Law and Chaos

Ignorance of the law is no excuse! That's true for a traffic stop, and it's true if you want to participate in whatever's left of American democracy. If the events since the 2016 election taught us anything, it's that tuning out is not an option. Legal journalists Liz Dye and Andrew Torrez break down the week's most important courtroom stories, so you can keep on top of this crazy news cycle. Whether it's Texas giving two middle fingers to the Supreme Court, or Donald Trump in all the courts at once, we've got you covered.

Law and Chaos is a government podcast hosted by Liz Dye; Andrew Torrez, with 253 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Liz Dye; Andrew Torrez hosts Law and Chaos, a government show with 253 episodes published.

Our AI reads these to draft pitches. Use them as grounding for a pitch that cites a real guest and a specific topic.

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  Episode #256

  Ep 256 — Natalie, Hide the Ketchup!

  Aug 20, 202659 min

  DOCKET ALERTS: US Attorney Jeanine Pirro wants to leave the door open to re-charging David Hearn for damaging the reflecting pool, although she concedes that literally everything she said in her original indictment was a lie. Pirro is also doing her darnedest to keep a lady locked up for the high crime of spraypainting . Judge Reed O'Connor is trying for a third time to allow manufacturers to sell ghost guns, no matter what the Supreme Court says. We're still waiting on the Supreme Court to say whether Trump can keep building his ballroom, or will have to cease above-ground construction as lower courts have ruled. MAIN SHOW: FCC Chair Brendan Carr is trying to burn down ABC for crimes of woke. But after he demanded that the ten local affiliates owned by the network renew their licenses early — likely a prelude to putting them out of business — ABC's parent company Disney swung into action. They sued the agency for retaliation in violation of the First Amendment. The DOJ's "8647" indictment of James Comey is circling the drain. The government filed its responses to various motions today, and they are … creative! They quote at length from Comey's novel and his appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. In January, ICE agent Christian Castro shot Minnesota man Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis and then filed a false report claiming that Sosa-Celis attacked him with a snow shovel. The charges against Sosa-Celis were quickly dropped, and in May state officials charged Castro with second-degree assault and one count of falsely reporting a crime and court issued a warrant for his arrest. By then, Castro was in Texas, where Governor Greg Abbott — the Law and Chaos DOOFUS OF THE DAY — has refused to extradite him to Minnesota as mandated by the Constitution's Extradition Clause. And so now Minnesota has sued Texas in federal court. US v. Hearn Reply In Support of Motion to Dismiss Without Prejudice [via Marcy Wheeler] https://legacy.www.documentcloud.org/documents/28565563-260818-hearn-dismiss-reply US v. Farris [spraypaint lady] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/74650269/united-states-v-farris/ Vanderstok v. Blanche [ghost guns] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/64886994/vanderstok-v-garland National Park Service v. National Trust for Historic Preservation [SCOTUS Docket] https://www.supremecourt.gov/search.aspx?filename=/docket/docketfiles/html/public/26a203.html ABC v. FCC https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/74661956/american-broadcasting-companies-inc-v-federal-communications-commission/ US v. Comey [docket via CourtListener] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73256624/united-states-v-comey/?order_by=desc Walz v. Abbott https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/74662182/walz-v-abbott/ Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod Twitter: @LawAndChaosPod

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  Episode #255

  Ep 255 — Double the Jeopardy, Double the Fun

  Aug 18, 20261h 13m

  DOCKET ALERTS: The Supreme Court denied Trump's motion for rehearing in the first E. Jean Carroll case. Time to pay up, creep! Federal Judge Lynn Winmill invalidated Idaho's abortion ban insofar as it contains no exception to preserve the health of the pregnant person — including mental health. Along the way, he took apart the Supreme Court's hack historical analysis in Dobbs. DOOFUS OF THE DAY: Josh Autenrieth, who bombed spectacularly on his first and only outing as an expert witness. During deposition, the plaintiffs lawyer Daniel Moye caught Autenreith fabricating his entire report exonerating 3M with the help of ChatGPT. Then Moye forced to testify for the plaintiffs at trial. On the stand Autenrieth discovered that there was a public link to all his chats live on the internet. Shout out to 404 Media for this wild story . MAIN SHOW: US Attorney Andrew Boutros in Chicago continues to embarrass himself and demean his office. The New York Times reports that his office has been harassing the family of Justice Juan Merchan, who presided over Trump's false business records case in Manhattan. Merchan's daughter worked for a political firm in Illinois, and so Boutros decided he would use this as a lever to try to shake loose all kinds of political communications. And it turns out the same lawyers who worked on the Broadview 6 case, Matthew Skiba and William Hogan, had their prints all over this one. Luigi Mangione pled guilty in federal court to two counts of stalking. But he did so in such a way as to make it much harder for the state to prosecute him for murder. Was this done with the connivance of the feds to get back at Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg? Seyb v. Members of the Idaho Board of Medicine https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/68527351/seyb-v-members-of-the-idaho-board-of-medicine/ 'Show How 3M Is 0% at Fault:' Expert Witness Used ChatGPT to Write Report Defending Company in Deadly Explosion Lawsuit https://www.404media.co/show-how-3m-is-0-at-fault-expert-witness-used-chatgpt-to-write-report-defending-company-in-deadly-explosion-lawsuit/ Prosecutors Examined Firm With Tie to Judge in Trump Hush Money Trial https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/15/us/politics/prosecutors-examined-firm-with-tie-to-judge-in-trump-hush-money-trial.html US v. Mangione [federal court docket via CourtListener] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69908890/united-states-v-mangione/ Luigi Mangione Pleads Guilty To Stalking, Admits To Murder Anyway, Argues This Makes Trial Double Jeopardy https://abovethelaw.com/2026/08/luigi-mangione-pleads-guilty-to-stalking-admits-to-murder-anyway-argues-this-makes-trial-double-jeopardy/ Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod Twitter: @LawAndChaosPod

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  Episode #254

  Ep 254 — More Like the Department of Manifest Injustice

  Aug 14, 20261h 2m

  DOCKET ALERTS: The Kennedy Center board of trustees is back on its BS. After being ordered to take Trump's name off the side of the building, they've now voted again to put it back on. They also voted to close the facility for two years. Rep. Joyce Beatty, who brought the lawsuit that forced them to back off the first time, vows to fight on. Meanwhile musician Chuck Redd was just awarded $252,000 in attorneys fees after the Center sued him for breaching a contract he never signed. Judge Roy Altman is Aileen Cannon-balling it up in Trump's trollsuit against the BBC. This week he allowed Trump to amend his complaint yet again for "good cause." What good cause could there be to sue a company which never broadcast the supposedly defamatory documentary in the US? MAIN SHOW: The Washington Post reports that Jeanine Pirro, the US Attorney for DC, has empaneled a special grand jury. Corruption incoming! The DOJ has amended the indictment of the SPLC again. This time they've added a former employee who ran its Intelligence Project and managed its paid informants. The case is no less preposterous with an extra defendant and a couple more charges. The Ninth Circuit issued a hugely consequential ruling on Section 230 immunity for websites, and Liz and Andrew do not agree at all about it. SUBSCRIBER BONUS: Judge Richard Stearns in Massachusetts swatted down the DOJ's effort to shout "antisemitism" and steal $950 million from Harvard. Trump v. BBC https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72040010/trump-v-british-broadcasting-corporation/ Pirro, in rare move, convenes special grand jury in Washington https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2026/08/12/pirro-convenes-unusual-grand-jury-dc-that-can-focus-single-case-issue-report/ US v. Southern Poverty Law Center https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73223865/united-states-v-southern-poverty-law-center-inc/ Colorado v. Meta [9th Circuit opinion] https://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2026/08/10/24-7265.pdf US v. Harvard https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72520538/united-states-v-president-and-fellows-of-harvard-college/ Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod Twitter: @LawAndChaosPod

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  Episode #251

  Ep 253 — The One Weird Trick Presidency

  Aug 11, 202653 min

  DOCKET ALERTS: Todd Blanche was confirmed as permanent attorney general after Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy remembered that he's an unprincipled hack. Trump's lackey Will Scharf is being promoted from staff secretary to White House Counsel in advance of the midterms. The White House is once again trying to fire Federal Reserve Board Member Lisa Cook after the Supreme Court blocked it the first time. DOOFUS OF THE DAY: Senator Mike Lee, who vowed to block the Senate going into recess until it passed the SAVE America Act. He did not. Instead Majority Leader John Thune made him preside over the session, ensuring that he could not object. MAIN SHOW: On Friday, the DC Circuit affirmed the trial judge's order blocking Trump's tacky ballroom — at least the above-ground portion. The government tried to shield this project from judicial review by claiming that the Office of the Executive Residence, which manages floral arrangements and routine maintenance of the White House, was actually superintending the $600 million construction project. But the appeals court nixed it. The administration hopes to use a similar ONE WEIRD TRICK to slap white paint all over the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. It claims that the project is being overseen by the White House Office of Administration, rather than the General Services Administration. TBD whether Judge Dabney Friedrich lets them get away with it. Airlines hate Skiplagged.com , which tells consumers how to save money by hopping off flights at the layover. They've failed to shut the site down using various tort claims, and so they tried copyright and trademark. SUBSCRIBER BONUS: After the Supreme Court blocked him in June, Trump is once again trying to end birthright citizenship by executive order . National Trust for Historic Preservation v. National Park Service [DC Circuit Docket] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73239730/national-trust-for-historic-preservation-v-nps National Trust for Historic Preservation v. National Park Service [Trial Docket] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72028010/national-trust-for-historic-preservation-in-the-united-states-v-national/ Cultural Heritage Partners v. Trump https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/71918245/cultural-heritage-partners-pllc-v-trump/ American Airlines, Inc. v. Skiplagged, Inc. https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/67699985/american-airlines-inc-v-skiplagged-inc/ United Airlines' Contract of Carriage https://www.united.com/en/us/fly/contract-of-carriage.html Trump EO: "Ending Birth Tourism" https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2026/08/ending-birth-tourism/ Trump EO: "Continuing to Protect the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship" https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2026/08/continuing-to-protect-the-meaning-and-value-of-american-citizenship/ Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod Twitter: @LawAndChaosPod

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  Episode #252

  Ep 252 — Blanche, Boutros, and Buc-ee's

  Aug 7, 202655 min

  DOCKET ALERTS: Todd Blanche advanced out of the Judiciary Committee and faces a vote by the full Senate on whether to confirm him as Attorney General. Will Republicans defy—JK,LOL. Journalist Katie Phang's lawsuit against Blanche for failing to disclose all documents required under the Epstein Files Transparency Act hit a snag when the government just plum forgot to file an answer to her complaint. The DOJ also failed to provide unredacted documents to Judge Emmet Sullivan for review in chambers. Judge Sullivan ordered Blanche to personally appear in court on August. 13. DOOFUS OF THE DAY: Third Circuit Judge Jennifer Mascott, who spent the first six months of her judicial tenure moonlighting as the head of a PR firm which solicited MAGA clients. MAIN SHOW: Trump's multitudinous trollsuits do much better in front of his own appointees than in front of normal judges. Judge Roy Altman has utterly beclowned himself in Trump's lawsuits against Capital One and the BBC. But his cases against the Wall Street Journal, JP Morgan, and the New York Times faced a much cooler reception. Charges against the Broadview 6 for "conspiracy" to protest were dropped months ago. But the case goes on, as the former defendants ask Judge April Perry to appoint a special counsel to investigate and potentially prosecute the US Attorneys Office in Chicago for contempt of Court. Prosecutors counter that any investigation can be handled by the DOJ's Office of Professional Responsibility, which has been conveniently neutered under Trump. And we're back on our Buc-ee's BS — can't get enough of those beaver nuggets! Has the convenience-store-on-steroids chain gone too far with its lawsuits against every animal mascot on earth? One plucky teddy bear is fighting back . SUBSCRIBER BONUS: Can John Oliver sell parody Buc-ee's merch? We consult a talking squirrel and the greatest amicus brief of all time! LINKS: Phang v. Blanche https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73246595/phang-v-blanche/ US v. Rabbitt [Broadview 6] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/71795281/united-states-v-rabbitt At Trump's DOJ, watchdogs gutted as misconduct complaints soar https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/trumps-doj-watchdogs-gutted-misconduct-complaints-soar-2026-08-06/ 'Is she even allowed to be doing this?': Inside a federal judge's side gig running a PR firm https://www.politico.com/news/2026/08/06/jennifer-mascott-federal-judge-adfero-pr-firm-01025871 Buc-ee's v. Teddy's Market [docket via CourtListener] https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73290962/buc-ees-ltd-v-teddys-market-llc/ THE GREATEST AMICUS BRIEF OF ALL TIME https://www.acluwv.org/app/uploads/2017/08/2017-08-17-Amended-Amicus-28File-Stamped29.pdf Show Links: https://www.lawandchaospod.com/ BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod Threads: @LawAndChaosPod Twitter: @LawAndChaosPod

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