Ep 274 — DOJ v. Voters

Congratulations to Maurene Comey, who  won her wrongful termination suit against the DOJ, which fired her last year despite a decade of exemplary performance.   US Attorney for DC Jeanine Pirro proudly announced a criminal complaint against two former FBI officials for lying to Congress. Let's see if she can actually get an indictment from a grand jury.   Arizona AG Kris Mayes sued Maricopa County Record Justin Heap and forced him to restore the registrations of 25 citizens wrongly flagged as illegal voters by the SAVE database.   HHS got caught submitting fake case cites in a judicial proceeding. Again.   MAIN SHOW:   The government sued California to force it to purge its voter rolls with the election underway. When the trial judge failed to rule within 15 hours, they filed an emergency appeal to the Ninth Circuit. We wrote about Sunday's oral argument. And now the panel has smacked down the government hard.   The DOJ is suing to block certification of Alaska's Senate race, but only if Democrat Mary Peltola wins.   DOJ is trying to charge James Comey again, this time with leaking classified information ten years ago … outside the statute of limitations.   Comey v. DOJ  https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/71348216/comey-v-united-states-department-of-justice/   US v. Floris  https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/75010510/united-states-v-floris   Maricopa County recorder restores 25 voters wrongly flagged as noncitizens, ending lawsuit https://azmirror.com/2026/10/23/maricopa-county-recorder-restores-25-voters-wrongly-flagged-as-noncitizens-ending-lawsuit/   Over 80 Percent Of Citations 'Fictitious, Erroneous, or Irrelevant' In Trump Admin Brief https://abovethelaw.com/2026/10/over-80-percent-of-citations-fictitious-erroneous-or-irrelevant-in-trump-admin-brief/   US v. California [9th Circuit appellate docket] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/75011344/united-states-of-america-v-state-of-california-et-al/   US v. California [CA District court docket] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/74967108/united-states-v-state-of-california/   Ninth Circuit Bats Around DOJ Lawyer in CA 'Emergency' Vote Purge [lawandchaospod.com] https://www.lawandchaospod.com/p/ninth-circuit-bats-around-doj-lawyer   US v. Alaska https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/75009254/united-states-v-state-of-alaska/   US v. Comey https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/75009254/united-states-v-state-of-alaska/ Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod Twitter: @LawAndChaosPod  

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 Trump has to sit for a deposition by December 11 in his defamation trollsuit against the BBC.   DOOFUS OF THE DAY: It's a pitched battle between the bottom of Donald Trump's personal lawyers, Daniel Epstein, who filed a motion to please decide this quickly because being sanctioned by a federal judge is embarrassing, and Alex Jones's, who got two extensions of time to file their Fifth Circuit brief and somehow still managed not to turn in their homework on time. Now the Fifth Circuit might toss Alex Jones's appeal without a hearing.   MAIN SHOW: Two weeks before the midterm elections, the Department of Justice is demanding that California "segregate" 20,000 mail-in ballots from voters it says are noncitizens. Trump's henchmen filed a lawsuit and tried to steer this case to one of his appointees, but the move backfired and landed on the docket of one of the administration's harshest critics, Judge David Carter. Whoops!   Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín issued an injunction blocking HSI thugs from harassing citizens for voting.   SUBSCRIBER BONUS: Civil procedure FTW! In a lawsuit filed by the NAACP seeking to prevent Homeland Security from sending goons to the polls. A federal judge just ordered expedited discovery in an effort to protect the security of the midterms.   Exclusive: White House probes claims of missing Kennedy Center money in "MAGA blood feud" https://www.axios.com/2026/10/14/trump-kennedy-center-donation-maga-feud   A Billionaire Wanted a Trump Pardon. His Family Gave Alina Habba a $50 Million Deal. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/20/us/politics/julio-herrera-pardon-alina-habba.html   US v. Lucas https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/75002838/united-states-v-lucas/   Trump v. BBC https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72040010/trump-v-british-broadcasting-corporation/   Donald Trump v. Thirty Five Federal Judges [11th Cir. appeal of attorney sanctions in IRS case] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73710657/donald-trump-v-thirty-five-former-federal-judges/   Jones v. Heslin [Alex Jones 5th Cir. appeal] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73472491/jones-v-heslin/   US v. California [DOJ demands California purge mail-in ballots] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/74967108/america-v-california-state-of/   California Nurses Association v. Mullin https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/74815064/california-nurses-association-v-mullin   NAACP v. DHS [Subscriber bonus] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/74811483/national-association-for-the-advancement-of-colored-people-v-us/   Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod Twitter: @LawAndChaosPod  

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 parent company of Penguin Random House, which published books by Justices Sotomayor, Gorsuch, Barrett, and Jackson.   MAIN SHOW:   Trump's defamation suit against the BBC is mired in discovery disputes. Who knew you had to sit for deposition when you sue someone, even if you're the president. Trump is also big mad that Auntie Beeb wants to depose Jack Smith.   DOOFUS of the Day, Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward, is trying hard to get himself sanctioned by Judge Ana Reyes in the litigation over the East Potomac Golf Course.   The DC Circuit heard oral argument in Trump's effort to overturn the Presidential Records Act so that he can steal all the documents from the White House and sell them to the highest bidder.   SUBSCRIBER BONUS:   Let's pack the Supreme Court … or not. We'll shout about recent pieces by law professors Steve Vladeck and Beau Baumann.   DOJ v. McNutt https://www.supremecourt.gov/search.aspx?filename=/docket/docketfiles/html/public/26-204.html   Association for Educational Fairness v. Montgomery County Board of Education https://www.supremecourt.gov/search.aspx?filename=/docket/docketfiles/html/public/26-12.html   BMG v. Vetter https://www.supremecourt.gov/search.aspx?filename=/docket/docketfiles/html/public/25-1391.html   Trump v. BBC https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72040010/trump-v-british-broadcasting-corporation/   DC Preservation League v. Department of Interior [Golf Course] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72278895/dc-preservation-league-v-department-of-interior   American Historical Ass'n v. Trump (DC Cir.) https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73432626/american-historical-association-v-donald-trump/   Beau Baumann, 'The Vladek Tragedy'  https://bbaumann.substack.com/p/the-vladeck-tragedy   Steve Vladek, 'Hard Questions About Court Expansion' https://www.stevevladeck.com/p/bonus-257-hard-questions-about-court Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod Twitter: @LawAndChaosPod  

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 the Park Service razed hundreds of healthy trees at East Potomac Golf Course after repeatedly assuring her that they'd do no such thing. She issued a TRO and vowed to put officials on the stand Monday until she finds out who is to blame.   DOOFUS OF THE DAY: The new White House Press Secretary Katie Zacharia is very bad at her job. She's also not a lawyer, despite years of holding herself out as one.    MAIN SHOW:   Can the Trump administration really denaturalize and deport Rep. Ilhan Omar?   The J.M. Smucker Company has sued Trader Joe's for trademark infringement and dilution over its knockoff "Uncrustables." Is this another "Buc-ee's" overreach, or does Smucker's have a point?   SUBSCRIBER BONUS:   An appeals court in Ohio just struck down the state's voucher program that funnels taxpayer money to religious schools. We talk about that case and the separation of church and state and so much more.   CNN v. Trump https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/74823502/cable-news-network-inc-v-trump/   Trump's new press secretary, Katie Zacharia, claims she's a lawyer. Is she? https://popular.info/p/trumps-new-press-secretary-katie   DC Preservation League v. Department of Interior [Golf Course] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72278895/dc-preservation-league-v-department-of-interior   J.M. Smucker Co. v. Trader Joe's  https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/71631587/jm-smucker-company-v-trader-joes-company/?order_by=desc   Columbus City School District v. Ohio [10th District Ohio Court of Appeals] https://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/rod/docs/pdf/10/2026/2026-Ohio-4047.pdf   Ohio Constitution Art. VI, Sec. 2 https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-constitution/section-6.2   Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod Twitter: @LawAndChaosPod  

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 Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod Twitter: @LawAndChaosPod  

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 in your blog post and let their AI agent read it!   Election denying weirdos Cleta Mitchell and Tina Peters want Trump to seize the voting machines for "national security."   DOOFUS OF THE DAY: Texas AG Ken Paxton has questions about kids' underpants.   MAIN SHOW: The criminal case against Olympic canoeist David Hearn was dismissed, and now he's requesting that the inspectors general of both the Justice Department and the Department of Interior investigate how this abuse of prosecution happened.   In Chicago, Marimar Martinez, was shot five times by CBP agents and then charged with assault with a deadly weapon. That case fell apart when it emerged that the agent was lying, and now Martinez has sued DHS under the Federal Tort Claims Act.   The successor entity to Dominion Voting Systems is suing Patrick Byrne, AKA "the Overstock dot com weirdo," for defamation. Byrne is represented by Trump's former boarding school roommate, Peter Ticktin. Ticktin just accused Judge Carl Nichols, a Trump appointee, of obstructing justice in the case by enforcing a protective order. What is even happening????    Beatty v. Trump https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72069932/beatty-v-trump/   US v. Commonwealth of Virginia [In-state tuition] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72085714/united-states-v-commonwealth-of-virginia/   Ken Paxton kids' underpants https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/news/releases/attorney-general-ken-paxton-launches-investigation-kids-clothing-companies-over-potential-presence   Supreme Court Wannabes Head Search Committee For Bari Weiss University Law School Dean https://abovethelaw.com/2026/10/supreme-court-wannabes-head-search-committee-for-bari-weiss-university-law-school-dean/   Hearn IG Request https://www.democracydefendersfund.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/100626_DDF-Request-for-Concurrent-IG-Investigations-Hearn-Arrest-and-Prosecution.pdf   Martinez v. US  https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/74919226/martinez-v-united-states/   Liberty Vote Holding v. Byrne [Dominion Voting Systems] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/60120428/liberty-vote-holdings-inc-v-byrne/ Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod Twitter: @LawAndChaosPod  

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: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod Twitter: @LawAndChaosPod  

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.   A judge in Washington ruled that the president has no power to fire US Attorneys installed by judges when there is an unfilled vacancy. The three hat dance is so back, baby!   DOOFUS OF THE DAY:    Revisionist historian Geoff Shepard, a former Nixon aide, is making the rounds at DOJ pitching his hot take: "Watergate As Lawfare." The WSJ reports that there's an appetite inside the Justice Department for the theory that all those guys who went to jail for Nixon were persecuted victims.   MAIN SHOW:   JGG v. Trump, the first major case where the Trump DOJ defied a court order, sending hundreds of men to CECOT in El Salvador, is back at the DC Circuit. This week, the entire court sitting en banc, heard oral argument on the issue of whether Judge James Boasberg has the power to do anything about flagrant contempt of his rulings. Audio here!   SUBSCRIBER BONUS:   The US Supreme Court, via a 6-3 shadow docket order, stayed two lower court rulings prohibiting the administration from deporting immigrants to third countries without due process, without notice or the opportunity to raise a credible fear or torture or persecution. The New York Times reported that the administration was unable to comply with the court's order to stop, so it immediately ran to the Supreme Court for help, which it got.   US v. Raffensperger [Georgia voter rolls] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72193752/united-states-v-raffensperger/   Arizona court says judge wrongly allowed AI-generated victim video https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/arizona-court-says-judge-wrongly-allowed-ai-generated-victim-video-2026-09-30/   Hearn Dismissal Order https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28713072-hearn-dismissal/   Decades After Watergate, Justice Department Reviews Whether Nixon Got a Raw Deal https://www.wsj.com/us-news/law/decades-after-watergate-justice-department-reviews-whether-nixon-got-a-raw-deal-8e25380f   Rogoff v. Trump [Three hat dance] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73647676/rogoff-v-trump/   In re: Donald Trump / J.G.G. v. Trump [Oral argument audio] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4A1BwFh_lYg   In re: Donald Trump / J.G.G. v. Trump [DC Circuit docket] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72029089/in-re-donald-trump/   JGG v. Trump [District Court docket] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69741724/jgg-v-trump/?order_by=desc   DHS v. D.V.D. [Supreme Court order; third country renditions] https://www.supremecourt.gov/orders/courtorders/092926zr2_1a7d.pdf   DHS v. D.V.D. [1st Circuit order; third country renditions] https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.ca1.53896/gov.uscourts.ca1.53896.00108510897.0.pdf   D.V.D. v. DHS [trial court D. Mass. order; third country renditions] https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mad.282404/gov.uscourts.mad.282404.242.0.pdf   "Trump Administration Scrambles to Stop Third-Country Deportations After Court Ruling," New York Times, Sep. 24, 2026. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/24/us/politics/trump-third-country-deportations.html   Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod Twitter: @LawAndChaosPod  

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 without paying for it.   DOOFUS OF THE DAY: Kansas Senator Roger Marshall is very hot for us all to know that he didn't sue his obstetrics patient for $50. He sued her for $3,400, and got her locked up over it. And he's sending a cease and desist letter to his opponent Adam Hamilton for making an ad about it — that'll shut 'em up!   MAIN SHOW: The Trump administration is back on its "pocket rescission" BS, purporting to cancel $1 billion of congressional allocations by waiting until the end of the session and shouting "MAKE ME!"   A guy who calls himself the "OnlyFans lawyer" has filed a dozen lawsuits in DC on behalf of January 6 rioters. They want reparations under the Federal Tort Claims Act, now that the slush fund is DOA.    The Supreme Court finally put an end to the shenanigans in Missouri, ensuring that the state will not be able to switch out its maps and squeeze out another Republican seat in Congress. But the Supreme Court also stayed a DC court injunction, paving the way for red states to use borked DHS immigration data to try and kick registered voters off of its voter rolls, if only one-by-one.   And Donald Trump is using your taxpayer dollars to run ads urging everyone to love him. That's definitely not legal under the GAO's standards for what counts as "publicity or propaganda." Taction Technology, Inc. v. Apple Inc. https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/59854908/taction-technology-inc-v-apple-inc   CNN v. Trump  https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/74823502/cable-news-network-inc-v-trump   Dua Lipa v. Samsung https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73319650/dua-lipa-v-samsung-electronics-america-inc/   White House "Pocket Rescission" Announcement https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/2026/09/president-trump-takes-historic-action-to-eliminate-wasteful-and-harmful-spending/   People Not Politicians v. Onder [Supreme Court Missouri map order] https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/26a388_q86b.pdf   Department of Homeland Security v. League of Women Voters [Supreme Court SAVE order] https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/26a308_pok0.pdf   Congressional Letter to the White House re: ads https://www.appropriations.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/260924_letter_to_wh_re_trump_ad.pdf   White House "PSA" Announcement https://www.whitehouse.gov/releases/2026/09/presidential-public-service-announcements-are-nothing-new/   Public Law 118-47 (Section 715 on propaganda) https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/2882/text   GAO Decision, "Executive Agencies—Communications about the 2019 Fourth of July Events on the National Mall," B-331262 https://www.gao.gov/products/b-331262 Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod Twitter: @LawAndChaosPod  

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 filed a lawsuit to try and stop DHS and the FBI from sending armed guards to polling stations to intimidate voters.   DOOFUS OF THE DAY: Our doofus of the day is Sheri Mecklenburg, the veteran prosecutor who broke DOJ norms (and possibly the law) to get the indictment in the Broadview Six case. Mecklenburg moved to intervene as a party on the grounds that if she doesn't get to represent herself, her former boss is definitely going to continue to throw her under the bus. She's not wrong.   MAIN SHOW: Donald Trump tried to ban MSNOW, CNN, and Politico from the White House press pool. He lost in front of one of his own appointees, as Judge Tim Kelly in DC entered a temporary restraining order requiring the White House to reinstate the previously-confiscated "hard passes" and let the reporters back in.   In Missouri, the 8th Circuit continues to try and overrule both the US and Missouri state Supreme Courts by requiring the state to use a Trump-approved super-gerrymandered map from 2025 instead of the already very gerrymandered map already in place. We're waiting to see what Brett Kavanaugh will do. (The petitioners filed a truly excellent motion for clarification and reply brief.)   SUBSCRIBER BONUS: Trump had his nonsense lawsuit against the Des Moines Register and pollster Ann Selzer dismissed in state court for failure to state a claim, because the news isn't a consumer product. It's a great ruling from a very conservative judge. The FBI Anti-Corruption Squad Was Circling Susan Collins — Until Trump Got in the Way https://www.propublica.org/article/fbi-susan-collins-navatek-campaign-donations-investigation   F.B.I. Shut Down Inquiry Into Top Ally of Senator Susan Collins https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/22/us/politics/fbi-susan-collins-donor.html   Trump officials touted a voter fraud bombshell. Their data hasn't proved it [CNN] https://www.cnn.com/2026/08/21/politics/markwayne-mullin-voter-fraud-nevada   DSCC v. ICE [lawsuit to stop stationing armed guards at polling places; docket via CourtListener] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/74842896/dscc-v-us-immigration-and-customs-enforcement/   US v. Rabbit [Chicago 6 sanctions; docket via CourtListener] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/71795281/united-states-v-rabbitt/?order_by=desc   CNN v. Trump [press passes in DC; docket via CourtListener] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/74823502/cable-news-network-inc-v-trump/?filed_after=&filed_before=&entry_gte=&entry_lte=&order_by=desc   People Not Politicians v. Onder [Supreme Court docket] https://www.supremecourt.gov/search.aspx?filename=/docket/docketfiles/html/public/26a388.html   Von Glahn v. Hoskins [Missouri Supreme Court Sep. 3, 2026 opinion] https://www.courts.mo.gov/file.jsp?id=239229   Missouri Supreme Court Sep. 10, 2026 contempt order https://www.courts.mo.gov/file.jsp?id=239429   Onder v. Missouri [8th Circuit docket via CourtListener] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/74780310/congressman-robert-onder-v-state-of-missouri/   Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod Twitter: @LawAndChaosPod