NEWS: President Trump has issued a *second* pardon for Jan. 6 defendant Dan Wilson. Wilson, a militia member, remained in prison on a firearms conviction unrelated to the Capitol attack. But Trump's new pardon explicitly covers the gun charges. www.politico.com/news/2025/11...

NEW: The loudest critics of Trump in the judiciary have turned out to be Ronald Reagan-appointees. This week, another — Mark Wolf — joined their ranks, resigning to speak out against the president. I spoke with Judge Wolf today. He’s worried. www.politico.com/news/2025/11...

BREAKING: A new prosecutor has taken over the Trump case in Georgia, keeping it alive in time for a Nov. 14 deadline. Trump's lawyer Steve Sadow: "We remain confident that a fair and impartial review will lead to a dismissal of the case against President Trump."

NEW: The Nevada Supreme Court has revived the criminal case against the Trump 2020 fake electors, ruling that AG Ford was correct to bring the case in Clark County. www.documentcloud.org/documents/26...

NEW: The prosecutions of James Comey and Letitia James could be in jeopardy after a federal judge expressed significant doubt that President Trump's handpicked prosecutor was legitimately appointed. w/ @joshgerstein.bsky.social www.politico.com/news/2025/11...

NEW: The fate of the Trump-ordered prosecutions of James Comey and Letitia James hinges on today’s argument about whether Lindsey Halligan — the only prosecutor to sign the indictments — was legitimately appointed. Live from Alexandria w/ @joshgerstein.bsky.social www.politico.com/news/2025/11...

NEW: A week before Donald Trump surged past Hillary Clinton to win the presidency, author Michael Wolff approached Jeffrey Epstein with a proposal to "finish" Trump's candidacy. "Interested?" Wolff wrote. Epstein, apparently, declined. w/ @eorden.bsky.social www.politico.com/news/2025/11...

NEW: Jeffrey Epstein said in emails that he had been advising the Russian government on how to deal with Donald Trump, one of several cases in which he wielded his connections to try to influence the course of foreign affairs. w @nahaltoosi www.politico.com/news/2025/11...

NEW: President Trump's pardon of his alleged 2020 co-conspirators was less about shielding them from past crimes, his adversaries say, than about signaling to others that he has their back if he needs them again in 2026 or 2028. w/ @joshgerstein.bsky.social www.politico.com/news/2025/11...

NEW: Donald Trump has pardoned a long list of allies in his bid to subvert the 2020 election including: -Rudy Giuliani -John Eastman -Mark Meadows -Sidney Powell -Ken Chesebro -Christina Bobb -Kelli Ward -Jenna Ellis www.politico.com/news/2025/11...

JUST IN: Two pitchers with the Cleveland Guardians have been charged with a gambling/ bribery/ money laundering conspiracy. See the indictment: www.justice.gov/usao-edny/me...

JUST IN: A federal judge has barred the Trump administration from using furloughed employees’ email accounts to broadcast partisan messages about the shutdown. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

NEW: California’s attorney general said Thursday he’s wary of moves Trump could make to use federal power to interfere in the 2026 elections — through intimidation, suppression or purges of the voter rolls. www.politico.com/news/2025/11...

HAPPENING NOW: Judge McConnell is sharply rebuking the Trump administration for what he said was defying his order to make full SNAP payments by Nov. 5. He has ordered USDA to make the *full* payment to states by tomorrow.

Just left the latest hearing in Jim Comey's criminal case. It did not go well for DOJ The magistrate judge scolded them for an "indict first, investigate second" posture and ordered them to turn over reams of material — including all grand jury info — to Comey's team Details TK

NEW: A federal judge said the decision by Trump WH to end sign language interpretation at briefings by Trump and Leavitt likely violated the Rehabilitation Act and harmed deaf people who communicate in ASL. www.politico.com/news/2025/11...

JUST IN: Judge Currie orders DOJ to submit a more compete transcript of the Comey grand jury proceedings, noting that the transcript she was provided — of the lone witness — does not include Lindsey Halligan's remarks or presentation. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

JUST IN: Judge Immergut renews her block on President Trump’s National Guard deployment to Portland, saying her three-day trial showed there was no credible evidence justify Trump/Hegseth’s incursion on Oregon’s sovereignty. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

NEW: If a federal judge adopts the same rationale that disqualified three of Trump’s other U.S. attorney picks around the country, it could doom the prosecutions of Letitia James and James Comey. w/ @eorden www.politico.com/news/2025/11...

NEW: More than 100 federal judges have now rejected the Trump administration’s new policy to lock up nearly everyone facing deportation — including 12 judges appointed by Trump, according to a POLITICO analysis. Only 2 judges have sided with ICE. www.politico.com/news/2025/10...

NEW: New DOJ attorneys presided over the sentencing of Taylor Taranto today, after his previous prosecutors were sidelined for mentioning his role in the Jan. 6 attack a day earlier. Judge Nichols praised the absent prosecutors. w/ @joshgerstein.bsky.social www.politico.com/news/2025/10...

HAPPENING NOW: Portland Police Commander Franz Schoening testifies that federal officers on Oct. 18 barraged protesters with crowd control munitions — not because of any violence but because another federal officer accidentally shot tear gas onto the roof of the ICE facility.

BREAKING: A federal judge says L.A.-based US attorney Bill ESSAYLI has been acting in the role unlawfully since July, declaring him disqualified from the position. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

BREAKING: The full bench of the 9th circuit has agreed to take up the Portland National Guard case and vacated the panel decision that had blessed Trump’s deployment.

NEW: A federal judge slammed DHS Secretary Noem and Attorney General Pam Bondi for publicly attacking Kilmar Abrego Garcia in “exaggerated” and “inaccurate” ways — violating rules meant to protect the integrity of criminal proceedings. w/ @joshgerstein.bsky.social www.politico.com/news/2025/10...

NEW: High-profile Congressional hearings are typically festivals of grandstanding and missed opportunities. If Jack Smith testifies about his investigations, here are the 5 questions we hope members of Congress ask him to avoid that fate.. www.politico.com/newsletters/...

NEW: ICE says it no longer has to provide Congress access to detention facilities — thanks to the shutdown. That requirement was part of the appropriations law that expired last month — and now operations are funded by Trump’s megabill. w/ @myahward.bsky.social www.politico.com/news/2025/10...

NEW: The Trump administration is racing to deport Kilmar Abrego Garcia as soon as Friday, conceding it does not intend to follow through on his criminal case despite earlier assurances. w/ @joshgerstein.bsky.social www.politico.com/news/2025/10...

JUST IN: Letitia James is scheduled go to trial on Jan. 26 after pleading not guilty to both felony counts she faces. She then exited the courthouse and decried “a justice system that has been weaponized.” www.politico.com/news/2025/10...

HAPPENING SOON: Attorney General Letitia James is slated to appear in a federal courtroom here in Norfolk, Va. for her arraignment on mortgage fraud charges. Courtroom is not full and atmosphere much more subdued than for Comey.

JUST IN: Rep. Ronny Jackson's lawsuit against Gov. Gavin Newsom over California's redistricting effort was thrown out today by Judge Matt Kacsmaryk. Jackson failed to show he faced a cognizable injury from CA's redistricting plan, Kacsmaryk says. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Trump says he’s making military decisions based on what random “friends of mine” tell him about crime.

A man was arrested for playing Darth Vader's theme music, "The Imperial March," behind National Guard troops walking through Logan Circle. Now the ACLU is suing on his behalf. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

JUST IN: Arizona's lawsuit to force the swearing-in of Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva goes to ... Judge Trevor McFadden, an appointee of Donald Trump.

Kilmar Abrego Garcia has subpoenaed Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche and other senior DOJ officials to testify at the hearing on his mostion to dismiss the indictment for vindictive prosecution. www.documentcloud.org/documents/26...

JUST IN: Once again, Lindsey Halligan has to turn to out-of-state prosecutors, this time for the Letitia James case. Roger Keller is a Missouri-based prosecutor. Two NC-based prosecutors are handling the Comey case for her as well. No one from EDVA in either case.

JUST IN: Judge Cameron Currie, a Clinton appointee, will decide whether Lindsey Halligan is disqualified as interim U.S. attorney, following a motion brought by James Comey. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

NEW: A Jan. 6 rioter who breached the Senate floor — and was subsequently pardoned by Trump — was arrested Sunday for threatening to assassinate Leader Hakeem Jeffries. www.politico.com/news/2025/10...

UPDATE: I’ve graduated from “nobody” to “distortionist”

NEW: A federal appeals court panel has blessed Trump's deployment of the National Guard in Portland, while a dissenting judge pleads with her colleagues to reverse the ruling. w/ @joshgerstein.bsky.social www.politico.com/news/2025/10...

JUST IN: Comey moves to dismiss the indictment against him for vindictive/selective prosecution, arguing that the prosecution stems directly form Trump's overt personal animus toward him and calls to put him in prison. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

JUST IN: John Bolton’s arrest warrant just hit the docket

JUST IN: SCOTUS will decide in United States v. Hemani whether the statute that bars addicts from possessing firearms violated the 2nd amendment. This is the same charge Hunter Biden faced.

NEW: Prosecutors signaled Sunday they may try to force Patrick Fitzgerald out of Comey’s criminal case over a purported conflict of interest. w/ @joshgerstein.bsky.social www.politico.com/news/2025/10...

HAPPENING NOW: Judge Illston in California is ordering the Trump administration to disclose by Monday any "imminent" RIFs that the Trump administration is planning during the shutdown.

JUST IN: Trump has commuted the sentence of former Congressman George SANTOS.

👀 Sources tell me and @joshgerstein.bsky.social that veteran federal prosecutor Beth Yusi — with DOJ since 2007 — was fired after resisting the Letitia James indictment. Also Kristin Bird, with EDVA since 2019.

Another heavy hitter for Comey in his criminal case — former Mueller probe attorney and Supreme Court litigator Michael Dreeben.

NEW: Trump seeks Supreme Court review of National Guard deployment in Illinois. W/ @joshgerstein.bsky.social @shiakapos.bsky.social www.politico.com/news/2025/10...

NEW: Federal courts are increasingly distrustful of the Trump administration, upending decades of assumptions that the Executive Branch approaches the courts in good faith. My observations in West Wing Playbook: www.politico.com/newsletters/...