It baffles me that the women who attach themselves to the MAGA movement think they are any different from the ones Donald Trump has already assaulted or double-crossed.
Pam Bondi thought she was one of the exceptions and after her disastrous testimony before Congress, she was on thin ice. Trump pulled the plug, reportedly on April Fools’ Day, and the media firestorm followed.
The now-former attorney general, as Rick Wilson pointed out, is going to need a high-priced, white-shoe law firm to take up her cause. Depositions, testimony, and potential charges are all likely coming. She’ll most likely toe the line to make sure she lands somewhere safe after this, and a pardon is still on the table. But the writing is on the wall, Bondi clearly obstructed justice and lied in her testimony before Congress.
Just across the Potomac at the Pentagon, Pete Hegseth has restricted press access and a judge wants to know why. Not only that, Hegseth reportedly asked for the resignation of the Army Chief of Staff in the midst of a war with Iran – outstanding idea, Pete.
Frankly, the entire cabinet is a shitstorm that is actively degrading the functions of our government while Trump clings to life and power. His speech on Iran was completely incoherent.
Over at DHS, not much has changed since Kristi Noem’s firing.
(By the way, did you see her husband’s pictures that leaked? Listen, I’m not one to kink-shame or judge, but you don’t get the benefit of the doubt when your entire political ideology is built around harassing and stripping rights from the LGBTQ+ community. At that point it stops being personal and is just flat-out hypocrisy. There’s no way Kristi didn’t know, and it raises questions about how much Cricket knew.)
In DHS custody, a Mexican immigrant named Jose Guadalupe Ramos died in a California detention center, one of at least 14 deaths already this year.
The cruelty has always been the point; it’s just that lately it feels less hidden. The people around Trump are getting exactly what they want while he sundowns through the second year of his second term.
Monday, 3/30 – Judge Questions Pentagon on Press Restrictions
Before news broke that Pete Hegseth had asked for the resignation of the Army’s top general in the middle of a war with Iran, the Secretary of Defense was making other questionable decisions – like restricting press access at the Pentagon. And a federal judge wants to know why.
On Monday, U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman openly questioned whether the Pentagon had defied his own order protecting journalists’ access to the building. After reviewing a declaration from The New York Times describing how difficult it had become for reporters to do their jobs, Friedman put it bluntly: “Is this Kafka? What’s going on here?”
That didn’t come out of nowhere. Earlier this month, Friedman ruled that the Pentagon’s policy targeting journalists violated constitutional protections tied to news gathering and due process. Reporters were supposed to have their credentials restored immediately. Instead, the Pentagon rolled out what it called an “interim” policy.
Functionally, it was the same thing.
Journalists can’t move freely throughout the building without an escort. There are restrictions on how they handle anonymous sources, and reporters can still lose their credentials if they’re accused of pushing officials to share information the government considers unauthorized – even if it’s declassified.
Out of 56 outlets that make up the Pentagon Press Association, only one agreed to sign onto the policy, while everyone else refused or gave up access.
Lawyers for the Times say the Defense Department didn’t comply with the court’s order and even worked around it. At Monday’s hearing, attorney Ted Boutrouts described it as a “mad scramble” to avoid following the ruling.
The Pentagon, backed by the Department of Justice, argued the new policy is “materially different” and should be allowed to stand. Government lawyer Sarah Welch asked for more time to defend it.
This is more of the same from the Trump administration, they ignore court rulings and rely on the defense of, “Your Honor, this is a witch hunt!” while simultaneously delaying the process and carrying on about their business. Donald Trump made an entire career of it before politics and it seems like every department he now commands, is doing the same.