A judge has reached the same conclusion as many others about President Trump’s attempt to loot the Treasury to line the pockets of his supporters and political allies. Her findings were outlined in a scathing new decision Monday.
Continue reading “Ahead of Blanche Hearing, Judge Says Trump Tried to ‘Manipulate the Judicial Process’ With IRS Settlement”We Need Your Help to Do This
We had a solid first week of this year’s Annual TPM Journalism Fund Drive. But we have a long way to go to get to our goal of raising $500,000 and, if possible, a bit more. If you haven’t taken a moment yet to contribute, please take just 90 seconds or so out of your Monday midday routine and join us now. (If you have, thank you so much).
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The ICE Murders Surge
We’ve discussed a number of times that the high-profile/high-violence occupations of blue cities in 2025 and early 2026 were never designed to maximize deportations. They were meant to overawe and terrorize the city’s inhabitants and the sovereign state governments of those jurisdictions. The public blowback became too extreme and then, along with canning Kristi Noem, DHS/ICE switched to focusing on deportation numbers without most of the high-visibility operations which weren’t really aimed at deportation numbers in the first place. But there have been an increasing number of reports over the last few weeks suggesting that ICE/DHS is intensifying its efforts and upping the number of arrests and detentions. It seems highly likely, though not certain, that the two recent ICE-involved shooting fatalities in the last week — one in Houston and another just today in Maine — are tied to that intensified push for deportation arrest numbers. ICE agents tend to be poorly trained and operate in a culture of violence and impunity. So events like these could happen at any time. But keep an eye on the relationship between the two things. DHS/ICE has been trying to intensify its efforts while avoiding the headlines which were so damaging last winter. But the rapid resorts to fatal violence and the culture of impunity that sustains it, so embedded within Trump Era ICE’s culture, seems to be breaking through.
The Unofficial List of Republicans Who May Throw Their Hat in the Ring to Replace Lindsey Graham
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) died Saturday evening from a “brief and sudden illness” at the age of 71. The longtime senator’s unexpected death triggered a massive scramble for his now-open seat among various Republican characters in the South Carolina political scene.
Continue reading “The Unofficial List of Republicans Who May Throw Their Hat in the Ring to Replace Lindsey Graham “The Race to Unseat Susan Collins Is Resetting Around Abortion
This story was originally reported by Shefali Luthra and Grace Panetta of The 19th. Meet Shefali and Grace and read more of their reporting on gender, politics and policy.
BANGOR, Maine — As Maine Democrats vie to replace Graham Platner in their state’s Senate race, abortion — a key weakness for Republican Sen. Susan Collins — is set to shape the next phase of the contest, which Democrats view as a prime pick-up opportunity.
Collins, whose home state voted for Kamala Harris in the 2024 election, is considered one of the most vulnerable Republican incumbents up for election this year. She has held onto power despite Maine’s blue tilt in large part by branding herself as an independent, and by highlighting her support for healthcare and abortion rights.
But Democrats have sought to challenge that narrative, pointing to Collins’ 2018 vote to confirm Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who four years later joined a 5-4 majority to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark abortion rights case. Collins criticized the decision at the time, calling it “ill-considered,” but Democrats are making her vote a central issue.
Continue reading “The Race to Unseat Susan Collins Is Resetting Around Abortion”Trump Shoots Messenger for Exposing His Risky New Air Force One Fiasco
Don’t You Dare Say the New Air Force One Has No Clothes
Just 18 months into Trump II, the president feels the confidence and swagger to demand that grand jury subpoenas be served immediately upon the nation’s leading newspaper for reporting that his beloved new Qatari-gifted Air Force One doesn’t haven the same defensive capabilities as the older models.
In a striking move to intimidate and coerce a free press, FBI agents were at the homes of New York Times reporters with the grand jury subpoenas Friday night, only a day after newspaper’s second big scoop of the week on the airplane’s deficiencies. But as stark as it was an overreach of government power, it was also a fit of personal pique from a thin-skinned president who pushed hard to rush the aircraft into service even if meant reduced capabilities.
One of the ironies of the story is that initial reports were that FBI Director Kash Patel was summoned to the White House Friday because of irritation that he was planning to use a government plane that day yet again to fly to go see his country music singer girlfriend perform, this time in Chicago. Subsequent reporting from the NYT itself revealed that the White House put the screws to Patel in that meeting to investigate the leaks that produced the NYT’s scoops (emphasis mine):
Mr. Patel scuttled a planned trip to Chicago and spent roughly eight hours at the White House on Friday, running the investigation from there rather than F.B.I. headquarters — a major departure from historical practice. Mr. Patel also briefed senior administration officials on the investigation, two people said. The people spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe sensitive internal discussions.
Of course, both versions of why Patel was summoned to the White House can be true — and given Trump’s way of doing business they plausibly are both true. The eager-to-please Patel — under the gun for his travels to the point that Republican senators are becoming irritated — was an easy mark for Trump to strong-arm into launching a leak investigation and targeting his nemesis, the NYT.
The speed of the subpoenas to the NYT was breathtaking and undermined DOJ claims that the leakers were the target, not the NYT. The earliest the investigation could have started was Wednesday, after the first NYT story on Trump taking the old Air Force One back from the NATO summit in Turkey, before transferring to the new one in the U.K. (pictured above) for the transatlantic flight home. The subpoenas call for the reporters — Julian E. Barnes, Eric Lipton, Tyler Pager and Eric Schmitt — to appear before a grand jury in Manhattan this Wednesday.
To ramp up an investigation up that quickly and begin serving subpoenas stretches the bounds of the space-time continuum under which the Justice Department has historically operated in almost any circumstance. It was especially striking given long-standing DOJ policies, since dispensed with under Trump II, that made seeking evidence from journalists an investigative avenue of last resort.
While there are no substantial legal impediments to the feds subpoenaing journalists, coercing testimony from reporters was typically treated gingerly, researched thoroughly, came after other investigative techniques proved fruitless, and was made at the highest levels of the DOJ, not the White House. The abbreviated time frame between the first NYT story and Friday’s subpoenas suggests the Trump DOJ is starting the investigation by coercing reporters to testify.
The contrast isn’t just a stark sign of how much has changed or pearl-clutching over norms. The facts give away the game: The NYT is a Trump target here. It is not merely incidental to the leak investigation.
At a minimum, targeting the NYT gives him a chance to take some of the political heat off by flexing his executive powers and avoiding the appearance of being on the defensive over having undermined national security and the continuity of government by using an inferior aircraft. But much more is at stake than that.
I don’t know how to say it any more clearly: The president of the United States is ordering investigations, being run from the White House, of the nation’s leading newspaper in order to intimidate it into ceasing to publish stories that are personally and politically embarrassing to him.
This is all of the worst fears of a Trump II presidency coming home to roost.
Trump DOJ Watch
- Politico: U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly of D.C., a Trump appointee, reluctantly granted the Trump DOJ request to drop the seditious conspiracy convictions of high-ranking members of the far-right Proud Boys, but not before taking one last shot at conveying to posterity the seriousness of the Jan. 6 attack.
- Bloomberg: Top Trump DOJ officials plan to drop charges against alleged $722 million crypto fraudster Matthew Goettsche, who was indicted in Trump I and was scheduled to go to trial in October. Even then-acting New Jersey U.S. Attorney Alina Habba resisted pressure to drop the case:
But after further advocacy from Goettsche’s team earlier this year, senior DOJ official Aakash Singh convened a meeting in Washington last month between the defense and prosecutors to discuss a resolution. … The mediation culminated in the deputy attorney general’s office decision that New Jersey’s new US attorney, Robert Frazer, would back away from criminal charges while still seeking to recoup a portion of investors’ losses, the people added.
Scenes From a Gerontocracy
The sudden and unexpected death of Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), 71, from an aortic dissection was followed this weekend by the barely convincing written statement from hospitalized and soon-to-retire Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), 84, that he is still alive and functioning.
Lindsey Graham’s Real Legacy
President Trump gives the late Sen. Lindsey Graham a lifetime score of 99 out of 100:
The Corruption: Gov’t Contracts Edition
- DHS: Inspector General Joseph Cuffari has found evidence that Corey Lewandowski may have been involved in improperly awarding government contracts while he served as a unpaid senior aide to then-Secretary Kristi Noem, the WSJ reports:
The investigators are examining many of the contracts the department signed in Noem’s tenure, and department officials had been surprised at how involved Lewandowski was in the process, some of the people said. He personally signed specific contracts, according to people who reviewed those documents or had knowledge of the approvals, despite not technically serving as a full-time U.S. government official.
Lewandowski denies issuing contracts while at DHS and says he hadn’t been contacted about the ongoing investigation.
- Kennedy Center: Former project managers claiming whistleblower status have sent Congress internal documents that they say show how the performing arts venue bypassed government contracting norms in work carried out under President Trump, the NYT reports.
Must Listen
The New Yorker’s David Remnick interviews Atul Gawande, the author and Biden-era USAID official, on the astounding death toll since the Trump administration’s obliteration of the foreign aid agency and the difficulty of tracking mortality rates: “The U.S. was the provider of some of the best, highest-quality data in the world—out of U.S.A.I.D., which was dismantled.”
Marco Rubio: Viceroy of Venezuela
An essential read from the NYT on on how Marco Rubio effectively controls Venezuela’s finances, the distribution of its natural resources, and its government in a quasi-colonial arrangement since the U.S. capture of President Nicolás Maduro.
Breaking: Possible ICE Shooting in Maine
Authorities haven’t released any information yet on an incident this morning in Biddeford, Maine, but state Speaker of the House Ryan Fecteau (D) said in a Facebook post that it was a fatal shooting and ICE was involved.
Piecing Together the Houston ICE Shooting
The NYT visual investigations team does its best with the limited footage available of the pursuit that ended in the ICE shooting death of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston last week.
Sign of the Times
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Right-Wing Groups Just Got a Big Win on the Census
A new Trump administration prohibition on privacy protections at the Census Bureau appears to be teeing up a fight that touches on everything from government data to political representation, immigration to redistricting — and even opens the door to a world in which federal data used for everything from disaster planning to school enrollment may all but disappear.
Continue reading “Right-Wing Groups Just Got a Big Win on the Census”The Brief: Trump Says Graham’s Final Conversation With Him Was About the SAVE Act
Voter Suppression Looms Large in Push to Replace the Senator
We heard a lot in the day after Lindsey Graham died at 71 about the way in which the senator played a key roll for the White House, explaining how the Senate worked to Trump. Given the president’s recent, monomaniacal focus on passing the SAVE America Act, the voter suppression legislation was, apparently, a key component of that relationship.
“He literally called me about the SAVE America Act,” Trump told Meet the Press, describing his last call with Graham, which came hours before his death. “Think of it: He’s traveling for many, many hours — thats a long flight, that’s a long trip. And he calls me about SAVE America Act.” Graham had returned from Ukraine Saturday.
“He thought we were going to get it passed,” Trump continued. “This is a big blow to the SAVE America Act, let me tell you.”
The president made similar remarks on other television programs Sunday morning.
The law would require documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote or change the name on one’s voter registration, and that voters present ID each time they cast a ballot. Many Americans do not have access to these documents. The legislation would require 60 votes to pass through normal procedure in the Senate, but is opposed by Democrats, making that virtually impossible.
Trump has pressured Senate Republican leadership to find a workaround, urging them to scrap the filibuster, which would allow the bill pass the chamber with only 51 votes. (Republicans, with Graham, had a 53-vote majority.) Senators balked at that. Some have suggested instead doing something they’d call the “SAVE America Act” through budget reconciliation, which also only requires 51 votes — but is limited to legislation that has to do with the budget. The SAVE America Act would have to be changed beyond recognition to qualify, displeasing Trump.
It seems these kind of details were the nuances Graham attempted to translate for Trump. Graham chaired the budget committee, which would have played a key role in an attempt to pass SAVE through reconciliation
Trump indicated Sunday he intends to play a role in picking the temporary replacement to fill Graham’s seat — a selection formally made by South Carolina governor Henry McMaster (R) — and it’s hard to imagine support for the SAVE America Act won’t be a factor for winning his endorsement.
Trump’s New Assault on Press Freedom
In a dramatic escalation of its attacks on press freedom, the Trump administration subpoenaed several New York Times reporters over coverage of the new, Qatari-donated Air Force One.
- The subpoenas came after Kash Patel spent Friday at the White House, running the investigation from there, the Times reported.
- They were signed by Jay Clayton, the U.S. Attorney in New York who is Trump’s pick for Director of National Intelligence.
- “The Trump administration, with its impulsive subpoenas, used vague pretenses of a threat to national security to try to compel our reporters to appear before a grand jury,” Times executive editor Joe Kahn wrote in a memo to staff, obtained by Status. “The law protects news gatherers from this sort of retaliatory abuse of prosecutorial power.”
Tabs
- Tina Peters 2.0? The New York Times takes a long look at a bizarre fight in Maricopa County between the Board of Supervisors and the county recorder, whose actions are stoking the fires of election denialism.
- Speaking of Tina Peters, she has been on a media tour since having her sentence commuted and, later, meeting with President Trump in person, where, she said, she urged the president to ban the use of voting machines and mail-in ballots. Media Matters has a rundown of her activities.
Man of the Hour
It’s Kash Patel, who, desperate as ever to toot his horn on social media, declared via tweet that, following Graham’s death, “the FBI is assisting local authorities and has made every necessary resource available.” That, of course, didn’t make sense unless there was foul play — which there wasn’t reason to suspect. The post stoked conspiracy theories, which were, inevitably, already percolating. Graham likely died of aortic dissection, a tear in the body’s main artery, a medical examiner’s report found.
Are We at War?
‘A Complete Devastation of Due Process’: What Really Happens Inside Immigration Court
When I walked up to 290 Broadway early on a late June morning, an imposing building in New York City that houses a number of immigration courtrooms, a line of people stretched down the block, around the corner, and down that block, too. There had been a fire drill. People in suits were sparsely interspersed among dozens of young Black men in street clothes and Latino families trying to pacify young children.
As we all waited in line, 9 a.m., the time for many people’s appointments to go before an immigration judge, came and went. Melanie Zamenhof, a senior attorney at Neighbors Link community law practice, estimated that a third of the people in line risked having a judge call their case while they were still outside. “How many people are going to get ordered removed because they’re sitting in this line?” she wondered aloud. If that were to happen, they could file a motion to reopen their cases by providing affidavits and proof that they had arrived at the right time but hadn’t been allowed in. But doing so costs $550, and virtually no one going through the process without a lawyer would have any idea that it’s an option.
That’s common in immigration courtrooms across the country. Despite the enormously high stakes and labyrinthine legal landscape in immigration proceedings, there is no right to have a lawyer at one’s side. In the 3.5 million removal proceedings pending in immigration courts as of June 2025, 2.1 million people had no legal representation.
Continue reading “‘A Complete Devastation of Due Process’: What Really Happens Inside Immigration Court”Lindsey Graham Always Needed a Daddy
There’s not a lot I have to add to the reporting on Lindsey Graham’s sudden and unexpected death. The longtime South Carolina senator died yesterday evening after what his office is calling a “brief and sudden illness.” (Other unconfirmed reports point to a heart attack and cardiac arrest.) Obituaries are referring to him as a consistent foreign policy hawk, a stalwart Trump supporter. Both true. But there’s another feature of his personality and political career that is key to understanding the man. He always needed a daddy. Or let’s say a political leader. A top dog.
Continue reading “Lindsey Graham Always Needed a Daddy”