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Jack Smith Deposition Video

Gary Wright II — Wed, 31 Dec 2025 19:03:14 -0500

The entire 8-hour deposition of former Special Counsel Jack Smith before the House Judiciary Committee has been released. I've been reading the transcript and the part I want to highlight is from his opening statement when he said: “The decision to bring charges against President Trump was mine, but the basis for those charges rests entirely with President Trump and his actions, as alleged in the indictments returned by grand juries in two different districts. Our investigation developed proof beyond a reasonable doubt that President Trump engaged in a criminal scheme to overturn the results of the 2020 election and to prevent the lawful transfer of power. Our investigation also developed powerful evidence that showed that President Trump willfully retained highly classified documents after he left office in January of 2021, storing them at his social club, including in a ballroom and a bathroom. He then repeatedly tried to obstruct justice to conceal his continued retention of those documents.”

Smith was investigating Trump's attempt to overturn the 2020 election and instigating the January 6th insurrection at the Capitol, as well as him stealing and then hoarding classified materials at Mar-a-Lago. He said, "Yes, I believe we had proof beyond a reasonable doubt in both cases." and that “President Trump was, by a large measure, the most culpable and most responsible person in this conspiracy. These crimes were committed for his benefit. The attack that happened at the Capitol, part of this case, does not happen without him.”

Address of the Bookmark: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lR-bhPzQYUE

Jack Smith's Deposition Transcript

Gary Wright II — Wed, 31 Dec 2025 15:54:20 -0500

The House Judiciary Committee has just released the 255-page sworn deposition by former Special Counsel Jack Smith regarding his investigation into Trump's election interference and the stolen classified documents he stashed at Mar-a-Lago.

Smith says he had enough evidence to convict Trump, but the charges were dropped when he got re-elected. He said, "Yes, I believe we had proof beyond a reasonable doubt in both cases." and that “President Trump was, by a large measure, the most culpable and most responsible person in this conspiracy. These crimes were committed for his benefit. The attack that happened at the Capitol, part of this case, does not happen without him.”

Address of the Bookmark: https://judiciary.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/republicans-judiciary.house.gov/files/2025-12/Smith-D...

How Effective Are Protests?

Gary Wright II — Thu, 25 Dec 2025 23:03:24 -0500

I agree with everything in this article. The key to a successful protest is to commit to nonviolence. Use of violence turns people off and destroys the message your trying to convey. Protests build solidarity and often lead to life-long friendships between like-minded people. I can't wait for the No Kings 3.0 protest this Spring. We need to reach the goal of 13 million people, so I hope you'll join the one in your area!

This article looks at how protests through our history were successful in bringing change.

Address of the Bookmark: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/dec/25/protests-effective-history-impact

Watch / Reading List On Fascism

Gary Wright II — Wed, 24 Dec 2025 13:31:34 -0500

Refuse Fascism has a list of recommended movies and books to learn more about fascism. I just want to add three suggestions to the list:

Bayard Rustin's "I Must Resist!" - Bayard was the genius organizer behind many of the famous MLK, Jr. events such as the March On Washington. Because he was a gay man, he never got any credit and was pushed to the background in all of the famous photos of the era. "I Must Resist!" is a collection of his personal correspondence that is enlightening and inspiring. Remember, during Bayard's life we were fighting the Nazis in Germany and nobody at the time knew who would win. I especially recommend this book to the LGBTQIA+ because of Bayard's place in our history. I read the book to prepare me prior to Trump's first term and it was a big help!

"Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook" by professor Mark Bray gives the history of antifa from fighting Mussolini and Hitler up to fighting Trump and the far-right. It's an urgent must-read when it comes to our promise of never letting history repeat itself.

A book that I haven't read yet, but all of my peers are studying is "On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons From The Twentieth Century" by Timothy Snyder. I think there's also a companion book "On Democracy."

This bookmark links to a list of books and movies that Refuse Fascism recommends.

Address of the Bookmark: https://refusefascism.org/resources/deepening-understanding-of-fascism-recommended-viewing-and-readi...

Watch "Inside CECOT" (The Story That 60 Minutes Refused to Air)

Gary Wright II — Tue, 23 Dec 2025 21:20:50 -0500

Here's a link to the 14-minute documentary about the notorious El Salvador prison that Bari Weiss refused to let CBS air:

Address of the Bookmark: https://www.muellershewrote.com/p/watch-the-60-minutes-cecot-segment

Executive Order Lawsuit Tracker

Gary Wright II — Mon, 22 Dec 2025 14:25:20 -0500

The Associated Press has a page worth bookmarking. The AP is tracking the hundreds of lawsuits filed against Trump's executive orders. I've been using RSS to follow the major civil rights lawsuits so that I get immediate notifications about each new filing, and I can barely keep up! When you see all of them together on one page you realize how much trouble we're in trying to fight an authoritarian government.

Address of the Bookmark: https://apnews.com/projects/trump-executive-order-lawsuit-tracker/

Jeffrey Epstein And Ehud Barak Emails

Gary Wright II — Sun, 21 Dec 2025 16:39:20 -0500

This reporting is based on the files released by the House Oversight Committee and the hacked files on Distributed Denial of Secrets (DDOSecrets.org). It is not based on the DOJ Epstein files release, which once released will hopefully provide even more insight. Having the hacked files is one way we know the DOJ release is incomplete and being censored!

Epstein has taken credit for interfering in the Israeli elections, and for setting up secret backchannels of communication between Israel and Russia. My biggest question is: did Epstein do the same thing for Trump using Steve Bannon an the intermediary?

This article is a good look at the relationship between Jeffrey Epstein and former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak.

Address of the Bookmark: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/12/18/ehud-barak-israel-jeffrey-epstein-emails/876...

Judge Strikes Down Limits on ICE Oversight

CleverNews.Net — Wed, 17 Dec 2025 17:05:35 -0500

Federal District Judge Jia Cobb ruled that ICE can't enforce policies that require lawmakers to provide seven days notice before visiting detention facilities, and entirely barring congressional visits to field offices being used to detain immigrants.

Here is her 73-page Memorandum Opinion.

Address of the Bookmark: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/70964222/36/neguse-v-us-immigration-and-customs-enforcement/

US v. California - The No Secret Police Act and the No Vigilantes Act

CleverNews.Net — Sat, 13 Dec 2025 18:27:32 -0500

The No Secret Police Act and the No Vigilantes Act were passed in California to help provide accountability after the masked ICE goons terrorized Los Angeles. It makes it illegal for police to cover their face with masks, and ICE is really upset about it, so they filed a federal lawsuit challenging the legality of the laws. They even state "the Federal Government does not intend to comply with the challenged laws."

There are other cities and states passing similar laws, so this is going to be an interesting case to watch. Here is the 16-page Complaint.

Address of the Bookmark: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/71921382/1/united-states-v-state-of-california/

DC Circuit Court of Appeals granted an administrative stay on the criminal contempt proceedings against DHS Kristi Noem.

CleverNews.Net — Fri, 12 Dec 2025 20:28:41 -0500

Bad News: DC Circuit Court of Appeals granted an administrative stay on the criminal contempt proceedings against DHS Kristi Noem. The whistleblower was supposed to testify on Monday at 9:30AM. Thankfully we have the written declaration by the whistleblower so we know exactly what they did.

Judges Neomi Rao and Justin Walker (who are Trump appointees) of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on Friday night blocked D.C. District Court Chief Judge James Boasberg from beginning his scheduled Alien Enemies Act case contempt proceedings next week. Judge J. Michelle Childs, a Biden appointee, would not have granted the stay.

Chris Geidner of Law Dork has the analysis of what happened at this bookmark.

Address of the Bookmark: https://www.lawdork.com/p/breaking-dc-circuits-trump-appointees

DOJ Whistleblower Complaint

CleverNews.Net — Fri, 12 Dec 2025 16:57:34 -0500

The whistleblower complaint is #158 on the docket, attachment 1 (Exhibit A) and attachment 2 (Exhibit B). Erez Reuveni was formerly the Acting Deputy Director for the Office of Immigration Litigation of the Department of Justice and he is scheduled to testify under oath on Monday at 9:30AM. That is, unless the DC Circuit Court of Appeals issues a Writ of Mandamus to stop the proceedings.

If you read his complaint, it is clear why DOJ is urgently trying to stop his testimony from taking place. He is able to testify that Emil Bove directed them to say "Fuck you!" to any court that defied Trump's agenda. Bove is now a federal appeals court judge! 🤬 When Reuveni refused to submit false information to the courts, the DOJ fired him.

It is so important for Chief Judge James Boasberg to hear his sworn testimony as he considers criminal contempt referrals for DHS ignoring his order. It's even more important for the public to know how our DOJ is misbehaving and ignoring the law as they carry out a terror campaign against our communities.

Here's a link to his whistleblower complaint.

Address of the Bookmark: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69741724/jgg-v-trump/?filed_after=&filed_before=&entry_...

ICE Goon Identified As Timothy Donohue

CleverNews.Net — Fri, 12 Dec 2025 16:37:30 -0500

Timothy Donohue, age 38, was one of the gun-pointing Gestapo goons that was with CBP Chief Gregory Bovino. He's also online troll Timothy77593126 on Twitter, where he likes to post racist and homophobic things. These are the unqualified types of people that ICE is hiring to terrorize our communities. He was called out by Judge Ellis for his repeated unlawful and reckless behavior, like pointing his gun at bystanders and threatening to shoot them. He's just a violent and terrible person who doesn't have any place in our society, much less being a gun-toting ICE goon!

Here's some of his more shocking posts and more info about him.

Address of the Bookmark: https://www.thedailybeast.com/gun-toting-border-patrol-goon-unmasked-as-racist-online-troll/

Fort Bliss ICE Detainee Dies In Custody

Gary Wright II — Fri, 12 Dec 2025 13:44:10 -0500

A 48-year-old man has died while in ICE custody at Fort Bliss after failing to receive appropriate medical care. The detention center is called Camp East Montana, and it's a massive tent camp at the Fort Bliss military base in El Paso, Texas. The Fort Bliss detention center needs to be shut down! It was used during World War II to intern people of Japanese descent, and now is the nation's largest detention center that can hold up to 4,000. Trump has also funneled billions from DHS to the US Navy to build internment camps to each hold up to 10,000 detainees. They must be stopped, because they aren't capable of caring for such a large population of people in custody.

The ACLU and other rights groups has done numerous interviews with the Fort Bliss detainees and they report: "Immigrants held in this facility are facing extreme abuse. People are suffering beatings and sexual abuse by officers. They're being given inadequate and rotten food and foul water. They've been denied soap, toilet paper, and adequate medical care. Access to legal counsel has been restricted. One teenager was beaten so severely that he lost consciousness and had to be taken to the hospital in an ambulance in an incident that led to hearing loss."

The goal of DHS is simple: they make the immigrants so miserable that they give up their rights and self-deport. The reports of extreme abuse are sickening, and so far there's been no one held accountable for it. The Fort Bliss detention center must be shut down!

Here's more reporting with some of the stories of the immigrants.

Address of the Bookmark: https://www.hrw.org/news/2025/12/08/us-close-fort-bliss-immigration-detention-site

"Resilience for Sustainable Activism" by Nkem Ndefo

Gary Wright II — Fri, 12 Dec 2025 13:17:52 -0500

Current events are stressful and exhausting, especially if you are an activist. This is a recording of the excellent 1-½ hour session by Nkem Ndefo on Resilience for Sustainable Activism. It teaches you how to listen to your body, and recognize the signs of stress and exhaustion which are only human responses, and not a sign of failure. The lesson is part of Indivisible's Solidarity in Action Speaker Series and it really helped me a lot. Please bookmark it and watch it when you have some time!

She teaches us that::

Burnout and reactivity are predictable stress responses, not personal shortcomings.
Our bodies can be tools for discernment, steadiness, and alignment when we learn to listen.
Solidarity deepens when we can show up from a regulated place being able to hear, to repair, and to stay connected.
Rest, play, and delight are forms of resistance that make sustained action possible.

Address of the Bookmark: https://youtu.be/fU7dIoJTCCE?si=bbiVZep4HkBX2dQy

Antifa Civil Lawsuit

Gary Wright II — Fri, 12 Dec 2025 10:57:19 -0500

The first civil lawsuit has been filed over Trump's designation of Antifa (anti-fascists) as a domestic terrorist group. The Protect Democracy Project filed FOIA requests to Dept of Treasury, DHS, State Dept, and FinCEN "seeking records with the potential to shed light on whether and how these executive actions are being used to target perceived political enemies of the Trump Administration." None of the agencies responded to the FOIA requests, so they've filed a federal lawsuit.

It isn't included in the lawsuit (yet), but yesterday at a House Homeland Security hearing FBI agent Michael Glasheen who is serving as operations director of the National Security Branch said that he agreed with Trump that antifa is the greatest national security threat facing the US. Then he really struggled when asked very basic questions by Rep. Bennie Thompson. That's because antifa is not an organization in the US. There are no leaders and there is no hierarchy. It is just a term for people who are anti-fascists (which are most sane people) and Trump is using that self-imagined boogeyman to go after anyone who disagrees with him. I guess that means the government is admitting it is fascist if anti-fascists are its greatest enemy?

Here's the 13-page Complaint.

Address of the Bookmark: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/71951881/1/protect-democracy-project-v-us-department-of-the-tre...

Naturalized Citizen Challenges DHS Airport Searches

CleverNews.Net — Thu, 11 Dec 2025 16:54:37 -0500

A federal lawsuit was just filed that challenges the DHS extensive airport searches without a warrant. There is a 2018 directive that gives CBP agents the power to search people within a 100-miles of a border. That “border exception” affects 228 million people, or two-thirds of our population.

These searches violate the 4th Amendment which states: "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."

According to the 15-page Complaint paragraph 4 (a link is in the press release linked below): "Wilmer was separated from his husband and taken to an isolated secondary screening area, where he was repeatedly pressured to hand over his laptop, smartphone, and tablet, along with his passwords. When he objected, he was told he had no Fourth Amendment rights at the border. Moreover, he was told he was behaving suspiciously simply by asserting those rights and refusing to consent to the device searches. His requests to contact his family and lawyer were denied during the detention."

I've been waiting for one of these cases to challenge these unlawful searches, because we have to protect our 4th Amendment and I don't agree that we give up our Constitutional rights just because we're near a border.

Here's a summary of the case by Pacific Legal Foundation who has taken the case pro bono publico (for the public good). Godspeed!

Address of the Bookmark: https://pacificlegal.org/case/chavarria-border-searches-fourth-amendment/

ICE Has "Watch List" Of Prominent Immigration Attorneys

Gary Wright II — Wed, 10 Dec 2025 20:46:03 -0500

Whew boy! Tennessee attorney Arlene Amarante was looking at the ICE website to confirm she was listed as the attorney for her client, when she discovered a "watch list" of prominent immigration attorneys that overwhelmingly are Latino, Asian, or have African-sounding names. ICE quickly removed the list from their website, but not before she got a screen capture of it. There is now a FOIA request filed to obtain that list and more information about it.

This reporting says: In March 2025, the White House issued a memo titled “Preventing Abuses of the Legal System and the Federal Court,” accusing immigration attorneys of “unscrupulous” conduct and directing the Attorney General to take action against attorneys and law firms pursuing litigation against the US. The memo ordered agencies to “seek sanctions” and disciplinary actions against those challenging government policy.

We are falling so far and so quickly, and headed towards having a fascist government. I can't wait to see what the FOIA request uncovers.

Address of the Bookmark: https://www.dcnewsnow.com/news/attorney-uncovers-ice-watch-list-of-prominent-us-immigration-lawyers/

New US National Security Strategy Sucks!

Gary Wright II — Wed, 10 Dec 2025 19:13:29 -0500

If you thought the unclassified version was bad, the longer classified version is even worse! It wants five nations to rule the world: US, China, Russia, India, and Japan. It will be called the C5 as we abandon the Western-led groups and give Russia a place at the table. It attacks Europe and wants to form resistance groups there composed of White Supremacists who they want to govern those countries and kick out all of their immigrants. It has the US abandoning NATO, which is critical to keeping Europe safe from Russia.

The White House insists that the only version of the NSS that exists is the one they made public, but there was a longer classified version floating around before they made anything public. Even the unclassified version is a total disaster! It reads like it was written by Stephen Miller and Vladimir Putin, because it gives Putin everything he wants but with an even more xenophobic slant.

Trump is not only enabling Putin, but he's making the US much like Russia. Even Russia has stated that they love the new plan.

Here's more reporting on the new NSS.

Address of the Bookmark: https://www.defenseone.com/policy/2025/12/make-europe-great-again-and-more-longer-version-national-s...

ICE Using 9/11-Era Regulation To Deny Due Process

CleverNews.Net — Wed, 10 Dec 2025 16:58:53 -0500

Their goal is to make immigrants so miserable that they will give up their rights and self-deport. Even though judges have been ordering the release of detainees on bond, ICE invokes a 9/11-era "automatic stay" regulation to keep them in detention. That automatic stay doesn't require approval from a judge or the Board of Immigration Appeals. In the past five years, the regulation was used only three times. Between July 1st and September 16th, ICE has used it 877 times. They are abusing it to deny due process!

Here's more reporting.

Address of the Bookmark: https://www.latintimes.com/ice-cites-9-11-era-regulation-override-bond-decisions-immigrants-nationwi...

Judicial Complaint Filed Against Emil Bove

Gary Wright II — Wed, 10 Dec 2025 16:36:07 -0500

Emil Bove used to be Trump's personal lawyer, he was then given a high level job at DOJ as Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General, and then they rewarded his corrupt ass with a lifetime appointment of federal judge on the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals where he's been a failure. His public statements show he is not qualified or fit to be a judge. He is a witness in the criminal contempt proceedings against DHS Kristi Noem because of the poor legal advice he gave her. On December 15th at 9:30AM whistleblower Erez Reuveni is going to give sworn testimony that Bove told the DOJ attorneys to say "Fuck the court!" if they rule against anything in the Trump agenda. That's exactly what Noem did when she ignored Judge Boasberg's order, and why the judge is quickly moving to hold them in criminal contempt (J.G.G. v. Trump).

Today, Fix The Court filed a formal Judicial Complaint after Bove attended the Trump rally yesterday at a casino in Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania. When asked about it, Bove said he was “just here as a citizen coming to watch the president speak.”

The rally was clearly a political rally, not a presidential speech (which would be allowed). There are two Canons of Judicial Conduct that he violated by attending a political rally: Canon 2 states that a judge “should avoid impropriety and the appearance of impropriety in all activities.” Canon 5 states that a judge “should refrain from political activity.”

There is already no question that Bove is biased and incapable of being an impartial judge. He's also not qualified. Bove must be impeached and thrown off the federal bench as quickly as possible!

Here's the 4-page Complaint of Judicial Misconduct.

Address of the Bookmark: https://fixthecourt.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Bove-complaint-GR-12.10.25.pdf

New Orleans Resists ICE Invasion

CleverNews.Net — Wed, 10 Dec 2025 15:43:35 -0500

Despite widespread surveillance and a Louisiana law that criminalizes obstruction of ICE with 5 years of hard labor in state prison, the communities still came together and did the right thing to protect their neighbors. We can learn from each other and adopt the tactics that work.

Louisiana has organized caravans who follow ICE around and record everything they do. Everyone has their whistles that they blow when they see ICE. They're holding Know Your Rights training sessions for protesters and for immigrants. They've established local mutual aid networks (formed after hurricane Katrina) to help people get food and medical care. They established a hotline where people can report ICE activity. The legal aid and immigration attorneys are burned out because of the work load, but they're doing the best they can under the circumstances.

We need to have these exact same efforts in every community across the nation. I think these days everyone has a phone with a camera, so recording ICE activity is something everyone can do if you're unable to volunteer for any of the other activities. The hotlines especially need more people to volunteer who are bilingual.

Here's more reporting on what they're doing in The Big Easy.

Address of the Bookmark: https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/new-orleans-resists-ice-invasion-despite-surveillance-and-state-rep...

Lawsuit Seeks DOJ Memo On Trump's Extra-Judicial Murders

Gary Wright II — Tue, 09 Dec 2025 18:18:25 -0500

The illegal strikes on boats in Latin America have already killed at least 87 people. There is a memorandum from DOJ's Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) that not only supposedly gives legal authority for the murders of these civilians who allegedly are carrying drugs, but also promises immunity from prosecution for everyone who takes part in the extra-judicial murders.

A new lawsuit is seeking release of the OLC memo and other documents through enforcing a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. Here's the 11-page Complaint:

Address of the Bookmark: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72008925/1/american-civil-liberties-union-v-department-of-justi...

USA Gets Downgraded As We Slip Towards Authoritarianism

Gary Wright II — Tue, 09 Dec 2025 15:39:39 -0500

The latest report from CIVICUS has downgraded the USA from Narrowed to Obstructed since Trump has taken office. The report measures all the areas that disrupt civil society, and the USA violates almost all of them. 😭 Then next stage is Oppressed and then Closed. The further we fall, the harder it is to get back to an open society. I can't believe how quickly we've fallen in just one year, and there's been no pushback from Congress or the Supreme Court. We have to get organized and come up with a plan for the people to retake control of our government before we lose it.

Here's the full 112-page report.

Address of the Bookmark: https://civicusmonitor.contentfiles.net/media/documents/Embargoed9December.CIVICUSMonitorReport25.pd...

AG Bondi's Memo To Attack "Antifa" And Left-Leaning Groups

Gary Wright II — Mon, 08 Dec 2025 16:48:28 -0500

I've already written about the dangers of Trump's NSPM-7 memorandum that mobilized the national security apparatus to go after Anti-fascists ("Antifa") and groups that they have broadly defined as "domestic terrorists." The National Security Presidential Memorandum is written so that just about any left-leaning group can be investigated. Here's a link to my post about NSPM-7:

https://cleverpeople.com/blog/view/148545/national-security-presidential-memo-7-targets-activists

Now we have the memorandum that Attorney General Pam Bondi sent out to all of the federal prosecutors. It includes Antifa (which is not an organization in the USA), those with "extreme viewpoints on immigration, radical gender ideology, and anti-American sentiment." She is using the Charlie Kirk assassination as an excuse to prosecute anyone who voices dissent against the Trump administration by labeling them as domestic terrorists.

Our First Amendment right is how we protect all of our other rights. It's imperative that we fight back against such tyranny. Please join your local Indivisible group or seek out another rights organization in your area. We have to get organized and act quickly before we lose our rights!

Here is a link to Indivisible: https://groups.indivisible.org/

This bookmark is the 6-page Bondi memorandum.

Address of the Bookmark: https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/s3.indivisibleguide.com/images/Bondi-Memo-December2025.pdf

ICEBlock App Developer Sues Government

CleverNews.Net — Mon, 08 Dec 2025 16:05:18 -0500

Josh Aaron created the ICEBlock application so that communities could track ICE agents. AG Bondi put pressure on Apple and Google to remove all ICE tracking apps from their app stores and they complied with the request. Joshua has filed a lawsuit that claims "Attorney General Bondi made plain that the United States government used its regulatory power to coerce a private platform to suppress First Amendment-protected expression."

Apple has previously removed apps at the request of oppressive governments around the world, but this is the first time they've taken down apps at the request of the USA. We really need these tracking apps and websites. This Complaint is pretty thorough (except it's missing the addresses of the parties and will have to be refiled). I hope Joshua Aaron wins this one! ✊

Here is the 39-page Complaint.

Address of the Bookmark: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72003579/1/aaron-v-bondi/