US Politics

Thursday’s arrests of Lemon and independent journalist Georgia Fort demonstrate the administration’s lawless crusade against routine journalismTwo federal courts reviewed the government’s evidence against journalist Don Lemon and declined to approve his arrest last week. But nevertheless, the attorney general, Pam Bondi, persisted, desperate to please her authoritarian boss no matter what the constitution and law say or what her ethical obligations as an attorney require.Thursday’s arrests of Lemon and Georgia Fort, an independent journalist – like the recent raid on Hannah Natanson, the Washington Post reporter – demonstrate the administration’s lawless crusade against routine journalism. In normal times the expectation is that even when a journalist’s conduct might technically fit the legal elements of a crime – jaywalking to get footage of a protest, for example – prosecutors will exercise their discretion and judgment to not apply the law in a manner that chills the free press.Seth Stern is the director of advocacy at Freedom of the Press Foundation and a first amendment lawyer Continue reading… More

The US deputy attorney general, Todd Blanche, announced on Friday that the justice department has opened a federal civil rights investigation into the fatal shooting of Minneapolis nurse Alex Pretti last Saturday by immigration officers. He said that the shooting of Alex Pretti ‘is something that we’re investigating’ and that the justice department’s civil rights division has ‘the best experts in the world’ in talking to witnesses, looking at documentary evidence, and conducting this type of investigationUS DoJ opens federal civil rights investigation into killing of Alex Pretti Continue reading… More

Todd Blanche, the deputy attorney general, said at a press conference that to protect victims the department ‘redacted every woman depicted in any image or video, with the exception of [Ghislaine] Maxwell’. Blanche expressed sympathy for Epstein’s victims, saying that they ‘have gone through unspeakable pain … I hope that the work that the men and women within this department have done over the past two months is able to bring closure.’ He also added that ‘with a production of this magnitude, mistakes are inevitable’ and invited ‘victims to reach us directly to correct redactions and any concerns when appropriate’ Continue reading… More

Whether it’s Minneapolis or Greenland, the US president will do just enough to get through a damaging news cycle, then carry on as beforeDon’t be fooled. When it comes to Donald Trump, what might look like a full retreat is almost always a mere tactical withdrawal, designed to buy time. He’ll step back when he’s forced to, under pressure, but will then revert the instant the pressure lets up. Too often, his opponents, whether at home or abroad, allow themselves to be played, confusing a mere pause for a surrender – and the risk is strong that they’re making that same mistake all over again.This week, the US president won praise in some quarters for moving to “de-escalate” the war he has been waging on the people of Minneapolis. Following the killing of Alex Pretti, an intensive care nurse who posed no threat and yet was shot at least 10 times by masked agents of Customs and Border Protection or CBP, Trump signalled that he wanted to calm things down.Jonathan Freedland is a Guardian columnist Continue reading… More

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The first lady’s political goals, high-stakes clothes fittings and hints that she and Donald still have sex are just some of the highlights from Brett Ratner’s documentary• Review: Melania is a gilded trash remake of The Zone of Interest• News: a front-row seat on Melania’s ominous UK openingMelania’s appears an entirely airless existence, in which she glides solo about gilt corridors in silence, David Lynch-style, observed by tight-lipped heavies. All her staff dress in deference to her, mostly in black, but sometimes – as in the case of her interior designer – in a matching camel-coloured three-piece suit. Candidates interviewing for assistant roles have also got the memo, lining up in a sea of monochrome, with buttery hair and prominent cross necklaces. Continue reading… More

Experts say administration has launched ‘war on all fronts’ to undo environmental rules – here are the key areas at riskIn his first year back in office, Donald Trump has fundamentally reshaped the Environmental Protection Agency, initiating nearly 70 actions to undo rules protecting ecosystems and the climate.The agency’s wide-ranging assault on the environment will put people at risk, threatening air and water quality, increasing harmful chemical exposure, and worsening global warming, experts told the Guardian. The changes amount to “a war on all fronts that this administration has launched against our health and the safety of our communities and the quality of our environment,” said Matthew Tejada, the former director of the EPA’s environmental justice program. Continue reading… More

Uline employee says she can no longer work for people who helped ‘America descend into fascism’When Laura Wittmann decided this week to submit her resignation from Uline, the giant office supply company owned by two of the biggest donors to Donald Trump’s 2024 election and other Maga Republicans, she did not hold back.“As America descends rapidly into fascism,” Wittmann wrote in a two-page company-wide email sent on Wednesday, “I can no longer work to grow the personal fortunes of people who helped make it so.” Continue reading… More