#posted

Chuck DarwinUS watchdog to investigate Musk ‘Doge’ team’s access to payment systemsTreasury inspector general to launch audit as judge mulls whether access to sensitive data was unconstitutionalLoren Sciurba, the treasury’s deputy inspector general, said the audit would review the past two years of the system’s transactions to examine Musk’s claim that his team has uncovered evidence of billions of dollars of fraudulent payments.She said the audit – launched in response to demands from the Democratic senators Elizabeth Warren and Ron Wyden – would begin immediately and 👉take until August to complete.Its launch coincided with a judge in Washington considering a legal suit lodged by Democratic attorneys general from 14 states, arguing that Doge’s work was illegal on the alleged grounds that Trump violated the US constitution 💥by creating a federal government department without congressional approval.The attorneys general argue that Musk has exercised “virtually unchecked power” by entering government agencies and ordering sweeping cuts without oversight or authorization from Congress.<a href="https://c.im/tags/USAid" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#USAid</a>, the government foreign assistance agency, has been shuttered on his authority and its workforce put on leave, although a judge on Thursday ordered the Trump administration to temporarily lift the funding freeze it has imposed on the agency’s humanitarian work.The suit, led by New Mexico’s justice department, alleges that Doge has “unraveled federal agencies, accessed sensitive data, and caused widespread disruption for state and local governments, federal employees, and the American people”.A separate hearing in a court in New York was due over whether to extend a temporary block on the Doge team entering the <a href="https://c.im/tags/payments" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#payments</a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/system" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#system</a> that was imposed in an interim ruling last Saturday by Judge <a href="https://c.im/tags/Paul" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#Paul</a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Englemayer" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#Englemayer</a>. Musk called for Englemayer’s impeachment after that ruling, while JD Vance, the vice-president, wrote in a social media most that judges were not allowed to interfere with a president’s “legitimate power” – a view contested by most constitutional law experts.On Friday, Judge <a href="https://c.im/tags/Jeannette" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#Jeannette</a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Vargas" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#Vargas</a> extended the temporary block, though she said she would not yet rule on whether there should be a longer lasting preliminary injunction prohibiting Doge’s access to the treasury payment system.Swingeing cuts continued apace despite the plethora of legal challenges. Federal agency heads were ordered to fire most recent hires who have not completed their probation period – a move likely to affect about 200,000 workers, the Washington Post reported.The treasury department audit coincided with a call from <a href="https://c.im/tags/Chris" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#Chris</a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Murphy" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#Murphy</a>, Democratic senator for Connecticut, for an official investigation into the “legality and scope” of Musk’s penetration of the federal bureaucracy.“Musk and his aides are subject to various conflict of interest statutes which prohibit federal employees from participating in matters that impact their own financial interests,” Murphy wrote to the US government comptroller general, <a href="https://c.im/tags/Eugene" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#Eugene</a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Dodaro" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#Dodaro</a>.He added: “It is imperative the public understands whether Musk and his aides have complied with the law and whether highly sensitive data could be at risk if accessed by private actors who seek to benefit from the information illegally, or worse, by foreign adversaries who wish to attack this country.”Murphy’s letter to Dodaro came as HuffPost reported that Doge had publicly <a href="https://c.im/tags/posted" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#posted</a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/classified" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#classified</a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/information" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#information</a> about the size and staff of a US intelligence agency – the National Reconnaissance Office – on its new website.The exposure reportedly left some “scrambling to check if their info has been accessed”, according to one Defense Intelligence Agency employee who spoke with HuffPost.Despite the rising resistance to its activities, the US <a href="https://c.im/tags/armed" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#armed</a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/services" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#services</a> were preparing a list of weapons systems to be cut in preparation for Doge casting its gaze over the <a href="https://c.im/tags/Pentagon" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#Pentagon</a>, the Wall Street Journal reported.Members of Musk’s team were expected to visit the Pentagon on Friday. 💥“People are offering up things sacrificially, hoping that will prevent more cuts,” a defence official told the Journal.The army was said to be volunteering cutting outdated drones and vehicles, while the navy is proposing cuts to frigates and littoral combat ships. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/14/musk-doge-payment-system-investigation?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no">https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/14/musk-doge-payment-system-investigation?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other</a>

Chuck DarwinDonald Trump's <a href="https://c.im/tags/mental" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#mental</a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/state" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#state</a> appears to have further <a href="https://c.im/tags/deteriorated" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#deteriorated</a> since last night’s news about a new grand jury’s <a href="https://c.im/tags/superseding" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#superseding</a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/indictment" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#indictment</a> of him on charges of trying to overthrow the 2020 presidential election. Over the course of about four hours this morning, Trump <a href="https://c.im/tags/posted" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#posted</a> #50 <a href="https://c.im/tags/times" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#times</a> on his social media platform, mostly reposting material that was associated with <a href="https://c.im/tags/QAnon" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#QAnon</a>, <a href="https://c.im/tags/violent" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#violent</a>, <a href="https://c.im/tags/authoritarian" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#authoritarian</a>, or <a href="https://c.im/tags/conspiratorial" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#conspiratorial</a>. 🔸He suggested he is “100% INNOCENT,” and that the indictment is a “Witch Hunt.” 🔸He called for trials and jail for special counsel Jack <a href="https://c.im/tags/Smith" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#Smith</a>, former president Barack <a href="https://c.im/tags/Obama" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#Obama</a>, and the members of Congress who investigated the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. 🔸And he reposted a sexual insult about the political careers of both Vice President Kamala <a href="https://c.im/tags/Harris" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#Harris</a> and former Secretary of State Hillary <a href="https://c.im/tags/Clinton" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#Clinton</a>.Meanwhile, Trump’s campaign has today escalated the fight about Trump’s photo op Monday at <a href="https://c.im/tags/Arlington" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#Arlington</a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/National" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#National</a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Cemetery" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#Cemetery</a>, where campaign staff took photos and videos in Section 60, the burial ground of recent veterans, apparently over the strong objections of cemetery officials. Then the campaign released photos and a video from the visit attacking Harris. A statement from the Arlington National Cemetery reiterated: ♦️“Federal law prohibits political campaign or election-related activities within Army National Military Cemeteries, to include photographers, content creators or any other persons attending for purposes, or in direct support of a partisan political candidate's campaign. ♦️ ⭐️Arlington National Cemetery reinforced and widely shared this law and its prohibitions with all participants. We can confirm there was an incident, and a report was filed.”Arlington National Cemetery was established on the former property of General Robert E. Lee in 1864, after the Lee family did not pay their property taxes. At the time, Lee was leading Confederate forces against the United States government, and those buried in the cemetery in its early years were those killed in the Civil War. The cemetery is one of two in the United States that is under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Army, and it is widely considered hallowed ground. <a href="https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/august-28-2024" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no">https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/august-28-2024</a>

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