Law and Chaos
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.
Ep 273 — Trump v. Voters
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...
Ep 272 — SCOTUS vs. All Living Things
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...
Ep 271 — Birtherism 2.0
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...
Ep 270 — Attorney Accountability (feat. Akiva Cohen)
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
https://glowlaw.org/about/
Akiva Cohen
https://www.kusklaw.com/akiva-cohen
...Ep 269 — Star Wars Bar
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...
Ep 268 — Book Club: Unpacking McGirt v. Oklahoma
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
https://bookshop.org/p/books/by-the-fire-we-carry-the-generations-long-fight-for-justice-on-native-land-rebecca-nagle/288762f2ed30e05a
McGirt v. Oklahoma
https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/19pdf/18-9526_9okb.pdf
Show Links:
https://www.lawandchaospod.com/
BlueSky: @LawA...
Ep 267 — DOJ Loves Nixon
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.
<...
Ep 266 — Trump Says LOVE ME On The Taxpayer Dime
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...
Ep 265 — Brett Kavanaugh, U Up?
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...
Ep 264 — Mission Accomplished-ish
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...
Ep 263 — SCOTUS Saves The Midterms … Eventually
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.<...
Ep 262 — Any Time Now, SCOTUS!
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...
Ep 261 — If You're Gonna Steal, Steal Big With AI
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...
Ep 260 — The State of the Senate 2026 (feat. Joe Dye)
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 afte...
Ep 259 — COINTELPRO 2: Defective Boogaloo
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...
Ep 258 — Florida Corruptionpalooza
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...
Ep 257 — That Time When EBay Lost Its Mind
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/
B...
Ep 256 — Natalie, Hide the Ketchup!
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...
Ep 255 — Double the Jeopardy, Double the Fun
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 ca...
Ep 254 — More Like the Department of Manifest Injustice
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.
...
Ep 253 — The One Weird Trick Presidency
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...
Ep 252 — Blanche, Boutros, and Buc-ee's
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...
Ep 251 — You Whack The Guy, You Don't 86 Him
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 v...
Ep 250 — Trump Corruption-palooza (Ft. Zach Everson)
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
Ep 249 — DHS Voter Lists?
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...
Ep 248 — Tariff Man Returns
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...
Ep 247 — They See Me Trollin'
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...
Ep 246 — Blanche and Buc-ee's
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.
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Ep 245 — Lindsey Graham: Bad Lawyer
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.
<...
Ep 244 — Trump Says SCOTUS Must Reconsider 'IMMEDIATELY
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...
Ep 243 — Judgefight
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...
Ep 242 — SCOTUS Wanders Off For Summer, But State Judges Keep Delivering
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...
Ep 241 — SCOTUS Burns Down The Government For Sport
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...
Ep 240 — The Only Consistent Thing About The Supreme Court
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...
Ep 239 — Slush Fund Funtimes
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...
Ep 238 — Speech Crimes
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...
Ep 237 — A Slush Fund By Any Other Name Would Still Reek
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:
<...
Ep 236 — Is Trump's Newest Lawyer WORSE Than Alina Habba?
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 defam...
Ep 235 — The Only Thing Bigger Than The UFC Claw Is The Grift
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...
Ep 234 — Holy Grand Jury, Batman!
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...
