A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo.
The Most Important News of the Day
While the James Comey case provided real courtroom drama, the most historically significant courtroom development happened in more muted tones in the original Alien Enemies Act case. The long-stalled contempt of court inquiry into the Trump administration’s brazen defiance of a March court order — that blocked the AEA deportations and required the planes of immigrants en route to El Salvador to turn around — is back on.
U.S. District Judge James Boasberg of Washington, D.C., picked up pretty much where he left off in April when the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals got involved and dragged the case out for seven months.
The AEA case is a prime test of whether the judicial branch can hold a rogue executive like Trump in check. So far, it’s not looking good, but it’s not been for a lack of trying by Boasberg.
Starting as soon as the week after Thanksgiving, Boasberg wants to hear testimony under oath from DOJ lawyers involved in the case at the outset. He’s particularly interested in hearing from Erez Reuveni, who later became a whistleblower, and Drew Ensign, who has rarely been seen in this case since his dubious representations to the court that memorable weekend in March.
A key witness to all of this is Emil Bove, who was the acting DOJ No. 2 at the time. Bove, according to Reuveni and internal communications that he made public, allegedly told DOJ lawyers in advance of the AEA deportations that they might have to tell the courts “fuck you.” It was Bove, according to those internal communications, who said it was legally permissible to deplane the AEA detainees in El Salvador despite Boasberg’s order.
Bove — who has denied proposing to defy the courts and said he doesn’t recall the fuck you remark — is now a Trump-appointed federal appeals court judge, setting up the potential for a titanic clash over his testimony in the contempt inquiry. Boasberg made no mention of Bove yesterday in court. I would imagine that Boasberg would wait until the testimony of other witnesses makes Bove’s testimony essential before he goes kicking the giant ant hill of summoning an appeals court judge into his court for a possible contempt of court referral.
Either way, I expect we’ll see the Trump administration look for any reason to bring this case back to the appeals court before it lets any of its officials testify. Here’s my full report from court.
High Drama
Courtrooms in real life rarely match what you see in the movies or on TV, but the drama was real in Comey’s case yesterday as U.S. District Judge Michael Nachmanoff picked apart interim U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan’s missteps in handling the grand jury that purportedly indicted Comey. There are now real legal and factual questions about whether Comey was ever properly indicted. The shenanigans only add to the cloud of bad faith and ill motive that surround a case driven by Trump’s lust for retaliation.
I broke my coverage from the Comey courtroom into two posts:
- Due to Botched Paperwork, Comey May Never Have Been Properly Indicted
- How James Comey’s Vindictive Prosecution Claim Fared In Court
Venezuela Watch
In August, the judge advocate general for U.S. Southern Command “specifically expressed concern that strikes against people on boats in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific Ocean, whom administration officials call ‘narco-terrorists,’ could amount to extrajudicial killings,” NBC reports, but the strikes proceeded after he was overruled by higher-ups, including the DOJ’s Office of Legal Counsel.
Appeals Court Blocks Limits on Use of Force in Chicago
In a new ruling, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals paused a lower court ruling limiting the use of force in the Trump administration’s mass deportation operations in Chicago while the case is on appeal.
Epstein Watch
- President Trump signed the bill demanding the release of the Epstein files that Trump refuses to release.
- The Trump DOJ’s acquiescence to his demand that Democrats — but not himself — be investigated for their Epstein ties may provide another fig leaf of a rationale for not releasing the Epstein files since there’s now an “active” investigation.
- Larry Summers took a leave of absence from Harvard.
Wild Stuff
5th Circuit Appeals Judge Jerry Smith let loose with a wild dissent for the ages in the Texas redistricting case, hopping mad that U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Brown had issued the three-judge panel’s majority opinion before the dissenting opinion was ready, as Politico noted:
Smith lit into Brown as an “unskilled magician” who “prefers living in fantasyland.” Smith said Brown committed “pernicious judicial misbehavior” by racing to issue his opinion. Smith also slammed Brown as “no stranger to inconsistency,” called him “wrong on multiple levels” and accused him of handing “Soros a victory at the expense of the People of Texas and the Rule of Law.”
House Tries to Clean Up Senate’s Jack Smith Mess
The House voted unanimously last night to repeal a provision in the deal to end the government shutdown that allows senators to sue the federal government for seizing their phone records, including, retroactively, the eight GOP senators whose phone records were seized by Special Counsel Jack Smith in his Jan. 6 investigation. It’s not clear whether the Senate, too, will reverse its vote from last week.
Couldn’t Happen to a Nicer Guy
Rep. Cory Mills (R-FL) fended off a House censure vote over rampant allegations of misconduct but not before the House Ethics Committee launched an investigation into “claims that he improperly disclosed—or failed to disclose—information on official filings; misused congressional resources or campaign finances; received gifts or favors inappropriately; and engaged in sexual misconduct or dating violence,” the WSJ reports.
Dem Rep Indicted for FEMA Fraud
An investigation that began under the Biden administration has yielded an indictment of Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL) and her brother for allegedly using a $5 million overpayment under a FEMA contract to fund straw donations to her congressional campaign, the WaPo reports.
The Destruction: CDC Edition
Under anti-vax jihadist Robert F. Kennedy Kr., the CDC has revised one of its webpages from saying vaccines do not cause autism to now saying they might.
The Purge: FBI Edition
A former FBI staffer who was fired last month for having a Pride flag in his office is suing for wrongful discharge. David Maltinsky, a gay man, had worked for the bureau for 16 years in a staff role and was training at Quantico to be an FBI special agent when he was terminated.
The Purge: Charlie Kirk Edition
In a purge spearheaded by senior Trump administration officials, local Republican lawmakers, and their allies, more than 600 Americans have been fired, suspended, placed under investigation or disciplined by employers for comments about the September 10 assassination of Charlie Kirk, according to a Reuters review of court records, public statements, local media reports and interviews with two dozen people who were fired or otherwise disciplined.
The Purge: Texas Edition
A Republican woman overseeing the Alamo’s renovation has been ousted from two different positions after (i) taking the blame for a “woke” social media post commemorating Indigenous Peoples’ Day and (ii) receiving a call from Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R) objecting to this passage from page 80 of her 2023 PhD dissertation: “Personally, I would love to see the Alamo become a beacon for historical reconciliation and a place that brings people together versus tearing them apart, but politically that may not be possible at this time.” She’s now suing.
Thread of the Day
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Truly I say, those who voted for Trump will have a plethora of malignant ownerships.
CNN didn’t interview the relatives of the recently killed 26 civilian Ukrainians either. Therefore the victims must have been legitimate targets.
And if CNN did interview the grieving relatives Cotton and other Regime militarists would likely refer to CNN as treasonous.
ETA. It turns out,
And, hidden away elsewhere -
No, obviously it does not predict intelligence. But add this to their face scanning technology, their ability to stop anyone, anywhere for no reason, to forcibly take your fingerprints and if you end up in custody, to add your DNA to a national data base and it doesn’t matter what your skin color is.
Oh, and remember that demand that states give them protected personal information on voters?
Shit. I had actually forgotten about about the existence of the Bobble-throated Slapdick.
Now I’m worried about driving suspiciously. What does that even mean???
These people are the absolute worst. It goes without saying, but it still helps me to say it.