Raw Story

Former President Donald Trump's refusal to meet routine deadlines foreshadows his willingness to embrace an alarming aspect of Project 2025 should he be reelected in November, a new analysis contends.

Trump's slow-walking of the presidential transition process to vet potential staffers and appointees suggests he means to force federal workers to do his bidding by dismantling key protections, Salon columnist Heather Digby Parton argued Friday.

"As with everything else associated with Trump, the whole project appears to be one part grift and one part vengeance with loyalists," Parton wrote. "The corruption that characterized Trump's first term is already evident."

Parton pointed to leaders of Trump's transition team and the policy platform their conservative think tank developed as the reason why the campaign is not taking advantage of money and essential services they could have accessed by meeting deadlines.

"It doesn't take a very stable genius to figure out why they are dragging their feet," Parton wrote. "Trump's campaign can avoid federal rules limiting private contributions to the transition process as well as ethics rules that bar conflicts of interest."

Conflicts of interest concerns are already being raised about Howard Lutnick, a financier reportedly raising concerns he'll insert profitable business allies into the second administration he's planning for the former president.

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“Totally sketchy,” was how one senior Republican official described Lutnick's actions to Politico this week.

The team also includes Linda McMahon, the America First Policy Institute leader accused of allowing the sexual abuse of young boys during her tenure at the World Wrestling Entertainment, as the Daily News reported Thursday.

"Such damming allegations would probably be cause for her resignation from any other presidential transition, but considering Trump's own history of sexual abuse it's unlikely that he would care about such mundane accusations," wrote Parton.

"It's par for the course in any Trump administration."

Parton argues Trump's retention of McMahon suggests the former president's dedication to her think tank's "America First Agenda" which calls for eliminating most of the civil service protections for federal workers by making them at-will employees.

"You can see why the campaign doesn't feel the need to bother with a traditional transition process," Parton concluded. "They are already vetting hundreds of MAGA faithful and planning to start dramatically expanding executive power the minute Trump takes power."

Chinese hackers penetrated into U.S. telecommunications networks and targeted phones used by former President Donald Trump and his running mate, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, reported The New York Times on Friday.

Investigators are currently trying to "determine what communications data, if any, was taken or observed by the sophisticated penetration of telecom systems, according to these people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe an active and highly sensitive national security case."

Such data, the report continued, could be a "gold mine" for hostile foreign intelligence services, as they could determine who Trump is in communication with and exploit his vulnerabilities, particularly if he ends up becoming president again.

Trump's campaign was alerted this week "that the Republican presidential nominee and his running mate were among a number of people inside and outside of government whose phone numbers had been targeted through the infiltration of Verizon phone systems," according to sources speaking to The Times.

This is not the first such security threat that has targeted Trump. Earlier this year, Iranian hackers posed as Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas' wife in order to gain inside access to campaign information.

Infamously, these kinds of schemes have disrupted U.S. elections for years; in 2016, Russian intelligence sought to interfere in the election, hacking and releasing information from Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, while using troll farms to promote disinformation online. Former special counsel Robert Mueller's report indicated that Trump was aware of this and enthusiastic that it would be to his benefit.

For the first time in 36 years The Washington Post, owned by billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, will not endorse a candidate in the presidential race. The move is infuriating critics, democracy advocates, and everyday Americans who point to the paper's official slogan: "Democracy dies in darkness."

"The Washington Post will not be making an endorsement of a presidential candidate in this election. Nor in any future presidential election. We are returning to our roots of not endorsing presidential candidates," The Post's publisher and CEO, William Lewis, wrote in an opinion piece Friday. He added: "our job as the newspaper of the capital city of the most important country in the world is to be independent."

NPR media correspondent David Folkenflik writes, "The decision was revealed in a tense meeting with people on the editorial staff. And it arrives at a time of heightened concern over whether news [outlets] are pulling their punches in order to appease Trump in final days of a neck and neck presidential race [against] VP Harris."

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"It is not clear whether Post owner Jeff Bezos or Publisher/CEO Will Lewis made the call," Folkenflik adds. "I'm told by person with direct knowledge that [editorial page editor David] Shipley implies that Bezos ordered the decision and Lewis carried it out."

Former Washington Post Executive Editor Marty Baron told Folkenflik, "This is cowardice, a moment of darkness that will leave democracy as a casualty."

"Donald Trump will celebrate this as an invitation to further intimidate The Post’s owner, Jeff Bezos (and other media owners)," Baron added. "History will mark a disturbing chapter of spinelessness at an institution famed for courage."

Columbia Journalism Review executive editor Sewell Chan reports, "The Washington Post opinion editor approved a Harris endorsement. A week later, the paper’s publisher killed it."

The massive deluge of comments criticizing The Washington Post's decision to not endorse either candidate flooded the paper's comments section, thousands in just the first hour, seemingly dozens if not hundreds by the minute at one point, with many vowing to cancel their subscriptions.

Anger also flooded social media.

One user on the social media platform X wrote: "An outrageous abdication of responsibility. Tyranny vs freedom - it’s an obvious choice. Perhaps it’s the 'anticipatory obedience' that scholars on tyranny warn us about."

Michael McDonald, a professor of political science who specializes in American elections wrote: "Democracy Dies In Darkness Isn’t a motto for the Washington Post, It’s a mantra."

U.S. Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) wrote: "The first step towards fascism is when the free press cowers in fear."

Political scientist Norman Ornstein, a contributing editor at The Atlantic offered a deep dive (thread).

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"Let's unpack this," Dr. Ornstein writes. "Donald Trump just referred again to the press as 'the enemy of the people. He has promised to lock up his adversaries, 'the enemy within.' Pledged to forcibly deport 12 million or more immigrants, legal or not, first putting them in detention camps."

"He has expressed admiration for Hitler, wants generals like Hitler had. He is talking regularly to Netanyahu, urging him to do nothing to help Biden. He talks to Putin, pledges to blow up NATO, shows increasing signs of mental decline. He is a narcissistic sociopath & grifter," Ornstein continues. "He has been convicted on 34 felony accounts and adjudicated rapist. He praises the Supreme Court for Dobbs, said he would pardon violent insurrectionists, absconded with our most important secrets. He called our heroes who died for the country suckers and losers."

"Top military leaders say flatly he is a fascist. Dozens of those who worked closely with him in his presidency have denounced him. He is a serial liar, represents an existential threat to democracy. I could go on. But the point is @washingtonpost knows all that."

"It is a breathtaking show of cowardice and irresponsibility if the nation's newspaper refuses to make an endorsement in this existential election. Will Lewis, Jeff Bezos, David Shipley are all complicit in this. Shame on them all."

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A town hall analysis breaking down the policies Kamala Harris was asked about Wednesday night abruptly flipped into a discussion about the inconsistencies in how the vice president and Donald Trump are being treated, with one CNN panelist declaring: “They’re not taking the same exam.”

“He gets to be lawless, she has to be flawless. That’s what's unfair. That's what's unfair tonight,” said former Obama White House official Van Jones. “They're not taking the same exam. Look, she has policies, she may not articulate them perfectly every time…but she’s fighting for actual ideas that will help real people and he’s talking about people’s penises, and so they are not taking the same exam and that’s pissing people off – it’s pissing me off.”

The moment came just after Harris wrapped up a town hall with CNN’s Anderson Cooper that was originally scheduled as a presidential debate before Trump dropped out and later refused to commit to holding his own town hall with the network.

While the issue of a double standard between the two presidential candidates emerged early on in the network’s post-debate analysis – and flared up on social media – it was former Trump adviser David Urban’s criticism of Harris’ comments involving her openness to ending the filibuster for Roe v. Wade purposes that fired up Jones.

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“Donald Trump said he's gonna be a dictator and you're worried about…” Jones said before Urban cut in.

“Ending the filibuster is a big deal,” the longtime Trump supporter said.

“But she didn’t say she was going to, she said she’d look at it, she’s studying things,” Jones replied.

Urban countered by saying that voters want specifics from her message of wanting to “turn the page.”

Harris supporters on social media thanked the CNN panel for highlighting the double standard.

"I want to thank some of the folks on CNN for calling out the massive double standard of how Harris needs to be flawless as Trump is lawless. Like he didn't even show up for your townhall or your debate," Neera Tanden, a Democratic political consultant and former government official posted on social media.

"YES it’s a double std," former Rep. Barbara Comstock (R-VA) wrote on X. "Thank you @jaketapper for noticing that Dictator on Day One Revenge Tour Trump gets a pass on everything and his supporters say he doesn’t mean what HE says he means. Not just graded on a curve. He flunks every day and gets a pass."

Watch the video below or at this link.

Kamala Harris (Photo: Gage Skidmore/Flickr)

A Democratic strategist wasn't buying Donald Trump's latest gripe that President Joe Biden's "lock him up" statement was "illegal."

"Lock her up" chants that became popular at Trumop's campaign rallies in 2016 got flipped around Tuesday by Biden, who told campaign workers in New Hampshire on Tuesday, "We’ve got to lock him up." After a brief pause, he appeared to catch himself, adding: "politically."

Trump, who has accused the Biden administration of weaponizing the government against him, responded Wednesday, telling rallygoers, "I told you."

"He's not legally allowed to say — he can't say that," said Trump. "But I've been telling you that. It's election interference that's all it is."

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Trump added: "This is illegal. It should cause cases."

The remark drew a laugh from Alyssa Farah Griffin, a former White House staffer for Trump, who quipped on CNN: "He seemed bothered by it!"

She noted that Trump has threatened military tribunals for political rivals such as former Wyoming Republican Rep. Liz Cheney, who has given Kamala Harris a full-throated endorsement.

"He doesn't like when people use his own language," said Griffin. "Tonight, Kamala Harris agreed, 'yes' she believes he's a fascist — he's been calling her 'Comrade Kamala' since she announced as the candidate."

David Axelrod, a Democratic strategist, said that it was a "foolish" thing for Biden to say and he "shouldn't have said it." Additionally, he applauded Harris for trying to head off her crowds when similar chants broke out.

"But the idea that Donald Trump is complaining about someone else brandishing the power — saying something like that, this is like daily fare for him," said Axelrod. "He's constantly threatening his political enemies with jailing and with all kinds of other things."

With Mark Milley, Trump's former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Trump even threatened execution.

"It's almost laughable," said Axelrod, who finished by jokingly asking why Trump isn't doing town hall meetings and answering questions.

Watch the clip below or at this link.

Former President Donald Trump took to his app to rage against Kamala Harris following the vice president's town hall in Pennsylvania, reverting back to calling her "comrade" and saying she has a "warped mind."

CNN moderator and anchor Anderson Cooper asked Harris if she believes Trump is a "fascist," in line with statements recently made by Mark Milley and John Kelly, Trump's former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and former White House chief of staff, respectively.

In response, she replied, "Yes I do. Yes I do. And I also believe that the people who know him best on this subject should be trusted."

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Harris asked the audience to consider their careers. Aside from Trump's former vice president, Mike Pence, "these were not politicians. These are career people who've served in the highest roles in national security, who've served as generals in our military, who are highly respected, talking about the person who would become commander in chief."

Her answer caught the attention of the MAGA leader, who responded on Truth Social.

"Comrade Kamala Harris sees that she is losing, and losing badly, especially after stealing the Race from Crooked Joe Biden, so now she is increasingly raising her rhetoric, going so far as to call me Adolf Hitler, and anything else that comes to her warped mind," wrote Trump. "She is a Threat to Democracy, and not fit to be President of the United States — And her Polling so indicates!"