Trump's Individual Claims about Immigrant Targets Are False--But So Is the Larger Premise

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emptywheel
Thus far, the campaign to fight back against Trump's authoritarian immigration crackdown has focused on individual stories, with some success. But it has yet to account for the fact that his crackdown is based on far bigger lies manufactured by Stephen Miller to justify claiming expansive powers in the name of fear. 
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Harvie Wilkinson on Due Process

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emptywheel
Harvie Wilkinson's opinion refusing a stay of Paula Xinis discovery order is a fierce defense of rule of law.
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The Special Relationship is Now Pretty Ordinary

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Peterr
It's no longer "business as usual" for the UK Foreign Office and the Department for Business and Trade.
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Whiskey Pete Hegseth Finally Finds Some White Men to Purge

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emptywheel
As the leak investigation Pete Hegseth ordered starts to bear fruit, remember that he set himself up to gatekeep what happens with the results of that investigation, an investigation that has already focused on a guy Jeff Goldberg witnessed Hegseth adding to a Signal chat on which Hegseth released battle information.
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Scott Bessent's Imaginary Friends

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emptywheel
In the week since Scott Bessent brashly claimed the US still had things called "allies" that he planned to use to isolate China, those countries formerly called US friends have been seeking solidarity from more reliable partners.
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On Same Day WSJ Confirms Boris Ephsteyn Negotiating Trump's Law Firm Settlements, Amicus Raises Bribery Concerns

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emptywheel
On the same day that some Legal Ethics professors submitted an amicus in the Perkins Coie case worrying that the law firm settlements might expose law firms to risk of bribery allegations, WSJ reported that Boris Epshteyn is the one negotiating this protection racket.
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Why Did Donald Trump Free Someone He Purports To Be a Dangerous Terrorist?

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emptywheel
Do not let Trump's fascist spectacle distract you from laying out all the political problems with the latest story Trump is telling about Kilmar Abrego Garcia.
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What Trump Wants From the Nayib Bukele Presser

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emptywheel
Rather than talking about how Trump and his cabinet members made unsubstantiated claims that Kilmar Abrego Garcia is a terrorist, those watching his staged press conference with Nayib Bukele immediately focused on American citizens, and not the lack of due process.
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Things Go Boom When You Attempt to Retcon the Economy

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emptywheel
Trump is retconning his tariffs just like he has retconned his legal cases. But doing so with the economy has created a crisis of its own.
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This Is Your Social Safety Net on DOGE

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Rayne
Not our Social Security, not our mail delivery, not a single government service should end up becoming a pricey-to-us privatized profit center for billionaires.
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Fridays with Nicole Sandler

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emptywheel
We talked about Trump's tariff circus and his targeting of Miles Taylor and Chris Krebs.
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Amid DOGE's Failure to Find Fraud Committed by Entities Other than DOGE, DOGE Automates Deportation

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emptywheel
Trump brought in alleged illegal immigrant, Elon Musk, in the guise of finding waste fraud and abuse. And all Musk achieved was to dramatically cut services that Americans cherish and, in the guise of finding fraud, automate the deportation system.
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Trump's Targeting of Susman Godfrey Targets a Law Firm that Stood with Perkins Coie

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emptywheel
Yesterday, Trump targeted a law firm that has already stood in solidarity with Perkins Coie against Trump's attack on that firm, possibly escalating his attack on rule of law.
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When We Take The Streets

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Quinn Norton
Protesting Safer in America It's not looking good out there, and a lot of people in the coming months (and maybe years) will be taking the streets to show the government their displeasure. Protesting the Trump Administration is still legal,…
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Trump's Latest Weaponization Is about Historic Loyalty Oaths as Much as Current Ones

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emptywheel
Trump's latest Executive Orders demanding witch hunts don't just target Chris Krebs and Miles Taylor for what Trump claims is "betrayal." It also provides the excuse to map out their associates within government, including those who may still be around.  
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Somebody's Off Their (Shower)Head [UPDATE]

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Rayne
While the market and Americans' college funds, 401Ks, and retirement accounts whipsawed today after their multi-day plummet, somebody had other priorities -- their showerhead. Call to action on H.R. 22 still in effect.
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Supreme Court Starts Cleaning Up Kristi Noem's Sloppy Messes

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emptywheel
With the JGG decision, SCOTUS engaged in a gimmick that served to strip James Boasberg of review while outsourcing due process to a circuit bound to be less critical of Trump's declaration of war.
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Seizing Opportunity from Chaos

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emptywheel
The economic calamity is of a piece with the constitutional one. And the economic calamity may present a path out of both that and the constitutional calamity.
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