New video in ICYMI. Part where she gets stabbed is blurred out.
Lots of regions in Defcon 2 rn.
https://www.defconlevel.com/current-alerts.php#raised-levels
LeBron James Pens Op-Ed for Chinese Communist Party Newspaper
National Basketball Association (NBA) superstar LeBron James wrote an op-ed in a Chinese newspaper, expressing his adulation over the friends he has made there and how the sport of basketball connects countless people around the world.
James, a member of the Los Angeles Lakers and one of the most decorated athletes in history, will soon begin his 23rd NBA season. In two-plus decades in the NBA, he has visited China 15 times and expressed positive memories and connections he forged.
The NBA's all-time leading scorer has received criticism in the past for his views and statements regarding the Chinese Communist Party and remaining silent on certain issues. In 2019, following ex-Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey's post on X that supported a Hong Kong free from Chinese communism, James said Morey "wasn't educated" on the situation with Hong Kong and China. It caused blowback from some who insinuated that James didn't want to take a moral stand and instead cared about the potential dollars lost from Chinese fans and subsidiaries.
About a year later, James and other NBA players were told by some fans and individuals on social media to "move to China" after they decided to boycott playoff games to protest the police shooting of Jacob Blake.
James' op-ed, titled Basketball Is a Bridge That Connects Us All, was published in Monday's edition of the People's Daily, the Chinese Communist Party's official newspaper. The following is a Chinese-to-English translation of some of James' words.
"I am deeply moved by the passion and friendliness of my Chinese friends, and I can only express my gratitude by giving my best in every game," James wrote. "Soon, I will be starting the 23rd season of my professional carrier in the NBA. I've worn the No. 23 for most of my career. It's a number that means a lot to me. Ahead of this special season, I am once again in China to start my next chapter with the fans here."
He noted how it's the 15th time in his career that he's traveled to China, saying that every visit was received with a "warm welcome" and that he has been "deeply moved by the passion and friendliness of my Chinese friends, and I can only express my gratitude by giving my best in every game."
The four-time NBA champion discussed the responsibility "of promoting exchanges" through the sport of basketball and using it to connect people across different nations and cultures, harkening back to a time he met a female Chinese college basketball player and wanting to inspire the next generation of children.
"The atmosphere of basketball in China has always been surprising," he said. "There are many famous basketball players and many outstanding young players have emerged. In Chengdu, Sichuan, I joined in a training session with the Chinese national youth team. I shared my experience with them: Take every training session seriously. The harder you practice, the more relaxed you will be in the game.
"Many young people ask me how to play basketball well. I think there are three key factors—determination, dedication and passion. If you love basketball, be determined and put your heart and soul into it. You will definitely be rewarded."
Michael Sobolik, senior fellow at the conservative Hudson Institute think tank, on X: ".@KingJames published an oped in…checks notes The People's Daily. Same guy who scolded Daryl Morey in 2019 for speaking out against the CCP's crackdown in Hong Kong—because it threatened the NBA's monetary interests in China. And of course Lebron hasn't said a word about the Uyghurs, Tibetans, or other
https://www.newsweek.com/lebron-james-oped-china-ccp-nba-basketball-2126431
Insider Paper
@TheInsiderPaper
BREAKING 🚨 Nepal’s Finance Minister stripped of clothes and chased into a river by angry protesters during deadly anti-corruption protests
https://x.com/TheInsiderPaper/status/1965391295888924871
RadioGenoa
@RadioGenoa
In Nepal, citizens storm Communist Party headquarters and tear down hammer and sickle flag.
https://x.com/RadioGenoa/status/1965395495263895569
The Patriot Oasis™
@ThePatriotOasis
BREAKING - Nepal's government has collapsed, politicians have banned social media use, and citizens have burned down the parliament building. Politicians are fleeing by helicopter.
https://x.com/ThePatriotOasis/status/1965396206080983094
Everything Apple just announced: iPhone 17 Air, AirPods Pro 3, Apple Watch Series 11 and more
-Apple launched new iPhones, Apple Watches and AirPods on Tuesday. They will hit store shelves and ship to homes on Sept. 19.
-Apple announced four new iPhone models, including the newest model, called the iPhone 17 Air. It is thinner and lighter than Apple’s other devices, and it’s based on a new titanium body. It starts at $999.
-The entry level iPhone, called iPhone 17, is still $799, and it got an improved display with a higher refresh rate, and camera. The phone’s screen is also slightly larger, while the phone itself has stayed the same size.
-Apple’s iPhone Pro got a $100 price bump and the iPhone 17 Pro now starts at $1,099. However, Apple says that users will get 256GB of storage space on the entry-level, as opposed to 128GB starting.
-Apple’s iPhone 17 Pro Max did not get a major update to its pricing, and remains at $1,199 and up, although Apple did add a new highest-end model with 2TB of storage.
-The new AirPods Pro 3 have improved audio quality and noise cancelling. One new feature is that they will be able to translate conversations in foreign languages in real time. They cost $249, the same price as their predecessor.
-The company released three new Apple Watch models, called Series 11, including updating its low-end SE and high-end Ultra models. The prices didn’t change. Apple added a new health feature to the devices that will use machine learning to determine if the user is at risk for high blood pressure.
-Apple’s iOS 26 will be available as a free software update on Monday.
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/09/09/live-updates-apple-event-iphone17-airpods-ios26.html
Christian foster families fight back against Massachusetts transgender mandate
Christian foster parents in Massachusetts are challenging a state policy that requires them to affirm and encourage the medical transition of children in their care who identify as transgender or risk losing their foster care licenses.
The lawsuit, filed Sept. 3, names two families — the Jones and the Schrocks — who foster young children and infants.
Both families say they have either lost or are at risk of losing their licenses because of the policy, which requires foster parents to sign agreements to "promote," "support" and "affirm" a child’s gender identity or expression.
The Christian families argue that complying with the policy would violate their religious beliefs.
According to the lawsuit, the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families plans to remove the Jones’ 17-month-old foster daughter from their home. The child has lived with them since she was barely 2 months old.
The Schrocks, who have cared for 28 foster children over six years, had their license revoked in June after telling the state they could not comply with the policy.
Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), the religious liberty legal group representing the families, said the two households previously fostered 35 children and were in good standing before the new requirements.
According to the suit, Massachusetts did not previously require foster families to pledge verbal affirmation of a child’s gender identity. That changed between 2023 and 2024, when the state began requiring families to sign agreements to speak and act in certain ways, including affirming a foster child’s sexual orientation or gender identity.
ADF argues the state is infringing on its clients’ First and 14th Amendment rights and is harming children at a time when Massachusetts is facing a foster parent shortage.
"DCF [Department of Children and Families] is even willing to remove young infants and toddlers with no understanding of ‘gender identity’ from loving homes because of their Christian beliefs, creating more trauma for the most vulnerable members of society," the lawsuit states.
ADF Senior Counsel Johannes Widmalm-Delphonse said Massachusetts was prioritizing ideology over children’s needs.
"Massachusetts’ foster care system is in crisis: The commonwealth has more than 1,400 children who are waiting to be placed with a loving family. Yet Massachusetts is putting its ideological agenda ahead of the needs of these suffering kids," Widmalm-Delphonse said in a press release.
He called the case "particularly egregious" because the state was threatening to remove the child the Jones family is fostering from the "only home she's ever known."
The Massachusetts Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Children and Families, named as defendants in the lawsuit, did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
The families are asking the court to block enforcement of the rule, declare it unconstitutional and cover their legal costs.
https://www.foxnews.com/media/christian-foster-families-fight-back-against-massachusetts-transgender-mandate
Steve Robinson
@BigSteve207
Maine's Secretary of State admits she believes non-citizens are registered to vote in Maine.
https://x.com/BigSteve207/status/1961423014723293509
RNC Asks Justice Department To Investigate Maine’s Trump-Hating Secretary Of State
The complaint accuses Shenna Bellows of violating the National Voter Registration Act by failing to make public voter roll records.
The Republican National Committee is asking the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, days after video showed the Trump-hating leftist acknowledging that there are surely “some” noncitizens on the state’s dirty voter rolls.
According to documents exclusively obtained by The Federalist, RNC legal staff has sent a formal complaint to Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Civil Rights Division, Michael Gates, alleging Bellows has violated the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA).
The Democrat who attempted to boot then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump off Maine’s 2024 GOP primary ballot has effectively extended her middle finger to the RNC’s requests to make public “all records” pertaining to Maine’s voter list maintenance system, the complaint says. Bellows has apparently done the same to the DOJ when they requested voter data, telling the Trump administration to “jump into the Gulf of Maine.”
Five months after the RNC made its initial records request, Bellows finally agreed to produce “off-the-shelf records, such as policies, procedures, and training manuals” about Maine’s voter list maintenance systems, the complaint states. But the secretary of state has “refused to indicate whether she is willing to produce any further records, including concrete data that would demonstrate whether Maine is actually implementing these policies as written.”
“Furthermore, the limited information provided by Secretary Bellows’ office suggests that Maine is failing to maintain its voter list with any regularity,” wrote Mandy Lester, chief counsel for the Republican National Committee. “Therefore, we respectfully request that the Department of Justice investigate Maine’s compliance with the NVRA’s ‘all records’ requirement and its list maintenance obligations.”
The concern is certainly merited.
As The Federalist reported last week, in video footage pushed out by Libs of TikTok, Bellows admits that there are likely foreign nationals on the Pine Tree State’s registered voter list.
“I’m sure there are, um, in some isolated instances, some noncitizens may be on the rolls,” the elections official said in a video clip.
Bellows, like other liberal election officials and so-called voter-rights activists, has long claimed that worries about noncitizens on state voter rolls are just a ruse by Trump and Republicans to erode faith in elections. Bellows’ office did not return The Federalist’s request for comment seeking an estimate of how many noncitizens populate Maine’s voter list.
The RNC, which has blasted Bellows for her resistance campaign against government transparency in furtherance of her run for governor, asserts the secretary of state made little effort to comply with its open records request — or the public disclosure terms of the NVRA. In an Aug. 4 letter, a representative from Bellows’ office wrote that she would be able to respond to the RNC’s request within “36 to 48 months,” the complaint details. All the RNC had to do was fork over $23,000 for the requested records. And the secretary’s office would not fill at least three of the RNC’s requests because state elections officials had conducted their “last address mailing confirmation in June of 2022” — more than three years ago.
“After contacting the [SoS office] representative to discuss the matter, she indicated that Secretary Bellows’ office would provide information responsive to one of our sixteen requests. That request, Request No. 1, covers the most basic off-the-shelf policies and procedures, which should require no more than a couple of hours to compile,” Lester wrote.
As all state election officials should fully understand, the NVRA requires the public inspection of “all records” tied to ensuring voter rolls are current and accurate. The RNC argues Bellows’ truculence, including the excessive cost and timeline to release the records, “are intentionally prohibitive and contravene the NVRA’s clear commitment toward transparent government and public accountability.”
Last year, the Public Interest Legal Foundation won a landmark victory “for transparency and clean elections” when the First Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Maine’s voter rolls are bound by public records provisions under the National Voter Registration Act.
“[W]hether voter registration rolls are accurate and current cannot be determined without inspecting the Voter File … In other words, the evaluation of voter registration rolls would be impossible if the results of Maine’s voter list registration and maintenance activities were not subject to public disclosure,” the federal court opinion states.
It would seem Bellows is doubling down on her closed-government games, even after the Public Interest Legal Foundation alerted the office to more than 18,000 deceased residents, almost 1,500 same-address duplicate or triplicate registrations, and 900-plus registrants registered in other states on Maine’s voter list.
J. Christian Adams, president of the election-integrity watchdog, said unfortunately, Maine voters are stuck with Bellows, “who treats transparency like it’s a threat and dirty voter rolls like they’re a feature.”
“PILF has been litigating against her for years, eventually beating her twice in Federal court, forcing her to turn over voter rolls and a large attorney fee award,” Adams told The Federalist in an email response. “Elections aren’t a game of hide-and-seek, but you’d never know that in Augusta.”
The DOJ is quite familiar with Bellows’ work. Earlier this summer, the department’s Civil Rights Division asked several states, including Maine, to provide information on their election processes and voter registration data. Bellows declared the DOJ’s request unconstitutional, as noted in the leftist Maine Morning Star. That’s the epitome of hypocrisy after the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously struck down efforts like Bellows’ to disqualify Trump from the 2024 primary ballot on a twisted interpretation of the Constitution.
“My answer to the DOJ is, ‘Go jump in the Gulf of Maine,’” Bellows told the outlet in late July.
Given Bellows’ “explicit admissions” and a lack of assurances that Maine’s Secretary of State’s office is complying with the NVRA, the RNC believes it’s likely Maine is “failing to conduct reasonable efforts to maintain the integrity of its voter lists,” the complaint warns.
“The RNC believes that Secretary Bellows’ actions justify an immediate federal investigation within the Department of Justice’s statutory authority,” Lester concluded.
Bellows’ office did not immediately respond to the Federalist’s phone calls or texts about the allegations in the RNC complaint. The secretary’s spokeswoman was expected to be out of the office on Tuesday attending the ‘Disinformation Summit: Gathering Insights & Understanding Impact,'” with “limited access to email,” according to an automatic response. The event features some of the biggest leftist activists Maine has to offer.
https://thefederalist.com/2025/09/08/exclusive-rnc-asks-justice-department-to-investigate-maines-trump-hating-secretary-of-state/
Macron appoints Defense Minister Lecornu as France's latest prime minister
PARIS (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday appointed Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu as new prime minister and tasked him with immediately trying to get the country's fractious political parties to agree on a budget for one of the world's biggest economies.
Lecornu, 39, was the youngest defense minister in French history and architect of a major military buildup through 2030, spurred by Russia’s war in Ukraine. A longtime Macron loyalist, Lecornu is now France's fourth prime minister in barely a year.
A former conservative who joined Macron’s centrist movement in 2017, Lecornu has held posts in local governments, overseas territories and during Macron’s yellow vest “great debate,” when he helped manage mass anger with dialogue. He also offered talks on autonomy during unrest in Guadeloupe in 2021.
His rise reflects Macron’s instinct to reward loyalty, but also the need for continuity as repeated budget showdowns have toppled his predecessors and left France in drift.
Macron's quick decision to name Lecornu comes ahead of a day of mass disruption planned Wednesday by a protest movement called ‘’Block Everything'' that prompted the government to deploy an exceptional 80,000 police to keep order.
Legislators toppled Lecornu’s predecessor François Bayrou and his government in a confidence vote on Monday, a new crisis for Europe’s second-largest economy.
Bayrou gambled that lawmakers would back his view that France must slash public spending to rein in its huge debts. Instead, they seized on the vote to gang up against the 74-year-old centrist who was appointed by Macron last December.
The demise of Bayrou’s short-lived minority government heralds renewed uncertainty and a risk of prolonged legislative deadlock for France as it wrestles with pressing challenges, including budget difficulties and, internationally, wars in Ukraine and Gaza and the shifting priorities of U.S. President Donald Trump.
Drafting a budget will be a top priority for Lecornu, and normally a new prime minister would form the new government before negotiating the national spending in Parliament. However, Macron has asked Lecornu to consult with all of the political parties in Parliament first to try to agree on a budget before assembling his team.
“The prime minister’s action will be guided by the defense of our independence and our power, serving the French and the political and institutional stability for the unity of our country,” Macron said in a statement.
When the yellow vest movement against social injustice erupted, prompting months of sometimes violent demonstrations in the streets, Lecornu was chosen by Macron to lead the so-called “great debate” across the country aimed at appeasing tensions.
A minister of oversea territories from 2020 to 2022, Lecornu faced virus-related rioting and strikes in the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, offering to discuss some autonomy for the territory affected by long-running frustrations over inequality with the French mainland.
The 413 billion euros ($435 billion) defense spending package Lecornu championed for 2024-2030 represents the most significant spending hike in France in half a century. The money aimed to modernize France’s nuclear arsenal, augment intelligence spending and develop more remote-controlled weapons.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/macron-appoints-defense-minister-lecornu-180057006.html
Faraz Pervaiz
@FarazPervaiz3
🇫🇷France: Jihadis threaten to burn Notre Dame CHURCH in Paris unless authorities release Ibrahim Alisaoui, who killed 3 French.
https://x.com/FarazPervaiz3/status/1965067603631563008
Texas announces ban on Sharia Law after Muslim 'patrols' tried to ban alcohol and pork
Texas governor Greg Abbott has announced a ban on Sharia Law in the state after an imam launched a campaign to pressure Muslim-owned stores to stop selling pork, alcohol and lottery tickets.
Imam F. Qasim ibn Ali Khan of Masjid At-Tawhid was seen in a viral video confronting a store employee and accusing the business of selling 'haram' products forbidden under Islamic law.
As a response, Abbott said on Tuesday: 'I signed laws that BAN Sharia Law and Sharia Compounds in Texas. No business and no individual should fear fools like this.'
The governor also addressed the imam, saying: 'If this person, or ANYONE, attempts to impose Sharia compliance, report it to local law enforcement or the Texas Dept. of Public Safety.'
In a statement, Abbott's office added: 'In Texas, we believe in equal rights under the law for all men, women, & children. Any legal system that flouts human rights is BANNED in the state of Texas.'
Abbott did not specify which bill he was referencing, but he signed a bill in 2017 that prohibits judges from applying any foreign law, including Muslim law, in US courtrooms.
Imam Khan, who leads a Nation of Islam-affiliated mosque in the Houston area, warned Muslim business owners they would face boycotts and public protests if they refused to comply.
In the viral video that sparked widespread outrage, he said a nationwide protest movement was set to begin specifically targeting Muslim businesses that violate Islamic teachings.
'We're kicking off a national protest and demonstration campaign against all Muslim businesses that have haram in their stores,' Khan said in the video.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations slammed governor Abbott's move, calling it 'fearmongering' and saying Sharia means 'the way to water' and compared it to Halacha for Jewish people or Canon law for Catholics.
'When Texas Muslims pray to God five times a day, donate (to) charity, fast in Ramadan, or speak up against injustice, among many other practices, they are observing sharia,' CAIR said.
The group said it is false that Sharia is 'banned' in Texas.
In several videos posted to Khan's TikTok and his 17,000 followers, Khan was seen confronting an employee at a Muslim-owned store, warning the business was violating Islamic law by selling 'haram' goods - items forbidden in Islam.
'This is the beginning of the campaign. We're serving notice to America and the world that enough is enough,' Khan said.
'The people that call themselves Muslims should not be selling haram in their stores… Pork, alcohol, and gambling need to stop.'
Standing outside the storefront with printed protest signs, Khan accused Muslim merchants of betraying their faith for profit and threatened coordinated action if they don't comply.
'We're kicking off a national protest and demonstration campaign against all Muslim businesses that have haram in their stores,' he declared.
'They have until the end of the month to change their inventory - or move to a different neighborhood.'
In the video, Khan did not deny his goals are rooted in observing the religious teachings of Islam, but insisted he is acting within the law.
He framed the initiative as a form of religious outreach - or da'wah.
Masjid At-Tawhid, the mosque from which Khan operates, is affiliated with the Nation of Islam - a controversial group whose ideology is considered extreme by many in the American Muslim community.
At present, no laws appear to have been broken by the cleric. Peaceful protests outside businesses are protected under the First Amendment, and no threats of violence have been reported.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15081857/Texas-ban-Sharia-Law-Muslim-patrols.html
Video of clash over gender-identity content in Texas A&M children’s lit class leads to firing, removals
After the video fueled outrage, a professor was fired and two college leaders removed from their administrative roles for approving content inconsistent with the course’s description.
Facing growing political pressure, Texas A&M University President Mark A. Welsh III announced Tuesday evening that a professor teaching a children’s literature course at the center of a viral recording was fired and that the university would conduct a full audit of its courses.
The announcement came after a video circulated online Monday showing a student confronting a professor over LGBTQ-related content in the class, sparking backlash from Republican lawmakers and calls for investigations, a response from the U.S. Department of Justice, and a statement from the Texas A&M System chancellor pledging to discipline the professor. A university spokesperson on Tuesday confirmed the professor was senior lecturer Melissa McCoul.
In his statement Tuesday, Welsh said changes were made over the summer to ensure that content not aligned within "reasonable expectation" of curriculum would not be taught after issues with the course were raised to university officials. Welsh later learned Monday night another course was continuing to teach material inconsistent with the published course description, resulting in the teacher's removal.
"This isn’t about academic freedom; it’s about academic responsibility," Welsh said. "Our degree programs and courses go through extensive approval processes, and we must ensure that what we ultimately deliver to students is consistent with what was approved."
On Monday, Welsh announced that College of Arts and Sciences Dean Mark Zoran and department head Emily Johansen, who oversee the course, were also going to be removed, saying they approved plans to teach the material that was inconsistent with the published course description. It was not immediately clear Tuesday whether Zoran or Johansen will remain employed at the university in other roles.
Welsh’s action marks a sharp turn from his comments captured in one of the clips circulated Monday, in which he told a student upset about the content that “firing” the professor was “not happening.” The shift follows mounting political pressure from Republican lawmakers, including Texas Rep. Brian Harrison, R-Midlothian, who posted the clips online and called on state and federal officials to investigate.
The video, which does not show anyone’s face, captures audio of a student objecting to a professor teaching that there are more than two genders. The student says this conflicts with President Donald J. Trump’s executive order and her religious beliefs, and the professor responds she has a right to teach the lesson and the student has a right to leave. It is unclear when the video was shot, and Texas A&M officials have not identified the student or the professor involved.
Texas A&M System Chancellor Glenn Hegar commended the professor's removal and said he and the Board of Regents would extend the audit of courses to all schools in the A&M System. In its own statement, the Board of Regents said it would "not tolerate actions that damage the reputation" of its institutions.
"[Welsh's] action shows that insubordination and indoctrination have no place on our campus or in our classrooms," Hegar said in a statement posted on X.
Hegar said an initial review found that the professor “failed to comply with clear instructions to align course descriptions with course materials, adding that similar issues “continue to be an issue with this professor.” Chris Bryan, Texas A&M System spokesperson, declined to provide additional information Monday.
The Texas chapter of the American Association of University Professors said that it is deeply concerned by the situation.
“Academic freedom, which Texas A&M endorses, refers to instructors’ right to teach in their area of expertise free from government interference,” the group said in a Tuesday post on X.
Hours before Welsh's announcement, Gov. Greg Abbott called the dean and department head's removal “good” in a post on X before also calling for the professor to be fired. Harrison, however, responded to Abbott’s post saying that the stated removals are not good enough and that Welsh “must also be fired.”
Several Republican lawmakers have since called for Welsh’s removal, and Harmeet K. Dhillon, assistant attorney general for Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, who wrote on X that the incident was “deeply concerning” and said the agency would “look into” it. The Justice Department declined to comment further. Texas A&M University did not respond to questions or provide additional information about the incident Monday.
Harrison, a Texas A&M alum and former Trump administration official, has clashed with Welsh for months over diversity, equity and inclusion policies. In May, he accused Texas A&M of “egregious discrimination” by offering DEI-related courses and “targeted student recruitment.” Welsh has denied violating the law or discriminating.
Abbott threatened to fire Welsh in January over the university’s decision to attend a conference hosted by The PhD Project, an organization that seeks to increase diversity in classrooms and corporations. Welsh defended the decision as legally permissible under the state’s DEI ban, but later reversed course and the university did not participate.
Welsh became Texas A&M’s president in 2023, the same year Texas lawmakers passed a ban on DEI offices and programs at public universities. He took over after the resignation of former President M. Katherine Banks, and since then, Republican leaders have moved aggressively to assert more control over higher education.
This incident also comes as public universities prepare to implement Senate Bill 37, a new law taking effect Jan. 1 that gives regents more power over curricula. It directs regents to review their schools’ curriculum periodically and to consolidate or eliminate low enrollment programs, a move critics warn could be used to target programs unpopular with the Texas Legislature’s conservative majority.
https://www.texastribune.org/2025/09/08/texas-am-video-professor-student-gender-identity-content/
Judge blocks Trump from firing Fed Governor Lisa Cook while her lawsuit plays out
-President Donald Trump said on Aug. 25 that he was firing Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook.
-Trump cited suggestions by Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte that Cook had committed mortgage fraud.
-Cook, who denies wrongdoing, sued to block her removal by Trump, who has been critical of the Fed and its chairman, Jerome Powell, for not cutting interest rates.
A federal judge on Tuesday night blocked President Donald Trump from firing Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook as her lawsuit challenging her termination plays out in court.
Judge Jia Cobb’s issuance of a temporary restraining order in the case came nearly two weeks after Cook sued Trump to prevent him from becoming the first president in history to remove a Fed governor for purported cause.
Trump said on Aug. 25 that he was firing Cook because of suggestions by Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte that she had committed mortgage fraud in connection with documents she signed for two residential properties she owns in Georgia and Michigan. Those documents were signed before she joined the Fed.
Cook, who is the first Black woman to serve on the Fed board, denies any wrongdoing.
“The public interest in Federal Reserve independence weighs in favor of Cook’s reinstatement,” Cobb wrote in an opinion on her decision Tuesday.
“At this preliminary stage, the Court finds that Cook has made a strong showing that her purported removal was done in violation of the Federal Reserve Act’s ‘for cause’ provision.”
Cobb said that “the best reading” of that provision is that the bases for removing a Fed governor are limited to ctions relating to that governor’s “behavior in office.”
″ ‘For cause’ thus does not contemplate removing an individual purely for conduct that occurred before they began in office,” the judge wrote, referring to the allegations that Trump has cited in seeking to fire Cook.
Cobb’s order enjoins Fed Chairman Jerome Powell and the Board of Governors “from effectuating in any manner” Cook’s removal because of Trump’s order.
Cook’s lawyer, Abbe Lowell, in a statement, said, “Today’s ruling recognizes and reaffirms the importance of safeguarding the independence of the Federal Reserve from illegal political interference.”
“Allowing the President to unlawfully remove Governor Cook on unsubstantiated and vague allegations would endanger the stability of our financial system and undermine the rule of law,” Lowell said.
“Governor Cook will continue to carry out her sworn duties as a Senate-confirmed Board Governor.”
The White House and the Federal Reserve did not immediately reply to requests for comment on Cobb’s order.
The Supreme Court is expected to have the final say in the case.
Trump has been critical of the Fed, Powell, and governors, including Cook, for not cutting interest rates as the president has demanded.
“I will not resign,” Cook said hours after Trump said he was firing her.
“President Trump purported to fire me ‘for cause’ when no cause exists under the law, and he has no authority to do so.”
The Federal Reserve Act says that board governors can be removed by a president only “for cause.”
Lowell, during an Aug. 29 court hearing, scoffed at the idea that Trump had legal cause to terminate her.
“You can’t have Director Pulte’s crazy midnight tweets be the cause,” Lowell told Cobb in U.S. District Court in D.C., during that hearing.
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/09/09/fed-lisa-cook-trump-powell-judge-jia-cobb-pulte.html
Eric Daugherty
@EricLDaugh
🚨 BREAKING: Iryna Zarutska's family DECLINED to have her body sent back to Ukraine, despite an offer from the Ukrainian Embassy - because they want her to be buried in AMERICA instead. Stunning.
"After Iryna's death, the Embassy in Ukraine called and said, 'We'll help you bring her home.' Her family said, 'no, she loved America, we're gonna bury her here.' I think we can give her an America to be proud of. Something here's broken, and we're here to fix it."
https://x.com/EricLDaugh/status/1965502947133198492