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Serious Trouble: Daily Summaries Delivered
by Josh Barro and Ken White
An irreverent podcast about the law from Josh Barro and Ken White.
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- 5 days ago17 min
Later, Tater
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.serioustrouble.showWhat a reversal of fortune for Andrew and Tristan Tate! One minute you’re the toast of (certain quarters of) MAGA; the next minute federal agents are arresting you, intending to extradite you to face rape charges in the UK. This week, we talk about how extradition works, and while Trump could intervene at any time to stop the extradition, his spokeswoman says he won’t.Also this week: Federal officials failed to preserve key evidence in the case of the alleged reflecting pool vandal — that is, the government threw away the liner. The Trump DOJ is once again fighting with local district judges over who should serve as interim US Attorney, and what’s new this time is that the fired interim appointee is suing to get his job back.Paying subscribers also get:* A fairly silly defamation lawsuit from Madison Square Garden against Wired, and discovery trouble for President Trump in his “$10 billion” lawsuit against the BBC.* Trump’s flailing effort to get the courts to order E. Jean Carroll to give him his $5.6 million back, and what he’d have to do in order to actually draw Rule 11 sanctions with this nonsense.* A new court we’d never heard of, because it had never been used before this month: the Alien Terrorist Removal Court.* A lawsuit that says Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins is proselytizing to her employees in violation of the First Amendment — and, yes, the Administrative Procedure Act.* And a really weird AI misuse case from Brazilian labor courts.Upgrade your subscription at www.serioustrouble.show.
- 1 weeks ago32 min
Stretching the Limits of the Courts
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.serioustrouble.showThis week: Judge Kathleen Williams’ eviscerates President Trump’s attorneys for their sham lawsuit that was ultimately used as a pretext to create the “weaponization fund” settlement. Her order is bracing. But what are its practical effects? Is the settlement actually void, including the part that was supposed to protect Trump from future IRS audits? Also: E. Jean Carroll finally got the smaller of her two Trump judgments paid out. And we consider the very aggressive legal theory under which Mahmoud Khalil is suing the people who advocated for him to be deported, and the Trump administration’s effort to find out how The New York Times learned about security threats to the president’s new Qatari jet.That’s this week’s free episode. For paying subscribers, we look at the Trump administration’s effort to get information about how Boris Epshteyn, its own representative, communicated with law firms that settled in the face of adverse executive orders. Awkward. Plus: a defamation case that should worry New York City Councilwoman Vickie Paladino, at least as regards one of its claims, and we consider a bizarre episode that has Jack Burkman and Jacob Wohl back in the news, pursuing their very own big-boy federal felonies. It involves a rapper named “Boosie Badazz,” whom they charged a large fee in exchange for assistance getting a pardon, and whom they did not in fact get pardoned.Upgrade your subscription now at serioustrouble.show
- 2 weeks ago20 min
Humphrey's Executioner
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.serioustrouble.showHumphrey’s Executor, which has been obviously dead for some time, is now officially overturned. Except! The Federal Reserve is special and unique and in a historical tradition. Also this week: John Bolton has pleaded guilty to mishandling national defense information and might even get jail time. In Florida, federal prosecutors mistakenly disclosed Jack Smith’s report on the documents investigation to Carmen Mercedes Lineberger, as part of their prosecution of Lineberger for stealing a copy of the report (which she labeled as a “bundt cake recipe,” oops).For paying subscribers: In Chicago, US Attorney Andrew Boutros is in more trouble. And in Minnesota, more subpoenas have been quashed as politically motivated. Alleged pipe bomber Brian Cole hasn’t been pardoned. Todd Blanche doesn’t want to release more Epstein documents. A prosecution relating to Trump’s reflecting pool is likely to face problems. Florida’s “Stop WOKE Act” has been thrown out. And the ACLU of Maine wants the Secret Service to let the “Cats on a Couch” lady troll JD Vance in person.Upgrade your subscription now at serioustrouble.show.
- Jun 26, 202646 min
At Least the Fancy Lawyers Are Still Getting Rich
David Lat joins Josh Barro for a conversation about the state of the legal industry under Donald Trump — how Big Law and the legal industry are faring after those executive orders and settlements — and they talk about how AI is changing the work of law firms, from staffing to billing rates. Plus: a look at the unusual breakdown in Thursday’s Supreme Court decision in the Monsanto case.We hope you enjoy the episode and the holiday, and Ken and Josh will be back with more after July 4. To find a transcript of this episode and sign up for updates from us, got to www.serioustrouble.show. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.serioustrouble.show/subscribe
- Jun 19, 202628 min
America's Next Top Tort
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.serioustrouble.showThe U.S. Attorney’s office in Chicago has dismissed another high-profile case — this one a COVID fraud case — that had been led by AUSA Sheri Mecklenburg. We discuss that and more developments in the Broadview Six case. Meanwhile, in Minnesota, federal prosecutors have obtained a conspiracy indictment against self-proclaimed “Antifa” activists who sought to interfere with ICE operations in the Twin Cities. And the slush fund drama continues even as Todd Blanche seeks approval to become for real-for real Attorney General. And soon-to-be-congressman Brad Lander is acquitted in his own misdemeanor case about ICE obstruction.Plus, for paying subscribers:* A look at Sam Bankman-Fried’s prison life, his aspirations to return to changing the world (something Judge Lewis Kaplan would really like him not to try to do again), and how Michael Avenatti thinks he’s too full of himself,* A loss in Trump’s fight to eliminate “woke” signage from national parks,* Tyra Banks’s stronger-than-expected defamation claim against Netflix, in which she is invoking the Earl Milford doctrine (with representation from Clare Locke!), and* A look at some guys who are arguably even dumber than Jacob Wohl.
- Jun 12, 202639 min
A Vouch Too Far
This week: the grand jury transcripts from the Broadview Six case show an array of embarrassing misconduct by AUSAs from the office of the US Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois. As Ken describes, these are things that AUSAs are very clearly taught not to do. And yet.Also this week: a couple of new flavors of AI hallucination trouble in the courts; Donald Trump’s legal team that’s suing the BBC for him isn’t doing such a good job; Matt Taibbi filed another dumb lawsuit and lost; Ken Paxton’s old lawyer endorses against him (unethical or just imprudent?); the Trump-Kennedy Center lost a lawsuit against a performer who canceled a scheduled performance; two ways being a mess can sometimes help you in court; and Judge Richard! Leon! says there’s no Trump slush fund to enjoin, for now! But he will keep watching! So don’t try any funny business!No paywall in this episode; it is available to all subscribers. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.serioustrouble.show/subscribe
- Jun 5, 202624 min
This Shrek Film Was Not In Theaters
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.serioustrouble.showThis week’s Serious Trouble comes to you live from a perch overlooking the soon-to-be-built Trump National Championship Golf Links at East Potomac Park by Donald J. Trump. Or, maybe — as I looked over the federally administered national parkland along the Potomac River, I was looking at a suite of projects where the president’s “just do things” approach has faced intermittent trouble in court. For example: Trump’s name has been ordered down off the Kennedy Center, which is once again just the Kennedy Center. We discuss challenges to his “anti-weaponization fund," and the status of various lawsuits aimed at stopping the fund and the ripeness and standing challenges they face. And we look at the “you fucking dingus” doctrine — the extent to which Trump’s most cartoonish actions cause judges to hunt for ways to respond to them.That’s for free subscribers. Paying subscribers also get:* Alexis Wilkins vs. MS NOW, and the George Costanza theory of actual malice.* The junior lawyer leading the James Comey seashell prosecution steps down (as lawyers flee the government more broadly) while a judge in another case rules that “8647” is not a true threat.* Trump really doesn’t want to pay tariff refunds, and Ilya Somin argues the tariff cases show how CASA has created a mess.* A CIA official gets indicted for lying on his resume, but really for stealing tens of millions of dollars worth of gold that he was somehow able to order to his office.* George Santos appears to be under investigation for insider trading in a prediction market about George Santos. * A gadfly blogger in Ohio is arrested for texting an image to a state senator that apparently depicts Shrek masturbating. Is that a crime?
- May 29, 202622 min
Court Officers Behaving Badly
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.serioustrouble.showThe ‘Broadview Six’ case was one of the Trump administration’s prominent prosecutions of anti-ICE protesters. Federal prosecutors in Chicago brought felony charges to fanfare, then curiously dropped them, keeping only misdemeanor counts. Now we know why: they engaged in egregious misconduct to obtain the felony indictments, which they then sought to conceal from the judge, who is not amused.For all subscribers, we discuss that and US Attorney Andrew Boutros, who issued a weird memo promising reform, and the news that his office is apparently running a criminal investigation into E. Jean Carroll, examining whether she lied in a deposition hundreds of miles from Chicago.For paying subscribers (upgrade your subscription now at serioustrouble.show) this week, there’s also:* Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s big and unusual win on vindictive prosecution, which is already inspiring the Southern Poverty Law Center.* A sordid case involving an Eleventh Circuit judge whose sofa cushion required forensic testing after clerks asserted she was noisily carrying on an affair in chambers.* A free speech win for West Point faculty.* An interesting new insider trading case involving Polymarket.* A probably-too-clever motion attacking the “anti-weaponization fund,” and* More bad news for ex-JP Morgan banker Chirayu Rana.
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About Serious Trouble
An irreverent podcast about the law from Josh Barro and Ken White.
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