Court of International Trade blocks Trump’s tariffs in sweeping ruling

 https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5322889-court-rules-trump-tariffs/

A federal court ruled Wednesday that an emergency law does not provide President Trump with unilateral authority to impose tariffs on nearly every country, blocking a series of tariff announcements dating back to February that have rattled financial markets.

The three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of International Trade unanimously ruled Congress did not delegate “unbounded” tariff authority to the president in the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977 (IEEPA), the linchpin of Trump’s legal defense. 

Wednesday’s ruling blocks Trump’s April 2 “Liberation Day” tariffs, which placed a 10 percent levy on all imports and higher reciprocal tariffs for dozens of countries. It also blocks earlier orders that imposed tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China. Many had been adjusted as or delayed as stocks fell and Treasury yields rose in the wake of Trump’s trade shifts.

The judges gave the Trump administration 10 days to issue any administrative orders needed to effectuate their ruling.

Elon Musk's Bromance With Donald Trump Appears to Sour

 https://www.newsweek.com/elon-musk-donald-trump-bromance-appears-sour-2077886

The relationship that has defined the second Trump administration is breaking down, according to those closest to the president.

The partnership of Elon Musk and President Donald Trump has been central to White House operations since the administration took office in January, but with Musk now stepping away from the limelight, there are signs that the personal bond between the two has frayed.

It appears that Musk's departure from his public-facing role at DOGE has coincided with increasing frustrations between him and the president.

"He's finished, done, gone. He polls terrible. People hate him," an anonymous source close to the Republican Party told Politico. "He'd go to Wisconsin thinking he can buy people's votes, wear the cheese hat, act like a 9-year-old. … It doesn't work. It's offensive to people."

Trump pardons criminals with MAGA credentials or big money

 https://www.axios.com/2025/05/28/trump-pardons-chrisley-walczak-jenkins

Ed Martin, who Trump originally nominated to be D.C.'s top prosecutor but is now serving as Trump's pardon attorney, posted in a thread about Jenkins' pardon, "No MAGA left behind."

Martin's comment sends the message that the pardon power is being "totally and thoroughly politicized" Liz Oyer, the former DOJ pardon attorney, told PBS.

One thing that is easy to see is, setting aside the January 6 clemencies, that there's really been a focus on grants to people who committed financial crimes," said Mark Osler, a law professor at the University of St. Thomas and a former federal prosecutor.

Trump pardons ex-Staten Island and Brooklyn GOP Rep. Michael Grimm, commutes sentence of notorious gang leader Larry Hoover

 https://nypost.com/2025/05/28/us-news/trump-pardons-ex-staten-island-rep-michael-grimm/

Hoover received a life sentence from the state of Illinois in 1973 for allegedly ordering the murder of  William “Pooky” Young, 19, after Young stole drugs and money from the gang. That charge cannot be pardoned by the president, but it was not immediately clear whether Hoover would be returned to Illinois custody.

Hoover, now 74, received six federal life sentences in 1998 for allegedly continuing to run the gang from prison — with prosecutors alleging his illicit business empire raked in $100 million annually selling heroin, cocaine, crack and other drugs.

“You were able to do what you did in jail for 25 years — you’re amazing,” Chicago federal judge Harry Leinenweber told Hoover during sentencing. 

Trump, who has for years threatened federal intervention to address gang violence in Chicago, did not immediately issue a public statement explaining his decision.

Hoover’s commutation, first reported by NOTUS and confirmed by The Post, follows a push by rappers Kanye West — a Chicago native — and Drake, both of whom argue Hoover is a changed man.einenweber told Hoover during sentencing. 

What is an 'autopen' and do Trump's claims about Joe Biden's use of it stack up?

 https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-03-18/what-is-an-autopen-and-trump-claims-examined/105064992

Donald Trump claims Joe Biden's January 6 committee pardons are "void" because the former president signed them using an "autopen".

Presidents — including Trump — have used autopens for decades to sign documents and correspondence.

And one expert says that by raising the issue, Trump is only opening himself up for potential problems down the track.

Trump hasn't offered any evidence to support his claims, and neither has the White House.

When asked whether Trump had legal authority to void pardons signed by autopen, press secretary Karoline Leavitt questioned Biden's awareness of the pardons in the first place.

Dr Melkonian says there is no evidence to support Trump's claims, but if pardons were being signed without Biden's knowledge, it would be "a constitutional failure".

"Trump is really exaggerating the Biden situation," he said.

"The mere fact you disagree with what Joe Biden did does not mean he was mentally incompetent. There’s a big difference."

Trump tries to void Biden's pardons, blaming autopen. Many presidents have used it

 https://www.npr.org/2025/03/17/nx-s1-5330709/autopen-biden-pardon-void

President Trump is claiming without evidence that some of former President Joe Biden's actions are invalid because he allegedly used a machine to automate signatures on documents, which is a longstanding practice in the White House.

The notion that Biden relied on the autopen to sign important documents was heavily perpetuated by the Oversight Project, an arm of the Heritage Foundation that played a key role in promoting false claims about noncitizen voting last year.

It is not clear whether Biden actually used an autopen to sign the documents in question. And even if he did, legal experts say it's not clear the pardons could be rescinded — for that or any other reason.

Jay Wexler, a professor of constitutional law at Boston University School of Law, told NPR he thinks the autopen issue is a "nonstarter" and a "distraction." Importantly, he says, there is nothing in the Constitution that requires pardons be in writing at all.

Trump and Senate Republicans are finally pushing back hard against Putin

Drag shows and 'trophy wives' : Trump's rambling West Point commencement left many confused

US official who promoted antisemitic conspiracies appointed Pentagon press secretary

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/us-official-who-promoted-antisemitic-conspiracies-appointed-pentagon-press-secretary/

Kingsley Wilson, a US Department of Defense official who has repeatedly echoed antisemitic rhetoric online, will serve as the Pentagon’s new press secretary, according to an announcement Friday.

Wilson was appointed in January as deputy press secretary at the Pentagon and faced backlash from the Anti-Defamation League as well as several senators for a history of promoting antisemitic conspiracy theories. Last year, Wilson tweeted a neo-Nazi talking point about Jewish lynching victim Leo Frank, whose murder spurred the ADL’s creation.

Rogue pardon spree exposes Trump's political games and actual indifference to crimes

Trump, the stupidest and most cowardly president in American history, backed down again

Wall Street Journal calls for GOP Senate ‘revolt’ in confronting Russia

 https://thehill.com/homenews/media/5319584-wall-street-journal-gop-senate-trump-putin-russia-ukraine/?tbref=hp

The Wall Street Journal editorial board is calling for Senate Republicans to push President Trump to take a tougher stance on Russia as the president tries to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine.

“Mr. Trump may be the only person in the world still surprised by how Mr. Putin is behaving. The Russian is the same man he’s been for two decades, bent on reconstituting as much of the old Soviet empire as he can get away with,” the Journal wrote in an editorial published Monday.

The Journal argued Trump’s “naivete is helping Russia continue the killing as long as Mr. Putin wants.”

Calls to Free George Floyd’s Murderer Grow — Here’s Why It’s Unlikely to Happen

 https://capitalbnews.org/pardon-derek-chauvin-demands/

Even if a pardon for his federal conviction was issued, it would not affect Chauvin’s murder case because the president has no jurisdiction over state criminal convictions. Trump does have the authority to pardon one of Chauvin’s convictions for violating the federal civil rights of Floyd.

“I think it behooves us to be prepared for it,” said Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, in response to the possibility of Chauvin’s presidential pardon and return to state custody. “With this presidency, it seems like that might be something they would do.”

Ben Shapiro, Elon Musk, and other MAGA conservatives have downplayed the role of race in Floyd’s death since, dismissing the video evidence and condemning the jury’s verdict. 

Could Derek Chauvin be pardoned? Conservative commentator launches effort to petition Trump

 https://edition.cnn.com/2025/03/06/us/derek-chauvin-pardon-ben-shapiro

Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro has publicly called for the president to pardon former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin for federal crimes related to George Floyd’s 2020 death – drawing derision from the Minnesota attorney general who helped put Chauvin in prison but amplification from one of Trump’s most powerful advisers.