![](https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/480px-2016_March_16_Merrick_Garland_profile_by_The_White_House-480x400.jpg)
Navel-Gazing: The Ethics Problem Caused by Merrick Garland's Brad Weinsheimer Solution
Merrick Garland's reliance on the career Associate Deputy Attorney General rather than a PADAG to oversee Special Counsel investigations seems to have created a kind of navel-gazing that only encourages ethical problems with the investigations.
![](https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Fridays-with-Nicole-Sandler-495x400.png)
Fridays with Nicole Sandler
Fridays with Nicole Sandler.
![](https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Screen-Shot-2023-07-29-at-4.29.53-PM-495x400.png)
Trump's Defense: He Intended to Steal Boxes and Boxes of Classified Documents
Between his motion to dismiss for absolute immunity and his motion to dismiss under Presidential Records Act, Trump is quite literally claiming that being President gave him authority to steal boxes and boxes of classified documents.
![](https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Screenshot-2024-02-23-at-06.10.36-495x400.png)
Ken Vogel Covers Up Rudy Giuliani and His Alleged Russian Spies
In a story struggling to explain how Alexander Smirnov relates to the side channel Bill Barr set up to launder dirt from Rudy Giuliani, Giuliani mouthpiece Ken Vogel covers up the role of Rudy and the alleged Russian spies from whom he solicited dirt on Hunter Biden.
![](https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Screen-Shot-2023-06-09-at-7.53.48-PM-495x400.png)
Stolen Documents Motions to Dismiss
Trump's (and Carlos De Oliveira's) motions to dismiss.
![](https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Biden-laptop-Teddy-495x400.jpeg)
Happy Delaware Laptop Day, for Those Who Celebrate
A Delaware court will consider Hunter Biden's motion for summary judgment against John Paul Mac Isaac today. If he prevails, the decision may roil both criminal cases against Hunter Biden and 40 months of propaganda from Murdoch properties.
![](https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Vienna-Train-Station-REfugees-Sept-14-2015-495x400.jpg)
Denaturalization And Asylum In Interwar Europe
Denaturalization rising, asylum sinking, at least on the angry right
![](https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Screenshot-2024-02-15-at-22.34.50-495x400.png)
David Weiss Was Planning on Using Alexander Smirnov's Claims against the Bidens Until He Wasn't Anymore
The Alexander Smirnov prosecution provides more evidence that the reason why David Weiss reneged on a plea deal was to chase this bribery claim.
![](https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Screenshot-2024-01-24-at-15.38.59-495x400.png)
Hunter Biden's Motions to Dismiss: The Technical Complaints
In addition to sweeping motions to dismiss the indictment against him, Hunter Biden also filed a number of technical motions that would have the effect of chipping away at most of the charges against him.
![](https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Screenshot-2024-01-24-at-15.38.59-495x400.png)
Hunter Biden's CA Motions to Dismiss
Hunter Biden's Los Angeles motions to dismiss.
![](https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Screenshot-2024-02-20-at-22.05.46-495x400.png)
Alexander Smirnov Admits Russian Spies Passed on Lies about Hunter Biden
Alexander Smirnov admitted some of the claims he has made about Hunter Biden came from Russian spies.
![](https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Screenshot-2024-02-14-at-11.04.59-495x400.png)
Smirnov and [a]Blow
In their reply motion to compel, Hunter Biden's attorneys manage to get both Smirnov and blow into the act.
![](https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/440px-Robert_Hur_Official_Photo-440x400.jpeg)
Robert Hur Snooped Through Joe Biden's Diaries after White House Warned It Would Be Unprecedented
Robert Hur used his investigation into Joe Biden as an opportunity to snoop through Joe Biden's diaries ... and he did so even though no prosecutor had done such a thing in the past.
![](https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/440px-Robert_Hur_Official_Photo-440x400.jpeg)
In Advance of Robert Hur Hit Job, DOJ Updated Public Identification Policy
Bradley Weinsheimer defended Robert Hur's attacks on doddering old man Joe Biden by pointing to a section of the Justice Manual added just days or hours before Hur finished his report.
![](https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Screenshot-2024-02-18-at-12.33.05-495x400.png)
How Merrick Garland Mistook a Trump Hitman for a Career Prosecutor
By settling Andrew McCabe's lawsuit, DOJ conceded that Robert Hur and others had deprived the former FBI Deputy Director of due process. Then DOJ put Hur in charge of an investigation of Joe Biden.
![](https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Paulie-476x400.jpg)
But Her Emails: How Trump Trained the GOP to Hate Rule of Law 1
Even before Russians dropped a match onto the bonfire of partisan divide in 2016, Republicans were absolutely convinced Hillary was either a criminal or they could make her one.
![](https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Fridays-with-Nicole-Sandler-495x400.png)
Fridays with Nicole Sandler
Fridays with Nicole Sander.
![](https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Screenshot-2024-02-15-at-22.34.50-495x400.png)
58A-PG-3250958: Curiosities about the Alexander Smirnov Case
David Weiss' team seeks to detain Alexander Smirnov pretrial.
![](https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Bobulinski-495x400.jpg)
Tony Bobulinski Says Trump's Impeachment Radicalized Him
When the actual facts didn't match Tony Bobulinski's claims in recent Oversight Committee testimony, he accused everyone else of lying.
![](https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Wikimedia_AlexeyNavalnyAnnaVedutaIlyaYashin-MoscowRally_12JUN2013_1500pxw-495x400.jpg)
Putin’s Other War of Attrition
Alexei Navalny, Russia’s opposition leader and founder of the Anti-Corruption Foundation, died today as a complication of Vladimir Putin’s trumped-up imprisonment.