Just legal Calvinball. Obviously lawless.

There is no Article II authority to exercise war powers unilaterally and there is no Article II authority to violate the basic laws of man and God because “the president said so.”

One of the reasons I think it’s also essential to not call the boat strikes “war crimes” but “crimes against humanity,” is that it emphasizes that Trump and Hegseth are acting extra-constitutionally and are not entitled to any shield from the courts. This systematic murder of civilians is illegal.

New, from me: Trump’s justification for invading American cities and other countries is to reduce the crime he is actively encouraging through his pardons. It’s emblematic of how corrupt the pardon process has become under Trump. Deep dive 🧵 to follow. donmoynihan.substack.com/p/pardon-the...

Jay Bhattacharya and Matthew Memoli aren't bringing "gold standard science" to the #NIH, they are gutting research slowly but surely. When this time is over, they should be hauled before Congress, and shunned for the rest of their lives. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

NEW: Reports of DOGE’s death aren’t highly exaggerated, they’re wrong. Follow @makenakelly.bsky.social and @telliotter.bsky.social on a voyage into the federal agencies where all your favorite young engineers are burrowed in ”like ticks.”

Sam Hens-Greco -- who shepherded Allegheny County Democrats through highs and lows and undertook a number of internal reforms -- will step down as party chair in a key Pennsylvania county next month. www.wesa.fm/politics-gov...

A sad irony in Washington, D.C., where West Virginia National Guardsmen were shot today. Six days ago, a court ruled their deployment was illegal, but stayed the order pending appeal. My heart goes out to these public servants and their families. oag.dc.gov/sites/defaul...

The assault on democracy doesn't take a break, not even on Thanksgiving eve.

Coming in August! global.oup.com/academic/pro...

"The history books will look back on what the country lost by not having a televised trial before November 2024 and historians will wonder what Fani Willis was thinking. And they'll just scratch their heads," Kreis, a law professor, told The Guardian… www.the-independent.com/news/world/a...

In case you missed this, the BBC edited a historian's speech about Trump to remove the claim that he's "the most openly corrupt president in US history." This came after Trump had threatened a $1 billion lawsuit. Elite capitulation continues. Read all about it here: newrepublic.com/article/2036...

Note that the BBC openly admits in an email to me that the removal of this claim about Trump's world-historical corruption was done "on legal advice." Translation: Trump's threat of a lawsuit, no matter how bogus, has now been rewarded. newrepublic.com/article/2036...

So dangerous

The numbers vary from study to study but hundreds of thousands of people have died because of Elon Musk and Marco Rubio illegally disbanding USAID — a body count on par with the first eight years of the Syrian civil war — In just seven months. It’s mass death that is simply unfathomable in scale.

We are a 501(c)(3) created specifically to document such abuse of power by government lawyers. Lawyers/law students - we need your help! If interested in volunteering with us, please let us know here: glowlaw.org/volunteer

It is almost #Thanksgiving. This year we are thankful to the courageous, ethical DOJ lawyers, who, in spite of pressure from superiors, refused to make arguments that are not based in fact or in law. Our landing page this week is wholly dedicated to these Defenders of the Rule of Law.

Exclusive: FEMA and Illinois officials pulled dozens of personnel back from surveying flood-damaged neighborhoods in Chicago because immigration agents were conducting patrols nearby, messages show.

Abuse of power extending beyond Senator Kelly "FBI has requested interviews with six Democratic U.S. lawmakers." DOJ official "said the interviews were to determine 'if there's any wrongdoing and then go from there.'" Note: For video accurately stating military law www.reuters.com/world/us/fbi...

Why does Trump pay no price like normal politicians for so cavalierly pardoning criminals who go on to crime again?

WHOA. The FBI was/is spying on a Signal chat for a New York immigration court watch group, claiming they were “anarchist violent extremist actors.” Your reminder that the government is watching and don’t say anything in a big group chat you wouldn’t say on TV. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

This has gotten very little coverage in the US, but on Monday US military contractors or troops or some other paramilitary group placed signs on a beach in Mexico, claiming it as US territory. (The contested location is close to the SpaceX base outside Brownsville) www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/11...

There goes a major talking point: “.. The new tally leaves tariff savings failing to fully offset Trump’s signature tax-cut law, which the CBO said would add $3.4 trillion to deficits ..” @bloomberg.com www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Kelly: "I never expected after serving 25 years in the Navy flying combat missions over Iraq and Kuwait, flying the Space Shuttle, that now I've got to worry about my personal safety and that of my wife, Gabby Giffords, who was already nearly assassinated, because of something the president said."

NEW: Churches in Charlotte are hosting trainings on how to response to ICE agents — with *hundreds* filling pews. At one training, a child led those gathered in "This Little Light of Mine" — but changed the words to “All around Border Patrol, I’m gonna let it shine" religionnews.com/2025/11/20/a...

I think the American public has the right to see the secret protocols of the Witkoff-Dmitriev pact. What business deals have been agreed?

Trump is now seeming to endorse execution for his perceived enemies — retweeting a post that called for the hanging of Democrats who told servicemembers to refuse illegal orders. He also claims the Dems are engaging in 'seditious behavior'.

📣 The University of Florida Levin College of Law is looking for a tax Visiting Assistant Professor (VAP) starting in Fall 2026. Application details at the link! #TaxJobs #LegalAcademia #VAP explore.jobs.ufl.edu/en-us/job/53...

The fact that no one in the room stood up for her says a lot about how we got here bsky.app/profile/pale...

Mike Johnson says he will continue working to cover up the Epstein files 👇

I wanted to share probably the most important sermon I’ve given and it’s while I’m being arrested. It’s torture pure and simple what happens at #Broadview. I’m ok, though I was thrown to the ground and choked with my pectoral cross. A review of the video shows I was peaceful - did I deserve this?

Devastating piece on the human toll of Kavanaugh Stops. Especially infuriating to know that rich white guys like Brett K can simply close their eyes to the human suffering their racist jurisprudence has unleashed.

Who’s going to tell them!!! www.flyicarusny.com

I'd guess that 85-90% of American scientists would be ineligible for future funding under this law, maybe close to 100% in the R1 universities. So much for funding proposals based on scientific merit. Apart from being sinophobes, the people pushing this have no clue how science or higher ed works.

BREAKING: EXCLUSIVE: Senator Whitehouse asked the BOP for Ghislaine Maxwells sex offender waiver, custody level, transfer code, and security point score. I have them. She's also been granted the ability to leave the facility for work assignments. My latest: www.muellershewrote.com/p/exclusive-...

Not being fired; just redeploying the racist to be "to become deputy general counsel at the General Services Administration"

NEW: @propublica.org investigated the Chicago apartment raid where kids were zip-tied and citizens detained for hours. They find: - NONE of the arrested were criminally charged - NO evidence the building was "filled with TdA terrorists." - ZERO legitimate reason for DHS to rappel from a Blackhawk.

To recap: Jeffrey Epstein offered a NY Times reporter photos taken in Epstein's kitchen of Donald Trump and girls in bikinis *and* implored the NYT reporter to put this information in the public discourse in 2015 What did the NY Times editors know about this offer?

This has gotten lost: Abigail Spanberger won big after vowing to RESCIND Glenn Youngkin's executive order directing local cooperation with ICE and voting AGAINST the anti-immigrant Laken Riley Act. Yet she gained bigly with working class. New piece laying this out: newrepublic.com/article/2030...

1/ The US Government has quietly removed a memorial to Black soldiers who died in World War II from the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten, South Limburg. The move follows a complaint from the right-wing Heritage Foundation to the American Battle Monuments Commission. ⬇️

Thought this from @dandrezner.bsky.social was among the most thoughtful reads about the end of the shutdown.

The Week magazine

A pastor recorded footage of the U.S. citizen family, the baby struggling to breathe, after being pepper sprayed. Immigration response: It didn’t happen. apnews.com/article/immi...

5) Dems showed (a) it's possible to get something out of "shutting down the government" despite what the pundits said, and (b) that they could hold together for 40 days. It's not a policy win, but it changes expectations for what they can do in the future, strengthening their negotiating position.

Prescient

The politics of the shutdown: *GOP had a strong opening position *Undercut themselves with the RIFs and unnecessary cuts to blue states/SNAP *Polls showed GOP getting most of the blame, no reason to assume that would change *Dem centrists then folded on their key issue of ACA subsidies

Keep hearing @cortezmasto.senate.gov is leader of Senate Dem's Cave caucus. She's voted with Rs throughout. Why? Eked out a close win in 2022 because of hard work of Culinary & other NV activists Other biggest accomplishment before this was getting Emil Bove his 3rd Circuit seat

Why why why did they hold out for that? Nothing.