The Department of Justice ratchets up Trump's revenge tour by launching investigations into Leticia James, Adam Schiff, Jack Smith, and the 2016 Russia investigation. Several former justice department attorneys are seeking elected office. CIA officials worried that the release of a House report on 2016 Russian election meddling could reveal top-secret spying techniques and sources, but the Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard authorized a lightly redacted version with President Trump’s blessing. The political purge of FBI personnel continues with the ouster of Steven Jensen and Brian Driscoll. Plus listener questions…

Convicted sex trafficker, Ghislaine Maxwell, was granted limited immunity for her interviews with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche. A week later, her sex offender status was waived and she was moved to a minimum security prison in Texas. Judges on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals press Department of Justice lawyers on deportation quotas as the Attorney General files a judicial complaint against Chief Judge Boesberg. A criminal defendant is challenging the appointment of Alina Habba as the interim U.S. attorney in New Jersey, citing Judge Eileen Cannon's dismissal of the classified documents case against Trump in their complaint. The Senate has confirmed Donald Trump's personal lawyer, Emil Bove, to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals as a whistleblower complaint languished in the Department of Justice Inspector General's office for months. Plus listener questions…

Tulsi Gabbard declassifies new documents in the latest attempt to cast doubt on the 2016 Russia investigation. A former January 6th prosecutor and former DOJ employees are suing the Trump Administration for wrongful termination. The Department of Justice circumvented the Vacancies Act to install Alina Habba as the interim US Attorney in New Jersey after the NJ District court judges rejected her. One of the people Trump freed in the prisoner swap with Venezuela using the CECOT detainees is a convicted murderer. Plus listener questions…

Attorney General Pam Bondi fires 20 Department of Justice employees who worked on the Trump documents case, and her personal ethics chief, as two-thirds of the unit defending Trump policies have quit Key prosecutor of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, Maurene Comey has been fired, and Senator Wyden tells NBC that FBI agents were instructed to flag mentions of donald trump in the epstein files The State Department has quietly posted some of the agreement between the US Government and Salvadoran President Bukele as a deal is finalized to swap the men at CECOT for prisoners in Venezuela. The interim status of Alina Habba as the US Attorney for New Jersey comes to an end as another US attorney clings to his position after being appointed as his own assistant. Plus listener questions…

President Bukele of El Salvador told the United Nations that the United States has constructive custody of the prisoners sent to CECOT. Former F.B.I. Director, James Comey, and the former C.I.A. Director, John Brennan, are under criminal investigation by the Department of Justice for their roles in the Russia investigation. Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee have demanded Attorney General Pam Bondi release Special Counsel Jack Smith’s full report as well as any mention of Donald Trump in the Epstein Files. Judge Xinis becomes frustrated with the Department of Justice’s failure to produce a witness with knowledge of the next steps for Mr. Abrego in a series of hearings. Plus listener questions…

Trump and the Department of Justice issue letters about the Tik-Tok ban that dangerously expand executive powers. Attorney General Pam Bondi fires three January 6th prosecutors sending another chill through the Justice Department, as the weaponization task force hires a January 6th rioter that threatened police. The Department of Justice coordinated with the Texas Attorney General to kill the Texas Dream Act in under six hours. The Supreme Court clarifies that the stay on blocking deportation to third countries includes Judge Murphy’s remedial order granting due process to the 8 men stuck in Djibouti on their way to South Sudan.

Now-fired career Department of Justice lawyer Erez Reuveni has sent a letter to the Inspector General, the Office of Special Counsel, and the chairs of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees outlining Emil Bove’s alleged defiance of court orders in three due process cases. The Supreme Court rules from the shadow docket and without explanation that a lower court’s order barring deportation to third countries without due process is on indefinite hold. Two separate hearings involving Mr. Abrego led his civil attorneys to ask his criminal defense team to keep him in prison pending a hearing in Maryland on a motion to block his removal from the country. Emil Bove faced questions about DoJ Lawyer Erez Reuveni’s whistleblower complaint alleging Bove instructed him and other DoJ lawyers to ignore court orders. Plus listener questions…

Protected Whistleblower Disclosure of Erez Reuveni Regarding Violation of Laws, Rules & Regulations, Abuse of Authority, and Substantial and Specific Danger to Health and Safety at the Department of Justice

President Trump may be shielding El Salvadoran President Bukele from an investigation into allegations that Bukele used US aid to support MS13, and traded away MS13 leaders as part of the agreement to house migrants at CECOT. Kilmar Abrego Garcia had his detention hearing in the middle district of tennessee on the human smuggling charges brought by the department of justice, and the testimony generated more questions than answers about the veracity of the charges against him. A Trump appointed judge in the Western District of Pennsylvania upholds the 21 day notice requirement for removal under the Alien Enemies Act Proclamation. Donald Trump– the criminal defendant who got Alieen Cannon to toss out the charges against him on the grounds that the special counsel prosecuting him was illegal, has called for a special prosecutor to investigate the 2020 election. Plus listener questions… Do you have questions for the pod?

Kilmar Abrego Garcia has pled not guilty to the two charges of smuggling migrants, and has asked the court to release him on bail pending his trial. The Department of Justice is trying to dismiss the discovery proceedings as moot, but Abrego Garcia’s lawyers have filed a sanctions motion requesting Judge Xinis proceed with determining whether the government defied her order. The Western District of Texas became the fourth court to find that Trump’s invocation of the Alien Enemies Act is unlawful and blocked the government from removing anyone under the proclamation in the district Attorney General Pam Bondi fails to respond to Judge Boasberg's order to report how the government is facilitating the due process for those trapped in the Salvadoran prison, and instead files a motion to stay the order. Plus listener questions…

Abrego Garcia is being brought back to the United States and will face federal charges. Judge Boasberg grants certification of the CECOT class and order the government to facilitate due process for all those who remain in the Salvadoran prison The man mistakenly deported to Guatemala by the Department of Homeland Security has been returned to the United states while the government struggles with giving other people due process on the ground in Djibouti. Kash Patel is forcing FBI agents to take polygraph tests as he fires and demotes others out with no explanation. Plus listener questions…

The Trump Administration files a motion to dismiss the Abrego Garcia case based on jurisdiction. Judge Xinis denies two government motions requesting delays. The government asked the Supreme Court for an emergency stay of their own request to do credible fear hearings on the ground in Djibouti for the men unlawfully flown to South Sudan. Law enforcement continues to struggle under pressure from the White House to increase immigration arrests. Trump nominates his private attorney turned Deputy Attorney General to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. Plus listener questions… Questions for the pod?

The Supreme Court remanded the Alien Enemies Act case back down to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, and at least one of the judges isn’t happy about it. Abrego Garcia’s deportation to El Salvador set off a fierce debate among officials in three cabinet agencies, despite agreement there had been a mistake. Tulsi Gabbard’s Chief of Staff ordered intelligence analysts to edit an assessment with the hope of insulating Trump and Gabbard from being attacked for the administration’s claim that Venezuela’s government controls a criminal gang. A federal judge found that the Trump Administration violated a court order when it sent a planeload of migrants to war-torn South Sudan, teeing up yet another possible contempt proceeding against the government. Plus listener questions…

"The President has invoked the Alien Enemies Act (AEA), Rev. Stat. §4067, 50 U. S. C. §21, to remove Venezuelan nationals who are members of Tren de Aragua (TdA), a designated foreign terrorist organization. See Presidential Proclamation No. 10903, 90 Fed. Reg. 13033 (2025). Applicants are two detainees identified as members of TdA and a putative class of similarly situated detainees in the Northern District of Texas. All of the alleged TdA members in the putative class are currently being held in U. S. detention facilities. In the application before the Court, the detainees seek injunctive relief against summary removal under the AEA. "

Judge Xinis holds a hearing over whether certain discovery in the Abrego Garcia case is subject to state secrets and deliberative process privilege. Trump administration lawyers submitted documents under seal to Judge Boasberg they say show the US "does not have constructive custody over" El Salvador CECOT detainees. Ed Martin reveals that he’s under investigation by the ethics office that handles attorney discipline in Washington, and reveals he’s working with January 6th defendants in his role as the Weaponization Czar Tulsi Gabbard has fired the intelligence officials that developed the assessment that tren de aragua is not a proxy of the Venezuelan government Plus listener questions…

There are now multiple cases challenging the administration’s Alien Enemies Act proclamation; including a hearing by Judge Boasberg for an amended complaint filed on behalf of all the detainees in El Salvador. Judge Xinis has had to pause the discovery in the Abrego Garcia case to contemplate the Trump Administration’s invocation of the state secrets and deliberative process privilege. Justice Department lawyers continue to lose credibility before judges who are upset by their shoddy work. President Trump pulls the nomination of Ed Martin for Us Attorney in the District of Columbia and appoints Fox anchor Jeanine Pirro as interim US Attorney. Plus listener questions…

Discovery in the Abrego Garcia case resumes after Judge Xinis denies the trump administration an additional extension Ed Martin’s nomination as United States Attorney for the District of Columbia is teetering on the brink after Senator Dick Durbin says that the Senate is not going to move forward with it. Department of Justice civil rights attorneys leave in droves as the administration guts programs for crime victims Pam Bondi rescinds Biden-era protections preventing the Justice Department from spying on journalists. Plus listener questions…

Judge Xinis postpones discovery in the Abrego Garcia after the government files a request to delay under seal. A conservative three judge panel for the DC Circuit Court of appeals temporarily blocks Judge Boasberg’s opinion that probable cause exists to hold the government in criminal contempt in the Alien Enemies Act case. The Supreme Court issues a late night order blocking the rendition of hundreds of additional detainees to El Salvador. A Reagan appointed judge lambasts the Department of Justice for not only failing to provide reasoned analysis for shuttering the VOA, but for failing to engage in any analysis at all.

Judge Boasberg issues a memorandum opinion that concludes that probable cause exists to find the Government in criminal contempt for defying court orders in the Alien Enemies Act case. The Fourth Circuit denies Trump’s bid to block Judge Xinis’ order to facilitate the return of Abrego Garcia, as she orders two weeks of discovery prior to considering holding the government in contempt. The ACLU has filed a new habeas petition pursuant to Judge Boasberg’s order for due process for those remaining in El Salvador under the Alien Enemies Act proclamation. The CIA concedes in a court filing that when it scanned Director John Ratcliffe's Signalgate messages, they were gone. Plus listener questions…

The Supreme Court has ruled that individuals being deported under the alien enemies act proclamation are afforded due process, and that the courts can ask the government to facilitate the return of wrongfully deported detainees The Department of Justice is seeking to drop the charges against the alleged MS-13 leader they held a press conference about arresting. FBI Director Kash Patel has been quietly removed as the Acting Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives after he stopped showing up to work. The Department of Justice lawyer who argued on behalf of the government in the Abrego Garcia case has been benched because he expressed frustration with his clients during a hearing. His supervisor has also been sidelined. The DC Office of Disciplinary Counsel has declined to launch a probe of Ed Martin, the interim U.S. attorney, over an alleged ethics violation he committed when he sought to dismiss the criminal case of a January 6th defendant whom he previously represented. Donald Trump signs an executive order opening investigations into Chris Krebs and Miles Taylor. Plus listener questions…