Ep 246 — Blanche and Buc-ee's

DOCKET ALERTS:   This week, the Senate confirmed Jeffrey Kuntz as a judge in the Southern District of Florida, making him the second former Florida state jurist who did Trump a solid in his trollsuit against the Pulitzer Prize Board and got himself promoted to the federal bench. Also this week, the Senate confirmed Matthew Schwartz to the Second Circuit, making him the third of Trump's personal lawyers to be made appellate judges. This is fine!   The Trump administration sued Maryland to stop it providing in-state tuition to undocumented students.   Trump's media company plans to sell early access to his posts to high-frequency traders.    DOOFUS OF THE DAY:   Trump's teleprompter operator Gabriel Perez got caught betting on what his boss might say on Kalshi. He's negotiating a settlement with the CFTC, but is apparently still employed at the White House.   MAIN SHOW:   Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche had his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday. Any Republican defection will tank his nomination to be permanent AG. He got raked over the coals and forced to sit down with the Epstein survivors, but will probably make it through.   The beloved service station Buc-ee's is suing everyone and their mother for trademark infringement. But the Buc-ee Beaver may have bitten off more than he can chew picking a fight with Mickey the Moose.   SUBSCRIBER BONUS:   In December, X/Twitter rolled out new image generation capabilities for its AI Grok, after which users created an avalanche of non-consensual intimate images. The site is facing a class action by minor victims. But it hopes to avoid liability by seeking a ruling from a friendly judge in Texas that the blame lies with the users who generated the images, not the site itself.   US v. Maryland [In-state tuition] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73629368/united-states-v-state-of-maryland/   White House teleprompter operator made more than $100K betting on Trump's speeches: Sources https://abcnews.com/US/white-house-teleprompter-operator-made-100k-betting-trumps/story?id=134764573   Trump Media to Sell Faster Access to President's Social Posts https://www.wsj.com/tech/trump-media-to-sell-faster-access-to-presidents-social-posts-7a7054e8   xAI LLC v. Harwood https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73616819/xai-llc-v-harwood/   Doe v. XAI Corp https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72495765/doe-1-v-xai-corp/   Buc-ee's is on a Rampage and No Mascot is Safe, Wall Street Journal https://www.wsj.com/us-news/law/buc-ees-is-on-a-rampage-and-no-mascot-is-safe-80b7f03d   Buc-ee's, Ltd. v. Coles IP Holdings, LLC [2026 docket] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72296862/buc-ees-ltd-v-coles-ip-holding