#oiligarchy — Public Fediverse posts

‘What an #Authoritarian #Oligarchy Looks Like’: #Trump Says #OilExecs Tipped Off About #Venezuela Attack

“I can’t begin to tell you how insane this is,” said one critic. “He did not inform #Congress but he’s saying he informed the #OilCompanies.”

by Jon Queally
Jan 05, 2026

Excerpt: " 'I can’t begin to tell you how insane this is,' said Fred Wellman, an Army combat veteran now running for Congress as a Democrat in Missouri. 'He did not inform Congress, but he’s saying he informed the oil companies.'

" 'Keep in mind who he means,' Wellman added. 'The #billionaire #MegaDonor that just got control of #Citgo. Our service members were used directly to move the interests of Trump’s #donors.'

" 'The oil companies were notified before Congress,' said Melanie D’Arrigo, executive director of the Campaign for New York Health. 'This is what an authoritarian oligarchy looks like.' "

Read more:
https://www.commondreams.org/news/trump-says-oil-companies-tipped-off-venezuela

#MoronDoctrine #Oiligarchy #PaulSinger #USPol #WorldPol #DonroeDoctrine #USImperialism #NoNewWars #NoWar #WarMongers #USWarCrimes #CorporateColonialism #Oiligarchs

‘What an #Authoritarian #Oligarchy Looks Like’: #Trump Says #OilExecs Tipped Off About #Venezuela Attack

“I can’t begin to tell you how insane this is,” said one critic. “He did not inform #Congress but he’s saying he informed the #OilCompanies.”

by Jon Queally
Jan 05, 2026

Excerpt: " 'I can’t begin to tell you how insane this is,' said Fred Wellman, an Army combat veteran now running for Congress as a Democrat in Missouri. 'He did not inform Congress, but he’s saying he informed the oil companies.'

" 'Keep in mind who he means,' Wellman added. 'The #billionaire #MegaDonor that just got control of #Citgo. Our service members were used directly to move the interests of Trump’s #donors.'

" 'The oil companies were notified before Congress,' said Melanie D’Arrigo, executive director of the Campaign for New York Health. 'This is what an authoritarian oligarchy looks like.' "

Read more:
https://www.commondreams.org/news/trump-says-oil-companies-tipped-off-venezuela

#MoronDoctrine #Oiligarchy #PaulSinger #USPol #WorldPol #DonroeDoctrine #USImperialism #NoNewWars #NoWar #WarMongers #USWarCrimes #CorporateColonialism #Oiligarchs

‘What an #Authoritarian #Oligarchy Looks Like’: #Trump Says #OilExecs Tipped Off About #Venezuela Attack

“I can’t begin to tell you how insane this is,” said one critic. “He did not inform #Congress but he’s saying he informed the #OilCompanies.”

by Jon Queally
Jan 05, 2026

Excerpt: " 'I can’t begin to tell you how insane this is,' said Fred Wellman, an Army combat veteran now running for Congress as a Democrat in Missouri. 'He did not inform Congress, but he’s saying he informed the oil companies.'

" 'Keep in mind who he means,' Wellman added. 'The #billionaire #MegaDonor that just got control of #Citgo. Our service members were used directly to move the interests of Trump’s #donors.'

" 'The oil companies were notified before Congress,' said Melanie D’Arrigo, executive director of the Campaign for New York Health. 'This is what an authoritarian oligarchy looks like.' "

Read more:
https://www.commondreams.org/news/trump-says-oil-companies-tipped-off-venezuela

#MoronDoctrine #Oiligarchy #PaulSinger #USPol #WorldPol #DonroeDoctrine #USImperialism #NoNewWars #NoWar #WarMongers #USWarCrimes #CorporateColonialism #Oiligarchs

‘What an #Authoritarian #Oligarchy Looks Like’: #Trump Says #OilExecs Tipped Off About #Venezuela Attack

“I can’t begin to tell you how insane this is,” said one critic. “He did not inform #Congress but he’s saying he informed the #OilCompanies.”

by Jon Queally
Jan 05, 2026

Excerpt: " 'I can’t begin to tell you how insane this is,' said Fred Wellman, an Army combat veteran now running for Congress as a Democrat in Missouri. 'He did not inform Congress, but he’s saying he informed the oil companies.'

" 'Keep in mind who he means,' Wellman added. 'The #billionaire #MegaDonor that just got control of #Citgo. Our service members were used directly to move the interests of Trump’s #donors.'

" 'The oil companies were notified before Congress,' said Melanie D’Arrigo, executive director of the Campaign for New York Health. 'This is what an authoritarian oligarchy looks like.' "

Read more:
https://www.commondreams.org/news/trump-says-oil-companies-tipped-off-venezuela

#MoronDoctrine #Oiligarchy #PaulSinger #USPol #WorldPol #DonroeDoctrine #USImperialism #NoNewWars #NoWar #WarMongers #USWarCrimes #CorporateColonialism #Oiligarchs

‘What an #Authoritarian #Oligarchy Looks Like’: #Trump Says #OilExecs Tipped Off About #Venezuela Attack

“I can’t begin to tell you how insane this is,” said one critic. “He did not inform #Congress but he’s saying he informed the #OilCompanies.”

by Jon Queally
Jan 05, 2026

Excerpt: " 'I can’t begin to tell you how insane this is,' said Fred Wellman, an Army combat veteran now running for Congress as a Democrat in Missouri. 'He did not inform Congress, but he’s saying he informed the oil companies.'

" 'Keep in mind who he means,' Wellman added. 'The #billionaire #MegaDonor that just got control of #Citgo. Our service members were used directly to move the interests of Trump’s #donors.'

" 'The oil companies were notified before Congress,' said Melanie D’Arrigo, executive director of the Campaign for New York Health. 'This is what an authoritarian oligarchy looks like.' "

Read more:
https://www.commondreams.org/news/trump-says-oil-companies-tipped-off-venezuela

#MoronDoctrine #Oiligarchy #PaulSinger #USPol #WorldPol #DonroeDoctrine #USImperialism #NoNewWars #NoWar #WarMongers #USWarCrimes #CorporateColonialism #Oiligarchs

From 2021... This started before #Trump, but things are way worse now!

#AntiProtestLaws Threaten #Indigenous and #Climate Movements

“#CriticalInfrastructure” laws in over a dozen states wrongly invoke national security to justify targeting #PipelineProtesters.

Kaylana Mueller-Hsia, March 17, 2021

"In 2016 as a member of Congress, #DebHaaland stood for four days in solidarity with protesters at the #StandingRockSioux Reservation against construction of the #DakotaAccessPipeline. Today, as the first #NativeAmerican to be the secretary of the interior — the first to lead any cabinet department — she has the opportunity to support the #FirstAmendment rights of the protesters she joined in the past.

"With her authority over energy development on federal lands, Haaland can be a voice for Indigenous and climate movements facing an urgent threat: the rapid spread of laws to protect 'critical infrastructure' that single out activists.

"Since 2016, 13 states have quietly enacted laws that increase criminal penalties for trespassing, damage, and interference with infrastructure sites such as oil refineries and pipelines. At least five more states have already introduced similar legislation this year. These laws draw from national security legislation enacted after 9/11 to protect physical infrastructure considered so 'vital' that the 'incapacity or destruction of such systems and assets would have a debilitating impact on security, national economic security, national public health or safety.'

"Many industry sectors are designated critical infrastructure, including food and agriculture, energy, water and wastewater, and communications, but most state critical infrastructure laws focus more narrowly on oil and gas #pipelines. While protecting critical infrastructure is a legitimate government function, these laws clearly target environmental and Indigenous activists by significantly raising the penalties for participating in or even tangentially supporting pipeline trespassing and property damage, crimes that are already illegal. Many laws are modelled on draft legislation prepared by the American Legislative Exchange Council, also known as #ALEC, a powerful lobbying group funded by #FossilFuel companies like #ExxonMobil and #Shell.

"Central to the new critical infrastructure laws are increased criminal penalties and vague, broad definitions that could discourage protest and particularly, nonviolent civil disobedience. Many laws make any 'damage' to or 'interference' with a facility deemed critical infrastructure a felony. Under #Ohio’s law, trespass with the purpose of 'tampering' with a facility is a third degree felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine. In Indiana, a felony conviction is applied for any facility trespass, a crime that is typically a misdemeanor or fine.

"Vague language like 'damage,' 'tamper,' and 'impede' in critical infrastructure laws makes it unclear if, for example, knocking down #SafetyCones and starting a fire next to a natural gas facility are the same under the law. Many critical infrastructure laws do not clarify if they apply only to land a company fully owns or also to pipeline easements, which run through both public and private lands. At least some laws apply to both. Only a week after Louisiana’s critical infrastructure law was enacted, opponents of the Bayou Bridge pipeline were charged with trespassing for boating on public waters on the border of a pipeline easement.

"The combination of overly broad language and steep penalties in critical infrastructure laws make it likely that future activists and supporting organizations will be discouraged from exercising their First Amendment-protected protest rights. A lawsuit brought in response to the #BayouBridge charges will test the laws for the first time on First Amendment grounds.

"Many of these laws even extend beyond the protesters. In a proposed law in #Minnesota, anyone who 'recruits, trains, aids, advises, hires, counsels, or conspires' someone to trespass without a 'reasonable effort' to prevent the trespassing is guilty of a gross misdemeanor. In #Oklahoma organizations that conspire with perpetrators are liable to be fined up to $1 million. These laws may infringe on the freedom of association protected under the First Amendment. Indeed, the Supreme Court ruled that the illegal actions of a few individuals do not implicate an entire group.

"The criminalization of environmental protest is fueled by federal security agencies and oil and gas companies, who are often major political donors. For years, the Department of #HomelandSecurity and the Federal Bureau of Investigation have labelled activists at infrastructure sites as #DomesticTerrorists and violent extremists in order to justify further #surveillance and #policing. Government documents have been released that detail the FBI’s focus on '#AnimalRights / #EnvironmentalExtremism,' describing even #NonviolentProtesters as #extremists.

"At Standing Rock, a private security firm [#Blackwater] hired by the pipeline companies consistently referred to protesters as 'terrorists' while working with law enforcement. Ahead of the #KeystoneXLPipeline protests in 2018, #DHS agents held an '#AntiTerrorism training' for state and local authorities. In contrast, members of the #FarRight militant group the #ThreePercenters have established a significant presence at oil and gas plants with little law enforcement reaction.

"To be sure, as the recent power outages in Texas showed so vividly, the United States needs reliable energy. But it’s questionable whether pipeline construction sites that could feasibly be moved or replaced with renewable energy sources should legitimately be considered 'vital' to the energy grid. Furthermore, a singular focus on this aspect of security comes at the cost of others. Whose essential resources do pipeline projects protect and whose do they threaten? Black Americans are disproportionately likely to live near natural #GasPipelines and experience higher #CancerRisk due to unclean air. An oil spill from the Dakota Access Pipeline could devastate the #SiouxTribe’s water source. Meanwhile, on some reservations, 10 percent of households lack electricity and as many as 40 percent of households must haul water and use outhouses. The well-being of these communities must count too.

"The rise in critical infrastructure laws may foreshadow more anti-protest legislation to come. A similar wave of anti-protest laws has already begun in response to the 2020 #BlackLivesMatter protests. State legislators contemplating critical infrastructure laws should bear in mind that laws that criminalize trespassing and protect the safety of construction workers and law enforcement already exist. Critical infrastructure laws don’t fill an unmet need — they only raise the penalties for specific groups of people. Courts adjudicating #FirstAmendment challenges in the coming years should recognize that these laws are overbroad and impose disproportionately severe penalties that chill freedom of assembly and association.

"As secretary of the interior, Haaland promises to uplift the voices of Indigenous and climate protesters in the Biden administration. State legislators, law enforcement, and the fossil fuel industry should follow suit and listen to these activists rather than suppressing constitutionally protected activity under the guise of national security."

Source:
https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/anti-protest-laws-threaten-indigenous-and-climate-movements

#BrennanCenter #Authoritarianism #Fascism #NoDAPL #NoKXL #PipelineProtests #WaterIsLife #ACAB #ErikPrince #BigOilAndGas #Oiligarchy #CorporateColonialism #EnvironmentalRacism #WaterIsLife #AirIsLife #ExxonLied #Blackwater #StandWithStandingRock #StandingRockSioux

From 2021... This started before #Trump, but things are way worse now!

#AntiProtestLaws Threaten #Indigenous and #Climate Movements

“#CriticalInfrastructure” laws in over a dozen states wrongly invoke national security to justify targeting #PipelineProtesters.

Kaylana Mueller-Hsia, March 17, 2021

"In 2016 as a member of Congress, #DebHaaland stood for four days in solidarity with protesters at the #StandingRockSioux Reservation against construction of the #DakotaAccessPipeline. Today, as the first #NativeAmerican to be the secretary of the interior — the first to lead any cabinet department — she has the opportunity to support the #FirstAmendment rights of the protesters she joined in the past.

"With her authority over energy development on federal lands, Haaland can be a voice for Indigenous and climate movements facing an urgent threat: the rapid spread of laws to protect 'critical infrastructure' that single out activists.

"Since 2016, 13 states have quietly enacted laws that increase criminal penalties for trespassing, damage, and interference with infrastructure sites such as oil refineries and pipelines. At least five more states have already introduced similar legislation this year. These laws draw from national security legislation enacted after 9/11 to protect physical infrastructure considered so 'vital' that the 'incapacity or destruction of such systems and assets would have a debilitating impact on security, national economic security, national public health or safety.'

"Many industry sectors are designated critical infrastructure, including food and agriculture, energy, water and wastewater, and communications, but most state critical infrastructure laws focus more narrowly on oil and gas #pipelines. While protecting critical infrastructure is a legitimate government function, these laws clearly target environmental and Indigenous activists by significantly raising the penalties for participating in or even tangentially supporting pipeline trespassing and property damage, crimes that are already illegal. Many laws are modelled on draft legislation prepared by the American Legislative Exchange Council, also known as #ALEC, a powerful lobbying group funded by #FossilFuel companies like #ExxonMobil and #Shell.

"Central to the new critical infrastructure laws are increased criminal penalties and vague, broad definitions that could discourage protest and particularly, nonviolent civil disobedience. Many laws make any 'damage' to or 'interference' with a facility deemed critical infrastructure a felony. Under #Ohio’s law, trespass with the purpose of 'tampering' with a facility is a third degree felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine. In Indiana, a felony conviction is applied for any facility trespass, a crime that is typically a misdemeanor or fine.

"Vague language like 'damage,' 'tamper,' and 'impede' in critical infrastructure laws makes it unclear if, for example, knocking down #SafetyCones and starting a fire next to a natural gas facility are the same under the law. Many critical infrastructure laws do not clarify if they apply only to land a company fully owns or also to pipeline easements, which run through both public and private lands. At least some laws apply to both. Only a week after Louisiana’s critical infrastructure law was enacted, opponents of the Bayou Bridge pipeline were charged with trespassing for boating on public waters on the border of a pipeline easement.

"The combination of overly broad language and steep penalties in critical infrastructure laws make it likely that future activists and supporting organizations will be discouraged from exercising their First Amendment-protected protest rights. A lawsuit brought in response to the #BayouBridge charges will test the laws for the first time on First Amendment grounds.

"Many of these laws even extend beyond the protesters. In a proposed law in #Minnesota, anyone who 'recruits, trains, aids, advises, hires, counsels, or conspires' someone to trespass without a 'reasonable effort' to prevent the trespassing is guilty of a gross misdemeanor. In #Oklahoma organizations that conspire with perpetrators are liable to be fined up to $1 million. These laws may infringe on the freedom of association protected under the First Amendment. Indeed, the Supreme Court ruled that the illegal actions of a few individuals do not implicate an entire group.

"The criminalization of environmental protest is fueled by federal security agencies and oil and gas companies, who are often major political donors. For years, the Department of #HomelandSecurity and the Federal Bureau of Investigation have labelled activists at infrastructure sites as #DomesticTerrorists and violent extremists in order to justify further #surveillance and #policing. Government documents have been released that detail the FBI’s focus on '#AnimalRights / #EnvironmentalExtremism,' describing even #NonviolentProtesters as #extremists.

"At Standing Rock, a private security firm [#Blackwater] hired by the pipeline companies consistently referred to protesters as 'terrorists' while working with law enforcement. Ahead of the #KeystoneXLPipeline protests in 2018, #DHS agents held an '#AntiTerrorism training' for state and local authorities. In contrast, members of the #FarRight militant group the #ThreePercenters have established a significant presence at oil and gas plants with little law enforcement reaction.

"To be sure, as the recent power outages in Texas showed so vividly, the United States needs reliable energy. But it’s questionable whether pipeline construction sites that could feasibly be moved or replaced with renewable energy sources should legitimately be considered 'vital' to the energy grid. Furthermore, a singular focus on this aspect of security comes at the cost of others. Whose essential resources do pipeline projects protect and whose do they threaten? Black Americans are disproportionately likely to live near natural #GasPipelines and experience higher #CancerRisk due to unclean air. An oil spill from the Dakota Access Pipeline could devastate the #SiouxTribe’s water source. Meanwhile, on some reservations, 10 percent of households lack electricity and as many as 40 percent of households must haul water and use outhouses. The well-being of these communities must count too.

"The rise in critical infrastructure laws may foreshadow more anti-protest legislation to come. A similar wave of anti-protest laws has already begun in response to the 2020 #BlackLivesMatter protests. State legislators contemplating critical infrastructure laws should bear in mind that laws that criminalize trespassing and protect the safety of construction workers and law enforcement already exist. Critical infrastructure laws don’t fill an unmet need — they only raise the penalties for specific groups of people. Courts adjudicating #FirstAmendment challenges in the coming years should recognize that these laws are overbroad and impose disproportionately severe penalties that chill freedom of assembly and association.

"As secretary of the interior, Haaland promises to uplift the voices of Indigenous and climate protesters in the Biden administration. State legislators, law enforcement, and the fossil fuel industry should follow suit and listen to these activists rather than suppressing constitutionally protected activity under the guise of national security."

Source:
https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/anti-protest-laws-threaten-indigenous-and-climate-movements

#BrennanCenter #Authoritarianism #Fascism #NoDAPL #NoKXL #PipelineProtests #WaterIsLife #ACAB #ErikPrince #BigOilAndGas #Oiligarchy #CorporateColonialism #EnvironmentalRacism #WaterIsLife #AirIsLife #ExxonLied #Blackwater #StandWithStandingRock #StandingRockSioux

From 2021... This started before #Trump, but things are way worse now!

#AntiProtestLaws Threaten #Indigenous and #Climate Movements

“#CriticalInfrastructure” laws in over a dozen states wrongly invoke national security to justify targeting #PipelineProtesters.

Kaylana Mueller-Hsia, March 17, 2021

"In 2016 as a member of Congress, #DebHaaland stood for four days in solidarity with protesters at the #StandingRockSioux Reservation against construction of the #DakotaAccessPipeline. Today, as the first #NativeAmerican to be the secretary of the interior — the first to lead any cabinet department — she has the opportunity to support the #FirstAmendment rights of the protesters she joined in the past.

"With her authority over energy development on federal lands, Haaland can be a voice for Indigenous and climate movements facing an urgent threat: the rapid spread of laws to protect 'critical infrastructure' that single out activists.

"Since 2016, 13 states have quietly enacted laws that increase criminal penalties for trespassing, damage, and interference with infrastructure sites such as oil refineries and pipelines. At least five more states have already introduced similar legislation this year. These laws draw from national security legislation enacted after 9/11 to protect physical infrastructure considered so 'vital' that the 'incapacity or destruction of such systems and assets would have a debilitating impact on security, national economic security, national public health or safety.'

"Many industry sectors are designated critical infrastructure, including food and agriculture, energy, water and wastewater, and communications, but most state critical infrastructure laws focus more narrowly on oil and gas #pipelines. While protecting critical infrastructure is a legitimate government function, these laws clearly target environmental and Indigenous activists by significantly raising the penalties for participating in or even tangentially supporting pipeline trespassing and property damage, crimes that are already illegal. Many laws are modelled on draft legislation prepared by the American Legislative Exchange Council, also known as #ALEC, a powerful lobbying group funded by #FossilFuel companies like #ExxonMobil and #Shell.

"Central to the new critical infrastructure laws are increased criminal penalties and vague, broad definitions that could discourage protest and particularly, nonviolent civil disobedience. Many laws make any 'damage' to or 'interference' with a facility deemed critical infrastructure a felony. Under #Ohio’s law, trespass with the purpose of 'tampering' with a facility is a third degree felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine. In Indiana, a felony conviction is applied for any facility trespass, a crime that is typically a misdemeanor or fine.

"Vague language like 'damage,' 'tamper,' and 'impede' in critical infrastructure laws makes it unclear if, for example, knocking down #SafetyCones and starting a fire next to a natural gas facility are the same under the law. Many critical infrastructure laws do not clarify if they apply only to land a company fully owns or also to pipeline easements, which run through both public and private lands. At least some laws apply to both. Only a week after Louisiana’s critical infrastructure law was enacted, opponents of the Bayou Bridge pipeline were charged with trespassing for boating on public waters on the border of a pipeline easement.

"The combination of overly broad language and steep penalties in critical infrastructure laws make it likely that future activists and supporting organizations will be discouraged from exercising their First Amendment-protected protest rights. A lawsuit brought in response to the #BayouBridge charges will test the laws for the first time on First Amendment grounds.

"Many of these laws even extend beyond the protesters. In a proposed law in #Minnesota, anyone who 'recruits, trains, aids, advises, hires, counsels, or conspires' someone to trespass without a 'reasonable effort' to prevent the trespassing is guilty of a gross misdemeanor. In #Oklahoma organizations that conspire with perpetrators are liable to be fined up to $1 million. These laws may infringe on the freedom of association protected under the First Amendment. Indeed, the Supreme Court ruled that the illegal actions of a few individuals do not implicate an entire group.

"The criminalization of environmental protest is fueled by federal security agencies and oil and gas companies, who are often major political donors. For years, the Department of #HomelandSecurity and the Federal Bureau of Investigation have labelled activists at infrastructure sites as #DomesticTerrorists and violent extremists in order to justify further #surveillance and #policing. Government documents have been released that detail the FBI’s focus on '#AnimalRights / #EnvironmentalExtremism,' describing even #NonviolentProtesters as #extremists.

"At Standing Rock, a private security firm [#Blackwater] hired by the pipeline companies consistently referred to protesters as 'terrorists' while working with law enforcement. Ahead of the #KeystoneXLPipeline protests in 2018, #DHS agents held an '#AntiTerrorism training' for state and local authorities. In contrast, members of the #FarRight militant group the #ThreePercenters have established a significant presence at oil and gas plants with little law enforcement reaction.

"To be sure, as the recent power outages in Texas showed so vividly, the United States needs reliable energy. But it’s questionable whether pipeline construction sites that could feasibly be moved or replaced with renewable energy sources should legitimately be considered 'vital' to the energy grid. Furthermore, a singular focus on this aspect of security comes at the cost of others. Whose essential resources do pipeline projects protect and whose do they threaten? Black Americans are disproportionately likely to live near natural #GasPipelines and experience higher #CancerRisk due to unclean air. An oil spill from the Dakota Access Pipeline could devastate the #SiouxTribe’s water source. Meanwhile, on some reservations, 10 percent of households lack electricity and as many as 40 percent of households must haul water and use outhouses. The well-being of these communities must count too.

"The rise in critical infrastructure laws may foreshadow more anti-protest legislation to come. A similar wave of anti-protest laws has already begun in response to the 2020 #BlackLivesMatter protests. State legislators contemplating critical infrastructure laws should bear in mind that laws that criminalize trespassing and protect the safety of construction workers and law enforcement already exist. Critical infrastructure laws don’t fill an unmet need — they only raise the penalties for specific groups of people. Courts adjudicating #FirstAmendment challenges in the coming years should recognize that these laws are overbroad and impose disproportionately severe penalties that chill freedom of assembly and association.

"As secretary of the interior, Haaland promises to uplift the voices of Indigenous and climate protesters in the Biden administration. State legislators, law enforcement, and the fossil fuel industry should follow suit and listen to these activists rather than suppressing constitutionally protected activity under the guise of national security."

Source:
https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/anti-protest-laws-threaten-indigenous-and-climate-movements

#BrennanCenter #Authoritarianism #Fascism #NoDAPL #NoKXL #PipelineProtests #WaterIsLife #ACAB #ErikPrince #BigOilAndGas #Oiligarchy #CorporateColonialism #EnvironmentalRacism #WaterIsLife #AirIsLife #ExxonLied #Blackwater #StandWithStandingRock #StandingRockSioux

"#Ethics experts said #ClarenceThomas’ undisclosed ties to the #Koch network could call his impartiality in the case into doubt. This sort of potential conflict is why the judiciary has rules against both political activity and fundraising, they said. 'Parties litigating in the court before #JusticeThomas don’t know the extent of Thomas’ relationship with the parties on the other side,' said James Sample, a Hofstra University law professor who studies judicial ethics. 'You have to be pretty cynical to not think that’s a problem.' "

#OligarchCamp
#BohemianGrove
#SCOTUS
#ImpeachClarenceThomas
#ChevronDoctrine
#NDRC
#KochIndustries
#Oligarchy
#CorruptSCOTUS
#SCOTUSIsCompromised
#Corporatocracy
#Oiligarchy
#EnvironmentalProtections
#BigOilAndGas
#CorporatePolluters
#HeritageFoundation
#ClimateDeniers
#WaterIsLife
#AirIsLife

"#Ethics experts said #ClarenceThomas’ undisclosed ties to the #Koch network could call his impartiality in the case into doubt. This sort of potential conflict is why the judiciary has rules against both political activity and fundraising, they said. 'Parties litigating in the court before #JusticeThomas don’t know the extent of Thomas’ relationship with the parties on the other side,' said James Sample, a Hofstra University law professor who studies judicial ethics. 'You have to be pretty cynical to not think that’s a problem.' "

#OligarchCamp
#BohemianGrove
#SCOTUS
#ImpeachClarenceThomas
#ChevronDoctrine
#NDRC
#KochIndustries
#Oligarchy
#CorruptSCOTUS
#SCOTUSIsCompromised
#Corporatocracy
#Oiligarchy
#EnvironmentalProtections
#BigOilAndGas
#CorporatePolluters
#HeritageFoundation
#ClimateDeniers
#WaterIsLife
#AirIsLife

"#Ethics experts said #ClarenceThomas’ undisclosed ties to the #Koch network could call his impartiality in the case into doubt. This sort of potential conflict is why the judiciary has rules against both political activity and fundraising, they said. 'Parties litigating in the court before #JusticeThomas don’t know the extent of Thomas’ relationship with the parties on the other side,' said James Sample, a Hofstra University law professor who studies judicial ethics. 'You have to be pretty cynical to not think that’s a problem.' "

#OligarchCamp
#BohemianGrove
#SCOTUS
#ImpeachClarenceThomas
#ChevronDoctrine
#NDRC
#KochIndustries
#Oligarchy
#CorruptSCOTUS
#SCOTUSIsCompromised
#Corporatocracy
#Oiligarchy
#EnvironmentalProtections
#BigOilAndGas
#CorporatePolluters
#HeritageFoundation
#ClimateDeniers
#WaterIsLife
#AirIsLife

"#Ethics experts said #ClarenceThomas’ undisclosed ties to the #Koch network could call his impartiality in the case into doubt. This sort of potential conflict is why the judiciary has rules against both political activity and fundraising, they said. 'Parties litigating in the court before #JusticeThomas don’t know the extent of Thomas’ relationship with the parties on the other side,' said James Sample, a Hofstra University law professor who studies judicial ethics. 'You have to be pretty cynical to not think that’s a problem.' "

#OligarchCamp
#BohemianGrove
#SCOTUS
#ImpeachClarenceThomas
#ChevronDoctrine
#NDRC
#KochIndustries
#Oligarchy
#CorruptSCOTUS
#SCOTUSIsCompromised
#Corporatocracy
#Oiligarchy
#EnvironmentalProtections
#BigOilAndGas
#CorporatePolluters
#HeritageFoundation
#ClimateDeniers
#WaterIsLife
#AirIsLife

"#Ethics experts said #ClarenceThomas’ undisclosed ties to the #Koch network could call his impartiality in the case into doubt. This sort of potential conflict is why the judiciary has rules against both political activity and fundraising, they said. 'Parties litigating in the court before #JusticeThomas don’t know the extent of Thomas’ relationship with the parties on the other side,' said James Sample, a Hofstra University law professor who studies judicial ethics. 'You have to be pretty cynical to not think that’s a problem.' "

#OligarchCamp
#BohemianGrove
#SCOTUS
#ImpeachClarenceThomas
#ChevronDoctrine
#NDRC
#KochIndustries
#Oligarchy
#CorruptSCOTUS
#SCOTUSIsCompromised
#Corporatocracy
#Oiligarchy
#EnvironmentalProtections
#BigOilAndGas
#CorporatePolluters
#HeritageFoundation
#ClimateDeniers
#WaterIsLife
#AirIsLife

#ClarenceThomas Secretly Participated in #KochBrothers Network Donor Events

by Joshua Kaplan, Justin Elliott and Alex Mierjeski
Sept. 22, 2023, 5 a.m. EDT

Excerpt: "Thomas has attended at least two Koch donor summits, putting him in the extraordinary position of having helped a political network that has brought multiple cases before the Supreme Court.

" 'In the 15 years since, the Koch network has left a deep imprint on American society. Its advocacy is credited with helping stamp out Republican Party support for combating #ClimateChange, once an issue that drew bipartisan concern. The “full weight of the network” was thrown behind passing the 2017 #TrumpTaxCut, securing a windfall for the Kochs and their donors. And the upcoming Supreme Court term could bring the network a victory it has pursued for years: overturning a major legal precedent known as #Chevron.

"While most Americans aren’t familiar with the 1984 case Chevron v. #NRDC, it’s one of the Supreme Court’s most-cited decisions. Legal scholars sometimes mention it in the same breath as Brown v. Board of Education and Roe v. Wade. In essence, Chevron is about government agencies’ ability to issue regulations. After a law is enacted, it’s generally up to agencies across the government to make detailed rules putting it into effect. The Chevron decision said courts should be hesitant to second-guess the agencies’ determinations. In the years that followed, judges cited Chevron in upholding rules that protect endangered species, speed up the approval process for new cellphone towers and grant benefits to coal miners suffering from black lung.

"The Koch network has challenged Chevron in the courts and its lobbyists have pushed Congress to pass a law nullifying the decision. It has also provided millions of dollars in grants to law professors making the case to overturn it.

"The network’s position has become increasingly popular in recent years. Once broadly supported by academics and judges on the right, Chevron is now anathema to many in the conservative legal movement. And there’s no more prominent convert than Thomas.

"In 2005, Thomas wrote the majority opinion in a case that expanded Chevron’s protections for government agencies. Ten years later, he was openly questioning the doctrine. Then in 2020, Thomas renounced his own earlier decision, writing that he’d determined the doctrine is unconstitutional after all — a rare reversal for a justice with a reputation for being unmovable in his views.

"By last year, Koch network strategists sensed that victory could be at hand. During an internal briefing for network staff, Jorge Lima, a senior vice president at Americans for Prosperity, said the Supreme Court seemed primed to radically change its approach to the issue. The network was trying to find cases that could bring about major changes in the law, according to a video of the meeting obtained by the watchdog group Documented. “We’re doubling down on this strategy,” Lima told the crowd.

"Several months later, the Supreme Court announced it would take up a case, Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, in which Koch network staff attorneys represent the plaintiffs. If Thomas and his colleagues side with them this coming term, Chevron will be overturned once and for all."

Read more:
https://www.propublica.org/article/clarence-thomas-secretly-attended-koch-brothers-donor-events-scotus

#OligarchCamp #BohemianGrove #SCOTUS #ImpeachClarenceThomas #Chevron #ChevronDoctrine #NDRC #KochIndustries #Oligarchy #CorruptSCOTUS #SCOTUSIsCompromised #Corporatocracy #Oiligarchy #EnvironmentalProtections #BigOilAndGas #CorporatePolluters #HeritageFoundation #ClimateDeniers #WaterIsLife #AirIsLife

#ClarenceThomas Secretly Participated in #KochBrothers Network Donor Events

by Joshua Kaplan, Justin Elliott and Alex Mierjeski
Sept. 22, 2023, 5 a.m. EDT

Excerpt: "Thomas has attended at least two Koch donor summits, putting him in the extraordinary position of having helped a political network that has brought multiple cases before the Supreme Court.

" 'In the 15 years since, the Koch network has left a deep imprint on American society. Its advocacy is credited with helping stamp out Republican Party support for combating #ClimateChange, once an issue that drew bipartisan concern. The “full weight of the network” was thrown behind passing the 2017 #TrumpTaxCut, securing a windfall for the Kochs and their donors. And the upcoming Supreme Court term could bring the network a victory it has pursued for years: overturning a major legal precedent known as #Chevron.

"While most Americans aren’t familiar with the 1984 case Chevron v. #NRDC, it’s one of the Supreme Court’s most-cited decisions. Legal scholars sometimes mention it in the same breath as Brown v. Board of Education and Roe v. Wade. In essence, Chevron is about government agencies’ ability to issue regulations. After a law is enacted, it’s generally up to agencies across the government to make detailed rules putting it into effect. The Chevron decision said courts should be hesitant to second-guess the agencies’ determinations. In the years that followed, judges cited Chevron in upholding rules that protect endangered species, speed up the approval process for new cellphone towers and grant benefits to coal miners suffering from black lung.

"The Koch network has challenged Chevron in the courts and its lobbyists have pushed Congress to pass a law nullifying the decision. It has also provided millions of dollars in grants to law professors making the case to overturn it.

"The network’s position has become increasingly popular in recent years. Once broadly supported by academics and judges on the right, Chevron is now anathema to many in the conservative legal movement. And there’s no more prominent convert than Thomas.

"In 2005, Thomas wrote the majority opinion in a case that expanded Chevron’s protections for government agencies. Ten years later, he was openly questioning the doctrine. Then in 2020, Thomas renounced his own earlier decision, writing that he’d determined the doctrine is unconstitutional after all — a rare reversal for a justice with a reputation for being unmovable in his views.

"By last year, Koch network strategists sensed that victory could be at hand. During an internal briefing for network staff, Jorge Lima, a senior vice president at Americans for Prosperity, said the Supreme Court seemed primed to radically change its approach to the issue. The network was trying to find cases that could bring about major changes in the law, according to a video of the meeting obtained by the watchdog group Documented. “We’re doubling down on this strategy,” Lima told the crowd.

"Several months later, the Supreme Court announced it would take up a case, Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, in which Koch network staff attorneys represent the plaintiffs. If Thomas and his colleagues side with them this coming term, Chevron will be overturned once and for all."

Read more:
https://www.propublica.org/article/clarence-thomas-secretly-attended-koch-brothers-donor-events-scotus

#OligarchCamp #BohemianGrove #SCOTUS #ImpeachClarenceThomas #Chevron #ChevronDoctrine #NDRC #KochIndustries #Oligarchy #CorruptSCOTUS #SCOTUSIsCompromised #Corporatocracy #Oiligarchy #EnvironmentalProtections #BigOilAndGas #CorporatePolluters #HeritageFoundation #ClimateDeniers #WaterIsLife #AirIsLife

#ClarenceThomas Secretly Participated in #KochBrothers Network Donor Events

by Joshua Kaplan, Justin Elliott and Alex Mierjeski
Sept. 22, 2023, 5 a.m. EDT

Excerpt: "Thomas has attended at least two Koch donor summits, putting him in the extraordinary position of having helped a political network that has brought multiple cases before the Supreme Court.

" 'In the 15 years since, the Koch network has left a deep imprint on American society. Its advocacy is credited with helping stamp out Republican Party support for combating #ClimateChange, once an issue that drew bipartisan concern. The “full weight of the network” was thrown behind passing the 2017 #TrumpTaxCut, securing a windfall for the Kochs and their donors. And the upcoming Supreme Court term could bring the network a victory it has pursued for years: overturning a major legal precedent known as #Chevron.

"While most Americans aren’t familiar with the 1984 case Chevron v. #NRDC, it’s one of the Supreme Court’s most-cited decisions. Legal scholars sometimes mention it in the same breath as Brown v. Board of Education and Roe v. Wade. In essence, Chevron is about government agencies’ ability to issue regulations. After a law is enacted, it’s generally up to agencies across the government to make detailed rules putting it into effect. The Chevron decision said courts should be hesitant to second-guess the agencies’ determinations. In the years that followed, judges cited Chevron in upholding rules that protect endangered species, speed up the approval process for new cellphone towers and grant benefits to coal miners suffering from black lung.

"The Koch network has challenged Chevron in the courts and its lobbyists have pushed Congress to pass a law nullifying the decision. It has also provided millions of dollars in grants to law professors making the case to overturn it.

"The network’s position has become increasingly popular in recent years. Once broadly supported by academics and judges on the right, Chevron is now anathema to many in the conservative legal movement. And there’s no more prominent convert than Thomas.

"In 2005, Thomas wrote the majority opinion in a case that expanded Chevron’s protections for government agencies. Ten years later, he was openly questioning the doctrine. Then in 2020, Thomas renounced his own earlier decision, writing that he’d determined the doctrine is unconstitutional after all — a rare reversal for a justice with a reputation for being unmovable in his views.

"By last year, Koch network strategists sensed that victory could be at hand. During an internal briefing for network staff, Jorge Lima, a senior vice president at Americans for Prosperity, said the Supreme Court seemed primed to radically change its approach to the issue. The network was trying to find cases that could bring about major changes in the law, according to a video of the meeting obtained by the watchdog group Documented. “We’re doubling down on this strategy,” Lima told the crowd.

"Several months later, the Supreme Court announced it would take up a case, Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, in which Koch network staff attorneys represent the plaintiffs. If Thomas and his colleagues side with them this coming term, Chevron will be overturned once and for all."

Read more:
https://www.propublica.org/article/clarence-thomas-secretly-attended-koch-brothers-donor-events-scotus

#OligarchCamp #BohemianGrove #SCOTUS #ImpeachClarenceThomas #Chevron #ChevronDoctrine #NDRC #KochIndustries #Oligarchy #CorruptSCOTUS #SCOTUSIsCompromised #Corporatocracy #Oiligarchy #EnvironmentalProtections #BigOilAndGas #CorporatePolluters #HeritageFoundation #ClimateDeniers #WaterIsLife #AirIsLife

#ClarenceThomas Secretly Participated in #KochBrothers Network Donor Events

by Joshua Kaplan, Justin Elliott and Alex Mierjeski
Sept. 22, 2023, 5 a.m. EDT

Excerpt: "Thomas has attended at least two Koch donor summits, putting him in the extraordinary position of having helped a political network that has brought multiple cases before the Supreme Court.

" 'In the 15 years since, the Koch network has left a deep imprint on American society. Its advocacy is credited with helping stamp out Republican Party support for combating #ClimateChange, once an issue that drew bipartisan concern. The “full weight of the network” was thrown behind passing the 2017 #TrumpTaxCut, securing a windfall for the Kochs and their donors. And the upcoming Supreme Court term could bring the network a victory it has pursued for years: overturning a major legal precedent known as #Chevron.

"While most Americans aren’t familiar with the 1984 case Chevron v. #NRDC, it’s one of the Supreme Court’s most-cited decisions. Legal scholars sometimes mention it in the same breath as Brown v. Board of Education and Roe v. Wade. In essence, Chevron is about government agencies’ ability to issue regulations. After a law is enacted, it’s generally up to agencies across the government to make detailed rules putting it into effect. The Chevron decision said courts should be hesitant to second-guess the agencies’ determinations. In the years that followed, judges cited Chevron in upholding rules that protect endangered species, speed up the approval process for new cellphone towers and grant benefits to coal miners suffering from black lung.

"The Koch network has challenged Chevron in the courts and its lobbyists have pushed Congress to pass a law nullifying the decision. It has also provided millions of dollars in grants to law professors making the case to overturn it.

"The network’s position has become increasingly popular in recent years. Once broadly supported by academics and judges on the right, Chevron is now anathema to many in the conservative legal movement. And there’s no more prominent convert than Thomas.

"In 2005, Thomas wrote the majority opinion in a case that expanded Chevron’s protections for government agencies. Ten years later, he was openly questioning the doctrine. Then in 2020, Thomas renounced his own earlier decision, writing that he’d determined the doctrine is unconstitutional after all — a rare reversal for a justice with a reputation for being unmovable in his views.

"By last year, Koch network strategists sensed that victory could be at hand. During an internal briefing for network staff, Jorge Lima, a senior vice president at Americans for Prosperity, said the Supreme Court seemed primed to radically change its approach to the issue. The network was trying to find cases that could bring about major changes in the law, according to a video of the meeting obtained by the watchdog group Documented. “We’re doubling down on this strategy,” Lima told the crowd.

"Several months later, the Supreme Court announced it would take up a case, Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, in which Koch network staff attorneys represent the plaintiffs. If Thomas and his colleagues side with them this coming term, Chevron will be overturned once and for all."

Read more:
https://www.propublica.org/article/clarence-thomas-secretly-attended-koch-brothers-donor-events-scotus

#OligarchCamp #BohemianGrove #SCOTUS #ImpeachClarenceThomas #Chevron #ChevronDoctrine #NDRC #KochIndustries #Oligarchy #CorruptSCOTUS #SCOTUSIsCompromised #Corporatocracy #Oiligarchy #EnvironmentalProtections #BigOilAndGas #CorporatePolluters #HeritageFoundation #ClimateDeniers #WaterIsLife #AirIsLife

#ClarenceThomas Secretly Participated in #KochBrothers Network Donor Events

by Joshua Kaplan, Justin Elliott and Alex Mierjeski
Sept. 22, 2023, 5 a.m. EDT

Excerpt: "Thomas has attended at least two Koch donor summits, putting him in the extraordinary position of having helped a political network that has brought multiple cases before the Supreme Court.

" 'In the 15 years since, the Koch network has left a deep imprint on American society. Its advocacy is credited with helping stamp out Republican Party support for combating #ClimateChange, once an issue that drew bipartisan concern. The “full weight of the network” was thrown behind passing the 2017 #TrumpTaxCut, securing a windfall for the Kochs and their donors. And the upcoming Supreme Court term could bring the network a victory it has pursued for years: overturning a major legal precedent known as #Chevron.

"While most Americans aren’t familiar with the 1984 case Chevron v. #NRDC, it’s one of the Supreme Court’s most-cited decisions. Legal scholars sometimes mention it in the same breath as Brown v. Board of Education and Roe v. Wade. In essence, Chevron is about government agencies’ ability to issue regulations. After a law is enacted, it’s generally up to agencies across the government to make detailed rules putting it into effect. The Chevron decision said courts should be hesitant to second-guess the agencies’ determinations. In the years that followed, judges cited Chevron in upholding rules that protect endangered species, speed up the approval process for new cellphone towers and grant benefits to coal miners suffering from black lung.

"The Koch network has challenged Chevron in the courts and its lobbyists have pushed Congress to pass a law nullifying the decision. It has also provided millions of dollars in grants to law professors making the case to overturn it.

"The network’s position has become increasingly popular in recent years. Once broadly supported by academics and judges on the right, Chevron is now anathema to many in the conservative legal movement. And there’s no more prominent convert than Thomas.

"In 2005, Thomas wrote the majority opinion in a case that expanded Chevron’s protections for government agencies. Ten years later, he was openly questioning the doctrine. Then in 2020, Thomas renounced his own earlier decision, writing that he’d determined the doctrine is unconstitutional after all — a rare reversal for a justice with a reputation for being unmovable in his views.

"By last year, Koch network strategists sensed that victory could be at hand. During an internal briefing for network staff, Jorge Lima, a senior vice president at Americans for Prosperity, said the Supreme Court seemed primed to radically change its approach to the issue. The network was trying to find cases that could bring about major changes in the law, according to a video of the meeting obtained by the watchdog group Documented. “We’re doubling down on this strategy,” Lima told the crowd.

"Several months later, the Supreme Court announced it would take up a case, Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, in which Koch network staff attorneys represent the plaintiffs. If Thomas and his colleagues side with them this coming term, Chevron will be overturned once and for all."

Read more:
https://www.propublica.org/article/clarence-thomas-secretly-attended-koch-brothers-donor-events-scotus

#OligarchCamp #BohemianGrove #SCOTUS #ImpeachClarenceThomas #Chevron #ChevronDoctrine #NDRC #KochIndustries #Oligarchy #CorruptSCOTUS #SCOTUSIsCompromised #Corporatocracy #Oiligarchy #EnvironmentalProtections #BigOilAndGas #CorporatePolluters #HeritageFoundation #ClimateDeniers #WaterIsLife #AirIsLife