Earlier this month, #Trump issued 2 #ExecutiveOrders revoking the #security clearances of #ChrisKrebs, who led #CISA under during Trump’s first term & rebutted his claims that the 2020 election had been rigged & stolen, & #MilesTaylor, who once served as chief of staff at the #DHS. Taylor anonymously wrote a NYT opinion essay in 2018 accusing Trump of rampant “amorality” & telling of an internal government “resistance.”

“It brings to mind the abuses of power that characterize #authoritarian nations, not the #UnitedStates. No matter one’s party or #politics, every American should reject the notion that the awesome #power of the presidency can be used to pursue individual vendettas. Behavior of this kind is more to be expected from a royal despot than the elected leader of a constitutional republic. This is the path of #autocracy, not #democracy.”

“Across our history, there have been dark chapters where state #power has been #weaponized & #dissent suppressed, including the crackdown during & after WWI, the #RedScare of the 1950s, & President Richard #Nixon’s ‘enemies list.’ These episodes are now seen as shameful deviations from the fundamental American principles of #FreeExpression & impartial #justice. The April 9 presidential memoranda are an appalling rejection of those bedrock democratic values.“
#RevengePolitics #AbuseOfPower #Trump

“#Trump is explicitly targeting 2 Americans because they exercised their #FirstAmendment rights…. That is a miscarriage of #justice which these individuals…vindictively singled out by him, will be unfairly forced to endure. The president of the United States must not direct federal authorities to investigate people with whom he disagrees.

“This is not democratic governance. It is baseless retaliation — & it has no place in the United States of America.”

That same day, #Trump also signed a memo targeting #MilesTaylor, a fmr US ofcl who wrote an opinion column & book critical of Trump under the pen name “Anonymous.”

In the Oval Office last week, Trump called #ChrisKrebs a “wiseguy” & mocked an appearance he had seen from Krebs on TV.

“He came out right after the election, which was a rigged election, a badly rigged election…this guy Krebs was saying, ‘Oh, the election was great, it was great,’” Trump said.

Last week, #Trump signed a *memo* [directing the DOJ – which BTWs isn’t legal for him to do]…to investigate #ChrisKrebs, & suspend any #active security clearances held by Krebs & SentinelOne, the prominent #cybersecurity firm where he worked. Trump instructed the #DOJ & the #DHS to submit a report w/“recommendations for appropriate remedial or preventative actions.”

#ChrisKrebs, who ran #CISA & was responsible for securing the #2020election, drew #Trump’s ire after publicly contradicting Trump when Krebs stated the #election WASN’T STOLEN [Trump literally called that election “rigged” again today during an Oval Office presser]. Krebs was fired by tweet in Nov 2020 after calling the election the most secure in history.

#IRS Is Actually Said to Be Considering Whether to Revoke #Harvard’s #TaxExempt Status — Cuz #USA Is An #Autocracy Now

The move would be a major violation of the law upon orders from the #Trump admin as it attempts to choke off federal money & support for #research & #academia in US #universities.

[Jiminy Cricket am I editorializing & cursing in print more & more now that muther f⁕⚠︎er is in office!]

#law #AntiIntellectualism #RevengePolitics #extortion #MafiaState
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/16/us/politics/trump-irs-harvard.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare&sgrp=p&pvid=45189BD7-601D-485A-8FE9-6A8489FF334F

The premium investors demand to hold #US Treasuries rather than #German #Bunds - now apparently one of the safe havens of choice - has exploded.

It's heading for its biggest weekly increase since the 1990s, which reflects the extent to which investors are dumping #Treasuries.

The dollar is at the heart of it &, with #markets, it's always what's beneath the surface that can cause the most damage.

The main casualty in all this is the #US #dollar.

For 80 years, it's been the mainstay of the #financial system & the ultimate of safe havens, along w/ #Treasuries.

But w/investors now doubting the reliability of the #UnitedStates as a #trading partner & fears creeping in about the stability of the #bond market, the dollar is bearing the brunt.

#Trump #economy #inflation #recession #geopolitics #RevengePolitics
https://www.reuters.com/world/trump-tariffs-live-markets-whipsaw-trade-war-fuels-global-recession-fears-2025-04-11/

#China said the imposition of “abnormally high #tariffs” violated international economic & trade rules & “goes against basic economic laws & common sense,” adding: “It is a completely unilateral, bullying & coercive act.”

…The other allegation #Trump makes against #MilesTaylor is that his anonymous writings “stoked dissension.” Trump said that amounted to “manufacturing sensationalist reports on the existence of a supposed ‘resistance’ within the Federal Government that ‘vowed’ to undermine & render ineffective a sitting President.”
But the idea that there was some secretive group of govt ofcls working to undermine Trump & check his impulses was also promoted by…Trump himself.

…#Trump’s memo on #MilesTaylor is similarly hyperbolic. It accuses him of conduct that “could properly be characterized as treasonous & as possibly violating the Espionage Act.”

That alleged conduct? Trump claims Taylor’s 2019 book, which he also wrote anonymously, “illegally published classified conversations” & “is full of falsehoods & fabricated stories.”

But the memo points to no details about specific classified information Taylor supposedly shared.

But just as the stolen-election claims were routinely rejected by the courts, this argument has been dealt with by the courts, too — #SCOTUS, in fact. It rejected the claim that #CISA’s efforts to combat #misinformation violated the plaintiffs’ #FirstAmendment rights, as #Trump’s memo suggests. The opinion was written by none other than a Trump-appointed justice, #AmyConeyBarrett.

To the extent #Trump’s executive action got more detailed, it pointed to #ChrisKrebs’s role in supposedly censoring Americans’ claims about what Trump calls the “stolen” election, Hunter Biden’s laptop & the covid pandemic.

“CISA, under Krebs’ leadership, suppressed conservative viewpoints under the guise of combatting supposed disinformation,” it reads.

#law #AbuseOfPower #RevengePolitics

#Trump intensified his efforts to punish his critics by signing a pair of memos directing #DOJ to investigate 2 ofcls from his first admin & stripping them of any security clearances they may have.

Trump’s targeting of #MilesTaylor, a fmr DHS ofcl in Trump’s first term, & #ChrisKrebs, a fmr top #cybersecurity ofcl, came as the Republican president has sought to [ab]use the powers of the presidency to retaliate against his adversaries…

#RevengePolitics #law #AbuseOfPower
https://apnews.com/article/trump-retaliation-miles-taylor-chris-krebs-efb1416926df9d1086fa21349a18f90b