Ep 222 — Chief Justice Roberts Burned Down Democracy To Save Coal Plants

Never one to let a good crisis go to waste, Republicans are insisting that the lone gunman at the White House Correspondents Dinner means that Trump can — in fact, must! — build his illegal ballroom. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche tweeted out a demand for the National Historic Trust to drop its lawsuit. The Trust told him to get bent.  Trump’s shakedown of the IRS hit a snag as a federal judge in Florida said she may not have jurisdiction over a case where the plaintiff and the defendant are the same person — Donald Trump.And EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin is being so weird at Congress. Is he bad at law, or just lying?MAIN SHOW: It’s a courtroom brawl between Elon Musk and Sam Altman over the past and future of AI. Musk claims he was swindled out of seed money by claims that OpenAI would be operated as a non-profit, only to watch the company pivot to a trillion-dollar for-profit enterprise. The jury is empaneled, and the trial begins this week.  The Supreme Court heard oral argument Monday in Chatrie v. US. The case involves law enforcement's use of “geofencing” data to find criminal suspects based on their cell phone location data. Should the government have to get a warrant to collect that info? What should those warrants look like?Court Side-Eyes Trump's Plan To Sue Himself And Loot The Treasuryhttps://www.lawandchaospod.com/p/court-side-eyes-trumps-plan-to-sueShuffle Up And Deal [Subscriber Bonus Episode]https://www.patreon.com/posts/ep-subscriber-up-156633231Musk v. Altmanhttps://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69013420/musk-v-altmanNational Trust rejects Trump demand to drop ballroom suit in wake of shootinghttps://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/04/27/trump-ballroom-national-trust-lawsuit/Oral argument in Chatrie v. US [geofencing warrants]https://www.supremecourt.gov/oral_arguments/argument_transcripts/2025/25-112_o758.pdfShow Links:https://www.lawandchaospod.com/BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPodThreads: @LawAndChaosPodTwitter: @LawAndChaosPodSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Capitol police officer Shauni Kerkhoff has sued Glenn Beck’s outfit The Blaze for defamation after they said she “kinda walked like a criminal” – and she’s brought out the big guns. The Trump administration funneled another $1.25 million in taxpayer dollars to campaign stooge Carter Page. The Fifth Circuit hit us with another terrible decision, this one permitting states to force public schools to display the Ten Commandments. We wrote about it on the blog, and it’s even worse than you imagine. And AndIn the main show, we have an extended interview with electoral maps expert Joe Dye over the Virginia Constitutional Amendment that passed on Tuesday and will replace Virginia’s existing Congressional districts (that are 6 Democratic and 5 Republican) with a new map that is 10-1 Democratic. For now, a Republican judge in Tazewell County has enjoined the amendment.\SUBSCRIBER BONUS:We discuss the Trump administration’s bogus indictment of the Southern Poverty Law Center.Kerkhoff v. Blaze Media, LLC [docket via CourtListener]https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73220023/kerkhoff-v-blaze-media-llc/“Fifth Circuit Cosplays As Historians So It Can Burn Down The Wall Between Church And State” [lawandchaospod.com]https://www.lawandchaospod.com/p/fifth-circuit-cosplays-as-historiansRosado v. Bondi [docket via CourtListener]https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72259284/rosado-v-bondi/Text of Virginia’s Constitutional Amendmenthttps://www.elections.virginia.gov/election-law/proposed-amendment-for-april-2026-special-election/Existing Virginia Congressional District Map (6-5 Democratic, drawn by independent commission)https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/90/Virginia_Congressional_Districts%2C_118th_Congress_%282%29.svgNew Virginia Congressional District Map (10-1 Democratic)https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a9/Virginia_Congressional_Districts%2C_120th_Congress_%282026_Redistricting_Amendment%29.svgJudge Hurley’s injunction issued in Tazewell County, Virginia [text via Meidas Touch News]https://meidasnews.com/news/virginia-judge-voids-redistricting-amendment-invalidates-all-votes-from-tuesdays-special-electionIndictment of Southern Poverty Law Center [via CourtListener]https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.almd.90264/gov.uscourts.almd.90264.1.0.pdfShow Links:https://www.lawandchaospod.com/BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPodThreads: @LawAndChaosPodTwitter: @LawAndChaosPodSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Onion’s plan to take over Infowars looks to have succeeded at last.A judge in Rhode Island became the fifth to reject the DOJ’s voter roll grab. But Harmeet Dhillon, head of the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, is undeterred. Now she’s trying to snatch ballots from Wayne County, Michigan. Trump’s Justice Department is negotiating with Trump’s lawyers to decide how much taxpayer money to pay Trump for the illegal disclosure of his tax returns in 2020. The statutory max is $1,000 per return. He wants $10 billion. The DOJ has hired Joe diGenova, a Reagan-era US Attorney, to spice up the grand conspiracy investigation into all Trump’s enemies taking place in Florida under the watchful eye of Judge Aileen Cannon.And Pennsylvania’s intermediate appellate court rules that the state’s ban on abortion coverage under Medicaid violates both the Pennsylvania Equal Rights Amendment and the state constitution's equal protection provisions.MAIN SHOW:FBI Director (for now) Kash Patel is big mad over an article in The Atlantic reporting that his drinking is freaking out everyone around him. He’s rounded up wonderweasel lawyer Jesse Binnall and filed a defamation trollsuit in DC. This will be amazing content, and we are grateful in advance!And we’ll break down the blockbuster article from the New York Times on Chief Justice Roberts’ invention of the modern shadow docket ten years ago to stop the “emergency” of states being asked to come up with a way to reduce carbon emissions. The Times got the receipts, and they are ugly. So much for Mister Balls and Strikes!SUBSCRIBERS:Alan Dershowitz is indulging his humiliation kink at the Supreme Court. He’s asking the justices to overturn the actual malice standard from New York Times v. Sulllivan so he can sue CNN for reporting what he said during Trump’s first impeachment. Are his arguments good? NO. Are they hilarious? HELL YES.The Onion Has a New Plan to Take Over Infowarshttps://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/20/business/infowars-alex-jones-the-onion.htmlUS v. Amore [Rhode Island voter rolls]https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/71982644/united-states-v-amoreAG Nessel, Governor Whitmer, Secretary Benson Denounce DOJ Demand for 2024 Ballotshttps://www.michigan.gov/ag/news/press-releases/2026/04/19/ag-nessel-governor-whitmer-secretary-benson-denounce-doj-demand-for-2024-ballotsTrump v. IRShttps://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72207870/trump-v-internal-revenue-service/U.S. Installs a Trump Loyalist to Lead ‘Grand Conspiracy’ Case Into Trump Foeshttps://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/18/us/politics/digenova-trump-lawyer-conspiracy.htmlAllegheny Reproductive Health Center v. Pennsylvania Department of Human Serviceshttps://www.pacourts.us/assets/opinions/Commonwealth/out/26MD19_4-20-26.pdf?cb=1Patel v. The Atlantic Monthly Grouphttps://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73213220/patel-v-the-atlantic-monthly-group-llc/The FBI Director Is MIAhttps://www.theatlantic.com/politics/2026/04/kash-patel-fbi-director-drinking-absences/686839/“The Shadow Papers: The Inside Story of Five Days That Remade the Supreme Court,” New York Times, April 18, 2026https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/18/us/politics/supreme-court-shadow-docket.html“Read the Supreme Court’s Shadow Papers,” New York Times, April 18, 2026https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/04/18/us/politics/supreme-court-shadow-docket-papers.htmlDersh at SCOTUShttps://www.supremecourt.gov/search.aspx?filename=/docket/docketfiles/html/public/25-770.htmlShow Links:https://www.lawandchaospod.com/BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPodThreads: @LawAndChaosPodTwitter: @LawAndChaosPodSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The lady who wore a penis costume to a No Kings protest in Fairhope, Alabama was acquitted of disturbing the peace.DNI Tulsi Gabbard referred the Ukraine Whistleblower and former Intelligence Community Inspector General to the DOJ for criminal prosecution. Crime: TBD.US Attorney for DC Jeanine Pirro continues to harass the Federal Reserve. This time she sent prosecutors to bang on the door demanding to inspect the ongoing renovations.The Trump administration uses the threat of administrative sanctions to force changes it can’t get from Congress or the courts. The Justice Department extorted $17 million from IBM — which just so happens to have billions of dollars in government contracts! — for committing DEI “fraud.” And the FTC forced brand advisers to agree not to “discriminate” against conservative media outlets.On a more positive note, a judge in Maryland continues to block the ICE facility being constructed in the state, and Judge Richard Leon put the kibosh on Trump’s ballroom … again.MAIN SHOW:A jury slapped Live Nation and Ticket Master in the antitrust lawsuit filed in New York. The feds noped out two days into trial, but the states who picked up the baton and ran with it. The jurors found the company liable on all counts. We talk about the ins and outs of the decision and some pending legal questions still waiting for resolution. We also break down a new lawsuit brought by a lawful resident of Maine with no criminal record who was seized by ICE during “Operation Catch of the Day” and brutalized. Can he sue under the Maine Civil Rights Act? And if so, is this a path forward for blue states to fill the gap left by inadequate federal laws?Penis costume protester prevails in courthttps://www.courthousenews.com/penis-costume-protester-prevails-in-court/Tulsi’s “Criminal Referral” of the Ukraine Whistleblower and ICIGhttps://www.dni.gov/index.php/newsroom/press-releases/press-releases-2026/4154-pr-06-26Prosecutors from Jeanine Pirro's office tried to access Federal Reserve headquarters, but were turned awayhttps://www.cbsnews.com/news/prosecutors-jeanine-pirro-office-visit-federal-reserve-headquarters-jerome-powell/Justice Department settles with IBM over alleged DEI practiceshttps://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2026/04/16/justice-department-settles-with-ibm-over-alleged-dei-practices/Ad firms settle with Trump FTC over claims they boycotted conservative mediahttps://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/04/ad-firms-settle-with-trump-ftc-over-claims-they-boycotted-conservative-mediaMaryland v. Mullinhttps://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72313096/state-of-maryland-v-mullinNational Trust for Historic Preservation v. National Park Servicehttps://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72028010/national-trust-for-historic-preservation-in-the-united-states-v-nationalUS v. LiveNation [docket via CourtListener]https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/68557723/united-states-of-america-v-live-nation-entertainment-inc/?order_by=desc&page=1Carvajal-Munoz v. Ravencamp [docket via CourtListener]https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73186770/carvajal-munoz-v-ravencamp/Maine Civil Rights Act, 5 M.R.S. 4682https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/5/title5sec4682.html“State Law, the Westfall Act, and the Nature of the Bivens Question,” [2013 U. Penn. L. Rev.]https://scholarship.law.georgetown.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1976&context=facpubShow Links:https://www.lawandchaospod.com/BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPodThreads: @LawAndChaosPodTwitter: @LawAndChaosPodSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Fifth Circuit is crossing out laws just for sport. This time it’s a 140-year-old ban on making homebrew hooch, because YOLO.Trump’s lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal and Rupert Murdoch over an article describing his creepy birthday card to Jeffrey Epstein was dismissed. But … that dismissal was without prejudice, so he can take another swing at it. The trollsuit against the BBC is still limping along.Deputy General Counsel at the Department of Education Josh Kleinfeld makes an interesting pitch to George Mason’s Antonin Scalia Law School, which is currently under investigation by … the Department of Education.And Trump’s ballroom blitz takes a tumble in court.MAIN SHOW:Trump discovers one weird trick to make the Presidential Records Act disappear. All he has to do is order the Office of Legal Counsel to come up with a memo saying it’s unconstitutional and — hey, presto! — he can steal or shred or delete any document he likes.SUBSCRIBER BONUS:Are we the pirates now?Trump v. Murdochhttps://www.courtlistener.com/docket/70843413/trump-v-murdochTrump v. BBChttps://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72040010/trump-v-british-broadcasting-corporationFifth Circuit Home Distillers Rulinghttps://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/24/24-10760-CV0.pdfTrump Admin Lawyer Applies To Be Law School Dean, Suggests It Might Help Investigations Go Awayhttps://abovethelaw.com/2026/04/trump-admin-lawyer-applies-to-be-law-school-dean-suggests-it-might-help-investigations-go-away/Ballroom Blitz Blockedhttps://www.lawandchaospod.com/p/ballroom-blitz-blockedNational Trust for Historic Preservation v. National Park Servicehttps://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73127510/national-trust-for-historic-preservation-v-npsApril 1, 2026 OLC Memorandum on the Presidential Records Acthttps://www.justice.gov/olc/media/1434131/dlJudicial Watch v. NARA (“Socks Case”), 845 F.Supp.2d 288 (DC Cir. 2012)https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=15818036517066124081Trump v. Mazars, 591 US 848 (2020)https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=2096461232780826445Nixon v. Administrator of General Svcs. et al., 433 US 425 (1977)https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=11884364268460571560Show Links:https://www.lawandchaospod.com/BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPodThreads: @LawAndChaosPodTwitter: @LawAndChaosPodSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Judge Brian Murphy blocked termination of TPS for 5,000 Ethiopians.DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin will continue Noem’s tradition of announcing his intention to violate the law in advance, so as to give litigants a heads up.Michael Avenatti moves to a halfway house, remains a full-way non-lawyer.And Democrats overperformed in Tuesday’s special elections. MAIN SHOW:Crazytimes continue at the DOJ as Trump’s goons jockey to replace Pam Bondi. Acting AG Todd Blanche is professing his love for Trump at the podium. US Attorney for DC Jeanine Pirro can’t indict a ham sandwich, and juries are telling her to take a hike. Politico says Harmeet Dhillon, head of the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, is in the running for the top job. She’s currently trying to indict January 6 Committee witness Cassidy Hutchinson for perjury — which has exactly nothing to do with civil rights. And Dhillon’s office keeps losing when she sues states demanding they turn over their voter rolls. Will Republicans invoke the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office? (No.) But the fact that we’re asking the question shows how far we’ve come.And in Tennessee, Kilmar Abrego Garcia is trying to get his human smuggling case dismissed on grounds of vindictive prosecution. Both the government and Garcia filed their briefs this week. The government claims that prosecution started with an article in the local paper, the Tennessee Star. Which is weird because the case was reopened in Baltimore the week before the article was published — and DHS is actually the source of the reporting!Blanche Steals Bondi's Brown Nosehttps://lawandchaospod.substack.com/p/blanche-steals-bondis-brown-noseJustice Dept.’s Civil Rights Division Is Investigating Star Witness Against Trumphttps://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/07/us/doj-cassidy-hutchinson-investigation-trump.htmlKilmar Abrego Garcia [TN criminal docket]https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.tnmd.104622/2022 TN Traffic Stop of Kilmar Abrego Garcia Was Day Three of Trip That Originated in Houston, Took Detour to St. Louis, Crossed Trafficking Hubs and Areas with MS-13https://tennesseestar.com/justice/2022-tn-traffic-stop-of-kilmar-abrego-garcia-was-day-three-of-trip-that-originated-in-houston-took-detour-to-st-louis-crossed-trafficking-hubs-and-areas-with-ms-13/tpappert/2025/04/21/African Communities Together v. Noem [TPS for Ethiopians]https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72178312/african-communities-together-v-noem/Mullin weighs using airport customs as leverage against sanctuary citieshttps://www.foxnews.com/politics/mullin-weighs-using-airport-customs-leverage-against-sanctuary-citiesJudge Jeanine’s Big Auditionhttps://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/judge-jeanine-pirro-attorney-general-trump-jerome-powell.htmlInside the battle to be Trump’s next attorney general​​https://www.politico.com/news/2026/04/09/trump-attorney-general-blanche-dhillion-pirro-00864988Show Links:https://www.lawandchaospod.com/BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPodThreads: @LawAndChaosPodTwitter: @LawAndChaosPodSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Pam Bondi is GTFO! But the mess she leaves will take a generation to repair.The Supreme Court paved the way to disappear Steve Bannon’s conviction for contempt of Congress.Trump commands the NCAA to quit being woke. He also has thoughts about the transfer portal.MAIN SHOW:Judge Richard Leon! Preliminarily enjoins! Trump’s tackyass ballroom! Administration files ridiculous appeal!Justin Baldoni is back to teach us CivPro. This time, he’s largely prevailing on his motion for judgment on the pleadings, as Judge Liman dismisses ten of Blake Lively’s 13 counts. Turns out, she never signed her contract, and the contract established that she was an employee, not an independent contractor. Since independent contractors can’t sue for discrimination under Title VII, her harassment claims are out. And the contract had a choice of law provision that agreed to abide by California law. No contract … no automatic California law.And of course we’ll break down the Supreme Court’s birthright decision hearing. So many clips!SCOTUS Orders List April 6, 2026https://www.supremecourt.gov/orders/courtorders/040626zor_5iek.pdfTrump Executive Order to De-Woke the NCAAhttps://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2026/04/urgent-national-action-to-save-college-sports/National Trust for Historic Preservation v. National Park Service [Ballroom trial docket]https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72028010/national-trust-for-historic-preservation-in-the-united-states-v-national/National Trust for Historic Preservation v. National Park Service [Ballroom appeal docket]https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73127510/national-trust-for-historic-preservation-v-nps/Lively v. Wayfarerhttps://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69510553/lively-v-wayfarer-studios-llc/?order_by=descBlake Lively’s (unsigned) Actor Loan-Out Agreement [Exhibit 263]https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.634304/gov.uscourts.nysd.634304.964.121.pdfBirthright Citizenship SCOTUS Transcripthttps://www.supremecourt.gov/oral_arguments/argument_transcripts/2025/25-365_l6gn.pdfBirthright Citizenship SCOTUS Audiohttps://www.supremecourt.gov/oral_arguments/audio/2025/25-365Show Links:https://www.lawandchaospod.com/BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPodThreads: @LawAndChaosPodTwitter: @LawAndChaosPodSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The House Judiciary Committee wants to change the US Attorney statute to say what Attorney General Bondi claimed it did in court. This would involve the Senate voluntarily surrendering their power to vote on nominees, so … lotsa luck. Back in New Jersey, prosecutors say they’ll seek superseding indictments in cases with Alina Habba’s name on them, to remove the stink of illegitimacy.The DOJ has quietly settled a trollsuit filed by red states and rightwing trolls, including Robert Kennedy, alleging social media censorship by the Biden administration. The Supreme Court already dropkicked this case once, so the parties agreed to simply declare victory and go home.And Sam Bankman-Fried finds new ways to piss off judges and be sooooo weird, this time with help from his mom.MAIN SHOW:The DOJ settled a bogus lawsuit filed by former national security advisor Mike Flynn. His malicious prosecution claims had already been tossed by a federal judge, but she let him amend his complaint again, and by then Trump was back in the White House. Is this a new template for MAGA criminals to back the truck up to the Treasury and start filling it with taxpayer cash? The January 6 defendants sure seem to think so! We’ll compare a newly filed case by rioters with a suit filed by pardoned Proud Boys.And we’ve got a deep dive into the birthright citizenship case Trump v. Barbara, which will be argued at the Supreme Court this Wednesday.Kennedy v. Bidenhttps://www.courtlistener.com/docket/67089647/kennedy-v-biden/?order_by=descMissouri v. Bidenhttps://www.courtlistener.com/docket/63290154/missouri-v-biden/?order_by=descUS v. Bankman-Friedhttps://www.courtlistener.com/docket/66631292/united-states-v-bankman-friedTarrio v. US [Proud Boys Bivens Suit]https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/70474277/tarrio-v-united-states-of-americaSullivan v. US [J6ers FTCA Suit]https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73101995/sullivan-v-united-states/Flynn v. US [Flynn FTCA]https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/66930673/flynn-v-united-statesDred Scott v. Sandford, 60 US 393 (1857)https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=3231372247892780026US v. Wong Kim Ark, 169 US 649 (1898)https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=3381955771263111765Indian Citizenship Act of 1924https://www.archives.gov/files/historical-docs/doc-content/images/indian-citizenship-act-1924.pdfIndian Law Scholars’ Amicus Brief [via SCOTUS]https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/25/25-365/399370/20260226125541217_Barbara%20Amicus%20Brief.pdfThe Nationality Act of 1940 [student Note]https://www.jstor.org/stable/1335062Trump v. Barbarahttps://www.supremecourt.gov/search.aspx?filename=/docket/docketfiles/html/public/25-365.htmlShow Links:https://www.lawandchaospod.com/BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPodThreads: @LawAndChaosPodTwitter: @LawAndChaosPodSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Anthropic got its injunction against the Department of Defense and Pete Hegseth’s designation of the company as a supply chain risk.Elon Musk lost a shareholder class action suit in California over sh*tposts he made when he was trying to get out of buying Twitter. He demands a new trial because the jury made a 420 joke, and everyone knows that only he is allowed to do that. Meanwhile in Texas, X Corp lost a lawsuit against a bunch of Fortune 500 companies for daring to take their business elsewhereTrump housing goon Bill Pulte is back on his BS, trying again to get someone to indict New York Attorney General Letitia James, this time for insurance fraud.Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier is threatening NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell that there will be hell to pay if he doesn’t ditch the Rooney Rule.And Minnesota law enforcement and prosecutors sued the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security for blockading the evidence in the shootings of Renee Good, Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, and Alex Pretti.MAIN SHOW:The Eighth Circuit joins the Fifth in endorsing ICE’s fakakta interpretation of the mandatory detention statute. Facebook/Meta/Zuckerberg loses in two courts — just like Elon/Twitter! In New Mexico, a jury ordered the company to pay $375 million in lawsuit brought by the state over unfair trade practices. And a jury in California awarded $6 million to a woman who became addicted to social media as a little girl and suffered serious emotional consequences.SUBSCRIBERS:For seven months, the DOJ told a court that ICE had revised its policy on arrests inside courthouses, including immigration courts. Only … they hadn’t. Now a federal judge in New York is on the warpath, and DOJ is trying to make sure that DHS takes the fall.Trump housing chief seeks new DOJ probe of New York AG Letitia Jameshttps://www.ms.now/news/trump-housing-chief-doj-new-york-letitia-james-pulteAnthropic Injunctionhttps://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.465515/gov.uscourts.cand.465515.134.0.pdfX Corp v. World Federation of Advertisershttps://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69017972/x-corp-v-world-federation-of-advertisers/ Pampena v Muskhttps://www.courtlistener.com/docket/65412803/giuseppe-pampena-v-elon-rmuskFlorida AG Uthmeier tells NFL to end diversity-promoting ‘Rooney Rule’https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2026/03/26/florida-ag-uthmeier-tells-nfl-to-end-diversity-promoting-rooney-rule/Minnesota v. DOJhttps://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72590076/state-of-minnesota-v-us-department-of-justice/African Communities Together v. Lyonshttps://www.courtlistener.com/docket/70993525/african-communities-together-v-lyonsAvila v. ICE (8th Cir. mandatory detention) [docket via CourtListener]https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.ca8.113186/gov.uscourts.ca8.113186.00805482414.3.pdfState of New Mexico v. Meta (NM state investigation of Facebook)https://nmag.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/2023-12-05-NM-v.-Meta-et-al.-COMPLAINT-REDACTED.pdfSmith v. TikTok (CA state lawsuit against social media addiction)https://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/social-media-lawsuits-kgm-motion-denied.pdfShow Links:https://www.lawandchaospod.com/BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPodThreads: @LawAndChaosPodTwitter: @LawAndChaosPodSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Lots of legal news out of US Agency for Global Media, the parent agency for Voice of America. Judge Royce Lamberth ruled that Kari Lake was never legally appointed CEO of USAGM, and thus her orders shutting the sub-agencies down and firing all the employees were null and void. The government appealed, but in the sloppiest way possible. Now the agency is getting sued again for violating the firewall protecting journalistic independence, forcing the networks to air AI slop praising Trump. But Kari Lake has an answer for that, and it is to call the judge a fatso.Judges in the District of New Jersey have appointed longtime prosecutor Robert Frazer as US Attorney. And so far, Attorney General Bondi hasn’t fired him.Judge Roy Altman, a Trump appointee, seems disinclined to put an end to Trump’s trollsuits right out of the gate. He’s allowing the case against the BBC to proceed to discovery. And he dismissed the complaint against Capital One for tortious debanking, but allowed Trump 90 days to conduct discovery and refile.MAIN SHOW:We’ve got an update on Kilmar Abrego Garcia. The government says it has to send him to Liberia (where he does not agree to go) instead of Costa Rica (where he does agree to go) because Secretary Marco Rubio spent a lot of time negotiating with Liberia to take Abrego, and it would be so embarrassing not to send him there.And we’ll break down the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Olivier v. City of Brandon, a case involving a truly obnoxious street preacher that implicates your right to sue the government.SUBSCRIBER BONUS: The Trump administration is suing Harvard under Title VI, claiming that the school failed to protect Jewish students and must forfeit billions.Widakuswara v. Lake I [DC Circuit]https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72521013/patsy-widakuswara-v-kari-lake/Widakuswara v. Lake [Trial Court]https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69846584/widakuswara-v-lakeWidakuswara v. Lake II [DC Circuit]https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72528662/widakuswara-v-lake/District New Jersey Appointment Orderhttps://www.njd.uscourts.gov/sites/njd/files/STANDINGORDER2026-03.pdfTrump Suit Against Capital One Dismissed But Can Be Refiledhttps://finance.yahoo.com/news/trump-suit-against-capital-one-200454780.html Trump v. BBChttps://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72040010/trump-v-british-broadcasting-corporationTrump v. Capital Onehttps://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69853458/the-donald-j-trump-revocable-trust-v-capital-one-naUS v. Harvardhttps://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72520538/unites-states-of-america-v-harvard-university-fellows-and-president/Abrego Garcia v. Noem (habeas petition) [docket via CourtListener]https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/71191591/abrego-garcia-v-noem/?order_by=descZadvydas v. Davis, 533 U.S. 678 (2001)https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=16478079160883986502Kennedy v. Bremerton School Dist., 597 U.S. _____ (2022)https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf/21-418_i425.pdfOlivier v. City of Brandon [US Supreme Court]https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/24-993_10n2.pdfOlivier v. City of Brandon (Appendix containing ordinance) [US Supreme Court]https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/24/24-993/352124/20250314105732247_Olivier%20Pet.%20App.pdfShow Links:https://www.lawandchaospod.com/BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPodThreads: @LawAndChaosPodTwitter: @LawAndChaosPodSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.