# The Trump Administration: The Clusterfuck Continues (Part 1) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [November 11, 2024, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068 "2024-11-11T06:19:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 345
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2025, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/6942 "2025-07-30T22:13:07Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > “It’s the most truthful and easiest thing to say that Oct 7th in Israel was horrific and all hostages must be returned, but so is the genocide, humanitarian crisis, and starvation happening in Gaza,” Greene wrote [on X](https://x.com/RepMTG/status/1950000279593607551). Is that the closest to something resembling reason she’s ever achieved? > [@Monty](#): > > In a statement, Sean Parnell, the Pentagon’s chief spokesman, said, “Hegseth’s focus remains solely on serving under President Trump.” To me that read like - if Donald wants Hegseth to take _both_ positions\*, then, well, Hegseth shall do so. I’m of two minds: that Hegseth is like ‘yeah I wanna get the hell out of this FBI shit with Pentagon and Signal fuck-ups’, or, he’s actually some unhinged, drooling acquisition freak, thinking - after seeing a TV ad about California tourism, showing bikined women on the beach - ‘yeah, this Tennesse governership ain’t too fuckin’ bad, yanno? but _damn_ maybe I’ll ask Donald if I could also be California governor’. Spaghetti to the wall amirite? I wish I had a smaller version of that multi-pointed ceiling thing on my living-room ceiling. I can just tell people it’s a MAGA witches’ calendar. \*don’t even go there. ---
**Author:** ![Coriolanus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coriolanus/32/18769_2.png) [@Coriolanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coriolanus)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2025, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/6943 "2025-07-30T22:18:25Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > If Trump doesn’t know the difference between the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the country to which Republicans have given him charge, it’s because he hasn’t **read** either of them, and was **never smart enough** to learn anything in school. Read? And why be smart when your Dad will get you at least straight B’s if not A’s. The DoI is kinda like the Magna Carta in “this is how it’s supposed to be” and what became the USA had already been battling and usually winning for nearly two years before July 1776. And if would take a few more years and the pesky French who tired out the British. Vengeance will be theirs in 1812 where the accomplished burning down the original White House and then losing. The USA had to do as much as they could to wipe out the Natives and keep Slavery going. It wasn’t till all those great and piss-poor dead Presidents were done: Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Jackson and I dunno when Ben Franklin got on money yet you definitely hate America if you’ve a problem with the Kite guy who invented electricity; that Teddy Roosevelt started looking abroad at countries/colonies he could take. And did. I certainly do not believe the USA’s occupation of places like Cuba, the Philippines, Panama, Puerto Rico, etc could be held up as standards of the DoI. Or how people should be treated under the Constitution. Every fucking day the USA and UK and the World have to fight for their rights. I’d like to think TR - IMO - the smartest and best read President - would agree. Or at least Abe who had read a book or two. ---
**Author:** ![psychobunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/54ee81/32.png) [@psychobunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychobunny)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2025, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/6944 "2025-07-30T22:29:53Z")
Let’s not forget Trump’s interpretation of the DOI. [https://youtube.com/shorts/K3l2X-T8BCU?si=O95Isb-gb4UFzKPu](https://youtube.com/shorts/K3l2X-T8BCU?si=O95Isb-gb4UFzKPu) ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2025, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/6945 "2025-07-30T22:45:50Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > > [@Coriolanus](#): > > > > As he pretty much owns Congress and the SC, he really is above the pesky Constitution. The Constitution itself doesn’t say “It ought not be this way” yet I reckon the DoI does. Yet (not a lawyer) I dunno if that document can actually be cited as precedent by the Supreme’s than the Magna Carta. > > The Declaration of Independence does not have the force of law. It is an important document, but not a legal one. > > It’s the constitution that’s the legal document, and Trump has gotten away with using it as toilet paper. I quote Philomena Cunk: > [quote] “They [the Founding Fathers] wrote the most famous break up text in history, called the ‘Declaration of Independence’.” > [/quote] ETA: I don’t know why the quote tags aren’t working like they used to. ---
**Author:** ![Coriolanus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coriolanus/32/18769_2.png) [@Coriolanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coriolanus)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2025, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/6946 "2025-07-30T22:57:01Z")
I mean, hell, look at that fonts of the text in [psychobunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychobunny) ‘s link. I’ve seen pieces of the Magna Carta and while some 700 years older, nobody knew how to wield a fountain pen like (presumably Jefferson), And of course he was edjimacated like most of the “Founding Fathers” did. You reckon you could sign your name 250 years ago had you not had some schooling? Yet at least with that Terry Moran clip, the DoI on Felon’s office wall is not the original. I last saw it in 1976 in the Smithsonian, under greeenish glass and no photos allowed. You can - and he does - shit all over the Constitution at least figuratively. I dunno if the entirety of it is visible anywhere yet he’s got his SC to change stuff as he wishes. ---
**Author:** ![Coriolanus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coriolanus/32/18769_2.png) [@Coriolanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coriolanus)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2025, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/6947 "2025-07-30T23:18:57Z")
> **[Magna Carta](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magna_Carta#/media/File:Magna_Carta_(British_Library_Cotton_MS_Augustus_II.106).jpg/)** > > Magna Carta (Medieval Latin for "Great Charter"), sometimes spelled Magna Charta,\[a\] is a royal charter of rights agreed to by King John of England at Runnymede, near Windsor, on 15 June 1215.\[b\] First drafted by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Cardinal Stephen Langton, to make peace between the unpopular king and a group of rebel barons who demanded that the King confirm the Charter of Liberties, it promised the protection of church rights, protection for the barons from illegal imprisonmen... The Magna Carta. Dunno how they put it all together, as me and my wife had to go into a special tent to look upon pieces of it (in Salisbury), which are distributed all about, apparently. This was gladly signed by the good King John, ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2025, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/6948 "2025-07-30T23:38:35Z")
“Be My Little General.” When I went through Basic Combat Training, I was taught that mnemonic to remember the order of the general ranks in the Army, lowest to highest: Brigadier General, Major General, Lieutenant General, General. [Evidently someone managed to teach it to the felon.](https://www.aol.com/trump-meets-candidates-four-star-130839554.html) > [@](#): > > WASHINGTON (AP) — In a break with past practice, President [Donald Trump](https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump) now meets with candidates for promotion to the rank of four-star general, the White House has acknowledged. > > The Republican president has the meetings because he wants to make sure the U.S. military retains its superiority and its leaders focus on fighting wars, a White House spokesperson said. > > “[Donald Trump](https://www.yahoo.com/people/donald-trump/) wants to ensure our military is the greatest and most lethal fighting force in history, which is why he meets with four-star-general nominees directly to ensure they are war fighters first — not bureaucrats,” assistant press secretary Anna Kelly said. > > The meetings, however, are a departure from past practice, and knowledge of them has raised concerns about politicization of the military’s top ranks. Trump has [not always respected the long-standing tradition of walling off the military from partisan politics](https://apnews.com/article/trump-military-parade-risks-politicizing-army-anniversary-ef3bcb6fcc813ac98d0c9cc80bfb13f0). And here’s how you know this is a bad idea. (Same link) > [@](#): > > The New York Times, which first reported on the practice, said it had been initiated by Defense Secretary [Pete Hegseth](https://apnews.com/hub/pete-hegseth). This has nothing to do with military readiness nor actual qualifications for the rank. It’s 100% about finding out which current Lieutenant Generals are willing to kiss the felon’s ass to get promoted. Now they may not see it that way, but of course the felon does. [Democrats in Senate are trying to get congress to do its job.](https://www.aol.com/senate-democrats-seek-force-release-153507619.html) > [@](#): > > _Washington —_ Senate Democrats are trying to force the Justice Department to release the [Jeffrey Epstein](https://www.cbsnews.com/feature/jeffrey-epstein/?ftag=YHF4eb9d17) files using a little-known law that directs executive agencies to turn over information to congressional oversight committees, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer announced Wednesday. > > “Today Senate Democrats take additional action to try and uncover the truth about the Epstein files,” Schumer said on the Senate floor, and he proceeded to describe the nearly century-old law the minority would use to try to compel the release of the “full and complete Epstein files.” > > The federal law, known as [Section 2954](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/5/2954?ftag=YHF4eb9d17) and referred to as the “Rule of Five,” allows five members on the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs to submit an information request on matters within its jurisdiction to a federal agency. Enacted in 1928, the obscure law is part of Congress’ ability to wield influence over executive branch agencies, and gives minority members of the oversight committees the ability to request information without the help of the committee chairman. Hee hee hee hee. [And now we know why the felon wants children to have bank accounts.](https://www.aol.com/bessent-says-child-savings-accounts-192308704.html) Of course it has nothing to do with financial responsitility or education, both foriegn languages to him. (The **bolding** is mine.) > [@](#): > > WASHINGTON (AP) — **Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Wednesday that the [children’s savings program](https://apnews.com/article/baby-bonds-trump-child-poverty-8503180dc5c57a2f20dd59d7ece01d6a) included in President [Donald Trump](https://www.yahoo.com/people/donald-trump/)’s [tax break-and-spending cut law](https://apnews.com/article/what-is-republican-trump-tax-bill-f65be44e1050431a601320197322551b) “is a back door for privatizing Social Security,”** reigniting an issue that has dogged Republicans for years. > > Bessent’s remarks, [which he made at a forum](https://rumble.com/embed/v6up4a0/?pub=he97b) hosted by Breitbart News, were striking after Trump’s repeated promises on the campaign trail and in office that he would not touch Social Security. Democrats quickly seized on the comment as a sign the GOP wants to revive a dormant but unpopular push to privatize the long-running retirement program. > > “A stunning admission,” Senate Democratic leader [Chuck Schumer](https://www.yahoo.com/people/chuck-schumer/) said in a Senate speech. “Bessent actually slipped, told the truth: Donald Trump and government want to privatize Social Security.” > > The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Bessent’s remarks. [Another fine university bows to the felon.](https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/brown-university-strikes-agreement-resolve-205914275.html) > [@](#): > > WASHINGTON (AP) — Brown University will pay $50 million to Rhode Island workforce development organizations in a deal with the [Trump](https://www.yahoo.com/people/donald-trump/) administration that restores lost federal research funding and ends investigations into alleged discrimination, officials said Wednesday. > > The university also agreed to several concessions in line with President [Donald Trump’s](https://apnews.com/article/kamala-harris-california-governor-2026-eeea5d7315d65cebb50692c5311379fb) political agenda. Brown will adopt the government’s definition of “male” and “female,” for example, and must remove any consideration of race from the admissions process. > > Brown President Christina H. Paxson said the deal preserves Brown’s academic independence. The terms include a clause saying the government cannot dictate curriculum or the content of academic speech at Brown. Got news for you, Paxson. Dictating whom you can and cannot and controlling how you admit to the university _is_ denying your institution academic freedom. [The felon wants to run the Senate.](https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/raging-trump-orders-top-republican-135354770.html) > [@](#): > > Donald Trump has demanded that Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley scrap a “ridiculous” tradition that allows home-state senators to block [judicial nominees](https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/trump-lawyer-gets-replaced-u-204051750.html). > > The president posted that Democrats will exploit it to “laugh” at Grassley and the Republicans. > > In a lengthy tirade on [Truth Social,](https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114938820270436889) Trump urged Grassley to eliminate the so-called [“blue slip” custom](https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-unheralded-death-of-the-blue-slip/), a decades-old Senate tradition that gives senators from a nominee’s home state the chance to object to federal judicial nominations. > > Trump argued that Democrats will abuse the process, which is meant to encourage bipartisan consultation, to obstruct his picks for key judicial positions with nothing more than “a mere flick of the pen.” > > “Senator Grassley must step up, like Crooked Joe Biden did, when he openly broke, at least two times, the ‘Blue Slip’ SCAM, and like others have done over the years, and let our Great Republican Judges and U.S. Attorneys BE CONFIRMED,” Trump wrote. > > “He should do this, IMMEDIATELY, and not let the Democrats laugh at him and the Republican Party for being weak and ineffective. The Democrats have broken this ridiculous custom on us, it’s time that we break it on them. Chuck, I know you have the Courage to do this, DO IT!” And what are the felon’s White House officials worried about in the Epstein case? Could it be that their boss was involved with raping minors? Nah. The big worry is [crowd size](https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/white-house-officials-fear-epstein-111958927.html). > [@](#): > > White House officials are worried about losing support from Trump’s MAGA base outraged about his handling of Jeffrey Epstein’s case—with an insider saying that the president’s all-important crowd sizes could be affected. > > Americans give President Donald Trump [low marks](https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/poll-shows-americans-feel-trump-162936748.html) on his handling of the controversy, which has [dominated headlines](https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/devastating-files-could-blow-trump-135222674.html) for weeks after the Department of Justice and FBI [announced](https://www.justice.gov/opa/media/1407001/dl?inline) earlier this month that the evidence showed conclusively that the disgraced financier died by suicide and did not keep a “client list.” > > The administration’s failure to produce new revelations in the case has infuriated many of the MAGA faithful, who have long believed Epstein was murdered in his cell while awaiting trial on charges of sex trafficking to protect his powerful associates. [Cruella de Vile is sucking up to another dictator.](https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/cowgirl-kristi-puts-pony-show-145458715.html) > [@](#): > > Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem isn’t letting her job get in the way of her [passion for horseback riding](https://www.yahoo.com/news/ice-barbie-delayed-texas-aid-064417592.html). > > For her [latest photo op](https://www.yahoo.com/news/democratic-senator-rips-ice-barbie-003143055.html), the South Dakota native and former rancher saddled up at an Argentinian army base with the country’s security minister, Patricia Bullrich. > > Wearing a cowboy hat, jeans, oversize belt buckle, and full hair and makeup, Noem posted [photos](https://x.com/Sec_Noem/status/1950029701331775866) of herself riding alongside Bullrich and a [video](https://x.com/Sec_Noem/status/1949992498157228088) that showed her galloping through a grassy field. > > “My first time riding an Argentinian bred horse—her name is ‘Abundance’—she reaffirmed that no hour of life is wasted that is spent in the saddle!” Noem captioned the video. > > It wasn’t immediately clear what horseback riding has to do with national security. > > Noem was in Argentina for closed-door talks with the country’s far-right president, Javier Milei—who is an unabashed fanboy of President Donald Trump—and his officials. > > Pressed about the specifics, she offered a vague response to reporters about security partnerships and “the business we could be doing together,” _[The Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/07/28/argentina-visa-travel-trump/5d66d41e-6bd7-11f0-aab6-8141d7095676_story.html)_ reported. Noem also said she appreciated Milei’s “embrace” of Trump’s policies. There was no word if she had to put down any dogs for scaring the horses. ---
**Author:** ![Coriolanus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coriolanus/32/18769_2.png) [@Coriolanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coriolanus)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2025, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/6949 "2025-07-30T23:47:57Z")
He’ll be meeting with his tailor soon to find suitable golden epaulets. Is that enough? I’m sure they make them as clip-on’s. If you were President of the United States of America would you step off AF1 at LHR to meet the King with any less? ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2025, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/6950 "2025-07-30T23:54:55Z")
The King? You already know the felon thinks _he_ is the King. That dude in London? He’s just _a_ king. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2025, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/6951 "2025-07-31T01:13:59Z")
[The felon got grabbed in the ~~pu~~ wallet.](https://www.aol.com/trump-calls-gops-hawley-second-233918684.html) (The **bolding** is mine.) > WASHINGTON (AP) — [President Donald Trump](https://apnews.com/live/donald-trump-news-updates-7-30-2025) lashed out at [Sen. Josh Hawley](https://apnews.com/hub/josh-hawley) on Wednesday after the Republican’s proposal to ban stock trading by members of Congress — and the president and vice president — won bipartisan approval to advance in a committee vote. > > It’s the [second time](https://apnews.com/article/senate-nominations-trump-thune-democrats-a810256deedeb484a90216e5022e63e4) in as many days that [Donald Trump](https://www.yahoo.com/people/donald-trump/) laid into senators in his own party as the president tries, sometimes without success, to publicly pressure them to fall in line. A day earlier Trump tore into veteran [GOP Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa](https://apnews.com/article/senate-nominations-trump-thune-democrats-a810256deedeb484a90216e5022e63e4) over an obscure Senate procedure regarding nominations. > > Trump called Hawley a “second rate Senator.” > > GOP senators had been working with the White House on the [stock trade bill](https://apnews.com/article/business-elections-jeff-merkley-congress-79c2449c353a55242c3003afa029e464), and some supported a broad carve-out to shield the president from the ban, but it failed. Trump complained that Hawley joined with Democrats to block another amendment that would have investigated the stock trades of [Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi](https://apnews.com/hub/nancy-pelosi), the speaker emerita. > > “Why would one ‘Republican,’ Senator Josh Hawley from the Great State of Missouri, join with all of the Democrats, to block a Review,” Trump said. If this keeps happening to his grifting opportunities, who knows what he will do? Resign? 🙏 ---
**Author:** ![Coriolanus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coriolanus/32/18769_2.png) [@Coriolanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coriolanus)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2025, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/6952 "2025-07-31T01:34:31Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > The King? You already know the felon thinks _he_ is the King. That dude in London? He’s just _a_ king. I dunno tthat QEII knew that DJT was an uncouth American, that it was just a diplomatic “I am a dumb fuck unaware of your traditions” yet I would pay good money if KCIII draws his sabre just a little bit and says. in no uncertain words, “Mister President. do not step before me” ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2025, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/6953 "2025-07-31T02:35:34Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > **GOP senators had been working with the White House on the [stock trade bill](https://apnews.com/article/business-elections-jeff-merkley-congress-79c2449c353a55242c3003afa029e464), and some supported a broad carve-out to shield the president from the ban, but it failed.** This is the part I meant to bold above. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2025, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/6954 "2025-07-31T06:41:37Z")
[The felon’s bodycount has increased yet again.](https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/woman-died-heart-disease-ice-213722001.html) > [@](#): > > A woman who died of a heart attack in a federal immigration detention facility in South Florida told her son over the phone on the day she died that staff refused to let her see a physician for chest pains, her son told a county investigator. > > Marie Ange Blaise, a 44-year-old Haitian national, died on April 25 at the Broward Transitional Center (BTC)—a privately run facility in Pompano Beach, Florida, that contracts with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). A medical examiner’s report obtained by _Reason_ through a public records request concluded that she died of natural causes from cardiovascular disease. > > An investigator for the Broward County Medical Examiner’s Office interviewed Blaise’s son, Kervens Blaise, who said his mother reported being denied medical care. > > “I asked Kervens when he last spoke with his mother and said on Friday, 4/25/25 at 2:54 pm (California time),” the investigator wrote in the [report](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26036924-blaise-investigation-report-25-1159/). “At that time, did his mother complained of any health issues and he states she complained of having chest pains and abdominal cramps, and when she asked the detention staff to see a physician, they refused her. Kervens states his mother has been experiencing the chest pains for about a month now.” > > Blaise also [reportedly told](https://www.local10.com/news/local/2025/04/30/investigation-underway-after-haitian-woman-dies-at-south-florida-ice-facility/) several other detainees that she wasn’t feeling well that day. > > Blaise was first detained by ICE on February 14 and was transferred to several different ICE detention centers before being sent to BTC in early April. > > An [official ICE narrative](https://www.ice.gov/doclib/foia/reports/ddrMarieAngeBlaise.pdf) of Blaise’s medical history during her detention states that she had a history of high blood pressure and kidney disease, and that she repeatedly refused to take prescribed medication. According to the ICE report, Blaise saw medical providers three times between her arrival at BTC on April 5 and her death on April 25. > > However, BTC detainees who witnessed Blaise collapse said there was also a slow staff response. [It’s not going away, no matter how much you wish it, felon.](https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/justice-department-makes-bombshell-admission-170636535.html) > [@](#): > > The Department of Justice has revealed in a new court filing that the Jeffrey Epstein-related grand jury testimony that President Donald Trump [demanded](https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-orders-bondi-unseal-epstein-013651852.html) mostly just contains information that is already public knowledge. > > Facing [scrutiny over](https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-naked-girl-gift-secret-000829470.html) his years-long friendship with the convicted sex offender and [anger from his base](https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/white-house-officials-fear-epstein-111958927.html) over his administration’s failure to produce new revelations in the case, the president instructed Attorney General Pam Bondi earlier this month to request the court to unseal the [usually secret](https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/doj-bid-unseal-ghislaine-maxwell-201325568.html) transcripts. > > Critics quickly [pointed out](https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-epstein-grand-jury-smokescreen-141434134.html) that the vast majority of the evidence from the so-called “Epstein files” wouldn’t have been included in grand jury proceedings for Epstein or his accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell. > > Now, the DOJ’s latest [memorandum](https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/26035416/epsteinunsealmem072925.pdf) to the federal court for the Southern District of New York has confirmed that just two witnesses testified during the grand jury proceedings. [Nehemiah Scudder and Cruella de Vile hijacked some more art.](https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/trump-admin-hot-water-christian-192152544.html) > [@](#): > > In the latest MAGA plot twist, Kristi Noem’s Department of Homeland Security has been brutally rebuked by the family of a famous conservative Christian painter. > > The estate of Thomas Kinkade, the artist who created a painting used by the DHS in an inflammatory anti-immigration meme, is now considering taking legal action against the government agency, they [wrote in a public statement](https://www.kinkadefamilyfoundation.org/). > > The painting, “Morning Pledge,” depicts a saccharine scene of a Christian American utopia: A group of children raises an American flag in front of the town church as dusk descends on a quaint white suburb. On July 1, the DHS posted the painting on X with the caption “Protect the Homeland,” inflaming art critics and the political left. > > The Kinkade estate has requested that the DHS remove the post and is consulting with legal counsel, as the department posted the painting without the family’s permission. > > “At The Kinkade Family Foundation, we strongly condemn the sentiment expressed in the post and the deplorable actions that DHS continues to carry out,” Kinkade’s family wrote, “Like many of you, we were deeply troubled to see this image used to promote division and xenophobia associated with the ideals of DHS, as this is antithetical to our mission.” > > They added, “We stand firmly with our communities who have been threatened and targeted by DHS, especially our immigrant, BIPOC, undocumented, LGBTQ+, and disabled relatives and neighbors.” [Maybe this is why Musk left, duplication of effort.](https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/laura-loomer-claims-two-more-202929697.html) (The **bolding** is mine.) > [@](#): > > In the past 24 hours, far-right internet personality Laura Loomer has majorly flexed the influence she wields over the Trump administration’s staffing decisions, claiming not one but two heads. > > On Tuesday evening, Loomer publicly [cast aspersions](https://x.com/LauraLoomer/status/1950363597860700216) on Jen Easterly, a former Biden cybersecurity official who was recently named to a distinguished chair position in West Point’s social sciences department. > > Responding to the West Point dean’s since-deleted announcement of Easterly’s appointment, Loomer wrote [on X](https://x.com/LauraLoomer/status/1950363597860700216): “Wow [Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth]! Looks like some of your underlings are trying to screw you. There are clearly a lot of Biden holdovers at DOD undermining the Trump admin.” (Easterly, who—Loomer failed to mention—also worked in George W. Bush’s administration, has [publicly disputed](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/us-rescinds-military-academy-job-for-former-cybersecurity-chief/ar-AA1JBwfS) Trump’s baseless claims about recent elections being rigged.) > > The right-wing provocateur urged a “massive” reduction in force at the Defense Department so as to weed out “moles” and tagged the accounts of West Point, the Department of Defense, and Hegseth in the post. > > By Wednesday morning, Army Secretary Dan Driscoll publicly [shared](https://x.com/secarmy/status/1950580548029595746?s=46&t=4auoNGqLGpw7cLWa3ZBm_A) a memo stating that Easterly was dismissed,and that **West Point will “immediately pause non-governmental and outside groups from selecting employees**.” Driscoll also requested a “top-down review” of the academy’s hiring practices. > > Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell [lauded](https://x.com/SeanParnellUSA/status/1950590519513321646) the decision, and Loomer also [celebrated](https://x.com/LauraLoomer/status/1950604257478189506) the outcome. > > The shake-up at West Point, ostensibly the result of Loomer’s single-handed effort, comes on the heels of another victory for the self-described “pro-white nationalist,” who on Tuesday succeeded in taking down Vinay Prasad, a top official at Trump’s Food and Drug Administration. The pause is obviously on “outside groups” selecting employees. _Firing_ them, now that’s a different matter. [The felon’s people are complaining about other people “running to the courts”.](https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/dhs-mocks-democrats-running-court-000331987.html) > [@](#): > > The Trump Department of Homeland Security is mocking several House Democrats for “running to court” over unsuccessfully demanding access to a [Baltimore ICE processing facility](https://www.foxnews.com/politics/ice-sit-in-photo-op-maryland-dems-blasted-dhs-chief-noem). > > A dozen Democrats are suing the [Trump administration](https://www.foxnews.com/category/person/donald-trump) for “unlawful obstruction of congressional oversight” after Democratic members of the Maryland congressional delegation were denied entry to the ICE facility on Monday. > > Maryland Democratic Senators Chris Van Hollen and Angela Alsobrooks, along with Reps. Glenn Ivey, Johnny Olszewski, Sarah Elfreth and Kweisi Mfume showed up in Baltimore at the Fallon Federal Building on Monday but were denied entry into an ICE detainment facility in the building. [There’s not even a perfunctory attept to hide the corruption.](https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/doj-dismisses-case-against-trump-185301259.html) > [@](#): > > WASHINGTON — The Justice Department dropped a case against restaurant group Fat Brands and its chairman, Andy Wiederhorn, on Tuesday, months after the White House took the [unusual step of directly firing a career federal prosecutor](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/white-house-firing-career-prosecutor-pulls-justice-department-ever-clo-rcna198864) who was handling the case. > > The government [filed an unopposed motion](https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cacd.925805/gov.uscourts.cacd.925805.132.0.pdf) Tuesday to dismiss a case against Wiederhorn, as well as William Amon, Rebecca Hershinger and Fat Brands Inc., which alleged a scheme to conceal $47 million paid to Wiederhorn. The government also filed a separate [motion to dismiss](https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cacd.925798/gov.uscourts.cacd.925798.76.0.pdf)a case in which Wiederhorn was charged with possessing a firearm and ammunition despite his previous felony convictions. > > In a [news release](https://www.justice.gov/usao-cdca/pr/former-ceo-and-controlling-shareholder-fat-brands-inc-former-cfo-and-tax-advisor) announcing the case against Wiederhorn, Fat Brands, Amon and Hershinger last year, Martin Estrada, then the U.S attorney for the Central District of California, said the allegations involved Wiederhorn’s using the company “as his personal slush fund,” while an IRS official said the allegations showed Wiederhorn was a “serial tax cheat.” Fat Brands, Wiederhorn, Amon and Hershinger had all pleaded not guilty last year. > > The motion to dismiss the federal case came months after Trump supporter and right-wing activist Laura Loomer and others called on President Donald Trump to fire Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam Schleifer, the lead prosecutor on the Fat Brands case, highlighting anti-Trump comments he made during a previous, unsuccessful bid for Congress as a Democrat. Schleifer [was fired in March](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/white-house-firing-career-prosecutor-pulls-justice-department-ever-clo-rcna198864). > > While Attorney General Pam Bondi has carried many [recent dismissals of career federal prosecutors](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/former-jan-6-prosecutor-doj-employees-sue-trump-administration-firing-rcna220386), Schleifer was fired in an email from the White House Presidential Personnel Office. Do you remember that credit card commercial where they state how much certain activities or things cost and then top it off with something Norman Rockwell-esque and say “Priceless”? Yeah, that’ll never filmed with these crooks. There’s no such thing as priceless for them. They’re all for sale. And my favorite line from the news today: [_Go jump in the Gulf of Maine_.](https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/trump-administration-requested-voter-data-171650426.html) (The **bolding** is mine.) > [@](#): > > The U.S. Department of Justice asked Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows to provide access to the state’s voter registration list and other sweeping election data. Bellows told Maine Morning Star she will respond in the next few days by telling the DOJ that it does not have the right to such information. > > “The federal government has overstepped its bounds,” Bellows said. “We will be denying their request for the citizen voter information of every Mainer.” & > [@](#): > > Then, on July 24, the Civil Rights Division of the DOJ sent a vastly more detailed request for specific data, including the statewide voter registration list, names of officials who handle the list’s maintenance and the number of ineligible voters the state identified due to noncitizenship, among other information about the state’s election processes. > > “We don’t know why they’re doing this, whether it is to change the subject away from topics like the [Epstein files](https://mainemorningstar.com/2025/07/22/repub/us-house-gop-to-scatter-early-for-august-break-amid-pressure-on-epstein-files/), or whether it is to undermine voter confidence in our strong election systems,” said Bellows, a Democrat who is running for governor in 2026. > > **But it doesn’t matter why, she said, it violates the U.S. Constitution, which puts states in charge of elections.** & > [@](#): > > During Trump’s first term, Bellows’ predecessor Matt Dunlap denied Trump’s voter fraud commission access to the state voter file, which Bellows said was the correct move. Dunlap served on the panel and after it was disbanded said it was [set up to validate Trump’s voter fraud claims](https://www.npr.org/2018/08/04/635668304/member-of-disbanded-trump-voter-fraud-commission-speaks-out). He did not respond to requests for comment for this story. > > “The secretary of state at the time of the state of Mississippi, Delbert Hosemann [a Republican], told the DOJ to go jump in the Gulf of Mexico,” Bellows added. “My answer to the DOJ is, ‘ **Go jump in the Gulf of Maine**.’” ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2025, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/6955 "2025-07-31T08:45:14Z")
[Federal judge gives the felon _two weeks_ to answer.](https://www.aol.com/judge-orders-trump-administration-explain-222742043.html) > [@](#): > > A federal judge on Wednesday essentially accused the [Trump](https://www.yahoo.com/people/donald-trump/) administration of ignoring his orders to restore Voice of America’s operations and explain clearly what it is doing with the government-run operation that provides news to other countries. > > U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth of the District of Columbia gave the administration until Aug. 13 to explain how it will get VOA working again. The outlet that dates back to World War II has been largely dark since March. And his honor is mighty curious about something. > [@](#): > > Lamberth said the administration needs to show what it is doing with the $260 million Congress appropriated for VOA’s operations this year. And then the judge hit ‘em with the ol’ cracked wooden wall spoon. (The **bolding** is mine.) > [@](#): > > He scolded the administration for providing “cagey answers” and omitting key information when asked for it in previous court orders. > > “Without more explanation, the court is left to conclude that the defendants are simply trying to run out the clock on the fiscal year, without putting the money Congress appropriated toward the purposes Congress intended,” Lamberth wrote. **“The legal term for that is ‘waste.’”** ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2025, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/6956 "2025-07-31T08:57:41Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > what it is doing with the $260 million Keeping it for themselves. There, solved that mystery. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2025, 10:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/6957 "2025-07-31T10:06:58Z")
About the Kinkade painting… are flags typically raised at dusk? ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2025, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/6958 "2025-07-31T10:17:35Z")
They are for the morning version of “dusk”, as the painting is called “Morning Pledge”. Normal people usually call this “dawn” though. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2025, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/6959 "2025-07-31T20:53:42Z")
I have direct permission from Bill Falstaff Cochell to post this little poem/parody on the SDMB. Lovely little ditty, isn’t it? 😁 (c) 2025 Falstaff & Shaughnessy _Trump the Tragic MAGA_ Trump the Tragic MAGA Lived by the sea And wallowed in atrociousness And acts of perfidy Little Jeffrey Epstein Loved that bastard Trump And brought him things like Teenage girls and other ghastly stuff Together they would revel, At his hotel goes the tale With Ghislaine as a lookout perched for more pederastic tail Noble kings and princes And actors full of fame Would come together at this place While Jeffrey wrote their names Trump the Tragic MAGA Lived by the sea And wallowed in atrociousness And acts of perfidy That MAGA ran for office Russian money it was spent Congress wheels and Backroom deals Made Trump the president Then one gray night it happened Jeffrey Epstein was no more And Trump that mighty MAGA Thought his troubles were no more For those revels caused him sorrow, Repercussions fell like rain For Trump’s regime was then brought down by Jeff’s Girlfriend Ghislaine Without a tight defense, Trump must now be brave Or Trump that mighty blowhard Lets slip he’s too depraved! Trump the Tragic MAGA Lived by the sea And wallowed in atrociousness And acts of perfidy Trump the Tragic MAGA Lived by the sea And wallowed in atrociousness And acts of perfidy ---
**Author:** ![Coriolanus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coriolanus/32/18769_2.png) [@Coriolanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coriolanus)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2025, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/6960 "2025-07-31T20:54:11Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > without putting the money Congress appropriated toward the purposes Congress intended I would think the legal term for that is “theft” or Contempt of Congress. I’m sure the check for $260.00 is in the mail. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2025, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068/6961 "2025-07-31T20:56:32Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > And then the judge hit ‘em with the ol’ cracked wooden wall spoon. (The **bolding** is mine.) Another opportunity for Trump, consequence free, to tell the courts to go fuck themselves. I wonder if he can wait for the Aug. 13 deadline to arrive. “U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth of the District of Columbia gave the administration until Aug. 13 to explain how it will get VOA working again. The outlet that dates back to World War II has been largely dark since March.” > **[Judge orders Trump administration to explain why order to restore Voice of...](https://apnews.com/article/voa-voice-america-media-trump-administration-b60d40621f41b2ff4460803de4e0142f?utm_source=copy&utm_medium=share)** > > A U.S. District Court judge ordered the Trump administration to explain why it is apparently not following his order to restore operations at the government-run Voice of America. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068.md?page=344) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-administration-the-clusterfuck-continues-part-1/1010068.md?page=346)