politics

cross-posted from: https://suppo.fi/post/12753181

President is first in US history to be impeached twice, over abuse of power and inciting an insurrection

Donald Trump is pressing Congress to erase one of the darkest chapters of his political career, urging Republicans to pass a resolution that would symbolically nullify the two impeachments he suffered during his first term in office.

The effort, first reported by the Wall Street Journal and confirmed by a White House official, would allow Trump to claim a symbolic victory on a key grievance from his first term. But experts say it would have little legal significance, since the constitution provides no procedure for undoing an impeachment.

Trump is the first president in US history to be impeached twice. The first case, in 2019, centred on allegations that he abused his power by pressuring Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden, a political rival. He was acquitted by the Senate in February 2020.

Sources tell MS NOW that agents also fanned out across the state, showing up at staff members’ homes.

FBI agents on Thursday raided the Cleveland offices of the Ohio Organizing Collaborative, a pro-democracy organization that helps register voters in that state, three people briefed on the search told MS NOW.

Agents also fanned out across the state, showing up at the homes of the group’s leaders and staff members, carrying some subpoenas and seeking information and electronic devices, according to the three people briefed, two of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive ongoing investigation. Members of the group contacted lawyers on Thursday to determine their legal options, the people said.

Prentiss Haney, a board member of the Ohio Organizing Collaborative, told MS NOW Thursday night that agents approached people with connections to the group, including some who had performed basic canvassing and volunteer work, and pressed them for information.

Agents were “basically trying to fish for information,” Haney said.

The Senate Armed Services Committee voted this week to formally change the Pentagon’s name to the Department of War, moving a significant step closer to solidifying President Donald Trump’s rebrand of the Defense Department as permanent.

The move came during the committee’s closed-door deliberations over its defense policy bill, according to Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), who announced the name change in explaining his vote against the legislation.

“It’s a juvenile move that sadly describes the reality of a president who has abandoned meaningful diplomacy in favor of starting doubtful wars in multiple locations and threatening even more,” he said in a statement.

Removal currently in progress. Live stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAhm880quUg

Judge wants proof that top DOJ officials are ‘not moving forward’ with plans for an Anti-Weaponization Fund

A federal judge has indefinitely blocked Donald Trump’s administration from implementing a nearly $1.8 billion compensation fund for his political allies after officials claimed they were “not moving forward” with the plans.

Friday’s injunction from Virginia District Judge Leonie Brinkema extends a previous order that prevented the government from “taking any further action pursuant to the creation or operation of the Anti-Weaponization Fund” — including transferring money to it, considering any claims and mailing any checks while a legal challenge plays out.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and the Department of Justice insisted the administration would follow the court’s order and abandon plans for the fund, but officials have also suggested that they are still looking for pathways to issue massive taxpayer-funded payouts to alleged “victims” of government “weaponization,” including January 6 rioters and close allies of the president.

The Washington National Opera has filed a lawsuit seeking more than $17 million from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, alleging the institution has refused to turn over funds that belong to the opera company following their separation earlier this year.

According to a lawsuit filed Thursday in the United States Court of Federal Claims and reported on Friday by The New York Times, the opera company claims the Kennedy Center has withheld money that includes endowment assets, donor contributions, and other funds collected on the opera’s behalf during the years the two organizations were affiliated.

“W.N.O. reluctantly files this case to preserve its future and to protect its donors and artists,” attorneys for the opera company wrote in court filings. The suit further argues that the disputed funds consist of donations accumulated over many years that are “critical” to the organization’s continued operations.

Plaintiffs said the “volcano of corruption, if allowed to go forward, will mark an inflection point in American history.”

A federal judge refused to halt the UFC Freedom 250 cage fights set for this weekend at the White House, despite a lawsuit that called the event a “volcano of corruption” that will mark “the first private, for-profit sporting event ever held on White House grounds.”

In a ruling on Friday, U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta, an Obama appointee, said he rejected the plaintiffs’ emergency application because they failed “to establish both a substantial likelihood of standing and irreparable harm, and because the equities and public interest weigh against emergency relief.”

The case was brought by activist Susan Douglas and Vietnam War veteran Paul Romano, who challenged the use of the Lincoln Memorial chamber and the South Lawn of the White House. Represented by the Public Integrity Project, they alleged that the event runs afoul of federal regulations and isn’t the purely patriotic display that Donald Trump and UFC head Dana White have portrayed.

A New York state oversight board raised ethics concerns about a trip by state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli to Israel that a local pro-Israel Jewish group sponsored.

The revelation comes amid renewed scrutiny of DiNapoli’s spending spree on Israel Bonds, a financial instrument that directly funds the state of Israel. DiNapoli, the administrator of New York pension funds, is facing his first primary fight in 18 years as comptroller, and the branded, non-tradeable assets have become an issue in the race.

The trip was paid for by the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, which has a financial relationship to Israel Bonds, the organization that issues Israeli government debt securities in the U.S.

“While Susan Collins’ campaign is backed by billionaire donors, our campaign is built on a movement funded by the people, with an average donation of $26,” said Graham Platner’s campaign manager.

A new analysis of campaign finance data shows that nearly 100 billionaires and their spouses have contributed to Republican Sen. Susan Collins’ reelection bid so far, funneling nearly $10 million to the incumbent’s campaign committee and PACs supporting her effort to fend off progressive challenger Graham Platner.

The Maine Monitor on Thursday published a list of billionaires who have donated to Collins and Platner, who has called his Republican opponent a “corrupt” protector and beneficiary of an oligarchic political system.

The outlet noted that Collins’ billionaire donation total “stands in stark contrast with the fundraising of her opponent... whose campaign has mostly attracted smaller amounts of funds but from many more people.”

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/48650874

Once the guardian of the bipartisan pro-Israel consensus, it is now a polarizing force in the party.

June 12, 2026, 5:01 a.m. ET

When Brad Lander opened his Democratic primary bid for New York’s 10th Congressional District late last year, he made a promise that would once have meant political suicide: He would not do “AIPAC’s bidding” in Washington.

Now the June 23 primary is almost here, and AIPAC has been a recurring theme throughout the campaign. A progressive Jew and self-described liberal Zionist, Lander challenged his opponent, the pro-Israel incumbent Dan Goldman, to take a “people’s pledge” to limit money from super PACs. He has sent a steady stream of text and email blasts comparing AIPAC with Wall Street and crypto — a new, unholy trinity of corrupting influences in democratic politics.