Democratic Underground: Forums for U.S. Liberals and Democrats

Top Treasury Lawyer Resigns After Creation of 'Anti-Weaponization Fund'

(New York Times) The top lawyer at the Treasury Department stepped down on Monday in the wake of the creation of a $1.8 billion "anti-weaponization fund" that could soon make payments to President Trump's political allies, according to three people familiar with the move. Brian Morrissey, the Treasury's general counsel, resigned from the position seven months after he was confirmed to it by the Senate and just hours after the Trump administration announced the fund on Monday.

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Jamie Raskin Says Trump's Gone From 'Brick And Mortar Corruption' To Something So Much Worse

(Huff Post) Fresh after news that Trump’s Department of Justice plans to create a $1.7 billion “anti-weaponization fund” to sponsor so-called victims of political “lawfare,” Raskin told The Daily Beast there is nothing more critical than cracking down on the administration’s array of grifts during the site’s Sunday podcast. “We’ve never seen abuse like the kind of abuse that has taken place under Donald Trump,” he said, accusing the president of using legal loopholes and a “shadow government” to help his “personal wealth skyrocket during the second term.”

Eugene

Epstein got 'special treatment' in jail, former guard tells House Oversight Committee

(ABC News) A former prison guard who was on duty at the federal Metropolitan Corrections Center in New York when convicted Jeffrey Epstein died in 2019 testified Monday that the late sex offender received "special treatment" at the jail, two members of the House Oversight Committee said. Democratic Reps. Suhas Subramanyam of Virginia and Melanie Stansbury of New Mexico said Tova Noel testified that Epstein received extra bed linens and a CPAP machine, and had access to "medications in a way no one else did."

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Trump jawboned Thune to fire Senate's top rules referee over ballroom ruling

(Raw Story) President Donald Trump privately demanded that Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) fire Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough. According to NOTUS, "President Donald Trump pressed Senate Majority Leader John Thune to fire the Senate parliamentarian after she ruled Republicans could not include funding for the president’s ballroom in a budget bill, two sources familiar with the request told NOTUS." However, Thune is adamantly refusing to get rid of MacDonough, who was first appointed as the Senate rules referee in 2012 and has often frustrated majorities in both parties.

Mr. Sparkle

Trump Proposed US, Russia, and China Unite Against ICC in Closed-Door Talks With Xi

(Mediaite) President Donald Trump reportedly suggested the United States, China, and Russia should unite against the International Criminal Court during closed-door talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing last week. The proposal emerged during wide-ranging conversations between the president and the Chinese leader that also touched on Russia’s war in Ukraine, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday. Trump argued the three powers shared common interests in opposing the ICC, which his administration has repeatedly accused of overreach and politicization, according to the report.

KS Toronado

Tuesday's Condensed News Cartoons

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Hegseth steps away from war duties to campaign against Trump foe

(Reuters) Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth campaigned on Monday for a former Navy SEAL who is challenging one of President Donald Trump's top Republican targets in Congress, in a highly unusual appearance for a U.S. military leader. At a rally ‌in Kentucky, Hegseth endorsed Republican candidate Ed Gallrein and criticized incumbent Representative Thomas Massie, who has been at odds with Trump over major legislation and led the drive to release government files on the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

sop

Why Trump's stock trades are so exceptionally corrupt

(MS NOW) Donald Trump is the most corrupt president in American history. Just this week, we found out that in the first quarter of the year, Trump made more than 3,700 financial trades, worth tens of millions of dollars. That averages out to 59 trades a day and nine trades per hour. The conflicts of interest and personal corruption are simply astonishing. Many of the companies do business with the federal government. In fact, Trump allegedly bought stock in Amazon and Microsoft months before the Pentagon announced agreements with both companies.

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Landmark regulations against 'forever' toxins removed by Trump administration

(CNN) Key Biden-era regulations designed to protect the nation’s drinking water from the most dangerous cancer-causing per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, were removed by the Trump administration Monday. Manufactured since the 1940s to make products nonstick, stain-resistant and water-repellent, PFAS chemicals have been linked to cancer, obesity, thyroid disease, high cholesterol, decreased fertility, liver damage, hormone disruption and damage to the immune system, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency.

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News organizations sue to unseal filings in DOJ's Fulton County election investigation

(NBC News) A group of news organizations, including NBC News, has filed a motion to unseal filings and subpoenas in the Department of Justice’s ongoing investigation into the 2020 election in Fulton County, Georgia. In January, the FBI seized ballots and other materials from the 2020 election from an elections hub in Fulton County, a Democratic stronghold in the key battleground state that President Donald Trump lost in 2020. Last month, the DOJ also sought to compel the county to hand over the names, home addresses, telephone numbers and email addresses of workers and volunteers who served during that election.

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The Trump cell phone has finally arrived - but is no longer 'Made in the USA' and the American flag design is missing tw

5 min ago - two stripes After a nine-month delay, the Trump Mobile “T1” smartphone was sent out this week to pre-order customers and some members of the media. There was just a slight problem. The gold-plated $499 phone is no longer marketed as “ ... (Independent)

Federal prosecutors open new criminal probe into Maduro, sources say

6 min ago - Updated on: May 19, 2026 / 1:03 PM EDT Federal prosecutors in Miami were ordered to open a new criminal investigation targeting detained former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro amid some concerns that the pending prosecution against him is wea ... (CBS News)

TSA quietly updates its rules to allow flying with medical marijuana

34 min ago - Tuesday 19 May 2026 12:50 EDT American travelers can now fly with medical marijuana after the TSA quietly updated its rules on carrying the drug – though specific details remain unclear. Medical marijuana is now permitted in both carry-on and ch ... (The Independent)

CFTC sues to block Minnesota's first-in-nation ban on prediction markets

57 min ago - May 19, 2026 12:51 PM EDT Updated 4 hours ago May 19 (Reuters) - The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission on Tuesday filed a lawsuit seeking to block Minnesota from enforcing a newly enacted law that made the state the first nationally to ... (Reuters)

Senate advances measure to end military action in Iran in rebuke to Trump

1 hr ago - Published Tue, May 19 2026 5:50 PM EDT Updated 26 Min Ago The Senate on Tuesday advanced a resolution to halt military action in Iran after a surprise defection from Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, dealing a blow to President Donald Trump' ... (CNBC)

Manager at Trump's N.J. Golf Club Helped Plan Reflecting Pool Repairs

1 hr ago - May 19, 2026, 1:13 p.m. ET The general manager of President Trump's golf club in Bedminster, N.J., has offered suggestions to guide the renovation of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool and helped recruit one of the contractors for the job, accordin ... (New York Times)

Troops say Army ignored request for more medical support before deadly attack on Kuwait base

2 hrs ago - Updated on: May 19, 2026 / 8:16 AM EDT A U.S. Army unit asked to bulk up medical support weeks before a fatal Iranian strike on their command post in Kuwait, but they were ignored, soldiers told CBS News. Some of the survivors of the attack also said ... (CBS News)

Republicans grow increasingly worried about Trump's negative polls

2 hrs ago - 05/19/26 6:00 AM ET Republicans see President Trump’s sagging approval ratings as a major problem heading into the midterms. Their fears are underscored by a New York Times/Siena College poll released Monday showing Trump’s approval ratings ... (The Hill)

US justice department 'forever' bars IRS from auditing Trump's past tax returns

2 hrs ago - Addendum quietly slipped into widely criticized agreement creating a $1.7bn fund to compensate president’s allies The justice department quietly added a provision barring the IRS from auditing Donald Trump’s tax returns on Tuesday, amending ... (The Guardian)

Emergency grid alert issued for East Coast as heat soars

2 hrs ago - Tuesday 19 May 2026 11:21 EDT As a heatwave suffocates the East Coast of the United States, the region's power grid operator has issued an emergency alert warning of greater demand. More Americans are turning on their air conditioners, prompting PJM ... (The Independent)

Defense department watchdog opens inquiry into US airstrikes on alleged drug boats

3 hrs ago - Tue 19 May 2026 11.53 EDT Last modified on Tue 19 May 2026 13.28 EDT The Pentagon’s internal watchdog has opened an investigation into whether US military commanders followed proper procedures when conducting boat strikes in the Caribbean and th ... (The Guardian)

Investigators probing San Diego mosque shooting suspects' possible writings

3 hrs ago - Investigators looking into the motivations of two men accused of killing three people at a San Diego mosque Monday are trying to authenticate a document posted online that purportedly details their motivations, three senior law enforcement officials ... (NBC News)

Jury acquits 2 business executives of bribing Navy admiral for government contract

3 hrs ago - WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal jury has acquitted two business executives of charges that they conspired to bribe a retired four-star U.S. Navy admiral, who is now serving a six-year prison sentence for his conviction on corruption charges. An earl ... (AP)

30-year US Treasury yield hits highest level in 19 years

4 hrs ago - Updated May 19, 2026, 1:22 PM ET PUBLISHED May 19, 2026, 10:52 AM ET New York - A bond rout is deepening as inflation fears take hold of the Treasury market, threatening to raise borrowing costs across the US economy. The 30-year US Treasury yield ... (CNN Business)

Google Search as you know it is over

4 hrs ago - -snip- Instead of returning a simple list of links, Google Search will drop users into AI-powered interactive experiences at times. Google is also introducing tools that can dispatch “information agents” to gather information on a user’ ... (TechCrunch)

Acting AG Todd Blanche faces questions on $1.7 billion 'Anti-Weaponization Fund'

4 hrs ago - Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche faced questions Tuesday on the $1.776 billion "Anti-Weaponization Fund" to compensate those who allege they were wrongly targeted under the Biden administration. Blanche's testimony on the Justice Department's 202 ... (ABC News)

Health worker shortage will worsen with federal loan limit, 25 states say in suit

4 hrs ago - May 19, 2026 at 1:28 p.m. EDT A coalition of 25 Democratic-led states and the District of Columbia sued the Education Department on Tuesday over new graduate student loan limits, arguing the restrictions will worsen the health care workforce shortage ... (Washington Post)

Trump endorses Paxton in Texas senate race

5 hrs ago - President Donald Trump endorsed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in the state’s Republican Senate primary, a reversal of his earlier plan to endorse Sen. John Cornyn — and a victory for Trump’s MAGA base. Trump announced his endorseme ... (Washington Post)

NAACP calls for Black student-athletes to boycott Southern schools amid redistricting backlash

5 hrs ago - May 19, 2026, 12:59 PM EDT / Updated May 19, 2026, 1:01 PM EDT The NAACP launched a campaign Tuesday calling on Black student-athletes to boycott Southern colleges in the wake of a Supreme Court decision last month that weakened the Voting Rights Act ... (NBC News)

More than 17,000 under evacuation orders as Southern California wildfire threatens homes

5 hrs ago - By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Updated 12:17 PM CDT, May 19, 2026 Leer en español SIMI VALLEY, Calif. (AP) — More than 17,000 people were under evacuation orders in Southern California on Tuesday as a wildfire threatened suburban homes. The win ... (AP)