2 months ago
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PULSE POINTS:
❓What Happened: A government memo reveals that the Trump administration has developed broad guidelines for detaining migrants at Guantanamo Bay, permitting officials to send migrants associated with organized crime to the base.
👥 Who’s Involved: The Trump administration, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Department of Defense (DoD), and migrants.
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📍 Where & When: Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The memo was signed on March 7.
💬 Key Quote: Theresa Cardinal Brown noted that the memo’s rules “apply very broadly to any immigrant who came to the U.S. via the U.S.-Mexico border.”
⚠️ Impact: The memo allows for wide-reaching discretion in selecting migrants for detention at Guantanamo, challenging previous assertions that only high-threat criminals would be held there.
IN FULL:
A new memo shows the Trump administration’s wide-reaching authority to detain migrants at Guantanamo Bay, expanding beyond only “the worst” offenders. This development is part of Trump’s broader policy to crack down on illegal immigration.
The agreement, signed in early March by top officials from the Departments of Homeland Security (DHS) and Defense (DoD), sets criteria for detaining migrants based not on criminal history but rather a “nexus” to transnational criminal organizations or criminal drug activity. Officials have defined this connection broadly, which could include paying a criminal group for smuggling services into the United States.
The guidelines allow for detaining migrants with final deportation orders who have interacted in any way with organized crime, including direct or indirect interactions. The Department of Defense confirmed the memo. The DoD has highlighted its role in clarifying operational roles at Guantanamo Bay between DHS and DoD.
Theresa Cardinal Brown, a former U.S. immigration official, stated that many illegals could have some form of interaction with a crime syndicate. This is due to the territorial control established by cartels in Mexico.
Trump administration officials defend the strategy as vital to national security. White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller said operations at Guantanamo for detaining migrants will proceed without changes. Currently, 42 individuals are detained at the base.
PULSE POINTS:
❓What Happened: New York’s Democrat Attorney General Letitia James is investigating whether President Donald J. Trump’s tariff pause facilitated insider trading by administration officials or another individual who may have been informed ahead of the April 9 announcement. James’s latest lawfare efforts come as she faces a criminal referral to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) over allegations of mortgage fraud uncovered by Bill Pulte, the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency.
👥 Who’s Involved: President Trump, Letitia James, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency Bill Pulte, and Democrat Sens. Elizabeth Warren, Adam Schiff, and Ruben Gallego.
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📍 Where & When: The investigation was confirmed on April 16, 2025, prompted by a series of U.S. market trades before the tariff pause.
💬 Key Quote: “It’s entirely appropriate to have an investigation to make sure that Donald Trump, Donald Trump’s family, Donald Trump’s inner circle didn’t get advance information and trade on that information,” said Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA).
⚠️ Impact: Democrats in the Senate are running cover for James’s latest law effort against Trump.
IN FULL:
New York’s Democrat Attorney General, Letitia James, is launching a new lawfare campaign against President Donald J. Trump, insinuating potential insider trading instances linked to the White House’s recent pause of reciprocal tariffs. Confirmed to be underway on April 16, the New York AG’s inquiry purports to determine whether Trump or his associates had prior knowledge of the tariff actions, which preceded a significant upturn in the stock market. However, there is mounting speculation that James’s investigation of Trump is meant to distract from her own criminal referral to the Department of Justice (DOJ) over allegations of mortgage fraud.
President Trump’s announcement of the tariff pause, to allow bilateral trade negotiations with over 70 nations to take place, was preceded just hours before by two posts on Truth Social where the America First leader stated, “BE COOL! Everything is going to work out well. The USA will be bigger and better than ever before” and “THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY!!! DJT.” The subsequent surge in the financial markets—with several trades logged just before the pause was announced—make up the core of the newest allegations underpinning the lawfare effort.
Speaking with Jake Tapper on CNN’s State of the Union earlier this week, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) appeared to have foreknowledge of Letitia James’s investigation. “It’s entirely appropriate to have an investigation to make sure that Donald Trump, Donald Trump’s family, Donald Trump’s inner circle, didn’t get advance information and trade on that information,” the Massachusetts Democrat said. How Trump could engage in insider trading on a decision and announcement that he would make is unclear.
Closer examination reveals James’s inquiry—and the justifications for it provided by a number of Democrat lawmakers—is little more than partisan gamesmanship. Ignored by James is the fact that rumors of a potential pause had circulated on social media platforms for days prior to the announcement—with the “Walter Bloomberg” X (formerly Twitter) account posting that a pause was under consideration by Trump on Monday, April 7. However, following a swift White House denial, the post was deleted.
Additionally, the two Trump posts on Truth Social on the morning of April 9 could easily be interpreted as an indication that the White House would announce changes to the imposition of trade tariffs, which any observant investor would have responded to by making options trades. Further, because Truth Social is widely accessible, the posts are considered public information and, therefore, could not constitute the secretive exchange of information typically associated with insider trading. The fact is that options traders frequently make bets on short-term market shifts, and the trades on April 9 could easily have occurred without any foreknowledge—though the social media buzz and Trump’s Truth Social posts could have influenced the moves.
The Trump White House is correctly dismissing Senate Democrat allegations and the New York Attorney General’s inquiry as little more than partisan lawfare rather than substantive legal accusations of malpractice. For Letitia James, though, the confirmation of her investigation into Trump and the tariff pause may serve an ulterior purpose—namely, distracting from her own criminal referral to the DOJ on allegations made by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director Bill Pulte that the New York Attorney General engaged in several instances of mortgage fraud. James has dismissed the allegations, ironically accusing the Trump administration of weaponizing the government against her.
In 2024, Letitia James and the New York Attorney General’s office were behind several lawfare actions targeting Trump to derail his presidential re-election bid. However, those efforts proved unsuccessful, with Trump winning the election in a landslide.
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