Robert Woll

Turning intel into a loyalty test is a recipe for bad intel.

I rarely post personal things. But I need to talk about my 4-year-old niece, Hope.

She has a rare disease. A drug called elamipretide has helped her survive.

But the FDA recently denied its approval.

Now, her health hangs in the balance.

Please share her story & urge the FDA to reconsider. 🧵

The Party of ‘Denihilism’ Republicans are rejecting reality while embracing destruction—just look at the House budget megabill.

My take on the cruel and all too usual Republican budget: Ignores reality, endangers everyone, and makes safety-net remedies as complicated as possible—knowing and perhaps even intending that the result will be stunted and wrecked lives. @thebulwark.com www.thebulwark.com/p/republican...

on.ft.com/4k7qN9W China and US agree to slash tariffs

Trump envoy relied on Kremlin interpreter in meetings with Putin to end war in Ukraine Using the Kremlin’s interpreter was “a very bad idea” that put Witkoff “at a real disadvantage,” Michael McFaul, a former U.S. ambassador to Russia, told NBC News.

Trump envoy relied on Kremlin interpreter in meetings with Putin to end war in Ukraine www.nbcnews.com/world/russia...

This essay traces the long and turbulent history of American booksellers who have faced censorship, harassment, and even violence for defending the freedom to read. Through vivid anecdotes and historical cases-from undercover stings in the early 1900s and legal battles over “obscene” literature, to FBI surveillance of Black bookstores and bomb threats against feminist and LGBTQ+ shops-the author illustrates how bookstores have repeatedly become battlegrounds in the fight for civil liberties and free expression. Despite intimidation from both government and private groups, booksellers have pushed back, shaping legal precedents and rallying communities to defend First Amendment rights. The essay ultimately calls on readers to recognize bookstores as “arsenals of democracy” and to support their ongoing role in safeguarding intellectual freedom.

Booksellers have faced censorship and harassment defending the freedom to read. Celebrate your local bookstore and support their ongoing role in safeguarding intellectual freedom.

press.princeton.edu/ideas/bookst...

#BookstoreDay

India edges closer to China, hedging against Trump’s unpredictability Despite decades of distrust, India has become increasingly receptive to overtures from China.

I wrote this week about how Trump’s threats and unpredictability risk pushing Europe and China closer together. A similar dynamic is playing out between India and China, despite decades of distrust.👇🏼

www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/0...

Lawyer for U-M protester detained at airport after spring break trip with family Dearborn lawyer says feds tried to seize his cellphone at Detroit Metro Airport as he returned from spring break trip with his family.

Deeply concerning: US citizen lawyer getting detained and his phone searched on reentering the U.S. at Customs. www.freep.com/story/news/l...

American Tune (Live at Central Park, New York, NY - September 19, 1981) YouTube video by Simon & Garfunkel - Topic

A #BlueskyLullaby for tonight: Lines from Paul Simon's "American Tune"—what he calls his most political song—have stuck in my head of late. He wrote it as a solo number, but the best recording was from his 1981 reunion w/ Art Garfunkel in Central Park. See you around.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvSu...

Justice Department lawyer put on leave for being candid with the court.

It is important for judges and adversaries to understand that this is no longer the Justice Department they know, one that might confess error and exercise discretion. It is Trump's personal law firm

National Security Agency chief ousted after far-right activist urged his removal Gen. Timothy Haugh, the director of the NSA, the powerful wiretapping and cyberespionage service, was fired Thursday, according to U.S. officials.

A moment of serious concern for America’s Five Eyes partners:

“The director of the powerful wiretapping and cyberespionage service, the National Security Agency, was fired Thursday…The firings were advocated for by far-right activist Laura Loomer” www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

Decapitation Strike Preserving America from Trump's Appointments

Just going to repost my essay "Decapitation Strike" essay from November. We are living through it now.
snyder.substack.com/p/decapitati...

(WaPo) - The Social Security Administration website crashed four times in 10 days this month, blocking millions of retirees and disabled Americans from logging in to their online accounts ..

@washingtonpost.com
www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

I honestly don't understand how so many Americans, who won the biggest birth lottery there is, became such self-pitying whiners. But Donald Trump became their voice and their vengeance.

‘Disgusted’ and ‘Betrayed’—Legal World Shaken by Trump’s Extortion The decision by Paul Weiss to settle with the president has sent shockwaves through the firm and the broader legal community.

“‘It was so cowardly and despicable,’” said the Perkins associate. “‘They hung us out to dry. If the big firms had stuck together, I think we would have gotten through this. There’s strength in numbers.’”

In fact, a White House official said on Friday that despite the deal reached with Paul Weiss, Mr. Trump would continue to target law firms with executive orders, including some the president could sign as early as next week. In the Oval Office on Friday, Mr. Trump asserted that law firms "did bad things" and had attacked him "ruthlessly, violently, illegally." But now, he said, they "want to make deals."

Do you get it yet, law firms?

What’s happening isn’t an isolated threat to Paul Weiss or Covington or Perkins Coie.

It’s an existential threat to the independence of the legal profession.

You’re a fool if you think you won’t be next.

Say something. Do something.

Preventing Abuses of the Legal System and the Federal Court MEMORANDUM FOR THE ATTORNEY GENERAL THE SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY SUBJECT:      Preventing Abuses of the Legal System and the Federal Court Lawyers

I don’t see how, unless our entire profession stands shoulder-to-shoulder in unity, we successfully push back against this effort to break our profession and our democracy.

Cowering & compromising won’t work. He is attacking us for the success of our work.

www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...

Jeremy and colleagues, Many deals I work on have concepts of conditional notice. This is mine. Please consider this email my two week notice, revocable if the firm comes up with a satisfactory response to the current moment, which should include at minimum (i) signing on to the firm amicus brief in support of Perkins Coie in its litigation fighting the Trump administration's executive order against it, ii) committing to broad future representation, regardless of whether powerful people view it as adverse to them, (iii) refusal to cooperate with the EEOC's request for personal information of our colleagues clearly targeted at intimidating non-white employees, (iv) public refusal to fire or otherwise force out employees at the Trump administration's directive or implied directive and (v) public commitment to maintenance of affinity groups and related initiatives. This is not what I saw for my career or for my evening, but Paul Weiss' decision to cave to the Trump administration on DEl, representation and staffing has forced my hand. We do not have time. It is now or it is never, and if it is never, I will not continue to work here.

Tonight, hours after the Paul Weiss news broke, an associate at Skadden Arps sent a firm-wide email:

"Please consider this email my two week notice, revocable if the firm comes up with a satisfactory response to the current moment...We do not have time. It is now or it is never..."

The Cost of the Government’s Attack on Columbia American universities have given the country prosperity and security. The Trump administration’s attack on academic freedom endangers all of that.

A leader emerges. Princeton President Christopher Eisgruber: “The Trump administration’s recent attack on Columbia University puts all of that at risk, presenting the greatest threat to American universities since the Red Scare of the 1950s. Every American should be concerned.”

The Art of the Bogus Peace Deal Trump-Putin phone call creates confusion, not goodwill.

NEW—The Art of the Bogus Peace Deal:

"This is a time for Ukraine supporters in the United States and in the rest of the free world to stand firm against any push for a 'peace' that amounts to Ukraine's capitulation."

www.thebulwark.com/p/the-art-of...

Scientists have just cured pancreatic cancer in some patients with personalized mRNA vaccines. Pancreatic cancer. And this Trump administration wants to throw it all away.

They’re throwing away a cure for cancer.

We're only seven weeks in. It's a lead-pipe lock that before this is over, we'll have a confrontation between a D governor and Trump over the state's National Guard.

Take that to the bank.

Two days later, everyone at VOA has reportedly been fired.

We are used to talking about Trump and Musk as autocratic and fascistic; we say a lot about how they are trampling on the Constitution, undermining American democracy, kissing up to dictators, and making the world more dangerous.

But we should also say much more often and openly that they are evil.

guys they're going to stop feeding TSA's bomb-sniffing dogs, per Fox News nat security correspondent:

Absolute insanity.

The Road from ‘Citizens United’ to Trump, Musk, and Corruption A ‘naïve’ Supreme Court delivered lawless greed and cruelty. We’ll have to save ourselves, if we can.

The U.S. will be a superpower emeritus when Trump and Musk are done looting it. Three what-ifs that led to Citizens United and an America in existential crisis. Plus @tiffanymuller.bsky.social on how to fix it, if we can. My latest @thebulwark.bsky.social. www.thebulwark.com/p/the-road-f...

Amplify this.

The TTPs of terrorists…an attack and then follow on when first responders arrive. Americans should understand that the shocking new US policy of withholding military and intel support to Ukraine…frankly means we too own this barbarism now. The moral stain on the US becomes very real.