Billman
@jeffreybillman.bsky.social
I report on North Carolina courts and politics for @theassemblync.bsky.social. (jeffrey@theassemblync.com). Sometimes I make music. I’m probably tired.
Reposted by Billman
Border Patrol can operate anywhere in the country. The 100 mile zone is where they have heightened vehicle stop authority.
I'm guess Border Patrol goons are allowed to operate in Charlotte because it's within 100 miles of the South of the Border rest stop on I-95? I can't think of any real border that's close by
November 17, 2025 at 5:31 PM
Border Patrol can operate anywhere in the country. The 100 mile zone is where they have heightened vehicle stop authority.
Reposted by Billman
I just remembered this from Glenn Kessler 3 months ago
November 13, 2025 at 4:52 AM
I just remembered this from Glenn Kessler 3 months ago
Reposted by Billman
To recap: Jeffrey Epstein offered a NY Times reporter photos taken in Epstein's kitchen of Donald Trump and girls in bikinis *and* implored the NYT reporter to put this information in the public discourse in 2015
What did the NY Times editors know about this offer?
What did the NY Times editors know about this offer?
“would you like photos of donald and girls in bikinis in my kitchen?” -Jeffrey Epstein
November 12, 2025 at 8:05 PM
To recap: Jeffrey Epstein offered a NY Times reporter photos taken in Epstein's kitchen of Donald Trump and girls in bikinis *and* implored the NYT reporter to put this information in the public discourse in 2015
What did the NY Times editors know about this offer?
What did the NY Times editors know about this offer?
Reposted by Billman
Both of the Georgia Public Service Commissioner Special Election seats called for Dems.
This won't get the attention of VA/NJ/CA/NYC but for students of southern politics is incredibly imp--a rare ex. of Dems holding statewide elected offices in the South outside of NC & VA.
This won't get the attention of VA/NJ/CA/NYC but for students of southern politics is incredibly imp--a rare ex. of Dems holding statewide elected offices in the South outside of NC & VA.
November 5, 2025 at 1:38 AM
Both of the Georgia Public Service Commissioner Special Election seats called for Dems.
This won't get the attention of VA/NJ/CA/NYC but for students of southern politics is incredibly imp--a rare ex. of Dems holding statewide elected offices in the South outside of NC & VA.
This won't get the attention of VA/NJ/CA/NYC but for students of southern politics is incredibly imp--a rare ex. of Dems holding statewide elected offices in the South outside of NC & VA.
Reposted by Billman
I have no words.
EXCLUSIVE: One Saturday afternoon in October, my phone lit up with a notification.
I glanced down at the message.
“Anna, Lindsey Halligan here,” it began.
So began my text exchange with the woman who is prosecuting the president's perceived political enemies.
www.lawfaremedia.org/article/anna...
I glanced down at the message.
“Anna, Lindsey Halligan here,” it began.
So began my text exchange with the woman who is prosecuting the president's perceived political enemies.
www.lawfaremedia.org/article/anna...
October 20, 2025 at 11:18 PM
I have no words.
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I visited the apartment building ICE raided on Tuesday today. Story to come, but you can walk right in. Half of the apartments have no doors on them. Children's stuff abandoned in some flats. *Citizen* residents told me they were arrested and held for hours in zipties. This is America
October 4, 2025 at 8:49 PM
I visited the apartment building ICE raided on Tuesday today. Story to come, but you can walk right in. Half of the apartments have no doors on them. Children's stuff abandoned in some flats. *Citizen* residents told me they were arrested and held for hours in zipties. This is America
Just trying to imagine the reaction if a Dem president ordered generals to fly home and told them they'd be deployed to "straighten out," e.g., Florida, Texas, and Oklahoma.
Trump: "The ones that are run by radical left Democrats -- what they've done to San Francisco, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles. They're very unsafe places & we're gonna straighten them out one by one. This is gonna be a major part for some people in this room. That's a war too. It's war from within"
September 30, 2025 at 2:20 PM
Just trying to imagine the reaction if a Dem president ordered generals to fly home and told them they'd be deployed to "straighten out," e.g., Florida, Texas, and Oklahoma.
Reposted by Billman
pete hegseth, who you will recall has been accused of domestic abuse and sexual assault, has announced a new policy by which you cannot file anonymous complaints of mistreatment. sex criminal solidarity.
September 30, 2025 at 12:55 PM
pete hegseth, who you will recall has been accused of domestic abuse and sexual assault, has announced a new policy by which you cannot file anonymous complaints of mistreatment. sex criminal solidarity.
Reminder that Thom Tillis cast the deciding vote to put this weekend Fox News host in charge of the Pentagon.
Hegseth: "We unleash overwhelming and punishing violence on the enemy. We also don't fight with stupid rules of engagement. We untie the hands of our warfighters to intimidate, demoralize, hunt, and kill the enemies of our country. No more politically correct and overbearing rules of engagement."
September 30, 2025 at 1:55 PM
Reminder that Thom Tillis cast the deciding vote to put this weekend Fox News host in charge of the Pentagon.
Reposted by Billman
NEW: Income isn’t supposed to play a role in how much housing assistance FEMA gives families.
But in some North Carolina counties, the highest-income homeowners received two to three times as much money after Hurricane Helene as those with lower incomes.
With @theassemblync.bsky.social
But in some North Carolina counties, the highest-income homeowners received two to three times as much money after Hurricane Helene as those with lower incomes.
With @theassemblync.bsky.social
Arduous and Unequal: The Fight to Get FEMA Housing Assistance After Helene
An analysis by ProPublica and The Assembly of the more rural counties in North Carolina hardest hit by Helene shows that the households that got the most aid tended to have the highest incomes.
www.propublica.org
September 27, 2025 at 11:00 AM
NEW: Income isn’t supposed to play a role in how much housing assistance FEMA gives families.
But in some North Carolina counties, the highest-income homeowners received two to three times as much money after Hurricane Helene as those with lower incomes.
With @theassemblync.bsky.social
But in some North Carolina counties, the highest-income homeowners received two to three times as much money after Hurricane Helene as those with lower incomes.
With @theassemblync.bsky.social
Reposted by Billman
CHOTINER: So You created us right
GOD: Yes
CHOTINER: In Your image
GOD: Yes
CHOTINER: And sometimes we do bad things
GOD: Oh Yes
CHOTINER: And then you send plagues and floods
GOD: OK I think I see where you are going with this
GOD: Yes
CHOTINER: In Your image
GOD: Yes
CHOTINER: And sometimes we do bad things
GOD: Oh Yes
CHOTINER: And then you send plagues and floods
GOD: OK I think I see where you are going with this
September 24, 2025 at 5:18 PM
CHOTINER: So You created us right
GOD: Yes
CHOTINER: In Your image
GOD: Yes
CHOTINER: And sometimes we do bad things
GOD: Oh Yes
CHOTINER: And then you send plagues and floods
GOD: OK I think I see where you are going with this
GOD: Yes
CHOTINER: In Your image
GOD: Yes
CHOTINER: And sometimes we do bad things
GOD: Oh Yes
CHOTINER: And then you send plagues and floods
GOD: OK I think I see where you are going with this
Reposted by Billman
Apple has decided a show about taking down white nationalists is too sensitive to air in the wake of Charlie Kirk's murder
Jessica Chastain’s Apple TV+ Drama ‘The Savant’ Postponed Following Charlie Kirk Assassination
Jessica Chastain's Apple TV+ drama 'The Savant' has been postponed following the assassination of Charlie Kirk.
variety.com
September 23, 2025 at 9:55 PM
Apple has decided a show about taking down white nationalists is too sensitive to air in the wake of Charlie Kirk's murder
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Triangle folks: Do you like beer? Do you value @theassemblync.bsky.social? Do you like Frank Bruni or @billadair.com (or me, I guess)? If the answer to any of these is yes, I invite you to come to our October 8 event at Motorco www.theassemblync.com/events/octob...
September 22, 2025 at 11:45 PM
Triangle folks: Do you like beer? Do you value @theassemblync.bsky.social? Do you like Frank Bruni or @billadair.com (or me, I guess)? If the answer to any of these is yes, I invite you to come to our October 8 event at Motorco www.theassemblync.com/events/octob...
Reposted by Billman
On top of everything else, this is utterly insane capitulation to an administration that can barely tie its shoes in most areas and is already scrambling to avoid losing the House with a year still to go.
ABC: “Jimmy Kimmel Live will be preempted indefinitely.”
They’re after Jimmy. Nexstar has pulled his show from their ABC-affiliated stations.
September 17, 2025 at 10:46 PM
On top of everything else, this is utterly insane capitulation to an administration that can barely tie its shoes in most areas and is already scrambling to avoid losing the House with a year still to go.
My history teacher (also a football coach) told us that the Civil War was caused by trade and FDR caused the Depression.
September 16, 2025 at 10:34 PM
My history teacher (also a football coach) told us that the Civil War was caused by trade and FDR caused the Depression.
Competition keeps getting stiffer, but this might be the dumbest thing ever posted by an official government account.
September 6, 2025 at 7:41 PM
Competition keeps getting stiffer, but this might be the dumbest thing ever posted by an official government account.
Is the Trump administration really arguing that it has the right to kill—as opposed to interdict—in international waters based on an unproven allegation of criminal activity?
September 3, 2025 at 10:28 PM
Is the Trump administration really arguing that it has the right to kill—as opposed to interdict—in international waters based on an unproven allegation of criminal activity?
Reposted by Billman
As a lawyer, I'll tell you that there's nobody who knows this law better than Ryan and Brian. Sure looks like murder or war crime to me. But as a human, I'll tell you that the Rubio statement -- we could have stopped the boat but we blew it up to send a message -- is sickening and depraved.
1/ I worked at DoD. I literally cannot imagine lawyers coming up with a legal basis for lethal strike of suspected Venezuelan drug boat.
Hard to see how this would not be "murder" or war crime under international law that DoD considers applicable.
Read expert analysis by @bcfinucane.bsky.social⤵️
Hard to see how this would not be "murder" or war crime under international law that DoD considers applicable.
Read expert analysis by @bcfinucane.bsky.social⤵️
Legal Issues Raised by a Lethal U.S. Military Attack in the Caribbean
The Trump administration’s extraordinary lethal attack on this purported smuggling vessel raises significant potential legal issues.
www.justsecurity.org
September 3, 2025 at 10:09 PM
As a lawyer, I'll tell you that there's nobody who knows this law better than Ryan and Brian. Sure looks like murder or war crime to me. But as a human, I'll tell you that the Rubio statement -- we could have stopped the boat but we blew it up to send a message -- is sickening and depraved.
Reposted by Billman
All kidding about this nonsense answer aside: The regime is asserting the power to murder without trial a boat full of people suspected of drug trafficking, who easily could have been intercepted and arrested instead. That is unconscionable and horrifying even assuming everyone aboard was guilty.
Q: On the Venezuela vessel strike, what legal authority were you guys working under?
JD VANCE: The legal authority is there are people who are bringing -- literal terrorists -- who are bringing deadly drugs into our country
JD VANCE: The legal authority is there are people who are bringing -- literal terrorists -- who are bringing deadly drugs into our country
September 3, 2025 at 10:09 PM
All kidding about this nonsense answer aside: The regime is asserting the power to murder without trial a boat full of people suspected of drug trafficking, who easily could have been intercepted and arrested instead. That is unconscionable and horrifying even assuming everyone aboard was guilty.
Also: 1) Is there any evidence that the people we killed had committed crimes in the U.S.? 2) If so, why not interdict and arrest them? 3) Either way, how is killing them in international waters w/out congressional authorization not simply murder?
So despite no Authorization for Use of Military Force and no possible invocation of the War Powers Act, the U.S. military is now going to be drone striking people alleged to be committing a crime? Again, on what legal authority?
HEGSETH Says Venezuela Strike Will Not Be the End, Just the Beginning in FOX News Interview
September 3, 2025 at 2:12 PM
Also: 1) Is there any evidence that the people we killed had committed crimes in the U.S.? 2) If so, why not interdict and arrest them? 3) Either way, how is killing them in international waters w/out congressional authorization not simply murder?
Reposted by Billman
Lets get a headset on Jordon and see if she can do any better
September 2, 2025 at 2:58 AM
Lets get a headset on Jordon and see if she can do any better
“It will embarrass us if you say the illegal thing we did is illegal” cannot be a real argument.
Trump cabinet officials told a federal appeals court that ruling president’s global tariffs illegal would seriously harm US foreign policy, with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warning of “dangerous diplomatic embarrassment.”
Bessent Warns of US ‘Embarrassment’ If Tariffs Ruled Illegal
Trump cabinet officials told a federal appeals court that ruling president’s global tariffs illegal would seriously harm US foreign policy, with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warning of “dangerous diplomatic embarrassment.”
bloom.bg
August 30, 2025 at 1:09 AM
“It will embarrass us if you say the illegal thing we did is illegal” cannot be a real argument.
RICO for protesting.
August 27, 2025 at 2:10 PM
RICO for protesting.