In normal times, the fact that government officials at HHS blatantly lied to the public and got caught would be a scandal of unusual size. Everyone involved in this disinformation scheme against the people of the United States should be held accountable.

Far-right-extremist Rep. John McGuire (R-VA05) was literally at the 1/6/21 insurrection, and his pal - former VA State Senator Amanda Chase (also a far-right extremist) - recorded a video with "Oath Keepers" founder Stewart Rhodes the night before the insurrection. bluevirginia.us/2026/05/satu...

People who lost family members in the fight for the Voting Rights Act tell @talkingpointsmemo.com how they feel about the Supreme Court’s decision demolishing it. talkingpointsmemo.com/news/their-l...

Some notes now that I’ve seen the transcript of the hearing, thanks to @lizdye.bsky.social . First: the government dismissed the felony count in an effort to convince the judge not to make them produce full transcripts, knowing they showed serious misconduct.

“How Democrats can fight new GOP gerrymanders—while still respecting the VRA” electionlawblog.org?p=156281

Kate, Melissa, & I have an article in the SF Chronicle that is about the abomination I am calling the slushbag sleazefund DOJ Deal-do @kateshaw.bsky.social @profmmurray.bsky.social @strictscrutiny.bsky.social: www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/open...

The idea that race and partisanship would be too entangled to identify voting restrictions as racist would have seemed absurd to the authors of the 15th Amendment, given that it was itself adopted at a time of racist partisan disenfranchisement www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

This looks like a kind of "Settlement Bribery" The paper considers using faux lawsuits and settlements to funnel bribes-which may or may not be currently relevant These lessons are surely applicable to a settlement with one's self to funnel $ to one's (vile) friends rough draft (ugh) available

Ok, let's live-skeet my research on the DOJ Judgment Fund. Here's the authorizing statute, 31 USC 1304: www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/...

They're stealing billions of your money to pay off violent right-wing psychos while doing everything in their power to spike gas up to $5 a gallon, make groceries into a luxury and hand the country over to the oligarchs who want to permanently replace you.

This is Trump and his Republican allies stealing your money from the U.S. Treasury to further their plot to overthrow democracy. It's fucking outrageous. (NYT gift link)

Safe prediction. As bad as Dominion has been for Virginians, in so many ways, things will get worse for us.

"A prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a people who mean to be free." The Declaration of Independence (1776) Seems relevant now.

The president is stealing tax dollars from the public treasury to pay off his criminal cronies.

taking tax dollars to pay insurrectionists. which (by the way) the 14th amendment is supposed to prohibit: "[N]either the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States...."

Playing for the natty tomorrow!!! Let’s go Hoos!

Congratulations to @wlulaw.bsky.social Class of 2026 on your graduation!! It’s been such an honor and a privilege to teach and learn from you over the last three years. Wishing you every success!

I shared some thoughts over on the Book that are too long for a bluesky post. TLDR: dont agonize, organize. And remember the words of Frederick Douglass: power concedes nothing without a demand.

You may remember this great story my colleague Pascal wrote on Black voters in Fayette Co., their legal win, and how they're bracing for the VRA's impact. boltsmag.org/voting-right... The NYT 3 days ago: www.nytimes.com/2026/05/11/u... Of course it makes sense to cover Fayette now! Just credit!

Justice Thomas is wrong: Federal law doesn't make it illegal to mail mifepristone to a woman w/o knowledge that she plans to use it unlawfully. www.justice.gov/olc/opinion/... Note, also, how Thomas & Alito would rule for LA regardless of whether the state has standing or is right on the merits.

But the idea that Dobbs was ever just *letting the people decide* what to do about abortion was a fig leaf - it was clear that Alito and others were more than happy to have the courts force abortion restrictions even when people and politics didn’t want them

Trump plans to steal $1.7B from taxpayers to pay off the terrorists he already freed from prison. abcnews.com/US/trump-poi...

I am really proud of the work that @rebouche.bsky.social @greerdonley.bsky.social and I did to conceive of and advocate for shield laws. They've made a huge and tangible difference for people in this country. But now we can add another thing to be proud of -- they piss off Sam Alito. Poor Sam.

Justice Alito complaining about the Court granting a stay without any reasoning is, shall we say, rich? He's been in the majority in scores of such cases, many involving elections.

One of the VERY FIRST things done after the Constitutional Convention in 1787 was to have the text of the new Constitution translated into Dutch and German, which were at the time the two largest non-English language spoken in the United States. Here's the National Archives making this point:

Rhode Island district judge Mary Mcelroy has quashed the subpoena from the DOJ seeking to access the medical records of trans youth. She enjoined DOJ as well. She calls DOJ "untrustworthy" and DOJ misrepresented and withheld information from the court. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

the Supreme Court's understanding of "too close to an election for federal courts to change things" apparently includes elections 11 months away* but not elections happening now** *bc it helps racist Republicans in Texas **bc it hurts Black Democrats in Alabama ballsandstrikes.org/law-politics...

This is simply bonkers. The White House is in active discussions with DOJ about settling Trump's lawsuit against the IRS in his favor, *precisely because* a judge might soon throw it out. WH apparently wants DOJ to agree to "settle" the lawsuit *before* that happens. Utter insanity.

If accurate, this is a massive own goal by @abigailspanberger.com. Public-sector employees in VA worked their butts off to elect her last year. More importantly, they deserve the job security and a real voice at the table that come with collective bargaining. vadogwood.com/news/labor/b...

This would constitute one of the most brazen, most appalling acts of corruption in U.S. history. I know we’re numb to all of this but this is a seven-alarm fire. www.nytimes.com/2026/05/12/b...

This is absolutely outrageous. SCOTUS reinstated Texas gerrymander 15 weeks before primary because they claimed it was too close to election to block it but now allowing Alabama to gerrymander one week before primary after trial court found map was intentionally discriminatory against Black voters

Roberts dropping that “we’re not political actors” quote and doing this 96 hours later is nasty work

Sam Alito in Callais: the 14th/15th amendment only care about intentional discrimination! SCOTUS today: jk! not even that! (unless the “intentional” discrimination is attempting to comply with the voting rights act, in which case it’s unconstitutional intentional racial discrimination)

Roberts majority, citing Callais, throws out lower court’s 571-page finding that AL’s 2023 maps intentionally discriminated against Black voters. Sotomayor, with Kagan and Jackson, dissents bc Alito et al said intentional discrimination claims survive Callais www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25p...

Calvinball level: Infinity

As I wrote this morning… www.stevevladeck.com/p/227-were-a...

very much of the view that a democratic congress should wield the guarantee clause against ad hoc, mid-decade redistricting, a practice which is an end run against representative government itself

“Massive corruption going on in the White House. The Swiss gave [Trump] a personalized gold bar… Qatar gave him a jumbo jet… [Trump] pardoned a criminal because that person…helps his family with crypto. The amount of corruption is… unconscionable.” @reptedlieu.bsky.social bsky.app/profile/mims...

I tried to warn everyone what the Roberts Court was about almost ten years ago www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

Read all about it: www.nbcnews.com/politics/sup...

Democracy Dies in Unilateral Disarmament In the immediate moment this is the only response to the far right authoritarian party's attempt to end democracy in America. Ultimately, single member districts need to go. We won't become an actual democracy until that happens.

The rules of redistricting are simple: Republicans are free to do whatever they want, and Democrats are also free to do whatever Republicans want.

The power of democracy always rests with the voter. It is, “of the people, by the people, and for the people”. Shocked and appalled that seven judges in a closed room decided to overturn the direct vote and choice of millions of citizens.

The majority's holding is: "election" doesn't mean what it says in the Virginia Code and how it has always been interpreted, it has a new amorphous meaning we sharked up from every other source we could imagine.

From the dissent: "Today the majority has broadened the meaning of the word 'election,' as used in the Virginia Constitution, to include the early voting period. This is in direct conflict with how both Virginia and federal law define an election." The majority, basically: "Nuh uh."

FLASH: Virginia Supreme Court, 4-3, overturns redistricting referendum that could have netted Democrats 5 additional House seats. Doc: www.vacourts.gov/static/opini...

I don’t think Americans with hypertension and various other treatable conditions deserve to die. Sorry to get so partisan, but that’s how I feel.

"The Government cannot escape liability for DOGE’s work by scapegoating ChatGPT." A US judge slammed DOGE's use of AI in a decision today blocking the termination of $100M in humanities grants, finding DOGE lacked authority and unlawfully based decisions on race and viewpoint buff.ly/Qw0qcDH

Remarkable interview with a remarkable lawyer, Janai Nelson open.substack.com/pub/joycevan...

So there are multiple direct lines between the January 6th insurrection and the gutting of the Voting Rights Act by the Supreme Court (Clarence Thomas and his wife being another)