Court-appointed experts who aid defense lawyers are cutting costs & refusing assignments after 4 months of working without pay. W/ no end in sight to the shutdown, lawyers are telling courts they can't get the experts their clients need. w/ maia spoto news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/co…

A Trump-appointed federal judge praised two prosecutors for their “commendable” work & professionalism, a day after they were put on leave after filing a since-withdrawn brief that described Jan. 6 participants as a “mob of rioters," Suzanne Monyak reports news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/ju…

UPDATE: We now have a jury after several hours of questioning. Opening arguments will begin tomorrow at 9 am ET.

New from Suzanne Monyak: Pam Bondi retroactively gave Lindsey Halligan, EDVA’s top prosecutor, an extra title in an effort to withstand claims she was illegally serving when bringing charges against Letitia James and James Comey news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/to…

Attorney General Pam Bondi retroactively gave Eastern Virginia’s top prosecutor an extra title to withstand claims she was illegally serving when bringing charges against New York AG Letitia James and former FBI Director James Comey. From Suzanne Monyak: news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/to…

A sandwich hurler trial update: Attorneys for the former DOJ employee questioned in court whether the impact of the sub was enough to warrant a federal charge. “I could feel the impact through my bulletproof vest,” the CBP agent said. For Bloomberg Law: news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/fe…

NEWS: Up to four FBI agents who were fired yesterday over Arctic Frost, then reinstated b/c US Attorney Pirro said they're critical to an active public corruption probe, have been re-fired and walked out today. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/fb…

STORY: A federal jury found a former Justice Department employee not guilty of misdemeanor assault over a viral incident in which he allegedly threw a sandwich at a Customs and Border Protection officer. More here for Bloomberg Law: news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/sa…

Federal agencies' independent litigation powers may be next in President Trump's sights if SCOTUS agrees he has the right to fire executive branch employees at will, DOJ's Civil Division head said today. news.bloomberglaw.com/business-and-p…

SCOOP: Inside the Miami US attorney’s office readying grand jury probe into DOJ officials/special counsel’s offices who investigated Trump: - recruiting lawyers - election conspiracist’s possible return - MAGA influencer-fueled reorg news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/do…

ICYMI at FedSoc: Former DOJ official Chad Mizelle criticized “Democrat-appointed” judges who he says are acting in bad faith. "What do I think DJT should do? He should stand up... and say ‘Judges, I know how to deal with stray cats,’” he said. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/ex…

Deputy AG Todd Blanche says the admin is in a “war” against "activist judges"—and he's calling on young lawyers to join the fight. "We need you, because it is a war, and it’s something we will not win unless we keep on fighting," he said at FedSoc today.news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/do…

NEW: Sen. Thom Tillis (R), Senate Judiciary member, tells me he and Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi have been negotiating on some "minor issues" unrelated to the records of the 4 nominees in the state. Says he "wouldn't expect them to be on hold for very long."

2 Miami prosecutors (both Rs) quit - after being asked to join a unit targeting Trump foes - when MAGA US atty ordered them to sign statements under penalty of perjury naming who they’d talked to. That’s an unheard of interrogation tactic within DOJ. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/mi…

New: Hours before the govt was reopened, in what appears to be a 1st-of-its-kind decision, a Calif federal judge to threw out a criminal indictment, after finding the months-long lapse in judiciary funding for court-appointed lawyers was unconstitutional. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/ju…

The stopgap bill to reopen the govt included extra $$ for federal defenders, after funds for court-appointed attorneys ran out in July But defenders tell me while they're grateful for the money, it's still not enough to prevent a repeat next year. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/de…

ICYMI: The full DC Circuit on Friday declined to revisit a ruling that threw out a DC judge's original order finding probable cause that the Trump admin was in contempt in deportation fight, *but* also said the judge could resume his contempt inquiry bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

The DOJ's legal opinion backing the use of military lawyers as immigration judges is drawing scrutiny from legal scholars who say the move represents an unprecedented expansion of the executive branch’s authority. For Bloomberg Law, with Suzanne Monyak: news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/do…

Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley said before this morning's markup that the committee would be voting on the Mississippi district nominees that have seen weekslong delays in committee--same for the US attorney picks there. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/go…

Judges’ rebukes this week of blunders by top Justice Department lawyers show the pitfalls of installing President Donald Trump loyalists to their roles, lawyers and scholars told me and Suzanne Monyak. Our latest for Bloomberg Law: news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/tr…