Law and Chaos

Congratulations to Maurene Comey, who  won her wrongful termination suit against the DOJ, which fired her last year despite a decade of exemplary performance.
 
US Attorney for DC Jeanine Pirro proudly announced a criminal complaint against two former FBI officials for lying to Congress. Let's see if she can actually get an indictment from a grand jury.
 
Arizona AG Kris Mayes sued Maricopa County Record Justin Heap and forced him to restore the registrations of 25 citizens wrongly flagged as illegal voters by the SAVE database.
 
HHS got caught submitting fake case cites in a judicial proceeding. Again.
 
MAIN SHOW:
 
The government sued California to force it to purge its voter rolls with the election underway. When the trial judge failed to rule within 15 hours, they filed an emergency appeal to the Ninth Circuit. We wrote about Sunday's oral argument. And now the panel has smacked down the government hard.
 
The DOJ is suing to block certification of Alaska's Senate race, but only if Democrat Mary Peltola wins.
 
DOJ is trying to charge James Comey again, this time with leaking classified information ten years ago … outside the statute of limitations.
 
Comey v. DOJ 
https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/71348216/comey-v-united-states-department-of-justice/
 
US v. Floris 
https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/75010510/united-states-v-floris
 
Maricopa County recorder restores 25 voters wrongly flagged as noncitizens, ending lawsuit
https://azmirror.com/2026/10/23/maricopa-county-recorder-restores-25-voters-wrongly-flagged-as-noncitizens-ending-lawsuit/
 
Over 80 Percent Of Citations 'Fictitious, Erroneous, or Irrelevant' In Trump Admin Brief
https://abovethelaw.com/2026/10/over-80-percent-of-citations-fictitious-erroneous-or-irrelevant-in-trump-admin-brief/
 
US v. California [9th Circuit appellate docket]
https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/75011344/united-states-of-america-v-state-of-california-et-al/
 
US v. California [CA District court docket]
https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/74967108/united-states-v-state-of-california/
 
Ninth Circuit Bats Around DOJ Lawyer in CA 'Emergency' Vote Purge [lawandchaospod.com]
https://www.lawandchaospod.com/p/ninth-circuit-bats-around-doj-lawyer
 
US v. Alaska
https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/75009254/united-states-v-state-of-alaska/
 
US v. Comey
https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/75009254/united-states-v-state-of-alaska/



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DOCKET ALERTS:
 
Alina Habba is newly married and locked in a knife fight with fellow Trumplander Ric Grenell. She says he failed to deposit a $6 million check to the Kennedy Center. And — hey, what a coincidence! — a week later, the New York Times reported that Habba got a $50 million contract from a Venezuelan billionaire seeking a pardon for campaign finance violations. 
 
Virginia State Senate President Pro Tempore Louise Lucas got indicted for running a chain of unlicensed marijuana dispensaries with her family.
 
A magistrate judge in Florida says Trump has to sit for a deposition by December 11 in his defamation trollsuit against the BBC.
 
DOOFUS OF THE DAY: It's a pitched battle between the bottom of Donald Trump's personal lawyers, Daniel Epstein, who filed a motion to please decide this quickly because being sanctioned by a federal judge is embarrassing, and Alex Jones's, who got two extensions of time to file their Fifth Circuit brief and somehow still managed not to turn in their homework on time. Now the Fifth Circuit might toss Alex Jones's appeal without a hearing.
 
MAIN SHOW: Two weeks before the midterm elections, the Department of Justice is demanding that California "segregate" 20,000 mail-in ballots from voters it says are noncitizens. Trump's henchmen filed a lawsuit and tried to steer this case to one of his appointees, but the move backfired and landed on the docket of one of the administration's harshest critics, Judge David Carter. Whoops!
 
Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín issued an injunction blocking HSI thugs from harassing citizens for voting.
 
SUBSCRIBER BONUS: Civil procedure FTW! In a lawsuit filed by the NAACP seeking to prevent Homeland Security from sending goons to the polls. A federal judge just ordered expedited discovery in an effort to protect the security of the midterms.
 
Exclusive: White House probes claims of missing Kennedy Center money in "MAGA blood feud"
https://www.axios.com/2026/10/14/trump-kennedy-center-donation-maga-feud
 
A Billionaire Wanted a Trump Pardon. His Family Gave Alina Habba a $50 Million Deal.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/20/us/politics/julio-herrera-pardon-alina-habba.html
 
US v. Lucas
https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/75002838/united-states-v-lucas/
 
Trump v. BBC
https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72040010/trump-v-british-broadcasting-corporation/
 
Donald Trump v. Thirty Five Federal Judges [11th Cir. appeal of attorney sanctions in IRS case]
https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73710657/donald-trump-v-thirty-five-former-federal-judges/
 
Jones v. Heslin [Alex Jones 5th Cir. appeal]
https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73472491/jones-v-heslin/
 
US v. California [DOJ demands California purge mail-in ballots]
https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/74967108/america-v-california-state-of/
 
California Nurses Association v. Mullin
https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/74815064/california-nurses-association-v-mullin
 
NAACP v. DHS [Subscriber bonus]
https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/74811483/national-association-for-the-advancement-of-colored-people-v-us/
 
Show Links:
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DOCKET ALERTS:
 
The Supreme Court is back in session. In Monday's orders list, the justices agreed to hear two important cases.
 
In DOJ v. McNutt, they'll decide whether the government can ban home distilling under its taxation power. 
 
In Association for Educational Fairness v. Montgomery County Board of Education, they'll decide whether facially neutral policies which have a disparate impact on a particular ethnic group, are illegally discriminatory.
 
The justices did not decide the copyright case BMG v. Vetter, because it involved the parent company of Penguin Random House, which published books by Justices Sotomayor, Gorsuch, Barrett, and Jackson.
 
MAIN SHOW:
 
Trump's defamation suit against the BBC is mired in discovery disputes. Who knew you had to sit for deposition when you sue someone, even if you're the president. Trump is also big mad that Auntie Beeb wants to depose Jack Smith.
 
DOOFUS of the Day, Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward, is trying hard to get himself sanctioned by Judge Ana Reyes in the litigation over the East Potomac Golf Course.
 
The DC Circuit heard oral argument in Trump's effort to overturn the Presidential Records Act so that he can steal all the documents from the White House and sell them to the highest bidder.
 
SUBSCRIBER BONUS:
 
Let's pack the Supreme Court … or not. We'll shout about recent pieces by law professors Steve Vladeck and Beau Baumann.
 
DOJ v. McNutt
https://www.supremecourt.gov/search.aspx?filename=/docket/docketfiles/html/public/26-204.html
 
Association for Educational Fairness v. Montgomery County Board of Education
https://www.supremecourt.gov/search.aspx?filename=/docket/docketfiles/html/public/26-12.html
 
BMG v. Vetter
https://www.supremecourt.gov/search.aspx?filename=/docket/docketfiles/html/public/25-1391.html
 
Trump v. BBC
https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72040010/trump-v-british-broadcasting-corporation/
 
DC Preservation League v. Department of Interior [Golf Course]
https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72278895/dc-preservation-league-v-department-of-interior
 
American Historical Ass'n v. Trump (DC Cir.) https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73432626/american-historical-association-v-donald-trump/
 
Beau Baumann, 'The Vladek Tragedy' 
https://bbaumann.substack.com/p/the-vladeck-tragedy
 
Steve Vladek, 'Hard Questions About Court Expansion' https://www.stevevladeck.com/p/bonus-257-hard-questions-about-court



Show Links:
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Threads: @LawAndChaosPod
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DOCKET ALERTS:
 
Maryland Congressman Andy Harris is confused about who gets to record him losing his mind in public.
 
Judge Tim Kelly issued a preliminary injunction, continuing the TRO which blocked the White House from banning reporters from CNN, MSNOW, and Politico from accessing the White House grounds. Naturally the White House has appealed to the DC Circuit. And now the DOJ is investigating media outlets who boycotted pool coverage for potential antitrust violations. (No, it's not an antitrust violation, STFU.)
 
Judge Ana Reyes is pissed that the Park Service razed hundreds of healthy trees at East Potomac Golf Course after repeatedly assuring her that they'd do no such thing. She issued a TRO and vowed to put officials on the stand Monday until she finds out who is to blame.
 
DOOFUS OF THE DAY: The new White House Press Secretary Katie Zacharia is very bad at her job. She's also not a lawyer, despite years of holding herself out as one. 
 
MAIN SHOW:
 
Can the Trump administration really denaturalize and deport Rep. Ilhan Omar?
 
The J.M. Smucker Company has sued Trader Joe's for trademark infringement and dilution over its knockoff "Uncrustables." Is this another "Buc-ee's" overreach, or does Smucker's have a point?
 
SUBSCRIBER BONUS:
 
An appeals court in Ohio just struck down the state's voucher program that funnels taxpayer money to religious schools. We talk about that case and the separation of church and state and so much more.
 
CNN v. Trump
https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/74823502/cable-news-network-inc-v-trump/
 
Trump's new press secretary, Katie Zacharia, claims she's a lawyer. Is she?
https://popular.info/p/trumps-new-press-secretary-katie
 
DC Preservation League v. Department of Interior [Golf Course]
https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72278895/dc-preservation-league-v-department-of-interior
 
J.M. Smucker Co. v. Trader Joe's 
https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/71631587/jm-smucker-company-v-trader-joes-company/?order_by=desc
 
Columbus City School District v. Ohio [10th District Ohio Court of Appeals]
https://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/rod/docs/pdf/10/2026/2026-Ohio-4047.pdf
 
Ohio Constitution Art. VI, Sec. 2
https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-constitution/section-6.2
 
Show Links:
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The rule of law is under attack and the DOJ's prestige and presumption of regularity have crumbled. How do we fix this moving forward?
 
Akiva Cohen joins us to discuss GLOW Law (Government Lawyers Oversight Watchdog). Their objective is to hold attorneys accountable for acting unethically or illegally in service of POTUS & DOJ. GLOW also seeks to highlight instances of legal courage by government attorneys when behavior calls for it.
 
GLOW Law
https://glowlaw.org/about/
 
Akiva Cohen
https://www.kusklaw.com/akiva-cohen



Show Links:
https://www.lawandchaospod.com/
BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod
Threads: @LawAndChaosPod
Twitter: @LawAndChaosPod