Serious Trouble

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.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.serioustrouble.showThis week Ken and Josh discuss a D.C. grand jury declining to indict Democrats in Congress, Don Lemon's new high-profile lawyer, and Trump's lawsuit against the IRS.That’s for all subscribers this week. Paying subscribers get more conversation:* A look at a highly consequential ruling from the Fifth Circuit, upholding the Trump Administration’s novel and very aggressive views on what aliens it may detain pending deportation. Most other courts have rejected these theories — including a majority of Trump’s own trial court appointees who have heard relevant cases — and there’s some skepticism that the Supreme Court will go along.* The DOJ seized 2020 election ballots from Fulton County, with a fairly batshit search warrant that Ken is surprised got approval from a magistrate judge. Fulton wants its ballots back; we discuss whether they’ll get them and what might happen if Trump tries to get a warrant for ballots in an election where a count is ongoing rather than complete.* We look at an alleged jewel thief who had the option of going to prison or Ecuador and unsurprisingly chose Ecuador — reflecting a serious failure of coordination between prosecutors and immigration authorities.* And finally, is murder a crime of violence? The answer might surprise you.Upgrade your subscription to receive all of our episodes at serioustrouble.show.

This week Ken and Josh discuss how the Feds got an arrest warrant for Don Lemon after all. Before prosecutors got the grand jury indictment, they tried through some really irregular channels to get Lemon arrested more quickly. When a magistrate judge rejected an arrest warrant application for Lemon last week, rather than applying again or proceeding to the grand jury, prosecutors asked Judge Patrick Schiltz to overrule the magistrate, then asked an appellate panel to force Schiltz to rule on their motion right away, fearing that if Lemon wasn’t arrested immediately, there would be an epidemic of illegal church invasions. Schiltz took exception to this, and the appeals panel backed him up, though one of the appellate judges remarked that he thought all the arrest warrants were sufficiently supported but the government just didn’t need the weird emergency relief it was seeking.Also this week: we look at federal judges (including Schiltz) who are incensed that ICE isn’t promptly complying with their habeas corpus orders, and how this mess is downstream of rules that prohibit nationwide injunctions and are clogging some courts with individual lawsuits seeking relief from immigration detentions. We have an update on Minnesota’s 10th Amendment case — Judge Kate Menendez appears skeptical that she is in a position to provide the sweeping relief the state wants, though she does want more briefing on the threat letter from Attorney General Pam Bondi to the state. And in another case, an order from Menendez restricting ICE tactics has been stayed.In non-ICE news, it appears likely that Jeffrey Toobin will have to testify at Tom Goldstein’s criminal trial, though he has a good argument for limiting his testimony to fairly boring topics. Candace Owens says Turning Point USA has sent her a letter threatening to enforce a non-disparagement agreement they say she has violated by spreading conspiracy theories about Charlie Kirk’s death. And a defendant in Northern California called up a local news station during her trial to protest that she only threw parties where she gave alcohol to minors because of COVID.Upgrade your subscription to receive all of our episodes at 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

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.serioustrouble.showFed Chair Jerome Powell dropped a bombshell on Sunday: a video disclosing the Fed had been subpoenaed in a criminal investigation related to his congressional testimony about cost overruns in the Fed’s headquarters renovation. Powell said bluntly that the investigation is an effort to use the DOJ to assert control over the Fed and its interest-rate setting apparatus. Did this make Ken scream "shut up!!!!" at Powell's video? Meanwhile, Minnesota and some of its municipalities have sued the federal government, arguing that the ICE surge in the state is illegal and unconstitutional. Those discussions are for all listeners. Paying subscribers also get:* A look at intensifying turnover in US Attorneys’ offices, including the resignation of top prosecutors who had been leading the investigations into welfare fraud in Minnesota that was concentrated in the state’s Somali-American community.* DOJ’s argument for why Lindsey Halligan can keep calling herself a US Attorney after a judge ruled she isn’t one.* Senator Mark Kelly’s many arguments for why Pete Hegseth can’t reduce his rank and pension.* Some “shut up” news: prosecutors want to admit several incriminating statements from defendant Thomas Goldstein’s pre-trial New York Times profile.* And a look at a bizarre situation where Bruce Fein insists he somehow became Nicolas Maduro’s lawyer even though Maduro says he never hired him.Upgrade your subscription now at serioustrouble.show.

Some of the Epstein files have been released, but there's a lot of blacked-out text and pictures. The Justice Department is supposed to redact certain information but of course there’s the ever-present question of whether all redaction “errors” are errors, or whether this administration has its thumb on the scale for the president.Also in this episode: the Pulitzer Board requests President Trump's medical, financial and tax records, an LA man who towed an ICE vehicle around the block during a raid was acquitted of stealing government property, Milwaukee Judge Hannah Dugan was convicted in federal court of obstructing an effort by federal immigration agents to detain someone she had called to her courtroom. And Caroline Ellison, former partner to Sam Bankman-Fried in multiple senses of the term, has been sprung from Club Fed in Danbury, Connecticut. Speaking of SBF: apparently he’s transformed himself into something of a jailhouse lawyer but he seems to be about as good at jailhouse lawyering as he was at crypto investing. Finally, we look at a maybe-not-so-fearsome terrorism indictment and we discuss the ongoing contempt saga that has caused Ken to feel a surprising emotion regarding Charles C. Johnson: pity. 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