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From Indivisible:
Trump has put an unqualified political attack dog atop our intelligence community
Email your Member of Congress now.
Here is an important message from Indivisible:
Trump has put an unqualified political attack dog atop our intelligence community. Congress must use all its leverage -- including refusing to reauthorize a spying law that’s a key Trump priority -- until this appointment is reversed.
President Trump just put right-wing private equity goon Bill Pulte atop the most powerful spy network in the world.
Trump’s pick for acting director of national intelligence has experience buying up home improvement companies. He definitely knows how to donate big money to the Trump campaign. But he has no experience whatsoever in national security or intelligence. Maybe he’s read a Tom Clancy novel, but we can’t confirm that.
What we do know is the reason Trump would put an obviously unqualified candidate in charge of national intelligence -- during wartime, no less. It all comes down to his last year of service as Trump’s Federal Housing Finance Agency director (another job he wasn’t qualified for). In the role, he’s reportedly weaponized the vast mortgage data he has access to in order to launch investigations and criminal referrals against Trump’s enemies, including Letitia James and Adam Schiff.
Now Trump has given his political attack dog access to the largest collection of sensitive data on the planet for one reason, and one reason alone: Trump wants Bill Pulte to weaponize our entire intelligence community against political opponents and cultural enemies.
This is another step toward authoritarianism in America. But we’re not powerless here. Congress has very little authority when it comes to blocking acting directors, but it does have massive amounts of leverage right now, because an intelligence-gathering law is set to expire in nine days without Congressional reauthorization and the Trump regime is obsessed with getting it passed.
You’ve heard us talk about Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act before. It allows warrantless surveillance of non-US citizens for national security purposes, but loopholes have been used to spy on US citizens as well. We’re already urging Congress not to pass this law without massive guardrails, but now, given the threat of the Pulte appointment, we’re encouraging Members of Congress to refuse to reauthorize this law -- even with guardrails -- until the Trump regime pulls this dangerous appointment.*
Trump’s appointment of Pulte is dangerous for our national security and our democracy. Demand Congress use all its leverage, including blocking reauthorization of FISA Section 702, until he’s replaced with a qualified intelligence official.
We want to be clear on this: Any Democrat who votes to reauthorize Section 702 right now will be complicit in Trump’s weaponization of intelligence data against Americans. This is one of the most important tests of whether Dems are able to identify the critical fights they need to wage to stem the tide of fascism.
Yes, Trump and some Republicans will claim Democrats are jeopardizing national security by using this leverage. Well, they just put an unqualified hack in charge of the 18 agencies responsible for monitoring threats to our national security. Any Dem that can’t win that debate should probably find other work.
And ultimately, this is not even a partisan fight. Many Republicans are scoffing at this appointment. Will they do something about it? Maybe a few, if we demand it.
Demand your Member of Congress use all available leverage -- including blocking reauthorization of surveillance legislation -- until Trump’s dangerous acting intelligence chief is removed.
In solidarity,
Indivisible Team
Click here to write to your Representative
https://act.indivisible.org/sign/remove-trumps-dangerous-national-intelligence-director/?source=email_20260603button&utm_source=email&utm_medium=button&t=7&akid=126078%2E6211001%2E3peeUS
________________________________________
*Rest assured, we are not dropping our demands for significant guardrails to correct civil liberty nightmares in Section 702. If Pulte’s appointment is reversed, Congress (especially Dems) should continue to withhold their votes until the law is rewritten to prevent warrantless spying on Americans.
from MoveOn: Big Tech is building an AI empire—and everyday Americans are footing the bill.
Right now, Big Tech is building an AI empire—and everyday Americans are footing the bill.
More than 3,000 data centers already dot the American landscape, with 1,500 more proposed.1 In some communities, electricity bills have skyrocketed by more than 200%.2 A typical AI-focused data center consumes as much electricity as 100,000 households.3
Meanwhile, Big Tech executives are minting themselves as billionaires while working families struggle to pay rent and keep the lights on.4
Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez recently introduced the AI Data Center Moratorium Act—a commonsense pause on this runaway expansion that would give Congress time to put real guardrails in place and protect us from Big Tech's unfettered greed.5
But Big Tech is already flooding Congress with lobbyists and dark money to try to kill this bill before it can get traction. The wealthy and powerful are counting on us to be distracted and divided while they lock in their advantage.
Here's what they didn't count on: people power. MoveOn members have shown time and again that when we organize, we win. The tech oligarchs are already too powerful and too rich. Just look at what’s happening in Utah.
A "Shark Tank" billionaire wants to build a data center roughly the size of Washington, D.C., in rural Utah—one that would use more electricity than the entire state currently does in a year. When local residents showed up to protest, that billionaire, Kevin O'Leary, claimed they'd been "bussed in."
This is what Big Tech's data center land grab looks like: out-of-state billionaires steamrolling local communities, draining their water, spiking their power bills, and dismissing anyone who dares to object. But everyday people are fighting back. More than 10 states have already introduced legislation to pump the brakes on data center construction. Dozens of cities and counties are doing the same. This fight is being led community by community.
Now, we need to take the fight to the national stage by passing the AI Data Center Moratorium Act—a commonsense pause to give Congress time to put real guardrails in place. Want to support MoveOn's work? Donald Trump’s authoritarian takeover intensifies every day—but history shows that authoritarian regimes crumble when just 3.5% of people rise up together in sustained resistance. That’s why MoveOn is helping mobilize millions, from massive No Kings protests to our nonstop work to get ICE out of our neighborhoods. This moment demands mass, disciplined, people-powered resistance, and MoveOn can reach, train, and organize at a scale unmatched in the progressive movement. Will you chip in to fuel this urgent and critical organizing? Donate here: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/moveon-data-centers-no?link_id=1&can_id=eeb4cf89f5c36708a7a97075a814a81b&email_referrer=email_3271334___from_3740379___subject_3740377&email_subject=this-data-center-would-use-more-electricity-than-the-entire-state-of-utah-does-in-a-year&refcodeEmailReferrer=email_3271334___from_3740379___subject_3740377 If you've saved your payment information with ActBlue Express, your donation will go through immediately:
More than 3,000 data centers already dot the American landscape, with 1,500 more proposed.1 In some communities, electricity bills have skyrocketed by more than 200%.2 A typical AI-focused data center consumes as much electricity as 100,000 households.3
Meanwhile, Big Tech executives are minting themselves as billionaires while working families struggle to pay rent and keep the lights on.4
Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez recently introduced the AI Data Center Moratorium Act—a commonsense pause on this runaway expansion that would give Congress time to put real guardrails in place and protect us from Big Tech's unfettered greed.5
But Big Tech is already flooding Congress with lobbyists and dark money to try to kill this bill before it can get traction. The wealthy and powerful are counting on us to be distracted and divided while they lock in their advantage.
Here's what they didn't count on: people power. MoveOn members have shown time and again that when we organize, we win. The tech oligarchs are already too powerful and too rich. Just look at what’s happening in Utah.
A "Shark Tank" billionaire wants to build a data center roughly the size of Washington, D.C., in rural Utah—one that would use more electricity than the entire state currently does in a year. When local residents showed up to protest, that billionaire, Kevin O'Leary, claimed they'd been "bussed in."
This is what Big Tech's data center land grab looks like: out-of-state billionaires steamrolling local communities, draining their water, spiking their power bills, and dismissing anyone who dares to object. But everyday people are fighting back. More than 10 states have already introduced legislation to pump the brakes on data center construction. Dozens of cities and counties are doing the same. This fight is being led community by community.
Now, we need to take the fight to the national stage by passing the AI Data Center Moratorium Act—a commonsense pause to give Congress time to put real guardrails in place. Want to support MoveOn's work? Donald Trump’s authoritarian takeover intensifies every day—but history shows that authoritarian regimes crumble when just 3.5% of people rise up together in sustained resistance. That’s why MoveOn is helping mobilize millions, from massive No Kings protests to our nonstop work to get ICE out of our neighborhoods. This moment demands mass, disciplined, people-powered resistance, and MoveOn can reach, train, and organize at a scale unmatched in the progressive movement. Will you chip in to fuel this urgent and critical organizing? Donate here: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/moveon-data-centers-no?link_id=1&can_id=eeb4cf89f5c36708a7a97075a814a81b&email_referrer=email_3271334___from_3740379___subject_3740377&email_subject=this-data-center-would-use-more-electricity-than-the-entire-state-of-utah-does-in-a-year&refcodeEmailReferrer=email_3271334___from_3740379___subject_3740377 If you've saved your payment information with ActBlue Express, your donation will go through immediately:
from the nation - A new podcast devoted to resisting authoritarianism
We’re in a moment that demands strategy and not just outrage. That’s why we’ve launched Fighting Fascism, a new podcast that looks hard at the history of fascist movements, the conditions that enabled them, and—crucially—the resistance movements that defeated them.
After all, there have been generations of men like Donald Trump, and they have been defeated before, just as he will be.
Each week, organizers Aaron Regunberg, Jonathan Smucker, and Matt DaSilva sit down with historians, strategists, and activists to draw real lessons for the fights happening right now. The first three episodes are currently available for you to listen.
Astra Taylor and Mark Bray on what antifascist organizing actually looks like in this moment—and why building a majoritarian coalition isn't as hard as it sounds.Morris Katz, lead strategist for Zohran Mamdani's campaign, on why the Democratic Party keeps fumbling and how to make it stop.David Klion on the role Israel has played in the rise of American fascism and what it means for American Jews today.New episodes drop every Monday. Find Fighting Fascism on The Nation’s podcast feed and subscribe wherever you listen.
After all, there have been generations of men like Donald Trump, and they have been defeated before, just as he will be.
Each week, organizers Aaron Regunberg, Jonathan Smucker, and Matt DaSilva sit down with historians, strategists, and activists to draw real lessons for the fights happening right now. The first three episodes are currently available for you to listen.
Astra Taylor and Mark Bray on what antifascist organizing actually looks like in this moment—and why building a majoritarian coalition isn't as hard as it sounds.Morris Katz, lead strategist for Zohran Mamdani's campaign, on why the Democratic Party keeps fumbling and how to make it stop.David Klion on the role Israel has played in the rise of American fascism and what it means for American Jews today.New episodes drop every Monday. Find Fighting Fascism on The Nation’s podcast feed and subscribe wherever you listen.
Trump Has Eliminated Election Safeguards and Installed Loyalist Election Deniers in Key Roles
"The election denial movement is now interwoven within the federal government.”
Rights & Insights and Joyce Vance Apr 15
https://open.substack.com/pub/rightsandinsights/p/trump-has-eliminated-election-safeguards?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email
new song from u2
Video can’t be displayed
ice watch
The Shasta County Sheriff’s Office gave information about seven jail inmates to Immigration and Customs Enforcement in 2025, the most that’s been shared since the agency was required to publicly announce cooperation with ICE almost a decade ago. Shasta County Jail received 33 requests from federal law enforcement agents to provide information about noncitizens incarcerated at the jail. Only seven of those individuals met the criteria for their information to be shared with ICE under state law. The information was announced during Tuesday’s Shasta County board of supervisors meeting by Undersheriff Gene Randall. The presentation was required by California’s TRUTH Act, which states that law enforcement agencies must hold a public forum if they provided ICE access to an individual during the last year. (Info from Shasta Scout)
Tracking: You can report and look up sightings on this map: https://iceout.org/en/
Reports are only posted for 24 hours, taken down at 4:00 am. However, we have put in a request to be notified of any ICE/DHS sightings in Trinity County. If you think you see ICE agents, report at https://iceout.org/en/
If you know anyone who needs help with immigration issues, try the following resources:
Legal Aid Association of California: https://www.lawhelpca.org/immigration-resources
Sacramento Rapid Response Network [NorCal Resist] Hotline: 916-382-0256
Website: https://www.sacfuelnetwork.org/sacramento-rapid-response-network
Congressman Jared Huffman provides resources on his website: https://huffman.house.gov/helping-you/immigration
january 11, 2026 What To Do When ICE Knocks on Your Door
By Mitch Jackson
There are increasing reports of ICE agents going door to door looking for people. That makes it important to understand your constitutional rights and what you can and cannot do if you hear, “Knock, knock. It’s ICE. Open up.” As a lawyer with more than three decades of experience, here’s what you need to know.
Start with this. When ICE knocks, the tools being used are speed and pressure. Your job is to slow everything down. You have rights before the door ever opens. Calm is not weakness. Calm is control.
The most important thing to know is that you do not have to open the door. You can speak through it. You can ask why they are there. You can ask for an interpreter. You have the right to understand what is happening before anything moves forward. You do not need to explain yourself. You do not need to answer questions.
Take out your phone and start recording. Audio is good. Video is better.
Be firm and polite. Do not escalate the situation. Words and actions matter.
If ICE agents ask or demand to enter your home, you have the right to see a judicial warrant issued by a court and signed by a judge or magistrate. Not an ICE form. Not an administrative document. A judicial warrant. You can ask to see it through a window or have it slid under the door. If they do not have one, you can refuse entry. An ICE administrative warrant does not authorize entry into your home without consent. That distinction matters.
Do not engage in conversation. Do not answer questions. Simply repeat this from the other side of the door:
Do you have a judicial warrant? If so, please slide it under the door or hold it up to the window for me to review.
If agents continue to press, say this clearly from the other side of the door:
I do not answer questions. I do not give you permission to be on my property. Please leave immediately and get off my property. I am asserting my right to remain silent and I want my attorney present.
Never lie. Lying can be a crime.¹
Following these steps protects you from being pressured into saying something that can later be used against you.
If agents force their way inside, do not resist. Resistance creates danger. Tell everyone in the home to remain silent. Silence is a constitutional right. It is not guilt. It is protection.
If you are detained or arrested, remain silent and ask for a lawyer. Do not sign anything. You do not have to answer questions about where you were born or your immigration status.
Fear feeds on confusion. Confidence comes from knowing your rights. Talk about this with the people you live with. Practice the words now, not later.
What if someone runs into your house asking for help?
Someone entering your home and asking for protection does not automatically give ICE or any law enforcement the right to enter without a judicial warrant. Your rights do not disappear because another person is inside.
Here is how the law generally works in plain terms.
Your home remains protected space. The Fourth Amendment still applies. Law enforcement, including ICE, cannot enter your home without your consent, a judicial warrant, or a narrow emergency exception.²
Another person’s presence does not waive your rights.
Harboring laws are often misunderstood. Briefly allowing someone into your home in the moment, without prior planning, payment, or concealment, is not automatically a crime. Federal harboring laws generally require intent to conceal or shield someone from detection over time. They involve far more than refusing to open a door.³
Conclusion
Stay calm. Be polite as possible. Assert your rights. When you can, call your lawyer. If you do not have one, contact the ACLU through its website.
Mitch Jackson, Esq.
Start with this. When ICE knocks, the tools being used are speed and pressure. Your job is to slow everything down. You have rights before the door ever opens. Calm is not weakness. Calm is control.
The most important thing to know is that you do not have to open the door. You can speak through it. You can ask why they are there. You can ask for an interpreter. You have the right to understand what is happening before anything moves forward. You do not need to explain yourself. You do not need to answer questions.
Take out your phone and start recording. Audio is good. Video is better.
Be firm and polite. Do not escalate the situation. Words and actions matter.
If ICE agents ask or demand to enter your home, you have the right to see a judicial warrant issued by a court and signed by a judge or magistrate. Not an ICE form. Not an administrative document. A judicial warrant. You can ask to see it through a window or have it slid under the door. If they do not have one, you can refuse entry. An ICE administrative warrant does not authorize entry into your home without consent. That distinction matters.
Do not engage in conversation. Do not answer questions. Simply repeat this from the other side of the door:
Do you have a judicial warrant? If so, please slide it under the door or hold it up to the window for me to review.
If agents continue to press, say this clearly from the other side of the door:
I do not answer questions. I do not give you permission to be on my property. Please leave immediately and get off my property. I am asserting my right to remain silent and I want my attorney present.
Never lie. Lying can be a crime.¹
Following these steps protects you from being pressured into saying something that can later be used against you.
If agents force their way inside, do not resist. Resistance creates danger. Tell everyone in the home to remain silent. Silence is a constitutional right. It is not guilt. It is protection.
If you are detained or arrested, remain silent and ask for a lawyer. Do not sign anything. You do not have to answer questions about where you were born or your immigration status.
Fear feeds on confusion. Confidence comes from knowing your rights. Talk about this with the people you live with. Practice the words now, not later.
What if someone runs into your house asking for help?
Someone entering your home and asking for protection does not automatically give ICE or any law enforcement the right to enter without a judicial warrant. Your rights do not disappear because another person is inside.
Here is how the law generally works in plain terms.
Your home remains protected space. The Fourth Amendment still applies. Law enforcement, including ICE, cannot enter your home without your consent, a judicial warrant, or a narrow emergency exception.²
Another person’s presence does not waive your rights.
Harboring laws are often misunderstood. Briefly allowing someone into your home in the moment, without prior planning, payment, or concealment, is not automatically a crime. Federal harboring laws generally require intent to conceal or shield someone from detection over time. They involve far more than refusing to open a door.³
Conclusion
Stay calm. Be polite as possible. Assert your rights. When you can, call your lawyer. If you do not have one, contact the ACLU through its website.
Mitch Jackson, Esq.
in god we trust?
From Americans United for Separation of Church and State
When Christian Nationalists argue that the United States was founded as a Christian nation, they almost always point to two familiar phrases: “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance and “In God We Trust” as our national motto and on our currency.
The implication they’re making is clear: They believe these words prove religion and government have been intertwined since our nation’s founding.
But history tells a different story. If you care about church-state separation, it’s worth looking at when and why these phrases were actually adopted.
The Pledge of Allegiance: This familiar patriotic statement was written in 1892 by the Rev. Francis Bellamy to mark the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's voyage. Bellamy’s original Pledge read:
“I pledge allegiance to my flag and to the Republic for which it stands — one nation indivisible — with liberty and justice for all.”
There was no reference to God. In fact, that phrase was added some 60 years later, long after Bellamy’s death. Only in 1954 was “under God” added after a lobbying campaign led primarily by the Knights of Columbus. They divided the indivisible with religion.
The national motto: The United States did not have an official motto for most of its history. The secular and unifying phrase “E Pluribus Unum” (Latin for “Out of Many, One”) filled that role unofficially.
“In God We Trust” did not become the national motto until July 30, 1956, when President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed it into law. The phrase would have been completely unfamiliar to our founders, and it was never enshrined in our first governing documents.
‘In God We Trust’ on U.S. money: In 1861, during the Civil War, the Rev. Mark. R. Watkinson suggested adding the phrase “God, liberty, law” to coins to “relieve us from the ignominy of heathenism.” The phrase was revised to “In God We Trust,” which first appeared on a two-cent coin minted in 1864, but it was not used uniformly on coinage.
Later, in 1907, President Theodore Roosevelt removed the phrase from some coins because he believed it was harmful, irreverent, and “dangerously close to sacrilege.” After public outcry, he reversed the decision, and it has appeared on all coins since 1938. However, Congress did not mandate the use of the motto on all paper currency until 1955, and it’s still possible to find old bills without it.
So what’s the common thread?
A pattern emerges: The Civil War and the Cold War. Christian Nationalists foisted these phrases on us during times of great fear and national crisis. Many political and religious leaders took advantage of that fear and those crises to undermine the wall of separation between church and state.
In other words, these additions were a response to specific political moments 75 years to more than 150 years after our country was founded.
So the next time Christian Nationalists use these phrases to excuse and dismiss blatant violations of church-state separation, you can remind them these “traditional” uses of religion by the state are relics from our fearful past, not evidence from our brave founding.
In solidarity,
Andrew L. Seidel
VP of Strategic Communications