Tuesday, September 16, 2025

Today in Politics, Bulletin 208. 9/16/25

Ron Filipkowski

Sep 16

∙

… AG Pam Bondi went on Katie Miller’s podcast and echoed the authoritarian comments about prosecuting Democrats that JD Vance and Katie’s husband Stephen made yesterday: "There's free speech and then there's hate speech, and there is no place, especially now, especially after what happened to Charlie, in our society. We will absolutely target you, go after you, if you are targeting anyone with hate speech."

… She then went on Fox and said DOJ is criminally investigating an Office Depot employee who didn’t want to print out posters of Kirk: “If you want to go and print posters with Charlie's picture for a vigil, you have to let them do that. We can prosecute you for that. We have right now our civil rights unit looking at that.”

… She then said companies are obligated to fire employees who are saying critical things about Kirk: "Employers, you have an obligation to get rid of people who are saying horrible things.”

… Even right-wingers and many Trump supporters strongly condemned her comments. Fox chief political analyst Brit Hume: “Someone needs to explain to Ms. Bondi that so-called ‘hate speech,’ repulsive though it may be, is protected by the First Amendment. She should know this.”

… After huge backlash from Republicans, who have fought against hate speech laws for years and were already disgusted with her over Epstein, Bondi was forced to post a clean-up on social media hours later: “Hate speech that crosses the line into threats of violence is NOT protected by the First Amendment. It’s a crime. For far too long, we’ve watched the radical left normalize threats, call for assassinations, and cheer on political violence. That era is over.”

… “Under 18 U.S.C. § 875(c), it is a federal crime to transmit ‘any communication containing any threat to kidnap any person or any threat to injure the person of another.’ Likewise, 18 U.S.C. § 876 and 18 U.S.C. § 115 make it a felony to threaten public officials, members of Congress, or their families. You cannot call for someone’s murder. You cannot swat a Member of Congress. You cannot dox a conservative family and think it will be brushed off as ‘free speech.’ These acts are punishable crimes, and every single threat will be met with the full force of the law.”

… But that’s not what she said on the podcast, that’s not what she meant, and limiting her investigation to just those things is not what she’s going to do.

… Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA): “This is rich. AG Bondi has REFUSED to prosecute MULTIPLE direct death threats against me and my family.”

… Right-wing Hillsdale College consultant Chris Rufo: “This is extremely concerning. The distinction is not between ‘free speech’ and ‘hate speech,’ but between ‘free speech’ and ‘organizing illicit activities, engaging in political violence, depriving others of their civil rights, and committing tax or nonprofit fraud.’”

… Headline from today’s conservative National Review, which was founded by William F. Buckley: “Pam Bondi’s Ridiculous 24 Hours.”

… Conservative commentator and journalist Pedro Gonzalez: “Bondi’s comment about ‘hate speech’ is saying out loud what Stephen Miller and JD Vance have been hinting at and implying while using the tragedy of a political assassination as cover and people need to realize that this was a kind of mask off moment. This isn’t just about fighting political extremism. They’re talking about cracking down on political dissent, and they’re going to push this as far as people will let them, which is why it’s important to say something.”

… Conservative talk-show host Erick Erickson (who attacked me a few days ago for suggesting that alleged assassin Robinson might not be a leftist): “Our Attorney General is apparently a moron.”

… Elon Musk responded to two separate posts from right-wingers attacking Bondi by agreeing with their criticisms of the AG with “well said” and “exactly.”

… Mehdi Hasan: “The right have launched an all-out attack on liberals and the left, in the wake of the Kirk killing, pushing narratives about left-wing violence and the need to investigate liberal nonprofits and Schumer and Jeffries are totally AWOL. The Dems are leaderless. Shocking.”

… Hasan: “We had four years of a Democratic Attorney General scared of his own shadow, refusing to go after Trump for crimes that Trump committed on camera and on tape, outsourcing all investigations, and never talking to the media. And, now, sigh, we have Trump's Attorney General saying this.”

… Kyle Clark, anchor of NextOn9News (CO): “Declaring that a private business refusing to print a vigil poster for the President's friend is a civil rights violation is an interesting legal argument. Brings to mind Colorado cases Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission and 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis.”

… In his way to board a flight to UK this morning, Trump was asked about Bondi’s comments by Jonathan Karl: Q - What do you make of Bondi saying she is going after hate speech, a lot of allies say hate speech is free speech. Trump: She will probably go after people like you. You treat me unfairly - you have hate in your heart. ABC paid me $16 million for a form of hate speech, your company paid me $16 million for a form of hate speech, maybe they'll go after you.”

… Last night, Trump complained about the protesters who disrupted his dinner: “They started to scream when I got into a restaurant. I said I'm doing a great job for peace in the Middle East, I should get lots of awards with that. She was a paid agitator. I've asked Pam to look into that in terms of bringing RICO cases because they should be put in jail. What they are doing to this country is really subversive.”

… Marge Greene’s boyfriend Brian Glenn tried to help Trump out a little with a follow up, but Trump was in full dictator mode and wasn’t having it: Q - But they still have their 1st Amendment rights, though. Trump: Well, I'm not so sure.”

… Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN) was asked about Trump saying last night he didn’t know anything about the assassination of MN state rep. Melissa Hortman by a right-wing extremist: “I’m blown away by the callousness of his response. What we need right now is a universal condemnation of political violence. And yet the president - I don’t know whether he’s just clueless or was just pretending that he didn’t remember. But that’s exactly what we do not need in this moment.”

… Ironically, the special election to fill Hortman’s open seat is today.

… Speaker Mike Johnson then weighed in: “Leaders cannot call their political opponents enemies of the state because they disagree with their policy priorities. This is something we should’ve learned in grade school.”

… I responded to that by posting 4 different clips from Oct 2024 where Trump called Democrats “the enemy of the people”, “marxists”, “communists”, “fascists”, “sick and evil”, “scum” and “vicious people.”

… Brett then put together a 6-minute montage of Trump clips demonizing Democrats and posted it. That was all posted less than an hour after Johnson and Trump’s comments. Somebody has to do it, might as well be us. We learned not to wait on party leaders years ago because usually nothing happens.

… PA Gov Josh Shapiro: “Unfortunately, some from the dark corners of the internet all the way to the Oval Office, want to cherry pick which instances of political violence they want to condemn. Doing that only further divides us. We must reject the rhetoric of vengeance, and instead focus on the work of healing. Censorship – using the long arm of government to silence people, businesses, and nonprofits and restrict their right to free speech – will not solve this problem.”

… Rep. Nancy Mace on Fox: "We're not dealing with sane people. They need to be dealt with boldly, strongly. I support everything Trump is saying and wanting to do. That's why I'm working to root out the teachers and healthcare workers in South Carolina who celebrate murder. I don't want them around our kids."

… America First Post: “The Kirk family and Turning Point USA are preparing defamation lawsuits against media outlets and figures who smeared Charlie Kirk after his assassination. TPUSA spokesman Andrew Kolvet said on a podcast with Scott Jennings, ‘We are seeing it all and logging it all. We have good lawyers.’”

… Attorney Mark Zaid pointed out an inconvenient fact to them: “Even amazing lawyers can't change the fact that deceased individuals (or their estates) cannot bring defamation lawsuits.”

… MSNBC: “Roughly 20% of FBI agents - 2,840 out of around 13,800 - have been diverted to work on immigration enforcement. It’s one of the many consequences of Kash Patel’s push to require agents to help round up undocumented immigrants, a mission not normally undertaken by the FBI. The impacts have been significant. Nearly every agent on Baltimore’s domestic terrorism squad was reassigned this year to work full time on immigration enforcement, forcing them to walk away from investigations of a network of violent predators that targets and exploits children online.”

… Patel was asked about that today at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing. He claimed that he didn’t know anything about the Baltimore domestic terrorism squad being wiped out so they could round up migrants.

… Michael Feinberg, former senior FBI executive: “Agents aren’t out there recruiting sources. They are not maintaining trip wires. They are not able to keep their ear to the ground about what’s happening among extremist movements. As a result, the extremists have more latitude to do things that harm our society.”

… A former FBI official who asked not to be named for fear of retaliation said: “If the bureau is not looking at domestic terrorism, nobody else is. We are now more susceptible to extremists because of these actions.”

… The hearing was highly combative, with Patel going at it with Democratic senators yelling and interrupting them. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) to Patel: “Republicans are not Nazis. And Democrats are not ‘evil,’ as Patel has claimed. Democrats are not responsible for the murder of Charlie Kirk, as Republicans were not responsible for the murder of Melissa Hortman. Our political opponents are not our enemies. We are all Americans.”

… Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ): “Here’s the thing, I think you’re not going to be around long. I think this might be your last oversight hearing. Because as much as you supplicate yourself to the will of Donald Trump, this may the last time I have a hearing with you because I don’t think you’re long for this job.”

… Sen. Peter Welch (D-VT): “You said you wanted to ground former FBI Director Chris Wray's private jet travel. In March, an FBI plane flew roundtrip from DC to Vegas and you attended a UFC fight with Mel Gibson. Is that true? PATEL: The difference is I live in Las Vegas. I'm allowed to go home. Welch: On April 5 you attended a hockey game in NYC. You don't live there, right? PATEL: No, I don't.”

… Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA): "Who, if anyone, did Epstein traffic these young women to? Patel: There is no credible information, none, that he trafficked to other individuals."

… Say what, now?

… Sen. Amy Klobuchar asked Patel if he thought a ban on assault weapons could result in fewer instances of political violence: "So, assault weapon ban? What do you think? PATEL: I think there are instances on this legislation that could prevent future attacks.”

… I don’t think his rapidly dwindling MAGA fan base is going to like that answer.

… Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) liked it though: “Kash Patel is NOT wrong here. An assault weapons ban will reduce mass shootings.”

… Continuing on with Trump’s unhinged press gaggle on the way to his flight: Q - “Should a president in office be engaged in so much business activity? Trump: I'm not, my kids are running the business. Where are you from? Reporter: Australian Broadcasting Corp. Trump: You’re hurting Australia very much right now. And they want to get along with me. Your leader is coming to see me soon, I'm going to tell him about you, you set a bad tone. You can set a nicer tone. Be quiet.”

… He was asked about potential sanctions on Ukraine: “Zelensky is going to have to get going and make a deal. Zelensky is going to have to make a deal.” (He never mentioned Putin).

… Q - “Do you believe the Federal Reserve is an independent body? Trump: It should be, but I think they should listen to smart people like me.”

… He was asked about blowing up more boats off Venezuela: "There are very few boats out on the water now. I can't imagine why? Not even fishing boats. There's nobody. Nobody wants to go fishing. We're seeing that there are no ships in the ocean anymore. Meaning, no drugs are coming across. Probably stopping some fishermen too. To be honest, if I were a fisherman, I wouldn't want to go fishing either because they’re saying, ‘maybe they think I have drugs.'"

Reminder there is no Bulletin on Wednesdays because I do my podcast Uncovered live at 4 ET and then my Ask the Editor show after that. Please submit questions or things you want me to comment on in the replies to this Bulletin below for that show. I pick 5 of them to answer and we always have many more great ones than that.

I also have my article out tomorrow with some amazing numbers on Democratic candidates outperforming 2024 results in dozens of races all over the country.

If you missed yesterday’s Bulletin, you can find it here. Thank you again for supporting my work by subscribing!

… Caleb Ragland, President of Soybean Farmers Assn on NewsNation: “We depend on the Chinese market. And right now we have 0 sold for this crop. It's a 5 alarm fire for our industry. We are not price competitive with Brazil due to the retaliatory tariffs. Our prices are about 20% higher, and that means that the Chinese are going elsewhere. And the American soybean farmers and their families are suffering.”

… Have no fear, soybean farmers. Republicans will bail you out at some point with a huge chunk of taxpayer money to pay you for not being able to sell your products because of their policies. Then you can post on social media that you’re voting for them because you are against socialism.

… Eric Trump was asked on CNBC about their scam where UAE invested $2 billion in their crypto company then the US govt granted them access to highly sophisticated chips used to develop AI: Q - “They're talking about the UAE investing some money at the same time they were granted access to some chips. Not saying it's related, but it could be. You're gonna see this again and again from mainstream media in terms of a conflict of interest. Eric: We're far from Hunter Biden. The guy was selling finger art. Crypto came out of necessity because we were being debanked by everybody.”

… CNBC host first acts annoyed that his producer is making him ask a question about the biggest presidential financial scandal in history, then lets Eric deflect to Hunter, then doesn’t follow up on the preposterous lie that they were forced to go into crypto because every bank in America refused to do business with them. And that was probably the one and only chance for a mainstream media host to ask Eric about this. Disgusting.

… Trump posted on Truth Social that he is now suing the NYT: “Today, I have the Great Honor of bringing a $15 Billion Dollar Defamation and Libel Lawsuit against The New York Times, one of the worst and most degenerate newspapers in the History of our Country, becoming a virtual ‘mouthpiece’ for the Radical Left Democrat Party. The ‘Times’ has engaged in a decades long method of lying about your Favorite President (ME!), my family, business, the America First Movement, MAGA, and our Nation as a whole.”

… “I am PROUD to hold this once respected ‘rag’ responsible, as we are doing with the Fake News Networks such as our successful litigation against George Slopadopoulos/ABC/Disney, and 60 Minutes/CBS/Paramount, who knew that they were falsely ‘smearing’ me through a highly sophisticated system of document and visual alteration, which was, in effect, a malicious form of defamation, and thus, settled for record amounts. They have been allowed to freely lie, smear, and defame me for far too long, and that stops, NOW!”

… Statement from NYT: “The suit has no merit. It's just an attempt to stifle and discourage independent reporting. The NYT will not be deterred by intimidation tactics. We will continue to pursue the facts without fear or favor and stand up for journalists’ First Amendment right to ask questions on behalf of the American people."

… Politico’s Kyle Cheney after reading the ridiculous lawsuit: “Trump launches a $15 billion lawsuit against the NYT — naming reporters Peter Baker, Michael Schmidt, Susanne Craig and Russ Buettner — because he doesn't like what they have written/reported about him.”

… George Conway: “Is it possible for a legal pleading to be psychotic?”

… WaPo: “When the first immigrants arrived at their new detention quarters at a TX military base this summer, they were marched onto an active construction site. Dust swirled and excavators hummed as contractors raced to build the tent encampment, where development had begun just two weeks earlier and would go on for months. Locked up in the unfinished facility, migrants were subjected to conditions that violated at least 60 fed standards for immigrant detention, the detention oversight unit of ICE found earlier this month in a contractually required inspection.”

… “The detention center at Fort Bliss, called Camp East Montana, failed to properly monitor and treat some detainees’ medical conditions, lacked basic procedures for keeping guards and detainees safe and for weeks did not provide many of them a way to contact lawyers, learn about their cases or file complaints. The facility is the first of at least 10 temporary, tentlike encampments that the Trump Admin plans to build at military bases and the sites of existing detention centers in the coming months.”

… WaPo: “The Trump admin has ordered the removal of signs and exhibits related to slavery at multiple national parks, including a historic photograph of a formerly enslaved man showing scars on his back. The removals were in line with President Trump’s executive order directing the Interior Dept to eliminate information that reflects a ‘corrosive ideology’ that disparages historic Americans. National Park Service officials are broadly interpreting that directive to apply to info on racism, sexism, slavery, gay rights or persecution of Indigenous people.”

… “The latest orders include removing information at Harpers Ferry National Historic Park in WV, where the abolitionist John Brown led a raid seeking to arm slaves for a revolt. Staff have also been told that info at the President’s House Site in Philadelphia, where George Washington kept slaves, does not comply with the policy.”

… NPR on members of Congress leaving: “The number currently stands at 10 senators and 27 House members. 15 are retiring from public office with the rest running for a different office — 11 looking to become governor of their state, 10 looking to make the jump from House to Senate and one, TX Rep. Chip Roy, is looking to become his state's AG. There are more Republicans signaling their desire to exit Washington (27) than Democrats (10).

… Former Republican Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan announced he is running for governor after switching parties earlier this year: “I’m in. Georgians deserve leaders with the courage to take on Trump, lower costs for families, and do what’s right. With your help, we can win this election and I’ll proudly serve as Georgia’s Democratic governor.”

… Reuters: “The property tax authority in Ann Arbor, MI, said that Federal Reserve Gov Lisa Cook hasn’t broken rules for tax breaks on a home there that Cook declared her primary residence. The finding could boost Cook’s defense against efforts by the Trump admin to remove her. Cook has at times lived elsewhere and city records indicate she sought permission from Ann Arbor authorities to rent out the home on a short-term basis.”

… Temporary absence from the home or renting it out short-term wouldn’t disqualify her from a tax exemption in Ann Arbor, the tax official said. “Living elsewhere temporarily does not necessarily make an owner ineligible for a principal residence exemption.”

… “At issue is whether Cook lied to her lenders when obtaining two mortgages. The Trump admin, citing her mortgage contracts, has alleged that she improperly told both lenders that the loan was for a primary residence. By declaring a home as a primary residence, a homeowner can – but doesn’t always – secure a better interest rate on the loan and, separately, can receive discounts from local authorities on property taxes.”

… “A federal appeals court declined late Monday to allow Trump to fire Cook. The admin is expected to appeal immediately to the Supreme Court, adding a further complication to her status for the Fed's upcoming two-day gathering. Reuters last week reported that Cook had informed her lender that the property would be a ‘vacation home,’ not a primary residence.”

… Bill Pulte has been the Trump admin pushing the case against Cook. He also referred it to DOJ for criminal investigation.

… Treasury Sec Scott Bessent was asked on CNBC about the reaching incident where he got in Pulte’s face and screamed, “I’m going to punch you in your fucking face!” Bessent: “Treasury secretaries dating back to Alexander Hamilton have a history of dueling.”

… Sec of State Marco Rubio was asked how much longer the Trump is going to give Putin before he moves forward with the sanctions that he has threatened numerous times: “Well, we fully understand the sanctions that we have available to us, and at some point the President may decide to do that. He's not going to go around and artificially announce a time frame.”

… “But he's also pointed out that it's important for Europe to do so as well. There are still countries in Europe that are buying Russian products, including Russian oil. And what the President has challenged our European partners is to impose the sanctions themselves that they’re asking us to impose.”

… European economist Anders Aslund: “What a disgrace! (as usual) The two EU countries that buy Russian oil are Trump's favorites Viktor Orban (Hungary) and Robert Fico (Slovakia). Trump should talk to them. The US has eased its sanctions on Russia, while the EU has imposed more sanctions, which Rubio omits. How can anybody deal with the Trump lies?”

… Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE): “If John Thune and Speaker Johnson continue to deny votes on the House and Senate floors on Russian sanctions, they’ll be complicit in whatever fate befalls Ukraine.”

… IL Gov JB Pritzker was asked for the latest on Trump’s threat to send troops into Chicago: “You can't take anything that Trump says seriously. He's attacking verbally. Sometimes he attacks by sending his agents in. Sometimes he forgets. I think he might be suffering from some sort of dementia. The next day he'll wake up and stop talking about Chicago, so I've never counted anything he's said as real.”

JD Vance announces sweeping crackdown on progressive nonprofits

The Trump administration is moving aggressively to exploit the murder of Charlie Kirk to justify a sweeping crackdown on left-of-center nonprofit organizations, potentially including nonprofit news outlets like The Intercept.

Guest hosting Charlie Kirk’s podcast on Monday, Vice President JD Vance pledged to “go after the NGO network that foments, facilitates and engages in violence,” and specifically attacked The Nation, the 160-year-old progressive magazine.

This is not a drill. Donald Trump has made silencing the free press one of his top priorities from day one, and we must assume it’s only a matter of time before he comes after The Intercept.

We’ve already begun preparing for this moment by increasing our liability insurance coverage, beefing up our legal defense team, and strengthening our internal security procedures. But all of this costs money, and with the threats to civil society from the Trump administration growing more immediate by the day, we need your help now more than ever.

Will you donate $5 to our fall fundraising drive and help defend The Intercept from the Trump administration’s attacks on nonprofit organizations and the free press?

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The administration has already begun road-testing multiple potential options for attacking organizations like The Intercept.

Earlier this month, Secretary of State Marco Rubio sanctioned three Palestinian human rights organizations as punishment for lawful, peaceful advocacy with the International Criminal Court to hold Israeli war criminals accountable.

Trump and deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller have both discussed bringing RICO charges against progressive nonprofit organizations.

Frivolous lawsuits, phony investigations, even threats of direct physical violence: It’s all in Trump’s authoritarian toolkit, and we must be prepared for everything.

Here’s where you come in: To keep The Intercept on solid financial footing so we can defend our First Amendment rights and keep doing the adversarial investigative reporting we’re known for, we must raise $430,000 from readers like you by October 1.

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Top News | 'It Is Clear': UN Commission Confirms Israel Guilty of Genocide in Gaza

Tuesday, September 16, 2025

■ Today's Top News

16 Nations Warn Israel Against Attacking Gaza-Bound Global Sumud Flotilla

The countries' foreign ministers urged Israel to "refrain from any unlawful or violent act against the flotilla" and "to respect international law."

By Brett Wilkins

The foreign ministers of 16 nations on Tuesday implored Israel to not attack the Global Sumud Flotilla, a fleet of around 40 boats attempting to deliver desperately needed humanitarian aid to the embattled Gaza Strip, where Palestinians are suffering 22 months of US-backed genocidal war and forced famine.

“The Global Sumud Flotilla has informed about its objective of delivering humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip and raising awareness about the urgent humanitarian needs of the Palestinian people and the need to stop the war in Gaza,” the foreign ministers of Bangladesh, Brazil, Colombia, Indonesia, Ireland, Libya, Malaysia, Maldives, Mexico, Pakistan, Qatar, Oman, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, and Türkiye said in a joint statement.

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Gaza Freedom Flotilla member waves Palestinian flag from a boat

Global Sumud Flotilla Set for Latest Attempt to ‘Break Israel’s Illegal Siege on Gaza’

Many of those nations are supporting South Africa’s genocide case against Israel currently before the International Court of Justice.

“We therefore call on everyone to refrain from any unlawful or violent act against the flotilla” and “to respect international law and international humanitarian law,” the ministers continued. “We recall that any violation of international law and human rights of the participants in the flotilla, including attacks against the vessels in international waters or illegal detention, will lead to accountability.”

Hundreds of activists from dozens of nations participating in the Global Sumud Flotilla—“sumud” means perseverance in Arabic—have set sail toward Gaza from ports around the world since August. More than two dozen vessels arrived in Sicily on Tuesday after departing the Tunisian port of Bizerte following an 11-day delay caused in part by multiple drone attacks on flotilla boats.

Israel—which has attacked past flotillas, including in a 2010 raid that killed nine volunteers aboard the MV Mavi Marmara, among them Turkish-American teenager Furkan Doğan—has not claimed responsibility for the drone attacks.

“Pulling off the largest grassroots maritime mission to break Israel’s siege has posed many challenges, but through it all we remained determined, steadfast, and united,” Global Sumud Flotilla said Tuesday on Instagram.

Prominent flotilla participants include Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, American actress Susan Sarandon, Irish actor Liam Cunningham, leftist Portuguese parliamentarian Mariana Mortágua, former Barcelona Mayor Ada Colau, and Mandla Mandela, the grandson of former South African President Nelson Mandela.

“We’re carrying a lot of humanitarian aid, but we’re also carrying a message of support from the peoples of the world that we are with the Palestinian people,” flotilla spokesperson Bruno Gilga told Middle East Eye.

Earlier this year, Freedom Flotilla Coalition vessels Conscience, Madleen, and Handala each separately tried to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza but were thwarted by Israeli forces in international waters, an apparent violation of maritime law. Flotilla activists were beaten, kidnapped, jailed, interrogated, and deported by Israel.

Global Sumud Flotilla’s attempt to break Israel’s siege comes as Israeli forces push deeper into Gaza City as they execute Operation Gideon’s Chariots 2, a campaign to conquer, occupy, and ethnically cleanse the strip. At least 64,964 Palestinians—mostly civilian men, women, and children—have been killed by Israeli forces over the past 711 days, although experts say the actual toll is likely far higher.

On Tuesday, a commission of independent United Nations experts became the latest in a growing number of individuals and groups to accuse Israel of committing genocide in Gaza.

Nearly 100 (and Counting) Dead as Israel Launches Large-Scale Ground Invasion of Gaza City

"The only way to halt this devastation," said one advocate, "is to end the flow of weapons that Israel relies on to fuel its genocide."

By Julia Conley

The Jewish-led rights group IfNotNow was among those condemning Israel’s ground invasion of Gaza City on Tuesday, warning that the Israel Defense Forces have left more than 1 million people in the northern city and its surrounding towns with an “impossible choice”: “flee once more without anywhere safe to go or face indiscriminate bombs and bullets from Israeli forces.”

At least 91 people in Gaza City were killed by the latter on Tuesday as two divisions of the IDF launch ground attacks across the city, with a third expected to join them in the coming days.

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Israeli forces have ordered people in the city to leave for the so-called “humanitarian zone” of al-Mawasi in the south, but the area has also been bombarded repeatedly—including an attack two weeks ago, when eight children as young as 3 years old were killed while lining up for water, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

The Israeli government last month approved the takeover of Gaza City, with the aim of taking control of all of Gaza and ethnically cleansing the entire exclave, and since then about 150,000 people have been forced to flee south while the IDF has stepped up aerial and artillery attacks, destroying whole neighborhoods.

At Al Jazeera on Tuesday, Tareq Abu Azzoum described “relentless bombardment from military operations that are leaving the landscape completely uninhabitable” in Gaza City.

“The Israeli military has deployed different military tactics to force people to leave Gaza City to the south—most notably excessive firepower, seen in the deliberate destruction of high-rise buildings,” said Abu Azzoum.

“It is inhumane to expect nearly half a million children battered and traumatized by over 700 days of unrelenting conflict to flee one hellscape to end up in another.”

Israeli human rights groups including the Association for Civil Rights in Israel and Physicians for Human Rights called on officials to lift the mass evacuation order and said it constitutes ethnic cleansing and forced displacement.

Tess Ingram, a spokesperson for UNICEF, said the mass displacement of families is a “deadly threat for the most vulnerable.”

“It is inhumane to expect nearly half a million children battered and traumatized by over 700 days of unrelenting conflict to flee one hellscape to end up in another,” she said, adding that the IDF’s escalation in Gaza City forced nutrition centers in the city to shut down this week, “cutting off children from a third of the remaining treatment sites that can save their lives.”

Abu Azzoum described “tragically consistent” scenes of Palestinians—almost 70,000 in the past few days—loading whatever belongings they have left into vehicles and donkey carts to flee their homes:

Many people said in the initial days of the ground operation that they would not leave Gaza City. But, right now, Israel is burning the ground. They’re destroying every kind of civilian infrastructure and have cut off aid deliveries to the city, all for one clear purpose—to relocate them into the southern part of Gaza.

Some people are unable to afford the cost of transportation. We see exhausted faces, mothers carrying their babies, elderly people on foot.

What is so devastating to see is the vulnerability of children who have lost their parents and found themselves on the move again. They’re struggling to find any patch of land where they can stay in the absence of their parents and are completely reliant on strangers to survive.

At IfNotNow, executive director Morriah Kaplan called the ground assault on Gaza City “a chillul hashem, a desecration of God’s name.”

“With just days until Rosh Hashanah, we watch in horror as the Israeli military bombs and invades Gaza City, putting the lives of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in mortal danger,” said Kaplan, adding that the invasion “spells almost certain death for the remaining hostages” who were kidnapped by Hamas from Israel on October 7, 2023.

“The Israeli government’s willingness to sacrifice their own citizens to continue its campaign of destruction is devastatingly clear,” said Kaplan. “It is critical that we say loudly and unequivocally: This invasion won’t make a single Jew anywhere in the world safer.”

She called on international funders of the Israeli military—including the largest, the United States—to take immediate action to stop Israel’s assault on Gaza, which a United Nations commission said Tuesday is a genocide.

“The only way to halt this devastation,” said Kaplan, “is to end the flow of weapons that Israel relies on to fuel its genocide.”

Ilhan Omar Slams Latest Trump Attack on Venezuelan Boat as 'Egregious Violation'

"There is NO legal justification," the progressive congresswoman said. "It risks spiraling into the exact type of endless, pointless conflict that Trump supposedly opposes."

By Brett Wilkins

US Congresswoman Ilhan Omar on Tuesday condemned the Trump administration’s attack the previous day on a second boat allegedly transporting drugs off the coast of Venezuela as blatantly illegal, highlighting her introduction last week of a war powers resolution in a bid to stop the aggression.

President Donald Trump announced Monday that the US destroyed what he said was a boat used by Venezuelan drug gangs, killing three people in what one Amnesty International campaigner called “an extrajudicial execution.”

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The strike followed a September 2 US attack on another alleged drug-running boat that killed 11 people, which Omar (D-Minn.) called a “lawless and reckless” action.

Responding to Monday’s attack, Omar said on the social media site X that the Trump administration “is once again using the failed War on Drugs to justify their egregious violation of international law.”

“There is NO legal justification,” she said of the attack. “It risks spiraling into the exact type of endless, pointless conflict that Trump supposedly opposes. I have a war powers resolution to fight back.”

Introduced last Thursday, the measure aims to stop the US attacks, which coincide with Trump’s deployment of a small armada of warships off the Caribbean coast of Venezuela, a country that has endured to more than a century of US meddling in its affairs.

“All of us should agree that the separation of powers is crucial to our democracy, and that only Congress has the power to declare war,” Omar said at the time.

The War Powers Act of 1973—enacted during the Nixon administration at the tail end of the US war on Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos—empowers Congress to check the president’s war-making authority. The law requires the president to report any military action to Congress within 48 hours and mandates that lawmakers must approve troop deployments after 60 days.

Also last week, Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) led a letter signed by two dozen Democratic colleagues and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) asserting that the Trump administration offered “no legitimate justification” for the first boat strike.

Omar’s condemnation of the US attacks followed Monday’s announcement by US Reps. Nancy Mace (R-SC) and Buddy Carter (R-Ga.) of separate resolutions to strip Omar of her committee assignments and, in the case of Mace’s measure, censure the congresswoman after she reportedly shared a video highlighting assassinated far-right firebrand Charlie Kirk’s prolific bigotry.

Trump also attacked Omar on Monday, calling her a “disgraceful person,” a “loser,” and “disgusting.”

Omar is no stranger to censure efforts, which critics say are largely fueled by Islamophobia—and haven’t just come from Republicans. In 2019, she was falsely accused of antisemitism by leaders of her own party and was the subject of an anti-hate speech resolution passed by House lawmakers after she remarked about the indisputable financial ties the pro-Israel lobbying group American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and members of Congress.

In February 2023, Omar was ousted from the House Foreign Affairs Committee for years-old comments that allegedly referenced antisemitic tropes.

Last year, Congressman Don Bacon (R-Neb.) introduced a censure resolution after Omar said of Jewish students at Columbia University, “We should not have to tolerate antisemitism or bigotry for all Jewish students, whether they’re pro-genocide or anti-genocide.”

The measure failed to pass, as did another put forth earlier last year by Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) after she mistranslated remarks Omar made in Somali.

'Trump Is Making Your Life More Expensive': Tariff Chaos Engulfs US Economy

“Poor and working people are paying the price" of the president's tariff policies, said Rep. Pramila Jayapal.

By Brad Reed

US consumers are increasingly feeling the impact of President Donald Trump’s tariffs, and the head of the Congressional Budget Office said on Monday that they are fueling inflation.

During an appearance on CNBC, Congressional Budget Office (CBO) director Phillip Swagel said that the president’s tariffs have pushed up inflation more than the agency initially anticipated, although he emphasized that their impact on inflation so far was “not by a lot, but by enough to show” in the numbers.

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Swagel also said that the higher-than-expected inflation was a surprise because there are signs that the US economy has slowed significantly since January.

CNN on Tuesday published an analysis using numbers from the Yale Budget Lab estimating that Trump’s tariffs will cost US households an average of $2,300 extra per year, which is nearly three times as much as the $800 US households are projected to receive on average from new tax provisions contained in the Republicans’ “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” that passed earlier this year.

The combined distributional impacts of the Trump tariffs and the GOP tax law are also highly regressive. According to CNN‘s analysis, a household with annual earnings of $38,840 would be $2,560 worse off thanks to the tariffs and the tax law, while households earning $517,700 would be $8,180 better off.

The Washington Post on Tuesday reported that Trump’s tariffs aren’t just hurting Americans in the US, but those living abroad as well.

As explained by the Post, Americans living abroad have been unable to send mail to the US without paying hefty fines thanks to the chaos being caused by Trump’s tariffs. The reason for this, writes the paper, is that Trump earlier this year canceled a policy known as the de minimis exemption, effective August 29, that “allowed the tariff-free flow of goods under $800 into the United States.”

This has led not just to increased shipping costs for Americans living abroad, but has also resulted in foreign nations slowing or even outright halting shipments to the US because they are unsure about how to calculate the costs.

“Confusion about the rules have led to issues since the exemption was lifted on August 29,” the Post wrote. “At first, national postal services in more than 30 countries temporarily suspended sending some or most US-bound packages. Since then, restrictions have eased, and the Universal Postal Union deployed a tool this week to help operators calculate duties and resume services.”

Reacting to fresh revelations about the impact of the tariffs, many progressive Democrats hammered Trump for increasing the cost of living for working-class families.

“Under Donald Trump’s economy: coffee is up 26%, beef is up 14%, oranges are up 17%, bananas are up 6%, chicken is up 6%, chocolate chip cookies are up 5%, potato chips are up 4%, milk is up 4%,” wrote Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). “But average worker pay is only up 2%. Trumpflation is eating up your paycheck.”

Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) added that “from school supplies to gas to groceries, Trump is making your life more expensive.”

“Poor and working people are paying the price of his reckless policies,” said the congresswoman.

Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), a member of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, took to the Senate floor on Monday to single out a different Trump policy that he said was also raising prices for US consumers—namely, his attacks on green energy projects.

“This administration is shamelessly working to block one of our best defenses against rising energy bills: renewable energy,” Padilla said. “And I say so because renewable energy is absolutely affordable, renewable energy is abundant, and whether you want to admit it or not, renewable energy sources are our future.”

The senator also pointed to his home state of California as an example of what can happen when the government encourages the development of green energy projects.

“[California is] harnessing the power of solar and wind and hydroelectric power and nuclear, geothermal, even hydrogen power to our state,” he said. “And it’s exactly because of those investments that even in a year like 2024, just last year, when we experienced record heatwaves that we also saw record renewable energy generation, and we kept the lights on.”

1,000+ Experts Rip EPA for 'Reckless Dismissal of Established Climate Science'

Repealing the endangerment finding, they wrote, "is contrary to science and the public interest."

By Jessica Corbett

More than 1,000 scientists and other experts on Tuesday sent a letter to US Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin explaining why they “strenuously object” to his effort to repeal the EPA’s 2009 “endangerment finding,” which has enabled federal climate regulations over the past 15 years.

Amid mounting fears that he would take such action, Zeldin in late July unveiled the rule to rescind the landmark legal opinion that greenhouse gases endanger public health and the welfare of the American people—part of Republican President Donald Trump’s broader pro-polluter agenda.

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“As climate scientists, public health experts, and economists, we can attest to the indisputable scientific evidence of human-caused climate change, its harmful impacts on people’s health and well-being, and the devastating costs it is imposing on communities across the nation and around the world,” states the new letter, organized by the Union of Concerned Scientists. “This explicit attempt to undermine or weaken these findings, as well as the critical regulations linked to them, is contrary to science and the public interest.”

“We also strongly oppose the EPA’s reckless dismissal of established climate science as part of its proposal to repeal the endangerment finding, including the agency’s heavy reliance on an unscientific study commissioned by the Department of Energy. This report is rife with inaccuracies, deliberately cherry-picks and mischaracterizes data, and has not undergone a rigorous scientific review process,” the letter continues, echoing an expert review of the government report from earlier this month.

Citing major US and global analyses, along with thousands of independent, peer-reviewed scientific studies, the letter stresses that “the scientific evidence on human-caused climate change and its consequences was unequivocal in 2009 and, since that time, has become even more dire and compelling.”

It says that “based on the best available science,” scientists know:

Climate change poses severe harms to human health and well-being;
Climate change is clearly increasing the likelihood of extreme events; and
The economic toll of climate change is rising.

Harms to human health and well-being include higher rates of heat-related deaths, increased spread of some infectious diseases, and decreased food and water safety due to climate-fueled extreme weather events, the letter says. It also highlights that, according to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), “billion-dollar disasters in the United States are on the rise, driven by a combination of climate factors and increased development in disaster-prone areas.”

Despite such findings, the Trump administration is making various moves to boost the planet-wrecking fossil fuel industry and the president withdrew the United States from the Paris Agreement—again—when he returned to office in January. Parties to the 2015 climate agreement aim to limit global temperature rise this century to 1.5°C above preindustrial levels.

“The world stands on the cusp of breaching the 1.5°C (2.7°F) mark on a long-term basis, the global average temperature increase above preindustrial levels that scientists have long warned about,” the experts noted Tuesday. “Communities across the nation are already dealing with devastating and costly climate impacts, that are set to worsen as global warming accelerates. Humanity’s window to act to stave off some of the worst impacts of climate change is fast closing; any further delay is harmful and costly.”

“We urge you to stop dismantling critical climate regulations and evading EPA’s responsibility by pushing disinformation about climate science and impacts,” they concluded. “Instead, we call on you to act with urgency to help address this pressing challenge by limiting heat-trapping emissions. People across the nation are relying on the EPA to fulfill its mission to protect public health and the environment.”

'It Is Clear': UN Commission Finding Confirms Israel Committing Genocide in Gaza

“To do nothing is not neutrality,” said the head of the commission. “It is complicity.”

By Julia Conley

A commission of independent experts at the United Nations on Tuesday said Western countries must stop providing military aid to Israel as it released an extensive report confirming that the Israeli government is carrying out a genocide in Gaza—joining international and Israeli human rights groups and numerous genocide experts that have come to the same conclusion in recent months.

“The commission concludes on reasonable grounds that the Israeli authorities and Israeli security forces have committed and are continuing to commit the following actus reus of genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip,” said the UN Commission of Inquiry, citing four of the five “genocidal acts” defined under the 1948 Genocide Convention.

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In its bombardment of Gaza, the three-member panel found, Israel has killed members of a group, caused serious bodily and mental harm, deliberately inflicted conditions to destroy the group, and acted to prevent births.

The only genocidal act classified under the Genocide Convention that the commission did not find evidence of in Gaza was the forcible transfer of children from one group to another.

Under the Convention, committing just one or more genocidal act constitutes a genocide.

The report cited an Israeli attack on Gaza’s largest fertility clinic in December 2023, which reportedly destroyed 4,000 embryos and 1,000 sperm samples and fertilized eggs, as evidence that Israel has acted to prevent Palestinian births in Gaza. More than 18,000 Palestinian children have also been killed in Israel’s assault.

Navi Pillay, the commission chair and former UN high commissioner for human rights, emphasized the key finding that Israeli officials have demonstrated their “intent” to commit genocide.

“It is clear that there is an intent to destroy the Palestinians in Gaza through acts that meet the criteria set forth in the Genocide Convention,” said Pillay in a statement.

The commission report cited comments by former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in October 2023, when he said Israel would impose “a complete siege” on Gaza with “no electricity, no water, no food, no fuel” entering the exclave in retaliation for the Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023.

“We are fighting human animals, and we act accordingly,” said Gallant at the time. The near-total blockade on humanitarian aid that resulted from his order has killed more than 400 people including at least 145 children so far, with many dying in recent months.

Gallant’s comments were just one example of Israeli officials’ intent to hold Gaza’s entire population of 2.2 million Palestinians accountable for the actions of Hamas in October 2023. Israeli President Isaac Herzog explicitly said that the entire group was “responsible” and said there were no “civilians who were not aware and not involved” in the attack on southern Israel.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also called on Israeli soldiers to “remember what Amalek did to you,” a reference to the Amalekites in the Hebrew Bible, whom God commanded the Israelites to exterminate.

“The responsibility for these atrocity crimes lies with Israeli authorities at the highest echelons who have orchestrated a genocidal campaign for almost two years now with the specific intent to destroy the Palestinian group in Gaza,” Pillay said in a statement.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have killed more than 65,000 Palestinians since beginning the assault on Gaza—attacking hospitals, schools, and refugee camps while claiming that Hamas operates out of civilian infrastructure. Doctors have reported operating on many children who have gunshot wounds to the head and chest—suggesting they were deliberately targeted. Israeli soldiers have also described being ordered to shoot civilians.

Pillay said in an interview with Zeteo that, under the Genocide Convention, countries are legally obligated to step in and take action to stop Israel from continuing the genocide.

“It’s not a choice,” said Pillay. “It’s an obligation that states have under the Genocide Convention, and they are all parties to that.”

In an op-ed at The New York Times, Pillay wrote: “Every state has an obligation to prevent genocide wherever it occurs. That obligation requires action: halting the transfer of weapons and military support used in genocidal acts, ensuring unimpeded humanitarian assistance, stopping the mass displacement and destruction, and using all available diplomatic and legal means to stop the killing.”

“To do nothing is not neutrality,” she said. “It is complicity.”

The report was released as the IDF launched a ground offensive to take control of Gaza City, killing at least 68 Palestinians in the city on Tuesday.

Forty percent of the city’s residents have been forced to flee south to a coastal encampment in al-Mawasi, which has repeatedly been struck by Israeli forces despite being declared a “safe zone.” Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are living in the tent encampment without access to sanitation, safe water, or basic services.

“They have to run out of their homes in the middle of the night with nothing other than the clothes that they’re wearing, seeking shelter towards the coast of Gaza City,” reported Al Jazeera‘s Hani Mahmoud in a dispatch from Gaza City on Tuesday. “Fighter jets are hovering at a very dangerously low level in the past hour or two. The sky remains filled with the constant hum of drones, leaving residents unable to rest.”

“What we are witnessing is a systematic, unfolding terror inflicted on this population,” said Mahmoud. “They live in constant fear that their building will be next and they will lose everything and find themselves on the road again to displacement.”

The offensive in Gaza City comes weeks after Netanyahu confirmed that his government is planning a full takeover of the Gaza Strip, defying international law.

The UN commission’s findings on Tuesday could be used by prosecutors at the International Criminal Court, which has a warrant out for the arrests of Netanyahu and Gallant and has accused them of war crimes and crimes against humanity, and the International Court of Justice, which is hearing a genocide case brought by South Africa against Israel.

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