Tag Archives: Seattle

Alternet: ‘A flagrant violation of the law’: Michigan AG blasts ’embarrassing and disturbing’ Trump admin

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Public health and infectious diseases know no borders, Nessel said, warning that the decision to shutter regional health programs, close CDC labs and close all 10 of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services’ regional offices jeopardizes public health in every community.

“Also it’s just a flagrant violation of the law. Disregards the separation of powers, and it places this new burden now, of course, on the states, because there are certain things that you rely upon the federal government to do, especially in terms of coordinating efforts between the states,” Nessel said.

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In addition to their case on the mass firings, Nessel and 23 other attorneys general filed suit against Kennedy and the DHHS for terminating almost $11 billion in critical public health grants across the country.

https://www.alternet.org/a-flagrant-violation-of-the-law-michigan-ag-blasts-trump-admin

Washington Post: This Los Angeles port is among the first casualties of Trump’s trade war

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Empty berths and idle cranes show the effects of sky-high tariffs on Chinese goods.

The number of shipping containers that arrived at the nation’s top container port last week was roughly one-third lower than during the same period last year — a sharper decline than during the depths of the Great Recession. More than one-fifth of the giant ships that were scheduled to call in Los Angeles this month have already canceled, and that number is expected to rise.

Trump’s 145 percent tariffs on Chinese goods — and Beijing’s triple-digit retaliation — are bringing a swift halt to the trans-Pacific flow of electronics, clothing, furniture, industrial parts and everything else that the world’s two largest economies exchange.

los-angeles-port-tariffs-trade-tensions

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/05/11/los-angeles-port-tariffs-trade-tensions

Reuters: Trump cannot use new executive order to skirt ‘sanctuary’ cities ruling, judge says

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  • Judge William Orrick’s order follows new executive order from Trump
  • Judge has blocked Trump administration from cutting off funding
  • Dispute is over federal immigration law enforcement

A federal judge warned on Friday that a new executive order from President Donald Trump that calls for cutting off funding to so-called sanctuary jurisdictions that do not cooperate with his immigration agenda cannot be used to evade a court order barring his administration from doing just that.

U.S. District Judge William Orrick in San Francisco issued Friday’s order, opens new tab at the urging of 16 cities and counties nationally that had already secured an injunction barring the administration from withholding all federal funding to them.

?url=httpswww.reuters.comlegaltrump-cannot-use-new-executive-order-skirt-sanctuary-cities-ruling-judge-says-2025-05-09

https://www.reuters.com/legal/trump-cannot-use-new-executive-order-skirt-sanctuary-cities-ruling-judge-says-2025-05-09

CNN: Trump’s retribution sends a chilling message to dissenters

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Donald Trump’s White House has a threatening message for anyone who might even be perceived to disagree with the president: Don’t. Or else.

Even though he has promised to end what he viewed as “weaponization” of the Department of Justice, Trump is treating people who disagree with him more like the “enemy from within” he talked about during the presidential campaign.

The president took the unusual step this week of issuing official proclamations ordering the federal investigations of people who worked in his first administration.

He’s demanding free work from law firms who represented his perceived enemies, threatening to impeach judges, deporting campus protesters and so much more.

The underlying message, for anyone who hasn’t put all these things together, is that dissent will not be tolerated under Trump 2.0.

Analysis: Trump’s retribution sends a chilling message to dissenters | CNN Politics
Donald Trump’s White House has a threatening message for anyone who might even be perceived to disagree with the president: Don’t. Or else.

https://edition.cnn.com/2025/04/12/politics/trump-krebs-khalil-taylor-crackdown-dissent-what-matters/index.html

Seattle Times: Seattle activist verbally attacked by Elon Musk vows to push back

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If Musk can’t take the heat, he shouldn’t be a federal employee, “special” or otherwise.

Threatening messages began filling up Valerie Costa’s inboxes after Elon Musk in an X post accused her of “committing crimes.”

Her alleged crimes? Leading and promoting protests against Musk at Tesla showrooms across the Seattle area.

Costa and her housemates started asking whether they are safe and whether the FBI or law enforcement will show up. She then began to pull the website for her fundraising and nonprofit management business offline and scrubbed her personal information from the internet.

Nevertheless, threats continued.

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But no criminal activity has been reported at anti-Tesla protests in Seattle, said Sgt. Patrick Michaud with the Seattle Police Department.

Nevertheless, the lack of criminal activities at those protests hasn’t stopped Musk and others from accusing Costa and others of violating laws. Musk’s post on X quoted a video suggesting Costa was inspired by Luigi Mangione, the man charged in the killing of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO, which Costa said is not true.

Musk’s tweet and rhetoric from federal authorities communicate a grim message about the state of protections for the First Amendment, Costa said.

Seattle activist verbally attacked by Elon Musk vows to push back
Threatening messages began filling up Valerie Costa’s inboxes after Elon Musk in an X post accused her of “committing
crimes.”

Seattle activist verbally attacked by Elon Musk vows to push back