Lera Toropin
@toropin.bsky.social
Diplomacy, Global Policy, Russia, Ukraine, Moldova | Moldova-born, DC-based | Star Wars/Star Trek nerd | she/her
Reposted by Lera Toropin
It’s truly depraved for Trump to welcome Vladimir Putin to the US while Putin is actively wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes in Ukraine.
Trump calls this a peace summit but it’s just an opportunity to hang out with one of his dictator buddies. www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-a...
Trump calls this a peace summit but it’s just an opportunity to hang out with one of his dictator buddies. www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-a...
Trump and Putin will meet in Alaska next week, Trump says
President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are planning to meet in the United States, multiple sources tell CBS News.
www.cbsnews.com
August 8, 2025 at 10:28 PM
It’s truly depraved for Trump to welcome Vladimir Putin to the US while Putin is actively wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes in Ukraine.
Trump calls this a peace summit but it’s just an opportunity to hang out with one of his dictator buddies. www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-a...
Trump calls this a peace summit but it’s just an opportunity to hang out with one of his dictator buddies. www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-a...
Reposted by Lera Toropin
WOW. The Trump admin is rewriting reality, erasing accountability for any nation with close ties to Trump — including Russia, El Salvador, and Israel.
The El Salvador report changes are egregious, totally erasing well-documented abuses. And the impact will be severe. Quick 🧵.
The El Salvador report changes are egregious, totally erasing well-documented abuses. And the impact will be severe. Quick 🧵.
August 7, 2025 at 3:35 PM
WOW. The Trump admin is rewriting reality, erasing accountability for any nation with close ties to Trump — including Russia, El Salvador, and Israel.
The El Salvador report changes are egregious, totally erasing well-documented abuses. And the impact will be severe. Quick 🧵.
The El Salvador report changes are egregious, totally erasing well-documented abuses. And the impact will be severe. Quick 🧵.
Reposted by Lera Toropin
Everyone in DC knows that if you want to hide something, announce it on a Friday in August. Better yet, make it nearly impossible to track down.
That's exactly what SCOTUS did last week. But the news is too staggering to hide for long: SCOTUS has decided it's time to destroy the Voting Rights Act.
That's exactly what SCOTUS did last week. But the news is too staggering to hide for long: SCOTUS has decided it's time to destroy the Voting Rights Act.
The Supreme Court prepares to end voting rights as we know it
And they don't want you to notice.
www.motherjones.com
August 6, 2025 at 12:30 PM
Everyone in DC knows that if you want to hide something, announce it on a Friday in August. Better yet, make it nearly impossible to track down.
That's exactly what SCOTUS did last week. But the news is too staggering to hide for long: SCOTUS has decided it's time to destroy the Voting Rights Act.
That's exactly what SCOTUS did last week. But the news is too staggering to hide for long: SCOTUS has decided it's time to destroy the Voting Rights Act.
Reposted by Lera Toropin
This has been the golden rule for fascists and racists since time began:
Identify the parts of your nation that are crumbling (on your watch) and blame it on people who don’t look like you.
What is rare (and uniquely dangerous) is to find these people running the government.
Identify the parts of your nation that are crumbling (on your watch) and blame it on people who don’t look like you.
What is rare (and uniquely dangerous) is to find these people running the government.
Stephen Miller: "What would LA look like without illegal aliens? You would be able to see a doctor in the ER right away, no wait time, no problem. You kids would go to a public school that had more money than they know what to do with. Classrooms would be half the size."
July 11, 2025 at 7:29 PM
This has been the golden rule for fascists and racists since time began:
Identify the parts of your nation that are crumbling (on your watch) and blame it on people who don’t look like you.
What is rare (and uniquely dangerous) is to find these people running the government.
Identify the parts of your nation that are crumbling (on your watch) and blame it on people who don’t look like you.
What is rare (and uniquely dangerous) is to find these people running the government.
Reposted by Lera Toropin
Great story from @nytimes.com on how the Musk Boys and company killed USAID. Whatever you think of the organization's work and waste, the way this shutdown was executed is insane. Gift link:
www.nytimes.com/2025/06/22/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/06/22/u...
Missteps, Confusion and ‘Viral Waste’: The 14 Days That Doomed U.S.A.I.D.
www.nytimes.com
June 24, 2025 at 2:58 PM
Great story from @nytimes.com on how the Musk Boys and company killed USAID. Whatever you think of the organization's work and waste, the way this shutdown was executed is insane. Gift link:
www.nytimes.com/2025/06/22/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/06/22/u...
Reposted by Lera Toropin
Sotomayor, dissenting, says the majority "does irrevocable damage" to the equal protection clause and "invites legislatures to engage in discrimination by hiding blatant sex classifications in plain sight." She fears the damage in Skrmetti will go well beyond gender-affirming care, and she's right.
June 18, 2025 at 2:28 PM
Sotomayor, dissenting, says the majority "does irrevocable damage" to the equal protection clause and "invites legislatures to engage in discrimination by hiding blatant sex classifications in plain sight." She fears the damage in Skrmetti will go well beyond gender-affirming care, and she's right.
Reposted by Lera Toropin
We should all be screaming this from the rooftops: “anti-woke is just racism”
Federal judge “explicitly called out the Trump administration for its “palpably clear” discrimination against racial minorities and LGBTQ+ Americans”
Read @lizdye.bsky.social:
www.publicnotice.co/p/william-yo...
Federal judge “explicitly called out the Trump administration for its “palpably clear” discrimination against racial minorities and LGBTQ+ Americans”
Read @lizdye.bsky.social:
www.publicnotice.co/p/william-yo...
Judge rules that anti-woke is just racism
You can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still a rancid bigot.
www.publicnotice.co
June 18, 2025 at 12:37 PM
We should all be screaming this from the rooftops: “anti-woke is just racism”
Federal judge “explicitly called out the Trump administration for its “palpably clear” discrimination against racial minorities and LGBTQ+ Americans”
Read @lizdye.bsky.social:
www.publicnotice.co/p/william-yo...
Federal judge “explicitly called out the Trump administration for its “palpably clear” discrimination against racial minorities and LGBTQ+ Americans”
Read @lizdye.bsky.social:
www.publicnotice.co/p/william-yo...
Reposted by Lera Toropin
So, as you might know, I have been in the process of tracking the activities of DOGE staff across the federal government. And now I've built an auto-updating website to browse the data
It's not done (lots more content to write), but news is moving fast, so here it is dogetrack.info
Enjoy!
It's not done (lots more content to write), but news is moving fast, so here it is dogetrack.info
Enjoy!
DOGE Track: Tracking The Damage
A website tracking the various activities of the DOGE wrecking crew across government. Sunlight is the best disinfectant!
dogetrack.info
May 30, 2025 at 6:59 PM
So, as you might know, I have been in the process of tracking the activities of DOGE staff across the federal government. And now I've built an auto-updating website to browse the data
It's not done (lots more content to write), but news is moving fast, so here it is dogetrack.info
Enjoy!
It's not done (lots more content to write), but news is moving fast, so here it is dogetrack.info
Enjoy!
Reposted by Lera Toropin
🧵 This is a perfect example of how disordered discourse reshapes democratic politics, not by policy failure, but by the performative targeting of identity. Let’s unpack what’s happening.
one of the most insane normalized aspects of our political climate is politicians going after their own constituents in the name of anti-wokeness. what are we doing here
May 22, 2025 at 5:31 PM
🧵 This is a perfect example of how disordered discourse reshapes democratic politics, not by policy failure, but by the performative targeting of identity. Let’s unpack what’s happening.
Reposted by Lera Toropin
"House Republicans worked through the night to advance a massive piece of legislation that might, if enacted, carry out the largest upward transfer of wealth in American history," writes Jonathan Chait:
The Largest Upward Transfer of Wealth in American History
House Republicans voted to advance a bill that would offer lavish tax cuts for the rich while slashing benefits for the poor.
bit.ly
May 22, 2025 at 3:15 PM
"House Republicans worked through the night to advance a massive piece of legislation that might, if enacted, carry out the largest upward transfer of wealth in American history," writes Jonathan Chait:
Reposted by Lera Toropin
"I don't want a Disney vacation of our history! I don't a whitewashed history, I don't want a homogenized history. Tell me the wretched truth about America, because that speaks to our greatness" -- 20 hours into his speech, Cory Booker is spitting absolute 🔥
April 1, 2025 at 7:47 PM
"I don't want a Disney vacation of our history! I don't a whitewashed history, I don't want a homogenized history. Tell me the wretched truth about America, because that speaks to our greatness" -- 20 hours into his speech, Cory Booker is spitting absolute 🔥
Reposted by Lera Toropin
So, if I’m reading this correctly, Congress appropriated a bunch of funds for specific purposes. Musk will be throwing that out the window and disregarding the law they enacted. But individual legislators can call a hotline and beg for their pet projects to be spared. That’s how we’re doing it now.
Like huh it’s almost as if this information is inconsistent with the government’s representations in court that Amy Gleason, not Musk, is in charge of DOGE, and that agency heads, not DOGE, are responsible for the cuts
March 6, 2025 at 1:58 AM
So, if I’m reading this correctly, Congress appropriated a bunch of funds for specific purposes. Musk will be throwing that out the window and disregarding the law they enacted. But individual legislators can call a hotline and beg for their pet projects to be spared. That’s how we’re doing it now.
Reposted by Lera Toropin
Stand with trans Americans. You don’t have to understand everything about the transgender experience to know that Trump’s acts of humiliation and dehumanization are unjust and dangerous.
www.thebulwark.com/p/stand-with...
www.thebulwark.com/p/stand-with...
Stand With Trans Americans
You don’t have to understand everything about the transgender experience to know that Trump’s acts of humiliation and dehumanization are unjust and dangerous.
www.thebulwark.com
March 4, 2025 at 2:14 PM
Stand with trans Americans. You don’t have to understand everything about the transgender experience to know that Trump’s acts of humiliation and dehumanization are unjust and dangerous.
www.thebulwark.com/p/stand-with...
www.thebulwark.com/p/stand-with...
Reposted by Lera Toropin
tired of people treating trump like he is anything other than an ego-driven simpleton (i wrote this, this is a piece about why he is nothing more than an ego driven simpleton.)
Opinion | Trump’s Revenge Tour Finds Its True Target (Gift Article)
It is hard to describe the president’s first month and a half in office as something other than a retribution campaign against the American people.
www.nytimes.com
March 5, 2025 at 1:57 PM
tired of people treating trump like he is anything other than an ego-driven simpleton (i wrote this, this is a piece about why he is nothing more than an ego driven simpleton.)
Reposted by Lera Toropin
We pre-bunked the lies and attacks on federal workers that Trump will likely make while addressing Congress tonight.
Remember: Trump's attacks are an attempt to erode the public’s faith in the federal government and the services it provides.
Don't let it work!
www.epi.org/blog/trump-w...
Remember: Trump's attacks are an attempt to erode the public’s faith in the federal government and the services it provides.
Don't let it work!
www.epi.org/blog/trump-w...
Trump will likely continue attacking the federal workforce in tonight’s joint address to Congress
Tonight, President Trump will deliver an address to a joint session of Congress where he will outline his political agenda for the next year. Among many other topics, the president is expected to high...
www.epi.org
March 4, 2025 at 9:32 PM
We pre-bunked the lies and attacks on federal workers that Trump will likely make while addressing Congress tonight.
Remember: Trump's attacks are an attempt to erode the public’s faith in the federal government and the services it provides.
Don't let it work!
www.epi.org/blog/trump-w...
Remember: Trump's attacks are an attempt to erode the public’s faith in the federal government and the services it provides.
Don't let it work!
www.epi.org/blog/trump-w...
Reposted by Lera Toropin
Under targeted attack from the Trump administration, U.S. democracy aid faces an existential crisis.
Democracy aid, writes Thomas Carothers, will be the “canary in the coal mine” for President Trump’s willingness to depart from foreign policy precedent: carnegieendowment.org/research/202...
Democracy aid, writes Thomas Carothers, will be the “canary in the coal mine” for President Trump’s willingness to depart from foreign policy precedent: carnegieendowment.org/research/202...
Does U.S. Democracy Aid Have a Future?
Whether any democracy support survives the Trump administration’s assault on U.S. foreign aid will be a telling indicator of how radically Trump is remaking America’s international role.
carnegieendowment.org
March 3, 2025 at 9:44 PM
Under targeted attack from the Trump administration, U.S. democracy aid faces an existential crisis.
Democracy aid, writes Thomas Carothers, will be the “canary in the coal mine” for President Trump’s willingness to depart from foreign policy precedent: carnegieendowment.org/research/202...
Democracy aid, writes Thomas Carothers, will be the “canary in the coal mine” for President Trump’s willingness to depart from foreign policy precedent: carnegieendowment.org/research/202...
Reposted by Lera Toropin
What we’re witnessing in America is what happens when disordered discourse captures a political party, then the state itself. The Republican Party was the first to fall - abandoning truth for conspiracy, ideology for grievance, and policy for performative outrage.
February 28, 2025 at 9:47 PM
What we’re witnessing in America is what happens when disordered discourse captures a political party, then the state itself. The Republican Party was the first to fall - abandoning truth for conspiracy, ideology for grievance, and policy for performative outrage.
Reposted by Lera Toropin
Rubio terminated 5800 USAID contracts – more than 90% of its foreign aid programs – in defiance of the courts.
Here’s a list of just some of the lifesaving awards that were terminated. Nearly all were Congressionally mandated. They’ve saved millions of lives. 🧵
Here’s a list of just some of the lifesaving awards that were terminated. Nearly all were Congressionally mandated. They’ve saved millions of lives. 🧵
February 27, 2025 at 8:59 PM
Rubio terminated 5800 USAID contracts – more than 90% of its foreign aid programs – in defiance of the courts.
Here’s a list of just some of the lifesaving awards that were terminated. Nearly all were Congressionally mandated. They’ve saved millions of lives. 🧵
Here’s a list of just some of the lifesaving awards that were terminated. Nearly all were Congressionally mandated. They’ve saved millions of lives. 🧵
Reposted by Lera Toropin
The People Carrying Out Musk’s Plans at DOGE www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Who Is in DOGE? Tracking Its Staffers and Allies in the Federal Government
The Times identified 45 people within the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, a group formed by Elon Musk that in a short few weeks has radically upended federal agencies.
www.nytimes.com
February 27, 2025 at 2:34 PM
The People Carrying Out Musk’s Plans at DOGE www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Reposted by Lera Toropin
So - I've actually led Ebola outbreak response at USAID.
This is bunk from Elon. They have laid off most of the experts, they're bankrupting most of the partner orgs, have withdrawn from WHO, and muzzled CDC.
What's left is a fig-leaf effort to cover their asses politically.
This is bunk from Elon. They have laid off most of the experts, they're bankrupting most of the partner orgs, have withdrawn from WHO, and muzzled CDC.
What's left is a fig-leaf effort to cover their asses politically.
Elon Musk: "We will make mistakes. We won't be perfect ... so for example, with USAID, one of the things we accidentally canceled very briefly was ebola prevention."
February 26, 2025 at 10:41 PM
So - I've actually led Ebola outbreak response at USAID.
This is bunk from Elon. They have laid off most of the experts, they're bankrupting most of the partner orgs, have withdrawn from WHO, and muzzled CDC.
What's left is a fig-leaf effort to cover their asses politically.
This is bunk from Elon. They have laid off most of the experts, they're bankrupting most of the partner orgs, have withdrawn from WHO, and muzzled CDC.
What's left is a fig-leaf effort to cover their asses politically.
Reposted by Lera Toropin
“95% of NED’s funding is directly appropriated by Congress & is not considered foreign assistance. This funding therefore was not subject to the executive order freezing foreign assistance…However, despite being exempt, access to these funds has been inexplicably cut off”
www.ned.org/statement-on...
www.ned.org/statement-on...
Statement on NED’s Funding Disruption and Program Suspensions - NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR DEMOCRACY
NED is unable to access its Congressionally appropriated funds, which sustain nearly all of its grantmaking and operations.
www.ned.org
February 26, 2025 at 12:53 AM
“95% of NED’s funding is directly appropriated by Congress & is not considered foreign assistance. This funding therefore was not subject to the executive order freezing foreign assistance…However, despite being exempt, access to these funds has been inexplicably cut off”
www.ned.org/statement-on...
www.ned.org/statement-on...
Reposted by Lera Toropin
Remember when the WH insisted that global HIV prevention & treatment was exempt from the freeze? When it seemed MAYBE they understood that cutting off medicine could put the entire planet at risk of drug resistant HIV strains?
Wrong. Elon Musk’s interns were simply shutting payments off manually.
Wrong. Elon Musk’s interns were simply shutting payments off manually.
February 25, 2025 at 4:38 PM
Remember when the WH insisted that global HIV prevention & treatment was exempt from the freeze? When it seemed MAYBE they understood that cutting off medicine could put the entire planet at risk of drug resistant HIV strains?
Wrong. Elon Musk’s interns were simply shutting payments off manually.
Wrong. Elon Musk’s interns were simply shutting payments off manually.
Reposted by Lera Toropin
"The tiny former Soviet republic’s determination not to be cowed by the Kremlin could provide a template for the west on how to hold back the tide of subversion and corruption": www.theguardian.com/world/2025/f...
Can Moldova – population 2.4m – show the world how to stand up to Putin?
The tiny former Soviet republic’s determination not to be cowed by the Kremlin could provide a template for the west on how to hold back the tide of subversion and corruption
www.theguardian.com
February 24, 2025 at 2:11 PM
"The tiny former Soviet republic’s determination not to be cowed by the Kremlin could provide a template for the west on how to hold back the tide of subversion and corruption": www.theguardian.com/world/2025/f...
Reposted by Lera Toropin
DOGE claims to have "saved" tens of billions in fraudulent government spending, but don't be fooled — all they've really done is illegally cut a bunch of congressionally-appropriated funding that Elon Musk doesn't like.
Despite the hype, DOGE hasn't found a shred of fraud
All they've really got is "spending that Elon Musk doesn't like."
www.publicnotice.co
February 24, 2025 at 9:23 PM
DOGE claims to have "saved" tens of billions in fraudulent government spending, but don't be fooled — all they've really done is illegally cut a bunch of congressionally-appropriated funding that Elon Musk doesn't like.