NEW: Rep. Ted Deutch became the 23rd lawmaker to call for an impeachment inquiry since Mueller testified -- and with him, a majority of House Democrats now say they'd vote to take that step.
-Deutch is chair of the Ethics Committee; 12 out of 20 standing committee chairmen would vote for an impeachment inquiry
-17 out of 24 Dems on the Judiciary Committee publicly support an inquiry. (And Nadler has backed it privately)
-Majorities of other investigative committees also support an inquiry, including 9/13 on the Intelligence Committee.
-Backers think there are a lot more to come; a slew of progressive members are still on the sidelines. But 218 is still a long way away, especially w/o Pelosi.
Dems who support an inquiry tell me they're watching two players:
-Rep. Ben Ray Lujan, a Dem leader who is running for Senate and helped elect a lot of the freshmen in 2018
-Rep. John Lewis, who has deferred to Pelosi on the issue.
Their support could move a lot of other Dems.
One more notable fact:
-Though just 2 of the 6 chairmen Pelosi tasked with invsetigating Trump have come out for an impeachment inquiry (Engel and Waters), a majority of all their committee members support such a move.
61 out of the 114 on these panels want to take that step.
WHY SOME COUNTS DIFFER: A lot of the impeachment whip counts vary by a couple members. We included in ours everyone who confirmed - either to us or in statements - that they would vote for an inquiry.
Some members were explicit with us but haven't been public about it otherwise.
That includes members like Reps. Bass and Pallone -- who both say they're not necessarily agitating for an impeachment inquiry but would vote for one if it came before them.
To us, that's the key metric of support in a body that measures things by voting.
Dem #119 who would vote for an impeachment inquiry: Rep. AGUILAR is the 24th lawmaker to back an inquiry since Mueller testified.
There's some confusion out there about Pallone. Here's what he told me on July 18 - the day after the Al Green vote.
"Personally I think that he's obstructed justice and he's done all these terrible things that would qualify for impeachment. So that's why I vote that way..." 1/2
Pallone said he had qualms about whether it was worth the House's time because the Senate would just kill it. But he said he personally supports - and would vote for it.
"If the opportunity comes to vote, I will vote for it."
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AND WE'RE UNDERWAY: Judge Reyes has taken the bench to consider DC's emergency bid to block Trump's takeover of the city's police department.
REYES notes the attack on DOGE employee Ed Coristine and the prior claim by Trump + allies that crime in DC has been significantly down this year before deciding there was a national emergency.
But she says she will assume, for today, that the emergency claim is legit.
Arguing for DOJ: Yaakov Roth, principal deputy assistant attorney general of the Civil Division.
HAPPENING NOW: President Trump's deployment of the military into L.A. is on trial before Judge Breyer, who will decide whether the effort violates the Posse Comitatus Act.
First witness: Army Deputy Chief of Staff William Harrington.
Lawer for Newsom now underscoring that leaders of the federalized National Guard troops were generally trained to be aware of Posse Comitatus Act and the strict limits it puts on their domestic law enforcement activity.
Newsom's lawyers now eliciting testimony about all of the operations Guard troops participated in during deployment in LA, including 2 against marijuana farms in Mecca and Camarillo
Also, Harrington confirms HEGSETH directly approved guard role in operation in MacArthur Park.
ENGELMEYER says the Trump administration’s claim that they wanted to release the Epstein grand jury records to shed new light on the case is “demonstrably false.” storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco…
MORE: Engelmeyer says he reviewed the grand jury material and confirmed there is virtually nothing in it that isn’t public already. It would “not reveal new information of any consequence.” storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco…
NEW: Donald Trump may be off the hook for his alleged crimes, but his allies are still facing charges in five states — including a case against fake electors that goes before Nevada's Supreme Court tomorrow
In Arizona, where Trump allies like Mark Meadows, Rudy Giuliani and John Eastman still face prosecution, AG Kris Mayes is fighting to salvage her grand jury indictment or else go back to the drawing board.
In Georgia, Trump is still technically a defendant but is unlikely to ever see the inside of a courtroom. The case is also a trainwreck, frozen by questions about prosecutorial misconduct that must be resolved even before thorny are resolved. politico.com/news/2025/08/0…
NEWS: Trump has withdrawn Alina Habba's nomination to be US attorney in New Jersey, part of a multistep maneuver intended to keep her in the position as acting US attorney beyond an initial Friday deadline.
Here's how it works:
1) Habba resigns as interim US attorney, ahead of a Friday deadline 2) Trump withdraws Habba's nomination to take the job permanently 3) AG Bondi appoints Habba First Assistant US attorney 4) Habba automatically becomes acting US attoreny bc of the vacancy.
The reason Trump has to withdraw her nomination is because the Federal Vacancies Reform Act prohibits the nominee for a Senate-confirmed office from holding the post on an "acting" basis.
NEW: A batch of newly revealed text messages and emails from fired DOJ attorney Erez Reuveni show in real time how DOJ officials handled court orders related to the Alien Enemies Act, Kilmar Abrego Garcia and more.
They lend contemporaneous support to Reuveni's claim that Emil Bove suggested telling a court "fuck you." politico.com/news/2025/07/1…
There's a lot to unpack in the texts and emails between Reuveni and his colleagues. They joke morbidly about beign fired, and are grateful Boasberg was on vacation when the AEA crisis erupted. politico.com/news/2025/07/1…
Reuveni repeatedly told people inside the administration that Boasberg had ordered DHS not to deplane people after they landed in El Salvador. There seemed to be no ambiguity until ... politico.com/news/2025/07/1…