No Amazon, No Gmail: Trump Sanctions Upend the Lives of I.C.C. Judges; The New York Times, January 10, 2026

Marlise Simons, The New York Times; No Amazon, No Gmail: Trump Sanctions Upend the Lives of I.C.C. Judges

"To be elected a judge at the International Criminal Court was long considered an honor. For Luz del Carmen Ibáñez Carranza, the distinction has become an ordeal.

Ms. Ibáñez was a prosecutor in her native Peru, where she oversaw trials of Shining Path terrorists, of military officers accused of human rights abuses and of government officials charged with corruption. Death threats were common.

But since the Trump administration imposed sanctions on her and on some of her colleagues in retaliation for the court’s decision to investigate U.S. personnel in Afghanistan, she has faced different kinds of challenges, she said. The penalties effectively cut the judges off from all American funds, goods and credit cards, and prohibit individuals and business in the United States from working with them.

“We’re treated like pariahs, we are on a list with terrorists and drug dealers,” Ms. Ibáñez said...

In response to the hostility, the court is overhauling its American-dominated tech and financial systems. The court’s records and other data storage have been backed up at different sites, and finance and communications systems are being shifted to European platforms, according to several experts familiar with the court’s work who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters...

In September, the court announced that it would transfer its office software from Microsoft to an open-source platform developed by a German government-owned company."

A top DoJ official trained Pam Bondi on ethics rules in the department. Then he was fired; The Guardian, January 3, 2026

Sam Levine, The Guardian; A top DoJ official trained Pam Bondi on ethics rules in the department. Then he was fired

"Joseph Tirrell was reaching the end of a vacation on 11 July, and watching TV at home. He checked his email on his phone and saw a message from his employer, the Department of Justice. He thought it was strange that he was receiving email from the government on his personal account. Inside was a message that he was being fired from his job as the top ethics official at the department.

The notice, signed by Pam Bondi, the US attorney general, did not give a reason for his firing. It also misspelled his first name, addressing it to “Jospeh W Tirrell”. Tirrell called his bosses at the department, who at first seemed as surprised as he did, before eventually confirming that he had in fact been terminated.

At the start of the year, Tirrell knew that he might attract scrutiny from the incoming administration because he had signed off on special counsel Jack Smith receiving pro-bono legal services from a private law firm as he prepared to leave the government, something Tirrell said was clearly allowed under the department’s ethics rules. As the department’s top ethics official, he was responsible for overseeing ethics compliance across the agency and training the department’s top officers in their obligations. But as months passed and Tirrell remained in his job, he thought he was safe.

Tirrell is one of scores of career federal employees this year who have been dismissed without reason. He is now suing the department over his firing."

Judge blocks Trump effort to strip security clearance from attorney who represented whistleblowers; AP via The Washington Post, December 24, 2025

Joey Cappelletti | AP via The Washington Post; Judge blocks Trump effort to strip security clearance from attorney who represented whistleblowers

 "A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration from enforcing a March presidential memorandum to revoke the security clearance of prominent Washington attorney Mark Zaid , ruling that the order — which also targeted 14 other individuals — could not be applied to him."

Trump administration prepares to fire worker for TV interview about SNAP; The Washington Post, November 13, 2025

Mariana Alfaro

 and 

Hannah Natanson

, The Washington Post ; Trump administration prepares to fire worker for TV interview about SNAP

"Debra D’Agostino, a federal employment lawyer, argued that Mei probably has a strong case against her dismissal. Mei’s speech was almost certainly protected under both the First Amendment and the Whistleblower Protection Act, D’Agostino said.

There have been at least two Supreme Court cases — Pickering v. Board of Education in 1968 and Department of Homeland Security v. MacLean in 2015 — in which the justices decided in favor of staffers accused by their employers of speaking out of turn, D’Agostino noted. In the first, the court ruled for a teacher who had written to a newspaper criticizing the superintendent, saying the educator had a right to speak on matters of public concern so long as she was not knowingly lying.

In the second, the court ruled for a Transportation Security Administration staffer who the government accused of revealing “sensitive security information” to a reporter. In that case, the court decided the staffer’s activity was covered by the Whistleblower Protection Act, which says federal workers can report lawbreaking or anything that poses a substantial and specific danger to public health and safety."

Employee of Trump-Supporting Superstore Fired for Filming Brutal Immigration Raid; The Daily Beast, November 3, 2025

Tom Latchem , The Daily Beast; Employee of Trump-Supporting Superstore Fired for Filming Brutal Immigration Raid

[Kip Currier: The excessive force and brutality of these raids cannot and should not be normalized. This is not normal or desirable conduct by law enforcement in a democracy.

Boycotts are one of the best ways to send messages to billionaires -- like John Menard, Jr. -- that this kind of brutal action against human beings who are deserving of dignity and due process will not be tolerated by a majority of the citizens of this country. Targeted boycotts of Teslas sent a message to Elon Musk and these types of peaceful citizen responses can be used to hold other oligarchs accountable for the undemocratic actions that they overtly and tacitly support.

Why are law enforcement persons who use excessive force to apprehend people, who are in most cases not resisting detention, not being held accountable for their unprofessional actions?

Why are they permitted to smash car windows with batons, throw people to the ground, tear gas children's parties, threaten news media and ordinary citizens for permissibly filming public arrests, and even "give the finger" to people who are observing and in some cases documenting their actions?

This is not acceptable in our democracy. These actions by often-masked law enforcement persons are more in keeping with the behaviors of militias and secret police forces who see themselves as not answerable to we the people.

I have hope and faith in the rule of law that the individuals and agencies who are engaging in this conduct can and will be held legally accountable at some point.

We must also continue to call out these lawless actions and not permit ourselves to become inured and voiceless to the brutality that we can see with our own eyes.]

[Excerpt]

"A security guard working at a superstore owned by an ally of Donald Trump was fired after filming a brutal Department of Homeland Security immigration raid in its parking lot.

Ricardo Mendez was positioned at the door of Menards—a Midwestern chain of home-improvement stores whose billionaire owner, John Menard Jr., is a GOP megadonor—in the Chicago suburb of Cicero, Illinois, when agents deployed by DHS arrived on Tuesday afternoon...

What came next was brutal, as the Puerto Rican security guard filmed two Border Patrol agents smashing the window of a white Ford pickup with their batons. 

“The poor guy was surrounded by agents, workers, and customers,” said Mendez, 27, who added that the incident was so dramatic and shocking that other store staff also came out to film."

N.C. GOP spokesman urges reporter to drop news story, citing Trump ties; The Washington Post, October 31, 2025

 Brianna Tucker, The Washington Post; N.C. GOP spokesman urges reporter to drop news story, citing Trump ties

[Kip Currier: Memo to Matt Mercer (North Carolina GOP spokesman) re Mob-like threats (“I would strongly suggest dropping this story,”) against ProPublica reporting on North Carolina Chief Justice Paul Newby:

Pssst...Read the 1st Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

American Civics 101: Freedom of the Press. 

Meaning: You don't get to dictate what free and independent presses can report on in America.]

[Excerpt]

"A spokesman for the North Carolina Republican Party appeared to threaten the news outlet ProPublica — citing “connections” to the Trump administration — over a story it reported and ultimately published on a prominent conservative state Supreme Court judge.

The story examined state Supreme Court Chief Justice Paul Newby, his starkly conservative transformation of the court and power over the state’s politics. When Newby declined to be interviewed and the court’s communications and media team did not respond to questions, the reporter contacted his daughter, who also serves as the state GOP’s finance director.

Instead, the publication said it received a response from North Carolina GOP spokesman Matt Mercer, attempting to coerce ProPublica to kill the story.

“I’m sure you’re aware of our connections with the Trump Administration and I’m sure they would be interested in this matter,” Mercer said in an email that ProPublica published.

He added: “I would strongly suggest dropping this story,” underlining “strongly” and putting it in bold type.

After the story published, Mercer doubled down in a social media post, urging Trump to “feed ProPublica to the USAID wood chipper,” referring to the president’s termination of thousands in funding and grants from the foreign aid agency earlier this year.

While President Donald Trump and top administration officials have targeted media organizations for critical coverage of him or his policies,it is unusual for a state party official to explicitly leverage a relationship with the administration and express a willingness to retaliate toward news organizations.

It’s unclear if and how Trump would retaliate against ProPublica, a nonprofit newsroom that does not receive government funding and relies on private grants and donations."

The Associated Press earns SPJ Ethics in Journalism Award for ‘ethical courage’ to resist government interference; Society of Professional Journalists, April 17, 2025

 Press Release, Society of Professional Journalists; The Associated Press earns SPJ Ethics in Journalism Award for ‘ethical courage’ to resist government interference

"The Society of Professional Journalists is bestowing its Ethics in Journalism Award on The Associated Press for refusing to allow the White House to dictate its coverage while continuing to produce accurate and ethical reporting of the Trump administration, despite being denied access to presidential events.

The 28-year-old award honors journalists and news organizations that perform in an outstanding ethical manner, demonstrating the ideals of the SPJ Code of Ethics.

The Trump administration first banned two AP reporters from White House events in February because the AP did not update its guidance to abide by President Trump’s executive order changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. Trump wanted the AP, a global, nonpartisan news agency whose AP Stylebook is widely used in the industry, to use his preferred term. While not calling the body of water the Gulf of America, AP’s guidance is to acknowledge the new name Trump has chosen.

In response, the AP sued three Trump administration officials. Over the past two months, AP has been barred from the White House press pool and other official events.  

“In the face of direct political pressure, The Associated Press held the line for ethical journalism,” said Emily Bloch, SPJ national president. “Rather than compromise its editorial independence by backing down, AP stayed true to its principles and continued serving the public with unbiased reporting. That is the very definition of ethical courage.”

AP White House reporters continued to RSVP to presidential events and showed up, only to be turned away, according to The Washington Post. AP relied on pool reports and video transcripts to continue its coverage of the Trump administration. It also has flown in correspondents based in other countries who were allowed to cover certain presidential events as members of foreign press pools.

U.S. District Judge Trevor N. McFadden last week ruled in favor of the AP, saying that the Trump administration cannot retaliate against a news organization based on its viewpoint. Despite the order, an AP reporter was barred from an Oval Office news conference on Monday, the day the order was to take effect.

AP earned the award because it continues to be steadfast in its refusal to be controlled by the government and for standing on its principles and well-known reputation for high ethical standards, which are consistent with the SPJ Code of Ethics."

Former Weld County librarian wins settlement after district fired her for promoting LGBTQ, anti-racism programs; Colorado Public Radio (CPR), September 22, 2023

  Matt Bloom, Colorado Public Radio (CPR); Former Weld County librarian wins settlement after district fired her for promoting LGBTQ, anti-racism programs

"A former librarian will receive $250,000 from the High Plains Library District as part of a settlement in a lengthy civil rights dispute over her firing. 

Brooky Parks lost her job at Erie Community Library in 2021 after promoting anti-racism and LGBTQ history workshops for teens. The programming drew backlash from the district’s board of trustees, which oversees more than a dozen public libraries across Northern Colorado.

Members of the Colorado Civil Rights Commission signed off on the financial agreement on Friday, making it official. It also drops discrimination charges against the district and includes requirements that district leaders update their programming policies to be more inclusive. 

“I feel validated and really vindicated,” Parks said. “I think this sends a message to all libraries that there’s consequences for retaliation against people and that libraries are meant to serve all members of the community.”"