Talking Feds Substack

In just his first week in office, Attorney General Todd Blanche has inflicted more damage on the norms and traditions of the Department of Justice than any Attorney General in the DOJ’s history. I don’t say this lightly, and I’m not ignoring the competition. John Mitchell ran Richard Nixon’s dirty tricks and went to federal prison for it. Mitchell Palmer used the Department to round up and deport thousands of people for their politics during the First Red Scare.

The midterms are just around the corner and there’s already a shadow war raging over their outcome. Election law guru Marc Elias spends his days battling the Trump administration’s attempts to stack the deck. With November looming, Harry asks Marc for a tour of worst-case scenarios of election theft or interference.

After studiously avoiding any role in the litigation of Trump’s IRS lawsuit—the one that gave rise to the bogus settlement agreement—the DOJ has suddenly parachuted into the court of appeals, where Trump is challenging the district court’s finding that the parties colluded and executed a fraud on the court. The DOJ’s belated brief is plainly designed to argue that Judge Williams was mistaken in finding there was no real case or controversy because Trump controlled all sides.

Faced with a worsening midterm map and spiraling conflict with Iran, Donald Trump is focusing on what really matters: his crusade to reshape Washington. Kristen Holmes, Adam Klasfeld, and Tara Setmayer join Harry to break down the monument mania.

Photo courtesy of Carol Costello. It’s Friday, when we like to bring you something less dark, and today we have a dispatch that is both light and luminous. It’s a David and Goliath tale for the Trumpian age, in which a cohort of a few dozen determined friends take on—and prevail over—the combined forces of ICE and one of the country’s largest banks. I thought that you would enjoy reading it heading into the weekend.

After an ICE agent shot Renee Good, observers looked to the elite squad of federal prosecutors tasked with investigating such shootings: the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division. The Division did nothing. It marked a sad chapter for an institution that, as historian Kevin Kruse explains, spent decades fighting for justice against long odds.

The Supreme Court’s opinion in the birthright citizenship case, Trump v. Barbara, was decided by an unsettlingly close vote, but the actual decision of the Court was clear. The court majority delivered a stinging rebuke to the administration’s argument. Six weeks later, Trump is running a version of his favorite play: take a loss and call it a win. On August 6, he issued two executive orders on birthright citizenship, and his contention is that neither one runs afoul of the Court.

Liz Oyer, Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon, and Charlie Sykes join Harry to break down a week of embarrassments for Donald Trump, offset partly by Todd Blanche’s confirmation as Attorney General.

I had a fantastic conversation this week with Anne Applebaum for the Talking Feds podcast. After the great reception the episode got, I wanted to share it with you all here, too. “Sometimes the smaller power has advantages that you don’t expect.” That’s the lesson Anne Applebaum says Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump are learning as their weaker foes keep handing them setbacks.

I joined my friend Adam Klasfeld to dive deep into two courtroom clashes concerning Trump’s crusade to remake Washington. Judge Todd Edelman dismissed the criminal charges against David Hearn, and the DC Circuit ruled Trump is unlawfully building the East Wing Ballroom and maintained the halt on construction.