Randall Eliason

There is still a pending contempt of court proceeding before Judge Boasberg in D.C., temporarily paused by the D.C. Circuit, involving the planes of immigrants sent to prison in El Salvador.

When that finally resumes, new 3d Circuit judge Emil Bove may well find himself held in contempt.

I wish I could say I was surprised. But the Senate that confirmed Hegseth and Kennedy and Noem was never going to grow a spine when it came to Bove.

The Bove Nomination Unfit for the federal bench

A third whistleblower has now come forward, alleging that Bove misled the Senate during his nomination hearing.

This guy doesn't belong anywhere near the federal bench.

www.sidebarsblog.com/p/the-bove-n...

The Treason Allegations Against Obama Ridiculous but still dangerous

My latest on Sidebars: the false allegations against Obama are a transparent attempt to distract attention from the Epstein files.

But despite how frivolous they are, they also represent something more dangerous.

www.sidebarsblog.com/p/the-treaso...

Whistleblower evidence suggests Trump judicial nominee Emil Bove misled Senate A third whistleblower has new information about a Justice Department official the president has nominated to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit.

A third whistleblower has come forward against the Bove nomination.

wapo.st/45asNIS

No surprise. This was not a serious effort and there are no legal grounds to release the GJ material. This was just a way for the administration to claim it is trying to be transparent and then blame the judge.

Most of the relevant files would not be GJ material or protected by GJ secrecy.

Trump tells Justice Dept. to seek release of Epstein grand jury testimony The White House is trying to calm a furor following a Wall Street Journal report that said Trump wrote a bawdy birthday letter to Jeffrey Epstein.

This is just an attempted dodge.

1) There is no legal basis to release GJ material, so a judge will likely deny it and then they can blame the judge.

2) The vast majority of the investigative file and information would not be grand jury testimony or subject to grand jury secrecy.

wapo.st/4f6CHjd

The Bove Nomination Unfit for the federal bench

Emil Bove's nomination to the Third Circuit has advanced to the full Senate.

The Senate must reject it. Someone with such disdain for the rule of law has no business being a federal judge.

www.sidebarsblog.com/p/the-bove-n...

If you are worried about information in the Epstein files coming out, it's a very strange/stupid move to anger the one person who probably knows more about what's in those files than almost anyone else.

Seems unlikely that whoever is responsible really thought this through . . . .

BREAKING: New footage from control room at New York prison explains the three-minute gap in the surveillance video of Epstein's cell.

The Bove Nomination Unfit for the federal bench

If Bove is confirmed to the Third Circuit, there's a very real chance that the Circuit's newest judge will also be a defendant in a contempt of court proceeding in D.C.

www.sidebarsblog.com/p/the-bove-n...

The Bove Nomination Unfit for the federal bench

My latest on Sidebars: Bove allegedly said DOJ might just say "f*ck you" to the court if ordered not to deport immigrants. When asked if that's true, he said he doesn't recall.

If you are a senior DOJ official, whether you said that is something you'd remember.

www.sidebarsblog.com/p/the-bove-n...

The Bove Nomination Unfit for the federal bench

My latest on Sidebars: through his actions at DOJ, Emil Bove has clearly shown that he has no business being on the federal bench.

www.sidebarsblog.com/p/the-bove-n...

Bove doesn't belong anywhere near the federal bench.

But if you assume the Senate will roll over and confirm anyone Trump appoints, the truth is he can do a lot less damage as a single appellate judge (who will usually be part of a panel of 3) than he could in a senior DOJ policy position.

Trump administration moves away from abolishing FEMA As Trump heads to Texas to see the impact of last week’s deadly flash floods, the White House has backed away from plans to abolish FEMA, officials said.

It only took a tragedy hitting a red state for the administration to change its tune about the value of FEMA.

But the other tragedy is that if this had happened in California or New York rather than Texas, nothing would change.

wapo.st/40bJaDg

Justice Dept. Whistle-Blower Warns of Trump Administration’s Assault on the Law

Big story: NYT interviews Reuveni.

“[Reuveni] said he was willing to testify to Congress or in court about what he described as an intentional effort by the administration to ignore judges and the due process rights of hundreds of migrants”

www.nytimes.com/2025/07/10/u...

Trump is now using tariffs not to further any purported economic policy -- however misguided -- but to try to influence the criminal justice system of another country.

Democrats say companies are ‘bribing’ Trump. Legal experts are skeptical. Why experts don’t believe Paramount’s settlement with Donald Trump or law firms’ deals with the president rise to the level of criminal bribery.

Things like the Paramount settlement and Qatari jet have a bribe-y feel to them, but are unlikely to lead to actual criminal charges.

www.politico.com/news/2025/07...

How Trump defanged the Justice Department’s political-corruption watchdogs Stripped of its authority and nearly all its staff, the U.S. Justice Department’s storied Public Integrity Section is on life support. Former prosecutors say the overhaul could make it easier to prosecute Trump’s opponents.

Good report on how the Trump administration has gutted the Public Integrity Section and implemented the true weaponization of the Justice Department.

www.reuters.com/investigatio...

I trust there will be no shortage of excellent defense attorneys willing to represent Abrego Garcia pro bono. Getting an indictment is easy. We'll see how the case (which prompted the criminal chief in the U.S. Attorney's Office to resign) holds up at trial.

Man, what encapsulates the moment better than the guy ignorantly slashing important government spending turning himself into the victim when people complain.

Back at SpaceX, Musk says in interview DOGE became D.C.’s ‘whipping boy’ Elon Musk said his stint in Washington taught him that “the federal bureaucracy situation is much worse than I realized.”

Gee, so it turns out the federal government is big and complicated and you can’t just breeze in with Big Balls and a bunch of other 20-something tech bros and overhaul everything in a few weeks? Who would have predicted that?

wapo.st/4kCLcUz

But then don't you just shift the problem from "who will enforce the jail sentence" to "who will enforce/collect the fine?"

Sources contradict Trump narrative about Qatar offering plane as ‘gift’ | CNN Politics The Trump administration first approached Qatar to inquire about acquiring a Boeing 747 that could be used as Air Force One by President Donald Trump, four sources familiar with the discussions told C...

See, it's not really a bribe-y thing. It's more of an extortion-y thing.

www.cnn.com/2025/05/19/p...

It's going to drive Trump and MAGA particularly crazy that all three of his appointees to the Court joined in this opinion slapping him down.

Plane Corruption and the Future of the DOJ: Today's #BradCast

Guest: @rdeliason.bsky.social, former Chief of DOJ's Public Corruption section; Also: Good election and Trump Admin accountability news...

FULL STORY, LISTEN: bradblog.com?p=15391

PS - before going into a high dudgeon about, "Of course it's a bribe, you idiot," please read the post. Then I'll be happy to read your legal analysis of why I'm wrong.

Read the post.

Read the post.

Emoluments, Bribery, and the Qatari Jet Trump takes corruption to new heights

My latest on Sidebars:

Is it a bribe? Probably not. An unconstitutional emolument? Probably yes. Regardless, it's clearly corrupt, as are Trump's increasing financial entanglements with foreign nations.

www.sidebarsblog.com/p/emoluments...