Heavy police presence ringing the Capitol this morning, fleet of plows for crowd control, clear ‘police line’ signage and police vans for mass arrests situations at the ready. Security not messing around.
Some Three Percenter regalia here, including one man with a ‘Vietnam Veteran’ hat and jacket . Several affiliated with these loose anti-govt groups were arrested after Jan. 6.
A very good boy doing security.
Small counterprotest presence here too. No visible pro-Trump signage, which is what organizer asked for.
Event underway, very low key. Wife of Jonathan Mellis (one of Jan. 6 defendants held in pretrial detention) currently speaking.
Aaaand it’s over. Protesters appeared to be outnumbered by media/cops for duration of event. A muted demonstration that nevertheless put DC on edge and drew an overwhelming display of force from police/government.
USCP chief Manger hanging out with Montgomery County officers (his old force) on front line of Capitol defenses.
NEW: DC was on edge, but a rally in support of those arrested on Jan. 6 drew a meager turnout — media presence rivaled the crowd size and overwhelming police force was on display.
HAPPENING NOW: Judge Xinis is leaning toward issuing another restraining order to block Kilmar Abrego Garcia's immediate deportation to Uganda at least through this week — she wants an evidentiary hearing on Friday.
XINIS says law may require Abrego's deportation to his country of choice, given that Costa Rica has indicated a willingness to accept him, give him refugee status and vow not to re-deport him to El Salvador.
Uganda, where administration plans to send him, has made no promises.
XINIS emphasizes that she has serious concerns about the claim that DOJ pressured Abrego into a guilty plea by offering him deportation to Costa Rica — and threatening deportation to Uganda if he refused.
DOJ's Drew Ensign says Abrego's deportation is not "imminent," given pace of third-country removals.
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.