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LetMyPeopleVote

(175,624 posts)
Tue Jan 20, 2026, 02:23 PM 7 hrs ago

Judge slams Bondi and Blanche for responding to him with "a level of vitriol more appropriate for a cable news talk show

A week ago, the DOJ (Bondi and Blanche) and Halligan filed a response to a question asked by a federal judge that was beyond arrogant and was out right disrespectful to the judge. See https://upload.democraticunderground.com/10143598130 and
https://upload.democraticunderground.com/100220935905
Today the judge responded to this filing. This judge is pissed at Bondi, Blanche and Halligan

Judge David Novak, a Trump appointee, slams Pam Bondi and Todd Blanche for responding to him with "a level of vitriol more appropriate for a cable news talk show" than the DOJ.

Adam Klasfeld (@klasfeldreports.com) 2026-01-20T18:42:06.529Z

10 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Judge slams Bondi and Blanche for responding to him with "a level of vitriol more appropriate for a cable news talk show (Original Post) LetMyPeopleVote 7 hrs ago OP
;-{) Goonch 6 hrs ago #1
The point is they don't care angrychair 5 hrs ago #2
"Grand Juries refusing to give indictments is doing more to save democracy than anything else right now." OldBaldy1701E 5 hrs ago #5
Just charge them with contempt - daily fines and jail time. They've all ignored the law for long enough. Marie Marie 5 hrs ago #3
This is one branch of the Rubicon roscoeroscoe 5 hrs ago #4
DURec leftstreet 5 hrs ago #6
trmp will have bondi go after the judge now. spanone 5 hrs ago #7
Judge hits disqualified MAGA prosecutor with scathing order for pretending she's in office LetMyPeopleVote 5 hrs ago #8
Not sure about Halligan, but Pam Bondi only has an audience of ONE FakeNoose 5 hrs ago #9
This shows the respect the GOP has for the law RainCaster 4 hrs ago #10

angrychair

(11,771 posts)
2. The point is they don't care
Tue Jan 20, 2026, 03:53 PM
5 hrs ago

They are already ignoring all or part of most rulings against them.
They regularly ignore existing law, like how they are required to give on demand access to members of Congress to ICE facilities and producing the Epstein files. They are doing neither.
Grand Juries refusing to give indictments is doing more to save democracy than anything else right now.

I freely admit I don't know what specifically can be done from Democratic members of Congress, I'm not in Congress, but it something different than they are doing now.
Approving record setting increases in the defense budget probably isn't what I would have suggested.

OldBaldy1701E

(10,375 posts)
5. "Grand Juries refusing to give indictments is doing more to save democracy than anything else right now."
Tue Jan 20, 2026, 04:23 PM
5 hrs ago

Yup!

Marie Marie

(10,953 posts)
3. Just charge them with contempt - daily fines and jail time. They've all ignored the law for long enough.
Tue Jan 20, 2026, 03:55 PM
5 hrs ago

roscoeroscoe

(1,813 posts)
4. This is one branch of the Rubicon
Tue Jan 20, 2026, 04:13 PM
5 hrs ago

Maybe just a tributary, but I appreciate Judge Novak's determination to enforce the rule of law. Looking forware to Glenn Kirshner's take on this, and Andrew Weissman (sp?)

LetMyPeopleVote

(175,624 posts)
8. Judge hits disqualified MAGA prosecutor with scathing order for pretending she's in office
Tue Jan 20, 2026, 04:36 PM
5 hrs ago

Halligan's and the DOJ's filing was really stupid and really pissed off this judge

Judge hits disqualified MAGA prosecutor with scathing order for pretending she's in office

Raw Story (@rawstory.com) 2026-01-20T20:31:16Z

https://www.rawstory.com/lindsey-halligan-2674913757

A federal judge ordered Lindsey Halligan, the disqualified acting U.S. attorney President Donald Trump's Justice Department installed in the Eastern District of Virginia, to stop calling herself a U.S. attorney in a scathing ruling on Tuesday — and went out of his way to rebuke her for a "vitriol"-laden filing with the court that would be "more appropriate for a cable news talk show."....

Despite this ruling, Halligan continued referring to herself as a "U.S. attorney" and conducted work in the office as if she were still serving in that role, prompting further legal motions to stop her from doing so. In response, Halligan, in a joint filing with Attorney General Pam Bondi and her deputy, Todd Blanche, fired off a filing that slammed the courts for a "fundamental misunderstanding" and a "gross abuse of power."

On Monday, however, U.S. District Judge David Novak, himself a Trump appointee, brought down the hammer, finding Halligan may not use the title of "U.S. attorney" and that she "ignore[d] a binding court order" that compelled her to stop.

"Ms. Halligan’s response ... contains a level of vitriol more appropriate for a cable news talk show and falls far beneath the level of advocacy expected from litigants in this Court, particularly the Department of Justice," wrote Novak, adding that "The Court will not engage in a similar tit-for-tat." He warned that "Ms. Halligan and anyone who joins her on a pleading" that continues to call her a U.S. attorney "subjects themselves to potential disciplinary action in this Court pursuant to the Court’s Local Rules."

It is never a good idea to piss off a federal judge

FakeNoose

(40,376 posts)
9. Not sure about Halligan, but Pam Bondi only has an audience of ONE
Tue Jan 20, 2026, 04:37 PM
5 hrs ago

As long as her annoying bullshit goes straight into Chump's ear, nothing else matters.

Lisa Halligan needs to lose her law license pronto. Go on, Judge Novak, do it!

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