02 U.S. Politics

Justice Alito Voices Dissent on Supreme Court’s ‘Legally Questionable’ Late Night Order › American Greatness– amgreatness.com

pgnewser April 21, 2025 0

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The U.S. Supreme Court’s order early Saturday morning to block further deportations of illegal aliens by the Trump administration has drawn sharp dissent from Justice Samuel Alito who described the Court’s actions as “legally questionable.”

The order, which seeks to temporarily block the administration from deporting any more accused Venezuelan gang members under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, directs that detainees held in the Bluebonnet Detention Center in northern Texas not be removed, “until further order of this court.”

Alito was joined by fellow Justice Clarence Thomas in his dissent, which stated that there was “dubious factual support” for the court to grant the request due to an emergency appeal by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

Alito specifically took the majority to task for allowing the ACLU to leapfrog lower courts to get a Supreme Court injunction, failing to allow a district court to certify a class prior to the order, issuing “legally questionable” relief without hearing from the opposing party and issuing the order “literally in the middle of the night.”

 

‘Fake News’ That They’re on the Hunt for Pete Hegseth’s Replacement– townhall.com

pgnewser April 21, 2025 0

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On Monday, the very same day that President Donald Trump defended Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth while speaking to the press at the White House East Egg roll, NPR claimed in a report that the White House was seeking Hegseth’s replacement. It’s a claim that White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt is making clear is “fake news.”

 

News of the report spread over X, with Laura Rozen repeating the claim over X. She could not cite a link, though a report was indeed published at 1:22pm by Tom Bowman to the NPR website, as Leavitt’s post mentioned.

Pete Hegseth, White House SLAM legacy media for ‘peddling lies’ after reports on second Signal chat | The Post Millennial– thepostmillennial.com

pgnewser April 21, 2025 0

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“The president stands strongly behind Secretary Hegseth, who is doing a phenomenal job leading the Pentagon.”

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth hit back at reporting released on Sunday that claimed he discussed detailed information about forthcoming strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen in a second Signal chat. The report from the New York Times cited four anonymous people with knowledge of the chat.

“What a big surprise that a bunch of, a few leakers get fired and suddenly a bunch of hit pieces come out from the same media that peddled the Russia hoax,” Hegseth told reporters when asked to respond to the “Signal chat controversy” while attending the White House Easter Egg Roll. “They got Pulitzers for a bunch of lies.”

Was That ‘Maryland Father’ the Unluckiest Man Ever? Or Just a Member of MS-13?– townhall.com

pgnewser April 21, 2025 0

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We had quite a lot to say earlier about Politico’s obsequious coverage of Sen. Chris Van Hollen, who has been milking the ‘Maryland Father’ storyline for as much attention and publicity as he can get.  The trouble he’s had, though, is in facing even the slightest bit of pushback on his preferred narrative, in which his favored poster child’s actual record is an irrelevant ‘distraction.’  When unhappy facts are presented to him, he treats them as irrelevant deflections, while himself…deflecting to yet another attack on the Trump administration.  I tacked this clip from CNN onto the earlier post, but it’s important to watch.  The Senator doesn’t want to grapple with the question of whether his “constituent” — on whom he’s lavished great attention and effort — is in fact a criminal gang member, in addition to being an illegal immigrant.  Neither, it seems, does the gaggle of additional Congressional Democrats who’ve made the same pilgrimage to El Salvador.

 

Alito Rebukes Supreme Court’s Midnight Deportation Interference– thefederalist.com

pgnewser April 21, 2025 0

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Justice Samuel Alito has choice words for his high bench colleagues who released a blanket opinion “literally in the middle of the night” on Saturday, ordering the Trump administration to halt the deportation of Venezuelans suspected of being Tren De Aragua gang members from custody in the Northern District of Texas.

In his dissent joined by Justice Clarence Thomas, Alito argued the court “hastily and prematurely granted unprecedented emergency relief” to an expanded number of suspected criminal aliens in a “legally questionable” manner — especially because “it is not clear that the Court had jurisdiction.”

Contrary to his fellow justices’ assumption of authority, Alito noted even the Fifth Circuit “held that it lacked jurisdiction” because it was unsure whether a District Court’s failure to rule on the alleged gang members’ request for a temporary restraining order “before the expiration of a truncated counsel-imposed deadline” counted as a denial. Alito clarified later in the dissent that the counsel for the Venezuelans “insisted on a ruling within 45 minutes on Good Friday afternoon” and proceeded with an appeal when that demand was not met.

Judge reduces bond of Nashville man charged with kidnapping, raping two teen girls at gunpoint | The Post Millennial– thepostmillennial.com

pgnewser April 21, 2025 0

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Dejuan Moore had been held on an $810,000 bond, but Judge Khadija Babb lowered it to $304,000.

A Nashville man charged with raping two teenage girls at gunpoint had his bond significantly reduced by a Davidson County, Tennessee judge, prompting backlash from sexual assault victim advocates.

Dejuan Moore was being held on an $810,000 bond, but Judge Khadija Babb lowered it to $304,000. Moore faces a series of serious charges, including two counts of aggravated rape, three counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, three counts of especially aggravated kidnapping, as well as resisting arrest, evading arrest, and evading arrest by a motor vehicle.

Moore’s defense attorney, Jennifer Thompson, argued the original bond was excessive, pointing to Moore’s lack of criminal history and what she called “strong ties to the Nashville community.” She said Moore wants to be released to support his girlfriend and her children.

“He was supportive of him and his girlfriend and their household,” Thompson claimed. However, victim advocates expressed outrage over the judge’s decision.

“It makes it seem like his life is more important than the victims he sexually assaulted,” said Lorraine McGuire, Vice President of Community Relations at the Sexual Assault Center, according to Fox 17 News.

Van Hollen’s big moment: Defending a constituent and defying Trump– www.politico.com

pgnewser April 21, 2025 0

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Chris Van Hollen has spent nearly a decade as an under-the-radar lawmaker. But the Maryland Democrat, who gave up a leadership trajectory in the House to serve in the Senate, may now finally be meeting his moment.

Van Hollen has grabbed the national spotlight amid a two-day trip to El Salvador to meet with Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland resident who was mistakenly deported by the Trump administration on erroneous charges of gang membership. After being initially blocked from entering a maximum-security prison by the Salvadoran government, Van Hollen ultimately succeeded in sitting down Thursday with his constituent, who had since been transferred to another detention facility.

“If you deny the constitutional rights of one man, you threaten the constitutional rights and due process for everyone else in America,” Van Hollen said Friday at a press conference at Dulles International Airport, shortly after returning from El Salvador.

He was flanked by advocates holding signs emblazoned with the words, “Thank you Senator Van Hollen.”

Trump highlights photo of Abrego Garcia’s knuckles with apparent MS-13 tattoos– www.washingtonexaminer.com

pgnewser April 21, 2025 0

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President Donald Trump argued Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s tattoos prove he is a MS-13 gang member who should not be allowed back into the United States.

On Friday evening, Trump highlighted a photo of Abrego Garcia’s hand that appeared to contain “MS-13” tattooed on his knuckles. MS-13 is a Salvadoran-native gang that the U.S. has designated a terrorist organization.

“This is the hand of the man that the Democrats feel should be brought back to the United States, because he is such ‘a fine and innocent person.’ They said he is not a member of MS-13, even though he’s got MS-13 tattooed onto his knuckles, and two Highly Respected Courts found that he was a member of MS-13, beat up his wife, etc,” the president wrote in a post to Truth Social.

The photo Trump showed included labels claiming to identify what the tattoos, each on one knuckle, represented. “M” was supposedly represented by a marijuana leaf, “S” was represented by a smiley face, “1” was represented by a cross, and “3” was a skull, according to the legend, with the latter two images possibly being to cover up the two numbers.

 

Wrongful deportation highlights Democratic split on how to fight Trump– www.dailykos.com

pgnewser April 21, 2025 0

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The Democratic Party faces a growing rift over how to take on President Donald Trump. On one side, younger, more defiant members are pushing for generational change and a harder line. On the other? Moderates and institutionalists who seem pretty comfortable clinging to the status quo.

The split has been on full display in the party’s response to the wrongful deportation of Maryland father Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was sent to a notoriously brutal prison in El Salvador without due process.

Democrats like Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen have been on the front lines, demanding accountability and treating the case like the crisis it is. Others, such as California Gov. Gavin Newsom, are dismissing the party’s focus on Garcia as a “distraction,” urging Democrats to hit Trump on tariffs and trade instead.

Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen, right, speaks with Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland man whom the Trump administration wrongly deported El Salvador, in a hotel restaurant in San Salvador, El Salvador, on April 17.

BREAKING: President Trump shares photos of Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s MS-13 gang tattoos | The Post Millennial– thepostmillennial.com

pgnewser April 21, 2025 0

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“This is the hand of the man that the Democrats feel should be brought back to the United States, because he is such a ‘fine and innocent person,'” President Trump wrote.

On Friday, President Donald Trump released a photo of the tattoos belonging to MS-13 gang member Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was recently deported to El Salvador after unlawfully residing in the United States. The tattoos on his knuckles are affiliated with the MS-13 gang, which include a marijuana leaf, a smiley face, a cross, and a skull. These symbols are intended to spell out “MS-13.”

The photo evidence comes after Democratic lawmakers claimed that the Trump administration unlawfully deported illegal immigrant Abrego Garcia to El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center (CEDOT), who had been residing in the United States with his wife in Maryland. This resulted in Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Maryland) travelling to El Salvador in an attempt to bring the foreign terrorist back to the US.

“This is the hand of the man that the Democrats feel should be brought back to the United States, because he is such a ‘fine and innocent person,'” President Trump wrote on X. “They said he is not a member of MS-13, even though he’s got MS-13 tattooed onto his knuckles, and two Highly Respected Courts found that he was a member of MS-13, beat up his wife, etc. I was elected to take bad people out of the United States, among other things. I must be allowed to do my job. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”

House Oversight Chairman DENIES Democrats’ Request for Taxpayer-Funded El Salvador Trip: “Pay For It Yourself”– wltreport.com

pgnewser April 21, 2025 0

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House Oversight Chairman James Comer has denied a request from two Democrat Representatives who sought approval of funds to visit Kilmar Abrego Garcia in El Salvador.

Reps. Robert Garcia and Maxwell Frost had asked to receive funds from the Congressional budget (that’s taxpayer money) to fly down to El Salvador and meet with alleged MS-13 gang member and wife-beater Abrego Garcia.

Comer bluntly shut down the request, telling the Democrat Congressmen that he will “not approve a single dime of taxpayer funds” to be used for such a purpose. He noted that Democrat Sen. Van Hollen already visited Abrego Garcia.

“If you also wish to meet with him, you can spend your own money,” he stated.

Ocasio-Cortez raised $9.6 million in 3 months, smashing her own record– www.politico.com

pgnewser April 21, 2025 0

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Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) raised $9.6 million in the first three months of the year — more than double her second-highest quarter — a massive haul that comes amid increasing calls by progressives for her to mount a 2028 primary challenge against Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.

Ocasio-Cortez, who now has more than $8 million in cash-on-hand, has spent recent weeks barnstorming the country with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on his “Fighting Oligarchy” tour, drawing thousands of supporters. Her fundraising was included in a Federal Elections Commission report filed Tuesday.

A leader of the progressive movement, Ocasio-Cortez has long been a fundraising powerhouse who draws upon a vast network of small-dollar donors.

She said in a post on X that the average campaign donation was $21, and campaign manager Oliver Hidalgo-Wohlleben said in a statement that 64 percent of contributions came from first-time donors, adding that “AOC doesn’t take a dollar from lobbyists or corporate PACS. Our top donor professions are teachers and nurses.”

“I cannot convey enough how grateful I am to the millions of people supporting us with your time, resources, & energy,” Ocasio-Cortez said of her fundraising. “Your support has allowed us to rally people together at record scale to organize their communities.”

Plagiarism Accusations Threaten To Upend Democrats’ Climate Lawsuit Against Oil Companies– freebeacon.com

pgnewser April 21, 2025 0

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A federal judge in Puerto Rico issued a scathing order last week accusing Democratic prosecutors on the island of plagiarizing nearly their entire 241-page complaint that blamed oil companies for causing global warming.

In the order Wednesday, district court judge Aida Delgado-Colon outlined how David Efron, the lead attorney representing Puerto Rico’s capital city San Juan, appears to have plagiarized a similar but separate complaint that 16 Puerto Rican municipalities filed a year earlier. A side-by-side comparison of the two complaints shows large blocks of text are copied word-for-word.

Delgado-Colon wrote that the situation should serve as a cautionary tale for all members of the bar, characterizing San Juan’s complaint and subsequent briefs as “copycat filings” and stating that the case presents an “astonishing example of plagiarism in the legal profession.” She added that a monetary sanction charging Efron would be insufficient to address the seriousness of the circumstances and said a separate order is needed to properly address it.

“Attorney Efron’s plagiarism constitutes attorney misconduct and an ethical violation,” she wrote. “The touchstone of plagiarism is lack of attribution. As in law school, passing someone else’s work off as one’s own is wrong as a matter of fact and professional ethics.”

Democratic Party troubles mount as more voters turn right, give GOP edge– www.washingtonexaminer.com

pgnewser April 21, 2025 0

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Two years after Gallup said that more Americans identified as Republicans than Democrats for the first time in over three decades, the trend has expanded as the GOP has won over more support from Hispanic and black voters.

The one-point edge Gallup discovered in January 2023 has grown to five points in a new Napolitan News survey of 9,300 registered voters.

In that survey shared with Secrets, 46% said that they considered themselves Republicans or leaned Republican, while 41% considered themselves Democrats or leaned Democrat.

In the Gallup survey of 10,000 adults, 45% identified as Republicans and 44% as Democrats.

Napolitan pollster Scott Rasmussen said that while the numbers appear to favor Republicans and even President Donald Trump, voters can be fickle and sometimes change their partisan identification.

“While it’s hard for people in the political world to accept, party ID is fluid. During a campaign season, people who think of themselves as independent tend to align with a party — or at least lean toward a party. That’s why the number of Republicans goes up with a Trump victory,” he said.

Trump to Make an Epic Move at the IRS – PJ Media– pjmedia.com

pgnewser April 21, 2025 0

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Trump has been pushing to turn every federal agency into an effective tool for catching and deporting illegal immigrants. And wouldn’t you know it, acting IRS Commissioner Melanie Krause couldn’t handle doing the right thing and resigned.

And guess who’s likely to take her place? Gary Shapley, the IRS whistleblower who blew the lid off the Hunter Biden tax probe. He testified under oath that he faced retaliation simply for doing his job and cooperating with congressional investigators looking into the shady business dealings of the president’s son. Now, according to the Associated Press, Shapley is expected to be promoted to acting commissioner of the IRS.

Shapley and fellow IRS investigator Joseph Ziegler were sidelined from the Hunter Biden probe in December 2022 after raising serious concerns with their superiors. According to their testimony, the Justice Department under then-U.S. Attorney David Weiss repeatedly “slow-walked investigative steps” and stalled enforcement actions in the critical months leading up to the 2020 election.

The Communist Chinese Have Won. The Largest Opposition Party in Hong Kong Is Disbanding. – PJ Media– pjmedia.com

pgnewser April 21, 2025 0

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The Communist Chinese have accomplished what many people believed was only a matter of time. Beijing has nearly destroyed the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong as the city’s Democratic Party, the largest opposition party, is disbanding.

Sheer brutality and the use of modern instruments of oppression accomplished what many activists in Hong Kong believed couldn’t be done. Perhaps they were naive in thinking that Beijing wanted a “two systems, one China” policy. Maybe they were crazy to think that Beijing meant to keep its promise to maintain Hong Kong’s autonomy for 50 years after Beijing regained control of the city in 1997.

Beijing was always playing the long game. China is an ancient country that is used to thinking in terms of centuries, not decades. It has a plan to reintegrate Hong Kong into the Chinese state, and nothing would happen that interfered with that plan. Using intimidation and draconian “security” laws, Beijing has successfully stymied the movement to maintain Hong Kong’s position as a quasi-independent city and will now complete the process of making Hong Kong just another city in China after the Democratic Party disbands.

It’s difficult to remember that when the British handed over Hong Kong to Beijing, there was hope that the Communists would keep their word and allow Hong Kong to maintain its civil liberties. For a while, Beijing kept its promise. But the noose gradually tightened, choking off any hope for freedom.

“We have not achieved what we set out to do,” Fred Li, a founding member of the party, said in an interview. “Without money or resources, we can’t even survive ourselves.”

FTC grills Zuckerberg over Meta messages on purchase of Instagram– www.washingtonexaminer.com

pgnewser April 21, 2025 0

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Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg appeared in federal court in Washington, D.C., for a second day on Tuesday, testifying about his intentions for acquiring Instagram in 2012.

In 2020, the Federal Trade Commission sued Facebook, which is now under the umbrella of parent company Meta, alleging it was in violation of antitrust laws by buying both Instagram and WhatsApp.

FTC lawyer Daniel Matheson pressed Zuckerberg on Tuesday over his internal message exchanges from 2012 with then-Facebook Chief Financial Officer David Ebersman regarding the $1 billion bid for Instagram.

Daniel Matheson, a lawyer for the Federal Trade Commission, departs following the first day of a historic antitrust trial about Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s intentions in acquiring Instagram, at Barrett Prettyman U.S. Court House in Washington, Monday, April 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Nathan Howard)

“[What] I’ve been thinking about recently is how much we should be willing to pay to acquire mobile app companies like Instagram and Path that are building networks that are competitive with our own,” Zuckerberg wrote to Ebersman, then agreeing with the chief financial officer when he said the purchase of Instagram would be a way to “neutralize a potential competitor.”

Bondi announces DOJ lawsuit against Maine over trans sports dispute– www.washingtonexaminer.com

pgnewser April 21, 2025 0

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Attorney General Pam Bondi escalated the Trump administration’s war with Maine on Wednesday, announcing a lawsuit over the state’s decision to continue allowing boys to compete in girls sports.

Bondi said during a press conference flanked by young female athletes, including activist Riley Gaines, that the legal action was a result of the state defying President Donald Trump’s executive order that interpreted Title IX to prevent transgender athletes from competing in sports exclusive to their opposite sex. The Biden administration had reinterpreted it to include transgender identity in Title IX’s protections.

“They must not be reading the same Title IX we’re reading,” Bondi said.

The complaint alleges that the Maine Department of Education is “openly and defiantly flouting federal anti-discrimination law.”