@MeidasTouch:
Leave it to Trump to piss off the friendliest country on the planet
@hissgoescobra Feb 3, 3025:
First lawsuit it appears filed against the U.S. government in connection with the allegedly unlawful disclosure of taxpayer financial and personally identifying information to Musk, DOGE, and his minions. Copy of the complaint is below.
@danielcincu:
Should be a straightforward case, but the judiciary is itself compromised.
@Public_Citizen:
See our complaint on behalf of Alliance for Retired Americans, AFGE, and SEIU: https://
https://www.citizen.org/wp-content/uploads/1-Complaint-7.pdf
@BrendanMcP:
I really am having difficulty wrapping my mind around the fact that a bunch of losers hired by a billionaire, none of whom were elected, are using the guise of a fake government agency to loot our government of of money and information, and none of them have been arrested yet…
@ZephyrTeachout:
People who are required to share intimate personal information with the federal government should not be forced to have that information leaked to Billionaire Musk and the private entity DOGE. Excellent and strong lawsuit @NormEisen.
The Elon Musk Coup, An unelected billionaire is seizing control of the federal government by Prospect Staff, February 3, 2025
This time we are taking a step back to consider just what is going on with shadow president Musk and his gang of thugs seizing control of core government functions. It’s important, we feel, to foreground the grave political implications of what is happening.
30:30 Min preview. A most interesting chat:
Lawsuit Takes On Musk Payment System Takeover on Privacy Grounds, Giving DOGE access to the Treasury Department’s payment system violates the Privacy Act of 1974 and IRS statutes, three plaintiffs allege by David Dayen, February 3, 2025, The American prospect
One of the most important lawsuits in the history of the United States has been filed by one advocacy group and two unions, seeking to halt Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) team’s access to the Treasury Department’s payment system.
The lawsuit primarily alleges that the disclosure of hundreds of millions of personal financial records that are part of the system is unlawful and must be stopped.
As discussed earlier, Treasury’s Bureau of the Fiscal Service (BFS) handles more than one billion financial transactions annually for the U.S. government, both outgoing grants and payments and incoming tax receipts. While serving as the largest cash management operation in the world, BFS collects personal and financial information about the people and businesses on the other side of the transactions, including “names, Social Security numbers, birth dates, birth places, home addresses and telephone numbers, email addresses, and bank account information.” This is all kept inside government databases governed by federal privacy laws, both the Privacy Act of 1974 and, in the case of taxpayer information, statutory IRS rules governing disclosure.
Has Musk sold the data to China, Israel, and or Russia? How many people in America are now at risk of being robbed/assassinated/tortured by Xi, Mossad and or Putin now that their names and locations have been breached by Musk and his boys?
The Alliance for Retired Americans, the American Federation of Government Employees, and the Service Employees International Union filed the suit in D.C. District Court. Every member of these organizations likely has personal information in the hands of the BFS.
The lawsuit alleges that Scott Bessent, the new Treasury secretary, violated the law by pushing out David Lebryk, the senior civil servant in charge of the payment system, and giving DOGE access to data and computer networks. Any change of this type requires Treasury to give a “system of records notice” (SORN) in the Federal Register for 30 days, while allowing public comment.
Under the Privacy Act, no disclosure of any record can be given unless “the individual to whom a record pertains” (in this case, practically every American) consents, or an exception applies. The exceptions would be if officers and employees of the agency “have a need for the record in the performance of their duties,” or if there’s a “routine use” stipulated in the SORN. For IRS records, only statutory authorization allows disclosure of returns to those who are not involved in tax administration.
By not making any public announcement or going through any process justifying the change, Bessent violated the Administrative Procedure Act, the complaint alleges. There has clearly been no consent to record disclosure on the part of the public. And it’s completely unclear who now has access to the BFS data records, and whether they are employees of the BFS, the Treasury Department, or even the federal government.Sent to Russia, China, Israel?
Tom Krause, the current CEO of Cloud Software Group, is allegedly a Treasury Department official and a “liaison” to DOGE who is leading the team with access to the payment system. Few other details on the plan have been released. Even if everyone with access is a Treasury employee, which is unknown, they may not be directly involved with tax administration, or may not need the records in the performance of their duties or for routine use. If so, that would violate the Privacy Act and IRS statutes.
Musk has been boasting that his team is “rapidly shutting down … illegal payments,” which the plaintiffs cite in the lawsuit. Even if they have no ability to manipulate payments yet, having access to individual personal information could violate privacy statutes.
“Retirees, taxpayers, federal employees, companies, and other individuals from all walks of life have no assurance that their information will receive the protection that federal law affords,” the complaint reads. Because no fine would likely serve as a remedy, the plaintiffs ask for an injunction to separate DOGE from the payment system.
It’s interesting that the plaintiffs decided to go with privacy violations as the primary rationale for the lawsuit. There are any number of ways that Musk and DOGE could violate the law by commandeering the payment system, but until they actually stop a payment, many of them are theoretical. By contrast, the privacy breach is immediate and continuous.
That could help them show immediate injury from the action. “I think it is a strong argument. My only concern is whether they can show they are injured and have standing to sue for this,” said Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the UC Berkeley Law School. Whether the courts agree that the privacy laws have been breached will settle the standing argument.The American judicial industry is corrupt. Trump and his catholic judges finished rotting it off. I doubt justice will prevail with so many bad judges.
“It is disgraceful that the Trump administration has allowed unelected billionaires and their lackeys unfettered access to the personal and financial information of Americans,” said Everett Kelley, national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, in a statement. “Together, we can stop this violation of American citizens’ privacy.”
There’s also an extreme irony with the lawsuit. One of the claims is that DOGE violated strict rules around release of taxpayer information. The last person to be convicted of that crime was Charles Littlejohn, who released the tax returns of Elon Musk and Donald Trump, among others, to make the point that mega-billionaires paid little or nothing in taxes.
@mhdksafa:
If the United States saw what the United States is doing in the United States, the United States would invade the United States to liberate the United States from the tyranny of the United States.
@TommyRaines Feb 3, 2025:
Cancelled our trip to the USA. Canada here we comeThank you!
***
Critical Criminology @critcrim Feb 3, 2025:
If you think the military and police deployments, Black Hawks, drones, US-Canada Joint Task Forces, etc. are going to stay at the border, you’re in for a rude awakening.
The USA/Israel genocidaires mass murdering innocent Palestinian kids, babies, women, writers, sculptors, cooks, first responders, farmers, water managers, etc. has been a test to see if the world would stand by and let it happen, which it did, and continues to do. And, to desensitize us to mass extermination of innocent people. Steve Harper’s AWZ firm is financing Israel’s tech experimenting on targeting and killing Palestinian kids. Killer drones will be blowing up innocent Canadians, Mexicans and Americans soon enough.
@ThisWillHold:
For all 43 lbs of fentanyl?
How ever will the new czar handle such a massive undertaking?
@AsadKiyani:
Every Canadian negotiation with the US ends the same way: greater securitization and greater criminalization in return for US cooperation. Also, last time Trump was in office, [Canada Mexica and USA] signed a totally new trade deal, which Trump just ripped up. Good luck with this ‘deal’.
@kerry_sinanan;
Oh look, the outcome of two settler states competing in racial capitalism means increased border violence and policing, which only protects the state and harms Indigenous and Black people, immigrants, and the land itself.
guerrillablvk:
Do not call this a W it’s a massive L for us!
Gerald Commissiong @G_Commish:
Should have gotten US to commit to stopping illegal gun trade in exchange for this $200M tweet
@blakeshaffer.bsky.social:
The tariffs may be paused but the relationship is broken. Trump and the next Trump can’t be trusted.
Canadians need to look inward and elsewhere, diversifying away from the US, and getting stronger in the process. Let’s make that the legacy we build from this.
Bye America, Buy Canadian
@JustinTrudeau Feb 3, 2025:
I just had a good call with President Trump. Canada is implementing our $1.3 billion border plan — reinforcing the border with new choppers, technology and personnel, enhanced coordination with our American partners, and increased resources to stop the flow of fentanyl. Nearly 10,000 frontline personnel are and will be working on protecting the border.
In addition, Canada is making new commitments to appoint a Fentanyl Czar, we will list cartels and anyone industry finds objectionable or B’nai Brith finds objectionable, Encana/Ovintiv, CNRL, AER, CER, etc., or Rosalie Abella, or Zionists in general, or Bibi Netanyahu, or any billionaire upset at protest possibly delaying more billions in profits, etc., as terrorists, ensure 24/7 eyes on the border, launch a Canada- U.S. Joint Strike Force to combat organized crime, fentanyl and money laundering. I have also signed a new intelligence directive on organized crime and fentanyl and we will be backing it with $200 million.
Proposed tariffs will be paused for at least 30 days while we work together.So, Canada gets nothing for all that taxpayer money wasted on hot air from an orange convicted felon, and we cave to a monstrous lying bully. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. So stupid and cowardly. Was Trudeau ordered to cave by the fucking Repuglican oil boys at CAPP?
@UbakaOgbogu:
It’s not about fentanyl. It’s about disinformation to whip up fascist and empire sentiments in a country where (sadly) many are now susceptible to the populism and deception that enables authoritarian regimes.
Here in Canada, @ABDanielleSmith has helped promote these lies (with taxpayer dollars no less) because her only loyalty is to power and oil and gas, and not to country. It’s the sad thing about conservative governments today; just a bunch of grifters who are good at selling lies.
OMG! Funny 4 seconds!
***
Reader added context: “Goliath died in that story.”
@kananaskinyeti:
If America annexed Canada, there is nothing we as Canadians could do to stop it, but if they did, America would fall faster than they are now. If America made us American, you could be damn sure it’d be temporary.
@SPKolten:
The world would stand up against something like that.
@anxiouscatmom:
Maybe not a joking matter, but the federal US government would lose their minds trying to figure out what’s up with Quebec and that’s a little funny.
Canada makes Hawkins Cheesies! Best lustful crunchy flavourful snack in the world, and USA can’t even sell them. Ha fucking ha. And we have Canada Health and Dental Care. I am Canadian, I will die Canadian.
***
I don’t want that ugly cruel stupid orange convicted felon rapist liar bully as my fake president with law-violating Nazi Musk running the hate-filled show.
