Ep 226 — SCOTUS and Louisiana Go Mask Off

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-trumpTrump vowed to fight crime in Minneapolis. Prosecutions plungedhttps://www.reuters.com/world/americas/how-trumps-minneapolis-immigration-blitz-hobbled-federal-crime-fighting-2026-05-07/Gomez v. Nessinger [Rhode Island Attorney Sanctions]https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73235898/gomez-v-nessinger/Mifepristone SCOTUS Dockethttps://www.supremecourt.gov/search.aspx?filename=/docket/docketfiles/html/public/25a1208.htmlScott v. McDougle (Virginia Supreme Court)https://www.vacourts.gov/static/opinions/opnscvwp/1260127.pdfScott v. McDougle [US Supreme Court petition for stay]https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/25/25A1240/408563/20260511151941216_25A%20Application%20for%20Stay.pdfFCC Petition by KTRK-TV (The View)https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/document/10507899614175/1FCC Chair Brandon Carr letter (DA 26-68)https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DA-26-68A1.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.

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 CabinetKash Patel’s Personalized Bourbon Stashhttps://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 NOWhttps://www.ms.now/news/kash-patel-ordered-polygraphs-of-more-than-two-dozen-members-of-his-team-sources-tell-ms-nowDOJ Offers Lawyers $25,000 Signing Bonuses as Hiring Lagshttps://news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/doj-offers-lawyers-25-000-signing-bonuses-as-recruitment-lagsUS. SPLChttps://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73223865/united-states-v-southern-poverty-law-center-incIn 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]https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73290254/in-re-motion-to-quash-administrative-subpoena-to-rhode-island-hospital/“Chief Justice John Roberts says American public wrongly views the justices as ‘political actors’” [NBC News]https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/chief-justice-john-roberts-says-justices-are-not-political-actors-rcna343958Hernandez Alvarez v. Warden (11th Cir. immigration) [docket via CourtListener]https://storage.courtlistener.com/pdf/2026/05/06/ismael_perez_v._assistant_field_office_director_krome_north_service.pdfAmerican Council of Learned Societies v. McDonaldhttps://www.courtlistener.com/docket/70035052/american-council-of-learned-societies-v-mcdonald/How Professional Wrestling Prepared Linda McMahon for Trump’s Cabinethttps://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2026/04/27/linda-mcmahon-profileShow 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.

DOCKET ALERTS: Sadly, recurring L&C segment “Justin Baldoni Teaches CivPro” is canceled. He and Blake Lively settled their civil suit today. Now we’ll just have to rely on Trump and his minions to show us how law does not work.The DOJ subpoenaed a Rhode Island hospital for patient records on gender affirming care. When the hospital failed to respond (oh no!), the DOJ moved to enforce the subpoena … in Texas, before a hand-picked conservative jurist. Judge Reed O’Connor granted the motion, and now the hospital is seeking to block the demand in a Rhode Island federal court.Trump says the War Powers Resolution doesn’t count because of the ceasefire. He’s full of s***.Law and Chaos’s first inaugural Doofus of the Day is Justice Neil Gorsuch, who went on Fox News to hawk his book and tell us all about the Christian Founding Fathers.MAIN SHOW:On Friday the Fifth Circuit purported to ban the abortion drug mifepristone nationwide based on a letter from HHS Secretary Robert “Bear Carcass” Kennedy implying that the dispensing protocol had been arbitrarily decided. On Monday, the Supreme Court stayed that order temporarily. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and Alina Habba — what even is her job these days??? — both appeared on TV and undermined the Comey seashells case. Democratic candidate Lindsay Garcia and a local voter have sued Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry over his executive order that suspends that state’s primary elections – but only for the US House of Representatives races.And for subscribers: US Attorney for DC Jeanine Pirro is ready to pick up the slack for Justin Baldoni. Today she’ll teach us how Munsingwear vacatur doesn’t work. 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]https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73290254/in-re-motion-to-quash-administrative-subpoena-to-rhode-island-hospital/US v. Russottohttps://www.courtlistener.com/docket/70649950/united-states-v-russotto/Collins v. Landry (Louisiana elections lawsuit) [Docket via CourtListener]https://gov.louisiana.gov/assets/2026-Executive-Orders/JML-Exective-Order-26-038.pdfExecutive Order 26-038 (order suspending elections)https://gov.louisiana.gov/assets/2026-Executive-Orders/JML-Exective-Order-26-038.pdfLouisiana v. FDA (5th Cir) [docket via CourtListener]https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73207799/state-of-louisiana-v-fda/Louisiana v. FDA (W.D. La. trial court) [docket via CourtListener]https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.lawd.213952/Sec. Kennedy Letter re: Mifepristonehttps://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.lawd.213952/gov.uscourts.lawd.213952.1.110.pdfSupreme Court stay orderhttps://www.supremecourt.gov/orders/courtorders/050426zr_l5gm.pdfIn re grand jury subpoenas [Federal Reserve]https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72490330/in-re-grand-jury-subpoenas/Show 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.

Elon Musk discovers that filing a lawsuit against Sam Altman and sh*tposting about it on social media is a lot more fun than testifyingAlex Jones is back on his BS. He managed to delay a proposed deal to license InfoWars assets to the satirical news outlet The Onion. Again.The judge presiding over Trump’s shakedown case against the IRS for the wrongful disclosure of his tax returns in 2020 has appointed a whole squad of lawyers to serve as amici. They’ll brief the issue of whether the court has jurisdiction to preside over a case where the president appears to be suing himself.L&C’s Doofus of the Day is Pete Hegseth.MAIN SHOW:James Comey has been indicted again. This time his “crime” is posting a picture of seashells arranged to say “8647.” It is exceptionally stupid, but we will break it down in exceptional detail.As a companion to our written post, we unpack Wednesday’s Supreme Court decision in Louisiana v. Callais effectively gutting Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. Subscribers will get a deep dive into what the new districts might look like with Joe Dye.Finally, we’ll cringe our way through the DOJ’s latest motion in the ballroom case — it’s the most inappropriate, unprofessional thing we’ve ever seen, including from pro se litigants.Louisiana v. Callais [Supreme Court opinion]https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/24-109_21o3.pdfThe Supreme Court Just Effectively Repealed The Voting Rights Act https://www.lawandchaospod.com/p/the-supreme-court-just-effectivelyUS v. Comeyhttps://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73256624/united-states-v-comeyTrump DOJ Pursuing Separate Comey Probe for Classified Leakshttps://news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/trump-doj-pursuing-separate-comey-probe-for-classified-leaksTrump v. IRShttps://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72207870/trump-v-internal-revenue-serviceLive updates from Elon Musk and Sam Altman’s court battle over the future of OpenAIhttps://www.theverge.com/tech/917225/sam-altman-elon-musk-openai-lawsuitNational Trust for Historic Preservation v. National Park Servicehttps://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72028010/national-trust-for-historic-preservation-in-the-united-states-v-national/Show 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.

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.