Officially a tyrant: Trump announced Saturday that he will send troops to Portland, Oregon, and to immigration detention facilities around the country, authorizing “Full Force, if necessary” www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Current Status:

Good time to release the Epstein files

Irony died yesterday

Fired for comments he made 8 years ago on social media when he was in private practice & had a perfect 1st Amendment right to do so. Welcome to the Trump-loyalty corps at the Justice Department. www.miamiherald.com/news/politic...

My assessment of the charges against Jim Comey, what the government will have to prove, what happens next and what we can expect the judge to do, & why this is ultimately about Donald Trump, as much as if not more so, than it is about Comey. open.substack.com/pub/joycevan...

My assessment of the charges against Jim Comey, what the government will have to prove, what happens next and what we can expect the judge to do, & why this is ultimately about Donald Trump, as much as if not more so, than it is about Comey. open.substack.com/pub/joycevan...

Fitzgerald was the US Atty in Chicago in both the Bush & Obama administrations. He was the special counsel who investigated the 2003 leak of covert CIA officer Valerie Plame's identity. One of the most highly regarded former DOJ officials.

Important thing to know: Grand juries only hear one side of the story. The defense doesn’t cross examine witnesses or present a case. Good prosecutors are committed to the truth & doing justice. They don’t indict cases when the defendant can contradict their case.

Before news of the Comey indictment broke, Bill Kristol & I discussed Trump’s takeover of DOJ. It’s remarkable that lots Republicans & Former Republicans have joined Democrats in support of democracy. There is no similar crossover in support of Trump. open.substack.com/pub/joycevan...

First Trump ordered baseless investigations of Tish James & Jim Comey--now it's OSF The efforts to manufacture criminal charges vs OSF violate the rule of law, the 1st Amend. & fundamental Constitutional principles We must speak out before it too late www.nytimes.com/2025/09/25/u...

Trump, speaking at the White House, just threatened "the left" with what will happen if what he characterizes as a much tougher "right" gets activated by violence from the left.

“without a stated reason” www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

New from me (and timely!): The Very Definition of Selective and Vindictive Prosecution: No one should be wrongfully prosecuted because a president wants revenge staytuned.substack.com/p/the-very-d...

People seem to be forgetting that DOJ doesn’t just “get” an indictment. They have to convince a grand jury to vote to return one, something this administration has struggled with recently.

Comedy always leads, but when Jimmy Kimmel said, Donald Trump can't take a joke, I thought he offered a seminal insight into how the country got here. We're here because a petty but (inexplicably to me) charismatic man seized control of government to exercise his personal need for revenge.

Follow the money. All $50 of it. In a bag. I shared a prosecutors view of what we know about the allegations against border czar Tom Homan in my new piece. open.substack.com/pub/joycevan...

The Pentagon Papers case gives us important insight into why having a free press matters so much. This week has taught us that we have a role to play in protecting the 1st Amendment, & (to quote a woman who would have made a great president), when we fight, we win. open.substack.com/pub/joycevan...

Listening to @kamalaharris.com talking with @maddow.msnbc.com makes me realize how much I've missed her voice.

Trump has designated Antifa as a terrorist organization, which will likely have all sorts of repercussions, none if them good, for American cities www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...

That’s not exactly a denial…

BLUESKY: Trump’s threats hit a new level Saturday with a post directing AG Bondi to prosecute political rivals. @preetbharara.bsky.social and I discuss on a new episode of @cafedotcom.bsky.social Insider: cafe.visitlink.me/TK7bgP

The First Amendment Wins www.nbcnews.com/business/med...

From @hcrichardson.bsky.social: "the U.S. Dept of Agriculture is ending its annual report on household food security." An expert who explains that this is troubling because inflation is up & the job market is unstable, both of which increase food insecurity. open.substack.com/pub/heatherc...

IT'S IRONIC that Disney, of all companies, has never learned how to battle villains.

Something that makes me truly sad about this moment is that it's a missed opportunity to come together for real gun reform. But the White House isn't interested in doing that.

Very thoughtful piece from @jilldlawrence.bsky.social: "Trump voters and people who didn’t bother to vote need to learn for real that elections have consequences. The question is what price the rest of us are willing to pay to make that lesson stick."

If this became a weekly series, it would run longer than The Simpsons.

Exactly this. Once you cave to the bully, they keep going.

Ironically, by demanding prosecution, Trump may have given his “enemies list” a built in defense if he can find a prosecutor to indict them: Selective or vindictive prosecution is grounds for dismissal joycevance.substack.com/p/show-me-th...

It’s a new kind of Saturday Night Massacre as Trump removes an experienced prosecutor he himself put in place in hopes he can find one who will prosecute a case based on politics, not the evidence. open.substack.com/pub/joycevan...

When E. Jean Carroll comes up with a good idea, we should all pay attention. And she has one here! open.substack.com/pub/joycevan...

What do cookies have to do with demcracy? joycevance.substack.com/p/five-quest...

Typically, presidents vet their US Atty picks before they nominate them instead of calling them out afterwards. Makes Trump’s operation look sloppy. This is a highly regarded prosecutor whose office concluded there wasn’t a case. Trump is playing politics, not looking at the prosecution.

Survivors call into questions Kash Patel's testimony on the Hill.

Friday morning, join world chess champion and democracy advocate Garry Kasparov and me for a Substack Live at 9:30am. open.substack.com/pub/joycevan...

👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼

When they come for the comedians we should all be worried. joycevance.substack.com/p/dont-be-af...

👀

It’s Constitution Day. So, of course, Jimmy Kimmel’s show got canceled over comments he made that the administration didn’t like. And DHS Sec’y Noem went on an ICE raid where American citizens were detained. Read on for the update you need tonight: open.substack.com/pub/joycevan...

Important piece from my friend, Dr. @darakass.com, for @contrariannews.org on public health. contrarian.substack.com/p/why-the-pi...

Noem & Bondi are running neck and neck to see who can care less about the Constitution. I wrote about Bondi last night: joycevance.substack.com/p/a-not-so-n...

A federal Judge in Birmingham has ruled that lines must be redrawn for districts used to elect county commissioners because they amount to a racial gerrymander. www.al.com/news/birming...

SCOTUS expert @dahlialithwick.bsky.social joins me to preview the Court’s upcoming term on a new episode of @cafedotcom.bsky.social Insider: cafe.visitlink.me/o83qbm

No bending the knee

NEW: Reuters asked the Michigan Tax Authority whether Lisa Cook violated any mortgage tax rules for her home in Ann Arbor. They said no. That's in addition to Reuters earlier reporting that nothing was wrong with the documents for her home in Atlanta. www.reuters.com/world/us/no-...

I’d like to see the judge dismiss and grant rule 11 sanctions. That’s not a stretch here. We do, after all, have a 1st Amendment and a constitutional republic, not a monarchy/dictatorship.

NEW: Chutkan called the Trump administration 'cavalier' about the fact that it may have sent five men to be persecuted and killed and said it may have been the Trump administration's goal. w/ @joshgerstein.bsky.social www.politico.com/news/2025/09...