Author name: moderat ereport

The U.S. Army is facing increasing backlash from families of the 67 people killed in January’s catastrophic midair collision over the Potomac River, with relatives accusing military officials of evasion, stonewalling, and refusing to take responsibility. In a letter sent this week to Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, 168 family members of the victims expressed their profound disappointment with the Army’s conduct during the ongoing investigation. According to The Washington Post, they criticized the military’s pattern of silence and secrecy, especially compared to the responsiveness shown by other agencies. “The Army’s approach contrasts sharply with the more collaborative stance taken by other organizations involved in this incident and raises serious questions about its commitment to transparency and accountability,” the letter reads. Salvage crews recover wreckage near the site in the Potomac River of the midair collision between an American Eagle jet and an Army Black Hawk helicopter. At the heart of the families’ frustration is the Army’s refusal to engage meaningfully with them, even though other parties involved in the tragedy—such as the National Transportation Safety Board and the Department of Transportation—have been more forthcoming. The crash happened when an Army Black Hawk helicopter collided with American Eagle Flight 5342 as the commercial jet was making its final approach to Reagan National Airport. The letter highlights the Army’s particularly egregious decision to withhold an unclassified ADS-B policy memo from Congress, only releasing it under threat of subpoena. The equipment, which detects and helps avoid potential collisions, was reportedly not transmitting from the Army helicopter during the accident, a detail uncovered by the NTSB. “These actions demonstrate the Army’s willingness to circumvent official processes and resist oversight when deflecting scrutiny. At the same time, the Army has cited process while persistently refusing to accept responsibility or even acknowledge the families throughout these ordeals,” the letter continues.  According to relatives, Army officials held a single initial meeting after the crash but then disappeared. They added that updates, when they came, were often dropped during holidays, which they suspect was meant to minimize press coverage. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump, who initially pledged support for the victims, only fueled more outrage. In the days following the tragedy, he offered a series of bizarre and baseless theories, blaming everything from diversity, equity, and inclusion programs to President Barack Obama and dwarfism. None of these claims had any connection to the crash, nor were they supported by evidence. Related | Trump transportation flunky tries to blame plane crashes on Biden Even as the NTSB continues its investigation, families say that the Army has failed to meet the moment. A defense official confirmed to the Post that senior Army leaders now plan to meet with affected families later this month, alongside the NTSB’s public hearings. But for many relatives, this may come far too late. Some families, like that of co-pilot Sam Lilley, are especially outraged. Lilley’s father, Tim—himself a former Black Hawk pilot—said that the crash reveals training shortcomings and a culture of complacency within the military unit involved.  The Army’s inspector general has refused to open an independent audit into the incident, despite bipartisan support and congressional pressure, another sore point raised in the letter. “Given that this is the deadliest incident involving U.S. civilian casualties caused by the military in modern history, the Army has a heightened responsibility to ensure full public transparency and urgent implementation of meaningful safety reforms,” the letter reads. “The scale of this tragedy demands complete cooperation and accountability from all parties involved—including the U.S. Army.”  Their requests are straightforward: Appoint a family liaison, hold a full meeting with families, and support the congressional audits.  It’s a simple ask after an unspeakable loss. But once again, the Trump administration—and its military leadership—appear more interested in covering their tracks than confronting hard truths.

A daily roundup of the best stories and cartoons by Daily Kos staff and contributors to keep you in the know. Watch Trump being creepy—and dumb—again There are many things you can call Trump—”appropriate” or a “feminist” is not one of them. Texas Republicans are trying to rig the map for the next election Sure, Texas just suffered a catastrophic flood, but the GOP wants to focus on gerrymandering instead. Look just how much red counties depend on the government they hate Red states are like those grown-up kids who yell about how much they hate their parents while living in their basement. Cartoon: MAGAvision Everything is upside-down. You won’t believe how badly Kristi Noem bungled Texas flood response When in doubt, blame fake news. Outgoing GOP senator finally finds his spine and shreds Pete Hegseth Laying blame is easy when you have one foot out the door. Transportation secretary takes his lack of expertise to NASA So many jobs, so much incompetence. Click here to see more cartoons.

Cue Jeff Goldblum in “Jurassic Park”: The lower courts … find a way. U.S. Federal District Judge Joseph Laplante just did what the Supreme Court conservatives told him to do—and they’re likely furious.  In Barbara v. Trump, one of the cases challenging President Donald Trump’s birthright citizenship executive order, Laplante granted the plaintiffs’ request to provisionally certify a nationwide class and a preliminary injunction blocking the order from applying to everyone in that class. Voila! It’s a nationwide injunction, without being a nationwide injunction.  The class is composed of all children in the country who would potentially be affected by Trump’s executive order, which was set to take effect on July 27. Now, babies born to undocumented parents on or after Feb. 20, 2025, will be protected from having their citizenship stripped away based on nothing but a racist, unconstitutional executive order.  The Trump administration has continued to argue that it’s irreparably harmed by not being able to disregard the Fourteenth Amendment and immediately deport babies, but Laplante was having none of it.  Laplante wrote in his order that he had “no difficulty concluding that the rapid adoption by executive order, without legislation and the attending national debate, of a new government policy of highly questionable constitutionality that would deny citizenship to many thousands of individuals previously granted citizenship under an indisputably longstanding policy, constitutes irreparable harm.” Justice Amy Coney Barrett This complicated maneuver is the only path forward for nationwide relief after last month’s birthright citizenship decision in Trump v. CASA, when the Supreme Court’s conservative majority did Trump’s bidding by barring lower courts from issuing nationwide injunctions in almost all occasions.  In her majority opinion, Justice Amy Coney Barrett justified kneecapping the rest of the judiciary by saying that parties could just file class actions. But Barrett knows full well that federal courts have been making it harder to bring class actions for years. And she certainly was aware that the Trump administration is simply going to oppose class action certification, which is exactly what it did to the plaintiffs in CASA.  When Laplante’s decision inevitably makes its way up to the Supreme Court, Trump knows he has a friend, as per usual, in Justice Samuel Alito, who used his concurrence in CASA to wag his finger at both the plaintiffs and the lower courts and let them know he’s not really interested in class action relief either. “But district courts should not view today’s decision as an invitation to certify nationwide classes without scrupulous adherence to the rigors of Rule 23. Otherwise, the universal injunction will return from the grave under the guise of ‘nationwide class relief,’ and today’s decision will be of little more than minor academic interest,” he wrote. Seriously, man. You already have the Supreme Court gig. You don’t need to toady this hard every time. We get it: You love Trump, you hate immigrants, and you’re going to twist the law into knots to help destroy the Fourteenth Amendment.  But until Trump runs to the Supreme Court to make this go away, this class action stops his birthright citizenship order in its tracks.  Getting nationwide relief this way is complicated, but it’s necessary. The plaintiffs are fighting the Trump administration, but lower court judges have also found themselves locked in a battle with a lawless Supreme Court, which essentially decided that lower courts are enemies who must be stopped from thwarting Trump.  But the lower courts are the ones that are following the rule of law. Someone’s got to.

Consider supporting my work so I can continue creating it: Substack: https://nickanderson.substack.com/ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/editorialcartoons Ko-Fi: https://www.patreon.com/c/editorialcartoons Related | Watch Trump make it weird when reporter asks about Epstein