May 29, 2026

For the Fat Fascist, It's Fucked-up Friday: ~~~ 

A One. Jonathan Edwards of the Washington Post: “A federal judge Friday ordered that ... Donald Trump’s name be removed from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and that officials halt its plan to close the venue for two years. In a pair of rulings, U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper granted in part Rep. Joyce Beatty’s (D-Ohio) request for a preliminary injunction to temporarily block Trump from taking any further steps toward closing the institution. The judge also ordered Kennedy Center officials to remove Trump’s name within two weeks. The ruling throws the Kennedy Center’s near future into uncertainty, blocking leaders from shutting down the performing arts venue in July after they have canceled most performances in anticipation of the closure.... In December, Beatty, an ex officio member of the Kennedy Center’s board, sued her fellow trustees days after they voted to rename the institution 'The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.' Beatty said she was muted during the virtual board meeting when she tried to voice opposition to the name change, a claim the center disputed. She later amended the lawsuit to seek a broader halt to the closure, and the court granted her request for key documents related to the renovation plan, including building assessments and budget materials.” The AP's report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha. Trump Is Incensed. From a New York Times liveblog: 

Julia Jacobs: “In a social media post on Friday..., [Donald] Trump railed against a federal judge’s order that the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts remove the president’s name from its marble facade. He wrote that the judge, who also temporarily blocked the center from closing for renovations, should be 'ashamed of himself.' 'Unfortunately, Judge Cooper and the Radical Left would rather see it DIE than have President Trump transform it into something that everyone could be proud of, much as I have done, in many cases, throughout my life,' he wrote of the performing arts center.” 

Julia Jacobs & Zach Montague: “Mr. Trump railed against the judge’s ruling in an incensed social media post, suggesting that he was considering casting the Kennedy Center aside as one of his personal projects. The president wrote that unless he was free to decide the center’s trajectory, he had 'no interest in continuing what could only be a hopeless journey.'” ~~~

~~~ And a Two. Trump's Slush Fund Hits a Speed Bump. Kyle Cheney, et al., of Politico: “A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration’s effort to establish a fund to reimburse people who claim they were targeted by the 'weaponization' of the federal government. U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema said the restraining order was meant to ensure that no funds are 'irreversibly disbursed' before the legal fight over the newly announced fund has a chance to play out.... The order from Brinkema, a Clinton appointee based in northern Virginia, will pause the establishment of the fund until at least June 12, when she has set a hearing to consider the matter further.... It was an unusually urgent action by the judge, who said in her brief order that she was compelled to rule prior to a formal response from the Trump administration because of concerns that the fund might quickly begin doling out cash. The ruling came in a lawsuit brought by a former Justice Department prosecutor and other plaintiffs who contended that it was an illegal and unconstitutional abuse of taxpayer funds. Rather than apply the fund in a 'viewpoint neutral' manner, they argue that it’s essentially rigged to reward Trump’s political allies.” The New York Times story is here. Thanks to RAS for the lead. ~~~

     ~~~ Here's the press release from Democracy Forward, which represented the plaintiffs in the case. ~~~

~~~ And a Three. Alan Feuer & Andrew Duehren of the New York Times: “A federal judge in Miami reopened ... [Donald] Trump’s $10 billion case against the I.R.S. in a striking turnabout, saying that she wanted to investigate 'grievous allegations' that the hasty deal to resolve it was 'premised on deception.' The ruling by the judge, Kathleen M. Williams, on Friday to revive the case shortly after closing it was a significant blow both to Mr. Trump, who had voluntarily dismissed the suit last week, and to the Justice Department. After the president withdrew the suit, senior department officials released a pair of extraordinary agreements that settled the case by establishing a $1.8 billion fund to compensate people who claimed they were victims of government 'weaponization' by Democrats. The deal also conferred lucrative tax benefits on Mr. Trump, his family and his businesses. Judge Williams’s decision came in response to court papers filed on Wednesday by a bipartisan group of 35 former federal judges who urged her to bring the case back to life and dig into the details of the agreement to settle it. The former judges said that Mr. Trump’s settlement agreement raised serious questions about his 'candor toward the court and manipulation of the judicial system.'”

Stephen Groves of the AP: “Former Attorney General Pam Bondi refused to answer questions Friday on ... Donald Trump’s involvement in the release of the Jeffrey Epstein case files as she defended the Trump administration’s actions before House lawmakers scrutinizing the process. Bondi, who spent roughly four hours on Capitol Hill for her closed-door interview, was again defiant when she was confronted by lawmakers about the Epstein investigation. In her opening statement, she stood behind the Department of Justice’s handling of the case files and said that Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, now the acting attorney general and Trump’s former personal attorney, had overseen the process to publish them.... Several survivors of Epstein’s abuse gathered outside the Capitol office where the interview was taking place. They tried to make their presence known to Bondi as she entered the room, but several said they were shoved aside by police officers.” ~~~

~~~ Marie: If you ever were a teenaged girl who went to an American junior high school or high school, then Pam Bondi will seem familiar to you. We didn't have a name for her sort of classmate when I was in school, but nowadays we know them as "mean girls." Some mean girls gets over their penchant for cruelty, but my experience is that it sticks with most of them. One woman -- a former cheerleader whom I did not know well when we were in school -- sought me out at our 40-year reunion -- 40 effing years! -- to tell me that I shouldn't have worn such a nice outfit to a casual event (in fact, my dress was a casual style but it was one I thought flattered me). I'm pretty sure Pam Bondi would have taken offense at my appearance, too.

Does the following story help you answer this T/F question? "Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans really care about me." ~~~

~~~ Jesse Drucker & Dylan Freedman of the New York Times: “A year ago, the Trump administration withdrew from a global effort to curb offshore tax-dodging by multinational companies. That decision has been a huge gift to corporate America, enabling companies to avoid at least $40 billion in income taxes since the beginning of 2025. A New York Times review of securities filings from nearly 500 companies showed that they avoided taxes by attributing hundreds of billions of dollars in earnings to low- or no-tax foreign locales like Cyprus, Bermuda, Switzerland and the Cayman Islands. Often, corporations funneled the profits through subsidiaries in places where they had no employees, offices or customers. Tax havens became more appealing after ... [Donald] Trump signed an order on his first day back in office withdrawing the United States from a 13-year international effort to end such schemes. The effort led to dozens of countries imposing a minimum corporate tax and rules for pursuing companies using tax havens. After House Republicans passed legislation last year targeting some of those countries with a new tax, international officials agreed to exempt U.S. companies from much of the crackdown.” Thanks to Ken W. for the link. ~~~

     ~~~ Follow-up Question: Since profitable, multinational companies are evading U.S. taxes, who is doing the taxpaying for them? Answer: Yeah, you. Class dismissed.

Owen Jones of the Guardian: “The US war machine has turned its sights on Cuba. Marco Rubio, the Cuban-American secretary of state who has long craved the fall of the island’s communist government, made that clear again last week. While professing a preference for a 'negotiated settlement', he said the chances of a deal were 'not high'. A couple of months ago, I saw up close the economic devastation already inflicted by decades of US siege – and, since January, by a crippling oil blockade introduced by Donald Trump. The US has now charged the country’s former president Raúl Castro with conspiracy to kill US nationals, four counts of murder and two counts of destruction of aircraft over the downing of two planes in 1996. The evidence points increasingly in one direction: it is all grimly reminiscent of the indictment of Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro, used to justify his kidnapping by US forces.... Trump is hardly keeping his intentions secret. 'I do believe I’ll be … having the honour of taking Cuba,' he declared in March, reminiscent of the 19th-century European colonialists who carved up Africa.” 

     ~~~ Marie: Earlier this year, I figured Maduro was Marco's participation trophy, a hard-earned prize awarded for his complete submission to Trump the Magnificent. But it appears now that Trump is planning to give Little Marco yet another, more cherished, award, an epic acknowledgment of Trump's complete domination of his former presidential rival.  

Ernesto Londoño of the New York Times: “Law enforcement officials from Minnesota and Texas on Friday arrested an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent accused of shooting a Venezuelan immigrant this year and lying about it. The agent, Christian J. Castro, 52, was caught in Texas after investigators from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension tracked him down, according to the Hennepin County attorney’s office, which had charged him with four counts of second-degree assault this month. He faces an additional charge of filing a false police report.... Mr. Castro was placed on leave in February and ICE’s interim director, Todd Lyons, said that Mr. Castro was under investigation for appearing to have lied under oath, a federal crime. ICE officials described the state charges against Mr. Castro as 'unlawful and nothing more than a political stunt' in a statement issued the day he was charged. State prosecutors have acknowledged that they face significant practical and legal hurdles, because federal officials enjoy broad immunity from prosecutions that stem from conduct in the line of duty.”

Owen Scott of the Independent: “Katie Miller, the wife of controversial home security advisor Stephen Miller, has claimed that a tweet from one of the Democratic Party’s social media accounts which told her husband to 'shut up' is 'violent political rhetoric.' The official Democrats account on X hit out at Mr Miller, who is White House deputy chief of staff for policy, after he falsely claimed on X that Texan State Representative James Talarico was the Democratic Party’s first 'transgender Senate candidate.' Replying to Mr Miller, the Democrats’ account wrote, 'Shut up you ugly f[uck].' Later, on Fox News show The Ingraham Angle, Ms Miller claimed, 'This is the same violent political rhetoric that is leading people to shooting up, whether it be the White House Correspondents’ Dinner or President Trump in Butler.'” Read on. Of course there's more of this high-minded dialog. 

~~~~~~~~~~ 

The New York Times is liveblogging developments in the Iran War. From the pinned item at 6:00 am ET: “The fate of the discussions between the United States and Iran remained unclear on Friday after U.S. officials said there had been progress toward a 'memorandum of understanding.'... The emerging 'memorandum of understanding' still needs approval from Mr. Trump, and Iran has not confirmed any commitments. It was not clear whether all the parties were working from the same draft agreement, one diplomat involved in the process said.” 

Michael Crowley & Eric Schmitt of the New York Times: “Three months after ... [Donald] Trump launched war on Iran, his seemingly haphazard approach to the conflict is bewildering allies at home and abroad as he veers between diplomatic dealing, military strikes and increasingly far-fetched ideas.... A long post on Mr. Trump’s Truth Social account on Monday typified his mixed message, declaring at once that negotiations with Iran were 'proceeding nicely!' before warning that anything short of a 'great deal' would mean 'Back to the Battlefront and shooting, but bigger and stronger than ever before — And nobody wants that!'” MB: Now that, Patrick & Ken W., is tergiversation (see yesterday's Comments for context).

David French of the New York Times: “... the United States is negotiating with a regime that ... [Donald] Trump claimed we had already changed, to open a strait that was supposed to be open last month, and to end a nuclear program that we said we had obliterated. We’re doing all that as news continues to emerge that the war wasn’t as one-sided as we were told.... Not only was Iran able to immediately and decisively close the Strait of Hormuz, it’s now clear that the Iranian regime inflicted significant damage on American bases in the region and significant damage on oil and natural gas production around the Persian Gulf. In addition, in spite of U.S. air superiority, the Islamic Republic was still able to damage or destroy at least 42 manned and unmanned American aircraft.... It’s an open question as to how much we damaged Iran’s missile program.... The Trump administration hasn’t accomplished any of its war aims.... [This is] what happens when you put incompetent and corrupt people in charge of dangerous and difficult military operations.” Worth a full read. The link is a gift link.

Shawn McCreesh of the New York Times: Donald “Trump has increasingly adopted a posture of nonchalance in the face of mounting fallout on multiple fronts: an unpopular war that has dragged on longer than he said it would, the creation of a government fund that could benefit his allies, and his fixation on remaking Washington into his vision of a gilded city.... 'I think there’s a sense that people in D.C., the Republican establishment and the administration, are not making regular working people their primary focus, and that was what doomed the Biden administration,' ... said [GOP strategist Albert Eisenberg].... Matt Tuerk, the Democratic mayor of Allentown..., said..., 'I think that the president’s disregard for how Americans are feeling about prices, or how his fellow party members are feeling about the midterms, is kind of like the mirror image, or opposite image, of how people on the ground feel.'...”

Criming in Plain Sight, Ctd. Eric Lipton of the New York Times: Donald “Trump earlier this year purchased more than $1 million in the stock of Dell Technologies, a transaction that is drawing scrutiny after the Pentagon this week announced a $9.7 billion contract with the Texas-based computer company.... Mr. Trump also went out of his way in February to praise Dell Technologies and its founder, Michael Dell, at an event in Georgia that took place nine days after Mr. Trump’s purchase of more than $1 million in Dell stock. The Georgia event took place after Mr. Dell and his wife pledged in December to donate $6.25 billion to help kick off the so-called Trump accounts program that creates special investment savings accounts with tax benefits for American children. At the event, Mr. Trump celebrated the donation by the Dell family and went on to endorse their computer products. 'Go out and buy a Dell computer,' Mr. Trump said.... The government estimated [Dell's Pentagon contract] is worth $9.69 billion.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Jordan Novet of CNBC: "Dell reported its fastest pace of revenue growth for any period since its return to the public market more than seven years ago, and topped analysts’ estimates for sales and profit. The stock climbed as much as 27% in extended trading on Thursday.... One big winner in the Dell pop is President Donald Trump, who became a shareholder in the first quarter, according to U.S. government ethics filings." (Also linked yesterday.)

Desperately Seeking Aileen. Katie Robertson of the New York Times: Donald “Trump on Wednesday refiled his $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the publisher of The Wall Street Journal over an article about a birthday book greeting to the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. A judge had dismissed Mr. Trump’s previous complaint. The amended complaint, like the original, was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. Judge Darrin P. Gayles had thrown out Mr. Trump’s first lawsuit in April, saying the president had not plausibly shown that The Journal published the article with 'actual malice,' a legal standard that public officials must meet in defamation cases. To meet that standard, the publication had to have either known that what it was publishing was false or acted with reckless disregard to the truth. Judge Gayles had given Mr. Trump until Wednesday to refile. The lawsuit centers on a Journal article published on July 17 that described a letter and a drawing of a naked woman that appeared to be signed by Mr. Trump in a 2003 birthday album compiled for Mr. Epstein.” (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: In fact, I don't know how the Southern District of Florida assigns judges to a suit that is being refiled. It's possible that the new suit would go right back to the judge who oversaw the first case. It's also possible that the new case would go into the hopper and be randomly assigned to a judge. And that assignment just might go to the Nation's No. 1 Trump Judge Aileen Cannon of the Southern District of Florida.

Heather Cox Richardson thinks this is the week that was. "... future books and films made about the Trump Era will begin with an image of the White House this week. The world-famous Rose Garden has been replaced with a patio that looks like one at Mar-a-Lago. The East Wing is rubble. And on the sweeping South Lawn, right outside the front door of the White House, construction is underway on a massive Ultimate Fighting Championship arena for cage matches to be held on Trump’s 80th birthday. Now treating the nation’s capital as his property, Trump appears to be leaning on his past role as a real estate developer as a solution in Iran remains elusive, inflation in the U.S. climbs, and his popularity drops. In addition to turning back to real estate, Trump seems to be lashing out to reassert his dominance over those who have hurt him." 

Alan Rappeport of the New York Times: “Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Thursday that his agency had been working on a mock-up of a $250 note bearing the face of ... [Donald] Trump in preparation for an addition to the nation’s paper currency that would for the first time include the portrait of a living president.... 'I don’t think that there’s anything untoward about having the person who is president of United States on the 250th anniversary bill,' Mr. Bessent said at the White House. The Treasury secretary noted that 'at present, no living person can be on U.S. currency' and said there would be no changes to that policy unless Congress passed proposed legislation allowing Mr. Trump’s portrait to appear on a $250 note. Mr. Bessent acknowledged that political appointees at the Treasury Department had asked the Bureau of Engraving and Printing to begin preparations for the new currency.”

     ~~~ A History Lesson for Scotty. Marie: There is an historical, philosophical reason for the law against slapping portraits of living people on U.S. currency and why it is in fact "untoward" to even contemplate putting a living political figure on a Treasury bill: "During America’s infancy, the government didn’t want to put President George Washington or any of the Founding Fathers on U.S. currency. Since government-issued coins had first appeared in the world, it was common for the faces of kings, queens and emperors to appear on them. The Founders had just gotten a constitutional republic up and running, and didn’t want the nasty habits of the old monarchies slipping in." Therein, of course, is the very reason Trump wants his face on a greenback. He opposes our foundational democratic principles. For him, his ugly puss on the $250 is more evidence he is indeed the king, the queen (more on that below), the emperor. ~~~ 

The buck stopped here. -- Patty Solimene, the first female director of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, in a farewell email to colleagues ~~~

~~~ Marie: Yesterday I linked a WashPo story by Jonathan O'Connell about Trump administration officials who pressed the office responsible for printing the nation’s money to design a $250 bill featuring Donald Trump’s portrait. But I either missed part of the story or it was added after I read the article (I think the important part was added):

“The director of the printing bureau, Patricia 'Patty' Solimene, and other staff repeatedly explained to [the administration officials] that there were legal and procedural obstacles to producing the note and that it would take years longer than they envisioned.... The two political appointees were dismissive in response.... Solimene said she was abruptly reassigned from her post by Treasury management on April 27, writing the next day in an email to colleagues that she was leaving with a 'heavy heart.' She wrote in her goodbye email, a copy of which was obtained by The Post, that she had been reassigned to another job in the Treasury Department and that her departure was 'not my choice.'” That is, when a division head explained why it was against the law to put Trump's mugshot on U.S. currency, the Trumplodytes effectively fired her. In Trumplandia, it's the king's way or the highway. 

Finya Swai of the Hill: “California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) on Wednesday said he will impose a 100 percent tax on state residents who receive money from the Trump administration’s new $1.8 billion 'anti-weaponization' fund meant to compensate those who feel they were wrongfully prosecuted by the government.... A New York lawmaker proposed a similar 100 percent tax on state residents who receive payments from the fund. New York State Assembly member Alex Bores (D), who is running for Congress, announced on social media that he has introduced a bill titled the Anti-Insurrectionist Act, which he said would prevent ... [Donald] Trump from using 'your tax dollars' to pay individuals involved in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.” 

Ashley Parker of the Atlantic: “... there’s ... little doubt that Trump has unabashedly embraced the aesthetic — the je ne sais quoi — of a certain kind of gay man.... 'It’s a gay man frozen in amber in the late 1970s and early 1980s, before AIDS,' ... James Kirchick, the author of Secret City: The Hidden History of Gay Washington, told me.... But Trump has also been willing to vilify transgender individuals, especially athletes, for political gain.... Jonathan Lovitz ... [of the] Human Rights Campaign wrote to me, '... he wants the benefits of a country and culture that queer people helped create, while advancing policies that make those same people less safe every day.'” Thanks to akaWendy for this gift link. A while back, I did briefly mentioned some of Trump's stereotypical gay behavior, comments and preferences. I think Parker does a good job of not only adding to that but -- more importantly -- bringing out how and why his overall attitude and actions are deplorable.

Glenn Thrush & Benjamin Weiser of the New York Times: “The Justice Department’s examination of E. Jean Carroll’s lawsuits against ... [Donald] Trump could prove to be a significant shift in the administration’s campaign of retribution, moving from targeting of public officials to scrutinizing a case brought by an 82-year-old private citizen who has accused him of sexual assault.... The investigation involves donations made by a nonprofit founded by the liberal billionaire Reid Hoffman to pay for Ms. Carroll’s legal bills.... Mr. Hoffman’s nonprofit, American Future Republic — and not Ms. Carroll — is currently the subject of the criminal inquiry, although that could change, a person with direct knowledge of the situation said. The U.S. attorney overseeing the matter in the District of Northern Illinois, Andrew S. Boutros, said in a statement Thursday evening that his office 'has never opened' a criminal investigation into Ms. Carroll. On Wednesday, people briefed on the investigation said that Ms. Carroll was a primary target, prompting a backlash in the hours after news of the inquiry broke.

“Ms. Carroll and her benefactor are being scrutinized by a department in which naming and shaming, as opposed to securing convictions, is considered a legitimate aim of law enforcement.... Under the acting attorney general, Todd Blanche, the pace of department activity involving Mr. Trump’s rivals has accelerated significantly....” MB: IMO, this is Blanche & Boutrous belatedly realizing that going after an elderly woman who already has been sexually abused & defamed by Trump is a bridge too far for the sensibilities of real people. But just because they may be able to claim they haven't formally opened a criminal investigation against her doesn't mean they haven't been sniffing around, looking for an excuse to pounce. ~~~

~~~ Michelle Goldberg of the New York Times takes a look at the corruption in the U.S. Attorney's Northern District of Illinois office. Her overview is devastating. And most of that was before the Hoffman/Carroll investigation/or-not came to light. The link is a gift link.

Patrick Marley of the Washington Post: “The FBI in recent weeks has interviewed current and former election officials about the 2020 election in Milwaukee, ramping up wide-ranging reviews of voting in the swing states that ... Donald Trump lost that year. Election officials are cautiously watching the developments in Milwaukee to see if agents try to seize ballots, as they did in January in Fulton County, Georgia. The confiscation of tens of thousands of absentee ballots from Wisconsin’s largest city would set off alarms because Milwaukee maintains its absentee ballots in a way that could allow agents to determine who voters selected — undermining the secrecy of their ballots.”

In Trumplandia, There Are Many Ways to Please the King. Here's One. Sharon LaFraniere of the New York Times: “A financial agency has asked a federal judge to reverse its own court victory against Gemini Trust, a cryptocurrency firm whose founders are close to ... [Donald] Trump and have invested in Trump family ventures. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which regulates specialized financial markets including some crypto transactions, now says that it should never have sued Gemini for misleading agency officials over its Bitcoin business. Without acknowledging guilt, Gemini had agreed in January 2025 to settle the case and pay a $5 million fine. In a joint filing with the firm late Wednesday, the commission asked a federal court to nullify the consent order reached in the case, which had been filed under the Biden administration. The filing then took a swipe at the commission’s own legal staff, saying the evidence against Gemini was flawed and its lawyers’ conduct 'fell short of the standards expected of any litigant, much less a federal agency.'

“The move is the latest in a series of actions the commission has taken since Mr. Trump’s return to office that have benefited companies involved in cryptocurrencies or prediction markets. The Trumps are heavily invested in both mushrooming industries, which make up an increasingly important part of the commission’s oversight responsibilities.A New York Times investigation published on Sunday found that the commission has shrunk its work force, purged career officials, sharply curtailed crypto enforcement and given a helping hand to prediction market firms.”

You might be so surprised to learn that spending billions of your taxpayer dollars blowing some South American fishing boats out of the water & murdering the people in them is not all that effective a way to curb illegal drug usage in the U.S. ~~~

~~~ Simon Romero of the New York Times: “... almost nine months into the operation, epidemiologists, addiction scientists and public health experts say cocaine, by far the top drug smuggled out of South America, is as easy to get in much of the United States as it was before the strikes [on small boats traveling in the Caribbean & eastern Pacific] began. The findings — based on evaluations of street prices, lethal overdoses, purity of samples and drug seizures at U.S. borders — raise questions about the effectiveness of the largest U.S. military deployment in Latin America in decades. The costs of these military operations have already climbed to $4.7 billion, according to Brown University’s Costs of War project.... To the dismay of many addiction specialists and experts on the drug trade, Trump administration officials have quietly ramped up attacks against small boats in recent weeks with secret fixed-wing attack aircraft and armed MQ-9 Reaper drones, placing the strikes at the core of a reframed war on drugs — one that has shifted from traditional interdiction to a strategy of direct military action.”

Brian Otieno of the New York Times: “A high court in Kenya has temporarily suspended the establishment in the country of an Ebola quarantine unit for Americans, dealing a blow to the Trump administration’s plans to have the facility operational on Friday. The court order, an official version of which was seen by The New York Times, was dated Thursday and came after a civil society group filed a petition challenging the constitutionality of the quarantine facility. It was unclear how long the suspension would last, but a further hearing about the case is expected on Tuesday. The civil society group, the Katiba Institute, said it wanted to compel the Kenyan government — which has not confirmed the existence of a deal to accept American citizens — to disclose details of any such arrangement.” ~~~

     ~~~ When Cruelty & Incompetence Meet. Marie: It's almost impossible to get things right on the fly, so it's not surprising that the worst-laid plan for Ebola abatement went awry. Way last year, Donald & Elon & Marco thought it would be a great idea to blow up relatively inexpensive but complex U.S. aid programs abroad, and this is one of millions of bad results. 

Dan Vergano of Scientific American: “On Thursday the White House released long-anticipated draft regulations that, if enacted, would give political appointees the final word on federal research grants and other funding across government agencies. Scheduled to be officially published in the Federal Register on Friday, the 412-page proposal on federal spending rules would centralize Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control over releases of government funds, including for scientific research grants. The OMB is headed by Russell Vought, lead architect of Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 plan for the Trump administration.... At scientific agencies, the proposal states that 'senior appointees must conduct these reviews and apply specific principles when evaluating proposals,' a departure from past practice whereby apolitical expert review committees approved research grants. Scientific peer review of research proposals, long the standard for approval of research grants at the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation and other governmental science agencies, 'remains advisory and does not replace agency discretion,' the proposal states.”

Megan Lebowitz of NBC News: "Two musical artists listed as performers at an upcoming event on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., to celebrate America’s 250th anniversary said they won’t be attending despite being listed on the lineup. Freedom 250, a public-private partnership backed by ... Donald Trump, announced a list of performers Wednesday, but shortly after, Morris Day and the Time and Young MC announced that they would not be making appearances.... The artists’ posts came shortly after Freedom 250 announced the 'first wave' of participants, including hip-hop acts Vanilla Ice and Flo Rida, country star Martina McBride, funk and soul group The Commodores, dance-pop act C+C Music Factory and Bret Michaels, the frontman for the glam metal band Poison." ~~~

     ~~~ AND the List Keeps Growing. Hillel Italie of the AP: “A day after the ... Donald Trump-affiliated Freedom 250 announced the 'first wave' of performers for “The Great American State Fair” shows on Washington’s National Mall in June and July, the lineup has been hit with a wave of cancellations. Young MC, Morris Day, the Commodores and Martina McBride are among the scheduled acts who have said they will not be appearing.”

The Four Horses of the Trumpocalypse. Anna Kramer of NOTUS: "Four massive bronze horses positioned along the roads surrounding the Lincoln Memorial still shine in the sun from their first restoration in the 1970s. But their gold-toned coating is faded and patchy, and their heavy stone bases are cracked and dirty. The Trump administration wants them glittering with a fresh coat of gold in time for America’s 250th anniversary on July 4. So in mid-April, the National Park Service handed a $5 million contract to a gilding studio in Maryland to repair the statues and cover them with a thick layer of 23.75-karat gold leaf. It awarded the project without a full competition, according to NPS documents reviewed by NOTUS. As Trump hurries to put his stamp on a city he’s long denigrated as crumbling and ugly, his administration has doled out tens of millions of dollars for contracts with short timelines and little oversight. In total, the Interior Department is spending at least $95 million in taxpayer funds for new D.C. beautification projects, according to a NOTUS review of government spending data.” 

When Things Get Dicey, Invoke a Conspiracy Theory. Evan Halper of the Washington Post: “Utahns took to the streets of Salt Lake City last week to oppose the construction of a 40,000-acre data center backed by billionaire 'Shark Tank' star Kevin O’Leary in the largely undeveloped northwest corner of the state.... O’Leary claimed in a video posted Monday that 'nefarious accounts out of the country' linked to the Chinese Communist Party were driving the backlash to his project, by flooding Utah with false claims in a foreign-backed influence campaign aimed at stopping America’s AI buildout.... His fiery response was quickly echoed by the Trump administration.... 'Any place that’s trying to build data centers is getting bombarded with foreign-directed propaganda to try to block these from being built,' [Interior Secretary Doug Burgum] said [on Fox 'News.']...

“Donald Trump has closely allied himself with the AI industry and its building spree, encouraging data center construction and speeding up the process of obtaining permits for the facilities. [The American Energy Institute and Trumpy Power the Future, both of which promote fossil fuel production, and the Bitcoin Policy institute, which advocates for cryptocurrency, issued reports that blamed foreign influence for Americans' opposition to the data centers.]... The reports generally did not present direct evidence that foreign conspiracies are driving public sentiment on data centers.” 

Julian Mark of the Washington Post: “The Supreme Court on Thursday tossed the conviction of a Mississippi man sent to death row for his role in the murder of a shopkeeper, finding that his attorneys were not given the proper chance to challenge potential racial bias during jury selection at his trial 20 years ago. In a 5-4 vote, the court found that Terry Pitchford, who is Black, did not have the opportunity to challenge the dismissal of four Black potential jurors. It is the second time the high court has thrown out a capital case after the same Mississippi prosecutor was accused of excluding Black jurors.... [Pitchford's] partner ... fatally shot shop owner Reuben Britt ... during the armed robbery, according to court filings. Pitchford, who was 18 at the time of the robbery, was accused of being an accomplice.... Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh wrote in the majority’s opinion.... Justice Neil M. Gorsuch wrote a dissenting opinion, joined by Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel A. Alito Jr. and Amy Coney Barrett.... Notably, Kavanaugh and Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. broke from their conservative colleagues in siding with Pitchford. While reading his opinion, Kavanaugh referred back to the details of the crime that led to Pitchford’s conviction.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Kavanaugh's opinion here is doubly extraordinary. First, that he ruled in favor of a Black person convicted by a racially-biased jury and second, that he paid attention to the trial court record. By contrast, in his concurring opinion establishing the notorious "Kavanaugh stops," Kavanaugh completely ignored the trial record which showed how egregious (and unconstitutional) were the actions of ICE officers against people the agents determined "looked like" immigrants. Instead, Kavanaugh claimed, "... reasonable suspicion means only that immigration officers may briefly stop the individual and inquire about immigration status. If the person is a U.S. citizen or otherwise lawfully in the United States, that individual will be free to go after the brief encounter." So, for at least one brief moment, it appears that Kavanaugh may be capable of learning from his worst mistakes. ~~~

     ~~~ However, Chris Geidner, the Law Dork points out that this is not the first time Kavanaugh has rendered an opinion against race-based juror removals: "Kavanaugh’s first such opinion, Flowers v. Mississippi, came in his first term on the court in 2019." Geidner's analysis is worth reading. MB: I rather enjoyed the part where Kavanaugh showed that Gorsuch's dissent "does not make much sense and is not a reasonable reading of this record."

Joe Patrice of Above the Law used AI to figure out the identity of the federal judge who was not named but whom Eleventh Circuit judges sanctioned for having sex in chambers with a “high ranking law enforcement officer.” “... we worked out with a very high degree of confidence that it was Judge Eleanor Ross of the Northern District of Georgia.” MB: Judge Ross is an Obama appointee.

2028 Presidential Race. Mitch Smith of the New York Times: “Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, one of the country’s highest-profile Democrats, told a local journalist on Thursday morning that she would not seek the presidency in two years. 'There will be a robust group of people running for president,' Ms. Whitmer told a reporter for Detroit’s WJBK-TV. 'I will not be one of them in 2028. I can tell you that.' Ms. Whitmer, who has often been listed among the Democrats likeliest to run for president, sounded less definitive later in the day, but gave few specifics. She neither confirmed that she would forego running nor that she would contemplate a bid. Instead, she told a group of political and civic leaders gathered on Mackinac Island, Mich., 'Never say never.'”

Kenneth Chang of the New York Times: “A rocket built by the Jeff Bezos-owned space company Blue Origin blew up on the launchpad in Florida on Thursday night. The explosion occurred at about 9 p.m. during a test being conducted in advance of an upcoming launch. 'We experienced an anomaly during today’s hotfire test,' Blue Origin reported on social media. 'All personnel have been accounted for.' The test was to fire the seven engines in the booster stage, while keeping the rocket firmly held down on the launchpad. Flames began rising up the sides of the rocket and a massive explosion enveloped the launchpad.... The rocket had been set to carry 48 satellites for Amazon’s internet constellation, Leo, an acronym for 'low-Earth orbit.' Leo is a competitor to SpaceX’s Starlink network. The Amazon satellites were not onboard.”

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. RIP, CBS News. Benjamin Mullin & Michael Grynbaum of the New York Times: “In a bid to remake the country’s top-rated news program, Bari Weiss, the editor in chief of CBS News, on Thursday unveiled an overhaul of '60 Minutes,' replacing the show’s executive producer with a tech journalist and firing two of its on-air correspondents. Ms. Weiss named Nick Bilton, a former New York Times technology columnist and a filmmaker who has directed and produced documentaries for HBO and Netflix, as her pick to lead the 58-year-old Sunday show. Mr. Bilton, who has never worked in traditional broadcast news, will replace Tanya Simon, who had been at the show for more than three decades. CBS News also fired Cecilia Vega, the program’s first Latina correspondent, and Sharyn Alfonsi, whose segment on torture in Salvadoran prisons was pulled off the air abruptly last year by Ms. Weiss, who requested more reporting. It aired in full at a later date. Draggan Mihailovich, the executive editor of '60 Minutes,' was also fired, as was Matthew Polevoy, a senior producer. Ms. Weiss, an opinion journalist with no prior experience in television, has made major changes at CBS since being appointed last year by the tech scion David Ellison.” The link appears to be a gift link. Here's the AP story. ~~~

     ~~~ Tom Jones of Poynter: "Years from now, we may look back and see what happened Thursday as among the most pivotal days — maybe for the better, although many are predicting for the worse — in the history of the best American TV journalism show that’s ever been.... With Alfonsi and Vega fired, as well as Anderson Cooper’s leaving on his own, the show is losing three of seven correspondents."   

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New Jersey. Dan Merica & Anna Liss-Roy of the Washington Post: Rep. Tom Kean, Jr.., (R) after more than three months, is still MIA. “Kean, the son of former New Jersey governor Thomas H. Kean, is running unopposed in New Jersey’s GOP primary on June 2.”

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Israel/Palestine, et al. David Halbfinger & Jonathan Reiss of the New York Times: “Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel said Thursday that he had directed the Israeli military to expand its control of the Gaza Strip to 70 percent of the Palestinian enclave, ratcheting up the pressure on Hamas, the militant group that rules the rest. His announcement came as negotiations on Gaza’s future have stalled over Hamas’s refusal to disarm and Israel’s nearly daily strikes in Gaza, both in apparent defiance of the cease-fire agreement struck in October, after two years of war.”

Ephrat Livni of the New York Times: “Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations said Thursday that his country would cut ties with the U.N. secretary general and his office, after the office’s decision to include Israel on an upcoming sexual violence blacklist over alleged sexual abuse of Palestinian detainees.... Hamas is also included on an associated list of countries and groups accused of using sexual violence as a weapon of war.... Danny Danon, the Israeli ambassador...,  denounced the decision, denied the accusations and accused the U.N. chief, António Guterres, of lying and of choosing not to fully investigate claims against Israel. 'To put us and Hamas terrorists on the same list,' Mr. Danon said in a video. 'That’s unacceptable.'... The country has pushed back against accusations of abuse of Palestinian prisoners, including sexual violence.... Earlier this month, [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu threatened to sue The New York Times for defamation over an Opinion column describing the use of sexual violence against Palestinians by some soldiers, settlers and prison guards.”

Ukraine/Russia, et al. Steve Hendrix & Serhii Korolchuk of the Washington Post: “Russia’s advance has suddenly stalled, and Ukraine is fighting on its own terms — a comeback credited to Kyiv’s efforts to steadily strengthen the capabilities of its ... sustained, three-tier strategy of short-, medium- and long-range drone programs.... Russia’s progress at the front has ground almost to a halt. The Kremlin is losing tens of thousands of soldiers a month while suppressing growing public anger at home. And with European funding, Ukraine has become an increasingly formidable arms manufacturer in its own right.” ~~~

~~~ Cassandra Vinograd of the New York Times: “A Russian attack drone hit an apartment building in eastern Romania early on Friday, according to the authorities, drawing swift and sharp condemnation from NATO and the European Union. The episode comes amid heightened fears that Russia might seek to expand the war beyond Ukraine to target a member of the NATO security alliance. Ukraine is not a member of NATO, but Romania is. Romania’s Foreign Ministry said the drone had been involved in an overnight assault on Ukraine but had crashed into an apartment building in Galati, Romania, sparking a fire. Two people were injured and several others required medical attention. The ministry said it had informed NATO of the 'serious violation of international law and of its airspace' and had asked the alliance to speed up the transfer of anti-drone capabilities.”