Harry Litman

Williams makes clear in a footnote that she lacks the power to prevent DOJ and Trump from entering into a private deal, but all that means is that DOJ could try to just do a brazen giveaway of 1.6B to insurrectionists and 100M amnesty to Trump in exchange for nothing. Just raw raid of public money.

Whoa. on Williams's opinion Blanche basically says doesn't have to follow. I have studied 11th cir precedent and i believe I'm right and she is wrong
So saying he and Department can ignore federal court. (Exactly opposite of what they did w/ Jack Smith)
Someone needs to jump on this.

Getting very bad very fast.
This has the makings of an atrocious scandal.

www.nytimes.com/2026/07/09/u...

Man Killed by Federal Agent in Houston Was Not the Target of ICE Search

Nothing in the agency cases held that Trump could simply shut down an agency of Congress’s creation. That’s what he has done with the election Assistance commission which now lacks commissioners to act. It’s taking the courts cases to the ultimate conclusion and just disabling an important agency.

So now ICE confrontations are to become a federal civil rights free zone, eliminating even the prospect of a serious investig of ICE shootings. Tho don’t expect the feds to share evidence.

Federal Agents Were Told F.B.I. Will No Longer Investigate ICE Confrontations www.nytimes.com/2026/07/19/u...

Federal Agents Were Told FBI Will No Longer Investigate ICE Confrontations

Senior officials deny such a change is in the works, despite guidance shared with agents around the country in recent days.

Judge Randolph Moss holds that "86 47" drawings are protected speech that Park Service can't regulate. One more nail in the coffin for the Comey vindictive prosecution.

DOJ now 0-13 in its lawsuits to force states to cough up voter election rolls to which it has no right. Fed court in WV rejects suit w/ some very harsh words for the DOJ. Judge writes: "Given the lack of an adequate basis or purpose, one is left to wonder what the real purpose" of these actions was

A lawyer has now spoken separately to the 3 men who were w/ Salgado Araujo in the van when he was killed. All 3 contradict ICE’s account. All 3 say no ICE vehicle was ever in front of them and that agent just got out of the car and started shooting from the side. No ICE agent was wearing a body cam.

Although Trump speech was a predictable mash of recycled lies, one encouraging note was how little coverage it got. The major networks passed and some cable networks broadcast parts of it only to debunk them. @nytimes.com coverage was refreshingly straightforward, calling out the malarkey.

Emails just obtained by the American Oversight Committee portray Blanche as very much in charge of and keeping firm command of the weaponization effort in the DOJ.

www.nytimes.com/2026/07/14/u...

‘I Am Frustrated’: Emails Show Blanche’s Role in Trump’s Retribution Campaign

The cooperation of Todd Blanche will be a flashpoint in his confirmation hearing to be attorney general on Wednesday.

I’ve never seen anything like this. The once storied office is in death throes:

“The heads of all 7 sections of the Chi office’s crim division have left in the past year,” + many successors and deputies

Failed Immigration Cases Leave Chi Prosecutor’s Office Reeling www.nytimes.com/2026/07/19/u...

Failed Immigration Cases Leave Chicago Prosecutor’s Office Reeling

Prosecutors have fled the U.S. attorney’s office in Chicago, angry about the cases they’ve been told to bring against protesters and immigrants.

You go, @katiephang.bsky.social ! Taking Blanche on for all of us.

Katie Phang @katiephang.bsky.social

BREAKING: In my lawsuit against Todd Blanche for the Epstein Files, Judge Sullivan has just ordered Blanche to produce, in camera (in chambers), the UNREDACTED emails & documents, and Blanche must bring documentation supporting his representations the DOJ’s redactions are what he claims they are.

What is the status of the three people who were in the car with Salgado Araujo? ICE had been urging them to “ self deport,” but they have applied for release as crime victims/witnesses. It would be a travesty if DOJ managed to shepherd them out of the country w/o the opportunity to testify.

Another ICE-related fatal shooting, this one in Maine. Interestingly, it’s the state authorities that are reporting on it, and obviously moving to take control and foil. Any effort by the feds to smother it

We tend to forget it, because he is so vicious and inane; but he really is a deeply pitiful figure who has been mocked and reviled most of his life.

‘Is This Supposed to Be Fun?’ Trump Hurls Insults at Correspondents’ Dinner www.nytimes.com/2026/07/25/u...

At Correspondents’ Dinner, a Rambling Trump Hurls Insults

President Trump gave the keynote speech as relations between his administration and the press continue to deteriorate.

ICE agent who fatally shot Guerrero:

“Ms. Brouillette said her former husband had become abusive after he joined the military in 2007. he had choked her, slammed her to the floor and pushed her against a wall.
she left Maine in 2012 to escape him.
he had threatened to kill her as recently as Nov.”

Hirono pretty effective. Good pace and pressure. Direct questions. & ends w/ litany of sins
"Mr Blanche, it is clear to me that...you see nothing wrong w/ Pres treating DOJ as personal law firm to prosecute his enemies and help his friends."
goes to fund--recites Williams findings. urges rejection

A quiet but huge surge.

Have to think Supreme Court immigration decisions fed into this approach.

Immigrant Arrests Surge to 10,000 in 5 Days as ICE Clamps Down www.nytimes.com/2026/07/01/u...

Immigrant Arrests Surge to 10,000 in 5 Days as ICE Clamps Down

He’s discussing his communications with Trump after the settlement agreement. That should blunt any effort on his part to refuse to discuss any and all communications with the president.

The Department trashed Judge Sullivan's order in Katie Phang's case and vowed to appeal; but it hasn't yet and the order, which Sullivan declined to stay, requires them to produce specific Epstein documents today. Stay tuned.

Overall point is that the fund and the amnesty now have a huge cloud hanging over them. If DOJ doesn't appeal -- and appealing means fighting for the case to be live tho Blanche calls fund dead dead dead-- the whole thing is an unconstitutional collusive suit. Sh affect calculation of R's in Senate

Cognitive dissonance and olfactory breakdown on Capitol Hill:

Tillis says that he wd oppose Blanche’s nomination if he detected “even a whiff of a lack of independence.”

Also wd vote no if Blanche was too soft on the Jan 6 rioters

But he has a “positive predisposition” after meeting w Blanche

"The feds appear to be waist-deep, and getting deeper, in a conspiracy to prevent the investigation of Salgado Araujo's killing and stonewall any efforts to determine if a crime occurred."

A Foul Smell from the ICE Fatal Shooting in Texas

The feds try to smother investigation into the death of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo.

Take it from the $50k CAVA bagman:

Tom Homan, Donald Trump’s border czar, denied Monday that mistakes had been made in deadly shootings in Minnesota, and instead blamed the victims of ICE shootings for causing their own deaths.