NBC News: Trump takes executive action targeting ActBlue, the main Democratic fundraising platform

ActBlue is widely considered one of the pillars of the Democratic Party’s digital ecosystem.

Trump is now trying to sic his politicized Department of Justice on the Democrats’ fund raisers:

President Donald Trump signed an executive memorandum Thursday aimed at investigating ActBlue, the leading Democratic fundraising platform.

The memorandum directs Attorney General Pam Bondi to “investigate allegations regarding the unlawful use of online fundraising platforms to make ‘straw’ or ‘dummy’ contributions or foreign contributions to political candidates and committees, and to take appropriate action to enforce the law.”

It specifically names ActBlue as an online fundraising platform being used “to improperly influence American elections.”

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-administration/trump-expected-sign-memo-targeting-act-blue-rcna202673

New York Times: Under Hegseth, Chaos Prevails at the Pentagon

The defense secretary’s inner circle is in disarray, and distrust is growing among civil servants and senior military officials.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth arrived at the Pentagon in January with almost no government experience and huge ambitions to remake the way the military was being run.

In just three months in office, Mr. Hegseth, a former Fox News host, has instead produced a run of chaos that is unmatched in the recent history of the Defense Department.

Mr. Hegseth’s inner circle of close advisers — military veterans who, like him, had little experience running large, complex organizations — is in a shambles. Three members of the team he brought with him into the Pentagon were accused last week of leaking unauthorized information and escorted from the building.

A fourth recently departed member of Mr. Hegseth’s team, John Ullyot, who had been his top spokesman, accused Mr. Hegseth of disloyalty and incompetence in an opinion essay in Politico on Sunday. “The building is in disarray under Hegseth’s leadership,” Mr. Ullyot wrote.

The discord, according to current and former defense officials, includes: screaming matches in his inner office among aides; a growing distrust of the thousands of military and civilian personnel who staff the building; and bureaucratic logjams that have slowed down progress on some of President Trump’s key priorities, such as an “Iron Dome for America” missile-defense shield. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal business.

Cry me a river! Even better, resign and self-deport to somewhere, anywhere!

https://archive.is/I0kbS

Washington Post: Pete Hegseth, isolated and defiant, has Trump’s backing for now

A dirtbag that only King Donald would keep around:

President Donald Trump on Monday dismissed a deepening controversy surrounding Pete Hegseth, declaring the embattled defense secretary is “doing a great job” despite seismic dysfunction within the Pentagon amid political infighting, numerous firings, and reports he divulged to his wife, brother and lawyer the highly sensitive details of an imminent military operation.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/ar-AA1DlEUv

Newsweek: DOGE Gets Access to Sensitive Data for Millions of Migrants: What To Know

Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has reportedly been granted access to sensitive immigration case data.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) gave permission to a team of six DOGE “advisors” to access the Executive Office for Immigration Review’s Courts and Appeals System (ECAS) on Friday, according to documents seen by The Washington Post.

ECAS includes millions of confidential records from immigration court cases, ranging from asylum claims to personal biographical information.

It is not explicitly clear what DOGE’s mission with this data is but it could be part of President Donald Trump‘s to crack down on illegal immigration.

The DOGE team of six reportedly includes Marko Elez, a staffer who resigned from the government in February in the wake of a scandal over his association with a social media account that promoted racism and eugenics, which was reported by The Post at the time.

https://www.newsweek.com/doge-access-data-migrants-department-justice-elon-musk-2062429

Robert Reich: Ineptitude, incompetence, stupidity, and chaos

Trump is fundamentally incapable of governing. That’s the theme that unites everything.

Some Democrats fear they’re playing into Trump’s hands by fighting his mass deportations rather than focusing on his failures on bread-and-butter issues like the cost of living.

But it’s not either-or. The theme that unites Trump’s inept handling of deportations, his trampling on human and civil rights, his rejection of the rule of law, his dictatorial centralization of power, and his utterly inept handling of the economy is the ineptness itself.

In his first term, not only did his advisers and Cabinet officials put guardrails around his crazier tendencies, but they also provided his first administration a degree of stability and focus. Now, it’s mayhem.

https://robertreich.substack.com/p/ineptitude-incompetence-stupidity

Reuters: Pentagon says leak probe may lead to U.S. prosecutions

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth warned on Tuesday of possible prosecutions of former senior advisors who were fired during a probe into leaks of Pentagon information to the media, saying evidence would be handed over to the Department of Justice once the investigation is completed.

F*ck*ng hypocrite! Look in the mirror and prosecute yourself!

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/pentagon-says-leak-probe-may-lead-us-prosecutions-2025-04-22

BBC: Tesla whistleblower wins latest legal battle in fight against Musk

Engineer Cristina Balan lost her job after she raised a safety concern in 2014 about a design flaw which could affect the cars’ braking.

Her defamation claim against the firm seemed to have run out of road when a judge confirmed an arbitration decision dismissing her case – but a panel of appeal judges in California has reversed this decision in her favour.

She told BBC News she now wants to face Elon Musk and Tesla in open court.

And:

The engineer was once so prominent at Tesla that her initials were engraved on the batteries inside Model S vehicles.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cevdz4yxpd9o

Are Tesla odometers accurate?

https://arstechnica.com/cars/2025/04/tesla-makes-its-cars-lie-about-their-mileage-lawsuit-claims

https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/tesla-speeds-up-odometers-avoid-warranty-repairs-us-lawsuit-claims-2025-04-17

https://www.yahoo.com/news/tesla-accused-speeding-odometers-warranties-204441359.html

Raw Story: ‘Fundamental rights’: Jim Jordan comes out swinging against searches of citizens’ data

Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) argued in a Washington Post opinion piece Wednesday, that it’s every Americans’ constitutional right to require the government to obtain a legal warrant based on probable cause before conducting a search on private records.

“That’s a key part of the Bill of Rights and an important protection against government abuse,” Jordan wrote, adding that “short of imminent threats to national security, there is no good excuse for ignoring the Fourth Amendment’s warrant requirement.”

Hello, DOGE? F’Elon Musk?

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/fundamental-rights-jim-jordan-comes-out-swinging-against-searches-of-citizens-data/ar-AA1D2IYJ

Daily Mail: RFK Jr. drops slur in 40-minute tirade that made staffers leave

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. delivered a 40-minute off-the-cuff speech where he nonchalantly dropped the word ‘retarded’.

His unexpected remarks during his visit to the Food and Drug Administration on Friday, which were meant to be a welcome from the new FDA commissioner, Marty Makary, got several staffers to walk out of the room, two anonymous employees told Politico.

Perhaps his brainworms are flaring up again?

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/rfk-jr-drops-slur-in-40-minute-tirade-that-made-staffers-leave/ar-AA1CNE8S