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4:55 PM ET, April 15, 2025

memeorandum

 Top Items: 
Greg Sargent / New Republic:
Trump's Case Against Man Deported in “Error” Just Took Another Big Hit  —  As Trump administration officials seek to defend their refusal to return Kilmar Abrego Garcia to the United States after deporting him in “error,” one of the government's chief justifications has been that he was a member of the MS-13 gang.
RELATED:
Erkki Forster / The Daily Beast:
Karoline Leavitt Melts Down Over Deported ‘Father of the Year’  —  LEAVITT ALONE  —  Trump's press secretary mocked the Maryland father who the administration mistakenly deported to a Salvadoran mega-prison.  —  White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt lashed out at reporters Tuesday …
Roger Parloff / Default:
Abrego Garcia and MS-13: What Do We Know?  —  The allegation seems to stem from double hearsay in a document authored by a later suspended police detective.  —  Meet The Authors … In multiple filings, the government has conceded that it wrongfully removed Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia …
Jenna McLaughlin / NPR:
A whistleblower's disclosure details how DOGE may have taken sensitive labor data  —  In the first days of March, a team of advisers from President Trump's new Department of Government Efficiency initiative arrived at the Southeast Washington, D.C., headquarters of the National Labor Relations Board.
RELATED:
Reuters:
Whistleblower org says DOGE may have caused ‘significant cyber breach’ at US labor watchdog
Discussion: Eschaton and NPR
Edward Luce / Financial Times:
Trump is halfway to making America a police state  —  The president's refusal to accept a Supreme Court ruling on illegal deportation is a turning point  —  At around noon on April 14 2025, America ceased to have a law-abiding government.  Some would argue that had already happened on January 20, when Donald Trump was inaugurated.
RELATED:
G. Elliott Morris / Strength In Numbers:
Trump's immigration agenda is not popular  —  To start this post, I am going to ask you a key question about immigration policy.  But first, I need to establish a few facts based on recent news:  —  On Monday, April 14, 2025, Donald Trump met with the President of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, in the Oval Office.
New York Times:
More Than 20,000 I.R.S. Employees Offer to Resign  —  The I.R.S. had about 100,000 employees before President Trump took office.  Between resignations and layoffs, the I.R.S. is on track to lose about a third of its staff this year.  —  About 22,000 employees at the Internal Revenue Service …
RELATED:
Amanda Friedman / Politico:
Trump threatens to remove Harvard's tax-exempt status
Phil Stewart / Reuters:
Exclusive: Top Hegseth adviser Dan Caldwell put on leave in Pentagon leak probe  —  One of U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's leading advisers, Dan Caldwell, was escorted from the Pentagon on Tuesday after being identified during an investigation into leaks at the Department of Defense, a U.S. official told Reuters.
Timothy Snyder / Thinking about:
State Terror  —  Yesterday the president defied a Supreme Court ruling to return a man who was mistakenly sent to a gulag in another country, celebrated the suffering of this innocent person, and spoke of sending Americans to foreign concentration camps.  —  This is the beginning …
Discussion: Raw Story and Mediaite
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Jonathan V. Last / The Bulwark:
Bring.  Him.  Home.  —  Reminder: I'll be talking with Paul Krugman on Substack today, live at 12:30 p.m. Eastern.  —  1. Five Questions  —  We're going to give elected leaders in the Democratic party a charge and then talk about how the public can rally.  But first, I have some questions to consider.
Discussion: Reason and OutsideTheBeltway
Jeffrey Blehar / National Review:
Trump Tests the True Limits of Presidential Power  —  Greetings and welcome to this week's midair performance of the Carnival of Fools!  Like a prestige subscription-service drama, our story resumes from a potent cliff-hanger: Last week, Donald Trump had invoked the laws of cartoon physics …
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Joyce Vance / Civil Discourse with Joyce Vance:
The Supreme Court Got It Badly Wrong  —  Today, the Trump administration made it clear: they will have to be forced to comply with the law.  They will not do it voluntarily.  It's just that simple, and that complicated.  Worst of all, it's completely unsurprising that we've come to this juncture.
Augusta Saraiva / Bloomberg:
US Economy to Lose Billions as Foreign Tourists Stay Away … The US economy is set to lose billions of dollars in revenue in 2025 from a pullback in foreign tourism and boycotts of American products, adding to a growing list of headwinds keeping recession risk elevated.
Discussion: Raw Story and The Guardian
RELATED:
Janna Brancolini / The Daily Beast:   Tourism Pullback and Boycotts Set to Cost U.S. a Staggering $90 Billion
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Mohar Chatterjee / Politico:
Pentagon's ‘SWAT team of nerds’ resigns en masse  —  Employees of a defense tech unit say they were sidelined by DOGE.  “Either we die quickly or we die slowly,” says the director.  —  Under pressure from the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency, nearly all the staff …
Discussion: Raw Story and The Gateway Pundit
Washington Post:
Inside DOGE's push to defy a court order and access Social Security data  —  Musk's cost-cutting team repeatedly sought to get around a judge's order to gain access to private details about millions of beneficiaries.
RELATED:
Washington Post:   DOGE is collecting federal data to remove immigrants from housing, jobs
Matthew Gault / 404 Media:
4chan Is Down Following What Looks to Be a Major Hack Spurred By Meme War  —  The notorious imageboard 4chan is down following what appears to be a major hack of its backend.  The hackers claim to have exposed code for the site, the emails of moderators, and a list of mod communications.
Michelle Goldberg / New York Times:
The Vibe Shifts Against the Right  —  Alex Kaschuta's podcast, “Subversive,” used to be a node in the network between weird right-wing internet subcultures and mainstream conservatism.  She hosted men's rights activists and purveyors of “scientific” racism, neo-reactionary online personalities …
Discussion: Raw Story and Alternet.org
Sohrab Ahmari / UnHerd:
JD Vance: My message to Europe America doesn't want a vassal continent  —  “It's not good for Europe to be the permanent security vassal of the United States.”  So says JD Vance during a phone conversation with UnHerd on Monday, his first major interview with a European outlet since taking office as Vice President.
Fenit Nirappil / Washington Post:
Autism rate increased, CDC says in report that contradicts RFK Jr. on cause  —  In a sample of communities, the biennial autism surveillance report found that 1 in 31 8-year-olds had the condition.  The CDC attributed the increase to better screening.  —  One in 31 8-year-olds had autism …
David J. Lynch / Washington Post:
Investors dodge U.S. dollar and Treasurys, scared by Trump's trade war  —  The dollar has lost almost 10 percent of its value since Inauguration Day with roughly half of that decline coming this month.  —  The U.S. dollar is an early casualty of President Donald Trump's us-against-the-world trade war.
Discussion: Raw Story and American Prospect
Punchbowl News:
Why President Trump isn't signing many laws … Trump and Republican congressional leaders often claim his new administration has been the most productive in recent memory.  —  Except when it comes to passing laws.  —  Trump has signed fewer bills into law at this point in his presidency …
Coral Davenport / New York Times:
Trump and DOGE Are Planning Deregulation at a Massive Scale … At the Department of Health and Human Services, Trump administration officials want to reverse a regulation that has required nursing homes to have more medical staff on duty.  —  At the Mine Safety and Health Administration …
Discussion: HotAir and Alternet.org
G. Allen Johnson / San Francisco Chronicle:
‘Home Alone 2’ director says Donald Trump cameo has ‘become this curse’  —  San Francisco filmmaker Chris Columbus said Donald Trump's cameo in “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York” more than 30 years ago has been “an albatross for me” and “wishes it was gone.”  —  “I can't cut it,” …
Joseph Gedeon / The Guardian:
Senator Chuck Grassley grilled at Iowa town hall over ‘shameful’ Trump policies  —  The Republican, 91, was confronted by attendees angered over mass deportations and executive overreach  —  The Republican senator Chuck Grassley struggled to control a town hall meeting on Tuesday …
Melanie Mason / Politico:
Kamala Harris for governor?  Poll shows how California voters feel about the idea.  —  California's Democratic voters cheer the potential of Harris for governor, but warning signs are lurking.  —  Political influencers in California are greeting Kamala Harris' potential bid for governor with a shrug …
Brian Beutler / Off Message:
Exclusive: A Stronger Playbook For House Resistance  —  An internal memo shows Senate Democrats aren't the only ones who can gum up the works.  —  ∙ Paid  —  We stand perilously close to a point of no return, where mass action is the only form of opposition that might save the country.
Benyamin Cohen / The Forward:
Student protesters being deported are not ‘martyrs and heroes,’ says former antisemitism envoy  —  Former Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt supports parts of the Trump administration's visa crackdown, but says it must be done ‘thoughtfully’ and with due process  —  As the Trump administration escalates …
Discussion: KRDO
Bloomberg:
US Derails G-7 Condemnation of Russian Missile Strike on Ukraine  —  The US has told Group of Seven allies it won't endorse a statement condemning Russia's deadliest attack on Ukraine this year because it wants to keep negotiations with Moscow on track.  —  Russia fired two short-range …
Chloe Atkins / NBC News:
Government's case against Mahmoud Khalil is shaky and reliant on tabloid accounts, review of evidence shows  —  Khalil, a permanent U.S. resident who helped lead pro-Palestinian protests, was finished with postgraduate studies when he was arrested on campus and scheduled for deportation.
Discussion: Fox News and Truthout
 
 
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 More Items: 
President Donald J. Trump / The White House:
These Sick Criminals Are Who Democrats and the Legacy Media Are Defending
Discussion: Twitchy and RedState
Shia Kapos / Politico:
DOGE targets Brookfield Zoo
Wall Street Journal:
Trump's Trade War Deepens Threat to U.S. Brands in China
Robert Maguire / CREW:
As Trump pursues mass deportation, his businesses again seek foreign workers
Discussion: Raw Story and The Bulwark
 Earlier Items: 
David Nir / The Downballot:
Morning Digest: Michigan Republican who fell just short in '24 will run for Senate again
William Kristol / The Bulwark:
Two Dictators Walk Into a Bar...
Discussion: Politico, Washington Post and NPR
Tom Perkins / The Guardian:
Trump donors eye potential bonanza if US succeeds with Greenland land-grab
Nicole Brockbank / CBC News:
She was chatting with friends in a Lyft. Then someone texted her what they said
Discussion: Boing Boing
U.S. Department of Education:
Joint Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism Statement Regarding Harvard University
 

 
From Mediagazer:

Eric Benson / Rolling Stone:
A look at the collapse of narrative podcasts, facing high production costs and limited ad revenue, despite overall podcast listenership reaching all-time highs

Brent Lang / Variety:
Sources: Paramount layoffs could affect 2,000 to 3,000 employees and are expected by early November; Paramount had 18,600 employees globally as of December 2024

Matt Donnelly / Variety:
Sources: Disney is on the hunt for original movie concepts to lure young men aged 13-28 back to the brand, as audiences dwindle for the superhero genre

 
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