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Ryan J. Reilly “paints a vivid and urgent portrait of… disarray”

@ryanjreilly.com
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@nbcnews.com Senior Justice reporter, ebike guy. Read my stuff: ryanjreilly.com Order my book: www.publicaffairsbooks.com/titles/r… Message me on Signal: @ryanjreilly.62 🚲⚖️🕵️🦅🛎️🇺🇸

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Ryan J. Reilly “paints a vivid and urgent portrait of… disarray” @ryanjreilly.com · 22/09/2026
Victoria Toensing, the 84-year-old wife of Joe diGenova, was until recently a DOJ employee and also had a FOIA suit pending in DC federal court, and there was a last-minute scramble for a deadline extension. A federal judge is displeased that happened so late in the game.
MINUTE ORDER: The Court has reviewed the 21 Notice, which provides no reason why the Parties waited until the day before the Defendant's deadline to move for an extension. And as of 7:00PM on the date of the Defendant's deadline, counsel for the Defendant had not yet drafted a motion for filing. Yet the Parties represent that the Defendant seeks an extension "solely to avoid briefing where it may not ultimately be necessary." Surely counsel for the Defendant was aware of that fact prior to the Sunday before her deadline. The Court reminds counsel for the Defendant, Tara Derbisz, of her duty of candor to the Court and expects that she will take steps to prevent a similar occurrence in the future. The Court GRANTS IN PART the 20 Motion nunc pro tunc. The Defendant shall move for summary judgment by October 5, 2026. The Plaintiff shall oppose and cross-move for summary judgment by October 26, 2026. The Defendant shall reply and cross-oppose by November 9, 2026. The Plaintiff shall cross-reply by November 16, 2026. Signed by Judge Sparkle L. Sooknanan on 9/22/2026. (lcsls2)
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Ryan J. Reilly “paints a vivid and urgent portrait of… disarray” @ryanjreilly.com · 22/09/2026
A federal grand jury indicted a Tennessee Bluesky user for allegedly threatening ICE agents. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
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Ryan J. Reilly “paints a vivid and urgent portrait of… disarray” @ryanjreilly.com · 21/09/2026
Just a beautiful lede on this piece. www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
There is a certain YouTube clip that I
watch from time to time, when I need a
pick-me-up, or when I'm in a giddy mood and want to push it further—to the upper reaches of euphoria. The video, from 2018, is titled "Eagles strip sack on Tom Brady - Local Announcers / Multiple Languages," and it captures seven seconds from the fourth quarter of Super Bowl LII, as witnessed by stunned sportscasters across the globe.
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Ryan J. Reilly “paints a vivid and urgent portrait of… disarray” @ryanjreilly.com · 09/09/2026
Slightly worried Jeanine Pirro thinks my name is “Not You.”
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Ryan J. Reilly “paints a vivid and urgent portrait of… disarray” @ryanjreilly.com · 04/09/2026
Rally in support of Olympic canoeist David Hearn ahead of 2:30 hearing in his Reflecting Pool case.
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Ryan J. Reilly “paints a vivid and urgent portrait of… disarray” @ryanjreilly.com · 04/09/2026
A reminder that the Maria Bartiromo butterfly effect caused Cassidy Hutchinson to have to clean ketchup off the White House wall.
departure n
By 2020, Bartiromo's star wasn't shining so brightly anymore.
Ailes had been out of the company for four years, dead for three.* Fox had renewed her reported $6 million contract in 2019, but now there were questions of whether she was worth the cost and how low she was willing to go for ratings. "What happened to Maria Bartiromo?" read one headline.* Some of the talk came from within Fox itself: a senior vice president at Fox News said Bartiromo had "gop conspiracy theorists in her ear" and was saying "crazy wrong shit," while Fox Business News president Lauren Petterson said Bartiromo should "get off social [media) all together.?46
Bartiromo believed it was "easier to get good ratings when you are giving your audience something they want to hear." She agreed with her producer, who said after the election that Barti-romo's audience "doesn't want to hear about a peaceful transition." On the day of the Four Seasons Total Landscaping presser, Bartiromo received and read an email from someone who claimed they were a "ghost" who could "time-travel in a semiconscious state" and received messages from "the wind." She later called it "kooky" and "nonsense."
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Ryan J. Reilly “paints a vivid and urgent portrait of… disarray” @ryanjreilly.com · 27/08/2026
In which The Daily Caller purports to claim exclusivity on an amicus brief that hit the docket two days ago (which includes a dead link to the author's desktop): storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
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Ryan J. Reilly “paints a vivid and urgent portrait of… disarray” @ryanjreilly.com · 27/08/2026
A reminder that 19 years ago was core Bradley Schlozman time.
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Ryan J. Reilly “paints a vivid and urgent portrait of… disarray” @ryanjreilly.com · 25/08/2026
Trump "has publicly solicited her criminal prosecution 'for what she did and said' in her prior testimony... Prosecution... is a present looming threat."
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Ryan J. Reilly “paints a vivid and urgent portrait of… disarray” @ryanjreilly.com · 25/08/2026
Cassidy Hutchinson is fighting what her lawyers call an "oppressive" subpoena to testify about Jan. 6 in the Trump v. BBC lawsuit, noting she is "currently under politicized criminal scrutiny." storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
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Ryan J. Reilly “paints a vivid and urgent portrait of… disarray” @ryanjreilly.com · 11/08/2026
They stole this from the Eras Tour. www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
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Ryan J. Reilly “paints a vivid and urgent portrait of… disarray” @ryanjreilly.com · 05/08/2026
Louise Wood Flanagan of North Carolina, the federal judge on the seashells case, would like the former FBI director’s team of legal all-stars to make printing arrangements for her:
TEXT ORDER as to James Brien Comey, Jr.
- This matter comes before the court of its own initiative. To aid the court's
consideration, defendant is DIRECTED to deliver to the court within 5 days paper copies of all motions now pending (DE 32, 35, 37, 39), as well as memoranda in support and exhibits not filed under seal.
The parties are DIRECTED to deliver, within 5 days of the filing of responses and replies to such motions, if any, paper copies of such briefs and any exhibits not filed under seal. Entered by District Judge Louise Wood Flanagan on 8/4/2026. (Zak, J)
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Ryan J. Reilly “paints a vivid and urgent portrait of… disarray” @ryanjreilly.com · 04/08/2026
"This is the last of the prosecutions seeking to hold accountable those responsible for the events of January 6. That book is now closed." Judge Amit Mehta reluctantly dismisses the Oath Keepers case. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
This is the last of the prosecutions seeking to hold accountable those responsible for the
events of January 6. That book is now closed. Today’s epilogue diminishes the gravity of that
day, denigrates the work of the prosecutors and law enforcement officers who secured these
convictions, and excuses criminal acts that caused a centuries-long pillar of our democracy—the
peaceful transfer of presidential power—to buckle. The court cannot write a different ending.
For the foregoing reasons, the government’s Motion to Dismiss Indictment, ECF No. 967,
and Supplemental Motion to Dismiss Indictment, ECF No. 979, are granted. The Superseding
Indictment, ECF No. 167, is hereby dismissed with prejudice
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Ryan J. Reilly “paints a vivid and urgent portrait of… disarray” @ryanjreilly.com · 03/08/2026
Trump says Jeanine Pirro ‘choked’ by dropping Reflecting Pool vandalism case www.nbcnews.com/politics/jus...
In a news conference held not long after prosecutors convinced grand jurors to return an indictment, Pirro said that she could state “beyond a reasonable doubt” that Hearn caused over $1,000 in damage “irregardless of whether or not ... there is some situation” that happened at the Reflecting Pool before Hearn arrived.

But in a filing on Friday afternoon, Pirro’s team admitted its case was washed up, saying the damage to the Reflecting Pool was “the result of flawed installation by the contractor.” The Justice Department blamed the Interior Department for withholding critical information, even though there was plenty of public information available about fundamental failures of the installation work.

Materials that the Interior Department turned over after the indictment reflected those issues. The Justice Department said the documents “indicated a rushed and flawed installation process” ahead of celebrations to mark America’s 250th “with repeated failures of the lining during the installation process, and extensive peeling of the lining throughout the Reflecting Pool.”
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Ryan J. Reilly “paints a vivid and urgent portrait of… disarray” @ryanjreilly.com · 03/08/2026
NEW: DOJ moves to chuck attempted class action lawsuit filed by Jan. 6ers: storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
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Ryan J. Reilly “paints a vivid and urgent portrait of… disarray” @ryanjreilly.com · 30/07/2026
A D.C. judge has pooled four separate cases related to the Reflecting Pool together, putting the defendants in the same boat. Thanks, I'm here all week.
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Ryan J. Reilly “paints a vivid and urgent portrait of… disarray” @ryanjreilly.com · 29/07/2026
In which defense attorneys for the Olympic canoeist facing felony Reflecting Pool charges has to explain to newbie assistant U.S. attorney how 6(e) grand jury rules work!
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Ryan J. Reilly “paints a vivid and urgent portrait of… disarray” @ryanjreilly.com · 29/07/2026
Remember Matthew Petracca, the lead prosecutor on the James Comey case? He became an actual assistant U.S. attorney in the ballpark of 48 hours before he brought a case against the former director of the FBI, per James Comey's team.
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Ryan J. Reilly “paints a vivid and urgent portrait of… disarray” @ryanjreilly.com · 28/07/2026
The Kash Patel FBI’s alt troll account says a publication that has been around longer than the FBI itself “adds no value to society.”
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Ryan J. Reilly “paints a vivid and urgent portrait of… disarray” @ryanjreilly.com · 23/07/2026
"He texted his friends articles about the Republican U.S. House majority being 'in Danger,' commenting that 'Democrats steal enough elections to tip the balance of power.'" storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
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Ryan J. Reilly “paints a vivid and urgent portrait of… disarray” @ryanjreilly.com · 23/07/2026
"He visited the InfoWars and YouTube websites..."
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Ryan J. Reilly “paints a vivid and urgent portrait of… disarray” @ryanjreilly.com · 23/07/2026
DOJ sentencing memo claims "The United States has zero tolerance for political violence, especially homicidal political violence, regardless of the political affinity of the perpetrators." storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
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Ryan J. Reilly “paints a vivid and urgent portrait of… disarray” @ryanjreilly.com · 07/07/2026
DOJ attorney asks for more time to respond to FOIA lawsuit against FBI for records related to allegations about Kash Patel. "emergency matters sidetracked counsel..." storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
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Ryan J. Reilly “paints a vivid and urgent portrait of… disarray” @ryanjreilly.com · 02/07/2026
Citing NBC News reporting, House members raise concerns about a John Solomon effort that "appears to be a transparently partisan political exercise to validate debunked conspiracy theories about the 2020 election." democrats-intelligence.house.gov/uploadedfile...
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Ryan J. Reilly “paints a vivid and urgent portrait of… disarray” @ryanjreilly.com · 23/06/2026
DOJ says Praireland defendants have been sentenced to a combined 450 years in prison.
Leader of Antifa Cell Members in North Texas Sentenced to 100 Years in Prison for Terrorist Attack on ICE Facility

Seven Additional Defendants Also Sentenced Before One-Year Anniversary of Attack to a Combined 450 Years in Prison

WASHINGTON — Today, the Justice Department announced that eight North Texas Antifa Cell operatives were sentenced for their roles in rioting, using weapons and explosives, providing material support to terrorists, obstruction, and the attempted murder of an Alvarado police officer at the Prairieland Detention Center on July 4, 2025. This is the first sentencing of defendants affiliated with Antifa following President Donald J. Trump’s executive order designating the group as a Domestic Terrorist Organization in September 2025.

Benjamin Hanil Song, who was convicted of the attempted murder of a law enforcement officer, was sentenced to 100 years in prison. Together, the Prairieland terrorists received a combined sentence of 450 years in prison:

Maricela Rueda was sentenced to 70 years in prison;
Cameron Arnold was sentenced to 50 years in prison;
Savanna Batten was sentenced to 50 years in prison;
Zachary Evetts was sentenced to 50 years in prison;
Bradford Morris was sentenced to 50 years in prison;
Elizabeth Soto was sentenced to 50 years in prison; and
Daniel Rolando Sanchez-Estrada was sentenced to 30 years in prison.
“The sentences handed down today make clear that Antifa terrorists who attack law enforcement and federal facilities will face swift and uncompromising justice,” said Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. “Their violent extremism has no place in our country, and the Department of Justice will continue to aggressively investigate, disrupt, and prosecute those who threaten law enforcement officers or undermine the rule of law.”
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Ryan J. Reilly “paints a vivid and urgent portrait of… disarray” @ryanjreilly.com · 17/06/2026
New fodder for a vindictive prosecution memo in the new federal case against anti-ICE protesters in Minnesota.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
06/17/26
Trump Administration Delivers Another Crushing Blow to Antifa Terrorist Network
Last year, President Donald J. Trump designated Antifa a domestic terrorist organization and directed the full power of the federal government to hunt down, disrupt, and dismantle the violent anarchist network. This week, the Department of Justice struck another decisive blow by charging 15 Antifa-linked terrorists in a conspiracy to violently obstruct lawful immigration enforcement operations in Minneapolis.

These charges are the latest in the Trump Administration’s relentless campaign to eradicate Antifa’s domestic terrorism threat:

Minnesota: Yesterday, 15 Antifa operatives were charged with coordinating violent attacks on ICE agents and facilities during Operation Metro Surge in Minneapolis, where they deployed blockades, vehicle tracking, intimidation, and other militant tactics to sabotage the operation. In February, a self-described Antifa member was charged with cyberstalking and threatening ICE officers.
 
Oregon: Since mid-2025, dozens of Antifa militants have been arrested and charged — with multiple convictions already secured — following their prolonged siege against the Portland ICE facility. Rioters repeatedly assaulted officers, lobbed incendiary devices, and engaged in sustained attacks on federal personnel and property.
 
Texas: In March, nine members of a North Texas Antifa cell were convicted on terrorism-related charges — in addition to seven others who pleaded guilty — for their violent, armed ambush on an ICE detention facility.
 
Washington: In May, multiple Antifa insurgents were convicted on federal conspiracy charges for their roles in a violent attack at a Spokane ICE facility.
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Ryan J. Reilly “paints a vivid and urgent portrait of… disarray” @ryanjreilly.com · 13/06/2026
Fueling up to comply with a midnight deadline on a court order, presumably.
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Ryan J. Reilly “paints a vivid and urgent portrait of… disarray” @ryanjreilly.com · 09/06/2026
If you were thinking “huh, wonder if they showed up at some voter’s house because there was some filler birthdate in the database, maybe something like super obvious from 126 years ago like, idk, 1/1/1900” than wow great guess spot on.
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Ryan J. Reilly “paints a vivid and urgent portrait of… disarray” @ryanjreilly.com · 05/06/2026
“this is how you get caught by feds," he explained to the FBI confidential human source.
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Ryan J. Reilly “paints a vivid and urgent portrait of… disarray” @ryanjreilly.com · 05/06/2026
"we really got away with this," he wrote to the FBI undercover employee. "Committed grand treason and literally got away with it."
On the same day, Ghafoor told the UCE, “They are confirmed to be closing it, we
really got away with this. Committed grand treason and literally got away with it. Once these
messages disappear in a week, there’s not gonna be any record of us doing this, at least none can
be traced back to us. At least none can be traced back to you, for me they sent me a message of
my name written down on a canister. They’re planning to use on some Americans.”
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Ryan J. Reilly “paints a vivid and urgent portrait of… disarray” @ryanjreilly.com · 05/06/2026
Footnote in a new FBI sting that resulted in charges against three for material support for ISIS: storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
I understood Ghafoor to be using the term “sick” as a slang for cool.
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Ryan J. Reilly “paints a vivid and urgent portrait of… disarray” @ryanjreilly.com · 04/06/2026
Charlottesville tiki-torcher who endorsed Trump at his Jan. 6 sentencing is running for office in South Carolina. www.nbcnews.com/politics/jus...
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Ryan J. Reilly “paints a vivid and urgent portrait of… disarray” @ryanjreilly.com · 04/06/2026
SPLC defense team calls out Trump DOJ for putting “media strategy before sacrosanct rules on grand jury secrecy”: storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
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Ryan J. Reilly “paints a vivid and urgent portrait of… disarray” @ryanjreilly.com · 31/05/2026
Trumpian top federal prosecutor asserts that even if he “tried” to bring an overtly political and improper criminal case, that individuals he recently hired wouldn’t go along with it. (Actual careers might be a different story.) amp.newsobserver.com/news/politic...
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Ryan J. Reilly “paints a vivid and urgent portrait of… disarray” @ryanjreilly.com · 30/05/2026
Seven years ago today, Bob Mueller appeared at a DOJ presser for the last time.
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Ryan J. Reilly “paints a vivid and urgent portrait of… disarray” @ryanjreilly.com · 28/05/2026
“An American outrage”: Bruce Springsteen weighs in on Trump’s $1.776B “anti-weaponization fund” that could go to Jan. 6 rioters.
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Ryan J. Reilly “paints a vivid and urgent portrait of… disarray” @ryanjreilly.com · 12/05/2026
Kash Patel attempted a little oppo hit on Sen. Van Hollen today, taking a $7,128.00 catering expense and claiming that the senator ran up a "$7,000 bar tab" at The Lobby Bar.
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Ryan J. Reilly “paints a vivid and urgent portrait of… disarray” @ryanjreilly.com · 12/05/2026
Ten years ago today
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Ryan J. Reilly “paints a vivid and urgent portrait of… disarray” @ryanjreilly.com · 06/05/2026
BREAKING: The alleged Jeffrey Epstein suicide note has posted. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
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Ryan J. Reilly “paints a vivid and urgent portrait of… disarray” @ryanjreilly.com · 06/05/2026
Feds say defendant Michael Marx, charged in a Monday shooting incident on the National Mall, said “F**k the White House” and “Kill me, kill me, kill me" as he was being transferred to the hospital. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
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Ryan J. Reilly “paints a vivid and urgent portrait of… disarray” @ryanjreilly.com · 05/05/2026
See if you can spot the set change they made for the Kash Patel edition of Hannity's podcast.
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Ryan J. Reilly “paints a vivid and urgent portrait of… disarray” @ryanjreilly.com · 05/05/2026
What a weird time!
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Ryan J. Reilly “paints a vivid and urgent portrait of… disarray” @ryanjreilly.com · 30/04/2026
Can report that Todd Blanche has the absolute GOAT of official Attorney General portraits on display in the AG’s conference room at Main Justice. (Avant-garde Nick Katzenbach.)
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Ryan J. Reilly “paints a vivid and urgent portrait of… disarray” @ryanjreilly.com · 29/04/2026
Fordham Law's Cheryl Bader on the James Comey seashells indictment: "I don't think the case will ever get to a jury because it is likely to be '86'd' (dismissed) by the judge."
“I can't imagine a jury concluding beyond a reasonable doubt that Comey's post of shells he came upon on the beach proves a criminal intent to threaten President Trump with physical violence or to solicit others to physically attack the President. But I don't think the case will ever get to a jury because it is likely to be "86'd" (dismissed) by the judge. Crimes involving speech, particularly political speech, which are afforded the highest protection under the 1st amendment, must be scrutinized by the judge to make sure the prosecution does not run afoul of the constitution. The judge will likely find this indictment does not contain an allegation of a "true threat" under the law. Also, this latest prosecution is another layer in the vindictive prosecution argument Comey's defense team continues to build.
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Ryan J. Reilly “paints a vivid and urgent portrait of… disarray” @ryanjreilly.com · 29/04/2026
Cole Allen read a Daily Beast story while en route to Chicago, and then read a Georgetowner story en route to D.C., per feds.
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Ryan J. Reilly “paints a vivid and urgent portrait of… disarray” @ryanjreilly.com · 29/04/2026
"the defendant was wearing a black dress shirt, black slacks, and what appears to be a red necktie, tucked into his pants." New details on Cole Tomas Allen and the attack on the White House Correspondents Dinner. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
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Ryan J. Reilly “paints a vivid and urgent portrait of… disarray” @ryanjreilly.com · 29/04/2026
Army, Old Navy
Photo of National Guardsmen outside a retail outlet.
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Ryan J. Reilly “paints a vivid and urgent portrait of… disarray” @ryanjreilly.com · 24/04/2026
👀 DOJ hints at forthcoming "external events" that could impact a FOIA lawsuit filed by the wife of newly appointed DOJ official Joe diGenova. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
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Ryan J. Reilly “paints a vivid and urgent portrait of… disarray” @ryanjreilly.com · 23/04/2026
Here’s a Kash Patel flack saying the lockout issue was NBD — “a minor glitch” — while avoiding giving any details of what actually matters, which is the FBI director’s contemporaneous reaction to that tech issue.
Let me try to break this down as I would for my kindergartener, for the peanut gallery.

The FBI Director, in the most prolific year of crime reduction in U.S. history, operates on numerous systems a day. Despite being completely logged into his government systems, there was a minor glitch in loading a password-protected attachment, for which the software was promptly fixed.

The only people on the planet who thought this equated to him being fired are the same media that gave us Michael Avenatti and Jussie Smollett, who want nothing more than a disruption in accountability.
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Ryan J. Reilly “paints a vivid and urgent portrait of… disarray” @ryanjreilly.com · 22/04/2026
Neither Kash Patel nor any of his representatives have offered any substantive descriptions of how the FBI director contemporaneously reacted to his April 10 technical issues. www.nbcnews.com/politics/jus...
Patel’s lawsuit says he “had a routine technical problem logging into a government system, which was quickly fixed” on April 10. The suit says it was “false” that Patel engaged in a “freak-out” or was “deeply concerned that his job is in jeopardy” after the tech issue.

When NBC News asked Patel to explain the login issue during a press conference on Tuesday, he said he “was never locked out of my systems” and that “anyone that says the opposite is lying.” He broadly accused the press of reporting “false lies” and raising “baseless questions,” and said he would serve in his position as long as Trump and acting Attorney General Todd Blanche wanted him to do so.Erica Knight, a communications strategist who has worked with Patel, wrote on X that he was “never locked out of any systems” but that an “iPad briefly didn’t load an attachment, which required tech support.”

“He was not locked out,” Patel attorney Jesse Binnall said in an email to NBC News on Tuesday night. “There was a technical problem using a government system.”

Binnall added: “Outside of the minor technological glitch, the rest of the reporting is fantasy.”
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