UnJustified

President Trump says he’ll nominate Todd Blanche as Attorney General, and has named Bill Pulte as Acting Director of National Intelligence. A federal judge has re-opened the case that led to the slush fund settlement to investigate possible collusion and a fraud on the court as Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche testifies he’ll drop the fund but not the Trump family tax immunity. John Bolton takes a plea deal for one felony count of mishandling national defense information. Amid personnel changes at the Justice Department and the Pentagon, 2020 Election Denier Kurt Olsen joins the US Attorneys Office in the Southern District of Florida. The lead prosecutor in the seashells case leaves. A January 6th rioter gets a sensitive counterterrorism job. Plus listener questions.

The justice department is defending the fact that it deleted January 6th press releases from its website. The Southern Poverty Law Center has filed a motion to dismiss its fraud charges on vindictive prosecution grounds. President Biden is suing the Department of Justice over audio recordings from his memoir project. The US Attorney in DC quietly shutters the autopen investigation into the former president. The DoJ has opened a criminal investigation into a non profit tied to writer E. Jean Carroll.

The Department of Justice has established a $1.8B “anti-weaponization fund” after Trump dropped his lawsuit against the IRS. A former federal prosecutor has been indicted for sending herself copies of Volume II of Jack Smith’s final report. A federal judge has dismissed the charges against Kilmar Ábrego García on vindictive and selective prosecution grounds. The Justice Department has dropped all remaining charges against the Broadview 6 after a grand jury transcript showed gross misconduct. Plus listener questions.

On Wednesday, the Justice Department filed a lawsuit against the District of Columbia Bar over its efforts to discipline Trump Administration lawyers. Kash Patel was caught falsifying Bureau statistics to boost his record of arrests in the face of congressional criticism for his alleged drinking habit. New York’s Attorney Grievance Committee found “sufficient basis for a finding of professional misconduct” against disqualified US Attorney John Sarcone III. A Trump appointed judge has accused the Justice Department of appalling and unsettling behavior in a case over subpoenas for patient information regarding gender affirming care. Plus listener questions. Do you have questions for the pod or something for HITMEINTHEHEADWITHABAT?

The FBI is investigating the Atlantic reporter who wrote a detailed story of Director Kash Patel’s alleged heavy drinking and erratic behavior. Patel even ordered polygraphs for nearly two dozen staff members looking for leaks. A second federal judge has blocked the Department of Justice from accessing data seized from Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson. Former Special Counsel Jack Smith spoke at a private event last month saying Trump has corrupted the Justice Department, and that it’s become difficult to track the number of times judges have accused DOJ officials of dishonesty or lack of candor. A federal judge rules that the government can keep the ballots seized from election offices in Fulton County, Georgia.