Leonnig Carol Ken Dilanian

AN 1 26

MS NOW reporter Carol Leonnig is reporting that federal prosecutors in two different states refused to handle the attempts to indict journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort.

"What we've been hearing for really a week and a half has been concern among prosecutors in Minnesota about the way this office has basically been by the deputy attorney general and the attorney general's office," said Leonnig.

The acting U.S. attorney in the Minnesota District is Dan Rosen, who has no experience as a prosecutor, she explained.

That "will sound familiar to a lot of you on the panel, because that was one of the major problems in the Eastern District of Virginia," Leonnig said in passing about attorney Lindsey Halligan, who was forced out by a judge in the district.

"But the new news here is that those prosecutors [had] concerns about the immigration arrests and whether or not those were legal. They are also very concerned and declined to participate in this, because they don't believe the Don Lemon charges will actually stand up," Leonnig said.

Prosecutors are generally advised not to prosecute a case that they know they can't win. That has changed in the era of President Donald Trump, who has used the Justice Department to go after some of his top enemies.

Lemo was arrested in Los Angeles, where he was slated to cover the Grammy Awards. He may have had a grand jury indictment in Minnesota, but all of those documents are under seal and the public and press cannot view them. To get an arrest of Lemon in Los Angeles, however, many prosecutors there were involved, Leonnig said.

They "also registered concern, and some of them declined to participate in this because, again, they have a duty of candor to the court," added Leonnig. "They don't feel comfortable bringing cases and pursuing cases where they do not think the facts line up with the charges."

MS NOW host Ana Cabrera noted that this isn't the first time the public has seen local prosecutors from the Justice Departmen "buck orders" from the Washington office.

Leonnig called it "worrisome" because it reveals that the main Justice Department "is going to continue directing who is targeted" by Trump. They are also willing to "use whatever means that are at their disposal, whether or not convictions are ever achieved."

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RWW

12/12/2025

Kyle Mantyla

David Badash @ The New Civil Rights Movement: ‘Positively Authoritarian’: White House Tweets and Deletes ‘Naughty List’ of Journalists

The White House appears to have tweeted then deleted a “Naughty List” of journalists, including top news reporters and outlets, in an act that is being described as “positively authoritarian” by one legal expert.

REF

The White House appears to have tweeted then deleted a “Naughty List” of journalists, including top news reporters and outlets, in an act that is being described as “positively authoritarian” by one legal expert.

The video was posted to X (formerly Twitter), TikTok, and the White House’s own website, which reads: “MEDIA OFFENDERS ON THE NAUGHTY LIST,” and “Video unavailable. This video has been removed by the uploader.”

A Google search of the White House’s page shows a video thumbnail consistent with the videos captured by several social media influencers.

The video includes a Santa Claus chortling “ho ho ho,” and unrolling a scroll titled “Naughty List” that includes MS NOW reporters Carol Leonnig and Ken Dilanian, CNN’s Jake Tapper, and reporters from CBS News, Axios, and The Bulwark as well. The background music is “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town.”

The video closes with the message, “Better luck next year,” then the screen reads:

The White House

President Donald J. Trump

An AI generated trending page on X reads: “The 34-second clip, posted Thursday evening, showed photos of journalists pinned to a wall alongside names like The New York Times and The Washington Post. It disappeared from the official account within hours amid backlash comparing it to authoritarian blacklists. Supporters laughed it off as holiday humor, while the White House site already tracks similar outlets in an ‘Offender Hall of Shame’ for alleged bias. The episode highlighted ongoing tensions over media coverage during the Trump administration.”

“This is a blacklist,” wrote social media influencer The Maine Wonk, saying the video was “quickly deleted…after getting serious backlash.”

“This isn’t a joke. It’s a blacklist,” warned another influencer, Brian Allen. “Authoritarians always start by mocking the press… then labeling them… then listing them. We’re now on step two. History has seen this movie before and it never ends well.”

The Bulwark’s Tim Miller offered “Huge congrats” to one of the outlet’s reporters who appeared on the list, Adrian Carrasquillo, and commented, “(ooh we are really quaking in our boots on that one nerds).”

Justin Kanew’s The Tennessee Holler called it a list “showing who is doing their jobs.”

Professor of Law, MSNOW legal analyst, and former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance commented on the video, writing, “How positively…authoritarian.”

XIT

Brian Allen

@allenanalysis

🚨 The White House just posted a government-branded “Naughty List” naming individual reporters and news outlets.

This isn’t a joke. It’s a blacklist.

Authoritarians always start by mocking the press… then labeling them… then listing them.

We’re now on step two.

History has Show more

https://x.com/allenanalysis/status/1999272957474959671?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1999272957474959671%7Ctwgr%5Ed62079f0dae4b584c74e723278095c30f7acd321%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com%2F2025%2F12%2Fpositively-authoritarian-white-house-tweets-and-deletes-naughty-list-of-journalists%2F

:{:{🎄 Naughty List 🎄MS NOW: • Carol Leonnig • Ken Dilanian}:

NEW YORK POST: • Caitlin McCormack (name appears in image, but not known as a NY Post journalist)

CNN: • Jake TapperCBS NEWS: •

Bilal Rahman (unverified name — no known CBS journalist by this spelling)

:{:{AXIOS: • Zachary Basu • Russell Contreras}:

THE BULWARK: • Adrian Carrasquillo

// raw

An ex-Trump official is sounding the alarm after the White House published – and quickly removed – a video of Santa Claus holding a “Naughty List” featuring the names of journalists and news outlets.

On Thursday, the White House website published a video of what it described as “media offenders on the naughty list,” though the video appears to have been removed as of Friday. Re-uploaded on social media, the video depicts Santa Claus laughing while unveiling a “Naughty List” of journalists and media outlets, and is set to Michael Bublé’s rendition of $_{Santa Claus Is Coming To Town}_$ .”

Miles Taylor, a former Homeland Security senior official under both the Trump and Bush administrations, likened the video to the early days of Nazi Germany and its attack on journalists deemed to be enemies of the state, and warned that when it came to Trump’s attack on the press, “more will follow.”

ALSO READ:These betrayals are splitting MAGA from Trump — and making him more dangerous than ever

“The [Nazi] regime published lists of ‘un-German’ writers and journalists, accusing them of poisoning the nation’s soul. News outlets were threatened with closure and then later shut down,” Taylor wrote Friday on his Substack, Defiance News.

“Here we are. The White House is on a similar path. That’s not exaggeration or heedless historical comparison, meant to accuse Trump of being a ‘Nazi’ to score political points. The man who is our current president – and the people around him – have a stated and demonstrated desire to subvert the free press in this country.”

Trump has long railed against the media as being the “enemy of the people,” going back to his 2016 presidential bid. Only recently, however, has Trump escalated his attack on the press by suing media outlets, threatening to revoke broadcasting licenses, and stripping reporters of their White House credentials. And now, he’s directly named and shamed journalists, the first step, Taylor argued, would only escalate if not opposed.

“A president who publishes a blacklist of reporters is not making a silly Christmas ‘joke,’” Taylor wrote. “He’s testing how far he can go, preparing to crack down, and seeing how many people will smile while he does it.”

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