Today in Politics, Bulletin 257. 11/24/25

Ron Filipkowski Nov 24 ∙

… Judge Cameron McGowan Currie dismissed the indictments against James Comey and Letitia James today on the grounds that Lindsay Halligan was illegally appointed: “The 120-day clock began running with Siebert’s appointment on Jan 21, 2025. When that clock expired on May 21, 2025, so too did the AG’s appointment authority. Consequently, I conclude that the AG’s attempt to install Halligan as Interim US Attorney for the E. District of VA was invalid and that Halligan has been unlawfully serving in that role since Sept 22, 2025.”

… The court made the ruling “without prejudice,” meaning that a lawfully appointed US Attorney could in theory attempt to re-indict them: “The ‘appropriate’ remedy for an adjudication tainted with an appointments violation is a new ‘hearing before a properly appointed’ official.’ I will invalidate the ultra vires acts performed by Halligan and dismiss the indictment without prejudice, returning Comey to the status he occupied before being indicted.”

… The problem with that for DOJ is that the statute of limitations has now expired in the Comey case. So I don’t see any possible way he could be indicted again given that fact. James, however, could be if they want to continue embarrassing themselves.

… Pete Hegseth announced today that Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) may be recalled to active duty and court martialled for the video he made with 5 other Democratic lawmakers informing service members that it is their duty not to follow unlawful orders under the Constitution and UCMJ. First, DOD issued a statement:

“The Department of War has received serious allegations of misconduct against Captain Mark Kelly, USN (Ret.). In accordance with the UCMJ, 10 U.S.C. § 688, and other applicable regulations, a thorough review of these allegations has been initiated to determine further actions, which may include recall to active duty for court-martial proceedings or admin measures.

The Department of War reminds all individuals that military retirees remain subject to the UCMJ for applicable offenses, and federal laws such as 18 U.S.C. § 2387 prohibit actions intended to interfere with the loyalty, morale, or good order and discipline of the armed forces. Any violations will be addressed through appropriate legal channels.

All servicemembers are reminded that they have a legal obligation under the UCMJ to obey lawful orders and that orders are presumed to be lawful. A servicemember’s personal philosophy does not justify or excuse the disobedience of an otherwise lawful order.”

… Hegseth then posted this from his personal account:

“The video made by the ‘Seditious Six’ was despicable, reckless, and false. Encouraging our warriors to ignore the orders of their Commanders undermines every aspect of ‘good order and discipline.’ Their foolish screed sows doubt and confusion — which only puts our warriors in danger.

Five of the six individuals in that video do not fall under Dept of War jurisdiction (one is CIA and four are former military but not ‘retired’, so they are no longer subject to UCMJ). However, Mark Kelly (retired Navy Commander) is still subject to UCMJ—and he knows that.

As was announced, the Dept is reviewing his statements and actions, which were addressed directly to all troops while explicitly using his rank and service affiliation—lending the appearance of authority to his words. Kelly’s conduct brings discredit upon the armed forces and will be addressed appropriately.”

… Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) posted a response: “Fuck you and your investigation.”

… Gallego then went on CNN: “You will never ever be half the man that Sen. Kelly is. You, sir, are a coward. And the fact that you are following this order from the president shows how big of a coward you are. I can’t wait until you are no longer the Secretary of Defense.”

“Trump is gonna be gone in a couple years. And if you’re part of the military that is going after sitting members of Congress and part of the weaponization of govt, there will be consequences. Without a doubt.”

… Setting aside for a second the lunacy and authoritarianism surrounding the Trump/Hegseth threat to court martial Kelly, it is also politically moronic. No military court or jury would uphold this, and you only do Kelly a tremendous favor by making him more popular than ever with this nonsense. Each of the 6 members who Trump has threatened with execution are already using it in hugely successful fundraising efforts. Jason Crow is likely to be appointed to Michael Bennet’s senate seat if he wins the CO governor’s race.

… I got this fundraising from Kelly about an hour after Hegseth’s post: “The Department of War is coming after me because they don’t like what I have to say. When I was 22 years old, I swore an oath to the Constitution. I’ve upheld that oath every day since. If Trump is trying to intimidate me from doing my job, it won’t work.I’ve given too much to this country to be silenced by bullies who care more about their own power than about protecting the Constitution. Call this what it is: Political persecution.”

… Trump’s Crypto Czar David Sacks posted this about this morning’s WSJ story: “According to today’s WSJ, AI-related investment accounts for half of GDP growth. A reversal would risk recession. We can’t afford to go backwards.”

… The Trump admin then announced this in the afternoon: “US 3Q GDP ADVANCED ESTIMATE REPORT CANCELED.”

… Probably just a coincidence.

… Bucco Capital: “David Sacks is saying the quiet part out loud. This admin has made some catastrophically bad economic decisions. He is right. They are backed into a corner and cannot afford to go backwards on AI, which is the only thing propping up our economy right now.”

… The Trump economy is being propped up by a giant speculative bubble of AI and crypto, with a small group of people getting insanely wealthy and everyone else getting screwed while the Mad King tells us everything is great and everyone is thriving.

… Politico Europe: “A senior adviser to Vladimir Putin scoffed at Europe’s plan to end the war in Ukraine and said the Kremlin preferred Trump’s original proposal. Yuri Ushakov told reporters in Moscow that the EU’s peace plan, launched in response to the 28-point plan presented by Washington, ‘constructively doesn’t fit us at all.’ Ushakov added that Trump’s plan, which included several major concessions to Russia, including ceding vast swathes of Ukrainian territory and capping the size of Kyiv’s military, was more ‘acceptable’ to the Kremlin.”

… (Of course it is, they wrote it for him).

… “The US admin’s framework - which came with an aggressive Thanksgiving deadline and threats to cut off aid and intelligence to Ukraine unless it accepted - caught Ukraine and its European allies off guard, setting off a weekend of urgent negotiations in Geneva among Washington, Kyiv and European partners. Putin spoke by phone with Turkish President Erdoğan about the plan, and, according to the Kremlin, said that Trump’s first proposal was a ‘good base for the future deal.’”

… Trump showed little interest in the details of the US peace plan for Ukraine, an American official told WaPo: “You tell him, ‘I’m going to try to get a deal.’ He will say, ‘Great, go see what you can do. And that’s the level of detail he has. It’s been absolute chaos all day because even different parts of the WH don’t know what’s going on. It’s embarrassing.”

… Trump posted this: “The Republican Party has never been so UNITED AS IT iS RIGHT NOW! Other than Rand Paul, Rand Paul Jr.(Massie!), Marjorie ‘Traitor’ Brown, and a couple of other “lowlifes,” and other than the fact that many want the Election threatening Filibuster TERMINATED (the Dems will do it in the first minute of their first chance!), and some don’t, there is great spirit and cohesion.”

… I can tell you as a long-time close observer of Trump and his social media posts that when he posts something like this it means the exact opposite is true, and he’s trying to put out a forest fire. He has been told that his movement is coming apart at the seams with everyone fighting each other, with is completely accurate, so naturally what he does is post that it has never been more unified.

… Punchbowl on the Greene retirement fallout: “A few other GOP members messaged us over the weekend saying that they, too, are considering retiring in the middle of the term. A senior House Republican: “This entire WH team has treated ALL members like garbage. ALL. And Mike Johnson has let it happen because he wanted it to happen. That is the sentiment of nearly all — appropriators, authorizers, hawks, doves, rank and file.

… The Republican rep continued: “The arrogance of this WH team is off putting to members who are run roughshod and threatened. They don’t even allow little wins like announcing small grants or even responding from agencies. Not even the high profile, the regular rank and file random members are more upset than ever. Members know they are going into the minority after the midterms. More explosive early resignations are coming. It’s a tinder box. Morale has never been lower. Johnson will be stripped of his gavel and they will lose the majority before this term is out.”

… Jake Sherman: “Since this ran this morning - 4 hours ago? - I’ve gotten countless text messages from House Republicans agreeing with this sentiment. And saying why the hell should we stay in Congress if all we’re going to do is vote on censures and be a potted plant.”

… Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI): “This is what I said last week. Johnson is ruining a co-equal branch of govt so he can be Trump’s lap dog. We do NOTHING of consequence, devolving to censure and other meaningless resolutions. I think 47 people didn’t even bother to stay Friday for a meaningless vote. This is particularly hard if you’re the GOP Majority. You work hard to get elected and get into the Majority so you can govern. Yet Trump calls all the shots. Self-respect has to kick in at a point for these Republican members of Congress. I’ve never seen it this bad in 13 years.”

… Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins was on CNBC: Q - “My understanding is the WH said that China was gonna buy 12 million tons of soybeans from the US by Jan. That’s approaching and they’ve only purchased 332,000. China has not confirmed that pledge. Rollins: Your point is salient. We’ve got a significant way to go.”

… Rollins then said the Trump admin solution after driving farmers out of business is to put them on welfare: “The president always said he would take care of the farmers. They have been with him since he came down the escalator. So yes, we are looking at the aid right now. We have always said it is to solve, to mitigate anything under these new trade negotiations. Every day that changes.”

… Q - “Do you see the admin getting down to 2% with inflation? Rollins: The structure of what’s happening is incredibly positive. We’re already down to 2.9%. Host: That was about where it was when Biden left though. Rollins: That’s right. It’s continuing to come down though. Host: It just ticked up a little.”

… Commerce Sec Howard Lutnick was asked on Fox about Trump’s proposal to give everyone $2,000 “tariff dividend” checks right before the midterms: “The president wants the American people to understand how great tariffs are for them. One of the ways to prove to Americans how great tariffs are is to have them share in a part of one year’s income from these tariffs. That’s exciting.”

… House Republican Whip Tom Emmer on tariff checks: “You gotta love this president. He looks at this like a business, and when the business is doing well, the shareholders, which are the American people, should be rewarded.”

… The national debt is exploding after Trump’s massive tax cuts for the rich and now the “fiscal conservatives” want to borrow more money (much more than tariff revenue) to give every person a big check to buy their votes.

… AP: “Trump says he’s enlisting the help of legendary golfer Jack Nicklaus to spruce up the courses at Joint Base Andrews - adding a site long known as the ‘president’s golf course’ to his long list of construction projects. The president took an aerial tour of the Courses at Andrews aboard Marine One on Sat, and promised, ‘We’re going to do some work’ there, as well as to other parts of the base.”

… Trump: “We’re doing some fix-up of the base, which it needs. We’re gonna try and reinstitute the golf courses. I’m meeting with the greatest Jack Nicklaus. He’s involved in trying to bring their recreational facility back. So we’ll fix that up, and Jack will be the architect and he’ll design it.”

… “The facilities include three 18-hole golf courses, 3 practice putting greens, 2 private practice areas and a driving range. Trump’s comments immediately raised questions about who is paying Nicklaus, and how much such design services might cost. Also, given that Andrews is military property, who pays for improvements to its golf courses or other parts of its grounds was also unclear.”

Today was the first slow(ish) news day in quite a while with Congress not in session and no major events or press gaggles from Trump heading into Thanksgiving. There were still quite a few interesting and important items that I found, but it wasn’t a day of nonstop chaos and insanity like most in the Trump years so this is a bit shorter than most Bulletins.

If you missed yesterday’s Bulletin, you can find it here.

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… NYT: “When Alexis Wilkins, an aspiring country singer dating FBI director, Kash Patel, sang ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ at the NRA’s annual convention in Atlanta in the spring, she arrived with a formidable protective posse — a SWAT team from the bureau’s local field office. The two agents, members of a specialized unit trained to storm barricaded buildings and rescue hostages, had been sent there on Patel’s orders.”

… “But seeing that the event had been secured, and that Wilkins was in no apparent danger, they left before the event was over. She noticed. So did her boyfriend. Soon after, Patel ripped into the team’s commander, saying that his girlfriend had been left without taxpayer-funded defenders, and slamming what he saw as failure to communicate their movements up the chain of command during her time on the convention floor - where she sang and chatted with attendees.”

… “Current and former FBI officials said that the use of SWAT agents to protect Patel’s girlfriend was highly unusual, given their specialized and often dangerous duties such as executing high-risk warrants and investigating cases. Current and former officials said that the cornerstone of VIP protection lay in advance planning. But Patel’s reliance on tactical teams around the country appears to be done on an ad hoc basis, with agents in some instances getting little notice before being dispatched to protect Wilkins.”

… “In late Sept, bureau officials recalled agents on the tactical team to the FBI office in Salt Lake City, even after they had worked long hours in the wake of the killing of a longtime Trump ally, Charlie Kirk, in UT. They were reassigned to provide Wilkins with additional protection at a political event out of concern that she could also be targeted.”

… “Wilkins has also accompanied Patel on at least one of his trips abroad. In May, she flew to London to meet him at a secret national security conference at a resort outside of London. The director’s detail greeted her at the airport and used a bureau vehicle from the US embassy to take her to the lodge.”

… Over the weekend, Trump reposted things from accounts on X that appeared to be US MAGA supporters but were exposed as foreigners by the new app feature that allows users to identify their country of origin. One, ‘TRUMP ARMY’ is located in South Asia, ‘Commentary Donald J. Trump’ is located in Africa, and two others had notices indicated they were using VPNs to hide their country of origin.”

… In addition to amplifying foreigners posing as Americans, Trump also posted several things that came directly from QAnon accounts, which consisted of memes of Trump with lightning bolts or other cult-like imagery and headlines like: “Tick Tock,” “Nothing Can Stop What Is Coming,” and “Time to Obliterate the Deep State.”

… Marge Greene wasn’t impressed: “Q memes have not and obliterated the Deep State, and my colleagues constantly trying to pass loyalty tests instead of demanding what is right won’t help Americans pay their rent or stop corporations from buying up homes, buy their groceries, provide good paying jobs and stop foreigners with visas from stealing their jobs, stop American tax dollars from funding foreign wars and causes, or rebuild the value of the dollar.”

… Business Times: “In Trump’s second term, crypto assets transformed his family’s wealth. Now the Trumps – and their followers – are getting a crash course in the wild volatility ingrained in digital currencies. The value of a Trump-branded memecoin has fallen by about a quarter since Aug. Eric Trump’s stake in a Bitcoin mining venture has shed roughly half its value from its peak. Shares of Trump’s social media company, which started hoarding Bitcoin this year, are hovering near an all-time low.”

… “The sell-off is part of a broader rout that’s wiped out more than $1 trillion of value across the digital asset world. The Trump family’s fortune has fallen to about $6.7 billion from $7.7 billion in early Sept, a decline largely tied to its growing portfolio of crypto ventures. Everyday investors, who have more ways than ever before to invest in Trump-linked projects, stand to feel greater pain. Any speculator who bought Trump’s memecoin at its peak after it was announced inauguration weekend, for instance, would have lost almost the entire value of their investment by this month.”

… Eric Trump said he remains undaunted. He has repeatedly urged investors to double down, even in crypto market downturns: “What a great buying opportunity. People who buy dips and embrace volatility will be the ultimate winners. I have never been more bullish on the future of cryptocurrency and the modernization of the financial system.”

… “Shares of Trump Media & Technology, the parent company of the Truth Social platform, hit a record low on Nov 19. The value of the president’s stake in the firm fell by about $800 million since Sept. Trump Media, which is unprofitable, has been experimenting with several new business lines, including crypto.”

… “The Trump family’s flagship crypto project, World Liberty Financial, has its own name-brand token called WLFI. The cost of that token has plunged from 26 cents in early Sept to around 15 cents. The Trump family owns a store of WLFI tokens that had a paper value of nearly $6 billion at the peak. Today, they are worth about $3.15 billion.”

… Rep. Maria Salazar (R-FL) was excited on Fox today about the prospect of going to war with Venezuela: “We’re about to go in. We need to go in. Venezuela, for the American oil companies, will be a field day. We’re gonna be doing a favor to us, to our children, to our economy, to our oil companies to be able to liberate.”

… Former Republican Rep. Justin Amash: “No new wars!* *Exclusions apply. See Donald Trump for details.”

… Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) was asked on CNN if Democrats had discussions about how to do damage control if any prominent Democrats were named in the Epstein files: “I literally have not had one Democrat in the House or Senate come to us and say, ‘Hey, you better slow down, that might embarrass one of our people.’”

… Trump posted about tariffs: “The full benefit of the Tariffs has not yet been calculated in that many of the buyers of goods and products, in order to avoid paying the Tariffs in the short term, ‘STOCK UP’ by purchasing far more inventory than they can use in order to avoid Tariff payments in the short term. That heavy inventory purchase is now, however, wearing thin, and soon Tariffs will be paid on everything they apply to, without avoidance, and the amounts payable to the USA will SKYROCKET, over and above the already historic levels of dollars received. These payments will be RECORD SETTING, and put our Nation on a new and unprecedented course.”

… In other words, the impact of his tariffs on consumers and US businesses is about to get a lot worse. Many economists have noted what Trump posted here - that the full effect of his tariffs has not been felt yet by Americans because most businesses had some advance warning to build up their inventories. That enabled them to avoid passing tariffs on to many customers for a while. But that time is about to end. Bigly.

… CBS: “Per the Chinese embassy readout of the Trump-Xi call, the two leaders discussed ‘China’s principled position on the Taiwan question’ and, ‘The US understands how important the Taiwan question is to China.’ No White House readout yet.”

… Remember my prediction that when Trump met with Xi he agreed to sell out Taiwan in the near future to get China to buy soybeans. It’s coming.

… Axios: “Democratic politicians and activists are quietly lobbying to upend the way the party picks its presidential nominee by urging the use of ranked-choice voting. DNC chair Ken Martin and other top party officials have met privately with advocates who are pushing for the voting method to be expanded for the 2028 presidential primaries. Jamie Raskin, Biden pollster Celinda Lake, FairVote Action and other Dems pitched the idea at a late Oct meeting.”

… “Supporters of the change - which would allow voters to rank candidates in order of preference - told those at a DNC breakfast gathering in DC that it would strengthen and unite the party. They said it would prevent people’s votes from being ‘wasted’ after presidential candidates drop out, and encourage coalition-building among contenders.”

… Greenlander Orla Joelsen: “The US has attempted to arrange a high-level political meeting with representatives from Greenland without involving Denmark. According to the Danish newspaper Politiken, which has spoken to sources in the US, Greenland, and Denmark, the US has on several occasions sought to establish direct dialogue with Jens-Frederik Nielsen after he became Greenland’s new premier in April.”

… “The established practice is that both Denmark and Greenland must be present when foreign, security, and defense policy matters affecting Greenland are discussed. Despite this, the US has repeatedly attempted to bypass Denmark - even though foreign, defense, and security policy remain the responsibility of the central govt of Denmark. Premier Nielsen has rejected US attempts to hold meetings without Denmark.”

… Punchbowl: “CIA officials in Mexico City sent a cable to the agency’s HQ in Langley, VA, alarmed at Rep. Dan Crenshaw’s (R-TX) behavior during a congressional delegation meeting. CIA officials raised concerns about Crenshaw’s seemingly unprofessional behavior linked to drinking and decorum in the presence of the Mexican officials. Crenshaw was in Mexico as part of his role as the chair of the House Intel Committee’s cartel task force. He no longer chairs that task force, which has since been disbanded.”

… “The meeting also included Democratic Rep. Lou Correa (D-CA). Crenshaw took part in a toast that included crude language, which made women in the room uncomfortable, according to multiple sources. Speaker Johnson and House Intel committee Chair Rick Crawford (R-Ark.) banned Crenshaw from taxpayer-funded congressional delegation travel for 90 days after the incident. Crenshaw also gave up his role as chair of the cartel task force.”

… Statement from Crenshaw: “Anyone shocked by guys in uniform making a crass joke over a toast has never spent more than 5 minutes around the military. The only story here is a pathetic political hit job.”