I don't understand the claim the petition would be "dead on arrival" in the Senate even if it passes the House. Sounds like up to 100 House R's may support it. Are the Senate R's really going to be almost unanimous in blocking the release? Very dangerous for them. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/12/u...

Legislative experts, serious question: this assumes Johnson will abide by the House rules. What if he just refuses to bring it up? What would be the mechanism to enforce it?

Good for the jury - it's gratifying that this case has mustard so much public support.

The arc of history is a foot-long, but it bends towards justice.

My latest on Sidebars: Trump continues to undermine the rule of law by prosecuting his enemies and rewarding his friends. But some guardrails and reasons for hope still remain. www.sidebarsblog.com/p/trumps-ass...

Called it, unfortunately - although he received "only" a commutation, not a pardon (yet).

Breaking: from prison, former NJ Senator Bob Menendez announces he has switched parties to become a Republican; praises Trump's genius and compassion. #satire www.nytimes.com/2025/10/17/u...

Some people are honored to help children learn, or help the sick heal, or help the dispossessed fight for justice. Others are honored to have played a small role in giving lying criminals a chance to prey on society again, so long as they are Republicans.

Santos is a Republican, a Trump supporter, and a white collar criminal. So by definition, according to Trump, he was treated unfairly and deserves clemency. Outrageous, and further erodes respect for the rule of law. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/17/u...

How long will it be until Trump has Lindsey Halligan indict the Nobel Peace Prize committee?

The idea of Lindsey Halligan, and whatever out-of-state flunkies agree to help her, squaring off against Pat Fitzgerald is kind of amusing. Imagine your local little league team playing the New York Yankees. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/u...

Breaking MSNBC: A top prosecutor in Virginia has informed colleagues she plans to decline to seek charges against New York Attorney General Letitia James — resisting intense pressure from Trump, according to two people familiar with her discussions. www.msnbc.com/msnbc/news/t...

You can disagree with how Eric Adams ran the city, but you have to admit he did more to expose Emil Bove’s corruption than any other mayor.

Right now, I’m thinking of two career DOJ prosecutors I know who quit rather than participate in the Trump administration’s dirty deal with Adams.

The grand jury hears only the government's side. If prosecutors can't even convince all the grand jurors to find probable cause, there's almost no chance they can convince a unanimous jury at a contested trial of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. That's why career prosecutors said there is no case.

Authoritarian Trump may be able to order his lackey to get an indictment, but he can’t control the judge or the jury. Zero chance Comey gets convicted.

Start taking bets on how many Scaramucci’s until the Comey indictment is thrown out.

Attorneys who ignore their ethical duties to do Trump's bidding risk being sanctioned and even disbarred. Happened to Giuliani, Powell, Chesebro. I'm confident the career AUSAs in the EDVA will follow their oaths - even if it means resigning rather than helping obtain an unjust indictment.

If Halligan tries to get an indictment, watch for two things: 1) Another mass resignation event of prosecutors who refuse to violate their ethical obligations by helping her; 2) The grand jury refuses to indict. There’s a decent chance we will see one or both.

If this happens, the first defense motion is going to be to dismiss for malicious prosecution - and Trump’s social media post over the weekend will be defense exhibit one.

Why anyone would take any kind of medication or health advice from Trump or RFK Jr. -- instead of from, you know, actual doctors and health experts -- is beyond me.

With no prosecution experience, Trump's new US Atty in VA won't know where the grand jury room is, much less how to get an indictment. To indict Trump's targets she will need help - and if prosecutors follow their own ethical obligations, they should refuse. www.sidebarsblog.com/p/trump-esca...

My latest on Sidebars: Trump sees the criminal justice system as a tool to use to punish his enemies and protect his friends - and he’s escalating. It’s right out of the authoritarian playbook, and it’s scary stuff. www.sidebarsblog.com/p/trump-esca...

Always a pleasure to speak with @thebradblog.bsky.social

There is only one way to resolve this. RELEASE THE HOMAN TAPES!!!

"In an undercover operation last year, the FBI recorded Tom Homan, now the White House border czar, accepting $50,000 in cash after indicating he could help the agents — who were posing as business executives — win government contracts in a second Trump administration..."

The Subway sandwich guy will now be charged with a misdemeanor after a grand jury refused to indict him for felony assault. In a number of cases grand juries, as the voice of the community, are standing up to the excesses of Trump's DOJ. www.sidebarsblog.com/p/the-grand-...

My latest on Sidebars: critics claim the grand jury is just a rubber stamp. But imagine if Trump’s DOJ could pursue felony charges based solely on his grievances. Right now the grand jury is acting as one of the key checks on abuses of power by Trump’s DOJ. www.sidebarsblog.com/p/the-grand-...

I hope those who traditionally claim the grand jury is merely a rubber stamp for prosecutors and serves no real purpose as a shield against government abuse are taking note. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/27/u...

This DOJ has not earned any trust. But we should be careful about assuming that b/c Bolton is a Trump critic, the search must be wrongful. That's what Trump does: if it's an act against me, by definition it is illegitimate. A judge found PC and signed the search warrant. Let's see the evidence.

Amateur hour continues. www.npr.org/2025/08/16/n...

Law enforcement priorities under the Trump administration: storm the Capitol and actually injure law enforcement officers on Trump's behalf and you'll get a pardon. Throw a sandwich at an officer involved in Trump's DC police takeover and you'll be charged with a felony. wapo.st/4oBVWFB

There is still a pending contempt of court proceeding before Judge Boasberg in D.C., temporarily paused by the D.C. Circuit, involving the planes of immigrants sent to prison in El Salvador. When that finally resumes, new 3d Circuit judge Emil Bove may well find himself held in contempt.

I wish I could say I was surprised. But the Senate that confirmed Hegseth and Kennedy and Noem was never going to grow a spine when it came to Bove.

A third whistleblower has now come forward, alleging that Bove misled the Senate during his nomination hearing. This guy doesn't belong anywhere near the federal bench. www.sidebarsblog.com/p/the-bove-n...

My latest on Sidebars: the false allegations against Obama are a transparent attempt to distract attention from the Epstein files. But despite how frivolous they are, they also represent something more dangerous. www.sidebarsblog.com/p/the-treaso...

A third whistleblower has come forward against the Bove nomination. wapo.st/45asNIS

No surprise. This was not a serious effort and there are no legal grounds to release the GJ material. This was just a way for the administration to claim it is trying to be transparent and then blame the judge. Most of the relevant files would not be GJ material or protected by GJ secrecy.

This is just an attempted dodge. 1) There is no legal basis to release GJ material, so a judge will likely deny it and then they can blame the judge. 2) The vast majority of the investigative file and information would not be grand jury testimony or subject to grand jury secrecy. wapo.st/4f6CHjd

Emil Bove's nomination to the Third Circuit has advanced to the full Senate. The Senate must reject it. Someone with such disdain for the rule of law has no business being a federal judge. www.sidebarsblog.com/p/the-bove-n...

If you are worried about information in the Epstein files coming out, it's a very strange/stupid move to anger the one person who probably knows more about what's in those files than almost anyone else. Seems unlikely that whoever is responsible really thought this through . . . .

BREAKING: New footage from control room at New York prison explains the three-minute gap in the surveillance video of Epstein's cell.

If Bove is confirmed to the Third Circuit, there's a very real chance that the Circuit's newest judge will also be a defendant in a contempt of court proceeding in D.C. www.sidebarsblog.com/p/the-bove-n...

My latest on Sidebars: Bove allegedly said DOJ might just say "f*ck you" to the court if ordered not to deport immigrants. When asked if that's true, he said he doesn't recall. If you are a senior DOJ official, whether you said that is something you'd remember. www.sidebarsblog.com/p/the-bove-n...

My latest on Sidebars: through his actions at DOJ, Emil Bove has clearly shown that he has no business being on the federal bench. www.sidebarsblog.com/p/the-bove-n...

Bove doesn't belong anywhere near the federal bench. But if you assume the Senate will roll over and confirm anyone Trump appoints, the truth is he can do a lot less damage as a single appellate judge (who will usually be part of a panel of 3) than he could in a senior DOJ policy position.

It only took a tragedy hitting a red state for the administration to change its tune about the value of FEMA. But the other tragedy is that if this had happened in California or New York rather than Texas, nothing would change. wapo.st/40bJaDg

Big story: NYT interviews Reuveni. “[Reuveni] said he was willing to testify to Congress or in court about what he described as an intentional effort by the administration to ignore judges and the due process rights of hundreds of migrants” www.nytimes.com/2025/07/10/u...

Trump is now using tariffs not to further any purported economic policy -- however misguided -- but to try to influence the criminal justice system of another country.