- Collin Binkley @ The Associated Press: Southern Poverty Law Center says its informant program was not kept secret from law enforcement
The Southern Poverty Law Center told a federal court on Tuesday that law enforcement agencies have long known that the nonprofit paid informants to report on the movements of hate groups, rejecting assertions by the Trump administration that the nonprofit steered money to the Ku Klux Klan and other extremist groups without the knowledge of authorities.
- Kali Holloway @ The Nation: The DOJ’s Bogus Allegations Against the SPLC Are a Dog Whistle to White Nationalists
The case against the anti-hate organization will reassure racists that an organization that successfully tracks, exposes, and bankrupts them is now in the government’s crosshairs.
- Steve Benen @ The Maddow Blog: Comey’s second indictment shows the lengths Blanche will go to please Trump
The latest indictment of the former FBI director is ridiculous, but it’s part of an unsubtle pattern from the acting attorney general.
- Benjamin Parker @ The Bulwark: State Dept. Finalizing Plan to Put Trump Picture on U.S. Passports
The new design would mark yet another U.S. government property upon which the president has plastered his likeness.
- Tom Durante @ Mediaite: FCC Reviewing Disney’s Broadcast License Amid Jimmy Kimmel-Trump Feud
The FCC is reportedly prepping a review of Disney’s broadcast licenses, a day after late-night comic Jimmy Kimmel refused to apologize for a remark that First Lady Melania Trump had the “glow of an expectant widow,” a crack that has reignited a feud with President Donald Trump.
- Anna Bower and Molly Roberts @ Lawfare: The Grand Conspiracy’s New Prosecutor May Be the Case’s Biggest Liability
Former Trump lawyer Joseph diGenova is one of the most vocal proponents of a conspiracy theory that he is now in charge of investigating.
- Gregg Nunziata @ The Atlantic: The Age of American Caesarism
The legal right spent decades empowering the presidency. Now it must reckon with the system it helped create.
- William Vaillancourt @ The Daily Beast: Pentagon Pete Goes Full Make-a-Wish for Washed Up MAGA Star
Kid Rock previously marveled at an Army helicopter flyby over his Nashville home.
- Isabella Corrao, Jane Lee and Helena Hind @ Media Matters: “Nothing short of treasonous”: Right-wing media ramp up attacks on Democratic officials, mainstream news, and Iran war critics as “traitors”
Fox host Will Cain: “As we’re in a high-stakes moment overseas, some Democrats sound like they’re not on team America."
