Dear listeners,
Ghislaine Maxwell has sat for a meeting with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, who not very long ago was serving as President Trump’s personal criminal defense attorney. The idea seems to be that Maxwell could offer some “help” getting to the bottom of the Jeffrey Epstein scandal — presumably in a way that exonerates the president — in exchange for some sort of leniency. I remain skeptical that this can help the president politically — “give clemency to a pedophile’s henchwoman” is not usually on the list of strategies that make a politician more popular — but Ken and I discuss how that could even work (and whether, for example, Trump would have to find some judge who’s willing to be That Judge Who Reduced Ghislaine’s Sentence.
That’s for free subscribers. For paid subscribers this week, there’s much more:
We look at Emmanuel and Brigitte Macron’s libel suit against Candace Owens, who has been proclaiming a bizarre conspiracy theory that Brigitte is a man posing as a woman as a part of some Manchurian candidate-type conspiracy that also involves the worship of a transgender deity and hidden messages at the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics. The Macrons probably can win in court — but will winning actually make them better off? They do, at least, have very good lawyers.
We discuss the machinations that have kept Alina Habba in charge, for now, at the US Attorney’s Office in New Jersey, and the distinction between restricting who the president can install on an acting basis and trying to force him to accept the installation of a specific person he doesn’t want.
We talk about another ruling blocking the administration’s effort to restrict birthright citizenship, and
We look at a strange Supreme Court order saying lower courts should do a better job inferring what its decisions on the shadow docket mean, and a concurrence from Justice Kavanaugh that says the lower courts really do need more guidance — guidance that only a more proactive and meddlesome Supreme Court can provide.
To get that whole episode, click here.
We hope you enjoy the episode,
Josh
