Ep 198 — Kristi Noem’s Lawyers Are Making Sh*t Up

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Summary <p dir="ltr">An ICE whistleblower reveals a <a href= "https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26499371-dhs-ice-memo-1-21-26/"> secret memo</a> where DHS lawyers say agents can arrest people in their homes without a warrant. The Fourth Amendment says otherwise! And the Supreme Court's conservatives were <a href= "https://www.supremecourt.gov/oral_arguments/argument_transcripts/2025/25a312_09m1.pdf"> extremely unimpressed</a> with Trump's plan to fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook on Truth Social. We'll break down Wednesday's oral argument in detail but first, we've got approximately one million ...</p> <p> </p> <p dir="ltr">DOCKET ALERTS (Dun dun DUNNNN):</p> <p> </p> <p dir="ltr">Former Special Counsel Jack Smith testified before the House Judiciary Committee. Watch it for yourself <a href= "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z56_LJtERCI">here</a>.</p> <p> </p> <p dir="ltr">The Justice Department arrested three people in relation to the protest on January 18 at Cities Church in St. Paul. Nothing has appeared on the docket, but the DOJ claims to have charged them under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act of 1994, meant to protect women seeking abortion care.</p> <p> </p> <p dir="ltr">The Eighth Circuit <a href= "https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.ca8.113629/gov.uscourts.ca8.113629.00805436077.0_3.pdf"> administratively stayed</a> District Judge Katherine Menendez's <a href= "https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mnd.229758/gov.uscourts.mnd.229758.85.0_2.pdf"> preliminary injunction</a> barring DHS goons from brutalizing protesters.</p> <p> </p> <p dir="ltr">A jury in Chicago took just three hours to acquit a man of trying to <a href= "https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/71587282/united-states-v-martinez/"> hire someone to murder</a> CBP's head thug Greg Bovino. Don't drunk text! </p> <p> </p> <p dir="ltr">Donald Trump's <a href= "https://www.scribd.com/document/985579226/Trump-suing-JPM-and-Dimon#from_embed"> latest trollsuit</a> targets JP Morgan Chase and its CEO Jamie Dimon. It's filed in state court in Miami and seeks $5 billion for tortious debanking.</p> <p> </p> <p dir="ltr">Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson <a href= "https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.vaed.588772/gov.uscourts.vaed.588772.11.0_1.pdf"> secured</a> a <a href= "https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.vaed.588772/gov.uscourts.vaed.588772.18.0.pdf"> standstill order</a> barring the government from looking at the computers and hard drives it seized from her house in Virginia as part of its investigation into classified leaks by government contractor <a href= "https://www.wmar2news.com/local/maryland-u-s-navy-vet-turned-contractor-accused-of-stealing-secret-national-defense-information"> Aurelio Luis Perez-Lugones</a>. </p> <p> </p> <p dir="ltr">The Fifth Circuit, sitting en banc, <a href= "https://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/OralArgRecordings/24/24-30706_1-20-2026.mp3"> reheard</a> a challenge to Louisiana's <a href= "https://legis.la.gov/legis/ViewDocument.aspx?d=1379435">HB71</a>, which required every public school classroom to display the Ten Commandments. Background <a href= "https://www.lawandchaospod.com/p/court-tosses-bid-to-get-non-religious"> here</a>.</p> <p> </p> <p dir="ltr">Judge Paul Engelmayer <a href= "https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.539612/gov.uscourts.nysd.539612.844.0.pdf"> rebuffed</a> a request by Reps. Thomas Massie and Ro Khanna to enforce the Epstein Files Transparency Act and order the government to disclose all materials on Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. Remember this next time you hear some rightwing pundit railing against "activist judges."</p> <p> </p> <p dir="ltr">And we bid a fond farewell to Lindsey Halligan, who finally quit trying to pass herself off as US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. Well … fond-ish. After getting <a href= "https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.vaed.586311/gov.uscourts.vaed.586311.23.0.pdf"> benchslapped</a> by a federal judge and seeing her <a href= "https://www.vaed.uscourts.gov/sites/vaed/files/Signed%20Order%20re%20US%20Attorney%20Vacancy%2020JAN2026.pdf"> job posted</a> online by the chief judge in EDVA, she finally took the hint.</p> <p> </p> <p dir="ltr">Show Links:</p> <p dir="ltr"><a href= "https://www.lawandchaospod.com/">https://www.lawandchaospod.com/</a></p> <p dir="ltr">BlueSky: @LawAndChaosPod</p> <p dir="ltr">Threads: @LawAndChaosPod</p> <p dir="ltr">Twitter: @LawAndChaosPod</p> <p> </p>

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