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Barton Gellman

@bartongellman.bsky.social
17K followers 470 following 157 posts

@BrennanCenter | ex Atlantic, WaPo | Author, Angler & Dark Mirror | bartongellman.com/contact

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Reposted by Barton Gellman
Brennan Center @brennancenter.org · 21/09/2026
When it comes to voting rights, presidents should stay out and Congress should jump in. bit.ly/4xw0XmA
brennancenter.org
Toward a More Representative Government
The Brennan Center has released a batch of proposals to reform voting and elections.
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Reposted by Barton Gellman
🇨🇦 thimbles.bsky.social 🇨🇦 @thimbles.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
This may be of interest to @driftglass.bsky.social or @jayrosen.bsky.social. I just listened to Question Everything's replay of an interview with @bartongellman.bsky.social and it was amazing. www.kcrw.com/shows/questi...
kcrw.com
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Jay Rosen @jayrosen.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
My alert system failed! Cannot believe I missed "The Journalist and the Firefighter" and the follow up when they came out. www.kcrw.com/shows/questi... Bravo to the staff at @kcrw.com's Question Everything and of course to @bartongellman.bsky.social The rethink in journalism that I've waited for.
kcrw.com
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Center for Democracy & Technology @cdt.org · 02/09/2026
What happens to the right to anonymous speech when accessing the internet increasingly requires proving who you are? Join CDT and STT for The Death of Online Anonymity? on Sept. 23–24. 12–2:30 PM ET | Online via Zoom Free to Register: foso26.cdt.org
2026 The Death of Online Anonymity.
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Michael Hobbes @michaelhobbes.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
A 76-year-old green card holder with stage 4 cancer was arrested at his citizenship application interview and has been held by ICE for two months. www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...
Loreto Javar, a green card holder who’s lived in the United States for over three decades and is being treated for Stage 4 prostate cancer, has been held at the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma for more than two months. 

A 76-year-old retired hotel worker who lives in Fife with his wife and daughter, Javar was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials June 23 during an interview for his U.S. citizenship application in Tukwila. He was receiving ongoing cancer treatment when he was taken into ICE custody, his family said, and has missed several medical appointments since his arrest.
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Alicia Bannon @aliciabannon.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
There's A LOT of confusion about when states & localities have to cooperate w/ ICE. The short answer is that whether to cooperate largely comes down to state/local law & policy. My @brennancenter.org colleagues have a new explainer laying out the legal framework. statecourtreport.org/our-work/ana...
statecourtreport.org
Are States and Localities Required to Cooperate with ICE?
State and local officials’ responsibility to aid in federal immigration enforcement is largely a matter of state and local law, despite the administration’s claims to the contrary.
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Steve Vladeck @stevevladeck.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
“The idea wasn’t just to retroactively protect ‘the babies of slaves’; it was to prospectively forestall future efforts to deny citizenship based on whatever other non-sovereignty-based criteria might be politically popular in any given moment.” Me on why Trump’s new EO is *still* unconstitutional:
stevevladeck.com
243. Birthright Citizenship, Redux
President Trump's new attempt to cabin birthright citizenship is a lot narrower than the one the Supreme Court struck down in June. Its key provisions are still unconstitutional.
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Barton Gellman @bartongellman.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
Excellent details on the NYT subpoena hearing.
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Barton Gellman @bartongellman.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
A very important, if temporary, victory. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/23/b...
nytimes.com
U.S. to Withdraw Subpoenas Issued to New York Times Journalists (Gift Article)
A federal judge raised questions about the government’s handling of the subpoenas, which The Times said were an attempt to intimidate the free press.
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Barb McQuade @barbmcquade.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
Michigan voters deserve answers for delay in opening Gordie Howe Bridge. We already had a sweetheart deal with Canada. Why are we negotiating a new one? Political donation to Trump PAC by private owner of rival bridge has created appearance of corruption. apnews.com/article/cana...
apnews.com
Detroit-Canada bridge to open by late July after delay due to issues between countries, sources say
A completed bridge linking Detroit and Canada is expected to open by the end of the month after a dispute delayed its debut.
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Eileen Clancy 🧿 @clancyny.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
Amazing! ICE kills a man ~7:30 am. 1st news report is an hour later. ~1:30 pm, a group of 𝒔𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒍 𝒉𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 marches in Main Street and "storms into the Biddeford office of [U.S.] Sen. Susan Collins." Would be hard to do in NYC. Biddeford pop. = 22,000! www.pressherald.com/2026/07/13/s...
As the crowd marched down Main Street and gathered outside Sen. Collins’ Biddeford office, about a dozen people made it inside the entryway, chanting “Vote her out!” and banging their fists on the office’s locked doors.

Staffers inside could be seen on the phone as the crowd grew. Minutes later, five Biddeford police officers pushed through the entryway and placed themselves between protestors and the door.

“This is your fault Susan!” one man shouted.

“You're a fascist!” another person yelled at the officers.

photo of protesters with signs reading
GET THE FUCK OUT
14TH AMENDMENT: DUE PROCESS FOR ALL NO EXCEPTIONS
A woman with a bullhorn


[caption]
A group storms into the Biddeford office of Sen. Susan Collins on Monday after a man was shot in an altercation with federal immigration agents at the intersection of Hill and Pool streets. (Derek Davis/Staff Photographer)

The crowd dissipated and began marching back toward Mechanics Park after chanting at and heckling the officers.

Police did not answer questions about whether Collins’ staffers called 911 on protestors.
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Ami Fields-Meyer @fieldsmeyer.com · 30/06/2026
It's launch day for ON COURAGE! Maddow: “INVALUABLE. A CLASSIC OF OUR TIME.” In the dark early days of Trump II, @juliaangwin.com and I were interviewing dissidents on 5 continents, learning what Americans could do to save our republic. Where books are sold: www.harpercollins.com/products/on-...
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AFP News Agency @en.afp.com · 08/06/2026
Award-winning Somali referee Omar Artan, set to be the first from his country to officiate at the World Cup, was denied entry to the United States, a sports ministry official told AFP on Monday u.afp.com/SDH9
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Matt Burgess (WIRED) @mattburgess1.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
“What the UK government wants instead is invisible surveillance infrastructure, switched on by default and potentially rushed into law under cynical pretexts”
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Brennan Center @brennancenter.org · 07/06/2026
Americans believe corruption is a serious problem throughout politics and government. The good news: Across party lines, voters overwhelmingly support reforms to curb concentrated wealth in politics and unchecked self-enrichment by those in power. bit.ly/4apvVns
brennancenter.org
Poll: Voters Want Solutions for Government Corruption
Overwhelming majorities across parties see corruption as a major problem and back measures to limit self-dealing by officials and the influence of money in politics.
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Von Wolf @vonwolf.bsky.social · 06/06/2026
Why aren't we doing something like this in the US?
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Brennan Center @brennancenter.org · 05/06/2026
There are two big problems with the “unitary executive theory” that Trump is relying on to expand presidential power: it’s unmoored from history (i.e. completely made up) and so broad that it can’t be consistently implemented. bit.ly/4fcjO0w
brennancenter.org
“It Ends in a Monarchy”
Trump the businessman said, “You’re fired”; Trump the president is fighting in court for the right to say those words whenever he wants.
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Joyce White Vance @joycewhitevance.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
Bless his heart www.al.com/news/2026/06...
al.com
Tuberville voted in Florida after tax records say he moved to Alabama
Tuberville claimed Alabama residency in August 2018. He and his wife voted in Florida three months later.
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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
Honestly, this is good because it removes any plausible deniability about the type of people Trump put in charge of his domestic paramilitary operations
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Joseph Cox @josephcox.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
Wrote about how Bluesky users do not click links and read articles (yes, this is behind the scenes stuff so paywalled). Bluesky isn’t unique among social networks. Many people do not click through. Instead they scroll, maybe reply, and move on. Not good for journalism www.404media.co/behind-the-b...
404media.co
Behind the Blog: Being New and Some Numbers
This week, we discuss going deeper and Google's search changes.
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Brennan Center @brennancenter.org · 23/05/2026
It’s time for Congress to return the Supreme Court to its proper place in the U.S. constitutional system. Congress can begin by passing these six urgently needed reforms. bit.ly/4dbN1qI
bit.ly
Six Solutions to Fix the Supreme Court
Congress must return the Court to its proper place in the U.S. constitutional system.
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Brennan Center @brennancenter.org · 23/05/2026
So far this year, six states have enacted laws reducing barriers to voting and six have new laws making it harder. Our new roundup has the details: bit.ly/4dzRNNM
brennancenter.org
State Voting Laws Roundup: May 2026
Voters across the country will face new voting restrictions in the upcoming midterms.
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Liz Dye @lizdye.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
HOLY SHIT prosecutors kicked off grand jurors and then re-presented the case against the Broadview 6, then altered the grand jury transcripts to hide it from the judge. www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news...
Parente said during the grand jury sessions, prosecutors used vouching, which he called a "101 no-no for any prosecutor," kicked out grand jury members who disagreed with them, did not disclose that a No True Bill – which indicates no indictment – had been returned to either the defense or the public. Parente also said that after receiving the No True Bill from one grand jury, they re-presented their case after excluding grand jurors who disagreed with them. The grand jury then returned a True Bill to indict the "Broadview Six."

Parente also said that while Judge Perry thought only 30 lines in the transcript had been redacted, prosecutors actually left out entire pages and never informed her.
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Ryan Goodman @rgoodlaw.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
An extraordinary rebuke of Todd Blanche and his Justice Department. Federal judge dismisses the indictment of Abrego Garcia (an exceedingly rare outcome in a criminal case). Finding of vindictive prosecution and "an abuse of prosecuting power." The opinion name checks Blanche nearly 30 times.
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Orin Kerr @orinkerr.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
District court dismisses indictment against Kilmar Abrego Garcia for vindictive and selective prosecution. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
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Brian Stelter @brianstelter.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
"Our country has some of the strongest legal protections in the world for free expression and due process," Sulzberger said, but "they mean nothing if the press is too timid to defend them." Read his full remarks here: www.nytco.com/press/ag-sul...
nytco.com
AG Sulzberger: ‘We Will Not Compromise’ on Independent Reporting | The New York Times Company
The New York Times publisher spoke in defense of a free press hosted by Yale Law School’s Floy Abrams Institute.
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Barton Gellman @bartongellman.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
Was your flagpole damaged January 6?
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kristinekenyon.bsky.social @kristinekenyon.bsky.social · 16/05/2026
From @steverattner.bsky.social: “This is extraordinary. I've been a professional investor for decades and I haven't made this many trades in my career.” Gobsmacking corruption no previous president would even try, without getting impeached and removed. 🤯 www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Steven Rattner @SteveRattner
X.com
This is extraordinary. I've been a professional investor for decades and I haven't made this many trades in my career.= Bloomberg

“Trump's More Than 3,700
Trades Astonish Wall Street
Insiders”
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George Conway ⚖️🇺🇸 @gtconway.bsky.social · 16/05/2026
A president's trading of securities for his personal account can in no way be argued to constitute activity that falls within the "outer perimeter" of his "official responsibilities." www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-pre...
nbcnews.com
Fmr. government watchdog says Trump stock trades are ‘completely unprecedented’
NBC News Senior National Political Reporter Jonathan Allen and Don Fox, former acting director and general counsel of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, join Meet the Press NOW to discuss the new s...
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Kyle Griffin @kylegriffin1.bsky.social · 16/05/2026
NYT confirms — with new details: Last year, Navy SEALs used two boats to escort Kash Patel and nine others on what a Pentagon email called a 'VIP Snorkel' next to one of the military's most sacred sites, the underwater tomb of the U.S.S. Arizona. One Navy vet called the swim "horrifying."
nytimes.com
Snorkeling at Pearl Harbor: Kash Patel’s Travels Add to Focus on Ethical Issues
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MPR News @mprnews.org · 08/05/2026
The first thing the editor in chief of the Roosevelt school newspaper did when she got home was hug her father. Then she opened her computer and started to type. Her article went viral. Lila Dominguez said running the newspaper during the ICE surge showed her “the power of truth.”
mprnews.org
‘The power of truth:’ How high school students reported on the ICE surge in their front yard
Student journalists at Roosevelt High School in Minneapolis witnessed federal agents shove staffers and students and deploy pepper spray on school grounds last January. That inspired them to report st...
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404 Media @404media.co · 07/05/2026
A DHS official and another person who attended a recent conference described the plans to 404 Media.
404media.co
ICE Plans to Develop Own Smart Glasses to ‘Supplement’ Its Facial Recognition App
A DHS official and another person who attended a recent conference described the plans to 404 Media.
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Brennan Center @brennancenter.org · 05/05/2026
On May 7, Clarence Thomas will trail only William O. Douglas in time served on the Supreme Court, with more than 34 years on the bench. We need term limits so no future justice can hold so much power for so long. bit.ly/42Ql6qg
brennancenter.org
Clarence Thomas Is About to Become the Second-Longest-Serving Supreme Court Justice Ever
His tenure has included multiple ethics scandals, as well as votes that helped roll back voting rights and ushered in unlimited corporate spending on elections.
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Brennan Center @brennancenter.org · 29/04/2026
As the midterm elections draw near, questions about voters’ trusted sources of information are top of mind. Polling shows that more than half of Americans get at least some of their news from social media — and that number is even larger for younger voters. bit.ly/4cXdXJE
youtube.com
The Age of New Media (with V Spehar)
Recorded on April 22, 2026As the midterm elections draw near, the questions of how voters get their information and who they are listening to are top of mind...
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Brennan Center @brennancenter.org · 29/04/2026
This morning's Supreme Court decision lays bare an unaccountable court that undermines democracy rather than protects it. Congress could and should use its power to reform the Supreme Court. Here's how.
time.com
The Supreme Court is Dangerously Broken. Here’s How to Fix It
“Congress could and should use its power to reform the Supreme Court,” argue Miriam Rosenbaum and Emily Whitehead.
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Rick Hasen @rickhasen.bsky.social · 29/04/2026
My New One at Slate: “The Supreme Court’s Conservatives Just Issued the Worst Ruling in a Century; This evisceration of the Voting Rights Act requires us to take SCOTUS reform more seriously.” @slate.com slate.com/news-and-pol...
Wednesday’s 6-3 party line decision in Louisiana v. Callais will go down in history as one of the most pernicious and damaging Supreme Court decisions of the last century. All six Republican-appointed justices on the court signed onto Justice Samuel Alito’s opinion gutting what remained of the Voting Rights Act protections for minority voters, while pretending they were merely making technical tweaks to the Act.

This decision will bleach the halls of Congress, state legislatures, and local bodies like city councils, by ending the protections of Section 2 of the Act, which had provided a pathway to assure that voters of color would have some rudimentary fair representation. It’s the culmination of the life’s work of Chief Justice John Roberts and Samuel Alito, who have shown persistent resistance to the idea of the United States as a multiracial democracy, and a brazen willingness to reject Congress’s judgment that fair representation for minority voters sometimes requires race-conscious legislation. It gives the green light to further partisan gerrymandering. It protects Alito’s core constituency: aggrieved white Republican voters. It’s a disaster for American democracy.
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The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 29/04/2026
Florida’s constitution prohibits partisan gerrymandering. Republicans are trying it anyway, @russellberman.bsky.social reports. While other states have held public redistricting debates, Florida’s efforts to redraw maps have been marked by secrecy and obfuscation.
bit.ly
Florida Republicans Are Gerrymandering. They Just Can’t Say So.
The state constitution prohibits redrawing maps for political advantage.
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Pinky Weitzman @pinkyweitzman.bsky.social · 29/04/2026
Whereupon Michael and I chat with the fantastic V Spehar of Under The Desk News about creators, disinformation, and the election cycle: www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfEJ...
youtube.com
The Age of New Media (with V Spehar)
YouTube video by Brennan Center for Justice
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Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 28/04/2026
A federal judge dismisses DOJ's lawsuit to force Arizona to disclose its voter rolls, siding with (Dem) SoS Fontes. Her ruling ends with, "The Court will dismiss the Attorney General’s claim with prejudice because amendment would be legally futile." storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
"Accordingly, the Court will dismiss the Attorney General’s claim
with prejudice because amendment would be legally futile."
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Kyle Cheney @kyledcheney.bsky.social · 28/04/2026
JUST IN: Sixth straight loss for DOJ in lawsuits to obtain states’ voter rolls. This one in Arizona from Trump-appointed judge Susan Brnovich. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
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ProPublica @propublica.org · 19/04/2026
The midterms will serve as an unprecedented stress test of the integrity of American elections “with more election deniers having access to federal power than ever before,” some experts and Democrats warn.
propublica.org
Inside Trump’s Effort to “Take Over” the Midterm Elections
When Trump tried to overturn the 2020 election, the institutional guardrails of American democracy held. But if faced with the same tests today, those barriers — and people who held the line — would l...
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Christopher Wiggins @cwnewser.bsky.social · 19/04/2026
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...
advocate.com
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.
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Rachel Maddow @maddow.bsky.social · 18/04/2026
"She’s been a court interpreter for over 20 years, the only one licensed in Texas for Hindi, Punjabi, or Urdu. Her language skills are requested nationwide..." "One of her children recently enlisted in the military... www.texasobserver.org/immigration-...
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Sam Breidbart @sam-breidbart.bsky.social · 17/04/2026
This a great gig for recent history and poli sci majors!
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Asha Rangappa @asharangappa.bsky.social · 19/04/2026
Great to know we have an objective jurist who focuses on the merits of the cases before him on the Court
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Andy Greenberg @agreenberg.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
Finally read Bottom's Up And the Devil Laughs by @kerryhowley.bsky.social. Can't think of a time when I've read nonfiction writing so smart and inventive that even events/people I had thought I'd read about before, even ones I've reported and written about myself, felt 100% new. Incredible book.
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Brennan Center @brennancenter.org · 05/04/2026
The Trump administration's plot to undermine the election is now clear. But with each move, there are effective countermoves, @mawaldman.bsky.social and @kendallverhovek.bsky.social write.
newrepublic.com
Trump Is Waging War on Our Elections. These People Are Fighting Back.
The president is desperate to suppress the vote. Local officials, lawyers, nonprofit groups, and everyday citizens are resisting him every step of the way.
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Ypsilanti District Library @ypsilibrary.org · 13/07/2025
Because everyone deserves a shot 🎯
Screenshot of a social media post by LynnDee the Librarian (@lynndeeslibrary). Profile shows a smiling woman. Post text reads: 'A patron came in this week needing to borrow a laptop bc they had a virtual job interview. We were able to provide a laptop & internet, + the space 2 do the interview. & they got the job. THAT is the power of public libraries. #librarylife
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Robert Fields @robertfields39.bsky.social · 05/04/2026
"The Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law is an independent, nonpartisan law and policy organization that works to reform, revitalize, and defend our country’s systems of democracy and justice." • @brennancenter.org
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Brennan Center @brennancenter.org · 23/03/2026
It’s far too easy for private money to curry favor with — and even be funneled directly to — the president in order to shape policy. Congress must pass stricter ethics rules and step up enforcement. bit.ly/4sTukxk
brennancenter.org
How Weak Federal Ethics Laws Enable Presidential Profiteering
Lackluster laws and barriers to enforcement clear many paths for the wealthy to get money to the president.
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