Octopus Overlords

FBI officials have complied with demands to provide the Justice Department with details of thousands of employees who worked on investigations related to the January 6, 2021, US Capitol riot, according to people familiar with the situation.

The demand has caused consternation among FBI employees who fear it is meant to amass a list of personnel for possible termination by the Trump administration.

Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove, in a Friday memo with the subject line “Terminations,” had given FBI officials a noon deadline Tuesday to submit the details of thousands of agents and analysts. Bove previously ordered the firing of eight senior FBI officials, including those who oversaw cyber, national security and criminal investigations.

More than 5,000 employee details were submitted, including employee ID numbers, job titles and their role in the January 6 investigations, sources said, but not their names. There are more than 13,000 agents and 38,000 total FBI employees.

IceBear wrote: Mon Feb 03, 2025 6:30 pm Oh I missed this in my doom scrolling about the trade war and annexation.

Trump wants Ukraine to supply rare earth minerals to U.S. in exchange for future aid

Ukrainian authorities postponed signing an agreement with the United States on processing and extracting rare earth minerals, in order to let U.S. President-elect Donald Trump claim credit for the deal when he takes office, the New York Times (NYT) reported on Dec. 14.

MILAN (AP) — Italian politicians on Tuesday asked authorities to take action against a hunting party including Donald Trump Jr. that may have killed a protected species of duck near Venice.

waitingtoconnect wrote: Tue Feb 04, 2025 7:39 pm
This is what people voted for. They voted to roll back civil rights. Maga even invoke the name of MLK Jnr to justify it.

Holman wrote: Wed Feb 05, 2025 10:16 am How is this not a coup, plain and simple?

Grifman wrote: Wed Feb 05, 2025 1:27 am Here's the plan.

Congress will intentionally not pass a budget (there's no need to if they are going to abandon their responsibilities), and the govt will go shutdown mode. But now rather than the Treasury deciding who to pay, Trump (really Musk) will then decide who/what to pay, effectively collapsing much of the federal govt. Workers won't get paid except for whatever Musk deems essential, the rest will be sent home without pay. Sure, there will be lawsuits for years but by the time they are settled, the damage will be done. Hundreds of thousand of govt workers will have had to move on and find jobs. Basically, this means that in many ways, Trump rules by decree, since the power of the pocketbook is everything. He funds what he wants done, he doesn't fund what he doesn't want done.

It's really evilly brilliant.

El Guapo wrote: Wed Feb 05, 2025 11:08 am

Grifman wrote: Wed Feb 05, 2025 1:27 am Here's the plan.

Congress will intentionally not pass a budget (there's no need to if they are going to abandon their responsibilities), and the govt will go shutdown mode. But now rather than the Treasury deciding who to pay, Trump (really Musk) will then decide who/what to pay, effectively collapsing much of the federal govt. Workers won't get paid except for whatever Musk deems essential, the rest will be sent home without pay. Sure, there will be lawsuits for years but by the time they are settled, the damage will be done. Hundreds of thousand of govt workers will have had to move on and find jobs. Basically, this means that in many ways, Trump rules by decree, since the power of the pocketbook is everything. He funds what he wants done, he doesn't fund what he doesn't want done.

It's really evilly brilliant.

That is unfortunately a scary but plausible scenario. One thing is that that seems like a really good recipe to generate sustained mass protests.

Smoove_B wrote: Wed Feb 05, 2025 11:14 am So what you're telling me is I should be contacting payroll to stop paying federal taxes? Maybe I shouldn't file my 2024 income tax returns?

I like where this is going.

Holman wrote: Wed Feb 05, 2025 10:16 am How is this not a coup, plain and simple?

Holman wrote: Wed Feb 05, 2025 10:16 am How is this not a coup, plain and simple?

Kurth wrote: Wed Feb 05, 2025 12:30 pm

Holman wrote: Wed Feb 05, 2025 10:16 am How is this not a coup, plain and simple?

Well, the obvious answer is that it's not a coup because Trump and his clown posse of chaos brokers were democratically elected by the great and wise people of the United States of America.

At least, that's why it's not a "plain and simple" coup.

We could argue that once elected, the blatant scrapping of the Constitution is a coup of sorts, but if the people elect someone who already once tried to stage a coup (a violent one that involved storming the Capitol, at that), is nominated for the office he tried to previously steal through violence, runs on a campaign that openly broadcasts many of the ways he plans to stage a second coup (the scrapping the Constitution sort) if elected to a second term, and is subsequently elected to said second term, is it really a coup?

A self-coup, also called an autocoup (from Spanish autogolpe) or coup from the top, is a form of coup d'état in which a political leader, having come to power through legal means, stays in power illegally through the actions of themselves and/or their supporters. The leader may dissolve or render powerless the national legislature and unlawfully assume extraordinary powers. Other measures may include annulling the constitution, suspending civil courts, and having the head of government assume dictatorial powers.

From 1946 to the beginning of 2021, an estimated 148 self-coup attempts took place, 110 in autocracies and 38 in democracies.

Blackhawk wrote: Wed Feb 05, 2025 12:50 pm If it's by the will of the governed, doesn't it become a revolution?

A federal judge in Maryland has issued a nationwide preliminary injunction against President Donald Trump's executive order aimed at ending birthright citizenship.

U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman heard arguments Wednesday over a request by five pregnant undocumented women to block Trump's Day-1 executive order seeking to redefine the meaning of the 14th Amendment to exclude the children of undocumented immigrants from birthright citizenship.

"The denial of the precious right to citizenship will cause irreparable harm," Judge Boardman said in handing down her order. "It has been said the right to U.S. citizenship is a right no less precious than life or liberty. If the court does not enjoin enforcement of the executive order, children subject to the order will be denied the rights and benefits of U.S. citizenship and their parents will face instability."
...
The ruling comes two weeks after a federal judge in Seattle criticized the Department of Justice for attempting to defend what he called a "blatantly unconstitutional" order and issued a temporary restraining order.

Grifman wrote: Wed Feb 05, 2025 11:53 am

Holman wrote: Wed Feb 05, 2025 10:16 am How is this not a coup, plain and simple?

It is rapidly becoming one. But if the Republicans in Congress don't care and acquiesce, and if the American public doesn't care (which they don't or else Trump would have never been elected) then the constitutional order will die. Inflation, illegal immigration and owning the libs/gays/trans/ was more important than the Constitution.

Max Peck wrote: Wed Feb 05, 2025 12:40 pm It's arguably an example of a specific type of coup: Self coup or Autocoup.

A self-coup, also called an autocoup (from Spanish autogolpe) or coup from the top, is a form of coup d'état in which a political leader, having come to power through legal means, stays in power illegally through the actions of themselves and/or their supporters. The leader may dissolve or render powerless the national legislature and unlawfully assume extraordinary powers. Other measures may include annulling the constitution, suspending civil courts, and having the head of government assume dictatorial powers.

From 1946 to the beginning of 2021, an estimated 148 self-coup attempts took place, 110 in autocracies and 38 in democracies.

Kraken wrote: Wed Feb 05, 2025 2:12 pm

Grifman wrote: Wed Feb 05, 2025 11:53 am

Holman wrote: Wed Feb 05, 2025 10:16 am How is this not a coup, plain and simple?

It is rapidly becoming one. But if the Republicans in Congress don't care and acquiesce, and if the American public doesn't care (which they don't or else Trump would have never been elected) then the constitutional order will die. Inflation, illegal immigration and owning the libs/gays/trans/ was more important than the Constitution.

When last measured (about a week ago) trump's approval was at an all-time high 49%. We are entertained.

Kurth wrote: Wed Feb 05, 2025 2:13 pm

Max Peck wrote: Wed Feb 05, 2025 12:40 pm It's arguably an example of a specific type of coup: Self coup or Autocoup.

A self-coup, also called an autocoup (from Spanish autogolpe) or coup from the top, is a form of coup d'état in which a political leader, having come to power through legal means, stays in power illegally through the actions of themselves and/or their supporters. The leader may dissolve or render powerless the national legislature and unlawfully assume extraordinary powers. Other measures may include annulling the constitution, suspending civil courts, and having the head of government assume dictatorial powers.

From 1946 to the beginning of 2021, an estimated 148 self-coup attempts took place, 110 in autocracies and 38 in democracies.

That’s closer, and definitely a plausible end game. But we’re missing the critical “stays in power illegally” part. Again, we elected Trump. He is very much in power legally, at least, for now. Thus, not a coup, even of the “self-coup” variety.

Kurth wrote: Wed Feb 05, 2025 2:13 pm

Max Peck wrote: Wed Feb 05, 2025 12:40 pm It's arguably an example of a specific type of coup: Self coup or Autocoup.

A self-coup, also called an autocoup (from Spanish autogolpe) or coup from the top, is a form of coup d'état in which a political leader, having come to power through legal means, stays in power illegally through the actions of themselves and/or their supporters. The leader may dissolve or render powerless the national legislature and unlawfully assume extraordinary powers. Other measures may include annulling the constitution, suspending civil courts, and having the head of government assume dictatorial powers.

From 1946 to the beginning of 2021, an estimated 148 self-coup attempts took place, 110 in autocracies and 38 in democracies.

That’s closer, and definitely a plausible end game. But we’re missing the critical “stays in power illegally” part. Again, we elected Trump. He is very much in power legally, at least, for now. Thus, not a coup, even of the “self-coup” variety.

Smoove_B wrote: Wed Feb 05, 2025 2:45 pm I will observe (shamelessly stolen) that it's not technically a coup unless it originates in France. Instead, we're looking at a sparkling takeover.


/ dark humor is all I have left

Smoove_B wrote: Wed Feb 05, 2025 2:45 pm I will observe (shamelessly stolen) that it's not technically a coup unless it originates in France. Instead, we're looking at a sparkling takeover.


/ dark humor is all I have left

New via NYT — The CIA sent the White House an unclassified email listing all employees hired by the spy agency over the last two years to comply with an executive order to shrink the federal work force. One former agency officer called the reporting of names a “counterintelligence disaster.”

Himes statement excerpt: “From what I have learned, the CIA should not have transmitted these names in this fashion, nor should the White House have insisted on such a clearly irresponsible approach, one that could genuinely put people in danger.“