Insightful, except the written rules are not being replaced with unwritten rules. They’re being replaced with the President’s whim: a personalist, corrupt, authoritarian regime

Correction: Rather than “DC bar,” I should have specified: DC Office of Disciplinary Counsel

It’s time for the DC bar and the DC District Court to investigate DoJ lawyer Drew Ensign. He appears to have violated DC Rule of Professional Conduct 3.1 when he told a federal judge on August 31 that it was his “understanding” that “for these [Guatemalan] children, a request has been made by …

Remember, ABC capitulated to Trump before and that wasn't enough. It will never be enough when you bend the knee. They will always demand more until there's nothing left to preserve. www.politico.com/news/2024/12...

January 23, 2025:

Anyway, I’m sure this is all about honoring Kirks memory and not an excuse to take out Trump’s critics bsky.app/profile/jimm...

Not really an overstatement to say that the test of a free society is whether or not comedians can make fun of the country's leader on TV without repurcussions.

The remarks weren’t “about Charlie Kirk,” they were about how this administration is using Kirk’s death as an excuse to shut down critics … and they responded by proving him completely correct.

Nexstar is currently awaiting approval from the FCC and FTC on a $6.2 Billion acquisition of TEGNA.

The Trump DoJ has once again lied -- or at least provided inaccurate information -- to a federal court, this time in response to Rep. McIver's motion to dismiss the criminal case against her based on selective prosecution/enforcement. Let me explain . . . [ h/t eagle-eyed @emptywheel.bsky.social ]

After the Trump administration defied J. Boasberg's order in JGG, DC federal judges take pains to prevent any claim that an order is ambiguous. Today, J. Kelly (Trump appointee) stated, not once, not twice, but three times what the TRO in LGML prohibits: www.courtlistener.com/docket/71240...

NEW: AP reports all 14 men have now been deported to their home countries by Ghana, in direct violation of international law. A court in the US determined each person would be persecuted or tortured in their home countries. We sent them to Ghana, which quickly deported them to their home countries.

The latest horror from DHS: 6 months after an Immigration Judge ruled that the government can't deport a man to The Gambia because he credibly fears being tortured there, DHS sends him to The Gambia anyway -- with a pitstop in Ghana.

Just 4 days ago, DOJ told this court that it would not send children to Guatemala if the child’s attorney of record had "affirmatively protested the child’s reunification with their parent (or legal guardian) in Guatemala"

Nixon: "Well, when the president does it … that means that it is not illegal." teachingamericanhistory.org/document/tra...

Don't just read the headline. Take a moment to watch the video. It's short.

Idea for an amicus brief: We list the powers in a chart let's say Louis XIV claimed for himself, and maybe the courts can just indicate with a checkmark which ones of those Trump doesn't have. Seems more efficient.

I think this vow of accountability should be adopted more broadly by those seeking to preserve the constitutional order and rule of law. Invoked Pritzker’s pledge today in connection with the U.S. military executing orders from Trump to attack civilians.

@delong.social nails it in the conclusion, which is really the lede

Strangely (?), Drew Ensign hasn't explained the discrepancy between what he told the LGML court ("All of these children have their parents or guardians in Guatemala who are requesting their return.") and what DOJ told the court yesterday -- that the Guatemalan *government* made the request.

Now, keep in mind, ORR sent these notices *AFTER THEY ALREADY DETERMINED THAT THE CHILDREN MET THE CRITERIA* Meaning, in other words, that ORR expected attorneys to "affirmatively protest" the child's reunification w/ a parent in Guatemala BEFORE THEY EVEN KNEW ABOUT IT bsky.app/profile/anna...

But guess what time the government began notifying the children’s attorneys about their removal to Guatemala? IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT OVER LABOR DAY WEEKEND, WHEN THE CHILDREN WERE BEING PULLED OUT OF BED TO GET ON PLANES 4/ bsky.app/profile/anna...

ORR, the agency responsible for custody of the children, says it developed criteria to determine which children were eligible for removal. A request for repatriation from the parents or children is not required. ORR merely requires that the child’s attorney "has not affirmatively protested.." 3/

If we remember that “every accusation is a confession,” then this Stephen Miller tweet sounds pretty accurate: “The [Republican] Party … is organized around the defense and protection of the criminal, the monstrous and the depraved. The more vile the threat, the more vociferously …

There, I fixed it. what the Air Force Academy spokesperson actually meant:

I’m calling BS on this Air Force Academy claim that the obligation to be “nonpartisan” required them to disinvite a speaker who had criticized Trump. www.westword.com/news/air-for...

The Guardian, in contrast, did reporting and got a hold of a draft fact sheet. They then reported on that: www.theguardian.com/us-news/live...

The NYT story didn’t link to it, but you can find the NIH whistleblowers’ complaint on their lawyers’ website: katzbanks.com/wp-content/u...

Interesting (post-ProPublica exposés) that a “Supreme Court reporter” wrote this piece amplifying criticisms of the Supreme Court by federal judges

The startling U.S. attack on an alleged drug-running boat in int'l waters off Venezuela is precisely the kind of no-holds-barred combat that Pete Hegseth was clearing the way for when he began firing military lawyers as soon as he settled into his E-ring office. talkingpointsmemo.com/morning-memo...

An “officer” had duties to law, rather than superiors' orders. Officers were expected to make independent decisions, and were individually accountable in tort/crim for not doing so. In this scene, for instance, an officer faced threat of prosecution for failing to clear snow. (3/

Hi Folks! I wanted to share a 🧵about my JMP in @yalelawjournal.bsky.social (now on SSRN). It reconstructs the law of officeholding in early US, arguing that it is inconsistent with the unitary executive theory. (1/

Dr. Daskalakis posted his letter of resignation at the other site. It’s an excellent letter, well worth reading.

#ResignationInProtest, CDC edition (cont’d) 1) CDC’s chief medical officer Debra Houry: “overstating of [vaccines’] risks and the rise of misinformation have cost lives, as demonstrated by the highest number of US measles cases in 30 years and the violent attack on our agency.”

After Trump finally caved and brought Abrego back, the administration moved to prosecute him for trafficking. But don't forget this: A leading prosecutor in the office bringing the case resigned, and the reason was plainly that this prosecution stunk to high hell. 7/ abcnews.go.com/US/mistakenl...

BOMBSHELL: Former antitrust division #2 Roger Alford trashes the corrupt pay-to-play state of antitrust, says the HPE-Juniper merger should be blocked on those grounds. www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

transcript of me on the pod a few weeks ago

BREAKING: DC leadership rejects Bondi order and asserts she has no authority to rescind DC police orders or to replace the police chief. Will a lawsuit follow?

NYT reports that Trump has said that the capitulating law firms’ commitment to perform “pro bono work … could even be applied to representing him in a personal capacity,” but doesn’t link to such a statement. Did Trump actually say that? “L'État, c'est moi”

Why yes, the one and the same. Judge Kaplan asked ‘if it was a “reasonable inference” that the government … decrease[d] the # of people on the 10th floor after the video became public. “I’d like to take the fifth on the inference, your Honor. I don’t know whether that’s a fair inference or not.”’

👇🧵

. @glennkessler.bsky.social describes the current “leadership” at the Post: “there is no vision, no game plan” No wonder the Post is in free fall. “Where there is no vision, the people perish.”

“This is the way the [Post] ends Not with a bang but a whimper” I thought @glennkessler.bsky.social was going to describe a dramatic #ResignationInProtest. Instead, he relays a sad, depressing story of how this once vital newspaper is being dismantled — is disintegrating — before our eyes.

#ResignationInProtest, WashPost edition, part 37 (?) — I’ve lost count of the # of reporters, editors & columnists who have fled this sinking ship. But “*InProtest*” doesn’t capture the mood. Perhaps “AndMourning” is more accurate. “This is the way the —Post— ends Not with a bang but a whimper”

US Dept. of Justice: "Ghislaine Maxwell played an instrumental role in the horrific sexual abuse of multiple young teenage girls. As part of a disturbing agreement with Epstein, Maxwell identified, groomed, & abused multiple victims, while she enjoyed a life of extraordinary luxury & privilege."

Spoke with @ashleyahn88.bsky.social about Trump’s law-free plans to build a royal, er, state ballroom on the White House grounds This Congress & this Supreme Court have taught Trump that he can do anything — that he can act like a king. When you’re President, they let you do anything.

“Every time Trump gets the Senate to confirm someone who is facially unqualified — … Pete Hegseth, … RFK Jr, then to install his defense attorneys at Attorney General, Deputy [AG], and Solicitor General, … conspiracy theorists at FBI, and … Bove — he expands their tolerance to do more of the same.”

Me on the factually misleading and analytically ridiculous misconduct complaint DOJ has filed against Chief Judge Boasberg—and the dangerousness of DOJ so openly trying to undermine public confidence in the only institution that has been even partially effective at checking the Trump administration:

Trump’s “plan was to [-] fire Maurene Comey, freeing up Trump to sell out the victims, [-] create a delay and diversion with the grand jury head fakes, so as to [-] shift Maxwell’s focus on Trump onto everyone else” implicated in her child trafficking operation