Quinta Jurecic
@qjurecic.bsky.social
Writing about law and democracy at The Atlantic, previously Lawfare. Not a lawyer. It's KWIN-ta.
signal: qjurecic.32
signal: qjurecic.32
Pinned
Reposted by Quinta Jurecic
Judges Rao/Katsas have iced Judge Boasberg's contempt hearings until at least the New Year. And they want to know whether he has the power to investigate contempt at all or must refer it to DOJ. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
December 15, 2025 at 6:35 PM
Judges Rao/Katsas have iced Judge Boasberg's contempt hearings until at least the New Year. And they want to know whether he has the power to investigate contempt at all or must refer it to DOJ. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
material politics are not dead yet www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
December 15, 2025 at 4:30 PM
material politics are not dead yet www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
Reposted by Quinta Jurecic
Following the “administrative stay” issued on Friday evening by the D.C. Circuit — www.lawdork.com/p/breaking-d... — and the lack of any further action this morning, Chief Judge Boasberg of the D.C. District Court cancels this week’s scheduled contempt hearings.
December 15, 2025 at 3:01 PM
Following the “administrative stay” issued on Friday evening by the D.C. Circuit — www.lawdork.com/p/breaking-d... — and the lack of any further action this morning, Chief Judge Boasberg of the D.C. District Court cancels this week’s scheduled contempt hearings.
Reposted by Quinta Jurecic
NEW: Lindsey Halligan's next-in-line as top prosecutor in EDVA, Robert McBride, resigned from prior senior role at a different US attorney's office in 2010 amid multiple employee complaints about his management. External DOJ report recommended he step down. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...
Halligan’s No. 2 Resigned Past DOJ Role After Staff Complaints
Chief federal prosecutor Lindsey Halligan’s new deputy—and potential successor—resigned from his prior senior Justice Department role amid complaints about his rigid management style, according to fou...
news.bloomberglaw.com
December 15, 2025 at 1:43 PM
NEW: Lindsey Halligan's next-in-line as top prosecutor in EDVA, Robert McBride, resigned from prior senior role at a different US attorney's office in 2010 amid multiple employee complaints about his management. External DOJ report recommended he step down. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...
Reposted by Quinta Jurecic
That's a nice literary genre concerned with toughness and cynicism in the face of inescapable societal rot and corruption you've got there. It'd be a shame if someone named it after a popular way of cooking an egg
in classic detective stories, the world is out of order and the detective arrives to set it right. in noir/hardboiled, the world is out of order and the detective increasingly realizes over the course of the story that it's impossible to set things right ("forget it jake, it's chinatown")
December 15, 2025 at 1:23 AM
That's a nice literary genre concerned with toughness and cynicism in the face of inescapable societal rot and corruption you've got there. It'd be a shame if someone named it after a popular way of cooking an egg
Reposted by Quinta Jurecic
>the gyre? narrowing
>falcon? hears the falconer
>things? sticking together
>center? holding
>mere anarchy? never heard of it
>blood-dimmed tide? locked up tight
>ceremony of innocence proceeding as normal
>the best have so much conviction
>the worst? listless and apathetic
we're all gonna make it
>falcon? hears the falconer
>things? sticking together
>center? holding
>mere anarchy? never heard of it
>blood-dimmed tide? locked up tight
>ceremony of innocence proceeding as normal
>the best have so much conviction
>the worst? listless and apathetic
we're all gonna make it
December 14, 2025 at 9:40 PM
>the gyre? narrowing
>falcon? hears the falconer
>things? sticking together
>center? holding
>mere anarchy? never heard of it
>blood-dimmed tide? locked up tight
>ceremony of innocence proceeding as normal
>the best have so much conviction
>the worst? listless and apathetic
we're all gonna make it
>falcon? hears the falconer
>things? sticking together
>center? holding
>mere anarchy? never heard of it
>blood-dimmed tide? locked up tight
>ceremony of innocence proceeding as normal
>the best have so much conviction
>the worst? listless and apathetic
we're all gonna make it
this is a difference you see between more "traditional" detective stories (holmes, poirot etc), where the dapper detective is more removed from the action itself, and noir and hardboiled detective fiction, where the troubled, traumatized, alcoholic detective shapes and is shaped by the plot
my favorite thing about the benoit blanc movies is that they aren't really about benoit blanc. he is not grappling with demons from his past. we are not getting flashbacks to the husband whose murder he never solved. he just shows up and does his job like mary poppins for homicides
December 14, 2025 at 10:43 PM
this is a difference you see between more "traditional" detective stories (holmes, poirot etc), where the dapper detective is more removed from the action itself, and noir and hardboiled detective fiction, where the troubled, traumatized, alcoholic detective shapes and is shaped by the plot
“I’ve been thinking we should update the kitchen cabinets” okay that’s cool but the house is on fire
i don't want to be like "nothing matters" but the problem is really that domestic politics in the US makes discussing any kind of really serious policy issues at the moment impossible
Loomer got the NSA deputy director nom pulled
December 13, 2025 at 7:33 PM
“I’ve been thinking we should update the kitchen cabinets” okay that’s cool but the house is on fire
Counterpoint: don’t
Sen. WHITEHOUSE: We finally are moving to file a bipartisan Section 230 repeal bill. Waiting any longer serves no useful purpose.
December 13, 2025 at 12:27 AM
Counterpoint: don’t
Reposted by Quinta Jurecic
BREAKING: Judges Rao and Walker — both Trump appointees — issue an "administrative stay" blocking Judge Boasberg's contempt proceedings set to begin on Monday.
The administrative stay is issued over the objection of Judge Childs, a Biden appointee.
The administrative stay is issued over the objection of Judge Childs, a Biden appointee.
December 12, 2025 at 10:47 PM
BREAKING: Judges Rao and Walker — both Trump appointees — issue an "administrative stay" blocking Judge Boasberg's contempt proceedings set to begin on Monday.
The administrative stay is issued over the objection of Judge Childs, a Biden appointee.
The administrative stay is issued over the objection of Judge Childs, a Biden appointee.
A nation turns its lonely eyes to Katsas/Rao
JUST IN: Judge Boasberg won’t back off his planned contempt hearings next week and says the crime-fraud exception would overcome potential privileges. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
December 12, 2025 at 7:44 PM
A nation turns its lonely eyes to Katsas/Rao
And another possibly-illegally-appointed US attorney resigns (no one challenged her appointment in court, as far as I know, but Chris Coons had raised questions about the legality of her appointment) www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
Full disclosure: Like Alina Habba, I am also a Jersey girl
The Judiciary Won This Round
Alina Habba’s resignation is a sign that some checks are still checking.
www.theatlantic.com
December 12, 2025 at 4:35 PM
And another possibly-illegally-appointed US attorney resigns (no one challenged her appointment in court, as far as I know, but Chris Coons had raised questions about the legality of her appointment) www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
Reposted by Quinta Jurecic
shoutout to the crowd that insisted it was a political loser to stand up for abrego garcia’s rights
Kilmar Abrego Garcia, an ordinary man, has defeated the great might of the US Government
Kilmar Abrego Garcia is free. every bit of cruelty, boasting, slander, and persecution was for absolutely fucking nothing.
December 12, 2025 at 12:38 PM
shoutout to the crowd that insisted it was a political loser to stand up for abrego garcia’s rights
18 USC 111 makes it to Minnesota
The agent, who’s assigned to another HSI office and is in Minnesota on “temporary detail for an operation,” is unfamiliar with the Twin Cities, did not know where they were going, and “was in fear that he was being abducted.”
FBI: Man, woman drive to police station with Homeland Security agent trapped in vehicle
A man and a woman are facing charges of assaulting a federal officer after Homeland Security Investigations agents tried to arrest the man Wednesday for overstaying his student visa. The pair drove to...
www.mprnews.org
December 12, 2025 at 1:47 PM
18 USC 111 makes it to Minnesota
Reposted by Quinta Jurecic
Not to worry, articles will soon issue explaining how this is more complicated than it seems.
NEW: President Donald Trump says he is granting a pardon to Tina Peters, who was convicted on state charges related to tampering with Colorado's election systems. Legal experts say presidential pardons do not apply to state charges.
December 12, 2025 at 12:54 AM
Not to worry, articles will soon issue explaining how this is more complicated than it seems.
Reposted by Quinta Jurecic
More consequential than the two house seats, frankly, are the signals that this sends
1) Indiana GOP thinks they are better off not spreading their numbers thinner, even though these were *all* double digit Trump 2024 seats
2) They're no longer afraid to tell Trump to shove it
1) Indiana GOP thinks they are better off not spreading their numbers thinner, even though these were *all* double digit Trump 2024 seats
2) They're no longer afraid to tell Trump to shove it
BREAKING: Indiana Republicans FAILED to pass a new 9-0 congressional gerrymander after enough GOP senators sided with Dems. The GOP's 7-2 map stays in place.
Trump is trying to re-gerrymander maps nationwide. At least 11 Indiana Rs got death threats after he called for primaries—but it still failed
Trump is trying to re-gerrymander maps nationwide. At least 11 Indiana Rs got death threats after he called for primaries—but it still failed
December 11, 2025 at 9:47 PM
More consequential than the two house seats, frankly, are the signals that this sends
1) Indiana GOP thinks they are better off not spreading their numbers thinner, even though these were *all* double digit Trump 2024 seats
2) They're no longer afraid to tell Trump to shove it
1) Indiana GOP thinks they are better off not spreading their numbers thinner, even though these were *all* double digit Trump 2024 seats
2) They're no longer afraid to tell Trump to shove it
Reposted by Quinta Jurecic
Short thread. Can't emphasize this point enough. This plus the worldwide context (that most incumbent parties did even worse. Also my guess is always that the swing to GOP and other out-parties was part economy and part/most post-pandemic general unhappiness, not just economy).
It's inconvenient for people interested in Dem factional fights, or Obama 2012 veterans trying to get consulting work. But we have known since several days after the election that Trump gained fewer votes from 2020-2024 in swing states that were exposed to campaign messages than in other states. /1
December 11, 2025 at 5:52 PM
Short thread. Can't emphasize this point enough. This plus the worldwide context (that most incumbent parties did even worse. Also my guess is always that the swing to GOP and other out-parties was part economy and part/most post-pandemic general unhappiness, not just economy).
Hahahahahaha
December 11, 2025 at 3:42 PM
Hahahahahaha
Reposted by Quinta Jurecic
BREAKING: Judge Xinis orders ICE’s release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia “immediately.”
December 11, 2025 at 3:34 PM
BREAKING: Judge Xinis orders ICE’s release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia “immediately.”
Reposted by Quinta Jurecic
when it's going great storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
December 11, 2025 at 2:37 PM
when it's going great storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
Reposted by Quinta Jurecic
“Wettest from the standpoint of water” is still his finest gift
Trump: "It's been an interesting day from the standpoint of news. As you probably know, we've just seized a tanker on the coast of Venezuela. Largest one ever seized actually. And other things are happening."
December 10, 2025 at 10:04 PM
“Wettest from the standpoint of water” is still his finest gift
solution: study political theory, which no one thinks is a science
December 10, 2025 at 7:11 PM
solution: study political theory, which no one thinks is a science
Reposted by Quinta Jurecic
I think this is probably a new era of grand jury practice where there is communal awareness of abusive policing.
The GJ just doesn't believe the state.
I'm not an expert on the history of grand juries, but my sense is that this is the first time we are seeing that phenomenon at scale.
The GJ just doesn't believe the state.
I'm not an expert on the history of grand juries, but my sense is that this is the first time we are seeing that phenomenon at scale.
JUST IN: Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Snell just confirmed, at the prodding of U.S. Magistrate Judge Keri Holleb Hotaling, that this motion for dismissal followed a "no bill" from a grand jury.
That means the grand jury refused to indict.
That means the grand jury refused to indict.
U.S. prosecutors in Chicago are dropping another case tied to Operation Midway Blitz, "without prejudice."
It's USA v. Nathan Griffin. Below is the motion, followed by excerpts from the complaint.
The feds don't say why they're dropping it, but they had until today to secure an indictment.
It's USA v. Nathan Griffin. Below is the motion, followed by excerpts from the complaint.
The feds don't say why they're dropping it, but they had until today to secure an indictment.
December 10, 2025 at 4:49 PM
I think this is probably a new era of grand jury practice where there is communal awareness of abusive policing.
The GJ just doesn't believe the state.
I'm not an expert on the history of grand juries, but my sense is that this is the first time we are seeing that phenomenon at scale.
The GJ just doesn't believe the state.
I'm not an expert on the history of grand juries, but my sense is that this is the first time we are seeing that phenomenon at scale.
Reposted by Quinta Jurecic
JUST IN: Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Snell just confirmed, at the prodding of U.S. Magistrate Judge Keri Holleb Hotaling, that this motion for dismissal followed a "no bill" from a grand jury.
That means the grand jury refused to indict.
That means the grand jury refused to indict.
U.S. prosecutors in Chicago are dropping another case tied to Operation Midway Blitz, "without prejudice."
It's USA v. Nathan Griffin. Below is the motion, followed by excerpts from the complaint.
The feds don't say why they're dropping it, but they had until today to secure an indictment.
It's USA v. Nathan Griffin. Below is the motion, followed by excerpts from the complaint.
The feds don't say why they're dropping it, but they had until today to secure an indictment.
December 10, 2025 at 4:10 PM
JUST IN: Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Snell just confirmed, at the prodding of U.S. Magistrate Judge Keri Holleb Hotaling, that this motion for dismissal followed a "no bill" from a grand jury.
That means the grand jury refused to indict.
That means the grand jury refused to indict.
this also explains Trump's affinity for and deference toward Putin's Russia and his instinctive sense that Russia should win the war in Ukraine, which is an imperial, authoritarian, ethnonationalist project
Trump’s foreign policy isn’t “noninterventionism,” it is a kind of neo neo conservatism devoted to imposing authoritarian ethnonationalism abroad instead of democracy (gift link) www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
December 10, 2025 at 3:25 PM
this also explains Trump's affinity for and deference toward Putin's Russia and his instinctive sense that Russia should win the war in Ukraine, which is an imperial, authoritarian, ethnonationalist project