While I haven\u2019t checked out Polymarket yet, my guess is that the \u201cno\u201d contract is trading right around the Browns Super Bowl chances.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not a great look for an already deeply unpopular regime. But when life gives you a lemon\u2026 directly disobey multiple federal courts finding no legal basis for a lawful arrest.<\/p>\n
Don Lemon, in this case. Abbe Lowell released a statement on behalf of his client, announcing that federal agents had arrested the journalist in Los Angeles while he was covering the Grammy awards.<\/p>\n The DOJ has been trying \u2014 and spectacularly failing \u2014 to arrest Lemon for a while now. Attorney General Pam Bondi keeps tweeting about Lemon\u2019s role in a \u201ccoordinated attack\u201d on a January 18th service at Cities Church in St. Paul. In reality, protesters disrupted the service to call out pastor David Easterwood \u2014 who moonlights as the leader of the local ICE field office. Lemon did not participate in the protest, but did livestream the event as a journalist. <\/p>\n The arrest is at once shocking and completely unsurprising. Shocking because the DOJ\u2019s attempt to contrive any legal justification to arrest Lemon already earned a thorough and absolute ass-kicking in federal court. When federal prosecutors initially sought arrest warrants for Lemon and four others, Magistrate Judge Douglas Micko took one look at their evidence and laughed them out of court, refusing to sign the warrants for lack of probable cause. Unwilling to accept this loss, the DOJ first tried to convince Chief Judge Patrick Schiltz to overrule the magistrate judge and, when he raised concerns that this would be, you know, baseless and possibly illegal<\/em>, the DOJ ducked out of a scheduled hearing and tried to convince the Eighth Circuit to issue a writ of mandamus ordering the judge to issue the warrant. <\/p>\n The appellate panel did not issue the writ and the DOJ dropped the request. But the whole episode did give us an entertaining right-wing social media slapfight<\/a>.<\/p>\n This should have marked the end of a troubling campaign to punish a journalist for journalisming, but what this DOJ lacks in professionalism and legal acumen they more than make up for in creativity. Unable to secure a warrant, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced that she directed<\/em> federal agents to arrest the journalists.<\/p>\n At my direction, early this morning federal agents arrested Don Lemon, Trahern Jeen Crews, Georgia Fort, and Jamael Lydell Lundy, in connection with the coordinated attack on Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota.<\/p>\n More details soon.<\/p>\n \u2014 Attorney General Pamela Bondi (@AGPamBondi) January 30, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n What does that mean? Who knows? Though it would suggest that the government went behind the backs of all the judges and found a grand jury willing to indict a ham sandwich (not the easiest task for them these days<\/a>) based on the paucity of facts that left multiple federal judges unimpressed. As Marcy Wheeler notes, Abbe Lowell is almost certainly going to get a look at those transcripts:<\/p>\n Note: Given that Abbe Lowell (who is writing selective prosecution challenges in bulk these days) represents Don Lemon and given that two judges said there was no probable cause here, yeah, it is likely Lowell will ask for and get the grand jury transcripts.<\/p>\n \u2014 emptywheel (@emptywheel.bsky.social)<\/a> 2026-01-30T13:58:58.167Z<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n Even for this administration, it\u2019s a wild act of defiance. And defiance is<\/em> the accurate term. Don\u2019t fall for the vapid commentary from Trump\u2019s dumbest cheerleaders:<\/p>\n The media aren\u2019t reporting that dad said yes\u2026 after mom told me no!<\/p>\n Look, it\u2019s one thing to go to a grand jury from jump and another to do it explicitly because multiple judges told you that you\u2019ve shown up in court with nothing but your genitals in your hands. Grand juries enjoy considerable deference, but if there\u2019s ever a case to yeet an indictment, it\u2019s when the DOJ \u2014 having lost in three<\/em> successive courts \u2014 takes the same thin gruel of evidence to a grand jury to snow them into accepting evidence already judicially determined to fall short of muster.<\/p>\n In any event, having defied the judges, agents descended on the journalists. In the case of Minnesota-based journalist Georgia Fort, masked law enforcement showed up at her door. As many have noted, a masked man knocking on the door and pretending to be a cop is exactly how Melissa Hortman and her husband were murdered<\/a>.<\/p>\n Minnesota based Independent Journalist GEORGIA FORT has been arrested for filming a protest of the church pastor that works as an ICE manager. SPREAD THE WORD! Georgia has been doing outstanding reporting from ground zero!<\/p>\n \u2014 The Letterhack (@theletterhack.bsky.social)<\/a> 2026-01-30T13:23:08.897Z<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n Which should prompt another conversation about what it means to the rule of law to have law enforcement running around like Temu Batman. The HBO continuation of Watchmen<\/em> made a world-building point out of cops wearing masks because the very notion would signal to the audience that the setting was a dystopian and fascist hell. Now it\u2019s every day.<\/p>\n Bondi later released a video<\/a> claiming that these charges are about protecting the right to worship, an outrageous claim to make given that ICE has used church services as a hunting ground<\/a> for months. <\/p>\n Meanwhile the White House exercised its traditional restraint, posting the picture of a black journalist with a chain emoji. <\/p>\n When life gives you lemons\u2026\u00a0\u26d3\ufe0f pic.twitter.com\/wxry0fudOj<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 The White House (@WhiteHouse) January 30, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n As a reminder, there are handcuff emojis\u2026 the White House decided to go with chains.<\/p>\n While all this is going on, you might have missed that the DOJ has got another grand jury cooking, and based on this subpoena, they appear to be looking into criminal charges against the Mayor of Minneapolis.<\/p>\n Here is the grand jury subpoena sent to the Minneapolis Mayor\u2019s Office pic.twitter.com\/t7gAsWUQo9<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Adam Steinbaugh (@adamsteinbaugh) January 30, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n Noted bleeding heart liberal Antonin Scalia already drove a stake through the heart of this possible charge. In Printz v. United States<\/em> Scalia explained the federal government cannot \u201ccommandeer\u201d state and local law enforcement to do its bidding. The case dealt with the Brady Act\u2019s requirement that local sheriffs conduct background checks on gun purchases, but Scalia\u2019s reasoning was broader: states have a \u201cresiduary and inviolable sovereignty\u201d and the feds can\u2019t just \u201cimpress into its service\u2026 the police officers of the 50 States.\u201d There\u2019s a whole lot of James Madison cheerleading about protecting against tyranny, but the point is local law enforcement doesn\u2019t have to give ICE jack squat. <\/p>\n Even for an administration committed to distraction, this seems like a lot to drop in one day. It\u2019s almost as though there might be more to this\u2026<\/p>\n BREAKING: Trump’s Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche just basically said that Americans won’t get any information on any other men who abused girls with Jeffrey Epstein.<\/p>\n He was asked: “Is the public going to learn the identities of the men who abused the girls?”<\/p>\n He responds:\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/eD2C9w5OD2<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Ed Krassenstein (@EdKrassen) January 30, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n That\u2019s Deputy AG Todd Blanche, taking the stage to announce the release of the Epstein files! Several weeks late and several pages short. The release withholds tons of material, which Blanche brushes off as irrelevant\u2026 trust us!<\/em> As the above clip suggests, he also suggests that the release will do what it can to hide the names of the abusers.<\/p>\n That has not gone to plan\u2026<\/p>\n DOJ has since killed this link. This is what was there: https:\/\/t.co\/urnzMvyccO<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/qXXmQNYhu7<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Jake Tapper \ud83e\udd85 (@jaketapper) January 30, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n Do these people have the vaguest clue how discovery works? They can\u2019t even distract without calling attention to their own distractions. <\/p>\n It\u2019s so much to wade through. And that\u2019s the point. Every one of these stories deserved full treatment from a legal publication, but there simply aren\u2019t enough hours in the day or writers on staff. It makes this such a grueling end of week fire drill.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t they understand we all just want to finish up our day and go see MELANIA like everyone else?!?<\/p>\n The post It\u2019s \u2018Flood The Zone Friday\u2019 As DOJ Arrests Black Journalists Under KKK Act, Probes Criminal Charges For Minneapolis, And Drops (A Sliver Of) The Epstein Files<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n This is what happens when flooding the zone meets Friday news dump. Two of DC\u2019s most infamous distraction techniques came together over the last 24 hours, putting a strain on any legal analyst trying to flag and explain what\u2019s going on.<\/p>\n Trump is suing the federal government to get $10 billion in taxpayer dollars<\/a> over the \u201cperfect\u201d leaked tax records that Trump himself promised to disclose publicly. After breaching his promise and being proven a liar, he realized that he can just sue his own government. Will Attorney General Pam Bondi honor her oath to the country and tell him \u201cno way, we\u2019ll see you in court!\u201d <\/p>\n While I haven\u2019t checked out Polymarket yet, my guess is that the \u201cno\u201d contract is trading right around the Browns Super Bowl chances.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not a great look for an already deeply unpopular regime. But when life gives you a lemon\u2026 directly disobey multiple federal courts finding no legal basis for a lawful arrest.<\/p>\n Don Lemon, in this case. Abbe Lowell released a statement on behalf of his client, announcing that federal agents had arrested the journalist in Los Angeles while he was covering the Grammy awards.<\/p>\n The DOJ has been trying \u2014 and spectacularly failing \u2014 to arrest Lemon for a while now. Attorney General Pam Bondi keeps tweeting about Lemon\u2019s role in a \u201ccoordinated attack\u201d on a January 18th service at Cities Church in St. Paul. In reality, protesters disrupted the service to call out pastor David Easterwood \u2014 who moonlights as the leader of the local ICE field office. Lemon did not participate in the protest, but did livestream the event as a journalist. <\/p>\n The arrest is at once shocking and completely unsurprising. Shocking because the DOJ\u2019s attempt to contrive any legal justification to arrest Lemon already earned a thorough and absolute ass-kicking in federal court. When federal prosecutors initially sought arrest warrants for Lemon and four others, Magistrate Judge Douglas Micko took one look at their evidence and laughed them out of court, refusing to sign the warrants for lack of probable cause. Unwilling to accept this loss, the DOJ first tried to convince Chief Judge Patrick Schiltz to overrule the magistrate judge and, when he raised concerns that this would be, you know, baseless and possibly illegal<\/em>, the DOJ ducked out of a scheduled hearing and tried to convince the Eighth Circuit to issue a writ of mandamus ordering the judge to issue the warrant. <\/p>\n The appellate panel did not issue the writ and the DOJ dropped the request. But the whole episode did give us an entertaining right-wing social media slapfight<\/a>.<\/p>\n This should have marked the end of a troubling campaign to punish a journalist for journalisming, but what this DOJ lacks in professionalism and legal acumen they more than make up for in creativity. Unable to secure a warrant, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced that she directed<\/em> federal agents to arrest the journalists.<\/p>\n At my direction, early this morning federal agents arrested Don Lemon, Trahern Jeen Crews, Georgia Fort, and Jamael Lydell Lundy, in connection with the coordinated attack on Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota.<\/p>\n More details soon.<\/p>\n \u2014 Attorney General Pamela Bondi (@AGPamBondi) January 30, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n What does that mean? Who knows? Though it would suggest that the government went behind the backs of all the judges and found a grand jury willing to indict a ham sandwich (not the easiest task for them these days<\/a>) based on the paucity of facts that left multiple federal judges unimpressed. As Marcy Wheeler notes, Abbe Lowell is almost certainly going to get a look at those transcripts:<\/p>\n Note: Given that Abbe Lowell (who is writing selective prosecution challenges in bulk these days) represents Don Lemon and given that two judges said there was no probable cause here, yeah, it is likely Lowell will ask for and get the grand jury transcripts.<\/p>\n \u2014 emptywheel (@emptywheel.bsky.social)<\/a> 2026-01-30T13:58:58.167Z<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n Even for this administration, it\u2019s a wild act of defiance. And defiance is<\/em> the accurate term. Don\u2019t fall for the vapid commentary from Trump\u2019s dumbest cheerleaders:<\/p>\n The media aren\u2019t reporting that dad said yes\u2026 after mom told me no!<\/p>\n Look, it\u2019s one thing to go to a grand jury from jump and another to do it explicitly because multiple judges told you that you\u2019ve shown up in court with nothing but your genitals in your hands. Grand juries enjoy considerable deference, but if there\u2019s ever a case to yeet an indictment, it\u2019s when the DOJ \u2014 having lost in three<\/em> successive courts \u2014 takes the same thin gruel of evidence to a grand jury to snow them into accepting evidence already judicially determined to fall short of muster.<\/p>\n In any event, having defied the judges, agents descended on the journalists. In the case of Minnesota-based journalist Georgia Fort, masked law enforcement showed up at her door. As many have noted, a masked man knocking on the door and pretending to be a cop is exactly how Melissa Hortman and her husband were murdered<\/a>.<\/p>\n Minnesota based Independent Journalist GEORGIA FORT has been arrested for filming a protest of the church pastor that works as an ICE manager. SPREAD THE WORD! Georgia has been doing outstanding reporting from ground zero!<\/p>\n \u2014 The Letterhack (@theletterhack.bsky.social)<\/a> 2026-01-30T13:23:08.897Z<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n Which should prompt another conversation about what it means to the rule of law to have law enforcement running around like Temu Batman. The HBO continuation of Watchmen<\/em> made a world-building point out of cops wearing masks because the very notion would signal to the audience that the setting was a dystopian and fascist hell. Now it\u2019s every day.<\/p>\n Bondi later released a video<\/a> claiming that these charges are about protecting the right to worship, an outrageous claim to make given that ICE has used church services as a hunting ground<\/a> for months. <\/p>\n Meanwhile the White House exercised its traditional restraint, posting the picture of a black journalist with a chain emoji. <\/p>\n When life gives you lemons\u2026\u00a0\u26d3\ufe0f pic.twitter.com\/wxry0fudOj<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 The White House (@WhiteHouse) January 30, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n As a reminder, there are handcuff emojis\u2026 the White House decided to go with chains.<\/p>\n While all this is going on, you might have missed that the DOJ has got another grand jury cooking, and based on this subpoena, they appear to be looking into criminal charges against the Mayor of Minneapolis.<\/p>\n Here is the grand jury subpoena sent to the Minneapolis Mayor\u2019s Office pic.twitter.com\/t7gAsWUQo9<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Adam Steinbaugh (@adamsteinbaugh) January 30, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n Noted bleeding heart liberal Antonin Scalia already drove a stake through the heart of this possible charge. In Printz v. United States<\/em> Scalia explained the federal government cannot \u201ccommandeer\u201d state and local law enforcement to do its bidding. The case dealt with the Brady Act\u2019s requirement that local sheriffs conduct background checks on gun purchases, but Scalia\u2019s reasoning was broader: states have a \u201cresiduary and inviolable sovereignty\u201d and the feds can\u2019t just \u201cimpress into its service\u2026 the police officers of the 50 States.\u201d There\u2019s a whole lot of James Madison cheerleading about protecting against tyranny, but the point is local law enforcement doesn\u2019t have to give ICE jack squat. <\/p>\n Even for an administration committed to distraction, this seems like a lot to drop in one day. It\u2019s almost as though there might be more to this\u2026<\/p>\n BREAKING: Trump’s Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche just basically said that Americans won’t get any information on any other men who abused girls with Jeffrey Epstein.<\/p>\n He was asked: “Is the public going to learn the identities of the men who abused the girls?”<\/p>\n He responds:\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/eD2C9w5OD2<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Ed Krassenstein (@EdKrassen) January 30, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n That\u2019s Deputy AG Todd Blanche, taking the stage to announce the release of the Epstein files! Several weeks late and several pages short. The release withholds tons of material, which Blanche brushes off as irrelevant\u2026 trust us!<\/em> As the above clip suggests, he also suggests that the release will do what it can to hide the names of the abusers.<\/p>\n That has not gone to plan\u2026<\/p>\n DOJ has since killed this link. This is what was there: https:\/\/t.co\/urnzMvyccO<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/qXXmQNYhu7<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Jake Tapper \ud83e\udd85 (@jaketapper) January 30, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n Do these people have the vaguest clue how discovery works? They can\u2019t even distract without calling attention to their own distractions. <\/p>\n It\u2019s so much to wade through. And that\u2019s the point. Every one of these stories deserved full treatment from a legal publication, but there simply aren\u2019t enough hours in the day or writers on staff. It makes this such a grueling end of week fire drill.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t they understand we all just want to finish up our day and go see MELANIA like everyone else?!?<\/p>\n The post It\u2019s \u2018Flood The Zone Friday\u2019 As DOJ Arrests Black Journalists Under KKK Act, Probes Criminal Charges For Minneapolis, And Drops (A Sliver Of) The Epstein Files<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This is what happens when flooding the zone meets Friday news dump. Two of DC\u2019s most infamous distraction techniques came together over the last 24 hours, putting a strain on any legal analyst trying to flag and explain what\u2019s going on. Trump is suing the federal government to get $10 billion in taxpayer dollars over […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":143018,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-143030","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-above_the_law"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xira.com\/p\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Headshot-300x200-1RWyCK.jpg?fit=300%2C200&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143030","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=143030"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143030\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/143018"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=143030"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=143030"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=143030"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/abovethelaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/01\/Lowell.jpeg?resize=1080%2C1350&ssl=1\" "\\"\\"")
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Joe Patrice<\/a>\u00a0is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer<\/a>. Feel free to\u00a0email<\/a> any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on\u00a0Twitter<\/a>\u00a0or Bluesky<\/a> if you\u2019re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n
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\nJoe Patrice<\/a>\u00a0is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer<\/a>. Feel free to\u00a0email<\/a> any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on\u00a0Twitter<\/a>\u00a0or Bluesky<\/a> if you\u2019re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n