Episode 162 | Trump DOJ Makes Desperate Move as Lawyers’ Licenses Are Threatened

It's Complicated

Renato Mariotti

News Commentary, News, Politics

4.7 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 13 March 2026

⏱️ 50 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

After the Pentagon designated AI company Anthropic a “supply chain risk,” jeopardizing a huge part of its business, the company hit back with a lawsuit against the Trump administration, claiming it’s being retaliated against. Asha and Renato explore Anthropic’s redlines over the use of its AI and why it’s so worrisome that Pete Hegseth and the Pentagon really, really want AI that can be used for lethal autonomous weapons and to conduct mass surveillance of Americans. Plus, they review the latest shenanigans at a Justice Department that’s increasingly viewed as the President’s personal law firm. Renato and Asha discuss a federal judge’s finding that Pam Bondi illegally appointed three attorneys to lead the U.S. Attorney’s office in New Jersey; a proposed federal regulation that would let the DOJ suspend ethics complaints against its attorneys at state bar associations; and finally, the Justice Department’s prosecution of the voting company Smartmatic as Trump seeks revenge against those he holds responsible for his 2020 election loss. Listen up! Cruise with us! https://www.travelstore.com/group-travel/its-complicated-cruise-2026/ Asha Substack: https://asharangappa.substack.com/ Subscribe to our podcast: https://link.chtbl.com/its-complicated Follow Asha on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/asharangappa.bsky.social Follow Renato on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/renatomariotti.bsky.social Follow Asha on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/asha.rangappa/ Follow Renato on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/renato.mariotti/ Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/@LegalAFMTN?sub_confirmation=1 Become a member of Legal AF YouTube community: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJgZJZZbnLFPr5GJdCuIwpA/join Become a member of the Legal AF Substack: https://michaelpopok.substack.com/20off Follow Legal AF on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/legalafmtn.bsky.social Follow Michael Popok on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/mspopok.bsky.social Subscribe to the Legal AF podcast feed here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/legal-af-by-meidastouch/id1580828595 Subscribe to the Intersection with Michael Popok podcast feed here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-intersection-with-michael-popok/id1818863274 Subscribe to Unprecedented with Michael Popok and Dina Doll podcast feed here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/unprecedented-by-legal-af/id1867023089 Subscribe to Court of History with Sidney Blumenthal and Sean Wilentz podcast feed here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-court-of-history/id1867022920 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:30.2	So, Asha, can Trump create Skynet with soft government power?
0:36.4	Eh, it's complicated.
0:41.7	I'm Asherangappa.
0:43.6	I teach national security law at Yale University.
0:46.5	I'm a former FBI special agent, and I'm the author of the Freedom Academy Substack.
0:52.1	And I'm Renato Marietti.
0:53.9	I'm a former federal prosecutor, a practicing lawyer, and a legal analyst.
0:58.4	And we're here to help you understand topics that can't be boiled down into a soundbite or a skeet.
1:06.2	So, I don't even know where to start with this, because there's a lot to unpack with this latest
1:12.8	showcase showdown between Anthropic and the Department of War. I mean, I guess, you know,
1:21.9	I've been resisting calling at the Department of War for a while, but I feel like at this point,
1:25.5	it's kind of appropriate. Yeah, I think that's right. It's a certainly belligerent move. But in many ways, Asha,
1:32.6	this move is reminiscent of some of the other things we've seen in the administration. I mean,
1:38.6	just in the last couple weeks, we've been talking about how the administration has used soft power
	...

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