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Flirting with Disaster: Kid Glove Treatment of an Assassination Attempt Sets Damaging Example
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October 6, 2025
Flirting with Disaster: Kid Glove Treatment of an Assassination Attempt Sets Damaging Example
By: James Trusty
On a crisp October afternoon while the media focused on P Diddy’s high-profile New York sentencing, a less conspicuous—but more consequential—hearing took place in another federal courthouse, not far from the nation’s capital. Nichola Roske was sentenced for the attempted assassination of at least one Supreme Court associate justice. On June 8, 2022, Roske flew across the country—California to Virginia—and then traveled by cab to the Maryland address of Supreme Court Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Roske arrived armed with a laser-sighted handgun, knife, lock picking set, duct tape, hammer, crowbar, and tactical gear. In his on-line research before the cross-country flight, Roske searched for information on conservative justices, mass shooters, and techniques for hurting people with knives, including the question:…
This Wall Won’t Hold: Preventing Foreign Claims on Asbestos Trusts
August 25, 2025
This Wall Won’t Hold: Preventing Foreign Claims on Asbestos Trusts
By: George Calhoun
Bankruptcy continues as a favored vehicle for the resolution of mass-tort claims, particularly asbestos-based claims. In two recent cases in Delaware, an often-overlooked issue has raised a red flag concerning the fairness of the trusts proposed in many of these cases. The plan proponents in those cases proposed asbestos trusts that provided that foreign claimants were not eligible for payment. It is a foundational principle…
The Referral was the Easy Part – Where does Gabbard’s Evidence Lead DOJ?
July 29, 2025
The Referral was the Easy Part – Where does Gabbard’s Evidence Lead DOJ?
By: James Trusty
Americans are used to a considerable level of dirty tricks when it comes to politics. Occasionally, however, a legal line is crossed and a high-level official is either chased out of office, subjected to a criminal prosecution, or both. Ask Richard Nixon, Marvin Mandel, and Bob Menendez. Despite the predictable proclamation from prominent democrats that DNI Director Tulsi Gabbard’s referral is “old news” and “politically…
Alexa and Fifth Amendment Law
January 17, 2017
Alexa and Fifth Amendment Law
By: Ifrah Law
It sits in your house, passively recording everything you say. It knows what you like. It knows what you listen to. It knows what you buy. It knows who’s in the room with you. And now, it might tell the police all about it. “It” is the Amazon Echo, a revolution in the “internet of things.” The Echo is a smart speaker that connects directly…
‘Tis the Season of Giving: Supreme Court Expands Insider Trading Liability to Recipients of “Gift” Stock Tips
December 6, 2016
‘Tis the Season of Giving: Supreme Court Expands Insider Trading Liability to Recipients of “Gift” Stock Tips
By: Ifrah Law
Just in time for the holiday season, the Supreme Court has ruled that gift-giving is truly its own reward. But far from embodying the spirit of generosity that typically goes with that saying, the Court has ruled that the warm feeling one gets from giving to others can give rise to criminal insider trading liability. This ruling will extend insider trading liability for the recipients…
The E-Rate Honey Pot
August 12, 2016
The E-Rate Honey Pot
By: Nicole Kardell
When you grant access to a $ 4 billion fund and give fund participants relative autonomy in how they use those funds, ne’er-do-wells will sniff their way to the honey pot. Keeping them out can be a challenge. So goes the story of the federally administered Schools and Libraries Program, better known as E-Rate. Established by the Telecommunications Act of 1996, E-Rate is a federal…
Keep It Short and Prosper
June 9, 2016
Keep It Short and Prosper
By: Nicole Kardell
What a difference two words can make. Just ask the Center for Competitive Politics (CCP) or Americans for Prosperity (AFP), two organizations that filed separate lawsuits against the same defendant, California Attorney General Kamala Harris, over the same issue: whether Harris’s office had the right to access the organizations’ donor information. (The cases are Center for Competitive Politics v. Harris and Americans for Prosperity v….
This Man Is Dodging Wall St.
June 8, 2016
This Man Is Dodging Wall St.
By: Ifrah Law
Rather than confront accusations of baseless zeal and prosecutorial overreach, New York federal prosecutor Preet Bharara would rather spend his energy dodging accountability. In 2010, Bharara launched a crusade against Wall Street, prosecuting several hedge funds he suspected of insider trading. Highly publicized raids followed. In the wake of the financial meltdown, Bharara was hailed as a hero. A Time cover story proclaimed, “This Man…
