The Conversation -- July 27, 2025

Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: “As ... [Donald] Trump golfed Saturday at his course in Turnberry, Scotland, hundreds of protesters took to the streets to denounce his presence in Britain, opposing the administration’s policies on immigration, the war in Gaza and myriad other issues. In Edinburgh, one woman played the bagpipes while holding an anti-Trump sign. Mr. Trump ... played with his son Eric and Warren A. Stephens, his ambassador to the United Kingdom, and the diplomat’s son. Donald Trump Jr. also accompanied his father on the trip to Scotland, where they were greeted at Glasgow Prestwick Airport by a crowd of supporters.... 'This immigration is killing Europe,' Mr. Trump said. 'And the other thing, stop the windmills. Killing the beauty of your countries.' On Saturday, the Scots, who opinion polls show have low regard for Mr. Trump, let their opposition to his policies be known. A group called Stop Trump Scotland organized a rally as a 'festival of resistance' against Mr. Trump that drew hundreds in Aberdeen, in Scotland’s north, and Edinburgh.” (Also linked yesterday.) 

Your Tax Dollars at Work. S.V. Date of the Huffington Post: “American taxpayers will shell out at least $10 million over the next several days so ... Donald Trump can participate in a marketing photo opportunity at his golf resort in Aberdeen, Scotland — the profits from which will flow directly into his own pocket. Trump is planning to visit his golf resorts in both Aberdeen on the east coast and Turnberry on the west. His appearance in Aberdeen coincides with the grand opening of a second 18-hole course there, which Trump has been personally publicizing in recent years. The trip is unrelated to a planned state visit to the United Kingdom in September, making it by far the most expensive golf vacation to date in either of his terms. It will also increase the total golf tab in his second term to at least $52 million. He spent $152 million in taxpayer money playing golf at his own resorts in his first term.” (Also linked yesterday.) 

Crazy Criminal Would Prosecute Rival. Ashleigh Fields of the Hill: Donald “Trump on Saturday doubled down on his accusations that former Vice President Harris paid celebrities to endorse her during the 2024 presidential election. The president, echoing previous claims that Harris paid Beyoncé, Oprah and Al Sharpton to support her White House bid throughout the campaign trail, said Harris and the celebrities involved should be 'prosecuted.' 'YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO PAY FOR AN ENDORSEMENT. IT IS TOTALLY ILLEGAL TO DO SO. Can you imagine what would happen if politicians started paying for people to endorse them. All hell would break out,' the president wrote in a Truth Social post. 'Kamala, and all of those that received Endorsement money, BROKE THE LAW. They should all be prosecuted! Thank you for your attention to this matter.'...”

Peter Baker in the New York Times: “No commander in chief ... has been as consumed by conspiracy theories as ... [Donald] Trump and now they seem to be consuming him. They have been the rocket fuel for his political career since the days when he spread the lie that Mr. Obama was secretly born overseas and therefore not eligible to be president. More than a decade later, Mr. Trump is coming full circle by trying to divert attention from the Epstein conspiracy theory with a new-and-improved one about Mr. Obama supposedly committing treason.... Mr. Trump ... relishes conspiracy theories, particularly those that benefit him or smear his enemies without any evident care for whether they are true or not.... Mr. Trump ... [once] falsely accuse[d] Mr. Obama of spying on him.... At one point, Mr. Trump spread the claim that Osama bin Laden was not actually dead and that Mr. Obama and Mr. Biden had the Navy’s SEAL Team 6 killed....

“The past week or so have seen a fusillade of Trumpian conspiracy theories, seemingly meant to focus attention away from the Epstein case. Mr. Trump accused Mr. Obama of 'treason,' and posted a fake video showing his predecessor being handcuffed in the Oval Office and imprisoned. He followed that Saturday with a fake image of Mr. Obama in the role of O.J. Simpson driving a white Bronco being chased by police cars, including one driven by Mr. Trump.... Asked last week about whether he had been told his name was in the [Epstein] files, Mr. Trump again pointed the finger of conspiracy elsewhere. 'These files were made up by Comey,' he told reporters, referring to James B. Comey, the F.B.I. director he had fired more than two years before Mr. Epstein died in prison in 2019. 'They were made up by Obama,' he went on. 'They were made up by the Biden administration.'”

Cat Zakrzewski of the Washington Post: “... Donald Trump split with Elon Musk almost two months ago. But he can’t escape one of his former friend’s parting blows: an explosive accusation that the president’s name appears in the Justice Department’s Jeffrey Epstein files. During the public implosion of his alliance with the president in early June, Musk claimed that Trump was refusing to release files related to the accused sex trafficker because the president was named in the documents.... Seven weeks later, new revelations bolster the mercurial billionaire’s claims. And even if Musk’s goal was merely to stoke the controversy without necessarily settling it, his mission has been accomplished — and then some.” More on the Revenge of the Creepy Nerd linked below.

Jamelle Bouie of the New York Times: “More than most recent vice presidents, JD Vance seems to be locked out of the room where it happens.... His online presence speaks to the main role he does seem to have in the White House: something akin to the president’s official fanboy. And in addition to acting as cheer captain for his boss, Vance works to give the administration a veneer of intellectualism to cover its cruelty, corruption and incompetence — a spokesman for the president’s brand of national populism.... Trump and Vance envision a world of tiered citizenship, each in his own way, where entry depends on heritage and status rests on obedience. The best traditions of our country make this difficult. And so they have found refuge in our worst.” The link is a gift link. (Also linked yesterday.) 

     ~~~ Marie: In his column, Bouie writes a graf that sort of explains the reason I put an asterisk after “president” when I refer to Donald Trump (I think this practice was originally Charles Pierce's idea). Here's Bouie: “As Trump himself will tell you, he tends not to know what his deputies are doing with their time. He professes to be ignorant of the actions of his government. Asked, for example, if his administration was planning to send migrants to Libya, he replied, 'I don’t know. You’ll have to ask the Department of Homeland Security.' He saves his attention and enthusiasm for the pomp and circumstance of the presidency. He’s eager to host other heads of state and government, to attend celebrations and to speak to crowds of supporters. He also spends a lot of his time at his clubs and resorts, golfing, gossiping and glad-handing with passers-by and hangers-on.”

Whistleblower Aid: “A Whistleblower Aid client and a former Department of Justice (DOJ) attorney has lawfully disclosed evidence to the DOJ’s Office of the Inspector General that corroborates the thrust of the whistleblower claims regarding Emil Bove and other senior DOJ officials actively and deliberately undermining the rule of law. Our client, whose identity we are protecting, has provided substantive, internal DOJ documents to the Inspector General, supporting former senior DOJ attorney-turned whistleblower Erez Reuveni’s allegations. Reuveni’s whistleblower complaint exposes 'high-level governmental personnel [at the DOJ who] knowingly and willfully defied court orders, directed their subordinate attorneys to make misrepresentations to courts, and engaged in a scheme to withhold relevant information from the court to advance the Administration’s priority of deporting noncitizens.” Here's a Huffington Post item. (You may have to scroll down for the HuffPost item.) (Also linked yesterday.) 

Sophia Tareen of the AP: “Federal immigration judges fired by the Trump administration are filing appeals, pursuing legal action and speaking out in an unusually public campaign to fight back. More than 50 immigration judges — from senior leaders to new appointees — have been fired since Donald Trump assumed the presidency for the second time. Normally bound by courtroom decorum, many are now unrestrained in describing terminations they consider unlawful and why they believe they were targeted. Their suspected reasons include gender discrimination, decisions on immigration cases played up by the Trump administration and a courthouse tour with the Senate’s No. 2 Democrat[, Sen. Dick Durbin (Illinois)].... The firings are on top of resignations, early retirements and transfers, adding up to 106 judges gone since January, according to the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, which represents judges. There are currently about 600 immigration judges.”

Greg Jaffe, et al., of the New York Times: “Suspicions about leaks and a mistrust of senior military officers have defined much of [Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s] first six months on the job.... [A] standoff over [the] promotion [of Army Lt. Gen. Douglas Sims] reflects an ongoing clash between Mr. Hegseth’s highly partisan worldview, in which he has written that the Democratic Party 'really does hate America,' and the longstanding tradition of an apolitical military that pledges an oath to the Constitution. Mr. Hegseth’s actions could shape the military’s top ranks for years to come. His insistence on absolute loyalty, backed with repeated threats of polygraphs, also creates uncertainty and mistrust that threaten to undermine the readiness and effectiveness of the force, officials said.” The article goes on to reprise incidents that demonstrate what a catastrophe Hegseth is. This is a gift link.

Dan Lamothe & Ellen Nakashima of the Washington Post: “Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s use of polygraph tests to search for people leaking information to the news media was stopped at the direction of the White House after a senior adviser to Hegseth raised alarm to senior officials there about being targeted.... The adviser, Patrick Weaver, complained to White House officials this spring with concerns that he could soon be directed by Hegseth or another member of his team to submit to a polygraph test.... The possibility angered Weaver, an immigration hawk seen within the administration as a loyal foot soldier to ... Donald Trump and associate of White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller.... The White House intervention, which has not previously been reported, came in the form of a phone call by an individual close to the administration after Hegseth’s team had begun administering polygraph tests to people around the defense secretary in April, according to people familiar with the matter, who declined to identify the individual.”

Here's a Daily Mail story that sounds just like a Daily Mail story, but it's Bobby Junior, so it's true: ~~~

     ~~~ Sea Vampire Gives RFKJ a Hickey. Chris Melore, et al., of the Daily Mail: “On a tour of the Nez Perce salmon hatchery in Idaho on Thursday, RFK Jr let a parasitic sea vampire, also known as a lamprey, bite his arm until the creature left a 'hickey' behind. The head of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) posted about the blood-letting adventure on X, writing 'Lampreys hickeys at the Nez Perce salmon hatchery' while showing off pictures of the experience.”

Jacob Wendler of Politico: “Elon Musk is promising to shake up the midterms with his own political party.... Musk’s yet-unfulfilled plans to form an 'America Party' could threaten Republicans already fighting to defend their seats by razor-thin margins in next year’s midterms elections, Democrats argued, by siphoning off more disgruntled conservatives from Republicans than disaffected liberals from the Democrats.... New polling this week from Marquette University Law School found that 40 percent of Republicans say they would be somewhat or very likely to support an America Party candidate in their state or congressional district, as opposed to just one in four Democrats.”

Marie: I keep hearing or reading stories about Trump's plummeting poll number. But also too, there is this: ~~~

     ~~~ Miriam Waldvogel of the Hill: “The Democratic Party is viewed negatively by 63 percent of American voters — the lowest approval rating of the party in more than 30 years of The Wall Street Journal’s surveys — according to a new poll from the newspaper. The survey found that while voters disapproved of ... [Donald] Trump’s handling of a variety of issues, they generally said they trusted Republicans more than Democrats to take care of those issues in Congress.” (Also linked yesterday.) 

David Marchese of the New York Times interviews Robert Reich. MB: I don't often read interview transcripts, but I'm a fan of Reich's, so I went for it. That was definitely not a mistake. I share his views, including his feelings about boomers. And the story of "Mickey" is stunning. If you can't access the transcript, here's the real thing: (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

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Minnesota. Jeff Day & Ryan Faircloth of the Minnesota Star Tribune: "From the first 911 call, moments after Minnesota state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, were shot at their home in the early morning of June 14, police knew a masked gunman was impersonating an officer, had targeted a politician and was on the move. Yet it would take 10 hours for law enforcement to systematically alert lawmakers to the exact nature of the danger they faced. Communication across a patchwork of agencies was also spotty, leaving some officials unaware of the threat for hours and raising questions about whether the suspect, Vance Boelter, could have been caught earlier. In at least one instance, police didn’t follow their own procedures when they responded to attacks on the homes of lawmakers. The shootings killed Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, and wounded the Hoffmans." ~~~

     ~~~ The rest of the article is firewalled, by Scott Lemieux publishes some details from it. As Lemieux writes, those particulars are not good. After they heard gunshots inside the Hortmans' house, Brooklyn Park cops waited for an hour outside the house before they entered. MB: As long as police departments give priority to low-IQ job applicants, these kinds of remarkable errors in judgment will remain SOP.  

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Israel/Palestine, et al. Samy Magdy & Mariam Dagga of the AP: “A mother pressed a final kiss to what remained of her 5-month-old daughter and wept. Esraa Abu Halib’s baby now weighed less than when she was born. On a sunny street in shattered Gaza, the bundle containing Zainab Abu Halib represented the latest death from starvation after 21 months of war and Israeli restrictions on aid. The baby was brought to the pediatric department of Nasser Hospital on Friday. She was already dead.” MB: I'll bet Bibi had his lunch today. ~~~

~~~ Patrick Kingsley of the New York Times: “Following days of global outrage at Israel’s restrictions on aid to Gaza, the Israeli military announced on Saturday night that it would revive the practice of dropping aid from airplanes, and make it easier for aid convoys to move through Gaza by land. The announcement came amid a crisis of severe hunger in Gaza, where the number of wartime deaths caused by starvation has nearly doubled in the past month, to 127. Hunger has spiraled since Israel blocked all food deliveries between March and May. It then put in place a new and contentious aid system that required many civilians to walk for miles, through Israeli military lines, to reach a handful of food distribution points run by private contractors.”

Ukraine/E.U. Andrew Kramer of the New York Times: “The European Union said on Friday that it would withhold 1.5 billion euros, or $1.7 billion [in aid to Ukraine], from an overall fund of 4.5 billion euros whose disbursement is dependent on achieving good governance standards and that can’t be used for military purchases. The decision is not final, however, and the funding can be restored if Ukraine meets certain benchmarks. Mr. Zelensky had no public comment on the aid cut, which nevertheless was a setback for Ukraine’s leader, who is depending on European financial support to fill gaps left by the Trump administration’s refusal to underwrite Ukraine’s war effort.... The E.U.’s decision capped a tumultuous week for Mr. Zelensky, who first pushed a measure through Parliament that stripped the independence of two anticorruption agencies, raising protests from foreign leaders as well as the Ukrainian people.”

The Conversation -- July 26, 2025

Jamelle Bouie of the New York Times: “More than most recent vice presidents, JD Vance seems to be locked out of the room where it happens.... His online presence speaks to the main role he does seem to have in the White House: something akin to the president’s official fanboy. And in addition to acting as cheer captain for his boss, Vance works to give the administration a veneer of intellectualism to cover its cruelty, corruption and incompetence — a spokesman for the president’s brand of national populism.... Trump and Vance envision a world of tiered citizenship, each in his own way, where entry depends on heritage and status rests on obedience. The best traditions of our country make this difficult. And so they have found refuge in our worst.” The link is a gift link. 

     ~~~ Marie: In his column, Bouie writes a graf that sort of explains the reason I put an asterisk after “president” when I refer to Donald Trump (I think this practice was originally Charles Pierce's idea). Here's Bouie: “As Trump himself will tell you, he tends not to know what his deputies are doing with their time. He professes to be ignorant of the actions of his government. Asked, for example, if his administration was planning to send migrants to Libya, he replied, 'I don’t know. You’ll have to ask the Department of Homeland Security.' He saves his attention and enthusiasm for the pomp and circumstance of the presidency. He’s eager to host other heads of state and government, to attend celebrations and to speak to crowds of supporters. He also spends a lot of his time at his clubs and resorts, golfing, gossiping and glad-handing with passers-by and hangers-on.”

David Marchese of the New York Times interviews Robert Reich. MB: I don't often read interview transcripts, but I'm a fan of Reich's, so I went for it. That was definitely not a mistake. I share his views, including his feelings about boomers. And the story of "Mickey" is stunning. If you can't access the transcript, here's the real thing: ~~~

Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: “As ... [Donald] Trump golfed Saturday at his course in Turnberry, Scotland, hundreds of protesters took to the streets to denounce his presence in Britain, opposing the administration’s policies on immigration, the war in Gaza and myriad other issues. In Edinburgh, one woman played the bagpipes while holding an anti-Trump sign. Mr. Trump ... played with his son Eric and Warren A. Stephens, his ambassador to the United Kingdom, and the diplomat’s son. Donald Trump Jr. also accompanied his father on the trip to Scotland, where they were greeted at Glasgow Prestwick Airport by a crowd of supporters.... 'This immigration is killing Europe,' Mr. Trump said. 'And the other thing, stop the windmills. Killing the beauty of your countries.' On Saturday, the Scots, who opinion polls show have low regard for Mr. Trump, let their opposition to his policies be known. A group called Stop Trump Scotland organized a rally as a 'festival of resistance' against Mr. Trump that drew hundreds in Aberdeen, in Scotland’s north, and Edinburgh.”

Your Tax Dollars at Work. S.V. Date of the Huffington Post: “American taxpayers will shell out at least $10 million over the next several days so ... Donald Trump can participate in a marketing photo opportunity at his golf resort in Aberdeen, Scotland — the profits from which will flow directly into his own pocket. Trump is planning to visit his golf resorts in both Aberdeen on the east coast and Turnberry on the west. His appearance in Aberdeen coincides with the grand opening of a second 18-hole course there, which Trump has been personally publicizing in recent years. The trip is unrelated to a planned state visit to the United Kingdom in September, making it by far the most expensive golf vacation to date in either of his terms. It will also increase the total golf tab in his second term to at least $52 million. He spent $152 million in taxpayer money playing golf at his own resorts in his first term.”

Whistleblower Aid: “A Whistleblower Aid client and a former Department of Justice (DOJ) attorney has lawfully disclosed evidence to the DOJ’s Office of the Inspector General that corroborates the thrust of the whistleblower claims regarding Emil Bove and other senior DOJ officials actively and deliberately undermining the rule of law. Our client, whose identity we are protecting, has provided substantive, internal DOJ documents to the Inspector General, supporting former senior DOJ attorney-turned whistleblower Erez Reuveni’s allegations. Reuveni’s whistleblower complaint exposes 'high-level governmental personnel [at the DOJ who] knowingly and willfully defied court orders, directed their subordinate attorneys to make misrepresentations to courts, and engaged in a scheme to withhold relevant information from the court to advance the Administration’s priority of deporting noncitizens.” Here's a Huffington Post item. (You may have to scroll down for the HuffPost item.)

Marie: I keep hearing or reading stories about Trump's plummeting poll number. But also too, there is this: ~~~

     ~~~ Miriam Waldvogel of the Hill: “The Democratic Party is viewed negatively by 63 percent of American voters — the lowest approval rating of the party in more than 30 years of The Wall Street Journal’s surveys — according to a new poll from the newspaper. The survey found that while voters disapproved of ... [Donald] Trump’s handling of a variety of issues, they generally said they trusted Republicans more than Democrats to take care of those issues in Congress.”

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News from the Pedo FilesTMAkhilleus:  ~~~

Glenn Thrush & Valerie Crowder of the New York Times: Ghislaine “Maxwell, once a fixer for the financier Jeffrey Epstein who is now imprisoned on charges of sex trafficking..., has made it clear she wants her 20-year sentence thrown out or reduced or a pardon.... [Donald] Trump, asked whether he would consider pardoning her, said, 'I’m allowed to do it, but it’s something I haven’t thought about.' He made the remarks before he headed off to Scotland, wishing her well.... [Attorney General Pam Bondi’s top deputy Todd] Blanche has described his trip [to Tallahassee, Florida, to interview Maxwell] as a neutral fact-finding mission, saying he would share details of the discussion 'at the appropriate time' — yet he has also declared that the federal criminal investigation into targets beyond Ms. Maxwell and Mr. Epstein remains closed. By that standard, new interviews would appear to serve a function beyond the purposes of traditional law enforcement, unless new evidence of criminality has been discovered, current and former officials said. The department offered Ms. Maxwell conditional immunity to discuss the case.... Senator Charles Schumer, the Democratic leader, questioned whether Mr. Blanche had offered Ms. Maxwell 'some kind of a corrupt deal so that she can exonerate Donald Trump.'... Some conservative news outlets friendly to Mr. Trump have begun to soften their tone about Ms. Maxwell.... This week, a host on Newsmax who has praised Mr. Trump went so far as to suggest that Ms. Maxwell 'just might be a victim.'...” ~~~

     ~~~ An AP story is here. An Independent story is here.

Derek Hawkins & Kadia Goba of the Washington Post: “The Republican House will soon be forced into the uncomfortable position of issuing a subpoena for the voluminous criminal file on deceased sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein — putting the Trump administration in the equally uncomfortable position of deciding how to respond. Three Republicans joined Democrats this week in voting to subpoena the records from the Justice Department, as well as to demand testimony from prominent figures from Republican and Democratic administrations as the clamor for transparency about the Epstein case continues to roil ... Donald Trump’s Washington. As chairman of the House Oversight Committee, Rep. James Comer (R-Kentucky) is obligated, under House rules, to issue the subpoena to the Justice Department. But he has not said when he will do so.... Comer has already issued a subpoena for Epstein’s imprisoned accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, and lawmakers are scheduled to interview her on Aug. 11.”

Charlie Savage of the New York Times: “The Trump administration in recent weeks has released a series of reports intended to undermine the conclusion reached by intelligence agencies before .. [Donald] Trump’s first term that Russia had favored his candidacy in 2016 and sought to improve his chances of winning.That assessment, an unclassified version of which was made public in January 2017, has long infuriated Mr. Trump. In disclosing the reports, he and his team are proclaiming that President Barack Obama and his team torqued the intelligence analysis process to deliberately discredit Mr. Trump’s election. The administration has coupled that case with overheated and attention-grabbing claims. Mr. Trump has accused Mr. Obama of treason, and his top officials have made criminal referrals about national security officials under Mr. Obama — all as the administration is trying to distract supporters who are angry about its broken promise to release the Jeffrey Epstein files.... [Savage reports on the methods of compiling the reports & the controversies surrounding the methods -- particularly the rushed nature of the analysis -- & findings.] The finely tuned distinctions and marginal questions raised by the newly available information in the documents sharply contrasts with the overstated and sometimes sensationalized claims Trump administration officials keep making about them.”

“The Art of the Really Stupid Deal.” Paul Krugman: “Earlier this week the Trump administration triumphantly announced that it had scored a big trade deal with Japan. Now the reviews are in, and the deal basically received a 0% score on Rotten Tomatoes ... from the manufacturing sector, both management and labor, which Trump’s tariffs were supposed to help.... Japan ... is left facing a tariff of 15 percent, compared with an average of 1.6 percent BT (Before Trump.) Reports suggest that a similar deal may be coming with the European Union.... So far, the burden [of the tariffs] seems to be falling mainly on U.S. businesses, which are definitely seeing a sharp rise in costs.... But once businesses see how high tariffs on Japan and Europe are after they’ve made deals, their willingness to absorb the tariffs rather than passing them on to consumers will evaporate.... Overall, the interaction between this Japan deal and Trump’s other tariffs probably tilts the playing field between U.S. and Japanese producers of cars, and perhaps other products, in Japan’s favor.... Trump’s negotiators probably had no idea what they were doing, and didn’t realize that in their frantic rush to conclude a deal they were agreeing to tariffs that would be highly unfavorable to U.S. manufacturing.”

Miriam Waldvogel of the Hill: “A new $608 million grant program from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will give states money to build detention centers for people suspected of being in the United States unlawfully. FEMA was already slated to cover some of the costs for Florida’s “Alligator Alcatraz” using a Biden-era program meant for helping asylum seekers. The new facility, quickly constructed in a remote part of the Florida Everglades, is expected to run a tab of about $450 million a year. The new FEMA grant program comes as the Trump administration has increasingly slashed FEMA’s ability to assist disaster response, and as the president has mulled closing the agency altogether. CNN reported Friday that FEMA has proposed cutting nearly $1 billion in grant funding to help local first responders better prepare for disasters and to help bolster cybersecurity.” MB: $608MM doesn't sound like much to me if just running that substandard, flooded, tents-and-cages Alligator Alcatraz facility is supposed to cost about two-thirds of that every year.

Caught on Tape: Trump's Brutal Secret Police. Clare Considine of the Guardian: “On the morning of 2 May, teenager Kenny Laynez-Ambrosio was driving to his landscaping job in North Palm Beach with his mother and two male friends when they were pulled over by the Florida highway patrol. In one swift moment, a traffic stop turned into a violent arrest. A highway patrol officer asked everyone in the van to identify themselves, then called for backup. Officers with US border patrol arrived on the scene. Video footage of the incident captured by Laynez-Ambrosio, an 18-year-old US citizen, appears to show a group of officers in tactical gear working together to violently detain the three men*, two of whom are undocumented. They appear to use a stun gun on one man, put another in a chokehold and can be heard telling Laynez-Ambrosio: 'You’ve got no rights here. You’re a migo, brother.' Afterward, agents can be heard bragging and making light of the arrests, calling the stun gun use 'funny' and quipping: 'You can smell that … $30,000 bonus.'” Laynez-Ambrosio's attorney claims the young man was charged with obstruction for “merely the exercise of a right to record what was happening.”

Tim Balk of the New York Times: “After a team of talented teenage baseball players from Venezuela swept through a qualifying tournament in Mexico last month, it seemed they were bound for the Senior League World Series in the United States, ready to take on some of the world’s best youth ball clubs. But when the championship round begins in Easley, S.C., on Saturday, the undefeated squad from Venezuela will not be there. The team, Cacique Mara, has been denied the visas necessary to attend, Little League Baseball International said Friday.... Cacique Mara said on social media that players and coaches from the team sat for interviews on July 14 to try to secure visas, but were denied by an immigration officer.... Venezuela has long been a baseball hotbed. Some of the most dazzling stars in Major League Baseball in recent years — Miguel Cabrera, Johan Santana and Jose Altuve among them — grew up in Venezuela. Teams from the country have won the Senior League World Series three times.” ~~~

     ~~~ Carlos Rodriguez of the AP: “They told us that Venezuela is on a list because Trump says Venezuelans are a threat to the security of his state, of his country,' said Kendrick Gutiérrez, the league’s president in Venezuela.” Thanks to RAS for the lead. MB: I'm having trouble figuring out how a small team of kids, stuck for a few days in the backwater town of Easley, S.C. (pop. about 23,000), could threaten U.S. security, but as usual, the mind of Marco works in mysterious ways. So, thanks, Marco, for protecting me from these dangerous foreign operatives menacing us with lethal baseball bats. And cleats. And maybe fastballs.

Sarah Mervosh of the New York Times: “The White House will release $5.5 billion in frozen education funds, administration officials announced on Friday, bringing an end to a chaotic month for school districts that had counted on the money with just weeks to go before the start of the school year.... [Donald] Trump had faced growing pressure over the delay from within his own party, including from 10 Senate Republicans who had signed a rare public letter urging the White House to release the funds. The Department of Education said that it would begin sending the money to states next week. The money was part of nearly $7 billion in education funding that had been approved by Congress and was set to be released by July 1, before the Trump administration abruptly withheld it a day before the deadline.” Politico's report is here.

Anusha Mathur & Hannah Natanson of the Washington Post: “Two high-ranking officials at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration were placed on leave this week.... Former agency officials said both Steve Volz, assistant administrator in the agency’s satellite division, and Jeff Dillen, deputy NOAA general counsel, held positions that allowed them to push back against Trump’s NOAA appointees. While the pair had only occasionally worked together while at NOAA, they also led the investigation into the 'Sharpiegate' scandal during the first Trump administration. Volz was not given an explicit reason for being placed on administrative leave but said tensions between him and Trump’s appointees had been rising. Volz said he had recently pushed back during discussions of commercializing satellite operations.”

Lisa Friedman of the New York Times: “Tyler Hassen, a former Texas oil executive from Elon Musk’s government efficiency team who was given sweeping powers to overhaul the Department of the Interior, is leaving the agency, he confirmed on Friday.... According to a secretarial order that [Interior Secretary Doug] Burgum wrote, Mr. Hassen was given authority to take 'all necessary actions' to carry out 'consolidation, unification and optimization' at the department and its bureaus. That move drew criticism from many Democrats and environmental activists, who said Mr. Burgum had turned over too much authority to Mr. Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.... Senator Martin Heinrich, Democrat of New Mexico, wrote in a letter to Mr. Burgum[,] 'Delegating sweeping authorities and responsibilities to a non-Senate-confirmed person in violation of the Vacancies Reform Act is baffling and extremely troubling.'...”

Here is the Trump administration thumbing its nose at and retaliating against people devoted to promoting world peace. Who does it put in charge of an institute devoted to promoting peace and countering terrorism and violent extremism? -- A racist bully who "pals around with terrorists." ~~~  

Competent white men must be in charge if you want things to work. -- Darren Beattie, newly-appointed Acting Director of the U.S. Institute of Peace ~~~ 

~~~ The Best People. Aishvarya Kavi of the New York Times: “A senior State Department official who was fired as a White House speechwriter during the first Trump administration for attending a gathering of white supremacists has been appointed acting president of the U.S. Institute of Peace, according to the State Department. Darren Beattie, who will lead the institute, is responsible for leading 'public diplomacy outreach, which includes messaging to counter terrorism and violent extremism' at the State Department, according to its website. He will continue in that role, a State Department official said on Friday.... Earlier this year, the Trump administration moved to gut the historically bipartisan entity as part of its wide-ranging effort to shrink the federal government.... [A] confrontation, facilitated by Washington’s Metropolitan Police Department, was one of the more shocking attempts by the administration to assert power over the capital’s institutions.

“The institute’s ousted staff sued, and a federal judge in May overturned both the takeover and the mass firings, calling the moves unlawful and a 'gross usurpation of power.' The headquarters, which had been transferred to the executive branch, was restored to the institute. But the administration appealed that ruling, and last month, a federal appeals court in Washington returned control of the building to the administration while the case was under review.... Mr. Beattie was appointed by the institute’s board of directors, which includes Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.”

     ~~~ Marie: You know, Marco, I'll bet Beattie doesn't think a Cubano can be a "competent white man."

Daniel Hampton of the Raw Story: “Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. plans to dismiss all 16 members of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, disparaging them as too “woke,” people familiar with the matter told the Wall Street Journal on Friday night. The independent panel of national experts is tasked with making recommendations about clinical preventive services, such as screening tests, counseling services, and preventive medications. The task force became a target for the right by using terms such as 'pregnant persons' and highlighting racial discrimination during a discussion on risk factors for anxiety in older children and teens, according to the report.... The expert panel ... decides which cancer screenings and other preventive services insurance plans are required to cover....”

Another Sign of a Nation in Free-fall. Buh-bye, First Amendment. Kenneth Vogel, et al., of the New York Times: “Media Matters, a nonprofit group that has played a key role in liberal politics, is struggling to withstand months of legal assaults by ... [Donald] Trump’s allies, offering a glimpse of what might be in store for even well-funded targets of his retribution campaigns. The organization, which is funded by some of the Democratic Party’s biggest donors, has racked up about $15 million in legal fees over the past 20 months to defend itself against lawsuits by Elon Musk, in addition to investigations by Mr. Trump’s Federal Trade Commission and Republican state attorneys general.... Media Matters stands as an example of how legal warfare waged by powerful ideological opponents can squelch influential voices and stifle political dissent. The group says it has dialed back its criticism of Mr. Musk and the Trump F.T.C. Media Matters has also been frozen out by some allies. And it has faced plummeting staff morale, rising infighting and security concerns.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Matt Novak of Gizmodo: “The Federal Communications Commission finally approved an $8 billion merger between Paramount and Skydance on Thursday after several changes at CBS that were widely seen as efforts to placate ... Donald Trump. Part of the deal will apparently require an ombudsman to check the media company’s supposed political biases. And FCC commissioner Brendan Carr has been doing the rounds to brag about how he’s getting people on TV to be nicer to the MAGA movement. 'They made commitments to address bias and restore fact-based reporting...,' Carr told Newsmax’s Greg Kelly ... Thursday night.... Carr went on to explain that CBS had committed to 'ending invidious forms of DEI,' a pretext Trump has used to purge the federal government of anyone who isn’t white and male in leadership positions.... 'One of the things they’re going to have to do is put in an ombudsman in place for two years,' Carr said. “So basically a bias monitor that will report directly to the president....'”

Carr and Paramount don't seem to agree on which president this babysitter will report to: Trump or president of Paramount. Novak: “Before the second Trump era, it would’ve been seen as a ridiculous violation of the First Amendment to have some kind of monitor making sure the media was being nice to the president.” ~~~

     ~~~ Colby Hall of Mediaite reports on one of Carr's boastful interviews: “FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr defended controversial provisions imposed on the recently approved Skydance-Paramount merger during a Friday morning appearance on CNBC’s Squawk Box, calling them 'a change whose time has come.' His comments came amid growing concern over the regulatory role the FCC is playing in shaping the editorial direction of media companies.” ~~~

     ~~~ David Bauder of the AP writes a related story that covers several aspects of the arrangement between Paramount & the FCC.

Michael Casey of the AP: “A federal judge on Friday blocked the Trump administration from ending birthright citizenship for the children of parents who are in the U.S. illegally, issuing the third court ruling blocking the birthright order nationwide since a key Supreme Court decision in June. U.S. District Judge Leo Sorokin, joining another district court as well as an appellate panel of judges, found that a nationwide injunction granted to more than a dozen states remains in force under an exception to the Supreme Court ruling. That decision restricted the power of lower-court judges to issue nationwide injunctions. The states have argued Trump’s birthright citizenship order is blatantly unconstitutional and threatens millions of dollars for health insurance services that are contingent on citizenship status. The issue is expected to move quickly back to the nation’s highest court.”

Mitch Smith of the New York Times: “A federal judge in Illinois dismissed a lawsuit on Friday in which the Justice Department argued that state and local officials were violating the Constitution by enforcing so-called sanctuary measures that limit cooperation with immigration agents. The lawsuit, filed in the early days of Mr. Trump’s term, was one of several brought by the Justice Department challenging immigration policies in Democratic-led jurisdictions. On Thursday, the Trump administration filed a similar lawsuit against Mayor Eric Adams of New York City.... In dismissing the case, Judge Lindsay C. Jenkins wrote that the Justice Department had failed to show that the state and local governments were violating federal law.” Politico's report is here.

~~~~~~~~~~

Israel/Palestine/U.S., et al. Adam Taylor of the Washington Post: “Amid growing alarm about mass starvation in Gaza and images of Palestinians suffering from severe malnutrition, the Trump administration is hardening its tone toward Hamas, blaming it for the humanitarian crisis. Hamas “didn’t want to make” a deal in this week’s round of ceasefire negotiations and now it would probably be 'hunted down...,' Donald Trump said Friday. Special presidential envoy Steve Witkoff said the day before that the United States was at least temporarily pulling out of talks in Doha, Qatar, and would seek 'alternative options' to end the conflict because Hamas was not 'acting in good faith.' Basem Naim, a Hamas official, said on Facebook that Witkoff had mischaracterized a Hamas response that was 'very close' to what Witkoff himself proposed.”

The Conversation -- July 25, 2025

Another Sign of a Nation in Free-fall. Kenneth Vogel, et al., of the New York Times: “Media Matters, a nonprofit group that has played a key role in liberal politics, is struggling to withstand months of legal assaults by ... [Donald] Trump’s allies, offering a glimpse of what might be in store for even well-funded targets of his retribution campaigns. The organization, which is funded by some of the Democratic Party’s biggest donors, has racked up about $15 million in legal fees over the past 20 months to defend itself against lawsuits by Elon Musk, in addition to investigations by Mr. Trump’s Federal Trade Commission and Republican state attorneys general.... Media Matters stands as an example of how legal warfare waged by powerful ideological opponents can squelch influential voices and stifle political dissent. The group says it has dialed back its criticism of Mr. Musk and the Trump F.T.C. Media Matters has also been frozen out by some allies. And it has faced plummeting staff morale, rising infighting and security concerns.”

~~~~~~~~~~

News from the Pedo FilesTMAkhilleus:  ~~~

David Enrich, et al., of the New York Times: Donald “Trump’s name appeared on a contributor list for a book celebrating the 50th birthday of the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, evidence that he participated in the collection even as he denied that he signed a sexually suggestive note and drawing.... The Times found that at least once before, Mr. Trump had written Mr. Epstein an admiring note. 'To Jeff — You are the greatest!' reads an inscription in a copy of Mr. Trump’s book 'Trump: The Art of the Comeback' that belonged to Mr. Epstein. The message, reviewed by The Times, is signed 'Donald' and dated 'Oct ’97,' the month the book came out.” The article includes an image of the inscription. The link appears to be a gift link. ~~~

~~~ From a Wall Street Journal story by Khadeeja Safdar & Joe Palazzolo, excerpted by Scott Lemieux in LG&$: "The leather-bound album — assembled before Epstein was first arrested in 2006 — included a page with a single paragraph in [President Bill] Clinton’s distinctive scrawl: 'It’s reassuring isn’t it, to have lasted as long, across all the years of learning and knowing, adventures and [illegible word], and also to have your childlike curiosity, the drive to make a difference and the solace of friends.'... The former president was among around five dozen people, including Donald Trump, Wall Street billionaire Leon Black, fashion designer Vera Wang and media owner Mort Zuckerman, who ended up with letters in the 2003 book, according to documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal."

Andrew Skerritt, et al., of the Washington Post: “Jeffrey Epstein’s imprisoned former associate Ghislaine Maxwell met with a top Justice Department official for about five hours Thursday, her attorney said, answering every question in 'a very productive day.' Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said he would continue interviewing Maxwell on Friday. The meeting in a federal courthouse in downtown Tallahassee, not far from the low-security federal prison where Maxwell is serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking, comes as the Trump administration is trying to mitigate the political fallout over its handling of the case.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Not only is Maxwell anold friend of Donald Trump's, during his first presidential* term, he "wished her well" after she was arrested on sex-trafficking charges. AND, as Chris Hayes of MSNBC pointed out last night, during his confirmation hearing for the Number 2 slot at Justice, Blanche testified that he remained Donald Trump's attorney. For whom do you think Blanche is working today? You or Donald? ~~~

~~~~ Awk-ward! Abbie VanSickle of the New York Times: “On Thursday, top Justice Department officials interviewed Ghislaine Maxwell, a longtime associate of Jeffrey Epstein’s. But just days before, the same department asked the Supreme Court justices to reject her appeal seeking to overturn her conviction for assisting Mr. Epstein’s alleged crimes. The moment highlights the awkward position of the department that prosecuted Ms. Maxwell as it seeks to curb criticism that federal officials have hidden information about Mr. Epstein’s case, including his links to famous and well-connected figures. Prosecutors had previously argued in court that Ms. Maxwell had been dishonest in her accounts of her interactions with Mr. Epstein, and she has made it clear that she wants her freedom.” The article goes on to detail Maxwell's case before the Supreme Court. 

Stephen Colbert reveals a few Pedo File news tidbits, too: ~~~

Adam Goldman & Alan Feuer of the New York Times: “This spring, the F.B.I. and the Justice Department made an all-out push involving hundreds of employees to scour the Jeffrey Epstein files with a single goal in mind — find something, anything, that could be released to the public to satisfy the mounting clamor from the angry legions of ... [Donald] Trump’s supporters. But after devoting countless hours to the project, working at times around the clock searching databases, hard drives, network drives, cabinets, desks and closets, the bureau and the department finally acknowledged this month that they had little to show for their efforts.... During the inquiry, Justice Department officials diverted hundreds of F.B.I. employees and federal prosecutors from their regular duties to go through the documents at least four times — including once to flag any references to Mr. Trump and other prominent figures....

“On Tuesday, Todd Blanche, the deputy attorney general..., reiterat[ed] the findings of the department memo this month indicating that the F.B.I.’s review had not turned up any additional culprits....[:] 'The joint statement by @TheJusticeDept and @FBI of July 6 remains as accurate today as it was when it was written.' Mr. Blanche’s message was a tacit concession that the review by the bureau — one that diverted resources from other critical missions — had largely been a waste of time.” (Also linked yesterday.) 

Ellen Houghtaling in the New Republic, republished by Yahoo! News: "Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein had a personal relationship, in Epstein’s own words. In resurfaced footage of the pedophilic sex trafficker’s 2010 deposition, Epstein confesses to socializing with Trump — but refuses to answer whether or not they spent time with children. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

🚨🚨🚨 Watch Jeffrey Epstein plead his Fifth, Sixth, and 14th Amendment rights when asked if he and Donald Trump socialized with females under the age of 18 during a 2010 deposition:

Q: Have you ever had a personal relationship with Donald Trump?
A. What do you mean by "personal… pic.twitter.com/JyM5LYJ0C4

— MeidasTouch (@MeidasTouch) July 24, 2025

Jonathan Allen, et al., of NBC News: "White House aides have made it clear that no one in the administration is allowed to talk about Epstein without high-level vetting.... That represents a shift of sorts for a president who has generally liked his top deputies and administration officials to robustly defend him to the media, regardless of the issue." (Also linked yesterday.) 

Talls Tales of an Addled Old Man. Amanda Marcotte of Salon: “All this stress Donald Trump is under appears to have caused him to confuse his old friend, Jeffrey Epstein, with his uncle.... During a roundtable in Pittsburgh last week, Trump claimed his uncle [John Trump] taught [Unabomber Ted] Kaczynski at MIT.... This is not true. John Trump died in 1985, 11 years before Kaczynski was outed as the Unabomber. Plus, Kaczynski attended Harvard, not MIT. Trump’s story sounds an awful lot like a fake story that Epstein used to tell, according to Stuart Pivar, another old friend of Epstein’s who gave an interview to Mother Jones in 2019. 'Jeffrey told me that he studied math at UCLA with the Unabomber, who was a math teacher,' Pivar said. This is also not true — Epstein didn’t go to UCLA and Kaczynski didn’t teach there.” Read on; there's a lot more here about the future of the MAGA movement. (And, no, when Trump leaves the scene they are not going to become children of the Enlightenment.) Thanks to RAS for the link. And the Epstein/Uncle John mix-up is a great catch by Marcotte. (Also linked yesterday.) 

Calder McHugh in Politico Magazine: “... in the return to the airwaves of Comedy Central stalwart South Park..., Trump is skewered for his connections to Jeffrey Epstein, and he is depicted as a man who has lined the walls of the White House with naked photos of himself.... It's the latest sign that Trump has lost control of the Epstein narrative, and that the saga has broken Washington containment and permeated deep into popular culture. That makes it the worst kind of White House mess.... The show — which isn’t explicitly ideological and is more anti-establishment in tone, often delighting in puncturing political correctness — has gone after Trump before. But not so clearly or directly. Its latest attack on the president puts it in the company of many other comedians or online influencers who have been teeing off on Trump over Epstein in recent weeks — prima facie evidence that Trump has misread the priorities of the young men who powered him back into office.” More on the "South Park" episode linked below.

Matthew Chapman of the Raw Story: “Another member of ... Donald Trump's inner circle has been shown with ties to deceased financier and child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein: Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. According to The Daily Beast, in addition to taking trips on Epstein's private plane, recently resurfaced pictures 'show RFK Jr. at a New York Academy of Art gala with Epstein in in 1994, while files from the Manhattan District Attorney’s office show a listing for "Kennedy, Bobby & Mary" in Epstein’s "little black book," which featured contacts for socialites and politicians, as well as the girls he sexually assaulted.' Kennedy has been open about his ties to Epstein to some extent, saying during his independent presidential run last year before being named to Trump's cabinet, 'I was on Jeffrey Epstein’s jet two times. My wife had some kind of relationship with Ghislaine Maxwell, and they offered us a ride to Palm Beach.'”

Distractions from the Pedo Files: ~~~

Taking a Field Trip. Wherein Donald Trump tries to ambush Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, and Powell fact-checks him, cameras rolling: ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Powell's tone is perfection: he lets Trump (and toady Sen. Tim Scott [R-S.C.]) that he will not suffer fools. With a tut-tut shake of his head Powell quietly but firmly dismissed Trump as a blithering idiot. BTW, the funds to renovate or build on Federal Reserve properties come from its own sources, not from taxpayer resources. ~~~

~~~ Kevin Breuninger of CNBC: “... Donald Trump and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell went back and forth in front of the press Thursday over Trump’s claims about cost overruns at the Fed headquarters in Washington. The stunning side-by-side took place as Trump began a rare tour of the Fed building, in what was widely seen as the latest chapter in his pressure campaign to get Powell to lower interest rates or resign as the central bank chairman. But Trump also suggested that he was abandoning any consideration of firing Powell, despite floating that unprecedented and legally contested idea earlier this month.... Trump asserted that construction costs for the ongoing renovation of the two Fed buildings have topped $3.1 billion. 'I haven’t heard that from anybody,' Powell replied. He said Trump was adding in the costs for a third government building, which was 'built five years ago.'” ~~~

     ~~~ Erica Green of the New York Times: “Mr. Trump tried to get in the last word: 'It’s part of the overall work.' But Mr. Powell stood his ground. 'It’s not new,' he said, as the president kept his face toward the cameras and changed the subject. It was a remarkable scene. Mr. Trump, who is used to world leaders bowing down to him and cabinet members fawning over him, has rarely encountered a top official challenging him in public — in front of television cameras, no less — let alone telling him he was wrong.... Mr. Trump’s decision to see the building himself was a marked escalation [of his campaign against Mr. Powell], at a time when he appeared desperate to distract from headlines about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. The president, who likes to boast about his expertise in construction and takes pride in his record as a real-estate developer, could not prove that there were excessive costs.”

Signing an Executive Order against the Homeless. Dani Anguiano & Sam Levin of the Guardian: “The federal government is seeking to crack down on homelessness in the US, with Donald Trump issuing an executive order to push local governments to remove unhoused people from the streets. The order the US president signed on Thursday will seek the 'reversal of federal or state judicial precedents and the termination of consent decrees' that restrict local governments’ ability to force people into treatment for mental health, and redirect funds to support rehabilitation and treatment. The order aims to 'restore public order', saying 'endemic vagrancy, disorderly behavior, sudden confrontations, and violent attacks have made our cities unsafe', according to the order. The action comes as the homelessness crisis in the US has significantly worsened in recent years driven by a widespread shortage of affordable housing.... 'Today’s executive orders, combined with Maga’s budget cuts for housing and healthcare, will increase the number of people forced to live in tents, in their cars, and on the streets. This order does nothing to lower the cost of housing or help people make ends meet,' said Jesse Rabinowitz of the National Homelessness Law Center.” 

Signing an Executive Order for the Bros. Ralph Russo of the New York Times: “Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday that is intended to bring order and stability to college sports, though NCAA and conference leaders still stressed that federal legislation is needed to address myriad issues schools and athletes are facing.... The executive order highlights many of the same goals that were in a draft version of the executive order obtained by The Athletic last week: protecting women’s and Olympic sports; addressing the employment status of college athletes and antitrust issues that have pulled the NCAA and conferences into constant litigation.... The order was announced by the White House a day after it became apparent Congress was still a ways away from passing a bill to help regulate college sports and the way athletes can be compensated. The SCORE Act, which would help regulate college sports and how athletes are compensated by schools, made it through two Republican-led House committees on partisan lines Wednesday. No college sports bill has ever gotten so far.” The NPR story is here; thanks to Ken W. for the link.

“Investigating” Obama, et al. Glenn Thrush & Alan Feuer of the New York Times: “The Justice Department announced on Wednesday the formation of a task force to look into unsubstantiated allegations by ... [Donald] Trump that President Barack Obama and his aides ordered an investigation into the 2016 Trump campaign’s connections to Russia to destroy him. The move was posted in an ambiguous, bare-bones statement on the department’s website. It demonstrated Mr. Trump’s determination to deploy the levers of federal law enforcement to pursue a campaign of retribution and self-vindication against those who once sought to hold him accountable. It also represented yet another Trump attempt to pivot back to the attack, away from the political morass of the Jeffrey Epstein files, by targeting Mr. Obama.... The creation of a so-called strike force came days after the director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, released documents that she said proved top Obama administration officials carried out a “treasonous conspiracy.” That assertion was contradicted by a Senate Intelligence Committee review, which found significant evidence of Russian interference in the 2016 election and was led in part by Secretary of State Marco Rubio when he served in the Senate.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Blondie Is Annoyed. Glenn Thrush & Julian Barnes of the New York Times: “Ms. Bondi was given little warning the director of national intelligence was about to demand she investigate one of Mr. Trump’s most longstanding grievances: claims without evidence that the Obama administration overstated Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election in order to undermine him. Ms. Bondi, fresh off a nasty fight with a top F.B.I. official over who was responsible for the political mess around the Epstein case, felt blindsided and annoyed.... Ms. Bondi’s staff scrambled for a solution that would satisfy Mr. Trump while not committing the department to a tit-for-tat Obama investigation.... Ms. Bondi’s deputies posted an ambiguous, four-paragraph statement on the department’s website that announced the formation of what they described as a 'strike force' to look into the Gabbard accusations.” ~~~

~~~ Jeffrey Toobin in a New York Times op-ed: Donald “Trump believes that President Barack Obama committed treason, a crime that may be punishable by death. Seeking a distraction from his current political travails, Mr. Trump is attempting to relitigate the nearly decade-old controversy over Russian involvement in the 2016 election. Mr. Trump is wrong on the facts and the law, and his sensational allegation serves only to demonstrate how completely he has degraded contemporary political discourse.... President Trump’s history of intemperate remarks has earned him a perverse kind of immunity; the more outrageous his statement, the faster it is often dismissed. But Mr. Trump doesn’t deserve this bloviator’s privilege. He’s not just the president..., he’s the overseer of an unusually compliant Justice Department, and his offhand condemnation of his predecessor is as significant as it is chilling.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I see this "distraction" as a lot worse than Toobin does. Only in a thoroughly corrupt, lawless dictatorship does the tyrant cook up obviously false charges to threaten his predecessor with death. 

Travelling to Scotland. Alexandra Hutzler of ABC News: "... Donald Trump will travel to Scotland on Friday to visit both his Turnberry and Aberdeen golf properties. Trump is also expected to meet with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to discuss trade and refine a deal they announced in June to slash tariffs and expand market access between the two countries. The trip abroad, which the White House described as a "working visit," comes at a particularly fraught moment in Trump's second term, as he faces questions from his supporters over his administration's handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files." ~~~

     ~~~ AND, as RAS pointed out last night, the Scots know how to write headlines.

With $16MM++ Quid in Hand, FCC Delivers the Quo. Benjamin Mullin of the New York Times: “The Federal Communications Commission said Thursday that it would allow Paramount to merge with the Hollywood studio Skydance, clearing the way for one of the most highly scrutinized media deals in the last decade. Brendan Carr, the chairman of the F.C.C., said in a statement that the agency had approved the deal after receiving assurances from Skydance that the new company would be committed to unbiased journalism and would not establish programs related to diversity, equity and inclusion. 'Americans no longer trust the legacy national news media to report fully, accurately and fairly,' Mr. Carr said in the statement. 'It is time for a change. That is why I welcome Skydance’s commitment to make significant changes at the once storied CBS broadcast network.'... Anna M. Gomez, a Democratic commissioner on the F.C.C., said in a statement that the agency had used 'its vast power to pressure Paramount to broker a private legal settlement and further erode press freedom.... Even more alarming, it is now imposing never-before-seen controls over newsroom decisions and editorial judgment, in direct violation of the First Amendment and the law.'...” Here's the AP's report. Here's the CBS News story (better check it for DEI content). ~~~

~~~ BUT. Paul Dallison of Politico: “After a two-year break, 'South Park' returned to TV on Wednesday night with an explosive episode aimed squarely at Donald Trump that depicted the president in bed with Satan and referenced Jeffrey Epstein. The start of the new season of 'South Park' was delayed by several weeks while the Paramount network secured a deal worth $1.5 billion with the show’s creators for the streaming rights. Paramount is the owner of CBS, which has been firmly in Trump’s crosshairs.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Alex Griffing of Mediaite: “The Trump White House hit back at South Park after the long-running satire program pulled absolutely no punches in skewering ... Donald Trump and its corporate owners, Paramount, in their season 27 premiere on Wednesday night. 'The Left’s hypocrisy truly has no end — for years they have come after South Park for what they labeled as “offense” [sic] content, but suddenly they are praising the show,' Trump White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers told Rolling Stone in a statement.... South Park sparked headlines across the media on Thursday for its depiction of a depraved and lawless Trump as president, in an episode that skewered everything from Trump defunding NPR to his propensity for suing critics to his embrace of devout Christians while not personally adhering to social conservative values. [The show's creators Trey] Parker and [Matt] Stone also explicitly roasted Paramount for settling a recent lawsuit with Trump and for cancelling late-night host Stephen Colbert, which many critics saw as part of an effort to appease Trump to get Paramount’s merger with Skydance approved.” (Also linked yesterday.) 

Tracey Tully & Jonah Bromwich of the New York Times: “The Justice Department on Thursday cleared the way for Alina Habba to remain in her role as the top federal prosecutor in New Jersey. Ms. Habba’s tenure as interim U.S. attorney was set to expire on Friday. But she announced on social media on Thursday that she would be New Jersey’s acting U.S. attorney. The decision will allow Ms. Habba to lead the New Jersey office for at least the next 210 days.... [Donald] Trump had previously nominated Ms. Habba to be U.S. attorney in a permanent capacity, which under the law would have precluded her from serving as acting U.S. attorney. But a spokesman for the Justice Department said Thursday that the White House had withdrawn her nomination, allowing her to serve as acting U.S. attorney.... The sudden announcement for now ends a days-long standoff between officials in Washington and federal judges in New Jersey that had caused chaos in the prosecutor’s office, with each abrupt development leaving it more unclear who would lead in the weeks to come.” The link appears to be a gift link. ~~~

     ~~~ Ry Rivard & Kyle Cheney of Politico: “The Trump administration believes it has found a workaround to keep the president’s former personal lawyer Alina Habba as New Jersey’s U.S. Attorney and outflank federal judges who sought to replace her. It’s the latest move by the administration to put an ally of the president in a top law enforcement role and appears to circumvent the traditional role of the Senate in approving key administration officials. As part of the gambit, a Justice Department official described a process that involves ... Donald Trump withdrawing Habba’s nomination to permanently take the post. Then, Attorney General Pam Bondi would appoint Habba as First Assistant U.S. Attorney — typically the second-ranking official in the office. Because the U.S. attorney’s post is vacant, Habba would automatically fill the role on a temporary basis; she can’t simultaneously be the president’s nominee and serve as acting in this way.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: This is quite similar to the stunt Trump & the DOJ pulled when judges refused to appoint Trump's unconfirmed pick for U.S. attorney in the Northern District of New York. One may call these "workarounds," as Rivard & Cheney do, but the effect is to remove a powerful law enforcement authority from the checks and balances that Congress (via advise and consent) and the judiciary (interim appointments) are meant to impose upon the executive. So once again -- adios, Constitution; au revoir, rule of law.

Ryan Reilly of NBC News: Attorney General Pam Bondi abruptly fired, without explanation, Assistant U.S. Attorney Mike Gordon, who had been senior trial counsel in the Capitol Siege Section of the U.S. Attorney's Office in Washington, which prosecuted alleged rioters involved in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.... At the time of his firing, Gordon had long been working on other cases back home in Florida.... Just two days before he was fired, he'd received an "outstanding" rating on his performance review. Now, along with two other recently fired Justice Department employees, Gordon is ... suing the Trump administration late Thursday over their dismissals. The suit argues that the normal procedures federal employees are expected to go through to address their grievances — the Merit Systems Protection Board — are fundamentally broken because of the Trump administration's actions.... Gordon filed the lawsuit alongside Patricia Hartman, who was a top spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia, and Joseph Tirrell, who was director of the Departmental Ethics Office, before the Trump administration dismissed them this year." ~~~

Donald Trump has taken a page right out of Kafka’s playbook. He argues that people are forced to go to the M.S.P.B. to contest his nakedly political and illegal firings, and then he handicaps the M.S.P.B. to prevent them from adjudicating those cases. -- Norm Eisen ~~~

~~~ Eileen Sullivan of the New York Times: “The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s ousted chief operating officer sued the Trump administration on Thursday in federal court, making a legal argument that could set a course for other fired government workers seeking reinstatement. The former FEMA official, Mary Comans, argues that the administrative body designated to hear such cases, called the Merit System Protections Board, has become so dysfunctional under the Trump administration that it is not a viable option for her to make her case. As a result, her lawyers say, a federal judge should hear her argument that ... [Donald] Trump fired her unlawfully and in violation of longstanding civil service protections. Fired employees have struggled to get a judge to hear their cases because Congress set up a separate system to referee such employment disputes. Ms. Comans first filed a complaint with the Merit System Protections Board in March after she was dismissed. But now that board is unable to make decisions because it lacks a quorum since Mr. Trump fired one of the members.”

Dan Lamothe & John Hudson of the Washington Post: “The Pentagon’s independent watchdog has received evidence that messages from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s Signal account previewing a U.S. bombing campaign in Yemen were derived from a classified email labeled 'SECRET/NOFORN,' people familiar with the matter said. The revelation appears to contradict long-standing claims by the Trump administration that no classified information was divulged in unclassified group chats that critics have called a significant security breach.... The strike plans had been shared in a classified email with more than a dozen defense officials by Gen. Michael 'Erik' Kurilla, the top commander overseeing U.S. military operations in the Middle East, and then were posted in the unclassified group chats by an account affiliated with Hegseth on March 15, shortly before the United States began attacking Houthi militants.... The 'SECRET' classification of Kurilla’s email ... denoted that the information was classified at a level at which unauthorized disclosure could be expected to cause serious damage to national security. The 'NOFORN' label means it also was not meant for anyone who is a foreign national, including senior officials of close allies of the United States.” (Also linked yesterday.) 

Julie Turkewitz, et al., of the New York Times: “When the State Department secured the release of 10 Americans and permanent legal residents from a Venezuela prison last week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio hailed the action as part of an effort to safeguard the well-being of Americans unjustly held abroad. But one of the men released from the prison, an American-Venezuelan dual national named Dahud Hanid Ortiz, had been convicted in Venezuela for the murder of three people in Spain in 2016.... Mr. Hanid Ortiz, 54, had served 19 years in the in United States Army ... and had been awarded a Purple Heart for injuries received in Iraq. He had multiple deployments and suffered physical and mental injuries as a result of his service, according to the Army. He was later dismissed from the military after pleading guilty to fraud and larceny. Then, in 2023, he was sentenced to 30 years in prison for a triple homicide committed in Madrid in 2016.... Mr. Hanid Ortiz arrived Friday in the United States, but it is not clear if he is free or in U.S. custody....” A man Mr. Hanid Ortiz intended to murder said he now fears for his life. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: It doesn't take long to get the impression that the people on Trump's team pay little attention to what they're doing and don't give a rat's ass about the consequences their actions may have for other people. Maybe Marco's excuse is that he has at least four administrative jobs and doesn't have time to for any of them.

Rebecca Beitsch of the Hill: “The Senate on Thursday advanced the controversial nomination of Emil Bove, teeing up a final vote on his lifetime appointment to an appeals court. Bove, who is currently serving in the No. 3 role at the Justice Department, has been nominated by ... [Donald] Trump for a judgeship on the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals. The Senate voted 50-48 to limit debate on his nomination. Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) were the only GOP members to vote against advancing Bove. Bove has been embroiled in controversy since the start of the Trump administration.” 

Marie: I hope this works out, but there's plenty of reason to doubt that it will: ~~~

     ~~~ Catie Edmondson of the New York Times: “After Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, the top Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, cast the tiebreaking vote on Thursday to advance ... [Donald] Trump’s nominee for American ambassador to the United Nations to the floor, she ... [said p]art of her decision to vote Michael Waltz’s nomination out of the panel ... was that he 'represents a moderating force with a distinguished record of military service and an extensive background in national security policymaking.'... [Also, i]n exchange for her vote, she said she had won an assurance from officials that the administration would release $75 million it had frozen for the World Food Program and the International Organization on Migration. That includes $50 million for disaster relief in Haiti, including 'lifesaving food for 250,000 individuals at risk of extreme/acute malnutrition' as well as public health programs, according to her office. The other $25 million was for food distribution efforts in Nigeria.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

    ~~~ Now let's see what happened to another gullible lady senator -- Lisa Murkowski -- when she made a deal with the Trump administration. digby cites the New Republic: “'I feel cheated,' Murkowski told the Anchorage Daily News Friday. “I feel like we made a deal and then hours later, a deal was made to somebody else.' Ahead of the bill’s passage earlier this month, Murkowski had co-sponsored an amendment to ease the phaseout of tax credits for solar and wind energy under the Biden-era Inflation Reduction Act.... Trump threw a wrench in that agreement Friday when he issued an executive order to  'end market distorting subsidies; for green energy projects. The order directs Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to take actions to 'strictly enforce the termination of the clean electricity production and investment tax credits.' Now Murkowski claims that she and her pals were duped.... She torched Trump’s order as 'reckless,' claiming that it directly 'goes against' what he signed into law earlier this month with the budget.” Thanks to RAS for the link. (Also linked yesterday.) 

Jennifer Bendery & Igor Bobic of the Huffington Post: “Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) admitted Thursday that he made 'a mistake' by voting to confirm Josh Divine, a 35-year-old archconservative with a long record of litigation against abortion rights, to a lifetime federal judgeship. King told HuffPost that he voted Tuesday to confirm Divine after talking to Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), who gave Divine 'a strong reference.' Divine, who will now serve on a U.S. district court in Missouri, used to be Hawley’s chief counsel. 'I took Josh Hawley’s advice,' said the Maine senator. 'In retrospect, I think it was a mistake, from what I’ve learned about Mr. Divine since. But sometimes, you rely on your colleagues.'... King’s vote didn’t change the outcome of Divine’s confirmation, as he already had enough Republican votes to get through. But it’s an embarrassing misstep by the Maine senator, who otherwise caucuses with Democrats and strongly backs abortion rights.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Sorry, Angus. “I took Josh Hawley’s advice” is never an excuse for anything.

Theodoric Meyer of the Washington Post: “The Senate took a tentative first step this week toward striking a deal to avoid a government shutdown this fall — but the Trump administration’s plan to claw back more federal spending is threatening to blow up bipartisan negotiations. Republicans in Congress last week approved ... Donald Trump’s request to cancel $9 billion in foreign aid and funding for public broadcasting, giving the administration a victory in its ongoing battle with lawmakers over the power of the purse. The White House has signaled that it plans to ask Congress to rescind more money soon. That prospect is causing anxiety for lawmakers attempting to hammer out a spending deal for the next fiscal year and avoid a government shutdown starting Oct. 1. The White House needs Democrats to sign on to a deal in a closely divided Senate.”

Chief John & the Masked Supremes. Chris Geidner, the Law Dork: “On Wednesday night, Chief Justice John Roberts made clear that he and his band of conservative justices are little different than the masked ICE agents terrorizing neighborhoods, courtrooms, and metro stops. As Justice Elena Kagan wrote in dissent in another case over ... Donald Trump’s efforts to fire officials in ways that violate federal law, 'Once again, this Court uses its emergency docket to destroy the independence of an independent agency, as established by Congress.' Like the masked ICE agents, the Republican appointees of the Supreme Court are fine upending law — but they would prefer to do so in nameless orders without the accountability the legal system is supposed to provide.” (Also linked yesterday.) 

Alexandra Alter of the New York Times: “Former President Joe Biden is writing a memoir about his time in the White House. The book, which doesn’t yet have a title or a publication date, was acquired by Little, Brown & Co., an imprint within Hachette, in an auction, according to industry executives familiar with the deal. News of the book’s acquisition for a roughly $10 million advance was first reported in The Wall Street Journal. Biden, 82, who was diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer in May, has spoken about the book at public events in recent months, and indicated that he feels intense pressure to finish it quickly, as he contends with illness.”

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Texas. David Goodman of the New York Times: “Scores of people from across Texas packed into the State Capitol in Austin on Thursday to testify against a Republican plan, pushed by ... [Donald] Trump, to redraw congressional districts and protect the party’s slender majority in the U.S. House. The public hearing, before a 21-member select committee of the Texas House on redistricting, was the first since Gov. Greg Abbott directed state lawmakers to redraw congressional lines during a 30-day special session of the Legislature. No maps with new district lines have been publicly proposed yet by Republican leaders in the Legislature, and none were expected before the initial public hearings. Two more such hearings are set for Houston on Saturday and the Dallas area next Tuesday. So those testifying on Thursday were left to comment on the idea of a rare mid-decade redistricting, and Mr. Trump’s stated wish that Texas Republicans should produce maps that create five additional Republican seats ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. The state has 38 congressional seats, 25 of which are currently held by Republicans.” The Texas Tribune story is here.

Marie: I don't have time to look up how many ways Ken Paxton is an (alleged!) criminal and all-around dirty rotten scoundrel. But there is a lot of evidence pointing in those directions. Here are some more: ~~~

At a time when millions of Americans are fighting to survive under high home mortgage rates, Ken Paxton lied to banks to amass a property empire making him a multimillionaire while on a government salary. -- Matt Mackowiak, Sen. John Cornyn’s (R-Texas) campaign adviser, in a statement 

~~~ Brian Slodysko of the AP: “Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and his wife, Angela, are longtime owners of a $1.5 million house in a gated community outside Dallas. In 2015, they snapped up a second home in Austin. Then another. The problem: Mortgages signed by the Paxtons contained inaccurate statements declaring that each of those three houses was their primary residence, enabling the now-estranged couple to improperly lock in low interest rates, according to an Associated Press review of public records. The lower rates will save the Paxtons tens of thousands of dollars in payments over the life of the loan, legal experts say. The records also revealed that the Paxtons routinely flouted lending agreements on some of their other properties. It is a federal and state crime to knowingly make false statements on mortgage documents. Violating the terms of a mortgage could allow lenders recourse to seek full payment of a loan, according to legal experts.” Paxton is challenging Sen. John Cornyn for his Senate seat. The New York Times story is here.

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Israel/Palestine. Rawan Ahmad, et al., of the New York Times: “Gaza’s hospitals have struggled since early in the war to cope with the influx of Palestinians injured and maimed by Israeli airstrikes and, more recently, by shootings meant to disperse desperate crowds as they surge toward food convoys or head to aid distribution sites. Now, according to doctors in the territory, an increasing number of their patients are suffering — and dying — from starvation.... The World Food Program, an arm of the United Nations, said this week that the hunger crisis in Gaza had reached 'new and astonishing levels of desperation, with a third of the population not eating for multiple days in a row.'... Hollow-eyed, skeletal children languish on hospital beds or are cared for by parents, who gaze helplessly at protruding ribs and shoulder blades, and emaciated limbs resembling brittle sticks. The haunting scenes are a stark contrast to the plenty that exists just a few miles away, across the borders with Israel and Egypt.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Palestine/France. Roger Cohen of the New York Times: “President Emmanuel Macron announced late Thursday that France would recognize the state of Palestine as part of 'its historical commitment to a just and durable peace in the Middle East.' In a surprise statement on X that followed months of hints and hesitations over possible French recognition of a Palestinian state, he said that he would make a formal announcement to that effect at the United Nations General Assembly in September in New York.” The AP's story is here.