brendanballou.bsky.social - Profile | ThreadSky | a Reddit-style client for Bluesky

The president's pardon power is meant to advance justice and promote national reconciliation. The increasingly scandalous abuse of the pardon power by successive presidents undermines justice and deepens divisions.

submitted 1 day ago • 33 comments

Ed Martin is the new Pardon Attorney — because he couldn’t get confirmed as U.S. Attorney for D.C. — and he’s already announcing that it’s all just politics.

submitted 1 day ago • 4 comments

Trump’s goal is to enable vigilantes who are loyal to him, but beyond the reach of the law, and willing to enact violence in his name.

submitted 8 hours ago • 0 comments

If you want a sneak peak into our future imagine the politicization of everything. Whether the government performs a function entirely dependent on whether the government likes you. You want your social security check? Small business loan? Let's have a look at your facebook posts first

submitted 1 day ago • 29 comments

The Free Press—backed by Peter Thiel allies Marc Andreessen & David Sacks—just published this piece glorifying Thiel ally Michael Anton (a Claremont alum). Several weeks ago, “New Right” operative Matt Peterson—a Claremont alum at Blaze Media —promoted the idea of Anton filling the NSA position 1/

submitted 1 day ago • 21 comments

Pardon Attorney Ed Martin suggests that MAGA supporters are literally above the law.

submitted 1 day ago • 1 comment

The Wall Street Journal covers PLUNDER and other books that describe private equity, an industry that has never been more politically powerful. www.wsj.com/finance/inve...

submitted 3 days ago • 1 comment

Restraints on the executive branch are often good for the executive branch. Independence makes agencies more credible and less partisan. The court recognized this for the agency that helps banks (the Fed), but didn’t for the agencies that help people (FTC etc.).

submitted 5 days ago • 0 comments

This administration is recreating the finance industry of the 1920s. That decade didn’t end particularly well. pe-insights.com/trump-admini...

submitted 5 days ago • 0 comments

House Republicans smuggled this👇attack on the federal judiciary into their reconciliation bill. Courts rarely require plaintiffs to post security, so this provision, if passed into law, would render a vast number of existing judgments—including Boasberg's contempt order—effectively unenforceable.

submitted 6 days ago • 68 comments

This bespoke exception for the Fed is one of the most brazenly made-up things I've ever seen the Supreme Court do (which is saying something). There is no principled basis to distinguish the Fed from other independent agencies. The conservative justices just don't want Trump to crash the market!

submitted 6 days ago • 180 comments

Politics doesn't need to be hard: (1) explain your agenda to improve people's lives, and (2) how you'll accomplish that agenda. Shockingly few candidates offer (1), even fewer offer (2).

submitted 5 days ago • 0 comments

Pam Bondi's brother is running to take over the DC Bar. If he wins, the Bar could be silenced as an advocate for the rule of law. An amazing 30,000 Bar members have already voted--triple the previous record. If you're a lawyer, don't forget to vote! www.dcbar.org/about/who-we...

submitted 6 days ago • 0 comments

Like so many things former interim DC US Attorney Ed Martin does, this will probably backfire. The targets of DOJ shaming will have a great defamation, First Amendment, and potentially Fourteenth Amendment case against the government.

submitted 7 days ago • 0 comments

This fact will almost certainly be part of Congresswoman McIver’s motion to dismiss for selective prosecution. This administration is constantly undercut by its own inexperience.

submitted 7 days ago • 0 comments

Supreme Court candidate James Ho: “It is not the role of the judiciary to check the excesses of the other branches” — Actually, it is!

submitted 8 days ago • 0 comments

DOJ is using the same laws used to prosecute January 6 rioters to prosecute a sitting congresswoman. They aren’t just trying to prosecute their enemies; they’re trying to rewrite history. www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcn...

submitted 8 days ago • 0 comments

In addition to Bove’s contempt for the rule of law, I have been told that Bove screams at paralegals, which I consider a mortal sin. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/19/u...

submitted 9 days ago • 0 comments

"Police week" is wrapping up here in Washington DC Still no "Jan 6 plaque" at the Capitol. Despite a law that it must be hung by 2023

submitted 11 days ago • 71 comments

Imagine saying you’ll use the SS to target your enemies and thinking you’re the good guy.

submitted 12 days ago • 0 comments

(Former) Interim DC US Attorney Ed Martin discloses that he is under investigation. politicalwire.com/2025/05/15/e...

submitted 12 days ago • 0 comments

Thrilled to see PLUNDER in paperback. This administration has treated the government like a private equity acquisition. PLUNDER explains why, what comes next (it isn’t good!), and what we can do to stop it. www.barnesandnoble.com/w/plunder-br...

submitted 15 days ago • 0 comments

Ed Martin’s ambition to “shame” prosecutors will almost certainly backfire, given that it will (1) keep the truth of January 6 alive, and (2) invite lawsuits against him and the government for defamation. www.nbcnews.com/politics/jus...

submitted 15 days ago • 0 comments

From preschools to prisons, private equity is everywhere. Our book of the week details how government support enables private equity to engineer debt-driven buyouts to extract maximal value while evading accountability. By @brendanballou.bsky.social buff.ly/mkvzPpv

submitted 15 days ago • 0 comments

Brad Bondi, brother of the attorney general, is running for president of the DC Bar. Here’s a thoughtful statement from his opponent, Diane Seltzer, at a recent candidate forum, about what she hopes to do on this time of government chaos. Bondi never showed up. DC Lawyers, voting is open!

submitted 17 days ago • 1 comment

Part of our descent into competitive authoritarianism. Targeting opposition politicians for retaliation and announcing investigations publicly to maximize damage to them.

submitted 20 days ago • 32 comments

Ed Martin will no doubt go on to great heights in this administration, but his nomination to run the DC US Attorney’s Office mattered: it was part of an effort to rewrite the history of Jan. 6. In this regard, the administration failed. www.npr.org/2025/05/08/n...

submitted 20 days ago • 1 comment

Great news! The president has withdrawn the nomination of Interim DC US Attorney Ed Martin. Martin came to this job with no experience, and promptly used the office to harass political opponents. This is a big win. Advocacy works: congratulations! www.nytimes.com/2025/05/08/u...

submitted 20 days ago • 1 comment

The Wall Street Journal weighs in against Interim DC US Attorney Ed Martin. Another encouraging sign. www.wsj.com/opinion/thom...

submitted 20 days ago • 0 comments

It looks like the president is cutting Interim DC US Attorney Ed Martin loose… thehill.com/homenews/adm...

submitted 21 days ago • 0 comments

The extent to which this administration is running the government like a private equity acquisition is incredible. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

submitted 21 days ago • 0 comments

PLUNDER is now out in paperback. It is the story about how private equity firms destroy companies and communities, and why. www.amazon.com/Plunder-Priv...

submitted 21 days ago • 2 comments

Senator Tom Tillis (R-#NorthCarolina) is doing the nation a service here. On the dangerous Ed Martin nomination for US Attorney in DC. Senator Thune: “I think that would suggest that [Martin] is probably not going to get out of committee." thehill.com/homenews/sen...

submitted 22 days ago • 67 comments

Another encouraging sign reported by @mkraju.bsky.social: Sen. Tillis is a no on Interim DC US Attorney Ed Martin.

submitted 22 days ago • 0 comments

Very encouraging to see that Interim DC US Attorney Ed Martin’s nomination is struggling. Whether or not he is confirmed, this is progress: keep up the pressure everyone!

submitted 22 days ago • 0 comments

The Speaker of the House still refuses to honor the officers who defended the Capitol on January 6th with a simple plaque. But this same GOP is rushing to give ICE agents more power to raid homes and detain families.

submitted 27 days ago • 71 comments

Trump allies are dismantling the Civil Rights Division and attempting to control the DC Bar. It’s scary, but don’t underestimate your ability to slow or stop these efforts. I spoke with @amanpourcopbs.bsky.social about what you can do. m.youtube.com/watch?v=UQOE...

submitted 23 days ago • 2 comments

Interim DC US Attorney sends a letter that vaguely threatens judges. It speaks to his inexperience. Even if you shared Martin’s beliefs, a more competent lawyer would know how utterly counterproductive to his goals this is.

submitted 23 days ago • 1 comment

Interim US Attorney reveals yet more appearances on Russian state television he previously failed to disclose.

submitted 23 days ago • 0 comments

THIS WEEK: We're bringing together caregivers, care recipients, and care advocates for a 24-hour Medicaid vigil at the U.S. Capitol. We're telling Congress: Medicaid is not just a line item in a budget – it's a lifeline for millions of people. Join us in DC: go.caringacross.org/a/dc-medicai...

submitted 23 days ago • 10 comments

Members of Congress have proposed: * Putting Trump's face on Mt. Rushmore. * Making his birthday a federal holiday. * Putting him on the $100 (or new $250) bill. Yet they refuse to honor the officers who quite literally saved their lives on Jan. 6, 2021.

submitted 23 days ago • 1 comment

JD Vance tweets like a man with a ton of time on his hands

submitted 24 days ago • 0 comments