TV News LIES

For the last several months, the Trump administration’s reckless use of executive power, trade policy, gutting federal agencies and defying court orders has gone largely unchecked. National Democrats have limited means of opposition – so the best hope for accountability will be electoral accountability.

This may help explain why last Tuesday’s election results in America’s 41st biggest city generated such outsized excitement from progressives. John Ewing Jr, a longtime county treasurer, was elected the first Black mayor of Omaha, defeating the incumbent Jean Stothert, who was seeking a fourth term after holding that office since 2013. More than that, Ewing won big, by nearly 13 points, marking a huge shift after Stothert won her last race by 30.

A federal judge chided the Department of Justice (DOJ) during a Wednesday hearing where he agreed to dismiss a trespassing charge against Newark Mayor Ras Baraka (D) that stemmed from his visit to a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility earlier this month alongside three Democratic members of Congress.

U.S. District Judge Andre Espinosa said the arrest suggested a “worrisome misstep” by the New Jersey’s U.S. attorney’s office, noting the “apparent rush” in bringing the case that culminated in the government’s “embarrassing” retraction of the charge.

He dismissed the complaint against Baraka with prejudice, meaning the charge cannot be brought again.

“Your role is not to secure convictions at all costs, nor to satisfy public clamor, nor to advance political agendas,” Espinosa said to the government’s lawyer. “Your allegiance is to the impartial application of the law, to the pursuit of truth and to the upholding of due process for all.”

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The Pentagon has accepted a luxury Boeing 747 jet from Qatar to be used as Air Force One, the president’s plane, according to the Defense Department.

The unprecedented $400 million gift, which President Donald Trump has said will transfer to his library after his term ends, will require extensive renovation to serve essentially as the flying White House.

“The Secretary of Defense has accepted a Boeing 747 from Qatar in accordance with all federal rules and regulations," Sean Parnell, the chief Pentagon spokesman said in a May 21 statement. "The Department of Defense will work to ensure proper security measures and functional-mission requirements are considered for an aircraft used to transport the President of the United States."

Qatar offered Trump the plane during his trip last week to the Middle East. News of the offer drew immediate condemnation from Senate Democrats.

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Homeland Security Director Kristi Noem, under sharp questioning from Democratic senators during a Tuesday hearing, incorrectly described habeas corpus as a presidential authority to deport individuals.

Noem was on Capitol Hill to testify before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on the Department of Homeland Security's budget for fiscal year 2026. She was asked by Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., to define "habeas corpus."

The secretary responded: "Habeas corpus is a constitutional right that the president has to be able to remove people from this country."

In reality, habeas corpus is a bedrock constitutional legal principle that safeguards individuals from unlawful imprisonment by enabling them to petition the court to review the legality of their detention.

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President Trump on Tuesday unveiled an ambitious plan to shield America from missile attack by building what he describes as a "Golden Dome."

"Once fully constructed the Golden Dome will be capable of intercepting missiles even if they are launched from other sides of the world and even if they are launched from space," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.

Trump's budget and timeline for the project are ambitious. He told reporters he hoped to have it done "before the end of my term." The system would cost around $175 billion, the president said, with $25 billion to start construction in next year's budget.

A key part of the Trump plan is to place both missile-sensing and missile-destroying satellites into orbit above the Earth. The constellation would likely involve thousands of small satellites capable of attacking a missile in the moments after it launches from its submarine or silo.

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A federal judge on Monday blocked efforts by the Trump administration and its so-called “department of government efficiency” (Doge) to dismantle the US Institute of Peace, at least temporarily.

Doge, initially overseen by billionaire Donald Trump supporter Elon Musk, took over the congressionally created and funded thinktank in March and had fired most employees by a late-night email after the US president targeted the institute and three other agencies with an executive order.

The takeover prompted a couple of lawsuits against Doge and the Trump administration, including from fired employees, trying to impede the institute’s dismantling. The White House claimed the thinktank was in “non-compliance” with Trump’s executive order, whose purported aim was to shrink the federal government’s size. And Doge staff forcefully entered the thinktank’s building after cancelling its contract for private security.

US district court judge Beryl Howell on Monday ruled that Doge illegally took over the institute through “blunt force, backed up by law enforcement officers from three separate local and federal agencies”.

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