Dear listeners,
Joe Biden has committed the ultimate act of snowplow parenting: a presidential pardon for his son, and not just for the specific acts he faced charges over, but for anything he did between 2014 and five days ago. This week, Ken and I discuss exactly how unusual this pardon was (no, Woodrow Wilson did not pardon or even have a brother-in-law named “Hunter deButts”) and exactly what kinds of norms about pardons even remain to enforce. And we talk about rumors that Biden might hand out a lot more preemptive pardons for figures who could be targeted by an FBI led by Kash Patel — and what it would mean for the rule of law if he did.
That’s for free subscribers. For paid subscribers, we have Atlanta criminal defense attorney Andrew Fleischman back with us this week, to talk about the ignominious end to the Young Thug RICO trial. After more than a year of trial (following a year of jury selection) and the installation of a new presiding judge, all but two of the alleged conspirators had pled out. (Young Thug himself took a deal sentencing him to time served, probation, and a requirement to get the hell out of Atlanta for a while.) The long-suffering jury in this case decided the fate of only Deamonte Kendrick (a.k.a. “Yak Gotti”) and Shannon Stillwell, both charged with murder. Kendrick was found not guilty on all charges; Stillwell was convicted only of illegally possessing a gun. Not a great result for DA Fani Willis — listen to our conversation with Fleischman to learn how this all went so sideways, and what this tells us about how a Trump RICO trial might have gone.
Also for paid subscribers: a look at Chancellor Kathaleen St. Jude McCormack’s repeat rejection of Elon Musk’s $50+ billion pay package, a discussion of Judge Arun Subramanian’s repeat rejection of Sean Combs’s request for bail, and answers to listener questions about Drake’s legal beef with Kendrick Lamar.
We hope you enjoy the episode,
Josh
