Trump's Attorney General Bill Barr Intervened in DOJ Investigation with Intent to Mislead 2020 Voters
Plus, POTUS' big prisoner swap, FCC commissioner wrote Project 2025 chapter, and lots of court rulings
Trump's Attorney General Bill Barr Intervened in DOJ Investigation with Intent to Mislead 2020 Voters
Trump’s “Roy Cohn” has worked hard to PR his reputation since he resigned as U.S. Attorney General, but Bill Barr’s actions during the Trump administration have left stains that cannot come out.
On July 24, the Department of Justice’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) released its report on the department’s misconduct in handling allegations of election fraud in Pennsylvania during the 2020 Presidential election. The 76-page report centered around the DOJ’s investigation of 9 military ballots that were thrown in the trash in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, which is just southwest of Scranton. The OIG found that then-U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr and then-U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, David Freed, personally interfered with and violated the department’s policy barring officials from making public statements about ongoing investigations.
The report determined that Barr inserted himself into the process and went rogue, briefing Donald Trump about the matter and calling Freed to discuss releasing a public statement. On the eve of the 2020 presidential election, Barr issued a misleading DOJ statement while Freed released a separate statement and letter detailing the federal investigation. Trump also discussed the issue in a radio interview.
The intent was to sow distrust in the election and they used misinformation to do so.
While Barr plotted to misinform voters, investigators closed the investigation without charges because they found no evidence to support taking legal action. The investigation found that the employee who discarded the ballots made an error and felt “remorseful” about it. They were also promptly fired for throwing away ballots without notifying superiors or other workers and failing to follow protocol.
The report wrote that Barr’s behavior “was certainly not consistent” with department guidance that employees should be “sensitive to safeguarding the Department’s reputation for fairness, neutrality, and nonpartisanship.” It added that “Providing this information to the president, who was not bound by the department’s policies prohibiting comment on ongoing investigations and who had a political interest in publicizing the investigation, created the risk that the president would use the department’s non-public investigative information to advance his own political aims. A risk that was in fact realized when President Trump referenced the ballots on a national radio show the next morning.”
It added that Freed violated DOJ policies by publicly commenting on ongoing investigations, as well as the requirement to discuss the matter with the department’s public integrity section.
The department’s public integrity section considered issuing a press release to correct the false public impression about the possibility of fraud. The DOJ waited until January 15, 2021 to issue a statement confirming it was closing the investigation.
President Joe Biden and allies complete 24-person prisoner swap with Russia
On Thursday, the United States, with the coordination of key allies, successfully completed a prisoner swap with Russia. In all, 7 countries—U.S., Belarus, Germany, Norway, Poland, Russia, and Slovenia—exchanged 24 prisoners after years of negotiating and the agreement was finalized just before President Joe Biden announced he was no longer running for re-election. 16 hostages were released from Russia in exchange for 8 FSB agents, including spies, hackers, and Russian dictator Vladimir Putin’s assassin.
4 Americans and Russian dissidents were released in the swap, including U.S. Marine and corporate security executive Paul Whelan, Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, Washington Post contributor and Pulitzer Prize winner Vladimir Kara-Murza, and the co-chairman of Memorial, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning human rights organization, Oleg Orlov. 5 German citizens were also released, as well as 7 associates of Alexei Navalny.
Department of Homeland Security and Inspector General clash as January 6 report on Secret Service response remains tied up
In a previously unreported June 25 response letter to the Department of Homeland Security’s Inspector General, Joseph Cuffari, the department’s lawyer Jonathan Meyer disputed the watchdog’s accusations. Politico reported on Wednesday that the response stems from a January 17 letter sent by Cuffari accusing DHS leadership of attempting to suppress an anticipated report about the Secret Service’s response to the Jan. 6, 2021 coup. Meyer wrote that Cuffari “misread” the DHS’ intentions, explaining that the department plans to share the report with Congress, but is in the process of redacting “security sensitive” information about certain aspects of the Secret Service’s operations. He also denied that there are internal disputes between the Secret Service and DHS leadership.
The report is expected to shed light on security failures, including the Secret Service’s handling of threats to VP Mike Pence and how insurrectionists got within steps of him in the U.S. Capitol, its communications about weapons on January 6 participants, and agent’s actions deleting texts from senior officials involved in planning the day’s security. It could also answer how a bomb planted near the Democratic National Committee office went overlooked—Vice President-elect Kamala Harris walked past it to enter the DNC.
FCC Commissioner had a hand in Project 2025
The Democratic-led Stop Project 2025 Task Force, which was created in June, is already taking action against federal officials involved in Project 2025. Before House Speaker Mike Johnson gaveled out the chamber for August recess, 16 House Democrats signed a letter that was sent to the inspector general of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the Office of Special Counsel, and the Office of Government Ethics requesting an ethics investigation into FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr’s involvement in drafting Project 2025’s FCC chapter. The lawmakers also asked for investigators to determine whether the Trump-appointed commissioner violated the Hatch Act and other federal ethics laws.
Carr, who is listed as a Project 2025 contributor, wrote a chapter calling for major reforms to his own agency, including advocating to overturn Section 230, which protects digital platforms from lawsuits over user-generated content, ban TikTok, restructure the FCC to eliminate its independent authority, and force tech companies to pay government-funded telecommunications services for low-income communities. Carr has echoed Republican talking points that social media companies censor conservative viewpoints, which is why he was appointed to the FCC. Carr said in a statement to The Hill that the FCC’s ethics office cleared him to work on Project 2025.
Federalist Society judge in Texas advances argument that federal agencies are unconstitutional, declaws National Labor Relations Board
Last week, U.S. Western District of Texas Judge Alan Albright, a Federalist Society member and Trump appointee, granted SpaceX a preliminary injunction against the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). The partisan hack judge agreed with SpaceX that it would succeed on the claim that NLRB board members and administrative law judges (ALJ) are likely serving unconstitutionally. The judge cited the 5th Circuit ruling in Jarkesy v. SEC, which ruled that statutory removal restrictions for the agency’s ALJs are unconstitutional. The decision dilutes the agency’s authority to oversee labor rights issues, meaning that the standard has been raised for workers to bring regulatory complaints against their employers.
This case stems from complaints made against SpaceX in 2022 that clauses in the company’s severance contracts violate labor laws. The complaint details some of the clauses, including a strict non-disparagement clause prohibiting former employees from making any negative comments about the company and a clause barring anyone from participating in litigation or regulatory complaints against the company without a subpoena or court order. The NLRB agreed that the clauses violated the National Labor Relations Act and issued a complaint in March with notice of a hearing. The next month SpaceX sued the agency, arguing that because the NLRB’s board members and ALJs are nonpolitical appointees, they are “unconstitutionally insulated from the president’s oversight” and thus, the administrative proceedings against the company are unlawful.
What’s notable here is that SpaceX filed this lawsuit in the Western District of Texas. The company is currently headquartered in California and its Starbase launch facility is located in Brownsville, TX, which is in the jurisdiction of the state’s Southern District. So it appears that SpaceX did some forum shopping.
Judge rules border agents must obtain a warrant before searching electronic devices
Last week, a federal district court in New York ruled that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers must obtain a warrant before searching the electronic devices. The decision applies to U.S. citizens and international travelers entering the country in New York City and is the latest court ruling that rejects the government’s arguments.
In the 93-page decision, U.S. District Judge Nina Morrison cited an amicus brief filed by the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, writing that the court “also shares [the groups’] concerns about the effect of warrantless searches of electronic devices at the border on other freedoms protected by the First Amendment—the freedoms of speech, religion, and association.” The judge added that had the court sided with the U.S. government, “the targets of political opposition (or their colleagues, friends, or families) would only need to travel once through an international airport for the government to gain unfettered access to the most ‘intimate window into a person’s life.’”
The case stems from a 2022 incident in which border agents searched Kurbonali Sultanov’s cell phone at JFK Airport. Investigators later obtained a search warrant for access to his phone. As the case progressed in court, Sultanov filed a motion to bar evidence obtained during the first search, arguing it violated his rights. The judge ruled that the warrantless search of Sultanov’s phone was unconstitutional, but dismissed the motion, finding that the government acted in good faith at the time of the search.
Judge tosses bankruptcy case for far-right conspiracy website, allows defamation cases against The Gateway Pundit to proceed
Last Thursday, U.S. bankruptcy judge Mindy Mora in the Southern District of Florida threw out The Gateway Pundit’s bankruptcy case, ruling that the far-right conspiracy site sought bankruptcy protections in “bad faith.” Similar to Rudy Giuliani’s bankruptcy dismissal, the defamation cases against the propaganda site and its founder Jim Hoft filed by 2 Georgia election workers and by a former Dominion Voting Systems executive can proceed in Missouri and Colorado.
Gateway Pundit was sued by Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, as well as Eric Coomer for publishing articles that promoted the Big Lie, including claims that the 3 helped rig the 2020 election in favor of Joe Biden. Hoft also doxxed Coomer in one story in which he called Coomer an “unhinged sociopath.”
The judge wrote in her ruling that the website “remains both balance sheet and cash flow solvent. There is no present financial distress, no looming foreclosure sale, no prospect of a market crash. There is only the [defamation cases] in which [The Gateway Pundit] must defend itself. That’s not a basis for bankruptcy relief.”
She added that the company’s assets were 22 times the size of its liabilities, writing, “Publication of sensational stories has generated healthy revenues”—the company made $3.1M in gross revenue in 2023 and $2.8M in 2022. She determined that bankruptcy would have capped the amount in damages awarded to Freeman, Moss, and Coomer at 3 years of The Gateway Pundit’s net income and wrote, “Bankruptcy relief is intended to foster equitable goals, not provide a Monopoly-style ‘get out of jail free’ card.”
Hoft published an article following the ruling pledging to appeal and falsely claimed that the Department of Justice intervened in the case to influence the judge.
9th Circuit Court of Appeals rejects GOP attempt to intervene in mifepristone case
A 3-judge panel on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously ruled last week that Idaho and 3 GOP-controlled states do not have standing to intervene in Washinton state’s complaint against the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) restrictions on mifepristone. The court affirmed a lower court’s ruling that denied Idaho’s motion, determining that the state failed to prove an injury related to the FDA’s 2023 revision on safe-use restrictions on mifepristone and cited the June Supreme Court decision in FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine.
It also held that “Idaho seeks ‘something very different,’ asking the court to declare the 2023 changes to the REMS unlawful, vacate the revision and effectively reinstate the prior status quo, including the in person dispensing requirement.” The court added, “As the district court recognized, reinstating the status quo would ‘run directly counter to [Washington’s] request’ by reducing the availability of mifepristone … Given the deep and obvious conflict between the parties’ objectives, we cannot conclude that Idaho seeks the ‘same relief’ as Washington.”
This ruling stems from a lawsuit filed by Washington and a coalition of blue states in 2023. The states sought relief by the court, including an injunction prohibiting the FDA from restricting mifepristone’s availability and declaring that the medication is “safe and effective.” A district court granted the injunction. This is when Idaho and a group of red states asked to intervene and for an injunction to reverse the changes made by the FDA to make the medication more accessible. The district court rejected the motion in April, writing “the two complaints have little in common and are, in many respects, diametrically opposed.” The states appealed that motion, which the 9th Circuit upheld.
Federal Judge begrudgingly rules New Jersey’s assault weapons ban is unconstitutional, cites Supreme Court as the problem
On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Peter Sheridan, a George W. Bush appointee, ruled that New Jersey's ban on the AR-15 is unconstitutional but that the state’s ban on large-capacity magazines (LCM) is constitutional. In his 69-page ruling, the judge cited the 2022 Supreme Court decision in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen that held that the Second Amendment holds more weight than the public good because of the “historical tradition of firearm regulation.” He did uphold the state law restricting LCMS that hold more than 10 bullets and cited Supreme Court precedent.
The case was brought by a Second Amendment advocacy group and 2 gun owners who claimed that New Jersey’s assault weapons ban limited their constitutional options for home defense. The judge found that “The AR-15 provision of the Assault Firearms Law is unconstitutional under Bruen and Heller as to the Colt AR-15 for use of self-defense within the home.” The judge did not seem pleased to have to make this decision, writing “It is hard to accept the Supreme Court's pronouncements that certain firearms policy choices are ‘off the table’ when frequently, radical individuals possess and use these same firearms for evil purposes. Even so… where the Supreme Court has set forth the law of our nation, as a lower court, I am bound to follow it.”
The 2A group also challenged the LCM law, which New Jersey amended to restrict capacity from 15 rounds to 10 in 2018. For this motion, the judge was not convinced, explaining that the restrictions were similar to the ban on the Bowie knife in the 1800s due to widespread use in crime, which was found constitutional.
The judge imposed a 30-day stay to give the state a chance to appeal.
Billionaires demand VP Kamala Harris to replace FTC chair in exchange for their campaign contributions
Billionaires use contributions to Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign as quid pro quo for firing Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chair Lina Khan if she wins the election. The demands of Harris aren’t new. Megadonors told President Joe Biden in September that they expected him to replace Khan if he won a second term. Since Khan’s term as commissioner ends in September, it’s likely these megadonors will pressure Democratic Senators to hold out on confirming her if Biden renominates her.
Last week, LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman and IAC chairman Barry Diller—both Democratic Party megadonors—spoke with business and national broadcast media about the presumptive nominee and shared that they want Harris to replace Khan. In an on-air interview with CNN, Hoffman stated that he is “redoubling” support for Harris, but that he believes “Lina Khan is…a person who is not helping America. I would hope that Vice President Harris would replace her.” He added, “Antitrust is fine…Waging war is not.” Diller told Bloomberg last week that he will “donate the maximum” to Harris’s campaign. And, in an on-air interview with CNBC, the media mogul stated that he plans to lobby the Harris administration to fire Khan.
Hoffman is on the board of directors at Microsoft, a company that has come under antitrust action by the FTC. In June, the FTC launched an investigation into Microsoft’s acqui-hire deal with AI startup Inflection. The tech monopolist hired the startup’s co-founders, as well as a majority of employees to lead in-house AI development. It also secured a $650M licensing deal, which gave Microsoft access to its flagship AI models, which are on the company’s Azure marketplace. The agency is probing whether Microsoft structured the deal to evade FTC review. The FTC also sued to block Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard, but did not succeed.