Judge Crenshaw wants to make public his 12/3 ruling discussing the key role Dep AG Todd Blanche’s office played in deciding to prosecute Abrego Garcia. But Crenshaw is apparently giving govt 'til 12/30 to appeal his rulings rejecting govt's atty-client & other privilege claims ... 1/4

Re-upping the back page of the current @theonion.com print edition in light of Bari’s new explanation below

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-...

Former CIA Director Brennan asks Chief Judge in SDFla to stop govt from steering grand jury probe to Judge Aileen Cannon, citing "irregular activity" & Cannon's "demonstrated pattern of favoring ... Trump's litigation positions." By @charliesavage.bsky.social . (gift) www.nytimes.com/2025/12/22/u...

Per NY Times’s Michael Grynbaum on X, this is Sharyn Alfonsi’s email to her “60 Minutes” colleagues in full:

Remarkable story, even for this Administration: www.politico.com/news/2025/12...

This is important because Abrego prosecutor, US Atty McGuire, has been arguing that any vindictiveness by Trump or his political apptees, like DAG Blanche, doesn't matter, because McGuire alone made the decision to prosecute & McGuire was not vindictive. Judge Crenshaw doesn't seem to be buying it.

In sealed order issued 12/3, Judge Crenshaw found that @DAGToddBlanche's deputy, Aakash Singh, played a “leading role in the govt’s decision to prosecute” Abrego Garcia. Abrego’s attys’ failed to redact that language in a brief, correcting the error shortly thereafter... 1/2

As AG Bondi knows, her 3/14/25 Alien Enemies Act guidance deprived the removed individuals of any due process as to whether they were in fact "terrorists." SCOTUS was *unanimous* that she acted unconstitutionally. She should stop her unseemly, politicized tantrums.

A 2-1 DC Circuit panel (2 Trump appointees in majority) temporarily blocks Boasberg from conducting a contempt inquiry in JGG, which Boasberg was trying to resume after a different 2-1 DC Circuit panel (2 Trump apptees in majority) blocked it for 7 months. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Main reason for Abrego's release is that there was never an order of removal (believe it or not). [ICE can re-open his case to get an order of removal, but when it does, Abrego will ask to go to Costa Rica, and will have strong legal argument that govt must try Costa Rica first.]

"Respondents did not just stonewall. They affirmatively misled the tribunal."

Judge Xinis grants habeas for Abrego Garcia, ordering him released from ICE custody immediately. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

After a sealed ex parte (govt only) hearing in Abrego's criminal case yesterday, Judge Crenshaw has ordered, over govt objection, that redacted copies of 6 documents relevant to Abrego's motion to dismiss for vindictive prosecution be turned over to Abrego's team. That's all we know for now.

The govt’s filing yesterday in JGG suggests it will try to derail, by a 2d mandamus petition (appeal), next week’s hearings before Judge Boasberg. Testimony there could suggest that Emil Bove lied to the Senate & that DAG Blanche misled the public. ... 1/7 storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

2 weeks after Dan Richman filed his motion to bar the govt from accessing data it seized from him years ago (key to Comey case), & 4 days after the judge temporarily granted it, no govt atty ostensibly working on the case has properly entered an appearance. Judge gives govt till tomorrow at 10am.

"there's a new serif in town"

Also doesn’t acknowledge that Richman’s appointment had lapsed in June 2016 and he was technically never reappointed, per docs I reviewed. But gov’s concession re: Feb. 2017 is important bc most of its public evidence against Comey post-dates that period www.lawfaremedia.org/article/more...

Govt asks Judge Kollar-Kotelly to dissolve her injunction freezing its access to Dan Richman's property. Argues that it is effectively enjoining govt from investigating Comey & improperly using Rule 41g to "obstruct" Comey's potential prosecution. www.documentcloud.org/documents/26...

"During a visit to Washington in recent days, David Ellison [of Paramount] offered assurances to Trump administration officials that if he bought Warner, he’d make sweeping changes to CNN, a common target of President Trump’s ire..." (gift link) www.wsj.com/business/med...

New WSJ reporting: "During a December visit to Washington, David Ellison offered assurances to Trump administration officials that if he bought Warner, he'd make sweeping changes to CNN, a common target of President Trump's ire, people familiar with the matter said..."

In challenge to Secy Noem’s termination of temporary protective status (TPS) to Afghans & Cameroonians in May & June, Judge Chuang lets race-discrimination claims to go forward & grants discovery given “strong showing” of “improper behavior” by Noem ... 1/2

JUST IN: DOJ confirms Trump asserted executive privilege to shield more than 4,100 documents form police and lawmakers suing him over the Jan. 6 riot. Our earlier story on the privilege claim: www.politico.com/news/2025/12...

In JGG, Judge Boasberg will hear testimony from whistleblower Erez Reuveni on 12/15 and from DOJ atty Drew Ensign in hearings over whether to hold DHS Secy Noem in contempt. Declarations provided too "cursory" to tell if her conduct was willful violation of court's order."

@sranderson.bsky.social and @nkorpett.bsky.social analyze the legality of the Trump admin's airstrikes and find that, even if you accept its flawed in'l legal justification for the broader campaign, Pete Hegseth's alleged order to "kill them all" and the resulting second strike are unlawful.

Abrego is asking Judge Crenshaw to let him tell the criminal jury the full story of his immigration saga—which govt seeks to exclude. Says it explains the witnesses' bias & how they've won extraordinary favors from the govt in their own crim/immigration cases. www.documentcloud.org/documents/26...

Sometimes, it's difficult to predict how #SCOTUS is going to rule based solely on how the oral argument goes. And sometimes ... it's not.

Today's Lawfare Daily is a live where @nkorpett.bsky.social, @annabower.bsky.social, @michael-feinberg.bsky.social, @mollyroberts.bsky.social, @rparloff.bsky.social, @ericcolumbus.bsky.social, and James Pearce discussed the disqualification of Alina Habba as U.S. attorney, and more.

Remarkable win for Prof Dan Richman (and Comey), at least temporarily. Judge Kollar-Kotelly orders USA not to access any info seized from Richman's devices—which Mag Judge Fitzpatrick called the centerpiece of the case vs Comey—till she permits. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

BREAKING: Judge orders key evidence in (dismissed) Comey case put off limits to prosecutors. Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly (Clinton) grants TRO requested by Comey lawyer/adviser Dan Richman re his data. Doc: storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Prof Dan Richman has fixed glitch in his filing & is seeking an emergency order—ASAP—to stop govt from using info seized from his devices in 2019-2021 (or copies) until his 4th Am claims can be heard. If granted, could throw wrench in any attempt to recharge Comey. (Unusual request tho.) 1/2

political science

Here are the declarations of Secy Noem, DHS GC Mazzara, and DOJ DAG Todd Blanche on their decision not to follow Judge Boasberg's orders to halt surrender of Venezuelans into foreign custody on 3/15-16/25.

On left: President Trump Statement Sept. 2, 2025: "The strike occurred while the terrorists were at sea in international waters transporting illegal narcotics, heading to the United States." On right: (Under penalty of law) military leaders told Congress headed to Suriname.

Veteran criminal chief demoted in EDVa. A retired EDNC guy is parachuted in. By @benjaminpenn.bsky.social news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

great reporting on an office in complete disarray. by Katelyn Polentz and Devan Cole of @cnn.com www.cnn.com/2025/12/05/p...

NYT corroborating and extending WaPo's results. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

ABC News -- @kfaulders.bsky.social et al -- confirming

Judge Beryl Howell was frustrated by the gap between DOJ's arguments & DHS's, Bovino's, and Tricia MClaughlin's public statements: "This defense ... assert[s] the position "don't believe either what we say or what we do, just trust whatever we tell you now." 1/2

Brian Cole is the person in FBI custody who investigators believe left the pipe bombs, two senior law enforcement officials briefed on the matter told NBC News.

the @washingtonpost.com reports that 80% of aliens arrested in DC crackdown had no criminal record--932 individuals. (DHS spox Tricia McLaughlin routinely asserts that 70% of those arrested have US criminal records.) www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...

On 7/8, govt changed 29 yrs of statutory interpretation & announced that detention was mandatory for the vast majority of undocumented immigrants in the U.S. On 11/26, Judge Kaplan calculated that of 362 cases testing the new policy since then, 350 had gone against govt (left); 12 for (right).

NEW: Jim Jordan and House GOPers refused to let the American public hear directly from Jack Smith, per his attorney.

On Lawfare Daily, @rparloff.bsky.social spoke to @renholding.bsky.social and Judge Jed Rakoff, about Holding's recent book "Better Judgment: How Three Judges Are Bringing Justice Back to the Courts," the role of district judges in our justice system, and attacks those judges are enduring today.

George Will: "Pete Hegseth seems to be a war criminal. Without a war. An interesting achievement. ... The killing of the survivors by this moral slum of an administration should nauseate Americans. A nation incapable of shame is dangerous, not least to itself" www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

There's a high stakes race going on. Prof Dan Richman is seeking a TRO to stop govt from using docs that were seized from his devices yrs ago. They were key to govt's 1st case against Comey. But Judge orders Richman to address procedural glitches first. h/t @annabower.bsky.social 1/2

Today’s Third Circuit ruling that Alina Habba was unlawfully appointed casts doubt on AG Bondi's back-up theory for Halligan—the notion that Bondi could appoint her a “special atty” (under 28 USC § 515) who could do everything a US atty could. ... 1/4

Here's a gift link: www.wsj.com/world/russia...

Professor Jack Goldsmith, head of George W. Bush Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel (OLC): "I do not believe that even the Bondi OLC could legally justify the events the Post reported." "There can be no conceivable legal justification for what the Washington Post reported."