curated news excerpts & citations
Brian Allen: Trump Hit With $310 Million Lawsuit Alleging “Epstein-Identical” Trafficking Network
A new lawsuit has landed in the American political bloodstream with the force of a seismic shock. It accuses Donald Trump of participating in a trafficking enterprise that plaintiffs describe as “identical in every material respect to the Epstein operation” (Doe v. Trump et al., 2025). The suit also names Elon Musk, Bill Gates, and several organizations connected to them.
(Brian Allen more…)
RawStory: Trump slapped with massive lawsuit alleging ‘Epstein-identical’ trafficking operation
USA Today: Ghislaine Maxwell will plea for prison release, new court filing says
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Judd Legum: Kushner’s Moscow mission wasn’t just corrupt. It was unconstitutional
Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law, has been traveling the world to participate in high-stakes foreign policy negotiations on behalf of the president. On Tuesday, Kushner traveled to Moscow and sat across the table from Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss a peace deal to end the war in Ukraine. The entire United States delegation consisted only of Kushner and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff. Kushner and Witkoff were joined at the table by an interpreter.
(Judd Legum more…)Thom Hartmann: Kushner, Ukraine, Saudi Arabia: The Conflict-of-Interest Story Everyone’s Ignoring
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Heather Cox Richardson: Letters from an American – December 3, 2025
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After the voters rejected Republican candidates in the early November elections, Republicans vowed they would address affordability issues. Trump initially moved in that direction but now is rejecting the idea that his economic policies have caused hardship, although news dropped today from Automatic Data Processing (ADP), a private human resources management company, that the U.S. lost about 32,000 jobs last month. The losses were primarily in small businesses, which are often considered a bellwether for the rest of the economy.
(Heather Cox Richardson more…)
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WSJ: Trump’s Pardon for Cocaine Juan
A jury found Honduras’s former President guilty. Why set him free?
Gil Duran: Trump Pardons Drug Trafficker Who Backed Network State City
On Tuesday, Donald Trump pardoned a convicted drug trafficker who happens to be the former president of Honduras.
There’s a Network State angle.
Juan Orlando Hernández, who was convicted of conspiring to smuggle over 400 tons of cocaine into the United States, is the right-wing politician who supported the creation of Prospera, the Network State city on the Honduran island of Roatán.
Hernández, who served two terms as president of Honduras, championed special economic zones where investors could set their own tax, labor and regulatory rules under long-term legal guarantees.
(Gil Duran more…)Dean Obeidallah: Trump just pardoned a person responsible for more American deaths than Bin Laden
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Texas Tribune: Donald Trump to pardon Texas Democrat Henry Cuellar
Cuellar had faced a dozen charges of bribery, money laundering and conspiracy.
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Jennifer Rubin: Trump Faltering in Face of Lower Courts
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The list of Trump defeats grows longer by the day. Consider:- The 3rd Circuit’s decision upholding disqualification of the faux U.S. attorney for New Jersey Alina Habba;
- U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg’s resumption of criminal contempt proceedings in the District of Columbia; and
- Rulings from 225 judges in more than 700 cases striking down ICE’s policy that “deprives people of an opportunity to seek release from an immigration court.”
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Mary Geddry: Trump’s “Blow Up a Boat, Save 25,000 Lives” Doctrine
Good morning! Trump convened his cabinet this week for what can only be described as a live-action infomercial in which every secretary took turns praising Trump’s unmatched genius while he ad-libbed numbers like a man auditioning for “Whose Line Is It Anyway: Fiscal Policy Edition.” The star of the show was his new moral math: apparently blowing up a Venezuelan speedboat now “saves” 25,000 to 45,000 American lives, depending on how big a number he feels like saying in the moment. Forget epidemiology, we’re doing governance by vibes and multiplication tables scrawled on a Waffle House napkin.
(Mary Geddry more…) -
RawStory: Military’s top brass worried as highest-ranking officer disappears amid crisis: analyst
(RawStory more…)
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Miles Taylor: Leaked memo exposes flimsy legal basis for Trump boat strikes
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Brian Allen: ICE detain U.S. citizen woman driving to work dressed in full medical scrubs.
“I’m a U.S. citizen, please help me!” she cries. “Why are you doing this to me?” Woman dragged from car, tackled to the ground, and handcuffed. Agents only confirmed her citizenship after checking her
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DHS later released a statement claiming the woman had not rolled her window down “all the way.” That explanation sidesteps the actual constitutional question. Federal agents did not articulate probable cause for the stop. They did not claim she was violating immigration law. They did not present evidence that she matched a suspect description.They initiated force before they confirmed who she was.
(Brian Allen more…)
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Paul Krugman: Trump to Disaster Victims: Drop Dead
The Mississippi flood of 1927 was one of America’s greatest natural disasters. Some 27,000 square miles were inundated, in some cases by 30 feet of water. Hundreds, maybe thousands, died — many of the victims were poor and Black, and their deaths went unrecorded. Around 700,000 people were displaced — equivalent to about 2 million people today, adjusting for population growth.
How did America respond? Initially, President Calvin Coolidge was adamantly opposed to any federal role in disaster relief, declaring that “The Government is not an insurer of its citizens against the hazard of the elements.” His refusal to provide aid was, however, deeply unpopular, and he eventually gave in to demands from Congress to deliver government aid.
(Paul Krugman more…)
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Brian Allen: Trump’s Attack on Ilhan Omar Was Not a Gaffe. It Was a Strategy.
Crooks & Liars: Ilhan Omar Stays Classy In Face Of Donnie Dementia’s Racism
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404 Media: The Last Video Rental Store Is Your Public Library
Audio-visual librarians are quietly amassing large physical media collections amid the IP disputes threatening select availability.
(404 Media more…)
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James Eagle: The AI infrastructure web grows ever more complex
(James Eagle more…)
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Your Local Epidemiologist: What to expect from this week’s U.S. vaccine meeting
GriftMatrix
Trump Action Tracker
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
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