Lawsuit: Early access fee for Trump Truth Social posts unconstitutional

 "If you feel pain, You are alive. If you feel other people's pain, you are a human being."

- Leo Tolstoy

To be included in the offsetting process, an individual had to be under 70 and have taxable income or a tax loss of $50,000 or more. In December 2022, the ATO removed both criteria.

After Robodebt, why did the ATO remove a protection for people over 70?

The US Is Implementing The NATO 3.0 Concept In Asia Through AUKUS+

“Peace through strength” continues its disastrous world tour.

Whistleblower Brendan Lyon’s court win clears path to challenge big four liability shield

Trump Administration Is Interfering in the 2026 Midterm Elections To Entrench the Imperial Presidency

“The Center for American Progress publishes a new report by Michael Sozan and Ben Olinskyon Trump’s efforts to meddle in upcoming elections. They detail 15 specific tactics, including “installing election deniers in key government positions,” “gutting key agencies and essential election security programs,” “sharply curtailing voting by mail,” preparing to “purge” voters by “weaponizing federal databases and demanding personal voter information,” and more.

In the 18 months since Inauguration Day, President Donald Trump and his administration have seized unprecedented executive branch power to implement extremist and unpopular policies. Now, to lock in that power and escape accountability, the administration is waging an unconstitutional effort to subvert voters’ will in the November 2026 midterm elections. 

For decades, political scientists who study backsliding democracies around the world have identified a crucial tactic used by would-be authoritarians: Once they have dismantled traditional checks and balances and weaponized government against their perceived political enemies, they move to disrupt and control elections to ensure that they and their allies remain in office. The right to freely and fairly vote for elected leaders is the most fundamental feature of a democratic republic. It is the mechanism through which all other rights are ultimately protected and through which the government derives its legitimate authority. 

As the United States marks 250 years of democratic self-governance, that right—and the republic it sustains—faces the gravest threat from within. This report is the third in a Center for American Progress series documenting how the Trump administration planned and then built an imperial presidency. 

This report revisits earlier analyses, which detailed the steps that the administration was taking to aggregate power, create a strongman presidency, and implement a far-right policy agenda. The report then documents how the administration, through a multipronged plan across 15 interlocking tactics, is working to subvert elections and manufacture victories in the midterms—all in service of consolidating the administration’s unprecedented power. 

These tactics include, but are not limited to, weaponizing federal departments controlled by loyalists, erecting massive hurdles for eligible Americans to register to vote and to cast their ballots, triggering a mid-decade gerrymandering crisis that severely disadvantages Black and Latino voters, assailing state and local election administrators, and musing publicly about deploying National Guard troops and federal agents to polling places or demanding that state officials not certify elections. The stakes are stark: 

A sitting president and his administration have created a near-constitutional crisis involving the very elections that have sustained U.S. democracy.”

Lawsuit: Early access fee for Trump Truth Social posts unconstitutional

Freedom of the Press Foundation: “New York, Aug. 12, 2026 — President Donald Trump’s scheme to charge $100,000 per month for advance access to official government announcements on Truth Social violates the First and Fifth amendments to the Constitution, according to a lawsuit filed today in federal court by Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF) and The Intercept.

The plaintiffs — represented by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), Yale Law School’s Media Freedom and Information Access Clinic, the Public Integrity Project, and Altshuler Berzon LLP — are asking the court to bar Trump and White House employees from carrying out this unconstitutional plan. In 2021, Trump launched Trump Media & Technology Group. In 2022, Trump Media released Truth Social, a social media platform over which Trump could exercise complete control.

 Since returning to office, Trump has used his Truth Social account as his primary means of communicating with the public and making official announcements, encompassing everything from agency appointments and firings to military actions and foreign policy.

 Last month, the CEO of Truth Social’s parent company announced Truth API, a service that would provide investors early access to “market-moving” messages from the president and other officials on the platform for up to $100,000 per month. At the same time, its CEO announced that the company would take steps to stop users from systematically gathering posts from the platform. 

Truth API launched Aug. 1 and has already signed up 10 customers. Granting preferential access to Trump’s public statements to paid subscribers violates the First Amendment, which guarantees Americans equal access to the president’s public announcements. The Fifth Amendment prohibits the government from imposing extortionate or unreasonable conditions on the availability of government benefits.

A president selling priority access to news he himself generates for the benefit of a private company he controls is so blatantly corrupt and unconstitutional that it would have been hard to even fathom just a few years ago,” said FPF Chief of Advocacy Seth Stern. “Trump’s crooked scheme is particularly outrageous because, as documented by our Trump Anti-Press Social Media Tracker, he frequently uses his Truth Social account to berate journalists and even to announce his plans to sue them and criminally investigate them. Then, he makes them wait in line behind paying customers to find out about it unless they’re willing to subsidize the platform he uses to attack them. This brazen grift targets not only the markets but the First Amendment. It cannot stand.” “Nothing could be more antithetical to the free, independent press than the president charging for early access to his public announcements,” said The Intercept’s Chief Legal Officer David Bralow. “Through this litigation, The Intercept and its journalists are proud to hold the line on a fundamental proposition: Public information belongs to the public.”

Dulwich Hill - I had no idea my suburb was so incredible, until the New York Times told me

 I had no idea my suburb was so incredible, until the New York Times told me by Amanda Simon 

AUGUST 17, 2026

My suburb was a sleepy backwater until 2007, when we woke up one morning, shocked to find ourselves featured in the travel pages of The New York Times.

In a piece entitled “In Dulwich Hill, Sydney, Finding the World in a Few Blocks”, reporter Jennifer Gampell wrote that while “Dulwich Hill is just 10 minutes south-west of Newtown, yet it retains a charming ‘Old World’ simplicity and sense of community long since gone from nearby Sydney neighbourhoods”.

If only The New York Times had asked us, we would have said: “We know”. Successive generations of migrants have arrived in my suburb since World War II, transforming it into a multicultural oasis. At the 2021 census, 60 per cent of the residents reported having one or both parents who were born overseas. Other than English, the top languages spoken at home are Greek, Arabic, Vietnamese, Portuguese and Spanish.

Dulwich Hill shops on Marrickville Road.STEVEN SIEWERT

A house on Weston Street, Dulwich Hill.STEVEN SIEWERT

The other defining event of this inner-west suburb, just seven kilometres south-west of the CBD, was the arrival of the light rail in 2014. The L1, which connects Dulwich Hill to Central in just 36 minutes, triggered a rush to buy one of the area’s well-loved Victorian, Federation or art deco houses and apartments. Now, within a few months, the new Sydenham to Bankstown metro line will open, making any city commutes even faster. Not that we’re keen on leaving our area – not for nothing do locals proudly wear T-shirts depicting Dulwich Hill landmarks with the caption “Dully Chill”.

Today, there is a small collection of shops around the railway station, but the suburb’s main retail centre is on the top of the “hill”, or ridge that runs through the suburb. These shops are found around the intersection of Canterbury and Marrickville roads, running back down Marrickville Road for several blocks. Bursting at the seams with cafes, fruit stores, a florist and bars, this area has really come into its own.

A delicatessen on Marrickville Road.STEVEN SIEWERT

A view of the Marrickville Road shops.STEVEN SIEWERT

Johnny Gio’s pizzeria on Marrickville Road.STEVEN SIEWERT

Our much-lauded eateries map the suburb’s migratory waves. There are Greek restaurants serving mouth-watering yeeros and other varieties of meat on the spit. Charcoal chicken is another popular staple, with both Lebanese and Greek varieties available. The popular Greek-run Honey and Walnut Patisserie exists to satisfy your sweet tooth. A boy I know swore it was called “Honey and Warm Up”, which would have been an apt alternative. The award-winning Gleebooks bookshop opened 16 years ago, and there’s been an explosion of new eateries, including the Lucky Chinese, Mali Ston Wine Bar, Tamaleria & Mexican Deli, Goldie’s, Abla’s Pastries, The Eate and Sushi Sapporo. There’s live music almost every night at Butchers Brew Bar.

The much-loved Gleebooks.STEVEN SIEWERT

Dulwich Hill

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The numerous parks in Dulwich Hill have recently been transformed by the GreenWay, which links many of them and allows residents to walk, jog, skate, scooter or cycle for exercise and recreation to neighbouring areas such as the Bay Run and the Cooks River path. It runs alongside the light rail.

Johnson Park on the GreenWay.STEVEN SIEWERT

A tunnel on the GreenWay.STEVEN SIEWERT

Johnson Park on the GreenWay.STEVEN SIEWERT

Walkers on the GreenWay. STEVEN SIEWERT

Of course, nothing’s perfect. A pub without pokies, as can be found in the neighbouring suburbs of Petersham and Marrickville, would be nice. And the supermarket, while well used and generally well stocked, is – to be brutally honest – grungy and daggy, perhaps aiming to fit in with the retro hipsters infiltrating the area. Parking is also becoming increasingly tight around the retail strip, especially on Saturdays – the two open-air 1950s carparks tucked in behind the shops can’t cope with the influx of SUVs.

Big Mama and Sexy Soul All Star Band at Butchers Brew Bar.STEVEN SIEWERT

Big Mama and Sexy Soul All Star Band at Butchers Brew Bar.STEVEN SIEWERT

Another downside is that the greenness of the suburb attracts some unwelcome wild life and I’m not referring to the Saturday-night kind. My block is home to a colony of possums. They may look cute with their come-hither eyes, but in truth they are garden vandals, having killed two magnolia trees in my garden, a neighbour’s mango tree, another neighbour’s maple tree and other plants too numerous to mention. Nurseries do great business from me, buying nets and little huts to protect my plants as well as frequent replacements.

I have lived in the suburb for 30 years. The things that attracted me to the area back then continue to draw in new residents today. Proximity to the city, parks, good public transport links and Victorian and Federation housing have always been major drawcards. Being in my 20s and coming from the lower north shore, relatively affordable real estate was also a big motivating factor. Some north shore friends and relatives struggled with the idea of me setting up house on the “wrong side of the bridge”.

“Why Dulwich Hill?” one asked my mother with enforced brightness. Real estate prices – Sydney’s well-known obsession – have rocketed in my time here. An acquaintance informed me in awe that a house a few doors from me had recently sold for well over $5 million. Beyond my wildest dreams in the 1990s.

An apartment block near the light rail.STEVEN SIEWERT

A house on Denison Road. STEVEN SIEWERT

Cat on a window ledge in Weston Street.STEVEN SIEWERT

A house on Grove Street. STEVEN SIEWERT

Despite the well-meaning misgivings of my circle, Dulwich Hill has a close and caring community. With time, the ageing population of the ’90s, including many Greek, Lebanese and Vietnamese people, has evolved into a younger to middle-aged one, many of whom have sympathetically highlighted the architectural features of the old homes. In our first house we were blessed with a wonderful neighbour, a middle-aged man with a collection of cats all named after different animals; one was called Toad and another, Frog. He would climb over the fence and collect the washing if we were out when it started to rain, and we would arrive home to find our basket of washing on the front porch.

The neighbours at our next house were Con and Poppy. Every Sunday, the smell of barbecued souvlaki wafted into our garden as their family got together, with foil-wrapped offerings passed to us over the fence. Con would enjoy the afternoon sun on his front veranda, listening to Greek music and news that played on community radio.

Recently, I visited Dulwich Hill’s leafy namesake, Dulwich Village in south London. This may be contentious, but I find that the Sydney counterpart is often a poor relation to its English one. Dulwich Village boasts large houses in big gardens, an exclusive private school and a lovely Sir John Soanes-designed art gallery and cafe among independent eateries and shops. While Dulwich Hill is unlikely to ever fully resemble its namesake, it has many charms of its own; it’s well worth coming over the Harbour Bridge.

 We used to wonder how the German people could let one angry little man lead them to ruin. Now we know.

ICE $20 million no-bid contract gives officers gloves to deliver painful electric shocks

AP: “Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers may soon be outfitted with gloves that can deliver painful electric shocks intended to gain compliance from combative individuals.

 ICE plans to spend up to $20 million to purchase thousands of “conductive distraction and de-escalation devices” for officers and agents by March, according to a notice published Monday by the Department of Homeland Security. The devices are known as the G.L.O.V.E., which stands for Generated Low Output Voltage Emitter, and are manufactured by Compliant Technologies LLC of Lexington, Kentucky. They have been used in recent years by some jails and police departments….Jeff Niklaus, the founder and CEO of Compliant Technologies, wrote in an email, “Unfortunately, we are unable to speak on this subject.”..

Civil rights advocates expressed alarm at the plan, saying ICE officers already face criticism for their use of force with little oversight or accountability while enforcing President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown. Compliant Technologies says the devices function as a normal pair of patrol gloves until officers press a switch to activate their electrical mode. The gloves must be applied directly to someone’s skin to deliver a pain stimulus that typically helps an officer gain compliance within seconds, according to the company….”

The manual says the gloves may even contribute to “sudden death.” It says “Conductive Distraction and De-escalation Devices” or CD3s may “increase the affects [sic] that can cause sudden death including physiological changes.” It then lists increases in blood pressure, respiration, and heart rates; changes in heart rhythm; and increases in adrenaline…[404 Media]

Law Firm Cleared KPMG partners before all hell broke loose - FinCEN Permanently Ends Beneficial Ownership Reporting Requirements for Millions of Small Business Owners

  “If there is magic on this planet, it is contained in water.”

— Loren Eiseley

Whistleblower Brendan Lyon’s court win clears path to challenge big four liability shield

Former KPMG whistleblower Brendan Lyon has won a court ruling that could expose Australia’s most powerful audit and consulting firms to hundreds of millions in uncapped damages…

Law firm Allens cleared KPMG partners of whistleblower allegations before reckoning

The scandal has claimed the scalps of KPMG’s leadership and partners, including chairman Martin Sheppard, chief executive Andrew Yates, head of audit Julian McPherson, Mr Rogers and Ms Lawry, as well as Ms Hoggett who was former chief operating officer.

All up, Allens could not substantiate 10 claims the whistleblower made.

Among the allegations were that KPMG partners covertly recorded confidential conversations, including discussions with Telstra’s group financial controller, and circulated the recordings internally; that advisory partners shared confidential, market-sensitive information with audit teams during live audit tenders; and that members of the Optus audit team were present in the bid room when KPMG was pitching for Telstra. 

“They were actively leveraged to provide intelligence, including detailed insights into the Optus audit approach, data analytics routines, sector-specific challenges, operating models, and business rhythms,” the whistleblower alleged, according to the Allens report.

FinCEN Permanently Ends Beneficial Ownership Reporting Requirements for Millions of Small Business Owners

Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network(FinCEN) is issuing a final rule that permanently removes the requirement for U.S. companies and U.S. persons to report beneficial ownership information to FinCEN under the Corporate Transparency Act. The final rule is effective on its publication in the Federal Register. 

FinCEN today also announced that it will delete previously reported information by U.S. persons—now exempt from the reporting requirements—from the beneficial ownership information database. Under the final rule, foreign entities that are reporting companies will still be required to report beneficial ownership information for foreign individuals.

• Treasury Is Deleting Ownership Records as The Heritage Foundation’s Russian-Oil Money Trail Comes Into Focus 
• Casey Michel @cjcmichel – Treasury torched one of the most important anti-corruption laws passed in a generation — and announced it’s deleting the records. The Trump administration just made it official: it’s demolishing the US’s shell company registry, and destroying all of the data it already collected. A disaster for US anti-corruption efforts. Creating this new shell company registry a couple years ago was the single-greatest anti-corruption step the US had taken in decades. The Trump administration demolishing the registry is arguably the single-greatest pro-corruption step we’ve also seen in decades. And it’s not just Trump. Republican allies in Congress are trying to overturn the entire legislation that created the US’s shell company registry—and make it effectively impossible for a future administration to restore it. This is why so many “crime is down” headlines are so tone-deaf. We’re currently living through the golden age of white-collar crime—and it’s only going to get worse.
• Dean Blundell: “The Corporate Transparency Act wasn’t some bureaucrat’s pet project. It was a LAW, passed by a bipartisan Congress at the end of 2020 — passed, in fact, over Donald Trump’s veto. Congress looked at Trump saying “no” to financial transparency and said, “Overruled.” Republicans and Democrats together decided America would no longer be the world’s favorite laundromat for dirty money. Why? Because for decades, experts ranked anonymous American shell companies among the best tools on Earth for hiding stolen wealth. Kleptocrats, cartels, fentanyl traffickers, sanctioned oligarchs — they didn’t need the Cayman Islands. They had Delaware. A nest of LLCs inside LLCs inside LLCs, and nobody — not the FBI, not the DEA, not Treasury itself — could see who was behind them. The CTA fixed that with one simple requirement: tell law enforcement (not the public — just law enforcement) who actually owns the company. That’s the “red tape” Secretary Bessent is celebrating cutting. And who lined up against this rollback? Cops. District attorneys. Narcotics officers. A former FBI investigator who spent thirty years recovering over a billion dollars in stolen assets and watched, firsthand, kleptocrats and cartels wash money through anonymous U.S. shells into American luxury real estate. Over a hundred anti-money-laundering organizations who called gutting this law a gift to fentanyl traffickers, fraudsters, and America’s foreign adversaries. Even Congress’s own nonpartisan watchdog, the GAO, warned that killing these reporting requirements exposes America to substantial illicit finance risks. So on one side: law enforcement, national security experts, and a bipartisan act of Congress. On the other: Trump’s Treasury, repealing a statute by regulatory fiat. Whose side do you think the criminals are on?”