Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

JM Rieger @riegerreport.bsky.social · 1h

The Senate on Tuesday confirmed Neil Jacobs as the head of NOAA.

Jacobs was found to have violated NOAA's code of ethics in 2020 after an investigation found he bowed to political pressure during “Sharpiegate.”

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/07/u...

Senate Confirms ‘Sharpiegate’ Meteorologist to Lead NOAA

www.nytimes.com

JM Rieger @riegerreport.bsky.social · 2h

(Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday called for jailing Chicago's mayor and the governor of Illinois, both Democrats, as his administration prepared to deploy military troops to the streets of the third-largest U.S. city. www.reuters.com/world/us/tru...

www.reuters.com

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JM Rieger @riegerreport.bsky.social · 14h

ICE held a man in a LA hospital for 37 days after being injured during his arrest.

His attorneys say he was shackled to his bed for several days, couldn't speak privately with doctors or lawyers & was registered under a pseudonym.

He was never charged.

www.latimes.com/california/s...

Federal agents held him in a hospital for 37 days, at times shackled to his bed, without charging him

Bayron Rovidio Marin broke his leg when immigration authorities raided the car wash where he worked in Carson in August. He was surveilled for more than a month in his hospital bed at Harbor-UCLA Medi...

www.latimes.com

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JM Rieger @riegerreport.bsky.social · 14h

"Agents were seen choking a Black man on the West Side and conducted a raid outside a homeless shelter in Bronzeville..They shot and wounded a woman Friday, hospitalized at least two people over the weekend, handcuffed a Chicago alderperson" 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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JM Rieger @riegerreport.bsky.social · 14h

cont.

-Whether alleged $50,000 was declared on Homan's taxes
-Whether she supports releasing the alleged FBI-Homan recording
-Whether Border Patrol is required to follow court orders

JM Rieger @riegerreport.bsky.social · 14h

cont.

-Ouster of senior attorneys in Eastern District of Va.
-Ouster of attorney initially overseeing Comey case
-Alleged WH instructions to prosecute individuals
-Whether Epstein showed Trump photos of young women
-Tom Homan closed investigation
-Possible Homan recording

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JM Rieger @riegerreport.bsky.social · 14h

Questions Bondi dodged today:

-National guard deployments
-Strikes on alleged cartel boats
-Firing DOJ antitrust lawyers
-James Comey case
-Reportedly flagging Trump mentions in Epstein file review

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JM Rieger @riegerreport.bsky.social · 16h

My latest supercut for @washingtonpost.com:

Pam Bondi dodged questions on 14 different topics during her Senate Judiciary hearing today

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JM Rieger @riegerreport.bsky.social · 21h

Q: Why not swear in Adelita Grijalva, who was elected two weeks ago...does it have to do with her 218 signature on the Epstein discharge petition?

JOHNSON: No, it has nothing to do with that at all. We will swear her in when everybody gets back...We'll schedule it, I guess, as soon as she wants.

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JM Rieger @riegerreport.bsky.social · 23h

REPORTER: The law says that when the government reopens, that workers will receive their back pay. So are you going to defy the law there?

TRUMP: I follow the law, and I — what the law says is correct, and I follow the law.

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JM Rieger @riegerreport.bsky.social · 23h

REPORTER: Is it the White House's position that furloughed workers should be paid for their back pay?

TRUMP: I would say it depends on who we're talking about...There are some people that really don't deserve to be taken care of, and we'll take care of them in a different way.

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JM Rieger @riegerreport.bsky.social · 1d

ICE's entire Office of Detention Oversight has been placed on furlough during the government shutdown, @douglasmac.bsky.social reports.

The office inspects detention centers to ensure they meet federal standards for the safe and humane treatment of immigrants. www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

Reposted by JM Rieger

Marc Caputo @marcacaputo.bsky.social · 1d

The conventional wisdom is that furloughed federal workers get backpay when the shutdown ends

But a draft White House memo says that’s not the case as the Trump admin considers ratcheting up the pressure on Senate Dems to end the shutdown

News here 👇

www.axios.com/2025/10/07/t...

Scoop: White House memo says furloughed federal workers aren't entitled to backpay

A move to deny backpay to up to 750,000 furloughed workers would dramatically escalate Trump's pressure on Democrats to end the shutdown.

www.axios.com

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JM Rieger @riegerreport.bsky.social · 1d

"Amazon’s Ring says it’s putting facial recognition for the first time into its home security doorbells and video cameras. ... Other companies, including Google, already offer facial recognition for connected doorbells and cameras." www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...

Analysis | Amazon’s Ring plans to scan everyone’s face at the door

For the first time, the company is putting facial recognition into its home security doorbells and video cameras.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Reposted by JM Rieger

The Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · 3d

Exclusive: The Trump administration is preparing a plan that will make it harder for older Americans to qualify for Social Security disability payments, part of an overhaul that could result in hundreds of thousands of people losing benefits.

Trump plan would limit disability benefits for older Americans

Trump administration officials are considering eliminating age as a factor in deciding whether someone is capable of working.

wapo.st

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JM Rieger @riegerreport.bsky.social · 1d

"The Trump administration has found its seventh leader for the Internal Revenue Service since the start of President Donald Trump’s second term: the head of the Social Security Administration." www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

Trump’s new IRS ‘CEO’: The head of Social Security

The Trump administration on Monday found its seventh leader for the Internal Revenue Service since the start of President Donald Trump’s second term: the head of the Social Security Administration.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Reposted by JM Rieger

Charlie Savage @charliesavage.bsky.social · 1d

C.I.A. Deputy Director Has Replaced Agency’s Top Legal Official With Himself

It is not clear what is behind the move by Michael Ellis, a Trump loyalist. A legal ethics specialist said it could raise conflict-of-interest issues.

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/06/u...

C.I.A. Deputy Director Has Replaced Agency’s Top Legal Official With Himself

www.nytimes.com

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JM Rieger @riegerreport.bsky.social · 1d

Nicaraguan authorities have disappeared at least 33 people in recent years, according to human rights groups.

Two of the disappeared were recently returned dead to their families.

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/05/u...

A Chilling New Tactic in Nicaragua: Arrest, Then Silence

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by JM Rieger

Emily Davies @emilydavies.bsky.social · 6d

🚨Senior federal officials are privately warning against firings during a government shutdown, saying the strategy may violate appropriations law.

Trump & top aides have threatened mass firings if the Dems don't budge.

Scoop, with @hannahnatanson.bsky.social:

www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Senior government officials privately warn against firings during shutdown

The Trump administration has said mass firings are coming, but officials have quietly warned several agencies that the move could violate appropriations law.

www.washingtonpost.com

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JM Rieger @riegerreport.bsky.social · 5d

Dave Chappelle on Saudi Arabia while being paid by Saudi Arabia:

“It’s easier to talk here than it is in America.”

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/w...

At Saudi Comedy Fest, American Free Speech Becomes the Punchline

www.nytimes.com

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JM Rieger @riegerreport.bsky.social · 5d

During the Obama administration, Donald Trump spent years blaming the president for government shutdowns.

My latest supercut for @washingtonpost.com:

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Reposted by JM Rieger

Dave Levinthal @davelevinthal.com · 5d

During one week in February, the federal gov't made a full-court press to compel its own agencies—and companies such as Google, Apple and National Geographic—to adopt the "Gulf of America" name.

I obtained 361 pages of records that detail the effort.

In @notus.com: www.notus.org/donald-trump...

Inside the Frantic Push to Change Online Maps to Say ‘Gulf of America’

The U.S. Geological Survey director oversaw the “chaotic” process of getting agencies and big mapping companies like Apple to change the name, according to emails obtained by NOTUS.

www.notus.org

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JM Rieger @riegerreport.bsky.social · 6d

Brian Schatz

Sept. 28, 2023: "Shutdowns don't work. The government eventually reopens, and neither side has accomplished a single thing."

Sept. 30, 2025: "None of us like shutdowns, but the only way to avoid a shutdown is...to make a deal"

JM Rieger @riegerreport.bsky.social · 6d

Dick Durbin

March 20, 2025: "If you shut down the government, there are unintended consequences..a shutdown is something..I would want to avoid at any cost"

Sept. 30, 2025: "Bringing down the govt. is not a good policy..but neither is cutting the health care for 25m Americans"

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JM Rieger @riegerreport.bsky.social · 6d

Hakeem Jeffries

Dec. 19, 2024: "It's about the harm that House Republicans will do to the American people if the government shuts down."

Sept. 30, 2025: "Our position is a simple one: Cancel the cuts, lower the costs, save health care."

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