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In his shameful speech in Europe, Vance mocked Europe by saying: “if American democracy can survive 10 years of Greta Thunberg’s scolding you guys can survive a few months of Elon Musk.”

Think about this disinformation for a second.

1/ America recently learned that mere “months” of Musk can mean hundreds of millions of dollars flooding the zone.

That spending has essentially made Musk our co-president, at least.

And no Republicans will dare speak up because they are worried he will primary them.

2/

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Day 77 of my Trump tracker

February 16, 2025

As part of its continued piracy of Americans’ private data, DOGE’s next target is the IRS. DOGE employees—whoever the hell they are—sought access to the IRS’s Integrated Data Retrieval System,

1/ which houses the data of millions of Americans. The Washington Post reported that IRS officials are considering a memorandum of understanding that would allow access to some systems.

To make matters worse, reports are…

2/

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The Company Trump Keeps

A 🧵 (and a quiz)

We’ve had a wide variety of presidents. We can debate their records and their legacies and their integrity.

 But whatever party, whatever era, and however successful, these presidents have largely been consistent

1/ on one matter (in words, if not always in action).

And that is their professed belief in and adherence to the rule of law, and the Constitution. Here’s a sampling of what U.S. Presidents have said about the rule of law and the Constitution since our Founding:

2/

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What they say, and what they do

A 🧵

Following the election, Republican officials, from Trump on down, talked non-stop about how the American people are intensely focused on getting by, rising costs and overall economic well-being.

And I don’t disagree with that

1/ But what staggers me is how those same politicians continue to take proactive steps to make things more difficult, everyday life more costly, and further squeeze everyday Americans who are already struggling.

2/

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Putin’s Victory Dance

A 🧵

Whenever Putin and Trump get together, what inevitably happens reminds me of the US-UK summit in the movie “Love Actually.”

1/ Remember, when the President of the United States (played by Billy Bob Thornton) bullies Hugh Grant, playing the Prime Minister?

Amid the negotiation, the President says: “I'll give you anything you ask for - as long as it's not something I don't want to give.”

2/

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The View of a Tech Insider

A 🧵 you’ll want to read

Amid all this talk of DOGE and tech and data and access, I thought I’d check in with another friend of mine who does this work for a living to hear his thoughts on it all. And share with us what we need to know.

1/ Here’s what he told me before answering my questions:

“We're witnessing the first I.T.-driven restructuring of government in human history. While there's been some mockery of the young people Musk has employed…

2/

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Unfortunately, the next DOGE target looks to be the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which includes the National Weather Service and National Hurricane Center.

DOGE apparently informed senior staff to plan to reduce its staff by 50% and funding by 30%.

1/ Long-time subscribers of mine know this comes right out of Project 2025—and is motivated by anger that NOAA responsibly tracks and studies climate change and its impact on severe weather.

2/

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Stopping the (DOGE Data) Steal

A 🧵

Cartoon by @knecessary

1/ “The liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it becomes stronger than their democratic state itself.

2/

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Reliving the “Redeemer” Nightmare

A 🧵

She went to Harvard and Harvard Law School, where she graduated cum laude, and went on to clerk for the Supreme Court..

1/
before serving as both a federal district and appellate judge following bipartisan support.

But once appointed to the US Supreme Court, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was quickly dismissed as the “DEI Justice.”

And still is by the far right.

2/

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BREAKING: A Second Outrageous Email

A 🧵

To illustrate just how desperate the Trump Administration is to sweet talk federal public servants into resigning via a vague “delayed resignation,” a second “Fork in the Road” email went out last night.

1/ It’s a sheet of questions the administration is saying it is being asked.

Here are the contents:

“From: HR
Sent: Thursday, January 30, 2025 X:XX PM
Subject: [EXTERNAL] Fork in the Road FAQs
Importance: High

2/

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When I wrote “2025,” I tried to capture the chaos that would ensure from a Trump victory.

Here’s what I wrote about what would happen to the federal workforce:

1/ “[Yvette] walked briskly to her office after exiting the elevator. Two long hallways, usually clean and tidy, now strewn with boxes and papers as a revolving door of new and old staff rotated in and out of the various offices along the way.

2/

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“Type the word 'Resign'...Hit 'Send'"

The Blanket Purge That Tells Us Everything

A 🧵

I couldn’t sleep last night.

First, there was the heartbreaking tragedy of that airplane crash into the Potomac.

1/ Just awful.

I kept waking up, checking my phone in the hopes of reading about heroes and survivors.

And I also couldn’t sleep because the email about the mass purge of the federal government just kept echoing through my mind.

2/

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“Notice of Removal from Federal Service”

A 🧵

Yesterday, the Acting Attorney General of the United States sent a memo to DOJ attorneys involved in aspects of the special investigations and prosecutions

1/ of President Trump for his actions during and at the end of his first term.

“You played a significant role in prosecuting President Trump,” the memo from the Acting Attorney General asserts. “As a result…you are removed from federal service effective immediately.”

2/

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When a 10-year old rape victim in Ohio was forced to go to Indiana for abortion care, Ohio AG Yost ran to Fox News to declare there was “not a whisper” of evidence to support the story, and elsewhere suggested that it was potentially a “fabrication,” and that there was….

1/ …not a “damn scintilla of evidence.”

The very next day, in the very same county where Ohio’s Attorney General office is based—ie. right under the nose of Yost, who had claimed to know the goings on of law enforcement across the entire state—

2/

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MAGA-games, Round III

This week, the next shoe to drop in MAGA-wars landed with a thud, reverberating right here in Ohio.

But rather than just witnessing it all, there’s something you can do about it. (Read to bottom).

1/ A few weeks back, I provided the dramatic play-by-play of the civil war that exploded between two wings of the Trump coalition that have already figured out they can’t co-exist.

Recall: it all started when Vivek Ramaswamy tore the band-aid off with this tweet…

2/

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News broke late yesterday that the Administration has ordered that agencies such as HHS, CDC, and FDA no longer issue health advisories, alerts, studies, website updates or other social media posts, and other guidance...

1/ traditionally disseminated to the public by these agencies.

Once again, this is ripped directly from the pages of Project 2025.

And it’s part of the Schedule F philosophy—that communications such as these should come from Trump and the White House...

2/

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The Shocking "Trump Coin" Money Grab

Quick 🧵

It went down so quickly that people are still trying to dissect what happened, but it appears that Donald Trump and his family took a big step toward Putin-style self-enrichment through an explosion of a brand new…

1/ Trump faux crypto currency.

In a single day, he may have catapulted himself to the greatest wealth he’s ever had—up to $25 billion—doing so only days before he becomes America’s next president.

2/

🚨 A truly stunning thing happened yesterday.

Timing so perfect that I wouldn’t dare put it in one of my novels, because no one would believe it.

1/ In 2018, a dinner took place among Ohio’s newly elected Governor, his Lt. Gov Husted, and two executives of the utility First Energy.

That dinner was the real-life “room where it happened,” the central event of a massive scandal that blew up into the largest bribery…

2/

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The Long Demise of the Old Ohio GOP

A 🧵

If you’d called a meeting in January 2019—gathering Ohio Gov. DeWine, Ohio Lt. Governor Husted, GOP Chairwoman Jane Timken, Attorney General Yost,

1/ Secretary of State Frank LaRose, State Senator Matt Dolan and other officeholders—and told them that:

1) in just a few years, the next Senator and later Vice President from Ohio would be the young author who’d recently moved back from

2/

BREAKING 🚨

WHITEBOARD: LG Husted Will Be Ohio’s next Senator

A 🧵 on just how shady this guy is

OH Gov DeWine will name his LG, Jon Husted, to be OH’s next Senator

In any normal world, this would be a stunning choice

But this is Ohio, where corruption is normalized…

1/ …so even though this appointment is being made amidst an investigation for the largest bribery scandal in Ohio history—and Husted was deeply involved at key moments of the scandal—it will hardly raise eyebrows

Which says so much about how broken OH politics are

The basics:

2/

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NEW: Will Trump Reduce the Price of Eggs?

So….Trump focused intensely on grocery prices in the recent campaign.

Throughout, Trump promised to bring down the price of eggs and other grocery items.

As the Washington Post reported:

1/ “In August at his club in Bedminster, New Jersey, Trump stood near a table of produce such as milk, eggs, cereal and coffee and attributed the price hikes to Harris.”

2/