Author: condor

Musk/DOGE/Tangerine 2.0 Forces Have Agreed — In Sworn Court Consent Orders — To STOP Burning USAID Documents. Geez!

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As of March 11, 2025 — Musk had agreed that he had no right to burn USAID documents prior to their clearance from the standard document retention policies at the agency.

So this morning, the American Foreign Service Association was able to let go of its motion for a TRO. These jokers just now figured out that continuing to burn or shred documents at USAID’s headquarters in the Ron Reagan Building… would be… yep, felonies. So they cut it out. Here’s that agreed language from this morning’s filing in DC:

…USAID will not destroy “any additional documents after March 11, 2025, without first notifying Plaintiffs and providing an opportunity to raise the issue before this Court.” ECF No. 59 at 2; see also ECF No. 59-1 ¶ 13. Defendants’ counsel have confirmed to Plaintiffs that this obligation will apply throughout the pendency of this case.

The documents destroyed on March 11, 2025, were limited to “(1) copies of classified documents that were originally classified by other government agencies, or (2) derivatively-classified documents that were created for the purposes of, but not limited to, high-level meetings, official government travel, and intelligence briefings, which USAID no longer has a need to retain.” ECF No. 59 at 7.

If “originally classified USAID documents” and “current classified program files” “had not met their retention requirement in accordance with the disposition schedule approved by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA),” those documents were retained and will be stored. ECF No. 59-1 ¶ 7.

No personnel records were destroyed. ECF No. 59 at 7….

And just to be clear, there are 50 some other lawsuits that I am not covering here — against these buffoons. Trump is running about 1 in 20 on small wins, in those. In other words, he is likely (overall) only about 3 for 88. Batting below four per cent now. Out.

नमस्ते

“Probationaries” Are Reinstated, By USDC Judge Alsup In San Fran, After OPM / Charles Ezell’s FALSE Sworn Statements Were “Withdrawn” Overnight By OPM / Musk / DOGE Counsel.

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The written order will come late tonight or tomorrow — but it is clear that the bald faced lies told by Charles Ezell — a Musk guy at OPM… were infuriating to the preeminent USDC Senior Judge Alsup (a Clinton appointee, and a former Justice William O. Douglas / Supreme Court law clerk). [One of my many recent backgrounders, on this bit of litigation is here.]

So he has orally ordered (immediately, from the bench — during the hearing) that tens of thousands of probationary US agency employees (including HUD?) must be reinstated, to their federal jobs… right now.

They cannot be “forced” to go back to work, but they are owed paychecks from the last four weeks, and can now decide whether they want to keep their positions. The judge also ruled that OPM has no power to issue any subsequent “guidance” to other agencies, about HR / Firing / Hiring matters.

…Preliminary Injunction Hearing held on 3/13/2025. Court granted and extended TRO as stated on the record. Court directed counsel to file briefs by 3/21/2025, 12:00 noon, 10 pages in length as stated on the record. Memorandum Opinion to issue….

Initial Case Management Conference not held. Still, discovery open; parties to comply with all rules and standing orders….

Court further stated plaintiffs may depose Noah Peters in Washington, D.C.; Government to make him available for 3 hours within two weeks….

[More soon….]

Smiling onward — well done, Willinator!

नमस्ते

The Tides May Be Turning: Some GOP Senators DO Think Real Bio-Science… Matters: CDC Nominee Scrubbed.

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Well, after RFK, Jr. cancelled a scheduled flu-strain selection meeting, on next year’s vaccine stock… it seems some GOP Senators are realizing that facing their voters in the wake of greatly elevated flu (and other viral) death rates in a year or two… will be difficult, to say the least.

Thus, merely a handful of hours before the Tangerine 2.0 nominee to lead the CDC was to go before the Senate… his nomination is pulled, and Trump starts over, from scratch. These clowns — are completely cartoonish. But to be certain, this is better news than having him in the seat. Every day without leadership though — real leadership — is another day lost to being the driving force, in preventing communicable diseases here in the US, and around the globe. Here’s STAT+ on it:

…The Trump administration withdrew the nomination of Dave Weldon as its pick to run the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to two sources familiar with the decision, hours before he was set to appear before the Senate’s health committee.

The sources said the administration had concerns about Weldon’s long track record of criticizing vaccines. Weldon would have been the first CDC director to go through the Senate confirmation process, after a law passed in 2022. But there were concerns within the White House that he did not have enough votes from Senate Republicans to win confirmation….

And so it is — as I often say — that sanity makes its comeback… with the smallest of steps, at first. This is one of those times. And now the crewed ISS SpaceX launch won’t go until Friday night — weather at the cape. Onward.

नमस्ते

[U: Mirengoff Too.] Funny / Ironic: Hinderaker Doesn’t Believe In The Right To Counsel In Felony Matters. Here’s Someone He Respects… Who DOES.

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Tonight — ever the feckless dolt, Hinderaker pretends not to understand why the abduction to rural Louisiana, of a Columbia U. grad student with a green card (and an eight months pregnant US citizen wife) is an important issue — regardless of the ultimate merits hearing to come.

But someone he has lavished praise upon, on the far right — understands. The right to counsel… matters — in felony criminal proceedings.

In fact, there was a time, in about 2019, when she was actually serving as his… frontal lobe.

[Updated — near Midnight Eastern: Mirengoff also blows past the obvious access to counsel issue, and “makes up” a scenario where the man directly engaged in violence — to get to his protected speech suppressing result.]

This is not just a “liberals’ issue“. This is not “a bad cause“, John.

This is a question of whether a Nouveau Reich will rule us, or whether we still have the right to peacefully protest for the redress of grievances — and then the right to counsel, when detained. This should concern Hinderaker.

But it doesn’t — because at bottom, he doesn’t support our robust system of ordered liberty.

He wants an authoritarian dictatorship. An orange one.

Charming. I’m here to see to it that he won’t ever get it.

Out.

Wise USDC Judge Chutkan In DC Grants New Mexico (And Other States) Expedited Discovery Against DOGE — And Musk. Another Win, On Prelim. Inj.

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Not surprising, but (if one believes the Musk/Tangerine mantra) the sooner the DOGE-ers show their homework, the sooner this may all be over. And since we know that they are swearing that “the dog ATE their homework…” we get why they don’t want to produce anything, any time soon.

But Judge Chutkan just put them on front street: in under 21 days, we will see whether there is any evidentiary record to support what they did (as being lawful) in real time. Excellent; here’s a bit of the 14 pager just entered:

…The court concludes that granting expedited discovery is in the best interest of all parties. Plaintiffs’ discovery requests target information necessary to resolve their forthcoming preliminary injunction motion. The court recognizes that discovery into the Executive, particularly the White House and Senior Advisors, imposes a heightened burden….

Accordingly, the court does not authorize all the discovery that Plaintiffs request, imposes several additional restrictions on the scope, and extends Defendants’ time to respond. With those adjustments, the court finds expedited discovery is reasonable and necessary to evaluate Plaintiffs’ request for injunctive relief. In addition, to avoid prejudice to Defendants and expeditiously resolve this case, the court will exercise its discretion to consolidate the motion for a preliminary injunction with the merits under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 65(a)(2)….

[The documentary] requests target information relevant to Plaintiffs’ claims for injunctive relief, with a few adjustments. Plaintiffs’ document requests seek information regarding DOGE’s and Musk’s involvement in (1) eliminating or reducing the size of federal agencies; (2) terminating or placing federal employees on leave; (3) cancelling, freezing, or pausing federal contracts, grants, or other federal funding; and (4) obtaining access, using, or making changes to federal databases or data management systems. Id. at 5–7.

Evidence that Defendants eliminated agencies that work with Plaintiffs, terminated employees responsible for managing programs with Plaintiffs, or cancelled contracts with Plaintiffs is relevant to whether Defendants exceeded their statutory and constitutional authority. Warner Bros. Recs. Inc. v. Does 1–6, 527 F. Supp. 2d 1, 2 (D.D.C. 2007) (granting expedited discovery where “Plaintiffs have made a showing of good cause for the discovery they seek, as the information is not only relevant but crucial to the prosecution of plaintiffs’ claims.”)….

Now you know — and we are scrubbed for tonight (hydraulics issue) for the under an hour away in the crewed count-down, headed up to the ISS from the Cape Kennedy complex 39A. Maybe tomorrow evening. Keeping a good thought here. Onward.

नमस्ते

While Musk’s SpaceX (Crewed) Rocket Sits Through A Hold, At The Cape — Due To Hydraulics Issue With A Clamp On The Tower… We Look At Deep Space Carbon60…

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The issue may be such that the team cannot trust the gantry will safely be out of the way, come launch time… so this may result in a scrub for tonight.

But the four crew members are loaded; the hatch has been sealed… and we await a “go/no go” to fuel the beast, with liquid oxygen and chemically modified kerosene. I’ll just take this moment though, to re-run a favorite graphic… and note that when we do finally send a crew beyond the heliosphere, that crew ought to be looking for rouge planets, ones without stars — because most may very well have the complex carbon chains from which life (we believe) arises. That is a pursuit worth. . . pursuing, indeed:

[From a Hubble release in 2019, then:] …[T]his is the first time an electrically charged (ionized) version has been confirmed to be present in the diffuse ISM. The C60 gets ionized when ultraviolet light from stars tears off an electron from the molecule, giving the C60 a positive charge (C60+). “The diffuse ISM was historically considered too harsh and tenuous an environment for appreciable abundances of large molecules to occur,” said Cordiner. “Prior to the detection of C60, the largest known molecules in space were only 12 atoms in size. Our confirmation of C60+ shows just how complex astrochemistry can get, even in the lowest density, most strongly ultraviolet-irradiated environments in the Galaxy….”

Life as we know it is based on carbon-bearing molecules, and this discovery shows complex carbon molecules can form and survive in the harsh environment of interstellar space. “In some ways, life can be thought of as the ultimate in chemical complexity,” said Cordiner. “The presence of C60 unequivocally demonstrates a high level of chemical complexity intrinsic to space environments, and points toward a strong likelihood for other extremely complex, carbon-bearing molecules arising spontaneously in space….”

Here’s to hoping, in any event, that this crew gets safely to orbit, and on to the ISS — later tonight — as that in turn “paves the way” for a ride home, for Suni and Butch, nearer to St. Patrick’s Day ’25. Onward, smiling.

नमस्ते

In Which We Laugh — At Hinderaker’s Bitter Whining. BTW — Did They Ever Find The Guys Who Burnt Your Leased Office Space, Man?

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Well, for a host of reasons — not least of which is John’s abidingly stupid, and falsely racist, assertions in this morning’s post — we will politely dissent from his claims.

He is wrong about reparations. It is working well here, with over 120 families now having received the aid authorized by a city council order.

That leaves about 320 families to go.

It is the county and city’s local tax, on legal weed — that generates the revenue to pay out these funds — now @ $25,000 per family.

The grant money must go into improving the family home, which must be inside our town. And the family must prove that they or their direct parents and/or grandparents lived in town (on or prior to 1969, and were African Americans) and that the current generations of the famil(ies) now live in the city — in property capable of being improved, by the $25,000 grant in aid.

[There is a separate low interest, not due until sale loan program (which I helped design) for double that amount if a budget, and architectural plans — for renovations is approved by the city, in the same dwelling — so… up to $75,000 in total funding. But the last $50,000 of it becomes a “due on sale” deferred lending.]

We as taxpayers have voted to improve our housing stock. It is that simple, son. And as a bonus — it has had the knock on effect of giving local women- and minority-owned construction contractors all sorts of new, high pay, guaranteed work — which they then re-spend in our shops and restaurants. [That’s the money-multiplier Keynesians all proved, in the 1960s bud.]

It works — so do take a seat, John. Or maybe you should seek reparations, for the actions at right, huh? Just a thought — can you prove it was “viewpoint discrimination”? The mind… boggles.

[U: Waving, At Kristi Noem] Judge Furman Specifically Admonished Noem’s DHS Lawyers — That “Moving Detainees To Secret Them from Counsel, And Abridge Their Rights”… Is A Felony.

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UPDATED at 1:56 PM EDT — the boys at Homeland Security are looking in on us. We just had several visits in the last 20 or so minutes. Gee — I wonder why that might be.

Exit Time: 12 Mar 2025 1:56:17 PM EDT
Resolution:
1920×1080
System:
Edge 133.0
Win11
Total Sessions:
[Redacted]
Location:
United States
ISP / IP Address:
Department Of Homeland Security (216.81.81.82)….

In any event, this is — and remains — a free nation. And I have proudly been a patriot my whole life long (no associations with terroristic groups — right or left)… so rest easy, boys. End of update.

Again, InnerCityPress has the minute by minute here. Excellent work inside Judge Furman’s courtroom, in Foley Square, man!

Probably the most important moments this morning were: (i) granting the green card holder daily privileged legal calls, from Jena, Louisiana; (ii) the speed of the next hearing — one day; and (iii) the specific on the record hint from the bench / admonition that the writ of habeas corpus defeats government efforts to “secret” a detainee away from his counsel — and that attempt itself may rise to an independent felony — by Kristi Noem’s DHS team.

These DHS idjits… are risking their law licenses now.

…Judge Furman: [To Noem’s lawyers:] Your papers should address Justice Kennedy’s concurrence in Rumsfeld v. Padilla [542 U.S. 426], about moving petitioners to evade jurisdiction.

Petitioner’s lawyer: Courts have also looked to identify the field office that was responsible [That is a broad hint that this may have constituted a felony by the DHS field agents]….

So — we now wait for 9 PM EDT filings tonight. And the docket is unsealed as of now. Thank you, Judge Furman!

नमस्ते

Power Alley: The Bellwether Cases Against Gardasil® Have All Failed; There Will Likely Be No New LA Trial Against Merck… But Beware RFK, Jr.!

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In an era not so completely ruled by odd-ball cult(s) of personality, the summary judment Merck just won would likely be the end of the line for all the putative Gardasil® vaccine claimants in the US.

But do recall that the current Sec’y. of Health and Human Services personally recruited some of these Gardasil plaintiffs for his law firm (and was to receive large contingent fee payments). Well, a large bolus of these claims were effectively dismissed yesterday, in North Carolina’s federal courts for the Western District, when the able judge ruled the plaintiffs injuries didn’t seem to be caused by the vaccine. Excellent for Rahway — the maker of Gardasil.

But sadly, who knows what the CURRENT Secy. of HHS might dream up (to ease his way around a final federal court order)? The prior one (see below pull quote) believed there was no cause-effect link between the plaintiffs’ maladies and Merck’s Gardasil.

In any event, this is all sure to be good (or at least, better) news for Merck — but we will have to wait a bit to see whether RFK, Jr. honors (or welshes on) his pledge / promise to the Senate that (if confirmed) he’d stay out of this, in his role at HHS:

…The Bellwether Plaintiffs (vaccinated at various dates from 2012 to January 2021) allege that Gardasil caused them to develop POTS or POI. They further allege that Merck should have added a POTS warning to Gardasil’s FDA regulated labeling in 2011 and a POI warning in 2013.

Merck responds that there is no evidence that Gardasil causes either POTS or POI, and the FDA has approved numerous Gardasil labels without any such warnings (as well as promoted the safety and efficacy of HPV vaccines, including with respect to POTS). As discussed in more detail below, all Parties have made lengthy scientific submissions which they contend support or argue against the need for Plaintiffs’ requested warnings. Gardasil is a childhood vaccine covered by the Vaccine Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 300aa-1, et seq.

As explained by the Supreme Court in Bruesewitz v. Wyeth LLC, 562 U.S. 223, 228–30 (2011), Congress enacted the Vaccine Act to “[t]o stabilize the vaccine market and facilitate compensation” to putative plaintiffs by establishing a no-fault compensation program “designed to work faster and with greater ease than the civil tort system.” Shalala v. Whitecotton, 514 U.S. 268, 269 (1995). The program requires a person who claims to have been injured by a vaccine, or their legal guardian, to file a petition for compensation against the Secretary of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) in the United States Court of Federal Claims prior to filing a civil action in State or Federal court. See 42 U.S.C. §§ 300aa–11, 12. Each of the Bellwether Plaintiffs filed claims in the Vaccine Court.

In its oppositions, HHS (which oversees both the FDA and CDC) argued against Plaintiffs’ claimed association between HPV vaccination and POTS or POI….

Now you know. We await news out of USDC Judge Furman’s court in Manhattan — on whether the First Amendment still means what it says. We expect that it does, and the green card holder will be released shortly. And… SPHEREx is conducting solar science now, overhead. So things are literally… looking up. Grin.

नमस्ते

[Updated] Q.: Why Were Tangerine 2.0 Appointees Burning And Shredding Documents Today At USAID Offices?

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Updated: Hinderaker seems unaware that humanitarian aid operations (in certain geographies) might lead to useful local contacts — for tradecraft opportunities – in shaping policy on the ground. Not spying per se — but rather “influencing”: toward democracy as opposed to socialism or oligarchy. As such, there might be sensitivity to letting such info out widely. John implies that the shredding was to hide graft. If that were so, Trump would be crowing. He is not — in fact he’s running the wood chipper, John. That seems… swampy — in a word. End update.

I am pretty sure all these appointees would have received broad “litigation hold” notices, due to the lawless way USAID has been dealt with since late January 2025.

And it is particularly odd that the White House spokesperson was trying to down-play it, as having any import — saying it was “only” three dozen people, doing the buring and shredding. None of that is reassuring — given that Trump/Musk people are running the effort. We will wait to see where it all lands, since we all know other / back-up copies of all this stuff are likely in other agencies’ safes, in any event. Here’s the weird story, out of Politico:

…The materials earmarked for destruction include contents of the agency’s “classified safes and personnel documents” at the Ronald Reagan Building, said an email sent by USAID’s acting executive director, Erica Carr, and obtained by POLITICO….

Anna Kelly, a spokesperson for the White House, downplayed [any] concerns in a social media post late Tuesday. “This was sent to roughly three dozen employees,” Kelly wrote. “The documents involved were old, mostly courtesy content (content from other agencies), and the originals still exist on classified computer systems….”

She might not be the most credible source here — jes’ sayin’. So, just when you thought it couldn’t get any… stranger. Wow. G’night.

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