DOJ's Legal Blunders: James's Indictment Fails, Richmond's Emails Blocked, and Boat Strike Investigation

Letitia James Indictment Setback

• 🎯 The Justice Department has failed for a third time to secure an indictment against New York Attorney General Letitia James.
• 📉 A grand jury rejected the indictment, marking an embarrassing setback for the DOJ and the administration.
• ⚠️ Prosecutors may attempt to re-indict James, but this strategy is exceedingly rare and could bolster arguments of vindictive prosecution.

Daniel Richmond's Email Access Blocked

• 🔒 A court has issued a temporary restraining order blocking the government from accessing Daniel Richmond's emails seized during the Arctic Haze investigation.
• ⚖️ The court found Richmond is likely to succeed on his claim that the government violated his Fourth Amendment rights by retaining and searching his computer image without a warrant.
• 🚫 The government is ordered to identify, segregate, and secure the materials and not access them without court permission, potentially jeopardizing the case against Jim Comey.

Kilmar Abrego Garcia's Release and "Scrivener's Error"

• ✈️ Kilmar Abrego Garcia, unlawfully removed to El Salvador, sued for return and was eventually charged with human smuggling.
• 🛑 After being denied bail and facing deportation to Costa Rica or Uruguay, an immigration judge found his detention unlawful due to a lack of a removal order.
• ✍️ The judge ordered his immediate release, but an immigration judge later attempted to correct this as a "scrivener's error" by retroactively adding a removal order, which was blocked by a temporary restraining order.

Contempt Proceedings and Testimony Blocked

• 🏛️ The DOJ filed a motion to block testimony from whistleblower Erez Reuveni and DOJ lawyer Drew Ensign in contempt proceedings related to defiance of an order concerning El Salvador flights.
• 🚫 Plaintiffs argue the DOJ waived attorney-client privilege by invoking defenses and disclosing partial advice, and that government lawyers have a duty to report wrongdoing.
• ⚖️ Judge Boasberg denied the DOJ's motion to reconsider, stating the declarations were insufficient and testimony was needed to consider officials' state of mind.
• 🛑 However, the DC Circuit Court of Appeals temporarily halted the contempt hearings and testimony, with two Trump judges voting to stop it and a Biden judge dissenting.

Investigation into Boat Strike Legal Opinion

• 🚢 A bipartisan group of former federal ethics officials is requesting an internal DOJ investigation into the Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) memo justifying US military strikes on drug-running boats.
• ⚠️ They argue the OLC opinion, which suggested no prosecution for those involved, raises profound legal ethics concerns and may have been used as a "legal fig leaf" to justify lethal force against foreign civilians.
• 📄 Civil rights groups are also suing to publicly release the OLC memo, citing the government's failure to do so under FOIA.
• ❓ The OLC memo's justification for using lethal force and claims of an armed conflict are being questioned, with concerns about the faithful execution of laws and potential misuse of Article II powers.