Tag Archives: President Donald Trump

Daily Beast: Paranoid Kash Patel Polygraphs FBI Agents in MAGA Purge

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Top brass at the agency are being pushed out as the chief continues his obsessive quest to plug leaks.

The FBI has devolved into chaos amid Director Kash Patel’s ongoing efforts to rid the agency of staff disloyal to the Trump administration.

Patel is now subjecting senior executives to polygraphs at a “rapid rate,” The New York Times reports, as part of a wider effort to stamp out embarrassing news leaks from within the agency.

One senior official told the Times in its exposé that he was forced out last month after being subjected to a lie detector test. He believes he was targeted because he hadn’t told Patel about his wife taking a knee during the 2020 protests against police brutality in Washington, D.C.

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Internal critics say the firings, forced retirements, unfair reassignments, and unit shutdowns have not only “obliterated decades of experience in national security” from the agency but also signal that the agency will not brook dissent over the actions of Trump as well as as Vice President J.D. Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, the latter two who were caught up in a leak scandal involving commercial messaging app Signal.

The less qualified you are, the more paranoid you become?

Paranoid Kash Patel Polygraphs FBI Agents in MAGA Purge
Top brass at the agency are being pushed out as the chief continues his obsessive quest to plug leaks.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/paranoid-kash-patel-polygraphs-fbi-agents-in-maga-purge

Alternet: Trump-capitulating law firms keep losing in a bad deal that is becoming worse by the day | Opinion

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Trump Loses Again

In a 52-page opinion, U.S. District Court Judge John D. Bates—a 2001 appointee of President George W. Bush—rejected the Justice Department’s effort to defend Trump’s executive order targeting Jenner & Block. Trump’s own words doomed it:

Like the others in the series, this order—which takes aim at the global law firm Jenner & Block—makes no bones about why it chose its target: It picked Jenner because of the causes Jenner champions, the clients Jenner represents, and a lawyer Jenner once employed. (Jenner & Block v. U.S. Department of Justice, et al. Civil Action No. 25-916 (JDB) p. 1)

The court left no doubt that Trump had violated the Constitution:

Going after law firms in this way is doubly violative of the Constitution. Most obviously, retaliating against firms for the views embodied in their legal work—and thereby seeking to muzzle them going forward—violates the First Amendment’s central command that government may not “use the power of the State to punish or suppress disfavored expression.” (Id.; citations omitted.)

Describing how Trump’s actions undermine democracy, Judge Bates previewed the fate awaiting similar orders:

This order, like the others, seeks to chill legal representation the administration doesn’t like, thereby insulating the Executive Branch from the judicial check fundamental to the separation of powers. It thus violates the Constitution and the Court will enjoin its operation in full. (Id.; emphasis supplied.)

The firms that challenged Trump remain undefeated in the courtroom.

Trump-capitulating law firms keep losing in a bad deal that is becoming worse by the day | Opinion

https://www.alternet.org/trump-law-firms-2672221371

Raw Story: MAGA senator fact-checked over ‘baffling’ list of false Trump accomplishments

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Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH) went to X to post some of the triumphs that President Donald Trump had accomplished in just a few short months in office — the only problem is, almost none of what he advertised was actually true.

Even in the U.S. Senate you’ll find a few bozos who are a few cards short of a full deck. Today we pay homage to Senator Bernie “Short Deck” Moreno from Ohio.

Click the links below to read Short Deck’s fanciful recitation of Trump’s achievements:

MAGA senator fact-checked over ‘baffling’ list of false Trump accomplishments

https://www.rawstory.com/bernie-moreno-2672225616

The Conversation: Surge of ICE agreements with local police aim to increase deportations, but many police forces have found they undermine public safety

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Part of that operation includes what’s known as the federal 287(g) program. Established in 1996, it allows U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, whose work is normally carried out by federal officials, to train state and local authorities to function as federal immigration officers.

Under 287(g), for example, local police officers can interview people to determine their immigration status. They can also issue immigration detainers to jail people until agents with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement take custody.

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Since Trump began his second term in January, ICE has increased 287(g) agreements from 135 in 25 states in December 2024 to 628 in 40 states as of May 28, 2025.

As a criminal justice scholar, I believe the surge of 287(g) agreements sets a dangerous precedent for local policing, where forging relationships and building the trust of immigrants is a proven and effective tactic in combating crime. In my view, the expansion of 287(g) will erode that trust and makes entire communities – not just immigrants – less safe.

Surge of ICE agreements with local police aim to increase deportations, but many police forces have found they undermine public safety
History shows that building the trust of immigrants is an effective tactic in combating local crime and making entire communities safer.

https://theconversation.com/surge-of-ice-agreements-with-local-police-aim-to-increase-deportations-but-many-police-forces-have-found-they-undermine-public-safety-255937

Mediaite: Border Czar Tom Homan Says ICE Agents Assaulted and ‘Doxed Every Day’ Now in U.S.

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Trump Border Czar Tom Homan told reporters outside the White House on Thursday that assaults and doxing of ICE agents is way up, happening every day across the country, and that the administration of President Donald Trump plans to “take action” on it.

Speaking with reporters in an impromptu Q&A on Thursday, Homan covered a variety of Homeland and Border topics, including increasing numbers of reported assaults and instances of doxing — the exposing of personal details – of federal immigration enforcement agents.

Assault = doing to you what you do to them? ICE is abusing, kidnapping, incarcerating thousands of innocent people as they capture and deport a small number of real criminals. What goes around, comes around. If I had a fiddle, I’d play it for you. Your masked Gestapo thugs get no sympathy from me. There will be special place in Hell for them eventually, might as well get started now.

Doxing = a legal activity, protected by the First Amendment, if done with publicly available information. The names, addresses, and in many cases phone numbers are all out there. And connecting the dots is not a crime!

Border Czar Tom Homan Says ICE Agents Assaulted and ‘Doxed Every Day’ Now in U.S.
Trump Border Czar Tom Homan says ICE agents face daily assaults and doxing, echoing DHS on a 413% spike in attacks and warning action is coming.
Border Czar Tom Homan Says ICE Agents Assaulted and ‘Doxed Every Day’ Now in U.S.

Associated Press: Trump’s big plans on trade and more run up against laws of political gravity, separation of powers

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On Wednesday, an obscure but powerful court in New York rejected the legal foundation of Trump’s most sweeping tariffs, finding that Trump could not use a 1977 law to declare a national emergency on trade imbalances and fentanyl smuggling to justify a series of import taxes that have unsettled the world. Reordering the global economy by executive fiat was an unconstitutional end-run around Congress’ powers, the three-judge panel of Trump, Obama and Reagan appointees ruled in a scathing rebuke of Trump’s action.

The setbacks fit a broader pattern for a president who has advanced an extraordinarily expansive view of executive power. Federal courts have called out the lack of due process in some of Trump’s deportation efforts. His proposed income tax cuts, now working their way through Congress, are so costly that some of them can’t be made permanent, as Trump had wished. His efforts to humble Harvard University and cut the federal workforce have encountered legal obstacles. And he’s running up against reality as his pledges to quickly end the wars in Ukraine and Gaza have turned into slogs.

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By unilaterally ordering tariffs, deportations and other actions through the White House, Trump is bypassing both Congress and the broader public, which could have given more popular legitimacy to his policy choices, said Princeton University history professor Julian Zelizer.

“The president is trying to achieve his goals outside normal legal processes and without focusing on public buy-in,” Zelizer said. “The problem is that we do have a constitutional system and there are many things a president can’t do. The courts are simply saying no. The reality is that many of his boldest decisions stand on an incredibly fragile foundation.”

Trump’s big plans on trade and more run up against laws of political gravity, separation of powers
President Donald Trump’s big plans on trade, deportations and more are running up against the laws of political gravity and the separation of powers.

https://apnews.com/article/trump-tariffs-judges-courts-setbacks-1864c944c8142f18fd3075d5643bdefc

Newsweek: Green card holder in US for 50 years “in distress” as she faces deportation

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A green card holder who has lived in the United States for five decades is set to appear before an immigration judge in Seattle on Thursday in an effort to avoid deportation.

Lewelyn Dixon, known as “Auntie Lyn,” has spent the last three months in immigration detention after being stopped by federal agents after returning from a trip.

“She has been in distress trying to figure out what to say to the judge and how to explain why she deserves to stay in America, the only home she’s truly known since she was a child. The pressure is immense,” Her niece Melania Madriaga told Hawaii News Now.

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Dixon’s attorney, Benjamin Osorio, previously told Newsweek that the current issue stems from a single conviction dating back to 2001. According to Osorio, the conviction was for a nonviolent embezzlement offense, for which Dixon was sentenced to 30 days in a halfway house and fined $6,400. She was never required to serve time in jail or prison.

Green card holder in US for 50 years “in distress” as she faces deportation
Green card holder Lewelyn Dixon will appear before an immigration judge in Seattle on Thursday in an effort to avoid deportation.

https://www.newsweek.com/lewelyn-dixon-green-card-holder-immigration-hearing-2078436

Fox News: Justice Department tells American Bar Association it will no longer comply with ratings for judicial nominees

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The letter, previewed exclusively to Fox News, marks the latest escalation in a protracted legal fight between Republicans and the nation’s largest legal organization.

The Justice Department on Thursday formally notified the American Bar Association that it will no longer comply with its ratings process for judicial nominees, the result of what it argues is a biased system and one that “invariably and demonstrably” favors nominees put forth by Democratic administrations.

The letter, sent by U.S. Attorney General Pam [Bimbo #3] Bondi to ABA President William R. Bay, was previewed exclusively to Fox News. It marks the latest escalation in a protracted legal fight that Republicans have waged against the nation’s largest association of legal workers.

“For several decades, the American Bar Association has received special treatment and enjoyed special access to judicial nominees,” Bondi said in the letter. “In some administrations, the ABA received notice of nominees before a nomination was announced to the public. Some administrations would even decide whether to nominate an individual based on a rating assigned by the ABA.” 

The Justice Department said in the letter that it will no longer grant the ABA the “special treatment” and first access it has received, revoking decades of precedent where the ABA interviewed and vetted potential members of the incoming DOJ team.

We’ve seen what type of attorneys Trump will pick — such bright shining stars as Pam “Bimbo #3” Bondi and Alina “Bimbo #4” Habba — when the ABA is removed from the process. This will not turn out well.

Fortunately there’s only a 19 month window of opportunity for them to screw things up before the mid-term electees take office.

Justice Department tells American Bar Association it will no longer comply with ratings for judicial nominees
The Department of Justice will no longer comply with the American Bar Association’s ratings process for judicial nominees, citing the organization’s alleged liberal bias.

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/justice-department-tells-american-bar-association-no-longer-comply-ratings-judicial-nominees

Independent: Musk tried to block massive Trump-backed Mideast AI deal unless he was included: report

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Elon Musk rushed to the Mideast to hold up a massive Trump-endorsed American AI operation in Abu Dhabi unless it included him, according to a new report

Retiring DOGE hatchet man Elon Musk rushed to the Middle East during Donald Trump’s visit there earlier this month to block a massive American AI partnership with the United Arab Emirates backed by the president – unless it included him, according to a new report. That apparently explains the tech billionaire’s sudden appearance at a Trump meeting with Saudi Arabia officials during the president’s three-country Middle East tour.

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Trump’s team scrambled to soothe an irritated Musk so the president could announce the deal while he was in the Middle East, the Journal reported.

It wasn’t immediately clear if some kind of accommodation was worked out for the tech boss who has donated hundreds of millions of dollars to the campaigns of Trump and other Republicans, or if he is now part of the deal. He could not immediately be reached for comment. His company has not been named as a participant in the business by any announcement of the deal.

Poor F’Elon!

Musk tried to block Trump-backed Mideast AI deal unless he was included: report
Elon Musk rushed to the Mideast to hold up a massive Trump-endorsed American AI operation in Abu Dhabi unless it included him, according to a new report

https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/musk-trump-middle-east-ai-deal-b2759700.html