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Paul Blumenthal

@paulblumenthal.bsky.social
4.2K followers 410 following 1.6K posts

HuffPost. Reporter covering politics, courts, history and the crisis of democracy. Tips: Email: paulblumenthal@huffpost.com. Signal: PaulBlumenthal.37 Read me: huffpost.com/paul-blumentha…

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Reposted by Paul Blumenthal
Jessica Schulberg @jessicaschulberg.bsky.social · 1h
NEWS: Florida’s First District Court of Appeal reversed Rhonda Jewell’s third-degree felony murder conviction, as well as her underlying conviction of leaving a child unattended in a vehicle, finding that both charges required a finding of intent flcourts-media.flcourts.gov/content/down...
flcourts-media.flcourts.gov
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Paul Blumenthal @paulblumenthal.bsky.social · 2h
Susan Collins is still receiving support from dark money contributions that "definitely" look similar to the one that sparked an FBI probe www.huffpost.com/entry/susan-...
huffpost.com
Susan Collins Faced An FBI Investigation Over Dark Money. It’s Still Flowing To Her Reelection Campaign.
The Maine Republican’s reelection campaign is backed by at least $7.4 million in dark-money contributions that resemble the shell donations that drew FBI scrutiny.
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Paul Blumenthal @paulblumenthal.bsky.social · 10h
i think there are valuable use cases for AI and then i see people like this and want to put everyone involved in it in a blender
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Paul Blumenthal @paulblumenthal.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Ah the defenders of women's sports
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Paul Blumenthal @paulblumenthal.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
So it looks like Schmitt's staff saw the texts and then only looked up possible NBA and men's college games at that day and time and concluded it could only be the GS-ATL game. But they obviously didn't look at women's bball because they only notice that exists if they can whine about trans people.
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Paul Blumenthal @paulblumenthal.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
When you're a former Senate chief of staff witnessing one of the great staff fuck-ups of all time
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Paul Blumenthal @paulblumenthal.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
www.espn.com/womens-colle...
espn.com
Iowa 93-85 Maryland (Feb 3, 2024) Final Score - ESPN
Game summary of the Iowa Hawkeyes vs. Maryland Terrapins NCAAW game, final score 93-85, from February 3, 2024 on ESPN.
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Paul Blumenthal @paulblumenthal.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
That's one way to describe the most groyperized senator
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Paul Blumenthal @paulblumenthal.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
MAGA goons mad that Sarah Huckabee Sanders isn't being racist enough www.huffpost.com/entry/right-...
huffpost.com
Far-Right Commentators Rage Over GOP Welfare Fraud Ad Featuring White Male Gamer
A new ad by Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders put white men at the center of her state welfare work requirement policy.
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Reposted by Paul Blumenthal
ryan cooper @ryanlcooper.com · 26/09/2026
great piece. man social media is a cancer themomoftheyear.substack.com/p/im-the-mom...
themomoftheyear.substack.com
I’m the Mom in That Viral Giants Clip. Let Me Tell You About My Husband.
You saw me carrying our baby and food. There was more happening in our family that night.
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Paul Blumenthal @paulblumenthal.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
I don't think eating live worms is going to be worth it when you eventually die anyways.
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Paul Blumenthal @paulblumenthal.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Republicans really have nothing to run on
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Paul Blumenthal @paulblumenthal.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
UNH poll has Phil Scott down 6. Probably the wildest poll of the year scholars.unh.edu/survey_cente...
scholars.unh.edu
Partisan Headwinds Hamper Scott in Race With Janoo for Governor of Vermont 9/24/2026
Democratic nominee for governor Amanda Janoo has increased her support significantly since winning the Democratic Primary last month and is now in a statistical tie with Republican incumbent Phil Scot...
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Reposted by Paul Blumenthal
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Incredible. First Secretary Mullin claimed that DHS had identified 15,903 noncitizens on Nevada’s voter roll. Then DHS officials told a skeptical Nevada, no no no, that’s just people we flagged. Here are the names of 185 people we KNOW aren’t citizens. All 185 were citizens. DHS got 100% wrong.
When the Department of Homeland Security sent Nevada a list of 185 names last month that it claimed identified noncitizens who had been improperly allowed to register to vote, state election officials got to work.
On Tuesday, the state sent a strongly worded rebuke to the federal government: Every single person on the list was a lawful citizen.
"As for the 185 individuals, our records indicate that they were citizens," Greg D. Ott, a deputy attorney general in Nevada, wrote, according to a copy of a letter sent to Department of Homeland Security officials obtained through open records requests.
"You have provided nothing of substance to suggest otherwise."Following the meeting, Ms. Vogt sent a clarifying email to Nevada officials. "I also wanted to be sure I clarified that we did not reduce the 15,903 to 185," she wrote. "We've manually reviewed some of the 15,903 and confirmed 185 are not U.S. Citizens."
Now, Nevada officials are saying even that 185 number is wrong. They also took issue with a letter D.H.S. sent them in early September, in which the agency reiterated its initial claims about nearly 16,000 noncitizens on the rolls and pressured state officials to review each case in a letter to Nevada officials in early September.
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Reposted by Paul Blumenthal
Chris Geidner @chrisgeidner.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
NOTE: This lawsuit — storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us... — has been listed by the DSCC as related to both the LULAC — storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us... — and NAACP — storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us... — lawsuits filed recently. Notice: storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
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Reposted by Paul Blumenthal
Brandi Buchman @brandibuchman.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
NOW: Judge Kelly gives the DOJ until 12:30 p.m. ET to respond to the media outlets' claim that they are being denied entry this morning after the TRO was already issued.
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Paul Blumenthal @paulblumenthal.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Sounds like that W MA lesbian bar is actually more stop and stare than laissez-faire
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Paul Blumenthal @paulblumenthal.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Compromise: we'll call it the Hinkley-Trump Hilton
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Reposted by Paul Blumenthal
Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
A post that’s so eye-opening because this is exactly what liberals will say is GOP distraction tactics, almost as a parody— and here it really is what Gaetz is saying unironically as his GOP message.
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Paul Blumenthal @paulblumenthal.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
As Justice Kennedy wrote in Citizens United: "independent expenditures, including those made by corporations, do not give rise to corruption or the appearance of corruption." How's that looking?
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Reposted by Paul Blumenthal
HuffPost @huffpost.com · 21/09/2026
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Reposted by Paul Blumenthal
Arthur Delaney @delaneyrules.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Crypto's gunning for Sherrod Brown as punishment for Democrats voting down the Clarity Act www.huffpost.com/entry/big-cr...
huffpost.com
Big Crypto Moves To Sink Sherrod Brown
The digital asset industry is looking to sink Sherrod Brown’s campaign after Democrats sank the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act.
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Reposted by Paul Blumenthal
Jen Bendery @jbendery.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Morning! ☕️ ICYMI from the weekend: I spent a few days talking to dozens of Alaskans about who they're gonna support in their state's competitive Senate race, and why. Indie voters have huge sway in this state. Most I spoke to like Mary Peltola. 👀 www.huffpost.com/entry/alaska...
huffpost.com
Alaska’s Independent Streak Rears Its Head At The Wrong Moment For GOP
Voters say they’re tired of political division and greed. They’re worried about their fish. And one Senate candidate seems to be winning them over.
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Paul Blumenthal @paulblumenthal.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Who has examples (pictures) of the political mail they're getting from Musk or others? Please share.
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Paul Blumenthal @paulblumenthal.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
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Paul Blumenthal @paulblumenthal.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
A much more realistic example of AI's existential threat www.cnn.com/2026/09/18/p...
cnn.com
Exclusive: US military had close call after using AI for false intelligence report, sources say | CNN Politics
The episode shows the risks of using this new, relatively poorly understood technology in the middle of the Iran war
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Reposted by Paul Blumenthal
Anthony Michael Kreis @anthonymkreis.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Virginia Attorney General: D.H.S. May Have Broken State Laws in Voter Fraud Investigation www.nytimes.com/2026/09/17/u...
nytimes.com
Virginia Attorney General: D.H.S. Likely Broke State Law in Voter Fraud Investigation
The department has pulled hundreds of agents from their regular duties to find noncitizens on the voter rolls, despite decades of evidence that widespread voter fraud is exceptionally rare in the Unit...
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Paul Blumenthal @paulblumenthal.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
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Paul Blumenthal @paulblumenthal.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
The lobbyist contracts must flow
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Paul Blumenthal @paulblumenthal.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Judge's order in Kennedy Center case: Administration must provide 30 days notice for any new plans to modify the building, including "demolition," and allows discovery into the KENNEDY CENTER DEMOLISHED pictures Trump was looking at
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Reposted by Paul Blumenthal
jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 17/09/2026
i’m sorry but this entire worldview seems not just evil but deeply stupid? the far future is fake! it doesn’t exist! what matters are people here and now!
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Paul Blumenthal @paulblumenthal.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Trump+15 district. I guess they're starting to realize what they're in for.
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Paul Blumenthal @paulblumenthal.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Not too long ago there was a cult that thought that JFK was going to return from heaven and endorse Donald Trump and now Trump is trying to wipe out JFK's memory and legacy. Wonder what those cultists are thinking (if thought occurs in skulls filled with jell-o).
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Paul Blumenthal @paulblumenthal.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
the eschatologies will continue until morale improves
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Paul Blumenthal @paulblumenthal.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Trump's going to knock down the Kennedy Center to deal with it
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Paul Blumenthal @paulblumenthal.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
I don't think everyone, especially Republicans running for reelection, are ready for the steady rise in gas prices and many other things every week up to the election
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Reposted by Paul Blumenthal
Murshed Zaheed @murshedz.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
🚨👀 Rep. Thomas Massie reading out articles of impeachment on the House floor for Hegseth for bombing of the Shajareh Tayyebeh Elementary School in Iran, which reportedly killed 120 children.
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Reposted by Paul Blumenthal
Kyle Cheney @kyledcheney.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
JUST IN: Judge Cooper has broadly blocked the Kennedy Center from inscribing Trump's name on the building. "Simply put, Defendants cannot install memorials for President Trump or anyone or anything else at the Kennedy Center without Congress’s blessing." ecf.dcd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/show...
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Paul Blumenthal @paulblumenthal.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Getting a new Lehman Brothers every day now
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Reposted by Paul Blumenthal
Jay Willis @jaywillis.net · 15/09/2026
Genuinely an insane paragraph from Sam Alito. “Voter fraud is real and scary and we have to stop it, so the fact that implementing Trump’s mail ballot rule will disenfranchise millions is legally irrelevant.” Brain melted. A right-wing podcaster in a robe. www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25p...
___, (slip op., at 9) (internal quotation marks omitted).
As for the equities, the Government has a strong interest
in enforcing the rule, and implementing it will also “en-
hance the visibility of Federal Ballot Mail” in order to better
detect election fraud. 91 Fed. Reg. 54972. On the other side
of the balance, the plaintiff States invoke the practical ef-
fects of implementing the rule close to the midterm elec-
tions. I take that problem very seriously, but it is not
enough to convince me to deny the application.
First, as the District Court acknowledged, the States dis-
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Paul Blumenthal @paulblumenthal.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
SCOTUS blocks Trump's effort to undermine mail voting in the midterms www.huffpost.com/entry/suprem...
huffpost.com
Supreme Court Blocks Trump’s Attack On Mail Voting — For Now
The court stopped an effort to undermine mail voting less than two months before the Nov. 3 midterm elections.
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Reposted by Paul Blumenthal
Chris Geidner @chrisgeidner.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
BREAKING: Judge Carl Nichols, a Trump appointee sitting in DC, issues a preliminary injunction blocking the entire U.S. Postal Service mail ballot rule. Order: storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us... (Key portions of the rule were blocked by Judge Talwani in federal court in Massachusetts.)
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
DSCC, et al.,
Plaintiffs,
v.
DONALD J. TRUMP, in his official capacity as President of the United States, et al.,
Defendants.
Civil Action No. 26-cv-01114 (CJN)
LEAGUE OF UNITED LATIN AMERICAN
CITIZENS, et al.,
Plaintiffs,
v.
EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE
PRESIDENT, et al.,
Defendants.
Civil Action No. 26-cv-01132 (CJN)
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF COLORED PEOPLE, et al.,
Plaintiffs,
V.
DONALD J. TRUMP, in his official capacity as President of the United States, et al.,
Defendants.
Civil Action No. 26-cv-01151 (CJN)ORDER
For the reasons stated in the accompanying Memorandum Opinion, it is hereby ORDERED that DSCC Plaintiffs' Renewed Motion for a Preliminary Injunction,
ECF 163, is GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED IN PART'; and it is further
ORDERED that LULAC Plaintiffs' Renewed Motion for a Preliminary Injunction, ECF
ECF 171, is GRANTED; and it is further
ORDERED that NAACP Plaintiffs' Renewed Motion for a Preliminary Injunction, ECF
172, is GRANTED; and it is further
ORDERED that the United States Postal Service is preliminarily enjoined from
implementing and enforcing the Final Rule it published on August 21, see Ballot Mail for Federal
Elections, 91 Fed. Reg. 54,966 (Aug. 26, 2026).
DATE: September 13, 2026
'ARL. NICHOL
United States District Judge
' The Court denies only the portion of the Motion that seeks to preliminarily enjoin Section 3 of the Executive Order.
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Paul Blumenthal @paulblumenthal.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Pretty much everyone who was castigated and attacked for what they said/did in the immediate aftermath from Lee to Sontag (I don't remember what the reaction to HS Thompson's column was) was proven right.
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Reposted by Paul Blumenthal
Christopher Mathias @letsgomathias.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
NEW: @talkingpointsmemo.com can reveal GOP nominee for Florida legislature: -marched at deadly Charlottesville Nazi rally w/ white supremacist group's flag -has *many* white supremacist donors -appears to advocate lynching He is expected to win Nov. election talkingpointsmemo.com/news/florida...
talkingpointsmemo.com
Exclusive: He Marched With Nazis in Charlottesville. Now He’s Expected to Join the Florida Legislature.
The Republican nominee for a seat in the Florida House of Representatives...
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Paul Blumenthal @paulblumenthal.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Sorry, didn't we already know this? (Yes, the piece says so.) www.nytimes.com/2026/09/11/u...
nytimes.com
C.I.A. Releases Intelligence Sent to Clinton and Bush on Al Qaeda Before 9/11 Attacks
The spy agency released dozens of intelligence documents it had sent to Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, outlining what was known about Al Qaeda.
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Paul Blumenthal @paulblumenthal.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Wrote this in early April. It will only get worse for Trump and Republicans from here on out. Saudi shut down of East-West pipeline reminiscent of another Sept. event: the Lehman collapse. www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-...
huffpost.com
Trump Is So Cooked
The president has wriggled his way out of every political jam he's found himself in over the past 10 years, but this time it really may be different.
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Paul Blumenthal @paulblumenthal.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Turn away from PR and towards the light: politics.
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Paul Blumenthal @paulblumenthal.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
is that bad?
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Mike Masnick @masnick.com · 11/09/2026
Um. It was just months ago the DOJ claimed "become ungovernable" was an antifa slogan worthy of conspiracy charges. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
theguardian.com
Fifteen people charged over alleged interference in Minnesota immigration crackdown
Prosecutors claim defendants were part of Minneapolis-based ‘antifa’ groups that ‘violently oppose’ law enforcement
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Paul Blumenthal @paulblumenthal.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
So everyone's doing their 9/11 story. Here's mine. Decided to skip my morning class and woke up late. Stumbling past my roommates' bedroom I heard her crying. Poked my head in and she was on the phone and pointed at the TV. First thing I saw was a replay of the second plane hitting.
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