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paddlepressure.bsky.social
Paddle Pressure
@paddlepressure.bsky.social
1.4K followers 590 following 77 posts
Lawyer lurking in Grand Rapids (but nothing I say here is legal advice)
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shoe.bsky.social
Failed Theater Kid
December 24, 2025 at 8:24 PM
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mmasnick.bsky.social
To show America's commitment to free speech, I, Marco Rubio, am punishing people for their free speech.

The US government is a bunch of performative 🤡s
Announcement of Actions to Combat the Global Censorship-Industrial Complex Press Statement Marco Rubio, Secretary of State December 23, 2025 The State Department is taking decisive action against five individuals who have led organized efforts to coerce American platforms to censor, demonetize, and suppress American viewpoints they oppose. These radical activists and weaponized NGOs have advanced censorship crackdowns by foreign states—in each case targeting American speakers and American companies. As such, I have determined that their entry, presence, or activities in the United States have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States. Based on these determinations, the Department has taken steps to impose visa restrictions on agents of the global censorship-industrial complex who, as a result, will be generally barred from entering the United States. Further, based on the foreign policy determination, the Department of Homeland Security can initiate removal proceedings against certain individuals pursuant to INA section 237(a)(4)(C), which renders such individuals deportable.
December 23, 2025 at 8:30 PM
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kenwhite.bsky.social
Genuinely shocked at a rule-of-law based result from this Court.
mjsdc.bsky.social Mark Joseph Stern @mjsdc.bsky.social · 1d
NEW: By a 6-3 vote, the Supreme Court blocks Trump’s deployment of the National Guard to Chicago to assist immigration agents. A majority holds that he likely lacks authority to do so. Thomas, Alito, and Gorsuch dissent. www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25p...
The Government asked this Court to stay the District Court's order. After the response and reply were filed, JUSTICE BARRETT referred the application to the Court. We directed the parties to file supplemental letter briefs on an issue that the District Court had addressed but the parties' initial briefs had not: the meaning of the term "regular forces" in §12406(3). In its supplemental brief, the Government argues that the term refers to civilian law enforcement officers, such as those employed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement or the Federal Protective Service. Respondents, echoing the District Court, maintain that the term refers to the regular forces of the United States mili-tary. We conclude that the term "regular forces" in §12406(3) likely refers to the regular forces of the United States mili-tary. This interpretation means that to call the Guard into active federal service under §12406(3), the President must be "unable" with the regular military "to execute the laws of the United States." Because the statute requires an assessment of the military's ability to execute the laws, it likely applies only where the military could legally execute the laws. Such circumstances are exceptional: Under the Posse Comitatus Act, the military is prohibited from "execut[ing] the laws" "except in cases and under circumstances expressly authorized by the Constitution or Act of Congress." 18 U. S. C. §1385. So before the President can federalize the Guard under §12406(3), he likely must have statutory or constitutional authority to execute the laws with the regular military and must be "unable" with those forces to perform that function.
December 23, 2025 at 8:30 PM
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leahlitman.bsky.social
Big ups to Marty Lederman @martylederman.bsky.social who flagged this argument that SCOTUS relied on (that regular forces refer to military forces, not federal law enforcement).
mjsdc.bsky.social Mark Joseph Stern @mjsdc.bsky.social · 1d
NEW: By a 6-3 vote, the Supreme Court blocks Trump’s deployment of the National Guard to Chicago to assist immigration agents. A majority holds that he likely lacks authority to do so. Thomas, Alito, and Gorsuch dissent. www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25p...
The Government asked this Court to stay the District Court's order. After the response and reply were filed, JUSTICE BARRETT referred the application to the Court. We directed the parties to file supplemental letter briefs on an issue that the District Court had addressed but the parties' initial briefs had not: the meaning of the term "regular forces" in §12406(3). In its supplemental brief, the Government argues that the term refers to civilian law enforcement officers, such as those employed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement or the Federal Protective Service. Respondents, echoing the District Court, maintain that the term refers to the regular forces of the United States mili-tary. We conclude that the term "regular forces" in §12406(3) likely refers to the regular forces of the United States mili-tary. This interpretation means that to call the Guard into active federal service under §12406(3), the President must be "unable" with the regular military "to execute the laws of the United States." Because the statute requires an assessment of the military's ability to execute the laws, it likely applies only where the military could legally execute the laws. Such circumstances are exceptional: Under the Posse Comitatus Act, the military is prohibited from "execut[ing] the laws" "except in cases and under circumstances expressly authorized by the Constitution or Act of Congress." 18 U. S. C. §1385. So before the President can federalize the Guard under §12406(3), he likely must have statutory or constitutional authority to execute the laws with the regular military and must be "unable" with those forces to perform that function.
December 23, 2025 at 8:25 PM
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mrsbettybowers.bsky.social
This is the first time I've seen the words "TRUMP" & "CLASS" together.
December 23, 2025 at 8:26 PM
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bgrueskin.bsky.social
This, apparently, is the late quote the WH gave 60 Minutes. Prob would've been fine to include, and introduce it with, "The administration did not address the main issues our report raises, and instead issued this statement."

Unless all 252 men sent to CECOT were murderers. Which no one is saying
brianstelter.bsky.social Brian Stelter @brianstelter.bsky.social · 1d
WH spokesperson Abigail Jackson said "60 Minutes should spend their time and energy amplifying the stories of Angel Parents, whose innocent American children have tragically been murdered by vicious illegal aliens that President Trump are removing from the country."
December 23, 2025 at 8:14 PM
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bencollins.bsky.social
This man is 54 years old.
Elon Musk tweet: Feeling extra based today, might regret it later, but it feels so good [gun emoji, robot bicep emoji, sunglasses emoji]
December 23, 2025 at 7:04 PM
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lizdye.bsky.social
Cool, NOW DO TARIFFS
December 23, 2025 at 8:16 PM
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muellershewrote.com
Question: If Trump ordered an "investigation" into Bill Clinton, but DOJ is claiming they're holding back some of the documents because of open investigations, then why did they release Bill Clinton stuff?
December 23, 2025 at 8:16 PM
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joshuabhoe.bsky.social
This REALLY pisses me off..A LOT of people, including myself, worked very hard on these Biden commutations

The death penalty is IMMORAL:

* Many people on death row have been factually innocent
* DP racially discriminates
* Killing people ≠ killing is wrong

Trump sucks

www.npr.org/2025/12/23/n...
Biden stopped the executions of 37 men. Trump's DOJ wants to punish them
Since Trump took office, officials have transferred ten of the 37 men Biden spared from execution to the "Alcatraz of the Rockies." One prisoner still awaiting transfer has attempted suicide.
www.npr.org
December 23, 2025 at 5:35 PM
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markjacob.bsky.social
The Columbia Journalism Review wrote about this redaction issue back in 2019. 2/2
Thank you to everyone who can’t redact documents properly
On Tuesday, lawyers for former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort filed an official response to a report from Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team that said Manafort lied to prosecutors after agree...
www.cjr.org
December 23, 2025 at 8:17 PM
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markjacob.bsky.social
It's long been known that if you do redactions improperly, someone can copy and paste redacted text and get it to appear. I recall that happening with a document we received at the Chicago Tribune more than a decade ago. The fact that the Trump regime doesn't know this is a scandal in itself. 1/2
Some Epstein file redactions are being undone with hacks
Un-redacted text from released documents began circulating on social media on Monday evening
www.theguardian.com
December 23, 2025 at 8:17 PM
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kyledcheney.bsky.social
BREAKING: Huge loss for Trump administration at Supreme Court, which rules that the Trump administration had lacked authority to federalize and deploy the National Guard to execute laws in Illinois. s3.documentcloud.org/documents/26...
December 23, 2025 at 8:17 PM
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tedlieu.bsky.social
Donald Trump says we only need one or two pencils because prices are high. But that has consequences as this video shows.

So for Christmas I would like some pencils.

Merry Christmas!
reptedlieu.bsky.social Rep. Ted Lieu @reptedlieu.bsky.social · 1d
You deserve more pencils and better economic policies.
December 23, 2025 at 8:17 PM
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cwebbonline.com
The real story with this new poll: INDEPENDENTS

Republicans are still locked in at cult levels, Democrats already know who he is, and independents are bailing fast. That’s the ballgame.
December 23, 2025 at 7:57 PM
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davidandress.bsky.social
Remember 2015, when Russell Brand was so Down With The Kids that Ed Miliband had to make a pilgrimage to him during the General Election campaign?
thenewworldmag.bsky.social The New World @thenewworldmag.bsky.social · 1d
The former comedian used his appearance at a hard right US convention to launch an attack on Katy Perry's new man Justin Trudeau

✏️ Rats in a Sack 🐀
Russell brands ex-wife's new man a 'stooge'
The former comedian used his appearance at a hard right US convention to launch an attack on Katy Perry's new man Justin Trudeau
www.thenewworld.co.uk
December 23, 2025 at 8:07 PM
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sanho.bsky.social
“These new charges are in addition to five already issued to Mr Brand in April 2025 involving four women, which included two counts of rape, one count of indecent assault, and two counts of sexual assault.”
December 23, 2025 at 8:08 PM
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gobsmacked.bsky.social
Can you say “ablation cascade”?
sanho.bsky.social Sanho Tree @sanho.bsky.social · 1d
“Two NATO-nation intelligence services suspect Russia is developing a new anti-satellite weapon to target Elon Musk’s Starlink constellation with destructive orbiting clouds of shrapnel, with the aim of reining in Western space superiority that has helped Ukraine on the battlefield.“
Starlink in the crosshairs: How Russia could attack Elon Musk's conquering of space
NATO-nation intelligence services believe Russia is developing a weapon to target Starlink satellites.
apnews.com
December 23, 2025 at 6:02 PM
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asherlangton.bsky.social
In a poker game, the most frustrating opponent is one who is so inexperienced/incompetent/inebriated that they don’t even know whether or not they have a good hand. Which is also what it’s like trying to parse these DOJ social media missives.
cwarzel.bsky.social Charlie Warzel @cwarzel.bsky.social · 1d
this is insane to me. the doj had forever to look into this. now they're like liveblogging on x like they have no more information than a random person on social media
December 23, 2025 at 8:02 PM
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espiers.bsky.social
I wrote about Bari Weiss doing the hard work of defending the rich and powerful www.thenation.com/article/soci...
Bari Weiss's Counter-Journalistic Crusade Targets "60 Minutes"
The new editor-in-chief at CBS News has shown she's not merely stupendously unqualified--she's ideologically opposed to the practice of good journalism.
www.thenation.com
December 22, 2025 at 6:43 PM
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bgrueskin.bsky.social
Read this excellent thread of the inadvertently broadcast 60 Minutes piece — and ask, how craven an “editor” do you have to be to spike it?
akivamcohen.bsky.social AkivaMCohen @akivamcohen.bsky.social · 2d
This has been made available, so for purposes of commenting on Bari Weiss's decision to spike the story, here's a live-post of that segment.

It begins with a "you may recall" summary of the deportation to el Salvador. Describes the admin's claim that it could deport the men without due process
December 22, 2025 at 10:39 PM
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betsy-cazden.bsky.social
They have to take Witkoff too, I think.
December 22, 2025 at 10:40 PM
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eschuyler.bsky.social
Here's my peace plan: Ukraine keeps all its territory. Russia retreats; getting Jared Kushner as a consolation prize.
December 22, 2025 at 10:30 PM
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atrupar.com
War is peace. Russia is fully committed to peace in Ukraine.
Over the last two days in Florida, the Russian Special Envoy Kirill Dmitriev held productive and constructive meetings with the American delegation to advance President Trump’s peace plan on Ukraine. The American delegation included Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner, and White House staff member Josh Gruenbaum. Russia remains fully committed to achieving peace in Ukraine. Russia highly values the efforts and support of the United States to resolve the Ukrainian conflict and re-establish global security.
December 22, 2025 at 6:38 PM
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mjsdc.bsky.social
Trump's DOJ is trying to overturn D.C.'s ban on assault weapons ... while claiming to be SO concerned about crime in the District that it must flood our streets with National Guard troops.

I think a president worried about D.C. crime would not be trying to arm criminals with especially lethal guns?
chrisgeidner.bsky.social Chris Geidner @chrisgeidner.bsky.social · 2d
BREAKING: The Trump administration is suing D.C. over its ban on semi-automatic (AR-15) weapons.

DOJ's Civil Rights Division under Harmeet Dhillon is seeking a court ruling that D.C.'s law "prohibiting registration of the AR-15 by law-abiding citizens violates the Second Amendment."
4. Specifically, the District denies law-abiding citizens the ability to register a wide variety of commonly used semi-automatic firearms, such as the Colt AR-15 series rifles, which is among the most popular of firearms in America, and a variety of other semi-automatic rifles and pistols that are in common use. See D.C. Code § 7-2501.01. Indeed, D.C's current semi-automatic firearms prohibition that bans many commonly used pistols, rifles or shotguns is based on little more than cosmetics, appearance, or the ability to attach accessories, and fails to take into account whether the 2 Case 1:25-cv-04458 Document 1 Filed 12/22/25 Page 3 of 9 prohibited weapon is "in common use today" or that law-abiding citizens may use these weapons for lawful purposes protected by the Second Amendment. See Heller, 554 U.S. at 47. Therefore, the District's restrictions lack legal basis. PRAYER FOR RELIEF 19 43. WHEREFORE, the United States hereby prays that the Court grant the 20 following relief: 21 a. A declaration that DC Defendants are engaged in a pattern or practice of 22 conduct by law enforcement officers that deprives persons of rights, privileges, or 23 immunities secured or protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States in 24 violation of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, 34 U.S.C. § 25 12601(b), including, but not limited to: 26 i. A declaration that the pattern and practice by DC Defendants of 27 prohibiting registration of the AR-15 by law-abiding citizens violates the Second 28 Amendment; and
December 22, 2025 at 8:48 PM