Elie Mystal on the Supreme Court's "bigoted, miserable Republicans."
The Bill Press Pod
BP Pods
4.7 • 601 Ratings
🗓️ 21 October 2025
⏱️ 35 minutes
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Summary
In this episode, Bill speaks with Elie Mystal, the Justice Correspondent at The Nation, about the current state of the U.S. Department of Justice, particularly focusing on its role under the Trump administration. The discussion highlights recent indictments of political figures, the Department of Justice's shift towards serving Trump's political agenda, and the questionable legal merit of these indictments. They delve into the Supreme Court’s new session, discussing its selective case acceptance process and the conservative majority’s influence on the court’s docket, including key issues like voting rights, presidential powers, and the overall shift to the right. The conversation also addresses the potential impact on minority rights, particularly LGBT Americans, and criticizes Democrats for not taking a stronger stance on court reform. Mystal underscores the urgency for Democrats to focus on judicial appointments and court expansion to counterbalance the conservative-leaning Supreme Court.
Bill referenced Elie’s work for the Nation Magazine. You can read his work here: thenation.com/authors/elie-mystal/
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello, good friends. Good to see you again and welcome back to the Bill Press Pod. |
| 0:11.9 | Well, I don't have to tell you, these are tough times. For those of us who really love this country, |
| 0:17.8 | our patience and purpose are being tested as never before. Yes, we have |
| 0:22.9 | three branches of government, but we can't trust any one of them. The executives run by a madman |
| 0:29.1 | who thinks he's a king and acts like it more and more every day. The legislative branch basically |
| 0:34.9 | no longer exists. They ceded all their power to Donald Trump and went home. |
| 0:40.0 | And the judicial branch, the 6-3 Trump Court? It's on a mission to roll back many of the basic |
| 0:46.9 | rights we fought so hard to enshrine. Don't believe it? Just look at the cases they're taking up |
| 0:52.5 | this term. They've already signaled their intent |
| 0:55.8 | to gut whatever's left of the Voting Rights Act and to allow parents to force their gay children |
| 1:02.0 | into totally discredited sex conversion programs. They're set to get rid of any remaining |
| 1:08.3 | limits on campaign contributions, And they've agreed to consider |
| 1:12.3 | and probably grant Donald Trump's power to impose any tariffs he wants, to fire any federal |
| 1:19.8 | employees or heads of independent agencies he wants. They've also agreed to consider letting |
| 1:25.4 | Donald Trump violate the Constitution by ending |
| 1:28.3 | birthright citizenship and maybe run for a third term. And of course, they'll no doubt grant |
| 1:34.9 | him total immunity. As far as the rule of law goes, this session of the Supreme Court could |
| 1:42.2 | be the worst yet. So gird yourselves. To help us understand how |
| 1:48.7 | much is at stake, we turn today to one of the nation's leading legal analysts, Elimistow, |
| 1:54.9 | Justice Correspondent, for the Nation magazine. Elimistal, good to reconnect with you. |
| 2:01.2 | Thank you so much for joining us today on the Bill Press Pod. |
| 2:04.6 | Hi, Bill. |
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