DL Open Thread: Saturday, March 29, 2025

Meyer Signs Bill, Musk Does This.  Coincidence?:

Elon Musk said on Friday that his startup xAI has merged with X, his social network, in an all-stock transaction that values the artificial intelligence company at $80 billion and the social media company at $33 billion.

Because both companies are privately held and controlled by Musk, the transaction likely amounts to a stock swap, with X investors getting paid out in xAI shares. The companies have a number of mutual investors, including venture firms Andreessen Horowitz and Sequoia Capital, as well as Fidelity Management, Vy Capital and Saudi Arabia’s Kingdom Holding Co.

Hey, if institutional investors like CALPERS object, guess they’re SOL.  Great job all around.  The proper word for what Delaware did is ‘prostitution’.

Bad Law Firm.

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom on Friday became the latest white-shoe law firm to acquiesce to the Trump administration as the White House ramps up attacks on the legal profession. The news prompted a wave of outrage at the law firm, which was accused of being “pathetic.”

The firm has agreed to provide at least $100 million in pro bono legal services to the federal government during his administration “and beyond,” according to a Truth Social post from U.S. President Donald Trump.Also, the “firm will not engage in illegal” diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) “discrimination and preferences,” according to the post, which also noted that the firm proactively reached out to the administration about an agreement.

Speaking at the White House on Friday, Trump called the deal “essentially a settlement,” according to Reuters.

“Pathetic when the richest and most powerful lawyers in America won’t stand up for the profession that made them rich and powerful,” wrote U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) on X on Friday, reacting to earlier reporting that the firm was in discussions with the White House over a deal.

Good Law Firms:

Two big firms sued the Trump administration on Friday, seeking to stop executive orders that could impair their ability to represent clients. The lawsuits filed by Jenner & Block and WilmerHale highlight how some elite firms are willing to fight Mr. Trump’s campaign targeting those he doesn’t like, while others, like Paul Weiss and Skadden, have cut deals to appease the president.

In recent weeks, Mr. Trump has issued similarly styled executive orders against firms that he perceives as enemies and threats to national security. The orders could create an existential crisis for firms because they would strip lawyers of security clearances, bar them from entering federal buildings and discourage federal officials from interacting with the firms.

“I am heartened by the fact that Jenner and Wilmer are joining Perkins in pushing back on these illegal executive orders. It shows that capitulation is not the only route,” said Matthew Diller, a law professor and former dean of Fordham University School of Law. “In the long run, it will strengthen their reputations in the market as forceful advocates who stand up for principle, a quality that many clients will value.”

The Depravity Of This Smyrna Cop:

A 31-year-old man in Delaware spent several months in 2021 persuading a teenage girl in Ohio to send him sexually explicit photos through Snapchat.

Using vulgar and degrading language with the 16-year-old, the man, whose username was “jasonkyle221,” kept pestering the girl to go further on the instant messaging app.

“You going to make daddy that vid?” he wrote during one exchange. After she sent more provocative photos and agreed to keep their correspondence private, he praised her as a “good girl.”

The man behind the keyboard, the FBI revealed in 2023, was Michael Anthony Kealty, a churchgoing police officer.

Kealty was a detective and rising star on the police force in Smyrna, a town of 13,000 people in central Delaware, where he was named officer of the year in 2019.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Briana Knox, who prosecuted Kealty, told WHYY News that the disgraced cop and vet is yet another example of a deviant sex criminal who led an exemplary life in public but committed dark deeds in the shadows.

“That’s what you see with a lot of predators,” Knox said. “They are charming. They are successful in the community. But they’re doing other things behind closed doors.”

What do you want to talk about?