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Minnesotans Unite to Protest Bogus 'Antifa' Charges - the Wednesday AM Quickie 6/17/26

By Corey Pein —

The latest purported threat on Donald Trump's life was so serious he hadn't even heard about it. It's like birthdays, I guess; after so many, you stop counting. - Corey

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THE BIG NEWS

Feds Charge 15 in Minneapolis Over Supposed Anti-ICE 'Antifa' Conspiracy

Remember when Donald Trump sent federal forces to essentially invade and occupy states and cities that voted against him, including Minneapolis, Minnesota? Remember when those forces gunned down innocent civilian citizens who were observing their actions targeting immigrant families who'd done nothing to deserve the mistreatment they were facing at the hands of Trump's government? And remember when those federal invasions caused such outrage among the Democratic leaders and the general public that the MAGA-fied feds retreated in disgrace from the cities, Trump fired the people he'd put in charge of the operation, and Republicans set about pretending that the whole thing never happened? I'm sure you remember, dear reader. It wasn't that long ago, after all.

Trump's loyalists in the federal justice system also remember – but they have a rather different perspective on the situation. The top federal prosecutor in Minnesota, Daniel Rosen, yesterday announced charges against 15 people he claims belong to "Antifa," a Republican boogeyman that President Joe Biden, multiple former FBI directors, and the New York Times have accurately described as an idea – anti-fascism – not an organization. According to the Washington Post and the Minnesota Reformer, the people charged were affiliated with named groups, including Direct Action Minnesota and the Black Cat Workers Collective.

"This is an act of political oppression," Bruce Nestor, a lawyer representing one of the defendants, tells the Times. "It's designed to punish and intimidate."

Defendant Erik "Davis, a religious studies professor at Macalester College in St. Paul, told the judge, 'I looked through the indictment at all the things that include my name, and I seem to be indicted for holding meetings.'"

"It’s basically just alleging that we were conspiring to protest," Defendant Cameron Kennedy tells the Minnesota Star Tribune. "Essentially, if we’re guilty of [the charges], so is the entire city of Minneapolis."

Kennedy says the case is part of "a new wave of political reprisal" that "is very clearly designed to target us and dissuade any type of resistance against ICE, and frankly, it’s going to blow up in their face."

To his point, protests have broken out outside the federal courthouse in Minneapolis.

Elections Roundup: Full Results from Four States Plus DC

  • Trump-Backed Georgia Rep. Mike Collins Will Face Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff in November Meanwhile, billionaire health care tycoon Rick Jackson defeated Donald Trump's pick for governor, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, in the Republican gubernatorial primary; Jackson spent more than $100 million of his own money. via NBC News, Politico, and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
  • Glass Houses: Hillary Clinton Says Joe Biden's Decision to Run for Reelection Was 'a Terrible Mistake for Himself, His Legacy and for the Country' The candidate who lost to Trump in 2016 shared her opinion on the candidate whose running mate took over the ticket and lost to Trump in 2024 at a New Yorker event on Monday. via the New York Times and the Washington Post.
  • Prediction Markets Spread Election Misinformation for Profit "On Kalshi, trading volume on one contract about who will win the LA mayoral race in November had reached more than $117 million as of Tuesday." via the Los Angeles Times.
  • Major Upgrade: Progressive Aisha Wahab Advances to Runoff in California Race to Replace Disgraced Rep. Eric Swalwell State Sen. Wahab "was the first Afghan American elected to public office in the United States" and championed housing affordability in her campaign; she will face centrist transit boss Melissa Hernandez in November. via the AP and the San Francisco Chronicle.

Epstein Made Previous Unreported Suicide Attempt

Seeking to put some conspiracy theorizing to rest, the New York Times has published a lengthy investigation into the death of the late elite sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. The report is based on "tens of thousands of pages of documents and hundreds of hours of video gathered in the official investigations into Epstein," some of which was released only after a lawsuit, as well as interviews "with more than 40 inmates, jail employees, lawyers, federal officials and law enforcement officers connected with the case" – some of whom were never interviewed by the government. Long story short: "Some important questions about Epstein’s death remain unanswered and likely unanswerable," the Times says. "Nevertheless, our reporting establishes that Epstein showed a clear pattern of behavior in the weeks before his death suggesting an intent to kill himself." In other words, he probably wasn't murdered in prison for what he knew.

Meanwhile, Politico reports that Congressional staff yesterday visited the Texas federal prison where Epstein's accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, is held. "Bureau of Prisons leadership repeatedly shut down our lines of questioning or could not provide basic information about our central concerns, including Ms. Maxwell's extraordinary treatment, allegations of sexual assault at the facility, and retaliation against inmates who tried to blow the whistle," Democratic Reps. Jamie Raskin of Maryland and Robert Garcia of California said after the tour.

QUICKEST QUICKIES

  • Israel Could Still Sink Iran Peace Deal By Refusing to Exit Lebanon Donald Trump and White House chief of staff Susie Wiles are "spitballing" ideas to lure oil tankers through the Straight of Hormuz, including rebranding Iran's wartime tolls as a fee-based "VIP pass" with the US as collector and naval escort. via the Associated Press, the Washington Post, and Politico.
  • Zelenskyy Meets Trump at G7 Summit as European Leaders Lobby for US-Brokered Peace Deal with Russia French President Emmanuel Macron gave the other national leaders in attendance – including Trump – personalized bicycles and jerseys to promote next year's Cycling World Championships in the French Alps. via the Guardian, Politico, and the AP.
  • Justice Department Moves to Kill Clean Air Act Lawsuit Against Unpermitted AI Power Plant Owned By Elon Musk "'We feel very confident about defeating these arguments, but it’s essentially a massive power grab for the executive branch,' said Kym Meyer, the litigation director at the Southern Environmental Law Center, which is representing the NAACP along with the nonprofit Earthjustice." via the Washington Post, the AP, and Politico.
  • Trump's Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool Renovation, Meant to Be 'American Flag Blue,' Turns 'Uncannily Green and Visibly Slimy' with Algae "We did a hell of a job," Trump boasted last week. via NBC News, Defector, and HuffPost.

SOME NUMBER

600 million

That's how much the White House estimates Donald Trump's ballroom boondoggle will cost, with about half coming from taxpayers, the Washington Post reports. Trump initially claimed the project would cost $400 million without "10 cents" coming from taxpayers.

ON THE SHOW TODAY

6/17: Sam and Emma will be in studio. The guests will be Dylan Gyauch-Lewis, senior researcher at the Revolving Door Project, discussing her piece in The American Prospect, "New Documents Detail Nine-Figure, Silicon Valley–Funded Abundance Movement"; and Gil Duran, journalist and founder of Nerd Reich, a newsletter about tech extremist politics, discussing John O’Farrell, a former partner at Andreessen Horowitz who recently quit the VC firm for prioritizing AI hype over the common good.

DON'T MISS MR CLIPS‌

They're Going to Throw JD Vance Under the Iran Deal Bus, Aren't They?

A sad outcome for the vice bootlicker.

Eric Trump BUSTED Trying to Rig UFC Fight for Big Gambling Payday?

I guess everything is legal now.

PARTING WORDS

"Kohen Wiley was a baby. His mother, who has not been charged with any crime, says she was trying to communicate to officers that there was a baby in the car.
"They fired anyway, leading to the death of an innocent 1-year-old. We intend to seek justice for baby Kohen and the life that was stolen from him."

-- Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, in a statement to the press about the family he is representing who lost a baby to a police shooting at a Walmart in Senatobia, Tennessee on Sunday. Protests for justice broke out across the city yesterday, prompting police to tear gas the crowd in the same Walmart parking lot where they shot Kohen Wiley.

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