Norman Eisen: Trump’s Crypto Conflicts Catch Fire

As a former White House Ethics Czar, I have been stunned by the sheer number of ethics issues afflicting Donald Trump’s first 100 Days (2.0). But Trump and his cronies’ ethics violations have been overshadowed by his other frequent and flagrant transgressions. For example, in his first term, there was heavy mainstream media attention from day one of his selling hotel rooms to foreign governments and the like. This time around, not so much–although they have been a steady theme here on The Contrarian and for the Democracy Movement.

This should be a national scandal, which is why I co-authored this major report on Trump’s crypto corruption. It is the single most profound Presidential conflict of the modern era: a POTUS who has almost 40% of his net worth in his crypto ventures, at the same time as he is regulating the digital currency industry–and, for good measure, has substantial foreign government cash pouring into those ventures!
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Then a funny thing happened on the way to a final vote: an explosion of Democratic opposition. …

That repudiation was important for better crypto regulation but was also an important sign of something we’ve been seeing much more of over the past weeks: stronger opposition to Trump’s dictatorial ways among political leadership in Congress.

(Norman Eisen more…)

• Mary Geddry: The Cost of Keeping Secrets

  On Mother’s Day, we honor truth-tellers and expose the men who bury it under war, wiretaps, and whispered deals.
  

  
  
  
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  Which brings us to Pam Bondi. Trump’s Attorney General, once handed the Epstein files “on her desk,” was just caught on undercover video telling a stranger at lunch that the delay stems from “tens of thousands of videos… all with little kids.” Not in court. Not in a press briefing. To a woman posing as a nanny.

  This sting wasn’t the work of progressive journalists, but James O’Keefe, the far-right provocateur now furious that Trump’s team seems to be slow-rolling the Epstein investigation to protect their own. Even Alex Jones called it a cover-up. Even MAGA-aligned Rep. Nancy Mace is demanding full release.

  Why? Because the breadcrumbs lead straight to Mar-a-Lago. Trump’s name is in Epstein’s contact book. He’s on flight logs. There’s footage of him partying with Epstein, pointing out underage girls, and whispering into his ear like the DJ of Hell’s prom night. And when asked point-blank about releasing the files, Trump mumbled something about “phony stuff” and “not wanting to hurt people.” Sure.

  The victims deserve justice. Instead, they get binders of recycled PR and a political machine more interested in damage control than truth. As one Epstein survivor tragically took her own life this month, MAGA influencers were busy holding empty binders labeled “Epstein List” at the White House like it was cosplay for QAnon prom.
  (Mary Geddry more…)

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• Crooks & Liars: Press Sec Leavitt Tells A Whopper About Firing Librarian Of Congress

  Why don’t you just come out and say Carla Hayden was fired for being Black?
  

  
  
  
  The Trump administration is pretending that Carla Hayden, the just-fired Librarian of Congress lost her job because she was promoting “inappropriate books for children.” But the Library of Congress is a research library that has NOTHING to do with promoting books, children’s or otherwise. You have to be 16 or older just to use it.

  Hayden was appointed to her position by then-President Barack Obama in 2016. Her term would have expired next year. But Trump and his white supremacist puppet masters, Elon Musk and Stephen Miller, felt an urgent need to be rid of Hayden now. She also just happens to be the first Black person and first woman to hold the job.
  (Crooks & Liars more…)

  CBS: Trump fires director of U.S. Copyright Office, sources say

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  Morelle speculated that there was “surely no coincidence he acted less than a day after she refused to rubber-stamp Elon Musk’s efforts to mine troves of copyrighted works to train AI models,” in reference to the report released by the Copyright Office this week.

  Last month, Musk took to his social media platform X to seemingly express support for the abolition of intellectual property laws.

  Music Business Worldwide: Donald Trump fires top US copyright official – sending concerning message over music and AI

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  Legal experts suggest Trump’s firing of Perlmutter may reveal a troubling prioritization of AI advancement over creators’ rights.

  Verge: Trump fires head of Copyright Office two days following report that AI training may not be fair use

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• Fast Company: Trump abruptly stopped paying farmers to feed in-need Californians—so they fought back

  When the U.S. government chopped $1 billion from USDA programs nationally, a group of farmers in the Central Valley worked to get the money back.
  

  
  
  
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  California farmers quickly organized a phone call and email campaign over the span of seven days in early March to demand the attention of elected representatives and answers from federal officials. By March 7, their efforts were successful: They would receive pay for the fall and for harvests for the rest of this year. But their success was overshadowed by news that the program would stop at the end of 2025.
  (Fast Company more…)

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• NBC: Trump envoy relied on Kremlin interpreter in meetings with Putin to end war in Ukraine

  Using the Kremlin’s interpreter was “a very bad idea” that put Witkoff “at a real disadvantage,” Michael McFaul, a former U.S. ambassador to Russia, told NBC News.
  

  
  
  
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  Steve Witkoff, who has been tasked with negotiating an end to the war in Ukraine, met with Putin in Moscow for several hours on Feb. 11, on March 13, and in St. Petersburg on April 11, and “used their translators,” one of the Western officials said. “If they speak to each other in Russian, he doesn’t know what they are saying,” the official added, referring to Putin and the interpreters.
  (NBC more…)

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• Berkshire Eagle: Masked, armed ICE agents arrest two men in Great Barrington apartment building as witnesses taunt, shoot video

  
  
  
  (Berkshire Eagle more…)

  NY Times: 3 Lawmakers Involved in Newark Protest Could Be Arrested, D.H.S. Says

  
  
  
  A spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security suggested on Saturday that three Democratic members of Congress might face assault charges after a confrontation outside an immigration detention facility in Newark during the arrest of the city’s mayor, even as new details emerged that appeared to contradict the Trump administration’s account of the surrounding events.
  (NY Times more…)

  Closer to the Edge: ICE Tried to Silence a Ph.D. Student and Got Absolutely Cooked in Court

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  Let’s begin with what Judge William Sessions III said. And please, read this slowly so ICE can keep up:

  “There is no evidence here … absent consideration of the op-ed.”

  In other words, ICE’s entire case boiled down to: “She said something we didn’t like.”
  (Closer to the Edge more…)

  Raw Story: Trump’s ‘troubling’ new move can ‘absolutely’ be used to ‘undercut’ his legal case

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  The host asked Greenberg about a judge temporarily blocking Trump’s deportations of Asian migrants to Libya, and how that might be affected by the administration’s separate move to charter a plane to bring White South African refugees to the U.S.

  “So could that be used to undercut the administration’s argument in court that they are under duress from this onslaught of migration?” the host asked.

  Greenberg answered, “Absolutely.”
  (Raw Story more…)

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• Mark O’Connor: North Carolina Supreme Court

  
  
  
  A race for the North Carolina Supreme Court here in our home state has made national news. Thankfully after 6 months, it finally ended this week when a Trump-appointed U.S. District judge stopped the millions of dollars in litigation and the potential disenfranchisement of thousands of NC voters by allowing Democrat Justice Allison Riggs to return to the Supreme Court.
  (Mark O’Connor more…)

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• Marisa Kabas: Being a mom in the federal government wasn’t easy. Trump made it “impossible.”

  
  
  
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  Gabrielle is a federal worker, and like nearly everyone else working for the government, is now required to be in the office full time as a result of the Trump administration’s mandate. The radical change from fully remote or hybrid schedules, along with mass layoffs at federal agencies, has been seismic for all federal employees—but it’s hit parents even harder, and especially moms. What were once stable jobs with a healthy work/life balance have morphed into unnecessarily logistically grueling roles that not only keep moms away from their families, but from tending to their own physical and mental health.
  (Marisa Kabas more…)

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• Science: NSF faces radical shake-up as officials abolish its 37 divisions

  Changes seen as a response to presidential directives on what research to fund

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• NY Times: A ‘Citizen Lawyer’ Gets a Standing Ovation at the Supreme Court

  
  
  
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  “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.”
  (NY Times more…)

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• Ruth Ann Crystal MD: COVID & Health News, 5/11/25

  
  
  
  (Ruth Ann Crystal MD more…)

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• Thom Hartmann: Chapter 4: Expanding the base of the middle class

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