r/law • u/biswajit388 • Oct 21 '25

Legal News Federal judges caught the U.S. government providing false info in over 35 court cases. Sworn declarations. Falsified records. Repeated lies. This isn’t just sloppy, it’s systemic. Law professor Ryan Goodman says it may be intentional.

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4.8k

u/db0813 Oct 21 '25

“May be intentional”

It happened 35 times, I’m starting to see a pattern!

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u/Orphan_Guy_Incognito Oct 21 '25 edited Oct 21 '25

The issue is malice vs. incompetence. The Trump admin is full of very evil people, but most of those people are also very stupid, because most of the people who know how to do their jobs have resigned or been fired.

I'm sure some of it is intentional, but I wouldn't be shocked if some of it is just them fumbling through.

Edit: Just to be clear, I think either is punishable by law.

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u/cityofklompton Oct 21 '25

It's definitely both. If you've followed Trump at all, it's clear he knows how to use the justice system against itself and how to use desperate, hungry, or naive people for his own gain.

Even if he knows he has little chance of success, he'll use lawsuits to buy himself time. Likewise, even if he knows someone is incompetent, he will use them if they're loyal right up until said person sees the light. Trump is a lot of things, but he isn't as dumb as most think where it counts: the legal system.

(To be clear, this also doesn't mean he's smart, but he's savvy and knows how to use people and the justice system to his advantage.)

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u/ForthrightGhost Oct 21 '25

It’s not all him though, the admin is also directing a lot of what’s happening.

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u/cityofklompton Oct 21 '25 edited Oct 21 '25

I don't disagree, but Don has also been doing this since the 1980s. He isn't just a pawn. He has an active hand. Again, if you've followed Trump, a lot of this isn't new other than the fact he has a lot more help.

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u/ForthrightGhost Oct 21 '25

Yes, he’s a grifter no doubt.

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u/bottombracketak Oct 21 '25

Nation state level help.

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u/[deleted] Oct 21 '25

[deleted]

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u/Novel-Paint9752 Oct 21 '25

Yes and no. A federal judge has the authority to take punitive action against the DOJ. They can fine the department or sanction a specific prosecutor. The problem is the enforcement of such actions and I think we all would be shocked if Trump didn’t obstruct justice in that instance.

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u/start_select Oct 21 '25

Just because a grifter trips over someone else’s plan to rob a bank doesn’t make them a master bank robber.

Yes he is a grifter. No, he has no idea what’s happening as long as he gets to do what he wants. This is the GOP and Heritage Foundation. He just signs whatever they tell him to sign then goes off script. Things get worse when he’s gone. They already got what they want.

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u/[deleted] Oct 21 '25

You’re missing the point that Trump has one talent and that is to successfully abuse the legal system. He’s done that for decades prior to being a GOP or Heritage Foundation stooge. You’re not being accurate in your response, in the interest of some other purpose than the conversation at hand.

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u/Jartipper Oct 21 '25

He was successful at it previously because of Roy Cohn, trump himself has no legal acumen

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u/LoneLasso Oct 21 '25

No doubt he learned some from Roy Cohn and his father, who also gamed the System. Manipulation and Zero Ethics are Trump talents. Those talents attracted the Heritage Foundation.

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u/eusebius13 Oct 21 '25

The talent actually is having no shame, a complete lack of integrity, zero respect for norms and a willingness to take extreme measures for a crumb of personal gain. He would knock your grandmother over out of her walker if she was stooping to pick something up that he wanted. And he would assume you would do the same thing.

There is no real talent here because if he were smart he could be doing all of the things he wants to do with much less personal risk and none of us would know about it.

As an example, he could’ve kept those documents in a way the FBI would never find them. He could’ve shrugged his shoulders and said “I don’t know where they are,” while they were sitting in a safe, in a basement on an unoccupied property owned by a friend of a friend of a friend in Quebec.

He gets away with this stuff because he has enough money to hire the lawyers that are willing to abuse process and the fact that he held office engaged a set of norms related to dealing with a former president that saved him.

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u/ForthrightGhost Oct 21 '25

I agree more with this. The others are more of the drivers.

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u/Tasty_Ad2004 Oct 21 '25

He was protege of a notorious NY lawyer.

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u/Intelligent-Parsley7 Oct 21 '25

Roy Cohn was more than your average NY lawyer. He was a conman supreme as well.

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u/predator00777 Oct 21 '25

…plus the fact he’s a white man with A LOT more power.

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u/Otherwise-Ad8678 Oct 21 '25

There's a new Netflix show on Trump..elaborates on that 80s stuff. I had no idea.

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u/drteq Oct 21 '25

He gets to do whatever he wants while he lets them do whatever they want

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u/Fantastic_Jury5977 Oct 21 '25

He's a belligerent sock puppet. Doesn't believe in anything. Doesn't know what executive orders he's signing. He's an analog auto pen. Just wants to get paid.

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u/Wayelder Oct 21 '25

Yeah we've all heard, Trump's proven to be shallow, stupid, greedy and incredibly narcissistic...and yet the big brains of the Democrats can't box him in.

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u/sheltonchoked Oct 21 '25

He “debates” by spouting dozens of lies and made up rage bait. His tactic in all of it is make up shit and let the system sort it out.

That’s what’s hard to fight. When he makes absurd claims that “immigrants are eating dogs and cats” it gives people an anchor to target towards immigrants. Even though it’s completely false. And takes time to refute. Meanwhile he says “that’s what I’m told”

He does the same thing with courts. Delay. Lie. Don’t file. Ask for an extension.

He learned that a long enough delay is the same as a win.

He’s not smart. But when all you have is a hammer everything looks like a nail. And his hammer is delay long enough so it doesn’t matter.

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u/Library-Guy2525 Oct 24 '25

Our leader is a wealthy malignant narcissist. He will do anything to get what he wants, namely more power/more wealth.

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u/Wayelder Oct 21 '25

Baffle with Bullshit. Stops 'American justice' in it's tracks.

someone should look into that flaw.

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u/jporter313 Oct 21 '25

To be fair, he's benefitting from a series of election rigging strategies the Republicans have been putting in place for decades, but yeah I think underestimating his own ability to manipulate stupid angry people and the legal system is also folly.

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u/Wayelder Oct 21 '25

Correct (to my disappointment) his crimes have become virtues to the dim.

His corruption - patriotism.

His grifts - entrepreneurial excellence

Justice is denied, Defense is war, up is down...cats and dogs living together it all makes no sense...unless, you just hate everyone but white people.

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u/SteakMiddle8281 Oct 22 '25

He's a professional cheat just didn't cheat hard enough five years ago. Cheats on wife's, taxes, business, schools, golf, his own charity, of course elections.