JUST IN: Cole Allen wants the top brass of DOJ to recuse themselves from his case, noting they have openly described themselves as victims and witnesses of his alleged crimes -- and have personal relationships with the primary alleged vctim: Donald Trump storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

BREAKING: An FBI agent interviewed a high-ranking Wisconsin election official in recent days about the 2020 election. The agent wanted to know how elections are carried out and about various 'theories'. The election official had to debunk false claims and clarify how elections work.

TONIGHT: @weissmann.substack.com joins @lawrenceodonnell.bsky.social on The #LastWord at 10pm ET.

Today’s Litigation Tracker updates: -Judge orders DHS to stop making warrantless civil immigration arrests in D.C. without individual probable cause determinations -Transgender woman incarcerated in a men’s facility sues DOJ over suspension of the Prison Rape Elimination Act

“Millions” of people.

Anyway, I’m going back to my vacation now, but big thanks to @annahickey.bsky.social @tylermcbrien.com and our awesome intern, Marissa Wang, for helping get this story out. Go follow them!!!

Nika! Now this is why you support the @acls1919.bsky.social, @historians.org and MLA! Hell yeah. Judgement (all 143 pages) here: www.acls.org/wp-content/u...

🚨BREAKING: The NAACP filed an emergency lawsuit Thursday seeking to block Tennessee’s new congressional gerrymander, arguing the GOP’s rushed effort to dismantle the state’s lone majority-Black district. www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/...

Reposting given fresh reports that the U.S. is again bombing Iran.

BREAKING: Federal trade court strikes down Trump’s backup tariff plan, imposed after the Supreme Court invalidated his broad-based tariffs. Going to need some economists to chew on this one. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

BREAKING: In a PANIC, Kash Patel ordered polygraphs for at least two dozen current and former members of his security detail looking for leaks. Those would be the folks that would see him drinking or wake him the next morning. www.ms.now/news/kash-pa...

Tom Homan: "Have US citizens ever been shortly detained based on reasonable suspicion? I'm sure. But we don't deport US citizens."

NEW: French prosecutors are seeking criminal charges against Elon Musk for child sexual abuse images on the platform, deepfakes, disinformation, and complicity in denying crimes against humanity by the platform's artificial intelligence system, Grok. apnews.com/article/fran...

🚨 Early reports indicate there has been an exchange of fire between the U.S. and Iran in the Strait of Hormuz

🔴NEW RELEASE: Our SCOTUS event last night was so successful and important, Democracy Docket decided to post it on YouTube so everyone can watch and share it. www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IS9...

Jack Smith says the Justice Department has been "corrupted" by Trump loyalists demolishing its credibility and seeking to undermine the rule of law. "We have a Department of Justice today that targets people for criminal prosecution simply because the president doesn't like them."

The Just Security Podcast - “Murder on the High Seas, Part V” Co-Hosts Tess Bridgeman and Rachel Goldbrenner are joined by Rebecca Ingber and Brian Finucane podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...

I'd guess Iowans will be seeing clips like this in Democratic campaign ads.

What are you doing Friday morning? Join Mary L Trump, Katie Phang & me at 9:30 ET as we hash out the events of the last week, including John Roberts’ recent comments, regretting Americans' view of the Justices as political actors. We’ll have a lot to say about that open.substack.com/pub/joycevan...

When Justices jump from saying this👇🏼 in 2023 to allow allowing openly racist gerrymanders, Americans who are paying attention can’t be blamed for viewing certain justices as political actors. Read more here: joycevance.substack.com/p/the-new-ji...

It’s like they want to harm us. OMG!!

Unearthed reports reveal that RFK Jr. fired every full-time CDC cruise ship sanitation inspector ahead of the Hantavirus cruise ship outbreak. www.cbsnews.com/news/cdc-cru...

Wall Street Journal Editorial Board goes to town against Trump administration mass deportation policies. Focuses on empirical study finding ICE arrests have decreased employment among U.S.-born men with less formal education. 1/2 www.wsj.com/opinion/mass...

The trend of seizing ballots on the basis of unfounded information could fuel further election conspiracies, drain law enforcement resources, and undermine confidence in elections. bit.ly/4wciFMe

DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin: "We're going in there to get the worst of the worst out of New York, regardless of what the governor says"

NEW: The Trump administration blitz that flooded Minnesota with immigration agents hobbled federal efforts to pursue serious crimes. By April, prosecutors had brought charged just eight people with drug or gun crimes, the fewest in more than two decades. www.reuters.com/world/americ...

The CTA was designed to give law enforcement a tool to track drug cartels, kleptocrats, and sanctioned actors hiding behind anonymous U.S. shell companies. Now Congress is threatening to repeal it. What's at stake — from @dschulkin.bsky.social, Jodi Vittori, and Matthew Stephenson

EXCLUSIVE: The Trump administration is abandoning the accelerated training program it used to quickly deploy thousands of new ICE agents.

Americans are concerned that rising political violence threatens to undermine democracy. But James Piazza writes that socially cohesive neighborhoods can protect against democratic erosion, with local organizing playing a key role. www.justsecurity.org/138198/socia...

The Just Security Podcast: Murder on the High Seas Part V With Co-Hosts @tessbridgeman.bsky.social and Rachel Goldbrenner (@rcls-nyu.bsky.social), and guests @becingber.bsky.social and @bfinucane.bsky.social www.justsecurity.org/138206/just-...

Today's news roundup: -US and China pursue guardrails to stop AI rivalry turning into crisis -France moves aircraft carrier group toward Strait of Hormuz for possible defensive mission -DOJ accuses UCLA medical school of bias against White and Asian applicants 👇 www.justsecurity.org/138254/early...

👇🏼

If you think it’s just the Deep South, please read this. We can’t afford to tell ourselves the myth that it’s going to be okay.

“The cumulative lesson of all this recollection is that, in commemorating the past, we may not like all that it calls attention to in the present.” By Jelani Cobb www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

“You’ve taken your daughter to a birthday party. In the air, invisible, is the measles virus. Even if she survives, the virus may never be done with her.” Elizabeth Bruenig on what measles can do to a body, to a brain, and to a family: www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

A must-read, on the constitutional evisceration of voting rights. What City of Boerne + Callais have wrought. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

Todd Blanche Blew Up His Own Case Against The SPLC (w/ Andrew Weissmann) www.thebulwark.com/p/todd-blanc...

Trump on Truth Social owns the libs by pointing out his war in Iran hasn’t lasted as long (so far) as Vietnam or World War 2

Among most consequential litigation actions. @aclu.org asks full DC Circuit (en banc) to review 2-1 panel decision that stopped Chief Judge Boasberg's criminal contempt inquiry Compelling opening lines⤵️ High stakes as DOJ continues to violate court orders storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

House Oversight Dems on Howard Lutnick's interview on his ties to Epstein: Rep. Yassamin Ansari called Lutnick a "pathological liar." Rep. Suhas Subramanyam said Lutnick could not remember why he visited Epstein's island. Rep. James Walkinshaw called the interview "part of the ongoing cover-up."

Exclusive: “FBI Director Kash Patel has distributed “Ka$h”-branded bottles of bourbon to bureau staff and civilians,” multiple people in Patel’s orbit tell Sarah Fitzpatrick. www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

Justice Gorsuch was doing a Fox News interview a few days ago.

At this point, I think he is just trolling us.

I am so grateful for the EXCELLENT recommendations for resources in Utah on this Stratos project! Stay tuned for coverage on Katie Phang News as we need to let the world know what is going on in Box Elder County!

"Trump’s abrupt reversal on his plan to help ships go through the Strait of Hormuz came after Saudi Arabia suspended the U.S. military’s ability to use its bases and airspace to carry out the operation, according to two U.S. officials."

🚨BREAKING: A federal judge Wednesday declined to order the return of 2020 election ballots seized by the FBI from Fulton County — but not before heavily criticizing parts of the Justice Department’s case as “misleading” and “troubling.” www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/...

This is the new gerrymandered map the Tennessee House Speaker — a Republican — says that Republicans will try to pass. The lone Tennessee Democrat in Congress would be gerrymandered out of a seat.

Tonight on The Briefing! Tim Weiner @tim-weiner.bsky.social Andrew Weissman @weissmann.substack.com Rep. Jamie Raskin @raskin.house.gov Rep. Suhas Subramanyan @repsuhas.bsky.social Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton @ltgovstratton.illinois.gov 9pmET on MS NOW!

Breaking: A federal judge DENIES Fulton County’s request for the return of 2020 election ballots seized by the Trump FBI. Despite the “unprecedented” events, it's a tough claim to return seized evidence. Cited here: The 11th Circuit's ruling over the Mar-a-Lago raid. buff.ly/s3EOG1v