Will Rabbe

It turns out, when you mix the 2016 video of Pete Hegseth talking about troops not following unlawful orders with the recent Democratic PSA on the same subject, their message flows together pretty seamlessly.

As Trump’s Inquisitors Face Scrutiny, a Divisive Figure Could Play a New Role

NYT: DOJ officials are prohibited from talking about GJ matters. But Davis, who has been a leading proponent of…an investigation into those who scrutinized Trump, has become vocal on social media and tv in making a connection between Judge Cannon and the investigation
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/23/u...

Patel Under Scrutiny for Use of SWAT Teams to Protect His Girlfriend

NYT: Journalists used publicly available flight-tracking data to determine that Patel had used a gov plane... Patel then ousted a sr FBI official he blamed for not obscuring the plane’s identification number, per a former law enforcement official with knowledge...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/23/u...

White House: Public will ‘likely never’ see recent economic data, despite shutdown’s end How bad was the job market in the late summer and early fall? According to the White House, we'll never know — because the data is being kept under wraps.

MSNBC's @stevebenen.com: No other administration has ever before decided to simply scrap a monthly jobs report.
www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...

Hegseth to unveil arms sale overhaul The Defense secretary will announce changes to the Pentagon’s weapons purchases at an unusual gathering of defense industry executives.

POLITICO: Hegseth is expected to announce the changes on Nov. 7 at an unusual gathering of defense industry executives, according to seven people familiar with the planning.
www.politico.com/news/2025/10...

Exclusive | White House Hires ‘Stop the Steal’ Lawyer to Investigate 2020 Election Claims Kurt Olsen, a lawyer who worked on the effort to overturn the 2020 election, has joined the Trump White House to investigate that year’s election results and voting-related issues, according to people...

WSJ: White House Hires a lawyer who worked on the effort to overturn the 2020 election to Investigate 2020 Election Claims

www.wsj.com/politics/ele...

JUST IN: Judge Mehta threatens contempt and bar sanctions for attorney Carolyn Stewart — who has repped numerous Jan. 6 defendants and pardon recipients — over filing a motion with “fabricated” citations to local rules and refusing to correct it.

NEWS: James Comey pleaded not guilty to criminal charges that followed President Trump’s demand to prosecute.

The judge set a Jan. 5 trial date — but Comey is expected to try to kill the case before it starts, including by disqualifying Lindsey Halligan

www.politico.com/news/2025/10...

CNN: The judge presiding over the prosecution of Jim Comey has agreed to Comey’s request to schedule a near term trial. Comey asked for a Jan 12 trial date. The judge went with Jan 5. Comey is counting on the gov’t not being ready for trial. A good bet.

Trump ‘Determined’ the U.S. Is Now in a War With Drug Cartels, Congress Is Told

NYT: Trump has decided that the US is engaged in a formal “armed conflict” with drug cartels his team has labeled terrorist organizations and that suspected smugglers for such groups are “unlawful combatants,” the admin said in a confidential notice to Congress.
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/u...

HEGSETH, Sept. 5th: "...we changed the name after World War II from the Department of War to the Department of Defense in 1947. And as you pointed out, Mr. President, we haven't won a major war since."

Interestingly enough, it was James Comey who appointed Patrick Fitzgerald to investigate the exposure of the CIA's Valerie Plame.

Fitzgerald then prosecuted Scooter Libby ... who was ultimately pardoned by Trump ... who's now prosecuting Comey ... who'll be represented by Fitzgerald.

US Weighs Trump-Branded Website to Help Shop for Cheaper Drugs Administration officials are discussing creating a website — potentially branded with President Donald Trump’s own name — that would make it easier for patients to buy prescription medicines at a disc...

BLOOMBERG: Officials have discussed creating a Trump brand for the website, with “TrumpRx” one name that’s been considered, they added.
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Surprising Guests at Belarus-Russia War Games: Two American Observers

NYT: Two American Observers attended Belarus-Russia War Games... watching exercises initially conceived to imagine how Russia would defend itself against an invasion by a member of NATO
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/15/w...

Russia Is Suspected to Be Behind Breach of Federal Court Filing System

NYT: Russia Is Suspected to Be Behind Breach of the filing System that manages federal court documents, including highly sensitive records with information that could reveal sources and people charged with national security crimes www.nytimes.com/2025/08/12/u...

JUST IN: New FOIA lawsuit for documents related to the Trump administration's handling of the Epstein files goes to ... Judge Chutkan.
www.courtlistener.com/docket/71059...

Trump appointees pushed more marble in Fed building renovation White House now attacks President Donald Trump has looked to the marble finishes and hefty price tag of the Federal Reserve headquarters to claim grounds to fire Chair Jerome Powell, with whom he has tussled for years over i...

AP: The extensive use of marble in the building is, at least in part, the result of policies backed by Trump himself.
apnews.com/article/powe...

Gabbard’s team has sought spy agency data to enforce Trump’s agenda A team created by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has sought access to emails and chat logs of the largest U.S. spy agencies to root out “weaponization.”

WAPO: A team created by DNI Tulsi Gabbard has expressed a desire to gain access to emails and chat logs of the largest U.S. spy agencies with the aim of using AI tools to ferret out what the administration deems as efforts to undermine its agenda
www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

The ‘Trump Pump’: How Crypto Lobbying Won Over a President

"At some points, the only meaningful check on the industry’s power has come from rival crypto interests jockeying against one another to influence Mr. Trump."
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/09/u...

Law used to kick out Nazis could be used to strip citizenship from many more Americans | CNN Politics For decades, the US Department of Justice has used a tool to sniff out former Nazis who lied their way into becoming American citizens: a law that allowed the department to denaturalize, or strip, cit...

CNN: According to a memo issued by the Justice Department last month, attorneys should aim their denaturalization work to target a much broader swath of individuals – anyone who may “pose a potential danger to national security.”
www.cnn.com/2025/07/04/p...

The US dollar is on track for its worst year in modern history The greenback is down more than 7% this year, and Morgan Stanley predicts it could fall another 10%.

SEMAFOR: The year that came closest to 2025 in dollar depreciation was 1973, and the result was then-President Richard Nixon taking the US off the gold standard.
www.semafor.com/article/07/0...

CIA review criticizes procedures but not conclusions of intelligence report on 2016 Russia election interference An intelligence assessment after the election found that Russia waged an information warfare campaign designed to boost Trump’s prospects and damage Hillary Clinton's candidacy.

NBC NEWS: The Ratcliffe-ordered review did not refute the findings of the 2017 intelligence assessment that Russia waged an information warfare campaign to undermine confidence in the electoral process, damage Clinton and boost Trump in the 2016 election.
www.nbcnews.com/politics/nat...

120. Upon arrival at CECOT, the detainees were greeted by a prison official who stated, "Welcome to CECOT. Whoever enters here doesn't leave." Plaintiff Abrego Garcia was then forced to strip, issued prison clothing, and subjected to physical abuse including being kicked in the legs with boots and struck on his head and arms to make him change clothes faster. His head was shaved with a zero razor, and he was frog-marched to cell 15, being struck with wooden batons along the way. By the following day, Plaintiff Abrego Garcia had visible bruises and lumps all over his body. 121. In Cell 15, Plaintiff Abrego Garcia and 20 other Salvadorans were forced to kneel from approximately 9:00 PM to 6:00 AM, with guards striking anyone who fell from exhaustion. During this time, Plaintiff Abrego Garcia was denied bathroom access and soiled himself The detainees were confined to metal bunks with no mattresses in an overcrowded cell with no windows, bright lights that remained on 24 hours a day, and minimal access to sanitation. 122. After approximately one week at CECOT, prison director Osiris Luna and other officials separated the 21 Salvadorans who had arrived together. Twelve individuals with visible gang-related tattoos were moved to another cell, while Plaintiff Abrego Garcia remained with eight others who, like him, upon information and belief had no gang affiliations or tattoos. 123. As reflected by his segregation, the Salvadoran authorities recognized that Plaintiff Abrego Garcia was not affiliated with any gang and, at around this time, prison officials explicitly acknowledged that Plaintiff Abrego Garcia's tattoos were not gang-related, telling him "your

“In Cell 15, Plaintiff Abrego Garcia and 20 other Salvadorans were forced to kneel from approximately 9:00 PM to 6:00 AM, with guards striking anyone who fell from exhaustion. During this time, Plaintiff Abrego Garcia was denied bathroom access and soiled himself…”

Wrote about one of the most striking poll results I've seen in quite some time — a shift that explains an awful lot about the second Trump administration. Gift link: wapo.st/45NVTQf

Trump Goes on a Charm Offensive as He Woos Holdout Republicans

NYT: A conga line of angsty Republican lawmakers filed through the West Wing on Wednesday, hemming and hawing about the big domestic policy bill that President Trump wants them to pass by Friday.
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/02/u...

Justice Dept. Explores Using Criminal Charges Against Election Officials

NYT: Such a path could drastically raise the stakes for federal investigations of state or county officials, bringing the department and the threat of criminalization into the election system.
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/02/u...

'You'll always be my friend': Trump and Ron DeSantis put aside rivalry at 'Alligator Alcatraz' Behind the scenes, however, there was tension between some in the Trump administration and the Florida governor over publicity for the immigrant detention center.

NBC NEWS: A Republican operative familiar with the process said, “DeSantis upset Noem and Lewandowski with his Fox News tour of the detention site.”
www.nbcnews.com/politics/don...

Pardoned Jan. 6 Rioter Who Threatened Police Joins Justice Dept.

NYT: A former F.B.I. agent who was charged with encouraging the Jen 6th mob to kill police officers has been named as an adviser to the Justice Department task force that President Trump established to seek retribution against his political enemies.
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/01/u...

Trump Vowed to Dismantle MS-13. His Deal With Bukele Threatens That Effort.

NYT: U.S. prosecutors have evidence of a corrupt pact between the Salvadoran government and high-ranking MS-13 leaders, who they say agreed to drive down violence and bolster Bukele politically in exchange for cash and perks in jail, a NYT investigation found.
www.nytimes.com/2025/06/30/u...

Lisa Murkowski talks to the press shortly after she voted, quietly, “aye” on Trump’s tax bill. She said she hopes the House and Senate go to conference to improve it and called her vote “agonizing.”