Category: Breaking the Law

Surprise! Todd Blanche Immediately Breaks His Promises to GOP Senators | The New Republic

Todd Blanche issued a Department of Justice memo on his first day as Attorney General that expands executive privilege protections for President Trump, allowing him to shield communications with private advisers from congressional oversight. The memo extends privilege claims to cover exchanges between the president's advisers and civilians, a significant expansion from traditional interpretations. Senate Democrats, particularly Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, identified the move as evidence Trump is preparing to obstruct potential investigations if Democrats regain House control.

Blanche's immediate action contradicts assurances he provided during his confirmation hearing to Senators Bill Cassidy, John Cornyn, and Tom Tillis regarding limits on presidential immunity and accountability. His memo demonstrates the Attorney General is committed to shielding Trump from legal consequences and blocking government transparency rather than enforcing the law independently. The move directly undermines the stated commitments that secured his confirmation vote.

The administration is simultaneously pursuing aggressive immigration enforcement that targets military families despite ongoing recruitment efforts that promise immigration protections. In April 2025, Immigration and Customs Enforcement reversed longstanding policy treating military service as a mitigating factor in enforcement decisions, leading to detention of over 50 military spouses and relatives. More than 60 congressional Democrats, led by Senators Elizabeth Warren, Tammy Duckworth, and Richard Blumenthal, launched an investigation into whether the Defense Department collaborated with Homeland Security to detain servicemembers and their families, a potential violation of the Posse Comitatus Act.

The administration also announced plans to separate the MMR vaccine into three individual shots, falsely linking the combined vaccine to autism, despite CDC confirmation that no scientific evidence supports splitting the vaccine. Outgoing Senator Bill Cassidy, a physician, directly condemned the executive order as medically unsound and likely to increase vaccine hesitancy among families. Cassidy's criticism carries limited credibility given his decisive confirmation vote for Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an anti-vaccine activist without public health expertise.

Trump nominated Dennis Kirk, a Project 2025 author and former Office of Personnel Management official, as Interior Department Inspector General, positioning a Trump loyalist to oversee ethics investigations and potential probes into the $16 million renovation of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. The nomination drew Democratic opposition, with House Natural Resources Committee ranking member Jared Huffman calling Kirk a "fake and fraudulent watchdog" designed to shield administration officials from accountability. Trump's administration has already defied federal court orders in other contexts, signaling systematic resistance to judicial oversight.

(Source: https://newrepublic.com/post/214186/todd-blanche-breaks-promises-donald-trump?utm_medium=social&utm_source=Facebook&utm_campaign=SF_TNR&fbclid=IwdGRjcAToUhpwZG9mBWZkaWQWUMSMzAgdnNxqwI-26BM6ALF5VHUZa2V4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkCjY2Mjg1NjgzNzkAAR6Q_bhedKdybU3lTo998_TuvOU4ympm8H4ySVS25-LyOmFWhcKbh6WzNuH6MQ_aem_ozjN_-gR48igEMiBuFNGiw)

Trump Orders Cuts to Childhood Vaccines Without Evidence

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday establishing the “Gold Standard Childhood Vaccine Recommendations,” which would dramatically reduce federal childhood vaccination guidance by spreading immunizations across separate appointments, splitting the combined MMR vaccine into three individual shots, and reorganizing vaccines into different risk tiers. During the signing ceremony at the White House, Trump claimed the combined MMR vaccine “could” be “quite lethal,” but admitted moments later when pressed by reporters that he had no evidence supporting the assertion.

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. stood alongside Trump during the order signing, advancing the administration’s push to overturn decades of established federal vaccine recommendations. Trump had previously pressured Kennedy during a May lunch to escalate efforts investigating a debunked link between vaccines and autism, criticizing Kennedy for having “the yips” on the vaccine issue despite White House political advisers urging restraint on vaccine-related messaging.

The executive order reflects Trump’s broader effort to reshape federal health policy through vaccine reduction, following a January Department of Health and Human Services study initiated by Trump in December proposing vaccination against only 11 diseases rather than the current comprehensive schedule. The changes would eliminate or defer federal recommendations for vaccines against flu, rotavirus, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, and certain meningitis strains, among others.

Kennedy’s role in overseeing this vaccine overhaul extends beyond childhood recommendations, as he has signaled intent to dismantle and reconstruct the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, the federal committee responsible for recommending disease screening tests and determining insurance coverage for preventive care. The administration’s actions align with efforts to eliminate Pentagon mandatory flu vaccination requirements and pursue changes to longstanding public health protocols across federal agencies.

Trump’s unsubstantiated claim about MMR vaccine lethality contradicts the scientific consensus supporting vaccine safety and reflects the pattern of health misinformation advanced by Kennedy and endorsed by the administration without evidentiary support.



(Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/08/10/trump-administration-order-would-upend-nations-childhood-vaccine-schedule/?utm_campaign=wp_main&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social)

Trump Orders Birthright Citizenship Restrictions, Defies Supreme Court

President Trump signed two executive orders Thursday targeting birthright citizenship and commercial birth tourism, marking his second attempt to circumvent the 14th Amendment after the Supreme Court rejected his broader Inauguration Day order on June 30. The orders narrow citizenship eligibility for children born to foreign diplomatic staff, individuals classified as alien enemies or members of federally declared terrorist groups, those born in U.S. territories if Congress changes the law, and children born to mothers who “deceptively” enter the country specifically to give birth at commercial centers.

Trump’s administration contends these orders operate within existing constitutional exceptions to the 14th Amendment, claiming the Supreme Court’s June 30 decision still permits targeting birthright citizenship under long-recognized categories. The birth-tourism order weaponizes the concept of “fraudulent misrepresentation,” arguing that mothers who expressly and deceptively enter the U.S. for childbirth forfeit birthright protections, similar to revoking naturalized citizenship obtained by fraud. A second order directs the State Department and Department of Homeland Security to issue rules combating birth tourism domestically and abroad, despite U.S. law already prohibiting tourist visas obtained primarily for childbirth purposes.

Congressional Republicans frame birth tourism as a national security threat, with the House Oversight Committee investigating the industry in May and citing concerns that foreign expectant mothers from China and Russia present “potential national security and election integrity threats posed by adversarial nations.” Trump has personalized the issue, attacking wealthy foreign nationals and framing birthright citizenship as an undeserved privilege being exploited for profit, stating on Truth Social that birthright citizenship should not apply to “rich people from China” seeking to make their children U.S. citizens “FOR PAY.”

Legal experts including University of Virginia immigration law professor Amanda Frost rejected Trump’s framing, arguing that if birth tourism represents a genuine policy concern, enforcement of existing regulations suffices without dismantling birthright citizenship protections. The orders face certain legal challenges identical to those that eliminated Trump’s first executive order, as the 14th Amendment’s plain language grants citizenship to all persons born in the United States regardless of parental status. Trump has already demanded the Supreme Court grant him a rehearing after the court rejected his initial birthright citizenship order, exposing his pattern of defying judicial decisions that constrain his authority.

Estimates of children born through birth tourism range from thousands to tens of thousands, though congressional Republicans lack concrete evidence linking the practice to election interference or security breaches. The administration’s targeting of birth tourism through executive order, combined with its resistance to the Supreme Court’s June 30 ruling, demonstrates Trump’s commitment to expanding executive power over citizenship determinations regardless of constitutional limitations.



(Source: https://www.axios.com/2026/08/06/trump-birth-tourism-birthright-citizenship)

Trump Claims US Taking Billions Barrels Oil Venezuela

President Donald Trump declared on Wednesday that the U.S. has extracted "billions and billions of barrels of oil from Venezuela," describing the seizure as payment for a 48-minute military operation that captured then-President Nicolás Maduro in January. Trump justified the resource extraction by invoking the phrase "to the victor belong the spoils," framing the takeover of Venezuela's sovereign oil reserves as a standard practice of war, despite international law explicitly prohibiting such seizures.

Trump's statement follows the January abduction of Maduro by U.S. special forces and his current detention in a New York jail on drug trafficking charges. Vice President Delcy Rodríguez assumed the presidency and has complied with American demands, while Secretary of State Marco Rubio functions as de facto viceroy over the nation, controlling Venezuela's finances, natural resources, and government appointments from Washington. Trump stated the volume of oil extracted has paid for the war "many, many, many times over."

The president applied the same reasoning to Iran, stating "we're doing the same thing, by the way, in the lovely Islamic Republic of Iran. We're knocking the hell out of them." His comments arrive as Iran has closed the Strait of Hormuz, a critical shipping channel controlling roughly 20% of global oil flow, following the commencement of a U.S.-Israeli air campaign against the country in February.

Trump has previously criticized the George W. Bush administration's 2003 invasion of Iraq, specifically objecting to Bush's failure to seize Iraqi oil reserves to offset military expenses. The current president's boasts about extracting Venezuelan resources and applying identical tactics to Iran demonstrate his explicit endorsement of resource confiscation as wartime policy, contradicting international conventions that classify such seizures as war crimes and violations of the laws of occupation.

Under modern international law, seizing another nation's natural resources as "spoils of war" is strictly illegal and constitutes a war crime known as pillage. Frameworks like the Hague Regulations of 1907 and the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 explicitly prohibit the plunder of public or private property during an armed conflict. Furthermore, if a country militarily occupies another, it is legally considered merely a temporary administrator of those resources; it can only use them to support the local population or manage the immediate occupation, not to enrich its own domestic economy or pay for the war. Consequently, forcibly extracting sovereign resources like oil for the victor's profit directly violates the laws of occupation, contradicts the United Nations Charter, and is prosecutable as a war crime under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

(Source: https://www.mediaite.com/media/tv/trump-brags-hes-taking-billions-of-barrels-of-oil-from-venezuela-because-to-the-victor-belong-the-spoils/)

Trump Admin Subpoenas NY Times Reporter Over North Korea Story

The Trump administration subpoenaed freelance New York Times reporter Matthew Cole over his reporting on a failed classified military operation in North Korea, according to the Times. Federal Bureau of Investigation agents delivered the subpoena to Cole’s New York home on behalf of prosecutors in Virginia, demanding two years of his contacts and sources. Cole’s attorney, David A. O’Neil, stated the reporter will defend press freedom and the First Amendment against what he characterized as the administration’s direct attacks on journalists.

This subpoena follows the administration’s earlier assault on Times journalists covering Air Force One security vulnerabilities. Prosecutors initially subpoenaed four Times reporters, including Julian E. Barnes, Eric Lipton, and Eric Schmitt, and sought phone records for the journalists and their relatives. U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian questioned whether prosecutors followed legal standards for journalist subpoenas, and the Department of Justice ultimately withdrew those subpoenas under judicial pressure.

Trump claimed the subpoenas targeted “leakers” rather than journalists, stating he did not know “what’s appropriate and what’s not” regarding such legal actions. He framed the pursuit as necessary for national security, saying the administration must compel journalists to identify their sources to find people he described as “cowards,” “unpatriotic,” and “treasonous.” This language demonstrates the administration’s weaponization of the justice system to suppress press freedom and intimidate sources willing to expose government misconduct.



(Source: https://www.mediaite.com/media/news/trump-administration-reportedly-subpoenas-new-york-times-freelancer-over-north-korea-story/)

Trump Appointees Dismantle Historic Preservation Rules

Trump’s appointees at the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation are moving to dismantle Section 106 regulations, a foundational federal rule protecting historic sites, to expedite construction of a 250-foot “Triumphal Arch” near Arlington National Cemetery. According to The Atlantic, the proposed amendments would grant federal agencies broader discretion to override preservation standards, prioritize damage mitigation over preventing harm to historic places, and eliminate requirements to evaluate alternative designs or locations before proceeding with projects.

Vice Chair Travis Voyles instructed council members to vote on the revisions by July 17, with at least seven of 24 members appointed by Trump. The arch, estimated to cost $100 million and featuring a golden winged figure flanked by gilded eagles, would require 20-hour construction workdays over two to three years. The National Capital Planning Commission, chaired by Trump appointee William Scharf, has already voted to advance the project, bringing it closer to breaking ground despite Trump’s rejection of the need for congressional approval.

Three Vietnam War veterans filed suit in February to block the arch’s construction, contesting whether Trump obtained proper authorization. Commission staff acknowledged significant gaps in the project plan requiring additional details before final approval, yet the administration has continued advancing it without addressing those deficiencies.

A Washington Post/ABC News/Ipsos poll from April found 52 percent of Americans opposed the arch compared to 21 percent in favor, yet Trump administration officials maintain they are “following all legal requirements.” The administration’s pattern of bypassing competitive bidding for rush projects has extended to recent contracts, including a $5 million no-bid agreement to gild statues near the Lincoln Memorial.

Trump’s Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool renovation, which ballooned from $1.8 million to $13.1 million, developed algae problems shortly after completion, exemplifying the administration’s hasty approach to federal monument projects. The arch represents another instance of the administration weaponizing federal agencies stacked with loyal appointees to bypass regulatory oversight and democratic process.



(Source: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-arch-washington-historic-preservation-council-b3018493.html)

Trump Demands Canada Pay Damages for Wildfire Smoke

President Trump demanded Canada pay financial damages or face tariffs for wildfire smoke reaching U.S. cities, claiming the air has been “poisoned” and citing business closures in Michigan. Trump stated he had spoken with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and told him to stop fires from “poisoning our air,” but indicated the conversation yielded insufficient action. He proposed Canada either compensate the United States or face tariff threats, framing the wildfires as Canada’s responsibility rather than a natural disaster.

Trump cited specific economic harm, noting that Ford’s Michigan assembly plant experienced thick smoke forcing dozens of workers to seek medical attention and requiring the closure of car plants and other businesses. The president claimed he had never witnessed such widespread wildfire smoke impacts in his lifetime, stating the phenomenon only began occurring over the previous 4-5 years. These assertions contradicted established climate science documenting decades of wildfire escalation tied to warming temperatures and changing weather patterns.

The wildfire situation reflects Trump’s history of weaponizing natural disasters and federal authority against states and nations he opposes. Earlier, Trump denied federal disaster assistance to Colorado following wildfires and flooding, accusations he was punishing Democratic Governor Jared Polis. Trump has simultaneously eliminated the EPA’s scientific finding that climate change endangers human health and the environment, stripping the agency of authority to regulate greenhouse gases and rejecting decades of peer-reviewed research.

Trump’s demand for payment or tariffs exploits environmental destruction to advance his trade agenda while refusing to acknowledge the climate emergency driving increased wildfire severity. His simultaneous erasure of climate science and blame-shifting to Canada exemplifies his strategy of using governance crises to consolidate executive power and attack adversaries rather than address root causes. The pattern extends to using disaster denial and aid weaponization against Democratic officials, subordinating disaster response to partisan loyalty tests.



(Source: https://www.mediaite.com/politics/trump-wants-canada-to-stop-poisoning-the-usas-air-maybe-they-should-pay/)

Trump Golfs as Iran Attack Kills Two U.S. Service Members

President Donald Trump spent Saturday golfing at his Bedminster, New Jersey resort while news broke that two U.S. service members were killed in an Iranian attack on a base in Jordan, with a third missing in action. Trump’s only public response was a brief phone call to a NewsNation reporter in which he called their deaths “a very sad thing” and stated, “I couldn’t care less” about Iran’s declaration that a ceasefire deal had been broken. His Truth Social account remained silent on the attack, instead posting about the SAVE America Act and pushing for Iran sanctions.

The deaths mark the first U.S. casualties since a ceasefire began in early April, signaling the collapse of Trump’s second failed agreement with Iran in months. Trump and his administration had repeatedly insisted since February that the conflict would last only weeks, yet the breakdown of two separate ceasefire agreements has left the White House and Pentagon without a coherent strategy. Control of the Strait of Hormuz remains contested, and commercial shipping traffic continues to avoid the region due to attack risks, disrupting global trade and energy markets.

Trump celebrated prematurely last month when he declared “Ships of the World, start your engines. Let the oil flow!” following a 60-day extension of the ceasefire in May. That optimism has evaporated with the resumption of hostilities, contradicting his claims of strategic success. The administration’s stated objectives, including securing Iran’s enriched uranium, weakening Iran’s government, and ending its capacity to launch rockets and drones, have been abandoned or remain unachieved.

The escalation directly contradicts Trump’s 2024 campaign promises to end U.S. involvement in endless foreign conflicts and prevent resource depletion through limitless entanglements. Trump has rejected claims that he betrayed those commitments, instead insisting that the threat from Iran’s nuclear program justified continued military engagement. The conflict now threatens to consume significant Pentagon funding and congressional attention as Republicans in the Senate express skepticism about defense spending bills needed to sustain operations.

Trump was scheduled to attend the World Cup final between Spain and Argentina at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on Sunday at 3 p.m. ET, maintaining his weekend leisure schedule despite the military escalation. His detachment from the immediate crisis mirrors patterns of taxpayer funds subsidizing his private golf activities, revealing a persistent prioritization of personal interests over national emergencies.



(Source: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-iran-us-troops-killed-golf-b3017670.html)

Markwayne Mullin Threatens ‘Prison Time’ For State Officials

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin threatened criminal penalties including “prison time” against state election officials who decline to participate in the Trump administration’s SAVE program (Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements). During a Friday press conference, Mullin stated that non-compliant state officials could face fines, penalties, and imprisonment if they refuse to implement the program after receiving federal guidance on election security.

The SAVE program is tied to the SAVE America Act that Trump has pressured Republicans to advance, despite Senate Majority Leader John Thune’s statement that insufficient support exists to pass it. Mullin’s threats follow Trump’s Thursday primetime address, in which he selectively cited documents his aides published online to insinuate that U.S. elections have been compromised for years and that officials suppressed evidence, according to The New York Times.

Mullin framed state participation as mandatory for election security, declaring that states choosing non-participation would become priority targets for federal scrutiny of voter rolls. He linked cooperation with the SAVE program directly to accountability measures, warning that election officials who received federal information but refused implementation would face legal consequences.

The Trump administration published a web page Friday outlining its “election integrity” stance, incorporating Trump’s election vulnerability claims. The threats represent an escalation in federal pressure on state officials over election administration, a function traditionally managed by states under the U.S. Constitution.

The statement came during a conservative Daily Caller reporter’s question about securing midterm elections, with Mullin framing federal coercion as necessary for building public confidence. By conditioning cooperation on penalty avoidance, the administration weaponized federal authority against state officials exercising their constitutional election management responsibilities.



(Source: https://www.mediaite.com/media/news/just-in-mullin-threatens-prison-time-for-state-officials-not-cooperating-with-trump-admin-on-elections/)stration weaponized federal authority against state officials exercising their constitutional election management responsibilities.

Trump Demands NBC ABC License Revocation Over Primetime Speech

Donald Trump demanded that NBC and ABC have their broadcast licenses revoked for declining to air his Thursday night primetime address on their primary television channels, falsely characterizing the networks’ editorial decision as part of a “plot” to hide information from the public. Both networks carried the speech live on their streaming platforms (NBC News NOW and ABC News Live) and aired detailed summaries after Trump concluded, but Trump attacked them anyway for not broadcasting it on their main channels, stating that “fraud like this should mean a revocation of their licenses.” White House communications director Steven Cheung amplified the demand, calling the networks “cowards” on social media.

Trump’s attack on broadcast licenses represents an escalation of his systematic pressure on media outlets through regulatory threats. Trump has previously weaponized FCC regulatory power against late-night hosts, calling for their termination and celebrating their departures, while FCC Chair Brendan Carr, a Trump appointee, has threatened broadcasters’ licenses in response to presidential complaints about coverage. Carr is currently investigating whether ABC’s talk show The View qualifies as a “bona fide news program” under equal time rules, using regulatory authority to punish editorial independence.

In the 23-minute address, Trump made unsubstantiated claims about election security, alleging without evidence that China conducted “the largest compromise of election data in history” and that American elections remain vulnerable to foreign interference. He accused unnamed national security officials of concealing information about election security while offering no documentation to support these assertions. Much of the “stolen” election data Trump referenced is publicly available for commercial purchase by political campaigns, undermining his claims of a security breach.

CNN declined to air the speech live, with anchor Kaitlan Collins stating the network would “monitor” Trump’s remarks to fact-check statements given his “well-documented history of saying blatantly false things about elections,” while Fox News broadcast the full address. Trump’s demand for license revocation targets networks that exercised editorial judgment about primetime coverage, using the presidency to punish outlets for decisions that displeased him and demonstrating contempt for the independence of broadcast journalism.



(Source: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-election-fraud-address-nbc-abc-licence-b3016842.html)

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