Chris Geidner
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Chris Geidner
@chrisgeidner.bsky.social
Subscribe to www.lawdork.com for SCOTUS, Trump, LGBTQ, criminal justice, and other legal news. / Email: lawdorknews@gmail.com / Signal: crg.32 / About me: Sober. Queer. Bipolar. Theater. Buckeye. / He/him.
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* Not every post is for every person; some are to inform legal folks of something.
* If I have time & if it matters, I say more, but I don't always have time & it doesn't always matter.
* If it's important, I usually cover it at Law Dork, where I work to make reports accessible to all.
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OK, I sleep. … Night, all, and let us try to be good to one another — and ourselves.
January 21, 2026 at 5:51 AM
OK, I’ve got to be at SCOTUS first thing in the morning for the arguments over Trump’s attempt to fire Fed Governor Lisa Cook.

If you don’t subscribe to Law Dork, you should.
It’s been a year.

Donald Trump took the oath of office and returned to the presidency one year ago today. In the time since, I’ve published nearly 250 stories here at Law Dork.

Help me drink more coffee — and cover year two — with a paid Law Dork subscription today.
Trump two, year two. I will be covering it, and I need your help — and more coffee.
It’s been a year.
www.lawdork.com
January 21, 2026 at 5:27 AM
Reposted by Chris Geidner
Pool report timed 11:53pm:

“Pool didn’t see POTUS board replacement AF1, which is the smaller aircraft (757). Sending now as cell coverage poor inside this plane. We will be wheels up for Zurich at some point soon.”
January 21, 2026 at 5:17 AM
Reposted by Chris Geidner
New pool report: “Pool left AF1 and was in position for President Trump to walk off. But then we were directed back on the same plane and now holding.
Two replacement planes are on tarmac.”
January 21, 2026 at 4:48 AM
“We’ve got confusion here.”
January 21, 2026 at 4:45 AM
Pool report: "AF1 landed at JBA at 11:07 p.m."
January 21, 2026 at 4:28 AM
Good thing the Trump White House is a model of transparency and those who work there are known for their honesty.
January 21, 2026 at 4:14 AM
Reposted by Chris Geidner
It’s been a year.

Donald Trump took the oath of office and returned to the presidency one year ago today. In the time since, I’ve published nearly 250 stories here at Law Dork.

Help me drink more coffee — and cover year two — with a paid Law Dork subscription today.
Trump two, year two. I will be covering it, and I need your help — and more coffee.
It’s been a year.
www.lawdork.com
January 20, 2026 at 5:41 PM
Can I just say, though: These people cannot write. In addition to all of the rhetorical bullshit, they also are just horrid communicators. Everyone in this government posts what they think sounds like Trump's Truth Social posts, but they fail. Miserably.
Following publication, these things happened.

Halligan's claimed 120 days (under A.G. appointment authority, had it been a valid appointment) were up today, so, apparently, she's done.
January 21, 2026 at 3:55 AM
Following publication, these things happened.

Halligan's claimed 120 days (under A.G. appointment authority, had it been a valid appointment) were up today, so, apparently, she's done.
January 21, 2026 at 3:54 AM
NEW: The Department of Justice has become a misnomer with Bondi at the helm.

One year in, the depths to which DOJ has sunk was laid bare in an order on Lindsey Halligan's claims in Virginia and in subpoenas issued against officials in Minnesota.

Tonight, at Law Dork:
The Department of Justice has become a misnomer with Bondi at the helm
One year in, the depths to which DOJ has sunk was laid bare in an order on Lindsey Halligan's claims in Virginia and in subpoenas issued against officials in Minnesota.
www.lawdork.com
January 21, 2026 at 12:27 AM
Truly. What is a DOJ?

The latest order in the Daniel Richman case: Extending a deadline for certifying compliance with a December order for a fifth time.

DOJ's request came in at 3:16 p.m. on the day of a 5:00 p.m. deadline.
January 20, 2026 at 11:09 PM
THEN DON'T FOLLOW ME.
C'mon. I don't follow you for workout pics. Respect for your normal posts, tho.
January 20, 2026 at 10:25 PM
For me, good vibes are very much helped along by taking care of myself in the midst of *gestures broadly* all this. (Now, back to work.)
January 20, 2026 at 10:18 PM
BREAKING: This Friday's en banc Fifth Circuit arguments over West Texas A&M's drag ban are cancelled, as the preliminary injunction appeal is now moot since a final judgment was issued in the case over the weekend.
January 20, 2026 at 7:47 PM
Donald Trump begins his sixth year as president of the United States:
Trump: "Whoo. I'm glad my finger wasn't in that sucker. That could've dome some damage but you know what? I wouldn't have shown the pain. I would've gone back. Boy did you hear that? That was nasty. But I would not have shown the pain. I would've acted like nothing happens as my finger fell off."
January 20, 2026 at 7:29 PM
is it good when a trump appointee refers to the actions of a federal government lawyer and the arguments advanced by doj in filing joined by the attorney general and deputy attorney general as a 'charade'?
BREAKING: Federal court in Virginia—noting DOJ's filing "falls far beneath the level of advocacy expected from litigants in this Court, particularly the Department of Justice"—rules that Lindsey Halligan cannot hold herself out as "United States Attorney," striking that language from case filings.
January 20, 2026 at 7:22 PM
Reposted by Chris Geidner
Surely the bus is going to turn around
January 20, 2026 at 5:11 PM
Reposted by Chris Geidner
Jerome Powell is at the front of the bus with his phone on speaker. Surely this will solve things. Surely the bus is going to turn around
January 20, 2026 at 5:03 PM
Reposted by Chris Geidner
i feel like the viral bus thread resonates because at every step of the way you're like "ok surely this will be resolved shortly, any second now," which seems like what all the passengers are also thinking. then the fact that the situation doesn't resolve and the bus just keeps going is an Allegory
January 20, 2026 at 5:02 PM
Reposted by Chris Geidner
NEWS: The Social Security Administration has referred two DOGE employees for Hatch Act violations after discovering contacts with a political group seeking SSA data to overturn election results. www.politico.com/news/2026/01...
January 20, 2026 at 6:53 PM
Reposted by Chris Geidner
NO
January 20, 2026 at 6:26 PM
Justice Brett Kavanaugh and the Republican appointees of the Supreme Court OK'ed this and Noem has said they are going further and has lied about the fact that they are going even further than what she claimed.

Law Dork coverage: www.lawdork.com/p/noem-says-...
January 20, 2026 at 7:10 PM
Reposted by Chris Geidner
He goes on to describe one of his officers being stopped when she was off-duty solely because she's non-white, harassed by ICE goons who slapped her phone out of her hand as she tried to record, only to be let go when she finally revealed she was a cop.
Brooklyn Park police chief Mark Bruley: "We're hearing people being stopped with no cause & being demanded to show paperwork to determine if they're here legally. We started hearing from our police officers the same complaints. Every one of these individuals is a person of color... it has to stop"
January 20, 2026 at 5:53 PM
Reposted by Chris Geidner
I know everything is in crisis, but we can have a bench-slap morale boost as a little treat.
Novak also orders Halligan, personally, to give the order to Bondi and Blanche.
January 20, 2026 at 7:00 PM