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WATCH: Tomorrow I will be doing a Substack live with Ben Wizner, the director of the ACLU's Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project. We’ll talk about Trump, the courts, and what could happen next. It’s at 5pm ET / 2pm PT.
My previously announced conversation with economist Paul Krugman is rescheduled. I’ll update you with the new time soon.
It’s always so kind when folks in the audience write in to ask if everyone at News Not Noise is “taking care of yourselves” and “finding ways to escape the news.” The answer is — trying, a little bit, we could be doing a better job.
Fortunately, there are moments when doing the work itself brings relief. And that was the case for me when I got a chance to speak with Jessica Valenti. Many of you know Jessica for her tireless work at Abortion, Every Day where she shines a spotlight on the attacks on reproductive rights across the country as well as the work to defend those rights. Valenti co-founded the blog Feministing in the early 2000s and has dedicated her career to making the issues around women’s rights accessible to a broader audience. I so enjoyed this conversation — both for the substance and because she is inspiring. We talk about the latest attacks on abortion rights including efforts to track and criminalize miscarriages and a crazy new strategy involving drinking water. We also discuss the SAFE Act, the Abrego Garcia case, and how we both stay grounded while doing this work. One of the techniques we discuss is called diaphragmatic breathing, which you can learn more about here.
You can watch the video of our conversation at the top of this newsletter. Let me know if you’d like us to schedule another conversation soon. I encourage you to sign up for Abortion, Every Day.
In today’s newsletter: It would appear we are one step closer to a constitutional crisis. Two federal judges are demanding accountability from the Trump administration for their apparent defiance of court orders regarding the removal of men to a prison in El Salvador. Also, we have the latest from Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen who is in El Salvador today to try and secure the release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia. Plus, was the attack on Governor Shapiro a hate crime? And new Trump Administration clashes with California, Harvard, and Maine.
And look up — we’ve got some News That Doesn’t Suck about the Northern Lights.
Here Are Your Headlines:
Breaking: Today the entire island of Puerto Rico went dark after every single power plant went out of service, leaving over 1.4 million people without electricity. The cause is currently unclear.
The C Word (We Mean Constitution): The clash between the Trump Administration and the courts just got more intense. Judge James Boasberg ruled there is “probable cause” the Trump administration acted in criminal contempt of court last month by ordering flights to El Salvador to continue in apparent defiance of Boasberg’s orders. He’s giving the Trump administration the opportunity to rectify its actions. If they don’t, he’ll work to determine who in the administration was responsible and refer them for prosecution. Boasberg today described the administration’s actions as “willful disobedience” that if unpunished would make a “mockery” of “the Constitution itself.” CNN reports the administration plans to appeal. It has until April 23 to respond. Read more about what the consequences could be here. Make sure to tune into my conversation with the ACLU’s Ben Wizner tomorrow for more on this.
Small World: You might be interested to know that Judge Boasberg was appointed to the bench by President George W Bush, was selected to serve on the FISA court by Chief Justice John Roberts, and was law school roommates with… Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
Discovery: This comes just a day after another federal judge, Paula Xinis, ordered the Trump administration to show the court what it’s done to “facilitate” the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland man wrongly taken to El Salvador. She’s ordering the administration to provide documents and testimony detailing their actions. Today Attorney General Bondi openly defied the judge, saying of Kilmar Abrego Garcia “He is not coming back to our country.” Cardozo School of Law professor Jessica Roth tells News Not Noise she expects this case to be before the Supreme Court again soon. You can watch my conversation with her about the case here.
Man on a Mission: Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen arrived in El Salvador this morning. He met with government officials to try and secure the release of Abrego Garcia, a resident of his state, though he was not allowed to visit or speak to the imprisoned man. “He was illegally abducted,” Van Hollen said, “and needs to come home. According to Van Hollen, the vice president of El Salvador told him Abrego Garcia remained in prison because the Trump administration is paying El Salvador to keep him there; Van Hollen also said the US embassy in El Salvador told him “they have received no direction from the Trump administration to help facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s release.
Mistaken Identity: We’ve previously reported the stories of a number of the men taken to that prison in El Salvador who had no known criminal record. Here’s a new twist. The father of a 19-year-old Venezuelan says his son had no criminal record and was taken to El Salvador despite ICE knowing he wasn’t the person they had been directed to pick up.
This week a federal judge stopped the Trump administration from cancelling a Biden-era program that allowed immigrants from certain countries to enter the US if they had financial sponsors and passed security checks. This story is getting wildly different coverage from sources on the left and the right. To see how that framing differs, I use Ground News. Their app and website gather sources from around the world and across the political spectrum, making it easy to see how different sources cover the same story. GroundNews is offering the News Not Noise community 40% off their all-access vantage subscription plan. To subscribe, go to GroundNews.com/NNN
State Fights: Today California announced a lawsuit to try and block what Gov. Gavin Newsom called “Trump’s unlawful tariffs.” This is the first lawsuit by a state against the sweeping tariffs. Newsom and California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s suit is similar to one filed by a group of businesses on Monday; both allege Trump lacks the authority to unilaterally impose tariffs without Congress — whom Newsom accused of “sitting there” as Trump “wrecks the economy.”
Staying Put: Also today, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said that Trump’s tariffs are higher than expected and likely to increase inflation and slow growth. He indicated there are no plans to change interest rates soon.
Out of Your Ivy League: Trump has now halted $2.2 billion in federal funding for Harvard and threatened its tax-exempt status, which could cost the university billions of dollars. On Monday, Harvard refused to comply with a sweeping set of demands from the Trump administration. “Selective persecution of your political adversaries through the tax system is the stuff of dictatorship,” former Harvard president Larry Summers said.
Hate Crime? Today a police warrant revealed the man accused of setting fire to Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro’s mansion targeted Shapiro due to his stance on the war in Gaza. The suspect, 38-year-old Cody Balmer, allegedly told 911 that Shapiro “needs to stop having my friends killed” and also repeatedly mentioned Shapiro’s Jewish religion. Shapiro was celebrating the first night of Passover, a major Jewish holiday, hours before Balmer allegedly climbed the fence of his mansion, broke windows with a hammer, and used a Molotov cocktail to start the fire. No one was harmed, though Balmer reportedly said he would have attacked Shapiro with the hammer if he’d found the governor. Balmer has a history of financial and mental health issues — which reportedly worsened in the days before the attack — and was charged with assaulting his family in 2023; he frequently expressed anti-government views on social media.
Different When It’s a Tesla: Attorney General Pam Bondi described the attack as “absolutely horrific.” But she refused to say whether it will be treated as “domestic terrorism,” despite using the label for similar attacks and vandalism on Tesla cars and dealerships.
Who Let the Data Out: A whistleblower claims Elon Musk’s DOGE downloaded data on millions of Americans from the NLRB, possibly including “sensitive information on unions, ongoing legal cases, and corporate secrets.” The whistleblower also claims DOGE workers attempted to hide their tracks — which would be strange behavior by people who claim to merely be improving efficiency. Also, DOGE’s activity might have exposed that sensitive data to Russian hackers.
Battleground: Yesterday Trump’s Justice Department announced it is suing Maine for refusing to comply with an executive order banning transgender athletes from women’s sports. This is the latest retaliatory move by the administration after Maine’s governor, Janet Mills, confronted Trump in the White House in February. According to the Maine’s Principals Association, there are two transgender women competing in high school athletics in the state.
Water, Water, Everywhere: This is an absolutely wild story Jessica Valenti put on our radar. We discuss it in the Substack Live conversation and we wanted to provide more information here so you can read about it. Anti-abortion states are now interested in studying the drinking water. This week the Texas legislature discussed a bill to mandate the government test drinking water for the presence of abortion medication and hormones commonly found in birth control. Similar legislation has been introduced in seven other states. Backers say it’s just an effort to make sure the water is safe and clean. But Valenti argues it’s an effort to scare the public into thinking there are health impacts on all of us if people use these medications. This position would carry a little more weight if the Trump administration hadn’t just overturned Biden-era water protections and rolled back regulations like the Clean Water Act. Read more about this on Abortion, Every Day here.
Pushing anti-abortion legislation under the guise of environmental protections is just one of the topics I discussed with Jessica Valenti of Abortion, Every Day. You can watch our discussion in the video at the top of this newsletter.
News That Doesn’t Suck
Eyes to the Sky: This evening you might be able to see the Northern Lights! Auroras are predicted to be visible over many northern states and even parts of the Midwest. There’s also a slight chance the solar storm responsible for these magical lights might impact technology, like the power grid and communications infrastructure. A good opportunity for a digital detox!
Papers Please: A new protest against the Trump administration is going viral. “Project Mail Storm” wants people to send physical letters of complaint (or plain junk) to the White House “to apply peaceful, relentless pressure” in a way that can’t be ignored or deleted at the mere press of a button. The movement also aims to highlight the importance of the USPS, which was crucial to the success of America’s Civil Rights movement, is widely considered a fundamental part of US infrastructure and democracy, and is under attack from the Trump Administration. There really is something special about sending a physical letter that can’t be matched by any other form of communication. Taking the time to write to someone is an act of love (or protest). If you decide to partake, don’t forget the stamp: there are over 100 designs available, including some brand new ones celebrating Native American culture, Betty White, and the children’s book Goodnight Moon. Some of us in the News Not Noise team also deploy a personalized wax seal for truly special letters. Not that we’re showing off or anything…
Camera Shy: Scientists have caught a colossal squid on camera in its natural environment for the very first time. Good timing, too, because this year marks 100 years since this mysterious creature was first identified. See the filmed squid here. It’s just a young’un, less than 12 inches long, but it could grow up to 23ft. "These unforgettable moments,” one scientist noted, “continue to remind us that the ocean is brimming with mysteries yet to be solved."
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