Trump uses Kennedy Center visit to announce imminent release of JFK assassination files: Live updates
President attended first board meeting at performing arts venue before making announcement about release of 80,000 ‘unredacted’ pages from files on 1963 assassination of Kennedy
Donald Trump announced during a visit to the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., that 80,000 pages of unredacted files related to the assassination of President John F Kennedy will be released tomorrow afternoon.
The president was at the performing arts venue, named after the slain president, to attend a board meeting.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration has deported hundreds of people from the U.S. after invoking a wartime law to speed up the deportations of individuals connected to the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua in defiance of a court order.
A federal judge temporarily blocked the administration’s ability to use the law, the Alien Enemies Act 1798, and ordered any planes flying migrants out of the country to turn around.
Border czar Tom Homan told Fox News: “We’re not stopping. I don’t care what the judges think. I don’t care what the left thinks. We’re coming.”
Meanwhile, Donald Trump declared that presidential pardons issued by his predecessor, Joe Biden, are “void, vacant, and of no further force or effect” because the Democrat allegedly signed off on them using an autopen rather than his real signature.
A former Proud Boys leader was freed from a 17-year prison sentence by Trump. Then his problems began
Richard Hall writes:
On the day Joe Biggs found out he was being released from a lengthy jail sentence by the newly inaugurated Donald Trump, a prison officer was on hand to dampen his mood.
“You're still gonna get screwed,” Biggs recalls the guard warning him. “You're not getting pardoned. You're only getting your sentence commuted, so you're still a terrorist.”
It would turn out to be a prescient parting shot.
Read on...
A former Proud Boys leader was freed from prison by Trump. Then his problems began
National Institutes of Health officials reportedly told scientists to erase mRNA vaccine references on grants
Officials at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have reportedly told scientists to scrub all references to mRNA vaccine technology from grant applications, sparking fears that the agency could soon scrap research programs into the vaccinations under Health and Human Services Commissioner Robert F Kennedy Jr.
One vaccine scientist based in New York funded by the agency was warned that references to mRNA vaccines should not appear in any future applications after referring to them in previous ones.
Rhian Lubin has the details.
NIH officials reportedly told scientists to erase mRNA references on grants
After Trump dismantles Voice of America, journalists sound off on ‘betrayal’
In what is being described as “Bloody Saturday,” over 1,300 employees at Voice of America were placed on indefinite suspension this weekend after President Donald Trump issued a Friday night edict ordering the U.S. Agency for Global Media, the network’s parent agency, to eliminate its workforce and activities not required by law.
With the state-funded broadcaster — which has been seen as a vital part of America’s soft diplomacy — going largely silent after more than 80 years on the air, VOA journalists and executives are sounding off over what they see as a “betrayal of the ideals” that drove the organization, adding that it will only be “celebrated” by America’s adversaries.
Justin Baragona reports.
VOA journalists sound off on ‘betrayal’ after Trump dismantles broadcaster
Green card-holding German national arrested at Boston airport
The family of a German national who has been in the U.S. on a green card for 17 years and was arrested at Boston Logan International Airport has no idea why he is being detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Fabian Schmidt joins a growing number of visa and green card holders in the U.S. who have found themselves swept up in the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration crackdown.
Rhian Lubin reports.
Family have no clue why German national with a green card is being held by ICE
ANALYSIS: The economy was always Trump’s strength. Polls show it might be cracking
Eric Garcia takes a look at some of the latest polling numbers and what they might mean for the president.
The economy was always Trump’s strength. Polls show it might be cracking
If Trump is on a 'lawbreaking spree' as critics say, can the courts stop him?
Alex Woodward wrote in February:
President Donald Trump’s unprecedented power grabs within his first three weeks in office have provoked an opposite and equal reaction in the form of an avalanche of lawsuits.
Now, how far the president can plunge the United States into a constitutional crisis could depend on a handful of federal judges.
Americans should be prepared for the administration to ignore them, “unless and until there's real enforcement, either by law enforcement or by the Supreme Court,” says Ty Cobb, a former White House counsel during Trump’s first administration.
“The real question is, will Trump honor those orders?” Cobb tells The Independent.
Continue reading...
Critics say Trump is on a ‘lawbreaking spree.’ Can the courts stop him?
COMMENT: In the JFK files, there’ll be no smoking gun – only bombshells
John Kiriakou writes:
If all goes to plan, Donald Trump will oversee the release of the final remaining classified documents related to the assassination of John F. Kennedy. The US president ordered the release of all records on his second full day back in the White House, a demand that prompted the discovery of 2,400 hitherto overlooked files.
But the biggest mystery is why it has taken so long.
Congress mandated the documents’ declassification and release in 1992, and yet every president since George H. W. Bush has declined to do so.
However, as someone who has worked for the CIA as an intelligence officer – and who was jailed for 23 months for blowing the whistle on interrogation techniques – I would posit that there is nothing interesting about the JFK assassination left to be released.
Far more interesting will be the classified files about the assassinations of his brother, Senator Robert F. Kennedy.
Read on...
In the JFK files, there’ll be no smoking gun – only bombshells
Elon Musk flexes his big-money election muscle in bid to turn Wisconsin Supreme Court conservative
With continued influence over nearly every major government agency, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has been granted extraordinary power over federal systems and programs which has the strong potential of directly boosting his bottom line.
Even as Tesla faces a nationwide public backlash, Musk is poised to weaken federal agencies with direct oversight of his companies and just last week capitalized on President Donald Trump’s promotion of his vehicles outside the White House.
He’s also making his gratitude known — and proving that it pays off.
John Bowden reports.
Musk flexes his big-bucks muscle in bid to turn Wisconsin Supreme Court conservative
Courtney Love confirms plans to permanently relocate to the UK due to Trump presidency
Courtney Love has revealed her plans to permanently relocate to the U.K. following Donald Trump’s return to the White House.
The 60-year-old rocker and widow of Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain, who has been an outspoken critic of Trump, reportedly moved from Los Angeles to England in 2019 and is now getting British citizenship.
Inga Parkel reports.
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