador.

Xinis appeared suspicious of this claim, based on an April 29 interview of Trump by since-fired ABC News anchor Terry Moran. During that interview, Trump said he “could” just pick up the phone and have the Salvadoran president return Abrego Garcia to the U.S. But, Trump added, “we have lawyers that don’t want to do this.”

The hearing was the very next day — and part of Guynn’s job was cleaning up Trump’s statement, which flatly contradicted the DOJ’s position.

Xinis was not, however, the only judge to be struck by Trump’s admission about Abrego Garcia during the ABC News interview.

During a May 7 hearing in the initial Alien Enemies Act case before U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, a jurist who got his start under George W. Bush and was then promoted by Barack Obama, the president’s words were put directly to DOJ attorney Abhishek Kambli.

“Is the president not telling the truth, or could he secure the release of Mr. Abrego Garcia?” Boasberg asked the government lawyer.

The DOJ attorney tried to sidestep the question by launching into a broader argument about the government’s case. But he was quickly brought back on track by Boasberg, who interjected to say he wanted his questions answered first….

Click the links below for more mumbo jumbo from Trumpski & his attorneys:

‘Doesn’t speak with precision’: DOJ attorney has mixed praise for Trump’s communication skills
“President Trump is you know, is a master messenger in many ways,” the DOJ lawyer said.
‘Doesn’t speak with precision about things sometimes’: DOJ attorney offers mixed praise for Trump’s communication skills during Abrego Garcia hearing