Adam Klasfeld Profile picture
Senior legal correspondent @TheMessenger. Earlier: Managing editor @LawCrimeNews, @CourthouseNews alum. RTs=What's it to ya? adam(at)adamklasfeld(dot)com
👌Kracken President-Elect Chump Voter In MN 👌 Profile picture Deborah Lorich Profile picture HarshlyCritical Profile picture 3 subscribed
Oct 9, 2018 4 tweets 2 min read
Second Circuit REJECTS petition to stay Wilbur Ross's deposition in the #2020Census case, but allows for a 48-hour stay for a SCOTUS appeal.

All eyes on Kavanaugh, who could spare a Trump cabinet member from the hot seat in a case affecting U.S. political power for a decade. NOTE: A three-judge panel of bipartisan appointees - USCJ Walker (H.W. Bush), USCJ Lohier (Obama) and USDJ Pauley (Clinton) - unanimously rejected the stay the DOJ wanted in a summary order.

We'll learn w/in two days whether post-Kavanaugh SCOTUS divides along partisan lines.
Oct 8, 2018 5 tweets 3 min read
This chart from the @IPCC_CH climate report is particularly chilling.

Look at our current warming rate: Without dramatic action, scientists predict we hit 1.5 degrees by 2040.

My summary on @CourthouseNews. courthousenews.com/landmark-un-cl… U.N. Secretary-General @AntonioGuterres on the half-degree difference between 1.5- and 2-degree goal.

* Heat waves for tens of millions.
* Extinctions
* Water scarcity
* 10x more Arctic ice free summers
* "Total wipe-out of the world's coral reefs."
Oct 5, 2018 4 tweets 2 min read
Looks like @TheDemocrats successfully served the GRU in their racketeering suit... The Russian Federation also got served.

Though both have a receipt date for much earlier, the docket entries appeared for the first time this morning.
Oct 4, 2018 4 tweets 1 min read
You know who else pined for a thousand years of rule? I hesitated about posting this tweet because it’s folks shouldn’t be flippant about these historical analogies.

But that also means not letting rhetoric and slogans like this pass without mention.
Oct 3, 2018 5 tweets 2 min read
In the courtroom right now to watch this challenge to the presidential alert system. More to come. Lead plaintiff, reporter J.B. Nicholas, has had some success with pro se lawsuits in the past.

An ex-researcher for star attorney Ron Kuby, Nicholas was behind a Second Circuit decision letting prisoners unionize and another on NYPD press creds. courthousenews.com/judge-holds-ny…
Sep 30, 2018 5 tweets 3 min read
BREAKING: A federal judge denies @CommerceGov's request to stay @SecretaryRoss's deposition in the #2020census case, pending their appeal to the Supreme Court.

Judge Furman calls the government's application "particularly frivolous - if not outrageous."

Scorching ruling. Note: As the ruling states, the Second Circuit placed an administrative stay on Ross‘s deposition pending their review of that appeal. The government lost a recent appeal involving a DOJ official.

If they lose again, Judge Furman emphasizes, he won’t wait for SCOTUS to weigh in.
Sep 30, 2018 4 tweets 2 min read
The UN report on North Korean crimes against humanity detailed hundreds of thousands “eliminated” in political prisoner camps, likened to those of early 20th century totalitarian regimes.

It’s easy to get inured to Trump’s bluster, but imagine he professed his love for Hitler. This is the regime for which Trump professed his love. Read it. documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/…
Sep 28, 2018 14 tweets 3 min read
At the UN Trusteeship Chamber, where @PressFreedom's Joel Simon is introducing an #UNGA side event involving Amal Clooney.

It begins with a short video about the jailing of two Reuters journalists: Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, who discovered and investigated a Rohingya massacre. Before the video rolled, Simon said of incarcerating journalists: "There has been one issue around which it has been difficult to engage with the UN," because, he said: "The UN has a culture of rarely calling out its members."
Sep 28, 2018 5 tweets 1 min read
Set aside everything else for a moment: An extremely powerful federal judge floated a theory about an elaborate conspiracy to prevent his confirmation to the highest court of the land without evidence. This really deserved follow-up questions:

Who took part in the massive conspiracy that you alleged?

Was Dr. Ford involved in the conspiracy that you alleged?

Was her therapist involved in the conspiracy that you alleged?

Was the Democratic Party involved in the conspiracy?
Sep 27, 2018 19 tweets 3 min read
Over at the United Nations, the Security Council is about to begin in 5 minutes on the subject of non-proliferation and North Korea. The live feed for that is here, with translations available in the six official UN languages -- Arabic, Chines, English, French, Russian and Spanish - or the original language of the speaker: webtv.un.org/live-now/watch…
Sep 25, 2018 58 tweets 10 min read
Pre-dawn rise to cover today’s #UNGA speeches for the start of general debate.

By tradition, Brazil’s up first. Then, it’s Trump followed by Ecuador’s Lenin Moreno, Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and a dozen other speakers in today’s morning session.

More to come. ICYMI, yesterday: My UNGA preview coverage, recapping what transpired since general debate last year. courthousenews.com/trump-returns-…
Sep 24, 2018 14 tweets 4 min read
UN live feed at the general assembly captures Trump and Haley entering. Trump is chairing a meeting on counter-narcotics at 8:30 am.

Some background in my newsletter. More soon. tinyletter.com/KlasfeldReport… Trump and Haley both sitting next to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres at the Trusteeship Council Chamber, with the meeting starting soon.
Sep 21, 2018 6 tweets 3 min read
BREAKING: @SecretaryRoss must sit for deposition about his decision to add the citizenship question to the 2020 census.

"Secretary Ross must sit for deposition because, among other things, his intent and credibility are directly at issue."

Background: courthousenews.com/unsealed-ross-… Here is the breaking 12-page ruling ordering Wilbur Ross to the hot seat. documentcloud.org/documents/4918…
Sep 20, 2018 4 tweets 1 min read
🤦‍♂️ For all who are just tuning in, someone playing amateur detective just purported to crack the Kavanaugh case through the most spectacularly ill-advised viral Twitter thread in memory.

No more info is needed as no more attention needs to be brought to it.
Sep 20, 2018 46 tweets 7 min read
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo's former "right-hand man" Joseph Percoco faces sentencing this afternoon at 2 p.m.

Look out for my coverage soon. ICYMI: Prosecutors emphasized Percoco's "significant power" throughout the Cuomo political dynasty in their sentencing memo, which seeks more than 5 years imprisonment.

The memo: documentcloud.org/documents/4910…

I will be live-tweeting today's sentencing.
Sep 14, 2018 19 tweets 3 min read
Today’s hearing is about to begin. Courtroom is quiet. There are related cases across the country, looping in via telephone conference.

“All rise”

Attorneys introduce. We begin.
Sep 13, 2018 4 tweets 2 min read
NEW: On the eve of Friday's hearing in the 2020 census suit, @NewYorkStateAG tells the judge they received emails suggesting a "deliberate effort to whitewash the record" for a SCOTUS challenge on the citizenship question.

Cites the email chain to try to depose Wilbur Ross. Aug '17 Email Chain

Earl Comstock, director, Office on Policy&SP: “since this issue will go to the Supreme Court we need to be diligent in preparing the administrative record.”

Ross: we should be very careful, about everything, whether or not it is likely to end up in the SC."
Sep 13, 2018 17 tweets 2 min read
Today in New York:

Voters head to the polls in the state primaries.

@TheDemocrats have their first court hearing against the Russian Federation, Trump campaign, WikiLeaks et al in their racketeering suit in Manhattan Federal Court.

Look out for my live coverage. The hearing starts at 4:30 PM.
Sep 7, 2018 6 tweets 2 min read
Intriguing case in Utah: Two brothers from a polygamous sect charged with a $511 tax fraud scheme involving biofuels + money laundering to Turkey.

In a new bail memo, one brother blames the other - & touts his relationship to Turkish President Erdogan (name misspelled here). So far, I haven't been able to obtain that photo, and I'll post it if I come across it. Here is the DOJ's press release on the charging of the brothers from late August.

justice.gov/opa/pr/ceo-and…

The unsealed indictment:

documentcloud.org/documents/4840…
Sep 7, 2018 6 tweets 2 min read
Accused Russian hacker extradited to New York and will be brought before Judge Swain on Sept. 25. He will also be presented before a magistrate judge this afternoon. More to come.
Sep 7, 2018 4 tweets 1 min read
ICYMI: My write-up of Hakan Atilla's appeal, which argues that the jury should have heard Reza Zarrab's "jailhouse tapes" to undermine his credibility.

Atilla's attorneys also attack criminal penalties for "secondary sanctions" and jury instructions. courthousenews.com/barred-tapes-l… As the story makes clear, prosecutors have not yet filed their reply brief or counter-appeal seeking a tougher sentence against Atilla. I will report on these filings when they are released.