It’s like blaming the smoke alarm for the fire, then putting the arsonist’s friends in charge of the investigation.

Officials who warned about Russian interference are being treated as the threat, even facing potential criminal charges. At the same time, people adjacent to Russian-aligned propaganda and influence channels are being handed power to investigate them.

www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

April 18, 2026 And, just like that, President Donald J.

Trump’s Hormuz victory claim quickly collapsed as Iran reclosed the strait, oil shocks persisted, and U.S. escalation drew widening backlash.

open.substack.com/pub/heatherc...

April 18, 2026 And, just like that, President Donald J.

Trump’s Hormuz victory claim quickly collapsed as Iran reclosed the strait, oil shocks persisted, and U.S. escalation drew widening backlash.

April 18, 2026 - substack.com/%40heatherco...

Sunday thought: A change in the air The noxious realities of Trump's authoritarianism are revealed for all to see

Robert Reich argues we are beginning to see a turnaround because “Trump and the forces he’s unleashed are so deeply repulsive to the consciences of most Americans...”

open.substack.com/pub/robertre...

ICYMI: The Steady State's Week in Review!
Substack @SteadyState1

Trump keeps saying “we lose nothing” and Iran “loses $500 million a day.” In reality, Americans pay more for fuel while export profits flow to oil companies, and those “empty” tankers he brags about are heading to load U.S. crude for Europe and Asia—not to bring relief at home.

Sentinel host, Peter Mina, joins American University Adjunct Professor and Scholar‑in‑Residence, Alex Joel, to unpack how democracies can fight real threats without becoming one themselves, the Privacy Act’s enduring role, and how data, protest, and transparency collide.

To read a summary of our Accelerating Authoritarian Dynamics Assessment, which discusses reliance on the court’s Shadow Docket as an example of erosion of judicial independence, read our Substack article @ SteadyState1: zurl.co/QtJUk

zurl.co/xjH7Y

A normal merits case creates law in public - briefing, argument, opinion, precedent. The shadow docket often produces power in private - rushed filings, no oral argument, unsigned orders, little reasoning. This benefits Trump because it gives him action without accountability.

“Weaponized Accusations, Hollow Claims” @SteadyState1. steadystate1.substack.com/p/weaponized...

To read more about how Trump and Gabbard’s “Obama coup” narrative is a politically motivated disinformation campaign that contradicts multiple bipartisan investigations, which found no evidence of a conspiracy and instead confirmed the legitimacy of the Russia probe, read our Substack article,

Add the fact that the case is overseen by a Trump-supporting U.S. attorney (Jason A. Reding Quiñones) in a district tied to Trump-friendly venue questions, and the issue becomes bigger than one conflicted lawyer. The entire command structure looks politically compromised.

Firtash was enmeshed in the same Giuliani–Parnas Ukraine ecosystem whose lawyers and associates helped generate anti‑Biden narratives during Trump’s 1st impeachment, & now diGenova is being installed after a career prosecutor reportedly raised concerns about political pressure in the Brennan matter.

He has represented Trump‑aligned interests, joined Trump’s 2020 election challenges, publicly accused Brennan of wrongdoing, and represented Ukrainian oligarch Dmytro Firtash, whom U.S. prosecutors have described as an “upper‑echelon associate of Russian organized crime” while he fought extradition.

DiGenova’s appointment raises significant conflict‑of‑interest concerns.

The Brennan probe looks less like neutral fact-finding than an effort to convert Trump’s “Russia hoax” grievance into a DOJ-backed criminal theory against officials tied to the Russia investigation.

2/3 The religion-and-politics newsletter, A Public Witness, appears to have been the first to document that it echoes the Pulp Fiction monologue, with other U.S. outlets picking that up before Turkish or other foreign accounts started clipping it.

3/3 Beck’s not just fixated on who shared the video; he’s misrepresenting who actually identified what the Defense Secretary was quoting at a Pentagon prayer service during an active war.

1/3 Foreign amplification of a real event doesn’t make it fake. Hegseth delivered that “prayer” at an official Pentagon worship service.

April 17, 2026 This morning, after a 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon took effect Thursday, Iran announced the Strait of Hormuz was open to commercial ships.

Trump touted Iran reopening Hormuz as a victory and imminent peace deal, claims Iran denied, while his messaging briefly lifted stocks and pushed down oil prices before contradictions surfaced after markets closed. @heathercoxrichardson.skystack.xyz
zurl.co/Dgnfs

To read about how Trump has turned the presidency into a vehicle for personal and family profit, check out our Substack article, “It’s all a Grift.” steadystate1.substack.com/p/its-all-a-...

At some point, “unusual” stops looking like coincidence and starts looking like a system.

This has become a repeated pattern: major policy moves or market-moving announcements are preceded by suspiciously well-timed trades, unexplained financial gains, and then no accountability.

The FBI Director Is MIA Kash Patel has alarmed colleagues with episodes of excessive drinking and unexplained absences.

www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

AN OPEN LETTER FROM THE STEADY STATE TO THOSE STILL ON DECK March 20, 2026

steadystate1.substack.com/p/an-open-le...

Why a President Should Never Pick a Fight with a Pope The Courage and Clarity of Pope Leo

Pope Leo criticized leaders who use religion to justify war, clearly pushing back on Trump and his allies, and isn’t backing down despite their attacks.

zurl.co/Rifip

The FBI Director Is MIA Kash Patel has alarmed colleagues with episodes of excessive drinking and unexplained absences.

2/2 while credible reporting raises serious concerns about the FBI Director’s conduct, reportedly including multiple incidents where his security detail could not wake him due to apparent intoxication.

www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

1/2 It’s hard to overstate how upside down this is. Officials are being targeted with criminal referrals for following a clear legal duty to report potential crimes through proper channels,