Barton Gellman
@bartongellman.bsky.social
16K followers 440 following 120 posts
@BrennanCenter | ex Atlantic, WaPo | Author, Angler & Dark Mirror | Visiting Lecturer, Princeton | bartongellman.com/contact
Posts Media Videos Starter Packs
Pinned
bartongellman.bsky.social
Verification: this is the real Barton Gellman, senior advisor at the Brennan Center, author of Dark Mirror & Angler, and former staff writer at The Atlantic and The Washington Post.
Me and my business card
bartongellman.bsky.social
I'm a stand-your-ground kind of guy, but this is a decision that folks need to make for themselves.
bartongellman.bsky.social
I'm not saying that at all. I think the @wsj.com has done some of the very best coverage of the new administration and I read it every day. But that headline was a big miss.
Reposted by Barton Gellman
leahlitman.bsky.social
Brett Kavanaugh: “The Govt sometimes makes brief investigative stops …”
Kavanaugh concurrence
bartongellman.bsky.social
Correction: circumcision of the placenta causes autism.
Reposted by Barton Gellman
leahlitman.bsky.social
From the Supreme Court opinion granting Trump immunity:

"Investigative & prosecutorial decisionmaking is the special province of the Executive ... allegations that the requested investigations were shams or proposed for an improper purpose do not divest the President of [his] exclusive authority"
Reposted by Barton Gellman
joycewhitevance.bsky.social
Indicting your political enemies because they’re your enemies, not because they’ve committed crimes, is unAmerican.
bartongellman.bsky.social
Correct. This headline and others, similar, entirely miss the meaning of the event.
chrisgeidner.bsky.social
The prosecutor put in office after the president who wants vengeance against his enemies told his AG that a WH lawyer was the person for the job — despite no prosecution experience — successfully sought an indictment against one of the named enemies, the second such indictment.

And you push this?
Notification Center
22
NBC NEWS
Breaking news
Federal grand jury in Virginia charges Letitia James, the New York attorney general who investigated Trump's business practices, with bank fraud
bartongellman.bsky.social
I wrote about the role-playing exercises here. They weren't intended as predictions, but they did correspond to a lot of what's happened since. OTOH we didn't anticipate DOGE, secondary sanctions against law firms, or a lot of other things. www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...
Opinion | How to harden our defenses against an authoritarian president
A commander in chief with little concern for legal limits holds an advantage over efforts to restrain him.
www.washingtonpost.com
Reposted by Barton Gellman
carlzimmer.com
Today my @nytimes.com colleagues and I are launching a new series called Lost Science. We interview US scientists who can no longer discover something new about our world, thanks to this year‘s cuts. Here is my first interview with a scientist who studied bees and fires. Gift link: nyti.ms/3IWXbiE
nyti.ms
Reposted by Barton Gellman
kairyssdal.bsky.social
This is the lesson of 2025
qjurecic.bsky.social
he's going to come after you either way, so you might as well act with integrity
bartongellman.bsky.social
Miranda! No novelist could get away with this.
Reposted by Barton Gellman
biscuitkitten.bsky.social
“the girlfriend of one of the founders of antifa”
Ingrid Bergman as Ilsa Lund in Casablanca
Reposted by Barton Gellman
adamweinstein.bsky.social
Going back to the Weimar Republic in Germany, you say?
Reposted by Barton Gellman
clairewillett.bsky.social
she goes to a different school though you guys don’t know her
robertsilverman.bsky.social
Bondi claiming they arrested [checks notes] "the girlfriend of one of the founders of antifa" has me in stitches
atrupar.com
Bondi: "Bondi: "Just like we did with cartels, we are going to take the same approach, President Trump, with antifa -- destroy the entire organization from top to bottom. We are going to take them apart."
Reposted by Barton Gellman
gtconway.bsky.social
Apart from helping Comey's selective prosecution defense, this also means the president of the United States uses direct messages on Truth Social to communicate with cabinet officials.

I didn't know that, but we can be sure intelligence agencies all over the planet already did.
bartongellman.bsky.social
I have never heard of a reservation being "cancelled" (for no stated reason) after a person checks in a receives a boarding pass. Highly suspicious and disconcerting. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/n...
Rutgers Expert on Antifa Tries to Flee to Spain After Death Threats
www.nytimes.com
Reposted by Barton Gellman
zoetillman.bsky.social
"The court is required to continue its constitutional functions"

US judges so far have rejected the Justice Department’s requests to delay more than a dozen legal challenges to Trump administration policies as the government shutdown enters its second week:
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Reposted by Barton Gellman
dbernstein.bsky.social
Oh he can just unilaterally pass unconstitutional laws now huh ok
Reposted by Barton Gellman
reichlinmelnick.bsky.social
BREAKING: Federal judge BLOCKS a new ICE policy that went into effect last week to automatically detain unaccompanied migrant children on their 18th birthday when they “age out” of shelter care.

The TRO enforces a court order in a case brought by @immcouncil.org and @immigrantjustice.bsky.social.
Garcia Ramirez v. ICE case caption.

ORDER GRANTING MOTION FOR TEMPORARY RESTRAINING ORDER AND TO ENFORCE FINAL JUDGMENT AND PERMANENT INJUNCTION
Upon consideration of Plaintiffs' Motion for a Temporary Restraining Order and to
Enforce the Permanent Injunction and accompanying Memorandum of Points and Authorities
and Declarations (the "Motion"), and all other materials properly before this Court, it is hereby
ORDERED that Plaintiffs' Motion is GRANTED; and it is further
ORDERED that Defendants and all persons acting under their direction or in concert with them, are hereby ENJOINED from implementing any new directive regarding age-outs;
ORDERED that Defendants and all persons acting under their direction or in concert
with them, are hereby ENJOINED from detaining any class member in an adult ICE facility in
any manner that contravenes the Permanent Injunction;
ORDERED that Defendants immediately rescind any determinations to detain based on this directive;
ORDERED that Defendants immediately produce that directive, any related policies
regarding that directive, and the Age-Out Review Worksheets of any class members who may
have been impacted by that directive, including all AORs issued since October 1, 2025.
SO ORDERED this 4th day of October 2025.
Reposted by Barton Gellman
donmoyn.bsky.social
Very Trump-era story.
1. The sword has no meaning for Charles, but matters for the Eisenhower Museum.
2. Illegal for the museum to give away US property!
3. Trump makes no distinction between personal/public property.
4. The person who did the right thing was fired.
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/a...
After Declining to Give Trump a Sword for King Charles, a Museum Leader Is Out
www.nytimes.com
Reposted by Barton Gellman
statecourtreport.org
As SCOTUS and the federal government roll back our civil rights, state courts and constitutions can protect and expand those rights in meaningful ways. Follow our State Court Report contributor starter pack to learn more. go.bsky.app/BDkEqA7
Reposted by Barton Gellman
cnn.com
CNN @cnn.com · 18d
The Trump administration is terminating the federal government’s annual report on food insecurity in America, saying it had become “redundant, costly and politicized” and noting that “extraneous studies do nothing more than fear monger.”
Trump administration cancels annual hunger report after enacting historic cuts to nation’s safety net | CNN
The Trump administration is terminating the federal government’s annual report on food insecurity in America, saying it had become “redundant, costly and politicized” and noting that “extraneous studi...
www.cnn.com
Reposted by Barton Gellman
andycraig.bsky.social
A bit underplayed that the Homan sting didn't reportedly come out of a public corruption investigation, it was a counter-intelligence one. Which means they somehow made the not-very-far leap to him from initially targeting a foreign and almost certainly state actor.