The Retribution: Letitia James Edition
A quick update on the big coverup in the Letitia James case that Morning Memo featured last week:
In a new filing Monday, James lawyers asked the judge in the case to order the Justice Department to produce the documents reportedly turned over to prosecutors by former FHFA acting Inspector General Joe Allen.
More intriguingly, James’ attorneys say the discovery they’ve already received from the government contains a gap in the Bates-stamp sequence that suggests “over 100 pages of discovery likely turned over by the former FHFA Acting Inspector General has not been produced.”
Allen and about a dozen officials within Fannie Mae’s ethics and internal investigations unit were fired after looking into complaints about FHFA director Bill Pulte’s access to the personal mortgage records of prominent Democrats, including James. Before he was ousted, Allen turned over to U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan’s office some of what he had unearthed that, according to news reports, he felt legally obligated to provide, suggesting it may have been exculpatory evidence favorable to James.
It’s not clear what makes James’ attorney suspect that the gap represents the IG’s documents, but they are requesting a court order for Halligan to provide them with a specific set of documents that have a common Bates stamp signature.
CNN and Marcy Wheeler were among the first to note James’ claims about a hole in the Bates stamp sequence.
Senate Makes Quick Work Of Epstein Files
After the House on a 427-1 vote passed a measure mandating the disclosure of the government’s Epstein files, the Senate quickly adopted it by unanimous consent and sent it to President Trump for his signature. With Trump acquiescing to the legislation, Senate Republicans figured it was more politically expedient to pass it immediately rather than drag it out and be forced into a roll vote.
Harvard Probes Summers’ Epstein Ties
Harvard University is opening a new probe into the connections between convicted child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein and former President Larry Summers and others affiliated with the school. This comes the day after Summers announced he was stepping back from public commitments but would still fulfill his teaching obligations.
Trump’s Big Redistricting Fail
President Trump and the House GOP suffered a potentially existential setback when a three-judge panel rejected their new Texas redistricting scheme as racially discriminatory. While the Supreme Court – which under the law will hear the state’s appeal directly – might revive the new Texas map, the GOP faces the real prospect of its aggressive mid-decade redistricting push backfiring and leaving it potentially worse off going into the 2026 midterms:
- Politico: “Now, if the Texas ruling withstands an already-filed appeal and hesitant Republicans across the country don’t budge, Trump stands to end the fight he began behind or near a draw.”
- Punchbowl: “At the outset of this redistricting contest, Democrats started in a hole, in part because they had redistricting commissions in place in so many blue states. But it’s not impossible to imagine that they end up netting more seats than the GOP in these mid-decade redraws, a stunning change of circumstances that didn’t seem possible only a few months ago.
- Slate: Trump’s Scheme to Give the GOP Extra House Seats Just Blew Up in His Face
Trump Loses Appeal of ‘Big Lie’ Lawsuit Against CNN
The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals refused to reverse the dismissal of President Trump’s defamation lawsuit against CNN for using the term “Big Lie” to describe his effort to subvert the 2020 election with false claims of voting fraud.
For Your Radar …
A coalition of 10 Democratic state election officials are demanding to know what DOJ and DHS are doing with the private voter data the Trump administration has been collecting.
Defeat for 10 Commandments In Texas Schools
U.S. District Judge Orlando L. Garcia of San Antonio has ordered 14 public school districts at least temporarily to take down posters of the Ten Commandments in a case challenging the new Texas law that requires them to be displayed in all classrooms.
Another Lawless Deportation Case
The Trump administration deported a transgender woman to Mexico last week despite an an immigration judge’s order barring her removal to her home country because she was likely to face torture. ICE says she was removed “inadvertently.” The Trump administration says it will allow her to re-enter the United States but that it will continue to try to find a third country to accept her.
Venezuela Watch
President Trump has authorized the CIA to conduct covert operations inside Venezuela “that could be meant to prepare a battlefield for further action,” the NYT reports, while also re-opening back-channel negotiations with the Maduro regime.
‘Don’t Give Up The Ship’
Six Democratic lawmakers with military and intelligence experience have released a video urging active duty military and intel personnel to fulfill their obligation to refuse to follow unlawful orders:
‘It Was Like a Horrific Nightmare’
This is a difficult story and a graphic photo essay, but the WSJ does essential work in documenting the slow, painful task of identifying mass graves in Syria after years of civil war, authoritarian rule, and natural and humanitarian disasters.
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