NEW: Apple fixed the bug that law enforcement, like the FBI, were taking advantage of to extract chat messages that had been deleted or disappeared automatically. Until now the iPhone stored deleted or disappered messages in a database, allowing authorities to access them with forensic tools.

Pulitzer-worthy reporting here from Minnesota immigrant news @sahanjournal.bsky.social. 70+ children detained during Operation MetroSurge. 30 sent to Dilley. Two dozen held >20 days, a Flores violation. 7 still detained as of March 10. ~20 have been deported. sahanjournal.com/immigration/...

Great new stat from @senatebudget.bsky.social: of the $140 billion that Trump & Republicans gave ICE & CBP in the Big Beautiful Bill, $103 billion is still unobligated as of the end of March. Now they’re asking for another $70 billion even though about 75% of the OBBBA money still remains unused.

I think that we should simply run on prosecuting the rich for their crimes instead of creating a low trust society that will sow the seeds for further fascism

Much coverage of how Donald Trump, who proved unable to run Shuttle Inc, is about to take over Spirit Airlines seems to be missing this bit: It would have come out of BK by itself if Trump had not created a global catastrophe. fortune.com/2026/04/20/s...

Carter Page is the next person who'll get to loot Treasury bc Trump wants to discredit investigating Russian spies.

Below is a statement from the unionized workers of the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Trump just fired the Secretary of the Navy and replaced him with Undersecretary Hung Cao, one of the biggest idiots Virginia politics has produced this century (really saying something here) in the middle of the Iran war

Two paragraphs from the order dismissing Laura Loomer's defamation lawsuit against Bill Maher, finding 1) it was a joke 2) even if it wasn't, there's no evidence of malice 3) she presented no evidence she was harmed. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

1. The FBI gutted a counterintelligence team tracking threats from Iran 2. Trump went to war with Iran days later 3. Now Trump is hosting top holders of his memecoin at Mar-a-Lago on Saturday, with unclear vetting and security See the national security risk?

Read this from Marcy. It's brilliant. Take the time. emptywheel.net/2026/04/21/t...

One of two reasons the far right HATES SPLC is that they called out Charlie Kirk's increasing radicalism over time. But under the fungibility argument DOJ is relying on in indictment, TPUSA could be charged for January 6, which Biden's DOJ did not do. www.splcenter.org/resources/re...

bessent's bullshit here feels close to criminal

Reupping my video and post explaining the most corrupt aspect of Todd Blanche's appointment to criminalize investigating RU: bc in 2019, he and Victoria were trying to get corrupt foreigners to lie abt the topic. emptywheel.net/2026/04/19/t...

Seems like NYT should have mentioned that UAE's spymaster bought 49% of Trump's World Liberty Financial and used $2B of its USD1 stablecoin, directing hundreds of millions to Trump. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ www.nytimes.com/2026/04/21/b...

Jay Bhattacharya has ordered that a paper showing the effectiveness of COVID19 vaccines in preventing severe disease and hospitalization be suppressed and hidden. This man has been crying nonstop about political censorship for 6 years. But he’s the one who is actually doing it.

Marcy explains why taking this L is so impossible for Trump. And part of this trap is that even fighting feels like an L, given his larger ambitions with Putin and realigning the globe.

Turns out Ukraine not only had some cards, but the US has decided to use them. 😜 www.reuters.com/business/aer...

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals is out with a new (very bad) decision, and it's a doozy. The Fifth Circuit says that Texas can require the Ten Commandments in classrooms. But somehow it gets worse. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Ruby Bridges is 8 years younger than the President.

This is an important post by @emptywheel.bsky.social. Please share widely. emptywheel.net/2026/04/21/t...

Note: we can debate the merits, but this is the direct result of maximalist opposition from Dems.

"Adopting the logic used here, Blanche should be prosecuting Leon Black and Les Wexner because their funds supported sex trafficking."

Todd Blanche's Weird Double Standard Protects Sex Traffickers and Racists emptywheel.net/2026/04/22/t...

Later today, at the Oireachtas (Irish Parliament) EU Affairs Committee, I will call for Ireland to recuse itself from all digital issues during its EU Council Presidency. Ireland’s regulatory sabotage of EU data law has exposed Europe’s children to serious mental harm. www.iccl.ie/press-releas...

Posting is correlated with affective polarization: 😡 The most partisan users — those who love their party and despise the other — are more likely to post about politics 🥊 The result? A loud angry minority dominates online politics, which itself can drive polarization (see doi.org/10.1073/pnas...)

Oh no!!! TX judge dismisses Kash Patel's defamation case against Frank Filiuzzi, on which lawsuit Kash based much of yesterday's lawsuit against the Atlantic. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Underlying these disputes is the likelihood Trump will bail out of the problem he created by launching a war against Iran by letting RU fix it.

There are several new Lego videos, I think released today. They're different. One accuses the US of piracy (legally correct, IMO). The other includes a target list. As if this has become a negotiating portal.

Correct.

In general, Trump DOJ's effort to weaponize DOJ founders on the incompetence of MAGAt lawyers (as Chad Mizelle was quoted as confessing). But this SPLC indictment? Shit. Evil genius. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Btw, the USS Ford set a record for longest post-Vietnam (which Trump could have won) deployment last week. I'm sure that has nothing to do with its toilet problem or laundry fire. These sailors have been away from home since June. www.stripes.com/branches/nav...

I feel like Sun Tzu really missed out on "Invent Pete Hegseth and give him to the enemy"

Something reports on DOJ's withdrawal of subpoenas are missing: John Solomon, before he announced DiGenova's hiring but at a time he likely knew about it, said that DOJ was going to push for access to ALL Senate materials on RU, seemingly including SSCI report. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/21/u...

This is important and shocking news from NYT. And it doesn’t mention the DRC third-country deportation program has already begun. ICE sent 15 immigrants from Latin American countries there five days ago. gillianbrockell.com/breaking-ice...

For Taco Tuesday I wrote a long post which, buried w/in it, includes a description of 2 acute psychological dilemmas Trump is facing. 1) To win v Iran, Trump has to fight Putin 2) To make a deal, Trump has to admit Obama is smarter than him Neither is tenable. emptywheel.net/2026/04/21/t...

Great news, everyone! Emmet Sullivan, who as Senior could if he wanted, shows no signs of handing off the Kash Patel lawsuit. 🍿

This post from Marcy Wheeler is an extremely worthwhile read.

New: Kash Patel's FBI launched an unnecessary raid on the home of a former Capitol Police officer, based on Jan. 6 conspiracy theories from right-wing media outlet The Blaze.

Senate is voting now to proceed to the budget resolution. It takes a simple majority to proceed. After that, there would be 50 hours of debate, followed by vote-o-rama, followed by final passage. If the House agrees, then would be the process of a reconciliation bill to pump $70 bn into ICE & CBP.

We stand with Senator Eileen Flynn ✊️ Women face massive barriers to entering & staying in politics, including online & offline abuse. The abuse is compounded for Traveller women & women from other minority groups ❤️ Sending you our love and solidarity, Eileen #MoreMná @eileenflynn.bsky.social

Among the things Shauni Kerkhoff does in her 127-page complaint against Blaze for defaming her was describe trying to defend the Capitol against Guy Reffitt's advance. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

2d Cir., 2-1, holds there was insufficient evidence to convict the Times Square pipe bomber of material support for ISIS, despite telling detectives he did it "on behalf of the Islamic State." Evidence established that he was a lone wolf. Affirms other convx. ww3.ca2.uscourts.gov/decisions/is...

While DC journos all rush to WHCD, @philinvestigates.com just keeps reporting on the far right in TN. Be like Phil!

Trump's war in Iran has forced Americans to pay over $8 billion more at the pump. So naturally, his priority is to bail out his family's business partners in a foreign country.

"Because Trump turned to culture war before joining an evil axis, because Ukraine and the rest of the world got time to adjust to the shift in American loyalties, the efficacy of Trump’s betrayal will be significantly diminished." Marcy on how bad it all is & how dick-stepping gives us some grace.

This is a long think piece, but I argue that Trump's Iran catastrophe may disrupt his efforts to consolidate his authoritarianism, but even more, may provide cause to go after his Tech bro donors and data centers. The Third Trajectory and Hopes for Rebuilding emptywheel.net/2026/04/21/t...

This is the third high profile alleged case of this: Karolyin Leavitt's brother's baby mama Amanda Ungaro (baby mama to Paolo Zampolli And this Leavitt's brother's effort to deport his son's mother thus far has failed AFAIK.

NEW: In a court filing today, it was detailed that Pete Hegseth verbally ordered an end to National Guard mobilization in Los Angeles, Portland, and Chicago on December 31, 2025—the day that Trump announced on Truth social that the deployment would be ending. The written directive was dated 1/1/26.