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Robert Mackey

@robertmackey.bsky.social

4.1K followers 980 following 360 posts

Report + edit @us.theguardian.com | Previous: The Murder of June Knightly @forensicarchi.bsky.social https://vimeo.com/913426020 | Meet the Riot Squad @theintercept.com https://vimeo.com/935228869 | +2,500 @nytimes.com bylines

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Robert Mackey @robertmackey.bsky.social · Jan 27

vimeo.com/913426020

The Murder of June Knightly

This is "The Murder of June Knightly" by Forensic Architecture on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people who love them.

vimeo.com

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Jeff Sharlet @jeffsharlet.bsky.social · 5h

What the actual fuck, Ro Khanna? The best you're going to be able to come up with is you didn't know who Ian Carroll is--a very old antisemitic conspiracy theorist; a fascist. (I say that as a fierce critic of Israeli genocide.) What's next, Alex Jones?

Ro Khanna @rokhanna.bsky.social · 10h

I don't take a dime from any PAC or lobbyist, including AIPAC.

I am proud to be one of the handful of Democrats standing up against Big Money.

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The Daily Show @thedailyshow.com · 11h

The following is REAL footage from Portland, 2025. Viewer discretion is advised.

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Zohran Kwame Mamdani @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social · 7h

New Yorkers know Attorney General James for who she is: a champion for justice who fights relentlessly for the people. Donald Trump knows her only as an obstacle to his corruption.

My full statement:

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Popehat Agitates And Irritates @kenwhite.bsky.social · 9h

I’ve never seen anything remotely this petty charged as bank fraud.

Joshua J. Friedman @joshuajfriedman.com · 10h

NEW: Here's the two-count indictment against NY AG Letitia James. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

INDICTMENT
October 2025 Term - at Alexandria, Virginia
THE GRAND JURY CHARGES THAT:
GENERAL ALLEGATIONS
At all times relevant to this Indictment:
1. Letitia A. James ("JAMES) was a resident of Brooklyn, New York, and the borrower on a
Fannie Mae-backed mortgage loan for the property located at 3121 Peronne Avenue,
Norfolk, Virginia.
2. OVM Financial (also known as Old Virginia Mortgage / AnnieMac) was a mortgage lending business located in Virginia Beach, Virginia, engaged in the business of originating and underwriting residential mortgage loans, including those backed by the Federal National Mortgage Association ("Fannie Mae"). OVM Financial qualified as a "financial institution" within the meaning of 18 U.S.C. § 20(10).
3. Fannie Mae was a federally chartered corporation that purchased and guaranteed mortgages,
operating as a government-sponsored enterprise under the oversight of the Federal Housing

Finance Agency ("FHFA").
4. First Savings Bank was a state-chartered, FDIC-insured financial institution (Certificate
#29961), headquartered in Jeffersonville, Indiana, which acquired mortgage loans through assignment or acquisition. First Savings Bank qualified as a "financial institution" within the meaning of 18 U.S.C. § 20(1).
5. On or about August 17, 2020, JAMES, as sole borrower, purchased the three (3) bedroom,
(1) bathroom property located at 3121 Peronne Avenue, Norfolk, Virginia 23509 (the
"Peronne Property"), for approximately $137,000, financed with a mortgage loan of approximately $109,600 (Loan #4430025978) backed by Fannie Mae.
6. The loan was originated by OVM Financial under a signed Second Home Rider, which required JAMES, as the sole borrower to occupy and use the property as her secondary residence, and prohibited its use as a timesharing or other shared ownership arrangement or agreement that requires her either to rent the property or give any other person any control over the occupancy or use of the property.
7. Despite these representations, the Peronne Property was not occupied or used by JAMES as a secondary residence and was instead used as a rental investment property, renting the property to a family of (3).
8. This misrepresentation allowed JAMES to obtain favorable loan terms not available for investment properties, including a note rate of 3.000% (avoiding a 0.815% higher
comparable investment property rate of 3.815%, resulting in approximately $17,837 in rate savings over the life of the loan), a seller credit of approximately $3,288 (exceeding the seller credit for investment properties by approximately $1,096), for total ill-gotten gains of approximately $18,933 over the life of the loan.
9. JAMES' Universal Property application for homeowners' insurance indicated "owner-

occupied non-seasonal use," further misrepresenting the intended use of the property.
10. JAMES filed Schedule E tax forms), under penalties of perjury, treating the Perrone Property as rental real estate, reporting fair rental days, zero personal use days, thousand(s)
of dollars in rents received, and claiming deductions for expenses relating to the property, further contradicting the second home classification.
11. The loan was acquired by or assigned to First Savings Bank by March 2021, exposing it to risks associated with the misrepresented loan.
12. The acts described herein occurred within the Eastern District of Virginia.
COUNT ONE
(Bank Fraud - 18 U.S.C. § 1344)
13. The allegations in paragraphs 1 through 12 are re-alleged and incorporated herein.
14. From on or about August 7, 2020, through at least January 2024, in the Eastern District of Virginia and elsewhere, the Defendant, LETITIA A. JAMES, did knowingly execute and attempt to execute a scheme and artifice to defraud OVM Financial and First Savings Bank,
financial institutions, and to obtain moneys, funds, and credits owned by and under the custody and control of OVM Financial and First Savings Bank by means of false and fraudulent pretenses, representations, and promises.
15. The scheme involved falsely representing the Peronne Property as a secondary residence to obtain favorable mortgage terms, while using it as an investment property with no intended
or actual personal occupancy or use by her.
(In violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1344).
COUNT TWO
(False Statements to a Financial Institution - 18 U.S.C. § 1014)
16. The allegations in paragraphs 1 through 12 are re-alleged and incorporated herein.

17. From on or about July 28, 2020, through at least August 31, 2020, in the Eastern District of Virginia and elsewhere, the Defendant, LETITIA A. JAMES, did knowingly make and cause to be made false statements and reports for the purpose of influencing the action of OVM Financial, a Fannie Mae-backed lender, upon an application for a loan, in that JAMES represented and affirmed in uniform residential loan applications and related documents that
the Peronne Property would be used as a secondary residence, when in truth and fact, as JAMES then knew, the property was intended and used as an investment property with no intended or actual personal occupancy or use by her.
(In violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1014).
FORFEITURE NOTICE
Pursuant to Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 32.2(a) and Title 18, U.S.C. §
982(a)(2)(A), upon conviction of the offenses in Counts One and Two, the Defendant, Letitia
A. James, shall forfeit to the United States any property constituting, or derived from, proceeds obtained, directly or indirectly, as a result of such violations, including but not limited to a money judgment in the amount of $18,933.
If any of the property described above, as a result of any act or omission of the Defendant: (a) cannot be located upon the exercise of due diligence; (b) has been transferred or sold to, or deposited with, a third party; (c) has been placed beyond the jurisdiction of the court; (d) has been substantially diminished in value; or (e) has been commingled with other property which cannot be divided without difficulty, the United States shall be entitled to a forfeiture of substitute property pursuant to Title 21, U.S.C. § 853(b), as incorporated by Title
18 U.S.C. § 982(b)(1).
(In accordance with Title 18 U.S.C. § 981(a)(1)(C) and 982(a)(1); Title 28, U.S.C. § 2461(c); and Title 21 U.S.C. § 853(p).)

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Jon Seidel @jonseidel.bsky.social · 9h

#BREAKING Federal judge in Chicago temporarily blocks the Trump administration from "ordering the federalization and deployment of the National Guard of the United States within Illinois."

Jon Seidel @jonseidel.bsky.social · 9h

Perry says the order will say defendants are "temporarily enjoined from ordering the federalization and deployment of the National Guard of the United States within Illinois."

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Robert Mackey @robertmackey.bsky.social · 11h

What if the Nobel committee used its leverage over Trump to make a special announcement on Friday acknowledging his role in the tentative Gaza deal and stating that he will win next year if it leads to actual peace?

geoffrey, 💀 mode @parsnip.bsky.social · 11h

so what do we think he does when the nobel committee does not in fact give him the peace prize tomorrow

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Joshua J. Friedman @joshuajfriedman.com · 12h

I believe this is what ICE is calling "a beard being ripped from an officer’s face" by a Chicago protestor x.com/ICEgov/statu...

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Joshua J. Friedman @joshuajfriedman.com · 11h

"The views expressed by users @kaioken8026, @mrright8439, and @ZxZNebula ... do not alter the Court’s analysis."

The Court holds, based upon a full consideration of the context in which “Not Like Us” was published, that a reasonable listener could not have concluded that “Not Like Us” was conveying objective facts about Drake. The views expressed by users @kaioken8026, @mrright8439, and @ZxZNebula, and the other YouTube and Instagram commentators quoted in the Complaint, Am. Compl., ¶¶ 73-74, do not alter the Court’s analysis. In a world in which billions of people are active online, support for almost any proposition, no matter how farfetched, fantastical or unreasonable, can be found with little effort in any number of comment sections, chat rooms, and servers. “[T]hat some readers may infer a defamatory meaning from a statement does not necessarily render the inference reasonable under the circumstances.” Jacobus, 51 N.Y.S.3d at 336.

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Joshua J. Friedman @joshuajfriedman.com · 11h

NEW: Federal judge dismisses Drake's defamation case against Kendrick Lamar storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

The issue in this case is whether "Not Like Us" can reasonably be understood to convey as a factual matter that Drake is a pedophile or that he has engaged in sexual relations with minors. In light of the overall context in which the statements in the Recording were made, the Court holds that it cannot.

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Matt Novak @paleofuture.bsky.social · 12h

"Baby in her placenta"

RFK Jr. Complains About TikTok Video of Woman Taking Tylenol With a 'Baby in Her Placenta'

gizmodo.com

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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 14h

RFK Jr: "Somebody showed me a TikTok video of a pregnant woman at 8 months pregnant -- she's an associate professor at the Columbia Medical School -- and she is saying 'F Trump' and gobbling Tylenol with her baby in her placenta. The level of Trump Derangement Syndrome is now a pathology."

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Gabriel Malor @gabrielmalor.bsky.social · 14h

I liked the way that Chaffin kept returning to the statute, but I would have turned that up. There is no invasion, rebellion, or inability to execute the laws. That's "prong" 1, 2, 3 of the statute.

And on prong 3, hammer it: shuffling employees is not on the same level as invasion and rebellion.

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Gabriel Malor @gabrielmalor.bsky.social · 14h

Overall, Stacy Chaffin did fine. She's an excellent litigator. She did have some difficulty with Judge Nelson, but at that point he wasn't asking questions seeking answers, he was arguing with her and using sarcasm to dismiss her replies.

It's hard to present your case in that circumstance.

audreyii_fic @audreyii.bsky.social · 14h

Gabriel, question: obviously this went badly for Oregon. Was it entirely based on Nelson's (extreme) bias, or was Chaffin not presenting the case well?

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Gabriel Malor @gabrielmalor.bsky.social · 14h

My initial read on this argument: Judge Nelson is eager to disagree with his 9th Cir. colleagues that federalizing the NG is reviewable at all.

He's also eager to disagree with Judge Immergut that the Portland protests were small and under control.

Gabriel Malor @gabrielmalor.bsky.social · 14h

McArthur about the ICE protesters: "these are violent people." Says the president is entitled to say "enough is enough."

Asks for a stay pending appeal. Sits.

Argument is over.

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Joshua J. Friedman @joshuajfriedman.com · 14h

So far this sounds very much like a 2–1 panel decision in favor of Trump having the right to deploy the NG to Portland, Oregon.

This is despite TROs usually not being appealable and DOJ appealing Judge Immergut's first TRO but not the second one. (Though the full court might rehear en banc.)

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Joshua J. Friedman @joshuajfriedman.com · 15h

HAPPENING NOW: A Ninth Circuit panel hears arguments on whether the Trump admin can deploy federalized National Guard troops to Portland, Oregon.

The panel: Susan P. Graber (Clinton), Ryan D. Nelson (Trump), Bridget S. Bade (Trump)

San Francisco Courtroom 2 9:00 AM Thursday 10/9

YouTube video by United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

www.youtube.com

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Kate Riga @kateriga.bsky.social · 14h

Full-on SCOTUS audition today by Nelson: do you admit that it was "ill advised" by the city of Portland to order the boards be taken off the ICE building?

His whole thesis is: we don't know what Trump is seeing behind the scenes, so how could we possibly question his judgment in sending in troops?

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Kate Riga @kateriga.bsky.social · 14h

Two Trump judges (Nelson, Bade) on 9th circuit panel really trying to outperform each other in their eagerness to give Trump the ability to deploy the Guard to unwilling states based on events that occurred months earlier. Lotttt of beating up on Oregon's Judge Immergut, who blocked deployments

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Chris Geidner @chrisgeidner.bsky.social · 14h

BREAKING: Federal judge issues a TRO in the Northern District of Illinois (including Chicago and the Broadview ICE facility), providing protections for protesters and journalists covering the protests.

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

Some of the key elements:

1. It is hereby ORDERED that Defendants,' 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:
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,
' President Trump, one of the named Defendants, is not included in this Order.
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Case: 1:25-cv-12173 Document #: 42 Filed: 10/09/25 Page 2 of 6 PagelD #:836
as long as the Journalist has an objectively reasonable time to comply and an objectively
reasonable opportunity to report and observe;

b. Issuing a crowd dispersal order requiring any person to leave a public place
that they lawfully have a right to be, unless dispersal is justified by exigent circumstances as defined by Department of Homeland Security Use of Force Policy (updated Feb. 6,
2023), Sections III.F and XII.E;
С.
For purposes of this Order, a crowd dispersal order is a lawful command
given by a Federal Agent for all persons to leave a designated area when three or more persons are committing acts of disorderly conduct that are likely to cause substantial harm in the immediate vicinity;
d. Using riot control weapons including kinetic impact projectiles (KIPs), Compressed Air Launchers (e.g., PIS and FN303), Oleoresin Capsicum (OC) Spray, CS gas, CN gas, or other chemical irritants, 40 mm Munitions Launchers, less-lethal shotguns,
Less-Lethal Specialty Impact-Chemical Munitions (LLSI-CM), Controlled Noise and Light Distraction Devices (CNLDDs), Electronic Control Weapons (ECWs) - on members of the press, protesters, or religious practitioners who are not posing an immediate threat to the safety of a law enforcement officer or others;

To facilitate the Defendants' identification of Journalists protected under
this Order, the following are examples of indicia of being a Journalist: visual identification as a member of the press, such as by carrying a professional press pass, badge or credentials; wearing distinctive clothing or patches that identify the wearer as a member of the press; or carrying professional gear such as professional photographic or videography
equipment. Other indicia of being a Journalist under this Order include that the person is standing off to the side of a protest, not engaging in chanting, sign holding, shouting slogans, or otherwise protesting, and documenting protest activities, although these are not
requirements. These indicia are illustrative, and a person need not exhibit every indicium
to be considered a Journalist under this Order. Defendants shall not be liable for unintentional violations of this Order in the case of an individual who does not wear a press pass, badge, or other official press credential, professional gear, or distinctive clothing that identifies the person as a member of the press.

It is further ORDERED that all Federal Agents, excepting those who do not wear a
uniform or other distinguishing clothing or equipment in the regular performance of their official
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Case: 1:25-cv-12173 Document #: 42 Filed: 10/09/25 Page 5 of 6 PagelD #:839
duties or are engaged in undercover operations in the regular performance of their official duties, must have visible identification (for which a unique recognizable alphanumeric identifier sequence
will suffice) affixed to their uniforms or helmets and prominently displayed, including when
wearing riot gear.

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Mark Bray @mark-bray.bsky.social · 5d

I’ve received multiple death threats + doxing (including my home address) directly following harassment from Turning Point USA, Jack Posobiec, Andy NGO, + Fox News which called me an antifa ‘financier.’

I have been forced to move my classes online.

If journalists want to talk, DM me or reply here.

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Brian Finucane @bcfinucane.bsky.social · 15h

From my colleague who used to head the Treaty Office at the US Department of State.

Just Security @justsecurity.org · 18h

Trump issued an order pledging to defend Qatar’s security:
- Is it binding?
- Is the pledge mutual?
- Why wasn’t Congress involved?
- What are the policy risks?

Leading treaty expert Mike Mattler (former State Dept.) analyzes these Qs and more:

www.justsecurity.org/122118/trump...

Some Questions About Trump’s Order Pledging to Defend Qatar’s Security

Trump's EO on Qatar raises a number of important legal and policy questions that merit careful consideration by Congress and the public.

www.justsecurity.org

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Jonathan M. Katz @katz.theracket.news · 1d

Even a pause in the killing and displacement would be good and I share the cautious optimism that this could end this phase of the catastrophe. But it is wild that people are treating this as if it’s the negotiated end of the Russo-Japanese War, or even Camp David 1978.

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Seth Cotlar @sethcotlar.bsky.social · 1d

Two big GOP activists from Oregon were in DC last month for meetings with Trump admin officials. On their podcast they talk about a plan they discussed to nullify the results of Oregon's 2026 federal elections. Pass federal voter ID law, then refuse to seat OR delegation because OR didn't comply.

Ep. 18: September to Remember
October 6 • S1 E18 • 44 min
Also, we proposed a idea how to do a end run on vote by mail. Concept is based on what Trump proposed. When you vote, you check everyone's citizenship as well as voter ID.
In a vote by mail state, you might be able to check citizenship during voter registration. You can send copies of your passport and your birth certificate in.
How in the world are you going to check our voters?
Voter ID, right? Vote by mail. So that creates a problem for Oregon.
But if federal government new requirement is to check both, and if Oregon can comply with the requirements, what would happen to our election result? I'm talking about the entire federal delegation.
For federal elections, we're talking about only federal elections.
COMMON SENSE
Vascluar

Ep. 18: September to Remember
October 6 • S1 E18 • 44 min
So entire federal delegation, congressmen and senators could be challenged, could be unseated because you didn't follow federal requirements to elect them. So I said the trade-off is worth it. You know why?
Democrats control two Senate seats out of six congressional seats. We only control one. They control five.
You talk about trade-off, right?
COMMON SENSE
Sanctuany

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Jill Blake @biscuitkitten.bsky.social · 1d

“the girlfriend of one of the founders of antifa”

Ingrid Bergman as Ilsa Lund in Casablanca

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Jane Lytvynenko @janelytv.bsky.social · 1d

“There will be no more mercy.”

“No one deserves pity. Spare me your whining.”

Those are captions to videos of Russian drone operators attacking civilians in Kherson city and region.

Living in Kherson means risking execution from the sky.

www.wsj.com/world/russia... (read free)

Russian Drones Turn the Streets of Kherson Into a Civilian Kill Zone

The attacks on Kherson are part of Russia’s growing strategy to terrorize civilians in an effort to sap Ukrainians’ strength to resist in the fourth year of war.

www.wsj.com

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