newrepublic.com
/February 17, 2025/11:24 a.m. ETElon Musks DOGE Wants to Seize Your Private Tax DataThe Internal Revenue Service is the next agency in the tech mogul's crosshairs. Samuel Corum/Getty ImagesElon Musk and DOGE are trying to get their hands on some of the most sensitive information the Internal Revenue Service has to offer: data on every single taxpayer, business, and nonprofit, according to The Washington Post. The request has put IRS officials on high alert. The Trump administration sent the IRS a memorandum of understanding that would allow DOGE employees to infiltrate IRS programs like the Integrated Data Retrieval System, or IRDS, which gives IRS employees access to bank information and personal identification numbers. DOGE also plans to send its own software engineer, Gavin Kliger, to the IRS for 120 days to provide engineering assistance and IT modernization consulting. The memo requires Kliger to keep tax return information confidential and to destroy the information he collects once his 120 days are up. He is expected to be given access imminently, an unnamed source told CNN. The information that the IRS has is incredibly personal, former internal IRS watchdog Nina Olson told the Post. Someone with access to it could use it and make it public in a way, or do something with it, or share it with someone else who shares it with someone else, and your rights get violated. While the IRSs systems could certainly use upgrades, allowing private citizens full-fledged access to millions of Americans sensitive financial information does not seem like the safest or most ethical way of going about it, especially without congressional authorization. Editor's Pick: Elon Musk Leads Americas Top Tax-Dodging CEOsMost Recent Post/February 17, 2025/10:46 a.m. ETElon Musk Threatens to Imprison Entire News AgencyPresident Elon Musk has set his sights on a new target.Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images/The New York TimesElon Musk is pushing for a massive crackdown on free speech, by taking up the rusty rapier that is Donald Trumps pitiable crusade against CBSs 60 Minutes. The president has been fuming about Kamala Harriss interview on CBSs 60 Minutes since it first aired in September, and claimed that the show had defrauded the public by airing different portions of Harriss answer to a question about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on different days. A transcript of the original interview released by the Federal Communications Commission earlier this month found that both answers were part of the same extended response. 60 Minutes are the biggest liars in the world! Musk wrote in a post on X Sunday. They engaged in deliberate deception to interfere with the last election. They deserve a long prison sentence.Musks fascist threat to imprison journalists was a deflection written in response to a post from 60 MinutesPresident Trump says USAID is rife with fraud. But Andrew Natsios, a Republican former administrator of USAID, calls that utter nonsense. Natsios says USAID is the most accountable aid agency in the world, read the post from 60 Minutes. Musks outrageous threat feels all the more prescient after the Trump administration last week moved to indefinitely ban the Associated Press from the White House and Air Force One, over its refusal to use the fake name Trump came up with for the Gulf of Mexico. More on this administration:Musk and Trump Are Cutting Popular Programs. Thats Deliberate.Most Recent Post/February 17, 2025/10:21 a.m. ETWashington Post Caves to Elon Musk and Scraps AdThe newspaper was all set to run a print ad critical of the tech mogul, but then balked. JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty ImagesThe Washington Postowned by billionaire and Trump inauguration attendee Jeff Bezosspiked a print ad critical of Elon Musk and his increased influence on the federal government. The watchdog group Common Cause, in cooperation with the Southern Poverty Law Center, had agreed to pay the Post $115,000 for one ad placement on the front and back of Tuesdays print edition, and another similar full-page ad on the inside of the paper. The ad shows a laughing Musk positioned over the White House with the question Whos running this country: Donald Trump or Elon Musk? in large bold letters. Since day one, Elon has created chaos and confusion and put our livelihoods at risk. And he is accountable to no one but himself, smaller print below reads. The Constitution only allows for one president at a time. Call your senators and tell them its time Donald Trump fire Elon Musk. The ad includes a link and QR code for FireMusk.org at the bottom of the page. It was approved by the Post, all set to be delivered to subscribers at the Capitol, Pentagon, and the White House. We submitted the artwork back on Tuesday of last week. Im assuming it went through a legal department or other kind of review. They said, You can have something inside the paper but you cant do the wrap. We said thanks, no thanks because we had a lot of questions, Common Cause President Virginia Kase Solomn said to The Hill on Sunday. On Friday, Common Cause learned the wrap ad would not be running, according to Kase Solomn. Is it because were critical of whats happening with Elon Musk? Is it only ok to run things in the Post now that wont anger the president or wont have him calling Jeff Bezos asking why this was allowed? Kase Solomn asked. A spokesperson for the Post declined to comment to The Hill, citing the newspapers policy of keeping silent about internal decisions about specific advertising campaigns. Unfortunately more on Elon Musk:Musk and Trump Are Cutting Popular Programs. Thats Deliberate.Most Recent Post/February 17, 2025/9:21 a.m. ETTrump Launches Mass Purge of Air Traffic Control StaffThe Trump administration has kicked off a firing spree of air traffic controllers, despite four deadly plane crashes on his watch.Andrew Harnik/Getty ImagesDonald Trumps administration has begun indiscriminately culling scores of people who keep air travel safe, despite four deadly plane crashes during his first two months as president. In a statement published Saturday, David Spero, the president of the AFL-CIOs Professional Aviation Safety Specialists (PASS), said that several hundred employees represented by the organization had been fired without cause nor based on performance or conduct.The notices, sent from an exec order Microsoft email address, began arriving Friday evening, according to the statement. It is possible that others will be notified over the weekend or literally barred from entering FAA buildings on Tuesday, February 18, Spero said in the statement These are not nameless, faceless bureaucrats. They are our family, friends and neighbors. They contribute to our communities. Many military veterans are among them. It is shameful to toss aside dedicated public servants who have chosen to work on behalf of their fellow Americans, Spero said. Last month, Trump baselessly blamed the Federal Aviation Administrations diversity, equity, and inclusion policies for the deadly incident that killed 67 people aboard two aircrafts at the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. The FAA shortly after released a statement indicating that the air traffic control tower might have been understaffed at the time of the collision. Still, the Trump administration seems intent to assert that excess is the issue. So far in 2025, there have been four deadly plane crashes in the United States. Before then, the most recent deadly commercial aircraft accident was in 2009. Staffing decisions should be based on an individual agencys mission-critical needs, said Spero, according to CNN. To do otherwise is dangerous when it comes to public safety. And it is especially unconscionable in the aftermath of three deadly aircraft accidents in the past month.The move is part of a wider push from the Trump administration targeting probationary workers in the federal government, who have been employed for less than a year, and therefore lack the job protections of their colleagues. While they are the easiest to get rid of, they will undoubtedly prove difficult to live without. More on wtf Trump is doing:Musk and Trump Are Cutting Popular Programs. Thats Deliberate.Most Recent Post/February 14, 2025/4:56 p.m. ETElon Musks DOGE Shares Classified U.S. Intel With Entire WorldElon Musks minions posted classified data on their website for anyone to see.JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty ImagesElon Musks overhaul of the federal government seems to have hit a snag: His Department of Government Efficiency posted classified information on its website.Musks team posted information about the staff and size of a U.S. intelligence agency on their new website, HuffPost reports. DOGE has been criticized for the level of access into sensitive government departments, including the Treasury Department, but how they got the classified information isnt clear.DOGE.gov was launched Wednesday claiming to give Americans the ability to trace your tax dollars through the bureaucracy. The feature allows users the ability to see data from all federal offices and agencies including head counts, budgets, and the average age of staff. But, the website was supposed to exclude data from U.S. intelligence agencies, according to the fine print at the bottom of its main page.The young whiz kids at DOGE appear to have forgotten that part and included information about the National Reconnaissance Office, which is tasked with creating and maintaining satellites for U.S. intelligence. Much of the agencys activities, including its budget and head count, are classified and arent supposed to be available to the public. Plus, how did Musks team get access to that information, anyway? Does it have something to do with Musks company SpaceX having a $1.8 billion contract to build satellites for the NRO?Members of the intelligence community would like to know the answer to these questions. One Defense Intelligence Agency employee told HuffPost anonymously that DOGE just posted secret [Not Releasable to Foreign Nationals] info on their website about [intelligence community] headcount, so currently people are scrambling to check if their info has been accessed.While the NRO is the only intelligence agency that DOGE appears to have exposed, this incident doesnt speak well of the pseudo-agencys security procedures. The website has already been hacked by Thursday evening thanks to coding vulnerabilities. And since DOGE has gotten into all kinds of sensitive data, every American could be at risk. In other Trump team disastersTrumps A.G. Just Did Something So Corrupt She Should Be Fired AlreadyMost Recent Post/February 14, 2025/4:32 p.m. ETRFK Jr. Just Kneecapped the CDC on His First DayThe purging of federal workers continues.Andrew Harnik/Getty ImagesHours after Robert F. Kennedy Jr. pledged that the Department of Health and Human Services would not undergo a staff purge, it did.The Trump administration laid off half of its Epidemic Intelligence Service, otherwise known as the Disease Detectives. The lay off affected 1,260 staff, reported NBC Newss Lewis Kamb.Top-ranking officials with the CDC, the HHS subagency that oversees the program, told CBS News that the cuts would have a devastating effect on the countrys ability to assess blooming diseases. They are just some of the thousands of probationary workers taking a hit as Elon Musks DOGE combs the federal government for possible programs to slash.The country is less safe, Dr. Anne Schuchat, an alumna of the disease research program, told CBS. These are the deployable assets critical for investigating new threats, from anthrax to Zika.Many staffers that go through the program serve on the frontlines of public health responses before later rising through the ranks of the CDC. Another health official observed to the news outlet that many of the fired staffers were early career professionals who had been trained by the agency.Now their dream is canceled, the unidentified official said.Kennedy was confirmed by the Senate on Thursday. In an interview with Fox News after he was sworn in, Kennedy pledged that employees who work in service of public health had nothing to worry about under his tenure fronting Americas health policy.If youve been involved in good science, youve got nothing to worry about, Kennedy said. If you care about public health, youve got nothing to worry about.Kennedys role as secretary of HHS will have him oversee a budget of nearly $2 trillion and a staff of 90,000 federal employees, as well as hand him the reins of other critical health programs under the fold of HHS, such as the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.The 71-year-olds Make America Healthy Again agenda has not been laid out in specifics, but Kennedy has vaguely promised to tackle the nations rising obesity rates and SNAP benefits (formerly known as food stamps), and has claimed he will work the Department of Agriculture to eradicate ultra-processed foods from the American market.Read more about RFK Jr.s plan:What Trump Is Really up to With His Make America Healthy Again OrderMost Recent Post/February 14, 2025/3:53 p.m. ETDOJ Hands Down Ultimatum as Eric Adams Showdown Hits Boiling PointTrumps Justice Department has dramatically escalated its war with prosecutors in attempt to get the charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams dropped.Michael M. Santiago/Getty ImagesDonald Trumps attempt to drop corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams keeps escalating, with seven federal prosecutors resigning rather than carry out the order.Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove gathered the entire Public Integrity Section of the Justice Department, which handles all federal public corruption cases, in one room on Friday and threatened to fire those unwilling to dismiss the case against Adams, according to Reuters. He gave them one hour to come up with a name to file the motion, after which one prosecutor did under duress.This is not a capitulation-this is a coercion, a source familiar with the meeting told Reuters. That person, in my mind, is a hero.Bove had moved the case to the Public Integrity Section from the Southern District of New York after its acting U.S. attorney, Danielle Sassoon, resigned Thursday rather than drop the charges. After her, the acting head of the section, John Keller, also resigned. Then, the case was sent to the DOJs criminal division, which handles all federal criminal cases. Its acting head, Kevin Driscoll, refused to drop the case, and handed in his walking papers.That wasnt the end, though. Three other deputies in the Public Integrity SectionRob Heberle, Jenn Clarke, and Marco Palmierialso quit their jobs Thursday. Then, the lead prosecutor on Adamss case, Assistant U.S. Attorney Hagan Scotten, also resigned and ripped the order in his resignation letter to Bove, who seems to have been tasked with carrying out Trumps instructions.On Thursday, it seemed as though Trumps DOJ was repeating the infamous Saturday Night Massacre of the Nixon administration, when the top two leaders of the DOJ resigned rather than file special counsel Archibald Cox on President Nixons orders. But the case of Trump wanting to drop charges against Adams in exchange for cooperation on his cruel immigration policy has far surpassed the 1973 incident, with more than triple the number of DOJ resignations taking place.These resignations show a commitment by these prosecutors to resist appearing corrupt, and to stand by their strong case against Adams, who has cozied up to the president in the last few months to save his own skin. Will other government officials also fight against Trumps shameful actions? More on this obvious quid pro quo:Read This Powerful Resignation Letter Over Eric Adamss ChargesMost Recent Post/February 14, 2025/2:28 p.m. ETTrumps White House Ramps up Its Dangerous War on the APThe AP has held firm against using the term Gulf of America.Sheldon Cooper/SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty ImagesThe Trump administration on Friday booted the Associated Press from the Oval Office and Air Force One, citing the newswires choice to continue referring to the recently renamed Gulf of America as the Gulf of Mexico.The Associated Press continues to ignore the lawful geographic name change of the Gulf of America, wrote White House deputy chief of staff Taylor Budowich on X. This decision is not just divisive, but it also exposes the Associated Press commitment to misinformation. Moments after Donald Trump was inaugurated, the newly minted president signed an executive order officially renaming the ocean basin to linguistically claim it as Americas.While their right to irresponsible and dishonest reporting is protected by the First Amendment, it does not ensure their privilege of unfettered access to limited spaces, like the Oval Office and Air Force One, Budowich said. Going forward, that space will now be opened up to the many thousands of reporters who have been barred from covering these intimate areas of the administration. Associate[d] Press journalists and photographers will retain their credentials to the White House complex.The Associated Pressan international publicationhas defended its decision to defy the Trump administrations guidance on renaming the body of water by citing its global audience. The wire pointed to its style change for Mount Denali to Mount McKinley under the rationale that Trump has singular authority as the head of the federal government to rename national landmarks.The Gulf of Mexico has carried that name for more than 400 years. The Associated Press will refer to it by its original name while acknowledging the new name Trump has chosen, the outlet said in a statement. As a global news agency that disseminates news around the world, the AP must ensure that place names and geography are easily recognizable to all audiences.The Associated Press will use the official name change to Mount McKinley. The area lies solely in the United States and as president, Trump has the authority to change federal geographical names within the country.Read more about the gulf:Mexicos President Threatens to Sue Google for Bowing to TrumpMost Recent Post/February 14, 2025/2:14 p.m. ETRead This Powerful Resignation Letter Over Eric Adamss ChargesAssistant U.S. Attorney Hagan Scotten didnt hold back.John Lamparski/Getty ImagesThe lead prosecutor assigned to New York City Mayor Eric Adamss public corruption case resigned Friday, in a mic-drop statement slamming the Department of Justice official who thought hed be stupid enough to drop the charges at Donald Trumps behest.Assistant U.S. Attorney Hagan Scotten wrote a scathing letter to acting U.S. Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove, who earlier this week had ordered federal prosecutors in New York to drop the charges against Adams alleging he had sought out and taken bribes from the Turkish government. Bove argued that the prosecution would interfere with Adamss ability to execute Trumps crackdown on immigration. It seems the DOJ sought to remove the charges to ensure Adamss compliance with enacting Trumps mass deportations in his sanctuary city.Scotten, a graduate of Harvard Law School who was awarded two bronze stars for his service as a troop commander in Iraq, made sure to set the record straight, telling Bove that he was nobodys fool. I have received correspondence indicating that I refused your order to move to dismiss the indictment against Eric Adams without prejudice, subject to certain conditions, including the express possibility of reinstatement of the indictment. That is not exactly correct, Scotten wrote.The U.S. Attorney, Danielle R. Sassoon, never asked me to file such a motion, and I therefore never had an opportunity to refuse. But I am entirely in agreement with her decision not to do so, he wrote. Sassoon, a Trump appointee with a solid conservative record, joined a cascade of resignations Thursday over the order to drop the charges. She revealed that Adamss lawyers had requested a quid pro quo agreement and that her office had been planning to bring forward a superseding indictment against Adams. There is a tradition in public service of resigning in a last-ditch effort to head off a serious mistake. Some will view the mistake you are committing here in the light of their generally negative views of the new Administration. I do not share those views, Scotten continued. I can even understand how a Chief Executive whose background is in business and politics might see the contemplated dismissal-with-leverage as a good, if distasteful, deal. But any assistant U.S. attorney would know that our laws and traditions do not allow using the prosecutorial power to influence other citizens, much less elected officials, in this way.If no lawyer within earshot of the President is willing to give him that advice, then I expect you will eventually find someone who is enough of a fool, or enough of a coward, to file your motion. But it was never going to be me, Scotten concluded. Read his full letter here.Read more about Eric Adams:Trumps Border Czar Openly Threatens Eric Adams Over Dropped ChargesMost Recent Post/February 14, 2025/1:36 p.m. ETJudge Who Made Life Hell for Trump Will Oversee Case on Elon MuskA major lawsuit against Elon Musk just got assigned to his new nightmare: Judge Tanya Chutkan.Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg/Getty ImagesA major lawsuit to end Elon Musks takeover of the federal government has landed before one of Donald Trumps least favorite judges.Judge Tanya Chutkan, who presided over Trumps federal election interference case, was assigned the federal lawsuit filed by 14 states against the president and Musk, attacking the so-called Department of Government Efficiencys authority.Chutkan gained the national spotlight as she refused to accept arguments from Trumps legal team at nearly every step in the January 6 case. She infuriated Trump when she placed a gag order on him in October 2023 and said that his presidential candidacy did not give him carte blanche to vilify public servants who are simply doing their job. Trump lashed out at the judge, calling her the most evil person as she seemed unwilling to bend to the Supreme Courts immunity ruling.Now Chutkan will preside over a pivotal lawsuit that will determine the future of the U.S. government and the second Trump administration. The suit directly attacks Musk as a 21st century tech baron, claiming that the scope and reach of his executive authority appear unprecedented in U.S. history.His power includes, at least, the authority to cease the payment of congressionally approved funds, access sensitive and confidential data across government agencies, cut off systems access to federal employees and contractors at will, and take over and dismantle entire independent federal agencies, the lawsuit states.Trump is not likely to be happy with Chutkan being assigned the case but so far has not mentioned her on his Truth Social account, as of this writing. Likewise, Elon Musk hasnt posted on X. But its only a matter of time, considering that several MAGA personalities, such as Laura Loomer, are already attacking her. The right will soon be on the attack, led by the president and Musk, escalating their attempts to undermine the federal judiciary and constitutional separation of powers. View More Posts
