October 30, 2025

Tony Romm & Maya Shwayder of the New York Times: “The Trump administration on Thursday staunchly defended its decision to stop paying food stamps during the government shutdown, telling a federal court that it could not tap a tranche of available funds to provide aid to millions of poor Americans in November. The arguments at times appeared to frustrate and confound a federal judge, who promised to rule soon on a lawsuit filed by roughly two dozen states.... The legal wrangling concerned the imminent fate of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, which provides monthly benefits to roughly 42 million people nationally. By Nov. 1, the program is set to exhaust its remaining funds.... Entering the hearing, top officials in the Trump administration had acknowledged that they had billions of dollars left over across multiple federal accounts, including money in an emergency reserve specifically for SNAP. The amounts appeared to total more than would be needed to cover the full costs of providing food stamps ... through November.... Throughout the Thursday hearing, Judge Indira Talwani of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts frequently expressed skepticism about the administration’s claims.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Yes but, Judge, feeding the hungry is a "Democrat program." However, here's the lede for the WashPo story: ~~~

     ~~~  Mariana Alfaro & Todd Wallack of the Washington Post: “A federal judge on Thursday indicated she would probably order the Trump administration to use reserves to partially fund food assistance for about 42 million Americans in November, potentially delaying a complete cutoff in benefits during the government shutdown.” MB: I wish some federal judge would order Trump to appear before her and try to explain whatever cruel or dumb stunt he's pulling in a case before her. 

Here's Jen Psaki of MSNBC on the punishment of federal prosecutors who mentioned in a sentencing memo January 6 and Trump's doxxing of President Obama. (NYT story linked below.) ~~~

     ~~~ Psaki says Trump's part in what appears to have been an attempt to assassinate President Obama should have been a bigger scandal during the 2024 campaign presidentail. She's right. 

Oh Gosh. David Gilmour of Mediaite: “The Senate’s confirmation hearing for ... Donald Trump’s surgeon general nominee, Casey Means, was abruptly postponed Thursday morning, the day it was set to begin, after she went into labor. A committee spokesperson confirmed that Means, who was reportedly set to appear virtually before the Senate Health Committee, would not be able to attend, and the hearing would be rescheduled. The hearing had been expected to spark a fierce debate over Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s 'Make America Healthy Again' movement, which has divided both medical experts and political camps.” For more on Means, see Akhilleus' commentary below. ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Here's the New York Times story. The Times story goes into Means' "qualifications" for the job.

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Daisuke Wakabayashi & Keith Bradsher of the New York Times: “After a series of failed attempts to de-escalate an acrimonious trade war..., [Donald] Trump and China’s leader, Xi Jinping, agreed to a yearlong truce that rolls back many of the contentious tariffs and retaliatory measures that deepened the feud between the world’s two biggest economies. The two leaders gathered at an airport in Busan, on South Korea’s southeastern coast, for their first in-person meeting of Mr. Trump’s second term with a lot at stake: An economic feud that had simmered for several months was threatening to boil over. Earlier this month, Mr. Trump threatened to levy an additional 100 percent tariff on Chinese goods after China imposed its most stringent restrictions ever on important rare earth metals. But cooler heads prevailed. The two leaders, after meeting for about 90 minutes, settled on a series of agreements that broke little new ground but unwound thorny issues that had been plaguing negotiations for a lasting trade deal.” ~~~

     ~~~ Cat Zakrzewski, et al., of the Washington Post: “...  Donald Trump on Thursday announced he would cut tariffs on imports from China, signaling that the highly anticipated summit with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, had lowered the temperature in the trade war between the world’s two largest economies. Trump said that Chinese imports would now be subject to a 47 percent tariff, down ten percentage points from the blanket rate before the meeting. In exchange, Xi agreed to delay restrictions on rare earth minerals for a year.... 'I would say on a scale from 1 to 10, with 10 being the best, I would say the meeting was a 12,' Trump said on Air Force One as he departed here.” The AP report is here. MB: Really? What's great? Cutting tariffs to 47 percent? Or getting a one-year reprieve on rare-earth minerals? IMO, BFD.

David Gilmour of Mediaite: “... Donald Trump lashed out at Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s scathing criticism of his Asia tour as 'almost treasonous.'... Schumer had mocked the president’s overseas schedule during a fiery speech on the Senate floor Wednesday, saying: 'As we enter the 29th day of the government shutdown, where’s Donald Trump? Gallivanting in Asia, dancing in Malaysia.... He’s preparing now to meet with President Xi of China to strike a trade deal that will sell out the American people – giving away vital national security tools in exchange for little more than a photo op,' Schumer said. 'President Trump is about to congratulate himself, patting himself hard on the back for cleaning up a mess that he created,' the Democrat added. [Trump replied on social media, 'Worked really hard, 24/7, took in Trillions of Dollars, and Chuck Schumer said the trip was “a total dud,” even though he knows it was a spectacular success. Words like that are almost treasonous!!!]'”

David Sanger of the New York Times: “In the middle of a high-stakes diplomatic tour of Asia..., [Donald] Trump threatened on social media to resume nuclear testing for the first time in more than 30 years. He made the threat just minutes before he was scheduled to meet President Xi Jinping of China, who is overseeing one of the fastest buildups of a nuclear arsenal on earth. 'Because of other countries testing programs, I have instructed the Department of War to start testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis,' Mr. Trump wrote on ... his social media site, saying the process would begin immediately. The words 'on an equal basis' may mean he will show off the power of American missiles or undersea nuclear assets, rather than detonate a nuclear weapon. The United States routinely tests unarmed missiles....

“While China is rapidly expanding its nuclear stockpile, and deploying missiles in new silos, it has not tested a nuclear weapon since 1996. Russia has not conducted a confirmed test since 1990. And while the United States has never ratified the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, which bans weapon detonations, past presidents have largely observed its provisions. It was not clear what prompted the announcement.... But he may well have been angered by recent tests of exotic nuclear delivery systems by Russia.” The NBC News report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Tom Nichols of the Atlantic: Trump's “reasoning is a bit confused: In the space of one short announcement, he managed to get a lot wrong, which is worrisome, because he’s the only person in America who has the authority to order the use of nuclear arms.... In any case, resuming nuclear testing is a terrible idea, not only because it would undermine America’s long-standing commitment to restraining a global arms race, but because detonating warheads to see if they actually work hasn’t been necessary in a very long time.... During the Cold War, the superpowers sometimes engaged in nuclear tests as a way of signaling nerve and resolve. Unfortunately, these tests served mostly to put both East and West on edge, pollute parts of the United States and the former Soviet Union, and make a lot of people sick.” Thank you to akaWendy for this gift link. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Here is where the country needs some really smart people to coax Donnie Dementia down off the ledge. And who have we got? Drunk Pete & Tulsi Gabbard. God help the Earth. 

A Message from Your President*. Erkki Forster of the Daily Beast, republished by Yahoo! News: “At 10:43 p.m. local time [in South Korea, Wednesday], the elderly president hit post on a short, baffling entry: 'South Carerdddd.'... California Governor Gavin Newsom’s press office reposted a screenshot of the deleted message on X, quipping, 'The extra ds stand for dementia.'”  

King Donald Gets His Gold Crown. Steven Nelson of the New York Post: Donald “Trump received a massive gold crown from his South Korean hosts Wednesday before being treated to a dinner including 'beef patties with ketchup' — in a nod to his longstanding culinary preferences. Trump, who has eagerly trolled Democrats who accuse him of harboring monarchical ambitions, is known for his love of both the precious metal and slathering the tomato-based condiment on well-done meat. South Korean President Lee Jae Myung presented Trump with the crown — a replica of one worn by kings of the historic kingdom of Silla — shortly after he arrived in the country from a stopover in Japan.” Thanks to RAS for the lead. See also RAS's commentary. (Also linked yesterday.)

Digby published a number of the stupid and nonsensical remarks Trump made during his speech at Yokosuka Naval Base. Thanks to RAS for the link. (Also linked yesterday.) 

Another One Bites the Dust. Catherine Belton, et al., of the Washington Post: “The Trump administration’s nominee for a top federal position promoting international commerce has withdrawn his candidacy amid scrutiny of his role as a senior executive at a steel-trading business co-owned by one of Russia’s richest oligarchs, and his relations by marriage to a Russian family with extensive ties to the Kremlin. The decision by Bryce McFerran to withdraw his nomination as first vice president of the U.S. Export-Import Bank was disclosed Wednesday by a White House official responding to inquiries from The Washington Post about his Russian connections.” ~~~

     ~~~ Jasper Goodman & Katherine Hapgood of Politico: “White House spokesperson Kush Desai defended McFerran in a statement, saying that 'his prior business interests have been fully researched, vetted, and cleared by the nonpartisan Office of Government Ethics – a fact that should deter the Fake News from continuing to perpetuate the debunked Russia, Russia, Russia hoax.' Desai added that McFerran ... will remain in his current acting role as EXIM’s chief banking officer  'until a permanent replacement is named in the coming weeks,' Desai said.” 

Helene Cooper & Robert Jimison of the New York Times: “The U.S. military on Wednesday killed another four people accused by the Trump administration of trafficking narcotics by sea, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced, as the administration’s lethal campaign continued to expand. Mr. Hegseth said on social media that the strike took place in international waters and was directed at a boat that he said was operated by a 'designated terrorist organization' in the eastern Pacific Ocean.... The defense secretary’s announcement was accompanied by a 22-second video of a boat that was apparently struck and engulfed in flames. Mr. Hegseth did not provide geographic details.... More than 60 people have been killed in the U.S. campaign in total. The president has named and targeted a number of drug cartels as 'narco-terrorists' and maintains that they are now enemy combatants who can be killed at will.... A broad range of outside experts in laws governing the use of armed force have said the campaign is illegal because the military is not permitted to deliberately target civilians — even criminal suspects — who are not directly participating in armed hostilities.”

Katie Hawkinson of the Independent: “Lt. Gen. Joe McGee, a three-star general working on the Pentagon’s Joint Staff, was forced out of his role after months of sustained tensions with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, a new report alleges. McGee left his position as the director of strategy, plans, and policy on the Joint Staff earlier this month, CNN reports.... McGee had 'pushed back' against Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine and Hegseth on several topics, including Caribbean military operations, CNN’s sources said. It’s also reported Caine and Hegseth were sometimes frustrated with McGee, and believed he moved too slowly, according to one of the outlet’s sources.”

According to Reuters, the Pentagon is now requiring military officials involved with Trump’s Latin American ops to sign non-disclosure agreements (NDAs). Google's Art Intel says some sailors have been asked to sign the NDAs, too. Retired Army Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling, writing in the Bulwark, explains why forcing military personnel to sign NDAs is ridiculous and outrageous. Thank you to Akhilleus for the link. See also his commentary below. (Also linked yesterday.)

Aaron Glantz of the Guardian: “A top US military official has ordered the national guards of all 50 US states, the District of Columbia and US territories to form 'quick reaction forces' trained in 'riot control', including use of batons, body shields, Tasers and pepper spray, according to an internal Pentagon directive.... The memo, signed on 8 October by Maj Gen Ronald Burkett, the director of operations for the Pentagon’s national guard bureau, sets thresholds for the size of the quick reaction force to be trained in each state, with most states required to train 500 national guard members, for a total of 23,500 troops nationwide. As authority, Burkett cited Donald Trump’s August executive order that deployed the guard to fight crime in Washington DC. The same order required the secretary of defense to create 'a standing National Guard quick reaction force … available for rapid nationwide deployment' in 'quelling civil disturbances'. Janessa Goldbeck, a former US Marine Corps captain and chief executive of the Vet Voice Foundation, a non-profit advocacy group, said the order represented 'an attempt by the president to normalize a national, militarized police force'.”

Alan Feuer of the New York Times: “Two federal prosecutors in Washington were informed on Wednesday that they would be placed on leave after requesting a stiff sentence for a man granted clemency after participating in the Capitol attack on Jan. 6, 2021, who later turned up armed near the house of former President Barack Obama. It was the latest act of retribution by the Trump administration against prosecutors in the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington who worked on cases related to Jan. 6, a campaign that has also included dismissals and demotions..... The prosecutors, Carlos Valdivia and Samuel White, asked a federal judge on Tuesday to sentence the man granted clemency, Taylor Taranto, to 27 months in prison after he was found guilty at a bench trial of showing up near Mr. Obama’s house in Washington with two firearms and ammunition in June 2023. In their sentencing papers, Mr. Valdivia and Mr. White wrote that Mr. Taranto had been among the 'mob of rioters' on Jan. 6 and that he had promoted conspiracy theories concerning the attack. Mr. Taranto was charged with trespassing and disorderly conduct for his role in the Capitol attack, but those charges were dismissed as part of the blanket clemency that ... [Donald] Trump granted to all of the nearly 1,600 people accused of taking part in the riot.

“In an extraordinary move, the Justice Department withdrew the sentencing papers on Wednesday afternoon, noting in a federal court database that they had been 'entered in error.' Hours later, new sentencing papers were submitted that kept the same recommendation for a 27-month sentence but expunged all references to Jan. 6.... The new court papers [also] made no mention of Mr. Trump’s post.... The edited papers were filed by two new prosecutors appearing in the case, including Jonathan Hornok, the chief of the criminal division of the U.S. attorney’s office.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: In case the report isn't clear, Trump's DOJ punished these prosecutors for describing the insurrection as a “mob of rioters” and for fingering Trump's part in the scheme: “In the original sentencing papers, Mr. Valdivia and Mr. White had said that Mr. Taranto had apparently discovered Mr. Obama’s address in a social media message posted by Mr. Trump.” (Emphasis added.) Trump should have been named as Unindicted Co-conspirator No. 1, and the sentencing recommendation should have read: “Co-conspirator No. 1 was not charged in connection with these crimes because he is currently the President* of the United States.” ~~~

~~~ Now, since Taranto planned and prepared to assassinate President Obama in 2023, I'll assume that Trump's participation took place when he was not president*. BUT that would mean that Merrick Garland was attorney general. And there's this: ~~~

     ~~~  Ken Dilanian of MSNBC: "Acting on a mix of principle and caution, Justice Department officials under former President Joe Biden made a series of decisions that significantly delayed and ultimately may have hampered the federal criminal investigations into ... Donald Trump, according to a new book. The slow decision-making at the top of Attorney General Merrick Garland’s Justice Department affected two major probes into Trump after he lost the White House in 2020.... The picture painted of a hesitant Justice Department runs contrary to the GOP allegation that the federal indictments of Trump by special counsel Jack Smith were the product of a Democrat-led plot to weaponize the Justice Department. Instead, the book depicts example after example of the opposite happening." Read on. Thanks to RAS for the link; as RAS writes, you already knew the the punchline here. But the details, which authors Carol Leonnig & Aaron Davis provide, are interesting. And infuriating.

Do see Akhilleus' commentary at the top of yesterday's Comments on "Christian virtues" and starving children. 

No Hurry, John! Meredith Hill of Politico: “Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Wednesday he expects to engage 'pretty soon' with a group of rank-and-file Senate Democrats about ending the 29-day-and-counting government shutdown. If a meeting happens, it would be a rare bipartisan gathering involving a top party leader. So far this month, Thune and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer have not met to discuss an exit path to the shutdown, leaving it to a small group of dealmaking members who have engaged in informal, on-and-off talks.”

Reed Abelson & Margot Katz-Sanger of the New York Times: “The Trump administration has released a preview of the available plans sold through Obamacare marketplaces in 30 states, giving Americans who buy their own health insurance a first look at just how much prices would go up. Insurers have increased rates significantly for next year — an average of about 30 percent in the states where the federal government manages markets, and an average of 17 percent in states that run their own markets, according to a new analysis from KFF, the health research group. But most of the more than 20 million Americans covered by the Affordable Care Act don’t currently pay the full price of their insurance, because they qualify for income-based tax credits that help make the plans affordable. That financial assistance has been in place since the federal A.C.A. marketplaces opened in 2014, and became even more generous in 2021, when Congress increased the aid. The extra help is scheduled to expire next year unless Congress acts. The looming expiration of those subsidies has been a key sticking point in congressional wrangling over the government shutdown....” (Also linked yesterday.)

Jonathan Cooper of the AP: “Vice President JD Vance advocated a slowdown in legal immigration Wednesday, saying, 'We have to get the overall numbers way, way down.' Vance took questions from students at the University of Mississippi at an event organized by Turning Point USA, stepping into the role of debater that was so often performed by the organization’s slain founder, Charlie Kirk.... He criticized former President Joe Biden’s immigration policies, which he said allowed too many people into the country and threatened the social fabric of the United States.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Nothing racist about JayDee. Oh, the State Department is encouraging White Afrikaners to immigrate to the U.S. That is, JayDee & his boss are fine with immigrants who look like the people depicted in those Labor Department posters republished here yesterday. Bobby Lee noted in yesterday's Comments, "The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has printed all those posters from the Labor Department in their Political/Opinion section today with the lede 'Labor Department's anti-DEI campaign is Norman Rockwell meets Josef Stalin.'" Oh, and -- Usha, get out!

Brianna Tucker of the Washington Post: “Illinois Democratic congressional candidate Kat Abughazaleh was among the six people indicted by a federal grand jury last week for allegedly conspiring to injure and impede a federal agent during a protest last month outside a Chicago-area Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility. Prosecutors allege in documents unsealed Wednesday that Abughazaleh and five others 'physically hindered and impeded' a federal agent and a vehicle from returning to an ICE facility in Broadview, Illinois, on Sept. 26, forcing the vehicle 'to drive at an extremely slow rate of speed to avoid injuring any of the conspirators.'... In addition to Abughazaleh — who is running for Illinois’ 9th Congressional District seat — charges were brought against her campaign field director, Andre Martin; Cook County Board of Commissioners candidate Catherine Sharp; Michael Rabbitt, who serves on the Cook County Democratic Committee; Brian Straw; and Joselyn Walsh.” ~~~

I love watching communists get body slammed by ICE. -- Trump whisperer Laura Loomer ~~~ 

~~~ Lisa Rubin & Brandy Zadrozny of MSNBC: “Videos of Abughazaleh’s interactions with federal agents have attracted attention from MAGA politicians and influencers who have called for her arrest. One video from Sept. 19 shows Abughazaleh being thrown to the ground by an ICE agent. In the video, Abughazaleh is protesting outside the Broadview facility when federal agents, one saying, 'Do not block the driveway,' walk toward protesters. One grabs Abughazaleh, drags her back and drops her onto the pavement. On a video posted Sept. 26, an ICE vehicle inches through a group of protesters standing on the street outside the facility. Posting the video to her social accounts, Abughazaleh wrote, 'At the Broadview ICE facility, an ICE agent tried to run dozens of protesters over with an SUV as we walked on a public crosswalk. He kept driving for about a full football field until ICE barraged us with pepper balls.'” ~~~

~~~ Natasha Lennard of the Intercept: "In yet another overreaching and nakedly political prosecution, the Justice Department on Wednesday indicted Democratic Illinois congressional candidate Kat Abughazaleh on federal charges for taking part in a nonviolent protest outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility near Chicago.... If six people nonviolently protesting outside a government facility constitutes a criminal conspiracy, all First Amendment-protected activity is at risk.... Footage from that day [i.e., the day the protesters were supposed to have "impeded and interfered" with federal officers] showed federal agents firing pepper balls and tear gas at demonstrators. One officer grabbed Abughazaleh and threw her hard to the ground.”

Ryan Grenoble of the Huffington Post: “U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers forcibly detained a father and his two children in southwest Colorado on Monday while they were on their way to middle school, sparking a mass protest outside the agency’s Durango field office.... Video from the protest outside the facility shows masked and unidentified federal officers tear-gassing protesters on Tuesday afternoon as they stood in the street and attempted to prevent transport vans from entering the facility. Earlier in the day, an ICE agent threw a woman to the ground in a shocking moment captured by bystanders amid the otherwise peaceful protest. The victim, 57-year-old Franci Stagi, told HuffPost the agent snapped when she asked him 'what would Jesus do' and if he was 'a good Christian.' Video shows he responded by snatching her phone from her hands and then violently assaulting her when she attempted to retrieve it, grabbing her by the hair and putting her in a chokehold before ultimately throwing her down an embankment on the opposite side of the street.” ~~~

     ~~~ MB: Video of the agents' attack on Stagi is here. 

John Cox of the Washington Post: “The U.S. government asked a judge this month to deport a father of two to Afghanistan, where he expects the Taliban to kill him. To make its case, the Department of Homeland Security ... attorneys argued that Afghanistan — a country U.S. forces rescued him from in 2021 — is safe for his return. The man ... has sought asylum because he so publicly supported the United States’ cause in Afghanistan.... The stakes of the case ... extend to tens of thousands of asylum seekers from Afghanistan whom ... Donald Trump’s administration may seek to purge.... Since America’s 20-year war ended, some 200,000 Afghans have found refuge in the U.S. Many braved extraordinary danger on the U.S. government’s behalf, and the overwhelming majority came here legally. The Trump administration has dismantled programs created to assist them, canceling humanitarian parole and other protections that allowed Afghan allies to remain while their cases were processed. Without those safeguards, many could be sent back to a regime so brutal and repressive the U.S. refuses to recognize it.”

Natasha Korecki of NBC News: “An appeals court has paused an order that required U.S. Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino to appear each day in federal court in Chicago. Just before Bovino was to report to a judge at 5:45 p.m. local time Wednesday, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals stepped in to 'temporarily' grant a government request for a reprieve.... On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis had Bovino take an oath and sit in the witness stand to answer questions about why it appeared — through videos and written witness testimonials plaintiffs’ attorneys offered in an ongoing case — his agents were not abiding by a temporary restraining order she issued this month. The order called on federal authorities to curb the use of chemical agents such as pepper balls and tear gas.... The 7th Circuit did not restrict any other of Ellis’ requirements in its brief order....”

Elizabeth Harris of the New York Times: “The Nobel Prize-winning Nigerian author Wole Soyinka said Tuesday that the visa allowing him to visit the United States was revoked this month. In a letter, the U.S. consulate general in Lagos, Nigeria, did not cite a specific reason for the revocation, saying only that 'additional information became available' after the visa was issued last spring. Soyinka, 91, said in a news conference on Tuesday that he had been instructed to appear at the consulate for an additional interview last month on Sept. 11. He refused to attend. Soyinka, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1986, has been a vocal critic of ... [Donald] Trump. After the 2016 election, he cut up his U.S. green card in protest. In a September interview with Nigerian news outlet PM News, he compared the president to Idi Amin, who ruled Uganda in a brutal dictatorship in the 1970s. 'It’s not about me, I’m not really interested in going back to the United States,' Soyinka said on Tuesday. 'But a principle is involved. Human beings deserve to be treated decently wherever they are.'” The BBC story is here. Thanks to RAS for the link.

Riley Beggin of the Washington Post: “The Senate voted Wednesday to end the national emergency that ... Donald Trump declared to impose tariffs on imports from Canada. Four Republicans joined with all Senate Democrats to approve the measure, which passed 50 to 46. But it won’t go into effect because it would still need to be approved by the House, which voted earlier this year to block all legislation challenging Trump’s tariffs until March 2026.” MB: Also, even if the House passed the bill, Trump would have to sign it. Besides, what about the dire national emergency that occurred just last week when Doug Ford, the premier of Ontario, ran an ad that displeased our Dear Leader, forcing Trump to raise tariffs on Canadian imports by 10 percent? 

Ann Marimow of the New York Times: “The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked the Trump administration and state and local officials in Illinois for more information, as it considers whether the president can deploy hundreds of National Guard troops in the Chicago area.... The justices gave the administration and Illinois officials, who sued over the deployment, until Nov. 17 to respond, meaning the court will not resolve the matter before then. Federal law allows the president to use members of the National Guard without the permission of state officials in certain circumstances, including when there is a 'rebellion or danger of a rebellion' against the government or when the president 'is unable with the regular forces to execute the laws of the United States.'”

Glenn Thrush of the New York Times: “A federal judge in Seattle has rejected a Justice Department effort to obtain confidential patient information from a provider of gender-affirming care, accusing the agency of 'prosecutorial coercion' and of failing to conduct an investigation in good faith. The ruling, filed on Monday, was a scathing rebuke from a federal judge over an extraordinary attempt by the Justice Department to secure personal data in service of what it said was a bid to determine whether certain providers had committed fraud or made false claims about its services. In July, the department issued a subpoena to QueerDoc, which provides telehealth and prescription services in 10 states, asking for five years of sensitive data on patients and providers. The demand was part of a barrage of 20 subpoenas sent to hospitals and other health care entities across the nation that provide gender-affirming care. In a 16-page order, Judge Jamal N. Whitehead of Federal District Court in the Western District of Washington, said the government’s real purpose was to intimidate providers into dropping or paring back care to comply with policies targeting the transgender community that had the backing of ... [Donald] Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi.”

Salvador Rizzo of the Washington Post: “A former Coast Guard lieutenant who called for ... Donald Trump’s assassination on social media was acquitted by a federal jury Tuesday after his attorneys argued the posts were protected speech under the First Amendment. Federal prosecutors in Virginia argued that Peter A. Stinson, who received sharpshooting awards during his 33-year career as a Coast Guard officer,  'seriously, specifically and repeatedly called for someone to assassinate the President' in online messages dating to 2020. Stinson’s public defenders argued that the posts were not specific enough to overcome the First Amendment’s protection on speech that advocates violence.... The judge instructed the jury that the First Amendment protects 'speech that merely, without more, encourages or advocates that others should engage in violence — even violence against political figures or the government — at some indefinite point in the future.' But, [Judge Anthony] Trenga added, jurors could find Stinson guilty if they found his speech 'was directed and likely to produce imminent lawlessness by others.'” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I found Stinson's remarks quite troubling, but this was always a dodgy case, and you won't be surprised to learn that the acting U.S. attorney who brought it was Lindsey Halligan. An experienced prosecutor familiar with First Amendment law probably would not have let this happen: Rizzo writes, "Stinson was initially charged with one count of making threats against the president, which is punishable by up to five years in prison. Prosecutors then obtained a superseding indictment charging Stinson with a more serious offense, soliciting Trump’s assassination, for which the maximum sentence would have been two decades in prison."

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Illinois. Anumita Kaur & Angie Hernandez of the Washington Post: “A former Illinois sheriff’s deputy on Wednesday was convicted of fatally shooting an unarmed Black woman after she called 911 to report a prowler in her home, a lawyer representing the woman’s family said. Sean Grayson, who is White, was found guilty of second-degree murder in the July 2024 killing of Sonya Massey, 36. The killing upended the community, drew condemnation from the governor and the White House, and renewed national outrage over police conduct against Black Americans. Grayson ... was one of two Sangamon County deputies to respond to Massey’s call. Half an hour later, Grayson had shot Massey in her Springfield home and told the other deputy not to try to save her.” The AP report is here.

New York City Mayoral Race. Marie: If you are a New York City voter who hasn't decided how to vote in the mayoral election next week, let me just point out that one of the candidates does not need a job. AND if he should get the job for which he is applying, he might just have, you know, prior commitments, or what you might call conflicts of interest. But he'll never tell: ~~~

~~~ Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: “Former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo earned nearly $5 million working as a private consultant in 2024, a sum so large it puts him in the top 0.5 percent of New York City earners, according to his annual tax returns. The tax documents, reviewed by The New York Times on Tuesday, show that Mr. Cuomo derived $4,712,978, almost all of his income last year, from Innovation Strategies, a pass-through company created for his consulting work before he ran for mayor of New York City. By using his company as an in-between, Mr. Cuomo avoided having to disclose the individual clients who paid for his services. His campaign said he had stopped his private work earlier this year, but it has repeatedly refused to say who was paying him. The arrangement, while well within the law, makes it almost impossible for voters or watchdog groups to understand the financial and business connections of someone who could soon have sway over billions of dollars in public contracts, real estate developments and city policy.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Speaking of people who didn't need the job: ~~~

~~~ Dana Rubenstein & Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: “Michael R. Bloomberg, New York City’s billionaire former mayor, put $1.5 million into a super PAC supporting Andrew M. Cuomo’s bid for mayor on Wednesday, and urged New Yorkers to vote for the former governor. Filings show the money went to Fix the City, a group run by a longtime Cuomo ally that has been responsible for anti-Mamdani advertising and a get-out-the-vote operation during the campaign. This is Mr. Bloomberg’s first foray into the mayor’s race since the Democratic primary, when he spent more than $8 million backing Mr. Cuomo’s failed bid to become the party’s nominee. While threats from the city’s business elite to spend as much as $100 million in an effort to knock out Mr. Mamdani failed to materialize, super PAC spending against him has ticked up in the final days before Tuesday’s election.” A Politico story is here. ~~~

~~~ Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Oops! Max Tani of Semafor: "As the New York City mayor’s race entered its home stretch this week, a reporter for The Times of London, Bevan Hurley, sent an email to Bill de Blasio.... While de Blasio has supported Democrat Zohran Mamdani’s campaign, the former mayor confessed in an email to the New Zealand-born journalist that while he admired Mamdani’s ambition, the Democratic nominee was making dangerously 'optimistic assumptions' about how much money new taxes would bring in. 'In my view, the math doesn’t hold up under scrutiny, and the political hurdles are substantial,' de Blasio wrote. The Times, part of the Murdoch family’s News Corp. empire, which has been waging a broad campaign against the democratic socialist candidate, rushed to print with the explosive story that the former mayor had broken with his would-be successor. Its sister publication, the New York Post, quickly aggregated and amplified it.... The only problem? The email had not come from the former mayor at all. De Blasio responded with shock, demanding The Times retract the story.” ~~~

     ~~~ Joseph Gedeon of the Guardian: “The British newspaper the Times has apologized and deleted an article after discovering its reporter had been duped by someone pretending to be Bill de Blasio, the former mayor of New York City. The newspaper removed the article from its website after the real De Blasio released a statement calling the quotes attributed to him 'entirely false and fabricated' and lambasted the Times for its 'absolute violation of journalistic ethics'. A man purporting to be De Blasio gave senior reporter Bevan Hurley a series of quotes criticising Zohran Mamdani, the frontrunner in the current mayoral race, ahead of the vote next Tuesday.... The New York Post picked up the Times story before it was taken down, leading with the fabricated quotes, though later updating its article after De Blasio revealed the deception.” ~~~

     ~~~ Update. David Gilmour of Mediaite: “Long Island wine importer Bill DeBlasio has insisted he 'never once' claimed to be Bill de Blasio after a transatlantic case of mistaken identity that left him fending off accusations that he’d impersonated the former New York mayor to fool a British reporter.... DeBlasio explained that he was contacted via email by Times of London journalist Bevan Hurley asking for his opinions on the city’s current Democratic mayoral frontrunner Zohran Mamdani and his policies. The journalist emailed what he thought was the former mayor’s address, but the real recipient was the Long Island DeBlasio, who decided to respond anyway. 'I’m Bill DeBlasio. I’ve always been Bill DeBlasio,' he said from Florida. 'I never once said I was the mayor. [The journalist] never addressed me as the mayor. So I just gave him my opinion.... I could have corrected him.... It was all in good fun. I never thought it would make it to print.”

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Caribbean. Ariel Fernández & Andrea Rodriguez of the AP: “People across the northern Caribbean were digging out from the destruction of Hurricane Melissa on Thursday as deaths from the catastrophic storm climbed.... Emergency relief flights began landing at Jamaica’s main international airport, which reopened late Wednesday, as crews distributed water, food and other basic supplies.... More than 25,000 people remained crowded into shelters across the western half of Jamaica, with 77% of the island without power.... Melissa also unleashed catastrophic flooding in Haiti, where at least 25 people were reported killed and 18 others missing, mostly in the country’s southern region.... No fatalities were reported after the Civil Defense evacuated more than 735,000 people across eastern Cuba. They slowly were starting to return home.”

France. Catherine Porter of the New York Times: “The French police have arrested five more people in connection with the spectacular jewel theft at the Louvre, including one who is believed to have been among the thieves at the scene, the prosecutor overseeing the investigation said on Thursday. The DNA of one suspect connected him to the crime Laure Beccuau, the Paris prosecutor, said in an interview with RTL, a French radio station. The other four 'are people who may potentially inform us about the unfolding of these events,' she added.... But the jewelry has not yet been recovered, Ms. Beccuau said.” ~~~

     ~~~ Catherine Porter of the New York Times: “...  a picture of the crime has started to emerge, in testimony by French authorities, interviews with Louvre staff and local media reports. It suggests that the thieves had a careful plan, which included stealing the truck-mounted electric ladder they used to reach the second floor. They posed as workmen, complete with yellow vests, and seemed to have an exact idea of which cases they wanted to break into.... And they cut hand-sized holes with specialized tools that the Louvre’s own firefighting manual says are efficient for opening cases if there’s a blaze. Experts said the cases that display museums’ most valuable items are normally designed to withstand some 140 hammer blows or ax strikes, enough to exhaust a thief, and they called the use of disc grinders innovative. Still, information leaking out also shows that in the end, the thieves were as frazzled as they had been careful. In their rush to escape, they left a trove of evidence that led the police directly to them.”

The Netherlands. Claire Moses & Jeanna Smialek of the New York Times: “A Dutch center-left party appeared to be the biggest winner in national elections on Wednesday, a strong rebuke to the far-right party that had upended the politics of the Netherlands in the last election, according to exit polls. The center-left party, Democrats 66, was projected to win 27 seats in the 150-seat House of Representatives, the largest share, followed closely by Geert Wilders’ far-right Party for Freedom, with a projected 25 seats. For Mr. Wilders, it would amount to a loss of 12 seats in the House of Representatives.... With no party winning an outright majority, the next step is for Duch lawmakers to form a coalition, which could take months. It is still unclear who will become the next prime minister, though the leader of D66, Rob Jetten, seemed a likely possibility on Wednesday night.”