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

Making Sense of the Senseless

The Trump Justice Department continues to be ground zero of his second term. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, the impact of a White House-run DOJ dwarfs most other Trump II depredations precisely because it allows space for them continue unchecked. A totally compromised DOJ eliminates accountability for breaking the law in the criminal sense and for the mass lawlessness in non-criminal contexts.

I offer that as an introduction to the series of news items below that either directly involve malfeasance under Attorney General Pam Bondi or are a byproduct of DOJ bad acts. As the Jeffrey Epstein matter threatens to consume the Trump White House, remember that it, too, is an outgrowth of trying to abuse and misuse the powers of the Justice Department. It just happened to backfire.

Maurene Comey’s Farewell Note to SDNY Colleagues

Fired DOJ prosecutor Maurene Comey sent this note to her former colleagues in the Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office:

Maurene Comey's goodbye note to SDNY colleagues:

— Benjamin Wittes (@benjaminwittes.lawfaremedia.org) 2025-07-17T15:35:02.357Z

Comey’s firing by Main Justice blindsided acting U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton, who was reduced to “just a paper-pusher,” in the words of one observer.

Quote of the Day

“From beginning to end, this process is highly irregular.”–former DOJ inspector general Michael Bromwich, on the bogus criminal referral of Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) by the Federal Housing Finance Authority’s inspector general

Nothing Normal at Trump DOJ

In another move by the Trump DOJ that career prosecutors apparently wouldn’t touch, political appointee Harmeet K. Dhillon, assistant attorney general for civil rights, herself asked the judge for a sentence of one day for Brett Hankison, the Louisville police officer convicted in the 2020 killing of Breonna Taylor.

Speaks for Itself

The WSJ obtained an album given by Ghislaine Maxwell to Jeffrey Epstein for his 50th birthday in 2003, which it reports included this missive from Donald Trump:

Voice Over: There must be more to life than having everything.

Donald: Yes, there is, but I won’t tell you what it is.

Jeffrey: Nor will I, since I also know what it is.

Donald: We have certain things in common, Jeffrey.

Jeffrey: Yes, we do, come to think of it.

Donald: Enigmas never age, have you noticed that?

Jeffrey: As a matter of fact, it was clear to me the last time I saw you.

Donald: A pal is a wonderful thing. Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret.

For his part, President Trump called the whole thing fake and said he plans to sue the WSJ.

Bove Nomination Advances

After all its Democratic members walked out in protest, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 12-0 to advance the nomination of Emil Bove to an appeals court seat.

Less noticed: The committee also approved the nomination of DC acting U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro to the permanent position.

DC Circuit Still Mum on Contempt of Court Related to Bove

As if perhaps to nudge the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals to take some action on the contempt of court inquiry it’s been stalling since April in the original Alien Enemies Act case, the plaintiffs supplemented the record on appeal with the texts and emails released by fired DOJ attorney-turned-whistleblower Erez Reuveni. No immediate response from the court.

We Still Don’t Know Everything About the March 15 Flights

An exclusive report from 404 Media:

The flight manifests for three legally contested deportation flights from Texas to El Salvador contain dozens of additional, unaccounted for passengers than a previously published Department of Homeland Security (DHS) list of people deported from the United States on those flights, 404 Media has learned. The additional people on the flight manifest have not been publicly acknowledged by the U.S. government in any way, and immigration experts who have been closely monitoring Trump’s deportation campaign say they have no idea where these people are or what happened to them. 404 Media is now publishing the names of these people. 

GOP Congress Bends the Knee to Trump’s Cuts

The big rescission package that eviscerates foreign aid, public broadcasting, and Congress’ own powers passed in the House overnight and will go to President Trump for his signature.

Dead Inside

Morning Memo caught Riki Lindhome’s one-woman show “Dead Inside” last night at Woolly Mammoth in DC. It’s a sharply personal and raw excavation of her fertility “journey” (a term she herself puts in air quotes) in the guise of a musical comedy.

A Nod to Stephen Colbert

It can both be true that the economics of network late night TV have irreversibly changed for non-political reasons and that political satire and mockery in the Trump era is too risky for corporate media owners. Two days after Late Show host Stephen Colbert called CBS parent company Paramount’s $16 million settlement with Trump “a big fat bribe” on the air, he was told the show was being canceled at the end of next season. Not just no more Colbert, but no more Late Show period:

In retrospect, the character he played relentlessly for so many years on The Colbert Report masked Colbert’s own depth and humanity. After moving to the Late Show, he developed a public persona that managed to be broad enough for a mass audience while still offering glimpses of how literate, devout, and introspective he is.

Because of the limitations of the TV talk show genre, it took me years begin to appreciate Colbert’s range. His ability to put on a song-and-dance routine for broadcast TV while delivering knowing winks and nods to philosophy, history, theology, literature, and his various quirky personal obsessions is without current equal. No one else even occupies the same space.

A profoundly thoughtful man, Colbert’s reflections on marriage, death, faith, and purpose have brought me up short on numerous occasions, even if they were delivered between improv riffs and behind jazz hands.

Last Chance to Get Your Questions Answered!

Look for a special edition of Morning Memo later today where I answer reader questions.

You can still drop your questions into the comments section at the Substack version of Morning Memo.

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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.

Straight From the Authoritarian Playbook

One of the defining elements of the Trump Justice Department’s boundless first few months has been the extravagant and absurd claims to secrecy it has made in court. The sheer volume of secrecy claims and the clear overreach by the Trump DOJ in making them is creating persistent downward pressure on the presumption of openness and transparency.

In the original Alien Enemies Act case, the Trump DOJ wildly asserted a state secrets privilege, even suggesting for a time that judges weren’t entitled to see the disputed information. In some of the other “facilitate” cases arising from wrongful deportations, the Trump DOJ has tried to cloak the administration’s operational and diplomatic efforts in various arcane and unsupported privileges, mostly to stonewall judges and plaintiffs, but secrecy remains the default.

For the most part, the claims have been taken up and adjudicated in the normal course of court business, and judges have managed to trim the administration’s sails quite a bit. But some choice examples from recent days suggest that rather than merely an overly aggressive legal strategy by an outmanned and desperate Justice Department, the administration is dipping into the authoritarian playbook, where secrecy is a key tool, both as sword and shield.

Overarching claims of secrecy have come up repeatedly in the ongoing trial in Massachusetts over the administration’s targeting of pro-Palestinian international students for deportation. Courthouse News Service offers a good rundown of some of the more preposterous privilege claims the Trump DOJ has made during trial, including for the police report of Mahmoud Khalil’s arrest and for the membership of the President’s Homeland Security Council.

The membership is secret? the judge asked incredulously.

“I would not say that it is secret, your honor,” a DOJ attorney replied. “I would say that it is privileged.”

The membership was in fact already posted online, opposing counsel noted.

But openly claiming privileges — no matter how tenuous — in court seems quaint and old-fashioned compared to keeping the names of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) lawyers secret during immigration proceedings. It’s the equivalent of immigration enforcement officers using face masks to conceal their identities, but it’s happening in immigration courts, The Intercept reports.

“We’re not really doing names publicly,” said Judge ShaSha Xu — after stating her own name and those of the immigrants and their lawyers. It was the first of two separate instances The Intercept identified in which judges chose to withhold the identities of the attorneys representing the Trump administration’s deportation regime.

Immigration courts are part of the executive branch, not the judicial branch. One immigration judge told The Intercept that the decision not to publicly reveal ICE lawyers by name was not a blanket policy but was up to individual judges.

Obsessive secrecy, indiscriminate assertions of inapt privileges, and concealment of the public’s business from the public are a reflexive reaction to bad facts, unwelcome scrutiny, and accountability.

Trump DOJ Fires Comey’s Daughter

Career DOJ prosecutor Maurene Comey was fired late Wednesday from her job in the Southern District of New York. No reason was given for her termination, which didn’t originate with interim U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton, Politico reports, suggesting it came from Main Justice.

Among the potential motives for the Trump administration to fire her:

Maurene Comey, who was most recently involed in the high-profile prosecution of Sean “Diddy” Combs, was reportedly escorted out of the building last evening by her colleagues in a show of solidarity.

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Follow the Money

TPM’s Hunter Walker: Contracts Show Millions of Dollars and Diverted Disaster Resources Were Used to Build DeSantis’ ‘Alligator Alcatraz’

Trump Admin Resumes Third Country Removals

With clearance from the Supreme Court, the Trump administration has resumed deporting undocumented immigrants to third countries rather than their countries of origin.

A quick word on the extreme practice of depositing people in countries with which they have no prior connection: I learned in court last week in the Abrego Garcia case that prior to the Trump II administration only about 1.6% of removals involved third countries. It was apparently used sparingly and in select cases. It was not an avenue for mass deportations.

Will Dems Counter Texas Redistricting?

Democrats are eyeing a mid-decade redistricting gambit in California to offset any loses they suffer in the GOP’s planned redistricting in Texas. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) is talking it up, but California law makes it a much more difficult lift with a much less certain outcome.

Senate Ratifies Cuts to Foreign Aid and Public Broadcasting

In a late-night session, the GOP Senate passed approved a rescission package for the first time since 1999, ratifying $9 billion in cancelled spending by the Trump administration for foreign aid ($7.9 billion) and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting ($1.1 billion). The vote was 51-48 along party lines. Sens. Susan Collins (ME) and Lisa Murkowski (AK) were the only two GOP senators to defect. The bill now goes to the House, which has a Friday deadline to pass it.

Politics Over Science, Part 826

Trump administration political appointees are overriding career scientists at NIH in making key decisions on medical research methods, the WaPo reports.

Have Questions?

I’ll be answering reader questions tomorrow in a special bonus edition of Morning Memo.

DOJ weaponization? Trump’s threat to the independent judiciary? The Abrego Garcia case? Any of a thousand other Trump II depredations?

Drop your questions in advance in the comments section of this post on Substack (not TPM proper).

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