A complicated dance is underway in the criminal case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia over his claim of vindictive prosecution by the Trump DOJ, so let me give you the toplines of the kind of sneaky genius thing that the judge did this week: talkingpointsmemo.com/morning-memo...

In case people tell you that public criticism of the court doesn’t matter, here’s Brett Kavanaugh trying to walk back what he said in the ICE roving patrol case - when he blessed racial profiling & called the stops prompt. He was lambasted; @akalhan.bsky.social coined the term “Kavanaugh stops”

See you there!

The meat of Judge Boasberg's ruling was a reversal of his own prior decision over the summer. In light of the new facts that have emerged, Boasberg reversed course and concluded that the AEA detainees *were* in the constructive custody of the US while at CECOT. talkingpointsmemo.com/morning-memo...

2/ read the story that made Stephen Miller sad. talkingpointsmemo.com/feature/how-...

Emil Bove's notorious FU to the courts makes it into a judicial opinion for what I think is the first time, in Judge Boasberg's important new ruling requiring the Trump admin to give the original Alien Enemies Act detainees the due process they were denied storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Kilmar Abrego Garcia remains in a “literal double bind,” with a bracelet on one ankle from his criminal case in Tennessee and an ICE bracelet on the other ankle from his immigration case in Maryland. U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis of Maryland is in a bind, too: talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/abreg...

In federal court in Greenbelt, MD, where security is noticeably stepped up, perhaps b/ Kilmar Abrego Garcia is present in person. This is the first time he's appeared before Judge Xinis across the two cases of his she's heard starting in March b/ he's no longer detained by ICE or El Salvador.

In an unprecedented last-minute intervention, rookie CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss spiked a 60 Minutes segment on the experiences of Alien Enemies Act detainees at CECOT in El Salvador. talkingpointsmemo.com/morning-memo...

It WAS a redacting error. Abrego Garcia's attorneys filed a correx that now redacts the quote drawn from the sealed Dec. 3 court order which concluded that Associate DAG Aakash Singh had a “leading role in the government’s decision to prosecute” Abrego Garcia. www.courtlistener.com/docket/70476...

I believe this is the first court filing to cite WH chief of staff Susie Wiles' admission to Vanity Fair about President Trump's "score settling." It's used in support of Abrego Garcia's vindictive prosecution claim: www.courtlistener.com/docket/70476... bkgd: talkingpointsmemo.com/morning-memo...

A Trojan horse FOIA case in which Stephen Miller's old group was trying to get a court to declare that the admin functions of the judicial branch are part of the executive branch has been dismissed by District Judge Trevor McFadden of D.C., a Trump appointee. talkingpointsmemo.com/morning-memo...

How a ‘Habeas Machine’ Reunited One Family That Was Pulled Apart by ICE  talkingpointsmemo.com/news/how-a-h...

This was posted on X by the Chair of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commn. It’s not that we talk about “identity” & “race” too much. It’s that they wanted to hijack the language,legitimacy & infrastructure we created to vindicate the rights of Black people & women for THEIR race & identity.

The WH is threatening to dismantle a critical scientific research center in Boulder to free Big Lie supporter Tina Peters from a Colorado prison. State officials have refused to play along with Trump’s purported pardon of Peters for tampering w/ voting machines. talkingpointsmemo.com/morning-memo...

Testifying now: Judge Dugan's clerk of court Alan Freed Surveillance footage shows him saying something to a federal agent in the hallway. Asked what he said, Freed replies: "I called him a fascist."

And guess what? The FCC immediately changed the website to state that the agency is not independent right after Carr's comments!

In what appears to be a dramatic reversal from its reaction to other wrongful deportations this year, the Trump administration has quietly returned Faustino Pablo Pablo from Guatemala, according to court order issued in the case yesterday. talkingpointsmemo.com/morning-memo...

In an extraordinary series of interviews over the past few months, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles has admitted that Trump is engaged in retribution against his political foes, even as she tried to tiptoe around the implications of her concession. talkingpointsmemo.com/morning-memo...

This article includes the first confirmation I've seen from an Australian outlet that Ahmed is Muslim.

Here's my write-up of opening statements on All Rise News www.allrisenews.com/p/judge-hann...

It’s been a reasonable inference for more than 5 years that whoever planted the pipe bombs at both national party headquarters on the eve of Congress’ certification of the '20 presidential election was probably not someone who was excited that Joe Biden had won. talkingpointsmemo.com/morning-memo...

"Revenge, it turns out, is a dish best served with evidence." www.nytimes.com/2025/12/12/u...

The Trump administration is trying to shut down Judge Boasberg’s contempt of court inquiry in the original Alien Enemies Act case and end the only chance of real accountability for an executive branch that ran roughshod over the judicial branch. talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/trump...

"[Xinis'] ruling neatly encapsulates the madness of the Trump era...It concludes that Abrego Garcia’s treatment throughout has violated due process. Again and again, it scorches the Trump administration’s “extraordinary” and “troubling” handling of this whole case." newrepublic.com/article/2043...

With evidentiary hearings set for Mon and Tue, the Trump administration asks DC Circuit Court of Appeals to block Judge Boasberg from continuing with contempt of court inquiry in the original Alien Enemies Act case PETITION FOR A WRIT OF MANDAMUS: www.courtlistener.com/docket/69741...

Real sign of the times that a paragraph like this needs to be put in a federal court order

Honestly if these standards of lawyering are permitted it will no longer rightly be called a “profession.”

The ongoing theme of the Garcia case is that of an authoritarian regime so unwilling to admit it was wrong that it will weaponize every act of the administrative state it controls (incl immigration judges now) to impose their lawless outcome

I have been informed that Abrego walked in and out of his ICE check-in this morning with no issues.

"At 26 Federal Plaza, getting out of the building means freedom. And many do not get out." talkingpointsmemo.com/feature/new-...

Sua Sponte AND Nunc Pro Tunc: The highly unusual series of late-breaking events was punctuated by a remarkably cynical move by a Baltimore immigration judge, an executive branch official. talkingpointsmemo.com/morning-memo...

That is … not what nunc pro tunc is

A reminder that immigration judges work for the Justice Department, meaning they are not actual judges, and the administration now calls them “deportation judges” after pushing a bunch of them out.

After being released from custody yesterday, Abrego Garcia has been ordered to report to ICE at 8am today, his lawyers say in an emergency overnight court filing trying to prevent him re-detained. www.courtlistener.com/docket/71191...

UPDATE: Abrego Garcia attorney Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg told CBS News that his client was released from ICE custody Thursday afternoon in compliance with a federal judge's order earlier in the day. www.cbsnews.com/news/kilmar-...

Despite months of mounting and concerted pressure from President Trump, the GOP-controlled Indiana Senate rejected by a vote of 31-19 a proposal for a new gerrymandered mid-decade congressional map ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. talkingpointsmemo.com/news/indiana...

In the convoluted, never-ending saga of the wrongfully deported and then indicted Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a federal judge in Maryland this morning ordered his immediate release from ICE custody — on grounds that are tinged with the bitterest of ironies. talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/judge...

UPDATE: The White House wants to make GOP senators eat a shit sandwich as a test of loyalty to Trump ... www.ms.now/news/trump-h...

While the Trump administration has repeatedly lost in court for invalidly installing interim U.S. attorneys, it has not yet backed down and relinquished the appointment power to federal judges. talkingpointsmemo.com/morning-memo...

You know about the double-tap Sept. 2 attack, and you probably know about the two survivors of the mid-October attack who were detained then repatriated. But what about the Oct. 27 attack which left a lone survivor whose fate remains unknown? So many questions: talkingpointsmemo.com/morning-memo...

I’ve been surprised that the uproar over the killing of the two survivors of the Sept. 2 attack has not yielded a renewed look at a later attack that also left a survivor – under especially dire circumstances. talkingpointsmemo.com/morning-memo...

Since October, I have been reporting on the effects of Trump's mass deportation agenda in NYC. I have found heavy ICE machinery and a resistance network full of regular people defending migrants Our series on the "Undocumented Underground" kicks off today and I hope you will give it a read.

U.S. District Judge James Boasberg has ordered testimony next week from DOJ whistleblower Erez Reuveni and deputy assistant attorney general Drew Ensign in the criminal contempt of court inquiry in the original Alien Enemies Act case. talkingpointsmemo.com/morning-memo...

Judge Boasberg orders potentially momentous testimony next week in his criminal contempt of court inquiry in the original Alien Enemies Act Case: DOJ whistleblower Erez Rueveni and DOJ cipher Drew Ensign background: talkingpointsmemo.com/morning-memo... order: www.courtlistener.com/docket/69741...

John Roberts on Cleanup Duty as Supreme Court Prepares to Kill Independent Government Agencies talkingpointsmemo.com/news/roberts...

Can you resign from a position you never validly held? In any event, Alina Habba is out as New Jersey U.S. attorney, with a quote that captures the psycho-drama of a dominance-fixated president and the coterie of loyalists who perform feats of defiance to curry favor: www.nytimes.com/2025/12/08/n...

UPDATE: 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Emil Bove has now submitted a sworn declaration in the criminal contempt of court inquiry in the original Alien Enemies Act case. www.courtlistener.com/docket/69741...

OLC ratified keeping Lindsey Halligan in place as interim USA in EDVA despite a judge’s ruling that she was invalidly appointed, NYT reports. Under the ruling, only the district's judges may now appoint an interim USA—but they haven't publicly moved to do so. talkingpointsmemo.com/morning-memo...

The Trump DOJ met a Friday deadline set by U.S. District Judge James Boasberg to submit sworn declarations by the officials involved in the decision to continue with the Alien Enemies Act deportation flights in mid-March–but signaled it would cooperate no more. talkingpointsmemo.com/morning-memo...