Lisa Rubin
@lawofruby.bsky.social
@msnbc.com legal correspondent & recovering litigator; former off-air legal analyst @maddow.msnbc.com.
Don’t let the pearls fool ya.
Don’t let the pearls fool ya.
NEW: DOJ says the ongoing dispute over Alina Habba is one about titles, not authority. What does that mean? And why is their fallback position more frightening for the rule of law than their insistence on keeping her as Acting U.S. Attorney? Read here:
www.msnbc.com/opinion/anal...
www.msnbc.com/opinion/anal...
Was former Trump lawyer Alina Habba ‘validly appointed’ to her DOJ post?
Whether or not she is legitimately serving as New Jersey’s U.S. attorney, DOJ’s fallback position is even more concerning.
www.msnbc.com
July 31, 2025 at 6:42 PM
NEW: DOJ says the ongoing dispute over Alina Habba is one about titles, not authority. What does that mean? And why is their fallback position more frightening for the rule of law than their insistence on keeping her as Acting U.S. Attorney? Read here:
www.msnbc.com/opinion/anal...
www.msnbc.com/opinion/anal...
NEW: In an email to her now-former colleagues today, veteran SDNY prosecutor Maurene Comey says she was “summarily fired” by “Main Justice” and urges that fear not “seep into the decisions of those who remain.” Read her whole email here:
www.msnbc.com/top-stories/...
www.msnbc.com/top-stories/...
Read Epstein prosecutor Maurene Comey’s letter to colleagues after DOJ firing
“Fear is the tool of a tyrant,” wrote the daughter of former FBI Director James Comey, a frequent target of President Donald Trump.
www.msnbc.com
July 17, 2025 at 5:04 PM
NEW: In an email to her now-former colleagues today, veteran SDNY prosecutor Maurene Comey says she was “summarily fired” by “Main Justice” and urges that fear not “seep into the decisions of those who remain.” Read her whole email here:
www.msnbc.com/top-stories/...
www.msnbc.com/top-stories/...
Reposted by Lisa Rubin
Democratic state AGs have filed dozens of lawsuits against the Trump admin. and are showing no signs of stopping.
MSNBC's @lawofruby.bsky.social sits down with three of them to discuss their role in combating Trump 2.0 in a new episode of "Can They Do That?"
WATCH: www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIz_...
MSNBC's @lawofruby.bsky.social sits down with three of them to discuss their role in combating Trump 2.0 in a new episode of "Can They Do That?"
WATCH: www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIz_...
Trump facing endless legal NIGHTMARE: 'Keep on suing'
YouTube video by MSNBC
www.youtube.com
June 27, 2025 at 12:28 PM
Democratic state AGs have filed dozens of lawsuits against the Trump admin. and are showing no signs of stopping.
MSNBC's @lawofruby.bsky.social sits down with three of them to discuss their role in combating Trump 2.0 in a new episode of "Can They Do That?"
WATCH: www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIz_...
MSNBC's @lawofruby.bsky.social sits down with three of them to discuss their role in combating Trump 2.0 in a new episode of "Can They Do That?"
WATCH: www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIz_...
Pete Hegseth's not the only Trump ally nor the only Trump nominee to express doubts that the executive branch should follow court orders, full stop. It's a disturbing trend, especially when the doubters are themselves federal judicial nominees. My latest for @msnbc.com: msnbc.com/opinion/anal...
June 20, 2025 at 5:40 PM
Pete Hegseth's not the only Trump ally nor the only Trump nominee to express doubts that the executive branch should follow court orders, full stop. It's a disturbing trend, especially when the doubters are themselves federal judicial nominees. My latest for @msnbc.com: msnbc.com/opinion/anal...
Reposted by Lisa Rubin
June 18, 2025 at 12:18 AM
The court battles between the Trump administration and Harvard are now so extensive and critical to Harvard that, as I just said on @msnbc.com, collectively, they remind me of this scene.
June 6, 2025 at 5:22 PM
The court battles between the Trump administration and Harvard are now so extensive and critical to Harvard that, as I just said on @msnbc.com, collectively, they remind me of this scene.
The Trump memo launching an investigation into the Biden White House’s use of the autopen allegedly to conceal his mental state is something else. Why is the White House Counsel in charge of this investigation? That is one indicator that something is awry.
www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...
www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...
Reviewing Certain Presidential Actions
MEMORANDUM FOR THE ATTORNEY GENERALTHE COUNSEL TO THE PRESIDENT SUBJECT: Reviewing Certain Presidential Actions By the
www.whitehouse.gov
June 5, 2025 at 1:05 AM
The Trump memo launching an investigation into the Biden White House’s use of the autopen allegedly to conceal his mental state is something else. Why is the White House Counsel in charge of this investigation? That is one indicator that something is awry.
www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...
www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...
NEW: I watched today’s nomination hearing for the first of Trump’s judicial nominees, and spoiler alert: they are willing to go places unthinkable for legal conservatives even 4 years ago. My latest for MSNBC.com:
www.msnbc.com/opinion/anal...
www.msnbc.com/opinion/anal...
June 5, 2025 at 12:00 AM
NEW: I watched today’s nomination hearing for the first of Trump’s judicial nominees, and spoiler alert: they are willing to go places unthinkable for legal conservatives even 4 years ago. My latest for MSNBC.com:
www.msnbc.com/opinion/anal...
www.msnbc.com/opinion/anal...
NEW: The first judicial nominees of Trump 2.0 get a Senate Judiciary hearing this morning starting in 2 min. Watch along with me?
www.judiciary.senate.gov/committee-ac...
www.judiciary.senate.gov/committee-ac...
Nominations | United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary
United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary
www.judiciary.senate.gov
June 4, 2025 at 2:13 PM
NEW: The first judicial nominees of Trump 2.0 get a Senate Judiciary hearing this morning starting in 2 min. Watch along with me?
www.judiciary.senate.gov/committee-ac...
www.judiciary.senate.gov/committee-ac...
NEW: Everyone's got a hot take on Trump's beef with the Federalist Society. Mine? Trump wants to eliminate both FedSoc and the ABA's influence over judicial nominations so he's the sole arbiter of nominees' qualifications & fitness. My latest for MSNBC.com: www.msnbc.com/opinion/anal...
As law firms and clients push back against Trump, he shifts focus to judicial 'vetters'
In cutting off the American Bar Association's access to judicial nominees and attacking the Federalist Society, Trump seeks to become the sole arbiter of judicial quality.
www.msnbc.com
June 3, 2025 at 10:32 PM
NEW: Everyone's got a hot take on Trump's beef with the Federalist Society. Mine? Trump wants to eliminate both FedSoc and the ABA's influence over judicial nominations so he's the sole arbiter of nominees' qualifications & fitness. My latest for MSNBC.com: www.msnbc.com/opinion/anal...
NEW: Pam Bondi & Kash Patel are under increasing pressure to release more info about Jeffrey Epstein’s life and death. But putting aside our own curiosity, doesn’t federal law enforcement owe his victims a review of their own failure to act? My latest at MSNBC.com:
www.msnbc.com/opinion/anal...
www.msnbc.com/opinion/anal...
Victims' lawsuits show FBI and DOJ's focus on Epstein files misses the mark
Instead of devoting thousands of hours to document redactions, the agencies should determine how to more effectively — and emphatically — respond to sex abuse victims.
www.msnbc.com
June 2, 2025 at 6:28 PM
NEW: Pam Bondi & Kash Patel are under increasing pressure to release more info about Jeffrey Epstein’s life and death. But putting aside our own curiosity, doesn’t federal law enforcement owe his victims a review of their own failure to act? My latest at MSNBC.com:
www.msnbc.com/opinion/anal...
www.msnbc.com/opinion/anal...
NEW: Are the courts holding in Trump 2.0? Well, that depends. No court can hold if its orders are flouted—and one immigration case highlights how willing the administration seems to disobey. My latest for MSNBC.com:
www.msnbc.com/opinion/anal...
www.msnbc.com/opinion/anal...
May 28, 2025 at 11:54 PM
NEW: Are the courts holding in Trump 2.0? Well, that depends. No court can hold if its orders are flouted—and one immigration case highlights how willing the administration seems to disobey. My latest for MSNBC.com:
www.msnbc.com/opinion/anal...
www.msnbc.com/opinion/anal...
NEW: The audio of Biden's interview with Robert Hur matters less for what he said than how he said it--and underscores, like the Sean "Diddy" Combs trial, why there's often no replacement for actually hearing a witness's account. My latest for @msnbc.com: www.msnbc.com/opinion/anal...
The significance of Biden’s Hur audio isn’t what he said. It’s how he said it.
The release of the Biden audio amid the Sean “Diddy” Combs trial underscores why the public’s ability to watch and listen to court proceedings matters.
www.msnbc.com
May 20, 2025 at 10:19 PM
NEW: The audio of Biden's interview with Robert Hur matters less for what he said than how he said it--and underscores, like the Sean "Diddy" Combs trial, why there's often no replacement for actually hearing a witness's account. My latest for @msnbc.com: www.msnbc.com/opinion/anal...
Harvard researcher Kseniia Petrova has been charged criminally with smuggling goods -- e.g., frog embryos and samples thereof on slides, etc. -- into the United States on the same day the judge overseeing her habeas case questioned the government's authority to revoke her visa.
May 14, 2025 at 8:52 PM
Harvard researcher Kseniia Petrova has been charged criminally with smuggling goods -- e.g., frog embryos and samples thereof on slides, etc. -- into the United States on the same day the judge overseeing her habeas case questioned the government's authority to revoke her visa.
NEW: Beyond detailing the horrors she alleges she suffered at Sean Combs' hands, Cassie Ventura has dropped some other important details: the names of Combs' alleged enablers (aka co-conspirators). I break down why that matters in my latest for @msnbc.com: www.msnbc.com/opinion/anal...
Why it matters that Cassie Ventura named names
While the public focuses on the sexual and physical abuse that Ventura allegedly suffered at Sean “Diddy” Combs’ hands, the charges necessitate proof of who enabled his conduct.
www.msnbc.com
May 14, 2025 at 7:41 PM
NEW: Beyond detailing the horrors she alleges she suffered at Sean Combs' hands, Cassie Ventura has dropped some other important details: the names of Combs' alleged enablers (aka co-conspirators). I break down why that matters in my latest for @msnbc.com: www.msnbc.com/opinion/anal...
I am struggling to understand why, when as the Deputy Attorney General acknowledged, it is not appropriate to comment on a pending criminal investigation, it is ok to disparage Newark’s mayor, who now faces charges under a federal criminal complaint, on national TV. 1/
May 11, 2025 at 1:25 AM
I am struggling to understand why, when as the Deputy Attorney General acknowledged, it is not appropriate to comment on a pending criminal investigation, it is ok to disparage Newark’s mayor, who now faces charges under a federal criminal complaint, on national TV. 1/
So it’s Friday night and Rumeysa Ozturk is out on bail, Ras Baraka is in Homeland Security custody, and Stephen Miller is casually toying with suspending habeas corpus. Do I have that right?
May 9, 2025 at 11:05 PM
So it’s Friday night and Rumeysa Ozturk is out on bail, Ras Baraka is in Homeland Security custody, and Stephen Miller is casually toying with suspending habeas corpus. Do I have that right?
NEW: News of the passing of retired Supreme Court Justice David Souter made me think immediately of . . . the Federalist Society. Why? Read my latest for @msnbc.com: www.msnbc.com/opinion/anal...
Without David Souter, the Federalist Society might’ve remained on the fringe
More than any decision he authored, the justice’s legacy was how he surprised legal conservatives, galvanizing a movement to prevent the nomination of federal jurists like him.
www.msnbc.com
May 9, 2025 at 6:46 PM
NEW: News of the passing of retired Supreme Court Justice David Souter made me think immediately of . . . the Federalist Society. Why? Read my latest for @msnbc.com: www.msnbc.com/opinion/anal...
According to @washingtonpost.com, a deflated Justice Souter gave his law clerks the Robert Frost poem "The Oven Bird" on the day Bush v. Gore came down. I didn't know it, but it's lovely and worth sharing: 1/
May 9, 2025 at 6:01 PM
According to @washingtonpost.com, a deflated Justice Souter gave his law clerks the Robert Frost poem "The Oven Bird" on the day Bush v. Gore came down. I didn't know it, but it's lovely and worth sharing: 1/
NEW: On public reports that NY Attorney General Tish James is under federal investigation, her lawyer Abbe Lowell gave a statement to MSNBC: "These baseless and long-discredited allegations, put to rest by my April 24th letter to the Department of Justice, are suddenly back in the news . . . ." 1/
May 8, 2025 at 6:52 PM
NEW: On public reports that NY Attorney General Tish James is under federal investigation, her lawyer Abbe Lowell gave a statement to MSNBC: "These baseless and long-discredited allegations, put to rest by my April 24th letter to the Department of Justice, are suddenly back in the news . . . ." 1/
Judge James Boasberg has not ordered the Trump administration to facilitate the release and return of those non-citizens now imprisoned at CECOT. But if the discovery he has authorized through a new order backs up their lawyers' claims, it sounds like he's heading there. 1/
May 8, 2025 at 5:08 PM
Judge James Boasberg has not ordered the Trump administration to facilitate the release and return of those non-citizens now imprisoned at CECOT. But if the discovery he has authorized through a new order backs up their lawyers' claims, it sounds like he's heading there. 1/
Trump has just nominated Joshua Divine to serve as a federal district court judge in two federal districts. There is a statute suggesting a judge's commission can cover more than one district, but as a practical matter, any legal historians know when this last happened?
May 6, 2025 at 9:36 PM
Trump has just nominated Joshua Divine to serve as a federal district court judge in two federal districts. There is a statute suggesting a judge's commission can cover more than one district, but as a practical matter, any legal historians know when this last happened?
Reposted by Lisa Rubin
OPINION by @lawofruby.bsky.social:
Lisa raises the question why ex-ballerina Ksenia Karelina was released from a Russian prison, but Harvard scientist Kseniia Petrova remains in ICE detention.
READ MORE:
www.msnbc.com/opinion/anal...
Lisa raises the question why ex-ballerina Ksenia Karelina was released from a Russian prison, but Harvard scientist Kseniia Petrova remains in ICE detention.
READ MORE:
www.msnbc.com/opinion/anal...
Trump's treatment of 2 Russian women highlights a flawed immigration policy
Ex-ballerina Ksenia Karelina was freed from a Russian prison, but Harvard scientist Kseniia Petrova remains in ICE detention. Why?
www.msnbc.com
May 6, 2025 at 12:13 PM
OPINION by @lawofruby.bsky.social:
Lisa raises the question why ex-ballerina Ksenia Karelina was released from a Russian prison, but Harvard scientist Kseniia Petrova remains in ICE detention.
READ MORE:
www.msnbc.com/opinion/anal...
Lisa raises the question why ex-ballerina Ksenia Karelina was released from a Russian prison, but Harvard scientist Kseniia Petrova remains in ICE detention.
READ MORE:
www.msnbc.com/opinion/anal...
NEW: Ksenia Karelina and Kseniia Petrova are young, Russian-born, and ran afoul of Russian authorities. But the Trump administration rescued one and has started deportation proceedings against the other. Why? My latest @msnbc.com: www.msnbc.com/opinion/anal...
Trump's treatment of 2 Russian women highlights a flawed immigration policy
Ex-ballerina Ksenia Karelina was freed from a Russian prison, but Harvard scientist Kseniia Petrova remains in ICE detention. Why?
www.msnbc.com
May 6, 2025 at 1:23 AM
NEW: Ksenia Karelina and Kseniia Petrova are young, Russian-born, and ran afoul of Russian authorities. But the Trump administration rescued one and has started deportation proceedings against the other. Why? My latest @msnbc.com: www.msnbc.com/opinion/anal...
NEW: D.C.-based law firm Perkins Coie wins its case against the Trump Administration with Judge Beryl Howell invalidating Trump's entire executive order punishing the firm. Her 102-page opinion holding the EO unconstitutional is here:
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
storage.courtlistener.com
May 2, 2025 at 10:46 PM
NEW: D.C.-based law firm Perkins Coie wins its case against the Trump Administration with Judge Beryl Howell invalidating Trump's entire executive order punishing the firm. Her 102-page opinion holding the EO unconstitutional is here:
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...