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Brad Heath

@bradheath.bsky.social
56K followers 482 following 1.8K posts

DC reporter for Reuters on crime, justice and investigations. Data, documents and "convoluted KGB style back-door" stuff. Lawyer, but not yours. 202-527-9709, brad.heath@tr.com

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Reposted by Brad Heath
Dhruv Mehrotra @dmehro.bsky.social · 3h
NEW: DHS agents tracked people observing ICE arrests, photographed them, ran their plates, pulled personal information, and added them to a Palantir database, according to newly unsealed court filings. w/ @regret.bsky.social
wired.com
ICE Has Been Dumping Protester Photos Into a Palantir Database
DHS agents not only tracked and intimidated people observing ICE activity in Maine, but stored information about them in a Palantir-built database, newly unsealed court filings say.
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Reposted by Brad Heath
Chris Geidner @chrisgeidner.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
NEW: Director of White House Press Operations states in a declaration that access was restored and press passes available before 10 a.m. after a brief process of locating physical passes and restoring access this morning. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
DECLARATION OF MICAH STOPPERICH
I, Micah Stopperich, declare under penalty of perjury pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1746 as
follows:
1. I am the Director of White House Press Operations.
2. This declaration has been prepared in connection with litigation in Cable News Network, Inc. v. Trump, No. 1:26-cv-3287 (D.D.C.).
3. The information contained in this declaration is based on my personal knowledge or on
information made available to me.
4. On September 24, 2026, White House Operations were notified at 7:10 am to restore access to affected reporters by turning on their hard badges.
5. White House Operations began the process of reinstating badges at 7:25 am.
6. United States Secret Service indicated that badges were back on at 9:07 am. United States Secret Service also began locating confiscated badges.
7. Confiscated badges were delivered to White House Operations at 9:45 am.
8. The White House press team dropped badges at the entry gate for members of the press to pick up around 9:55 am.
9. United States Secret Service has represented that press passes that were turned on were
available for pick up at the press gate as soon as they were delivered.
I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the United States of America that the foregoing is true and correct.
Mical Fropord
Micah Stopperich
Executed on September 24, 2026 at Washington, D.C.
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Brad Heath @bradheath.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Six of the seven active federal judges in Minnesota spoke to The New York Times about the fallout from the Trump administration's surge there. One judge had to go into hiding. Another said it "created a grave threat to the rule of law.” www.nytimes.com/2026/09/17/u...
nytimes.com
Trump’s Minnesota Surge Threatened Democracy, Judge Warns
In a rare interview, Patrick Schiltz, who served as the federal court’s chief judge last winter, called the administration’s actions “a grave threat to the rule of law.”
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Brad Heath @bradheath.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
FBI Director Kash Patel told lawmakers on Tuesday he changed the bureau's hiring standards to eliminate bestiality as an automatic disqualifier because he did not want ​to bar trafficking victims who had been forced to have sex with animals. www.reuters.com/legal/govern...
reuters.com
FBI's Patel defends change in 'bestiality' hiring practice as lawmakers seek answers
FBI Director Kash Patel told lawmakers on Tuesday he changed the bureau's hiring standards to eliminate bestiality as an automatic disqualifier because he did not want ​to bar trafficking victims who ...
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Brad Heath @bradheath.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
The Defense Department Inspector General has this disclaimer about what it calls itself.
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Reposted by Brad Heath
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Border Patrol, not ICE, just FYI.
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Brad Heath @bradheath.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Interesting window into immigration enforcement: An ICE supervisor in upstate New York stopped at Walmart to use the bathroom and instead ended up surveilling a group of Spanish-speakers he saw in the toy aisle. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
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Reposted by Brad Heath
John Gramlich @johngramlich.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
By a 60%-23% margin, Americans say the US government should be able to require a news outlet to take down a story if it poses a threat to national security. And by a 51%-33% margin, they say it should be able to do that if the story contains false info. www.pewresearch.org/journalism/2...
Bar chart showing that Americans favor allowing the U.S. government to require news organizations to take down stories if they threaten national security or contain false information. The chart is based on a June 2026 Pew Research Center survey of U.S. adults.
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Reposted by Brad Heath
Eric Columbus @ericcolumbus.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Everyone's focused on bestiality but don't forget that the same report says per new FBI rules "a person who stole from an employer is not automatically disqualified as long as the incident occurred more than three years ago" www.cbsnews.com/news/fbi-can...
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Brad Heath @bradheath.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Two months before Americans vote in midterm elections that, local and state officials across the country are rehearsing for a crisis that once seemed unthinkable: What if the U.S. president tries to use the power of the federal government to tilt the vote his way? www.reuters.com/investigatio...
reuters.com
Election officials prepare for chaos as Trump seeks to tilt the midterms to Republicans
U.S. state and local officials are taking extraordinary steps to protect voting systems, staff and public confidence amid growing signs that the president is trying to use federal power and fraud clai...
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Reposted by Brad Heath
Gabriel Malor @gabrielmalor.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
10th Cir., making no friends today, says a pro se plaintiff should get a chance to revive his suit against . . . well, I'll just show you. www.ca10.uscourts.gov/sites/ca10/f...
LAUNCH ALL NUCLEAR MISSILES; ALL PLANETS NUCLEAR MISSILES; NATE LONG, Grand Junction CO Police Officer in his official and individual capacities; BEN COOPER, Grand Junction CO Police Officer in his individual capacity; CRISS KOPP, Grand Junction CO Police Officer in his official and individual capacities; STEVE ANSEL, Grand Junction Police Officer in his official and individual capacities; 5 unknown named Delta County Sheriff Deputies in their individual and official capacites; STEVE BERUJ, Delta County Sheriff in his official and individual capacities; FAY MATHEWS, Delta County Planning Department Director in his official and individual capacities; STARBUCKS COFFEE; DAVID STEINER, United States Post Office Postmaster General in his official and individual capacities; ACSES HEATH; GOD LOVES US; GOD LOVES YOU; GOD HATES US; GOD HEAVEN; GOD HELL; ALL SPACE PLANETS; ALL PLANETS PEOPLE; ALL PLANETS SUN LIGHT; ALL PLANETS ATOMS; SATAN; ALL PLANETS; ALL SPACE PLANETS COURTS ALL PLANETS POLICE AND LAW ENFORCEMENT; ALL PLANETS MILITARY; ALL PLANETS COMPUTERS
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Reposted by Brad Heath
The Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · 09/09/2026
A National Guard member who had been assigned to patrol Washington is being held in the D.C. jail on a felony charge after allegedly unholstering his loaded firearm and pointing it at another Guard member during an argument in a van.
washingtonpost.com
National Guard member accused of pulling a gun during argument in D.C.
A National Guard member is accused of pointing his weapon at another Guard member inside a van while sitting outside a Popeye's on H Street Northeast. He's being held in jail.
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Brad Heath @bradheath.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
A swarm of rogue OpenAI agents hijacked a German website this spring and transformed it into a bulletin board for other AI agents, according to ​new research published Friday and two people familiar with the matter. www.reuters.com/world/europe...
reuters.com
EXCLUSIVE: OpenAI agents hijacked German website in previously undisclosed AI breakout this spring
A swarm of rogue OpenAI agents hijacked a German website this spring and transformed it into a bulletin board for other AI agents, according to ​new research and two people familiar with the matter.
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Reposted by Brad Heath
Lawrence Hurley @lawrencehurley.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Short version: SCOTUS already ruled on this
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Brad Heath @bradheath.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
From street names to supply chains to vacation bookings, Canadians are severing everyday ties in ways that could outlast the current trade dispute. Ottawa is moving to rename "Trump Avenue." www.reuters.com/business/str...
reuters.com
From street names to supply chains, Canadians pull away from US as rift grows
For more than 20 years, Diane Hosker has lived on Trump Avenue in Ottawa’s leafy west end, a neighborhood with New York City -themed street names including Central Park, Bloomingdale Street and Gotham...
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Brad Heath @bradheath.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
The DOJ Inspector General found that a federal prosecutor "engaged in prostitution."
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Brad Heath @bradheath.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
The Justice Department is pursuing unlawful-entry charges against a person who was caught in a subway station "holding his phone recording and following National Guard members around the station."
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Brad Heath @bradheath.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
The Pentagon has secretly installed several conservative military veterans with large online followings in government roles, declining to disclose their assignments as they amplify Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s viewpoints www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
washingtonpost.com
Pentagon secretly installs military influencers in civilian roles
Conservative veterans with large social media followings have been hired by the Defense Department and are amplifying Pete Hegseth’s culture-war fights.
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Brad Heath @bradheath.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Russian-speaking hackers used SpaceX’s new tab AI coding assistant, Cursor, to help break in to a Belgian chemical company and at least six other ​firms earlier this year. www.reuters.com/world/russia...
reuters.com
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Brad Heath @bradheath.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
A federal judge in Washington has denied the Justice Department's request to drop the case against Steve Bannon, who had been found guilty of contempt of Congress. The judge said the government has not explained why it wants to drop the case after Bannon had been found guilty.
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Chris Geidner @chrisgeidner.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
UPDATE: Judge in the League of Women Voters of Mass. case lifted the injunction there blocking the mail voting part of the EO — for now — but makes clear there could (and, imho, likely will) be a new injunction once the plaintiffs file their amended complaint addressing the final USPS rule.
For the reasons set forth below, while Plaintiff Organizations' have substantial arguments that might persuade the Supreme Court to reach a different result if Plaintiff Organizations have
an opportunity to present them, this court is compelled by the Supreme Court's ruling to grant Defendants' Motion to Reconsider [Doc. No. 196] and vacate the preliminary injunction
obtained by the Plaintiff Organizations. This order is without prejudice to Plaintiff Organizations
filing a new motion for a preliminary injunction after filing their anticipated Amended
Complaint. See Elec. Order [Doc. No. 202]; Assented to Mot. for Leave to File a Suppl. Compl.
[Doc. No. 200].
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Brad Heath @bradheath.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
The United States has filed a lawsuit against approximately 85 dogs.
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Brad Heath @bradheath.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
The central point of the Justice Department's latest filing in the ongoing litigation over the Kennedy Center is that only the Trump administration has the expertise to save the place, but they'll only do it if it ends up with Trump's name on it somewhere. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
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Brad Heath @bradheath.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Homeland Security spent 250,000 fewer hours working on fentanyl cases last year because agents were told to focus on immigration matters instead, the DHS Inspector General says. www.oig.dhs.gov/sites/defaul...
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Reposted by Brad Heath
Jose Pagliery @josepagliery.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
The nation's acting deputy attorney general, Trent McCotter, was technically still Steve Bannon's listed lawyer until this morning. (Bannon asked to swap him out in July, three months after McCotter joined the DOJ.)
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Steven Mazie @stevenmazie.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
BREAKING: Supreme Court lets Trump continue building his ballroom, for now.
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Brad Heath @bradheath.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
More than 150 wallets on Polymarket International may have traded on inside U.S. military information, attracting copycat ​bets and raising concerns that the market could broadcast signals exploitable by foreign adversaries. www.reuters.com/business/fin...
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Brad Heath @bradheath.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
Been a minute since I had a story in @usatoday.com: www.usatoday.com/story/news/p...
usatoday.com
Trump put thousands of soldiers on DC streets. They seldom stop crime
Reuters found soldiers Trump ordered to Washington took part in about 1.3% of criminal cases in DC Superior Court.
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Brad Heath @bradheath.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
The Justice Department's brief arguing its case against former FBI director James Comey over his allegedly-threatening photo of an arrangement of seashells does not read like your typical DOJ court filing. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
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Brad Heath @bradheath.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
President Donald Trump sent thousands of National Guard to Washington as what he has said is an effort to get tough on an epidemic of crime. They seldom actually fight crime. Soldiers have been involved in about 1.3% of the city's criminal cases since they arrived. www.reuters.com/world/us/tru...
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Brad Heath @bradheath.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
A majority of Americans believe President Donald Trump and his family have inappropriately profited from ​cryptocurrency since his return to power. Even about half of Republicans say Trump's private business interests have an impact on his policy decisions. www.reuters.com/world/most-a...
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Reposted by Brad Heath
Allison Gill @muellershewrote.com · 18/08/2026
NEW: A judge has ordered the Justice Department to produce grand jury materials for review in camera (behind closed doors) in the case against Don Lemon et al to see whether there are grounds to dismiss based on alleged prosecutor misconduct. DoJ has until 8/25 s3.documentcloud.org/documents/28...
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Reposted by Brad Heath
Gabriel Malor @gabrielmalor.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
Minnesota sues Texas in federal court for the extradition of ICE agent Christian Castro, who is accused of second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon for firing a gun into an occupied Minneapolis home, injuring one person. Here's the complaint --> www.ag.state.mn.us/Office/Commu...
7. Governor Abbott has disregarded the requirements of the Constitution, federal law, and his own state’s procedural rules in refusing to promptly make Castro available for extradition to Minnesota in compliance with Plaintiff’s properly issued governor’s requisition warrant.  Governor Abbott’s continued withholding of the rendition warrant threatens to undermine Plaintiff’s constitutional and statutory rights to have Castro returned to Plaintiff for prosecution.   8. This threat is heightened by the State of Texas’s 90-day limitation on the detention of fugitives awaiting extradition.  Under the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, if Governor Abbott continues to unlawfully withhold the rendition warrant, Castro may be eligible for release from custody as soon as August 26, 2026.  If Defendants are permitted to release Castro from custody before turning him over to agents of Minnesota for extradition, there is a substantial risk that Castro will flee and avoid prosecution in Minnesota.
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Reposted by Brad Heath
Phil Lewis @phillewis.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
WASHINGTON (AP) — Supreme Court again rebuffs Trump in $5 million Carroll defamation case.
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404 Media @404media.co · 17/08/2026
SCOOP: 404 Media placed a tracking device in a shipment of rare books to see which AI company was buying it. What did we find? It ended up at an Amazon facility where Amazon scans and destroys books. Yes. This is literally the logo outside the Amazon warehouse door. Read now:
404media.co
We Tracked a Shipment of Rare Books. It Ended at an Amazon AI Training Facility
We placed a tracking device in a shipment of rare books to see which AI company was buying it, and found an Amazon facility where Amazon scans and destroys books.
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Brad Heath @bradheath.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
One of President Trump's crypto businesses, World Liberty Financial, stands to profit form Chinese AI models that his administration has flagged as national security concerns. www.reuters.com/world/china/...
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Lauren Ashley Davis @laurenmeidasa.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
BREAKING 🚨 🚨 🚨 The yearslong case against six Nevada Republicans who were accused of submitting a bogus certificate that falsely declared Donald Trump the winner of the state’s 2020 presidential election has been dismissed, a judge ruled Thursday. www.nbcnews.com/politics/ele...
nbcnews.com
Judge drops Nevada case against electors accused of forging certificate in 2020 election
Similar cases have been dismissed in Georgia and Michigan, while a case in Wisconsin is ongoing.
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Brad Heath @bradheath.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
President Trump administration's pledged to crack down on sex trafficking. Instead, investigations have stalled and prosecutions declined because of staffing shortages, funding cuts, immigration enforcement and growing distrust of the government among victims. www.reuters.com/legal/govern...
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Chris Geidner @chrisgeidner.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
BREAKING: Federal judge denies the Southern Poverty Law Center's motion to dismiss the federal indictment against it on the basis of vindictive prosecution. Further, Judge Emily Marks, a Trump appointee, denies even further discovery into the claim. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
After filtering out the noise, the Court is left to decide only whether the
Government’s decision to prosecute the SPLC was constitutionally impermissible. On this
record, the SPLC is not entitled to discovery or dismissal of the indictment. The SPLC has
Case 2:26-cr-00139-ECM-KFP Document 112 Filed 08/07/26 Page 1 of 36
2
failed to offer some evidence tending to show animus on the part of the prosecutors
involved in bringing this case and that such animus resulted in the prosecution, the showing
required for discovery. Because it cannot satisfy that standard, it necessarily fails to satisfy
the higher standard that would entitle it to dismissal of the indictment. Accordingly, the
SPLC’s motion is due to be denied.
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Brad Heath @bradheath.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
The president is urging federal prosecutors to bring charges against someone based in part on his political views and those of his lawyers?
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Kyle Cheney @kyledcheney.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
NEW: The D.C. Circuit ruled 2-1 that Trump can't just demolish and replace chunks of the White House without congressional approval. Next stop: Supreme Court. w/ @joshgerstein.bsky.social www.politico.com/news/2026/08...
politico.com
Appeals court blocks Trump’s White House ballroom renovation
But the panel temporarily put their ruling on hold to allow the president to seek relief from the Supreme Court.
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Brad Heath @bradheath.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
The Trump administration has sidelined the Justice Department's two internal watchdogs, even as it faced an extraordinary series of findings that it had trampled legal rules. New investigations by the office that oversees legal ethics fell to a two-decade low. www.reuters.com/legal/litiga...
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Gabriel Malor @gabrielmalor.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
9th Cir. holds that the Bad Spaniels parody toy of a Jack Daniel's bottle is unlikely to harm the reputation of Jack Daniel's trademarks *because* it is parody. Held: no dilution by tarnishment; remanded for entry of judgment in favor of Bad Spaniels maker. cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/op...
After all, no matter how similar to its famous counterpart, a parodic junior mark ultimately “relies upon a difference from the original mark, presumably a humorous difference, in order to produce its desired effect.”  Jordache Enters. v. Hogg Wyld, Ltd., 828 F.2d 1482, 1486 (10th Cir. 1987).  Dr. Simonson’s analysis ignored the effect of a “humorous difference” on whether Bad Spaniels harms the reputation of JDPI’s famous marks.  To be sure, the district court credited Dr. Simonson’s conclusion that the first step of his dilution analysis was satisfied “because the point of VIP’s product was to bring Jack Daniel’s whiskey to mind”; that conclusion was based on VIP’s transparently parodic use.  But there is no evidence that Dr. Simonson considered the parodic nature of VIP’s junior marks when building Jack Daniel’s ANM, or that satire otherwise factored into his analysis of the mental association between the disputed marks.  Parody, however, is inherent in the Bad Spaniels product—indeed, as Dr. Simonson recognized, it was the “whole point.”  Failing to consider the effect of VIP’s obvious parody on the likelihood of tarnishment was a critical misstep, and the district court erred in adopting the conclusions that followed.
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Brad Heath @bradheath.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
When the court’s printer is jammed again.
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Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 02/08/2026
New: We found 50 cops who misused Flock cameras and other license-plate readers for personal purposes, often to spy on their girlfriends or ex-wives. He "watched every single move I made. ... Who do you turn the chief of police in to?" wapo.st/3S6rTuo
wapo.st
She left her ex. He secretly tracked her through a network of policing cameras.
Flock’s array of license-plate cameras was built to fight crime. But at least 50 law enforcement officers were charged with or accused of misusing it and other systems.
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Kyle Cheney @kyledcheney.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
JUST IN: DOJ says tort claims by Jan. 6 defendants that were not lodged by 2023 are "forever barred" by the statute of limitations. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
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Eric Lipton NYT @ericlipton.nytimes.com · 25/07/2026
JUST POSTED: A deep investigation by The NYT of shortcuts taken to get President Trump his Qatari-donated plane in time for POTUS to show it off during 250th anniversary events-compromises that leave the plane more vulnerable to potential threats (Free link) www.nytimes.com/2026/07/25/u...
nytimes.com
Inside the Rushed Effort to Get Trump His New Air Force One
A New York Times investigation found that President Trump’s push to speed delivery of the aircraft led to ballooning costs and trade-offs in safety features.
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Casey Newton @caseynewton.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
Rogue OpenAI agents are leaving notes to themselves on company servers to help them escape their test environments (!!!) www.reuters.com/business/its...
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Kyle Cheney @kyledcheney.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
CAN'T MAKE IT UP: ICE deported a man to Mexico in violation of a court order in Nov., acknowledged the error and returned him to the U.S. Then they deported him to El Salvador, in violation of court-ordered torture protection. He's currently imprisoned. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
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tony romm @tonyromm.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
NEW: In a stunning admission, the Trump administration admitted in court documents that it canceled billions in energy grants to states "based solely" on politics -- and whether that state was represented by Democrats and backed Harris in 2024. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/24/b...
nytimes.com
Trump Administration Admits Canceling Grants to States That Did Not Vote for Him
Federal officials said in court documents that they halted billions of dollars in funding for energy projects to states “based solely” on whether they backed President Trump in the 2024 election.
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