Bylined by: Josh Dawsey, who came to the WSJ from the WaPost during the post election exodus, and WSJ vets Aruna Viswanatha and Sadie Gurman, the latter of whom has been a DOJ whisperer for years.

"He works from an office dubbed the “Freedom Suite” on one end of a hallway on the deputy attorney general’s fourth floor, which visitors have described as being decorated with oversize photos of Trump and a small cup of holy water on the wall."

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

One fun fact: Judge Immurgut, who granted the restraining order keeping the OR Nat Guard out of Portland, isn 't just a FedSoc stalwart and Trump appointee. She worked on Ken Starr's investigation of Clinton and personally interrogated Monica Lewinsky.

I became aware of David Bier about a year ago when i watched a hearing on immigration policy and he was there at the invite of Dems to defend the Biden approach... even though he was from the conservative Cato Institute. That's about when he became an Enemy of the Regime.

Keep in mind somebody was shot the other day just for doing something like this.

The MAGA right’s cynical effort to rewrite the history of January 6 reached a new but seemingly inevitable low this week. www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/cal...

CHATGPT: I understand where you're coming from. You worked really hard to get here, and now it's time to enjoy the fruit of your labors.

ISILDUR: So I should keep it? Elrond says I shouldn't

CHATGPT: The ring is precious. Sometimes friends don't have your best interests at heart.

ISILDUR: true

George Orwell’s Animal Crossing

Just began listening to the conversion therapy case, and Justice Sotomayor started right off with: this law has never been enforced, and your client has been told specifically by the state it doesn't apply to what she wants to do. So what's her complaint? (Ie, this case is made up.)

The View segment where Whoopi asked how ordinary people could read SCOTUS opinions was revealing.

They're free. They're online. They're much easier to read than legislation. Conquer your imposter's syndrome, you are smart enough to read a decision and know if it's bullshit.

BTW, this is why all the rage at the WaPo for this back in Jan is misplaced. She really is qualified. Two terms at FL AG, lots of relevant experience/knowledge. She showed in that confirmation hearing that she knows exactly how do to the job correctly and with integrity, if she wanted to.

It also seems from what I’ve seen that the Dems have adopted the best strategy, which is not rising to baits.

I don’t know what’s worse, natural trollishness or learned.

This is Atty Gen Bondi’s confirmation hearing from Jan., which I watched live. She is polite, respectful and knows exactly the correct answer to give to questions about ethics, DOJ procedure etc.

www.c-span.org/program/sena...

Here's a primer on whether states can prosecute Federal agents for alleged crimes. The answer is yes... but it's very difficult if the act had any connection to Federal duties, and in modern times fairly rare.

statedemocracy.law.wisc.edu/featured/202...

I do believe that, yes. Here's a hypothetical: it's 1960 and FBI agents are escorting Ruby Bridges to school in New Orleans. La. state police confront the agents at gunpoint, disarm them, and arrest them, and also take Ruby into state custody. Would that be legal? If not, should it be?

Sarah: could have said this in reply to any of your posts but its just a delight to have you on here. Grateful to you and for you.

Well, there are rules and there are laws. If State Police were to use force, to any extent, against Federal agents Trump could (among other things) legitmately invoke the Insurrection Act.

He says "Unlike Donald Trump, we follow the law." My guess is (and it is pure speculation) that he felt framing it as, "We are forbidden by law to interfere with Federal authority" or simply "I can't order police to stop ICE." would be seen as an admission of surrender.

I should add that this is not, at least on parchment, an insoluble problem. The Constitution provides a solution to the abuse of Presidential authority: impeachment and removal.

I'm not going to engage anymore about the prosecution of Donald Trump under BIden.

But I will stress that everything he was accused of doing was widely known. One of the two things (1/6/21) happened on live TV. And a majority of US voters elected him anyway.

You mean something like, "Who will rid me of these meddlesome ICE agents?"

The problem (at least in IL) is not that we have a feckless governor or mayor unwilling "to stand up to Trump." The problem is that over 80 years+ we the people have ceded vast powers to the Fed govt for good and necessary reasons and then, last November, we gave all those powers to Donald Trump.