CNN: Democratic senator places hold on Trump pick for top federal prosecutor in Miami saying Vance set precedent

A new battle is stirring on Capitol Hill as Senate Democrats have threatened to not move forward with confirmations of President Donald Trump’s US attorney nominees around the country – already following through with a hold on one of his picks.

Senate Democrats say they are merely following precedent established by now-Vice President JD Vance under President Joe Biden, when the then-senator held up US attorney nominations in protest of what he called the political prosecutions against Trump.

If it hinders the appointments of more twits like Alina “Bimbo #4” Habba, I’m all for it!

But stopping Trump from being able to fill the 93 US attorney slots across the US would place a notable strain on the justice system and could open up a continued tit-for-tat next time Democrats control the White House.

It will also spare us the drama of more revenge investigations and prosecutions by King Donald and his Attorney General Pam “Bimbo #3” Bondi.

https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/23/politics/durbin-hold-trump-pick-us-attorney-miami

Rolling Stone: Trump’s FEMA Denies North Carolina’s Request for Hurricane Helene Aid

The president repeatedly bashed the Biden administration’s response to the disaster

Late in the 2024 campaign cycle, parts of western North Carolina were devastated by Hurricane HeleneDonald Trump accused former President Joe Biden of abandoning the region and mishandling the response to the crisis. The disaster in North Carolina became the jumping point for a myriad of conspiracies and attacks by Republicans against the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FAMA). Trump vowed he would improve disaster responses as president. 

That was then.

This is now:

Now, four months into his administration North Carolina Governor Josh Stein, a Democrat, has become the latest lawmaker from a disaster-ravaged state who has been forced to beg the president to provide much-needed aid. 

On Friday, Stein published a video on social media informing the public that the Trump administration had denied the state’s request for FEMA to honor a Biden-era commitment to pay for 100 percent of debris removal costs. 

I guess King Donald changed his mind.

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/fema-denies-north-carolina-request-hurricane-helene-aid-1235347521


Raw Story: Trump’s FEMA thumbs nose at state that backed him 3 times: ‘Gonna cost a lot’

Under President Donald Trump, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has turned down a request from a storm-ravaged state that narrowly voted for him three times.

Western North Carolina saw massive devastation last year from Hurricane Helene, which killed over 100 people and left the city of Asheville, along with a number of small communities in the Appalachian Mountains, struggling to pick up the pieces after flooding in areas that had hardly ever seen floods before. At the time, Trump supporters spread baseless conspiracy theories that the federal government was ignoring communities there, or only giving aid to Democratic areas, and Trump himself vowed to improve emergency management.

According to Rolling Stone, however, Trump’s administration is now denying an extension of a commitment to pay the full amount for a vital portion of the recovery process.

See above for the Rolling Stone article.

https://www.rawstory.com/fema-north-carolina

Knewz: ‘No Coincidence’: New Report into FBI Actions on Jan. 6

Knewz.com is reporting that FBI Director Kash Patel has announced that new information regarding the January 6 Capitol Riot will soon be made public. The incident involved the arrest of numerous Trump supporters who assaulted law enforcement and threatened public officials in Washington, DC. Investigations into the FBI’s actions during the riot have been ongoing, with US intelligence officials involved.

So let me guess — history is about to be rewritten to read the way Trump wants it to read?

Patel noted that significant information has been uncovered, particularly regarding potential involvement by undercover FBI agents during the riot. He claimed that the event has been politicized by the left. No official confirmation from Patel or the FBI verifies the claims yet.

Yup! As the tale evolves, it appears it was a left-wing (commies? Biden?) conspiracy!

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) wrote, “It’s no coincidence that FBI Director Wray announced his resignation just prior to the release of the IG report exposing activities of FBI confidential human sources at the Capitol on Jan 6. For four years, I pressed for answers on this. Now the malfeasance is finally exposed.”

Or possibly FBI Director Wray just didn’t want to hang around and hob-nob with all the stupid people & sycophants Trump’s been planting in the Department of Justice?

FBI officials provided the Department of Justice with a list of over 5,000 agents involved in investigations related to the Capitol riot. Former President Donald Trump claims he has faced unfair prosecution by the FBI and the Department of Justice under President Joe Biden.

Please call a wambulance for King Donald.

Following Trump’s inauguration, many prosecutors handling riot-related cases have been dismissed by officials appointed by the White House at the Justice Department. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan stated, “This report confirms what we suspected. The FBI had encouraged and tasked confidential human sources to be at the Capitol that day. There were 26 total present. Four entered the Capitol and weren’t charged, which is not the same treatment that other Americans received.

The FBI did it! The FBI did it! The FBI did it! The FBI did it! The FBI did it! The FBI did it! The FBI did it! The FBI did it! The FBI did it! The FBI did it! The FBI did it! The FBI did it! The FBI did it! The FBI did it! The FBI did it! The FBI did it! The FBI did it! The FBI did it! The FBI did it!

Herr Patel, please come home from the nightclub & sober up!

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/no-coincidence-new-report-into-fbi-actions-on-jan-6/ss-AA1FlNEK

Fortune: Influencer who attended Trump’s memecoin dinner says he got a ‘Walmart steak’—and no access to the president

Nicholas Pinto, a 25-year-old social media influencer, accumulated more than $360,000 in President Donald Trump’s cryptocurrency to attend an “unforgettable Gala DINNER” with the commander-in-chief. The food, though, was forgettable. “Trash,” Pinto texted Fortune during the banquet. “Walmart steak, man.”

The menu included a “Trump organic field green salad” and an “entrée duet” of filet mignon and pan-seared halibut. “Everyone at my table was saying the food was some of the worst food that they ever had,” said Pinto after the meal.

Was the price tag worth it? “I was hoping for either Big Macs or pizza,” Pinto said, referring to the president’s well-known taste for McDonald’s. “That would have been better than the food that we were served.”

Pinto was still hungry after the underwhelming meal. “The only good part,” he told Fortune, “[was] the bread and the butter.”

Pinto must not have bought enough of King Donald’s crypto, clearly not enough to qualify for the White House tour. Poor baby.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/influencer-who-attended-trump-s-memecoin-dinner-says-he-got-a-walmart-steak-and-no-access-to-the-president/ar-AA1FmsvQ

Associated Press: Trump’s $600 million war chest: How he plans to wield his power in the midterms and beyond

Between a barrage of executive orders, foreign trips and norm-shattering proclamations, Donald Trump has also been busy raking in cash.

The president has amassed a war chest of at least $600 million in political donations heading into the midterm elections, according to three people familiar with the matter. It’s an unprecedented sum in modern politics, particularly for a lame-duck president who is barred by the U.S. Constitution from running again.

The only way for MAGA & King Donald to survive is to buy their way through the mid-term elections in 2026.

https://apnews.com/article/trump-fundraising-midterms-leverage-ccee4d19d5b41f08504370839fb36364

NSNBC: Trump isn’t cutting red tape. He’s creating more of it for average Americans.

Trump plans would make it harder to get Medicaid, register to vote and pay your taxes.

But when it comes to average Americans, the president and his allies in Congress are fine with making it harder to file your taxes, receive benefits, access government services or register to vote.

Consider a few recent examples:

• The Trump administration plans to end an IRS pilot program that allowed some taxpayers with simple returns to file their federal taxes online for free. 

• In the megabill comprising much of Trump’s first-year agenda, House Republicans are moving ahead with new work requirements to qualify for health insurance through Medicaid.

• The Trump administration developed a plan (since rescinded) to require more Americans applying for Social Security to visit offices in person to prove their identities.

• Another Republican bill would require ID such as a passport or a birth certificate to register to vote (and a marriage certificate, too, if you’re a woman who changed her name).

Let’s call this what it is: red tape — needless box-checking, form-filling and drudgery that accomplishes nothing except making it harder for Americans to get what they need.

https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/trump-medicaid-social-security-red-tape-rcna207999

Associated Press: Justice Department moves to cancel police reform settlements reached with Minneapolis and Louisville

The Justice Department moved Wednesday to cancel settlements with Minneapolis and Louisville that called for an overhaul of their police departments following the killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor that became the catalyst for nationwide racial injustice protests in the summer of 2020.

The Trump administration also announced it was retracting the findings of Justice Department investigations into six other police departments that the Biden administration had accused of civil rights violations.

But:

Police reform advocates denounced the move to walk away from the agreements, saying a lack of federal oversight will put communities at risk.

“This move isn’t just a policy reversal. It’s a moral retreat that sends a chilling message that accountability is optional when it comes to Black and Brown victims,” said the Rev Al. Sharpton, who worked with the Floyd and Taylor families to push for police accountability. “Trump’s decision to dismiss these lawsuits with prejudice solidifies a dangerous political precedent that police departments are above scrutiny, even when they’ve clearly demonstrated a failure to protect the communities they’re sworn to serve.”

Kristen Clarke, who led the Civil Rights Division under the Biden administration, defended the findings of the police investigations of her office, noting that they were “led by career attorneys, based on data, body camera footage and information provided by officers themselves.”

“To wholesale ignore and disregard these systemic violations, laid bare in well-documented and detailed public reports, shows patent disregard for our federal civil rights and the Constitution,” Clarke said in a statement to The Associated Press.

Most of these eight police departments will probably revert to their old ways, sooner rather than later. Federal intervention and supervision has been the only effect way to reform bad policing.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/justice-department-moves-to-cancel-police-reform-settlements-reached-with-minneapolis-and-louisville/ar-AA1FcWMo

NJ.com: Judge chides feds in dismissing ICE trespassing charge against Newark mayor

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.

Click the link below to read the rest of the judge’s scathing comments.

https://www.nj.com/essex/2025/05/judge-chides-feds-in-dismissing-ice-trespassing-charge-against-newark-mayor.html

Raw Story: Trump Justice Department appointee suggests criminal charges for Jill Biden

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.

In actuality the Bidens learned of his cancer diagnosis only 3 days before this Raw Story article went to press.

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.

Seriously? File criminal charges against a woman for believing in and supporting her husband? Trump fanatics apparently will stop at nothing.

https://www.rawstory.com/trump-justice-department-2672134549

USA Today: In latest Trump overhaul, Justice Department may change who prosecutes public corruption

The review comes after President Donald Trump criticized the alleged ‘weaponization’ of prosecutions of public officials including him.

The Justice Department is considering moving decisions about whether to prosecute public officials such as members of Congress to regional U.S. attorney’s offices rather than at headquarters, part of President Donald Trump‘s overhaul of the department and its public corruption enforcement.

The review aims to ensure that U.S. attorneys in 94 offices nationwide share equal responsibility with headquarters officials in choosing whether to pursue public corruption cases, according to a department official speaking on background. No final decisions have been made, the department official said.

It would put these prosecutions under the control of political appointees who can quickly be replaced to do the President’s bidding, e.g. the appointment of Trump’s Bimbo #4 Alina Habba as the acting U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey. Previously such prosecutions were managed by DOJ’s career professional staff.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/05/19/justice-department-public-corruption-prosecutions/83722654007