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DOJ accidently filed a letter in the public docket outlining the weaknesses of its case against NYS congestion pricing
DOJ Attorneys Brutally Mocked for Accidentally Filing Letter Admitting Weaknesses of Case in Public Docket
In February, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy sent a letter to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul voicing President Donald Trump’s objections to the CBDTP, which imposes stiff tolls on drivers using highly trafficked Manhattan streets, with the funds going to upgrade public mass transit programs. The tolls began on January 5, charging most drivers $9 to take roads in Manhattan below 60th Street, where many popular tourist destinations like the Empire State Building and Times Square are located. New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority filed a legal challenge seeking to keep the CBDTP in place.
Wednesday evening, a new letter showed up as item number 65 in the MTA vs. Duffy court docket, titled “LETTER addressed to Judge Lewis J. Liman from Dominika Tarczynska dated April 23, 2025 re: Administrative Record & April 20, 2025 Secretary Duffy Letter.”
What was actually filed, however, was an 11-page letter from Assistant U.S. Attorneys Tarczynska, David Farber, and Christine S. Poscablo addressed to Erin Hendrixson, the senior trial attorney at DOT regarding the case.
In the letter, the DOJ attorneys spell out multiple fundamental weaknesses with the federal government’s case, stating that there was “considerable litigation risk in defending” Secretary Duffy’s actions against the CBDTP, it was “unlikely that Judge Liman or further courts of review will accept the [federal government’s] argument that the CBDTP was not a statutorily authorized ‘value pricing’ pilot under the Value Pricing Pilot Program,” and “neither” of the DOT’s main defenses were “likely to convince the Court.”
In February, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy sent a letter to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul voicing President Donald Trump’s objections to the CBDTP, which imposes stiff tolls on drivers using highly trafficked Manhattan streets, with the funds going to upgrade public mass transit programs. The tolls began on January 5, charging most drivers $9 to take roads in Manhattan below 60th Street, where many popular tourist destinations like the Empire State Building and Times Square are located. New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority filed a legal challenge seeking to keep the CBDTP in place.
Wednesday evening, a new letter showed up as item number 65 in the MTA vs. Duffy court docket, titled “LETTER addressed to Judge Lewis J. Liman from Dominika Tarczynska dated April 23, 2025 re: Administrative Record & April 20, 2025 Secretary Duffy Letter.”
What was actually filed, however, was an 11-page letter from Assistant U.S. Attorneys Tarczynska, David Farber, and Christine S. Poscablo addressed to Erin Hendrixson, the senior trial attorney at DOT regarding the case.
In the letter, the DOJ attorneys spell out multiple fundamental weaknesses with the federal government’s case, stating that there was “considerable litigation risk in defending” Secretary Duffy’s actions against the CBDTP, it was “unlikely that Judge Liman or further courts of review will accept the [federal government’s] argument that the CBDTP was not a statutorily authorized ‘value pricing’ pilot under the Value Pricing Pilot Program,” and “neither” of the DOT’s main defenses were “likely to convince the Court.”
https://www.mediaite.com/news/doj-attorneys-brutally-mocked-for-accidentally-filing-letter-admitting-weaknesses-of-case-in-public-docket/
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You can read the letter here:
https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.637159/gov.uscourts.nysd.637159.65.0.pdf
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