Kyle Cheney
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kyledcheney.bsky.social
Kyle Cheney
@kyledcheney.bsky.social
280K followers 430 following 2.2K posts
Senior legal affairs reporter at POLITICO with a focus on democracy, the balance of power and the clash between the Trump administration and courts.
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kyledcheney.bsky.social
NEW: Donald Trump has pardoned a long list of allies in his bid to subvert the 2020 election including:

-Rudy Giuliani
-John Eastman
-Mark Meadows
-Sidney Powell
-Ken Chesebro
-Christina Bobb
-Kelli Ward
-Jenna Ellis

www.politico.com/news/2025/11...
November 10, 2025 at 5:56 AM
kyledcheney.bsky.social
JUST IN: Two pitchers with the Cleveland Guardians have been charged with a gambling/ bribery/ money laundering conspiracy.

See the indictment: www.justice.gov/usao-edny/me...
November 9, 2025 at 7:07 PM
kyledcheney.bsky.social
JUST IN: A federal judge has barred the Trump administration from using furloughed employees’ email accounts to broadcast partisan messages about the shutdown.

storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
November 7, 2025 at 10:10 PM
kyledcheney.bsky.social
NEW: California’s attorney general said Thursday he’s wary of moves Trump could make to use federal power to interfere in the 2026 elections — through intimidation, suppression or purges of the voter rolls.

www.politico.com/news/2025/11...
‘I’m wary about this president’: California AG sounds warning about midterm security
“We are in unprecedented territory with this administration," AG Rob Bonta said.
www.politico.com
November 6, 2025 at 9:45 PM
kyledcheney.bsky.social
HAPPENING NOW: Judge McConnell is sharply rebuking the Trump administration for what he said was defying his order to make full SNAP payments by Nov. 5. He has ordered USDA to make the *full* payment to states by tomorrow.
November 6, 2025 at 8:53 PM
kyledcheney.bsky.social
Just left the latest hearing in Jim Comey's criminal case. It did not go well for DOJ

The magistrate judge scolded them for an "indict first, investigate second" posture and ordered them to turn over reams of material — including all grand jury info — to Comey's team

Details TK
November 5, 2025 at 4:00 PM
kyledcheney.bsky.social
NEW: A federal judge said the decision by Trump WH to end sign language interpretation at briefings by Trump and Leavitt likely violated the Rehabilitation Act and harmed deaf people who communicate in ASL.

www.politico.com/news/2025/11...
Judge orders White House to restore sign language interpreters at briefings by Trump, Leavitt
U.S. District Judge Amir Ali said the White House’s decision to end ASL interpretation illegally excluded deaf Americans from crucial updates from the government.
www.politico.com
November 5, 2025 at 1:36 AM
kyledcheney.bsky.social
JUST IN: Judge Currie orders DOJ to submit a more compete transcript of the Comey grand jury proceedings, noting that the transcript she was provided — of the lone witness — does not include Lindsey Halligan's remarks or presentation.

storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
November 4, 2025 at 4:44 PM
kyledcheney.bsky.social
JUST IN: Judge Immergut renews her block on President Trump’s National Guard deployment to Portland, saying her three-day trial showed there was no credible evidence justify Trump/Hegseth’s incursion on Oregon’s sovereignty. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
November 3, 2025 at 4:41 AM
kyledcheney.bsky.social
NEW: If a federal judge adopts the same rationale that disqualified three of Trump’s other U.S. attorney picks around the country, it could doom the prosecutions of Letitia James and James Comey.

w/ @eorden

www.politico.com/news/2025/11...
New warning signs emerge for Lindsey Halligan’s effort to prosecute Trump’s foes
Three recent court rulings disqualifying top prosecutors reveal higher stakes for the U.S. attorney who indicted James Comey and Letitia James.
www.politico.com
November 1, 2025 at 8:36 PM
kyledcheney.bsky.social
NEW: More than 100 federal judges have now rejected the Trump administration’s new policy to lock up nearly everyone facing deportation — including 12 judges appointed by Trump, according to a POLITICO analysis.

Only 2 judges have sided with ICE.

www.politico.com/news/2025/10...
More than 100 judges have ruled against the Trump admin’s mandatory detention policy
A POLITICO review of the rulings shows judges appointed by every president since Ronald Reagan have rebuked the administration’s new interpretation of immigration law.
www.politico.com
October 31, 2025 at 8:32 PM
kyledcheney.bsky.social
NEW: New DOJ attorneys presided over the sentencing of Taylor Taranto today, after his previous prosecutors were sidelined for mentioning his role in the Jan. 6 attack a day earlier.

Judge Nichols praised the absent prosecutors.

w/ @joshgerstein.bsky.social

www.politico.com/news/2025/10...
October 30, 2025 at 11:20 PM
kyledcheney.bsky.social
HAPPENING NOW: Portland Police Commander Franz Schoening testifies that federal officers on Oct. 18 barraged protesters with crowd control munitions — not because of any violence but because another federal officer accidentally shot tear gas onto the roof of the ICE facility.
October 29, 2025 at 6:05 PM
kyledcheney.bsky.social
BREAKING: A federal judge says L.A.-based US attorney Bill ESSAYLI has been acting in the role unlawfully since July, declaring him disqualified from the position. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
October 29, 2025 at 1:26 AM
kyledcheney.bsky.social
BREAKING: The full bench of the 9th circuit has agreed to take up the Portland National Guard case and vacated the panel decision that had blessed Trump’s deployment.
October 29, 2025 at 12:13 AM
kyledcheney.bsky.social
NEW: A federal judge slammed DHS Secretary Noem and Attorney General Pam Bondi for publicly attacking Kilmar Abrego Garcia in “exaggerated” and “inaccurate” ways — violating rules meant to protect the integrity of criminal proceedings.

w/ @joshgerstein.bsky.social

www.politico.com/news/2025/10...
A judge slammed Pam Bondi and Kristi Noem over ‘troubling’ remarks about Kilmar Abrego Garcia
U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw ordered the administration to warn every DOJ and DHS employee against improper statements regarding Abrego, who’s facing smuggling charges.
www.politico.com
October 28, 2025 at 12:08 AM
kyledcheney.bsky.social
NEW: High-profile Congressional hearings are typically festivals of grandstanding and missed opportunities. If Jack Smith testifies about his investigations, here are the 5 questions we hope members of Congress ask him to avoid that fate..

www.politico.com/newsletters/...
October 27, 2025 at 11:16 PM
kyledcheney.bsky.social
NEW: ICE says it no longer has to provide Congress access to detention facilities — thanks to the shutdown.

That requirement was part of the appropriations law that expired last month — and now operations are funded by Trump’s megabill.

w/ @myahward.bsky.social

www.politico.com/news/2025/10...
Another shutdown consequence: Democrats can’t visit ICE detention facilities
Democratic lawmakers had been suing the Trump administration over their previous attempts to visit ICE facilities.
www.politico.com
October 27, 2025 at 9:34 PM
kyledcheney.bsky.social
NEW: The Trump administration is racing to deport Kilmar Abrego Garcia as soon as Friday, conceding it does not intend to follow through on his criminal case despite earlier assurances.

w/ @joshgerstein.bsky.social

www.politico.com/news/2025/10...
October 27, 2025 at 9:08 PM
kyledcheney.bsky.social
JUST IN: Letitia James is scheduled go to trial on Jan. 26 after pleading not guilty to both felony counts she faces.

She then exited the courthouse and decried “a justice system that has been weaponized.”
www.politico.com/news/2025/10...
October 24, 2025 at 3:53 PM
kyledcheney.bsky.social
HAPPENING SOON: Attorney General Letitia James is slated to appear in a federal courtroom here in Norfolk, Va. for her arraignment on mortgage fraud charges.

Courtroom is not full and atmosphere much more subdued than for Comey.
October 24, 2025 at 2:20 PM
kyledcheney.bsky.social
JUST IN: Rep. Ronny Jackson's lawsuit against Gov. Gavin Newsom over California's redistricting effort was thrown out today by Judge Matt Kacsmaryk.

Jackson failed to show he faced a cognizable injury from CA's redistricting plan, Kacsmaryk says. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
October 23, 2025 at 9:36 PM
kyledcheney.bsky.social
Trump says he’s making military decisions based on what random “friends of mine” tell him about crime.
October 23, 2025 at 5:15 PM
kyledcheney.bsky.social
A man was arrested for playing Darth Vader's theme music, "The Imperial March," behind National Guard troops walking through Logan Circle.

Now the ACLU is suing on his behalf. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
October 23, 2025 at 4:38 PM
kyledcheney.bsky.social
JUST IN: Arizona's lawsuit to force the swearing-in of Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva goes to ... Judge Trevor McFadden, an appointee of Donald Trump.
October 23, 2025 at 1:33 PM