There's some wild stuff in this newly unsealed (but heavily redacted) FBI interview from a high-level Trump-world person related to the classified docs investigation.
And while the interview is primarily about the docs investigation, this person apparently witnessed Jeff Clark hand Trump the letter about Georgia electors: storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco…
This person has a very low opinion of "person 24," who apparently tried to overplay a relationship with Trump and pushed the post-hoc claims that Trump had "declassified everything." storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco…
It won't take long for people to crowdsource the identities of many of the people redacted from these documents. It's pretty easy to decipher a good number of them to a high degree of certainty, which speaks to why Jack Smith wanted more significant redactions/sealing
In a passage about how Trump's legal team came together, there's a detail that someone "dressed like" someone/something else in Trump's line of sight until they got hired. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco…
The newly unsealed docs include a helpful breakdown of the classified records found in the initial tranche of boxes provided by Trump to NARA in Jan. 2022. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco…
FBI had some concerns about DOJ/Jay Bratt's antagonistic relationship with Trump lawyers, so asked to lead on the Mar-a-Lago search in order to keep it "professional" and "low key." storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco…
FBI discussed doing "loose surveillance" of Trump plane to see if he took any boxes with him from Mar-a-Lago on the day DOJ attorneys went down to meet him. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco…
In court just now, the states are introducing @PressSec tweet saying the funding freeze is still active as evidence that their lawsuit should continue.
Judge MCCONNELL says that prior to the withdrawal of OMB's spending freeze memo, he was inclined to issue a temporary restraining order given the lack of clarity/potential for harm. Now he thinks there may need to be case-by-case legal actions as funding is blocked.
The states say the WH statements suggest the original, sweeping spending freeze is still in effect, even if the OMB memo describing it has been pulled. The harm continues, they say, so they want a restraining order.
NEW: Judge CHUTKAN is now weighing in on Trump's mass dismissal of Jan. 6 cases, saying it "cannot whitewash the blood, feces, and terror that the mob left in its wake." politico.com/news/2025/01/2…
Chutkan's comments closely followed Judge Beryl HOWELL, who lit into Trump's dismissals for stoking a "revisionist myth" about what happened on Jan. 6 and the criminal cases that followed. politico.com/news/2025/01/2…
SIDE NOTE: There are all kinds of ancillary issues cropping up w/ J6 dismissals. Judge Mehta notes that he may not be able to "dismiss" a conviction that has been finalized. Judge Bates wants to know whether he can still penalize a defendant for violations of release conditions.
HAPPENING NOW: Judge Howell is lighting into Giuliani for violating an order — that he voluntarily entered into — against further defaming Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss.
Moments before the hearing began, Giuliani attacked Howell as "bloodthirsty." He keeps trying to speak over her
Giuliani is attacking Howell even as the hearing is underway.
GIULIANI is taking the stand as lawyers argue over the worth of his assets that are not already subject to the Moss/Freeman deposition litigation. He has been sworn in. Howell emphasizes this will be brief.
BREAKING: Cannon has blocked DOJ from releasing Smith’s report until further court proceedings
MORE: Cannon's order came wthout addressing questions about her jurisdiction (the case is pending before the 11th circuit, not her court) and in advance of a promised filing from Smith's office later tonight.
DOJ had also assured her the report wouldn't come before Jan. 10.
ALSO: The order does NOT bar Trump or his codefendants from sharing aspects of the report, even though they have spent three days reviewing it. DOJ said earlier today that Trump inappropriately shared details of the report in a court filing yesterday.
BREAKING: Donald Trump's former former codefendants in Florida, are asking Judge Cannon to block Jack Smith from publcly releasing a final report. s3.documentcloud.org/documents/2547…
MORE: Trump himself is asking Attorney General Merrick Garland to block Jack Smith form releasing a final report, claiming it would violate presidential transition laws and infringe on his constitutional immunity from criminal procedures. He wants Garland to let Bondi decide.
Trump's lawyers have reviewed Smith's "two volume report" for the past three days at the special counsel's office.