It's 2:55 a.m. and I just figured out how Pence massaged the rules of the Electoral College counting session to avoid introducing the "rival" slates of Trump electors.
These are the instructions VPs have given out at the start in each of the last 5. Note the difference?
TLDR: The law specifies that the VP must introduce all "purported" electoral votes. This year, that might've included the unserious/mock Trump electors.
But Pence worked with the parliamentarian to interpret it so only electors backed by a state "authority" would be introduced.
Note how Pence emphasizes, before introduced each state that not only is the slate of electors "regular" and "authentic," but that the parliamentarian has advised him is the only one backed by a state "authority."
That is not a regular acknowledgment at these sessions.
A lot of people interested in this process. Even had Pence introduced these electors, which it’s not entirely clear he had authority to do, they would be legally invalid and unable to be counted by Congress. It would have accomplished nothing except making a lot of people angrier
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Trump now going after the rank-and-file FBI agents who responded to help restore order to an overrun Capitol on Jan. 6 — falsely accusing them based on inaccurate/misleading reports yesterday of being agitators in the crowd.
The reporting Trump claims supports this allegation … simply doesn’t.
NEW: Trump falsely suggested today that rank-and-file FBI agents fomented the Jan. 6 attack that a mob of his supporters unleashed on the Capitol, leaning into conspiracy theories as he accuses a second FBI director of committing crimes.
Over the weekend, we wrote about how dozens of judges have found ICE's new detention policy — seeking to lock up millions of people facing deportation without a chance for bond — is illegal.
Judge Boulware found that another man — who does have a criminal history of driving infractions and a DUI — nevertheless should receive a bond hearing rather than mandatory detention, in part because of some extreme factors in his case. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco…
Trump criticizes Pam Bondi for not charging his adversaries quickly enough, in a Truth Social post that looks a lot like a DM. truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTru…
Trump reposted the message makes explicit he's referring to Lindsey Halligan, his onetime personal lawyer who now works in the WH. truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTru…
Most logical read of this: Trump wants Pam Bondi to name Lindsey Halligan interim U.S. attorney in EDVA so she can charge Letitia James, which he says is a "great case" and that the delay in charging her is hurting his reputation.
NEW: In a break from decades of history, the Trump administration has started detaining virtually everyone facing deportation — even if they’ve lived in the U.S. for decades.
Dozens of judges, with increasing alarm, have ruled the policy shift illegal.
At issue is an interpretation of immigration law that requires detention for “applicants for admission” — long interpreted to mean people who are trying to come into the U.S.
Those already in the U.S. have been allowed to seek bond from an immigration judge.
But on July 8, ICE reinterpreted these laws to say that the millions of people inside U.S. borders are still “applicants for admission” and must be detained.
This has led to indiscriminate arrests of immigrants in courthouses, routine ICE check-ins and at their jobs, even if they’ve followed every requirement imposed by judges and ICE, even if they’d previously won release from custody, and even if they are pursuing forms of legal status like asylum — and have U.S. citizen spouses, children and family members.
Magistrate judge Faruqui, who has been on a tear over DOJ's flimsy prosecutions in recent weeks, was floored by the Trump administration's decision to level a federal marijuana possession charge against a recently arrested defendant. But that's not all... storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco…
He says DOJ held the man in detention for *three days* on this misdemeanor charge even though prosecutors later agreed he shouldn't be detained at all. And that's still not all... storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco…
Prosecutors seized the indigent man's phone, leaving him without a means to contact his lawyer or access his personal information. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco…
GRASSLEY asks if Jeffrey Epstein was a U.S. government or foreig government asset. Patel says he can only speak for the FBI and that Epstein was not a source for the bureau.
PATEL uses his opening statement tosay Alex Acosta's handling of the original Epstein case was the "original sin" of the saga, saying the nonprosecution agreement he struck after initial plea deal locked down many records under court order.
PATEL says the Jan. 6 pipe bomb investigation is "ongoing." He says there's "a lot of evidence" but he can't share it yet.