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Ian Bassin

@ianbassin.bsky.social

140K followers 1.4K following 550 posts

Founder and Executive Director @protectdemocracy.org. Former Associate White House Counsel. Tweets my own.

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Ian Bassin @ianbassin.bsky.social · Feb 28

Our system of checks and balances has stood as a bulwark against tyranny for 250 years.

The way it works is no one man can dictate how our government works.

Congress makes laws, the president executes the laws, and courts make sure laws and rights are protected.

We give that up at our peril.

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Kyle Griffin @kylegriffin1.bsky.social · 9h

Leaked messages from leaders of Young Republican groups obtained by Politico:

They referred to Black people as monkeys and "the watermelon people" and mused about putting their political opponents in gas chambers.
www.politico.com/news/2025/10...

www.politico.com

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Dave Weigel @daveweigel.bsky.social · 3h

You can say amazing things if you know that the follow-up question will be "wow."

(Smith didn't plant anything at Mar-a-Lago because he was hired months after it was searched.)

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 4h

Eric Trump: "We found out that Jack Smith was actually planting classified folders in Mar-a-Lago"

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Patrick Chovanec @prchovanec.bsky.social · 10h

This is the party Trump has created.

Jenny Cohn @jennycohn.bsky.social · 10h

“‘I love Hitler’: Leaked messages expose Young Republicans’ racist chat *** Thousands of private messages reveal young GOP leaders joking about gas chambers, slavery and rape.”

‘I love Hitler’: Leaked messages expose Young Republicans’ racist chat

Thousands of private messages reveal young GOP leaders joking about gas chambers, slavery and rape.

www.politico.com

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Jake_Vig @jakevig.bsky.social · 7h

Just got off a zoom call with our "No Kings" GROUP, and someone is printing up "WE LOVE AMERICA ENOUGH TO SAVE IT" shirts and signs.

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Ana Marie Cox @anamariecox.bsky.social · 9h

To everyone who says, "But this won't matter": *MAKE IT MATTER.*

You have that power! This is not inside baseball and your friends and neighbors will likely be appalled. And if they're *not* appalled, don't be cynical yourself. Take the lead, give the cue.

Politico @politico.com · 12h

EXCLUSIVE: Thousands of leaked messages show leaders of Young Republican groups joking about gas chambers, slavery and rape in a private Telegram chat.

Inside rising GOP leaders’ racist chats — obtained by POLITICO and spanning more than 7 months👇

‘I love Hitler’: Leaked messages expose Young Republicans’ racist chat

Thousands of private messages reveal young GOP leaders joking about gas chambers, slavery and rape.

www.politico.com

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Ian Bassin @ianbassin.bsky.social · 7h

Let's be clear: Jack Smith was appointed by the Attorney General to be a Special Prosecutor precisely to further remove him from political influence or control. He followed the facts and the law by the book to reach his charging decisions. The GOP is slandering him. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/14/u...

Republicans Summon Jack Smith to Testify Before House Judiciary Committee

www.nytimes.com

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Ian Bassin @ianbassin.bsky.social · 8h

Seeing multiple news orgs join together to reject the Pentagon's gag rules and now multiple airports refuse to air partisan govt propaganda.

There've been weeks when the wind is at authoritarians' backs. Let's hope these suggest a different wind direction this week. www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news...

O'Hare and Midway airports won't show Kristi Noem video criticizing Democrats for government shutdown

O'Hare and Midway airports in Chicago have decided not to show travelers a video of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem criticizing Democrats for the ongoing federal government shutdown.

www.cbsnews.com

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Admiral James Stavridis, USN, Ret. @admiralstav.bsky.social · 15h

A powerful personal testament from Tom Bowman of NPR about the Pentagon attempt to exert complete control over all information. Protecting classified is of course fine. But when neither Fox News nor NY Times sign up to your policy, you should ask yourself if you are getting something very wrong.

Opinion: Why I'm handing in my Pentagon press pass

Tom Bowman has held his Pentagon press pass for 28 years. He says the Pentagon's new media policy makes it impossible to be a journalist, which means finding out what's really going on behind the scen...

www.npr.org

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Dave Levitan @davelevitan.bsky.social · 3d

“We can give $20 billion to Argentina but we can’t afford the CDC’s measles experts” is a hell of an argument

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Governor JB Pritzker @govpritzker.illinois.gov · 3d

Texas is preparing emergency resources for wildfires and floods. The Texas National Guard should be THERE — not in Illinois.

We stand ready to support their return home so they are best positioned for helping Texans respond to any natural disasters.

Abbott activates emergency resources ahead of growing wildfire threat, flood risk in Texas

With expected growing wildfire danger across Texas and the potential for a flood risk this weekend, Gov. Greg Abbott is activating more state emergency response resources Friday.

trib.al

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Catherine Rampell @crampell.bsky.social · 3d

Per CDC source: At internal leadership meeting this afternoon, it was shared that 1,257 people were RIF'd at CDC. Number may not be final. Apparently, chief of staff was unaware that RIFs were going to occur so not clear who is making decisions. (Short 🧵)

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Ian Bassin @ianbassin.bsky.social · 3d

I’m sure Jim Comer will bring the same vigorous oversight he brought to Hunter Biden.

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Scott Horton @robertscotthorton.bsky.social · 4d

Trump said he deserved a cut for brokering the TikTok deal, and at once there was agreement that his son Baron would have a top executive slot... though he hasn't asked for it, and has no apparent qualifications to hold it. This is how Trump 2.0 works. www.telegraph.co.uk/us/news/2025...

Barron Trump tipped for top TikTok job

US president’s 19-year-old son could be appointed to the app’s board

www.telegraph.co.uk

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David Rothkopf @djrothkopf.bsky.social · 4d

Yes. Molly is right. This is the way. The only way.

Molly Jong-Fast @mollyjongfast.bsky.social · 4d

This is the way

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/10/u...

M.I.T. Rejects a White House Offer for Special Funding Treatment

www.nytimes.com

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Asha Rangappa @asharangappa.bsky.social · 4d

"If we were even to suppose the national rulers actuated by the most ungovernable ambition, it is impossible to believe that they would employ such preposterous means to accomplish their designs."

Oh Alexander, honey.

Scott Horton @robertscotthorton.bsky.social · 4d

Quoted by Judge Perry today in her opinion in Illinois v Trump

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Timothy Snyder @timothysnyder.bsky.social · 3d

Make your plans for #NoKings. October 18th. Free speech is action. Please join in. You'll see me at one of the events.
www.nokings.org

No Kings

As the president escalates his authoritarian power grab, the NO KINGS non-violent movement continues to rise stronger. We are united once again to remind the world: America has No Kings and the power ...

www.nokings.org

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Sheryl Gay Stolberg @sherylnyt.bsky.social · 4d

BREAKING: Friday night massacre underway at CDC. Doznes of "disease detectives," high-level scientists, entire Washington staff and editors of the MMWR (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report) have all been RIFed and received the following notice:

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Ian Bassin @ianbassin.bsky.social · 4d

The Court, blocking Trump's deployment of Texas NG to Illinois: "not even the Founding Father most ardently in favor of a strong federal government believed that one state’s militia could be sent to another state for the purposes of political retribution." storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

storage.courtlistener.com

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Ian Bassin @ianbassin.bsky.social · 4d

“Scott Walter, the president of Capital Research Center, agreed that his group had not found evidence that the Soros network had committed a crime.” www.nytimes.com/2025/10/10/u...

Report on Soros Cited by Justice Dept. Does Not Show Funding for Terrorism

www.nytimes.com

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The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 5d

CHICAGO — Outside an elementary school during dismissal… horrifying. What have we become?

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Acyn @acyn.bsky.social · 5d

Shapiro: I filed that amicus brief last night to make it very clear that the Pennsylvania National Guard is under my command.

The way the President has chosen to deploy the Guard in other states—and, in at least one case, deploy the Guard from one state into another—is extremely dangerous.

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George Conway 🇺🇸🚫👑🐸 @gtconway.bsky.social · 5d

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Kori Schake @kschake.bsky.social · 5d

The precursor to the Insurrection Act, which President Washington invoked to call up militia during the Whiskey Rebellion in 1794, required concurrence of a Supreme Court Justice that an insurrection was occurring.

Ian Bassin @ianbassin.bsky.social · 5d

DOJ is basically arguing in Court that if the President "determines" that literal martians have landed from Mars and are attacking the United States, Trump can invoke any emergency power he wants and the judiciary can't question it.

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Scott Horton @robertscotthorton.bsky.social · 5d

Spiegel on the criminal complaint against James: The US legal system has become a farce. When lackeys can file charges on the orders of their masters, no one can feel safe anymore. Then arbitrariness prevails. The end of the rule of law and freedom. And that affects everyone

US-Justizministerium klagt prominente Trump-Gegnerin Letitia James an

Die Vorwürfe lauten Bankbetrug und falsche Angaben: Das US-Justizministerium hat Anklage gegen Generalstaatsanwältin Letitia James erhoben. Die Widersacherin von Donald Trump reagierte mit einer Kampf...

www.spiegel.de

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Jacob Soboroff @jacobsoboroff.bsky.social · 6d

just talked to Gov. Pritzker who dared President Trump to “come and get me” after POTUS threatened him with arrest. But Pritzker said he thinks Trump will chicken out.

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