Ep 239 — Slush Fund Funtimes – Law and Chaos

DOCKET ALERTS:

Maryland became the ninth state to beat back a lawsuit from the DOJ's Civil Division seeking to seize its full, unredacted voter rolls.

In Massachusetts, a judge allowed states to proceed with a lawsuit to block an executive order requiring DHS to maintain a master list of voters and barring USPS from delivering mail-in ballots from anyone on the list.

DOOFUS OF THE DAY: Sixth Circuit Judge Amul Thapar, who was featured in a Bloomberg Law story about judges embarrassing themselves by trying to get nominated for SCOTUS if/when Justice Alito announces his retirement in July. Thapar, who is 56, started a Substack to talk about how his fitness regimen means he's really only 43.

MAIN SHOW:

In Minnesota, Chief Judge Patrick Schiltz quashed DOJ subpoenas for Gov. Tim Walz, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, AG Keith Ellison, and several other state officials. The court held that the subpoenas were plainly levied for an improper purpose, namely to punish state officials for refusing to cooperate with Trump's immigration raids. That's a violation of the Tenth Amendment.

Also in Minnesota, charges were dropped against yet another protester from the winter immigration surge into the Twin Cities. ICE/CBP conduct here was egregious, and the US Attorney claims to be investigating.

Since the satirical newspaper The Onion is planning to launch an InfoWars parody on July 2, we revisit all of the bankruptcy court shenanigans to date and talk about what might happen next in court.

Finally, we check in on the Trump insurrectionist slush fund and the administration's continued refusal to actually promise in court, under oath, that it won't resurrect the idea. In the Eastern District of Virginia, the administration simply refused to file declarations ordered by the presiding judge. And in the original lawsuit Trump filed against the IRS in Florida, 35 eminent judges filed their reply brief urging the judge to reopen the case and inspect the settlement.

In the Subscriber Bonus, we break down a lawsuit filed by the Ford Motor Company against a law firm in California that has an… aggressive approach to trying to get its attorneys' fees reimbursed for representing consumers who get their cars replaced under the state's "Lemon Law."

US v. DeMarinis [Maryland voter rolls]

https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/71980724/united-states-v-demarinis/

League of Women Voters v. Trump [Mail-in ballot EO]

https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73133197/league-of-women-voters-of-massachusetts-v-trump/

In re Subpoenas [MN subpoenas quashed]

https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73512670/in-re-subpoenas/

US v. Johnson [MN protester, charges dropped]

https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72200628/united-states-v-johnson/

Judges Jockey for Potential Trump Supreme Court Appointment

https://news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/judges-jockey-for-potential-trump-supreme-court-appointment

Floyd v. DOJ [lawsuit challenging Slush Fund; docket via CourtListener]

https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73383692/floyd-v-department-of-justice/