Ignorance of the law is no excuse! That’s true for a traffic stop, and it’s true if you want to participate in whatever’s left of American democracy. If the eve...
It’s another week in paradise with the Trump administration trying to burn down the government. First we’ll talk about the attack on law firms and judges, then we’ve got a breakdown of the newest executive order on immigration silos. You know when they try to hide crazy sh*t under the most boring, generic label ever. It’s that! Plus subscribers get a visit with Dinesh D’Souza. Links: Perkins Coie v. DOJ docket https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69725919/perkins-coie-llp-v-us-department-of-justice JGG v. Trump (DC) docket (removal under the Alien Enemies Act) https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69741724/jgg-v-trump Does 1-26 v. Musk [Docket] https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mdd.576293 The Trump Administration Accidentally Texted Me Its War Plans https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2025/03/trump-administration-accidentally-texted-me-its-war-plans/682151/ Presidential Proclamation on information silos https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/stopping-waste-fraud-and-abuse-by-eliminating-information-silos/ “Fact Sheet” https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/03/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-eliminates-information-silos-to-stop-waste-fraud-and-abuse-60f3/ OMB Data on Improper Payments https://bidenwhitehouse.archives.gov/omb/briefing-room/2024/11/27/omb-releases-annual-data-showing-lowest-government-wide-improper-payment-rate-since-2014/ https://www.paymentaccuracy.gov/payment-accuracy-the-numbers/ GAO Report on Improper Payments https://www.gao.gov/assets/d24106927.pdf PIIA https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/31/subtitle-III/chapter-33/subchapter-IV Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod Twitter: @LawAndChaosPod
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Ep 117 — DOGE Destroys Another Agency As DOJ Courts Contempt (Ft. Aaron Reichlin-Melnick)
Musk’s fash-coders take out the US Institute for Peace. Mahmoud Khalil’s case gets transferred to New Jersey. And the DOJ is daring the court to find it in contempt in the case of the kidnapped Venezuelans. Plus, we have the second half of our interview with immigration expert Aaron Reichlin-Melnick. Links: JGG v. Trump (DC) docket (removal under the Alien Enemies Act) https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69741724/jgg-v-trump US Institute for Peace v. Jackson (docket) https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69754533/united-states-institute-of-peace-v-jackson/ Khalil v. Joyce (docket) https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69719040/khalil-v-joyce/ Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod Twitter: @LawAndChaosPod
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1:01:58
Ep 116 — DOJ Courts Contempt In Immigration Case (feat. Aaron Reichlin-Melnick)
Today, we’ve got an all-immigration show. We break down J.G.G. v. Trump, the lawsuit seeking to block Trump’s effort to summarily deport Venezuelan nationals under a 227-year-old law left over from the Alien and Sedition Acts. Then, we have Part One of our interview with Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, Senior Fellow at the American Immigration Council. Links: Presidential Proclamation https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/invocation-of-the-alien-enemies-act-regarding-the-invasion-of-the-united-states-by-tren-de-aragua/ JGG v. Trump (DC) docket (removal under the Alien Enemies Act) https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69741724/jgg-v-trump/?filed_after=&filed_before=&entry_gte=&entry_lte=&order_by=desc Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod Twitter: @LawAndChaosPod
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1:03:27
Ep 115 — The Rightwing’s War On NYT v. Sullivan (Ft David Enrich)
New York Times financial editor David Enrich joins us to discuss his new book, Murder the Truth, about the history of defamation litigation and the right wing’s plan to gut the Sullivan standard to make it easier for politicians to bankrupt journalists for saying mean, true things Links: Murder the Truth https://www.harpercollins.com/products/murder-the-truth-david-enrich?variant=42734343421986 Brehm v. Morocco (DDC) (USADF) https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69711562/brehm-v-marocco/ Talbott v. Trump (DC) (trans servicemembers ban) https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69583866/talbott-v-trump/ American Federation of Government Workers v. OPM (Cal.) (probationary employees) https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69655364/american-federation-of-government-employees-afl-cio-v-united-states/ Trump SCOTUS birthright citizenship docket https://www.supremecourt.gov/search.aspx?filename=/docket/docketfiles/html/public/24a884.html Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod Twitter: @LawAndChaosPod
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1:07:39
Ep 114 — After Stealing Congress’s Spending Power, Trump Is Back For Advice And Consent
It’s another week where the DOGE bros are trying to burn down the government, and another week where the courts are trying to stop it. For our main story, we focus on the Trump administration’s crazy shenanigans at the United States Africa Development Corp. Trump may have tried to fire Senate-confirmed principal officers by email… to an email address that doesn’t exist. Links: Perkins Coie Executive Order https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/addressing-risks-from-perkins-coie-llp/ Climate United Fund v. Citibank [Docket via CL] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69718818/climate-united-fund-v-citibank-na/ Trump’s false claim that Stacey Abrams headed a group that got $1.9 billion https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/03/06/trump-stacey-abrams-fact-checker/ US v. Adams docket (SDNY) (charges against NYC Mayor Eric Adams) https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.628916/ Brehm v. Morocco (DDC) (USADF) https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69711562/brehm-v-marocco/?filed_after=&filed_before=&entry_gte=&entry_lte=&order_by=desc USADF Act https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/22/chapter-7/subchapter-XXIII USADF Bylaws https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.278118/gov.uscourts.dcd.278118.7.5.pdf Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod Twitter: @LawAndChaosPod
Ignorance of the law is no excuse! That’s true for a traffic stop, and it’s true if you want to participate in whatever’s left of American democracy. If the events since the 2016 election taught us anything, it’s that tuning out is not an option. Legal journalists Liz Dye and Andrew Torrez break down the week’s most important courtroom stories, so you can keep on top of this crazy news cycle. Whether it’s Texas giving two middle fingers to the Supreme Court, or Donald Trump in all the courts at once, we’ve got you covered.