Quinta Jurecic
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qjurecic.bsky.social
Quinta Jurecic
@qjurecic.bsky.social
84K followers 1.9K following 6.7K posts
Writing about law and democracy at The Atlantic, previously Lawfare. Not a lawyer. It's KWIN-ta.

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qjurecic.bsky.social
Bafflingly, Bondi now says they're appealing. I have no idea whether the case is now moot or not. Kudos to Alina Habba, who has managed to make even a resignation confusing
pam bondi saying they're going to appeal and that habba will return to act as us attorney if the decision is reversed ???
December 8, 2025 at 7:09 PM
qjurecic.bsky.social
Notably, the judge rules that the government likely violated Richman's Fourth Amendment rights by digging around through his data as part of the effort to build a case against Comey
The Court concludes that Petitioner Richman is likely to succeed on the merits of his claim that the Government has violated his Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable searches and seizures by retaining a complete copy of all files on his personal computer (an “image” of the computer) and searching that image without a warrant. See United States v. Comey, No. 1:25-CR- 272-MSN-WEF, 2025 WL 3202693, at *4–7 (E.D. Va. Nov. 17, 2025). The Court further concludes that Petitioner Richman is also likely to succeed in showing that, because of those violations, he is entitled to the return of the image under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 41(g). Petitioner Richman has also shown that, absent an injunction, he will be irreparably harmed by the ongoing violation of his Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable seizures arising from the Government’s continuing retention of the image of his computer and related materials.
December 7, 2025 at 1:57 AM
qjurecic.bsky.social
in conclusion, www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
Trump rarely likes to abandon a fight. But the benefit of his appointments strategy, weighed against the headaches it has created for the government, may have finally tipped over in the wrong direction. The Justice Department did not return a request for comment on whether it plans to battle the Third Circuit’s ruling on Habba. As for Halligan, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt initially said that the administration would fight to keep the former insurance lawyer in her current post. Halligan was “legally appointed,” Leavitt insisted, and “extremely qualified.” A week and a half later, however, the Justice Department has yet to file an appeal.
December 5, 2025 at 7:14 PM
qjurecic.bsky.social
why. why would you do this www.nytimes.com/2025/12/05/u...
December 5, 2025 at 7:13 PM
qjurecic.bsky.social
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/05/u...
Pressed to explain the Justice Department’s rationale, Nicholas Patterson, the senior prosecutor in court, said that his office had been instructed to continue using Ms. Halligan’s signature in court filings as a U.S. attorney and special attorney. He added that his colleagues had been advised to add to the filings the names of the deputy attorney general, Todd Blanche, and Robert McBride, the top deputy in the Virginia office. “The reasoning behind that has not been provided, your honor, to the assistant United States attorneys,” Mr. Patterson said.
December 5, 2025 at 7:02 PM
qjurecic.bsky.social
oh my god, he admit it x.com/Acyn/status/...
@Acyn Hannity: You put a post on X after this happened and said there's a massive cover-up… they don't want you to know who it is because it's either a connected anti-Trump insider or an inside job. Bongino: I was paid in the past for my opinions. One day I will be back in that space but that's not what I'm paid for now. I’m paid to be your deputy director and we base investigations on facts.
December 5, 2025 at 3:25 PM
qjurecic.bsky.social
For example, things are going great in the Eastern District of Virginia
Between Habba and Halligan, the latter’s disqualification from the job makes for a splashier news story. Appointed to the role as part of Trump’s push for vengeance against his political enemies, Halligan briskly secured indictments against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James—both of which the court has since tossed out, on the reasoning that Halligan had no authority to bring those charges in the first place. The Justice Department will now have to decide whether and how to navigate the thicket of legal quandaries required to press forward with the president’s revenge quest. (Yesterday, a different prosecutor on Halligan’s team reportedly failed to convince a grand jury to re-indict James.)
December 5, 2025 at 2:16 PM
qjurecic.bsky.social
Or a fourth, or a fifth www.nytimes.com/2025/12/04/u...
Nothing in the law prevents the Justice Department from trying a third time to indict her.
December 5, 2025 at 12:18 AM
qjurecic.bsky.social
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ www.eff.org/files/fileno...
U//FOUO) Example: Groups who communicate with each other or with members of the public in any form in pursuit of social or political causes94 UNCLASSIFIED-FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY UNCLASSIFIED - FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Domestic Investigations and Operations Guide such as opposing war or foreign policy, protesting government actions, promoting certain religious beliefs, championing particular local, national, or international causes, or a change in government through non-criminal means, and actively recruit others to join their causes-have a fundamental constitutional right to do so. An enterprise investigation may not be initiated based solely on the exercise of these First Amendment rights.
December 4, 2025 at 1:03 AM
qjurecic.bsky.social
They reportedly want to open an enterprise investigation. Here is an excerpt from the relevant portion of the FBI manual about when you can't start an enterprise investigations
(U) No investigative activity, including enterprise investigations, may be taken solely on the basis of activities that are protected by the First Amendment or on the race, ethnicity, national origin or religion of the subject. Enterprise investigations of groups and organizations must focus on activities related to the threats or crimes being investigated, not solely on First Amendment activities or on the race, ethnicity, national origin or religion of the members of the group or organization. In this context, it is particularly important clearly to identify and document the law enforcement or national security basis of the enterprise investigation
December 4, 2025 at 1:00 AM
qjurecic.bsky.social
simone had musk's number
“The passionate man seeks possession; he seeks to attain being. The failure and the hell which he creates for himself have been described often enough. He causes certain rare treasures to appear in the world, but he also depopulates it. Nothing exists outside his stubborn project; therefore nothing can induce him to modify his choices. And having involved his whole life with an external object which can continually escape him, he tragically feels his dependence. Even if it does not definitely disappear, the object never gives itself. The passionate man makes himself a lack of being not that there might be being, but in order to be. And he remains at a distance; he is never fulfilled.” ― Simone de Beauvoir, The Ethics of Ambiguity
December 3, 2025 at 8:16 PM
qjurecic.bsky.social
I wrote this essay about pardons in a very different moment but it holds up imo www.lawfaremedia.org/article/dona...
This is the irony of the pardon power. It is located both at the dead center of presidential authority and at the edge of the law—an attractive plaything for a would-be authoritarian without a dictator’s strength of will. It relies, as Schmitt writes, not on legal constraint but on sovereign decision. And precisely because of this ambiguous relationship with the rule of law, the most compelling response to abuse of the pardon is not an objection framed in legal terms but, rather, a judgment that echoes the Schmittian dictator’s moment of unreviewable decision: an instinct incommensurable with law. Trump’s approach to the pardon power is, as Black writes, “obviously wrong.” There is no more explaining it than that.
December 3, 2025 at 6:20 PM
qjurecic.bsky.social
this advice could have been useful for lindsey halligan
“I think we learned: Maybe don’t use Signal, okay?” Trump said in an interview with The Atlantic. “If you want to know the truth. I would frankly tell these people not to use Signal, although it’s been used by a lot of people. But, whatever it is, whoever has it, whoever owns it, I wouldn’t want to use it.”
December 3, 2025 at 6:17 PM
qjurecic.bsky.social
robert mcnamara looking disapproving in the fog of war
December 2, 2025 at 8:36 PM
qjurecic.bsky.social
THE FBI DIRECTOR IS NOT VERY GOOD
December 1, 2025 at 1:22 PM
qjurecic.bsky.social
THE DEPUTY DIRECTOR IS A CLOWN
December 1, 2025 at 1:08 PM
qjurecic.bsky.social
new meme format nypost.com/2025/11/30/o...
some very ugly graphic design with sans serif text on red and blue blocks reading: key finding #7: fbi leadership's unfortunate obsession with social media
December 1, 2025 at 1:00 PM
qjurecic.bsky.social
strong floor, no ceiling, you say
john rawls
November 30, 2025 at 7:07 PM
qjurecic.bsky.social
this could mean several different things, none of which are reassuring
“The question is, is it legal just to kill the guy if he’s not threatening to kill you and you’re outside an armed conflict? There are people who are simply uncomfortable with the president just declaring we’re at war with drug traffickers,” said a former senior official familiar with the debate. “Internally, a lot of people are treating this like the rendition program,” the former official said. “It’s one thing to get rid of [Iraqi dictator] Saddam Hussein or [Libyan autocrat] Moammar Gaddafi for counterterrorism reasons. This is different.’’
November 22, 2025 at 2:38 PM
qjurecic.bsky.social
not the point but I absolutely cannot stand it when judges adopt this writing style
The public perception of this case is that it's about politics. To be sure, politics played a role in drawing the 2025 Map. But it was much more than just politics. Substantial evidence shows that Texas racially gerrymandered the 2025 Map. Here's why.
November 18, 2025 at 6:34 PM
qjurecic.bsky.social
the "just trust us" approach to presenting evidence before a grand jury storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
Second, the prosecutor told the grand jury that there was [REDACTED] . That statement clearly suggested to the grand jury that they did not have to rely only on the record before them to determine probable cause but could be assured the government had more evidence–perhaps better evidence–that would be presented at trial.
November 17, 2025 at 4:53 PM
qjurecic.bsky.social
washpost's ai-generated comment summaries continue to deliver
The conversation explores a range of perspectives on Seattle's decision to elect a socialist mayor with limited management experience. Many participants express skepticism about the editorial's tone and content, criticizing it for being biased, condescending, and lacking objectivity. Some commenters draw parallels between the new mayor's lack of experience and that of former President Trump, suggesting that inexperience is not unique to socialist candidates. Others highlight the dissatisfaction with the status quo and the appeal of socialist policies as a response to unmet needs in the city, such as affordable housing and child care. There is also a recurring theme of distrust towards the editorial board, with accusations of it being influenced by wealthy interests, particularly those of Jeff Bezos. Overall, the discussion reflects a mix of concern, hope, and criticism regarding the potential impact of the new mayor's policies on Seattle.Show less
November 17, 2025 at 4:18 PM
qjurecic.bsky.social
This seems fine 👍www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Prosecutor, D.C. metro area: It’s unprecedented to shift resources away from national security to this degree. Virginia and D.C. have the most important offices for counterterrorism and espionage. We get cases from the Middle East, long and complex investigations of terrorist threats from abroad and also domestically. In the Eastern District, there were 12 to 14 lawyers in the national security unit and now there are four, with no deputy or chief. In D.C., the national security unit is down about 50 percent. I was recently on the floor where F.B.I. agents work on domestic terrorism and it was completely hollowed out. You have to have good, experienced, trained people doing this work on a daily basis. If you don’t, because you demand they do immigration shifts, there is real danger to national security and public safety.
November 17, 2025 at 1:25 PM
qjurecic.bsky.social
It’s sort of clarifying to see him describe this dynamic so directly www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
Summers went on to describe what he saw as his “best shot”: that the woman finds him “invaluable and interesting” and concludes “she can’t have it without romance / sex.”
November 17, 2025 at 2:28 AM
qjurecic.bsky.social
But not for long!
Photo of a still from death by lightning showing Chester Arthur, with text reading “Chester Arthur passed landmark civil service reforms that shape our government to this day”
November 16, 2025 at 1:11 AM