>The Department of Justice is getting increasingly sloppy with its actions in court.

https://newrepublic.com/post/207220/justice-department-misspells-voters-emergency-united-states-court-filing

>The Justice Department filed an emergency motion* to the 6th District Court that was rife with basic spelling errors, including spelling voters as “votors,” United States as “United Staes,” and emergency as “emeregency.”

>The DOJ filed an emergency appeal Friday after a Michigan judge refused to force the state of Michigan to hand over access to sensitive voting records that includes each voter’s date of birth, address, and more. The DOJ has now sued 30 states seeking access to voter rolls.

>This isn’t the first time the DOJ has displayed basic incompetence in court. Last April, DOJ lawyers misspelled United States in their case against the wrongly deported Kilmar Abrego Garcia. In October, former prosecutor Lindsey Halligan listed New York Attorney General Letitia James’s address as “Brooklyn, New Jersey” instead of New York in a court filing. And just last week, the DOJ sued New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill, but misspelled her name over and over again.

>“These are the people who want access to your voting records and who my team fights in court every day,” Democracy Docket’s Marc E. Elias wrote.
*link to emergency motion:
https://www.democracydocket.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/6-1-2026-02-27-Emergency-motion-to-expedite-appeal.pdf

https://apnews.com/article/pakistan-afghanistan-fighting-ground-attacks-military-posts-e057780413f84b222c2fe30b3cbcf172

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Afghan forces attacked Pakistani military positions along the border early on Tuesday, triggering intense clashes that left 67 Afghan troops and one Pakistani soldier dead, officials in Islamabad said as cross-border fighting between the two countries entered its fifth day.

The Taliban defense ministry in Kabul, the Afghan capital, rejected Pakistan’s claim. A ministry spokesman said Afghan forces in the past 24 hours repelled Pakistani attacks, destroying about a dozen military posts and killing four Pakistani soldiers.

The latest Afghan-Pakistan escalation erupted last week with Afghanistan launching attacks on Thursday in retaliation for Pakistani airstrikes the previous weekend. Since then, Pakistan has carried out operations along the border and declared it was in an “open war” with Afghanistan, alarming the international community.

On Tuesday, Pakistan said Afghan forces attacked Pakistan’s military in two sections of the two countries’ border.

It said 16 locations were attacked along the southern part of the border, in the southwestern districts of Qilla Saifullah, Nushki and Chaman in Pakistan’s Balochistan province.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/03/us/politics/trump-law-firm-orders-reversal.html

The Trump administration indicated on Tuesday that it planned to renew its defense of executive orders that it had leveled against law firms, a sharp reversal a day after asking a court whether it could abandon the fight.

In a motion filed with the appeals court in the District of Columbia, where the cases are playing out, the Justice Department formally asked to withdraw its request on Monday to abandon the cases against four law firms. It was not immediately clear how the court would respond; the department is scheduled to file a brief in the case on Friday.

The Justice Department did not comment. The White House declined to comment.

On Monday, the administration, in a court filing, asked an appeals court if it could walk away from its appeal of victories the firms had won against the White House. The move was a significant concession by the White House that it could not stand behind its orders.

https://www.npr.org/2026/03/03/g-s1-112272/melania-trump-presides-un

UNITED NATIONS — U.S. first lady Melania Trump presided over a U.N. Security Council meeting on Monday focusing on children in conflict, one of her signature issues, and acknowledged she was doing so in "challenging times" as the United States has joined Israel in attacking Iran.

"The U.S. stands with all of the children throughout the world," she said, speaking generally and not specifically about the new war in the Middle East. "I hope soon peace will be yours."

Hanging over Monday's meeting was what Iranian state media says was an airstrike that hit a girls' school in southern Iran, killing at least 165 people and wounding dozens more. The Israeli military said it was not aware of strikes in the area. The U.S. military said it was looking into the reports.

Shortly before Monday's session began, Iran's ambassador to the U.N., Amir Saeid Iravani, said it was "deeply shameful and hypocritical" for the U.S. to convene a meeting on protecting children during conflict while launching airstrikes on Iranian cities.

Trump acknowledged knowing of Epstein's sexual crimes against children but not speaking to authorities about it until details of the case began going public, during a panicked phone call to the lead investigator where he also declared his own innocence unprompted.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/police-chief-trump-told-goodness-stopping-epstein-2006/story?id=130010254

>A former Palm Beach, Florida, police chief who investigated Jeffrey Epstein in the mid-2000s told the FBI he had received a call from Donald Trump at the time to say "thank goodness you’re stopping him, everyone has known he’s been doing this," according to an FBI account of an interview with the ex-police chief in 2019.

>The Miami Herald was the first to report on the document.

>President Trump has repeatedly denied any knowledge of Epstein’s crimes and has said that he cut off contact with his former friend more than 20 years ago.

>Trump has claimed that he booted Epstein from Mar-a-Lago after discovering that he was poaching employees from the club’s spa.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/judge-blocks-mark-kelly-demotion-illegal-orders-rcna258777

A federal judge on Thursday ruled that the Trump administration "trampled" on Sen. Mark Kelly’s First Amendment rights, blocking Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's efforts to punish the Arizona senator, a retired Naval officer.

“This Court has all it needs to conclude that Defendants have trampled on Senator Kelly’s First Amendment freedoms and threatened the constitutional liberties of millions of military retirees,” U.S. District Judge Richard Leon wrote. “After all, as Bob Dylan famously said, 'You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.' To say the least, our retired veterans deserve more respect from their Government, and our Constitution demands they receive it!”

“Rather than trying to shrink the First Amendment liberties of retired service members, Secretary Hegseth and his fellow Defendants might reflect and be grateful for the wisdom and expertise that retired service members have brought to public discussions and debate on military matters in our Nation over the past 250 years,” Leon, a George W. Bush appointee, wrote. “If so, they will more fully appreciate why the Founding Fathers made free speech the first Amendment in the Bill of Rights!"

He added, "Hopefully this injunction will in some small way help bring about a course correction in the Defense Department’s approach to these issues.”

In a post on X, Hegseth said the ruling would be "immediately appealed." He added, "Sedition is sedition, 'Captain.'"

Hegseth said in January that the Pentagon was taking steps to downgrade Kelly’s military retirement rank and pay because of his “seditious statements,” referring to the video from Kelly and the other lawmakers, all of whom had previously served in the military or intelligence community.

Iran, behaving like a baby that couldn't get its way, continues striking at the largest cities of all of its significant neighbors in the middle east, including Dubai and Doha. Minimal/no people have been killed due to the strikes in any country as Iran exhausts it's supply of ballistic junker turds.

So far Kuwait has intercepted about a 100 ballistic missiles and a few dozen drones, Bahrain has intercepted about 50 missiles, and the UAE has reported intercepting about 150 ballistic missiles.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/3/2/blasts-shake-qatar-uae-kuwait-as-irans-retaliatory-strikes-continue
More blasts rock Dubai, Doha and Manama as Iran targets US assets in Gulf
Iran’s retaliatory attacks on assets in the region continue for a second day as fears of a wider conflict rise.

More explosions have been heard across the Gulf states, and at least three people have been killed in the United Arab Emirates as Iran carries out attacks in retaliation for strikes by the United States and Israel that killed its supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and other top officials.

The explosions were heard for a second day on Sunday in Dubai, the UAE; Bahrain’s capital, Manama; and Qatar’s capital, Doha, raising fears of a wider conflict in a region long seen as a haven of peace and security in an otherwise turbulent Middle East.

A Trump-authorized strike on Iran took place just hours after JD Vance lied to allay MAGA fears of another conflict without a clear end.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/maga-melts-down-over-iran-war-no-one-voted-for/

President Donald Trump is facing a furious MAGA backlash after embarking on an unauthorized strike in Iran that he admits will kill U.S. citizens.

After being urged by sections of his own base not to enter another foreign war, the president announced on Saturday morning that he had launched a major attack on Iran as he vowed to eliminate the country’s nuclear program—which he insisted months ago had been completely “obliterated”—and bring about a change in government.

Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson told ABC’s Jonathan Karl that the attack on Iran was “absolutely disgusting and evil.”

Former Trump ally Marjorie Taylor Greene took to twitter to blast the president, accusing him of abandoning his “America First” principles.

“Now, America is going to be force fed and gas lighted all the “noble” reasons the American “Peace” President and Pro-Peace administration had to go to war once again this year, after being in power for only a year,” she said.

“NOBODY WANTS THIS WAR,” said the Trump-aligned, self-proclaimed misogynist Andrew Tate, a friend of Donald Trump Jr and the president’s other son, Barron.

MAGA congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna wrote on twiiter: “Hold our country in prayer right now. Hold our service members and their families in prayer right now. Hold the innocent people of Iran in prayer right now.”

Alt-right provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos was less diplomatic.

“Oh, how disgusting. F--- you, Mr. President,” he wrote.

“This is so wicked and disgusting and vile,” added Cassandra Macdonald, a writer at the right-leaning Gateway Pundit. “He is sacrificing our best for a foreign nation. What comes after blackpilled because I’m that.”

Iran live updates: 3 US service members killed, 5 wounded, CENTCOM says

https://abc7chicago.com/live-updates/iran-live-updates-trump-says-major-combat-operations-have-begun/18660347/entry/18664428/

President Donald Trump announced "major combat operations" against Iran on Saturday, with daytime strikes in the joint U.S.-Israel attack targeting military and government sites, officials said.

On Sunday, Iranian state television confirmed that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was among those killed by airstrikes in Tehran on Saturday.

Iran is responding to the U.S.-Israeli operation with missile and drone attacks targeting Israel, regional U.S. bases and several Gulf nations. On Sunday, Israel said it was again bombing targets in Tehran.

Three U.S. service members were killed and five were "seriously wounded" as part of the attacks on Iran, according to U.S. Central Command.

"As of 9:30 am ET, March 1, three U.S. service members have been killed in action and five are seriously wounded as part of Operation Epic Fury," CENTCOM announced Sunday morning in a post on X.

"Several others sustained minor shrapnel injuries and concussions - and are in the process of being returned to duty," the post continued. "Major combat operations continue and our response effort is ongoing."

Identities of the service members killed are being withheld "until 24 hours after next of kin have been notified," CENTCOM said, adding that "the situation is fluid."

Futures on Brent crude (BZ=F), the international pricing benchmark, had jumped by roughly 2.9% to close above $72.80 on Friday, while those on US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude (CL=F) had moved up by a slightly smaller 2.8% to trade above $67 by Friday's close.

Without signs of deescalation over the weekend, prices could surge upward by as much as $10 to $20 per barrel when the market reopens Sunday night, Jorge León, head of geopolitical analysis at Rystad Energy, told Yahoo Finance.

"Given the scale of retaliation, most of the strategic initiative now lies with Iran," León said. "How Tehran chooses to respond over the next 24-72 hours — especially toward energy infrastructure or regional shipping — will be the primary driver of near-term oil market dynamics."

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/us-strikes-in-iran-could-see-oil-prices-jump-10-to-20-or-more-with-no-deescalation-khamenei-reportedly-dead-143847074.html