Budget & policy analyst | Public speaker | Former reporter | CA to TX & back | @UTAustin PhD | @sacstate | @BristolUni
Sacramento, CA
Joined November 2014
- Tweets18K
- Following1.8K
- Followers2.2K
- Likes20.3K
Scott Graves retweeted
This man has never been in a race this close in his life and it shows. He is now spitting out lies about a Catholic Latina.
Scott Graves retweeted
San Antonio: Bexar County Democrats took this 1990 speech from the late Gov Ann Richards and applied it to the politics of the moment in 2026
Scott Graves retweeted
Judge Bennett seemed very suspicious of the DOJ's timing throughout all of this.
“You certainly knew that there was in your mind a problem well before that."
Scott Graves retweeted
In one of the DOJ's initial filings, they write about using third party software to help firm up their list of 20k CA voters. I asked what that software is and didn't get an answer. In the ninth circuit hearing today, a federal judge asked the DOJ attorney Matthew Donnelly what that software is and he also did not have an answer for the court.
Scott Graves retweeted
Any experienced appellate attorney listening to the oral argument knows that Trump's DOJ is getting crushed. 0% chance 9th Cir. grants Trump's sequestration request. Back to Judge Carter to have PI request DENIED. States decide on "time, place & manner" of federal elections.
Scott Graves retweeted
The Trump administration is trying to block more than 20,000 ballots in California, citing a list of “likely” noncitizens with no clear explanation of where it came from.
On Sunday, a federal appeals court sounded deeply skeptical. Here’s what happened:
Scott Graves retweeted
Here is the TLDR of the 9th Circuit hearing:
DOJ will lose.
It will be either 2-1 or 3-0.
It will be on jurisdiction and perhaps on the merits.
The argument was a debacle for Trump and the DOJ lawyer who argued it.
Watch for details. youtube.com/live/EsuYPbmWnpo
Scott Graves retweeted
NEW: A federal appeals court panel is poised to shoot down DOJ's last-minute effort to force California to change its noncitizen ballot-security procedures.
w/ @joshgerstein @lindseymholden
politico.com/news/2026/10/25…
Scott Graves retweeted
1/ I watched the 9th Circuit argument on DOJ's demand that California and LA County set aside mail ballots from 20,000 voters on a DOJ list of "likely noncitizens." As a former DOJ lawyer, three things stood out.
Scott Graves retweeted
NEWS — A 9th Circuit panel appeared unlikely to immediately grant the Justice Department’s request to segregate roughly 20,000 California ballots tied to people it says are likely noncitizens, per The Hill. Judge Mark Bennett questioned whether the court had jurisdiction.
Scott Graves retweeted
More evidence of DOJ's haphazard approach to these last-ditch cases:
A few minutes ago, a DOJ attorney told the 9th circuit that Judge Carter has *no jurisdiction* to consider this case anymore since it's now in the hands of the appeals court.
Also a few minutes ago: DOJ files a brief to Judge Carter asking him to approve their injunction. storage.courtlistener.com/re…
Scott Graves retweeted
🚨BREAKING: The 9th Circuit is hearing arguments at 4pm ET in the DOJ case to force California to disenfranchise voters. I will go live right after the hearing concludes to break down what happened and what comes next.
Tune in at 5:15: youtube.com/live/EsuYPbmWnpo
Scott Graves retweeted
One thing that's clear in this argument, the reason you have a district court proceeding to develop the facts before a case goes on appeal is to avoid exactly what's happening here: Lawyers unable to answer factual questions, guessing about how stuff works. Not only does the court of appeals lack jurisdiction, this hearing is also a master class in why the district court should do its job & develop the factual record before there is an appeal (even when the appellate court does have jurisdiction)
Scott Graves retweeted
UPDATE 2: Argument is still going but I've seen enough, Trump admin is going to lose this appeal
Scott Graves retweeted
#ELB: Watch Ninth Circuit Oral Argument in California Ballot Case ift.tt/hbuyWRU
Scott Graves retweeted
The SAVE Act has NOT PASSED CONGRESS.
States are not required to verify citizenship after voters are registered.
The DOJ is literally enforcing a law that doesn't exist.
To the federal form. California motor voter registration is not the federal form. Also this has nothing to do with checks AFTER the form is turned in. The SCOTUS ruling doesn’t say they can’t do their own research, it states they have to accept the form from the registrant with the self attestation when it is turned in. They aren’t precluded from doing their own citizenship checks after.
Scott Graves retweeted
#ELB: Timing Issues Alone (Laches and the Purcell Principle) Should Doom DOJ’s Attempt to Get California Election Officials to Pull Out Ballots from Purported Possible Noncitizens ift.tt/HxU3sGJ
Scott Graves retweeted
UPDATE: So far, 9th Circuit argument is going poorly for Trump admin. Caveat that we are only about 20 minutes in, but Trump appointee Bennett and Biden appointee Sanchez sound highly dubious of timing and substance of DOJ's demand for appeals court action.
Scott Graves retweeted
JUST IN: 2 more Trump admin filings in 20K suspected foreign CA voters fight at 9th Cir. Opposing CA motion to dismiss: documentcloud.org/documents/… Reply in favor of emergency injunction: documentcloud.org/documents/…. Args at 1pm PT. Earlier: politico.com/news/2026/10/15…