iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Deborah Pearlstein

Gabriele Svelto @gabrielesvelto.mas.to.ap.brid.gy · 6h

I double-checked this on a couple of Xitter stat sites and it's true. Average views of the main AfD account dropped 90% and average engagement dropped by 60%. This is commercial social media for you: bots, damn bots and Russian bots.

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Reposted by Deborah Pearlstein

Kyle Cheney @kyledcheney.bsky.social · 7h

NEW: DOJ declined to defend the legality of the $20m taxpayer-funded pro-Trump ad campaign funded by Border Patrol dollars — but suggested it would end today. Common Cause says that assurance is not enough and note DOJ ignored the judge's inquiry about Trump's role. www.politico.com/news/2026/10...

politico.com

Taxpayer-funded pro-Trump ads to end Sunday, Border Patrol official tells court

The Justice Department sidestepped questions about the legality of the ads.

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Reposted by Deborah Pearlstein

Kate Starbird @katestarbird.bsky.social · 7h

Over on X, the “rigged election” crowd is pushing rumors around a video livestream clip of election workers, working late at night, allegedly doing something nefarious. Maricopa officials have explained that the workers are just… doing their jobs. But rumors around the video continue to swirl.

X Posts about the Maricopa Late-Night Video, Oct 9–11, 2026.” The x-axis is time (local) from midday Oct 9 to mid-morning Oct 11. The y-axis is the cumulative number of posts, including reposts, from 0 to 35,000. A black line shows the running total. It is flat until mid-afternoon Oct 9, then rises sharply that evening to about 5,000. It climbs slowly overnight, then steeply through Oct 10 to about 28,000 by that evening. It levels off overnight and rises again on the morning of Oct 11, ending near 36,000.

365 individual posts are plotted on the line at the time they were posted, sized by repost count. A legend identifies 80 original posts as blue circles, 220 reposts as green triangles and 65 quote posts as orange squares. The largest markers are early: a large original post in the afternoon of Oct 9, a very large quote post around 6:30 PM Oct 9 at the start of the first surge, and another large quote post around 9 AM Oct 10 early in the second. Reposts are spread along the whole curve.

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Deborah Pearlstein @debpearlstein.bsky.social · 5h

Might not be quite enough to stop the far right altogether but the effect (which I’ve seen reported elsewhere) is stunning. We have chosen to tolerate an information environment where this is possible.

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Reposted by Deborah Pearlstein

Josh Chafetz @joshchafetz.bsky.social · 12h

Reminder that if you have a mail ballot, it's never too early to return it!

static.klipy.com

Ralph Wiggum's 'I'm Voted' Meme

ALT: Ralph Wiggum's 'I'm Voted' Meme

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Deborah Pearlstein @debpearlstein.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

Heads up Jersey - last day to register to vote is this Tuesday.

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Reposted by Deborah Pearlstein

Deborah Pearlstein @debpearlstein.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

In defending the meritless prosecutions in Chicago, DOJ had sought to keep not only its attorneys names under seal, but the entire "legal principles" section of its brief, just setting forth what law governs here. Const'l democracies don't rule by secret law. Good on Judge Perry for seeing this.

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Deborah Pearlstein @debpearlstein.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

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Josh Chafetz @joshchafetz.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

It would really be great if folks not affiliated with the Trump Administration could stop using "Department of War." The Department of Defense is a statutory creation, and the name is statutorily given--the administration cannot unilaterally change it.

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Reposted by Deborah Pearlstein

Justin Levitt @justinlevitt.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

This is a big deal. DC fed judge says that DOJ's pursuit (and use) of the state voter files is unlawful, on a bunch of different grounds. And effectively confirms that for the 18 states that submitted files willingly, whoever collected the files at DOJ Civil Rights committed federal crimes.

storage.courtlistener.com

Memorandum & Opinion – #51 in COMMON CAUSE v. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE (D.D.C., 1:26-cv-01352) – CourtListener.com

MEMORANDUM OPINION re the 29 Motion for Partial Summary Judgment and the 32 Motion to Dismiss, or in the Alternative, for Summary Judgment. See the attached document for details. Signed by Judge Spark...

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Reposted by Deborah Pearlstein

Ben Penn @benjaminpenn.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

News: The rise of Trump admin's DOJ fraud division has decimated a once elite white collar unit known for convicting market manipulating traders at big banks. Criminal Division is now trying to stop the exodus with unheard of retention bonuses. news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

news.bloomberglaw.com

DOJ Fraud Division’s Rise Diminishes Premier White Collar Unit

The Justice Department’s corporate crime enforcement hub has lost the bulk of its market manipulation and securities expertise over the past few months, accelerating what former officials call a downg...

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Reposted by Deborah Pearlstein

Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

"President Donald Trump bought between $1 million and $5 million in debt issued by SpaceX just days before the White House announced a new space-travel policy"

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Reposted by Deborah Pearlstein

Michael McDonald @electproject.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

#earlyvote morning update 10/9: at least 2.5 million people have voted in the 2026 general election 🥳 election.lab.ufl.edu/early-vote/2...

election.lab.ufl.edu

UF Election Lab: 2026 General Election Early Vote Statistics

Live national and state-by-state early voting statistics for the 2026 general election.

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Deborah Pearlstein @debpearlstein.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

Second time I've now seen this from this DOJ. These attorneys represent the people of the United States. What is DOJ's justification for hiding their names here?

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Eric Levai @ericlevai.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

Now THIS is how you write a story. Devastating.

Screenshot from this article: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/08/us/politics/fort-hood-execution-streamed-public.html?unlocked_article_code=1.HVE.Rw7O.Sj-0_s5YONzL&smid=nytcore-android-share

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Kyle Griffin @kylegriffin1.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

An IRS investigator is suing the agency — claiming officials illegally leaked his confidential personnel records to federal prosecutors to punish him for years of whistleblowing on the agency's failure to tackle tax dodging.

nytimes.com

Whistle-Blower Says I.R.S. Leaked His Tax Records in Retaliation

Brian J. Visalli, a veteran investigator of tax fraud, said in a lawsuit that the agency had sent his personal and tax information to federal prosecutors.

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Reposted by Deborah Pearlstein

Kyle Griffin @kylegriffin1.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

BREAKING: MS NOW confirms. The Trump Justice Department is seeking a federal criminal indictment of ex-White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson on charges of lying to Congress about Trump's actions on Jan. 6.

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Deborah Pearlstein @debpearlstein.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Many things in this must-read on the current non-existence of DOJ independence. Beyond holding monthly mtgs w/FBI, ATF, Marshals ofc heads in cities targeted for domestic terrorism concerns, Miller's also "in touch multiple times a week w/the Deputy AG office to discuss fraud & immigration cases..."

cbsnews.com

Trump adviser Stephen Miller spoke to agents at recent FBI training on domestic terrorism, sources say

Stephen Miller spoke at a training session at FBI headquarters just days before prosecutors criminally charged a man with making disturbing calls and texts to his wife, sources told CBS News.

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Reposted by Deborah Pearlstein

Jameel Jaffer @jameeljaffer.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

If you know talented law students who would be interested in spending a summer working on the most important and interesting First Amendment cases, please send them our way! knightcolumbia.org/page/summer-...

knightcolumbia.org

| Knight First Amendment Institute

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Deborah Pearlstein @debpearlstein.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

I'd missed this. California last week gets first law in nation restricting lawyers' use of AI in the practice of law. Top line: "An attorney shall not delegate the practice of law to generative artificial intelligence." Among details: no entering "nonpublic" info into AI & must verify sources.

leginfo.legislature.ca.gov

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Reposted by Deborah Pearlstein

Reuters Legal @legal.reuters.com · 07/10/2026

US President Donald Trump is sending $2.35 billion in direct payments to millions of Americans just weeks before the November 3 elections that will determine whether his Republicans will maintain control of the US Congress.

reut.rs

Trump doles out billions to voters ahead of midterm elections

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Reposted by Deborah Pearlstein

Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Details about what the USPS is up to above.

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Reposted by Deborah Pearlstein

Matt Binder @mattbinder.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

the tech industry is about to invent books

Andrew Yeung
@andruyeung
X.com
We created gyms because modern day work no
longer required physical activity. Without exercise,
our muscles atrophy.
I predict we'll need gyms for our brains too, once Al
starts doing our knowledge work.
10:53 PM • 10/4/26 • 1.3M Views

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Reposted by Deborah Pearlstein

ProPublica @propublica.org · 06/10/2026

The government *still* isn’t tracking how often immigration agents detain U.S. citizens. We are. 500+ Americans have been handcuffed, held at gunpoint or held against their will in Trump’s second term. Our tally is almost certainly an undercount. THREAD (content warning: violence) ⬇️

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Reposted by Deborah Pearlstein

Princeton PLAW @plawpu.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

On Tuesday, P•LAW's Preview of the 2026-2027 Supreme Court Term welcomed distinguished journalists and experts to review the consequential rulings from the last term, and look ahead at the important cases coming in the next term. @debpearlstein.bsky.social @kateshaw.bsky.social @npr.org @nytimes.com

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Deborah Pearlstein @debpearlstein.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

How nice for them. Next question: which act of Congress authorized this expenditure of federal funds? Quaint it may be, but our constitution forbids drawing funds from the treasury except pursuant to acts of congress.

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Deborah Pearlstein @debpearlstein.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Great. Next question: when can the U.S. treasury expect to receive a personal reimbursement check from the president?

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Hansi Lo Wang (he/him) @hansilowang.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

TODAY (Monday, Oct. 5) is the deadline for registering to vote for the midterms in: AMERICAN SAMOA ARIZONA ARKANSAS FLORIDA GEORGIA INDIANA KENTUCKY LOUISIANA — in-person, mail (10/13 online) MISSISSIPPI MONTANA — mail (11/3 in-person) OHIO SOUTH CAROLINA — mail TENNESSEE TEXAS npr.org/vote

npr.org

How to register to vote and check your registration status

For the 2026 elections, NPR has collected deadlines and information on how to register to vote — online, in person or by mail — in every U.S. state and territory.

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Reposted by Deborah Pearlstein

Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

If you're in these 3 states, *TODAY* is deadline to register to vote. Alaska Rhode Island South Carolina Even if you think you've registered: doesn't hurt to check everything is in order. Do it now. And there's a lot to vote for across them. A thread with stakes on each. ⬇️

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Deborah Pearlstein @debpearlstein.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Just for perspective, there are about 677 district court judgeships in the US. If every one of these positions were filled (they're not) and if all of these cases were distributed evenly by geography (they're not), that'd be ~122 more cases PER JUDGE. They cannot possibly keep up.

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Deborah Pearlstein @debpearlstein.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

VOTE. EARLY. (Maine and California 10/5.... Georgia 10/13... New Jersey and New York 10/24....)

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Deborah Pearlstein @debpearlstein.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

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Deborah Pearlstein @debpearlstein.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Seen so many of late. The kids are not alright.

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Reposted by Deborah Pearlstein

Hansi Lo Wang (he/him) @hansilowang.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Eligible voters of the United States, Have you checked your state or territory's deadline for registering to vote or updating your registration for the midterm elections? (SPOILER ALERT: They are coming up fast!) There's a guide for you at npr.org/vote

npr.org

How to register to vote and check your registration status

For the 2026 elections, NPR has collected deadlines and information on how to register to vote — online, in person or by mail — in every U.S. state and territory.

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Reposted by Deborah Pearlstein

Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Voter registration deadlines are SUNDAY in Alaska, Rhode Island, South Carolina. And MONDAY in: Arizona, Arkansas Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, Ohio, Tennessee, and *Texas*. If you live in these states, verify your registration now, literally.

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Michael McDonald @electproject.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

#earlyvote morning update 10/2: at least 1 million people have voted in the 2026 general election 🥳🎉 election.lab.ufl.edu/early-vote/2...

election.lab.ufl.edu

UF Election Lab: 2026 General Election Early Vote Statistics

Live national and state-by-state early voting statistics for the 2026 general election.

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Deborah Pearlstein @debpearlstein.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

"[A] former Nixon aide turned Watergate historian and revisionist, recently gave a 2-hour presentation at DOJ headquarters....The title of his 78-page slide deck: 'Watergate As Lawfare.'” (Gift Link)

wsj.com

Exclusive | Decades After Watergate, Justice Department Reviews Whether Nixon Got a Raw Deal

A revisionist historian went to the DOJ headquarters to present his case that the former president and his associates weren’t treated fairly.

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Reposted by Deborah Pearlstein

Reuters Legal @legal.reuters.com · 01/10/2026

Legal AI company Clio acquired an AI startup that makes a tool for judges. The company said on September 30 that the acquisition of Learned Hand marks its first direct expansion into the judiciary as part of an ongoing effort reut.rs/4AHkjru

reut.rs

Legal AI company Clio acquires judge-focused startup to push into courts

Legal technology company Clio said on Wednesday that it has acquired an AI startup that makes a tool for judges, saying courts ‌need to incorporate AI to keep up with lawyers' use of the technology.

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Deborah Pearlstein @debpearlstein.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Spoiler alert: The boat strikes are not legal. There are only two legal reasons the memo matters: (1) as evidence the officers who carried out the strikes to claim some sort of didn't-know-better defense; (2) as evidence as to whether the lawyers who wrote it should be subject to bar discipline.

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Reuters Legal @legal.reuters.com · 01/10/2026

A Florida lawyer is seeking to avoid sanctions after a state appeals court said her filings in a case bore hallmarks of generative artificial intelligence output that the panel of judges called “AI slop.” @mikescarcella.bsky.social reut.rs/4e0yC0v

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Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

"For decades, we've provided election coverage that's based on in-depth political reporting by an experienced team of journalists backed by commentary from political leaders. But now we're throwing that aside so we can tell you what some of the most irredeemable uninformed gamblers are guessing."

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