Tim McDougall

Founder @50PoundBoson. E-commerce for products. Into startups, media, & building things. And hoops. And indie music.

[Collins Watch @CollinsWatch]

Washington Post confirms @propublica.org's reporting that the FBI shuttered a pay-to-play investigation into Susan Collins after Trump took over last year. #MEpolitics

[Jack Hopkins @thejackhopkins]

"I said to Trump, you know, 4 days before the war started, if you do this, you know, the United States will be kicked out of the Gulf. The American Empire will begin to collapse. Your legacy will be destroyed along with your party. I said this to Trump to his face in the Oval Office days before the war began, and he looked at me and said, 'Yes, you're right. But in the end, we all die anyway, so it doesn't matter.' That's exactly what he said. 'In the end, we all die anyway.'"

Tucker Carlson, in an interview released yesterday with NPR

[Ron Filipkowski @RonFilipkowski]

L - Tom Emmer in 2024 on the House subpoenaing Hunter Biden.

R - Tom Emmer today on why the House shouldn’t investigate Don Jr: He’s a private citizen.

[ProPublica @propublica]

Sen. Susan Collins helped steer millions in federal defense contracts to Navatek, whose CEO illegally funneled thousands of dollars to her campaign.

The FBI sought to launch a probe and was eyeing Collins and other lawmakers.

Then Trump gutted the unit in charge. THREAD 🧵

[Seung Min Kim @seungminkim]

Sherrill v. Knight ruling from 1977: “Although the White House is not required to open its doors to the news media, once it establishes press facilities for credentialed journalists, it cannot deny access based on the content of a journalist’s coverage.” https://t.co/avxPYwQbQr

[Mike Levin @MikeLevin]

Here is the reality. We have the votes to impeach Pete Hegseth tomorrow.

Mike Johnson knows it, we know it.

So he’s sending us all home to avoid the vote. https://t.co/dbV9WX9B61

[60 Minutes @60Minutes]

In a hidden-camera operation, pardon brokers Jack Burkman and Jacob Wohl said that for $300,000, they could help a felon get a pardon from the president. They said their services included working with influencers to advocate for his case. https://t.co/sPGjgWxvus

[Acyn @Acyn]

Ossoff: While the world burns and you pay more for everything—your tax dollars become the royal family's wealth. Because it pays to be a Trump, especially when the whole world knows daddy's a crook

And while Pete Hegseth squanders our military power—his Pentagon funnels your money to the first family. Just listen to this.

Five days after his father was re-elected, Prince Don Junior becomes a partner at 1789 Capital, a venture firm founded by right-wing activists and Trump donors. 1789 Capital then buys a stake in Vulcan Elements, a tiny startup that says it plans to produce the high-tech magnets needed in drones, missiles, and satellites.

And about a month after Don Junior’s venture firm buys its stake in Vulcan Elements, Pentagon officials learned that Peter Navarro, a convicted criminal, Don Jr.’s close friend, and a top White House official, wants the Pentagon to give your tax dollars to Vulcan Elements.

One Pentagon official said, quote, “The call came from the White House. We have to get this done.”

To be clear, getting this done means funneling your money to the president’s son’s investment. And so, of course, like clockwork, on November 20th, just three months after Don Jr. and his friends bought their stake, Vulcan gets a $620 million taxpayer loan from Pete Hegseth’s Pentagon, paid for with your money.

[Anatoli Kopadze @AnatoliKopadze]

Ok this is starting to feel like a f*cking disaster.

The CEO of Anthropic just published an article admitting AI is already building the next generation of AI by itself.

He says within 6 to 12 months a rogue swarm could take over the entire internet and cause hundreds of billions of dollars in damage.

And what makes it scarier, Elon Musk just backed up everything Dario said.

All of this dropping just days after Jacob Coxon went viral with his warning about AI and the extinction of humanity.

Tell me this timing isn't strange.

[Joe Walsh @WalshFreedom]

A GOVERNMENT THAT SENDS ARMED, MASKED AGENTS INTO OUR STREETS AND LETS THEM ACT WITH IMPUNITY IS A FASCIST GOVERNMENT.

When those exercising state violence are shielded from independent investigation, accountability collapses. Families deserve answers. Agents deserve scrutiny. A badge must never become a license to kill.

That is why PAXIS exists and is funded entirely by donations: to independently elp people understand their rights when those entrusted to uphold them become the threat. Knowing your rights and documenting abuse help us fight back against a government that demands obedience while evading accountability.

Know your rights: https://t.co/du9bv2TwAq Record safely. Demand names, badges and independent investigations.

Help keep PAXIS free: https://t.co/Hi5Yo2MuXu

[Daniel Dale @ddale8]

In one speech tonight...

RFK Jr. falsely claimed Democrats canceled their 2024 convention and didn't let delegates vote on the nominee. There was a convention. Delegates voted for Harris.

RFK Jr. falsely claimed Democrats closed every single church in the US for a year during the pandemic. Some Dem-run states did not forbid religious gatherings, while some GOP-run states did at least briefly.

RFK Jr. falsely claimed Trump ended nine wars. It's not even true that Trump ended the eight he cites himself.

RFK Jr. baselessly claimed Democrats lost 360,000 kids. Not what happened.

RFK Jr. claimed the Trump administration has reversed a 30-year decline in longevity. Not clear what stat he's citing, but US life expectancy rose for years, dropped briefly during the pandemic, then started to rebound in 2022 under Biden before hitting a new record high in 2024 under Biden.

And that's just a smattering of the checkable claims, many of which I don't have time to check.

[Jacob Coxon @hilbertspaess]

I resigned from Anthropic today. I spent the last three years doing pretraining research at both OpenAI and Anthropic. Neither company is acting responsibly. They are racing straight to self-improving superintelligence and gambling with our lives. More thoughts below.

[Scott Dworkin @funder]

A trooper pulled over a work truck for tinted windows.

The passenger spoke Spanish, so they called someone to translate. Then they called ICE.

His pregnant wife was at home. So was his little girl.

Agents told him he'd go to prison if he kept saying he was an American citizen.

He is an American citizen. https://t.co/fb3rnIClHE

[Joe Walsh @WalshFreedom]

He’s lying. What an ugly, bigoted, dangerous, fear mongering lie.👇

[Jesus Freakin Congress @TheJFreakinC]

🚨BREAKING: ICE wrongfully deported a 25-year-old U.S. BORN citizen to Mexico… and he had to SUE the federal government to finally be allowed back into the United States.

Brian José Morales García repeatedly told authorities that he was born in Denver.

He told them he was an American citizen.

He told them he had a birth certificate, and Social Security number, at his home in Austin that he could provide.

And they deported him anyway.

According to his lawyers, the government deported Brian in April after a police stop near Fredericksburg. His citizenship was questioned, and ICE treated him as someone who had entered the country illegally.

Except he was born in the United States.

His lawyers later submitted additional evidence, including hospital records, witness affidavits, and a certified Colorado birth record confirming his citizenship.

And now, months after the government wrongfully deported him, Brian has finally been allowed to come home.

A U.S. citizen had to SUE the federal government, and produce an overwhelming amount of documentation, just to get back into the country he was born in.

And this is exactly why the argument that “if you’re a citizen, you have nothing to worry about,” is absolute bullshit.

Because what happens when the people with the guns and badges decide they don’t believe you?

What happens when saying, “I’m an American citizen…” isn’t enough?

What happens when you have to produce your birth certificate, your Social Security number, hospital records and witnesses… and even THAT doesn’t stop the government from deporting you?

So, when DHS say, “We won’t deport citizens.”

They already have. Brian is proof.

And the most terrifying part is that he was lucky enough to have lawyers who could fight like hell to get him back.

How many people don’t have that?

How many Americans could be detained, deported, or have their lives destroyed because an ICE agent decides they “look undocumented,” and didn’t believe them when they say they’re citizens?

That is why racial profiling is so dangerous, why due process matters, and why ICE agents violating constitutional rights puts everyone in danger.

And that is why giving federal agents more power, while demanding less accountability, is a dangerous combination.

Brian José Morales García was born in America… he told them he was an American...

They deported him anyway.

And months later, the government finally had to let him come home.

[Barchart @Barchart]

U.S. has just 41 days of crude oil inventory left, the lowest level in half a century 🤯 👀

[ProPublica @propublica]

ProPublica obtained 3,000 pages of emails sent last year by executives asking that their facilities be exempted from Clean Air Act requirements.

The White House approved more than 180 requests and is considering more.
https://t.co/YQUiwEYRoo

[Dittie @DittiePE]

An ICE agent scanned the wrong license plate, chased the wrong man, and ended up shooting Julio Sosa-Celis through his own front door. DHS’s first story: Sosa-Celis attacked agents with a broom and snow shovel. City surveillance video proved that was false — the whole struggle lasted about 12 seconds. DHS admitted its agents gave “untruthful” sworn testimony. Charges against Sosa-Celis were dropped with prejudice.

The agent, Christian Castro, is now charged with 4 counts of assault + falsely reporting a crime. He fled to Texas.

Greg Abbott is refusing to extradite him. Minnesota’s AG just sued Abbott to force it.

A Republican governor is actively shielding a federal agent from facing trial for shooting an innocent man and lying about it under oath.

Texas, you have a job to do in November. And then justice can finally be delivered.

[Jesus Freakin Congress @TheJFreakinC]

🚨BREAKING: An ICE/Border Patrol agent approached a U.S. citizen at a gas station, in Lake Worth, Florida, demanded his ID, and when the U.S. citizen asked why? …

The agent’s said, “Because you’re an immigrant.”

Except that is not how the Constitution works.

In the video, the U.S. citizen is standing at a gas station when an agent walks up and says, “Let me see your ID.”

The man asks a completely reasonable question, “Why?”

The agent responds, “Because you’re an immigrant.”

And before the man has even been identified, the agents grab his hands and puts him in handcuffs.

People standing around immediately start questioning what is happening…asking the agents how they can arrest someone when they haven’t even identified who he is…

But the agents ignore them and walk the man to their vehicle.

The Fourth Amendment protects people from unreasonable searches and seizures. The Supreme Court has held that roving Border Patrol agents need reasonable suspicion, based on specific circumstances, to stop someone and question them about immigration status. And apparent ethnicity, by itself, is not enough.

So, what was the actual legal basis for demanding this man show his ID?

Because if the answer is literally… “because you’re an immigrant,” that should piss off every American.

You should not have to prove you’re a U.S. citizen before the government decides it has the right to put you in handcuffs.

And this is just another reminder that constitutional rights don’t mean anything if federal agents can violate them, over and over again, with no accountability.

[Acyn @Acyn]

Ossoff: It’s been amazing to watch this White House melt down over this all week. And about Natalie Harp, these White House staffers are adults, public officials paid by the taxpayer, with immense power in positions of public trust. And whether it’s Natalie Harp printing out Donald Trump’s daily dose of delusion and flattery, or Peter Navarro steering taxpayer-funded loans to Trump family investments, or Pete Hegseth deluding the president daily into deepening this quagmire in the Middle East, no one cares about their feelings.

The sailors on the Lincoln are fighting his war, a war based on lies, while he plays with his new ballroom, flies around on a jet given to him by a foreign prince, and retreats into this circle of sycophantic aides who tell him every day what he wants to hear, not what he needs to hear.

This entire White House is responsible for lying the country into war, and for the rest of their careers, they will be known for having participated in this obscenity.