Law Professor. Former chief White House ethics lawyer 2005-07. Independent. @RWPMinnesota
Minnesota, USA
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Now available from @CambridgeUP
My new book coauthored with E. Thomas Sullivan,
The U.S. Presidency: Power, Responsibility and Accountability
cambridge.org/core/books/us-…
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Minnesota's higher education budget crisis continues. @UMNMorris, citing declining enrollments, is already trying to make tenured professors accept partial reassignments to non-teaching duties under provisions of the Tenure Code intended for financial emergencies.
startribune.com/mn-state-col…
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Richard W. Painter retweeted
This may be felony criminal theft and conversion of government property for political campaign purposes. 18 U.S.C. § 1641. It is a Hatch Act violation for any government employees who worked on it or used government resources to make it. It is blatantly unethical under numerous federal ethics provisions proscribing the use of government resources for political campaigns.
The White House is currently airing this video as an ad during commercial breaks on Fox News.
It looks and sounds like a political spot and includes a disclaimer stating that it is paid for by the U.S. government.
The soundtrack: as images of Trump flash across the screen, singer @iamjmsn can be heard repeating, “Love me, love me,” over and over.
The video combines Trump’s anti-communist message with rapid cuts of Trump, American flags, and military aircraft, alongside claims about tax cuts, manufacturing, and policing.
It ends with the UFC’s Dana White saying:
“He is the toughest, most resilient person that I’ve ever met, and nothing was going to stop him from fighting so hard for the country he loves.”
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Richard W. Painter retweeted
This is in direct violation of the courts order
BREAKING:
Some CNN staff have been unable to gain access to the White House. CNN reporter Betsy Klein and a photojournalist were denied access to the White House grounds in the 6:00 a.m. hour. There was no reason provided for the refusal. cnn.com/2026/09/24/politics/…
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"As Professor Richard Painter explained when testifying on the CLARITY Act before the United States Senate Committee on Banking, “Public officials cannot ethically or competently regulate crypto markets while investing heavily in crypto themselves.”"
open.substack.com/pub/contra…
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Higher education is in crisis.
@POTUS takes billions from universities to spend on a war not authorized by Congress.
Meanwhile, a @UMNMorris division head, citing declining enrollment, is partially reassigning tenured professors to non-teaching duties.
startribune.com/u-of-m-budge…
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What is this?
The work of a taxpayer funded propaganda ministry?
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This is a political ad, and it is ILLEGAL for the White House to pay for it with taxpayer funds.
The White House is currently airing this video as an ad during commercial breaks on Fox News.
It looks and sounds like a political spot and includes a disclaimer stating that it is paid for by the U.S. government.
The soundtrack: as images of Trump flash across the screen, singer @iamjmsn can be heard repeating, “Love me, love me,” over and over.
The video combines Trump’s anti-communist message with rapid cuts of Trump, American flags, and military aircraft, alongside claims about tax cuts, manufacturing, and policing.
It ends with the UFC’s Dana White saying:
“He is the toughest, most resilient person that I’ve ever met, and nothing was going to stop him from fighting so hard for the country he loves.”
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Richard W. Painter retweeted
🧵NEW: Kennedy drew $4 million in book advances from Tony Lyons, a publisher who also runs MAHA groups that accept $$ from health companies with business before HHS.
The advances were set the month when Kennedy dropped his presidential bid to back Trump:
nytimes.com/2026/09/23/us/po…
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As I told @By_CJewett of the @nytimes here, MAHA sure is profitable, but this "reeks of conflict of interest."
nytimes.com/2026/09/23/us/po…
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“In his second year, however, the president’s mind has increasingly been colonised by monuments to himself. Aside from ego, few can credit the depth of Trump’s obsession with these kitsch monstrosities. Richard Painter, who was ethics chief in George W Bush’s White House, said that Trump’s arch should be dedicated to the US constitution’s 25th Amendment, by which a president can be removed for incapacity, including insanity. He meant it as a joke. There is less chance of the US vice-president, JD Vance, invoking the 25th against his boss than of Trump converting to Buddhism.”
ft.com/content/571df338-895b…
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Professor Karen Painter @UMNews, weighs in on separation of art from politics and the future of the Kennedy Center:
The Kennedy Center Is a Gift to Free Expression open.substack.com/pub/contra…
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Richard W. Painter retweeted
A disbarred lawyer arguing in the Third Circuit for a racist law professor.
What a sh-- show.
news.bloomberglaw.com/litiga…
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Richard W. Painter retweeted
Internal emails and documents obtained by The New York Times demonstrate President Trump’s political capture of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, including how officials once pursued a plan to unload much of the art collection. nyti.ms/4xxllDB
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Somebody really wants to make us the laughing stock of the world.
npr.org/2026/09/20/nx-s1-597…
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A monument to the 25th Amendment to the United States Constitution.
npr.org/2026/09/20/nx-s1-597…
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N.I.H., distributes $48 billion to labs across the country for research into heart disease, cancer, infectious diseases, and other areas.
That's OUR MONEY.
Now @POTUS wants to use it to play politics instead.
nytimes.com/2026/09/20/scien…
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This is getting weirder every day.
nytimes.com/2026/09/20/us/po…
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Richard W. Painter retweeted
‘A huge problem’: Trump has traded more stocks than all of Congress combined. A Bush-era ethics lawyer explains why you should worry fortune.com/2026/09/19/trump…
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