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All posts tagged "justice department"

'Simply staggering': Eyes widen as Jack Smith blows the whistle on 'American Gestapo'

Former special counsel Jack Smith stunned online viewers by revealing how he prepared for prosecution by the Trump administration.

During an appearance on MS NOW, Smith spoke about hiring lawyers when he left his job as a federal prosecutor because he led two criminal investigations into Donald Trump, including for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election and the discovery of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago.

"I resigned as special counsel. I know I need to get a lawyer because the president has said he wants to jail me for doing my job," Jack Smith explained. "And so I retain lawyers, as soon as that becomes public, the president and the Justice Department target that law firm."

Online, viewers reacted to Smith's account of how his fears about the Trump administration came true. Veteran political scientist Norman Ornstein responded by describing the administration as "American Gestapo" in a post on X.

"The retribution is simply staggering," wrote civil rights lawyer Leslie Proll.

"We are in such high cotton here," reacted columnist Sophia A. Nelson. "And nobody in power who can stop him or his minions gives a d—."

"What a refreshing example of an honest, moral and non political American hero," architect and political activist Mike Kihn wrote about Jack Smith. "He will not give in to Trump's attempt to intimidate because, like a legal first responder, he will run to danger, personal or otherwise, not away from it."

"Now listen to the women who testified under oath that Trump r— them," posted journalist Robert Young Pelton. "Or listen to the testimony of those who spoke out from inside the Trump administration, like Miles Taylor."

Lawmaker gives Trump nominee a tongue-lashing over insulting Senators: 'You're telling me'

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) pressed Konstantinos Ligris, President Donald Trump's nominee for Assistant Attorney General, during a tense hearing on Capitol Hill Wednesday after discovering the Department of Justice hopeful had posted several social media attacks on lawmakers.

Whitehouse mentioned the comments during the nominee's testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, pushing Ligris to respond.

"You have tweets that call Donald Trump and Kamala Harris 'two clowns,'" Whitehouse said. "You have tweets that call Senator Murkowski 'almost as dumb as Kamala.' You have tweets that call Senator Collins 'a fraud.' You have tweets that call Senator Padilla, who sits on this committee, a 'thug.' You have tweets that call Senator Schiff 'a fraud,' he also sits on this committee. And you undertook no preparation to face questions about that as you come before the Senate Judiciary Committee. You didn't tell the Department of Justice about those tweets?"

Ligris attempted to defend himself.

"Senator, I tweet and respond to tweet or repost tweets regularly and frequently," Ligris said.

Whitehouse pushed back.

"You're telling me here that you never disclosed to the Department of Justice these tweets about senators who would have to vote on your nomination, and you're telling me the DOJ, as far as you know, didn't even know about them," Whitehouse said.

Ligris said he never disclosed them, and that the DOJ was apparently unaware of his comments.

Judge's scathing rebuke of Trump admin startles CNN: 'Quite a shock to see it on paper'

CNN anchor Brianna Keilar was stunned after a federal judge scolded the Trump administration in a scorching new ruling on Monday.

Chief Judge Patrick J. Schiltz of the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota blocked the Justice Department's efforts to subpoena Minnesota Democratic Gov. Tim Walz and other Democratic officials in an immigration enforcement probe, CNN reported. Walz, who has publicly criticized President Donald Trump, was targeted by the DOJ along with Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, and St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her. County officials in Ramsey and Hennepin counties were also issued subpoenas.

"That is quite a lashing," Keilar said, responding to the judge's ruling.

CNN correspondent Katelyn Polantz described the opinion — and what made it stand out.

"I don't know if I've seen an opinion take on the Justice Department in this way before from a federal judge saying just explicitly that they believe that the Justice Department was using its authority for political means in exactly the wrong, unlawful way," Polantz said.

The subpoenas from former Attorney General Pam Bondi came following weeks of unrest and protest in Minnesota after two people — Renee Good and Alex Pretti — were killed amid aggressive ICE raids in Minneapolis. In the letters, Bondi told local officials that they needed to support ICE, Polantz said.

"It was a retribution and a reckoning day that was coming for people in Minnesota that didn't support the federal government," Polantz explained. "What the Justice Department said at that time was that people like Walz, Frey, they were going to be investigated for impeding federal law enforcement. But this federal judge, Patrick Schiltz, in Minnesota, he finds that that is totally not what the Justice Department was doing."

"He says that the way they brought forth this criminal investigation into Walz's office, the mayor's offices, the attorney general's office in Minnesota," she added. "It was blatantly unlawful and unethical use of the grand jury process. He says that there was no doubt that these were grand jury subpoenas for documents that were meant to harass and coerce these local officials, and that there was no plausible investigative justification. The unlawful reasons here were overwhelming, quite a shock to see it on paper from a judge in this federal case saying, 'these guys, these grand jury subpoenas, they're not going to survive.'"

Mockery abounds over Newsom-DOJ revelation: 'Congrats to his fundraiser'

The internet fired off reactions on Monday after California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that the Department of Justice launched an investigation targeting him and his wife.

Newsom claimed that federal agents — under President Donald Trump's orders — have contacted people and organizations connected to California's first lady, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, and have begun investigating him as one of the president's political adversaries. The governor and outspoken Trump critic has considered a presidential run for 2028 and cited that as the reason behind the probe.

He dropped a direct message for the president in a video response posted on X.

"Today, my wife & I joined Donald Trump’s hit list. He has directed his Department of Justice to investigate us," Newsom wrote.

"Mr. President, come after me. I am not going anywhere," Newsom said.

Media and political experts responded to the news.

"Malignant narcissists target anyone who threatens their image and challenges their interests. Especially effective communicators like Newsom who criticize with what seem like accurate allegations," Bob Pickard, principal at Leadership Communication Inc., who has more than 86,000 followers, wrote on X.

"Congrats to Newsom's fundraiser," Igor Bobic, Senate reporter at NOTUS, wrote on X.

"Trump is disgusting," Jennifer Fatzinger, a Democratic political commentator with more than 11,000 followers, wrote on X.

"Newsom's 2028 numbers have been falling the last few months, but with Trump seeking to prosecute him those numbers are bound to go back up," politics and culture writer Nick Field wrote on X.

"What a petty little man-baby Donald is. He constantly lies and wraps himself in a cloack [SIC] of victimhood. But his number one focus, besides his ballroom and momuments [SIC], is weaponizing every branch of government against people who stand up to him," progressive political commentator Janice Hough, who has more than 37,000 followers, wrote on X.

'It's disastrous': Expert warns Pam Bondi just put Todd Blanche in legal jeopardy

The Epstein files and Pam Bondi's testimony released on Thursday could come back to haunt Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche as he approaches his Senate confirmation hearing process, a legal expert said.

During a live broadcast with CNN anchor Jake Tapper, CNN legal analyst Elie Honig noted that Bondi, who served as the former attorney general until she was fired by President Donald Trump in April, told lawmakers that Blanche was overseeing the release of the Epstein files and could come under further scrutiny because of her comments.

"It has to be a big problem for Todd Blanche, Jake, because there's nothing good in this whole mess of the Epstein files, legally or politically," Honig said.

"And if you look at today's transcript, Pam Bondi truly does Todd Blanche no favors," Honig explained. "And I don't think she's trying to hurt him."

He argued that Bondi was making an effort during the closed-door testimony with the House Oversight Committee to "praise Todd Blanche's skill and ethics and his handling of this whole process."

"But the bottom line is it's disastrous," Honig added. "Todd Blanche was in charge. Pam Bondi makes that clear: the process that resulted in the release of victims' names, the process that resulted in the improper redaction of wrongdoers' names, and a process that was chaotic, overdue, and satisfied no one. And there's no way for Blanche to get out of that. It's actually surprising when you read the transcript how little Bondi knew about what was going on. This seems like it was a complete delegation, and you can bet this will come up in a big way when Todd Blanche goes in front of the Senate for his confirmation hearings."

5 standout moments from Pam Bondi's testimony on the Jeffrey Epstein files

Former Attorney General Pam Bondi's testimony with the House Oversight Committee was released on Thursday, revealing new details about the Department of Justice's rollout of the Epstein files.

Bondi was interviewed by House lawmakers on Capitol Hill last week and responded to questions about criticisms of how the department handled the release of documents and materials related to Jeffrey Epstein and his co-conspirators.

Here are five things to know about Bondi's testimony.

1. Bondi claimed she did not know about a document where Epstein’s 10 co-conspirators are listed.

Lawmakers showed Bondi an email from the 2019 Epstein case in the Southern District of New York and asked her to comment.

At one point, Bondi's attorney, Harmeet Dhillon, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights at the Justice Department, told the lawmakers, "She's not going to answer that."

"I don't recall ever reviewing this document, so I don't know who's in it, and that came from the FBI New York," Bondi said.

2. Bondi blamed Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche for the release of the Epstein files.

Bondi said that Blanche was responsible for overseeing the Department of Justice's release of the documents and materials.

“He was in charge of the process and the entire release of the Epstein files," Bondi said.

She also said he briefed her on the case as soon as she joined the DOJ as attorney general in January 2025.

3. She claimed Blanche interviewed Ghislaine Maxwell because no one from the DOJ had interviewed her about Epstein.

"I believe Deputy Attorney General, now-Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, has said on several occasions that Epstein, by that time, was dead and no one had taken — had made an effort to interview Ghislaine Maxwell to see if she had evidence of co-conspirators and other crimes, and that was why he interviewed her," Bondi said.

She said she did not recall how the interview was prompted or whether Maxwell reached out first.

"I believe — I don't believe who initiated it. If she reached out to us, I believe — I don't want to speculate, but I believe Deputy Attorney General Blanche, at the time, reached out to them because there was someone, still living, in prison, who had potential information about other co-conspirators and crimes," Bondi said.

4. Bondi did not confirm if Blanche had knowledge of Maxwell's prison relocation.

"He may, and I'm not sure if he'd addressed that publicly. Probably. But transferring a prisoner is the decision of the Bureau of Prisons," Bondi said.

5. Bondi does not think Maxwell should be pardoned by President Donald Trump.

"I believe she should die in prison," Bondi said.

"She was a monster, just like Jeffrey Epstein," Bondi added. "She recruited these young women to a life of prostitution and abuse. And I often think the women that do that are just as bad, if not worse, than the men, because she participated in it."

House Oversight Committee releases Pam Bondi's Epstein testimony

The House Oversight Committee released on Thursday the full transcript of former Attorney General Pam Bondi's closed-door testimony last week, showing that Bondi was aiming to move away from the Department of Justice's handling of the release of the Epstein files.

The transcript also revealed that she told lawmakers that Todd Blanche, her former deputy attorney general and current Trump nominee for attorney general, was responsible for overseeing the Epstein files, CNN reported.

“He was in charge of the process and the entire release of the Epstein files,” Bondi said.

Lawmakers asked Bondi why the additional 3 million documents had not been publicly released yet following the first batch of 3 million files. She said the DOJ was not withholding other documents and argued remaining files were "either duplicates or privileged materials, despite bipartisan criticism that Trump’s Justice Department has withheld or overreacted to documents, while accidentally sharing information of Epstein’s victims," according to CNN.

"To my knowledge, they’ve all been released," Bondi said.

She told the congressional leaders that any questions surrounding further documents should be directed to FBI Director Kash Patel.

President Donald Trump fired Bondi from her position as attorney general in April. She and the department had faced mounting backlash over the release of the Epstein files and the rollout of the documents, which included names and personal information of survivors.

'He is already so radioactive': Blanche damaged by Bondi testimony

During coverage of the ongoing House Oversight Committee meeting interview with Pam Bondi, The New York Times' Peter Baker claimed there are probably good reasons for the fired attorney general to place all the blame on the man who now sits in her office over the botched release of the Jeffrey Epstein files.

With MS NOW’s Ken Dilanian joking earlier, “Look, those of us in Washington may have heard the sound of a large bus driving over a large object about an hour ago. And that was Pam Bondi throwing her former deputy, Todd Blanche, now the acting attorney general, under that bus, proverbially.”

Baker was asked what he thinks is at play.

“She's demonstrating that she remains loyal to the president who fired her, pushed her out. But at the same time, not to the deputy that was foisted on her in the first place, who clearly, you know, she's willing to throw under the bus,” he told MS NOW host Ali Vitali.

He then added, “Now, that may be perfectly good politics in the sense that Todd Blanche is probably already so radioactive that there's no chance he could be confirmed by the Senate to the attorney general position in a permanent sense. That $1.8 billion fund for Trump's allies by itself probably makes him unconfirmable on top of many other things people might have concerns about. But, you know, she's not willing to, you know, break with the president. She is still in his orbit in that sense, which is fascinating.”

- YouTube youtu.be

Pam Bondi asked directly about Trump in Epstein interview – and DOJ attorney ‘intervened’

The Justice Department’s (DOJ) botched release of files related to Jeffrey Epstein was front and center Friday during ousted Attorney General Pam Bondi’s interview with the House Oversight Committee, during which, a DOJ attorney "intervened" to stop Bondi from answering a direct question about President Donald Trump, one Democratic lawmaker claimed.

Bondi agreed to appear for a closed-door interview with members of the Oversight Committee over the DOJ’s handling of Epstein-related files – around half of which remain unpublished, which critics have claimed to be unlawful. However, she previously defied a congressional subpoena to testify under oath. As such, she faces no legal risk for providing false statements.

Even so, Trump’s DOJ apparently felt compelled to stop her from answering certain questions about Trump, Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-NM), a member of the Oversight Committee, claimed just outside the interview room.

“She has been asked multiple times about the Trump administration, about her conversations with the president,” Stansbury said.

“When asked specifically about a conversation with Donald Trump, one of the DOJ attorneys intervened and said she did not have to answer the question because it was a voluntary interview, and said, quote, ‘we don’t even have to assert privilege,’ and, quote, ‘we refuse to provide answers.’”

Other Democratic members of the Oversight Committee similarly condemned Bondi’s performance. Rep. Yassamin Ansari (D-AZ) called the interview a “ridiculous charade,” and Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-FL) referred to it as “disgusting.”

Stansbury also noted that other than Rep. James Comer (R-KY), the Oversight Committee chair, no other Republicans participated in the closed-door interview, sparking even more fury from the New Mexico Democrat.

“That means that the DOJ is intervening on behalf of Pam Bondi to stop her from answering questions about what happened in the cover-up in this case, and her conversations with Donald Trump,” Stansbury said.

“This is a cover-up! This will be remembered as the largest cover-up likely in American history, and it is clear that this interview is a smokescreen to try to show the American people that they are complying while they are not,” Stansbury added.

'Cornered animal': Ex-prosecutor issues dark warning as Trump gets more desperate

A former prosecutor signaled that President Donald Trump faces a number of heightened challenges, including a dilemma over the Department of Justice.

In a live video conversation between Joyce Vance and Alex Wagner on Substack Friday, Vance suggested that a power struggle was happening behind-the-scenes at the Department of Justice since former Attorney General Pam Bondi has left and an embattled Trump faces a growing number of obstacles from voter dissatisfaction over the economy, the war in Iran and opposition to his ballroom ambitions — all with midterms on the horizon.

"Donald Trump is like a cornered animal right now," Vance said. "He can read the polls. He's got troubles in Iran."

Vance mentioned how Trump's questionable ties to late financier and convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein have also continued to plague his presidency, noting a Jim Comey AI meme she saw on social media that read "release the Epstein files" using beach seashells — similar to the Comey Instagram post that prompted an indictment this week.

"So much of this is a reaction to that. And so I think the more cornered Trump is, the more the people who are trying to curry favor with him are likely to act out. And it's not just Todd Blanche, right? We know that he has competition for the top spot," Vance said.

Jeanine Pirro, U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, has been mentioned as a potential contender to lead the DOJ, Vance explained. So has Harmeet Dhillon, assistant attorney general for Civil Rights at the DOJ.

"I'm sure there is a cast of thousands trying to compete for the job," Vance said.

Legal News Du Jour by Joyce Vance

A recording from Joyce Vance and Alex Wagner's live video

Read on Substack

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