Ep 171 — Can Trump Put Troops In Every City Simply By Shouting EMERGENCY? | Free
FOIA update; government shutdown; POTUS deploying national guard to major cities who didn't ask for it; Lindsay Halligan's fail indictment of James Comey
The government may be shut down, but ICE is not. We’ll compare Trump’s efforts to deploy the National Guard in LA, DC, Portland, and Chicago. In better news, Alex Jones looks to be at the end of the road with his plot to use bankruptcy to shield his company from the Sandy Hook parents. And we have breaking news in Law and Chaos’s FOIA suit against the DOJ. Plus for subscribers: Was Lindsey Halligan lawfully appointed as US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia? Asking for James Comey.
Links:
Res Ipsa Media v. DOJ
https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/71236135/res-ipsa-media-llc-v-department-of-justice/
First Circuit Birthright Citizenship Ruling
Oregon v. Trump
https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/71481149/state-of-oregon-v-trump/
Newsom v. Trump (N.D. Cal.) [docket via CourtListener]
https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/70496361/newsom-v-trump
Newsom v. Trump (Ninth Circuit)
https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/70527602/newsom-et-al-v-trump-et-al
Alex Jones Bankruptcy
DOJ FY 2026 Contingency Plan
https://www.justice.gov/jmd/media/1377216/dl
National Review - Lindsey Halligan - Alito 1986 memo
https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.njd.578930/gov.uscourts.njd.578930.61.1.pdf
Show Links:
BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod
Threads: @LawAndChaosPod
Twitter: @LawAndChaosPod
I'm not sure that Trump believes that shouting "Emergency!" gives him the right to send troops in to cities, but the fact that he has spent his entire life learning that the way to reach his definition of victory is to simply trample everything in his path.
Take him to court for an un-paid $100,000 invoice? He'll counter-sue you for $10 million, then apply leverage to make absolutely sure that, win or lose, the episode will cost you much more than it costs him [even if in legal fees].
Subpoena him for testimony before Congress or a Special Counsel? He'll just ignore you.
Tell his minions to turn around planes containing people being illegally deported to an El Salvador gulag? He'll ignore you and deport them anyway.
Tell him that only Congress can declare war? He'll bomb and sink fishing boats just to spite you.
Have the temerity to cause him harm, through being an FBI agent, prosecutor, congressperson, or voter? He'll attack and destroy you. And I'm not being hyperbolic - remember when there were fires in California and the people were in need of aid? His response was words to the effect of, "Why should I? They didn't vote for me." - And it took Republican House Members to remind him of the number of votes he received in various impacted districts.
Bearing all the above in mind, I think it's more accurate to say that in this second term, President Trump is simply going to do whatever he wants - basically to act like a king - and by the time exhausted, uncoordinated and frankly pathetic democrats catch up, it will be too late.
What's concerning is that the strategy is working.
It worries me that so many people are meeting this moment as though it is an excessive but otherwise ordinary aberration when it is clearly much more dangerous.
https://randoliberal.substack.com/p/opposition-to-doj-motion-to-stay :-)