Deborah Barnett

FBI Director Kash Patel explains how the criminal investigation into James Comey’s seashell post wasn’t a simple one: This has been a case that's been investigated over the past 9, 10, 11 months. These cases take time. Our investigators work methodically

Trump’s DOJ just filed what may be the most deranged written Motion ever. It reads more like a Truth Social post dictated by Trump himself. What an embarrassment. The Motion is filled with inappropriate personal insults. It literally calls the National Trust for Historic Preservation name “FAKE” and says the group is “very bad for our Country.” It accuses them of suffering from “Trump Derangement Syndrome” and frames their lawyer as “the lawyer for Barack Hussein Obama.” This is an actual line from the filing: “because it is DONALD J. TRUMP, a highly successful real estate developer, who has abilities that others don't, especially those who assume the Office of President, this frivolous and meritless lawsuit was filed.” This is how the Department of Justice is writing now? Then comes the opportunism. The filing leans heavily on the White House Correspondents’ Dinner incident and uses it to push Trump’s long-standing obsession with building a ballroom. Instead of addressing what went wrong, it argues that none of this would have happened if Trump’s project already existed. They claim “bipartisan support” because of support from…John Fetterman. The lawsuit also claims at multiple points the ballroom won’t cost taxpayers anything—something we now know to be false. Every DOJ lawyer who put their name on this should be ashamed. And it should be a major scandal that it appears that Donald Trump is the one who actually wrote this. So much for DOJ independence.

Sen. Lindsey Graham R-SC, Sen. Katie Britt R-AL, and Sen. Eric Schmidt R-MO unveil plans to authorize $400 million to pay for a new White House ballroom.

The sleight of hand here is turning “we want a ballroom” into “national security demands a ballroom.” Security upgrades may be real. But that doesn’t mean the ornamental event space, its scale, or the lack of normal oversight is automatically justified. And even if national security related, Congress still Constitutionally holds the power of the purse -- not Donald Trump's rich friends.