NEW: Tonight, concerned that Trump’s escalating rhetoric about the standard instructions attached to the MAL search warrant will result in violence against law enforcement, the Special Counsel’s office is asking not for a gag order, but to modify Trump’s conditions of release. 1/
That matters because when Trump was first indicted, his bond — which he signed — made clear that his continued release was conditioned on his compliance with certain terms. 2/
For example, Trump’s order not only prohibits him from violating any federal, state or local law while on release but also precludes his speaking to any fact witnesses on a list shared with his lawyers about the facts of the case, except through their respective lawyers. 3/
But in asking to modify Trump’s conditions of release to prohibit his making statements that pose a “significant, imminent, and foreseeable danger” to law enforcement involved in the investigation and prosecution of the MAL case, the Special Counsel is upping the ante. 4/
Why? Because where a defendant violates a condition of his release, the consequences can include “the immediate issuance of a warrant for the defendant’s arrest, a revocation of release, and order of detention,” as well as a prosecution for contempt. 5/
But perhaps most importantly, if Judge Cannon denies this motion, it is immediately appealable to the 11th Circuit under federal statute, which provides in relevant part:
As I was looking for information about the appointment of Kelly Hayes, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, I found an interesting DOJ press release. It describes how U.S. Attorney vacancies should be filled. 1/
Specifically, it explains: “Pursuant to the Vacancy Reform Act, 28 U.S.C. § 546, the Attorney General has the authority to name a U.S. Attorney to serve on an interim basis for up to 120 days.” 2/
The press release continues, “After that time, if a successor isn’t nominated and confirmed, it falls to the district court to appoint a U.S. Attorney to serve until the confirmation of his or her successor.” 3/
On February 27, Attorney General Bondi told Kash Patel she'd learned the NY field office was sittting on thousands of pages of Epstein records in a sharp letter. 1/
And then she gave a directive: "By 8:00 a.m. tomorrow, February 28, the FBI will deliver the full and complete Epstein files to my office, including all records, documents, audio and video recordings, and materials related to Jeffrey Epstein and his clients, regardless of how such information was obtained." 2/
Bondi continued, "There will be no withholdings or limitations to my or your access. The Department of Justice will ensure that any public disclosure of these files will be done in a manner to protect the privacy of victims and in accordance with law." 3/
NOW: House Judiciary Committee is voting on Rep. Raskin's motion to subpoena four major banks for their suspicious activity reports concerning Epstein's transactions; Rep. Massie votes with Democrats against tabling the motion. 1/
These are documents that Sen. Ron Wyden, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, has been seeking from Treasury without success for months. 2/
The effort to subpoena to the banks just failed; by a vote of 20-19, the motion to table won. 3/
The idea that district courts' refusal to unseal grand jury testimony is a barrier on the release on any further Epstein-related information, whether to Congress itself or the public, is a fallacy. 1/
There is a host of information in the DOJ's possession that with or without redactions could be shared. For example, the FBI's own FOIA reading room has a 22-part file concerning Epstein that can be accessed online. 2/
Those materials are heavily redacted, but they also include handwritten notes from the FBI's interviews with several survivors and other records reflecting the 2006-2007 investigation. 3/
NEW: Rep. LaMonica McIver moved to dismiss her indictment late last night. The general thrust of her motions is hardly shocking—but her legal team’s retelling of her visit to Delaney Hall, as informed by discovery received from DOJ, contains some big surprises. 1/
The biggest is that V-1, the HSI agent Rep. McIver allegedly assaulted, was heard on the phone announcing he would be arresting Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, despite the fact that Baraka had “stepped out,” because the Deputy Attorney General directed as much. 2/
McIver also represents she was “shoved” by a federal officer and that she told that officer she would be filing a complaint about his assault. It was only days later that anyone from HSI, ICE, or “any other agency” suggested that McIver was the one who committed an assault. 3/
Virginia Roberts Giuffre's family issued a statement to MSNBC about the reported meeting this evening at VP Vance's home tonight about the administration's approach to the Epstein files: 1/
"We understand that Vice President JD Vance will hold a strategy session this evening at his residence with administration officials. Missing from this group is, of course, any survivor of the vicious crimes of convicted perjurer and sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein." 2/
"Their voices must be heard, above all. We also call upon the House subcommittee to invite survivors to testify. As Virginia Roberts Giuffre’s siblings, we offer to represent her in her stead and we hope the administration takes our call to action seriously. 3/