NYTimes reporter covering Department of Justice and FBI. Author, "The Department of Revenge: How Trump Took Control of American Justice" signal (202) 617-6330

Joined April 2009
Devlin Barrett retweeted
SCOOP: Julio Herrera Velutini, a Venezuelan billionaire, really wanted a pardon. He got it not long after his daughter hired Alina Habba, a lawyer close to Trump, in a deal worth more than $50 million. Habba was also working at DOJ at the time. nytimes.com/2026/10/20/us/po…
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2026: the execution will not be televised
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Monday’s NYT reporting:
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Republican Rep. Andy Harris incorrectly told a reporter they were breaking the law as the reporter and others recorded an exchange with him last night. Harris had just wrapped up a debate with Democratic challenger Dan Schwartz.
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so much of the election coverage feels like they just discovered more Buddy Rich tour bus tapes youtube.com/watch?v=oj0UJHo4…
NEW: Tom Emmer is taking House Republicans’ long-running frustration with the Senate further than any other GOP leader has publicly "There are no Democrats. There are no Republicans. They are just senators," Emmer told donors last week at a closed-door fundraiser Axios attended for Rep. Mark Harris His message to senators who keep saying they don’t have the votes for GOP priorities: “You suck” axios.com/2026/10/06/tom-emm…
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Having covered two of these truly historic congressional hearings, I will say it takes a lot more than just a bad idea - it takes timing, meaningful contributions from role players, and a passionate commitment to keep going when everyone says “wait wut?”
Hank Johnson is still the GOAT, but this easily makes the top 4 hearing gaffes of all time. 4. Ted Stevens - "a series of tubes." 3. Louie Gohmert - "the AG will not cast aspersions on my asparagus." 2. Eric Schmitt today 1. Hank Johnson - concerned Guam will "tip over"
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Air ball
A phenomenal moment in the Senate. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., claims he has evidence Jack Smith went to a HAWKS game in Atlanta. Smith denies it. Schmitt declares he has busted Jack Smith for perjury. Smith, vexed, says he went to HAWKEYES game in Maryland. Watch the whole thing:
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A hung jury for a pol on video taking envelopes of cash is a huge data point about what DC jurors think of the Trump administration's control of the Justice Dept
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Devlin Barrett retweeted
Important to be precise when discussing these things. AP's phones were not tapped. Records of incoming and outgoing calls were seized as part of a leak investigation. AP complained about the breadth of the search. politico.com/story/2013/05/j…
New York Times reporter Jonathan Swan just got a stunning reality check from both Bill Maher and author James Kirchick. Swan was spiraling over President Trump barring CNN and MS NOW from the White House, until Kirchick reminded him of some of the Obama-era media scandals. KIRCHICK: “During the Obama administration they tapped the AP bureau’s phones and the phones of AP bureau reporters. They tapped their phones!” Maher backed up some of the claims and seconded Kirchick’s point about the Obama administration. MAHER: “I looked this up about freezing out one…they did it with Fox News. Josh Earnest, he was in the Obama administration. He admitted it.” “The White House has demonstrated our willingness to exclude Fox News from news making interviews…” “This is exactly what…you know, this is what I say about this country. Everybody’s like this is the worst thing in the world except when we do it.” “And then it’s always perfectly okay.” Maher nailed the hypocrisy in one sentence. Well done.
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AUDIO -- Court Hearing on Trump's Media Ban – LIVE on C-SPAN youtube.com/live/06hnsW1s_oc
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a day ending in y... nytimes.com/2026/04/15/us/wh…
Replying to @MacFarlaneNews
The Trump attorney is pivoting to a claim that CNN/MSNOW/Politico are banned for “national security” reasons. Here’s the problem. The White House issued this official statement about the ban. It doesn’t argue “national security”… it argues something about the “Radical Left”
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Ain’t that some
New: FBS oversight committee says it cannot overturn the Michigan-WMU ending. "The committee agreed that the instant replay protocols were not followed in the contest’s second-to-last play. Had the protocols been followed, the outcome of the game would have been different."
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It’s an ugly fact that there is a horrific subset of child abuse that involves bestiality, and those children are absolutely victims, but a lot of other folks who have had far easier lives can make bad assumptions and dumb tweets. Sincerely, longtime crime reporter
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On vacation and made a run to the local dump, where a discarded Officer Big Mac stands a lonely, smelly post
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An F.B.I. counterintelligence agent broke down and admitted stealing about $1 million in cryptocurrency from a foreign investigative target, saying he was frustrated the F.B.I. hadn't moved faster, per court papers nytimes.com/2026/08/03/us/po…
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