Today's News (2020/7/30): Fascism Edition
Jul. 31st, 2020 01:21 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
solarbirdFascism first as usual.
You may have seen some noise about the Federalist Society distancing themselves from Trump and their previous Trumpism/Trump worship. Do not sympathise; they are rats thinking about their own futures and deserting a sinking ship.
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ICE Agents Complain About Nazi Comparisons, Say They're Only Enforcing the Laws
BY CHANTAL DA SILVA ON 7/29/20 AT 10:38 AM EDT
https://www.newsweek.com/ice-agents-complain-about-nazi-comparisons-say-theyre-only-enforcing-laws-1521382
[EDITOR: Agents complain about Nazi comparisons, use Nazi defence for their actions. Another case of 2020 being too on the fucking nose for fiction.]
A new Netflix docuseries that saw filmmakers gain "unprecedented" access to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency's operations under the Trump administration sees ICE agents open up about what it's like to be seen as "the bad guys."
For roughly three years, starting just after President Donald Trump took office, filmmakers Shaul Schwarz and Christina Clusiau were given a stunning level of access to the U.S. Homeland Security department's immigration agencies, including ICE and the Border Patrol.
Schwarz and Clusiau followed federal officers and agents as they enforced some of the Trump administration's most controversial immigration policies, including the government's "zero tolerance" family separation policy at the border and ICE's crackdown on undocumented immigrants across the country, with their work culminating in the new docuseries Immigration Nation, which saw its trailer premiered exclusively on Newsweek.com and which is set to launch on Netflix on August 3.
In the new series, previewed ahead of its release by Newsweek, ICE agents speak candidly about their orders to ramp up arrests of undocumented immigrants, with one scene showing an agency supervisor in New York ordering an agent to bring in more "collaterals"—undocumented immigrants identified during a targeted arrest—whatever it takes.
"Start taking collaterals man," an ICE supervisor can be heard saying. "I don't care what you do, but bring at least two people in."
Throughout the series, agents can be seen discussing the need to ramp up arrest numbers, while some appear to also boast about how many people have been arrested in a single day.
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Homeland Security and Oregon reach deal to begin withdrawing federal agents from Portland
CNN Digital Expansion 2019, Josh Campbell
By Josh Campbell and Devan Cole, CNN
Updated 2:32 PM ET, Wed July 29, 2020
https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/29/politics/portland-federal-agents-leaving-protests-homeland-security/index.html
Washington (CNN)The Trump administration has reached an agreement with Oregon's Democratic governor to withdraw federal officers from downtown Portland, though the Department of Homeland Security says it will maintain a presence in the city until it believes federal locations there are secure.
The decision to send federal agents into Portland earlier this month escalated tensions in the city, which has seen prolonged and at times violent protests for the past two months over demands for racial justice and police accountability. President Donald Trump and acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf have said the federal officers were there to protect a federal courthouse in the city's downtown that has been a focal point for protesters, but the officers have also clashed with demonstrators.
Wednesday's agreement was announced separately by Gov. Kate Brown and Wolf, who offered different reports on the conditions for the agents' withdrawal.
Federal officers from Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, both of which are part of DHS, are set to leave the city's downtown Thursday, Brown said in a statement. Brown noted some federal officers, including ones from the US Marshals Service and the Federal Protective Service, will stay at the courthouse since they are usually there.
"The federal government has agreed to withdraw federal officers from Portland. They have acted as an occupying force & brought violence," tweeted Brown, who said the administration's agreement to withdraw officers came after she had a discussion about the matter with Vice President Mike Pence.
Wolf, however, said late Wednesday morning that Oregon State Police "will coordinate" with federal authorities to ensure the protection of federal facilities, such as the courthouse, but conditioned a decrease in federal agents in Portland on both the state and the city's ability to protect federal facilities.
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‘It’s like they’re testing it on us': Portland protesters say tear gas has caused irregularities with their periods
By Rebecca Ellis (OPB)
July 29, 2020
https://www.opb.org/article/2020/07/29/tear-gas-period-menstrual-cycle-portland/
After more than 50 days of nightly protests against racism and police violence, demonstrators in Portland are intimately familiar with the immediate effects of tear gas: blurry eyes, burning skin, choking, coughing, crying, retching.
But some protesters believe the gas is doing more than causing red eyes and seething skin. OPB interviewed 26 protesters, ranging in age from 17 to 43, who said they believe regular exposure to tear gas has caused irregularities within their menstrual cycle.
The experiences range. Some protesters reported getting their period multiple times in a single month. Others reported debilitating cramps — at least one that ended in a hospital visit — and blood clots the size of half a fist. Trans protesters who had stopped menstruating since taking testosterone said they have seen their cycles restart.
There are two common threads between the experiences of the 26 protesters: All said what they were experiencing was abnormal for their bodies. And all believed the tear gas, which law enforcement has been using against demonstrators for two months, was at fault.
There has been little scientific research into whether tear gas can affect a person’s hormones — and experts warn against extrapolating a solid medical conclusion from anecdotal evidence. But while the science remains thin, the troubling stories have mounted as the release of the chemical has become a near-nightly occurrence.
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Federal officers to begin ‘phased withdrawal’ from Portland, governor says
July 29, 2020
By Hal Bernton
Seattle Times staff reporter
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/federal-officers-to-withdraw-from-downtown-portland-governor-says/
PORTLAND — Oregon Gov. Kate Brown on Wednesday said that the federal government has agreed to a “phased withdrawal of federal officers” who have been deployed at the federal Mark O. Hatfield Courthouse in Portland amid nightly protests.
Brown said the Oregon State Police will provide protection and security for the exterior of the courthouse, with the Federal Protective Service. Beginning Thursday, “all Customs and Border Protection and ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) officers will leave downtown Portland, and shortly thereafter will be going home.”
But a statement from acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf raised doubts about how soon that drawdown would take place. Wolf confirmed that a “joint plan” was reached over the past 24 hours with Brown, but he did not offer any timetable for the withdrawal.
Wolf said in a statement: “The Department will continue to maintain our current, augmented federal law enforcement personnel in Portland until we are assured that the Hatfield Federal Courthouse and other federal properties will no longer be attacked …”
The federal response has received harsh criticism for tactics that have included tremendous amounts of tear gas, firing of less lethal rounds that have caused injuries to protesters, and beatings with batons.
Brown, in a Wednesday statement, said that she had “grown increasingly concerned” with the nightly confrontations between federal officers and protesters.
“We need to recognize that the protests in Portland are not solely about the federal presence,” Brown said. “They started before federal agents descended on our city and they will likely continue after they leave.”
Brown accused the federal officers of acting as “an occupying force, refused accountability, and brought violence and strife to our community.”
[SEE ALSO:
https://twitter.com/OregonGovBrown/status/1288497308733018113
]
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Dara Lind
twitter.com/DLind
28 July 2020
https://twitter.com/DLind/status/1288209309575385090
This is what it looks like when you're released from jail on federal charges...on the condition that you stop showing up to protests. https://propublica.org/article/defendant-shall-not-attend-protests-in-portland-getting-out-of-jail-requires-relinquishing-constitutional-rights
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Trump claims decision to repeal fair housing rule will boost home prices, lower crime
By Sylvan Lane - 07/29/20
https://thehill.com/policy/finance/509595-trump-claims-decision-to-repeal-fair-housing-rule-will-boost-home-prices-lower
President Trump claimed Wednesday that his recent decision to replace an Obama administration rule targeting racial housing discrimination would boost suburban housing prices and reduce crime.
In a pair of Wednesday tweets, Trump asserted that his efforts to prevent low-income housing from being built in affluent areas would prevent suburbanites from being “bothered or financially hurt” by a rule intended to expand access to housing for minorities.
“I am happy to inform all of the people living their Suburban Lifestyle Dream that you will no longer be bothered or financially hurt by having low income housing built in your neighborhood,” Trump tweeted.
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A Nevada library wanted to back Black Lives Matter. The sheriff said he wouldn’t respond to 911 calls there.
By Tim Elfrink
July 29, 2020 at 4:07 a.m. PDT
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/07/29/nevada-sheriff-911-blm/
The Douglas County, Nev., public library wanted to take a stand this week: “Everyone is welcome,” read a proposed diversity statement, which added the library “denounces all acts of racism, violence and disregard for human rights. We support #BlackLivesMatter.”
But Douglas County Sheriff Daniel Coverley quickly took a stand of his own.
“Due to your support of Black Lives Matter and the obvious lack of support or trust with the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, please do not feel the need to call 911 for help,” Coverley wrote in a letter to the library published Monday. “I wish you good luck with disturbances and lewd behavior.”
A county spokesperson later told the Reno Gazette Journal that despite the sheriff’s statement, deputies would continue responding to calls from the library. After a follow-up meeting with the library’s director on Tuesday, Coverley blamed the stress protests have put on police for his response.
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Trump Is Now Openly Defying the Supreme Court
By Mark Joseph Stern
July 28, 2020
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/07/daca-donald-trump-supreme-court.html
The Trump administration announced on Tuesday that it will continue to defy a federal court order compelling the full restoration of DACA, the Obama-era program that allows 700,000 immigrants to live and work in the United States legally. By doing so, the administration has chosen to flout a decision by the Supreme Court, effectively rejecting the judiciary’s authority to say what the law is.
Donald Trump first attempted to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program in September 2017, a move that would’ve stripped its beneficiaries of work permits and subjected them to deportation. But his administration continually cut corners, failing to explain the basis for its decision and refusing to consider the impact of DACA repeal on immigrants, their communities, and their employers (including the U.S. Army). This June, the Supreme Court ruled that the administration’s actions were “arbitrary and capricious” under federal law and therefore “set aside” DACA repeal.
To implement that decision, U.S. District Judge Paul Grimm compelled the administration to restore DACA to its pre-repeal condition on July 17. Grimm’s order required the Department of Homeland Security to let DACA beneficiaries renew their status for two years, accept new applicants, and restore “advance parole,” which permits travel outside the country. But DHS did not do that. Instead, the agency maintained that it would reject new DACA applicants. It also declined to accept DACA renewals or reinstate advance parole.
At a hearing Friday, Grimm tore into Justice Department attorneys for flouting his order. The government’s actions, he explained, created “a feeling and a belief that the agency is disregarding binding decisions” from the Supreme Court. DOJ attorneys insisted that DACA applications were merely “on hold,” or “placed into a bucket,” while the administration decided how to proceed. But, as Grimm retorted, “it is a distinction without a difference to say that this application has not been denied, it has been received and it has been put in a bucket.” The judge once again directed DHS to comply with the law by accepting new applicants and processing renewals.
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Josh Marshall
twitter.com/joshtpm
30 July 2020
https://twitter.com/joshtpm/status/1288964020318408705
Trump says local authorities in Oregon have a short time to clear out the "beehive of terrorists" protesting around the federal building in Portland. If they can't, Trump threatens to send in troops.
[EMBEDDED VIDEO AT LINK]
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Postal Service may close offices, cut service ahead of election
Manchin, union leader demand explanation from new postmaster, who seeks ‘operational pivot’
Published: July 29, 2020 at 7:26 p.m. ET
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/postal-service-may-close-offices-cut-service-ahead-of-election-2020-07-29?reflink=mw_share_twitter
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The U.S. Postal Service is considering closing post offices across the country, sparking concerns ahead of an anticipated surge of mail-in ballots in the 2020 elections, U.S. Sen Joe Manchin and a union leader said Wednesday.
Manchin said he has received numerous reports from post offices and colleagues about service cuts or looming closures in West Virginia and elsewhere, prompting him to send a letter to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy asking for an explanation.
The possible cutbacks come as DeJoy, a major donor to President Donald Trump who took control of the agency last month, moves to eliminate overtime for hundreds of thousands of postal workers, potentially causing a delay in mail deliveries. A recent document from the Postal Service, obtained by The Associated Press, described the need for an “operational pivot” to make the cash-strapped agency financially stable.
“It’s just asinine to think that you can shut something down or throttle it back in terms of the pandemic when basically the lifeline for voting and democracy is going to be in the hands of the Postal Service,” Manchin, a Democrat, told reporters Wednesday.
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DHS compiled ‘intelligence reports’ on journalists who published leaked documents
By Shane Harris
July 30, 2020 at 4:18 p.m. PDT
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/dhs-compiled-intelligence-reports-on-journalists-who-published-leaked-documents/2020/07/30/5be5ec9e-d25b-11ea-9038-af089b63ac21_story.html
The Department of Homeland Security has compiled “intelligence reports” about the work of American journalists covering protests in Portland, Ore., in what current and former officials called an alarming use of a government system meant to share information about suspected terrorists and violent actors.
Over the past week, the department’s Office of Intelligence and Analysis has disseminated three Open Source Intelligence Reports to federal law enforcement agencies and others, summarizing tweets written by two journalists — a reporter for the New York Times and the editor in chief of the blog Lawfare — and noting they had published leaked, unclassified documents about DHS operations in Portland. The intelligence reports, obtained by The Washington Post, include written descriptions and images of the tweets, and the number of times they had been liked or retweeted by others.
Some of the leaked DHS documents the journalists posted and wrote about revealed shortcomings in the department’s understanding of the nature of the protests in Portland, as well as techniques that intelligence analysts have used. A memo by the department’s top intelligence official, which was tweeted by the editor of Lawfare, says personnel relied on “FINTEL,” an acronym for financial intelligence, as well as “Baseball cards” of arrested protesters to try to understand their motivations and plans. Historically, military and intelligence officials have used such cards for biographical dossiers of suspected terrorists, including those targeted in lethal drone strikes.
The DHS intelligence reports, which are unclassified, are traditionally used for sharing the department’s analysis with federal law enforcement agencies, state and local officials and some foreign governments. They are not intended to disseminate information about American citizens who have no connection to terrorists or other violent actors and who are engaged in activity protected by the First Amendment, current and former officials said.
“This has no operational value whatsoever,” said John Sandweg, who previously served as the department’s acting general counsel.
“This will just damage the intelligence office’s reputation,” Sandweg said, calling the decision to report on journalists “incredibly dumb.”
Officials who are familiar with the reports, and who spoke on the condition of anonymity to candidly discuss them, said they are consistent with the department’s aggressive tactics in Portland, and in particular the work of the Intelligence and Analysis office, which they worried is exceeding the boundaries of its authority in an effort to crackdown on “antifa” protesters to please President Trump. He and other senior administration officials have used that “anti-fascist” label to describe people in Portland and other cities who are protesting police violence, as well as others who have vandalized statues and memorials to Confederate officers that they consider racist.
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Dismantle the Department of Homeland Security
Opinion by Richard A. Clarke
July 30, 2020 at 1:22 p.m. PDT
Richard A. Clarke served on the National Security Council for Presidents George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/dismantle-the-department-of-homeland-security/2020/07/30/24ef8ba0-d279-11ea-8c55-61e7fa5e82ab_story.html
President Trump has, often intentionally, damaged essential federal departments and agencies, driving from their ranks thousands of career civil servants who are global experts and national treasures. The country is seeing the results play out at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but such damage has happened across the federal bureaucracy.
No national institution has been more damaged than the Department of Homeland Security. The youngest of the federal departments, the DHS is among the largest by employee count, ranking just below the Defense Department and Veterans Affairs. It was created in 2003 by smashing together 17 agencies from five departments in an ill-conceived response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Its divisions and agencies are now largely leaderless, because the White House refuses to nominate senior managers to replace those who have left. Quick, who is the secretary of homeland security?
You get my point.
Trump has done far more damage to the DHS, however, than leaving it leaderless. He has branded it as the department that cages children, swoops innocent citizens off U.S. streets, sends warriors dressed for the apocalypse to deal with protests, hunts down hard-working people doing “essential jobs” to forcibly deport them, and harasses foreign students at leading universities. The DHS has become synonymous with unsympathetic government overreach, malevolence and dysfunction.
For the patriotic, underpaid Americans working hard in the agencies of the DHS, what Trump has done to their reputations is a tragedy. The department, however, was doomed from the start. When such an agency was proposed before the Sept. 11 attacks, I was working in the White House, where I coordinated many “homeland” issues for almost a decade under President Bill Clinton and, later, President George W. Bush. Blocking the creation of the DHS was one of the few things on which Vice President Dick Cheney and I agreed. We thought that such a department would be too large, too diverse in function and too difficult to integrate into a well-functioning institution.
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Donald J. Trump
twitter.com/realDonaldTrump
5:46 AM · Jul 30, 2020
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1288818160389558273
With Universal Mail-In Voting (not Absentee Voting, which is good), 2020 will be the most INACCURATE & FRAUDULENT Election in history. It will be a great embarrassment to the USA. Delay the Election until people can properly, securely and safely vote???
You may have seen some noise about the Federalist Society distancing themselves from Trump and their previous Trumpism/Trump worship. Do not sympathise; they are rats thinking about their own futures and deserting a sinking ship.
- ICE Agents Complain About Nazi Comparisons, Say They're Only Enforcing the Laws
- Homeland Security and Oregon reach deal to begin withdrawing federal agents from Portland
- ‘It’s like they’re testing it on us': Portland protesters say tear gas has caused irregularities with their periods
- Federal officers to begin ‘phased withdrawal’ from Portland, governor says
- This is what it looks like when you're released from jail on federal charges... on the condition that you stop showing up to protests.
- Trump claims decision to repeal fair housing rule will boost home prices, lower crime
- A Nevada library wanted to back Black Lives Matter. The sheriff said he wouldn’t respond to 911 calls there.
- Trump Is Now Openly Defying the Supreme Court
- Trump threatens to send military to Portland
- Postal Service may close offices, cut service ahead of election
- DHS compiled ‘intelligence reports’ on journalists who published leaked documents
- Dismantle the Department of Homeland Security
- Trump floats postponing the November election
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ICE Agents Complain About Nazi Comparisons, Say They're Only Enforcing the Laws
BY CHANTAL DA SILVA ON 7/29/20 AT 10:38 AM EDT
https://www.newsweek.com/ice-agents-complain-about-nazi-comparisons-say-theyre-only-enforcing-laws-1521382
[EDITOR: Agents complain about Nazi comparisons, use Nazi defence for their actions. Another case of 2020 being too on the fucking nose for fiction.]
A new Netflix docuseries that saw filmmakers gain "unprecedented" access to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency's operations under the Trump administration sees ICE agents open up about what it's like to be seen as "the bad guys."
For roughly three years, starting just after President Donald Trump took office, filmmakers Shaul Schwarz and Christina Clusiau were given a stunning level of access to the U.S. Homeland Security department's immigration agencies, including ICE and the Border Patrol.
Schwarz and Clusiau followed federal officers and agents as they enforced some of the Trump administration's most controversial immigration policies, including the government's "zero tolerance" family separation policy at the border and ICE's crackdown on undocumented immigrants across the country, with their work culminating in the new docuseries Immigration Nation, which saw its trailer premiered exclusively on Newsweek.com and which is set to launch on Netflix on August 3.
In the new series, previewed ahead of its release by Newsweek, ICE agents speak candidly about their orders to ramp up arrests of undocumented immigrants, with one scene showing an agency supervisor in New York ordering an agent to bring in more "collaterals"—undocumented immigrants identified during a targeted arrest—whatever it takes.
"Start taking collaterals man," an ICE supervisor can be heard saying. "I don't care what you do, but bring at least two people in."
Throughout the series, agents can be seen discussing the need to ramp up arrest numbers, while some appear to also boast about how many people have been arrested in a single day.
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Homeland Security and Oregon reach deal to begin withdrawing federal agents from Portland
CNN Digital Expansion 2019, Josh Campbell
By Josh Campbell and Devan Cole, CNN
Updated 2:32 PM ET, Wed July 29, 2020
https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/29/politics/portland-federal-agents-leaving-protests-homeland-security/index.html
Washington (CNN)The Trump administration has reached an agreement with Oregon's Democratic governor to withdraw federal officers from downtown Portland, though the Department of Homeland Security says it will maintain a presence in the city until it believes federal locations there are secure.
The decision to send federal agents into Portland earlier this month escalated tensions in the city, which has seen prolonged and at times violent protests for the past two months over demands for racial justice and police accountability. President Donald Trump and acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf have said the federal officers were there to protect a federal courthouse in the city's downtown that has been a focal point for protesters, but the officers have also clashed with demonstrators.
Wednesday's agreement was announced separately by Gov. Kate Brown and Wolf, who offered different reports on the conditions for the agents' withdrawal.
Federal officers from Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, both of which are part of DHS, are set to leave the city's downtown Thursday, Brown said in a statement. Brown noted some federal officers, including ones from the US Marshals Service and the Federal Protective Service, will stay at the courthouse since they are usually there.
"The federal government has agreed to withdraw federal officers from Portland. They have acted as an occupying force & brought violence," tweeted Brown, who said the administration's agreement to withdraw officers came after she had a discussion about the matter with Vice President Mike Pence.
Wolf, however, said late Wednesday morning that Oregon State Police "will coordinate" with federal authorities to ensure the protection of federal facilities, such as the courthouse, but conditioned a decrease in federal agents in Portland on both the state and the city's ability to protect federal facilities.
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‘It’s like they’re testing it on us': Portland protesters say tear gas has caused irregularities with their periods
By Rebecca Ellis (OPB)
July 29, 2020
https://www.opb.org/article/2020/07/29/tear-gas-period-menstrual-cycle-portland/
After more than 50 days of nightly protests against racism and police violence, demonstrators in Portland are intimately familiar with the immediate effects of tear gas: blurry eyes, burning skin, choking, coughing, crying, retching.
But some protesters believe the gas is doing more than causing red eyes and seething skin. OPB interviewed 26 protesters, ranging in age from 17 to 43, who said they believe regular exposure to tear gas has caused irregularities within their menstrual cycle.
The experiences range. Some protesters reported getting their period multiple times in a single month. Others reported debilitating cramps — at least one that ended in a hospital visit — and blood clots the size of half a fist. Trans protesters who had stopped menstruating since taking testosterone said they have seen their cycles restart.
There are two common threads between the experiences of the 26 protesters: All said what they were experiencing was abnormal for their bodies. And all believed the tear gas, which law enforcement has been using against demonstrators for two months, was at fault.
There has been little scientific research into whether tear gas can affect a person’s hormones — and experts warn against extrapolating a solid medical conclusion from anecdotal evidence. But while the science remains thin, the troubling stories have mounted as the release of the chemical has become a near-nightly occurrence.
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Federal officers to begin ‘phased withdrawal’ from Portland, governor says
July 29, 2020
By Hal Bernton
Seattle Times staff reporter
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/federal-officers-to-withdraw-from-downtown-portland-governor-says/
PORTLAND — Oregon Gov. Kate Brown on Wednesday said that the federal government has agreed to a “phased withdrawal of federal officers” who have been deployed at the federal Mark O. Hatfield Courthouse in Portland amid nightly protests.
Brown said the Oregon State Police will provide protection and security for the exterior of the courthouse, with the Federal Protective Service. Beginning Thursday, “all Customs and Border Protection and ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) officers will leave downtown Portland, and shortly thereafter will be going home.”
But a statement from acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf raised doubts about how soon that drawdown would take place. Wolf confirmed that a “joint plan” was reached over the past 24 hours with Brown, but he did not offer any timetable for the withdrawal.
Wolf said in a statement: “The Department will continue to maintain our current, augmented federal law enforcement personnel in Portland until we are assured that the Hatfield Federal Courthouse and other federal properties will no longer be attacked …”
The federal response has received harsh criticism for tactics that have included tremendous amounts of tear gas, firing of less lethal rounds that have caused injuries to protesters, and beatings with batons.
Brown, in a Wednesday statement, said that she had “grown increasingly concerned” with the nightly confrontations between federal officers and protesters.
“We need to recognize that the protests in Portland are not solely about the federal presence,” Brown said. “They started before federal agents descended on our city and they will likely continue after they leave.”
Brown accused the federal officers of acting as “an occupying force, refused accountability, and brought violence and strife to our community.”
[SEE ALSO:
https://twitter.com/OregonGovBrown/status/1288497308733018113
]
----- 5 -----
Dara Lind
twitter.com/DLind
28 July 2020
https://twitter.com/DLind/status/1288209309575385090
This is what it looks like when you're released from jail on federal charges...on the condition that you stop showing up to protests. https://propublica.org/article/defendant-shall-not-attend-protests-in-portland-getting-out-of-jail-requires-relinquishing-constitutional-rights
----- 6 -----
Trump claims decision to repeal fair housing rule will boost home prices, lower crime
By Sylvan Lane - 07/29/20
https://thehill.com/policy/finance/509595-trump-claims-decision-to-repeal-fair-housing-rule-will-boost-home-prices-lower
President Trump claimed Wednesday that his recent decision to replace an Obama administration rule targeting racial housing discrimination would boost suburban housing prices and reduce crime.
In a pair of Wednesday tweets, Trump asserted that his efforts to prevent low-income housing from being built in affluent areas would prevent suburbanites from being “bothered or financially hurt” by a rule intended to expand access to housing for minorities.
“I am happy to inform all of the people living their Suburban Lifestyle Dream that you will no longer be bothered or financially hurt by having low income housing built in your neighborhood,” Trump tweeted.
----- 7 -----
A Nevada library wanted to back Black Lives Matter. The sheriff said he wouldn’t respond to 911 calls there.
By Tim Elfrink
July 29, 2020 at 4:07 a.m. PDT
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/07/29/nevada-sheriff-911-blm/
The Douglas County, Nev., public library wanted to take a stand this week: “Everyone is welcome,” read a proposed diversity statement, which added the library “denounces all acts of racism, violence and disregard for human rights. We support #BlackLivesMatter.”
But Douglas County Sheriff Daniel Coverley quickly took a stand of his own.
“Due to your support of Black Lives Matter and the obvious lack of support or trust with the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, please do not feel the need to call 911 for help,” Coverley wrote in a letter to the library published Monday. “I wish you good luck with disturbances and lewd behavior.”
A county spokesperson later told the Reno Gazette Journal that despite the sheriff’s statement, deputies would continue responding to calls from the library. After a follow-up meeting with the library’s director on Tuesday, Coverley blamed the stress protests have put on police for his response.
----- 8 -----
Trump Is Now Openly Defying the Supreme Court
By Mark Joseph Stern
July 28, 2020
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/07/daca-donald-trump-supreme-court.html
The Trump administration announced on Tuesday that it will continue to defy a federal court order compelling the full restoration of DACA, the Obama-era program that allows 700,000 immigrants to live and work in the United States legally. By doing so, the administration has chosen to flout a decision by the Supreme Court, effectively rejecting the judiciary’s authority to say what the law is.
Donald Trump first attempted to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program in September 2017, a move that would’ve stripped its beneficiaries of work permits and subjected them to deportation. But his administration continually cut corners, failing to explain the basis for its decision and refusing to consider the impact of DACA repeal on immigrants, their communities, and their employers (including the U.S. Army). This June, the Supreme Court ruled that the administration’s actions were “arbitrary and capricious” under federal law and therefore “set aside” DACA repeal.
To implement that decision, U.S. District Judge Paul Grimm compelled the administration to restore DACA to its pre-repeal condition on July 17. Grimm’s order required the Department of Homeland Security to let DACA beneficiaries renew their status for two years, accept new applicants, and restore “advance parole,” which permits travel outside the country. But DHS did not do that. Instead, the agency maintained that it would reject new DACA applicants. It also declined to accept DACA renewals or reinstate advance parole.
At a hearing Friday, Grimm tore into Justice Department attorneys for flouting his order. The government’s actions, he explained, created “a feeling and a belief that the agency is disregarding binding decisions” from the Supreme Court. DOJ attorneys insisted that DACA applications were merely “on hold,” or “placed into a bucket,” while the administration decided how to proceed. But, as Grimm retorted, “it is a distinction without a difference to say that this application has not been denied, it has been received and it has been put in a bucket.” The judge once again directed DHS to comply with the law by accepting new applicants and processing renewals.
----- 9 -----
Josh Marshall
twitter.com/joshtpm
30 July 2020
https://twitter.com/joshtpm/status/1288964020318408705
Trump says local authorities in Oregon have a short time to clear out the "beehive of terrorists" protesting around the federal building in Portland. If they can't, Trump threatens to send in troops.
[EMBEDDED VIDEO AT LINK]
----- 10 -----
Postal Service may close offices, cut service ahead of election
Manchin, union leader demand explanation from new postmaster, who seeks ‘operational pivot’
Published: July 29, 2020 at 7:26 p.m. ET
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/postal-service-may-close-offices-cut-service-ahead-of-election-2020-07-29?reflink=mw_share_twitter
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The U.S. Postal Service is considering closing post offices across the country, sparking concerns ahead of an anticipated surge of mail-in ballots in the 2020 elections, U.S. Sen Joe Manchin and a union leader said Wednesday.
Manchin said he has received numerous reports from post offices and colleagues about service cuts or looming closures in West Virginia and elsewhere, prompting him to send a letter to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy asking for an explanation.
The possible cutbacks come as DeJoy, a major donor to President Donald Trump who took control of the agency last month, moves to eliminate overtime for hundreds of thousands of postal workers, potentially causing a delay in mail deliveries. A recent document from the Postal Service, obtained by The Associated Press, described the need for an “operational pivot” to make the cash-strapped agency financially stable.
“It’s just asinine to think that you can shut something down or throttle it back in terms of the pandemic when basically the lifeline for voting and democracy is going to be in the hands of the Postal Service,” Manchin, a Democrat, told reporters Wednesday.
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DHS compiled ‘intelligence reports’ on journalists who published leaked documents
By Shane Harris
July 30, 2020 at 4:18 p.m. PDT
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/dhs-compiled-intelligence-reports-on-journalists-who-published-leaked-documents/2020/07/30/5be5ec9e-d25b-11ea-9038-af089b63ac21_story.html
The Department of Homeland Security has compiled “intelligence reports” about the work of American journalists covering protests in Portland, Ore., in what current and former officials called an alarming use of a government system meant to share information about suspected terrorists and violent actors.
Over the past week, the department’s Office of Intelligence and Analysis has disseminated three Open Source Intelligence Reports to federal law enforcement agencies and others, summarizing tweets written by two journalists — a reporter for the New York Times and the editor in chief of the blog Lawfare — and noting they had published leaked, unclassified documents about DHS operations in Portland. The intelligence reports, obtained by The Washington Post, include written descriptions and images of the tweets, and the number of times they had been liked or retweeted by others.
Some of the leaked DHS documents the journalists posted and wrote about revealed shortcomings in the department’s understanding of the nature of the protests in Portland, as well as techniques that intelligence analysts have used. A memo by the department’s top intelligence official, which was tweeted by the editor of Lawfare, says personnel relied on “FINTEL,” an acronym for financial intelligence, as well as “Baseball cards” of arrested protesters to try to understand their motivations and plans. Historically, military and intelligence officials have used such cards for biographical dossiers of suspected terrorists, including those targeted in lethal drone strikes.
The DHS intelligence reports, which are unclassified, are traditionally used for sharing the department’s analysis with federal law enforcement agencies, state and local officials and some foreign governments. They are not intended to disseminate information about American citizens who have no connection to terrorists or other violent actors and who are engaged in activity protected by the First Amendment, current and former officials said.
“This has no operational value whatsoever,” said John Sandweg, who previously served as the department’s acting general counsel.
“This will just damage the intelligence office’s reputation,” Sandweg said, calling the decision to report on journalists “incredibly dumb.”
Officials who are familiar with the reports, and who spoke on the condition of anonymity to candidly discuss them, said they are consistent with the department’s aggressive tactics in Portland, and in particular the work of the Intelligence and Analysis office, which they worried is exceeding the boundaries of its authority in an effort to crackdown on “antifa” protesters to please President Trump. He and other senior administration officials have used that “anti-fascist” label to describe people in Portland and other cities who are protesting police violence, as well as others who have vandalized statues and memorials to Confederate officers that they consider racist.
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Dismantle the Department of Homeland Security
Opinion by Richard A. Clarke
July 30, 2020 at 1:22 p.m. PDT
Richard A. Clarke served on the National Security Council for Presidents George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/dismantle-the-department-of-homeland-security/2020/07/30/24ef8ba0-d279-11ea-8c55-61e7fa5e82ab_story.html
President Trump has, often intentionally, damaged essential federal departments and agencies, driving from their ranks thousands of career civil servants who are global experts and national treasures. The country is seeing the results play out at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but such damage has happened across the federal bureaucracy.
No national institution has been more damaged than the Department of Homeland Security. The youngest of the federal departments, the DHS is among the largest by employee count, ranking just below the Defense Department and Veterans Affairs. It was created in 2003 by smashing together 17 agencies from five departments in an ill-conceived response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Its divisions and agencies are now largely leaderless, because the White House refuses to nominate senior managers to replace those who have left. Quick, who is the secretary of homeland security?
You get my point.
Trump has done far more damage to the DHS, however, than leaving it leaderless. He has branded it as the department that cages children, swoops innocent citizens off U.S. streets, sends warriors dressed for the apocalypse to deal with protests, hunts down hard-working people doing “essential jobs” to forcibly deport them, and harasses foreign students at leading universities. The DHS has become synonymous with unsympathetic government overreach, malevolence and dysfunction.
For the patriotic, underpaid Americans working hard in the agencies of the DHS, what Trump has done to their reputations is a tragedy. The department, however, was doomed from the start. When such an agency was proposed before the Sept. 11 attacks, I was working in the White House, where I coordinated many “homeland” issues for almost a decade under President Bill Clinton and, later, President George W. Bush. Blocking the creation of the DHS was one of the few things on which Vice President Dick Cheney and I agreed. We thought that such a department would be too large, too diverse in function and too difficult to integrate into a well-functioning institution.
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Donald J. Trump
twitter.com/realDonaldTrump
5:46 AM · Jul 30, 2020
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1288818160389558273
With Universal Mail-In Voting (not Absentee Voting, which is good), 2020 will be the most INACCURATE & FRAUDULENT Election in history. It will be a great embarrassment to the USA. Delay the Election until people can properly, securely and safely vote???
