Sean Hecker

Pritzker: "He said he was going after the worst of the worst. It's not going after the worst of the worst when you're just literally stopping children who happen to be brown & asking them for papers as if they're gonna have proof they're a citizen. Pull out your phones and film everything you see"

The vindictive prosecutions of political enemies are not a distraction from the Epstein files - they’re one and the same: wielding the power of the DoJ to persecute your foes AND to protect your friends.

Same

I continue to just respect the hell out of this guy

A second set of pre-trial motions is due by Oct. 30.

Comey’s defense counsel, Patrick Fitzgerald, said he expects that batch to include a motion regarding abuse of grand jury process and an “outrageous government conduct” motion.

The judge also set an initial schedule for pre-trial motions.

The first set is expected by Oct. 12. Per Comey’s defense counsel, that batch will include motions to dismiss for selective and vindictive prosecution, as well as a motion challenging the legality of Halligan’s appointment as US attorney

Great thread with coverage of the arraignment and upcoming motion practice.

Demonstrating discriminatory effect through “similarly situated” individuals will be particularly challenging for Comey, as courts demand they be nearly identical in relevant circumstances. But Trump’s Truth Social post from Sept. 20 may serve as potential evidence of discriminatory purpose. Trump’s demand that Bondi prosecute Comey, New York Attorney General Letitia James, and Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), paired with his reference to his own criminal cases, could serve as evidence that the Trump administration is targeting individuals for prosecution because they are the president’s political opponents. The government could counter that Trump’s tweet undermines a discriminatory effect argument, as the inclusion of multiple individuals shows that prosecution is not limited solely to Comey.

Lawfare has a post about how hard it is to challenge prosecutions for selective and vindictive charging and it's not wrong.

But there is someone exactly situated: Kash Patel's lies to SJC about investigating Jim Comey.

www.lawfaremedia.org/article/the-...

At this inflection point for Trump's authoritarian project, the democratic resistance has a chance to rise to the occasion by linking together its legal prong (lawsuits), its political prong (the government shutdown fight), and its popular prong (No Kings). A moment of challenge and opportunity.

We must now start calling this what it is: Trump’s Invasion. It started with federal agents, it will soon include deploying federalized members of the Illinois National Guard against our wishes, and it will now involve sending in another state’s military troops.

House of South Carolina Judge Criticized by Trump Administration Set Ablaze Authorities are investigating a fire at the home of a South Carolina judge who had reportedly received death threats in what could be the latest incident of political violence across the country.

Over the weekend, Trump's deputy chief of staff for policy Stephen Miller repeatedly attacked judges, calling them part of an "organized terrorist attack" on the US government....

On Saturday, the home of a judge who ruled against Trump, went up in flames

time.com/7323442/sout...

One of the things that symbolically differentiates monarchies from republics is that republics don't put images of living officeholders on their currency.

(Yes, I know about the Calvin Coolidge coin. It was once in 250 years, and it was wrong.)

Is ‘TrumpRx’ a gift or a grift? As part of a multi-pronged deal with Pfizer, President Trump announced a new government website called “TrumpRx,” where he says Americans can buy discounted drugs directly from manufacturers. Co-Founder of The Contrarian, Norm Eisen, tells Ali Velshi that Americans are “already getting lower prices” because of the Affordable Care Act, and TrumpRx is “another example of President Trump deceiving and distracting” for political gain.

"This is another example of President Trump deceiving and distracting," @normeisen.bsky.social says of Trump's newest financial endeavor, TrumpRx, created to lower drug costs. "Some people watching this will have to pay tens of thousands of dollars more if they want to keep good healthcare." #Velshi

Judge Says DOJ May Be Vindictively Punishing Abrego Garcia for Challenging Removal to El Salvador Read more here.

🚨BREAKING: A federal judge in Nashville ruled that the Department of Justice’s criminal case against Maryland man Kilmar Abrego Garcia may be a form of punishment against him for legally challenging his abrupt removal to an El Salvador megaprison earlier this year.

Notwithstanding that concession, during and immediately subsequent to the appeals, the Executive Official Defendants made numerous public statements about Abrego. Secretary Noem called Abrego a “gang member,” a “violent criminal” and a “terrorist.” See, e.g., Mark Swanson, Kristi Noem to Newsmax: Man Deported in Error ‘Very Dangerous,’ Newsmax (Apr. 4, 2025), https://www.newsmax.com/newsmax-tv/kristi-noem-deported-kilmarabregogarcia/2025/04/04/ id/1205764/; The Economic Times, ‘I’m Not Here for This’: Kristi Noem Fumes at House Hearing over Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s Deportation, YouTube (May 14, 2025), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAyUpm9VqlU. Attorney General Bondi said Abrego was a “known gang member.” Bondi Asked Why Abrego Garcia Must Stay in Foreign Prison If Admin Admitted Deportation Was Mistake, Forbes Breaking News (Apr. 8, 2025), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXh4lmUAKZA. Other statements by the Executive Official Defendants were of the same nature.

One point Judge Waverly Crenshaw pointed to in granting Kilmar Abrego discovery on Vindictive Prosecution is people, including Pam Bondi, kept making false claims publicly about Abrego.

storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

here is a possible game changer for Abrego. and a very good augury for Jim Comey

A big victory for Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s defense team.

This is an old formula used by authoritarian regimes. Stoke chaos and blame scapegoats to justify the use of force.

Judge Says DOJ May Be Vindictively Punishing Abrego Garcia for Challenging Removal to El Salvador Read more here.

Today a judge said what has been clear from the beginning: the evidence shows the Trump Admin is vindictively punishing Mr. Abrego Garcia for having the audacity to pursue his due process rights.

Those rights MUST be upheld. This is not about one man — it’s about ALL our rights.

True facts.

Judge Finds ‘Likelihood’ That Charges Against Abrego Garcia Are Vindictive

Judge Finds ‘Likelihood’ That Charges Against Abrego Garcia Are Vindictive www.nytimes.com/2025/10/03/u...

Read the opinion here.

MEMORANDUM OPINION By way of context, a federal prosecutor is the representative not of an ordinary party to a controversy, but of a sovereignty whose obligation to govern impartially is as compelling as its obligation to govern at all. The obligation to govern impartially concerns, above all, the state's exercise of coercive power-meaning its power to deprive its subjects of life, liberty, or property... As a representative of the state, a prosecutor's exercise of coercive power must be impartial ... [in] that prosecutorial power may not be exercised vindictivelymeaning that the prosecutor may not punish a defendant for exercising a protected statutory or constitutional right. United States v. Zakhari, 85 F.4th 367, 384-85 (6th Cir. 2023) (Kethledge, J., concurring) (citations and quotations omitted). This context frames review of Defendant Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia's ("Abrego") motion to dismiss his indictment for vindictive and selective prosecution. (Doc. Nos. 104-05). The Government opposes the motion (Doc. No. 121), and Abrego has replied (Doc. No. 127). Abrego's motion is not ripe for decision because he seeks discovery and an evidentiary hearing because there is some evidence of vindictiveness here. For the reasons that follow, the Court holds that the totality of events creates a sufficient evidentiary basis to conclude that there is a "realistic likelihood of vindictiveness" that entitles Abrego to discovery and requires an evidentiary hearing before the Court decides his motion. United States v. Andrews, 633 F.2d 449, 457 (6th Cir. 1980) (en banc), cert. denied, 450 U.S. 927 (1981).

NEW: Judge Crenshaw finds that the Trump admin's criminal prosecution of Kilmar Abrego Garcia may well be vindictive—and greenlights discovery and an evidentiary hearing. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

You can read the full ruling here END/ storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Please do read.

Everyone should listen to Chris Murphy's extraordinary warning about Trump on our pod. First, he says the logic must be that the more lawless he gets, the stiffer the resistance.

"If I give in and consent to these kinds of tactics then it just normalizes it all." 1/

newrepublic.com/article/2013...

This Is the Kind of Overregulation that Makes New York Unaffordable The city council's plan to require plumbers to install all gas appliances in the city is an obstacle to Zohran Mamdani's pledge to freeze rents

I found this pretty persuasive. Maybe there's some evidence of real harm from the current regulatory status quo but doesn't really seem to be.

www.joshbarro.com/p/this-is-th...

When the history of the Trump II era is written, Kilmar Abrego Garcia will feature prominently as an archetypal victim of the regime's authoritarian lawlessness and cruelty.

Today’s dangerous speech showed it. SignalGate showed it. Nearly every action he’s taken in this office has shown it.

Pete Hegseth is wildly unqualified and should resign.

Meanwhile, the Government confines Petitioner in civil detention pending his removal. The Supreme Court held in Zadvydas v. Davis, 533 U.S. 678 (2001), that it is unlawful to detain an individual for removal for an extended period when there is no significant likelihood of removal in the reasonably foreseeable future. That is the exact situation here. The Government’s opposition brief does not identify any legally viable removal destination, let alone argue that Petitioner will be removed reasonably soon. Nor does the Government identify any concrete steps it has taken to advance its administrative proceedings for Petitioner’s removal. Instead, the Government is content to let Petitioner languish in civil detention indefinitely, both as a punishment to Petitioner, and as a warning to others, for having the temerity to seek to vindicate his rights in court.

Feds want Abrego to "languish in civil detention indefinitely, both as a punishment to [Abrego], and as a warning to others, for having the temerity to seek to vindicate his rights in court."

That's unlawful, they argue in a federal court in Maryland.