Opening Arguments

OA1097 - Trump's Staff Infection, Vol. 5 Donald Trump has just reiterated his intentions for mass immigration enforcement in a Sunday Meet the Press interview, and Lydia joins for a closer look at the people who will actually be carrying these policies out. We take a quick introductory look at runner-up Attorney General pick Pam Bondi before Lydia reviews some of Project 2025’s plans and Matt explains the different roles of the DOJ and DHS in the US immigration system. Also, why has the former governor of a lightly-populated state nearly 1000 miles from the Mexican border with nothing related to immigration on her CV been chosen as the next head of Homeland Security? We have some theories--but absolutely no questions as to why family separation expert Thomas Homan will be the next American “border czar.”  “Project 2025: A Mandate for Leadership,” The Heritage Foundation (2024)   Check out the OA Linktree for all the places to go and things to do! If you’d like to support the show (and lose the ads!), plea

OA1096 - The President of the United States has just pardoned a blood relative and it’s--fine, actually. We review the full pardon of Hunter Biden in the greater context of presidential pardons before moving on to our main story: this week’s oral arguments in the trans rights case U.S. v. Skrmetti. The most important and very likely the most consequential case of this Supreme Court term featured the first openly trans lawyer ever to appear before the high court patiently trying to explain to some of our finest legal minds why a Tennessee law denying life-saving healthcare to certain people based on which letter is printed on their birth certificates is in fact unconstitutional discrimination. Finally, Matt drops a quick footnote to acknowledge one of the shortest periods of martial law in democratic history and to see what we might be able to learn from it. Statement from President Joe Biden re: pardon of Hunter Biden(12/1/24) Office of the Pardon Attorney | Pardons Granted by President Donald J. Trump (2

OA1095 - Trump's Staff Infection, part 4 plus T3BE50! Lydia Smith joins us once again to take us through another volume of Trump's Staff Infection. This time, we focus on the Intelligence Agencies. Then, it's T3BE50! Submit your answer on Bluesky or Reddit!   Check out the OA Linktree for all the places to go and things to do! If you’d like to support the show (and lose the ads!), please pledge at patreon.com/law!

OA1094 - Denaturalization and an executive order revoking birthright citizenship for children of undocumented parents have both been in the news a lot recently, and Matt would like everyone to take a breath and do some realistic risk assessment. We review what it actually takes to denaturalize someone under our current system, and what it would take for a majority of even this Supreme Court to say that the Fourteenth Amendment doesn’t say exactly what it says.  Departure Statement of Wong Kim Ark, National Archives San Francisco U.S. v Wong Kim Ark, 169 US 649 (1898) Trump announcement on birthright citizenship executive order, Agenda 47 (2024) Birthright Citizens: a History of Race and Rights in Antebellum History, Martha Jones (2018) Check out the OA Linktree for all the places to go and things to do! If you’d like to support the show (and lose the ads!), please pledge at patreon.com/law!

OA1093 - In this episode recorded on Thanksgiving Day, two vegetarians carve up the Canadian turkey born Aubrey Drake Graham. Are Drake’s exploratory legal actions against Universal Music in response to Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” the weakest move in the history of rap beefs? Matt shares some of his favorite diss tracks before we consider these filings and how Drake thought he could possibly come out of this looking good. We also take a look at Jack Smith’s motion to dismiss both of the federal criminal cases against the 47th President-elect of the United States,  and what we can learn about the possible future (?) of these cases from both his motion and DC federal judge Tanya Chutkan’s order granting it. Finally, in today’s footnote Thomas provides valuable evidence for the prospective plaintiffs in a cease and desist demand recently made against the ONLY guitar endorsed by Donald Trump. Government’s Motion to Dismiss in U.S. v. Trump (11/25/240 Judge Chutkan’s order on government’s motion to dismiss

OA1092 plus T3BE49 - we continue our conversation with Somali-American author and advocate Abdi Nor Iftin. Then, it's answer time for T3BE question 48, and our new question 49! Play along on BlueSky! Check out the OA Linktree for all the places to go and things to do! If you’d like to support the show (and lose the ads!), please pledge at patreon.com/law!

OA1091 - We are honored to welcome Somali-American author and advocate Abdi Nor Iftin for the first of a 2-part Thanksgiving episode dedicated with gratitude to the incredible efforts that so many naturalized Americans have made to be a part of this country. Abdi has recorded the full story of his life in his book Call Me American, in which he details the long journey from his escape from being forced into service as a child soldier in war-torn Somalia to his years as a refugee in Kenya before winning the U.S. diversity visa lottery and building a thoroughly American life in one of the last states you might expect. In this extended interview we get to know Abdi as he shares his story and his unique perspective on what the current American moment means for him and his community.  Call Me American: A Memoir,: Abdi Nor Iftin (2018) “Now is the time to buckle up and fight, not to flee,” Abdi Nor Iftin, The Forecaster (11/19/24) “Abdi and the Golden Ticket,”  This American Life (7/3/2015) Check out the OA 

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) Check out the OA Linktree for all the places to go a

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)  Check out the OA Linktree for all the places to go and things to do! If you’d like to support the show (and lose the ads!), please pledge at patreon.com/law!

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?  Mandate for Leadership, Project 2025 “Is Matt Gaetz an ‘Accomplished Attorney’?” Louis Jacobsen, Politifact (11/15/24) Nayib Bukele on X: "US Congressmen visit CECOT (Center for the Confinement of Terrorism) “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)  Check out the OA Linktree for all the places to go and things to do! If you’d like to support the show (and lose the ads!), please pledge at patreon.com/law!

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? Harris-Walz Transition Team Ethics Plan “Will Trump Pursue a Bonkers Plan to Adjourn Both Houses of Congress?,” Ed Whelan, Nation

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! Check out the OA Linktree for all the places to go and things to do! If you’d like to support the show (and lose the ads!), please pledge at patreon.com/law!  

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) Check out the OA Linktree for all the places to go and things to do! If you’d like to support the show (and lose the ads!), please pledge at patreon.com/law!

OA1083 - What does it mean to be a legal podcast at a time when the rule of law itself is in play? We reflect on this moment before answering a few patron questions and taking a closer look at the current state of each of the three criminal cases against Donald Trump as of this week. “A Sitting President’s Amenability to Indictment and Criminal Prosecution,” DOJ memo dated 10/16/2000.  Docket for Jack Smith’s appeal of Judge Cannon’s  11th Circuit Check out the OA Linktree for all the places to go and things to do! If you’d like to support the show (and lose the ads!), please pledge at patreon.com/law!

Hey folks, this is more of an SIO, but I recorded a solo show because I have to debunk this myth about Kamala losing 10-15m Democratic votes. The truth is not at all that. I also have a million other thoughts that I really just want to get out there and that I hope will be helpful. Matt and I will be back on Friday. Also, I'm not charging Patreon for this one since it's on SIO. Thanks.

Hey folks, it's bad. MAGA is on track to win everything. Matt and I got on for some unfiltered, unedited talk.

OA1083 - the last episode before the election! So Matt thought it would be a great time to give a final round up of the actual policy differences between Trump and Harris. Are these two candidates really any different? Yes. Obviously yes. What a stupid question. First day on Earth or something? Check out the OA Linktree for all the places to go and things to do! If you’d like to support the show (and lose the ads!), please pledge at patreon.com/law!

OA1082 - Donald Trump recently promised that he and House speaker Mike Johnson have a “little secret” about how they are going to win next week’s election. Is he just trolling, or have Republicans identified real vulnerabilities in our federal election system? We assess the legal realities surrounding one particularly doomerist prediction in The Nation to try to understand just how concerned we really should be. The Washington Post has just revealed that Elon Musk has his own little secret: his numerous past violations of federal immigration law. How much does this matter, and what would happen if ICE received this information about someone who didn’t happen to be the world’s wealthiest person?  Finally, for our dessert course Matt has the scoop on a tasty footnote from this week’s news about how the Librarian of Congress just helped to fix the ice cream machine at your local McDonald’s.   “That “Little Secret” Between Trump and Johnson? Here’s What It Could Mean,” Elie Mistal  The Nation (10/29/2024) “El

It's OA Bar Prep with Heather! First we get the answer to last week's Mario Kart easement question, and then we get question 46 - The Fraudulent Flight to Florida Right now, the best place to play (if you aren't a patron...) is at reddit.com/r/openargs! If you’d like to support the show (and lose the ads!), please pledge at patreon.com/law!

OA1081. We're taking a broad survey of the 2024 elections, starting with the many, many 2020 election deniers who are still in--and seeking--public office. How many of these people are still around, and how many are up for re-election? What kinds of threats to democracy are still built into the system and how could we do better? What would real reform look like, and what is it going to take to get there?  “The Story of Election Denial in America," ElectionDeniers. org SCOTUS decision in FEC v. Cruz for Senate (2022) “Interactive U.S. House Election Map,” 270towin. Com “At least 30 election deniers and 2020 fake electors serving as Trump electors this year,” CNN (10/17/2024) Fifth Circuit’s decision in Lamb v Wetzel (10/25/24) “A Comprehensive Look at the Freedom to Vote Act,” Jonathan Diaz, Campaign Legal Center (9/17/21) Check out the OA Linktree for all the places to go and things to do! If you’d like to support the show (and lose the ads!), please pledge at patreon.com/law!