Department of Justice
January 19, 2026 — Bill Glahn
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is appealing a federal district court decision that seeks to handcuff ICE operations in Minnesota. The decision was issued Friday by Judge Kate Menendez, a Biden appointee. Scott posted her 83-page decision at the bottom of this post. The DOJ filed their notice of appeal to the federal 8th circuit today, on the federal holiday. There are at least two ways of looking at
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November 19, 2025 — Bill Glahn
From The Hill newspaper, ‘The Epstein Files Transparency Act’: What’s in it? The article is the first one that I’ve come across that answers the question regarding the subject that has paralyzed Washington for the past week. The Act purports to mandate the release of The Epstein Files. The exceptions included in the Act swallow the rule. The Hill reports, Attorney General Pam Bondi has 30 days to “make publicly
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September 18, 2025 — Bill Glahn
Joe Thompson, the Acting U.S. Attorney for Minnesota, held a press conference today and announced 8 new criminal charges in the state’s latest nine-digit fraud against a taxpayer-funded program. Scott Johnson attended the press conference in person, look for his report later. The program involved is called Housing Stabilization Services (HSS). It’s a Medicaid offering run through the state’s Department of Human Services (DHS). Don’t be confused, the program doesn’t
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August 14, 2025 — John Hinderaker
The Left’s “resistance” to democracy comes in considerable part from government bureaucrats. Usually that resistance takes the form of undermining the implementation of conservative policies. But sometimes bureaucrats get carried away with their anti-Trump fervor. Take the case of Sean Charles Dunn, who was outraged by the administration’s effort to crack down on crime in Washington, D.C. Dunn screamed at an FBI agent on the street, and finally threw a
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August 6, 2025 — John Hinderaker
The House Oversight Committee chaired by James Comer has stepped into the Jeffrey Epstein controversy. Yesterday, the committee subpoenaed records relating to Epstein investigations from the Department of Justice, and appearances for deposition testimony by attorneys general from Alberto Gonzales through Merrick Garland, along with Robert Mueller, James Comey, and Bill and Hillary Clinton. The depositions are scheduled to begin on August 18 and culminate with Bill Clinton on October
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April 30, 2025 — John Hinderaker
Self-deportation is the only practical way to deal with more than 10 million illegal immigrants, and the federal bureaucracy is similar. It is hard to fire government employees, so getting them to quit can be an optimal solution. That is what is happening in the Department of Justice: The Obama administration literally had an (unannounced) policy that it would not take cases in which the victims of civil rights laws
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March 14, 2025 — John Hinderaker
This is a headline in today’s New York Times: What’s funny is, they think that is a bad thing. Whereas the rest of us are saying, “Great! Now do the Department of Justice.”
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February 27, 2025 — John Hinderaker
Attorney General Pam Bondi announced that today, the Department of Justice would be releasing files relating to Jeffrey Epstein. Many people were looking forward to seeing Epstein’s “client list”–which most likely doesn’t exist–and related documents. But today’s release apparently was a dud: not many pages, lots of redactions, and little new information. This, however, is interesting. Earlier today, Bondi wrote FBI Director Kash Patel, saying that she had directed the
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December 10, 2024 — John Hinderaker
Donald Trump has made some excellent appointments, but perhaps none will make more liberal heads explode than his nomination of Harmeet Dhillon to head the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice. Dhillon is an inspired pick. The Civil Rights Division has long been a partisan enclave that sees its mission as advancing Democratic Party priorities. In fact there are quite a few civil rights, but the Democrats only
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December 1, 2024 — Lloyd Billingsley
President Trump’s pick to head the Federal Bureau of Investigation is Kashyap “Kash” Patel, a man Trump describes as “a brilliant lawyer, investigator, and ‘America First’ fighter who has spent his career exposing corruption, defending Justice, and protecting the American People.” The FBI and establishment media didn’t like it. “Every day, the men and women of the FBI continue to work to protect Americans from a growing array of threats,”
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November 21, 2024 — John Hinderaker
In the least surprising breaking news of 2024, Matt Gaetz has announced that he is withdrawing from consideration as Trump’s Attorney General. Conspiracy theories are legion, and some are hailing what would appear to be a fiasco as one more sign of Trump’s genius. The Senate seat that will be vacated by Marco Rubio figures in some of these speculations. I think the truth is simpler. Gaetz’s announcement comes a
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November 19, 2024 — John Hinderaker
Some years ago, I heard that Matt Gaetz had been accused of having sex with an underage girl. Much later, I understood that the claim had turned out to be false and had been dropped. But now, following Gaetz’s nomination as Attorney General, it has reappeared in the guise of a House Ethics Committee investigation and attendant newspaper leaks. Headlines have been full of salacious references to sex with a
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November 14, 2024 — Scott Johnson
I like to turn to the oracular Bob Dylan writing in William Blake’s prophetic mode for commentary on Matt Gaetz: All and all can only fall With a crashing but meaningless blow No sound ever comes from the Gates of Eden There’s no avoiding the sound from the Gaetz of Eden. Otherwise, pretty good. Yesterday Gaetz resigned from the House effective immediately, just ahead of the possible release of the
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November 13, 2024 — John Hinderaker
Most of President-Elect Trump’s nominations have been excellent, but selecting Rep. Matt Gaetz to be Attorney General is, to put it politely, a puzzler. Gaetz obviously lacks the stature normally expected in that role, and his history is checkered. Liberal commentators interpreted Gaetz’s appointment as a sign that Trump will seek revenge against the Democrats who tried to bring him down and send him to prison. I don’t know whether
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October 24, 2024 — Lloyd Billingsley
On October 21, the congressional task force released Interim Staff Report: Investigating the Stunning Security Failures on July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pennsylvania. The detailed report charges the Secret Service with inadequate planning and concludes that “the tragic events of July 13 were preventable.” The task force shows no interest in shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks’ background and associations long before he nearly killed Donald Trump. The same is true of the
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October 18, 2024 — Lloyd Billingsley
James Boasberg and Tanya Chutkan are worthy contenders for anybody’s list of worst judges in America. So is federal judge Emmet Sullivan, a 1991 appointee of George H.W. Bush to the District of Columbia Court of Appeals. In 1994, President Bill Clinton appointed Sullivan United States District Judge for the District of Columbia. In due course he would encounter Gen. Michael A. Flynn, President Trump’s pick for national security advisor.
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October 16, 2024 — Lloyd Billingsley
Judge Tanya S. Chutkan, Frontpage pick for worst judge in America, is a member of the DC District Court. The presiding judge of that circuit is James E. Boasberg, appointed in 2010 by the composite character president David Garrow described in Rising Star: The Making of Barack Obama. In 2014, Chief Justice John Roberts appointed Boasberg to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court and from January 2020 to May 2021 Boasberg
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