Seth Stern
@sethstern.bsky.social
Bloomberg Law editor for Supreme Court, federal judiciary, Justice Department and Homeland Security news; author of Speaking Yiddish to Chickens and co-author of Justice Brennan biography; Bill Hennessy sketch
Reposted by Seth Stern
NEWS: Trump is about to pardon a wealthy Venezuelan bank owner whose daughter paid $3.5M to MAGA Inc., & the ex-Puerto Rican govenor who'd endorsed Trump in 2020. Prosecutors accused the duo of a bribery scheme.
news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...
news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...
Trump to Pardon Venezuelan Banker, Ex-Puerto Rico Governor
President Donald Trump plans to pardon Puerto Rico’s former governor and a Venezuelan banker accused of bribery, the president’s latest use of clemency power to nullify a long-running corruption case,...
news.bloomberglaw.com
January 16, 2026 at 5:32 PM
NEWS: Trump is about to pardon a wealthy Venezuelan bank owner whose daughter paid $3.5M to MAGA Inc., & the ex-Puerto Rican govenor who'd endorsed Trump in 2020. Prosecutors accused the duo of a bribery scheme.
news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...
news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...
Tennessee man pleads guilty to stealing credentials to access the Supreme Court’s electronic filing system and posting screenshots on an Instagram account under the handle “@ihackedthegovernment,” @suzannemonyak.bsky.social reports
news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...
news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...
Tennessee Man Pleads Guilty to Hacking Supreme Court System (1)
A Tennessee man has pleaded guilty to computer fraud after prosecutors said he stole credentials to access the Supreme Court’s electronic filing system and posted screenshots to an Instagram account.
news.bloomberglaw.com
January 16, 2026 at 4:49 PM
Tennessee man pleads guilty to stealing credentials to access the Supreme Court’s electronic filing system and posting screenshots on an Instagram account under the handle “@ihackedthegovernment,” @suzannemonyak.bsky.social reports
news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...
news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...
Reposted by Seth Stern
News: To replace the Minnesota fed prosecutors who quit in protest, DOJ is sending military lawyers, healthcare fraud specialists, & volunteer line prosecutors from Detroit & LA, per senior official. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...
Military, Fraud Lawyers Replacing Minnesota Prosecutors Who Quit
The Justice Department is attempting to offset a spike in Minnesota prosecutor resignations by deploying reinforcements from the military, other US attorney offices, and its health care fraud unit, ac...
news.bloomberglaw.com
January 15, 2026 at 9:17 PM
News: To replace the Minnesota fed prosecutors who quit in protest, DOJ is sending military lawyers, healthcare fraud specialists, & volunteer line prosecutors from Detroit & LA, per senior official. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...
The Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday is poised to advance the nomination of Darin Smith, who has no previous criminal or federal litigation experience, as US attorney for the District of Wyoming, @ccastronuovo.bsky.social reports
news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...
news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...
Trump Prosecutor Pick Lacking Court Experience Is Set to Advance
The Senate’s bid to confirm a federal prosecutor nominee without traditional credentials who was outside the Capitol on Jan. 6 shows Republicans’ increased willingness to back US attorney picks seen a...
news.bloomberglaw.com
January 15, 2026 at 2:59 PM
The Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday is poised to advance the nomination of Darin Smith, who has no previous criminal or federal litigation experience, as US attorney for the District of Wyoming, @ccastronuovo.bsky.social reports
news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...
news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...
The youth sports cases being argued at the Supreme Court Tuesday could give the court’s conservative majority an opportunity to grant states wider discretion in imposing transgender-related regulations, @jordanonrecord.bsky.social reports
news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...
news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...
Justices Reenter Transgender Rights Debate With Student Athletes
The US Supreme Court will hear two challenges to state laws restricting transgender participation in youth sports, marking the justices’ first return to transgender rights since last year’s decision i...
news.bloomberglaw.com
January 13, 2026 at 2:21 PM
The youth sports cases being argued at the Supreme Court Tuesday could give the court’s conservative majority an opportunity to grant states wider discretion in imposing transgender-related regulations, @jordanonrecord.bsky.social reports
news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...
news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...
Reposted by Seth Stern
Exclusive: DOJ is throwing hundreds of new attorneys at Epstein doc review but officials are frustrated they’re off to “very rocky start” with many issues awaiting guidance & more than two-thirds of 232 Crim Div reviewers failing to hit 1k pages per day mandate news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...
DOJ’s Epstein Files Staffing Surge Beset by ‘Very Rocky Start’
The Justice Department’s newly expanded team reviewing files related to Jeffrey Epstein has struggled in its mission of expediting the Trump administration’s legally-mandated disclosures, according to...
news.bloomberglaw.com
January 13, 2026 at 1:40 PM
Exclusive: DOJ is throwing hundreds of new attorneys at Epstein doc review but officials are frustrated they’re off to “very rocky start” with many issues awaiting guidance & more than two-thirds of 232 Crim Div reviewers failing to hit 1k pages per day mandate news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...
The Justice Department sent letters to former employees with the Community Relations Service and Access to Justice offices on Friday rescinding the earlier reduction-in-force notices, @suzannemonyak.bsky.social reports news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...
DOJ Reverses Firings at Peacemakers, Access to Justice Units
The Justice Department is reinstating employees from two offices focused on conflict resolution and access to justice, several months after terminating those federal workers as part of a broader restr...
news.bloomberglaw.com
January 10, 2026 at 9:36 PM
The Justice Department sent letters to former employees with the Community Relations Service and Access to Justice offices on Friday rescinding the earlier reduction-in-force notices, @suzannemonyak.bsky.social reports news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...
Harmeet Dhillon is using social media to single out anti-DEI targets, an approach former division lawyers say is at odds with DOJ attorneys’ responsibility to carefully vet discrimination claims, @ccastronuovo.bsky.social reports
news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...
news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...
DOJ Civil Rights Chief Scrolls Social Media for Anti-DEI Targets
The Justice Department’s top civil rights enforcer is using social media to single out anti-DEI targets, an approach former division lawyers say is at odds with career attorneys’ responsibility to car...
news.bloomberglaw.com
January 8, 2026 at 4:49 PM
Harmeet Dhillon is using social media to single out anti-DEI targets, an approach former division lawyers say is at odds with DOJ attorneys’ responsibility to carefully vet discrimination claims, @ccastronuovo.bsky.social reports
news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...
news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...
“The US authority would say: It doesn’t matter how we get him. Once we get him, we can try him,” Cambridge professor Marc Weller tells @suzannemonyak.bsky.social and @justinfwise.bsky.social
news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...
news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...
Maduro Capture Unlikely to Hinder US Prosecution, Experts Say
Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro is unlikely to escape prosecution in Manhattan federal court on drug trafficking and narco-terrorism charges, even if his overnight capture by US forces breached inter...
news.bloomberglaw.com
January 4, 2026 at 2:33 PM
“The US authority would say: It doesn’t matter how we get him. Once we get him, we can try him,” Cambridge professor Marc Weller tells @suzannemonyak.bsky.social and @justinfwise.bsky.social
news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...
news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...
A legal nonprofit accused 2d Circuit judge Sarah Merriam of mistreating her law clerks, despite a pledge to improve after an earlier judicial decision found her management style could be “overly harsh," @suzannemonyak.bsky.social yak.bsky.social reports
news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...
news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...
Legal Nonprofit Accuses Appellate Judge of Bullying Clerks (1)
A legal nonprofit accused a federal appeals court judge of mistreating her law clerks, despite her pledge to improve after an earlier judicial decision found her management style could be “overly hars...
news.bloomberglaw.com
December 30, 2025 at 5:47 PM
A legal nonprofit accused 2d Circuit judge Sarah Merriam of mistreating her law clerks, despite a pledge to improve after an earlier judicial decision found her management style could be “overly harsh," @suzannemonyak.bsky.social yak.bsky.social reports
news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...
news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...
Reposted by Seth Stern
References to the late Justice Antonin Scalia surged this year during Supreme Court oral arguments -- a testament to his lasting influence over the institution nearly 10 years after his death. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...
Mentions of Justice Scalia Surge at Conservative-Dominated Court
References to the late Justice Antonin Scalia spiked during Supreme Court oral arguments this year, highlighting his lasting influence on how the court interprets the law.
news.bloomberglaw.com
December 22, 2025 at 3:37 PM
References to the late Justice Antonin Scalia surged this year during Supreme Court oral arguments -- a testament to his lasting influence over the institution nearly 10 years after his death. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...
Reposted by Seth Stern
Scoop w/ @pathurtado37: DOJ Solicitor General John Sauer directed Trump's EDNY US attorney Nocella to abandon his office's FIFA bribery convictions. Nocella tried pushing back but wasn't given a meeting. Now US may need to return millions in penalties. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...
US Attorney Dropped FIFA Bribery Case at Trump Official’s Behest
The Justice Department’s solicitor general effectively ordered Brooklyn prosecutors to abandon two FIFA bribery convictions amid pushback from their Trump-appointed US attorney—potentially unraveling ...
news.bloomberglaw.com
December 19, 2025 at 7:37 PM
Scoop w/ @pathurtado37: DOJ Solicitor General John Sauer directed Trump's EDNY US attorney Nocella to abandon his office's FIFA bribery convictions. Nocella tried pushing back but wasn't given a meeting. Now US may need to return millions in penalties. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...
Chuck Grassley's handling of watchdog firings illustrates how he's strayed from the fierce independence he has long placed at the center of his public persona, legal veterans, some former allies, and fellow lawmakers say, @tianaheadley.bsky.social reports
news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...
news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...
Trump’s Aggression Tests Grassley, Senate GOP Oversight Champion
Senate Judiciary Chairman Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) has adopted a more tepid response to a White House that has aggressively asserted its power, stretched the law, and fired many of the watchdogs Gras...
news.bloomberglaw.com
December 19, 2025 at 3:48 PM
Chuck Grassley's handling of watchdog firings illustrates how he's strayed from the fierce independence he has long placed at the center of his public persona, legal veterans, some former allies, and fellow lawmakers say, @tianaheadley.bsky.social reports
news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...
news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...
Sen. John Kennedy pressed a Trump judicial nominees about his religious views based on sermons and teachings he gave as a church elder that covered topics such as premarital sex in Christianity and women in Christian marriage, @tianaheadley.bsky.social reports
news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...
news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...
Republican Presses Trump Judicial Pick on His Religious Sermons
A Senate Judiciary Committee Republican questioned one of President Donald Trump’s judicial nominees about his religious views based on sermons and teachings he gave as a church elder that covered top...
news.bloomberglaw.com
December 17, 2025 at 8:05 PM
Sen. John Kennedy pressed a Trump judicial nominees about his religious views based on sermons and teachings he gave as a church elder that covered topics such as premarital sex in Christianity and women in Christian marriage, @tianaheadley.bsky.social reports
news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...
news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...
The Trump administration’s move to deploy US Marshals Service officers for immigration enforcement and local crime operations has worsened staffing shortages at the agency tasked with protecting federal judges, @suzannemonyak.bsky.social reports
news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...
news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...
US Marshals Deployments Strain Court Resources as Threats Rise
The Trump administration’s move to deploy US Marshals Service officers for immigration enforcement and local crime operations has worsened staffing shortages at the agency tasked with protecting feder...
news.bloomberglaw.com
December 16, 2025 at 10:59 PM
The Trump administration’s move to deploy US Marshals Service officers for immigration enforcement and local crime operations has worsened staffing shortages at the agency tasked with protecting federal judges, @suzannemonyak.bsky.social reports
news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...
news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...
Reposted by Seth Stern
For the past several months @emilyrsiegel.bsky.social and I have been analyzing 40 federal civil rights cases filed since 2017 by students who said they were strip searched at school. We found some disturbing patterns. news.bloomberglaw.com/litigation/s...
Strip Searches in Schools Traumatize Kids Over Minor Offenses
A Bloomberg Law investigation found 40 federal civil rights lawsuits since 2017 claiming children and teenagers were strip searched at school without parents knowing – often for vape pens and minor of...
news.bloomberglaw.com
December 16, 2025 at 3:49 PM
For the past several months @emilyrsiegel.bsky.social and I have been analyzing 40 federal civil rights cases filed since 2017 by students who said they were strip searched at school. We found some disturbing patterns. news.bloomberglaw.com/litigation/s...
Reposted by Seth Stern
NEW: Lindsey Halligan's next-in-line as top prosecutor in EDVA, Robert McBride, resigned from prior senior role at a different US attorney's office in 2010 amid multiple employee complaints about his management. External DOJ report recommended he step down. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...
Halligan’s No. 2 Resigned Past DOJ Role After Staff Complaints
Chief federal prosecutor Lindsey Halligan’s new deputy—and potential successor—resigned from his prior senior Justice Department role amid complaints about his rigid management style, according to fou...
news.bloomberglaw.com
December 15, 2025 at 1:43 PM
NEW: Lindsey Halligan's next-in-line as top prosecutor in EDVA, Robert McBride, resigned from prior senior role at a different US attorney's office in 2010 amid multiple employee complaints about his management. External DOJ report recommended he step down. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...
Reposted by Seth Stern
My favorite read of the day, from Keith Alexander at Bloomberg Law. Full of fabulous details -- including that the jury included a professional, stand-up comedian >
news.bloomberglaw.com/white-collar...
news.bloomberglaw.com/white-collar...
Jurors in Sandwich Thrower Case Found Charges ‘Bunch of Baloney’
Two of the 12 jurors who found the accused DC sandwich thrower not guilty of assaulting a federal officer discuss why the case didn’t hold up.
news.bloomberglaw.com
December 10, 2025 at 6:08 PM
My favorite read of the day, from Keith Alexander at Bloomberg Law. Full of fabulous details -- including that the jury included a professional, stand-up comedian >
news.bloomberglaw.com/white-collar...
news.bloomberglaw.com/white-collar...
“A federal judge should not by his public conduct engage in what the public will reasonably understand as a sign of political support,” NYU legal ethics professor Stephen Gillers tells @suzannemonyak.bsky.social about Emil Bove attending Trump's speech Tuesday
news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...
news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...
Emil Bove Attends Trump Rally in Rare Move for Federal Judge
Emil Bove, a top Trump Justice Department official turned federal appeals court judge, attended a campaign-style presidential rally in Pennsylvania in a highly unusual move for a sitting judge.
news.bloomberglaw.com
December 10, 2025 at 3:22 PM
“A federal judge should not by his public conduct engage in what the public will reasonably understand as a sign of political support,” NYU legal ethics professor Stephen Gillers tells @suzannemonyak.bsky.social about Emil Bove attending Trump's speech Tuesday
news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...
news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...
“How do you frame the case in a way that any old Joe can understand what in the world is going on?” 11th Circuit Judge Kevin Newsom told @jacqthomsen.bsky.social
Two federal judges are urging the judiciary to tweak a rule to explicitly allow lawyers to include an “introduction” section at the top of their appellate briefs.
Appeals Judges Push to Clearly Allow Introductions in Briefs
Two federal judges are urging the judiciary to tweak a rule to explicitly allow lawyers to include an “introduction” section at the top of their appellate briefs.
bit.ly
December 9, 2025 at 9:42 PM
“How do you frame the case in a way that any old Joe can understand what in the world is going on?” 11th Circuit Judge Kevin Newsom told @jacqthomsen.bsky.social
Reposted by Seth Stern
Ex-Civil Rights Div attorneys blast Trump DOJ overhaul while current employee says, "We are working in an environment of hostility & disrespect from leadership...we never know who is going to be forced to stop their work or be terminated or transferred" news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...
DOJ Limits Civil Rights Unit as Ex-Staff Decry ‘Destruction’ (1)
The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division will focus solely on “intentional discrimination” in its regulation of federally funded programs in the latest effort by the Trump administration to reor...
news.bloomberglaw.com
December 9, 2025 at 8:05 PM
Ex-Civil Rights Div attorneys blast Trump DOJ overhaul while current employee says, "We are working in an environment of hostility & disrespect from leadership...we never know who is going to be forced to stop their work or be terminated or transferred" news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...
The Trump administration is considering demolishing four historic Washington buildings, including those that housed HUD and Voice of America, a former government official alleged in a declaration, @suzannemonyak.bsky.social reports
news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...
news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...
Trump Eyeing Federal Buildings for Demolition, Ex-Official Says
The Trump administration is considering demolishing four historic Washington buildings, including those that housed the Department of Housing and Urban Development and Voice of America, a former gover...
news.bloomberglaw.com
December 8, 2025 at 8:49 PM
The Trump administration is considering demolishing four historic Washington buildings, including those that housed HUD and Voice of America, a former government official alleged in a declaration, @suzannemonyak.bsky.social reports
news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...
news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...
Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche accused judges of “engaging in an unconscionable campaign of bias and hostility” against Lindsey Halligan and other prosecutors in the office, Celine Castronuovo reports
news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...
news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...
DOJ Hits Back at Judges Doubting Halligan’s US Attorney Role
The Justice Department is doubling down on its decision to have Lindsey Halligan continue serving as the Eastern District of Virginia’s top federal prosecutor after a court last month declared she was...
news.bloomberglaw.com
December 8, 2025 at 4:37 PM
Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche accused judges of “engaging in an unconscionable campaign of bias and hostility” against Lindsey Halligan and other prosecutors in the office, Celine Castronuovo reports
news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...
news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...
Reposted by Seth Stern
Scoop: FBI aims to escalate its inquiry into 6 Democrats who made video for troops by pressing domestic terrorism squad to launch a formal seditious conspiracy investigation. Washington Field Office leaders are pushing back b/c they don't see a crime. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...
FBI Seeks ‘Seditious Conspiracy’ Probe of Democratic Lawmakers
The FBI is pressuring domestic terrorism agents to open a seditious conspiracy investigation into six Democratic lawmakers who advised military service members to defy unlawful orders, according to th...
news.bloomberglaw.com
December 4, 2025 at 12:15 AM
Scoop: FBI aims to escalate its inquiry into 6 Democrats who made video for troops by pressing domestic terrorism squad to launch a formal seditious conspiracy investigation. Washington Field Office leaders are pushing back b/c they don't see a crime. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...
Reposted by Seth Stern
News: DOJ demotes Lindsey Halligan's criminal chief as her office weighs new charges against Jim Comey, Tish James. Nearly two-decade EDVA veteran replaced by a North Carolina transplant. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...
DOJ Demotes Virginia Criminal Chief As It Mulls Comey Dismissal
The Justice Department demoted a veteran criminal chief in the Eastern Virginia office that’s weighing key decisions in dismissed cases against two of Trump’s perceived enemies, people familiar with t...
news.bloomberglaw.com
December 3, 2025 at 5:54 PM
News: DOJ demotes Lindsey Halligan's criminal chief as her office weighs new charges against Jim Comey, Tish James. Nearly two-decade EDVA veteran replaced by a North Carolina transplant. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...