Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Matt Ford @mford.bsky.social · 17m

Toronto must be salivating right now.

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Matt Ford @mford.bsky.social · 34m

I don’t think I’ve seen this many broken bats in my life.

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Reposted by Matt Ford

Robinson Meyer @robinsonmeyer.bsky.social · 3h

If Benioff is MAGA now that’s a huge signal that the Silicon Valley big money donor base is basically gone for Dems (it’s a signal of other things, too, obviously)

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/10/u...

Marc Benioff Says Trump Should Send Guard Troops to San Francisco

www.nytimes.com

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Matt Ford @mford.bsky.social · 6h

26 days until SCOTUS holds oral arguments on whether this is lawful.

Catherine Rampell @crampell.bsky.social · 7h

Trump proposing 100% tariffs on China

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Reposted by Matt Ford

Andrew Lawrence @ndrew.bsky.social · 10h

the final boss of "imagine if obama did it"

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 14h

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."

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Reposted by Matt Ford

Shiv Ramdas Mens Rice Activist @nameshiv.bsky.social · 14h

I am introducing a resolution today that the Seahawks never passed the ball on the 1 and now Tom Brady has one fewer Super Bowl

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 14h

Rep. Buddy Carter: "Donald Trump deserves the Nobel Peace Prize. That's why I'm introducing a resolution today that will honor him with the Nobel Peace Prize."

(It doesn't work like that lol)

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Reposted by Matt Ford

Chris Hayes @chrislhayes.bsky.social · 13h

It’s very much Not Great to have GOP leadership describe a planned non violent march as being in service a the “terrorist wing”

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 14h

Emmer: "This is about one thing and one thing alone -- to score political points with the terrorist wing of their party, which is set to hold a hate America rally in DC next week."

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Matt Ford @mford.bsky.social · 14h

Wrote about ship money, the English Civil War, and Donald Trump:

Trump Is Following in the Footsteps of a Failed English King

Our Founders’ designs were studiously informed by the mistakes of King Charles I. Our president seems to want to repeat them.

newrepublic.com

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Matt Ford @mford.bsky.social · 1d

I feel awful for Kerkering. Obviously I love the outcome but you can’t help but empathize with that guy there.

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Matt Ford @mford.bsky.social · 1d

OH MY GOD

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Reposted by Matt Ford

Gabriel Malor @gabrielmalor.bsky.social · 1d

Check out the disconnect btw paras. 6 and 7? What representations?

Joshua J. Friedman @joshuajfriedman.com · 1d

NEW: Here's the two-count indictment against NY AG Letitia James. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

INDICTMENT
October 2025 Term - at Alexandria, Virginia
THE GRAND JURY CHARGES THAT:
GENERAL ALLEGATIONS
At all times relevant to this Indictment:
1. Letitia A. James ("JAMES) was a resident of Brooklyn, New York, and the borrower on a
Fannie Mae-backed mortgage loan for the property located at 3121 Peronne Avenue,
Norfolk, Virginia.
2. OVM Financial (also known as Old Virginia Mortgage / AnnieMac) was a mortgage lending business located in Virginia Beach, Virginia, engaged in the business of originating and underwriting residential mortgage loans, including those backed by the Federal National Mortgage Association ("Fannie Mae"). OVM Financial qualified as a "financial institution" within the meaning of 18 U.S.C. § 20(10).
3. Fannie Mae was a federally chartered corporation that purchased and guaranteed mortgages,
operating as a government-sponsored enterprise under the oversight of the Federal Housing

Finance Agency ("FHFA").
4. First Savings Bank was a state-chartered, FDIC-insured financial institution (Certificate
#29961), headquartered in Jeffersonville, Indiana, which acquired mortgage loans through assignment or acquisition. First Savings Bank qualified as a "financial institution" within the meaning of 18 U.S.C. § 20(1).
5. On or about August 17, 2020, JAMES, as sole borrower, purchased the three (3) bedroom,
(1) bathroom property located at 3121 Peronne Avenue, Norfolk, Virginia 23509 (the
"Peronne Property"), for approximately $137,000, financed with a mortgage loan of approximately $109,600 (Loan #4430025978) backed by Fannie Mae.
6. The loan was originated by OVM Financial under a signed Second Home Rider, which required JAMES, as the sole borrower to occupy and use the property as her secondary residence, and prohibited its use as a timesharing or other shared ownership arrangement or agreement that requires her either to rent the property or give any other person any control over the occupancy or use of the property.
7. Despite these representations, the Peronne Property was not occupied or used by JAMES as a secondary residence and was instead used as a rental investment property, renting the property to a family of (3).
8. This misrepresentation allowed JAMES to obtain favorable loan terms not available for investment properties, including a note rate of 3.000% (avoiding a 0.815% higher
comparable investment property rate of 3.815%, resulting in approximately $17,837 in rate savings over the life of the loan), a seller credit of approximately $3,288 (exceeding the seller credit for investment properties by approximately $1,096), for total ill-gotten gains of approximately $18,933 over the life of the loan.
9. JAMES' Universal Property application for homeowners' insurance indicated "owner-

occupied non-seasonal use," further misrepresenting the intended use of the property.
10. JAMES filed Schedule E tax forms), under penalties of perjury, treating the Perrone Property as rental real estate, reporting fair rental days, zero personal use days, thousand(s)
of dollars in rents received, and claiming deductions for expenses relating to the property, further contradicting the second home classification.
11. The loan was acquired by or assigned to First Savings Bank by March 2021, exposing it to risks associated with the misrepresented loan.
12. The acts described herein occurred within the Eastern District of Virginia.
COUNT ONE
(Bank Fraud - 18 U.S.C. § 1344)
13. The allegations in paragraphs 1 through 12 are re-alleged and incorporated herein.
14. From on or about August 7, 2020, through at least January 2024, in the Eastern District of Virginia and elsewhere, the Defendant, LETITIA A. JAMES, did knowingly execute and attempt to execute a scheme and artifice to defraud OVM Financial and First Savings Bank,
financial institutions, and to obtain moneys, funds, and credits owned by and under the custody and control of OVM Financial and First Savings Bank by means of false and fraudulent pretenses, representations, and promises.
15. The scheme involved falsely representing the Peronne Property as a secondary residence to obtain favorable mortgage terms, while using it as an investment property with no intended
or actual personal occupancy or use by her.
(In violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1344).
COUNT TWO
(False Statements to a Financial Institution - 18 U.S.C. § 1014)
16. The allegations in paragraphs 1 through 12 are re-alleged and incorporated herein.

17. From on or about July 28, 2020, through at least August 31, 2020, in the Eastern District of Virginia and elsewhere, the Defendant, LETITIA A. JAMES, did knowingly make and cause to be made false statements and reports for the purpose of influencing the action of OVM Financial, a Fannie Mae-backed lender, upon an application for a loan, in that JAMES represented and affirmed in uniform residential loan applications and related documents that
the Peronne Property would be used as a secondary residence, when in truth and fact, as JAMES then knew, the property was intended and used as an investment property with no intended or actual personal occupancy or use by her.
(In violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1014).
FORFEITURE NOTICE
Pursuant to Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 32.2(a) and Title 18, U.S.C. §
982(a)(2)(A), upon conviction of the offenses in Counts One and Two, the Defendant, Letitia
A. James, shall forfeit to the United States any property constituting, or derived from, proceeds obtained, directly or indirectly, as a result of such violations, including but not limited to a money judgment in the amount of $18,933.
If any of the property described above, as a result of any act or omission of the Defendant: (a) cannot be located upon the exercise of due diligence; (b) has been transferred or sold to, or deposited with, a third party; (c) has been placed beyond the jurisdiction of the court; (d) has been substantially diminished in value; or (e) has been commingled with other property which cannot be divided without difficulty, the United States shall be entitled to a forfeiture of substitute property pursuant to Title 21, U.S.C. § 853(b), as incorporated by Title
18 U.S.C. § 982(b)(1).
(In accordance with Title 18 U.S.C. § 981(a)(1)(C) and 982(a)(1); Title 28, U.S.C. § 2461(c); and Title 21 U.S.C. § 853(p).)

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Matt Ford @mford.bsky.social · 1d

Monster of the Reiwa era!

Molly Knight @mollyknight.bsky.social · 1d

when u accidentally become really important at work

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Matt Ford @mford.bsky.social · 1d

“Baby in her placenta” is pretty bad for a HHS secretary but it’s arguably worse for a guy with six kids. It’s impossible to not learn this stuff as a dad if you’re even remotely paying attention just once.

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Matt Ford @mford.bsky.social · 1d

Well now I know what I’m watching tonight if the Phillies run up an early lead

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Matt Ford @mford.bsky.social · 1d

Yep. Dems should also be salivating over Trump’s IEEPA powers if SCOTUS upholds them. Forget the regulatory agencies, just slap 500% tariffs on Tesla and Oracle until they bend the knee.

Mark Joseph Stern @mjsdc.bsky.social · 1d

This is why I think the next Democratic president needs to use the EXACT tools that SCOTUS has handed Trump. Don't leave room for any distinctions.

Impound funds for deportation. Give ICE the USAID treatment. Refuse to collect government-backed debt. Purge MAGA loyalists from the executive branch.

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Matt Ford @mford.bsky.social · 2d

Oh man, Sandy Koufax is there tonight. 💙

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Matt Ford @mford.bsky.social · 2d

IIRC Dieter plays the Twin Peaks theme when it’s a 2-2 count with 2 outs. He rules.

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Matt Ford @mford.bsky.social · 2d

Dodgers home whites vs. Phillies powder blues is such a great jersey matchup.

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Matt Ford @mford.bsky.social · 3d

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Matt Ford @mford.bsky.social · 3d

How can you not be romantic about baseball

Brian Floyd @brianmfloyd.bsky.social · 3d

the guy who caught cal raleigh’s homer was wearing a shirt that said dump 61 here and he immediately took it off and had a shirt that said dump 62 here

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Reposted by Matt Ford

Eric Michael Garcia @ericmgarcia.bsky.social · 3d

This is my favorite part: Tom Cole and Susan Collins spent decades waiting to lead the Appropriations Committees in the House and Senate, respectively, only for Trump to render the committees absolutely useless.
www.politico.com/news/2025/07...

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Reposted by Matt Ford

jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 3d

thank you brett kavanaugh!

Daniel Knowles @dlknowles.bsky.social · 3d

Good reporting on the South Shore raid from South Side weekly here.

Confirms one thing I was told but didn't put in my own piece because I didn't have a second source and it seemed too insane: border agents segregated arrested residents by race

southsideweekly.com/federal-agen...

Federal Agents Storm South Shore Building, Detaining Families and Children

Families were woken by flashbangs and helicopters as hundreds of federal agents raided their homes. Days later, neighbors are still searching for the missing.

southsideweekly.com

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Matt Ford @mford.bsky.social · 3d

If we’re asking Trump about sports stuff, I would love to hear his thoughts on the Yankees defense

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 4d

NEWSMAX: The NFL just chose the Bad Bunny Rabbit or whatever his name, this guy who hates ICE, he doesn't like you. Do you think maybe we should just blow off the NFL, like a boycott?

TRUMP: I think it's absolutely ridiculous, and while we're at it I'd like them to change the kickoff rule.

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southpaw @nycsouthpaw.bsky.social · 3d

I’m a career prosecutor who took a $25,000 check from an affiliated entity of Donald Trump’s while investigating Trump University and later left my lobbying firm to become Donald Trump’s personal impeachment lawyer, White House aide, and Attorney General. So don’t you DARE question my integrity.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 3d

Bondi to Blumenthal: "You lied. How dare you? I'm a career prosecutor. Don't you ever challenge my integrity. Do not question my ability to be fair and impartial."

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Reposted by Matt Ford

Will Oremus @willoremus.com · 3d

Obviously not the main point here, but it's interesting how this is framed as content rather than policy.

"BREAKING" is typically what journalists or influencers say when they have a big story -- not what government officials say when they launch "undercover" operations

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