LIVE WIRE
MARKETSEquity markets fluctuate as Fed policy outlook keeps investors cautious•MARKETSTreasury yields remain a key focus amid ongoing inflation uncertainty•MARKETSLegal-sector M&A activity steady as firms weigh economic conditions•TOP CASEDobbs v. Jackson redraws reproductive-rights landscape across U.S. states•TOP CASE303 Creative ruling expands First Amendment protections for service providers•TOP CASESFFA v. Harvard limits race-conscious admissions at U.S. universities•USAFederal courts continue to face record civil case backlogs nationwide•USAAccess-to-justice gap persists as legal aid funding remains under pressure•USAState legislatures increasingly active in reshaping arbitration requirements•WORLDICC jurisdiction debates intensify as non-member states face scrutiny•WORLDEU AI Act compliance deadlines prompt legal review across member states•WORLDCross-border data privacy litigation rises as GDPR enforcement expands•MARKETSEquity markets fluctuate as Fed policy outlook keeps investors cautious•MARKETSTreasury yields remain a key focus amid ongoing inflation uncertainty•MARKETSLegal-sector M&A activity steady as firms weigh economic conditions•TOP CASEDobbs v. Jackson redraws reproductive-rights landscape across U.S. states•TOP CASE303 Creative ruling expands First Amendment protections for service providers•TOP CASESFFA v. Harvard limits race-conscious admissions at U.S. universities•USAFederal courts continue to face record civil case backlogs nationwide•USAAccess-to-justice gap persists as legal aid funding remains under pressure•USAState legislatures increasingly active in reshaping arbitration requirements•WORLDICC jurisdiction debates intensify as non-member states face scrutiny•WORLDEU AI Act compliance deadlines prompt legal review across member states•WORLDCross-border data privacy litigation rises as GDPR enforcement expands•
OIG CRIMINAL WIRE
FRESH BUSTFormer Customs and Border Protection Agent Sentenced to 60 Months in Prison for Receiving Child Pornography⚖ON THE RECORDFormer U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez convicted — bribery, extortion & acting as a foreign agent — 11 years⚖ON THE RECORDFormer U.S. Rep. George Santos pled guilty — wire fraud & aggravated identity theft — 87 months⚖ON THE RECORDFormer FBI agent Robert Hanssen — espionage for Russia — life without parole⚖ON THE RECORDFormer CIA officer Aldrich Ames — espionage against the United States — life in prison⚖ON THE RECORDFormer FBI counterintel chief Charles McGonigal pled guilty — sanctions violations for a Russian oligarch⚖ON THE RECORDFormer Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich — convicted of corruption — 14 years⚖ON THE RECORDFormer Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick — racketeering & extortion — 28 years⚖ON THE RECORDFormer U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah — racketeering & fraud — 10 years⚖ON THE RECORDFormer U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter pled guilty — conversion of campaign funds⚖ON THE RECORDFormer U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. pled guilty — $750K in campaign funds — 30 months⚖ON THE RECORDFormer IRS contractor Charles Littlejohn — stole & leaked tax returns — 5 years⚖ON THE RECORDBaltimore Gun Trace Task Force — 8 police officers convicted of racketeering & robbery⚖ON THE RECORD'Fat Leonard' scandal — dozens of Navy officials convicted of bribery & fraud⚖ON THE RECORDFormer FCI Dublin warden Ray Garcia convicted — abuse of incarcerated women — 70 months⚖ON THE RECORDFormer DHS acting IG Charles Edwards pled guilty — stealing government software & data⚖ON THE RECORDFormer VA pathologist Robert Levy — fraud & involuntary manslaughter — 20 years⚖ON THE RECORDFormer NY Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver — convicted of corruption — 6.5 years⚖ON THE RECORDFormer NSA contractor Reality Winner — Espionage Act — 63 months⚖FRESH BUSTFormer Customs and Border Protection Agent Sentenced to 60 Months in Prison for Receiving Child Pornography⚖ON THE RECORDFormer U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez convicted — bribery, extortion & acting as a foreign agent — 11 years⚖ON THE RECORDFormer U.S. Rep. George Santos pled guilty — wire fraud & aggravated identity theft — 87 months⚖ON THE RECORDFormer FBI agent Robert Hanssen — espionage for Russia — life without parole⚖ON THE RECORDFormer CIA officer Aldrich Ames — espionage against the United States — life in prison⚖ON THE RECORDFormer FBI counterintel chief Charles McGonigal pled guilty — sanctions violations for a Russian oligarch⚖ON THE RECORDFormer Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich — convicted of corruption — 14 years⚖ON THE RECORDFormer Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick — racketeering & extortion — 28 years⚖ON THE RECORDFormer U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah — racketeering & fraud — 10 years⚖ON THE RECORDFormer U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter pled guilty — conversion of campaign funds⚖ON THE RECORDFormer U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. pled guilty — $750K in campaign funds — 30 months⚖ON THE RECORDFormer IRS contractor Charles Littlejohn — stole & leaked tax returns — 5 years⚖ON THE RECORDBaltimore Gun Trace Task Force — 8 police officers convicted of racketeering & robbery⚖ON THE RECORD'Fat Leonard' scandal — dozens of Navy officials convicted of bribery & fraud⚖ON THE RECORDFormer FCI Dublin warden Ray Garcia convicted — abuse of incarcerated women — 70 months⚖ON THE RECORDFormer DHS acting IG Charles Edwards pled guilty — stealing government software & data⚖ON THE RECORDFormer VA pathologist Robert Levy — fraud & involuntary manslaughter — 20 years⚖ON THE RECORDFormer NY Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver — convicted of corruption — 6.5 years⚖ON THE RECORDFormer NSA contractor Reality Winner — Espionage Act — 63 months⚖
Talk to AtticusJudge McSkunk's Moot CourtFacts & CircumstancesNew DocumentLaw SkunkFriend of the CourtSecond Look · HunterThe LecternThe Quadruple CheckMcDermott AIAuto-SueFirst Amendment War ChestJudicial SupplementsCommand LedgerMaster ChronologyMedia BlastThe Last MohicansThe Record That Wasn'tWatch The MailMcSkunkville CourtBlog · SOSPodcastOfficials BustedReport CorruptionSkunk Store

Electronic Press Kit · Media & Interview Requests

Interview the source.

The rights, the wrongs, the ethics, the controversies — from the original source. David Bruce McDermott II interviews unrehearsed, on the record, on camera. Every claim below is public record, verifiable before you ever pick up the phone.

The Pro Se Defendant the New York Bar Still Cites

NYSBA Ethics Opinion 949 (2012), footnote 2, cites United States v. McDermott, 64 F.3d 1448 (10th Cir. 1995) — a case argued by a self-represented federal defendant — as national authority on standby counsel, alongside the Second and Fourth Circuits. The man behind that citation is alive, in Oklahoma, and giving interviews.

The AI Lawyer That Refuses to Lie — Built by a Felon the System Wrote Off

120+ lawyers have been sanctioned since 2023 for filing AI-invented case law. This platform audits every citation against 200+ hand-verified authorities and refuses to fabricate — built free, by a pro se litigant with 30 years of federal filings, not a Silicon Valley lab. David v. Goliath meets the AI ethics story of the year.

Hunter v. United States — The New Door SCOTUS Just Opened

The Supreme Court's June 2026 miscarriage-of-justice standard (No. 24-1063, 8–1) changes plea-waiver finality nationwide. This platform shipped the first free public tools built on it, within days. Who explains it best on camera? The man who has lived both sides of the standard.

The checkable record — verify before you call

  • • United States v. McDermott, 64 F.3d 1448 (10th Cir. 1995) — Federal Reporter, any law library.
  • • NYSBA Ethics Opinion 949 (Dec. 17, 2012), footnote 2 — nysba.org, free to read.
  • • Hunter v. United States, No. 24-1063 (U.S. June 18, 2026) — supremecourt.gov.
  • • The AI sanctions record (Mata v. Avianca forward, 120+ cases) — public dockets.
  • • The platform itself — every tool on this site, free, no login, test it live on air.

Ten questions producers can open with

  1. You told the judge who sentenced you to 35 years, "I'm going to reverse your court. I'll be right back." Walk us through keeping that promise.
  2. The New York Bar cites your case to train licensed lawyers. What does a footnote like that mean to a man who learned law in a jail cell?
  3. Judge Ellison called you from his home in the last year of his life. What did he tell you, and why does it drive this platform?
  4. Over 120 lawyers have been sanctioned for AI-invented case law. Why does your free machine refuse to do what their paid tools did?
  5. Who is Brett Brough, and what happened in the Tulsa law library?
  6. What is Hunter v. United States, and why do you call it the door America waited sixty years for?
  7. You give all of this away free. No paywall, no data harvesting. Why?
  8. What do you say to bar associations worried about nonlawyers building legal tools?
  9. What should a citizen do the day they realize the system is being used against them?
  10. What does "LAW SKUNK" actually mean?

The pitch letters — ready to fire

Copy the pitch, paste it into the outlet's newsroom tip portal or a producer's inbox. Tip portals: abcnews.go.com/tips · nbcnews.com/tips · cbsnews.com/tips — plus the trades and Oklahoma desks named below.

National Network — Legal / Investigative Desk (ABC · NBC · CBS)

SUBJECT: The pro se defendant the New York Bar still cites just built a free AI lawyer for America

Producers —

Three verifiable facts, one interview:

1) In 1995, a federal defendant representing HIMSELF won a reversal at the Tenth Circuit — United States v. McDermott, 64 F.3d 1448. In 2012, the New York State Bar Association cited that case (Ethics Opinion 949, n.2) as national authority on the rights of self-represented defendants. Both documents are public and checkable in five minutes.

2) Since 2023, more than 120 lawyers have been sanctioned for filing AI-invented case law (Mata v. Avianca and its progeny). It is the legal profession's biggest technology scandal.

3) That same self-taught litigant has now built the counter-punch: iamthelawskunk.com — a free AI drafting platform that audits every citation against a hand-verified library and refuses to fabricate authority. No paywall. No venture capital. Built in Oklahoma by a man the system wrote off thirty years ago.

The interview: David Bruce McDermott II — on camera, unrehearsed, on the record. The making of a jailhouse lawyer, the judge who became his friend, the citation the bar still uses, and why he gave the machine away free.

Reachable via the media form at iamthelawskunk.com/press-kit.

Legal Trade Press (ABA Journal · Law360 · Above the Law)

SUBJECT: NYSBA Op. 949 cites his pro se case; now he's shipped a hallucination-proof drafting platform — free

Editors —

Your readers know two stories cold: the AI-sanctions parade (120+ cases since Mata v. Avianca) and the access-to-justice gap. Here is where they collide.

United States v. McDermott, 64 F.3d 1448 (10th Cir. 1995) — argued pro se, reversed on appeal, and cited by NYSBA Ethics Opinion 949 (n.2) on the scope of standby counsel. The man behind it, David Bruce McDermott II, has now launched iamthelawskunk.com: free court-ready drafting with a 200+ case hand-verified citation library, automatic post-generation citation audits (it flagged the actual Avianca fake on sight), a public anti-hallucination covenant, and pro se training tools including a voice-argued AI moot court.

Angles on offer: the audit architecture vs. the sanctions record; the ethics of nonlawyer-built legal AI; Hunter v. United States tooling; the jailhouse-lawyer-to-cited-authority arc.

He is available for interview and will show the audit failing-safe live. Media form: iamthelawskunk.com/press-kit.

Oklahoma Press (Tulsa World · The Frontier · Oklahoma Watch · KJRH/KOTV/KTUL)

SUBJECT: An Okmulgee County man's federal case is cited by the New York Bar — and he just gave Oklahoma a free AI lawyer

Newsroom —

Local story, national teeth. David Bruce McDermott II — Mounds, Oklahoma — taught himself law in the University of Tulsa law library, argued his own federal appeal, and won: United States v. McDermott, 64 F.3d 1448 (10th Cir. 1995). Seventeen years later the New York State Bar Association cited his case as authority (Ethics Opinion 949). The late Chief Judge James O. Ellison of the Northern District — who sentenced him — became his friend, and in the final year of his life called him at a DHS office to tell him: "Our country will need men like you in the future."

Now he has built iamthelawskunk.com — free, court-ready legal drafting for Oklahomans who cannot afford counsel, with verified-only citations and tools for the Supreme Court's new Hunter v. United States standard.

He interviews unrehearsed, on camera, anywhere in the Tulsa area. Media form: iamthelawskunk.com/press-kit.

Press & interview requests

Credentialed media, podcasts, and legal-education programs: requests land directly with the founder's desk.

Atticus BradStreet McDermott

You are in the house of Atticus BradStreet McDermott — the first AI counsel sent to school before she was trusted with the law. Every page here keeps my covenant: verified law, human warmth, zero fabrication. Walk in and meet me →

Use at your own risk. Law Skunk shares legal information under the First Amendment — it is not legal advice and creates no attorney–client relationship. We can profess to be good, and we quadruple‑check our work — but you are solely responsible for proofing, verifying, and understanding every document before you file it. We are never liable for your use of this site. If you are not willing to learn and double‑check our work, please do not use this site. Respect the court: proof, proof, proof. Read the full disclosure → Before you file: the 10 safety rails →

© 2026 David McDermott · LAW SKUNK™ · McSkunkville™ · All Rights Reserved. All characters, lore, artwork and games — Atticus Bradstreet McDermott™, Judge Brett David McSkunk™, David Bradstreet McSkunk™, Jim McSkunk Rockford™, Hugh "Le Pew" McSkunkner™, The Firm, the McSkunkville Casino™ and Series One: The Case of the McSkunk Ruby™ — are original works protected under 17 U.S.C. § 101 et seq. Unauthorized reproduction or commercial use is prohibited.Sealed in the Copyright Vault →