#kleptocracy — Public Fediverse posts

Honoring #Labor

Something Biden was all about. No matter what else, he was of & for 'the people' - workers, laborers, families.

Trump? Labor is for the little people.... Let Sir repeat his wondrous wins!

Sick, twisted, tangential... Be it #dementia or #BrainSpurs mixed with #TrumpVirus... What a contrast between a President serving #WeThePeople & improving our lives, versus a #grifter, #liar, #felon there to take it ALL for himself!

#LaborDay #corruption #TrumpEpsteinFiles #Kleptocracy

My country is also qualified for the following

Kleptocracy

The corrupt people running SR also steal all resources of the country blind, leaving absolutely nothing for the population.
Minimum wage, Social Security in comparison to a minister salary is so large in difference it is laughable

Quotes

Kleptocrats abuse the freedoms found in Western countries by transferring funds out of a kleptocracy and into Western jurisdictions for money laundering and asset security. Since 2011, more than $1 trillion has left developing countries annually in illicit financial outflows. A 2016 study found that $12 trillion had been siphoned out of developing economies.[15] Western professional services providers are often taken advantage of by exploiting legal and financial loopholes in the West to facilitate transnational money laundering.[16][17] The kleptocratic financial system typically comprises four steps according to one opinion.[18]

Sources

Moi

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kleptocracy

#Kleptocracy #Kakistocracy #democracy #tyranny #politics #economy #power

Short but pithy #TrumpVirus #Truth from Robert Reich

> How Trump Made America Expensive Again

https://youtu.be/uXw1QpD2duo

> Trump just said the quiet part out loud: he doesn't care about your finances. "Not even a little bit."

> Here's where your money is going instead.

#corruption #emoluments #WarCrimes #TrumpEpsteinFiles #coverup #TrumpVirus #nepotism #Kleptocracy #grifting #Plutocracy #Jan7 #fraud #sedition #treason #BrainSpurs

Vapid depravity’: Rudy Giuliani

https://www.rawstory.com/raw-investigates/noelle-dunphy-rudy-giuliani/

#Vapid #Depravity - seems like the key words for the whole #TrumpVirus / #GQP / #Kleptocracy #cult

But Rudy #Giuliani, like Sir, is special. Perfect vapid depravity. Like so many stars of the #TrumpEpsteinFiles and Cabinet of #Corruption

@gottalaff.bsky.social

Yes, all jokers!

The only apt metaphor with cards, for this Stable Genius who managed to bankrupt casinos and everything he touches...

"He's playing without a full deck."
And as has been pointed out (Late Nite), these cards are UNO. A game whose goal is to end with the FEWEST cards. "Like bragging about the highest golf score."

#TrumpVirus #Truth #BrainSpurs #emoluments #WarCrimes #TrumpEpsteinFiles #coverup #sedition #Jan6 #Kleptocracy #nepotism #law

The unsigned #IRS document posted by #ToddBlanche said that only #Trump, 2 of his sons & the #TrumpOrganization would be granted #immunity from audits, excluding a broader pool of Trump family members & their associates who appeared to be eligible for protection under the original #DOJ deal. Blanche also stipulated that their future tax returns could still be audited.

#law #criminal #theft #fraud #JudicialProcess #judiciary #TaxpayersMoney #kleptocracy #MafiaState

Bricks and Minifigs drama, lol

#corporate #corporations #bricksandminifigs #utah #theft #scam #capitalism #kleptocracy #scandal #drama #lego #legos #toys #meme #memes

#Trump & his family have spent decades aggressively avoiding #taxes…. The newly won ability to escape from #IRS examinations could be worth tens of millions of dollars∶ One audit, ongoing in the days before the new #immunity for Trump was announced, could have resulted in a bill from the government exceeding $100 million, NYT has reported. Other authorities have had questions, too∶ In 2022, the #TrumpOrganization was convicted of #TaxFraud in #NewYork.

#law #criminal #fraud #DOJ #kleptocracy

Why doesn't this lead to Donald Trump's impeachment already? Has the Overton window widened so much that our sensibilities have become dull to the fact that this obvious slush fund makes every American endlessly taxable? Will someone please go stop the wrecking ball that is currently in motion before it wreaks further havoc? https://reason.com/2026/05/21/trumps-corruption-is-brazen-obvious-and-costly-will-enough-republicans-try-to-stop-him/
#DonaldTrump #accountability #corruption #cronyCapitalism #fraud #impeach #IRS #Jan6 #kleptocracy #publicTrust #slushFund #TrumpAdministration #USPol

We now have a transaction that is corrupt self-dealing simply unheard of in United States history:

Nonilex -- @Nonilex

"This is a FOREVER thing!

As part of the #settlement agreement, the #US is “forever barred & precluded” from examining or prosecuting #Trump, his sons & the #TrumpOrganization’s current #tax issues, according to the one-page document posted to the #DOJ’s website on Tuesday.

"...the US is “forever barred & precluded” from examining or prosecuting Trump, his sons & the TrumpOrganization’s current #tax issues..."

"forever barred"

This is not "get out of jail free"

It's nothing less than "continue your corruption for as much as you can steal, for as long as you can continue stealing it"

Is there simply no way to control, to rein-in such obvious Trump Family corruption?

#Law #Criminal #Fraud #DOJ #JudicialProcess #Theft #TaxpayersMoney #kleptocracy #MafiaState #MAGASlushFund #SlushFund

This is a FOREVER thing!

As part of the #settlement agreement, the #US is “forever barred & precluded” from examining or prosecuting #Trump, his sons & the #TrumpOrganization’s current #tax issues, according to the one-page document posted to the #DOJ’s website on Tuesday.

#law #criminal #fraud #DOJ #JudicialProcess #theft #TaxpayersMoney #kleptocracy #MafiaState #MAGASlushFund #SlushFund
https://apnews.com/live/trump-administration-updates-05-19-2026

[This is effing nuts. We KNOW #Trump cheated on his #taxes. Just look at the NY v #TrumpOrganization lawsuit where he was found liable for decades of #fraud.]

In a one-page document signed by acting AG #ToddBlanche & quietly posted on the #DOJ website, officials vowed not to pursue any matters, including those involving Trump’s tax returns, that are currently pending.

#law #criminal #fraud #DOJ #JudicialProcess #theft #TaxpayersMoney #kleptocracy #MafiaState #MAGASlushFund #SlushFund

It is unclear whether #Tron & #BNBChain were aware their networks were used by the central bank of #Iran & #Nobitex, which has not been specifically sanctioned. Doing business with Iranian entities falls under general Western #sanctions. Reuters could not determine why the #UnitedStates has not sanctioned Nobitex.

#Trump #criminal #law #scammer #fraud #kleptocracy #emoluments #MoneyLaundering #crypto

#Iran money has kept moving through those 2 digital ledgers during the #US & #Israel #war against the Islamic Republic.

Sun & #Binance, the #crypto exchange owned by Zhao, are both prominent backers of #WorldLibertyFinancial, the crypto firm co-founded by #Trump & his family.

There’s no suggestion that the Trump family knew of #Nobitex’s use of #Tron & #BNBChain [🙄].

#criminal #law #scammer #fraud #kleptocracy #emoluments #MoneyLaundering

How Trump’s #crypto venture & Iran’s top exchange tapped into the same industry networks

Iran’s #Nobitex has processed at least $2.3 billion through #Tron & #BNBChain, blockchain ledgers started by backers of the #Trump family’s #WorldLibertyFinancial. The flows underscore the awkward juxtaposition of Trump’s business dealings & the #US presidency.

#criminal #law #scammer #fraud #kleptocracy #emoluments #Iran #MoneyLaundering
https://www.reuters.com/investigations/how-trumps-crypto-venture-irans-top-exchange-tapped-into-same-industry-networks-2026-05-18/?utm_source=braze&utm_medium=notifications&utm_campaign=2025_engagement

In a moment that the #crypto industry will hear loud & clear, #Republican Senator Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming asked #KevinWarsh whether he thought that crypto assets should be part of the #financial system so that “consumers” can benefit from more investment options & consumer protections. “Digital assets are already part of the fabric of our financial industry, so yes,” Warsh responded.

#Trump #CryptoBros #scammers #FederalReserve #economy #banking #kleptocracy #Senate #USpol

"Roger that" and thank you!

#europe
#usa
#politics
#education
#leadership
#alliances
#capitalism
#power
#oligarchy
#kleptocracy
#plutocracy
#kakistocracy
#warcrimes

Another delay in the Boundary Waters litigation will open the door to even more political finagling

No one should be surprised by the Joint Status Report just filed in the Boundary Waters litigation before the DC District Court of Appeals. Twin Metals, joined by the federal government, has asked for yet another 180-day abeyance. The mining company clearly sees that it has little chance of succeeding at law, so it has joined forces with the federal government, the putative defendant in this case, to keep the Twin Metals project on a strictly political path.

This is the same strategy they’ve pursued for a while. By petitioning for delay at the DC Circuit, the mining company and its lobbyists can make headway on the political front. They have already made some. Last July, the Department of the Interior revoked the Biden-era legal opinion that canceled (or re-canceled) the zombie leases revived by a legal opinion issued by the Solicitor of the Interior during Trump’s first term. There is still time over the next few weeks for the Chilean mining company and its lobbyists to push the republican-controlled Senate to pass House Joint Resolution 140, which would overturn the 20-year Rainy River watershed mineral withdrawal. And just last week, the Trump administration announced the dismantling of the US Forest Service, closing more than 57 research facilities and virtually shutting down the agency’s ability to conduct scientific research — the kind of careful, incremental, localized research that the 20-year mineral withdrawal would allow and for which it was designed.

Another 180-day abeyance would bring us to October 3rd or thereabouts (depending on when exactly the court issues the order). That’s about a month before the November elections, after which the the political finagling behind closed doors should face some much-needed congressional scrutiny.

We are still waiting to hear from Intervenor Defendant Appellees — the group of non-profits and small businesses that I call the Civil Society Group. Though the federal government has done an about-face, the Civil Society Group has not, so I would expect them to oppose this request. I am not confident the court will see it their way, though. For now, here’s today’s Joint Status Report.

Update 11 April 2026: Here’s the 9 April order: the case is on ice until 5 October, 2026. The plan is to keep justice at bay, sideline science, and let the mining company’s lobbyists (led by Trump’s former Secretary of the Interior) dictate to the corrupted agencies. And remember, there is still a chance — a slim chance at this point, but a chance all the same — that the Senate votes to overturn the 20-year mineral withdrawal.

If all this reads like so much inside baseball, that’s because it is: this is a complex and coordinated political project, with many moving parts.

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Dle mého názoru (DMN) se český režim snaží postavit na roveň režimu Rudých Khmérů, který zrušil majetek.

"Nový zákon umožní zabavit podezřelý majetek. Podle odborníků hrozí zneužití" -- "právník varuje, že se do problémů mohou dostat i osoby, které se ničeho nezákonného nedopustily" -- "doma loni na podzim našli 80 milionů korun v hotovosti" -- "celoživotní úspory jeho dědečka a otce. Do banky je prý nikdy nedal, protože jeho děda zažil v 50. letech měnovou reformu a bankovním institucím tak obecně nevěřil"

https://www.idnes.cz/zpravy/domaci/novy-zakon-umozni-zabavit-podezrely-majetek-podle-odborniku-hrozi-neuziti.A260329_195158_domaci_vrta

Cítím

e x t r é m n ě s i l n é o p o v r ž e n í

vůči českému režimu, když toto vidím.

DMN plýtvavému, zkorumpovanému státu již nestací daně občanů na jeho rozhazování, tak začne občanům beztrestně loupit majetek prostřednictvím nového DMN kleptokratického zákona na frivolní loupeže majetku nepohodlným občanům.

Dáš si peníze do banky? Ukradneme ti je na základě výmluvy AML/CFT. Necháš si je v hotovosti? Uloupíme ti je beztrestně frivolně a řekneme při tom magické slůvko "podezření z nabytí trestnou činností".

"Putin podepsal zákon o zabavení majetku kritikům války" -- https://newsbox.cz/zpravy/putin-podepsal-zakon-o-zabaveni-majetku-kritikum-valky-ac62fxe6

"Kdo bude v Rusku kritizovat válku, přijde o peníze i majetek" -- "Putin podepsal zákon o konfiskaci majetku osob odsouzených za vyjádření proti válce rozpoutané Ruskem na Ukrajině" -- https://eurozpravy.cz/zahranicni/rozhodnuto-kdo-bude-v-rusku-kritizovat-valku-prijde-o-penize-i-majetek.i4bxwthe

"Situace se zhoršuje Nový zákon: Putin nyní vyvlastňuje kritiky války" -- "represe dosahují nového rozměru: disidenti mají přijít nejen o svobodu, ale i o majetek." -- https://www.krone.at/3251703

V čem je teda přesně rozdíl mezi českým a ruským režimem?

#khmerrouge #khmerrougeregime #confiscation #presumptionofinnocence #robbery #stateorganizedrobbery #stateperpetratedrobbery #staterobbery #highwayman #plundering #waragainstcitizens #brutalregime #kleptocracy #kakistocracy #russia #putin #dissident #nationalization

A #Trump hotel in #Oman. A tower in #India. A #GolfCourse near Riyadh, #SaudiArabia. These are just a few of the >20 overseas projects the #TrumpOrganization is pursuing, often requiring cooperation with foreign governments [um, #FARA folks???]. These deals have made a minimum of millions for the #Trumps…. And the admin has treated those exact same governments favorably.

#POTUS4sale #SelfService #PublicDisservice #law #US #USpol #Constitution #emoluments #plutocracy #kleptocracy #MafiaState

By contrast, large #corporations in #Minneapolis have been much less vocal about the effects of #immigration enforcement on the city, known as both a bastion of progressive politics in the #US #Midwest & a robust corporate #employer. 17 #Fortune500 companies are based in #Minnesota, including #Target, #UnitedHealth, & #GeneralMills.

#complicit #economy #business #SmallBusiness #WorkingAmericans #Trump #affordability #CostOfLiving #authoritarianism #kleptocracy #plutocracy #ForMeButNotForThee

"Not only are Americans more exposed to the markets than ever before, they are also saving less than they were before Covid-19. Meanwhile, the fact that the normal market cycle has been so stretched out — putting aside the brief V-shaped dip of the pandemic, it has been 15 years since the US and the world had a synchronised recession — means that a downturn would probably have a bigger impact than previous ones.

What would the political ramifications of all this be? More populism at home, certainly, but also perhaps some fundamental changes to the global financial system. I could imagine, for example, that China and its allies might use such a moment to go to the IMF and negotiate for a move away from the dollar-backed system to something more globally balanced. Certainly, it’s easier to make the argument for such a shift if that system is seen as being politically compromised.

While crony capitalism may yield short-term gains for some, its long-term costs are high."

https://www.ft.com/content/85fd3200-55b1-4e58-9e6f-613e97a1e36a

#USA #Trump #Economy #Corruption #Kleptocracy #Plutocracy #CronyCapitalism

The Bernhardt Group’s Lobbying for Antofagasta’s Copper and Nickel Mine on the Edge of the Boundary Waters, Q3 2025

The Bernhardt Group, the lobbying shop set up just down the street from the White House by Trump’s former Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt, is now the sole firm lobbying for Antofagasta’s Twin Metals project on the edge of the Boundary Waters (as I noted back in July). The Group’s third quarter disclosure reports income of $110,000 for lobbying on “mine leasing issues” on behalf of Twin Metals. That’s more than double The Bernhardt Group’s Twin Metals Q2 2025 income ($40K), and toward the high end of what other clients pay per quarter.

Bernhardt’s firm has been lobbying for the Twin Metals project in both the House and the Senate and at the White House, the Department of the Interior, and, notably, DOJ. (I am a little surprised that there is no mention here of the Department of Agriculture.) At DOJ, The Bernhardt Group was likely helping to devise and coordinate the legal strategy that saw the federal government do an about-face, join forces with Twin Metals, and get the case before the DC Circuit put on ice.

It’s worth reading this latest disclosure in light of a piece by Brendan Bordelon, Amanda Chu, and Caitlin Oprysko that appeared a couple of days ago in Politico, about the reduced influence of non-Trump affiliated lobbying firms and the concentration of lobbying in one place: the presidency. The article offers a K-Street perspective on Congress’ abdication, the destruction of the administrative state, and the rise of a corrupt personalist regime.

The president and a handful of lieutenants have seized full control over policies once considered the remit of Congress and experts at agencies, including hyperspecific issues like tariff rates, high-skilled visa fees and funding freezes. Trump’s gravitational pull has forced CEOs to act as their companies’ top lobbyists, plying the president with gifts and concessions to secure their policy priorities. [emphasis mine]

Let’s pause here for clarification. These policies were not just “once considered the remit of Congress and experts at agencies.” They are lawfully the remit of Congress, but Congress remains supine or, worse, bent over and taking it. Meanwhile, the administration is ridding itself of all those pesky experts at the agencies and conducting sloppy and unlawful “reviews” of its own, as the Department of Agriculture recently did with the Rainy River watershed withdrawal.

Politico puts it more politely than I ever could, but the thrust of the reporting here is no less troubling. As Sam Bagenstos remarked yesterday, “per [Politico], the lobbyists are basically treating Article I as dead.”

The new dynamic has transformed the business of Washington influence, shutting out many veteran lobbyists and excluding even longtime experts from the most important policy fights in Washington. With Congress and the agencies often sidelined, outside lobbying firms and in-house specialists — many with decades of policy experience and cross-party relationships — are declining in importance….

The legislative branch is losing importance as Republicans — in charge of both chambers — take their cues from the White House to a degree that’s unprecedented in modern politics.

“Congress has basically taken itself out of the equation,” said Rich Gold, a Democrat who heads lobbying and law firm Holland & Knight’s public policy and regulation group. “There is a perception that Democrats have not fought back, and Republicans have basically ceded all their authority to the president.”

The same is true at federal agencies, which once operated more independently but are now closely responsive to the president himself.

From K Street’s point of view, there’s only one lever consistently worth pulling — and it sits in the Oval Office.

But rest assured: the lobbying world is adapting.

Despite the upheaval on K Street, Washington’s lobbying sector is on track to earn more money than in any year since 2010, adjusted for inflation — driven by corporations’ mix of enthusiasm and concern about what Trump is doing.

That revenue is flowing away from established firms with policy expertise and robust networks of cross-party contacts, and toward a handful of rising firms able to open the Oval Office door.

The Bernhardt Group is, of course, one such firm.

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#abdication #corruption #governmentCapture #governmentCollapse #kleptocracy #lobbying #personalistRegime #resourceHoarding #Water

We literally have the best government money can buy, and our nation, our very survival depends on unflinchingly addressing this pugnacious problem of money as free speech foisted on us by the unaccountable SCOTUS, “Repugnicans” and Corporate Democrats.

Founder of #TheLever, #DavidSirota joins #TheMajorityReport's #EmmaVigeland to discuss his new book, “MASTER PLAN: The Hidden Plot to Legalize Corruption in America”

#US #Economics #Politics #SCOTUS #CitizensUnited #Corporatocracy #Oligarchy #Kleptocracy #Illiberal #AntiDemocratic #Monopolistic
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRyS1goUc5s

The Boundary Waters Litigation is on Hold, Again.

I’ve been traveling for the past week or so, and haven’t had a chance until this morning to publish these latest filings in Twin Metals v. US. (For background, see this, this, this, and this, among many other posts.)

As those who have been following the case are aware, in March of 2025, just a month after he was sworn in, Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum did an about-face and joined the plaintiffs (a foreign mining company with plans to mine nickel and copper on the edge of the Boundary Waters). At the time, the parties requested that this case be put on hold, or held in abeyance. A group of small businesses and non-profits involved in the case as Defendant-Intervenors that I have been calling the Civil Society group did not join the government in that request.

The motion for abeyance granted (back in July), Burgum and the mining company’s lawyers and lobbyists then had 90 days to find a way around the provisions and protections put in place by the Biden administration. Those 90 days have nearly come and gone. So on October 1 they requested and on October 7 the court granted another 180 days.

Antofagasta and its lawyers appear to have realized a while ago that they are unlikely to prevail in a court of law, so the company has been seeking delays at the DC Circuit while looking for political answers to its problems. This is a theme I’ve been trying to stress in my posts on this subject (e.g., this one, from 2023).

90 days was not nearly enough time to do all they had to do. Consider just a couple of highlights (or lowlights) from this past summer. Pete Stauber failed to smuggle a Boundary Waters blowout sale into the budget bill, but Interior managed to revoke the legal opinion that recognized the federal government’s authority to say “no” to the mining company. (That legal work had mostly already been done by solicitor Daniel Jorjani in the first year of the first Trump administration.)

Now Doug Burgum and the mining company lawyers and lobbyists need to find a way to revive the Chilean conglomerate’s cancelled leases and do something about the preference right lease applications that the previous administration denied. That will ultimately require doing something about the 20-year Rainy River watershed mineral withdrawal, which Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins claims a “review” determined to be unnecessary.

The federal government is currently shut down and the case in the DC Circuit Court of Appeals is now on hold until April, 2026. For the sake of good housekeeping, here are the court documents.

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#corruption #cronyCapitalism #cronyism #kleptocracy #oligarchy #pollution #resourceHoarding #Water

Where lawful corporate governance ends and the personalist regime begins

I embarrassed myself when, back in January, I asked whether wind energy investors had standing to sue the Trump administration over a presidential memorandum pausing all federal approvals for wind power development. I was suffering at the time from the delusion — common to most writers, I suppose — that readers would respond or at least consider the point. Instead, crickets. I guess it was what the experts would call a dumb question, which wouldn’t be the first one I’ve asked and won’t be the last, or it just wasn’t the sort of thing that grabs people’s attention nowadays. (I would never claim to have my finger on the popular pulse.) In any case, it was a failed bid.

I was, however, on to something. I just didn’t know what, but now I think I have a slightly better idea. It’s not only that Trump’s Quixotic madness about windmills has been on full display ever since; “adverse market development in the US,” as an Ørsted executive euphemistically puts it, has interrupted big projects like Empire Wind and sent wind energy stocks plummeting. It’s also that Trump continues to assert his (unlawful) prerogative to control and extort companies, whole industries, and markets.

Acting arbitrarily, corruptly (witness the Paramount or Tim Cook bribes), and with undisguised prejudice, Trump is trying to replace the invisible hand that we were supposed to believe was at work in the free market with his own bruised, rotting Chaos Monkey paw.

He has reserved for his regime a “golden share” as a condition for approving deals (auguring “a ‘meaningful shift’ in America’s approach to capital markets,” as a writer in the FT delicately puts it), spooked investors by calling unflattering economic data rigged, imposed import and export taxes with unfair exemptions for cronies and flatterers, arrogated to himself powers reserved for boards (witness the call, last week, for the CEO of Intel to step down), and repeatedly offended shareholder rights and prerogatives.

L’actionnaire c’est moi, or something like that, and though boards have gotten very good at ignoring ordinary investors, they are hardly known for standing up to this kind of political pressure. As for CEOs, they have shown that they are all too ready to capitulate and collude.

This non-stop chaos, oafish meddling, and strong-arm interference may at times look clownish, but it will have serious consequences. Sure, it creates “uncertainty” (the rhetorical fig leaf the business press uses when the Chaos Monkey exposes himself), and of course it will lead to misallocation of capital. But that’s hardly the main trouble.

It marks the spot where lawful corporate governance (such as we knew it) ends and the personalist regime begins.

Greg Ip, with whom I usually disagree, appears to make a fair point when he calls this “State Capitalism with American Characteristics,” but I would prefer State Capitalism with Coherent Industrial Policy to to what we actually have, and Ip’s label doesn’t quite capture the personalist element: L’etat c’est moi donc l’actionnaire c’est moi, or something like that.

Let’s just say that it looks like we are heading for — or perhaps we are already in the throes of — a full-blown governance crisis. It may already be too late to push back, but it sure would be nice to see boards and big institutional investors try.

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#AAPL #DNNGY #INTC #PARA #autocracy #capitalMarkets #corpgov #corporateGovernance #corruption #cronyism #freeMarkets #kakistocracy #kleptocracy #liberty #personalism #personalistRegime #ruleOfLaw #shareholderRights

Michael Nedd’s BLM Calendar, From Election Day 2016 through the Inaugural Period

Back in 2019, I made a Freedom of Information Act request for the work calendar of Michael Nedd, a longtime Bureau of Land Management official, for the months following the 2016 election through the inaugural period. The documents were released just the other day, six years and four months after I submitted the FOIA request.

Nedd had been promoted from Executive Director, Energy Minerals and Management to Deputy Director at the Bureau of Land Management in March of 2017, just a couple of months after Trump took office. He would have been privy, I imagined, to any discussions of Twin Metals’ canceled mineral leases and the full-court-press flurry to renew them. I thought his work calendar might help me fill out the Timeline I made of that coordinated effort or help me reconstruct what was happening behind closed doors at BLM.

Upon review, these documents do not seem all that helpful in that regard. For example, the Timeline indicates that on February 7, 2017, Nedd forwards a briefing paper on land withdrawals to his colleagues; no surprise, his calendar for that day shows a “Land Withdrawal Proposal Discussion.” In my view, all this does is drive home a point I’ve made many times, that reversing land withdrawals was a priority for the incoming administration. And we already have Nedd’s calendar for April of 2017, when he met with then-solicitor Daniel Jorjani and other officials to discuss “Mining in Minnesota.” Or at least we had that calendar, but the link (to a domain called altgov2) has now gone dead. Well, not exactly dead: it’s a tarted-up 404 Page, occupied by “affiliate marketers.” I’m not going to bother linking to it, but if you want to see what I’m talking about, just go to the entry for April 10th on the Twin Metals Timeline and click the link to Nedd’s calendar.) It’s been a while, and, contrary to popular wisdom, the Internet is not forever.

So why put these documents up now? Circumstances have changed. The threat to the Boundary Waters looks even more menacing than it did during Trump’s first term, and we should be paying attention to what’s going on now, not what happened eight or more years ago, right?

What’s more, Michael Nedd was frog marched out of BLM’s office back in May, 2025, for telling employees to ignore a DOGE directive. (Politico has the details here; the Washington Post also has a story; I’ll note in passing that it’s classic Politico to report Nedd’s ouster, which is part of the clumsily executed destruction of modern American government that we’re witnessing, as a threat to Trump’s fossil fuel agenda.) Though Nedd is still listed on the BLM website as Deputy Director, Greenwire reports that Joe Stout has now replaced him as Acting Deputy Director. Things are unclear: there may be litigation underway or some reinstatement in the works. (After all, the DC kleptocrats wouldn’t want to do anything to threaten that fossil fuel agenda).

Anyway, I put these records up now because a) they arrived, so I might as well acknowledge the response; b) they help fill out the public record for a critical period; c) someone else might find these records useful; and d) I have a chance to test out Muckrock’s DocumentCloud plugin for WordPress — which I have not used until now.

In order to upload the 2000-plus-page calendar to documentcloud.org, I had to break it into two parts.

Part 1.

Part 2.

Postscript 30 August 2025: Results from the plugin experiment are mixed. Right now, it looks as if the documentcloud server is returning a 500 error. The docs, if you want them, are here.

Postcript 2, 9 Sept 2025. 1) It turns out the 500 error only shows up when I try to view the documents on Chrome, on my laptop. The plugin works just fine on Safari and Firefox. And when I emailed Sanjin Ibrahimovic at Muckrock to ask about all this, he said he could not replicate the 500 error, even when viewing the post in Chrome. So, who knows? I speculated that it might be an extension I’m running on Chrome. As long as people can access the documents, all is well, I guess. 2) On Chris D’Amico‘s suggestion, I tried looking at the post in an incognito window. And I can see the docs just fine.

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#antiScience #bureaucracy #climateDenial #corruption #FOIA #FreedomOfInformationAct #kleptocracy #Muckrock #publicRecord #recordKeeping #Water #Wordpress

On Feb. 5, #Trump’s #DOJ said it was closing the investigation into the diary. Ms. Fago & Ms. Walczak were not charged, nor was anyone from #ProjectVeritas.

In the meantime, a #pardon application was submitted on Mr. Walczak’s behalf. It suggested that Donald Trump Jr., as well as Ms. Guilfoyle & other Trump allies, supported his clemency.

#criminal #law #USpol #MafiaState #plutocracy #kleptocracy

Kurlander & Harris would later plead #guilty, admitting to conspiring to steal, transport & sell the diary to #ProjectVeritas. Ms. Harris was sentenced to one month in prison. Mr. Kurlander is scheduled to be sentenced next month.

When #Trump won the presidency for a second time, it offered hope to Project Veritas, Ms. Fago & Mr. Walczak.

#criminal #law #USpol #MafiaState #plutocracy #kleptocracy

The #FBI did not retrieve the diary [because it was stolen FFS]. Instead, Kurlander & Harris entered negotiations to provide it to #ProjectVeritas, a #Trump-allied undercover *media* group [foumd in a court to not be media] that had been tipped to the diary’s existence by Stephanie Walczak, Ms. Fago’s daughter.

#criminal #law #USpol #MafiaState #plutocracy #kleptocracy

The #corruption is overwhelming

#Trump Pardoned #TaxCheat After Mother Attended $1 Million Dinner

#PaulWalczak’s #pardon application cited his mother’s support for Trump, including raising millions of dollars & a connection to a plot to publicize a Biden family diary.

#law #USpol #plutocracy #kleptocracy
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/27/us/politics/trump-pardon-paul-walczak-tax-crimes.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare&sgrp=p&pvid=212B8F5D-CA9A-4035-999B-5C9AC5F92D99

"#DOGE wants businesses to run #US #government services ‘as much as possible’"

#MailDelivery

#Musk is going to have First Class Parcel Post (if not all mail) taken over by #Amazon and #JeffBezos

OK: don't know about urban ZIP codes, but in the rural (10K residents) ZIP code I live in, the #USPS is already doing last mile delivery for #AmazonPrime

An Amazon truck drops off Amazon Prime parcels at the PO back door and the parcels are carted inside and sorted into delivery routes carried out by USPS drivers

Big problem is, most USPS drivers will not leave their trucks to deliver to front doors - all Prime parcels are dropped atop the street-side mail box stands

But I don't have street mail delivery so I have to get into my car, drive to the Post Office, park, wait in line to get up to the counter, only to be handed a Prime order that UPS would have dropped on my doormat two days earlier

#RichGetRicher #Plutocracy #Corporations #Kleptocracy #Oligarchy #USpol #Law

#DOGE wants businesses to run #US #government services ‘as much as possible’

#ElonMusk’s effort is pushing #privatization — a longtime goal for #Republicans & for #SiliconValley alike — across #FederalAgencies

#Mail delivery. Federal #RealEstate. #ForeignAid grants. The #Trump admin is moving to privatize a sweeping number of govt functions & assets….

#RichGetRicher #Plutocracy #Corporations #Kleptocracy #Oligarchy #USpol #law
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2025/03/30/doge-privatize-government-usps-trump/

The vast island, with a population of just 57k, has been caught up in a geopolitical race for dominance in the #Arctic, where melting #IceCaps are making its #resources more accessible & opening new #shipping routes. Both #Russia & #China have intensified #military activity in the region.

"People want change...We want more business to finance our welfare," said Jens-Frederik Nielsen, #Demokraatit's leader & a former minister of industry & #minerals.

#Greenland #geopolitics #Trump #kleptocracy

#Demokraatit, which favours a slow approach to #independence from #Denmark, secured 29.9% of the votes w/all ballots counted, up from 9.1% in 2021, ahead of the opposition Naleraq party, which favors rapid independence, at 24.5%.

Since taking office, #Trump has vowed to make #Greenland - a semi-autonomous territory of Denmark - part of the #UnitedStates, saying it is vital to #US #security interests, an idea rejected by most Greenlanders.

#geopolitics #kleptocracy #MafiaState #USexpansionism

#Greenland's pro-business opposition #Demokraatit party won Tuesday's closely watched parliamentary #election, beating the incumbent left-wing coalition in a vote dominated by #US President #Trump's threat to take control over the island.

#geopolitics #democracy #authoritarianism #kleptocracy #MafiaState #tyranny #USexpansionism
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/greenland-election-tests-independence-ambitions-us-interest-looms-2025-03-11/

@TomWellborn @0x0ddc0ffee

"Transparency", which the unelected co-president often claims of DOGE, is not a descriptive term, but a fraudulently offered fig leaf intended to subtly dissuade their all-too-trusting followers not to look deeper.

The kind of "inefficiency" they are really seeking to end is not the process inefficiency of these agencies, but the deliberative oversight by Congress that is its protection, and ours, against exactly this kind of smash and grab.

Their hurry is to steal as much as possible as quickly as possible in an irrevocable way, hoping to leave a crippled system that can no longer function to come after them.

Also, they rail against it "entitlement", but they are its poster children.

They are two irony-fisted dictator wannabes.

We must not let them succeed.

#USPolitics #politics #irony #entitlement #entitlements #transparency #kleptocracy #doge #FAA #inefficiency #oversight #SmashAndGrab

FFS

One of #ElonMusk’s closest friends, a #billionaire co-founder of #Airbnb, is taking a role in #Trump’s admin to help Musk carry out his drive to slash the federal bureaucracy….

#JoeGebbia, Airbnb co-founder, is a board member at Tesla who lives in Austin, where Musk, …keeps a large compound. He is planning to start shortly as part of Musk’s team, called #DOGE….

#broligarchy #kleptocracy #plutocracy #USpol
#boycottAirbnb

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/13/us/politics/airbnb-joe-gebbia-musk-doge.html?smid=url-share

How MAGA Was Born: Inside The Rotten Core Of American's Conservative Movement w/ Joe Conason | Thom Hartmann Program
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1PhX-is5XQ

Reading Recommendation: "The longest Con" by Joe Conason

#AmericanConservatism #Nixon #Reagan #Trump #DonTheCon #ConArtists #Politics #RoyCohn #Televangelists #Grifters #ModernRobberBarons #Republicans #Kleptocracy #BillionairCast #WageSlavery #Politics #Law