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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XU5-cs4Esio
Trump's top White House enforcer Susie Wiles ordered to turn over secret records
Donald Trump's White House staff have been ordered by a federal judge to preserve presidential records, including text messages, after the administration tried to dismiss a Watergate-era transparency law as 'unconstitutional.'
US District Judge John Bates granted a preliminary injunction on Wednesday that requires White House staff to comply with the 1978 Presidential Records Act, enacted in the wake of the wire-tapping scandal that felled Richard Nixon.
The order applies to Trump's top enforcers, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and her deputy Stephen Miller, as well as the National Security Council, Council of Economic Advisers and officials working within the Executive Office of the President.
The decision comes after the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel last month claimed that the staff did not need to abide by the Records Act because it exceeds Congress' power and is therefore, unconstitutional.
Three watchdogs, the American Historical Association, American Oversight and the Freedom of the Press Foundation, sued the Justice Department and asked the judge to compel them to comply with the act.
They warned there was 'strong reason' to believe Trump would try to retain records when his term ends, citing the 15 boxes he kept after his first term, some marked classified, which sparked the FBI's 2022 Mar-a-Lago raid.
Bates opened his 54-page decision with a pointed literary flourish, quoting George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four: 'Who controls the past controls the future; who controls the present controls the past.'
The George W. Bush appointee added that scrapping the act would rob Congress and future presidents of the ability to learn from history, echoing the inscription on the National Archives Building: 'What is past is prologue.'
Bates rejected DOJ's claim that the presidency's unique constitutional weight shields it from the act, writing that 'while the presidency is a singularly important institution, that gravity does not free it from modest constraint. Quite the opposite.'
'Each branch of government derives its authority from the trust placed in it by the People, and Congress has validly determined that this Act helps to maintain that trust by shining some light on the activities of the President and his aides,' the judge wrote.
He noted that every president since Nixon, including Trump in his first term, had complied with the law 'without complaint' for nearly 50 years.
The absence of another Watergate-level scandal since Nixon 'suggests that the sunshine disinfectant of the Records Act is working as intended,' Bates added.
The judge took aim at the White House's new guidance on text messages, which tells staff to preserve only those that are the 'sole record' of official decision-making. Under that rule, the judge warned, 'almost no texts would ever be preserved.'
Chioma Chukwu, executive director of American Oversight, called it 'an important victory for presidential accountability,' warning the administration had tried to replace decades of settled law with 'a system dependent largely on presidential discretion and public trust.'
The injunction takes effect at 9am on May 26.
White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told the Daily Mail: 'President Trump is the most transparent and accessible President in history. He is committed to preserving records from his historic time in office.
'The administration has made it crystal clear we will maintain a rigorous records retention program in order to properly preserve all materials related to: the performance of staff duties for historical value, the administrative record of policy decisions and actions, and litigation needs.
'The President will also keep the current program in place for electronic records – emails and documents cannot be deleted from the White House system. This ruling fundamentally misunderstands the Administration’s position and we are confident that we will ultimately prevail.'
The Justice Department declined to comment.
https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-15837321/Trumps-White-House-enforcer-Susie-Wiles-ordered-turnover-secret-records.html
Trump to Ease EPA Refrigerant Regulations in Move Aimed at Lowering Grocery Prices
Administration officials estimate Americans will save approximately $2.4 billion from the new guidelines.
WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump will announce two Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) actions on May 21 aimed at reducing restrictions on refrigerants, according to a White House official.
“Today, the Trump EPA is fulfilling President Trump’s promise to lower costs and is fixing every problem we can under the authority Congress gave us,” EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said in a statement. “Our actions allow businesses to choose the refrigeration systems that work best for them, saving them billions of dollars.”
The move is expected to lower grocery prices and transportation costs for refrigerated items, while reducing air-conditioning expenses in homes and businesses. Administration officials estimated annual savings of $2.4 billion, including about $800 million from lower grocery prices, $100 million across industries, and about $1.5 billion in reduced transportation costs.
At issue are hydrofluorocarbons, the gases used as a cooling agent in freezers, air conditioning, and transport refrigeration.
Trump is revising an EPA regulation established by President Joe Biden in 2023, known as the Technology Transitions Rule, and a technical change to Biden’s Emissions Reduction and Reclamation regulation set in 2024.
“They didn’t protect human health or the environment and instead piled on costly, unattainable restrictions beyond what the law requires.
“This will be felt directly by American families in lower grocery prices.”
Expanding the type of refrigerants Americans can use will protect more than 350,000 jobs while also giving homeowners more options when repairing or replacing their air conditioners.
Zeldin and Kevin Hassett, assistant to the president for economic policy, joined Trump in the Oval Office for the announcement.
Business leaders in attendance included Greg Foran, CEO of the grocery chain The Kroger Co.; William Kevin McDaniel, CEO of McDaniel Family Investments, which controls the grocery chain Piggly Wiggly; and Richard Niemann, owner of Niemann Foods; among others.
Trump has rescinded numerous Biden-era regulations since taking office for a second term, targeting provisions related to energy, climate, labor, and immigration, while dismantling rules mandating diversity, equity, and inclusion, or DEI, guidelines.
A February announcement from the EPA removed the Endangerment Finding—a 2009 regulation set under President Barack Obama—a decision which Zeldin calculated would save Americans upward of $1.3 trillion, making it the largest such reform in U.S. history, the agency declared at the time.
The president’s recent deregulatory actions are meant to tackle inflation, according to officials.
Rising gas prices and persistent inflation are impacting Americans’ finances, with the national average for a gallon of gas topping $4.56 as of May 21.
“Americans were right to be frustrated with the Biden-era refrigerant rules,” Zeldin said.
https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/trump-to-ease-epa-refrigerant-regulations-in-move-aimed-at-lowering-grocery-prices-6033665
Full Measure with Sharyl Attkisson
After Hours: Eliminating State Income Taxes(From the Archives)
More states are cutting and even considering eliminating state income taxes. It’s a popular idea, but is it feasible?
May 21, 2026 19:11
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDH-VGx3EBM