William Snyder
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profsnyder.bsky.social
William Snyder
@profsnyder.bsky.social
860 followers 190 following 950 posts
Teaching Professor of Law (ret.), former federal prosecutor. 15-yr DOJ veteran, taught National Security Law, Public Administration & Law, Counterterrorism Law, Federal Criminal Law, Federal Courts, Computer Crimes, Cyber Security Law & Policy, Evidence.
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profsnyder.bsky.social
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/13/u...
Appeals Court Says Trump Must End Los Angeles Deployment by Monday
www.nytimes.com
December 14, 2025 at 5:27 AM
Reposted by William Snyder
orinkerr.bsky.social
One big issue in this 4th Circuit case argued Friday, US v. Lowers, is whether terms of service can eliminate 4th Amendment rights. courthousenews.com/north-caroli...

I explain why TOS don't eliminate 4A rights in this article:
scholarship.law.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcont...
December 14, 2025 at 2:30 AM
Reposted by William Snyder
davekeating.substack.com
“This is not America having priorities that don’t involve Europe. It is not isolationism. It is America taking sides with Russia against Europe, because one of America’s two political parties now sees Russian autocracy as preferable to European democracy.”
Trump’s Long-Term Damage
The things we won’t be able to fix even if we wanted to.
www.thebulwark.com
December 13, 2025 at 6:07 PM
Reposted by William Snyder
reichlinmelnick.bsky.social
Wow, shades of the 2019 Border Patrol Facebook scandal of Trump’s first term, when dozens of agents were part of a group posting mocking memes about migrants kids who died crossing the border.

This particular officer went viral in the Chicago raids for pulling his gun on people.
Timothy Donohue, 38, was a member of lead commander Gregory Bovino's maurauding so-called "Green Army" during "Operation Midway Blitz" in Illinois, part of President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown. Donahue was cited-though not by name-in a blistering opinion by U.S. District Judge Sara L. Ellis after he was filmed threatening someone watching an arrest in Evanston. Underneath is a picture of the guy, a bald man with a red beard, somewhat heavyset, wearing sunglasses, and pointing a handgun at someone off camera. A screenshot of a post the agent left on X. The post says “Two men film themselves attacking a gay man simply because he's gay. Congrats fellas. This is a hate crime.” Underneath, the agent writes “based.” A segment of the article continues below, saying “When asked to ‘share an unpopular opinion,’ in January 2023, he wrote: ‘Some cultures are better than others..’”
December 13, 2025 at 1:15 AM
Reposted by William Snyder
bcfinucane.bsky.social
Qs for this JAG:

What were the “lawful” targets of the 9/2 re-attack (eg drugs vs survivors)?

What generally are the supposedly “lawful” targets of these strikes (eg drugs vs passengers)?

If passengers, on what basis?

Supposed membership in a DTO?
www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
Admiral’s top military lawyer to be summoned in House boat strike inquiry
Adm. Frank Bradley’s legal adviser has emerged as a key figure as members of Congress assess whether the killing of two men violated the law of armed conflict.
www.washingtonpost.com
December 13, 2025 at 1:37 PM
Reposted by William Snyder
thetnholler.bsky.social
“We chose Karoline Leavitt to be his godmother over my own sister- just because you went to Catholic school doesn’t make you a good Catholic. I’m not the first, I won’t be the last, they’re separating kids from moms every day. Where does it end?”

She hasn’t heard from her😳
December 13, 2025 at 1:09 AM
Reposted by William Snyder
phillipspobrien.bsky.social
Just sent out this piece. The whole idea that Trump's sanctions on Russian oil were meant to hurt Putin is collapsing on all fronts. Indian and Chinese purchases are up and there are no secondary sanctions to be found. open.substack.com/pub/phillips...
The Trump Russian Oil Sanctions Con Is Collapsing
And Why It Matters
open.substack.com
December 13, 2025 at 8:22 AM
Reposted by William Snyder
orinkerr.bsky.social
And here we go. More commentary to come. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
December 13, 2025 at 8:39 AM
Reposted by William Snyder
annabower.bsky.social
Dan Richman is a professor at Columbia Law School and a leading authority on criminal procedure—not exactly an ideal target for Fourth Amendment violations.

I’d love to see what his Crim Pro exam looks like this year.
annabower.bsky.social Anna Bower @annabower.bsky.social · 1d
NEWS: Dan Richman — key figure in now-dismissed Comey case — wins motion for return of materials seized from his devices.

Judge finds his rights were violated, orders that DOJ can only access data pursuant to lawful warrant.

Order could complicate efforts to re-indict Comey.
Richman's [l] Motion for Return of Property and ORDER the Government to return to 4 of 46 ichman the image of his computer that was made in 2017; any files obtained from his vomo University email accounts) or his Apple iCloud accounts) in 2019 or 2020 that are in the Government's possession; any copies of the image or files obtained from Petitioner Richman's email or iCloud accounts that are in the Government's possession; and any materials directly obtained or extracted from those files that are in the Government's possession (collectively, the "covered materials"). In order to "protect access to" the files at issue and preserve their availability for lawful "use in later proceedings," see Fed. R. Crim. P. 41(g), and as an exercise of the Court's equitable discretion to fashion a remedy that is appropriate under all the circumstances, the Court shall further ORDER that, before returning the covered materials to Petitioner Richman, the 3 Case 1:25-mc-00170-CKK Document 21 | Filed 12/12/25 Page 4 of 46 Government may create one complete electronic copy of those materials and deposit that copy, under seal, with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, which shall have supervisory authority over access to this material, for future access pursuant to a lawful search warrant and judicial order. The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia may then exercise its discretion to decide whether to allow Petitioner Richman an opportunity to move to quash any such warrant before it is executed. The Court shall further ORDER the Attorney General of the United States or her designee to certify, no later than 4:00 p.m. ET on Monday, December 15, 2025, that the Government has (1) returned the covered materials to Petitioner Richman; (2) not retained any additional copy or copies of the covered materials; (3) not provided any copy or copies of the covered materials to any other person, except for one copy that may be filed, under seal, in the U.S.…
December 13, 2025 at 3:54 AM
profsnyder.bsky.social
Did he lose 40 pounds today?
December 13, 2025 at 12:10 AM
Reposted by William Snyder
reichlinmelnick.bsky.social
The DOJ has now filed a mandamus petition with the D.C. Circuit seeking to block Judge Boasberg from carrying out further investigations in the contempt proceedings surrounding the CECOT deportations.
bigcases.bots.law Big Cases Bot @bigcases.bots.law · 1d
New filing: "J.G.G. v. TRUMP (Boasberg: Alien Enemies Act)"
Doc #206: Notice (Other)

Download PDF | View Full Case

#CL69741724
Thumbnail of page 1 of the PDF linked above. Thumbnail of page 2 of the PDF linked above. Thumbnail of page 3 of the PDF linked above. Thumbnail of page 4 of the PDF linked above.
December 12, 2025 at 5:25 PM
Reposted by William Snyder
barbmcquade.bsky.social
Gift link to great piece by former federal prosecutors on the damage caused by Trump’s pardon of Rep. Cuellar and demand that he switch parties in exchange.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/12/o...
Opinion | Trump Is Degrading the Justice System. Democrats Are Helping.
www.nytimes.com
December 12, 2025 at 1:25 PM
Reposted by William Snyder
judiciarydems.senate.gov
Sen. DURBIN: I’ll never forget hearing Donald Trump rejecting a bipartisan immigration deal because he didn’t want immigrants from ‘s***hole’ countries. He denied it. Two Republican Senators claimed I was lying. Now, he’s bragging about it. This is racism, plain and simple.
December 12, 2025 at 9:53 PM
Reposted by William Snyder
bcfinucane.bsky.social
Cites @hrw.org's report on the torture of the men the US disappeared to CECOT.
kyledcheney.bsky.social Kyle Cheney @kyledcheney.bsky.social · 1d
JUST IN: Judge Boasberg won’t back off his planned contempt hearings next week and says the crime-fraud exception would overcome potential privileges. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
December 12, 2025 at 7:25 PM
Reposted by William Snyder
carlquintanilla.bsky.social
“.. The commutation of Mr. Gentile’s sentence undid years of work by prosecutors in Brooklyn to expose a scheme that defrauded thousands of investors, many of whom were older Americans living on fixed incomes.”

@kenvogel.bsky.social @nytimes.com
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/12/n...
December 12, 2025 at 6:18 PM
Reposted by William Snyder
bcfinucane.bsky.social
Let’s check in on today’s egregious misuse of the Department of Justice…

www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
DOJ sues Georgia county as Trump pushes debunked 2020 election fraud claims
President Donald Trump has increasingly pressured his administration to find widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election, despite those claims having been debunked and dismissed in dozens of cases by ...
www.washingtonpost.com
December 12, 2025 at 6:22 PM
Reposted by William Snyder
thetnholler.bsky.social
😕
December 12, 2025 at 4:38 PM
profsnyder.bsky.social
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/12/n...
Fraudster’s Victims Are Seething After Trump Commuted His Sentence
www.nytimes.com
December 12, 2025 at 5:00 PM
Reposted by William Snyder
reichlinmelnick.bsky.social
NEW: A major shift in underway in recent months kicked into gear this week, with ICE trial attorneys around the country asking immigration "judges" to toss out *nearly all* asylum applications on the grounds of "safe third country" agreements with Uganda, Honduras, Ecuador, and Guatemala.
December 12, 2025 at 4:33 PM
Reposted by William Snyder
stevevladeck.bsky.social
"The jury verdict from 10 years ago contains a scrivener's error insofar as it states that the defendant was not guilty. We are changing that, nunc pro tunc, to guilty."

Yeah, no.
reichlinmelnick.bsky.social Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 1d
It is not! A “scrivener’s error” is for things like fixing typos or very minor non-material errors, not retroactively adding a deportation order that doesn’t current exist!
goaldee.bsky.social goaldee.bsky.social @goaldee.bsky.social · 1d
Is "correcting" a previous order like this a real thing?
December 12, 2025 at 4:26 PM
Reposted by William Snyder
rpsagainsttrump.bsky.social
In addition to 5 years of social media history, CBP would also require tourists to provide all phone numbers used over that period, any email addresses used in the past decade, DNA and iris scans, and the names, addresses, birthdates and birthplaces of family members
Including children
December 11, 2025 at 6:51 PM
Reposted by William Snyder
klasfeldreports.com
WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING

A federal judge BLOCKED feds from RE-DETAINING Kilmar Abrego Garcia this morning at an immigration check-in.

A quick thread storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
December 12, 2025 at 1:11 PM
Reposted by William Snyder
chathamhouse.org
Alarming events in nuclear proliferation, space security and hybrid warfare meant 2025 was a year in which the international security order deteriorated.

Read the latest from @mgmessmer.bsky.social and @katjabego.bsky.social⤵️
Global security continued to unravel in 2025. Crucial tests are coming in 2026
Alarming events in nuclear proliferation, space security and hybrid warfare meant 2025 was a year in which the international security order deteriorated.
www.chathamhouse.org
December 12, 2025 at 1:10 PM
Reposted by William Snyder
reichlinmelnick.bsky.social
🚨Judge Xinis finds that, incredibly, Mr. Abrego Garcia was never ordered deported in 2019. She notes that every since this saga began all the way back in March, the government has NEVER been able to produce any evidence that the immigration judge actually issued a removal order.
B. No Order of Removal Exists for Abrego Garcia No such order of removal exists for Abrego Garcia. When Abrego Garcia was first wrongly expelled to El Salvador, the Court struggled to understand the legal authority for even seizing him in the first place. At the first hearing in Abrego I, the Court inquired of Respondents’ counsel: The Court: I want to ask, though, the very specific question, if there is a final order of removal, what . . . document got this process started? There is no warrant for his arrest by an order of removal. There is no statement of probable cause. There’s no charge. There’s no report that says that anyone saw Mr. Abrego Garcia doing anything illegal or criminal. So what is the actual document that gave these officers the authority to start this process? Counsel: That is not in the record, and the government has not put that into the record. And that’s the best I can do. Abrego I, ECF No. 33 at 21:11–22. The Court continued to press counsel about the existence of a removal order and was told plainly that none can be found: The Court: Okay. So if there’s a Title 8 removal order, there would be an order of removal that’s being executed, and we don’t have one for Mr. Abrego Garcia, right? . . . Do you have that order? . . . Is it in the record? Counsel: I do not have that order. It is not in the record. Id. at 23:7–24:4. Since that time, Respondents have never produced an order of removal despite Abrego Garcia hinging much of his jurisdictional and legal arguments on its non-existence. ECF No. 1 ¶¶ 68–69; ECF No. 32 at 10, 15–17, 27; ECF No. 87 at 11–12. Indeed, Respondents twice sponsored the testimony of ICE officials whose job it is to effectuate removal orders, and who candidly admitted to having never seen one for Abrego Garcia. See ECF No. 107 at 30:16–22 (testimony of Cantú) (“Q: Based upon your many years of experience you described to us, you know what a final order of removal looks like, right, sir? Cantú: I do. Q: And have you seen a final order of removal in regard to Mr. Abrego Garcia? Cantú: I have not.”). See also Abrego I, ECF No. 234 at 46:6–12 (testimony of interim Assistant Director for ICE Removal Operations, Thomas Giles (“Giles”)) (“Q: You have not seen the final order of removal, have you, sir? Giles: What do you mean by that? Q: I mean, you have not seen a piece of paper that represents the final order of removal vis-a-vis Mr. Abrego Garcia, correct? Giles: No, I have not.”).15 Based on this, the Court concludes that no order of removal exists.
December 11, 2025 at 4:13 PM
Reposted by William Snyder
longtimehistory.bsky.social
ICE shoots pepper spray at peaceful observer—from inside the safety of their car.

Jump out of car to spray her again from even closer point blank range—chasing her from behind as she runs away in pain.

Agents get in car to leave—then get back out to spray her a THIRD time until canister is empty.
December 11, 2025 at 7:38 PM