Dear listeners,
This week’s Serious Trouble comes to you live from a perch overlooking the soon-to-be-built Trump National Championship Golf Links at East Potomac Park by Donald J. Trump. Or, maybe — as I looked over the federally administered national parkland along the Potomac River, I was looking at a suite of projects where the president’s “just do things” approach has faced intermittent trouble in court.
For example: Trump’s name has been ordered down off the Kennedy Center, which is once again just the Kennedy Center. Trump’s closure of the center has also been enjoined, though he probably will ultimately be able to close and renovate it, though it would take an act of Congress to put his name on the building.
In less concrete terms, his “anti-weaponization fund” is also facing challenges — that motion from 35 retired federal judges is getting more traction than Ken expected; though it’s still unlikely to mean the fund will be blocked, though perhaps some attorneys involved in the Trump-IRS litigation that preceded it will be sanctioned. We also discuss the status of various lawsuits aimed at stopping the fund and the ripeness and standing challenges they face. And we look at the “you fucking dingus” doctrine — the extent to which Trump’s most cartoonish actions cause judges to hunt for ways to respond to them.
That’s for free subscribers. Paying subscribers also get:
Alexis Wilkins vs. MS NOW, and the George Costanza theory of actual malice.
The junior lawyer leading the James Comey seashell prosecution steps down (as lawyers flee the government more broadly) while a judge in another case rules that “8647” is not a true threat.
Trump really doesn’t want to pay tariff refunds, and Ilya Somin argues the tariff cases show how CASA has created a mess.
A CIA official gets indicted for lying on his resume, but really for stealing tens of millions of dollars worth of gold that he was somehow able to order to his office.
George Santos appears to be under investigation for insider trading in a prediction market about George Santos. Remember, Santos wasn’t pardoned, his sentence was commuted, so he’s still a felon and should be careful about situations that might lead to him getting sentenced as a repeat offender.
A gadfly blogger in Ohio is arrested for texting an image to a state senator that apparently depicts Shrek masturbating. Is that a crime? Ken assesses whether you have a First Amendment right to send Shrek smut to your lawmakers.
We hope you enjoy the show,
Josh
