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LetMyPeopleVote

LetMyPeopleVote's Journal
LetMyPeopleVote's Journal
April 6, 2026

Deadline Legal Blog-After the rough birthright citizenship hearing, Trump makes a social media appeal

“The Country can only withstand so many bad decisions from a Court that just doesn’t seem to care,” the president wrote.

After the rough birthright citizenship hearing, Trump makes a social media appeal - MS NOW

apple.news/Az2xcxgKwSLi...

(@oc88.bsky.social) 2026-04-06T18:08:06.466Z

https://www.ms.now/deadline-white-house/deadline-legal-blog/trump-birthright-citizenship-supreme-court-tariffs-mark-levin

The U.S. isn’t the only country with birthright citizenship. But the president’s emotional reaction reflected his apparent understanding that he will likely lose the case when the justices rule later in the spring or early summer. Indeed, Trump telegraphed his resignation to the probable defeat long before the oral argument, when he wrote on Truth Social in February that the court “will find a way to come to the wrong conclusion” on citizenship, like it did when he lost the tariffs case.

The president doesn’t seem any more confident in the days after the hearing. In a social media post that published at 12:57 a.m. ET on Monday, he wrote:

It’s too bad that the Supreme Court can’t watch and study the Mark Levin Show tonight on the Birthright Citizenship Scam. If they saw it they would never allow that money making HOAX to continue. THEY SHOULD USE THEIR POWERS OF COMMON SENSE FOR THE GOOD OF OUR COUNTRY. They failed miserably on Tariffs, needlessly costing the USA Hundreds of Billions of Dollars in potential rebates for the benefit haters and scammers. Why??? Don’t do it again! The Country can only withstand so many bad decisions from a Court that just doesn’t seem to care.

Nothing is stopping Supreme Court justices from watching or studying Mark Levin’s Fox News show. But Trump’s social media complaint makes the same mistake that Solicitor General John Sauer did last week during oral argument, by harping on policy consequences rather than focusing solely on the legal issues. That the president continues to lump the citizenship appeal in with the tariffs case further shows that he, like other observers, expects this one to be another rare loss for his administration on a key issue.
April 6, 2026

MaddowBlog-Trump abandons all subtlety with talk of possible war crimes in Iran

As the president weighs strikes on civilian targets in Iran, the video from Democratic veterans about rejecting illegal orders is newly relevant.

As Trump leans into possible war crimes in Iran, that “don’t follow illegal orders” video from Democratic veterans — and the hysterical White House response — is relevant anew.
www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2026-04-06T15:50:26.130Z

https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trump-abandons-all-subtlety-with-talk-of-possible-war-crimes-in-iran

As the third week of the war with Iran came to an end, Donald Trump published a different kind of threat to his social media platform: If Iran failed to fully open the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours, he wrote, the United States would start destroying civilian power plants in the country.....

Trump’s Easter morning madness generated headlines for various reasons, but among the more notable was that his online missive included explicit vows to target Iranian power plants and bridges. As the day progressed, the president did brief, one-on-one interviews with several media outlets to echo that point. The Wall Street Journal reported:

President Trump threatened to destroy all of Iran’s power plants if the country’s leaders don’t agree to reopen the Strait of Hormuz by Tuesday evening, ratcheting up pressure on Tehran.

‘If they don’t come through, if they want to keep it closed, they’re going to lose every power plant and every other plant they have in the whole country,’ Trump said in an eight-minute interview with The Wall Street Journal on Sunday
.


Other news organizations heard similar comments. Trump told ABC News, for example, that he’s prepared to “blow up the whole country.” He also told Fox News, “I’m considering blowing everything up and taking over the oil.”.....

The New York Times reported on the degree to which the president has steered the nation in radical directions:

No other recent American president has talked so openly about committing potential war crimes, legal experts, historians and former U.S. officials say. Wartime American presidents and their aides have usually insisted they were trying to follow international and U.S. military law, even if they violated it in some cases.

International laws aimed at preventing the horrors of total war are codified in a series of agreements, including the Geneva Conventions, the Hague Conventions, the Nuremberg Principles and the United Nations Charter. Deliberate attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure violate those. So does pillaging a country, which Mr. Trump has suggested he might do by taking Iran’s oil.


......Nearly six months ago, six Democratic military and intelligence veterans appeared in a video to urge service members to reject illegal orders. This sparked apoplexy within the administration, as if it were outrageous to remind service members to follow the law and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. (Trump’s Justice Department ultimately tried to indict the lawmakers on charges of seditious conspiracy — charges that, if they resulted in a conviction, would have sent the lawmakers to prison for many years. Regular citizens on the grand jury rebuffed the ridiculous gambit in late February.)

The White House’s hysterics about that video and its emphasis on service members following the law is newly relevant as Trump weighs the possibility of war crimes.
April 6, 2026

Trump Revels in Threats to Commit War Crimes in Iran (NYT Gift link)

The president said he would bomb Iran “back to the Stone Ages.” Until this administration, American leaders had insisted they were trying to follow international law in war.

https://x.com/MarkCranfield_/status/2041048697086026179
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/05/us/politics/trump-iran-war-crimes-truth-social.html?unlocked_article_code=1.Y1A.BMK1.zXHp4c4xnLbY&smid=tw-share

Power plants, desalination stations, oil wells, roads, bridges and other infrastructure.

They are the foundations of civilian life in Iran, and their destruction by American and Israeli forces would cause widespread suffering among the country’s 93 million people — and in most cases would be considered a war crime under international law.....

The president was emphatic about the targets in a follow-up post: “Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!! Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell — JUST WATCH. Praise be to Allah.”,.....

No other recent American president has talked so openly about committing potential war crimes, legal experts, historians and former U.S. officials say. Wartime American presidents and their aides have usually insisted they were trying to follow international and U.S. military law, even if they violated it in some cases.

International laws aimed at preventing the horrors of total war are codified in a series of agreements, including the Geneva Conventions, the Hague Conventions, the Nuremberg Principles and the United Nations Charter. Deliberate attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure violate those. So does pillaging a country, which Mr. Trump has suggested he might do by taking Iran’s oil.....

The American president has been unambiguous in his disdain for international law. In a two-hour Oval Office interview in January with The New York Times, Mr. Trump declared, “I don’t need international law.” When asked whether there was any limit on his global powers, he said, “Yeah, there is one thing. My own morality.”....

The administration’s language has alarmed many legal experts, who say the signal being sent to U.S. service members — and to foreign nations, including adversaries — shapes behavior on the battlefield.

One hundred legal experts and lawyers voiced their concerns in an open letter published by Just Security last week. They said that the conduct of the war and rhetoric of U.S. officials “raise serious concerns about violations of international humanitarian law, including potential war crimes.”

They pointed out that the very act of the United States’ attacking Iran is a violation of the U.N. Charter, since there is no evidence Mr. Trump was acting to defend his country against an imminent threat. And the president did not get congressional authorization for the war, in violation of the Constitution......

During a standoff with Iran in his first administration, Mr. Trump threatened to destroy 52 cultural sites in the country. Mark T. Esper, then the defense secretary, acknowledged that hitting such sites would be a war crime and said the Pentagon would not do it.

The second Trump administration has taken a different approach.

trump could end up like Putin and being unable to leave the US and visit any country that respects international law.

April 6, 2026

Trump just handed California Dems an overnight gift with surprise endorsement: report

There are a large number of Democrats running for Governor in California who have split the vote. There are two republicans running and right now these two republicans have been the top two vote getters in several polls. There is a risk due to the jungle primary that the two republicans could be the top two vote getters and would be the only candidates on the November ballot. trump's endorsement has pissed off the California republican party

Donald Trump has done the one thing California Republicans begged him not to do — and in doing so, may have handed the governor's race to Democrats, Politico is reporting.

Raw Story (@rawstory.com) 2026-04-06T13:50:44Z

https://www.rawstory.com/trump-california-endorsement

Donald Trump has done the one thing California Republicans begged him not to do — and in doing so, may have handed the governor's race to Democrats, Politico is reporting.

Late Sunday night, Trump endorsed Fox News personality Steve Hilton for California governor on Truth Social, potentially delivering a fatal blow to GOP rival Chad Bianco's campaign and demolishing Republican hopes of keeping Democrats out of the runoff.....

The endorsement represents a stunning act of political self-sabotage. California Republicans had explicitly argued that their narrow path to the governor's mansion depended on Trump staying completely out of the race.

The strategy was simple: in California's "jungle primary," a large Democratic field would split the vote, potentially allowing two Republicans — Hilton and Bianco, the Riverside County sheriff — to evenly divide GOP support and advance to the runoff while locking out Democrats.

Trump's endorsement destroys that calculus entirely. By boosting Hilton, he makes it far less likely that both Republicans can split the vote evenly and keep Democrats out of the general election.

The political damage extends beyond the primary dynamics. Political data expert Rob Pyers of California Target Book explained the cascading consequences: "Trump's endorsement of Steve Hilton likely frees up tens of millions of dollars for Democratic groups who would have otherwise had to spend heavily to elevate one of the two leading GOP gubernatorial candidates to avoid a Democratic lockout."
April 6, 2026

Trump just handed California Dems an overnight gift with surprise endorsement: report

There are a large number of Democrats running for Governor in California who have split the vote. There are two republicans running and right now these two republicans have been the top two vote getters in several polls. There is a risk due to the jungle primary that the two republicans could be the top two vote getters and would be the only candidates on the November ballot. trump's endorsement has pissed off the California republican party

Donald Trump has done the one thing California Republicans begged him not to do — and in doing so, may have handed the governor's race to Democrats, Politico is reporting.

Raw Story (@rawstory.com) 2026-04-06T13:50:44Z

https://www.rawstory.com/trump-california-endorsement

Donald Trump has done the one thing California Republicans begged him not to do — and in doing so, may have handed the governor's race to Democrats, Politico is reporting.

Late Sunday night, Trump endorsed Fox News personality Steve Hilton for California governor on Truth Social, potentially delivering a fatal blow to GOP rival Chad Bianco's campaign and demolishing Republican hopes of keeping Democrats out of the runoff.....

The endorsement represents a stunning act of political self-sabotage. California Republicans had explicitly argued that their narrow path to the governor's mansion depended on Trump staying completely out of the race.

The strategy was simple: in California's "jungle primary," a large Democratic field would split the vote, potentially allowing two Republicans — Hilton and Bianco, the Riverside County sheriff — to evenly divide GOP support and advance to the runoff while locking out Democrats.

Trump's endorsement destroys that calculus entirely. By boosting Hilton, he makes it far less likely that both Republicans can split the vote evenly and keep Democrats out of the general election.

The political damage extends beyond the primary dynamics. Political data expert Rob Pyers of California Target Book explained the cascading consequences: "Trump's endorsement of Steve Hilton likely frees up tens of millions of dollars for Democratic groups who would have otherwise had to spend heavily to elevate one of the two leading GOP gubernatorial candidates to avoid a Democratic lockout."

April 6, 2026

Deadline Legal Blog-Supreme Court agrees to help Trump DOJ move to dismiss Steve Bannon's contempt case

The Trump DOJ told the justices that dismissing the Trump ally’s criminal case is “in the interests of justice.”

Deadline: Legal Blog - Supreme Court agrees to help Trump DOJ move to dismiss Steve Bannon’s contempt case

Lola Gayle (@lolagaylec.bsky.social) 2026-04-06T14:30:11.017Z

https://www.ms.now/deadline-white-house/deadline-legal-blog/supreme-court-steve-bannon-trump-doj-dismiss-contempt

The Supreme Court on Monday granted the Trump Justice Department’s request to vacate an appeals court ruling against Steve Bannon, after the Department of Justice told the high court that it wants to dismiss the matter that was brought against the Donald Trump ally during the Biden administration.

The high court relief doesn’t officially dismiss the case, but it clears a path for that conclusion, as the DOJ has a pending motion in the trial court seeking dismissal. The next step will play out in the lower courts.

Bannon was convicted in 2022 for not complying with the House Jan. 6 select committee. He served a four-month sentence after the justices refused in the summer of 2024 to let him stay free while he appealed. He continued his appeal after serving his time, filing a petition with the justices in October after his appeals court loss. ....

As is typical in such cases, the Supreme Court didn’t issue an opinion to explain why it took the action it did on Monday’s order list, which is a routine document containing the court’s latest announcements on pending appeals. All the court said was: “The petition for a writ of certiorari is granted. The judgment is vacated, and the case is remanded to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit for further consideration in light of the pending motion to dismiss the indictment.”

The DOJ didn’t specify why it wants to abandon the case at this point, only that it “has determined in its prosecutorial discretion that dismissal of this criminal case is in the interests of justice.” In its brief to the justices, the DOJ cited cases stemming from the FIFA corruption scandal in which the government recently sought and received similar high court relief on criminal defendants’ behalf.

“The government’s decision to dismiss an ill-conceived prosecution even at this late stage is commendable,” Bannon’s lawyers wrote in his final brief to the justices in February.
April 6, 2026

MaddowBlog-As Iran war enters its 6th week, Trump's unhinged missive reveals panic and desperation

More than a century after a president said “speak softly and carry a big stick,” Trump believes in tweeting loudly and carrying an overused cellphone.

On September 2, 1901, Teddy Roosevelt told attendees at the Minnesota State Fair, “Speak softly and carry a big stick.”

Nearly 115 years later, a very different kind of president believes in tweeting loudly and carrying an overused cellphone.
www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2026-04-06T11:59:55.958Z

https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/as-iran-war-enters-its-6th-week-trumps-unhinged-missive-reveals-panic-and-desperation

As many Americans woke up on Sunday morning, they were greeted with heartening news worth celebrating: A missing American airman who’d been shot down over Iran had been rescued as part of a successful military operation. Common sense might have suggested that Donald Trump, on Easter morning, would want the public to focus on the breakthrough developments.

The Republican president, however, appeared eager to change the conversation. MS NOW reported:

Fresh off the daring nighttime rescue of the U.S. airman shot down in Iran on Friday, President Donald Trump warned Iran Sunday morning, ‘Open the F*****’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell – JUST WATCH!’

The president then set a new deadline of 8 p.m. ET on Tuesday for Iran to reach a deal with the U.S., making yet another extension.


.....On Sept. 2, 1901, Teddy Roosevelt told attendees at the Minnesota State Fair, “Speak softly and carry a big stick.” Almost 125 years later, a very different kind of president believes in tweeting loudly and carrying an overused cellphone.

Journalist and historian Garrett Graff described Trump’s online message as “the most unhinged public comment by a president in U.S. history,” and though the competition is admittedly fierce, the assessment seemed more than fair. It was the kind of deranged missive that, in most advanced democracies, would immediately generate speculation about whether he could reasonably expect to remain in office.

But when we step back and assess the madness in context, what we see is a desperate and flailing president who doesn’t appear to have any idea what to do about an unnecessary war he doesn’t know how to end.

Trump’s online message, in other words, reflected panic.

Indeed, one of the great ironies of Trump’s public posture is that every time he tries to convey strength and command, he ends up doing the opposite. Instead of showing leadership, he comes across as a toddler throwing a tantrum after failing to get his way.
April 6, 2026

Gator takes weekend stroll through Cinco Ranch neighborhood

This neighborhood is about five or so miles from my neighborhood.
https://x.com/KHOU/status/2041097716290252880
https://www.khou.com/article/news/local/gator-sighting-cinco-rach-safety/285-52aee291-6140-451f-bc59-7bfd3e7bd55c

CINCO RANCH, Texas — A close encounter with a massive alligator is serving as a reminder that these reptiles are on the move across Southeast Texas.

Residents in the Cinco Ranch neighborhood were startled over the weekend when a large alligator was spotted roaming a residential street, even making its way onto a homeowner’s lawn.

David Morton, who has lived in the neighborhood for 11 years, said a neighbor alerted him that something unusual was outside his home.

“Living in Southeast Texas, you know you live with animals like that,” Morton said.

When he stepped outside, Morton came face-to-face with the alligator and began recording the encounter.

“Am I safe? What kind of attitude is it in?” he recalled thinking. He said he kept his distance, backing toward his home while continuing to film.

“Giving it all of its respect — what you can’t see is I back up into the house a little bit,” Morton added. “But the family was quite amused with everything that’s going on, too, so they were making a ruckus.”




April 5, 2026

Stephen Miller at crossroads in Trump admin after he 'backpedaled' on key issue: report

Stephen Miller is a major league racist who has pushed the immigration crackdown. It was Miller who told ICE and Border Patrol to use harsh tactics and ignore the due process rights. It was Miller who set quotas for arrests. It seems that Miller is being forced to tone things down due to the backlash to the tactics used by ICE and Border Patrol.

Stephen Miller at crossroads in Trump admin after he 'backpedaled' on key issue: report #RawStory

#TuckFrump (@realtuckfrumper.bsky.social) 2026-04-05T21:58:41.000Z

https://www.rawstory.com/stephen-miller-2676667670/

One of President Donald Trump's fiercest allies in his administration faces a crossroads after he was forced to backpedal on a key issue, according to a new report.

The New York Times reported on Sunday that Stephen Miller, Trump's deputy chief of staff for policy, is facing questions about how he can continue to drive the Trump administration's hard-line approach to enforcing immigration law, given the waning appetite of the Republican Party and the American public over the brutal images of immigrants being forcibly detained by federal agents.

Miller has been a key architect of the Trump administration's immigration policies, and at one time seemed to be telling federal agents to "Push the limits" when it comes to the tactics they use to deport people, according to the report.

"Eight months later, Mr. Miller did something startling — he backpedaled," the report added.

"Now, Mr. Miller, 40, one of the most influential presidential advisers in recent memory and an unabashed champion of Mr. Trump’s hard-line immigrant crackdown, is at a crossroads," it continued. "He faces questions about how aggressively he can continue to drive the deportation campaign, and how much appetite his party and the country have for tactics that proved successful in helping to boost arrests of immigrants but reignited a polarizing debate over what it means to be American."
April 5, 2026

Trump spotted skipping Easter service in lieu of 'bizarre tour' of DC: report

trump was evidently trying to escape Easter Services and still provide some proof that he was still alive. trump took a strange tour of DC today.

Trump spotted skipping Easter service in lieu of ‘bizarre tour’ of DC: report #RawStory

#TuckFrump (@realtuckfrumper.bsky.social) 2026-04-05T18:19:54.000Z

https://www.rawstory.com/trump-2676667394/

President Donald Trump was spotted Sunday taking a “bizarre tour” of Washington, D.C., including a stop at his golf course, and in lieu of attending any of the three Easter services held that morning at the church he’s “frequently” attended, The Daily Beast reported.

St. John’s Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C., often called the “Church of the Presidents,” has been attended at least once by every president since its construction in 1816. The church held three Easter services Sunday morning – none of which, the Beast reported, were attended by Trump.

“The 79-year-old president spent Easter Sunday taking a ‘ceremoniously slow’ presidential motorcade tour around Memorial Circle – close to the Arlington Memorial Bridge, where he hopes to build an arch honoring himself, according to pool reports,” the Beast’s report reads. “During his travels, he also stopped at Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia.”

Trump did find time Easter Sunday, however, to issue a major threat against Iran in a profanity-laced social media post, while also lavishing praise on “Allah,” the Arabic word for God.

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