JUST IN: John Eastman, the conservative attorney who helped devise President Trump's last ditch strategy to overturn the 2020 presidential election, has officially been disbarred, per the California Supreme Court:

I’m especially proud of our work at @lawfaremedia.org because we’ve produced what is likely the most detailed contemporaneous reporting on J6 legal cases. Even as I watch history be rewritten in real time, I still hope it will serve future historians seeking truth. givebutter.com/journalism/a...

As someone who was in the FBI while the investigations were ongoing, and who now works at @lawfaremedia.org I cannot overemphasize how thorough the site’s coverage of the events truly was — and is.

Very important flag by @rparloff.bsky.social. En banc review may well come out the same way it did last time.

“The past was erased, the erasure was forgotten, the lie became the truth.”

She was granted withholding of removal from India *decades* ago, and had been living and working legally (including for the U.S. government!) ever since. But with third country removals now a real option, TSA shared her data with ICE and they arrested her at the airport on her way to a job.

Some notes: Judge Rao (Trump) implies in fn 6 that Judge Boasberg defied a 2-1 order she joined. But Rao omits that 6 of 11 DC Circuit judges later opined that Boasberg was free to resume fact-finding about alleged contempt by DOJ/DHS. At right, Judge Childs (Obama) corrects Rao's omission. 1/4

Trump asks Judge Leon for another 14-day administrative stay of his order freezing his Ballroom construction, citing Trump's personal safety and his having survived multiple assassination attempts. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Yesterday @aclu.org filed this interesting damages suit for an engineer on an H-1B visa who was dragged from his car & detained under Operation Catch-of-the-Day. Sues under Maine's Civil Rights Act for illegal stop & detention, excessive force, race discrim. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

BREAKING: In latest effort to appease/impress Trump, Jeanine Pirro sends prosecutors to make surprise visit at Fed HQ construction site. They ask for a tour but get turned away. Bad news for Kevin Walsh confirmation! GIFT LINK: www.wsj.com/us-news/law/...

Here's Trump on Jan 13, 2021, after he'd been impeached, but before the Senate had voted on whether to convict and bar him from office for life. "There's never a justification for violence ... Those who engaged in attacks last week will be brought to justice."

These are the remaining seditious conspiracy cases. On inauguration day, these defs—like Stewart Rhodes & Ethan Nordean—had their sentences "commuted," but were not pardoned. So their appeals were still pending. The Oath Keeper defendant appellate briefs were due Friday.

GOVT ASKS DC CIRCUIT TO VACATE CONVICTIONS AND REMAND FOR DISMISSAL IN OATH KEEPERS AND PROUD BOYS CASES. Stewart Rhodes, Ethan Nordean, everybody. ... www.documentcloud.org/documents/28...

National Trust suing to stop Trump’s Ballroom tells Judge Leon that govt’s concerns about adversaries studying the open demolition site are inconsistent with Trump’s April 2 Truth Social photo of himself posing there. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

How 3 Trump-appointed judges have prevented Judge Boasberg from probing top DHS & DOJ officials (including a now fourth Trump-appointed judge, Emil Bove) for possible criminal contempt for 363 days.

Here are the 122 pages of opinion whereby 2 Trump appointed judges have, again, blocked Boasberg from probing the possible criminal contempt that sent > 100 Venzuelans to CECOT. www.documentcloud.org/documents/28...

DC panel has (again) BLOCKED Judge Boasberg from investigating possible criminal contempt by DOJ and DHS officials, including Judge Bove, in connection with sending Venezuelans to CECOT against his order. (I can't access full ruling yet.) Panel: Judges Rao (Trump) Walker (Trump) & Childs (Obama)

In Trump Ballroom case, govt tells Judge Leon that “the entire [Ballroom] project advances critical national-security objectives as an integrated whole” &, therefore, all aspects of construction must proceed apace. ... 1/3 storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Q: Did you post that picture of yourself depicted as Jesus Christ? TRUMP: I did post it and I thought it was me as a doctor and had to do Red Cross. Only the fake news could come up with that one.

One of Harmeet Dhillon's 1st acts as head of Civil Rights Div was to terminate a 2023 settlement to install functioning sanitation in a poor, predominantly Black area in Alabama. Highly informative article by @qjurecic.bsky.social www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

Today's Lawfare Daily is the April 10 livestream where @benjaminwittes.lawfaremedia.org, @ericcolumbus.bsky.social, @mollyroberts.bsky.social, and @rparloff.bsky.social discussed the D.C. Circuit denying Anthropic’s motion to stay its supply chain designation and more. youtube.com/live/1rrRiKM...

NEW: A judge has granted The Wall Street Journal's motion to dismiss President Trump's complaint over its Epstein reporting storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Pulte's probably looking into his mortgages now.

The arcsin of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice. (from @stevevladeck.bsky.social 's column today.) www.stevevladeck.com/p/220-why-is...

Asked directly about Mr. Trump’s comments on Truth Social, Leo said: “It’s ironic — the name of the site itself. Say no more.” (gift article) www.nytimes.com/live/2026/04...

DC Circuit, 2-1, asks Judge Leon to clarify how the "safety & security" exception to his injunction against Trump's Ballroom construction works. Stays Leon's injunction until 4/17. Judge Rao writes 12-page dissent, & would lift injunction indefinitely. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

ICYMI: @benjaminwittes.lawfaremedia.org, @mollyroberts.bsky.social, @ericcolumbus.bsky.social, and @rparloff.bsky.social discussed the D.C. Circuit denying Anthropic’s petition for a stay of its supply chain designation, a judge blocking DOJ from accessing Massachusetts voter records, and more.

In 1 hour join @benjaminwittes.lawfaremedia.org, @ericcolumbus.bsky.social, @rparloff.bsky.social, and @mollyroberts.bsky.social for a live discussion of litigation-related national security news of the week on the Trials of the Trump Administration!

Extremely troubling facts & extremely troubling ruling by Judge Nichols. A MN law firm alleges that in January the DOJ unit that runs immigration courts began fast-tracking hearings for non-detained Somalis & sending them to immigration judges known for high asylum denial & removal rates. ... 1/4

Fifth Circuit has denied rehearing en banc in its mandatory immigration detention case. (No noted dissents.) Next stop will presumably be SCOTUS. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

To DC Circuit, Trump doubles down on claim that Judge Leon's order against building his Ballroom without Congress's consent "gravely threatens national security." Cites immediate need for, e.g., "drone-proofing" & "top-secret military installations." storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

The 3d Circuit has unanimously stayed, pending appeal, most of Judge Rufe’s order which had required restoration of displays about enslaved people near the Presidents House near Independence Hall in Philadelphia. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

In SCOTUS case, attys for the Haitians fighting to keep temporary protective status (TPS) filed a couple new items. Here a career US Citizenship & Immigration Svcs person notes that only 0.06 % of Haitians with TPS have any "public safety records" & none are "known or suspected terrorists."

Who wrote these lines?: “The soldier, be he friend or foe, is charged with the protection of the weak and unarmed. It is the very essence and reason for his being.” Answer in this moving (gift) article by @davidfrenchjag.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/2026/04/09/o...

NEW: Inside the factional jockeying for influence and control of Trump’s DOJ. -The Dhillon-Warrington alliance -Blanche’s unique standing w/ Trump -The uncertain fate of Stanley Woodward w/ @myahward.bsky.social @joshgerstein.bsky.social www.politico.com/news/2026/04...

Where does Anthropic stand right now? 1. DoD can refuse to use it for IT and telecoms pending full briefing before DC Cir. 2. Nothing stops rest of fed govt from using it & GSA said on 4/3 it was restoring it to USAI.gov. 3. Private contractors can use it, except on covered DoD contracts.

DC CIrcuit panel denies Anthropic the stay it sought against Hegseth's other supply chain risk designation (under 41 USC 4713), but grants expedited briefing. (Meanwhile Judge Lin's injunction against the designation under 10 USC 3252 remains.) storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Judge Brian Murphy has blocked Noem's attempted termination of Temporary Protective Status for Ethiopians, for violating Admin Procedure Act. (Same issue being argued before SCOTUS April 29 for Haitians and Syrians.) storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Cruel decorum!! Even while praising Judge Leon's ruling enjoining White House ballroom construction, the National Trust for Historic Preservation's appellate lawyers EXCISE one of Judge Leon's exclamation points.

National Trust tells DC Circuit there’s no "national security emergency" requiring Trump to resume work on his Ballroom. Work on bunker underground is permitted. “Absence of massive ballroom has not stopped this (or any other) prez from residing at WH.” 1/2 storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Ed Martin is trying to move DC bar case against him to federal court. Says he opened probe of DC bar counsel Fox before Fox opened one on him. But letter Martin sent to Fox was to wrong address & so vacuous Fox may not have taken it seriously. ... 1/2 storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

The parties in the Trump Memorial Arch litigation have proposed a consent order. No construction can start until at least 14 days after the National Park Service gives notice on its web site—giving plaintiffs a chance to run back to court. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

KSENIIA PETROVA (Harvard clawed frog embryo computational biologist) wins her Vermont habeas case on partial summary judgment: the Court finds the cancellation of her visa was arbitrary and capricious and must be set aside, and therefore the revocation of her visa is set aside.

HAPPENING NOW: Ongoing status hearing in Kilmar Abrego Garcia's civil case. The government is seeking to deport him to Liberia. Abrego has said he would be willing to go to Costa Rica (which previously agreed to accept him).

The American Historical Assn has sued to invalidate the DOJ Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) opinion declaring the Presidential Records Act (PRA) unconstitutional. It relies mainly on Nixon v GSA (1977), in which SCOTUS upheld a predecessor law. ... 1/2 storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Fulton County’s reply brief cites my story for @lawfaremedia.org. The piece highlighted public statements made by Harmeet Dhillon, the head of DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, regarding the timing of the criminal investigation into alleged 2020 election fraud. www.lawfaremedia.org/article/fult...

This is a remarkable story of a longtime DOJ prosecutor, portrayed here as not especially competent, who has become a big star in this administration because he will eagerly do preposterous things for them. GIFT LINK: www.wsj.com/us-news/law/...

Proud to support this!

ICYMI: Watch @benjaminwittes.lawfaremedia.org, @annabower.bsky.social, @rparloff.bsky.social, @katherinepomps.bsky.social and @mollyroberts.bsky.social discuss Lawfare’s new database of government non-compliance, Pam Bondi being fired as AG, and more.

In litigation over Trump's "Memorial Arch," Trump agrees not to build 'til Nat Park Service has followed all "legal requirements"—but no agreement over what those requirements are & whether Congress must approve. Unclear what Judge Chutkan will do. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...