Drinking from the Firehose of Fascism

OA1125 - (NOTE: Acting US Attorney for SDNY Danielle Sassoon’s resignation letter and DOJ acting deputy Emil Bove’s acceptance of that letter were published while we were recording this episode, and hours before the Trump administration was enjoined by a DC federal judge from suspending international aid. The news hose never stops!)

For this Rapid Response Friday, we do our best to answer some of your questions about waves hands in the general direction of DC. 

Why is the media reporting the illegal attempts to fire (among others) the head of the Office of Special Counsel and 17 investigators general like a normal federal HR issue? Did FEMA really just straight-up steal $80 million from New York City’s bank account? Is it now legal to bribe foreign companies abroad and act as an unregistered foreign agent at home? Why are we sending Venezuelan asylum seekers with no criminal records or gang affiliations to Guantanamo Bay just weeks after DHS Secretary Kristi Noem promised that it would only be housing the “worst of the worst”? And just where exactly is the “Gulf of America” anyway? These and other questions from the week’s news are answered within.

• Memo from AG Pam Bondi outlining DOJ enforcement priorities (2/5/25) 

• RI federal judge’s order finding Trump administration in violation of his previous injunction against the federal spending freeze (2/10/25)

• “Air Jordan Tattoo Prompts ICE to Send Venezuelan Migrant to Guantanamo Bay,” Pablo Manriquez, Migrant Insider (2/9/25)

• “First They Came For the Venezuelans,” Matt Cameron, DEPORTNATION (2/12/25)

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