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Opening Arguments

OA388: Reinstating the Rule of Law

Opening Arguments

Opening Arguments Media LLC

Law, Opinion, Politics, News, Liberal, Legal, Supremecourt, Harvard, Atheist

4.33.7K Ratings

🗓️ 22 May 2020

⏱️ 76 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Today's episode checks in on all the latest goings-on in the Trump administration that probably don't violate the law but do undermine the norms of 200+ years of government, from firing Inspectors General that are potentially interested in government accountability to the DOJ's refusal to turn over the unredacted Mueller Report to the House Judiciary Committee to the collusion between Bob Barr and Michael Flynn. You won't want to miss it.

We begin with some pre-show news about Cory Wilson, the latest completely insane, hyper-partisan (and 49-year-old) Trump nominee for the U.S. Court of Appeals.

From there, we take a deep dive into the Inspector General Act of 1978, 5a U.S.C. § 3, and the legal protections for IGs (or lack thereof).

After that, it's time to check in on the latest order by the Supreme Court staying the production of the unredacted Mueller Report to the House Judiciary Committee. We explain exactly what that means and when, if ever, you should start panicking.

Then, it's time for an update on the Flynn case where we're filing The Opening Arguments Amicus Brief! Also, we check in on a truly terrible Sidney Powell filing seeking mandamus from the D.C. Circuit.

After all that, it's time for a brand-new #T3BE about a man, his yacht, and insurance fraud -- in which Thomas tries to figure out if the issue is privilege, hearsay, or something else entirely.

Patreon Bonuses

Patrons can give their input on the OA Amicus Brief! And if you missed our live Q&A, you can check out the audio here!

Appearances

Andrew was just a guest on the latest episode of the Daily Beans podcast! And if you’d like to have either of us as a guest on your show, event, or in front of your group, please drop us an email at openarguments@gmail.com.

Show Notes & Links

  1. Cory Wilson was rated a tepid "Qualified" by the ABA his first-go-round; that got upgraded to "mostly Well-Qualified" when he was renominated.
  2. Check out the Inspector General Act of 1978, 5a U.S.C. § 3.
  3. This is the Supreme Court order staying the production of the unredacted Mueller Report. Here's the petition for mandamus, and the opposition by the House of Representatives.
  4. We last covered the Flynn case in Episode 386. Click here to read the 4th Circuit's mandamus opinion in In re Flynn. And click here to check out the late-breaking order from the 4th Circuit requiring additional briefing from Judge Sullivan.

-Support us on Patreon at: patreon.com/law

-Follow us on Twitter:  @Openargs

-Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/openargs/, and don’t forget the OA Facebook Community!

-For show-related questions, check out the Opening Arguments Wiki, which now has its own Twitter feed!  @oawiki

-Remember to check out our YouTube Channel  for Opening Arguments: The Briefs and other specials!

-And finally, remember that you can email us at openarguments@gmail.com!

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

He's not even a lawyer and he's kicking your ass.

0:19.0

No! Bad lawyer! I need a loophole!

0:25.0

He's not Judge Judy and executioner! He is!

0:31.0

I'm sorry, but my mother always said if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all.

0:38.0

Will that hold up in court? No, I've tried it before.

0:45.0

Stop. Ask a question a lawyer would ask, please. I am a lawyer.

0:55.0

Welcome to Opening Arguments, the podcast that pairs an inquisitive interviewer with a real-life lawyer.

1:00.0

This podcast is sponsored by the Law Offices of P. Andrew Torres, LLC for Entertainment Purpose's,

1:05.0

is not intended as legal advice and does not form an attorney-client relationship.

1:09.0

Don't take legal advice from a podcast.

1:13.0

Hello and welcome to Opening Arguments. This is episode 388. I'm Thomas. That's Andrew. How are you doing Andrew?

1:24.0

I'm doing fantastic Thomas. How are you?

1:27.0

We'll just say good. We'll just say fine. Fine.

1:32.0

Can you cut the 30 minutes of sobbing and just go with the last part. We'll just go with that last bit.

1:39.0

No, I think they're the same.

1:44.0

You know what I love about this show, Andrew? Just came to me here as I'm looking at our white board as you call it.

1:51.0

We have all these great stories. I have heard something about all these stories we're going to talk about.

1:58.0

I don't feel like I've actually heard the story until we do it on the show and then I understand it way better because of how you explain it.

2:06.0

I'm realizing this as I'm doing it. I know something about each of these things.

2:10.0

And then when we get the Andrew deep dive, I always feel like I understand it better than even the people who might have written the headline that I saw a day ago or whatever it is.

2:20.0

I just want to say I really enjoy your deep dives and I don't feel like I've really gone through a story until we do it.

2:27.0

I don't know what to say other than I think that you are amazing at drawing out kind of exactly what we need to do.

...

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