Popehat Agitates And Irritates
@kenwhite.bsky.social
360K followers 790 following 22K posts
Ken White, criminal defense attorney and First Amendment litigator. Co-host of Serious Trouble podcast and writer at The Popehat Report. Opinions here are my own. Signal: KenWhite.1969
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Reposted by Popehat Agitates And Irritates
bbkogan.bsky.social
Three key points:
1) The admin has been planning mass firings to begin in October since February
2) The work necessary to carry out mass firings is illegal during a shutdown, violating the Antideficiency Act, which carries a criminal penalty
3) This harms America, ridding us of talent and expertise
Russ Vought v @russvought
The RIFs have begun.
12:27 PM • 10/10/25 • 15K Views
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serrata.org
Expect dead people from this shot without cause while they'll claim they were under attack by people in frog suits
marisakabas.bsky.social
EXCLUSIVE — DHS Acting General Counsel sent out a memo Wednesday to all Federal Protective Service staff (the sub-agency that guards federal buildings) letting officers know they could take any action necessary "in the vicinity" federal property to protect themselves.

The Handbasket reports:
DHS top lawyer says 'no legal barrier' to actions officers can take to defend federal property
In a memo obtained exclusively by The Handbasket, Federal Protective Service (FPS) officers were given free rein.
www.thehandbasket.co
Reposted by Popehat Agitates And Irritates
annabower.bsky.social
NEW: “The Justice Department seemed poised to pursue an indictment against Letitia James on pathetically weak charges. Yet the charges that actually ended up in the indictment a jury returned on Thursday may somehow be even weaker.”

By @mollyroberts.bsky.social

www.lawfaremedia.org/article/the-...
Courts & Litigation Criminal Justice & the Rule of Law
Executive Branch
The Justice Department's
Dangerously Weak Case Against
Letitia James
Molly Roberts
Friday, October 10, 2025, 12:20 PM
Share On: f X in
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Lindsey Halligan didn't have a strong case against Letitia James. She indicted her anyway.
kenwhite.bsky.social
Wen should direct more attention to incidents like these because Americans are more likely to respond to brutality to pets than to brutality to human beings.
thetnholler.bsky.social
EL PASO — a family says ICE showed up at their house looking for migrants and shot and KILLED THEIR DOG, then didn’t help them as the agent ran away and was not identified.

kfoxtv.com/news/local/e...
Reposted by Popehat Agitates And Irritates
nytpitchbot.bsky.social
News footage from Portland shows a calm, tranquil city. But an AI video that Stephen Miller texted to Donald Trump shows the city as a burning hellhole. The truth may lie somewhere in between.
Reposted by Popehat Agitates And Irritates
atrupar.com
Mike Johnson: "This hate America rally that they have coming up for October 18? The antifa crowd, the pro-Hamas crowd, and the Marxists, they're all gonna gather on the Mall. It is an outrageous gathering for outrageous purposes ... all this has gotta come to an end."
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viamarsala18.bsky.social
ICE had a large white drone they were trying to put in the air but neighborhood pressure grew and they started to pack up and leave. One neighbor was shouting that ICE is a bunch of losers and an agent said to her “you’re going to lose. We will win.”
Reposted by Popehat Agitates And Irritates
tjdfotographist.bsky.social
If I were a DC reporter, I’d consider maybe pressing Johnson on how he reconciles these two statements.
@atrupar.com

Mike Johnson: "We're so angry about it. I mean, l'm a very patient guy, but l've had it with these people. The theory we have right now -- they have a hate America rally that's scheduled for October 18 on the National Mall. It's the pro-Hamas wing and antifa people ..." @atrupar.com

Mike Johnson: "People have got to stop framing simple policy disagreements in terms of existential threats to our democracy. You can't call the other side fascists and enemies of the state and not understand that there are some deranged people in our society who will take that as cues to act."
Reposted by Popehat Agitates And Irritates
thetnholler.bsky.social
EL PASO — a family says ICE showed up at their house looking for migrants and shot and KILLED THEIR DOG, then didn’t help them as the agent ran away and was not identified.

kfoxtv.com/news/local/e...
Reposted by Popehat Agitates And Irritates
thebarbedwire.com
Chaya Raichik, better known as Libs of TikTok, was dutifully bemoaning the fact that the city of Houston repainted a Montrose neighborhood crosswalk decked on in LGBTQ+ rainbow colors. Raichik wrote that the crosswalk “must be removed immediately.”

And our governor dutifully complied.
Cool! It Really Looks Like Greg Abbott is Taking Orders From Libs of TikTok
Acting on the orders of notorious cesspool Libs Of TikTok, the governor bravely stands up to the menace of decorative asphalt.
thebarbedwire.com
Reposted by Popehat Agitates And Irritates
annabower.bsky.social
ICE official testifies that DHS “prematurely” sent Abrego Garcia a notice that he would be removed to Ghana.

Just this morning, Ghana’s foreign minister wrote on X that the country had “directly and unambiguously conveyed to US authorities” that Abrego cannot be deported there.
Sam Okudzeto Ablakwa &
@S
_OkudzetoAblak
X.com
Ghana is not accepting Abrego Garcia.
He cannot be deported to Ghana.
This has been directly and unambiguously conveyed to US authorities.
In my interactions with US officials, I made clear that our understanding to accept a limited number of non-criminal West Africans, purely on the grounds of African solidarity and humanitarian principles would not be expanded.
Ghana strongly objects to these misleading media reports.
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jacobtlevy.bsky.social
One special fun thing about bluesky is that there is no volume of anti-Trump material you can post or repost in a day that will prevent the interaction:

[post about something else]

[people accuse you of being obsessed w the something else and of actively seeking to distract from the Trump crisis]
Reposted by Popehat Agitates And Irritates
joshchafetz.bsky.social
So ... Catholic *traditionalists* want a pope who doesn't involve himself in global politics?
kenwhite.bsky.social
United States undermines YOUR democratically elected government. YOU don’t undermine OUR government.
Reposted by Popehat Agitates And Irritates
lawzag.bsky.social
It just feels weird to be on the other side of this.

The United States builds military facilities in YOUR country. Your county doesn't build military facilities in United States territory.
kenwhite.bsky.social
That depends on who you ask.

Now run along. Walmarts are yet unburnt! Vast hordes of olds and shitlibs have yet to be sneered at! You have so much important work before you.
kenwhite.bsky.social
Oh honey I just want you to know that I notice you.
kenwhite.bsky.social
Will blasphemy be illegal on the part of Idaho given over to the Qatari base?
atrupar.com
Hegseth: "I'm also proud that today we're signing a letter of acceptance to build a Qatari Emeri air force facility at the Mountain Home Airbase in Idaho."
Reposted by Popehat Agitates And Irritates
jimdaleywrites.bsky.social
I'm at the scene where ICE abducted multiple people from Lincoln and Foster this morning.

A WGN producer was among the people taken, allegedly because she was among a group of bystanders who tried to intervene. ICE agents hit this car while making their getaway.
kenwhite.bsky.social
But that’s no excuse for not showing up.

Show up to a protest on the 18th. It’s a way to stand up and be counted for the proposition that what these people are doing to your country is not right, not acceptable.
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kathleenclark.bsky.social
A master class from MIT in responding to authoritarian overreach:

Your “premise … is inconsistent with our core belief that scientific funding should be based on scientific merit alone.
… America’s leadership in science & innovation depends on independent thinking & open competition for excellence.
Dear Madam Secretary,
I write in response to your letter of October 1, inviting MIT to review a "Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education." I acknowledge the vital importance of these matters.
I appreciated the chance to meet with you earlier this year to discuss the priorities we share for American higher education.
As we discussed, the Institute's mission of service to the nation directs us to advance knowledge, educate students and bring knowledge to bear on the world's great challenges.
We do that in line with a clear set of values, with excellence above all. Some practical examples:
• MIT prides itself on rewarding merit. Students, faculty and staff succeed here based on the strength of their talent, ideas and hard work. For instance, the Institute was the first to reinstate the SAT/ACT requirement after the pandemic. And MIT has never had legacy preferences in admissions.
• MIT opens its doors to the most talented students regardless of their family's finances. Admissions are need-blind. Incoming undergraduates whose families earn less than $200,000 a year pay no tuition. Nearly 88% of our last graduating class left MIT with no debt for their education. We make a wealth of free courses and low-cost certificates available to any American with an internet connection. Of the undergraduate degrees we award, 94% are in STEM fields. And in service to the nation, we cap enrollment of international undergraduates at roughly 10%.

source: 
https://orgchart.mit.edu/letters/regarding-compact • We value free expression, as clearly described in the MIT Statement on Freedom of Expression and Academic Freedom. We must hear facts and opinions we don't like - and engage respectfully with those with whom we disagree.
These values and other MIT practices meet or exceed many standards outlined in the document you sent. We freely choose these values because they're right, and we live by them because they support our mission - work of immense value to the prosperity, competitiveness, health and security of the United States. And of course, MIT abides by the law.
The document also includes principles with which we disagree, including those that would restrict freedom of expression and our independence as an institution. And fundamentally, the premise of the document is inconsistent with our core belief that scientific funding should be based on scientific merit alone.
In our view, America's leadership in science and innovation depends on independent thinking and open competition for excellence. In that free marketplace of ideas, the people of MIT gladly compete with the very best, without preferences. Therefore, with respect, we cannot support the proposed approach to addressing the issues facing higher education.
As you know, MIT's record of service to the nation is long and enduring. Eight decades ago, MIT leaders helped invent a scientific partnership between America's research universities and the U.S. government that has delivered extraordinary benefits for the American people. We continue to believe in the power of this partnership to serve the nation.
Sincerely,
Sally Kornbluth
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donmoyn.bsky.social
We live in a country where the government honors insurrectionists who sacked the Capitol, and defines peaceful protest, even before it occurs, to be terrorism.
They know their position is weak, they know they are unpopular, which is why they are seeking to stamp out dissent.
atrupar.com
Mike Johnson: "We're so angry about it. I mean, I'm a very patient guy, but I've had it with these people. The theory we have right now -- they have a hate America rally that's scheduled for October 18 on the National Mall. It's the pro-Hamas wing and antifa people ... "