U.S. Settles Carter Page Wiretap Lawsuit for $1.25 Million

Yet another Trump co-conspirator, investigated by the FBI but never charged, gets a $1.25 million payout for nothing. His meritless lawsuit was repeatedly thrown out by the courts, but Trump has reached into the taxpayers' pockets and paid him anyway.

www.nytimes.com/2026/04/22/u...

Senate Adopts G.O.P. Budget, Defeating Democrats’ Affordability Proposals

gift article
www.nytimes.com/2026/04/23/u...

F.B.I. Said to Have Investigated Times Reporter After Article on Patel’s Girlfriend

Kash Patel sicked the FBI on a NYT reporter who wrote about his girlfriend. Gifted article: www.nytimes.com/2026/04/22/u...

Five members of the House of Representatives have died in office over the last 14 months

—Sylvester Turner, D-Texas (70)
—Raúl Grijalva, D-Ariz. (77)
—Gerry Connolly, D-Va. (75)
—Doug LaMalfa, R-Calif. (65)
—David Scott, D-Ga. (80)

Section 10 requires any non-uniformed "federal law enforcement officer" operating in California, with narrow exceptions, to "visibly display identification" while performing federal law enforcement duties. Officers who violate the law may be criminally prosecuted by the State. We previously granted the United States's request for a temporary administrative injunction. We now address the merits of the United States's motion for an injunction pending appeal. We conclude that § 10 of the No Vigilantes Act attempts to directly regulate the United States in its performance of governmental functions. The Supremacy Clause forbids the State from enforcing such legislation. The United States is therefore likely to succeed on the merits of its Supremacy Clause claim, and the other preliminary injunction factors also weigh in its favor. Thus, we grant the motion for an injunction pending appeal.

Section 10 of the No Vigilantes Act attempts to directly regulate the federal government in its performance of law enforcement operations. It expressly applies to federal officers. Cal. Penal Code § 13654(d)(2). It seeks to control their conduct in performing law enforcement operations. Id. Case: 26-926, 04/22/2026, DktEntry: 31.1, Page 12 of 16 12 USA V. STATE OF CALIFORNIA § 13654(a); see also id. § 13654(d)(1). It purports to override the federal government's power to determine whether, how, and when to publicly identify its officers. See id. § 13654(a). And in so doing, it aims to regulate the manner and conditions under which federal agents can enforce federal law. See id. Thus, the state law regulates the performance of "governmental action[s]" which are "carried on by the United States itself." Mayo, 319 U.S. at 448. These provisions do not merely affect "persons who [a]re acting for themselves and not for the United States." Id. at 447. They "layl] hold of" federal agencies and officers "in their specific attempt to obey orders and requirell qualifications in addition to those that the [federal] Government has pronounced sufficient." Johnson, 254 U.S. at 57. Section 10, in short, directly regulates the federal government.

The Supremacy Clause does not "barl] all state regulation which may touch the activities of the Federal Government." Hancock, 426 U.S. at 179 (emphasis added). For example, the Supreme Court has suggested that States may impose "general rules" regulating conduct that any ordinary citizen could perform, like a "statute or ordinance regulating the mode of turning at the corners of streets." Johnson, 254 U.S. at 56. But the Supremacy Clause does bar direct state regulation of the federal government. See Washington, 596 U.S. at 838; City of Arcata, 629 F.3d at 991-92. And that is precisely what the No Vigilantes Act does. The Act does not regulate conduct that any ordinary citizen could perform. Rather, it applies exclusively to law enforcement agencies and their officers, including federal law enforcement agencies and federal law enforcement officers. The Act thus directly regulates conduct reserved to sovereigns. And so it is barred by intergovernmental Case: 26-926, 04/22/2026, DktEntry: 31.1, Page 14 of 16 14 USA V. STATE OF CALIFORNIA immunity, which forbids States from regulating the federal government qua government and from controlling federal governmental functions in any manner and to any degree. See California, 921 F.3d at 883. Because § 10 of the No Vigilantes Act attempts to directly regulate the United States, we conclude that it is likely unconstitutional. See Blackburn, 100 F.3d at 1435.

NEW: Ninth Circuit panel blocks California from enforcing No Vigilantes Act provision requiring federal law enforcement to "visibly display identification," granting DOJ's request for an injunction pending appeal.

The unanimous panel previously had granted an "administrative injunction."

The F.B.I. began investigating a New York Times reporter last month after she wrote about the bureau’s director, Kash Patel, using bureau personnel to provide his girlfriend with government security and transportation.

www.nytimes.com/2026/04/22/u...

PabloReports: What do you make of Stephen Miller and Tom Homan asking for all this money but then refusing to show up to the hearing today?

Frost: That’s what happens when you have a lapdog as speaker.

BREAKING:

A Virginia judge just temporarily halted the implementation of the state's new voter-approved redistricting measure.

Election officials cannot move forward now unless the ruling is overturned by a higher court.

Virginia's AG has vowed to appeal the ruling.

Yep, if you aren’t reflexive about it, negative partisanship can be a decent heuristic. But it can’t account for why consumer confidence fell through the floor, never recovered, and is lower now than at the nadir of the Great Recession, stagflation, or any other acute crisis.

Chemical leak at a West Virginia plant kills 2 people and sends 19 more to hospital, officials say A chemical leak at a West Virginia plant killed two people and sent 19 others to the hospital, authorities said.

abc7news.com/post/chemica...

Ossoff: "The financial entanglement, the way UAE money, Emirati money has compromised this WH is astonishing. It may be one of the most significant scandals in US history. Who are Trump's 2 chief negotiators? Kushner & Witkoff. The people doing diplomacy are at the same time on personal business."

New Jersey’s most vulnerable GOP incumbent is MIA Rep. Tom Kean Jr.'s team said the absence is due to unspecified health issues.

“A scion of one of the state’s most storied political dynasties, Kean’s team says the two-term congressmember is facing unspecified health issues. The New Jersey Republican hasn’t voted since March 5 and has missed almost 50 roll call votes.” www.politico.com/live-updates...

Karoline Leavitt got her own Lego video.

That cross.

🤣

The new FBI

Crypto billionaire Justin Sun is suing Trump-linked World Liberty Financial, alleging it froze his $75M investment, blocked sales, and stripped his voting rights.

Sun says he was pressured to buy more and retaliated against when he refused—calling it a scheme to “profit through fraud.”

Lawsuit: Blaze’s Crackpot Reporting Prompted a Wild, Unnecessary FBI Raid Quickly debunked reporting based on “gait analysis” was enough to get the feds to descend with a helicopter on a falsely accused J6 pipe-bomber’s home.

New: Kash Patel's FBI launched an unnecessary raid on the home of a former Capitol Police officer, based on Jan. 6 conspiracy theories from right-wing media outlet The Blaze.

Speaker Johnson's beginning of the end Trump's elfish toady is quickly losing control of the House.

"Up to now, moderates have seemed more scared of primaries and the wrath of Trump than of their own Trump-skeptical voters. But as midterms loom, and Trump's approval stagnates at historic lows, the calculus appears to be changing. That bodes ill for Johnson — and for his party’s 2026 prospects."

BREAKING: Trump Folds and Extends Ceasefire Indefinitely, Two Americans Dead in Possible Botched CIA Operation, Republicans Seek to Carve Trump into Mount Rushmore Good afternoon everyone.

BREAKING: Trump folds and extends Iran ceasefire indefinitely.

Mexico launches investigation after two Americans killed in botched CIA operation.

Republicans pursue efforts to put Trump on Mount Rushmore and have NIH investigate “Trump Derangement Syndrome.”

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Blanche // Our Indictment alleges Southern Poverty Law Center secretly funneled MORE THAN $3 MILLION IN FUNDS to white supremacist & extremist groaps including: $ 1M + National Alliance affillate $300K+ Aryan Nations affilate $270K + "ente the Right" member $140K+ Elia National Alliance Chairman $73K + Farmer KKK members $19K+ pressient Efelon

Blanche and Patel

BREAKING: DOJ announces charges against the Southern Poverty Law Center based on allegations of paid informants in an indictment in the Middle District of Alabama.

"This investigation is very much ongoing," FBI Director Kash Patel said.

Tesla saved $400 million on its federal taxes by shifting billions of its U.S. profits to countries with lower tax rates.

Yes: While you paid your taxes in full, giant corporations maneuvered to pay as little as possible — and it’s all perfectly legal for them.

The system is rigged.

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Virginia! Today is the last day to vote in the redistricting referendum.

Make sure to vote YES.

You can find your polling location at IWillVote.com/VA.

Woooooooooboyyyyyy!

Democratic House Rep. Raul Ruiz absolutely fillets RFK Jr. in the hearing about the HHS budget:

"It has been reported by Bloomberg that the president and the White House have sidelined you, they've benched you, because you are making the president look bad...

🔥