Law and Chaos

The Onion’s plan to take over Infowars looks to have succeeded at last.

A judge in Rhode Island became the fifth to reject the DOJ’s voter roll grab. But Harmeet Dhillon, head of the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, is undeterred. Now she’s trying to snatch ballots from Wayne County, Michigan.

Trump’s Justice Department is negotiating with Trump’s lawyers to decide how much taxpayer money to pay Trump for the illegal disclosure of his tax returns in 2020. The statutory max is $1,000 per return. He wants $10 billion.

The DOJ has hired Joe diGenova, a Reagan-era US Attorney, to spice up the grand conspiracy investigation into all Trump’s enemies taking place in Florida under the watchful eye of Judge Aileen Cannon.

And Pennsylvania’s intermediate appellate court rules that the state’s ban on abortion coverage under Medicaid violates both the Pennsylvania Equal Rights Amendment and the state constitution's equal protection provisions.

MAIN SHOW:

FBI Director (for now) Kash Patel is big mad over an article in The Atlantic reporting that his drinking is freaking out everyone around him. He’s rounded up wonderweasel lawyer Jesse Binnall and filed a defamation trollsuit in DC. This will be amazing content, and we are grateful in advance!

And we’ll break down the blockbuster article from the New York Times on Chief Justice Roberts’ invention of the modern shadow docket ten years ago to stop the “emergency” of states being asked to come up with a way to reduce carbon emissions. The Times got the receipts, and they are ugly. So much for Mister Balls and Strikes!

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Alan Dershowitz is indulging his humiliation kink at the Supreme Court. He’s asking the justices to overturn the actual malice standard from New York Times v. Sulllivan so he can sue CNN for reporting what he said during Trump’s first impeachment. Are his arguments good? NO. Are they hilarious? HELL YES.

The Onion Has a New Plan to Take Over Infowars
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/20/business/infowars-alex-jones-the-onion.html

US v. Amore [Rhode Island voter rolls]
https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/71982644/united-states-v-amore

AG Nessel, Governor Whitmer, Secretary Benson Denounce DOJ Demand for 2024 Ballots
https://www.michigan.gov/ag/news/press-releases/2026/04/19/ag-nessel-governor-whitmer-secretary-benson-denounce-doj-demand-for-2024-ballots

Trump v. IRS
https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72207870/trump-v-internal-revenue-service/

U.S. Installs a Trump Loyalist to Lead ‘Grand Conspiracy’ Case Into Trump Foes
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/18/us/politics/digenova-trump-lawyer-conspiracy.html

Allegheny Reproductive Health Center v. Pennsylvania Department of Human Services
https://www.pacourts.us/assets/opinions/Commonwealth/out/26MD19_4-20-26.pdf?cb=1

Patel v. The Atlantic Monthly Group
https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73213220/patel-v-the-atlantic-monthly-group-llc/

The FBI Director Is MIA
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/2026/04/kash-patel-fbi-director-drinking-absences/686839/

“The Shadow Papers: The Inside Story of Five Days That Remade the Supreme Court,” New York Times, April 18, 2026
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/18/us/politics/supreme-court-shadow-docket.html

“Read the Supreme Court’s Shadow Papers,” New York Times, April 18, 2026
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/04/18/us/politics/supreme-court-shadow-docket-papers.html

Dersh at SCOTUS
https://www.supremecourt.gov/search.aspx?filename=/docket/docketfiles/html/public/25-770.html

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The lady who wore a penis costume to a No Kings protest in Fairhope, Alabama was acquitted of disturbing the peace.

DNI Tulsi Gabbard referred the Ukraine Whistleblower and former Intelligence Community Inspector General to the DOJ for criminal prosecution. Crime: TBD.

US Attorney for DC Jeanine Pirro continues to harass the Federal Reserve. This time she sent prosecutors to bang on the door demanding to inspect the ongoing renovations.

The Trump administration uses the threat of administrative sanctions to force changes it can’t get from Congress or the courts. The Justice Department extorted $17 million from IBM — which just so happens to have billions of dollars in government contracts! — for committing DEI “fraud.” And the FTC forced brand advisers to agree not to “discriminate” against conservative media outlets.

On a more positive note, a judge in Maryland continues to block the ICE facility being constructed in the state, and Judge Richard Leon put the kibosh on Trump’s ballroom … again.

MAIN SHOW:

A jury slapped Live Nation and Ticket Master in the antitrust lawsuit filed in New York. The feds noped out two days into trial, but the states who picked up the baton and ran with it. The jurors found the company liable on all counts. We talk about the ins and outs of the decision and some pending legal questions still waiting for resolution.

We also break down a new lawsuit brought by a lawful resident of Maine with no criminal record who was seized by ICE during “Operation Catch of the Day” and brutalized. Can he sue under the Maine Civil Rights Act? And if so, is this a path forward for blue states to fill the gap left by inadequate federal laws?

Penis costume protester prevails in court
https://www.courthousenews.com/penis-costume-protester-prevails-in-court/

Tulsi’s “Criminal Referral” of the Ukraine Whistleblower and ICIG
https://www.dni.gov/index.php/newsroom/press-releases/press-releases-2026/4154-pr-06-26

Prosecutors from Jeanine Pirro's office tried to access Federal Reserve headquarters, but were turned away
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/prosecutors-jeanine-pirro-office-visit-federal-reserve-headquarters-jerome-powell/

Justice Department settles with IBM over alleged DEI practices
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2026/04/16/justice-department-settles-with-ibm-over-alleged-dei-practices/

Ad firms settle with Trump FTC over claims they boycotted conservative media
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/04/ad-firms-settle-with-trump-ftc-over-claims-they-boycotted-conservative-media

Maryland v. Mullin
https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72313096/state-of-maryland-v-mullin

National Trust for Historic Preservation v. National Park Service
https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72028010/national-trust-for-historic-preservation-in-the-united-states-v-national

US v. LiveNation [docket via CourtListener]
https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/68557723/united-states-of-america-v-live-nation-entertainment-inc/?order_by=desc&page=1

Carvajal-Munoz v. Ravencamp [docket via CourtListener]
https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73186770/carvajal-munoz-v-ravencamp/

Maine Civil Rights Act, 5 M.R.S. 4682
https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/5/title5sec4682.html

“State Law, the Westfall Act, and the Nature of the Bivens Question,” [2013 U. Penn. L. Rev.]
https://scholarship.law.georgetown.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1976&context=facpub

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The Fifth Circuit is crossing out laws just for sport. This time it’s a 140-year-old ban on making homebrew hooch, because YOLO.

Trump’s lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal and Rupert Murdoch over an article describing his creepy birthday card to Jeffrey Epstein was dismissed. But … that dismissal was without prejudice, so he can take another swing at it. The trollsuit against the BBC is still limping along.

Deputy General Counsel at the Department of Education Josh Kleinfeld makes an interesting pitch to George Mason’s Antonin Scalia Law School, which is currently under investigation by … the Department of Education.

And Trump’s ballroom blitz takes a tumble in court.

MAIN SHOW:

Trump discovers one weird trick to make the Presidential Records Act disappear. All he has to do is order the Office of Legal Counsel to come up with a memo saying it’s unconstitutional and — hey, presto! — he can steal or shred or delete any document he likes.

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Are we the pirates now?

Trump v. Murdoch
https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/70843413/trump-v-murdoch

Trump v. BBC
https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72040010/trump-v-british-broadcasting-corporation

Fifth Circuit Home Distillers Ruling
https://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/24/24-10760-CV0.pdf

Trump Admin Lawyer Applies To Be Law School Dean, Suggests It Might Help Investigations Go Away
https://abovethelaw.com/2026/04/trump-admin-lawyer-applies-to-be-law-school-dean-suggests-it-might-help-investigations-go-away/

Ballroom Blitz Blocked
https://www.lawandchaospod.com/p/ballroom-blitz-blocked

National Trust for Historic Preservation v. National Park Service
https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73127510/national-trust-for-historic-preservation-v-nps

April 1, 2026 OLC Memorandum on the Presidential Records Act
https://www.justice.gov/olc/media/1434131/dl

Judicial Watch v. NARA (“Socks Case”), 845 F.Supp.2d 288 (DC Cir. 2012)
https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=15818036517066124081

Trump v. Mazars, 591 US 848 (2020)
https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=2096461232780826445

Nixon v. Administrator of General Svcs. et al., 433 US 425 (1977)
https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=11884364268460571560

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Judge Brian Murphy blocked termination of TPS for 5,000 Ethiopians.

DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin will continue Noem’s tradition of announcing his intention to violate the law in advance, so as to give litigants a heads up.

Michael Avenatti moves to a halfway house, remains a full-way non-lawyer.

And Democrats overperformed in Tuesday’s special elections.

MAIN SHOW:

Crazytimes continue at the DOJ as Trump’s goons jockey to replace Pam Bondi. Acting AG Todd Blanche is professing his love for Trump at the podium. US Attorney for DC Jeanine Pirro can’t indict a ham sandwich, and juries are telling her to take a hike. Politico says Harmeet Dhillon, head of the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, is in the running for the top job. She’s currently trying to indict January 6 Committee witness Cassidy Hutchinson for perjury — which has exactly nothing to do with civil rights. And Dhillon’s office keeps losing when she sues states demanding they turn over their voter rolls.

Will Republicans invoke the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office? (No.) But the fact that we’re asking the question shows how far we’ve come.

And in Tennessee, Kilmar Abrego Garcia is trying to get his human smuggling case dismissed on grounds of vindictive prosecution. Both the government and Garcia filed their briefs this week. The government claims that prosecution started with an article in the local paper, the Tennessee Star. Which is weird because the case was reopened in Baltimore the week before the article was published — and DHS is actually the source of the reporting!

Blanche Steals Bondi's Brown Nose
https://lawandchaospod.substack.com/p/blanche-steals-bondis-brown-nose

Justice Dept.’s Civil Rights Division Is Investigating Star Witness Against Trump
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/07/us/doj-cassidy-hutchinson-investigation-trump.html

Kilmar Abrego Garcia [TN criminal docket]
https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.tnmd.104622/

2022 TN Traffic Stop of Kilmar Abrego Garcia Was Day Three of Trip That Originated in Houston, Took Detour to St. Louis, Crossed Trafficking Hubs and Areas with MS-13
https://tennesseestar.com/justice/2022-tn-traffic-stop-of-kilmar-abrego-garcia-was-day-three-of-trip-that-originated-in-houston-took-detour-to-st-louis-crossed-trafficking-hubs-and-areas-with-ms-13/tpappert/2025/04/21/

African Communities Together v. Noem [TPS for Ethiopians]
https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72178312/african-communities-together-v-noem/

Mullin weighs using airport customs as leverage against sanctuary cities
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/mullin-weighs-using-airport-customs-leverage-against-sanctuary-cities

Judge Jeanine’s Big Audition
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/judge-jeanine-pirro-attorney-general-trump-jerome-powell.html

Inside the battle to be Trump’s next attorney general
​​https://www.politico.com/news/2026/04/09/trump-attorney-general-blanche-dhillion-pirro-00864988

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Pam Bondi is GTFO! But the mess she leaves will take a generation to repair.

The Supreme Court paved the way to disappear Steve Bannon’s conviction for contempt of Congress.

Trump commands the NCAA to quit being woke. He also has thoughts about the transfer portal.

MAIN SHOW:

Judge Richard Leon! Preliminarily enjoins! Trump’s tackyass ballroom! Administration files ridiculous appeal!

Justin Baldoni is back to teach us CivPro. This time, he’s largely prevailing on his motion for judgment on the pleadings, as Judge Liman dismisses ten of Blake Lively’s 13 counts. Turns out, she never signed her contract, and the contract established that she was an employee, not an independent contractor. Since independent contractors can’t sue for discrimination under Title VII, her harassment claims are out. And the contract had a choice of law provision that agreed to abide by California law. No contract … no automatic California law.

And of course we’ll break down the Supreme Court’s birthright decision hearing. So many clips!

SCOTUS Orders List April 6, 2026
https://www.supremecourt.gov/orders/courtorders/040626zor_5iek.pdf

Trump Executive Order to De-Woke the NCAA
https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2026/04/urgent-national-action-to-save-college-sports/

National Trust for Historic Preservation v. National Park Service [Ballroom trial docket]
https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72028010/national-trust-for-historic-preservation-in-the-united-states-v-national/

National Trust for Historic Preservation v. National Park Service [Ballroom appeal docket]
https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73127510/national-trust-for-historic-preservation-v-nps/

Lively v. Wayfarer
https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69510553/lively-v-wayfarer-studios-llc/?order_by=desc

Blake Lively’s (unsigned) Actor Loan-Out Agreement [Exhibit 263]
https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.634304/gov.uscourts.nysd.634304.964.121.pdf

Birthright Citizenship SCOTUS Transcript
https://www.supremecourt.gov/oral_arguments/argument_transcripts/2025/25-365_l6gn.pdf

Birthright Citizenship SCOTUS Audio
https://www.supremecourt.gov/oral_arguments/audio/2025/25-365

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