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Issue: Law

Bondi Out. The War on the War. Miscarriage of Justice: Cop Killer Verdict a ‘Gut Punch’ to NYPD. You’ll Never Guess Where the Kids Are Going? Church.

Posted on by Charlotte Hays

President Trump has ousted his second Cabinet official.

Former AG (it was that fast!) Pam Bondi learned her fate Wednesday in a ride to the Supreme Court with President Trump: 

During the drive, Trump told her, “I think it’s time,” she would later tell an associate. 

The ensuing hours were as awkward and chaotic as Bondi’s 14-month tenure as the nation’s top law-enforcement official. Trump and Bondi briefly sat near each other during the Supreme Court hearing on birthright citizenship, but the president soon switched chairs. Later, Bondi would ask Trump if she could keep her job until the summer. The president declined.

The President called Bondi “a Great American Patriot” in a Truth Social post announcing her departure after a 14-month tenure that started with the declaration, “We love Pam.”  Well, it was a nicer send-off than Jeff Sessions got. The Editorial Board of the Wall Street Journal comments:

Is there a worse job in Washington, D.C., than Attorney General under President Trump? We can’t think of many, and on Thursday Pam Bondi learned this the hard way as the President sacked her after only 14 months on the job….

Ms. Bondi’s great fault is that she was never good at saying no. She blundered on the Epstein files by boasting about big revelations that never materialized. This fed the conspiracists who fretted about a cover-up. A manageable problem turned into a political fiasco that has hurt the President.

Among the moments that defined Bondi was her claim that the late convicted pedophile Epstein’s client list was sitting on her desk and would be released. It was never released (probably because there wasn’t such a list). Whenever there is a breaking legal story, Ms. Musts asks herself: What does Andrew McCarthy say? McCarthy says that “Bondi couldn’t do the impossible“:

From the president’s standpoint, lawfare — the leveraging of the government’s law enforcement apparatus against political enemies and for partisan ends — is a strategy that must be used because it was used against him. …

There are many ways in which Bondi came up short: She didn’t have DOJ experience, she’s not a good communicator, her instincts aren’t great. But in the end, the job on the terms offered was one at which it was impossible to succeed.

Offering a different perspective, The Federalist headline is “The Only Criterion For Trump’s Next AG Is How Many Antifa And Russia Hoaxers He’ll Arrest.” Eli Lake of The Free Press counters that “Bondi Did What Trump Wanted—Not What He Needed.” Lake cites the Epstein files, where doing Trump’s bidding, Lake argues, backfired.

There Are Two Wars. “The War—and the War on the War” is the headline on a Free Press piece by classicist and military historian Victor Davis Hanson. VDH argues:

Militarily, the war is going as well as could be envisioned, yet Democrats seek to turn it into another Vietnam or Afghanistan—hoping to win control of Congress at the expense of national security….

AEI’s Danielle Pletka has been hitting it out of the ballpark on the Iran conflict. In her latest, she takes on our NATO allies, which is akin in polite society to saying the canapes suck. Pletka writes:

So now, as we engage in a war to squelch the nuclear, missile, and terroristic ambitions of the Islamic Republic (not to speak of stopping them from killing their own people), is it presumptuous of us to ask — not for help, mind you — but to overfly or use bases in our NATO allied nations?

We’re not asking for troops; not for planes; not for fuel; not for love. Just overflight and landing rights. And guess what? We had to bully our “bestie” in Europe, Sir Keir Starmer, to allow us to use Diego Garcia. Our pal Giorgia Meloni denied us landing rights on Sigonella in Sicily. The Spanish won’t let us fly over their precious Jew-hating country. France has reportedly refused us overflight to resupply Israel. …

These are our “allies.” These are nations in which Iran has conducted multiple terrorist attacks. These are nations that acted to refer Iran’s nuclear non-compliance to the UN Security Council. These are nations that import more oil via the Strait of Hormuz than the United States. Far more.

The New York Post’s cover headline: “Justice Was Not Served.” It refers to the verdict in the trial of Guy Rivera, who shot and killed hero cop Jonathan Diller in 2024:

Cop-killer Guy Rivera was stunningly acquitted of first-degree murder Wednesday for fatally shooting the married dad and officer. He was instead convicted of the lesser charge of aggravated manslaughter in Diller’s death — and found guilty of attempted murder in the shooting of Diller’s partner, who survived the March 2024 carnage in Queens.

Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch called the verdict a “gut punch” to the NYPD. But how did it happen? It is worth considering whether juries in New York absorb their mayor’s anti-policing agenda. Let us hope that a jury will not take such a cavalier attitude if this terrible New York shooting of a 7-month-old baby in Brooklyn comes before them.

More Crime. What kind of hospice has a 97% survival rate and has received more than $7 million in Medicare funds? This kind:

The FBI arrested a married couple Thursday accused of fraudulently billing Medicare for $7.45 million while running a hospice with a survival rate reported to be more than 97% after five years. They were the first in a series of arrests planned Thursday, federal officials told CBS News….

A high survival rate at a hospice provider is one of a series of red flags identified by state auditors for fraud because most people enter hospice care in the final stages of a terminal illness. In past cases of fraud, operators were found to be using false or stolen identities to collect federal reimbursements for palliative care. 

The FBI raid took place in San Dimas, California, where the hospice is located. Kudos to CBS News (linked above) for the hospice scoop. I linked yesterday to “Gavin Newsom’s Empire of Fraud” in City Journal. Don’t expect blue state politicians to necessarily crack down—these scams involve federal welfare money, the lifeblood of the Left.

USA TODAY’S Ingrid Jaques has written a column that needed to be written. Love or hate former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, she doesn’t deserve the humiliation brought about because of pointless stories about her cross-dressing husband.

It’s the over-the-top mocking and apparent glee so many people are taking from this family’s pain that rubs me the wrong way. And it’s coming from both sides. Since Noem lost President Donald Trump’s support, apparently, it’s fair game for the right to pile on, too. 

That said, Malcolm Clark uses the unfortunate Noem story to make a point about what the headline calls “the dark secret of trans.” “Men who wear women’s clothes were not ‘born in the wrong body’ – they do it for a sexual thrill,” Clark argues in Spiked Online.

While we’re about gender, see “How Gender Medicine Set Itself Up for Disaster” in Compact Magazine. Just one wrong way:

It’s likely no one has done more to push pediatric gender medicine toward more liberal prescribing practices than Dr. Johanna Olson-Kennedy, who until recently directed the gender clinic at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. Charismatic and indefatigable, the pediatrician has been particularly vocal in questioning the comprehensive psychosocial assessments WPATH’s guidelines recommend for minors seeking gender-transition interventions. What some have held up as invaluable safeguards, she has disparaged as stigmatizing and counterproductive. 

Some Good News. U.S. hiring rebounded in March.  

Since it’s Good Friday, it’s the perfect day to mention that young people are turning to church in record numbers (here and here). Meanwhile, Unherd asks, “Can We Have the Good without Good Friday?” The article suggests that the movie “The Exorcist” is helpful in deciding.

Wishing you a good Good Friday and a happy Easter.

Violence Follows Death of Mexican Drug Cartel Boss. Would-be Trump Assassin Shot Dead by Secret Service. Gorsuch: Tariff Ruling Catches Kagan in Hypocrisy. Big Marco & More

Posted on by Charlotte Hays

Well, with at least three stories that would lead on a normal news day (do we have those anymore?), we’ve decided to go South of the border to start the day.

“Violence erupts in Mexico after cartel leader “El Mencho” killed in military operation” CBS News reports:

Violent clashes erupted in parts of western Mexico on Sunday amid a military operation that led to the death of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel leader, triggering widespread security concerns throughout the region.

Mexican security forces killed Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, also known as “El Mencho,” during an operation in the western state of Jalisco, Mexico’s Ministry of Defense said in a statement on X. It said he was wounded during the raid in the town of Tapalpa and died while being flown to Mexico City.

The state of Jalisco is the base of the cartel known for trafficking huge quantities of fentanyl and other drugs to the United States.

USA TODAY has a helpful capsule account of the notorious cartel boss’s career. The violence is mostly in areas controlled by the Jalisco New Generation Cartel. Vehicles and businesses are set ablaze.

Californians trapped as cartel unleashes hell near US border over drug kingpin’s killing, according to the New York Post. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that the U.S. provided “intelligence support” to the Mexican government. Rocket launchers capable if bringing down airplanes were found in the cartel’s extensive arsenal.

This would lead the news on an ordinary day: An armed man apparently trying to kill President Trump was shot dead by Secret Service at Mar-a-Lago. President Trump was not at Mar-a-Lago when the shooting occurred, at around 1:30 am Sunday. The identified as Austin Martin Tucker of North Carolina:

The armed madman who was shot and killed by Secret Service after he snuck onto President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate Sunday was reportedly obsessed with the Epstein files — and implored others to “raise awareness” just days before the deadly encounter.

Other colleagues told the outlet that Martin was deeply disturbed by what he believed was a concerted government campaign to cover up the Epstein files so elites could continue “getting away with it.”

They also said he voiced frustrations about the economy and how difficult it is for young people to afford to live on their own. He went so far as to try and organize a union at the country club for higher wages, but no one supported the move, the outlet reported.

Inevitably, “sources” have told nuisance gossip spot TMZ that the gunman was “a vocal supporter of Trump.” Quest for a motive arriving on schedule.

The Jerusalem Post asks when (not if?) President Trump will attack Iran and gives the four most likely options. Iran is finding itself more isolated than it expected, with pals China and Russia not coming to the regime’s rescue. Rusia expert Rebecca Grant evaluates the Iranian arsenal versus the U.S.’s. She also highlights Iran’s four top threats and how the U.S. fights back.

The U.S.-Iran negotiations are being conducted along nuclear policy lines. But the protests were for a better life for Iranians and the dislodgement of a tyrannical regime. Thousands are dead. Four recount their ordeals in the Wall Street Journal.

As you know, the Supreme Court ruled Friday in a 6-3 majority that President Trump’s tariffs are illegal. An editorial in the Wall Street Journal, which has been stalwart against the tariffs, heralded what it called “The Real Tariff Liberation Day,” and praised the ruling:

It’s hard to overstate the importance of the Court’s decision for the law and the economy. Had Mr. Trump prevailed, future Presidents could have used emergency powers to bypass Congress and impose border taxes with little constraint.

As Chief Justice John Roberts explains in the majority opinion, “Recognizing the taxing power’s unique importance, and having just fought a revolution motivated in large part by ‘taxation without representation,’ the Framers gave Congress ‘alone . . . access to the pockets of the people.’” …

The tariff law ruling also gives the lie to the Democratic charge that the current Court is a rubber stamp for Mr. Trump. The Court has now shown it is willing to block abuses of executive power by Presidents of both parties. This is exactly what the Constitution calls on the Justices to do.

Writing at City Journal, Ilya Shapiro argued that on tariffs, the Supreme Court had “delivered a reminder” that a President must work with the tools that Congress has provided. Here is his conclusion:

And then there’s Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, who wrote a separate concurrence resting on legislative history—an opinion that, tellingly, no other justice joined. In a case where statutory text was front and center, turning to congressional committee reports feels like looking for circumstantial evidence after the statute has already confessed.

In the end, the decision is less a rebuke than a reminder: Congress controls the taxing power. If it wishes to arm the president with sweeping tariff authority, it must do so unmistakably. Until then, presidents must work with the tools Congress has actually provided.

Three conservative Justices—Clarence Thomas, Samel Alito, and Brett Kavanaugh—dissented. Justice Thomas has ripped the ruling, saying that the majority “errs” on the Constitution. A Washington Post editorial (hey, they’re really getting good!) explains how Justice Neil Goruch has Justice Elena Kagan, who has ruled differently for Democrat Presidents, “dead to rights.”

A Wall Street Journal editorial, meanwhile, praises Gorsuch for trying to “revive Congress,” while Allysia Finley writes that there is “plenty of hypocrisy to go around” regarding the tariffs case. This isn’t over by a longshot. President Trump, though he will not disobey the Supreme Court, “won’t blink” but will use a different legal justification of tariffs.

A historic snow dump has brought New York to a standstill. This time Mayor Zohran Mamdani is granting a “full, classic snow day” to school students. But New York ace financial writer Charles Gaspario thinks it’s already too late for Mamdani to redeem himself financially:

Truth be told, I thought it would take at least one budget cycle for our socialist boy-wonder mayor to implode in a sea of idiocy over how he plans to govern this city and how he intends to pay for it. 

The fact that it’s happening even before his first budget is finished — with an absurd debate over raising taxes on rich people who are already leaving the city in droves or socking it to working-class homeowners through higher property taxes — is downright scary. 

It’s a big red warning sign that this mayor is so fundamentally unfit for the job of governing Gotham that Gov. Hochul should remove him from office before he destroys what’s left of the city’s economy. …

The fact that Mamdani doesn’t understand all of this is the reason you don’t elect as mayor a 34-year-old former lefty rapper with a degree in Africana Studies unless you actually think destroying what’s left of the city’s economy is a good thing.

Eli Lake reports at The Free Press that the White House has “had enough” of Tucker Carlson, after repeatedly  asking him to cut his Israel bashing. I did not catch the Tucker Carlson-Ambassador Mike Huckabee interview in which the U. Ambassador to Israel triggered the fever swamps. Also in The Free Press, Peter Savrodnik had a distressing story about antisemitism battles among Christians on the right.  

Miracle on ICE:

Forty-six years to the day after a bunch of unheralded amateurs stunned the heavily favored Soviet Union en route to winning Olympic gold, the U.S. men’s hockey team engineered another epic victory. The Americans won a battle of the sport’s superpowers on Sunday, toppling longtime nemesis Canada 2-1 in overtime to win their country’s first Olympic gold in men’s hockey since the famed 1980 “Miracle on Ice.”

Not a Miracle. FBI head Kash Patel got beat up in press for attending big hockey victory bash in Italy.

He’s Big Marco Now.  From Axios: “JD or Marco? Trump keeps asking advisers about 2028.”

Network ReACTS: The Case For Reforming Certificate Of Need (CON) Laws

Posted on by Beth Parlato

On this episode of Network ReACTS, Beth Parlato, Senior Legal Counsel, is joined by Miranda Spindt, Healthcare Policy Analyst, to discuss Certificate of Need (CON) Laws and why states should reform and repeal their CON programs.

Resources Mentioned:

Policy Focus: Reform and Repeal Certificate of Need Laws

Takeaways: Reform And Repeal Certificate Of Need Laws

Will Trump Maduro Khamenei? “Seismic” Arrest of Former Prince Andrew. By the Waters of the Potomac: Poop Smell. Exclusive: Christianity Not Dead Yet! More

Posted on by Charlotte Hays

Let’s talk while I get my mighty armada in place—just in case.

“U.S. Gathers the Most Air Power in the Mideast Since the 2003 Iraq Invasion” trumpets the Wall Street Journal.

The New York Times emphasizes that President Trump has not yet made up his mind what to do in Iran, despite the impressive buildup of military might in the region. Has it crossed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s mind that he could be Maduro-ed? Betting odds that the Ayatollah will be removed from power are rising. The price of oil jumped 4 percent after Vice President J.D. Vance said that Iran is ignoring chief U.S. military demands in the current negotiations. Here’s more on the U.S. military assets in the region. President is full of surprises, and we don’t know what is going to happen.

Speaking of surprises, the Thames Valley cops raided the Sandringham and Windsor homes of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and arrested the man formerly known as Prince. The London Spectator’s Alexander Larman calls the arrest “seismic:”

Ever since the Restoration of Charles II in 1660, no member of the Royal Family has been arrested. Which makes this morning’s news that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has been taken into police custody under suspicion of misconduct in public office all the more seismic. And with a certain grim irony, his arrest comes on his 66th birthday, of all days.

This development had seemed inevitable for a considerable amount of time now. … Which means that the visit of six unmarked police cars and plain-clothes officers to Wood Farm in Sandringham today is something that only fool – or an optimistic former royal – would have bet against.

King Charles III gives his “full and wholehearted support” into the investigation of his brother.

“Mamdani Takes New York Hostage” is the headline over a Wall Street Journal editorial. The argument of the editorial is that Mayor Mamdani, who is threatening a nearly 10 percent increase on property taxes, will soak the middle class if Albany won’t raise taxes. The editors write:

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is the fresh face of America’s progressive vanguard, so his policy moves are worth watching. His first big move is threatening to raise property taxes unless Democrats in Albany raise taxes on top earners and business. What an ultimatum: Fleece the rich for him, or he’ll fleece them and the middle class.

Mr. Mamdani on Tuesday unveiled his inaugural $127 billion budget, which he amusingly called austere. Only in New York, kids. His budget is $10 billion bigger than Florida’s, though New York City’s population is only 40% of the Sunshine State’s. It’s a $10 billion increase over this year….

Mr. Mamdani’s attempt to extort Ms. Hochul over taxes is part of a broader battle in the Democratic Party. If he prevails, expect more Democrats to imitate his class warfare and hostage-taking.

Meanwhile, there is chaos on a trendy block that does not cater to the hungry masses as New York gets its first free grocery store, located in the West Village, and funded by a betting market and possibly “riffing’ on administration plans. And the Mayor has made a new hire:

News that Mayor Zohran Mamdani has hired Bitta Mostofi, a Biden and de Blasio alumna, to “audit” the NYPD and other city agencies for violations of local sanctuary laws comes amid a larger lefty push to prevent any cooperation with ICE because progressives want “Minneapolis everywhere.”

More on Mamdani’s utopian budget.

You’ve probably been hearing about Stephen Colbert’s claim that CBS (his employer for the nonce) and the Trump administration conspired to “cancel” his interview with Texas Senate candidate James Talarico. Don’t fall for this stunt.  A Washington Post editorial (wow! The Post’s opinion pages are really improving!) ascribes the dustup to over-regulation (specifically, the equal time doctrine. National Review says, rather bluntly, that Colbert and Talarico are “lying” about the situation.

No word on why the Trump administration would think such an interview would matter that much. But you know who thinks this “manufactured controversy” matters? Jasmine Crockett, Talarico’s primary opponent, that’s who. Read Sasha Stone’s “The Democrats Throw Jasmine Crockett Under the Bus.” You can imagine why they do this the foul-mouthed preppie, who might not be the ideal image for the party. Fox’s Brit Hume tells what must happen for a Democrat to have a good shot at the general election for this seat. Click to see if it involves throwing anyone under the bus.

California Governor Gavin Newsom is being touted as the frontrunner for the 2028 Democratic nomination. Karl Rove asks in his WSJ politic column whether Newsom can live down his record in California. He isn’t the only blue state guv in this predicament:

Mr. Newsom has great hair and Mr. Pritzker a vast fortune. But neither will matter nearly as much as their records as governor. Neither man can credibly claim that he has a solid record of economic achievement. That may not matter much to Democratic primary voters. It will in November 2028.

Meanwhile, does Virginia aspire to be more like California? You know, shedding businesses. A top defense contractor is leaving Virginia only weeks after new Governor Abigail Spanberger took the oath of office.

James Freeman wittily asked a few days ago whether the District of Columbia is a “a swamp or a sewer.” The reference was to the dreadful dumping of millions of gallons of raw sewage into the Potomac River. Mayor Bowser wants federal help:

The sewage spill has now become the largest in U.S. history, dumping over 240 million gallons of raw sewage into the Potomac River. President Donald Trump has already lashed out at Maryland Gov. Wes Moore for his handling of the spill, saying he is concerned the river winding around the nation’s capital will still stink when America250 celebrations kick off this summer.

Mayor Bowser may deserve a solid for not turning D.C. into Chicago when President Trump sent in the National Guard to combat crime, and the President has said local leaders must ask for federal help. We need to answer questions about who’s really responsible for the disaster. The respected blog Legal Insurrection has a candidate:

We also took a look at DC Water’s 9,900% error in reporting E. coli levels after the spill, which reported 242,000 MPN/100 mL as 2,420 and may have ultimately been the result of the agency’s emphasis on diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, rather than concentration on mission priorities (e.g., technical competence and accurate, safety‑critical testing procedures and interpretation).

Does Virginia aspire to be more like California? You know, shedding businesses. A top defense contractor is leaving Virginia only weeks after new Governor Abigail Spanberger took the oath of office.

On the heels of Ask Wednesday, which was yesterday, the Wall Street Journal’s Barton Swaim has what many of us will see as glad tidings—Christianity is not dead. Evidence is Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s recent Munich speech:

I have to think Mr. Rubio or one of his speechwriters has read G.K. Chesterton’s “The Everlasting Man.” In a chapter titled “The War of the Gods and Demons,” Chesterton mocks the idea that soldiers in a war fight for “abstract” economic or geopolitical advantages. He is thinking of H.G. Wells’s “materialist” view of history. Soldiers fight, Chesterton says, because their cause is bound up with their affections for their family and fealty to their God. No soldier, writes Chesterton, says to himself in battle: “My leg is nearly dropping off, but I shall go on till it drops; for after all I shall enjoy all the advantages of my government obtaining a warm-water port in the Gulf of Finland.”

Just so, Mr. Rubio: “The fundamental question we must answer at the outset is what exactly are we defending, because armies do not fight for abstractions. Armies fight for a people; armies fight for a nation. Armies fight for a way of life.”