Free agent nation

In the days since former President Donald J. Trump’s Florida home was searched by federal agents last week, he has posted dozens of messages on Truth Social, his social media platform, about the Democrats, the F.B.I. and other perceived foes. Those statements reflect the strategy Mr. Trump has long used to address controversy, by turns denying any wrongdoing while directing attention elsewhere. Some of the messages also reflect his penchant for false and misleading claims . Here are some of the false and unsupported statements he has made since the F.B.I.’s search. Monday and Tuesday, Aug. 8 and 9 After the search becomes public, Trump suggests, without evidence, that Biden played a role. In the days following the search, Mr. Trump’s allies focused attention on the F.B.I.’s search warrant for his home at the Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach. Those warrants typically remain under seal unless charges are filed, but many of his supporters suggested that the F.B.I. was … [Read more...] about A Timeline of Trump’s False and Misleading Statements on the Mar-a-Lago Search

WASHINGTON — “Do you feel safe? You shouldn’t.” In August, 42-year-old Travis Ford of Lincoln, Neb., posted those words on the personal Instagram page of Jena Griswold, the secretary of state and chief election official of Colorado. In a post 10 days later, Mr. Ford told Ms. Griswold that her security detail was unable to protect her, then added: “This world is unpredictable these days … anything can happen to anyone.” Mr. Ford paid dearly for those words. Last week, in U.S. District Court in Lincoln, he pleaded guilty to making a threat with a telecommunications device, a felony that can carry up to two years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. He did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But a year after Attorney General Merrick B. Garland established the federal Election Threats Task Force, almost no one else has faced punishment. Two other cases are being prosecuted, but Mr. Ford’s guilty plea is the only case the task force has successfully concluded out of … [Read more...] about Violent Threats to Election Workers Are Common. Prosecutions Are Not.

In recent days, Republican politicians and operatives have attacked the Biden administration’s $80 billion plan to beef up the Internal Revenue Service’s capacity to audit wealthy Americans. Announcing the 10-year initiative, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the additional money would address a backlog of unprocessed tax returns, improve taxpayer services, help the department overhaul its antiquated technology and allow it to hire thousands of new employees. Democrats have long accused Republicans of deliberately starving the tax agency of the resources it needs to function effectively — an accusation many in the G.O.P. are happy to accept as fact. Almost universally, Republicans saw a political opportunity in Yellen’s move. Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida, said that “of all the things that have come out of Washington that have been outrageous, this has got to be pretty close to the top.” He added that Democrats were “basically” offering “a middle finger to the … [Read more...] about Why the I.R.S. Is at the Center of a Political Firestorm