The Conversation -- April 29, 2025
The Lyin' King. Linda Qiu of the New York Times: Donald "Trump ... has moved at a dizzying pace in the first 100 days of his term, issuing a barrage of executive actions and seeking to expand the scope of his presidential power. Underlying those efforts is a nonstop distortion of basic facts as Mr. Trump has sought to reconfigure the global economy, reshape the federal government and restrict immigration. To justify his executive actions and policies, Mr. Trump has relied on false, misleading and hyperbolic claims, deflecting blame for catastrophes, boasting about purported achievements and trying to seek leverage with Ukraine in negotiating a peace deal with Russia. Here is a fact-check of Mr. Trump's often-repeated claims."
McScrooge McDonald, the Grouch Who Stole Christmas. Daisuke Wakabayashi of the New York Times: Donald "Trump's China tariffs are threatening Christmas. Toy makers, children's shops and specialty retailers are pausing orders for the winter holidays as the import taxes cascade through supply chains. Factories in China produce nearly 80 percent of all toys and 90 percent of Christmas goods sold in America. The production of toys, Christmas trees and decorations is usually in full swing by now. It takes four to five months to manufacture, package and ship products to the United States. Mr. Trump's 145 percent tariffs have caused a drastic markup in costs for American companies. Most of the entrepreneurs that have shared their plans with The New York Times have not yet canceled their orders. They hope that the president will back away from the tariff brinkmanship. But the alarm in the industry is palpable, with the companies predicting product shortages and higher prices. Some business owners, citing how crucial holiday sales are to their bottom lines, are consulting bankruptcy lawyers."
Lauren Gurley of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump signed an executive order Tuesday afternoon softening tariffs on imported car and car parts, in a reprieve to auto-manufacturers who had protested the levies. While 25 percent taxes will remain on imported vehicles, the White House is changing the tariffs to ensure that they are not 'stacked' on top of other levies, such as for the steel and aluminum commonly used in automobiles, according to senior Commerce Department officials. Auto companies that finish building cars in the United States will also get some relief from tariffs on imported auto parts for two years."
Last week, RAS suggested the following very good idea. It seems Trump the Tariff King doesn't care for it: ~~~
~~~ Shawn McCreesh & Karen Weise of the New York Times: "Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, on Tuesday accused the online retail giant [Amazon] of being 'hostile and political,' citing a report -- disputed by Amazon -- from Punchbowl News saying that the company would start displaying the exact cost of tariff-related price increases alongside its products. Displaying the import fees would have made clear to American consumers that they are shouldering the cost of ... [Donald] Trump's tariff policies rather than China, as he and his top officials have often claimed would [MB: not!] be the case. After the report was published, Mr. Trump spoke about it over the phone with Jeff Bezos, Amazon's founder, according to three people familiar with the exchange. An Amazon spokesman said the company had considered a similar idea, but only on part of its site, Amazon Haul, which competes with Temu, a Chinese retailer. Temu primarily ships directly to consumers and has begun displaying 'import charges' to reflect the end of a customs loophole that had exempted low-priced items from tariffs." CNBC's report is here.
It Ain't Over Till It's Over. Stacy Cowley of the New York Times: "Federal judges have again intervened to temporarily stave off mass layoffs at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the watchdog agency that oversees banks and enforces a wide range of consumer protection laws. On Monday afternoon, a three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia issued a 2-to-1 ruling barring the latest attempt by Trump officials to fire nearly 1,500 workers, around 90 percent of the agency's staff." Cowley goes through the back-and-forth of the cases related to Russell Vought's attempts to get rid of the CFPB & fight efforts to save it in court.
Oh, you think Trump is concerned about antisemitism? ~~~
~~~ Katie Glueck & Tyler Pager of the New York Times: "The Trump administration has begun firing at least some of former President Joseph R. Biden Jr.'s appointees to the board that oversees the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, including Douglas Emhoff, the husband of former Vice President Kamala Harris, and other senior Biden White House officials. 'Today, I was informed of my removal from the United States Holocaust Memorial Council,' Mr. Emhoff said in a statement on Tuesday. 'Holocaust remembrance and education should never be politicized. To turn one of the worst atrocities in history into a wedge issue is dangerous -- and it dishonors the memory of six million Jews murdered by Nazis that this museum was created to preserve.' Mr. Emhoff is Jewish and an outspoken critic of the rise in antisemitism. His appointment to the council was announced in January; presidential appointments are typically five-year terms. The other officials who were dismissed include Ron Klain, Mr. Biden's first chief of staff; Tom Perez, the former labor secretary and senior adviser to Mr. Biden; Susan Rice, the national security adviser to former President Barack Obama and Mr. Biden's top domestic policy adviser who led a major national strategic effort to counter antisemitism; and Anthony Bernal, a senior adviser to Jill Biden...."
Benjamin Mullin of the New York Times: "The Corporation for Public Broadcasting sued the Trump administration on Tuesday, accusing it of illegally trying to fire three members of the company's board. In the lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court in Washington, the media organization said the White House emailed three of the company's five directors on Monday, telling them that their positions had been terminated. The administration did not offer any justification for the dismissals. The lawsuit argues that President Trump does not have the authority to fire directors from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which an act of Congress create more than a half-century ago. The suit asks the federal court to block the firings."
Maxine Joselow & Amudalat Ajasa of the Washington Post: "The Environmental Protection Agency plans to cancel a total of 781 grants issued under President Joe Biden, EPA lawyers wrote in a little-noticed court filing last week, nearly twice the number previously reported. The filing in the case Woonasquatucket River Watershed Council v. Department of Agriculture marks the first time the agency has publicly acknowledged the total number of grants set for termination, which includes all of its environmental justice grants. It comes amid ongoing court fights over whether the EPA has violated its legal obligations when clawing back the funds."
Marie: Nothing wrong with me. I'm fine, thanks. Just fine. Here is an entry I accidentally posted on the page for March 31. It merits reading despite my remarkable goof-up: ~~~
"A Rare Moment." Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "After a routine Supreme Court argument on Wednesday, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. asked the lawyer who had represented the government to return to the lectern. 'You have just presented your 160th argument before this court, and I understand it is intended to be your last,' the chief justice told the lawyer, Edwin S. Kneedler, who is retiring as a deputy solicitor general. 'That is the record for modern times.' Chief Justice Roberts talked a little more, with affection and high praise, thanking Mr. Kneedler for his 'extraordinary care and professionalism.'... Applause burst out in the courtroom, and that led to a standing ovation for Mr. Kneedler, with the justices joining, too. 'It was a rare moment of unanimity and spontaneous joy from all nine justices on the bench,' said Richard Lazarus, a law professor at Harvard. 'They were all beaming.' Kannon Shanmugam, a veteran Supreme Court lawyer, said it was 'one of the most electric moments I've ever seen in the courtroom.'
"The tribute to Mr. Kneedler's candor and integrity came against the backdrop of a different kind of courtroom behavior. In the early months of the second Trump administration, its lawyers have been accused of gamesmanship, dishonesty and defiance, and have been fired for providing frank answers to judges. Mr. Kneedler presented a different model, former colleagues said. 'Ed is the embodiment of the government lawyer ideal -- one whose duty of candor to the court and interest in doing justice, not just winning a case, always carried the day,' said Gregory G. Garre, who served as solicitor general under President George W. Bush.... 'He would much rather get the law right at the risk of losing ... than win at the cost of misrepresenting the law.'"
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⭐Canada. Reversal of Fortunes. AP: "The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation projects that Prime Minister Mark Carney's Liberal Party has won Canada's federal election. The victory Monday capped a dramatic turnaround for the Liberals fueled by ... Donald Trump's threats to Canada's economy and sovereignty." This is part of a liveblog. ~~~
~~~ Update. Rob Gillies of the AP: "Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's Liberal Party has won the federal election, capping a stunning turnaround in fortunes fueled by ... Donald Trump's annexation threats and trade war. Carney's rival, populist Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre, was voted out of his seat in Parliament, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation projected Tuesday. The loss of his seat representing his Ottawa district in Monday's election capped a swift decline in fortunes for the firebrand Poilievre, who a few months ago appeared to be a shoo-in to become Canada's next prime minister and shepherd the Conservatives back into power for the first time in a decade. But then Trump launched a trade war with Canada and suggested the country should become the 51st state, outraging voters and upending the election."
~~~ Matina Stevis-Gridneff of the New York Times: "Canada's Liberal Party won Monday's national elections with voters giving a full term as prime minister to Mark Carney, according to ... CBC/Radio Canada, choosing a seasoned economist and policymaker to guide their country through turbulent times. The full results should be available later Monday or early Tuesday. But the voters' decision sealed a stunning turnaround for the Liberal Party that just months ago seemed all but certain to lose to the Conservative Party, led by the career politician Pierre Poilievre. Mr. Carney has been prime minister since March, when former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stepped down. The election has been remarkable in many ways, with candidates and many voters describing it as the most important vote in their lifetimes. It has been dominated by ... [Donald] Trump and his relentless focus on Canada, America's closest ally and trading partner. Mr. Trump has imposed tariffs on Canadian goods, pushing it toward a recession, and repeatedly threatened to annex it as the 51st state." This is the pinned item on a liveblog. Update: Here's the full article. ~~~
~~~ Absolutely. Cannot. STFU. Matina Stevis-Gridneff of the New York Times: Donald "Trump has put his thumb on Canada's pivotal national election taking place Monday in an extraordinary way, repeating his desire to make the country the 51st U.S. state. On Monday morning, just as polls were opening in Canada, he insisted, in a post on Truth Social, that Canadians should 'vote for the man' who would make their country part of the United States. He also called Canada 'a beautiful landmass' and referred to the border between the two countries as an 'artificially drawn line from many years ago.'... Observers struggled to interpret Mr. Trump's Monday missive. Some felt it was veiled support for Pierre Poilievre, the Conservative Party leader, who is seen as a close ideological ally of Mr. Trump and has been criticized for being too Trump-like by many voters. Others thought Mr. Trump's post favored -- perhaps inadvertently -- Mark Carney, the current prime minister and Liberal leader, who's shaped his campaign on an anti-Trump platform." (Also linked yesterday.)
A Hundred Days of Ineptitude.
I run the country and the world. -- Donald Trump to Atlantic reporters ~~~
Apparently you don't run Canada, Von Clownstick. -- Marie
~~~ Marie: I was hoping laura h. would post the following two gift links, and she did. Like laura, I have not read either article: ~~~
~~~ Atlantic Editor Jeffrey Goldberg introduces the issue's main story, by Ashley Parker & Michael Scherer, previously of the Washington Post: "As one mightexpect, they have developed complicated and intriguing ideas about the brain of Donald Trump and the nature of Trumpism. A simple question animates their story: How did Trump rise from political ruin in 2021 to seize the commanding heights of government and the world economy?... Trump himself has a capacious understanding of his power. 'The first time, I had two things to do -- run the country and survive; I had all these crooked guys,' he told Michael and Ashley. He was referring, it seems, to anyone who'd investigated him. 'And the second time,' he added, 'I run the country and the world.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Ashley Parker & Michael Scherer of the Atlantic: "Donald Trump believes he's invincible. But the cracks are beginning to show." The body of the story, which takes awhile to get to, looks worth a read. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ For funnier details on how Parker & Scherer scored the interview with Trump, see David Gimour of Mediaite. Akhilleus' frequent references to Trump's Fat Ass figure in. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Steve M., as he always does, sees things differently, and we're the better for it: "Here's what's most striking about this story: Its authors [Parker & Scherer] are remarkably eager to to tell us how they were jerked around by Trump, and how they responded by writing exactly the story he asked them to write." (Also linked yesterday.)
Jonathan Swan & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "From his first hours in office, [Donald Trump] has relentlessly driven domestic, economic and foreign policy in risky new directions; taken a chain saw to the federal work force; challenged the authority of the courts; and sought to purge liberal influence from government, education and culture. The result has been a chaotic blur of new initiatives; judicial, political and economic backlash; and neck-snapping reversals. It has tested the nation's ability to process disruption -- and of American democracy's resilience in the face of a president whose views of his power have prompted warnings of creeping authoritarianism. The consuming conflicts of one day regularly give way to wholly new ones with stunning rapidity: pardoning Jan. 6 rioters, stripping out-of-favor officials and former advisers of security details, proposing to turn Gaza into a resort town and Canada into a 51st state, blaming a plane crash on diversity initiatives, presiding over a contentious cabinet meeting with Elon Musk, installing his personal lawyers to run the Justice Department, firing inspectors general, closing down U.S.A.I.D., igniting a global trade war, berating Ukraine's president in the Oval Office, deporting migrants without due process and edging toward a constitutional crisis by defying judges on multiple occasions.... Here's a deeper look at how Mr. Trump has already made his mark."
While some pundits have pointed out that negative polls are not likely to cause Trump to alter his ludicrous policies, Steve Benen of MSNBC writes, "He's actually lashing out at pollsters in new and ridiculous ways.... As this week got underway, Trump, shortly before sunrise, published an item to his social media platform that read, 'We don't have a Free and Fair "Press" in this Country anymore. We have a Press that writes BAD STORIES, and CHEATS, BIG, ON POLLS. IT IS COMPROMISED AND CORRUPT. SAD!' That came shortly on the heels of a related item, in which he lashed out at 'FAKE POLLS FROM FAKE NEWS ORGANIZATIONS.' The president added, 'These people should be investigated for ELECTION FRAUD, and add in the FoxNews Pollster while you're at it.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: Benen's observations fit in neatly with those of Philip Bump, whose post was linked yesterday. There is always a question, I think, of whether or not Trump believes what his Bubble Buddies are telling him, right down to the Big Lie, or if he knows what's going on. My current guess is that Trump hovers between true delusion/paranoia and rational angst.
Trump Broke It. No One Can Fix It. Patricia Cohen of the New York Times: Donald "Trump has made clear his intent to smash the reigning global economic order. And in 100 days, he has made remarkable progress in accomplishing that goal. Mr. Trump has provoked a trade war, scrapped treaties and suggested that Washington might not defend Europe. He is also dismantling the governmental infrastructure that has provided the know-how and experience.... Even at this early stage, historians and political scientists agree that on some crucial counts, the changes wrought by Mr. Trump may be hard to reverse. Like the erosion of trust in the United States, a resource that took generations to build.... Allies are working to strike trade partnerships and build security alliances that exclude the United States. The European Union and South American countries recently created one of the world's largest trade zones. Canada is also negotiating to join Europe's military buildup..., while Britain and the European Union are working to finalize a defense pact. China ... is seeking to ... better position Beijing as the defender of free trade and the new leader of the global trading system."
The Corruption President*. Eric Lipton, et al., of the New York Times: "Mr. Trump's return to the White House has opened lucrative new pathways for him to cash in on his power, whether through his social media company or new overseas real estate deals. But none of the Trump family's other business endeavors pose conflicts of interest that compare to those that have emerged since the birth of World Liberty[, a shady cryptocurrency firm that a number of companies found too unethical to invest in]. The firm, largely owned by a Trump family corporate entity, has erased centuries-old presidential norms, eviscerating the boundary between private enterprise and government policy in a manner without precedent in modern American history. Mr. Trump is now not only a major crypto dealer; he is also the industry's top policy maker. So far in his second term, Mr. Trump has leveraged his presidential powers in ways that have benefited the industry -- and in some cases his own company -- even though he had spent years deriding crypto as a haven for drug dealers and scammers.... A Times examination of World Liberty's rapid ascent from fledgling startup to international force -- and Mr. Trump's conversion from crypto skeptic to industry cheerleader -- highlights the range of conflicts of interest trailing the company[.]:
Russell Contreras of Axios: "A majority of Americans say ... [Donald] Trump is a 'dangerous dictator' who poses a threat to democracy and believe he's overstepped his authority by actions such as the mass firing of federal employees, a new survey ... by the nonpartisan Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) ... says.... [Fifty-two percent] agreed with the provocative statement that Trump 'is a dangerous dictator whose power should be limited before he destroys American democracy,' the survey said."
Michelle Goldberg of the New York Times: "Trump's treatment of L.G.B.T. people should have been a lesson to anyone tempted to take his campaign against antisemitism seriously, when it is screamingly obvious that it's just a pretext to attack liberal institutions. Trump and his allies, after all, have mainstreamed antisemitism.... Elon Musk, to whom Trump has outsourced the remaking of the federal government, is perhaps the world's largest purveyor of antisemitic propaganda, thanks to his website X.... Just last month Leo Terrell, the head of Trump's antisemitism task force, shared a social media post by a prominent neo-Nazi gloating that Trump had the power to take away Senator Chuck Schumer's 'Jew card.'... Yet I've been astonished to learn that some [otherwise credible, learned] people believe that when the administration attacks academia for its purported antisemitism, it's acting in good faith.... It seems to me that there's [a] sort of derangement at play here, rooted in the way Israel's defenders conflate all but the mildest criticism of Israel with antisemitism."
Luke Broadwater & Zolan Kanno-Youngs of the New York Times: Donald "Trump signed three more executive orders on Monday.... One order directs Pam Bondi, the attorney general, and Kristi Noem, the secretary of homeland security, to publish a list of state and local jurisdictions that the Trump administration considers 'sanctuary cities.'... It calls for pursuing 'all necessary legal remedies and enforcement measures' against jurisdictions that continue to oppose the administration's immigration crackdown. A second order instructs the Trump administration to provide legal resources to police officers accused of wrongdoing...; [and] provide military equipment to local law enforcement.... A third executive order ... requires the Transportation Department to place any [truck] driver who cannot speak and read English 'out of service.'... One of the orders also could hinder undocumented immigrants from getting in-state tuition for higher education. It directed federal agencies to stop the enforcement of state and local laws 'that provide in-state higher education tuition to aliens but not to out-of-state American citizens.'" ~~~
~~~ Marie: That is pretty much the gist of the NYT story. Later, I noticed Akhilleus had written this: "Fat Hitler has ordered Drunk Pete and Eva Braun Bondi to come up with ways he can call out the military to attack Americans. Inside our borders!! News flash, dummkopf ... you can't. There's this little thing called Posse Commitatus. It's been US law since 1878. It says ixnay on using the military to enforce domestic policies.... This is true dictator shit...." Say what? I looked at the Times story again. Nothing about THAT! I checked the WashPo. Nothing about any of it. AP? Politico? Nope. Nope. So I checked the Mediaite report Akhilleus linked: ~~~
~~~ Charlie Nash of Mediaite: "... Donald Trump directed Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to determine how the U.S. military could be used for domestic law enforcement on Monday. [Nash cites Section 4 of the order:] '... (a) Within 90 days of the date of this order, the Attorney General and the Secretary of Defense, in consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security and the heads of agencies as appropriate, shall increase the provision of excess military and national security assets in local jurisdictions to assist State and local law enforcement. (b) Within 90 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of Defense, in coordination with the Attorney General, shall determine how military and national security assets, training, non-lethal capabilities, and personnel can most effectively be utilized to prevent crime.'" MB:I checked the order itself, and there it is. Why the Times & other major outlets didn't mention this is beyond me. Maybe they'll pick up on it later, but as of 7:00 am ET, they have not.
It wasn't just the bright blue suit & tie. Trump also fell asleep during Pope Francis' funeral. (In fact, it appears he often falls asleep during public events, including during his Cabinet meetings.) AND he was using his cell phone during the ceremony. Everything about that guy is, at best, an embarrassment. (Also linked yesterday.)
... the USA could become the fastest autocratizing country in contemporary history that does not involve a coup d'état and that the second Trump administration has already taken American democracy closer to a democratic breakdown. -- V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg, Sweden, abstract of article ~~~
~~~ How Little Marco Is Helping Trump Establish a Banana Republic. Eduardo Porter of the Washington Post: "When Secretary of State Marco Rubio shuttered the State Department's office in charge of human rights..., it looked at first blush like just another way the Trump administration was turning its back on the world.... Here is a different interpretation: Prior U.S. commitments to uphold human rights are getting in the way of ... Donald Trump's goals. Rubio, once an outspoken champion of upholding human rights around the world, is freeing the United States to become more like ... Nicolás Maduro's Venezuela.... Trump's eagerness to deport migrants to a Salvadoran gulag ... portends, in my view, a darker scenario: something that looks more like Venezuela under ... Maduro, where forced disappearances are the order of the day.... The list of abuses the State Department is reportedly removing from its annual reports on human rights around the world ... includes denying freedom of movement and peaceful assembly, retaining political prisoners without due process, forcibly returning a refugee or asylum-seeker to a home country where they may face torture or persecution, serious harassment of human rights organizations, and involuntary or coercive medical or psychological practices." ~~~
~~~ Marie: When Porter was an economics reporter for the NYT, I thought he didn't know much about macroeconomics. But I suspect his theory on Donald and Marco has legs. And I have to give Donald credit for seeing in Marco a weak guy who is easily manipulated and who has no principles he isn't willing to abandon for the smallest of personal advantages.
Sam Levine of the Guardian: "Donald Trump's appointees at the Department of Justice have removed all of the senior civil servants working as managers in the department's voting section and directed attorneys to dismiss all active cases, according to people familiar with the matter, part of a broader attack on the department's civil rights division. The moves come less than a month after Trump ally Harmeet Dhillon was confirmed to lead the civil rights division, created in 1957 and referred to as the 'crown jewel' of the justice department. In an unusual move, Dhillon sent out new 'mission statements' to the department's sections that made it clear the civil rights division was shifting its focus from protecting the civil rights of marginalized people to supporting Trump's priorities." ~~~
Now, over 100 attorneys decided that they'd rather not do what their job requires them to do, and I think that's fine.... We don't want people in the federal government who feel like it's their pet project to go persecute [police departments].... The job here is to enforce the federal civil rights laws, not woke ideology. -- Harmeet Dhillon, new head of the DOJ's civil rights division, to conservative commentator Glenn Beck
This is not simply a change in enforcement priorities -- the division has been turned on its head and is now being used as a weapon against the very communities it was established to protect. -- Vanita Gupta, head of the division during President Obama's administration ~~~
~~~ Devlin Barrett of the New York Times: "Hundreds of lawyers and other staff members are leaving the Justice Department's civil rights division, as veterans of the office say they have been driven out by Trump administration officials who want to drop its traditional work in order to aggressively pursue cases against the Ivy League, other schools and liberal cities. The wave of departures has only accelerated in recent days, as the administration reopened its 'deferred resignation program,' which would allow employees to resign but continue to be paid for a period of time. The offer, for those who work in the division, expires on Monday. More than 100 lawyers are expected to take it, on top of a raft of earlier departures, in what would amount to a decimation of the ranks of a crucial part of the Justice Department."
... But You Wouldn't Want to Work There. Ellen Nakashima & Hannah Natanson of the Washington Post: "National security agencies across the Trump administration are ramping up investigations into alleged leaks to the news media, in some cases using polygraph tests that current and former officials say are creating a climate of fear and intimidation. At FBI Director Kash Patel's direction, the bureau in recent weeks has begun administering polygraph tests to identify the source of information leaks, an FBI spokesperson said.... The ramp-up has been bolstered by Attorney General Pam Bondi's new legal guidelines that ... broaden the scope of potential criminal prosecution to leaks of not just classified material, but also 'privileged and other sensitive' information that the administration says is 'designed to sow chaos and distrust' in the government. But current and former officials note that the broader scope could include information that is simply embarrassing or seen as undermining the administration's views."
Brad Plumer & Rebecca Dzombak of the New York Times: "The Trump administration has dismissed the hundreds of scientists and experts who had been compiling the federal government's flagship report on how global warming is affecting the country. The move puts the future of the report, which is required by Congress and is known as the National Climate Assessment, into serious jeopardy, experts said. Since 2000, the federal government has published a comprehensive look every few years at how rising temperatures will affect human health, agriculture, fisheries, water supplies, transportation, energy production and other aspects of the U.S. economy. The last climate assessment came out in 2023 and is used by state and local governments as well as private companies to help prepare for the effects of heat waves, floods, droughts and other climate-related calamities. On Monday, researchers around the country who had begun work on the sixth national climate assessment, planned for early 2028, received an email informing them that the scope of the report 'is currently being re-evaluated' and that all contributors were being dismissed....
"Under the Trump administration, [the] process [of writing, compiling and reviewing the report] was already facing serious disruptions. This month, NASA canceled a major contract with ICF International, a consulting firm that had been supplying most of the technical support and staffing for the Global Change Research Program, which coordinates work among hundreds of contributors.... [Donald] Trump has frequently dismissed the risks of global warming." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Well, isn't that special. This is a task mandated by Congress. But who would sue to force the Trump administration to produce the report? The Congress? Hah! States who relied on the report? And how can the courts force the administration to assemble a credible report? It would be like trying to get a recalcitrant fifth-grader to write a passable report on the history of Peru or whatever. Not gonna happen.
Geoff Brumfiel & Jenna McLaughlin of NPR: "Two members of Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency were given accounts on classified networks that hold highly guarded details about America's nuclear weapons, two sources tell NPR. Luke Farritor, a 23-year-old former SpaceX intern, and Adam Ramada, a Miami-based venture capitalist, have had accounts on the computer systems for at least two weeks, according to the sources who also have access to the networks. Prior to their work at DOGE, neither Farritor nor Ramada appear to have had experience with either nuclear weapons or handling classified information. A spokesperson for the Department of Energy initially denied that Farritor and Ramada had accessed the networks.... In a second statement later Monday evening, the spokesperson clarified that the accounts had been created but said they were never used by the DOGE staffers."
Elon Uncovers Voter Fraud! A Noncitizen Voted for Trump. Ed Shanahan of the New York Times: "A 45-year-old Iraqi man [who lives in upstate New York] was charged on Monday with voting illegally in the 2020 presidential election, a prosecution that federal officials said had been assisted by Elon Musk's so-called Department of Government Efficiency.... The [Justice D]epartment did not respond to an inquiry about what form [DOGE's] help had taken.... [Donald] Trump has argued since 2020 that rampant voter fraud caused him to lose that year's election to President Joseph R. Biden Jr.... Court filings in a lawsuit suggest that [Akeel] Jamiel is a Trump supporter. It is illegal for noncitizens to vote in federal elections, and studies have found that the practice is virtually nonexistent. Still, Mr. Trump and his allies have long claimed that large numbers of noncitizens, including illegal immigrants, vote or try to vote in U.S. elections."
Oh, let's be real. Of course billionaires hang out together. They're a fun bunch and they have lots in common. Like lots of money. For instance, let's look at Jared Isaacman, the billonaire Trump picked to head NASA. Now, Trump himself may not have been a billionaire before he got into this cryptomeme scam thingee, but he is apparently a member of the club now. And Trump seems to have at least known of Isaacman for a long time: ~~~
~~~ Karen Friefeld of Reuters: "Donald Trump's nominee for NASA administrator, Jared Isaacman, was arrested on fraud charges in 2010 and faced lawsuits in two states for writing $2 million in bad checks to casinos, according to government records and court filings. Isaacman is a billionaire pilot and astronaut who founded the Shift4 Payments as a teenager and commanded the first civilian space crew in 2021 aboard a SpaceX capsule.... In a February 22, 2010 press release titled, 'Nevada Fugitive Captured at Canadian Border,' U.S. Customs and Border Protection said it arrested Isaacman on a warrant for alleged fraud at the Washington state line. He was taken to a county jail for extradition to Nevada, where Clark County, home to Las Vegas, had issued the felony warrant.... Isaacman said he resolved the matter in less than 24 hours and the charges were dismissed. The court records were sealed, he said....
[ALSO] "Court records from New Jersey and Connecticut filed in 2009 and 2010, respectively, allege the New Jersey native failed to pay casino debts. Civil cases were brought against him by Trump's now-defunct Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey and the Mohegan Sun in Connecticut, according to court documents. The Trump Taj Mahal sued Isaacman in July 2009 in connection with a line of credit he got in November 2005. Isaacman wrote four checks in 2008 for a total of $1 million but his bank account did not have the funds for them to be cashed, according to the complaint. The case was settled in 2011 for $650,000." Thanks to RAS for the lead. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ You may have inferred from that reference to SpaceX that Isaacman also hangs out with Elon. Well, yes, yes, he does. And they seem to do a lot of business together: ~~~
~~~ Mike Wall of Space.com: "Jared Isaacman..., [Donald] Trump's choice to lead NASA, keeps having to explain his ties to Elon Musk. The topic came up repeatedly during Isaacman's nomination hearing, which the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation held on April 9. Multiple Democratic senators pressed the 42-year-old billionaire on his relationship with the SpaceX chief.... [Sen. Ed] Markey [D-Mass.] cited potential conflict-of-interest concerns.... Isaacman, the senator claimed, has 'deep personal and financial ties' to Musk, who leads a company that competes for (and often gets) NASA launch contracts. There certainly are, or at least were, financial ties between the two billionaires: Isaacman funded and commanded two pioneering astronaut missions with SpaceX.... [Isaacman's responses were evasive. Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wa.)] noted that [Isaacman's company] Shift4 "maintains a financial relationship" with Starlink, a SpaceX subsidiary.... [Isaacman wrote in an ethics agreement] that, if confirmed as NASA chief, he would resign from his posts at Shift4 Payments...." (Also linked yesterday.)
Tom Jackman & Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: "Sen. Dick Durbin (Illinois), the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee ... accused Ed Martin Monday of dodging or giving false answers [under oath] to questions by a committee weighing his nomination as ... Donald Trump's pick to serve as U.S. attorney for D.C. -- such as by claiming he hadn't seen photographs of a man he praised who had posed as Adolf Hitler and made statements supporting Nazi ideology.... [Durbin] said in a statement that in answering roughly 500 written questions by committee members, 'Mr. Martin makes a number of false statements that are easily debunked and dodges at least 80 questions outright, such as by stating he did not 'recall' answers more than 39 times. Among questions Durbin posed was whether Martin had seen photos of Timothy Hale-Cusanelli, a pardoned Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot defendant, posing as Hitler while wearing a short mustache.... 'No,' Martin responded.... But in an interview Martin conducted with Hale-Cusanelli ... in July, Martin told him that prosecutors 'leaked a photo to say, ah, look, these people, these people, MAGA people are antisemitic. And the photo was of you... Not your best moment, but not illegal.'" ~~~
~~~ Marie: In fairness to Ed, it's very hard to pretend not to be antisemitic when Nazism is a feature of the Trump administration.
Yvonne Sanchez & Patrick Marley of the Washington Post: "Federal election officials are suggesting states must pledge to follow ... Donald Trump's directive curbing diversity, equity and inclusion programs as a condition for receiving $15 million in election security funding. The new requirement for the grants has sent Democratic secretaries of state around the nation scrambling to assess the financial, legal and operational implications of accepting the money from the independent, bipartisan U.S. Election Assistance Commission. The dispute is complicated by the vagueness of the revised federal grant agreement, which some state officials fear could be turned against them. The grant's terms tell states they must promise to follow federal antidiscrimination laws but cite an executive order from Trump on DEI that Democrats oppose."
Brooke Migdon of the Hill: "The Education Department said Monday it has found the University of Pennsylvania in violation of Title IX, the federal law against sex discrimination, for allowing transgender students to compete on its women's sports teams. The department said it had notified Penn President J. Larry Jameson of the finding and distributed a proposed resolution agreement to be signed within 10 days requiring the school to bar transgender athletes from women's athletic programs and send letters of apology to female athletes whose experiences have been 'marred by sex discrimination.'"
Stephanie Saul of the New York Times: "Harvard is revamping its diversity, equity and inclusion office in a move that seemed to accede to the Trump administration, even as the university has sued the administration and accused it of unlawfully interfering in the university's affairs. An email to the Harvard community on Monday announced that the office had been renamed the Office of Community and Campus Life. The decision follows similar reorganizations across the country by universities, which appeared to be aimed at placating conservative critics who have attacked diversity offices as left-wing indoctrination factories....
"The Trump administration also opened another front in its fight with the university on Monday, accusing the Harvard Law Review, an independent student-run journal, of racial discrimination in journal membership and article selection." MB: Oh, did we mention that Barack Obama was once the editor of the Harvard Law Review? I'm sure that has nothing to do with the Trump administration's claim that the Review "appears to pick winners and losers on the basis of race, employing a spoils system in which the race of the legal scholar is as, if not more, important than the merit of the submission." Nothing at all.
Annals of "Journalism," Ha Ha Ha. If you ever watched a White House press briefing back in the day, you might have been struck by how stupid many of the questions were. Aidan McLaughlin of Mediaite writes that now that Trump and Press Secretary Barbie have started picking the White House "correspondents" (i.e., right-wing podcasters & teevee guys) the questions are way dumber now. (Also linked yesterday.)
Jack Jenkins of Religion News Service: "Prominent pastor and anti-poverty activist the Rev. William Barber and two others were arrested while praying in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda on Monday (April 28), an action he said would be part of a recurring series of demonstrations aimed at challenging the Republican-led budget bill.... While arresting protesters at the Capitol is not unusual, the response to Barber's prayer was unusually dramatic: After issuing verbal warnings, dozens of officers expelled everyone in the Rotunda -- including credentialed press -- and shut the doors, obscuring any view. Press and others were then instructed to leave the floor entirely."
Aidin Vaziri of the San Francisco Chronicle: "Neil Young debuted a politically charged new song at a benefit concert in Los Angeles over the weekend to deliver pointed criticism of ... Donald Trump, Elon Musk and his electric vehicle company Tesla. The track, believed by fans to be titled 'Let's Roll Again,' opens with a rallying cry to American automakers: 'Come on Ford, come on GM/ Come on Chrysler, let's roll again.'... Following a harmonica break, Young delivered his most biting lyric: 'If you're a fascist, get a Tesla/ It's electric, it doesn't matter.'" Thanks to Akhilleus for the link. See his commentary below. ~~~
~~~ The audio isn't the best on this video, but you can make out the lyrics. The video is probably pirated, so it may get disappeared: ~~~
Michael Gold of the New York Times: "Representative Gerald E. Connolly of Virginia, an eight-term Democrat, announced on Monday that he would not seek re-election and would soon relinquish his position as the top Democrat on the House oversight committee, as he faces cancer. Mr. Connolly, 75, announced late last year that he was being treated for cancer of the esophagus but planned to fight the disease while continuing to do his job in Washington, saying he was 'very confident of a successful outcome.' In a letter to his constituents on Monday, he said that the disease, 'while initially beaten back, has now returned,' prompting his decision to step aside and ultimately retire. Mr. Connolly said he planned to do 'everything possible' to finish out what he said would be his final term."
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Marie: Oh, I forgot about this: ~~~
Paul Waldman: "April 28th is Confederate Memorial Day in Mississippi and Alabama; similar holidays are also celebrated in South Carolina and Texas, where they call it Confederate Heroes Day (Democrats in the state legislature have tried to end the holiday, to no avail). In fact, in Mississippi the entire month of April is Confederate Heritage Month.... This is how we should always talk about it when this subject comes up, not just these holidays but any effort by Republicans to valorize or even excuse the moral abomination that was the Confederacy. Don't for a second allow them to get away with saying it's just about 'heritage' or 'history,' some kind of value-free statement that 'This is a thing that happened, and that's all we mean.' That's a lie, and it should never be entertained even for a second.... If it was just about understanding our history there would be a statue of Adolf Hitler in your town square and your kids would go to Osama bin Laden Middle School, since they were also important historical figures who made an impact on the United States." Thanks to Ken W. for the link. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: Waldman took the words right out of my mouth. The Confederacy is to "American heritage" as Nazi Germany is to "German heritage." Both are unpardonable sins against their nations. Germany largely came to terms with its fascistic history, just as South Africa came to terms with apartheid. But the supremiscists are always going to want to bring back the unpardonable, be they avowed neo-Nazis or Nazi-adjacent pricks like South Africa's Elon Musk. the call "never again!" implies the vigilance it requires. Maybe a Truth & Reconciliation Commission would help here.
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