This story appeared in The Logoff, a day by day e-newsletter that helps you keep knowledgeable in regards to the Trump administration with out letting political information take over your life. Subscribe right here.
Welcome to The Logoff: President Donald Trump’s Justice Division goes after his enemies.
What’s taking place? It’s a protracted checklist from this week alone:
As disparate as these headlines are, there’s a standard thread: Beneath Trump, the DOJ — historically unbiased from the White Home — is taking extraordinary steps to quash dissent and compel obedience.
Why does this matter? The Logoff has beforehand coated the dire financial implications of Trump’s Fed energy seize; most of the others are greatest seen as assaults on free expression. They every matter on their very own phrases, however the large image is that the Trump administration is weaponizing the DOJ at an alarming fee.
As my colleague Ian Millhiser experiences, there’s additionally a second factor: DOJ overreach is vandalizing the division’s credibility in courtroom, doubtlessly in a means that can final nicely after Trump’s time in workplace.
What’s the context? None of this conduct, I ought to stress, is new. Trump’s DOJ has been behaving egregiously since final yr; lowlights, so far as the rule of regulation is worried, embrace his (to date unsuccessful) makes an attempt at prosecuting former FBI director James Comey and New York state Lawyer Common Letitia James.
However Trump clearly desires extra: On Monday, we additionally realized that the president is more and more pissed off along with his lawyer common, Pam Bondi, for not doing extra to advance his priorities — together with simply this type of weaponization.
And with that, it’s time to log out…
I include reassuring information: You most likely don’t have as a lot plastic in your physique as you assume.
Particularly, researchers are actually difficult the accuracy of numerous high-profile research that discovered rising ranges of microplastics in our brains, arteries, and elsewhere, as Vox reported yesterday in collaboration with The Guardian and Local weather Desk.
That isn’t to say microplastics aren’t an issue or one thing to pay attention to — however they’re possibly not one thing to panic about, both. Have an ideal night, and we’ll see you again right here tomorrow!
