Weekly US politics news and updates thread - week of November 24

Judge dismisses James Comey and Letitia James cases, finding prosecutor's appointment invalid

Washington — A federal judge on Monday ordered the criminal charges against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James to be dismissed on the grounds that Lindsey Halligan, the interim U.S. attorney who secured their indictments, was unlawfully appointed to the role.

The rulings from U.S. District Judge Cameron Currie are a significant victory for Comey and James, who both argued their prosecutions are retaliatory and motivated by President Trump's efforts to punish his political foes.

"I conclude that all actions flowing from Ms. Halligan's defective appointment, including securing and signing Mr. Comey's indictment, constitute unlawful exercises of executive power and must be set aside," Currie wrote in her opinion in the Comey case, a line that she repeated in her ruling in the James case.

Currie ordered the indictments to be dismissed without prejudice, which would allow prosecutors to seek charges again. She suggested that prosecutors could not seek a new indictment in Comey's case since the statute of limitations for the offenses expired at the end of September.

Hegseth order on first Caribbean boat strike, officials say: Kill them all

The Special Operations commander overseeing the Sept. 2 attack — the opening salvo in the Trump administration’s war on suspected drug traffickers in the Western Hemisphere — ordered a second strike to comply with Hegseth’s instructions, two people familiar with the matter said. The two men were blown apart in the water.

Hegseth’s order, which has not been previously reported, adds another dimension to the campaign against suspected drug traffickers. Some current and former U.S. officials and law-of-war experts have said that the Pentagon’s lethal campaign — which has killed more than 80 people to date — is unlawful and may expose those most directly involved to future prosecution.

...

The alleged traffickers pose no imminent threat of attack against the United States and are not, as the Trump administration has tried to argue, in an “armed conflict” with the U.S., these officials and experts say. Because there is no legitimate war between the two sides, killing any of the men in the boats “amounts to murder,” said Todd Huntley, a former military lawyer who advised Special Operations forces for seven years at the height of the U.S. counterterrorism campaign.

...

Since that first attack, the Pentagon has hit at least 22 more boats, including one semisubmersible, in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean, killing another 71 alleged drug smugglers, according to officials and internal data seen by The Washington Post.

Green Card Interviews End in Handcuffs for Spouses of U.S. Citizens

Green-card applicants’ temporary visas often lapse while their “adjustment-of-status” proceeds over several months or longer.

An immigration statute passed by Congress in 1986 allows a spouse who entered the country lawfully to be eligible for a green card through marriage even if the person’s visa has expired.

While federal law does not prohibit spouses with expired visas from being detained and placed in deportation proceedings, in the past they have rarely been detained while applying for green cards.

Sounds like zero exceptions are now being made for anyone who wants to marry into a green card? You have to leave as soon as your visitors visa expires and apply for the green card from the consulate office of your home country?

After Mr. Paul learned from his wife that the authorities were threatening to deport her without a hearing, he said, their lawyer filed a lawsuit in federal court in San Diego to halt her removal and secure her release.

In response, the government approved Ms. Paul’s green card on Tuesday and freed her.

Except for those privileged enough to have money to hire a lawyer? In which case the government focuses on easier to win cases?

U.S. set to label Maduro-tied Cartel de los Soles as a terror organization

Venezuelans began using the term Cartel de los Soles in the 1990s to refer to high-ranking military officers who had grown rich from drug-running. As corruption later expanded nationwide, first under the late President Hugo Chávez and then under Maduro, its use loosely expanded to police and government officials as well as activities like illegal mining and fuel trafficking.

"It is not a group," said Adam Isaacson, director for defense oversight at the Washington Office on Latin America organization. "It's not like a group that people would ever identify themselves as members. They don't have regular meetings. They don't have a hierarchy."

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said last week that the upcoming designation of Cartel de los Soles will provide a "whole bunch of new options to the United States" for dealing with Maduro.

Cool. I was not as politically/globally aware in 2002 when WMDs were used as justification for invading a country. Looking looking back with 20/20 hindsight at Iraq, this feels like they're setting up even more thin and flimsy justifications to invade a country.

Both parties are watching Tennessee Special Election for Congress as bellwether

Denmark sets up ‘night watch’ to monitor Trump after Greenland row (The Guardian)

The Danish government has set up a “night watch” in the foreign ministry, not to keep out the wildlings and White Walkers like the Night’s Watch of Game of Thrones, but rather to monitor Donald Trump’s pronouncements and movements while Copenhagen sleeps.