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Main Justice: Daily Summaries Delivered
by MS NOW, Andrew Weissmann, Mary McCord
Main Justice is the next era of legal analysis from Andrew Weissmann and Mary McCord, the veteran lawyers behind the hit podcast Prosecuting Donald Trump. As the criminal cases against Trump wind down and his new administration comes to power, Andrew and Mary draw on their extensive experience working within the Department of Justice to break down what’s happening inside Trump’s DOJ. Each week, they use their platform on Main Justice to safeguard against assaults on our laws, our Constitution, and our democracy.
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- Yesterday54 min
"...But There's More!": Harassment, Intimidation and Coercion
Mary and Andrew begin this week by addressing the Department of Justice dropping the subpoenas they ordered against New York Times journalists who reported on security concerns regarding President Trump’s new Qatari-government-gifted Air Force One jet, noting that the attempt to subpoena the writers speaks to a failed effort of “chilling and intimidating” other reporters. But still, there were even more subpoenas: last week, the DOJ filed subpoenas for 14 major law firms as part of an ongoing lawsuit between the American Bar Association (ABA) and the Executive Office of the President, which Mary and Andrew believe is an effort by the government to try and “get the law firms to pressure the ABA to drop this lawsuit.” They also touch on an update to journalist Katie Phang’s lawsuit against the federal government over Epstein files redactions and address Jack Smith’s criminal referral by House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan. Plus, two immigration-related cases: a judge’s decision to throw out a DOJ lawsuit challenging Minnesota immigration laws and an appeal court’s decision to reverse a lower court decision releasing Pro-Palestinian activist Mohsen Mahdawi. A Note to Listeners: As the 2026 midterm elections heat up, MS NOW is headed to the Lone Star State. Join more than a dozen of your favorite hosts - including Rachel Maddow, Lawrence O'Donnell, Jen Psaki, Michael Steele, Ali Velshi and more - in Arlington, Texas on September 26 for a day of community and conversation about the issues that matter most to you. Get your tickets at ms.now/together. Sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts to listen to this show and other MS podcasts without ads. You'll also get exclusive bonus content from this and other shows. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
- 1 weeks ago54 min
Misleading and Evasive: Blanche’s Hearing and Trump’s Speech
Last week, all eyes were on Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s confirmation hearing to lead the Justice Department. Mary and Andrew begin with their takeaways: from Blanche’s “evasive, hyper-technical non-responses” to why his close relationship with Donald Trump is problematic, noting a moment where Blanche referred to himself as “his lawyer” and then quickly corrected himself — which Mary called a Freudian slip. They then turn to Trump’s Thursday night address, where he claimed that U.S. elections have been compromised for years. Separating fact from fiction, the co-hosts look at how Trump’s undermining of public confidence may affect the upcoming midterms. Mary and Andrew also highlight reporting from the New York Times indicating a slew of cases brought by ICE against protesters and immigrants are failing the sniff test in court. Plus, an update on former Columbia graduate student Mahmoud Khalil, who recently filed a lawsuit alleging the government and others were part of an effort to suppress criticism of Israel from pro-Palestinian demonstrators. Further Reading: This is the New York Times’ reporting on ICE cases falling apart: They Were Charged With Assaulting ICE Agents. The Cases Are Crumbling. And here is their reporting on ICE related shootings: At Least 23 People Have Been Shot at by Federal Immigration Agents Since Last Year Andrew and Mary also wanted to note this new Compendium from Just Security: “Zero Evidence”: How Judges and Grand Juries Have Rejected the Trump Administration Efforts to Investigate and Prosecute Sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts to listen to this show and other MS podcasts without ads. You'll also get exclusive bonus content from this and other shows. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
- 2 weeks ago59 min
All About Todd Blanche: At Best, Misleading; At Worst, Disingenuous
With Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s confirmation hearing set to begin midweek, Andrew and Mary use this episode to look at the totality of his tenure at the Justice Department, detailing example after example of how — despite his role as the chief lawyer for the United States — he is still functioning as the de facto personal lawyer for the president. They start things off by dissecting a deeply consequential and searing opinion from District Judge Kathleen Williams over Trump’s IRS lawsuit, effectively finding, in Mary’s telling, that it “was collusion. It was the president being on both sides of that case, and it's no adversity between the parties.” Then, the co-hosts take a broader gaze into what Blanche has done: his handling of the Epstein files and Ghislaine Maxwell, the ongoing investigations and attempted prosecutions of Trump’s political enemies and how he has used the DOJ as the president’s personal law firm. Mary and Andrew also review the Justice Department’s recent actions with Blanche at the helm, including an example from the past week of the ongoing “assault on journalists”: subpoenaing New York Times journalists who wrote about the jet gifted to the US by the Qatari government. Further Reading: Here is a transcript of Mary’s testimony during former Attorney General Pam Bondi’s confirmation hearing: https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/2025-01-16_-_testimony_-_mccord.pdf Judge Williams’ Decision: Here is the Order in Trump v. IRS Sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts to listen to this show and other MS podcasts without ads. You'll also get exclusive bonus content from this and other shows. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
- 3 weeks ago57 min
Intended Consequences: Race and Retribution
Mary and Andrew start with a deeper dive into the Supreme Court’s decision to allow the removal of Temporary Protected Status designations from over 330,000 immigrants from Haiti and Syria — a consequential ruling that affects TPS holders well beyond those who brought the case, leaving over a million people vulnerable to removal. As Andrew notes, this case was based on two claims: one being a statutory challenge that DHS didn’t follow the procedures set out by Congress, and the other a constitutional equal protection claim that this TPS status removal was “motivated in part by race” — both of which were struck down 6-3. Then, a look at Trump’s latest retribution efforts including the heavy sentences doled out over a protest that ended in a shooting outside the ICE Prairieland Detention Center inTexas one year ago; a felony indictment of former Olympian David Hearn for allegedly tearing part of the liner of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool; and former CIA Director John Brennan going on offense to challenge the DOJ’s investigation into him. Plus, Mary and Andrew analyze the DOJ’s response to a “show cause” order to unredact some of the Epstein files in a lawsuit filed by journalist Katie Phang. Sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts to listen to this show and other MS podcasts without ads. You'll also get exclusive bonus content from this and other shows. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
- 4 weeks ago20 min
The Supreme Court Is a Mess
As Andrew puts it, Chief Justice John Roberts is “cherry-picking.” He’s flying solo in this short edition of Main Justice (more to come with Mary in the next episode). Andrew gives a quick briefing on several of the Supreme Court’s most consequential end-of-term rulings, starting with the decision not to hear an appeal in the E. Jean Carroll case. Andrew also touches on the Court’s decision to uphold a Mississippi law to allow mail-in ballots that are sent by Election Day to be counted but saves his deepest analysis for two similar cases with opposing decisions: the firings of Lisa Cook and Rebecca Slaughter. While the Court ruled that the Trump administration must have cause to dismiss Cook from the Federal Reserve, it allowed the government to fire Slaughter from the Federal Trade Commission, a decision which Andrew calls deeply flawed showing the conservative majority’s support for a “unitary executive.” And finally, Andrew breaks down the Court’s narrow decision to uphold birthright citizenship, and why the tight 5-4 split is the story. Sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts to listen to this show and other MS podcasts without ads. You'll also get exclusive bonus content from this and other shows. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
- Jun 23, 20261h 1m
The Imperial Presidency is in Court, the Iran Deal is in Motion
There’s a lot on the docket today. To pull apart the Iran “deal” framework, Mary and Andrew are joined by Tess Bridgeman, an international law expert who served as a legal advisor in the Obama administration through the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran. Tess lays out how President Trump’s 14-point memorandum of understanding differs from what was brokered in 2015, and what to watch for as negotiations continue. Before she joins, the co-hosts begin by analyzing several examples of what Mary calls the Trump Justice Department’s "consistent effort” to avoid judicial review: their refusal to put into a sworn declaration that they won’t move forward with the “Anti-Weaponization” fund and a motion to dismiss a Clean Air Act violation lawsuit against Elon Musk’s xAI data center in Mississippi. They also tackle a few instances where, contrastingly, the government has positioned itself “on the offense” this week, including an indictment of 15 protesters on a conspiracy charge against ICE and the DHS’ intent to build a border wall through a holy landmark atop Mount Cristo Rey in New Mexico. Further reading: Here is the New York Times piece, Mary referred to about the Las Cruces case: A Diocese Tries to Protect Its 29-Foot Jesus From Trump’s Border Wall Here is the Just Security tracker that Mary and Andrew mentioned: Immigration Habeas Tracker: Government Obstruction, Judicial Trust, and Accountability Sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts to listen to this show and other MS podcasts without ads. You'll also get exclusive bonus content from this and other shows. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
- Jun 16, 202657 min
“A Crock of Sh*t”: Decisions Pile Up Against the President
After a week of decisions coming in from all corners, Mary and Andrew begin with a court order issued to remove President Trump’s name off the Kennedy Center after a failed, last-minute attempt by the administration to stop it from happening. Mary refers to this as “good news in the fight against revisionist history,” which she ties into their second beat: a preliminary injunction issued to restore changes to National Parks that were made after Trump issued an executive order calling for modifications to monuments, parks and memorials to rewrite and censor American history and science. Then, onto a federal judge in Virginia officially blocking the $1.776 Billion slush fund after mixed messaging from the administration about whether it would be set up, plus a decision by Judge Mehta in DC to overturn the Department of Energy’s cancellation of $82.1 Million in clean energy grants to “Blue” states across the country. Mary and Andrew also touch on a Massachusetts District Court decision blocking Ken Paxton’s lawsuit against the Democratic fundraising platform ActBlue. And last up, they read and summarize the eyebrow-raising grand jury transcripts of the “Broadview Six” case out of Chicago, so you don’t have to. Further reading: Here is Judge Mehta’s order reinstating the clean energy grants: https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mad.296214/gov.uscourts.mad.296214.41.0.pdf Sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts to listen to this show and other MS podcasts without ads. You'll also get exclusive bonus content from this and other shows. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
- Jun 8, 202649 min
Moving Fast and Breaking Things
Decisions are happening fast — and the consequences are showing. Last week, Trump announced he would nominate Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche to the top post at the Justice Department, after Blanche nixed the $1.776 “Anti-Weaponization” fund while keeping the controversial release that shields Trump and his family from any liability. Mary and Andrew highlight the myriad of issues Blanche will need to answer for when a confirmation hearing comes, before moving to the Supreme Court ruling that allows Alabama to adopt a Republican-drawn congressional map eliminating one of only two majority-Black districts in the state. This nullifies a lower court's decision that the map was, in fact, intentionally discriminatory. Next up, the co-hosts review a Rhode Island judge’s ruling that invalidated several of Trump’s immigration policies, including one that placed a hold on asylum claims globally, causing chaos and uncertainty for many legally trying to obtain asylum claims and green card status.And lastly, a beat on a new executive order stripping job protections from thousands of federal workers, plus continuing litigation over Trump’s ballroom. Sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts to listen to this show and other MS podcasts without ads. You'll also get exclusive bonus content from this and other shows. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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About Main Justice
Main Justice is the next era of legal analysis from Andrew Weissmann and Mary McCord, the veteran lawyers behind the hit podcast Prosecuting Donald Trump. As the criminal cases against Trump wind down and his new administration comes to power, Andrew and Mary draw on their extensive experience working within the Department of Justice to break down what’s happening inside Trump’s DOJ. Each week, they use their platform on Main Justice to safeguard against assaults on our laws, our Constitution, and our democracy.
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