New: The DC Circuit will let Trump continue his deployment of National Guard troops in DC, finding the admin made a strong enough case (for now) that it's likely to succeed on at least some of its args. One judge stressed it's not the final word, and the DC AG vowed to keep fighting buff.ly/EXcxe2G

A group of Democratic state attorneys general dropped one of the remaining legal fights over whether Trump unlawfully delegated too much power to Elon Musk during the months the billionaire served within the administration. Two similar cases are still pending: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

NEW: A US trade court denied a request to suspend a customs process for finalizing import duties while SCOTUS decides whether to strike Trump’s tariffs. Admin said it won't oppose orders to recalculate tariffs (and pay refunds) if it loses, so the court said it didn't need to act now buff.ly/20b0YsM

The Trump administration urged an appeals court to block a judge from holding hearings next week on whether Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem should be held in contempt for the March deportation of two plane loads of alleged Venezuelan gang members. W/ David Voreacos: buff.ly/2BK6zDO

Update: Kilmar Abrego Garcia was released from a US immigration detention facility shortly before 5pm today and headed home to Maryland, his lawyer confirmed, after a federal judge ruled this morning that the Trump administration lacked valid legal grounds to keep him in custody buff.ly/3anwgMk

NEW: A US judge ordered Kilmar Abrego Garcia "immediately" released from custody. Why? 1) no final deportation order = no grounds for detention 2) detention appeared "constitutionally infirm" buff.ly/3anwgMk

ICYMI: ~400 people pardoned or granted clemency by President Trump in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol are now seeking millions of dollars in payouts from the federal government buff.ly/aSZ5OI8

New: Trump pardoned them for Jan. 6. Now they want millions of dollars from the US government. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Settlement talks still pending between Michael Flynn and the Trump administration re: Flynn's claim for damages, per latest report filed in court: assets.bwbx.io/documents/us... Previously: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Wrongful termination/retaliation lawsuits are stacking up -- a dozen FBI agents sued the Trump administration over their firing in September for having taken a knee during a 2020 demonstration in DC following the police killing of George Floyd. From @jimmyjenkins.bsky.social: buff.ly/81hSIag

Judge Emil Bove, formerly of DOJ, addressed his role in a March decision to not turn around planes of Venezuelan migrants. From @jacqthomsen.bsky.social: buff.ly/UhzVGcI But like recent filings from Sec. Kristi Noem and top US lawyers, Bove's doc shed little light on what went down: buff.ly/8S9RwVE

Fed carve-out? Justice Brett Kavanaugh expressed interest in protecting the Federal Reserve’s independence, as the Supreme Court's conservative majority signaled it was leaning towards expanding President Trump's power to fire members of historically independent US agencies buff.ly/882ynWh

New: Facing a criminal contempt of court probe, Homeland Security Sec. Kristi Noem and two senior Trump admin. lawyers offered bare bones accounts of their roles in a decision not to turn around planes of Venezuelan migrants in March after a judge’s directive www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Long-running fight over the Trump admin housing immigration detainees at Gitmo moves ahead -- judge today: - denied DOJ's motion to dismiss the case: buff.ly/tWBU7NM - certified it as a class action: buff.ly/EPnxd5P

A federal judge in Florida granted the DOJ's request to unseal grand jury transcripts from the original criminal investigations into Jeffrey Epstein. Latest from Chris Dolmetsch & Bob Van Voris: buff.ly/iIH1zKO

SCOTUS said it will review President Donald Trump’s planned rollback of automatic birthright citizenship, setting up a high-stakes showdown over what long has been understood to be a constitutional right. Greg Stohr on today's development:

Hello on this mildly snowy Friday from the DC federal courthouse, where the Virginia man charged with planting pipe bombs on the eve of the Jan. 6, 2021, election certification is set to make his first court appearance. Stay tuned. Prev: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

The State Department must halt plans to fire hundreds of foreign service officers and employees, a California federal court ruled Thursday.

NOW: The DC Circuit temporarily paused an order declaring Trump's National Guard deployment in DC unlawful. It's not a ruling on the merits or even on the govt's full stay request, but it maintains status quo for now and avoids an early trip to SCOTUS www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

NEW: A Virginia man was charged with placing pipe bombs outside Republican and Democratic National Committee headquarters in DC on the eve of Jan. 6, 2021, capping a five-year investigation. Story: www.bloomberg.com/news/article... Complaint: assets.bwbx.io/documents/us...

ICYMI: Costco -- and a lot of other companies, large and small -- are now lining up in court to sue over Trump's global tariffs, angling to make sure they get refunds if SCOTUS strikes down the policy buff.ly/HoRyI37

Costco joined the fast-growing list of businesses lining up in court to try to make sure they get refunds if SCOTUS knocks down Trump's global tariffs www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Per new filing on the zombie docket of the defunct classified docs case against Trump, DOJ + Trump's former codefendants Walt Nauta/Carlos De Oliveira continue to oppose release of v2 of Jack Smith's final report buff.ly/YZDbwnV 11th Circuit recently faulted Judge Cannon for delay: buff.ly/WgiIWVH

The legal fight over Trump's global tariffs has largely been driven by small/mid-size businesses, but households names are cropping up on the growing list of businesses filing lawsuits to secure refunds if SCOTUS strikes them down. One of the latest to hit the docket? Costco buff.ly/qe80lke

NEW: DOJ identified top US officials involved in the decision not to turn around planes of deported migrants in March per a judge’s order, including Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, and Judge Emil Bove (a DOJ official at the time) buff.ly/p0f1hnf

New: Rep. Eric Swalwell, a California Democrat and frequent critic of Donald Trump, filed a lawsuit on Tuesday claiming Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte abused his power to retaliate against the president’s political opponents buff.ly/iAkiJsh Complaint: buff.ly/CWDI351

In the Alien Enemies Act fight in DC, plaintiffs filed a proposal for judge's revived contempt probe - their initial list of potential witnesses, depending on what the judge deems necessary/appropriate, incl. ex-DOJ official/current 3rd Circuit Judge Emil Bove buff.ly/41VOd80 Prev: buff.ly/J5sksNa

Public service journalism this holiday season courtesy of @davey.bsky.social & Carmen Arroyo: bsky.app/profile/dave...

ICYMI: DOJ argued in court yesterday for expansive executive power to limit White House access based on speech + political expression, including for events historically open to the public such as tours or the annual Easter egg roll buff.ly/oJYP0En

ICYMI: DOJ is fighting an effort to force Elon Musk to testify in a lawsuit that accuses him of unlawfully directing the dissolution of USAID while he was an adviser to Trump, arguing he should be shielded as a former high-level executive branch official buff.ly/EvDUpgz

NEW: The Trump administration is fighting efforts in court to force billionaire Elon Musk to testify in a lawsuit that accuses him of unlawfully directing the dissolution of the US Agency for International Development while he was a senior adviser to the president buff.ly/8QZI6mg

Today in court: In a long-running fight between the AP and the Trump admin, DOJ argued for expansive executive power to limit White House access based on speech or expression -- including for events historically open to the public such as tours or the annual Easter egg roll buff.ly/oJYP0En

A federal judge threw out the criminal charges against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, ruling that the prosecutor who brought the cases had been illegally appointed. Latest from Chris Strohm: buff.ly/ts6mEOa

Deep dive by @davey.bsky.social + Bloomberg colleagues into the growing number of small businesses marketing products around conservative political identity and their relationship with the right-wing influencer universe on YouTube bit.ly/4oR7fcF

NEW: A federal judge ruled that Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops in DC was likely unlawful, the latest setback to the president’s military mobilizations in Democrat-led cities. She delayed the order taking effect for 21 days to avoid disruption pending any appeal buff.ly/50Q2LeM

Trump admin continues to face claims that US officials are wrongfully deporting migrants in violation of court orders and other legal protections amid ramped up immigration enforcement. Latest case involves a transgender woman sent to Mexico; DOJ acknowledged move was "inadvertent" bit.ly/3XEvsac

"I certainly intend to find out what happened on that day" A federal judge is pressing ahead with an inquiry into whether Trump administration officials willfully defied orders in an immigration fight and should be held in contempt, after the case was held up for months on appeal: buff.ly/gCz2sXk

NEW: The Trump administration continues to face wrongful deportation claims amid ramped up immigration enforcement. One of the latest cases involves a transgender woman sent to Mexico despite an order barring that due to her risk of torture or death -- "inadvertently," per DOJ bit.ly/3XEvsac

"baseless" "cherry-picked" "fail on even the most cursory look at the facts" Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook's lawyer sent a letter to AG Pam Bondi today disputing the Trump administration's mortgage fraud allegations against her. With Erik Larson: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

DOJ’s indictment of James Comey was riddled with problems that may give the former FBI director legal grounds to have it dismissed, a federal magistrate judge ruled on Monday, ordering grand jury materials released to the defense. From Chris Strohm: buff.ly/H9Ywsql

ICYMI: The full DC Circuit on Friday declined to revisit a ruling that threw out a DC judge's original order finding probable cause that the Trump admin was in contempt in deportation fight, *but* also said the judge could resume his contempt inquiry www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

DOJ has been in settlement talks this fall with Michael Flynn and Stefan Passantino, court records show. Flynn sued for $50M for being prosecuted by ex-special counsel Robert Mueller, while Passantino claimed privacy violations by the Jan. 6 House committee bit.ly/4hWdolc

BREAKING: Pete Skandalakis, executive director of the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia, has appointed himself to prosecute the case against Trump and others in Fulton County. The move follows a court ruling that disqualified Fani Willis from pursuing the case.

NEW: DOJ has been in settlement talks with Michael Flynn -- Trump's first national security adviser seeking $50M for his prosecution by ex-special counsel Robert Mueller -- and Stefan Passantino, a Trump I White House lawyer who accused the House Jan. 6 committee of privacy violations bit.ly/4hWdolc

With the government shutdown over and federal food aid benefits for millions of Americans fully funded for the rest of the fiscal year, DOJ says the legal fight is moot and pulls its SCOTUS application buff.ly/fH4fSuP

Latest on SNAP: The Trump admin said the US Supreme Court should keep $4 billion in food aid on hold, vowing to keep waging a legal fight to reduce or delay assistance to millions of low-income families -- even as there's movement in Congress to reach a deal to reopen the government buff.ly/mdtC1NU

President Donald Trump pardoned dozens of Republicans, including Rudy Giuliani, who aided his effort to overturn the 2020 election. It was a largely symbolic gesture toward some of his top allies and doesn't apply to state prosecutions, which have moved slowly or run into roadblocks buff.ly/AThsjkC

The US Supreme Court let the Trump administration for now withhold $4 billion in food aid that a judge had ordered distributed Friday to fully fund November benefits for 42 million people. Latest from Greg Stohr: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

"The evidence shows that people will go hungry." A US judge ordered the Trump admin to fully cover the cost of food-aid benefits for more than 42 million eligible Americans this month, finding US officials' plan to partially fund the program failed to comply with his earlier order buff.ly/ZlyIjmB

BREAKING: A federal jury found a former DOJ employee not guilty of misdemeanor assault over a viral incident in which he allegedly threw a sandwich at a Customs and Border Protection officer.