Trump officials attended a summit of election deniers who want the president to take over the midterms

Trump officials attended a summit of election deniers who want the president to take over the midterms

By Doug Bock Clark This story was originally published by ProPublica Several high-ranking federal election officials attended a summit last week at which prominent figures who worked to overturn Donald Trump’s loss in the 2020 election pressed the president to declare a national emergency to take over this year’s midterms. According to videos, photos and social media posts reviewed by ProPublica, the meeting’s participants included Kurt Olsen, a White House lawyer charged with reinvestigating the 2020 election, and Heather Honey,…

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Former Jimmy Kimmel writer, Bess Kalb: ‘I thought we were entering a new golden age of free speech’

Former Jimmy Kimmel writer, Bess Kalb: ‘I thought we were entering a new golden age of free speech’

  Bess Kalb testified before the House Judiciary Committee on February 23: I am a comedy writer, I wrote for Jimmy Kimmel Live for eight years, and I am an author who recently got back from a national tour for my picture book series, Buffalo Fluffalo. So the fact that I am sitting here in a navy blue business suit in the capitol building at a hearing about the First Amendment means something has gone very, very wrong. I gotta…

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‘ICE will comply’: Top Minnesota judge threatens criminal contempt for continued defiance

‘ICE will comply’: Top Minnesota judge threatens criminal contempt for continued defiance

Politico reports: The top federal judge in Minnesota tore into Justice Department leaders Thursday and threatened potential criminal consequences for officials who he said were continuing to violate court orders at a historic clip amid President Donald Trump’s mass deportation push. “This Court will continue to do whatever is required to protect the rule of law, including, if necessary, moving to the use of criminal contempt,” said Chief Judge Patrick Schiltz in a message posted on the docket of an…

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Trump administration is using local police to build a national deportation-policing force

Trump administration is using local police to build a national deportation-policing force

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) today released a new report, Deputized for Disaster, detailing how the Trump administration is drastically expanding the federal 287(g) program to transform state and local law enforcement into a national deportation policing force — fueling racial profiling, civil rights violations, and widespread fear in communities across the country. The report examines the impact of 287(g) agreements in nearly two dozen states and finds that the Trump administration’s misuse of the 287(g) program has extended…

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Democrats’ real problem isn’t being too liberal — it’s being seen as too weak, new poll finds

Democrats’ real problem isn’t being too liberal — it’s being seen as too weak, new poll finds

G. Elliott Morris writes: Americans are unhappy with the way things are going in the country, and don’t feel particularly well represented by either major political party. In our new February Strength In Numbers/Verasight poll, 53% of U.S. adults say the Democratic Party is out of touch with the concerns of most Americans. An identical percentage — 53% — say the same about Republicans. The conventional reading of numbers like these — especially after Kamala Harris’s loss in 2024 —…

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Trump advisers scramble to justify military intervention in Iran

Trump advisers scramble to justify military intervention in Iran

The Guardian reports: Donald Trump’s likely casus belli for an attack on Iran – which would be the largest US intervention since the Iraq war – is fraught with contradictions, and his top advisers have been left to cover for him as the White House makes the case for intervention. In his State of the Union address this week, Trump alleged that Iran posed a direct threat to the US and that the country was “working to build missiles that…

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Americans’ sympathies have shifted dramatically away from Israelis in favor of Palestinians, poll shows

Americans’ sympathies have shifted dramatically away from Israelis in favor of Palestinians, poll shows

The Associated Press reports: American sympathies in the Middle East have shifted dramatically toward the Palestinians, according to new Gallup polling, after decades of overwhelming support for the Israelis. That shift accelerated during the war in Gaza. Three years ago, 54% of Americans sympathized more with the Israelis, compared to 31% for the Palestinians. Now, their support is about evenly balanced, with 41% saying their sympathies lie more with the Palestinians, and only 36% saying the same about the Israelis….

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Israel’s arms sales are surging. So why are its weapons expos smaller than ever?

Israel’s arms sales are surging. So why are its weapons expos smaller than ever?

Sahar Vardi writes: Walking around the exhibition [Defense Tech Expo in Tel Aviv], one could easily notice far fewer attendees and official delegations from foreign states, and generally much less English spoken. The overwhelming majority of attendees were Israelis — from companies hoping to sell their latest wares, or to scout out the competition from other companies — but not the foreign state procurement delegations that were once the core of these exhibitions. So how does this square with the…

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Who cares about going to the moon when the world is in chaos?

Who cares about going to the moon when the world is in chaos?

Lisa Grossman writes: Since the beginning of the year, I’ve been gearing up to cover the launch of NASA’s Artemis II mission. This launch aims to bring humans back to the vicinity of the moon for the first time in more than 50 years, with an eventual eye toward landing humans on the moon and learning how to live there long-term. I expected to feel unalloyed excitement for this moment. I’ve been enraptured with space since I was 8 years…

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Anti-voting activists co-ordinate with White House on illegal draft emergency order to control elections

Anti-voting activists co-ordinate with White House on illegal draft emergency order to control elections

Democracy Docket reports: A draft emergency executive order to declare a national emergency to allow President Donald Trump to take unprecedented control over voting is being circulated by anti-voting activists who said they are in coordination with the White House. Voting rights experts, democracy advocates, and at least one state election chief said Trump doesn’t have the authority to claim such powers — and any attempt would be blatantly unconstitutional. The draft order — which is said to be based…

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DHS claim that ICE recruits are getting adequate training ‘is a lie,’ says whistleblower

DHS claim that ICE recruits are getting adequate training ‘is a lie,’ says whistleblower

  The Los Angeles Times reports: Earlier this month, acting ICE Director Todd Lyons testified to Congress that while the agency had reduced the number of training days to 42 from 75, “We went from five days a week to six days a week. Five days a week was five eight-hour days and we’ve gone to six 12-hour days.” But the documents appear to contradict Lyons’ testimony. “The schedules reflected on these documents indicate that current ICE recruits receive nearly…

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Jailed for ‘standing up’: DHS assault victim Aliya Rahman arrested at State of the Union address

Jailed for ‘standing up’: DHS assault victim Aliya Rahman arrested at State of the Union address

  We speak with Minneapolis resident Aliya Rahman, who attended Tuesday’s State of the Union address as a guest of Congressmember Ilhan Omar. Rahman was removed from the chamber Tuesday and spent several hours in jail following what she describes as an aggressive arrest by Capitol Police — all for silently challenging Trump during the speech. “There are only two things you can do at the State of the Union, and they are sit down and stand up,” says Rahman….

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Hegseth’s ‘incoherent’ Anthropic ultimatum confounds AI policymakers

Hegseth’s ‘incoherent’ Anthropic ultimatum confounds AI policymakers

Politico reports: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s ultimatum to the artificial intelligence startup Anthropic is sparking shock and confusion among lawyers and AI policymakers, who accuse the Pentagon of making contradictory threats as it pressures the company to lift restrictions on the use of its powerful AI model. Hegseth met with Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei on Tuesday to deliver a warning — give the military unfettered access to its Claude AI model by Friday evening or else have the government label…

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Calls for the U.S. to be included in a probe into foreign interference in UK politics

Calls for the U.S. to be included in a probe into foreign interference in UK politics

The Guardian reports: The hosting of Tommy Robinson by the Trump administration has been condemned by British MPs amid calls for the US to be included in a probe into foreign interference in UK politics. The far-right activist, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, is being feted in the US, where he met figures including a political appointee at the Department of State in Washington DC and a congressman. The visit has prompted questions about how Robinson – a former…

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