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Telling the Story of January 6 to the Judges Who Know It Best: The Two FBI Lawsuits
One of two lawsuits to prevent the FBI from retaliating against Agents who conducted the January 6 investigation asserts, as part of an aggressive mandamus request, that a DOJ led by Trump's defense attorneys, "do[es] not have discretion to redefine the truth of January 6, 2021" in order to claim the work of FBI agents authorized by judges is illegal.

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Stephen Miller Claimed Elon Musk Was the One Elected in November
Stephen Miller, who purportedly works for Trump (but who installed his spouse in Elon Musk's group as a minder), suggested yesterday that voters had elected Musk.

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Who Needs Intelligence Sharing?
On January 27th, an AP story appeared on the news website Military.com with the headline "Intelligence Sharing by the US and Its Allies Has Saved Lives. Trump Could Test Those Ties." Today, after watching what's been going on at USAID, DOJ, and with Mark Milley, it's no longer "could" - those ties *are* being tested.

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Trump Preparing to Fire FBI Agents Who Treated a Violent Attack on Congress as a Crime
Trump is trying to make it a firing offense for the FBI to investigate people -- including some adjudged terrorists -- who attacked a co-equal branch of government.

And thus far, Senators who could stop it have done nothing.

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“Tariffs will put your jobs at risk:” The Make-Believe Justification for Trump’s Trade War
Trump justified a tariff war with false claims about fentanyl deaths.

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2020 Presidential Election, 2024 Presidential Election, January 6 Insurrection

Telling the Story of January 6 to the Judges Who Know It Best: The Two FBI Lawsuits

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February 5, 2025

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One of two lawsuits to prevent the FBI from retaliating against Agents who conducted the January 6 investigation asserts, as part of an aggressive mandamus request, that a DOJ led by Trump's defense attorneys, "do[es] not have discretion to redefine the truth of January 6, 2021" in order to claim the work of FBI agents authorized by judges is illegal.

2024 Presidential Election, Trump 2.0

Stephen Miller Claimed Elon Musk Was the One Elected in November

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February 4, 2025

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Stephen Miller, who purportedly works for Trump (but who installed his spouse in Elon Musk's group as a minder), suggested yesterday that voters had elected Musk.

2024 Presidential Election, Department of Justice, Foreign Policy, Intelligence, State Department, Trump Administration

Who Needs Intelligence Sharing?

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February 3, 2025

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On January 27th, an AP story appeared on the news website Military.com with the headline "Intelligence Sharing by the US and Its Allies Has Saved Lives. Trump Could Test Those Ties." Today, after watching what's been going on at USAID, DOJ, and with Mark Milley, it's no longer "could" - those ties *are* being tested.

2020 Presidential Election, January 6 Insurrection

Trump Preparing to Fire FBI Agents Who Treated a Violent Attack on Congress as a Crime

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February 3, 2025

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Trump is trying to make it a firing offense for the FBI to investigate people -- including some adjudged terrorists -- who attacked a co-equal branch of government. And thus far, Senators who could stop it have done nothing.

"Tariffs will put your jobs at risk:" The Make-Believe Justification for Trump's Trade War

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February 3, 2025

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Trump justified a tariff war with false claims about fentanyl deaths.

Class War, Free For All

Coping

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February 2, 2025

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You can't help anyone else if you don't take care of yourself.

2024 Presidential Election, Trump 2.0

Fridays with Nicole Sandler

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January 31, 2025

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This was recorded before things really started to go haywire.

2024 Presidential Election, emptywheel, Trump 2.0

Some of the Ways Trump's Immigrant Invader Damaged America in Just Two Weeks

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January 31, 2025

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Elon Musk and his flunkies have caused spectacular failure after failure. And even as they serially faceplant, Elon says we need to get rid of the unelected bureaucrats who are stealing democracy.

2020 Presidential Election, 2024 Presidential Election, Trump 2.0

How Senate Judiciary Committee Dems Fucked Up the Kash Patel Nomination Hearing

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January 31, 2025

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Trump's DOJ is involved in a cover-up as we speak, a cover-up designed to hide how the aspiring FBI Director was complicit in Trump's efforts to retain classified documents in his insecure basement. But Democrats have not done what they need to do to impose a cost for that cover-up.

2020 Presidential Election, 2024 Presidential Election, January 6 Insurrection

Mark Zuckerberg Agrees to Turn Meta [Back] into a Pogrom Machine

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January 30, 2025

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Mark Zuckerberg's $25 million agreement to lose to Trump in a lawsuit over Facebook's efforts to halt Trump's ongoing insurrection in 2021 is more than a bribe. It's also a soft commitment that the next time Trump uses Meta to incite violence, Meta won't stop the

Neoliberal Individuals

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January 29, 2025

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Professional Democrats have no idea where political power comes from.

2016 Presidential Election, 2020 Presidential Election, 2024 Presidential Election, January 6 Insurrection, Mueller Probe

A Summary of Kash Patel's Disqualifications to Lead FBI

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January 29, 2025

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Kash Patel will do and say anything to protect Trump and his flunkies -- up to and including risking the safety of members of Congress. Such a person would not serve as Director of FBI. He would serve as a means to turn government against Trump's adversaries.

2024 Presidential Election, Trump 2.0

Judge AliKhan Didn't Halt Trump's Funding Freeze Alone, Democracy Forward Did Too

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January 29, 2025

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Coverage of the halt Judge Loren AliKhan ordered on Trump's cuts to federal funding focus on her actions. But the lawsuit itself arises from the kind of civil society networks that are crucial to battling fascist attacks on democracy and tolerance.

2024 Presidential Election, emptywheel, January 6 Insurrection

Confirming Kash Patel Will Get Senators "Drug through the Streets"

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January 28, 2025

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Kash Patel has suggested that a guy who threatened to drag Senators Lindsey Graham and Chuck Grassley in the streets and then assaulted the cops guarding them should not have been detained pretrial.

2024 Presidential Election, Trump 2.0

After Yesterday's DOJ Purge, Pam Bondi Cannot Fulfill Promises Made at Her Confirmation Hearing

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January 28, 2025

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When Dick Durbin asked Pam Bondi what she would do if matters pertaining to Qater or GEO -- both lobbying clients of hers -- came before DOJ, she twice said she would consult with the career ethics officials at DOJ. But DOJ just removed that guy, making the promise impossible to keep.

2020 Presidential Election, 2024 Presidential Election

Every DOJ Beat Journalist Fails to Mention a Dozen Judges Approved of 1512 Charge for January 6

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January 27, 2025

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DOJ just launched an investigation into prosecutors who applied a law to January 6, 18 USC 1512(c)(2), in a way approved by over a dozen judges, at least four of them Trump appointees.

2024 Presidential Election, Immigration, Trump 2.0

Stephen Miller Confesses that Trump Lied about Immigrants

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January 27, 2025

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Stephen Miller is already frantically spinning new lies as it becomes clear Trump lied about how many migrants he could deport.

2020 Presidential Election, January 6 Insurrection

Kash Patel Thinks Assault Defendants Should Be Able to Grab for Guns When Probation Officers Arrive

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January 27, 2025

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Among the people aspiring FBI Director Kash Patel has claimed, in promoting the Jan6 Choir, proves that Jan6ers were subjected to a two-tier system of justice is Barton Shively, a guy who wasn't detained for assaulting two cops until he allegedly grabbed a gun when his probation officers showed up.

Biden Administration, emptywheel, Trump 2.0

Trump's Slop and Ouch First Week

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January 26, 2025

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Underneath Trump's Shock and Awe that is doing grave damage to the Constitution and Trump's marginalized targets, there's a Slop and Ouch that targets everyone this side of his billionaire friends.

poetry and satire

On Haggis and Donald Trump

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January 25, 2025

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On this feast day of Robert Burns, less than a week into the second Trump administration, things are not well. Even so, we have to DING!