Emil Bove and the Trump Judiciary
The concerns about Mr. Bove's nomination aren't frivolous. He was at the center of the Justice Department turbulence after Mr. Trump invoked the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to deport illegal aliens without due process. At a March 14 meeting, discussing the possibility that a judge could block those removals, 'Bove stated that DOJ would need to consider telling the courts 'f— you' and ignore any such court order.' That's according to a 'whistleblower' letter by a former government lawyer.
Testifying to the Senate, Mr. Bove didn't exactly deny uttering such a thing. 'I did not suggest,' he said, 'that there would be any need to consider ignoring court orders. At the point in that meeting, there were no court orders to discuss.' What about floating that the Justice Department might tell the judiciary to eff off? 'I don't recall,' Mr. Bove said. Doesn't this seem like something a top official would remember saying, or not?
The whistleblower then released communications to back up his account. One is a text message from March 15, as Mr. Trump's deportation flights to El Salvador were about to land. 'Guess its find out time on the 'f— you,'' the lawyer wrote his supervisor. The boss's reply: 'Yup. It was good working with you.'
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Newsweek
41 minutes ago
- Newsweek
Map Shows US Cities Where Homicide Rates Are Highest
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. President Donald Trump has said multiple cities could face federal action to deal with their violent crime, after he declared a public safety emergency in Washington, D.C. Newsweek has produced a map showing homicide rates in cities across the country. Baltimore and Chicago—both mentioned by Trump as possible targets—feature in the map as cities with the second and tenth highest homicide rates respectively, while Washington D.C. comes in at 19th. The data, compiled by the civil rights group Freedom for All Americans, does not present a complete and current nationwide picture, as not all cities have compiled complete figures for 2024. Why It Matters Homicide rates shape policy debates over policing, federal intervention and community investment, especially when presidential action and local officials clash over the meaning of the numbers. Crime levels in cities are making headlines in the wake of Trump's concerns about Washington, D.C. on Monday, when he invoked emergency powers to place the city's police department under federal control and deploy around 800 National Guard troops. What To Know The 10 cities with the highest homicide rates, according to Freedom for All Americans' 2024 data, are: St. Louis, Missouri (69.4 per 100,000 people) Baltimore, Maryland (51.1 per 100,000 people) New Orleans, Louisiana (40.6 per 100,000 people) Detroit, Michigan (39.7 per 100,000 people) Cleveland, Ohio (33.7 per 100,000 people) Las Vegas, Nevada (31.4 per 100,000 people) Kansas City, Missouri (31.2 per 100,000 people) Memphis, Tennessee (27.1 per 100,000 people) Newark, New Jersey (25.6 per 100,000 people) Chicago, Illinois (24.0 per 100,000 people) The group compiled is data from multiple sources, including AreaVibes, NeighborhoodScout, city police reports and public safety databases. Newsweek has contacted mayors' offices' for Chicago, St. Louis, Baltimore, New Orleans, Detroit and Cleveland, via email, for comment. Washington D.C. comes in at 19th, with a murder rate of 17.0 per 100,000 people. Violent crime in the capital hit a 30-year low in 2024, the district's U.S. Attorney Office said in January, citing police data. District Council member Charles Allen and District Attorney General Brian Schwalb both cited this statistic in their criticism of the president's federal intervention in the capital, with Allen calling Trump's actions a "dangerous abuse of power." Mike A. Males, a senior researcher at the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice in San Francisco, told Newsweek that urban crime was down across the country. "D.C. has a high rate because it is the only district wholly comprised of a city, but trends for all states mostly are down," he said. Analystsat the Council on Criminal Justice reported year-end 2024 declines in homicides across a set of 40 cities, noting a 16 percent drop in homicides overall. What People Are Saying Trump suggested other cities may face similar federal action to Washington, telling a press conference on Monday: "We have other cities also that are bad. Very bad. You look at Chicago, how bad it is. You look at Los Angeles, how bad it is. We have other cities that are very bad. New York has a problem. And then you have, of course, Baltimore and Oakland. We don't even mention that anymore there." "They're so far gone. We're not going to let it happen. We're not going to lose our cities over this." Washington D.C. District Attorney General Brian Schwalb responded to Trump's move in a post on X: "The Administration's actions are unprecedented, unnecessary, and unlawful. "There is no crime emergency in the District of Columbia. Violent crime in DC reached historic 30-year lows last year, and is down another 26% so far this year. "We are considering all of our options and will do what is necessary to protect the rights and safety of District residents." The Administration's actions are unprecedented, unnecessary, and unlawful. There is no crime emergency in the District of Columbia. Violent crime in DC reached historic 30-year lows last year, and is down another 26% so far this year. We are considering all of our options and… — AG Brian Schwalb (@DCAttorneyGen) August 11, 2025 What Happens Next Some jurisdictions reported declines in homicide in 2024 and early 2025, but national and local trends vary by city and by the data source used. The Council on Criminal Justice and the FBI have both signaled overall declines in violent crime through 2024. Monitoring will continue to see if this pattern continues.
NBC News
41 minutes ago
- NBC News
Transgender Marine speaks out against Trump's ban on trans servicemembers
On Jan. 27, Trump announced an executive order titled 'Prioritizing Military Excellence and Readiness.' It states that, 'expressing a false 'gender identity' divergent from an individual's sex cannot satisfy the rigorous standards necessary for military service.' The order then continues to say, 'beyond the hormonal and surgical medical interventions involved, adoption of a gender identity inconsistent with an individual's sex conflicts with a soldier's commitment to an honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle, even in one's personal life.' On May 6, after a court challenge, the Supreme Court granted the Trump Administration the ability to move forward with the order. That same day, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, delivered a keynote speech at Special Operations Forces Week 2025, that was clipped and posted in a public video on the verified X account for DOD Rapid Response, and said, 'We are leaving wokeness and weakness behind. No more pronouns. No more climate-change obsession. No more emergency vaccine mandates. No more dudes in dresses.' The following week, on May 15, a memo was sent to every branch of the military from the U.S. Department of Defense that stated that all transgender personnel would need to self-identify and begin a voluntary leave process by Jun. 6 for active duty and Jul. 7 for those in the reserves. A transcript posted on the DOD's website on the same day, that cited a 'Senior Defense Official' without listing their name, explained that those who chose to leave would be compensated based on 'rank as well as time in service.' The DOD transcript explained further, that all transgender personnel who leave because of this will receive some benefits, but that it is greater for those who start the process on their own accord. 'So, for involuntary category separation, an E-5 with 10 years of service, we estimate that that involuntary separation payment would be just under $51,000. For an O-3 with seven years in service that involuntary separation pay would be approximately $62,000. The way the voluntary separation pay is calculated is a multiple of two from the involuntary, so that E-5 with 10 years would be approximately $101,000 and the O-3 with seven years in service would be approximately $125,000,' the transcript said. On Aug. 7, however, it was reported by NBC News that the Air Force is denying early retirement to all transgender service members with between 15 and 18 years of military service, opting instead to force them out with no retirement benefits, according to a memo seen by Reuters. The DOD transcript also explained that, 'for those that elect not to voluntarily participate, the primary means of identification for the involuntary process will be through medical readiness programs. Individual medical readiness programs are a long-standing program and policy in the department. They are not new. They are not tied specifically to the implementation of this policy.' Savoie told NBC San Diego they chose to stay, and not begin that voluntary separation process, as an act of resistance. 'There's a lot of reasons to that,' Savoie said. 'I don't have dependents that are specifically banking on me having a paycheck. I know you're probably familiar with the buyout option that they gave, so double what your normal separation pay would be. For me, to be transparent with you, that was about $100,000, so a significant chunk of income. That's about a year's worth of income for me; it wasn't worth it.' 'I didn't commission to make the easy choice, and in this position, when you're faced with choices like these, are you going to make them on principle or are you going to make them on what the easy way out is. That's not everyone's scenario, but it is for me,' Savoie continued. 'I should caveat and say anyone who's taking this right now is under duress. Like it is a forced thing and, again, it does not come without risk. We don't know what they're going to do to us right now.' Savoie said they do have concerns for the future, including which separation code will be used for them if they are forced to leave the Marines and how that could impact their future employment opportunities. NBC San Diego reached out to Savoie's command and the public affairs team for the USMC Manpower and Reserve Affairs office for more information on their status, as well as the status of other transgender servicemembers. They forwarded the request to the Pentagon, where the on-duty public affairs officer referred NBC San Diego to the department's May 15 transcript. When it comes to how many servicemembers, including Savoie, may be impacted by Trump's executive order, in that transcript, the unnamed senior defense official said, 'the Department has cited a previous study that estimated approximately 4,200 service members with gender dysphoria. I have not seen a more recent study the department is relying on. So, that would be the most recent study that we would rely on. And of course, that may not be current as of today because service members are entering and departing service in the normal course of events all the time.' Savoie echoed that, saying 'there's not great numbers on how many transgender people are in the military." "From the communities that I am a part of and my experience working and connecting with other trans service members, I would guesstimate there's maybe seven or eight transgender officers in the Marine Corps," they said. "Some of those I know are not out right now and others, they fly under the radar. Others are taking the retirement and just kind of want to gracefully exit because they've already done their part and they've had to fight their fights under the first ban, and they're tired.' If it were up to Savoie — who has continues to show up for work each day, unsure of what comes next — they said they would serve until their EAS, or end of active service, in 2028.
CBS News
44 minutes ago
- CBS News
San Francisco teachers say they have yet to receive a paycheck due to a system error
As teachers in San Francisco are heading back to the classroom, their union says they're facing another payroll crisis. San Francisco Unified School District transitioned to a new pay system at the beginning of July, and in the last few weeks, educators have reported over 100 errors. That includes Leslie Hu, who has been waiting for her paycheck for nearly two weeks. "It impacts our ability to live," said Hu. "What am I going to eat for lunch tomorrow? How am I going to pay my car insurance?" Hu is deeply rooted in the San Francisco Unified School District. She has worked as a coordinator for 17 years and she even grew up in the district. "I was born and raised in San Francisco and spent kindergarten to 12th grade in SFUSD," said Hu. "I have come back here and spent almost my entire career in this district because I love San Francisco, and I love our communities, and I want to give back." But it is becoming difficult to stay when she doesn't know how she'll make ends meet as the district continues to have payroll issues. In 2022, SFUSD started using the EMPower system, marking the beginning of significant payroll challenges, resulting in thousands of staff not being paid properly. "As an educator we don't get paid even a living wage and so $6,000 impact my ability to pay my basic bills, my rent, food," explained Hu. "It is a hardship not to be paid what I'm owed." Hu, and other members of the union, attended Tuesdays Board of Education meeting to express their concerns during public comment. Executive vice president of UESF, Frank Lara, said this is just another attempt to shed light on the issue, after already bringing it to the district leaders over the past few weeks. "The response we're hearing form the district is 'of sorry, that person who was responsible for transferring that data didn't do it'," said Lara. "That's not an acceptable answer." He's worried it's going to become a bigger issue now that the school year is beginning and all staff is working. In a statement SFUSD said, "if there are problems with employee pay, we are acting fast —investigating, making corrections, and issuing payments as needed. " They've created a website to update employees, but for people like Hu, it just doesn't feel like enough. "It's really, really hard to keep coming back every single day if I just don't know when I'm going to get paid," said don't know when I'm going to get paid," said Hu.
