Category: 3-LawSometimeCommentary

OA1090 - It's an ALL GOOD NEWS EPISODE! It exists, and there is plenty of it. Positive vibes only for today's dose of practical hope.

And right when you think it can't get any better, the Footnote Fetish returns! Matt has found yet another bizarre RFK Jr animal-related scandal, this one far from the headlines at the intersection of election and avian law. Also Thomas Takes the Bird Exam!

• 2024 Popular Vote Tracker, Cook Political Report

• Alvin Bragg’s letter to NY judge Juan Merchan opposing Trump’s motion to dismiss (11/19/24)

• “Situation in the State of Palestine: ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I rejects the State of Israel’s challenges to jurisdiction and issues warrants of arrest for Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant | International Criminal Court” (11/21/24)

• Judge Melissa Owens’s summary judgment decision in Johnson v Wyoming (11/18/24)

• “November Surprise! State Finally Releases RFK Jr.’s Falconry Records,” Kevin Underhill, Lowering the Bar (11/5/24)

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President-elect Trump has begun to announce his plans for his cabinet and other top appointments for January.  Unconventional is a kind word for some of them.  And suddenly, in a House where Republicans have a razor-thin majority, there is a resignation - months before it would be required.  Why?  There are conspiracy theorists for health care positions; admirers of Putin for intelligence posts; newscasters who have never managed anything for one of the largest organizations in the world.  The Constitution has something to say about some of these, and we dive in.  Suffice to say, the water is murky.  CLE credit is available for lawyers and judges from podcast.njsba.com.

OA1089 - Trump's Staff Infection, part 3 plus T3BE48!

In this installment of Fashwatch’s continuing review of Trump’s incoming legal team, we take a closer look at what we know about the top spots in his DOJ and some of the other most important lawyers in any Presidential administration: White House counsel, Solicitor General, and the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York. 

1. “How a Corporate Law Firm Led a Political Revolution,” David Enrich, The New York Times (8/25/22) 

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OA1088 - Trump's Staff Infection Vol. 2

With special guest Lydia Smith! Matt explains why only lawyers can truly destroy the rule of law before Lydia reviews what Project 2025 has planned for the Department of Justice. We then consider Donald Trump’s intention to make his favorite Florida (Congress)man our next Attorney General without or without Senate approval. Who is America’s Worst Matt, and could this weird loser really be the angel of Trump’s retribution? 

1. Mandate for Leadership, Project 2025

2. “Is Matt Gaetz an ‘Accomplished Attorney’?” Louis Jacobsen, Politifact (11/15/24)

3. Nayib Bukele on X: "US Congressmen visit CECOT (Center for the Confinement of Terrorism)

4. “Matt Gaetz’s 2008 DUI arrest resurfaces after jab at Hunter Biden’s substance abuse. Here’s what happened,” Tampa Bay Times (11/15/24) 

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Leah, Melissa, and Kate wade through more election fallout, including President-elect Trump’s proposed use of recess appointments to jam his cabinet picks through. Also covered: this week’s SCOTUS arguments, the tryhards auditioning to be Trump Supreme Court nominees, and why everyone should shut up about Justice Sotomayor retiring.  

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Trump’s announcement of Matt Gaetz as his pick to head the Justice Department was met with gasps around the Capitol. Dahlia Lithwick is joined by Slate’s senior legal writer Mark Stern to, yes, gasp together, but also to dig into what this stunt Attorney General appointment means for the law and the rule of law. 

Next, Dahlia talks to Dr. Mary Anne Franks, author of Fearless Speech about the new era of censorship we are entering under the unprecedented power of Elon Musk and the oligarchs screaming “free speech” as they sue in their forum-shopped court of choice. 

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OA1087 - We examine how the incoming President and his administration are already breaking the law with his transition team before taking on his announced intention to subvert the Constitution--and his own political party--through an unprecedented clown car of forced recess appointments. From the Defense Secretary the National Guard determined they couldn’t trust with a gun around Joe Biden to the Attorney General who just resigned from Congress to avoid the details of what he has been doing with high school students to the deputy chief of staff who is Stephen Miller, there are plenty of good reasons these freaks might not clear even a Republican Senate. Could this one weird Constitutional trick force them through? 

Finally, the world’s richest man wants to tell the federal government how to spend its money. What’s the deal with Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency?

1. Harris-Walz Transition Team Ethics Plan

2. “Will Trump Pursue a Bonkers Plan to Adjourn Both Houses of Congress?,” Ed Whelan, National Review (11/13/2024)

3. House Ethics Rules (2024)

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The election is behind us, and foreboding fills the air.  We are live at the Yale Club of New York City for a live recording, addressing some of the many constitutional matters that are or soon may be front of mind as the seemingly inevitable challenges to norms, rules, and laws await.  Matters as wide-ranging as the implications of undivided government; the significance of state constitutional amendments on abortion; Justice Sotomayor’s future; recess appointments - and much more are on our plate this week.  CLE credit is available for lawyers and judges at podcast.njsba.com.

OA1086 - We're modifying the schedule a little! Introducing fash-watch with Lydia. We're going to keep a very watchful eye on Trump's incoming government. We're starting this week with the EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin and UN Ambassador Elise Stefanik.

But don't worry! After that, we're still on with Heather and the regularly scheduled bar exam failure! Make sure to find openargs on Bluesky and play T3BE there!

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OA1085 - Matt has put together a preliminary list of things Joe Biden can and should do in the lame duck period. Will he? Let's make him.

After that, we examine something that he should absolutely not do courtesy of the aspiring fascists of the National Review. As a little treat.

• Trump has made more than 100 threats to prosecute or punished perceived enemies," NPR News  (10/22/22)

• “Biden Should Pardon Trump,” Mark Antonio Wright, National Review (11/6/24)

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