WOW!! YES!! JUDGE SLAMS TRUMP FOR REMOVAL OF SLAVE HISTORY, COMPARES TRUMP TO ORWELL AND 1984!!
A hat tip of gratitude to colleague and follower Barb Cohan-Saavedra for bringing this opinion and order, fresh off the bench today, to my attention!
In this 40-page order (included for Notes from the Front members), U.S. District Court Judge Cynthia Rufe chews Trump up and spits him out with the contempt he deserves for attempting to, literally, whitewash history by having “panels, displays, and video exhibits that referenced slavery and information about the individuals enslaved at the President’s House” removed from The President’s House in Philadelphia.
In fact, she *starts* the opinion by quoting Orwell’s 1984, saying:
” ‘All history was a palimpsest, scraped clean and reinscribed exactly as often as was necessary. In no case would it have been possible, once the deed was done, to prove that any falsification had taken place.’ – George Orwell, 1984
As if the Ministry of Truth in George Orwell’s 1984 now existed, with its motto “Ignorance is Strength,” this Court is now asked to determine whether the federal government has the power it claims – to dissemble and disassemble historical truths when it has some domain over historical facts. It does not.”
Pow!!
She also notes near the beginning of the opinion that prior to this hearing, “the Court held a hearing on January 30, 2026. At the hearing, the City presented evidence. Defendants did not.”
WTF? Were they so full of hubris that they didn’t think that they needed to present evidence? Or so incompetent that they didn’t think that they needed to? Or was this supposed to be a wheel-spinning distraction because “what the heck, we have unlimited taxpayer funds with which to play grown-up lawyers”? Or maybe all of the above!
Now lest there be any confusion, this is not the White House. This is a building, in Philadelphia, which is actually called The President’s House. It was the third of this country’s executive mansions, with George Washington living there from November 27, 1790 to March 10, 1797; and John Adams from March 21, 1797 to May 30, 1800.
And, of course, there were slaves.
And as an historic landmark, through which the public can tour, it includes displays about the slavery that went on there.
And Trump ordered that removed.
And the people and city of Philadelphia did cry out, and rain down on Trump’s head their righteous anger. (Ok, they actually filed a lawsuit, but man oh man the Judge certainly expresses righteous anger!)
A bit of history (there’s a *lot* of great history in the opinion):
In 2010 the National Park Service, jointly with the City of Philadelphia, opened an exhibit at The President’s House called “President’s House: Freedom and Slavery in the Making of a New Nation.”
In 2022 it was nominated to be a National Underground
Network to Freedom site.
And in 2025, in, yes, an Orwellian move, Trump issued an executive order titled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History” (ironic as he wouldn’t know truth *or* sanity if either bit him in either of his two faces). Among other things, the EO said “It is the policy of my administration to restore Federal sites dedicated to history, including parks and museums, to solemn and uplifting public monuments that remind Americans of our extraordinary heritage, consistent progress toward becoming a more perfect Union, and unmatched record of advancing liberty, prosperity, and human flourishing. Museums in our Nation’s capital should be places where individuals go to learn – not to be subjected to ideological indoctrination or divisive narratives that distort our shared history.”
Excuse me while I heave.
Ok, I’m back. And just in time as here comes another quote from Orwell by Judge Rufe:
“And yet, in its argument, the government claims it alone has the power to erase, alter, remove and hide historical accounts on taxpayer and local government-funded monuments within its control. Its claims in this regard echo Big Brother’s domain in Orwell’s 1984, where:
The largest section of the [government’s] Records Department . . . consisted simply of persons whose duty it was to track down and collect all copies of books, newspapers, and other documents which had been superseded and were due for destruction. A number of the Times [a newspaper] which might, because of changes in political alignment, or mistaken prophesies uttered by Big Brother, have been rewritten a dozen times still stood on the files bearing its original date, and no other copy existed to contradict it. Books, also, were recalled and rewritten again and again, and were invariably reissued without any admission that any alteration had been made. Even the written instructions [for workers in the Records Department] . . . never stated or implied that an act of forgery was to be committed; always the reference was to slips, errors, misprints, or misquotations which it was necessary to put right in the interests of accuracy.” – George Orwell, 1984
This all culminates with Judge Rufe issuing a preliminary injunction from the bench – which hasn’t even been published yet, but I have the text of it for you Notes from the Front members. The gist of it is that the administrations has to restore any of the exhibits they have removed, and is barred from removing any them unless and until a further order of the court.
Notes from the Front members: Judge Rufe’s incredible memorandum, and the text of the injunction, are in your inbox now.
If you’re not a Notes from the Front member, you can join below and support my efforts grabbing, storing and preserving original source documents before they can be tampered with or disappeared. I make these documents, which I often pay for out of my own pocket, privately available to Notes from the Front members, including the Epstein files which I grab as soon as they are dropped and which I store for our members on our private dropbox (which I also pay for out of my own pocket). And hey! Bonus! You get to join our *private* chat where we discuss these things with each other! (There are several active discussions about Epstein stuff going on there right now.)
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https://annepmitchell.substack.com/p/wow-yes-judge-slams-trump-for-removal
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