I’ve been a little quiet on the Lawfare challenges to the DOGE mission in part because we’ve been sending CTH research files up through the silo to the legal eagles who need it. Additionally, few -if any- of the outside legal filings against the administration are going to survive judicial review.
Quite simply, most of what the public is witnessing, almost entirely driven by funded media outlets, is simple Lawfare. Remember, “Lawfare” in its purest form is not a legitimate legal challenge; it is a construct to create optics, frame narratives and fundraise for desperate leftists.
The underpinning of Lawfare is not designed to withstand legal scrutiny; it is a ruse, simply narrative and public opinion shaping. That’s it.
Interestingly a familiar name surfaced last night when District Judge John Bates essentially destroyed three of the legal challenges against Musk and DOGE when he determined that DOGE was acting as an “agency of government” appointed by President Trump. Executive agencies have the ability to detail their employees to other agencies to conduct review and audits at the request of the executive, Trump.
“For the reasons explained above, on the record as it currently stands and with limited briefing on the issue, the case law defining agencies indicates that plaintiffs have not shown a substantial likelihood that [DOGE] is not an agency. If that is so, [DOGE] may detail its employees to other agencies consistent with the Economy Act,” Judge Bates wrote.
This ruling opens up the Labor Department, Health and Human Services and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to review by the DOGE employees.
This gets interesting because Judge John Bates was a previous presiding judge of the FISA court and has spoken at length about supporting the FISA-702 process. Judge Bates has defended the FBI/DOJ/Contractor use of the NSA database.
Elon Musk has repeatedly targeted Bates over the last week on X – including calling for the judge’s impeachment – after Bates issued a decision in another case ordering multiple agencies to restore public health data after the Trump administration removed it.
Judge Bates may be doing a little, well, personal risk assessment, in the margins of his review.
President Trump Revokes Security Clearance of Lawfare Operatives, Including Norm Eisen and Andrew Weissmann
https://theconservativetreehouse.com/?s=security+clearance
Trump gets the last laugh
Backpfeifengesicht !
Genau.
Trying to see into my past as a kinder I think I recall my uncles using backpfeifengesicht around the pinochle table lol
Gesundheit!
Literal translation: “cheek whistle face” / meaning: someone whose face makes you want to punch him
Backpfeifengesicht is a perfect example of creativity in German insults. It is highly effective, yet politically correct and innocent enough to not have you bleeped out.
Moreover, it is one of the rare swear words that not only describe the person you want to offend but literally tells a story in itself. It consists of the parts Backpfeife and Gesicht. The latter simply means “face,” the first describes a specific kind of slap. Backpfeife is already a gem of a word. Literally, it translates to “cheek whistle.”
So when you give someone a Backpfeife, you hit him on his cheek so hard that he hears a whistle in his ears.
So if we go back to Backpfeifengesicht, the word describes a person that you want to hit with a tinnitus-inducing punch just by looking at his visage. What an excellent way to express your disrespect towards someone.
Ref: https://germanisweird.com/backpfeifengesicht/
❤️
This picture is from the days when they were sailing… weren’t they having a great time then?!
Don’t think they will be so smug in cuffs and ankle irons
With their jailhouse boyfriend’s initials tattooed next to their lips, on both sides.
Height of arrogance; thought they were indomitable.
Clean house
Going down?
Raskin wants us to believe he’s really talking about the Trump Administration, when in reality he’s talking to himself.
Psychological projection rolls off these clowns like it’s going out of style.
Isn’t that the usual pattern? And….they keep doing it! (Perfectly okay by me)
Scum. Arrogant self assured scum. May their fall be great and painful.
Presient post! Bravo. Now our AG has to go after their scheme from 2016 until today and issue RICO criminal charges against all involved, but especially these two. Needs to be done yesterday.
“We’re on an express elevator from Hell! Goin’ down!”
-PFC W. Hudson
Haha!
Raskin is being so loud because his wife is getting wealthy off the government. The ones that shout the loudest have the most to hide and lose.
Probably a silly question; but on which day do they ‘celebrate’ the Sabbath?
Payday.
I’ve always thought that existing contractor access to the various government databases was the Achilles Heel in the Lawfare cases.
If they deny DOGE access then they should be denying all contractors access.
I won’t dispute your reasoning, but as far as I know, DOGE and Elon Musk are not ‘contractors’
so I’d question tying one to the other
I would like to see Doge cancel those contracts outright
His ‘contractors’ argument is even more powerful than DOGE being an acting agency. The acting agency is lawful by presidential appointment/decree. The contractors are unlawful operands illegally accessing a govt database of highly personal communications of American citizens….for improper, unethical, and possibly unlawful use.
Apparently, DOGE took over an existing government Dept and its funding and changed its name but not its intent. I believe PDJT made Elon a special govt. employee and the team is working for DOGE as a govt agency so they are govt employees. When DOGE first began Elon was advertising for employees on X who had the passion. I wanted to apply but it’s in DC and I don’t have the wherewithal to get there and probably not qualified. But what fun, huh?
Oh, to becon that team, yes what fun…for a “geek” mathemetician/computer whiz, to join the team and well, that cartoon on Fox website says it all.
A young geek with a briefcase, at the IRS front desk, the lady behind the desk says” So, are you here for your audit?” and the geek says “well, yes,…I am here to audit YOU!”
Oh, the shedenfrude,…its just too much!
“Yesteryear’s young “Geeks”, dutch.
We are here approaching our 250th birthday because of their efforts which cost them much.
Two hundred and fifty years from now, I hope generations to come will look upon these young “Geeks of Doge” and honour their names as we do those who staked it all for our Republic.
Yes Ma’am our first geeks of the week back in the day. Was quite a time back then also to be alive. Payback then meant certain death.
If only we could see the treasonous satanist pay now like back in our founding days. Gods will be done. God bless the US
His will is being done, WorkforHim.
Which is why, knowing it…seeing it…we can rest easy as we stand back and watch Him work.
deleted my comment was covered by another Treeper already . 🙂
Just do it
The USDS agency was not created by just any president, but by the One:
The United States Digital Service (USDS) was created in 2014 by President Barack Obama. PDJT just renamed it the United States DOGE Service.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/establishing-and-implementing-the-presidents-department-of-government-efficiency/
Anyway, we know PDJT can walk into any fed establishment (it’s in the job description), and he can have his aides and minions help him. Elon is one of his minions.
Minon connotes servitude. I can’t see Musk that way.
Oh, but he is, much as George Washington was a servant.
There is a humility and resolve that grows with these men, and don’t confuse that humility with weakness.
Service vs servitude.Beeg difference.
Too much watching the Universal studios flicks featuring the Minions. 😁😎
It’s still USDS, VSGPDJT just changed “Digital” to “DOGE”.
If the judge rules DOGE is not an agency then he has to consider it as a contractor.
If you deny DOGE access as a contractor then you have to deny all contractors access.
The judge was not seeing the light. He was cornered.
…So long as that contractor has THAT access in his purview…
Most contractors in business (and probably government) are hopefully granted very narrow scope so they stay on task & can be cleanly terminated when done.
No, they are mostly now employees.
How do I remove the flag due to fat thumb syndrome
It takes at least 10 “flaggings” to see a comment automatically removed. The occasional error here and there really makes no difference.
Click it again. AFAIK it’s a “toggle” (click on, click off – just like a light switch on the wall)
No toggle. 😬
Huh. Could’ve sworn an Admin once told me it’s a toggle. But ok.
Musk and co. Are US government employees, SGE. More accessed direct accountability and access to all via PT and EOs.
You’re right, they’re not the same.
Musk was engaged directly by the President, who has plenary power over the Executive branch.
The contractors were engaged by various government agencies, based on the authority of a cabinet member appointed by the President.
Their engagement, or hiring, is based on an authority subordinate to that of the President.
This is where Judge Englemayer goes off the tracks, in suggesting that the very people hired by a previously appointed Secretary of the Treasury, have a superior claim to accessing Treasury data than the person appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate.
All Executive branch authority begins with the President and flows downward.
Musk/DOGE was engaged directly by the President and therefore should have a superior standing to contractors hired by an authority subordinate to the President.
The court denying DOGE access to government records puts into jeopardy the access of every contractor and may be part of the reason for this “pro-FISA” judge ruling as he did.
Just imagine if PDJT decided to fire all the defense and intel contractors.
Such a court ruling would give him all the ammunition he needed to do so.
Not that the President needs ammunition to fire anyone in the Executive branch.
DOGE is not a contractor as you have stated.
But that was the opposition’s poorly-researched argument, repeated multiple times on all of the anti-Trump corporate news networks and websites until it became more widely known how DOGE was legitimately created using the existing Congress-approved Digital Services Department created under Barack Ozero as part of his weaponization-of-government scheme.
“I’ve been a little quiet on the Lawfare challenges to the DOGE mission in part because we’ve been sending CTH research files up through the silo to the legal eagles who need it. “
Thank you Sundance. May God continue to bless and protect you.
Not that we expect any comment on this subject … but you have to wonder whether CTH is uploading files to replace those vindictively erased by the outgoing ‘Biden’ regime.
Hillary Clinton joked to reporters about whether she “wiped” her email server clean before giving it to the FBI.
“What? Like with a cloth or something?” – August 18, 2015
The thing is, its inherent in the nature of beaurocrats and beaurocracies, that they LOVE paperwork, and always, always, ALWAYS document everything in triplicate.
They learn that it is for their own “safety” they can avoud accountability, by making sure they documented evrrything.
I really do not think they can hide much, at this point…the money trails are well documented, as it never occurred to them PDJT, or anyone would actually look.
Like the Germans/Nazis at the end of WW2!
I have a personal story about exactly that….not here though….for another forum.
Reply to me sometime in the Daily Open thread if you spot a post of mine. I’ll relay a story my father told me concerning German precision documentation and a (good) citation given to my dad after WWII resulting from it.
(PS – I have the citation in my possession)
Does NSA have all the agencies data completely backed up?
I suspect that many bureaucrats do not realise that, unknown to them, their computer/laptop is being automatically and regularly backed up. Probably two copies saved (father/grandfather). Either on local networks or by the Cloud database.
Add to that all communications being saved.
Very difficult, if not impossible, as a user to ‘wipe’ clean.
AMEN!!!
Yes…..one of the few smart and correct judges. The others will likely be impeached and Tom Renz in his newsletter states according to 28USC judges MUST recuse themselves with serious conflicts of interest. So many do. Some are not US borne judges, some worked on or with NGOS RULING ETC.
Actually, I think what helped Judge Bates to change his mind is the research that is being done by researchers on X, when it came to light that he is married to Carol Rheese, who is a Democrat attornet; founder of Hope for Children in Ethiopia, and is a recipient of USAID funding.
It’s probably in his own best interests to change his mind.
So, if FBI Contractors can have unrestricted and unsupervised access to American’s emails, texts and phone calls including those linked to bank accounts, credit cards, Social Security accounts wire transfer requests and even IRS tax filings and refunds requested in emails then why would DOGE be prohibited from accessing federal computers.
Great comment!
I was reading about this yesterday. The decision was remarkable and also the judges decision to call DOGE an agency from the news article i read. DOGE attorneys said they were not and Agency, yet the Judge said they’re acting as one, therefore can continue operating per the Constitution. I don’t quite understand those legalities, but it works for me as long as they have access.
https://nypost.com/2025/02/15/us-news/doge-wins-access-to-sensitive-labor-hhs-and-cfpb-data-from-federal-judge/
Sie hassen dich. Yes, they hate us!
Funny thing is, they have no idea we hate them more than they hate us.
Federal agencies are subject to FOIA.
Yeah something odd about the judge insisting they’re an agency. I mean it’s true, they are. It just caught my eye, made my spidey sense tingle, something.
Federal judges have a very selective short memory..
Remember the Keystone XL Pipeline that Biden’s executive order arbitrarily cancelled on Day One?
President Trump had approved the Keystone Pipeline. It had passed all environmental restrictions and had obtained the required permits, right of way and purchased hundreds of millions of dollars in steel pipe and other materials. Contracts were signed and it was ready to go when Biden simply said NO!
Not a single federal judge ruled that Biden’s decision was arbitrary or that Keystone XL should be reimbursed for the billions of dollars invested in the project. In fact, almost every lawsuit filed for damages against the Biden Administration were dismissed for lack of standing or jurisdiction!
Now, compare this to the federal judge rulings on President Trump’s executive orders!
Dismissal of $15 Billion NAFTA Legacy Case on Keystone XL Pipeline Is Welcome.
https://www.citizen.org/news/dismissal-of-15-billion-nafta-legacy-case-on-keystone-xl-pipeline-is-welcome-but-billions-in-egregious-claims-still-remain/
!!!
There’s way too much smell of Obama in the actions of Biden.
That smell …. resulted in the name … JoeBama being used for Biden over the past 4 years.
Obama had permanent dibs on Sock Puppet JoeBama Biden’s pen and cellphone.
The Pen and Cellphone hearkens back to the “official” regime of Obama when he bragged about needing only his pen and cellphone to govern via EO.
“Stench” would be a better word.
Good point!
And Strzok just wiped his X.com account
EVERYTHING is recorded.
Fore ever and ever
LOL. He’s such a weasle.
That’s an insult to weasels!!!
<And Strzok just wiped his X.com account>
You mean…like with a cloth?
I think Elon will know how to find it. Hahaha
Really?
ROFLOL!!! Idiot!
Too late , his fate is written .
LFG
Grey Beaver heap big angry!
You misspelled stinky Grey Beaver
Hallelujah!! Lets dig!
Not so fast. Go look at case before Chutkan. She’s getting ready to shut it all down (or off). PDJT’s official legal team(s) better start getting stuff to higher courts. (Not that I expect Robert’s to be of any help, but you have to try.)
6-3 infavor of Trumpp
Did read somewhere POTUS essentially repurposed another agency but did not create something new?
Anyone?? Help me out.
I remember reading that too, but I can’t help. I can’t remember where I read it.
Yes. Obama created the Digital Service after the Obamacare website collapse, giving it relaxed hiring authority (doesn’t have to follow civil service rules) and access to all computer systems in the government. Congress approved it and gave it a budget. The Digital Service is a legitimate agency. Trump repurposed it as DOGE. DOGE is an agency with budget and Congressional approval and the ability to look at all computer systems.
Thanks for the info. Led me to this.
Sec. 3. DOGE Structure. (a) Reorganization and Renaming of the United States Digital Service. The United States Digital Service is hereby publicly renamed as the United States DOGE Service (USDS) and shall be established in the Executive Office of the President.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/establishing-and-implementing-the-presidents-department-of-government-efficiency/
Game. Set. And Match.
Party on.
The strategizing during the stolen 4-year Biden term to creat DOGE is certainly one thing I’m glad came out of that awful period.
Don’t know all the details and legal aspects, but apparently he repurposed an agency that was originally created under Obama to address the f*cked up Obamacare system. Since the agency already existed, Trump didn’t have to try to fight congress to create a new one.
That is correct…..US Digital Service(set up by Barky)!
Almost everyday, lately, I’m being reminded of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, where these words to ponder are set before us: “hoist on their own petard,” that is, the bad guys were blown up by their own bomb.
Somewhat distantly related in meaning is this from Numbers 32:23 — “Your sin will find you out.”
A favorite of mine! It was very much a “guy” joke.
You see, a petard was a primitive medieval grenade. It wasn’t thrown by hand, but lofted on a long stick.
Being primitive and medieval, it also tended to be a bit…wobbly.
Sometimes, the grenadier would hold his stick aloft, ready to toss, and the wobbly petard would fall off!
It fell off, landing at his feet, and thus…”Hoist! By his own petard!”
It was from rest in the vine
https://restinthevine.blogspot.com/2025/02/how-doge-came-to-be-by-kanekoa-great.html?m=1
Great blog!
Kanekoa the Great:
MORE: DOGE – A Lawyer’s Perspective – Tom Renz’s Newsletter
👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
Sweet!!!
Thank you very much 🙂
I saw it also. But cannot find source. It was explained-it was an agency that Obama set up trumps lawyers researched it completely and replaced the remit with the remit for doge.
I believe he repurposed an agency Obumbles originally created after his Obumbles Care sign up fiasco.
Much like the lawfare case, that resulted in SCOTUS reaffirming PDJT’s plenary authority, he is turning theirvown weopons against them.
If Obammy hadn’t shoved thru that F’d up Obammy care, with that totally banjaxed website, he wouldn’t have created the digital service, that is now repurposed as DOGE.
Its all so old testament biblical!
EDIT: already posted.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/establishing-and-implementing-the-presidents-department-of-government-efficiency/ section 3
from what i understand it was created during obama years to fix the obamacare website which was a disaster,but it was also granted power to work with all agencies computer systems.and it was funded by congress.also by this EO sounds like once doge hits its expiration date of july 4th 26 that it reverts back to the digital service.
Read Sundance’s previous post, covering that in detail…..
https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2025/02/15/musk-sends-termination-notice-to-dozen-workers-at-u-s-digital-services-office-the-preexisting-agency-doge-replaced/#more-269261
Imagine DOGE in NATO, CIA,FBI,NSA, etc
I am and it is wonderful, LOL!
Dogezilla Part 1:
Very much audit United States government.
Dogezilla Part 2:
Very much audit 57 states.
oh no, they say he’s got to go
Go go Dogezila, yeah
Conversation
KanekoaTheGreat
@KanekoaTheGreat
President Trump and Elon’s brilliant method for setting up DOGE
https://x.com/KanekoaTheGreat/status/1890091158107570262/photo/1
Judicial groveling and obsequiousness is a blessed thing to watch.
When the Govt. fears the people,…its such a beautiful thing to see, as Maxine Waters screams like she got her t*ts caught in a wringer washer, while the only slightly smarter members of Congress, wisely keep their mouths shut…
Wringer washer. Ha!. There’s not many of us left who remember these. Got my hand caught in one. I can’t imagine any other body parts getting caught.
Twin tub anyone?
Importantly, DOGE is a renaming of an Obama-era “innocent-sounding agency” whose actual purpose was to enable Obama to peer into any Federal or State database. That paranoia just might now be coming back to bite them, as the existing agency has been rebranded and given a new charter.
Audit Obamacare.
How many tens of billions of corrupt payoffs were made to insider insurance companies?
Then audit Obama. How many tens of millions of corrupt bribes categorized as ‘book advances’ were funneled to Barky and Big Mike, to build their real estate empire?
There is a nuance here that needs to be discussed.
DOGE is not acting upon anything found during their inspections, investigations, analysis, et al.
DOGE is reporting findings and making recommendations, with supporting evidence, to the Chief Executive and his officers … who decide to ACT or NOT TO ACT on those findings and recommendations.
DOGE is not firing nobody, DOGE is not stopping programs, DOGE is not clawing back money, DOGE is NOT making the decisions to ACT or NOT ACT.
This a a misconception and a misleading statement that is not helping the President win or to cement the final argument in public and possibly set up the final win before the Chief Justice Roberts’ roulette wheel.
That is my understanding, too. The audited agency acts on the recommendations.
Not the Agency but the Chief Executive of the US Executive Branch and authorized Officers of Executive Branch.
yes!
Yes. Which makes me wonder why is the misconception not being addressed by POTUS or the press secretary? I’m thinking because the Lawfare will be directed at the wrong person?
as long as the findings get in the public
I am fine with however the legalities run things
the dems and the rinos should be cooked
I concur!!
DC Super Bowl — Patriots Versus The Stealers
https://dailycaller.com/2025/02/12/hart-dc-super-bowl-patriots-versus-stealers/
Article III, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution
The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The Judges, both of the supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices during good Behaviour, and shall, at stated Times, receive for their Services a Compensation, which shall not be diminished during their Continuance in Office.
One could ask, “If a judge supports lawfare, is that good behavior?”
I can imagine that the House and/or the Senate censuring a judge for bad behavior, and (at least according to the Constitution) they can be tossed out!
One could also ask … why Chief Justice of the Federal Court system is not doing his job of oversight of the Federal Courts to ensure good behavior and correct bad behavior.
Justice Thomas Takes Aim At Insane Tactic Of Nationwide Injunctions (2018):
“Injunctions that prohibit the Executive Branch from applying a law or policy against anyone…have become increasingly common. District courts, including the one here, have begun imposing universal injunctions without considering their authority to grant such sweeping relief. These injunctions are beginning to take a toll on the federal court system—preventing legal questions from percolating through the federal courts, encouraging forum shopping, and making every case a national emergency for the courts and for the Executive Branch.
I am skeptical that district courts have the authority to enter universal injunctions. These injunctions did not emerge until a century and a half after the founding. And they appear to be inconsistent with longstanding limits on equitable relief and the power of Article III courts. If their popularity continues, this Court must address their legality.
[W]hy does this matter to non-lawyers? This is a question of who gets to decide the policy questions facing America: Is it our elected representatives, our elected president, or unelected lifetime-appointed federal judges?
Nationwide injunctions mean that each of the more than 600 federal district judges in the United States can freeze a law or regulation throughout the country — regardless of whether the other 599 disagree. That’s a threat to the proper functioning of the federal government for a number of reasons.
[Universal injunctions] at best “boi[l] down to a policy judgment” about how powers ought to be allocated among our three branches of government…But the people already made that choice when they ratified the Constitution.
In sum, universal injunctions are legally and historically dubious. If federal courts continue to issue them, this Court is dutybound to adjudicate their authority to do so.” …….
These are inferior courts trying to bind a President.
It would be like a deputy undersecretary or a Congressional staffer trying to boss the Chief Justice.
Past time to put a halt to this.
If only Justice Thomas supervised the 1st District Courts.
The 1st District is supervised by Justice Kenaji Brown Jackson.
The 9th District is Supervised by Justice Kagen.
The DC District is supervised by Chief Justice Roberts.
The “Supervising Justice” for each District is the reason these courts are being used.
Exactly. Pretty good tactics on the Left’s part.
Democrats have a very successful history of legislating through lawsuits filed before friendly Leftist judges!
No, it isn’t good behavior. Normie Eisen brags about a lot of stuff about which he could have kept his mouth shut, but he’s the nerd who had his underwear run up a flagpole in his school days. He’s getting even, so it can’t keep his mouth shut, and even puts it on video that he “judge shops” for Democrat judges.
Federal judge’s wife allegedly linked to USAID funding amid Trump-era ruling controversy
https://www.shorenewsnetwork.com/2025/02/11/rhode-island-judge-who-gave-trump-order-to-restore-funding-has-daughter-in-dept-of-education-loomer/
Merrick Garland’s wife is a consultant on “DEMOCRACY” and voting rights to local governments. Want to bet her $$$ comes through an NGO funded by the federal government? Same with his daughter and SIL who sell DEI and LGBTQ school books to local school districts!
Garland wasn’t working for $200k a year he was getting 10 times that through money laundering NGOs.
Looking forward to Sundance’s update on exactly what analysis he’s sending up into the various silos. To me, that was the most interesting and important statement in this entire article. Tell me more!
Yep.
Amen, Intrepid.
He may not be able to say more,…still waiting to hear the story, of exactly HOW we won, in 2024.
🎯
It probably weighs on Judge Bates that there are enough supporters among the MAGA members and “new friends” of President Trump, in Congress, to possibly make good on the impeachment threats …. there may be no conviction to impeach in the end but …. there is an evidence gathering process supporting the impeachment that could end with a referral to the DoJ.
A Judge influenced by politics ? !
Say it isn’t so !
None of these activist federal judges could withstand a close look!
Sotomayor sells children’s books to leftist publishers for millions of dollars. Kind of like Hunter Biden’s paintings!
What’s the current estimate on percentage of monies lost from HHS due to FWA. 1.7 TRILLION dollar annual budget. One dollar in ten, two…five? DOGE has their work cut out for them, that’s for sure. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK ELON
Time to put Judicial Supremacy to death and return to Founders “Constitutional Supremacy” administered through INDEPENDENT & CO-EQUAL branches.
I say use the Art 3, Section 1 good behavior clause to arrest and sue Judges and other lawfare participants and have the Courts police their own.
Speaking of Lawfare…found this on their site this week. Wondered if UK is attempting to assist “resistance” and help impede PDJT agenda…again.
From Lawfare Media – The Washington Post revealed the existence of the U.K. government order, known as a Technical Capability Notice (TCN), last week:
WP – Security officials in the United Kingdom have demanded that Apple create a back door allowing them to retrieve all the content any Apple user worldwide has uploaded to the cloud,people familiar with the matter told The Washington Post
The British government’s undisclosed order, issued last month, requires blanket capability to view fully encrypted material, not merely assistance in cracking a specific account, and has no known precedent in major democracies. Its application would mark a significant defeat for tech companies in their decades-long battle to avoid being wielded as government tools against their users, the people said, speaking under the condition of anonymity to discuss legally and politically sensitive issues.
However, writing on LinkedIn, Alexander Martin, the Record’s U.K. editor, expressed discomfort with the Washington Post’s description of the capability as a “back door.”
Martin – But my frustration with the phrase “back door” is how it misrepresents the British government’s intention. That intention is explicitly and intentionally to not create some kind of covert Top Secret capability to access encrypted data (e.g. one based on a cryptographic weakness only they know) … Instead, the point of TCNs is just to ensure that existing access methods remain available … as they were with iCloud up until November 2022.
In its article, the Washington Post noted Apple was originally going to offer its Advanced Data Protection “several years earlier, but backed off after objections from the FBI during the first term of President Donald Trump, who pilloried the company for not aiding in the arrest of ‘killers, drug dealers and other violent criminal elements’.”
Even if President Trump and broader political support is fickle, Martin doesn’t think it will make much difference. The fundamental problem, he said, was that “there is no solution that will win people round and [expending political capital fighting encryption] is not worth it.”
Of course, circumstances can change, and a large enough intelligence failure, particularly one that leads to a major terrorist incident, could motivate politicians to tackle this as a priority. We hope that doesn’t happen.
https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/governments-are-losing-the-crypto-wars
Ingsoc
Trump is forcing the Democrats and the Courts to fight and die on indefensible hills. What Trump is doing in several cases is now commanding supermajority support in the polls. Super. Majority. Support.
It’s one thing for hapless Democrats to dance on the skyline. That’s to be expected. But the lower courts?. They are playing games that could do severe damage the credibility of the entire judicial branch.
Robed politicians legislating from the bench only begins to capture the full measure of public sarcasm and disdain that is rising to engulf this nonsense.
The Supremes have to be concerned about all of this, or at least CJ Roberts has to be. He understands better than his colleagues that once respect for the courts is gone it ain’t coming back! That possibility alone is said to be why he reversed himself on Obamacare and let it stand.
More to the point, what Trump and DOGE are doing rests on solid legal ground. Here’s hoping the Supremes intervene at their earliest convenience and put an end to this nonsense should the appellate courts fail to do so.
He understands better than his colleagues that once respect for the courts is gone it ain’t coming back!
That train left a long time ago. Truly I ask who here has respect for the Courts?
Public faith in the Supreme Court has fallen along with other institutions to 27 percent (Gallup, 2023 data), which is well above Congress (aka Uniparty) at 8 percent. And the media, which is 16 percent. But comparable to the presidency at 26 percent.
– With trust in Congress that low, no wonder why people vote populist.
– With trust in media that low, no wonder why no one believes the daily narrative cha cha cha anymore.
– If trust in the courts falls below 20 percent, then that’s 2/3rds of the constitutional system stuck in terminal illegitimacy.
And yet people still vote.
That Gallup poll, as you said, was done in 2023.
I’m willing to bet that trust in the presidency, after Trump‘s been serving a while, will be quite a bit higher!
Ultimately, the power of the Presidency, is not in rules and regs, it is layed out in the Consititution, which sets up the POTUS as the one and only elected representative, who’s constituency is We, The PEOPLE.
With the bully pulpit, marshalling the power of the people, there is nothing he can not do.
Anyone still concerned that the House will flip Dem, at the midterms and then they will impeach him?
Ain’t gonna happen…
Cumulative bloodbaths have accrued and will wash across the land upon the most mandate affirming midterm election of our lifetimes.
No way Roberts! SCJ Clarence Thomas, now we’re talking!
Pedro….I got news for you…
It’s too late….
The entire system is corrupt…all three branches…
One branch is being cleaned up…but the other two?
No, there’s a WHOLE lot of trash needs taking to the dump…
When REAL justice comes….
NO MERCY!
Jamie Raskin is pathological POS lying ahole. He forgets he survived cancer and he’s son committed suicide so you would think he would change his evil ways and be a better person.
But, he’s still the same. He won’t change. KARMA
Sundance you’re the BEST writer😇. Thank you very much for always informing all of the thousand readers about “the truth and nothing but the truth so help me God.
I’m in the state of MD. My suspicion is that had NOTHING to do with cancer, imho.
But look at his new, thick head of hair AND nice, smooth skin!
I’m heading into Radiotherapy and am already on hormone treatment for prostate cancer and what you mention my consultant told me were potential side affects.
Given the high % of males that are affected it seems possible he had prostate cancer.
Not important but kinda funny:
Remember when DJT said he wouldn’t have time to give a dog in the White House during his first term as President.
Then he featured”Conan” the special operations military working dog. Made him famous.
Foreshadowing of “Doge” it seems to me. Irony, at least.
“,…Judge Bates may be doing a little, well, personal risk assessment, in thecmargins of his review.”
There is a LOT or this “personal risk assesment” goung around DC, its like the flu,…lol.
And, when Elon, on cue and as part of the excellent performance with PDJT in the Oval, brought up the curious situation of Millionaire Beaurocrats” he triggered massive “personal risk assesments” as people at all levels, all over DC and IN CONGRESS, simultaneously and spintaneously messed their drawers.
Peter Schweitzer has made a career of writing books on the millionaires in CONgress, but it never gained any traction.
Elon and Our President Trump elevated it, and amplified it into the public discoarse, and these millionare politicians have absolutely NO answer to the simple question, of how they became millionaires on their salary.
Every single one of them, including MTG, are corrupt. And so we CAN clean out CONGRESS, by exposing their corruption.
personal risk assessment
Does that include being told to go sleep on the couch?
This judge shopping is something Congress can effectively swat. Example: When a restraining order or preliminary injunction is sought against the president or any department in his cabinet, Congress can pass a law requiring that 5 federal district court judges must approve the issuance of the restraining order/injunction.
If those 5 judges do agree to issue the restraint, then there is an automatic appeal to be decided within two business days by a 5 judge panel on the relevant court of appeals.
Congress fully has the power to do this and while at it, the DC Circuit needs to be absorbed into VA and MD. Not ideal, but certainly an improvement from the current status quo.
For all of the things the president is doing, I am wondering when Congress is going to start doing something.
Some of these people are truly loyal, to the winning side.
“…Lawfare is not designed to withstand legal scrutiny; it is a ruse, simply narrative and public opinion shaping…”
But public opinion isn’t shaping up to the Left’s liking as once it did because the Legacy Media’s credibility is shot!
Case in point was when Maxine Waters and her motley crew of House Dems tried to storm the Department of Education building for no other reason than to get on the evening news…only to be rebuffed by a stoic security guard at the entrance. The whole group looked like spoiled, overage children having multiple tantrums over not getting their way!
The lot of them got on the news but the only one who ended up smelling like a rose was the security guard! Could there be any worse optics for the Democrats than that? What would old James Carville say?
My point is the public has had it up to here with grandstanding by the Left…especially when it involves lawfare!
Seems as though Judge Bates smells the coffee and will do what he feels is the expedient thing to cover his posterior and stay out of the bean grinder!
Brilliant!
Deep thinker🙄
Special Guest: Attorney Margo Cleveland
February 15, 2025
Hour 2 of 3: John chats with Attorney Margo Cleveland about President Trump, Congress, Courts, Laws, Budget Cuts, and political uproar surrounding many moves that have come in the last two weeks into the new presidency, and the left side
https://omny.fm/shows/the-john-loughlin-show/special-guest-attorney-margo-cleveland
My @wpro interview with @ProfMJCleveland cutting through the political spin and media distortion of the court cases against the @realDonaldTrump administration. Listen & Learn.
So Judge Bates said that DOGE “may detail its employees to other agencies consistent with the Economy Act”. Okay, but whatever the Economy Act is, why does the judge have to reference some old act of Congress instead of just relying on the Constitutional authority of the Chief Executive of the United States to detail his subordinate employees to whichever of his agencies he needs them at to do the duties he has assigned them to perform?
People nervous, Judge?
The judge should be a bit nervous as well.
I wonder what President Trump has on Judge Bates?
“We caught them all!”
Send them to the Bates Motel!
As I’ve recently written, if there exists a “bad judge”, Impeachment by Congress is not the only Constitutional provision to effect removal. …
In fact, Impeachment is only a political process applicable and limited to certain specified allegations set forth in the Constitution.
Alternatively, if Article. III. judges of “inferior courts” only “hold their Offices during good Behaviour”, then given that the Constitution contains no unnecessary words and “supreme” and “inferior” have clear meanings, the instances of bad Behaviour (including impeachable offenses) give rise to judicial controversies which only the courts can consider (not Congress).
As well the Supreme Court has administrative responsibility for all Article. III. courts pursuant to the “separation of powers”.
Last, “bad Behaviour” had historical meaning at the time of and before (both in the Colonies and England) 1791.
That today Article. III. judges and great Constitutional Legal Scholars are reluctant to “qualify, life-time tenure” (no doubt because it “suggests humble human traits among the ‘select'” of their collegial body) but will arbitrarily place limits on the God-given rights of the “subjects” of this Republic and the absolute restrictions on the limited powers delegated from the People specified in the Constitution including Amendments I. through X to the “government” …
Well, I would not want to be “disappeared” by the “elites” lead by a eunuch who cannot define a “woman”, a wise Latina, or any of the masses who for example don’t know the contents of the Bill of Rights or what “legal positivism” means.
“This ruling opens up the Labor Department, Health and Human Services” –
My OWED arrears child support is at 38k, the child is now 34. Worthless government agency called CSS. It’s comical “child support”.
Mr President blow this grift up.
Funny you mention. My you tube got bombed with vids of a false rumor that Trump had signed an executive order allowing Parents paying child support to claim the deduction. It was false, but their was a lot of celebration over the idea. My gut tells me something may be in the works.
Its obvious the judge has”cut bait”.😂
Perhaps when DOGE has completed their initial audit in the D.C. swamp they could dispatch one of their tech geniuses to S.W. Oregon to help us (local citizens) find a couple of missing MILLION $ Covid funds sent to our county. It seems the Curry County Board of Commissioners may need assistance.
All it will take to shut lawfare down at the federal level is for the House to impeach one of these judges. The critter’s trial before the Senate would make for riveting television. Watching the senators sitting in judgment bob and weave, desperate for any excuse to render the flunky not guilty, would require a heck of a lot of popcorn.
Sundance,
Can you write about how the impact of the debt ceiling? I saw they are discussing raising it. But, I think it works in favor of the administration to leave it as is currently.
it seems that ceiling might create a hard stop for the lawsuits and other efforts to stop the waste, fraud, and abuse. Consider that DOGE and the buyouts are a prelude to the eventual RIF which will be declared one of the “extraordinary measures” deployed by PDJT to keep the Federal Government operating.
Thanks for your work.
JoeS
Want to see an interesting map? Go to Zillow, and pull up Arlington, VA.
Good grief….nothing but red dots. I hope they don’t all come to NC. We are already purple from people coming to NC from north of us.
I was looking at DC and surrounding area this morning. 6420 homes for sale on Zillow
Unless DC, VA and MD keep property records private it would not be hard to match the properties being listed to who it is that owns the property.
“. I’ve been a little quiet on the Lawfare challenges to the DOGE mission in part because we’ve been sending CTH research files up through the silo to the legal eagles who need it. ”
Hmmm, ok, good to know and thank you for sharing that.
Sundance, thank you for your service to this country!
‘…District Judge John Bates essentially destroyed three of the legal challenges against Musk and DOGE…’
‘ This gets interesting because Judge John Bates was a previous presiding judge of the FISA court and has spoken at length about supporting the FISA-702 process. Judge Bates has defended the FBI/DOJ/Contractor use of the NSA database. ‘
The pattern appears to be:
Supporting actions/powers of the Executive regime opposed by many as overreaching.
Whether 4th Amendment infringements, or anything else breaking impediments to unbridled Executive power.
MAGA seems to be cheering this on at the moment, but it would be prudent to consider where unchecked Executive power could lead.
Some have suggested that this is all part of a larger stratagem to accrue such unchecked power to the Executive, for purposes not yet revealed.
https://dailycallernewsfoundation.org/2025/02/15/the-lefts-sue-everything-that-moves-strategy-may-end-up-delivering-trump-ultimate-victory/
‘ Harvard law professor Jeannie Suk Gersen noted in The New Yorker that lawyers likely predicted Trump’s early actions would be challenged and ultimately land at the Supreme Court. “This makes Trump’s legal strategy intelligible,” she wrote.
“[W]hat is playing out through a veneer of chaos is a deliberate and organized tactical program to undertake actions that provoke a raft of lawsuits, some of which could become good vehicles for establishing a constitutional vision in which the President has sole authority over the entire executive branch,” she wrote. ‘
I read that Marc Elias is behind all of the new Lawfare against Trump and DOGE. He has a team of well known Lawfare lawyers to conduct all of this. My dream is the Trump DOJ prosecutes all of them for Lawfare and imposes upon them the full cost the federal government must spend to defend its constitutional actions.
Nothing like watch Pigs at the feeding trough…
A law the Lawfare group may be violating is the closest thing the federal government has to a law against Barratry, an old law that makes using litigation to harass, obstruct, and exact personal revenge illegal. Typically a misdemeanor, like terroristic threats, Barratry tries to deter and eliminate the bad faith use of litigation.
https://www.bloomberglaw.com/external/document/XBMO9K90000000/litigation-overview-sanctions-under-28-u-s-c-1927-for-vexatious-