At 250, the American Dream Is Alive and Well

Author claims Melania Trump is trying a 'preposterous' new way to silence him

An author who has written four books about President Donald Trump claimed on Thursday that first lady Melania Trump has concocted a "preposterous" new way to try and silence him. Michael Wolff, co-host of the "Inside Trump's Head" podcast with Joanna Coles of The Daily Beast, said during a new episode that Melania Trump's legal team has moved to sanction the lawyers representing Wolff for bringing a frivolous lawsuit against her. A federal judge threw out Wolff's anti-SLAPP lawsuit against Melania Trump in May, which he filed after she threatened to bring a $1 billion lawsuit against Wolff for his claims about the Trump family's ties to disgraced financier and convicted sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein. “Essentially, they are moving to sanction my lawyers for doing nothing more than bringing the lawsuit against Melania Trump,” Wolff said on the podcast. “So this is preposterous on its face.”Wolff also claimed that he found out about the move from Boris Epshteyn, a lawyer close to the Trumps, whom Donald Trump has described as someone who will "say anything" to make him happy. He claimed that hearing about the move from Epshteyn revealed that the strategy behind the lawsuit “was being coordinated at the highest levels of Trump law.”

Trump's 'well unified' party isn't so unified —and it's costing the GOP everything

President Donald Trump likes to boast that he has a “well unified” Republican Party, and even that he is so influential he rather than Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) is the true Speaker of the House of Representatives. Yet according to a respected political analyst, the evidence is that neither Trump nor Johnson can keep the 218 Republicans in sufficient line to get anything done against the 212 Democrats who oppose them.“GOP leaders intended to focus this week on advancing an annual must-pass defense policy bill, called the National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, and a key spending bill that funds the State Department, among other things,” reported MS NOW’s Steve Benen on Wednesday. “More than a dozen House Republicans, however, decided they didn’t care for that plan, with some arguing the chamber should do nothing but focus on Trump’s voter-suppression proposal, which the White House has labeled the SAVE America Act, as others pointed to party leaders’ promise of a vote on an anti-immigration bill before the July 4 recess.”He added, “The House speaker tried to legislate anyway, hoping enough of his members would stick together and follow his lead. That didn’t go well: 13 GOP members revolted and voted with Democrats on a key procedural vote, making Johnson look weak and leaving him with little choice but to start the chamber’s holiday break early.”Johnson has gone out of his way to support Trump whenever possible, from vowing to keep Republicans in control of the House so Trump will not face investigations from Democrats to soothing his rage at losing in the Supreme Court’s birthright citizenship case by suggesting a Constitutional amendment to get around that problem. Yet he was unable to actually accomplish anything in the lead-up to the July 4th holiday season.“For his part, Trump has made at least tacit efforts to curb these GOP rebellions, declaring by way of his social media platform last week, ‘House Republicans should unify, and stop voting down ‘Rules’ or, threatening to do so. … No more grandstanding, please!’” Benen reported. “The trouble is, the far-right members ignoring the speaker’s wishes (and the president’s rhetorical sops) are doing so in order to do the president’s bidding and champion his legislative priority.”He concluded, “But the underlying problem is the unavoidable fact that Johnson is simply too weak to legislate with such a small majority. Bipartisan majorities have already gone around him with more successful discharge petitions than anyone has seen in generations, and the Louisiana Republican’s latest failures this week reinforce perceptions that he just isn’t in control of the House floor he ostensibly leads.”

Wall Street Journal: Trump family ‘cashing in on the presidency in big and sketchy ways’

The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board published a Wednesday op-ed slamming President Trump and his family for “cashing in on the presidency” after his financial disclosures showed the president brought in $2 billion last year alone.  Trump’s crypto venture, effectively managed by the Trump Organization, reaped in more than $526.8 million in proceeds from tokens…

A simple way to cure America’s self-inflicted infrastructure paralysis

Today, building the infrastructure necessary to maintain America’s prosperity often requires navigating a maze of permits, lawsuits, and regulatory delays. The power to block has systematically triumphed over the freedom to build. Yet our infrastructure paralysis is self-inflicted. Whether it is a natural gas pipeline, a transmission line, or mines for the building blocks of […]

About 2,000 U.S. troops supporting relief efforts after Venezuela earthquakes

Almost 60,000 buildings may have been damaged or destroyed in Venezuela after two powerful earthquakes last week, according to a NASA satellite assessment.

Three ways to fix the US supreme court, with Elie Mystal - Stateside with Kai and Carter

This term, the US supreme court handed down decisions on issues ranging from voting rights to immigration and birthright citizenship, reshaping life for millions of people. Kai Wright speaks with Elie Mystal, justice correspondent for the Nation, about how the court got all its power in the first place, and why Mystal thinks court reforms to reign in that power aren’t just constitutional – they’re necessary. Continue reading...

Rep. Castro says ICE sought to deport families to Venezuela after earthquakes

Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) on Wednesday accused Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) of trying to deport children and families to Venezuela despite the country grappling with a massive humanitarian catastrophe following record-breaking earthquakes last week. Castro, in a post on Facebook, warned that the children and families continue to face deportation “at any time” despite…