memeorandum: Trump administration fires members of cybersecurity review board in “horribly shortsighted” decision (Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai/TechCrunch)

2:05 PM ET, January 22, 2025

Top Items:

Robert Plummer / BBC:

Convicted US Capitol rioter turns down Trump pardon — One of the people who served jail time for taking part in the US Capitol riot four years ago has refused a pardon from President Donald Trump, saying: “We were wrong that day.” — Pamela Hemphill, who pleaded guilty and was sentenced …

Discussion: New York Daily News, Raw Story and RTÉ

Marc Caputo / Axios:

“F—k it: Release 'em all”: Why Trump embraced broad Jan. 6 pardons … - Trump vacillated during an internal debate over targeted clemency vs. a blanket decision according to two insiders. — But as Trump's team wrestled with the issue, and planned a shock-and-awe batch of executive orders Day 1 …

Discussion: The Hill, NPR, New York Times, Daily Mail, Raw Story, Alternet.org, The Guardian, The Independent, Mediaite, WINK News and New Republic

Ankush Khardori / Politico:

Trump May Come to Regret His Jan. 6 Pardons. Here's Why. — The potential for political backlash is real — now and in the future. — Even though President Donald Trump had vowed to deliver pardons to those who participated in the Jan. 6, 2021, siege of the Capitol, his sweeping clemency for roughly 1,500 people was stunning.

Discussion: CBS News, Mediaite, Just Security, Associated Press, The Times-Tribune, DNyuz, Raw Story, Wall Street Journal, NBC News, Salt Lake Tribune and The Free Press

Sareen Habeshian / Axios:

Police union that endorsed Trump blasts Jan. 6 pardons … - “Allowing those convicted of these crimes to be released early diminishes accountability and devalues the sacrifices made by courageous law enforcement officers and their families,” per the statement.

Discussion: HuffPost, New York Post, The Guardian, OutsideTheBeltway, New Republic, Townhall and Politico

Wall Street Journal:

Trump Pardons the Jan. 6 Cop Beaters — Law and order? Back the blue? What happened to that GOP? — Republicans are busy denouncing President Biden's pre-emptive pardons for his family and political allies, and deservedly so. But then it's a shame you don't hear many, if any …

Discussion: HuffPost, The Hill, Washington Post, Mediaite, Raw Story and New Republic

Randall Eliason / Sidebars:
The January 6 Pardons

Discussion: The Hill, NBC News, Associated Press, Daily Kos, Politico and DNyuz

Ashleigh Fields / The Hill:
Raskin: Pardoned Jan. 6 rioters ‘a reserve army of political foot soldiers’

Discussion: The Independent

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Trump's blanket Jan. 6 pardons stun Republicans on Capitol Hill

Discussion: ABC News, The Bulwark, The Dean's Report, NPR, New York Times, Raw Story, DNyuz, Alternet.org, Mediaite, Washington Examiner, CNN, CBS News and NBC News

NBC News:
Trump's last-minute decision to go big on Jan. 6 pardons took many allies by surprise

Discussion: Alternet.org, DNyuz and Raw Story

Seb Starcevic / Politico:

Trump launches savage attack on bishop who asked for ‘mercy’ for minorities — U.S. president calls the clergywoman a “Radical Left hard line Trump hater,” “ungracious,” “nasty” and “not compelling or smart.” — U.S. President Donald Trump hit out Wednesday at a bishop who directly called …

Discussion: The Hill, Associated Press, CBS News, The Guardian, Daily Caller News Foundation, RedState, Deseret News, The Independent and New Republic

Janna Brancolini / The Daily Beast:

Donald Trump Demands Apology From Bishop Who Hurt His Feelings — Right Rev. Mariann Budde had appealed to Trump to have mercy and compassion during an interfaith service.

Discussion: Daily Mail, alicublog, TMZ.com, Alternet.org, RedState and Mediaite

Alex Gangitano / The Hill:
Trump demands apology, criticizes bishop's prayer service remarks

Reuters:
Trump threatens Russia, others with sanctions if Ukraine deal not reached

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Axios, Politico, Raw Story, Townhall and The Guardian

Nikki McCann Ramirez / Rolling Stone:
Trump Demands Bishop Apologize for Asking for Mercy for the Marginalized

Discussion: The Hill, Fox News, The Guardian, Mother Jones, Global News, Deadline, New Republic, RTÉ, Daily Caller News Foundation, New York Post, The Independent, One America News Network, New York Times and Daily Kos

New Republic:
Transcript: Trump Seethes as Bishop Calls Him Out in Heartfelt Plea

Discussion: Townhall, Fox News and The Guardian

Associated Press:

Trump administration directs all federal diversity, equity and inclusion staff be put on leave — President Donald Trump 's administration moved Tuesday to end affirmative action in federal contracting and directed that all federal diversity, equity and inclusion staff be put on paid leave and eventually be laid off.

Axios:

Trump rolls back bedrock civil rights measure in sweeping anti-DEI push … - LBJ's order gave the Secretary of Labor the authority to ensure equal opportunity for people of color and women in federal contractors' recruitment, hiring, training and other employment practices.

Discussion: USA Today, Raw Story, Do No Harm and New Republic

The White House:

Ending Illegal Discrimination And Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity — By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered: — Section 1. Purpose. Longstanding Federal civil-rights laws protect individual Americans …

Discussion: Daily Caller News Foundation, DNyuz, USA Today, Do No Harm and JONATHAN TURLEY

Associated Press:

Justice Department directs prosecutors to probe local efforts to obstruct immigration enforcement — The Justice Department is directing its federal prosecutors to investigate any state or local officials who stand in the way of beefed-up enforcement of immigration laws under the Trump administration …

Discussion: The Hill, Axios, NBC News, HotAir, Reuters, Ace of Spades HQ, Orange County Register, Daily Caller News Foundation, RedState, Baltimore Sun, The Guardian, New Republic, Bloomberg, IJR and Fox News

Washington Post:
Justice Department says it will prosecute local officials over immigration enforcement

Discussion: Politico and USA Today

Punchbowl News:
1/22/25 ☀️ AM: — House Democrats privately squirm about their leadership and message

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, Wall Street Journal and Washington Examiner

Brent D. Griffiths / Business Insider:
Trump's Justice Department is looking to crack down on local authorities that won't play ball on immigration

Discussion: Washington Examiner, USA Today, Breitbart, CBS News, Townhall, The Gateway Pundit and CNN

Camilo Montoya-Galvez / CBS News:

U.S. border agents told to summarily deport migrants without asylum hearings under Trump edict — Washington — Citing President Trump's extraordinary move to close the American asylum system, U.S. border agents have been instructed to summarily deport migrants crossing into the country …

Discussion: Reuters and DNyuz

CNN:

US military ordering thousands more troops to southern border — Thousands of additional active duty US troops are being ordered to the southern US border with Mexico, just two days after President Donald Trump mandated that the US military step up its presence there, according to officials familiar with the matter.

Discussion: Reuters, The Hill, Bloomberg.com, Semafor, The Independent and The Post Millennial

Amanda Marcotte / Salon:

Elon Musk's salute falls flat: Why far-right trolling isn't working this time around — As Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said to defenders of Musk's provocation, “People can officially stop listening to you” — One thing that's easy enough to see about Elon Musk's infamous hand gesture …

Discussion: The Hill, Bloomberg, Raw Story and DNyuz

Kate Connolly / The Guardian:
‘The gesture speaks for itself’: Germans respond to Musk's apparent Nazi salute

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Advocate, The Hill, PinkNews, Music Ally, DNyuz, Salon, The Forward, Twitchy and The New European, more at Mediagazer »

Megan McArdle / Washington Post:
The missing context from the Elon Musk salute

Discussion: Advocate, The Gateway Pundit, Twitchy and DNyuz

Haley Byrd Wilt / NOTUS:

Republican Senators Seem Willing to Endure the ‘Challenge’ of Trump's Proposed Tariffs — Trump suggested Monday he'd put 25% tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico, two of the U.S's top trading partners. — Copy — President Donald Trump is getting closer to blowing up the trade agreement …

Discussion: CNN, Alternet.org and CBS News

Jeff Cox / CNBC:
Jamie Dimon says Trump's tariff policy is positive for national security so people should ‘get over it’

Discussion: New York Times, Bloomberg, The Hill, NBC News, Fox Business, Washington Times, Alternet.org and New York Post

Reese Gorman / NOTUS:
Trump Plans to Go to House Republican Retreat Next Week

Discussion: Tax Foundation, Washington Times, USA Today, Nebraska Examiner and Axios

Washington Post:

Trump officials pause health agencies' communications, citing review — The agencies are charged with making decisions that touch the lives of every American and are the source of crucial information to health-care providers. — The Trump administration has instructed federal health agencies …

Discussion: MeidasTouch News, Washington Examiner, The Post Millennial, Daily Kos, Daily Mail and Axios

CNN:
Trump administration directs federal health agencies to pause communications

Discussion: STAT and Reuters

Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai / TechCrunch:

Trump administration fires members of cybersecurity review board in “horribly shortsighted” decision — On Tuesday, a day after Donald Trump's inauguration as the new U.S. president, the Department of Homeland Security told members of several advisory committees that they were effectively fired.

Discussion: Reuters, The Daily Caller and Defense One, more at Techmeme »

Jenna McLaughlin / NPR:

Trump pardons Ross Ulbricht, creator of the Silk Road dark web marketplace — President Trump fulfilled a campaign promise to Libertarian supporters on his second day back in office by pardoning the former creator and owner of an underground e-commerce website known for drug trafficking.

New York Times:
Trump Pardons Creator of Silk Road Drug Marketplace

Mike Catalini / Associated Press:

22 states sue to stop Trump's order blocking birthright citizenship — Attorneys general from 22 states sued Tuesday to block President Donald Trump's move to end a century-old immigration practice known as birthright citizenship guaranteeing that U.S.-born children are citizens regardless of their parents' status.

Chris Geidner / Law Dork:
Multiple lawsuits challenge Trump's order restricting birthright citizenship

Discussion: Scripps News, American Greatness, Washington Times and Al Jazeera

The Contrarian:

Trump Actions to Undermine Drug Prices Will Cost Medicare Recipients Money — One of the nearly 200 executive orders that newly inaugurated President Donald Trump signed on Tuesday reversed several critical policies that President Biden had put in place. Among those was lowering drug costs for Americans.

Discussion: KOLO-TV and Newsweek

Bloomberg:

The Second Trump Presidency, Brought to You by YouTubers — Podcasters including Joe Rogan, Theo Von and Logan Paul are mobilizing America's men to lean right. An analysis of over 2,000 videos shows how. — As Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th US President on Monday …

Piper Hutchinson / Louisiana Illuminator:

LSU law professor removed from classes amid investigation into alleged political comments — A car passes in front of the LSU Law Center on Monday, March 20, 2023, on Highland Road in Baton Rouge, La. (Matthew Perschall for Louisiana Illuminator) — An LSU law school professor has been removed …

Andy Craig / The UnPopulist:

A Liberalism Without Apology or Fear... Donald Trump built his political brand on the idea that he is an outsider to Washington who is singularly suited to draining “the swamp,” crushing “the deep state,” dismantling “the uniparty,” and burning down “the establishment.”

Oliver Darcy / Status:

Thompson's Trump Talk — Ahead of Inauguration Day, CNN chief Mark Thompson convened his top journalists for a meeting in which he provided guidance about how he wanted the affair covered. … Staff meetings before major news events are typical for the network.