Explore every episode of the podcast Law and Chaos
| Title | Pub. Date | Duration | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ep 277 — We Did It! (breaking down the midterms feat. Joe Dye) | 05 nov. 2026 | 01:15:14 | |
Andrew and Joe dissect the historic 2026 midterms, including what to expect in the outstanding Senate races in Alaska and (shockingly) Mississippi; what it all means; why winning state legislatures and governorships may be as important as winning the House and Senate; and how we can start to forge a new way forward.
Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod
| |||
| Ep 276 — Vote Baby Vote! | 03 nov. 2026 | 01:08:06 | |
DOCKET ALERTS:
A magistrate judge in DC dismissed the criminal complaint against Nikki Floris and Bradley Benavides, two decorated FBI agents who wound up on Trump's hit list for being insufficiently supportive of his lies about Chinese interference in the 2020 election.
Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward entered his appearance in the Broadview 6 case and told Judge April Perry that the government would not be complying with any judicial investigations. Judge Perry was not amused. She set a hearing for November 16, ordered US Attorney Andrew Boutros to show up and testify, and invited anyone with relevant information to appear. That would appear to include Douglas DePodesta, the former FBI supervisor in Chicago who just sued Boutros, AG Todd Blanche, and FBI Director Kash Patel for wrongfully terminating him to make him a scapegoat in this case.
Meanwhile in DC, Stan Woodward is coming perilously close to getting held in contempt in the DC golf course case.
DOOFUS OF THE DAY: Rep. Haley Stevens, for obvious reasons.
ELECTION ROUND UP:
DOJ loses the trollsuit seeking to segregate ballots in Alaska and enjoin certification if Mary Peltola wins, as Chief Judge Sharon Gleason trashes Woodward's lawyering. (Sensing a pattern here!)
Then, we have a comprehensive story about all the ways Donald Trump can't steal the midterms. He's already failed at trying to create a national voter database. He's 0-28 at forcing states to turn over their voter rolls. The ham-fisted efforts by his DOJ to force California to purge alleged noncitizens got dropkicked by a federal district court judge in California, another one in DC, the Ninth Circuit (twice!) and the Supreme Court – all in the span of about 72 hours.
We're gonna make it. And don't forget to VOTE!
US v. Alaska https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/75009254/united-states-v-state-of-alaska/
US v. Floris https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/75010510/united-states-v-floris
US v. Rabbit [Broadview 6] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/71795281/united-states-v-rabbitt/
DePodesta v. Boutros https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/75056492/depodesta-v-boutros/
US v. California [District Court] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/74967108/united-states-v-state-of-california/?order_by=desc
US v. California [9th Circuit]
US v. California [Supreme Court] https://www.supremecourt.gov/search.aspx?filename=/docket/docketfiles/html/public/26a624.html
Trujillo v. DHS [DC challenge to California list]
Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod
| |||
| Ep 275 — Five Days Left | 30 oct. 2026 | 00:52:34 | |
Twitch streamer Hasan Piker is suing Scott Jennings for defamation after the conservative podcaster edited clips to make Piker sound racist.
Bill Essayli, who has been holding himself out as the First Assistant US Attorney in the Central District of California and supervising the office, got even more disqualified from serving as US Attorney.
In the lawsuit over Trump's "Memorial Arch," the DOJ submitted affidavits from DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth pinky-swearing that the structure is critical for national security. Judge Tanya Chutkan said that they had to attend Friday's hearing, like any other sworn declarant. The DOJ says NO FAIR!
Meanwhile in Judge Ana Reyes's courtroom, the DOJ is creeping ever closer to getting held in contempt over their prevarication about plans to close the East Potomac Golf Course.
DOOFUS OF THE DAY: James O'Keefe, the original hidden camera troll, got charged with felony identity theft in Minnesota for impersonating voters at the polls during the August primary.
MAIN SHOW:
The Trump administration is trying to prosecute two former FBI officials who are in Trump's sights for failing to support his lies about Chinese interference in the 2020 election. The charge is lying to Congress, but it may implode before they can even secure an indictment.
The DOJ's lawsuit seeking to purge votes in California failed at the Ninth Circuit. Then it went back to the trial court, where Judge David Carter held a hearing and promptly denied the government's motion for a TRO. Now it's heading back to the Ninth Circuit for another drubbing.
SUBSCRIBER BONUS:
What is going on with the DOJ's effort to prevent Alaska from certifying the results of the Senate election if Peltola wins?
Piker v. Jennings https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/75026995/piker-v-jennings/
US v. Tran [Essayli disqualified] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72085974/united-states-v-tran
Lemmon v. Trump [Arch] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72301112/lemmon-v-trump/
DC Preservation League v. Department of Interior [Golf Course] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72278895/dc-preservation-league-v-department-of-interior
US v. Floris https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/75010510/united-states-v-floris/
US v. California [District Court request to segregate ballots] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/74967108/united-states-v-state-of-california/
US v. California [9th Circuit appeal] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/75037590/united-states-of-america-v-state-of-california-et-al/
US v. Alaska [District Court request to not certify Peltola] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/75009254/united-states-v-state-of-alaska/?order_by=desc
Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod
| |||
| Ep 274 — DOJ v. Voters | 27 oct. 2026 | 01:16:17 | |
Congratulations to Maurene Comey, who won her wrongful termination suit against the DOJ, which fired her last year despite a decade of exemplary performance.
US Attorney for DC Jeanine Pirro proudly announced a criminal complaint against two former FBI officials for lying to Congress. Let's see if she can actually get an indictment from a grand jury.
Arizona AG Kris Mayes sued Maricopa County Record Justin Heap and forced him to restore the registrations of 25 citizens wrongly flagged as illegal voters by the SAVE database.
HHS got caught submitting fake case cites in a judicial proceeding. Again.
MAIN SHOW:
The government sued California to force it to purge its voter rolls with the election underway. When the trial judge failed to rule within 15 hours, they filed an emergency appeal to the Ninth Circuit. We wrote about Sunday's oral argument. And now the panel has smacked down the government hard.
The DOJ is suing to block certification of Alaska's Senate race, but only if Democrat Mary Peltola wins.
DOJ is trying to charge James Comey again, this time with leaking classified information ten years ago … outside the statute of limitations.
Comey v. DOJ https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/71348216/comey-v-united-states-department-of-justice/
US v. Floris https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/75010510/united-states-v-floris
Maricopa County recorder restores 25 voters wrongly flagged as noncitizens, ending lawsuit
Over 80 Percent Of Citations 'Fictitious, Erroneous, or Irrelevant' In Trump Admin Brief
US v. California [9th Circuit appellate docket] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/75011344/united-states-of-america-v-state-of-california-et-al/
US v. California [CA District court docket] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/74967108/united-states-v-state-of-california/
Ninth Circuit Bats Around DOJ Lawyer in CA 'Emergency' Vote Purge [lawandchaospod.com] https://www.lawandchaospod.com/p/ninth-circuit-bats-around-doj-lawyer
US v. Alaska https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/75009254/united-states-v-state-of-alaska/
US v. Comey https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/75009254/united-states-v-state-of-alaska/
Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod
| |||
| Ep 273 — Trump v. Voters | 23 oct. 2026 | 01:02:28 | |
DOCKET ALERTS:
Alina Habba is newly married and locked in a knife fight with fellow Trumplander Ric Grenell. She says he failed to deposit a $6 million check to the Kennedy Center. And — hey, what a coincidence! — a week later, the New York Times reported that Habba got a $50 million contract from a Venezuelan billionaire seeking a pardon for campaign finance violations.
Virginia State Senate President Pro Tempore Louise Lucas got indicted for running a chain of unlicensed marijuana dispensaries with her family.
A magistrate judge in Florida says Trump has to sit for a deposition by December 11 in his defamation trollsuit against the BBC.
DOOFUS OF THE DAY: It's a pitched battle between the bottom of Donald Trump's personal lawyers, Daniel Epstein, who filed a motion to please decide this quickly because being sanctioned by a federal judge is embarrassing, and Alex Jones's, who got two extensions of time to file their Fifth Circuit brief and somehow still managed not to turn in their homework on time. Now the Fifth Circuit might toss Alex Jones's appeal without a hearing.
MAIN SHOW: Two weeks before the midterm elections, the Department of Justice is demanding that California "segregate" 20,000 mail-in ballots from voters it says are noncitizens. Trump's henchmen filed a lawsuit and tried to steer this case to one of his appointees, but the move backfired and landed on the docket of one of the administration's harshest critics, Judge David Carter. Whoops!
Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín issued an injunction blocking HSI thugs from harassing citizens for voting.
SUBSCRIBER BONUS: Civil procedure FTW! In a lawsuit filed by the NAACP seeking to prevent Homeland Security from sending goons to the polls. A federal judge just ordered expedited discovery in an effort to protect the security of the midterms.
Exclusive: White House probes claims of missing Kennedy Center money in "MAGA blood feud" https://www.axios.com/2026/10/14/trump-kennedy-center-donation-maga-feud
A Billionaire Wanted a Trump Pardon. His Family Gave Alina Habba a $50 Million Deal. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/20/us/politics/julio-herrera-pardon-alina-habba.html
US v. Lucas https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/75002838/united-states-v-lucas/
Trump v. BBC https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72040010/trump-v-british-broadcasting-corporation/
Donald Trump v. Thirty Five Federal Judges [11th Cir. appeal of attorney sanctions in IRS case] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73710657/donald-trump-v-thirty-five-former-federal-judges/
Jones v. Heslin [Alex Jones 5th Cir. appeal] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73472491/jones-v-heslin/
US v. California [DOJ demands California purge mail-in ballots] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/74967108/america-v-california-state-of/
California Nurses Association v. Mullin https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/74815064/california-nurses-association-v-mullin
NAACP v. DHS [Subscriber bonus]
Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod
| |||
| Ep 272 — SCOTUS vs. All Living Things | 20 oct. 2026 | 01:31:52 | |
DOCKET ALERTS:
The Supreme Court is back in session. In Monday's orders list, the justices agreed to hear two important cases.
In DOJ v. McNutt, they'll decide whether the government can ban home distilling under its taxation power.
In Association for Educational Fairness v. Montgomery County Board of Education, they'll decide whether facially neutral policies which have a disparate impact on a particular ethnic group, are illegally discriminatory.
The justices did not decide the copyright case BMG v. Vetter, because it involved the parent company of Penguin Random House, which published books by Justices Sotomayor, Gorsuch, Barrett, and Jackson.
MAIN SHOW:
Trump's defamation suit against the BBC is mired in discovery disputes. Who knew you had to sit for deposition when you sue someone, even if you're the president. Trump is also big mad that Auntie Beeb wants to depose Jack Smith.
DOOFUS of the Day, Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward, is trying hard to get himself sanctioned by Judge Ana Reyes in the litigation over the East Potomac Golf Course.
The DC Circuit heard oral argument in Trump's effort to overturn the Presidential Records Act so that he can steal all the documents from the White House and sell them to the highest bidder.
SUBSCRIBER BONUS:
Let's pack the Supreme Court … or not. We'll shout about recent pieces by law professors Steve Vladeck and Beau Baumann.
DOJ v. McNutt https://www.supremecourt.gov/search.aspx?filename=/docket/docketfiles/html/public/26-204.html
Association for Educational Fairness v. Montgomery County Board of Education https://www.supremecourt.gov/search.aspx?filename=/docket/docketfiles/html/public/26-12.html
BMG v. Vetter https://www.supremecourt.gov/search.aspx?filename=/docket/docketfiles/html/public/25-1391.html
Trump v. BBC https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72040010/trump-v-british-broadcasting-corporation/
DC Preservation League v. Department of Interior [Golf Course] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72278895/dc-preservation-league-v-department-of-interior
American Historical Ass'n v. Trump (DC Cir.) https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73432626/american-historical-association-v-donald-trump/
Beau Baumann, 'The Vladek Tragedy' https://bbaumann.substack.com/p/the-vladeck-tragedy
Steve Vladek, 'Hard Questions About Court Expansion' https://www.stevevladeck.com/p/bonus-257-hard-questions-about-court
Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod
| |||
| Ep 271 — Birtherism 2.0 | 16 oct. 2026 | 01:07:01 | |
DOCKET ALERTS:
Maryland Congressman Andy Harris is confused about who gets to record him losing his mind in public.
Judge Tim Kelly issued a preliminary injunction, continuing the TRO which blocked the White House from banning reporters from CNN, MSNOW, and Politico from accessing the White House grounds. Naturally the White House has appealed to the DC Circuit. And now the DOJ is investigating media outlets who boycotted pool coverage for potential antitrust violations. (No, it's not an antitrust violation, STFU.)
Judge Ana Reyes is pissed that the Park Service razed hundreds of healthy trees at East Potomac Golf Course after repeatedly assuring her that they'd do no such thing. She issued a TRO and vowed to put officials on the stand Monday until she finds out who is to blame.
DOOFUS OF THE DAY: The new White House Press Secretary Katie Zacharia is very bad at her job. She's also not a lawyer, despite years of holding herself out as one.
MAIN SHOW:
Can the Trump administration really denaturalize and deport Rep. Ilhan Omar?
The J.M. Smucker Company has sued Trader Joe's for trademark infringement and dilution over its knockoff "Uncrustables." Is this another "Buc-ee's" overreach, or does Smucker's have a point?
SUBSCRIBER BONUS:
An appeals court in Ohio just struck down the state's voucher program that funnels taxpayer money to religious schools. We talk about that case and the separation of church and state and so much more.
CNN v. Trump https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/74823502/cable-news-network-inc-v-trump/
Trump's new press secretary, Katie Zacharia, claims she's a lawyer. Is she? https://popular.info/p/trumps-new-press-secretary-katie
DC Preservation League v. Department of Interior [Golf Course] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72278895/dc-preservation-league-v-department-of-interior
J.M. Smucker Co. v. Trader Joe's
Columbus City School District v. Ohio [10th District Ohio Court of Appeals] https://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/rod/docs/pdf/10/2026/2026-Ohio-4047.pdf
Ohio Constitution Art. VI, Sec. 2 https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-constitution/section-6.2
Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod
| |||
| Ep 270 — Attorney Accountability (feat. Akiva Cohen) | 13 oct. 2026 | 00:50:54 | |
The rule of law is under attack and the DOJ's prestige and presumption of regularity have crumbled. How do we fix this moving forward?
Akiva Cohen joins us to discuss GLOW Law (Government Lawyers Oversight Watchdog). Their objective is to hold attorneys accountable for acting unethically or illegally in service of POTUS & DOJ. GLOW also seeks to highlight instances of legal courage by government attorneys when behavior calls for it.
GLOW Law
Akiva Cohen https://www.kusklaw.com/akiva-cohen
Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod
| |||
| Ep 269 — Star Wars Bar | 09 oct. 2026 | 01:15:13 | |
DOCKET ALERTS:
Trump's cronies on the Kennedy Center board have come up with a new reason to stonewall discovery in the lawsuit brought by Rep. Joyce Beatty: executive privilege.
A federal judge in Virginia dismissed the Trump DOJ's lawsuit challenging Virginia's law providing in-state tuition for undocumented immigrants.
Justice Sam Alito says you have to stop being so mean and buy his book.
Bari Weiss's fake university in Texas wants to add a fake law school, and they're looking for a dean. Send in your blog post and let their AI agent read it!
Election denying weirdos Cleta Mitchell and Tina Peters want Trump to seize the voting machines for "national security."
DOOFUS OF THE DAY: Texas AG Ken Paxton has questions about kids' underpants.
MAIN SHOW: The criminal case against Olympic canoeist David Hearn was dismissed, and now he's requesting that the inspectors general of both the Justice Department and the Department of Interior investigate how this abuse of prosecution happened.
In Chicago, Marimar Martinez, was shot five times by CBP agents and then charged with assault with a deadly weapon. That case fell apart when it emerged that the agent was lying, and now Martinez has sued DHS under the Federal Tort Claims Act.
The successor entity to Dominion Voting Systems is suing Patrick Byrne, AKA "the Overstock dot com weirdo," for defamation. Byrne is represented by Trump's former boarding school roommate, Peter Ticktin. Ticktin just accused Judge Carl Nichols, a Trump appointee, of obstructing justice in the case by enforcing a protective order. What is even happening????
Beatty v. Trump https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72069932/beatty-v-trump/
US v. Commonwealth of Virginia [In-state tuition] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72085714/united-states-v-commonwealth-of-virginia/
Ken Paxton kids' underpants
Supreme Court Wannabes Head Search Committee For Bari Weiss University Law School Dean
Hearn IG Request
Martinez v. US https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/74919226/martinez-v-united-states/
Liberty Vote Holding v. Byrne [Dominion Voting Systems] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/60120428/liberty-vote-holdings-inc-v-byrne/
Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod
| |||
| Ep 268 — Book Club: Unpacking McGirt v. Oklahoma | 06 oct. 2026 | 01:03:53 | |
Today we're doing something a bit different. We're discussing the excellent book "By the Fire We Carry," by Rebecca Nagle and the fight for Cherokee sovereignty, through the lens of the 2020 Supreme Court cast McGirt v. Oklahoma.
By the Fire We Carry: The Generations-Long Fight for Justice on Native Land
McGirt v. Oklahoma https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/19pdf/18-9526_9okb.pdf
Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod
| |||
| Ep 267 — DOJ Loves Nixon | 02 oct. 2026 | 01:01:55 | |
In Georgia, DOJ celebrates its 26th courtroom loss in the battle to steal state voter rolls.
An Arizona appeals court overturned a manslaughter sentence because of an absolutely bonkers use of AI.
A judge in DC Superior Court dismissed vandalism charges against Olympic canoeist David Hearn with prejudice.
The Justice Department filed an ethics complaint against almost every judge in the District of Minnesota for talking to the New York Times about what it was like to have their orders blatantly disregarded day after day.
A judge in Washington ruled that the president has no power to fire US Attorneys installed by judges when there is an unfilled vacancy. The three hat dance is so back, baby!
DOOFUS OF THE DAY:
Revisionist historian Geoff Shepard, a former Nixon aide, is making the rounds at DOJ pitching his hot take: "Watergate As Lawfare." The WSJ reports that there's an appetite inside the Justice Department for the theory that all those guys who went to jail for Nixon were persecuted victims.
MAIN SHOW:
JGG v. Trump, the first major case where the Trump DOJ defied a court order, sending hundreds of men to CECOT in El Salvador, is back at the DC Circuit. This week, the entire court sitting en banc, heard oral argument on the issue of whether Judge James Boasberg has the power to do anything about flagrant contempt of his rulings. Audio here!
SUBSCRIBER BONUS:
The US Supreme Court, via a 6-3 shadow docket order, stayed two lower court rulings prohibiting the administration from deporting immigrants to third countries without due process, without notice or the opportunity to raise a credible fear or torture or persecution. The New York Times reported that the administration was unable to comply with the court's order to stop, so it immediately ran to the Supreme Court for help, which it got.
US v. Raffensperger [Georgia voter rolls] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72193752/united-states-v-raffensperger/
Arizona court says judge wrongly allowed AI-generated victim video
Hearn Dismissal Order https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28713072-hearn-dismissal/
Decades After Watergate, Justice Department Reviews Whether Nixon Got a Raw Deal
Rogoff v. Trump [Three hat dance] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73647676/rogoff-v-trump/
In re: Donald Trump / J.G.G. v. Trump [Oral argument audio] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4A1BwFh_lYg
In re: Donald Trump / J.G.G. v. Trump [DC Circuit docket] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72029089/in-re-donald-trump/
JGG v. Trump [District Court docket] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69741724/jgg-v-trump/?order_by=desc
DHS v. D.V.D. [Supreme Court order; third country renditions] https://www.supremecourt.gov/orders/courtorders/092926zr2_1a7d.pdf
DHS v. D.V.D. [1st Circuit order; third country renditions]
D.V.D. v. DHS [trial court D. Mass. order; third country renditions] https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mad.282404/gov.uscourts.mad.282404.242.0.pdf
"Trump Administration Scrambles to Stop Third-Country Deportations After Court Ruling," New York Times, Sep. 24, 2026. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/24/us/politics/trump-third-country-deportations.html
Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod
| |||
| Ep 266 — Trump Says LOVE ME On The Taxpayer Dime | 29 sept. 2026 | 00:57:32 | |
Congratulations to now-former FBI director Andrew Bailey, who resigned this morning and got out of the way of whatever scandal is coming down the pike.
On Friday, a jury ordered Apple to pay $5.7 billion to a company called Taction for infringing its haptic patents.
The White House is still blocking CNN, MSNOW, and Politico from the Oval Office and excluding CNN from pool duties. Does that violate Judge Kelly's TRO?
Dua Lipa is suing Samsung for $15 million after the company used her photo on packaging for televisions without paying for it.
DOOFUS OF THE DAY: Kansas Senator Roger Marshall is very hot for us all to know that he didn't sue his obstetrics patient for $50. He sued her for $3,400, and got her locked up over it. And he's sending a cease and desist letter to his opponent Adam Hamilton for making an ad about it — that'll shut 'em up!
MAIN SHOW: The Trump administration is back on its "pocket rescission" BS, purporting to cancel $1 billion of congressional allocations by waiting until the end of the session and shouting "MAKE ME!"
A guy who calls himself the "OnlyFans lawyer" has filed a dozen lawsuits in DC on behalf of January 6 rioters. They want reparations under the Federal Tort Claims Act, now that the slush fund is DOA.
The Supreme Court finally put an end to the shenanigans in Missouri, ensuring that the state will not be able to switch out its maps and squeeze out another Republican seat in Congress. But the Supreme Court also stayed a DC court injunction, paving the way for red states to use borked DHS immigration data to try and kick registered voters off of its voter rolls, if only one-by-one.
And Donald Trump is using your taxpayer dollars to run ads urging everyone to love him. That's definitely not legal under the GAO's standards for what counts as "publicity or propaganda."
Taction Technology, Inc. v. Apple Inc. https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/59854908/taction-technology-inc-v-apple-inc
CNN v. Trump https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/74823502/cable-news-network-inc-v-trump
Dua Lipa v. Samsung https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73319650/dua-lipa-v-samsung-electronics-america-inc/
White House "Pocket Rescission" Announcement
People Not Politicians v. Onder [Supreme Court Missouri map order] https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/26a388_q86b.pdf
Department of Homeland Security v. League of Women Voters [Supreme Court SAVE order] https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/26a308_pok0.pdf
Congressional Letter to the White House re: ads https://www.appropriations.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/260924_letter_to_wh_re_trump_ad.pdf
White House "PSA" Announcement
Public Law 118-47 (Section 715 on propaganda) https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/2882/text
GAO Decision, "Executive Agencies—Communications about the 2019 Fourth of July Events on the National Mall," B-331262 https://www.gao.gov/products/b-331262
Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod
| |||
| Ep 265 — Brett Kavanaugh, U Up? | 25 sept. 2026 | 00:55:17 | |
DOCKET ALERTS:
ProPublica published a bombshell story about Senator Susan Collins (R-ME), who was allegedly the subject of an FBI corruption investigation until Trump killed it.
The Department of Homeland Security is still looking for the vote fraud. In July, they announced that they found over 250,000 illegally-registered voters in four states. By August, that number declined to just under 16,000. And on a zoom call with local election officials in Nevada, it dropped to 185. But it's probably actually zero.
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and Democratic Governors Association filed a lawsuit to try and stop DHS and the FBI from sending armed guards to polling stations to intimidate voters.
DOOFUS OF THE DAY: Our doofus of the day is Sheri Mecklenburg, the veteran prosecutor who broke DOJ norms (and possibly the law) to get the indictment in the Broadview Six case. Mecklenburg moved to intervene as a party on the grounds that if she doesn't get to represent herself, her former boss is definitely going to continue to throw her under the bus. She's not wrong.
MAIN SHOW: Donald Trump tried to ban MSNOW, CNN, and Politico from the White House press pool. He lost in front of one of his own appointees, as Judge Tim Kelly in DC entered a temporary restraining order requiring the White House to reinstate the previously-confiscated "hard passes" and let the reporters back in.
In Missouri, the 8th Circuit continues to try and overrule both the US and Missouri state Supreme Courts by requiring the state to use a Trump-approved super-gerrymandered map from 2025 instead of the already very gerrymandered map already in place. We're waiting to see what Brett Kavanaugh will do. (The petitioners filed a truly excellent motion for clarification and reply brief.)
SUBSCRIBER BONUS: Trump had his nonsense lawsuit against the Des Moines Register and pollster Ann Selzer dismissed in state court for failure to state a claim, because the news isn't a consumer product. It's a great ruling from a very conservative judge.
The FBI Anti-Corruption Squad Was Circling Susan Collins — Until Trump Got in the Way https://www.propublica.org/article/fbi-susan-collins-navatek-campaign-donations-investigation
F.B.I. Shut Down Inquiry Into Top Ally of Senator Susan Collins https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/22/us/politics/fbi-susan-collins-donor.html
Trump officials touted a voter fraud bombshell. Their data hasn't proved it [CNN] https://www.cnn.com/2026/08/21/politics/markwayne-mullin-voter-fraud-nevada
DSCC v. ICE [lawsuit to stop stationing armed guards at polling places; docket via CourtListener] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/74842896/dscc-v-us-immigration-and-customs-enforcement/
US v. Rabbit [Chicago 6 sanctions; docket via CourtListener] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/71795281/united-states-v-rabbitt/?order_by=desc
CNN v. Trump [press passes in DC; docket via CourtListener]
People Not Politicians v. Onder [Supreme Court docket] https://www.supremecourt.gov/search.aspx?filename=/docket/docketfiles/html/public/26a388.html
Von Glahn v. Hoskins [Missouri Supreme Court Sep. 3, 2026 opinion] https://www.courts.mo.gov/file.jsp?id=239229
Missouri Supreme Court Sep. 10, 2026 contempt order https://www.courts.mo.gov/file.jsp?id=239429
Onder v. Missouri [8th Circuit docket via CourtListener] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/74780310/congressman-robert-onder-v-state-of-missouri/
Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod
| |||
| Ep 264 — Mission Accomplished-ish | 18 sept. 2026 | 00:59:23 | |
DOCKET ALERTS:
Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh and the 11 other members of the Open Markets Committee voted to raise interest rates 0.25 percent, and Trump is pissed.
The New York Times published a blockbuster story, interviewing almost all of the federal judges in Minnesota about what it was like to hold the line during the Trump administration's immigration surge into the Twin Cities.
The Trump administration is bigfooting into the states' antitrust suit to block the Paramount-WB merger. Not to support the states! To force the states to pay a $1.9 billion bond!
DOOFUS OF THE DAY:
Our Doofi of the Day is a three-judge panel at the Eighth Circuit that seems to be thinking about trying to overrule the US Supreme Court and let Missouri gerrymander another Republican seat in Congress in the 2026 midterms. It's not going to work.
MAIN SHOW: Trump is threatening to tear down the Kennedy Center and looking at mockups of the national monument demolished. Meanwhile his lackeys insist in the court that the facility is only being closed temporarily for safety.
Remember when Trump's dingbat lawyer Lindsey Halligan tried to prosecute Jim Comey and Tish James and fell flat on her face? That case got to the Fourth Circuit this week, and it's still hot garbage.
The DOJ is very busy patting itself on the back for its glorious antitrust victory against Google over the sale of banner ads. Turns out, that victory is a lot less impressive than advertised.
SUBSCRIBER BONUS:
College football coach Lane Kiffin tried to break the NCAA by recruiting pro players. His own conference sued him for… violating the First Amendment? What in the world is going on in college football, and is Ted Cruz going to ride in and save the integrity of amateur sports? (No, no he is not.)
Trump's Minnesota Surge Threatened Democracy, Judge Warns https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/17/us/politics/minnesota-judge-trump-immigration.html
California v. Paramount Skydance
Onder v. Missouri [8th Circuit docket via CourtListener] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/74780310/congressman-robert-onder-v-state-of-missouri/
Beatty v. Trump https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72069932/beatty-v-trump
Oral Argument US v. Comey/James https://www.youtube.com/live/_baUl2wtXvE
DOJ Press Release, "Department of Justice Again Wins Substantial Relief Against Google," September 16, 2026 https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/department-justice-again-wins-substantial-relief-against-google
US v. Google [EDVa docket via CourtListener]
SUBSCRIBER BONUS Southeastern Conference v. Louisiana State University [docket via CourtListener]
Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod
| |||
| Ep 263 — SCOTUS Saves The Midterms … Eventually | 15 sept. 2026 | 01:02:21 | |
DOCKET ALERTS:
This podcast won a victory today in its lawsuit against the Trump administration to kick loose the document the DOJ used as the basis for a frivolous ethics complaint against Judge James Boasberg in DC. Judge Abelson ordered the DOJ to produce discovery to us so we can evaluate the administration's claims that "Attachment A" isn't subject to the Freedom of Information Act.
The hardware store Lowe's was hit with a consumer class action suit in Chicago alleging that it steals customers' voice prints when they call customer service.
A lawyer in New Mexico has been sanctioned for filing motions referring to fake witnesses hallucinated by ChatGPT. In a murder case!
DOOFUS OF THE DAY:
John Eastman, the election-denying crank lawyer, is now representing Amy Wax. Wax is a notorious racist whom the University of Pennsylvania law school has been trying to fire for years. Eastman entered his appearance on her behalf at the Third Circuit, which is weird because he was disbarred in California last year. But not to worry, he's filed a petition asking the Supreme Court to undo that!
MAIN SHOW:
While we were recording, the Supreme Court finally rejected Trump's plan to use the Post office to blow up the midterms. on whether it intends to stay a judicial order enjoining the US Postal Service from meddling with mail-in ballots during the 2026 midterms, but each new development seems to make it less likely that it will do so. Late Sunday night, Trump appointee Judge Carl Nichols in Washington DC issued his own injunction blocking the rule and smacking down the administration's arguments.
More details emerged over the weekend about the Grand Conspiracy investigation in Florida and why MAGA conspiracy lawyer Joe diGenova noped out. Apparently he didn't get the memo that the point was to indict a couple of Trump's enemies, declare victory, and be long gone before the charges imploded. Meanwhile, former CIA Director John Brennan has filed a lawsuit in DC seeking to head off his own prosecution.
Trump's offer of $5,000 checks to every citizen if Republicans hold the House and the Senate isn't bribery. And it isn't going to happen.
SUBSCRIBER BONUS:
In a supplement to our written blog post, we talk about all the weirdness in the DOJ's "Notice of Appeal" in the Trump v. IRS slush fund case, including how the administration's lawyers sound an awful lot like sovereign citizen nutjobs.
"Trump's DOJ Lawyers Leap In To Save Trump's Personal Lawyers" https://www.lawandchaospod.com/p/trumps-doj-lawyers-leap-in-to-save
Res Ipsa Media v. DOJ [docket Via CourtListener]
Perkins v. Lowe's [Complaint via Courthouse News]
Attorney Sanctions Order [via Reuters]
AFGE-AFL-CIO v. Kupor [Civil Service loyalty test]
Eastman v. State Bar of California [Petition for Cert]
Trump ally John Eastman joins UPenn professor's legal team, citing 'despicable cancel culture'
Trump v. League of Women Voters [Supreme Court docket] https://www.supremecourt.gov/search.aspx?filename=/docket/docketfiles/html/public/26a305.html
USPS Revised DMM [mail-in ballot regulations] https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/08/26/2026-17238/ballot-mail-for-federal-elections
DSCC v. Trump [DC mail-in ballot case injunction by Judge Nichols] https://ecf.dcd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/show_public_doc?2026cv1114-192
USPS v. California [Mail-in Ballots SCOTUS Docket] https://www.supremecourt.gov/search.aspx?filename=/docket/DocketFiles/html/Public/26A305.html
Brennan v. Blanche https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73562893/brennan-v-blanche/
Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod
| |||
| Ep 262 — Any Time Now, SCOTUS! | 11 sept. 2026 | 00:59:22 | |
DOCKET ALERTS:
The president is promising to send out $5,000 checks to every American if Republicans win the midterms.
The Fourth Circuit became the ninth appellate court to find that the Trump administration's mandatory detention policy for all immigrants without legal status is patently illegal.
The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to let it install US Attorneys without Senate confirmation. Time to bring back Alina Habba and Lindsey Halligan!
Andrew and Tristan Tate's motion for bail pending their extradition to the UK was denied by a federal magistrate in Miami.
Hasbro is the latest company to tell the White House to quit using its IP in racist AI slop memes — this time the government is molesting Optimus Prime!
DOOFUS OF THE DAY:
James Piereson has an editorial in the Wall Street Journal wondering if adding new Supreme Court justices is illegal. It's not, and neither is saying absolute drivel in public.
MAIN SHOW:
We're all waiting for SCOTUS to say whether they're planning to let Trump burn down the midterms and refuse to deliver mail-in ballots. In the meanwhile, the US Supreme Court teamed up with the Missouri state Supreme Court to prevent a harebrained scheme by Missouri's Republican Secretary of State, Denny Hoskins, to cram down an even-more-gerrymandered congressional map that would give Republicans an extra seat in the House of Representatives. The Missouri Supreme Court ruled that the new map needs to be approved by the voters before it can take effect, and held Hoskins in contempt for refusing to abide by their September 3 injunction. And the US Supreme Court put the kibosh on a crazy TRO issued by a rogue Trump appointee purporting to require Missouri to use the Trump map. So it looks like Missourians are going to head back to the polls in November under the existing 2022 maps.
Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick has a plan to hack the 2030 Census. And that plan is RACISM.
SUBSCRIBER BONUS:
We break down Law & Chaos's DOOFUS OF THE DAY, James Piereson, a non-lawyer who has the legal opinion that expanding the Supreme Court is unconstitutional, even though it definitely isn't.
Lopez Garcia v. Guadian [Fourth Circuit, mandatory detention] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72052515/oscar-lopez-garcia-v-robert-guadian/
Petition for Cert In US Attorneys Case https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/26/26-304/423324/20260908124848584_Jackson%20Petition.pdf
US v. Tate https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73656030/united-states-v-tate/
People Not Politicians v. Hoskins [MO Supreme Court] https://www.courts.mo.gov/file.jsp?id=239229
James Piereson, "Is Court Packing Constitutional? Don't Be So Sure," Wall Street Journal, Sep. 7, 2026 https://www.wsj.com/opinion/is-court-packing-constitutional-dont-be-so-sure-0e602345
Mail-In Ballots at SCOTUS https://www.supremecourt.gov/search.aspx?filename=/docket/DocketFiles/html/Public/26A305.html
Proposed Census Rule Change
Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod
| |||
| Ep 261 — If You're Gonna Steal, Steal Big With AI | 08 sept. 2026 | 00:54:50 | |
DOCKET ALERTS:
New Jersey became the latest state to beat back a Trump administration challenge to its sanctuary jurisdiction laws.
After the Supreme Court's conservatives (less CJR) allowed Trump to build his ballroom, he's demanding to be able to go ahead and build the fascist arch.
A federal judge in Minnesota denied X.ai's motion to enjoin the state from enforcing a law barring AI nudification apps.
Maria Bartiromo hired Bryan Freedman, former counsel for Justin Baldoni, to represent her in her breakup with Fox.
DOOFUS OF THE DAY:
Former Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer is the subject of a report issued by Labor Department Inspector General Anthony D'Esposito. Is it bad when you're sleeping with your staffer, drinking on the job, and allowing your male relatives to sexually harass employees?
MAIN SHOW:
The Los Angeles Angels just sold for $4 billion. What does the city of Anaheim want out of it and how are they going to get it?
Finally, a country music star has just filed a class action lawsuit against the AI platform Suno for infringing on his right of publicity. When chatbots can write songs that sound exactly like any famous recording artist, can anyone sue to stop them?
SUBSCRIBER BONUS:
What is going on with Trump's effort to use the Post Office to bone the midterms?
US v. New Jersey https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72316303/united-states-v-new-jersey/
Lemmon v. Trump [Arch] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72301112/lemmon-v-trump/
REPORT OF INVESTIGATION: LORI CHAVEZ-DEREMER, FORMER SECRETARY U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR https://oig.dol.gov/public/oifindings/50-26-004-01-001.pdf
X.ai LLC v. Ellison https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73678486/xai-llc-v-ellison/
Lowery v. Suno [D. Mass. docket via CourtListener] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/74728439/lowery-v-suno-inc/
Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod
| |||
| Ep 260 — The State of the Senate 2026 (feat. Joe Dye) | 04 sept. 2026 | 01:18:39 | |
DOCKET ALERTS:
The fight over Trump's attempt to seize control of state mail-in ballots is headed for the Supreme Court. After a hearing before Judge Indira Talwani, the government didn't wait for a ruling — and it didn't wait for the First Circuit to weigh in either. It immediately demanded that the justices step in. Justice Jackson, who sits over the First Circuit, did not issue an admin stay. She's asked for the states' response by Tuesday.
According to ProPublica, ICE Agent Christian Castro has been federally charged with making false statements after shooting Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis in Minnesota in January. Castro was previously charged by state prosecutors with assault, but Texas Gov. Greg Abbott refused to extradite him to Minnesota.
DOOFUS OF THE DAY:
Maria Bartiromo has been fired from Fox Business. Apparently she did something worse than losing the network $787 million in a defamation suit.
MAIN SHOW:
Andrew talks midterms with Joe Dye.
League of Women Voters v. Trump [Mail-In Ballots] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73133197/league-of-women-voters-of-massachusetts-v-trump/
Emergency SCOTUS Petiton re Mail-In Ballots
Trump's DOJ Blocked Serious ICE Shooting Charge Over Federal Prosecutor's "Strongest Possible" Objections https://www.propublica.org/article/doj-blocks-charges-ice-agent-minneapolis-julio-cesar-sosa-celis
Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod
| |||
| Ep 259 — COINTELPRO 2: Defective Boogaloo | 01 sept. 2026 | 00:54:34 | |
The J. M. Smucker Company notched a win in its trademark dilution case against Trader Joe's over the Uncrustable dupes. A judge in Ohio refused to dismiss the case or transfer it to California.
For the third time, Judge Alvin Hellerstein rejected Trump's attempt to remove his hush money conviction case to federal court from New York State court.
The Supreme Court allowed Trump to build his monstrous bunker ballroom.
DOOFUS OF THE DAY: George Santos managed to get himself banned for life by Kalshi after he got caught better on his own attendance at the State of the Union.
MAIN SHOW:
Judge Rita Lin granted summary judgment to Anthropic in its case against the Defense Department. After the company objected to the use of its product for autonomous lethal targeting and mass surveillance of Americans, Pete Hegseth set out to destroy its business. He failed.
Judge Indira Talwani refused to stay her own order blocking the Post Office from implementing Trump's demand to seize control of mail-in ballots.
Prosecutors in Minnesota hope to criminalize protest by claiming that an entire network of people engaging in First Amendment-protected protest are responsible if one of them eventually commits a crime. Pursuant to a Trump directive known as NSPM-7, the DOJ instructed operatives to infiltrate and surveil affinity groups espousing "extreme viewpoints on immigration, radical gender ideology, and anti-American sentiment." None of which is a crime! They've charged 15 protesters in Minnesota as part of a conspiracy that includes major unions and the DSA — all of which they've snooped on using administrative warrants from DHS.
SUBSCRIBER BONUS: A gestational surrogate from Alaska is trying to steal a sick baby. And Ken Paxton wants to help her do it!
J.M. Smucker Co v. Trader Joe's https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/71631587/jm-smucker-company-v-trader-joes-company/
People of The State of New York v. Trump https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/67326478/people-of-the-state-of-new-york-v-trump/
Anthropic PBC v. U.S. Department of War https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72379655/anthropic-pbc-v-us-department-of-war
US v. Sant [D. Minn. docket via CourtListener] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73489661/united-states-v-sant/
National Park Service v. National Trust for Historic Preservation [Supreme Court order] https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/26a203_2b8e.pdf
League of Women Voters v. Trump https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73133197/league-of-women-voters-of-massachusetts-v-trump/?
NSPM-7
Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod
| |||
| Ep 258 — Florida Corruptionpalooza | 28 août 2026 | 00:59:31 | |
DOCKET ALERTS:
Washington Post opinion writer Karen Attiah, who was fired for her remarks after the death of Charlie Kirk, has been reinstated to her job after winning in arbitration.
Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook responded to Trump's latest effort to fire her by pointing out that multiple members of Trump's own cabinet made the same paperwork error she did on a mortgage application, and no one is accusing them of fraud.
Judge David Hittner, an 87-year-old Reagan appointee, struck down Texas's drag ban, finding that it would necessarily criminalize a lot of performances that are not obscene … including ones by Dolly Parton.
DOOFUS OF THE DAY:
Mike Lindell, the crackpot pillow pumper, lost his bid to be the Republican gubernatorial candidate in his home state of Minnesota. And he missed the deadline to pay for a recount. But he's not letting that stop him! He's suing everyone in sight demanding they surrender proof that the entire thing was rigged.
MAIN SHOW:
Florida Republicans are embroiled in a massive corruption scandal involving $10 million in taxpayer dollars for children's prescriptions, laundered through First Lady Casey Desantis's charity, and used for partisan political purposes, including defeating a marijuana legalization referendum. CBS in Miami got the grand jury report.
Judge Fernando Rodriguez, Jr. rebuffed Minnesota's motion to force Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to extradite ICE agent Christian Castro. Castro shot a man in Minneapolis and then lied about it, including filing a false police report. He was indicted in Minnesota, but Texas refuses to sign an extradition warrant, and now Castro has been released from jail.
Judge Cooper held a hearing today on the future of the Kennedy Center, after the board voted again to chisel Trump's name into the marble on the front of the place.
Judge Indira Talwani ordered the state plaintiffs to file an amended complaint in their effort to block the Trump administration seizing control of mail-in voting pursuant to Trump's executive order. Last week, the Supreme Court's conservatives blocked Judge Talwani's prior injunction on the theory that the states hadn't yet been harmed when they filed their original complaint.
SUBSCRIBER BONUS:
Update on Tuesday's hearing in our FOIA suit to get the evidence in the DOJ's ethics complaint against Judge Boasberg.
The Washington Post Fired Me. I Fought—and Won My Job Back. https://karenattiah.substack.com/p/the-washington-post-fired-me-i-foughtand
Extragrams LLC v. Paxton [TX drag ban] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/67660604/extragrams-llc-v-paxton
Walz v. Abbott [S.D. Tex. extradition case; docket via CourtListener] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/74662182/walz-v-abbott/
Trump v. California [Supreme Court order re: voter lists EO] https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/26a124_hgci.pdf
League of Women Voters v. Trump [D. Mass. voter list case before Judge Talwani; docket via CourtListener] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73133197/league-of-women-voters-of-massachusetts-v-trump/
Grand jury finds DeSantis administration "misappropriated" $10 million in taxpayer money to Hope Florida https://www.cbsnews.com/miami/news/grand-jury-report-hope-florida/
Res Ipsa Media LLC v. DOJ https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/71236135/res-ipsa-media-llc-v-department-of-justice/ Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod
| |||
| Ep 257 — That Time When EBay Lost Its Mind | 25 août 2026 | 00:42:18 | |
DESCRIPTION:
It's a special episode today. We'll spend the whole show diving into the debacle of eBay, a $50 billion company, launching a harassment campaign against a middle-aged couple in Massachusetts. Come for the corporate bigwigs sending live roaches by mail, stay for the national security kerfuffle. It's a wild story, and it even has a happy ending. Steiner v. EBay https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/60073359/steiner-v-ebay-inc US v. Baugh https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/18602070/united-states-v-baugh Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod
| |||
| Ep 256 — Natalie, Hide the Ketchup! | 20 août 2026 | 00:58:37 | |
DOCKET ALERTS:
US Attorney Jeanine Pirro wants to leave the door open to re-charging David Hearn for damaging the reflecting pool, although she concedes that literally everything she said in her original indictment was a lie.
Pirro is also doing her darnedest to keep a lady locked up for the high crime of spraypainting.
Judge Reed O'Connor is trying for a third time to allow manufacturers to sell ghost guns, no matter what the Supreme Court says.
We're still waiting on the Supreme Court to say whether Trump can keep building his ballroom, or will have to cease above-ground construction as lower courts have ruled.
MAIN SHOW:
FCC Chair Brendan Carr is trying to burn down ABC for crimes of woke. But after he demanded that the ten local affiliates owned by the network renew their licenses early — likely a prelude to putting them out of business — ABC's parent company Disney swung into action. They sued the agency for retaliation in violation of the First Amendment.
The DOJ's "8647" indictment of James Comey is circling the drain. The government filed its responses to various motions today, and they are … creative! They quote at length from Comey's novel and his appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
In January, ICE agent Christian Castro shot Minnesota man Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis and then filed a false report claiming that Sosa-Celis attacked him with a snow shovel. The charges against Sosa-Celis were quickly dropped, and in May state officials charged Castro with second-degree assault and one count of falsely reporting a crime and court issued a warrant for his arrest. By then, Castro was in Texas, where Governor Greg Abbott — the Law and Chaos DOOFUS OF THE DAY — has refused to extradite him to Minnesota as mandated by the Constitution's Extradition Clause. And so now Minnesota has sued Texas in federal court.
US v. Hearn Reply In Support of Motion to Dismiss Without Prejudice [via Marcy Wheeler] https://legacy.www.documentcloud.org/documents/28565563-260818-hearn-dismiss-reply
US v. Farris [spraypaint lady] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/74650269/united-states-v-farris/
Vanderstok v. Blanche [ghost guns] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/64886994/vanderstok-v-garland
National Park Service v. National Trust for Historic Preservation [SCOTUS Docket] https://www.supremecourt.gov/search.aspx?filename=/docket/docketfiles/html/public/26a203.html
ABC v. FCC
US v. Comey [docket via CourtListener] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73256624/united-states-v-comey/?order_by=desc
Walz v. Abbott https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/74662182/walz-v-abbott/
Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod
| |||
| Ep 255 — Double the Jeopardy, Double the Fun | 18 août 2026 | 01:12:31 | |
DOCKET ALERTS:
The Supreme Court denied Trump's motion for rehearing in the first E. Jean Carroll case. Time to pay up, creep!
Federal Judge Lynn Winmill invalidated Idaho's abortion ban insofar as it contains no exception to preserve the health of the pregnant person — including mental health. Along the way, he took apart the Supreme Court's hack historical analysis in Dobbs.
DOOFUS OF THE DAY: Josh Autenrieth, who bombed spectacularly on his first and only outing as an expert witness. During deposition, the plaintiffs lawyer Daniel Moye caught Autenreith fabricating his entire report exonerating 3M with the help of ChatGPT. Then Moye forced to testify for the plaintiffs at trial. On the stand Autenrieth discovered that there was a public link to all his chats live on the internet. Shout out to 404 Media for this wild story.
MAIN SHOW: US Attorney Andrew Boutros in Chicago continues to embarrass himself and demean his office. The New York Times reports that his office has been harassing the family of Justice Juan Merchan, who presided over Trump's false business records case in Manhattan. Merchan's daughter worked for a political firm in Illinois, and so Boutros decided he would use this as a lever to try to shake loose all kinds of political communications. And it turns out the same lawyers who worked on the Broadview 6 case, Matthew Skiba and William Hogan, had their prints all over this one.
Luigi Mangione pled guilty in federal court to two counts of stalking. But he did so in such a way as to make it much harder for the state to prosecute him for murder. Was this done with the connivance of the feds to get back at Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg?
Seyb v. Members of the Idaho Board of Medicine https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/68527351/seyb-v-members-of-the-idaho-board-of-medicine/
'Show How 3M Is 0% at Fault:' Expert Witness Used ChatGPT to Write Report Defending Company in Deadly Explosion Lawsuit
Prosecutors Examined Firm With Tie to Judge in Trump Hush Money Trial
US v. Mangione [federal court docket via CourtListener] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69908890/united-states-v-mangione/
Luigi Mangione Pleads Guilty To Stalking, Admits To Murder Anyway, Argues This Makes Trial Double Jeopardy
Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod
| |||
| Ep 254 — More Like the Department of Manifest Injustice | 14 août 2026 | 01:02:00 | |
DOCKET ALERTS:
The Kennedy Center board of trustees is back on its BS. After being ordered to take Trump's name off the side of the building, they've now voted again to put it back on. They also voted to close the facility for two years. Rep. Joyce Beatty, who brought the lawsuit that forced them to back off the first time, vows to fight on.
Meanwhile musician Chuck Redd was just awarded $252,000 in attorneys fees after the Center sued him for breaching a contract he never signed.
Judge Roy Altman is Aileen Cannon-balling it up in Trump's trollsuit against the BBC. This week he allowed Trump to amend his complaint yet again for "good cause." What good cause could there be to sue a company which never broadcast the supposedly defamatory documentary in the US?
MAIN SHOW:
The Washington Post reports that Jeanine Pirro, the US Attorney for DC, has empaneled a special grand jury. Corruption incoming!
The DOJ has amended the indictment of the SPLC again. This time they've added a former employee who ran its Intelligence Project and managed its paid informants. The case is no less preposterous with an extra defendant and a couple more charges.
The Ninth Circuit issued a hugely consequential ruling on Section 230 immunity for websites, and Liz and Andrew do not agree at all about it.
SUBSCRIBER BONUS:
Judge Richard Stearns in Massachusetts swatted down the DOJ's effort to shout "antisemitism" and steal $950 million from Harvard.
Trump v. BBC https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72040010/trump-v-british-broadcasting-corporation/
Pirro, in rare move, convenes special grand jury in Washington
US v. Southern Poverty Law Center https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73223865/united-states-v-southern-poverty-law-center-inc/
Colorado v. Meta [9th Circuit opinion] https://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2026/08/10/24-7265.pdf
US v. Harvard
Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod
| |||
| Ep 253 — The One Weird Trick Presidency | 11 août 2026 | 00:53:29 | |
DOCKET ALERTS:
Todd Blanche was confirmed as permanent attorney general after Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy remembered that he's an unprincipled hack.
Trump's lackey Will Scharf is being promoted from staff secretary to White House Counsel in advance of the midterms.
The White House is once again trying to fire Federal Reserve Board Member Lisa Cook after the Supreme Court blocked it the first time.
DOOFUS OF THE DAY: Senator Mike Lee, who vowed to block the Senate going into recess until it passed the SAVE America Act. He did not. Instead Majority Leader John Thune made him preside over the session, ensuring that he could not object.
MAIN SHOW:
On Friday, the DC Circuit affirmed the trial judge's order blocking Trump's tacky ballroom — at least the above-ground portion. The government tried to shield this project from judicial review by claiming that the Office of the Executive Residence, which manages floral arrangements and routine maintenance of the White House, was actually superintending the $600 million construction project. But the appeals court nixed it.
The administration hopes to use a similar ONE WEIRD TRICK to slap white paint all over the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. It claims that the project is being overseen by the White House Office of Administration, rather than the General Services Administration. TBD whether Judge Dabney Friedrich lets them get away with it.
Airlines hate Skiplagged.com, which tells consumers how to save money by hopping off flights at the layover. They've failed to shut the site down using various tort claims, and so they tried copyright and trademark.
SUBSCRIBER BONUS:
After the Supreme Court blocked him in June, Trump is once again trying to end birthright citizenship by executive order.
National Trust for Historic Preservation v. National Park Service [DC Circuit Docket] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73239730/national-trust-for-historic-preservation-v-nps
National Trust for Historic Preservation v. National Park Service [Trial Docket]
Cultural Heritage Partners v. Trump https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/71918245/cultural-heritage-partners-pllc-v-trump/
American Airlines, Inc. v. Skiplagged, Inc. https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/67699985/american-airlines-inc-v-skiplagged-inc/
United Airlines' Contract of Carriage https://www.united.com/en/us/fly/contract-of-carriage.html
Trump EO: "Ending Birth Tourism" https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2026/08/ending-birth-tourism/
Trump EO: "Continuing to Protect the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship"
Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod
| |||
| Ep 252 — Blanche, Boutros, and Buc-ee's | 07 août 2026 | 00:55:08 | |
DOCKET ALERTS:
Todd Blanche advanced out of the Judiciary Committee and faces a vote by the full Senate on whether to confirm him as Attorney General. Will Republicans defy—JK,LOL.
Journalist Katie Phang's lawsuit against Blanche for failing to disclose all documents required under the Epstein Files Transparency Act hit a snag when the government just plum forgot to file an answer to her complaint. The DOJ also failed to provide unredacted documents to Judge Emmet Sullivan for review in chambers. Judge Sullivan ordered Blanche to personally appear in court on August. 13.
DOOFUS OF THE DAY: Third Circuit Judge Jennifer Mascott, who spent the first six months of her judicial tenure moonlighting as the head of a PR firm which solicited MAGA clients.
MAIN SHOW:
Trump's multitudinous trollsuits do much better in front of his own appointees than in front of normal judges. Judge Roy Altman has utterly beclowned himself in Trump's lawsuits against Capital One and the BBC. But his cases against the Wall Street Journal, JP Morgan, and the New York Times faced a much cooler reception.
Charges against the Broadview 6 for "conspiracy" to protest were dropped months ago. But the case goes on, as the former defendants ask Judge April Perry to appoint a special counsel to investigate and potentially prosecute the US Attorneys Office in Chicago for contempt of Court. Prosecutors counter that any investigation can be handled by the DOJ's Office of Professional Responsibility, which has been conveniently neutered under Trump.
And we're back on our Buc-ee's BS — can't get enough of those beaver nuggets! Has the convenience-store-on-steroids chain gone too far with its lawsuits against every animal mascot on earth? One plucky teddy bear is fighting back.
SUBSCRIBER BONUS:
Can John Oliver sell parody Buc-ee's merch? We consult a talking squirrel and the greatest amicus brief of all time!
LINKS:
Phang v. Blanche https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73246595/phang-v-blanche/
US v. Rabbitt [Broadview 6] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/71795281/united-states-v-rabbitt
At Trump's DOJ, watchdogs gutted as misconduct complaints soar
'Is she even allowed to be doing this?': Inside a federal judge's side gig running a PR firm https://www.politico.com/news/2026/08/06/jennifer-mascott-federal-judge-adfero-pr-firm-01025871
Buc-ee's v. Teddy's Market [docket via CourtListener] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73290962/buc-ees-ltd-v-teddys-market-llc/
THE GREATEST AMICUS BRIEF OF ALL TIME https://www.acluwv.org/app/uploads/2017/08/2017-08-17-Amended-Amicus-28File-Stamped29.pdf
Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod
| |||
| Ep 251 — You Whack The Guy, You Don't 86 Him | 04 août 2026 | 00:57:05 | |
Andrew is flying solo today. He's got three stories about the petty incompetence of this administration. First, we start off with the likely impending confirmation of Todd Blanche as Attorney General after the DOJ finally put in writing that the $1.8 billion "Anti-Weaponization" slush fund is dead. The Trump tax giveaway is still alive, though, and that means so is Judge Williams's investigation as to whether the President committed a fraud on the court.
Next, we delve into the unraveling of DC US Attorney Jeanine Pirro's ham-handed efforts to try and indict a former Olympian for vandalizing the Reflecting Pool in Washington. Turns out, the problem was the contractor all along. Who knew? (We all knew, including Pirro.)
Finally, we take a look at a trio of motions filed by James Comey in his criminal case, all of which involve the central claim that the mafia uses the term "86" to mean "kill." Turns out, Comey secured an affidavit from the world's foremost expert on mafia code words, and he thinks that argument is "preposterous." How do all of these fundamental mistakes keep making their way into criminal indictments? Comey is the latest defendant who thinks prosecutors may not have been entirely candid with grand juries.
Trump v. IRS [SDFL Docket via CourtListener]
US v. Comey [docket via CourtListener] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73256624/united-states-v-comey/?order_by=desc
John Gleeson affidavit https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nced.227449/gov.uscourts.nced.227449.40.3.pdf
Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod
| |||
| Ep 250 — Trump Corruption-palooza (Ft. Zach Everson) | 31 juil. 2026 | 01:06:24 | |
It's our semiquincentennial! And we're celebrating with a long-form interview with Zach Everson, research director of the Trump Accountability Project. Zach joins us to discuss how cryptocurrency powered Donald Trump's massively successful grift of billions of dollars, and what we can do about it. Along the way, we also discuss the proposed CLARITY ACT, and how the fake ethics provisions added by Republicans were so bad that the bill itself is likely to die on the vine.
Thank you for being with us for 250 episodes!
CLARITY ACT- HR 3633 https://www.lummis.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/Clarity-Act.pdf
Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod
| |||
| Ep 249 — DHS Voter Lists? | 28 juil. 2026 | 00:52:54 | |
DOCKET ALERTS:
The Paramount-Warner Bros. merger is on hold well into next year. The parties stipulated that the merger would not go through pending trial in the antitrust case brought by twelve state AGs, despite massive financial penalties for Paramount if the deal is delayed. Meanwhile, the Writers Guild of America has filed a similar antitrust action, which has also been assigned to Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín.
Trump's newest tariff scheme, based on findings of anticompetitive use of forced labor by our trade competitors, drew multiple legal challenges. Learning Resources v. US, Take 3!
Fired US Attorney for the Western District of Washington, Roger Rogoff, is suing to get his job back.
MAIN SHOW:
In March, Trump put out an executive order instructing DHS to compile a list of voters. The states would then be forced to submit all mail-in ballot recipients to a portal and supply each with an individual bar code. The Post Office was instructed to refuse to deliver ballots to anyone not on the list. That order is now being litigated in the US District Court for the District of Columbia, the DC Circuit, the US District for Massachusetts, the First Circuit and, as of today, the Supreme Court.
James Comey has moved to dismiss the two-count federal indictment against him for posting an instagram photo of seashells that spelled out "8647." We discuss the "true threat" doctrine and the administration's larger war on freedom of speech when it comes to his critics and journalists.
Speaking of which, in the subscriber bonus, we discuss the case of Atlanta "Stop Cop City" protester Sam Tunick, who was charged with destroying evidence when he tricked CBP agents into bricking his phone.
California v. Paramount-Skydance
Writers Guild of America, West, Inc. v. Paramount Skydance Corporation
Fact Sheet: USTR Section 301 Action in Response to the Failure of 60 Economies to Ban Imports Produced with Forced Labor
Learning Resources v. US [Section 301 tariffs] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73668290/learning-resources-inc-v-the-united-states-of-america/
Burlap and Barrel v. Greer [Section 301 tariffs]
Rogoff v. Trump https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73647676/rogoff-v-trump
California v. Trump [Mail-in ballots, First Circuit] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73568304/state-of-california-v-trump/?order_by=desc
League of Women Voters v. Trump [Mail-in ballots, D. Mass.] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73133197/league-of-women-voters-of-massachusetts-v-trump
NAACP v. US [Mail-in ballots, D.D.C.]
NAACP v. USPS [Mail-in ballots, DC Circuit] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73595574/naacp-v-usps/
Trump v. California [Mail-in ballots, SCOTUS] https://www.supremecourt.gov/Search.aspx?FileName=/docket/docketfiles/html/public\26a124.html
US v. Comey [North Carolina criminal indictment for 8647; docket via CourtListener] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73256624/united-states-v-comey/?order_by=desc
US v. Tunick [Georgia criminal indictment for bricked phone; docket via CourtListener] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/71998357/united-states-v-tunick/
Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod
| |||
| Ep 248 — Tariff Man Returns | 24 juil. 2026 | 01:04:36 | |
DOCKET ALERTS:
After SecDef Hegseth ordered testosterone testing for all troops over 30 and offered hormone replacement therapy to all, Judge Ana Reyes ordered the government to explain how this is different from the healthcare for trans men which they just banned.
On Tuesday, a judge in Florida ordered Trump to turn over his financial records to the BBC in his defamation trollsuit. Turns out, when you say you've been damaged to the tune of a $10 billion, they make you show your work!
Every House Democrat signed a discharge petition to force a floor vote on Rep. Jamie Raskin's No Corrupt Agreements Requiring Taxpayer Expenditures Benefitting Lawbreakers and Assorted Non-Prosecution Covenants, Handouts, and Emoluments Act, AKA the NO CARTE BLANCHE Act.
MAIN SHOW:
After his first two attempts to steal Congress's tariff power were blocked in the courts, Trump has now reached back 90 years for the next tool. Sure the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act massively deepened and extended the Great Depression. But Trump is really mad at Canada, so maybe this time it won't massively backfire?
Meanwhile, the US Trade Representative announced a new wave of tariffs on 86 countries — putatively to retaliate against countries that sell or import goods created using child labor. Inflation is fun!
Nintendo is being sued by customers who bought Switch devices during the first round of illegal tariffs. They figure if the company is getting a refund from the government, they ought to get a refund from the company.
The FBI subpoenaed five New York Times journalists over reporting on the president's Qatari bribe jet. Claiming a national security emergency, the DOJ seized their phone records and demanded that they testify before a grand jury. This required prosecutors to disregard binding Second Circuit precedent and the DOJ's own published regulations — but Acting AG Todd Blanche said it was cool. At a hearing on Thursday over the motion to quash, Judge Arun Subramanian told the government to withdraw the subpoenas or he'd quash them. Eventually the DOJ agreed to withdraw, but now the court wants to know how the Justice Department came to tell so many whoppers to him, the magistrate, and opposing counsel.
Talbott v. Trump [Trans service members] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69583866/talbott-v-trump
Judge says Trump must hand over financial records to BBC https://www.politico.com/news/2026/07/21/trum-bbc-lawsuit-finances
Trump v. BBC https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72040010/trump-v-british-broadcasting-corporation/
Raskin HR 7007 [No CARTE BLANCHE Act]
Ambassador Greer Issues Statement on President Trump Imposing Section 338 Tariffs on Canada
Hoffert v. Nintendo [seeking consumer recovery of tariff refunds; docket via CourtListener] https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.wawd.361585/
Nintendo v. USA [seeking corporate IEEPA tariff refund; docket via CourtListener] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72373888/nintendo-of-america-inc-v-united-states-of-america/
CIT Rule 25-02 https://www.cit.uscourts.gov/sites/cit/files/Administrative%20Order%2025-02.pdf
CIT Rule 26-01 (July 13, 2026) https://www.cit.uscourts.gov/sites/cit/files/Administrative%20Order%2026-01.pdf
In re Grand Jury Subpoenas Dated July 10, 2026 https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73641399/in-re-grand-jury-subpoenas-dated-july-10-2026/
Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod
| |||
| Ep 247 — They See Me Trollin' | 21 juil. 2026 | 00:59:00 | |
DOCKET ALERTS:
Minnesota passed the "Grandparents' Happy Hour" law making it legal to serve wine to grown adults in assisted living. Skol!
The DOJ's Civil Division got tossed out of court in Massachusetts because it failed to respond to a motion to dismiss its lawsuit over the state's refusal to issue undercover license plates to ICE.
Former Olympian David Hearn moved to dismiss the charge that he vandalized the Reflecting Pool since the government has drained the pool and is now destroying the evidence. Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín issued a temporary restraining order blocking the merger of Paramount and Warner Brothers in the antitrust case brought by California and eleven other states.
DOOFUS OF THE DAY: Senator Darline Graham Nordone who decided she'd like to be a real senator, not just a placeholder for her brother until the election. So now she's ditched her last name and gotten the nod from Trump.
MAIN SHOW:
Trump's defamation trollsuit against the BBC is going terribly. Who knew he'd have give discovery, not just take it? So now the DOJ is bigfooting in trying to save him.
There's a sealed proceeding in DC involving the Alien Terrorist Removal Court, a five-judge panel created in 1996 to hear secret cases against terrorists who need to be removed from the country immediately and without process. It has heard zero cases in the past 30 years, until last week, when the Trump administration tried to use it to deport someone without process. Is this a new ONE WEIRD TRICK the government will use to shove people out of the country?
Judge Todd Eddins of the Supreme Court of Hawai'i let loose on the Supreme Court for burning down democracy in an opinion interpreting the Due Process Clause in the state's constitution. State judges are not okay!
SUBSCRIBER BONUS:
Wired Magazine has published multiple stories about the massive data Madison Square Gardens collects on its patrons. The venue has filed a defamation lawsuit against Wired, its parent company Condé Nast, and journalists Noah Shachtman, Maddy Varner, and Katie Drummond. SLAPP-ity slap!
Andrew was a guest on the "Make It Make Sense" podcast with Grant Hermes.
Andrew's episode of Make It Make Sense
US v. Massachusetts [Undercover plates] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73400637/united-states-v-the-commonwealth-of-massachusetts/
Hearn Motion to Dismiss https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28498026-hearnmtd/
California v. Paramount-Skydance
Trump v. BBC https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72040010/trump-v-british-broadcasting-corporation/
Granillo v. Hawai'i https://www.courts.state.hi.us/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/SCWC-22-0000740.pdf
Granillo v. Hawaii [Supreme Court of Hawaii; majority opinion] chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.courts.state.hi.us/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/SCWC-22-0000740.pdf
Granillo v. Hawaii [Supreme Court of Hawaii; concurrence] https://www.courts.state.hi.us/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/SCWC-22-0000740con.pdf
Madison Square Gardens v. Advance Magazine Publishers [Wired/Shachtman] https://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/nyscef/ViewDocument?docIndex=L6rt5/_PLUS_WLpjJoHCLRczc_PLUS_A==
Alien Terrorist Removal Court [docket 2026-TRC-1] https://www.atrc.uscourts.gov/docs/2026-TRC-1-Order.pdf
Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod
| |||
| Ep 246 — Blanche and Buc-ee's | 17 juil. 2026 | 00:53:42 | |
DOCKET ALERTS:
This week, the Senate confirmed Jeffrey Kuntz as a judge in the Southern District of Florida, making him the second former Florida state jurist who did Trump a solid in his trollsuit against the Pulitzer Prize Board and got himself promoted to the federal bench. Also this week, the Senate confirmed Matthew Schwartz to the Second Circuit, making him the third of Trump's personal lawyers to be made appellate judges. This is fine!
The Trump administration sued Maryland to stop it providing in-state tuition to undocumented students.
Trump's media company plans to sell early access to his posts to high-frequency traders.
DOOFUS OF THE DAY:
Trump's teleprompter operator Gabriel Perez got caught betting on what his boss might say on Kalshi. He's negotiating a settlement with the CFTC, but is apparently still employed at the White House.
MAIN SHOW:
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche had his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday. Any Republican defection will tank his nomination to be permanent AG. He got raked over the coals and forced to sit down with the Epstein survivors, but will probably make it through.
The beloved service station Buc-ee's is suing everyone and their mother for trademark infringement. But the Buc-ee Beaver may have bitten off more than he can chew picking a fight with Mickey the Moose.
SUBSCRIBER BONUS:
In December, X/Twitter rolled out new image generation capabilities for its AI Grok, after which users created an avalanche of non-consensual intimate images. The site is facing a class action by minor victims. But it hopes to avoid liability by seeking a ruling from a friendly judge in Texas that the blame lies with the users who generated the images, not the site itself.
US v. Maryland [In-state tuition] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73629368/united-states-v-state-of-maryland/
White House teleprompter operator made more than $100K betting on Trump's speeches: Sources https://abcnews.com/US/white-house-teleprompter-operator-made-100k-betting-trumps/story?id=134764573
Trump Media to Sell Faster Access to President's Social Posts https://www.wsj.com/tech/trump-media-to-sell-faster-access-to-presidents-social-posts-7a7054e8
xAI LLC v. Harwood https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73616819/xai-llc-v-harwood/
Doe v. XAI Corp https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72495765/doe-1-v-xai-corp/
Buc-ee's is on a Rampage and No Mascot is Safe, Wall Street Journal https://www.wsj.com/us-news/law/buc-ees-is-on-a-rampage-and-no-mascot-is-safe-80b7f03d
Buc-ee's, Ltd. v. Coles IP Holdings, LLC [2026 docket] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72296862/buc-ees-ltd-v-coles-ip-holdings-llc/
Buc-ee's, Ltd. v. Panjwani [2015 docket] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72296862/buc-ees-ltd-v-coles-ip-holdings-llc/
Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod
| |||
| Ep 245 — Lindsey Graham: Bad Lawyer | 14 juil. 2026 | 00:58:57 | |
DOCKET ALERTS:
Todd Blanche will appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee this week as it considers his nomination to be Attorney General. Can he advance without Senator Lindsey Graham, his biggest protector?
Judge Tim Kelly in DC reluctantly dismissed the charges against several Proud Boys gang members convicted for their roles in the January 6 assault on the Capitol after the Justice Department walked away from the appeal.
Twelve states filed an antitrust suit in California to block the merger of Paramount and Warner Brothers.
DOOFUS OF THE DAY: Patrick Byrne, the former CEO of Overstock.com, who managed to lose a defamation suit against Hunter Biden.
MAIN SHOW:
South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham passed away this weekend. We'll discuss his failures as a lawyer and the fight to replace him in Congress.
Open AI is having a rough week in court. Apple sued it in California under the Defend Trade Secrets Act, alleging that the company stole proprietary information to help it design a new phone-type gadget. And in New York, plaintiffs in a lawsuit accusing Open AI of scraping data in violation of copyright moved for sanctions because of systemic discovery violations.
SUBSCRIBER BONUS:
Trump's "settlement" with the IRS establishing the weaponization compensation fund for J6 criminals was ruled illegal by the court. Judge Kathleen Williams also referred Trump's lawyers, Alejandro Brito and Daniel Epstein, for bar discipline and sent records of this case to the courts considering discipline of Todd Blanche and Stanley Woodward.
US v. Nordean [Proud Boys] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/59704048/united-states-v-nordean
California v. Paramount-Skydance
Biden v. Byrne https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/67990012/robert-hunter-biden-v-patrick-m-byrne
In re OpenAI https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69879510/in-re-openai-inc-copyright-infringement-litigation
Apple v. Liu https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73602437/apple-inc-v-liu/
Trump v. IRS [docket via CourtListener] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72207870/trump-v-internal-revenue-service/
Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod
| |||
| Ep 244 — Trump Says SCOTUS Must Reconsider 'IMMEDIATELY | 10 juil. 2026 | 00:48:50 | |
DOCKET ALERTS:
Trump says he's going to get the Supreme Court to reconsider its birthright citizenship ruling "IMMEDIATELY." (He's not.)
He also says he's going to get SCOTUS to reconsider its denial of certiorari in the E. Jean Carroll case, and thus he shouldn't have to pay the $5 million he owes her. (Again, he's not.) Judge Lewis Kaplan ordered the escrowed funds to be disbursed to Kaplan, holding that it was time for Trump to "do equity and pay the judgment." And the Second Circuit summarily refused his "emergency" request for an administrative stay of the disbursement order. Pay up, a-hole!
The DC Circuit rebuffed Trump's petition to get his name slapped back on the Kennedy Center pending appeal of the ruling that it was illegal to put it there in the first place. Olympian David Hearn was arraigned today in DC Superior Court on felony charges for having vandalized Trump's janky Reflecting Pool remodel.
Former Wisconsin judge Hannah Dugan was given a $5,000 fine but no jail time after being convicted of obstructing ICE by letting an immigrant defendant exit the courtroom using the jury door. The government had sought an eight to ten-month custodial sentence.
DOOFUS OF THE DAY: Ken Paxton, who separated from his wife two years ago, and still continues to use his former marital home as his address for voting purposes, according to ProPublica.
MAIN SHOW:
The Eleventh Circuit upheld an injunction blocking much of Florida's Stop WOKE Act (get it? get it?), which barred university professors from taking a position on "controversial" ideas like systemic racism. The state's theory is that professors are government employees, and employers can regulate speech, and thus teachers are just like Walmart greeters who can be given a strict script. The judges did not agree.
In Georgia, a federal judge quashed a subpoena for a vast trove of data on every person who worked on the 2020 election. Judge William Ray reasoned that any "crime" committed would be outside the statute of limitations, and so he need not reach the propriety of the subpoena to quash it.
According to a recently filed lawsuit, the Trump administration has been violating its own policies and handing Iranian asylum seekers over to the Iranian government — even after we started bombing the country.
Maine senatorial candidate Graham Platner has dropped out — sort of. We'll discuss the legal implications and what happens going forward.
SUBSCRIBER BONUS: Update on the "Judgefight" from Ep. 243. Judge Sparkle Sooknanan in DC says that the Trump administration cannot use the Social Security database to bulk-verify state voter rolls. Judge T. Kent Wetherell in Florida says that they must. Now what?
Carroll v. Trump [SDNY docket] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/65895581/carroll-v-trump
Carroll v. Trump [Second Circuit docket] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73589905/carroll-v-trump/
Beatty v. Trump [Kennedy Center, DC Circuit docket] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73477160/joyce-beatty-v-donald-trump
US v. Dugan https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/70255566/united-states-v-dugan
Ken Paxton Vowed to Crack Down on "Illegal Voting." He May Have Violated Texas Election Law. https://www.propublica.org/article/ken-paxton-voter-registration-election-law
Pernell v. Commissioner of the FL State Board of Education [11th Circuit Stop WOKE]
Iranian American Legal Defense Fund v. Rubio [docket via CourtListener] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73581390/iranian-american-legal-defense-fund-v-rubio/
Maine Revised Statutes, Title 21-A, §374-A [candidate dropping out statute] https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/21-a/title21-Asec374-A.html
League of Women Voters v. DHS (DC Cir appeal) [docket via CourtListener] https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cadc.43348/
League of Women Voters v. DHS (Sooknanan SAVE docket) [docket via CourtListener]
State of Florida v. DHS (Wetherell SAVE docket) [docket via CourtListener]
Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod
| |||
| Ep 243 — Judgefight | 07 juil. 2026 | 00:56:06 | |
DOCKET ALERTS:
As Trump tries to get out of paying E. Jean Carroll what he owes her, his supporters have filed a scandalously irresponsible bar complaint against her lawyer Roberta Kaplan.
US Attorney Andrew Boutros is in hot water with yet another court. The Chicago prosecutor appears to have violated a court order and publicly discussed a sealed case and has to come in and explain himself to the court.
DOOFUS OF THE DAY: Rep. Anna Paulina Luna demands that the GOP investigate the masked dorks from Patriot Front who marched around DC this weekend. She's pretty sure they're really antifa!
MAIN SHOW:
Trump and his allies have engaged in forum shopping for years. They're currently parking all kinds of administrative and criminal cases in Texas, no matter where the "violation" occurred, because they know they can get in front of a handful of friendly judges. Now they're ginning up conflicts between those "friendly" judges and other courts.
Case in point: the Federal Trade Commission is trying to manufacture a case against WPATH, the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, for "consumer fraud" — by which they mean an article summarizing best practices for gender-affirming care. After Chief Judge James Boasberg in DC quashed their subpoenas on the organization, the FTC tried to get Judge Reed O'Connor in Texas to issue identical ones. This provoked rounds of dueling non-suiting motions, until Judge O'Connor backed down and agreed not to start an internecine judicial war.
Meanwhile in Florida, the state sued the Biden administration in 2024 for failing to allow it to bulk-verify voters for citizenship. When Trump came back to the White House, he entered into a settlement — or "settlement" — with Florida and the other plaintiff states promising to check their voter rolls. But then Judge Sparkle Sooknanan in DC enjoined that verification process as a violation of the Privacy Act and the Social Security Act. So now Florida is asking Judge T. Kent Wetherell to force DHS to comply with the "settlement" and violate Judge Sooknanan's order.
SUBSCRIBER BONUS: Obviously Trump's Great American State Fair was a debacle. But was it illegal? (Yes.)
Carroll v. Trump https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/65895581/carroll-v-trump
US v. Torres https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73572960/united-states-v-torres/
Judge orders U.S. Attorney Boutros into court over 'potential violations' of seal order
WPATH v. FTC
FTC v. WPATH https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.txnd.421590/
Florida v. DHS https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69271601/state-of-florida-v-department-of-homeland-security/
League of Women Voters v. DHS
From Vanity to Insanity: How the White House Cheated the American People Out of Their 250TH Birthday https://democrats-naturalresources.house.gov/imo/media/doc/freedom250_oversight_report2.pdf
Inside America's Ugly Birthday Battle https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/2026/06/trump-250-great-american-state-fair/687456/
Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod
| |||
| Ep 242 — SCOTUS Wanders Off For Summer, But State Judges Keep Delivering | 03 juil. 2026 | 01:07:56 | |
DOCKET ALERTS:
House Speaker Mike Johnson sent everyone home for vacation rather than deal with a dissident faction in his own caucus that keeps demanding a vote on the vote-suppressing SAVE America Act Trump keeps braying for.
A federal judge in New Hampshire became the tenth to dismiss a DOJ lawsuit seeking full, unredacted state voter rolls — or eleventh if you include the Sixth Circuit.
In 2024, Florida sued to force DHS to bulk verify citizenship data so states could "audit" their voter rolls. In 2025, DHS entered into a "settlement" with Florida, Iowa, Ohio, and Indiana agreeing to do it, and handing power to a Trump-appointed judge in Florida to ensure compliance. But that database has now been enjoined by a judge in DC for violating the Privacy Act of 1974, so Florida is moving to enforce the settlement in Florida.
And in DC, Judge Emmet Sullivan barred the Post Office from complying with Trump's executive order requiring the mailman to claw back ballots from any voter not on an approved list. This order violates a 2021 settlement the government made with the NAACP after Trump's last postmaster general tried to mess with mail-in ballots.
A judge in Louisiana has dismissed a lawsuit against several academics associated with the now-shuttered Stanford Internet Observatory. The online wingnut plaintiffs alleged that they had been "censored" by scholars who pointed out that they were violating Facebook's TOS.
Former CIA Director John Brennan is suing Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche in DC, seeking an injunction forcing prosecutors investigating him to retain all records. He hasn't been indicted yet, but, with Trump's minions planning a giant conspiracy indictment in Florida, he wants an order to preserve evidence for an eventual motion to dismiss for vindictive prosecution.
Prosecutors trying to convict a former US Attorney in Florida for emailing herself a copy of Special Counsel Jack Smith's report on the stolen documents case were forced to admit that they'd done the exact same thing, sending copies of it to defense counsel in discovery disclosures.
MAIN SHOW:
The Supreme Court issued its final opinions of the term.
In Trump v. Barbara, a narrow majority upheld birthright citizenship, refusing to invent some kind of exception to the plain terms of the 14th Amendment.
The conservative justices continued to tear down barriers to corruption in politics, invalidating the Federal Elections Campaign Act's bar on campaigns coordinating spending with outside committees in NRSC v. FEC.
And in West Virginia v. BPJ/Little v. Hecox, the six conservatives allowed states to ban trans athletes from sports.
Finally, we discuss a new class action lawsuit challenging labor practices at the online gaming platform Roblox for violating child labor laws.
US v. New Hampshire Secretary of State [Voter rolls] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/71453646/united-states-v-nh-secretary-of-state/
State of Florida v. DHS [SAVE voter verification database] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69271601/state-of-florida-v-department-of-homeland-security
Hines v. Stamos [Stanford Internet Observatory] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/67310145/hines-v-stamos
NAACP v. US [Mail-in ballots]
Brennan v. Blanche https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73562893/brennan-v-blanche/
SCOTUS Trump v. Barbara (14th Amdt birthright citizenship) https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/25-365_4hdj.pdf
NRSC v. FEC (PAC Coordination/campaign finance) https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/24-621_h315.pdf
West Virginia v. BPJ/Little v. Hecox (trans athletes) https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/24-43_2b35.pdf
Doe B.D. v. Roblox Corp. [docket via CourtListener] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73332976/doe-bd-v-roblox-corporation/
Eurogamer, Roblox Studio boss: children making money on the platform isn't exploitation, it's a gift [April 4, 2024]
Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod
| |||
| Ep 241 — SCOTUS Burns Down The Government For Sport | 30 juin 2026 | 00:56:41 | |
DOCKET ALERTS: From the SCOTUS orders list, petitions for certiorari denied in E. Jean Carroll's defamation suit against Trump and Alan Dershowitz's defamation suit against CNN. Pay up, a-hole! And of course, a big Nelson Muntz HA HA for Dersh.
The DC man who followed National Guard troops around while playing the Imperial March from Star Wars has settled his lawsuit against DC cops, but not against the guardsmen who called them.
John "Torture Memos" Yoo has been sworn in as a constitutional "advisor" to the farcical conspiracy investigation in South Florida being led by conspiracy-flogging lawyer Joe diGenova.
We discuss our post on the NRA trying to sue itself into oblivion.
DOOFUS OF THE DAY: Mehmet Oz
MAIN SHOW: Journalist Katie Phang sued the Justice Department to make it release the remaining Epstein files, and she won!
Associate Attorney General Stan Woodward told a federal judge in Virginia to get bent in the slush fund case. Big fail!
The Supreme Court rules that states can accept ballots that are postmarked by election day and arrive a few days late.
But SCOTUS went on to gut the administrative state in a case called Trump v. Slaughter, overturning a seminal 1935 case that allowed Congress to protect federal agencies and ensure partisan continuity by barring the president from firing agency heads and board members. The Court did carve out an exception for the Federal Reserve in Trump v. Cook, which is different for, uh, REASONS.
SUBSCRIBER EDITION: We'll break down the Supreme Court's ruling in Chatrie v. US, a case involving geofencing warrants for cellphone location data.
SCOTUS orders list https://www.supremecourt.gov/orders/courtorders/062926zor_1bn2.pdf
O'Hara v. Beck https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/71730267/ohara-v-beck/
Yoo to advise diGenova on probe into inquiries of Trump's 2016 campaign and Russia
The NRA Is Suing Itself In All The Courts At Once https://www.lawandchaospod.com/p/the-nra-is-suing-itself-in-all-the
Phang v. Blanche https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73246595/phang-v-blanche/
Floyd v. DOJ [Slush Fund] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73383692/floyd-v-department-of-justice/
Watson v. RNC [late ballots] https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/24-1260_g3cn.pdf
Trump v. Cook [Federal Reserve Board] https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/25a312_5468.pdf
Trump v. Slaughter [FTC] https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/25-332_qn12.pdf
Chatrie v. US https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/slipopinion/25#:~:text=Chatrie%20v.%20United%20States
Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod
| |||
| Ep 240 — The Only Consistent Thing About The Supreme Court | 26 juin 2026 | 01:00:28 | |
DOCKET ALERTS: The administration says it's going to prosecute anyone who touches the algae-ridden Reflecting Pool at the Lincoln Memorial. So far, that seems to be more bluster than reality.
Sadly, what isn't bluster is that Judges Reed O'Connor and Mark Pittman in Texas are handing down extraordinarily long punitive sentences for Antifa protestors to "send a message" not to criticize the government.
DOOFUS OF THE DAY: Postmaster General David Steiner, who tried to pass off voter suppression efforts to not distribute ballots as just "best practices" for the USPS. Fortunately, Judge Indira Talwani in Massachusetts permanently enjoined that part of Trump's plan to steal the midterms and ordered declared Trump's executive order unconstitutional and void.
MAIN SHOW: It was a rough week at the Supreme Court, with SEVEN decisions all reaching extreme right-wing outcomes, all by the exact same 6-3 margin, and using contradictory legal "reasoning" to get there. The Supreme Court prevented victims of human rights abuses from suing the US company Cisco, while permitting Exxon Mobil to sue the Cuban government.
US v. Song [antifa protestors, docket via CourtListener] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/71912958/united-states-v-arnold/
California v. Trump [post office injunction, docket via CourtListener] https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mad.298518/
Exxon Mobil v. Corporation CIMEX [Supreme Court suits against Cuba] https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/24-699_f204.pdf
Cisco Systems v. Doe [Supreme Court human rights suits] https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/24-856_kjfm.pdf
Landor v. Louisiana Dep't of Corrections [Supreme Court Rastafarian religious liberty] https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/23-1197_h3ci.pdf
Blanche v. Lau [Supreme Court lawful permanent residents] https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/25-429_h3ci.pdf
Mullin v. Al Otro Lado [Supreme Court asylum applications] https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/25-5_86qd.pdf
Mullin v. Doe [Supreme Court TPS] https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/25-1083_f204.pdf
US v. Southern Poverty Law Center [criminal indictment of SPLC; docket via CourtListener]
Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod
| |||
| Ep 239 — Slush Fund Funtimes | 23 juin 2026 | 00:56:22 | |
DOCKET ALERTS: Maryland became the ninth state to beat back a lawsuit from the DOJ's Civil Division seeking to seize its full, unredacted voter rolls.
In Massachusetts, a judge allowed states to proceed with a lawsuit to block an executive order requiring DHS to maintain a master list of voters and barring USPS from delivering mail-in ballots from anyone on the list.
DOOFUS OF THE DAY: Sixth Circuit Judge Amul Thapar, who was featured in a Bloomberg Law story about judges embarrassing themselves by trying to get nominated for SCOTUS if/when Justice Alito announces his retirement in July. Thapar, who is 56, started a Substack to talk about how his fitness regimen means he's really only 43.
MAIN SHOW:
In Minnesota, Chief Judge Patrick Schiltz quashed DOJ subpoenas for Gov. Tim Walz, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, AG Keith Ellison, and several other state officials. The court held that the subpoenas were plainly levied for an improper purpose, namely to punish state officials for refusing to cooperate with Trump's immigration raids. That's a violation of the Tenth Amendment.
Also in Minnesota, charges were dropped against yet another protester from the winter immigration surge into the Twin Cities. ICE/CBP conduct here was egregious, and the US Attorney claims to be investigating.
Since the satirical newspaper The Onion is planning to launch an InfoWars parody on July 2, we revisit all of the bankruptcy court shenanigans to date and talk about what might happen next in court.
Finally, we check in on the Trump insurrectionist slush fund and the administration's continued refusal to actually promise in court, under oath, that it won't resurrect the idea. In the Eastern District of Virginia, the administration simply refused to file declarations ordered by the presiding judge. And in the original lawsuit Trump filed against the IRS in Florida, 35 eminent judges filed their reply brief urging the judge to reopen the case and inspect the settlement.
In the Subscriber Bonus, we break down a lawsuit filed by the Ford Motor Company against a law firm in California that has an… aggressive approach to trying to get its attorneys' fees reimbursed for representing consumers who get their cars replaced under the state's "Lemon Law."
US v. DeMarinis [Maryland voter rolls] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/71980724/united-states-v-demarinis/
League of Women Voters v. Trump [Mail-in ballot EO] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73133197/league-of-women-voters-of-massachusetts-v-trump/
In re Subpoenas [MN subpoenas quashed] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73512670/in-re-subpoenas/
US v. Johnson [MN protester, charges dropped] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72200628/united-states-v-johnson/
Judges Jockey for Potential Trump Supreme Court Appointment
Floyd v. DOJ [lawsuit challenging Slush Fund; docket via CourtListener] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73383692/floyd-v-department-of-justice/
Trump v. IRS [docket via CourtListener]
Ford Motor Company v. Quill & Arrow LLP [fee-shifting in Lemon Law cases; docket via CourtListener] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73503023/ford-motor-company-v-quill-arrow-llp/
Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod
| |||
| Ep 238 — Speech Crimes | 19 juin 2026 | 00:51:30 | |
DOCKET ALERTS:
Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville is facing a residency challenge to his gubernatorial campaign.
The Justice Department dismissed a case seeking to enforce a moratorium on offshore and onshore windfarm permits. Instead they're buying back leases for windfarms, so that energy companies can develop natural gas plants in the midwest. Murica!
The DOJ is trying to take advantage of a half-assed plot to attack Trump's UFC to get the court to let him build his ballroom.
Doofus of the Day: Covid denier Alex Berenson, who got a $150,000 payout from the Trump administration because he got booted from Twitter in 2021.
MAIN SHOW:
It was an opinion day at SCOTUS, and every decision was authored by a bizarre coalition of justices. Of most interest was US v. Hemani, in which the Court held that regular marijuana use cannot be a reason to deny Americans the right to own a gun.
The US Attorneys Office in Minnesota announced conspiracy charges against protesters of the immigration surge into Minneapolis earlier this year. Like the Broadview 6 case, it's a transparent attempt to criminalize activities protected by the First Amendment and impose collective punishment on opponents of the administration's policies.
The Federal Trade Commission sued the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) in Texas, alleging that its Standards of Care document (SOC-8) violates Section 5 of the FTC Act.
SUBSCRIBERS: No FISA for you! Trump just blew up the deal to get FISA reauthorized and his new Director of National Intelligence confirmed.
Tuberville Residency Challenge [via ALReporter] https://www.alreporter.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Tuberville-Filings.pdf
US v. Hemani [Supreme Court] https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/24-1234_g2bh.pdf
Hunter v. US [Supreme Court] https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/24-1063_5ifl.pdf
T.M. v. Univ. of Maryland Medical System [Supreme Court] https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/25-197_bp7c.pdf
US v. Sant [MN protesters] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73489496/united-states-v-sant
FTC v. WPATH [docket via CourtListener] https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.txnd.421590/
WPATH SOC-8 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/26895269.2022.2100644
HHS's "Treatment for Pediatric Gender Dysphoria: Review of Evidence and Best Practices." https://opa.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/2025-11/gender-dysphoria-report.pdf
Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod
| |||
| Ep 237 — A Slush Fund By Any Other Name Would Still Reek | 16 juin 2026 | 00:55:57 | |
DOCKET ALERTS:
The Supreme Court issued orders today, opinions coming Thursday.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Jeanine Pirro, the US Attorney for DC, is investigating banks for "debanking" conservatives.
Judge James Boasberg benchslapped Pirro's effort to magic away his order quashing her abusive subpoena on the Federal Reserve.
DOOFUS OF THE DAY: A judge in Mississippi disqualified all the lawyers in a case after finding that both sides cited fake cases hallucinated by AI.
MAIN SHOW:
The battle over the Kennedy Center continues. At the eleventh hour, the Center's Board appealed the order to take Trump's name off the building, citing a new rule that would strip all funding from the institution if Trump's name came down. The trial judge denied the requested stay, and so did the Circuit Court. Meanwhile, the Washington National Opera is suing the Kennedy Center for expropriating its $17 million endowment.
In the Eastern District of Virginia, Judge Leonie Brinkema issued a preliminary injunction blocking the administration from implementing the Anti-Weaponization Fund whether under a new name or not.
New reporting from Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan in the New York Times reveals two revealing memos from White House advisor Will Scharf on suspending the writ of habeas corpus and the Insurrection Act.
SUBSCRIBER BONUS:
A federal judge in Massachusetts blocked Texas AG Ken Paxton's investigation into the Democratic fundraising platform ActBlue, holding that it was plainly retaliatory for its support for his Democratic Senate rival James Talarico.
SCOTUS Orders List June 15 https://www.supremecourt.gov/orders/courtorders/061526zor_5if6.pdf
Jeanine Pirro's Prosecutors Probe Big Banks for Alleged 'Debanking'
Powell/Fed Reserve Subpoenas https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72490330/in-re-grand-jury-subpoenas
ActBlue v. Paxton https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73285205/actblue-llc-v-paxton/
Washington National Opera v. US https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73476333/washington-national-opera-v-united-states/
Beatty v. Trump [DC Circuit] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73477160/joyce-beatty-v-donald-trump
Withers v. City of Aberdeen [AI Attorney Sanctions] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69485760/withers-v-city-of-aberdeen
Floyd v. DOJ [docket via CourtListener] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73383692/floyd-v-department-of-justice/?order_by=desc
Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan,"Frustrated by Courts, Trump Weighed Suspending a Constitutional Right," New York Times, June 15, 2026 https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/15/us/politics/trump-scharf-habeas-corpus-insurrection-act.html
Will Scharf Habeas Corpus memo https://static01.nyt.com/newsgraphics/documenttools/2afc51a03e41c257/7f0f0dff-full.pdf
Will Scharf Insurrection Act memo https://static01.nyt.com/newsgraphics/documenttools/ab7a26e5d4b63268/402f052f-full.pdf
Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod
| |||
| Ep 236 — Is Trump's Newest Lawyer WORSE Than Alina Habba? | 12 juin 2026 | 00:52:42 | |
DOCKET ALERTS:
Will Trump's name come off the Kennedy Center in time for the court-ordered deadline?
New York congressional candidate Brad Lander was acquitted of charges related to a peaceful protest inside the federal building where ICE is warehousing immigrants.
The House failed to reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. We'll explain what this has to do with Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte.
MAIN SHOW:
Doofus of the Day Alejandro Brito, Trump's lawyer on the defamation trollsuit against the BBC, is inventing new ways to piss off the judge. But he's teaching us a lot about CivPro!
The grand jury transcripts are here in the Broadview 6 case, and they are somehow even worse than we expected. We'll break down all the vouching/ex parte/voir dire action, and the rapidly expanding blast radius.
SUBSCRIBERS:
Is the Trump slush fund alive or dead? Acting AG Todd Blanche says it's over, but he won't put it in writing.
US v. Rabbitt https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/71795281/united-states-v-rabbitt/
Sarah Fitzpatrick, The Atlantic, "Trump Isn't Giving Up on His Slush Fund" https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/2026/06/trump-anti-weaponization-fund/687500/
'Broadview 6' repeat? Loretto Hospital exec's fraud case could crumble amid claims of prosecutors' misconduct
Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod
| |||
| Ep 235 — The Only Thing Bigger Than The UFC Claw Is The Grift | 09 juin 2026 | 00:59:16 | |
DOCKET ALERTS:
Doofus of the Day: George Santos, who is clearly trying to get himself back into jail. NPR reported that the former congressman bet against his own appearance at the State of the Union in February. After NPR reported that Kalshi had frozen his accounts and referred him to the CFTC and DOJ, Santos called up journalist Bobby Allyn and threatened him with "a gun in your face."
Also seeking a pardon: Sam Bankman-Fried.
Judge Leo Sorokin in Massachusetts blocked Trump's attempt to tax H-1B visas out of existence by imposing a $100,000 "fee."
MAIN SHOW:
Trump's lawyer Alejandro Brito is finding new and creative ways to piss off the judge in Trump's trollsuit against the BBC.
The DOJ is broken! Today's examples include: The DOJ telling the DC Circuit that it would be just fine for Trump to bulldoze the Statue of Liberty. A judge in Rhode Island referring DOJ lawyers for attorney discipline and sanctions. And a story from the New York Times about all the prosecutors who got pushed out because they wouldn't indict Trump's enemies.
Plaintiffs are trying to stop Donald Trump from hosting a UFC fight on the White House lawn.
SUBSCRIBER BONUS: The Department of Defense reduced the number of recognized religious faiths from 211 to 31 — they kept all the good non-woke ones, it's fine.
I wrote about George Santos. Then he made a violent threat and lied about it https://www.npr.org/2026/06/04/nx-s1-5846966/george-santos-kalshi-threats
California v. Noem [H-1B visas] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72031571/state-of-california-v-noem/
Trump v. BBC https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72040010/trump-v-british-broadcasting-corporation
How the Drive to Find a Conspiracy Against Trump Rocked the Justice Dept. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/08/us/politics/justice-department-trump-patel-conspiracy.html
Douglas v. National Park Service (UFC) [docket via CourtListener] https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.293217/gov.uscourts.dcd.293217.3.1.pdf
Forbes, "Trump Says UFC Arena Could Be Permanent At White House—Everything We Know About The Upcoming Event"
Pete Hegseth on the chaplain corps
Sean Parnell announcement re: DOD religious codes [via X.com] https://x.com/SeanParnellASW/status/2062964159222874227
Pew Research Center Religious Landscape Study https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2025/02/26/religious-landscape-study-executive-summary/
Military.com, "DOD Officially Drops 180 Faiths From Military's Recognized Religion List" https://www.military.com/dod-officially-drops-180-faiths-from-militarys-recognized-religion-list
Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod | |||
| Ep 234 — Holy Grand Jury, Batman! | 05 juin 2026 | 01:12:26 | |
DOCKET ALERTS: A federal judge in Colorado enjoined the National Science Foundation from shutting down the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder. APA, FTW!
The DC Circuit ruled that Pete Hegseth's policy kicking out all trans service members and barring enlistment by anyone who ever had a diagnosis of gender dysphoria is rooted in animus and cannot stand. But the remedy was narrowly cabined to the plaintiffs in this case, and only those who are currency active duty.
The Supreme Court let Alabama redraw its Congressional maps while primary voting was already underway and use a racially-discriminatory map in order to squeeze one more Republican seat in Congress out for the 2026 midterms.
Doofus of the Day: BATMAN! Eric Batman, some whiny dork in LA who says his Christian faith means that he has to work from home during June lest he be oppressed by a trans flag flying outside his office. The grifters at Liberty Counsel eagerly fundraising off their preposterous trollsuit on Doofus's behalf.
MAIN SHOW:
The DOJ filed a superseding indictment against the Southern Poverty Law Center. It's meant to remedy the obvious deficiencies in the first indictment, but it actually seems to bolster the SPLC's claim that they were trying to protect informants, not take down donors.
Meanwhile, DOJ seems to have leaked a draft version of the new indictment to reporters before presenting it to the grand jurors, potentially violating grand jury secrecy. SPLC moved for a show cause order forcing DOJ to explain "its conduct and why it should not be sanctioned considering the prejudicial consequences at stake here."
Back in Chicago, US Attorney Andrew Boutros explained that he wasn't inappropriately trying to voir dire the grand jury. Perish the thought! And how very dare you, sir! He was just advising them that if they didn't think they could convict, they should put their hands up and explain themselves. Ummmmm…..
On May 1, NASDAQ implemented major rule changes to the way in which newly-public companies can join the Nasdaq 100 index.
University Corporation for Atmospheric Research v. National Science Foundation
Talbott v. USA [Trans Troops DC Circuit] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69800554/nicolas-talbott-v-usa/
Allen v. Milligan (Alabama redistricting) [Supreme Court stay] https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/25a1314_7m58.pdf
SpaceX Prospectus https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1181412/000162828026036936/spaceexplorationtechnologi.htm
NASDAQ 100 New Methodology https://indexes.nasdaq.com/docs/Methodology_NDX.pdf
Liberty Counsel's press release (Batman v. Los Angeles County) https://lc.org/newsroom/details/260530-la-to-christians-youre-mentally-ill
Batman v. LA County [docket via CourtListener]
Copy of Batman's complaint [via Liberty Counsel] https://lc.org/PDFs/Attachments2PRsLAs/2026/031026-1VerifiedComplaint.pdf
US v. SPLC https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73223865/united-states-v-southern-poverty-law-center-inc/
US Attorney Andrew Boutros Statement https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndil/media/1443716/dl?inline
Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod | |||
| Ep 232 — The Vindictive DOJ | 04 juin 2026 | 01:09:34 | |
DOCKET ALERTS:
Joe Dye begins a series on the second phase of the redistricting wars at his Substack.
Multiple states are threatening to tax payouts from Trump's slush fund at 100 percent.
The Trump Administration is suing Massachusetts for failing to give "confidential," hard to trace license plates to ICE and CBP.
A panel of federal judges in Alabama once again rejected the state's congressional map as an illegal racial gerrymander. The state has appealed to SCOTUS.
Don Lemon moved to unseal the grand jury transcript in the Cities Church protest prosecution. He cited the recently unsealed magistrate's docket, showing the government's wild overreach — not to mention incompetence — in its warrant applications, along with the many cases where courts have said the DOJ is currently lawless and entitled to no presumption of regularity.
The New York Times had a wild story this week about the Justice Department's total loss of credibility with grand juries, including in Wyoming, where the US Attorney's total violation of grand jury rules led to the dismissal of nine indictments.
MAIN SHOW:
The US Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois is reportedly investigating E. Jean Carroll for perjury. In a deposition in 2022, Carroll misspoke and said that her litigation was not being funded by anyone else. She later corrected the record to say that some of her fees were being paid by a nonprofit associated with LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman. The government is trying to do to that nonprofit what it's done to the Southern Poverty Law Center, alleging that it somehow conspired to hide its activities by getting Carroll to lie under oath.
Meanwhile, the SPLC is moving to dismiss its case based on vindictive prosecution. Luckily it has eleventy-seven clips of Trump officials declaring that they're on a revenge mission to take out the civil rights organization.
In non-political news, a drag queen named Pattie Gonia is in a trademark dispute with the brand Patagonia.
SUBSCRIBER BONUS:
Trump is making NDAs great again.
How Democrats Can Take Back the Redistricting Wars Pt. 1 https://josephdye.substack.com/p/how-democrats-can-take-back-the-redistricting
US v. Massachusetts [Confidential License Plates] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73400637/united-states-v-the-commonwealth-of-massachusetts/
Milligan v. Allen https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/61494291/milligan-v-allen
US v. Levy-Armstrong [Cities Church/Don Lemon] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72212459/united-states-v-levy-armstrong/
In re Search Warrant [Cities Church/Don Lemon magistrate docket] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72323660/in-re-search-warrant/
As Trump Politicizes Justice Dept., Prosecutors Struggle With Grand Juries https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/26/us/politics/trump-justice-department-grand-juries.html DOJ probes Democratic-allied nonprofit that helped fund E. Jean Carroll's legal bills https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2026/05/28/doj-probes-reid-hoffmans-nonprofit-funding-e-jean-carrolls-legal-bills/
US v. Southern Poverty Law Center [docket via CourtListener] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73223865/united-states-v-southern-poverty-law-center-inc/
Patagonia, Inc. v. Entrepreneur Enterprises, Inc. ("Patty Gonia") [docket via CourtListener] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72169060/patagonia-inc-v-entrepreneur-enterprises-inc/
Pattie Gonia Instagram responding to lawsuit https://www.instagram.com/p/DY2L725tVow/
Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod | |||
| Ep 231 — Abrego Garcia Wins Again | 04 juin 2026 | 00:48:19 | |
DOCKET ALERTS: Judges in Maine and Wisconsin hand DOJ two more losses as they sue to get access to state voter rolls to check for non-existent election fraud.
Associate Attorney General Stan Woodward is back with another batsh*t ballroom filing.
DOOFUS OF THE DAY:
Attorney D. Hayden Fisher, who filed a bumptious SLAPP suit against locals in Norfolk who dared to disparage a MAGA-coded brewery for perceived anti-LGBTQ+ bias.
MAIN SHOW:
We'll revisit the implosion of the Broadview 6 prosecution. Turns out, the government's main goal all along was to hide the corruption and misconduct at the heart of this case.
And Kilmar Abrego Garcia is free! Judge Waverly Crenshaw dismissed his criminal case on the basis of vindictive prosecution.
US v. Bellows [Maine Voter Rolls] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/71367730/united-states-v-bellows/
US v. Wisconsin Elections Commission [Wisconsin Voter Rolls] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72055967/united-states-v-wisconsin-elections-commission
National Trust for Historic Preservation v. National Park Service [Ballroom]
Armed Forces Brewing Co. v. Coplon [Doofus SLAPP suit] https://armedforcesbrewingco.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Complaint-26-5-18-Final.pdf
Broadview 6 May 21 Hearing https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/95/75/a403b7674c31b8f5bb0ecae58921/25cr693-usa-v-rabbitt-052126.pdf
US v. Rabbit [Broadview 6] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/71795281/parties/united-states-v-rabbitt/
United States v. Abrego (TN criminal docket) [docket via CourtListener] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/70475970/united-states-v-abrego-garcia/?order_by=desc
Abrego Garcia v. Noem (MD Civil litigation) [docket via CourtListener] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/71191591/abrego-garcia-v-noem/?order_by=desc
United States v. Carey (DC flag burning) [docket via CourtListener] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/71223464/united-states-v-carey/
Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod | |||
| Ep 230 — DOJ Tiptoes Around The Sh*tpile! | 04 juin 2026 | 01:05:22 | |
DOCKET ALERTS:
Congressional Republicans abstain courteously from blessing Trump's ICE/CBP allocation after Trump torpedoes several sitting GOP politicians and demands cash for the ballroom and the $1.8 billion J6 slush fund. They're heading home until June, TYVM.
DOJ indicts former Cuban leader Raúl Castro, age 94, for shooting down two flights of dissident exiles dropping leaflets back in 1996. Is this a prelude to Bay of Pigs 2?
Officials in Florida and Tennessee discover that the First Amendment applies to everyone, even people who criticize Charlie Kirk. Good thing it's taxpayers picking up the tab for this little life lesson!
And Acting AG Todd Blanche adds a codicil to the slush fund settlement granting amnesty to Trump and his kids for past tax crimes — but not future ones! (Don't believe everything you read on the internet.)
DOOFUS OF THE DAY: Todd Blanche.
MAIN SHOW:
Judge Leo Sorokin in Massachusetts sanctions ICE for lying to the court about the time an immigrant detainee left the jurisdiction. This one will make you mad!
And the indictment against the "Broadview 6" for protesting outside an ICE detention center implodes after the grand jury transcripts reveal a dumpsterfire of impropriety and potentially sanctionable misconduct by the prosecution. Read this hearing transcript — but not after taking a giant swig of milk!
SUBSCRIBER BONUS:
Meet the new tariffs! Same as the old tariffs! (Illegal.) And NO the administration can't keep collecting them right now because they're too busy trying to figure out how to refund the last batch of illegal tariffs to figure it out.
US v. Perez-Perez [Raul Castro indictment] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/31009891/united-states-v-perez-perez/
Civil Rights Lawyers Secure $485,000 Settlement for FWC Biologist Fired Over Charlie Kirk Social Media Post
He Was Jailed Over a Charlie Kirk Post. The Sheriff Now Owes Him $835,000. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/20/us/larry-bushart-charlie-kirk-facebook-settlement.html
Slush Fund Codicil https://www.justice.gov/opa/media/1441216/dl
Guevara Peruano v. Wesling [ICE Sanctions] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72181340/guevara-peruano-v-wesling/
Oregon v. Trump [Tarriffs] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72368522/the-state-of-oregon-v-trump/
Broadview 6 May 21 Hearing https://cst.brightspotcdn.com/95/75/a403b7674c31b8f5bb0ecae58921/25cr693-usa-v-rabbitt-052126.pdf US v. Rabbit [Broadview 6] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/71795281/parties/united-states-v-rabbitt/
Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod | |||
| Ep 229 — Judicial Warfare | 04 juin 2026 | 00:57:32 | |
DOCKET ALERTS: The Supreme Court stayed a lower court decision out of Texas banning doctors from dispensing the abortion drug mifepristone. The Colorado Supreme Court barred Children's Hospital from cutting gender-affirming care, calling it a denial of treatment on the basis of sex and gender identity.
The DOJ is suing the DC Bar to stop it disciplining upstanding government lawyers like Ed Martin and Jeff Clark. The case has been assigned to Judge Richard Leon!!!
Elon Musk lost his lawsuit against Sam Altman and OpenAI.
MAIN SHOW:
The DOJ's effort to harass trans kids and their medical providers is escalating into a judicial crisis as Judge Reed O'Connor in the Northern District of Texas purports to bar Rhode Island Hospital from seeking redress in any other court or from "aiding and abetting" anyone else in seeking redress. Meanwhile in Rhode Island, Judge Mary McElroy says the Hospital does not have to comply.
Trump purports to "settle" his lawsuit against the IRS over the 2020 disclosure of his tax returns by establishing a $1.8 billion slush fund for the "victims of weaponization" of the DOJ under Biden. Is that legal? (No.)
Danco Labs v. Louisiana [US Supreme Court - mifepristone] https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/25a1207_21p3.pdf
Boe v. Children's Hospital Colorado [Colorado Supreme Court - gender affirming care] https://www.coloradojudicial.gov/system/files/opinions-2026-05/26SA66.pdf
US v. Fox [DOJ sues DC Bar] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73338949/united-states-v-fox/?order_by=desc
In Re: Administrative Subpoena 25-1431-032 [Texas action] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73276712/in-re-administrative-subpoena-25-1431-032/
In Re: Motion to Quash Administrative Subpoena to Rhode Island Hospital [Rhode Island action]
Trump v. IRS [docket via CourtListener] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72207870/trump-v-internal-revenue-service/
DOJ Notice of Settlement - administration of "Anti-Weaponization Fund" https://www.justice.gov/opa/media/1441086/dl
OLC Memorandum, "Availability of Judgement Fund in Cases Not Involving a Money Judgment Claim" https://www.justice.gov/file/151086/dl?inline
Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod | |||
| Ep 228 — Gerrymanders For Me But Not For Thee | 04 juin 2026 | 01:05:13 | |
DOCKET ALERTS:
As Trump rants at "Neil and Amy" for betraying him in the IEEPA tariffs case, the next tariff battle is already taking shape.
Reuters legal reporters analyzed court stats in Minnesota and proved that federal prosecutions cratered during the immigration surge. So much for "cleaning up" crime.
Doofus of the Day: Pete Hegseth, who is vowing to put Senator Mark Kelly in jail … again.
Judge Melissa Dubose referred the head of the Civil Division at the US Attorney's Office for Rhode Island for possible sanctions due to lack of candor. Chief Judge John McConnell appointed a special counsel to review.
Justice Alito extended the stay in the mifepristone case until Thursday.
MAIN SHOW:
The Virginia Supreme Court struck down the Democratic gerrymander on a technicality. Now the state's legislators have filed a longshot emergency application for stay at the Supreme Court.
And FCC Chair Brendan Carr is lying about the equal time rule as an excuse to go after the ladies at The View.
Oregon v. Trump [Tariffs] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72368522/the-state-of-oregon-v-trump
Trump vowed to fight crime in Minneapolis. Prosecutions plunged
Gomez v. Nessinger [Rhode Island Attorney Sanctions] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73235898/gomez-v-nessinger/
Mifepristone SCOTUS Docket https://www.supremecourt.gov/search.aspx?filename=/docket/docketfiles/html/public/25a1208.html
Scott v. McDougle (Virginia Supreme Court) https://www.vacourts.gov/static/opinions/opnscvwp/1260127.pdf
Scott v. McDougle [US Supreme Court petition for stay] https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/25/25A1240/408563/20260511151941216_25A%20Application%20for%20Stay.pdf
FCC Petition by KTRK-TV (The View) https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/document/10507899614175/1
FCC Chair Brandon Carr letter (DA 26-68) https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DA-26-68A1.pdf
Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod | |||
| Ep 227 — Presumption of Irregularity | 04 juin 2026 | 01:04:37 | |
DESCRIPTION:
Kash Patel is not as think as you drunk he is … again. And if you tell someone about it, he'll strap you to a polygraph.
The DC Circuit seems likely to side with Senator Mark Kelly in his lawsuit against Pete Hegseth for trying to steal his pension.
The DOJ subpoenaed a hospital in Rhode Island for medical records of kids receiving gender affirming care. While the parties were negotiating, the DOJ filed a petition to enforce in Texas, which their hand-picked Judge Reed O'Connor instantly granted. Now the hospital has appealed to the Fifth Circuit (ughhh) and the Rhode Island Child Advocate has filed a motion to quash in the District of Rhode Island.
Our Doofus of the Day is Chief Justice John Roberts. It won't always be someone on the Supreme Court, but when you stand up in front of hundreds of lawyers to whine about how unfair it is that people think your obviously political Supreme Court is political, how could we resist?
MAIN SHOW:
The 11th Circuit has joined two other circuit courts of appeal in ruling that the Trump administration cannot use the mandatory detention provisions of the Immigration and Naturalization Act to hold any immigrant, anywhere in the US, for any length of time and with no opportunity for a bond hearing.
The DOJ is so desperate to hire lawyers that they're offering signing bonuses and tipping current employees with "retention incentive allowances" to keep them from fleeing. Turns out, competent lawyers don't like harassing trans kids for sport and indicting Democratic politicians on spurious grounds.
Judge Coleen McMahon ruled that DOGE illegally dismantled the National Endowment for the Humanities when the bros fed the grantee database into ChatGPT with an instruction to find grants were "DEI."
The Southern Poverty Law Center says the government's public lies about the case — lookin' at you, Todd Blanche — are so egregious that the court should hand over the grand jury transcript.
Judges in Rhode Island and Texas are dueling over the DOJ's subpoena for the medical record for transgender minors.
READING LIST: How Professional Wrestling Prepared Linda McMahon for Trump's Cabinet
Kash Patel's Personalized Bourbon Stash https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/2026/05/kash-patel-fbi-bourbon/687066/
Kash Patel ordered polygraphs of more than two dozen members of his team, sources tell MS NOW
DOJ Offers Lawyers $25,000 Signing Bonuses as Hiring Lags
US. SPLC https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73223865/united-states-v-southern-poverty-law-center-inc
In Re: Administrative Subpoena 25-1431-032 [Texas action] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73276712/in-re-administrative-subpoena-25-1431-032/
In Re: Motion to Quash Administrative Subpoena to Rhode Island Hospital [Rhode Island action]
"Chief Justice John Roberts says American public wrongly views the justices as 'political actors'" [NBC News]
Hernandez Alvarez v. Warden (11th Cir. immigration) [docket via CourtListener]
American Council of Learned Societies v. McDonald https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/70035052/american-council-of-learned-societies-v-mcdonald/
How Professional Wrestling Prepared Linda McMahon for Trump's Cabinet https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2026/04/27/linda-mcmahon-profile
Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod | |||