Federal Judge Shuts Down DOJ’s “Fishing Expedition” for Voter Data

A Trump-appointed federal judge handed down another loss to the Justice Department on Friday, striking down the department’s demand for personal voter information in Rhode Island. 

U.S. District Judge Mary S. McElroy said the DOJ lacked the authority “to conduct the kind of fishing expedition it seeks here.”

“In its September 8, 2025, letter to Secretary Amore (the ‘Demand Letter’), DOJ stated that the purpose of its demand for an unredacted copy of Rhode Island’s statewide voter registration list was ‘to ascertain Rhode Island’s compliance with the list maintenance requirements of the [National Voter Registration Act] and the [Help America Vote Act],’” McElroy wrote in her dismissal of the DOJ lawsuit. “The Demand Letter did not identify any facts suggesting that Rhode Island has not complied with the NVRA and HAVA, and it did not otherwise expressly identify any factual basis for DOJ’s demand.”

The DOJ initially filed the lawsuit as part of its effort to continue Trump’s immigration crackdown and weaponize voter registration information in deep-blue states. But now Rhode Island has become the fifth state—along with California, Michigan, Massachusetts, and Orgeon—to reject Trump’s meddling. 

“Neither the NVRA nor HAVA authorize DOJ to conduct the kind of fishing expedition it seeks here,” McElroy concluded. “As such, for the foregoing reasons, the Court DENIES the United States’ Motion to Compel Production and GRANTS Defendants’ Motions to Dismiss.”  

That leaves Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon with zero wins and five losses on her voting records lawsuits, with 25 states still waiting on decisions. 

Iran reopened the Strait of Hormuz on Friday, marking the end of a multi-week trade embargo that massively exacerbated oil and gas costs around the globe.

Donald Trump, however, was not happy.

The president went on a social media bender as the news came in, complaining that he had not received enough credit for his handling of the war (that he started) while optimistically suggesting that the war was already over, despite lacking a concrete peace deal.

“The Failing New York Times, FAKE NEWS CNN, and others, just don’t know what to do,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “They are desperately looking for a reason to criticize President Donald J. Trump on the Iran situation, but just can’t find it. Why don’t they just say, at the right time, JOB WELL DONE, MR. PRESIDENT, and start to gain back their credibility???”

In a series of posts, Trump incorrectly referred to the vital waterway as the “STRAIT OF IRAN,” and declared that the U.S. blockade on the strait would “REMAIN IN FULL FORCE AND EFFECT AS IT PERTAINS TO IRAN, ONLY, UNTIL SUCH TIME AS OUR TRANSACTION WITH IRAN IS 100% COMPLETE.”

“Iran has agreed to never close the Strait of Hormuz again,” Trump declared in a separate post. “It will no longer be used as a weapon against the World!”

Trump thanked Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar for their involvement in the peace negotiations, and stated that while any potential peace deal will not pertain to Lebanon, he would eventually “MAKE LEBANON GREAT AGAIN.” At the same time, the president slammed America’s NATO allies, claiming in a separate post that the coalition had called to offer help in the region in the wake of the strait’s reopening.

“I TOLD THEM TO STAY AWAY, UNLESS THEY JUST WANT TO LOAD UP THEIR SHIPS WITH OIL. They were useless when needed, a Paper Tiger!” Trump said.

Earlier this week, France and the U.K. agreed to cohost a summit with more than 40 nations to “restore freedom of navigation” along the waterway. Its results, however, were dependent on a peace deal, according to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

The war in Iran has thrust the entire world into an energy crisis, spiking oil and gas prices, stalling movement, and tanking economies. At the time of publication, Brent crude—a global oil benchmark—had dropped to around $89 per barrel. Last month, the cost reached a high of $108 per barrel—a dramatic increase from before the war started in late February, when Brent crude cost around $65 a barrel.

It is not clear exactly what the war in Iran has accomplished. Together, the U.S. and Israel have killed thousands of Iranian civilians and obliterated Iranian civilian infrastructure. Meanwhile, 13 U.S. soldiers have died. The war also spiked the cost of living for people around the world, agitated international relations—particularly between the U.S. and longtime allies in the Western hemisphere—cost American taxpayers over $50 billion, and sparked a political rejection of MAGA ideology across the U.S.

Trump has previously stated that his primary objective in the war was to erase Iran’s nuclear capabilities—but his administration’s battle assessments have stood in contrast to other attacks they boasted about as recently as last year.

Prior to the war—which never obtained congressional approval—Trump ordered strikes on three of Iran’s nuclear sites, hitting Fordo, Natanz, and Isfahan on June 22, 2025. At the time, the Trump administration claimed that the one-off air raid had set Iran’s program back by “years.”

U.S. soldiers stationed in the Middle East are getting fed mystery meat and single tortillas because of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran and Lebanon.

The Military Postal Service Agency and USPS have indefinitely suspended all mail to U.S. warships and zip codes in the Middle East. Family members of two service members—one aboard the USS Tripoli and another aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln—shared photos with USA Today showing what that suspension was forcing them to eat while warring on Iran—even as their families sent them packages filled with homemade desserts, candy, and clothes.

One image shows a single dreary tortilla alongside a lump of what looks to be pulled pork or chicken. The other shows two horrid-looking slabs of meat alongside a pile of sliced carrots.

And the food is starting to run low. Dan F., a former Marine whose daughter is serving aboard the USS Tripoli, told USA Today that his daughter reported no fresh produce, low stock of hygiene products, and rationing of all non-perishable food.

“The food is tasteless and there’s not nearly enough and they’re hungry all the time,” said Karen Erskine-Valentine of West Virginia, a pastor whose congregation member has a son on the USS Abraham Lincoln. “That kind of breaks your heart.”

“We have the strongest military in the world. You shouldn’t be running out of food, and you shouldn’t not be able to get mail on the ship,” Dan F. said. “The one thing we had over our adversaries [was] we fed our people.”

USPS and the Military Postal Service Agency announced the suspension earlier this month due to “airspace closures and other logistical impacts from the ongoing conflict,” according to Army spokesperson Major Travis Shaw. “Resumption of mail service is contingent upon the reopening of airspace by civil authorities, and the area commander’s evaluation of regional transportation and distribution stability.”

Donald Trump doesn’t want anyone to think that he’s giving Iran money.

The president posted on his Truth Social account Friday about a plan to end the war between the U.S. and Iran, and stressed that “no money will exchange hands in any way, shape, or form.”

That’s despite a report from Axios that the U.S. is considering releasing $20 billion in frozen Iranian assets in exchange for the country’s stockpile of enriched uranium.

The report states that the two countries are discussing a three-page plan, and could send negotiators to Pakistan this weekend to try and finalize it. Iran reportedly has close to 2,000 kilograms of enriched uranium buried in underground nuclear facilities. The talks concern what specifically will happen to the uranium, and how many Iranian assets will be unfrozen.

In earlier discussions, the U.S. was willing to release $6 billion to Iran for humanitarian relief, while the Iranians wanted $27 billion, according to Axios. The White House also wanted Iran to send its uranium to the U.S., while Iran sought to instead lower its enrichment through a process called downblending. Now, the two sides are considering a compromise in which some uranium would be sent to a third country while the rest would be downblended with international supervision.

If the U.S. does agree to release Iranian assets, Trump would be in effect doing what he and other Republicans criticized former President Barack Obama for: unfreezing Iranian money as part of an international agreement. As part of the nuclear deal Obama reached with Iran during his presidency, the U.S. lifted sanctions that froze Iranian government funds held in foreign banks and sent $1.7 billion to settle decades-old failed contracts between the two countries.

Back then, Trump and other Republicans made unfounded and fantastical claims that the U.S. was bribing Iran because the country was releasing American prisoners at the same time. If Iranian assets end up being unfrozen now, Trump and the GOP will make all kinds of excuses about how it’s different this time.

Donald Trump had several gripes while speaking at his “no tax on tips” event in Las Vegas Thursday evening. Yet in an incredible mental lapse, one of Trump’s points of frustration was about who the president was in 2025.

“A year ago, our country was an embarrassment,” Trump said. “All over the world, they laughed at us. And they don’t laugh anymore, they are not laughing.”

It’s just the latest indication that something could be seriously wrong with the president’s brain. Over the first year and change of his second term, Trump’s speeches have become more disjointed and incoherent, and his behavior has grown increasingly erratic, sparking concerns across the country about his health and aptitude for the country’s biggest job.

Just last week, Trump attacked several of his longest allies, claimed via a social media post that he would completely annihilate Iranian civilization, and started beef with Pope Leo XIV, claiming that the Catholic pontiff was “weak on crime.”

This week, Trump forgot when Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died, and that one of his most fervent GOP critics—North Carolina Republican Thom Tillis—is still in the Senate. Trump also opted to go to a UFC tournament instead of overseeing his administration’s peace talks with Iran, and DoorDashed McDonalds to the Oval Office in a PR stunt that even he retroactively admitted was “tacky.”

HIs behavior has elicited a cultural shift on the ideological left and right. A group of MAGA thought leaders—including Alex Jones, Candace Owens, Tucker Carlson, and Megyn Kelly—have denounced Trump’s recent behavior as it relates to the war in Iran, as well as his mass disavowal of his own political acolytes.

Liberal lawmakers, meanwhile, have invoked the Twenty-Fifth Amendment to formally challenge Trump’s mental acuity. Fifty House Democrats filed legislation on Wednesday to create a commission that could shove Trump out of power and install Vice President JD Vance as his replacement.

Other Democrats have called for the president to have his brain tested by the end of the month. House Judiciary Committee ranking member Jamie Raskin last week demanded that Trump undergo another cognitive test by April 25, citing Trump’s escalating aggression toward Iran.