used
to
books,
SEC!
The
new
administration
has
made
it
clear
that
they
don’t
have
much
interest
in
enforcing
the
nation’s
securities
laws.
Except
maybe
as
an
avenue
to
accuse
companies
of
dishonoring
shareholders
by
promoting
ESG
initiatives.
The
point
is,
Trump
has
a
meme
coin
to
sell
and
a
media
company
stock
to
fluff
so
SEC
enforcement
has
to
hit
the
bench
for
a
few
years.
Meanwhile,
shadow
president
Elon
Musk
still
nurses
a
grudge
toward
the
agency
for
having
the
audacity
to
enforce
the
voluntary
settlement
he
signed
curtailing
the
risk
he
might
commit
fraud
at
scale
over
social
media
.
But
that’s
not
actually
the
reason
they
just
cut
off
the
SEC’s
Westlaw
access.
And
while
on
the
surface,
the
canceled
contract
looks
like
another
ill-conceived
cost
cutting
measure
from
Musk’s
bumbling
speedrun
through
the
federal
budget,
the
reality
appears
to
be
much
dumber.
So,
in
the
parlance
of
our
times,
“Shot.”
Earlier
today,
we
learned
that
the
word
had
gone
out
to
executive
agencies
to
purge
all
access
to
a
variety
of
media
that
don’t
meet
the
administration’s
editorial
standards.
It’s
a
vague
book
burning
but
the
running
theme
seems
to
be
publications
that
say
things
that
hurt
Trump’s
feelings.
The
New
York
Times
won’t
renounce
that
Pulitzer
they
won
reporting
on
Trump’s
ties
to
Russia,
the
country
he’s
currently
claiming
Ukraine
attacked
for
some
reason.
Or
the
Associated
Press
who
refuses
to
stop
calling
it
the
Gulf
of
Mexico
just
because
that’s
actually
what
it’s
called.
Let’s
just
pause
to
appreciate
that
we’ve
now
reached
a
stage
of
epistemic
collapse
where
The
Economist
—
a
publication
that
denounced
city
sewers
as
creeping
socialism
—
branded
as
a
leftist
rag.
Note
the
inclusion
of
Reuters.
And
so,
as
sure
as
the
night
follows
the
day,
may
we
present
“Chaser.”
Yeah,
maybe
this
is
just
about
“media
contracts,”
but
in
light
of
the
other
report
it
seems
likely
the
administration
saw
“Reuters”
and
starting
purging
agencies
of
everything
in
the
Reuters
family.
Including
the
ubiquitous
research
tool.
Make
America
Shepardize
Again!
Joe
Patrice is
a
senior
editor
at
Above
the
Law
and
co-host
of
Thinking
Like
A
Lawyer.
Feel
free
to email
any
tips,
questions,
or
comments.
Follow
him
on Twitter or
Bluesky
if
you’re
interested
in
law,
politics,
and
a
healthy
dose
of
college
sports
news.
Joe
also
serves
as
a
Managing
Director
at
RPN
Executive
Search.