memeorandum: Trump administration contends it has no duty to return illegally deported man to US (Politico)

11:10 AM ET, April 14, 2025

Top Items:

Suspect in arson at Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro's residence planned to beat him, documents say — A man who authorities said scaled an iron security fence in the middle of the night, eluded police and broke into the Pennsylvania governor's mansion where he set a fire had planned to beat …

Discussion: The Philadelphia Inquirer, Raw Story, CBS News, Bucks County Courier Times, NPR, New York Daily News, The Hill, The Post Millennial, TMZ.com, Spotlight PA, New York Post, Fox News, Fortune, Associated Press, WHDH-TV, Delaware County Times, Twitchy and Bloomberg

Yasmeen Hamadeh / The Daily Beast:

Josh Shapiro's Firebombed House Revealed in New Inside Pics — SCORCHED EARTH — Photos show the horrific aftermath after an alleged 38-year-old arsonist set fire to the Pennsylvania governor's home. — New photos have been released capturing the horrific aftermath of a suspected arson attack …

Discussion: Fox News, FOX 35 Orlando, Spotlight PA, New York Post, Hollywood Life, The Daily Wire, Breitbart, CrossRoadsToday.com, KRDO and Rolling Stone

The Philadelphia Inquirer:
Harrisburg man to be charged with attempted murder for setting fire to Gov. Josh Shapiro's Harrisburg residence

Discussion: Fox News, Washington Post, CBS News, The Western Journal, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, New York Post, RedState, KDFX-TV, Townhall, The Gateway Pundit, Daily Mail, Washington Examiner, New York Magazine, Associated Press, Reuters and Mediaite

CNN:
Suspect arrested after arson at Pennsylvania governor's house forced Shapiro and family to evacuate

NBC News:
Suspect in custody after overnight fire at Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro's residence

Discussion: USA Today, New York Post, Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Forward, The Hill, The Dispatch, Mock Paper Scissors, Raw Story, CBS News, The Gateway Pundit, The Independent, Associated Press, New York Daily News, Fox News and Washington Examiner

Politico:

Trump administration contends it has no duty to return illegally deported man to US — The administration's position suggests officials do not view the Supreme Court's order as compelling them to seek Abrego Garcia's return. — The Trump administration insisted Sunday that it has no legal obligation …

Discussion: Rolling Stone, National Review and RedState

Heather Cox Richardson / Letters from an American:

This evening, lawyers for the Department of Justice told a federal court that the administration does not believe it has a legal obligation to return Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia to the United States, despite a court order to do so. — The 29-year-old Abrego Garcia came to the U.S. about 2011 …

Discussion: Reuters, KDFX-TV and Washington Times

Jonathan V. Last / The Bulwark:

Bukele, Abrego Garcia, and Red Lines — An emergency Sunday Triad, because I'm concerned that people don't appreciate how important this week will be for American democracy and our constitutional order. — Buckle up. — Join now — 1. Escape — If you were Chris Krebs, would you flee the country?

Discussion: NPR

Alexandra Hutzler / ABC News:

Trump hosts El Salvador's Bukele amid deportation controversy — Questions remain about a migrant wrongfully deported to a Salvadoran prison. — El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele delivers a speech during the inauguration of the Key Institute, a private institution of higher education specializing …

Discussion: CBS News, Washington Examiner, The Hill, Townhall, Axios, The Gateway Pundit, El País, WSVN-TV and WHDH-TV

Steve Vladeck / One First:
142. Five Questions About Domestic Use of the Military

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit

Zolan Kanno-Youngs / New York Times:
Trump to Meet President of El Salvador, Where Deportees Face Prison

Discussion: Scripps News, USA Today, Semafor, The Daily Wire, The Guardian, Reuters and Washington Examiner

Alan Feuer / New York Times:
U.S. Renews Opposition to Bringing Back Maryland Man Wrongly Deported to El Salvador

Discussion: Baltimore Sun, Bloomberg and USA Today

Tara Suter / The Hill:
Rubio says another 10 people have been sent to El Salvador

Discussion: New York Times, NPR, Bloomberg, Reuters, New York Post and Washington Examiner

John Hudson / Washington Post:

No evidence linking Tufts student to antisemitism or terrorism, State Dept. office found — An internal memo, prepared days before Rumeysa Ozturk was detained by ICE agents, raises doubts about the Trump administration's claims that she supports Hamas. — Just now

Discussion: CBS News, No More Mister Nice Blog, KDFX-TV and Crooks and Liars

Andy Bounds / Financial Times:

EU issues US-bound staff with burner phones over spying fears — European Commission officials heading to IMF and World Bank spring meetings advised to travel with basic devices — The European Commission is issuing burner phones and basic laptops to some US-bound staff to avoid the risk of espionage …

Wall Street Journal:

Trump's $1 Billion Law Firm Deals Are the Work of His Personal Lawyer — Boris Epshteyn, who doesn't work for the government, has negotiated with a series of law firms to cajole them into entering deals — President Trump has reached around $1 billion in deals with the country's top law firms …

Discussion: NPR and Raw Story

New Republic:

Transcript: Trump Henchwoman Alina Habba's Vile New Threat is Ominous — The following is a lightly edited transcript of the April 14 episode of the Daily Blast podcast. Listen to it here. — Greg Sargent: This is The Daily Blast from The New Republic, produced and presented by the DSR network.

Kevin Breuninger / CNBC:

Trump aide Hassett teases ‘amazing’ tariff deal offers, says recession ‘100% not’ happening … National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett said Monday that “more than 10” countries have made “very good, amazing” trade deal offers to the United States after President Donald Trump imposed steep tariffs on imports from many nations.

Discussion: Bloomberg, Washington Examiner, UPI and The Daily Wire

Wall Street Journal:
Trump's Exceptional Tariff Weekend

Discussion: CBS News, Associated Press, Reason, FOX 35 Orlando, NPR, New York Times, Bloomberg, The Guardian, The Hill, Raw Story, Semafor, Mother Jones, Washington Times, Reuters, The Gateway Pundit and KRDO, more at Techmeme »

Luke Garrett / NPR:
Trump mulls semiconductor levies after lifting reciprocal tariffs on electronics

David Bauder / Associated Press:

President Trump says CBS and ‘60 Minutes’ should ‘pay a big price’ for going after him — President Donald Trump bitterly attacked “60 Minutes” shortly after the CBS newsmagazine broadcast stories on Ukraine and Greenland on Sunday, saying the network was out of control and should “pay a big price” for going after him.

Discussion: Deadline, New York Post, Fortune, The Gateway Pundit, Variety, Daily Mail, TV Insider, Washington Examiner, Raw Story and CBS News, more at Mediagazer »

Scott Pelley / CBS News:
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy: The 2025 60 Minutes Interview transcript

Discussion: The Hill, Politico, BBC, RedState, The Independent, Mediaite, The Kyiv Independent, Axios, Fox News and CNN

Paul Krugman:

Democrats Shouldn't Support Tariffs — Don't get sucked in by Trump's revenge mania — Donald Trump's tariffs are bad economics. They're also bad politics. I'm not an expert on issue polling, but public opposition to the Trump tariffs looks extraordinary.

Discussion: The Hill, New Jersey Online and The Daily Wire

Peter Nicholas / NBC News:
Chaos, confusion and reversals: The story of Trump's second term so far

Discussion: Raw Story

CNN:

Ex-January 6 prosecutors urge attorney disciplinary board to investigate Trump's controversial pick to be DC's top prosecutor — Five former prosecutors who worked on criminal cases stemming from the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol are urging the disciplinary office governing lawyers in Washington …

Discussion: Raw Story and The Hill

Wall Street Journal:
Trump Administration Retreats From White-Collar Criminal Enforcement

Discussion: The Dispatch

Anne Applebaum / The Atlantic:

The Kleptocracy Presidency — Under Trump, conflicts of interest are just part of the system. — as the stock markets crashed on Friday, April 4, Donald Trump left Washington, D.C. He did not go to New York to consult with Wall Street. He did not go to Dover, Delaware …

Financial Times:

Xi Jinping warns ‘no winners’ from Trump trade war as he heads to Vietnam — Chinese leader seeks to strengthen ties with export-dependent economies facing high US levies — Xi Jinping has warned that US protectionism will “lead nowhere” as the Chinese leader embarked on a tour of Vietnam …

Discussion: New York Times, Associated Press, KDFX-TV, Fortune, Axios, Bloomberg, Reuters, Semafor and Fox Business

Reuters:
China, Vietnam sign agreements on supply chains, railway cooperation

Discussion: Bloomberg, Xinhua, The Diplomat and New York Times

BBC:

Mario Vargas Llosa: Giant of Latin American literature dies at 89 — Mario Vargas Llosa, who has died at the age of 89 in his native Peru, was a towering figure in Latin American literature and culture who rarely shied away from controversy. — With more than 50 works to his name …

Discussion: Reuters, Variety, New York Times, MPR News, El País, Althouse, Associated Press, KRDO and Deadline

Bloomberg:
Mario Vargas Llosa, Nobel-Winning Peru Novelist, Dies at 89

Discussion: New York Times and El País

Michael Lederman / The Columbus Dispatch:

Republicans' nonsense is convincing me to NEVER vote Republican again … I've lived in Ohio for 50 years. — Sometimes the Republican Party has the better candidate on the ballot, and so I've voted for Republicans in the past. — But I don't think I ever will in Ohio again.

Discussion: Raw Story

USA Today:
North Carolina Republicans might just get away with stealing an election

Discussion: Raw Story, Alternet.org and Truthout

Nicole Foy / ProPublica:

Congress Has Demanded Answers to ICE Detaining Americans. The Administration Has Responded With Silence. — Amid increasing reports that U.S. citizens have been caught up in the Trump administration's immigration dragnet, a dozen members of Congress have written to the government with pointed questions.

Max Rivlin-Nadler / Hell Gate:

Andrew Cuomo Used ChatGPT for His Housing Plan — On Saturday, former governor and leading Democratic mayoral candidate Andrew Cuomo released his plan for “Addressing New York's Housing Crisis.” — The 29-page plan itself is fairly unremarkable—much of it is spent talking …

Discussion: Politico

Noah Berlatsky / Public Notice:

The devious purpose behind MAGA's incessant lying — 🗣️ 🎤 🤯 With corporate outlets obeying in advance, supporting independent political media is more important right now than ever. Public Notice is possible thanks to paid subscribers.