Alison Frankel
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alisonfrankel.bsky.social
Alison Frankel
@alisonfrankel.bsky.social
18K followers 1.3K following 620 posts
Senior advisor to the Ethics and Journalism Initiative at NYU. Ex-legal journo. Cat lady.
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Reposted by Alison Frankel
usatoday.com
BREAKING: Judge dismisses DOJ charges against former FBI Director James Comey and NY AG Letitia James

A federal judge has thrown out two criminal cases pursued by President Donald Trump because the prosecutor who secured the charges was unlawfully appointed.
Judge dismisses DOJ charges against James Comey and Letitia James
A judge ordered that charges against Trump targets, James Comey and Letitia James, be dismissed because the prosecutor was unlawfully appointed.
bit.ly
November 24, 2025 at 6:11 PM
Reposted by Alison Frankel
jameeljaffer.bsky.social
Judge Rao is just wrong to say the courts can't enjoin the president. We briefed this in Knight Institute v. Trump -- see pp. 9-13. knightcolumbia.org/documents/77...
November 24, 2025 at 4:02 PM
Reposted by Alison Frankel
jameeljaffer.bsky.social
This DC Circuit argument in the AP case isn't promising. Judge Wilkins is sympathetic to AP but for the wrong reasons. Meanwhile, Judge Rao wants to expand the "rule" barring injunctions against the president into a rule barring injunctions against anyone whom the president might ask to do things.
jameeljaffer.bsky.social Jameel Jaffer @jameeljaffer.bsky.social · 2d
Tomorrow morning, the DC Circuit will consider whether Trump violated the First Amendment by ejecting @apnews.com from the White House press pool after it refused to call the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America. Very glad that the AP is fighting this. knightcolumbia.org/blog/the-fig...
November 24, 2025 at 3:26 PM
Reposted by Alison Frankel
gothamist.com
New Yorkers have been training at churches and community centers across the city in recent weeks in preparation for an expected ramp-up in ICE activity.
https://gothamist.com/news/our-neighbors-are-in-danger-new-yorkers-prep-for-an-immigration-crackdown
'Our neighbors are in danger': New Yorkers prep for an immigration crackdown
Immigrant advocates, community activists and others have been meeting, canvassing neighborhoods, and preparing for increased enforcement.
gothamist.com
November 22, 2025 at 8:15 PM
Reposted by Alison Frankel
stevenmazie.bsky.social
BREAKING at SCOTUS: Texas Republicans file emergency plea to rescue their gerrymandered map
November 21, 2025 at 11:32 PM
Reposted by Alison Frankel
brizzyc.bsky.social
Still wearing my shirt from my friend @grovesprof.bsky.social and thinking about all the local journalists enduring so much violence as they report on protests against ICE and more. Solidarity to you all.
Me wearing a shirt that says “we are putting out a damn paper tomorrow” - Capital Gazette, 2018
November 21, 2025 at 3:05 AM
Reposted by Alison Frankel
13pt.com
Monarch butterfly tracks in today’s NYT.

Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2025/11/17/s...
November 20, 2025 at 11:36 PM
Reposted by Alison Frankel
drewcostley.bsky.social
ALERT: @veritenews.org has started a tip line for people to report ICE/CBP sightings in the greater New Orleans area ahead of the upcoming deployment of Border Patrol agents to the region. If you see an enforcement action, raid, illegal detainment, etc., please let us know!
Línea para reportar actividad de la Patrulla Fronteriza a Verite News Imagen de un QR code por el Signal applicación ¿Tiene información sobre las acciones de agentes de inmigración en el área de New Orleans? Mande mensaje a veritenews.22 en el Signal app. Verite News Border Patrol Watch Tip Line Image of a QR code for the Signal app Do you have information about the actions of border agents in greater New Orleans? Message veritenews.22 on Signal.
November 20, 2025 at 5:17 PM
Reposted by Alison Frankel
rparloff.bsky.social
Big dispute about that. Comey says if the indictment is void then the statute ran out Sept. 30 & the case is over. Govt will argue that they should get 6 more months under 18 USC 3288 (below). Comey also argues that case should be dism'd with prejudice under court's supervisory powers.
November 19, 2025 at 6:09 PM
Reposted by Alison Frankel
politico.com
James Comey’s criminal case is hanging by a thread after a judge repeatedly pressed DOJ lawyers about irregularities in Lindsey Halligan’s indictment.
Comey case hanging by a thread as judge squeezes DOJ over Halligan’s handling
The judge also appeared puzzled after a lead prosecutor said he couldn’t reveal whether career attorneys initially recommended against charging the former FBI director.
www.politico.com
November 19, 2025 at 5:54 PM
Reposted by Alison Frankel
raphae.li
New: Reuters has tallied job losses, suspensions and investigations stemming from the reaction to Charlie Kirk's Sept. 10 assassination. Its findings: More than 600 Americans have been punished, and the figure is likely to be an under-count.

www.reuters.com/investigatio...
November 19, 2025 at 11:35 AM
Reposted by Alison Frankel
willbunch.bsky.social
You know what media is NOT bending the knee in the Trump era? College journalists! The Harvard Crimson's brutal takedown of the lecherous ex-prez Larry Summers is just the latest example of students showing a failing 'grown-up' media how it's done

My new column www.inquirer.com/columnists/a...
College journalism exposes the rot of ‘grown-ups’ | Will Bunch Newsletter
Plus a history lesson on the real ‘Charlotte’s Web,’ and fascism,
www.inquirer.com
November 18, 2025 at 4:51 PM
Reposted by Alison Frankel
jeisinger.bsky.social
NEW: The White House intervened in a DHS investigation.

The target? Sex offender Andrew Tate.

The WH person? Paul “Nazi Streak” Ingrassia.

Who was previously also Tate’s lawyer.

A banger from @robert-faturechi.bsky.social & Avi Asher-Shapiro

www.propublica.org/article/andr...
November 18, 2025 at 11:41 AM
alisonfrankel.bsky.social
Here’s an example of journalistic dedication. My husband, @danfagin.bsky.social, wrote the butterfly story. To fact-check the rice grains analogy, he asked a rice scientist (yes, there are such a thing) to weigh a dozen grains so Dan could get the average weight of a single grain.
joshchafetz.bsky.social Josh Chafetz @joshchafetz.bsky.social · 8d
wake up babe, new units of measurement just dropped www.nytimes.com/2025/11/17/s...
November 17, 2025 at 4:47 PM
Reposted by Alison Frankel
maddow.bsky.social
"... asked to drop cases for political reasons, to find evidence for flimsy investigations, to take positions in court they thought had no legitimate basis.

"Work they were told to abandon — investigations of terrorist plots, corruption and white-collar fraud..."

www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
60 Attorneys on the Year of Chaos Inside Trump’s Justice Department
Sixty former staffers describe an environment of suspicion and intimidation within the nation’s most powerful law enforcement agency.
www.nytimes.com
November 17, 2025 at 4:21 PM
Reposted by Alison Frankel
kyledcheney.bsky.social
BREAKING: Magistrate orders DOJ to turn over grand jury materials to Comey, finding real prospect that "government misconduct" may have tainted the case.
November 17, 2025 at 4:01 PM
Reposted by Alison Frankel
profmmurray.bsky.social
Never forget that just a week ago, Ross Douthat and the NYTimes were asking if women ruined the workplace.
November 17, 2025 at 3:33 AM
Reposted by Alison Frankel
rtushnet.bsky.social
Transformative work of the day, that's some pig edition
November 17, 2025 at 12:29 AM
Reposted by Alison Frankel
thetimes.com
The BBC has told President Trump’s lawyers that it would fight his lawsuit for up to $5bn, claiming nobody in America watched its misleading Panorama programme and it didn’t damage his reputation
BBC says Trump has no case as misleading Panorama did not air in US
www.thetimes.com
November 16, 2025 at 8:02 PM
Reposted by Alison Frankel
gabrielmalor.bsky.social
Fed. judge holds that the Trump administration engaged in coercive and retaliatory conduct in violation of the First and Tenth Amendments in its pretextual attacks on the University of California system.

PI granted.

storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
Defendants do not deny any of this. Instead, their principal argument is that the UC might not agree to the proposed conditions for restoring funding, so Plaintiffs’ present case is too speculative to be heard. But Plaintiffs’ harm is already very real. With every day that passes, UCLA continues to be denied the chance to win new grants, ratchetting up Defendants’ pressure campaign. And numerous UC faculty and staff have submitted declarations describing how Defendants’ actions have already chilled speech throughout the UC system. They describe how they have stopped teaching or researching topics they are afraid are too “left” or “woke,” in order to avoid triggering further funding cancellations by Defendants. They also give examples of projects the UC has stopped due to fear of the same reprisals. These are classic, predictable First Amendment harms, and exactly what Defendants publicly said that they intended. The undisputed record demonstrates that Defendants have engaged in coercive and Case 3:25-cv-07864-RFL Document 90 Filed 11/14/25 Page 2 of 76 3 retaliatory conduct in violation of the First Amendment and Tenth Amendment. It also shows that they have flouted the requirements of Title VI and IX and cancelled funding in an arbitrary and capricious manner while ignoring required procedural safeguards. None of the jurisdictional
November 15, 2025 at 12:19 AM
Reposted by Alison Frankel
kyledcheney.bsky.social
NEW: The loudest critics of Trump in the judiciary have turned out to be Ronald Reagan-appointees. This week, another — Mark Wolf — joined their ranks, resigning to speak out against the president.

I spoke with Judge Wolf today. He’s worried. www.politico.com/news/2025/11...
November 14, 2025 at 10:53 PM
Reposted by Alison Frankel
charlesornstein.bsky.social
GREAT JOB ALERT!
ProPublica is hiring another senior editor for our Local Reporting Network.

The editor will edit the work of 4-5 reporters from our partner newsrooms, collaborating on projects that spur change.

💰 Salary range: $150,000 to $195,000
➡️ Apply: propub.li/3JAIqme
November 14, 2025 at 2:09 PM
Reposted by Alison Frankel
evanbernick.bsky.social
quick question, what role did he play in this chain of events
nytimes.com The New York Times @nytimes.com · 12d
A teenager in Florida with a homeless parent wanted money for braces and ended up having sex for money with powerful men, setting off a chain of events that would have a dramatic impact on her life and help upend the political career of Representative Matt Gaetz. nyti.ms/49PSkL9
Matt Gaetz, wearing a paisley tie and black suit jacket. A headline reads: "In Matt Gaetz Scandal, A 17-year-Old Was Left Vulnerable to Exploitation." Photo by Kenny Holston/New York Times
November 14, 2025 at 12:37 AM
Reposted by Alison Frankel
legal.reuters.com
Republican U.S. Senator Thom Tillis is preventing President Donald Trump's four judicial and U.S. attorney nominees in Mississippi from advancing in order to pressure a key senator to help an indigenous group in his state of North Carolina gain federal recognition as a tribe reut.rs/4456Dry
November 13, 2025 at 2:31 AM
Reposted by Alison Frankel
yasharali.bsky.social
1. BREAKING

The US Conference of Catholic Bishops has issued a statement admonishing the Trump administration’s immigration actions.

The last time they issued such a statement was in 2013 in response to contraception mandates.
As pastors, we the bishops of the United States are bound to our people by ties of communion and compassion in Our Lord Jesus Christ. We are disturbed when we see among our people a climate of fear and anxiety around questions of profiling and immigration enforcement. We are saddened by the state of contemporary debate and the vilification of immigrants. We are concerned about the conditions in detention centers and the lack of access to pastoral care. We lament that some immigrants in the United States have arbitrarily lost their legal status. We are troubled by threats against the sanctity of houses of worship and the special nature of hospitals and schools. We are grieved when we meet parents who fear being detained when taking their children to school and when we try to console family members who have already been separated from their loved ones. Despite obstacles and prejudices, generations of immigrants have made enormous contributions to the well-being of our nation. We as Catholic bishops love our country and pray for its peace and prosperity. For this very reason, we feel compelled now in this environment to raise our voices in defense of God-given human dignity. Catholic teaching exhorts nations to recognize the fundamental dignity of all persons, including immigrants. We bishops advocate for a meaningful reform of our nation's immigration laws and procedures. Human dignity and national security are not in conflict. Both are possible if people of good will work together. We recognize that nations have a responsibility to regulate their borders and establish a just and orderly immigration system for the sake of the common good. Without such processes, immigrants face the risk of trafficking and other forms of exploitation. Safe and legal pathways serve as an antidote to such risks. The Church's teaching rests on the foundational concern for the human person, as created in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:27). As pastors, we look to Sacred Scripture and the example of the Lord Himself, where we find the wisdom of God's compassion. The priority of the Lord, as the Prophets remind us, is for those who are most vulnerable: the widow, the orphan, the poor, and the stranger (Zechariah 7:10). In the Lord Jesus, we see the One who became poor for our sake (2 Corinthians 8:9), we see the Good Samaritan who lifts us from the dust (Luke 10:30-37), and we see the One who is found in the least of these (Matthew 25). The Church's concern for neighbor and our concern here for immigrants is a response to the Lord's command to love as He has loved us (John 13:34). To our immigrant brothers and sisters, we stand with you in your suffering, since, when one member suffers, all suffer (cf. 1 Corinthians 12:26). You are not alone! We note with gratitude that so many of our clergy, consecrated religious, and lay faithful already accompany and assist immigrants in meeting their basic human needs. We urge all people of good will to continue and expand such efforts. We oppose the indiscriminate mass deportation of people. We pray for an end to dehumanizing rhetoric and violence, whether directed at immigrants or at law enforcement. We pray that the Lord may guide the leaders of our nation, and we are grateful for past and present opportunities to dialogue with public and elected officials. In this dialogue, we will continue to advocate for meaningful immigration reform. As disciples of the Lord, we remain men and women of hope, and hope does not disappoint! (cf. Romans 5:5) May the mantle of Our Lady of Guadalupe enfold us all in her maternal and loving care and draw us ever closer to the heart of Christ.
November 13, 2025 at 12:30 AM