President Donald Trump has posted a fake video of him hitting a golf ball at singer Bruce Springsteen amid a tense public feud.
Trump posted a video to Truth Social Wednesday showing real footage of him and Springsteen that has been manipulated to depict the president striking the rock star with a golf stroke.
Circuit Judge James Ho issued a blistering concurrence Tuesday, taking aim at the Supreme Court and other courts’ “special treatment” for illegal immigrants in legal proceedings.
A three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit issued an order to expedite the oral arguments of a challenge to the deportation of a group of Venezuelan nationals under the Alien Enemies Act in Texas. The order came after the Supreme Court vacated the appellate court’s previous ruling, saying it lacked jurisdiction, and denied a bid by the migrants’ lawyers to temporarily stop President Donald Trump’s administration from deporting the group of foreign nationals under the AEA.
https://www.newsweek.com/trump-judge-slams-supreme-court-after-ruling-2075295
A group of 42 Democrats has written to the Pentagon’s Inspector General demanding an investigation after it was reported that Elon Musk’s company, SpaceX, could win a lucrative contract to help build President Donald Trump’s new “Golden Dome” anti-missile defense system.
Senators Elizabeth Warren, Cory Booker, and Tammy Duckworth have responded by expressing their concerns in a letter to acting Pentagon Inspector General Steven A Stebbins, demanding transparency about the bidding process.
“Mr Musk’s formal or informal participation in any process to award a government contract raises serious conflict of interest concerns, including the possibility that SpaceX is a top contender for the Golden Dome contract because of Mr Musk’s position in the government,” they wrote.
The project, inspired by Israel’s “Iron Dome”, was announced by President Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at the White House on Tuesday. The president promised it would be “fully operational” before he leaves office in January 2029 and capable of intercepting rockets, “even if they are launched from space.”
The independent Congressional Budget Office has warned that the project could cost as much as $524bn and take 20 years to build. Trump dismissed that estimate, putting the price tag closer to $175bn and insisting it could be completed in just three years, beginning with a $25bn grant to kickstart the development. That effort will be steered by Space Force General Michael Guetlein and “the brightest minds” in Silicon Valley, he said without naming the former DOGE leader.
The Trump administration has acknowledged a new error in a case challenging its attempts to send deportees to any country that will take them. Another immigrant who had earned protected status was rushed out of the country and put in danger—and U.S. officials have offered little more than a shrug.
This time, the immigrant is a gay man from Guatemala who fled death threats and twice tried to seek refuge in the United States. First, he was denied and deported home. He tried again last year and says that while traveling through Mexico, he was held for ransom and sexually assaulted.
The man, identified in court documents as O.C.G., won his case in February when a U.S. immigration judge granted him withholding of removal, shielding him from deportation to Guatemala because of the risk of harm he faced there. The Trump administration promptly sent him to Mexico instead. Threatened with prolonged detention, O.C.G. left Mexico and went back to Guatemala—the country the judge had said he shouldn’t be sent to—and is now in hiding there.
The Trump administration originally claimed that O.C.G. did not express fear of being sent to Mexico, which would have potentially stopped his deportation. But on Friday, the government acknowledged that its claim was based on an erroneous data entry, and that it has no record to support the assertion. Then, over the weekend, the government compounded its mistake by briefly disclosing the man’s full name in court documents, violating confidentiality rules. The Atlantic is not publishing his name, because his lawyers argued in court that identifying him could put his life in danger, especially while he is in hiding.
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2025/05/third-country-deportations/682857
The Trump administration has asked the US Supreme Court to halt a judge’s order that would force it to answer questions from a watchdog group and turn over documents about Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency in a fight over public access to the office’s records.DO
The Justice Department is challenging a ruling that requires the US DOGE Service to comply with demands by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, or CREW, for information about its structure and operations. That includes making DOGE administrator Amy Gleason available to testify under oath at a deposition. A three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit on May 14 denied the government’s request to intervene.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has arrested 189 illegal immigrants in Washington, D.C., in a recent operation targeting criminal offenders, including those linked to gangs like MS-13, Tren de Aragua, and the 18th Street gang. The operation involved coordination among various law enforcement agencies, such as the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the FBI. ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Director Russell Hott stated that the collaboration aims to remove dangerous individuals from the community, reinforcing public safety.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/sweeping-ice-arrests-in-blow-to-washington-d-c/ss-AA1Fe5Te
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem mangled a response to a question about habeas corpus at a Senate hearing Tuesday, referring to the constitutional right of due process as a “right that the president has to be able to remove people from this country.”
Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., asked Noem about the constitutional protection after noting that White House adviser Stephen Miller told reporters earlier this month that the administration was “actively looking at” suspending habeas corpus, the right to challenge an arrest or imprisonment.
“I want to clarify your position,” Hassan asked. “What is habeas corpus?”
“Well, habeas corpus is a constitutional right that the president has to be able to remove people from this country, and suspend their right to … ,” Noem responded before she was cut off by Hassan.
“That’s incorrect,” the senator said.
“Habeas corpus is the legal principle that requires that the government provide a public reason for detaining and imprisoning people. If not for that protection, the government could simply arrest people, including American citizens, and hold them indefinitely for no reason,” Hassan said, calling it a “foundational right.”
“So Secretary Noem, do you support the core protection that habeas corpus provides, that the government must provide a public reason in order to detain and imprison someone?” she asked.
Noem responded, “I support habeas corpus. I also recognize that the president of the United States has the authority under the Constitution to decide if it should be suspended or not.”
A federal judge in Newark on Wednesday agreed to dismiss trespassing charges against Mayor Ras J. Baraka, chiding the federal prosecutors he said had filed the charges in a “worrisome” rush.
U.S. Magistrate Judge André Espinosa granted a motion for dismissal from the acting U.S. attorney for New Jersey, Alina Habba, during a hearing in the Martin Luther King Jr. Federal Courthouse, two blocks from Baraka’s office at Newark City Hall.
At the request of Habba’s office, Espinosa dismissed the charge “with prejudice,” meaning the case cannot be reopened.
But Espinosa harshly criticized federal authorities for acting with speed over caution.
“The hasty arrest of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka followed swiftly by the dismissal of these trespassing charges a mere 13 days later suggests a worrisome misstep by your office,” Espinosa told Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Demanovich, whose boss, Habba, was not in court. “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.”
Espinosa, who addressed the parties remotely and not face-to-face in a courtroom, added that the conduct of the case was in sharp contrast to the stellar reputation of New Jersey’s U.S. attorney’s office over the past two decades.
What were you expecting when the U.S. Attorney with the stellar reputation was replaced by one of Trump’s loyal and not-particularly-bright sycophants, Alina “Bimbo #4” Habba?
“The apparent rush in this case, culminating today in the embarrassing retraction of charges, suggests a failure to adequately investigate, to carefully gather facts, and to carefully consider the implications of your actions before wielding your immense power.”
That criticisim applies equally well to all four of Trumps pathetic bimbos, not only Alina “Bimbo #4” Habba, but also Karoline “Bimbo #1” Leavitt, Kristi “Bimbo #2” Noem, and Pam “Bimbo #3” Bondi, each of whom is dumber than a rock, with all due respect to rocks.
As the country grapples with the news that former President Joe Biden has stage four prostate cancer, the right wing made jokes and attacks that extended beyond the president.
One of those came from a President Donald Trump’s political appointee to the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, Leo Terrell.
Internet personality Ian Jaeger posted a photo of Dr. Jill Biden, calling her “evil” for “knowing” that her husband had health problems but still wanting him to run for the presidency.
Terrell reposted it, questioning whether it qualified as “elder abuse” and if “criminal charges” should be filed against the former first lady, flagged former DOJ appointee Eric Columbus on Bluesky.
https://www.rawstory.com/trump-justice-department-2672134549
Dozens of independent contractors who were laid off at the Voice of America (VOA) last week are likely to be deported within the next month as a result of their job losses, The Desk has learned.
The contractors — around 60 in total — participate in the Exchange Visitor Program, which entitles them to J-1 visas to live and work in the United States as long as they are engaged in certain roles, including the production and distribution of journalism.
The workers were among more than 500 whose contracts were terminated last week by the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), the parent organization of VOA. The layoffs come about two months after President Donald Trump signed an Executive Order that required USAGM and six other agencies to significantly reduce their operations and fire employees accordingly.
More than 1,000 VOA workers were laid off and hundreds of contracts were temporarily suspended, triggering legal challenges across the board. Those challenges have resulted in favorable decision by lower courts, some of which have been partially reversed by appellate judges.
…
The 60 visa holders are required to maintain employment as part of their ongoing participation in the J-1 program. Their status remains in limbo after VOA ended their contract employment last week. Without new employment, many face the likelihood of having their work permits revoked, which would lead to deportations.
