Trump admin agrees to pay $1.25M to 2016 Trump adviser over surveillance DOJ OK'd the settlement with Carter Page, but he could still press claims against ex-officials.

A new wholly corrupt settlement handing your money to Trump cronies.

It’s notable for several reasons:

/1

www.politico.com/news/2026/04...

A little-known law that lets the government sidestep the Constitution to spy on American citizens is set to expire at the end of this month.

We need to make sure Democrats don’t reauthorize this civil liberties disaster. 👇

Civil Rights Group Says It Is Under Investigation by Justice Dept.

Reminds me of 2009-ish era when our fed govt went after DHS experts warning of far-right extremism. The effort to eliminate research & documentation of far-right dominant violence in the US is an attempt at parity that ultimately limits our ability to mitigate harm. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/21/u...

Federal judge unloads on ‘unserious’ RFK Jr., says anti-trans policy showed his ‘cruelty’ Judge Mustafa T. Kasubhai vacated the “Kennedy Declaration,” finding it unlawfully attempted to override medical standards and restrict care for transgender youth.

Breaking: HHS’s ban on gender-affirming care is struck down. Rarely have I read a ruling this sharply worded.

“This case is one of a long list of examples of how a leader’s wanton disregard for the rule of law causes very real harm to very real people.”

www.advocate.com/politics/nat...

Hungary’s New Leader Reveals Viktor Orbán Was Paying CPAC Péter Magyar called the payments a “crime” and said his government would stop the funds.

The entire American conservative MAGA “movement” has been a Russian funded op the entire time. Follow the money. It’s a straight line from Putin to CPAC.

Guidebook massacre! I’m prepping for 50 days of research in Europe. And that means it’s time for a little pre-trip violence… I just finished ripping up my guidebooks.

Have a peek… if you dare.

🔥 “I’m so glad people are finally waking up to your cruelty — and to the idiocy of your star disciple Pete Hegseth.”

@wajahatali.bsky.social eviscerates Hegseth’s pastor Doug Wilson (with @timmiller.bsky.social & piers in the front row)

TENNESSEAN: “Tennessee is poised to become the first state in 🇺🇸 to require all counties to participate in an optional federal partnership on immigration enforcement…”

GOP = Government Overreach Party, exhibit infinity. The Stephen Miller slate.

www.tennessean.com/story/news/p...

Author @gilduran.com was just banned from “free speech absolutist” twitter for criticizing the Palantir CEO’s manifesto— so here’s his upcoming book: www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Ne...

We Ride at Dawn

If Democrats take over the house and the Senate, good luck getting any of Trump’s appointees through to replace these two right wing nut balls. Their fear of investigation and incarceration may be democracy’s long-term saving grace..

In a country of 59 million teenagers, fewer than 15,000 receive gender affirming care. But the administration wants you to think that .025% of kids are ruining your life. Those kids don’t affect the price of eggs.

Today I turn 89. I’ve seen this country at its best and its worst, and I know how much community matters. For my birthday, I’m asking you to stand with PFLAG and support the work that’s helped so many in the LGBTQ+ community, including me. give.pflag.org/page/95493/d...

So to recap:

-$160 BILLION+ unconstitutionally collected in tariffs from 🇺🇸 corps, despite Trump saying foreign co’s pay

-they pass that cost to us

-Now corps collect the💰back… from us?🤔

heads they win, tails we lose!😕🤷🏼 (almost like this was the plan all along)

Immigration board denies Mahmoud Khalil's appeal, bringing activist one step closer to deportation The Board of Immigration Appeals has denied Mahmoud Khalil's latest attempt to dismiss his deportation case.

The Trump admin has targeted students, faculty, universities, law firms, journalists, newsrooms, protesters -- anyone speaking in even tentatively oppositional ways to those in power. But there's been particular attack on immigrants & Palestinian rights speech. Horrible: apnews.com/article/mahm...

(alongside images of the US, megaphones, Liam Conejo Ramos’ bunny hat, and signs that read “NO ICE WAREHOUSE,” “SHUTDOWN DETENTION CENTERS,” and “NOT HERE/NOT ANYWHERE”) NATIONAL DAY OF ACTION STOP ICE WAREHOUSE DETENTION APRIL 25, 2026

The regime is purchasing and converting warehouses to serve as concentration camps for the people ICE and Border Patrol disappear off the street — but local communities are fighting back. Join us at @detentionwatchnetwork.org's national day of action on Saturday: www.mobilize.us/disappearedi...

SEN. @ossoff.senate.gov : “The faithless president depicts himself as Christ while he plunges the nation into wars of choice… Remember — While you pay more for everything, the First Family’s wealth is growing by billions. Because they’re crooks, and everybody knows it.”

PRO PUBLICA: “only 2% of 800 immigrants arrested for violent crimes… 3/4ths of all arrests non-violent…”

@GovBillLee Sexton @SenBrentTaylor @MarshaBlackburn say the MEMPHIS task force is arresting mostly violent criminals.

The numbers disagree.

www.propublica.org/article/memp...

Groups Sue Administration Over Approval Of Ultra-Deepwater Oil Drilling Project In Gulf Five Gulf and environmental groups have sued the Trump administration over its approval of BP’s new ultra-deepwater oil drilling project in the Gulf of Mexico.

"BP’s first completely new oilfield in the Gulf since the company’s Deepwater Horizon disaster 16 years ago.

It will be deeper than Deepwater Horizon, and in riskier waters... drilling 6 miles below the sea floor, deeper than the height of Mt. Everest"

www.nationalparkstraveler.org/2026/04/grou...

Unless you're a Republican. Then you should be elected President.

"We stand by our reporting on Kash Patel, and we will vigorously defend The Atlantic and our journalists against this meritless lawsuit." - The Atlantic

The Atlantic: Kash Patel is a paranoid drunk

Kash: Imma sue you for $250 million

The Atlantic: Let’s dance, Googly Eyes

Me: Okay we have a lot to do today let’s get it together

Brain: I refuse to do anything productive until you help me remember the name of that really thick square chocolate bar you coveted as a kid circa 1980

Me: Goddammit

Absolutely incredible.

NASA Astronaut Reid Wiseman, who commanded Artemis II, took this footage from the far side of the Moon with his iPhone.

Watch with sound on.

'Bell removed Romeo and Juliet from his syllabus because “in Act III, Romeo and Juliet have sex, and that falls under this very broadly defined sexuality [topics ban].” He also didn’t teach about Joan of Arc this semester.'

What an actual lack of freedom of speech looks like in universities. 3/3

Other false media statements identified in the Kash Patel complaint:

1. Special Agents do not, in fact, refer to him as “J. Edgar Shart”
2. Patel did, in fact, know that the FBI is part of the Executive Branch and that Wyoming is a state. He just always looks surprised when you tell him things.
/1

Behind Trump’s Public Bravado on the War, He Grapples With His Own Fears The president’s impulsive style has never been tested in a sustained military conflict, and he’s been ruminating on Jimmy Carter’s failure in Iran.

Very normal stuff.

"Aides kept the president out of the room as they got minute-by-minute updates because they believed his impatience wouldn’t be helpful...

"At one point Trump mused he should award himself the nation’s highest military honor, the Medal of Honor...

www.wsj.com/politics/nat...

Last month, Trump's DOJ inexplicably dropped the prosecution in the largest ($20 billion!) Iran sanctions violations case ever:

www.nytimes.com/2026/03/11/n...

Now one month later, they're bragging about how they're going to so so so sooooo prosecute Iran sanctions:

www.wsj.com/world/middle...

Democrats should hold themselves to higher standards than Republicans. That’s how we build a party that people actually believe in.

Oil company founded by DOE chief Wright paid no US taxes last year Liberty Energy made $193 million last year and received more than $10 million back in tax benefits, according to a nonprofit analysis released on Tax Day.

"The company founded and formerly run by Trump Energy Secretary Chris Wright recorded $193 million of income last year but paid no 2025 federal corporate income taxes, according to its regulatory filings, and actually got more than $10 million back from the IRS..."

www.eenews.net/articles/oil...