Not Even The Biggest Presidential Scandal This Week (5/21/26)

Trump reminds us of the importance of getting electeds out of the stock market. Plus local DAs prepare to take on voter intimidation, solidarity with anti-ICE protesters facing prosecution and more

May 21, 2026

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🗳️ We’re going to win this election and make sure it doesn’t get stolen - learn how to get plugged into voter protection work TONIGHT at 7:00PM ET or get up to speed on hosting voter registration drives, status checks, poll worker recruitment and other events for Good Trouble Lives On, ALSO at 7:00PM ET 🗳️

TOO LONG, DIDN’T READ
Trump’s shady stock market dealings renew interest in a full-government trade ban - tell Congress it’s time
Phonebank and test different messages with Swing Blue Alliance in June
We could see final passage of funding for ICE and CBP by the weekend – tell reps no while we can, and share with our networks the damage the GOP agenda is doing to us
Coalition of progressive DAs pledges to prosecute voter intimidation by ICE – make sure yours is with them
Anti-ICE protesters are being criminalized by this regime – donate to support VC Defensa and the Broadview defendants, send messages of support to the Spokane 3 and the Prairieland 9

If you have questions, comments, and especially submissions for actions, please email us at roganslisttips@gmail.com!

Congressional staffer Aaron Fritschner observes: "A mind-blowing but true fact about Trump's stock trading. Trump traded up to $700 million in stock in Q1 of 2026. The 535 members of Congress made $635 million in trades in 2025. Trump bought and sold more stock in 3 months than all of Congress put together did in a year.”

TIME TO REVISIT THE IDEA OF A STOCK TRADE BAN

The extraordinary and disgusting corruption of Trump’s slush fund for his allies, combined with the further revelation that his self-settlement also permanently bars the IRS from examining his tax returns, has quite properly dominated the political landscape this week. (Check the eyes section for a rundown of today’s developments.) But we should take a moment to acknowledge that we’ve also learned in recent days that the President’s been shockingly shady on the stock market, in what for most White Houses would be an administration-defining scandal. His first financial filing of 2026 showed Trump made more than 3,700 trades totaling tens of millions of dollars, including in companies he then pumped up in public appearances and that benefited from his subsequent policy decisions. As former chief White House ethics adviser Richard Painter noted, if he were defense secretary, this would absolutely be a crime, but there’s a special carveout for the president.

This has, for obvious reasons, sparked renewed interest in a ban on trading stocks for all elected officials. The Restore Trust in Congress Act (H.R. 5106) has been stalled, and would need to be amended to include executive branch officials. 🗣️ Let’s tell Congress it’s time to get this long overdue job done. We can find call scripts here and e-mail language here, or send this message via Resistbot by texting SIGN PEHEGK to 50409. 🗣️

NO MORE INSIDER TRADING FOR ANY OF YOU

PHONEBANK TO FLIP SEATS… AND FIND THE RIGHT MESSAGE

So what’s the most effective message for Democrats to win this November? A lot of us have very strong opinions on that, and it’s *extremely* important to get it right. Swing Blue Alliance is engaging in a unique effort to help one campaign find out for sure.

Starting next month, they’ll be conducting message testing phonebanks for Jeff Warren, the nominee challenging Republican incumbent Joe Emrick in Pennsylvania’s House District 137. This is a seat that the GOP won 51.6-48.3 in 2024 and a key target as we seek to protect a very narrow majority. They’ll be contacting voters with two different messages and carefully measure which one is likelier to increase support, helping guide campaign strategy and build a model other grassroots organizations can use in future races. ☎️ Let’s sign up to be part of it on Mondays and Tuesdays beginning June 1st here. ☎️

MAKE CALLS *AND* HELP WITH STRATEGY

RECONCILIATION IN THE ENDGAME?

We may be coming up on the last stages of the fight over ICE and CBP funding, at least for now, with Republicans on the verge of final passage of a bill to give them another $54 billion without doing a thing to protect our communities from them. (Again, this is in addition to the $170 billion, also without any restraints on their terror attached, Congress gave them in last year’s budget).

As expected, the Senate Budget Committee advanced the bill to the floor on a party line vote. Senate Republicans are reportedly dropping the $1 billion for Trump’s ballroom, which will anger the President but removes a significant obstacle to them getting the 50+1 they need. Amendment votes should start today, and we are anticipating final votes in the Senate by tomorrow with the House expected to follow soon after.

It’s not 100% clear if they have enough support to pass, with multiple vulnerable or scorned Republicans making noise about pushing back, but this could be our last chance to make our voices heard on this. 🗣️📢 So if we haven’t called in a bit, let’s be sure to use this tool from MomsRising to urge our reps to oppose the bill. And let’s make sure we’re sharing information about what congressional Republicans are up to and what it will cost us. We can find state-by-state graphics on the economic damage they’ve caused to share from Families Over Billionaires here, templates for post, posters and signs we can edit to call out our members of Congress via Indivisible here and some images to use when urging others to speak up from MomsRising here. 🗣️📢

SAY NO TO MORE FUNDING FOR ICE TERROR

HIGHLIGHT WHAT THE GOP IS DOING TO US

In other news on Capitol Hill, House leadership delayed an expected war powers vote - with leaks indicating that between GOP defections and absences, it would have passed if it reached the floor yesterday. We should see it today. 🗣️ If we have a Republican House member, let’s tell them it’s not too late to speak up against Trump’s wars of choice! 🗣️

STOP TRUMP'S WAR

PROSECUTORS DRAW A RED LINE ON ICE AT THE POLLS

Some of our more proactive local prosecutors have shown up to fight this week. Following Monday’s announcement by Hennepin County District Attorney Mary Moriarty of a second indictment of an ICE agent for crimes during Operation Metro Surge, a coalition of district attorneys she’s part of has publicly pledged to prosecute voter intimidation by federal agents at voting sites. The Project for the Fight Against Federal Overreach (FAFO) is drawing a red line and hoping to deter Trump from abusing his power and trying to tilt the election by dispatching ICE or the National Guard. 🗣️ Let’s see if our DA is part of this group, and if not reach out to our local prosecutors (and our attorneys general) and ask them to make a similar commitment and join the coalition. We can find call scripts and language to use here. 🗣️

PROSECUTE ALL VOTER INTIMIDATION

We can also benefit from action at the state level. Multiple legislators have introduced measures to bar armed federal agents from polling places and prohibit the enforcement of immigration law at election sites. While obviously not a cure-all, as Eric Blanc writes this would address a loophole in federal law barring military personnel from polling stations that might allow a civilian federal agency to sneak through, and gives our AGs and our governors more tools to respond in the name of enforcing state law. 🗣️ Let’s encourage our legislators and governors to move forward on bills like this ASAP. We can find a list of those already proposed from Ballotpedia here, and language and an email tool to use via Coleman Rogers here. 🗣️

BAR ICE FROM THE POLLS

SHOW LOVE AND SUPPORT FOR ACTIVISTS TARGETED BY THIS ADMINISTRATION

Authoritarians don’t tolerate dissent and resistance, and the Trump regime has used its power to crush and criminalize those on the front lines of opposing their terror. They’ve been particularly aggressive towards those taking on the deportation machine, with hundreds of arrests even as prosecutions have repeatedly failed in the face of video disproving law enforcement’s claims.

These folks have shown bravery and commitment in the face of tyranny, and we need to have their backs. Here’s some ways we can show solidarity.

Members of VC Defensa, a coalition of activists doing ICE watch, rapid response and support for immigrants and refugees in Ventura County, California, have been the target of a long harassment campaign by Homeland Security, with arrests, raids, car rammings and pepper-sprayings. Last week, federal agents raided the homes of three leaders of the organization. They’re continuing their work in spite of the danger, and are now preparing a civil rights lawsuit. 💵 Let’s consider a donation to support their efforts here or to a GoFundMe for a member of their community caught in the machine here. 💵

HELP VC DEFENSA KEEP FIGHTING

Former congressional candidate and journalist Kat Abughazaleh, her field director Andre Martin, Village of Oak Park Trustee Brian Shaw and Democratic ward committeeman Michael Rabbitt go on trial next week after being arrested in a protest at an ICE facility in Broadview, Illinois last September. While felony charges have been dropped in what the Broadview protesters claim was an effort to avoid having to hand over grand jury transcripts, they are now having the rare experience of being tried by the federal government for misdemeanors. They are also facing a quarter-million dollars in legal debt. 💵 We can help them meet the burden of taking on Trump’s DoJ in court by donating here. 💵

HELP BROADVIEW PROTESTERS PAY LEGAL FEES

The Spokane 3 are on trial as we speak. They face charges of conspiring to impede or injure federal officers at a protest at an ICE facility that erupted after two community members had been taken by the deportation force last June. Their defense attorneys have argued that while there was civil disobedience as they bravely attempted to prevent the two men from being transported away, Justice Forral, Jac Dalitso Archer and Bajun Dhunjisha Mavalwalla II urged participants to remain peaceful. 📬 We can learn more and get updates on the trial here, and send them a message of support or help spread the word about their case here. 📬

SHARE YOUR SUPPORT

The Prairieland defendants, convicted in March for terrorism over a shooting they insist they were uninvolved with and evidence suggests they had no idea would happen, are getting through their days in prison as they serve and appeal their sentences. Right now, they’re asking for pictures of the outside world for their cells. 📬 If we’re able, we can find addresses and instructions on where to send them in their profiles here. 📬

BRIGHTEN THE DAYS OF THESE DEFENDANTS

👀 KEEPING AN EYE ON… 👀

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The Synthesis

May 21

3,700 trades is itself the defense mechanism. When a single suspicious trade surfaces, public attention can follow the thread. When someone makes thousands of trades totaling tens of millions, no individual transaction holds attention long enough to become the scandal. Volume defeats scrutiny. The legal carve-out for the president is almost redundant when sheer quantity buries every smoking gun. Any stock trade ban worth passing needs automated surveillance at the point of execution, not disclosure filings nobody reads for months.

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