MT88280

“The first to apologize is the bravest. The first to forgive is the strongest. The first to forget is the happiest."

[Really American 🇺🇸 @ReallyAmerican1]

“The Trump Administration awarded over $22 million in federal contracts to a firm that organized the January 6th rally Trump used to incite the insurrection,” Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) tweeted this afternoon.

“This administration is again rewarding loyalty to the president over every other consideration, including security, experience, and the proper use of taxpayers dollars,” Schiff continued. “The public deserves answers.”

As attempts to rewrite the history of the January 6th Capitol insurrection continue, lawmakers and journalists have spotted an odd pattern involving the company that organized disastrous Trump’s “March to Save America” rally, a violent event that culminated in the sacking of Capitol as Trump’s loyalists sought to overturn his decisive 2020 loss by force.

Trump’s first order of business when re-assuming office on Jan. 20, 2025, was to pardon the criminals convicted of violently attacking the seat of our democracy, erecting a gallows and chasing elected officials with zip ties. Many insurrectionists have since been re-arrested for violent new alleged crimes.

“The events company that helped plan Donald Trump’s rally on January 6, 2021, where his supporters rioted and marched on the Capitol, has been handed $13 million in no-bid contracts from the administration since he resumed office,” The Independent reported in March.

Event Strategies Inc., or ESI, which the New York Times indicated is “staffed by veterans of Mr. Trump’s campaigns and first White House” had, as of March, graduated “from a minor federal contractor into the government’s highest-paid event planner.”

USA TODAY obtained a June 17 letter sent by Sens. Schiff, Elizabeth Warren, Richard Blumenthal and Peter Welch to Trump deputy Susie Wiles, alleging that the President and his cronies had “subverted traditional procedures and used loopholes to award Event Strategies Inc. millions of dollars in contracts related to the 250th anniversary.”

According to lawmakers, ESI was awarded $7 million in contracts just for events related to America’s 250th birthday — and overall, more than $22 million in various contracts since Trump returned to the Oval Office last January.

The corruption is abundantly clear: ESI “received less than $4 million in federal contracts between 2008 and 2021,” the newspaper reported, citing “federal spending data.”

In the letter to Wiles, the senators asserted that ESI was often the sole bidder for lucrative government contracts in Trump’s nightmare of a second term.

“This raises obvious concerns that conflicts of interest and corruption within the White House are driving federal contract awards towards politically connected firms,” they wrote.

The Trump administration doesn’t hide it — scratch their backs, and they’ll generously scratch yours with taxpayer dollars, taking from critical funds like Medicare and Social Security to reward their buddies.

As the Times noted in March, no one at ESI was “charged with wrongdoing,” but in a functioning democracy, a firm so connected to one of our nation’s darkest days would be nowhere near federal contracts.

It’s easy to lose sight of minor acts of corruption when everything seems to be corrupt. We do not have to allow this to continue — you know what to do in November.

[The Lincoln Project @ProjectLincoln]

He broke every promise. Remember that in November.

[Acyn @Acyn]

CNN: What you think about the president formally signing the Iran deal at Versailles last night?

Moulton: It's an appropriate place to sign a surrender document. And it's too bad that the president is completely oblivious to history to understand the parallels there

[Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський @ZelenskyyUa]

Regarding Belarus.

When the full-scale war began, we were hit by missiles that killed children and adults. And Alexander Lukashenko knows this. A large number of missiles were launched from Belarus. Back then, he called, apologized, and said it was out of his control. I don’t believe that, but that’s what he’s already said. Now, Russia will keep pushing him further into this war. Now, he understands that Ukraine will respond.

There’s no need for extra words. There are retransmitters on his communication towers. On his territory, along the two regions bordering Ukraine, there is equipment that adjusts fire on our people. He should remove that equipment. I think a week is enough for him to do that. Because right now, every day, our civilians are being killed, and children are being wounded as a result of this. If he doesn’t do it, we will.

The same goes for his oil-refining sector, for example. We are doing everything so that the Russians don’t have the ability to sell oil and supply diesel and fuel to their army. Today, Belarus is one of the key suppliers for the Russian army. Can this be stopped? I’m sure it’s within his power. And he is the one who controls it.

As for the drone strike on a bus with Belarusian children, everyone has already acknowledged it – international experts and, it seems, even the Russians are admitting it wasn’t our strike. The Russians will resort to all sorts of provocations to drag the Belarusian people into this war. This is one of them.

From the joint press interaction with the President of Honduras, Nasry Asfura. (1/3)

[Citizens for Ethics @CREWcrew]

Did you know Trump's IRS settlement also includes a deal to protect Trump, his family and his businesses from IRS audits?

Enough is enough. Congress must legislate to stop this unprecedented and self-serving arrangement from moving forward. https://t.co/lJzvRRsU3I

[Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський @ZelenskyyUa]

There’s no doubt that Putin fears the return of his army home. That is why he is so afraid of the war ending without victory. And there will be no victory. He is physically afraid of his own army. That is why, if there is no ceasefire backed by specific security guarantees, he will return to war. And this time, others may be the ones under attack.

Today, Ukraine is de facto the second army of NATO – one that is not inferior to the second army in the world. And that is why NATO needs us – specifically us – de jure. This is already a fact recognized by all leaders. Putin will remain in the Kremlin until his death, and he has one goal: the restoration of the Soviet Union. Without Ukraine, this is impossible, and that is why things are so difficult for us.

From answers to journalists’ questions. (3/3)

[CALL TO ACTIVISM @CalltoActivism]

🚨BREAKING: President Obama breaks his silence after Trump signed the MOU surrender with Iran.

Obama says that under the JCPOA he negotiated, "Iran had agreed not to develop nuclear weapons," and Trump pulling out of it "caused Iran to develop more nuclear capacity."

Obama questioned Trump's rationale for his war, saying we're likely worse off now:

"We’ve now fought a war, spent billions and billions of dollars, put an enormous strain on our military; a lot of people have died, and it feels like we are back where we were before we started the war, except maybe a little worse off."

This MIC DROP from Obama is guaranteed to drive Trump NUTS.

[Kate from Kharkiv @BohuslavskaKate]

Trump: "G7 used to be G8. They should have kept the G8. You probably wouldn't have the war with Russia and Ukraine if they did."

FACT CHECK: Russia was excluded from the G8 in March 2014 as a direct response to its illegal invasion and annexation of Ukraine's Crimean peninsula.

[Rep. Mike Levin @RepMikeLevin]

The through line in every Trump appointment is the same: total, unconditional loyalty. Not to the country. To him. 

This Administration is silencing whistleblowers, firing inspector generals across the federal government, and pressuring people to sign NDAs so they can never speak up. The people getting appointed or promoted aren’t the most qualified. They’re the ones willing to do anything for Trump. 

That’s not how you run a government. That’s how you run a mob. 

And that’s exactly the problem. The people around him aren’t there to inform him. They’re there to agree with him, because Trump is unwilling or unable to accept reality.

[Mallory McMorrow @MalloryMcMorrow]

Every morning, when I head outside to go to work, I look back and see my 5-year-old daughter Noa. Everything I do, I do for her.

And this week, we watched as the President of the United States hosted a UFC fight in front of the White House where the winning fighter spewed the vile lie that First Lady Michelle Obama is a man.

This is not the country I want my daughter to grow up in. There is so much on the line. And it’s up to all of us to fight the right fight.

[Marc E. Elias @marceelias]

These 19 election deniers and vote suppressors are on the ballot in the midterms. We should be worried. https://t.co/jeKqalcn8a

[Acyn @Acyn]

Talarico: I was required by law to report any indication there was abuse at home, and I would hope that the top law enforcement official in Texas would be held to the same standard as a middle school teacher. Ken Paxton had the opportunity to protect a child, but instead he protected a predator

[Elizabeth Warren @ewarren]

Instead of getting to work for the American people, Trump and his MAGA allies have been burning time and your tax dollars on this:

[Really American 🇺🇸 @ReallyAmerican1]

Former Fox News host Pete Hegseth’s crusade to purge women and people of color from our Armed Forces has never been subtle.

But today, a New York Times exposé revealed exactly how far he’s gone to dismantle the careers and achievements of our finest servicemen and women.

More than a dozen military insiders — both active duty and those already purged — spoke to the Times anonymously to unmask a horrific ongoing attack.

They detailed a process used by Hegseth and his team to halt senior officer advancements for reasons completely unrelated to merit, job performance, or fighting wars.

Hegseth’s efforts are part of a quest to advance his white-and-male centered worldview, facts, history, and actual service be damned.

In the absence of any such evidence, insiders confirmed that he has used his position to withhold promotions from qualified, decorated veterans. The Times cited several enraging examples:

• Last fall, Hegseth ordered Army Secretary Daniel P. Driscoll to remove two Black and two female officers from a 29-person promotion list. Driscoll repeatedly refused, citing their decades of exemplary service. In March, Hegseth bypassed him, removed their names, and sent the modified list to the White House.

• In total, Hegseth has removed 32 officers from Air Force and Navy one- and two-star promotion lists. He also pulled the only Black officer and the only female officer from a Marine Corps list, leaving their promotions in limbo.

• Vice Adm. Sara Joyner, a highly decorated three-star fighter pilot, saw her advancement stalled over a 2021 Navy recruiting ad where she said, "I’m not just a girl with a dream. I’m a sailor with one." Hegseth deemed the line a "big problem." Joyner has since retired.

• Rear Adm. Stephen D. Barnett was recommended for a promotion after successfully managing the aftermath of a massive Navy fuel spill in Hawaii. Hegseth blocked his advancement after Barnett participated in a Navy-sponsored Pride event back in 2018.

It is an outrage to watch a media personality whose greatest battles have been with hangovers intentionally harm the careers of people who risked everything to keep America safe. Hegseth’s actions are insult to all who have served and a risk to national security.

[Image: REUTERS/Stoyan Nenov]

[Ted Lieu @tedlieu]

Dear @WhiteHouse: If trump actually believes there are no limits to his power in the Iran conflict, why did he surrender to Iran at Versailles?

Asking for @SecRubio.

[The Lincoln Project @ProjectLincoln]

He broke every promise. Remember that in November.

[Mike Levin @MikeLevin]

ICE spent over $1 billion buying 11 warehouses to cage human beings. Now it’s quietly trying to sell or give away seven of them, more than $700 million gone, with not a single facility open and an inspector general investigation hanging over the whole mess.

This is the waste they swore they were elected to root out.

The fraud, the abuse, the blank check spent without a plan.

They bought industrial buildings at up to $145 million apiece, before renovations, with no environmental review, no community buy-in, and no real strategy for what came next. Even Republican officials told them to stop. Taxpayers are left holding the bill for warehouses that detained no one and accomplished nothing but fear.

It’s total hypocrisy.

An administration that lectured the country about efficiency lit $700 million on fire as part of Stephen Miller’s cruel fantasy of mass detention. Imagine what that money could have done for veterans waiting on housing, for families crushed by costs, for the working people they claim to serve.

I’m glad this plan is dying. It was inhumane from the first day, designed to warehouse people far from the rule of law and basic decency. But being glad it failed does not erase how it failed, recklessly and expensively. We must have full accountability for the officials who pushed it.

https://t.co/5nryYka2vq

[Robert Reich @RBReich]

After the Supreme Court first gutted the VRA in 2013, Black voter turnout decreased — especially in the South.

After the Supreme Court gutted it again this year, multiple Southern states have already begun trampling on Black voting power.

This is Chief Justice John Roberts’ legacy.

[Emoluments Clause @Emolclause]

#BREAKING: Lawrence: “In that video you just saw of Donald Trump playing games with the idea of maybe having JD Vance sign the document, the most incompetent Commerce Secretary in history, Howard Lutnick, was standing behind Donald Trump doing his usual Lutnick laugh, at every inane thing Donald Trump says, but the other person, the other person standing behind Donald Trump seemed to KNOW what he was watching. The grim face of future presidential candidate Marco Rubio NEVER broke into a smile. Marco Rubio possibly watching his presidential hopes DISAPPEAR right there…And so Donald Trump and Marco Rubio have spent years lying about the Obama deal with #Iran, and now they have proved two things: Just how strong the Obama deal was, and what complete and utter and relentlessly incompetent losers Marco Rubio and Donald Trump really are.” 😳

[Marc E. Elias @marceelias]

We are suing to prevent Donald Trump from controlling mail-in voting by dictating to the Postal Service of whose ballot they will and won't deliver. All of this is laddering up to Trump trying to dictate who gets to vote and who doesn't.