Are we winning yet?

“You want your public defender system to be strong. That is how we get to justice and make sure we don’t make mistakes,” says Eric Rinehart, the chief prosecutor of Illinois’ Lake County.

This week's passage of the Epstein resolution isn't just surprising, it's nearly astonishing. The House Speaker lost control of the floor, which is something that *almost* never happens. One of the reasons for that is how leadership controls information.

Good morning. Federal prosecutors in Chicago have moved to dismiss another case tied to Operation Midway Blitz. This time it's the case of Dana Briggs, which had been set for trial 12/8. Briggs had U.S. Border Patrol Cmdr. Greg Bovino on his witness list.

particularly excited for the next 2 articles we have coming up at bolts, tho neither is a particularly uplifting read, & then soon after i'll also be looking ahead at some intriguing upcoming elections...

DOJ & Halligan attack Judge Nachmanoff. But he did not call Halligan a puppet. He asked the defense if its legal position was that Halligan had been acting as a stalking horse or puppet--doing a vindictive president's bidding. (Which she almost certainly was.)

A must read from @mattshuham.bsky.social The Trump administration is turning the screws on kids who’ve arrived in the United States without adults accompanying them. www.huffpost.com/entry/docume...

A gold mine is being eyed in Lake Clark National Park, threatening salmon, brown bears, and endangered Cook Inlet belugas. The Johnson Tract project risks our ecosystems and local livelihoods. Roads and trucks don’t belong in Lake Clark’s wild heart. Join us in defending it. #protectwhatyoulove

Damn. www.startribune.com/minnesota-no...

US measles cases pass 1,750 as Utah-Arizona outbreak grows Together Mohave County, Arizona and Southwest County, Utah, have 201 cases. www.cidrap.umn.edu/m...

For the first time in my career, I can’t tell people to trust what the CDC website says. And that is an incredibly sad and devastating place for this country to be.

It’s now clear that information on U.S. government websites can no longer be trusted. It’s both heartbreaking and infuriating to see how quickly this administration has undermined science, public health, and the credibility of our scientific institutions.

I’ve spent my career in Ebola ETUs, COVID wards, and mpox outbreaks and seen how vaccines turn fear into hope saving parents, children & communities. Seeing the dangerous misinformation spread my this administration makes me sick and will kill thousands. It’s a weapon and creates chaos.

The CDC no longer feels like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. With the misinformation coming out now, it’s starting to look more like the Centers for Deliberate Confusion. Science deserves better. So does the public

Breaking: The House voted unanimously, 426-0, to strip a provision in the funding bill that allowed senators to sue the government for $500K if their phone data was searched without their knowledge. The provision was designed for GOP senators to sue over the Jack Smith investigation.

What a shit show.

Good line. Comey case is the "four seasons total landscaping of prosecutions."

JUST IN: A federal judge in New York (appointed by Trump) has ordered the Trump administation resume a deferred action program for young undocumented immigrants who faced abuse/neglect in their home country. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

the level of incompetence, far too much www.nytimes.com/2025/11/19/u...

The public could soon know who in the Trump administration knew about an alleged effort to ignore court orders barring the deportation of 137 men to a Salvadoran prison. My write up for @huffpost.com www.huffpost.com/entry/contem...

Astounding (and not in a good way.)

Oooookay, well, here you go if you're wondering the politics of the dissent:

Breaking: In DOJ Paperwork Snafu, James Comey May Never Have Been Properly Indicted Just out of court, where judge established that second operative two-count indictment of Comey was never presented to or voted on by the grand jury. Judge wanted immediate additional briefing on that issue.

blockclubchicago.org/2025/11/19/4... 400 people to be released Friday because there wasn't cause to justify their detention by ICE/border patrol in Chicago

Breaking on MS NOW: The full grand jury never reviewed the indictment it handed up against Comey. Prosecutors said, instead of presenting a new indictment after the grand jury declined to approve one of the counts, Halligan simply brought an altered version for the grand jury's foreperson to sign.

NEWS: During a hearing in federal court in VA, prosecutors confirmed that the operative indictment in the case against James Comey was never shown to or voted on by the entire grand jury before it was presented in open court. Defense counsel argued that’s a complete bar to further prosecution

Comey hearing just ended. Govt admits 2d indictment never shown to full grand jury. Judge concerned. AUSA also admits DAG Blanche’s office told him not to disclose if previous prosecutors prepared a declination memo (saying why there was no case).

@lawrenceodonnelljr.bsky.social was gracious to say I made history with the Epstein Transparency Act passing. But the survivors made history. And Rep. Thomas Massie and I showed that Congress does not have to be a supplicant to Trump, but is a co-equal branch of government. Trump caved.

Hey #Charlotte, you’re all gonna feel really helpless in the coming weeks as you see videos of ICE brutalizing your community. One thing you can do to help is contact your local food pantry and see if they need drivers to make deliveries for those in need who are afraid to leave their homes.

Other recent lawsuits allege wrongful deportations of a 16yo with protected legal status in the US and a man claiming US citizenship sent to Laos. Meanwhile, the months-long fight over Kilmar Abrego Garcia is poised to again come to a head in court his week bit.ly/3XEvsac

New data show that violence against women remains a global public health crisis. The new Violence Against Women estimates provides the most comprehensive picture yet of intimate partner and non-partner sexual violence https://bit.ly/3K4vCV9 #EndViolence #NoExcuse #16Day

Anti-abortion laws are sentencing women to death. www.propublica.org/article/texa...

The Brownstone Institute, whose members now run US health policy, is funded by a subset of people who support prominent groups in conservative politics, such as the Federalist Society and the Heritage Foundation. By @rachanadpradhan.bsky.social kffhealthnews.org/news/article...

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

BREAKING: Prosecutors in the Comey case just told the judge that they’re under orders from the Deputy Attorney Generals’s office not to disclose whether career prosecutors wrote a memo recommending *against* indicting Comey prior to Halligan going to the grand jury.

BREAKING: The Senate has just received the Epstein Files Transparency Act. It now heads to Trump's desk for his signature.

The intelligence report is removed now. www.cbsnews.com/news/jamal-k...

Good morning. This hearing is set to begin in about 10 minutes.

A quick update on the big coverup in the Letitia James case: In a new filing Monday, James lawyers asked the judge in the case to order the gov't to produce the documents reportedly turned over to prosecutors by former FHFA acting Inspector General Joe Allen. talkingpointsmemo.com/morning-memo...

Trump Defends Saudi Crown Prince, who murdered a US journalist, During Controversial Visit www.today.com/video/trump-...

I think many on the left are wrong to look at the cases in terms of gun violence. They are using gun rights to attack equality and multi-racial democracy.

My legal team will be in federal court in North Carolina today fighting against the state's unconstitutional redrawn congressional map. Before you listen to those in the GOP who say we can't win, ask Texas how that worked out for them.

🚨Using any kind of chemical weapons at this range is aggravated assault against peaceful protesters. They have no weapons, they pose no threat. ICE is the enemy. 1/2

Ex-Treasury Secretary Larry Summers has resigned from the OpenAI board of directors following the release of the Epstein emails.

Yale Budget Lab has estimated the cost of the Trump tariff checks "is about twice as large as the total revenue that will be raised by the administration's tariff hikes." Point is, it's not a dividend, it's borrowing from the future. budgetlab.yale.edu/research/est...

“Politics aside, though, the reality is that Brown is right as a matter of law: What Texas did here is essentially the one thing that even this Supreme Court says states can’t do to gain an electoral advantage. Republicans broke the law to get those five seats.” apple.news/AxstkYhmjS8S...

Ahead of a Wednesday hearing, the man accused of putting a $10K bounty on Border Patrol Cmdr. Greg Bovino's head — allegedly as a member of the Latin Kings — is seeking release. "Allegations are not evidence and certainly not proof." Full filing here: cst.brightspotcdn.com/a3/63/fe39fa...

A man Trump pardoned for storming the Capitol has arrested on child molestation charges, according to Florida officials, who said he tried to use an anticipated Jan. 6 payout to silence the victim. www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...