I wanted to point your attention to this recent article from the Times on the battle between Trump and Harvard University. It captures the Times’ feature quality. It contains good factual detail, but it radiates what I can only describe as a Chernobyl-level condescension and contempt, not so much for anything “liberal” but anything not conservative, or not in line with what it terms the “rightward shift of the country” — anything that can be construed as a posture of opposition to Donald Trump. The Harvard board is portrayed as reflexively and out-of-touchedly liberal, repeatedly shocked in a weak-kneed sort of way and yet also, paradoxically, headstrong in its inability to resist outmoded Trump I-era “resistance” thinking. In a few words, weak, out-of-touch and contemptible.
Continue reading “Trump Stumbles—A Bit—in the Unis Wrestlin’ Match High-Stakes Drama”Trump’s DOJ Is Taking Cues From MAGA Influencers And Conspiracy Theorists
President Trump’s nominee for D.C. U.S. Attorney Ed Martin, and Donald Trump’s Department of Justice more broadly, are taking cues from right-wing influencers — allowing some of the loudest media figures on the right to influence significant decisions, including who gets fired from the DOJ and who and what gets investigated.
Continue reading “Trump’s DOJ Is Taking Cues From MAGA Influencers And Conspiracy Theorists”Trump DOJ Launches New Secret Gambit In Abrego Garcia Case
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo. Sign up for the email version.
Something Is Afoot But It’s Not Clear What
The big news of the day in the case of the mistakenly deported and wrongfully imprisoned Kilmar Abrego Garcia was U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis lambasting the Trump administration — and DOJ lawyers — for their ongoing and willful defiance of her orders in bad faith.
I covered Xinis’ scathing intervention in the discovery process extensively here, so I won’t rehash it in full except to reiterate one point: While we may have envisioned the constitutional clash between President Trump and the judicial branch as a dramatic sumo match played out on the steps of the Supreme Court, it’s actually been taking place day by day over the past month in Xinis’ court with repeated unprecedented defiance, non-responsiveness, and disrespectful stonewalling from the Trump DOJ.
It is against that backdrop that the Trump DOJ has in the past 24 hours submitted two new filings in the case under seal.
The first sealed filing was Tuesday’s daily status report in the case. Xinis had previously ordered the Justice Department to file daily reports in response to the Trump administration’s refusing to answer basic questions from her about what it had done and planned to do to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s release. Until yesterday, all of the daily status reports have been filed publicly. One recent status report, for example, conveyed that Abergo Garcia reported he was no longer being held at CECOT but had been transferred to the “Centro Industrial” detention facility in Santa Ana. Yesterday’s report wasn’t just filed under seal but ex parte, too, meaning Abrego Garcia’s attorneys didn’t get to see it either.
Then this morning, the Trump DOJ filed a motion under seal seeking to delay the case for a week. Specifically, it asked Xinis to pause two of her orders: the one requiring daily status reports and the one that scheduled two weeks of expedited discovery.
Because the Trump DOJ has filed under seal, it’s not clear what is up. But there may be a clue in the government’s very limited answers to some of the discovery questions posed by Abrego Garcia’s attorneys. The administration’s response to five different questions included this same phrasing:
Before the Fourth Circuit’s decision of April 17 clarifying its understanding of “facilitate,” the United States took the position that the only steps needed to facilitate the return of Mr. Abrego Garcia involved removing domestic barriers. After the Fourth Circuit’s clarification, the State Department has engaged in appropriate diplomatic discussions with El Salvador regarding Abrego Garcia. However, disclosing the details of any diplomatic discussions regarding Mr. Abrego Garcia at this time could negatively impact any outcome.
That answer suggests the 4th Circuit’s memorable opinion last week, authored by Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III, changed the government’s calculation in the case. The implication is that since then, the Trump administration has begun taking affirmative diplomatic steps to secure Abrego Garcia’s release. That is merely an implication, and there’s little evidence on the record to support it.
Still, in a normal world, it would not be implausible for the government to want to be able to conduct diplomacy discreetly and seek to pause court proceedings that might expose or hamper those diplomatic efforts, especially if they are aligned with what the plaintiff in the case is seeking.
The problem is that it is hard to credit the administration with any good faith in this case, as Judge Xinis has repeatedly pointed out. So if the government is in fact asking for some time to engage in diplomacy or take other concrete steps to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s release — and again we don’t know what it is asking for exactly — it would be hard to distinguish a belated good faith effort from yet another bad faith effort to delay, obfuscate, and stonewall.
More as things unfold.
Judges Block Alien Enemies Act Deportations
- Colorado: In a new order, U.S. District Judge Charlotte N. Sweeney blocked the removal of any Alien Enemies Act detainees from Colorado and imposed specific notice requirements on the government before it can proceed with deportations under the act. Sweeney ordered that the notice of intent to remove under the AEA must be (1) given 21-days in advance; (2) include notice of the right to seek judicial review and consult an attorney; and (3) be in a language the recipient understands.
- New York: U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein extended his order requiring notice and hearing before AEA deportations can proceed. “This is not the Inquisition, it’s not medieval times,” he said. “This is the United States of America.”
What About The Other Detainees At CECOT?
- TPM’s Josh Kovensky: Inside The Fight To Return The Other Men Trump Sent To CECOT
- Benjamin Wittes: By what legal authority can the United States send Venezuelans to El Salvador for indefinite detention?
- NYT: A Venezuelan Immigrant Held in U.S. Custody ‘Simply Disappeared’
60 Minutes Executive Producer Resigns
Bill Owens, executive producer of 60 Minutes, announced his resignation, saying he no longer had the editorial independence needed to do the job. Owens’ resignation comes as CBS News is under increasing pressure from its parent company Paramount to settle a bogus lawsuit by Donald Trump over how 60 Minutes edited an interview with Kamala Harris during the 2024 campaign.
Three Eric Adams Prosecutors Resign
In a stirring resignation letter, three assistant U.S. attorneys in the Southern District of New York who handled the prosecution of NYC Mayor Eric Adams stepped down rather than admit to bogus claims of wrongdoing leveled by Trump DOJ officials.
All three prosecutors had been put on leave by Trump DOJ officials in the course of corruptly abandoning the Adams prosecution soon after taking office. In their letter to Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, they alleged that he was requiring them to “express regret and admit some wrongdoing” as a condition of being allowed to return to work. “We will not confess wrongdoing when there was none,” they wrote in the letter.
Judge Questions DOJ’s Interest In Tina Peters
A federal judge in Colorado grilled the Trump Justice Department on why it was taking the highly unusual step of calling into question the state criminal conviction of former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters, who is currently serving a nine-year sentence for meddling with voting equipment as part of the Big Lie obsession.
The Destruction: Science Edition
- Politico: RFK Jr. eyes reversing CDC’s Covid-19 vaccine recommendation for children
- CBS News: RFK Jr.’s autism study to amass medical records of many Americans
- NYT: National Science Foundation Terminates Hundreds of Active Research Awards
The Purges: Reinstatement Edition
- VOA: U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth of D.C. issued a preliminary injunction allowing Voice of America workers put on leave by the Trump administration to return to work.
- EPA: More than 450 staffers working on environmental justice and DEI issues are being fired or reassigned.
- State: A reorganization plan will eliminate 15% of the State Department’s domestic staff, which amounts to more than 2,000 jobs, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced.
DOGE Watch
- WaPo: Justice Dept. agrees to let DOGE access sensitive immigration case data
- NYT: Top DOGE officials moved from the Social Security Administration to the Justice Department as part of a widening White House effort to use personal data to target undocumented immigrants.
- WaPo: Interior secretary gives DOGE aide sweeping powers to remake department
Roberts Court Shows Its Anti-LGBTQ Colors
In oral arguments Tuesday, the conservative justices on the Supreme Court openly sided with public school parents seeking to opt their children out of LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum. “[I]n an alarming sign for LGBTQ people, it was clear that at least three of the justices believe that describing queer people accurately — acknowledging their equal existence — amounts to taking sides or trying to ‘influence’ children,” longtime legal reporter Chris Geidner observed.
Federal Appeals Court Grants Stay To Riggs
A divided three-judge panel on the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals blocked the North Carolina Election Board from taking any action in the state Supreme Court race while the trial judge considers the case. In siding with incumbent Justice Allison Riggs (D), the panel overruled the lower court judge who had allowed the Election Board to continue its work while legal wrangling continued, which ran the risk of changing the known outcome of the race before a decision on whether overturning Riggs’ victory was legally proper.
Sarah Palin Loses Defamation Case Against NYT
A jury deliberated a little more than two hours before rendering its verdict that a 2017 NYT editorial did not defame former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R).
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Trump’s Acting EEOC Chair Hires Christian Conservative Activist Who Sued The Agency
Andrea Lucas, the Trump-appointed acting chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, announced on social media Tuesday that she has hired as her chief of staff Shannon Royce, a long-time Christian conservative activist who led a lawsuit against the agency in the recent past over its defense of trans employees who faced discrimination at work. Royce, a veteran of the first Trump administration and the Family Research Council, has also vocally opposed abortion and same-sex marriage.
Continue reading “Trump’s Acting EEOC Chair Hires Christian Conservative Activist Who Sued The Agency”Inside The Fight To Return The Other Men Trump Sent To CECOT
When the Trump administration sent more than 200 Venezuelans to an El Salvador detention camp last month, nearly half of them were subject to standard immigration law.
Continue reading “Inside The Fight To Return The Other Men Trump Sent To CECOT”The DOJ-in-Exile Takes Shape
Things are moving apace with the DOJ-in-Exile. A home in waiting for the project has been set up at DOJinExile.com. It even has a Bluesky and Twitter accounts. I introduced the concept here and I provided the key things it would need to do to be effective. I’ve been flooded by emails from people supporting the idea, wanting to contribute various kinds of expertise, wanting to work for it and even wanting to fund it. I’ve heard from a gratifyingly large number of DOJ alums or other former prosecutors who are very interested in being involved. If you’re in that category please do be in touch — both if you’d like to be directly involved or simply want to provide input or advice. I’d love both. I’m now turning my attention to that last question. I’m looking for people who might be interested in funding such a project. I’m not looking for actual money just yet, or even financial commitments. I’d like to hear from people who might seriously be interested in contributing significant sums of money to such a project.
This won’t be my project. I won’t be involved. I will try to bring together a group that will eventually run it and a group that will fund it. And when those two groups have come together sufficiently, I will hand it off to them.
If you’re in either of these groups and want to reach out, you can do so at our normal contact email or you can reach me on Signal at joshtpm.99 or encrypted email at joshtpm at protonmail dot com.
Three Fed Prosecutors Resign Instead Of Bending The Knee: ‘Obedience Supersedes All’
Three of the federal prosecutors in the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan who worked on the Eric Adams corruption case decided to resign rather than be forced by Trump’s allies in the Justice Department to concede, under threat of termination, that they erred in refusing to abandon the case.
Continue reading “Three Fed Prosecutors Resign Instead Of Bending The Knee: ‘Obedience Supersedes All’”Livid Judge Castigates Trump DOJ’s Defiance In Abrego Garcia Case
A federal judge late Tuesday tore into the Trump administration for its “willful and bad faith refusal to comply with discovery obligations” in the case of the mistakenly deported Kilmar Abrego Garcia.
In a tersely worded order, U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis of Maryland rejected the vast majority of objections that the Trump administration had raised to discovery requests in the expedited two-week dash she had previously imposed in the face of its repeated defiance of her court orders.
The most glaring discovery objection from the Trump administration rejected the entire premise of the case by mischaracterizing the court orders it is currently under to facilitate the release of Abrego Garcia from confinement in El Salvador – even though Xinis has repeatedly rejected its interpretation of those orders.
“Defendants—and their counsel—well know that the falsehood lies not in any supposed ‘premise’ but in their continued mischaracterization of the Supreme Court’s Order,” Xinis wrote in overruling the administration’s objection and ordering it to comply with its discovery obligations.
Xinis found “equally specious” the administration’s wide-ranging and non-specific assertions of various privileges to avoid responding to the discovery requests. She again called out Trump DOJ lawyers for their role in asserting the privileges, calling it “a willful refusal to comply” with her orders.
“As Defendants and their counsel know, the proponent of a privilege must demonstrate
the legal and factual bases to invoke the protections that such privilege affords,” Xinis wrote. “And yet, Defendants and counsel stubbornly refuse to provide any basis for the same.”
When Xinis ordered the expedited discovery last week, she had sternly told Trump DOJ lawyers that she would not tolerate any “grandstanding” and that she was going to move the discovery forward briskly. The blanket privilege assertions in particular raised her ire:
“Given that this Court expressly warned Defendants and their counsel to adhere strictly to their discovery obligations, their boilerplate, non-particularized objections are presumptively invalid and reflect a willful refusal to comply with this Court’s Discovery Order and governing rules.”
Xinis also found that a belated offer by Trump DOJ lawyers to meet and confer with plaintiffs counsel about their privilege assertions was “not made in good faith,” pointing to “their repeated refusals to meet and confer about much of anything else.”
The judge’s expressed consternation with Trump DOJ lawyers in the case is unusual. The Justice Department historically has gone to great lengths to establish itself as a reliable narrator in court. The gamesmanship and outright defiance in this case of a federal judge who has been mostly upheld by an appeals court (twice) and the Supreme Court is extraordinary.
In one of her few concessions to the administration in the order, Xinis gave it a new deadline of 6 p.m. ET Wednesday to assert privileges with proper specificity. But she wasn’t finished raking them over the coals for their vague assertions of privilege:
For weeks, Defendants have sought refuge behind vague and unsubstantiated assertions of privilege, using them as a shield to obstruct discovery and evade compliance with this Court’s orders. Defendants have known, at least since last week, that this Court requires specific legal and factual showings to support any claim of privilege. Yet they have continued to rely on boilerplate assertions. That ends now.
As for the remainder of the administration’s general discovery objections, Xinis overruled them. She refused to allow them to block discovery of events prior to April 4 or to exclude Abrego Garcia’s initial detention, removal, and incarceration in El Salvador from the scope of discovery.
When Xinis turned to specific objections raised by the administration, she once again chastised it for acting in bad faith. “Given the context of this case, Defendants have failed to respond in good faith, and their refusal to do so can only be viewed as willful and intentional noncompliance,” she wrote about one exceedingly abbreviated answer to a discovery request. Another answer she called “vague, evasive, and incomplete.”
Xinis did toss the administration a couple of meager bones when she ordered plaintiffs to immediately narrow the scope of a few discovery requests and struck another entirely. But the overall thrust of the order was clear: The administration’s dilatory tactics in discovery mirrored its earlier refusal to comply with her court orders and were leaving her no choice but to adjudge that the administration is acting in bad faith.
Given that Xinis had ordered the expedited discovery in order to determine whether to open a contempt of court proceeding and to create a record on appeal of the administration’s bad faith defiance of the federal courts, the clash over the discovery requests puts the Abrego Garcia case even more firmly at the nexus of the constitutional clash between President Trump and judicial branch.
Original story:
The Trump administration is at it again.
In its ongoing stonewalling of the district court judge overseeing the case of the mistakenly deported Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Trump DOJ is now slow-rolling discovery by insisting on a tortured reading of court orders in the case, including from the Supreme Court.
Continue reading “Livid Judge Castigates Trump DOJ’s Defiance In Abrego Garcia Case”Right-Wing Justices Lap Up Anti-LGBTQ Arguments In Case On School Board Culture War
The right-wing justices, sensing an easy win in their grasp for parents seeking to opt their children out from LGBTQ-inclusive content at public school, couldn’t stop themselves from taking a victory lap before Tuesday’s arguments even concluded.
Continue reading “Right-Wing Justices Lap Up Anti-LGBTQ Arguments In Case On School Board Culture War”It’s the Jobs, Stupid—Border Encounters Edition
I wanted to share something with you. I was talking with TPM Reader LG (who in this case I will identify as Leo Gugerty, a professor at Clemson University) about the DOJ-in-Exile project and the conversation moved to something very different: the pace of border crossings at the southern U.S. border over the last 15 years. With his permission, I’m sharing with you here the graph he shared with me.
Continue reading “It’s the Jobs, Stupid—Border Encounters Edition”