curated citations to news sources
NY Times: There’s a Name for What Trump Is Doing. Juan Crow.
In its merciless pursuit of people without papers — most of them Latino — and its demonization of asylum seekers, refugees, holders of temporary protected status, Muslims and Palestinian rights activists, the Trump administration is accelerating toward a new, modern nadir of Juan Crow, just downstream of Jim and Jane.
When a sitting U.S. senator refers to New York immigrants as “inner-city rats,” when a Florida governor waxes rapturously about the “Alligator Alcatraz” immigrant detention center, when a presidential administration takes two months to dismantle decades of civil rights law, we must admit that these are acts in a feature presentation of neo-Confederate revanchism targeting brown and Black people. The targeting of the undocumented has a name, after all, based in ugly history and shameful tradition: Juan Crow.
The phrase was popularized by the journalist Roberto Lovato to describe the “matrix of laws, social customs, economic institutions and symbolic systems” that isolate and control undocumented immigrants. The domestic policies of the Trump administration have taken this legacy to a more dangerous place.
(NY Times more…)
Bulwark: His Name Is Jesus. He’s a Carpenter. ICE Arrested Him.
Seriously.
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Robert Reich: A betrayal of the victims of the Holocaust
A view from Israel
(Robert Reich more…)Marisa Kabas: The Green Beret of Gaza
Gaza Humanitarian Foundation contractor Anthony Aguilar describes witnessing war crimes.
(Marisa Kabas more…)
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Closer to the Edge: A white nationalist now runs the U.S. Institute of Peace
This is not irony. This is a hostile occupation.
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WSJ: Trump Sees Emergencies Everywhere. Judges Are Considering Whether to Rein Him In.
In a latest test, an appeals court is set to weigh the president’s claim that economic emergencies allow him to impose sweeping tariffs unilaterally
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AXIOS: Trump’s billion-dollar spree
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… America’s most elite institutions have largely succumbed to the Trump administration’s cultural crackdown, opting to pay up — often to the tune of tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars — rather than fight back.
……The few law firms that chose to fight Trump’s executive orders have largely prevailed in court so far, suggesting capitulation isn’t the only viable path forward.
(AXIOS more…)
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Steve Vladeck: DOJ’s (Ridiculous) Misconduct Complaint Against Chief Judge Boasberg
DOJ’s complaint that Chief Judge Boasberg engaged in “misconduct” would be laughably stupid if it didn’t reflect such a transparently obvious and dangerous attempt to delegitimize the federal courts.
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The complaint is almost laughably preposterous. First, Boasberg’s comments weren’t public. Second, his comments were apparently nothing more than relaying (to the Chief Justice) concerns that had been raised by his colleagues on the federal bench in D.C. Third, it turns out that those concerns were … well-taken. And fourth, even if none of the first three things were true (and they all are), the comments don’t come anywhere close to crossing the line of what judges can and can’t say in public with respect to systemic issues facing the federal courts. …But the bigger issue is that the Department of Justice (and the Attorney General, specifically) filed this nonsense (and then tweeted about it) in the first place. I very much doubt that Judge Boasberg is the kind of jurist who will be at all intimidated or in any way cowed by such a maneuver. But there are two other audiences for this charade: The first is other federal judges, who may be less willing to speak out or to raise concerns about the Justice Department’s behavior going forward lest they, too, find themselves the subject of a misconduct complaint. And the second is the current administration’s supporters, for whom the complaint can be pointed to as yet further evidence that the lower federal courts are out to get President Trump (since no one will still be paying attention when—not if—it gets rejected). Yet again, the executive branch is actively seeking to discredit the federal judiciary. And far too many people who ought to be speaking out against this nonsense will just quietly tsk at the Department of Justice and shake their head.
(Steve Vladeck more…)
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Jay Kuo: But His Emils
Emil Bove III, Trump’s hatchet-man in the Justice Department, is now an appellate court judge of the Third Circuit.
The GOP-controlled Senate demonstrated once again that they are willing to abdicate their constitutional duty by ramming through and rubber stamping one of the worst—if not the worst—judicial appointment in our nation’s history: Trump’s erstwhile personal criminal attorney, Emil Bove III.
(Jay Kuo more…)Charlie Sykes: Where’s the Rest of the Resistance?
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Noah Berlatsky: Why Isn’t Trump (Even More) Unpopular?
It’s not because he’s magic.
…People don’t pay attention
…Partisanship
…A lot of Americans like fascism
(Noah Berlatsky more…)
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Jay Kuo: Unforced Epstein Errors
Trump’s desperate attempts to distract and deceive regarding the Epstein files have increased the chance they will be made public
We’re into week four and still knee-deep in the Epstein matter. The questions are apparently not going away, and the situation is growing more politically perilous for Trump.
That’s in part because he keeps making unforced errors.
These errors fall into two basic categories: mistakes in shaping the public narrative and mistakes in his legal strategy. The latter, I should add, has often been in service of that public narrative rather than an independent, well-considered legal roadmap, which is a recipe for disaster.
Most are familiar with Trump’s shifting public narrative, which has only served to draw more suspicion and attention to the Epstein matter rather than get it out of the headlines and national consciousness. It’s useful to review some of Trump’s more fateful moves and statements, which have compounded the problem for the White House, so I’ll do a quick summary of those first.
Less understood are Trump’s behind-the-scenes legal machinations, which have included 1) having his former personal attorney and current Deputy Attorney General, Todd Blanche, visit and question Epstein’s convicted accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell in prison, and 2) moving to unseal the grand jury transcripts from the Maxwell trial and release them to the public with the victims’ names redacted. These legal moves, paradoxically, have now also deepened the problem for Trump by actually increasing the chances that the Epstein files will be made public.
(Jay Kuo more…)Allison Gill: NEW: Trump Just Admitted Epstein “Stole” Virginia Giuffre From Him
In an interview with the press pool from Air Force One, Trump says his falling out with Epstein occurred when the sex trafficker poached Virginia Giuffre from his Mar-a-Lago spa.
…There was no follow up about why Trump was employee underage girls at his spa, or why his story about the fallout keeps changing. There was also no follow up asking why Trump views 16 year old girls as property.
You can hear the audio of Trump’s admission here.
Judd Legum: Trump’s explosive new claim about Epstein at odds with past statements
What did Trump know and when did he know it?
Fred Wellman: Did Trump’s bizarre Unabomber story actually come from from Epstein?
Trump’s recent story of his Uncle John teaching the Unabomber may actually be one shared often by his old friend Jeffrey Epstein
NY Times: Ghislaine Maxwell Lawyer Says She Will Only Testify for Immunity or Clemency
In a letter to Congress, the lawyer for Jeffrey Epstein’s convicted co-conspirator says clemency would allow her to talk to lawmakers.
Liz Dye: The conspiracy to free the world’s most notorious sex trafficker
QAnon is fake. But Trump’s corrupt deal with Ghislaine Maxwell is real.
Morgaan Sinclair, Ph.D.: Brilliant Move! Dems use “Rule of Five” to force Bondi to release Epstein files!
Timeline: Tracking the Trump Justice Department’s Anti-Voting Shift
Tracking the Lawsuits Against Trump’s Agenda
Tracking the Lawsuits Against Trump’s Agenda
Trump Pardons Database
Project 2025 Tracker
DOGE Tracker
ProPublica: Elon Musk’s Demolition Crew
Wired: 6 Tools for Tracking the Trump Administration’s Attacks on Civil Liberties
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