Brendan Fischer
@brendanfischer.bsky.social
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Deputy Executive Director
@documented.net
. Previously at Campaign Legal Center. Wisconsinite.
Oh, the billionaire megadonor who keeps notching victories under Trump is the guy on the right. It’s fair to ask: what else is Trump doing to serve his interests?
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4 months ago
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Trump’s push for Coca-Cola to use cane sugar could be a windfall for one of his billionaire megadonors. Jose “Pepe” Fanjul and his sugar empire, Florida Crystals, have poured millions into Trump’s campaigns — and have been racking up wins since Trump's return to office. 🧵
4 months ago
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“It is hard to see how Sinema can credibly argue that luxury hotels, meal expenses, and extensive air travel are connected to her candidacy or officeholder duties, given that she is no longer a candidate or officeholder,” I told @NOTUSreports. A few thoughts: 🧵
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5 months ago
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The Trump admin’s move to let churches engage in partisan politics is part of a broader strategy to loosen the rules when it benefits MAGA allies, and tighten them when it hurts the opposition. 🧵 1/
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/07/u...
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I.R.S. Says Churches Can Endorse Candidates From the Pulpit
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/07/us/politics/irs-churches-politics-endorse-candidates.html
5 months ago
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If the Trump family is serious about building these phones in the US, then President Trump now has a personal financial stake in tariff and trade negotiations. It also means that China has a potentially new source of leverage over the president. Both raise major conflict of interests. 1/
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5 months ago
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One implication of Trump’s plan to sell green cards for $5 million is that it would allow foreign billionaires and oligarchs to start legally pouring money into U.S. elections (including into Trump’s political operation).
6 months ago
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The White House now says that Elon Musk’s policy views are shaped by his financial interests. So…where was that concern when they gave Musk sweeping influence over government policies that directly impacted his bottom line?
6 months ago
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The Elon Musk-backed, Trump-aligned dark money group Building America’s Future is behind the multi-million dollar “Make America Affordable Again” ad campaign pushing "lawsuit reform," FCC records show.
6 months ago
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A few thoughts. 🧵 First, after spending $290M+ getting Trump elected, Musk may not need to spend more, since he got what he wanted: a key role in the administration, top allies in important positions, investigations into his companies dropped, and potentially billions in new federal contracts.
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6 months ago
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Huh. As Trump pushes Rep. Lawler to "forget SALT" and vote for the GOP bill, Trump's latest fundraising appeals quietly route money to Lawler's campaign.
secure.winred.com/trump-nation...
secure.winred.com/trump-nation...
6 months ago
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reposted by
Brendan Fischer
Dan Kaufman
8 months ago
I wrote a piece about tomorrow's crucial
#Wisconsin
Supreme Court election for
@newyorker.com
. Deepest thanks to all the people who shared their insights with me and to the phenomenal editorial staff at the magazine.
www.newyorker.com/news/the-led...
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Why Is Elon Musk Trying to Buy a Wisconsin Supreme Court Seat?
Tuesday’s election, as the only statewide race in the country before November, is a crucial test for the growing backlash against the Trump Administration’s agenda.
https://www.newyorker.com/news/the-lede/why-is-elon-musk-trying-to-buy-a-wisconsin-supreme-court-seat
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Musk backtracked on this legally-dubious plan, deleting his tweet and changing the terms of eligibility to comply with the law
www.nytimes.com/2025/03/28/u...
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8 months ago
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Brendan Fischer
Politico
8 months ago
Elon Musk said he would give $1 million checks to Wisconsin voters. Then he deleted the post.
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Elon Musk said he would give $1 million checks to Wisconsin voters. Then he deleted the post.
Election law experts are skeptical about the billionaire's latest move.
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/03/28/elon-musk-wisconsin-supreme-court-giveaway-00257082
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Conditioning entry to this event and eligibility for the $1 million payout on whether someone has voted may violate Wisconsin law. The law prohibits offering or giving anything of value to induce a person to vote. Wis Stat 12.11.
8 months ago
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The deluge of unaccountable big money flooding the Wisconsin Supreme Court election is actually higher than has been reported, with potential implications for impartial justice. 🧵
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8 months ago
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It is hardly the most consequential provision, but Trump’s new Executive Order directs DOJ to step-up enforcement of the ban on foreign political contributions…just after Trump’s DOJ dropped charges against Eric Adams for allegedly soliciting and accepting foreign political contributions.
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8 months ago
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www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...
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8 months ago
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Elon Musk spent over $250 million helping elect Trump and his allies, and now stands to receive billions in new taxpayer-funded contracts from Trump's administration.
www.nytimes.com/2025/03/23/u...
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Musk’s SpaceX Could Secure Billions in New Contracts Under Trump
The boost in federal spending for SpaceX will come in part as a result of actions by President Trump and Elon Musk’s allies and employees who hold government positions. Supporters say he has the best ...
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/23/us/politics/spacex-contracts-musk-doge-trump.html
8 months ago
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Elon Musk's super PAC re-upping its cash-for-registration tactic to obtain new voter data to influence the WI Supreme Court race.
www.nytimes.com/2025/03/20/u...
But its paid canvassers are almost certainly drawing from the data Musk's PAC controversially (and arguably illegally) gathered in 2024.
8 months ago
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“Participating in a classified briefing on the China threat with some of the most senior Pentagon and U.S. military officials would be a tremendously valuable opportunity for any defense contractor seeking to sell services to the military.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/03/20/u...
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Musk Set to Get Access to Top-Secret U.S. Plan for Potential War With China
Giving Elon Musk access to some of the nation’s most closely guarded military secrets is a major expansion of his role as an adviser to President Trump and highlights his conflicts of interest.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/20/us/politics/musk-pentagon-briefing-china-war-plan.html
8 months ago
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The First Amendment protects the right of billionaires like Elon Musk to pour hundreds of millions of dollars into elections to buy influence over government, but apparently does not protect the right of average people to express opinions disfavored by those in power.
www.nytimes.com/2025/03/15/n...
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How a Columbia Student Fled to Canada After ICE Came Looking for Her
Ranjani Srinivasan’s student visa was revoked by U.S. immigration authorities. That was just the start of her odyssey.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/15/nyregion/columbia-student-kristi-noem-video.html
9 months ago
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The “drain the swamp,” “law and order” president is not only dismantling the federal government’s anti-corruption programs, but also pardoning or dropping corruption cases against his allies. The latest beneficiary is Brian Kelsey.
www.nytimes.com/2025/03/12/u...
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Trump Pardons Ex-Tennessee State Senator Imprisoned for Campaign Fraud
Brian Kelsey, a Republican, pleaded guilty to illegally funneling money to his failed campaign for Congress in 2016. He later tried unsuccessfully to withdraw his plea.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/12/us/tennessee-senator-kelsey-trump-pardon.html
9 months ago
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reposted by
Brendan Fischer
Documented
9 months ago
“Throughout the 2024 cycle, we saw crypto money deployed to take out crypto critics and support crypto backers, and this might be an indication of how crypto not only attacks its enemies, but also also rewards its friends.” -
@brendanfischer.bsky.social
www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...
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Dem Overseeing 'Digital Assets' to Hold Luxury Retreat With Crypto Kingpin
Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego, who’s overseeing a “digital assets” committee, is set to hold a luxury weekend donor retreat with a crypto kingpin.
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/ruben-gallego-crypto-digital-assets-andreessen-yglesias-1235260013/
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Brendan Fischer
Barb McQuade
9 months ago
DOJ’s Public Integrity Section leads cases of corruption by government officials, especially in smaller districts that lack resources and specialized expertise. Dismantling it is one more signal of open season for corruption.
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Justice Department office that prosecutes public corruption slashed in size, sources say
Only a fraction of the Public Integrity Section’s employees — roughly a half-dozen — will remain in an office that had dozens of employees and oversaw cases nationwide.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/justice-department-office-prosecutes-public-corruption-slashed-size-so-rcna195928
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Prices remain stubbornly high and the average American’s 401k has plunged in value. Meanwhile, Trump is using the power and prestige of the White House to boost the stock value of the luxury car company owned by a billionaire megadonor who just pledged another $100M to Trump’s political operation.
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9 months ago
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Musk is not pouring $10M+ into this race because he is committed to judicial independence and the rule of law.
www.nytimes.com/2025/03/01/u...
Instead, he likely wants a court that will stack the deck for future elections and boost his business interests.
contrarian.substack.com/p/elon-musk-...
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9 months ago
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Elon Musk's political operation has now poured over $10 million into the Wisconsin Supreme Court race. Musk's America PAC has spent $6.1M on canvassing, mailers, texts, and digital ads. Musk's dark money group, Building America's Future, has spent $4M on ads.
9 months ago
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Elon Musk's America PAC has now spent over $3.2 million on paid canvassers and ads in support of Wisconsin's right-wing Supreme Court candidate. That's on top of the $2 million that a Musk-backed dark money group has spent on ads and mailers. Has Elon Musk ever set foot inside Wisconsin?
9 months ago
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Brendan Fischer
Casey Michel
9 months ago
The biggest implication of Trump saving Eric Adams: foreign regimes have realized they now have a green light to bankroll American politicians directly—and American politicians now realize the same thing. My latest for
@newrepublic.com
:
newrepublic.com/article/1916...
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Trump Saved Eric Adams’s Bacon—and Put the Country Up for Sale
The quid pro quo deal between the president and the mayor of New York City will throw open the foreign corruption floodgates.
https://newrepublic.com/article/191650/eric-adams-trump-foreign-corruption
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Brendan Fischer
David Fahrenthold
9 months ago
DOGE’s accounting of its “savings” is riddled with sloppy mistakes. The five largest cuts that it listed on its website earlier this week were all incorrect — making the savings look far larger than they were in reality.
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The April 1 Wisconsin Supreme Court race is attracting major spending from groups backed by Elon Musk and other billionaires. Some examples in this thread:
9 months ago
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The group that paid for the Post ad attacking Marc Elias was backed by Elon Musk’s dark money political operation.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
So the Post will run smarmy ads from Musk-tied right-wing orgs, but won’t run ads from liberal orgs that critique Musk?
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9 months ago
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“The entire force and power of the United States government is now part of the business support structure for the Trump family.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/02/17/u...
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Trump Pushes Business Interests in Golf, Mideast and New York as Conflicts Abound
Norms recognized for decades in Washington by both parties no longer appear to apply to the Trump White House, former prosecutors and ethics lawyers say.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/17/us/politics/trump-ethics-conflicts-business-adams.html
9 months ago
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Brendan Fischer
Walter Olson
9 months ago
The money went 'round and 'round, Elon's bounty hunters schemed and memed, but at the end they came up with no proof of voter fraud.
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Musk-linked group offered $5m for proof of voter fraud – and came up with nothing
Fair Election Fund has yet to reveal evidence of voter fraud despite deep-pocketed backers – and has now gone silent
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/14/elon-musk-voter-fraud-group
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Brendan Fischer
Jane Mayer
10 months ago
www.theshakedown.documented.net/p/elon-musk-...
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Musk-Linked Group Offered $5m for Proof of Voter Fraud – and Came up With Nothing
Fair Election Fund has yet to reveal evidence of voter fraud despite deep-pocketed backers – and has now gone silent
https://www.theshakedown.documented.net/p/elon-musk-voter-fraud-group?publication_id=201136
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Brendan Fischer
Kelsey Atherton
10 months ago
The "Fund promised that it would “highlight” the election fraud stories it gathered through these payments via “aggressive paid and earned media campaigns”, but it never did so, which suggests that none of the evidence generated was consequential or credible."
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
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Musk-linked group offered $5m for proof of voter fraud – and came up with nothing
Fair Election Fund has yet to reveal evidence of voter fraud despite deep-pocketed backers – and has now gone silent
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/14/elon-musk-voter-fraud-group?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=bluesky&CMP=bsky_gu
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NEW from
@documented.net
+
@theguardian.com
: An Elon Musk-linked nonprofit, Fair Election Fund, offered a $5M reward for proof of voter fraud. It found… nothing. 🧵
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
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Musk-linked group offered $5m for proof of voter fraud – and came up with nothing
Fair Election Fund has yet to reveal evidence of voter fraud despite deep-pocketed backers – and has now gone silent
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/14/elon-musk-voter-fraud-group
10 months ago
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It cannot be that public officials get a pass on corruption as long as they advance the president's priorities. That in itself is corrupt, and a defining trait of authoritarianism. This is an incredible resignation letter.
static01.nyt.com/newsgraphics...
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10 months ago
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Brendan Fischer
Eric Lipton NYT
10 months ago
Imagine any prior moment in the history of the U.S. where a president whose family is in business with LIV GOLF via hosting tournaments four years in a row would convene a White House meeting involving LIV Golf and its potential merger partner PGA. This is a conflict of interest. Plain and simple.
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Brendan Fischer
Tom Moore
10 months ago
Trump has launched a brand-new assault on the rule of law: Trying to illegally fire the Chair of the Federal Election Commission (#FEC).
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Brendan Fischer
Michael Li (李之樸)
10 months ago
Marko Elez, a 25-year old DOGE staffer, has resigned after a WSJ reporter reached out to ask about a now deleted Twitter account, where he advocated for repeal of the Civil Rights Act, a “eugenic immigration policy,” & tweeted, “Normalize Indian hate.”
www.wsj.com/tech/doge-st...
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Exclusive | DOGE Staffer Resigns Over Racist Posts
A staffer for Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency whose access to U.S. Treasury payment systems was approved by a federal judge on Thursday has links to a deleted social-media account that...
https://www.wsj.com/tech/doge-staffer-resigns-over-racist-posts-d9f11a93
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This disgusting scheme to target and terrify mid-level civil servants is a companion to Russ Vought’s effort to make federal workers “the villains” and “put them in trauma” — and in fact, these efforts can all traced back to the same billionaire-backed network.
www.nytimes.com/2025/02/05/u...
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Right-Wing Group Publishes ‘D.E.I. Watch List’ Targeting Federal Workers
The American Accountability Foundation list included names and photos of more than 50 people, many in programs aimed at improving the health of people of color.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/05/us/politics/dei-watchlist-federal-health-workers-cdc-nih.html?smid=bs-share
10 months ago
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reposted by
Brendan Fischer
Jake Lahut
10 months ago
Scoop: Elon's DOGE govt takeover is splintering Trump's inner circle. More in here on the DOGE briefings within the WH, where there are scant details on how regularly they occur beyond daily "as needed," per a senior WH official. My latest in
@wired.com
:
www.wired.com/story/trump-...
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Elon Musk's Takeover Is Causing Rifts in Donald Trump's Inner Circle
“He’s getting too big for his britches,” says one Trump world source.
https://www.wired.com/story/trump-aides-concern-musk-takeover/
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Don Moynihan
10 months ago
New, from me: So much is happening, so quickly. The purpose of shock and awe is to bewilder and overwhelm. It is important not to look away, or get discouraged. Try to discern the what is a big and real threat. Here is my best effort to do so. 🧵
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/meditation...
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Meditations in an Emergency
It's good to be shocked, but don't be awed
https://donmoynihan.substack.com/p/meditations-in-an-emergency
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Some attention has been paid to how Musk can use his unchecked control over key government functions to advance his financial interests, but there’s also a risk that Musk will make decisions that affect millions of Americans based on conspiracy theories or his own quirky ideological bugaboos. (1/3)
10 months ago
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A billionaire megadonor and his team are unconstitutionally blocking funds that support low-income preschoolers
www.wpr.org/news/half-wi...
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Half of Wisconsin Head Start programs can’t access needed funds after federal freeze
One Head Start center in Waukesha closed last week, leaving more than 250 families without child care. Director Tim Nolan said the funding freeze hasn't just had ripple effects — it's been a "tsunami....
https://www.wpr.org/news/half-wisconsin-head-start-programs-cant-access-funds-federal-freeze-trump
10 months ago
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Brendan Fischer
Kathleen Clark
10 months ago
Not quite. As an SGE (special government employee), Musk is subject to the federal financial conflict statute, like regular employees. If he were the head of an *actual* Department, he’d have to disclose his finances. But whether he has to disclose depends on the precise position he holds.
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Ryan J. Reilly “paints a vivid and urgent portrait of… disarray”
10 months ago
The guy overseeing USAID was identified two years ago as a Jan. 6 participant who entered the Capitol through a broken window.
www.nbcnews.com/politics/whi...
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Marco Rubio empowers State Department official Pete Marocco to run USAID
Marocco held several national security positions during the first Trump administration, including at USAID, where he tried to consolidate power and slash funding.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/usaid-personnel-told-stay-away-headquarters-elon-musks-shutdown-commen-rcna190405
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Brendan Nyhan
10 months ago
"DOGE does not have power over established government agencies, and Musk has no role in government. It does not matter that he is an ally of the President. Musk is a private citizen taking control of established government offices. That is not efficiency; that is a coup."
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Zach Everson
10 months ago
Lot of more-pressing issues, but if any member of the WH press corps is struggling to come up with a good question (it happens!) I'd love of an explanation of what's going on with Karoline Leavitt's FEC filings.
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