Created an interactive I'll update frequently that tracks Trump's time, uh, "working remotely." www.pbump.net/o/an-officia...
Teaching Professor of Law (ret.), former federal prosecutor. 15-yr DOJ veteran, taught National Security Law, Public Administration & Law, Counterterrorism Law, Federal Criminal Law, Federal Courts, Computer Crimes, Cyber Security Law & Policy, Evidence.
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Created an interactive I'll update frequently that tracks Trump's time, uh, "working remotely." www.pbump.net/o/an-officia...
Note that Judge Breyer's order enjoins using the National Guard in California as informants.
This is the secretary of energy and also why climate advocates almost universally feel like jumping into a volcano.
SCOOP: Sources at the House Oversight Committee confirm documents posted by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna are the same ~33,000 pages of Epstein documents they received — 97% already public — and part of a broader plan to block transparency.
Pritzker: "Any rational person who has spent even the most minimal amount of time studying human history has to ask themselves one important question: once they get the citizens of this nation comfortable with the current atrocities committed under the color of law, what comes next?"
Who is lying, Trump or the White House spokesperson? They can't both be true. apnews.com/article/trum...
> @denverpost.com EDITORIAL BOARD: “The message the president is sending is clear — get on board with team Trump or he will try to hurt your state. . We hope this decision .. will help sway voters .. when Trump tries to retain office in just a few short years.” www.denverpost.com/2025/09/02/t...
She sees no difference between police and troops?
Trump: "We've taken in almost $17 trillion of investment." (That would be more than half the entire US GDP, so no.)
Trump: What we're doing in DC serves as a template. We're going to do it elsewhere
Which is why we've been the richest country in the world while tariffs have been at their lowest levels.
Sending troops to Democratic-led cities is about control, not safety or security. Illinois Democrats in Congress are demanding the Trump Administration suspend plans to deploy military personnel to Chicago. Call it what it is: an unlawful power grab.
Trump: “If the governor of Illinois would call me up, I would love to do it. Now we're going to do it anyway. We have the right to do it because I have an obligation to protect this country, and that includes Baltimore.”
Demented or demonic?
LEVINE: “.. it has always struck me as quite straightforward. .. the Constitution gives Congress, not the president, the power to impose tariffs. Trump made up his own tariffs without any input from Congress, so they are unconstitutional.” @matt-levine.bsky.social www.bloomberg.com/opinion/news...
Trump will do all he can to “fix” the 2026 and 2028 elections to secure MAGA victories by every method he can muster, however blatantly illegal and unconstitutional, whatever the courts might say. If every eligible voter shows up, we can overwhelm his schemes. Otherwise, our way of life is doomed.
Trump’s tariff taxes are driving American farmers out of business. Believe me, no one knows bankruptcy better than Donald! fortune.com/2025/08/30/r...
Political theater.
Trump: “I understood tariffs better than any human being in the world.”
Trump on moving Space Force base from Colorado: "The problem I have with Colorado -- they do mail in voting. They went to all mail in voting, so they have automatically crooked elections. And we can't have that."
Sending troops to Democratic-led cities is about control, not safety or security. Illinois Democrats in Congress are demanding the Trump Administration suspend plans to deploy military personnel to Chicago. Call it what it is: an unlawful power grab.
'The Trump-Putin Alaska summit and subsequent meetings with European leaders have provided Beijing with valuable insights into US diplomacy, the reliability of US alliances, and opportunities to strengthen its position on the global stage' writes Dr Sari Arho Havrén.
FOX BUSINESS: “My goodness. $5 BILLION. Eye-popping numbers… crypto-friendly legislation coming from the president who is in turn cashing in on crypto. A conflict of interest.” Even Fox sees how insanely corrupt Trump’s crypto grift is. (H/T @ab21.bsky.social )
To put the effects of this distinction in more concrete terms: The order *does not* require the Trump administration to withdraw the remaining national guard troops. It can still use them for things like protecting federal property. But not for domestic law enforcement. bsky.app/profile/anna...
Trump is once again weaponizing government power for revenge. Schiff, James, and Cook are the latest targets—dragged into “fraud” investigations pulled straight from Trump’s enemies list. This isn’t justice. It’s political retribution. adamkinzinger.substack.com/p/selective-...
That’s because former Fox host Jeanine Pirro was unable to get the grand jury to indict her, which is conveniently left out here.
During his meeting with Putin, Xi Jinping spoke of the "great responsibility of China and Russia as the main winner countries in WWII" and "firm decisiveness of the two countries in defending the outcomes of WWII and the historic truth."
China is sending a clear message: it wants to reshape the world order. And it has the power to do it.
Lying is pathological with Trump.
Shocking ignorance.
Many thanks to @jeremymorris.bsky.social & @russianreview.bsky.social for this kind review of Russian Politics: A Very Short Introduction (OUP, 2024). A summary quote & the opening para in the next post. 1/2
Trump and Patel are getting bolder and more dangerous. — Alarm after FBI arrests US army veteran for ‘conspiracy’ over protest against Ice | Trump administration | The Guardian www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
In response to news that Russian authorities have banned RUSI from operating in Russia, RUSI's Director-General, Rachel Ellehuus, has released a statement, which is available in full on our website.
BREAKING: Judge Breyer rules that President Trump's deployment of the military to Los Angeles violated the Posse Comitatus Act, says Trump is using military as a "national police force with the president as its chief." Injunction granted. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
🧪
ICYMI — “LA wouldn’t be standing today” This is a real thing @Sec_Noem said on tv, with a straight face
Is this the *emergency* you had in mind when you took these National Guard troops from their families @GovBillLee?
It’s still hard to believe we’ve come to this.
Make this morally bankrupt asshole famous.
Meiselas: Xi Jinping and Modi and Putin and all these world leaders are gathering in China, and they're laughing. You know when Donald Trump says the world was laughing at us — the world was not laughing at us before. The world is quite literally laughing at us right now.
NYT: “When Tennessee’s Republican governor @GovBillLee dispatched troops to support Trump’s crackdown on crime, critics wondered why he didn’t keep them within state lines. Memphis has a murder rate twice DC’s, Nashville’s is higher as well.” www.nytimes.com/2025/09/01/u...
"The courts have been unpersuaded that we live in a state of permanent national emergency that is global in scope and decades-long in duration, requiring swift executive action on the theory that Congress could never assemble in time to address the issue. … www.nationalreview.com/corner/divid...
This is meant to calm MAGA's criticism: it would be insulting not to take in 600,000 Chinese students. Really? That's gonna work? www.bbc.com/news/article...
Here in the US, “two weeks” actually means never.
JUST IN: Drew Ensign, on behalf of DOJ, reports that all of the migrant children have been returned to ORR custody.
Outrageous. FEMA staff warned that disaster response has been gutted—and instead of fixing it, they were suspended. Retaliating against civil servants for telling the truth puts Americans at risk.
Trump says without tariffs, our country would be “completely destroyed, and our military power would be instantly obliterated.”
apnews.com/article/trum...
30 years ago European governments worried about German reunification. Now, in the context of US disengagement from Europe, the same countries are eager for Germany to expand its armed forces.
Fifty-one of the 85 Federalist papers were written by a guy born in Nevis.
Just how much has DOGE exaggerated its numbers? Now we have receipts DOGE was supposed to save $1-2 TRILLION. Likely saved only about $1.4 billion instead. (A billion is 1/1000th of a trillion btw) www.politico.com/news/2025/08...
If you think '26 is going to be a normal election, even after @POTUS's redistricting scheme & declaration that mail-in voting & voting machines should be eliminated, the appt of a notorious election denier as "election security" chief should end all doubt.
Not withstanding how ridiculously craven this plea from the Speaker is, 12 days isn’t even the longest homicide free span in DC this year. BTW, it was 16 days and well before troops began picking up litter.
Pritzker: "We want more help—civilian law enforcement help. We would like ATF agents to help us take more guns off the street. We would like FBI to coordinate with local law enforcement to help catch perpetrators. If they do that, we'd welcome it. That's not what they're doing."
Non-combatant deaths are not immediate evidence of genocide, because every war has them (and some have immense numbers of them)
"Unwinding the country’s legal migration system could be worse than mass deportations" [gift link will open total of five times within seven days] How Trump’s migrant crackdown threatens America Inc www.economist.com/business/202...
JUST IN: Judge Sooknanan ordered the government to file a status report by 4 pm to address whether the children have been deplaned. DOJ blew the deadline. Now she orders them to show cause why they didn’t file the report in time — and sets new 6:30 pm deadline.
They will literally say **ANYTHING**.
These would be the Brown Shirts: "The executive order calls for [a portal where] Americans with 'law enforcement or other relevant backgrounds and experience' can apply to 'join Federal law enforcement entities' to 'support the policy goals' of the president." www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...
Think about why the Administration chose to act on extremely short notice during the night in the middle of a 3-day weekend. "[D]ozens of children were removed by immigration authorities from shelters overnight and were gathered in preparation to be placed on chartered planes".
fortune.com/2025/08/30/r...
Threats should work. 🤡 @acyn.bsky.social
No matter what @MarshaBlackburn keeps saying, it’s not criminals they’re targeting. www.cnn.com/2025/08/30/u...
During his detention, my constituent was denied his constitutional right to an attorney and a phone call. I’m appalled that the Trump Admin is arresting firefighters to meet their arbitrary deportation quotas. These firefighters risk their lives to keep us safe, and this is how Trump treats them.
The extent to which ICE is ignoring all civil rights and due process is astounding — and indicative of a culture where they’ve been told they can do literally no wrong. Agency and admin leaders must face sanctions and legal consequences.
He’s on another QAnon posting spree tonight.
This man is out of his mind
Yikes, JD Vance better hope JD Vance doesn’t hear about this!
UPDATE: The firefighter Trump’s ICE goons arrested in Washington was on track for legal status. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
For those keeping score at home, the Navy has sent 3 destroyers, a guided-missile cruiser, a nuclear-powered fast attack submarine and an amphibious ready group with a Marine Expeditionary Unit to the southern Caribbean. New @taskandpurpose.com taskandpurpose.com/news/navy-sh...
JD Vance: “Trump is a really bad candidate and frankly, I think, a really bad person.” { ht: @patriottakes.bsky.social }
JD Vance on Donald Trump: “I’m a Never Trump guy. I never liked him. I don’t think he’s the person. I don’t think he cares about folks. I think that he’s noxious and is leading the white working class to a very dark place.” { ht: @marcofoster.bsky.social }
JD Vance: “I don’t believe Trump” will improve the lives of his voters. { ht: @patriottakes.bsky.social }
“If Babbitt is honored, then few things are sacred. If loyalty to the Constitution and an attempt to overthrow it are treated as equal, we lose the very meaning of service—and with it, we are closer to losing the Republic the oath was meant to protect.” Amen.
@nealkatyal.bsky.social: “You’ve got the president who's imposed the largest tax increase on American consumers since 1993 … and he did it without Congress saying one word. That is not our constitutional structure.”
"She did not die defending the Constitution. She died trying to overturn it. She was not protecting lives at a gate in Iraq; she was forcing her way through windows in the Capitol to stop the peaceful transfer of power." New from @markhertling.bsky.social:
DOJ reassigned top attorneys. They quit after feeling sidelined. www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
“.. even as tariffs change week to week, he added ,, ‘We cannot go back two weeks later and say, ‘Oh, sorry, now it has to be this price.’ They just don’t work that way.” 🤡 @wsj.com www.wsj.com/business/ret...
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen: Putin is a predator. Putin's proxies have been targeting our societies for years with hybrid attacks, with cyber attacks. The weaponizing of migrants is another example.
“…I am infuriated that the Air Force plans to grant military funeral honors to Ashli Babbitt. She did not die defending the Constitution. She died trying to overturn it.” My latest in @thebulwark.com www.thebulwark.com/p/honoring-a...
We can certainly debate the role that experts should play in a democratic society but to suggest that expertise is not a feature of science makes me wonder wtf he thinks science is
Absolutely true. Absolutely chilling.
RFK Jr: We need to stop trusting the experts... Trusting the experts is not a feature of science or democracy, it's a feature of religion and totalitarianism.
"It's further eroding...the credibility of those who are in leadership positions in our military, that they would allow full military honors to someone who lost their life while committing the act of sedition." Michael Fanone discusses Ashli Babbitt with JVL:
“You cannot pretend as if he did not try and stay in power the last time he lost an election. That actually happened.” Abby Phillip & @mizzwelch.bsky.social refuse to let the Republicans on the panel pretend Trump is not a threat to our democracy. 🇺🇸
"January 6 survivor and former MPD Officer Michael Fanone launches a campaign demanding that federal officers remove their masks, advocating for transparency." Check out our new D.C. campaign demanding federal agents take off their mask! @ofthebraveusa.bsky.social www.wusa9.com/article/news...
Some perspective…
We can't even play basketball 🏀 🤬
ICYMI — Republican Former State Senator just had his law license reinstated by the Board of Professional Responsibility of the Supreme Court of Tennessee after getting pardoned by Trump for campaign finance crimes. He pled guilty, only did 2 weeks. www.fox13memphis.com/news/brian-k...
apnews.com/article/trum...
www.bbc.com/news/article...
RFK Jr.: "I was at the bottom of my class. I started doing heroin, and I went to the top of my class. Suddenly, I could sit still and I could read." (2024)
Wait, what? A company whose address is a modest home in suburban Virginia owned by a 77-year-old retiree got a $1.2 billion contract?! President Donald Trump's administration has awarded a $1.2 billion contract to a tiny Virginia company. abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory... via ABC News App
www.wsj.com/business/ret...
So, he's admitting that these people wearing masks are acting like criminals? I spent decades in and around federal law enforcement and participated in many hundreds of criminal cases, mostly violent crime. In absolutely zero of those did the arresting officers cover their faces.
Check out the guy in gray. No badge, no patch, no logo, nothing that says "police" or "federal agent" -- just a mask. I don't see how a person would be on notice that he is law enforcement. And, without notice, how could resistance be a crime? What is the normal response to masked bandits?
This needs to be a lesson for all US allies. This is how the US values allies. This is how the US treats allies. Perhaps we should cease being US allies? #AusPol