Abraham Gutman

Appreciate you! A lot of material to work with for sure

Appointment of top federal prosecutors in New Jersey was unconstitutional, judge rules In a scathing opinion, U.S. District Judge Matthew Brann wrote that Trump’s administration has intentionally avoided taking the proper steps to appoint a top federal prosecutor in New Jersey.

Our story from yesterday with the full details: www.inquirer.com/news/new-jer...

Brann did not toss out the two cases in front of him as he disqualified the leadership structure, but he did issue a warning — don’t try him again.

“Why does the fate of thousands of criminal prosecutions in this District potentially rest on the legitimacy of an unprecedented
and byzantine leadership structure?”

“That argument amounts to an enormous assertion of
Presidential power.”

“Though the Government
dresses its argument in sheep’s wool of administrative necessity, ‘this wolf comes as a wolf.’”

“One year into this administration, it is plain that President Trump and his top aides have chafed at the limits on their power set forth by law and the Constitution.”

U.S. District Judge Matthew Brann, who disqualified Habba in August, didn’t mince words in how problematic the attempts by the Trump admin to bypass the constitutional senate confirmation process has been.

Highlight —>

Meanwhile, people accused or even convicted of federal crimes in NJ argue that their cases should be tossed out because it was supervisors by unlawfully serving top prosecutors.

In December, Habba resigns. Pam Bondi splits the NJ U.S. Attorney job and appoints three people as the office’s top leadership team.

That never happened in U.S. history before.

Can Bondi do that to avoid senate confirmation? If so, can you split the FBI director job for example?

The TLDR background:

Trump names Alina Habba to lead the U.S. Attorney Office in NJ last March.

He can’t get the votes to confirm his former attorney to a top prosecutor jobs.

Tries to keep her in anyway.

Judge disqualifies her, appeal court affirms the disqualification.

Appointment of top federal prosecutors in New Jersey was unconstitutional, judge rules In a scathing opinion, U.S. District Judge Matthew Brann wrote that Trump’s administration has intentionally avoided taking the proper steps to appoint a top federal prosecutor in New Jersey.

A federal judge said yesterday that “scores of dangerous criminals” could be released because of Trump’s refusal to have a senate confirmed U.S. Attorney in New Jersey for over a year.

A brutal 130-page opinion about an “enormous assertion of Presidential power.”

www.inquirer.com/news/new-jer...

One reason they’re ordering release of detainees — rather than bond hearings: Berger and Johnston say the hearings are increasingly a pre-cooked sham, resulting in detention without a genuine chance for bond. www.politico.com/news/2026/03...

They are calling out violations of court orders, sloppy paperwork in detention cases, the destruction of families, the erosion of civil liberties and a climate of fear wrought by masked agents operating on WV’s roadways. Contempt is next, they say. www.politico.com/news/2026/03...

Judges in a Trump stronghold condemn ICE tactics “If the government may simply seize someone without due process, there is no check on its ability to seize anyone,” one judge wrote.

For weeks, Judges Joseph Goodwin (Clinton), Robert Chambers (Clinton), Thomas Johnston (GWB) and Irene Berger (Obama) have been ordering the release of dozens of detainees ICE and its WV partners have picked up since Jan 1. But they’re not stopping there

www.politico.com/news/2026/03...

NEW: Four federal judges have formed a firewall against ICE in West Virginia — and say they’ll punish state and federal officials of they continue detaining people in ways they have ruled illegal and unconstitutional.

www.politico.com/news/2026/03...

This war could be very, very long.

Unlike the war over the summer, the goal Trump and Netanyahu outlined are clear and publicly verifiable: regime change.

They won’t be able to declare victory based on alleged intelligence reports. The whole world will know the outcome.

There isn’t any real out.

I thought the Israeli and U.S. strikes over the summer destroyed the Iranian nuclear and ballistic missile program programs, removing a threat.

Netanyahu said. Trump said. Words.

Listening to Netanyahu and I can’t believe he was first elected before I was 6 years old. I have nearly 8 year old.

Impossible to sleep.

Unprecedented is an overused word but… you know.

This isn't a NJ issue.

There have been thousands of petitions nationwide in the past 27 days.

Reminder: the issue is that ICE now treats all immigrants, even US residents for years, as if they just crossed the border.

As Fifth Circuit Judge Dana Douglass wrote: the border is now everywhere.

Five might not sound like a lot so lets put that in context.

Five *is* a slow day for immigrant detainees habeas petitions these days.

There have been 232 petitions filed in NJ *this month*.

There were a total of 63 petitions from 2021 through 2024.

That's 27 days v. 4 years.

Yesterday, NJ District Judge Zahid Quraishi issued a blistering opinion calling out ICE and DOJ for ignoring the hundreds of court ruling against mandatory detentions of immigrants residing in the U.S.

"It ends today," he wrote.

It didn't.

Five new release petitions were filed in NJ today.

A good reminder for me to check in on these!

Women in tight uniforms and maggots in the soft serve: Two ex-employees sue Trump’s N.J. golf club In separate lawsuits, former banquet server Maria Hadley and former clubhouse manager Justine Sacks describe Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster as hostile to female staffers.

"Women in tight uniforms and maggots in the soft serve: Two ex-employees sue Trump’s N.J. golf club"

Abraham Gutman for @inquirer.com

[How the heck did I miss this story from January?!]

If you look at the NJ District opinions from the last week, majority of orders are in response to release petitions by detained immigrants and all brought under mandatory detention are granted.

The reactions to ICE’s mandatory detention from judges in all districts, regardless to which president appointed them, is unlike anything I’ve seen before — and their responses are escalating.

In Trump’s Case for War, a Series of False or Unproven Claims

Iran is “within days” of having enough material to build a nuclear bomb, but also “Iran's key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated” less than a year ago. Totally adds up. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/26/u...

Justice Department Sues Five Additional States for Failure to Produce Voter Rolls Today, the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division announced it has filed federal lawsuits against five states — Utah, Oklahoma, Kentucky, West Virginia, and New Jersey — for failure to produce the...

DOJ sued five more states — UT, OK, WV, NJ, KY — for their voter rolls.

“This brings the Justice Department’s nationwide total to 29 states and the District of Columbia.” www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justi...

Five Philly police officers sue over DEI, backed by a Trump-aligned legal team The police officers say they were passed over for promotions in favor of candidates with lower civil service exam scores because of a 2021 policy change to promote diversity.

A Trump-aligned legal team, which includes attorneys from Stephen Miller’s America First Legal, has been filing lawsuits against DEI efforts in Philly.

After challenging diversity in city contracting and school admissions, their latest is about police promotions. www.inquirer.com/news/philade...

Woof. A NJ District Judge has had it with the Trump admin's lack of compliance with court orders and legal defense of ICE's mandatory detention despite.

"The undersigned will not stand idly by and allow this intentional misconduct to go on. It ends today." storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...