DOJ Lawmaker Subpoenas Explained

In today’s jam-packed episode, David and Sarah discuss the Supreme Court’s invitation to the Biden ...

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In today’s jam-packed episode, David and Sarah discuss the Supreme Court’s invitation to the Biden administration to weigh in on a pending challenge to Harvard’s affirmative action policy. Our hosts also untangle two criminal cases that united the justices unanimously in favor of the government, one on felons possessing firearms and another on sentence reduction. Then, Sarah shares insight from her own time at the Department of Justice into why a New York Times story that the Trump-era Justice Department seized the data of congressional Democrats might be overblown. They also explain why the DoJ appears to be siding with former President Donald Trump in a defamation case brought by E. Jean Carroll. Finally, they discuss why a recent Twitter thread on critical race theory that inspired a “hate tsunami” online should inspire you to go attend your local school board meetings.

Show Notes:

–Greer v. United States

–Terry v. United States

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  1. GregS

    Re: DOJ subpoenas, I love the logic here - "everyone I spoke to denied knowing anything about it, therefore there are only two options- either the AUSA went completely haywire or this was just a routine collection of phone number data."
    Oh here's another possibility : perhaps one or more of Sarah's sources are lying or obfuscating?
    If the people making the denials weren't people Sarah had worked with personally, or were politically aligned with her, perhaps she would have entertained this possibility. This is what bias is made of...

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  2. Fudrock

    Thanks for the digression on the troubling incentives in the media economy, caused by a gravitation of the audience to "free" news sources. I think it contributes more to the breakdown of the media as a valuable and necessary component of a functioning democracy than most ardent critics of the media would like to admit.

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    Anne W (Raw5254)

    So much interesting stuff! I’ll admit that sometimes you guys get into the weeds, and I have trouble following. But this one was exceptional. I was thinking earlier about how the news (both sides) feeds us information that is often without any depth. I’m trying hard to not read so much into everything, and just assume that whatever they’re saying is correct.

    My husband and I have subscription to The Dispatch (obviously), and I think it has to be one of if not THE best news coverage and opinion journals (or whatever it’s called) out there. Well worth the price of a subscription. We also subscribe to National Review, and it’s pretty good, too. We definitely like some of the articles and writers more than others, but it gives a pretty good overview of what’s happening. After that, we do read a fair amount of things that are being reported online and are free. We both look at Twitter every so often, and Facebook is strictly entertainment.

    The thing is, everyone is asking for money. And I do mean everyone. We get solicitations through emails and snail mail for subscriptions, charities, various organizations, etc., etc. It just gets to a point where it’s overwhelming, and we do have limits!

    And David, I feel for you! I think because of the constant barrage of misinformation, people have selective hearing. I appreciate what you’ve had to say about CRT, and it makes a lot of sense. Thank you!

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  4. Paula Weber

    David's observation about legal journalism would appear to be just as relevant for scientific reporting.  I got my masters in applied mathematics and did my thesis on a compartment model for dengue fever transmission, so I am no expert but had exposure to a good base of different disease dynamics. I was continually disappointed that no paper or outlet (at least that I came across) took the opportunity to do a general "Covid/epidemics 101" series. Everything was disjointed and a one off deep dive into one particular feature of Covid.  I get that we knew very little at the beginning, but a great deal of confusion could have been avoided had outlets presented other diseases as examples right along with what was unknown or fuzzy (error bars!) about Covid - to be updated as we learned more and the unknowns were clarified or tightened.

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    Daniel Standage

    A headline like "DOJ Lawmaker Subpoenas Explained" doesn't give me much confidence that today's pod is jam-packed with exciting SCOTUS updates. :-(

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    An Actual Cat

    On another legal podcast (sorry), they went into the idea that Trump's comments about Carroll were part of his government duties, which is why Westfall applies. The theory seems to be that part of the president's job is to constantly be demonstrating fitness for office, so he had to respond to the allegations in order to show he had the character to be president. It seemed like a real stretch.

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    1. CRS

      Yes, he should be free to deny the claims and point out contrary evidence, but to potentially slander someone is something that shouldn't be done under color of official power.

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    WKDawson

    As always, I learned a lot. I certainly hope you can continue to provide such useful content.

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    Duncan Frissell

    Could a state, with carefull drafting, ban mandatory Reeducation and Self Criticism?

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    Pastorfbt

    "The media ill-equipped to handle a legal question." Who knew?🙄

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    Merrijane

    So help me, I ordered the Magic Spoon cereal variety pack

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      Dave T

      Next time, eat boring old Muggle Cereal ... and become a Dispatch Subscriber instead! Wheeee!

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        Merrijane

        I am already a subscriber.

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          Dave T

          oh ... but how are you hearing the ads, then?

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            Merrijane

            I listen via Apple podcasts. They don’t screen out ads.

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