Sadly, it’s necessary to keep repeating this. I’ve seen the devastating impacts of political violence abroad. Nobody should want or support that for the United States. open.substack.com/pub/mariamcf...

The US may already be a captured state: one where corruption is systemic and where, despite democratic processes, government serves private interests. Yet I know from personal experience that there are ways out. My latest on Democracy Without Exception: substack.com/home/post/p-... @represent.us

Wannabe autocrats who start to lose popular support often become more repressive. On cue, DOJ's announcement today it indicted SPLC for paying informants (work it did in collaboration with the FBI!) is a brazen effort to intimidate critics & civil rights groups. www.youtube.com/watch?v=25dl...

1. The central claim in the indictment of SPLC is a lie. The DOJ/FBI accuse SPLC of lying to donors about seeking to “dismantle” extremist groups while secretly funding them. But the funds were used to infiltrate & help law enforcement dismantle these groups. Kash Patel knows this is the truth…

“In Hungary, it is not that the oligarchs bought themselves into power; instead, politics captured the state and then found oligarchs to carry out its will.” Sound familiar? But nobody likes corruption, and combined with economic crisis, it builds public opposition. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/10/w...

A reminder that war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide are not just international offenses--they are ILLEGAL UNDER US LAW and can and should be prosecuted. Following orders is not an excuse, and conspiracy laws apply. www.justice.gov/criminal/cri...

EXCLUSIVE: With Trump Threatening a Genocide, Military Must Disobey His Orders, Former Pentagon Officials Say “What President Trump is describing as the destruction of ‘a whole civilization’ would be a war crime, plain and simple.” theintercept.com/2026/04/07/t...

Members of Congress who have failed to act own whatever Trump tries to do tonight. Congress can refuse to authorize wars. It can refuse to fund wars. It can impeach presidents and cabinet members who pursue illegal wars and order war crimes or genocide. Act or you own it. @represent.us

This is really good as well. So far Ted Lieu, Chris Murphy, and Elissa Slotkin making this point with crystal clarity. More Dems need to do this.

I was just helping my kid with their high school Gov homework, and was astonished to learn the United States has a Congress.

Thanks to The Renovator for publishing this piece—a key lesson from Noem’s firing is that public pressure matters! substack.com/@mariamcfarl...

Great to have a hopeful chat with @glennkirschner.bsky.social on Justice Matters today. We can make accountability happen! substack.com/@glennkirsch...

Hey @mariamcfarlandsm.bsky.social thanks for being on the pod w/ @petedominick.bsky.social. Newsy & clippy bits plus this great guest await on this fabulous Wednesday episode, listeners! Is it Thursday already? Better late than never! 📆 standupwithpete.com/1552-maria-m...

I had a great conversation with @petedominick.bsky.social about corruption, how we make change happen, and hope!

I'm so glad I had time to jump on this live with @petedominick.bsky.social & @mariamcfarlandsm.bsky.social! She is AMAZING! Make sure you watch here or catch the pod tomorrow. #SUPD 🐝 www.youtube.com/live/3UJBK9o...

SCHIFF: Are you saying it's just fortuitous that $143m went to a subcontractor that you worked w/ extensively as gov of SD? KRISTI NOEM: I had no choosing of contractors. S: Can you state for record that you or Lewandowski had no communication with any agency involved? N: To best of my knowledge

Congress has the power and duty to demand real answers about Trump's Iran war, and to stop the war if those answers aren't good enough. It needs to own its actions. open.substack.com/pub/mariamcf...

Congress has the power and duty to demand answers about Trump's Iran war, and to stop the war if those answers aren't good enough. If it fails to act, it owns the war too. mariamcfarlandsm.substack.com/p/if-it-fail...

“And if there’s a traumatic event — ... a war — .... Would fear once again lead people to ignore rights and values as it did... in Peru?” From my 2017 @lareviewofbooks.bsky.social piece, warning about how an autocrat could use war to justify repression here: lareviewofbooks.org/article/in-p...

So energized by the "State of the Swamp" SOTU response event organized by Defiance.org! (Based on his tirade against Robert DeNiro, the event clearly got under Trump's skin). Here's a clip from my panel, on brutality and hope: www.youtube.com/shorts/y43KE... @represent.us

Please read this article to the end. Even before ICE got involved, this started because this *blind man who speaks no English and uses a curtain rod as a walking stick* got lost on a walk and some Karen called the police on him and they tasered and beat him bc he didn’t drop the rod. WTF

Our federal government killed a disabled genocide survivor and is covering up for a child rapist. And that is just today’s news. It is just unconscionable to be treating this as normal or acceptable in any way. www.investigativepost.org/2026/02/25/b...

Friends, join me and amazing speakers like @donlemonofficial.bsky.social @mehdirhasan.bsky.social @milestaylor.bsky.social & more at the biggest rebuttal to Trump’s State of the Union 2/24. Don’t watch him--watch us! Go to DEFIANCE.org/sotu for free, or buy upgraded tickets with code FROGFRIEND15

Friends, join me and amazing speakers like @donlemonofficial.bsky.social @mehdirhasan.bsky.social @milestaylor.bsky.social & more at the biggest rebuttal to Trump’s State of the Union 2/24. Don’t watch him--watch us! Go to DEFIANCE.org/sotu for free, or buy upgraded tickets with code FROGFRIEND15

"The administration has been quick to investigate those who were shot"--yet those claims have repeatedly unraveled in court. Meanwhile, "there are only two cases in which civil rights or criminal investigations into the officers’ conduct have been announced." www.nytimes.com/2026/02/10/u...

This is literally what CURRENT LAW requires. It’s in the Constitution! www.politico.com/news/2026/02...

You don’t have to know Spanish to like Bad Bunny's messages of unity and love at the Superbowl half-time show. Fortunately, he's not alone. Artists are increasingly and bravely speaking to rising authoritarianism and brutality--and that really matters. mariamcfarlandsm.substack.com/p/bad-bunny-...

If your eyes glazed over at the story about the Trump family's UAE crypto deal, you’re not alone. But it’s time to sit up and pay attention. The Trump network's schemes to profit from the presidency put all of us at risk. open.substack.com/pub/mariamcf...

So the President is suing the IRS, which is part of the branch over which he presides, for ten billion dollars. Will the IRS settle with him? For how much? Why not just direct the Treasury Secretary to write DJT a check for $10B? Or $20B? (1/2)

Big news with two GOP senators calling for Noem’s removal. www.nbcnews.com/politics/con...

Wonderful lunch conversation with @mariamcfarlandsm.bsky.social CEO of @represent.us & @robrichie.bsky.social CEO of @expanddemocracy.bsky.social — we talked about strategies to build a stronger & more resilient democracy with reforms like #RankedChoiceVoting

The Pretti and Good executions are part of a pattern of growing abuse encouraged by senior officials, and total lack of accountability. That's a recipe for escalating brutality. The answer to these crimes is not shuffling staff. It's ensuring full accountability. open.substack.com/pub/mariamcf...

THIS. "The ultimate goal is bringing to justice those who have engaged in blatantly unlawful... conduct. But what is needed immediately — urgently — is deterring such conduct from happening going forward." By @barryfriedman1.bsky.social @stevevladeck.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/2026/01/26/o...

Many generations have been here before. A crucial reminder:

Remember that the legal standard for deadly force is whether the agent reasonably believed that he was in imminent danger of death or serious bodily injury. That is the only question that matters. And that standard is plainly not met by what we see in the video.

In my human rights work I've worked on cases of extrajudicial executions in countries like Colombia & Egypt. Hard to interpret this killing of a man already on the ground as anything other than that. We must all stand up to this brutality, push for accountability. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/24/u...

Chief Strategist for Rand Paul.

Excellent @nytimes.com recap of Trump's use of the presidency for self-enrichment--clearly the priority here. Citing Aristotle: the country may call itself a republic, but when its "aim shifts from public good to private gain, its constitution becomes an empty shell." www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Really should not dance around that word. Not just corrupt or improper or whatever. It's bribery. He's selling pardons. Call it bribery.

In the last 4 days: -- Elise Slotkin says she's being criminally investigated by DOJ -- ICE illegally goes "door to door" in Minneapolis -- FBI raids the home of a WP journalist -- DHS illegally arrests, detains 100+ Somalians with legal refugee status

Tillis is spot on. The Senate can't confirm a Trump toady to succeed Powell at the Fed. The rest of the game is now out in the open, and it doesn't end well.

Threats to the rule of law, the Constitution, and American democracy are growing, and we @chkbal.bsky.social are growing to meet them. Are you a conservative, libertarian, or center right patriot who puts first principles ahead of personalities and partisanship? Apply to join our team.

“I am tired and exhausted by the fools and idiots that get to govern us...I am tired of their theft, corruption and injustice.”--a protestor in Iran. That disgust and frustration is so often what ends up sparking public mobilization globally. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/10/w...

Must-watch @nytimes.com video breaking down the footage of the ICE shooting of a US citizen mom in Minneapolis. This apparent homicide is part of a broader pattern of abuse by an unchecked ICE, which now has massive funding and will only grow. www.nytimes.com/video/us/100...

Excellent, damning analysis of the video of the killing of Ms Good, from the NYT, including a quick debunking of the “evidence” the President showed other Times reporters last night. www.nytimes.com/video/us/100...

ICE now has the largest budget of any US law enforcement agency, and the least accountability. An agent shot & killed a US citizen mom in her SUV today. DOJ can't be counted on to investigate. We, the people, need to push for accountability. Call Congress, demand oversight: act.represent.us/sign/ice

“Donald Trump has been quietly plotting the seizure of Greenland in some way, shape, or form for nearly eight years. We listened to his private rants about it in the first term, but we weren’t willing to carry out a takeover of an allied nation on his behalf.” www.defiance.news/p/why-i-warn...

Five years ago, we saw the most direct attack on US democratic process in generations. Now we're seeing an assault from within, via corruption, intimidation and power grabs. Today we need not only to remember, but to recommit to freedom, rule of law, and government of, by, and for the people.

The US incursion into Venezuela had nothing to do with promoting democracy, freedom or the rule of law, or even countering illicit drug flows. It was about one thing alone: amassing power by whatever means necessary. My latest: //mariamcfarlandsm.substack.com/p/trumps-approach-to-venezuela-mirrors