Lauren Doney

Opinions my own.

[Lauren Doney @Ldoney]

How it started How it’s going

[House Judiciary Dems @HouseJudiciary]

1) Under this deal, Trump can and will still use taxpayer money to cut checks to criminals at will, using the Judgment Fund, as he already has, to write millions in checks to people like Michael Flynn, Carter Page and the family of Ashli Babbitt, and nothing prevents Trump from creating a new billion-dollar slush fund by a different name.

Moreover, Blanche admitted under oath that unless Trump agreed in writing too, he can sue to force DOJ’s hand to stick to the original corrupt bargain.

[House Judiciary Dems @HouseJudiciary]

Todd Blanche's too-little-too-late "assurances" on the Trump Super Pardon and his $1.8 billion slush fund for convicted MAGA criminals completely miss the point: 🧵

[House Judiciary Dems @HouseJudiciary]

BREAKING🚨: Ranking Member @RepRaskin has secured the signature of every Democratic Member of Congress (212 in all) on our discharge petition to bring to the floor a vote on legislation to block both Trump’s $1.8 billion taxpayer-funded slush fund for Proud Boys, Oath Keepers and other political allies—a fraud on the court and a fraud on the country—and the unprecedented Trump family and business “Super Pardon” for all criminal, civil and tax offenses they’ve committed so far.  

Looking for six Republicans to add their signatures now!

https://t.co/DHv2GapZkI

[Ghosts of DC @GhostsofDC]

In 1791, a free Black astronomer laid down at Jones Point to fix the first corner of Washington by starlight. 36 of the 40 stones he and Ellicott planted are still in the ground. Here's where to find them.

https://t.co/PpbmFPHn20

[Matthew Cappucci @MatthewCappucci]

Have weather forecasts seemed less accurate lately? There's a major contributing factor: nearly half the morning weather balloons in the Lower 48 are "missing."

This is an ongoing crisis that is degrading critical severe weather forecasts that we all rely on. It's having real, tangible impacts on degrading forecast quality.

If you work in transportation, agriculture or commerce, this should matter to you.

Regardless of the causes, this negatively affects people of ALL political backgrounds. Weather affects everyone. And it's impacting ALL of us negatively.

We can't look at weather balloon data that doesn't exist. We can't pump nonexistent data into models. We can't rely as heavily on models that don't "know" what's happening above our heads.

This is especially concerning for severe weather forecasts. We can't go 18 hours without ascertaining how the atmosphere is layered, how much storm fuel has built up and if severe thunderstorms are going to erupt. The Storm Prediction Center has even acknowledged forecasting frustrations in at least one public bulletin.

As an atmospheric scientist myself, I can say firsthand – the forecasts I'm able to offer you are less accurate than they would otherwise be. I'm not able to predict severe weather with the confidence I normally would. That is extremely concerning.

The United States is "supposed" to launch balloons at 0Z and 12Z ideally – a.k.a. around 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. Eastern time. That's not happening. Many sites, due to staffing issues stemming from broader political and organizational issues, have pushed to 18Z, or early afternoon. That's not helpful for morning severe weather forecasts. In other words, you get less lead time. Less advanced notice. Quicker ramp-ups and ramp-downs to the forecast.

We're not able to get jet stream, temperature, moisture or wind profiles of the atmosphere each morning like we otherwise would.

Moreover, the World Meteorological Organization encourages 12Z soundings; that data is shared via the Global Observing System (GOS) under the World Weather Watch (WWW). That's not happening.

[Aaron Rupar @atrupar]

Massie: "I think it's ironic that we control the House, Senate, Supreme Court, and the White House, and we're yelling 'election fraud'? I mean, we won all the damn elections."

[Martin Austermuhle @maustermuhle]

Whether it’s WaPo or WAMU, it’s incredible how management-driven decisions (and decisions driven by managers who don’t seem to know much about local news) have knee-capped once storied local institutions and left them to catch up to more nimble upstarts.

[Aaron Rupar @atrupar]

MENG: Are you going to issue a new memo in writing rescinding the weaponization fund?

BLANCHE: I'm not committing to putting anything in writing. What would the purpose be?

MENG: You established it in writing, so it makes sense to rescind it in writing

BLANCHE: Ok. I'm not committing to doing anything in writing.

[Kyle Griffin @kylegriffin1]

FLAG: The Trump DOJ agreement that bars the government from probing past tax filings from Trump and his businesses is STILL in effect.

[Aaron Rupar @atrupar]

DeLAURO: So the blanket immunity for the Trumps is not something you're going move back on?

BLANCHE: It's not blanket immunity. That's not true

DeLAURO: It is!

BLANCHE: No it's not

DeLAURO: ... ... ...

BLANCHE: Nothing has changed with that

DeLAURO: Friends, listen to what is being said here. This is really pretty extraordinary

[Acyn @Acyn]

DeLauro: The blanket immunity is not something you’re going to rescind?

Blanche: It’s not blanket immunity.

DeLauro: *reads the order*

[Tom Dreisbach @TomDreisbach]

As the Trump DOJ mass-deletes government information about the Jan. 6 cases, reminder that you can still access NPR's database covering every single prosecution.

We also provide access to hundreds of videos presented in court.

[Courthouse News @CourthouseNews]

.@RepRaskin on Thursday unveiled a package of legislation he said would shine a spotlight on the Supreme Court’s shadow docket and demystify the justices’ secretive and often unexplained emergency orders.

More via @BenjaminSWeiss below ⬇️

[Definitely Danny @SemperWry]

Myself and Harry Dunn have filled a lawsuit to stop Trump's slush fund payouts to January 6th insurrectionists.

[Scott MacFarlane @MacFarlaneNews]

House Republicans aren’t keen on Trump $1.7 billion taxpayer-funded pot of $$ for convicted crooks

Rep Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA): “We’re gonna kill it”

Rep David Schweikert (R-AZ): “I have big concerns about it”

Rep Don Bacon (R-NE): How did President negotiate with himself?

[CSPAN @cspan]

Q: "Do you think Jan. 6th rioters who have been pardoned should receive money from this fund?"

.@RepKiley: "I don’t know why anyone is receiving any money from this fund."

[Kate Knibbs 🏄🏻‍♀️ @Knibbs]

grim grim grim https://t.co/vNtj8lMofc

[House Judiciary Dems @HouseJudiciary]

Donald Trump wants to steal almost $1.8 billion taxpayer dollars and dole it out to his personal militia of Proud Boys and Oath Keepers.

This is fraud and theft of public funds to turn convicted insurrectionists into MAGA millionaires.

[CNN @CNN]

Pennsylvania GOP Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick told reporters he “100%” wants to prevent the nearly $1.8 billion fund that could compensate Trump’s allies from moving forward. https://t.co/Nwq4PfETKA

[Igor Bobic @igorbobic]

Tillis rips Trump’s $1.8B weaponization fund:

“Imagine that — a fund that is set up to compensate people who assaulted Capitol police officers? People that had pled guilty to physical acts against the president may actually be able to get compensated.

“How absurd is that sound coming out of my mouth?”