Recap of this week in the revolution: Judge restores Voice of America and Musk scales back involvement in DOGE. Trump regime hands more money to unqualified billionaires and Hegseth is in the hotseat (again) for Signal leaks. Marjorie Taylor Greene calls Pope Francis evil, Trump sends troops to the Middle East, and FBI arrests a judge. Join the revolution by attending your local 50-50-1 protest on May 1st.
The Good...
U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth has ruled that the Trump regime's dismantling of Voice of America was an illegal action, stating that in addition to a lack of "reasoned analysis from the defendants, there is an absence of any analysis whatsoever."
Most of the 1,300 employees of Voice of America were placed on administrative leave in March, and 500 contracts were terminated.
Voice of America delivers news to countries that don't have a free press. While one could argue that there may be a thin line between "news" and "propaganda," the Trump regime cut funding for the service because it wasn't propaganda-ing enough "pro-American" values and was too "leftist." Plaintiffs argue that Voice of America "truthfully, impartially, and objectively" delivers the news around the world.
Image by Gage Skidmore from Wikimedia Commons. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.
As the public outcry over the way Elon Musk has been decimating government institutions has grown, the billionaire's popularity has plummeted. This week, Musk announced that he will be spending significantly less time working with DOG.
This comes after Musk has repeatedly become embroiled in arguments with other government officials, at times erupting into shouting matches in the White House. His sweeping cuts have been the target of numerous lawsuits, and many of the actions he has taken have been blocked or rolled back by court orders.
Musk has stated that he will spend more time at Tesla instead, after the company posted devastating first-quarter financials showing a 71% decrease in first-quarter profits compared to last year. It's ironic that Musk plans on spending his time "helping" Tesla recover, since it is his name that has caused tho auto maker to be targeted by an outraged public.
The Bad...
Image by Han Zheng from Wikimedia Commons. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.
The Trump regime is considering handing a massive government contract to a start-up company with no practical experience in managing large federal contracts. An RFI (Request for Information) announcing that a $25 million contract was available was opened on March 20, but closed 7 days later. That's an incredibly short window, and suggests that the government already knew who was going to get the contract before the RFI process was opened. The RFI was "won" by fintech company Ramp.com.
Ramp representatives have already met several times with the General Services Administration (GSA) that oversees federal contracting, and some of those meetings pre-date the release of the RFI. One of Ramp's major investors in billionaire Peter Thiel, who financially supported both Trump and Vance. This contract would be a boost to the small start-up, allowing it to speed up its growth and start generating returns for investors.
"This goes against all the normal contracting safeguards that are set up to prevent contracts from being awarded based on who you know," according to Scott Amey, a general counsel with the Project on Government Oversight.
Pete Hegseth blames his Signal leaks on "disgruntled former employees" in meeting with the media on Easter at the White House.
Last month, Mike Waltz leaked war plans to the media via an illegal and improper use of the Signal app to discuss classified military strikes on March 13. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who was part of that Signal chat group, blamed Jeffrey Goldberg, a reporter for the Atlantic who was accidentally included in the chat, saying that he was "peddling hoaxes," and then lied and said that no on was texting war plans.
New information reveals that Hegseth also shared information about the same attack on a separate Signal chat with about a dozen other people, including his wife, brother, and personal lawyer.
When questioned about the incident, Hegseth again tried to blame others for his actions, which are unlawful under the Espionage Act along with other federal statutes. Hegseth said that "disgruntled, former employees" were trying to ruin his reputation.
Using Signal to discuss classified information is a crime. But in the last incident, most of the members of the chat would have had authorization to review the information being shared, if it had been shared using an approved method. One could argue that Goldberg was added accidentally, and the group was unaware he was receiving the information. That would still be a crime, but could be attributed to a mistake. But in this case Hegseth deliberately and intentionally added people to his chat group who had no reason or authorization to view this classified information.
The Idaho State Board of Education recently de-funded a program that helped public school students pay for laptops, supplies, and other education-related expenses. This came shortly after the state approved a new $50 million tax credit to pay for private school tuition.
The new tax credit is estimated to benefit approximately 16,000 private and homeschool students, and replaces a grant program that provided resources to more than 24,000 students, regardless of whether they attended public or private school. State Representative Soñia Galaviz works in a Boise elementary school, and says, "I have to go back to the families that I serve...and say, 'You no longer can get that additional math tutoring that you need...the state is willing to support other programs for other groups of kids, but not you."
Research shows that school voucher programs benefit wealthy families more than those with lower incomes. Instead of promoting school choice, these programs reward parents who have already chosen private schools, and take money away from public education for those who can't afford private schools even with the vouchers.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott has made a similar proposal a major priority for his agenda.
The Ugly...
Hours after the death of Pope Francis, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene posted this message: "Today there were major shifts in global leaderships. Evil is being defeated by the hand of God."
The Catholic League, one of many groups expressing outrage over this inflammatory comment, says the statement is "beyond the pale."
This marks a new low for Greene, which is rather surprising, given her long history of disgraceful conduct.
Letter alerting Congress to troop deployments
The Trump regime is sending U.S. forces to the Middle East to combat Houthi militants in Yemen. This is being done by the man who campaigned on a pledge to put a stop to "endless wars."
The U.S. military presence in the Middle East has been steadily growing, reaching levels not seen since Trump's first term in office. The current mission's objectives are "to enhance the defensive capabilities available to United States forces and facilitate necessary military actions." Such vague terms allows these troops to remain in the Middle East indefinitely, which would squarely qualify the current military actions in the region as an "endless war."
FBI agents arrest Wisconsin Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan April 25, 2025
The FBI arrested a judge in Milwaukee on the accusation that she helped a man evade immigration authorities. Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan allowed Eduardo Flores-Ruiz to exit the courtroom through a non-public area of the courthouse after being alerted to the presence of immigration agents inside the courthouse.
Dugan called the situation absurd, and confronted the arrest team, demanding that they speak with the chief judge. While Flores-Ruiz was allowed to exit the courtroom, he was later captured and arrested.
Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers called the Trump regime's arguments in support of the arrest, "dangerous rhetoric to attack and attempt to undermine our judiciary at every level.
What did I/we do last week?
Nothing exiting to report this week, but I did put time into some much-needed maintenance on free-the-people.us.
Among other changes, I added links to our LinkTree, Bluesky, Substack, GitHub, and Printify (Merch store) websites.
We launched a new product this week: A Gadsden (Don't Tread on Me) flag with the traditional rattlesnake image replaced by a penguin. This sticker mocks the Trump regime's tariffs levied on the uninhabited McDonald and Heard islands.
In addition to the stickers, the raw images for both the flag and sticker are both available in our GitHub repository, (along with other images). Feel free to use these images to create your own protest resources if you don't want to purchase our official merchandise.
What can you do this week?
🚨 On May 1, 2025, in cities across the US, we will gather in solidarity—honoring the legacy of workers who organized for the 8-hour day. Today, we face a new threat. A billionaire-backed minority is quietly reshaping our democracy. BUT a peaceful People’s Movement is growing. 👉 www.FiftyFifty.one
— 50501: The People’s Movement (@50501movement.bsky.social) April 24, 2025 at 7:30 PM
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Keeping you informed...
"Everyone deserves equal protection under the law. Everyone deserves due process." But what happens when those rights are violated by the government itself?
Before a possible encounter, make sure that you have a backup caregiver for your children in case you are abducted. Carry your papers with you at all time so you can instantly prove you are who you say you are.
If you are confronted by law enforcement, do not answer the door, and make them show you a warrant with your address, the name of the person to be detained, and a judge's signature. Use your phone to record the interaction with law enforcement without interfering.
Lady Libertie's "Guide to Resisting Fascism: The 2025 Survival Plan" provides useful suggestions for how to carry out the two steps needed to stand against fascism:
- Protect yourself
- Protect your country
"At some point in the next four years, you will have to make a choice. Maybe it’ll be something small...Maybe it’ll be something big. When that moment comes, will you stand up, or will you let it slide?"
In this clip from the 1983 miniseries "V," the Maxwell family attempts to flee the city out of fear they will be arrested for no reason other than the in-power regime has labeled the father's profession as a threat to national security. Their escape is stopped when they witness the arrest of a man who is helping another family escape.
On the lighter side...
Amen.
— putawomanincharge.bsky.social (@putawomanincharge.bsky.social) April 26, 2025 at 4:21 PM
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