When Trump Hits New Jersey, This Lawyer Hits Back

Amicus With Dahlia Lithwick | Law, justice, and the courts

Slate Podcasts

News Commentary, Politics, Government, News

4.6 • 3.1K Ratings

🗓️ 16 August 2025

⏱️ 53 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Law firms, universities, and businesses are bending the knee to the Trump administration at the slightest threat. Amid this shocking cowardice, blue states have been a bastion of defiance against the president’s escalating power grabs—with attorneys general leading the way. Mark Joseph Stern talks with New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin, who has been on the frontlines of this battle since Day One. Want more Amicus? Join Slate Plus to unlock weekly bonus episodes with exclusive legal analysis. Plus, you’ll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the Amicus show page on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/amicusplus to get access wherever you listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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1:15.4	In life, you don't really know when you're being tested.
1:17.0	We are in a test right now.
1:19.7	We're in a test as a nation, and I think we're in a test as a profession.
1:24.4	And the only way we get through it is by believing that we can have an impact and that we can keep doing things that slowly but surely get us through that period.
1:29.5	I'm Mark Joseph Stern, and this is Amicus, Slate's podcast about the courts, the law, and the
1:34.8	Supreme Court. Donald Trump's second term has laid bare how many seemingly principled people
1:42.1	are actually cowards.
	...

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