David Oscar Markus

Yesterday was one of those court days that I will remember forever.

At the ABA conference, Ghislaine Maxwell and Nicolas Maduro’s lawyers discussed their high-profile clients & the hate mail they get. Maxwell’s lawyer said he recently received a note from a sender w/ the address “Todd Blanche sucks at gmail dot com.” politico.com/news/2026/03/1…

Q: "What do people say is their favorite part of a tour of the Supreme Court?" Justice Amy Coney Barrett: "Hands down, it's the 'Highest Court in the Land,' which is our basketball court that's up at the top."

@HawleyMO She's against the death penalty? Love it!

My wife Erin is the foremost advocate for life in courtrooms across the country She’s argued twice in the United States Supreme Court defending life in the last year and a half Very proud of her

SCOOP: Judiciary OKs new Supreme Court defender office to help represent indigent defendants at #SCOTUS. Its full-time director will serve as counterweight to the U.S. solicitor general in federal criminal cases. The first will be former Kagan clerk and SG atty Ashley Robertson.

The first opinion is in Urias-Orellana v. Bondi, on federal courts' role in asylum cases. In a unanimous ruling from Justice Jackson, the court holds that a persecution determination should be reviewed under the substantial-evidence standard. supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf…

The House Oversight Committee released video footage from Ghislaine Maxwell’s deposition this morning, during which she invoked her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. The video clip begins with Maxwell’s attorney, @domarkus, stating that she would provide a full and truthful account of what she witnessed and participated in if granted clemency by President Trump. Markus added, “Some may not like what they hear, but the truth matters. For example, both President Trump and President Clinton are innocent of any wrongdoing. Ms. Maxwell alone can explain why, and the public is entitled to hear that explanation.” Maxwell then went on to invoke her Fifth Amendment right in response to questions concerning her role in the recruitment, grooming, and trafficking of young women and girls while she was Jeffrey Epstein’s companion.

Why did Ghislaine Maxwell "plead the fifth" today, you ask? It's pretty easy to understand. When she gave her July 2025 proffer interview to the Deputy Attorney General, Todd Blanche, it was pursuant to an immunity agreement her lawyers had sensibly negotiated. Nothing she said in that interview could be used in a future criminal proceeding against her, with the exception that if she lied, she could still be charged for making false statements. This is not uncommon for how proffer interviews are negotiated. The deal was that prosecutors would be barred from using her statements in the interview to formulate new charges against her in the future, whether around "trafficking" or anything else -- which is always a risk. Whenever you're talking to FBI/DOJ. And she'd already been in prison for over five years. With another 15 to go on her sentence. Any lawyer would insist on such an agreement before speaking to the government, especially given the extremely high-profile of Maxwell, and the intensity with which her statements would be scrutinized. To my knowledge, there was no offer of immunity re: her scheduled deposition today before the House Oversight Committee. Which means any statement she might've made could be used to further prosecute her, and otherwise keep her in prison. Plenty of people, with varying motives -- most obviously, political -- would love to see her trip up on some purportedly false statement, and then make a cockamamie criminal referral afterwards, in hopes of hitting her with yet another charge. Members of Congress on that committee, especially but not limited to Dems, were clearly chomping at the bit to catch her on something. And yes, that does entail possible criminal exposure. So it was only prudent for her to "take the fifth" under these circumstances. There's no good reason to think it had anything to do with her determination to perpetuate some kind of "coverup." She spent hours and hours talking to Blanche last summer, on all the relevant topics people would want to hear about. I highly recommend reading that transcript, if you haven't already.

Hello Congresswoman @RepLuna. Invoking a Constitutional right is not obstruction. It's what our great country was built on. Personal attacks on counsel don’t change the Constitution and are beneath the office.

A sitting Congressman wants to punish someone for invoking a constitutional right. Sending someone to harsher confinement because they invoke a constitutional right is something we associate with authoritarian regimes, not the United States Congress. Sad.

Ghislaine Maxwell invoked her Constitutional right to silence this morning before @RepJamesComer and the House Oversight Committee. Here is the statement I gave to the Committee explaining why: Members of the Committee:   On my advice, Ghislaine Maxwell will respectfully invoke her Fifth Amendment right to silence and decline to answer questions today even though she would very much like to answer your questions.   She must remain silent because Ms. Maxwell has a habeas petition currently pending that demonstrates that her conviction rests on a fundamentally unfair trial.   For example, jurors lied during voir dire to secure seats on the jury, and the government promised immunity and then broke that promise. Newly disclosed documents now demonstrate these facts conclusively.   If this Committee and the American public truly want to hear the unfiltered truth about what happened, there is a straightforward path. Ms. Maxwell is prepared to speak fully and honestly if granted clemency by President Trump.   Only she can provide the complete account. Some may not like what they hear, but the truth matters. For example, both President Trump and President Clinton are innocent of any wrongdoing. Ms. Maxwell alone can explain why, and the public is entitled to that explanation.   Thank you.

Lawyers for former Rep. David Rivera (R-FL) are seeking to call WH Chief of Staff Susie Wiles & former Venezuelan leader Nicholas Maduro as witnesses at Rivera's trial set for next month on foreign-agent/lobbying charges. Docs: documentcloud.org/documents/2688… documentcloud.org/documents/2688…

@bmaz @joshgerstein @kyledcheney @ScottGreenfield I agree! 💯

@domarkus @joshgerstein @kyledcheney @ScottGreenfield Yes, but credit where due, Josh is one of the really good ones.

One of the most dangerous things about social media is that non-lawyers explain law to other non-lawyers, who then believe with absolute certainty that they know the law. They don't, but their belief is unshakeable.

@joshgerstein @kyledcheney @ScottGreenfield Plenty of journalists explain with similar confidence and are equally wrong too. Present company excluded of course.

@ScottGreenfield Plenty of lawyers out there with no expertise in a specific area who speak with similar confidence and are equally wrong

NEW: The House Oversight Committee is set to depose Ghislaine Maxwell on Feb. 9, but her attorneys say in a letter to Chairman Comer that she will invoke her Fifth Amendment rights👇

@OrinKerr It's time to do away with the good faith exception.

Interesting that the Court did not grant cert on the good faith exception, which everyone knows applies. This lets them hand down essentially an advisory opinion: They will say what the rules are for geofence warrant issues. And if the 4A is deemed violated, they'll remand so the lower courts can add the (inevitable) conclusion that Chatrie gets no relief under the good faith exception.

The 4th Amedment is in again in 2026!

I used to think that the stress was the worst part of the job, but it's clear to me now that the worst part is PACER two-factor authentication.

At least there will be some place to go in Fort Pierce with all the Cannon trials coming up in the next couple of years.

If you're stopped by police, timeless advice: 1. Be nice, and polite, even if the cop is a jerk. Especially if the cop is a jerk, because if the cop comes off as a jerk on body cam, the jury may acquit you for this and no other reason.