emptywheel

@emptywheel.bsky.social

Coverage of American authoritarianism with a focus on legal cases. An American-Irish in Limerick, Ireland. Legendary potty mouth!

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@emptywheel.bsky.social Jul 31, 2026, 10:49 PM

Training wheels in the US. A VERY different connotation, bc training wheels is used as a derogatory term for people who can't handle things yet.

@emptywheel.bsky.social Jul 31, 2026, 10:48 PM

Tl;dr: Their witness told the grand jury they didn't have a case. And then SOMEONE sent the witness back to lie, and say there surely was proof Davey Hearn did $1,000 of damage.

@emptywheel.bsky.social Jul 31, 2026, 10:47 PM

Several things make it clear that Juicebox Jeanine's MTD is much covering of ass. 1) They're asking ONLY for dismissal w/o prejudice. 2) They tried to keep earlier details of Trump's failure hidden. 3) This filing. legacy.www.documentcloud.org/documents/28...

According to the newly disclosed transcript, the government excused M.R. at 11:36 am Exhibit 3 at 29. Twemy-one minwes later, at 11:57 am, the government recalled MR. and presented the additional testimony that the damage attributable to Mr. Hearn was “definitely” more than $1,000. /d. at 29-30. But by that time, the government should have known that this additional testimony was likely false or misleading, Just minutes before he was excused by government counsel at 11:36 am, MR. had given testimony establishing that no specific amount of damage was attributable to Mr, Hearn

@emptywheel.bsky.social Jul 31, 2026, 10:25 PM

If I were still teaching freshman comp, I'd use this filing to teach about the passive voice. Or better yet, how you gotta choose: Passive voice OR active. Not both, you dumbasses.

At the outset of the investigation into the damage at the Reflecting Pool, USAO-DC received barebones police reports from the United States Park Police (“USPP”) which isan agency within the DOL and under the jurisdiction of the DOI. The government requested “everything,” including all reports, all statements, witness statements, defendant's admissions, citation notices, photographs, body wom camera footage, and surveillance footage, to include any and all inculpatory and exculpatory material from DOI relating to the instant case and the other cases where USPP had taken reports of vandalism related to the Reflecting Pool. Indeed, prosecutors specifically involved in the cases related to the Reflecting Pool made dozens and dozens of communications were made in an effort to identify and obtain the materials necessary to have all information to evaluate the case. After significant demands by USAO-DC, USPP provided the police reports and body-worn camera for roughly 10 individuals associated with the Reflecting Pool

@emptywheel.bsky.social Jul 31, 2026, 10:20 PM

That request is pending. There's actually an update on GJ transcripts--they brought the key witness back to lie about damage.

@emptywheel.bsky.social Jul 31, 2026, 10:11 PM

Note JUST as Juicebox Jeanine was dismissing the case, former DOJ Inspector General Michael Bromwich joined Hearns' team. He knows a thing or two about how you're NOT supposed to prosecute people.

@emptywheel.bsky.social Jul 31, 2026, 10:09 PM

Somehow this narrative failed to describe the source of the car track damage.

USAO-DC's review of the recently-provided documents by DOI revealed that Atlantic
Industrial Coatings ("AIC") was selected as the sole-source contractor for installation of the
Reflecting Pool lining. Installation began on May 5, 2026, but was delayed on May 6, 2026, due
to heavy rainfall. The following day, May 7, 2026, installation continued with cleaning and
organizing the construction site, and the spraying of Rhino 406 coating for 68,000 square feet of
the Reflecting Pool surface. (The total size of the pool is approximately 340,000 square feet).
Installation of the Reflecting Pool lining required multiple coats of Rhino 406 coating followed by
two coats of Pipeliner 5000 coating. There are also numerous expansion joints that run both
perpendicularly through the pool and around the perimeter that allow for the underlying concrete
slabs that make up the floor of the pool to expand and contract as they heat and cool during the
day, which requires different application to seal the expansion joints.

I've added, "Insert Motorcade damage here" in pink.

@emptywheel.bsky.social Jul 31, 2026, 10:02 PM

Juicebox Jeanine tells the sad story of how setbacks occur when a sole source pool contractor gets a job too big for his britches. No word on whether she'll investigate the corruption. 🤔

Spraying of Rhino 406 and Pipeliner 5000 continued on May 12, 2026, and the days that followed, with liner installation being 56% complete on Thursday, May 14, 2026, Unfortunately, a setback occurred on Saturday, May 16, when a second trial installation of an expansion joint sealant failed and different sealant solutions needed to be explored. Further delays occurred starting on Monday, May 18, when AIC ran out of Rhino 406 product for spraying, with additional expected on May 19 from California and British Columbia, Concems were also raised by AIC conceming the weather forecast of rain for several days starting mid-week Communications among DOI employees reveal significant concern about meeting the project's deadlines, and worry about application errors,

@emptywheel.bsky.social Jul 31, 2026, 9:59 PM

Juicebox Jeanine files a 20-page Motion to Dismiss the case against Davey Hearn that ... claims to have been helpless before DOI told them how Trump's incompetence ruined the pool. Not sure when I've seen this Olympic class ass-covering before. legacy.www.documentcloud.org/documents/28...

only with DO's representations that defendant caused more than $1000 of damage to the Reflecting Pool, USAO-DC presented evidence to a District of Columbia Superior Court grand jury, which on July 2, 2026, returned an indictment charging the defendant with one count of felony destruction of property in violation of D.C. Code § 22-303, Notably, USAO-DC was not in possession of any information from DOI indicating that any damage to the Reflecting Pool was caused by anything other than the actions of the defendant and other vandals who damaged the poo!’s lining.

@emptywheel.bsky.social Jul 31, 2026, 8:54 PM

WSJ tracks what @charlesgaba.com has been tracking state by state: More people are dropping Obamacare than expected. And it's hurting hospitals. www.wsj.com/health/healt...

The ACA drop-offs varied by state. Some of the steepest were in Ohio, Oklahoma and Arizona, according to KFF, a health-research nonprofit. Insurers and actuaries expect enrollment will fall even more over the course of the year.

Nearly all of those letting their ACA plans go appear to be dropping insurance altogether, hospital company executives said, which is more than HCA and some others had expected.

“For us, obviously, it’s not a good thing,” said HCA Chief Executive Samuel Hazen in a call with analysts last week. “We still have to take care of these patients, and we do, and our people do a wonderful job, but it does put pressure on” the profit and loss statement.

The problems for hospitals are set to grow, with Medicaid adding federal work requirements next year. Already, Medicaid enrollment is ticking downward this year. The Congressional Budget Office projects a further 4.1 million people will lose coverage in 2027.

@emptywheel.bsky.social Jul 31, 2026, 8:16 PM

Time to make Tom Emmer own this.

@emptywheel.bsky.social Jul 31, 2026, 8:14 PM

@benwikler.bsky.social talks about how they beat Musk in 2025. It took a lot of groundwork, but was cause for more.

@emptywheel.bsky.social Jul 31, 2026, 6:44 PM

You think Brennan's commentary on it happens by magic? DO you have ANY idea how to use leg as a talking point during political campaigns?

@emptywheel.bsky.social Jul 31, 2026, 6:43 PM

You're a Democrat, right? What are YOU doing?

@emptywheel.bsky.social Jul 31, 2026, 6:43 PM

Remember that Musk's support backfired in WI in 2025. Since then we've seen the OUTCOMES of DOGE, and it'll be fairly easy to show specific outcomes.

@emptywheel.bsky.social Jul 31, 2026, 6:26 PM

So you haven't read the FBI docs released showing DOJ set up a GJ on 1/31/22 and FBI stalled for a while but opened the investigation in early April, and the 10-month long EP fight started before the first big 2022 hearing? So you didn't look far enough to know what you were talking about, then?

@emptywheel.bsky.social Jul 31, 2026, 5:51 PM

I am correcting literally utterly made up claims you made about the investigation AND ALSO pushing you to think through YOUR OWN claims about the import of politics here. THose are not criticisms. One, in fact, is a very very very basic fact check.

@emptywheel.bsky.social Jul 31, 2026, 5:34 PM

Wait. You're still here? You said this was a political problem. You agreed that Senators don't do that kind of politics right. DOJ released a summary of Trump's crimes in October. Did you mention it? Or no, bc you didn't do your job? Prosecuting ALL White Collar criminals takes a long time.

@emptywheel.bsky.social Jul 31, 2026, 4:01 PM

Which is what made the difference in the Bolsonaro prosecution.

@emptywheel.bsky.social Jul 31, 2026, 3:52 PM

emptywheel.net/2026/07/30/t...

emptywheel.netTrump Decides He'd Rather Have Tax Crimes and Rewards for Terrorists Than a Todd Blanche Confirmation - emptywheelTrump may have been unable to placate John Cornyn's demands for changes to the Terrorist Slush Fund for sound legal reasons. Or, maybe he just likes terrorists and tax crimes more than he likes Todd B...

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