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Law and Chaos: Daily Summaries Delivered
by Liz Dye; Andrew Torrez
Legal journalists Liz Dye and Andrew Torrez break down the week's most important courtroom stories, so you can keep on top of this crazy news cycle. Whether it's Texas giving two middle fingers to the Supreme Court, or Donald Trump in all the courts at once, we've got you covered.
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- Yesterday1h 15m
Ep 277 — We Did It! (breaking down the midterms feat. Joe Dye)
Andrew and Joe dissect the historic 2026 midterms, including what to expect in the outstanding Senate races in Alaska and (shockingly) Mississippi; what it all means; why winning state legislatures and governorships may be as important as winning the House and Senate; and how we can start to forge a new way forward. Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod Twitter: @LawAndChaosPod
- 3 days ago1h 8m
Ep 276 — Vote Baby Vote!
DOCKET ALERTS: A magistrate judge in DC dismissed the criminal complaint against Nikki Floris and Bradley Benavides, two decorated FBI agents who wound up on Trump's hit list for being insufficiently supportive of his lies about Chinese interference in the 2020 election. Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward entered his appearance in the Broadview 6 case and told Judge April Perry that the government would not be complying with any judicial investigations. Judge Perry was not amused. She set a hearing for November 16, ordered US Attorney Andrew Boutros to show up and testify, and invited anyone with relevant information to appear. That would appear to include Douglas DePodesta, the former FBI supervisor in Chicago who just sued Boutros, AG Todd Blanche, and FBI Director Kash Patel for wrongfully terminating him to make him a scapegoat in this case. Meanwhile in DC, Stan Woodward is coming perilously close to getting held in contempt in the DC golf course case. DOOFUS OF THE DAY: Rep. Haley Stevens, for obvious reasons. ELECTION ROUND UP: DOJ loses the trollsuit seeking to segregate ballots in Alaska and enjoin certification if Mary Peltola wins, as Chief Judge Sharon Gleason trashes Woodward's lawyering. (Sensing a pattern here!) Then, we have a comprehensive story about all the ways Donald Trump can't steal the midterms. He's already failed at trying to create a national voter database. He's 0-28 at forcing states to turn over their voter rolls. The ham-fisted efforts by his DOJ to force California to purge alleged noncitizens got dropkicked by a federal district court judge in California, another one in DC, the Ninth Circuit (twice!) and the Supreme Court – all in the span of about 72 hours. We're gonna make it. And don't forget to VOTE! US v. Alaska https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/75009254/united-states-v-state-of-alaska/ US v. Floris https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/75010510/united-states-v-floris US v. Rabbit [Broadview 6] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/71795281/united-states-v-rabbitt/ DePodesta v. Boutros https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/75056492/depodesta-v-boutros/ US v. California [District Court] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/74967108/united-states-v-state-of-california/?order_by=desc US v. California [9th Circuit] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/75037590/united-states-of-america-v-state-of-california-et-al/?order_by=desc US v. California [Supreme Court] https://www.supremecourt.gov/search.aspx?fil
- 1 weeks ago52 min
Ep 275 — Five Days Left
Twitch streamer Hasan Piker is suing Scott Jennings for defamation after the conservative podcaster edited clips to make Piker sound racist. Bill Essayli, who has been holding himself out as the First Assistant US Attorney in the Central District of California and supervising the office, got even more disqualified from serving as US Attorney. In the lawsuit over Trump's "Memorial Arch," the DOJ submitted affidavits from DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth pinky-swearing that the structure is critical for national security. Judge Tanya Chutkan said that they had to attend Friday's hearing, like any other sworn declarant. The DOJ says NO FAIR! Meanwhile in Judge Ana Reyes's courtroom, the DOJ is creeping ever closer to getting held in contempt over their prevarication about plans to close the East Potomac Golf Course. DOOFUS OF THE DAY: James O'Keefe, the original hidden camera troll, got charged with felony identity theft in Minnesota for impersonating voters at the polls during the August primary. MAIN SHOW: The Trump administration is trying to prosecute two former FBI officials who are in Trump's sights for failing to support his lies about Chinese interference in the 2020 election. The charge is lying to Congress, but it may implode before they can even secure an indictment. The DOJ's lawsuit seeking to purge votes in California failed at the Ninth Circuit. Then it went back to the trial court, where Judge David Carter held a hearing and promptly denied the government's motion for a TRO. Now it's heading back to the Ninth Circuit for another drubbing. SUBSCRIBER BONUS: What is going on with the DOJ's effort to prevent Alaska from certifying the results of the Senate election if Peltola wins? Piker v. Jennings https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/75026995/piker-v-jennings/ US v. Tran [Essayli disqualified] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72085974/united-states-v-tran Lemmon v. Trump [Arch] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72301112/lemmon-v-trump/ DC Preservation League v. Department of Interior [Golf Course] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72278895/dc-preservation-league-v-department-of-interior US v. Floris https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/75010510/united-states-v-floris/ US v. California [District Court request to segregate ballots] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/74
- 1 weeks ago1h 16m
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] <a href= "https://www.lawandchaospod.com/p/ninth-circuit-b
- 2 weeks ago1h 2m
Ep 273 — Trump v. Voters
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/ </strong
- 2 weeks ago1h 31m
Ep 272 — SCOTUS vs. All Living Things
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' <a href= "https://www.stevevladeck.com/p/bonus-257-ha
- 3 weeks ago1h 7m
Ep 271 — Birtherism 2.0
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
- 3 weeks ago50 min
Ep 270 — Attorney Accountability (feat. Akiva Cohen)
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
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About Law and Chaos
Legal journalists Liz Dye and Andrew Torrez break down the week's most important courtroom stories, so you can keep on top of this crazy news cycle. Whether it's Texas giving two middle fingers to the Supreme Court, or Donald Trump in all the courts at once, we've got you covered.
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