Aloha Friday

February 13, 2026 — Aloha Friday (Afternoon)

Feb 13, 2026

0213 Aloha TT AMPM

Bryan sat through both hearings himself. Zubayar al-Bakoush — an alleged co-conspirator in the 2012 Benghazi attack — was extradited to the US last week and arraigned yesterday. He pled not guilty on all eight counts.

Al-Bakoush, an alleged armed co-conspirator in the 2012 attack on the American consulate in Benghazi, Libya, was captured the previous week and extradited to the United States. Bryan attended both the arraignment and status hearing in person. Al-Bakoush pled not guilty to all eight counts, some of which carry potential capital charges. The government said it will take approximately six months to decide whether to seek the death penalty. Both sides agreed to waive speedy trial requirements pending that decision, with a next status hearing set for June. Bryan's courtroom observation: al-Bakoush is "a very small old man with a walker." Also: the court interpreter was sworn in at the start of proceedings — something Bryan noted he had not consciously observed before despite many cases with translators.

Federal criminal law

Constitutional question: Capital charges implicate the Fifth Amendment (grand jury requirement confirmed), Sixth Amendment (speedy trial, right to counsel with interpreter), and Eighth Amendment (cruel and unusual punishment analysis for capital cases). No constitutional issues flagged at this stage — procedural posture only.

Neguse v. DHS · 25-cv-02463

Bryan also sat through the Neguse hearing in person. The government's main answer for why they can't let members of Congress into ICE facilities: not enough staff.

Following up on the February 12 morning report, Bryan attended the Neguse hearing in person. The government's argument for blocking congressional access turned on two things: the "holding center vs. detention center" distinction (they claim the Whipple Center in Minneapolis is a holding center, not a detention facility, so the rider doesn't apply), and resource constraints — they need time to prepare for a congressional visit. Bryan's read: the resource excuse implied a staffing problem, not a policy principle. The "holding center" argument matters more than it sounds: people held at Whipple are being transferred to detention facilities in Texas, a thousand miles away, making it practically impossible for their Minneapolis-based lawyers to reach them — and the government is using the "holding center" label to justify those transfers while simultaneously blocking Congress from seeing the conditions.

Administrative lawcongressional oversight

Constitutional question: Whether the executive can use a formal definitional distinction (holding vs. detention) to insulate enforcement operations from congressional oversight — a separation of powers question about the scope of legislative oversight authority.

A.H.R. v. DHS · 26-cv-00749

A Trump-appointed judge issued a TRO requiring ICE to give detainees their alien number, a phone list, and private phone access within one hour of arrival at the Whipple Center in Minneapolis. The government's evidence in the case: one declaration saying "we don't do that" and no supporting evidence. And they lost the keys to some rooms.

Advocates for Human Rights sued over conditions at the Whipple Center, a DHS holding facility in Minneapolis where detainees — including people lawfully present in the US — were being denied phones, denied access to lawyers, and transferred to Texas detention centers with no notice and no way to contact counsel. The judge (Trump-appointed) tried hard to give the government the benefit of the doubt. She asked questions; the DOJ lawyer had never visited the facility and couldn't answer them. She gave both sides a day to inspect the facility. Plaintiffs came back with two more declarations; the government filed nothing. Four hours before her ruling, DOJ submitted their second piece of evidence: they can't use certain rooms because they lost the master key, and non-law-enforcement attorneys are a "safety risk." The judge issued a TRO requiring ICE to: give every detainee their A-number and a multilingual list of free attorneys within one hour of arrival; provide private, unmonitored phone access; prohibit out-of-state transfers for 72 hours with mandatory notification.

Immigrationconstitutional

Constitutional question: Both parties agreed the Fifth Amendment protects non-citizens regardless of immigration status. The case is about what "access to counsel" means in practice — and the judge's key finding: you cannot use your own obstruction of counsel access to establish that detainees have no counsel to protect.

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