A senior White House official, Anthony Salisbury, inadvertently revealed plans to deploy the 82nd Airborne Division to Portland via Signal messages. The Minnesota Star Tribune obtained images of the messages, which were sent to other high-ranking officials, including a senior adviser to the US defense secretary, discussing the potential deployment due to potential backlash of using the army. While the defense secretary initially preferred the National Guard, Trump’s administration ultimately deployed 200 members of the National Guard, contradicting initial reports. This incident adds to a pattern of intelligence leaks within the Trump administration, highlighting security concerns.
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The Trump administration, under the direction of Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, has conducted a series of lethal strikes on alleged drug-smuggling vessels in the Caribbean, with the latest occurring off the coast of Venezuela. These strikes, the fourth such incident since early September, have been met with condemnation from critics, including legal scholars and human rights groups, who argue the attacks violate international and federal law. Despite these criticisms, the administration has continued the attacks, claiming they target “narco-terrorists” and are vital for national security, even without providing definitive proof of drug trafficking. Legal experts and members of Congress have expressed alarm, pointing to the lack of legal justification and potential for abuse of power.
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Illinois Governor JB Pritzker reported that the Trump administration informed him of plans to federalize and deploy 300 Illinois National Guard members within the state. Pritzker strongly condemned this action, stating there was no need for military troops and that he would not comply with the demand. This news followed the President’s authorization of National Guard deployment in Portland, Oregon, where a federal judge is considering a lawsuit challenging the deployment. Trump’s actions are part of a broader trend of deploying or threatening to deploy troops to various cities, including Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., facing legal challenges and criticism.
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A federal judge believes the immigrant defendant, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, may have been targeted with a criminal charge by the Justice Department out of vindictiveness for suing the Trump administration. The judge is allowing further evidence gathering and a hearing to investigate this claim, potentially including testimony from officials. This follows Abrego Garcia’s wrongful removal to El Salvador and subsequent indictment for transporting undocumented immigrants after a 2022 traffic stop, with the timing of the charges being unusually delayed. Furthermore, public statements from administration officials and a Deputy Attorney General’s comments on TV have raised suspicions of an improper motive, potentially providing direct evidence of vindictiveness.
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Federal workers’ union sues administration over partisan email language. This is, without a doubt, a story that screams legal trouble, even before we get into the specifics. Imagine your employer taking control of your out-of-office message, injecting politically charged statements that you never authorized. This is not just a matter of bad form; it’s a potential violation of the law, and the legal eagles are circling.
Federal workers’ union sues administration over partisan email language. Now, let’s break down exactly what happened. During a government shutdown, some furloughed employees set up automated “out of office” replies. Then, and this is where the story gets truly eyebrow-raising, those messages were deleted and replaced with ones that blamed “radical left Democrats” for the shutdown.… Continue reading
Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo, a top official at the National Institutes of Health, was terminated by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. following her whistleblowing efforts. Marrazzo alleged that she was silenced for pushing back against NIH officials, appointed during the Trump administration, who questioned vaccine importance and canceled clinical trials. Her complaint to the U.S. Office of Special Counsel alleged retaliation, highlighting concerns over statements made by Dr. Matthew Memoli that echoed Kennedy’s vaccine skepticism. This dismissal occurred amidst other changes, including Kennedy’s removal of the Advisory Committee on Vaccine Practices and their subsequent replacements.
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The Trump administration has frozen funding for $2.1 billion worth of infrastructure projects in Chicago, including the Red Line extension, citing concerns about “race-based contracting,” according to the Chicago Sun-Times. Illinois’s elected officials, including Governor JB Pritzker and Mayor Brandon Johnson, have strongly condemned the move, accusing the White House of using its power to punish political opponents amid the federal government shutdown and questioning the prioritization of aid to Argentina over Chicago. Officials like Representative Mike Quigley have warned that this could be the beginning of a broader effort to cut federal funding to cities that disagree with the president and that the Red Line funding might be permanently blocked.
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As the Trump administration expands surveillance against its critics, activists documenting and protesting the mass deportation campaign are facing increased scrutiny. This is exemplified by ICE issuing subpoenas to Meta demanding user information from Instagram accounts, including StopIce.net, which identifies immigration agents. Legal challenges from organizations like CLDC and ACLU are attempting to prevent the release of this data. The administration’s actions, including an executive order and a national security memorandum targeting “anti-fascism” and leftist groups, suggest a broader effort to silence dissent and criminalize constitutionally protected speech.
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The First U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston has ruled that the Trump administration cannot withhold citizenship from children born to individuals in the country illegally or temporarily, solidifying the mounting legal setbacks for the president’s birthright order. This ruling marks the fifth federal court since June to either issue or uphold orders blocking the order, concluding that the plaintiffs are likely to succeed in their claims based on the 14th Amendment’s Citizenship Clause. The court upheld preliminary injunctions, which block the order that would have halted automatic citizenship for babies born to people in the U.S. illegally or temporarily. The case is expected to move quickly back to the Supreme Court, where the administration hopes to be vindicated.
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A federal judge is considering whether to dismiss the criminal case against Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran immigrant, due to potentially “vindictive” prosecution by the government. The judge cited statements from Trump administration officials, including a Deputy Attorney General, as possible “direct evidence” of retaliatory motives related to Abrego Garcia’s legal challenges to his wrongful deportation. These statements, coupled with the timing of the criminal indictment, suggest a potential link between the charges and Abrego Garcia’s exercise of his constitutional rights. More hearings are scheduled to determine whether the prosecution was indeed motivated by retaliation.
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John Q. Hosedrinker 
Matt Underwood