Trump’s lawyers make a bevy of unforced errors as their client continues to march ever closer to a conviction in New York for fraud in concealing the payoff payment to Stormy Daniels. Also, the Supreme Court surprises us, sort of, for now, by not sacking the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and by allowing a Louisiana congressional map to go into effect that doubles the minority representation in that state.   Links: 12 U.S.C. § 5481 et seq. ...

The Trump trial in New York is racing toward the finish line, with Michael Cohen potentially the last witness. Meanwhile in DC, Steve Bannon reaches the findout on his contempt of congress charge.   Links: US v. Navarro [Docket via Court Listener] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/63359365/united-states-v-navarro/  2 U.S.C. § 192 https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/2/192 18 U.S.C. § 3624 https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/3624 18 U.S.C. § 3632 ...

Liz and Andrew check in on the latest hilarity from Stefanie Lambert, the Kraken alum who’s now been arrested twice for trying to overthrow the 2020 election. Then, they break down last week in Trump’s NY trial with a focus on Stormy Daniels’ testimony and what the DA’s office has left to prove.   Links: New York Penal Law § 175.10 https://codes.findlaw.com/ny/penal-law/pen-sect-175-10 Dominion v. Byrne Lambert Motion to Adjourn ...

Liz and Andrew interview law professor Steven Vladek about The Shadow Docket, what makes the Supreme Court legitimate, and how to think and talk about it in order to reform the Court for the future.   Links: The Shadow Docket https://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Docket-Supreme-Undermine-Republic/dp/B0BJ15Q9VZ/ Lisa Needham on Public Notice, “The Dangerously Illiberal Judges” https://www.publicnotice.co/p/columbia-protests-law-clerk-trump-judges-boycott   Show Links: ...

Liz and Andrew break Justice Merchan’s contempt ruling that paves the way for Trump to spend time in lockup, then discuss the witnesses and how they did, or did not, help the prosecution build its case. Plus, Tennessee banned contrails and maybe … spray bottles?    Links: Second Contempt Order https://www.nycourts.gov/LegacyPDFS/press/PDFs/DOcontempt_5-6-24FINAL.pdf  Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2022 https://www.congress.gov/117/plaws/publ103/PLAW-117publ103.pdf 2023 OSTP...

Liz and Andrew Torrez catch up with Trump’s election lawyers. Where are they now, and why isn’t it the hoosegow? Then a deep dive into the Biden administration’s plan to reschedule marijuana. But first, Donald Trump has nothing but contempt for this court!   Links:   Trump Contempt Order https://www.nycourts.gov/LegacyPDFS/press/PDFs/D.O.motion4contempt-FINAL.pdf    Eastman Disciplinary Order ...

Liz sits down with Arizona trial lawyer Tom Ryan to discuss last week’s indictment of fake electors by Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes. It’s indictment-thirty for Boris Epshteyn and Christina Bobb!   Links: Gag Order https://www.justsecurity.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/JustSecurityNY2016ElectionInterferenceCaseClearinghouse%E2%80%94Order-granting-State-of-New-York-motion-to-restrict-Trump-extrajudicial-statements-March-26-2024.pdf  Indictment ...

Liz talks to podcaster Andrew Torrez about Trump’s Manhattan prosecution and the debacle at the Supreme Court Thursday when Trump made his magical, perpetual, presidential immunity argument.   Links: Arizona v. Ward — Indictment https://www.azag.gov/sites/default/files/2024-04/Indictment.pdf  People v. Trump — Transcripts https://pdfs.nycourts.gov/PeopleVs.DTrump-71543/transcripts/  People v. Trump — Evidence https://pdfs.nycourts.gov/PeopleVs.DTrump-71543/Evidence/  Trump  v. US —...

Trump’s first criminal trial gets underway in Manhattan, even as he fights to get the court to accept his hinky bond in the civil fraud case.    Links:   NYAG Opposition to Trump/Knight Surety Bond https://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/nyscef/ViewDocument?docIndex=E/oR7WnxPeT2tSnZpOGlBA==    Trump Civil Trial NY, Selected Docs at Just Security https://www.justsecurity.org/89120/clearinghouse-new-york-attorney-general-corporate-fraud-case/    Trump False Business Records Case, Selected...

Hey guys, it’s Liz Dye, and we’ve got some big, exciting changes coming your way next week. It’s all still in process, but I can tell you now that we’ll be shifting our podcast drops from Monday/Friday to Tuesday/Friday and ramping up the written content, as well. So, heads up, the next show will be in your feed Tuesday, not Monday.    But today, I’m so excited to talk to a personal hero of mine, Marcy Wheeler. This woman is relentless! If you want to understand what’s going on with the...

On the eve of Trump’s first criminal trial, Liz sits down with Forbes reporter Zach Everson for a trip down memory lane, recounting the breathtaking corruption of Trump’s first term. Plus, Texas AG Ken Paxton loses a round in DC against Media Matters.   Links: Zach Everson’s Substack on the Trump Hotel https://www.1100pennsylvania.com/  How a Nigerian Presidential Candidate Hired a Trump Lobbyist and Ended Up in Trump’s Lobby ...

Liz talks to journalist Chris Geidner about the lawless Fifth Circuit, which is now snatching cases back from other Circuits — and even from their own District Courts — in a mad rush to stop the Biden administration from protecting workers and consumers.    Links: https://www.lawdork.com/ The Fifth Circuit's lawlessness is now spreading from California to D.C. https://www.lawdork.com/p/fifth-circuit-venue-nlrb-spacex-cfpb-chamber  Chamber of Commerce v. CFPB (Fifth Circuit Docket via...

This weekend Donald Trump compared himself to Nelson Mandela. Liz talks with Lawfare’s Anna Bower, who lives out of a suitcase covering the Trump trials beat, to see if she agrees. Plus, WTF is going on with Trump’s bond in the New York civil fraud trial?   Links:   Trump’s Lawyers Told the Court That No One Would Give Him a Bond. Then He Got a Lifeline, but They Didn’t Tell the Judges. https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-bond-disclosure-appeals-court-hankey    Businessman behind...

Liz talks to veteran legal journalist Mike Sacks about the Supreme Court and the decades-old plan to enshrine minority rule into law. How did the Chief Justice wind up frantically tapping the brakes as his own conservative colleagues are going pedal to the metal? And WTF is going on with Judge Cannon in the Trump docs case?   Links: US v. Trump [SDFL Docket via Court Listener] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/67490069/united-states-v-trump/    Special Counsel Threatens To Go To...

Have anti-choice astroturf groups gone too far? Will SCOTUS save medication abortion from the loons at the Fifth Circuit? Liz discusses the arguments in FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine with reproductive rights reporter Susan Rinkunas.    Links: FDA v. Alliance Hippocratic Medicine, Transcript and Audio of Oral Arguments https://www.supremecourt.gov/oral_arguments/audio/2023/23-235  The ‘WTF Is Happening’ Guide to the Supreme Court Abortion Pill Case, by Susan Rinkunas ...

States are banning it, employers are blocking it, and now the US government is trying to steal it. What’s with all the noise around TikTok? TechFreedom’s Corbin Barthold explains why politicians need to take several giant steps back and stop trying to tell kids how to do the internet.    Links: A Breakdown of the Bizarre Factions Fighting Over the TikTok Ban Bill, by Corbin Barthold https://plus.thebulwark.com/p/tiktok-ban-bizarre-factions-strange-bedfellows   H.R.7521 - Protecting...

Liz discusses all the Trump civil and criminal trials with New York litigator Mitchell Epner. Will Trump be able to pay that $454 million bond with the proceeds from taking Truth Social public? We’ll break it down.   Links:   Carroll v. Trump (I) [Docket via Court Listener] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/18418220/carroll-v-trump/   Carroll v. Trump (I) — Denial of Rule 59 Motion ...

Recent revelations have shone a spotlight on the Supreme Court’s broken ethics rules, and boy are the justices mad about it. We talk to Gabe Roth, executive director of Fix the Court about the problem and what to do about it. But first, a breakdown of Trump’s appeal of Judge McAfee’s denial of the motion to disqualify DA Fani Willis in Georgia.   Links:   Fix the Court https://fixthecourt.com/    O.C.G.A. § 5-6-34 ...

Liz talks to voting rights expert Jamie Lynn Crofts about the court order which forced Republicans in Wisconsin to surrender their stranglehold gerrymander. How will fair maps affect the Badger State? And what lessons can we learn for the country as a whole?   Links:   All Voting Is Local https://allvotingislocal.org/    Clarke v. Wisconsin Election Commission, OPINION https://www.wicourts.gov/sc/opinion/DisplayDocument.pdf?content=pdf&seqNo=745249    US v. Trump [SDFL Docket...

Liz talks to Diana Florence, a litigator in New York who spent 24 years in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. They break down the upcoming Trump trial for creating false business records as part of the scheme to disguise the Stormy Daniels hush money payment as legal fees. What should you expect in the first Trump criminal trial? Tune in for a former NY prosecutor’s take!   Links:   Trump Notice Regarding Advice of Counsel Defense ...

Liz talks to Arizona litigator Tom Ryan about how his state’s GOP learned to stop worrying and love the loon. We’ll cover all Kari Lake’s litigation — she’s having no luck as a plaintiff, and even less as a defendant. And we’ll talk about what’s next for Democrats and Republicans in the Grand Canyon State.   Links: Richer v. Lake Complaint https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23858088-richer-v-lake  Petersen v. Fontes Case Docs (via Democracy Docket) ...

On the eve of Ken Paxton’s trial for securities fraud — a mere nine years after he got indicted — Liz talks to Texas Monthly reporter Dan Solomon about the state’s embattled Attorney General. How much worse has he gotten since surviving impeachment? Will he play a role in a future Trump administration? And is this literally hell we are living in now?   Links: Carroll Bond Ruling https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.543790/gov.uscourts.nysd.543790.315.0.pdf  Ken...

Should the government be able to order social media platforms to host political speech? Does the First Amendment even exist any more? And do we really have to side with Justice Kavanaugh on this one? Liz talks to TechFreedom’s Corbin Barthold about the Netchoice cases.    Links: Tech Policy Podcast ​​https://podcast.techfreedom.org/  Moody v. Netchoice (Texas Docket) https://www.supremecourt.gov/search.aspx?filename=/docket/docketfiles/html/public/22-555.html Moody v. Netchoice...

Liz talks to national security law expert Kel McClanahan about the Trump documents case in Florida and how he could use classified materials to derail the trial until after the election.   Links: SCOTUS Order Granting Cert on Trump Immunity Claim https://www.supremecourt.gov/orders/courtorders/022824zr3_febh.pdf US v. Trump [SDFL Docket via Court Listener] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/67490070/united-states-v-trump/  Classified Information Procedures Act ...