Barton Gellman
@bartongellman.bsky.social
16K followers 440 following 110 posts
@BrennanCenter | ex Atlantic, WaPo | Author, Angler & Dark Mirror | Visiting Lecturer, Princeton | bartongellman.com/contact
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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
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dbernstein.bsky.social
Oh he can just unilaterally pass unconstitutional laws now huh ok
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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.
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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
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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
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cnn.com
CNN @cnn.com · 17d
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
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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.
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smerconish.bsky.social
Revisit Michael’s 2020 conversation with Pulitzer Prize-winner @bartongellman.bsky.social on his book “Dark Mirror" an inside account of Snowden's leak of classified files that sparked a global reckoning over government surveillance.
Hear the #bookclub #podcast 🎧📖 loom.ly/w1hBbWM
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brennancenter.org
The judiciary is being asked to serve as a check on presidential abuses of power, but in case after case the Supreme Court has shirked that responsibility. The justices owe the public explanations for their decisions. bit.ly/4mzvX0p
Supreme Court Must Explain Why It Keeps Ruling in Trump’s Favor
The Court has repeatedly halted lower court orders and allowed administration policies to go forward via its “shadow docket” without any explanation.
www.brennancenter.org
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brennancenter.org
@bartongellman.bsky.social in @nytopinion.nytimes.com: “There are reasons to hope Mr. Trump will fail to subvert next year’s midterms. Election officials of both parties have by and large withstood years of relentless threats, violence and disinformation.”
Opinion | Trump’s Stunning Power Grab on Elections
www.nytimes.com
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brennancenter.org
Brennan Center senior adviser @bartongellman.bsky.social: “From the earliest days of his second term, the president and his lieutenants have pursued an unprecedented assault on the machinery of free and fair elections.” www.nytimes.com/2025/08/24/o...
Opinion | Trump’s Stunning Attack on Mail-In Ballots
www.nytimes.com
bartongellman.bsky.social
The only modern president who refused to concede a certified election defeat proclaims his authority over election rules nationwide. My latest:

www.nytimes.com/2025/08/24/o...
Opinion | Trump’s Stunning Attack on Mail-In Ballots
www.nytimes.com
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bartongellman.bsky.social
Trump, on Fox, cites Putin (“smart guy”) as authority on how to run “an honest election.” His claim that states have to follow his orders on voting rules is upside down. Congress and states set election law. The president has exactly zero lawful role.
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stevespaulding.bsky.social
The DISCLOSE Act—which would require dark money groups to disclose contributions of $10k+—passed the House in 2010 and came within one vote of defeating a Republican filibuster. It's since passed the House multiple times in democracy packages. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/12/u...
The D.N.C.’s New Leader Seeks to Curb Dark Money Influence in 2028 Primaries
www.nytimes.com
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brennancenter.org
In Citizens United, the Supreme Court predicted that super PACs wouldn’t lead to real or perceived corruption. But a record-breaking run for Trump’s super PAC casts doubt on that idea.
bit.ly/4olWjE6
Unprecedented Big Money Surge for Super PAC Tied to Trump
Million-dollar donors fuel a nearly $200 million war chest to support a president who can’t run again.
www.brennancenter.org
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maxboot.bsky.social
By demanding all of Donbas, Putin is trying to achieve at the negotiating table what his troops have not been able to win on the ground. If Trump were to agree, it would be a reprise of the 1938 Munich agreement in which Chamberlain handed over to Hitler the Sudetenland. wapo.st/45rmMaW
Opinion | Trump is letting Putin manipulate him, again
The president’s desperation to end the Ukraine war might lead to another Munich moment with Russia.
wapo.st
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jfallows.bsky.social
Wow, this is great.

Once again, the "real America," or what we hope is real, poking up its head.

h/t bsky.app/profile/oisi...
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nicholasgrossman.bsky.social
The CEO of a a multi-trillion dollar company went to the White House, openly handed the US president a gift made of gold, and his company got a special exemption to tariffs the president has illegally imposed.

Also, the Founders took bribery so seriously the Constitution bans it 3 separate times.
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amescg.bsky.social
Today the FBI released year-end crime data on 2024, showing a record-breaking decline in murder rates alongside decreases in all seven major offenses. Murder rates are now below 2019 levels, reversing the 2020 spike.

(See analysis by @jeffasher.bsky.social.)

jasher.substack.com/p/murder-off...
Murder Officially Plunged in 2024
That and more takeaways from the FBI's 2024 Reported Crime in the Nation report.
jasher.substack.com
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yeargain.bsky.social
I want to emphasize this: THEY DO NOT CITE ANY CASELAW FOR THESE ARGUMENTS. The only reason they wouldn't do that is because THERE IS NO CASELAW. Courts do not force legislators to vote on things. There is no basis in the Texas Constitution for the Texas Supreme Court to ORDER legislators around.
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joycewhitevance.bsky.social
In Alabama, another horrible ICE detention story— pulled over for going 1 mile over the speed limit and then put into detention, a woman who earned a masters degree and has become a beloved community advocate. Not a criminal. Someone who contributes to America. www.al.com/news/2025/08...
Alabama immigration advocate detained by ICE in traffic stop, family says: ‘Just heartbreaking and discouraging’
"Her detainment is not only legally questionable — it is morally wrong," a petition demanding her release reads.
www.al.com
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theatlantic.com
"American democracy promotion is effectively dead," Brian Klaas writes. The world's authoritarians have taken note that they no longer need fear Washington's condemnation when they tighten their grip on power:
The Death of Democracy Promotion
Despots and human-rights abusers can rest easy now that America has gotten out of their way.
bit.ly