After months of revelations about his connection to Russia’s hack of Hillary Clinton’s emails, former Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos is heading to prison for lying to the FBI. On Friday, a judge sentenced Papadopoulos to 14 days in prison and one year of supervised release — the latest blow to the White House, and […]
After months of revelations about his connection to Russia’s hack of Hillary Clinton’s emails, former Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos is heading to prison for lying to the FBI. On Friday, a judge sentenced Papadopoulos to 14 days in prison and one year of supervised release — the latest blow to the White House, and […]
A popular method for criminalizing homelessness is unconstitutional, the federal appeals court governing the western U.S. ruled this week. Cities cannot arrest or cite a person for sleeping outdoors unless it can prove it had a shelter bed or other indoor housing option available at the time, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals found almost […]
A federal judge quoted the movie Groundhog Day when ruling Friday that 32 counties across Florida violated the Voting Rights Act by denying Puerto Ricans — displaced by Hurricane Maria and now living in Florida — access to Spanish-language ballots. In the opening line of his ruling U.S. District Court of Northern Florida Judge Mark […]
President Obama slammed Donald Trump during a speech at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Friday afternoon, criticizing his frequent tirades and threats against the FBI and Attorney General Jeff Sessions over the ongoing Russia investigation. “It should not be Democratic or Republican, it should not be a partisan issue, to say that we do […]
Former President Barack Obama took the unusual step of specifically calling out politicians who have refused to publicly and unequivocally disavow white nationalists during a speech at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign on Friday. “It shouldn’t be Democratic or Republican to say that we don’t target certain groups of people based on what they […]
Former President Barack Obama took the unusual step of specifically calling out politicians who have refused to publicly and unequivocally disavow white nationalists during a speech at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign on Friday. “It shouldn’t be Democratic or Republican to say that we don’t target certain groups of people based on what they […]
Two leaders of the House Natural Resources Committee are continuing their crusade against environmental groups. This time they are targeting the World Resources Institute (WRI), a well-respected international environmental and climate research group, over its environmental and sustainability programs in China. Reps. Rob Bishop (R-UT), chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, and Oversight and […]
Two leaders of the House Natural Resources Committee are continuing their crusade against environmental groups. This time they are targeting the World Resources Institute (WRI), a well-respected international environmental and climate research group, over its environmental and sustainability programs in China. Reps. Rob Bishop (R-UT), chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, and Oversight and […]
Donald Trump has called for the United States Attorney General to open an investigation into which member of his administration authored an anonymous New York Times op/ed published earlier this week, which criticized him for his dangerously erratic behavior and suggested that an ersatz “resistance” was hard at work thwarting the president’s worst tendencies. After […]
An election integrity activist in Kansas filed an objection Thursday to Kris Kobach’s candidacy for governor, claiming elections officials illegally rejected more early ballots than Kobach’s margin of victory. Davis Hammet, the director of the Kansas-based organization Loud Light, told ThinkProgress that the rejected advance mail ballots throw Kobach’s extremely narrow primary win into question. […]
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has spent his week traveling through a series of tropical islands in the Pacific Ocean, part of an effort meant to strengthen strategic and security-based alliances. The trip coincides with an urgent request from Pacific leaders pleading for the United States to rejoin the Paris climate agreement — but it appears […]
Republican efforts to keep much of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s record secret in the lead up to Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing placed the nominee in an terrible position this past week, often making him appear evasive, unprepared, or even outright deceptive. As law professor Rick Hasen noted on Twitter, So if the Democrats' theme for […]
Fox News has frequently toed the line between news network and all-out propaganda. On Friday, it effectively crossed it, reaching a new low in its coverage of the president and his administration. The conservative network typically spends its time propping up President Trump’s agenda, who in turn favors Fox News’ right-wing tilt, lavishing its anchors […]
Trump administration officials at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced in a quietly released statement on Thursday that 234,000 acres of land near a popular Minnesota wilderness area will officially open to mining. “Interested companies now may soon be able to lease minerals in the watershed in the Superior National Forest,” the USDA said […]
President Donald Trump is a long way from winning his war on the trade deficit he has been railing against since his days as a candidate. And, if the latest data released by the U.S. Commerce Department is any indication, things are on track to get worse for the foreseeable future, although he certainly seems […]
Many economists were pleasantly surprised by the Labor Department’s August jobs report Friday morning. 201,000 jobs were added last month when economists only expected a gain of about 190,000 and the unemployment rate remained at 3.9 percent. The number that shocked most experts, however, was that wages grew 2.9 percent faster than last year, making […]
The media called it “the Most Viral Political Ad of 2018.” Lin-Manual Miranda — the lyrical genius behind the viral hip-hop musical Hamilton — tweeted that it’s “the best political ad anyone’s ever seen.” It’s the three minute-long “Doors” video by consulting firm Putnam Partners in support of Air Force veteran Mary Jennings “MJ” Hegar, […]
Embedded within the aspirations of Democratic candidates aiming to return to both congressional and state-level power this November, there exists a rumbling — a boisterous challenge of progressive change, seeking to upend business-as-usual in Washington and beyond. Think of it like this: there is a blue wave, within a blue wave, that’s gathering energy. It’s being led […]
Legal authorities in New York and New Jersey announced sweeping inquiries into sexual abuse committed or facilitated by employees of the Roman Catholic Church on Thursday, just two-and-a-half years after Oscars voters lauded a film about journalists’ 2002 investigation into such abuses from the 1990s and earlier. Thursday’s investigations follow similar overtures from the attorneys […]
Legal authorities in New York and New Jersey announced sweeping inquiries into sexual abuse committed or facilitated by employees of the Roman Catholic Church on Thursday, just two-and-a-half years after Oscars voters lauded a film about journalists’ 2002 investigation into such abuses from the 1990s and earlier. Thursday’s investigations follow similar overtures from the attorneys […]
Newly released emails, which were designated “confidential” by the Senate Judiciary Committee but posted online by Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), reveal that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh lobbied to make John Yoo, the author of the infamous torture memos, a federal appellate judge. In the first email, dated November 29, 2001, Kavanaugh suggested that Bush […]
A month after platforms like Facebook and YouTube banned conspiracy theorist Alex Jones for harassment and glorifying violence, and a day after he appeared at Wednesday’s tech hearings in Washington, D.C., Twitter announced it had finally suspended both Jones and InfoWars from its platform. As CNN reported, Twitter booted Jones permanently on Thursday, citing Jones’ […]
The coal industry consultant nominated by President Donald Trump to lead the Interior Department’s mining agency has withdrawn his nomination after facing fierce backlash from green groups and environmental advocates, as well as a stalled confirmation process. J. Steven Gardner announced Thursday that he was withdrawing his nomination to head the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation […]