Mike Masnick
@mmasnick.bsky.social
190K followers 1.4K following 23K posts
Techdirt guy. Writes about social media, copyright, free speech, content moderation, civil liberties and stuff like that. Once wrote a paper that may have helped inspire this service & now I'm on its board: https://bit.ly/protocolnotplatform
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mmasnick.bsky.social
The thing is, all show I was laughing so hard, and then I thought "how will the live task live up to this" and it delivered...
mmasnick.bsky.social
Didn't realize they were both Cornell Law grads. WTF
mmasnick.bsky.social
What? The former lawyer for Andrew Tate who also would tweet out glowing praise for Andrew Tate... is reported to have done an extremely creepy thing regarding a woman?

How surprising.
annabower.bsky.social
Paul Ingrassia, Trump’s nominee to lead the office investigating Jack Smith, has recently been investigated for harassing a colleague, Politico reports.

“Eventually the woman discovered that Ingrassia had arranged ahead of time to have her hotel room canceled so she would have to stay with him..”
=
POLITICO
By DANIEL LIPPMAN
10/09/2025 08:22 PM EDT
f
In late July, Paul Ingrassia, the White House liaison for the Department of Homeland Security, arrived at a Ritz-Carlton in Orlando with a lower-ranking female colleague and others from their department. When the group reached the front desk, the woman learned she didn't have a hotel room.
Ingrassia then informed her that she would be staying with him, according to five administration officials familiar with the episode. Eventually the woman discovered that Ingrassia had arranged ahead of time to have her hotel room canceled so she would have to stay with him, three of those officials said.
mmasnick.bsky.social
OMG. The latest episode of Taskmaster is astounding. This whole season has been great, but I don't think I've burst out into uncontrollable laughter as much as the latest episode.
mmasnick.bsky.social
I got a sword and an award today? bsky.app/profile/mmas...
mmasnick.bsky.social
Read the second post to find out how I ended up getting a sword.
robpegoraro.com
Showed up late to the Internet Infrastructure Coalition's awards reception--which turned out to be the right time to see them give @mmasnick.bsky.social their "Internet Infrastructure Protection Award" award, with Mike joking that he was only going to accept that honor if it came with a sword.
mmasnick.bsky.social
Yeah. That's true in a lot of circuits. I think it's wrong, but it's also a reason we need a federal anti-SLAPP. In this ruling, some of the judges on the 9th agree that anti-SLAPP laws shouldn't apply in federal court, but not enough to change that (yet).
mmasnick.bsky.social
9th Circuit just made anti-SLAPP laws (like the good ones in California and Nevada) a lot less effective. This is going to lead to a ton of suppressed speech. Stupid and dangerous. Especially now.

We need a federal anti-SLAPP law now. And we won't get one.

cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/op...
cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov
Reposted by Mike Masnick
mmasnick.bsky.social
Read the second post to find out how I ended up getting a sword.
robpegoraro.com
Showed up late to the Internet Infrastructure Coalition's awards reception--which turned out to be the right time to see them give @mmasnick.bsky.social their "Internet Infrastructure Protection Award" award, with Mike joking that he was only going to accept that honor if it came with a sword.
Reposted by Mike Masnick
simonwdc.bsky.social
We are witnessing the most lawless behavior by a leader in American history, just daily, extraordinary abuses of power. National Democrats must speak out in a loud and clear voice against Trump's escalating authoritarianism. It is time now.
annabower.bsky.social
The Guardian reports that Letitia James has been indicted

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Reposted by Mike Masnick
bradlander.bsky.social
Keep your corrupt, grubby, abusive hands off Tish James, Donald Trump.

Your cowardice is showing — weak men seek revenge on powerful women who hold them to account.

But NY’rs don’t play. Our AG has been a fierce warrior for our rights, time & again. You better believe we’ll be there for hers.
Reposted by Mike Masnick
jdcmedlock.bsky.social
“I’ll declare war on you if you don’t give me the peace prize” is an incredible bit
Reposted by Mike Masnick
chrismurphyct.bsky.social
Just bone chilling. And when the imprisonment of critics is combined with his offer to enrich and immunize his loyalists, this is how democracies die fast.

But it's still our choice. Don't let him silence you.
Reposted by Mike Masnick
joycewhitevance.bsky.social
Indicting your political enemies because they’re your enemies, not because they’ve committed crimes, is unAmerican.
Reposted by Mike Masnick
marisakabas.bsky.social
i feel like everything bari weiss does is treated like she's a network exec in 1973 when she's really just a LARPer at the helm of a particularly irrelevant brand while TV news is dying.
maxtani.bsky.social
New: Bari Weiss booked Hillary Clinton, Mike Pompeo, and Antony Blinken for a roundtable on Gaza, her first major move at CBS.

Notably on a CBS call today in which the panel was floated, one producer also repeatedly emphasized the need to hear from Palestinians in Gaza (Weiss did not respond).
Reposted by Mike Masnick
gregsargent.bsky.social
This is good, from Hakeem Jeffries. More of this please, in every conceivable forum:

"Sycophants who aid and abet the President’s vengeful schemes will not be able to hide from the serious legal consequences of their behavior. They will be held accountable."
Reposted by Mike Masnick
chrismurphyct.bsky.social
I'm sorry but it's just wild we are in the middle of a government shutdown and the House Republicans are REFUSING TO SHOW UP FOR WORK so they can protect billionaire pedophiles and billionaire tax breaks.
Reposted by Mike Masnick
jonseidel.bsky.social
U.S. District Judge April Perry says it comes down to a "credibility determination."

"I simply cannot credit [the Trump administration's] declarations to the extent they contradict state and local law enforcement. … DHS' perception of events are simply unreliable."
jonseidel.bsky.social
#BREAKING A federal judge say she will grant "in part" a request by the state of Illinois for a temporary restraining order against the deployment of National Guard troops into the state.

U.S. District Judge April Perry is still ruling and has not outlined the details of her order.
jonseidel.bsky.social
Perry: "I'm going to issue an oral ruling."
Reposted by Mike Masnick
kenwhite.bsky.social
I’ve never seen anything remotely this petty charged as bank fraud.
joshuajfriedman.com
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).)
Reposted by Mike Masnick
crampell.bsky.social
Republicans have had 15 years to come up with an Obamacare replacement plan. They still haven’t
atrupar.com
Thune: "The president would like to overhaul Obamacare and give people health insurance that is higher quality and more affordable."
Reposted by Mike Masnick
donmoyn.bsky.social
This is the genius of the Portland protests - they make the claims of lawlessness look not just wrong, but comical
thedailyshow.com
The following is REAL footage from Portland, 2025. Viewer discretion is advised.
Reposted by Mike Masnick
newyorkstateag.bsky.social
This is nothing more than a continuation of the president’s desperate weaponization of our justice system.

I am not fearful — I am fearless.

We will fight these baseless charges aggressively, and my office will continue to fiercely protect New Yorkers and their rights..
Reposted by Mike Masnick
thedailyshow.com
The following is REAL footage from Portland, 2025. Viewer discretion is advised.
Reposted by Mike Masnick
govpritzker.illinois.gov
Donald Trump is not a king — and his administration is not above the law.

Today, the court confirmed what we all know: there is no credible evidence of a rebellion in the state of Illinois.

And no place for the National Guard in the streets of American cities like Chicago.
Reposted by Mike Masnick
timmarchman.bsky.social
There was literally a big-budget movie last year about how during his one brief period of trying to be cool, Dylan got so anxious about it that he had to get advice from the coolest man alive (Johnny Cash)
bendwalsh.bsky.social
wtaf are you talking about