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Anil Kalhan

@akalhan.bsky.social

19K followers 3.8K following 1.8K posts

Law professor, Drexel Univ • Affil'd fellow, Yale ISP • NYC Bar Ass'n Rule of Law Task Force • AAUP Cmte A on Acad Freedom ⚾ Cleveland native/partisan 🏀 runner • https://linktr.ee/akalhan

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Anil Kalhan @akalhan.bsky.social · 12d

What we might refer to as a "Kavanaugh Stop"

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 14d

WOW. The lead plaintiff is a Latino man who's been here legally for 24 years. He was grabbed off the street by plainclothes federal agents who didn't even ASK about his status.

He was detained overnight and only released once a supervisor realized he had been illegally arrested.

PARTIES3. Plaintiff José Escobar Molina is a 47-year-old man who has lived in D.C. for 25 years. He has maintained valid Temporary Protected Status (“TPS”) for El Salvador since 2001. On August 21, 2025, Mr. Escobar Molina was walking from his apartment building in Northwest D.C.to his work truck, about to start his workday, when two cars pulled up next to him. As he was about to get into his truck, plain-clothed and unidentified federal agents exited the cars and—without conducting any inquiry—seized Mr. Escobar Molina, grabbing him by the arms and legs and immediately handcuffing him. The agents arrested him without a warrant and without asking for his name, his identification, or anything about his immigration status. The agents also did not ask him where he lives, whom he lives with, how long he has lived here, or anything else about his ties to the community prior to arresting him. After ICE detained Mr. Escobar Molina overnight at its processing center in Chantilly, Virginia, the next day an ICE supervisor finally realized that he had valid TPS, which statutorily prohibits ICE from detaining him, and released him. Due tohis Latino ethnicity, Mr. Escobar Molina fears being arrested and detained again while going about his daily life in D.C.

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Greg Sargent @gregsargent.bsky.social · 1d

JB Pritzker and Gavin Newsom are doing something new and important: They understand Stephen Miller's theory of fascist power politics, and they've developed a theory on how to combat it. More Dems need to reckon with Miller's understanding of the moment.

New from me:
newrepublic.com/article/2014...

Inside Stephen Miller’s Secret Plan to Normalize Trump’s Dictator Rule

He wants to supercharge searing civil tensions to get low-information voters to embrace their inner authoritarian. Exactly two Democrats appear to fully grasp this.

newrepublic.com

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Ryan Enos @ryanenos.bsky.social · 6h

Nothing shows the dangerous tendency to normalize authoritarianism like the New York Times coverage of the extortion of Harvard. One could read this article and think it is about a free agent inking a contract with the Yankees. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/09/u...

Harvard Seeks Assurances as Talks Restart in Washington

www.nytimes.com

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Leah Greenberg ❌👑 @leahgreenberg.bsky.social · 5h

If you haven't cancelled your Post subscription yet, today's the day

Philip Bump @pbump.com · 17h

I spent more than a decade at The Post. It was good to me and I was proud to work there. I’ve largely refrained from being critical since I left. But this framing of the special counsel probe is embarrassing and flatly wrong. Stunning, but not. www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

Opinion | Jack Smith’s lawfare and James Comey’s arraignment on pathetically weak charges

Good people will be deterred from public service if they see a meaningful risk of winding up in jail afterward.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Anil Kalhan @akalhan.bsky.social · 14h

Whoa big if true say more

Matt Novak @paleofuture.bsky.social · 21h

"Antifa has been around in various iterations for almost 100 years in some instances, going back to the Weimar Republic in Germany."

- Jack Posobiec at Trump's roundtable on antifa

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Anil Kalhan @akalhan.bsky.social · 15h

Paging reporter man @jaketapper.bsky.social

Michael Derby @michaelsderby.bsky.social · 1d

Pritzker goes there on Trump: “This is a man who’s suffering dementia…It’s just something in the recesses of his brain that is effectuating to have him call out these cities.” Via Chicago Tribune

Gov. JB Pritzker says President Trump deploying troops to Chicago due to ‘dementia’ and obsessive fixations

Democratic governor’s comments came as he continues to oppose President Donald Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops to Chicago area for deportation efforts.

www.chicagotribune.com

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Anil Kalhan @akalhan.bsky.social · 2d

Ceauşescu chic 💰

Ron Filipkowski @ronfilipkowski.bsky.social · 2d

It needs more gold.

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Anil Kalhan @akalhan.bsky.social · 14h

Lindsey Halligan keep-your-law-license challenge

Sean O’Kane @seanokane.bsky.social · 18h

WSJ is reporting that the Truth Social post where Trump told Pam Bondi to prosecute Comey *really was supposed to be a private message*

www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

Inside the Justice Department Where the President Calls the Shots

The president has executed a wholesale transformation of the Justice Department, taking control in ways he could have only dreamed of in his first term.

www.wsj.com

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Anil Kalhan @akalhan.bsky.social · 13h

My neighbors beat you to it in reporting that

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Mike Sacks @mikesacks.bsky.social · 2d

Murder Memo Man

Anil Kalhan @akalhan.bsky.social · 2d

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Anil Kalhan @akalhan.bsky.social · 3d

"[A]gents engulfed my car in tear gas, smashed my driver-side window, and pepper-sprayed my face.... I spent three nights and three days in federal custody. No explanation. No charges. No apology. One day, I was just told, 'you’re free to go.'" #KavanaughStop

I’m a US citizen and a veteran. ICE arrested me for no reason.

Jailed for three days without an explanation or ability to notify anyone, George Retes argues the only path to healing starts with the government taking accountability for its actions.

newsletter.ofthebrave.org

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Andy @andyoregon.bsky.social · 2d

Jess Waters recycling the same guy over and over to represent “former” different enemies

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Anil Kalhan @akalhan.bsky.social · 3d

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Anil Kalhan @akalhan.bsky.social · 2d

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Mark Bray @mark-bray.bsky.social · 17h

“Someone” cancelled my family’s flight out of the country at the last second.

We got our boarding passes. We checked our bags. Went through security. Then at our gate our reservation ‘disappeared.’

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Mike Masnick @mmasnick.bsky.social · 14h

Another Kavanaugh stop.

Patrick De Klotz @patdeklotz.bsky.social · 17h

American citizen, read this. www.koin.com/news/portlan...

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Andy Craig @andycraig.bsky.social · 14h

The federal government as ordained and established by the Constitution has ceased to function, and what has replaced it isn't our government under our Constitution. That's not flippant rhetorical hyperbole, I don't say it insensitive to what the consequences are. But it's the grim reality we face.

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Raw Story @rawstory.com · 1d

Bari Weiss, the incoming editor in chief of CBS News, once auditioned for a role on the hit daytime television show "The View," but tested so poorly with audiences that she "wasn't invited back," according to a new report.

CBS News' new boss once auditioned for 'The View' — and 'wasn't invited back': report

bit.ly

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Anil Kalhan @akalhan.bsky.social · 14h

Ryan Goodman @rgoodlaw.bsky.social · 1d

Prosecution of Comey looks headed to a dead end.

"Federal prosecutors ... determined that a central witness in their probe would ... likely prevent them from establishing their case to a jury."

abcnews.go.com/US/central-w...

Central witness undermines case against James Comey, prosecutors concluded: Sources

Ex-FBI Director James Comey is set to be arraigned Wednesday, but prosecutors investigating him determined that a central witness would prove "problematic," sources say.

abcnews.go.com

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Cathy Gellis @cathygellis.bsky.social · 14h

Kavanaugh stop.

Patrick De Klotz @patdeklotz.bsky.social · 17h

American citizen, read this. www.koin.com/news/portlan...

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Philip Bump @pbump.com · 14h

Trump today said he "took freedom of speech away." Two-thirds of Americans (including 2 in 5 Republicans!) were already aware. www.pbump.net/o/even-2-in-...

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Anil Kalhan @akalhan.bsky.social · 14h

For the love of all things sound pollution related in my building please Dodgers bring about the inevitable more quickly

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Thom Weaver @thomweaver24.bsky.social · 15h

Let’s just say there’s a sizable organization in South Philly that has…uh…noticed.

The Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · 23h

Breaking news: Nearly a quarter of FBI agents across the country are currently reassigned to immigration enforcement.

The large number of reassignments reflect a vast reshaping of the agency and could put other priorities at risk.

A quarter of FBI agents are assigned to immigration enforcement, per FBI data

Nearly a quarter of FBI agents are currently reassigned to immigration enforcement, with the number climbing above 40 percent in the bureau’s largest field offices.

wapo.st

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Kate Starbird @katestarbird.bsky.social · 14h

Words to live by.

Quinta Jurecic @qjurecic.bsky.social · 18h

he's going to come after you either way, so you might as well act with integrity

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Quinta Jurecic @qjurecic.bsky.social · 18h

he's going to come after you either way, so you might as well act with integrity

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Quinta Jurecic @qjurecic.bsky.social · 18h

incredibly, bleakly funny that trump is going after christopher wray, who spent his entire tenure at the fbi with his head down desperately trying to avoid trump's attention and did nothing to protect the bureau from trump's attacks www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

Other prosecutors are investigating former CIA director John Brennan, another prominent Trump critic, and former FBI director Christopher Wray, who was originally appointed by Trump but enraged conservatives who came to believe he had wielded the bureau’s powers against them. Former officials have received subpoenas in recent days in the Wray inquiry, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter.

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