Aaron Reichlin-Melnick

17. At the Hearing, Ms Kreisberger KC, evidently on instructions and in the presence of Mr Bavasso, told me that the reason why the deadline was missed in this case was because the legal team working on the matter had been proceeding on an interpretation of rule 112 of the Tribunal Rules which Aramark now accepts was erroneous. She was at pains to assert that this was not a case where there had been a careless failure to meet the deadline. She told me that "minds were applied" to rule 112. She explained that Simpson Thacher & Bartlett understood the effect of rule 112(2) to be that the day on which the Report was published and notified to the parties (i.e. Thursday, 15 January 2026) should not be counted at all. Against the background of that reading of rule 112(2), they read the phrase "day during which the event or action from which the period is to be calculated occurred or took place" in rule 112(3) as referring to Friday, 16 January 2026.

Appellate lawyers: I have for you a nightmare morsel this evening. Lawyers counted the appellate deadline wrong and now a merger has to be undone.

www.catribunal.org.uk/sites/cat/fi...

“Inside the administration, some officials are growing pessimistic about the lack of a clear strategy to finish the war. But they have been careful not to express that directly to the president, who has repeatedly declared that the military operation is a complete success.”

Profiles in courage.

5/ And on the Strait of Hormuz, they had NO PLAN. I can't go into more detail about how Iran gums up the Strait, but suffice it say, right now, they don't know how to get it safely back open.

Which is unforgiveable, because this part of the disaster was 100% foreseeable.

I was in a 2 hour briefing today on the Iran War. All the briefings are closed, because Trump can't defend this war in public.

I obviously can't disclose classified info, but you deserve to know how incoherent and incomplete these war plans are.

1/ Here's what I can share:

I’ve had a foraged puffball and it was delicious, but yes, mushrooms scare me too.

Meltdown.

Yes, can’t agree more. Just somehow never learned about this one (or was taught it but it went in one ear and out the other).

A week earlier, Hakes-Rodriguez, a 2024 law school graduate who became a JAG lawyer in 2025, filed the information against Johnson - a direct charge from a prosecutor, rather than a grand jury indictment. The case began when a criminal complaint was filed against him by a Homeland Security agent in late January.

Oh god they gave an Operation Metro Surge prosecution to a baby JAG?!

It’s funny to me because I also grew up doing a lot of hiking in New England, and can spot and identify most edible berries, and yet somehow this one never came up?

I’ve watched every season of How It’s Made so obscure industrial processes are my jam.

Neat!

Wintergreen has a strong "minty" odor and flavor; however, the Gaultheria-genus plants are not true mints, which belong to the genus Mentha. Wintergreen also is used in some perfumery applications and as a flavoring agent for toothpaste, chewing gum, soft drinks, confectionery, Listerine, and mint flavorings. Wintergreen is used for rust removal and degreasing of machinery and is particularly effective for breaking through sea water corrosion. 'citation needed]

I just found out that “wintergreen” is an actual family of plants that’s used as a flavoring agent, and is not, as I had falsely presumed, a thing that gum companies made up for marketing purposes.

What have you learned this week?

It's been discussed more in the context of the Manosphere, but: A consequence of being fully submerged in the Trump-era for over a decade is that an entire generation of reactionary-minded men (mostly) have come of age in a social landscape where shamelessness & cruelty are aspirational traits.

Side note: Media outlets that refused to cave to Pentagon press rules have been coming up with scoop after scoop from military sources. So much for Hegseth’s attempt to strangle journalism

US judiciary to fast-track court records system upgrade after hacking Federal judicial policymakers on Tuesday outlined plans to accelerate the development of a new, more secure electronic case management system, saying a major hack of the system last year ​made clear t...

New: Federal judicial policymakers today outlined plans to accelerate the development of a new, more secure electronic case management system, saying a major hack of the system last year ​made clear the need to upgrade the aging system. www.reuters.com/legal/govern...

As Iran war deepens, Khamenei’s son named new supreme leader The U.S.-Israeli war in Iran is now in its 10th day with no signs of letting up. But President Trump insisted the war is “very complete,” adding the U.S. is far ahead of his four to five week estimate...

As a new Supreme Leader was named, Iran’s people focused on the grief of burying their dead, killed in a heavy weekend of US-Israeli air strikes, while toxic smoke filled the skies of Tehran, burning oil from a bombed oil depot setting homes ablaze. Our story @pbsnews.org www.pbs.org/newshour/sho...

US Navy tells shipping industry Hormuz escorts not possible for now The U.S. Navy has refused near-daily requests from the shipping industry for military escorts through the Strait of Hormuz since ​the start of the war on Iran, saying the risk of attacks is too high f...

Whoa. This is big. "The U.S. Navy has refused near-daily requests from the shipping industry for military escorts through the Strait of Hormuz since the start of the war on Iran, saying the risk of attacks is too high for now." www.reuters.com/world/middle...

Oh yes, he’s got far more experience than I do at this point.

this hearing is a fucking bloodbath

Exclusive | Trump Sons Back New Drone Company Targeting Pentagon Sales Powerus says it plans to acquire Ukrainian drone technology to sell to the U.S. military.

LET ME GET THIS STRAIGHT: Trump's sons used a golf-club company—as in, a company that owns and operates a couple of golf courses, not one that manufactures golf clubs—to buy a "drone company that is vying to meet fresh demand from the Pentagon."

www.wsj.com/politics/nat...

A Noem project for sure. HSI would normally have absolutely nothing to do with elections.

WHOOMP THERE IT IS

leaders like trump are why sun tzu had to write a bunch of advice like "don't write your enemy a letter detailing what tactics you really don't want them to do"

“The book is there to serve me” is such a bizarre statement, as if she’s only read cookbooks and technical manuals.

It was a pleasure! You’ve been doing very important work on this issue.

Who will profit off of ICE’s new detention warehouses? The Trump administration has a $38 billion plan to convert commercial warehouses into massive detention centers for people facing deportation. Inside the Trump administration's massive expansion of de...

A great honor to join @wbur.org's On Point with Meghna Chakrabarti yesterday to talk about who profits from ICE detention, alongside the astute @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social. Catch the whole conversation here: www.wbur.org/onpoint/2026...

DHS Ousts CBP Privacy Officers Who Questioned ‘Illegal’ Orders Department of Homeland Security leaders removed top privacy officers who objected to mislabeling government records to block their public release, WIRED has learned.

Scoop: DHS ousted multiple privacy officers at CBP after they questioned orders to purposely mislabel records about government surveillance to prevent their release under FOIA.

I am listening to this now. Wurman just implied that people who enter the country illegally are, on his understanding of the Constitution, subject to our criminal laws but not entitled to sue or be sued in US courts. This is not the law and he knows it. Nor should it be.

my “I have no reports of mines in the Strait of Hormuz but Iran must remove them immediately” tshirt has people asking a lot of questions answered by the tshirt

They have four years to spend $45 billion and so they're plowing ahead with the plans as quickly as they can.