Dave Thomas
@davidjthomas.bsky.social
@legal.reuters.com reporter covering the business of law. d(dot)thomas(at)tr(dot)com, 646-823-0937. RTs not endorsements. DM for Signal.
Reposted by Dave Thomas
A long read from the Tribune: 64 days in Chicago: The story of Operation Midway Blitz (gift link) www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/28/c...
64 days in Chicago: The story of Operation Midway Blitz
President Donald Trump’s federal immigration enforcement operation led to most surreal autumn in Chicago history. What happened during those 64 days will be remembered for a long time.
www.chicagotribune.com
December 28, 2025 at 4:32 PM
A long read from the Tribune: 64 days in Chicago: The story of Operation Midway Blitz (gift link) www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/28/c...
Reminds me of this Onion brief.
December 28, 2025 at 6:40 PM
Reminds me of this Onion brief.
Reposted by Dave Thomas
The Kennedy Center is planning legal action after jazz musician Chuck Redd canceled an annual holiday concert. Redd pulled out after President Trump's name appeared on the building. n.pr/49tB0uS
Kennedy Center vows to sue musician who canceled performance over Trump name change
The Kennedy Center is planning legal action after jazz musician Chuck Redd canceled an annual holiday concert. Redd pulled out after President Trump's name appeared on the building.
n.pr
December 27, 2025 at 7:39 PM
The Kennedy Center is planning legal action after jazz musician Chuck Redd canceled an annual holiday concert. Redd pulled out after President Trump's name appeared on the building. n.pr/49tB0uS
Reposted by Dave Thomas
I did not understand this: one of the five Europeans the US has barred from traveling to the United States...is a permanent resident who lives with his family in the US.
Now he is worried about being arrested and deported for the crime of monitoring online hate.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/25/u...
Now he is worried about being arrested and deported for the crime of monitoring online hate.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/25/u...
Judge Blocks Detention of British Researcher Who Scrutinizes Online Hate
www.nytimes.com
December 26, 2025 at 3:55 AM
I did not understand this: one of the five Europeans the US has barred from traveling to the United States...is a permanent resident who lives with his family in the US.
Now he is worried about being arrested and deported for the crime of monitoring online hate.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/25/u...
Now he is worried about being arrested and deported for the crime of monitoring online hate.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/25/u...
Reposted by Dave Thomas
The Trump administration is considering giving nearly 800 acres of land in a federal wildlife refuge in Texas to SpaceX, the rocket and satellite maker run by Elon Musk, according to documents reviewed by The New York Times.
Trump May Give SpaceX Some Land In A Texas Wildlife Refuge
In exchange for the land in Texas, the rocket and satellite company would give the government some of its own property nearby, documents show.
nyti.ms
December 25, 2025 at 2:25 PM
The Trump administration is considering giving nearly 800 acres of land in a federal wildlife refuge in Texas to SpaceX, the rocket and satellite maker run by Elon Musk, according to documents reviewed by The New York Times.
Reposted by Dave Thomas
Exclusive: The US Coast Guard is waiting for additional forces to arrive before potentially attempting to board and seize a Venezuela-linked oil tanker it's been pursuing since December 21, a US official and a source familiar with the matter told Reuters reut.rs/4scLGFz
Exclusive: US Coast Guard lacks forces to seize Venezuela-linked tanker for now, sources say
The U.S. Coast Guard is waiting for additional forces to arrive before potentially attempting to board and seize a Venezuela-linked oil tanker it has been pursuing since Sunday, a U.S. official and a ...
reut.rs
December 24, 2025 at 3:37 PM
Exclusive: The US Coast Guard is waiting for additional forces to arrive before potentially attempting to board and seize a Venezuela-linked oil tanker it's been pursuing since December 21, a US official and a source familiar with the matter told Reuters reut.rs/4scLGFz
Reposted by Dave Thomas
Btw this is one of the biggest reasons why it’s not as easy as people think to start up independent newsrooms or just be an indie journalist on substack. If you are actually holding powerful and rich people to account, you WILL need legal representation. Not a matter of whether but when
I say that as someone who has started newsrooms from scratch sometimes with two people - if you’re doing your job correctly you will need a lawyer because the first thing rich people do when you write something they don’t like is threaten you legally. It’s cheap for them and expensive for you
December 23, 2025 at 10:53 PM
Btw this is one of the biggest reasons why it’s not as easy as people think to start up independent newsrooms or just be an indie journalist on substack. If you are actually holding powerful and rich people to account, you WILL need legal representation. Not a matter of whether but when
Reposted by Dave Thomas
Kavanaugh in a footnote in today's opinion says "the officers must not make interior immigration stops or arrests based on race or ethnicity."
December 23, 2025 at 9:10 PM
Kavanaugh in a footnote in today's opinion says "the officers must not make interior immigration stops or arrests based on race or ethnicity."
Reposted by Dave Thomas
Pope Leo 'disappointed' in Illinois governor over assisted dying law reut.rs/4b0kyna
Pope Leo 'disappointed' in Illinois governor over assisted dying law
Pope Leo on Tuesday criticized the governor of the U.S. state of Illinois for signing a bill to allow some adults with a terminal illness to end their own lives with medical help, in an unusual political intervention by the church leader.
reut.rs
December 24, 2025 at 12:15 AM
Pope Leo 'disappointed' in Illinois governor over assisted dying law reut.rs/4b0kyna
"You're doomed, Scrooge, you're doomed for all time. Your future is a horror story written by your crimes" is an incredibly hard and cold lyric that's not at all diminished by the fact that it's sung by two Muppets.
December 23, 2025 at 8:44 PM
"You're doomed, Scrooge, you're doomed for all time. Your future is a horror story written by your crimes" is an incredibly hard and cold lyric that's not at all diminished by the fact that it's sung by two Muppets.
Reposted by Dave Thomas
this is insane to me. the doj had forever to look into this. now they're like liveblogging on x like they have no more information than a random person on social media
December 23, 2025 at 7:30 PM
this is insane to me. the doj had forever to look into this. now they're like liveblogging on x like they have no more information than a random person on social media
Reposted by Dave Thomas
ICYMI: I asked DHS' public affairs office if it considered recording or following law enforcement to be obstruction of justice, and they said "that sure sounds like obstruction."
reason.com/2025/12/22/d...
reason.com/2025/12/22/d...
DHS says recording or following law enforcement 'sure sounds like obstruction of justice'
Seven federal circuit courts have upheld the First Amendment right to record and monitor the police.
reason.com
December 23, 2025 at 3:59 PM
ICYMI: I asked DHS' public affairs office if it considered recording or following law enforcement to be obstruction of justice, and they said "that sure sounds like obstruction."
reason.com/2025/12/22/d...
reason.com/2025/12/22/d...
Reposted by Dave Thomas
A graduate teaching assistant who gave a University of Oklahoma student a failing grade on a psychology essay will no longer be teaching at the university
Graduate instructor who gave failing grade to Samantha Fulnecky no longer teaching at OU
A graduate teaching assistant who gave a University of Oklahoma student a failing grade on a psychology essay will no longer be teaching at the university.
www.koco.com
December 23, 2025 at 1:29 AM
A graduate teaching assistant who gave a University of Oklahoma student a failing grade on a psychology essay will no longer be teaching at the university
Reposted by Dave Thomas
Turning Point USA's brutal conference in-fighting over the weekend shows the MAGA civil war is just getting started.
My latest False Flag newsletter for @thebulwark.com:
www.thebulwark.com/p/candace-ow...
My latest False Flag newsletter for @thebulwark.com:
www.thebulwark.com/p/candace-ow...
Candace Owens Brings MAGA to the Conspiracist Horizon
Arguments between the antisemitic influencer’s supporters and critics dominated the proceedings at TPUSA’s AmFest.
www.thebulwark.com
December 23, 2025 at 2:09 AM
Turning Point USA's brutal conference in-fighting over the weekend shows the MAGA civil war is just getting started.
My latest False Flag newsletter for @thebulwark.com:
www.thebulwark.com/p/candace-ow...
My latest False Flag newsletter for @thebulwark.com:
www.thebulwark.com/p/candace-ow...
Reposted by Dave Thomas
I just uploaded @jasonparis.bsky.social 's recording of the segment CBS News pulled from "60 Minutes" to YouTube:
WATCH: Segment CBS News Pulled From "60 Minutes"
YouTube video by Phil Lewis
www.youtube.com
December 22, 2025 at 10:45 PM
I just uploaded @jasonparis.bsky.social 's recording of the segment CBS News pulled from "60 Minutes" to YouTube:
Reposted by Dave Thomas
Bari Weiss does not seem to have a good understanding of what's been going on with the Alien Enemies Act, including that courts -- including SCOTUS -- have repeatedly faulted the administration for failing to give detainees a meaningful opportunity to challenge being sent to El Salvador.
December 22, 2025 at 8:07 PM
Bari Weiss does not seem to have a good understanding of what's been going on with the Alien Enemies Act, including that courts -- including SCOTUS -- have repeatedly faulted the administration for failing to give detainees a meaningful opportunity to challenge being sent to El Salvador.
Reposted by Dave Thomas
Canada was the top market for the bourbon industry… until March of this year
Jim Beam, America’s largest bourbon distiller, is closing its flagship facility for 2026 after more than two decades of rapid growth. The move underlines the immense challenges facing the country's whiskey industry.
Jim Beam Halts Production at Flagship Distillery as Whiskey and Bourbon Markets Struggle
The bourbon giant is closing its flagship distilling operation for all of 2026.
nyti.ms
December 22, 2025 at 7:01 PM
Canada was the top market for the bourbon industry… until March of this year
Reposted by Dave Thomas
Reposted by Dave Thomas
Good detail from NPR: “Weiss told colleagues this weekend the piece — planned for Sunday night’s show — could not run without an on-the-record comment from a Trump administration official.”
And if that’s the standard, the White House can kill anything with a no comment.
apple.news/AjJ2qFtJTTLO...
And if that’s the standard, the White House can kill anything with a no comment.
apple.news/AjJ2qFtJTTLO...
CBS News chief Bari Weiss pulls '60 Minutes' story, sparking outcry — NPR
CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss pulled a 60 Minutes segment on allegations of abuses at an El Salvador detention center where the Trump administration sent hundreds of Venezuelan migrants.
apple.news
December 22, 2025 at 2:41 PM
Good detail from NPR: “Weiss told colleagues this weekend the piece — planned for Sunday night’s show — could not run without an on-the-record comment from a Trump administration official.”
And if that’s the standard, the White House can kill anything with a no comment.
apple.news/AjJ2qFtJTTLO...
And if that’s the standard, the White House can kill anything with a no comment.
apple.news/AjJ2qFtJTTLO...
The question to ask is, if the story wasn't ready, why were promos cut for it?
The New York Times updated their story with a statement from Bari Weiss:
December 22, 2025 at 6:11 AM
The question to ask is, if the story wasn't ready, why were promos cut for it?
There would be no adverse reporting about the government if stories got killed because the government refused to comment, plain and simple.
December 22, 2025 at 6:06 AM
There would be no adverse reporting about the government if stories got killed because the government refused to comment, plain and simple.
Reposted by Dave Thomas
Per NY Times’s Michael Grynbaum on X, this is Sharyn Alfonsi’s email to her “60 Minutes” colleagues in full:
December 22, 2025 at 3:37 AM
Per NY Times’s Michael Grynbaum on X, this is Sharyn Alfonsi’s email to her “60 Minutes” colleagues in full:
Reposted by Dave Thomas
“Our story was screened five times and cleared by both CBS attorneys and Standards and Practices..."“It is factually correct. In my view, pulling it now, after every rigorous internal check has been met, is not an editorial decision, it is a political one.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/21/b...
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/21/b...
‘60 Minutes’ Pulled a Segment. A Correspondent Calls It ‘Political.’
www.nytimes.com
December 22, 2025 at 5:03 AM
“Our story was screened five times and cleared by both CBS attorneys and Standards and Practices..."“It is factually correct. In my view, pulling it now, after every rigorous internal check has been met, is not an editorial decision, it is a political one.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/21/b...
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/21/b...
Reposted by Dave Thomas
"effectively unprecedented"
December 22, 2025 at 1:43 AM
"effectively unprecedented"
Reposted by Dave Thomas
Academics and technologists are sounding the alarm about a growing crisis in scholarship as we know it: AI-generated citations of nonexistent papers that have infested real journals. Despite being fake, the sources are widely assumed to be authentic the more they appear in published literature.
AI Is Inventing Academic Papers That Don't Exist -- And They're Being Cited in Real Journals
Academic articles from authors using large language model are creating an ecosystem of fake research that threatens human knowledge itself.
www.rollingstone.com
December 17, 2025 at 7:45 PM
Academics and technologists are sounding the alarm about a growing crisis in scholarship as we know it: AI-generated citations of nonexistent papers that have infested real journals. Despite being fake, the sources are widely assumed to be authentic the more they appear in published literature.