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5:50 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:
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.
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 …
Aaron Parnas / MeidasTouch News:
Federal Judge Set to Order Two Weeks of Intensive Expedited Discovery in Abrego Garcia Case
Discussion: Bloomberg and Mother Jones
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: NPR and Eschaton
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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Noah Smith / Noahpinion:
The authoritarian takeover attempt is here
Discussion: Vox, New Jersey Online and Politico
Andy Craig / The UnPopulist:
Trump's Policy of Shipping Innocents to the Salvadoran Gulag Shows Utter Contempt for Not Just the Constitution but Law Itself
Discussion: Rolling Stone
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
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
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
RELATED:
Washington Post:
DOGE is collecting federal data to remove immigrants from housing, jobs  —  The administration is pushing agencies to turn over information on where people work, study and live.  The data is normally protected from dissemination.
RELATED:
Washington Post:   Inside DOGE's push to defy a court order and access Social Security data
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.
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.
New York Times:
U.S. Cites Mideast Peace Process to Justify Move to Deport Student  —  Mohsen Mahdawi, who led Columbia protests, engaged in activities that could threaten attempts to end the war in Gaza, a memo from Secretary of State Marco Rubio said.  —  The Trump administration is seeking to deport …
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 …
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 …
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
Axios:
Scoop: Top House Dems trying to send delegation to El Salvador  —  Two members of House Democratic leadership are trying to send an official congressional delegation to the El Salvadorian prison where the Trump administration is sending deportees, Axios has learned.
Discussion: Daily Kos and The Gateway Pundit
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,” …
Stephen Rodrick / Rolling Stone:
Jimmy Kimmel: ‘Now I See Myself More as a Place to Scream’  —  The late-night stalwart talks about taking on Trump, growing up in Vegas, and his path from host of The Man Show to defender of democracy  —  T … This is not the case.  The talk-show host's workspace is very public …
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 …
Discussion: New York Magazine
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
Paul Krugman:
Happy Tax Evasion Day!  —  It's April 15th, Tax Day.  Today all good Americans will pay the taxes they owe.  Not so good Americans, on the other hand, will pay less than they owe, hoping to get away with it.  And their odds of getting away with tax evasion this year are a lot higher …
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
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
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
 
 
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 More Items: 
Wall Street Journal:
The Little-Known Bureaucrats Tearing Through American Universities
Discussion: New York Magazine
President Donald J. Trump / The White House:
These Sick Criminals Are Who Democrats and the Legacy Media Are Defending
Discussion: RedState and Twitchy
Christopher F. Rufo / City Journal:
The Right Is Winning the Battle Over Higher Education
Nicholas Riccardi / Associated Press:
Colorado judge puts temporary hold on deportations sought by Trump under Alien Enemies Act
Discussion: Boston Herald
 Earlier Items: 
Shia Kapos / Politico:
DOGE targets Brookfield Zoo
David Nir / The Downballot:
Morning Digest: Michigan Republican who fell just short in '24 will run for Senate again
Tom Perkins / The Guardian:
Trump donors eye potential bonanza if US succeeds with Greenland land-grab
Bloomberg:
US Derails G-7 Condemnation of Russian Missile Strike on Ukraine
 

 
From Mediagazer:

Daniel Thomas / Financial Times:
Netflix agrees to acquire WBD's studios and streaming business in an $82.7B cash-and-stock deal, including debt, to close after WBD splits in two in Q3 2026

Robert Channick / Chicago Tribune:
The Chicago Tribune sues Perplexity for copyright infringement, alleging Perplexity's platforms lift Tribune content verbatim and divert traffic from the paper

Will Sommer / @willsommer:
The Blaze retracts its article accusing a former Capitol Police officer of being the January 6 pipe bomber after the FBI arrested a different person
 
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