As judges continue to weigh in, President Trump is finding that despite his litigious efforts, he can’t always get what he wants. Mary and Andrew begin this week with the latest fallout from his $1.776 billion “anti-weaponization” fund, which is now under judicial review after a group of federal judges filed a motion arguing that the original lawsuit that prompted the fund was “itself a fraud on the court.” This prompted the news, first reported by Axios, that the Trump administration would aban...
Jun 02, 2026•55 min•Ep. 194
Mary and Andrew begin this week by tackling a decision by a U.S. District Judge to dismiss criminal charges against Kilmar Ábrego García, calling the administration’s case against García a vindictive prosecution for challenging his illegal deportation last year. Mary and Andrew couple this topic with a conversation about the “Broadview Six” case, involving a group of Chicago ICE protesters whose criminal case was dropped, similarly, due to misconduct by the DOJ. Then, Mary and Andrew continue a ...
May 26, 2026•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 193
There’s a pattern to Andrew and Mary’s focus this week: lies, lies and more lies. They gather in-person to tackle a host of issues and to celebrate the release of Andrew’s new book, “Liar’s Kingdom.” After digging into the book’s thesis, they hone in on the biggest news of the week: the $1.776 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund” created by the Justice Department as part of a settlement agreement which, according to the Attorney General, would provide a non-partisan “systematic process to hear and ...
May 19, 2026•51 min•Ep. 192
Mary and Andrew recognize it’s been a doozy of a week. Starting with the continued fallout from the Supreme Court’s Louisiana v. Callais decision, they focus on how much the 6-3 ruling has opened the floodgates for other states like Tennessee, South Carolina, Florida and Texas to pursue similar redistricting efforts. The Justices even allowed Alabama to move forward with re-drawing their congressional maps, despite prior determinations of intentional racial discrimination in the state. Mary and ...
May 12, 2026•54 min•Ep. 191
AI – and coverage of it – is everywhere. But what is artificial intelligence, really, beyond the buzzword? Each week, in a special new miniseries - ‘The AI End Game’ - Chris Hayes is joined by preeminent experts on AI and its effects to help make sense of this revolutionary time in history. The series will feature in-depth conversations with experts, including: The Atlantic journalist Derek Thompson; professor at Wharton and New York Times bestselling author Ethan Mollick, professor of psycholog...
May 05, 2026•1 min
Mary and Andrew begin this week by highlighting another questionable indictment of former FBI Director James Comey over a photo of seashells that he posted on Instagram. The indictment alleges that a “reasonable person” would interpret that the shells in the picture, arranged to spell out “86 47,” represent “a serious expression of an intent to do harm to the President of the United States.” Then, a win for Director Comey’s daughter Maurene, after a federal judge cleared the path for her wrongfu...
May 04, 2026•59 min•Ep. 190
This week, Mary and Andrew follow the money from Alabama to New York to Southern Florida. They start with an 11-count indictment against the Southern Poverty Law Center alleging financial crimes and defrauding donors — the DOJ suggesting that the center’s goal was to give funding to extremist groups rather than to report on them. The co-hosts find the charges dubious at best, with a speaking indictment that seems “weak” and lacks specifics. From there, they analyze another set of charges out of ...
Apr 28, 2026•53 min•Ep. 189
Mary and Andrew begin this week by welcoming former Assistant US Attorney Sunita Doddamani. A 20-year civil servant with an impeccable record of service, Sunita is one of the prosecutors who was recently fired as part of the DOJ's report about the prior administration's so-called “bias” against abortion protesters and religious rights in FACE Act cases. She talks openly about the "Article II" termination letter she received from Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, with no warning and like many...
Apr 20, 2026•58 min•Ep. 188
In the wake of Viktor Orbán's election loss in Hungary—an autocratic leader backed by both Vladamir Putin and Donald Trump—Mary and Andrew call on an expert to give context to Peter Magyar’s surprising win: Princeton Professor Kim Lane Scheppele. Kim sheds some light on what led to this moment in Hungary, what it means for Hungarians and the EU moving forward, and what lessons the US can apply here at home. From there, the co-hosts move to a concerning opinion from the Office of Legal Counsel de...
Apr 14, 2026•57 min•Ep. 187
There’s a lot to unpack this week, not least of which being the President’s open suggestion of committing war crimes against Iran. Mary and Andrew begin by underscoring the Geneva Conventions stipulation limiting the use of force in wartime to military targets – not civilian ones. Then, a major shakeup at the Department of Justice: Attorney General Pam Bondi is out. Andrew compares her ouster to Trump’s firing of Jeff Sessions in his first term, and how the “sycophantic” nature of her allegiance...
Apr 07, 2026•58 min•Ep. 186
While much of the news is rightfully focused on the ongoing war with Iran, Mary and Andrew pull the threads on some consequential legal news that’s not getting as much attention. They start with the Justice Department’s settlement with Michael Flynn, paying out $1.25 million over his claim that he was wrongly prosecuted for making false statements to federal agents. And as Mary points out in her recent MS NOW op-ed, this settlement could set a dangerous precedent, by encouraging others “to seek ...
Mar 31, 2026•53 min•Ep. 185
Amid an unrelenting news cycle, one story really hit hard for both Mary and Andrew this week: the passing of former FBI Director Robert Mueller. Both hosts worked with him: Mary in the DC US Attorney’s Office; Andrew as FBI Special Counsel, General Counsel, and ultimately, as a top prosecutor in Mueller’s 2016 Special Counsel investigation into Russian election interference. They reflect on Mueller’s life and legacy being one dedicated topublic service, which, in Andrew’s accounting, “wasn't jus...
Mar 24, 2026•54 min•Ep. 184
Last week, Judge James Boasberg checked in the Justice Department by quashing two subpoenas against Federal Reserve Board Chair Jerome Powell, intended to pressure him into "voting for lower interest rates or resigning.” Finding “essentially zero evidence” of criminal behavior, Mary and Andrew explain how these subpoenas were issued as retribution and retaliation against Powell, as Boasberg cited over 100 statements that the president and his deputies made attacking him. Next, the co-hosts dig i...
Mar 17, 2026•52 min•Ep. 183
Today's episode begins with a breakdown of the Justice Department’s about-face on four cases brought after Trump targeted several law firms through executive action. As Mary and Andrew discussed last week – they initially dropped their appeal of the decisions against sanctioning these firms, only to reverse course the next day, topped off with a new court filing Friday appealing the rulings. Next, the co-hosts review a pair of decisions: one out of Minnesota's district court concerning the state...
Mar 10, 2026•56 min•Ep. 182
Initial shock has given way to grave concerns as the US and Israel’s joint attack on Iran continue, stepping both countries into a war without a clear goal, end date or exit strategy. To help explain where congressional powers lie and the limits of executive authority, Mary and Andrew call upon Tess Bridgeman, international law expert and Co-Editor-in-Chief of "Just Security”. Tess stakes out the scope of the 1973 War Powers Resolution, and why Congress is meant to be the body that decides if, a...
Mar 04, 2026•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 181
Last week, the Supreme Court struck down President Trump's expansive tariffs, ruling that they exceeded the authority given to him by Congress. The 6-3 decision saw conservative Justices Gorsuch, Coney Barrett, and Chief Justice Roberts align with the court’s three liberal justices, though as Mary and Andrew explain, through different pathways: the conservative justices using the “major questions doctrine” as their guiding principle, while the liberal justices arrived at the same result through ...
Feb 24, 2026•55 min•Ep. 180
Last week, a grand jury refused to indict six Democratic lawmakers over a video they made addressing service members’ duty to refuse illegal orders. Mary and Andrew hold little back as they discuss the government’s attempt to chill free speech and persecute political foes. In an adjacent case, they review Judge Richard Leon’s decision to block Secretary Pete Hegseth from demoting Senator Mark Kelly over the video, saying it “trampled on Senator Kelly's First Amendment freedoms.” The co-hosts the...
Feb 17, 2026•58 min•Ep. 179
“MS NOW Presents: Clock It” is an invitation to the liveliest and most informed groupchat in your feed. Symone Sanders Townsend and Eugene Daniels are long-time political powerhouses. And they understand more than most how culture influences politics, and the role politics plays in culture. On “Clock It,” they’re helping you put your finger on the pulse of the hottest political gossip and their off-air conversations too colorful for TV. In the first episode of their new show, “Clock It,” they’re...
Feb 12, 2026•6 min
Andrew and Mary are often inundated with news out of the Justice Department, but one item that really caught their attention this week was the DOJ’s appeal to the Supreme Court to toss out Steve Bannon’s contempt conviction. They begin here, highlighting Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche’s wry comments on social media about the case. Next, they turn to a reality hitting prosecutors hard, especially in states ICE is targeting—that the push for mass detentions did not include any plan for the i...
Feb 10, 2026•59 min•Ep. 178
Symone Sanders Townsend and Eugene Daniels were once at odds as White House staffer and White House reporter. Now they’re friends and colleagues—each co-hosting their own shows at MS NOW. But their off-air conversations are where the real action is. Their new show, “MS NOW Presents: Clock It” is an invitation to their groupchat, the liveliest—and most informative—in news. Whether it’s ICE getting dispatched to the Super Bowl because Bad Bunny’s doing the halftime show, or Nicolás Maduro’s Nike T...
Feb 05, 2026•2 min
Heads were turning over the weekend after Chad Mizelle, a former Justice Department official, put out a recruitment call for Trump-loyal Assistant U.S. Attorneys to hit him up on X. Mary and Andrew begin by highlighting the atypical nature of this outreach, while noting how slim the pool of applicants must be for what have long-been highly coveted and competitive positions. This piled on another DOJ fumble after a huge tranche ofEpstein files was released that unintentionally exposed the persona...
Feb 04, 2026•58 min•Ep. 177
Mary and Andrew make Minnesota the focal point this week, after the Trump administration’s intensified immigration enforcement efforts in the state culminated in the tragic killing of Alex Pretti by federal agents on Saturday. The co-hosts detail several legal cases related to these efforts: one that challenges how ICE and CBP agents treat protestors and observers, another that aims to preserve evidence in Mr. Pretti’s death, and a state case arguing that the federal government is violating the ...
Jan 28, 2026•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 176
The former special counsel testified in front of the Republican-led House Judiciary Committee for five hours on Thursday. After the hearing was adjourned – and in between their respective hits for MS NOW’s evening shows – Mary and Andrew shared their takeaways from Smith’s time under questioning. As they note, the representatives who called Smith in often used their allotted 5 minutes to read aloud their own political statements and left him little room to say anything. In his opening statement,...
Jan 23, 2026•14 min•Ep. 175
Protests continue in Minnesota after the state sued to stop President Trump’s surge of immigration agents to a city still reeling from the death of Renee Good. After mulling where we are one year into this administration, Mary and Andrew zero in on Trump’s revived desire to invoke the Insurrection Act, as Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey become the targets of a federal inquiry. Adding to the tumult, numerous Minnesota prosecutors have quit over the pretense of an investigation ...
Jan 20, 2026•53 min•Ep. 174
Today’s episode begins with the fatal shooting of Renee Good last week at the hands of an ICE officer in Minneapolis. Mary and Andrew break down the frame by frame of the tragedy and its fallout — pointing to the Trump administration’s deflective response, the Civil Rights Division’s decision not to investigate, and the inflammatory language used by the Vice President and Trump himself. Joining the conversation next for a deep dive into Trump’s actions in Venezuela is international law expert Re...
Jan 14, 2026•56 min•Ep. 173
Listen to this special invitation from Rachel Maddow and sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts to take advantage of a 3-month free trial! With MS NOW Premium, you can get our entire suite of podcasts – everything from “The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell” to “The Best People with Nicolle Wallace” – all ad-free. As a subscriber, you also get early access to select shows, plus exclusive bonus content – like a new episode of “Rachel Maddow Presents: Burn Order,” out Friday. Sign up right h...
Jan 09, 2026•2 min
It’s been five years since rioters stormed the Capitol in one of the most violent events on U.S soil in recent history. To commemorate the day and remind Americans of the consequences that still reverberate around the nation, House Democrats organized a hearing to “to set the record straight on the violent insurrection carried out by supporters of Donald Trump.” In this bonus episode, you’ll hear from Winston Pingeon, a former United States Capitol Police Officer, Brendan Ballou, a former Depart...
Jan 07, 2026•1 hr 18 min
Just days into 2026, Mary and Andrew dive into a fresh slate of legal questions brought on by the United States’ surprise extraction of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife to New York to face criminal charges. Unpacking why the operation is widely viewed as illegal in both Venezuela and here at home, they focus on the Trump administration’s pattern of self-excusing questionable tactics under the banner of fighting crime and drug smuggling. Next, as the fifth anniversary of the Janua...
Jan 06, 2026•53 min•Ep. 172
After a year that saw no shortage of heavy legal news, Mary and Andrew close out 2025 with an episode of positive judicial developments. They begin with the Supreme Court’s decision denying President Trump’s request to stay an injunction blocking the federalization of National Guard troops in Illinois, concluding that the statute the government used to justify it first requires an attempt to execute federal laws with the military – which would likely require invocation of the Insurrection Act. A...
Dec 31, 2025•54 min•Ep. 171
The highly anticipated release of the Epstein files dropped last Friday with a muted thump, as redactions were abundant and files were held back. Mary and Andrew begin there, with the Justice Department’s failure to comply with the “Epstein Files Transparency Act”, a congressional law compelling the release of "all unclassified records" with a few exceptions. They break down what the law requires, why the DOJ’s redactions raise some concerns, and what new revelations surfaced around Jeffrey Epst...
Dec 23, 2025•52 min•Ep. 170
