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Articles by David Kurtz
Buckle Up: The Final 3 Weeks of the Campaign Are Gonna Be Some Kind of UGLY
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo. We’ve endured some very dark days in Trump II, but yesterday was particularly grim — and a possible taste of what’s to come between now and Election Day. President Trump launched a race war against Somalians and Somali-Americans in Minnesota.
New Details Emerge on Stephen Miller’s Meddling at the Trump DOJ
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo. Since the dawn of Trump II, Stephen Miller has been the barely hidden hand running the Justice Department from the White House. Now a new report from CBS News adds quite a bit more detail to the level of influence and control that Miller exerts over the Trump DOJ. The story is framed around an apparent conflict of interest. Miller attended an counterterrorism training session at FBI headquarters on Sept.
New Details Emerge on Stephen Miller’s Meddling at the Trump DOJ
The Tip of the Politicization Spear Since the dawn of Trump II, Stephen Miller has been the barely hidden hand running the Justice Department from the White House. Now a new report from CBS News adds quite a bit more detail to the level of influence and control that Miller exerts over the Trump DOJ. The story is framed around an apparent conflict of interest. Miller attended an counterterrorism training session at FBI headquarters on Sept.
Desperate GOP Scrambles to Defend Once-Solid Red Seats Original
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo. Republican political consultants are practically falling over each other to make the most dire pronouncements about the GOP’s fate in the midterms. “If the bottom continues falling out like it has been, this will be worse than 2006,” one national Republican strategist tells Politico. Democrats picked up 31 seats that year and ended 12 years of GOP control of the House.
Court Ruling Hobbles Trump DOJ’s Jihad Against Elusive Threat of Noncitizen Voting Original
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo. In a potentially very important ruling last week, a federal judge in south Florida concluded that the Trump administration’s effort to prosecute noncitizen voting relies on a 40-year-old federal statute that is unconstitutional.
With Four Weeks to Go, Dems Are in the Driver’s Seat Original
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo. With voting coming to a close four weeks from tomorrow, Morning Memo will be shifting its focus to the midterms, with dual track coverage of the horse race and the outsized expectations for Democrats as an opposition party, if they win.
Bill Pulte Guts the IG Office That Investigated Him Original
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo. In a move that smacks of retaliation, Federal Housing Finance Agency director Bill Pulte is moving to slash next year’s budget for the agency’s inspector general’s office by more than 60 percent — after it was involved in an earlier investigation of him.
Trump DOJ Doubles Down on Attacking Judges Original
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo. Under the pretext of an ethics complaint against all but one of the active federal judges in Minnesota, Attorney General Todd Blanche signaled yesterday that not only will the Trump administration continue to run roughshod over the judicial branch but that judges had better shut up about it.
Appeals Courts Slowly Awaken to Trump II Threat Original
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo. In the defining legal struggle of our time — whether the federal judiciary will sustain the rule of law long enough to preserve the essential core of a democracy for us to repair, rebuild, and re-enlarge after Trump II — the jury is still out.
A Critical Moment for the Rule of Law
WASHINGTON, DC- March 16: Judge James E. Boasberg, chief judge of the Federal District Court in DC, stands for a portrait at E. Barrett Prettyman Federal Courthouse in Washington, DC on March 16, 2023. (Photo by Caro... WASHINGTON, DC- March 16: Judge James E. Boasberg, chief judge of the Federal District Court in DC, stands for a portrait at E. Barrett Prettyman Federal Courthouse in Washington, DC on March 16, 2023.
The Biggest Trump Retribution Scheme Is Coming Apart at the Seams
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo. The mother of all “investigate the investigators” retributions in south Florida suffered another major blow with the resignation of Kurt Olsen as its top prosecutor. Olsen’s departure marks the third top prosecutor in a row to leave the probe — though Olsen’s departure seems markedly different. A career prosecutor, Maria Medetis Long, left under duress in April, concerned that the case lacked evidence to proceed.
The Biggest Trump Retribution Scheme Is Coming Apart at the Seams
Blanche Overpromises and Underdelivers The mother of all "investigate the investigators" retributions in south Florida suffered another major blow with the resignation of Kurt Olsen as its top prosecutor. Olsen's departure marks the third top prosecutor in a row to leave the probe — though Olsen's departure seems markedly different. A career prosecutor, Maria Medetis Long, left under duress in April, concerned that the case lacked evidence to proceed.
Judge Finds Trump Admin in Contempt of Court Again for Wrongful Deportation Original
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo. The Trump administration was found in contempt of court Friday for wrongfully deporting a young Salvadoran man last month for the second time — after he had already been unlawfully deported in March, then returned to the U.S., before being removed again.
Don’t You Just Hate Seeing Aileen Cannon in a Pickle? Original
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo. Let’s end the week with an intriguing — and even amusing — new development in the bogus investigation out of south Florida into the “grand conspiracy” against Donald Trump. As part of the probe, we learned yesterday, DOJ has subpoenaed a group of current and former FBI agents from the Mar-a-Lago documents investigation to provide grand jury testimony.
White House Defies Court Order Lifting Its Media Ban Original
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo. The White House immediately defied an overnight court order lifting President Trump’s purported ban on three news outlets from covering the White House.
Will Ford’s Theatre of All Places Really Be Trump’s Next Renaming Project? Original
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo. The man who famously slapped his name on everything from steaks to vodka to cologne to chocolate is eager to emblazon his name prominently on national landmarks. And in his distinctly personalist regime, there’s a line of enablers out the Oval Office door apparently eager to flatter him and curry his favor by coming up with new and more preposterous naming opportunities for him.
LOL: Bill Pulte ‘Examined’ Todd Blanche’s Mortgages Original
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo. Bill Pulte — Trump’s posterboard-carrying golden retriever — didn’t just abuse his office as director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency to gin up mortgage fraud cases against Trump foes. He also reportedly used it to target one of his rivals in the administration: Todd Blanche, who is now attorney general.
ICE Involved in Two Violent Incidents Over the Weekend Original
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo. We start today with two incidents that are reminiscent of the peak Trump administration violence during mass deportation operations back in the winter, then turn to a major appeals court ruling that should temper some of the worst elements of the administration’s brutal third-country deportation policy.
Kennedy Center Saved From Demolition—For Now Original
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo. Dispensing with the need for an emergency hearing, U.S. District Judge Christopher R. Cooper of D.C. quickly moved yesterday to prevent President Trump from demolishing the Kennedy Center — but left unresolved for now this week’s closure of the building and its ultimate fate.
Fugitive ICE Agent Arrested in Minnesota Original
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo. Minnesota law enforcement arrested fugitive ICE agent Christian Castro yesterday after he returned to the Twin Cities to face separate federal charges stemming from a January shooting of a Venezuelan national during Operation Metro Surge. The arrest on more serious state charges of four counts of second-degree assault with a deadly weapon came after Castro managed to avoid extradition from Texas, where Republican Gov.
Trump: If I Can’t Have the Kennedy Center, No One Can Original
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo. The news this week is littered with examples indicating that accountability for the depredations of Trump II — if it ever comes — will be so slow, drawn-out, exhausting, and limited that it will never feel satisfying, complete, or just. Part of that is the nature of the legal and political systems. Part of it is the ravages of time.
Trump II Sends Democracy Worldwide Into a Tailspin Original
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo. Sometimes it helps to hear what our friends are saying about us to get a better perspective on our faults, as painful as that may be. So I want use today’s Morning Memo to highlight key excerpts from a devastatingly frank new report from the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance.
What Trump’s ‘Very Fine People, on Both Sides’ Has Wrought a Decade Later
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo. If you read one thing today, make sure it’s Christopher Mathias’ exclusive for TPM on Marshall Rawson, the Republican nominee for a seat in the Florida House of Representatives who marched alongside neo-Nazis at the deadly 2017 “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, according to video and a photo we unearthed.
What Trump’s ‘Very Fine People, on Both Sides’ Has Wrought a Decade Later
Charlottesville Still Reverberates If you read one thing today, make sure it's Christopher Mathias' exclusive for TPM on Marshall Rawson, the Republican nominee for a seat in the Florida House of Representatives who marched alongside neo-Nazis at the deadly 2017 "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, according to video and a photo we unearthed.
10 thoughts on the abrupt resignation of Joe diGenova
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10 Thoughts on the Abrupt Resignation of Joe diGenova Original
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo. Joseph diGenova, the Trump loyalist and conspiracy promulgator put in charge of the sweeping DOJ investigation into an imagined grand conspiracy against the president, abruptly resigned yesterday reportedly under pressure for not having secured indictments quickly enough. For a brief moment last night, diGenova looked like he might effectively turn whistleblower against the Trump DOJ.
Election Officials Nationwide Under Threat of Prosecution From Trump DOJ Original
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo. News that the Trump DOJ is escalating its attack on state election officials first emerged, I believe, in Salt Lake City yesterday, where Utah’s top election official revealed yesterday that she’d received a threatening letter from the Civil Rights Division dated Sept. 4 warning that she is “under investigation.” Lt. Gov.
Election Officials Gird For Unprecedented Federal Interference in the Midterms Original
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo. President Trump’s concerted assault on free and fair elections is happening on so many fronts that it’s hard for a casual observer to keep track of it all, so I want to pull back briefly and offer a lens through which to assess the threat: election officials on the ground.
Trump Launches Whole-of-Government Attack on Midterm Elections Original
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo. As I sat down this morning to try to catch you up on the state of play of the various Trump administration threats to the sanctity of the midterms elections, I realized anew how hard it is to keep track of it all — and how much that is the point.
Trump DOJ Fires Prosecutor in ICE Shooting Case Original
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo. The Trump DOJ has fired the federal prosecutor who sought to bring civil rights charges against an ICE agent for the January shooting of a man through the closed door of his home during Operation Metro Surge.
First at TPM: Teen Deported TWICE This Year in Violation of Multiple Court Orders Original
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo. A 19-year-old asylum seeker — who was wrongfully deported to El Salvador in March in violation of a court-ordered settlement agreement, then returned Aug. 7 by the Trump administration — was wrongfully deported again Monday to El Salvador, where he fears persecution. The revelation comes in J.O.P. v. DHS, a long-running class action lawsuit in Maryland over the treatment of unaccompanied minor asylum seekers nationwide.
The Pentagon Purges Will Continue Until Morale Approves Original
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo.
Wendell Berry, 1934-2026
WASHINGTON, DC - MAY4, Wendell Berry, Poet and Farmer was a speaker at The Future of Food conference at Georgetown University on May 4, 2010. (Photo by Tracy A Woodward/The Washington Post via Getty Images) At the end of today’s Morning Memo, I tucked in a of Wendell Berry, who has died at 92. If you know, you know. If you don’t, you should.
SCOTUS, Congress, and the Trump Ballroom Fiasco Original
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo. The Roberts Court rightly gets heaped with opprobrium for its role in enabling Donald Trump and setting the rule of law ablaze. Its latest bouquet to Trump — which Chief Justice John Roberts could not bring himself to participate in — covers the high court in no glory, clearing the way for the completion of his unlawful ballroom project that began with the demolition of the East Wing.
What Happened to Promised Federal Charges Against That Freed ICE Agent? Original
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo. One of the weirder side plots last week in the extradition fight between Minnesota and Texas over ICE agent Christian Castro was news that the Trump DOJ was considering bringing federal charges against him for the same shooting for which Minnesota had already indicted him.
Wyoming GOP Governor Decries ‘Aggressive’ Election Monitoring by Trump DOJ Original
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo. At least two DOJ election monitors allegedly tried to interview voters and access voting machines in Cheyenne during last week’s primary election in violation of Wyoming law, Republican Gov. Mark Gordon said. “I feel very strongly about the federal government coming in and taking our guns — I don’t like that,” the governor said at a meeting with state elections officials.
Jailed ICE Agent Wanted in Minnesota Released in Texas
4 hours ago crucial quote “In plain English, Defendants have not-so-subtly said: ‘What a nice Kennedy Center you have here. What a shame should something happen to it.’ This is a breathtaking assault on the rule of law. It is delusional. And it must stop,” Beatty wrote. what to watch for Both parties are expected …
Jailed ICE Agent Wanted in Minnesota Released in Texas Original
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo. The ICE agent indicted for a shooting during Operation Metro Surge has reportedly been released from jail in Texas after Gov. Greg Abbott successfully stonewalled Minnesota’s extradition request.
This May Be the Worst Wrongful Deportation Yet Original
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo. I’m keenly aware that at a certain point the numerous wrongful deportations by the Trump administration begin to blur together into an indistinguishable mass of human suffering, lawlessness, and indifference. Unable to chronicle each one, I keep raising the bar for what’s worthy to bring to your attention. Regrettably, the Trump administration keeps finding new and unlawful ways to clear that bar.
Trump DOJ Colludes With Texas to Harbor Fugitive ICE Agent Original
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo. In important development overnight, the Trump administration is now openly colluding with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) to keep an indicted ICE agent from facing justice in Minnesota.
Canada Sits the United States Down for an Intervention Original
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo. Saturday’s extraordinary speech by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney was ostensibly about the collapse of U.S. trade talks, but it was really about the collapse of the United States as a beacon of economic freedom, a worthy partner, a trusted ally, and a reliable neighbor.
How Trump’s Corruption Makes Everything DOJ Does Suspect Original
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo. One of the most pernicious effects of corrupting federal law enforcement is that it undermines public confidence — as it should — in everything the Justice Department does. You can’t have a Justice Department or FBI doing corrupt work with one hand and normal aboveboard work with the other and expect anyone — from citizens to lawyers to judges — to decipher which is which in any given case.
A Disturbing Peek Into Trump’s Kafkaesque Immigration Courts Original
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo. Today we begin with a particularly striking example of the bleak inanity of executive branch immigration courts under President Trump, first flagged by Politico’s Kyle Cheney.
Trump Admin and Its Allies Throw Up Roadblocks to Prosecuting ICE Agents Original
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo. The mostly below-the-radar effort to block Minnesota’s effort to prosecute federal agents for alleged crimes committed during Operation Metro Surge finally burst into public view yesterday. On behalf of Minnesota, state Attorney General Keith Ellison sued Texas Gov.
Appeals Court Blocks Trump Scheme on US Attorneys Original
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld a lower court ruling that disqualified Sigal Chattah as the purported top prosecutor in the Nevada United States Attorney’s Office. The ruling deals a blow to the Trump scheme of bypassing Senate confirmation to install poorly qualified loyalists as top federal prosecutors in blue states — a key element of Trump’s campaign of retribution.
Trump DOJ Shamelessly Goes After Judge’s Daughter Original
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo. We know that Donald Trump’s campaign of retribution against anyone he perceives to have wronged him — political foes, investigators, prosecutors, and judges — has no bounds. He abuses his office. He coopts government departments and agencies into his retributive schemes. He seeks vengeance without regard to the facts, the law, or common decency.
CIA Behind Mystery Strikes on Ecuadorian Fishing Boats Original
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo.
Trump DOJ Pops Up Out of Nowhere to Try to Get Judge Thrown Off the IRS Case Original
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo. All of a sudden the Justice Department wants to be involved in President Trump’s lawsuit against the IRS — and it’s gunning to get the judge who imposed sanctions on Trump’s attorneys removed from the case.
New Clues in Mystery Strikes on Ecuadorian Fishing Boats
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo. Back in June, The Guardian had a confounding story about drone attacks on Ecuadorian fishing boats for which the Trump administration disclaimed any responsibility. Given the administration’s eagerness to distribute and promote snuff films of its strikes on alleged drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, its denial can’t be dismissed out of hand.
Trump Uses Press Corps as Decoy to Evade Iran Threat Original
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo. By now, you’ve likely ingested many of the details from the bombshell Washinton Post report on the elaborate security operation and public misinformation campaign to spirit President Trump out of Ankara, Turkey, following last month’s NATO summit in order to avoid a credible threat to his life from Iran.
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