“Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said Monday that the Justice Department has asked a court to dismiss a lawsuit challenging President Donald Trump’s planned White House ballroom, citing the weekend’s shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. Completion of the $400 million ballroom, which has been under construction since early fall, has been threatened by the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s lawsuit, leaving a construction site where the East Wing of the White House once stood. A federal and Republican push for its completion has intensified after an armed man was arrested at the annual charity dinner at the Washington Hilton on Saturday, with lawmakers and White House officials claiming the 90,000-square-foot ballroom is a security necessity.” (04/28/26)
Source: Electronic Frontier Foundation
by Matthew Guariglia
“Speaker Johnson has introduced a new fig leaf over the American surveillance state, the Foreign Intelligence Accountability Act. Introduced with only days to go before Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) expires and the U.S. government loses one of its most invasive surveillance programs, the bill does nothing to make any of the substantial changes privacy advocates have been asking for — most notably, it fails to give us a real warrant requirement for the FBI to snoop through the private conversations of people on U.S. soil.” (04/27/26)
“The biggest story of the weekend, politically and socially, was the attempted assassination of several members of the current regime in DC. Apparently just in the Executive Branch. And apparently an attempt made by a man who shocked everyone by his behavior: more and more questions about what is going on and why. But one question is again answered: the mainstream media is again demonstrating a complete lack of morality and a complete unwillingness to tell the truth.” (04/27/26)
“The ‘discovery’ by new Green MP Hannah Spencer that certain members of parliament smell of alcohol during late-night sittings in Westminster – voting included – should send shockwaves through the political establishment. After all, what further evidence do we need of the dissolute degeneracy of our political elites than the knowledge that some of them enjoy a drink or two during the course of their lengthy working days? … most of us are aware that behind the scenes it’s not unknown for our elected representatives – and doubtlessly a peer or two – to enjoy a tipple while ruminating on affairs of state in one of the eight or nine bars in the Palace of Westminster.” (04/27/26)
“As occurs with every act or attempted act of political violence in the U.S., many have attempted to blame the rhetoric of their political adversaries for ‘inspiring’ or ‘provoking’ violence through their words. In the case of the shooting at Saturday’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner at the Washington Hilton Hotel, many Trump supporters are seeking to heap blame not only — or even principally — on the attacker whom President Trump described as a ‘lone wolf.’ Instead, under a theory long used by liberals against the American Right, blame is being widely assigned to President Trump’s more vocal critics for allegedly ‘inspiring’ violence against him. … While this framework of culpability may be understandable or appealing at first glance, it has an ugly and dangerous history.” (04/27/26)
“The Jalisco New Generation Cartel, Mexico’s most powerful criminal enterprise, suffered another blow Monday when the Mexican military captured one of its top leaders in the northwest of the country, two months after the cartel’s leader was killed. Audias Flores Silva, also known as ‘El Jardinero,’ or The Gardener, was seen as a possible successor to the killed leader and the United States had a $5 million reward out for information leading to his arrest. The CJNG regional commander was captured while he was hiding in a roadside ditch near the community of El Mirador in the state of Nayarit, Mexican officials said Monday. No one was killed or injured during his arrest, according to Mexico’s government.” (04/27/26)
