What Is Lindsey Halligan Hiding From Letitia James?

A lot has happened. Here are some of the things. This is the TPM Morning Memo.

The Punishment: Letitia James Edition

A quick update on the big cover-up in the Letitia James affair that Morning Memo profiled last week:

In a new filing Monday, James’ lawyers asked the judge in the case to order the Justice Department to produce documents allegedly given to prosecutors by former FHFA Acting Inspector General Joe Allen.

More intriguing, James’ attorneys claim that the discovery they have already received from the government contains a gap in the Bates stamp sequence that suggests “more than 100 pages of discovery likely turned over by the former FHFA Acting Inspector General have not been produced.”

Allen and about a dozen officials in Fannie Mae’s internal ethics and investigations unit were fired after looking into complaints about FHFA Director Bill Pulte’s access to the personal mortgage records of prominent Democrats, including James. Before being ousted, Allen turned over to U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan’s office some of what he had discovered that, according to media reports, he felt legally obligated to provide, suggesting it might be exculpatory evidence favorable to James.

It’s unclear what exactly makes James’ lawyer suspect that the discrepancy represents the IG documents, but they are seeking a court order for Halligan to provide them with a specific set of documents bearing a common Bates signature.

CNN and Marcy Wheeler were among the first to note James’ claims about a hole in the Bates stamp sequence.

The Senate quickly processes the Epstein files

After the House passed a measure requiring disclosure of the government’s Epstein files by a vote of 427-1, the Senate quickly passed it by unanimous consent and sent it to President Trump for his signature. With Trump’s acquiescence to the legislation, Senate Republicans felt it was more politically expedient to pass it immediately rather than drag it out and be forced into a roll call vote.

Harvard Investigating Summers’ Epstein Ties

Harvard University is opening a new investigation into ties between convicted child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein and former president Larry Summers and others affiliated with the school. This comes a day after Summers announced that he was stepping back from public engagements but would continue to fulfill his teaching obligations.

Trump’s great redistricting failure

President Trump and the House Republican Party suffered a potentially existential setback when a three-judge panel rejected their new Texas redistricting plan as racially discriminatory. While the Supreme Court — which by law will hear the state’s appeal directly — could revive Texas’ new map, the Republican Party faces the real prospect that its aggressive mid-decade redistricting campaign will backfire and potentially leave it worse off as the 2026 midterm elections approach:

• Politico: “Now, if the Texas decision withstands an appeal already filed and wavering Republicans across the country don’t budge, Trump could end the fight he started behind or near a draw. »
• Punchbowl: “At the start of this redistricting contest, Democrats started in a hole, in part because they had set up redistricting commissions in so many blue states. But it’s not impossible to imagine that they end up winning more seats than the GOP in these mid-decade shakeups, a stunning change of circumstances that didn’t seem possible just a few months ago.”
• Slate: Trump’s plan to give the Republican Party more seats just blew up in his face

Trump loses ‘big lie’ lawsuit appeal against CNN

The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals has refused to overturn the dismissal of President Trump’s defamation lawsuit against CNN for using the term “big lie” to describe his efforts to overturn the 2020 election with false claims of voter fraud.

For your radar…

A coalition of 10 Democratic state election officials is demanding to know what the DOJ and DHS are doing with private voter data collected by the Trump administration.

Defeat for 10 commandments in Texas schools

U.S. District Judge Orlando L. Garcia in San Antonio has ordered 14 public school districts to at least temporarily remove Ten Commandments posters in a case challenging a new Texas law that requires them to be displayed in all classrooms.

Another illegal eviction case

The Trump administration deported a transgender woman to Mexico last week despite an immigration judge’s order barring her return to her home country because she risked torture. ICE says she was “inadvertently” removed. The Trump administration says it will allow him to return to the United States but will continue to try to find a third country to accept him.

Venezuela Watch

President Trump authorized the CIA to conduct covert operations inside Venezuela “that could be aimed at preparing a battlefield for further action,” the New York Times reports, while also reopening behind-the-scenes negotiations with the Maduro regime.

“Don’t abandon the ship”

Six Democratic lawmakers with military and intelligence experience released a video urging active duty military and intelligence personnel to fulfill their obligation to refuse to follow illegal orders: