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Reposted by Mindy S

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 18h

Again, it is a full-blown federal felony crime for anyone in the White House or Executive Office of the President to order tax investigations into anyone.

And it's not just a crime to DO it, it's even a federal crime for an employee not to REPORT such an order to the Treasury Inspector General.

26 U.S. Code § 7217 - Prohibition on executive branch influence over taxpayer audits and other investigations
U.S. Code
Notes
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(a)Prohibition
It shall be unlawful for any applicable person to request, directly or indirectly, any officer or employee of the Internal Revenue Service to conduct or terminate an audit or other investigation of any particular taxpayer with respect to the tax liability of such taxpayer.

(b)Reporting requirement
Any officer or employee of the Internal Revenue Service receiving any request prohibited by subsection (a) shall report the receipt of such request to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.

(c)Exceptions
Subsection (a) shall not apply to any written request made—
(1)to an applicable person by or on behalf of the taxpayer and forwarded by such applicable person to the Internal Revenue Service;
(2)by an applicable person for disclosure of return or return information under section 6103 if such request is made in accordance with the requirements of such section; or
(3)by the Secretary of the Treasury as a consequence of the implementation of a change in tax policy.
(d)Penalty
Any person who willfully violates subsection (a) or fails to report under subsection (b) shall be punished upon conviction by a fine in any amount not exceeding $5,000, or imprisonment of not more than 5 years, or both, together with the costs of prosecution.

(e)Applicable person
For purposes of this section, the term “applicable person” means—
(1)the President, the Vice President, any employee of the executive office of the President, and any employee of the executive office of the Vice President; and
(2)any individual (other than the Attorney General of the United States) serving in a position specified in section 5312 of title 5, United States Code.

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Hunter @hunterub.bsky.social · 22h

There's literally no reason for Congress to exist if any random freak in the presidential orbit can nullify laws and seize federal funds. All of this is plainly illegal, but Mike Johnson leads the most corrupt Congress in US history (and by a wide margin.)

Reuters @reuters.com · 1d

White House budget director Vought plans to shut down CFPB within months, says it's no longer protecting consumers reut.rs/4qjMIyT

White House budget director Vought plans to shut down CFPB within months, says it's no longer protecting consumers

White House budget director Russell Vought said he wants to close the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and expects to do so within the next two to three months.

reut.rs

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Max Kennerly @maxkennerly.bsky.social · 21h

Feels quaint, almost cliché, to say this about a Trump action, but just for the record:

This is all illegal, the President can't simply disregard the laws passed and agencies created by Congress, and both Vought & Trump would be impeached if the Constitution or the rule of law mattered to the GOP.

Reuters @reuters.com · 1d

White House budget director Vought plans to shut down CFPB within months, says it's no longer protecting consumers reut.rs/4qjMIyT

White House budget director Vought plans to shut down CFPB within months, says it's no longer protecting consumers

White House budget director Russell Vought said he wants to close the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and expects to do so within the next two to three months.

reut.rs

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ElieNYC @elienyc.bsky.social · 1d

Republicans are also being largely silent during Mooppan's argument. They're bored with this now. They're made their decisions and think they know how to justify it.

Democrats are still trying to point out Roberts' BLATANT HYPOCRISY, but he's gone, folks. Roberts ain't never coming back.

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ElieNYC @elienyc.bsky.social · 1d

One of my only remaining joys is that every single time Amy Coney Barrett makes a stupid argument, Ketanji Brown Jackson gets a chance to follow up and illustrate her stupidity.
And this will happen again, and again, for the rest of Barrett's life.

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Old White Nepo Hat @kenwhite.bsky.social · 1d

/3 But a huge plurality, at least, of the modern GOP is of the opinion that noticing bigoted trash is more un-American and destructive than BEING bigoted trash: that dehumanizing fellow Americans based on immutable characteristics is morally superior to criticizing anyone for doing that.

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Mindy S @ontheseid.bsky.social · 1d

Empowered by Roberts immunity decision

George Conway 🇺🇸🚫👑🐸 @gtconway.bsky.social · 2d

That's twenty-seven flat-out murders. That's twenty-seven lives taken without even a semblance of a legal justification under domestic or international law.
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/14/u...

Mindy S @ontheseid.bsky.social · 1d

“The most ubiquitous form of American culture nowadays is not jazz programming going out on shortwave radio across Eurasia, but the social-media platforms that pump conspiracy theories, extremism, advertising, pornography, and spam into every corner of the globe.”

Anne Applebaum @anneapplebaum.bsky.social · 2d

"We always think about America’s postwar role in Europe as an act of great generosity, the defense of allies from Soviet aggression. But by putting democracy at the center of our international identity, we also helped strengthen our own political system"
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...

The Beacon of Democracy Goes Dark

For nearly 250 years, America promoted freedom and equality abroad, even when it failed to live up to those ideals itself. Not anymore.

www.theatlantic.com

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Peter @notalawyer.bsky.social · 2d

at this point it would be interesting journalism if someone could locate a Young Republican groupchat that was not full of overt Nazis

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Mindy S @ontheseid.bsky.social · 2d

I’m always surprised that others are surprised

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Mindy S @ontheseid.bsky.social · 2d

Imagine what you’d find in public high school group chats too

Politico @politico.com · 2d

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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Rachel Maddow @maddow.msnbc.com · 3d

oh. right.

www.washingtonpost.com/investigatio...

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Mehdi Hasan @mehdirhasan.bsky.social · 3d

* Over 20,000 Palestinians killed since January
* 100s starved to death, including kids
* Congress bypassed to send more & more bombs to Israel
* US citizens murdered in the West Bank

I hope this ceasefire holds & I am glad the hostages are free, but this is Trump’s *actual record* so far.

Matt Novak @paleofuture.bsky.social · 3d

Just in case the dramatically low Leni Riefenstahl-style angle was too subtle, they used a word from her most famous movie

Time magazine cover featuring a photo of Trump from a dramatically low angle

HIS
TRIUMPH
by ERIC CORTELLESSA
THE LEADER ISRAEL NEEDED
by EHUD BARAK
HOW GAZA HEALS

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bleary @bleary.off-the-records.com · 3d

If anyone needs me I will be in the museum, lying down next to the bog bodies.

Did people really memorize phone numbers before cell phones, or is that just a movie thing?
2? Questions
I was watching some old shows from the 90s and noticed people would just dial numbers from memory - like they'd call their friends or family without looking anything up.
Made me wonder if that was actually normal back then? Did people genuinely have all their important numbers memorized, or did most folks keep a little address book or written list nearby?

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Last Week Tonight with John Oliver @lastweektonight.com · 3d

Here’s last night’s story about Bari Weiss, CBS News, Paramount Skydance, and why the Upper West Side is a lot more than just “Seinfeld territory.” youtu.be/gieTx_P6INQ

Bari Weiss: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)

YouTube video by LastWeekTonight

youtu.be

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Rigorous, Fred-based Reporting @thefred.bsky.social · 3d

No, you don't gotta hand it to him for possibly getting the third Biden cease fire eight months late after tolerating a mass starvation campaign and demanding a little ethnic cleansing and enormous bribes as a treat, and only because Netanyahu surprise bombed the chief bribe facilitator.

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Thomas Zimmer @thomaszimmer.bsky.social · 4d

Sunday reading:

I wrote about the aggrieved extremist who is currently firing thousands of federal workers and ravaging state capacity based on conspiratorial nonsense - and about mainstream media’s infuriating tendency to sanitize Russell Vought and the regime he serves.

This week’s piece:

We need to talk about Russell Vought – But Properly

Why certain mainstream outlets insist on sanitizing Vought as a devout “small government” conservative – and what actually animates his war against pluralistic democracy

steady.page

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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 4d

really striking the degree to which not a single person working in the trump administration appears to be interested in serving the american people

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Zach Everson @zacheverson.com · 5d

“Parliament had turned over its constitutional authority to Hitler and thereby committed suicide, though its body lingered on in an embalmed state.”

Shirer, William L. The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich (p. 331)

Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 5d

“.. Inside the White House, top advisers joke that they are ruling Congress with an “iron fist,” according to people who have heard the comments. Steve Bannon, the influential Trump ally, likened Congress to the Duma, the Russian assembly that is largely ceremonial.”

www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

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Mindy S @ontheseid.bsky.social · 5d

The checks aren’t coming this week. My husband just got his “you got paid early” alert and his paycheck was 1/2 a normal check.

cait (and adonis) @cait.bsky.social · 5d

in my experience, one of the only things that wakes people up that Government Bad is when they personally stop getting their checks

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Shipwreck @shipwreck75.bsky.social · 6d

Sure seems weird that we are allowing a foreign military base on US soil….

From a country that is known to harbor and financially support multiple terror groups that want to harm America.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 6d

Hegseth: "I'm also proud that today we're signing a letter of acceptance to build a Qatari Emeri air force facility at the Mountain Home Airbase in Idaho."

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Mark Bray @mark-bray.bsky.social · 16d

I teach a history of antifascism course @ruhistorydept.bsky.social and figured I'd start an ongoing thread this semester to share some insights from course readings and recommend some great works on antifascism.

🧵

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Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 7d

The Rutgers TPUSA chapter — whose characterization of a historian there as a “outspoken, well-known antifa member” led to death threats and moving his family to Europe — think *other* people are being “blatantly defamatory.”

Not them, though. They’re doing politics the right way.

Rutgers TPUSA officers slam petition to shut down chapter, ‘Blatantly defamatory’

Alexander Di Filippo accuses Turning Point USA of inciting violence against Antifa handbook author Mark Bray.

www.foxnews.com

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Matthew Cebul @matthewcebul.bsky.social · 7d

Greene is doing something that Dems should want to emulate: intentionally pitting Trump against his most vile subordinates.

Example: Trump wants a budget deal? We'd love to, but we can't trust that you'll keep your word with Vought and Miller driving the bus. Fire them.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 7d

Marjorie Taylor Greene on polls showing Republicans are getting blamed for the shutdown: "I'm not putting the blame on the president. I'm actually putting the the blame on the Speaker and Leader Thune in the Senate. This should not be happening ... we control the House & Senate & have the WH."

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Cristian Farias @cristianfarias.com · 7d

This is wild, via @jmetr22b.bsky.social of the Chicago Tribune:

From U.S. District Chief Judge Virginia Kendall in the Northern District of Illinois:

“At no point did I, nor the Building Security Committee, authorize or request the National Guard’s assistance to secure the Dirksen Courthouse.”

Press release from federal court in Illinois:

Statement from Chief Judge Virginia M. Kendall

"Providing access to justice is at the heart of the Court's mission and critical for our democracy.
Maintaining access to the courthouse for anyone who seeks redress remains a top priority of the court. It is a core principle to promote our rule of law," said Chief Judge Virginia Kendall.

As the Chief District Court Judge in the Northern District of Illinois, I chair the Dirksen Courthouse Building Security Committee and work closely with the United States Marshals Service. During the past several weeks, I have received frequent updates on matters impacting the Court's operations to allow for proceedings to continue safely. Proceedings are and have been open to the public and the media.

The United States Marshals Service has jurisdiction over the interior and exterior security at the Dirksen Courthouse. While the Federal Protective Service has authority in most federal buildings, the United States Marshals Service has that primary responsibility at the Dirksen Courthouse. I trust and rely upon the men and women of the United States Marshals Service and the Court Security Officers to provide security at the Dirksen Courthouse; this includes the perimeter of the building. At no point did I, nor did the Building Security Committee, authorize or request the National Guard's assistance to secure the Dirksen Courthouse.
With my approval, additional security measures have been implemented to allow court operations to proceed, but those measures do not include the National Guard at the Dirksen Courthouse. The Courthouse remains open and accessible for all matters including hearings, jury trials, and naturalization ceremonies. The District Court Clerk's Office will be open during normal business hours, 8:30 am to 4:30 pm, and in-person proceedings will continue as scheduled by the assigned judge.

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