OA1121 and T3BE57 - Senator Bill Cassidy is one of the few remaining Republicans in national politics that resembles a normal human being. He is a doctor, and is very pro-vaccine. And he had a critical hand in RFK Jr.'s confirmation process. There seemed to be a decent chance he might not vote for the brain worms that run RFK Jr.'s flesh suit, but in the end, he did. How did he get there? How did he justify it? It's an interesting story and it says a lot about where we are right now. If you'd li...
Feb 05, 2025•1 hr 27 min•Ep. 1121
OA1120- This episode was first published on our sister show, Gavel Gavel , and has been made available at no charge for our wonderful Opening Arguments patrons! Folks, we and you deserve a little treat. And let me tell you, this is a treat. Mwuah! Chef's kiss. Here's a triple episode for ya! Rudy Giuliani is such a piece of shit that the last real lawyers he could find quit. And so, enter... some guy from Staten Island. He gave us, and the world, truly one of the stupidest, worst written legal d...
Feb 03, 2025•2 hr 24 min•Ep. 120
Brought to you by Trade Coffee! Get up to 3 bags free with any new Trade subscription at drinktrade.com/OA OA1119 - Trump's executive orders are bad for humanity--and just plain badly written. We survey some of the 20 major legal challenges which have been filed against this nonsense--including two early wins, and a few others which might be wins soon. Matt then explains a recent proposed Trump enforcement tactic with concerning new potential for integration of local and federal authorities with...
Jan 31, 2025•55 min•Ep. 1119
OA1118 and T3BE56 - Russell Vought lied in his confirmation hearing, but who is Vought and why should we care? Lydia gets us up to speed on this capital-d Doozy, with his background, some highlights from his confirmation hearing, and the great reporting that lets us confidently state that he lied in his hearing with the Senate Budget Committee. Then Heather Varanini joins for the answer to T3BE question 55 and brand new question 56! Who Is Russell Vought? Probably the Most Important Person in Tr...
Jan 29, 2025•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 1118
Brought to you by Trade Coffee! Get up to 3 bags free with any new Trade subscription at drinktrade.com/OA OA1117 - As Donald Trump’s executive branch nominees continue to work their way through the confirmation process, we welcome Stanford Law professor Anne Joseph O’Connell to learn more about one of the most important legal protections we have against a fully imperial presidency. Professor O’Connell is one of the leading academic experts on the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, the legislation wh...
Jan 27, 2025•57 min•Ep. 1117
OA1116 - We take stock a few days into the second Trump administration to consider the current state of ICE enforcement, Trump’s blatantly unlawful overrule of the recent Supreme Court decision forcing the divestiture of TikTok, and the President’s new venture in cryptocurrency. Finally, today’s footnote honors the efforts of one person who is doing her part to write history as it happens. Judge John Coughenour’s injunction against Trump’s executive order on birthright citizenship (1/23/25) SCOT...
Jan 24, 2025•47 min•Ep. 11116
OA1115 - Matt joins for a special Wednesday to provide an initial review of some of the most notable of the 26 executive orders which Donald Trump signed after his inauguration on Monday. We go beyond the headlines to take a closer look at what is actually in these things, and try to sort the routine bluster from the very real threats. “Undercover in Project 2025,” Center for Climate Reporting (8/15/2024) Restoring Names That Honor American Greatness – The White House (1/20/2025) Protecting The ...
Jan 22, 2025•53 min•Ep. 1115
OA1114 - “We are now faced, my friends, with the fact that tomorrow is today.” --Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (April 4, 1967) We begin the second Trump administration exactly where we intend to remain for the next four years: in dissent. Today’s Inauguration Day counter-programming features two of the most powerful dissenters in modern American history: Supreme Court Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. We begin with commentary on Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s defiantly i...
Jan 20, 2025•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 1114
OA1113 - Special counsel Jack Smith recently resigned and turned final reports in each of Donald Trump’s federal cases to Attorney General Merrick Garland. We examine the enigma of the man and the complexity of his mission before reviewing his final conclusions and charging decisions. How does this compare to the Mueller Report? Why was Trump never charged under the Insurrection Act? And will Aileen Cannon really get away with keeping the second volume on Trump’s illegal retention of classified ...
Jan 17, 2025•53 min•Ep. 1113
OA1112 and T3BE55! But who will watch the doozy watchers? We will. We watched Pete Hegseth's confirmation hearing, but our focus might have been a bit different than elsewhere. Here at Doozywatch(tm) HQ our concern wasn't with Hegseth as much, because every single one of us and them already knows he isn't fit to be Secretary of Defense. Our focus, and the focus on today's OA is - how did the Democrats do? We've been quite nervous about to what extent the Democrats will obey in advance. So what d...
Jan 15, 2025•1 hr 16 min•Ep. 1112
OA1111 - The Eastman Dilemma: Lawfare or Justice? We're giving everyone half of this Law'd Awful Movies! We watched John Eastman's... documentary ? Whatever it is, a strange nonprofit called the Madison Media Fund produced it, and held the premiere at Mar-a-Lago ahead of its, you guessed it, January 6th release date. You'll hear straight from Eastman, Alan Dershowitz, Jeff Clark, and...Lawrence Lessig regarding Eastman's election "theory." Special Guest Lydia joins us to tackle the folks behind ...
Jan 13, 2025•53 min•Ep. 1111
OA1110 - For the first time in US history, an American President (both former and future) is facing criminal sentencing. We review Judge Juan Merchan’s most recent ruling on Donald Trump’s motion to dismiss his conviction for 34 felony counts of falsifying business records and the difficult balance that Merchan has struck in trying to weigh the jury’s verdict and the rule of law itself against the fact that the defendant will be ten days away from regaining the nuclear codes as of the time of hi...
Jan 10, 2025•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 1110
OA1109 and T3BE54 - John Eastman is many things: a hack, a liar, a disgraced law school dean, a failed Wikipedia editor, and a mostly-disbarred, twice-indicted traitor to the Constitution on a desperate PR campaign to distance himself from the violent insurrection of January 6, 2021 which he set in motion with his patently bad-faith legal advice to the Trump campaign. But did you know that he also isn’t even a person ? Our Profiles in Fascism series continues with a have-to-hear-this-to-believe-...
Jan 08, 2025•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 1109
OA1108 - A Coup in Search of a Legal Theory We commemorate the fourth anniversary of the January 6, 2021 insurrection by remembering the two elite lawyers who bear significant personal, moral, and legal responsibility for one of the single worst days in US political history. The bad-faith legal cover Kenneth Chesebro and John Eastman provided for the “Stop the Steal” movement in the months leading up to MAGA’s violent insurrection would ultimately result in nine deaths, hundreds of injuries, and...
Jan 06, 2025•58 min•Ep. 1108
OA1107 - Chief Justice John Roberts has used his annual end-of-the-year report to remind us that federal judges should not accept luxury vacations from billionaires, fly insurrectionist flags on any of their properties, or ever be criticized for any reason. Or, you know--at least one of those things. We also answer a patron question about what happens if Republicans can't get their House in order by the time that electoral votes are supposed to be certified on January 6th before getting to today...
Jan 03, 2025•54 min•Ep. 1107
OA1106 and T3BE53 The Law'd Awful Movies this month was so much fun, I wanted to give everyone the first ~30 minutes of it. After that, it's the usual Thomas Takes the Bar Exam answer to Q52 and the new Q53. If you are one of the lucky patrons who has already heard LAM1006, feel free to skip to 31:04. If you'd like to play along with T3BE, here's what to do: hop on Bluesky, follow Openargs , find the post that has this episode, and quote it with your answer! Or, go to our Subreddit and look for ...
Jan 01, 2025•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 1106
... and he might actually be right! Listen in and hear why. OA1105 - Harvard Law professor and anti-corruption advocate Lawrence Lessig is almost certainly the only person on Earth to have had a personal relationship with both visionary hacker Aaron Swartz and former Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia. We warmly welcome Professor Lessig back to OA to share--among many other things--his experiences with each of these very different people, why he remains optimistic about campaign finance reform...
Dec 30, 2024•55 min•Ep. 1005
OA1104 - America's Dismayor, and other great stories to help close out 2024 on a positive note! Rudy Giuliani’s long, greasy slide from the heights of New York power seems to be ending in the same Manhattan federal courthouse in which he made his career as the US Attorney for the Southern District of NY. We take a closer look at the often hilarious lengths America’s former mayor has gone to in the past year to avoid paying the $148 million judgment he earned by casually defaming two hardworking ...
Dec 27, 2024•55 min•Ep. 1104
OA1103 - Is human intelligence necessarily more rational and just than artificial intelligence? How involved should AI be in our law and government? Professor Aziz Huq of the University of Chicago School of Law joins for a fascinating conversation about everything from the “right to a human decision” to the dystopian terrors of Tinder. “ A Right to a Human Decision,” Aziz Huq, Virginia Law Review (2020) “ The Geopolitics of Digital Regulation,” Aziz Huq (2024) “Chinese scientists develop AI ‘pro...
Dec 23, 2024•51 min•Ep. 1103
OA1102 - Why is the state of New York charging Luigi Mangione as a terrorist? And why have federal charges been filed in this case at all? We consider before moving on to try to locate any actual legal basis in the Georgia Court of Appeals decision removing Fulton County DA Fani Willis from the prosecution of Donald Trump and his alleged conspirators in Georgia. Finally, we dig into 11th Circuit judge Kevin Newsom’s surprisingly defensible argument that judges and lawyers should occasionally con...
Dec 20, 2024•58 min•Ep. 1102
OA1101 - You know... that super woke institution... the US Military... well, NO LONGER! Trump's man for the job is a real piece of work. And if you don't believe us, take it from his own mom. As usual, Lydia gives us the doozy breakdown, and also how Hegseth fits right into the Project 2025 design. Then, it's T3BE 52! 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 !...
Dec 18, 2024•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 1101
OA1100 - Donald Trump’s promises of “mass deportation” have been dominating the headlines, but what do we actually know about what the coming administration is planning--and who should actually be concerned? Matt explains how immigration enforcement actually works in practice under the current system, including its current practical and logistical limitations. We then break down the ways that Trump has told us that he intends to subvert or get around the existing system and the law (or lack ther...
Dec 16, 2024•54 min•Ep. 1100
OA1099 - Superstar Gavel Gavel contributor Liz Skeen joins to answer all of your questions about the arrest of Luigi Mangione and the charges he will soon be facing for his alleged shooting of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson in the courthouse where she serves as a public defender. Also: Biden’s record-breaking day of clemency. Listen to Thomas, Matt, Liz, and our talented cast of People v. Trump transcript re-enactors on Gavel Gavel ! Watch our new video on how Joe Biden can go out a legend...
Dec 13, 2024•54 min•Ep. 1099
OA1098/ T3BE51 - We conclude our review of Trump’s immigration enforcement team with the man behind Donald Trump’s immigration policies.. Who is Steven Miller, and why? You’ll want to listen to this one even if you think you know who this man is, because it’s all a lot weirder--and, somehow, worse--than you might have ever imagined. Then, it's time for the answer to last week's bar exam question, and Q51! Hatemonger: Stephen Miller, Donald Trump, and the White Nationalist Agenda, Jean Guerrero (...
Dec 11, 2024•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 1098
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 g...
Dec 09, 2024•46 min•Ep. 1097
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 so...
Dec 06, 2024•53 min•Ep. 1096
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 !...
Dec 04, 2024•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 1095
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...
Dec 02, 2024•56 min•Ep. 1094
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 feder...
Nov 29, 2024•52 min•Ep. 1093
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 !...
Nov 27, 2024•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 1092
