Gavin Newsom Rules by Pose, Punishment, and PR

Donald Trump’s damning five-word verdict on California’s elections — as Gavin Newsom bites back

Gavin Newsom fired back at Donald Trump after the president dismissed California’s election system.

Could Graham Platner Become the Next Kamala Harris Through This Weird Rule?

Fox's Bartiromo mocked by both sides for getting Kennedy Center case wrong: 'Full-time PR'

Fox's Maria Bartiromo drew ridicule from journalists and conservatives alike after posting a lengthy defense of Donald Trump's Kennedy Center name change that got the basic legal facts wrong — and appeared to pass along opposition research from Laura Loomer targeting the judge's wife.Bartiromo claimed the Kennedy Center board had already approved adding Trump's name to the building and accused the judge who ordered it removed of being part of a "Get Trump" conspiracy. "The way these judges go after Donald Trump is absolutely sick and the history books will reveal how sick and un-American they are," she wrote, before pivoting to information she attributed to Loomer about Judge Christopher Cooper's wife, attorney Dorothy Ames Jeffress, claiming Jeffress had previously represented Lisa Page and Nancy Pelosi.Paul Farhi, the former Washington Post media reporter, cut straight to the problem. "Except the board doesn't have the authority to change the name," he wrote. "Congress made that clear in enacting the law establishing the KenCen. Which is exactly what the judge ruled yesterday."Farhi wasn't alone. Pradheep Shanker, a radiologist and conservative commentator, sided with the court. "Only Congressional action can change the name," he wrote. "Trump is wrong and the Judge is right about the law."Gregg Nunziata, a former Republican Senate Judiciary counsel, offered two words in response to Bartiromo's post: "Noted journalist."John Harwood, the former CNN and NBC correspondent, simply replied with a 🤪 emoji.Carla Marinucci, a veteran political journalist, was the most direct. "Used to be a journalist," she wrote. "Now full-time PR."

Fury spurred by Trump's call for 'charges' against judge who ruled against him

Donald Trump escalated his attacks on the federal judiciary this week, calling for a judge who ruled against him to face criminal charges and attacking the judge's wife in the process, prompting condemnation from legal observers and journalists who called the posts the work of "a lunatic."Trump targeted Judge Cooper after a ruling that ordered Trump's name removed from the Kennedy Center, lashing out in a lengthy Truth Social rant that also included a declaration that he now has "no interest" in renovating the historic venue."Trump eventually says Judge Cooper 'should be brought up on charges,'" legal journalist Roger Parloff wrote on X, adding a note of dark humor: "Hopefully Todd Blanche won't scroll down far enough to see it." Parloff noted Trump's stated justification was that the judge's wife had worked as an attorney on cases Trump disapproves of.Independent journalist Aaron Rupar was less measured. "Folks, these are the rantings of a crazy person," he wrote. "Note how Trump resorts to attacking the wives of men he doesn't like. The president is a lunatic."Craig Caplan, a producer for C-SPAN, added important context about the judge Trump was targeting: Cooper was nominated by President Obama and confirmed unanimously by the Senate 100-0 in 2014.Trump's attacks on judges and their families have drawn repeated criticism from legal experts who argue the conduct is designed to intimidate the judiciary and undermine public confidence in the courts. The American Bar Association and several judicial watchdog organizations have previously flagged Trump's attacks on judges as threats to judicial independence.The Kennedy Center dispute is one of several ongoing legal battles in which Trump has publicly attacked presiding judges after unfavorable rulings.Hopefully Todd Blanche won't scroll down far enough to see it, but Trump eventually says Judge Cooper "should be brought up on charges. " (Mainly because his wife worked as an attorney on some cases Trump doesn't approve of.) https://t.co/hDGWramFYt— Roger Parloff (@rparloff) May 30, 2026

Judge's ruling could unravel Trump's biggest legal victory yet

I can’t overstate the importance of Judge Kathleen Williams’s decision on Friday to reopen Trump’s $10 billion case against the I.R.S. She said she wants to investigate “grievous allegations” that the hasty deal to resolve it was “premised on deception,” and she ordered Trump’s lawyers to tell her by June 12 whether the lawsuit should be formally reopened because “the court was the victim of a fraud.”The “deception” and “fraud” Judge Williams refers to were allegedly carried out by Trump and his Justice Department.This is a big deal. Judge Williams’s decision came in response to court papers filed on Wednesday by a bipartisan group of 35 former federal judges who urged her to revive the case and dig into the details of the agreement to settle it. The judges’ brief is also a big deal. They call it a motion for relief from judgement or order or, alternatively, “leave to appear as amici curiae by thirty-five former federal judges.” I don’t recall a similar instance of 35 former federal judges filing such a motion or amicus (friend of the court) brief. In it, the judges argue that the parties’ — Trump and the Justice Department’s — so-called “settlement” agreement was made to circumvent the court ‘s possible finding that the case presented no actual controversy, since Trump is on both sides of it. This, they conclude, constitutes a fraud on the Court.Let me quote the remarkable brief filed by the 35 former federal judges: “The parties have used this lawsuit—which was never an adversarial proceeding over which the Court even had jurisdiction—as a means to allow a “commission” controlled by the President to dole out $1.776 billion in taxpayer dollars without constitutional or congressional authority to do so, and to confer unlawful private benefits to the President and his family by purportedly prohibiting the United States from prosecuting any and all claims against them. And the parties have plainly tried to shield this conduct from necessary judicial scrutiny by short-circuiting this Court’s inquiry into whether the lawsuit is in fact an actual case or controversy by [seeking to dismiss the case] before they announced the “settlement”—clearly in hopes of preventing the Court from ever completing that inquiry, which, if it comes out against the parties, will undo their collusive “settlement.” ….Accordingly, because “[t]he parties’ ‘collusive’ activity perpetrated a fraud on the judicial machinery itself, by fostering an appearance that the litigation involved adverse parties, when, in fact, it did not,” the Court should void its prior dismissal and reopen the case to assess in due course whether a fraud occurred.”In her order on Friday, Judge Williams said she wanted to investigate the circumstances surrounding Trump’s efforts to settle the lawsuit in a way that benefited him and his allies.She added that a federal court rule requires attorneys to ensure that court filings are “not presented for any improper purpose” and that “a party’s decision to file a frivolous lawsuit for the sole purpose of forcing a settlement may qualify as such an improper purpose.”She also noted that the settlement appeared to run afoul of Department of Justice policies that require any settlements to be “specifically limited to the immediate subject matter of the claim.” Finally, Judge Williams pointed out that a settlement addendum that waives all tax claims the U.S. may currently have against Trump, his two eldest sons, and his businesses and trusts was signed only by Todd Blanche, the acting Attorney General. This could result in questions being asked of Blanche. Ultimately, it could result in his debarment or even imprisonment. Recall that Nixon’s Attorney General, John Mitchell, was convicted of conspiracy, perjury, and obstruction of justice for his role in the Watergate break-in and cover-up. He served 19 months of a two-and-a-half to eight-year sentence in federal prison before being paroled. He was the first Attorney General in United States history to be incarcerated.Let me just say that there are forces in this country — specifically, Judge Kathleen Williams and the bipartisan group of 35 former federal judges — bent on preventing Trump from exercising authoritarian power. In so doing, they’re displaying extraordinary courage and commitment to democracy and the rule of law. They are in effect representing all of us — our system of justice. We owe them a great debt of gratitude. (I’m awarding them this week’s Joseph N. Welsh Award for Courage in the Face of Tyranny.)Robert Reich is a professor at Berkeley and was secretary of labor under Bill Clinton. You can find his writing at https://robertreich.substack.com/.

Spencer Pratt blasts Karen Bass and Gavin Newsom as ‘alleged criminal partners’ complicit in 12 deaths from Palisades fire

Mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt tore into Gov. Newsom and Mayor Bass over their handling of the wildfires and homelessness.

Californians reveal how they really feel about Gavin Newsom in latest poll

Gov. Gavin Newsom has mixed reviews from primary voters, according to a new California Post-McLaughlin Associates poll.

Trump decries ‘rigged’ court system after Kennedy Center, tariff rulings

President Trump described the U.S. court system as “rigged” on Saturday in the wake of recent decisions blocking a cornerstone of his economic policy agenda and the addition of his name to the renowned Kennedy Center. Trump, in a in a lengthy post on Truth Social, claimed, “…our Court System is RIGGED, no different than…