Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Mitchell Epner

@mitchellepner.bsky.social

32K followers 1.9K following 16K posts

Attorney, former AUSA, father, husband, former JBLC, long-time Knicks fan and occasional talking head https://mitchellepner.substack.com/ https://www.thedailybeast.com/author/mitchell-epner

mitchellepner.substack.com

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

Mitchell Epner @mitchellepner.bsky.social · Apr 19

If you are looking for great sustainable fashion, please consider Salvage Renaissance, the brand founded by my wife.

We provide spectacular clothes & accessories that have been upcycled by skilled artisans.

Look great & do something great for the planet.

salvage-renaissance.com

Salvage Renaissance

Salvage Renaissance is a purpose-driven brand that seeks to attract Generation X, Baby Boomers, and older customers towards buying clothing and accessories that have been upcycled, cleaned, and mended...

salvage-renaissance.com

22 39 210

Mitchell Epner @mitchellepner.bsky.social · 9m

Watching the Yankee game last night on FS1, there was a very unpersuasive Cuomo ad that was immediately followed by the Sliwa ad featuring Donna Johnson. As a longtime political activist, I felt like Cuomo was floored with roundhouse right counterpunch after a tepid jab.

Mitchell Epner @mitchellepner.bsky.social · 11m

Curtis Sliwa (the GOP nominee for NYC mayor) has launched a devastating ad against Andrew Cuomo (still running as an independent) featuring Donna Johnson, who claims that Cuomo's COVID policies regarding nursing homes killed both of her parents.

This hits home with Cuomo's prime demographic.

Andrew Cuomo’s Deadly Leadership: Meet Donna Johnson

YouTube video by M. Sliwa Public Relations

www.youtube.com

3 8 27

Mitchell Epner @mitchellepner.bsky.social · 4h

Proud to be quoted by Joe Walsh of @cbsnewsconfirmed.bsky.social on today’s arraignment of James Comey.

Life’s been good to me so far.

www.cbsnews.com/news/fbi-jam...

Ex-FBI chief James Comey in court today for arraignment — here's what to expect

Former FBI Director James Comey, a longtime foe of President Trump, will appear in Virginia for an arraignment, in his first court appearance since being criminally charged.

www.cbsnews.com

1 2 23

Mitchell Epner @mitchellepner.bsky.social · 12h

The hair in your thumbnail is a big hint.

Reposted by Mitchell Epner

madison! @madepn.bsky.social · 23h

here is my first rendering of the bread scale of triviality (any suggestions welcome; I love thinking about bread)

68 150 790

Mitchell Epner @mitchellepner.bsky.social · 1d

My daughter @madepn.bsky.social has invented a great scale for the triviality - importance spectrum. It goes from “nothing burger” to “everything bagel”.

I doff my hat in tribute to genius.

13 37 480

Mitchell Epner @mitchellepner.bsky.social · 4d

Except that courts enforce arbitration awards from, and arbitration clauses requiring adjudication by, a Beth Din (enforcing Talmudic Judaism) regularly in NY(where I practice).

Mitchell Epner @mitchellepner.bsky.social · 5d

That is a better way of expressing what I was trying to say.

Mitchell Epner @mitchellepner.bsky.social · 5d

Cuba comes to mind, but the Cuban-American community has always been anti-Castro.

Until very recently, being pro-Israeli government(no matter which party was leading Israel) was common ground for the overwhelming majority of American Jews.

2 1 13

Mitchell Epner @mitchellepner.bsky.social · 5d

I’m quoted in The Times (London) looking forward to tomorrow’s sentencing of Sean Combs. TL/dr: this is the widest disparity in recommendations that I have in 30+ years as a criminal trial attorney.

www.thetimes.com/us/news-toda...

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs taught us to go straight, prisoners tell judge

The music mogul received glowing references from cellmates he tutored in business but could face anything from 20 years to instant freedom when sentenced

www.thetimes.com

1 4 31

Mitchell Epner @mitchellepner.bsky.social · 10d

Ken White @kenwhite.bsky.social gives a great description of the doctrine of “vindictive prosecution” in this free preview of Serious Trouble.

He also discusses my concerns about Comey’s public statement after the indictment.

podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s...

Stop Making Us Defend James Comey

Podcast Episode · Serious Trouble · 09/27/2025 · 22m

podcasts.apple.com

9 89

Mitchell Epner @mitchellepner.bsky.social · 13d

In 2017, I wrote an op-ed in the Daily News when Trump commented similarly on the killing of Heather Heyer at "Unite The Right" Charlottesville march.

Trump's comments then did not stand in the way of conviction, but DOJ endorsement of Trump's comments about Mangione may preclude death penalty.

Trump’s comments on James Fields may have created a legal headache for prosecutors

At his Tuesday press conference, President Trump was asked whether the attack on Heather Heyer was “terrorism.” His response may make it more difficult for Virginia to prosecute James F…

www.nydailynews.com

1 2 20

Mitchell Epner @mitchellepner.bsky.social · 13d

SDNY District Court Judge Margaret Garnett, who is presiding over the Luigi Mangione federal case, orders the DOJ to answer for violations of Local Rule 23.1 forbidding "release of an opinion [that] will interfere with a fair trial".

Several DOJ employees endorsed Trump's attacks on Mangione.

storage.courtlistener.com

1 15 46

Mitchell Epner @mitchellepner.bsky.social · 14d

Ruin a band with a Supreme Court Justice.

Ketanji Brown Jackson Five.

Eric Boo-erg 👻 @lawliberg.bsky.social · 14d

Ruin a band with a Supreme Court Justice

Queens of the Harlan Fiske Stone Age

bguizzet.bsky.social @bguizzet.bsky.social · 14d

ruin a band w/ the law

leftover salmon chase

6 3 54

Mitchell Epner @mitchellepner.bsky.social · 20d

I am dipping my toe back into BlueSky with a link to a collection of beaded garments on Salvage Renaissance, my family's vintage/upcycling e-commerce store. There is a wide assortment of price points:

salvage-renaissance.com/collections/...

I'm avoiding weightier topics for now.

Bead It!

salvage-renaissance.com

3 9 50

Mitchell Epner @mitchellepner.bsky.social · 28d

Taking a social media break.

6 2 100

Mitchell Epner @mitchellepner.bsky.social · Aug 14

Bob Marley demands that you get the meter right:

I threw the sandwich
But I didn’t throw no panini, no no no.

3 2 43

Mitchell Epner @mitchellepner.bsky.social · Aug 5

Judge Subramanian has denied Sean Combs bail pending sentencing.

The judge specifically found “that Cassie Ventura and Jane were
beaten, coerced, threatened, lied to, and victimized by Combs as part of their participation” in the freak offs.

www.courthousenews.com

2 17 78

Mitchell Epner @mitchellepner.bsky.social · Jul 30

Age verification? “Get all the sports news instantly. Dial 976-1313!”

TEMU Mark Ruffalo @brianvan.bsky.social · Jul 29

age verification? Woodstock 99

Maris Kreizman @maris.bsky.social · Jul 29

age verification? went to the garden state arts center to see an mtv concert featuring bell biv devoe, gerardo, c&c music factory, and color me badd

2 17

Mitchell Epner @mitchellepner.bsky.social · Jul 30

In 2008, when Justice Scalia (joined by Thomas, Alito, Roberts & Kennedy) overturned a century of Second Amendment jurisprudence in Heller, holding that the 2nd Amendment guarantees an “individual right” not a “militia right”, I warned he would have blood on his hands.

Yesterday was the latest.

8 48 190

Mitchell Epner @mitchellepner.bsky.social · Jul 29

My appearance on NPR’s Morning Edition to discuss Ghislaine Maxwell’s application to the Supreme Court to overturn her conviction on the basis of immunity conferred by Jeffrey Epstein’s 2007 plea agreement.

www.npr.org/2025/07/29/n...

Ghislaine Maxwell asks U.S. Supreme Court to overturn her conviction

NPR's A Martinez speaks with former federal prosecutor Mitchell Epner about convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell's appeal to the Supreme Court to overturn her conviction.

www.npr.org

5 14 41

Mitchell Epner @mitchellepner.bsky.social · Jul 25

I appeared on CBS News (The Takedown with Major Garrett) to discuss DAG Todd Blanche's highly unusual interviews of Ghislaine Maxwell. Nothing about this process falls within standard operating procedure for the DOJ.

www.cbsnews.com/video/trump-...

Trump says he hasn't thought about pardoning Ghislaine Maxwell

Jeffrey Epstein's convicted accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, had another sit-down with the deputy attorney general on Friday. CBS News Department of Justice correspondent Scott MacFarlane has more. Then...

www.cbsnews.com

4 11 43

Mitchell Epner @mitchellepner.bsky.social · Jul 25

It’s a long list.

Mitchell Epner @mitchellepner.bsky.social · Jul 25

I know.

My post was not directed at you.

It was directed at the people who urged others to withhold their votes in the general election from Biden (and later Harris). You were not one of those people.

2 2

Mitchell Epner @mitchellepner.bsky.social · Jul 25

My point was that the people who screamed last year that there was “no difference” between Biden/Harris & Trump on Gaza were wrong. Thank you for acknowledging that “Donald is way worse.”

4 2 11