appointed acting
420 belated sparked by took massive organizing effort by wi dems
see also trump acting admin
---
---
---
AN 1 26
A new court filing by disqualified former interim U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan is now accusing a judge appointed by President Donald Trump of committing a "gross abuse of power."
On Tuesday, All Rise News editor-in-chief Adam Klasfeld tweeted that Halligan — backed by Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy Attorney General BLANCHE? Pam Bondi — attacked U.S. District Judge David J. Novak (who Trump appointed to the Eastern District of Virginia in 2019) as "flat wrong" for suggesting that Halligan should no longer call herself a U.S. attorney due to her prior disqualification. Klasfeld called the filing an "extraordinary, pugilistic brief."
The DOJ's briefing submitted Tuesday is Halligan's official response to an order Novak handed down last week giving the disqualified prosecutor seven days to explain why she continues to wrongly use the title of U.S. attorney given that senior U.S. District Judge Cameron McGowan Currie (an appointee of former President Bill Clinton) in November disqualified her in a binding ruling.
In the 11-page filing, Halligan, Bondi and Blanche used former DOJ special counsel Jack Smith as an example of why Judge Currie's order was not binding. They noted that when Trump-appointed U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed Smith's 37-count felony indictment of the then-former president, she also deemed him to be improperly appointed under the Appointments Clause of the U.S. Constitution as he was never confirmed by the U.S. Senate, yet Smith continued to use his special counsel title in subsequent briefings. This is despite multiple DOJ special counsels appointed under both Democratic and Republican presidents never having been confirmed by the full Senate and still having their findings respected and found credible.
Klasfeld observed that Halligan and DOJ leadership accused Novak of making a "rudimentary error," and of using his powers as a judge as a "cudgel" against the executive branch. They also referred to his order demanding Halligan explain her continued use of the U.S. attorney title as an "inquisition."
"To put it mildly, this isn't the type of language one typically sees by a party addressing a judge," Klasfeld tweeted. "Halligan, Blanche and Bondi downplay the ruling disqualifying Halligan as a 'disagreement' with the government, which they say isn't binding on any other case."
Trump initially named Halligan as acting U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia after former U.S. Attorney Erik Siebert was forced to resign after declining to bring charges against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, who are two of Trump's most high-profile political opponents. Halligan indicted both Comey and James shortly after replacing Siebert, though both indictments were dismissed after Judge Currie disqualified her.
---
---
an 11 25
U.S. District Judge Cameron McGowan Currie ruled that U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan was not legitimately appointed to her position and, as such, all of her cases, like those against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, are dismissed "without prejudice." The judge cited the legal precedent set by President Donald Trump's own case.
In Florida, Judge Aileen Cannon ruled in U.S. v. Trump that the U.S. Senate did not appoint special counsel Jack Smith and, as such, was not a legitimately appointed prosecutor. She then dismissed the case involving the classified documents.
"So that is the nail in the coffin," CNN's Katelyn Polantz explained. Both cases have the same problem, with Halligan, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.
Halligan was "placed there on an interim basis" after the previous U.S. attorney said there was not enough evidence to charge James or Comey.
The last remark in the court decision is "invalidating the acts performed by Ms. Halligan and dismissing the indictments, returning Ms. James to the status she occupied before being indicted. Which was not being an employee of the Justice Department, she was an employee of the White House."
"The judge in this case is saying that James and Comey ... cannot face these charges because the prosecutor was invalid and is basing that largely upon the Trump case," she added. "So, a really interesting correlation there."
---
---
AN 11 25
Politico reports that federal defense attorneys are making another attempt to oust President Donald Trump appointee Bill Essayli as the top federal prosecutor in Los Angeles.
In a motion filed Monday night, the federal defenders' office asked U.S. District Judge Michael Seabright (an appointee of former President George W. Bush) to reverse part of a ruling he issued last month that stripped Essayli of his title as acting U.S. attorney but allowed him to keep supervising that office in his capacity as first assistant U.S. attorney.
The attorneys argued that Seabright failed to confront the “resulting, and still-ongoing, constitutional violation” of Essayli serving the office even as an inferior officer without an official Senate confirmation.
“[T]he Constitution requires by default that inferior officers be nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate. The only exception is where Congress has statutorily authorized another appointment method for the office in question,” lawyers argued. “There is no such statute here, and Mr. Essayli cannot constitutionally wield officer-level powers.”
Because Seabright’s order left the defense’s constitutional arguments unresolved, the attorneys argue that the court should not only reconsider its earlier order, but also bar Essayli from supervising prosecutions and dismiss any indictments coming out of his office as unlawful.
“Whatever title Mr. Essayli uses, if he is to wield inferior-officer powers, he must first either be confirmed or appointed to a statutorily authorized inferior office. Otherwise, he cannot exercise the significant governmental authority he claims, and the Court should bar him from doing so,” Federal Public Defender Cuauhtemoc Ortega wrote.
In their Monday night order, federal defenders' attorneys also highlighted a statement Essayli made on social media last month boasting that he was still wielding the same authority from his new perch.
“For those who didn’t read the entire order, nothing is changing. I continue serving as the top federal prosecutor in the Central District of California,” Essayli wrote on X shortly after Seabright’s order.
The fight over Essayli’s appointment is one of four disputes over U.S. attorneys that the Trump administration has attempted to install on an interim or acting basis without Senate confirmation.
Politico reports judges have already ruled against the appointments of Alina Habba in New Jersey and Sigal Chattah in Nevada, although the Trump administration is appealing both decisions.
Attorney General Pam Bondi appointed Essayli to serve as interim U.S. attorney for the Central District of California. In July, she attempted to extend his tenure by naming him as the first assistant in the same office and then elevating him to acting U.S. attorney.
---
huge win, trump stumped for B hack
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/04/jill-karofsky-wisconsin-supreme-court.html
Jill Karofsky, a liberal judge running for the Wisconsin Supreme Court, has defeated Daniel Kelly, the conservative incumbent, according to results from the April 7 election that were released Monday afternoon. Karofsky’s victory narrows the court’s conservative bloc to a 4–3 majority, putting progressives in striking distance of flipping the powerful court. It may also force Republicans to reconsider their position on absentee voting during the coronavirus pandemic. Wisconsin Republicans sought to exploit COVID-19 to suppress Democratic votes, forcing citizens to risk their health to stand in line for hours at a handful of polling places or surrender their right to vote. Donald Trump and his allies appeared to be eyeing a similar strategy for November. But in Wisconsin, at least, that strategy seems to have backfired.
10 25 dhs ID sniper bs
Joseph N. Mazzara is a married father of six, a Marine combat veteran, and an experienced litigator. He graduated from Christendom College and Scalia Law, and clerked for Judges Edith Jones, Brantley Starr, and Stephen Vaden. Most recently he was Special Counsel to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.