How Appealing



Monday, January 26, 2026

“Lindsey Halligan is no longer employed by the Justice Department after her departure from Virginia U.S. attorney’s office; Halligan, who had no prosecutorial experience, stepped down from her post in the Eastern District of Virginia after a judge ruled she was ‘masquerading’ as U.S. attorney”: Ryan J. Reilly and Dareh Gregorian of NBC News have this report.

Posted at 9:50 PM by Howard Bashman



“Court Affirms Ruling That Alina Habba Served Unlawfully as U.S. Attorney; The Justice Department lost a bid to challenge a decision that had found Ms. Habba was serving unlawfully as New Jersey’s top federal prosecutor”: Jonah E. Bromwich and Tracey Tully of The New York Times have this report.

And Celine Castronuovo of Bloomberg Law reports that “DOJ Rebuffed by Judges in Bid to Return Habba as Prosecutor.”

You can view today’s 8-to-3 order of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit denying rehearing en banc at this link.

Posted at 8:42 PM by Howard Bashman



“206. “Administrative Warrants” and the Percival Op-Ed: ICE is claiming the authority to search private homes without a judicial warrant if it’s looking for non-citizens under a ‘final order of removal’; DHS’s public defense rests on two incorrect claims.” Steve Vladeck has this post at his “One First” Substack site.

Posted at 2:11 PM by Howard Bashman