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Emil Bove’s Missing Documents
There are a number of documents Judge Dale Ho might demand that Emil Bove submit to the docket before dismissing the case against Eric Adams, including the notes from a January 31 meeting that Bove confiscated. Remarkably, though, Bove didn't even submit the most obvious: Adams' consent to dismissal without prejudice, which Bove negotiated without the involvement of SDNY.

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Aggressive Defense Of The Rule Of Law
Fighting Trump's assault on the rule of law means losing the gentility complex

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Fridays with Nicole Sandler
Listen on Spotify (transcripts available)

Listen on Apple (transcripts available)

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As the Thursday Night Massacre Turns into Friday Morning
Hagen Scotten is the latest DOJ attorney who has put principle over Emil Bove's political errand.

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Did Pam Bondi Bury the Election Day Bomb Threats?
With twin efforts taken in recent weeks -- the closure of FBI's Foreign Influence Task Force and the sidelining of the people at CISA who protected the 2024 election -- we may never get an explanation about who called in bomb threats to disrupt election day in November.

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2024 Presidential Election, Trump 2.0

Emil Bove's Missing Documents

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February 16, 2025

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There are a number of documents Judge Dale Ho might demand that Emil Bove submit to the docket before dismissing the case against Eric Adams, including the notes from a January 31 meeting that Bove confiscated. Remarkably, though, Bove didn't even submit the most obvious: Adams' consent to dismissal without prejudice, which Bove negotiated without the involvement of SDNY.

Aggressive Defense Of The Rule Of Law

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February 15, 2025

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Fighting Trump's assault on the rule of law means losing the gentility complex

2024 Presidential Election

Fridays with Nicole Sandler

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February 14, 2025

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Listen on Spotify (transcripts available) Listen on Apple (transcripts available)

2024 Presidential Election

As the Thursday Night Massacre Turns into Friday Morning

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February 14, 2025

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Hagen Scotten is the latest DOJ attorney who has put principle over Emil Bove's political errand.

2024 Election, emptywheel

Did Pam Bondi Bury the Election Day Bomb Threats?

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February 14, 2025

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With twin efforts taken in recent weeks -- the closure of FBI's Foreign Influence Task Force and the sidelining of the people at CISA who protected the 2024 election -- we may never get an explanation about who called in bomb threats to disrupt election day in November.

Artificial Intelligence

What We Talk About When We Talk About AI (Part one)

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February 14, 2025

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A Normal Person's Explainer on What Generative AI is and Does Part 1 - In the Beginning was the Chatbot "Are you comfortably seated? Yes, well, let's begin." *Clears throat theatrically* "Our experience, in natural theology, can never furnish…

2024 Presidential Election, Trump 2.0

Emil Bove's Prisoner Exchange

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February 13, 2025

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Emil Bove likened dismissing Eric Adams' prosecution (while leaving it hanging over his head) to the Viktor Bout prisoner trade.

2024 Presidential Election, DOGE

Trump Fired Inspectors General Who Identified $183.5 Billion in Waste, Fraud, and Abuse

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February 12, 2025

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The lawsuit by eight of the Inspectors General Trump fired on his fourth day on the job -- who claim they've identified $183.5 billion in potential waste, fraud, and abuse during their tenure as IGs -- will contrast their proven efforts with DOGE's feigned interest in doing the same.

2020 Presidential Election, 2024 Presidential Election, COVID-19, DOGE

Thomas Krause Says Trump Had to Close USAID because of Trump's Poor COVID Management

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February 12, 2025

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In a court filing, DOGE lead at Treasury, Thomas Krause, attempted to justify his existence by citing a bunch of GAO reports. One of them substantiated how many improper payments were made in programs Donald Trump set up in response to COVID.

2024 Presidential Election, DOGE, Trump 2.0

Marko Elez "Resigned" the Day His Write Access to Payment Systems Was Discovered

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February 12, 2025

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Because Marko Elez resigned the same day WSJ asked Treasury about racist social media comments, it has been assumed that that was why he quit. But that's just based on correlation, not any proof of causation. So we can't rule out that he quit because Treasury discovered he had more access than they intended to give him.

2024 Presidential Election, Trump 2.0

"The Fraudsters Complain the Loudest and the Fastest:" Legacy Media Ignores Import of Gaza Condom Fact Check

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February 12, 2025

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Elon Musk got caught in several lies in a press conference yesterday -- including, with his claim about condoms in Gaza, a false claim that Trump parroted. But that's not what led the news.

2024 Presidential Election, Trump 2.0

Donald Trump's Incorrect Shell Game of Appropriated Spending

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February 11, 2025

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Trump's DOJ keeps having to confess that the DOGE and Project 2025 people hijacking the government have misled career AUSAs about the full extent of their refusal to follow Congress' orders.

Rule of Law: Don't Obey in Advance, But Also Don't Give Up in Advance

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February 10, 2025

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JD Vance might well like to simply ignore Judge Engelmeyer's order. Trump might want to start siccing his mob when judges make adverse rulings. But there are good reasons to believe that that won't happen, yet. And until then, this legal process is a tool that can be used to buy time and hem in Trump's mob.

2024 Presidential Election, Immigration

Trump Stewing because of Lies Stephen Miller Fed Him During the Campaign

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February 9, 2025

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Trump is furious that his thugs can't fulfill his promises of mass deportation. But those failures arise not through want of trying. Rather, those failures stem from the fact that reality in no way matches the hellhole Miller pitched for Trump, the imaginary hellhole Miller used to get voters afraid enough to vote for Trump.

emptywheel, Trump 2.0

It's Still Not Clear Whether Elon's DOGE Boys Are Reviewing, Taking, or Altering Government Networks

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February 8, 2025

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It's not yet clear whether Elon's DOGE [sic] boys are reviewing, taking, or altering data in government servers. One thing is clear, however: There's not a shred of evidence these boys are doing what Elon claims they're doing.

2024 Presidential Election, Trump 2.0

Trump Appointee Carl Nichols Enjoins Trump from Stranding USAID Workers

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February 8, 2025

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Trump's administration had a chance to substantiate the wild claims of fraud and abuse that Elon Musk has leveled at USAID. And Carl Nichols was unimpressed.

2020 Presidential Election, 2024 Presidential Election

Fridays with Nicole Sandler

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February 7, 2025

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We talked about how to hold Republicans responsible for the chaos they're enabling.

2020 Presidential Election, 2024 Presidential Election, January 6 Insurrection

Two Days In, Pam Bondi's DOJ Is Already an Ethical Swamp

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February 7, 2025

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Acting US Attorney Ed Martin is already struggling to manage his many conflicts. But in forming her weaponization committee as one of the first things she did as Attorney General, Pam Bondi multiplied the ethical morass of her own Department of Justice.

2024 Presidential Election, Trump 2.0

How to [Attempt to] Get Republicans to Object

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February 7, 2025

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Lefty groups need to focus on smarter messaging to Republicans rather than louder yelling at Democrats.

2020 Presidential Election, 2024 Presidential Election, January 6 Insurrection

Amy Berman Jackson: "Michael Fanone’s heroism will never be moot"

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February 7, 2025

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In mooting Danny Rodriguez' sentence for nearly murdering Michael Fanone, Amy Berman Jackson contrasted Rodriguez' boast, “I tased the fuck out of the blue,” with Fanone's comment upon being revived: “Did we hold the line?”