Vanity Fair's editorial staff is considering a protest walk-out if Melania Trump is put on the magazine's cover.

Get ready for a deluge of mainstream media coverage of the non-present spouse of the man who has a desk in the oval office. She's written a book, has a photo-journal coming out, and Trump will pull out all the stops to make sure she gets a slew of coverage.

Republicans want to change the name of the Kennedy Centers Opera House to bear Melania's name. The measure passed a House Committee but seems to be in limbo.

My reaction: Ick.

More ick: Trump brought back Jared Kushner for a meeting on Gaza. Another sign that Trump's plan is to give Kushner's company the contract to build Gaza into the Middle-Eastern Riviera, perhaps named after Donald? With Ivanka doing the decorating? [More...]

Donald Trump, along with his immigration henchman, Stephen Miller, continue their rampage through America to make their target goal of arresting 3,000 people a day and deporting one million people a year, come hell or high water.

But score one today for the all of us who are not busy enforcing the law for Trump or answering the booty call ICE and Homeland Security are making to retired employees to come back and help their arrest and deportation efforts. A federal judge in Washington, DC has just put a halt to Trump's revised "expedited removal" process under which ICE can detain, arrest and deport people, including an expansive group of recent arrivals, without providing them with their due process right to a hearing before a judge. The Judge's decision is here.

The new regulation (available here)claims that expanded expedited removal will be more cost-effective and make our communities safer.

Donald Trump has felt the pressure the past two weeks, from all sides over AG Bondi's decision not to release additional files regarding Jeffrey Epstein's purported "list of clients" and the investigation into his death while in pretrial detention. It began as a rumbling from from hard-core, radical-right MAGA supporters who love conspiracy stories, the more out-there the better. But it since has spread to other Republicans and even woken up sleepy Democrats.

The Dems initial reaction was "Who cares?", there's more important things to care about." Now that they sense a crack in Trump's armor, they are banging their plates on the table, joining the cacaphony.

There's an old saying, that some credit to Benjamin Franklin and others to a writer named Sanford in 1373, the essence of which is, "When you lay down with dogs, you get up with fleas". Trump laid down plenty with Epstein during the early 90's. And now he's catching the fleas. He deserves them. [More...]

Only in Trump’s alternate reality version of America would Congress pass a bill where money is taken from the poor to pay the taxes of the rich.

If I were near a computer I’d be playing REM’s Everybody Hurts.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome. Back Soon!

Update: Video added.

Former F.B.I. Director James Comey was escorted to the Secret Service offices today for a voluntary interview about a social media post he wrote:

On Thursday, the former FBI head posted a photo of the numbers “86 47” spelled out by shells on a beach he said he came across. Comey quickly took down the post after Republicans and Trump allies said he was calling for the president’s assassination.

“I didn’t realize some folks associate those numbers with violence,” Comey said of the number “86,” which can refer to something being tossed away or taken out. The corresponding “47” matches Trump’s current term in office as the 47th president. “It never occurred to me but I oppose violence of any kind so I took the post down.”

Legal experts on the First Amendment interviewed by CNN seem unanimous that there's no criminal case to be made here. [More...]

Will the wrongful deportation of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia be the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back for Trump voters?

When they protest in Iowa as folks did today at a public appearance by Republican Chuck Grassley, jeering and groaning at his responses, it seens a tad more significant than protests by Trump-hating Democrats, if for no reason other than its unexpectedness.

There's also the court hearing today at which DOJ prosecutors twisted the facts. And of course, Trump's disclosure that he's willing to deport American citizens to foreign prisons. Is this enough for his voters to turn their back on him? Probably not. But maybe it could be the beginning of the fall of Stephen Miller, the architect of Trump's immigration policy. [More...]

This is an open thread for all things related to Donald Trump's second administration, including Elon Musk, his non-elected co-leader, and Stephen Miller, who holds the keys to the non-governmental lawyers he hired to write all the memoranda and policy .

I think everyone's head is spinning from the speed at which his (often bizarre) announcements come. Every time I've started writing one up, he's done something else that warrants public awareness and all go unfinished. But everyone who reads this site is well aware of Trump's actions, from announcing his intent for the U.S. to take over Gaza and opening a tent area at Gitmo to house undocumented immigrants with criminal records and orders of removal, to his cabinet, agency and Ambassador appointments, and his pardons. I really don't need to spell them out.

Shorter version: The U.S. is now being run by a bunch of billionaires with no political experience.

This is an open thread on all Trump 2 related topics.

Republicans are throwing easy questions at Robert Kennedy. I am watching the hearing. I guess I've never heard him speak before. He has a condition called spasmodic dysphona.

Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders are putting him on the spot as to whether he'll forego taking a cut of lawsuits suing over vaccines, whether he believes medical care is a human right, whether he supports a right to choose.

Caroline Kennedy and another relative of Kennedy's wrote scathing letters to Congress urging he not be confirmed.

Trump indicted again???
Yes, this time in state court in Georgia. The Indictment is here.

Trump is charged in 13 counts, including a state RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act) count and conspiracy to commit first degree forgery.

Giuliani also has 13 counts, but they are not all the same as the charges against Trump.

Also indicted: Lawyers Sidney Powell (7 counts), Jenna Ellis (2 counts) and Trump-ites Mark Meadows (9 counts) and John Eastman (2 counts).

Not indicted: Donald Trump, Jr.

My first reaction: Never have I ever had a client charged in four separate indictments in four jurisdictions simultaneously. For any criminal defense lawyers reading this, raise your hand if any of your clients ever faced four indictments in separate jurisdictions at the same time ("Raise your hand" means tell us in the comments section).

Here is the Florida Indictment charging Donald Trump and his aide Walt Nauta in the Classified Documents case.

Trump is charged in a whopping 37 counts. Nauta, a is charged in 6 counts. Who is Walt Nauta?

[A] military aide working as a White House valet while Mr. Trump was president.

Nauta retired and went to work for Trump as a personal aide after Trump left Washington. [More...]

The Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol has concluded its investigation and released its report.

The Committee referred Donald Trump to the Justice Department for prosecution of four crimes.

You can read the 154 page executive summary here.

Shorter version:

The central cause of of January 6th was one man, ...Donald Trump, who many others followed. None of the events of January 6th would have happened without him.

In response, Trump called the Committee a "Kangaroo Court". The four counts of referral are:[More...]

DOJ has responded to citizen Donald Trump's request (available here) that a special master review the documents seized from Mar-a-Lago during the execution of the search warrant. Among other reasons, he says this is necessary to determine whether the documents contain matters that are subject to executive privilege.

You can read DOJ's response and view the attached exhibits here.

Don't miss the exhibits, especially Exhibit "F".

I'm still shaking my head at the first paragraph of Trump's motion, link above, which identifies him as "President" and claims he is the "clear frontrunner" for the Republican party nomination in 2024, and should he decide to run, the clear frontrunner in the 2024 general election.