Pritzker Tells Trump He Can Take His Autocracy and Shove It, ICE-Free Zones In Chicago, Former DOJ Officials Fight Back, and Ghislaine Maxwell Appeal Denied Refusing to bow to Trump’s ICE machine Scott Dworkin Oct 7 While Trump’s shutdown continues, I’m happy to have more great news for you today. Reminders that the resistance is alive and well, and gaining momentum daily. All of the funding for our reporting, social media organizing, and Contact Congress campaign comes from our amazing community on Substack. So if you haven’t yet, please join us by becoming a paid subscriber today: FREE SPEECH GROUP RELAUNCHES Jane Fonda, along with hundreds of entertainment industry leaders, relaunched the Committee for the First Amendment to push back against Trump. First formed in 1947 to resist McCarthyism, the group was originally founded by her father, Henry Fonda, alongside Lucille Ball, Humphrey Bogart, Judy Garland, and other icons. A statement from the group says: “The federal government is once again engaged in a coordinated campaign to silence critics in the government, the media, the judiciary, academia, and the entertainment industry … We refuse to stand by and let that happen.” TRUMP SUED AGAIN Gov. JB Pritzker announced yesterday that Illinois is suing the Trump regime for its rapidly accelerating invasion of Chicago. Pritzker said he refuses to “let Donald Trump … continue on this march toward autocracy.” He added: “Illinois is going to use every lever at our disposal to resist this power grab and get Noem’s thugs the hell out of Chicago … I’m not afraid. And I won’t back down.” Good. ICE-FREE ZONES Meanwhile, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson signed a new order yesterday, designating ICE-Free Zones throughout the city. It prohibits the “use of city property for federal immigration operations.” “We cannot allow them to rampage through our city with no checks or balances,” Johnson said. “If Congress will not check this administration, then Chicago will.” TOTALLY BOGUS CBS News Chicago’s investigative team obtained bodycam footage from a local police department, revealing what appear to be false 911 calls made by federal agents. The police chief in Broadview, Illinois, called it “disturbing,” and “ridiculous,” saying it’s one of several bogus emergency calls they have received from a nearby ICE facility. It’s good to see some local news teams step it up when others won’t. STANDING FIRM Courageous voices in the legal community continue to deliver big for the resistance. Just yesterday, it was reported that the prosecutor in the case of NY AG Letitia James does not intend to seek charges—despite relentless pressure from the Trump regime. In a separate incident, an FBI agent refused orders to arrange a propaganda “perp walk” for former FBI Director James Comey. The agent was fired, but I’m glad they stood their ground. And 282 former Justice Department officials—all who left due to Trump’s abuse of power—are calling on Americans to fight the regime’s destruction of the DOJ. In a letter, the group wrote: “We believe it’s our duty to sound the alarm about this administration’s degradation of DoJ’s vital work, and its assault on the public servants who do it.” They say the regime is failing to “uphold the rule of law … keep our country safe, and to protect civil rights.” GHISLAINE DENIED The Supreme Court denied Epstein-accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell’s appeal of her criminal conviction, refusing to even hear the case. Good. Now let’s release the files! We will never stop pushing back hard against the Trump regime. Last week, our hashtags calling out his shutdown dominated social media, generating two billion impressions. We’re also expanding our massive Contact Congress campaign. That’s on top of the unfiltered news briefs I’ve delivered for more than 450 days straight. We don’t take money from billionaires or run any ads, because our movement is completely fueled by facts, grit, and our readers. So if you believe in independent journalism that always fights back, please join us as a paid subscriber today: Onward! Scott Help this news break through the noise—like this post and re-stack using the ♻️ button below! I have two questions for you today. Do you agree with the Supreme Court refusing to hear Ghislaine Maxwell’s appeal? Thoughts about the former DOJ officials speaking out against the Trump regime? Here is my interview with James Talarico: https://tinyurl.com/mmu4eydj Tell Congress Campaigns NEW: Cancel GOP healthcare cuts and end Trump’s shutdown: https://tinyurl.com/2z8s7hdh Demand Brendan Carr Resign: https://tinyurl.com/35xjx8dj Demand Tom Homan Resign: https://tinyurl.com/3e5ku3um Pass the bipartisan Epstein Files Transparency Act: https://tinyurl.com/3yfw2m7a Demand answers about Trump’s visibly deteriorating health: https://tinyurl.com/sk9xm38v Protect our use of voting by mail: https://tinyurl.com/bde676xm Push back on Trump’s DC takeover: https://tinyurl.com/2jpp94yk Support law to unmask ICE: https://tinyurl.com/bp8cau82 Investigate the Jeffrey Epstein trafficking case: https://tinyurl.com/4pfh2p4f Links to everything we are doing: https://www.dworkinsubstack.com/p/how-were-fighting-trump Scott Dworkin 4h LOL that was their response about Papadopolous as you know and he was much more than a coffee boy as well lol https://x.com/funder/status/925890865326936067 https://x.com/funder/status/925193181293174784 Great super short clip from Adam Kingzinger. “Message to MAGA…You’ve been duped and you know it now.” https://substack.com/@adamkinzinger/note/c-163754823?r=fqsxl&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=notes-share-action JEFFREY EPSTEIN & GHISLAINE MAXWELL operated an INTERNATIONAL CHILD SEX TRAFFICKING ORGANIZATION for WEALTHY PERVERTS who generously supported this DUO.  The groomed & cultivated CHILDREN with promises of MODELING CAREERS & much else, confiscated their PASSPORTS so they had no escape.  ONE OF THE VICTIMS WAS 10 YEARS OLD! How many more don't we know about?  Recently a NEW MEXICO Rep. filed legislation to investigate ZORRO RANCH where a VICTIM indicated she was RAPED. The MAGA MAGGOTS & SPINELESS MAGA MIKE will likely block it, but it's indicative of WHAT WE DON'T KNOW.  We need more information! There is an INTELLIGENCE CONNECTION. There is a PUTIN connection- he had almost 500 of EPSTEIN'S VIDEOS.  NUTLICK is a distraction making unsubstantiated claims for which he took no action.  NEVER STOP ASKING FOR ALL OF THE INFORMATION AVAILABLE!  Let's ensure that ALL of the VICTIMS have been helped!  In addition - JPMORGAN CHASE knew what EPSTEIN's operation was doing - there are email exchanges indicating it - JPMORGAN CHASE protected EPSTEIN just as they protected BERNIE MADOFF.  They maintain a GAGGLE OF ATTORNEYS to conceal their complicity.

'conscripted as political mouthpieces against their will'

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On Friday, Public Citizen filed a lawsuit in federal court to stop the Trump regime from violating the free speech rights of federal workers.

This is our 19th lawsuit against the administration since Trump returned to power.

Public Citizen and Democracy Forward are representing the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) — the country’s largest federal worker union — in this lawsuit.

Here’s more about the case:

• As a result of a government shutdown brought about by Donald Trump and congressional Republicans, hundreds of thousands of government employees are currently not working.

• Naturally, many of these workers set up an “out-of-office” auto-reply email before being furloughed. (We’re guessing just about everyone reading this has received an “out-of-office” email or two, or thousand, over the years.)

• But at Trump’s Department of Education — which, remember, is being run by the billionaire former professional wrestling magnate and MAGA extremist Linda McMahon — employees’ “out-of-office” replies were replaced with a partisan message blaming Democrats for the shutdown.

• The change was made without consent from the employees and without notice that partisan messages were being sent in their names. In essence, these workers are being forced to make a political statement, whether they agree with it or not.

The government putting words in your mouth that you don’t want to speak violates the First Amendment.

As Cormac Early, the lead Public Citizen lawyer on the case, told the national media: “It is profoundly offensive for the government to commandeer federal employees’ voices for partisan purposes. Government workers have a First Amendment right not to be conscripted as political mouthpieces against their will.”

Inserting partisan messaging into employees’ work emails would also appear to be a blatant violation of a law called the Hatch Act, which makes it illegal for government workers to use government resources to espouse political viewpoints. The regime is doing something similar by posting messages on numerous agency websites blaming the shutdown on Democrats. Public Citizen has filed 11 complaints (so far) with federal officials over these violations of the Hatch Act.

The Trump regime’s egregious violations of federal workers’ free speech rights and the Hatch Act are getting widespread media coverage — from ABC, CNN, Fox News, The Guardian, The Independent, NBC, The New York Times, NPR, Politico, USA Today, Wired, and many, many others.

MORE ABOUT TAKING THE TRUMP REGIME TO COURT

The Trump administration is unilaterally, unconstitutionally, and unlawfully dismantling the federal government — our government — from Cabinet-level departments that have their own stately buildings here in Washington, D.C., to smaller agencies that go largely unnoticed as they do the routine, unheralded work that makes for a functioning country.

Public Citizen is doing everything we can — within our modest means — to fight back at every turn. It’s David and Goliath for sure, but we will never back down. Even where we haven’t (yet) notched definitive victories in court, we are slowing down the regime and making it work a lot harder in pursuit of its desire for absolute power.

This “out-of-office” email case is just one of the 19 lawsuits we have filed (so far) against the administration since Trump returned to power. Are these lawsuits alone enough to fully defeat Trump and MAGA? Of course not. But are they a meaningful part of the pushback needed to collectively save our country? No doubt about it.

What you and Public Citizen are doing together matters. What hundreds of other organizations, big and small, are doing matters. What millions upon millions of our fellow Americans are doing matters. We believe that to our core. We take solace in that. And we draw inspiration from that. We hope you do, too.

If you can, please donate today to support Public Citizen’s work standing up to the Trump regime.

Anything you can chip in — $5 or $25, $50 or $100, $500 or even more — will help at such a critical moment.

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For progress,

- Lisa Gilbert & Robert Weissman, Co-Presidents of Public Citizen
 
 

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