P. Andrew Torrez
@andrewtorrez.bsky.social
HLS '97, ex-BigLaw
Practicing lawyer and cohost of the @lawandchaospod.bsky.social podcast with @lizdye.bsky.social
READ MY STUFF! lawandchaospod.com
LISTEN TO MY STUFF! patreon.com/lawandchaospod
he/him
Practicing lawyer and cohost of the @lawandchaospod.bsky.social podcast with @lizdye.bsky.social
READ MY STUFF! lawandchaospod.com
LISTEN TO MY STUFF! patreon.com/lawandchaospod
he/him
Reposted by P. Andrew Torrez
National media should really be covering the fact thay every major school, museum, and arts institution in the Twin Cities, and hundreds of local businesses are closed tomorrow to protest federal occupation.
Nothing like this at this scale has happened anywhere in America anytime in living memory.
Nothing like this at this scale has happened anywhere in America anytime in living memory.
January 22, 2026 at 8:25 PM
National media should really be covering the fact thay every major school, museum, and arts institution in the Twin Cities, and hundreds of local businesses are closed tomorrow to protest federal occupation.
Nothing like this at this scale has happened anywhere in America anytime in living memory.
Nothing like this at this scale has happened anywhere in America anytime in living memory.
Reposted by P. Andrew Torrez
As an addendum, the feds are now 0 - 15 (by my count) in prosecutions deriving from Operation Midway Blitz.
You can read more about how they keep losing here:
You can read more about how they keep losing here:
January 22, 2026 at 10:15 PM
As an addendum, the feds are now 0 - 15 (by my count) in prosecutions deriving from Operation Midway Blitz.
You can read more about how they keep losing here:
You can read more about how they keep losing here:
Reposted by P. Andrew Torrez
One anonymous special agent: "I did not go to law school, go to Quantico and work counterterrorism operations overseas to be doing traffic control for arrest-a-brown-person day."
Kash Patel’s FBI Is Making America Less Safe, Current and Former Employees Say (Gift Article)
Forty-five current and former employees on the changes they say are undermining the agency and making America less safe.
www.nytimes.com
January 22, 2026 at 7:41 PM
One anonymous special agent: "I did not go to law school, go to Quantico and work counterterrorism operations overseas to be doing traffic control for arrest-a-brown-person day."
Reposted by P. Andrew Torrez
It’s hard to accurately describe what is happening in Minneapolis without sounding crazy.
Unmarked rental vans all over the city, with people in military gear and no id jumping out of them to take captive anyone who looks nonwhite or who makes political speech they disagree with.
Unmarked rental vans all over the city, with people in military gear and no id jumping out of them to take captive anyone who looks nonwhite or who makes political speech they disagree with.
January 22, 2026 at 2:12 PM
It’s hard to accurately describe what is happening in Minneapolis without sounding crazy.
Unmarked rental vans all over the city, with people in military gear and no id jumping out of them to take captive anyone who looks nonwhite or who makes political speech they disagree with.
Unmarked rental vans all over the city, with people in military gear and no id jumping out of them to take captive anyone who looks nonwhite or who makes political speech they disagree with.
Reposted by P. Andrew Torrez
Jim Jordan cuts off Jack Smith when he describes that they paid someone to analyze video evidence to show that people came directly from the Ellipse to attack the Capitol. Hope to hell some Dem follows up.
[They can show it with Danny Rodriguez, who almost killed Michael Fanone.]
[They can show it with Danny Rodriguez, who almost killed Michael Fanone.]
January 22, 2026 at 5:20 PM
Jim Jordan cuts off Jack Smith when he describes that they paid someone to analyze video evidence to show that people came directly from the Ellipse to attack the Capitol. Hope to hell some Dem follows up.
[They can show it with Danny Rodriguez, who almost killed Michael Fanone.]
[They can show it with Danny Rodriguez, who almost killed Michael Fanone.]
Our take on yesterday's oral argument in Trump v. Cook and the truly bizarre background assumption that when the President vomits nonsense on his private social media platform, that counts as legal notice.
with @lizdye.bsky.social
www.lawandchaospod.com/p/scotus-ske...
with @lizdye.bsky.social
www.lawandchaospod.com/p/scotus-ske...
SCOTUS Skeptical that Truth Social Is Real Life
Solicitor General Sauer needs to touch grass.
www.lawandchaospod.com
January 22, 2026 at 3:42 PM
Our take on yesterday's oral argument in Trump v. Cook and the truly bizarre background assumption that when the President vomits nonsense on his private social media platform, that counts as legal notice.
with @lizdye.bsky.social
www.lawandchaospod.com/p/scotus-ske...
with @lizdye.bsky.social
www.lawandchaospod.com/p/scotus-ske...
Okay, admit it, who else looked up the Guano Islands Act of 1856??
January 22, 2026 at 12:59 AM
Okay, admit it, who else looked up the Guano Islands Act of 1856??
Reposted by P. Andrew Torrez
Thanks, Eighth Circuit
U.S. Customs and Border Patrol Cmdr. Greg Bovino is seen deploying a gas canister at Mueller Park in south Minneapolis this afternoon.
Video by Ben Luhmann.
Video by Ben Luhmann.
January 22, 2026 at 12:24 AM
Thanks, Eighth Circuit
It says: "[T]he DHS Office of General Counsel has recently determined that the U.S. The Constitution, the immigration and Nationality Act, and the immigration regulations do not prohibit relying on administrative warrants" to "arrest aliens... in their place of residence."
Those lawyers are lying.
Those lawyers are lying.
🚨HOLY CRAP. An ICE whistleblower just revealed a secret memo authorizing ICE officers to break into homes without a judicial warrant, which DHS's own legal training materials say is unconstitutional!
ICE then hid the memo from the public, passing it along by word of mouth and private conversation.
ICE then hid the memo from the public, passing it along by word of mouth and private conversation.
January 22, 2026 at 12:16 AM
It says: "[T]he DHS Office of General Counsel has recently determined that the U.S. The Constitution, the immigration and Nationality Act, and the immigration regulations do not prohibit relying on administrative warrants" to "arrest aliens... in their place of residence."
Those lawyers are lying.
Those lawyers are lying.
The Fourth Amendment explainer this administration needs (but won’t read):
"The govt cannot rely on reasonable suspicion to justify taking an individual into custody. But the six conservative justices have sufficiently muddied the waters that most people won’t know DHS is lying when it claims that 'SCOTUS has already vindicated us on this position.'" — @lizdye.bsky.social
Kristi Noem's assault on the Fourth Amendment
Thanks, Brett Kavanaugh.
www.publicnotice.co
January 21, 2026 at 6:49 PM
The Fourth Amendment explainer this administration needs (but won’t read):
TRUMP V COOK ORAL ARGUMENT 🧵
46/ We're at the home stretch as Sauer returns for rebuttal arguments.
He begins, as good lawyers do, with his strongest point: that there must be some legal difference between "for cause" and INM (inefficiency/neglect/malfeasance in office).
46/ We're at the home stretch as Sauer returns for rebuttal arguments.
He begins, as good lawyers do, with his strongest point: that there must be some legal difference between "for cause" and INM (inefficiency/neglect/malfeasance in office).
45/ (In other words, Clement knows that his answer isn't going to make Justice Jackson happy. And she knows he knows that.)
January 21, 2026 at 5:01 PM
TRUMP V COOK ORAL ARGUMENT 🧵
46/ We're at the home stretch as Sauer returns for rebuttal arguments.
He begins, as good lawyers do, with his strongest point: that there must be some legal difference between "for cause" and INM (inefficiency/neglect/malfeasance in office).
46/ We're at the home stretch as Sauer returns for rebuttal arguments.
He begins, as good lawyers do, with his strongest point: that there must be some legal difference between "for cause" and INM (inefficiency/neglect/malfeasance in office).
TRUMP v. COOK ORAL ARGUMENT 🧵
32/ And I think Justice Kagan - one of the smartest justices on the court - is reading the same tea leaves. She asks Clement if there is a narrow way to adjudicate this case.
Other than the record being thin, Clement struggles to give one.
32/ And I think Justice Kagan - one of the smartest justices on the court - is reading the same tea leaves. She asks Clement if there is a narrow way to adjudicate this case.
Other than the record being thin, Clement struggles to give one.
31/ So I don't know what's going to happen. I would like to be optimistic. A lot of my optimism has been beaten out of me.
The law here is preposterously clear that Trump can't fire Cook. The Supreme Court's right wing has been equally clear that it does not care what the law is.
The law here is preposterously clear that Trump can't fire Cook. The Supreme Court's right wing has been equally clear that it does not care what the law is.
January 21, 2026 at 4:35 PM
TRUMP v. COOK ORAL ARGUMENT 🧵
32/ And I think Justice Kagan - one of the smartest justices on the court - is reading the same tea leaves. She asks Clement if there is a narrow way to adjudicate this case.
Other than the record being thin, Clement struggles to give one.
32/ And I think Justice Kagan - one of the smartest justices on the court - is reading the same tea leaves. She asks Clement if there is a narrow way to adjudicate this case.
Other than the record being thin, Clement struggles to give one.
19/ Former Solicitor General Paul Clement is up now to argue on behalf of Lisa Cook. This was my liveblog of Trump's Solicitor General John Sauer's argument for a stay of an injunction that would effectively let him fire Cook for pretextual reasons.
In 3 minutes we'll know where the court stands.
In 3 minutes we'll know where the court stands.
TRUMP V COOK 🧵
1/ The question is whether Trump can fire Lisa Cook from the Federal Reserve on patently ridiculous allegations of mortgage fraud.
Not yet clear where the court will land, but nobody works harder to protect the rule of law than Justice Sotomayor.
www.supremecourt.gov/oral_argumen...
1/ The question is whether Trump can fire Lisa Cook from the Federal Reserve on patently ridiculous allegations of mortgage fraud.
Not yet clear where the court will land, but nobody works harder to protect the rule of law than Justice Sotomayor.
www.supremecourt.gov/oral_argumen...
Live Oral Argument Audio
Live Oral Argument Audio
www.supremecourt.gov
January 21, 2026 at 4:04 PM
19/ Former Solicitor General Paul Clement is up now to argue on behalf of Lisa Cook. This was my liveblog of Trump's Solicitor General John Sauer's argument for a stay of an injunction that would effectively let him fire Cook for pretextual reasons.
In 3 minutes we'll know where the court stands.
In 3 minutes we'll know where the court stands.
TRUMP V COOK 🧵
1/ The question is whether Trump can fire Lisa Cook from the Federal Reserve on patently ridiculous allegations of mortgage fraud.
Not yet clear where the court will land, but nobody works harder to protect the rule of law than Justice Sotomayor.
www.supremecourt.gov/oral_argumen...
1/ The question is whether Trump can fire Lisa Cook from the Federal Reserve on patently ridiculous allegations of mortgage fraud.
Not yet clear where the court will land, but nobody works harder to protect the rule of law than Justice Sotomayor.
www.supremecourt.gov/oral_argumen...
Live Oral Argument Audio
Live Oral Argument Audio
www.supremecourt.gov
January 21, 2026 at 3:18 PM
TRUMP V COOK 🧵
1/ The question is whether Trump can fire Lisa Cook from the Federal Reserve on patently ridiculous allegations of mortgage fraud.
Not yet clear where the court will land, but nobody works harder to protect the rule of law than Justice Sotomayor.
www.supremecourt.gov/oral_argumen...
1/ The question is whether Trump can fire Lisa Cook from the Federal Reserve on patently ridiculous allegations of mortgage fraud.
Not yet clear where the court will land, but nobody works harder to protect the rule of law than Justice Sotomayor.
www.supremecourt.gov/oral_argumen...
I think this is exactly right. Judge Novak's order says the court *will* initiate disciplinary proceedings against "any other signatory" to a brief that calls Halligan a US Attorney.
Lots of people are willing to get disbarred for Trump (sadly), but nobody is willing to get disbarred for Halligan.
Lots of people are willing to get disbarred for Trump (sadly), but nobody is willing to get disbarred for Halligan.
January 20, 2026 at 7:17 PM
I think this is exactly right. Judge Novak's order says the court *will* initiate disciplinary proceedings against "any other signatory" to a brief that calls Halligan a US Attorney.
Lots of people are willing to get disbarred for Trump (sadly), but nobody is willing to get disbarred for Halligan.
Lots of people are willing to get disbarred for Trump (sadly), but nobody is willing to get disbarred for Halligan.
This administration wants a war with judges, and it just might get one.
Judge Novak SLAMS Lindsey Halligan's claim to be US Attorney, says her defense"contains a level of vitriol more appropriate for a cable news talk show."
Warns that she and anyone who joins her in a pleading calling her USatty may be disciplined.
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
Warns that she and anyone who joins her in a pleading calling her USatty may be disciplined.
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
January 20, 2026 at 6:50 PM
This administration wants a war with judges, and it just might get one.
The judges in the EDVA are *REALLY* sick of Lindsey Halligan.
JUST IN: Federal judges Virginia are seeking applicants to succeed Lindsey Halligan as interim U.S. attorney, whose 120-day appointment expires today, they say. www.vaed.uscourts.gov/sites/vaed/f...
January 20, 2026 at 4:04 PM
The judges in the EDVA are *REALLY* sick of Lindsey Halligan.
I could tell you that today's episode breaks down the TAKE IT DOWN Act and how the administration keeps lying about the Fourth Amendment when it comes to ICE... but to be honest, I'm still giggling with delight at "OBBBA the Hutt"
with @lizdye.bsky.social
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/e...
with @lizdye.bsky.social
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/e...
Ep 197 — OBBBA the Hut
Podcast Episode · Law and Chaos · 01/20/2026 · 55m
podcasts.apple.com
January 20, 2026 at 1:27 PM
I could tell you that today's episode breaks down the TAKE IT DOWN Act and how the administration keeps lying about the Fourth Amendment when it comes to ICE... but to be honest, I'm still giggling with delight at "OBBBA the Hutt"
with @lizdye.bsky.social
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/e...
with @lizdye.bsky.social
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/e...
Reposted by P. Andrew Torrez
Senior White House official says local and state police in Minneapolis “have been ordered to stand down and surrender.”
What?
What?
January 19, 2026 at 5:14 PM
Senior White House official says local and state police in Minneapolis “have been ordered to stand down and surrender.”
What?
What?
"These assholes [like Stephen Miller] don't know fuck all about anything they do, least of all Star Trek."
Thanks, @jessiegender.bsky.social for documenting the fractally wrong way right-wing weirdos are freaking out about... how Holly Hunter sits in a chair?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HOz...
Thanks, @jessiegender.bsky.social for documenting the fractally wrong way right-wing weirdos are freaking out about... how Holly Hunter sits in a chair?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HOz...
Nazis Have the Dumbest Star Trek Opinions
YouTube video by Jessie Gender
www.youtube.com
January 19, 2026 at 7:08 PM
"These assholes [like Stephen Miller] don't know fuck all about anything they do, least of all Star Trek."
Thanks, @jessiegender.bsky.social for documenting the fractally wrong way right-wing weirdos are freaking out about... how Holly Hunter sits in a chair?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HOz...
Thanks, @jessiegender.bsky.social for documenting the fractally wrong way right-wing weirdos are freaking out about... how Holly Hunter sits in a chair?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HOz...
This is a must-read from friend of the show @corbinkbarthold.bsky.social about the state of the FTC (not great, Bob!) and the hypocritical balls-and-strikes, finger-wagging rhetoric coming from one of its most politicized actors.
Go check it out!
corbinkbarthold.substack.com/p/can-you-tr...
Go check it out!
corbinkbarthold.substack.com/p/can-you-tr...
Can You Trust Mark Meador?
The FTC remains politicized. One commissioner is leading the way—when it suits him.
corbinkbarthold.substack.com
January 19, 2026 at 2:58 PM
This is a must-read from friend of the show @corbinkbarthold.bsky.social about the state of the FTC (not great, Bob!) and the hypocritical balls-and-strikes, finger-wagging rhetoric coming from one of its most politicized actors.
Go check it out!
corbinkbarthold.substack.com/p/can-you-tr...
Go check it out!
corbinkbarthold.substack.com/p/can-you-tr...
Reposted by P. Andrew Torrez
“Can I go check a pulse?” a bystander said after Good was shot, his hands in the air.
“No! Back up!” an ICE agent told him.
“I’m a physician!”
“I don’t care!” the agent replied, before another came up and said they had their own EMS on the way.
trib.al/0QT1gBF
“No! Back up!” an ICE agent told him.
“I’m a physician!”
“I don’t care!” the agent replied, before another came up and said they had their own EMS on the way.
trib.al/0QT1gBF
January 16, 2026 at 4:07 PM
“Can I go check a pulse?” a bystander said after Good was shot, his hands in the air.
“No! Back up!” an ICE agent told him.
“I’m a physician!”
“I don’t care!” the agent replied, before another came up and said they had their own EMS on the way.
trib.al/0QT1gBF
“No! Back up!” an ICE agent told him.
“I’m a physician!”
“I don’t care!” the agent replied, before another came up and said they had their own EMS on the way.
trib.al/0QT1gBF
Reposted by P. Andrew Torrez
I beg of you, somebody.
I am not competent to write the retort to this, but it really invites a response.
And yes, I would love if @georgetakei.bsky.social schooled him.
I am not competent to write the retort to this, but it really invites a response.
And yes, I would love if @georgetakei.bsky.social schooled him.
Help me out here. Hasn't Star Trek always had "aliens" and non-traditional women?
I mean, sure, Uhuru was sexualized, but she was a smart-as-shit officer BEFORE women were admitted to West Point and non-white; she's the kind of person Stephen Miller is trying to denaturalize.
I mean, sure, Uhuru was sexualized, but she was a smart-as-shit officer BEFORE women were admitted to West Point and non-white; she's the kind of person Stephen Miller is trying to denaturalize.
January 16, 2026 at 2:53 PM
I beg of you, somebody.
I am not competent to write the retort to this, but it really invites a response.
And yes, I would love if @georgetakei.bsky.social schooled him.
I am not competent to write the retort to this, but it really invites a response.
And yes, I would love if @georgetakei.bsky.social schooled him.
The NYT is reporting that Trump is "back[ing] away" from threats to invoke the Insurrection Act in Minnesota. "I don't think I need it right now."
I think that's b/c Trump is worried that even this Supreme Court wouldn't let him. We discuss on yesterday's show:
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/e...
I think that's b/c Trump is worried that even this Supreme Court wouldn't let him. We discuss on yesterday's show:
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/e...
January 17, 2026 at 5:06 PM
The NYT is reporting that Trump is "back[ing] away" from threats to invoke the Insurrection Act in Minnesota. "I don't think I need it right now."
I think that's b/c Trump is worried that even this Supreme Court wouldn't let him. We discuss on yesterday's show:
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/e...
I think that's b/c Trump is worried that even this Supreme Court wouldn't let him. We discuss on yesterday's show:
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/e...
Judge Menendez (D.Minn) issues a preliminary injunction prohibiting ICE and CBP from the worst of its behavior on the streets of Minneapolis, including using pepper spray, making warrantless arrests, or stopping observers:
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
January 17, 2026 at 2:21 AM
Judge Menendez (D.Minn) issues a preliminary injunction prohibiting ICE and CBP from the worst of its behavior on the streets of Minneapolis, including using pepper spray, making warrantless arrests, or stopping observers:
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...