NEW: Kathy Ruemmler shared nonpublic details with Jeffrey Epstein about the White House probe into a 2012 prostitution scandal that engulfed the Secret Service during her tenure as White House counsel, emails show www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

It strikes me as a rather small fine given how much time opposing counsel must have needed to deal with it. Maybe if attorneys who cite fake cases had to pay compensation to opposing counsel it would make an impression.

It's almost like someone wants us to stay scared.

According to @jodikantor.bsky.social of @nytimes.com, SCOTUS is requiring employees to sign non-disclosure agreements. The employees promptly disclosed. www.contractsprofblog.com/2026/02/non-...

We discussed just this potential misuse of the standard in our criminal law course earlier this term.

Note that Andrew is not currently being investigated for crimes of sexual assault or abuse. “… the allegation is that he shared with Epstein confidential government information that he had access to because he was a UK trade envoy.” www.reuters.com/world/live-a...

Enjoyed the opportunity to chat about how AI is impacting legal education and the legal profession more broadly on the ABA's Legal Rebel's Podcast. legaltalknetwork.com/podcasts/aba...

"Amazon has told a Seattle federal judge that California attorney Kathy Q. Hao relied on artificial intelligence-hallucinated case law in her effort to escape its lawsuit accusing her of participating in a fraudulent trademark scheme, urging the court to weigh sanctions...."

Today's bonus issue of "One First" looks at a quiet new "advisory opinion" from the federal judiciary's "Codes of Conduct Committee," and how it reinforces the propriety (if not the importance) of federal judges speaking out in defense of their colleagues, judicial independence, and the rule of law:

💥⚖️👇🏾 Holy **** ex-Prince Andrew arrested over Epstein files: www.nbcnews.com/world/united... #epstein #fallout

These tiny memoirs--just 100 words--carry a punch. Impressive. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/19/l...

I feel sorry for her, a brilliant economist having to navigate these two appalling jerks.

FDA removed warnings against fake, abusive, and dangerous autism treatments like MMS (industrial strength bleach) and chelation. Kennedy's anti-vaccine friends made a lot of money selling this to autism families. www.propublica.org/article/rfk-... @megomatz.bsky.social @propublica.org

Satire just can’t keep up anymore.

1/The Diversity, Equity and Inclusion order did not even define the term, going with a Potter Stewart “you know it when you see it.” These Executive Orders—poorly drafted in large part by Stephen Miller, a man who did not go to law school—were given way too much heft by everyone.

32 people died in ICE detention in 2025, triple the total in the previous year, Democratic senators said. They alleged that the Trump administration’s rapid detention expansion has led to preventable deaths. www.latimes.com/politics/sto...

Cc: John Roberts

BREAKING: Former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has been convicted of insurrection for declaring martial law in December 2024, and has been sentenced to life in prison.

Allegedly.

Cue the hotels figuring out how to underwear proof their coffee pots.

She needs to learn to wash her underwear in the sink.

oh

Militarily attacking his way into the Nobel Peace Prize?

Here's an Epstein text that references Don Jr. was advised on taking the 5th Amendment but that his father said not to. Unclear how Epstein would know this. 👀⚖️ www.justice.gov/epstein/file... #doj #epstein #files #donjr #trump

Here are some texts in the Epstein files that talk about Ivanka and Don Jr., and separately, Woody Allen wanting brownies??? www.justice.gov/epstein/file... #doj #epstein #files

My brother is a GED teacher in Vancouver BC. He sent me this. I share with all of you. For those of you who don't know, Canada has a more appropriate scope and ambit of human rights legislation than the USA, which includes trans rights.

Here's yet another Bannon text chain in the Epstein files where Epstein says diplomat Terje Rod-Larsen is "very close to me and will help". Also references Don Jr's divorce and Hope Hicks. 👀https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2010/EFTA01614986.pdf #doj #epstein #files #bannon #rodlarsen

All DOJ Jeffrey Epstein emails arranged as searchable Gmail account So helpful jmail.world

Graduate students in the MFA Studio Art program at the University of North Texas are withdrawing their thesis presentations in solidarity with artist Victor “Marka27” Quiñonez, whose exhibition at the school was abruptly cancelled.

Wow. ‼️ #Wexner #Epstein #DOJ #FBI

Here's an email between Epstein and businessman Andrew Farkas trying to set up a meeting with Don Trump Jr. who Epstein describes as "funny." www.justice.gov/epstein/file... #doj #epstein #files #donjr #farkas

Commentary: Ohio State University is making news for scandals old and new. It can only recover from its numerous scandals by showing actual integrity. Poor-recollections, rationalizations, feigned concern, and denied culpability just compound damage ohiocapitaljournal.com/2026/02/18/o...

BREAKING: WATCH the full 60 Minutes CECOT segment here. This was sent to me anonymously. It appears to be the segment CBS' Bari Weiss killed. www.muellershewrote.com/p/watch-the-...

I personally think that Turning Point USA’s “Professor Watchlist” is one of the most repulsive, extreme, & hateful campaigns in the US I find it so grotesque that the NIH Director was a keynote speaker Alt text: Just the NIH Director Speaking at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest 2025👀

Jesse Jackson died Tuesday at the age of 84. The civil rights icon always held America to account—and never stopped fighting to preserve what he knew could be taken away. I wrote about how he saw our future so well.

Exclusive: The US State Department is developing an online portal to enable people in Europe and elsewhere to see content banned by their governments including alleged hate speech and terrorist propaganda, sources told Reuters reut.rs/4cySsA6

oh you think white people don't have culture? what about this sickly family of incestuous warlords from a book i didn't read?

1. DHS surges 3,000 officers to Minneapolis without doing anywhere near enough prep first. 2. Hundreds of habeas cases overwhelm local courts. 3. Dozens of DOJ lawyers quit in disgust/anger. 4. The DOJ brings in JAGs to cover. 5. A JAG was just held in contempt and fined $500/day for ICE's failures.

Here is my report at Law Dork: www.lawdork.com/p/scotus-cha...

Discordians been knowing how to spread misinformation and manipulate search engine results for decades. AI makes it exponentially easier to exploit this weakness.

Same source: 38% of adults could not cover a $400 expense. That's just staggering, especially compared to the wealth that continues to be accumulated at the top.

I got a tip that all over the world, people are using a dead-simple hack to manipulate AI behavior. It turns out changing what AI tells other people can be as easy as writing a blog post *on your own website* I didn’t believe it, so I decided to test it myself www.bbc.com/future/artic...

Would you like to see a silly joke card I made nine years ago?

X's algorithm is in fact doing what you think it's doing. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Publicists who represented Johnny Depp during his 2022 trial against Amber Heard charged Jeffrey Epstein five figures a month for representation during 2017, according to invoices in the Epstein Files. Their PR strategies for Epstein reflect the later MeToo backlash. spitfirenews.com/p/epstein-jo...

I say this as someone who loves technology but hates the tech industry - why do we have to love technology? why do we have to give something like AI clemency for its errors? It's a product we are being sold, it should have to earn our money or attention.

25 years ago, a bunch of libertarians moved to NH to take over state government. Jason Osborne, one of those "Free Staters," has since risen to be majority leader in the state house. How is he fighting for "liberty?" By helping Stephen Miller build a 324,000-foot prison for migrants and refugees.

Well which is it? Are you for birthright citizenship or against?