Here are today's featured stories, posted by DU members and curated by the Administrators. More news items can be found in our Latest Breaking News forum, and for all the most up-to-the-minute stories that are being talked about by DU members, visit the Latest Discussions page.
August 28, 2025
Prosecutors Just Can't Convince Grand Jury That Woman Who Filmed Feds In DC Committed Felony
(Huff Post) Federal prosecutors failed three times to persuade a grand jury to indict a woman accused of assaulting an FBI agent during an immigration operation in Washington, D.C., last month, a highly unusual failure as President Donald Trump’s administration seeks to aggressively charge street crime in the nation’s capital. Three different federal grand juries declined to indict Sydney Reid for assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers, prosecutors disclosed in a court filing late on Monday. Prosecutors then downgraded the offense to a misdemeanor.
Go to discussion'It's a mess': DC courts on brink of collapse as Trump floods them with arrests
(Raw Story) President Donald Trump's federal takeover of D.C. has the local courts stretched to breaking point, CNN reported on Wednesday. Trump's D.C. U.S. Attorney, former Fox News commentator Jeanine Pirro, "has encouraged its prosecutors to bring more cases to federal court with the most serious charges they can pursue. Defense attorneys across the city believe weaker cases are now being brought into the system as smaller infractions are bumped up to more serious charges," reported Katelyn Polantz, Marshall Cohen, Holmes Lybrand, and Casey Gannon.
Go to discussion'Fine for what'? Newsom doubles down on refusal to give in to Trump's UCLA demands
(Politico) Gov. Gavin Newsom forcefully doubled down Wednesday on his belief that California should not give into the Trump administration’s demand that UCLA pay $1 billion to restore hundreds of millions of dollars in frozen research funding. The governor, who previously described the settlement proposal as “extortion” and threatened to sue over it, said the matter is bigger than just UCLA. It is about “anybody or any institution that disagrees with them,” he said.
Go to discussionCDC erupts in chaos after ousted chief Susan Monarez refuses to resign
(The Guardian) The US’s top public health agency was plunged into chaos on Wednesday after the Trump administration moved to oust its leader Susan Monarez, sworn in less than a month ago, as her lawyers said she would not resign and that she was being “targeted” for her pro-science stance. Monarez, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), was ousted on Wednesday evening, according to a statement from Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that offered no explanation its decision.
Go to discussionTulsi Gabbard Blindsided CIA Over Revoking Clearance of Undercover Officer
(Wall Street Journal) Tulsi Gabbard, director of national intelligence, surprised Central Intelligence Agency officials last week when she included an undercover senior CIA officer on a roster of 37 current and former officials she stripped of security clearances. Gabbard didn’t know the CIA officer had been working undercover, according to a person familiar with the fallout from the list’s release. Three other people with knowledge of the situation said that Gabbard’s office didn’t meaningfully consult with the CIA before releasing the list.
Go to discussionJD Vance Faces Backlash for WWII 'Negotiation' Claim: 'Books Are Great. So Is History. Vance Should Try Both'
(Latin Times) Vice President JD Vance has drawn sharp criticism after a clip of him claiming that World War II ended through negotiation went viral. Speaking on NBC's Meet the Press about Donald Trump's efforts to push for talks between Russia and Ukraine, Vance said: "If you go back to World War II, if you go back to World War I, if you go back to every major conflict in human history, they all end with some kind of negotiation." The remarks quickly gained traction on X, where many users pointed out that World War II ended when the United States and its allies gave the Axis powers two choices: death or unconditional surrender, with negotiated settlements off the table.
Go to discussionJudge the Actually Existing Trump Economy, Not the Theory
(American Prospect) One of the biggest biases in American life is the idea that Republicans are “good for business.” But if you’re a business with any need to receive commercial parcels from other countries, Republicans are pretty bad for you right now. Numerous industrialized countries throughout Europe and Asia have suspended business parcel shipments to the U.S. in advance of a Friday change to the so-called de minimis rules.
Go to discussionLouisiana will ask Supreme Court to overturn key part of Voting Rights Act, invalidate map
(nola.com) Louisiana is now urging the U.S. Supreme Court to rule a key section of the Voting Rights Act unconstitutional, which would throw out the state's congressional map that has two minority-majority districts. Louisiana had previously defended the maps, saying they had created them under protest when a federal judge ruled a previous map with one minority district unconstitutional. But, after the Supreme Court asked for arguments on whether Section Two of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 is constitutional, the state changed direction.
Go to discussionTrump admin. moving detainees out of "Alligator Alcatraz" after judge orders operations to wind down
(CBS News) The Department of Homeland Security has begun moving detainees out of a controversial, state-run immigration detention center in the middle of the Florida Everglades dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz," days after a federal judge ruled that parts of the facility must be dismantled. The detainees are being transferred to other immigration detention centers, DHS said in a statement Wednesday, blaming a court order from an "activist judge" that it called "another attempt to prevent the President from fulfilling the American people's mandate to remove the worst of the worst."
Go to discussionColleges see significant drop in international students as fall semester begins
(NPR) Classes began this week for students at the University at Buffalo, a public research university in western New York, but there were about 750 fewer international students on campus than expected. The new students who did make it gathered for a welcome from the school's dean of students.
Go to discussion