#FBI search in #Georgia shows Trump’s willingness to use…federal #law enforcement to intervene in #election matters in the lead-up to the critical 2026 #midterms, which will determine the extent of his authority for the remainder of his 2nd term.

…Democrats & election security experts say its primary purpose is to #intimidate #Trump opponents while empowering supporters seeking an excuse to take control of the #elections office…& to undermine confidence in the process.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/30/us/politics/georgia-trump-election.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share

Donald Trump is borrowing a strategy from authoritarian regimes to #intimidate potential critics and #discourage them from speaking out, according to a senator under investigation by his administration.

#Elissa #Slotkin, a Democrat from Michigan, faces questioning after she organised and appeared in a #video with other Democrats imploring military service members to #refuse “#illegal #orders”.

Fellow senator #Mark #Kelly and three Democrats from the House of Representatives are also being investigated.

To Slotkin, a former analyst with the Central Intelligence Agency ( #CIA ), it is a deliberate effort to chill free speech that rhymes with her experience of #dictatorships around the world.

“They’re now using a well-worn playbook that employs #physical intimidation and #legal intimidation to get,
A, you to shut up, and
B, for other people thinking of criticising the president on such issues to be dissuaded from doing so,”
she told the Guardian in a phone interview.

“It’s absolutely a strategy well used in other countries and other authoritarian governments.

As a CIA officer I’ve served in places like this,
I’ve studied places like this my entire life,
and Trump is sadly using that #playbook in the United States right now.”

Now 49, Slotkin completed three tours in Iraq with the US military before moving into national security roles at the Pentagon and White House under presidents George W Bush and Barack Obama.

In 2018 she turned to electoral politics, winning a long-held Republican seat in #Michigan and helping Democrats reclaim control of the House.

She secured re-election in 2020 and 2022, campaigning on issues such as access to affordable healthcare and efforts to bring manufacturing back to her home state.

Her ascent continued in 2024 when she won an open Senate seat despite Trump carrying Michigan in the presidential election.

Last year she delivered the Democrats’ rebuttal to Trump’s joint congressional address.

Then in November she was among six congressional Democrats,
all with military or intelligence backgrounds,
who in a 90-second video cited the "Uniform Code of Military Justice"
and said no one has to carry out orders that violate the law or constitution.

#Trump branded the video message “treasonous” and amplified a social media post suggesting that the six Democrats be #hanged.

Defence secretary Pete #Hegseth is attempting to #retroactively #demote Kelly,
a former navy pilot and astronaut,
from his retired rank of captain.

👏The Arizona senator is suing Hegseth to block those proceedings,
calling them an unconstitutional act of retribution.

Meanwhile US attorney #Jeanine #Pirro, the justice department’s chief prosecutor in Washington, has requested an interview with Slotkin.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/18/trump-authoritarian-playbook-critics-democrat?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

#SenatorMarkKelly: “Over 25 years in the #USNavy, 39 combat missions, and 4 missions to space, I risked my life for this country and to defend our #Constitution - including the #FirstAmendment rights of every American to speak out.

I never expected that the #President of the #UnitedStates and the #SecretaryOfDefense would attack me for doing exactly that.

My rank and retirement are things that I earned through my #service and #sacrifice for this country. got shot at. I missed holidays and birthdays. commanded a space shuttle mission while my wife Gabby recovered from a gunshot wound to the head-all while proudly wearing the American flag on my shoulder.

Generations of servicemembers have made these same patriotic sacrifices for this country, earning the respect, appreciation, and rank they deserve.

#PeteHegseth wants to send the message to every single retired servicemember that if they say something he or #Trump doesn't like, they will come after them the same way. It's #outrageous and it is #wrong.

There is nothing more un-American than that.

If Pete Hegseth, the most #unqualified Secretary of Defense in our country's history, thinks he can #intimidate me with a censure or #threats to demote me or prosecute me, he still doesn't get it.

I will fight this with everything I've got — not for myself, but to send a message back that Pete Hegseth and Donald Trump don't get to decide what #Americans in this country get to say about their government. #uspol #auspol #TrumpRegime #MilitaryVeterans #MilitaryVeteran

#Trump is sending his #Brownshirts to interfere in #California's election and to #intimidate #voters: “This administration has made no secret of its goal to undermine free and fair #elections. Deploying these federal forces appears to be an intimidation tactic meant for one thing: suppress the #Vote
___
The White House’s campaign against elections takes a radical turn with midterms on horizon - https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/white-houses-campaign-elections-takes-radical-turn-midterms-horizon-rcna240041

#uspol #ElectionInterference #TrumpPutsch

@groink Most likely loaded with "less lethal" rounds like pepper balls.

These #thugs aren't here for de-escalation. They're here to #terrorize #harass #threaten #intimidate #civilians. They are #police academy #rejects and #wannabe #specops #operators who want to tell #war stories to their buddies on the #weekend over #beer.

What losers.

On today's episode of #FascismInTheUSA...

#Cornyn Says #FBI Will Help Find #Texas Lawmakers Who Left State

The senator said the agency had agreed to help locate Democratic state legislators who departed to try to block a vote on congressional maps. Democrats said #FederalLawEnforcement was being misused.

By J. David Goodman and Julie Bosman
Aug. 7, 2025

"Senator John Cornyn, Republican of Texas, said on Thursday that the F.B.I. had agreed to his request to help track down dozens of Democratic Texas state lawmakers who left the state to prevent a vote on a redistricting plan.

"The activation of federal agents could create a standoff between the Trump administration and state leaders in Illinois, where many of the absent #Democrats have taken refuge.

"It was not clear on Thursday morning whether federal agents had actually taken action in the case, or what role they might eventually play.

"Gov. JB Pritzker of Illinois scoffed at the idea that federal agents could be deployed against the Texas lawmakers present in his state, calling it 'a lot of grandstanding.'

" 'The reality is that all that he has said is that the F.B.I. has been authorized to locate the House Democrats — nothing more,' Mr. Pritzker told reporters at the Illinois State Fair on Thursday. 'I welcome the F.B.I. coming to the state,' he added. 'But they won’t be arresting anyone because there is no federal law that prohibits those Texas House Democrats from being here.'

"Mr. Pritzker has previously said that federal law enforcement agents might be used in an attempt to #intimidate lawmakers, even if the agents did not have cause to make arrests.

"Several of the #TexasDemocrats in Illinois said that as of Thursday morning, no federal agents had been seen or reported at the lawmakers’ hotel in St. Charles, about 25 miles west of Chicago.

"The whereabouts of the Texas lawmakers are widely known, but until now at least, they had considered themselves safe from arrest because they were far from the jurisdiction of Texas law enforcement agencies.

" 'I am proud to announce that Director #KashPatel has approved my request for the F.B.I. to assist state and local law enforcement in locating runaway Texas House Democrats,' Mr. Cornyn said in a statement.

"In his letter on Tuesday requesting the bureau’s assistance, Mr. Cornyn argued that the Democratic lawmakers might have violated state bribery laws by accepting money from outside groups to support their efforts to prevent a vote in the Texas House on a redrawn political map.

"No criminal warrants have actually been filed against the lawmakers in Texas. The speaker of the Texas House has issued civil warrants, saying that the Democrats violated rules of attendance for that chamber,but those warrants have not been considered enforceable outside the state during previous legislative walkouts."

Read more:
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/07/us/politics/texas-redistricting-cornyn-fbi.html

Archived version:
https://archive.ph/qLpkc

#FashPatel #Fascism #ACAB #Overreach #CharacteristicsOfFascism

Murder defence team claim shots fired at Hori Gage were intended to intimidate, not kill him

Richards denies being there at all, while Haenga admits he was in the car and admits shooting at…
#NewsBeep #News #Headlines #at #claim #defence #fired #gage #him #hori #intended #intimidate #kill #Murder #NewZealand #not #NZ #shots #team #to #were
https://www.newsbeep.com/28498/