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Welcome to The Logoff: President Donald Trump’s Justice Division goes after his enemies.
What’s taking place? It’s an extended listing from this week alone:
As disparate as these headlines are, there’s a standard thread: Below Trump, the DOJ — historically unbiased from the White Home — is taking extraordinary steps to quash dissent and compel obedience.
Why does this matter? The Logoff has beforehand coated the dire financial implications of Trump’s Fed energy seize; lots of the others are finest seen as assaults on free expression. They every matter on their very own phrases, however the huge image is that the Trump administration is weaponizing the DOJ at an alarming fee.
As my colleague Ian Millhiser stories, there’s additionally a second factor: DOJ overreach is vandalizing the division’s credibility in courtroom, doubtlessly in a method that can final nicely after Trump’s time in workplace.
What’s the context? None of this conduct, I ought to stress, is new. Trump’s DOJ has been behaving egregiously since final yr; lowlights, so far as the rule of legislation is anxious, embrace his (up to now unsuccessful) makes an attempt at prosecuting former FBI director James Comey and New York state Legal professional Basic Letitia James.
However Trump clearly desires extra: On Monday, we additionally discovered that the president is more and more annoyed together with his lawyer basic, Pam Bondi, for not doing extra to advance his priorities — together with simply this sort of weaponization.
And with that, it’s time to sign off…
I include reassuring information: You most likely don’t have as a lot plastic in your physique as you suppose.
Particularly, researchers at the moment are difficult the accuracy of quite a few high-profile research that discovered rising ranges of microplastics in our brains, arteries, and elsewhere, as Vox reported yesterday in collaboration with The Guardian and Local weather Desk.
That isn’t to say microplastics aren’t an issue or one thing to pay attention to — however they’re possibly not one thing to panic about, both. Have an excellent night, and we’ll see you again right here tomorrow!
