Aaron Reichlin-Melnick

Pirro’s office won’t pursue gun charges over carrying rifles, shotguns A statement from Pirro on Tuesday said D.C.’s blanket prohibition on carrying shotguns or rifles “is clearly a violation of the Supreme Court’s holdings.”

U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro—who claims she’s helping Trump fight crime in D.C.—will no longer charge people for illegally carrying shotguns and assault weapons in public, which is a felony offense under D.C. law.

Washingtonians, do we feel safer yet? www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

Video: neighbor rightly asks him why he, Trump DOJ atty Ed Martin, is standing in front of NY AG Letitia James' house, a person he is suing about the house & demanding she resign.

Coverage dismissing the fact that National Guard are “just patrolling safe tourist areas” is missing the point.

The very nature of a presence patrol — I did hundreds of these in Iraq — is to project strength.

That’s to embolden your allies.

And to threaten your enemies.

Trump Wants Universities to Show Him the Money, or No Deal

one way to read this is that the administration expected everyone to roll over for them, was shocked when they didn't, and didn't really have much of a plan beyond that

Update on this, which collected Economist/YouGov polling on Trump’s approval rating on immigration. He just hit his worst number yet in these polls, after a blip the previous week.

August 18: -10%
August 11: -1%
August 4: -6%
July 28: -6%

You can’t end dual citizenship because it’s other countries that decide who get to be their citizens, not the United States.

Some countries don’t even permit people to renounce citizenship at all!

They don’t care about crime. Period.

This is THE question I have about the arrest numbers the White House is putting out, and it’s pretty bad that a week into this we still don’t know if the White House is just claiming all MPD arrests as their own.

On Trump’s order, dozens arrested daily in D.C. The details are hidden. Meanwhile, Trump continues to tout the progress of the operation — progress that, without publicly available arrest data, is difficult to measure.

“Federal officers have been seen around the District wearing masks while making arrests and driving off in unmarked cars — making it difficult to discern which agency could provide information about who was arrested, where they were taken and why.” www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...

There are about 800-900 miles of the border still unwalled, and with the $46.6 billion they got in HR1, they’ll be able to finish hundreds more miles of that.

/a lot is in remote parts of Texas near Big Bend that really doesn’t need wall, so it’s not clear if they want to build it there.

New restrictions on our LEGAL right to conduct oversight are a blatant attempt to protect the Trump Admin and private prison operators from accountability.

The crazy thing is that despite this costing literally billions of dollars; they have the money for it!

That’s right, Congress decided to cut funding for public broadcasting and benefits for Americans and instead give CBP billions for the border wall, which they’ll now use to paint the wall black.

Relatedly I think journalism could maybe use stronger professional style norms around not anthropomorphizing the computer systems we report on/reference in our writing.

Question is very much “it depends.” If they own a house, they’d still own it and could sell it after or give it to someone else. If they own a car or other big things, sometimes a family member or friend can get it (they’d call or message after deportation). Other property may be abandoned.

Attention scholars of US immigration history

@irpinaingiro.bsky.social @hidehirota.bsky.social @kevinkenny.bsky.social @unlawfulentries.bsky.social

Jeanine Pirro bragged about helping Trump and GOP while a Fox News host The former Fox host complained of “CENSORSHIP” by Fox over her coverage of the 2020 election, according to newly unredacted documents in the Smartmatic defamation case.

Breaking WaPo:

According to newly unredacted court docs, Jeanine Pirro, then a Fox host, told the RNC chair in a Sept. 2020 text that she was determined to aid Trump and the GOP — despite the network prohibiting on-air personalities from political involvement.
www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

No, the Work Ethic Camp is not itself a labor camp, it’s a minimum security prison where people who are eligible for work release (working during the day and returning to the prison at night) are housed. It’s just creepily named.

After Trump Tariff Hit, Lesotho Turns to Asia and Other Markets Lesotho is courting buyers in Asia and elsewhere for its textiles after producers were battered by the uncertainty surrounding US President Donald Trump’s new tariff regime and has already secured new business from neighboring South Africa.

Lesotho is courting “alternative markets” for its textile industry battered by the uncertainty created by Donald Trump’s tariffs which resulted in the shuttering of dozens of factories and furloughing of thousands of workers

Dear Sir, I imagine you were mortified to read - online and publicly - your recent letter to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi (April 24, 2025). On page 4, you make admissions about your client Letitia James' conduct that are stunning to me. I am Special Attorney investigating many matters including the criminal referral to which you refer in the Bondi letter. I believe that your admission regarding Letitita James' conduct indicates that she is serious about addressing the problems presented in the referral. After all, her approval of your letter includes the admission although she likely did not expect it to be published. At this time, Letitia James would best serve the "good of the state and nation" by resigning from office to address the issues in the referral. Her resignation from office would give the people of New York and America more peace than proceeding. I would take this as an act of good faith.

Because of your reputation for using the media to argue your points, I prefer that we communicate by letter. I find leaks like your Bondi letter professionally unacceptable and personally insulting. To that end, I specifically ask that you redouble your efforts to not leak this confidential letter. I prefer not to have to move in court to stop you or your client from leaking. Thank you for considering this and alerting your client to this letter. All the best. Eard R. Martin, p. Edward R. Martin, Jr. ed.martinjr@usdoj.gov

Ed Martin’s latest stunt: pressuring someone he is criminally investigating to resign from public office “as an act of good faith.”

The 280 beds are opening at a pre-existing jail known as the “Work Ethic Camp” (seriously), a minimum security facility designed for prisoners eligible for rehab and work release.

Considering the facility is reportedly only 200 beds, it’s not clear whether they intend to build a new wing or what.

A number of people have claimed recently that the CPS shows a large rise in employment for native-born workers, while immigrant employment has fallen. Here's an exceedingly informative post from @jedkolko.bsky.social, on why the CPS cannot be used in this way. jedkolko.substack.com/p/no-native-...

Very well-put!

If you want to put back statues and memorials and names of Confederate traitors while tearing down museum exhibitions on slavery because they don't show the greatness of the nation... the nation whose history you're celebrating is whiteness. The kind of nationalist you are is a white nationalist.

Motions to dismiss on the grounds of vindictive prosecution are very hard to win, so Mr. Abrego Garcia has a high hill to climb.

That said, given the many, many public statements that the Trump administration have made about this case, I think this is likely a winnable one.

KAG MTD Selective and Vindictive

NEW: Kilmar Abrego Garcia files motion to dismiss his criminal charges in Tennessee based on selective and vindictive prosecution

"Mr. Abrego was charged because he refused to acquiesce in the government’s violation of his due process rights."

www.documentcloud.org/documents/26...

I suppose one silver lining of the DOGE experiment, which yielded little else of value, is that we now have some precedent suggesting Trump's successor can raze ICE to the ground and salt the earth by executive fiat.

The government unlawfully removed him to El Salvador, an action it subsequently admitted was a mistake. Predictably, once in El Salvador, Mr. Abrego was incarcerated at the notorious Terrorism Confinement Center (“CECOT”), where he was beaten and otherwise subjected to inhumane conditions. Mr. Abrego responded to the government’s shocking, illegal conduct by filing a lawsuit. Rather than fix its mistake and return Mr. Abrego to the United States, the government fought back at every level of the federal court system. And at every level, Mr. Abrego won. This case results from the government’s concerted effort to punish him for having the audacity to fight back, rather than accept a brutal injustice.

NEW

Kilmar Abrego Garcia's lawyers seek to dismiss the case for selective and vindictive prosecution, writing that he's being pursed to "punish him for having the audacity to fight back, rather than accept a brutal injustice."

Background www.allrisenews.com/p/abrego-gar...

nice fucking job America

Justice Department investigating D.C. police over alleged fake crime data The launch of the criminal investigation — run out of the federal prosecutor’s office in D.C. — escalates the tense relationship between the Trump administration and local D.C. officials.

It's disingenuous to report on this without the context. A Washington Examiner reporter posted that DC police were faking crime stats. Then Stephen Miller's law firm AFL picked up on it and filed a FOIA. Then the DOJ did the same.
www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

Maryland state police should be ARRESTING ICE agents who do this. Impound the vehicles. Force the Trump admin to litigate. @raskin.house.gov lives here and should stand up and say this now. Along with @vanhollen.senate.gov and @alsobrooks.senate.gov.

Ppl this is not going to happen. State police are not going to arrest federal police. The most that can even be optimistically expected of them is that they will not assist federal police, and even that is a heavy lift, even if they are totally within their constitutional rights to do just that.