To be clear: His problem is not the criminal defense work. His problem is his fondness for ACTUAL suspected criminals.

Stephen Miller, Whiskey Pete, AND Brendan Carr will all be hooting up Trump as they parade their regime media.

Mykhailo Rohoza @MykhailoRohoza During talks between U.S. and Iranian delegations in Pakistan, the topic of Ukraine unexpectedly came up. While discussing U.S. guarantees in the event that Iran halts uranium enrichment and abandons the development of nuclear weapons, the Iranian side asked how the United States is fulfilling the 1994 Budapest Memorandum, in which it pledged to respect and protect Ukraine’s sovereignty. The U.S. delegation left the question unanswered. 10:10 PM · Apr 20, 2026 · 321.4K Views

This mic drop happened in the Iran negotiations.

Yeah, feels like the base of a book. I would read a longer version.

When I lived in SoCal there were still the last scraps of avocado orchards. My dog used to escape so he could date coyote ladies.

Those orchards didn't last long.

True, that's in there too. I was short-handing finance but agree I should have mentioned it separately.

It Was on Your Table Every Morning Growing Up. It’s Dying Before Our Eyes. No One Wants to Face It. The powerhouse of American citrus is suffering a brutal decline. Everyone has a theory about why.

When I covered Trump's tariffs, I discovered that orange crops have cratered in FL.

This explains all the reasons--disease, climate change, overspraying, finance--why.

slate.com/business/202...

Did not miss any of these (tho admit the Whiskey Pete thing didn't make it far beyond FT), but strongly applaud this kind of summarizing.

It's REALLY hard to keep up with all the corruption. Really hard.

Joe DiGenova Back in the Criminal Frame YouTube video by emptywheel

The biggest reason it is insane that Todd Blanche put Joe DiGenova in charge of criminalizing investigations into Russia.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=fABt...

Power without accountability: The Palantir manifesto The problems with our tech philosopher kings

New, from me: Take the Palantir manifesto seriously, if not literally.
It reveals that our tech philosopher kings want public money, but without public accountability. This creates a dilemma for governments unaligned with its techno-fascist vision. 🧵
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/palantir-w...

I was treated to a spectacular bit of gaslighting by Ghislaine Maxwell’s lawyer, David Markus, over this post. I have a zero-tolerance policy for both gaslighters and mansplainers—habits that frequently overlap—so I’m sharing some thoughts. Please spread the word. Thanks. youtube.com/shorts/uMb82...

PSA: I imagine many of my followers know the story of the pallets of cash, but for those who don’t:

Before the Iranian revolution, Iran was run by the Shah, who had TONS of money and a virtually unlimited appetite for US military hardware, including big things like aircraft etc.

I have to imagine Emmet would love this one.

No.

Just enough of a fix so as to dox Fitzpatrick.

29. In fact, Defendants ignored their own politices and procedures, rushing the story to print without substantively fact-checking the allegations or giving Director Patel a meaningful opportunity to respond—all to publish before the truth could be exposed and derail the Article. [I have put a pink rectangle around the word spelled, "politices."]

Nothing like misspelling a word in the ¶ accusing The Atlantic of failing to take enough time to fact check an article.

[Kash has submitted a new version, and used the opportunity to dox Fitzpatrick's address.]

The judge in question is Aileen Cannon (she would not indict, but could approve a complaint).

Damnit. Of course.

The Person Playacting as President May Be Getting Addicted to Snuff Films - emptywheel Everyone, from Trump himself to his aides to access journalists to experts, are packaging up Trump's moods as rational actions of a President. That makes his increasing fondness for spectacular videos...

Before WSJ published that article you may have read, I thought about how Trump really spends his days, bc it shows he's not really acting as President.

The answer?
Construction, cons, and corruption.

& watching snuff films that make him believe DOD can do anything.

emptywheel.net/2026/04/20/t...

In Lawsuit Not Mentioning the Olympics, Kash Patel Swears He's Not a Drunk - emptywheel If Kash Patel's lawsuit against The Atlantic is an attempt to silence claims he's a drunk, it doesn't do much to rebut the key allegations against him.

In Lawsuit Not Mentioning the Olympics, Kash Patel Swears He's Not a Drunk

emptywheel.net/2026/04/20/i...

Note my point in the underlying post that Solomon claims Trump will bypass CIPA by just declassifying everything.

Articles about Jared Kushner's diplomatic role with Iran that mention Kushner has received billions from the Saudi government (2/28-4/19):

NYT: 5 of 58
WashPost: 1 of 43
WSJ: 0 of 40
AP: 0 of 26
CNN Wire: 0 of 18
NY Post: 0 of 17
Chicago Tribune: 0 of 4
LA Times: 0 of 4
Boston Globe: 0 of 2

142. Jensen then noticed collection of whiskey bottles and cigars on Patel’s desk. He asked if he was a collector. Patel then gave him two cigars, telling Jensen that they were “awesome” and that he has “gotta see this.” Patel explained that he used to produce his own brand of cigars, but they are not in production anymore. He then gave Jensen a third cigar but said that he should not smoke it because it was from President Trump’s inauguration. Jensen asked whether Patel was sure he wanted to gift Jensen a cigar of such significance for Patel, particularly since Jensen himself did not attend President Trump’s inauguration. Patel insisted that Jensen should take it. As Jensen walked out of the Director’s office, Patel told him to enjoy his leave, that he should take as much time as he needs, to take care of his family, and that he was “crushing it.”

Reminder that the guy then in charge of DC Office, Steve Jensen, says that Kash had a collection of whiskey bottles in his office.

storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Thank you for confirming you did not read the post. I LOVE people who brag about how lazy they are.

Please do. I find them really valuable.

Victoria Toensing @VicToensing Hubby being sworn in as Counsel to the Attorney General. 4:04 PM · Apr 20, 2026 · 6,199 Views Jason Reding Quiñones, the US Attorney in Miami, swearing in a much shorter Joe DiGenova.

Joe DiGenova, whose wife once solicited payments from foreigners to lie about Joe Biden in 2019, just got sworn in to investigate things those things he lied about in the past.

Over the weekend I laid out why this is so problematic.

emptywheel.net/2026/04/19/t...

The breach rebuttal actually changes over the course of the lawsuit. And IMO misstates the Atlantic claim as you lay out here.

23. The Article’s assertions that on April 10, 2026, Director Patel “panicked, frantically” announcing he had been fired, engaged in a “freak-out,” and “is deeply concerned that his job is in jeopardy,” are false. On April 10, 2026, Director Patel had a routine technical problem logging into a government system, which was quickly fixed. Director Patel’s sole focus is on carrying out the administration’s law enforcement priorities. Prior to publication, the FBI expressly informed Defendants that the firing rumor was a “made-up rumor,” and that the “freak-out” and job-jeopardy claims were fabricated

In his lawsuit against @theatlantic.com insisting he's not a drunk, Kash confirms he did get locked out of FBI systems on April 10.

storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Schulman's compensation last year was $34 million. He believes 20-30% unemployment is almost at hand, and his solution is "more education and reskilling."

I don't think he understands what it would be like when a population armed to the teeth has 20-30% unemployment and no social safety net.

The Person Playacting as President May Be Getting Addicted to Snuff Films - emptywheel Everyone, from Trump himself to his aides to access journalists to experts, are packaging up Trump's moods as rational actions of a President. That makes his increasing fondness for spectacular videos...

The Person Playacting as President May Be Getting Addicted to Snuff Films

emptywheel.net/2026/04/20/t...

I arrived about 30 minutes early for an Elizabeth Warren event once.

She was unbelievably, personally generous.