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curtisleeclark.bsky.social

@curtisleeclark.bsky.social
1.2K followers 73 following 6 posts

Father, grandfather, retired publisher, learner: train the mind and open the heart.

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Reposted by @curtisleeclark.bsky.social
Grudgie the Wail @grudgie.bsky.social · 8h
These are not crimes
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Dean Obeidallah @deanobeidallah.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Holy SH*T! NY Times reporting tonight that Trump has stolen $20 million dollars of our taxes to pay for ads to help Republicans win the midterms. Let me repeat that: Trump stole $20 million dollars of YOUR taxes to help Republicans. Trump MUST BE prosecuted. www.nytimes.com/2026/10/02/u...
nytimes.com
Trump Directed Use of Taxpayer Money for Ads Praising His Presidency (Gift Article)
The government-funded ads show just how much President Trump has been able to use federal money for his own aims.
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Max Kennerly @maxkennerly.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Trump's lawlessness is more pressing, but let's not forget: the GWBush admin was also overflowing with incompetent, corrupt Republicans who were pathologically hostile to the rule of law. None of this was necessary or helpful, but it made them feel manly and it was good money for gov't contractors.
“A detainee who is shackled, transported to a former C.I.A. black site, and intentionally kept ignorant of both his right to remain silent and the inadmissibility of his prior coerced confessions, cannot be said to be making an ‘essentially free and unconstrained choice,’” he wrote.
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David Corn @davidcorn.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Pompeo supported a man who tried to overturn an election and destroy American democracy. This shows what the real threat it. It's not Trump and his authoritarianism; it's the acceptance of it.
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The New Republic @newrepublic.com · 03/10/2026
Today, over 230 people have been killed by the U.S. military in airstrikes against vessels only suspected of having drugs on board. trib.al/NVjePMz
trib.al
America Has Turned on Trump. But Has It Really Said No to Fascism?
Polling shows the president in free fall. Unfortunately, a number of his most reactionary policies still have disturbing levels of support.
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James Fallows @jfallows.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
In his new book 'Profiles in Cowardice,' Jacob Weisberg devotes his final chapter to John Roberts. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/14/b... -Preening to be seen as another John Marshall. -Destined to be known forever as this era's Roger Taney.
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Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
There are a lot of Trump officials who need to be impeached, but Russell Vought -- the quarterback of all the Project 2025 fuckery and a central player in the administration's overreach -- really needs to be at the top of the list.
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Greg Sargent @gregsargent.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Very good points from @mjtoma.bsky.social here: Any movement (and president!) that are nutball enough to go down Eric Schmitt-style rabbit holes will be willing to steal the election and much worse. This humiliation won't dissuade them in the slightest: newrepublic.com/post/216176/...
newrepublic.com
Eric Schmitt’s a Joke. The Assaults on Jack Smith Are Anything But.
The Missouri senator and other Republicans made fools of themselves Tuesday. But that won’t stop them lying about—and trying to destroy—Donald Trump’s prosecutor.
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Glenn Kirschner @glennkirschner.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
In the David Hearn reflecting pool case the judge noted that Trump wanted Hearn (an innocent man) prosecuted “especially since … Hearn has donated to ActBlue, a Democratic-affiliated fundraising platform” & because Trump dislikes Hearn's lawyer, Norm Eisen. IMPEACH/CONVICT/REMOVE!
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Michael Tomasky @mjtoma.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
That was the most embarrassing thing I’ve ever seen a United States senator do. But it was also two other things besides embarrassing. trib.al/chAAYKn
trib.al
Eric Schmitt’s a Joke. The Assaults on Jack Smith Are Anything But.
The Missouri senator and other Republicans made fools of themselves Tuesday. But that won’t stop them lying about—and trying to destroy—Donald Trump’s prosecutor.
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The New Republic @newrepublic.com · 01/10/2026
This leads to the uncomfortable conclusion that, like average Russians, many Americans would be largely okay with fascism so long as they felt the economy was improving for themselves personally. trib.al/JBa1Ma6
trib.al
America Has Turned on Trump. But Has It Really Said No to Fascism?
Polling shows the president in free fall. Unfortunately, a number of his most reactionary policies still have disturbing levels of support.
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PoliticsGirl @politicsgirl.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Social Security worked just fine until Republicans started messing with it in the 80’s.  Watch the full interview on PoliticsGril Premium on Substack byt becoming a member today!  iampoliticsgirl.substack.com
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Max Kennerly @maxkennerly.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
If you're wondering if the US Travel Association blames Trump and Republicans, the answer is "no." As of a month ago, they were still praising him and noting they were "ready to work with the president and his administration to build on today’s momentum." Ok! www.ustravel.org/press/travel...
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Dean Obeidallah @deanobeidallah.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Pete Hegseth is no different than an ISIS recruiter who uses religion to radicalize people to commit violence to further his own supremacist agenda.
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Schooley @schooley.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
The faces of complicity.
Ted Cruz, feeling cool. Not sureDinesh’s son in law maybe? Scary blond woman in pearls.
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Mark Copelovitch @mcopelov.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Unprecedented corruption & constitutional crimes. Again, it all should have ended in 2017, when he began openly monetizing the presidency at his hotel two blocks from the White House. We are not a serious country.
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Rich Raho @richraho.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
The Keynote Speaker at the Annual National Catholic Prayer Breakfast in March, folks.
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Mark Copelovitch @mcopelov.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Don’t. Print. Lies. In. The. Newspapers.
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🗽LOLGOP🗽 @lolgop.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Democrats have decided, for the second election, not to respond to Musk's Nazi-like propaganda against trans people. And that will probably work this time because of gas prices. But it might not. And even if it doesn't, why would you miss this chance to expose someone who wants to destroy you?
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Oliver Willis @owillis.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
theyre not pretending. these are true believers. and they vote.
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Bill Kristol @billkristolbulwark.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
This morning’s newsletter: Not to alarm you...but things are pretty damn rotten in the executive branch of our federal government, as Ur-Idiocy joins hands with Ur-Fascism. www.thebulwark.com/p/not-to-ala...
thebulwark.com
Not To Alarm You, But Trump’s Brain Is Melted
And Hegseth’s neo-fascism is out in the open.
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Paul Waldman @paulwaldman.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
What the Heritage Foundation, the right's premier "think tank," is sending out to its email list: "Marxists and Muslims have one shared goal: destroy America"
Email from the Heritage Foundation telling readers that "Marxists and Muslims have one shared goal: destroy America"
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Justin Wolfers @justinwolfers.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
And so it continues... Our economic debates seem utterly disconnected from the reality. That reality: This is an economy mostly creating healthcare jobs, and it does so month after month, and everything else is just noise.
Line chart titled "Effectively all of the net job creation has been in healthcare and social assistance, and jobs are shrinking in the rest of the economy" showing change in non-farm payrolls since January 2025 through September 2026. Healthcare and social assistance added 998,000 jobs with consistent growth throughout the period, while the rest of the economy lost 222,000 jobs, meaning all net job creation came from healthcare. The rest of the economy showed particular weakness from May through August 2025 when losses reached 218,000 jobs. This striking divergence reveals an unusual concentration where one sector's growth of roughly 48,000 jobs per month has offset persistent contraction across all other industries combined.
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Mona Burns @monaburns.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
"Like so many things in the Trump era, you can thank .. John Roberts for this entire mess. Had the worst chief justice in history not overseen the wholesale degradation & kneecapping of the lower courts, we wouldn’t be here. Just as much as Todd Blanche, Roberts owns this.." Important read:
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Bill Kristol @billkristolbulwark.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
A couple of additional points. 1. Trump is intrigued by the Insurrection Act, and loyalists are urging him to invoke it. He might try to. Are we ready? 2. Hegseth is a man of overweening ambition. He wants to be president. He'll try, by means fair or foul. www.thebulwark.com/p/not-to-ala...
thebulwark.com
Not To Alarm You, But Trump’s Brain Is Melted
And Hegseth’s neo-fascism is out in the open.
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The New Republic @newrepublic.com · 01/10/2026
“There are always people who profit from war or government policies. The difference is that the people profiting should not be the people making the decisions to make that policy. And that is what is happening here.” trib.al/yiEUFkk
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Charlie Warzel @cwarzel.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
For a long time I've wanted a sense of how trump has or hasn't interacted with chatbots (we know he posts a lot of slop sure). And this TIME anecdote about Grok arguably leading Trump into war is just extremely bracing
Since returning to office, Trump has marveled at AI’s capabilities. He is increasingly in thrall to the tech executives courting him. In December 2025, Elon Musk returned to the Oval Office for a clandestine meeting. Trump spent hours asking Grok, Musk’s AI chatbot, questions about his presidency and legacy, according to an official present. At the time, Trump was ordering missile strikes against Venezuelan boats he alleged were smuggling drugs into the U.S. He asked Grok how Venezuelans would react if the U.S. captured Maduro. According to the official present, the chatbot responded that Maduro was a repressive and deeply unpopular dictator and that many Venezuelans would likely celebrate his downfall. After Trump ordered the mission to seize Maduro, the following month, celebrations broke out in the streets. Trump, according to officials, came away thinking Grok was ingenious.
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Jay Willis @jaywillis.net · 01/10/2026
Man, imagine you're minding your own business, getting kind of drunk with your friends at a picturesque brewery in Maine, when suddenly John Roberts walks by and you get to start heckling him. Must have felt incredible. That's the dream. www.nytimes.com/2026/10/01/u...
The chief justice used to preside over a Supreme Court whose members were afforded more privacy and freedom than many other public officials. Once, years ago, Mr. Lipson and the chief justice found themselves up the peninsula from Port Clyde without a car, Mr. Lipson recalled in an interview. So he stuck out his thumb by the side of the road and a pickup truck pulled over. He and the nation’s top jurist hopped in the back and hitchhiked back to town.

Now, Mr. Lipson said, he is cautious about introducing his friend to strangers. This year, on an outing to nearby Monhegan Island, people recognized the chief justice as he walked by a brewery and started to chant: You should be ashamed.
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Alex Kaplan @alkapdc.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Here are the election deniers who have spent last year & this year championing online a national emergency declaration. If Trump tries to declare one, these are the figures you'd need to know about who likely played a role in making it happen.
mediamatters.org
Key election denial activists in the right-wing media ecosystem
It’s become increasingly apparent that election denial activists have the president’s ear. Figures seeking to undermine faith in election outcomes through direct action and advocacy efforts have boast...
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David Corn @davidcorn.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
How did the Democrats lose the messaging war to Trump on the Trump-Russia scandal? I tell that story in a new article for The New Republic that's drawn from my new book, "HOW RUSSIA WON: Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, and the Fight for America." Check out the book at HowRussiaWon.com.
newrepublic.com
How Trump Won the Russia Messaging War—and How the Democrats Lost It
When Robert Mueller found no smoking gun on collusion, Democrats largely turned to other matters. But Trump and his backers never stopped pushing their lies.
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Michael Tomasky @mjtoma.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
From @brynntannehill.bsky.social: "Many Americans would be largely OK with fascism so long as they felt the economy was improving for themselves personally. The problem for the GOP is that fascism caters to the wealthy elite, causing average Americans to suffer." trib.al/FrtsN29
trib.al
America Has Turned on Trump. But Has It Really Said No to Fascism?
Polling shows the president in free fall. Unfortunately, a number of his most reactionary policies still have disturbing levels of support.
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Zach Everson @zacheverson.com · 01/10/2026
🚨 Remember that fancy dinner Trump hosted at his golf club for top holders of his meme coin, and Justin Sun and a bunch of other foreign investors attended? Well, he's doing it again. @jeffstein.bsky.social for @washingtonsun.com
washingtonsun.com
Want Dinner With the President? Buy His Meme Coin.
The $Trump meme coin is offering buyers a new "exclusive" opportunity to meet the president.
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The New Republic @newrepublic.com · 01/10/2026
Polling shows the president in free fall. Unfortunately, a number of his most reactionary policies still have disturbing levels of support. trib.al/7HqlQ1l
trib.al
America Has Turned on Trump. But Has It Really Said No to Fascism?
Polling shows the president in free fall. Unfortunately, a number of his most reactionary policies still have disturbing levels of support.
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Matthew Gertz @mattgertz.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
The president won’t be satisfied until every minute of Fox programming is indistinguishable from North Korean state TV — and every minute of coverage at every other outlet is as well. www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/don...
mediamatters.org
Donald Trump’s insatiable demand for Fox propaganda
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Matthew Gertz @mattgertz.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
President Trump's demands for Fox propaganda are getting even more bizarre and extreme.
Why does FoxNews always put Chuck Schumer, Hakeem Jeffries, Jessica Tarlov, and every Democrat on, saying bad things about the Republican Party and, of course, me? I actually think they get more airtime than Pro Republicans. This is why MAGA, and REAL Patriots, will never like Fox! They repeat a completely negative narrative, on and on it goes, and then we get a quick retort. It’s truly amazing that I won all three Elections. The opposition is enormous, but the fight goes on! President DONALD J. TRUMPSchumer does not appear in Media Matters’ database of Fox News weekday appearances, which dates to August 2017. 
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) has made at least 5 appearances on Fox weekday shows since November 2018, with the most recent airing in January of this year.
Fox’s Jessica Tarlov is the Democratic host tasked with matching up against four conservatives at once on the network’s weekday panel show, The Five. She made 2 guest appearances on other Fox shows in September; conservative co-hosts Jesse Watters, Greg Gutfeld, and Dana Perino all have separate weekday Fox shows of their own. 
In September, weekday appearances on Fox News by congressional Republicans and Trump administration officials outnumbered appearances by congressional Democratic guest appearances by 148 to 7.
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Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Please, for the love of God, can the media stop calling random cranks who write fan fiction about their personal heroes in the past "historians."
Geoff Shepard, a former Nixon aide turned Watergate historian and revisionist, recently gave a two-hour presentation at Justice Department headquarters that laid out his theory that the deep state took Nixon down. The title of his 78-page slide deck: “Watergate As Lawfare.”
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The New Republic @newrepublic.com · 01/10/2026
It seems that Trump will continue to thumb his nose at the First Amendment as long as he can get away with it. trib.al/J46awwC
trib.al
Trump Kicks Out CNN Again Despite Judge’s Order
The outlet was barred from Thursday’s press pool.
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James Fallows @jfallows.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Somehow not everyone is aware of fact alluded to below. So one more time: John Roberts, Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett were all on GWBush 2000 'Florida Recount' team. (Which made GWB first prez in 112 yrs to 'win' after losing popular vote. Now they 'impartially' rule on our future.)
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Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Seriously, unless you're going to call me a "scientist" for helping my son with his class volcano project and call me a "physician" because I applied a band-aid successfully, please please PLEASE stop calling any random crank who shits out a book about the past a "historian"
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ArtButMakeItSports @artbutmakeitsports.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Circus Performers, by Walt Kuhn, 1978, 📸 via @marisakabas.bsky.social
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Matt Cameron @mattcameron.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
also not getting enough attention: these texts are between one of the lawyers on Jack Smith's team and a US Marshall tasked with keeping people fueled by Republican conspiracy theories from murdering Jack Smith in public because he tried to prosecute the president for crimes that he did
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MeidasTouch @meidastouch.com · 30/09/2026
Trump White House misspells “United” on the official “super intelligence” document with AI executives. Instead of “President of the United States,” it reads: “President of the Unites States.” Nothing says “super intelligence” quite like misspelling the name of the country.
Screenshot of a Truth Social post from Donald J. Trump’s verified @realDonaldTrump account displaying a signed document titled “Joint Commitment on Frontier Responsibilities.” The document outlines voluntary AI safety and oversight commitments for companies developing frontier artificial intelligence models. On the right side are signatures and company labels for leaders including Sundar Pichai of Google, Dario Amodei of Anthropic, Mark Zuckerberg of Meta, Greg Brockman of OpenAI, Elon Musk of xAI, and Jensen Huang of Nvidia. Near the center-right, Donald J. Trump’s large signature appears above the printed title identifying him as president. The title contains a noticeable typo: instead of “President of the United States,” it reads, “President of the Unites States,” misspelling “United” as “Unites.”
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Adam Cohen (My Personal Views Only) @axidentaliberal.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
The most bizarre thing about this idiotic, embarrassing line of questioning by Eric Schmitt is that it’s totally irrelevant Even if Jack Smith went to a basketball game in Atlanta-he didn’t-there isn’t even a scintilla of proof that he met, much less conspired with Fani Willis 35 days
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Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Yet another reason to run on oversight and accountability. Those are promises they can actually keep.
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Dave Levitan @davelevitan.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
A fuckup so dumb even NYT homepage/headline writers have no choice but to describe it accurately
As Jack Smith Testifies, a Senator’s Accusation of Perjury Falters

A Republican eager to prove the former special counsel was dishonest appeared to instead demonstrate his own confusion over basic facts.
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Andy Craig @andycraig.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
One, this hilariously outs who all got the talking points in advance and how blatantly they parrot those. Two, Schmitt really thought today he'd launch himself to the VP nomination and with that a decent shot at the presidency down the line. Instead this is the only thing he'll be remembered for.
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Mark Copelovitch @mcopelov.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
They can, & should, also defund the Supreme Court itself, until such point as the Wizard in Robes decide to start following the laws & Constitution again: bsky.app/profile/mcop...
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David Corn @davidcorn.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Nothing but super intelligence all around at the White House.
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Governor JB Pritzker @govpritzker.illinois.gov · 29/09/2026
Reminder: Donald Trump and his family have grifted more than $4 billion while Americans struggle to get by.
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Max Kennerly @maxkennerly.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
long road ahead for whichever neo-Nazi Trump staffer is tasked with doing brain surgery on the AI-powered America-dot-gov site
A screenshot from America.gov showing a question and answer about tariffs.

Header: America.gov with a small U.S. flag and a "Menu" button.

Question in a light blue bubble: "Who pays for tariffs on goods being imported to America, American importers or foreign exporters?"

Answer text: "U.S. importers pay the tariff to the government. Foreign exporters do not pay U.S. Customs.

• When goods enter the United States, the importer of record is legally responsible for any duty. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)
• CBP collects that duty at the port of entry. CBP: customs duty
• A tariff is a tax on imported goods. Who ultimately bears the cost in prices (importer, U.S. buyer, or foreign seller) depends on the market; that is separate from who must pay CBP. BLS

Duty rates come from the Harmonized Tariff Schedule. CBP makes the final determination of what is owed."America.gov Menu Who in America is entitled to due process? The U.S. Constitution says the government may not deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law. The Fifth Amendment applies that rule to the federal government. The Fourteenth Amendment applies the same rule to state governments. Official annotations treat this as covering persons, not only citizens. Congress’s Constitution Annotated also notes that people already present in the United States—including those whose presence is unlawful, involuntary, or transitory—are entitled to due process protection in that setting. What process is required depends on the situation; that is decided case by case. Sources: National Archives; Constitution Annotated (Fifth Amendment procedure); Constitution Annotated (aliens who have entered).
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