The Conversation -- April 22, 2025

Katie Robertson & David Enrich of the New York Times: “A federal jury on Tuesday ruled against Sarah Palin, the former governor of Alaska and Republican vice-presidential nominee, in her yearslong defamation lawsuit against The New York Times. The jury reached the verdict after two hours of deliberations. Ms. Palin sued The Times in 2017 after the newspaper published — and then swiftly corrected and apologized for — an editorial that wrongly suggested she had incited a deadly shooting in Arizona years earlier. The case became a bellwether for battles over press freedoms and media bias in the Trump era, with Ms. Palin’s lawyers saying they hoped to use it to attack a decades-old Supreme Court precedent that makes it harder for public figures to sue news outlets for defamation. This is the second time a federal jury has concluded that The Times was not liable for defaming Ms. Palin in its editorial. The case first went to trial in 2022, and both the jury and the judge ruled in favor of The Times. But last year, a federal appeals court invalidated those decisions.... Outside the court after the verdict, Ms. Palin ... declined to say whether she would appeal the verdict.”

Michael Grynbaum & Benjamin Mullin of the New York Times: “CBS News entered a new period of turmoil on Tuesday after the executive producer of '60 Minutes,' Bill Owens, said that he would resign from the long-running Sunday news program, citing encroachments on his journalistic independence. In an extraordinary declaration, Mr. Owens — only the third person to run the program in its 57-year history — told his staff in a memo that 'over the past months, it has become clear that I would not be allowed to run the show as I have always run it, to make independent decisions based on what was right for “60 Minutes,” right for the audience.'... '60 Minutes' has faced mounting pressure in recent months from both ... [Donald] Trump, who sued CBS for $10 billion and has accused the program of 'unlawful and illegal behavior,' and its own corporate ownership at Paramount, the parent company of CBS News. Paramount’s controlling shareholder, Shari Redstone, is eager to secure the Trump administration’s approval for a multibillion-dollar sale of her company to Skydance.... She has expressed a desire to settle Mr. Trump’s case, which stems from what the president has called a deceptively edited interview in October with Vice President Kamala Harris that aired on '60 Minutes.'” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: You think Sarah Palin had a crap case against the NYT? Hah! Trump case against "60 Minutes" is completely without merit.

Stephanie Saul of the New York Times: “A day after Harvard sued the Trump administration over its decision to freeze billions in federal funds to the school, more than 220 higher education leaders from around the country signed a joint statement on Tuesday condemning the administration’s efforts to control universities. The government’s 'political interference' and 'overreach' is “now endangering higher education in America,” they wrote. The signers come from a variety of colleges and universities from across the country, as well as higher education associations, illustrating the breadth of the threat they say President Trump poses to academia. Joining in the statement were officials from large public research universities like the University of Virginia and the University of Wisconsin-Madison and smaller private colleges such as Amherst and Kenyon.” The statement, with signatories, is here.

I know you're busy, but Jimmy Kimmel does a good job of covering Trump & the Trumpettes: ~~~

Can one malevolent dictator really mess up the entire world economy? Yes, yes, he can. ~~~

~~~ Alan Rappeport of the New York Times: Donald “Trump’s trade war is expected to slow economic growth across the globe this year, in large part because his aggressive use of tariffs is likely to weigh heavily on the United States, the world’s largest economy. The economic projections were released on Tuesday by the International Monetary Fund, in the wake of Mr. Trump’s decision to raise tariffs to levels not seen since the Great Depression. The president has imposed a 10 percent tariff on nearly all imports, along with punishing levies of at least 145 percent on Chinese goods that come into the United States. Mr. Trump also imposed what he calls 'reciprocal' tariffs on America’s largest trading partners, including the European Union, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, although he has paused those until July as his administration works to secure bilateral trade deals. Mr. Trump’s approach has created paralyzing uncertainty for U.S. companies that export products abroad or rely on foreign inputs for their goods, dampening output just as economies around the world were stabilizing after years of crippling inflation. China and Canada have already retaliated against Mr. Trump’s tariffs with their own trade barriers, and the European Union has said it is prepared to increase levies if the United States goes ahead with its planned 20 percent tax.”

Chris Megerian & Zeke Miller of the AP: “The infighting and backstabbing that plagued ... Donald Trump’s first term have returned as a threat to his second, with deepening fissures over trade, national security and questions of personal loyalty.” The reporters cite a number of examples of stupid.

Who needs a musty old State Department when you're planning to totally go it alone? ~~~

~~~ Adam Taylor of the Washington Post: “Secretary of State Marco Rubio unveiled a plan Tuesday to significantly reorganize the State Department, saying the redesign would reverse 'decades of bloat and bureaucracy' within the agency.... The effort targets some human rights programs and others focused on war crimes and democracy, according to internal documents shared with The Washington Post.... At least some of the envisioned reforms and cuts would probably require lawmakers’ consent, as they involve directives that have been mandated by Congress.” At 11:30 am ET, this is a developing story.

Courtney Kube & Gordon Lubold of NBC News: "Minutes before U.S. fighter jets took off to begin strikes against Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen last month, Army Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla, who leads U.S. Central Command, used a secure U.S. government system to send detailed information about the operation to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. The material Kurilla sent included details about when U.S. fighters would take off and when they would hit their targets — details that could, if they fell into the wrong hands, put the pilots of those fighters in grave danger. But he was doing exactly what he was supposed to: providing Hegseth, his superior, with information he needed to know and using a system specifically designed to safely transmit sensitive and classified information. But then Hegseth used his personal phone to send some of the same information Kurilla had given him to at least two group text chats on the Signal messaging app....

"The sequence of events ... could raise new questions about Hegseth’s handling of the information, which he and the government have denied was classified. In all..., less than 10 minutes elapsed between Kurilla’s giving Hegseth the information and Hegseth’s sending it to the two group chats, one of which included other Cabinet-level officials and their designees — and, inadvertently, the editor of The Atlantic magazine. The other group included Hegseth’s wife, his brother, his attorney and some of his aides." Update. The New York Times has a related story here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: We know Drunk Pete rushed out the top-secret stuff to friends & family to show off what a powerful guy he was. But that's an indication that he doesn't even know how to properly show off his new importance. Now, if I wanted to show off my secret for-my-eyes-only knowledge, I would boast, "Have to go. Just got top-secret info only I can address. Can't tell even youse guys what it is. I mean, it's super-duper top secret! Later, dudes!"

Where Is Ricardo Prada? ICE “Disappears” a Man. Miriam Jordan of the New York Times: “In late January, Ricardo Prada Vásquez, a Venezuelan immigrant working in a delivery job in Detroit, picked up an order at a McDonald’s. He was heading to the address when he erroneously turned onto the Ambassador Bridge, which leads to Canada. It is a common mistake.... But for Mr. Prada, 32, it proved fateful. The U.S. authorities took Mr. Prada into custody when he attempted to re-enter the country; he was put in detention and ordered deported. On March 15, he told a friend in Chicago that he was among a number of detainees housed in Texas who expected to be repatriated to Venezuela. That evening, the Trump administration flew three planes carrying Venezuelan migrants from the Texas facility to El Salvador, where they have been ever since, locked up in a maximum-security prison.... Mr. Prada has not been heard from or seen. He is not on the list of 238 people who were deported to El Salvador that day. He does not appear in the photos and videos released by the authorities.... 'He has simply disappeared,' said Javier, a friend in Chicago....

“Mr. Prada’s disappearance has created concerns that more immigrants have been deported to El Salvador than previously known. It also raises the question of whether some deportees may have been sent to other countries with no record of it. The U.S. authorities have confirmed that he was removed from the United States. But to where?”

The New York Times is live-updating developments in the Vatican in the wake of Pope Francis' death Monday.

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Say It Ain't So, Lee. Hiroko Tabuchi of the New York Times: “The Trump administration is set to cancel tens of millions of dollars in grants to scientists studying environmental hazards faced by children in rural America, among other health issues, according to internal emails written by senior officials at the Environmental Protection Agency. The planned cancellation of the research grants, which were awarded to scientists outside the agency, comes as ... [Donald] Trump continues to dismantle some of the E.P.A.’s core functions. The grants are designed to address a range of issues, including improving the health of children in rural America who have been exposed to pesticides from agriculture and other pollution; reducing exposure to wildfire smoke; and preventing “forever chemicals” from contaminating the food supply. An email sent by Dan Coogan, a deputy assistant administrator at the E.P.A., on April 15, and seen by The New York Times, said the agency leadership was directing staff to cancel all pending and active grants across a number of key programs, including Science to Achieve Results, known as STAR.” ~~~

~~~ Nevermind. Lee Lies. Lauren Irwin of the Hill (April 20): “Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin said he can 'absolutely' assure the public that the various deregulation efforts undergone by the agency will not harm the environment.... Environmentalists have sounded the alarm over the administration’s plans, but Zeldin remained confident that the public and environment would not be negatively impacted.”

From a report by Jason Horowitz , et al., of the New York Times: “On Monday..., [Donald] Trump told reporters at the annual White House Easter egg roll that [Pope] Francis 'loved the world, and he especially loved people that were having a hard time — and that’s good with me.' But moments later, he railed against the 'millions and millions' of migrants who have entered the United States. He also said that he and his wife, Melania, planned to attend the pope’s funeral.”

Dippity-Doo-Dah. Danielle Kaye & Kevin Granville of the New York Times: “Stocks slumped, bonds sold off and the U.S. dollar continued to lose ground on Monday as ... [Donald] Trump renewed his attacks on Jerome H. Powell, the chair of the Federal Reserve, unnerving already-anxious investors who see the independence of the central bank as critical to the health of the American economy. Wall Street began the day with a slump, but the sell-off gained steam after Mr. Trump targeted Mr. Powell in a social media post, calling him “a major loser” and urging the Fed to cut interest rates. Mr. Trump also suggested that an economic slowdown would be Mr. Powell’s fault. After a late recovery, the S&P 500 dropped 2.4 percent for the day. All of the major sectors in the index fell, with the technology, energy and consumer discretionary sectors hardest hit.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Paul Krugman: “What we’re seeing now is ... looking more and more like a 'sudden stop.' That’s what happens when a country that has relied on large inflows of foreign capital loses the confidence of international investors. The inflow of money dries up — and the economic consequences are usually ugly. Trump inherited an economy in remarkably good shape.... But Trump wasted no time in squandering the hand he’d been given. It’s not just the destructive tariffs. It’s also the chaos, as policy zigzags wildly, and the craziness.... We have some big structural advantages that, say, Portugal in 2011 or Argentina in 2001 lacked. Above all, America’s foreign debt is overwhelmingly in dollars. This means that a plunging dollar won’t cause the domestic-currency value of our debt to explode.... And U.S. businesses and individuals have large overseas investments that will become more valuable in dollar terms as the dollar falls.... On the other hand, Portugal in 2011 or even Argentina in 2001 had mostly sane leadership. We don’t.” ~~~

     ~~~ Read on. Krugman cite Lauren Boebert for a laugh. It's kinda amazing that you don't even have to tell jokes about these MAGA morons. They provide their own jokes and punchlines.

Alex Galbraith of Salon: "In an essay for the New York Times called 'My Dinner With Adolf,' [Larry] David took [Bill] Maher to task for attempting to soften the image of a fascist strongman. While David never mentions the 'Real Time' host by name, the timing of the piece and its main character's need to hear out all sides past the point of ludicrousness make the target clear.  David's fictional meeting with Adolf Hitler echoes many of the points that Maher has made in the days since he dined with Trump. Maher, a crochety liberal-leaning comic who has grown more crochety and less liberal as societal norms have passed him by, marvelled at the fact that he could make the commander-in-chief laugh." ~~~

     ~~~ Larry David's New York Times op-ed is here. 

Trump has a very good reason that alleged criminals can't be tried before being deported. ~~~

     ~~~ Trump: Due Process Is Impossibly Time-consuming. Rebecca Beitsch & Brett Samuels of the Hill: Donald “Trump on Monday complained of being 'stymied at every turn' by the courts, arguing the administration can’t hold trials for migrants it plans to deport amid accusations they are gang members.... Trump ... claim[ed] it was 'not possible' to hold trials for all migrants the administration wishes to deport, though those in the U.S. regardless of immigration status are entitled to due process and many wish to contest allegations they are gang members. 'We cannot give everyone a trial, because to do so would take, without exaggeration, 200 years,' Trump added in his Truth Social post. 'We would need hundreds of thousands of trials for the hundreds of thousands of Illegals we are sending out of the Country. Such a thing is not possible to do. What a ridiculous situation we are in.'” MB: Bear in mind that nobody got more due process than Trump himself, who time-consumed his way out of serious criminal charges.

Jonathan Swan, et al., of the New York Times: Donald “Trump threw his support behind Pete Hegseth on Monday and said any concern over his defense secretary’s decision to share military attack plans in a Signal group chat was a 'waste of time.' Speaking to reporters on the White House’s South Lawn after the Easter Egg Roll, Mr. Trump said he had full confidence in Mr. Hegseth. 'He’s doing a great job — ask the Houthis how he’s doing,' the president said, referring to the rebel group in Yemen that the United States targeted in military strikes last month.... Mr. Hegseth ... lashed out at reporters and television crews as he attended the annual Easter Egg Roll with members of his family. He dismissed the Times article as one of many 'hit pieces'” that aired accusations from 'disgruntled former employees.' He said he had spoken to Mr. Trump and they were 'on the same page all the way.'... Mr. Trump and Mr. Hegseth spoke on the phone on Sunday night, a few hours after the Times article was published.... The president told Mr. Hegseth that disgruntled 'leakers' were to blame for the report and made clear that he had the defense secretary’s back. Mr. Trump then instructed his team to publicly defend Mr. Hegseth....”

~~~ Joe Gould, et al., of Politico: “... Donald Trump 'stands strongly behind Pete Hegseth,' press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday morning, defending the scandal-plagued Defense secretary against escalating criticism from Democrats and former senior officials. Hegseth 'is doing phenomenal leading the Pentagon,' Leavitt said in a 'Fox & Friends' appearance. 'This is what happens when the entire Pentagon is working against you and working against the monumental change you are trying to implement.' Her comments came a day after The New York Times reported that Hegseth shared sensitive information about military operations in Yemen in a private chat on the Signal app that included his wife, brother and personal lawyer — the second reported instance of the secretary sharing operational plans in an unclassified chat.... 'We keep learning how Pete Hegseth put lives at risk,' Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said. 'But Trump is still too weak to fire him.'” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Rachel Bade of Politico: “Rep. Don Bacon, a prominent Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, became the first sitting GOP lawmaker Monday to suggest ... Donald Trump should fire Pete Hegseth — calling the chaos at the Pentagon one reason why many Hill Republicans were privately uneasy with the Defense secretary’s nomination in the first place.... The Nebraska lawmaker also said that while he didn’t feel it was his place to call on Hegseth to resign, he wouldn’t stand for Hegseth’s mismanagement were he the occupant of the Oval Office.... Bacon, a former Air Force general who now chairs of the subcommittee on cyber issues, said..., ''Russia and China put up thousands of people to monitor all these phone calls at the very top, and the No. 1 target besides the president … would be the secretary of Defense.... Russia and China are all over his phone, and for him to be putting secret stuff on his phone is not right. He’s acting like he’s above the law — and that shows an amateur person.'”

~~~ Greg Jaffe & Helene Cooper of the New York Times: “In just three months in office, Mr. Hegseth, a former Fox News host, has ... produced a run of chaos that is unmatched in the recent history of the Defense Department. Mr. Hegseth’s inner circle of close advisers — military veterans who, like him, had little experience running large, complex organizations — is in a shambles. Three members of the team he brought with him into the Pentagon were accused last week of leaking unauthorized information and escorted from the building. A fourth recently departed member of Mr. Hegseth’s team, John Ullyot, who had been his top spokesman, accused Mr. Hegseth of disloyalty and incompetence in an opinion essay in Politico on Sunday.... The discord ... includes: screaming matches in his inner office among aides; a growing distrust of the thousands of military and civilian personnel...; and bureaucratic logjams that have slowed down progress on some of ... [Donald] Trump’s key priorities.... Adding to the dysfunction, Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency has set a loose target of slashing as many as 200,000 jobs from the Pentagon’s civilian work force of 750,000, a level of cuts Mr. Hegseth has warned would cripple some critical functions within the department.... Meanwhile, recent media reports that Mr. Hegseth disclosed sensitive military information about upcoming strikes in Yemen in two private Signal group chats have led some in Congress to call for him to resign.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: And let's not forget that meeting Pete arranged to brief Elon on the military's secret war plans against China; even Trump knew enough to put the kibosh on that. ~~~

~~~ BUT. Tom Bowman & Quil Lawrence of NPR: "The White House has begun the process of looking for a new leader at the Pentagon to replace Pete Hegseth, according to a U.S. official who was not authorized to speak publicly."

Oh, Lordy, how can gun-totin' Kristi keep us secure when she can't even secure her own handbag stuffed with cash? ~~~

     ~~~ Erin Doherty of CNBC: "A thief stole Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s purse while she was dining at a restaurant in downtown Washington, D.C., on Sunday night, two law enforcement sources confirmed to CNBC. Noem’s bag contained roughly $3,000 in cash, which she had withdrawn to treat her family to dinner and Easter gifts and activities, a DHS spokesperson said Monday. The bag also contained Noem’s passport, makeup, blank checks, her driver’s license, keys and medication, according to CNN, which first reported the theft. The U.S. Secret Service has reviewed security footage that shows an unidentified white male, who wore a medical mask, snatching the bag, CNN reported." The New York Times report is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Akhilleus has a theory: "And who walks around with $3,000 in cash and keeps their passport in a pocketbook? Sounds more like someone’s making a run for it." ~~~

     ~~~ Luckily, before Kristi could execute her plan to go on the lam, she took the time to try to rid us of this dangerous woman -- a Pennsylvania-born Connecticult doctor and U.S. citizen -- to get out or ICE would send her off to a foreign country of their choice: ~~~

Ann Marimow of the Washington Post: “The American Civil Liberties Union asked the Supreme Court on Monday to broaden its extraordinary weekend order that temporarily blocked the Trump administration from using a wartime power to deport dozens of alleged gang members detained in Texas. Lawyers for the Venezuelan migrants say the Trump administration is not complying with an earlier Supreme Court directive to provide detainees with a real opportunity to challenge their planned deportations to a notorious megaprison in El Salvador. They want the Supreme Court to take up the broader question of whether the Trump administration can lawfully invoke the Alien Enemies Act when they say the United States is not actually at war with the targeted Venezuelan gang known as Tren de Aragua.” (Also linked yesterday.) 

Luis Ferré-Sadurní of the New York Times: “A state judge [-- Justice Mary Rosado of State Supreme Court --] temporarily blocked Mayor Eric Adams on Monday from allowing the federal government to open offices at the Rikers Island jail complex, delaying the mayor’s efforts to help ... [Donald] Trump with his immigration crackdown. The judge’s temporary restraining order came after the City Council sued the mayor last week in an attempt to stop an executive order that the Adams administration issued to allow federal immigration authorities into Rikers for the first time in more than a decade.”

Anvee Bhutani of the New York Times: “About 10 demonstrators chained themselves to Columbia University’s campus gates at 116th Street and Amsterdam Avenue in New York on Monday afternoon, protesting the detention of two Palestinian student activists by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. They were part of a larger contingent that sat down outside the gate. The protest followed the detention last week of Mohsen Mahdawi, who is finishing undergraduate studies in philosophy at Columbia.... Mr. Mahdawi was taken into ICE custody during his naturalization appointment in Vermont. Federal immigration officials detained Mahmoud Khalil, a graduate of the School of International and Public Affairs, last month. Both were organizers of pro-Palestinian demonstrations at Columbia. Demonstrators on Monday called for the immediate release of Mr. Mahdawi and Mr. Khalil.... A Columbia spokesperson said Monday that the university was 'monitoring a disruption' and that its public safety officers had cut the locks of about 10 demonstrators.... The New York Police Department said Monday evening that an unspecified number of people had been taken into custody and were being processed.”

Jonah Bromwich of the New York Times: “The Department of Homeland Security denied Mahmoud Khalil permission to attend the birth of his first child, who was delivered at a New York hospital on Monday.... Instead, Mr. Khalil experienced the birth by telephone from Jena, La., more than 1,000 miles from the hospital where his wife, Dr. Noor Abdalla, gave birth to a son.”

The Fix Was In. It Always Was In. Eileen Sullivan of the New York Times: “The independent government agency charged with protecting federal workers’ rights will drop its inquiry into the more than 2,000 complaints that the Trump administration had improperly fired probationary employees, according to emailed notices received by five workers and reviewed by The New York Times. The agency, the Office of Special Counsel, told affected employees that it had concluded that it could not pursue the claims of unlawful termination in part because they were fired not for individual cause, but en masse as part of ... [Donald] Trump’s 'governmentwide effort to reduce the federal service.' The decision effectively eliminates one of the few avenues government employees had to challenge their terminations. It comes as Mr. Trump has forced out the office’s leader and replaced him for now with a loyal member of his cabinet, Doug Collins, the secretary of veterans affairs.... Experts in federal employment law said the justifications to end the investigations were baffling at best.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: An independent agency, my foot. The first employees should sue the administration for (a) being fired, and (b) denying them a mandated means of redress. Speaking of lawsuits: ~~~

~~~ Stephanie Saul of the New York Times: “Harvard, the world’s wealthiest university, sued the Trump administration on Monday, fighting back against its threats to slash billions of dollars from the school’s research funding as part of a crusade against the nation’s top colleges.... The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Massachusetts, accuses the government of unleashing a broad attack as 'leverage to gain control of academic decision-making at Harvard.' It also references other major universities that have faced abrupt funding cuts. The lawsuit names as defendants Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the health and human services secretary; Linda M. McMahon, the education secretary; Stephen Ehikian, acting administrator of the General Services Administration; Attorney General Pamela J. Bondi; and several other administration officials.” (Also linked yesterday.) The AP's story is here.

Guns 4 Kidz. Adam Liptak of the New York Times: “The Supreme Court on Monday turned down an opportunity to weigh in on whether the government may restrict 18- to 20-year-olds from buying or carrying guns, a question that has divided the lower courts. The case concerned a Minnesota law that makes it a crime for people under 21 to carry guns in public. Last year, the Eighth Circuit struck down the law, ruling that the Second Amendment required letting those as young as 18 be armed. 'The Second Amendment’s plain text does not have an age limit,' wrote Judge Duane Benton, who was appointed by President George W. Bush.” (Also linked yesterday.) 

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New Jersey. Tracey Tully of the New York Times: “Nadine Menendez was convicted on Monday of participating in a complex bribery conspiracy with her husband, Robert Menendez, a former senator from New Jersey who last year was also found guilty of trading his political influence for gold, cash and a Mercedes-Benz convertible. A Manhattan jury deliberated for roughly seven hours over two days before finding Ms. Menendez, 58, guilty of playing a central role in the yearslong bribery scheme and then trying to hide it after learning that she was a focus of a federal investigation. The judge, Sidney H. Stein of U.S. District Court, set a sentencing date of June 12 for Ms. Menendez, who faces a lengthy prison term. Ms. Menendez was indicted in September 2023 on bribery charges with her husband, but her trial was delayed for months so that she could be treated for breast cancer.”

The Conversation -- April 21, 2025

Stephanie Saul of the New York Times: “Harvard, the world’s wealthiest university, sued the Trump administration on Monday, fighting back against its threats to slash billions of dollars from the school’s research funding as part of a crusade against the nation’s top colleges.... The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Massachusetts, accuses the government of unleashing a broad attack as 'leverage to gain control of academic decision-making at Harvard.' It also references other major universities that have faced abrupt funding cuts. The lawsuit names as defendants Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the health and human services secretary; Linda M. McMahon, the education secretary; Stephen Ehikian, acting administrator of the General Services Administration; Attorney General Pamela J. Bondi; and several other administration officials.” ~~~

~~~ Marie: Yeah, well, I feel like suing Donald Trump personally. I'm pretty sure that sumbitch's latest thumb farts & tariffing just transformed me from a middle-class old codger to a poor coot. For no reason. Othe than pure assholery. ~~~

~~~ Dippity-Doo-Dah. Danielle Kaye & Kevin Granville of the New York Times: “Stocks slumped, bonds sold off and the U.S. dollar continued to lose ground on Monday as ... [Donald] Trump renewed his attacks on Jerome H. Powell, the chair of the Federal Reserve, unnerving already-anxious investors who see the independence of the central bank as critical to the health of the American economy. Wall Street began the day with a slump, but the sell-off gained steam after Mr. Trump targeted Mr. Powell in a social media post, calling him “a major loser” and urging the Fed to cut interest rates. Mr. Trump also suggested that an economic slowdown would be Mr. Powell’s fault. After a late recovery, the S&P 500 dropped 2.4 percent for the day. All of the major sectors in the index fell, with the technology, energy and consumer discretionary sectors hardest hit.”

Oh, Lordy, how can gun-totin' Kristi keep us secure when she can't even secure her own handbag stuffed with cash? ~~~

     ~~~ Erin Doherty of CNBC: "A thief stole Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s purse while she was dining at a restaurant in downtown Washington, D.C., on Sunday night, two law enforcement sources confirmed to CNBC. Noem’s bag contained roughly $3,000 in cash, which she had withdrawn to treat her family to dinner and Easter gifts and activities, a DHS spokesperson said Monday. The bag also contained Noem’s passport, makeup, blank checks, her driver’s license, keys and medication, according to CNN, which first reported the theft. The U.S. Secret Service has reviewed security footage that shows an unidentified white male, who wore a medical mask, snatching the bag, CNN reported." The New York Times report is here.

Joe Gould, et al., of Politico: “... Donald Trump 'stands strongly behind Pete Hegseth,' press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday morning, defending the scandal-plagued Defense secretary against escalating criticism from Democrats and former senior officials. Hegseth 'is doing phenomenal leading the Pentagon,' Leavitt said in a 'Fox & Friends' appearance. 'This is what happens when the entire Pentagon is working against you and working against the monumental change you are trying to implement.' Her comments came a day after The New York Times reported that Hegseth shared sensitive information about military operations in Yemen in a private chat on the Signal app that included his wife, brother and personal lawyer — the second reported instance of the secretary sharing operational plans in an unclassified chat.... 'We keep learning how Pete Hegseth put lives at risk,' Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said. 'But Trump is still too weak to fire him.'”

Ann Marimow of the Washington Post: “The American Civil Liberties Union asked the Supreme Court on Monday to broaden its extraordinary weekend order that temporarily blocked the Trump administration from using a wartime power to deport dozens of alleged gang members detained in Texas. Lawyers for the Venezuelan migrants say the Trump administration is not complying with an earlier Supreme Court directive to provide detainees with a real opportunity to challenge their planned deportations to a notorious megaprison in El Salvador. They want the Supreme Court to take up the broader question of whether the Trump administration can lawfully invoke the Alien Enemies Act when they say the United States is not actually at war with the targeted Venezuelan gang known as Tren de Aragua.”

Guns 4 Kidz. Adam Liptak of the New York Times: “The Supreme Court on Monday turned down an opportunity to weigh in on whether the government may restrict 18- to 20-year-olds from buying or carrying guns, a question that has divided the lower courts. The case concerned a Minnesota law that makes it a crime for people under 21 to carry guns in public. Last year, the Eighth Circuit struck down the law, ruling that the Second Amendment required letting those as young as 18 be armed. 'The Second Amendment’s plain text does not have an age limit,' wrote Judge Duane Benton, who was appointed by President George W. Bush.”

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Via LG&$.

⭐ ~~~ Greg Jaffe, et al., of the New York Times: “Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth shared detailed information about forthcoming strikes in Yemen on March 15 in a private Signal group chat that included his wife, brother and personal lawyer, according to four people with knowledge of the chat. Some of those people said that the information Mr. Hegseth shared on the Signal chat included the flight schedules for the F/A-18 Hornets targeting the Houthis in Yemen — essentially the same attack plans that he shared on a separate Signal chat the same day that mistakenly included the editor of The Atlantic. Mr. Hegseth’s wife, Jennifer, a former Fox News producer, is not a Defense Department employee, but she has traveled with him overseas and drawn criticism for accompanying her husband to sensitive meetings with foreign leaders. Mr. Hegseth’s brother Phil and Tim Parlatore, who continues to serve as his personal lawyer, both have jobs in the Pentagon, but it is not clear why either would need to know about upcoming military strikes aimed at the Houthis in Yemen....

“Unlike the chat in which The Atlantic was mistakenly included, the newly revealed one was created by Mr. Hegseth. It included his wife and about a dozen other people from his personal and professional inner circle in January, before his confirmation as defense secretary, and was named 'Defense | Team Huddle,' the people familiar with the chat said. He used his private phone, rather than his government one, to access the Signal chat.” MB: Let's hope loose lips sink Pete. It isn't often that the drunk at the end of the bar is passing around military plans. ~~~

     ~~~ Natasha Bertrand, et al., of CNN: “The revelation comes as some of Hegseth’s closest advisers have begun sounding the alarm about the secretary’s judgment, including his former press secretary, John Ullyot, and three former senior officials Hegseth fired last week — his top adviser Dan Caldwell, deputy chief of staff Darin Selnick, and Colin Carroll, who served as chief of staff to the deputy secretary of defense.” ~~~

     ~~~ Former Spokesman Turns on Drunk Pete. John Ullyot, in a Politico Magazine essay: “It’s been a month of total chaos at the Pentagon. From leaks of sensitive operational plans to mass firings, the dysfunction is now a major distraction for the president — who deserves better from his senior leadership.... Donald Trump has a strong record of holding his top officials to account. Given that, it’s hard to see Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth remaining in his role for much longer. The latest flashpoint is a near collapse inside the Pentagon’s top ranks. On Friday, Hegseth fired three of his most loyal senior staffers — senior adviser Dan Caldwell, deputy chief of staff Darin Selnick and Colin Carroll, chief of staff to the deputy secretary of Defense. In the aftermath, Defense Department officials working for Hegseth tried to smear the aides anonymously to reporters, claiming they were fired for leaking sensitive information as part of an investigation ordered earlier this month. Yet none of this is true.”

Hannah Natanson of the Washington Post: “Government officials under both Joe Biden and Donald Trump improperly shared sensitive documents with thousands of federal workers, including potentially classified floor plans of the White House, according to internal records reviewed by The Washington Post. Career employees at the General Services Administration, which provides administrative and technological support for much of the federal bureaucracy and manages the government’s real estate portfolio, were responsible for the oversharing, which spurred a cybersecurity incident report and investigation last week. The records show that the employees inadvertently shared a Google Drive folder containing the sensitive documents with the entire GSA staff, which totals more than 11,200 people, according to the agency’s online directory.”

Annie Correal & Julie Turkewitz of the New York Times: “El Salvador’s president proposed on Sunday repatriating Venezuelan detainees sent to his country from the United States in exchange for the release of prisoners by Venezuela, including key figures in the Venezuelan opposition. 'I want to propose a humanitarian agreement that includes the repatriation of 100 percent of the 252 Venezuelans who were deported, in exchange for the release and surrender of an identical number (252) of the thousands of political prisoners you hold,' President Nayib Bukele wrote in an X post directed at President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela.... Venezuela’s attorney general, Tarek William Saab, demanded the immediate release of the Venezuelans held in El Salvador late Sunday in a statement responding to Mr. Bukele. Mr. Saab didn’t say whether the Venezuelan government would consider the proposal.”

Vaughn Hillyard, et al., of NBC News: “Video from Friday night shows Immigration and Customs Enforcement buses full of Venezuelan migrants headed toward an airport in North Texas before abruptly turning around before the Supreme Court ruled the Trump administration must, for now, refrain from deporting Venezuelan men based in the state under the Alien Enemies Act. At least 28 detainees — most, if not all, understood to be Venezuelan nationals — were placed on buses Friday evening at ICE’s Bluebonnet Detention Center in Anson, Texas, and then driven toward Abilene Airport about 30 miles away. The motorcade — including at least 18 squad cars from various law enforcement agencies with flashing lights along the north Texas highways — left the ICE facility, with some men on board being told they were being deported to El Salvador and some told they were headed to Venezuela.... As the motorcade was headed for the airport, [District Judge James Boasberg was holding] a last-minute federal hearing on the matter.... 'We hear they are on buses on the way to the airport,' said Lee Gelernt, the lawyer for the ACLU ... [told Judge Boasberg].... Boasberg [then] asked Justice Department lawyer Drew Ensign to make calls to ensure there were no flights deporting immigrants from Bluebonnet under the Alien Enemies Act on Friday night.... The Supreme Court heard the case overnight, after Boasberg declined to rule [on the case].” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: As Mark Stern of Slate (linked yesterday) noted, "... it is plain as day that the Supreme Court simply did not trust the Trump administration’s claims that it would not deport migrants over the weekend without due process." Clearly, the Supremes were right not to trust the Trump mob. One of them, however, did his best to aid and abet Trump's unlawful action: ~~~

~~~ Abbie VanSickle of the New York Times: “In his five-page dissent released on Saturday shortly before midnight, Justice Alito, joined by Justice Clarence Thomas, wrote that in his view, the court’s decision to intervene overnight was not 'necessary or appropriate.'... The order [to which Alito dissented] suggested a deep skepticism on the court about whether the Trump administration could be trusted to live up to the key part of an earlier ruling that said detainees were entitled to be notified if the government intended to deport them under the law, 'within a reasonable time,' and in a way that would allow the deportees to challenge the move.” MB: Moreover, Alito, who is the justice assigned to oversee the Fifth Circuit, which includes Texas, had earlier declined to issue a stay and did not bring up the matter to the full Court. The ACLU had to go begging in the middle of the night. Clearly the Court's intervention was “necessary and appropriate.” (Also linked yesterday.) 

Robert Jimison & Annie Correal of the New York Times: “Four Democratic lawmakers have arrived in El Salvador, where they intend to continue pressing for the release of a Maryland resident who was wrongly deported to a prison in the Central American country. Representatives Robert Garcia of California, Maxwell Alejandro Frost of Florida, Yassamin Ansari of Arizona and Maxine E. Dexter of Oregon landed on Sunday. They are hoping their trip will focus more attention on the Trump administration’s lack of action after the Supreme Court ordered the government to facilitate the return of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia.”

Sen. Foghorn Leghorn Breaks with Trump. Sarah Fortinsky of the Hill: “Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) said on Sunday he does not think the law would allow ... [Donald] Trump to send United States citizens convicted of violent crimes to Salvadoran prisons, despite the president’s suggestion that he might be open to that possibility. 'No, ma’am. Nor should it be considered appropriate or moral,' Kennedy told NBC News’s Kristen Welker when asked on 'Meet the Press' whether he thinks such a move would be legal.''We have our own laws,' he continued. 'We have the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution. We shouldn’t send prisoners to foreign countries in my judgment.'” MB: The way Fortinsky presents the exchange, it's not clear whether Leghorn is talking about any criminals or only U.S. citizens. However, I listened to the tape, and it does appear Leghorn is speaking only of U.S. citizens. That is, it sounds very much as if Foghorn Leghorn thinks noncitizens do not have the same rights of due process & humane treatment that U.S. citizens do.

Yesterday, the story was about a young U.S. citizen with an Hispanic name whom ICE detained near the U.S.-Mexico border. Today's story is about an older Wisconsin man with a Germanic?? name who says he is a natural-born U.S. citizen. Nevertheless, the Department Homeland Security sent him a threatening email warning him he must self-deport "immediately" or law enforcement "potentially" would "remove" him from the U.S.:

     ~~~ If Sam Alito & Clarence Thomas had their way, Mr. Franck might be headed for El Salvador. And so might you or I.

You may not be able to see it at home as yet, but the U.S. is rapidly becoming a scary, third-world country. Here's more evidence: ~~~

~~~ Douglas MacMillan of the Washington Post: “The Trump administration’s efforts to boost deportations has increased the number of immigrant detainees so quickly that the government is failing to provide basic necessities, including beds and medical care, for some of them. Nearly half the people currently detained by ICE or Customs and Border Protection have no criminal charges, federal data show, yet some are being held in conditions that would be unacceptable in high-security prisons. At the same time, the administration has eliminated two oversight bodies that ensured that facilities met health and safety requirements.... The number of detainees is growing because of increased arrests and because ICE authorities are not exercising their discretion to release people who would normally qualify for bond or parole — those with medical conditions or who present no threat to the community, for example — said Eunice Cho, an [ACLU] attorney.... 'This is a crisis entirely manufactured by ICE,' Cho said.”

Quiz Question of the Day. Marie: Oh, let's see if you can figure out what's driving this pair of seemingly antithetical Trump plans. On the one hand, Trump has ordered an end to "birthright citizenship," as guaranteed in the Fourteenth Amendment. Birthright citizenship of course increases the number of young Americans. On the other hand, as Caroline Kitchener of the New York Times reports, "The White House has been hearing out a chorus of ideas in recent weeks for persuading Americans to get married and have more children, an early sign that the Trump administration will embrace a new cultural agenda pushed by many of its allies on the right to reverse declining birthrates and push conservative family values." This is, Trump wants to increase the number of young Americans.

Dhruv Patel of the Harvard Crimson: “The Trump administration plans to slash another $1 billion in federal grants and contracts for health research to Harvard, on top of an existing $2.2 billion cut, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday. The new cut comes after [Harvard President Alan] Garber decided to publicly reject the revised — and more aggressive — set of demands that the White House issued to Harvard last Friday as part of his message to Harvard affiliates on Monday. Garber’s rejection sparked the federal government’s first funding freeze. Citing the two anonymous sources, the Journal reported that the Trump administration saw the release as a breach of a confidential negotiation process. Harvard had not agreed to keep the demands private, according to the Journal, but its public release is now being touted by some in the White House as a reason to take a more aggressive approach to Harvard’s funding.”

Tobi Raji & Samantha Chery of the Washington Post: “Members of the U.S. DOGE Service met with National Gallery of Art leadership Thursday, museum and administration officials confirmed, signaling that cuts or other changes may be on the horizon for the Washington institution that makes its world-class art collection freely accessible to roughly 6 million visitors a year.... Thursday’s visit comes as the administration has sought to assert more control over federally funded art initiatives and overhaul the nation’s most renowned museums, including the separate Smithsonian Institution. While DOGE is nominally a cost-cutting operation led by the billionaire Elon Musk, it has drafted detailed plans to purge employees and programs that it associates with diversity initiatives from the federal government. In recent years, the NGA has worked to diversify its art, holding its first exhibition of Native American artists in decades and adding works by Haitian artists to its permanent collection, among other work created by artists from marginalized communities.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: You and I may not agree on what art is, and we may not think the National Gallery gets it right, either. But we can agree, I suspect, that we don't want Big Balls & Little Musk deciding what the National Gallery can collect & display.

Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: “The Trump administration is reconsidering the legal basis for White House trade adviser Peter Navarro’s conviction for criminal contempt of Congress, according to court filings, a step that could lead to voiding his case.... Navarro, 75, served a four-month sentence last year after being found guilty in September 2023 of ignoring subpoenas for records and testimony by the House panel investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.... In a two-page motion filed April 4, the office of U.S. Attorney Ed Martin of the District of Columbia, which prosecuted Navarro, asked a court to delay oral arguments scheduled for Thursday 'to enable the Department of Justice to reexamine its position on the executive-privilege issues implicated in this appeal.'... Martin, a pro-Trump 'Stop the Steal' organizer who helped plan Jan. 6 events and later blamed Democrats using the online hashtag #CapitolInsurrectionHoax, has hosted Navarro on his podcast since 2020 and condemned his prosecution, saying early last year that he was a 'political hostage' and 'shouldn’t go to jail for a day.' .” However, the decision over Navarro’s case is likely to rest with U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche.”

⭐⭐ Jason Horowitz & Jim Yardley of the New York Times: “Pope Francis, who rose from modest means in Argentina to become the first Jesuit and Latin American pontiff, who clashed bitterly with traditionalists in his push for a more inclusive Roman Catholic Church, and who spoke out tirelessly for migrants, the marginalized and the health of the planet, died on Monday at the Vatican’s Casa Santa Marta. He was 88. The pope’s death was announced by the Vatican in a statement on X, a day after Francis appeared in his wheelchair to bless the faithful in St. Peter’s Square on Easter Sunday. Throughout his 12-year papacy, Francis was a change agent, having inherited a Vatican in disarray in 2013 after the stunning resignation of his predecessor, Benedict XVI, a standard-bearer of Roman Catholic conservatism.” ~~~

     ~~~ Here's a New York Times liveblog, related to Francis' death. ~~~

     ~~~ The AP's obituary is here. The AP has live updates here.

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South Carolina. Kipp Jones of Mediaite: “On Saturday, Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) posted a video to her social media accounts showing a heated encounter with a constituent who asked her about holding a town hall meeting in her district which resulted in her yelling, 'Fuck you!'” MB: I would not publicize a video in which I lost it with someone I was supposed to be serving. Or one in which I was dressed like a hooker in skinny jeans & spike heels. Apparently Mace thinks all publicity is good publicity.

The Conversation -- April 20, 2025

Vaughn Hillyard, et al., of NBC News: “Video from Friday night shows Immigration and Customs Enforcement buses full of Venezuelan migrants headed toward an airport in North Texas before abruptly turning around before the Supreme Court ruled the Trump administration must, for now, refrain from deporting Venezuelan men based in the state under the Alien Enemies Act. At least 28 detainees — most, if not all, understood to be Venezuelan nationals — were placed on buses Friday evening at ICE’s Bluebonnet Detention Center in Anson, Texas, and then driven toward Abilene Airport about 30 miles away. The motorcade — including at least 18 squad cars from various law enforcement agencies with flashing lights along the north Texas highways — left the ICE facility, with some men on board being told they were being deported to El Salvador and some told they were headed to Venezuela.... As the motorcade was headed for the airport, [District Judge James Boasberg was holding] a last-minute federal hearing on the matter.... 'We hear they are on buses on the way to the airport,' said Lee Gelernt, the lawyer for the ACLU ... [told Judge Boasberg].... Boasberg [then] asked Justice Department lawyer Drew Ensign to make calls to ensure there were no flights deporting immigrants from Bluebonnet under the Alien Enemies Act on Friday night.... The Supreme Court heard the case overnight, after Boasberg declined to rule [on the case].” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: As Mark Stern of Slate (linked below) noted, "... it is plain as day that the Supreme Court simply did not trust the Trump administration’s claims that it would not deport migrants over the weekend without due process." Clearly, the Supremes were right not to trust the Trump mob. One of them, however, did his best to aid and abet Trump's unlawful action: ~~~

~~~ Abbie VanSickle of the New York Times: “In his five-page dissent released on Saturday shortly before midnight, Justice Alito, joined by Justice Clarence Thomas, wrote that in his view, the court’s decision to intervene overnight was not 'necessary or appropriate.'... The order [to which Alito dissented] suggested a deep skepticism on the court about whether the Trump administration could be trusted to live up to the key part of an earlier ruling that said detainees were entitled to be notified if the government intended to deport them under the law, 'within a reasonable time,' and in a way that would allow the deportees to challenge the move.” MB: Moreover, Alito, who is the justice assigned to oversee the Fifth Circuit, which includes Texas, had earlier declined to issue a stay and did not bring up the matter to the full Court. The ACLU had to go begging in the middle of the night. Clearly the Court's intervention was “necessary and appropriate.”

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Time for Some Easter Spuds! (Thanks to RAS for the link.) ~~~

~~~ But if you do choose old-fashioned Easter eggs, here's Eli Zabar's recipe for two "platonic" egg salad sandwiches (via the New York Times):

8 large eggs
Salt
Pepper
1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
4 slices bread

Put the eggs in a medium pan and cover them with cold water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer 10 minutes.

Place pan in the sink under cold running water until the eggs are cool.Peel the eggs. Remove the yolks from 4 of them (save the whites for another use). Chop the 4 yolks with the 4 remaining whole eggs.

In a medium bowl, gently and quickly mix the chopped eggs, mayonnaise, and salt and pepper to taste. Add the dill, mix the egg salad once more, and make into sandwiches.

You can use the leftover eggwhites for eggwhite salad.

Ben Johansen of Politico: “The White House’s annual Easter Egg Roll will have major corporations sponsoring activities this year, which ethics experts say would not have passed muster under previous administrations.... Ethics experts said the arrangement for Monday’s egg roll was highly unusual, and a break from tradition about not corporatizing the White House and its grounds.... The White House on Friday announced details for the annual event, which has taken place in some form for more than 100 years. Among the companies sponsoring stations are Amazon, Meta and YouTube — all tech companies whose leaders have sought a closer relationship with ... Donald Trump in his second term.

Jesus Jiménez & Minho Kim of the New York Times: “Thousands of protesters across the country once again took to the streets on Saturday to rally against ... [Donald] Trump and his policies, a sign of sustained resistance to his leadership just two weeks after cities and towns nationwide saw mass demonstrations.... In front of the White House, protesters repeatedly shouted a single word. 'Shame!'” The Washington Post's story is here.

Naftali Bendavid of the Washington Post: “Barack Obama urged Americans to resist ... Donald Trump’s bullying. Joe Biden warned that Trump is wrecking the 'sacred promise' of Social Security. Bill Clinton decried the emphasis on grievances and the need to dominate. In an extraordinary stretch of just over two weeks, three former presidents have taken to the public stage to sound the alarm against the current occupant of the White House, despite the tradition that former presidents generally refrain from publicly criticizing their successors. Obama, Biden and Clinton did not explicitly name Trump, but their message was unmistakable. The three Democrats said, as much by their presence as their words, that these are unusual times for American democracy, that norms are being disregarded and extraordinary measures are required. The only living president who has not spoken out since Inauguration Day is Republican George W. Bush, though he has made little secret of his antipathy for Trump.” (Also linked yesterday.)

Karoun Demirjian of the New York Times: “A number of prominent Republicans, including several former members of the first Trump administration, have signed an open letter decrying the president for using his power to punish two former administration officials who criticized him, likening his actions to those of a 'royal despot.'... The letter, signed by more than 200 people, criticized [Mr. Trump's] actions as part of a 'profoundly unconstitutional break' with precedent.” The letter, which is not firewalled, is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

David Sanger, et al., of the New York Times: “Iran and the United States wrapped up a second round of diplomatic talks over Tehran’s nuclear activities on Saturday, setting an agenda for rapid-paced negotiations that, according to Iranian officials, would not require the dismantlement of the country’s extensive nuclear infrastructure. Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s foreign minister, said after meeting Steve Witkoff..., [Donald] Trump’s envoy, that an expert group would meet in the coming days to discuss technical details, including setting the maximum levels to which Iran could enrich uranium, the size of nuclear stockpiles it could retain and how compliance with any agreement could be monitored and verified.” So, gosh, the emerging agreement looks a lot like John Kerry's nuclear agreement, which Trump “called a 'disaster' and ultimately ripped up in 2018.”

Edward Wong of the New York Times: “Edward Wong of the New York Times: “A draft White House executive order proposes a drastic restructuring of the State Department, including eliminating almost all of its Africa operations and shutting down embassies and consulates across the continent. The draft also calls for cutting offices at State Department headquarters that address climate change and refugee issues, as well as democracy and human rights concerns. The purpose of the executive order, which could be signed by ... [Donald] Trump this week, is to impose 'a disciplined reorganization' of the State Department and 'streamline mission delivery' while cutting 'waste, fraud and abuse,' according to a copy of the 16-page draft order obtained by The New York Times. The department is supposed to make the changes by Oct. 1. The signing of the executive order would be accompanied by efforts to lay off both career diplomats, known as foreign service officers, and civil service employees, who usually work in the department’s headquarters in Washington, said current and former U.S. officials familiar with the plans.... The draft executive order calls for ending the foreign service exam for aspiring diplomats, and it lays out new criteria for hiring, including 'alignment with the president’s foreign policy vision.'” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I'm going to guess that many of the State Department employees dedicated to working on sub-Saharan issues are African-Americans. So this is one way to get rid of a lot of Black federal workers while pretending no racial discrimination is at work here. Add to that the fact that Trump doesn't care about "shithole countries," and it's all a win-win for Trump.

Corruption Junction. Josh Marshall of TPM: "One of the most important stories in some time came out two days ago.... The game here is pretty straightforward. Trump and Musk are looking to hand some or all of the government’s $700 billion internal expense card program (SmartPay) over to Ramp. A bunch of the meetings were organized by Josh Gruenbaum, a private equity guy who Trump and Musk installed as chief acquisitions officer at the GSA.... The overall picture is a standard one: Come in, take over the data and financial architecture; discredit it by having your media arms dish out mountains of phony stories about fraud and abuse; fire all the employees and hand a cash-drenched, sweetheart contract to yours and your friends company." Read on. ~~~

~~~ Christopher Bing & Avi Asher-Schapiro of ProPublica: The General Services Administration "is eying [financial tech startup] Ramp to get a piece of the government’s $700 billion internal expense card program, known as SmartPay. In recent weeks, Trump appointees at GSA have been moving quickly to tap Ramp for a charge card pilot program worth up to $25 million, sources told ProPublica, even as Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency highlights the multitudes of contracts it has canceled across federal agencies. Founded six years ago, Ramp is backed by some of the most powerful figures in Silicon Valley. One is Peter Thiel, the billionaire venture capitalist who was one of Trump’s earliest supporters in the tech world and who spent millions aiding Vice President JD Vance’s Ohio Senate run.... To date, the company has raised about $2 billion in venture capital, according to startup tracking website Crunchbase, much of it from firms with ties to Trump and Musk [including Joshua Kushner, Jared's brother]."

Jonathan Edwards & Susan Svrluga of the Washington Post: “Harvard University on Saturday challenged anonymous Trump administration officials who said a mistake had sparked the escalating confrontation between a U.S. president and one of the country’s most prestigious colleges.... Harvard on Saturday ... point[ed] out that the Trump administration had 'doubled down' on its threats. After Harvard refused to comply with the letter’s demands, the Trump administration froze $2.2 billion in federal funding to the university and threatened to revoke its tax-exempt status.” Related NYT story linked yesterday.

Adam Lynch of AlterNet: "The Daily Beast reports the Justice Department is helping ... Donald Trump with his personal appeal of a defamation award and leaving the attorney fees with taxpayers. In 2023, a federal jury found Trump liable for sexual abuse against advice columnist E. Jean Carroll and ordered him to pay her $5 million. Instead, Trump continued to deny all allegations and appealed both cases. Later, in 2024, a a different federal jury ordered Trump to pay $83.3 million in damages for defamatory comments he made denying allegations of sexual abuse that was already affirmed by the 2023 jury. Trump is still appealing that order, only now the Justice Department has moved to substitute itself as defendant in the Carroll v. Trump defamation case." (Also linked yesterday.)

Natalie Allison, et al., of the Washington Post: “Vice President JD Vance met with Pope Francis on Easter Sunday, the Vatican confirmed, a remarkable encounter between the ailing head of the global Catholic church and a high-profile convert to the faith who has publicly criticized some of the church’s social teachings.... The 'private meeting' occurred at 11:30 a.m. at the papal residence, Casa Santa Marta, and happened while Easter Mass was being said in St. Peter’s Square. 'The meeting, which lasted a few minutes, gave them the opportunity to exchange Easter greetings,' the Vatican said in a statement.... The encounter found Vance in the position of greeting the spiritual leader of 1.4 billion Catholics who has preached humility, mercy and inclusion at a time when ... Donald Trump’s administration has sought to project dominance at all cost....

“A meeting with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state and Francis’s No. 2, took place Saturday.... A Vatican readout portrayed Vance’s meeting with Parolin as a substantive discussion on a wide range of issues. It noted 'cordial talks' and an expression of 'satisfaction' over 'good existing bilateral relations' and a common commitment to protect the right to 'freedom of religion and conscience.' It also mentioned an 'exchange of opinions' on war, political tensions and humanitarian situations, with 'particular attention to migrants, refugees, and prisoners.'” Politico's story is here.

Jamelle Bouie of the New York Times: “On Tuesday, Vice President JD Vance wrote a long defense of the administration’s anti-immigrant rendition program, slamming critics who want the White House to obey a court order to facilitate the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia. It is a notable example of the lengths the White House has gone to try to deceive the public as it deals with political fallout from its open defiance of the federal judiciary.” Bouie goes on to catalog JayDee pack o' lies. You can find JayDee's screed here on X. (Also linked yesterday.)

Adam Liptak of the New York Times: “... the [Supreme C]ourt can move fast when it wants to, busting through protocols and conventions. It did so around 1 a.m. on Saturday, blocking the Trump administration from deporting a group of Venezuelan migrants accused of being gang members under a rarely invoked 18th-century wartime law. The court’s unsigned, one-paragraph order was extraordinary in many ways. Perhaps most important, it indicated a deep skepticism about whether the administration could be trusted to live up to the key part of an earlier ruling after the government had deported a different group of migrants to a prison in El Salvador. That unsigned and apparently unanimous ruling, issued April 7, said that detainees were entitled to be notified if the government intended to deport them under the law, 'within a reasonable time,' and in a way that would allow the deportees to challenge the move in court before their removal.... In a typical case, the Supreme Court would await a ruling from the relevant appeals court ... and ask for a response from the administration, on a deadline set by the justices.

“It would not have been unusual for a single justice to issue an 'administrative stay' — a brief pause — to let the court consider the matter in a more deliberate fashion. But each of the nation’s 13 federal circuits is supervised by an assigned justice, and the member of the court responsible for overseeing the Fifth Circuit is Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. He was apparently not inclined to issue a stay on his own.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ ⭐ A post by Mark Stern of Slate is firewalled, but Scott Lemieux, in LG&$, republishes the gist of it: “There are three remarkable aspects of the court’s decision. First, it acted with startling speed — so quickly, in fact, that it published the order before Alito could finish writing his dissent; he was forced to note only that a 'statement' would 'follow.' It is a major breach of protocol for the Supreme Court to publish an order or opinion before a dissenting justice finishes writing their opinion, one that reflects the profound urgency of the situation. Relatedly, awkward phrasing in court’s order may imply that Alito — who first received the plaintiffs’ request — failed to refer it to the full court, as is custom, compelling the other justices to rip the case away from him.... Second, it is plain as day that the Supreme Court simply did not trust the Trump administration’s claims that it would not deport migrants over the weekend without due process. If the court did believe these representations, it would not have acted in such a rapid and dramatic fashion....”

Lemieux writes, “It is very hard to avoid the conclusion that Alito wanted to just sit on the case, first by refusing to refer it at all and then if necessary further delay the Court from issuing the order while his clerks polished off The Concept of the Political (Sam’s Version), until the detainees were in CECOT [the El Salvadoran prison].... The Court has been using the shadow docket to delay cases that are unfavorable for Trump for many years. For a majority of the Court’s Republicans to act like a Democratic president is in the White House suggests that something is actually happening here.” ~~~

~~~ Ian Millhiser of Vox: "Thus far, the Supreme Court has been extraordinarily tolerant of Trump’s efforts to evade judicial review through hypertechnical procedural arguments.... Though it is just one order, Saturday’s post-midnight order suggests that the Court may no longer tolerate procedural shenanigans intended to evade meaningful judicial review.... Still, it remains to be seen how this case will play out once it is fully litigated. The post-midnight order is only temporary. And it leaves open all of the most important issues in this case, including whether Trump can rely on a wartime statute to deport people during peacetime."

Stories like the following soon will become so commonplace that news outlets won't carry them: ~~~

~~~ Danyelle Khmara of Arizona Public Media: “19-year-old Jose Hermosillo, who is visiting Tucson from Albuquerque, says he was lost and walking near the Border Patrol headquarters when an agent arrested him for illegally entering the country. Hermosillo was not carrying identification. Court documents say a Border Patrol agent arrested Hermosillo 'at or near Nogales, Arizona, without proper immigration documents' and that Hermosillo admitted to illegally entering the U.S. Hermosillo and his girlfriend, who have a 9-month-old child together, live in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and are visiting family in Tucson.... The family later provided officials with his birth certificate and social security card. 'He did say he was a U.S. citizen, but they didn't believe him,' [a family member] said.... A magistrate judge in Tucson dismissed his case on Thursday, and family says he was released much later that night.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Idaho. Even Here, Sometimes There May Be Some Justice. Kaye Thornbrugh of the Coeur d'Alene/Post Falls Press: “City prosecutors have filed criminal charges against six men involved in a chaotic legislative town hall, including the private security guards who dragged a Post Falls woman out of the Coeur d’Alene High School auditorium. Paul Trouette, Russell Dunne, Christofer Berg and Jesse Jones, all of whom are associated with the security firm Lear Asset Management, are charged with the misdemeanor crimes of battery and false imprisonment. The five men and Alex Trouette were also cited for security agent uniform violations and security agent duties violations. Post Falls resident Michael Keller is also charged with battery, a misdemeanor. The charges stem from Feb. 22, when Teresa Borrenpohl shouted from the audience during a town hall hosted by the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee.... Kootenai County Sheriff Bob Norris approached Borrenpohl and told her to leave. When she refused, Norris tried to pull her from her seat. He then appeared to gesture to plainclothes security personnel, who dragged Borrenpohl out of the auditorium.... Police identified Norris as an 'involved' party. No criminal charges have been filed against him.” MB: As I wrote, some justice. Thanks to RAS for the link to a post by digby on the topic. According to digby, Borrenpohl has not been charged in the incident. (Also linked yesterday.) 

~~~~~~~~~~

Ukraine, et al. Siobhán O'Grady, et al., of the Washington Post: “Russia continued to fire artillery at Ukraine after President Vladimir Putin declared a 30-hour truce for Easter, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said, but Kyiv will honor the ceasefire if Moscow does. Both sides appear eager to show an interest in peace talks before an increasingly impatient Trump administration. Putin declared a unilateral truce to begin at 6 p.m. Moscow time Saturday and said he expected Ukraine to follow Russia’s example.... On Sunday morning, Zelensky said Russia had shelled Ukrainian positions hundreds of times since the ceasefire declaration, although no major attacks occurred on cities overnight.”