Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

P. Andrew Torrez @andrewtorrez.bsky.social · 10h

it's a big tent

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P. Andrew Torrez @andrewtorrez.bsky.social · 12h

First draft of the party platform detected

T. Greg "Antifa General Counsel (Retired)" Doucette @gregdoucette.bsky.social · 13h

My vote in the 2028 D primary for POTUS will hinge almost entirely on the % of this Administration they promise to imprison

Radley Balko @radleybalko.bsky.social · 16h

Good. Even if this doesn’t work, it’s time to go on offense.

www.newsweek.com/jb-pritzker-...

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P. Andrew Torrez @andrewtorrez.bsky.social · 20h

Oh, interesting. I can’t believe the case against James Comey is even weaker than I thought it was.

FactsMatter314 @factsmatter314.bsky.social · 20h

great show as always

btw, McCabe confirmed publicly a couple weeks ago that he is NOT person 3

podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/u...

Who is Person 3?

Podcast Episode · UnJustified · 09/28/2025 · 1h 10m

podcasts.apple.com

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P. Andrew Torrez @andrewtorrez.bsky.social · 20h

correct

P. Andrew Torrez @andrewtorrez.bsky.social · 21h

Off the top of my head, it seems like adding knowingly bad loans to your overall portfolio could downgrade the rating on bonds secured by those funds (see e.g. below) and increase insurance premiums & reserving requirements, which would reduce yearly dividends to members.

cbonds.com/bonds/1039925/

USAA Capital Bonds, 0.5% 1may2024, USD (C) (US90327QD719)

Issue Information Domestic bonds USAA Capital, 0.5% 1may2024, USD (C). Issue, Issuer, Yield, Prices, Payments, Analytical Comments, Ratings

cbonds.com

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P. Andrew Torrez @andrewtorrez.bsky.social · 22h

Also, we go 2-for-2 in predictions as SCOTUS tells Alex Jones to eat shit JUST LIKE WE TOLD YOU (and notwithstanding his lawyers laughably saying they'd get a "unanimous" vote, even though certiorari doesn't work that way)

with @lizdye.bsky.social

podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/e...

CERTIORARI DENIED

25-268 JONES, ALEX E. ET AL. V. LAFFERTY, ERICA, ET AL.

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P. Andrew Torrez @andrewtorrez.bsky.social · 22h

2/ Today, Judge Smith entered the order we discuss, "clarifying" & enforcing his injunction preventing the admin from "ham-handed[ly] attempt to bully" states into accepting anti-immigrant conditions to get FEMA aid, calling the new language a "fig leaf."

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

In effect, Defendants have done precisely what the Memorandum and Order forbids, which is requiring Plaintiff States to agree to assist in federal immigration enforcement or else forgo the award of DHS grants. The fig leaf conditional nature of the requirement makes little difference. No matter how confident Defendants may be of their chances on appeal, at present, the contested conditions are unlawful. Plaintiff States therefore have a right to accept the awards without regard to the contested conditions. Defendants’ new condition is not a good faith effort to comply with the order; it is a ham-handed attempt to bully the states into making promises they have no obligation to make at the risk of losing critical disaster and other funding already appropriated by Congress.

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P. Andrew Torrez @andrewtorrez.bsky.social · 22h

1/ These are all great reasons to listen to our show.

Also, in the subscriber bonus, we break down Illinois v. FEMA, where 20 states + DC have successfully held off (for now) the Trump admin's gross efforts to tie disaster relief funds to its immigration agenda.

This morning, that win continues!

Liz Dye @lizdye.bsky.social · 23h

Today on the pod:

Lindsey Halligan finds out why they call it the Rocket Docket
National Guard deployed in cities
And we'll tell you how we really feel about Justice AC Barrett's "Trust Us" Tour

Plus Alex Jones eats it at SCOTUS

with @andrewtorrez.bsky.social

podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/e...

Ep 173 — Justice Barrett Isn’t Mad, She’s Just Disappointed That You Keep Saying SCOTUS Is Broken

Podcast Episode · Law and Chaos · 10/14/2025 · 1h 3m

podcasts.apple.com

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Reposted by P. Andrew Torrez

National Security Counselors 🕵 @nationalsecuritylaw.org · 19d

OK, true story, another lawyer once asked me to 2nd chair for her at her first security clearance appeal in front of an Administrative Judge, basically to be her backup in case something went sideways. We're sitting in the hearing room when the judge walks in and sits down, and then:

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Reposted by P. Andrew Torrez

Liz Dye @lizdye.bsky.social · 1d

We dove into that Tish James indictment and ... we're not saying Lindsey Halligan is an unethical idiot.

But we're not NOT saying it.

with @andrewtorrez.bsky.social

www.lawandchaospod.com/p/the-tish-j...

The Tish James Indictment Looks Like Country Fried BS

Yeah, don't faint.

www.lawandchaospod.com

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Reposted by P. Andrew Torrez

Anna Bower @annabower.bsky.social · 3d

NYT reports that Letitia James’s great niece lives in the home that is the subject of the indictment.

The niece reportedly testified before a *different* grand jury, telling them that she had lived there for many years without paying rent. James visits regularly.

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/11/u...

Letitia James
Indictment
Read the Indictment
Timeline of Conflict
Indic
But in June, IMs. Thompson testified to a grand
jury in Norfolk that she had lived in the house for years and that she did not pay rent, a person familiar with her testimony said. She was not asked to testify again, and the grand jury that voted to indict Ms. James was not seated in Norfolk, but in Alexandria.
The specter of Mr. Trump's revenge campaign has so far overshadowed the facts of the case, given how he has pushed for Ms. James's punishment. For years, he has railed against her on social media, calling her a "crook" and
"corrunt" Last month. he also appointed Ms.

for a peaceful life after years of turbulence in several cities.
The family, Nakia Thompson and her children, have lived at the address ever since, according to two people familiar with the home, and until this week, the plan for a more lacid existence had largely gone as expected. Several times a year, the people said, a great-aunt who had purchased the house in 2020 with Ms.
Thompson in mind would come for an extended stay.
This week, with the filing of court papers some 200 miles north, the plan came to an abrupt end.
The great-aunt - Letitia James, the New York attorney general - was indicted by President Trump's Justice Department. The yellow house,

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Reposted by P. Andrew Torrez

Liz Dye @lizdye.bsky.social · 3d

I was given to understand that the president's son getting a job with a company doing business before the government was an impeachable offense

Scott Horton @robertscotthorton.bsky.social · 4d

Trump said he deserved a cut for brokering the TikTok deal, and at once there was agreement that his son Baron would have a top executive slot... though he hasn't asked for it, and has no apparent qualifications to hold it. This is how Trump 2.0 works. www.telegraph.co.uk/us/news/2025...

Barron Trump tipped for top TikTok job

US president’s 19-year-old son could be appointed to the app’s board

www.telegraph.co.uk

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P. Andrew Torrez @andrewtorrez.bsky.social · 4d

My favorite “nobody”:

Anna Bower @annabower.bsky.social · 4d

“Anna is a nobody” — Roger Stone

Roger Stone @RogerJStoneJr
X.com
Kyle Cheney is a congenital liar and a propagandist and Anna is a nobody. Multiple attorneys who have examined this case describe it as air tight. By the way, Cheney is also a leaping bounding, screaming asshole.
2:16 AM • 10/10/25 • 188 Views

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P. Andrew Torrez @andrewtorrez.bsky.social · 4d

Come for "how do we teach con law in an era of madness?" and stay for "what exactly IS stare decisis, and how badly has the Roberts Court butchered it??"

with @espinsegall.bsky.social and of course @lizdye.bsky.social

Liz Dye @lizdye.bsky.social · 5d

How can you teach law school when SCOTUS is setting fire to a new precedent every day? Here's hoping @espinsegall.bsky.social can explain it to us!

with @andrewtorrez.bsky.social

podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/e...

Ep 172 — Law School In The Age Of Trump (Ft. Prof. Eric Segall)

Podcast Episode · Law and Chaos · 10/10/2025 · 1h 6m

podcasts.apple.com

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Reposted by P. Andrew Torrez

Liz Dye @lizdye.bsky.social · 5d

Oh, lord that Ninth Circuit hearing was bad. Let's console ourselves with this nice TRO out of Chicago blocking ICE from gassing peaceful protesters and journalists

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

Temporary Restraining Order
Plaintiffs filed an Emergency Motion for a Temporary Restraining Order [21] against
Defendants. Having held hearings on October 6, 8, and 9, 2025, the Court finds that Plaintiffs
have met their burden to support the issuance of a Temporary Restraining Order. Accordingly,
the Court grants the motion and orders as follows:
1. It is hereby ORDERED that Defendants,1 their officers, agents, assigns, and all
persons acting in concert with them (hereafter referred to as “Federal Agents”), are temporarily
ENJOINED in this judicial district from:
a. Dispersing, arresting, threatening to arrest, threatening or using physical
force against any person whom they know or reasonably should know is a Journalist, unless
Defendants have probable cause to believe that the individual has committed a crime.
Defendants may order a Journalist to change location to avoid disrupting law enforcement,

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Reposted by P. Andrew Torrez

Liz Dye @lizdye.bsky.social · 5d

Let's play Where Is DOJ Getting No-Billed TODAY?

with @andrewtorrez.bsky.social

www.lawandchaospod.com/p/where-is-d...

Where Is DOJ Getting No-Billed Today?

Hint: We will celebrate with a shot of Malört.

www.lawandchaospod.com

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P. Andrew Torrez @andrewtorrez.bsky.social · 6d

8/ We'll know more tomorrow.

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P. Andrew Torrez @andrewtorrez.bsky.social · 6d

7/ So if you're reading the tea leaves, I think it's plausible to think that even this very conservative panel of the 9th Circuit might uphold Judge Immergut's findings.

That's because this admin stay suggests the court does NOT think it is irreparable harm for Trump to be unable to deploy the NG.

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P. Andrew Torrez @andrewtorrez.bsky.social · 6d

6/ Judge Immergut tore that argument a new one on Oct 4, ruling that *no* facts plausibly supported a determination that the President was unable to execute the laws in Portland & Trump's decision to federalize the NG was "not conceived in good faith."

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

Finally, the President’s own statements regarding the deployment of federalized National Guardsmen further support that his determination was not “conceived in good faith” or “in the face of the emergency and directly related to the quelling of the disorder or the prevention of its continuance.” Newsom II, 141 F.4th at 1051 (emphasis in original) (quoting Sterling, 287 U.S. at 399–400). Despite the “minimal activity” outside the Portland ICE facility in the days preceding September 27, 2025, Hughes Decl., Ex. 22, ECF 46-22 to Ex. 26, ECF 46-26, President Trump directed Secretary Hegseth “to provide all necessary Troops to protect War ravaged Portland, and any of our ICE Facilities under siege from attack by Antifa, and other domestic terrorists.” Marshall Decl., Ex. 12, ECF 9-12. Two days before that directive, the President claimed that Portland has “professional agitators” who are “paid a lot of money by rich people,” “anarchists,” and “crazy people” who try to “burn down buildings, including federal buildings.” See Marshall Decl., ECF 9 ¶ 26. Whatever the factual basis the President may have for these allegations, nothing in the record suggests that anything of this sort was occurring “every night” outside the Portland ICE building or in the City of Portland in the days or weeks leading up to his September 27 directive. Id.

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P. Andrew Torrez @andrewtorrez.bsky.social · 6d

5/ If that's the case, it's hard to imagine a case with fewer supporting facts than this one. 12406(3) says that the President must be "unable with the regular forces to execute the laws of the United States."

Whenever—
(1)the United States, or any of the Commonwealths or possessions, is invaded or is in danger of invasion by a foreign nation;
(2)there is a rebellion or danger of a rebellion against the authority of the Government of the United States; or
(3)the President is unable with the regular forces to execute the laws of the United States;
the President may call into Federal service members and units of the National Guard of any State in such numbers as he considers necessary to repel the invasion, suppress the rebellion, or execute those laws. Orders for these purposes shall be issued through the governors of the States or, in the case of the District of Columbia, through the commanding general of the National Guard of the District of Columbia.

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P. Andrew Torrez @andrewtorrez.bsky.social · 6d

4/ It looks like the panel wants to consider the merits of the federalization argument.

A previous panel of the 9th Circuit held that the President's determination that the preconditions of 10 USC 12406 were met was due "great deference," but the facts supporting that decision were reviewable.

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P. Andrew Torrez @andrewtorrez.bsky.social · 6d

3/ Trump did NOT appeal that TRO, so the 9th Circuit couldn't stay it.

An administrative stay is (typically) very short in duration; the 9th Circuit has scheduled oral argument for 9 am Pacific Time TOMORROW, after which the court will decide whether to stay Judge Immergut's injunction or not.

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P. Andrew Torrez @andrewtorrez.bsky.social · 6d

2/ This does NOT permit Trump to deploy national guard units from Oregon or any other state on the streets of Portland.

That's because Judge Immergut issued a SECOND TRO on Sunday night enjoining the admin from sending Nat'l Guard units from any state to Oregon.

podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/e...

Ep 171 — Can Trump Put Troops In Every City Simply By Shouting EMERGENCY?

Podcast Episode · Law and Chaos · 10/07/2025 · 1h 2m

podcasts.apple.com

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P. Andrew Torrez @andrewtorrez.bsky.social · 6d

BREAKING - 9TH CIR ADMINISTRATIVELY STAYS ORDER TO PROTECT TROOPS "FEDERALIZED BUT **NOT** DEPLOYED** TO PORTLAND

1/ A 9th Circuit panel with 2 Trump appointees (Bade, Nelson) just entered an administrative stay of Judge Immergut's FIRST TRO issued 10/4.

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

In the circumstances here, granting an administrative stay will best preserve the status quo. Prior to the October 4 temporary restraining order, Oregon National Guard members had been federalized but not deployed. The Memorandum authorized federalization of the Oregon National Guard members. An administrative stay of the October 4 temporary restraining order will maintain the federalization of Oregon National Guard members, because that order prohibits implementation of the Memorandum. Additionally, the second temporary restraining order has not been challenged or appealed, and it prohibits the deployment of National Guard members in Oregon. Thus, the effect of granting an administrative stay preserves the status quo in which National Guard members have been federalized but not deployed. Administrative Stay GRANTED.

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Reposted by P. Andrew Torrez

Dr Amber, esq. @ambertutorslaw.bsky.social · 6d

I’m just a legal tutor

Standing in front of @lizdye.bsky.social and @andrewtorrez.bsky.social

Asking them to make a “Justin Baldoni teaches us civil procedure” supercut of Law and Chaos pods….

(Law students, it’s learning through snark!!)

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