Main Justice

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 the SDNY against an Army soldier who won over $400,000 in online bets using his classified knowledge of the US capture of Nicolas Maduro. After reviewing the merits of that case, they head to Miami, where President Trump’s civil suit against the IRS was put on pause to discern how to handle him being on both sides of the case. As Mary notes, the judge is asking Trump to essentially “show me we really have adverse parties here.”Then to DC, for a look at the charges filed against the alleged gunman in the White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting, and how the administration quickly used that as another reason to build the White House ballroom in an unusual court filing. And last up, Andrew and Mary review the DC Circuit’s decision on Trump’s asylum ban.

This podcast is also available on YouTube at ms.now/mainjustice.

Further reading:

Here is Andrew’s piece on the SPLC indictment: The Poverty of the DOJ Indictment of the Southern Poverty Law Center

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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 others, seemingly just for doing her job by taking the cases assigned to her. From there, Andrew and Mary look at the administration’s moves to vacate the convictions of four Proud Boys who were convicted of multiple felonies related to the attack on January 6th. Then, on to a significant decision from Judge Mehta in a long-running civil lawsuit brought against Trump, finding that the president’s January 6th speech was political rather than official in nature, which would rule out immunity for official acts. And before they wrap up, the co-hosts take up the latest ruling on Judge Boasberg’s contempt inquiry into whether government officials violated his court orders around those deportation flights in March of 2025.

This podcast is also available on YouTube at ms.now/mainjustice.

Further reading:

Here is the Just Security piece on the FACE Act report: Separating Fact from Fiction in FACE Act Enforcement

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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 declaring the Presidential Records Act unconstitutional on its face, suggesting that Trump would no longer have to comply with the federal law. Mary and Andrew align on the significance of preserving these archives, before heading to what amounts to, in Mary’s words: “a bunch of garbage”out of the DOJ. On the list: Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s “I love you, Sir” press conference, the firing of immigration judges for ruling in high-profile cases in a way that was unfavorable to the President, and the DOJ’s investigation into Cassidy Hutchinson, a former White House aide, about whether she lied to Congress around the events of January 6th.

This podcast is also available on YouTube at ms.now/mainjustice.

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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 to Trump did not save her job. Next, they turn to last week's oral arguments before the Supreme Court over birthright citizenship. Mary, who is steeped in the case, came away thinking that “the solicitor general has a much greater hill to climb” to convince a majority of Justices to uphold Trump’s executive order at issue. Last up, the co-hosts look at another of Trump’s EO’s being challenged that would restrict mail-in voting, despite defending his own use of voting by mail in Florida's Special Election in late March.

This podcast is also available on YouTube at ms.now/mainjustice.

Further reading:

This is the Just Security piece Andrew referred to: When War Crimes Rhetoric Becomes Battlefield Reality: The Slippery Slope to Total War on Iran

Here is Mary’s MS NOW piece: The embarrassing lesson of Pam Bondi’s confirmation hearing.

Here is Trump’s EO on mail in voting that was immediately challenged: ENSURING CITIZENSHIP VERIFICATION AND INTEGRITY IN FEDERAL ELECTIONS

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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 similar windfalls” that support Trump’s efforts to rewrite history. Next, they unpack a case brought by Minnesota against the DOJ and DHS for blocking state investigators from accessing evidence in the Renee Good, Alex Pretti, and Julio Sosa-Celis shootings. And last up, the co-hosts break down a disastrous error the Justice Department admitted to this week, using an incorrect written policy to defend actions resulting in a number of arrests at immigration courthouses, as people voluntarily appeared for their immigration proceedings.

You can also find us on YouTube at ms.now/mainjustice.

Further reading:

Here is Mary’s MS NOW write up on Michael Flynn: Trump’s settlement to Michael Flynn could set a dangerous precedent. 

Here is the Anthropic decision:  Anthropic PBC v. U.S. Department of War

HERE is the ICE memorandum the government relied on to allow immigration arrests near courthouses.

And HERE is the letter from the SDNY to Judge Kevin Castel noting their error.

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