Serious Trouble

This week Ken and Josh discuss how the Feds got an arrest warrant for Don Lemon after all. Before prosecutors got the grand jury indictment, they tried through some really irregular channels to get Lemon arrested more quickly. When a magistrate judge rejected an arrest warrant application for Lemon last week, rather than applying again or proceeding to the grand jury, prosecutors asked Judge Patrick Schiltz to overrule the magistrate, then asked an appellate panel to force Schiltz to rule on their motion right away, fearing that if Lemon wasn’t arrested immediately, there would be an epidemic of illegal church invasions. Schiltz took exception to this, and the appeals panel backed him up, though one of the appellate judges remarked that he thought all the arrest warrants were sufficiently supported but the government just didn’t need the weird emergency relief it was seeking.Also this week: we look at federal judges (including Schiltz) who are incensed that ICE isn’t promptly complying with their habeas corpus orders, and how this mess is downstream of rules that prohibit nationwide injunctions and are clogging some courts with individual lawsuits seeking relief from immigration detentions. We have an update on Minnesota’s 10th Amendment case — Judge Kate Menendez appears skeptical that she is in a position to provide the sweeping relief the state wants, though she does want more briefing on the threat letter from Attorney General Pam Bondi to the state. And in another case, an order from Menendez restricting ICE tactics has been stayed.In non-ICE news, it appears likely that Jeffrey Toobin will have to testify at Tom Goldstein’s criminal trial, though he has a good argument for limiting his testimony to fairly boring topics. Candace Owens says Turning Point USA has sent her a letter threatening to enforce a non-disparagement agreement they say she has violated by spreading conspiracy theories about Charlie Kirk’s death. And a defendant in Northern California called up a local news station during her trial to protest that she only threw parties where she gave alcohol to minors because of COVID.Upgrade your subscription to receive all of our episodes at serioustrouble.show. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.serioustrouble.show/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.serioustrouble.showThis week, Ken and Josh discuss the end of Lindsey Halligan's purported reign in the Eastern District of Virginia, and news reports that ICE is relying on a secret legal memorandum asserting that it can enter homes to search for aliens subject to final orders of removal, even if there’s no warrant from an Article III judge authorizing them to do so. That's for all subscribers. Paying subscribers also get: * A look at the order enjoining ICE from certain enforcement tactics in Minnesota, but it’s subject to an administrative stay, for now — and, since this is Fourth Amendment Fun week, we have another opportunity to discuss how you might have a Fourth Amendment right, but that doesn’t mean you’ll get to use it.* The case of Geraldo Lunas Campos, a Cuban national who died in ICE custody earlier this month. ICE says his death was a suicide, but his family disputes that, citing other detainees who claim he was choked by guards. (A county medical examiner’s report also deemed his death a homicide — a determination of manner of death, not a finding of legal culpability.) Alas, it’s up to DOJ to keep those witnesses available to testify, and if DOJ doesn’t want to, they’ll likely be deported.* The federal charges for anti-ICE activists who are accused of disrupting a Twin Cities church service this past weekend — they were charged under the so-called Klan Act, and the charges were obtained via criminal complaint to a magistrate judge, which means prosecutors will still need to get a grand jury to agree to indict — and prosecutors’ failure so far to charge journalist Don Lemon.* The Supreme Court’s ongoing effort to carve out the Federal Reserve from its plans to neuter independent boards and commissions (special unique historical tradition etc etc).* And a weird one: former Sen. Kyrsten Sinema has been sued for alienation of affection — still an available tort in North Carolina and five other states! — by the estranged wife of one of her former staffers, who says Sinema stole her man.Upgrade your subscription to receive all of our episodes at serioustrouble.show.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.serioustrouble.showFed Chair Jerome Powell dropped a bombshell on Sunday: a video disclosing the Fed had been subpoenaed in a criminal investigation related to his congressional testimony about cost overruns in the Fed’s headquarters renovation. Powell said bluntly that the investigation is an effort to use the DOJ to assert control over the Fed and its interest-rate setting apparatus. Did this make Ken scream "shut up!!!!" at Powell's video? Meanwhile, Minnesota and some of its municipalities have sued the federal government, arguing that the ICE surge in the state is illegal and unconstitutional. Those discussions are for all listeners. Paying subscribers also get:* A look at intensifying turnover in US Attorneys’ offices, including the resignation of top prosecutors who had been leading the investigations into welfare fraud in Minnesota that was concentrated in the state’s Somali-American community.* DOJ’s argument for why Lindsey Halligan can keep calling herself a US Attorney after a judge ruled she isn’t one.* Senator Mark Kelly’s many arguments for why Pete Hegseth can’t reduce his rank and pension.* Some “shut up” news: prosecutors want to admit several incriminating statements from defendant Thomas Goldstein’s pre-trial New York Times profile.* And a look at a bizarre situation where Bruce Fein insists he somehow became Nicolas Maduro’s lawyer even though Maduro says he never hired him.Upgrade your subscription now at serioustrouble.show.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.serioustrouble.showThis week’s episode starts with the arrest and indictment of Nicolas Maduro, and the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good at the hands of an ICE agent in Minneapolis. That’s for free subscribers. Paying subscribers also get a look at a shadow docket ruling from the Supreme Court that curtailed Trump’s ability to deploy the national guard, and the surprising statutory reading that got a majority of the court there. We look at a dismissal of criminal charges from another scrap with ICE in Los Angeles, we discuss Mark Kelly’s legal options for fighting the reduction of his pension (and why he might choose not to use them), we consider why Lindsey Halligan keeps insisting she’s the US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, we look at the bizarre upcoming criminal trial of Scotusblog co-founder Thomas Goldstein, and we have an update on the saga of the still-held-in-contempt Charles C. Johnson.Upgrade your subscription at serioustrouble.show

Some of the Epstein files have been released, but there's a lot of blacked-out text and pictures. The Justice Department is supposed to redact certain information but of course there’s the ever-present question of whether all redaction “errors” are errors, or whether this administration has its thumb on the scale for the president.Also in this episode: the Pulitzer Board requests President Trump's medical, financial and tax records, an LA man who towed an ICE vehicle around the block during a raid was acquitted of stealing government property, Milwaukee Judge Hannah Dugan was convicted in federal court of obstructing an effort by federal immigration agents to detain someone she had called to her courtroom. And Caroline Ellison, former partner to Sam Bankman-Fried in multiple senses of the term, has been sprung from Club Fed in Danbury, Connecticut. Speaking of SBF: apparently he’s transformed himself into something of a jailhouse lawyer but he seems to be about as good at jailhouse lawyering as he was at crypto investing. Finally, we look at a maybe-not-so-fearsome terrorism indictment and we discuss the ongoing contempt saga that has caused Ken to feel a surprising emotion regarding Charles C. Johnson: pity. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.serioustrouble.show/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.serioustrouble.showA grand jury has refused to indict Letitia James — no, this isn’t a repeat of last week’s email; it just happened again since we last recorded. This time, it’s a different grand jury, and we discuss further impediments to the resurrection of the cases against her and James Comey. That, plus a discussion of the unlikely-to-matter pardon of former Colorado election official Tina Peters, is for free subscribers this week. Paid subscribers also get:* A look at a lawsuit from the National Trust for Historic Preservation which aims to stop the construction of Trump’s new White House ballroom.* Another trial court win for Gavin Newsom as he tries to end Trump’s activation of the California National Guard (though the outlook in the appeals courts is more dubious).* Costco’s lawsuit seeking return of its tariff payments under IEEPA, and why Costco would sue now, long after a few plaintiffs stood up to bring a test case but before the Supreme Court rules on it.* And the order that has, for now, freed Kilmar Abrego Garcia to return to Maryland.Upgrade your subscription at serioustrouble.show.

This week: more news in the Letitia James and James Comey cases. DOJ tried to re-indict James, but they got a no-bill, and in the Comey case, the government is a bit held up by a motion from Comey's sometime-lawyer and friend. Meanwhile, Lindsey Halligan is still running around, acting like she’s the U.S. Attorney (even though the fact that she isn’t is why these cases got dismissed), but Alina Habba has thrown in the towel, moving to main Justice to advise Pam Bondi and declaring “you can take the girl out of New Jersey, but you cannot take the New Jersey out of the girl.”Also this week: charges against Brian Cole Jr., who’s accused of the attempted pipe bombings at the RNC and DNC nearly five years ago; shadow docket action that saved Republicans’ Texas remap; super troll Charles C. Johnson’s latest misadventures that have landed him in jail for contempt of court; and why an embarrassing policy report about Rep. Nancy Mace's airport meltdown became public.Find links and a transcript of this episode and sign up for our newsletter at serioustrouble.show. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.serioustrouble.show/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.serioustrouble.showThe criminal cases against James Comey and Letitia James were both dismissed, without prejudice, on the grounds that former insurance attorney Lindsey Halligan was never properly appointed as an interim US Attorney. Trump’s Justice Department has options, and we talk through them. That conversation is for free listeners. For paid subscribers this week, we also address:* A rare favorable ruling for the Trump administration from Judge James Boasberg.* Eric Swalwell’s lawsuit against Bill Pulte* Peter Skandalakis’s tortured-but-ultimately-convincing, argument that the Georgia RICO case is terminal and should be taken off life support.* Megan Thee Stallion’s “big” ($59,000) win in her defamation lawsuit against a live-streamer* Probation for Jacob Wohl and Jack Burkman, and* A sharply-worded minute order from Judge Amy Berman Jackson trying to ensure that she won’t be the only long-suffering person around these parts.Upgrade your subscription today at serioustrouble.show.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.serioustrouble.showNow that Congress has voted overwhelmingly to require the release of the Epstein files, we discuss what’s likely to be in those files, what the administration might do to undermine the intent of the law requiring release, and whether we really ought to learn so much about this case. That conversation is for free subscribers. Paying subscribers get much more this week — a look at the rapidly increasing number of problems with the James Comey indictment, an update on the National Guard cases, and an interesting question from the Supreme Court about the meaning of a law restricting the president’s ability to deploy it over a governor’s objection. We look at a really, really intemperate dissent in the Texas redistricting case, an update on Tina Peters, and we look at two defamation cases, one where Trump has again lost to CNN, and one brought by rapper Megan Thee Stallion against a Twitch streamer who, in the eyes of the state of Florida, does not count as a media outlet.Upgrade your subscription now at serioustrouble.show

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.serioustrouble.showSandwich Guy is free! Sean Dunn was acquitted of simple assault by a jury of his peers. Meanwhile, Lindsey Halligan continues to face difficulties in her case against James Comey, and the Justice Department generally is having trouble finding a sufficient number of qualified attorneys. That’s all in this week’s free show.There’s much more this week for paying subscribers, including:* A look at why Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson chose to delay a ruling that would have forced the Trump administration to pay SNAP benefits.* U.S. Senators voted themselves a legal right to sue if the government obtains their phone records, and the House grudgingly went along. The provision might get repealed after an outcry. But if it doesn't, does that violate the 27th Amendment? And even if it does, is there any recourse?* The adventures of Bill Pulte.* Federal pardons for participants in fake elector conspiracies (who really mostly need to worry about state charges anyway).* Another victory for Ann Selzer.Visit serioustrouble.show to upgrade your subscription to get the whole episode.