Judge Plans To Appoint Special Master To Probe Trump DOJ Misconduct

INSIDE: Jessie Liu ... Stan Woodward ... Kris Kobach

US Attorney General Todd Blanche (C) and guests wait for the arrival of US President Donald Trump to speak at a midterm campaign rally at the Ocean Center in Daytona Beach, Florida on October 30, 2026. (Photo by Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP via Getty Images)

The DOJ’s Absurd Caddyshack Moment

The D.C. golf course case continues to be a surprise contender for the long-awaited but elusive judicial branch showdown with the Trump administration over its chronic defiance of federal judges.

In an order over the weekend, U.S. District Judge Ana C. Reyes said she intends to appoint former D.C. U.S. Attorney Jessie K. Liu as a special master “to investigate whether Department of Justice or Department of the Interior counsel have committed ethical violations” in a lawsuit to block Trump’s renovation of the East Potomac Golf Course.

Reyes has been outraged at the Trump administration after deferring to it early in the case only to have it burn her later — a common pattern over the past 22 months of Trump II. An extensive tree-cutting operation on the golf course over the Columbus Day weekend was the proximate trigger for Reye’s ire, but a series of representations made to her in open court and in court filings have proven to be misleading at best and downright false at worst, she has found.

Liu’s investigation of Trump administration attorneys, including Stan Woodward, the No. 3 official at DOJ, will cover the period through Oct. 31, according to Reyes’ order, which offers this bio of Liu:

Ms. Liu served as the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia from 2017 to 2020, the same office in which she previously served as an assistant U.S. attorney. In addition, she has held senior positions at the Justice Department. These include deputy assistant attorney general in the Civil Rights Division; counsel to the deputy attorney general on national security issues; and deputy chief of staff for the National Security Division. Ms. Liu also served as deputy general counsel of the U.S. Department of the Treasury. In addition, Ms. Liu has been a partner at several international law firms. She is currently a partner at Liu Shur Kravis LLP.

Reyes gave the parties until Friday to raise any objections to Liu’s appointment (which will be at the government’s cost).

Trump DOJ Watch: Shitshow Edition

In addition to serving as a sword against Trump foes and a shield for his friends, the Trump DOJ under Attorney General Todd Blanche is an absolute zoo:

• Harmeet Dhillon first told the White House in early October that she planned to resign as head of the Civil Rights Division after the election, but President Trump demanded that she be fired after he was displeased by her Oct. 18 appearance on “60 Minutes,” CBS News reports: “Justice Department officials were able to stall for time and allow her to proceed with her plans to resign after the election was over.”

• John Eisenberg, who was forced out as the assistant attorney general for the National Security Division, was called “Eisenblock” behind his back by then-Trump DOJ official Emil Bove, who now sits on the Third Circuit, Bloomberg reports: “Blanche briefly thought that was his actual surname before continuing using the moniker …”

• The resignation of Miami U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones may not have that dramatic of an immediate effect: “Many of the office’s most sensitive investigations were already being overseen by a top Blanche deputy, Aakash Singh …” the NYT reports.

• Associate Attorney General Stan Woodward’s “willingness to put his name behind controversial legal actions had led some officials to joke behind his back that his initials really stand for Sign Whatever,” the WSJ reports.

The Retribution: Post-Blowout Edition

Reeling from his midterm defeat, President Trump began threatening the new Democratic majority in Congress with imprisonment two months before it even takes office.

In two Truth Social posts over the weekend, Trump labelled as “extortion” Democratic threats of impeachment and promises of congressional oversight and demanded the Trump DOJ investigate: “By copy of this statement, I am ordering the Department of Justice to look into this criminal act, immediately! President DONALD J. TRUMP”

The Retribution: NYT Edition

The Trump DOJ considered naming the NYT as an indicted co-conspirator in its third prosecution of former FBI Director James Comey.

In addition to all the grubby political retribution reasons for targeting the NYT, the Trump DOJ was desperately trying to get around a statute of limitations problem with charging Comey, the NYT reports: “The department’s consideration of treating The Times as a conspirator appeared to be an attempt to connect the Oct. 5, 2016, article with subsequent coverage by The Times involving Mr. Comey in a way that they contend could extend the statute of limitations.”

Quote of the Day

Ruth Ben-Ghiat:

Late-stage radicalization and instability have characterized the actions and mood of autocrats in decline. We are seeing a version of it taking shape in the White House now. The Republican wipeout in the elections is prompting a dangerous reaction in a leader whose personality cult is shrinking and fading and whose foreign patrons are taking advantage of his weakness to make their influence over him more visible.

The Korematsu or Dred Scott of Our Time

“There are some opinions that I hope in my lifetime will get overturned. The immunity case is one of them.”—Justice Sonia Sotomayor, on Trump v. U.S., which cloaked the president in a broad grant of immunity from criminal prosecution

Trump DOJ Dismisses CA Election Case

In a pissy filing, the Trump DOJ dismissed its lawsuit to force California election officials to segregate and not count the mail-in ballots of people who showed up on the department’s dubious list of 20,000 alleged noncitizens. The administration had suffered keys loses in the case at the district court, appeals court, and Supreme Court in the days before the election.

Kris Kobach Defeated In Kansas!

Longtime TPM fave Kris Kobach — an OG voter fraud bamboozler who later turned his attention to requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote — lost his re-election bid for Kansas attorney general.

More State Level Election Tidbits and Trivia

• Not since Watergate … or Truman: “2026 will be the largest year for net gain in state legislative seats for Democrats since the 1974 Watergate Wave. As a percentage of seats, though, it’s looking like it’ll be the highest since Harry Truman’s election in 1948,” according to Chaz Nuttycombe, executive director of State Navigate.

• Flipping the script: Democrats gained six new trifectas and broke five Republican ones. Heading into the election, Republicans held trifectas in 23 states, Democrats in 16. Coming out of the election, Democrats hold 22 trifectas and Republicans have 17, with Alaska still pending.

• A rare cameo by the Whig Party: “In New York, Democrats are on track for their biggest state Senate majority since 1846, when they were running against the Whigs,” Politico reports.

Chain Refoulement Alert!

The Trump administration is allegedly engaged in chain refoulement, the unlawful practice of using third countries to do the dirty work of returning immigrants to their country of origin when U.S. courts or immigration judges have barred their deportations, according to a NYT report:

But a New York Times investigation found that this program results in many of them being pushed back to the very countries where the Trump administration itself cannot legally send them. Some of the United States’ foreign partners have made clear that will happen. And when it does, the Trump administration continues sending planes full of deportees.

The Times identified more than 110 people who had court-ordered protections and were handed over to foreign governments, only to then be passed on to home countries where they risked torture, sexual abuse or persecution — risks that have been validated by American courts.

Rescued From the Memory Hole!

The new Democratic majority in the House will bring the Jan. 6 memorial plaque honoring defenders of the Capitol up from the basement to which House Republicans had relegated it.