Kathleen Clark
@kathleenclark.bsky.social
Attorney - Professor - Views are my own, not my employer. she/her
Fortunately, as @chrisgeidner.bsky.social points out, a DOJ press release claiming to exonerate its lawyers is not the last word. On June 5, Judge Mary McElroy referred the DOJ lawyers for discipline -- not to state bar authorities, but the Rhode Island federal district court itself.
Kathleen Clark@kathleenclark.bsky.social · 2w agoh/t @chrisgeidner.bsky.social for linking DOJ's press release:
When a judge rules that a DOJ lawyer has engaged in wrongdoing, the Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility is supposed to investigate, a process that takes months (or even years). No more! Trump's DOJ responds to such a court ruling with a press release criticizing the judge.
“I came to this country to pursue my education. I didn’t come here to commit a crime or hurt anyone. Yet now I’m walking through the streets with a GPS monitor on my leg, carrying a feeling of shame and humiliation that I never imagined I would experience.” www.springfieldnewssun.com/local/spring...
Springfield Haitian student takes his own life after being fitted with ICE ankle monitor, advocates say
A 20-year-old Wright State student took his own life on Interstate 70 out of anguish over a required ICE ankle monitor, according to local community advocates.
springfieldnewssun.com
TIRED: GW Bush's DoD generates favorable news coverage via retired officers secretly employed by defense contractors. [Left: April 20, 2008 NYT article] WIRED: Trump's DoD generates favorable social media via retired officers secretly employed by Pentagon. [Right: August 30, 2026 WashPost artice]
![Behind TV Analysts, Pentagon’s Hidden Hand
A PENTAGON CAMPAIGN Retired
officers have been used to shape
terrorism coverage from inside the
TV and radio networks.
By David Barstow
April 20, 2008
In the summer of 2005, the Bush administration confronted a fresh wave of criticism over Guantánamo
Bay. ...
The administration’s communications experts responded swiftly. ...they put a
group of retired military officers on ... [a] jet[] ... and flew
them to Cuba for a carefully orchestrated tour of Guantánamo.
To the public, these men are members of a familiar fraternity, presented tens of thousands of times on
television and radio as “military analysts” whose long service has equipped them to give authoritative
and unfettered judgments about the most pressing issues of the post-Sept. 11 world.
Hidden behind that appearance of objectivity, though, is a Pentagon information apparatus that has used
those analysts in a campaign to generate favorable news coverage of the administration’s wartime
performance, an examination by The New York Times has found.
The effort, which began with the buildup to the Iraq war and continues to this day, has sought to exploit
ideological and military allegiances, and also a powerful financial dynamic: Most of the analysts have ties
to military contractors vested in the very war policies they are asked to assess on air.
Those business relationships are hardly ever disclosed to the viewers, and sometimes not even to the
networks themselves. But collectively, the men on the plane and several dozen other military analysts
represent more than 150 military contractors either as lobbyists, senior executives, board members or
consultants.
...
Records and interviews show how the Bush administration has used its control over access and
information in an effort to transform the analysts into a kind of media Trojan horse an instrument
intended to shape terrorism coverage from inside the major TV and radio networks.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:5cn3kbi4g5blrtahon34xbu4/bafkreigihyqihdwd4zxz3bfhz5m6b5tf7bv2cru4engzaq2whrzwxsdfry)
Sherry@sherry2.bsky.social · 2w agoGift link to article Washington Post Pentagon Secretly Installs Military Influencers In Civilian Roles As 'Blue Check' Accounts on X wapo.st/4x0p3pf
Oh look: For 50 years, Congress was able to hold the executive branch accountable via the legislative veto mechanism, & included it in many post-Watergate reforms. 1983: The Supreme Court declares the legislative veto unconstitutional--kneecapping Congress' ability to hold the executive accountable
![https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=5360131
The Chadha Presidency
Josh Chafetz†
[This is a draft of an article forthcoming
in volume 115 of the GEORGETOWN LAW JOURNAL.]
Abstract
Where is Congress? Why hasn’t it reined in some of the worst abuses of the Trump Administration?
This Article argues that a significant part of the answer to this oft-voiced lament lies in a 1983
Supreme Court case, INS v. Chadha.
Beginning in the 1930s, Congress had developed a procedure called the legislative veto, by which
it could nullify executive-branch exercises of delegated power. In Chadha, the Court held that all
legislative vetoes are unconstitutional—thereby striking down provisions in hundreds of statutes.
It also made the highly consequential but often overlooked choice to sever the legislative veto from
the delegation of authority to the executive, thereby leaving in place only one side of a bargain
between Congress and the presidency. The executive could still make use of delegated power, free
from the post-hoc check of the legislative veto.
Among the myriad statutes whose legislative veto provisions were invalidated by Chadha were
some of the most important post-Watergate presidency-constraining statutes, including the War
Powers Resolution, the Impoundment Control Act, the Arms Export Control Act, the National
Emergencies Act, and the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. Remarkably, all of these
statutes have been the subject of high-profile interbranch conflicts during Donald Trump’s time in
the White House.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:5cn3kbi4g5blrtahon34xbu4/bafkreibpjahaz5xsetvtx7pjciwr5pmgdotqeounlr7zd5lo2cqrt2npnm)
Trump (& Vought) are on a campaign of pillage & plunder, destroying the best of the federal government, a self-goal Sherman's March. Unions, local governments & NGOs are asking a federal court to end the destruction & enforce the statutes Congress passed prohibiting the closure of these labs.
Viewing this thru a political lens: Destroying government labs that kept us safe from diarrhea is unpopular & salient. Viewing it thru a con law lens: Trump acted alone: w/o Congress & against its will. Maybe, just maybe, our founders were right about requiring Presidents to get Congress's assent.
Jeff Hauser@jeffhauser.bsky.social · 3w agoA competent Democratic Party would run on how Russell Vought, Donald Trump and Susan Collins are all objectively pro-explosive diarrhea. www.politico.com/news/2026/08...
A perfect example of the dual state — the rule of law for thee, but not for me: The US is not a *completely* lawless country. The law still applies to some people, to the “little people,” as Leona Helmsley might say. But a Trump company gets away with profiting from this same illegal behavior.
@kalimukwa.bsky.social · 3w agoNot much in life is better than state fairs. Butter cows Butter busts Pork chops (or anything else) on a stick
Tim Hirschel-Burns@timhirschelburns.bsky.social · 3w agoI didn’t take as many photos as I should have (and in the end only had one thing on a stick), but here are blocks of butter that will soon be carved into the pictured faces
Just noticed that yesterday, lawyers representing Rep. Beatty in the Kennedy Center litigation pointed out to the court that no career lawyers had signed that DOJ filing. “For good reason. The Department of Justice has offered up … stunning inaccuracies untethered to law or reality.”
Brilliant: ‘the Justice Department’s official position is that without the addition of an (apparently load-bearing) “RENOVATED AND RESTORED” inscription, the Kennedy Center will be at risk of falling down and killing everyone inside.’
Jay Willis@jaywillis.net · 3w agopromises made promises kept
a pet peeve of mine: When journalists end up acting as stenographers for the state, amplifying demonstrably false government propaganda. OTOH, ... www.wsj.com/finance/curr...
... @rebeccaballhaus.bsky.social & her colleagues have produced very important investigative journalism about Trump corruption -- both domestic & foreign, including this great article from just 4 days ago (describing *domestic* corruption):
The Trump Intervention That Got the DOJ Off Live Nation’s Back
Antitrust case started out aiming to force the concert giant to sell Ticketmaster. After two White House meetings, a deal kept the company intact.
wsj.com
Trump's company & the OCC point to review by "career staff" (i.e., not political appointees) as evidence that the govt's approval was not corrupt. Almost as if Trump knows that government legitimacy requires career (non-political) employees -- & yet he simultaneously undermines career employees.
Spoke w/ @rebeccaballhaus.bsky.social for this article The UAE's "spy sheikh" pays off Trump while negotiating with the Trump administration to access AI-chips & ... Surprise! (to no one) The Trump administration reverses policy: allowing the sheikh's company to buy billions worth of those AI-chips.
Exclusive | Trump Family’s New Crypto Bank Is Backed by Abu Dhabi Sheikh
The Emirati “spy sheikh” backs a 49% stake in the entity behind the new World Liberty bank.
wsj.com
Trump's political appointees yet again demonstrate that they have an audience of one -- and it's not the judge. There is no limit to their fawning praise for Trump, referring to him as "the sole hope" because he "is uniquely qualified" due to "his unrivaled expertise and experience."
Yet another off-the-wall DOJ court filing: warning that the Kennedy Center might need to be demolished unless Trump's name is inscribed -- twice -- on the building & the entire site is named for him. Of course, it's signed only by Trump political appointees. www.nytimes.com/2026/08/25/a...
Just about everything Paul Clement writes flows ever so smoothly and seems incredibly persuasive. And shoutout to my colleague @epps.bsky.social, who’s also on this wonderfully written complaint.
Hey Yale, this is what it looks like to stand up for one’s principles — & defend democracy: Rather than capitulate to the Trump regime’s campaign of retaliation, ABC hired some of the country’s best lawyers to lay out in utterly clear language just how un-American and undemocratic that campaign is.
Gabriel Malor@gabrielmalor.bsky.social · 4w agoLawgeeks, here's ABC's complaint against the FCC. The c/a is retaliation in violation of the First Amendment. They ask for a preliminary and a permanent injunction to prevent the early review of eight stations licenses. Signature line: Paul Clement. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
I appreciate Randall Eliason's parsing of insider trading law re: Trump's scheme selling advance access to market-moving information about government policy changes. He explains that providing “confidential, non-public information” is insider trading *only if* certain criteria are met.
Randall Eliason@rdeliason.bsky.social · last mo.My latest on Sidebars: Trump is selling early access to his market-moving Truth Social posts to allow subscribers to make millions by trading based on the posts before the public sees them. It’s sleazy, unethical, and corrupt. But it’s not insider trading. www.sidebarsblog.com/p/why-trumps...
DOJ's appeal of the TN district court's dismissal of the criminal case against Abrego Garcia includes a broad, Article II executive power argument (as usual). Only political appointees -- no career lawyers -- put their names on this court filing.
Sean Hecker@sean-hecker.bsky.social · last mo.The indictment and prosecution of Abrego Garcia was, in fact, vindictive; the evidence before the district court established just that; and the proof was clear notwithstanding the DOJ's refusal to call the actual decision makers, including AG Blanche, to testify under oath.
It's MORE than selfishness. It's a CRIME. A violation of the financial conflict of interest statute. 18 USC 208. In 2027, Dem led House investigates. Then in 2029 gives DOJ a criminal referral. bsky.app/profile/kath...
Kathleen Clark@kathleenclark.bsky.social · last mo.If this report is true, @levin.house.gov, Trump appointee Michael Boren didn’t just abuse his office, he committed a crime — violating the financial conflict of interest statute. 18 USC 208 paywall-free access to the WP article: www.msn.com/en-us/money/...
From the Boren allegations, DHS's no-bid fancy jets and their uses by Patel, Noem, Homan, etc., and the Qatari AF1, seems like a group of people accustomed to having private jets at their disposal (or aspiring, desperately, to be) while striving always to bear as little cost personally as possible.
Kathleen Clark@kathleenclark.bsky.social · last mo.If this report is true, @levin.house.gov, Trump appointee Michael Boren didn’t just abuse his office, he committed a crime — violating the financial conflict of interest statute. 18 USC 208 paywall-free access to the WP article: www.msn.com/en-us/money/...
I thought Blanche was describing Trump: Blanche: "This is horrible what's happening in our nation's capital with some of these really really sick people vandalizing our national monuments”
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · last mo.Blanche: "This is horrible what's happening in our nation's capital with some of these really really sick people vandalizing our national monuments, and US Attorney Pirro is doing a phenomenal job enforcing that, and I think judging her on a single case because of the evidence we had is not fair."
Oh look, it's receipts flagged by one of America's preeminent ethics law experts that Billionaire-Bro / Forest-Service-Boss dude knew he was doing a verboten thing when he ordered firefighting planes to protect his property. That would make it a felony. Punishable by up to five yeras in prison.
Kathleen Clark@kathleenclark.bsky.social · last mo.Did Boren act "willfully" i.e., did he know that his conduct was unlawful? In his April 1, 2025 Ethics Agreement, he acknowledged that the conflict of interest law barred him from participating in govt. action that would have "a direct and predictable effect on" his financial interests ...
Did Boren act "willfully" i.e., did he know that his conduct was unlawful? In his April 1, 2025 Ethics Agreement, he acknowledged that the conflict of interest law barred him from participating in govt. action that would have "a direct and predictable effect on" his financial interests ...
Oh look, a top govt ethics expert says that if Trump's Forest Service boss really did divert firefighting planes protect his ranch from piddly fire, then the dude commited a crime. And if he did it "willfully," then he commited a felony. Which would mean up to five years in the pokey.
Kathleen Clark@kathleenclark.bsky.social · last mo.If this report is true, @levin.house.gov, Trump appointee Michael Boren didn’t just abuse his office, he committed a crime — violating the financial conflict of interest statute. 18 USC 208 paywall-free access to the WP article: www.msn.com/en-us/money/...
If this report is true, @levin.house.gov, Trump appointee Michael Boren didn’t just abuse his office, he committed a crime — violating the financial conflict of interest statute. 18 USC 208 paywall-free access to the WP article: www.msn.com/en-us/money/...
MSN
msn.com
Rep. Mike Levin@levin.house.gov · last mo.If this report is true, Trump official Michael Boren is using the U.S. Forest Service as his personal firefighting force, and is abusing his position. www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2026...
Here's a great summary (by @klasfeldreports.com) of today's Phang v Blanche hearing, including Judge Sullivan's reminding (or informing?) DOJ lawyers of his record holding prosecutors in contempt -- for failing to disclose information during the prosecution of then-Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska.
Judge raises specter of contempt in Epstein files case
"That's not a threat. That's a promise," Judge Sullivan said.
allrisenews.com
Kathleen Clark@kathleenclark.bsky.social · last mo.I'm particularly interested to learn who is representing defendant Todd Blanche at this hearing. Will Stan Woodward show up and be held accountable for his filings? Maybe not, because yesterday, a different political appointee -- Andrew J. Block -- filed an appearance in the case.
