Dan Froomkin/Press Watch/Heads Up News

Another long-time Israel apologist throws in the towel.

JUST IN: Senate confirms Jeanine Pirro as US Atty for DC, 50-45

The White House landscape now matches our national political one.

Paul Ingrassia (lawyer) - Wikipedia

The guy Trump picked to lead the office that’s now investigating Jack Smith:

— said Niki Haley is ineligible to be president
— has neo-Nazi ties
— was Andrew Tate’s lawyer
— 2x Claremont fellow
— wrote for Gateway Pundit
— called for Pence to be hanged
— called for secession after 2020 election

CNN homepage. I would quibble with the use of the word “turn” but I appreciate the sense of alarm.

What if the news media agreed to stop calling these Ivy League deals “settlements” and just said, you know, “Cornell has agreed to pay $100 million in extortion money.”

it’s a real testament to the intellectual traditions of these centuries-old institutions, folding to authoritarian pressure like paper in a storm and kneeling to naked financial extortion

Everything about this story is horrific:

1. The student never mentions Jews
2. The university is going to expel a student for criticizing a country over genocide
3. A Republican congressman is taking credit and implying the student is a Muslim terrorist
4. The U.S. Justice Department is involved

Lashing Out Over Russia and Jobs Data, Trump Displays His Volatile Side The president had been on something of a winning streak. But when faced with facts and foes that wouldn’t bend to his will, he responded with impatience and disproportionate intensity.

Trump’s firing of the labor statistics chief is described by the New York Times as a display of “disproportionate intensity.” Get serious, NYT. He’s not just throwing ketchup against the wall — he’s on an autocratic campaign of fraud against the American people.

Just reading transcript of 7/24 hearing before Judge Boasberg in JGG—AEA case where govt sent Venezuelans to CECOT despite his orders. Even if DC Cir blocks criminal contempt proceedings, Boasberg says he’ll refer DOJ attys to bar authorities & court’s own disciplinary committee ...
1/2

Trump Orders Firing of Bureau of Labor Statistics Chief The president’s move throws the quality of America’s statistical apparatus into question.

WSJ tells it like it is in the subhead: "The president’s move throws the quality of America’s statistical apparatus into question". Other news orgs should be that direct, too. www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

Wow

Firing the BLS Commissioner — the wonk in charge of the statisticians who track economic reality — is an authoritarian four alarm fire.

It will also backfire: You can't bend economic reality, but you can break the trust of markets. And biased data yields worse policy.

WaPo used to list its editorial board members. Now it doesn't. So who's writing this crap?

Sure seems like the President of the United States is going to pardon a convicted sex trafficker and serial abuser who ran a pedophilia ring with his best friend in the whole wide world.

Opinion | AI can help solve the shortage of air traffic controllers Automation and modernization would help resolve chronic staffing shortages.

Did AI write this WaPo editorial? www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

Media coverage of Trump’s tariffs has grown more skeptical – but not nearly skeptical enough | Press Watch The tariffs are not the product of serious policymaking. They are the irrational and capricious result of Trump’s delusional thinking.

The tariffs are not the product of serious policymaking. They are the irrational and capricious result of Trump’s delusional thinking. presswatchers.org/2025/08/medi...

Opinion | Data from Calif. and D.C. shows how minimum wage hikes can hurt Recent experience underscores the perils of raising minimum wage above what the market can bear.

Hey look, a newspaper owned by a quarter-trillionaire who directed his opinion team to only write about "personal liberties and the free market" is opposed to a higher minimum wage. www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

When we rebuild our public media up from the ashes it will need to be much bigger, bolder, and better funded -- not so dependent on private capital and corporate sponsorships, but truly public. It will need to be more democratic, more independent, and capable of withstanding two-bit fascist regimes.

It’s just like his approach to COVID — the problem is never that people are suffering, the problem is that the government is bothering to keep track of how many people are suffering.

I was just informed that our Country’s “Jobs Numbers” are being produced by a Biden Appointee, Dr. Erika McEntarfer, the Commissioner of Labor Statistics, who faked the Jobs Numbers before the Election to try and boost Kamala’s chances of Victory. This is the same Bureau of Labor Statistics that overstated the Jobs Growth in March 2024 by approximately 818,000 and, then again, right before the 2024 Presidential Election, in August and September, by 112,000. These were Records — No one can be that wrong? We need accurate Jobs Numbers. I have directed my Team to fire this Biden Political Appointee, IMMEDIATELY. She will be replaced with someone much more competent and qualified. Important numbers like this must be fair and accurate, they can’t be manipulated for political purposes. McEntarfer said there were only 73,000 Jobs added (a shock!) but, more importantly, that a major mistake was made by them, 258,000 Jobs downward, in the prior two months. Similar things happened in the first part of the year, always to the negative. The Economy is BOOMING under “TRUMP” despite a Fed that also plays games, this time with Interest Rates, where they lowered them twice, and substantially, just before the Presidential Election, I assume in the hopes of getting “Kamala” elected – How did that work out? Jerome “Too Late” Powell should also be put “out to pasture.” Thank you for your attention to this matter!

Unquestionably the most dangerous and corrupt attack on the independence of US economic data in American history. Trump is firing the head of the BLS, a longtime civil servant confirmed 86-8 by the Senate, simply because the job numbers came in below his expectations today

Knowing: Still Only Half the Battle On showing receipts. Plus: Build the wall? Not if you need a filling. And an obit goes awry.

Journalists love to break news, but sometimes, wrapping together the key elements about a big story is just as valuable. Because most of your readers haven't read most of your stories!

With h/t's to @sifill.bsky.social and @annabower.bsky.social

www.cjr.org/laurels-and-...

Media coverage of Trump’s tariffs has grown more skeptical – but not nearly skeptical enough | Press Watch The tariffs are not the product of serious policymaking. They are the irrational and capricious result of Trump’s delusional thinking.

The tariffs are not the product of serious policymaking. They are the irrational and capricious result of Trump’s delusional thinking. presswatchers.org/2025/08/medi...

I like how @delong.social calls them "dementia-addled chaos-monkey tariffs". braddelong.substack.com/p/macroecono...

Live updates: Trump, in warning to Russia, says nuclear submarines will be sent to ‘appropriate regions’ Get the latest news on President Donald Trump’s second term and the Republican-led Congress.

Madman deploys nuclear submarines just in case there's a nuclear war. What could possibly go wrong? www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

It'd be nice if it were more constantly clarified that tariffs are US federal taxes. I mean, that alone would help. Otherwise it just seems like "revenues" appear out of nowhere, magically, from the presence of these weird "tariff" things.

Media coverage of Trump’s tariffs has grown more skeptical – but not nearly skeptical enough | Press Watch The tariffs are not the product of serious policymaking. They are the irrational and capricious result of Trump’s delusional thinking.

NEW: Media coverage of Trump’s tariffs has grown more skeptical – but not nearly skeptical enough: presswatchers.org/2025/08/medi...

Arrrrgh! www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

"[T]o say that the president of the U.S. is making drastic policy changes in order to cure a problem that only exists in his imagination, that’s a very difficult … that sounds unbalanced. That sounds like you’re shilling for the Democrats, when it’s in fact just reporting the flat truth."

The Media Can’t Handle the Absence of Truth And their diffidence empowers pathological liars

Krugman: "no, Trump isn’t winning his trade war — except, possibly, in the media, which have apparently decided that shooting yourself in the foot and not facing retaliation is a victory." open.substack.com/pub/paulkrug...