Peter Beck

Reporting Fellow at Court Watch

Weekly Roundup

Jul 31, 2026

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5 min read

#185: A Quarter-Life Crisis for a Court

Being the oldest court in judicial kindergarten is confusing. Plus: DoD defamation lawsuit, DOJ settling over water, Wilmer Hale breach, and shotgun complaints.

Seamus Hughes, +1

The Rabbit Hole

Jul 26, 2026

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15 min read

The Rabbit Hole: The Rip Van Winkle Court

Last week, the Alien Terrorist Removal Court had its first case in 30 years. We dive into DOJ’s awakening of a controversial court.

Peter Beck, +1

Weekly Roundup

#184: An Outbreak of Cyclospora Lawsuits

Jul 24, 2026

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5 min read

#184: An Outbreak of Cyclospora Lawsuits

The FDA may not know the source, but ambulance chasers do. Plus: Post Office Melee, Fake Cop, and a 500 billion dollar lawsuit.

Seamus Hughes, +1

The Rabbit Hole

Jul 19, 2026

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8 min read

The Rabbit Hole: Fake Images and Real Victims.

A new federal law aimed at stopping AI-generated nonconsensual intimate images is beginning to yield new criminal charges.

Peter Beck

Weekly Roundup

#183: Bribing an Immigration Official With A Bottle of Patron.

Jul 17, 2026

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5 min read

#183: Bribing an Immigration Official With A Bottle of Patron.

Come on, it’s not even añejo. Plus: Flock threats, Trump Genius, K-Pop’s nationwide injunction, and DOJ supports court transparency

Seamus Hughes, +1

The Rabbit Hole

Jul 12, 2026

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9 min read

The Rabbit Hole: All the Court’s a Stage

Welcome to the era of performative lawsuits.

Peter Beck, +1

Weekly Roundup

Jul 10, 2026

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5 min read

#182: Can You Really Own a Meme?

Chicken companies fight over ‘6 7’. Plus: Tennis Power Struggle, Repeat Stowaway, WSJ lawsuit, and is DOGE actually dead?

Seamus Hughes, +1

Weekly Roundup

#181: ‘An exercise of Kafkaesque futility’

Jun 26, 2026

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6 min read

#181: ‘An exercise of Kafkaesque futility’

We just wanted to look at a document. Plus: Waffle House Antics, Trump Coin, Would Be Pulse Night Club Copycat.

Seamus Hughes, +1

The Rabbit Hole

Jun 21, 2026

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11 min read

The Rabbit Hole: The Occasional Murder on the Docket

Despite a media landscape that would imply otherwise, prosecuting murders in the federal court system is relatively rare. We explain why.

Peter Beck

Weekly Roundup

#180: Prediction Market Didn’t Predict This Lawsuit

Jun 19, 2026

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5 min read

#180: Prediction Market Didn’t Predict This Lawsuit

Chicago bankers are angry, and we give them good odds to cover the lawsuit spread. Plus: Denaturalization cases on the rise, recusals, the fear of god and... daddybiden?

Peter Beck, +1

The Rabbit Hole

Jun 14, 2026

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12 min read

The Rabbit Hole: Freeing the Courts

New legislation offers the possibility of free and searchable access to court records. But there are other systemic issues within the judiciary that still hinder transparency

Peter Beck, +1

Weekly Roundup

#179: Congress Can Legally Say Horrible Things about You on Social Media

Jun 12, 2026

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5 min read

#179: Congress Can Legally Say Horrible Things about You on Social Media

With the help of the Trump Administration, a defamation lawsuit against an anti-Trump Congresswoman goes down. Plus: Judicially-ordered religious training cancelled, ISIS is in vogue again, NFT arrest, and the Post Office has a corruption problem.

Seamus Hughes, +1

Weekly Roundup

Jun 5, 2026

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5 min read

#178: Stop the (mint) Presses

A Pro Se Litigant Mostly Wins against DOJ. Plus: FIFA and Whales, Guns and JFK Airport, P. Diddy’s Lawyer Goes Venezuela, and a 77 year old discovers a new brother thanks to one federal judge.

Seamus Hughes, +1

The Rabbit Hole

May 31, 2026

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12 min read

The Rabbit Hole: ‘Open to Work’ for America’s Enemies

There has been a quiet rise in the number of counterintelligence criminal prosecutions. More may be on the horizon.

Peter Beck, +1

Weekly Roundup

May 29, 2026

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5 min read

#177: CSI: Courts

In a misconduct investigation, they sent a judge’s couch cushion to the lab? Plus: Rihanna, Bolt cutting ICE handcuffs, AI screwups, and Latvian passports

Seamus Hughes, +1

The Rabbit Hole

May 24, 2026

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11 min read

The Rabbit Hole: When Terrorism Isn’t Terrorism Anymore.

A recent court ruling throws into question decades of legal precedent on terrorism cases. We examine the debate and consequences.

Peter Beck

Weekly Roundup

May 22, 2026

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5 min read

#176: Moon Rocks and White Ethnostates

The U.S. Courts had a versatile week. Plus: Loomer Appeals, Lamborghinis Seized, Candace Owen-related subpoena, and a 400 Million Dollar Ponzi Scheme

Seamus Hughes, +1

The Rabbit Hole

May 17, 2026

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11 min read

The Rabbit Hole: When A.I. Helps Kill.

Thwarted Terror Attacks. Attempted School Shootings. Suicides. Are A.I. companies complicit in a string of violence that began online?

Peter Beck

Weekly Roundup

May 15, 2026

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6 min read

#175: Can You Trust Your Wife?

Prosecutors are quietly trying to limit marital communications privilege. Plus: Anthropic doesn’t cc the right military general. ISIS Trial Postponed. Candace Owens’ Folks May Be Dodging a Charlie Kirk Subpoena. Finally, Public Defenders are Adorably Petty.

Seamus Hughes, +1

Judge Orders ‘Known Suspected Terrorist’ Released

May 13, 2026

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3 min read

Judge Orders ‘Known Suspected Terrorist’ Released

Ahmadzai Ghafoor says he fled Afghanistan to escape Taliban retaliation. The government says he was once a “known suspected terrorist” and designated for a “high-profile removal” from the United States. On Wednesday, a federal judge ordered him released.

Seamus Hughes, +1

The Rabbit Hole

May 10, 2026

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12 min read

The Rabbit Hole: Taking on the Courts, Alone.

Between the legal deserts and rising costs of lawyers, more and more Americans are attempting to represent themselves in court. In some cases, 92% of them lose. We look at the uphill battle facing those who take own their own cases.

Peter Beck

Weekly Roundup

May 8, 2026

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5 min read

#174: Forrest Gumping the News

Like a beloved movie character who always gets himself into interesting historical moments, we’re as surprised as you are that we wandered into a Pulitzer. Plus: Epstein Suicide Note, Car Washing Threats, Reuters/WestLaw sued, and DOGE’s ChatGPT.

Seamus Hughes, +1

Weekly Roundup

#173: Are we quietly detaining a terrorist in Texas?

May 1, 2026

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5 min read

#173: Are we quietly detaining a terrorist in Texas?

Prosecutors will let a judge know today. Plus: Epstein suicide note, racist public defender, AUSA’s AI gets benchslapped, and tear gas is so back.

Seamus Hughes, +1

The Rabbit Hole

Apr 26, 2026

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11 min read

The Rabbit Hole: An Army Major, a WhatsApp Group, and a Civil War.

Authorities say more than a dozen individuals in the United States and Europe were coordinating, funding, and directing an ongoing civil war in Cameroon.

Peter Beck

Weekly Roundup

#172: Did You Feed This Deposition Into ChatGPT?

Apr 24, 2026

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6 min read

#172: Did You Feed This Deposition Into ChatGPT?

Turns out using AI in real-time while getting disposed is not privileged. Who knew? Plus: Trump(s) settles, lawyer sanctioned, foreign coup, and CFTC comes back from the DOGE dead to collect a gambling bet.

Seamus Hughes, +1