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.

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.

BREAKING: Judge Engelmeyer has *denied* the Trump administration’s bid to unseal Jeffrey Epstein grand jury material. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco… 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…

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

A look at the zombie cases and what comes next. politico.com/news/2025/08/0… 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.

An appeals court is likely to rule in late summer
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NEWS: Trump has withdrawn Alina Habba's nomination to be US attorney in New Jersey, part of a multistep maneuver intended to keep her in the position as acting US attorney beyond an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.

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…

HAPPENING NOW: Judge Xinis is pressing DOJ on why they claimed on May 27 they had no power to bring Abrego Garcia back to the US evne though they had secretly secured a grand jury indictment against him 6 days earlier. DOJ attorney now contradicts the government's sworn testimony from Tennessee criminal case, saying Abrego Garcia criminal probe began before April 28. Xinis presses her on this and she says she can't explain the contradiction.

BREAKING: A federal judge in Massachusetts (the Reagan-appointed William Young) has declared the Trump administration's cuts to NIH grants — ostensibly over Trump's EOs on gender ideology and DEI — are "illegal" and "void." He's ordering many grants restored. YOUNG: "I am hesitant to draw this conclusion, but I have an unflinching obligation to draw it – that this represents racial discrimination. And discrimination against America’s LGBTQ community. That’s what this is. I would be blind not to call it out. My duty is to call it out."

BREAKING: Judge Breyer orders Trump to return control of the National Guard back to California, saying the call-up was illegal. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco… Breyer stays his order until noon tomorrow, which should be enough time for Trump to seek emergency appeal at 9th Circuit and perhaps Supreme Court. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco…

HAPPENING NOW: Emergency hearing in Newsom v. Trump, re dpeloyment of the Guard and Marines.

Judge Breyer making some "preliminary" remarks. BREYER says he's 'appreciative' of both parties for filing a detailed record with the court on a short timeframe and says these are very serious/weighty matters and he intends to act as quickly as the urgency of the matter requires.

NEW: The Trump administration has conceded that it improperly deported another Salvadoran man in violation of a court order — blaming a "confluence of administrative errors."

The man's lawyer plans to demand his return.

politico.com/news/2025/05/3… Jordin Melgar-Salmeron had a criminal record — he pleaded guilty in 2021 to possessing an unregistered gun — but his deportation had been on hold since 2024 amid broader Biden-era litigation.

The Trump admin sought to speed his removal last month. politico.com/news/2025/05/3…

BREAKING: Federal court says Trump exceeded his authority to impose tariffs under IEEPA. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco… NEW: Trump's latest legal rejection comes from the U.S. Court of International Trade, which ruled his tariffs in response to "national emergencies" were illegal. politico.com/news/2025/05/2…

HERE WE GO: Latest hearing in Kilmar Abrego Garcia's case is underway with Judge Xinis on the bench. XINIS says she intends to do as much of this in open court as possible, despite discussion of privileged materials. they can use the husher/phones if they need to reference confidential info, she notes.

NEW: Federal judges across the country are increasingly warning of a due process crisis caused by President Donald Trump’s deportation blitz.

Their message: If we eliminate due process for the ‘least’ of us, Americans could be next.

politico.com/news/2025/05/1… The judges’ message has sharpened amid Trump’s increasingly aggressive effort to short-circuit due process for those he deems. And it’s coming from judges appointed by presidents of both parties — including Trump himself.

politico.com/news/2025/05/1…

HAPPENING NOW: Judge Boasberg is pressing DOJ about Trump's comment that he could pick up the phone and have El Salvador send back Abrego Garcia. Doesn't that mean U.S. effectively has custody over deported migrants, he's asking?

DOJ LAWYER ABISHEK KAMBLI:
“That goes toward the president’s belief about the influence that he has.”

"Influence does not equate to constructive custody." JEB: “Is the United States paying El Salvador to house these migrants?”

KAMBLI: “There is no agreement or arrangement whereby the United States maintains any agency or control over these prisoners.”

JEB: But there’s a formal notice of a $4.76 million grant to El Salvador dated March 22

KAMBLI: There were grants that were made to El Salvador for law enforcement and anti-crime purposes that can be used.

In late night filing, Trump administration advances new legal arguments re: Alien Enemies Act.

1) U.S. has no “enforceable” agreement with El Salvador to retain custody over deported migrants. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco…
2) “Vague” statements by U.S. officials about paying El Salvador for detention of deportees are not enough. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco…

BREAKING: A judge has ordered the immediate release of Mohsen Mahdawi, a Columbia student detained amid Trump administration crackdown on pro-Palestinian activists.

@liz_crampton was in the Vermont courthouse where the decision just came down.

Details TK He's already out 📸: @liz_crampton

https://x.com/liz_crampton/status/1917591333948084308

NEWS: After canceling thousands of foreign students' immigration records — threatening their ability to study and live in the US — the Trump administration has reversed course and restored them all.

It follows intense pushback from courts across the country.

Details TK ICE had terminated the records of thousands of students from a federal database called SEVIS that tracks their legal status in the country. The effect of those terminations was in dispute, but many students said they had been barred from continuing their studies and were at risk of deportation.

The reason ICE appeared to have canceled their SEVIS records? Minor legal infractions that showed up in criminal history searches — which the law explicitly says is not a basis to deny a foreign student, studying on an F1 visa, their legal status.

Now, after dozens of judges across the country flagged the likely illegality, ICE says it won't do that anymore. politico.com/news/2025/04/2…

It is unfathomable that Martin was unaware of the widely publicized allegations about Hale-Cusanelli, who he has interviewed for hours and whose case made national headlines for years after Jan.6.

https://twitter.com/jacobkornbluh/status/1915421126727008635

March 13, 2021: politico.com/news/2021/03/1…

BUSY NIGHT FOR THE COURTS: Late last night, a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction barring DOGE’s access to sensitive Social Securitt data, saying the government flouted the law to provide unfettered access to DOGE without a reasonable basis. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco… ALIEN ENEMIES ACT: The Trump administration filed an emergency motion to block Judge Boasberg’s initiation of contempt proceedings, saying his suggestion of forcing the administration to prosecute itself — or bring back deported Venezuelans — is unconstitutional.”

JUST IN: Judge Boasberg finds probable cause to hold administration in contempt of court for defying his order to turn around planes, demands new details in order for officials to “purge” their contempt. Details TK BOASBERG said the evidence shows willful defiance by the Trump administration that amounts to criminal contempt. Full 46-page opinion: ecf.dcd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/show_p…