Month: July 2021

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Opening Arguments - OA512: Actions Continue to Have Consequences!

Today's episode updates two separate lawsuits related to the 1/6 insurrection: Rep. Eric Swalwell's suit against Trump, Trump Jr., Rudy Giuliani and Alabama Rep. Mo Brooks and the ongoing drama surrounding sanctions for the Kraken lawyers in King v. Whitmer, the Michigan lawsuit that exposed just how nonsensical all of the Kraken election lawsuits were.

In the first segment, we learn that neither Merrick Garland's Department of Justice nor counsel for the House of Representatives believe that "inciting insurrection" is within the scope of your employment if you're a member of the House of Representatives, so... Mo Brooks is on his own on this one. This is all about the Westfall Act, which we last discussed in Episode 498.

In the main segment, we check back in now that all the supplemental briefs have been filed after the mammoth 6-hour Michigan sanctions hearing. Learn who had the worst filing (hint: someone did worse than Lin Wood!), who had the... least worst?... and what is in store for all of the Kraken lawyers! BONUS: We've attached the complete six-hour hearing transcript.

Links:

  1. Swalwell v. Trump: (a) docket report; (b) Swalwell's opposition to Brooks's Westfall Act motion; (c) decision of House counsel to decline to represent Brooks; and (d) DOJ's decision to decline to represent Brooks. We last discussed the Westfall Act in Episode 498.
  2. King v. Whitmer transcript of the sanctions hearing.
  3. Lin Wood's (a) brief 1 and brief 2; and (b) prior inconsistent brief in the Delaware Supreme Court admitting he represented plaintiffs in Michigan.
  4. Donald Campbell's brief on behalf of Sidney Powell, Howard Kleinhendler, and the rest of the Kraken idiots.
  5. Hoo boy, the brief filed by Stefanie Lambert Junttila on her own behalf... maybe don't represent yourself, Stef? And just because Stef didn't read it doesn't mean you shouldn't read Mezibov v. Allen, 411 F.3d 712 (6th Cir. 2005).
  6. The City of Detroit's (a) Safe Harbor letter and attached motion; and (b) supplemental brief (that's fire)!
  7. Remember all of this is about Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
  8. Finally, if you search the transcript you'll see Howard Kleinhendler make the "fraud vitiates everything" argument, for which David Fink rightly skewers him in the City of Detroit's supplemental brief. Check out more on this stupid argument here.

Appearances

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-And finally, remember that you can email us at openarguments@gmail.com!

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Short Wave - Lightning Bugs, Fireflies – Call Them What You Will, They’re Awesome

There are thousands of species of lightning bug and they live all over the world except in Antarctica. Maddie and Emily discuss lots of other amazing tidbits about the family Lampyridae and talk about what humans can do to preserve the bugs, which are facing widespread habitat disruption.

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Serious Inquiries Only - SIO304: Are the Woke Left and Alt-Right Alike? Part 2: The Study So Bad It Made Quillette Look Good

Continuing from the last episode, Lindsey backs up her claim that the bulk of the terrible science was yet to come. WOW. This study was complete garbage. You really ought to hear how terrible it is. Lindsey, as usual, did other people's homework for them. She got a hold of some of the data and did her own work with it, which revealed some interesting stuff. Here is the doc.

Links: the study, the article, Moss & O’Connor (2020b; origin of White Identitarianism Scale), Pew Poll, Political Polarization in the American Public, Master’s thesis (origin of the PC scales)

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Pod Save America - “1/6 Truth and 1/6 Truthers.”

Day 1 of the House’s January 6th investigation goes poorly for Republicans, Dan Pfeiffer talks to White House Covid Equity Task Force Chair Marcella Nunez-Smith about President Biden’s speech on vaccines, and a closer look at special elections in Texas, Ohio, and California.



For a closed-captioned version of this episode, please visit crooked.com/podsaveamerica. 

For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.


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Consider This from NPR - Black Olympians Often Have ‘The Weight Of The World’ On Their Shoulders

When Simone Biles dropped out of her Olympic competitions this week, the whole world took notice. At 24 years old Biles is the most decorated gymnast ever, she's won 36 medals—27 of those are gold. And she said via Instagram that it can feel like she "has the weight of the world," on her shoulders at times.

When an athlete performs on a stage as hallowed and renowned as the Olympics, it's not surprising to see that this can have a negative psychological effect. University of Denver professor Mark Aoyagi explains that in many ways, elite competitions are inherently unhealthy.

The stress can be even more acute for Black athletes like Biles. Sociologist Harry Edwards wrote about this over 50 years ago and says these young Olympians are forced to deal with both the aspiration and fear of "Black excellence."

In participating regions, you'll also hear a local news segment that will help you make sense of what's going on in your community.

Email us at considerthis@npr.org.

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Reset with Sasha-Ann Simons - Chicago Athletes At Tokyo Olympics Face Mental Health Strains, Blazing Heat, And COVID-19

From COVID-19 to the heat to athletes being open about the mental strain of performing at the highest level, the Tokyo Olympics have been anything but ordinary. For more Reset interviews, subscribe to this podcast. And please give us a rating, it helps other listeners find us. For more about Reset, go to wbez.org and follow us on Twitter @WBEZReset
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Science In Action - The earliest traces of animal life on earth.

Do rocks found in Canada show animal life 350 million years older than any found before? And, delving to the core of Mars, the guts of cats, and into the life of Steven Weinberg.

Prof Elizabeth Turner of Canada's Laurentian University reports in the journal Nature structures in some of the oldest sedimentary rocks that resemble the residue left by sponges such as the sort you might find in a bath. 350 million years older than the oldest such fossils yet identified, if they are left by such animals, they represent a complex life that existed some 90 million years before - it has been supposed - there was even enough oxygen to support such development. As she tells us, rather like previous geologists investigating the deep history of life, Elizabeth has been sitting on this idea since she was a young researcher.

Since 2019 NASA's InSight probe has been on the surface of Mars listening for seismic waves from below to try to form a picture of the planet's internal structure. Last week in the journal Science, three papers presented data and analysis and some surprises for planetary scientists trying to work out how a planet that began almost, but not quite, so similar to earth could have turned out so different today. Cambridge University's Dr Sanna Cottaar gives us her take on the exciting findings.

Most of our understanding of genetics – diseases and heritability – is derived from decades of deep studies into just a few model species besides humans. But Prof Lesley Lyons runs a lab at the University of Missouri focusing almost entirely on cats. She describes to Roland a proclamation she makes this week to her fellow scientists to do more work into cat genetics and how, because of the similarities between cats and human genomes, that will bring all sorts of benefits to human (and cat) health.

Earlier this week we heard of the death of physicist Steven Weinberg - one of the giants of 20th century particle physics and cosmology. Roland presents recordings and reminiscences of a remarkable scientist who provided so much insight into the first 3 minutes of our universe's existence...

Image: Field locations in Northwest Territories, Canada Credit: Elizabeth Turner, Laurentian University

Presenter: Roland Pease Producer: Alex Mansfield

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CoinDesk Podcast Network - BREAKDOWN: The Senate Shoves a Dangerous, Last-Minute $28B Crypto Provision Into the Infrastructure Bill

The bipartisan bill contains potential impacts to crypto intermediaries.

This episode is sponsored by NYDIG.

First, on the Brief:

  • U.S. growth last quarter performing under economists’ expectations
  • Robinhood's subdued IPO debut
  • "Wild amounts" of capital going into crypto


In the main discussion, NLW addresses the specifics, reactions and potential impacts of a crypto provision within the Biden administration’s big infrastructure bill. A draft copy of the provision aims to raise $28 billion via a crypto tax, imposing new reporting requirements for a broad swath of crypto intermediaries.

Potentially, intermediaries from wallet developers to miners will be impacted by the provision. If this draft of the bill makes it to a vote, how will a tax scheme impact crypto development and adoption? Is this provision just a messy step in a positive U.S. government acceptance of crypto or a dangerous damping factor on progress?

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NYDIG, the institutional-grade platform for Bitcoin, is making it possible for thousands of banks who have trusted relationships with hundreds of millions of customers, to offer Bitcoin. Learn more at NYDIG.com/NLW.

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The Breakdown is written, produced by and features NLW, with editing by Rob Mitchell and additional production support by Eleanor Pahl. Adam B. Levine is our executive producer and our theme music is “Countdown” by Neon Beach. The music you heard today behind our sponsor is “Only in Time” by Abloom. Image credit: rarrarorro/iStock/Getty Images, modified by CoinDesk.

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