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dan goldman
'Stuttering Speechlessness' by Jim Cramer Seen as Telling Reaction to Suspicious Trump Stock Trading
"Cramer here is having what should be the normal reaction to Trump actively insider trading on his own decisions," said journalist Ryan Grim.
May 18, 2026
One of Wall Street's most recognizable gurus, Jim Cramer, became notably tongue-tied on Monday after President Donald Trump’s recent stock-trading spree entered into a televised conversation with his colleagues on CNBC.
Disclosures published by the US Office of Government Ethics last week revealed that Trump in the first quarter of 2026 carried out over 3,700 stock transactions, including over 30 stock purchases worth $1 million or more.
As noted by The Financial Times, Trump's investments included transactions involving Tesla, Nvidia, Apple, Meta, Visa, Citi, Boeing, Qualcomm, and GE Aerospace, whose executives all accompanied the president on his trip to China last week.
When CNBC co-host Carl Quintanilla brought up these trades during Monday's edition of "Squawk on the Street," Cramer spent ten straight seconds mumbling incoherently.
This promoted co-host David Faber to reassure viewers that "we're not having technical difficulties here," even as Cramer appeared to short circuit.
OMFG the CNBC anchors were puffing up the value of chipmaker Intel, they brought up Trump doing personal trades in the stock, and Jim Cramer stuttered for 15 seconds straight and then was quiet.
Was Cramer shocked by the corruption or mad Trump was picking better stocks? pic.twitter.com/oCl3ypNids
— Matt Stoller (@matthewstoller) May 18, 2026
Journalist Ryan Grim said that Cramer's reaction to mention of Trump's trades was understandable given that some of the companies whose stocks he traded have been direct beneficiaries of the president's illegal war with Iran and other policies.
"Cramer here is having what should be the normal reaction to Trump actively insider trading on his own decisions," remarked Grim. "Just sputtering speechlessness."
Journalist Judd Legum on Monday published an analysis of the Trump stock trades in which he identified multiple instances where the president purchased stocks of companies shortly before—or in some cases, on the exact same day—that he publicly singled them out for praise.
Specifically, Legum found that Trump bought tens of thousands of dollars' worth of shares in biotech firm Thermo Fisher Scientific on the same day he took a tour of one of its manufacturing facilities, and hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of shares in Apple on the same day he delivered a speech calling it "a great company," while saying then-CEO Tim Cook has "done a good job."
Trump also bought up shares in Micron Technology and then described it as "one of the hottest companies" during an interview with Fox News just one day later.
And nine days after buying millions of dollars' worth of shares in Dell, Trump delivered a speech in Georgia where he told his audience to "go out and buy a Dell computer."
In analyzing the trades, Legum explained how Trump has destroyed any remaining guardrails preventing US presidents from using their office to personally enrich themsleves.
"If Trump wanted to legally remove himself from investment decisions he could do so by creating a qualified blind trust," Legum wrote. "Instead, before returning to the White House, Trump transferred his assets in a trust that is managed by his son, Donald Trump Jr. There are no legal or practical barriers preventing Trump from being involved in the management of his assets."
Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) warned Trump that details of his assorted stock trades would eventually come to light.
"This smells like blatant and criminal insider trading," Goldman wrote in a social media post. "Even worse, Trump is personally profiting off of his illegal deportation dragnet. Since we know congressional Republicans will pretend like they never saw this and won’t do a thing, anyone involved in these trades should preserve their records for my investigation in January 2027."
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Jewish Group Backs Lander Over Rep. Goldman, Citing Support for Bill to Block Bombs to Israel
Jews for Racial and Economic Justice lauded Lander's "long record as a progressive champion and his commitment to ending US complicity in the genocide in Gaza."
Feb 10, 2026
A leading progressive US Jewish group on Tuesday endorsed former New York City Comptroller Brad Lander for Congress over incumbent Democratic Rep. Dan Goldman, citing the former's support for a bill that would block the sale of many offensive weapons to Israel amid the ongoing Gaza genocide.
Jews for Racial and Economic Justice (JFREJ) said in a statement that it is endorsing Lander for New York's 10th Congressional District seat in June's Democratic primary due to "his long record as a progressive champion and his commitment to ending US complicity in the genocide in Gaza."
JFREJ specifically cited Lander's recent endorsement of the HR 3565, the Block the Bombs Act, legislation introduced last year by Reps. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.), Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.), Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), and Mark Pocan (D-Wis.).
The Jewish Vote proudly endorses @bradlander.bsky.social for U.S. Congress in NY10! He’s been a member of JFREJ for decades & we know Brad will bring this courage to Congress, where he’ll join the fight against fascism, oligarchy, and genocide.
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— Jews For Racial & Economic Justice Action (@jfrejnyc.bsky.social) February 10, 2026 at 6:42 AM
Backed by the Congressional Progressive Caucus, the bill would prohibit the sale of weapons like BLU-109 “bunker buster” bombs, MK-80 series bombs, Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMs), 120 mm tank rounds, and 155 mm artillery shells to Israel, whose 28-month assault and siege on Gaza have left more than 250,000 Palestinians dead, wounded, or missing, according to Gaza officials.
Goldman does not support the bill. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) was by far the largest single contributor to his campaign coffers during the last election cycle and, along with other pro-Israel lobby groups, has given nearly half a million dollars to his campaigns, according to AIPAC Tracker. There is no record of Lander ever taking AIPAC cash.
Billions of dollars worth of US-supplied weapons have played a critical role in Israel’s war and have been used in some of the deadliest Israel Defense Forces massacres of Palestinians.
United Nations experts, human rights groups, and others including the numerous nations backing South Africa's genocide case against Israel currently before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) contend that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.
Lander acknowledges the Gaza genocide. Goldman does not. Goldman was also one of 22 House Democrats who voted in favor of a Republican-led resolution to censure Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), the only Palestinian American in Congress, for supporting Palestinian liberation "from the river to the sea."
Goldman told the New York Times last month that had the vote come up more recently, he "would look at it a very different way, and most likely vote differently."
Lander has said he would not have voted to censure Tlaib had he been serving in the House at the time of the vote.
“Brad Lander has been a progressive champion for years, and we are thrilled to endorse him for Congress representing NY-10,” said JFREJ executive director Audrey Sasson said Tuesday. “NY-10 constituents’ calls to end US complicity in Israel’s genocidal assault on Gaza have gone unanswered for so long."
"The district deserves a representative who will use the tools of government to fight the war machine, abolish ICE, and work to ensure a better future for all of us," Sasson added, referring to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement. "Brad Lander will be that representative, because he understands that the purpose of government is to serve the people, and he’s a public servant through and through."
Responding to the JFREJ endorsement, Lander said Tuesday that “I’ve been organizing with Jews for Racial and Economic Justice for three decades—and there’s never been a more urgent time than now."
"To fight the fascist in the White House," he added. "To end US complicity in Israel’s destruction of Gaza. To promote domestic and foreign policy that advances people’s rights, safety, and dignity here in New York City, around the country, in Israel and Palestine, and across the globe.”
Israeli forces are still killing Palestinians to this day, with more than 1,600 violations of an October ceasefire, according to the Gaza Government Media Office.
"While the world’s attention has turned away, Israel’s bombs are still falling, paid for by US taxpayers," Lander wrote for the Nation Tuesday. "Hunger persists, as aid only trickles in."
“When I am elected to Congress," he added, "I will support the Block the Bombs Act to protect more Palestinians from being killed by Israel.”
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'Relentless Fighter for Working People': Mamdani, Sanders Back Lander Bid for US House
"I’m running for Congress because we need leaders who will fight, not fold," said Brad Lander, who is aiming to unseat Democratic Rep. Dan Goldman.
Dec 10, 2025
Outgoing New York City Comptroller Brad Lander announced Wednesday that he is running to unseat Democratic US Rep. Dan Goldman, a primary bid launched with the support of New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani and the nation's most prominent progressive lawmaker, Sen. Bernie Sanders.
"I’m running for Congress because we need leaders who will fight, not fold," Lander wrote in a social media post announcing his run to represent New York's 10th Congressional District.
Lander's campaign launch comes after a closely watched mayoral race in which he and Mamdani endorsed each other during the primary process—a strategic alliance aimed at ensuring the defeat of former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo under the city's ranked-choice voting system.
Goldman, who was elected to Congress in 2023, did not endorse Mamdani after he prevailed in the mayoral primary.
In a statement on Wednesday, Mamdani said that "Brad’s unwavering principles, deep knowledge, and sincere empathy are what make him a true leader."
"He has been a trusted ally and partner of mine," the mayor-elect added, "and I’m proud to support him as I know he’ll continue delivering for those who need government to show up for them the most."
"He and Zohran Mamdani proved that when ordinary people stand united, we can take on the billionaire class, and we can defeat corporate-dominated politics."
Sanders, a key early backer of Mamdani's bid to lead New York City, joined the mayor-elect in endorsing Lander, calling him a "relentless fighter for working people."
"He’s spent the past two decades taking on big corporations, winning better wages and fair working conditions for New Yorkers, including major victories for fast food workers, delivery workers, and tenants," the senator said. "During the recent mayoral election, he and Zohran Mamdani proved that when ordinary people stand united, we can take on the billionaire class, and we can defeat corporate-dominated politics."
"Brad Lander is a public servant who will bring a much-needed voice to Congress," Sanders continued. "He will deliver for the people of New York and all working-class Americans. I am proud to endorse him."
Lander also secured the day-one support of US Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, and the New York Working Families Party (NYWFP).
“We know that as congressman, Brad Lander will continue to lead the fights to protect immigrants, to stand up for workers, and to make New York a place where working families can afford to live and thrive," said Ana María Archila and Jasmine Gripper, co-directors of NYWFP. "And most of all, we know he will continue to build a movement strong enough to defeat Donald Trump and the forces of authoritarianism by practicing a kind of politics that makes a true, multi-racial democracy possible."
"These are uncharted times—and we know Brad Lander has what it takes to represent NYers in Washington," they added. "We are all in and ready to win!"
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ICE Agent Filmed Throwing Asylum-Seeker to Ground at NYC Court in 'Egregious Act of Excessive Force'
"Over [in Ecuador], they beat us there too," said Monica Moreta-Galarza. "I didn’t think I’d come here to the United States and the same thing would happen to me."
Sep 26, 2025
In the latest display of brutality by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a video that has gone viral on social media shows a plainclothes ICE agent hurling an Ecuadorian asylum-seeker, Monica Moreta-Galarza, to the ground at an immigration courthouse in New York City following the arrest of her husband in front of their two children.
According to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the agent has been relieved of his duties while his conduct is investigated.
The incident was captured by multiple reporters on the scene Thursday. A video posted by Elaad Eliahu of the conservative Timcast News network shows Moreta-Galarza's husband—who had appeared for a court hearing with his family as part of their legal application for asylum—being wrestled away from his family by several masked agents as he attempts to cling to them. After ripping him away, three agents are shown dragging him out the door.
In another video, Moreta-Galarza is seen tearfully pleading in Spanish with one of the ICE agents, who is wearing a blue flannel shirt, a baseball cap, and no mask. He is shown repeatedly shouting "adios" at her, telling her to leave. When she moves toward him, he quickly grabs her and flings her across the room, through a crowd of photographers, and into the opposite wall. He then grabs her again and pushes her to the ground.
After she rises to her feet, the agent shoves Moreta-Galarza into the arms of security guards who escort her from the building.
Though Eliahu's post described the man arrested as an "illegal alien," ProPublica's Till Eckert, who was at the scene and spoke with Moreta-Galarza after the fact, reported that she "was seeking asylum with her family," which is legal under US law.
The incident occurred at 26 Federal Plaza, a federal building that houses an immigration courthouse and a makeshift detention facility in which migrants have been shown to be living in wretched conditions recently. Last week, over 70 demonstrators, including several state lawmakers, were arrested during a protest at the facility.
"For the past two weeks, I’ve been going to the same New York City immigration courthouse," Eckert said. "Nearly every time, I see ICE agents arresting immigrants. Today, a woman was slammed to the ground after begging officials not to take her husband away."
Eckert reported that Moreta-Galarza's injuries from the encounter required her to go to the hospital, where she has since been discharged.
The arrest is part of an increasing trend under the second Trump administration of immigrants being detained, often violently, while attempting to follow the legal process by appearing in court for immigration hearings.
As Stateline reported in August, ICE has increasingly been using a new, "unexpected legal tactic" to lure immigrants: "Rather than pursue a deportation case, it is convincing judges to dismiss immigrants’ cases—thus depriving the immigrants of protection from arrest and detention—then taking them into custody." While some are undocumented entrants, many of those snatched up in these courthouse arrests are legal applicants for asylum.
Eckert explained that "these sorts of actions were outside the norm historically for ICE agents."
"Yet under Trump’s second term, immigration courts have shifted from being seen as relatively safe venues into places where immigrants face the risk of surveillance, arrest, and sometimes even violence," he said.
While the Trump administration often describes those arrested by ICE as "the worst of the worst," immigration data as of September 7 showed just over 70% of those currently detained have no criminal convictions. On Friday, The Guardian reported that a plurality of people currently in ICE custody have not even been charged with crimes.
Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) said that Moreta-Galarza "fled to my office for safety after she was assaulted by this [ICE] agent in an egregious act of excessive force."
In a recorded interview after the incident, Goldman said his office would "continue to follow this particular story because it is just one example of too many where we have these secret police officers who are attacking our communities with excessive violence, excessive force, and they just think that they can do it with impunity because nobody is holding them accountable."
Social media users later identified another video outside the same court in August, which appeared to show the same ICE agent forcibly prying a crying young girl away from her father as he is arrested and his family watched in tears.
In a statement provided to CBS News on Friday, Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for DHS, called the agent's conduct toward Moreta-Galarza "unacceptable."
"Our ICE law enforcement are held to the highest professional standards and this officer is being relieved of current duties as we conduct a full investigation," she said.
New York City comptroller Brad Lander, who has been arrested twice at the facility—once in June while escorting an immigrant out of his court hearing and again last week while protesting the facility—expressed outrage at the treatment of Moreta-Galarza and her family.
"An ICE agent violently threw this bereft woman to the ground in front of her kids. She had not touched him. She did not pose any threat. She had to be taken to the hospital," Lander said. "Seconds earlier, her husband had been abducted by masked ICE agents who did not identify themselves, did not present a warrant, did not give any lawful grounds for his detention."
"Every day, masked ICE agents are acting violently against our neighbors, illegally abducting them, holding them in cruel and inhumane conditions. Treating them as less-than-human and not deserving due process," Lander continued. "We will not stop bearing witness, stop condemning them, or stop doing all we can to stand up to this lawless behavior."
Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee for mayor of New York, called the agent's behavior "sickening," and said, "the fact that Mayor [Eric] Adams has rolled out the red carpet for ICE is a stain on our city."
After being discharged from the hospital, Moreta-Galarza spoke about her experience to reporters.
"Over [in Ecuador], they beat us there too," she said in Spanish. "I didn’t think I’d come here to the United States and the same thing would happen to me."
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Trump Gets Testy With Reporter Over Epstein Case as House Dems Demand Answers From DOJ
"Stop protecting your boss... publicly release all documents in the Epstein files that mention or reference Donald Trump," wrote House Democrats to Attorney General Pam Bondi.
Jul 08, 2025
President Donald Trump responded heatedly to a White House reporter on Tuesday after they asked Attorney General Pam Bondi questions about the late billionaire sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
During a cabinet meeting, Bondi was asked if she had any information about whether Epstein was an asset who had been used by American intelligence agencies to compromise powerful people.
Bondi began to respond to the question but Trump quickly interrupted.
"Are you still talking about Jeffrey Epstein?" the president demanded to know. "This guy's been talked about for years! We have Texas, we have this, we have all of the things, and are people still talking about this guy, this creep? That is unbelievable... I mean, I can't believe that you're asking a question about Epstein at a time like this where we're having some of the greatest success and also tragedy with what happened in Texas. It just seems like a desecration."
Trump: Are you still talking about Epstein?!? This guy has been talked about for years. Are people still talking about this creep? I can’t believe you’re asking a question about Epstein… pic.twitter.com/cYRuR1XHwr
— Acyn (@Acyn) July 8, 2025
Epstein, whose 2019 death while in prison was ruled a suicide, cultivated relationships with several high-profile public figures, including former President Bill Clinton, former Harvard Law School professor Alan Dershowitz, the Duke of York Prince Andrew, and Trump himself.
It had long been rumored that Epstein had a "client" list of powerful men to whom he had trafficked underaged girls and that he'd kept videos of their encounters to be used as blackmail material. However, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) this week asserted that there was never an Epstein client list, that there was "no credible evidence... that Epstein blackmailed prominent individuals," and that there was no evidence that "could predicate an investigation against uncharged third parties."
The DOJ and FBI's new report on Epstein caused a political firestorm that upset even some of Trump's right-wing media allies such as conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, and now The Guardian is reporting that Democrats in the House of Representatives are also demanding answers.
Specifically, The Guardian writes that House Judiciary Committee ranking member Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) and 15 other House Democrats have sent a letter to Bondi demanding that the DOJ hand over information from the Epstein case files related to the president.
"Stop protecting your boss and former client... publicly release all documents in the Epstein files that mention or reference Donald Trump,” the Democrats wrote.
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Lawsuit Aims to End 'Systematic' Snatching of Brown-Skinned People by Trump Agents
"These guys are popping up, rampant all over the city, just taking people randomly, and we want that particular practice to end," one attorney in the case said of Department of Homeland Security agents.
Jul 02, 2025
Immigrant rights defenders in California on Wednesday sued the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, accusing the Trump administration of "abducting and disappearing community members using unlawful stop and arrest practices and confining individuals at a federal building in illegal conditions while denying them access to attorneys" as part of its mass deportation effort.
The lawsuit was brought by five individual workers, three advocacy groups, and a legal services provider: The Los Angeles Worker Center Network, United Farm Workers (UFW), the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA), and Immigrant Defenders Law Center. Their complaint accuses DHS of unconstitutionally arresting and detaining people, according to the ACLU, which is assisting with the legal challenge, "in order to meet arbitrary arrest quotas set by the Trump administration."
According to the complaint:
The raids in this district follow a common, systematic pattern. Individuals with brown skin are approached or pulled aside by unidentified federal agents, suddenly and with a show of force, and made to answer questions about who they are and where they are from. If they hesitate, attempt to leave, or do not answer the questions to the satisfaction of the agents, they are detained, sometimes tackled, handcuffed, and/or taken into custody. In these interactions, agents typically have no prior information about the individual and no warrant of any kind. If agents make an arrest, contrary to federal law, they do not make any determination of whether a person poses a risk of flight before a warrant can be obtained. Also contrary to federal law, the agents do not identify themselves or explain why the individual is being arrested.
"DHS—at explicit direction from the Trump administration—has gone after day laborers, car wash workers, farm workers, street vendors, service workers, nannies, and others who form the lifeblood of communities across Southern California," said ACLU Foundation of Southern California senior staff attorney Mohammad Tajsar, who is representing plaintiffs in the case. "Everyone deserves to feel safe going about their daily lives. DHS must stop disappearing people from our communities."
Tajsar told the Los Angeles Times that "these guys are popping up, rampant all over the city, just taking people randomly, and we want that particular practice to end."
Alvaro M. Huerta, director of litigation and advocacy at Immigrant Defenders Law Center and a plaintiff's attorney in the suit, said in a statement that "the federal government is waging a campaign of terror across Southern California, abducting community members off the streets and warehousing them in deplorable conditions away from their loved ones, all while denying them access to legal counsel."
"It's blatantly unconstitutional, cruelly inhumane, and a violation of any common decency," Huerta added. "If the Trump administration insists on trampling Angelenos' rights, we'll see them in court."
Plaintiffs in the case—who are seeking to represent people subjected to random stops and arrests—are asking the court to certify the case as a class action. They have also requested preliminary and permanent injunctions barring further violations of constitutional protections against unreasonable searches and seizures and self-incrimination, as enshrined in the Fourth and Fifth Amendments, respectively.
As the lawsuit notes, "one of the clearest patterns that have emerged in the raids in Southern California... has been stops and interrogations... on the basis of apparent race and ethnicity."
"These raids have targeted the most vulnerable members of our workforce, essential workers who are the backbone of our local economy," said Los Angeles Worker Center Network executive director Armando Gudino. "We cannot allow racial profiling, warrantless arrests, and denial of due process to become the standard operating procedure in our communities."
DHS has been holding arrested people in the basement of a federal building in downtown Los Angeles commonly referred to as B-18. The lockup has no beds, showers, or medical facilities, according to the ACLU of Southern California. Furthermore, B-18 is meant to hold only a small number of people on a temporary basis while they are processed.
"We have heard from over 100 families of Individuals taken to B-18 and other detention centers that attest to their loved ones being kept in overcrowded, cold, and inhumane conditions," said CHIRLA executive director Angelica Salas. "They are held in small windowless rooms with dozens or more other detainees, in extremely cramped quarters while being verbally humiliated and pressured into signing papers they don't understand."
The ACLU of Southern California said: "The ongoing raids have led to the disappearance of more than 1,500 people. The suit details how federal agents consistently refuse to identify themselves or what agency they are with when asked, using anonymity as a tactic to shield lawlessness."
UFW president Teresa Romero noted in a statement that "the raids in the greater Los Angeles area have not been limited to the urban center; we have also seen horrific instances of Border Patrol agents chasing down farm workers in the fields of Ventura County. The spouse of a UFW member was among those unjustly detained."
"Now the very workers who feed America go to work in fear," she added. "Their American-born children are scared not knowing if their parents will come home. Farm workers deserve better. We've seen these unconstitutional and un-American tactics before, with Border Patrol targeting random farm workers and anyone with brown skin in Kern County during their large sweep in January. We sued then and we are suing now."
While U.S. President Donald Trump, members of his administration, and Republican lawmakers and supporters claim the DHS crackdown is targeting dangerous criminals, critics have noted that people legally seeking asylum, families, relatives of American citizens, and even citizens themselves have been swept up in the mass deportation dragnet.
According to the libertarian Cato Institute, 65% of people taken by ICE had no criminal conviction whatsoever and 93% had no conviction for violent offenses.
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'No Secret Police Act': Democratic Bill Would Ban Trump's Masked Federal Agents
"If you uphold the peace of a democratic society, you should not be anonymous," said Rep. Adriano Espaillat.
Jun 26, 2025
From the abductions of foreign students Rümeysa Öztürk and Mahmoud Khalil to the violent accosting of New York City Comptroller Brad Lander as he was trying to shield an immigrant from arrest at a courthouse, the images have become familiar to many Americans: masked federal agents descending on communities across the U.S. and arresting citizens and immigrants alike.
Two Democratic lawmakers on Thursday demanded an end to the Trump administration's use of "secret police," introducing legislation that would require all law enforcement officers and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agents—including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)—to clearly display identification and their official badges when detaining or arresting people.
"If you uphold the peace of a democratic society, you should not be anonymous," said U.S. Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.). "DHS and ICE agents wearing masks and hiding identification echoes the tactics of secret police authoritarian regimes—and deviates from the practices of local law enforcement, which contributes to confusion in communities."
Espaillat was joined by Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) in introducing the No Secret Police Act, which would also direct Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to conduct research and development to enhance the visibility of official insignia and identification.
"Across the country, plain-clothed federal agents in homemade face coverings are lying in wait outside immigration courts to snatch law-abiding, nonviolent immigrants going through our legal system the right way," said Goldman. "This isn't about protecting law enforcement, it's about terrorizing immigrant communities."
The legislation was introduced a day after U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi claimed during a Senate hearing that she hadn't been aware of federal agents' recent practice under the Trump administration of wearing masks while completing law enforcement work.
PETERS: How are you gonna ensure the safety of the public & officers if they continue to not follow required protocol to ID themselves as law enforcement?BONDI: That's the first that issue has come to me. You're saying officers when they cover their faces? I do know they are being doxxed.
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— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) June 25, 2025 at 11:15 AM
Todd Lyons, ICE's acting director, also said recently that the agency's officers "wear masks for personal protection and to prevent doxxing."
But as New York Times columnist Jamelle Bouie wrote Wednesday, "ICE has no right to anonymity."
"All people engaged in public service, from the president to an officer of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, are bound by the nature of a public office to act with some fidelity to the public interest," wrote Bouie. "At a minimum, they must be accountable to the people they serve, ready to accept responsibility when they abuse their power or violate the trust of the public."
Murad Awawdeh, president and CEO of the New York Immigration Coalition, said that by granting ICE agents anonymity, the Trump administration has begun "a war on immigrant communities carried out in the shadows... an unconstitutional campaign of terror."
"Armed, unmarked federal agents are stalking immigrants outside courtrooms and targeting people who are following the rules and fighting for their lives. These tactics are ripped straight from an authoritarian playbook," said Awawdeh. "We will not be silenced nor intimidated by these actions. We are on the right side of the law and we will fight tooth and nail to end this assault on our people and our democracy. We call for the swift passage of the No Secret Police Act."
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Clarence Thomas Finally Reports Gifts He Says Were 'Inadvertently Omitted' From Disclosures
"The fact that he omitted the plane to Indonesia and the yacht... leads me to believe he and I have very different interpretations of his disclosure responsibilities, and that's a problem," said one campaigner.
Jun 07, 2024
Far-right U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has officially—and belatedly—disclosed two luxury vacations gifted him by a billionaire Republican megadonor as eight of the nine high court judges released their financial disclosure statements on Friday.
Thomas' 2023 disclosure includes food and lodging during 2019 trips to Bali, Indonesia and Bohemian Grove—a secretive, men-only retreat in Sonoma County, California—paid for by billionaire real estate developer Harlan Crow. The trips and other gifts for Thomas—including yacht excursions, flights on private jets, and private school tuition for the justice's grandnephew—were first revealed by ProPublica last year.
In his 2023 disclosure, Thomas claims information about the 2019 trips was "inadvertently omitted at the time of filing," and that the justice "sought and received guidance from his accountant and ethics counsel" as he prepared this year's report.
This fits a pattern: In 2011, Thomas attributed his failure to disclose his wife's income to a "misunderstanding of the filing instructions." In 2023, he said he "inadvertently failed to realize" that he needed to publicly disclose a real estate deal with Crow.
"The fact that he omitted the plane to Indonesia and the yacht around Indonesia leads me to believe he and I have very different interpretations of his disclosure responsibilities, and that's a problem," Gabe Roth, executive director of the watchdog Fix the Court, told The Washington Post.
The justices' disclosures also show that three members of the court—Justices Brett Kavanaugh, Neil Gorsuch, and Ketanji Brown Jackson—received six-figure payments for book deals.
"Each justice would be capable of earning 10 times their current salary in the private sector, so it's reasonable for them to want to boost their income as authors, especially those with inspiring life stories," said Roth. "This may be an unpopular opinion, but I don't see anything ethically compromising about it so long as the justices don't use their offices to hawk books, they speak to ideologically diverse audiences on their book tours, and they recuse from petitions involving their publishers."
Jackson also took four tickets to a Beyoncé concert worth over $3,700.
"Justice Jackson is 'Crazy in Love' with Beyoncé's music. Who isn't?" Supreme Court spokesperson Patricia McCabe told The Washington Post.
But Roth said that "next time... Justice Jackson should pay for her own Beyoncé tickets."
Justice Sonia Sotomayor was paid $1,900 to voice an animated version of herself on the PBS children's show "Alma's Way." Justice Elena Kagan was reimbursed for travel, lodging, and food by Notre Dame Law School following a speech she delivered there last September. Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, Amy Coney Barrett, Neil Gorsuch, and Brett Kavanaugh did not receive any gifts last year, according to their disclosure forms. Justice Samuel Alito was again granted an extension to file.
The justices' disclosures came a day after Fix the Court published a database listing 672 gifts worth nearly $6.6 million that current and former Supreme Court judges received, mostly since 2004. Thomas accounted for 193 gifts with an estimated value of more than $4 million that were identified by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission.
The disclosures also came in the same week that Congressman Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) introduced the Supreme Court Ethics and Investigations Act, which would create a Supreme Court Office of Investigative Counsel tasked with investigating ethical improprieties and reporting them to Congress.
A code of conduct officially endorsed by the Supreme Court last November was widely panned as a toothless public relations stunt.
Thomas' gifts from wealthy donors—and his failure to report them—have driven calls for his recusal from some cases and even his resignation or impeachment.
Responding to Fix the Court's database, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) noted Friday that former Supreme Court Justice Abe Fortas "resigned in shame" in 1969 "over a payment that was less than a tiny fraction of what Clarence Thomas has taken from his billionaire pals."
"Republicans are protecting this obvious corruption by blocking any attempt to hold Thomas accountable," Wyden added.
Citing a "moral failure," the nonpartisan group Veterans for Responsible Leadership asserted Friday that "Clarence Thomas needs to face impeachment."
"Failing to disclose those gifts is an acknowledgment he knew it was wrong," the group added. "The character of the court needs to be above reproach, so he must be shown the door."
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Backed by MAGA Speaker, 'Serial Liar and Indicted Fraudster' George Santos Avoids Expulsion
"Unfortunately, the new speaker and House Republicans decided to put political expediency over common decency," said one critic.
Nov 01, 2023
Speaker Mike Johnson was among the 182 Republicans and 31 Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives who on Wednesday night declined to expel Congressman George Santos over his litany of lies and alleged criminal behavior he has denied.
Ousting the scandal-plagued New York Republican required a two-thirds majority. In the end, only two dozen Republicans joined 155 Democrats who supported the resolution. The remaining 41 lawmakers from both parties either voted present or did not vote.
Sean Eldridge, president and founder of the progressive group Stand Up America, specifically placed blame on Johnson (R-La.), whose election as speaker last week was widely seen as a display of the far-right's hold on the Republican Party.
"As one of Mike Johnson's first acts as speaker, he's chosen to protect a serial liar and indicted fraudster," he said. "That speaks volumes about the respect he has for American voters and his willingness to stand up to corruption. Sadly, this is just the most recent example of Republicans defending lying, indicted politicians for perceived political gain."
"Voting to expel Santos is the bare minimum for any elected representative who believes in standing up to corruption," Eldridge added. "Unfortunately, the new speaker and House Republicans decided to put political expediency over common decency. The American people, and the constituents of New York's 3rd congressional district, deserve better."
During his first interview as speaker last week, when Fox News' Sean Hannity asked about the effort to expel Santos, Johnson signaled his opposition to ousting anyone charged but not yet convicted and noted the party's "razor-thin" House majority.
Lisa Gilbert, executive vice president of Public Citizen and co-leader of the Not Above the Law coalition, also called out all members who voted against the resolution, declaring Wednesday night that "George Santos should have been expelled."
"Politicians need to restore trust in our democracy, but the members who failed to act on one of the most thoroughly investigated and clear-cut cases of fraud by a House member are further eroding that trust," she said. "Santos' constituents deserve real representation, and Americans deserve to know that the people they elect to office are not above the law."
Santos has faced mounting pressure to resign throughout his legal troubles, including last month, when federal prosecutors filed new wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and conspiracy charges against the first-term congressman.
Following those charges, five other Republican congressmen from New York—Reps. Anthony D'Esposito, Nick LaLota, Mike Lawler, Marc Molinaro, and Brandon Williams—introduced the resolution that failed on Wednesday.
"This issue is not a political one, but a moral one," the resolution's GOP co-sponsors argued in a letter to House colleagues that preceded the vote. "We should let the American people know if a candidate for Congress lies about everything about himself to get their votes, and then that false identity becomes known by his own admission or otherwise, that House members will expel the fraudster and give voters a timely opportunity to have proper representation."
During debate on Wednesday, Democratic New York Congressman Dan Goldman pointed out that the Republicans behind this resolution declined to support a similar expulsion measure he co-sponsored in May.
Goldman still spoke and voted in favor of the Republican resolution. Notably, it was Santos himself who gave the Democrat the opportunity to speak, after the co-sponsors reportedly declined his request.
Punchbowl News journalist Ben Jacobs said that "at this point, you have to assume that Santos sees attacks on his fellow New York Republicans as a net plus after they have been coming after him for almost a year."
NBC News reported that D'Esposito suggested to reporters he may force another vote on expelling Santos in the weeks ahead, after the House Ethics Committee releases findings of its investigation into the embattled congressman.
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Here Are the Members of Congress Who Dumped Bank Stocks Amid Fears of Financial Crisis
"We need to ban trading in individual stocks by members of Congress to begin to restore the public's faith in elected officials," said one critic.
Apr 20, 2023
As Democratic lawmakers renew their push for a stock trading ban on Capitol Hill, an analysis released Wednesday found that several members of Congress or their close relatives sold bank equities last month as fears of a financial crisis spread in the wake of Silicon Valley Bank's collapse.
On March 10, the day SVB failed, Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.) sold $65,000 to $150,000 worth of Seacoast Banking Corporation shares, according to disclosure data compiled by Capitol Trades.
The New York Times reported Wednesday that 48 hours after the Florida Democrat's stock sale, he "said in a television interview that he had attended a bipartisan congressional briefing on the tumult."
"And on March 13, as investors fretted over the failure of Silicon Valley Bank and two other, smaller banks, Seacoast Banking shares fell nearly 20%," the Times noted. "A spokesman for Mr. Moskowitz said in an email that the Seacoast share sales had been suggested by the congressman's financial adviser as a means to diversify his young children's holdings. Mr. Moskowitz said the congressional briefing on the bank crisis had taken place just before the television interview and after the shares were sold."
Moskowitz wasn't alone in selling his bank holdings as the run on SVB and its subsequent fall sparked concerns of contagion, prompting federal regulators to bail out the California-based firm—as well as Signature Bank—and effectively backstop the entire banking sector.
Citing Capitol Trades, the Times reported that Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) "sold shares of First Republic Bank, the large depositor that was rapidly losing both cash and clients, on March 15, the day before it received an industry bailout of $30 million."
"The wife and children of Rep. Ro Khanna, Democrat of California, sold First Republic shares that same day," the Times continued. "Rep. John Curtis, Republican of Utah, sold shares in First Republic from a joint account with his spouse on March 16, the day the industry bailout occurred. By that time, First Republic shares had already fallen nearly 80 percent from a February peak. The timing of the sales by those three lawmakers or their relatives meant that the sellers averted an additional price swoon that was still to come."
"People need to have confidence that policymakers are making decisions based on what's best for the country, not what's best for their stock portfolios."
Details of the lawmakers' suspiciously well-timed transactions came a day after Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) led a group of House and Senate members in introducing the Ending Trading and Holdings in Congressional Stocks (ETHICS) Act, legislation that would prohibit members of Congress, their spouses, and their dependent children from trading individual stocks.
Just one Republican, Rep. Michael Cloud of Texas, has cosponsored the new bill.
Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), a longtime proponent of banning stock trading in Congress and a cosponsor of the ETHICS Act, said during a Tuesday press conference that lawmakers "were trading bank stocks" amid widespread turmoil in the financial sector last month.
"We know what position members of Congress can be in, and we know that the temptations are too great for some members of Congress to resist," said Brown, the chair of the Senate Banking Committee. "That's why this legislation is so important. People need to have confidence that policymakers are making decisions based on what's best for the country, not what's best for their stock portfolios."
Earlier this month, The Wall Street Journal reported that two lawmakers—Reps. Nicole Malliotakis (R-N.Y.) and Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.)—"reported trades in bank stocks last month as they worked on government efforts to address fallout from two of the largest bank failures in American history."
"Malliotakis... bought stock in a regional bank before a subsidiary agreed to take over Signature Bank's deposits following its closure," the Journal reported. "Days before she bought the stock, she said she met with financial regulators to discuss the bank’s closure."
Blumenauer, who signed onto legislation that would impose stricter regulations on mid-sized banks, "reported selling between $1,001 and $15,000 in Bank of America stock on March 9, as panic was spreading and shares of the four biggest U.S. banks—including Bank of America—slid," the newspaper added. "A week after the sale, the stock was down 5%."
Adam Smith, vice president for democracy initiatives at Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, tweeted Wednesday that "corrupt or not, stories like this make the institution look bad."
"We need to ban trading in individual stocks by members of Congress to begin to restore the public's faith in elected officials," Smith wrote.
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