As I noted, William Fitzpatrick ordered the government to turn over the grand jury materials to Jim Comey by 3PM today. In spite of all the ways that Lindsey the Insurance Lawyer fucked up, she's actually only responsible for three of the problems. Others stem from conduct under Bill Barr, when these materials were first seized with warrants targeting Dan Richman.
In the Trump era, the real center of gravity on the American right has never been the Republican Party. It has been the people who talk to the Republican base every daythe broadcasters, the livestreamers, the podcasters, the influencers. They form the ecosystem that shapes belief, defines enemies, and decides who is ascendant or finished. And that is why the most significant political story unfolding right now isn't happening on Capitol Hill or inside the White House.
Brandon Praileau, a pastor from Norfolk, Virginia, was speaking to families in his community about a federally funded programme that would help them install rooftop solar units in their homes. The government funds would take care of their installation costs, and once installed, lower the burden of rising electricity costs, a pressing concern. Then, Praileau heard the federal government had scrapped the $7bn Solar For All programme through which his project and other solar projects across the country were to be funded, leaving them stranded.
Look, we have talked a lot about his stroke and about his depression. And I am so proud of him and his courage and his medical miracle that he is now talking fluently. He's making total sense. He's pro-Israel now. He's really moderate. It's almost like his out-of-body experiences that he's had have made him more open to different ways of thinking.
NBC on Monday unexpectedly used a clip from Fox News star Bill Hemmer during a segment about air travel returning to normal. In the final days of the government shutdown, the Trump administration drastically cut flights at the busiest airports in the country due to safety concerns and staffing shortages. Once the historically-long shutdown finally came to an end, those restrictions were lifted.
Roman Surovtsev was prompt in picking up his two daughters from school every afternoon. It's important to him to be there for his smiley 3- and 5-year-old girls, peppering them with questions about what they learned and who they played with. At home with his wife Samantha, he would always be facilitating the bubbles at bath time, meticulously brushing out tiny blonde and brunette ponytails, and tucking the giggling girls into bed after reading to them.
Millions of Americans who might have managed to get through the first ten months of this administration unscathed are now finding that they are not immune from this president's prioritization of power over people. Every day I hear from more friends whose healthcare premiums are skyrocketing to unaffordable heights. Federal workers have been without pay throughout the long government shutdown. Bay Area companies are announcing huge layoffs.
Perryman said the stakes go beyond courtroom victories. The real challenge is demonstrating that the public truly holds the power to counter and often stop the White House's seemingly unstoppable march toward authoritarian rule. "The real thing for us was, how are we going to show people that you actually still get to be in charge in your country-the people get to be in charge," Perryman told moderator and host of the podcast Pod Save America, Jon Favreau.
Chaofeng Ye, a Queens resident, was arrested in Pennsylvania back in January for alleged credit card fraud. Because he was a Chinese national, he was transferred into ICE custody and locked up in a Keystone State detention center. On Aug. 5, Ye was found hanging inside a shower at the Mohannon Valley Detention Center.
The chair of the House Select Committee on China called it "digital fentanyl" that brainwashes young Americans into supporting Hamas. A former national security adviser said letting TikTok remain in the US under its Chinese owner "would be akin to allowing Soviet control of several major American newspapers and TV channels during the Cold War." Lawmakers left classified national security briefings about TikTok sharing grave concerns.
The northern suburbs are swinging left but there's one last Republican stronghold where GOP officials still hold every government seat - a red town rowing right in a sea of blue. Leaders in the southern Westchester County town of Eastchester say they've stayed Blue Wave-proof just a few miles from the Bronx by rejecting "wokeism" and embracing traditional values while some locals say they're perfectly happy in the right-leaning "bubble."
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Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen said he may look into allegations that backers of Measure A, the sales tax increase for county-run hospitals, made a deal to share the tax proceeds with law enforcement unions, but now have reneged on that promise. County leaders characterized the 5/8ths-of-a-cent sales tax increase approved Nov. 4 as a lifeline for their massive public hospital system. They warned the hospital system was in jeopardy amid federal spending cuts under President Trump.
"My office will audit the state's role in these price hikes," he said. "New Yorkers pay more while utilities and their shareholders pocket tax credits, abatements, bonuses, and side deals - and for years no one in state government has followed the money. I will expose those deals and put real pressure on regulators and Albany to stop letting the system work for utilities while everyone else keeps getting squeezed."
But a pattern is becoming clear: Donald Trump is purging the higher ranks based on his prejudices and demands for loyalty; the military is being turned into a partisan instrument and a political prop; more dangerous still, the president is instilling the logic of impunity that has come to characterize his entire approach to governance. Figures deemed too close to Trump critics, such as general Mark Milley, have seen promotions delayed or canceled; those targeted by far-right influencers might face professional backlash.
He has made it clear that outgoing Comptroller Brad Lander, erstwhile cross-endorser, will not have a place in his administration. In an attempt to find another way to support Lander's political future (or, to borrow language from the The New York Times, strategically uncouple) Mamdani has reportedly promised to back Lander's potential primary challenge to Rep. Dan Goldman. But doing so has irked his allies in the New York City chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America,
The watershed moment came in July when the federal government became the largest shareholder of MP Materials, a California miner of rare earth elements for the oft-overlooked but critical magnets that help connect the global economy. The government's unusual foray into private industry was accompanied by new rules setting minimum U.S. market prices for some of these materials-a pricing floor it said was necessary to protect MP Materials from Chinese competitors it accused of "dumping" their goods at artificially low prices.
But in a comprehensive review of four years of spending since the law went into effect, the Urban Institute has found that historic federal investment in shared modes was eclipsed by an increase in state and local spending on highway projects, as well as a decrease in transit funding at the community level. On balance, total funding for transit across all levels of government actually flatlined - and rail projects experienced a net decline in spending.
