A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo. Sign up for the email version.

This Is Effed Up On So Many Levels

In an important federal case in Massachusetts over whether deportees can be sent to third countries rather than their countries of origin, the Trump administration admitted Friday to a grievous error and managed to compound it in the process.

It’s a bit complicated so let me boil it down to its essentials:

• Background: A gay Guatemalan national who had a U.S. immigration judge order barring his removal to his home country because he feared continued persecution was instead deported to Mexico in February by the Trump administration, partly on the grounds that he had told ICE that he didn’t fear being sent to Mexico. That was odd because the man, identified only by the initials O.C.G., had previously testified that he had been targeted and raped in Mexico, his lawyers say.
• Thursday: The Trump DOJ abruptly cancelled the scheduled deposition of an ICE official “whom Defendants previously identified as giving Plaintiff O.C.G. notice of deportation to Mexico and recording his response of lack of fear,” O.C.G.’s lawyers later told the court.
• Friday: The Trump DOJ filed a “Notice of Errata” admitting that during the judge’s ordered discovery in the case it had been unable to “identify any officer who asked O.C.G. whether he had a fear of return to Mexico.” A key factual element of the Trump administration’s case had evaporated. But it got worse …
• Sunday: Lawyers for the deportee – who is now in hiding in Guatemala because he fears persecution as a gay man – filed an emergency motion pointing out, among other things, that the government’s filing about its own error revealed the deportees name and other information, further jeopardizing his safety despite a court order anonymizing his identifying information.

Still with me? In the course of admitting its error, the Trump administration outed the gay man who it had wrongfully deported in the first place.

This case may ultimately yield the third court order for the Trump administration to “facilitate” the return of a wrongfully deported foreign national.

SCOTUS Ruling Means We May Avoid A Worst-Case Scenario

A few weeks ago as the clash between the executive and judicial branches was first coming into focus, the two biggest risks to the constitutional order appeared to be:

1. President Trump simply ignoring court orders and daring judges to do something about it; and
2. The Supreme Court doing whatever Trump wanted in the first place so that he didn’t have to go so far as defying the courts.

At least with the Alien Enemies Act and in related cases, that second major risk seems mostly off the table now even if the Trump administration continues to defy court orders (see Abrego Garcia case below). And while the Supreme Court’s spine has stiffened primarily in the AEA cases, that has implications beyond the immigration realm.

The Roberts Court’s 7-2 ruling Friday in an AEA case out of the Northern District of Texas was a strong rebuke of the administration and defense of due process:

• Steve Vladeck: The Supreme Court’s (Alien Enemies Act) Patience is Wearing Thin
• Joyce Vance: SCOTUS to Trump: Due Process!

IMPORTANT

Joe Kent, the acting chief of staff for DNI Tulsi Gabbard, ordered a senior analyst to “redo” an intelligence assessment of the relationship between Venezuela’s government and Tren de Aragua that undercut the White House’s justification for invoking the Alien Enemies Act, the NYT reports.

Trump Continues To Defy Abrego Garcia Judge

A contentious hearing Friday pushed the case of the wrongfully deported Kilmar Abrego Garcia ever so closer to a contempt of court finding by U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis of Maryland.

Xinis was unsparing in her criticism of the Trump administration’s stonewalling of her in the case, saying it has failed to comply with her orders in “bad faith.” Still, Xinis hasn’t found the administration in contempt yet, preferring to build a more robust case that will stand up on appeal.

Xinis gave the government a new round of deadlines by which to meet its discovery obligations, but – barring a surprise shift – it looks more likely that this case is headed toward a showdown over contempt of court rather than the immediate release and return of Abrego Garcia.

Secret Service Brought Comey In For Questioning

The firestorm of fake indignation over former FBI Director James Comey’s “86” social media post culminated (one hopes this is the culmination) with him being hauled in voluntarily for questioning Friday by the Secret Service.

Trump DOJ Watch

• After largely dismantling the Public Integrity Section, the Trump DOJ is now planning to allow federal prosecutors to bypass it entirely and charge politicians without Main Justice approval, the WaPo reports.
• Former acting D.C. U.S. Attorney Ed Martin’s bogus investigation into a Biden-era EPA grant program that led to the forced resignation of a veteran prosecutor has turned up no evidence of criminality by either government officials or vendors, the NYT reports.
• The Trump DOJ is preparing to offer Boeing a non-prosecution agreement rather than taking it to trial in 737 MAX case. This all comes after the Biden DOJ had secured a guilty plea from Boeing in the case.

House GOP Sorta Gets Its Act Together

After flailing on Friday, the House GOP advanced its massive reconciliation bill through committee late last night. Prospects for the centerpiece of President Trump’s legislative agenda – which despite all of its brutal spending cuts and funny math is projected to increase budget deficits by nearly $3 trillion through 2034 – remain unclear in the House, where Speaker Mike Johnson is barely holding his conference together as he tries to rush through “one big, beautiful bill.”

Indy Agencies Didn’t Fare Well In Major Case

TPM’s Kate Riga covered the oral arguments Friday before the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals in the combined case of President Trump’s firing of Democratic members of the National Labor Relations Board and Merit Systems Protection Board. With a three-judge panel that includes two Trump appointees, independent agencies did not fare well.

DOGE Watch

• WaPo: How DOGE’s grand plan to remake Social Security is backfiring
• Nextgov/FCW: DOGE went looking for phone fraud at the Social Security Administration — and found almost none
• NOTUS: DOGE Is Now Targeting GAO, and the Congressional Agency Is Fighting Back

Palm Springs Bombing

The 25-year-old man who allegedly bombed a fertility clinic in Palm Springs died in the blast, apparently while trying to live-stream the detonation, authorities said.

Biden Agonistes

In an odd juxtaposition, former President Biden was diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer and the audio recordings of former President Biden’s 2023 interview with Special Counsel Robert Hur were leaked to news outlets before they could be released by the Trump DOJ.

Project Esther

NYT: The Group Behind Project 2025 Has a Plan to Crush the Pro-Palestinian Movement

Quote Of The Day

“I cannot stand by while a country is invaded, a democracy bombarded, and children killed with impunity. I believe that the only way to secure U.S. interests is to stand up for democracies and to stand against autocrats. Peace at any price is not peace at all ― it is appeasement. And history has taught us time and again that appeasement does not lead to safety, security or prosperity. It leads to more war and suffering.”–former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink, who resigned rather than carry out the Trump administration’s policy “to put pressure on the victim, Ukraine, rather than on the aggressor, Russia”

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A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo. Sign up for the email version.

Everyone In Trump World Got The Same Memo

The Trump administration quickly got in line Thursday to denounce, threaten, and investigate former FBI Director James Comey, whose firing by President Trump in his first term triggered the appointment of Robert Mueller as special counsel. The rest, as they say, is history.

Here’s what happened.

Comey became a target of opportunity after he posted on social media an image of shells arrayed on sand to read “86 47.” I associate “86” with restaurant kitchens from my days waiting tables: items missing from the menu or the pantry. Also used as a verb, meaning “to strike,” as in “86 the chateaubriand.”

Trump is the 47th president. So it’s shorthand for getting rid of the guy. But “getting rid of” in the mob sense? That’s the high dudgeon Trump administration officials from the White House on down immediately mustered yesterday to try turn Comey’s post into a right-wing firestorm.

White House Deputy Chief of Staff Taylor Budowich posted that it “can clearly be interpreted as ‘a hit’ on the sitting President of the United States.” Current FBI Director Kash Patel weighed in. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, who oversees the Secret Service, which typically is responsible for investigating real threats against the president, announced that DHS and the Secret Service are investigating Comey’s “threat.”

But no Trump official would outdo Tulsi Gabbard, who called for Comey to be jailed:

Jesse Watters: Do you believe Comey should be in jail? Tulsi Gabbard: I do. […] I'm very concerned for the president's life. We've already seen assassination attempts. I'm very concerned for his life, and James Comey, in my view, should be held accountable and put behind bars for this.

[image or embed]

— Matt Novak (@paleofuture.bsky.social) May 15, 2025 at 10:55 PM

Comey eventually took down his post, not that it mattered much.

Covering this kind of right-wing indignation eruption in a “straight” way misses wide of the mark. The NYT headline – “Ex-F.B.I. Chief Being Investigated Over Social Media Post About Trump” – is literally true, but it misses all of the levels of intimidation, cultish displays of loyalty, and pure absurdism. And straight reporting has to pretend to believe that Trump world is truly horrified, which no one in their right mind really thinks is true.

In Trump DOJ News …

• If You Don’t Look For Public Corruption, You Won’t Find It: The FBI has dismantled an elite public corruption unit run out of its Washington Field Office. NBC News was first to report the move.
• Sword Faller: Danielle Sassoon, the acting U.S. Attorney in Manhattan who resigned when the Trump DOJ corruptly abandoned the prosecution of NYC Mayor Eric Adams, made a muted first public appearance this week.
• Ed Martin lolz: When Trump DOJ official Ed Martin oddly used a farewell email to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in DC to reveal that he was under an ethics investigation, he complained loudly that the DC ethics investigator had sent notice of the probe to his home and office in order to embarrass him. Now the WaPo reports that sources say the kind of notification Martin received typically happens after a lawyer had failed to respond to an ethics complaint as required.

The Destruction: Truth-Tellers Edition

• VOA purge: The Trump Administration fired hundreds of Voice of America employees – and put the VOA building up for sale – despite a court order blocking the dismantling of the government broadcaster.
• Misinformation: “The Trump administration has sharply expanded its campaign against experts who track misinformation and other harmful content online, abruptly canceling scores of scientific research grants at universities across the country,” the NYT reports.
• Quote Of The Day: “Firing the leadership of the National Intelligence Council because its analysis does not support policy is a serious error in judgment. The message to the workforce is one of intimidation. In the future, the president will not get the quality of intelligence every president deserves.”–former NIC chairman Christopher Kojm, on DNI Tulsi Gabbard firing top intel officials over an assessment that contradicted President Trump’s rationale for invoking the Alien Enemies Act

Wisconsin Judge Dugan Pleads Not Guilty

A quick update on the criminal prosecution of Wisconsin state Judge Hannah Dugan for allegedly helping an undocumented immigrant briefly evade capture by federal agents:

• Dugan entered a plea of not guilty during a brief appearance Thursday in federal court in Milwaukee.
• The judge set a trial date of July 21.
• Dugan has already filed a motion to dismiss the indictment against her, arguing among other things that judicial immunity bars her prosecution.

The Women On SCOTUS Seem To Get It

The conservative majority on the Roberts Court showed few qualms about seizing on President Trump’s blatantly unconstitutional executive order on birthright citizenship to advance its own pre-existing agenda on limiting nationwide injunctions.

The only question remaining after oral arguments was what kind of new rules the majority would fashion for injunctions. The one leveling influence among the conservative majority seemed to be Justice Amy Coney Barrett, but they have a decisive five votes without her.

TPM’s coverage:

• Live Blog: SCOTUS Hears Oral Arguments In Birthright Citizenship Nationwide Injunction Case
• Kate Riga: Birthright Citizenship Is Safe For Now. Nationwide Injunctions Are Not.
• Josh Kovensky: Trump Administration Admits It Could Game Court System Without Nationwide Injunctions

Sharp analysis:

• Dahlia Lithwick and Mark Joseph Stern: “[T]he growing gender divide emerged once again: The four women seemed concerned that the president is trying to undo the final restraints on his exercise of unconstitutional power, and doing so in ways that include breaking norms and defying courts. The five men, in contrast, sounded irked at allegedly monarchical district court judges who dare issue broad orders blocking the White House’s policies, even when they’re blatantly unconstitutional.”
• Chris Geidner: “[T]he court seemed more aligned on the unconstitutionality of Trump’s order — and in agreement with all of the lower courts to consider the question — than on any solution about how to deal with nationwide injunctions.”

IMPORTANT

For the second time, the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals has held that minority voters do not have the authority to sue to enforce Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. Rick Hasen explains “why this latest ruling is not just a devastating blow to the law, but also an entirely ahistorical judicial power grab.”

The Corruption: Elon Musk’s Starlink Edition

ProPublica:

Since Trump’s inauguration, the State Department has intervened on behalf of Starlink in Gambia and at least four other developing nations, previously unreported records and interviews show.

As the Trump administration has gutted foreign aid, U.S. diplomats have pressed governments to fast-track licenses for Starlink and arranged conversations between company employees and foreign leaders. In cables, U.S. officials have said that for their foreign counterparts, helping Starlink is a chance to prove their commitment to good relations with the U.S.

“This Isn’t ‘The Hunger Games’ For Immigrants”

Kristi Noem’s Department of Homeland Security is considering being part of a television show in which immigrants would compete for potential U.S. citizenship, the WSJ confirms.

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