Author: nick

[ad_1] Yesterday’s lead story in the NY Times is headlined: Trump Keeps Immunity from I.R.S., a Victory in a Long-Running Feud Subhead: “Even as they rebelled against a $1.8 billion fund for President Trump’s allies, Republicans looked the other way as his administration granted him potentially lucrative tax protections.” The article notes that plans for the Trump-Blanche $1.776 billion Slush Fund were abandoned due to “Republican anger,” but: “Not so for the sweeping protections from I.R.S. audits that Mr. Blanche also ordered up for Mr. Trump and his family. On that front, Republican reaction has been much more muted, and…

[ad_1] Bloomberg Law published an unusual Op-Ed by retired Judge Diane Wood of the Seventh Circuit. Judge Wood discusses the Judge Ross situation, but leaves much out. I think what Wood did not say is far more important than what she did say. First, here is how Judge Wood describes the facts: The misconduct was of a personal nature: Judge Ross was engaged in a sexual relationship with a law-enforcement officer whose department regularly appeared before that judge. If a student at the University of Chicago offered that summary of the case, she would be failed. Judge Ross’s sexual activity…

[ad_1] The White House is preparing to make Iranian assets available to Gulf Arab states to help the countries recover after the conflict caused significant damage throughout the region.  CBS News reported speaking with a source who said that Washington will make Iranian assets accessible for rebuilding US Gulf allies related to any future damage inflicted by Iran. The Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, is seeking a way to use Iranian assets to pay for existing damage in the Gulf states.  It’s unclear what Iranian assets the Treasury Department plans to use to rebuild Gulf countries. The US has seized several…

[ad_1] A magnitude 7.8 earthquake off the southern Philippines on June 8 local time has killed at least 35 people, injured hundreds and destroyed buildings. Online, people shared real footage of the destruction, but one video was captioned misleadingly. “7.8 earthquake hits the Philippines today!!” a June 7 X post read, containing a video that showed people fleeing and screaming while debris fell from the building’s ceiling. It gained more than 488,000 views within 16 hours of being posted.  The footage was not taken during the June earthquake; it captured a different earthquake that shook the Philippines two years ago.…

[ad_1] It has been said that patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel—but we might need harsher terms to describe how some prominent figures in the Trump administration are appealing to Congress to extend a warrantless surveillance program that is routinely used to spy on Americans. Lawmakers who refuse to reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) are advancing “marxism” and reversing “patriotic reform,” argued Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff, in a post on Twitter. “A libertarian demand to make SecWar get approval from liberal DC judges (the ones who targeted Trump)…

[ad_1] NA Earlier today, in the case of California v. Mullin, the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts issued a decision striking down the Trump Administration’s $100,000 fee on applications for H-1B visas (which are used by tech firms, research institutions, and other organizations to hire immigrant workers and researchers with a variety of specialized skills). Judge  Leo Sarokin ruled that the plan is illegal because it usurps Congress’s power to tax. He relies in part on the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump, the tariff case I helped litigate: The Court begins with…

[ad_1] President Donald Trump asserted he calls the shots in the Iran war and can force Israel to sign a peace deal. Shortly after the President’s remarks, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would do whatever is necessary to defend his country.  “He won’t have any choice,” Trump told the Financial Times on Sunday. “I call the shots. I call all the shots. He [Netanyahu] doesn’t call the shots.” Later that day, Netanyahu told Israeli media, “Israel has every right to self-defense, and we will exercise that right whenever necessary.” The remarks show the growing rift between the two…

[ad_1] Shortly before abruptly ending his “Meet the Press” interview, President Donald Trump wrongly pointed to California’s ballot counting pace as evidence of “a rigged election.”  When Trump said the state was still counting ballots days after the June 2 election, host Kristen Welker said, “That’s how they count the votes in California.”  Trump said: “Do you know why they’re doing that? Because they’re cheating on the election.” Welker asked Trump for his evidence that the election was rigged. “All I have to do is look,” Trump said, adding, “And I listen. And I listen to people. And let’s see…

[ad_1] From today’s Complaint in Fulcher v. Guardian News & Media LLC (D.D.C.); of course, these are just plaintiff’s allegations: On June 9, 2025, The Guardian published an Article on its website at https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/09/hegseth-wiretap-inquiry-justin-fulcher …. The Article contains numerous false and defamatory statements of and concerning Mr. Fulcher that are attributed to four unnamed sources. These statements include: “Hegseth aide upended Pentagon leak inquiry with false wiretap claims”. “ex-Doge staffer Justin Fulcher suggested he had evidence of wiretap that would help investigation”. “Days before Pete Hegseth fired three top aides last month over a Pentagon leak investigation into the disclosure…

[ad_1] Is anyone not installed? Recently, Candace Owens interviewed Hunter Biden. You know, the wayward presidential son with the infamous laptop. Crackhead. Made a lot of money in Ukraine. He looked better, with freshly capped teeth. He sounds just like the Big Guy himself. If he waits until he’s past 70, maybe he can run for political office. I am cautioned all the time by my less naive friends in the alt media to stop becoming so easily smitten. With Tulsi Gabbard. With RFK, Jr. With Tucker Carlson. With Leonarda Jonie. With Lilly Gaddis. They’re all compromised! They wouldn’t have…