Here’s my explanation for why I haven’t posted anything here for a couple of days–I was working my way through a long legal memo filed on Friday by attorneys for John Stancil, Mike Miske’s half brother and co-defendant. The motion is seeks one of several options for Stancil, including release on bond (which seems unlikely) and, if not, release from the “special housing unit” in the federal detention center, restoration of access to a computer necessary to review evidence and assist in his preparing his own defense, etc.

After reading through it, once just skimming and a second time with more care, I decided that I would wait to report on this until the government has a chance to file a response, and a deadline for that hasn’t been set yet.

But sometimes you have to approach these things with something like peripheral vision. While reading through the 222-page document, I tried to first interpret it in the context that the attorneys intended. But, at the same time, I’m trying to stay alert for information that fits into another story line, perhaps something I’ve been following for a while.

Two things jumped out at me. First, there are two exhibits attached to the memo that document on-the-ground surveillance of Miske and some of his associates by investigators from the FBI’s Special Surveillance Group, which is known for covert surveillance, mobile and on foot.

Second, a member of this surveillance team assigned to the Miske case was later the target of two search warrants executed by the FBI for his gmail account and, later, his family home in Honolulu.

And that’s what led me to write a story published this morning over at Civil Beat (“The Miske Files: An FBI Elite Surveillance Unit Shadowed The Suspected Crime Boss For Years/Recently filed court records give a glimpse into the federal investigation of Mike Miske and his associates. But the picture is still far from complete“).

I had written about the case of the FBI investigating one of its own back in November 2022, so this new information naturally caught my eye.

In any case, jump over to Civil Beat and check out today’s story.