Political Glance
A federal judge ruled Tuesday that the Trump administration’s effort to deport pro-Palestinian academics is a deliberate attack on free speech meant to “strike fear” into non-citizen students and chill campus protests.
“The effect of these targeted deportation proceedings continues unconstitutionally to chill freedom of speech to this day,” U.S. District Judge William Young concluded, in a scathing, 161-page opinion that he described as tYoung, a Reagan appointee based in Boston, did not immediately order changes to administration policies, but said he will hold further proceedings on how to rein in the practices he found to violate First Amendment free-speech rights.
The ruling is the long-awaited result of a lawsuit brought by university professors who say the Trump administration is illegally chilling free speech by targeting prominent pro-Palestinian campus activists — like Mahmoud Khalil — and others who have expressed pro-Palestinian views. It followed a two week trial that featured testimony from top Trump administration officials, who described orchestrating the arrests of these activists and taking cues from an anonymously run website.
Judge excoriates Trump in blistering decision calling efforts to deport pro-Palestinian academics illegal
What does Eric Adams abandoning NYC mayoral race mean for Mamdani and Cuomo?
New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ Sept. 28 announcement that he is dropping his bid for reelection raised hopes among conservatives that Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani, a socialist state Assembly member, can be stopped by former New York governor Andrew Cuomo, who is running as an independent after losing the Democratic primary to Mamdani.
Adams, a centrist Democrat like Cuomo, was also making an independent bid after a federal indictment on corruption charges that were dropped by the Justice Department after Trump took office.
But it remains unlikely that Cuomo can surmount Mamdani's commanding lead in recent polls if Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa remains in the race.
Fed Governor Cook Actually Did Declare Her Atlanta Property As Vacation Home: Reuters
A loan estimate for an Atlanta home purchased by Lisa Cook, the Federal Reserve governor accused of mortgage fraud by the Trump administration, shows that Cook had declared the property as a “vacation home,” according to a document reviewed by Reuters.
The document, dated May 28, 2021, was issued to Cook by her credit union in the weeks before she completed the purchase and shows that she had told the lender that the Atlanta property wouldn’t be her primary residence. The document appears to counter other documentation that Cook’s critics have cited in support of their claims that she committed mortgage fraud by reporting two different homes as her primary residence, two independent real-estate experts said.
Reuters was unable to reach Cook for comment. She has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing regarding her properties, which also include a home in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and an investment property in Massachusetts.
Pro-Trump reporters in the cabinet room help him cast Washington DC as unsafe
Since the White House press office selected reporters from five pro-Trump, partisan news outlets to ask the president questions during his televised cabinet meeting on Tuesday, readers will not be shocked to learn that they largely avoided subjects he would prefer not to talk about.
In fact, two of them went even further than that, using the opportunity to help Trump make his point about crime in Washington DC by sharing their own stories of being assaulted or harassed.
The first to speak, in what was obviously a pre-planned moment, was Iris Tao of the conspiratorial Epoch Times.
Tao’s outlet, which was founded by Chinese exiles affiliated with the Falun Gong spiritual movement that is repressed as a cult in China, has heavily promoted Trump’s claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him and that China was responsible for the Covid-19 pandemic.
“I want to mention, you know about crime… we have a young lady here, Iris of Epoch Times,” Trump said, looked down at his briefing notes, where her name was written in large letters. “I heard you were very savagely mugged. Would you like to mention what happened?” he asked.
Tao then described the harrowing experience of being mugged at gunpoint outside her apartment building in January 2023, and struck in the face with a pistol by her attacker when she refused to hand over her phone.
Trump officials put some Fema staffers on leave for signing open letter of dissent
The Trump administration retaliated on Tuesday against some Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) staffers who signed an open letter of dissent about the agency’s leadership one day earlier, the Washington Post reports.
On Monday, about 180 current and former Fema staffers sent a letter to members of Congress and other officials, arguing the current leaders’ inexperience and approach harms Fema’s mission and could result in a disaster on the level of Hurricane Katrina.
Bruise on Trump’s hand won’t go away, and neither will questions about his health
A large bruise on the back on Donald Trump’s right hand, which the president appeared to be hiding, poorly, under a daub of makeup last week, was clearly visible during public appearances on Monday, renewing speculation that the White House might be concealing information about his health.
Last month, after similar speculation over Trump’s swollen ankles prompted questions, the White House physician, Sean Barbabella, revealed in a memo that the president was suffering from chronic venous insufficiency.
In the same memo, Barbabella said that images showing bruising on Trump’s hand were “consistent with minor soft tissue irritation from frequent handshaking” and his use of aspirin as a precaution against heart attacks.
Smithsonian artists and scholars respond to White House list of objectionable art
The official White House newsletter has posted an article titled "President Trump Is Right About the Smithsonian." It calls out some of the institution's artwork, exhibitions, programs and online articles that focus on race, slavery, immigration and sexuality. That includes works at the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture, The National Portrait Gallery, and The National Museum of the American Latino.
The list of objectionable content comes a week after White House officials sent a letter asking eight of the Smithsonian's museums to submit their current and future plans for exhibitions, social media content and other material. The institution's director Lonnie Bunch was told it had 120 days to comply for what the administration says will be a "comprehensive review," in order to bring the Smithsonian in line with Trump's cultural directives ahead of the country's 250th anniversary celebrations.
The administration has directed the museums to replace "divisive or ideologically driven language with unifying, historically accurate and constructive descriptions."
NPR reached out to the White House asking for comment about the article highlighting the Smithsonian artists. They have not responded.
The list of artists and content seems to be drawn from art that was highlighted in a recent article in The Federalist. The conservative online magazine argued that the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, for example, was filled with "wall-to-wall, anti-American propaganda."
More Articles...
- Supreme Court Lets Trump Cut $783 Million Of Research Funding In Anti-DEI Push
- Judge denies Trump DOJ request to unseal Ghislaine Maxwell grand jury transcripts
- Texas Democrats who fled to Illinois forced to evacuate hotel after bomb threat
- DOGE Has Wasted Billions Paying People Not To Work, Report Finds
Page 31 of 178
