curated news excerpts & citations
Joyce Vance: If DOJ Is Trump’s Law Firm, Aileen Cannon Is His Judge
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The procedural history is convoluted. And I almost hesitate to inflict it on you. But it’s important because we cannot afford to forget that, no matter his reelection, Donald Trump was charged in two federal criminal cases, and those charges were never heard by a jury. In the Mar-a-Lago case, the Trump-appointed judge who handled the matter essentially refused to let it go to trial, with a series of highly questionable rulings and a healthy dose of delay. In other words, if there was a way for Judge Cannon to rule for Trump and against public disclosure, she took it at every turn, up to and including today.
Many people believe Volume II is unlikely to contain information beyond what was revealed in the detailed speaking indictment brought by the government. But Trump has fought long and hard to keep it out of public view, which has led to speculation about whether it might include new information, for instance, about his motives for keeping classified material after he left the White House and what, if anything, was done with it. For now, we don’t know the answer. But it’s hard to miss the glaring similarity to the Epstein Files, where it increasingly appears attempts to avoid disclosure were meant to protect wealthy, powerful people. Why not just release Volume II if Trump, as he says, is innocent? You’d think that might help him prove his “case” and set the matter aside for once and for all. But that is not the path he has taken.
Heather Cox Richardson: Letters from an American – February 23, 2026
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At 7:06 this morning, Trump tried to reaffirm his unchecked power when he posted on social media: “The supreme court (will be using lower case letters for a while based on a complete lack of respect!) of the United States accidentally and unwittingly gave me, as President of the United States, far more powers and strength than I had prior to their ridiculous, dumb, and very internationally divisive ruling.” He claimed that he could “do absolutely ‘terrible’ things to foreign countries” and that the court has approved other tariffs that “can all be used in a much more powerful and obnoxious way, with legal certainty, than the Tariffs as initially used.”
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The stock market fell sharply today as investors worried about the uncertainty of Trump’s tariff threats and about the implications of AI.
(Heather Cox Richardson more…)
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Roger Sollenberger: DOJ Exposed Name of Trump Underage Accuser After She “Refused To Cooperate” Against Him
The woman who told the FBI that Trump assaulted her as a child “refused to cooperate” with the FBI against him; her name was initially unredacted in a previously unreported file.
(Roger Sollenberger more…) -
Robert Reich: The Sham of Billionaire Philanthropy
Billie Eilish recently asked a room full of billionaires, “If you’re a billionaire, why are you a billionaire?”
(Robert Reich more…)
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Lisa Needham: The tariffs ruling is the right result from a terrible process
If you’re trying to make sense of the Supreme Court’s decision last Friday in Learning Resources v. Trump, well, good luck. It’s a fractured mess, and what you’re reading is much more a fight between nine very powerful people about the scope of their power than a legal opinion that can give meaningful guidance going forward.
Out of the 170 pages that are here, very few represent the actual holding of the Court, or what the “majority decision” is. That’s because while there were six justices who agreed that President Donald Trump does not have the authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to simply yell “emergency!” and impose any tariffs he wants, any time he wants, in any amount he wants, those six couldn’t agree on how to get there.
(Lisa Needham more…)Liz Dye: You Do Not, Under Any Circumstances, Gotta Hand It To Chief Justice Roberts
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Judd Legum: Days after $5M donation, Trump administration backs Crypto.com in lawsuit
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Paul Krugman: Day 1461 of Putin’s Three-Day War
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First, about the military situation. The maps at the top of this post show how the area of Ukraine under Russian control — shaded pink — has changed over the past year. You may ask, what change? Exactly. The Ukraine war isn’t like World War II, in which breakthroughs could be exploited by armored columns sweeping into the enemy’s rear. It’s a war in which the battlefield is swarming with drones, where there isn’t even a well-defined front line, and the “kill zone” within which even armored vehicles are basically death traps is many kilometers wide.Some observers still don’t understand how the reality of war has changed. Thus there have been breathless reports about the danger Ukraine would face after Russia seized the “strategic city” of Pokrovsk since July 2024. Russian forces finally entered Pokrovsk late last year and may now occupy most of the rubble. But it made no difference.
This reality shows how idiotic it is for the U.S. Department of Defense — sorry, Department of War — to decide that its mission is to embrace a “warrior ethos.” Bulging biceps and macho posturing won’t help you prevail in modern war, while bombastic stupidity is a good way to get many soldiers killed.
(Paul Krugman more…)
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NY Times: The Epstein Files Should Never Have Been Released
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Bulwark: Trump Is Considering More Iran Strikes. No One Knows Precisely Why.
As has become a pattern, the use of force isn’t part of a coherent plan.
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Austin Chronicle: Ignorance Is Weakness: Fighting the Trump Regime’s Attempts to Whitewash History
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NY Times: Key Witness Who Disputed ICE Account of Fatal Texas Shooting Dies in Car Accident
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Daily Beast: Mar-a-Lago Gunman’s Real Politics Revealed as Leavitt Blames Dems
‘CRAZY PERSON’
Trump goon Karoline Leavitt tried to blame Democrats for the attempted incursion in Florida, but the dead man was reportedly obsessed with the Epstein files.
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Bulwark: At the Spot Where Alex Pretti Was Killed
One of the more unsettling elements of the Alex Pretti memorial site in Minneapolis is how unexpectedly it arrives on you. Driving down Nicollet Avenue, you see few indications it’s near save for subtle atmospherics: The streets seem more bare, and pedestrians offer the occasional nervous glance around for nearby agents.
(Bulwark more…)
ICE deaths 2026 – They deserve remembrance and justice.- January 24: Alex Pretti
- January 14: Heber Sanchaz Dominguez
- January 14: Victor Manuel Diaz
- January 9: Parady La
- January 7: Renée Good
- January 6: Luis Beltran Yanez-Cruz
- January 5: Luis Gustavo Nunez Caceres
- January 3: Geraldo Lunas Campos
- December 31, 2025: Keith Porter
Suffering Under President Obama
NACDL Criminal Case Tracker
Texas Tribune: A Walk for Peace: photos of Fort Worth monks’ journey to Washington
Walk for Peace – Dhammacetiya – The Ancient Sacred Buddhist Scripture Stupas
Margaret Chase Smith: Declaration of Conscience
NPR: January 6, 2021: A visual archive
Accountability Initiative ICE List
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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