Peter M. Shane

“Without prejudice” inconsequential in context because statute of limitations has passed for the acts with which Comey was charged.

FBI Director releasing info without authority on eve of 2016 Election say what?

Now that post-breakfast brain has kicked in, I remember that, although The Harder They Come had a long run during my Harvard undergrad years, the movie that ran *forever* was King of Hearts with Alan Bates.

Jimmy Cliff, Reggae Icon, Dies at 81

This is a sad note on which to start the week. Central Square Theater ran The Harder They Come for years, as I recall, during my time in college. His voice is unforgettable. Jimmy Cliff, Reggae Icon, Dies at 81 www.nytimes.com/2025/11/24/a...

Now, do “Imagine.”

There is no national story involving Harvard over the last few years about which you could not say the same thing. (Remember the railroading of Claudine Gay!) They and their predecessors have been doing exceptional work.

These seditious words are from the '24 DoD Manual for Courts-Martial: "It is a defense to any offense that the accused was acting pursuant to orders unless the accused knew the orders to be unlawful or a person of ordinary sense and understanding would have known the orders to be unlawful." (II-136)

AFAIK, no law bars the release of files relevant to open law enforcement investigation. It’s a norm DOJ has usually tried to follow but not always, e.g., the release of EPA investigation files that led to the firing of Rita Lavelle. Another norm is not shielding exec branch wrongdoing from Congress.

If Trump now supports a House vote to release all Epstein files, why not just release them?

Siri, what’s a four-word euphemism for ‘corruption?’”

I am mystified by the fierceness of Trump's behavior on the Epstein files. So many Trump misdeeds have produced only yawns or disbelief from his base. Sic-cing Pam Bondi on Democrats will only keep the story in the news. Stonewalling just reinforces speculation there is something terrible to hide.

And we thought the snowflakes were in DC

If you think it was a Dem victory to prevent a Trump evisceration of the Government Accountability Office, a reminder: The 15-year term of the current head of GAO, the Comptroller General, ends in December. Not holding my breath for any Trump-appointed successor to hold Trump to account.

Well, the agency is called ICE, no?

When Hakeem Jeffries was asked if Mamdani would be the face of the party, the competent answer would have been, "The Democratic Party has and will continue to have many 'faces.' Our vision for the future will be pluralist, accommodating different policy agendas in different parts of the country."

In @nytimes.com Letters to the Editot:

And thus shall “tosser” in American slang mean the opposite of what it means in British slang!

Love this!

He suffers from Con Dementia.

“Sandwich Man let out his cry:
‘Lettuce stand up or tomato we die!”

Nope, it was Workday. Or maybe Frederick Taylor and the Gilbreths.

Legal and economic aspects of the Supreme Court’s upcoming tariff decisions | Brookings Peter Shane and Robert Litan explain the legal context of the International Economic Emergency Powers Act ahead of Supreme Court hearings.

Brookings has posted a paper by Bob Litan and me on tomorrow's SCOTUS tariff cases. We think challengers have the better case, long-term economic implications are limited, but that these will be important developments in shaping the trajectory of executive power. www.brookings.edu/articles/leg...

A kidnapping in Niger tests Trump promise to bring all Americans home Kevin Rideout, a Christian missionary in Niger, was taken from outside his house in Niamey last month. U.S. officials are scrambling to track him down.

The odds Trump knows the difference between Niger and Nigeria are . . .A kidnapping in Niger tests Trump promise to bring all Americans home www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/1...

Is there no way akin to how the Senate blocks unanimous consent to keep the House from adjourning before the new Arizona Member is sworn in? @joshchafetz.bsky.social

Tip to the Senate: You have Art. I, Section 5 authority to object to any further extension of the House’s recess and get them back to D.C. Might be a good move!

Serious question: Is the bucket list "reading" or just "acquiring?" I have done far more of the latter than the former.

Yes.

One agency can push back on Trump — but probably not for long President Donald Trump has used the federal shutdown to seize control of spending from Congress and mold much of the government to his liking. Now the lone agency with the power to push back on those ...

This is probably the most important, yet widely ignored story on the prospects for Trump's ongoing evasion of Congress's appropriations powers. GAO's power to declare violations of the Impoundment Control Act may be weak accountability, but it offers at least some transparency. wapo.st/47vmBfM

What if there were a political party with the imagination to create a huge billboard that showed, every day, “Republicans have closed the House of Representatives for X days so they don’t have to vote on the Epstein Files or protect your health insurance!”

This is the paper that thought Salvador Allende’s title was “Marxist President Allende.” They are beclowning themselves.