Trump’s New Appellate Argument about His 100 Million Imaginary Friends
Trump is appealing to the First Amendment rights of his 100 million imaginary friends to get the DC Circuit or SCOTUS to overturn Judge Tanya Chutkan’s gag.
Author Archive for: emptywheel
About emptywheel
Marcy Wheeler is an independent journalist writing about national security and civil liberties. She writes as emptywheel at her eponymous blog, publishes at outlets including Vice, Motherboard, the Nation, the Atlantic, Al Jazeera, and appears frequently on television and radio. She is the author of Anatomy of Deceit, a primer on the CIA leak investigation, and liveblogged the Scooter Libby trial.
Marcy has a PhD from the University of Michigan, where she researched the “feuilleton,” a short conversational newspaper form that has proven important in times of heightened censorship. Before and after her time in academics, Marcy provided documentation consulting for corporations in the auto, tech, and energy industries. She lives with her spouse in Grand Rapids, MI.
Entries by emptywheel
Jim Jordan Dragged Martin Estrada Away from Fighting Fentanyl To Chase Hunter Biden’s Dick Pics
/33 Comments/in 2020 Presidential Election, 2024 Presidential Election, Drug War, Hunter Biden, January 6 Insurrection/by emptywheelRepublicans claim to care about the fentanyl crisis. But in reality, they keep dragging top law enforcement officials away from fighting the fentanyl crisis to ask why they don’t care more about Hunter Biden’s dick pics.
NYT Keeps Downplaying Trump’s Past Retribution Tour
/39 Comments/in 2016 Presidential Election, 2020 Presidential Election, 2024 Presidential Election, Department of Justice, Hunter Biden, Impeachment/by emptywheelThe NYT keeps warning about how bad a second Trump term would be. But they are white-washing how bad the first one was.
Hours After Aileen Cannon Suggests She’ll Stall Florida Prosecution, Trump Moves to Stall DC One
/61 Comments/in 2020 Presidential Election, 2024 Presidential Election, January 6 Insurrection, Leak Investigations/by emptywheelOnly after Aileen Cannon signaled she would bow to Trump’s requests to delay his stolen document case did Trump move to stay his DC case until his absolute immunity claim is decided.
Chuck Grassley and James Comer Brag that 40 Informants Couldn’t Substantiate a Crime against Biden
/38 Comments/in 2020 Presidential Election, 2024 Presidential Election, Hunter Biden/by emptywheelIn an attempt to recycle false claims that the House investigation already debunked, James Comer has adopted Chuck Grassley’s claim that the FBI sicced forty informants on Donald Trump’s rival.
After Hounding Hunter Biden about Taxes for Months, Mike Johnson Coddles Rich Tax Cheats
/108 Comments/in Hunter Biden/by emptywheelIt turns out that Mike Johnson is the one giving tax cheats special treatment, not Merrick Garland or David Weiss.
After Trump Issued Threats, Abigail Jo Shry “Came after” Judge Tanya Chutkan
/77 Comments/in 2020 Presidential Election, January 6 Insurrection/by emptywheelSince Judge Tanya Chutkan lifted the stay on her gag limiting Donald Trump’s attacks on others, he has made two attacks on her that are perfectly permissible under the gag.
The “Piles” of Chris Kise Bullshit Devlin Barrett Claims to Believe
/40 Comments/in 2020 Presidential Election, Leak Investigations/by emptywheelDevlin Barrett claims to have gotten totally snookered by transparent bullshit that Trump’s lawyers were spreading about classified discovery in the stolen documents case.
Gary Shapley’s Handlers Revisit Past Leak Investigations into Chuck Grassley’s Staff
/19 Comments/in 2016 Presidential Election, 2020 Presidential Election, 2024 Presidential Election, emptywheel, Hunter Biden, Leak Investigations, Mueller Probe/by emptywheelGary Shapley’s handlers just submitted a FOIA seeking to learn, among other things, whether the FBI was investigating leaks by Chuck Grassley staffers during the period when Shapley proved more worried about Congressional inquiries than protecting the Hunter Biden investigation.
Mike Pence Simplifies the Gag Order Dispute
/38 Comments/in 2020 Presidential Election, January 6 Insurrection/by emptywheelBy dropping out of the Presidential race, Mike Pence resolved the biggest problem with the gag order Tanya Chutkan imposed in the January 6 case against Donald Trump.