LetMyPeopleVote
LetMyPeopleVote's JournalDemocratic state attorneys general sue Trump over tariffs
The lawsuit accuses the president of trying to “sidestep” a Supreme Court ruling that overturned many of his previous levies.
https://x.com/washingtonpost/status/2029672064773194139
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/03/05/tariffs-lawsuit-democrats
The suit is led by the Democratic attorneys general from Oregon, New York, California and Arizona along with attorneys general from 18 other states.
They accused Trump of trying to “sidestep” a February Supreme Court ruling that overturned many of his tariffs by using a different statute, Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, as justification for new tariffs.
“The President is attempting to use an obscure law as a tool for his tariffs, and is yet again, going about it illegally,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement.....
Trump turned to Section 122 after the Supreme Court struck down his original slate of widespread tariffs under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act. In a 6-3 ruling, the court determined there was nothing in the 1977 law to authorize Trump’s tariffs.
Section 122 on its face does not apply. This case will be fun to watch
Mike Luckovich-Enough is Enough
— Mike Luckovich (@mluckovich.bsky.social) 2026-03-05T21:32:35.381Z
Bloomberg Law-Trump DOJ Pushes to Sideline State Bar Ethics Investigations
Many of the experienced DOJ attorneys have left or been fired and the ones left are not necessarily the brightest. Bondi has had to hire some real idiots to pursue trump's demands.
https://x.com/Meidas_LaurenA/status/2029239687634981040
https://news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/trump-doj-pushes-to-sideline-state-bar-ethics-investigations
The proposed regulation, posted in the Federal Register Wednesday, would aim to halt state-level ethics proceedings against DOJ lawyers while the department conducts its own review, which would diminish local bar associations’ power. It comes as Bondi, members of her leadership team, and prosecutors involved in immigration matters face complaints probing DOJ misconduct in states where they’re licensed to practice law.
The department unveiled the unexpected policy by saying the change is necessary in light of the “weaponization” of the bar complaint process.
If finalized after a public comment period, “whenever a third party files a bar complaint alleging that a current or former Department attorney violated an ethics rule while engaging in that attorney’s duties for the Department, or whenever bar disciplinary authorities open an investigation into such allegations,” the attorney general “will have the right to review the complaint and the allegations in the first instance,” the proposal states.
An attorney general who decides to exercise this right—or a designated official—will then notify the state bar agency and the lawyer facing the complaint and “request” that the disciplinary authorities pause the investigation until the review is completed.
If the DOJ finds no violation, that blocks the state from investigating the alleged infraction. And “should the relevant bar disciplinary authorities refuse the Attorney General’s request, the Department shall take appropriate action to prevent the bar disciplinary authorities from interfering with the Attorney General’s review of the allegations,” the proposed regulation states.
The regulation and discipline of attorneys is a job for the Bar Association of each state. Lawyers are regulated and disciplined by their state bar association. trump is ordering the DOJ to pursue meritless acts of vengeance and the attorneys who pursue these actions need to be subject to state bar discipline
Lindsey Halligan being investigated by Florida Bar
This may be why Bondi is trying to preempt State Bar investigations of the idiots working for the DOJ
https://x.com/thehill/status/2029666220971028656
https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/5769978-lindsey-halligan-under-investigation/
The letter was sent last month to the executive director of Campaign for Accountability, a watchdog group that filed complaints against Halligan in Florida and Virginia.
“We are aware of these developments and have been monitoring them closely,” bar counsel Carlos Leon wrote in the Feb. 4 letter. “We already have an investigation pending.”
Halligan, who left the U.S. attorney’s office in January, appeared to be copied on the letter.
The former top federal prosecutor secured indictments against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) after her predecessor was pushed out after refusing to pursue charges against the two Trump foes.
Lindsey Halligan being investigated by Florida Bar
Source: The Hill
Lindsey Halligan, the ex-U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia who was hand-picked by President Trump to prosecute his political adversaries, is under investigation by Florida’s bar association, a letter sent by the organization and obtained by The Hill shows.
The letter was sent last month to the executive director of Campaign for Accountability, a watchdog group that filed complaints against Halligan in Florida and Virginia.
“We are aware of these developments and have been monitoring them closely,” bar counsel Carlos Leon wrote in the Feb. 4 letter. “We already have an investigation pending.”
Halligan, who left the U.S. attorney’s office in January, appeared to be copied on the letter.
The former top federal prosecutor secured indictments against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) after her predecessor was pushed out after refusing to pursue charges against the two Trump foes.
Read more: https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/5769978-lindsey-halligan-under-investigation/
https://x.com/thehill/status/2029666220971028656
Mike Luckovich-Latest attempt to distract from Epstein files
— Mike Luckovich (@mluckovich.bsky.social) 2026-03-05T20:41:39.580Z
Judge rules companies are entitled to refunds for Trump tariffs overturned by the Supreme Court
In a defeat for the Trump administration, the U.S. Court of International Trade said all “importers of record” were “entitled to benefit” from the ruling against the sweeping tariffs.
https://x.com/NBCNews/status/2029502198174888315
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/judge-rules-companies-are-entitled-refunds-trump-tariffs-rcna261870
Judge Richard Eaton of the U.S. Court of International Trade wrote that “all importers of record” were “entitled to benefit” from the Supreme Court ruling that struck down sweeping double-digit import taxes President Donald Trump imposed last year under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).
The Supreme Court found those tariffs to be unconstitutional under the emergency powers law, including the sweeping “reciprocal” tariffs he levied on nearly every other country. The majority ruled that the president could not unilaterally set and change tariffs because taxation power clearly belongs to Congress.
In his ruling, Eaton wrote that he alone “will hear cases pertaining to the refund of IEEPA duties.” The ruling offers some clarity about the tariff refund process, something the Supreme Court did not even mention in its Feb. 20 decision. Trade lawyer Ryan Majerus, a partner at King & Spalding and a former U.S. trade official, said he expects the government to appeal or “seek a stay to buy more time for U.S. Customs to comply.”
Kristi Noem may have learned of her firing from Truth Social: report
trump did not tell her that she was fired except on social media
It's unclear how now former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem discovered she was fired, and reports Thursday indicate she could have found out about it on Truth Social.
— Raw Story (@rawstory.com) 2026-03-05T20:31:08.555Z
https://www.rawstory.com/kristi-noem-fired
CNN senior White House correspondent Kristen Holmes reported that Noem was speaking at the Sergeant Benevolent Association Major Cities Conference in Nashville just as President Donald Trump had announced via his Truth Social platform that he would replace her with MAGA ally and former MMA fighter Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) and demote her to "Special Envoy for the Shield of the Americas." A White House official said she was apparently aware as she was speaking that she had lost her position.
"Now I do not know the order of events in terms of whether or not she learned before or he actually posted this, or during the time that he was posting this, that I'm still trying to get to the bottom of," Holmes said. "But she is aware that he has put this out there now, the other thing to note here is that she's been asked a number of questions, and nobody has asked her about it, so clearly there's probably several people in that audience who don't know that this announcement just happened roughly an hour ago or less."
MaddowBlog-GOP's Gonzales reverses course, acknowledges affair with late staffer
In the recent past, Republican leaders said an affair with a staffer warranted a resignation. Does the GOP still care about these standards?
In the recent past, Republican leaders believed members who had extramarital affairs with staffers needed to resign.
— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2026-03-05T15:12:13.488Z
As the Tony Gonzales scandal intensifies, the question for Speaker Mike Johnson is simple: Why does the GOP embrace lower and weaker standards now?
www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...
https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/gops-gonzales-reverses-course-acknowledges-affair-with-late-staffer
U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-San Antonio, admitted Wednesday to having an affair with a staffer who later died by suicide, after initially denying the allegation.
Speaking on conservative talk show host Joe Pags’ show the day after he was forced into a runoff in his primary, Gonzales called the affair a ‘mistake’ and a ‘lapse in judgment.’
The GOP representative added that he takes “full responsibility for those actions,” despite the fact that he spent months denying responsibility for those actions. Gonzales, a married father of six, went on to say that he’s “reconciled” with his wife.
The admission likely surprised no one. Indeed, the growing body of evidence that the lawmaker had an extramarital affair with Regina Santos-Aviles, a former aide of his who died by suicide last year, painted a rather brutal picture that made his earlier denials almost impossible to believe.......
In each of these instances, House Republican leaders didn’t simply leave matters to voters. They didn’t care that the members hadn’t been formally charged with any crimes. They didn’t punt concerns to the Ethics Committee. For all of their faults — and there were many — GOP leaders set standards and enforced them when members were caught up in humiliating scandals.
Years later, the questions for House Speaker Mike Johnson and his team are obvious: Do congressional Republicans still care about these standards? If not, why not?
Russia is hiding true economic cost of Ukraine war, German intelligence claims
Putin is losing
https://x.com/TVPWorld_com/status/2029491933115027751
https://tvpworld.com/91927281/german-intelligence-russia-hiding-true-economic-cost-of-war-against-ukraine
In a post on LinkedIn, the BND said Western sanctions were having a "clear effect" on the Russian economy, alongside significantly lower oil and gas revenues due to a sharp fall in global prices.
"Putin is sacrificing Russia's economic future for his imperial goals," the intelligence service said.
The Kremlin last week said falling revenues and a growing budget deficit were "routine difficulties" and fixable thanks to overall macroeconomic stability.
Russian revenues from sales of oil, its main export commodity, have fallen because Moscow has been forced to sell it at a greater discount on global markets due to Western sanctions and U.S. pressure on major buyers.
The BND put Russia's federal budget deficit at 8.01 trillion roubles compared to the official figure of 5.65 trillion that equates to 2.6% of GDP. It did not divulge detailed calculations on how it arrived at the precise figure, and did not immediately reply to a request for further comment.
Russia's consolidated budget deficit, which includes regional budgets, substantially deteriorated in 2025, reaching 8.3 trillion roubles or 3.9% of GDP, 2.6-fold more than in 2024 due to falling revenues and increased expenditure.
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