curated citations to news sources
Rolling Stone: Thanks, Trump: ICE Just Gassed a Public School Into Submission
PORTLAND, Ore. — Donald Trump’s forces have tear gassed a public school into submission. Or at least into fleeing its longtime campus.
The local Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) complex in Portland has become a near-nightly flashpoint this summer for local activists demonstrating against the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign — marked by masked agents snatching law-abiding non-citizens from court houses; Home Depot parking lots; garment factories; taco trucks; and city streets.
(Rolling Stone more…)
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ProPublica: DOGE Targeted Him on Social Media. Then the Taliban Took His Family.
- Errors: DOGE staffers exposed a sensitive U.S.-funded Afghanistan program and falsely suggested a contractor was involved in an off-books mission.
- Consequences: DOGE’s public outing led to a Taliban intelligence service crackdown in Kabul.
- Fight: The Afghan scholar whom DOGE exposed is fighting to clear his name after his family was forced to flee the country.
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NY Times: Pentagon Fires the Defense Intelligence Agency Chief
The move comes weeks after the agency drafted a preliminary report contradicting President Trump’s contention that U.S. strikes had “obliterated” nuclear sites in Iran.
(NY Times more…)
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Closer to the Edge: Kilmar Abrego walks free
A wrongful deportation turned into a courtroom showdown
(Closer to the Edge more…)NY Times: Abrego Garcia’s Lawyers Accuse Administration of Seeking to ‘Coerce’ Plea
Officials dangled an offer to send Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia to Costa Rica if he pleaded guilty to criminal charges, the lawyers said in a filing, then threatened to send him to Uganda if he did not.
Allison Gill: The Government is Violating Mr. Abrego’s Due Process Rights. Again.
Mr. Abrego’s attorneys have revealed that the government has threatened him with deportation to Uganda if he doesn’t plead guilty to the two felony counts against him.
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Heather Cox Richardson: Letters from an American – August 22, 2025
In these last days of August, with Congress on hiatus and the Epstein files looming, the Trump White House appears to be making a big move to consolidate power over the federal government, weaponize it against Trump’s opponents, and keep him in power indefinitely.
…Earlier this month, when ABC’s Jonathan Karl asked Bolton if he was worried Trump would come after him as part of the president’s “retribution campaign” being waged through the FBI and the Department of Justice. Bolton pointed out that Trump had already come after him by removing his Secret Service protection despite specific Iranian threats against his life. Bolton added: “I think it is a retribution presidency.”
…And yet Trump loyalists are not just targeting people in order to intimidate opponents. They seem determined to rewrite history to suit Trump.
(Heather Cox Richardson more…)Charlie Sykes: What Makes You Think They Won’t Come For You, Too?
(Charlie Sykes more…)Charlotte Clymer: I Can’t Stand John Bolton and We Need to Defend Him
It’s about democracy.
Bulwark: About Courage
Respect it.
Adam Kinzinger: Free Speech Under Siege: Bolton’s Raid and America’s Choice
Bolton won’t be convicted, but the real goal is intimidation.
emptywheel: John Bolton and the MIHOP Gambit
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Marvin Olasky: Twenty Years After Hurricane Katrina: Looking back at journalistic mayhem
Next Friday brings the 20th anniversary of Katrina’s landfall on August 29, 2005. The hurricane remains one of the biggest disasters in American history: 1,392 deaths, and damage of about $200 billion (in 2025 dollars). It was also a journalistic disaster.
Reporters were adept at looking down from above. Some found vantage points on tall buildings. CNN’s Chris Lawrence stood on one and said, “Helicopters are literally just completely surrounding the city…. There have literally been groups of young men roaming the city, shooting at people, attempting to rape women. We were at the New Orleans Convention Center today and saw mothers with their babies literally living in raw sewage …. People are literally dying at the Convention Center.’’
That story was not true literally or in any respect. CNN had company in misreporting. FOX’s Geraldo Rivera spoke of how “the sun set on a scene of terror, chaos, confusion, anarchy, violence, rapes, murders, dead babies.” The errors were not victimless: False reports and exaggerations delayed deployment of lifesaving help and promulgated racist views. We talk today about AI hallucinations. We saw during Katrina human hallucinations.
Television, radio, and newspapers all contributed to error. …
…Overall, the Katrina record leaves me skeptical of those who praise the good old journalistic days before social media became so important in news delivery. Twenty years ago in New Orleans, big networks and newspapers failed. Reporters recycled the official story and did not pound the wet pavement to see for themselves.
Many reporters overlooked the work of three groups that comported themselves well during Katrina and its aftermath: church groups, some big corporations, and the military. …
(Marvin Olasky more…)
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arsTECHNICA: Is it illegal to not buy ads on X? Experts explain the FTC’s bizarre ad fight.
Here’s the “least silly way” to wrap your head around the FTC’s war over X ads.
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Bulwark: Putin Tanks Trump’s Supposed Peace Effort
But don’t expect actual tough measures to penalize the Russian dictator’s obstructionism.
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Borowitz: Trump Names Ghislaine Maxwell Attorney General
Timeline: Tracking the Trump Justice Department’s Anti-Voting Shift
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