Sr. Legal Affairs Reporter, @POLITICO. Priors: ABC White House & China correspondent, CNN, NY Sun šŗšøš¦šŗjosh@joshgerstein.com. Signal: joshgerstein.46
Joined August 2009
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If you prefer to follow me on other platforms, going forward, most posts are also available on Threads bit.ly/40TFirx and Bluesky bit.ly/3ZcEtc8. I intend to keep posting here. Updates as conditions warrant. Thank you for your attention.
Josh Gerstein retweeted
š
>@JamesComer, to @Cappelletti7 on Scharf letter:
āRegardless of who is in the White House, thereās always going to be a strong desire for the Oversight Committee to be a check and balance on the executive branch, regardless of the political scenario." apnews.com/article/trump-conā¦
Josh Gerstein retweeted
We mourn the loss of Senior Lecturer Richard Allen Posner, a longtime #UChicagoLaw scholar, former federal appellate judge, and pioneer in the field of law and economics, who died on November 10.
Read more about his legacy: buff.ly/e3c3WdL
ALT In loving memory of Richard Posner 1939-2026
Josh Gerstein retweeted
>@JohnCornyn has issues with DOJ's Elliot Gaiser, nominated for a Texas judgeship, saying the White House is "trying to air-drop" him at the last minute.
Also notes his ties to efforts to overturn 2020 election results: āI think thereās a better choice." apnews.com/article/donald-trā¦
Josh Gerstein retweeted
"Old ideas are for Old People" is a direct echo of the Maoist Cultural Revolutionās campaign against the āFour Olds.ā In 1966 Mao and the Red Guards launched āSmash the Four Oldsā: old ideas, old culture, old customs, and old habits.
These were denounced as the poisonous inheritance of the exploiting classes that had to be destroyed so the new revolutionary order could be built.
Old ideas were explicitly named as one of the four targets. The agents of this destruction were largely young students - the Red Guards - who were told that the past was obsolete and that the youth were the "pure vanguard" who would purge it.
The age of the person or the idea is treated as evidence against it. No argument required. Just the label āold.ā
This is the operating logic of the present cultural revolution that "American Ascent" is attempting to spark.
The Woke version declares the old ideas racist, sexist, colonial, etc., and therefore disposable. The āold peopleā framing is just the same purge with the class language swapped for generational language. Heritage is treated as pollution, continuity is treated as guilt, and the past has to be cleared so the "new world" can be built (or, "Built Back Better").
The claim is also stupid on its face.
Almost every functional idea we have is old.
The ones that survive did so because they worked. Treating āoldā as a synonym for āwrongā is how you get book burnings and struggle sessions, not progress. Ideas are evaluated by whether they are true and useful, not by the birth year of the people who hold them.
Thatās Mao's Four Olds --- straight up.
@glennbeck @realDonaldTrump @realDonaldTrump @DefiyantlyFree @RonDeSantis @realannapaulina @ConceptualJames
POLITICO: āAmerican Ascent promises to recruit and elect a new generation of young āAmerica Firstā candidates.ā
Ending American Decline. Leading Americaās Ascent.
politico.com/news/2026/11/09ā¦
Josh Gerstein retweeted
Best part of this story: sheās already getting/has gotten almost $15 million and person close to her says sheās pursuing legal action for the rest! nytimes.com/2026/11/10/us/poā¦
Josh Gerstein retweeted
So in fact only 47 pc of Jews voted for El Sayed, and thatās only after including people who arenāt actually Jews, but just āconsider themselves Jewish in some way.ā
And that was a massive 44 pc swing from the 2024 presidential vote among the same polling cohort.
Josh Gerstein retweeted
She writes a paid Substack. He owns the AI company training on it.
Josh Gerstein retweeted
Two days after the election, a second court concluded that the Trump administration's crackdown on illegal voting by immigrants was built on an unconstitutional statute that usurps power from the states.
Magistrate Judge Anita Boor dismissed two cases:
storage.courtlistener.com/reā¦
Josh Gerstein retweeted
If youāre still in line to radically misinterpret a mild gripe about journalists receiving wildly off-target publicity pitches for things theyād simply never coverā¦ stay in line!
Josh Gerstein retweeted
š There are moments when silence speaks louder than words..
Ukrainians fall to their knees upon the arrival of their fallen soldiers, heads bowed in a silence imbued with both gratitude and sorrow. This is no mere farewell; it is a gesture of respect that words cannot express.
Josh Gerstein retweeted
As a Florida state appellate judge, Judge Kuntz advanced Trumpās ridiculous lawsuit against the Pulitzer Boardāand he jockeyed for a judicial nomination while presiding over that case.
Heās one of the judges who refused to say Biden won the 2020 election. youtu.be/MCZOYCBdAvc?si=PArfā¦
NEW: BBC expresses surprise at US judge's decision allowing Trump to proceed with libel suit over 2024 documentary. Judge Jeffrey Kuntz (Trump/FLSD) took shots at NYT v. Sullivan but insists he's following it
politico.com/news/2026/11/11ā¦
Josh Gerstein retweeted
I was way too optimistic about this dystopian vision back in June. I was wrong. They're banning YouTube Kids too.
This is absolutely mind numbingly moronic. These people are not fit to lead a free society.
Don't be snookered into thinking Republicans don't support the blue slip. Most of the Senate does, so it ain't going anywhere
BREAKING: REPUBLICAN Sen. Boozman's refusal to support Lee Rudofsky to the 8th Circuit has tanked his nomination by the Trump admin, a source tells me. Trump will go with the senator's preferred choice, AR Justice Cody Hiland.
Rudofsky has issued a statement:
"I will be forever grateful to President Trump for the honor of his nomination. But under our Constitutionāwhich I believe is the most ingenious document in the history of the worldāthe Presidentās nomination must be confirmed by the Senate. And the reality is that, without the support of my home-state Senators, confirmation is simply not a practical possibility in todayās Senate. So I understand completely the Presidentās decision to withdraw my nomination. Cody Hiland is a solid jurist and a good friend. I look forward to working with him in the federal judiciary.ā
Josh Gerstein retweeted
I refuse to believe this is real
Folks, I have spent literally the entire day trying to get someone at AOL to unlock my email. For the last eight hours, I have been told that the issue has been escalated to supervisors who would contact me. I haven't heard a thing.
You would think that, since I'm one of the last human beings on the face of the Earth still using AOL, they would take care of this. You'd be wrong.
So, once this gets resolved, hopefully before the next presidential election, I'm dropping them. (I kept them this long out of convenience, but now I have no reason to keep them.)
I'll see you on the radio at 6 p.m., at which time I will address this further.
Josh Gerstein retweeted
A security agent for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth just warned the reporters here ā for Hegsethās first press conference in 6 months ā that we will be physically removed from the briefing room if we are not professional and maintain decorum. We asked if that meant no shouted questions and got no clarity. Itās the first time any of us could ever remember being threatened like this. Shouted questions are normal. āThis is crazy townā one journalist said, noting the White House has never threatened reporters like that. Weāre in the room, back row:
Josh Gerstein retweeted
First Amendment Update: Ā Leading Press Freedom Groups File Support At Supreme Court
In a friend of the court or "Amicus brief," the Reporters Committee For Freedom of the Press and the Freedom of the Press Foundation @FreedomofPress urged the Supreme Court to review a lower court decision that ordered me to disclose confidential source(s) in a series of national security reports.
Freedom of the Press Foundation writes, "This case is a prime candidate for this Courtās review. The Circuits have deeply divided over whether and to what extent a reporter can withhold the identity of her confidential sources in response to a civil subpoena.
And the decision below falls on the wrong side of the split. It affords no meaningful protection to reporters and their confidential sources in the nationās capital, thereby abridging the freedom of the press in the place where it is needed most."
In 2024, the lower court (DC Circuit) held me in contempt for refusing to disclose my confidential source(s) to the plaintiff whose school for US military personnel lost its federal funding on ānational security grounds.ā
Defense Department records about the decision have been kept secret from me, the public and remain under seal by the lower courts.
Reporters Committee writes, Ā "The public must
have access to the entirety of these documents
because Ms. Herridge argues they are relevant to
whether Plaintiffās injury was in fact caused by the
alleged Privacy Act violations, and therefore whether
Plaintiffās claim would fail even with Herridgeās
compelled testimony. Access to judicial proceedings
and documents āpermits the public to participate in
and serve as a check upon the judicial processāan
essential component in our structure of self-government."
Thank you Freedom of the Press Foundation and the Reporters Committee for supporting transparency and robust rights for journalists.
The Supreme Court is expected to consider our CERT Petition in early December and issue its decision shortly thereafter.
FULL Briefs Supreme Court Docket š
Josh Gerstein retweeted
BREAKING: REPUBLICAN Sen. Boozman's refusal to support Lee Rudofsky to the 8th Circuit has tanked his nomination by the Trump admin, a source tells me. Trump will go with the senator's preferred choice, AR Justice Cody Hiland.
Rudofsky has issued a statement:
"I will be forever grateful to President Trump for the honor of his nomination. But under our Constitutionāwhich I believe is the most ingenious document in the history of the worldāthe Presidentās nomination must be confirmed by the Senate. And the reality is that, without the support of my home-state Senators, confirmation is simply not a practical possibility in todayās Senate. So I understand completely the Presidentās decision to withdraw my nomination. Cody Hiland is a solid jurist and a good friend. I look forward to working with him in the federal judiciary.ā
Josh Gerstein retweeted
The Senate needs to confirm Justice Hiland as quickly as possible.
BREAKING: REPUBLICAN Sen. Boozman's refusal to support Lee Rudofsky to the 8th Circuit has tanked his nomination by the Trump admin, a source tells me. Trump will go with the senator's preferred choice, AR Justice Cody Hiland.
Rudofsky has issued a statement:
"I will be forever grateful to President Trump for the honor of his nomination. But under our Constitutionāwhich I believe is the most ingenious document in the history of the worldāthe Presidentās nomination must be confirmed by the Senate. And the reality is that, without the support of my home-state Senators, confirmation is simply not a practical possibility in todayās Senate. So I understand completely the Presidentās decision to withdraw my nomination. Cody Hiland is a solid jurist and a good friend. I look forward to working with him in the federal judiciary.ā
Josh Gerstein retweeted
And now we see the real end-game here.. In the latest motion, DOJ's Stan Woodward tells Judge Perry her order that Andrew Boutros and other prosecutors come in and testify is a "Catch-22" and she's better off calling off her inquiry and just leaving it to the Executive Branch:
