Kate Brannen
@k8brannen.bsky.social
Non-Resident Journalism Fellow at NYU’s Reiss Center on Law and Security. Formerly: Foreign Affairs, Just Security, Foreign Policy, and Politico.
Reposted by Kate Brannen
Something that’s so striking in these emails is how…unimpressive Epstein is. He comes off as a pompous, sub-literate lech. Yes everyone is so mortifyingly solicitous of him! All fawning and flattery! Why?????
November 13, 2025 at 3:43 AM
Something that’s so striking in these emails is how…unimpressive Epstein is. He comes off as a pompous, sub-literate lech. Yes everyone is so mortifyingly solicitous of him! All fawning and flattery! Why?????
Reposted by Kate Brannen
Anyhow this morning I'm just remembering Stormy Daniels's testimony about Trump during the Manhattan trial www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
November 12, 2025 at 3:54 PM
Anyhow this morning I'm just remembering Stormy Daniels's testimony about Trump during the Manhattan trial www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
Reposted by Kate Brannen
I think the situation room is for a particular kind of situation, not for situations generally, even though I agree that this is a situation.
Q: "Why are White House officials…meeting with Rep. Boebert in an effort to try to get her to not sign this petition calling for the release of the [Epstein] files?"
Leavitt: "I'm not going to detail conversations that took place in the situation room."
Leavitt: "I'm not going to detail conversations that took place in the situation room."
November 12, 2025 at 7:11 PM
I think the situation room is for a particular kind of situation, not for situations generally, even though I agree that this is a situation.
Reposted by Kate Brannen
The two questions I would like every one of these toadies to be asked is:
(1) How can you possibly know it isn't true? Were you one of Epstein's regular guests also? and
(2) Since you CAN'T be sure it isn't true, does it bother you even a little that you may be running interference for pedophiles?
(1) How can you possibly know it isn't true? Were you one of Epstein's regular guests also? and
(2) Since you CAN'T be sure it isn't true, does it bother you even a little that you may be running interference for pedophiles?
November 12, 2025 at 5:50 PM
The two questions I would like every one of these toadies to be asked is:
(1) How can you possibly know it isn't true? Were you one of Epstein's regular guests also? and
(2) Since you CAN'T be sure it isn't true, does it bother you even a little that you may be running interference for pedophiles?
(1) How can you possibly know it isn't true? Were you one of Epstein's regular guests also? and
(2) Since you CAN'T be sure it isn't true, does it bother you even a little that you may be running interference for pedophiles?
What's up with this headline?
"Epstein Alleged in Emails That Trump Knew of His Conduct"
More importantly, Epstein alleged that Trump engaged in the same conduct he did. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/12/u...
"Epstein Alleged in Emails That Trump Knew of His Conduct"
More importantly, Epstein alleged that Trump engaged in the same conduct he did. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/12/u...
Epstein Alleged in Emails That Trump Knew of His Conduct
www.nytimes.com
November 12, 2025 at 4:40 PM
What's up with this headline?
"Epstein Alleged in Emails That Trump Knew of His Conduct"
More importantly, Epstein alleged that Trump engaged in the same conduct he did. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/12/u...
"Epstein Alleged in Emails That Trump Knew of His Conduct"
More importantly, Epstein alleged that Trump engaged in the same conduct he did. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/12/u...
Reposted by Kate Brannen
POTUS + OLC have tried to create an alternate reality within the US executive branch in which the US is involved in make believe armed conflicts with alleged drug smugglers and therefore premeditated killing is somehow permissible.
www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
U.S. troops not liable in boat strikes, classified Justice Dept. memo says
In a classified memo, the Trump administration’s Office of Legal Counsel said that U.S. troops would not be liable for participating in boat strikes on alleged narco-traffickers.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 12, 2025 at 4:26 PM
POTUS + OLC have tried to create an alternate reality within the US executive branch in which the US is involved in make believe armed conflicts with alleged drug smugglers and therefore premeditated killing is somehow permissible.
www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
Reposted by Kate Brannen
OK I don't mean to be hyperbolic but this might affect conservatively 65% of my diet
Italian pasta exports to the U.S. could be 'virtually wiped out' by proposed 107% tariffs
The U.S. has hit 13 Italian pasta exporters with an anti-dumping tariff of 92%, which would be added to the Trump administration's 15% blanket E.U. levies.
www.nbcnews.com
November 11, 2025 at 10:03 PM
OK I don't mean to be hyperbolic but this might affect conservatively 65% of my diet
Reposted by Kate Brannen
Zohran Mamdani says on NY1 he didn't get a congratulatory call from either Andrew Cuomo or Eric Adams last night.
He says he got a congratulatory call from Curtis Sliwa, though.
He says he got a congratulatory call from Curtis Sliwa, though.
November 5, 2025 at 1:22 PM
Zohran Mamdani says on NY1 he didn't get a congratulatory call from either Andrew Cuomo or Eric Adams last night.
He says he got a congratulatory call from Curtis Sliwa, though.
He says he got a congratulatory call from Curtis Sliwa, though.
Reposted by Kate Brannen
"One former law enforcement official familiar with the matter, who spoke to Bloomberg on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivities surrounding the case, said the probe lasted 18 months and turned up at least tens of millions of dollars in questionable financial transactions."
🚨 EXPLOSIVE NEW investigation: We uncovered previously undisclosed details about an 18-month money laundering investigation into Jeffrey Epstein that took place alongside the 2007 sex crimes probe, according to emails obtained from Epstein's personal Yahoo account
🎁 www.bloomberg.com/features/202...
🎁 www.bloomberg.com/features/202...
Jeffrey Epstein Went to War Over Money Laundering Probe in 2007 Sex Case
Federal prosecutors opened a financial-crimes investigation into Jeffrey Epstein in 2007 amid their larger sex-trafficking probe. The financier and his legal team waged a war against them, his emails ...
www.bloomberg.com
October 31, 2025 at 5:33 PM
"One former law enforcement official familiar with the matter, who spoke to Bloomberg on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivities surrounding the case, said the probe lasted 18 months and turned up at least tens of millions of dollars in questionable financial transactions."
Trump's "sense that he controls the truth...is leaving him blind to where the real world is refusing to be shaped to fit his vision."
I had fun writing for @elmirab.bsky.social's Interruptrr newsletter this week: interruptrr.substack.com/p/trump-v-re...
I had fun writing for @elmirab.bsky.social's Interruptrr newsletter this week: interruptrr.substack.com/p/trump-v-re...
Trump v Reality
From inflation to foreign wars, Trump’s belief that he can dictate reality is colliding with the one thing he can’t control: the truth.
interruptrr.substack.com
October 31, 2025 at 12:46 PM
Trump's "sense that he controls the truth...is leaving him blind to where the real world is refusing to be shaped to fit his vision."
I had fun writing for @elmirab.bsky.social's Interruptrr newsletter this week: interruptrr.substack.com/p/trump-v-re...
I had fun writing for @elmirab.bsky.social's Interruptrr newsletter this week: interruptrr.substack.com/p/trump-v-re...
Reposted by Kate Brannen
The Ranking Member of HFAC seems underwhelmed by today's closed briefing on the maritime strikes.
bsky.app/profile/hous...
bsky.app/profile/hous...
Ranking Member @meeks.house.gov issued the following statement after attending a House Armed Services Committee briefing today with Department of Defense officials regarding the administration's military strikes in the Caribbean and Pacific:
October 30, 2025 at 7:55 PM
The Ranking Member of HFAC seems underwhelmed by today's closed briefing on the maritime strikes.
bsky.app/profile/hous...
bsky.app/profile/hous...
Reposted by Kate Brannen
BREAKING: Six people were killed in a new U.S. strike on an alleged drug-smuggling boat, Defense Secretary Hegseth says.
New U.S. strike on alleged drug-smuggling boat kills 6, Hegseth says
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said all six men on board the vessel were killed.
cbsn.ws
October 24, 2025 at 1:27 PM
BREAKING: Six people were killed in a new U.S. strike on an alleged drug-smuggling boat, Defense Secretary Hegseth says.
Reposted by Kate Brannen
The New York Times publishes a handy guide to which federal forces are terrorizing us at any moment. This is America, 2025.
October 24, 2025 at 11:51 AM
The New York Times publishes a handy guide to which federal forces are terrorizing us at any moment. This is America, 2025.
"Why is carrying drugs on a speedboat 1,500 miles from Florida...an imminent threat of death? Why is trafficking cocaine — not fentanyl — an armed attack on the United States?"
Must read from @charliesavage.bsky.social: www.nytimes.com/2025/10/24/u...
Must read from @charliesavage.bsky.social: www.nytimes.com/2025/10/24/u...
The Peril of a White House That Flaunts Its Indifference to the Law
www.nytimes.com
October 24, 2025 at 12:58 PM
"Why is carrying drugs on a speedboat 1,500 miles from Florida...an imminent threat of death? Why is trafficking cocaine — not fentanyl — an armed attack on the United States?"
Must read from @charliesavage.bsky.social: www.nytimes.com/2025/10/24/u...
Must read from @charliesavage.bsky.social: www.nytimes.com/2025/10/24/u...
Reposted by Kate Brannen
This is chilling. The President is asserting authority to kill completely outside of the law. And plans to keep at it.
We are not at war, and he is ignoring the criminal laws that actually apply (eg, murder).
No limiting principle stops him from doing this to others he labels "terrorists."
1/3
We are not at war, and he is ignoring the criminal laws that actually apply (eg, murder).
No limiting principle stops him from doing this to others he labels "terrorists."
1/3
Trump: "I don't think we're necessarily going to ask for a declaration of war, I think we're just gonna kill people that are bringing drugs into our country. We're going to kill them. They're going to be, like dead."
October 23, 2025 at 9:13 PM
This is chilling. The President is asserting authority to kill completely outside of the law. And plans to keep at it.
We are not at war, and he is ignoring the criminal laws that actually apply (eg, murder).
No limiting principle stops him from doing this to others he labels "terrorists."
1/3
We are not at war, and he is ignoring the criminal laws that actually apply (eg, murder).
No limiting principle stops him from doing this to others he labels "terrorists."
1/3
Reposted by Kate Brannen
I wrote about Trump’s missile strikes in the Caribbean and Pacific, and about the secret Justice Department opinion that underwrites them. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/23/o...
Opinion | The Secretive Office Approving Trump’s Boat Strikes
www.nytimes.com
October 23, 2025 at 10:26 AM
I wrote about Trump’s missile strikes in the Caribbean and Pacific, and about the secret Justice Department opinion that underwrites them. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/23/o...
Reposted by Kate Brannen
2018: Why are we having all these people from Haiti and Africa come here? Why can’t we have more people from Norway?
2025: Trump refugee plan seeks 7,000 white South Africans — and virtually no one else
@mradamtaylor.bsky.social and @teoarmus.bsky.social
www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
2025: Trump refugee plan seeks 7,000 white South Africans — and virtually no one else
@mradamtaylor.bsky.social and @teoarmus.bsky.social
www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
Trump refugee plan seeks 7,000 Afrikaners — and virtually no one else
The Trump administration’s rush to process thousands of White South Africans as refugees coincides with plans for overall admissions set as low as 7,500.
www.washingtonpost.com
October 21, 2025 at 9:54 PM
2018: Why are we having all these people from Haiti and Africa come here? Why can’t we have more people from Norway?
2025: Trump refugee plan seeks 7,000 white South Africans — and virtually no one else
@mradamtaylor.bsky.social and @teoarmus.bsky.social
www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
2025: Trump refugee plan seeks 7,000 white South Africans — and virtually no one else
@mradamtaylor.bsky.social and @teoarmus.bsky.social
www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
Reposted by Kate Brannen
By a 2-1 opinion, the Ninth Circuit just held that the president can federalize the National Guard forces and deploy them when protesters shine flashlights in the eyes of ICE officers. It’s one of the most dangerous and legally flawed court decisions I’ve seen this year. 1/23
October 20, 2025 at 11:40 PM
By a 2-1 opinion, the Ninth Circuit just held that the president can federalize the National Guard forces and deploy them when protesters shine flashlights in the eyes of ICE officers. It’s one of the most dangerous and legally flawed court decisions I’ve seen this year. 1/23
"If factually and legally unpersuasive domestic deployments of troops aren’t going to be a red line for the Supreme Court, what the heck will be?"
@stevevladeck.bsky.social on why Trump v. Illinois is a make-or-break moment for the Supreme Court: www.stevevladeck.com/p/184-the-ma...
@stevevladeck.bsky.social on why Trump v. Illinois is a make-or-break moment for the Supreme Court: www.stevevladeck.com/p/184-the-ma...
184. The Massive Stakes of Trump v. Illinois
The Trump administration's 29th emergency application—to let it deploy federalized National Guard troops in Chicago on a profoundly dubious factual predicate—is a make-or-break moment for the Court.
www.stevevladeck.com
October 20, 2025 at 1:51 PM
"If factually and legally unpersuasive domestic deployments of troops aren’t going to be a red line for the Supreme Court, what the heck will be?"
@stevevladeck.bsky.social on why Trump v. Illinois is a make-or-break moment for the Supreme Court: www.stevevladeck.com/p/184-the-ma...
@stevevladeck.bsky.social on why Trump v. Illinois is a make-or-break moment for the Supreme Court: www.stevevladeck.com/p/184-the-ma...
Reposted by Kate Brannen
That’s the other thing that baffles me about AI and creative writing, actually.
The work IS the joy for me. I don’t want to be able to snap my fingers and have a completed “product.” I want to be transformed by the process. I’m an author but I do this because I enjoy the rigor of being a writer.
The work IS the joy for me. I don’t want to be able to snap my fingers and have a completed “product.” I want to be transformed by the process. I’m an author but I do this because I enjoy the rigor of being a writer.
In terms of process, I enjoy writing but revising????? Oh, that’s my real kink. A second or third draft???? A fourth???? Making tweaks on my desktop AND my phone???? *moans* I’m a WHORE for revision.
October 20, 2025 at 2:15 AM
That’s the other thing that baffles me about AI and creative writing, actually.
The work IS the joy for me. I don’t want to be able to snap my fingers and have a completed “product.” I want to be transformed by the process. I’m an author but I do this because I enjoy the rigor of being a writer.
The work IS the joy for me. I don’t want to be able to snap my fingers and have a completed “product.” I want to be transformed by the process. I’m an author but I do this because I enjoy the rigor of being a writer.
Reposted by Kate Brannen
I'm grateful to @60minutes.bsky.social featuring our study published @justsecurity.org.
Link to the study (on the 'presumption of regularity'): www.justsecurity.org/120547/presu...
Link to the study (on the 'presumption of regularity'): www.justsecurity.org/120547/presu...
October 20, 2025 at 12:09 AM
I'm grateful to @60minutes.bsky.social featuring our study published @justsecurity.org.
Link to the study (on the 'presumption of regularity'): www.justsecurity.org/120547/presu...
Link to the study (on the 'presumption of regularity'): www.justsecurity.org/120547/presu...
Reposted by Kate Brannen
“We found over 35 cases in which the judges have specifically said what the government is providing…false information. It might be intentionally false information, including false sworn declarations time and again," says Ryan Goodman, law professor at New York University.
October 19, 2025 at 11:43 PM
“We found over 35 cases in which the judges have specifically said what the government is providing…false information. It might be intentionally false information, including false sworn declarations time and again," says Ryan Goodman, law professor at New York University.
Reposted by Kate Brannen
An artillery shell fired during 250th anniversary celebration of the Marine Corps at Camp Pendleton on Saturday detonated prematurely over Interstate 5, damaging a California Highway Patrol vehicle on JD Vance's security detail www.nytimes.com/2025/10/19/u...
Artillery Shell Detonated Over Interstate 5 During Marines’ Celebration, California Officials Say
www.nytimes.com
October 19, 2025 at 8:57 PM
An artillery shell fired during 250th anniversary celebration of the Marine Corps at Camp Pendleton on Saturday detonated prematurely over Interstate 5, damaging a California Highway Patrol vehicle on JD Vance's security detail www.nytimes.com/2025/10/19/u...
Reposted by Kate Brannen
This is critical. Rep Adam Smith ties bombings to troops in cities.
"How far are we away from Trump deciding to use the US military to do a kinetic strike on people within the US because he sees them as a threat, by whatever definition he wants to throw out there?"
newrepublic.com/article/2019...
"How far are we away from Trump deciding to use the US military to do a kinetic strike on people within the US because he sees them as a threat, by whatever definition he wants to throw out there?"
newrepublic.com/article/2019...
October 17, 2025 at 12:25 PM
This is critical. Rep Adam Smith ties bombings to troops in cities.
"How far are we away from Trump deciding to use the US military to do a kinetic strike on people within the US because he sees them as a threat, by whatever definition he wants to throw out there?"
newrepublic.com/article/2019...
"How far are we away from Trump deciding to use the US military to do a kinetic strike on people within the US because he sees them as a threat, by whatever definition he wants to throw out there?"
newrepublic.com/article/2019...
Reposted by Kate Brannen
Reportedly a 6th lawless US strike in the Caribbean.
This time reportedly with survivors.
If true, will the US military rescue the survivors?
Will the US military seek to detain the survivors, and if so, on what legal basis?
A phony war with real violence.
www.reuters.com/world/us/us-...
This time reportedly with survivors.
If true, will the US military rescue the survivors?
Will the US military seek to detain the survivors, and if so, on what legal basis?
A phony war with real violence.
www.reuters.com/world/us/us-...
October 16, 2025 at 11:25 PM
Reportedly a 6th lawless US strike in the Caribbean.
This time reportedly with survivors.
If true, will the US military rescue the survivors?
Will the US military seek to detain the survivors, and if so, on what legal basis?
A phony war with real violence.
www.reuters.com/world/us/us-...
This time reportedly with survivors.
If true, will the US military rescue the survivors?
Will the US military seek to detain the survivors, and if so, on what legal basis?
A phony war with real violence.
www.reuters.com/world/us/us-...